Bleached Suede Christmas

This card is done with real red, soft suede, bermuda bay and very vanilla. The snowflake background was done by first sponging very vanilla cardstock quite heavily (especially the edges) with soft suede ink. Then I put some bleach on a folded up piece of paper towel (in a flat bottomed container - the plastic box that holds your stamp sets works well) and used it as an "ink" pad. The snowflakes are from the Serene Snowflakes stamp set. After the bleached images were stamped, I stamped a few more snowflakes in Soft Suede ink.


Other supplies used include:

Spiral Punch, Corner Rounder punch, Tag punch, Heard from the Heart stamp set, Soft Suede ribbon, jumbo eyelet, crop-a-dial, stampin' dimensionals.

Hope you like it!

Jolly Christmas Cheer

This card was one I found on the Splitcoast Stampers website while I was perusing ideas. I slightly adapted the original to develop my version of the card.



Whisper White, Real Red, Always Artichoke and Chocolate Chip are the colours used to make this 5x5 card. I used the "Christmas Punch" hostess set and used my squares and circle punches to punch out the images. The center sentiment was stamped after using my Real Red and Chocolate Chip SU Markers to ink up the rubber stamp while covering the parts of that stamp with masking tape that I didn't want to stamp onto my paper. And, of course folks, this gal used stampin' dimensionals to pop up the circle image in the center. I wonder how often I actually don't use any on a card. hehe.

I'm failing aren't I?

Forgive me, friends, for I have failed you. It's been more than two months since my last post.

Okay, but hey, I haven't completely given up on trying, because here I am once again!

I'm wading deep in the busy-ness of my life and am wishing for better, guilt-free stamping days to come. I am happily forced to find stamping time as I have commited to a stampers group and a scattering of parties to keep me going. Thanks to that "obligation" I MUST stamp! LOL!



This card came to me quickly and I really like how it turned out. It's difficult to really see it in this photo (my apologies).

I used acetate (SU has some fantastic window sheets available) as the base of this card. The patterned paper is from the current holiday mini and is a lovely paper pack. I used real red ribbon with the organza white ribbon (such a pretty ribbon, too). The sentiment is from my Many Merry Messages stamp set which may now becoming overused, but I still love it! I embossed the words with black embossing powder for some extra punch.

Glad There is You

I made this card a while back for my Mom. There are a few items on here that are no longer available as they have retired, but you could easily substitute using the same idea. Many of us are great at taking an idea and making it work with what we have!

Recipe
Card Stock -- Sahara Sand, Basic Grey, Not Quite Navy, SU Designer Series Paper
Ink -- Sahara Sand (sponged around edges), Baja Breeze
Stamps -- flourish from "Baroque Motifs"
Accessories -- Scallop Edge Punch, brads, jumbo eyelet, rub-ons, Crop-a-dial, Sizzix Daisy die, Big Shot, Sticky Strip

Wedding Invitation

With the bride's help, we made these lovely wedding invitations. I used the Fifth Avenue stamp set in Elegant Eggplant and Apricot Appeal on Very Vanilla cardstock. The eggplant cardstock was dry embossed using an embossing folder. Stampin' Up! doesn't have this particular one, but has a number of dry emboss options with folders, texture plates, and templates. A great way to add texture and interest to your projects!

The photo is matted with Very Vanilla cs and mounted with Stampin' dimensionals. We used the white organza ribbon with a single silver brad for interest.


Inside the card was done on paper vellum by printing it from my computer in red ink and quickly clear embossing it while the ink was still wet. I used vellum tape (not available with SU) to apply the vellum to the vanilla cardstock. Leanne wanted to have a place for her bridal registry information as well as a map to the wedding location, so she wanted a pocket area to put everything into to keep it tidy. We did the pocket on the inside of the card front by adhering only 3 sides, leaving one side open and punching a half circle to make the pocket obvious and easy to access the contents. The purple writing on the top inside of the card was also done on the computer.

I'm excited to see if the new My Digital Studio now available through SU will make formatting these things easier. I'll let you know as soon as I get mine in the beginning of October!

38 Long

I love the jokes that go along with this stamp set (not from SU, I'm sorry to say).

This one says:

"your bra size is 38 long" !! LOL!


The card base is the new Melon Mambo and I stamped the bra images with the same ink. I used blender pens with ink from my ink pads to colour the image after stamping it with black Stazon ink on whisper white cardstock. The white CS is sponged around the edges with Rich Razzleberry ink and matted with Rich Razzleberry CS. The yellow paper is textured Whisper White CS that I sponged with Crushed Curry ink. I used my Spiral punch on the strip of Old Olive CS and I punched out hearts from Rich Razzleberry CS with my Heart to Heart punch. My corners are rounded with the 3/16" Corner Rounder punch. And, of course, Stampin Dimensionals were used to apply the white paper to the Rich Razzleberry matting as well as to apply the hearts to the card.

I don't have very many non-SU stamps, but I had to get this one. It was just too funny!

WINNER!!

Unfortuneately, I was camping in Golden Ears Provincial Park through the 15th and could not pick and reveal a name at that time.

But today is the day!! My son picked a name today. The winner will receive two SU stamp sets. A paper crimper with kids hands all over it, fabric flowers, brads, buttons, grommets, eyelets, an assortment of new SU In Colours, 2 yards of the new SU Soft Suede grosgrain ribbon, 2 each of precut sizzix die cuts that I have (matchbox die, topnote, circle ornament, pillow box), and more!

I'm so pleased at those who have commented with such loyalty. I will be continueing my blog, but since only a handful of people have showed an interest, I will have to cut back on time spent uploading my cards and updating information on this site. Soooo . . . I will be more slack on how frequently I post and will not be taking the time to add links to updates on the Stampin' Up website. You will have to rely on the website itself to be informed on current specials. (or you may receive information through me directly if you're on my customer list)

So without further ado, I'm happy to announce that the winner of my blog candy is . . .

PATRICIA JASPER!!!

This will remain at the top of my blog until a name is drawn July 15th.

From April 5 to July 15, every time you comment on a post on my blog, your name will be entered into a draw to receive a package of goodies from me! You may comment more than once per post (bless your heart if you do), but your name will only be entered once per post. So, send me your comments and thoughts about my projects and cards and I will draw a name July 15!

Please scroll down for more recent post.

Coming Soon!

Well, folks, it's getting closer to the day that I draw a name. I have many entries, but only one person has commented on just about every post since I began this blog candy offer. I want to make sure it's clear that your name will be entered once for each time you comment on a single post. If you comment more than once on a single posting, I will only put your name in once. If you comment on this post and commented on my post for June 6th, then you will be entered two times, once for each post.

I've been away for holidays and just wanted to let you know I haven't dropped off the earth! I've been busy making wedding cards for a friend, working madly to spread some mulch in my garden, off camping and then to visit family in Alberta. I haven't had much time to think about my blog and so here it is . . . neglected, I'm afraid.

I'll catch up with some cards and projects over the next couple days, so don't forget to comment on this, what has been and what is to come, so you can have a better chance at some happy mail!

Wonderful Wonder Crayon Thoughts

I am very pleased with this card. I gave it to my good and dear friend who's dad just passed away. Love you, Tammy.

This card uses Very Vanilla cardstock for the base layer as well as the second layer which was stamped with my Bella Toile background stamp in Creamy Caramel ink. I stamped the ink off once on a scrap piece of paper before stamping it on my card to give a softer colour.


The main image is from the stamp set "Thoughts and Prayers". I used my Water Colour Wonder Crayons (Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Regal Rose, Rose Red) to colour the rubber after dampening it by misting it with water from a spray bottle. Once coloured, I misted it again a few times until it was slightly wet, then stamped it onto water colour paper. I used my white gel pen for the flower centers after the colour dried.

The edges of the water colour paper were sponged with Creamy Caramel ink. The White Organza ribbon was a couple of scraps that I attached with Sticky Strip just to the edges of the Toile stamped cardstock so that it appears to go all the way through behind the water colour paper. I stamped the sentiment in Always Artichoke ink on Very Vanilla CS from my "Wonderful You" stamp set (retiring at the end of this month) and punched it out with the small oval punch. I then framed it with a large oval punch out of Creamy Caramel CS. As a final framing touch, I used the Vanilla Hodgepodge designer label and attached it to the card front with the coordinating brads. The oval sentiments were attached with stampin dimensionals to the center of the label.

All layers were attached with dimensionals (I'm a bit dimensional happy, LOL!)

The Last Chance Lists!

Stampin' Up! is getting ready for the new catalogue coming in July so it's that time again to move out the old to make room for new great stuff! I'll post the lists on the left for you to view sometime today. If you need to order something feel free to contact me. Remember, accessories are only available while supplies last while stamp sets are available until June 30th.

There are some great new In Colours that will be in the next catalogue. It's always fun to use new colours. They have some great polkadot grosgrain ribbon in the In Colours as well as SU Markers!

Sparkly Edward Cullen

My friend Melanie and I read the Twilight books by Stephanie Meyer. Easy read and definitely hold your interest.

This is a fun card I made for her. I found a poster photo of the main male character, Edward and changed it up a bit (for personal use only) adding his name, making it black and white and taking off the advertisement for the movie coming out. I printed it on Whisper White cardstock and coloured his face and chest with Versamarker so I could emboss that area with Iridescent Ice embossing powder!! In the movie, vampires (for he is a vampire, ladies), glisten in the sun like diamonds! So I made his skin shimmer, then used my Versamark ink pad to cover the entire image and clear embossed the rest (this blended the Iridescent Ice embossing in with the rest as well as prevents the ink from bleeding or smudging).

The Real Red ribbon was added to the image using Sticky Strip after I distressed the edges with my SU distressing tool. I used the medium weight window sheet from SU as the card base. This product is much more sturdy as the acetate overhead sheets which I have used in the past.

The image was then applied to the cardfront with Stampin' Dimensionals and matted on the other side of the clear window sheet on the inside of the card with Basic Black textured cardstock.


You can sort of see his sparkling chest in this photo. Of course, Melanie loved the card and had a good laugh!

Hope you did too. lol!

Mother's Day Shadow Box Cards

Here are the shadow box cards I made for my moms for Mother's Day. I used a tutorial from The Sunset House blog. I chose Pacific Point and Certainly Celery for my colour pallet with a splash of So Saffron.

The one card uses a Cuttlebug embossing folder to make the diamond embossed background. I made the cutout circles with my Spellbinder Nestibilities (you could also use the Coluzzle cutter or the Circle Scissor Plus cutter). The flowers inside the box are coloured using a blender pen and some pacific point ink.



The second card has some 3D butterflies which were stamped on Vellum (cardstock weight) with Black Stazon ink and carefully cut out. Then I coloured around the edges with a blender pen and some Pacific Point ink, folded the wings up and glued the body of the butterfly to the paper (lining it up with a prestamped image on the card base).

The butterfly stamp is from the "Dreams Du Jour" stamp set; the flourish is from "Baroque Motifs"; the sentiment is from a retired set from a few years ago; flowers from the Pretties Kit; brads are Old Olive and So Saffron; I used the ticket corner punch to finish the edges; paper piercing was guided with the Mat Pack.

Saffron Toile

This is a 3x6 card in So Saffron stamped with the Bella Toile background in So Saffron ink. I used a similar layout to a previous card I posted, but switched up the colours and the ribbon for a more casual look. The textured paper is Basic Grey while the flower is cut from Regal Rose cardstock with my daisy #2 sizzix die in my Big Shot. The stripey paper is from the Urban Garden Designer Series paper. The sentiment is from the "Fresh Cuts" stamp set.

The ribbon is So Saffron grosgrain, which unfortunately is no longer available as it was a Sale-a-bration promotion item. I used the Aged Copper Jumbo eyelet for the flower center.


To put it all together, I simply used my cropadial to punch a 3/16" hole in the paper layers. I also used the cropadial to set the eyelet onto the center of the flower. The ribbon was threaded through the hole from the back and through the eyelet, while the other end came around to the front of the card and went under the flower and up through the eyelet where I tied the ends together in a single knot.

Let me know if that's too confusing and I'll happily show you in person (if possible) or I can photograph the steps to put on my blog.

Thanks for visiting me today :)

Please leave a comment and have your name entered for the blog candy draw on July 15th.

Baby Shower Invitations

A friend asked me to make some invitations for a baby shower. She gave me the Bible verse that she wanted on the front of the card and said she was going for a star theme. Since I didn't have a stamp with this verse, I had to use my computer and format it.

The formatting took quite a bit of time as I wanted the verse to continue on over and over even when it was in black ink as the focal point. I'm fussy with formatting. I'll spare you the details on how I got it to print just as it did, but there was probably a way to do it more quickly with less fuss if I had greater technical know-how or a more advanced software program to work with.


The stars are from a retired hostess set "Love It" and are (I realized) the only star stamps I own! I used Pink Pirouette and Whisper White cardstock (thank you to Gwen and Seana for rescuing me when I discovered I didn't have enough!). The ribbon is Whisper White Tafetta and Pretty in Pink Tafetta. I did the scalloped edges with the scallop edge punch. The small stars on the front are stamped in Versamark and clear embossed. The large star was first inked with versamark, then in pretty in pink so that it could also be embossed with clear embossing powder over the coloured ink. The Versamark ink keeps it from drying too fast for it to work with embossing.



The inside of the card was also done on my computer, but on decent quality computer paper rather than cardstock. The star is stamped in Pink Pirouette. The paper is adhered with SNAIL adhesive on the inside front of the card only.

Garden Dreams

I absolutely LOVE this card! I made it with my new Stampers group this week. It is a simple 3x3 gift or note card. The base is Kiwi Kiss cardstock. I punched the window out of my Urban Garden Designer Series Paper with my Designer Label punch. The butterfly stamp is from my "Dreams Du Jour" stamp set which I stamped in White Stazon ink onto clear acetate (in this case, I used a clear piece of overhead projector acetate, but SU now has "Window Sheets" available in different thicknesses for this type of project and for other great projects).


I adhered the acetate to the backside of my DS paper with sticky strip. The Basic Grey tafetta ribbon was added, then the DS paper was attached to the card base with my beloved Stampin' Dimensionals. I adore the finished result!

Don't forget to leave a comment and have your name entered for the draw July 15th!

Take a Look

Debbie in England has some amazing blogcandy. Incredibly generous, you should check it out!

Passion for Crafts

Organza Elegance

I really love how this card turned out. It's so simple and one of my favorite card sizes (3x6).

The base of the card is textured Sahara Sand. I used a strip of Pale Plum cardstock along the top of the card. The flower is cut with my Sizzix flower daisies #2 die (the smallest of the three flowers) from Elegant Eggplant cardstock. I punched a hole through all three layers of paper with my 3/16th" hole punch on my Cropadile. After placing the Jumbo Eyelet in the center of the flower (without finishing the eyelet) I threaded the White Organza ribbon between the flower and the Pale Plum paper and up through the unfinished eyelet before using the Cropadile to finish the eyelet. I had to pull the ribbon carefully to keep it snug while I clamped the eyelet closed. Then I continued the ribbon around the back of the card front and up the hole to tie it into place.

The sentiment is from my Fresh Cuts stamp set, which I stamped in Basic Black ink and very carefully filled in the letters with my Black SU journaler pen where they didn't stamp as clearly because of the textured surface.

For a final touch, I gently lifted the edges of the petals off of the card to create a more 3-dimensional look.

Leave a comment and have your name entered in my draw on July 15th!

Embossed Flower Sillouette

Once again, this card has some retired paper on it, but you could easily use other paper and get a beautiful result

I used River Rock (retired) cardstock for the base of this card. The stamp is from the "Inspired by Nature" stamp set, which I stamped with Versamark ink on some Designer Paper (also retired) and used white embossing powder over the image before heating it.



I tore the edge of the Blue Bayou textured cardstock (retired) and rolled up the torn edge before adhering it to the card beside the patterned paper. I tied the Mellow Moss grosgrain ribbon around the card front. The sentiment is stamped in Blue Bayou ink (retired) on Whisper White cardstock. I didn't tear these edges, but simply rolled them up. The white cardstock was adhered to the card with stampin' dimensionals for a bit more "pop"!

For a similar look, you could try this combination:
Designer Series Paper - Urban Garden
Sahara Sand cardstock (for the base)
Not Quite Navy in place of the Blue Bayou
Always Artichoke grosgrain

Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered into my July15th draw!

Heartfelt Sympathy

I made this card a while back. The patterned paper and the River Rock cardstock (the card base) are now retired, but I thought you might like to know how I placed the flourish at the top of this card. This is a 3x6 card.


The flourish is from the stamp set "Baroque Motifs", which I stamped with Versamark ink on the card base and clear embossed it. I stamped the sympathy stamp from the "Close as a Memory" set in Always Artichoke ink. Then, after insuring the sentiment was dry and using my embossing buddy over the cardstock, I used my stampamajig to help place the same stamp onto the Summer Sun cardstock so that it lined up with the one on the base and again used the clear embossing technique.

The final touch is tying the Mellow Moss tafetta ribbon around the top of the patterned paper before adhering it to the card front.

Don't forget to leave a comment and have your name entered into my July 15th draw!

Pretty Cute in Pink

Here's a little baby card I made while just playing around with ideas. I got a baby card from my dear friend Melanie and really liked the layout so I thought I'd give it a try. This one has a few retired items on it. If you like those, I'm sure you could find a substitute.



The base is on Very Vanilla cardstock. I started with a basic 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" card and cut it with my Fiskars paper cutter to make the shape of the sleeves and the angle of the sides of the shirt. I then used my 1-3/8" circle punch to punch the neck hole and the leg holes. The scalloped edges around the neck and legs was made by first punching a 1-3/8" circle out of pink patterned paper (this is a retired paper), then placing the scalloped circle punch over the hole that I made and punched again, resulting in a scalloped circle with a 1-3/8" hole in the middle. The scalloped "donuts" were then trimmed to size and adhered using a small amount of my Tombow adhesive. The pink gingham ribbon (retired) was tied in a bow and adhered with a small amount of Tombow as well.

Tip: When using SU's Tombow adhesive, be sure to use a small amount so that it will not ooze out from under what you've glued down. This glue remains sticky even when dry If any is left exposed, it will be sticky and collect dust and dirt. Drying sticky is handy however, when making sticky notes or other items that you wish to be removable or repositioned.

The image (retired stamp set called "Punches Three") was first stamped in Pretty in Pink on the shirt. Then I stamped the image again on a separate piece of Very Vanilla cardstock in Close to Cocoa ink and trimmed around the center part of the stamped image. This was placed over the first image with Stampin' Dimensionals for a bit of "pop".

Don't forget to leave a comment and get your name entered into my draw on July 15th!

Thank you notes.

Here's a simple little thank you note. I made a number of these as thank you cards for baby shower gifts I received. Many people gave money toward a Joovy stroller! I am so thankful!!


This is just a little 3x3 note made out of SU kraft cardstock. The Classic Stripes background stamp is stamped on the envelope in Pink Pirouette and on the kraft CS in Whisper White craft ink. Using the Scalloped Square, I punched the Pink Pirouette paper. I used the 1-1/4" square punch to punch out the white square and sponged the edges with Pretty in Pink ink. The heart is from my "Moose You" set (now retired) and was stamped in Pretty in Pink on Whisper White cardstock which I then punched out with my 3/4" square punch (unfortunately no longer available with SU). I love stampin' dimensionals and they are placed under the scallop square and the 3/4" square to add depth and interest to the cards.

Don't forget to leave a comment and have your name entered into a draw for July!

Too Long...

Well, it's been far too long since I last posted. Nothing has been unusual in my life to take me away from my blog, but life is simply ... busy. I deeply apologize for my absence and hope to post more regularly. However, I need a bit of encouragement. There are very few people who comment on my posts. A big thank you to those who have. I would love to hear more from all of you and know if you like what you see or if I should pack up and go home! LOL!

So, here's the deal. In the next three months I am going to do my best to post at least once per week. For every comment you make, your name will be put into a jar on my computer desk. You will only be counted once per posts. So even if you comment more than once (and bless you if you do), your name will be entered only once into my jar. So, please be sure to give me your name and an email (or check back on the draw date). On July 15th, I will draw a name and it might be yours to win ... A BRAND NEW CAR!!!

just kidding

Seriously, the winner will be sent a wonderful package of Stampin' Up! and non-Stampin' Up! crafting goodies for your comments.

Thank you for participating. And I will try to hold up my end of the bargain and keep on postin'.

"do, or do not. there is no try" - Master Yoda

Brayered Sunrise

This is a card I made using some of Michelle Zindorf's tutorial techniques. The brayer makes some beautiful backgrounds.

The base of the card is in Cool Caribbean (retired SU cardstock). I can't remember all of the colours I used to brayer (Apricot Appeal, More Mustard, Cool Caribbean, Really Rust, and Basic Black, I think). The moon was made by first brayering on some Apricot Appeal, then I punched out a circle with my 1-3/8" circle punch from a sticky note and used it as a mask where I wanted the moon to be while I continued to brayer the other colours. The leaves are from on of my favorite SU stamp sets, "Wonderful You", and the sentiment is from the "Heard from the Heart" stamp set.

The edges of the cardstock were sponged with Basic Black ink and I used my Mat Pack to paper pierce the left and top edges of the main image. I then used my white gel pen to connect the dots and make it appear stitched.

It's a fairly quick technique, using the brayer for the background, but it's very effective and creates a great WOW! factor on a card.

Have a look at Michelles tutorials and give them a try for yourself. If you don't have a brayer, you can achieve a similar look using sponges (although, it is more time consuming)

Back in July

Back in July I made this little gift for my Secret Sister. The swap that I was involved in was a 6 month commitment. Now that it's done and I have a new SS in a new swap, I can share some of the projects that I made for her without revealing my secret identity!! hehe.

The card layout is a favorite of mine. Simple and clean.

I made this card and a box for her as it was her anniversary that month. I knew she liked wine, so I made some little wine charms for her to use for guests to be able to identify their individual glasses of wine.


The charms were fun to make, but took quite a bit of time as I was unfamiliar with techniques used to make jewelry and I fussed a lot with my presentation. They could make fun earrings, too, if you don't mind mismatched ones!


This last photo turned sideways on me for some reason, but you can see how the charm rests around the stem of the glass. I would love to make more of these for myself...I just don't seem to have time.

If you have any questions about these projects, feel free to leave a comment.

Altered Coffee Break Tin

I covered this tin with some paper given to me at a Crazy Croppers event in Lake Country a couple of years ago. I always liked the paper, but ended up hoarding it instead of using it. It turned out beautifully on this tin.

The underside of the lid was stamped and decorated with SU products. Some of the stamps are long since retired, but I just found them on Ebay recently and was soooo excited!! I had my eye on them from about 3 years ago when the stamps were a level 3 hostess set (completely unattainable to me at the time).

I sent this full of little gifts to my Secret Sister in Calgary. Unfortunately, the post office delivered it, but it somehow did not end up in her hands. So annoying. I hope whoever did receive it enjoyed it as much as I think my SS would have!



These tins are really nice to cover as the front buckle and the handle are removable. No fancy moves required to fit your paper around them!

If you'd like to know more about this project, feel free to leave a comment/question.