Another Happy Card

I told you that you'd see this layout again!  In fact, this card came before the one I shared earlier.  I totally CASED this from my friend Bonnie.  I LOVED what she did - I just changed the colors and a few minor details.

 

This picture really shows off the Specialty Designer Paper with pre-embossed designs.  I just sponged over the designs in the color I wanted to use.  Easy Peasy!

 

Season of Peace Card

Merry Christmas!  

This was a difficult card to photograph, but I think you can get the idea.  I embossed the snowflakes and then sponged and stamped over them.  Easy and beautiful. 

  

Good as Gold

I'll be honest.  When I first saw the Good as Gold kit in the Sale-a-bration catalog, I thought 'What am I gonna do with that?'  After I attended Leadership and saw samples of the cards I started to warm up to the kit.  A little.  Then I started seeing samples that were 'outside of the box' and showed smart ways to use these products for anything but their intended purpose.  Now they're talking my language!  So, I took the plunge, got the kit and made these fun and super simple cards.  I was inspired by this card.  I love the splash of sparkling gold. 

The 'Designer Paper' I used is actually the card bases that come in the kit.  I cut them in half and mounted them on cardstock.  So, instead of 8 cards that the kit is supposed to make, I can get twice that amount by adding just a bit of extra cardstock!  Yippee! And all of this with a kit I got for FREE with a $50 order.  Double Yippee! 

Note:  I cut apart the gold envelope liners to make the background layer for the sentiment tag.  The gold star and gold ribbon are also included in the kit.  

  

Enjoy!

 

Cardstock:  Whisper White, Island Indigo, Good as Gold Kit (SAB)

Ink:  Island Indigo

Stamps:  Sassy Salutations

Punches:  Scalloped Tag Topper Punch

You Make Me Happy...

I sing 'You are my Sunshine' to my daughter every night before she goes to sleep so when this stamp set came out it was a MUST have for my collection.  Then, I came across THIS card and had to CASE it.  The only thing I changed was adding some texture to the Whisper White layer.  Otherwise I left it alone.  Why mess with a good thing, right?

 

Cardstock:  Summer Starfruit, Pool Party, Whisper White, Sweet Sorbet DSP (SAB)

Ink:  Black Staz-On

Stamps:  See Ya Later (SAB)

Accessories:  Big Shot, Deco Labels Collection Framelits, Decorative Dots Embossing Folder (SAB), Summer Starfruit Twine (Sweet Sorbet Accessory Pack - SAB)

Sweet Sorbet meets Scalloped Tag Topper Punch

 

After having such a hard time using the color Crisp Cantaloupe in cards, I'm starting to warm up to this color!  Using the Sweet Sorbet Designer Paper makes it so much easier to find coordinating colors that look great together.  I've seen this style of card using the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch all over the internet, but it wasn't until I watched this video that I decided to give it a whirl.  I was also inspired by this lovely card. 

The colors in this Designer Series Paper (DSP) are really pretty together and make creating a beautiful card easy!  I'm thinking this is a great card for the Splitcoaststampers Creative Crew Challenge for March:

• CCREW0314DF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM-- DSP/Color Focus: Make us fall in love with your favorite DSP! You can use any current DSP from the annual, Occasions, or Sale-A-Bration catalogs!

Get your package of Sweet Sorbet DSP for FREE during Sale-a-bration (SAB)!  Choose any of the exclusive SAB products with each $50 purchase through March 31. 

Cardstock:  Pool Party, Whisper White, Basic Black, Sweet Sorbet DSP (SAB)

Ink:  Crisp Cantaloupe, Black Staz-On

Stamps:  Petite Pairs, Petal Parade (SAB)

Accessories:  Crisp Cantaloupe Twine (Sweet Sorbet Accessory Pack - SAB)

Punches:  Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, 1-3/4" Scallop Circle, 1-1/4" Circle, 1-3/8" Circle

Bright & Cheery 'Window' Card

I finally dusted off some colors that I hadn't played with before.  The newest In Colors are a bit of a challenge for me to use so I dared myself to find a way to use the color Crisp Cantaloupe.  Thanks to my handy Color Coach, I saw the combination of Soft Suede and Crisp Cantaloupe that I knew I could work with.  I combined these colors with the one of the Splitcoaststampers Creative Crew Challenges for February.

• CCREW0214CF - Catalog focus: punches!
  Stampin'Up! has so many great punches that make our cardmaking that much more fun. Use a punch or punches to create a window card.

Now a 'window' card can be interpreted MANY different ways, but since I'd recently come across a card in my craft room that I'd made a LONG time ago with the same layout, I decided to go with this kind of window card.
I have to admit, it bothers me that the flowers are not centered (perfectionist, I know) but it was intentional.  Actually, I was hoping they'd be more random on the squares, but I went with what I got.   I'm happy I dusted off the Crisp Cantaloupe...finally. 

Cardstock: Crisp Cantaloupe, Soft Suede, Whisper White

Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe, Soft Suede

Stamps: Secret Garden Express Yourself

Accessories:  Big Shot, Squares Collection Framelits Dies, Whisper White 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon

Punches: Punch Pack

Stampin' Up! Language of Love Valentine

 

I always get inspired by looking at other people's cards.  I'm not sure how I came upon this card, but I loved the look AND the layout.   I figured it was the perfect time to ink up one of the new stamps sets that I received at the Stampin' Up! Leadership Conference last month - Language of Love.  This was also a great card for my card classes to do - it's easy to duplicate.  

Not only is this a great Valentine's Day Card, but this card also fits in with one of the Splitcoaststampers Creative Crew Challenges for February.

• CCREW0214SF- Scrapbook and More Focus: Random Acts of Kindness Day is February 17.   Send a RAK to someone this month after you share it with us. This can be anything!

I think this fits!  What do you think? 

 

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Champagne Glimmer Paper

Ink: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler

Stamps: Language of Love, Gorgeous Grunge, Express Yourself

Accessories:  Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Season of Style Washi Tape

Punches: Full Heart, Heart (retired), Banner Punch (SAB), 1-1/4" Scallop Circle Punch

 

Beautiful and Easy Butterflies - Part 2

I took the card I posted yesterday and changed up the colors to make this bright and cheery card. 

The colors I used were inspired by one of the Splitcoaststampers Creative Crew Challenge for February.

• (CCREW0214DF):  DSP/Color Focus: Watercolor Wonder designer papers or the colors: crushed curry, daffodil delight, gumball green, island indigo, smoky slate, tangerine tango and whisper white.

 Aren't these cards fun?  I love the way they both came out!  Which one is your favorite? 

 

Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo, Whisper White, Vellum

Ink: Smoky Slate, Island Indigo

Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Sweet Sentiments

Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Rhinestones 

Punches: Elegant Butterfly Punch, Bitty Butterfly Punch

Beautiful & Easy Butterflies

I've had a busy few weeks, but I'm back with some great projects!  I still need to share some goodies from Leadership, so stay tuned for that. 

In the mean time, I'm going to share a card we did recently at my monthly Just Cards Class.  We make 3 each of 3 designs, and this was one of the designs.  I knew the second I saw this card that I would CASE it.  I was immediately drawn to the card and the ladies at my class loved making it.  It's beautiful yet simple and any sentiment would work. 
I love this card so much, that I made it in another color combination.  Come back tomorrow to see that version!
 ~Enjoy!

Cardstock: Calypso Coral, Island Indigo, Whisper White, Vellum

Ink: Pool Party, Calypso Coral

Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Sweet Sentiments

Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Rhinestones 

Punches: Elegant Butterfly Punch, Bitty Butterfly Punch

Triple Time Stamping - Fall Card

It's finally getting cold enough here for the leaves to start falling.  Our backyard has a blanket of leaves and my daughter can't wait to make piles to jump into.

This card is perfect for this time of year.  I made it last year and I haven't shared it, but I still think it is SO pretty!  And it's SO much easier than it looks.  I used the directions/measurements found here. 

 

Cardstock: Midnight Muse, Very Vanilla

Ink: Midnight Muse, More Mustard

Stamps: Gently Falling, Petite Pairs
Punches: Large Oval, Scallop Oval
Accessories: Midnight Muse 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon

Tags 4 You Halloween File Card

Oh man!  This card was FUN and EASY.  I finally got to play with my new Envelope Punch Board.  I have seen so many of the file cards & Halloween cards online, so I mixed them all together and this is what I came up with.  I used the video tutorial from Patty Bennet for the file part of the card.  Then, I mixed a little of this and a little of that and BAM, I had my card.  But it was missing something, so I added some splatters in the background.  Exactly what it needed!  

Can you see the spiders' bodies?  They're rhinestones colored with a Black Sharpie! 

Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Summer Starfruit, Witches' Brew DSP

Ink: Black StazOn

Stamps: Tags 4 You, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Gorgeous Grunge
Accessories:  Envelope Punch Board, Rhinestones, Witches' Brew Designer Washi Tape
Punches:  Label Bracket, Modern Label
Other: Black Sharpie

Thoughts & Prayers - Thinking of You Card

I guess I'm on a purple kick these days!  It IS my favorite color, after all, so I guess it's OK to use it a lot.  I chose Perfect Plum for this card because it's such a soothing color.  (At least for me!)

   

The idea for this card came from here.   Dawn used her clear block to stamp the background, but since I never seem to like the way it looks when I do it, I decided to make a stencil and sponge the background.  I cut out a separate piece of cardstock the same size as the Whisper White piece and after placing the Window Frame right where I wanted, I used my Big Shot to cut it out.  Then I just had to align this stencil with my Whisper White piece and sponge away! 

I love that this card was easy to make yet has so much dimension to it.  I hope you like my take on this card!

 ~Enjoy!

Cardstock: Perfect Plum, Whisper White

Ink: Perfect Plum, Black StazOn

Stamps: Thoughts & Prayers
Accessories:  Big Shot, Window Frames Framelits, Whisper White Baker's Twine, Basic Pearls, Sponges, Stamp-a-ma-jig
Punches: Elegant Butterfly

Bring On The Cake Masculine Card

 Masculine cards are always a challenge for me so when a hostess asked for simple masculine cards I went to two of my favorite places - my Color Coach and the cleanandsimplestamping website where I can always find a sketch that I'd like to try. 

For my card, I used this sketch

I also added a bit based on a Make & Take we did at Convention where we got and used the Gorgeous Grunge set.  Using this set is really liberating for a perfectionist type like myself! Nothing has to be perfect and it always looks great!  :)

The color combination I found that would work well for a masculine cards was:  Crumb Cake, Cajun Craze & Garden Green.  Crumb Cake's dynamic duo is Chocolate Chip.  

I have to say that I made a boo boo on this card, though, and I didn't realize it until I was putting my supplies away.  Although I stamped the 'Wish Big' sentiment in Chocolate Chip, the strip on the left side of the card is actually Early Espresso.  I knew something was wrong the second I put the card together because something just did NOT look right and I couldn't figure it out.  Until I put my supplies away.  Oh well!

~Enjoy!

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip

Ink: Crumb Cake (stamp off), Cajun Craze (stamp off), Garden Green (stamp off), Chocolate Chip

Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Bring on the Cake

 

Multi-Embossed Card

 

This is one of my new favorite cards.  It's actually a combination of this card and this card with my own twist.  This card worked out great for my card classes since we make 3 of each design.  I had a larger piece of each color that we embossed and THEN cut it into thirds which made one strip for each card.  The cards came together quickly after that.   

I can't wait to try other color combinations and different embossing folders!  

Cardstock: Whisper White, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Baja Breeze

Ink: Soft Suede

Stamps: Express Yourself (Hostess Set)
Accessories:  Big Shot, Modern Mosaic Embossing Folder, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Beautifully Baroque Embossing Folder, Silver Mini Brads
Punches:  Boho Blossoms, Itty Bitty Shapes (flower)

Elegant Buttefly Punch Card

So, what do you think about the colors used here? I was inspired by the design of these cards and really wanted to use some of my Strawberry Slush In-Color DSP.  I just wasn't sure what to pair it with so, again, I pulled out my Color Coach to see what it suggested.  The result: Strawberry Slush, Rich Razzleberry, and Sahara Sand.  At first, I wasn't sure about the colors, but as this card set on my counter for a few days, it really grew on me.  It was an easy card to make and I'm really happy how it came out!

What do you think?   

Tip:  I used a 2-1/2" X 5-1/2" piece of Whisper White cardstock.  It seemed to be the right size to be able to center the butterflies with equal room on top and bottom.  I punched the middle butterfly first with the cardstock pushed all the way against the punch.  Then, while holding the punch upside down, I looked for the already punched butterfly and moved just a tad to either side (still pushing the cardstock all the way against the punch - this keeps the butterflies lined up going across).  

Hope that makes at least a little bit of sense!  Try it and let me know if you  have questions!

 ~Enjoy!

Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, In Color DSP (Strawberry Slush)

Ink: Strawberry Slush

Stamps: Express Yourself (Hostess Set)
Accessories:  Elegant Butterfly Punch, Modern Label Punch, Pearl Basic Jewels

Christmas in July - Snow Festival Christmas Card Class

 

I don't know about you, but I get totally involved in making gifts for Christmas.  I usually have so many projects going through the holiday season.  Most are getting finished up in the last days (& hours) before Christmas, so I don't get a chance to share them.  I kinda feel that posting all these projects in January is too late, so I thought I'd try something different this year.  I'm celebrating Christmas in July!!!

 

For starters, these are the cards we did for my Annual Christmas Card Class this year.  I totally fell in love with the idea HERE and pretty much copied it.  Why mess with a good thing, right?  As for the class, the stamp set Greetings of the Season & a pack of Snow Festival Designer Printed Tags were included in the fee and the ladies made 25 cards.  I supplied the white card bases and the coordinating backgrounds.  I had a stack of 1" strips of the same background colors along with with coordinating ink pads available and put out all of my embossing folders.  I let the ladies choose the background, the greeting, the ink color and the embossing folder.  They had a blast & everyone's cards were different.  It went surprisingly fast, too. 

Let me know if you'd like to get an invitation to this year's Christmas Card Class!

Cardstock: Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green, Primrose Petals, Soft Suede

Ink: Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green, Primrose Petals, Soft Suede
Stamps: Greetings of the Season
Accessories:  Snow Festival Designer Printed Tags (Holiday Catalog 2012), Big Shot, Embossing Folders (various)

Lovin' the Washi Tape

Here's another card we did at my May card class that focused on Masculine type cards.  Of course, with the Curly Cute sentiment, it's not quite so manly, but I like the look anyway.  I considered using Crumb Cake instead of the Calypso Coral for the card base.  I may still try that look...

This was NOT a fan favorite at the class, though.  Making the banners on the baker's twine was tricky for some of the ladies.  We folded the Washi Tape over the twine and then made the banner edges.  I did not have that much trouble, but the ladies in my class got a little frustrated.  :(

The idea for the card came from here.

The Washi Tape is definitely a fun new addition to the Stampin' Up! catalog!  

 

Cardstock: Calypso Coral, Basic Black, Whisper White

Ink: Calypso Coral
Stamps: Curly Cute
Accessories:  Epic Day This and That Designer Washi Tape

It's about time...

Well, I'm finally back from a CRAZY month of May.  The end of school and the beginning of summer just came and went in a flash.  I cannot believe it is already the middle of June.  What in the...?

I've been busy with life, but I HAVE been crafting.  I hope to share some of the things I've done in the last few weeks over the next few days.

I had a card class in May and we focused on masculine cards.  They are always the hardest for me to make.  This card was inspired by one found here - I simplified it a bit.  I was intrigued by the color combination.  The Island Indigo looks awesome in real life.  Of course the sentiment can be switched out.  This was a favorite of the class.  It is so quick & easy to make - just tear the Washi Tape!

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Island Indigo

Ink: Island Indigo
Stamps: Something to Celebrate (Retired Hostess set) 
Accessories:  Epic Day This and That Designer Washi Tape

 

Oh, Hello Spring Card

Here's a bright Spring card I made using some goodies that I received and WON at the Stampin' Up! Leadership Conference.  For attending, we all received the stamp set Oh, Hello. 

 

I was excited to use the 5/8" Flower Trim, too, since we learned how to die it different colors (it comes in Vanilla) using a sponge dauber and an ink pad.  I was also excited to use it since I WON a package from the Prize Patrol at Leadership!  Yay!

Cardstock:  Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo, Whisper White

Ink: Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo
Stamps:  Oh, Hello
Accessories: Big Shot, Labels Collection Framelits, Vine Street Embossing Folder (SAB 2013), 5/8" Flower Trim
Misc: Sponge Dauber