Hardwood Father's Day Card

I know, I know, Father's Day was in June.  Somehow I missed posting this, and even though we've long passed Father's Day, I still wanted to share it.  Plus, I have the best dad in the whole world, so there's nothing wrong with a card that makes me think of him, even in August.

This card uses the Hardwood background stamp, which I LOVE.  I also used the Woodgrain embossing folder for the strip of paper going across the card.  Yes, I love any product with any kind of woodgrain on it!

After stamping the tree from Thoughts & Prayers, I cut it out using the Labels Framelits Collection and my Big Shot, then sponged around the edges of it and the smaller label with Soft Suede.  I topped it off with some Linen Thread, and that's it.  Easy-peasy!


Supplies
Stamps:  Thoughts & Prayers, All Year Cheer, Hardwood
Ink:  Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, and Ivory Naturals
Accessories:  Big Shot, Labels Collection Framelits, Linen Thread, Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Sponge

Apothecary Art Birthday

Happy February!  I have a few more birthday cards to show off this week.  This one is very different than most cards I make, but still lovely. 

Tips & Tricks

• Aquapainters are always my tool of choice when water coloring.  They just make it so easy.  Squeeze the lid of a closed ink pad, then dip the Aquapainter in the ink that transfers to the inside of the lid.  It makes painting so easy!

• Don't forget to distress!  I think that's what gives this card just the right finishing touch.  I used Crumb Cake ink to lightly sponge around the edges of the center element.  When ordering sponges, they come in a pack of three.  You should then cut each one into four quarters.  They will be much easier to manage and you'll actually end up with 12 sponges!

Supplies

Stamps:  Apothecary Art
Ink:  Calypso Coral, So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz, and Crumb Cake Classic Ink, StazOn Black Ink
Paper:  Calypso Coral and Naturals White card stock
Accessories:  Big Shot, Labels Collection Framelits, Fancy Fan Embossing Folder, Aquapainters, Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon, Sponge

Button Buddies Birthday

This is a card for a very special girl, who turned 14 yesterday.  I've known her since she was two, and it's hard for me to believe that she's really as old as she is.  I gave a similar card to her mom a few months ago, and it's still hanging on their refrigerator.  A little birdie told me that she frequently looks at the card and comments on how she wished it was hers.  So I made one that's not a duplicate, but is similar, and hopefully she loves it. 

Tips & Tricks

• Paper piercing adds a lovely "finishing" touch to a card element, and I love that the Festive Paper Piercing Pack coordinates with Labels Framelits.  The holes are spaced perfectly, and there's no guesswork involved!

• Don't forget the most basic of stamping techniques...using markers directly on the rubber of your stamps.  This is how I created the Rich Razzleberry vase with the Old Olive stems sticking out.  Don't forget to breathe on the stamp before stamping to moisten the ink!

Supplies

Stamps:  Button Buddies and A Little Birthday
Ink:  Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive Classic Ink, Whisper White Craft Ink
Paper:  Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, and Whisper White card stock, Summer Smooches Designer Series Paper
Accessories:  Big Shot, Labels Collection Framelits, Festive Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Piercing Tool and Mat, Daffodil Delight Taffeta Ribbon, Buttons, White Baker's Twine

Christmas Stamp-a-Stack Card {Ornament Keepsakes)

This card is one from my Christmas Card Stamp-a-Stack this past weekend.  This card is elegant, yet very simple, and is an easy one to mass produce.  The combination of sponging, Linen Thread, and the color choices of Naturals Ivory, Always Artichoke, and Cherry Cobbler give this card a very vintage look.

Tips & Tricks

• Since the Pretty Print Embossing Folder tends to weaken the card stock a bit, I find that it's easier to sponge the edges of that piece before it makes a trip through the Big Shot.  The sponging that's done on top of the embossed image will need to wait until after, though.

• Love the look of banners?  They are a great way to use up scraps.  There's no need to cut a strip of card stock the full width as shown here.  Simply snip the banner ends of a small scrap and tuck it behind the image.  No one needs to know that the card stock doesn't extend the full way across!

Supplies

Stamps:  Ornament Keepsakes, French Script (retired, but En Francais is a perfect substitute!)
Ink:  Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke, and Crumb Cake Classic Ink
Paper:   Naturals Ivory, Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke, and Cherry Cobbler card stock
Accessories:  Big Shot, Pretty Print Embossing Folder, Holiday Ornaments Framelits, Labels Collection Framelits, Sponge

Truly Grateful Woodgrain Card

It has definitely turned to fall here this week, but instead of crisp days and pretty leaves, we have rain.  But even the rain has put me in the mood to make woodsy, fall cards.  Today's card is full of texture, which I always love on a card!  It also combines the rustic with a bit of elegance.

Tips & Tricks

• To make the woodgrain pop out a bit on the background, I lightly sponged some crumb cake on all the raised areas that the Woodgrain Embossing Folder made.  It would have looked fine if I had just left the whole piece an uninked Very Vanilla, but this adds more interest.

• The fastest way I know of to add texture to a card is to tear some of the cardstock.  It's easy to do, requires no special tools, and is nearly impossible to do wrong.  The largest piece of torn card stock just happens to be textured card stock, adding even more, well, texture. :)

• Paper-piercing is easier than ever with the Paper-Piercing Packs that Stampin' Up! introduced in last year's catalog.  The templates match so many different Framelits sets, including the Labels Collection that I used here. 

• I'm not the world's best water-colorer, but I do like to include that look on a card from time to time.  I was going for a very subtle, soft look with these acorns, so I didn't worry about using watercolor paper.  Very Vanilla worked just fine, and blurred the perfect amount with a very light touch on my aquapainter.  In this case, less is more when it comes to water!

Supplies

Stamps:  Truly Grateful
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Baked Brown Sugar, and Really Rust
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Baked Brown Sugar, and Really Rust card stock
Accessories:  Big Shot, Labels Collection Framelits, Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Paper-Piercing Tool, Mat, and Festive Pack, Sponge, Aquapainter, Linen Thread

Yippee-Skippee {Label Card Thinlit}

I just can't get enough of these Thinlit dies...flip cards are so much fun to make!  This one features Sweater Weather Designer Series Paper.  If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, I loooove plaid!  I think the Crushed Curry plain in this pack of DSP is my favorite. 


Tips & Tricks

• I made this card using the Label Card Thinlit Die.  Use the coordinating Labels Collection Framelits along with it to create additional layers.  They're a perfect match!

• When dying the Simply Pressed Clay, don't forget the gloves!  Of course, if you enjoy walking around with stained fingers, feel free to ignore my advice. :) 

Supplies

Stamps:  Yippee-Skippee
Ink:  Chocolate Chip and Crushed Curry Classic Ink, Tangerine Tango and Chocolate Chip ink refills
Paper:  Sweater Weather DSP, Very Vanilla card stock
Accessories:  Simply Pressed Clay and Molds, Linen Thread, Big Shot, Label Card Thinlit Die, Labels Collection Framelits, Magnetic Platform (!), Sponge

{Retiring} Lovely Letters

Finally...something to show.  I made this set of cards for my friend's sister and her husband-to-be.  They are getting married tomorrow, and since she was in middle school when I met her (I met this friend on the second day of my freshman year of college), I just wanted to do a little something for her to celebrate her marriage. 

I love the simplicity of these cards.  I always feel that simple is best when using a monogram.  And I also wanted these to be used for whatever purpose Sheri decides on...I didn't want to make them have to be thank you notes.  Using my Big Shot and accessories, I was able to create these simple, yet elegant monogrammed note cards.  I even monogrammed the envelopes.

In other news, the 2013-2014 Annual Catalog is now live!  Let me know if you'd like a catalog, or if you'd like to place an order for all kinds of fun new things!

I'm hoping to be back to a regular blogging schedule next week.  I know it's not good blogging practice to let over a week go by without any real updates, but life has dealt our family a series of pretty tough blows over the past 8 days, and honestly, it's knocked all the creative winds out of my sails.   So I promise that fun posts will start showing up again in a few days. :)

Thoughts & Prayers

I seem to have a lot of cards featuring that fun clear block technique.  I hope no one minds...at least you'll get to see lots of variety using this technique!  For this one, I stamped the top half of the block with Baja Breeze (sniff, sniff, goodbye...) and the bottom half with Crumb Cake.  I just stamped with the pad right onto the block.  Then I spritzed it with a mixture of Champagne Shimmer Paint (again, sniff, sniff, farewell...) and alcohol.  It has such a light sparkle to it.  Unfortunately, it doesn't show up in the picture very well.  Trust me, it's gorgeous!  Then I simply stamped the flowers from Thoughts & Prayers in Early Espresso, and put just a dab of Dazzling Details on each flower.  Yes, more sparkle.  It's so pretty.  Yet another very simple card with lots of wow.  Have you tried this technique yet?

Stamps:  Thoughts & Prayers (113252)
Ink:  Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake (126975), and Early Espresso (126974)
Paper:  Baja Breeze, Naturals White (102316), and Crumb Cake (120953)
Accessories:  Early Espresso 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon (119959), Labels Collection Framelits (125598), Big Shot (113439), Stampin' Spritzer (126185), Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint (116806)

Just Believe

This is a special card, because I made it for a special person. :)  My friend asked me to make some cards for her, and when she does that, I almost always go with her favorite color, purple.  She specifically mentioned including some kind of plants as well as some sort of insects.  The butterfly choice was a no-brainer, and it took me all of about two seconds to decide on using the Just Believe set, one of my absolute favorites.

There are several layers to this card, staring with a base of Naturals Ivory, followed by a layer of Perfect Plum, embossed with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder.  The next layer uses a veeeeeery old background stamp that is very similar to En Francais, so let's pretend that's what I used. :)  Next is a piece of Very Vanilla, stamped with the gorgeous flower image from this set.  It's not really showing up well in the picture, but I sponged the edges with Always Artichoke.  Then to top it all off, is that one lovely little butterfly from Papillion Potpourri, stamped in Elegant Eggplant on Perfect Plum cardstock and punched out with the new Bitty Butterfly punch.  The finishing touches include the Always Artichoke seam binding ribbon and the the Dazzling Details glitter adhesive in the centers of the flowers.

Stamps:  Just Believe (116948), Papillion Potpourri (123757)
Ink:  Elegant Eggplant Classic Ink (126969), Always Artichoke (119701), Perfect Plum (119700), and Elegant Eggplant (119701) Stampin' Around Markers
Paper:  Elegant Eggplant (105126), Perfect Plum (101889), Naturals Ivory (101849), and Very Vanilla (101650) card stock
Accessories:  Always Artichoke Seam Binding Ribbon (121000), Dazzling Details (124117), Big Shot (113439), Square Lattice Embossing Folder (119976), Labels Collection Framelits (125598), Bitty Butterfly Punch (129406)

Button Buddies

Please excuse the horrible photography!  I was in a rush and thought it would be better to post something rather than wait for a good picture.  It's hard getting back into the routine of school, and we aren't even doing every subject yet!  But this year is all about making my 5th grader far more independent, so hopefully my days won't seem quite as busy once she's doing more of her work on her own.  At least I hope that's the case.  I'm probably fooling myself.

Anyway, this is a little 4"x4" card that uses the set Button Buddies.  I've had my eye on this set since it came out last year, and while I always thought it was cute, I just couldn't seem to bring myself to buy it.  But I finally caved in, and I'm having lots of fun playing with this set.  You can expect to see lots of cards featuring this set.  It's very cute, and I like how our buttons coordinate with each image.

This one is probably my least favorite of them all, but I thought it would look great with the Summer Smooches DSP.  Well, that and the fact that I only have Brights Buttons in my drawer right now, and I wanted the paper and buttons to coordinate! :)  The buttons add a little extra to the card, and often that's all it takes to take the card from nice to wow.

Stamps:  Button Buddies, Itty Bitty Banners

Ink:  Island Indigo and Lucky Limeade Classic ink

Paper:  Island Indigo, Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade, and Whisper White card stock, Summer Smooches DSP

Accessories:  Chevron embossing folder, Labels Collection Framelits, Bitty Banners Framelits, Brights Buttons, Linen Thread, sponge

Pretty Buttlerflies

One of the sets I got during Sale-a-Bration was Kindness Matters.  I'm not sure how I passed by it so many times, and I'm stunned that it didn't retire.  These little butterflies are perfect for watercoloring, so I got out my aquapainters and went to town.  I used Crumb Cake, Perfect Plum, and Elegant Eggplant for the butterflies, and added in some Always Artichoke on the flowers.  I kind of wish I had worked in some Elegant Eggplant card stock somewhere...I think that one extra color is what this card is missing.  And I should have sponged over the embossed flowers a bit, too (and yes, that's a retired embossing folder I used here...oops!)  Can you tell I'm not crazy about this card?  I think it has potential, but it just missed the mark.  I might have to try again on this one, but I at least wanted to share it!

Stamps:  Kindness Matters, Apothecary Art

Ink: Whisper White Craft Ink, Staz-On Black Ink, Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, Crumb Cake, and Always Artichoke Classic Ink Pads

Paper:  Perfect Plum, Crumb Cake, Always Artichoke, and Very Vanilla card stock

Accessories:  Labels Collection Framelits, Bitty Banners Framelits, Aquapainters, Stampin' Dimensionals, Crumb Cake and Always Artichoke Seam Binding Ribbon, Pearls, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool

Happy Card

So yeah, have you noticed there's a lot more stamping going on here than stitching?  I can't even get into the room where my sewing machine is right now.  It's become the room where everything gets stashed, including lots of yard sale stuff.  Hopefully I'll be sewing again soon.  In the mean time, I'm having lots of fun playing with my goodies from new catalog.

I know I've been stamping in Brights a lot lately, but they just make me happy!  I'm so glad that there are so many bright new DSP choices...Brights = happy (to me, at least!) and that's what I need right now.  And since my favorite color is blue, this is definitely a happy card for me!

Stamps:  Bright Blossoms, Best Dad Ever (sentiment)

Ink:  Pacific Point, Old Olive, VersaMark

Paper:  Pacific Point, Real Red, Daffodil Delight, and Whisper White card stock, Summer Smooches DSP

Accessories:  White embossing powder, Old Olive taffeta ribbon, Brights Buttons, White Baker's Twine, Labels Collection Framelits, Paper Piercer