Good Thoughts

Just got my new Thinlits Label Dies from Stampin' Up! Using them was like cutting butter; I can't wait to order the other set. This card was made using SUO products (of course).  I am entering it into the "Just Add Ink" JAI#177 Colour Challenge: Smoky Slate, Soft Sky,  Calypso Coral.  Stamps: Too Kind; Nature Walk; Embossing Folder: Lacy Brocade. I also used a tiny brad from the Subtles collection.

To participate in this challenge, jump on over: http://just-add-ink.blogspot.com/

Post Cards

Decorated Box (Closed)

Add caption

Box - Complete - Undecorated

Box - Assembled

Box - Scored.

This box is for Inspiration Challenge 401 - Michele Varian.  I was inspired by the Wooden Postcards found HERE.  I just ordered and received this Post Card stamp from Stampin' Up! and thought it to be perfect for this project.




Here is the box decorated and open.  I made extra Post Cards to go inside but I am not finished.  I will probably give this to my sister-in-law who is in Germany.  Maybe she will drop us an occasional line so that we will know what she is up to.




This is the box, closed, completed, and undecorated. All supplies are from Stampin' Up!

• Ink: Cherry Cobbler
• Card Stock: Cherry Cobbler, Naturals Ivory
• Ribbon: Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding
• Brads: Regals (Cherry Cobbler)
• Stamps: Post Card; Designer Typeset Photopolymer

Assemble the box using strong adhesive.

This is what the completed, undecorated box looks like open.

• 8 1/2" x 11" Card Stock
• Score at 1", 5", 6", and 10"
• Turn once and score 1" on each of the remaining ends (box will have a one-inch scored border all around)
• On the long side, cut on score lines up to the score line.

Just For You

I have not decided who I will send this card to.  I have made quite a few sympathy cards lately and it feels good to make a card without having a reason to... other than to enter a challenge (SUO; CC437; SC447, WT437).

I used today's sketch challenge (SC447), last Thursday's 'Ways to Use It' challenge (WT437), and Tuesday's color challenge (Baked Brown Sugar, Strawberry Slush, and Pistachio Pudding).  The dessert was to make your own DSP (CC437).  Here are the steps I took to make my DSP:

• Stamped the flower from the 'Mixed Bunch' set on Whisper White card stock in VersaMark Ink.
• Embossed with clear embossing powder.
• Sponged over sections using Baked Brown Sugar, Strawberry Slush, and Pistachio Pudding.

Products (All Products are from Stampin' Up!)(SUO)

• Embossing Folders: Square Lattice, Lacy Brocade
• Stamps: Mixed Bunch (Flower); Just Believe (Sentiment)
• Card Stock: Baked Brown Sugar, Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding, Whisper White (to make DSP)
• Ink:  Baked Brown Sugar, Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding, VersaMark
• Punch: Word Window; Blossom
• Antique Brads
• Ribbon: Whisper White dyed with Strawberry Slush dye ink pad

Exciting News

Stay tuned for some exciting news. I can't share it yet... Waiting until it is really official. Meanwhile I will just have to continue Stamping and Creating.

Hope

This is the second of two Get Well Cards that I am submitting for CC435 and SUO Challenge #74.  Click Here for more information on the other card.

I did not add as many embellishments to this card as I did on the Hidden Butterflies card.  I added the SU! Designer Clips to the sides of the stamped and cut-out image from the 'Everything Eleanor' stamp set. I decided not to add ribbon and butterflies to this card but I did tuck butterfly wings under each side of the circle punch with the sentiment.

Stamp Sets: Everything Eleanor; Silhouette Sentiments, With Gratitude, Papillon Potpourri 

Ink: Wisteria Wonder, Baked Brown Sugar, Crisp Cantaloupe, Very Vanilla
Paper: Wisteria Wonder, Baked Brown Sugar, Crisp Cantaloupe, Very Vanilla (Neutral)
Accessories: SU! Designer Clip, Half-Back Pearls (Large & Small), Scallop Punch, Circle Punches, Very Vanilla Ribbon, Butterfly Punch.

Hidden Butterflies

This is the first of two Get Well Cards that I am submitting for CC435 and SUO Challenge #74; the cards are very similar in nature because I doubled up on the embellishments as I stamped, water-colored, punched, and cut out the images.

SUO Challenge #74 was to make a Get Well card. CC435 (SCS) Challenge was to use Wisteria Wonder, Baked Brown Sugar, Crisp Cantaloupe,  Very Vanilla (Neutral), then add a pin or clip as a dessert option. I didn't have any pins so I used SU! designer clips. 

These cards are for sick friends.  I've sent ''Get Well' cards to both friends before but they are still 'under the weather' ... I want them to know that I am still thinking of them. I stamped 'Hope' in the bottom right corner as a reminder that there is always hope, regardless of the situation at-hand. 

It's hard for me to make a card that does not include ribbons and/or butterflies so I tucked both in on this card. You may have to look closely to find the butterflies because I used the same colors on them as on the flowers. I even tucked butterfly wings on each side of the oval with the sentiment.  I used the oval scallop punch and a SU! designer clip as the top left corner treatment; I knotted a piece of Very Vanilla ribbon and added it to the bottom right corner above the 'Hope' sentiment. 

Stamp Sets: Everything Eleanor; Silhouette Sentiments, With Gratitude, Papillon Potpourri 

Ink: Wisteria Wonder, Baked Brown Sugar, Crisp Cantaloupe, Very Vanilla
Paper: Wisteria Wonder, Baked Brown Sugar, Crisp Cantaloupe, Very Vanilla (Neutral)
Accessories: SU! Designer Clip, Half-Back Pearls (Large & Small), Scallop Punch, Circle Punches, Very Vanilla Ribbon, Butterfly Punch.

Little Angel

In making a card for my niece and her husband who are first-time parents, I was inspired by This Card.  I looked through all my Stampin' Up! stamps trying to find a suitable image of a baby but to no avail.  I settled for this stamp I bought from some company on the Internet a few years back .... wish I remembered the name of the company.  I also wish Stampin' Up! offered stamps with more realistic images of babies and children, but, since it doesn't, I periodically end up purchasing products from other companies.  The rest of the materials used are Stampin' Up! products.

 

Wish I could add this card to the SUO Gallery.

Happiest Birthday

SUO Challenge #74 – Favorite Stampin’ Up! Accessories.  
SCS challenge, WT435 (It's Not Hard to Use) I added six brads as my hardware on this card.

There are so many Stampin' Up! products that I love; it was really hard for me to make a decision as to which accessory was my favorite since it constantly changes. I needed to make a birthday card for a friend of mine and decided to start out with one of my favorite stamp sets, Apothecary Art.  One of the things I love about it is that it includes a birthday greeting and had an accompanying die in the Framelits Labels Collections.

I stamped the image on card stock vellum (another of my favorite accessories) and colored the flowers and leaves on the back of the vellum with Stampin' Write markers. Since I wanted a 'Window' effect over this image, I double-stacked my Stampin' Dimensionals on my panel before layering it over my vellum image to give added height. I stamped the butterflies with VersaMark ink, embossed with white detailed embossing powder, colored the backs of the butterflies with the Rich Razzleberry Stampin' Write marker, then punched them out. I added a half-back pearl to the center of three Boho Blossom punched flowers, then added a flower to the back of each butterfly with a glue dot.

Stamps: Papillon Potpourri , Apothecary Art

Card Stock: Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Vellum

DSP: Sycamore Street

Inks:  Black StazOn, VersaMark

Stampin' Write Markers: Rich Razzleberry, Wild Wasabi 

White Detailed Embossing Powder

Stampin' Dimensionals

Brads (Brights Collection 3/16")

Embossing Folders: Petals-a-Plenty, Textured Impressions

Dies: Adorning Accents Edgelits, Framelits Labels Collections

Punches: Bitty Butterfly, Elegant Butterfly, Boho Blossoms

Adhesives: Glue Dots, Snail

Since retirement, my friend and only I keep in touch with each other via birthday and Christmas cards with an added 'catch-up' letter included.  I do hope she likes her card.

NOEL ... Christmas in July

Lately I've been making a lot of Christmas cards and I am really getting in the mood to start my Christmas shopping. I've already started making a list of things to purchase (and make) for friends and family.   The CC434 Challenge falls right in line with my train of thought... Christmas in July. My card for this challenge is pretty simple... no sketch... I just free-formed it. 


Card Stock & Inks:  Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Gumball Green
Embossing Folder: Petals-a-Plenty
Stamps: Seasonal Sayings, Ornament Keepsakes (stamped on letters and corner of card
Cherry Cobbler Bakers Twine (untwisted Whisper White from Cherry Cobbler before tying to letters)

I used my Cherry Cobbler and Gumball Green Stampin' Write markers on the sentiment stamp and added it to the bottom left-hand corner of the Crumb Cake panel, then ran it through the Big Shot machine using the Petals-a-Plenty embossing folder.

For a 'Chipboard' effect of the letters, I cut each color of card stock to 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" (5 layers for each letter), stacked and glued them together, brayered over them to remove any air bubbles, then let them dry. I ran my heat gun over them a few seconds to make sure they were completely dry before running the stacks through the Big Shot machine with the die.

I used one of the ornament stamps from the Ornament Keepsakes stamp set to add interest to each letter.  I stamped each color of ink on the same color of letter (tone-on-tone).  The corner treatment is from one of the ornaments in the same stamp set.  I stamped it on Crumb Cake card stock in Cherry Cobbler, used one of the Ornament Keepsakes Framelets  to cut out the ornament, them used the corner punch to turn it into my corner treatment.

Courage

Our daughter is currently in Afghanistan and we miss her dearly. She had just returned from a tour of duty in Saudi Arabia this past November; we were really surprised (and disappointed) when she was given notice in January that she was slated for training in February for the Afghanistan deployment.  She had barely returned home. We are in the midst of getting together another CARE package for her and SUO Challenge #73 - Patriotic Projects was right on time.

Here is the card I made for this challenge.  I stamped the card with Midnight Muse dye ink and I wanted to add a bit of color to the image. Since water coloring was not an option, I pulled out my retired SU Stampin' Pastels to add a bit of color. Stamp sets: Courage; Service & Sacrifice. 

SUO Challenge 71 - Favorite Retiring Stamp Sets!

Thank you Design Team Members for selecting my card, Christmas in May, as one of the top three for this challenge. I really look forward to the new challenges as they are posted.

Unfortunately I was unable to enter the SUO Challenge #72 - Time for June Weddings! but I am looking forward to SUO Challenge #73 - Patriotic Projects!.  My daughter is currently deployed to Afghanistan and this is a challenge that is near and dear to my heart.  We send her mail and CARE packages on a regular basis and this gives me incentive to work on something special to send to her in celebration of 'Independence Day'.

 

Christmas in May

I am so sad to see this stamp set retire because  I think it is one of the more elegant Christmas stamps from Stampin' Up!  The SUO Challenge 71 - Favorite Retiring Stamp Sets was hard for me because there were several stamp sets that I really love.  I narrowed it down to two but this stamp set was the one I chose to use.

Stamp Set: Beautiful Season.
Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Vellum, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive.
Inks: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Black StazOn, Crumb Cake.
Ribbons: Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding.
Punches: Scallop Circle (corners); Modern Label.
Brads: Neutrals Assortment

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day.


This is my Mother's Day card for my Mother. She turned 93 this past March and we are so blessed to still have her with us. As I dressed for church this morning, I found myself wishing I had a red rose to wear. As a child growing up, my mother made sure each of her children wore a red rose on Mother's Day to signify life (if your mother was still alive, you wore a red rose, if your mother had passed on, you wore a white rose). She always wore a white rose since her mother passed away when she and her brothers were small children.


I needed a small container to place her gift in and made this Pillow Box. I wanted to coordinate it with her card so I used the color-washing technique on it after die-cutting it. I used one of the other framelits from the Secret Garden Framelets set and cut several flowers from SU! paper vellum and attached it to the front of the box.

Here are the two together


All supplies are from Stampin' Up!

Cardstock:Midnight Muse, Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Cardstock Vellum, Paper Vellum
Ink: Whisper White Pigment Ink, Midnight Muse Classic Ink, Signo Gel Pen
Embossing Folders: Finial Press, Square Lattice
Stamp Sets: Secret Garden, Field Flowers (Sentiment)
Other: Secret Garden Framelets, Stampin' Dimensionals, Half-Back Pears; Very Vanilla 5/8" Ribbon

Because I Care

I made this card for one of the ladies in the choir that I direct. She had brain surgery last week but is now home and doing well. The "SUO 68 - Just Stick to One Color, Please" challenge made it easy to breeze right through. I plan to get this card in the mail to her tomorrow. Now the only thing I need to do is decorate the envelope.

All products are from Stampin' Up!

Ink: Island Indigo; SU! Dazzling Details
Cardstock: Whisper White
Ribbon: Whisper White
Stamps: Blooming With Kindness; Papillon Potpourri; Because I Care

Happiest Birthday

Fluttering into Spring

I love butterflies... they are so graceful and they have such a soothing effect as they soar through the air.

Welcome, Spring

Since I was in a stamping mood, I completed these two cards that I started on two weeks ago.

Fluttering By

This is not only the last day of March... it is my birthday also... Happy Birthday to Me. I wanted to start out my new year doing something I have not done in a while... making a card. I was inspired by an entry on SCS and here is my take on the FS card.

All supplies are from Stampin' Up!

Card Stock:
Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Naturals Ivory

Stamps:
Decorate a Daisy, Swallowtail

Punches:
Scallop Trim Border
Scallop Trim Corner
Dotted Scallop Ribbon
1" Circle
1 1/4" Circle

Embossing Folder:
Lacy Brocade

Wintry Butterfly

Trying to a get a little stamping done. I am still in the process of getting my Craft Room settled.

Thank You

SCS Featured Stamper CASE.