Vintage Vanilla & Blushing Pink Bride All-Occasion Cards

These laser-cut cards were in the Stampin' Up! Occasions catalog a few years back and I finally opened the package!

This first one was embellished with Blushing Bride DSP and pleated ribbon as well as some Venetian Lace Crochet Trim.  I don't think it could get any more feminine if it tried!  I had to cut the card apart and trim it down a bit, then I used the die-cut panel as a card front and popped it up with lots of dimensionals.  I think the shadow of the die cut on the DSP creates lovely depth to this card, don't you?

This set of cards had some with floral die-cut hearts, and others with a lacy die-cut edge.   

I put a DSP behind the border with a pattern of Pretty in Pink and Chocolate Chip showing through the lace.  Inside there's a pattern of pink glitter on an ivory background.  The pink satin ribbon is held together with Fast Fuse, giving the front a little more interest and covering the seam between the papers on the inside.  One piece of ribbon goes all the way around the front of the card, then a second smaller piece is folded in half and adhered to line up with one edge.

I think you could use these cards for feminine birthdays, weddings or valentines; what would you use them for?

These cards were created for the Feminine Anything Goes Watercooler Challenge.  Check out the other great submissions here.

Monday / Friday Challenges

I combined the sketch from Mojo Monday 259 with the color combination from Fab Friday #2 to come up with this card.  I really love how it came out, maybe I should play along with more challenges!  I stuck to the sketch pretty well, but I goofed and used Summer Starfruit instead of So Saffron for the colors.

Stamps: Hello Doily, Curly Cute

Ink:  Basic Gray  Cardstock:  Sahara Sand, Basic Gray, Summer Starfruit

Embossing Folders:  Flower Garden, Delicate Designs

Tools:  Large Scallop Edgelit, Sizzix Big Shot

Embellishments: Stampin' Up! Antique Brad and Crochet Trim

Techniques:  Sponging, Dry Embossing 

To get the more intense look from the lace embossing folder, I rubbed an inkpad onto the raised side of the folder before I embossed.   Another tip when using a die cutting machine - always cut first, then emboss!

Handbags Helping Hearts

I wanted to make a donation to a local charity auction, and needed to make a paper purse large enough to fit A2 cards.  I scanned the interwebs, and found lots of things I liked, but none were quite what I was looking for.   My favorite simple design was at Mel Stampz, but her template was too small, so I created my own.

I used Stampin' Up!s Decorative Accents Edgelits to create the curve at the top, and the "leather" edging (yes, its Chocolate Chip cardstock)

So that you can still get the cards in and out, the handle has to be able to move, so I attached it with brads, SU! Antique, of course!  I thought about continuing the brown CS around the ends, but flowers  seemed prettier.   These are fabric ones I had leftover from the retired Pretties Kit, but the currently available Paper Daisies, as well as several Stampin' Up! dies or punches would work just as well.

If you would like me to put up a template or tutorial for this project, please let me know in the comments!

Update:  I am working on a tutorial, but I'm also working on some projects for a blog hop that starts Thursday and I have a crazy number of meetings and school activities this week.   Thanks for your patience!

Black Doily

I'm going to be so sad when Pool Party retires as a color next summer;  it looks smashing with so many other colors.  This is such a simple card, all the "Oooooh!" is in the pairing of the pale aqua with black.  

Stamps: Moving Forward 

Ink: Basic Black 

Cardstock: Pool Party, Island Indigo, Basic Black, Whisper White 

Tools: Modern Label, Word Window & Boho Blossoms punches, Paper Doily Die

Accessories: Basic Jewels Rhinestones, 2-way Glue Pen, Stampin' Dimensionals

All the colors of the bird-bow

Bird rainbow, birdbow?

My inspiration for today's bird card came from Lin at Sending Hugs.  I often see things on Pinterest that I love and think "I can so CASE that with all Stampin' Up! stuff!"   I used the bird stamp from Everything Eleanor and cut them out.   I wasn't loving them with any of my embossing folders, so I used the Lattice Die and cut a couple pieces of thick chipboard (cut through it like butter!) and then used them to dry-emboss the CS in the Big Shot with the Silicone Embossing Mat.  Because I had used such thick chipboard, this technique made holes in white CS, so I switched to Sahara Sand.  The sentiment is from Friendship Preserves and is die cut with the Window Frames Framelits, both from the 2012 Holiday catalog.   I used lots of In Color inks:  Rich Razzleberry, Marina Mist, Gumball Green, Summer Starfruit, Calypso Coral and Primrose Petals.

Thanks for stopping by!    More birds  Here!

For the Birds

Thanks to a dear friend who loves cards and birds, I'm hopping back into blogging with a series of posts with projects featuring birds  (see here).   OK, I love birds, too, which is why I just had to get the new stamp set, For the Birds, as one of my first purchases from the new 2012-2013 Annual Catalog.  A great all-purpose set with sweet bird images and coordinating sentiments for a variety of occasions.

RANDOM HEALTH TIP:  Coloring with markers may reduce blood pressure!  I brought some Stampin' Write Markers and stamped images to my last Dr. appointment and colored while I was waiting, and both my blood pressure numbers were about 10 points lower than usual.

I made a dozen of these for a swap, so I experimented with different ways of coloring the flowers, and with different combinations of embellishments and piercing.  I forgot to take a picture of one without any self-adhesive rhinestones, but I'm not sure which I liked best.  How about you?

Stamp set:  For the Birds   
Ink:  Basic Gray 
Cardstock:  Whisper White, So Saffron, Certainly Celery
Tools: Festival Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Piercing Tool and Mat,  2 1/2" circle punch,  Delicate Designs embossing folder, Window Frames Framelit
Accessories:  Basic Jewels Rhinestones, Stampin' Dimensionals
Stampin Write Markers:  Baja Breeze, Daffodil Delight, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Pink Pirouette, More Mustard, Perfect Plum, Regal Rose

Stampin' Llamas Summer Blog Hop

Hope you're enjoying all the creations of my lovely sister llamas from the brand spanking new 2012-2013 Stampin' Up! catalog.   If you're following around, you arrived here from Buffy's lovely blog.   The link to the next stop on the hop is at the bottom of this post.


Masculine teacher card  -  Here in NY, we still have one more week of school, so I'm just starting on the teacher thank you projects.  This card really seems to me to need another little layer or a few brads somewhere, but I'm stumped... any ideas?

Bus from Every Little Bit stamped in Crumb Cake on Crumb Cake cardstock, except for one stamped in Early Espresso and colored with pencils.  Sentiment from Pursuit of Happiness stamped in Real Red on Very Vanilla, matted on Early Espresso and popped up with dimensionals.  Inside stamped Thank You from the Curly Cute stamp set.  

Hello Doily In-Color Rainbow card  - I've been seeing so many rainbow-themed cards lately I just had to try one!   What do you think?

I started by heat embossing Hello Doily with clear powder onto Whisper White.   Starting at the center of the doily, I sponged with Primrose Petals, So Saffron, Pool Party, Marina Mist and Midnight Muse inks.   Flowers from Language of Friendship are stamped in Primrose Petals on matching CS, and punched with the coordinating Boho Blossoms punch - really like how the stamp gives dimension to the punched flowers.   I loved the sentiment in this set, as well, so I stamped it in Midnight Muse onto Whisper White and used Stampin' Up!'s largest oval punch, layered it onto a Decorative Label punched from Midnight Muse.   Mounted the whole shebang onto a So Saffron card base.   Stampin' Up! super-duper glue stick, glue dots and dimensionals hold the whole thing together.

Father's Day (or masculine birthday) card - Created this for my handy father.  Can you see the subtle variations in the texture of the green layer?   Click on the smaller pics to see it close up.     I CASEd another llama for my father-in-law's card which you can see here.   

Every Little Bit has a stamp for, well, everything!   I used it again to make the monochromatic hammer and nails background on this card for my dad.   Don't know if you can see it in this pic, but I experimented with the layer of Always Artichoke CS;  I put it in the stripes embossing folder and instead of running it thru the Big Shot, I pressed down on it kinda randomly with my hands.   I was hoping for irregular faded texture, which I got.  The heart is Rich Razzleberry sponged with Crumb Cake (that sounds like a pretty good dessert!).   I LOVE the Family Reunion set, I'll be using it for scrapbooks and cards - such a great and versatile set.  I used it to stamp dad in Always Artichoke, punched out with Modern Label, embellished with Vintage Trinkets (such cute teeny tiny metal button brads) and attached with lots of dimensionals.   

Click here to go to the next stop on the hop: Debbie's Clever and Cute blog!

Goodbye Fine Flourish

I love this smaller background stamp.   Such an absolutely gorgeous pattern that can be used in so many different ways.  Say goodbye, since it is retiring on May 31st...

These first two cards were made using the stained glass technique.  You emboss the image onto vellum then color on the back side with markers.  BTW, most of the marker colors on these cards are the 2010-2012 In Colors, so they are also "retiring soon".

Both cards also feature the Framed Tulips embossing folder.   The sentiment is from Sincere Salutations, available from Stampin' Up! only through the end of May 2012.  I thought I had put a pearl in the center of the card with the Pear Pizzazz base, but I'm not seeing it in that picture, are you?!

 The next card uses emboss resist; heat emboss the image (here with Gold embossing powder), sponge with ink in different colors, wipe clean.  Ink and cardstock in Pool Party (that is SO hard for me to type correctly!), Wisteria Wonder and Marina Mist.

Llama swaps, part 2

More of the long-ago promised swap cards.   Most of them feature products from the Occasions Mini - these products many not be around after April 30th, so now is the time to order if you like them!   Please leave a comment if you have any questions about the products used.

From Patti

From Kath

From Margaret 

From Chris (not a llama, but very sweet all the same!)

From Stephanie

From Stephanie

From Stephanie

Llama swaps, part 1

This week I'm going to share some of the pretty cards I've received from my llama sisters, either in a swap or as a RAK.  Today's are all created by the lovely and talented Buffy Cooper.

Colors: Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, Blushing Bride

Stamps:  Petite Pairs, Fabulous Florets

Colors: Wisteria Wonder, Melon Mambo, Concord Crush, Lucky Limeade

Stamps:  Bordering on Romance,   Petite Pairs

DSP: Cheerful Treat

Colors:  Blushing Bride CS & DSP, Very Vanilla, Old Olive

Stamps:  Just Beleive, Elements of Style, Music Notes Wheel

Lucky Mambo!

The Freinds Never Fade stamp set has been around for a few years, but come the end of May, it will no longer be available from Stampin' Up!  I usually shy away from bright colors, but I think the gorgeous weather we had all last week inspired me.   This card features Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight and Lucky Limeade.

Maybe I should venture into the Bright zone more often?

Colors of Spring Llama Blog Hop

Working on projects using our soon-to-retire set of In Colors has made me realize how much I love all of them.  Pear Pizzazz is by far and away my favorite green, and I've liked Concord, Blushing and Poppy from the very start.  Up until this week, I thought I didn't care for Peach Parfait, because it's orange, but now that we're about to lose it, I realize that it is my favorite Stampin' Up! orange; not as bright as Tangerine Tango or as deep as Pumpkin Pie, it works for spring, summer and fall.   What's your favorite In Color?

My first project is an all-occasion card that I created in My Digital Studio.   I used stamps and embellishments from the Spring Fever ensemble; the colors are So Saffron, Melon Mambo and Pear Pizzazz.   While this versatile green will no longer be available as traditional ink, ribbon and cardstock after June 1st, it will always be available digitally.  Similarly, the Spring Fever Simply Scrappin' Kit that has these images is only available until the end of this month, but the digital version should be around for awhile.   I'm making sure I have both!

Next, I made a poppy using, what else, Poppy Parade.   The Fancy Flower punch would have worked here too, I think, but I'm more infatuated with the newer Blossom Punch!   The black center uses the Boho Blossoms Punch and an Antique Brad.   The Designer Series Paper on this card was a Hostess item last year, but as of April 9th, it was available on the Clearance Rack; I don't think it will last long - gorgeous patterns really useful for many cards.  (I used some last Christmas.)  The sentiment on this card is from the Just Believe stamp set.

Finally, I wanted to make a card with Concord Crush, because it's my favorite purple, deep and bluish.   I usually use it as an accent color because it's so dark, but this time I wanted to make it the primary color of the card:

Funny thing is, I struggled for the longest time and then this card almost made itself.    I used the Paper Doily die on Brushed Silver cardstock and sponged it with Frost White Shimmer Paint.  The image from Mixed Bunch was stamped twice in Concord Crush on Whisper White and punched with the coordinating Blossom Punch. An Antique Brad and Dimensionals were used to mount the pieces onto a 4 1/2" square Concord Crush card base.    I cut 4 petals off the second stamped and punched image.   I placed each petal under the doily die cut and traced the doily outline onto each petal with a sharp pencil and trimmed with paper snips before gluing the pieces to the corners.

Be sure to check out all the contributions from my sister llamas.   Next up is the talented Debbie Martin at CleverandCute.

                    

Berry Good Friend

Around Valentine's day, when I decorated a couple of mailboxes, one piece of the Berry Blossoms Designer Series Paper (DSP) had to be ripped off and replaced.   I couldn't bear to throw away something so pretty, even though the edges were torn to bits, so I saved it.  When I saw the sketch at Stamping 411, I realized I'd found a perfect use for it and trimmed out a couple of rectangles.  The patterns on this paper are so sweet, I thought they'd be a good match with the images in the Lean On Me stamp set and a perfect fit to the Spring Has Sprung theme on the Paper Players Challenge.

The 2 different patterns are opposite sides of the same sheet of DSP.   I stamped the image in Basic Gray, and colored the girl using the Subtles Watercolor Wonder Crayons and a Blender Pen.  I stamped just the the butterfly portion of the image onto a strawberry in a tiny scrap of the DSP and cut it out with Paper Snips.   I credit the sharpness and fineness of the scissors with my being able to do that at all!   I dotted the butterfly image on the white cardstock with the Glue Pen and then positioned the tiny cut-out butterfly on top.  Textured card stock in Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade and Calypso Coral to mat the pieces, then added some texture with a white card front embossed with the Elegant Lines Folder.   Finally, some of the Lucky Limeade ribbon from the Sale-a-bration brochure (wrapped the ends around a paintbrush and hit them with the heat gun to get the curl), popped up the focal image with Dimensionals and glued everything to a Calypso Coral card base.

Elementary Enchantment

Today's project is a suite of similar cards I created for a swap with some of my dear llama friends.   Huh?   She's friends with llamas... and they can make cards?    I am and they do, gorgeous ones, in fact, that I'll share with you another day (here and here).


For now, I'll show you some cards I made for them using my FREE Sale-a-bration goodies - Designer Series Paper and stamps.  


I used the Everyday Enchantment papers with Soft Suede card stock.   I used the Framed Tulips embossing folder to create a border around the Designer Series Paper.  Click here to see a tutorial on how this was done.   "Hello" and the awesome teeny birdie are from the Elementary Elegance stamp set.   They're done in Bashful Blue and Lucky Limeade to coordinate to the paper.   Punched out with Curly Label, sponged a little with Soft Suede ink, and adorned with a few Stampin' Up! self-adhesive pearls.

Please pretend you don't see the ugly cardboard boxes on either side!

This one used the Scallop Trim Corner punch instead of Curly Label.

  

 In retrospect, I think this last one would have looked nicer with the sentiment in Poppy Parade, what do you think?

Triple Pretty

The inspiration for this card was my sister-in-law's winter outerwear, beleive it or not.   She has great taste in clothes and when I saw her black coat and pale pink scarf, both in that super-soft faux fur, I knew I had to make a card with that same gorgeous color combination!


It's super-simple, as you can see:   Pretty in Pink cardstock stamped with a sentiment from Sincere Salutations and the Triple Treat flower punched first with the 5-Petal Flower punch and then the Fancy Flower, then popped up with some dimensionals.  Punched the corners of the pink card fronts with the Scalloped Trim Corner punch, and mounted onto Basic Black.   Inside, I decorated the interior panel using Pretty in Pink scraps punched with the Scalloped Trim edge.

Do the Llama Hop!

Welcome to an All Natural stop on the Llama Blog Hop!

You probably arrived here from Darrah's blog.

Poppy Garden

Using Chocolate Chip ink, I brayered the raised image from the Flower Garden embossing folder and sponged around it.  Colored in with More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Poppy Parade, Old Olive and Pear Pizzazz markers.  The image seemed to want an artsy, distressed background, so I started tearing my Confetti White cardstock, and the Pear Pizzazz cardstock.   The poor Poppy Parade (say that 5 times fast, Buffy!) got run thru the Big Shot with a Texturz Plate, then crumpled, ink distressed, ironed and torn.   A little Hemp Twine to embellish, and finally, I just couldn't seem to stop with the inking and tearing, so the Confetti White card base got that treatment as well.  

Simply Nature

I've made a lot of inserts for my 1"x 1" Simply Adorned Charm, and at first, I fell into this trap of thinking that only tiny images would work.  These OTOH, are both made with the Nature Walk stamp set.  To make the first one, I stamped the butterfly wings three or four times kinda randomly on my little square, then sponged them with More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, and a touch of Cherry Cobbler.   Sponged with Marina Mist around the top of the insert, and done!!   I love how quickly I can make a wearable piece of art.

The bird from Nature walk was stamped in Cherry Cobbler on Very Vanilla and cut out.   I sponged the edges and colored in the beak.  Then I used a black colored pencil on the eye, then a nice round spot of Crystal Effects; it's hard to tell from this picture, but it looks so much like a real bird eye, nice and dark and shiny.   The bird is attached with glue dots to give the insert a little dimension.   The background is Botanical Gazette DSP (retired) but I could have used the flower stamp from Nature Walk for a similar background.