Steampunk Birthday Card

I've been wanting to make a vintage card with Stampin Up!'s Moving Forward set, and I needed a masculine card, so here is what I came up with.  I stamped the blimp once in red and a second time in blue, cut out the red one, used colored pencils on the flags, sponged the edges and mounted the red one popped up.

     Stamp sets:  Open Sea, Moving Forward

     Colors: Cherry Cobbler (Core'dinations), Island Indigo, So Suede (ink)

                More Mustard 

     Tools:  Sizzix Big Shot, Stripes Embossing Folder, Button Embosslit die, 

               sanding block, Word Window punch, Heat Tool

     Other:  Gold Stampin' Emboss powder,  Stampin' Dimensionals 

 A close-up, so you can see some details.  I distressed the edges of most layers with scissors and sanded the raised embossed stripes.  The blue circle is the globe stamp from Open Sea.  The globe and the captain's log are stamped over the red background and the edges of the Very Vanilla card base.    

I dipped the yellow paper buttons into the embossing powder and tapped most of it off before heating, then inked the edges in an attempt to create vintage-looking buttons.

Fall-i-days Thanksgiving Blog Hop

If you started our hop at the beginning with Debbie, you have no doubt seen some fantastic things today.   Hope you like what I've done for my version of a turkey card using the owl punch.  He's supposed to look like his eyes are closed in contemplation - not sure that's working, but there it is.

Colors:  Real Red, More Mustard, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla
Stamps:  Day of Gratitude, Lovely Little Labels
Tools:  Framed Tulips embossing folder, Window Frames framelits dies, Owl Builder Punch

I made the eyelids by punching out the medium circles, putting them onto a Post-it, then putting them into the punch again on the same circle, but offset.

The trimmed Window frame shape is most easily and thriftily done by lining up the corners on the die with the edge of the card stock.

One of our group wasn't able to join us on time due to technical difficulties, but since I'm at the end, I thought I'd add the link to her beautiful projects (click here).  She has a link back the main page for the blog hop, so you won't get lost if you visit her.  You can still get back to the beginning of the hop if you started somewhere in the middle.

To go back to the beginning of the hop, click here: 

To return to the previous stop on the hop, click here:

Calm Pink Cupcake

A dear friend of mine had a birthday this weekend.  She loves pink and bling and cupcakes, so while this was not my usual style, thanks to Stampin' Up!, it came together easily.  I used the grids available for the clear blocks to mount the two parts of the sentiment in perfect alignment, the piercing template added just the right amount of definition to the edge of the white panel, and frosting the cupcakes with Dazzling Details makes them totally scrumptious!

Stamp set:  Keep Calm (Hostess)
Cardstock:  Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Vellum
Ink: Melon Mambo
Tools:  Essentials Piercing Pack, Apothecary Labels Framelits, Big Shot, Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder
Accessories:  Dazzling Details, Basic Jewels Rhinestones

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

Father's Day punch art

I was totally stumped on what to use for my father-in-law's card this year until I saw this golf card over on Kathe's blog.   Finally, a perfect idea where before I had none!  I changed a few things, and I'm pretty happy with how my interpretation came out, although I can think of a couple things I would do differently if I made another.

If you CASE this, please leave a comment here with a link so I can see your version, too!


Click here to see the card I made for my handy Dad!


DIRECTIONS:
I started with some scraps of Certainly Celery card stock and tore the edges to make the grass (or "the green" or whatever!).  I used the retired Medium Oval Punch for the hole and the 3/4" circle punch for the golf ball.  I ran the white circle thru the Big Shot with the retired polka dots Texturz plate and sponged the debossed side with a tiny bit of Basic Gray.   I attached it to the Bashful Blue card base with a dimensional, then ran my finger around and around the edges of the ball to give it a curved shape.  The flagpole is a scrap strip inked direct-to-paper with Chocolate Chip and Soft Suede.   Pennant Builder Punch for the flag, curved with the bone folder and attached with 1/2-dimensionals.   To make the bushes, I punched a Scalloped Oval and a scalloped triangle (Pennant Builder Punch) from Certainly Celery and sponged with Garden Green.   I was going to use a scalloped circle for the sun until I remembered Every Little Bit has a cute sun, so I stamped him in Pumpkin Pie on Daffodil Delight, cut him out and mounted him with a dimensional.   With such a cute sun, the "Live in the Sunshine" sentiment from the Pursuit of Happiness stamp set seemed necessary on the card front!   The inside has Happy Father's Day from Delightful Dozen, but this would also make a great birthday card for anyone who enjoys golf!

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!

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.

                    

Hybrid Halloween card

Halloween in April?   Well, I actually made this card in the fall, but it uses Peach Parfait as the base, and I've just suddenly realized that this is the perfect shade of orange, but it's only going to be available for about 6 more weeks, so I thought I'd better post this now!   The adorable little witch is from the Greeting Card Kids stamp set, but if you have the set, you may notice that she seems larger here.   That's because mine is from the digital version for My Digital Studio - she can shrink or grow to whatever size you like.   Cool, eh?

More Peach Parfait coming soon in the Stampin Llamas Colors of Spring Blog Hop!

Everyone loves chocolate!

Both of these cards use the wonderfully versatile Curly Cute stamp set with Chocolate Chip ink and retired ribbon.   Currently you can still purchase Chocolate Chip ribbon in 5/8" Satin and 1/2" Scallop Dotted, but here I used plain Jane grosgrain because I still have lots of it, and I needed to make a bunch of Thank You cards after my daughter's birthday party.  (Remember the cute Princess and Magician hats I made as favors?)

This card uses Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip and Cameo Coral cardstock, Language of Friendship stamp set, the Finial Press Embossing Folder and the Eyelet Border Punch. 

The masculine card uses Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake and Old Olive cardstock, the oak tree from Lovely As a Tree, the Stripes embossing folder, and the Blossom Punch.   I stamped the sentiment on a 1" wide strip of CS and then fed it through the back of the Blossom Punch to get the shape on either end.  I think it creates an interesting frame for almost any sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by!

Princess Party Favors

I know I've said this before and I'm sure I'll say it again, I think the Petal Cone Die may have been my single smartest Stampin' Up! purchase ever.   Tooting my own horn...Toot, Toot!, but I think these little princess hat favor boxes are so cute!   If you wanted a circus theme, you could easily top these with a pom-pom to make tiny clown hats or with a frill of shirred paper to make a"party" hat.

1.   For each hat, use your Big Shot (or similar machine) and cut 2 shapes using the Stampin' Up! exclusive Petal Cone Die.   Cut one in half down the score line.  In these pics, I was using cardstock, so I stamped and embossed the images at this point.   Not necessary if you're using Designer Series Paper.

2.  Trim off a bit of the half-circles on both sides to allow the box to close correctly.    Easier to do it before you begin assembly rather than after, like I did here :)

3.  Apply Sticky Strip to tabs; you won't need the piece you cut off that has no tab.   Fold an 8"-10" piece of ribbon in half and adhere it to the top of one of the tabs. 

3.  As if you were using a curling iron, wrap the ribbons around the handle of a paper piercer, dowel or pencil.   Heat ribbon with Heat Tool for 10-30 seconds, more or less.   This depends very much on the type of ribbon you are using.  The more polyester content, the quicker the curl will set.   It's not that hard to melt 100% polyester ribbon or set all-cotton ribbon on FIRE when what you really want is a curl, so use caution and common sense!   Allow the curls to cool undisturbed for a minute then arrange them to your liking.   

4.  Assemble box as usual.   Decorate as desired.  Fill box with treats and seal.

Hard to see the sparkle in this photo, but the  Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder with Versamark is very sparkly and pretty.




For the projects shown above, I used the Modern Label punch,  Season of Friendship stamp set, Short and Sweet stamp set, Calypso Coral CS, Whisper White CS, Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder, Brights Patterns Stack DSP, Stampin' Up! white taffeta ribbon and some ribbon scraps from gifts.   I hoard anything pretty that could be used for crafting, so it's nice to justify that craziness by using the stuff occasionally!  The hat below uses retired Specialty DSP (with glitter, of course) and retired pink ribbon along with the Boho Blossoms and Modern Label punches.

So the boys didn't feel left out, I made some magician hats with Basic Black CS (Night of Navy would work great, too).   I stamped them with White Craft Ink and the star is from the Every Little Bit stamp set.

I don't have a tiny crescent moon stamp, so I made one!  I just cut the shape from a piece of the scrap rubber that you get with every stamp set.

Hope you enjoyed these as much as the kids at the party did!   Let me know if you try your own...

Lean on Paisley

This is a variation of a sympathy card I created for a friend who recently lost a close furry friend.   

I don't have a toile stamp, but wanted to create that type of a background, so I used the images from Paisley Petals on a 4" x 5 1/4" white cardfront.    I made the black band across the center of the card using the Adorning Accents Edgelit die and coordinating embossing folder on a 2 3/4" x 5 1/2" strip of Basic Black cardstock.   I found that cutting the strip of CS to size first really helped to keep the final edges from being crooked.    I have Lean on Me in clearmount, so I've cut the sentiments apart from the images; easy to use them separately or together that way.  To be sure that the sentiment and frame stamps were aligned,  I stamped the sentiment first, then used the Decorative Label punch, and finally, placed the Four Frames stamp face-up on the table and pressed the punched shape down onto the inked stamp.   I have not got the hang of the Stamp-a-ma-Jig, so this alternate method worked for me.  I thought just 2 little Basic Jewels rhinestones made the card prettier without detracting from the fact that it's a sympathy card... what do you think?   The punched sentiment is attached with dimensionals.   I forgot to take a pic of the inside - I'll add that later.

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.

Partial Embossing with the Framed Tulips Folder (tutorial)

First, you have to do this with a card that opens along it's shorter side; so you start with a sheet of card stock (CS) cut to 4 1/4" x 11" for a standard A2 card or 4" x 12" to make a 4" x 6" card (these fit easily into business-size envelopes).   Score the CS in the middle to create the card blank.  You'll place the long edge of the embossing folder across the front of the card.

Next, and most importantly, emboss the top row of tulips first.  When you place the CS into the folder, be sure the edge of the CS is lined up precisely with the points of the tulips on BOTH edges of the folder.  This is the trick to getting the embossing straight.   

I'm usually pretty good (I think) at getting things square, but until I realized this I was making some really crooked embossing.

In order to emboss only the front of the card, not the back, turn the handle so that the first edge of the folder goes all the way through the rollers, then stop and turn the handle in the opposite direction and the platform and everything will back out of the machine.   Embossing twice like this won't make any difference to the appearance of the pattern.

Finally, take the CS out of the folder, turn it around, and emboss the bottom row of tulips.   This time, you just have to eyeball the straightness of the folder, but you now have the first row of tulips to use as a guide.   Making sure the edge of the folder looks parallel to the first row of embossing is much easier than trying to guess at a 90° angle between the CS and the folder.   Wilma suggests adhering the DSP at this stage, before embossing the second line of tulips which will make getting the second line straight very easy.   I was more concerned with getting the second line the same distance from the bottom of the card as the top line was from the top of the card, then I cut my DSP to fit.   Either way works  :)

  

 Click here to view samples made with this technique.

Click here for a Christmas card idea using this technique.

Hope this helps.   This is my first attempt at an online tutorial like this, questions and constructive criticism are appreciated!

A Berry Happy Valentine's Day!

Decorating these little mailboxes is hardly a new idea, but these are the first ones I've made!  I think the hearts make them appropriate gifts for Valentines Day, but at the same time, the Berry Blossom pattern isn't so "Valentiney" that the recipients will feel they can't display them for a while if they want to.   Read on for full details of products used and some helpful hints I learned the hard way!

Apply the Sticky Strip to the PAPER first, not the mailbox.   That way you can reposition if you need to!    Use the 1/2" circle punch to make an opening for the flag, then cut a slit from the little hole you made to the edge of the paper.   Remove the backing from the sticky strip AFTER you successfully get the paper around the base of the flag so you don't tear the paper by pulling on it... sigh. 

If you add a sentiment to the end of the box, by all means pop it up with Dimensionals... flat is BORING...see...

 Tombo Multipurpose Liquid Adhesive is the way to go when gluing cardstock to the plastic mailbox flag.   Sticky Sheet or Strip would also work; I used the Strip to adhere the ribbon.   Isn't it great how the Certainly Celery ribbon coordinates with the Lucky Limeade cardstock and DSP!   I used a glue dot underneath the 1/2" brad.

Once you finish adhering the leaves to the back of the flag, cover the mess with a scrap of matching cardstock... what the hey, put a little something pretty back there, as well!

Materials:
Berry Blossom DSP, CS in Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder & Calypso Coral
Basic Jewels Rhinestones, Build-a-Brad (WHY were these retired?   I love being able to make coordinating brads!)
Certainly Celery Twill Ribbon (this style of ribbon is retired)
Sticky Strip, Liquid Tombo, Dimensionals, Glue dot


Tools:
Little Leaves Sizzlet die, Boho Blossoms punch, Circle Punches (1/2", 1", 1 1/4"), Scalloped Circle Punch, Heart to Heart Punch


Stamps & Ink:
Petite Pairs in Wisteria Wonder