MISC cards and Fall Break

Hi folks! These two cards have been sitting in my "To Post" blog folder forever, so I thought I'd just get them onto the site today. They were projects that used up leftover pieces of cardstock and patterned paper. I hope they help to inspire you to use up your scraps.




This week was Fall Break for my kids. I took my 3 youngest kids on a trip up to Northern Arizona. We visited Meteor Crater, Lowell Observatory and the Grand Canyon. This little vacation was very refreshing for all of us, and we enjoyed it tremendously. I look forward to scrapbooking about this trip soon. Take care and see you soon!

Fangtastic Brayered Card

Greetings! Today's Halloween card was alot of fun to create... I punched out a 1 1/4 inch circle post-it note and stuck it onto the white cardstock to create an area for the moon while I brayered Rich Razzleberry and Night of Navy ink for the background. The greenish section on the background was sponged in with Always Artichoke ink. I removed the circle post-it leaving an uninked area for my moon. I used another piece of scrap paper with a 1 1/4 inch circle punched from it to cover the brayered ink areas. I sponged in Daffodil Delight ink around the center of the moon, then sponged in Pumpkin Pie ink around the moon's edges. The line of trees were stamped in black ink. This tree stamp comes from the ageless stamp set "Lovely As a Tree" (may this NEVER retire!). I finished off by adding white dots using the white gel pen around the perimeter of the brayered background. This was matted with white, Pumpkin Pie, and Daffodil Delight cardstocks.

Next, the darling little witch, broom and kitty (from a new stamp set available in the Holiday Mini Catalog called Fangtastic) was stamped in black ink on white cardstock. The sweet sentiment comes from this set as well. The images were colored in with various markers and cut out. They were glued down on top of the brayered background scene.

I hope you like my little Halloween card.... Have an awesome day!

In Color Thanks

Here's a card that I made during a monthly get-together with a group of my friends. We pretty much work on anything we have going on at the time. This card uses a couple of new favorite stamp sets called Aviary and Word For You. The cursive portion of the sentiment was selectively colored with marker. The Modern Label punch below was punched out after stamping the sentiment, then I punched out another label from Pumpkin Pie cardstock. The P.Pie label was cut in half with scissors, then arranged & attached to create a matting on the white sentiment label. Thank you for stopping in today, see you next time!


Stamp Sets - Aviary, A Word For You
Paper - In Color Hostess DSP collection, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Poppy Parade
Ink - Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait, Bashful Blue, Poppy Parade inkpad & marker
Accessories - ribbon, pearls, dimensional popdots, SU Punches: Modern Label, Scallop Edge Border, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack

Gratitude Swap Card

I recently had the chance to attend my upline's meeting, and this is the card that I made to swap with the group. It's using a new stamp set in the Holiday Mini called Day of Gratitude. The patterned paper is one of the beautiful selections in the Autumn Spice Specialty Designer Paper Packages. There's 12 patterns in this package - each of which is so beautiful and has the most perfect colors for this time of year. The Cajun Craze cardstock with eyelet border punch adds just the right touch beneath my sentiment, and the flower is colored with markers and heat embossed with clear powder. I added a touch of the Sanded background stamp on the edges of my More Mustard cardbase.



I hope you enjoy - have a great weekend!

Bright and Cheerful

Hello there! Today's card was inspired by the little scallops of owl feathers - can you see them on his tummy? I think this new stamp set called Aviary in the IB&C is too adorable and couldn't resist getting it right away. I made strips of multicolored scallops using the scallop edge punch, layered them on top of each other and cut this to a rectangle. The flowers are from the Pretties Kit (retired) that are stacked and attached with a glue dot, and the main panel is raised with dimensional popdots. The ribbon is from my stash of leftovers. I love the Perfect Polka Dot embossing folder - it has just enough texture that isn't too overpowering. So what do you think of my bright and cheerful card?

Stamps - Aviary

Paper - Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White

Ink - Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie

Accessories - Perfect Polka Dot embossing folder/Bigshot, ribbon, Scallop Edge punch, silk flowers from Pretties Kit, dimensional popdots, glue dots

Clearance Rack Blitz!! Act Now for BIG savings!

From now to October 18th, Stampin' Up! is adding over 200 more discontinued items - some at up to 80% off - to the Clearance Rack section. They need to make room in the distribution center for new items, so this means Huge Savings for You! Orders should be placed through my online store so that you can see immediately if any items are sold out. Remember, hostess benefits and rewards are available on all qualifying orders! All Clearance Rack items are available only while supplies last, and all sales on discontinued items are final.

This is a great way to begin your holiday shopping, so don't hesitate. Click this link and select the Shop Now button. You'll find the Clearance Rack link on the left side.

Have a great day!

Floral Thank You cards

Hello again! Here's a couple of cards that used up some more of my patterned paper scraps (non-SU). I'm sure you have a pile of paper scraps laying around somewhere - how about putting it to good use and make a quick card or two?

I used a couple of "solid" floral stamps from Just Believe and Priceless stamp sets. They were stamped in Chocolate Chip ink. For the card on the left, a couple of the flowers were stamped on a separate white piece of cardstock and cut out. After tying the ribbon on the main panel, the cut-out flowers were popped up with dimensional popdots.

Circle punches made the card on the right a breeze to put together. The little white strip on that card used the BigShot and Petals A Plenty embossing folder. Can you see the little pearls that I added to each flower center on both cards?

Have a great weekend... see you soon!

Friday Flashback - Summer's almost over!

Hello again and Happy Friday! Although it's still hot during the daytime in Phoenix, the nights are definitely starting to cool off - so that's a great sign that autumn is just around the corner (well, as close as it can get to "autumn" here in Phoenix, anyway!). To celebrate, I decided a "fall" card was in order! :)

This card uses retired designer paper from my scraps bin (I think it was called Autumn Vine... not positive though). The cardbase itself is Cajun Craze - a beautiful color IRL. This really cute stamp of squirrels sharing the fall bounty is from an old SU set called Bushy Tailed Blessings. I watercolored in the scene with markers and an aquapainter. More Mustard ink is sponged around the edges of my main panel. Chocolate Chip ribbon fills up the left side of that panel.

I hope that you enjoy my simple autumn card. Have a wonderful weekend!

Window Owl

I just love the new 2-Step Owl Punch (item # 118074, $16.95) available now in the Catalog. It's on page 200 of the IB&C. Don't you think it's too cute and simply darling?! The little tree branch that he's standing on was die-cut with the BigShot and Little Leaves sizzlet die in Old Olive cardstock. I used my Chocolate Chip marker to color in the wooden areas on the branch. The owl was punched out with various papers and glued together. He's popped up with dimensional popdots. The "curtains" were made from retired SU patterned paper that I had in my scraps bin. The ribbon comes from my ribbon jar (another place for "leftovers"), so I don't know the supplier. I did use Sticky Strip to hold the top of the curtains to the cardstock, then added a valence to hide and tidy up that area at the top.

I hope you are having a wonderful day - take care!

Spritzed Just Believe

Hello and Happy Wednesday! I did the Spritzed Background technique on the main panel of this Thank You card. I learned about this technique a couple posts earlier, and wanted to try it out again. The inks that I used were Pumpkin Pie & So Saffron on Watercolor Paper. After letting the background dry, I stamped the main floral image from the Just Believe stamp set in Bravo Burgundy and Basic Black inks. This was matted with Basic Black cardstock and black brads were added in the corners. This was adhered to a Vanilla dotted background made with the BigShot/Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.

I hope you are having a nice week - just a couple more days till the weekend!

Sweet Birthday Cupcakes

Hello and happy day to you! Today's card was created to celebrate another birthday in our family. It seems like I never have enough birthday and thank you cards, so that is what I focused on making these last few days.

This card uses images from the stamp set "Crazy for Cupcakes", and the sentiment comes from Well Scripted (retired). The balloon image is "open", and I used a few of the miniature background stamps (page 140 of the IB&C), A to Z, Solid Stripes and Dot, Dot, Dot to add a little bit of character to each balloon. Several of the balloons are popped up with dimensional popdots. The base colors of this card are using two In-Colors - Peach Parfait and Pear Pizzazz... these colors remind me of slightly muted shades of orange and lime sherbert. They really look very nice together - don't you think? I colored in the cupcake platter with markers. I sponged the edges of the panels and balloons, and dotted the three white panels with the Pear Pizzazz marker for interest. The background was dry embossed with the BigShot and dotted embossing folder. I also die cut the small scalloped rectangle to back the sentiment.

I hope that you are having a nice week, and I look forward to your next visit... :)

Spritzed Background

Today's card is using what I call a Spritzed Background technique - it probably is called something else out there on the internet. I learned about this technique a couple months ago while visiting a friend, and it's so easy and interesting because it turns out differently every time you do it. First, lay out a large piece of wax paper. Then tap the ink from your inkpad or inkspot all over in the center of your wax paper (try not to muddy the colors together too much). Spray the ink from a little spray bottle with water, then press your paper on top and lift up immediately (in my case, I used a tag). Let it dry or use your heatgun to dry the ink - your paper or tag may curl, but it flattens back out well enough.

I stamped the butterfly image in black ink, and sponged the tag's edges in browns. I heat-embossed the sentiment in Versamark and white embossing powder. Lastly I spritzed some Shimmer Paint spray around, as well as used alittle paintbrush to apply the paint on the butterfly/flower image. Everything was matted/layered and assembled. I have to take off now, but I will try to update this entry with the supplies used later on. This card was a bit tricky to photograph, but I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for teaching me this cool technique, Sheri! See you all next time...

Happy Thoughts

I hope that you are having a wonderful July 4th holiday! I'm excited to say that Stampin' Ups! new 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog went live a few days ago - I love so many of the samples and supplies available in the catalog this year. I would love to have a workshop with you and your guests to share some ideas... simply email me at june@mycreativecorner.com so that we can get your party scheduled today!

The card I'm sharing above is using the new Hostess set, Apple Blossoms. I had some leftover pieces of the retired Urban Oasis DSP on hand, and thought they would make a nice background for a card project. I layered a couple of blocks with black cardstock, and set them aside while I worked on my main panel. I stamped the large Apple Blossoms flower and stem in Cherry Cobbler and Always Artichoke inks directly onto the DSP piece, and layered this with white and black cardstocks. I stamped the sentiment in Bravo Burgundy, then added a knotted piece of grograin ribbon. My side panel has an additional DSP strip edged with the Scallop edge punch, with several silver brads inserted to add alittle something fun to that area. The pieces were assembled on a white cardbase.

My family is looking forward to fireworks tonight - although each of them would be happy without the 105 degree temps today (gotta admit that it's better than the normal 110-115 degrees this time of year though!). Be safe out there, and come again soon...

Razzleberry Posies

Happy Saturday to You! Today's card project features a couple stamps from the Punched Posies Hostess stamp set. I love how the stamps fit certain punches in the catalog... I did fussy-cut around the small Melon Mambo flowers before popping them up with dimensional popdots. Can you see the little half-back pearls? If you click on the picture, an enlargement should appear to make it easier to see... I have pearls along the bottom scallop and in the flower centers. See the bottom of today's post for a tip regarding the application of the little pearls.

Stamps: Punched Posies
Paper: Razzleberry Lemonade DSP, Cardstocks - Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, Barely Banana
Inks: Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Dimensional popdots, half-back pearls, pin, SU punches: scallop trim edge border, scallop circle, 1 3/4 inch circle

If you like using the little pearls like I do - you know what rascals they can be! If you grab them with tweezers or between your fingernails- they pop out and go flying! And they always seem to want to land upside down when I'm about ready to drop them into the glue.... so with trial and lots of error, I found what works easiest and best for me. I thought I'd share how I put the little half-back pearls on my projects.

Apply a small dot of glue (mono-multi used here)-


Give the dot of glue about 20-30 seconds to set up and get tacky... Now, it's ready for a pearl...


While you are waiting on your dot of glue to set-up, touch the very tip of a pin in mono-multi glue - it'll be "dry" and tacky in 15 seconds or so... You really only have to do the pin tip once or twice during the project... Tap the sticky pin tip to the top of a pearl to pick it up, and apply the pearl to the dot of glue!


Oh my goodness! How simple is that?? By the way, I love the little picture above - doesn't my pearl look like a little mushroom? LOL! Have a great day and see you soon...

Punched Posies using SC93

There are lots of adorable flower selections included with the Punched Posies Hostess Set that's available in the Summer Mini catalog. This layout is based on Splitcoast's Sketch Challenge 93. To add a bit of dimension on my large flower, I added additional ink on the outer petal edges using a sponge dauber in Bashful Blue ink. The center flower ring was stamped and punched out with the 3/4 inch circle punch, then I added a green brad in the center. The circle was popped up with a popdot on the flower. I used some masking to create the mass of leaves down at the bottom, as well as popping up 3 cut-out flowers. The sentiment comes from the new 2010-2011 IB&C Hostess set called Occasional Quotes.

Stamps: Punched Posies, Occasional Quotes
Paper: Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Wild Wasabi, Vanilla, 2009 SAB designer paper
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Bashful Blue
Accessories: dimensional popdots, sanding block, sponge dauber, brad, 3/4 inch circle punch

As always, thank you for your visit and I'll see you next time! Have a great day...

A Little CAS Note

Wow... I just realized that this year is almost half over - it seems like time definitely speeds up as you get older! I know that we all become pressed for more time in a day, and you may find yourself needing a quick clean and simple (CAS) card for something unexpected... how about today's card as an example? This one was very fast to put together. I like using this layout - it's one of my "go-to" layouts when I'm pressed for saving some time. I know that I've mentioned this before, but it really does help to have several "go-to" layouts that you can fall back on again and again. I love using the embossing folders too. They always provide a Wow factor with texture. This stamp image was colored directly with markers, so the colors really pop IRL. A bit of organdy ribbon adds a nice touch without going overboard, so it'll be easy to pop in the mail.

Stamps: A Flower for All Seasons, Apple Blossoms (hostess, 2010-2011 IBC)
Paper: Whisper White notecard & cardstock, YoYo Yellow
Inks: Basic Black, markers- YoYo Yellow, Bashful Blue, Green Galore, Creamy Caramel, Only Orange (for the bird beak)
Accessories: Bigshot/Square Lattice embossing folder, organdy ribbon, dimensional popdots

I hope that you are having a wonderful Wednesday... thank you for visiting me today!

Punchy Uncle Sam

Hi there! Today's post is another super cute swap project that I received this week. I had arrived a couple minutes late to the meeting when my upline was handing these out to the group, and found out today that it was my out-of-state sister demo, Betty S, who created this adorable punch art giftbag... isn't this Uncle Sam the cutest?! Another wonderful idea Betty has here is using a patriotic paper napkin for the tissue in the bag - gotta remember that one! I always see cute decorative napkins for so many different occasions... the perfect inspiration for a little giftbag. The Fancy Favor diecut giftbag is hidden in this picture by the Uncle Sam front panel, but it was cut out of Real Red cardstock. This is such a cute July 4th project!

Thanks again to all my demo sisters! My upline, KM, gave us some great tips on using the Bigshot and accessories to make applique quilt blocks so much easier to put together. I need to take some pictures and get that post together to share with you... you'll be amazed - I was! Thanks KM!

Happy Saturday.... see you next time!

Vintage Swaps

Here's a couple more swap samples that I received this week from my demo sisters. This is another beautiful card using the Elements of Style stamp set, and a new embossing folder called Vintage Wallpaper. This wonderful creation was made Julee H, and I love how she brought out the details of embossing by swiping ink across the raised areas of the purple embossed strip... gorgeous!



Here's a stunning card created by Jimi F utilizing different stamp sets. The main panel features a floral sneak peek of one of the stamps in the Friends Never Fade stamp set, plus a view of one of patterns from the coordinating Greenhouse Gala Designer Series Paper line..... Love it and can't wait till I get my hands on this stuff! The "Birthday Wishes" sentiment is from Watercolor Trio, and the "For You" button is in Elements of Style. I've always enjoyed Stampin Up's desire to coordinate different elements (stamps, paper, ink & accessories) to make it EASY for us to create masterpieces! The new 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog is truly fantastic, as SU really showcases this feature with the samples used in the new catalog for all levels of papercrafters. I can't wait to try out the new product lines!

Thank you for visiting with me today... see you tomorrow!

All Pinks...

As promised, I thought I'd share some cards that my demo sisters created for swap. These three cards today emphasize Pink! The card above was made by Judy G with the brand new Level 1 hostess set "Because I Care". It's so prrreeetttty! I love the way she brought out the texture of the embossed cardstock by rubbing ink across it and tore the main panel cardstock to give a distressed look... and aren't the ribbon "leaves" a great idea?!



This card is using my favorite DSP in the current catalog - Razzleberry Lemonade - and this sweet CAS card was created by Rachelle S. Love the Melon Mambo cardstock and ribbon embellishment, and I'm glad this bright and happy color will be returning in the next catalog. Also, Rachelle used one of the sentiment stamps from Teeny Tiny Wishes - it's one of my favorite sets in the catalog as it has 24 different sentiments to cover just about every occasion... I use it tons! :)



The last card I'm sharing today was made by Dawn L using Flight of the Butterfly stamp set. Don't you love the "filmstrip" she created using the Spiral punch?!! The butterflies are cut out and popped up on dimensional popdots, too.

I have more to show you tomorrow, and Saturday's post features my upline's project that is absolutely wonderful... Thanks, demo sisters! You all rock!! See you tomorrow...

New Core Colors Cards

Hello again, my friends! I went to my upline meeting yesterday, and one of my favorite things that KM offers is time to swap cards with my sister demos. I thought that I'd show you my swap card, which is shown above. It contains the 5 new 2010-2011 core colors that will be available for purchase on July 1st. I thought something like this would help out my sister demos who might like to show these actual colors in person, as some printed colors are hard to duplicate on paper, like in a catalog. These colors are so vibrant, and I'm really liking 'em (especially Cherry Cobbler!!!!). Anyhow, the yellow cardbase is Daffodil Delight. The "Things I Love" title is stamped in Marina Mist, and the individual panels from left to right are Early Espresso, Cajun Craze and Cherry Cobbler. The textured panels were created using the Bigshot/Square Lattice embossing folder.

I had some leftover strips of the textured cardstock, so I trimmed the ends to the same size and set them side-by-side on a Marina Mist cardstock panel to create a different background.



I hope you enjoyed this little sneak peek - the next few posts will show you the wonderful creations that my "demo" family put together. Thanks for visiting!

ETA - It took me a while to find the card that I CASE'd for swap. I visit many blogs and galleries and couldn't remember where I originally seen a card using this stamp set and the use of blocks for colors which was perfect for my need of sharing the new core colors in one project. I'm so glad I found it! Jeannine Tarrio's card is wonderful, and I thank her for the idea and inspiration!

Sunglasses Required !!!

Hello again, and how is your Sunday going for you? I've been trying to organize my craft room over the last several weekends - it's going rather slowly but looking alot better. I really do need to purge some stuff! Today's card was made in between my cleaning "sessions". It is a brightly colored card IRL, but you can't help but be cheered up when you see it.

he three largest flowers are popped up on dimensionals, and they were lightly sprayed with the Champagne Mist Shimmer paint spray to sparkle and catch the light. The sentiment window was created by punching the Word Window punch through the white and olive cardstocks. The happy birthday sentiment was stamped in craft ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder. The "eyelet" scallop was created by using the 1/8 inch hole punch after punching out my scalloped edge with the border punch.

Here are the supplies used for this card:
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes, Tropical Party
Paper: Melon Mambo, white, Old Olive
Inks: Melon Mambo, old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Daffodil Delight, White Craft
Accessories: Champagne Mist shimmer paint spray, heatgun, white embossing powder, halfback pearls, compass, bigshot/scallop circle #2 die, Melon Mambo ribbon, dimensional popdots, punches: scallop edge border, 1/8 inch hold punch, word window


Have a really nice Sunday - See you again soon...

Teen Birthday card

We celebrated another birthday in my family this week, and I made this card for my oldest son. After stamping the tree and wolf in Chocolate Chip ink, I punched a 1/2" circle post-it for the moon shape and sponged all around it in River Rock and Crumb Cake inks. This was trimmed down and matted with C.Chip cardstock. The background River Rock panel was scored vertically several times to create a slight texture on the left side, then matted as well with C.Chip cardstock. I stamped the birthday sentiment and added a small piece of ribbon with a large decorative brad inserted to hold it down. The pieces were assembled on a Vanilla cardbase. The cardbase has some random stampings using the speckle stamp from Itty Bitty backgrounds in C.Chip ink (by the way, this little stamp set will be officially retired on June 30th - I love my 15+ year old speckle stamp, and it will still be lovingly used in my home for many more years to come!!). This masculine card could be used for a variety of occasions by changing the sentiment, and I hope it's given you some ideas. Have a nice weekend, and I appreciate your visit...

Stamps: Nature Silhouettes, Sincere Salutations, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Cardstock: Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, River Rock
Ink: Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Crumb Cake
Accessories: 1/2 inch circle punch, sponge dauber, scoring tool, chocolate chip ribbon, brad

Whoo's Birthday?

Owls are so cute - don't you think? With four kids ranging in age from 9 to 17, it seems like I never have enough birthday cards made up for all the different age groups between my kids and their friends. This card above uses the owl stamp from the Fox & Friends, and the flower twig comes from the Eastern Blooms stamp set. I like how this card turned out and think it'll be perfect for the younger crowd. Don't forget that you can click on the photo and a larger version should appear for you...

The flower twig was colored using Chocolate Chip and Poppy Parade markers, then stamped on the main Whisper White panel. The owl was positioned onto the twig with the help of a Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, and stamped using the new In-Color ink called Cajun Craze - it's going to be the perfect color for the autumn cards that I have spinning around in my head. It's similar to the retiring Really Rust color, but has more richness, and (IMHO) it's a prettier color shade all around. I used a scoring tool to add a border around the stamped images. This was matted and glued to a patterned paper selection from the Hostess Patterns Pack III which has a white mat with edges done with the Scallop Edge border punch. Lastly, I glued tiny half-back pearls to the centers of the flowers to add alittle oomph.

I'd love to hear what you think! With all the birthday's around here, this card will be on it's way to a new home soon. My next project to post is another birthday card, but for a male teen... I hope you can come back and check it out! It got the thumbs up from DS #1, so I'm a happy stamper {grin!}. Have a super Friday, and be sure to get a little stamping time in this weekend... till next time...

Sneak Peek - Apple Blossoms

It's Thursday - one more day to go before the weekend is here... Yay! Today's card is using several stamps from the soon-to-be available hostess set called Apple Blossoms in the upcoming 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog. This catalog ROCKS, my friends! The samples and ideas range from clean & simple to advanced techniques, and there's a very fine selection of stamp sets and accessories that will surely fit everyone's tastes! If you'd like to receive a catalog for $5 (or Free if you'd like to hostess a workshop), just send an email to june@mycreativecorner.com. You'll also get a coupon for $5 off your first order of $30 in merchandise when placed before December 31st, so your catalog would essentially be Free! I'm expecting the catalogs to arrive the last week of June, so let me know ASAP, and I'll set one aside just for you!

This hostess set is really cute, and I stamped the largest flower several times in Tangerine Tango (a returning In-Color that has made the cut into the core color collection), and a new 2010-2011 In-Color called Poppy Parade - it's a bright, happy reddish-orange color that is really pretty IRL. The flowers were trimmed out and stacked on top of each other with dimensional popdots - love the fun factor here! :)

The line of leaves was stamped in Garden Green ink in an "up-down" fashion, and I added scallops along the bottom panel for interest using the Scallop Edge border punch. White grosgrain ribbon add a nice touch and everything was assembled on a Poppy Parade cardbase. Remember, you can click on the pic and a larger photo should appear to show you more details.

I hope you have an enjoyable Thursday - I have a sweet owl card to show you tomorrow. See you then!

Sketch Challenge Baby Cards

Hello there! Here's a quick post to show you a couple of baby gift cards that showcase today's sketch challenge over on Splitcoast. Here are the card details -

Stamps - Animal Stories
Cardstock - Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, 2009 & 2010 SAB DSP
Ink - Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue
Accessories - sponge dauber, dimensional popdots, punches: corner rounder, pinking hearts border, wide oval

They are 3x3 gift cards and very quick to put together. Hope you like them - have a great day!

Birthday Cake and Card

It's hard to believe it's June already - this year has really flown by... My customers on my distribution list should have received my newsletter at the beginning of June that basically highlighted Stampin' Up's retirement product listings. The retiring stamp sets will be available throughout June, however the other items like accessories, decor elements, etc are first-come, first-serve.... grab them while you can! You can order through my business website 24-7.

OK, today's project shown above is one of the items we made during our last hostess club. I used a battery operated tealight candle and decorated it with Tea Party DSP. Instructions can be found on SplitCoast under the resources section. I added some non-SU string of pearls and pink silk roses that are glued down to embellish this very cute cake. The little 3x3 notecard and envelope were stamped using a flower selection from Priceless stamp set in So Saffron, Pretty in Pink and Certainly Celery. The sentiment comes from Sincere Salutations that is stamped in black ink. Of course, Whisper White Organza ribbon finish off this notecard.

Have a great day and thank you for visiting!

Desk Calendar

Hello again! I thought I'd post a past project that my hostess club members got to make during one of our meetings this year. I used two 4x4 inch chipboard coasters that were covered with designer paper, and lightly sanded the edges. The coasters are joined with two Round Tab punch-outs. The calendar is printed from Cat's 2010 template that she so graciously shared on Splitcoast and was trimmed down to size. What a timesaver - thank you so much Cat! The calendar pages are held together with a little library clip, so that the months can be changed out easily. The back page has repositionable tape for easy removal, so that you could print out a whole new year and reuse this little creation. The flowers were stamped and cut out, and held together with a little flower brad. It is adhered with dimensional popdots. I hope you enjoy your Friday, and that you can come back again soon.

Stamps: Vintage Vogue stamp set
Paper: Sweet Pea DSP, cardstock: So Saffron, Pretty in Pink
Ink: Creamy Caramel, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Bigshot/Butterfly embosslit, Sweet Pea paper, scallop edge punch, mini library clip, Round Tab punch, dimensional popdots, Sending Love epoxy brads in chocolate chip, repositionable double-sided tape, sanding block

Black & White - Ollie...

Happy Saturday to you! I thought I'd share a birthday card made for my younger son today. The background in Whisper White uses the new embossing folder available in the Summer Mini catalog called Square Lattice - one of the really neat things about this particular folder is how you can have two subtle, but different, designs with items that are embossed with it. If you click on the picture above, a slightly larger picture should appear and you can more easily see the little crosses in the pattern are debossed (going inward). A few posts down titled Sponged Backgrounds shows you a card with the little crosses facing outward. Anyhow, since this card was made for a male teenager, I had to be careful not to go overboard with the "girly" embellishments. I think the cardstock texture adds just enough to keep the card interesting, don't you think?

The neat background stamps on the main panel are from Extreme Elements. The black ink was stamped off on scratch paper two or three times before the final stamping on my main panel. Promotion plug here - you can order this stamp set, or a number of other selections, in Stampin'Up!'s Scrapbooking Promotion this month and receive Free designer brads through May 31st.... read all about it HERE. The Extreme Skateboard stamp is awesome and was stamped in Versamark/black ink, then heat embossed in black embossing powder. The black frame was made using a ruler and craft knife, then glued to the main panel before final assembly.

I really love the Extreme Skateboard stamp because it fits my son to a "T". Although he's more into the Ripstik now than the skateboard (which is quite amazing because it only has 2 wheels, not 4!), this image is good for both. I love watching him do tricks (and yes, my heart does skip a beat now and then!), and one trick he's good at is called the "Ollie". It's where you make the entire skateboard (or Ripstik) "jump" or "pop" off the ground with you still on it, land and keep on going without your feet (... or other body parts... yikes!) touching the ground.

Have a great weekend, and I'll see you soon. :)

Black & White Daisies part 2

Here's the last grouping of cards using Upsy Daisy and Well Scripted. Again, trying to keep within the the Black and White theme (ok, and gray too!). They are a bit simpler in design than yesterday's post, but the benefit is that they assemble much faster!

Tomorrow's card is for a male teen - I hope you can stop by if you need an idea or two! Take care.... see you again soon.

Black & White Daisies part 1

The next few posts are cards that I made using just black, gray and white cardstocks, embellishments and inks. The grey tones that you'll see on the stamped portions of these cards is a simple technique of just using the same stamp repeatedly without reinking in between impressions. Today and tomorrows cards are using basically the same main image of Upsy Daisy with different sentiments from Well Scripted - I just changed up the layout a bit on each one. The card above also uses Versamark ink and white embossing powder/heatgun along the bottom, as well as the Eyelet Border edge punch. I added a flower and ribbon layer for the card below.... a quick and simple touch if you're pressed for time.



I hope you like them and can stop in tomorrow for slightly different layout variations using Upsy Daisy. Saturday's post is a birthday card in black and white created for one of my sons.... kids grow so darn fast! Have a great day!

Black & White Sizzlet Storage

A good friend of mine asked me one day "how are you storing your little Sizzlet dies?"..... Good question! At the time, I was using the little pockets of a quilted bag that stores my Bigz and XL dies, but soon found that I had to pull everything out of the pockets to find what I needed. OK, this was the perfect opportunity to get creative and make something pretty and useful.

So how do you like my Sizzlet Storage Box? Believe it or not, this is an altered processed cheese box (ie just like Velveeta cheese comes in) and fits the Sizzlet dies perfectly!!! I carefully disassembled the box lid and used it as a template on the Night & Day DSP (retired, holiday mini). I reassembled the box lid in conjunction with the DSP to give the lid strength. The black ribbon lace is from my gigantic ribbon stash with a layer of the Whisper White Organza ribbon on top. I matted this to white and black cardstock, and added black brads. The flower was created with heart punches to create a rose that was lightly sponged on the edges in black and spritzed with Champagne Mist/alcohol spray and adhered with gluedots/popdots...

Thanks for checking in... have a super day!

Sponged Backgrounds

As you've probably gathered by now from my posted projects, I love to sponge ink! Usually, it's along the edges of layers, but every now and then, I love to make my background with this technique. This background uses a torn post-it note with sponged ink to create my hillside on Blush Blossom cardstock. Not rocket science by any means, but I love the effect. The colors used on this card are Blush Blossom, Close to Cocoa and Ruby Red. There's one small layer of Cameo Coral cardstock around my main panel. I used my homemade Champaigne Mist Shimmer Paint spray (which my hostess club members will get to play with this month!) all across the stamped panel. In real life, the spray adds a beautiful, subtle glittery effect across the entire surface.... it's so pretty! Just use a small spray bottle, fill with one teaspoon of 70% rubbing alcohol and about 7 drops of Shimmer Paint... shake well before each use, and you are ready to rock! Ribbon and little pearls finish off the main panel. The textured background is a new embossing folder in the Summer Mini called Square Lattice. The stamped trees are from Trendy Trees....

Have a great weekend! See you soon!

Mother's Day

I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day on Sunday - I had to work the night before, so Sunday morning had me sleeping till noontime. Then I was up to help the kids with school projects - why do teacher's pack the "big" projects so close to the end of school? Ugh!! Anyhow, my Mother's Day ended with a delicious dinner made by DH - he's the cook in our family... I'm so spoiled, I know.

These cards were made last week for Mother's Day, and I got as far as watermarking the pics and then forgetting I had them in my folder to post - Doh! Anyhow, the sentiment can be changed up to fit any occasion, so if you need a quick card, this may fit the bill.

It was made with SU's notecards with envelopes - these are a must-have item for your stash and are perfect to use as a base for last minute cards. The floral spray comes from Watercolor Trio - a new set offered in the Summer Mini Catalog. It was selectively colored and stamped on Whisper White cardstock with Old Olive and Ballet Blue markers, and then finished with a Barely Banana butterfly (try saying that five times fast - I can't even say it once without twisting up my words! hee hee). The matting is Barely Banana and Ballet Blue. The sentiment is from Well Scripted. The background is En Francais, a new favorite of mine! Slight sponging finishes the cardbase edges...

The pic below shows one closeup for better viewing, you can click it to make it larger.

I have a series of black & white projects and cards lined up to start next Monday - I hope you can visit and check them out! Have a great day...

Easel Cards

Easel cards are so easy and fun to put together. They really add a different flair to cards and are a great way to really grab your recipient's attention! A great tutorial can be found at Splitcoaststampers under the Resources section - check it out! The one above uses the "Great Friend" stamp set and white embossed vellum butterflies. I love watching embossing powder melt, so this one was extra fun to assemble!



Here's another one made before Easter using the Vintage Vogue stamp set..... love this stamp set to pieces! Oh, don't forget that today, April 30th, is the last day that you can order from the Occasions Mini Catalog - some things have sold out already (ie the On-Board Heart book, Sweet Pea Designer paper stack, Sweet Pea Stitched felt). You can order any other items online at www.june.stampinup.net and be sure to check out the clearance rack section too! Lots of great bargains to be had there.

Have a great Friday! Till next time...