Can You Say Waterfall?

I've been wanting to make a waterfall card for a while now, but just never seemed to get around to doing it. Well, a challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments was the motivation I needed. Their challenge this week is to create a card using a fancy fold technique.



Splitcoast Stampers has the perfect tutorial for making this card.



Supplies
Stamps: A Flower for all Seasons and Elements of Style
Paper: Concord Crush, Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight and Whisper White
Stampin' Write Markers: Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz, Marina Mist, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Pink Pirouette, Peach Parfait, Cajun Craze, Daffodil Delight, Chocolate Chip, Green Garden Certainly Celery and Basic Grey
Embellishments: Eyelets, Night of Navy 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon
Accessories: SNAIL, Blender Pen, Stampin' Up! Crop-a-Dile, Clear Mount Block B, Piercing Tool and Mat Pack

Tips
I won't go through step-by-step on how to make the card since the tutorial is available on the Splitcoast Stampers website (follow link above). So, I really only have 1 tip to give. Some of the colors I used will not have the ink pads available until July 1st (Canada Day, eh!) so I had to use my Stampin' Write markers to color the images. There are many ways to do this with a Blender Pen; one way is to hold the tip of the Blender Pen to the tip of the Stampin' Write Marker so the Blender Pen can soak up some of the ink. Or, you can do what I did, and that was to use a couple different colors on the Clear Mount Block B (you can use any size obviously) with the Stampin' Write Marker and then dip your Blender Pen into whatever color you want to use. You still need to clean your Blender Pen on a piece of scrap paper in between colors, but it still makes changing colors a little easier.



Here's a couple more pictures of the waterfall card from different angles.







Thanks for stopping by today.

Pals Paper Art 48

This week at Pals Paper Art they are having a sketch challenge.



This looked like a good sketch to do a monochromatic card, and I did it all in different shades of pinks.



Supplies
Stamps: Fast and Fabulous (a level I hostess gift in the new 2010-2011 catalog)
Cardstock: Rose Red, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette and Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink
Embellishments: Rhinestone Brads
Accessories: Lattice Square Embossing Folder, Glue Dots, SNAIL and Stamping Sponges

Tips
The card base is Rose Red and then I cut the Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette and Regal Rose cardstock and layered them on the Rose Red.
I then embossed the front half of the card.
The edges of the Whisper White are sponged with Rose Red ink.
The Rhinestone brad was an afterthought, so rather than take the Whisper White off, I cut the prongs off of the Rhinestone Brad and used a glue dot to place it on the Whisper White.
I hope you enjoy the card today, and maybe even find a little inspiration in it.

Combining a Sketch Challenge with a Color Challenge

This card is for 2 challenges. The colors are for the Diva Coffee Break Designs challenge #182



and the sketch is from the Clean and Simple Stamping FTL96 challenge.



When I seen this sketch my first thought was to use the Tart and Tangy stamp set, but then the card posted for the sketch used that stamp set, so I didn't want to duplicate it. So then I started to think about using different flower stamps, but that thought didn't get the creative juices flowing. Buttons?, nope not doing it for me. Mixing brads? Nope, still nothing. So, I figured I would clear off my desk a little while I think about what I wanted to do, and as I started putting my punches away it hit me, PUNCHES, I have lots of punches. So, here it is.



Supplies
Stamps: Occasional Quotes
Cardstock: Basic Black, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise and Summer Sun
Ink: Versamark
Punches: 1 3/4" Scallop Circle, Boho Blossoms, Modern Label, Word Window
Embellishments: Rich Regal Brads, Bold Brights Brads
Accessories: Black Embossing Powder, Paper Snips, Paper Piercing Too and Mat Pack, Embossing Budy, Heat Tool, Glue Dots and SNAIL

Tips
I cut all of the punches on the scallop towards the middle to give a little lift to all of the flowers. I hope you like it. Thanks for checking out my post today, and for leaving your comments.

Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge # 144

Hi All. Today's post is for a sketch challenge from Mojo Monday - The Blog.



I played around with this sketch and the colors for this card and came up with 2 different but very similar cards. For the first card I used Crumb Cake as the base, and I really like how it looks with the Regal Rose. It's funny, I never really Crumb Cake (formerly known as Kraft) before, but now that it is one of the core SU! colors in the Neutrals Collection I'm using it a lot more, and I really like it.



Supplies
Stamps: With All My Heart and Vintage Labels
Paper: Crumb Cake, Regal Rose, Very Vanilla, Bride Speciality Paper, Sending Love Specialty Paper (from the Occasions Mini Catalog)
Ink: Regal Rose, Bashful Blue Early Espresso and Crumb Cake
Punches: Extra Large Fancy Flower and Curly Label
Embellishments: Basic Jumbo Grommets, Soft Subtle Brads, Regal Rose 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon
Accessories: Paper Piercing Tool and Mat Pack, Stamping Sponges, Dimensionals and SNAIL

Techniques
I made my own designer series paper by stamping on the Crumb Cake base with Crumb Cake Ink. The Bride Specialty Paper is white, so I sponged over it using a Stamping Sponge and Regal Rose Ink, then wiped off the excess ink so that there is still some shine in the design on the paper I give the look of depth I sponged the edges all of the card stock and DSP.

The second card is very similar, I basically used different colors, and a few different embellishments.



Supplies
Stamps: With all My Heart, Vintage Labels
Paper: Marina Mist, Bride Specialty Paper, Regal Rose, Sending Love Specialty Paper, Very Vanilla
Ink: Marina Mist, Regal Rose
Punches: Extra Large Fancy Flower, Curly Label, Boho Blossoms and 1/2" Circle
Embellishments: Rich Regal Brads, 5/8" Regal Rose Grosgrain Ribbon, 5/16" Jumbo Brads
Accessories: Stampin Sponges, Dimensionals, SNAIL, Paper Piercing Tool and Mat Pack

I'm not sure if you can enter more than one card to the Mojo Monday challenge, so I have to decide which one of the two I like best. I would love from eveyone on their thoughts which card I should enter.

Create, Ink...Color Lab

Down the right side of my blog you'll see a Create, Ink..Color Lab Button. When you have a chance check it out, it is a SU! color generator. This was developed by an Independent SU Demonstrator, and is a lot of fun to play with.

Monday's Shoebox Swap

Monday we had our downline meeting at my upline's (Mary) home. We meet every month, and rotate between business meeting and shoebox swap, where everyone designs a card and brings enough supplies for everyone at the meeting to make that card; this past Monday was the shoebox swap. We always have a lot of fun at these meetings and the cards are always so nice, so I figured I would share those cards with everyone. The first card was designed by my upline, Mary. I love the card Mary made, but this one does not do it any justice, I'm not happy with how mine turned out. I think the problem is the way I placed the petals of the flower. Anyway, I'm sure in the near future I will be redoing and posting this card. With the exception of the greeting that was stamped with Teeny Tiny Wishes, this card is made entirely from punches.



For this card you punch a 3/4" Circle at least 1/2" from the edge of a piece of cardstock.



And then with the Large Oval Punch you punch over that circle, with the circle being close to the end of the punch.



And your end product is the petal of the flower and it looks like this.



Cut 6 of these and then arrange them like a flower with the circle towards the middle. Use the largest flower in Boho Blossom Punch and a Designer Button for the center of the flower. To cut the stem make a punch with the Extra Large Oval Punch.


Using the Extra Large Oval Punch again punch around the edge of the oval.



So that your finished product with look like this.



I hope these instructions are clear, and if not feel free to email me with questions. The next card is Diane's, and was done with the Level I hostess stamp set Because I Care that will be available in the 2010-2011 catalog next week. As you'll see shortly great minds think alike.



You can't really see it in the picture, but there are some added flowers that were punched with a punch from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, and then with Dimensionals they were placed on the hydrangea. This gives a little bit of a 3-Dimensional look to the flower. The third card that we completed on Monday was designed by Kim. This is done with one of my most favourite stamp sets, Vintage Vogue. This card also uses some Cottage Wall Designer Series Paper. This paper will no longer be available in these colors after June 30th. The same paper in different colors (as noticed by the very keen eye of my upline Mary) will be replacing it, and will be available July 1st. I love this card and the look that using the 2 different patterns of mathching DSP makes. Note to self, use more DSP in cards.



The next card was designed by Sue, and uses the Razzle Dazzle stamp set. This card is a very simple card, but very pretty. I love the look of the So Saffron and the Taken with Teal. Taken with Teal will no longer be available after next week, but the So Saffron is such a versatile color that the Taken with Teal could easily be replaced with several other colors, Night of Navy, Elegant Eggplant, and so many others.



The last card that we made is my card, but before I show you it I must give credit where credit is due. I CASE'd this card (100%, not one part of it is mine) from Ann at The Stampin' Schach. The only difference between Ann's card and mine is that I didn't add the 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, because I didn't order any of that during the pre-order. Anyway, here is my card.



And now you can see why I say great minds think alike, both Diane and I used the Because I Care stamp set. Well, thats all for now. I know it's a long post, but I hope you enjoy the cards I've shared.

Yeah For Me!

It's the little things in life that always make us smile, and today I'm smiling.
I am the Diva Coffee Break Designs Featured Artist for their Color Challenge #180. Check out their blog and all of the other great cards that were submitted. Thank you to the Diva Coffee Break Design team for making my day.

Pals Paper Art 47

Pals Paper Art is having a Summer Theme Challenge this week.
I wasn't really sure how I was going to go about this one because when I think of summer I think of having cocktails by the pool, the ocean, dolphins, but I don't have any stamps to reflect this. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, I have a Life is a Beach cartridge for my cricut, and what better to use to make a summer theme card. Since today is the perfect day for sitting by the pool with cocktails this is what I decided to make. This card has the best of both worlds, Stampin' Up! and Cricut. With the exception of the cartridge used to cut the card and words all products are Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Vintage Vogue
Ink: Soft Suede, Only Orange, Stampin' Write Soft Suede Marker
Paper: Only Orange, Brilliant Blue, Pixie Pink, Green Calore, Whisper White
Accessories: SNAIL, Paper Snips, 2-Way Glue Pen, and Sponge Daubers
To give some depth I used my Sponge Dauber and inked the edges of the umberlla, letters and pineapple, and did the same with Only Orange around the edge of the card. I hope you enjoy my card today.

Diva Coffee Break Designs #181

Diva Coffee Break Designs challenge #181 is a sketch this week

And this is what I came up with for this sketch.


I had fun with this one.
Paper: Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight, Confetti Cream and Presto Patterns Speciality Paper
Ink: Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive
Stamps: Greenhouse Garden, Vintage Vogue and Sale-A-Bration Vintage Labels
Punches: 5-Petal flower, Curly Label
Accessories: Rich Regal Brad, Post-It Note, Dimensionals, Stamping Sponges, Gold Glow Smooch Spritz, Color Catcher, Paper Snips, SNAIL , Dotto

I tried a new technique with this one, it's called Masking and you can follow the link to the site, or check out Stampin' Up's website for this and other techniques.

Other Helpful Points

1. I cut a scrap piece of paper 5" x 3 3/4" and used my Cricut Expression (otherwise known as contraband - but I do a lot of scrapbooking and I couldn't live without this) to cut an oval on 1 end of the cardstock.
2. I then applied this piece of cardstock with Dotto (repositionalble adhesive) to a pice of Presto Patterns paper. I left the oval in place, but removed the 'shell." Using my stamping sponge I colored all around the oval with Melon Mambo Ink and then spritzed it with my Gold Glow Smooch Spritz.
3. I then replaced the shell and removed the oval and using the masking technique and the Greenhouse Garden stamp set I stamped in the oval area where there was no Melon Mambo ink.
   

The picture never does the card justice, but if you look close you'll see the glow from the Smooch Spritz and under the flowers you can faintly see the embossed writing that is on the Presto Patterns paper.

You don't need a Cricut Expression to cut the oval in the scrap piece of paper. Stampin' Up! carries the Big Shot and all of the necessary accessories you'll need to do this type of die cutting and dry embossing. It's a great tool to have, and definitely one you can't live without.
I hope you enjoy my creation today.
Feel free to email me with questions.

A Slight Change

2 days ago I posted a card for the Curtain Call Color Challenge and the Inkspiration Sketch Challenge. I've gotten several comments on that card over the last 2 days, thank you everyone for your checking out my blog and for your wonderful comments. I was looking at the card this morning and decided I'm going to make a change. All I did was change the card base from Basic Grey to Dusty Durango, but I think it makes a big difference. I'm liking the Dusty Durango card base better, what do you think? The Inkspiration challenge is closed, but I still have until tomorrow night to change my card in the Curtain Call Color Challenge, so I would love to know your thoughts.



The 1st version of this card is the entry before this one, or you can click here.

Where the Color Meets the Sketch

Hi All: I've combined 2 challenges today; Curtain Call Color Challenge {Act 34};
which can be found on Stacey's Stamping Stage and Inkspirations Sketch Challenge; # 27 which can be found on Inkspirations by Makeesha Byl. I had a lot of fun with this one, I don't know if you could call it a masculine card, but it definitely has a masculine look to it. There's lots of layers and embossing with the Petals-a-Plenty embossing foler. Here's a bit of a close up look Stamps: All a Flutter and Occasional Quotes
Paper: Basic Grey, Rich Razzleberry, Dusty Durango and Sahara Sand
Ink: Rich Razzleberry Stampin' Pad, Dusty Durango, Sahara Sand, Rich Razzleberry Stampin' Write Markers and Versamark
Accessories: Petals a Plenty Embossing Folder, Flower Brads, Dimensionals, Paper Snips, Black Embossing Powder
Punches: Wide Oval, Scalloped Oval and Large Oval
The butterflies were stamped with Versamark and embossed with black embossing powder, colored with Stampin' Write Markers and then cut out. A little tedious, but I think it was worth it. The rest is pretty straightforward, but feel free to email me with questions.
I would love to know what you all think.
Thanks

Mojo Monday Sketch 143

Today's card is for a sketch challenge from Mojo Monday - The Blog.

For this card I used some of SU new products. I love the effect that the Smooch Spritz of the Smooch Spritz.
Stamps: Medallion, Pocket Silhouettes (for the greeting)
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Delightful Daffodil, Whisper White
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Delightful Daffodil
Punches: Modern Label, Word Window, 1 1/4" Square, 1 3/4" Circle
Accessories: Antique Brads (from the Vintage collection), 5/16: Chocolate Chip Jumbo Brads (from the Neutrals collection, Dimensionals, SNAIL, Paper Snips, Log Cabin Smooch Spritz, Square Lattice Embossing Folder. Technique

1. Cut the Early Espresso layer at 5 1/4" x 4" and then run is through the Square Lattice embossing folder on your bigshot.
2. Stamp the Medallion Stamp in Cherry Cobbler on Whisper White cardstock and then cut it at 3" x 2 3/4" and then cut that into 1' strips. Insert a Chocolate Chip brad into the center of the center strip.
3. Stamp the Medallion stamp again with Cherry Cobbler and Delightful Daffodil on Whisper White cardstock. Punch the center of the Cherry Cobbler Medallion with the 1 3/4" Circle Punch, and cut the center of the Delightful Daffodil Medallion with your Paper Snips.
4. Layer the Cherry Cobbler Medallion circle on the Delightful Daffodil Circle and then insert a Chocolate Chip Brad in the center of the Cherry Cobbler Medallion and place 3 Antique Brads along the edge of the Delightful Daffodil Medallion.
5. Using the Modern Label punch cut a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock, and after stamping your greeting with the 'friend to friend' stamp from Pocket Silhouettes onto Delightful Daffodil cardstock cut that with your Word Window punch.
6. Cut a piece of Delightful Daffodil cardstock 5/8" x 5 1/4" and using the 1 1/4" Square punch cut both ends of the strip.
7. Use your SNAIL to layer the Delightful Daffodil strip through the 3 Cherry Cobbler strips and Dimensionals under the middle strip.
8. Use Dimensionals and SNAIL to put the rest of the card together.

Feel free to email me with questions,