Good morning everyone.  I have had some requests recently for wedding cards, and since I have absolutely no mojo these days I scoped Stampin' Connection (a website for Stampin' Up! demonstrators) for a card to CASE, and found a gorgeous one that is made with my favourite stamp set, Heartfelt Thanks.  The woman I CASE'd it from is named Tracy, and besides being from Windsor, Ontario, that is all I know about her...thank you Tracy for the inspiration.

Supplies
Stamp Sets:  Heartfelt Thanks (retired), Occasional Quotes
Card Stock:  Basic Black, Brushed Silver, Whisper White
Ink:  Versamark
Accessories:  Embossing Buddy, Powder Pals, Silver Embossing Powder, 5/8" Basic Grey Satin Ribbon, SNAIL Heat Tool

Tips

1. Your embossing buddy is really important when embossing with any kind of colored embossing powder.
2. I tied a knot in the center of the ribbon and then taped it to the back of the card stock.  It helps save on ribbon.

That's all for now.  My posts have been pretty short lately, but at least I'm getting something posted!

The Versality of Paint Chips

I am so excited about today's post; everyone of these cards make me smile!  I went to a Stampin' Up! Regional event in Hamilton last fall and this was a technique that was demonstrated in one of the WOW presentations.  That day I stopped at Home Depot on my way home and picked up some paint chips to play with.

And true to form, they sat in a drawer for the last 6 months until I finally pulled them out today and decided to start playing with them.  I made 4 different cards to show all of the options you have when using these to make cards with.

The first one is stamped with Whisper White Craft Ink and embossed with Iridescent Ice Stampin' Emboss Powder.  I stamped with the Whisper White Craft Ink because I was going to use White Stampin' Emboss Powder, but then changed my mind and did the embossing with Iridescent Ice.  Unfortunately, you can't see the sparkle of the "easter eggs" in the picture.

Supplies

Card Stock:  River Rock, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White

Stamp Set:  Easter Blossoms

Ink:  Whisper White Craft Ink, Rich Razzleberry Craft Ink, Versamark

Punches:  2" x 1-3/8" Oval

Accessories:  Stampin' Up! Subtles Brads (Pretty in Pink), Paper Piercer, Mat Pack, 5/8" Rich Razzleberry Satin Ribbon, Iridescent Ice Stampin' Emboss Powder, Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder, Heat Tool, Embossing Buddy, Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folders. Big Shot, Dimesionals, SNAIL

For the second card I used Melon Mambo Craft Ink and Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder.

Supplies

Card Stock: Baja Breeze, Melon Mambo
Stamp Set: Elements of Style
Ink: Craft Melon Mambo, Classic Basic Black
Punches: 1-3/4" x 7/8" Oval, Scallop Oval
Accessories: Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folders, Big Shot, Pretty in Pink 1-1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Clear Embossing Powder, Embossing Buddy, Heat Tool, SNAIL

Tips

1. I used the scraps from the paint chips to stamp the "Life is a Matter of Moments."

For my third card I used Black Stampin' Emboss Powder, and I gotta tell you I'm loving how this one turned out!!



Supplies

Card Stock:  Naturals White, Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise

Stamp Sets:  Bliss, Occasional Quotes

Ink:  Versamark

Punches:  Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Ticket Corner Punch

Accessories:  Paper Piercer, Mat Pack, Stampin' Up! Brights Brads (Tempting Turquoise), Black Stampin; Emboss Powder, Embossing Buddy, Heat Tool, Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Basic Black 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, SNAIL, Paper Snips

Tips

1. I used the Paper Piercer and Mat Pack to make holes exactly where I want the Brads to sit.
2. When putting Brads in the corner I often get a part of the back of the brad that sticks out past the edge of the paper.  When that happens I use my Paper Snips to cut off the excess.

My last card is my favourite, I love the look of the white embossing with the blue.

Supplies

Card Stock:  Night of Navy, Whisper White

Stamps:  Charming, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink:  Craft Whisper White

Punches:  Pinking Hearts Border Punch

Accessories:  Baja Breeze 1/2" Seam Binding Ribbon, Sticky Strip, White Stampin' Emboss Powder, Embossing Buddy, Heat tool

Tips

1. To get this look with the ribbon, I pulled a couple threads length wise from the middle of the ribbon, and as I pulled that thread the ribbon bunched up.  I then placed a piece of sticky strip across the Night of Navy Card Stock and then layed the ribbon on that Sticky Strip to hold it in place.

Well, that's all for today, I hope you enjoy my post as much as I enjoyed making these cards.  

Lap of Luxury

Good morning, wow, this is out of control, this is going to make a total of 3 posts in 1 week, there's no way Sherri (my SIL) is going to stay safe on the couch when she sees this one - apply your seatbelt Sherri, this is a double post.

My favourite color is purple (no, I'm not a Donny Osmond fan!), and one of the In Colors this year is Concord Crush, and to make that color even better there is Designer Series Paper (DSP) called Lap of Luxury that coordinates with the Concord Crush ~ yum!!!!

The base of this card is Concord Crush, and then I ran Very Vanilla through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, and then use a Sponge Dauber and the Concord Crush Ink Pad to add some color to the Very Vanilla Cardstock.
I did the quilt style for today's card, cutting strips of the Lap of Luxury DSP in different widths and gluing them to a piece of cardstock 4" x 5" with my Anywhere Glue Stick.  I then rank it through my Big Shot with the Top Note Die, and then ran it through my Big Shot again with the Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions Embossing Folder.  Then I applied a piece of Sticky Strip across the center of the Top Note Die Cut and placed the Blushing Bride 1/2" Stitched-Poly Ribbon in a "jagged" type maner.

This is the final product...

 
Supplies
Stamp Sets: Occasional Quotes (level 3 hostess set)
Card Stock: Concord Crush, Very Vanilla
Designer Series Paper: Lap of Luxury
Ink: Concord Crush
Punches:  Decorative Label Punch, 2" x 1-3/8" Oval Punch
Accessories:  Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper Textured Embossing Folder, Perfect Polka Dot Textured Embossing Folder, Sponge Daubers, Sticky Strip, SNAIL, Dimensionals, Blushing Bride 1/2" Stitched-Poly Ribbon, Basic Pearls, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack, Anywhere Glue Stick

Tips

1. Make sure you have your card stock placed properly over the Top Note Die before you run it through the Big Shot.
2. I applied the Anywhere Glue Stick all over the 4" x 5" card stock before I applied the strips of DSP, this makes it easier because you can "slide" the DSP into place before it dries.

When I make cards sometimes I make duplicates, and that was my intention this morning, but when I ran my card stock through the Big Shot with the Top Note Die, I didn't have the card stock placed properly over the Top Note Die (I was still working on my 1st cup of coffee I think) and so 1 side of the Top Note was cut off.  I didn't want to waste what I had left, so I improvised, and came up with this.

I don't really like this one as much as the first one, but overall it's not bad.

Supplies

Stamp Sets: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Card Stock: Concord Crush, Blushing Bride
Designer Series Paper: Lap of Luxury
Classic Ink: Concord Crush
Punches: Modern Label Punch, Work Window Punch
Accessories: Big Shot Square Lattice Textured Embossing Folder, Perfect Polka Dot Textured Embossing Folder, Sticky Strip, SNAIL, Dimensionals, Concord Crush 1/2" Stitched-Poly Ribbon, Basic Pearls, Anywhere Glue Stick

Tips

1. Make sure you have your card stock placed properly over the Top Note Die before you run it through the Big Shot ~ but you know what they say "there are not mistakes in stampin', only opportunities"

I hope you enjoyed my post today.

Curtain Call Act 46

I'm back for a second post today...why not spend Labor Day laboring away in one's stamp room?  This card is for a color challenge at Stacey's Stamping Stage, Curtain Call Act 46.

These are Icelandic Poppies, so it only seemed right I used some flowers in this card.

Supplies
Card Stock:  Wild Wasabi, Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade, Whisper White, Blushing Bride
Stamps:  Greenhouse Garden, Occasional Quotes
Ink:  Blushing Bride, Poppy Parade, Wild Wasabi
Stampin' Write Marker:  Wild Wasabi
Punches:  Modern Label Punch, 5-Petal Flower Punch, 3/16" Corner Punch
Accessories:  Basic Pearls, Subtles Brads, Sponge Daubers, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, SNAIL, Mat Pack, Paper Piercer, Stamp-a-ma-Jig

Tips

1. I sponged the edges of the 5-Petal Flowers to give some dimension.
2. I used the Stamp-a-ma-Jig to line up the flowers, lines within the flowers and the stems, works every time!

A Tutorial for a Challenge

Hi Again, for the second time today.  Today's card is for a challenge on Scrapmaster's Paradise, it is color challenge #57.

Don't you just love this color combo?  I especially love Marina Mist, it is another one of my new favourites that SU! came out with this year. 

To do this card I did a technique that I learned at an all day stamping event host by my 3rd upline, Linda Bauwin.  This technique in particular was taught by Sherm Langan, an SU! Demonstrator.

Supplies
Stamps:  For All You Do, Occassional Quotes
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, Confetti White, Whisper White
Ink:  Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Blushing Bride
Stampin' Write Markers:  Marina Mist and Blushing Bride
Punches:  Modern Label Punch
Accessories:  Bashful Blue 5/8" Satin Ribbon, Brights and Subtles Brads, Stamp-a-ma-Jig, Sponge Daubers, Crimper, Color Spritzer Tool, Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz, Color Catcher, Paper Snips, Grid Paper, Dimensionals, SNAIL

Tips
For this tutorial I did all of my folding, crimping etc. on a piece of Confetti White Cardstock that was not stamped on so you could have a clear picture, but you definitely want to be sure to stamp, color, spritz, etc. your image before doing any of the following.
I started with a pice of Confetti White Cardstock 5" x 3-3/4" and using my Grid Paper I marked the 5" sides with a pencil at 2-1/2" and on the 3-3/4" sides I marked at 1-7/8", and then lightly with a pencil I drew lines connecting those marks.

I then used my bone folder and scored along those pencil marks.  You really don't need to mark the lines with a pencil, you could just jump to making score lines with your Bone Folder if you wanted.  Once you have your lines scored, fold them along the score lines.

If you marked your paper with a pencil, it doesn't matter which way you fold your corners, you just want to make sure the pencil marks are on the side you apply your SNAIL to when mounting this to your card.  With your paper folded along the score lines run it through the crimper.

And this is what it will look like when finished running it through the crimper.

I hope this is clear, and you have fun trying this technique.  I love it and use it often in my cards.

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.

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