Not just for birthdays

    I like to get the most mileage I can out of my stamp sets but then who doesn't?! Right? So I combined Sweet Scoops stamp set with the sayings from On A Pedestal stamp set for a non birthday card. I plan on using this as a sort of thank you card!

   Lets start with the background cause I need to explain it. I used the Perfect Details Texturz Plate and my Big Shot. Now this was NOT my original idea. I saw it on another card and I can't for the life of me remember who or where. So I apologize if it's yours!! The combination of creamy caramel cardstock, the Texturz plate and some ink really give the background the look of an ice cream cone. I love it!!

   A scallop border with an overlay of extra long White Satin Ribbon divides the card almost in half. Then I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the saying. Pause for commercial. I never used the Stamp-a-ma-jig much but I am REALLY loving that thing. It makes life (and stamping) so much easier because I don't waste cardstock as I keep trying to get my image straight. The SAMJ does it for me!

   The ice cream cone: It is stamped and cut out separately then adhered to my oval. But..... if you look closely it is a glittered ice cream cone! I just coated it with Crystal Effects and loaded on the glitter! That's it.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Sweet Scoops stamp set - Summer Mini Catalog
• On A Pedestal stamp set
• Barely Banana cardstock - Retiring
• Creamy Caramel cardstock and ink - Retiring
• Pixie Pink ink - Retiring
• Big Shot and Perfect Details Texturz Plate
• Dazzling Diamond Glitter and Crystal Effects
• White Satin Ribbon - Summer Mini catalog
• Silver Brads
• Scallop Oval and Large Oval Punches
• Stamp-a-ma-jig 

Thanks for stopping by!    

Hello There!

   I am having such a busy weekend it is crazy! But before I leave for work (on a Saturday - ugh), I wanted to post this card I made earlier in the week.

  I'm sttill trying to use colors that are retiring. Notice: I have lots of Mellow Moss ! LOL! I love making square cards and I think, for me anyway, they are easier to balance the layout.

For this one I used my Circle Scissors Plus to make the larger circle. After I stamped the images I drew the musical notes by hand, with a marker. And since I had the marker out I added lots of speckles with my Color Spritz Tool! It gave it an "aged" look or vintage if you will. I think the rest of the card is pretty self explanatory.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Cheep Talk stamp set
• Mellow Moss cardstock, ink and designer paper - Retiring
• White cardstock
• Close to Cocoa ink and marker - Retiring
• Really Rust marker - Retiring
• Natural Hemp Twine
• Circle Scissors Plus
• 1 1/4" circle punch
• Photo Corner punch
• Jumbo Eyelets and Crop-a-dile
• Color Spritzer Tool

Gotta run. Enjoy your weekend!

Clean and Simple Herb

   It's time for a clean and simple card! And what better place to find a clean and simple sketch but over at the blog called Clean and Simple Sketches. This is a card that is fun and so easy to reproduce!

      

  I just realized I didn't put the sentiment where the sketch has it. Oh well. I like how I did mine anyway!

The stamp is from the set, Herb Expressions. Now let me point out that the image of the herb, as well as its name are on one stamp. For this card I wanted them to be separate so I easily inked them separately and stamped. Just wanted to point that out.

   I also want to point out the ribbon embellishment. I had a scrap of ribbon in my stash but it wasn't long enough for a bow so I just looped it in half. To hold it together I used a button with a rhinestone brad and wrapped the prongs of the brad around the ribbon. Hope that makes sense.

  All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Herb Expressions stamp set
• White and Certainly Celery cardstock
• Lavender Lace cardstock - Retiring
• Cottage Wall designer paper
• Black Stazon ink
• Watercolor Pencils
• Blender Pen
• Rhinestone Brad
• White Organza Ribbon
• Small and Wide Oval punches
• Scallop border punch
• Big Shot and Lots of Tags sizzlit

Have a wonderful stamping day. Thanks for stopping!

It looks like a window!

Well kind of. It wasn't intentional at all but after I made the card, stepped back and looked at it, I saw a window with a window box of flowers! 

   I used the Color Challenge at Splitcoast Stampers. The colors are Dusty Durango, Rich Razzleberry and So Saffron. Since it had a retiring color (Dusty Durango) in the combo, I went with it. 

   The "frame" is really Dusty Durango Polka Dot Ribbon held at the corner with a So Saffron Designer Brad!  I stamped some of the flowers directly to the cardstock while others I stamped, cut out, and adhered separately.

   All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Eastern Blooms and Sincere Salutations stamp sets
• Dusty Durango cardstock, ink and ribbon - Retiring
• Rich Razzleberry and White cardstock
• Razzleberry Lemonade designer paper
• Rich Razzleberry, So Saffron ink
• So Saffron brads
• So Saffron Designer Flower Brad
• Curly Label Punch

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a great stamping day!

A Little Bit of Stenciling

   I have been loving all of the stenciled cards I have seen on the 'net so I ordered some to try. My first attempt is this card. This is my second attempt and I kept it very simple - the stenciling that is. The rest of the card? Different story. lol. 

   I tried to follow this sketch from Mojo Monday.

 I must confess I am not one to angle elements of my card. I pretty much stay to the oft-time boring, straight lines. So this sketch was good for me to try! I struggled a bit but I like how the card turned out.  

  But back to the stenciling. I used the stencil, Mostly Vintage from the Summer Mini Catalog and placed it on the cardstock in such a way that would complement the button. I sure hope Stampin' Up! doesn't retire the stamp set, Define Your Life. I have really come to love that set!! And we will find out if it stays or goes on June 1st! So stay tuned.

  Notice I used a soon to be retired color - Crushed Curry. I try to use at least one retiring color in every project I post. And the twine I wrapped around the card front. Did you notice that? I just ran some natural twine over and over a Black Stazon ink pad. It gave it a mottled look but I like it! 

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Define Your Life stamp set
• Mostly Vintage stencil - Summer Mini
• Crushed Curry cardstock, ink and Ribbon - Retiring
• Basic Black and Vanilla cardstock
• Razzleberry Lemonade designer paper
• Black Stazon ink
• Big Shot and Top Note die
• Summer Sun Corduroy button - Retiring
• Natural Hemp Twine
• Vintage Brads
• Sponge Dauber

Have a Blessed Day!

My Old Friends

  It was time for something different. That's what I told myself when I set out to make this card. But I felt so unfaithful to my dear markers. LOL. I love my Stampin' Up! markers  - so much that I had forgotten all about my watercolor pencils which used to be my coloring tools of choice! They have been sadly neglected and forgotten so it was about time I visited these old friends of mine.

   I am continuing my "Retiring Colors Parade" so today's card uses Gable Green. You know I used to love this color until Certainly Celery came along. So it was like visiting with another old friend. I used Vanilla Smooch Spritz on the base card and while it dried I worked on the focal image. First I stamped my flowers from Elements of Style on White cardstock. Then I dug out my good old watercolor pencils, dusted them off, and got to work! 

  I now remember why I love them so much. They are easy to blend, easy to control , and easy to use! 

   After I colored the flowers I cut out the part I wanted to use, added some white highlights with my White Gel Pen and adhered them to the card front. White Taffeta Ribbon, Round Rhinestone brads and a little bit of sponging completed the card. 

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Elements of Style stamp set - Summer Mini
• Define Your Life stamp set
• Gable Green cardstock and ink - Retiring
• Basic Gray and White cardstock
• Stazon Black ink
• Watercolor Pencils and Blender Pen
• Dimensionals and Sponge
• Rhinestone Brads
• White Taffeta Ribbon
• Vanilla Smooch Spritz - Summer Mini

It's Friday, my husband is coming home after being away all week and I have the weekend off! Woo Hoo!

Getting a jump on things

   Because my husband is a pastor we receive our fair share of invitations to graduation parties - both high school and college. Rather than wait till last minute like I usually do, I am making graduation cards ahead of time! Yep, that's the plan anyway! I like to use the school's colors if I can and since the high school's colors are Red and Black, here is the card I came up with for the guys.

  I know, I know, the designer paper is retired. I don't usually like to use retired paper but I needed Real Red and this paper was in a retired 6 x 6 hostess pack. I really like this layout. It is an easy, tried and true one for me. Paper piercing, Basic Small Grommets and Real Red Brads add some masculine embellishments. I added ribbon but didn't dare add a bow. LOL.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Happy Grad stamp set - Summer Mini
• Real Red, Basic Black and White cardstock
• Real Red designer paper - retired
• Basic Small Grommets - Black
• Real Red Brads
• Paper Piercer
• Black grosgrain ribbon

Happy Stamping!

Tab card

   This is just a card I made using a tab format. It is always fun to make a card in a way that is different from the same old, same old. 

Here is the card opened up.

   You can see that the back of the card is standard 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". The front is trimmed 1" from the bottom edge. And then to make the tab just use a slit punch.

This is a close up of the tab.

   Three retiring colors were used: Apricot Appeal, Gable Green and Almost Amethyst. To give the background some depth, I spritzed it with Vanilla Smooch Spritz and added some Almost Amethyst speckles with my Color Spritzer Tool!

I never know what to do with the clear buttons I have hanging around. I added one to the front of the card with a little bit of ribbon just to draw the eye around the front of the card. It works.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Watercolor Trio stamp set - Summer Mini
• White cardstock
• Almost Amethyst, Gable Green, Apricot Appeal cardstock - Retiring
• Almost Amethyst, Gable Green, Apricot Appeal ink - Retiring
• Color Spritzer Tool
• Vanilla Smooch Spritz
• Square Clear button
• Apricot Appeal button and ribbon
• Slit punch

Hope you like my tab card!

i thank you

   I loved this week's sketch from Mojo Monday. As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to use the new Rough Alphabet stamp set from the Summer Mini. And of course I needed to use a retiring color since that seems to be my theme this month! lol. So my colors are Rose Red, Soft Suede and the retiring Bermuda Bay. 

 

   I used the Rough Alphabet stamp set to stamp the words. And since I bought it in clear mount I just formed the words on a clear block and stamped the entire word at once. Love it!! Note: this is one of the stamp sets in this months special. 

   The image is from one of my favorite stamp sets called Flowers for All Seasons. I stamped it with Black Stazon and then used markers and an aquapainter to color it in. And If you look really closely you can see some Soft Suede speckles I added with my Color Spritzer Tool - just to fill in some white space you understand. 

All supplies are Stampin' UP!

• Flowers for All Seasons stamp set
• Rough Alphabet stamp set - Summer Mini
• White cardstock and Watercolor paper
• Thoroughly Modern designer paper
• Rose Red marker and ink
• Soft Suede cardstock, marker and ink
• Bermuda Bay cardstock, marker and ink - Retiring
• Bermuda Bay ribbon
• Ticket corner punch
• Rose Red buttons
• Aquapainter
• Color Spritzer Tool

Happy Friday!

Brads Galore!

 In my never ending quest to use up my retiring embelishments and cardstock I present today's card.
The color combination is from the challenge found at Stacy's Stamping Stage. I switched out Tangerine Tango since it will be returning, and added Really Rust, a retiring color. Summer Sun and Bordering Blue will be going bye bye too.

Here is my card.

The idea to add the brads streaming from the butterfly is not my original idea. I got the idea from        Kay Kalthoff, an incredibly talented stamper. Her card can be found HERE. The only difference is I used brads instead of half pearls. Check out her card. It is beautiful.

   Now I know some of you are thinking this card used alot of brads and buttons - and you are right!! But I made it knowing I would be sending it to someone who would recycle all of the brads and buttons! Waving hi to Carol - the card is on its way!

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Simple Friendship and Sincere Salutations stamp sets
• White and Shimmery White cardstock
• Really Rust, Summer Sun, Bordering Blue ink- Retiring
• Really Rust, Summer Sun, Bordering Blue cardstock - Retiring
• Really Rust designer paper - Retiring
• Black Stazon ink
• Silver Brads
• Summer Sun Corduroy Brads - Retiring
• Aquapainter

   Thanks for stopping by!

Happy and Enjoy

  I used a combination of 2 challenges for today's card. The color challenge at Stampin Addicts is Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Black and White or Vanilla. This is my kind of color combo!

  The sketch is from the Clean and Simple Stamping blog. I am not sure I would classify my card as clean and simple though! LOL.

Here is the sketch.

Here is my card.

   All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Happy Everything and Enjoy Every Moment stamp sets
• Basic Black and White cardstock
• Razzleberry Lemonade designer paper
• Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry ink
• Paper Piercer
• 3/4", 1" and 1 1/4" circle punches
• corner rounder punch
• Jumbo silver grommet
• Designer Flower Brad and Vintage brad
• Rich Razzleberry ribbon
• dimensionals

Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by.

How can I part with you Mellow Moss?

I know I am probably in a minority here but I love Mellow Moss and I can't believe it is retiring. But at least all of the colors I like to pair it with are retiring too! How's that for a positive attitude??

And speaking of retiring. If you plan on stocking up on any of the retiring colors NOW is the time to do it. Seriously! Stampin' Up! informed us that the demand was way more than they could dream or imagine so they are doing their best to fill the orders. Mellow Moss is one that is on backorder till the end of May.

So today's card uses the sketch from Stampin Addicts. This is a fantastic website by the way and I hope you will check it out. 

Here is the sketch.

Here is my card.

 One of these days I am going to master photographing my projects. Really I am. In the meantime you, my faithful readers will have to put up with photos like this one that don't adequately show the stamped background and the Vanilla Smooch Spritz. 

  The flowers were cut out and adhered separately. They each have a small, clear rhinestone brad in the center. I added them to compliment the Designer Flower Brad on the left. These brads are this month's special by the way! And this stamp set, Elements of Style is included in the special!  Click Here for more information.

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Elements of Style stamp set-Summer Mini
• Vanilla cardstock
• Mellow Moss and Blush Blossom cardstock and ink - Retiring
• Big Shot and Clear Circle die
• 1" and 1 1/4" Circle punches
• Eyelet Border Punch
• dimensionals and sponge
• Paper Piercer
• Designer Flower Brad

   Happy Stamping!

An Old Fashioned Look

   I am soo late on posting this today and I have no excuse - just being a slacker!

   This card uses Brocade Blue (retiring) and the Elements of Style stamp set (new and fresh) along with the sketch from Stamping 411. The combination of stamps, ink and color gives it an old fashioned "feel" which is what I was going for!

The sketch.

The card.

   To make this card I challenged myself to use all of the stamps in the set. Ok I failed my own challenge cause I left out one of the 2 sayings. I could add it to the inside though! 

  First I stamped the background with White Craft Ink and I really like the look. Then I added some vellum and the stamped white cardstock. To make the bottom part of the stamped cardstock look like the sketch I masked the top part and then stamped. Two rows of paper piercing gave it definition!

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Elements of Style - Summer Mini
• White cardstock
• Brocade Blue cardstock, ink, and brads - Retiring
• Close to cocoa ink for sponging- Retiring
• Vellum
• Dimensionals
• Paper Piercer
• 1 " and 1 1/4" Circle punch

Happy Monday - what's left of it!

Tickled pink

   I am tickled pink because I finally found a block of time to stamp! First though, I had to clean my house and clean my stamping area - the latter was by far the worse!! After I did that, I looked for a new challenge and found this color challenge at SPCC. I am still on the "use retiring colors only" kick but I did digress a little with this color combo. Chocolate Chip is NOT retiring. Thank goodness!

  I came up with this layout using a card size that will fit in a non business letter size envelope. I really like the layout and the way this card turned out. It uses the hostess stamp set Of The Earth. It is one of those sets with stamps that don't necessarily coordinate well with each other, but I love each stamp in the set! 

 The happy definition is from Define Your Life stamp set. It is double mounted and I thought I was stamping the side with the word Gratitude. Oops. I stamped Happy instead. And then I read the definition and thought it was way more appropriate for this card. I love when negatives become positives!

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Of the Earth stamp set (Hostess)
• Define Your Life stamp set
• Chocolate Chip cardstock and ink
• Pixie Pink, Close to Cocoa cardstock and ink (markers) - Retiring
• Whisper White cardstock
• Corner Rounder punch
• Chocolate Chip corduroy button

  Thanks for stopping by. I'll be posting some more this week - I'm on a roll!

This Smooch stuff is fun!

  Well graduation is over and I am back home after a wonderful few days with my daughters! I miss them already. Sigh. 

   David and I also stopped in Pennsylvania on the way to Ohio and on the way home, so we were able to see family members. Translate - I spent time with my wonderful mom! That is always a treat. 

   Today's card is one I had hanging around. I experimented with smooch spritz on vellum. Hope you like it.

Vellum overlay.

Under the vellum.

   As I already mentioned, it involves a vellum overlay complete with Log Cabin Smooch Spritz. Then I couldn't decide on the ribbon so I braided some Moss Taffeta and Moss grosgrain which will make it a little hard (expensive) to mail. Oh well - I still like the look!

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

• Inspired by Nature stamp set
• Watercolor Trio stamp set - Summer Mini
• Mellow Moss, Pale Plum and white cardstock
• Vellum
• Mellow Moss, Pale Plum, Close to Cocoa ink - Retiring colors
• Log Cabin Smooch Spritz - Summer Mini
• Moss Taffeta Ribbon
• Moss grosgrain ribbon

It's good to be back! Have a great day!