Pretty Polka Dots

Today, while out on a general craft supply run, I found this mini "Pretties" kit at Dollarama. It has 30 fabric flowers and 15 rhinestone brads, for $1.00. I didn't bother to see if it came in any other colours (what was I thinking, right!). This one has white, some oranges, and pink. Anyway, I was inspired to use the flowers right away. I have a hard time using flowers as an embellishment on a card, but not as the focus. I stamped the Polka Dot Background on yellow and embossed it with white to really make those dots pop. Then I arranged my flowers just so, added a small greeting, and that was that. I figured I'd stage the photo, since the items in the kit work so well for that sort of thing.

Supplies:
Stamps: Polka Dot Background, Borders & Corners monogram ed.
Paper: White, Summer Sun
Ink: Only Orange, Whisper White
Accessories, etc.: White EP, orange grosgrain, "pretties" kit, pop-up glue dots

Rocket Ship

I received these adorable Cat's Pajamas stamps last Thursday, but I only had a chance to break them open today. With this ridiculous cold and other assignments, I just didn't get to them. So I hope you don't mind seeing some love themed cards after Valentine's Day. I was never a fan of V-Day anyway. If you love someone, let them know whenever and frequently, not when the industry wants you to! This card uses both Puppy Love and Loving Mew. The rocket ship and saying are from Puppy Love, the 3 heart circle backgrounds are from Loving Mew. I coloured the rocket ship with SU! markers, then outlined it with a 10% cool grey prismacolor marker. I really love that effect on retro-style images, like these ones. I made my background paper by stamping the 3 heart circles in red craft ink, then embossing with gel-a-tins' ruby slippers gelly glitter. The sentiment was cut out with a word window punch, then I used the circle punch trick to get a nice mat for it.

Supplies:

Stamps: Loving Mew, Puppy Love

Ink: Palette Noir, Basic Grey, Real Red

Paper: White, Black, Red, Basic Grey

Accessories, etc.: Black organdy ribbon, pop dots, word window punch, 1/2'' circle punch, prismacolor marker, ruby red gelly glitter.

More Flowers

Thanks for all those knowledgeable stampers out there, the flowers were lupines! I have some more silhouette flowers for you today. I was feeling a real red, chocolate chip, and creamy caramel sort of colour scheme, so that's what I did. The first card is a layout that I never tire of. I stamped the branches horizontally, added a sentiment, and made some more of my own designer paper with the mini-check background. I really love this layout, as I've said hundreds of times by now, for its versatility. You really can use any image, sentiment, or theme with this layout.

So next, I still wanted to do something in those colours. I thought, why not turn my favorite layout 90 degrees? I'm surprised I haven't done that sooner! I had to play around with where the sentiment and the side panel worked best, but the layout still works! I found that the wide grosgrain worked better on this one because the bulkier knot didn't get in the way of any of the flowers.

**There was a question regarding my inking up the flowers. For these ones, I've just been using my Stampin' Up! markers. I start with the lightest colour and work my way to the darker ones. Huff a bit of air (aka moisture) onto the stamp immediately before stamping.**

Supplies:

Stamps: Large Silhouette Flowers, Thanks Set, mini check background

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Real Red

Paper: White, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Creamy Caramel

Accessories, etc.: Polka Dot Organdy Ribbon, Wide Red Grosgrain

February's Dirty Challenge

It's that time again! The 20th of the month means it's time for a Dirty Challenge. This month's challenge, "Give a Shout Out!"

Challenge Focus: Stamps Designed by Fellow Dirty Girls. -OR- alternate option - use any fellow Dirty Girl's galllery creation as an inspiration to semi-CASE something of your own (be sure to link it in your post).
Required Element: Spring Color Combo - whatever feels like Spring to you!
Restricted Element: NO CuttleBug/Big Shot/Wizard or similar diecut/embossing machines.

I decided to use this lovely floral image by Anna. I coloured it with Copic markers in spring colours then added some glitter to cheer it up some more.
The layout is based off of this one by Valerie Stangle.

Supplies:
Stamps: 3 Pots of Posies, Paper Tray
Ink: Palette NoirPaper: Barely Banana, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, So Delightful DP
Accessories, etc.: Scalloped scissors, celery brads, copic markers, glitter, pop dots, paper piercer, wide grosgrain

Be sure to check out the other creations here!

Flowers, etc.

I've got 2 more cards for you today, featuring Starving Artistamps' new Silhouette Flowers. I saw this one of some irises and had to have it! Irises are my favorite flower, I love their vibrant colours, the variety of colours, and the smell of the larger ones. For this card, I found some patterned paper, then picked my inks to match. I was leaning towards doing yellow irises, but couldn't find any paper that fit. Is there anybody else out there who cannot get enough of striped patterned paper?? I went with a simple layout to really showcase those flowers.

My next card features some more of the new silhouettes. I'm not sure what these ones are, but they seemed like they should be purple too! I inked up the flowers with Perfect Plum, then gently added in some Elegant Eggplant. Likewise, the leaves and stems were inked up with Mellow Moss, then I added in a bit of Always Artichoke. I made my own patterned background paper using the mini-check background. I added a hodgepodge framed sentiment and that was it! I really like this layout, I only wish I had more hodgepodge pieces so I could do more!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Cats & Birds!

First up, I've got some lovely spring themed cards featuring some canaries from Starving Artistamps. These birds are absolutely delightful. I got out my twinkling H20s and watercoloured the images. For the first card, I went with the traditional yellow canary. I paired that with some spring green primas and ribbon.

The second card, I was going for a "bluebird on my window" vibe. I found some nice bright colours from the DCWV Brights stack and paired some turquoise buttons with it for this cute 4.25 square layout.

For my third card, I was going for more of a sketched feel. I used the Cats sheet from Starving Artistamps. First I reversed mask a square. I dabbed my versamark pad all over, then spread grey and black chalks all over the square. Next, I stamped various cat images using the generation stamping technique. I really like it, I think it's got a ripped out of a sketchbook vibe. I finished off the card by surrounding the main image with a frame of piercing.

Happy Day!

I just recently got these Pop Up Letters from gel-a-tins. They are so bubbly and fun that I couldn't make anything but a happy card. There's not much green around here (missing it already after my week in California), so I felt the need for green in any way I could manage. I went with Glorious Green and Green Galore and added in some Robin's Nest Dew Drops. I've never used these before, but have certainly heard a lot of buzz about them. The colours I received didn't seem so "bling-tastic", instead they seemed more glossy and water drop-like (which is what their name would imply). However, the water drop look worked on this all-around bubbly card. One thing I like about lowercase alphabet sets is that there is always an exclamation point found by flipping the letter i. The entire word panel is popped up on pop dots.

Supplies:
Stamps: Pop Up Letters
Ink: Glorious Green, Green Galore
Paper: White, Glorious Green, Green Galore
Accessories, etc.: dew drops, pop dots

Home!

I got home late Thursday night. CHA went well! However, the cold that I was fighting while there is back with a vengeance. So despite having access to all my craft supplies again, I just haven't had the energy or motivation to do much. I put together this simple monogram card using gel-a-tins Monogram Alphabet and circles from You Spin Me Round. I thought the soft tones of the Cool Caribbean would be nice on the Confetti White cardstock. The large circle was cut out with a nestability circle die. The letter image is popped up with a pop dot.

Supplies:
Stamps: Monogram Alphabet, You Spin Me Round
Ink: Cool Caribbean
Paper: Cool Caribbean, Confetti White
Accessories, etc.: pop dot

I'm off!

Well, tomorrow I'm off to California for CHA. I'll be in the gel-a-tins booth (#1350). I cannot wait for some nice non-winter weather! I will not be updating until I'm back next week, on the 14th or 15th.

Sneak Peak: Spin Cycle

There are some cool new distressed style clear stamps coming out from gel-a-tins. This set is called Spin Cycle. It has several different sizes and combinations of distressed circle images. The thing I love about circles is how versatile they are, you really can use them for everything! The first card I made uses another distressed set, Weathered Crate Numbers. I stamped the numbers first, then masked them, and stamped various circles all around in other Earth tones. This makes a nice and quick masculine birthday card. Just fill in the numbers with whatever age you need!

My second project is a little stationary set. I loved the look of these circles in these colours, so I went about stamping a Kraft 8.5x11 sheet of paper and folding into a small folder. Next, I cut up some printer paper and stamped the edges of those, as well as some matching envelope. You could just as easily make note cards instead of paper. It was super quick and would make a sharp looking gift for any writer you know.

Let the Good Times Roll!

Well, today is Mardi Gras, so I thought it was best to post a card celebrating the holiday! I used Beate's weekend sketch as my starting point. I didn't end up with the exact proportions because I wanted to keep the masks in 2x2 squares. I stamped the masks, then coloured them in with gel pens (we all have them, and have for so long, it's time to start using them, lol!). Next, I wanted even more sparkle, so I inked the squares with versamark and then embossed Pearly Sparkle embossing powder over top. I found some metallic purple paper and rhinestone brads from my collection to go with the theme. The little white tag is polyshrink. I stamped "Let The Good Times Roll" on there, then shrunk it down and tied it one with some gold cord. This card is quite big, 8x4.25!

Supplies:

Stamps: Mardi Gras by Flourishes

Ink: Palette Noir, Garden Green

Paper: Metallic Purple, Lovely Lilac, White, Black, Garden Green

Accessories, etc.: gel pens, pearly sparkle EP, rhinestone brads, polyshrink, gold cord, pop dots

Sneak Peak: Spring Garden

I just received the all-clear to post some gel-a-tins CHA sneak peaks. This set, Spring Garden, was a lot of fun to work with. It's bold, whimsy, and can work on cards or scrapbooking. It also goes nicely with the gelly gems. This set has 2 different ways of colouring in the flowers. There are solid stamps that fit inside the flowers and leaves, or you can colour them in with markers or some other medium. Here are a few cards I made with this set. It definitely said BRIGHT COLOURS to me, so that's what I used! I used some Scenic Route paper for a background and popped the colours with a touch of black. There are gems all along the one flower top, as well as the center of the other flower.

For the second card, I played around with changing the shape of the flowers. The one flower is quite tall, but being a clear stamp, you can manipulate it to fit your canvas. I thought it was cute to have the two flowers kind of looking at each other with the phrase friends. Again I brought some black into it to really make the bright colours pop!

Other gel-a-tins set used: Build a Set Chocolate Bliss (friends stamp) and Little Critters (the zzz behind the bee)

More Roses!

I never really understood the appeal of Roses in Winter (a now retired multi-step stamping floral set), but now that I have this multi-step set, I get it. It's almost a different kind of stamping. You need to plan your colours from the base up and it's fun to experiment with what colours work out best.

My first card features pinks and reds. I started with a stamped of Rose Red, then Rose Red, Cranberry Crisp, and finally Bravo Burgundy. I went with the celery, wasabi, and garden greens for the leaves once again. I decided to just keep the main image to one rose, stamped a simple greeting, paired it with the Rose Red striped paper and some of the greens, and that was it!

Supplies:

Stamps: 3-Step Roses & Hearts, Borders & Corners Monogram ed.

Ink: Rose Red, Cranberry Crisp, Bravo Burgundy, Celery, Wasabi, Garden Green, Noir

Paper: White, Celery, Rose Red, Wasabi, Designer Series Rose Red

For my second card, I went with just red roses. I remember seeing a number of the clustered corners layouts with the multi-step flower sets. I decided to take a stab at my own version. I started with Real Red, stamped off once, then Real Red, Bravo Burgundy stamped off, and finally Bravo Burgundy. I wanted a different look to the leaves, so I went with Mellow Moss and Always Artichoke. I added a greeting in black, then stamped in some Moss splatters all around the edges.

Supplies:

Stamps: 3-step Roses & Hearts, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, It's Your Birthday

Ink: Real Red, Bravo Burgundy, Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke

Paper: White, Burgundy, Moss

Two Cards

I was feeling a lack of inspiration this morning, so I decided to browse some of my favorite blogs. This card by Valerie inspired me. I've certainly used this layout before, but sometimes you need that little spark to create something. I got out Eat Cake and some matching paper and whipped together this card. There are little bits of glitter on the candle flames.

Next up, I decided to use my new Kitchen Sink Stamps. This is my first experience with them. I kept looking at the site's selection, but when I saw the 3-step roses, I decided I had to give them a try. I hadn't seen such a realistic 3-step rose stamp before. (They are actually more like 4 steps, but I suppose the 4th step is optional)I've been making a lot of cards for my grandma's senior friends, so I thought this set would work really nicely for those. I wanted peachy roses. Here are the inks and steps I used:

Roses:

1) Blush Blossom

2) Groovy Guava (stamped off once)

3) Groovy Guava

4) Really Rust

Leaves:

1) Certainly Celery

2) Wild Wasabi

3) Garden Green

Card #1 Supplies:

Stamps: Eat Cake

Ink: Turquoise, Pumpkin, Olive, Black

Paper: Party Pieces Scrappin' Kit (retired), olive, pumpkin, turquoise, vanilla

Accessories, etc.: glitter, ribbon

Card #2 Supplies:

Stamps: 3-step Roses & Hearts (by Kitchen Sink Stamps), Paper Tray (by PaperTrey Ink)

Ink: Blush Blossom, Groovy Guava, Really Rust, Certainly Celery, Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Black

Paper: White, Guava, Wasabi

Accessories, etc.: pop dots, stitched grosgrain

*this card measures 7-1/4 x3-3/4 and fits into a 7-3/8x3-7/8 envelope from Carlton Cards.

Caribbean Bayou?

This card started out because I really was in the mood to use some Cool Caribbean paper. I stamped the Harlequin background and used the row of flower accessories. I didn't want to cover too much of that background, so I went with a pretty basic layout. Some lovely flowers coloured in with a few Copics then outlined with a sparkly blue gel pen, and a scripted birthday greeting. I also outlined the flowers with a 10% grey marker. LOVE that effect!

Supplies:
Stamps: Fantasy Floral Garden, Harlequin & Accessories, Flourished Words all by Flourishes
Ink: Palette Noir, Not Quite Navy, Cool Caribbean
Paper: Cool Caribbean, Blue Bayou, White
Accessories, etc.: Copic markers, gel pen

Gem Centered Flowers

Here's another birthday card. I started with 2 Colorbox inks, and it kind of just came together from there. I always like the look of flowers bursting onto the white with an off-center greeting. I brought in a layer of black, since I had stamped the greeting in black. It seemed a little dull, so I added white polka dots to the black. It was still lacking, and finally I saw that my Garden Party gelly gems would go perfectly with the flowers.

Supplies:

Stamps: Beautiful Blooms, Green Thumb by PaperTrey Ink, Card Greetings I by Green Grass Stamps, Polka Dot BG by Stampin' Up!

Ink: Magenta, Moss Green by Colorbox, Versafine Black

Paper: White, Black, Olive, Pink Passion

Accessories, etc.: Garden Party Gelly Gems by gel-a-tins

Bling & Brilliance

It's funny, I've been seeing this set, Good Things Grow, on a lot of people's retirement sales list lately. I actually only got this set a few days before it retired. It was one of those sets that always caught my eye, but I never bothered to pick up. Now, I don't know if I'll ever get rid of it. It makes such sharp-looking quick cards. Because of the bold square image, I thought some spectrum stamping would look nice. I am still on my birthday card kick, so I went with the dandelion stamp, thinking about wishing. I inked it up with a Brilliance pigment inkpad- Peacock, and loved the results. I used the stamp-a-ma-jig to line 3 up in a line. Next, I paired it with some pastel Bazzill Bling paper. I really like the simple layout with all the subtle shimmer.

I also have the Twilight Brilliance inkpad, so I went ahead and did a pink and purple version too. Again, I paired it with some pastel Bazzill Bling paper. I stamped a PaperTrey Ink greeting on there and left a slight white border on the cardbase. I'm really happy with how these ones turned out!

Supplies:

Stamps: Good Things Grow, Faux Ribbon

Ink: Versafine Black, Brilliance Spectrum pads- Twilight, Peacock

Paper: Bazzill Bling, Pastel multi-pack, white, confetti white

Quick 3x3s

When you're not feeling ultra creative, these little 3x3 notes work out really well. I sketched out a few layouts that work on such a small scale, and thought that the crowns from the Mardi Gras would look great in this layout. I chose some Basic Grey papers first and matched my colours from there. For the first one, I used the new Two Scoops 6x6 pad, drawing out Regal Rose and Barely Banana. I also added a little bit of stickles to the crown.

For the second card, I used some paper from the Mellow 6x6 pad. I drew out the Cranberry Crisp from it. I thought about doing Mellow Moss as well, but I wanted to show more of the background since it wasn't as repetitive as the Two Scoops one.

Generally doing these small note cards is a great "warm-up" activity. Or if you're not feeling too creative, it's a little something that can be useful in the future. You never know when you want to add on a little note to a hostess gift, flowers, or something like that.

Supplies:

Stamps: Mardi Gras, Flourished Words

Inks: Regal Rose, Cranberry Crisp

Paper: Basic Grey (two scoops, mellow), Regal Rose, Barely Banana, Cranberry Crisp, White

Accessories, etc.: Fruit Punch stickles, pop dots, cranberry stitched grosgrain

A few more...

You can never get tired of birthday cards, right?? And if you can, there's no reason these cards couldn't be used for several other purposes- congratulations, thank you, best wishes are a few other sentiments that would fit nicely into these ones. I made these two last night. I didn't feel like making 2 of the exact same card. Instead, I picked my colour scheme (note to self, when deciding on mellow moss in said colour scheme, be sure to NOT grab the sage shadow marker...) and went from there. I also used the same types of embellishments and tools (moss polka dot ribbon, paper piercing, the button was an afterthought on the 2nd card). Even though I used a retired stamp set on here, you could easily replace the main flower and the sentiment from anything in your collection.

Supplies:
Stamps: All the Best (SU! retired), Faux Ribbon by PaperTrey Ink
Paper: River Rock, Ruby Red, Mellow Moss, White, Ginger Blossom DP
Ink: Ruby Red, Mellow Moss, Always Apricot, Versafine Black
Accessories, etc.: mat pack & piercer, pop dots, polka dot ribbon, apricot button, horizontal slot punch

Swirls, Buttons, and Flowers

I saw a layout in the latest Stampin' Success magazine. It featured a rub-on swirl, sentiment, and a cut out flower. I liked the simplistic look to it and thought, I can do that with what I already have. I started with a swirl from Spiral Symphony. Then I stamped a flower from Bloom, some leaves from Beautiful Blooms, and cut those out. The sentiment comes from Faux Ribbon. I'm still on a simple layout kick. I just haven't been feeling the busy, several layered, several embellished cards lately. Maybe because I have been doing multiples of some items, I don't know.

Supplies:
Stamps: Spiral Symphony, Bloom by gel-a-tins, Faux Ribbon, Beautiful Blooms by PaperTrey Ink
Ink: Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, Moss Green
Paper: White, Ruby, Mustard, Olive
Accessories, etc.: pop dot, wide chocolate grosgrain, earth elements buttons

2 more down...

I decided to deviate from that one layout for my "assignment" to another go-to style I often use. I was going to make two of the same cards, but there were little things I didn't quite like with the first one. For instance, I would rather have River Rock ribbon on this one, but I do not have any. I went with a strip of river rock textured paper instead. The card works, but I just wasn't loving it.

So I made little changes for the second card. Instead of using the striped side of the DP, I used the floral side. It's busier and packs way more of a visual punch. I increased the ruby red mat by about 1/8''. I stamped the branch to make it seem as though it was growing onto the paper, instead of floating. I also went with a bigger, fancier sentiment. Instead of stamping the background with linen, then the bamboo, I went with textured guava paper. It's funny, they are almost the exact same card, but I really prefer the second one.

Supplies:

Stamps: Embrace Life, Faux Ribbon, It's Your Birthday, Linen

Ink: Stazon Timber Brown, Ruby Red, Groovy Guava

Paper: Very Vanilla, Groovy Guava, Ruby Red, River Rock

Accessories, etc.: pop dots, blender pen

Houndstooth & Sailboats

Here's another quick and easy birthday card for my long list. I made two of these ones. I really wanted to use the sailboat image, and I've always liked it paired with the Houndstooth background. I still think retiring Houndstooth and Linograph after only ONE year was a HUGE mistake. They are so universal and almost timeless. Seriously, how much houndstooth am I still seeing 2 years later!

Anyway, here's the card. It's funny, this is pretty much the same layout as the other 2 I made. I didn't even realize until after the fact. It's a very versatile layout that works both horizontally and vertically. I watercoloured the main image and added some twill tape for a nautical touch.

Supplies:

Stamps: Set Sail, Houndstooth, It's Your Birthday

Ink: Stazon Timber Brown, Bordering Blue, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Brocade Blue

Paper: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Bordering Blue, Creamy Caramel

Accessories, etc.: SAMJ, aquabrush, twill tape

Mardi Gras

How fun are these stamps from Flourishes? It's funny, a few years ago, my mom threw a Mardi Gras party and we couldn't find any mask stamps anywhere. I ended up designing my own mask (thankfully it was a pretty small party). But now, there are these available! The background stamp is also a new release.

For this card, I brought out a ton of glitter and shimmer. I coated the masked with glue, put on purple glitter, then outlined the mask and the feathers with gun metal Stickles. The mustard and eggplant are both sprayed with my glimmer mist concoction (pearl ex + hairspray). I made the word strip and frame using Jan's method seen here. I cut my paper to 3/4'' and used the 1'' circle punch. The card really sparkles in real life. Of course most of those details are lost with photography, but it's quite pretty. Here's a close up of the feathers. Here you can see all the stickles on the feather, as well as the shimmer on the eggplant and mustard.

Supplies:

Stamps: Mardi Gras, Harlequin & Accessories

Ink: Palette Noir, Lovely Lilac, Handsome Hunter, More Mustard

Paper: White, Eggplant, Mustard, Hunter

Accessories, etc.: Purple glitter, 1'' circle punch, copper brad, gun metal Stickles, shimmer spray

Another Dirty Challenge!

This is my submission for this month's challenge.

The guidelines:

Challenge Focus: Girls Young and Old-your main image must be or include a girl

Required Element: Something *SWEET* - you may interpret that any way you like.

Restricted Element: NO standard A-2 cards (4.25 x 5.5). Any other card size or type of project is OK.

I used the little girl from And Everything Nice for the focus image. My "sweet" element is the theme, as well as the Au Chocolate paper. And the card is 3.25x6. I coloured the main image with the SU markers. The celery streaked a bit on the dress, but I retouched it with the blender pen and it smoothed out nicely. Don't forget that you can use your blender pens this way! On the ultra smooth cardstocks they can reactivate the dye ink and be blended easily. Be sure to check out all the other submissions here.

Supplies:

Stamps: And everything nice, faux ribbon

Ink: palette noir, chocolate chip, blush blossom, regal rose, pretty in pink, certainly celery, wild wasabi

Paper: certainly celery, very vanilla, wild wasabi, chocolate chip, Au Chocolat DP

Accessories, etc.: oval nestabilities, blender pen, pop dot, mat pack, wide grosgrain

From the files...

This is a card I made quite a while ago for a neighbour who recently had a baby girl. I was in the mood for an overlay, so I used the alphabet image from I'm Here to make a sharp looking overlay. Behind that I stamped the little hands and feet. Those are embossed with pink sparkly embossing powder

Supplies:
Stamps: I'm Here, Holidays & Wishes
Ink: Versamark, pretty in pink, regal rose, Stazon White
Paper: pretty in pink, white, rose, acetate
Accessories, etc.: scalloped oval nestabilities, pink brads, regal grosgrain, SAMJ

Burgundy & Gold

Here is another design for my growing list of birthday cards. I've decided (finally) that although I don't really like mass production, it makes a lot more sense to make at least 1 extra of each design. One card may take 20 minutes to make, but that extra card is only going to add on 5 more minutes.

I'm sure I've made something like this before, but it's a tried and true design. The striped paper is retired Four Seasons, this is the autumn sheet. I started with that for my inspiration. I inked up the leaf stamp with a mustard and a burgundy marker. Then I mixed up the ink with an aquabrush. Once that was dry, I re-stamped the leaf image over top, to emphasize all the leaf details. The greeting is embossed with gold EP. I added some distressing to the main image, some burgundy ribbon, and some gold cord.

Supplies:

Stamps: Autumn Leaf Prints, Paper Tray

Paper: Bravo Burgundy, More Mustard, Naturals White, White

Ink: Gold, Burgundy, Mustard

Accessories, etc.: Gold EP, gold cord, burgundy grosgrain, distressing tool

Embrace Life

Here's my first card using Embrace Life. I know I'm a bit late on the bandwagon for this set, but I was waiting until the new catalog release, just in case there was something I liked even better than this. I paired it with the coordinating papers and added in some Wasabi, and I had a birthday card. I made 2 of these, only 15 more other birthday cards to make! I stamped the flower on some patterned paper and cut it out and popped it up. The greeting is from a PaperTrey ink set- Faux Ribbon.

Supplies:
Stamps: Embrace Life, Faux Ribbon
Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, Wild Wasabi
Paper: Ginger Blossom DP, Pretty in Pink, Wild Wasabi, Regal Rose, Whisper White
Accessories, etc.: blender pen, pop dots

What's that smell?

So, as soon as I saw this dinosaur set, I had to have it. Dinosaurs have been the theme of many inside jokes among my family and friends. It all started with me saying something completely random several years ago. Even now, it's still funny.

Anyway, this is one of the new sets I received today. I went with a simple scene, stamping the palm trees, and cutting out the stegosaurus and popping him forward. I wanted some extra texture, and thought that Canvas would go nicely. Finally, I was in the mood for a square theme, and isn't it just perfect that the Happy Birthday sentiment fits so nicely as a border on a 4.25 square card! I finished off the corners with one of my hoarded embellishments- Earth Elements buttons.

Supplies:

Stamps: It's Your Birthday, Prehistoric Pals, Canvas BG

Ink: Wild Wasabi, Really Rust, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip

Paper: White, Wasabi, Rust, Cocoa

Accessories, etc.: dimensionals, buttons, stamp-a-ma-jig (even though I have unmounted this greeting set, for this type of placement, the SAMJ is crucial if you don't want to mis-stamp!)

Busy!

I haven't been updating much these past few days, but I have been stamping a lot! It's my last month as a Dirty Dozen designer, and I've been having lots of fun with the projects! I can't wait to share them. If you're not a fan club member, check out the details here.

Today, I squeezed in a challenge creation. The Sunday featured artist was Veronica. I don't think I've ever seen her gallery. It's always fun to discover a new gallery! This card was my inspiration. The challenge is to modify at least 2 items. I changed my colour scheme to earth elements. I watercoloured and masked the hearts. I also flipped the tab (that was more of an oopsy, the hearts were too high to place the tab on the right side). I don't have that background stamp so I went with tone-on-tone embossing.

Supplies:
Stamps: Time Well Spent
Ink: Ruby Red, Not Quite Navy, More Mustard
Paper: Navy, Ruby, Mustard, White
Accessories, etc.: tab punch, brads, grosgrain, blender pen, dimensionals, clear EP

Happy Birthday to....

It's my birthday today. My grandma gets me to make all of her relatives' birthday cards, but I couldn't make my own now could I? So my sister was nice enough to take on the task! This is the awesome card she made! Very vibrant, and with my favorite image: Stars!

Supplies:

Stamps: Super Star by gel-a-tins, Studio g sentiment

Ink: versamark

Paper: Yoyo Yellow, shimmery green DP

Accessories, etc.: Blue and Lime EP, green eyelets, wide stitched grosgrain, crop-a-dile

Blah Wednesday

Why was it blah? Well, I was in a sad mood today, so I decided that it would be a good time to clean up my craft area. Nothing cheers you up like a nice clean table, right? I have to say, it worked a bit! Here's my table top. I've got a lot of stuff jammed onto my old kitchen table. It ends up leaving about a 15 x 15 space to work with. I'm just happy I managed to fit most of my paper, all my clear stamp sets (and there are LOTS), all my inks and my cutters on there. It's so nice having all the basics within an arm's reach.

So once that was done, I had to get to using all that space. I loved yesterday's layout so much I decided to do it again! This one uses Flourishes' Open to Love. I think this is my first paper piecing attempt. If I have ever done this technique, it must have been so traumatic that I blocked it out, lol! So I stamped the vase, then again onto Basic Grey's Blush paper and cut out the vase and the hearts.

Supplies:

Stamps: Open to Love by Flourishes, LLC

Paper: Blush Collection by Basic Grey, Pretty in Pink, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa

Ink: Palette Noir, Chocolate Chip

Accessories, etc.: velvet ribbon (I bought the ribbon at a local Scrapbook Store, I think it's May Arts), pop dots

Birthday Best

This was one of those challenges where I saw the colours and thought, "what". But as soon as I pulled the cardstock out I went "OH!". They look fabulous together! I looked through my little black book of sketches and found this one. It's a slight twist on a favorite of mine. I thought these colours seemed pretty masculine so I went with a masculine-ish birthday card using a retired set, All The Best. For the leaves, I inked them up with a wasabi spot, then outlined with a blender pen dipped in Bayou reinker. Then to blend it all together, I gently tapped the spot back over the image once more.

Supplies:

Stamps: It's Your Birthday, All The Best

Ink: Wild Wasabi, Blue Bayou, Not Quite Navy

Paper: Wild Wasabi (plain and textured), white, bayou, banana

Accessories, etc.: blender pen, stitched grosgrain, pop dots.

Purr-fect!

I saw the latest to my local Michael's Studio G stamps and spotted this cute kitty. The card is a pretty basic design. I just felt like making something, and found that the darker grey, coral, and Caribbean looked quite nice together- kind of a retro colour scheme. The cat and letters were coloured in with a blender pen and reinker. The blender pen has a finer point than the aquapainter and it can be made into any colour of ink.

Supplies:
Stamps: Studio G: Series 7
Ink: Palette Noir, basic Grey, Cameo Coral, Cool Caribbean
Paper: Coral, Grey, White, Caribbean, Loves Me DP
Accessories, etc.: grosgrain, wavy scissors, glitter, blender pens

Double Challenge

I decided to combine two Friday challenges that I spotted. First there was Sharon's: to make a long and low card. I've been on somewhat of a 6x3-1/4 card kick anyway lately, so I was happy to make one more! The other challenge was to make a card using... NO WHITE OR VANILLA cardstock.

So I was really wanting to use the little cupcake from Holiday Blitz. I decided to use creamy caramel as my neutral. I placed it in a dotted circle, then decorated it. The cupcake was iced with liquid pearls and rose stickles. The candle flame was first coloured in with a white gel pen, then I applied some clear stickles, and then some yellow glitter. The wordy background was made using the 3 birthday sentiments from Faux Ribbon. I embossed those with chocolate scented embossing powder- Yummy!! I couldn't find my scalloped scissors, so I went with the large (and retired) corner rounder scalloping instead.

For those wondering about envelopes for this size card, I use a 3-5/8x6-1/2 or a 7-1/2x4 envelopes. The first size is readily available in boxes of 100 at most dollar stores. The second size is from a card company's overstock.

Supplies:
Stamps: Holiday Blitz by Stampin' Up!, Faux Ribbon, Paper Tray, Borders & Corners Mon. Ed. by PaperTrey Ink
Ink: Burnt Umber, Versamark
Paper: Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Close to Cocoa
Accessories, etc.: 1-3/8 circle punch, large and small corner rounders, circle nestabilities, pop dots, liquid pearls, stickles, white gel pen, glitter, chocolate scented EP by gel-a-tins

Lace Hearts

Now that Christmas is over, be prepared for the onslaught of Valentine's Day cards. I've never been keen on sending out valentines, but I do like making them! On a list of basic graphic shapes that I like to stamp, I'd say it goes Stars, Circles, and then Hearts.

Here's a very elegant heart, by Flourishes LLC. The word love and the quote(my background stamping) are in the same set.

This card is 5.25 square. That is what happens when I'm not paying attention to measurements...

Supplies:

Stamps: Lace Heart

Ink: New Canvas, Noir, Moulin Rouge

Paper: Black, Ruby Red, White

Accessories, etc.: key tag punch, white snap, crop-a-dile

Dry Embossing Rectangle Frames

Here's a picture walk-through for using cardstock rectangles to make embossed frames on your cards. Start off with a light coloured cardstock, a stylus, a light table, and 2 darker coloured paper templates. It's important that these be proportional to each other and to the card front. I used a 2.75x4 template and a 2.5x3.75 template.

For this step, it's helpful if you have a good eye for centering things. If you don't, perhaps attach the dark template to a very thin piece of copy paper that is the size of your cardfront and measure the center. Open up your card, center the card front overtop of the larger template, emboss.

Next up, center the smaller template within the part you just embossed. Again place the cardfront OVER the template and emboss.

And there you have it, a classy embossed rectangle cardfront. For the card I made yesterday, I stamped first, then did the dry embossing. This made centering the templates even easier. If you want a slightly different look, try flipping the cardfront for the smaller template (i.e. do the dry embossing directly on the outside of the card instead of the inside. You'll get a slightly different look.

Thanks for looking. I hope that helps you! Don't be afraid to try different shapes and measurements!