A few cards

I figured it was time for a mini stamp fest of sorts. Here are 2 of the 3 cards I made this evening. Be on the lookout for the third this Friday at clean & simple stamping. I just sat down and made whatever came to me. I had a few sketches that I used as inspiration, but it was really all about stamping for the fun of it. I really need to do more of that. It's not that I've got hung up on card calls or design team deadlines. I just haven't much felt like being creative. I guess work is a bit stressful, and probably will be for the next year or so. I need to remember to get back to art as a means of relaxation.

I am still loving these leaves from Turning a New Leaf. I don't think that's going to change ever. Leaves are so versatile! I thought orange, brown, and white, with a bit of bling would be nice.


So then, I was sitting there, thinking "what next?". And for some reason "fruit" came to mind. So I took out Fruitful and decided on the strawberries. I stamped the berries on vanilla instead of white to soften them a bit. Plus, I had this fabulous polka dot paper from the Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' Kit (don't you love when you can use seasonal products for other occasions).

A few wedding cards

Well, today is my brother's wedding so I have a few wedding themed cards to share. Having been somewhat involved in the original invitation plans, I knew that yellow and grey were the wedding colours. So I figured I'd use those colours in my creations.

First up, I decided to make a hybrid project. I have the Together Forever stamp set, so I decorated my cardstock with that. I wanted their initials in the fancy circle element, but didn't have the right size font. I used the Stampin' Up colour swatches to make sure it would coordinate with my project once it was printed out.
This second card was 100% inspired by the amazing Silke Ledlow.

She has been doing amazing things with this stamp set. I modified my version somewhat: I used a different punch; I didn't have small silver brads, so I used rhinestones instead; the proportions are slightly different and I used Orange Zest ink and ribbon instead of Dusty Durango.

More leaves!

Seriously, I don't think I can get enough leaf stamps! I have loads of flowers, but I love leaves even more. They can be used for so many occasions! *Oh my goodness, I just came to look over my post, I cannot believe I spelled leaves wrong in my title.*


I had been meaning to make some fun patterned paper using these leaves from the Paradise set, some kraft cardstock, and some pigment heavy inks. After creating quite the swatch with at least 5 different kinds of ink, I settled on using mostly Palette inks. They show up nice and vibrant on the kraft cardstock. I stamped the leaves all over. Next I cut up the paper into 4 pieces 4x5.25 in size. I stamped a few more leaves (this time from Turning a new leaf) then stamped a Textstyle background image over it all in Sahara Sand. Finally, I coloured the edges with Chamomile tea ink. I decided to use some Vintage White cardstock, buttons and jute thread to complete the natural feel.

I had been trying to post more, however life has been bit hectic. Back in early November, my cat was diagnosed with Diabetes. It's been an interesting learning process. Things had been going so well, but she had a hypoglycemic episode the other night (at midnight of course!), so now we have to keep an even closer watch on her, and check her glucose levels more frequently. She is not a fan! And this all comes a mere week before I'm leaving for holidays. So basically, I'm just taking things one day at a time, and hopefully things will settle down by the end of the week.

Happy new year!

Anniversary Wishes!

Today is my parents' 32nd anniversary, so of course I needed a card for the occasion!

I was inspired by the upcoming mini. I saw a card in there and thought I'd try both the layout and colours. After I was done, it was just a bit too much, so I tried the same thing in slightly toned down colours.

Here's the original:Here's the one I'm actually going to use:



Supplies: Stamps: Heart Prints, Everyday Classics (papertrey ink)
Ink: Rosebud, Soft Suede, Fresh Snow, Ruby Red, Sahara Sand
Paper: Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay, Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip, White, Pattern Pack III
Accessories, etc.: pop dots, scalloped punch, corner rounder

Some leafy goodness

I've made lots of cards lately, but I've been a tad lazy at getting them photographed and uploaded. Anyway, here is a design I decided to do in a few different colour schemes. It's quite a simple design. Basically I really wanted to make some of my own patterned paper with these leaf stamps. I added a little bit of colour using some small circle stamps.

Supplies:
Stamps: Turning a New Leaf, Birthday Basics, Polka Dot Basics (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Dark Chocolate, Ocean Tides, Spring Moss, Terracotta Tile, Vintage Cream
Paper: White, Kraft, Vintage Cream, Spring Moss, Ocean Tides, Terracotta Tile
Accessories, etc.: Various PTI ribbons

Wordy Christmas Tree

The other day, I was looking at my Tree Trimmings Trio set and realized that there were several lengths of words. This got me thinking, perhaps I could make a tree using the holiday themed words. After a bit of playing around on scrap paper, I came up with this. I kept the design classically simple.
Supplies:
Stamps: Tree Trimmings Trio
Ink: Bamboo Leaves, Rhubarb Tart, Rich Cocoa
Paper: Vanilla, Textured DCWV cardstock

Whoops, it's been a while...

Here's a quick type of card. I had it all sketched out and even had my paper all cut out, but for some reason, it took a few evenings to get it pieced together. I would work on it for a minute or two at time, while waiting for my computer to start up.


Supplies:
Stamps: Signature Christmas
Ink: Rhubarb Tart
Paper: Spring Moss, Rhubarb, Ski Slope DSP
Accessories, etc.: Scalloped punch, organdy ribbon, silver cord, felt snowflakes, brad

Release Day!

Woot, the day is finally here. Chicken Girl Designs has a new set out, Birthday Wishes. It's got some adorable partying animals, birthday images, and fun sentiments.

Here's the set in all it's adorable-ness!

Be sure to check out the rest of the team's projects!

Judy

Kendra

Loretta

Lori

Merry

Shelly

Kate

Birthday Flowers

I just recently picked up Stampin' Up!'s For All You Do set and was playing around with it. Since I also have more than enough Loves Me paper I decided to use that with it. Normally I wouldn't put pink, brown, and green together, but I think it worked out nicely! Here's the result.

Supplies:

Stamps: For All You Do, Birthday Basics

Ink: Bamboo Leaves, Hibiscus Burst

Paper: Raspberry Fizz, Confetti White, Loves Me DSP, Hibiscus Burst

Accessories, etc.: Pop dots, Nestabilities Labels 1, Green Satin Ribbon, Rhinestones, Scalloped Punch

Hoppy Birthday!

It's time for a sneak peek of the upcoming Chicken Girl Designs stamp set. Sneak peeks start today with the release on November 16! I have to say, this set is one of my favorites! The images are so adorable and fun for birthdays!

I decided to pair the bunny with the balloon for a cheerful birthday card. I chose my patterned paper first (from Cosmo Cricket's Early Bird collection), then found Copic markers, ribbon, and other cardstock to match.

Little Ornament

I have been meaning to make an ornament using the latest release from Chicken Girl Designs. I thought this tree would look cute coloured in, sparkled up a bit, and placed in a clear tin. These are super easy to make. First I cut out some paper with circle nestabilities, adhered that to the interior of the tin. Next I used my crop-o-dile to punch 2 holes into the larger bottom piece. Weave some ribbon through, add your coloured cut out image, sprinkle in some glitter and seal! Voila, easy ornament!

PTI Blog Hop

It's time for another Papertrey Ink blog hop. Because this month's falls on the weekend, I had plenty of time to make a few projects! The theme this month: It's time for our annual Holiday Hop! Show us your best upcoming holiday plans for cards, gifts, wraps or whatever else you have up your sleeve!

I decided to make a few Christmas Cards.

First up: using a non-holiday set to make a holiday card. I thought these 2 images from Guidelines II would look Christmas-y in red and green. Add in a sentiment and a bit of embossing with nestabilities, and you've got yourself a quick holiday card!

Next up: using up more patterned paper. I've made a card somewhat similar to this one before, but I thought it'd be fun with different papers.

Finally, I really wanted to make a Christmas card using the colour pink. Using that as my inspiration, I decided it'd be fun to combine the Fancy Flourishes with some snowflakes, making a blustery winter scene.

Supplies: Stamps: Fancy Flourishes, Snowflake Snowflake, Tree Trimmings Trio, Guidelines II Ink: Sweet Blush, Dark Chocolate, Gold, Ripe Avocado, Garnet Jewel Paper: White, Dark Chocolate, Sweet Blush, Vintage Cream Accessories, etc. pop dots, pearls, gold cord, rectangle nestabilities

Release Day!

The day is here!

Check out the new sets from Chicken Girl Designs, available at i {heart} papers: It's a Snow Day and Just Skating By.

Supplies:
Stamps: It's a Snow Day
Ink: Tuxedo Black
Paper: Ski Slope DSP, White, Burgundy, Hunter Green
Accessories, etc.: button, twine, red faux suede ruffle edge ribbon

Sparkly Cupcake

I just recently received a large quantity of my all time favorite paper, Loves Me. I was SO excited when I saw that Stampin' Up! had brought it back for a clearance sale. Favorite paper plus ridiculously reduced prices- sold!

Anyway, I decided to make a batch of super girly, ultra pink birthday cards. It's a pretty basic design, one of my "fall-to layouts". I coated the cupcake top with stickles, then sprinkled on extra glitter to make it extra sparkly!

Supplies:

Stamps: Cupcake Collection, Vintage Picnic

Ink: Close to Cocoa, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink

Paper: White, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Loves Me DSP

Accessories, etc: glitter, stickles, pop dots, ribbon

Skating Bear

I've been seeing more and more circle cards lately, so I decided it was time to make one again. It's so much easier to make circle (and other shapes) into cards with all the die cutting options out there!

This adorable little critter is from the upcoming Chicken Girl Designs release. I stamped it, cut it out, then coloured it in with Copics. I cut out the card base using some scalloped circle nestabilities.

Supplies:

Stamps: Just Skating By

Ink: Rich Cocoa

Paper: Ridinghood Red, Ski Slope DSP, White

Accessories, etc.: Copics, ribbon, pop dots

More worldly designs

Here are my other two creations from Nichole Heady's WCMD challenges. The third challenge was to be inspired by India and use some sort of gem or rhinestones. I chose some vibrant colours, added a fun circular design, a bit of gold, and of course, gem stones!

The final challenge was to be inspired by Australia and to use one of two techniques. I went with the reverse masking. I stamped the leaves on white cardstock, embossed them, then sponged rust ink all around. I ended up cutting it out, but it's got a cool softer look compared to white embossing on coloured cardstock.

Supplies: Stamps: Simply Stationery, Birthday Basics, Beautiful Blooms, Polka Dot Basics II Ink: Dark Chocolate, Raspberry Fizz, Gold, Versamark Paper: Kraft, Really Rust, Dark Chocolate, White, Raspberry Fizz, Bermuda Bay Accessories, etc.: Gold Cord, clear embossing powder, scalloped punch, corner punch, pop dots, tag die cut, rhinestones

New Release, coming soon!

It’s going to be a busy few weeks, with sneak peeks of two new sets from Chicken Girl Designs beginning today and running through October 15. The full releases will be on October 16 so be sure to check in every day for some samples. The new sets are adorable winter themes!

In case you're still looking for Halloween ideas, here is a quick and cute card I made using the "zombie cat" (as I've grown to call it) and some traditional Halloween colours.

Supplies:
Stamps: Happy Halloween
Ink: Tuxedo Black
Paper: Black, Orange, DSP
Accessories, etc.: Copics, Ribbon, Pebbles Impressionabilities, Nestabilities Labels 8

Remember to check out the other Chicken Girls creations here:
Judy
Kendra
Loretta
Lori
Merry
Shannon
Shelly
Tammy
Kate
http://blog.iheartpapers.com/

World Challenges

Here are my first two cards from Nichole's WCMD challenges this past weekend. The first challenge was to take inspiration from Japan. I went with the Out on a Limb set (as I'm sure several people did), added a dragonfly and one of the more Asian style graphics from Guidelines.

The next challenge was to be inspired by Mexico. I interpreted this with bright colours and a repeated pattern.

Supplies:

Stamps: Out on a Limb, Birthday Basics, Pond Life, Guidelines

Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Enchanted Evening, White, Sweet Blush, Ocean Tides

Ink: Ocean Tides, Sweet Blush, Orangerie, Dark Chocolate, Tuxedo Black

Halloween Treat Holders

These were really quick and easy to make. I cut a strip of paper to 3x8.5. I used the slit punch as far in as it could go, then folded the paper to where it fit easily into the slot. These hold a small package of candy. I used gemstones in place of the letter o for last week's ways to use it challenge.

Supplies:
Stamps: Happy Halloween
Paper: Black, White, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories, etc.: Spica pens, scalloped nestabilities , slit punch, Corner rounder

Halloween Witches!

In honour of World Card Making Day, I figured I'd showcase a few cards First up, this quick and cute Halloween card. I punched out a 1 inch circle to use as the moon. The bunny witch (from the Happy Halloween set) was coloured in with Spica Pens.


Next up, I decided to make use of some of my random colourings of these monsters. I stamped a background with one of the sentiments, then cut out and popped up the trio of monsters. The patterned paper is from the 6x6 paper pack of Lime Rickey

If you were interested in a sale... i {heart} papers is having a sale in honour of WCMD!