The dreaded "S" word

Wow, I can't believe how long it has been since I lasted posted! Sorry about that. :(

It has been very dreary and windy the last couple of days and it is getting downright cold. Now, for me to say it is cold is generally unheard of as I go around most of the winter without a coat. But today, we actually got our first little ssssssnowfall.

YIKES, the dreaded S word! It wasn't much, but it was still not welcome. My ideal winter would be to snow on Christmas Eve a soft, fluffy gentle snow. You know the kind, the perfect snowfall you always see in the movies where you get snowed in with that special someone and spend the evening curled up next to the fire, or sharing some much needed quality time with your family, and then it would be gone the day after Christmas. (and be about 68 degrees and sunny the rest of the time) Perfect! :)

I thought this card would be appropriate to post since we have been seeing the little flecks blowing about today.

Cardstock: Soft Suede, Real Red, Crumb Cake, Pear Pizazz
Ink: Soft Suede, Whisper White
Accessories: White Embossing Powder, Build-a-Brad, Scallop Edge Punch, Heat Tool

I stamped the trees in Whisper White craft ink and then embossed them with white detail powder. The green mat and Build-a-Brad center are the new Pear Pizazz In-Color. I really liked the clean easy style of this card, and it went together very quickly.

I hope wherever you are the weather is clear and bright!


Enjoy!

Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

Every time I see a raven I always think of Edgar Allen Poe's poem. It has been a favorite of mine since reading it many, many years ago as a teen. I much prefer the grungy, creepy, scary aspects of Halloween versus the cutesy, so when SU introduced their newest Halloween sets last year I was thrilled!! Then this year they added more, with ravens to boot. Needless to say I was ecstatic!

I can't tell you how much fun it was to create this card for a recent swap I participated in. The black lace trim, aptly named Raven, is wonderful to work with and I love the way the card turned out.


For the main image on the card I used the 1 3/4" circle punch on a post-it note, getting as much of the sticky portion as possible. I placed this on the Whisper White cardstock and then brayered Basic Black over the top half of the piece. I sponged More Mustard on the bottom half and then Rich Razzleberry over the bottom portion of Mustard and around the bottom edges.

With the post-it note circle still in place, I then sponged Basic Black around all the edges and brought it down a little over the Mustard to soften the brayer lines. I then stamped the Raven with Basic Black.

To give the moon a little more "umph", I sprayed a little bit of Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz on my finger. Starting in the middle, I rubbed the spritz in a circular motion toward the edges of the circle, avoiding the raven. This made the spritz coverage a bit uneven, and though it's hard to tell in the picture, it made it look a lot more like the actual moon high in the night sky. I then took a very small paint brush and Basic Black reinker to make the "clouds" passing in front of the moon.

The raven's eye is one of the new Jewel Basics Pearls colored with a red sharpie (see this post for a little more info on coloring them). I distressed the edges of the image with the distress tool from the Cutter Kit and inked the edges of both the image and Pumpkin Pie mat with Basic Black.

The Rich Razzleberry piece is embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder for the Big Shot. I placed a piece of double sided tape along the back edge and placed the Raven lace trim on it. I bunched it together in some places and left it flat in others.

The large mat is from the Neutrals Patterns DSP Stack. I stamped it with French Filigree and the "31" is from the new Dark & Dreary set in the Holiday mini. Both the Rich Razzleberry and DSP pieces were also sponged on the edges with Basic Black.


But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling...

Simplified continued...

In keeping with my post on Monday, here is another set of simplified cards. For this set I used my favorite season as inspiration ~ Fall! These two were truly the quickest cards I have ever made. I really like how they turned out too. It also uses the least amount of accessories I think I have ever used, only 3!

I pulled out the Stampin' Pastels for these. (I haven't used them in ages.) I decided to use the DSP instead of plain card stock to stamp the image on as I thought it added a nice detail, yet it's tone on tone color is still in keeping with the simplicity of the card. After stamping the leaf using Versamark, I used sponge daubers to color the image with the pastels, using the edge of the dauber sponge for the stem.

My color palette is Chocolate Chip, More Mustard and Old Olive. The image piece is matted on Old Olive and popped up on dimensionals.

Stamps: French Foliage (Holiday Mini), Because I Care (Hostess Level 1), Sincere Salutations
Ink: Versamark, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Neutrals Pattern DSP Stack, Crumb Cake and Old Olive card stock
Accessories: Stampin' Pastels, Sponge Daubers, Dimensionals


Have a great Labor Day weekend!

Simplifying-Will it make you happy?

I have read several articles lately about simplifying one's life. This one in the NY Times, particularly caught my attention. Ms. Strobel and her husband weeded out their belongings until they were at 100 items each.

Could you live, and be happy, with only 100 belongings to your name? Before you say, "oh sure, I could do that easily, that's a lot of items". Think about this, a pair of shoes counts as one item, a book is one item, a car-one item, a telephone-one item, a pan-one item. Now, is your answer the same? :)

There are many things in my life I would love to simplify, and sure, I have TONS of items that I could give up without really missing them after a few days, but I don't think I could be happy with only 100 items to my name. My craft table alone probably has at least that amount of items on it right now!

In the spirit of simplifying though, I decided to try my hand at some simple cards this weekend. I always admire those that can make really elegant simple cards, like Susan Raihale on her blog Simplicity.

I have the tendency to add more, more and still more. Vintage and collage are my favorite styles after all. Anyway, here is my attempt at some simple cards.The mottled effect on the Presto Pattern DSP was just from playing around. I first spritzed it with some Razzleberry shimmer mist I made from ink, shimmer paint and rubbing alcohol. Then I sponged on some Perfect Plum ink over the piece, finally I spritzed the pieces with plain water. I have found when using the shimmer paints and ink and then spritzing with water, you get this wonderful mottled effect. The mat is the new Concord Crush In-color card stock.

The butterflies were given some color with Concord Crush and sponge daubers. The sponging is a little sloppy, I think for that size item a smaller dauber or a Q-tip might have been a better choice. They were then sprayed with Vanilla Shimmer Mist as a finishing touch.

Stamps: Afterthoughts (Hostess-Level 1), Occasional Quotes (Hostess-Level 3)
Paper: Whisper White textured and smooth, Concord Crush, Presto Patterns DSP

Ink: Concord Crush, Perfect Plum, Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Platinum Shimmer Paint, Vanilla Shimmer Mist, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Big Shot, Sponge Daubers, Dimensionals

Enjoy!

VC Hop #4 ~ Etchings

If you are following the VC Rocks blog hop, you should have arrived here from Donna's blog ~ High Altitude Creations. That is a beautiful card; I think I'll have to get that stamp set. If you are one of my much appreciated regular followers and started here, feel free to join in on the hop to see some very talented crafters sharing their projects.

If you encounter a broken link or want to start at the beginning of the hop go to VC Rocks home page to see the complete list of bloggers sharing their talents in this hop.

For my projects, I decided to use the new stamp set Artistic Etchings. I also wanted to use a classic, and I think, sophisticated color combination - Black, White and Red.

The new Antique Brads and Patterns Designer Paper Stack in Neutrals were a good choice to go with the stamp set and what I had envisioned. This paper stack has some fabulous patterns to work with and I felt that this one fit the style I was going for perfectly.
I gave the Antique Brad a little zing by coloring the middle with a Sharpie marker.

The supplies I used:

• Stamps: Artistic Etchings
• Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Real Red cardstock, Patterns DSP stack Neutrals
• Ink: Basic Black, Versamark
• Accessories: Antique Brads, Raven Lace Trim, Red Sharpie Marker, Black Detail Embossing Powder, Sponges, Heat tool, Paper Piercer and mat.

Here is the recipe:

• The card base is Basic Black cut length wise to measure 4 1/4" x 11" and scored at 5 1/2".
• Cut the Pattern DSP to 4" x 5 1/4" and sponge the edges with Basic Black Ink.
• Stamp the word Amour from the set with Versamark in the bottom right corner of the DSP and emboss with the black embossing powder. Adhere to card base.
  
• Stamp the Eiffel Tower on a piece of Whisper White cs that measures 1 7/8" x 3 1/8" . The Real Red mat measures 2" x 3 1/4", and the basic black mat is 2 1/8" x 3 3/8". Adhere together.
  
• Color the center of the Vintage brad with the red sharpie marker, place a 1 1/2" to 2" piece of Raven lace between the prongs of the brad. Using your paper piercer poke a hole through all three layers of the image piece and then place in the brad. Adjust and trim the lace as necessary. Adhere the piece to your card.

I have REALLY been neglecting my scrapbooking for quite a while, so I thought for my second project I would do a quick 6" x 6" page to help get me in gear again. I used the same color combo and most of the same basic supplies as my card. This patterned paper is from the Love Letter DSP.
Using the red sharpie again, I colored the new Jewels Basic Pearls and they turned out great! I think they are a perfect accent on the DSP. Here is a close-up. I love how they still keep their iridescent shine through the color.


Supplies I used:

• Paper: Basic Black, Very Vanilla cardstock, Love Letter DSP
• Ink: Basic Black
  
• Accessories: Antique Brads, Jewels Basic Pearls, Raven Lace Trim, Red Sharpie Marker, Sponges, Craft tweezers, Paper piercer and mat.

The recipe:

• The page base is Basic Black cardstock cut to 6" x 6".
• Cut the Love Letter DSP to 5 1/2" x 5 1/2". Adhere a 6" piece of Raven lace to the bottom of the DSP.
• With your paper piercer, poke a hole behind the lace strip on your DSP, where you would like your brad located. Place 3 pieces of Raven lace, approximately 2" in length, between the prongs of the Antique Brad.
  
• With the smaller lace strips in place and a prong on each side of the lace strip on the paper, push the prongs through the hole. Adjust and trim the smaller lace pieces as needed.
  
• The striped vanilla DSP was cut to 1 3/4" x 6" so that the flourished design was down the middle of the piece. I then sponged the edges with black ink.
  
• While still on their protective backing, color the smallest individual pearls on the sheet with the red sharpie. Using the craft tweezers to help with placement, adhere the pearls to the center of the design. Adhere the strip to the layout.
• For the photo mat, I cut a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock to 3 1/4" by 3 1/2" and sponged the edges with black ink. The black mat is 3 3/8" x 3 5/8". Adhere together and then to the layout.
  

Well, I hope that you enjoyed my projects and will come back to visit me soon. Right now though, there are many more wonderful creations to see, and the next stop on the hop is Shirley's blog ~ Stamper Shirley. She has a fun little project for you.

Enjoy!

Greenhouse Flowers

I finally had a fair amount of time to do come crafting last night. I will be involved in another VC Rocks Blog Hop on the 21st and 22nd and was able to get one of the projects for that completed and a second one almost finished. All the projects for this hop will feature items from the new I B & C!

I was also able to get a couple of other projects completed for future blog posts too, but I couldn't wait to share this one. When I first came up with the idea, I wasn't sure it would turn out all that great. I am happy to say that it is way better than I expected. Well, I like it anyway. :)

This is the new Greenhouse Garden DSP from Stampin' Up!. No, the larger floral designs are not ones I would normally go for, but I am really trying to go outside my comfort zone lately and put some variety in my crafting. There is a really adorable stamp set, Friends Never Fade, that coordinates beautifully with this paper. Since it too is not typically my style, I don't have it yet. However, I wanted to show you something using this great DSP-I LOVE the color combos. So, I came up with the brilliant {if I do say so myself} idea to do some paper piecing for the focal point instead of a stamped image. Here is the result...

All of the flowers are cut from the DSP, how great is that?! After cutting out the three main flowers, I then went in and cut around some of the individual petals to give them a little "movement", and also sponged all the edges with Certainly Celery for some added depth. I then layered them using dimensionals, again for some more depth. Here is a close-up.

The other flowers were also sponged with either Certainly Celery or Baja Breeze and then layered on the card. The card base is Early Espresso. The sentiment is from the Level 1 Hostess set Afterthoughts and was the perfect size and style for the card.

I hope you like this card as much as I do.

Enjoy your day!

Luscious Blue

I finally was able to break into my stash of new supplies like the Blueberry Crisp DSP to create this project; along with Patty Bennett's tutorial. I tweaked mine a bit and made the sides a little taller so that I could tie the ribbon through the handles. I think the next one I will make them even a little taller so that you can't see the envelopes.

The Blueberry DSP is gorgeous and coordinates with the Razzle Dazzle stamp set. Using the Big Shot, and the Top Note and Butterfly dies, made it quick and easy to decorate the front of the tote. And yes, the "for you" sentiment was intentionally stamped at a slant. :) The butterfly's body was made using the new self adhesive Rhinestones. They are fabulous and so easy to use!

Before adhering the inside pockets, I stenciled them using Folk Flowers stencils (retired) and Night of Navy ink.

The stencils were also used to create two of the cards in the group with Bashful Blue, Night of Navy and Basic Gray ink. The rhinestones added some bling to the cards as well.


The card on the left is a CASE of this card and the middle card is my version on one of the convention make and takes, the other two are my design. All this luscious blue is making me hungry for a yummy blueberry dessert. Blueberry Cobbler sounds good, doesn't it?


Have a great day!

VC Rocks-Blog Hop

Welcome to the July Blog Hop for the VC Rocks yahoo group! This is the first blog hop I have ever been involved in, other than looking, so I hope you enjoy the projects I've made for today.

You should have arrived here from Carolyn's blog, Inking the Night Away.

As I mentioned in a previous post, when I first saw the new Level 1 Hostess set, Because I Care, it really didn't appeal to me and I figured I wouldn't use it very much. I am finding that I like this set a lot.

One of my new favorite color combos is Marina Mist and Early Espresso. It lends itself well to the vintage style, which I am so fond of, as well as bold contrast.

If you haven't tried using Smooch Spritz yet, what are you waiting for? That stuff is awesome. It gives quick color and shimmer for fast easy cards, or helps with a dramatic effect.

Here's how I made this card:

• Base card is a standard size 4.25" x 5.5" in Early Espresso
• Marina Mist mat is 4" x 5.25". I sponged the edges with Marina Mist ink.
• Using Log Cabin Smooch Spritz, I covered a 4" square of the Presto Patterns DSP and then misted over that with Vanilla Shimmer. I then tore two of the edges and inked all four sides with Early Espresso ink.
• The small Early Espresso mat is 2.5" x 3.75". I distressed and inked the edges.
• The Naturals Ivory piece is 2.25" x 3.5". I distressed the edges and then sponged it with both Marina Mist and Early Espresso.
• I inked up the Hydrangea with Marina Mist and Always Artichoke and stamped it on a scrap of Very Vanilla, cut it out, and then popped it up with dimensionals.
• The sentiment is stamped in Early Espresso.
• The Mini Library Clip and Linen Thread just give it that nice little extra touch.

Here is a list of supplies:

• Stamps: Because I Care
• Ink: Early Espresso, Marina Mist, Always Artichoke Marker
• Paper: Early Espresso, Marina Mist, Naturals Ivory, Very Vanilla, Presto Patterns DSP
• Accessories: Log Cabin and Vanilla Smooch Spritz, Mini Library Clips, Linen Thread, Distressing Tool, Sponges, Dimensionals
  

My second project features several items from the Summer Mini Catalog. You can keep this little Notepad Tin in your car or purse and always have paper handy for those things you want to remember.


Here is a list of supplies:

• Stamps: Tropical Party, Favorite Thoughts, Dreams Du Jour
  
• Ink: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red, So Saffron, Tempting Turquoise
  
• Paper: Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Island Oasis DSP
  
• Accessories: Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz, Rhinestone Brads, Corner Rounder, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Ruler, Exacto Knife, Metal Tin (This is one that SU used to sell, but any will work.)
  

Here is the inside of the tin.

How I made it:

Outside

• The Old Olive mat on the front of the tin measures 4 1/4" x 4 7/8". I cut the DSP to 2" x 4 1/4", rounded the corners on both pieces and then adhered the DSP to the cardstock.
• I then covered the seam with the Old Olive grosgrain.
• I used the sentiment stamp from Dreams Du Jour to stamp the word Life. I colored just that word with an Old Olive marker and then used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to place it.
• I cut out the large Pumpkin Pie flower from a piece of the DSP and popped it up with dimensionals, then stamped the other flowers from the set and cut them out. I misted a couple of them with Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz.
• I stamped the frond in Old Olive and cut around it. Using a tip from Jackie Topa, I then sponged the edges of the frond with ink to help cover up any white areas I didn't want seen.

Inside

• The DSP for the bottom of the tin (under the notepad) measures 4 3/4" x 5 3/8", the lid measures 4 7/8" x 5 1/2". Use plain copy paper to make yourself a template as you will need to play around with rounding the corners and measurements will vary depending on the type of tin you use. I rounded the corners on this project with my paper snips, usine a template I made.
• The bottom DSP is adhered with glue dots, and then the notepad adhered on top of that.
• For the lid, lay your pen on the DSP where you would like to place it, using a pencil draw a line on either side of the pen. Using a ruler and exacto knife, cut two slits in the paper along your pencil lines, just long enough to pull the ribbon through to make a loop. Place your pen in the loop, pull the ribbon tight enough to hold the pen. Flip the paper over and tape down the ends of the ribbon
• Next I stamped the sentiment from Favorite Thoughts in Cherry Cobbler on Whisper White cardstock and matted that with Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive
• The flower was cut from the Island Oasis DSP and spritzed with Vanilla Shimmer.
  

I hope you have enjoyed the blog tour so far. There are some very talented ladies on this hop and the next one is Nancy's blog at Fancy Nancy Kay If you should happen to get lost along the way, or there is a broken link, you can find all the blogs on the tour at the VC Rocks Blog.


Have a great day!

I'm Lost....

I have no computer at home. {hyperventilating here} :) We had a very quick but bad storm come through Saturday and even though I have a surge protector, something happened to my poor computer. I wasn't home to shut it down before the storm hit and had left it on because I wasn't going to be gone long and it was a beautiful sunny day out.

Anyway, I don't {can't} have my photo software on my work computer, so I won't be able to post any projects for a few more days.

The good news is that I had recently purchased a portable hard drive and backed up my entire computer, with a few exceptions of some recent photos and school documents. Hopefully my wonderful tech guys can retrieve everything, but if not, at least I will be able to recover most of it. {whew!!!}

If you don't have a portable hard drive, GO GET ONE!!! They are really inexpensive now and will more than pay for themselves, in the time and heartache you will save, the first time you need to restore something.

In the meantime, take a look at all the great new Color Renovation Color Kits you can purchase to update your supplies.

Well, hope you all have a wonderful week! New catalog projects coming soon!

Kym

Independence,,,,

...(n.) The state or quality of being independent; freedom from dependence thinkexist.com

Whether you are celebrating the independence of our country or a personal independence of some kind, I hope you have a fabulous day!


I saw this cute pinwheel card and thought it would make a great card for my 4th of July post.

I randomly stamped Night of Navy with star stamps from several different sets using white craft ink, then used the XL Bird Punch and punched out the bodies. [sounds kind of creepy said that way] :) I adhered them to the Cherry Cobbler circle, and then layered that with Whisper White stamped with a Cherry Cobbler star. Celebrate was stamped on the 5/8" satin ribbon in Night of Navy. The drinking straw was cut down to size and adhered with mini glue dots. The pinwheel was attached with pop-up dots.

!!Happy 4th!!

Because I Care

Here's another peak at the Because I Care Level 1 Hostess set.

Stamp Set: Because I Care
Paper: Marina Mist, Early Espresso, Always Artichoke, Whisper White
Ink: Early Espresso, Marina Mist, Always Artichoke
Accessories: Stipple Brush, Dew Drops, Dimensionals

When I first saw this set I thought that it wasn't one that I would really like. The more I use it, the more it grows on me. I really like hydrangeas, but I don't generally use a lot of flowers in my stamping. What's nice about this one, is it is all one stamp; no trying to line up the stem with the flower, or the leaves with the stem.

Once again, I used one of my new favorite colors Marina Mist. I also used one of my favorite tools, my stipple brush. Stipple brushes give a nice soft effect on paper, and it's so easy to layer color with them. I used Early Espresso, another of the new Core Colors and added some Always Artichoke to soften and warm up the look.

This card only took me about 10 minutes to make. I need to learn to do more cards that quick! :)

Have a great day!

Perpetual Birthday Album

The original design for this album was done by Richard Garay. These are great little books to give as gifts, and if you use a Simply Scrappin' Kit, it makes it so easy to decorate.


I'm trying to use up some of my stuff on hand and get rid of older or non-SU items. I made this one for my Mom to give to one of her co-workers as a gift.


Here are some more of the inside pages.


Now that I have them down, these are pretty easy to make. I am working on a tutorial and Richard has given me permission to share it with others, so watch for that in the next few weeks.



Enjoy!

Something Old, Something New........

Something Borrowed, Something Blue.

Nope, this isn't a wedding card, but the saying really fits.
The something old is the Bird w/Leaves Bigz Die that will be retiring as of July 1st. This die has wonderful little components that can be used together or individually. Although I haven't used it extensively, I'm kind of sad to see it go.

Something new would be the Marina Mist cardstock I used for the bird, the Early Espresso cardstock for the mats and the Presto Patterns paper that is available in the Summer Mini. There is also a little Sneak Peak...the sentiment is from the new Level 1 Hostess set, Because I Care.

The Presto Patterns paper is so cool! There are 6 different patterns that are begging to be colored. (You can also leave them white for a nice tone on tone effect.) Each of the patterns is embossed onto the paper, so when you apply color the patterns resist the color and stand out. I don't have any of the new ink colors yet, so I had to play around a bit. I was able to get pretty close to Marina Mist by first misting the paper lightly with water and then brayering with Bashful Blue and then Baja Breeze, which is a returning In-Color. By misting the paper, the colors blended nicely.

Something Borrowed? Well, that would be the pearls, I had to borrow them from an old sample, as I didn't have enough for this card. My order will hopefully be here next week. :) The pearls are included in the SU Pretties Kit. This kit is being reconfigured for the new catalog and some of the items in the kit will no longer be available. So if you want it the way it is, order now!

And of course the obvious, Something Blue, would be the bird and the color scheme for the Presto Patterns paper. I love the new Marina Mist color. I have a feeling that I will be using it almost as much as Razzleberry. :) I ran the bluebird through my Big Shot with the Cuttlebug Textile Embossing Folder to give him a little more pizazz and then sponged some Baja Breeze over him.

Here is an older card I made using the Bird w/Leaves Die.

The card base is a transparency. The bird and individual components are adhered to the front of the card, while the cardstock is adhered on the inside front of the card to hide all the adhesive.


Enjoy!

Oasis Shimmer

I really like the versatility of this layout and have used it on several cards in the past (which have not been posted...yet). But if you look at the star card in my Versatile Class post you can see that I used the same layout for a different look.

For this card I used the new Island Oasis DSP and the Square Lattice Sizzix Embossing Folder on the Turquoise mat. I usually shy away from the bold-bright color schemes, but I really like this new paper. Very summery! :)

The large and small rose red flowers, as well as the small orange flower, are cut out from one of the DSP designs. The other two flowers were stamped and all were spritzed with the Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz. That stuff is awesome! It gives just the right touch of glitz without going over the top. I also spritzed the sentiment and added a couple of rhinestone brads for a touch more sparkle.

This card would be great to send just to brighten someone's day, as a birthday card, or even as an invitation to a tropical themed party, just by changing the sentiment.

Stamps: Tropical Party, Embrace Life (retiring)
Paper: Island Oasis DSP, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, So Saffron
Accessories: Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz, Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain, Modern Label Punch, Circle Ice Rhinestone Brads, Dimensionals

Have a great day!

The term, Godspeed, is relatively obsolete. However, it's most common meaning, of wishing someone a safe journey will never be outdated.

To all the veterans, the men and women currently serving their country, and to their families, I would like to say Thank You!! Because of your sacrifices and dedication, I am able to live the life that I do. I'm honored to have had several relatives in the military and appreciate their time in service.

To all of you, Godspeed!!!!

Graduation Shimmer

Here is a different take on the graduation card I recently made for a class. This is obviously a more feminine version. :)

The card base is 6.5" x 6.5" Chocolate Chip, scored at 3.25". I cut the flowers out from the Tea Party designer paper. After cutting out the two layers, I put them together with dimensionals and a rhinestone brad. The graduation stamp can be found in the new Summer Mini catalog for under $10.

I used some of the new Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz on the Certainly Celery textured cs, the flower and the stamped image piece. I think it gives it just enough glitz without going over the top. This is a very quick and easy card.

You can turn it into a money holder, by making the base 6.5" x 7.75" and scoring at 3.25" and 6.5", glue the edges of the 1.25" flap and there you go. A nice little card and money holder all in one.

Stamps: Happy Grad
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery (textured), Very Vanilla, Tea Party DSP
Accessories: Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz, Pretty In Pink Satin Ribbon, Circle Fire Rhinestone Brads, Dimensionals

Baja Time

I'm glad that Baja Breeze is one of the returning In-Colors with the Color Renovation; it goes great with so many different colors. I know that this particular ribbon probably won't be coming back,(even though I really want it to) but I'm sure SU will have something just as wonderful. Trying to use up some retired items to make room for all the new ones coming in. Yeah!!

The card design is actually a Mojo Monday sketch found here. There are some really awesome sketches on the site for when you're in a rut, or need to put together something spectacular, but don't have the time to design it yourself.

I ran the textured Baja Breeze through the Big Shot with the Distressed Texturz plate, then used the distressing tool on the edges. The Sahara Sand piece is stamped with the clock face and cog stamps in Sahara Sand. I then stamped the cogs again, in chocolate chip, and secured the Artichoke 1/2" circle with a vintage brad. I distressed the Sahara Sand piece and it's Chocolate Chip mat with the distressing tool. All the edges, except for the card base, are sponged with coordinating ink. I then simply stapled the ribbon on and frayed the edges, so that it was "distressed" too. :)

To match up the torn edges of your DSP and mat layer, simply cut your pieces to the appropriate size, then line up the bottom of your DSP with the bottom of your mat and tear both pieces at the same time. Center your DSP on your mat and voila-matching edges!


Stamp: Sense of Time
Paper: Always Artichoke, Baja Breeze-textured, Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand, DSP (retired)
Ink: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Cutter Kit Distressing Tool, Vintage Brads, Big Shot, Sizzix Distressed Texturz Plate, 1/2" Circle Punch, Baja Striped Ribbon (retired), Sponges, Stapler

Versatile Card Class

First, let me apologize for the poor lighting in this picture, I was kind of in a hurry.

Anyway, these are three of the cards that we will be making at the card class on Friday, May 21st and Saturday, May 22nd. A sympathy card, Father's Day card and Graduation card. Make sure you register by May 15th. You can see full details at my SU website - Kym's Creations - under Events.

As the title of this post indicates, this class is all about versatility. While we picked one Sentiment set to use for all the cards, we will have samples of how to easily change out these cards for different themes or colors, or how to increase the "wow" factor.

Hope to see you there!

Masculine Stars

This was one of the swaps I made for the Milwaukee Regional a couple of months ago. Yeah, I'm a bit behind on posting. :)

I don't make a lot of masculine cards, so I struggled with this a bit. I think this was like the 4th or 5th version of the card, but I like the way it turned out. I sponged all the layers and stars with coordinating inks. I even sponged the twill tape with some Sahara Sand.

One of the flowers in Little Flowers looks kind of like a star, so I colored that with the Artichoke and Chocolate Markers and then stamped it on Very Vanilla cardstock. I punched it out and added it to the build a brad and then put it through the large star and around the twill tape to help create a focal point.

Stamps: Little Flowers, Smarty Pants
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow (retiring), Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla, To The Nines DSP (most likely retiring).
Ink: Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, Sahara Sand, Always Artichoke and Chocolate Chip Markers
Accessories: Small and Large Star Punch, 1/2" Circle Punch, Twill Tape, Build-a-Brad, Sponges, Dimensionals


Enjoy!

Distressed Razzleberry Birdie

I made this for one of my upline's demo meeting swaps. I definitely would not do this for a LARGE swap; it's a bit time consuming, but so much fun to make and I really like how they turned out.

Rich Razzleberry is the base of this card. The larger mat is Soft Suede and the DSP is from the Cottage Wall collection. For the main image, I colored the Wings of Friendship stamp with Razzleberry and Old Olive markers and then misted the stamp with water before stamping on Naturals White cardstock.

After stamping and cutting out several of the open flowers, I sponged the edges, placed a rhinestone brad in the center and popped them up with dimensionals. I wasn't happy with the size or look of the olive ribbon on it's own, and didn't want the polka dots showing on the soft suede ribbon, so I flipped it over and layered the olive grosgrain on top.

Editing to Add: I used the distressing tool from the Cutter Kit on all the layers. On the focal layer with the bird, I also used my scissors. I opened them up, like if I was going to curl ribbon, placed the edge of the paper in the "v" of the scissors and ran them down the edge of the paper. I then added a few small slices along the edges. Be careful though, you need a light touch when doing this, otherwise you could slice your image in half. Ask me how I know... :)

Enjoy!

Color Comparisons

Here are some color comparisons of Retiring, Carryover and New Core Colors.






While the tones may vary from screen to screen, I hope that this will at least give you an idea of how the new Core Colors fit into Stampin' Up!'s Color Renovation.


Here is another sample using the New Core Color Marina Mist. This is a nice summery, cheerful color combo. It would be great to use for Mother's Day, Baby Showers or Birthdays.

Stamps: Always Ink: Baja Breeze, Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip
Cardstock: Marina Mist, Pink Pirouette, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White
Accessories: Circle Scallop, 1 1/4" and 1/2" Cirle Punches, White Signo Pen, Paper Piercer, Dimensionals

Enjoy!

Flowers from Bird Wings?

So here is a fun way to use the 2-Step Bird punch and not make a bird. You can make tulips! I saw this idea on one of the swaps I received at the Milwaukee Regional I attended last week. I will be posting pics from that in a few days.



Punch out three of the little wings and layer them on top of each other. I used one of the new core colors - Cherry Cobbler. It is a beautiful rich red and it's going to be one of my new favorites, along with Marina Mist. See how well they go together...

Stamps:Bella's Bloom Ink: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red
Cardstock:Early Espresso, Always Artichoke, Marina Mist, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: Extra Large 2-Step Bird Punch, Top Note Bigz Die, Distressed Texturz Plate,
Sponge Dauber, Whisper White Grosgrain, Glue Dots, Tombow

The stems are the leaf from the bird punch. I cut the Marina Mist Top Note in half and sponged the edges with Baja Breeze and sponged the edges of the tulip petals with Riding Hood Red. The Always Artichoke strip was run through the Big Shot with the Distressed Texturz plate.

Color Renovation

I received my New Color samples from the Color Renovation. I really like these new colors, they are so yummy and vibrant. I am really excited about the new color collections.

(Color Renovation jpeg by Marie S)

I only wish I had more paper to work with right now and the coordinating inks, ribbons, accessories... It's going to seem like forever before we can buy them.

Since I didn't have the matching ink to work with, I had to improvise a little bit, but I used colors within the same collections and I think they worked pretty well. The Early Espresso is a blackish brown or a cool brown.

Be sure to click on the pictures to get a closer look at these luscious new colors.

Cardstock: Early Espresso, Naturals White Ink: Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze

Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes
Accessories: Linen Thread, Clip Assortment

I finally got my extra large 2-step bird punch!!! Yeah, I am loving this punch. Make sure you order one before the Mini ends. I have some other fun samples to show you using this punch. I sponged the edges of the Daffodil Delight bird and his wing with So Saffron ink, then popped his little wing up with a dimensional.

Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Rich Razzleberry, So Saffron Stamps: Tiny Tags, Sense of Time
Accessories:2-step Bird Punch, Medium Jewelry Tag Punch, Linen Thread, Cottage Wall DSP,Dimensional, Sponges

Since we only received one sheet of each of the New Colors, most of the samples are ATC or mini size cards, so I could make more samples and show you lots of wonderful color combos. I ran Riding Hood Red ink over the edges of the butterfly and across the embossing. It goes wonderfully with the Cherry Cobbler paper. The Cajun Craze is a nice vibrant rust color

Cardstock: Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, Naturals White
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard Marker Stamps: Wings of Friendship (Hostess)
Accessories:Beautiful Wings Embosslits, Linen Thread, Vintage Brads, Mat Pack, Sponge Dauber

The butterfly embosslit is also in the Occasions mini, so make sure you get it quick. Check back tomorrow to see more new color samples and a fun way to use the 2-step bird punch to make something other than a bird!

Enjoy!

Paper Quilting

These are some paper quilting cards I made for my Mom, who is an actual quilter, for her birthday. The maple leaf is one of her favorite quilt designs. The card base is Kraft and I used Bella Bleu dsp to make the leaf pattern.



For these cards I used the retired 2009 SAB designer paper Delicate Dots and Whisper White textured cardstock for the base. Which worked great, as her favorite colors are yellow and blue. I had every intention of making these well ahead of time and researched patterns that I thought would convert easily to cards, as I am not a quilter myself. However, as seems to be my normal "style", I waited until the last minute, so I needed some quick inspiration and found some wonderful samples on SCS here and here. I changed up the paper and colors and was able to get these done fairly quickly.

For the sentiments I used Well Scripted from the Spring Occasions Mini, as well as one of my favorite sets Sincere Salutations.

These were a little more difficult to make than I had thought, but after the first one it wasn't too bad, although I don't think I will be taking up quilting as a hobby. :)

Enjoy!

Tiny Vintage Tags

I really like the new punches that SU has come out with! The little tag punch and Tiny Tags stamp set are so fun to use. I think the tags add that perfect little touch to your cards. And while I am generally not a fan of a scalloped edge, I do like the new Scallop Trim Border punch. What's really great is that right now, you can get this punch Free during Sale-A-Bration. It has a matching corner punch in the Occasions Mini.

For these I used a card base of Kraft cardstock. The Bella Bleu dsp lent itself nicely to the color scheme of yellow and blue. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I really like this DSP. I have had it for quite a while and this is the first I have used it. It has some gorgeous patterns and a great muted/natural color scheme.

The flowers are from the Vintage Vogue stamp set. Would it surprise you that I absolutely adore this set???? For those that know me probably not. :) I stamped the large flowers in So Saffron on Barely Banana cs, the smaller flowers are stamped in Barely Banana on banana cs and Brocade Blue on Kraft cs, the leaves are also stamped on Kraft cs in Always Artichoke. I distressed the mat pieces and inked the edges of all the pieces in coordinating colors.

I couldn't find my Natural Linen thread (need to do some organizing!) and I thought the Hemp Twine was too thick for the look I was going for, so I "split" the Hemp Twine into two strands to attache the tag. It worked great, plus it stretches the amount of twine I have!!

For this one I used the masking technique. I stamped the large flower from Vintage Vogue in Rich Razzleberry and the leaves in Old Olive on Naturals White cs. I then masked them with a post-it cut into each shape and stamped over that with the French Filligree background stamp in Soft Suede. The small flower and scalloped edge are Crushed Curry, the mat is Rich Razzleberry and the base is Soft Suede.