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!