Blushing Flower

I've had an order of new stamp sets from the Summer Mini sitting around and decided that they needed to be broken in.


Now, I am not typically a floral type girl, but Fabulous Florets has this great silhouette stamp in it that I couldn't pass up. I embossed it with white embossing powder on Naturals White cardstock; then I created a mask with post-it notes and colored it in using a sponge dauber and Blushing Bride ink.

The green mat is a piece of Pear Pizzazz patterned paper from the In-Color Designer Series Paper Pack (Hostess Level 1); and the card base is Blushing Bride.


After stamping the Mini Vintage Tag with part of the leaf in Pear Pizzazz, I stamped the sentiment in Versamark and Blushing Bride and embossed it with clear embossing powder so that it would stand out a little more. The tag was then tied to the piece using Linen thread.

Stamps: Fabulous Florets, Tiny Tags
Paper: Blushing Bride, Naturals White, Pear Pizzazz DSP
Ink: Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Versamark
Misc: Mini Vintage Tags, Linen Thread, Clear and White Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Sponge Daubers


By the way - Wednesday, June 1st, the retiring stamp sets and accessory lists will come out. Make sure you don't miss out on the items you want/need! Retiring items go fast, so make sure to contact me early with your order; or place your order online on my website by clicking on the Shop Now button.

Remembered

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service.
photo from biguniverse.com


I am proud to have several family members who have served. So, I would like to send a simple but heartfelt prayer of Thanks to all those who lost their lives fighting for our country.

And to all their families and friends, my deepest condolences. They are remembered!

Unloved Colors

I've pretty much ignored the in-colors this past year, so I figured it was time to give them some love. For this card I featured Poppy Parade.


I used the Faux Silk technique to create the focal point. After coloring the large floral stamp from Just Believe with Old Olive and Poppy Parade markers, I spritzed it with water before stamping onto Naturals White cardstock. I crumpled white tissue paper into a ball and then carefully un-crumpled it. Don't rush through the un-crumpling because you will end up with holes in the paper. Cover the focal piece with glue, I used Tombow Multi for this one, and then place your piece of tissue paper on top. Carefully press the tissue paper over the cardstock to get any bubbles out. Take care not to rip or stretch your tissue. Set aside to dry-it won't take too long.

Once dry, I trimmed the excess tissue paper from the piece and matted it with Poppy Parade. Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain covers the bottom of the piece. Using the Scallop Trim border punch and Old Olive cardstock, I created an accent for the side.

I colored the stamp again with Poppy Parade and Old Olive and stamped a Vintage Mini Tag. Due to the coating on the tag's paper, the colors ended up in a paler shade of the original. It gave it a kind of watercolor effect, which I really liked.

The sentiment is from Tiny Tags and I used the Jewelry Tag punch on it. I cut the string on the vintage tag, right under the knot, added the punched tag then tied it around the olive ribbon, trimming the excess string. I added a basic pearl for just a little more detail.

Stamps: Just Believe, Tiny Tags
Paper: Baja Breeze, Old Olive Poppy Parade, Naturals White
Ink: Old Olive and Poppy Parade Markers
Misc.: Mini Vintage Tags, Basic Pearls, 5/8" Old Olive Grosgrain ribbon Jewelry Tag punch, Scallop Trim border punch, Tissue Paper, Tombow Multi-glue


Have a great day!

Butterfly Shimmer

Shimmery pastels is a fun little technique I came across when looking for a quick technique demo using Shimmer Paint. Tami White has a wonderful how-to video on her blog.

I thought Tami's use of the Beautiful Wings embosslit was a great choice to highlight the technique, so I used the butterflies on my own card as well. {I will try and make this the last brown and teal card for a while. :)}

The card base is Chocolate Chip and measures 4" x 4" and the Not Quite Navy mat is 3.25" x 3.25". This DSP is from the Patterns Designer Series Paper Stack in Neutrals. I used Chocolate Chip to stamp the floral image and sentiment from Just Believe.

The shimmery pastel technique is basically the same as the mother of pearl technique only you are using chalks to color the piece instead of ink. I used Whisper White cardstock and Frost White Shimmer paint to start. I then colored the piece with Chocolate Chip and Not Quite Navy Stampin' Pastels using sponge daubers before running it through the Big Shot in the embosslit. This was a very quick card and an easy technique demonstration.

Stamps: Just Believe
Paper: Chocolate Chip DSP, Chocolate Chip, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Misc: Frost White Shimmer Paint, Stampin' Pastels, Saran Wrap, Sponge Daubers,Tombow Multi Glue


Have a great day!

Casing Myself

Since all the supplies were still laying out on my table, I decided to make a card based on the supplies I used to make the scrapbook page for the VC Rocks Blog Hop this past weekend. You can see the page in the post below.

I got a little sponge happy on this one, but I like how it turned out and will be using it for the demo swap at my upline's group meeting.

I used all the same colors as the scrap page, but switched out the DSP and the embellishments.


Everything except the card base was sponged-told you I got a little carried away. :) The pearl was again colored with a Sharpie maker and placed inside the jumbo eyelet. I ruffled the ribbon by placing a length of sticky strip down and then pressing the ribbon on to that, scrunching it as I went along. I used the Espresso marker to color the word "dream" from the sentiment stamp in the Razzle Dazzle set for the tag. Then pinned the tag to the ribbon using a safety pin from the Vintge Trinkets.


Stamps: Razzle Dazzle (the word dream from the sentiment)
Ink: Baja Breezer, Early Espresso, Certainly Celery
Paper: Greenhouse Gala DSP, Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery, Early Espresso
Misc: Jumbo Eyelets, Jewels Basic Pearls, Certainly Celery Satin Ribbon, Sizzix Bigz Die Fun Flowers, Vintage Trinkets, Linen Thread, Jewelry Tag Punch, Sponges, Sticky Strip, Sharpie marker

Color My World

Welcome to the first VC Rocks blog hop for the 2011 season! If you don't know what VC Rocks is, please check out the VC Rocks Blog for more info. If you come across a broken link or get lost along your hopping journey the VC Blog has a list of all the hop participants. Or, if you came directly to my site and would like to start the hop at the beginning, go to the VC blog to see who's first in line. :)

If you have been following the hop, you should have arrived here from Sharon's blog ~ Created By You What a great project.

The theme for our hop is Color My World. We were to design projects that used some kind of coloring technique. Not being a coloring type girl, very few of my sets are line art stamps or ones that lend themselves well to coloring; so, I was thankful we were able to use retired sets for this hop. I created three projects for the hop and the coloring techniques I used were with reinkers, markers and sponges.

This first card was SO quick and easy. I have always admired the CAS style of cards, but have difficulty making them myself as I prefer Vintage/Distressed. It has been sunny and really nice here the last couple of days, so I gave this card a "beachy" kind of feel in honor of the rain letting up.

Using a wet paint brush and reinkers in Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz and Crumb Cake, I color swiped a 3" x 3.5" piece of Naturals White cardstock. I then stamped the triple palm tree image from Balmy Breezes in Early Espresso. The word Dreams is from a sentiment in the Happy Harmony set. I used the Early Espresso marker to color just that word for stamping. The piece was then layered onto Baja Breeze with a Naturals White card base.

Stamps: Balmy Breezes, Happy Harmony (both retired)
Ink: Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzaz, Crumb Cake reinkers, and Early Espresso marker
Paper: Baja Breeze, Naturals White
Misc: Paint Brush


This next card uses my all time favorite color combo-Brown and Teal. For this one I used Baja Breeze and Early Espresso. I first inked the flower image from Embrace Life with Versamark and then with Early Espresso before stamping and clear embossing. By inking with Versamark first, before your color, and embossing with clear powder, you then basically have any "color" embossing powder you want.

Using the Baja Breeze marker, I then colored in the flowers to give them more depth and make them stand out as a focal point.

I randomly stamped the branch/leaf stamp from the set on the Baja Breeze mat in Baja ink. I then used the Weathered background stamp, also with Baja ink, over that. I finished off the focal point with Early Espresso grosgrain ribbon and stamped the sentiment in Early Espresso.

Stamps: Embrace Life (retired)
Ink: Baja Breeze ink pad and marker, Early Espresso
Paper: Baja Breeze, Early Espresso
Misc: Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Early Espresso 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon



My final project is a 6" x 6" layout that is definitely more my style and again uses the Espresso and Baja color combo.

I colored the Presto Patterns DSP with Baja Breeze and Crumb Cake using sponges. Next I spritzed it in a couple of places with Log Cabin Smooch Spritz, and then spritzed again with Frost White Shimmer Mist (made from Frost White Shimmer Paint). Finally, I sponged on some more Baja and also Pear Pizzazz. I colored the edges with Early Espresso and a sponge.

I stamped the butterfly from Clearly For You on Naturals White cardstock in Early Espresso. Then I colored it in with Baja Breeze and Certainly Celery markers and cut it out. I sponged the Vintage Tag with Pear Pizzazz and adhered the butterfly with a Pop Dot clipping it to the piece with a Mini Library clip. The pearls were colored with a green Sharpie marker.


For the flowers I used the Sizzix Bigz Die-Fun Flowers. I misted them with water and then crumpled them up. After carefully uncrumpling, I sponged the entire flower with Baja Breeze ink and then sponged the edges with Early Espresso.


I colored another pearl with the green Sharpie and placed it on top of an Antique brad for the center of the flower. I colored the edges of the Celery ribbon using a sponge and Early Espresso to give it a grungier look. To "ruffle" the ribbon I put down a length of Sticky Strip tape and then scrunched the ribbon together as I pressed it down on the tape.

Stamps: Clearly For You
Ink: Baja Breeze ink pad and marker, Early Espresso and Pear Pizzaz ink pad, Certainly Celery marker
Paper: Presto Patterns DSP, Baja Breeze, Early Espresso (textured)
Misc: Antique Brads, Jewels Basic Pearls, Certainly Celery Satin Ribbon, Sizzix Bigz Die Fun Flowers, Vintage Tags, Mini Library Clips, Log Cabin Smooch Spritz, Frost White Shimmer paint (made into shimmer mist), Pop Dots, Sponges, Sticky Strip, Sharpie marker


I hope you enjoyed the projects, but it's time to move on. The next stop on the hop is Angela's blog ~ Life with a Wiener Dog. Frankfurter is very cute and Angela's projects are pretty cute too. :)


Have fun!

Paisley Petals Companion Card

This is the card that I made to go along with the notepad set from yesterday's post. Again, I went for simple and quick with the style.



The designs in the Paisley Petals paper lend themselves quite well to being the focal point of a project. There are so many great colors that coordinate with this paper - Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip, Marina Mist, Not Quite Navy, Old Olive, River Rock, Soft Suede and Tangerine Tango. Some other choices include Bravo Burgundy, Peach Parfait (In-Color) and Mellow Moss (Retired). Think of all the different projects that can be made with that many color choices!

If you missed getting any of this paper during the sneak peak promotion in April, don't worry-it will be available again July 1st, in the 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalog!

Stamps: All Holidays
Paper: Mellow Moss (retired), Not Quite Navy, Paisley Petals DSP
Ink: Not Quite Navy
Accessories: Jewels Basic Pearls, MDS (for sentiment inside card)

Enjoy!

Paisley Petals Test Case

Now that they are no longer available to purchase, I have finally got around to making something with the Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper and the Four Frames Stamp set. The good thing about that is, they will both be available AGAIN in the new 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalog coming in July!! Only a couple of months away!

While big floral prints are not typically my style, my Mom likes them, so I made a gift for her using the paper and stamp set for Mother's Day. She was definitely my guinea pig for this one, as it was also the first clear case notepad set I have made. Fortunately, she loved it. (But then Moms are a bit prejudiced when it comes to their kids talents.) :)

I have seen a lot of the cover inserts made for these cases using Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio. Using MDS gives you the opportunity to add beautiful digital embellishments and rearrange your layout as many times as you like, without wasting any supplies. Since the digital layouts are not bulky like normal layouts, they slip right into the case cover. I will definitely be making more of this fun and easy project, and next time will be printing some MDS cover inserts as well.


While I wanted to showcase the floral pattern of the paper, I still think the front cover is a little plain. If I hadn't waited until the last minute to make it, I probably would have embellished it a bit differently.



I really like how the inside turned out and was actually surprised at the thickness of the two pads together not causing a problem with closing the case. These are so handy for your purse or car whenever you need to write a reminder note to yourself or make a quick to do list.

Both of the large green mat pieces and the little piece under the clip are Mellow Moss, however, the lighting makes them look like two different shades of green. Of course I didn't look closely at the pictures until after giving it to her. Oh well...can't retake them now.

Stamps: Four Frames (available in July), Notes & Details, Office Accoutrement (retired)
Paper: Paisley Petals DSP (available in July), Not Quite Navy, Mellow Moss (retired)
Accessories: Clip Assortment, Basic Pearls, Decorative Label Punch, Double Stitched Baja Breeze Grosgrain, Mini notepad, Post-It note pad, Mini pen

Enjoy!