Primrose Inspiration

I made this card for a Big Shot card swap. I wanted to break in the new edgelits I just bought, but needed some inspiration.  I found it on page 83 (far right sample) of the new Annual Catalog.  I just tweaked the layout a bit and used a different stamp set.

I didn't have any of the new DSP yet, so I made my own by stamping and  using My Digital Studio (MDS).  I'm not really a digital crafter, but the MDS program has come in handy several times to fill a gap in my traditional crafting.

For the patterned paper that I ran through the Big Shot with the edgelit.  I stamped Pretty in Pink cardstock with Primrose Petals ink.  The stamp used is the medallion from Artistic Etchings.


This is what the paper looked like before die cutting.

 
I printed the Textile pattern in So Saffron on Very Vanilla cardstock, then simply cut it to the size I needed.

To give the card a little more depth and interest, I ran a piece (4" x 5.25") of Soft Suede through the Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and then sponged it in Soft Suede.

The final Big Shot piece is the sentiment which I stamped in Soft Suede and then used one of the Apothecary Accents Framelits to cut out.  I popped it up on some dimensionals.  I love framelits.  It's so easy to create a cute accent or focal point with them.  And, I use up more of my scraps since I can easily align them over a stamped image before cutting.  Saves so much paper!!


Stamps: Field Flowers, Artistic Etchings,
Paper: Primrose Petals, Pretty in Pink, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, So Saffron Textile DSP-MDS
Ink: Gumball Green, Primrose Petals, Soft Suede, So Saffron
Misc.: Adorning Accents Edgelits, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Victoria Crochet Trim, Dimensionals, Sponge

Accidental Design

This card was one of those happy accidents that some times occurs during the creative process.  You know the ones, like when you are trying to do something totally opposite of what you end up with, or have no clue about what you want to make in the first place.

I was sitting at my table trying to decide what to make for my VC roomie when I saw a piece of gauze that was left over from one of my daughter's school assignments.  That was an interesting project.  She needed to make bone marrow, moss, and fish oil.  Very fun.  Anyway, back to the card...

So there's this white square of gauze just lying there, as I go to pick it up and toss it in my "spare parts" jar, I see my bottles of Smooch Spritz out of the corner of my eye. Hmmm...wonder what would happen if I sprayed the gauze with some color.  And that was how it all came about. :)  Not so terribly exciting, but fun nonetheless.  I played around with other color combos too so you may see those in future projects.

This one uses Log Cabin Smooch Spritz, and Vanilla Shimmer Smooch mixed with some Baja Breeze ink.  Once it was dry, I cut it to size and then started pulling on the edges to distort the square shape and get some fraying.

For the sentiment, I used the Modern Label punch and the technique I mentioned in this post.  "Hello" is from the set Happy Greetings (retired).  I stamped two of the more ornate flowers from Mixed Bunch in Baja on Whisper White and then used the Blossom punch.  The center of the flower is also from Mixed Bunch stamped in Chocolate Chip and punched with a 7/8" circle punch.  The 3/4" punch will crop it closer to the image, but I liked the look with the added ring of white.  To hold the flower together I used an Antique Brad.  Love those things!!

Since the gauze has layers, I used a liquid adhesive so that it would soak in, grab the fibers and bind it to the paper.  I didn't want it to separate and start pulling away from the cardstock later on.  The Baja mat piece was embossed with the Stripes folder.  All the elements were inked with Baja Breeze and/or Chocolate Chip.

How about you?  Do you like using unusual design elements, or do you stick to the tried and true papers and embellishments?

Stamps: Mixed Bunch, Happy Greetings (retired)
Paper: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze re-inker
Misc.: Blossom, Modern Label, and 7/8" Circle punches, Antique Brads, Metallic Brads, Log Cabin and Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz, Misting Bottle, Gauze, Distresser from the Cutter Kit Tool, Sponges, Scotch Quick Dry Liquid Adhesive

Very Feminie Swap

For this swap we were to make very feminine cards.

I really like the designs in the Patterns Paper Stacks, they cover all styles from elegant to fun.  To dress up the DSP even more, I used one of the flourishes from the Vintage Ornaments stencils (retired) with Pretty in Pink ink.  Several punches were used on this card and I think they added some wonderful frilly detail.

For the flower, punch out 3 flowers with the Blossom punch from the Pretty in Pink DSP.  After lightly misting them with water, crumple them up into loose balls.  Let them set for a few minutes, then carefully unfold them and set aside until they are completely dry.  To speed the process, you could dry them with a heat tool.  Once dry, sponge the edges with Pretty in Pink.  The center of the flower used Raspberry Ripple and the Boho Blossom punch; and Gumball Green and the Itty Bitty Shapes punch, with a pearl.

Stamps: Four Frames, You’re a Gem

Paper: Early Espresso, Gumball Green, Pretty In Pink, Raspberry Ripple, DSP Subtles Patterns Paper Stack

Ink: Early Espresso, Pretty in Pink, Raspberry Ripple

Misc.: Blossom, Decorative Label, Scallop Trim Border, Boho Blossom & Itty Bitty Shapes Punches, Victoria Crochet Trim, Basic Pearls, Vintage Ornaments Décor Stencil (retired), Dauber, Sponges, Dimensionals, Cutter Kit Distress Tool (retired)

Have a great day!

Roomie Kindness

I made this card for my VC* Roomie, Kristi.  A couple of her favorite color combos are Cherry Cobbler/Early Espresso/Very Vanilla and Always Artichoke/River Rock/Very Vanilla.  So I decided to mash them up a bit and came up with this.

I added a touch of Marina Mist to give it a little "pop".  Kindness Matters is such a pretty set; I really need to use it more often.  I used the Vintage Wallpaper folder to emboss the Always Artichoke piece, then distressed the edges and sponged the entire piece.

I had a bottle of Marina Mist shimmer spritz made up so I used a small paint brush and the spritz to paint the butterflies and add just a hint of sparkle.  The ribbon is Marina Mist Scallop Dots Ribbon just flipped over.  I grunged it up a bit with some Early Espresso.  The polka dots didn't really work for this card, but the color and style certainly did. :)

Stamps: Kindness Matters
Paper: Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla
Ink: Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Marina Mist
Misc.: Marina Mist Scallop Dots Ribbon, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz (mixed with Marina Mist ink), Distress Tool, Sponges, Paint Brush, Dimensionals

*You can learn more about VC Rocks by visiting our blog.

Make it a great day!

VC Rocks-Have a Heart-Blog Hop

It's that time of year again...where those of us that can not attend the SU annual convention create our own convention fun ~ virtually!

If you don't know what VC Rocks is, please check out the VC Rocks Blog for more info and to see the entire list of blog hop participants in case of broken links. There is some wonderful additional art work on the site as well.

If you are following along the hop from the beginning, you should have come from Robin's site-Robin's Craft Room.  What a great doodling project!

I have done two cards for our Have a Heart Hop featuring sneak peaks of the new 2012-2014 In-Colors that will be available June 1st!! This color combo is not one I would normally choose to do, but it looked very intriguing on the Color Coach chart for the new In-Colors so I gave it a try.

Since the color combo was very bold {at least for me :)}, I kept the card itself pretty simple.

Recipe:

1. Create a standard {4.25" x 5.5"} card base from Basic Gray cardstock and stamp your sentiment in the bottom right corner.  The one I used is from Loving Thoughts and is stamped in Basic Black.
2. Cut a piece of Summer Starfruit (new IC) to 3" x 3.25" and sponge the edges with its respective ink.
3. Cut a piece of Primrose Petals (new IC) to 2.75" x 3".  Punch a heart out of the center of the piece using the Full Heart Punch.  Sponge the edges with Primrose Petals ink, including around the cut out heart edges.
4. Punch a heart from a scrap of Pink Pirouette cardstock.
5. Run the heart through the Big Shot using the embossing folder-Vintage Wallpaper.  Sponge the edges, and the raised embossing, with Pretty In Pink ink.
6. Place pink heart in center of Summer Starfruit mat.  Use dimensionals to pop up the Primrose Petal piece over the heart.*
7. Add three small pearls to bottom right corner of the heart piece and adhere to card base in upper left corner.

*Helpful Hint:

To make sure that your punched heart is centered under the cutout heart, center the Primrose piece on the Starfruit mat-NOT using any adhesive.  

Put adhesive on the back of the punched heart and place inside the negative space of the Primrose piece. 

Once the heart is adhered, remove the Primrose piece, add dimensionals and reposition it on the Starfruit mat.

Supplies
Stamps: Loving Thoughts
Paper: Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit (new In-colors), Pink Pirouette, Basic Gray
Ink: Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit, Pink Pirouette, Basic Black
Misc.: Full Heart Punch, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Big Shot, Basic Pearls, Dimensionals, Sponges


For the second card, I went from bold and simple to muted and vintage.  I also used the Color Coach to choose the combo for this card as well.  Raspberry Ripple (new IC), Pretty In Pink and Old Olive;  I added Soft Suede as the base.

Recipe:

1. Create a standard card base {4.25" x 5.5"} using Soft Suede cardstock.  Sponge the edges of the card with Soft Suede Ink.  Also drag the sponge across the top of the card a few times to add a little depth.
2. Tear a piece of First Edition Specialty DSP from the corner, leaving the two outside edges un-torn.  I sponged ink on this piece in Soft Suede, Old Olive and Pretty In Pink.  Adhere to card base.
3. Cut a piece of Raspberry Ripple approximately 3" x 3.25" and punch a heart from the center of this using the Full Heart Punch.
4. Center the second to smallest framelit from the Labels Collection over the negative heart space and run through the Big Shot.
5. Punch a heart from a scrap of Pretty In Pink.  Place this inside the negative space of the Raspberry Ripple piece.  Emboss the pieces using the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and the Big Shot.  Sponge both pieces with Raspberry Ripple and Soft Suede ink.
6. Using the next size larger framelit, cut a piece of Old Olive cardstock.  Sponge with Old Olive and Soft Suede ink.  Layer under the Raspberry Ripple and Pretty In Pink die cut.
7. "Age" a 7" piece of Victorian Lace Ribbon by sponging it with Old Olive, Pretty In Pink and Soft Suede ink.  Tie in a bow, trim and fray the ends.
8. Stamp a sentiment from Tiny Tags on Raspberry Ripple, punch out using the Jewelry Tag Punch.  Sponge with Raspberry Ripple ink.  Use the paper piercer to make a hole in the top of the tag.  Thread with Linen thread and pin to the lace bow using a Vintage Trinket safety pin.
9. Stamp sentiment on card base with Soft Suede ink.

Supplies:
Stamps: Tiny Tags, Wings of Friendship (retired)
Paper: Raspberry Ripple (new In-Color), Old Olive, Pretty In Pink, Soft Suede, First Edition Specialty DSP
Ink: Raspberry Ripple, Old Olive, Pretty In Pink, Soft Suede
Misc.: Full Heart Punch, Jewelry Tag Punch, Vintage Trinkets, Linen Thread, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Big Shot, Victoria Lace ribbon, Sponges,

I hope you enjoyed my projects and find some inspiration in them.  The next stop on the hop is Dawn's site-Stampin' At Dawn.  She has a really cute project waiting for you.



   

Nature Scraps

I've been making an effort lately to use some of the massive amount of scraps I have lying around. It really has gotten out of hand; the nice organized container of colored file folders has evolved into a gigantic heaping mound of paper.

I will be participating in some annual craft fairs in a couple of months and the smaller items will be a perfect way to whittle that pile down a bit.

I recently sent these items to one of my fellow VC Rockers; they were so quick and easy to make and I love how they turned out.

This is a 3" x 3" acrylic frame with a magnet on the back. The First Edition DSP was stamped with the stem image from Fabulous Florets in Wild Wasabi, and the edges sponged with Marina Mist. It was then mounted on Marina Mist card stock and simply slid into the frame.

The flower, also from Fabulous Florets, was colored with Early Espresso and Pink Pirouette markers and stamped on Pink Pirouette card stock. Once cut out, I sponged the edges with Pink Pirouette for some dimension and attached it to the front of the frame with a couple of glue dots.


I seem to be very fond of this tag combination lately, but it is just so quick to do and adds a great little accent. As you can see from other projects, like here and here, it is quite versatile too.

This time I stamped the bee from Nature Walk in Early Espresso and added a little So Saffron for just a touch of color. I hand wrote "notes" and stamped a background using one of the Tiny Tags stamps before punching it out with the Jewelry Tag Punch. Tied them on with some linen thread and done! Took me under 10 minutes to complete.

Stamps: Fabulous Florets, Nature Walk, Tiny Tags
Ink: Early Espresso, Pink Pirouette, So Saffron, Wild Wasabi
Paper: Marina Mist, Pink Pirouette, Wild Wasabi, First Edition Specialty DSP
Misc.: Mini Vintage Tags, Jewelry Tag Punch, Linen Thread, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Magnetic Acrylic Frame, Sticky Notes pad




After making this notepad key ring for Carey, I decided to make a bunch of these for the craft fairs in all sorts of shapes and sizes. (I will be showing those in a future post.) They are an excellent way to use up those scraps! I got the idea from another fellow VC Rocker, Mary Jo, who sent one to me as a RAK.

Simply glue your patterned paper of choice to some thin cardboard, the type that comes in the DSP packages from SU works perfectly. Once dry, cut it down into smaller pieces to run through your die cut machine~I used the Big Shot and the Beautiful Butterflies die from SU. Next, just cut some plain copy paper into the same shape; I have found that about 40 sheets or so makes a nice size "notepad".

I used the Crop-A-Dile to punch the hole and then added the O ring. You could add a little decoration to them if you wanted, but I would suggest not putting too much on there as it will tend to get caught on other items and get ripped off.

Paper: Gabrielle Collection (BoBunny), Copy Paper (Staples)
Misc.: Crop-A-Dile, Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die, Tombow Multi Glue, O Ring (Staples), Thin cardboard

Enjoy the Day!

VC Rocks Blog Hop ~ Punches Galore

Welcome to the final blog hop weekend of the VC Rocks season. If you'd like to find out more about VC Rocks or to see how to join up for next year's fun, check out the VC Blog. You will also find all of the stops for this hop listed on the site.


If you are following along on the blog, you should have come from Diane's blog, Stampin Ldyglfr62 . She has some fabulous projects on her site.


As the caption states, the theme this round is punches. We were challenged with making projects that showcased the wonderful punches that SU offers, both past and present.

My card today is actually inspired by one of the beautiful cards that I received from my VC Roomie, Mary Jo. I changed the colors and switched out some elements to incorporate our theme of punches, but the layout is from her fabulous card.

Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Baja Breeze and Soft Suede is the color theme I chose. I tried to incorporate as many punches as I could without it looking ridiculous.


The bird is stamped with Versamark on a sheet of Soft Suede from the Neutrals Patterns DSP stack and then embossed with clear embossing powder. I sponged some Cherry Cobbler on it and then punched it out using the Bird Builder Punch. The Baja Breeze piece was created with the Scallop Trim Border punch. The DSP and trim piece is popped up on dimensionals.

That wasn't enough punches for me, so I decided to create an accent piece for the card. These are the unassembled elements:

I cut the knot off the string from a Mini Vintage tag and used that to thread my button. The button "back" was created using First Edition Specialty paper which I sponged Baja Breeze onto. It was then punched out using the matching punch from the Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack and adhered to the button with Crystal Effects. Since the cord of the Mini Vintage tag is silky, I used a small drop of Crystal Effects on the knot to keep it secure on the button.

The round Mini Vintage Tag was stamped in Cherry Cobbler with an element piece from the stamp set Artistic Etchings. The same stamp was used with Baja Breeze as a background for the friends tag that was created with the Jewelry Tag punch. The friends tag and Mini Vintage tag were then tied together using Linen Thread and the button adhered with a mini glue dot.

Here is a close-up of the completed accent piece:

It was attached to the card with a Mini Library clip.

Punches: Bird Builder, Jewelry Tag, Scallop Trim Border, Itty Bitty Shapes Pack
Stamps: Fabulous Florets, Artistic Etchings, Tiny Tags. Afterthoughts (retired), Punch Potpourri (retired)
Paper: Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, First Edition Specialty Paper, Patterns DSP Stacks-Regals (Cherry Cobbler), Neutrals (Soft Suede)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Versamark
Misc.: Itty Bitty Buttons, Mini Vintage Tags, Mini Library Clips, Linen Thread, Crystal Effects, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Sponges,

Well, I hope you enjoyed my project today!

The next stop on your hopping journey is Barb's blog, The Love of Stamping. Check out her fun projects!

If you get lost along the way, find a broken link, want to start at the beginning, or just want to check out some more great projects, please visit the VC Rocks Blog.


Have a great Day!

Vintage Blue Butterfly

Wow, I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted. (Oops!) Well, I have been able to do some creating lately, so I will start sharing again. :)

This is a card I made for my VC Rocks roomie. I love the new BoBunny papers and had a great time creating this card.



The focal point of the card is cut from a collage sheet in the collection. The papers match wonderfully with many of the SU colors. I used Early Espresso for the card base and to ink up the edges of the papers and the chipboard sticker in the corner.

I also broke out my Twinkling H2Os that I haven't used in ages. I cut the butterfly out and highlighted the blue of its wings with Sky Blue to give it a little sparkle and then added some pearls for the body.

I also added some Sky Blue H2O highlights around the card as well to tie it all together.


Paper: Gabrielle Collection (BoBunny), Early Espresso Cardstock (SU)
Ink: Early Espresso
Misc.: Chantilly Crochet Trim, Vintage Trinkets, Linen Thread, Basic Pearls, Cutter Kit Distress Tool (SU), Chipboard Sticker (BoBunny)

Have a great day!

Little Pieces of Art

Last month I participated in an ATC swap with the VC Rocks group. Now that everyone has received their swaps, I can share them with you.

Not sure what an ATC is? ATC is short for Artist Trading Card. They are wonderful little pieces of art the size of a baseball card (2.5"x3.5").

I love ATCs! They can be used as a focal piece on a card, an embellishment on a scrapbook page, put in frames and hung as artwork, or just enjoyed on their own stored in little binders.

There were two groups in the swap, retired and current. I chose to participate in both groups. The Bloom ATC is made with all retired products. This is a pretty straight forward and easy design. I used markers to color the floral stamp from Live your Dream, then punched it out with the 1-3/8" circle punch, backing it with a Soft Sky scallop circle which is popped up with dimensionals. The Groovy Guava and DSP piece are matted on Wild Wasabi.



Stamps: Bella's Bloom, Live Your Dream
Paper: Afternoon Tea DSP, Wild Wasabi and Groovy Guava textured cardstock, Soft Sky and Whisper White smooth cardstock.
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi
Misc.: Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Wild Wasabi stitched ribbon, Dimensionals

For the current product swap I used the palm tree from Plant Hope. For the background "scene" I took a wet paintbrush and reinkers to make the sky (Marina Mist) and desert (Soft Suede) by just swiping the brush back and forth across the piece of Naturals White cardstock.

To make it look more like a landscape, I went back in and shaded some areas with Soft Suede to make the hills. Once the tree was stamped, I again went in with the paint brush and reinker to add some shading under it. Can't have the tree just floating out there. :)

I used markers to color the stamp - Early Espresso for the trunk and a mix of Old Olive and Pear Pizzazz for the fronds. To finish it off I added some Linen Thread. The piece was matted with Paisley Petals DSP with Marina Mist cardstock as the base.

Stamps: Plant Hope
Paper: Marina Mist, Paisley Petals DSP, Naturals White
Ink: Early Espresso, Old Olive and Pear Pizzazz Markers, Marina Mist and Soft Suede Reinkers
Misc.: Linen Thread, Paint Brush, Water

Have a great day!

VC Rocks in 3D!

For this month's VC Rocks Blog Hop the theme is "Anything But a Card". So, you will see some fabulous 3D artwork on your hopping journey this time. I am also giving away some blog candy, so when you reach the bottom of this post, check out how you can enter to win.

You should have arrived here from Eileen's blog "Stamping Fever" . Beautiful projects, weren't they? Love that bookmark.

If you get lost along the hop, come across a broken link, or just want to start at the beginning, check out the VC Rocks Blog for the entire list of participants. You will also see more fabulous creations over there as well.

For my project I made a desk set to go with the notepad holder I made my Mom for Mother's Day. To paint all the pieces in the set I used white acrylic paint mixed with Marina Mist reinker. I was attempting to match the lighter blue in the flowers and I think I got pretty darn close.


The first piece is a Desk Calendar. I printed the calendar pages in Word. The clip comes with the kit and is decorated with Seam Binding and a flower from the retired Pretties Kit tinted with Marina Mist reinker. I colored a Basic Pearl with a Sharpie for the center. If you look closely you can see the leaf stem behind the flower. It was punched in Always Artichoke with the Two-Step Bird Punch.

I painted the entire piece with my tinted paint and then covered the front with Paisley Petals DSP using Tombow multi glue to adhere it, and then placed a photo mat on the right.

Paper: Paisley Petals DSP, Always Artichoke
Ink: Marina Mist
Misc.: Basic Pearls, Always Artichoke Seam Binding, Pretties Kit (retired), Two-step Bird Punch, Mini Glue Dots, Tombow Multi Glue, Sharpie Marker, White Acrylic Paint (KaiserCraft), Beyond the Page Desk Calendar Kit (KaiserCraft)


For this memo holder I again used many of the same supplies as I did for the calendar. I love these alterable kits as they are so quick and easy to decorate. Plus they are a great way to use up your small scraps. The DSP strips on the sides are only 5/8" x 2-7/8" and the front pieces are 5/8" x 1-1/2".


Since my bird is popped up on a dimensional, I wanted to make him a little sturdier, as well as make sure he had the same pattern of DSP on both sides. After punching the first bird, I simply flipped the paper over and punched another one. That way they will match up when glued together.


Paper: Always Artichoke. Paisley Petals DSP
Ink: Marina Mist
Misc.: Two-step Bird Punch, Tombow Multi Glue, Pretties Kit (retired), Dimensionals, White Acrylic Paint (KaiserCraft), Beyond the Page Memo Block (KaiserCraft)


The final piece, or pieces, of the set are these little binder clips. They are probably the fastest and easiest items to make and are always a big hit as gifts or as craft fair items. These are small clips, so I used a 1/2" x 1" piece of paper on either side adhered with sticky strip. Another great way to use up those small scraps.

Paper: Paisley Petals DSP
Misc.: Sticky Strip, Small Binder Clips (Staples)


Now who wants some blog candy? :) I will be giving away a set of 6 Decorated Binder Clips ~ 2 large and 4 small. Just leave a comment on this post by midnight Sunday, July 10th. I will use random.org to pick a winner on Monday. Good Luck!!

The next stop on the hop is Linda's blog, Pretty Inky Papercrafts. What a great name for a stamping blog, and she has some pretty cool projects too.






Have a great weekend!!

Kym