Craft Fair!

Tomorrow I will be at the Resurrection High School Arts & Crafts Fair in Chicago if anyone would like to stop by and say hi. I have some very cute thank you note sets, decorative gift bows, to/from tags, sparkly ornaments, some fall birthday cards, and a few other odds and ends!

After the fair I will be back to posting regularly so stay tuned! :)

Simple & Pink

One of my swaps for Convention 2009. (The two pics just have different lighting.)

You can see more of the texture in this close-up.

Supplies: Flight of the Butterfly Stamp Set, Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Set; Pretty in Pink and Whisper White cardstock; Melon Mambo Textured cardstock; Pretty in Pink and Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pads; 1" Circle Punch; Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon; Mini Glue Dots

Baby Time!

No no no; no babies for me! But everyone around me seems to be having or adopting them! So I finally whipped up some cards with my new Nursery Necessities stamp set! I think I used a sketch for the layout, but I can't remember where I found it!

 

Using markers, I stamped the boat twice. I cut one out, then placed it on top of the other one using Stampin' Dimensionals for some "pop"!

 

Stamps: Nursery Necessities
Paper: Loves Me DSP, Pretty in Pink CS, Chocolate Chip CS Whisper White CS
Colors: Pretty in Pink Marker, Regal Rose Marker, Chocolate Chip Marker
Tools: 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Paper Snips
Accessories: 5/8" Regal Rose Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals 

italics = retired product

 

Stamps: Nursery Necessities
Paper: Sarah DSP, Brocade Blue CS, So Saffron CS, Certainly Celery CS, Whisper White CS
Colors: Brocade Blue Marker, Certainly Celery Marker, So Saffron Marker
Tools: 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Paper Snips
Accessories: 5/8" Brocade Blue Grosgrain Ribbon, 5/8" Certainly Celery Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals 

italics = retired product

Dusty Eggplant Bay

Hehe I love the funny little names they always come up with over at SCS for the color challenges. So I made up my own for today's title! This is one of my swaps from Convention 2009.

Supplies: Dig In Stamp Set, Itty Bitty Backgrounds Stamp Set, On Your Birthday Stamp Set; Dusty Durango, Bermuda Bay, Elegant Eggplant, and Whisper White cardstock; Dusty Durango and Elegant Eggplant Classic Stampin' Pads; VersaMark Ink Pad; Star Punch; Dusty Durango 1/2" Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon; Mini Glue Dots; Stampin' Dimensionals

Happy Anniversary :)

Tomorrow is a super exciting day! First of all, it's my two year anniversary! WOW that is a long time and I guess we don't qualify as newlyweds anymore! The second exciting thing is that I'm going to the Stampin' Up! Convention for the first time!!! Yeah I know, leaving on my anniversary... luckily my hubby has finally realized how much I love stamping and is ok with it! :)

Stacey put up her second Curtain Call Color Challenge yesterday, and I knew if I didn't make something today, I wouldn't be able to by the deadline because I'll be in Utah all week! Plus like usual I procrastinated making an anniversary card, so ta-da!

I made a little "secret message" that pulls up from behind the birds. Hehe this card was just simple and fun!

Suppplies: Love You Much Stamp Set, You & Moi Stamp Set, Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Set; So Saffron, Bravo Burgundy, Mellow Moss, and Whisper White cardstock; Bravo Burgundy Textured cardstock; So Saffron, Bravo Burgundy, and Mellow Moss Classic Stampin' Pads; VersaMark Ink Pad; Blender Pens; Heart to Heart, Modern Label, Word Window, and Scallop Edge Punches; Paper Piercing Tool; 2-Way Glue Pen; Stampin' Dimensionals

Monochromatic Christmas

I was a little skeptical about Stacey's very first Curtain Call Color Challenge. But I think I pulled the colors together quite nicely. Looking at this card makes me think of the song "Silent Night." It's just so peaceful and serene. I popped up a few of the snowflakes on dimensionals to give it depth. Also, all the stamped images were embossed in white.

The new Christmas Punch set is so awesome - every single image fits into a Stampin' Up! punch! The only way to get this set is to host a qualifying workshop. Book one today to get this set early enough to make those Christmas cards!

Christmas Punch; Item #115366; Hostess Level 2

Supplies: Christmas Punch Stamp Set; Night of Navy, Not Quite Navy, and Whisper White cardstock; VersaMark Ink; Wide Oval and Boho Blossoms Punches; Whisper White 5/8" Satin Ribbon; White Stampin' Emboss Powder; Heat Tool; Mini Glue Dots; Stampin' Dimensionals

Wow Flowers pack

When Stampin' Up! offers project kits, I seize the opportunity! All the products in the kit already coordinate, so it is that much easier to just sit down and create! Using the "Flower Power Card Elements" together with the Wow Flowers stamp set, I was able to create 17 (!) different cards! All I added was additional cardstock for the card bases, some additional brads, punches, ink, and adhesive. Even though the card kit gives you examples of card layouts, I think it is even more fun to come up with my own! Here are some examples of what I came up with.

Supplies: Flower Power Card Elements kit; Wow Flowers Stamp Set; Perfect Plum, More Mustard, Old Olive, Rose Red, Whisper White Cardstock; Rich Regals and Earth Elements brads; Ice Circles Rhinestone brads; Scallop Circle, 1-3/8" Circle, 1-1/4" Circle, 1" Circle, 1/16" Circle Punches

Belated Butterfly Birthday

I think my two Julies have probably gotten their cards by now so I can post them! My sister-in-law and my Stampin' Up! upline both had a birthday in the last few weeks and... I was behind on cards. So I created this cute belated birthday card using the clean&simple FTL #51 and took my color inspiration from the bright and awesome new Kaleidoscope DSP.

I used my new Butterfly Punch and the Big Beautiful Butterflies die so I could create this little guy who wants to fly off the card! Love it!

Supplies: Birthday Wish Stamp, On Your Birthday Stamp Set, Flight of the Butterfly Stamp Set; Tempting Turquoise, Pixie Pink, Only Orange, and Yoyo Yellow cardstock; Kaleidoscope Designer Series Paper; Pink Passion and Only Orange Classic Stampin' Pads; Butterfly Punch; Top Note and Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Dies; Big Shot; 2-Way Glue Pen; Stampin' Dimensionals

In Color Autumn

I loooooove the way this card turned out!! I used 3 of the new In Colors - I think they go well together (they remind me of Reese's Pieces!). I sponged each color onto the main panel - I tried to keep the brown shade near the bottom (for the ground), and the yellow & orange shades in the sky, to make it look like it's around sunset. I'm very pleased with the result.

I stamped the greeting in Craft Ink (in a darker shade of brown), which I thought might stick better to the textured cardstock.

I first stamped the trees in Craft Ink, then used clear embossing powder to emboss them, before I did the sponging.

Supplies: Heard from the Heart Stamp Set, Lovely as a Tree Stamp Set; Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, and Very Vanilla cardstock; Soft Suede Textured cardstock; Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, and Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pads; Chocolate Chip Craft Stampin' Pad; Stamping Sponges; Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder; Heat Tool; Stampin' Dimensionals

Christmas in July

Well I've been really busy with work (boo!) and haven't had much time to stamp. However, I can only use the "Christmas in July" cliche for a couple more days so I figured I'd better post something! A couple years ago, Stampin' Up! had this really cute card kit (Holiday Glitz I believe) using Wild Wasabi as the card base. For whatever reason, I had some leftover pieces so I whipped up quite a few cards to get rid of this stuff! Once I get my Etsy shop up and running, these card sets will also be available for purchase!

I like the matchbook style card. I will have to make some more of those in the future! So all in all I ended up making 7 packs of 4 cards each. Not too shabby for one afternoon! ;)

Happy Holidays Supplies: Snowfall Stamp Set*; Whisper White cardstock; Wild Wasabi* and Real Red Textured cardstock; Soft Sky Prints* Designer Series Paper; Wild Wasabi*, Soft Sky*, and Real Red Classic Stampin' Pads; Jersey* Ribbon Originals; Stampin' Dimensionals; staples

Merry Christmas Supplies: Punches Three Stamp Set*; Whisper White cardstock; Wild Wasabi*, River Rock*, and Real Red Textured cardstock; Dashing* Designer Series Paper; Wild Wasabi* Classic Stampin' Pad; Scallop Square Punch; Real Red 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon; Mini Glue Dots; Stampin' Dimensionals; staples

*retired SU! item

More NMBS Swaps

Here are two other swaps I made for the No More Bad Swaps group back in May. I'm using this first one for a wedding we have coming up on Saturday. I used the "rock-and-roll" technique on the main stamped image. It's one of my favorite looks! I also love to use Dazzling Diamonds glitter to highlight this particular image.

This next one is called a "scrapling" and is the leftover piece you have when making a 4-1/4" x 4-1/4" square card. Its dimensions are 1-1/4" x 8-1/2", folded in half. It makes a good bookmark, or just a tiny little way to brighten someone's day! On these I did faux-stitching with a paper-piercing tool and white gel pen. Along with the color scheme, I think it makes it look kinda rustic. :)


Blue Swap Supplies: Baroque Motifs Stamp Set; Baja Breeze*, Sahara Sand, and Whisper White cardstock; Pacific Point* Textured cardstock; Baja Breeze* and Pacific Point* Classic Ink Pads; VersaMark Pad; 2-Way Glue Pen; Dazzling Diamonds Glitter; Stampin' Dimensionals

Scrapling Supplies: Darling Dots Stamp Set*; Old Olive, Ruby Red, More Mustard, Kraft, and Whisper White cardstock; Old Olive, Ruby Red, and More Mustard Classic Ink Pads; Paper-Piercing Tool; White Signo Gel Pen; Paper Snips

*retired SU! item

Get Well Cards

My mom called me up and placed an "order" of some birthday cards and get well cards. I finally just got the Thoughts & Prayers Stamp Set, which has a very nice Get Well sentiment so I busted that set out. I wanted to use up some old retired Designer Series Paper, so I went with Le Jardin and used my Color Coach again to choose my color palette!

Thoughts & Prayers, Item #113252, $25.95

I just loved the layout I came up with for these cards, so I copied that first. I love this Trendy Trees set! My DSP was So Saffron, so the coordinating colors were Bordering Blue, Old Olive, and Close to Cocoa.

Trendy Trees, Item #113258, $17.95

I also wanted to make something a little darker because most of my cards tend to be bright and flashy. So I went with the same pattern paper but in Always Artichoke. The coordinating colors for this were Bravo Burgundy, Brilliant Blue, Rose Red, and Elegant Eggplant.

So Saffron Supplies: Trendy Trees Stamp Set, Thoughts & Prayers Stamp Set; Bordering Blue, Old Olive, Close to Cocoa, and Whisper White cardstock; Le Jardin* Designer Series Paper; Bordering Blue, Old Olive, Close to Cocoa, and So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pads; Stamp-a-ma-jig; Blender Pens; Stampin' Dimensionals

Always Artichoke Supplies: Pocket Silhouettes Stamp Set, Thoughts & Prayers Stamp Set; Bravo Burgundy, Brilliant Blue, Rose Red, Elegant Eggplant, and Whisper White cardstock; Le Jardin* Designer Series Paper; Bravo Burgundy, Brilliant Blue, Rose Red, and Elegant Eggplant Classic Stampin' Pads; 1-1/4" Square and 1-3/8" Square Punches; Stampin' Dimensionals

*retired SU! item

Tara's Blog Candy!

Another one of my sidelines, Tara, is giving away blog candy for getting 100,000 hits! Check it out here!

Her blog always has great projects, and she even puts together her own scrappin' kits! Very cool! :)

LOVE This Color Combo!

Looks like I used two "#50" challenges for this one: Color Throwdown #50 and clean & simple FTL50. I think these 3 colors just look GREAT together! Too bad Kiwi Kiss has already retired! :( I think this turned out very fun with all the stars popping out. I went against my perfectionist ways and turned them every which way. I probably would have never lined them up *perfectly* anyway!

This card allowed me to play with some of my new goodies: I finally got the Star Punch (and the Large Star Punch... more projects to come using both!), and the "Dig In" stamp set is available for a limited time in the Country Living Summer Cookout Kit. Can't wait to make those cute little shish-ka-bob invitations and have a little shin-dig at our apartment before summer is over! (Our weekends are booking up so fast!) :0

Supplies: Dig In Stamp Set, Itty Bitty Backgrounds Stamp Set, On Your Birthday Stamp Set; Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, Kiwi Kiss,* and Whisper White cardstock; Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, and Kiwi Kiss* Classic Stampin' Pads; Star Punch; Tempting Turquoise 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon; Stampin' Dimensionals

*retired SU! item

Favorite Birthday Card Ever

My sideline Stacey's birthday was a couple days ago, and she is offering a free birthday stamp set to one of her blog readers. All you have to do is submit your favorite birthday card. This is one that I made last year after seeing something similar on Stamper's Showcase (an awesome resource for demos). I actually made two at once. I sent one to my niece and the other to a friend from high school. I like that this design is appropriate for anyone, including kids! If you know me, you know I love bright colors so you can see why I love this card! :)

Supplies: Party Hearty Stamp Set, Eat Cake* Stamp Set; Only Orange, Basic Black, and Whisper White cardstock; Only Orange and Basic Black Classic Stampin' Pads; Only Orange, Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore, Pink Passion, and Lovely Lilac Stampin' Write Markers; green* 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon

*retired SU! item