Eastern Butterfly Elegance

Mojo Monday time! I snuck last night's card into the Mojo Monday website with minutes to spare! But that means this morning brings a brand new sketch challenge. On the last Monday of the month, they offer a circle and square card layout (MOJO317). Since I don't yet have the Circle Framelits, I decided to do a smaller card and use circle punches for the focal points of the card.

Every year I participate in a DSP product share with my upline, Julie Davison. It is open to customers and demonstrators, and is a great way to get a little bit of everything (whether it is new DSP, ribbon, buttons, other accessories, etc) without spending a fortune. With the DSP share, I got a 6x6-inch piece of each sheet of DSP offered in the current Annual Catalog.

SO... since I have a lot of 6x6 sheets of DSP laying around... I decided to use my Envelope Punch Board in reverse! There are two sizes of cards that you can use a 6x6 sheet of paper for to make an envelope (see the little pink arrows above). So I decided to go with the 3-1/2" square card.

I used the Eastern Elegance DSP for my envelope, accent pieces, and color scheme. Here is what I came up with!

Do you ever get a stamping idea into your head, and it just won't go away until you create it? I'd been envisioning making a little double-layer butterfly like this one all weekend. When I saw the Papillon Potpourri stamp set and butterfly punches sitting on my desk, I knew I could finally use them for this project!

This card is too small to mail, but hopefully I can find a use for it at some point! Perhaps as a little note to accompany a bottle of wine when I go over to a friend's house for a casual night in. :)


Stamps: Papillon Potpourri

Paper: Eastern Elegance DSP, Smoky Slate CS, Coastal Cabana CS, Crushed Curry Textured CS (but could use the current Core'dinations paper to achieve the same look), Whisper White CS

Colors: Crushed Curry Ink

Tools: Elegant Butterfly Punch, Bitty Butterfly Punch, 1" Circle Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Envelope Punch Board

Accessories: Rhinestones, Stampin' Dimensionals 

italics = retired product

No-Words Birthday Card

I'm very stressed out about a presentation I am giving next week, so I needed some stamping time to soothe my nerves. I like to *challenge* myself to try to use more than one challenge on a card! ;) So today, it was Color Throwdown #265 (CTD265) and Mojo Monday #316 (MOJO316).

I used Midnight Muse instead of Not Quite Navy, because I was trying to stick with current SU! products. But then I ended up using a retired stamp set anyway. Oh well!

It was hard for me to combine this many colors into one card (my stand-by is 3 colors and 1 neutral) but I finally made it work! Leave a comment and tell me which one do you like better: with or without the Crisp Cantaloupe embellishment on the left side?

Stamps: Patterned Party
Paper: Pistachio Pudding DSP, Crisp Cantaloupe CS, Pistachio Pudding CS, Baked Brown Sugar CS, Midnight Muse CS, Whisper White CS
Colors: Pistachio Pudding Marker, Crisp Cantaloupe Marker, Midnight Muse Marker, Baked Brown Sugar Marker
Tools: 2-1/2" Circle Punch, Bitty Banners Framelits, Big Shot
Accessories: Crisp Cantaloupe 3/8" Ruffle Stretch Trim, In Color Boutique Details, Stampin' Dimensionals, Glue Dots

italics = retired product

Tis the Season... for Sparkle!

This weekend has been wonderful - I had absolutely NOTHING planned! So yesterday I got to do some stamping and knitting, and today I've already made a cute little Christmas card!

In my search for card challenges yesterday, I came across this fun blog: Tis the Season. The color combo for their second challenge (TTS2) is right up my alley! I actually made a card with a similar color scheme 7 years ago (see below), back when I first started stamping and had very little stamps and supplies! (These stamps were actually Close to My Heart, I think. Before I became an SU! purist. I even used the masking technique - and I had only been stamping for a month! I'm so proud of my early-stamping self.)

In a way, I think it may have been easier to create when I had just a few stamp sets and I really had to think outside the box. My current inventory might look desirable, but honestly I can't even remember what sets I have and I constantly need to pull everything out and browse to find anything. It's kind of ridiculous. I have 7 cubes filled with stamps. SEVEN!! If I ever get the time and energy, I may just need to start selling stuff on ebay just to de-clutter and simplify!

Besides the sickening number of stamps, check out how otherwise adorable my stamping area is!! The rest of the apartment may still need some work, but I finally finished this part. :)

Anyway, back to the color challenge. It's definitely non-traditional, but I love it! I was having trouble deciding on a layout/idea, but then this morning on Pinterest I found this card. It even has the right colors for the challenge! So I totally CASEd it.

I love that I was even able to use the "optional trimming" of glitter! Fun stuff! I think I'll keep up with this blog and maybe it'll help me get my Christmas cards made and sent out on time this year! Hey, there's a first time for everything! ;)

The size of this old ornament punch calls for a wider card if you want to fit 3 across. Because I have the new Envelope Punch Board, I didn't have to worry about finding an envelope to fit an oddly-shaped card: I can just make one! So I used some old Tempting Turquoise DSP. The card front is 3" x 6". I had never really tried the white-on-white look, but it seems so classy, and I like how it turned out! Thanks to the bright gorgeous sun making an appearance today, you can see shadows showing the dimension on my card.

Stamps: Delightful Decorations, Snowfall
Paper: Tempting Turquoise Prints DSP, Whisper White CS
Colors: Tempting Turquoise Marker/Ink, Pear Pizzazz Marker/Ink, Melon Mambo Marker/Ink
Tools: Envelope Punch Board, Paper Piercer & Mat, Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack, Heat Tool, VersaMark Ink Pad, Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder, Ticket Corner Punch, Ornament Punch
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals 

italics = retired product

Challenge Extravaganza!

I miss doing challenges, so I started looking around the web for some current ones. I was able to incorporate not one, not two, but THREE challenges into this card! Summer Starfruit is kind of difficult to "capture" in pictures, so I took one with the flash to get a better representation of the true color. (Added bonus: you can see my cute manicure!) ;)

First, I really like the clean and simple layout of the Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge 284 (TSSC284). I anticipate making many more cards in this layout, especially since I have so much Designer Series Paper! I decided to incorporate the flagged end into my sentiment.

Next, I headed over to the Around the World blog for their third challenge (AW03), which was a theme challenge. Since I live in the Northern hemisphere, it is all about FALL! The trick with this blog is that everything has to be a CURRENT Stampin' Up! product - which I was actually able to accomplish this time! To give the card a little texture, I just crumpled up the leaf into a ball a couple of times.

Then, I headed to Split Coast Stampers to find a color challenge that would mesh with the other two challenges. I found A Crazy Suede Starfruit (CC446), which was a wonderful palette for a fall card. And thus, my card was born. :)

This baby is headed my brother's way, as his birthday is at the end of October. I like autumnal cards because they often tend to be on the less feminine side and are appropriate for guys. I also just love the season! The leaves haven't started changing colors yet around here, probably because it's been in the 80s for the majority of "fall" so far. Next month I expect some real beauties though!


Stamps: Wetlands
Paper: Soho Subway DSP (Summer Starfruit pattern), Venetian Romance DSP (Soft Suede pattern), Cajun Craze CS, Soft Suede CS, Summer Starfruit CS, Very Vanilla CS
Colors: Cajun Craze Ink
Tools: Autumn Accents Bigz Die (leaf), Circle Card Thinlits Die (banner for sentiment), Big Shot
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals

Celebrate!

After a long hiatus from stamping (and an even longer hiatus from blogging!) I'm back with some fun projects! I have an unhealthy obsession with Stampin' Up!'s Designer Series Paper and have a HUGE stash of retired patterns. (In fact, I don't think I have ANY current ones!) So, I'm always on the lookout for cards or projects that will use up some of my stash!

 

 

 

This is one of my favorite layouts. I think I originally got the idea from my up-line and "BSF" (best stamping friend), Julie Davison. :) She and I seem to have a similar affinity for "clean and stimple" type layouts. This particular DSP just shouts "party!" to me, so I made a bunch of birthday cards. I seem to run out of them the fastest anyway.

I am even more excited about the MATCHING ENVELOPES I was able to create with my NEW Envelope Punch Board from Stampin' Up! I just picked one of the patterns from the card and cut an 8x8-inch square of matching DSP. A few punches and scores later, BOOM - a beautiful envelope sized perfectly for my A2 card (5-1/2 x 4-1/4; the standard card size from a half-sheet of paper).

I wanted to enter these into the NEW "Around the World Stampin' Up! Challenge" that comes out the 1st & 15th of every month. The theme for September 15 was "Celebrate." BUT, alas, one requirement is that everything must be a CURRENT Stampin' Up! product. I will certainly be more careful next time so I can actually enter!

Stamps: A Word for You, On Your Birthday, Darling Dots, Outlined Occasions
Paper: Build-a-Bear Pawsitively Prints II DSP, Poppy Parade CS, Tempting Turquoise CS, Pear Pizzazz CS, So Saffron CS, Whisper White CS
Colors: Poppy Parade Marker, Tempting Turquoise Marker, Pear Pizzazz Marker, So Saffron Marker, Staz-On Black Ink
Tools: Envelope Punch Board, Paper Piercer & Mat (for brads), 1-1/4" Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, 1-1/4" Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/4" Scallop Circle Punch, 3/16" Corner Rounder Punch, 1-1/4" Square Punch
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, So Saffron Brads  

italics = retired product