Seeing Stars - Day 2

Today's card uses the Confetti Stars Border Punch on the Whisper White card stock layered over the Crushed Curry card base. Then I used my star punches to make the Night of Navy and Crushed Curry layered star. The sentiment is from Word Play. I used some more of my fuzzy yarn but you could use Baker's Twine. Wouldn't the sparkly Metallic Baker's Twine be pretty with this card design?
CASE:  Lil Inker Designs

Seeing Stars

Grab your star punches and/or framelits because this week we're seeing stars! I'll show you some fun cards all with stars on them. These make great birthday, congratulations, celebration, and what I needed - masculine cards!

Today's card features the Gorgeous Grunge and Big Day stamp sets. I stamped the Whisper White background and circle using the Grunge stamps using Tangelo Twist ink. I stamped the sentiment from Big Day using Night of Navy ink. Then I used my Stars framelits to cut stars out of Crushed Curry, Night of Navy card stock and the Birthday Bash Designer Series Paper. Layer on these pieces and add a little twine or ribbon and your card is done.  I had some fuzzy yarn left over from a knitting project and used it. You might have some fun "left over" at your home to use on cards, too.

CASE:  Just Sponge It

Punch Art for Easter

This card using the Owl Builder and (retired) Five Petal flower punch (substitute the new Flower Medallion Punch) to make the chicks. You just have to cut off the owl horns for the chick's bodies and cut out wings from the punched flower. You can either color the feet orange or punch again with orange card stock. I just cut the orange nose freehand. You can either use card stock for the eyes or if you are like me and have googlie eyes in your stash that is quicker.
Another owl body punched in Whisper White card stock is used to make the cracked egg.
The background is embossed with the retired Cloudy Day embossing folder. And I used my fringe scissors to make the grass.
"Happy Easter" comes from the Indescribable Gift stamp set.

TBT with Miracle of Easter

Today's throw back uses the retired Miracle of Easter stamp set. I received this set from a niece. (Thanks, again!) I love the image and the script. I stamped it on Vellum with Versamark and heat embossed with white embossing powder. After that it's just layering and a candy dots to cover up the dots of glue underneath. Simple and so pretty!

Indescribable Gift Peeking Out

Here's another card using the Indescribalbe Gift stamp set. I saw a similar card by Vicki Burdick on Pinterest. So, had to give it a try. It does require a bit of fussy cutting. The expression and ribbon are both retired. The original card by Burdick used the scallop punch and card stock rather than the ruffle trim. I have so much of this ribbon that I decided to use it. Any number of greetings would work as would any number of punches.

Indescribable Gift

Today's card was made using the Indescribable Gift stamp set. I wanted this set because I liked the Easter expressions included in it. I didn't really think too much about the images. But once I got it in my hands I have really liked using it for all sorts of cards. The images are beautiful and you can do so many different things with them. They look pretty just stamped as a background, too.
I saw a similar layout online and stamped the image and cut the squares (image and mat). Then I went to place them on my card at an angle and realized they were way too big. So, I figured I'd have to turn them and just line them up and add the elements below. But that looked pretty boring to me, so decided to just cut off the top edge and make it fit that way. I like the way it turned out. I've used Pistachio Pudding ribbon (retired) and colored with Pistachio Pudding and Strawberry Slush markers. A few pearls give the card some balance.

Happy Easter Bunny

I couldn't resist getting this single stamp from the Occasions catalog. I just love the happy dancing bunny image. We should all be so happy about Easter!
I stamped the bunny on vellum card stock and then colored the back side using markers. He's framed by cutting Pistachio Pudding card stock with the Oval framelits in the Big Shot. It's hard to tell with the picture but I used my stylus and piercing mat to hand emboss his stomach and tail. That gives the vellum the white look and puffs them up a bit. The liner for the envelope was made using the Something Borrowed Designer Series Paper.

A-B-C's for Spring

This idea comes from a March 2009 issue of Stampin' Success (Stampin' Up!'s magazine for demonstrators).
I've used the Best Year Ever Designer Series Paper and images from Butterfly Basics along with the retired Hello, Hello stamp set. The boxes can be made with the Gift Box Punch Board as I did with the "hello" box. For the square boxes I used the retired Itty Bitty Box and Envelope die I have for my Big Shot. The S-P-R-I-N-G letters were cut using the retired Timeless Type sizzlits and Big Shot.

A-B-C's for TBT

Today's cards use the retired You're My Type stamp set along with retired Just Add Cake DSP that has the pretty alphabet and number paper. The top card also uses some of the retired First Edition Specialty Paper. Both cards use the retired Spiral Border Punch which has been re-introduced as an edge punch. The teeny heart on the pink card was punched using the Owl Builder punch. I'm sure I've used that punch more for the heart than for building owls. The twine on the pink card is some of the Wild Wasabi Painted Blooms Cotton Twine in the current Occasions catalog.
You're My Type was a popular stamp set. Maybe you have it!

Can you spot the A-B-C?

Yes, it's the Daffodil Delight card stock embossed with the Alphabet Press textured embossing folder. I've also used the Word Bubbles framelits, Lucky Stars embossing folder, Just Sayin' stamp set and a strip of the Beach House Washi Tape.
CASE:  Mary Fish

More A-B-C's

I've used the Little Letters Thinlits and my Big Shot for today's A-B-C cards. The top card was the idea I had in my head and I liked the way it turned out but I then I had the Marina Mist Blue card stock with "HAPPY" cut out and decided to design a card around it. Which is your favorite?
The DSP on the cards is from the Sweet Taffy pack. "Birthday" sentiment comes from the Celebrate Today stamp set. The tag on the top card is punched using the Ornate Tag Topper Punch.

It's Easy as A-B-C!

This week I decided to concentrate on ways to use alphabet products in my cards.

I got the idea for today's card from my niece. Hopefully she hasn't made them for all the little relatives in the family. I did change my card a little bit, just in case.
Cheerful Critters are the starting point for the card. Then I looked through my stamp sets for the "Happy" (Celebrate Today stamp set) and "Birthday"  (Remembering Your Birthday stamp set) words in the size I wanted. Makayla is stamped using the Alphabet Rotary Stamp Set. It's easy as A-B-C to make personalized birthday cards with this rotary stamp!

Sending Wishes with Petal Potpourri

This card is a CASE from Linda Heller's Stamping School and uses two sets from the Occasions catalog. The doily flower is from Petal Potpourri; the sentiment is from the Butterfly Basics stamp set. The "window" in the Blackberry Bliss card stock is cut using the Window Frames framelits and Big Shot. I love how the points match up! The doily was stamped using Sahara Sand ink on Very Vanilla card stock. The lace is the Sahara Sand Lace Trim from Stampin' Up!'s Occasions catalog.

TBT - Previous Years' Sale-A-Bration Products

Today's Throw Back card features products from previous years' Sale-a-Brations. The flowers and arrow are stamped using the Petal Parade stamp set. Thank You comes from the Pretty Petites stamp set. Both were Sale-a-Bration products as is the Sweet Sorbet Designer Series Paper used here. The ribbon is the retired Pistachio Pudding Ruffle Stretch Trim. It's a shame they didn't continue this in the new catalog. It does have some stretch to it but if you remind yourself to just lay it down in lays nicely on card fronts and looks so pretty.
I used one of the retired Needlepoint Border emobssing folders and my Big Shot to give detail to the piece of (retired) Summer Starfruit card stock. Now that's a color that really grew on me. When I first saw it I thought, "Yuck!" but then I used it a few times and I found myself going to it a lot. Sure hope it comes back someday!
And I have to admit this color combo is not one I would have ever thought to use. That's another reason I like the DSP; it helps me think outside my little box!

More Petals!

Here are two cards using the same CASE of stampingpals blog I saw on Pinterest. The card on top uses a flower from Petal Potpouri and I added a button for the center and a few sequinsfrom the 2013-2015 In Color Sequins Assortment. I tied some Soft Sky cotton Twine along the bottom and threaded it in the button, too. The Designer Series Paper at the top is from the Best Year Ever pack.
The lower card uses the flower from the Crazy About You stamp set. I stamped it four times using a darker shade of ink each time (Blushing Bride, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral and Cajun Craze). I punched the Blushing Bride flower out using the coordinating punch and then fussy cut the other layers of the flower out. I've used a Garden Green brad to hold it all together. The leaves on both cards use the stamp from the Crazy About You stamp set. The DSP on this card is from the Gold Soiree Specialty pack. It has a slick finish. Pretty papers! Crisp Cantaloupe thick baker's twine is tied at the bottom.

Petal Potpourri

 I really tried not to buy this stamp set and matching punch. But I just saw too many great cards made with it and I did want the Crazy for You stamp set that has one flower that coordinates with the punch. So... if I was getting the punch I might as well get the bundle and use the punch even more, right? Right! I am so glad I did. I've had such fun with it.
I made the upper card first and liked the layout and the colors just decided it looked too drab for this time of year. (As I prepare this post we are experiencing negative temps again. UGH!)
The lower card is my second design using the same layout but switching the colors and the flower from the Petal Potpourri set. The brad in the center is one from my stash of retired stuff as is the Calypso Coral ribbon.
The "thanks" comes from the Another Thank You set and I cut that piece of card stock using the Ornate Tag Topper punch in the Occasions catalog.

Bloom With Hope

Sometimes I pull out my old annual catalogs for inspiration. This layout and stamp pattern come from the 2006-2007 catalog. I've used new products on it except for the Chocolate Chip ribbon. The stamp set is one of the current Hostess sets in the annual catalog called Bloom with Hope. It has beautiful images and lovely script. I stamped the flower and leaves with Perfect Plum and Always Artichoke and then used a damp brush to fill in the color before fussy cutting them out. The card stock here is the Naturals Ivory and Always Artichoke. The Naturals Ivory card stock is a heavier weight than Very Vanilla and has little flecks in it and holds up better than vanilla for this technique. The lower right panel is stamped using Hello Honey ink pad and clear block. The larger ribbon is the Hello Honey Quilted Cotton Ribbon from the Occasions catalog.

Layout CASE

My niece sent the cutest valentine using this layout. Again, using the shamrock from Every Little Bit, stamped with Garden Green ink on Pear Pizzazz then punched with the 1" square punch layered over Garden Green cardstock punched with the Postage  Stamp punch. Add a strip of ribbon and the card is done! Of course, you can add more layers to the card base if you but since these manufactured cards were textured I omitted that part.
And remember, even if you don't send cards for St. Patrick's Day any of the cards this week can be easily modified to suit other occasions.

TBT with Sock Monkey and Lucky Limeade

For this week's Throw Back Thursday I pulled out the adorable Sock Monkey stamp set, Every Little Bit shamrock stamp and some Lucky Limeade card stock, Designer Series Paper and ribbon. I colored the monkey and shamrock with Blendabilities. The expression comes from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set (another set that will always stay on my shelf).

Got Green?

Here's another card using the Got Treats stamp set. I don't have a lot of St. Patrick's Day stamps so each year I have to get creative with what I've got. I found this Old Olive ribbon in my stash and had never even opened it! BAD!!! It was a perfect match for the shamrock from the Got Treats set. Many times I will cut stamps apart that have an expression on the bottom of the image so that I can use just the expression or the just the image. (see the picture below)
The smaller shamrock comes from the retired "Every Little Bit" stamp set. This is a set I will probably always keep on my shelf. It is full of little images that are perfect for calendars and events.
The card base is some manufactured cards a friend passed along to me. She purchased them at a big box store thinking she would use them. I appreciate getting them but they do remind me why I switched to Stampin' Up! only products in my studio. The coordination of color is a challenge when you buy from a lot of different brands.

Cheerful Critter Wants to Know...

... if you've Got Green? Using the same layout as one of my Valentine's just changing to shades of green and using the expression from the retired "Got Treats" stamp set.
If you look closely you will see I roughed up the edges of the white and Always Artichoke card stock using Stampin' Distress Tool. It's a handy little tool. Of course, if your fingernails are strong enough you can use them to distress the edges; but I promise you the Stampin' Distress Tool is much quicker. It's on page 215 in the annual catalog.
The bear was colored using Blendabilities. You can get the ones in the annual catalog free during Sale-A-Bration.

Work of Art for St. Patrick's Day

March is here! And so thoughts turn to St. Patrick's Day; it's too early to think about Spring here in Minnesota. (Snow and strong winds in the forecast for today and tomorrow.)
So, I had this idea to use the Work of Art Stamp set to make a rainbow and then used the Tee-Hee-Hee stamp set for the pot; fussy cutting the pot and trimming off the handles. Then I punched some gold coins out of the glitter paper. The hardest part was getting the coins placed and adhered under the pot.
There are so many fun ways to use Work of Art stamp set! So glad I got it.
All of the cards this week will be St. Patrick's Day cards. Even if you don't send out cards for St. Patrick's Day I hope you'll stop by all week. They can all be modified to suit other occasions. Today's card would make a nice "good luck" card. Or take the pot off and add some flowers popping up in that corner for a little bit of spring to send to someone stuck with cabin fever.
To be honest I sometimes don't even remember to wear green on St. Pat's Day but when I worked in an elementary school I realized how much fun kids can have with St. Patrick's Day and it's a great way to help them relate to the calendar year, too. And who doesn't like getting snail mail that isn't junk mail!