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.

You Brighten My Day!

This stamped image is from a cute free Sale-A-Bration set called You Brighten My Day. I also used the Best Year Ever Designer Series Paper from Sale-A-Bration. The banner was cut using Banner framelits and is embossed with the new Happy Hearts Textured Embossing Folder for the big shot and the Whisper White twine from the Painted Blooms Cotton Twine pack (Soft Sky and Wild Wasabi are the other two colors in the pack). I used Circle punches for the circles and the little heart from the Itty Bitty Punch Pack. Silver Glimmer paper adds to the sparkle. The bulb was colored with the Daffodil Delight Blendabilities.
I'll have some more ideas for the Occasions and Sale-A-Bration products next week. Check back in!

Holiday Home Votive

This cute little votive candle holder is made using a strip of vellum Staz-On ink and the Blendabilities (you have to stamp the image on one side of the vellum and then color with the markers on the opposite side) and the Holiday Home stamp set. I found this idea on Vicky Hayes' blog. I used her directions but she didn't have the instructions for making the base so, I had to figure that out on my own. It was hard to get a picture that would come close to doing it justice. It's so pretty with the little flickering battery votive.

Coaster Calendar - May, June, July and August

May's flower is punched card stock using the Boho Blossoms punch and topped with a button from a retired assortment. 

June's butterflies are cut using the Big Shot Beautiful Wings embosslit.

July's stars are punched and topped with a rhinestone.

August's ice cream cone was stamped using the retired Sock Monkey Accessories stamp set and colored with Blendabilities markers.

CD Calendar - October, November and December

October is a haunted house with bats flying around; all stamps in the set.
November is leaves and pumpkin also in the set.
December is a holiday wreath and Santa and reindeer also all in the set.
Tada! All done using the Holiday Home stamp set.

CD Calendar - July, August, September

July's fireworks were made using the star from the Holiday Home stamp set and adding the tails using the white gel pen.
August is sunshine!
September is an apple orchard. I stamped three trees then added red apples using the darkest Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities marker. Then I used the Old Olive Blendabilities to make the tree leaves. Each tree was fussy cut.

CD Calendar - April, May, June

I wanted to make April showers... so I took the string of lights from the stamp set and inked just the tip of the light bulbs with Smoky Slate, then I rubbed that edge up the cardstock at a slant to make the rain. I colored the house in grey tones using my Blendabilities to add to the rainy day feeling.
For May I wanted to make May flowers but since there isn't a flower in the stamp set I decided to make blossoms instead... Cherry blossoms. I used the snowflake stamp set to make the blossoms then added just a touch of green in the tree branches using a marker. I put the trees in a row to resemble an orchard.
June is sunshine and green trees! I stamped the tree and then used my Old Olive Blendabilities to make the leaves. I wasn't thinking about the bleed that occurs through the card stock. So, I had to be sure to place the calendar over that blur on the reverse page.The sun was made freehand using a Blendabilities marker. This time I was thinking about the bleed but just made another sun on the reverse (see August tomorrow).

Thanksgiving Cards

Here are two Thanksgiving cards from that same sheet of Color Me Autumn Designer Series Paper. The top piece measures 3x4 inches. The little scallop trim along the DSP edges is made using the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch and layering the punched card stock under the DSP so that just the very edge of it shows. You can punch one strip the size you need, cut it in half and you have enough for both edges. The expression is from a retired stamp set. The Very Vanilla card stock is cut with the Chalk Talk Framelits. A little Hello Honey ribbon and Linen Thread and it's done!

The bottom card took a little longer because I stamped the image from one of last year's "Best Of..." stamp sets and then colored it with my Blendabilities markers. I'm really having fun with them. As a child I loved to color, and finding I love doing it as an adult, too! This DSP measures 3-3/4x 3-3/4 inches. (In the original instructions from Linda Heller it was a 4x4 piece, but I wanted to layer it so cut it down. The Give Thanks is also from that Best of Autumn stamp set. I used the Chalk Talk Framelit again to cut it out but then trimmed the straight edge a bit and rounded the corners so it would fit on my card when the ribbon was attached.  Mossy Meadow ribbon and Linen thread used on it.

Christmas Cards!

I decided it was time to play with a few of the stamp sets and new tools in the Holiday Catalog. What fun! Here's the first card design I wanted to share.  

I made this one with Pool Party and Basic Gray card stock first. I wanted to do some more sponging and used the same layout as my Halloween card from last week. But I also wanted to use the new Confetti Stars Punch (135861) with the Holiday Home stamp set (135095 photopolymer) and Homemade Holiday framelits (135857). Get the Holiday Home and Homemade Home bundle (137631) and save 15%. I wasn't happy with the stars punched through the sponged moon and I wanted to try the design in another color combo. 





So, on the second card I punched a circle for the moon instead of sponging around a sticky note circle. The colors in it are Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler and Daffodil Delight card stock. I used Blendabilities (Cherry Cobbler 130995, Old Olive 130999, Smoky Slate 131005 and Crumb Cake 131004) Assortments to color the house on both cards. Basic Gray ink pad was used to stamp the trees, sentiment and sleigh on the top card and Smoky Slate and Pool Party ink were used to sponge the background.  Garden Green was used for the trees on the bottom card. Soft Suede was used for the sleigh and Whisper White for the sentiment. The background sponging was done with Crumb Cake, Soft Suede and Garden Green. 

Vellum Ghosts

As promised, today's card has some vellum ghosts popping out of the expressions box. Again I've used the Mingle All the Way (135773 c, 135770 w) and Holiday Home (photopolymer 135095) stamp sets from the Holiday catalog. I'm really enjoying the Holiday Home photopolymer set. It's so easy to line up your images with these photopolymer stamps!
The background of the card was made with a Gold Foil Sheet (132622) embossed with the new Lucky Stars embossing folder (135817) also from the Holiday catalog. This year's Holiday catalog is packed with wonderful products!
The ribbon is some Raven 1/2 lace trim currently available in the Stampin' Up! Clearance Rack. Great price, check it out.
I used Daffodil Delight and Calypso Coral Blendabilities to color the embossed stars. For more on this technique click here .

Thinking ahead to Halloween!

This card is a CASE from Linda Heller at Stamping School. I changed it up just a bit by adding the stamped and punched Hello Honey moon. After I took the photo I realized I forgot to add the little ghost I stamped on vellum. Oh, well... I'll share some vellum ghosts in tomorrow's post.
The stamp sets here are  Mingle All the Way (135773 c, 135770 w) and Holiday Home (photopolymer 135095) from the Holiday catalog. I used the coordinating Homemade Holiday framelits (135857) and the 2-1/2" circle punch (120906). The house was colored using Blendabilities Daffodil Delight Assortment (130998) and Smokey Slate Assortment (131005). To stamp the pumpkin I used the Tangelo Twist and Mossy Meadow markers from the 2014-2016 set (133654). The card stock is Hello Honey, Mossy Meadow, Lost Lagoon, Basic Black and Whisper White.

Neon Look with Blendabilities

I love the neon look you can get with the new Blendabilities Markers. The shoes and expression were stamped with VersaMark (102283) on Basic Black card stock and then embossed with White Embossing Powder (109132). Then I used Daffodil Delight (130998), Coastal Cabana (131000) and Calypso Coral (130996) in the darkest colors of each assortment to color over the white embossed image. The color won't rub off once it dries. You will want to use a dark card stock for you embossing base so that you don't have to worry about any stray coloring. It has been fun to play with this technique!
The Designer Series Paper is from Flowerpot pack. The stamp set is a sneak peek at one from the Holiday catalog called Tee-Hee-Hee and the images and expressions are just as great as the name sounds!

Coloring Embossed Foil Sheet Images

Today's card uses the Blendabilities markers to color the embossed letters and numbers. I ran a 3-3/4" X 5" piece of the Gold Foil sheet (132622) through the Big Shot using the Alphabet Press Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (130916). Then I selected 4 of the darkest shades of Blendabilities in Daffodil Delight (130998), Old Olive (130999), Calypso Coral (130996) and Coastal Cabana (131000) and used the brush tip to color the embossed letters and numbers.

I also used the Chalk Talk stamp set (130634 c, 130631 w) and the Banners Framelits (132173) on this card. I'll tell you how I got the colored expression on the black card stock in tomorrow's post. So, stay tuned!

Coloring Basic Jewels

You can also use Blendabilities to color the Basic Jewels (page 209 in the catalog) and the Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons (127555). On this card I've colored a button and two Rhinestone Basic Jewel with the lightest marker in the Calypso Coral Assortment (130996). Because you get three shades in each Blendabilities assortment you really get a lot of options for colors. By lightly coloring the button and jewels with the marker I was able to get a shade that is pretty close to the Blushing Bride used in the card. I've used the Blendabilities to color the Pearl Basic Jewels, too. They look so pretty!

The Designer Series Paper is from the Flowerpot pack (133698). The card stock is Blushing Bride and Lost Lagoon. The ribbon is Lost Lagoon 3/8" Stitched (133672) and some retired Blushing Bride (substitute the new 1/4" Blushing Bride Cotton Ribbon 134558). the stamp set is Blessed by God (134300 c, 134297 w). I used Starburst and Ovals Collection Framelits in my Big Shot to cut the shapes plus the 1-3/4" circle punch for the expression.

Watercolor look with Blendabilities

In this card I used the new Blendabilities to give the floral image a watercolor look. It's fun to play with these new markers. I used the Cherry Cobbler Assortment (130995) and the Old Olive Assortment (130999) here. I usually start by laying down the darkest color where I want it and then blend in the medium color and finish by blending in the lightest color. You have to work in small areas because the ink dries quickly since it is alcohol based. And be sure you replace your caps on the markers as you work so they don't dry out.
Other supplies include Very Vanilla and Basic Black card stock. Retired Designer Series Paper (replace with new Typeset Speciality Designer Series Paper (133697), Cherry Cobble Seam Binding (120992), retired Edgelits (replace with Large Scallop Edgelit 127019). I used two stamp sets here. Bordering on Romance (retired) but the hostess set I Like You has some very similar designs; or think about the floral images in Bouquet Toss (134324 c, 134321 w). Wouldn't this make a pretty wedding card by switching out the sentiment! The expression used here is from Trust God stamp set (126702 c, 132094 w). And don't forget you need to use the black Memento Pad (132708).
Here's another floral "watercolor" card. I used the Bloom with Hope hostess set and the Calypso Coral Assortment Blendabilities (130996) with the Old Olive Assortment (130999).

Focus on Blendabilities

This week my focus is on Stampin' Up!'s new Blendibilites markers. If you like to color; these are for you! If you like rich; vibrant images these are for you. If you want a watercolor look; these are for you! There are lots of ways to use these markers. In today's two cards I pretty much just used them to color the images.

The cards today were stamped using the For the Birds stamp set (126047 c, 132001 w). I used some Designer Series Paper scraps from a retired pack. Any of the new packs would work. The top card uses a piece of Old Olive Baker's Twine (134579) to add dimension. I used the new Zig Zag embossoing folder (133738) on the Bermuda Bay card stock in the Miss You card. And don't forget you need to stamp your image with the black Memento Pad (132708) when using Blendabilities markers. 

 (The top card CASE of Dawn Olchefske.) 

Birdie Birthday

The Hello Love hostess set (133928 c, 133925 w) was used to make this birthday card. (CASE: Linda Heller from StampingSchool.com) I used a Bermuda Bay card stock base and then cut a strip of Designer Series Paper from the Confetti Celebration pack (133692). Then I edged the DSP with a strip of Crushed Curry card stock that was punched using the Scallop Edge Border punch (119882). The hole for the window on front was punched with the 1-3/4" circle punch. Then I lined up the birdie stamp and stamped onto Whisper White card stock. The word bubble requires the use of two stamps so I got out my Stamp-a-ma-jig (101049) to line up the expression inside the word bubble outline. This was cut out using the Word Bubbles framelits (132968). The bird was colored using the new Daffodil Delight Blendabilities markers ((130998). You need to stamp your image with the black Memento Pad (132708) when using Blendabilites markers. I am having so much fun coloring with these! I can't wait until I have all the colors.