Love Washi Tape

Another card CASE from the May/June '15 Stampin' Success. It was so quick and easy to make the background with Washi Tape. I used the "kiss" technique to make the pattern heart. Stamp on a solid image with the color of ink of your choice (I used Whisper White) and then press that wet stamp onto a dry patterned stamp. Then stamp onto your card stock. The smaller heart is just a piece of card stock punched and then covered with one of the epoxy heart stickers.

Chalk Talk Framelits and Occasions Alphabet

This card is a CASE from the Occasions catalog. Today is the last day to order from it. The Because You Care hostess set has a border image that coordinates with Chalk Talk Framelits. I discovered it pairs perfectly with the retired Occasions Alphabet. I like pairing the old with the new. That is why I have such a hard time parting with any of my stamp sets!

Linen Thread Bird Nest

This is a CASE from Stamping School. I had to change the direction of my layout a bit as I was using a retired bird image from the Nature Walk stamp set. And I used some retired Dusty Durango Designer Series Paper. You know when that color came out I didn't care for it; now I wish it was still available. Oh well! I've combined it with Pool Party and Crumb Cake. That color trio just made me think of robin's and spring time. We've had a bit of cold weather again. Blah!
The bird's nest is essentially made by wrapping linen thread around two fingers several times and then adhering to the card. Then after you've fussy cut the bird adhere it on top with a dimensional. I used the discontinued Blendabilites to color my bird but think if I did it again I'd get better robin look by using markers. Live and learn!

Gift Bag and Tag

I'm always saving the little Kraft bags that gift stores seem to be using these days. Usually they have added a small sticker or stamped their store name on the front. Then I just cover the front with some DSP and make a matching tag or card.
Here's the one I made this week.

The little tags on the front were made with some retired tag punches and the retired Merry Medley punch trio. The little strips of silver foil on the tag and the DSP give the bag some added sparkle. The tag is made using the Chalk Talk framelits. 

This will probably be my last post of 2014; I've got a  before Christmas to do list that is a mile long. 'Tis the season! 

What to Do with the Triangles?

These four cards were my biggest challenge. The directions from Linda Heller was to cut two 4x4 pieces from the Designer Series Paper. Then cut along the diagonal to make four rectangles. Three of her four cards were square cards. When you mail square envelopes you have to pay extra postage and USPS just doesn't like them. I know I could just put them in rectangular envelopes but I thought I'd just make the cards rectangular. You wouldn't believe how I struggled with what to do with that extra space in each card. But, I'm glad I did as I like the way they turned out.
The images are all from Stampin' Up!, although the one in the top card and the tree in the second card are retired. The" Hello Fall" is from For All Things in the Holiday Catalog. "Grateful for You" comes with the Merry Everything stamp set in the Holiday Catalog and the little heart in the bottom card is from the "Yee-Haw" Photopolymer Stamp Set (available while supplies last).
I used my Big Shot to emboss the paper on the top (Woodgrain embossing folder) and the bottom card (retired folder). Wouldn't the new Hearts Border punch be pretty along that edge instead... alas I do not have it yet! The third card was embossed "by hand" using the Simply Scored Scoring Tool and Simply Scored Borders Plate. It's another fun tool and technique that I like to create with.
The Big Shot was also used to cut the bottom Mossy Meadow tag (Chalk Talk Framelits) in the top card and the banners in the bottom card (Banners Framelits) and I used my retired Tasteful Trim Die to cut the zig zag pieces in the Hello Fall card.
The Scallop Edge Border punch was used in the first and third cards. I had to fussy cut the top tag in the the top card and the tree in the second card. Linen thread and the new In Color ribbon was used on the cards.
That's it for my 15 cards using just one sheet of Designer Series Paper!

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.

The final cards for this week also use the Mingle All The Way stamp set (135773 c, 135770 w). I stamped the Wishing You Holiday Cheer... twice so that I could fussy cut the "cheer" banner and popped it up with a dimensional. The expression is cut out using the Chalk Talk Framelits (129983).

Both cards are a CASE from projects in the Holiday catalog. I changed the color combo for the cheer card by using Baked Brown Sugar, Watercolor Wonder Designer Washi Tape (133000) and Champagne Glimmer Paper (127885). The stars are from the 2013-2015 In Color Sequin Assortment (133631). The background is made by stamping the expression multiple times using Baked Brown Sugar ink.

In the lower card I made the gift tag shown in the Holiday catalog and mounted it on All Is Calm Specialty Designer Series Paper (135823) and Lost Lagoon card stock . I had to improvise using the supplies I have to make the tag. So, I stamped the imagine; colored it with Soft Sky, Lost Lagoon, Pear Pizzazz and Strawberry Slush markers. Then I added a band of Pear Pizzazz card stock to the bottom and ran it through the Big Shot using the Banners Framelits (132173). After that I used Fringe Scissors (133325) to cut the Pear Pizzazz card stock. Then layered a strip of All Is Calm Designer Washi Tape (135844) along the fringed card stock. The banner is adhered with some adhesive on the back and a torn piece of the same washi tape along the top.

Seeing Stars

I used the new Lucky Stars embossing folder (135817) and Whisper White ink to make the background. I just inked the 'raised' side of the embossing folder with the Whisper White ink pad, placed the Night of Navy card stock in the folder and rolled my brayer (102395) over the top to get even pressure. The Silver Glimmer paper (135314) was cut with the Chalk Talk framelit (129983). The expression comes from the Merry Everything stamp set (135071 c, 135068 w) and punched with the coordinating Note Tag punch (135860). You can save 15% by buying them as a bundle. The ribbon is 1/8" silver ribbon (132137).
The second card uses the Confetti Stars punch (135861) with shimmer paper layered behind it. The Note Tag punch was used again. I stamped the expression using the Silver Metallic Encore stamp pad (132142). The Snowflake embellishments are from the Frosted Sequins (135835). I topped the snowflakes with Sequins (119246) and scattered a few others on the card.

 The first three cards today use the same basic layout. I just used different stamp sets, framelits, punches, embossing folders, layers to change them up a bit. Thanks a Ton card is made using a past Sale-a-Bration stamp set called Patterned Occasions, retired Comfort Cafe Designer Series Paper, Vine Street embossing folder (also a retired Sale-a-Bration item), retired Midnight Muse 3/8" stitched satin ribbon and Chalk Talk Framelits (129983).

More Comfort Cafe DSP with Summer Starfruit 3/8" stitched satin ribbon (retired). But in this card I used the Apothecary Accents framelits (127003) as the layer behind my expression and embossed both that layer and the Soft Suede card stock layer with the Fancy Fan embossing folder (127751). The expression comes from the Lots of Thanks stamp set (129690 c, 129687 w). The card below is essentially the same except I used the Curly Label (119851) and Petite Curly Label (129405) punches for the expression layer and used the Fancy Fan embossing folder but flipped the card stock to the opposite side. The expression comes from the Pretty Petites stamp set (another retired Sale-a-Bration set). 

 I was about to throw the rest of my scraps away when I realized a few pieces were big enough to use with the Petite Curly Label punch. I'm telling you it's not easy for me to throw these scraps away!
So, I layered the punched DSP on pieces of card stock punched with the Postage Label punch (122344). The little flower was punched with the Boho Blossoms punch (119858). The flower center is from the Neutrals Candy Dots (130934) If you look closely you will see I got out my Simply Scored tools (122334) and used the Borders Plate (126192) to add some embossed designs below the punched squares. The expression is from the retired Simply Sketched hostess set.

Endless Birthday Wishes!

Today's birthday card is a made using Stampin' Up!'s photopolymer Endless Birthday Wishes stamp set (137553). This is a great set for birthday cards. There are 27 stamps in the set. One is the birthday cake on this card. Another one is a series of dots to use as a background stamp. All the rest are words (like "birthday" on this card) or partial phrases (like "it's your" on the cake). Because the stamps are photopolymer, it is easy to line them up and stamp. So get creative with Endless Birthday Wishes!
The Designer Series Paper on this card is from the Lullaby package. Baked Brown Sugar, Crushed Curry, Crisp Cantaloupe and Whisper White card stock were used to complete the card. The Whisper White and Baked Brown Sugar card stock in the center were cut using the Chalk Talk framelits (129983). A Rhinestone Basic Jewel (119246) was added to the little tab and I added a dab of Silver Sparkle Dazzling Details (127845) to the top of each candle.

(CASE: Mary Fish)

Happy Together!

Okay, it's been a long time since I've posted on this blog. But one of my nieces has challenged me to post some of the cards I've been making.
So, here's today's card:

When Stampin' Up!'s new annual catalog came out earlier this summer I told myself I could not order any more Designer Series Paper until I had used up some of the packs I had. A pack of DSP paper goes a long way when making cards. So, I started to use some of the retired paper I had because I just had to have some of the new patterns in the new catalog. So, many pretty papers and colors.
This was some paper that was pretty but really plain so I pulled out the Chalk Talk framelit and some stamp sets and punches and got busy. (This is a CASE of a card I saw online but I can't find my source.) I will probably add some pearls (119247) to the center of the stamped scallops and the center of the three punched flowers before sending.
Since some of the supplies I used are retired I'll just suggest some current products that could be used to make a similar card.
Linen thread (104199)  to make the loops just like in the photo.
Designer Series Paper:  Park Lane (133694) could be used; pictured is a retired pattern
Card Stock: Night of Navy for card base, Whisper White for base and stamped pieces, Daffodil Delight and Cherry Cobbler
Ink:  Night of Navy for sentiment, Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point and Cherry Cobbler for stamped images
Stamp Sets:  I used A Round Array (129090 c or 129087 w) for the Daffodil center on the large blue shape, A Dozen Thoughts (131059 c or 131056 w) for the sentiment, Other sets I used are retired (Vintage Labels and Mixed Medley for the blue and cherry scallops and Perfect Plaid for the design above the sentiment) Current sets that could be used: Polka-Dot Pieces (129708 c, 129705 w),  Daydream Medallions (126467 c, 131976 w) and coordinating Floral Frames framelits (127012) or switch the scallops to stars and use Be the Star stamp set (135734 c, 135731 w) and coordinating Stars framelits (133723) and for the design above the sentiment Work of Art (134114 c, 134111 w) or Draw the Line (133659 photopolymer)
Punches: 7/8" scallop circle (129404), 1-1/4" scallop circle (127811), 1-3/4" scallop circle (119854), Boho Blossoms (119858)
Big Shot (113439), Magnetic Platform (130658) and Chalk Talk Framelits (129983)