Three Cupcakes

I made this card to satisfy a couple of challenges. The first was last Thursday's Ways To Use It 3s and Thirds challenge.  The second was Monday's technique challenge which was speedy cards fro good causes. At first glance this may not look like a speedy card, but really it took almost no time to put together.

I started with a chocolate chip base and a strip of retired SU designer paper (don't recall the name) that gave me the color pallet for the card. I stamped the cupcake image from the Little Layers Plus set and the sentiment from the For a Friend set  in chocolate chip ink on whisper white card stock. I colored both with markers in bashful blue, certainly celery, close to cocoa and daffodil delight. I punched the cupcake images out with the 1 1/4" square punch and punched three 1 3/8" square punch out of chocolate chip card stock. I added a 1/8" certainly celery mat to the sentiment.

I punched a 4 x 5 1/4" piece of bashful blue with the double rectangle punch and wove a piece of retired striped bashful blue ribbon through the holes. I added a chocolate chip strip mat to the designer paper and attached both to the bashful blue card stock beneath the ribbon. I attached the matted sentiment to the bottom corner of the bashful blue piece with regular adhesive and attached the matted cupcakes to the designer paper with dimensionals. That's it - no embossing, die cutting or fussy cutting, no complicated stamping techniques, and a pretty simple layout. A quick and easy card to put together that looks pretty impressive to those not in the know ;-).

True confession? These "old school" cards are sometimes my absolutely favorite. They may not be as gorgeous or artsy or sophisticated as the more complicated cards, but for me they're like grilled cheese and cream of tomato soup - warm and comforting.

Recipe:

Paper: whisper white, chocolate chip, bashful blue, certainly celery, retired SU designer paper
Ink: chocolate chip and markers in bashful blue, certainly celery, close to cocoa, delightful daffodil
Stamps: Little Layers Plus, For a Friend
Accessories: 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" square punches, double rectangle punch, retired SU striped bashful blue ribbon

Classic Grandpa

The Clean and Simple challenge today on SCS was to make a card with a bow in honor of National Bow Tie Day. I loved this challenge because it gave me a chance to use my bow tie die cut and embossing folder. I'm never quite sure of what does and does not fall within the parameters of clean and simple, and I worry that I may have gone a layer or brad too far for this card to fall within those parameters, but to me this is still pretty clean and simple.

I started with a basic gray card base and added a very vanilla mat that I embossed with the Darice Ties and Bow Ties embossing folder. I die cut a bow from a scrap of patterned paper and used basic gray ink to stencil the bow tie folds through the die that also serves as a stencil.  I used the same scrap as a mat for a strip of very vanilla card stock on which I stamped my sentiment from the Guy Greetings set in basic gray ink. A stamp-a-ma-jig was instrumental in helping me line up the different parts of the sentiment leaving space for the bowtie. I added three small circle brads at the bottom of this strip and sponged the edges with basic gray ink before attaching it to the patterned paper mat. I added another very vanilla layer and a basic gray layer before attaching the stack to the embossed very vanilla layer. As a final step I attached the bowtie die cut to the card front using dimensionals.

I think this will make a very snappy birthday card for a classic - and likely classy - grandpa.

Recipe:

Paper: very vanilla, basic gray, Patchwork Plaid by Colorbox
Ink: Basic Gray
Stamps: Guy Greetings
Accessories: Ties and Bow Ties Embossing Folder by Darice, Dear Old Dad Shapeabilities by Spellbinders. metallic basics mini circle brads by Making Memories, SMAJ, stampin' sponge

Rescued Best Wishes

Carla's Ways to Use Challenge on SCS today was for us to "rescue" cards we had in our stash that we weren't quite happy with and wanted to improve. This challenge is right up my alley, because as a hoarder I rarely throw stuff away, even the things I'm really not very happy with. I don't do this often enough, but on occasion I do dip into this "runt" pile and do my best to "rescue" one or two. It was an absolute pleasure to do so today for this challenge.

There were many rescue contenders in my runt pile, but my time was limited so I tackled on of the easiest ones. A little more than nine years ago (Wow - I can't believe so much time has passed) I was making single layer cards for an SU convention swap that used the masking and faux tearing techniques. You can find the card and the tutorial in this post.

The card was a bit complicated, so it's not surprising that not every single one of my efforts was successful. However, none of them were so bad that they deserved to get tossed, so I kept them all in my runt pile, including the one pictured here which, in all fairness, was nearly perfect. The frame image was not perfectly centered in the white space, but I could have lived with that flaw. What made me toss this card into the runt pile was the slight smidge of elegant eggplant to the left of the stamped frame. It's a small flaw, but I thought my swap recipients deserved better. And with today's additions, this scrap card turned into quite a usable one.

First I stamped the three cake image from the Fun and Fast Notes set in elegant eggplant ink on a square of glossy white card stock. I then colored portions of the image with markers from the wisteria wonder, old olive, and smoky slate blendabilities assortments. I attached the image to a larger square of elegant eggplant card stock with dimensionals. I die cut a strip of certainly celery card stock with the large scallop edgelit and then embossed it with the lace embossing folder from the Elegant Designs textured impressions set. I arranged the elegant eggplant and certainly celery elements on top of my "runt" card base and attached them with snail so that the lace overlapped the edge of the elegant eggplant square and also covered up the elegant eggplant smudge to the left of the sentiment. As a final touch I added three of the smallest pearls from the basic pearl jewels assortment to the center flowers on each cake and attached the next largest size of pearls in the semicircles of the embossed lace.

I think this was a rather successful rescue. I may like it even better than the last "rescue" I performed on a similar card base this spring. That particular "runt" was in worse shape and required more work to cover up its sins, but the final result was also pretty and elegant. .

Huge thanks to Carla for the great challenge. I have a feeling I will be dipping into my "runt" card pile again soon to perform some more rescues.

Recipe:

Paper: Glossy White, certainly celery, elegant eggplant
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, wisteria wonder, old olive, and smoky slate blendabilities assortments, and also certainly celery and lovely lilac on original card
Stamps: Fun and Fast Notes and also Floral, Sincere Salutations, and Frames with a Flourish on original card
Accessories: large scallop edgelit, Elegant Designs textured impressions embossing folders, Basic Pearl Jewels and also post-it notes, brayer, and Stamp-a-ma-jig on original card

Sweet Popsicle Birthday

In the Clean and Simple challenge today on SCS Tricia asked us to make a sweet birthday card. Although my usual style is not exactly clean and simple, when I saw this challenge I had an idea so I decided to go for it and I actually love the way it turned out.

I started by die cutting a piece of whisper whit card stock with the Ornate Card #2 Extra Long Bigz Die from Sizzix. Because I planned to use a portrait orientation, I used my paper cutter to trim the semicircle on the non-fold side so that the card could stand (which also made it completely symmetrical.) I then ran the card though my Big Shot with the Note Card Center Simple Impressions Embossing Folder from Sizzix, which gave me a raised rectangle in the center of the card for my image and sentiment.

I thought a popsicle would be perfect for a sweet summer birthday card, but instead of a single "flavor" I wanted a "swirled" popsicle. I inked up the popsicle image from the Mouthwatering set with the calypso coral ink pad and inked up the Baroque Border stampin' wheel with melon mambo ink. I then used the faux shaving cream to create my "swirled flavor" look by wheeling the melon mambo ink onto the popsicle image, making sure to twist my wheel occasionally to create the marbled look. I stamped the image on whisper white and fussy cut just the top of the popsicle.

I broke a real popsicle stick in half and attached it to the card with mini glue dots. I attached the popsicle image to the stick with more mini glue dots. I then used calypso coral and melon mambo markers to color the sentiment from the Cycle Celebration set and stamped it on whisper white before punching it out with the large oval punch. I attached the sentiment to the card with dimensionals. The card still seemed a little too plain to me, so I added strips of gold paper tape along both sides of the main panel. That little bit of "flash" was enough to let me stop.

Since the card base is die cut, I will be posting this card to the QKR Stampede Shaped Cards or Anything Goes challenge. What a fantastic challenge that is - it really got me to try some things that I wouldn't have thought of myself. If you have a little time, try making a shaped card of your own. Sometimes it's good to think outside a rectangle or square.

Recipe:

Paper: whisper white
Ink: Calypso Coral, Melon Mambo
Stamps: Mouthwatering, Cycle Celebration, Baroque Border wheel
Accessories: popsicle stick, Ornate Card #2 Extra Long Bigz Die from Sizzix,  Note Card Center Simple Impressions Embossing Folder from Sizzix, Large Oval Punch, Neutral Arrow Thin Paper Tape from K&Company

Hummingbird Birthday

Here's another card I made for Saturday's SCS Inspiration challenge. The Tropical Inspiration Pinterest board had so many awesome images that, once again, I actually used two different ones for my inspiration. I was fortunate that both of my inspirations lent themselves to using colors from today's color combination challenge, which was So saffron, Pear Pizzazz and Berry Burst. I didn't have any Berry Burst ink or card stock, so I used Purely Pomegranate instead.

This was the inspiration for my background. It really reminded me of my tiger stripes embossing folder from Sizzix, so I took out the folder and inked it up with pear pizzazz before running it though the big shot with whisper white card stock. I Like the way it turned out. It gives the card just enough interest without distracting from the main image and sentiment.

This was the inspiration for my main image from the tropical inspiration board, except that I used the photo on the left for the hummingbird's coloring. After I stamped the image from the Spring Song in memento tuxedo black ink, I used my aquapainter to color in the image. I mostly used the challenge colors with a bit of diluted soft suede for the hummingbird's belly. (I probably should have made the bird a little more brown if I wanted to be totally authentic, but I hope mother nature will forgive me.) I stamped the sentiment from the Express Yourself set in pear pizzazz on a narrow strip of whisper white card stock and then I sponged the edges of both the image and sentiment with so saffron ink. I mounted both image and sentiment on purely pomegranate mats and attached them to the embossed background before attaching the background to a so saffron card base.

Recipe:

Paper: whisper white, purely pomegranate, so saffron
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, so saffron, pear pizzazz, purely pomegranate, soft suede
Stamps: Spring Song, Express Yourself
Accessories: tiger stripes embossing folder by Sizzix, aquapainter, stampin' sponge.

Tropical Colors Inspiration

The inspiration challenge today on Splitcoast Stampers linked to a pinterest board filled with all things tropical. This card was inspired by this pin and this one and the way the vibrant tropical colors stood out against a black background in both pictures. The colors reminded me of the liquid chalk markers I bought recently and only used once so far. This seemed like a perfect opportunity to play with them some more.

I thought the easiest way to use the markers was to color parts of an embossing folder. I used the Summer Flowers A6 embossing folder from Sizzix with basic black card stock. It's not the most tropical, but it's easy to color with the markers without making too much of a mess. I used standard colors for the leaves and flowers and then used silver for the accent dots and borders. On the final card picture it's really hard to see that this is an embossing folder, so I'm including a picture of white card stock embossed with the same folder on which I colored in the leaves and one flower.

I wanted to leave as much of the background visible as possible, so I stamped the birthday sentiment on a narrow strip of basic black card stock with creaft white ink and heat embossed it with detail white embossing powder. I used the mini banner punch on each end of the card stock strip and cut a piece of brushed silver card stock for a mat. I then used the paper piercing mat and a small stylus to dry emboss the dotted border around the mat that echoed the accent dots on the embossing folder.

I know this doesn't look much like the inspiration, but I love the bright colors and I had fun making a birthday card that was totally outside my comfort zone.

Recipe:

Paper: Basic Black, Brushed Silver, gray card base from the ms. sparkle & Co. Neutrals A7 cards and envelopes assortment by DCWV Inc.
Ink: Craft White, Cedar Markers Liquid Chalk Markers
Stamps: Grunge Rock
Accessories:  detail white embossing powder, mini banner punch, paper piercing template, Summer Flowers A6 embossing folder from Sizzix

Tropical Birthday

In this week's Ways To Use It challenge on Splitcoast Stampers, Lisa challenged us to "warm it up". We could use heat embossing, images that are hot like fire or iron, or use other techniques that use hot tools. I decided to go for a double. I used heat embossing, but I use this technique all the time, so that didn't seem like enough. To really challenge myself I decide to try the wax paper resist technique combined with an embossing folder. This involves dry embossing a piece of wax paper with an embossing folder and then using a hot iron to transfer the embossed image onto card stock, creating a "resist".

Let me just say that I hate ironing, so only a challenge could get me to finally try this technique. To make it worth my while, I embossed several pieces of wax paper with different folders, so I have a bunch of wax resist backgrounds I can use on future cards. I'm not sure if they'll be really useful, though, because I'm not sure I did this right. Maybe my iron wasn't set high enough, but even though I did get a bit of a resist, it wasn't nearly as crisp and white as I was expecting. Oh well.

To create this background I sponged dazzling daffodil, calypso coral and melon mambo inks over my background. I thought these fiery colors not only suited the tropical nature of the background, but also the "warm it up" part of the challenge. I then stamped images from the Summer Collage set by TPC Studios in Tangerine Tango in the center of the background.

I stamped several flowers from the Tropical Party set in rich razzleberry for the large flowers and Tangerine Tango for the small flowers on whisper white card stock that I then sponged with the inks used on the background and fussy cut all of them before attaching them to the card base. I did the same with the coconut drink image from the same set (minus the sponging). Finally, I stamped the sentiment in versamark and heat embossed it with white embossing powder before attaching the finished layer to the already dry embossed 5x7" card base.

The card didn't turn out exactly as I originally imagined, but I thought this was a really fun challenge and I appreciate the push to try yet another new to me technique.

Recipe:

Paper: whisper white, A7 Embossed white card base by DCWV
Ink: dazzling daffodil, calypso coral, melon mambo, tangerine tango, rich razzleberry, early espresso, versamark
Stamps: Tropical Party, Sassy Salutations, Summer Collage from TPC Studios
Accessories:  Summer Flowers A6 embossing folder by Sizzix, white embossing powder, spomges.

Ink Splat Birthday

Just a quick card for today's SCS color challenge, which was to use pacific point, wild wasabi and daffodil delight. The idea was to make the card look like graffiti on a white brick wall. Not sure I quite got the right look for graffiti, but paint splatters on a white brick wall work too.

I first inked up a Tim Holtz Alterations Ink Splats embossing folder with daffodil delight ink and spritzed it with water before using it to stamp whisper white card stock. I then stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment in Pacific Point. I've had this stamp for a long time and there are no identifying marks on the label whatsoever. If anyone knows who put out this stamp, please leave me a comment - thanks!

The next step was to add ink splats in wild wasabi using a couple of stamps from the Gorgeous Grunge set and some dots using a stamp from the Itty Bitty Backgrounds set in pacific point. When everything was stamped I embossed the image with the Tim Holtz Alterations Bricked embossing folder and attached it to a white card base with dimensionals.

Recipe:

Paper: whisper white
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi, Pacific Point
Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, unknown Happy Birthday image
Accessories: Tim Holtz Alterations Bricked and Ink Splats embossing folders from Sizzix

Country Birthday

Today I made another scored gingham card, but this matches more closely the original concept I had in my head. The QKR stampede crew didn't spell out exactly what the twist is for their "anything goes with a twist" challenge this week (or if they did the invisible ink doesn't show up on my computer screen), but based on the title (#253 Up, Up and Away) and the designer team's awesome samples I'm going to guess it has something to do with things that can fly? If so, I think my rooster may qualify, but even if not, the card will fit the "anything goes" part of the challenge. Click on the link to check out the challenge and submit your own card. It's fun!

On the black layer, I first scored the two parallel scallop lines using the border plate for my Stampin' Up! scorer. These scallops happen to match the large scallop edgelit from Stampin' Up!, so I used that next to give me the perfect edge. I then stamped the sunflowers from the Serene Sunflower set in versamark ink and colored them by tapping with sponge daubers coated with stampin' pastels, also known as the chalkboard pastels technique.

The gingham layer was created with the gingham wheel in ruby red ink on very vanilla card stock. Just as an aside, yesterday I rediscovered my wheels. These are the only stamps left in my stamp room that I haven't indexed and I apparently forgot how many and which wheels I had. I will index them this weekend and then I anticipate I will use them much more often.

The kraft card base came from the Neutral Smooth A2 cards and envelopes assortment from Darice. I stamped it in versamark ink with a stamp from the Itty Bitty Backgrounds set.

The image and sentiment were stamped on watercolor paper in black stayzon ink and then colored with watercolor wonder crayons and an aquapainter. I tore the edges of both and mounted both on pieces of Floral Garden Burlap Ribbon by Greenbrier International.

I really like the rustic country look and feel of this card and I think the recipient will appreciate it as well.

Recipe:

Paper: kraft card base from Neutral Smooth A2 cards and envelopes assortment by Darice, basic black, very vanilla, watercolor paper
Ink: black stayzon, versamark
Stamps: Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Serene Sunflower, Country Morning, Occasional Quotes, Gingham wheel
Accessories: Watercolor Wonder Crayons from Earth Elements, Rich Regals and Neutral Assortments, Stampin' Pastels, Aquapainter, sponge daubers, Floral Garden Burlap Ribbon by Greenbrier International, Border Scoring Plate and Stampin' Up! Scorer

Scored Gingham Birthday

Today I wanted to make a card that satisfied two of SCSs challenges. One was a mixed media challenge that required us to use gingham in some form and the other was a Ways To Use It challenge to use scoring. I started out with an idea and then I made a mistake so, of course, instead of scrapping the idea and starting over, I improvised.

I'm not sure how I feel about the result. Not really what I wanted but I think it works as a simple masculine birthday card. I am happy with the corner scoring (using the small zigzag pattern on the Simply Scored borders scoring plate) although I wish it was a little more noticeable. Also, while I used gingham with regular ink and heat embossed the greeting using craft ink and clear embossing powder, thus technically meeting the bare minimum of the mixed media challenge requirement, I can't help wishing I had done more "mixing". The good news on that front is that I already have another idea, so hopefully I'll have time to make that one tomorrow.

Recipe:

Paper: whisper white, buckaroo blue, night of navy
Ink: night of navy, night of navy craft
Stamps: Grunge Rock, Gingham Stampin' Around wheel
Accessories: clear embossing powder, Stampin' Up! Scoring board and borders scoring plate

Neon Chalkboard Plaid

Today's Try a New Technique challenge on Splitcoast Stampers was to incorporate DIY plaid. Even after watching the excellent tutorial, I'll admit this was super intimidating, mostly because I'm definitely not good at drawing straight lines. Still, I just got a set of liquid chalk markers that have interchangeable chisel and bullet tips, and this seemed like a good technique not only to play with the markers but also the tips.

I thought the best way to test chalk markers would be on black cardstock. I decided to use one marker (the blue) with the wider chisel tip and two (green and purple) with the narrower bullet tips. The grid on my Stampin' Up! paper mat helped me stay somewhat straight as I drew my lines. I was actually really happy with the background even when I only had lines drawn in one direction, but since the challenge was to use plaid, I went ahead and finished the other set of lines too.

The background ended up so bright, it made me think of birthday celebrations and balloons. I die cut the balloon and the sentiment from white card stock and decorated the balloon with dots using the same three markers I used for the background. Once I attached the die cuts to the background, the card only needed a white base.

I'm really happy with the card, the markers and the new technique. Big thanks to Sabrina, the challenge, hostess, for steering us to this technique. And since last week's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge was also to use plaid, I'll be posting this card to that challenge as well.

Recipe:

Paper: Black, White

Ink: Blue, Purple and Green Liquid Chalk Cedar Markers

Accessories: Jen Long Happy Birthday To You Thinlit from Sizzix, Stephanie Barnard Balloons Triplits from Sizzix

cherry on top birthday

Between the funeral of our family friend and other family obligations, it's been a busy week. So busy that I literally did not have a minute to set foot in the stamp room. Even today, I only went up there for a little while to make this card only because I've had this idea for a card for this week's "clean and simple" SCS challenge to make a card using summer fruit since Monday, and it was killing me not to get it made. Fortunately, the card came together very fast. Unfortunately, the next time I go into the stamp room it will have to be to clean and put away all my stuff in its rightful place. Yes, I know it's shocking, but I'm not a clean as you go stamper. (In truth, I'm not a clean-as-you-go anything - cleaning always comes last).

Anyway, there was nothing too difficult in making this card except for the fussy cutting to paper piece the cupcake and cherry. I stamped the cherry on whisper white card stock and colored it in real red and old olive with markers so that there were no spots of white showing through in case there were any places where the glitter didn't cover completely. Then I covered the cherry with two way glue and applied the fine red glitter, and I followed with two way glue on the stem and green fine glitter. The cherry was attached to the "frosting" with dimensionals. On the pink pirouette textured cupcake "frosting," I covered the dots on the image with mini glue dots. I heated them just a little with my heat gun before covering them with the glitter. I'm not sure if this is totally necessary, but it seems to help the glitter adhere completely and not flake off all over the place.

For the sentiment, I used a marker to stamp technique to color only the words in the sentiment from the A Cherry on Top set. Then I die cut it using a shape from the Apothecary Accents assortment. I attached the die cut sentiment to a band made from a piece of rose gold file folder scrap that I ran through my crimper.

The base of the card is a pearly silver. I like the way it provides a subtly shiny background without competing with the glitter.

Recipe:

Paper: Pink pirouette plain and textured, whisper white, scrap of target patterned file folder (see the bargello birthday post for details), SU retired DSP from my scrap box (don't recall name), silver pearl A2 card base from core' dinations by Darice
Ink: memento tuxedo black, real red,  old olive (to cover the cherry stem - not visible on finished card)
Stamps: Simple Birthday Stamps, A Cherry on Top
Accessories: Apothecary Accents die cut assortment, crimper, red and green fine glitter, mini glue dots.

Bargello Birthday

One of the techniques Sabrina pointed us to in the write up for her Ways To Use paper strips challenge last week was the Bargello technique. This technique involves first creating a pattern using a bunch of different stips and then turning it 90 degrees and cutting that pattern into additional strips which can then be offset in a variety of designs. I've seen beautiful cards made with this technique but never tried it myself, so I decided this was the perfect time to do it.

The strips I used were not designer paper. Don't get me wrong, I have tons of designer paper strips in my scrap box, but I also happened to have these scrap strips on my work table from another project. So if they're not designer paper, what are they? They're patterned file folders I picked up a while back at my local Target. The original price of $1.00 for 3 was not bad, but I got them on clearance at a significant discount so they were well worth it.

I bought the folders as well as coordinating small 3 ring binders to make card holders. I cut each file folder in half and used them to make six pockets for inside the binder. The project left me with strips of the three folders and I had no idea what to do with them until I read this week's challenge.

I really liked how this technique let me use all three of the outside folder patterns and even the inside solid part, which is a lovely metallic rose gold color to match the dots on the outside. I cut my strips from the striped pattern you can see in this picture and offset them to create my background. I  then pondered what stamped elements to add that would work with the design without taking too much attention from it. I settled on the image and sentiment combo from the Happiest Birthday Wishes set, which I inked up using the marker to stamp technique.

I stamped the image on whisper white card stock and punched it out using the extra large oval punch. I cut a scalloped oval mat for the sentiment out of Only Orange card stock using a framelit from the Message Frames assortment by Sizzix (it came with a coordinating stamp set from Hero Arts, which I did not use on this card). I then used my double rectangle punch to punch holes on both sides of the oval and wove in narrow black grosgrain ribbon. I attached the sentiment to the mat over the ribbon with dimensionals and attached the matted sentiment to the striped background. I added a basic black mat and attached the whole thing to a coastal cabana card base.

Recipe (all products Stampin' Up! except as otherwise specified):

Paper: coastal cabana, only orange, basic black, whisper white, Target patterned file folders
Ink: basic black, coastal cabana, only orange (all in markers)
Stamps: Happiest Birthday Wishes
Accessories: Extra large oval punch, double rectangle punch, narrow black grosgrain ribbon, Message Frames Framelits assortment from Sizzix.

P.S. I'll be heading to my Target tomorrow to see if there's anything worthwhile in the post 4th of July clearance bin.  Wish me luck!

Shaving cream embossing

The Technique challenge on SCS today had stampers looking back to shaving cream. I really love the shaving cream technique, but I was especially intrigued by a link to a tutorial for shaving cream stenciling. Once again I found myself intrigued by a technique, but none of the few stencils in my collection called to me. Still, the wheels kept spinning and I began to wonder if there was a way to use a similar technique in an embossing folder.

I'd tried inking up an embossing folder, but the downside of that technique is that the ink covers the non-embossed portion of the card. It's a neat look, but I kept wishing I could color the embossed part. Shaving cream colored with reinkers seemed like a good way to get color into the crevices which would become embossed.

So how did it go? Let's call it an experiment in progress. My first two attempts, which are used on this card, were not as great as I'd hoped. I did learn that I'd get a better result using folders with smaller and more uniform patterns. I also think fewer colors would be better, or maybe three colors but from the same color family so that when they are mixed they would not get as muddy. Finally, I need to come up with a  way to better wipe the shaving cream off the flat part of the folder without disturbing the shaving cream in the crevices. I have an idea how to do it, but I need more time to try it out.

I'll post here if the technique gets more refined. In the meantime, today's card is a little bit busy but, as my hubby said, that makes it festive :)

Recipe (products Stampin' Up! unless otherwise indicated)

Paper: yo yo yellow, brilliant blue, only orange, whisper white
Ink: yo yo yellow, brilliant blue, only orange
Stamps: Birthday Whimsy
Accessories: Darice Circles embossing folder, Sizzix embossing folder form Birthday Surprises assortment; Sizzix Framelits coordinating with Echo Park Everyday stamp set 

Throwback Thursday: Big Chef Birthday

Today's post is a celebration of one of my favorite Stampin' Up! sets - one that retired many years ago. This set was introduced the year I became a demonstrator and I immediately fell in love with it. Not only is it great for birthdays, but with so many things to pile on top of the plate, it really can be used for just about any occasion. It can even be used to make twisted cards, like this one I stamped once for Halloween. It's also a great set for paper piecing, which is the technique I used on this card. The chef's hat and coat are paper pieced with certainly celery patterned paper. I will be entering this card in the QKR Stampede Challenge #249 Paper piecing or Anything Goes

There is nothing particularly complicated about this card, but the chef image is so awesome there really isn't much else that needs to be done. He captures attention all on his own.

For this particular card I also stamped and paper pieced a birthday cupcake from the Birthday Best set on the front of the envelope.

Recipe (all products Stampin' Up!)

Ink: basic black, sahara sand, so saffron, certainly celery, bashful blue
Paper: crumb cake, whisper white, certainly celery prints DSP, Delicate Dots DSP; bashful blue prints DSP on envelope
Stamps: Voila, Birthdays Best (on envelope)
Accessories: Hodge Podge Hardware

Celebrate Faux Tie Dye

This morning I opened the Splitcoast newsletter to find a link to a new tutorial for a Tie Dye Background technique by Kim Jolley. It's a great technique that uses coffee filters and baby wipes in combination with regular ink pads to create a truly amazing tie dye look. I wanted to try it right away, but my coffee filters are unbleached and I don't have any baby wipes. Bummer!

Well, necessity being the mother of invention, I decided to try something a little different. I happen to have an overabundance of used dryer sheets (because come on, they have to be good for something other than the sparkly dryer sheet technique, right?) so I used a dryer sheet instead of a coffee filter and a sponge instead of the baby wipe. I liked the color combination challenge colors this week, so I went with those, except I didn't have any watermelon wonder and used strawberry slush instead.

What's the upshot? The results are not as nice as Kim's. The dryer sheet is more transparent than a coffee filter and also does not seem to absorb or bleed inks as well. Consequently, even after I spritzed both the dryer sheet and inked up sponge with water, the tie dye effect was much less pronounced. But I thought of a quick and dirty fix (which is why this is a faux instead of a pure tie dye technique). To make the colors stand out more, I simply sponged the colors in stripes onto the white cardstock in the same place as they would be after the dryer sheet was glued to the card stock. That worked pretty well. Still not as good as Kim's brilliant technique, but it will do in a pinch when you don't have the right supplies and have to improvise.

Because I wasn't completely in love with my faux tie dye results, I didn't use the background on the whole card. Instead, I cut it using one of the die cuts from the Banners assortment. I used a larger die cut to cut an elegant eggplant mat, which I dry embossed with the decorative dots embossing folder.  I also used a smaller die to cut a strawberry slush mat.

For my main image I stamped the cake from the Happy You set in Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored in the cake using Soft Sky, Strawberry Slush and Elegant Eggplant markers. I used a yet smaller banner die to cut the image out and then hand cut a thin mat in soft sky.

I used a white card base and added a mat of designer paper. Now, I'm not 100% sure of the source of the paper, because I got  a sheet of it from my niece who was using a whole pack of this stuff to make a scrapbook for her friend. I know she got it at Michael's and looking on their website it may be from the Boho line by Recollections, but that's just my best guess. I loved the colors on the paper when I saw it and today I realized it would be the perfect background for this color challenge. I stacked all the banner shapes and attached the stack to the matted card front. Far from a masterpiece, but still cute. I can't wait to show my niece how I used the designer paper!

Recipe (all products Stampin' Up! unless otherwise indicated):

Paper: whisper white, elegant eggplant, strawberry slush, soft skye, Boho DSP by Recollections (best guess)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Elegant Eggplant, Strawberry Slush, Soft Skye
Stamps: Happy You
Accessories: Banners Framelits; Decorative Dots embossing folder, dryer sheet, stampin' sponges.

Old Wood Birthday

I stamped this card today for this week's Splitcoast free for all challenge, which was to stamp something made of old wood. I had a lot of fun, especially playing with the watercolor wonder crayons, which I hadn't had out for ages. The rustic look makes this card suitable for men and women, not always easy to achieve.

I first stamped the swing image from Summer Afternoon in black stayz-on ink on watercolor paper and colored it in using watercolor wonder crayons in: chocolate chip, close to cocoa, creamy caramel, really rust, garden green, old olive, bordering blue, brocade blue and night of navy as well as my aqua painter. I then stamped the sentiment from the A Little Birthday Cheer set in brown timber stayzon ink on confetti white paper and added a watercolor background similar to that in the image with my watercolor wonder crayons and aqua painter. I added a really rust mat to the sentiment. For the image mat, I used a bit of crumb cake card stock that I had left over from another project that had already been stamped with the woodgrain background stamp in chocolate chip ink.

I embossed a 4"x5.25" piece of chocolate chip card stock with the Tim Holtz woodgrain embossing folder from Sizzix. I then mounted this mat to a 4.25"x5.5" confetti white card base. I used some natural hemp twine to create a knot and wrapped it around a strip of really rust card stock, which I then attached to the chocolate chip mat with dimensionals. I then added the image and the sentiment, both also attached with dimensionals.

Recipe (all products Stampin' Up! except as indicated)

Ink: Black and Timber Brown Stayzon, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Watercolor paper, Confetti White, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Really Rust
Stamps: Summer Afternoon, A Little Birthday Cheer, Woodgrain
Accessories: Watercolor Wonder Crayons Earth Elements and Rich Regals assortments, Natural Hemp Twine, Tim Holtz Woodgrain embossing folder from Sizzix

Throwback Thursday - Banner & Cupcake Birthday

I stamped this back in December 2014 for my niece's 11th birthday. She loved pink and teal, so I chose those colors for her card.

I started with the birthday banner from the Patterned Party set stamped in taken with teal ink on whisper white card stock.
I then used the direct to stamp technique with summer sun and taken with teal markers and stamped the "1" candle from the same set twice directly onto the same whisper white layer. I stamped the cupcake top from the Cupcake Party set onto pretty in pink card stock with regal rose ink and punched it out with the cupcake punch. I stamped the bottom of the cupcake from the same set in taken with teal ink on whisper white card stock and punched that out with the cupcake punch.

I added a surface for the cupcake to "sit" on by punching a strip of pretty in pink card stock with the eyelet border punch. I then stamped another sentiment from the Sweet Little Sentiments set below it in taken with teal. I assembled the main layer and it was almost ready but I didn't like how the cupcake frosting hid the "feet" of the number candles, so I stamped them again, fussy cut the bottoms and glued them to the frosting. In retrospect I probably should have just fussy cut the entire two numbers. Not sure why I didn't. Most likely I was running short on time.

I added a taken with teal and regal rose mats and attached everything to a pretty in pink base. Looking at it now, I wish I had taken a little more time to line up the candles and bottom sentiment a little better, but my niece didn't much care. In fact, I think maybe she liked the reminder that adults didn't always do everything perfectly :).

Recipe (all products Stampin' Up!)

Paper: Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Taken with Teal
Ink: Taken with Teal, Regal Rose, Summer Sun
Stamps: Patterned Party, Cupcake Party, Sweet Little Sentiments
Accessories: Cupcake Punch, Eyelet Border Punch

Root Beer Birthday

The new technique challenge on Splitcoast this week was to spell something out on a card using alphabet stamps and not have it be a typical greeting. My mind jumped to my niece, who is a root beer fanatic and connoisseur. This challenge was the incentive I needed to make a root beer card for her birthday.

1. I cut a 2" strip of whisper white and punched it with the scalloped tag topper punch. I then stamped the bottle form the Boys Only set by Doodlebug Design for Hampton Arts in tuxedo black Memento ink. Below the bottle I stamped the "all you need is" greeting from the Painted Posies set  in tuxedo black ink (I omitted the word "love" at the end of the greeting by not inking it.)

2. Finally it was time for the challenge. I took out my Alphabits set. I love this long-ago retired set, but I don't have a lot of occasions to use it. For this card, the italicized script font worked best with the font of the stamped greeting. I first stamped the entire image on my imaging sheet using the stamp-a-ma-jig. Then I cleaned the stamp off and started inking up single letters, lining them up using the stamp-a-ma-jig. I used my chocolate chip marker to ink the stamp because I wanted the words "root beer" to stand out a little. It turned out not to make much of a difference, but oh well.

3. I colored the bottle image using pumpkin pie and daffodil delight stampin' write markers. For the "root beer" I made a shadow outline on the left side of the bottle with my chocolate chip stampin' write marker, but then filled in the rest of the bottle with the brown marker from the flesh tone assortment of Blendabilities markers because I wanted a smooth color finish over the larger surface.

4. I used my paper cutter to trim off 1/8" off each side of the whisper white tag. I punched another tag out of a 2" strip of Daffodil Delight card stock. I layered the tags and added the multicolored striped Dashes, Dots & Checks ribbon that I bought at Michaels. I also added a strip of gold rhinestones that I cut from a Floral Garden Diamond Wrap ribbon that I picked up at Dollar Tree. (I love that diamond wrap ribbon, by the way, so much bling for a buck!) I trimmed off three more rhinestones and added them to the bottle to imitate soda bubbles. I adhered the rhinestones to the card stock using Tombow mono multi glue.

5. I used the three star stamp from the Starring You set to randomly stamp a piece of 4"x5.25" piece of whisper white in Daffodil Delight ink and adhered the white mat to the 4.25"x5.5" pumpkin pie card base. I also stamped the bottle cap image from the Boys Only set (a really unfortunate name, by the way; since when have soda bottles been only for boys?) three times in tuxedo black ink on whisper white card stock and used the coordinating framelit die to cut them out. I colored two of them with pumpkin pie and daffodil delight stampin' write markers. For the third bottle cap I used the pumpkin pie marker to color the entire cap. I did this because I knew I would be covering up the star image with the birthday greeting, which I stamped in basic black ink onto daffodil delight card stock. I used just the center of the image from the Engraved Greetings set by inking it up using my marker. I liked it because it was small enough to fit on the bottle cap and incorporated the star motif. I punched out the greeting with a 1/2" circle punch and adhered it to the bottle cap with snail.

6. The final step was to attach the tag and the bottle caps to the card base using dimensionals.

I think my root beer loving niece will love this card, and since her nickname is "Bling," she'll likely appreciate the rhinestones as well. Normally I'd have to wait until December to give this card to her, but this year we decided to celebrate her and her brother's 1/2 birthdays in the summer, so I'll be able to give it to her very soon!

Recipe (all products Stampin' Up! unless otherwise indicated):

Paper: whisper white, daffodil yellow; pumpkin pie
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, chocolate chip, pumpkin pie, daffodil delight
Stamps: Boys Only by Doodlebug Designs for Hampton Art, Painted Posies, Engraved Greetings, Starring You, Alphabits
Accessories: Dashes, Dots and Checks striped ribbon from Michael's; Floral Garden Diamond Wrap ribbon, scalloped tag top punch, 1/2" circle punch, Boys Only framelits from Sizzix

Doodle Cupcake Birthday

  I didn't have a lot of time to stamp this week, but seeing the different challenges appear on Splitcoast throughout the week had my fingers itching for rubber and ink. Finally today I got a chance to sneak away to the stamp room to make a quick card. With time limited, I decided to combine three different challenges: the sketch challenge; the color combination challenge; and the ways to use it challenge. 

1. I used the marker to stamp technique to stamp the sentiment then fussy cut it and attached it to a mat punched with the scalloped circle punch out of tempting turquoise.

2. On my whisper white strip I first stamped the background image from the Work of Art set three times in tempting turquoise, crushed curry and pumpkin pie, then stamped the cupcake from the Out of the Box set in chocolate chip ink on each of the backgrounds. I added the candle from the Bitty Bolds set in chocolate chip ink to each cupcake. 

3. I matted my white strip first with crushed curry and then with tempting turquoise. I added the strip to a piece of pumpkin pie designer series paper.

4. I stamped the tempting turquoise card front with the stamp from the Itty Bitty Backgrounds set in versamark ink and attached the assembled pumpkin pie piece on top. I attached the matted sentiment to the white strip with a dimensional.

5. I could have left it there, but the doodles on the image from the sketched birthday set gave me an idea, so I added the white doodling in the same style to the tempting turquoise strip with my signo white gel pen and I added a simple doodled zig zag to the crushed curry strip with my chocolate chip marker. 

Recipe (all products Stampin' Up!)

Paper: Tempting Turqoise, Crushed Curry; Whisper White; Cast a Spell Designer Series Paper

Ink:  Tempting Turquoise, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, Versamark

Stamps: Backgound Basics, Sketched Birthday; Out of the Box, Bitty Bolds, Work of Art

Accessories: Signo white gel pen, Scalloped Circle Punch