Boo Banner

Another Halloween banner and this one was almost embarrassingly quick and easy to make. Once again I used flags and twine from a banner kit I bought on post-Halloween clearance at Target last year. The triangular flags are super cute with their little Halloween pre-printed story and spider web and the top edge decorated with black microbeads. The kit also included a few plastic spiders so I attached one on top of the web on the center banner panel.

To save time and effort, I used black and ivory rosettes that I picked up on post-Christmas clearance at Target. (Did I mention that I love shopping post-holiday clearance sales at Target. Yeah, it's a bit of an addiction, but who can resist when you can use this stuff to make such cute decorations?) The black and ivory color on the rosettes coordinated perfectly with the banner flags, so all I needed were some letters and some die cut circles to make the rosettes pop even more. I used circle framelits to cut circles out of basic black card stock and glitter gold paper. I also used gold glitter paper and the Sizzix Phrase Boo w/ Frame die to cut out just the letters. Because the rosettes already add dimension, I just used regular adhesives to attach the letters to the rosetttes and the various layers to the banner flags and each other.

I love the way this short banner looks hanging on the door of our antique china cabinet. It's the perfect addition to our dining room Halloween decorations.

Halloween Banner

It's been a super busy month that didn't leave me with time for stamping until this week. With Halloween coming up, this themed banner took priority. It also happens to meet this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog "Not A Card" challenge, so I will share it there.

The black banner flags and thick black and white baker's twine came from a kit I picked up last year at a post-Halloween clearance sale at Target. I love the alternating shapes and the glittered edges! (Starting with pre-made tags made the project easier, but event without the kit it wouldn't be too difficult to cut out the flag shapes from black card stock and glitter the edges using black glitter and sticky strip.)

I thought about using some of my Halloween patterned papers to make rosettes, but I wasn't in a mood to score, fold and hot glue, so I decided to go for a telescoping circle look using dimensionals. I cut out circles using the circles and starburst framelits, I used a retired SU designer paper for the largest circle, then silver glitter paper for the starburst on the next layer. The next circle was cut from black card stock and embossed using the Tim Holtz cracked embossing folder from Sizzix. The final circle layer was cut from pumpkin pie card stock and embossed with an SU spider web embossing folder.

I used chipboard letters from a retired Stampin' Up! assortment. I first used a black stampin' spot to dye them and then covered them with mono multi glue and fine black glitter. Once they were dry, I used mini glue dots to attach them to the pumpkin pie circles.

I like how festive and sparkly the banner turned out. It's the perfect window decoration in our living room.

For those curious, the backs of the lighted pumpkin trio in the transom window above the banner are decorated with retired SU Halloween décor elements.

Plumber Thank You

I was in a race to make this card today. Unfortunately, my hubby discovered that one of our toilets was leaking so we needed a visit from the plumber, which was scheduled this morning. Fortunately, the plumber is a neighbor from down the block who is really cool and has a great sense of humor. As he was working, I decided that I wanted to make him a quick thank you card. I finished it, but just barely. He works fast!

I saved time by using Cathy's  really cool sketch from this week's splitcoast sketch challenge. It's a straightforward sketch which makes it perfect to make quick cards - I love it.

I embossed about half of the front of the kraft card base with the Measuring Tape embossing folder by Sizzix and added a piece of retired SU designer paper to the other half. (This scrap of designer paper is so old - it dates back to when SU sold single sided designer paper - wish I could remember what it was called). I found another scrap of retired SU designer paper for the center rectangular panel and mounted it on a mat of dusty Durango card stock before attaching both to the card front. I stamped the tools and saying form the Guy Greetings set on a scrap piece of manila folder in soft suede ink and die cut it with a framelit from the starburst assortment, attaching it to the card front with dimensionals. Finally, I stamped the sentiment form the Plane and Simple set on another scrap of manila folder and punched it out with the word window punch before mounting it on a mat made of a piece of not quite navy card stock punched with the modern label punch.

It's a pretty simple card but I think our neighbor will appreciate it, especially knowing it was made while he was working. I had fun making it and this was the best reason to make a card, even if I had to rush.

Recipe:

Paper: manila folder, dusty durango, not quite navy, SU retired designer papers, kraft card base from Neutral Smooth A2 cards and envelopes assortment by Darice
Ink: Soft Suede
Stamps: Guy Greetings, Plane and Simple
Accessories: Starburst Framelits assortment, word window punch, modern label punch, measuring tape embossing folder by Sizzix

Time to Bloom

Sorry it's been so long since my last post - the week got away from me and blended into a long weekend with too much going on to make it into the stamp room. I managed to make up for some of it today, but I'll post my creations one per day so I don't leave this blog hanging if I get busy again. I made this card to meet three challenges, though two of them are virtually the same so it's a bit of a cheat. The first challenge is from QKR Stampede, whose challenge this week was Wild West or Anything Goes. (As an aside, I'm thrilled to bits that my crazy cat yarn balls card got picked into the top 5 in QKR Stampede's challenge last week. It's a real honor and it will keep pushing me to stamp outside my comfort zone.)  Coincidentally, Go West was also the theme chosen for this week's splitcoast clean and simple card challenge. I took a somewhat unorthodox to the western theme by featuring blooming cactuses, and I stamped three of them to meet last weeks splitcoast's Ways to Use It challenge, which was all about 3s or thirds.

I started with a strip of whisper white card stock onto which I stamped three cactuses from the P.O Southwest Magna Stamp set from Clearbox using pear pizzazz ink and a wild wasabi marker with the thumping technique. I then used my stamp-a-ma-jig, melon mambo marker and a flower stamp from the Bella's Bloom set to stamp the large and small flowers. I used an aquapainter with crumb cake and soft suede inks to watercolor a sandy surface at the bottom and used the same technique with soft sky ink to create the sky.  I layered the whisper white strip onto a soft sky mat and distressed the soft sky layer edges with the SU distressing tool. I then added three pink gemstones to the centers of the large flowers for a bit of bling.

I used the wild wasabi and melon mambo markers to ink up the sentiment from the Bella's Bloom set and stamped it on a scrap of whisper white, which I die cut using framelit that coordinates with a Tim Holtz Sizzix coffee stamp set. The actual framelit is longer than I needed, so I simply moved the strip over and ran it through the big shot twice to get a shorter piece. I added a soft sky mat and freehanded the diagonal corners before distressing the soft sky edges.

Finally, I used the Wonderfully Worn background stamp and crumb cake ink to stamp the crumb cake card base. I then attached the image strip and the sentiment to the card base with dimensionals.

Recipe:

Paper: whisper white. soft sky, crumb cake
Ink: soft sky, crumb cake, soft suede, pear pizzazz, wild wasabi, melon mambo
Stamps: Bella's Bloom; Wonderfully Worn, P.O. Southwest Magna Stamp set from Clearbox
Accessories: Aquapainter, Stamp-a-ma-jig, distressing tool, Tim Holtz Coffee Time framelits by Sizzix, Multicolored Bling from Want2Scrap

Back to Shool - part deux

Wednesday I couldn't resist making a card for the "Back to School" Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Blog Challenge, but I really don't have any use for a single card with this theme. I do, however, have a niece and nephew who are starting eighth and sixth grade, respectively, and those seem like perfect enough occasions to send cards even though I've basically ignored all their previous "back to school" occasions. Can you tell where this is going? Of course you can, and of course it leads right to me making another card.

My supplies from the first card were still out and I really like the color combination from this week's SCS color combination challenge, so I decided to use them for the second card as well. I like the way that makes the cards look like a coordinated set and I think the siblings will appreciate that as well.

Once again I used a Bermuda bay card base with a patterned paper mat. I dry embossed the patterned paper with the Print Blocks embossing folder and sanded it before attaching it to the base. I stamped the Dictionary background on a piece of whisper white card stock in Bermuda bay ink and applied the sentiment sticker over the background, coloring the notebook on the sticker with a gable green marker. I used an oval framelit to die cut the sentiment and used a larger oval framelit to die cut a mat from basic gray card stock. I attached them together and then attached them to the card base with dimensionals.

To create more interest on this card and to coordinate it better with the other, I added two strips of the gray arrow paper tape. I also used Bermuda bay and going gray markers to color the pencil image from the Elementary Essentials set and stamped it on whisper white. I fussy cut the image and attached it to the card with a dimensional at the eraser end and snail at the graphite tip. To finish the card off I added two green sequins and a bow made from the Parakeet verigated fancy floss, attaching all three to the card with mini glue dots. I know my niece will like the sequin "bling".

I love the way the cards turned out and how they look together. I think they will be the perfect encouragement for my niece and nephew for their first day of eighth grade and middle school.


Recipe:

Paper: bermuda bay, basic gray, whisper white, green patterned paper of unknown origin
Ink: bermuda bay, whisper white craft, basic gray, gable green
Stamps: Dictionary (background), Elementary Essentials
Accessories: sanding block, Ovals Framelits Assortment, Neutral arrow thin paper tape by K&Company, Print Blocks Textured Impressions Embossing Folder by Sizzix, velum sentiment sticker of unknown origin, Parakeet verigated fancy floss by We R Memory Keepers, Crafter's Corner green sequins from Greenbriar Inc.

Time to Hit the Books

The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Blog Challenge this week is "Back to School". I don't have kids, so I don't normally make back to school stuff but recently, while rummaging through some really old scrapbooking supplies, I found some school related stickers, so I decided to play. And because one challenge is good but two are even better, I also decided to use this the awesome colors from this week's SCS color combination challenge - Basic Gray, Bermuda Bay and Lemon Lime Twist - or as close as I could get with my supplies.

I don't have anything in Lemon Lime Twist, but I found a piece of very vibrant green patterned paper in my scrap pile that Worked well with the other two colors. I embossed a 4x5.25" piece of the paper with the School Days embossing folder and used my sanding block to make the embossed areas more prominent. I then attached the mat to a bermuda bay card base.

For the tag, I cut a piece of basic gray card stock and a slightly smaller piece of whisper white card stock. I stamped the white card stock with the Off the Grid stamp in Bermuda bay ink, using the image a couple of times to cover most of the tag. I added the vellum sticker with the books and "hit the books" sentiment. I added the words "time to" by using the Stampin' Up! Alphabet Rotary stamp. I also colored the books and book ends with the gable green and basic gray markers.

I adhered the white card stock to the basic gay may and punched both with the tag topper punch. I added the basic gray hole protector which I created with the tag topper punch and the 1/2" circle punch. I cut several lengths of Parakeet verigated fancy floss and looped them thought the tag hole. I die cut a couple of arrows from the patterned paper and added them to the tag along with some gray arrow thin paper tape before attaching the tag to the card with dimensionals.

For the final element, I die cut a pocket watch shape using the Dear Old Dad Shapeabilities and Chalk Talk Framelits (I used the little oval for the hole in the top of the pocket watch). I embossed a piece of Bermuda bay card stock with the Clocks embossing folder and punched out a clock face with the 1 1/4" circle punch. I used whisper white craft ink to highlight the embossed areas on the face and attached the face to the pocket watch die cut. I attached the pocket watch to the tag with a dimensional.

I really like the way this non-traditional back to school card came out. Not bad for a stamp room that's really mostly devoid of any scholastic themed supplies :).

Recipe:

Paper: bermuda bay, basic gray, whisper white, green patterned paper of unknown origin
Ink: bermuda bay, whisper white craft, basic gray, gable green
Stamps: Off The Grid, Alphabet Rotary Stamp
Accessories: sanding block, Chalk Talk Framelits, 1/2" and 1 1/4" circle punches, tag topper punch, Neutral arrow thin paper tape by K&Company, School Days and Clocks Textured Impressions Embossing Folders by Sizzix, velum sentiment sticker of unknown origin, Dear Old Dad Shapeabilities by Spellbinders, Every Dray Framelits by Echo Park from Sizzix, Parakeet verigated fancy floss by We R Memory Keepers

Fabulous Vine and Flowers

I had so much fun making this card and I really love the way it turned out. The glossy paper and all the gold accents catch and reflect light beautifully.

I made it to satisfy two different challenges on SCS. The first was a Ways to Use It challenge to use a faux technique.  The second was a Mixed Media challenge to use a die cut shape that was made out of some sort of text. I figured if I was already going to cut up a magazine for the mixed media challenge, I might as well also use it for the faux technique.

I started with die cutting a magazine article with the Flowers & Vine #3 Bigz die from Sizzix. The resulting die cut was so delicate and flimsy that I also die cut a piece of very vanilla cardstock and glued the printed page to the card stock for stability. I wanted to actually use the die cut piece as a vine, so I sponged the whole thing with gumball green ink.

Next I found pictures that I could use for the faux cloisonné technique. I stamped flower images from the Flower Shop and Petite Petals sets and the butterfly from Backyard Basics in versamark and heat embossed them with gold embossing powder. In the past I would have fussy cut them all out, but today I got smart and chose flowers that had coordinating punches and a butterfly that I could die cut with the coordinating framelits.

Once my pieces were all die cut and punched, I arranged them on top of a plain vanilla card stock mat to see what I wanted to do next. The card definitely needed more bling and dimension. I took al the pieces off and started to add elements. I stamped the very vanilla mat with the Sanded background stamp in river rock ink. I also added a couple of pieces of gold foil washi tape in the upper left corner. I layered a small flower over a large flower with a dimensional and added some gold cord underneath the large flower before taping this assembly in the center of the vine. I added another small flower to the top of the vine with a dimensional. Finally, I attached the butterfly to the mat with two way glue along the spine so that I could fold up its wings for dimension (the picture on which I embossed the butterfly was made of sturdier paper that allowed me to do this without having to glue the die cut butterfly to card stock.)

The card looked OK at this point, but I wanted more bling so I added three gold sequins. I definitely could have left it there, and I wondered if going one step further would be too much, but I couldn't stop myself. I used a stamp from the Oval All set to stamp the sentiment and flower image on the same magazine photo as the butterfly in versamark ink. I stamped the flower image for a  second time on a photo with a different color so that I could create interest with layering. I gold embossed everything and punched the sentiment out with the large oval punch. I also punched a scalloped oval mat from the photo on which I embossed the second flower. I fussy cut this small flower (couldn't get away without fussy cutting after all) and layered it over its twin on the sentiment image before attaching the sentiment assembly to the very vanilla mat with more dimensionals.

Now the card was done and all that was left to do was attach the very vanilla decorated mat to the crumb cake card base. Well that, and to give it away to a fabulous friend :).

Recipe:

Paper: Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake
Ink: Gumball Green, Versamark, River Rock
Stamps: Flower Shop, Petite Petals, Backyard Basics, Oval All, Sanded
Accessories: Gold Cord, Gold embossing powder, Petite Petals Punch, Pansy Punch, Backyard Basics Framelits, Large Oval Punch, Scalloped Oval Punch, Flowers & Vine #3 Bigz die from Sizzix, Gold Foil paper tape by Studio 112 from K&Company. Crafter's Corner gold sequins from Greenbriar Inc.

Marriage Journey

I can hardly believe it, but next week my hubby and I will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. It's been an awesome two decades, made even better by our mutual love of travel, so it's only fitting that I made him a travel themed card, especially since we'll be celebrating while on a short road trip to Ohio. For the layout, I used the sketch from last Week's SCS sketch challenge, as it seemed particularly well suited to include all the elements I wanted.

I started with a 5x7 card base the ms. sparkle & Co. Neutrals A7 cards and envelopes assortment by DCWV Inc. I used a 6.5x4.5" piece of Travel Journey designer paper as a mat. I used circle framelits to cut a larger circle from garden green card stock and a smaller one from very vanilla. I embossed the very vanilla circle with the world map embossing folder form Darice and used stampin' pastels in garden green and night of navy to color the map.

I stamped the car, plane and cruise ship from the Sentimental Journey set in pumpkin pie on very vanilla card stock, fussy cut them out and attached them to the embossed map circle with dimensionals. I attached the vanilla circle to the garden green mat and attached both to the card base.

I had the perfect embosslit for one of the smaller circle elements on the layout - the 20 years embosslit originally released to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Stampin' Up! I used it with apiece of designer series paper and then used a sanding block to reveal the lighter core of the paper and make the 20 years sentiment stand out.

For the other small circle element I stamped the compass image from Sentimental Journey in night of navy ink on  very vanilla paper. I punched out the image with the 1" circle punch and then adhered it to a double mat of 1 3/8" circle of night of navy card stock and a 1 1/4" circle of Travel Journal designer paper. I added a pumpkin pie brad to the center of the compass for interest.

I stamped the sentiment form the Hugs & Wishes set in night of navy ink on very vanilla and die cut it with a framelit from the Bitty Banners assortment. I added a mat of night of navy card stock which I fussy cut to match the sentiment shape.

I liked the card as it was, but I felt I could still add a little more personalization so I stamped sentiments and images from the following sets onto the visible parts of the designer paper mat with night of navy ink:  Something to Say, XOXO, Travel Words & Frames from Momenta and 4 piece travel set from Recollections

I'm really happy with the card and, more importantly, I'm pretty sure my hubby will be happy with it as well.

Recipe:

Paper: very vanilla, garden green, night of navy, travel journey designer series paper, tan card base from the ms. sparkle & Co. Neutrals A7 cards and envelopes assortment by DCWV Inc.
Ink: pumpkin pie, night of navy
Stamps: Sentimental Journey, Hugs & Wishes, Something to Say, XOXO, Travel Words & Frames from Momenta, 4 piece travel set from Recollections
Accessories: stampin' pastels, Circle Framelits assortment, Bitty Banners Framelits assortment, 20 years embosslit, 1", 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, pumpkin pie brad, world map embossing folder from Darice,

Shoe In Friend

In this week's Splitcoast Stampers "Ways to Use It" challenge our hostess, Lisa (aka Shoe Girl) challenged us to use shoes on our cards. It took a bit of searching through my stamp index, but I finally found the perfect image. The sentiment even matched Lisa's title for the post announcing the challenge.

My last couple of cards where I tried new techniques didn't exactly turn out how I wanted, so for this one I went back to my "old school" stamping style: a stamped main image, a stamped background, minimal layers and a bit of ribbon to accessorize. The inspiration for the colors came from a recent trip to Target, where I saw pinks and grays together in the school supplies aisle. Really took me back to the preppy look from the 80s.

Since the background is splattered, the card fits this week's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge: "Splatter It", so I'll be sharing it there.

Recipe:

Paper: whisper white, dark gray card base from neutral smooth A2 cards and envelopes core' dinations assortment by Darice

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Pink Pirouette and Smoky Slate, plus blendabilities Pink Pirouette and Smoky Slate assortments

Stamps:  Making a Point, Gorgeous Grunge

Accessories: Circles Framelits Assortment, Ping Stitched ribbon from Dahses, Dots & Checks

Warm Window Wishes

Today I made a window card. Hopefully you can see the corner of the inside of the card base behind the snowmen.

I had a totally different idea for a card when I went into my stamp room, but somehow it morphed into this. I'm happy with the final result, even though die cutting the windows turned out to be more difficult than I first thought. For some reason the camera isn't capturing the vibrancy of green galore. This card looks much "happier" in real life.

The snowmen were stamped on a window sheet with black stayzon ink and colored in using Bic permanent markers and a sharpie waterbased white paint marker. The red mat was stamped with snowflakes from the Snowflakes set in versamark ink. The sentiment from the Snowflakes set was stamped on glorious green in versamark and embossed with white embossing powder, and then die cut using one of the ovals from a Sizzix Ovals Framelits assortment (these are narrower than the Stampin' Up! oval framelits).

I used glorious green and real red for the mat and white for the card base. I die cut the window in the base and the mats using Stampin' Up! Ovals Framelits and used partial pressure to make sure I only cut part of the oval. This actually took several passes through the big shot and some manual trimming with my craft knife and a metal edge ruler to make the straight edge. A bit of a pain, to be honest, but it turned out OK in the end.

Once everything was cut to size, I attached the acetate to the red mat with SNAIL adhesive and hand trimmed it around the oval. I then attached it to the green mat. I added the white baker's twine bow and the sentiment to the front and then attached the whole assembly to the white card base, making sure to match up the die cut windows. I toyed with stamping the inside of the card with snowflakes, but decided to leave well enough alone so as not to distract from the cute snowmen.

Definitely not a card to mass produce, but it will hopefully make a nice surprise for someone worthy of a special card.

Recipe:

Paper: Whisper White, REal Red, Green Galore, Window Sheet
Ink: Versamark, Black Stayzon, Bic permanent markers, Sharpie water based white paint marker
Stamps: Snowflakes, The World Over
Accessories: White Embossing Powder, Sizzix Ovals Framelits, Stampin' Up! Ovals Framelits, white baker's twine

Dreamcatcher Card Set

Today I was supposed to be cleaning up the stamp room, but since my new dreamcatcher set was still out as were most of the other elements I needed, I took a little time to put together this card set for my niece. She's the one who gave me the Boho patterned paper and she loves dreamcatchers just like I do, so I'm hopeful she'll like these too.

The cards were all pretty simple to make. The first one just involved stamping and matting, as did the second, though on that one I used the rock 'n roll technique to get the light sea foam color in the center of my stamped images with the darker purple on the edges.

On the third card I used a fun verigated floss to add a little interest.

The fourth card is probably the most elaborate, but still pretty straightforward. On that card I sponged some dry embossed card stock to use as a mat for both the dreamcatcher and the quote, which was printed on vellum that allows the sponged embossed pattern to peek through). I also sponged a strip of a used dryer sheet in lieu of ribbon and wrapped it with sparkly floss.

Recipe (not all products used on all cards):

Paper: whisper white, elegant eggplant, soft sky, purple from the paper company, Boho patterned paper stack from Recollections, 12x12" vellum quotes Fresh Verse(tm) from Deja Views
Ink: Color Splash Ombre from Recollections
Stamps: Color Splash from Recollections
Accessories: Misty Mountain Sew Easy fancy floss (verigated tertiary) and Grape Soda Sew Easy fancy floss (glitter secondary) from We R Memory Keepers; used dryer sheet, message frames framelit assortment by sizzix, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punch, small and large corner rounder punch, curly label punch (all punched Stampin' Up!), Stampin' Up! Apothecary Accents framelit assortment,  Tropical Paisley embossing folder 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 

Quilted Christmas

What's great about challenges is that they really make you either try things you've never done before or re-visit stuff you haven't one in a long while. This particular card took me back to one of the first cards I made when I started stamping posted to SCS nearly 11 years ago. I was inspired to re-visit quilt cards by girlgook101's Saturday SCS inspiration challenge to use designer paper and by AJ Bodine (Rutabagapie) and Julie Warner (justwritedesigns), the challenge hostess who chose AJ as the featured stamper for the SCS featured Stamper challenge a couple of Sundays ago. Click here to see the card in AJ's gallery that inspired mine.  Since this week's QKR Stampede challenge is Christmas in July, I'm going to enter this card in that one as well.

I was super impressed with all the details on AJ's card, and I especially loved her quilt block die cut. However, without that die cut there was no way I was going to attempt cutting the pieces for that block by hand. Instead, I decided to go for a simpler design, simpler even than the Annie's Choice block I chose for my card 11 years ago. This time I used the Sarah's Choice quilt block pattern and made things even easier for myself by assembling the star pattern on top of an uncut 4"x4" piece of old olive designer paper. To make things a little more interesting, I pieced the center square on another piece of 2"x2" card stock before adding it to the card. This, along with the woven four square element in the center of the star creates a telescoping layer effect.  I'm not sure if I like this effect, but once I adhered the pieces, it was too late to change my mind.

I kept AJ's two tone blue color scheme, but I added old olive to the mix. Since I didn't have a stamp for the cute little house, I opted to die cut Christmas trees in two different designer papers instead. I hand cut the "snowdrift" layers at the bottom and added some dazzling diamonds to the edges for a bit of sparkle. The top snowdrift layer and the trees are popped up with dimensionals.

I don't usually make cards with so little stamping (just the sentiment, in this case) but it was appropriate for this card. My hubby liked it and asked if I could make 40 more. Um.... no. Way too complicated to be our Christmas card for this year. Still, I had fun making this one.

Recipe (all products Stampin' Up!)

Paper: bashful blue, pacific point, whisper white, Holiday Thyme DSP, Prints/Patterns DSP in bashful blue and pacific point.
Ink: pacific point
Stamps: Warmest Regards
Accessories: Holiday Collection Framelits, dazzling diamonds

Get Well with "gum wrapper chain"

Sabrina, this week's hostess of this week's SCS Ways to Use It challenge, is a woman after my own heart. How did she know that I can hardly ever get myself to toss even a scrap of card stock or designer paper? The result is bins of scraps, including lots of thin strips of designer paper that I'm sure I will be able to use on a card some day. LOL! I guess some day was today, at least for a couple of those strips.

Yup, you guessed it. The challenge today was to use strips on a card. Sabrina was awesome in pointing us to a bunch of different techniques that utilize strips, but I wanted to try something different. Now, I know what you're thinking. This card doesn't look like I used any strips on it. But indeed I have, even if the final result kind of transforms the strips into an embellishment that more resembles a checkerboard or a chevron.

Did you ever make gum wrapper chains as a kid? I didn't, but my hubby did, so I'm familiar with the concept. I thought it might be something that could translate into a cool embellishment for a card and guess what? It did!

To make the embellishment I cut thin strips of Notations double sided designer paper (from 10 years ago - I kid you not! Did I mention I was a hoarder?) into shorter strips and kind of wove them together, alternating the design. The picture shows what the weave looked like before I used snail to adhere everything together. Now, I know technically this isn't how gum wrapper chains were made, but the look is the same and I didn't need to waste any more of my precious designer paper strips than necessary to achieve it. Ha!

Not only did the resulting embellishment look cool, it was also substantial - almost the thickness of chipboard. Hopefully you can see that in the side photo of the card. Because it was so pretty and so weighty, I thought it would be best showcased on a clean and simple card. And when I say clean and simple, I mean really minimalist, at least for this card. I merely used the marker to stamp technique to stamp the get well image from the Tag It set in chocolate chip and certainly celery. I then cut it out using one of the framelits from the Chalk Talk assortment. For the mat I used sahara sand card stock and another framelit from the same assortment which I then dry embossed it with the Chevron embossing folder to echo the chevron shape of the "gum wrapper chain" embellishment.

To finish the card I merely adhered the sentiment to the mat using dimensionals and then attached the mat to the card base. I attached my "gum wrapper chain" embellishment below using snail. I think it all works well together and makes for a card that can be used for anyone, regardless of age or gender.

Recipe (all products Stampin' Up!)

Paper: whisper white, sahara sand, Notations DSP
Ink: chocolate chip and certainly celery markers
Stamps: Tag It
Accessories: Chalk Talk Framelits Assortment, Chevron Embossing Folder

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.

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

Thursday Throwback - Newlywed Hearts

I made this card back in 2015 for my step-sister's wedding. The wedding colors were turquoise and lime green, so I made a card to match using tempting turquoise and green galore.

I had seen many cards that use hearts to represent the bride and groom, so I did the same but on steroids. I used the entire 8.5x11 sheet of tempting turquoise for a base, scored at 2.75 and 5.5 inches. I used one the framelits from the hearts collection to partially cut two adjoining cards at the top of the card base. I wish I had thought to take interim pictures, because this part was actually fairly involved and I was so glad when it actually turned out the way I wanted. Not sure if this explanation will be of much help without the visuals, but I die cut one partial heart at a time and used the magnetic platform with the long narrow plates normally used for decorative strips to help me apply partial pressure exactly where I needed it. I used the same technique and the same size framelit to cut the green galore mat. It might have been easier to just die cut the hearts and glue them in place, but the card wouldn't have looked as seamless.

I used the same size framelits to make the bride and groom hearts from whisper white and basic black card stock. I die cut the white heart twice. The first was to serve a shirt behind the 'V" I cut freehand in the black card to create a tuxedo jacket look. I embossed the "shirt" heart with the striped embossing folder, making sure that one of the raised stripes was in the center of the heart to look like the button ridge on a shirt. I added black brad buttons, a green galore grosgrain bow and a boutonnière made with a small flower from the Pretties Kit with a turquoise glimmer brad center. I embossed the bride heart with the hearts border embossing folder from the Adorning Accents assortment. Since this is not a full size folder, I had to carefully line up the hearts and the plates as I ran the heart through the big shot several times to cover the entire heart. I added some white organdy ribbon topped with lace ribbon from the Dress Up Ribbon Originals assortment and the added several layered flowers from the Pretties Kit for the bouquet with turquoise and green glimmer brad centers.

To finish the card I stamped the three sentiments from the Cheers to Love set in versamark ink on tempring turquoise cardstock. I then heat embossed them with white embossing powder. I punched the Mr. and Mrs. sentiments with the large heart punch. The "for the newlyweds sentiment was originally cut using a framelit from the apothecary accents assortment - the one that is rectangular with two semicircles at the ends. I then made a straight cut at the bottom of the semicircles to create the rounded edges. I made the rounded top edge with a framelit, but I honestly can't remember if it was a circle or an oval or another framelit from the apothecary accent. Suffice it to say, I didn't make this shape freehand. If I had to re-create the card I'd try different framelits and choose the one that best follows the arc of the sentiment.

I include a side-view picture of the card to show how it's supported. Because the top was die cut and because the card itself was rather large and heavy, I used the other half of the card stock to make a support for the card front to lean against with a more normal top fold for the inside. It made the inside of the card only 2.75" x 8.5" (2.5x8 for the white mat) but that was plenty of space to stamp in a sentiment from the Word Play set in tempting turquoise ink and write in our good wishes.

Recipe (all products Stampin' Up!")

Paper: tempting turquoise, green galore, whisper white, basic black
Ink: versamark, tempting turquoise for inside
Stamps: Cheers to Love, Word Play
Accessories: Pretties Kit, Brights Glimmer Brads, Hearts Framelits Assortment, Large Heart Punch, Apothecary Accents Framelits Assortment, Black Brads, Green Galore Grosgrain Ribbon, White wide organdy ribbon, Lace ribbon from Dress Up Ribbon Originals pack, Stripes Embossing Folder, Hearts border Embossing Folder from Adorning Accents assortment, white embossing powder.

Beachy Birthday

Today's Free for all challenge on Splitcoast  asked for beachy cards. I really wanted to play, but we're going out of town this weekend so I didn't have enough time. However, I had stamped this card back in February for my MIL's birthday. At the time, we were a month away from a family cruise that my MIL treated us all to, so it made sense to make her a beach-themed birthday card. She loved it, but I never uploaded it to SCS. Since it fits today's challenge, I decided to cheat a little and upload it now.

The card is a stairstep card, which is a little easier to see in the second photo. There are two shorter layers in front of the back layer to give the beach "scene" extra depth. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take any pictures from the side :(. 

I fussy cut almost all of the stamped images from the Shore Thing, Sentimental Journey and Summer Splash sets by hand (and should have done a much better job on the sun - oh well), except for the sanddollar images that serve as kind of faux brads on the birthday sentiment die cut - those were punched with the 1/2" circle punch. The sentiment label and banner were die cut using framelits form the Banners and Apothecary Accents assortments.

I embossed the soft sky background with the cloudy day embossing folder and I tore and sponged the sea and beach layers as well as stamping those layers with the wave and sand images from the Shore Thing set. I tore four separate layers for the middle tier of the card (two blue and two crumb cake) to create the look of perspective both on the beach and in the sea. The Gone to the Beach sentiment was a $1 stamp from Michael's that I picked up years ago and finally had a chance to use. It was just perfect for this card.

Recipe (all products Stampin' Up! except as indicated):
Paper: Whisper White, Soft Sky, Ballet Blue, Crumb Cake
Ink: Crumb Cake, Ballet Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Creamy Caramel, Summer Sun
Stamps: Shore Thing, Sentimental Journey, Summer Splash, Sassy Salutations, Gone to the Beach (c) Village Arts Press
Accessories: Banners and Apothecary Accents Framelits, Cloudy Day Embossing Folder, 1/2" Circle Punch, dimensionals.