Block Birthday

Tonight's card features the Block Party stamp set, which I fell in love with as soon as I first saw it in the catalog. For this card I stamped a portion of the birthday greetings image in purely pomegranate ink on whisper white card stock. I added a groovy guava mat and a river rock cheater bow using narrow satin ribbon from the Theater ribbon originals collection. I then added a mat of purely pomegranate. The main image on this card is not stamped at all -- it's created with the scalloped punch, some designer paper and a crimper. I cut a piece of designer paper from the ginger blossoms collection for the cupcake bottom and ran it through the paper crimper. For the cupcake top I punched a scalloped circle out of purely pomegranate card stock and stamped it with the swirl pattern from the background basics set in whisper white craft ink. I used another piece of designer paper from the Ginger Blossoms assortment for the candle and I hand-cut the "flame" from the discarded half of the scalloped purely pomegranate circle, drawing in a "wick" with the fine tip of a chocolate chip marker..

I mounted a mat of purely pomegranate card stock and groovy guava prints designer series paper to the river rock base. I then added the sentiment and, finally, I layered on the cupcake. (By the way, the cupcake was not my idea. I don't know where I saw it first -- it could have been SCS or a blog. If anyone knows who came up with this idea first please leave a comment to this post and I will update the post accordingly.)

It's not a fancy card but I think it works.

inspiring shirt

Tonight's card was inspired by a shirt I saw at Ann Taylor Loft this week. I loved the colors and the pattern (scroll down a little to see a photo of thee shirt). I thought the best set in my collection to re-create this look was Time Well Spent, the Level 3 hostess set that will retire next month.


I stamped everything but the small flowers in creamy caramel ink on whisper white card stock. The small flowers were stamped in chocolate Chip ink. After I stamped the images I colored them in using stampin' write markers in tempting turquoise, take with teal, creamy caramel, chocolate chip, ruby red and only orange. To finish the card I simply added a tempting turquoise mat and attached the stamped image to a chocolate chip base. That's all there was to it. I didn't even use any punches or accessories!

Even though it's not my usual style, I really like how closely this card resembles the shirt and how far it took me out of my comfort zone. And I love this color combination and how I probably never would have put it together myself.

I found lots of other fun stuff at Ann Taylor loft, so there will be more "inspired by" cards on the blog in the coming days. Stay tuned!

certainly tempting guava

Did you figure out what the title of tonight's post was all about? Yup, I'm trying out a new color combination: certainly celery, tempting turquoise and groovy guava. I think it works pretty well. Here's the recipe:

Stamps: Polka Dots & Paisley (retires August 10)

Card stock: groovy guava (retires August 10), certainly celery, tempting turquoise, whisper white

Ink: groovy guava (retires August 10), certainly celery, tempting turquoise

Accessories: Narrow grosgrain ribbon in whisper white and tempting turquoise, glue dot, Groovy Guava looped ribbon from the Sherbet Ribbon Originals Collection (retires August10)

Super easy paperclip bookmark

Ok, let's say that your best friend is visiting from out of state with her two boys and you're dead tired because you stayed up late to clean the hose and finish up some swaps but you still want to post something to the blog. What do you do? Well, if you're like me you make a project that is about as easy as stamping can get- a paperclip bookmark.

I suppose if you wanted to complicate this project you could, and if I had more time I'd probably at the very least add some glitter (maybe I'll post my souped up version at a later date) but for now this was quick and dirty stamping at its finest.

To make this card I chose the butterfly image form the Perennial Favorites retiring stamp set. I colored the butterfly with my regal rose stampin' write marker and stamped it on whisper white card stock, then colored in the wings with my almost amethyst stampin' write marker. I punched the image out with the 1 1/4" circle punch, added a lovely lilac 1 3/8" mat and a regal rose scalloped circle mat. Then I repeated all the steps again and attached the two scalloped circles to each other over the top end of the clip with a pop up glue dot.

To finish off the bookmark I simply added some narrow whisper white grosgrain ribbon and a couple of ribbons from the retiring Fairytale ribbon originals collection. Not bad for about 3 minutes, right?

Guava Wedding

No, you're not imagining things. If tonight's card looks familiar, it's because it's a close cousin of the card I posted last night. Once again I used the year After Year stamp set and the same layout, including using chocolate chip card stock for the mats. I also used the groovy guava prints designer series paper (although a different pattern than on last night's card). The only real changes were the substitution of ginger blossom designer series paper for the jersey shore designer series paper, which meant that instead of wild wasabi I used river rock and ruby red on this card, and the substitution of the river rock stretchy ribbon from the beachfront ribbon originals collection (25% off starting tomorrow!) for the chocolate chip satin ribbon from the Theater ribbon originals collection. The cake image was stamped on very vanilla card stock with basic brown ink and colored with a blender pen and ruby red, groovy guava and river rock inks.

I really like this layout for the images in this stamp set, as well as other similarly sized sets such as fun and fast notes and pun fun. So don't be surprised if you continue to see it pop-up here in the future, especially right now as my time for leisure stamping is severely curtailed. The good news is that I am almost done with all of my organized swaps (I just have to finish up 1 group of mini albums and 1 group of wow tags). The bad news is that I'm not done yet, and tomorrow my best friend is arriving from Michigan with her two boys, so I'm unlikely to get any productive stamping time in the next few days. And with just about a week to go until Convention time is running out! Yikes! Wish me luck!

flowers after flowers

Tonight's card is all about retirement. I used a retiring stamp set (year after year,) retiring colors (wild wasabi and groovy guava,) retiring designer papers (Jersey Shore and Groovy Guava prints which, by the way, will both be 25% off starting on Monday). I also used some of the wide chocolate chip satin ribbon from the Theater Ribbon originals collection, which I strongly suspect will be retiring on Monday.

The card itself is very simple. I started with a wild wasabi base and added a chocolate chip and groovy guava prints designer series paper mats. The chocolate chip border on all mats is intentionally 1/16 of an inch. I did this just to create a subtle outline, not to overwhelm the card with the chocolate chip color.

Over the groovy guava mat I added a strip of chocolate chip card stock layered with a strip of wild wasabi designer paper from the Jersey Shore designer Series Paper collection. I added the chocolate chip satin cheater bow at the bottom of the strip.

For the image I stamped the flowers form the Year after Year set in basic brown ink on very vanilla card stock and used a blender pen to color the image with wild wasabi and grooby guava ink. I added another chocolate chip mat and attached the image to the card front.

There you have it -- very simple and, if I say so myself, kind of classy.

Yay for you!

Yet another sneak peak tonight. I stamped this card with the Sock Monkey set, which will be available for purchase on August 11. I have to confess my sock monkey associations are not exactly great, so it took me a little while to warm up to this guy, but I got him because I knew my niece and nephew would love him and now that I've stamped with him I think I'm falling in love too!

Other than the new stamp set, I also used the new riding hood red card stock and ink to make this card. I paper pieced the monkey and the flag and the "yay" sentiment on the flag is hand-written with the close to cocoa stampin' write marker. Here's the recipe:

Stamps: Sock Monkey
Ink: Basic Brown, Close to Cocoa, Riding Hood Red
Card Stock: Blush Blossom, close to cocoa, riding hood red, very vanilla
Accessories: blender pen, large and small oval punches, 1" circle punch
Techniques: Paper piecing

Christmas in July?

I know, I'm a little early for the Holiday Season. What can I say? Since I signed up for two groups of Christmas swaps at Convention, I've been working on Christmas cards this week and it was just too easy to put another card together for the blog. That and I wanted to give you a sneak peak of some brand new stuff that will be available in the new catalog. It's kind of hard to see in this photo, but the colors I used for this card are kiwi kiss and riding hood red (along with summer sun and whisper white) -- brand new in colors for next year. I love the way these colors go together and can't wait to use them on my holiday cards!

I also used a brand new scallop border punch on this card -- so much easier than using the corner rounder or slit punch, though the scallops on this punch are a lot smaller so there is still room for using the other two punches for larger scallops.

For this card I stamped the image from Big on Christmas in basic gray on whisper white card stock. I colored the letters and tree using a blender pen and riding hood red, kiwi kiss and summer sun inks. I then used 2 way glue to add glitter to the letters, the ornaments on the tree and the star. I layered the image on a piece or riding hood red card stock and added the scalloped border to the top and bottom. I then added a layer of summer sun card stock.

I stamped the kiwi kiss card base with the holly image from background basics (make sure you buy this set before it retires on August 10!) in kiwi kiss ink. I attached my image to the card base and the card is done.

Roses

I decided to stay with this week's SCS color challenge colors for tonight's card, but I changed my stamp set to Wild Rose. I used the masking technique to stamp the flowers and greenery on the focal image, then used the Prints designer papers in almost amethyst and so saffron for the mats. My only accessory was a bit of the wild wasabi double stitched ribbon.

And speaking of in color double stitched ribbon, I heard it through the grapevine that the blue bayou and purely pomegranate ribbons are already sold out, so if you need ribbon in any of the other in colors get your orders in quick!

Office Original

I have to thank Holly for leaving a comment on my paisley joy card and pointing me towards this week's color challenge on SCS. I've been so busy working on swaps that I haven't even looked at the challenges, but this color combination certainly sounded like something out of my comfort zone so I decided to go for it and make a card.

I wanted to use the Office Accoutrement set for my main image because it is retiring in August so I might as well get as much use out of it now as I can. I stamped the large flower with almost amethyst ink on a piece of almost amethyst prints designer series paper and cut it out with my paper snips. I then used my 1/2 inch circle punch to punch out some so saffron prints designer series paper for the flower center and adhered the so saffron circle to the flower.

Next I took a piece of so saffron card stock and punched one side with my spiral notebook punch. I have this bad feeling that this punch is going the way of Office Accoutrement on July 21. I hope I'm wrong, but I want to be using it now just in case. I stamped the "original" sentiment in the lower right hand corner in wild wasabi ink. I tied a bit of the elastic ribbon from the Theater Ribbon Originals collection around another piece of the same ribbon and used the two to make the stem and leaves for the flower. I attached the flower over the "stem" with a pop up glue dot.

To finish the card I stamped the almost amethyst card base with the small flower stamp from Boho Backgrounds in almost amethyst ink. I attached a piece of textured wild wasabi card stock to the card front on an angle and attached the so-saffron layer over the askew mat.

I really enjoyed working with these colors which I never would have put together myself. Thanks, Holly, for pointing me in this direction!

Joy in paisley

Since I had the Polka Dots & Paisley set out from last night's card, I decided to use it again. I also decided to stick with the same color scheme - so saffron, brocade blue and whisper white. The only accessory I used was the white Ric-rack ribbon from the ribbon originals assortment. Otherwise it's just straightforward stamping and adding mats, with just a little bit of sponging on the edges of the whisper white card stock. I didn't even use a single punch! I really thought last night's card was pretty quick and easy, but tonight's card beat it out for that title hands down!

Polka Dot happy

Another simple card, but this time in a 3x6" format (I have to change things up a little bit, right?) For this card I started out with a 6x6" piece of so saffron card stock folded in half. I used my corner rounder punch to create a scalloped edge on the front of the card. I then used my ballet blue stampin' write marker to color in just the flower in the center of the paisley image from the Polka Dots & Paisley set and used my stamp-a-ma-jig to line up the flowers in the scallops. I finished off the card base by sponging the scalloped edge with more ballet blue ink.

I then added a mat of ballet blue which I previously stamped with the polka dot background from the Polka Dots & Paisley set stamped in ballet blue ink. I stamped the solid flower image in so saffron ink, added a ballet blue outline and punched the image with my 1 1/4" circle punch. I added a 1 3/8" brilliant blue circle mat and a so saffron scalloped circle. I then used my handheld 1/16" circle punch to punch around the scalloped circle and also to punch out the centers of the flowers in the scallops on the card base. To finish I stamped the word "happy" on whisper white and rounded off the corners with the corner rounder punch. I added a so saffron mat and adhered the sentiment to the card front.

So there it is: 1 stamp set, 2 colors ink and three colors of card stock. It doesn't take much easier than that!

brocade blossoms

Yes, you might have guessed, another really simple card. On this one I used the Blossoms Abound set. Can you believe this set is retiring in August? Sad, isn't it? It's really such a lovely set and the two step stamping makes it so easy to make elegant cards.

For this card I used bashful blue ad brocade blue ink on the flowers and certainly celery and always artichoke for the leaves and stem. I stamped everything on whisper white and added an always artichoke and brocade blue mats. I then added the image to a 4x5.25" piece of certainly celery card stock and embellished this mat with some always artichoke narrow grosgrain ribbon and an "s" shape clip from the aged copper hodgepodge hardware collection (this is also retiring in August, but you can get it while supplies last at 25% off -- Woo hoo!) Then, to finish off the card, I mounted the whole thing to a brocade blue base.

And there you have it -- a perfect all-occasion card.

Birthday gifts

Another quick card today because, once again, I was too busy for anything else. For this card I used the Year After Year Set, which is scheduled to retire on August 10. I really like this set because it's a line set, which means you can color it if you want to, but the lines are bold enough that you can let the images stand on their own, as I chose to do on this card. I used the masking technique to create the illusion of perspective. It would have worked a little bit better had I stamped the orange gift a bit lower, but even as it is it looks OK. Here's the recipe:

Stamps: Year after Year, A little Birthday Cheer

Inks: green galore, brilliant blue, only orange, tempting turquoise, real red

Card stock: green galore, only orange, tempting turquoise, whisper white

Accessories: designer label punch, 1/16" handheld circle punch, bold brights brad assortment.

Build a Flower Kit

1. Did you ever want to make some super quick and easy cards to have on hand or to give as gifts? Well, there's no easier way to make cute and quick cards than with the Build a Flower Accents and Elements self-adhesive die-cuts. And I'm making it even easier for you by gathering everything you need in a kit and providing directions on how to create 20 unique note cards. Keep them all for yourself or split them into bundles to give away!
   
   The Build-a-Flower class by mail kit will include:
2. Build a Flower Accents and Elements;
   Note Card pack (20 3.5x5" whisper white cards and envelopes);
   Roll of narrow certainly celery grosgrain ribbon (If you have this color you may substitute any other narrow grosgrain color of your choice); and
   Instructions on how to make your 20 cards.

The cost of the kit is $31.00, all shipping and tax included.

Or, if you'd like to add sentiments to your cards, you can supplement the kit with any $13.95 stamp set for a total cost of 44.95, all shipping and tax included. I used Much Appreciated for these cards, but A Little Birthday Cheer or Spring Pictograms would also be good choices.

All you would need at home to complete the cards is a little SNAIL or another adhesive of choice to secure the ribbon "stems" to the card front and, if you want to include sentiments, a coordinating ink pad (I used basic black) .

If you want to take advantage of this offer be sure to place your Build-A- Flower kit order soon, because it is extremely likely that this kit will be included on the retiring accessories list, which means that it will only be available until August 11 or while supplies last. Contact me at Stampwithdiane@comacast.net or 847-452-8285 to place your order. I accept visa, master card, discover, paypal, checks and (for local customers) cash. US customers only, please. Thanks!

Eat Cake

Has this ever happened to you? You've been working on something all day and suddenly you realize you need a card -- fast! So you let the automatic pilot take over and you slap a card together only to look at your final product and wonder who really stamped it because it's so far away from what you would normally do it couldn't possibly have been you? No?
I guess it's just me then. The posessed stamper!

Seriously, when I looked at this finished card I kind of scratched my head and wondered where did this come from? And I still don't have an answer. I guess somewhere deep inside I have been craving a plum cake - LOL!

I'm not sure there's anything more to say about this card, so I'll just give you the recipe:

Stamps: Eat Cake
Paper: Whisper White, pale plum, perfect plum, sage shadow
Ink: pale plum, perfect plum, sage shadow
Accessories: signo white gel pen, coluzzle oval cutting system, whisper white narrow grosgrain ribbon, stamping sponge.

Working on swaps

ETA: Just in case I wasn't clear in my post last night, this card is not my swap card. It's just something I threw together so I would have something to post. The swap cards are top secret until Convention (though I will post them here in August.)

I spent a good part of the day today working on my Convention swaps and then it was time to get ready for a party so I didn't have a lot of time to make something new that I could post. So here is a tried and true layout with one of my favorite sets -- One of a Kind. For the flowers I used glossy white card stock that I covered with pretty in pink and regal rose ink using the polished stone technique. I then stamped the flowers in chocolate chip ink. I trimmed out the large flower with my snips and the small flowers with my boho blossoms punch. I attached the flowers to a piece of berry bliss designer series paper, added a chocolate chip and pretty in pink mat and attached the whole thing to a purely pomegranate card front. I stamped the sentiment on whisper white card stock in chocolate chip ink and punched it out with the word window punch. I mounted the sentiment on a large oval punched from pretty in pink cards stock. Then, as a final touch, I added some micro fine glitter to the center of all the flowers.

One more patriotic card

Between the birthday party and the fireworks tonight I didn't have much time in the stamp room, but this morning I remembered that I actually had a stamp combination that could pass for patriotic, so I quickly put this card together.

I used the classic stars jumbo wheel inked up in blue bayou ink on a a strip of whisper white card stock, added some real red striped ribbon, mounted the whisper white strip on a strip of real red card stock and attached it to the blue bayou card front.

I then stamped the eagle from wildlife reserve in basic gray on a piece of whisper white and colored him using my close to cocoa, so saffron handsome hunter and basic gray stampin' write markers. I added a blue bayou and real red mats and attached the image to the card front with dimensionals. IMO it's patriotic enough without any sentiments.

Happy Independence Day!

I just love the 4th of July because I love fireworks. There's something so magical about sitting outside on a nice summer evening with showers of multi-colored lights exploding overhead. This year our niece and nephew will be coming with us to watch the show -- the first time for both of them! I'm really excited and just hope that they're too excited by the show to get scared by the noise.

Anyway, in honor of Independence Day, I wanted to stamp a patriotic card. the trouble was I really don't have any patriotic stamps. I've been meaning to get some, but something else always needed to be purchased first. So tonight I had to make do with what I had and, if I say so myself, I think I did OK.

The card is actually pretty simple. I started with a ruby red base. I took a strip of night of navy card stock and added a "Meg" cheater bow made with the brocade blue wide striped ribbon from the Jersey Ribbon Originals assortment. I then attached the strip to the card front and added a row of small stars that I punched out of whisper white card stock. At the bottom of the Night of Navy strip I rubbed on dots from the Anchored Rub- On Assortment.

Since I didn't have any specifically patriotic stamps, I wasn't sure how to finish the card off. I could have done something like a Celebrate or Happy Birthday (it is, after all, our country's birthday) but that seemed too predictable. So instead I opted to use the Live Every Moment sentiment from the Anchored Rub On assortment (by the way, if you like this sentiment as much as I do, you can get it in a larger size through our Decor Elements self-adhesive vinyl decor line -- Cool!) Then I finished off the card with three star rub-on images, also from the Anchored assortment.

That's all for now! I hope you all have a fantastic day tomorrow and a really great evening under the stars!

Block Party Thank You

It's that time of year when we have to say goodbye to a lot of stuff. Yesterday it was the Occasions mini and now through August 10 it's the retiring stamp sets from the spring/summer collection. Then On July 21 we'll also add the retiring accessories to the list. So much to snap up before it's gone forever and so little time to do it in!

Tonight's card features the Block Party set which, unfortunately, found itself on the retirement list. I really love this set, I have every since I saw it for the first time in last year's Fall/Winter collection. I haven't used it in a while, though, so it's nice to have a reason to stamp with it again.

For tonight's card I pulled the colors right from the Special Delivery Girl Simply scrappin' kit. I had some pieces of the designer paper and self-adhesive die cuts left over from other projects and I thought they would go great with this set. I inked up the bottom of the stamp with my river rock ink pad and the top with groovy guava, then used the apricot appeal stampin' write marker to ink up the center. I stamped my image on whisper white card stock and added a strip of designer paper between the various sentiments. Then I mounted the stamped image on mats of Sahara sand, apricot appeal and textured groovy guava card stock.

I selected Sahara sand for my card base and decorated it with a strip of designer paper and some self-adhesive die cut borders. I also added the circles with flowers on top of the apricot appeal scalloped border. Finally I added my stamped image to finish off the card.

Thanks to the self-adhesive die cuts this card was so simple! If you have some left-overs from any simply scrappin' kits put them to good use and make them work for you just like I did! And remember, since most of the Simply Scrappin kits in the spring/summer collection feature at least one "in-color," they are definitely going to retire, so if you must have one or more of them I suggest you place your orders now, before supplies run short!