Curly Cute Antiqued

This card was demonstrated in the March 2012 issue of Stampin' Success. I did not have all the accessories that they had so I had to fudge a little. The card is Crumb Cake and then I cut the large apothecary framelit and ran it back through the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder. I then took Soft Suede and a sponge to distress the piece of Pool Party. The accent color to pop on this card is Melon Mambo. It was fun and simple to do.

Birthday Wishes

Although this card has a piece that sticks out on both sides it will still fit in an A2 envelope. I simply cut down the card to make it fit the banner that is 4 1/4" wide. I used the Betsy's Blossoms to stamp the flower and the Birthday Wishes are from the Bring the Cake set. It does not show up well in this pic but I cut a 2nd framelit and ran it through the Chevron embossing folder and it is under the white piece. These colors are Primrose Petals, Baja Breeze, Gumball Green and Whisper White. Consider this a sneak-peek for the upcoming August 25th Birthday card class! Only $25 to make 10 cards (2 of each design) and lots of fun! Save your spot now!

The Paper Players Challenge

This is an interesting and fun challenge because really anything goes. You simply make a tic-tac-toe anywhere on this board and make your card to fit the three spaces for your win. Clear as mud? Here is the board.  Now here is my card. As you may be able to tell I used the top 3!

Circles, birthday and favorite color!

Sending the Bluebird of Happiness

I saw this little bird in an old magazine and punched one up for myself. It reminds me of the bluebirds in my backyard. I made my card a non-traditional shape but it will fit in a regular A-2 envelope. Doesn't he make you happy to see him? May you have a happy and carefree day!

Even as I pack for vacation I am thinking about the upcoming Birthday Card Stamp-a-Stack on August 25th. This should be very fun. We had the Christmas in July event yesterday and everyone had a good time and went home HAPPY!

Fun Folds Class

I recently did a Fun Folds class and we really had some fun! We made 4 different cards each featuring something different and fun. I showed you this card in Daffodil and now I have made a size change and color changes. I wanted to use 6x6 paper for the origami part to save $$. So I made my card to be 3 3/4 x 3 3/4 and the insert worked perfectly. It unfolds to reveal a surprise on the inside!

Time is Running Out!

There are only a few more days to get this great set for only $5 with any $50 order online or in person or via e-mail. This little card was inspired by Jennifer. I changed the colors to my personal favorites...anything in blue! I used the Pool Party with the Island Indigo and a touch of Lucky Limeade.  Very easy to do with the wonderful 2-step stamping set. Remember, it disappears on the 31st and will not be back.

CCMC 211 Challenge

This is a sketch again this week and since I am working on our Christmas in July cards I figured I might as well go with the flow. I saw this sketch and it reminded me of a similar card I had done and quickly went about making this one. You can play along as well by clicking here for all the info.

My colors are Pool Party, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive and Whisper White.  Thanks for another fun sketch!

Life Card

This is a little 3x3 card that I got directly from the May Stampin' Success magazine. It features a lot of dry embossing and layering. The sentiment is from the Elements of Style set and the butterflies are from the Papaya Collage set. The colors I used were Soft Suede and Calypso Coral.

5 Months to Christmas and Time to Make Cards!

No pressure here but it is only 5 months until Christmas. Now I remember as a child that seemed like an eternity but now as an adult, well, seems like Christmas is always just around the corner! This is a card that I put together after the inspiration I got from Mary Fish. I wanted to used the circle idea but wanted mine to be holiday related. This is a 5 1/2 x 5 1/2" square card. I used the Be of Good Cheer DSP from the main catalog. The season's greeting is from Curly Cute and the stocking is from Snow Much Fun! Hope to see you this Saturday at my annual Christmas in July event where we will be making 10 Christmas cards (2 of each design) for only $25.

Framed Again!

While looking around my stamping room I came across several packages of these little paper frames from the $ Tree. I love little finds like that and often just have to take advantage of them. They were 6 for a dollar so you can get a lot of bang for little dough. Since I usually do a card and a 3-D project at my demonstrations this was the 3-D for my last get together and for all parties for the next few weeks. They were simple yet pretty. I used Papaya Collage, Calypso Coral and Soft Suede.

The Paper Players Challenge

I am sitting down in "real time" and came across this challenge from the Paper Players. I looked at it and right away came up with a clean and simple card to match their sketch. Here is the sketch.

Now here is my card. I used the stamp set Just Believe for this card and used the colors Old Olive and Pacific Point to make my focal image. It is very basic but that is how I like them!

The Friday Mashup!

This is the first time I have ever seen these creators and their sketches but since I had a little time I thought I might as well play along! I took a leftover element and added it to a card to match the sketch. It was quick and simple. Here is the sketch and their link (in case you want to play along).

Now here is my card. I used Pumpkin Pie and Cherry Cobbler with  a touch of Whisper White.

PPA139 - A Sketch Challenge

This week I am playing with the Pals Paper Arts sketch. I don't always have time to play but when I saw this sketch it only took me a minute to get an idea so I had to sit right down and play with it. I used the World Spectacular designer paper for my inspiration as you can see here. It was not hard! Check out what the design team and others are doing by clicking here.

Cute Little Note Holder

Well, as much as I may hate to admit it, school time is quickly approaching! As you get ready to send your little ones (or maybe not so little ones) off to school, why not make a few of these quick little note boxes for their teachers. I know I can never have too many pieces of note paper about! I found the tutorial for this on Splitcoast here. I quickly grabbed my July only stamp set, Reason to Smile, and stamped up this one. I would have to say that the hardest part was punching the corners of the paper and that is optional!

LNS Challenge - Embedded Embossing

I am working on my Christmas in July upcoming class on the 28th (Saturday week) and when I saw this challenge I decided to go with my Christmas theme. I made a very simple card that would be so easy to CASE even for the most basic stamper. The colors are Bashful Blue and Whisper White. I used the Snow Swirled stamp set. After setting the front layer I ran it all through the Big Shot using the Dots folder. 10 minutes or less from beginning to end.

A Quick Gift

I was playing around with my paper cutter and scorer the other day and made this little lolly. I know it is supposed to be much simpler with the great Stampin' Up! Simply Scored Scoring tool and the diagonal plate but somehow in the great flood mine was lost or thrown away by my hubby. I never even used it! Sadness.
Anyway, this little lolly went onto the candle and I made it into a quick birthday gift using the birthday sentiment from the Curly Cute set. I love the new butterfly punch. It is so pretty!

Reason to Smile #2

Another Reason to Smile card. I was going for the Gerbera Daisy look here, not sure I did it but the effect is interesting with the ink. I had to draw my stems and on the leaves so please don't laugh! At the last second I added a little butterfly that was laying on my desk.

CCMC210 - Color Challenge

Another color challenge. Wow! I think I like the sketches better because there is less to have to decide! Anyway, I am playing along again and it seems that I am stuck on this great little stamp set called A Reason to Smile. That is just a fun name! It has kept me smiling alot! I will be sorry to see this stamp set retire at the end of this month.I got my inspiration for this card from this blog.

CCMC-NC4 Challenge

A 2nd entry for this week (since I missed last week)! Anyway, I made so I figured I might as well post it. This one came in 2nd and I cased myself (casing someone else) from a few days ago. Same layout, different colors. Same stamp set too! This cute set disappears on July 31st so get yours today with any $50 or more order for only $5! What a deal.

Week 4 - Color Challenge

Whew! I just got back from my whirlwind trip to Honduras for a medical mission trip. We saw 849 people in 4 days. I saw and treated so many of God's children in the area of Yarsein. It was amazing how God was able to use 15 gringo's to touch so many lives.
Any way, I got home and found this challenge on the subscription Create with Connie and Mary new catalog edition and was stumped! It took me several tries to get one that I was happy with. This is a very basic layout but the colors were stumping me. Here is my final draft.

I just realized that some of the Hondurasa money, ie...the Cinco Lempiras has the same colors are this challenge. I could have just posted this bill to the challenge!

How fun is that! Same colors as this challenge!

Mixed Bunch

I am still going through the old Stampin' Success magazines and copying the cards I like. This is one where I made a couple of teensy changes. I used the clear glitter on the bottom and change the sentiment. This great set, Occasions Alphabet, fits perfectly with the new Duo Ticket punch!

Reason to Smile

This little set is a special this month only from Stampin' Up! With any $50 or more order you can get it for only $5. Now that is a deal by any standard. I got this card layout here and did it with Perfect Plum, So Saffron and Wild Wasabi. I used the color coach for this color combo. Great little tool.

Happiest Birthday!

I cased a Saleabration card for this one. I changed the DSP to current and Voila! A quick and easy birthday card. It would also be easy to make it masculine by changing the flower to eyelets or brads.

Blooming With Kindness

This card was inspired much more recently than last year as this set just came out in the newest Stampin' Up! catalog. It is called Blooming with Kindness and it has this flower image with lots of great greetings. I got this card idea from Fran Sanbad and you can see her card here on her blog. I made a couple of very minor changes like the colors and the greeting.

Everything Eleanor - Again!

Another Everything Eleanor card. I said it before and I will say it again, this is my new "go-to" set for the moment. I was really sad about losing Baroque Motifs but this one will replace it very nicely. I got this card idea from Connie Babbert (thanks) and used it verbatim for my Stamper's 25 club. The colors are Real Red, Basic Gray, Old Olive and Whisper White. It makes a great any occasion card!

Just Because

It is interesting how as I keep going thru the new catalog I find things that are new that I missed or stamp sets or as in this case, die cuts that have been retired. I like this pillow box so I will keep it just for fun. I made this little box "just because." I used boxes like this last year on our cruise to give extra tips to the room steward and table server.
Supplies Used:
Artistic Etchings, You're Amazing sets
Soft Suede, Riding Hood Red, Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight and Whisper White card stock
Riding Hood Red, Pool Party and Soft Suede inks
Ruffled Pool Party ribbon, Expresso twine, Brights button, Scallop circle and retired Builder punch, Duo ticket punch

Betsy's Blossoms

What a fun and simple card. It is based with Tangerine Tango and the other colors used are from the DSP Floral District, Rose Red and the leaves are Lucky Limeade. Who would have thought that these colors would look so good together? I am sure I never would have used them without the DSP. I like how the flower in the corner looks like a sun! This was one of the great preview cards from the current Create with Connie and Mary by Natasha Zandbergen. Thanks Natasha!

Papaya Collage

I just love the collage look of cards and projects of any kind. That is probably why I bought this set, the idea of collages. Well, I let it sit around for a month or more before I got around to using it and then I pretty much cased a magazine card. Of course, I used only Stampin' Up products for my card so mine is different from the one in Paper Crafts.

Field Flowers 4x4

This is another CASE from my old Stampin' Success magazine. These magazines have great ideas and I recently read on the Stampin' Up! website that they not only approve CASing but highly recommend it! Whew! Most of my inspiration comes from others! This is a Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla and More Mustard combo with a little Old Olive and Baja Breeze ink.

PPA Challenge 138

As you can see this is a color challenge...

I decided to do something a little different because I found one of these little frames on my desk left over from my Stamper's Club projects the other night. I used this little frame from the $ store for my challenge.
I inked up the frame with direct to frame Daffodil Delight. I then stamped one of the little flowers from the Reason to Smile set and water colored it to get the Brown-Eyed Susan look. The ribbons are from last years Christmas mini and matched so I used them.

Challenge Frame

CCMC209 - Sketch Challenge

It is time for another Create with Connie and Mary Challenge. They do this every Thursday and you have a week to play along. Sometimes I am very late but since I will be leaving for Honduras on Saturday a.m. for my mission trip I had to play quickly! Today it is a sketch. Sketches are fun because you get an idea and then just fill in the blanks.

Enjoy!

Never Too Early for Christmas!

Ok, it is July and that means that my annual Christmas in July stamp camp will be coming soon! I am looking at July 28th for this class. You will not want to miss it and if I have enough interest I will do 2 sessions. Any way, this is a little teaser for those of you who like the non-traditional colors. The card is Pink Pirouette and the DSP is from the new catty called Be of Good Cheer. I used the Pennant Parade stamp set for this cutie. Mark your calendars now for this very fun event happening Saturday, July 28th at 10 AM. This is a crowd favorite! We will make 2 each of 5 different cards for only $25.

Sending You Rainbows!

I have recently been studying Noah's ark and the rainbows in a Mad Science class for church and had to make up a quick rainbow card to show off the colors. I know the last colors (Indigo and Violet) are not showing up well in this photo but they are there IRL (in real life). This was quickly and simply done with the Beautiful Wings embosslit. The sentiment is from the set Kindness Matters.

Reason to Smile Promotion

Get the Reason to Smile Set-up to a $20.95 value-for just $5 when you spend $50 on any Stampin' Up! products.

Description	$5 Item	Price
Reason to Smile Wood-Mount Set	131274*	$5.00
Reason to Smile Clear-Mount Set	131275*	$5.00

*Enter this $5 item number after reaching $50 on your order.

 Now for the details:

• There is a limit of one (1) set per customer.
• You will not be automatically prompted to enter the $5 Item Number for a qualifying purchase. Use the item codes from the table above.
• The Reason to Smile Set is exclusive to this promotion and will not be available after July 31, 2012.