Saffron Birthday

Annnd another week blew by with no posts at all....
Once again I had to steal some craft time, but! The house is under contract and all the steps (inspection...assessment...) are moving along nicely...! We even have a date we plan to be moving out on, and since we're more than half way moved out that should work out just fine! YIKES!
It is also the last week of school, which...is...pretty much a waste, haha.... Just a lot of early mornings!

This is the last card made for the card job I mentioned clear back HERE. This one is pretty simple and very straightforward.

I used the newest Freshly Made Sketch and some retiring products. I have used Summer Silhouettes SO many times that sometimes I get tired of it. I think I'll still miss it anyway. But I really like this color combination, and I like the almost-frayed burlap ribbon peeking out the side- which is also retiring! I cut the ribbon in half the long way to help it fray, and to reduce the bulk. Also it feels like a long time since I've used So Saffron, which is a shade I have always liked!

Supplies:
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes (retiring!) Number of Years
Ink: So Saffron, Tip Top Taupe, Calypso Coral, Old Olive
Paper: So Saffron, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Burlap Ribbon (retiring!)

And if you're curious, here are the cards that I have sent this customer! Only six ended up birthday specific, and the others were also requested. It was really nice to have an excuse to create over the last several weeks!

Blog Hop: May Flowers

Already we're to the 1st of May?!?!?!
The good thing about that is that we have another blog hop for you! This time we're following up with our April Showers theme, bringing May Flowers! Flowery cards are also perfect for Mother's Day which falls in May, so read on!

First up, I chose the Freshly Made Sketch for this sweet Mother's Day card....The greeting doesn't look crooked in real life....weird....

Supplies:
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder, Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso
Paper: Wisteria Wonder & Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: Neutral Buttons, Designer Label Punch, Glue Dot

Next up, I used the current Retro Sketch for this pretty tulip card, and you can see flowers work for pretty much any occasion! I used Watercolor paper for this card and was suprised the Memento black ink smudged into the pink petals. However, I also think that muddiness gives a realistic look to the flowers so that was a happy accident!

Supplies:
Stamps: Love Is Kindness
Ink: Memento Black, Old Olive, Melon Mambo, Crumb Cake
Paper: Pistachio Pudding card stock, Park Lane DP, Watercolor Paper
Accessories: Neutral Buttons, Linen Thread, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack, Glue Dots

Finally, I used the Nacho Average Challenge for this quick birthday card. It's not my favorite card but you can't win them all... haha! I do like the colors together tho...and it's hard to see but I stamped a different little flower on the white strip to look like leaves.

Supplies:
Stamps: Petite Petals, Itty Bitty Banners
Ink: Strawberry Slush, Wild Wasabi
Paper: Whisper White card stock, Maritime DP
Accessories: Petite Petals Punch, Regals Candy Dots, Dimensionals

Aren't flowers handy? haha! I know I own tons of flower stamps, current, retiring and long retired. They're so versatile and you can make them any color you can imagine, completely changing the feel of any card you could need. Awesome feature, haha!
Now hop on over to Cheryl and all the way thru to see how everyone else used May Flowers! And leave us some comments- we love to hear what you think!

What is retiring from today's projects?

• Itty Bitty Banners stamp set
• Pistachio Pudding card stock
• Park Lane DP 
• Maritime DP
• Essentials Paper Piercing Pack
• Strawberry Slush ink

Sympathetic Flowers

Here is another card from this month's class. This time I used a Viva La Verve sketch, and I kept to the newest In Colors. That's all that is "new" for the card, but I'm okay with that. *grin
I thought the rich colors and the flowers worked well for a sympathy card and its always a good idea to have those on hand, so that's the word I used.

 Supplies:
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Blackberry Bliss, Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey, Mossy Meadow
Paper: Whisper White & Blackberry Bliss card stock
Accessories: White Organza Ribbon

Blog Hop: Using Our Words!

Welcome back to another fun blog hop!

Words are powerful, aren't they? I've actually thought about that a lot lately...with all sorts of things in my life. And it fits our September Blog Hop theme perfectly because today we are using our words! Our stamped words! I have a few word sets and I wanted to feature as many as I could, haha.....

This one might be my favorite of the bunch...or it might be too busy...but I love that DP and the colors together! For this card, I used the latest Freshly Made Sketch and I kept the words as the main image!

Supplies:

Stamps: Yippee-Skippee, Summer Silhouettes

Ink: Blackberry Bliss, Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede

Paper: Soft Suede & Whisper White card stocks, Park Lane DP

Accessories: Hexagon punch (to flag the end of the strip), Dimensionals

This fun and simple card uses the colors from the Nacho Average Challenge blog, but the sketch comes from the Clean & Simple blog, and yes, this sketch intended for big words to be the focal point! Perfect!! 

Supplies:
Stamps: Feel Goods
Ink: Rich Razzleberry
Paper: Daffodil Delight, Bermuda Bay card stock, Sweet Taffy DP
Accessories: Petite Petals Punch, Brights Candy Dots

And finally, I have a completely neutral card - I was actually picturing it differently, but this is how it ended up! haha... And I like it, so that's okay. I used a recent Retro Sketch.

Supplies:
Stamps: Thoughts and Prayers
Ink: Basic Black, Crumb Cake
Paper: Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Very Vanilla card stocks
Accessories: Banner Punch, Neutral Buttons, Linen Thread

So here you have seen three different word stamp sets in action. There are so many more! If you turn to page 245 of your newest catalog you might find a surprise, certainly those who haven't made their catalogs all dog-eared like mine is, haha! This year Stampin' Up! provided a photo index of ALL the word sets in the catalog! (the ones that are all words or very close to it) How handy is that? No matter what kind of event you're creating for, you can flip to the back and see exactly which set to use- or order!
And right now- anyone who hosts a $300 workshop before Oct 31st, will get the limited time Good Greetings stamp set!

How's that for a complete set of words?! And you can only get it FREE, for hosting! 

Now go see Cheryl's word creations and hop thru the rest of the blogs and see how our Words inspire you!

Blog Hop: Featuring the Big Shot!

...and all the things you can do with it!
Happy August to you, and welcome to another fun blog hop!
(also, if you're a regular reader of mine, today I have cards!!!)

This month, Stampin' Up! is offering a really awesome promotion with the Big Shot! If you don't own a Big Shot, this is the best time to buy one! Until August 31, you can buy a Big Shot and get a Framelits and Stamp Set bundle for FREE! Already own a Big Shot? No problem- you can get a 15% discount on the same selected bundles!! YEAY!
(check the list of bundles at the bottom of this post)
And that is why our August Blog Hop features the Big Shot- to show you the fun things you can do once you get one of these in your house too!

My first card uses the very fun On Film framelits. There are lots of cute framelits in that set but my favorite is this polaroid frame! I also used the Calypso Coral Blendabilities which! you should know that ALL Blendabilites are available for you to order today!

Supplies:
Stamps: Swallowtail
Ink: Memento Black Ink, Calypso Coral Blendabilities
Paper: Park Lane DP, Calypso Coral & Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: Big Shot, On Film Framelits, Linen Thread

The second card fits the NAC100 challenge- and I used the #53 sketch. In case it isn't obvious, my favorite way to use the Big Shot is to emboss chunks of paper. Here I used the Honeycomb embossing folder and then scuffed an ink pad across it! Such a quick, cool look! But I also used another die - the Banners Die, for the greeting tag!

Supplies:
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Lots of Thanks
Ink: Island Indigo, Cajun Craze, Old Olive, Crumb Cake
Paper: Island Indigo, Crumb Cake & Very Vanilla card stocks
Accessories: Big Shot, Honeycomb Embossing Folder, Banners Framelits Dies

Alright, now go check out the rest of the Blog Hop, see what you could do if you owned the Big Shot and figure out your August order! *grin!

Discounted Bundles during August: 
Sumthin' Sumthin' stamp set & Word Bubbles framelits
Oh My Goodies stamp set & Deco Labels Collection framelits
Day of Celebration stamp set & Chalk Talk framelits
Daydream Medallions & Floral Collection framelits
Bright & Beautiful** stamp set & Stars framelits
(**stamp set available in Holiday Mini- released August 28, let me know if you want one mailed to you!)

Flowered Thanks

Quick post today.....
Today's card uses the current Clean & Simple sketch. It called for circles, but I went with flowers. And a lot of blues. And I like it!

Supplies:
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Lots of Thanks
Ink: Island Indigo, Lost Lagoon, Bermuda Bay, Soft Sky, Old Olive, Crumb Cake
Paper: Bermuda Bay & Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: Brights Candy Dots

Workshop Make & Take

Today was my workshop! We had so much fun! Its been few months since I had someone else host and I think that's what makes it so much fun. Who wants to host next time? haha...
I used this sketch on Tuesday, and now I'm showing you another idea with it- the one that we all made!

Supplies:
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes
Ink: Old Olive, Crumb Cake, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Sky
Paper: Crumb Cake & Whisper White card stocks, I Am Me DP
Accessories: Chevron Ribbon, Brights Glimmer Brads

The pretty DP and the brad are retiring, but the rest of it is current- which I planned knowing that this workshop was after the retired list came out! Those can be swapped out pretty easily for other products if you want to recreate the card!

New Toys!

Happy Monday! I hope your weekend was enjoyable! We had a kind of lazy Saturday and then a fun date night! Sunday I had a migraine but I think I'm past it, so here I am stamping!
I just got a new stamp order and I was excited to have some play time! I used a brand new stamp and ribbon for this card, along with the Retro Sketch 101. I went for a spring look and it sure seems like a lovely spring day outside at my house! {that's not 100% good, we really need the snow that so many other states are getting too much of, but I'll take the clear blue skies any day!}

If you look really closely, you might notice the open part of the card behind...yeah, I made this card upside down or backwards, haha. The first time I stamped the hexagon and greeting, it got smudged AND it was too high to put the ribbon on...so I flipped it, haha!
But its okay, I have just the friend to send it to, who will completely understand the wackiness we sometimes find ourselves in, haha....

Supplies:
Stamps: Hardwood, Summer Silhouettes, Six Sided Sampler
Ink: Crumb Cake, Island Indigo, Midnight Muse, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi
Paper: Very Vanilla card stock
Accessories: Natural Chevron Ribbon, Dimensionals

A birthday card!

Last week I needed to make a card for a good friend's birthday! I think purple is probably her favorite color (we never ask that anymore once we grow up, lol) but the gift I got was a relaxing bubble bath that was almost exactly Island Indigo. She owns the Summer Silhouette stamp set so I like to show another idea for it. I also wanted to grunge up the card, haha, because she is not confident in her grung-ing skills. :)

I used the latest Freshly Made Sketch for this card and even tho they like a clean look (and this card is clearly not) I'm quite happy with how it worked out!

Supplies:
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Simply Sketched, Gorgeous Grunge
Ink: Crumb Cake, Island Indigo, Wisteria Wonder, Soft Sky
Paper: Crumb Cake, Island Indigo, Wisteria Wonder & Very Vanilla
Accessories: Soft Sky seam binding ribbon, Big Shot, Woodgrain Embossing Folder, Dimensionals

A new sketch!

Same apology as posted Friday about the foggy, gray skies affecting the quality of my pictures...I tried the two brightest spots in my house and got very yellowy pictures...blah!

Its a new-to-me challenge blog that I took this sketch from. I tried the Paper Players site and this was their current sketch!

This is the card I demonstrated at my workshop Thursday. I liked that I was able to feature so many products and create something so cute! This project features the main Catalog, but was also inspired by the Sale-A-Bration brochure. If you've looked at it, you know that Stampin' Up! has suggested bundles to help you reach your $50 requirement, and the bundles work well with specific Sale-A-Bration freebies. One of them used the Tag A Bag items, found on page 158 of the catalog, so I thought I'd share an "out of the box" way to use some of those same items! I have two tags on this card, and the Bakers Twine that come from the Tag A Bag Accessory Kit!

Supplies:
Stamps: Lots of Thanks, Summer Silhouettes
Ink: Primrose Petals, Gumball Green & Crushed Curry markers
Paper: Primrose Petals, Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: Tag A Bag Accessory Kit (green stripe tag, sentiment block, twine), Regals Candy Dots, Dimensionals

Flowers!

Here's a couple flowery cards from my class this week!
This one uses the latest Clean & Simple sketch, and some Washi Tape for the borders around the greeting! I use these flowers a lot and this is a really great result!

Supplies:

Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Lots of Thanks

Ink: Pear Pizazz, Daffodil Delight, Midnight Muse, Melon Mambo

Paper: Pear Pizazz, Melon Mambo & Whisper White card stocks

Accessories: Gingham Garden Washi Tape

And this one uses the latest Retro Sketch, and comes with a disclaimer: that "thank you" didn't fit, lol! I don't recommend using it with that frame image, but I wasn't about to remake the card either, haha...Oh well. Now YOU know! I'm happy to help you out! *grin

Supplies:
Stamps: Simply Sketched, Four Frames, Lots of Thanks
Ink: Basic Gray, Real Red, Wild Wasabi
Paper: Real Red, Whisper White card stocks,
Accessories: Tea Lace Doilies, Basic Pearls, Decorative Label Punch, Dimensionals, Blender Pens

Summer Silhouettes for Autumn

Happy Monday!
Today I have one more card from last week's class. This one uses a recent Retro Sketch, mostly. *wink

Supplies:
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Lots of Thanks
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Crushed Curry, Tangerine Tango, Soft Sky
Paper: Crushed Curry & Very Vanilla card stocks, Sweater Weather DP
Accessories: Corner Rounder Punch, Natural Ribbon

Coordinating shades

Today I'm sharing the final card from my Neutral Accessories class. I used a slightly older Freshly Made sketch.
We used coordinating colors of ink to the papers, lol. But mostly this was to show how best to use the pearls or even rhinestones. I have found that using the tip of my Paper Snips scissors to lift it off the sheet of pearls and then putting it in place on the project, is the easiest way, and the adhesive doesn't stick to anything you don't want it on!

Supplies:
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Primrose Petals, Coastal Cabana, Early Espresso
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Early Espresso & Whisper White card stocks, I Am Me DP
Accessories: Basic Pearls

Friends

I know I said I'd show scrapbook pages, but I've decided to mix it up with some cards I made last night, lol. We'll alternate for a bit now that I have plenty of creations to show you, haha...

Today's card uses a recent Clean & Simple sketch. My result is a very quick, CAS, In Color card! I love the phrases in the Feel Goods set-- they're not occasion-specific and perfect for a "Just Because" kind of a card. This one is going to be mailed off this week!

Supplies:
Stamps: Feel Goods, Summer Silhouettes
Ink: Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush
Paper: Strawberry Slush, Coastal Cabana & Whisper White card stocks

Blog Hop: CASE that Pin!

Its the first of the month, so that means its time for another fabulous blog hop!

This month's theme was chosen by Julie, and she'd like us to focus on using our pinned projects on Pinterest! Smart girl! How many of us find our Pinterest boards are full of ideas that we never, ever get around to trying? Not to mention how handy it is to CASE (Copy And Share Everything) your projects - you simply find a project you love and you make it! No thinking required! *grin Hopefully you'll stick with the whole blog hop and be inspired to use your own Pinterest boards in your papercrafting!

First up, I have this quick and cute sample...which is linked right HERE. I love stamping on DP! The sample card uses retired DP but I'll show you how to use supplies you can order right away to make your own! And to make it my own, I went with a standard A2 size card, instead of a square note card. I find I don't use those very often...

Supplies:
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Midnight Muse, Wild Wasabi, Basic Gray
Paper: Midnight Muse card stock, I Am Me DP
Accessories: Corner Rounder Punch, Rhinestones

And then this pretty one, found HERE, took a few more stamp sets, hee hee....

Supplies:
Stamps: Wonderfall, Wanderlust, Simply Sketched
Ink: Baked Brown Sugar, Pistachio Pudding
Paper: Pistachio Pudding, Baked Brown Sugar & Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: Hexagon Punch, Rhinestones, Linen Thread, Neutral Buttons, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Well, I hope that inspires you, just like it did me! Its so easy to swap out the supplies you have and create a card you already love! Hop through to each stop and maybe you'll even find more to pin! Next up: Julie!

New Tools!

This is the 3rd design for the upcoming Accessories Card Class. I used a sketch from earlier this summer, and the Washi Tape is kind of subtle in some areas, but there you go!
Another detail to this one is that I finally ordered the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, and used it for the first time on this card. See how the pink flowers are lined up exactly the same on each stem? Cool huh?? *grin I need to play with it more to master it with clear stamps, but I think it was a good investment.

Supplies:
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes
Ink: Melon Mambo, Pear Pizazz, Daffodil Delight, Midnight Muse
Paper: Island Indigo, Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: Gingham Garden Washi Tape

Sympathy #3

This is my final sympathy card for this week thankyouverymuch. We're gonna need a change of pace around here, haha.
Again, I used an older sketch, this time from Clean & Simple, and I used an older Dynamic Duo, for Basic Gray and Your Choice! (I picked Wisteria Wonder, incase that isn't clear, haha)

Supplies:
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Four Frames, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Basic Gray, Wisteria Wonder
Paper: Wisteria Wonder, Basic Gray, Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: Designer Label Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, White Taffeta Ribbon, Dimensionals

A soft card...

Happy Friday to you! Any fun plans for the weekend?
This card was inspired by a card in the newest demonstrator magazine. I love that the magazine is full of ideas my customers haven't already seen! I loved that they had a Crumb Cake card with a raised Crumb Cake layer! I would never think of something like that! I have done Vanilla on Vanilla, but other than that it doesn't cross my mind and I really liked the look! I decided to emboss that layer to make it stand out a bit more, and I also used the current Retro Sketch with this card. And since the Crumb Cake gave it a soft neutral base I chose soft colors to stamp with!

Supplies:
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes
Ink: Pear Pizazz, So Saffron, Wisteria Wonder, Blushing Bride
Paper: Crumb Cake, Pear Pizazz, Pink Pirouette & Very Vanilla card stocks
Accessories: Linen Thread, Chevron Embossing Folder, Big Shot

Make & Take!

Today I want to show off the Make & Take from Saturday's workshop. Confession: it was 98% CASE'd from a card I found on the website where Demonstrators can post and share their creations. I went to LeAnne's blog and can link you to her card HERE. I was kind of at a loss as to what to feature, and her card gave me exactly the push that I needed. I just layered it on the Coastal Cabana cardstock to let people play with new stuff. And I used our new Rotary stamp, but her card features one of the greeting sets that is discounted right now! How's that for inspired?!

Supplies:
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Remember This rotary stamp
Ink: Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana, Basic Gray
Paper: Epic Day DP, Coastal Cabana & Very Vanilla card stocks
Accessories: Epic Day washi tape!!, Very Vintage Buttons, White Baker's Twine

And because I know you're asking, the recipe for the treat can be found HERE. It is SOO yummy! The topping is so crumbly it keeps coming off, (seriously, I bet half of it has fallen off!) and we're just collecting it in a bowl. My husband requested vanilla ice cream to sprinkle the topping onto!

Purple Flowers

Today's card is brought to you by Julie's sketch, which can be found HERE on the Craft Project Central blog! I tried to use something besides flowers, but all the images I have that are current were way too big, so, flowers it is! Besides I thought it was a great sketch and have been wanting to play with it for a while.
I did stamp a greeting, but it came out very wonky in a bad way, haha, so I had to flip the Pear piece over. This time I left a greeting off!

Supplies:
Stamps: Summer Silhouettes
Ink: Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant
Paper: Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder & Pear Pizazz card stocks
Accessories: White stitched grosgrain ribbon