Last April, during the SUO Challenge 16, I showed you some pictures of my dear old kitty and my boys. A week ago today, I had to say goodbye to my old friend of over 19 years. As you can imagine, it has been a hard week for the family. My creativity has been a bit out of focus and I hope you can understand. My posts for the next couple of weeks may be a bit sporadic. Fortunately, I had done a flurry of activity before this happened and will be showing you some of those projects.
My sweet Pito’s time had come and I am thankful I was there with my friend until the end. I miss the old fellow terribly but I am thankful for the many years that I was his person. I look to the day I meet him again at the Rainbow Bridge.
Look at my cool new badge!! Yes, I have been asked to design for the new challenge, Freshly Made Sketches for the next 6 months along with the super talented Cindy Hall. How great is that??!! Their sketches have already been fantastic and I am really in love with the design philosophy…clean, but not necessarily simple. I have felt that is my design style for a while and can’t believe how fortunate I am to be in the company of such a great design team!
Take a look at the great sketch we have for you this week! I love the simplicity with lots of room to make that “any shape” panel something special.
I chose to leave it as a circle but used my Perfect Pennants Die to create an interesting border. I seem to be fully and completely in my seasonal color changeover and Always Artichoke seems to be one of my go-to colors this fall. I used the Paisly Petals DSP as my inspiration and cut two of the leaves out of the DSP for the focal image. Aren’t they pretty?? I threaded some Very Vanilla 1/8″ Taffeta Ribbon through my Early Espresso button and cinched up a bow made with Alway Artichoke Seam Binding. The sentiment is from the hostess set Precious Butterflies.
I hope you are having a fantastic week so far! Make sure you go see the beautiful cards that the rest of the team has made…and then show us your fantastic creation too! Thanks for stopping by today! Hope to see you again soon!
Stamp: Precious Butterflies; Paper: Paisley Petals DSP, Always Artichoke, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla; Ink: Early Espresso; Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Pennant Die, Always Artichoke Seam Binding, Very Vanilla 1/8″ Taffeta Ribbon, Neutrals Buttons, Dimensionals
Over at SUO Challenges, we are challenging you to show us your leaves! So many of Stampin’ Up’s stamps have beautiful leaves in them and we are making them the focus. The hardest part for me was choosing WHICH of my sets to use! I have so many that are some of my all time favorites! In fact if you look at my cards for the last two SUO Challenges, they contained leaves.
For today I chose the hostess set Faith in Nature. This set was was so high on my wish list when the catalog came out that it inspired me to become my own hostess! *smile* I used this really cool pattern from Well Worn DSP as the background and I thought the Square Lattice embossed Cajun Craze panel was a great match-up. For the image, I inked the leaf in Versamark then inked with my Early Espresso Ink Pad. After stamping, I embossed it with Clear Stampin’ Emboss Powder. This allows for easy watercoloring and provides a beautiful texture to the image. Sadly, the photograph just doesn’t translate the subtle shine. I added a little Victoria Crochet Trim and cinched a bow using an Antique Brad (it has leaves on it too!).
I can’t wait to see all the Stampin’ Up leaves falling on your cards! You have about 10 days so there is plenty of time to join us! Don’t forget to go see the beautiful cards the rest of the design team created…amazing work! I’ll be back tomorrow with my first project for a new adventure! Can’t wait to share!
Stamp: Faith in Nature (Hostess); Paper: Well Worn DSP, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla; Ink: Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, Versamark; Accessories: Big Shot, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Victoria Crochet Trim, Antique Brad, Blender Pen
As promised I’m here to tell you more about my card for the OWH World Cardmaking Day Blog Hop.
One of the most important rules of cards for Operation Write Home is the no glitter rule. There can be no sparkle that has a chance of flaking off since this can be a terrible safety risk to our heroes. I opted to take on a subtle color palette and have a little shimmer from the beautiful Seam Binding. The first thing I stamped was the flower using Cherry Cobbler ink. When stamped in this color it takes on a poinsetta feel to me. I stamped it twice and cut out one layer to give some dimension. Next I took my new Designer Frames Embossing Folder and embossed Watercolor Paper with my Big Shot. I tore the around the oval and then rolled up the edges with my thumbs. The Watercolor Paper is so heavy that it hold the curls nicely! I stamped the flourish onto Crumb Cake paper using Soft Suede ink and colored in the leaves and flowers with a Crumb Cake Stampin’ Write marker. I debated the sentiment for a while but finally settled on this one from the retired Star-Studded Season. I have a bit of a Christmas sentiment “collection” and have kept this set for all the wonderful phrases! It seems particularly perfect for our heroes and their families! I punched out the sentiment with the Extra-Large Oval Punch, sponged it with Soft Suede ink and popped it up on a Dimensional. Finally, I got to the bow. I made a double bow using the “potato masher technique” shown in this tutorial. I love these bows made with the Seam Binding. I added a little Beau Chateau DSP at the upper corner and across the card to mimic the dots in the Designer Frames oval. The ribbon tails were attached with strategically placed Mini Glue dots and then I frayed the ends a bit.
I hope this answers all your questions about the card. If there is something I didn’t cover, please let me know and I’ll be happy to help. I will be back tomorrow with the next SUO Challenge and it is yet another great one!! Thanks so much for stopping in today. See you again soon!
Did you enjoy the Operation Write Home Blog Hop yesterday??!! Amazing cards!! If you missed it, just go back to yesterday’s post and the link is there!
Yesterday was also the launch day for the Creative Crew’s October Challenges at Splitcoaststampers. My card today is for the DSP/Color Focus Challenge of the month – use any holiday themed designer series paper. I combined it with the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches #4.
This is another great one and it was perfect for the challenge!
I chose to make the tag an oval and I love how the big panel let the DSP do the work. In this case, I used Spice Cake DSP and I am still in love with it! I thought it would be perfect with the leaves from Day of Gratitude! I created the tag by threading a small piece of More Mustard card stock through the button. Then I created nesting loops of the thin slices of card stock, securing them together with Mini Glue Dots. I got the idea to do this from my clever stamping friend Cindy at Heart’s Delight Cards and incorporated it here. I treated the other button the same way and attached it to a piece of Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon for symmetry.
The cool weather in VA this weekend has it feeling like Thanksgiving so this seems perfect! I hope your weekend has been good. As promised, I’ll be back tomorrow with more details about my OWH Christmas card. Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again soon!
Stamps: Day of Gratitude, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Spice Cake DSP, More Mustard, Pool Party, Early Espresso; Ink: More Mustard, Early Espresso; Accessories: Neutrals Buttons, Big Shot, Ovals Die, Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots
Welcome to the Operation Write Home World Cardmaking Day Blog Hop!! I am thrilled you have stopped in today. If you don’t know them already, Operation Write Home has sent over a million cards to our heroes overseas. Yes, over a MILLION cards! Wow! These cards are available to the heroes so they can write home to their loved ones. We all know that there is nothing like a hand-made card and one made for the heroes shows how much we care about them. All the details about the organization are available on their website as are the rules about the cards (ie, no glitter, A-2 size, etc).
Many of my readers already know that I served in the Air Force for 10 years as a pilot. My husband was also Active Duty Air Force and still serves in the West Virginia Air National Guard as a C-5 pilot. One of my husband’s favorite parts of his job is bringing critical supplies to the front line troops. I feel like I can help a little by shipping some morale to those heroes via Operation Write Home. The burden on the military family is great and communication home is critical. Cards from loved ones are truly priceless and I am proud to be able to contribute in a small way.
I will be back on Monday with some more specifics on this card since I know you have lots more cards to go see! Make sure you click on the banner at the top of the post to get to the whole hop. Thanks for stopping in today. As you celebrate World Cardmaking Day, make sure you create a few for the heroes!
Stamps: Creative Elements, Star-Studded Season (retired); Paper: Watercolor Paper, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Beau Chateau DSP; Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake; Accessories: Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, Big Shot, Designer Frames Embossing Folder, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots
Tomorrow is World Card Making Day and Opereration Write Home is celebrating with a big blog hop showing holiday cards. There are over 100 blogs participating and I am extremely proud to be one of them!!
Here is a little sneak peek of my card. Make sure you come back tomorrow to see the reveal and to link into the whole hop. I’m sure it will be amazing!
Tomorrow is also the launch of the October Creative Crew Challenge. I won’t be able to post the projects here because of the hop but they will all be posted at Splitcoaststampers tomorrow afternoon. More on each of those during the week.
I hope you have a wonderful Friday and I look forward to having you drop by again tomorrow!
Have you ever made a card that you like so much that you see other potential in it?? That is how I felt about a card I made for the Stampin’ Addicts Holiday Mini Blog Hop. I have never given that card a full explanation and I thought you’d like to see its sister card too.
This was the very first card I made with Bright Hopes and it still may be my favorite so far. I have always loved Always Artichoke and it seems so beautiful when put with Very Vanilla. I stamped the Christmas tree in Versamark and then embossed with Clear Stampin’ Emboss Powder. I inked up my Brayer and rolled it across then finished the edges with a little extra sponging. The bow uses the “potato masher” technique that I showed you in a previous tutorial. The Always Artichoke layer was attached to the Very Vanilla base and then run through my Big Shot with the Framed Tulips Embossing Folder. I added some pearls for some extra elegance and popped the stamped layer up on Dimensionals.
You can see that the second card is really exactly the same in most ways. I did not emboss the tree (although that would be a beautiful addition) but instead added shimmer to the stamped panel. I created my own Shimmer Paint spray by adding Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint to regular rubbing alcohol (about 12-15 drops per 1 ounce) and sprayed it on the Naturals Ivory paper. I created a different style double bow and frayed the ends a bit to match the earthier tones. I do find that it is particularly hard to photograph any projects made with the Shimmer Paint spray.
This close-up picture gives you a better idea but this is one of those cards that is just prettier in person. The wonderful thing about the Shimmer Paint spray is that you can add sparkle without it coming off. Really perfect for the mass production of your Christmas cards!!
I look forward to hearing which of these cards you like better and why. The second card was for a Stampin’ Addicts swap and you should see the amazing cards I got in return. What an amazing group!
Thanks for stopping in today! I hope these inspire you to start thinking about your holiday cards. Start now and you’ll have them done well before the holiday season!! Have a great week!
Happy Saturday everyone! I’m back today with a card made with my new favorite Christmas set, Bright Hopes. I just love this set!! I’m was also excited to play with the new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches, FMS3.
I flipped the sketch to accomodate the tree, as you can see. This set is perfect for the challenge because it is best kept “clean”. The intricate details on the stamps do all the work! I interpreted the scallops on the sketch in a slightly different way and used the border stamp to created a scallop look. Trust me, your Stamp-a-ma-jig is your best friend here. I did find that the card was a bit “bottom heavy” (and no one wants to be bottom heavy!!) so I added matching scallops to the top of the card. Problem solved! I tied the beautiful Early Espresso Quilted Ribbon into a double bow and finally added a sentiment on the banner. As usual, it is hard to photograph the dimension on the card and the banner is raised in the midde with Dimensionals with the ends flared up a bit. The final addition was the Basic Pearls, another perfect little detail.
I hope you like this Christmas card as much as I do. I am fully in Christmas card planning mode so you can expect to start seeing lots more. In fact I will be back on Monday with two more cards (two cards, one layout) with Bright Hopes. Thanks for stopping in today!! Have a wonderful weekend!
Stamps: Bright Hopes, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler; Ink: Early Espresso; Accessories: Early Espresso Quilted Satin Ribbon, Basic Pearls, Dimensionals, Stamp-a-ma-jig
It’s time for the next SU Only Challenge and this is one for everyone! We are falling for Fall Colors! Browns, oranges, yellows and greens…or whatever combination speaks fall to you! We can’t wait to see what you create!
For me, fall is when my Cajun Craze, Soft Suede and River Rock make an appearance. This card started in a whole different direction but finally settled here. Day of Gratitude is a set perfectly designed for fall and I love it. I got it when I went to a Stampin’ Up Regional last year so it holds special memories, too. I embossed the back panel with my new-again Square Lattice Embossing Folder. My folder had gone missing (the horror!!) and I finally broke down and replaced it. When I find the old one, should be any day now, I’ll have another to share! The medallion is Early Espresso ink on Early Espresso paper and the leaves are inked in Early Espresso and Cajun Craze. A little hint after you fussy cut the leaves: Take your Stampin’ Write marker and color the edges of the leaves by coming from behind the paper. This gets rid of the Very Vanilla edge and make the leaves pop a little more. The sentiment from Inviting was the final touch for this masculine birthday card.
I can’t wait for you to see what the rest of the team has created so drop on over to SUO Challenges to see. You have about 10 days for this challenge and I look forward to seeing your work. Thanks for stopping in today!
Stamps: Day of Gratitude, Inviting; Paper: Early Espresso, Very Vanilla; Ink: Early Espresso, Cajun Craze; Accessories: Big Shot, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Neutrals Buttons, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots
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