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ColorLab 38

ColorLab 38 published on 12 Comments on ColorLab 38

Look what the ColorLab has created for you this week!  A beautiful set of Easter egg colors!  You can just feel the breath of spring coming from these, can’t you??  I debated what to make to do these colors justice and I decided to go 3-D.  I’m sure you figured out by now that 3-D isn’t usually my go-to thing but I had favorited a project from the very talented Sarah Wills back in March.  She has a tutorial for an adorable little basket that I knew would be fantastic with the challenge colors.

Is this not seriously great (if I do say so myself)??!!  I pretty much followed Sarah’s tutorial exactly but I did use the box measurements for her plain (not scalloped edge) version.  Because I do not have the corner punch she used, I simply added the panels punched with the Scallop Trim Border Punch behind the So Saffron basic box panels.  The DSP in this is a variety of papers (mostly retired).  The Certainly Celery butterflies are from Tea Party DSP (last year – retired), the So Saffron and Pink Pirouette papers are from Bella Birds DSP (two years ago – retired), and the little Baja Breeze butterfly is from Elegant Soiree DSP.  I love that the little chocolate eggs match the colors for the challenge (ok, I did actually look for them to match but there were lots of choices)!!

If you want to use this lovely tutorial, just make sure to tell Sarah thanks for all the details she graciously provided!  I plan on making a few more of these to use as teacher gifts this week…yes, they come together that easily!  Thanks for stopping in today.  I probably won’t post again until next week due to the Easter holiday.  If you celebrate Easter or Passover, I hope your weekend is filled with wonderful food and time with family.  Blessings to you all!

Stamp:  Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper:  Bella Birds DSP (retired), Tea Party DSP (retired), Elegant Soiree DSP, So Saffron, Whisper White; Ink:  So Saffron; Accessories:  Big Shot, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Basic Pearls, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Sticky Strip, Jumbo Brads, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots

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SUOC17 – A butterfly for Mom

SUOC17 – A butterfly for Mom published on 18 Comments on SUOC17 – A butterfly for Mom

This week at SU Only Challenges we are making Mother’s Day cards!  Now if the special mom in your life is anything like my mom, she saves and loves the cards that are sent.  You know what that means, of course.  You get to really pull out the stops and make a spectacular card knowing it will be truly appreciated!

I told you last week that I had been playing around with versions of the Beautiful Butterflies die combined with the Elements of Style stamp set.  This is really a stepped up version of my butterfly from that post.  I started with my gorgeous Presto Patterns DSP and ran it through my Big Shot with the Beautiful Butterflies die.  Then I stamped on the two butterflies with the flower stamp.  I watercolored in some River Rock and Early Espresso on the stamp image and then sponged on some more River Rock to bring out the pattern of the DSP.  A little extra sponging on the edges was done in Early Espresso.  I love the soft look of River Rock and how it makes for a non-standard palette so I made that the main color of this card.  The sentiment was stamped on River Rock textured card stock and comes from the All Holiday set (I just used a marker on the word I wanted).  I stamped the flower image again on the large piece of River Rock to create a toile look.

Next came the ribbon.  Sadly, there is no River Rock ribbon right now but I have an easy solution.  Make it!  It is much quicker to do than I would have ever thought.  I took Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon and colored it River Rock with a Stampin’ Write Marker.  Then I simply spritzed it with water and blended the ink to look uniform.  Let it dry and it is ready to use.  This is also a great way to get ribbon in a color that you don’t use very often!

I put a piece of Early Espresso Satin Ribbon under the River Rock ribbon to add the right balance and scrunched the River Rock onto the textured card stock layer.  All that was left was adding the final details…an Antique Brad and Basic Pearls.  I attached the butterfly together with Crystal Effects so that his wings could look like he is ready to fly.

It is fun to make a card that goes a little beyond on effort…especially for mom!  You have two weeks to show us your beautiful creations for Mother’s Day.  Convieniently enough, that should give you time to get yours made and in the mail too!  This fantastic layout comes from Stampin’ 411, by the way, and I am also entering it into Shelli Gardner’s Creative Challenge this month.  After all, April showers bring flowers and the flowers bring butterflies!

Thanks for stopping by today.  Make sure you go see the other amazing creations by the SU Only Challenges design team.  You will love them!

Stamps:  Elements of Style, All Holidays; Paper:  Early Espresso, River Rock, River Rock Textured, Presto Patterns DSP; Ink:  River Rock, Early Espresso; Accessories:  Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies Die, Blender Pen, Sponges, Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon, Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Basic Pearls, Antique Brad, Crystal Effects, Sticky Strip, Dimensionals

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Criss Cross Blossom

Criss Cross Blossom published on 15 Comments on Criss Cross Blossom

Whew…yesterday was a busy, busy day for stamping at my house!  I had two classes making cards for “Those Wonderful Women” in our lives.  One of the cards we made was targeted for younger ladies but with the bright, happy colors, it could be for anyone.

I started with my Brights Designer Paper Pack and chose the polka dots paper in Melon Mambo, Pacific Point and Daffodil Delight.  The Basic Black really makes those colors pop so that was my base for the card.  The finished card is 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″.  Just perfect for tucking in a gift bag or inside a present box!! 

I used my Scallop Circle punch to create the flower on this.  Simply punch out one Basic Black scallop circle and two of each color.  Crumple them up (yes…just do it!) to soften the fibers of the paper a bit then re-stack them in whatever order you like.  Punch a hole through the middle using your Paper Piercing Tool and secure the layers with a small brad (I chose a black brad).  Using a little Sticky Strip (or a few Mini Glue Dots), attach a black button in the middle and put it on your card.

The inside of the card pulls right out and has so many fun options.  My stampers commented that this would be cute as a party invitation or to hold a gift card.  They are so right!  I used the flowers from the Apple Blossoms Hostess Set since they match the Scallop Circle flower so perfectly.  The sentiment comes from Teeny Tiny Wishes…my go to word set these days, it seems.

I am working on the tutorial with all the measurements.  If you would like to get that, leave me a note in the comments and I’ll have it out to you as soon as I complete the final details.

The Pals Paper Arts PPA89 fashion inspiration this week is flowers.  Well, I think this happy flower card fits perfectly!  I hope your week has been great and that you get to have some stamping time this weekend.  Thanks so much for stopping in today.  See you again soon!

Stamps:  Apple Blossoms (Hostess), Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper:  Brights Designer Paper Pack, Basic Black, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight; Ink:  Pacific Point, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight; Accessories:  Sticky Strip, Paper Piercing Tool, Scallop Circle Punch, Neutrals Buttons, Neutrals Brads, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Thread (Non-SU)

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ColorLab 37

ColorLab 37 published on 4 Comments on ColorLab 37

I got to pull out my Rose colored inks this week for the ColorLab Challenge!  Aren’t these colors pretty?  Artichoke has been one of my favorite greens since I started stamping so it was nice to pull it out this week too.  I definitely went Clean & Simple (CAS) for the challenge because I was still cutting and preparing for my class.  I might be the slowest designer around when it comes to classes…I am always changing things right up until the last minute!

My project today highlights hostess sets, old and new.  The flower comes from last year’s set Of the Earth and it remains a favorite of mine.  The sentiment is from this year’s hostess set Apple Blossoms.  Hostess sets really are little gift that keep on giving!!  I sponged an oval using a mask cut out by my Big Shot with the Ovals die and simply stamped the flower on top.  The ribbon is that beautiful Always Artichoke Seam Binding.  Pictures never seem to capture how pretty that style of ribbon is on a card.  The layout is based on the Try Stampin’ On Tuesday sketch this week.  I changed it a little but it is mostly true to the sketch concept. 

Make sure you go see the lovely work of the other Color Chemists this week and I can’t wait to see what you make with this set of colors!  I’ll be back tomorrow with one of the projects from my “Those Wonderful Women” class.  See you then!

Stamps:  Of the Earth (Hostess, retired), Apple Blossoms; Paper:  Always Artichoke, Whisper White; Ink:  Rose Red, Regal Rose, Always Artichoke; Accessories:  Big Shot, Ovals Die, Sponges, Artichoke Seam Binding

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Stylish Butterfly

Stylish Butterfly published on 25 Comments on Stylish Butterfly

I finally got to do a little more stamping yesterday…yea!!  Some of it was for a class I am having on Thursday called “Those Wonderful Women” – cards for the women in our lives.  I’m not going to show you those quite yet but I did get time to make an extra.

This started with a sketch from the Operators over at Stampin’ 411 and it is another great one to use!  I also found out that The Friday Mashup has a Butterflies with Dimension challenge this week.  Immediately, my new Beautiful Butterflies die had to come out (why it took so long for me to get this one, I have no idea!).  I have been experimenting around with Elements of Style combined with this die with some nice results.  It seemed natural to put them together for this one.  I simply inked the flower image directly with Baja Breeze and Early Espresso markers and stamped it onto my Naturals Ivory butterfly.  The stamped butterfly was attached to the Early Espresso butterfly using Crystal Effects.  After it dried, I added the Basic Pearls.  The Baja Breeze Seam Binding uses the pulled thread technique to get the scrunching and I layered it over a piece of Early Espresso Satin Ribbon.  In person, the Satin Ribbon adds another layer of dimension.  The sentiment comes from the All Holidays set and I love how it compliments Elements of Style.

Well, I’m off to do some more preparation for my class.  I hope you are having a great week so far.  With any luck (and some extra stamping time), I’ll be back tomorrow but you will definitely see me Thursday for another ColorLab Challenge.  Thanks for stopping in today!

Stamps:  Elements of Style, All Holidays; Paper:  Early Espresso, Baja Breeze, Naturals Ivory; Ink:  Early Espresso, Baja Breeze; Accessories:  Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die, Crystal Effects, Basic Pearls, Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Baja Breeze Seam Binding, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Scallop Trim Border Punch

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ColorLab 36

ColorLab 36 published on 10 Comments on ColorLab 36

Oh, how I love the colors for this week!  Crumb Cake and Espresso together with just about anything are my kind of colors.  The Poppy Parade with them works beautifully.  Something about the orange-ish tint of this red is fantastic with browns.  It was kind of a nice change from some of the pastels we have been doing lately at the ColorLab.

I was stamping with a dear friend last week and she was using one of last year’s hostess sets called Kind & Caring Thoughts.  When I saw the flower from the set, I asked her to borrow it for this.  I really LOVE it with the Poppy Parade!!  I stamped it onto Crumb Cake card stock along with a sentiment from Say It Simply.  This is still available in the Occasions Mini but not for long so make sure you get this useful little word set before it is gone.  I distressed the image panel and added some Log Cabin Smooch Spritz.  Just remember with the Smooch Spritz that you have to accept the variations in the droplet sizes.  For this, it works perfectly.  The paper behind the image is from the retired Deck the Halls DSP.  I am on my last pieces but it is nice to find a non-holiday use to finish it up.

The layout comes from a fun site called Try Stampin’ on Tuesday.  I love their layouts and this one came at the perfect time.

Today is the last day of my nephew’s visit and we have had such fun.  I’ll be back to more stamping next week…promise!!  Until then, I hope you have a great time with this color challenge.  Make sure you check out the fantastic projects from the other Color Chemists too.  Have a great rest of your week!

Stamps:  Say It Simply (Occasions Mini), Kind & Caring Thoughts (retired); Paper:  Deck the Halls DSP (retired), Early Espresso, Crumb Cake; Ink:  Poppy Parade, Early Espresso; Accessories:  Log Cabin Smooch Spritz, Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Linen Thread, Dimensionals

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SUOC16 – Celebrating Pito

SUOC16 – Celebrating Pito published on 7 Comments on SUOC16 – Celebrating Pito

It is “Raining Cats and Dogs” at SUO Challenges this week!  So that means it is time to celebrate our furry friends and in my house that means Pito.

Pito turns 19 years old in about 2 weeks (talk about perfect timing) and is a sweet old friend.  He came to own me when I was stationed in Panama while in the Air Force.  Since then, he has been generous enough to adopt my husband and two boys.  He takes his job very seriously with the boys and moves from one room to the next at night “putting the kittens to bed”.  It was great to capture that time in pictures.  Pito has been well known as a fat cat during most of his life but lately he has started to seem thinner and more fragile.  My Digital Studio makes it so easy to scrapbook these little moments that will be so important in saving memories!  The best part…I started with one of the Sunny Day designer templates.

You can see how I kept the layout and simply changed out elements that fit my theme better.  The kitty from Cute Cats worked perfectly in place of the bird!!  The more I play with My Digital Studio, the more I appreciate all the options.  If you already own it, don’t forget that there is a new update available here.

I am so excited to see all you will create with this fun challenge.  Remember you have two weeks for this challenge so there is plenty of time to play! 

My nephew is staying with our family this week so there won’t be many posts.  I’ll be back on Thursday with the ColorLab Challenge, though.  Hope you have a great week!

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ColorLab 35

ColorLab 35 published on 9 Comments on ColorLab 35

This week’s ColorLab Challenge colors are really wonderful to use!  I think Elegant Eggplant is such a pretty purple and it is wonderful paired with Old Olive!  Of course, I love a brown for the neutral so this was pretty much tailor made for my stamping style.  I still had Inspired by Nature in my stamp area from yesterday’s project and decided it would work again here.    I love coneflowers and after I got this set, I planted a bunch of them in my garden.  I guess art inspired life in this case.

I used direct marker to stamp to ink up only the small flower.  One of the things I love about this set is that you can use the whole image for a lot of impact or only the small flower for a different scale.  The Old Olive DSP comes from the Brights Designer Paper Pack (what a handy pack of paper that has been!).  The scallop punches (Edge Border and Oval) are a perfect combination and I finished with some more of the retired Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon.

Glad you were able to stop by.  I can’t wait to see your beautiful projects with these colors! 

Stamps:  Teeny Tiny Wishes, Inspired by Nature; Paper:  Brights Designer Paper Pack, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White; Ink:  Elegant Eggplant, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive; Accessories:  Scallop Edge Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon (retired)

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Thank you Moments

Thank you Moments published on 9 Comments on Thank you Moments

I have a set to show you today that includes 10 thank you notes for a friend. 

Ever since I first saw the current Stampin’ Up catalog, I have been inspired by page 97.  I knew that I wanted to use the palette there to make some cards.  Well, it certainly took me a while but I finally got to do it.  I made 4 1/4″ square cards and used a version of the box I created here.  I did make the box a bit deeper to accomodate more cards.  The colors I chose were Crumb Cake, Early Espresso and Perfect Plum.  What a pretty combination.  I’m sure you can see the influence of the catalog page!  The images were colored using a Blender Pen mixing Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Early Espresso and Perfect Plum ink.  I love how calm this feels!

Inside I designed two styles of cards and added the Inspired by Nature flower with the same colors.  To help balance the box, I put the button on opposite sides.  The sentiment comes from the ever-useful Teeny Tiny Wishes.

I’m glad you were able to drop in today.  I’ll be back tomorrow with another ColorLab Challenge…you are going to love the colors!!  Hope you have a great day!

Stamps:  Teeny Tiny Wishes, Inspired by Nature, Every Moment; Paper:  Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Naturals Ivory; Ink:  Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Perfect Plum; Accessories:  Blender Pen, Neutrals Buttons, Linen Thread, Mini Glue Dots, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Bone Folder

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Zoo Friends

Zoo Friends published on 13 Comments on Zoo Friends

The Friday Mashup team was kind enough to choose me as a Mashup Maven last week so I was able to get a preview of this week’s challenge:

It is an inspiration challenge!  How fun!  Somehow, when I see the animals together I think of Fox & Friends so that was where I started.  I also found a new challenge called Try Stampin’ On Tuesday and they have a fun sketch this week.  I pulled out the animals in the set to figure out who I wanted to use and kept thinking about some cute wagons and arks I have been seeing with this set.  It was also fun to pull out some colors I haven’t used in a while, specifically Tangerine Tango.  This orange was really perfect for the giraffe and I love the paper choices with it in the Brights Designer Paper Pack.

I created the wagon out of 1/4″ strips of Early Espresso and added a little piercing to mimic the hardware on a wagon.  A piece of Old Olive was cut to fit behind and I snipped it to look like grass.  The handle is simply a narrow strip of card stock with a single scallop from the Scallop Trim Border Punch.  Buttons for the wheels were the final touch.  I added a little more piercing to the Tangerine Tango panel and to the corner of the image for texture.  Finally I punched the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes with the 1 3/8″ x 5/8″ Oval Punch and created a layer behind using the same punch.

Hope you get to play along with this fun challenge.  Thanks, again, to the design team for choosing me as a Maven!!

This has been a busy week of posting.  I love that I have had the opportunity to show you some different styles!  Thanks for joining me again today and I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Stamps:  Fox & Friends, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper:  Play Date DSP, Brights Designer Paper Pack, Early Espresso, Whisper White; Ink:  Tangerine Tango, Early Espresso, So Saffron; Accessories:  Neutrals Designer Buttons, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Piercing Tool, Mat Pack, Paper Snips, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Oval Punch

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