Upcoming class sneak peek

This is one of the cards we will be making in my next class. I thought I would give a little sneak peek!

I stamped the flower in Elegant Eggplant, then used the blender pen to color the flower in. I started with the yellow first, then added the purple, and followed along the lines of the stem and leaves with Old Olive. Using the the spatter stamp from Itty Bitty Backgrounds really finished it up.


Stamps: Echoes of Kindness (hostess set), Gods Blessings, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Sanded
Cardstock: Old Olive, Pale Plum
Ink: Old Olive, Elegant Eggplant, Yoyo Yellow
Slot Punch, White Taffeta Ribbon, Blender Pen

Super Simple Monday

Sometimes the beginning of the week can be hectic...(or ANY day for that matter!) So I thought I would post a card that would literally only take about 5 minutes to make. It takes minimal supplies, and only one color of ink.
I took inspiration for this card from one made a while back by my wonderful upline, Carrie Rhoades. I don't have a link to a picture, but it was really cute! she used pinks and browns for hers, and the scallop punch with "thank you" for the sentiment.

For this card I used:

Stamps: Wild About You, A Little Birthday Cheer, Sanded
Ink: Old Olive
Cardstock: Old Olive, Yoyo Yellow, Whisper White (also I added a small strip of Always Artichoke for the band, but you can omit that)

You know, looking at this card now, I think I will go back and stamp and cut out a little party hat for him from the Party Hearty set! How cute would that be!

Too much?

Remember how I was saying in my previous post about cards popping in my head? Well, this was another one that I am not sure if it turned out quite how I pictured it. I don't know if the colors are just a little too shocking or what. I tend to be pretty critical of my work and sometimes see it differently than others might.

I made this card for our group swap this last week and let me tell you.... I need to start making easier cards! If I had really made them the way I wanted, the butterflies would have been cut out and been 3-D. But after making 11 of these cards as they were, I just didn't have the time or energy to stamp, cut out, and glue 11 of these butterflies!.
The butterfly and the swirl on the main image have Iridescent ice on it to make it sparkly!
I'm still not sure about it, but I hope you like it!


Stamps: Priceless, Baroque Motifs, All Holidays
Cardstock: Garden Green, Yoyo Yellow, Whisper White
Ink: Handsome Hunter, Garden Green, Yoyo Yellow, Bashful Blue, Basic Black
Big Shot Top Note Die, Stampin Sponge, Iridescent Ice.

Inspired winner!

Every once in a while, a card design just pops in my head out of nowhere, and this one was one of them! I actually made this card several months ago, but hadn't had a chance to photograph it until this last week.
I liked this card so much that I made more for last months group meeting swap, and lo and behold, I won the swap contest! Hooray!
I'll admit, making this card can be a bit time consuming, but worth it I think!
For this original card, I had stamped and cut out each of the flowers. You can also use the Trio Flower punch for each one too, but you lose the outline.
This card would also be really pretty using this technique from my blogging buddy Julie! (what an awesome idea!)

The basics to making this card are:
Whisper White cardbase, Bashful Blue panel, Whisper White scraps to stamp flowers on.

Using Brocade Blue ink, stamp off once then stamp the branches on one side of the Bashful Blue panel. Stamp the flowers on the white cardstock and either cut or punch out. Stamp the sentiment in Basic Black ink just below the halfway point to the right.
Using a Stampin Sponge and Brocade Blue ink, daub the edges of the card to give it some shading, avoiding the sentiment area.
Wrap white taffeta ribbon around the blue panel, lining it up just under the sentiment. Glue on flowers in a random pattern, gluing some off the panel (cut off extra). Use a white gel pen to color the center of the small flowers and to add random white dots to fill out the branches. Adhere the blue panel to the white cardbase.

Love those butterflies!

Here is another one we did for my last class. Very easy!
For this one, I used the Designer Series paper from the Sale-a-Bration catalog, but you can substitute any paper or even stamped cardstock.

Stamps: Flight of the Butterfly
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, So Saffron DSP, Whisper White
Ink: Barely Banana, Certainly Celery, Going Gray
Scallop edge punch, 1/16 hole punch
So Saffron wide Grosgrain ribbon.

I'm back!

Hello everyone! I have returned from a long hiatus and I think I'm ready to start blogging again!
I thought I would start with some of the cards we made at the class I held the week before I left. I wish I could take credit for this card, but I totally CASED it from this card.

I thought it was a very striking card, yet really simple to make. I always try and do somewhat simple cards in my classes so that anyone who might be new can start on something that won't overwhelm them.

This card uses Botanical Blooms from the now retired Sale-a-Bration catalog, a Whisper White base, Kiwi Kiss strip stamped with the leaves from the stamp set, and a Chocolate Chip strip. Inked in Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss and Baja Breeze. I stamped the sentiment in Chocolate Chip, then punched it out with the 1 1/4 square punch, then inked and stamped off once for each color of the flower on the square. then punched out a scallop square in Baja Breeze and put the whole thing together.
Ok, I should have another one in the next few days! Until then!

Dream a little

Sorry I have been away so long! I will actually not be on here much the next few weeks, as I will be preparing all next week for a trip, then will be gone on the trip for a week! When I return, hopefully I will have more time to take pictures of some of the cards I have made recently! I had a dry spell for a while cause i didn't have much time, but due to a stampin' prescription from my blogging buddy Julie, (thanks, Julie!) I was able to get some cards done!
But for now, I will post this one:


This was the other card I had done for the swap we did a few weeks ago. I started with Taken with Teal for the base, then Baja Breeze, Apricot Appeal, and another Baja Breeze for the panels. I used the ticket corner punch for all the panels.
I sponged teal on the edges of the the white panel. For the flowers, I used sponge daubers to get the variation with Pumpkin Pie and YoYo yellow. For the Hummingbird, I used a combination of Baja Breeze, Taken with Teal, and Garden Green.
I used White Craft ink and the little flower that comes in the set for the background panel. It really makes it look like vellum! Lastly, I stamped the sentiment in Baja Breeze and punched it with the large oval punch.

swapping flowers

I made this card for a swap my upline hosts. It's actually not that difficult to make this card. Start with Old Olive cardbase, Pink Passion and Whisper White cardstock, Echoes of Kindness hostess set, Old Olive ink, and Rose Red ink. I used 1/4" and 5/8" Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbons, pink rhinestone brads, 1/16 hole punch, and the ticket corner punch. I used a blender pen and the inks to color the flowers and leaves. You could also use rose red for the mat, but I actually built this card around the idea that I wanted to use Passion Pink, which is a color I hardly ever use!
Well, we are expecting storms all day today, so maybe, just maybe I will be able to finally make a card today! I think I am going on week 2 without a single card made! Ahhhh! In the meantime, I have to get my Kindergartener ready for school now! have a lovely day!

Buggy Birthday!

I haven't had a whole lotta time lately to work at my scrap-desk :(
so I have had to resort to posting pictures of some older cards! I think I made this one back in August! Hopefully I will get to make something new soon! I am having withdrawals!

I used the Bugs and Kisses set for this card. It really is such a cute set!
I started with a Ballet Blue cardbase, then on Whisper White I stamped the various buggies in different colors and cut them out. I used the 5 petal flower punch to punch out several Certainly Celery flowers, then cut them up and 'notched' the edges for the leaves. I also cut a strip of Certainly Celery and used scissors to make the grass along the bottom.
I lined the inside of the card with Whisper White, punched a square through the front of the card and stamped the sentiment on the inside so that it shows through. On a separate piece of Real Red, I punched out a square using the same square punch, then hand cut out a square slightly larger than the punched window, creating a frame. I put the buggies on with dimensionals, and glued the leaves at the top.

Simply Said card

Today's card was inspired by this card by Marelle Taylor. Isn't hers just fabulous? I wish I had come up with the overall idea, but alas, I can't take the credit! Marelle has such wonderful creations!
I did my own interpretation of her card for this card. I also did a slightly different version of my card for a swap my group had a few months ago. When we do swaps, the gal who organizes it sends one copy of each swap card in to Stampin' Up. The Stampin' Up demonstrators website has a page called Stampers Showcase where they feature about 6 cards each day, all sent in by demonstrators. Well, last Saturday, I happened to check that page like I do every day, and to my ultimate surprise, there was my card! Woohoo! I was just thrilled!
Todays card was actually my prototype before I made my swap cards. This card is made with the Simply Said set, Soft Sky, Barely Banana, and whisper white cardstock, Basic Black, White craft, and Soft Sky ink, white gel pen, scallop edge punch and the large square punch.

Butterfly trails

I made this card a couple months ago for a swap. It uses the Whimsy Wheel, Garden Whimsy set, One of a Kind set, the Boho Blossoms punch, and the Best Yet set. The Best Yet set is a retired hostess set, but you can easily substitute this with another sentiment. I used a sponge dauber to ink up the flowers and butterfly, and used the Boho Blossoms punch for the flowers. I Stamped the Whimsy wheel in white craft ink on the Bashful Blue, then cut the wave freehand. I ran glue along the edge of the wave and sprinkled glitter on it. I put the butterfly on dimensionals and added glitter to the dots on the butterfly and the centers of the flowers.

The card that almost wasn't

This card gave me so much trouble! I came so close to just chucking it! I started off by stamping the butterflies from Flight of the Butterfly onto a plain white cardbase, and I didn't care for the colors at first, then I added the flowers, and I realized everything I stamped so far didn't sit on the paper like I wanted it to, it was kind of off-balance. So then I thought I would cut it and use it as a panel. So after I cut it, it was still off balance, so I decided to push the piece all the way to the upper right corner, leaving only a band of color on the side and bottom. Ok, I liked that, but it still needed something. So I stamped the sentiment, but that stamped too high! I then added black with a pen on the butterfly bodies and around the edge of the white and while doing that, the pen slipped and I made a mark on the white! It was at this point I was ready to just throw it away. Then I wondered if maybe I could just add another line and make it like a vine.........hmmmmmmm........THEN I tried to add shadows to the butterflies, and in doing so, I messed up the yellow one! Argh! Lastly, in hopes of salvaging all this work, I added glitter just on the polka dots of the butterflies. Sigh. Still not satisfied with it, but I thought It would at least make for a good blogging story! And to top it off, I even had trouble placing my watermark on the picture! There really wasn't a good place to put it! Argh! Well, I sent this card to my mother in law for her birthday... I hope she likes it!

Little blue birdie notecard

Sorry i've been kinda quiet here the last few days...I seem to have acquired my husbands cold and have been trying to fight it! I am still not sure who is winning...me or the cold!

I made a set of note cards using the Fun & Fast Notes set keeping them.....guess what...simple! I used the same Polka Dot background stamp inked with different colors for each card, bashful blue, Certainly Celery, and Apricot Appeal. This example shows Bashful Blue. I then cut a simple square of white and stamped the bird, teacup, and porcupine images with black Stazon, then colored them with blender pens and ink. I matted each image with it's coordinating cardstock color, and that was it! I kept these to a minimum on purpose. I wanted to just have a little collection of coordinating notecards that I can give as a gift to a friend of mine. If you wanted to, you could go one step further and actually have the cardbase Bashful Blue, and then the white polka dots could be a panel on the front, but I wanted the white inside as well, so I just kept the cardbase white. Ok, I think I'm rambling....maybe it's time for more medicine!

Thanks.

Today's card is another easy one! (big surprise!heehee!)
I used the Illuminations stamp set in Pumpkin Pie, stamped the image again on a scrap piece then cut out the whole word and a little bit of the flourish and placed it over the original image with dimensionals. So Saffron, Old Olive, and Pumpkin Pie cardstock, added some wide Chocolate Chip Grosgrain ribbon tied in a little knot, and rounded the corners of the card! Great for when you only have a few minutes to come up with a thank you card!
If you changed the colors to something more valentines-y, you can substitute the Cherish stamp from the same set, and you have a very beautiful valentine card to give a loved one!

Happy February!

Happy February, everyone! I didn't make too many valentines cards this year, so this is actually the last one I have for now!

I have been finding it easier to complete cards as of late by keeping them as simple as possible. Maybe If I had a little more time on my hands, I will be able to get more elaborate again! But I really like the way this card turned out. I always have a tendency to get an idea in my head, and start to work on it, but it ends up transforming into something else entirely! But that's ok!

For this one, I used the Polka Dot background set with Real Red, then a strip of pale plum and elegant eggplant to edge the white strip. I stamped the heart with Pretty in Pink and Riding Hood Red, and the sentiment from Holidays and Wishes. I rounded the corners on this one to give it a cutesy look!