Cards with purse-onality

I've been stressed  and overwhelmed the past couple of days with life, work and trying to make various decisions. So I decided it was time for a bit of stamping stress-relief (which would have been much more productive and restful if there weren't road construction going on about five feet outside my window). I made three cards that all feature purses.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^®):
Stamps: Perfect Match
Card stock: Whisper White, Basic Gray
Ink: Basic Gray, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: 1-1/4" circle punch; Chevron embossing folder; pearls; various ribbons in Basic Gray, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red; Stamp-a-Ma-Jig; Dimensionals

The stamps I used on this card are actually from an incentive stamp set I bought several years ago. (Incentive stamp sets are only available for Stampin' Up! demonstrators to purchase.) I think I've only used it one other time, so I thought I should pull it out.

This card is pretty straightforward. I stamped and punched out the purses and adhered them with Dimensionals to a piece of Whisper White card stock. I added some small ribbon flags to the left side of the panel and adhered it to the embossed card front with Dimensionals. I felt like it needed a little more embellishment, so I added a small pearl to each of the purses.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Carry On
Card stock: Whisper White, Basic Gray, Summer Starfruit
Ink: Basic Gray, Summer Starfruit
Accessories: Argyle embossing folder, Basic Gray satin ribbon, 1" and 1-1/4" circle punches, mini jewels (Doodlebug Design Inc.), Stamp-a-Ma-Jig, Dimensionals

This stamp set is a hostess set in the 2012 - 2013 Stampin' Up! catalog; unfortunately it isn't currently available because of legal issues. I bought it just in time!

I used the Stamp-a-Ma-Jig to line up the two stamps in the greeting ("Keep calm and" and "shop on"). I thought I needed some color with the greeting, so I used my Summer Starfruit marker to add some dots and dashes around the edges. But I'm not quite sure it works. Oh, well. To add a little embellishment I embossed the bottom part of the card with the Argyle embossing folder and then wrapped ribbon around the card front to hide the "seam" between the flat and embossed card stock. A few mini jewels add just a bit of bling.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Weather or Not, Thank You Kindly
Card stock: Blushing Bride, Very Vanilla, Certainly Celery, Going Gray
Ink: Blushing Bride, Certainly Celery, Going Gray
Accessories: Scallop Trim Border punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, pearls, Glue Dots

These purses are all together on one stamp, so I used markers to color the individual purses before stamping them on Very Vanilla card stock. I layered that on a strip of Certainly Celery card stock, added a little scallop trim to the bottom edge and adhered the panel to the card front (after embossing the bottom half of the card with polka dots). I added three flowers to the bottom of the card, placed a pearl in the center of each flower and added one or two pearls on each of the purse images. The final thing step was to stamp the greeting above the purses and, of course, what happened? I goofed. Just as I was placing the stamp, I accidentally touched it to the card stock, leaving a little smudge below the N. I didn't want to remake the whole card, so I decided to leave it. I'll just send this card to someone who won't notice ...

Thanks for stopping by!