Under the sea

So the rain we had yesterday turned into snow today. None of it stuck to the ground or anything (at least not around here), but it's still not really what you want to see on a Monday morning in April. So I thought today would be a good day to share a card that brings to mind warmer days and sunny places.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Summer Splash
Card stock: Pool Party, Island Indigo, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Summer Sun, Perfect Plum, Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral
Ink: Island Indigo, Concord Crush, Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze
Accessories: Build a Cupcake punch, 3/4" circle punch, scallop edge punch, paper snips, fish brads (Recollections), paper piercer, mat pack, Tombow Mono Multi liquid glue, Dimensionals

I had a lot of fun making this card. It all started with the adorable fish brads I bought over the weekend. When I saw them I knew they would be perfect for an under-the-sea-themed card.

I started with an Island Indigo card base. I punched a scallop edge on a piece of Pool Party card stock and glued that along the top of the card to create the sky and the look of waves. For the sand at the bottom, I tore a piece of crumb cake card stock, misted it with water, crumpled it up and flattened it, let it dry, and adhered it along the bottom of the card. I repeated those steps to add a second layer of "sand."

The rest of the sea part of this card involved a lot of cutting. The turtles are stamped in Always Artichoke on Lucky Limeade card stock, and the octopi are stamped in Concord Crush on Perfect Plum card stock. Before I glued them to the card, I decided where I wanted them to be placed and stamped the air bubbles. To create the seaweed or coral, I stamped the octopus twice in Cajun Craze on Calypso Coral card stock, cut the "legs" apart into groups of four and glued them on the card upside-down. Then I added the fish brads. (Hint: To make holes for brads in the middle of a card or piece of card stock, use a paper piercer and a foam mat behind the card stock.)

To finish off the card I punched out a sun (3/4" circle) and clouds (the top of the cupcake from the Cupcake Builder punch) and adhered them to the sky part of the card. Makes me long for a tropical vacation!

Thanks for stopping by!

Button blossom trio

It's been a dreary, rainy day here (which is OK since we do need the rain), so I thought I would brighten it up with a fun trio of flowers.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^®):
Stamps: Bright Blossoms
Card stock: Early Espresso, Whisper White, Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie
Ink: Early Espresso and Old Olive markers
Accessories: Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Edgelits dies, extra large oval punch, Decorative Label punch, Brights Collection buttons, white baker's twine, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals

There isn't anything very complicated with this card, but it just makes me feel happy. To create the stamped images, I used markers to apply the two colors directly on the rubber stamp and then stamped on Whisper White card stock. I punched out the images with an oval punch and layered each one on a different color of card stock punched with the Decorative Label punch. I used Mini Glue Dots to stick small flower buttons, with a knot of baker's twine in the middle, at the top of the stems. I adhered the three layered pieces to the card base with Dimensionals.

I kept the card base pretty simple, too. I like how the embossed polka dots add a little texture to the card and are similar to the pattern on the stamped vases. Likewise, the curved edge at the bottom of the card, created with the Edgelits dies, echoes the shape of the Decorative Label punches.

I hope you have a bright day! Thanks for stopping by!

Into the woods

In the next month or so I'm hoping to send my next shipment of cards off to Operation Write Home, and I want to include plenty of masculine cards in the box. So today I created three cards with a woodsy theme.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^® unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Backwoods
Card stock: Bordering Blue, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Garden Green
Ink: Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: Moose brads (Creative Impressions), brown Scrapper's Floss (Karen Foster Design), paper snips, Tombow Mono Multi liquid glue, Dimensionals

For the background of this card, I stamped the image of trees several times on Always Artichoke and Garden Green card stock. I cut out the trees, played around with the layout until I had an arrangement I liked and then glued them down. I stamped the cabin on Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa card stock then cut out the window, door and roof from the Close to Cocoa image and glued them to the Chocolate Chip image. I adhered the cabin to the card with Dimensionals. I thought the moose brads added a fun touch to this little scene.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up, unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Wolf
Card stock: Bordering Blue, Always Artichoke, Very vanilla
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, VersaMark; markers: Bordering Blue, Always Artichoke, Going Gray, Basic Gray
Accessories: Metallic brads (making Memories), color spritzer tool, Dimensionals

As I was working on the layout for this card, I decided I wanted to add some texture to the focal image. So I sprayed a piece of Always Artichoke card stock with water, crumpled it up (being sure to work in plenty of creases) and then opened it back up. I let it sit for awhile to dry, adhered it to the colored image with Dimensionals and then adhered it to the card base.

Supplies (all from Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Yukon
Card stock: Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla, Not Quite Navy, River Rock
Ink: Jet Black StazOn; markers: CLose to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Not Quite Navy
Accessories: 1/4" square punch, Stripes embossing folder, linen thread, Dimensionals

I love the image of this moose; it's by far the stamp I use most often from this set. I thought about placing three brads in the lower right corner, but I'm glad I decided to use the punched squares instead. I think they look better with the rest of the clean, straight lines on the card. I think this is my favorite of the three cards.

Thanks for stopping by!

The growing little project

Did you ever sit down to do a quick little project and it somehow got bigger and bigger? Yesterday I started making a set of six little cards. Easy peasy. Then I decided to make twelve cards instead of six. A little more stamping, punching and gluing, but still manageable. Then I decided I had to make a coordinating box for the cards. Suddenly I was digging around in my various stashes of craft supplies to find a box, paint and brush and then spending time, quite literally, watching paint dry. Don't get me wrong, it was a fun project, and I'm pleased with the end result; I'd just planned on getting more stamping done during the past two days. Oh well, the best laid plans ... At any rate, here is my growing little project:

Supplies for cards and coordinating box (all Stampin' Up!^® unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Small Sayings
Card stock: Very Vanilla, Blue Bayou, Riding Hood Red, Blushing Bride, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, So Saffron, The Thrift Shop patterned card stock (October Afternoon)
Ink: Basic Gray
Accessories: Very Vanilla Pocket Notes cards and envelopes, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, Modern Label punch, 1" circle punch, basic pearls, Dimensionals, Tombow Mono Multi liquid glue, kraft box (unknown), acrylic paint (white wash [Accent], light ivory [Delta Ceramcoat]), matte interior varnish (Delta Ceramcoat), foam brush (unknown)

I love the patterns in this paper, and I think that they make a fun set of little cards when combined with the greetings in the Small Sayings stamp set. I used each pattern, greeting and card stock color twice in the set, but I mixed up the combinations so no two cards are the same. The cards are 3-1/2" x 2-1/2" so they are too small to be mailed (unless you put them in a larger envelope), but they are the perfect size to tuck in a gift, lunch bag, or briefcase or just hand deliver.

The box I wanted to decorate to coordinate with the card set started out a kraft color. I was going to just work with that, but that would have been too easy. So in the spirit of this "little" project, I decided I had to paint the box (inside and out, of course).

I assumed it would take a couple coats of paint to completely cover the box, and I was worried I wouldn't have enough cream acrylic paint left. So I used white paint for the first coat, like a primer, and then finished with the cream. (It was a good thing, too, because I barely had enough cream paint to finish just the second coat.) While the paint was drying I punched several 1" circles out of the same patterned papers I used for the cards. I glued the circles around the bottom and on the cover of the box. Then I painted over the entire box with matte varnish. And finally my little project was done!

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday spotlight

Today I'm going to share another card I made using the Packed for Birthday images I received from my friend Faith last week.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^®):
Stamps: Packed for Birthday, Birthday Greetings
Card stock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Summer Sun, Green Galore, Only Orange, Ballet Blue, Pixie Pink
Ink: Black; markers: Summer Sun, Green Galore, Only Orange, Ballet Blue, Pixie Pink
Accessories: 3/4" circle punch, tinsel trim, Tombow Mono Multi liquid glue, Dimensionals

When I made my first card with the Packed for Birthday image, I just colored it. I wanted to do something a little different with this card, so I used the spotlight technique. This technique works really well with line-art images. The end result is that most of the stamped image is left black and white, with a few areas colored, as if they are in a spotlight.

To start, stamp your image on two pieces of card stock, and set one of them aside. Using the other stamped image, punch out the areas you want to spotlight with a circle punch. I decided I wanted to have three "spotlights" on this card, and since this image isn't terribly large, I had to use a small circle punch. I could have used a larger punch to spotlight just one or two items, such as the cake or pinata.

Color in the images on the punched circles and adhere them over the matching places on the first stamped image. (I used Dimensionals to adhere the circles so they stood out.) Another option would be to color the spotlight areas before punching out the circles; the end result will be the same, and it might be easier than trying to hold onto a tiny circle of card stock while you're trying to color it in. I'm just sayin' ...

For the background of the card, I punched out multicolored card stock circles and glued them randomly over the card front, with some of the circles overlapping each other or going over the edges of the card. I wrapped a piece of tinsel trim around the card front three times and tied it in a bow. Then I adhered the Packed for Birthday image, matted with Basic Black card stock, over the tinsel.

With all the colors on the front of the card, I didn't want to leave the inside too plain. So after I stamped the greeting on a layer of Whisper White card stock, I used markers to color in the middle of the letters. I think it's a fun little detail for what is, at least in my opinion, a pretty fun birthday card.






Thanks for stopping by!