Elephant card with Playful Pals

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: I love cute animal stamps. So I was really excited when I saw the Playful Pals stamp set and coordinating dies in the Stampin' Up! 2016 Occasions catalog. I haven't had a chance to make one of the cute animal-themed pyramid boxes yet, but I wanted to have a go at making a card shaped like an animal. Here is my first try at an elephant card:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Playful Pals
Paper: Bordering Blue, Whisper White card stock; Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper (DSP) Stack
Ink: Bordering Blue (pad and marker), Memento Tuxedo Black, white Signo gel pen
Accessories: Pyramid Pals Thinlits dies, Bow Builder punch, Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), Dimensionals, Glue Dots

What do you think? I'm not quite sure the card base is the right shape. I started with a rectangular base (the long sides going up and down), but it didn't look right. So I gradually started trimming until I ended up with a 3" x 3" base. One benefit of this card size is that it fits perfectly in a note card envelope.

Otherwise I do like this card. I used Bordering Blue ink and card stock. It's a long-retired Stampin' Up! color, but it's always my go-to color for elephants. I popped up the eyes with Dimensionals and used a white gel pen to add a little highlight to each eye. The tabs on the trunk and ears are adhered directly to the card base, and I even added a cute detail to the back of the card -- the elephant's little tail. The Bow Builder punch and a piece of DSP made the perfect bow tie. (For a girl elephant, put the bow by one of the ears.)

I have an idea brewing for another animal card. Now I'll just have to see if it transfers to paper. Thanks for stopping by!

What do I love? Flower stamps.

When I submitted my last Stampin' Up! order, I had a hard time picking my free Sale-A-Bration items. I hemmed and hawed about getting the set What I Love because I already have so many flower stamp sets. Did I really need another one? Probably not. But I finally decided to get it because A) it was free, and B) I love flower stamps.

I haven't had much time to play with the set, but here is the card I made:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: What I Love, Tin of Cards
Paper: Thick Whisper White card stock
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Watermelon Wonder, Old Olive, Soft Suede
Accessories: Sequins (Feb 2016 Paper Pumpkin), Fine-Tip Glue Pen, Stardust Clear Gelly Roll pen (Sakura), Fine-Tip Glue Pen

I love the depth of color in the flowers. But instead of using three different colors, I only used two: Pink Pirouette and Watermelon Wonder. I stamped the base layer in Pink Pirouette. For the middle layer, I inked the stamp with Watermelon Wonder, stamped on scratch paper and then stamped on the card base. Finally I stamped the outline part of the image with full-strength Watermelon Wonder. I used the same technique with Old Olive for the leaves.

To finish the card I stamped a sentiment, drew a border and added groups of dots in Soft Suede. I glued on a few sequins and added a little sparkle to the flowers with a Stardust Gelly Roll Pen.

Now that spring is here (or almost here) it's time for lots of flower stamps. And I'm definitely prepared. Thanks for stopping by!

Quick Easter tag

I have a little confession to make: I didn't send (or even create) any Easter cards this year. I love all the cute bunny, chick and flower images of the season, but I just didn't want the stress or pressure of having to make a bunch of cards. So I didn't.

I couldn't completely avoid the bunnies, though, so I made tags for a few little Easter gifts.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Bunny (Target), Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Thick Whisper White, Pear Pizzazz card stock
Ink: Tip Top Taupe, Pool Party
Accessories: Ornate Tag Topper punch, Grassy Border Lawn Cuts die (Lawn Fawn), small white pompom (unknown), Mono Multi liquid glue, Dimensionals

Pretty cute, right? And really easy to make, which was a plus. To make the base, I punched one end of a strip of thick Whisper White card stock with the Ornate Tag Topper punch. The strip was a little narrower than the punch opening, so I just made sure I centered it before punching.

I added a strip of die-cut green card stock along the bottom of the tag as the grass. I love this die, and this is the first time I've used it. But if you don't have a grass-type die, you could use a fringe scissors, a plain strip of card stock or patterned paper, or even a piece of green washi tape.

I stamped the bunny on white card stock with Tip Top Taupe ink and cut it out by hand. Then I glued on a little white pompom for the bunny's tail and used Dimensionals to attach the image to the tag. The "Happy Easter" greeting in Pool Party ink was the final step.

Have a "hoppy" Easter, and thanks for stopping by!

Apple of My Eye card set

I have a growing collection of stamp sets and accessories that I was really excited to get ... and then never used. So I pulled out one of those stamp sets to make a set of cards.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Apple of My Eye
Paper: Thick Whisper White, Whisper White card stock; Neutrals Designer Series Paper (DSP) Stack
Ink: Chocolate Chip (marker and pad), Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Pear Pizzazz, Mossy Medow
Accessories: Linen thread, gold sequins (The Makery), 1/2" and 1-3/4" circle punches, Dimensionals, Glue Dots, Fine-Tip Glue Pen

I made six cards for the set, two of each design. I used Thick Whisper White card stock for each card base, added a layer of Chocolate Chip-striped DSP and used Dimensionals to adhere the stamped focal panel in the middle. To unify the white layers I used a Chocolate Chip marker to doodle a border around the base and focal layer.

Here are a few details about the stamped panels:

• For the pear, I inked the image with Daffodil Delight and stamped once on scratch paper. Then I applied Pear Pizzazz ink around the edges of the stamp and stamped it on the white panel.
• For the lemon, I inked the image with Daffodil Delight and stamped once on scratch paper. Then I applied more Daffodil Delight ink on just the outer ring and stamped it on the white panel. I used Chocolate Chip to stamp the seeds. I repeated the process on another piece of white card stock, punched it out and cut it into wedges.
• To attach each linen thread bow I rolled/folded a Glue Dot so it was small enough to be hidden behind the bow.

Thanks for stopping by!

Paper piecing and polka dots

I needed birthday cards for two of my cousins today -- an eight-year old boy and a six-year-old girl. As it happens, both cards used paper piecing and featured polka dots.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Critters in the Park, Hello Sunshine (both Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Old Olive marker, journaling pen
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White card stock; Going Places Designer Series Paper (DSP) Stack, DSP Patterns Stack, Into the Woods DSP, Wood Designer Cardstock Paper (My Mind's Eye)
Accessories: Party Punch Pack, linen thread, Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), Mono Multi liquid glue, Dimensionals

I was having a hard time coming up with an idea for a good "boy" card, and then I remembered this Lawn Fawn stamp set. Dogs are always good, right?

I didn't want to color the images, so instead I stamped everything on different patterned papers, cut out the images and pieced them together on a layer of Whisper White card stock. (I really like the dog stamped on a marble-pattern paper). I also added a few punched balloons, with hand-drawn strings, to give the scene more of a birthday feel.

I finished off the focal panel with a simple linen thread knot and used Dimensionals to adhere the piece to a layer of woodgrain-looking paper. Then everything was adhered to a Basic Black card base (which I realize is hard to see against to black background. Oops).

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Honeycomb Happiness
Paper: Baked Brown Sugar, Calypso Coral card stock;All Abloom DSP Stack; Wildflower Fields DSP; leftover patterned paper from a past Paper Pumpkin kit
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Calypso Coral, Baked Brown Sugar, Daffodil Delight, Pistachio Pudding markers; Project Life journaling pen; clear Stardust Gelly Roll pen (Sakura)
Accessories: Rhinestones, Decorative Ribbon Border punch, Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), Dimensionals

I started this card with the three ice cream cones, stamped on Baked Brown Sugar card stock and patterned papers and then paper pieced together. For the bottom of the card I used a piece of Wildflower Fields DSP and colored in the circles so the colors coordinated with the ice cream cones. I placed a punched strip of Calypso Coral card stock over the edge of the DSP, doodled a border around the top half of the card and used Dimensionals to attach the ice cream cones.

I wanted to have some sparkle on the card, so I placed a few rhinestones around the ice cream cones and one in the upper right corner. Then I used a Stardust Gelly Roll pen to add a little more glitz: I colored over some of the polka dots on the DSP, added accents on the ice cream, and traced over the doodled border.





Thanks for stopping by!

Card set using February 2016 Paper Pumpkin kit

I managed to solve the tech crisis from last night (I had to delete and reinstall the software for my digital camera), so I'm back today to share a cute card set I made with the stamps and a few leftover supplies from the February 2016 Paper Pumpkin kit, Hello Sunshine.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Kit: February 2016 Paper Pumpkin (Hello Sunshine)
Additional supplies: White A2 cards and envelopes (Halcraft USA); Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz ink pads; Simply Scored Tool; chevron gift bag; Tag a Bag Accessory Kit (retired); Fine-Tip Glue Pen

I loved this Paper Pumpkin kit: the printed card bases and envelopes, the die cuts and embellishments, the colors, and especially the stamps. So when I finished making the cards in the kit, I decided to keep going and use the stamps and the same color combo to make a set of six cards for a good friend.

I started with pre-cut and -scored white card bases and envelopes. I stamped one of the sentiments from the kit using Blackberry Bliss in the lower right corner about 1/2" from the bottom of the card. (For the full card set I chose three of the sentiments and used each sentiment on two cards.) Then I stamped a cluster of flowers on either side of the sentiment using Blackberry Bliss, Calypso Coral, Pool Party and Pear Pizzazz inks. To continue the theme, I also stamped a few flowers inside the card and on the front of the envelope.

To embellish the card, first I cut a narrow strip from the leftover adhesive-backed gold paper. I trimmed one end into a V and adhered it below the sentiment, even with the right side of the card base. To add a little texture I embossed a border around most of the card about 1/8" from the edge of the card base. I didn't want the border to overlap the stamped images, so I made very light pencil marks inside the card front to mark the boundaries of the stamped images, and I ended the score line at the pencil marks. Finally I added a few of the leftover sequins for a little sparkle.

To package the cards I used one of the kraft gift bags. Since these were single-layer cards they weren't bulky, and all six cards and envelopes fit perfectly in the bag.

I found two tags from one of the retired Tag a Bag Accessory kits that coordinated with the color combo of the cards. I stamped a sentiment and flowers on one of the tags and layered them together with Dimensionals. A little clip to attach the tag to the bag was the final touch.

I didn't write a To/From on the tag so my friend can reuse it -- and the bag -- if she wants to. It's not an elaborate presentation, but I think it's cute and works well with the clean and simple card design.



 Thanks for stopping by!

The blog post that wasn't

I haven't posted anything on my blog in a week, partly because I didn't have anything to share. Well, yesterday I finally finished creating a cute set of cards to give to a friend, and I even remembered to take pictures before I wrapped them up. I sat down this evening to work on the post and ... now I'm having issues with the software for my digital camera.

Sigh. Technology is so frustrating. I realize this whole blog -- and many, many other things -- wouldn't exist without technology, but sometimes I just don't have patience for it.

I'll try to get the issue fixed this weekend. Wish me luck. Until then, thanks for stopping by.