Birthday candles

When I make cards with patterned paper, I often have a pile of paper strips left over. I hate to throw them away (they're so pretty!), but they're usually too small to be very useful. Here is a quick and easy birthday card design that will help you use some of those scraps.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^® unless otherwise noted):
Paper: Going Gray, So Saffron card stock; Rose Red, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst Prints Designer Series Paper (DSP)
Accessories: Bird Builder punch, Dazzling Details, white polka dot ribbon (Textured Trios), Dimensionals

The candles on this card are 1/2" strips of DSP of varying lengths. For the flames I used the Bird Builder punch to punch the wing shape out of So Saffron card stock. I adhered the "flames" to the card with Dimensionals and then gave each of them a light coating of Dazzling Details glitter glue. I tied a piece of ribbon around the card front, and that's it!

Here are a few ideas for ways you could customize this card design:
~ For a child's birthday, add the right number of candles for his or her age.
~ Make the candles all the same color and/or pattern.
~ Make the candles narrower and use a different punch to create the flames (a scalloped circle cut into "petals" is an option).
~ Doodle outlines around the edges of the candles and flames.

Thanks for stopping by!

New catalog sneak-peek cards

Last week Stampin' Up!^® demonstrators were able to order a selection of new products from the upcoming 2013 - 2014 Annual Catalog. Although it would have been oh-so-easy to do, I exercised some restraint and didn't order all the sneak-peek items that were available. But I've definitely been having fun playing with the goodies I did order, and here are four card designs to prove it (all supplies are from Stampin' Up!):

Supplies:
Stamps: Best of Butterflies
Card stock: Whisper White, Baked Brown Sugar, Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding, Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe
Ink: Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding, Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe
Accessories: Postage Stamp punch, Elegant Butterfly punch, Square Lattice embossing folder, Calypso Coral baker's twine, Dimensionals

This clean and simple card showcases the five new In Colors that will be available in 2013 - 2015: Baked Brown Sugar, Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding, Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe. (Makes you just a little bit hungry, doesn't it?) I also used one of the "Best of 25 Years" stamp sets that Stampin' Up! is producing in celebration of the company's 25th anniversary. These sets, which are being released each month in 2013, aren't in the new catalog, but they will be available through March 2014.

Supplies:
Stamps: Label Love
Card stock: Early Espresso, Coastal Cabana, Island Indigo, Old Olive
Ink: Early Espresso
Accessories: Artisan Label punch; Chevron, Houndstooth, Argyle embossing folders; 1/8" Early Espresso taffeta ribbon; rhinestones; Dimensionals

This card is 4-1/2" square and uses the Label Love stamp set and coordinating Artisan Label punch. The stamp set has seven images for different occasions/themes: birthday, friendship, wedding, baby, for you, to/from tag, and a solid label with a circle in the middle. The colors on this card include one of the new In Colors (Coastal Cabana) as well as a current In Color that will be added to the regular color line-up in the Regals collection (Island Indigo).

Supplies:
Stamps: Bright Blossoms, Petite Pairs
Card stock: Smoky Slate, Very Vanilla, Crisp Cantaloupe, Strawberry Slush
Ink: Smoky Slate, Crisp Cantaloupe, Strawberry Slush, Pear Pizzazz
Accessories: Apothecary Accents and Ovals Collection Framelits dies, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Occasions paper-piercing pack, paper-piercing tool and mat, white Simply Pressed clay, Buttons and Blossoms Simply Pressed molds, Artisan Label punch, corner rounder, Very Vanilla seam binding ribbon, pearls, Aquapainter, Mono Multi liquid glue, Dimensionals

I made this card design in two of the new In Colors: Crsip Cantaloupe and Strawberry Slush. (There is one difference between the cards. Can you spot it? I forgot to paper pierce the Very Vanilla oval on the Crisp Cantaloupe card. Oops.) The card base is Smoky Slate, a new member of the Neutrals color collection, and the flower leaves and stems are Pear Pizzazz, a former In Color joining the Subtles collection. To make the Smoky Slate layer behind the oval, I used the new Artisan Label punch (see previous card), cut the punched shape in half and glued each half to one side of the oval.

Did you notice the dimensional flowers on these cards? They are made with the new Simply Pressed clay and Buttons and Blossoms molds. They are easy and fun to make, although you do have to allow for drying time. I made several of them one day, let them dry overnight and then played with them the next day. The clay, which is lightweight and has a foam-like quality to it, is white. To color the clay you can knead reinker into it before pressing it in the molds. You also can color the dried white embellishments with markers or reinkers and an Aquapainter. Adding color when the flowers or buttons are dry, which is the method I used, creates a more vibrant color and allows you to use different colors on one embellishment. Just think -- now you can have embellishments in any color you want!

Supplies:
Paper: Basic Gray card stock, This and That Epic Day Designer Series Paper (DSP)
Accessories: Modern Mosaic embossing folder, Mosaic punch, Very Vanilla seam binding ribbon, pearls, Dimensionals

Embossing folders are one of my favorite card-making tools, so I'm always excited to get a new one. And the new Modern Mosaic folder even has a coordinating punch. (There are also a coordinating stamp set and DSP, but I didn't order them.) For this card I embossed a layer of Basic Gray card stock that was just slightly smaller than the card base. I punched a few Mosaic shapes out of the This and That Epic Day DSP and adhered them "randomly" to the embossed card stock, using Dimensionals for a few of them.

I hope you enjoyed my sneak-peek cards, and I hope they made you as excited about the new Stampin' Up! catalog as I am. Thanks for stopping by!

Dots and stripes

Today I thought I'd share a card I made last weekend with two Stampin' Up!^® stamp sets that will be retiring at the end of May: Up, Up & Away and Distressed Dots.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Up, Up & Away, Distressed Dots, Very Versatile
Card stock: Pool Party, Wild Wasabi, Naturals White
Ink: Pool Party, Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Wild Wasabi 1-1/4" striped grosgrain ribbon, corner rounder, Dimensionals

I love the cute scenes you can create with the Up, Up & Away stamp set. For this card I used Pool Party to stamp the clouds; Chocolate Chip for the birds, balloon stitching and basket; and Pool Party and Wild Wasabi for the stripes on the balloon (I used markers to color directly on the stamp). I don't think I would ever have combined Pool Party with Wild Wasabi on my own -- I found the combination in my Color Coach -- but they work well together.

For the background of this card I used the Distressed Dots stamp. I just bought this stamp about a month ago, and I love it. (I wish I'd bought it a long time ago!) When stamped tone-on-tone it provides a quick, subtle background that doesn't overpower the main image. But I also want to try a color combination such as Real Red dots on Whisper White card stock for a more vibrant background. (I'm picturing a possible Christmas card ...)

I just used one simple embellishment on this card: a piece of wide striped grosgrain ribbon with the end cut into a V. I like how the stripes are repeated in the balloon but also contrast with the polka dot background. I added a birthday sentiment in the bottom right corner, but just about any greeting would work with this card, or you could omit the greeting all together.

I'm glad I have both of these stamp sets, and even though they are retiring I think they will stay in my collection for quite awhile. Thanks for stopping by!

Stepped up Simply Sent kit

When I got home from work on Friday, I found a box of happiness on the doorstep: the goodies I preordered from the 2013 - 2014 Stampin' Up!^® catalog (along with a few retiring items) and my copy of the new catalog. I hadn't even peeked at the catalog online, so I was more than anxious to see it. But I exercised an extreme amount of self-control and did a few household chores first. I cleaned my bathroom, swept and vacuumed the whole house and did three loads of laundry all before I even opened the box. Impressive, right? I thought so.

I did eventually dig into the box, admire my new goodies and spend the evening studying the new catalog. But before I actually started crafting with my new supplies this weekend, I wanted to make the last unfinished card kit I had from Convention 2011 (see April 21, 2013, post Unfinished projects). And here it is:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Think Happy Thoughts
Card stock: Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, Whisper White, textured Rich Razzleberry
Ink: Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Great Day Simply Sent kit, 1-1/4" and 1-3/8" circle punches, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, flower brads, crochet thread (DMC), Dimensionals, Glue Dots

This Great Day Simply Sent kit was in the Stampin' Up! catalog a few years ago, and all the attendees at Convention 2011 received one of the kits as a gift. On the left side of the photo above you can see the card that was designed for this kit. Most of the flowers and circles are preprinted on the cards, and there were stickers, buttons and ribbons included in the kit for embellishing the cards. To me the sample card looked a little empty -- like it was missing a few things -- so I used some of my other supplies to step it up a little.

The inside of the main Bashful Blue flower seemed like the perfect place for a sentiment, and I happened to have a stamp set with just the right size circular greetings. There are four greetings in the set, and the kit made eight cards, so I made two cards with each greeting. I stamped the sentiment on Whisper White card stock, punched it out with the 1-1/4" circle punch and matted it with a 1-3/8" circle of either Pretty in Pink or So Saffron card stock. I added a coordinating flower brad in the middle of the layered circles and adhered the piece to the middle of the large flower on the card base.

The circles on either side of the blue flower are stickers from the kit. I embellished them by adding a mini scalloped circle (from the Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack) in Pretty in Pink, So Saffron or textured Rich Razzleberry card stock. I tied a small piece of white crochet thread in a flower button and adhered it above the printed design on the card. I added a couple more stickers -- a small blue flower on the left side of the card and the scalloped So Saffron strip near the bottom of the card -- and then tied the Bashful Blue ribbon around the card front.

When I was done making all the cards, I had some stickers leftover: eight scalloped Rich Razzleberry strips and eight small Pretty in Pink flowers. I decided to add those to the envelopes so they coordinated with the cards (the small pink flower is on the envelope flap). And that's one more project done.

Thanks for stopping by -- and come back later this week to see a few cards made with some of the products that will be in the new Stampin' Up! catalog.

Veteran thank-you card

A couple of weeks ago in an online forum I came across a post from a Stampin' Up!^® demonstrator with a special card request. She was asking people to send cards for a World War II veteran who was participating in an Honor Flight to the WWII memorial in Washington, D.C. I was happy to be able to help with the request, so I made this patriotic card:

Supplies (all Stampin Up! unless otherwise noted):
Card stock: Riding Hood Red, Not Quite Navy, River Rock
Ink: Soft Suede
Accessories: Star punch, Stripes embossing folder, Square Lattice embossing folder, paper piercer, Scor-Bug embosser (Scor-Pal), hemp twine, Cherry Cobbler baker's twine, sponge, Dimensionals

It's a simple card, but I love how the layout is reminiscent of a flag. I embossed a piece of Cherry Cobbler card stock with the Stripes embossing folder and then added a row of pierced holes between some of the stripes. For the upper left corner I embossed a square of Not Quite Navy card stock with the Square Lattice embossing folder and punched a star from River Rock card stock. To add a distressed look, I sponged the edges of all three pieces with Soft Suede ink, and then I assembled the card. For a little embellishment, I tied a piece of hemp twine and a piece of Cherry Cobbler baker's twine together around the bottom of the card.

Once I was done I wrote a short note inside the card thanking the veteran for his service, and sent the card on its merry way. This was a simple card to make, but it was for a great cause. Thanks for stopping by!