Daisy trios

So today I have a couple of flower cards to share. I know, I know, shocking, right? Well, it dawned on me this morning that since it's Father's Day I really should have planned better so I would have had some masculine cards to post. Bummer, dude. Well, if you're looking for some masculine card ideas, feel free to scroll down to the "cards - masculine" category on the right-hand sidebar and check them out. In the meantime, here are my cards, made with the new Stampin' Up!^® set Reason to Smile.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Reason to Smile
Card stock: Basic Gray, Whisper White, Pool Party, Island Indigo, Calypso Coral
Ink: Basic Gray, Pool Party, Island Indigo, Calypso Coral
Accessories: Basic Gray taffeta ribbon, In Color printed designer brads, 1-3/4" circle punch, Decorative Label punch, bone folder, Dimensionals

This is a pretty straightforward card with a little stamping, punching and layering. I used my paper cutter and bone folder to make the two scored lines near the bottom of the card. I love the pops of color against the gray background, and the printed brads work perfectly as the centers for the flowers. 

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Reason to Smile
Card stock: Chocolate Chip, Pool Party, Island Indigo, Rose Red, Summer Starfruit
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Island Indigo, Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo, Rose Red, Daffodil Delight, Summer Starfruit, Chocolate Chip 
Accessories: Polka Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug), Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon, 5/16" Neutrals brads, Dimensionals

This stamp set reminds me of Gerbera daisies, so I wanted to use bright colors for this card. But once I had the flowers stamped, colored and cut out, I struggled with a layout. I finally decided to layer them on circles of coordinating card stock to really make them stand out, add ribbon "stems" and adhere them to a light blue layer to look like the sky. I like the idea of this card, but I'm still not completely happy with the execution. I think if I were to make it again, I might skip the card stock circles and use narrower ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by. And I hope all the dads, grandfathers, uncles and other father figures out there have a wonderful Father's Day!

 

Adorable animals

One of the first stamps sets I bought from the new Stampin' Up!^® catalog is called Storybook Friends. It is ah-dorable. Six stamps, each with an animal image and short sentiment. I broke it out yesterday and have made two cards so far:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Storybook Friends
Card stock: Sahara Sand, Naturals Ivory, Gumball Green
Ink: Basic Gray, Sahara Sand, Gumball Green
Accessories: Aquapainter brush, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Finishing Touches Edgelits dies, Labels Collection Framelits dies, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, Basic Gray satin ribbon, paper piercer, mini silver brads, Dimensionals

I love this little lamb, and I think he's perfect for a baby card. (I really don't need any more baby cards right now, but I couldn't resist making this one.) I chose a neutral combination of Sahara Sand and Basic Gray with just a few pops of Gumball Green. Non-traditional for a baby card, but still sweet. I lightly watercolored the lamb with Sahara Sand ink using an Aquapainter brush. I embossed polka dots on the bottom of the card and added a bit of ribbon, a decorative die cut edge and a few flowers.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Storybook Friends
Card stock: Basic Gray, Naturals Ivory, Summer Starfruit
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Basic Gray, Summer Starfruit
Accessories: 2-3/8" scallop circle punch, 2-1/2" circle punch, Adorning Accents Edgelits dies, Argyle embossing folder, Aquapainter brush, white baker's twine, Dimensionals

I think this kitten might be even sweeter than the lamb. (Though I will admit that I'm slightly confused as to why it says "friends" when there is only one animal. Is she supposed to be friends with the yarn? Couldn't there be two kittens playing with the yarn? Random things such as this sometimes consume me. But then I remind myself that there are bigger things to worry about, and I move on.)

There are several elements on this card that are similar to the previous one -- a watercolored image that is punched/die cut, a neutral color scheme with touches of color, a decorative cut edge and some embossing for texture. I'm not sure yet how I feel about the new Summer Starfruit color. I haven't played with it too much, but so far I've had trouble combining it with other colors. I do, though, like it paired with the gray, which really pulls out the green tones in it.

I hope you enjoyed these adorable animals. Thanks for stopping by!

Simple gift box

This weekend I am getting together with one of my friends to celebrate (belatedly) her birthday. I needed to wrap her present, but instead of using wrapping paper, I decided to use some rub-ons to personalize a plain gable-style box. 

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^® unless otherwise noted):
Kraft gable box, Love & Happiness rub-ons, Raspberry Ripple and Crumb Cake card stock, ribbon (American Crafts "Dunk Tank" Elements), 1-3/4" scallop circle punch, crochet thread (DMC), Dimensionals

I wanted a simple color combination, so I used only white rub-ons, which stand out nicely against the kraft box. For the front of the box I placed a swirl and flowers on the left side and three butterflies on the upper right corner. On the other three sides of the box, I randomly placed small flowers, singly or in groups of two or three.

To add a punch of color, I tied a bow of raspberry red ribbon around the handle. I made a gift card (approximately 2-1/2" square) out of Crumb Cake card stock and added another touch of the accent color by placing a rub-on on Raspberry Ripple card stock, punching it out with a scallop circle punch and adhering it to the card with Dimensionals. I wrote my happy birthday message inside the card and used white crochet thread to tie the tag onto the bow. Voila!

Thanks for stopping by!

A little punchy

I love stamps that coordinate with punches. It's so fun and easy to just stamp an image, color it if needed and then punch it out. What could be better? Hmm ... maybe a stamp that coordinates with multiple punches. The Quint-Essential Flower stamp from the new Stampin' Up!^® catalog coordinates with not one, but five different punches -- the 2-3/8" scallop circle, 1-3/4" scallop circle, 1" circle, 3/4" circle and 1/2" circle -- which presents a lot of different opportunities for layering. Here is the first card I made with this stamp:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Quint-Essential Flower
Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Island Indigo card stock; Summer Smooches Designer Series Paper (DSP)
Ink: Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo
Accessories: 2-3/8" scallop circle punch, 1-3/4" scallop circle punch, 1" circle punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Neutrals brads, Dimensionals

I decided on a classic red, yellow and blue color combination, and I stamped the flower three times, once in each color. Then it was time to get punchy. I punched out the whole red flower, the middle of the yellow flower and the center of the blue flower and layered them together with Dimensionals.

When I looked at the pattern in the flower stamp, I thought it would coordinate well with the Summer Smooches DSP, so I selected three different prints from the DSP that matched the color combo. I die cut a shape out of the blue print for a background, and I used strips of the red and yellow prints to create pennant shapes for the bottom of the flower.

I punched two mini blue scallop circles and adhered one to each side of the blue die-cut. At the center of each of those mini scallop circles I used a white brad to attach the die-cut to a piece of Crumb Cake card stock embossed with polka dots. Finally I used Dimensionals to adhere the layer of Crumb Cake card stock to the card front and to adhere the flower to the blue die-cut.

I'm really pleased with how this card came together, and I'm looking forward to use this stamp with other color and punch combinations. Thanks for stopping by!

Whatever floats your boat

This morning, for the first time ever, I made a card before work. That may not sound like a big deal, but honestly I was pretty impressed with myself. Here's a little back story: For the past few weeks, I've been trying to get up extra early so I can walk for about 30 minutes before getting ready for work. My shifts start between 6:30 and 7:30 every day, so that means my alarm goes of a bit before 5:00. I've been doing pretty well, and I've only missed a couple of days, but this morning when the horrendous beeping started I was just not feeling it. So I snoozed my alarm several times, did a few yoga stretches, got dressed, made my lunch, ate breakfast and then sat down to stamp!

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^® unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Go Fish (Raisin Boat)
Card stock: Brilliant Blue, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White
Ink: StazOn Jet Black, Bermuda Bay, Brilliant Blue, Real Red, Soft Suede, Basic Gray, Basic Black (and inside card: Cajun Craze, Bordering Blue, Garden Green, River Rock, More Mustard)
Accessories: Cupcake Builder punch, wavy-edge scissors (Provo Craft), sponges, Dimensionals

I decided to make a Father's Day card, and I was excited to try out this new fishing-themed stamp set. I started with a Brilliant Blue card base and a piece of Bermuda Bay card stock, trimmed at the top with a wavy-edge scissors.

On the Bermuda Bay layer I stamped a few fish with bubbles and the greeting. I stamped the boat at the top of the Bermuda Bay card stock (so it went off the top edge) and on Whisper White, and then I colored and cut out the boat stamped on the white card stock. Before adhering the Bermuda Bay card stock to the card I sponged the edges of both the card front and the layer with their respective colors.

I glued the Bermuda Bay layer to the lower portion of the card front. Then I used Dimensionals to adhere the cut-out boat over the image I had stamped on the Bermuda Bay layer. I used the Cupcake Builder punch to create a few clouds for the sky.

In all honesty, that's as far as I got this morning. But when I got home from work, I decided that I also needed to continue the fishing theme on the inside of the card. (Actually, I think I added the clouds on the front of the card this afternoon, too.) So I stamped and colored a few more images on a layer of Whisper White card stock and adhered it inside the card. I love the image of the little worm with the SOS sign. (One of my least favorite things about fishing is having to tear big nightcrawlers in half. I can put a worm or a leech on a hook, and I can take a fish off -- unless it's completely swallowed the hook -- but I hate trying to tear worms in half. Ugh.) I left some open space on the bottom part of the card so I can write a little message.

I think this card has inspired me to make a few more masculine cards, so maybe I'll have to chance to do that later this week. But probably not before work.

Thanks for stopping by!