Tweet Leaves

This morning I had fun playing with another one of my new Stampin' Up!^® stamps, Tweet Leaves. This stamp, like the Frightening Feline stamp I used for my Halloween card yesterday, is an a la carte
(i.e., single) stamp from the upcoming Holiday Catalog. I think Stampin' Up! has done a great job with the a la carte stamps this year. I love the images, and I also like that they are now featured in the catalogs in their respective sections instead of being grouped together at the beginning or end of the catalog. It's much easier, at least for me, to imagine ideas when I see them together on the page with coordinating images or products. Anywho, on with my cards for today; the first one is pretty feminine, and the second has a more masculine feel.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Tweet Leaves, Sweet Essentials
Card stock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Marina Mist
Ink: VersaMark, Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, Real Red, Old Olive
Accessories: Autumn Accents die, Large Scallop Edgelits die, Delicate Designs embossing folder, Victoria crochet trim, Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon, 1/8" Real Red taffeta ribbon, linen thread, basic pearls, sponge daubers, Embossing Buddy, clear embossing powder, Stamp-a-Ma-Jig, Big Shot Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets, Sticky Strip, Dimensionals

With this card I wanted to take a fall-themed stamp and create a card that I could use sometime other than September to November. And after making this card I decided that with the right colors, this stamp really could work for just about any season.

I used the emboss resist technique on the focal point. Here's a quick rundown: I die cut the leaf and then used the Stamp-a-Ma-Jig tool to line up the image and stamp it on the leaf with VersaMark ink. I embossed it with clear embossing powder and used sponge daubers to apply ink over the entire die-cut leaf. Then I used a tissue to gently rub the ink off the embossed image. Finally I wrapped a piece of linen thread around the stem and tied it in a bow.

For the bottom of the card, I first die cut and embossed a strip of Marina Mist card stock. To add the crochet trim, I applied Big Shot Multipurpose Adhesive to the back of the Marina Mist card stock and then just adhered the trim, gathering it a bit as I pressed it to the adhesive. I added a piece of Sticky Strip near the top of the piece of Marina Mist to be sure it stuck to the card. Then I added a couple more layers of ribbon (love that the Lucky Limeade ribbon coordinates with the Old Olive ink), a greeting and a pearl and adhered the leaf to the card with Dimensionals.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Tweet Leaves
Card stock: Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Old Olive, More Mustard
Ink: Early Espresso, Old Olive (marker), More Mustard (pad and marker)
Accessories: Autumn Accents die, Woodgrain embossing folder, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Very Vanilla seam binding ribbon, linen thread, Stamp-a-Ma-Jig, Tombow multipurpose glue, Dimensionals

For this second card I started by embossing the card front with the new Woodgrain embossing folder. I stamped the Tweet Leaves stamp in Early Espresso on the leaf die cut using my Stamp-a-Ma-Jig and then used More Mustard and Old Olive markers to color in a few details on the stamp.

I also stamped the image again in More Mustard, cut out the image of the bird and adhered it over the bird in the first image. I rubbed my bone folder along the edges of the leaf to distress it just a bit (it's hard to see in the photos), adhered it to an Old Olive die-cut leaf and wrapped linen thread around the stem.

I wanted to add some additional texture to the card, so I took two more die-cut leaves, spritzed them with water, crumpled them, opened them back up and set them aside to dry. I embossed the die-cut acorn with polka dots, layered the three pieces together and adhered them and the stamped leaf to the card base (after adding the ribbon) with Dimensionals.

For the inside of this card, I simply added a layer of Very Vanilla card stock and a few more of the die-cut leaves. Here's a little card stock-saving tip: When I cut out the Old Olive leaves, my card stock wasn't quite big enough to cover the whole die, so I ended up with a couple of half leaves. I was going to toss them, but instead I adhered one of them at the edge of the Very Vanilla layer so it looks like it was meant to be that way. (OK, actually it was just me being too lazy to cut more leaves, but hey, it worked!)






Thanks for stopping by!

Halloween cat

Yesterday I received my first order of goodies from the soon-to-be-released Stampin' Up!^® Holiday Catalog. Yippee! (I even paid for expedited shipping, which I very rarely do, because I wanted to be sure my order arrived in time for me to be crafty this weekend.) This afternoon I sat down to make my first card, a fun little Halloween number:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Frightening Feline, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Old Olive card stock; Designer Series Paper (DSP) Patterns Stack - Brights Collection; Silver Glimmer Paper
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive ink pads; Basic Black marker
Accessories: Chevron embossing folder, Woodgrain embossing folder, Tasteful Trim die, 1/8" Old Olive taffeta ribbon, Brights Glimmer brads, rhinestones, Dimensionals

I suppose that intro was a tad bit misleading, since I really used only two brand-new items on this card: the Woodgrain embossing folder and the cat stamp. But since the stamp is the focal point of the card, I figure it's all good.

This card is quite a bit more involved than my Halloween cards usually are, but once I got going I was on a roll. I started by stamping the cat with Pumpkin Pie ink on Whisper White card stock. I used a marker to doodle an outline around the image. (I had thought about doing this when I first saw the stamp in the catalog, so I'm pleased it actually worked.)

With that done, I started adding on the details. I used two different embossing folders: Chevron on the polka dot DSP and Woodgrain on the Basic Black. I included a few different types of sparkle: silver glimmer paper accents cut with the Tasteful Trim die, a glimmer brad in the lower right corner and the rhinestones for the cat's eyes. I also added a bit of Old Olive taffeta ribbon to bring in one more touch of green.

Now, I couldn't have a card be this fancy on the outside and then leave the inside plain. I started with a layer of Whisper White card stock then added a piece of polka dot DSP and a strip of the glimmer paper rick-rack accent. I finished with a simple greeting. It's not overly fancy, but it's got a bit of bling.

I hope to have some more cards to post later this weekend. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July! One of my favorite things about Independence Day is always the fireworks displays. It's been a few years since I've seen any fireworks in person (having to work at 7 a.m. the next day tends to put a damper on late-evening festivities), but I do still like to watch the television broadcasts (except when they cut away to show the faces and reactions of the spectators. Um, I tuned in to actually watch the fireworks, not to watch people watching fireworks). And the best part of most any fireworks display is of course the grand finale when the entire sky seems to be lit up. So today I wanted to make a card full of fireworks in the night sky:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^®):
Stamps: Greenhouse Garden, Something to Celebrate
Card stock: Midnight Muse, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White
Ink: VersaMark, Cherry Cobbler, Midnight Muse
Accessories: Subtles Glimmer brads, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, Gold Detail embossing powder, Embossing Buddy, Cherry Cobbler baker's twine

They didn't come out quite as sparkly as I wanted, but you get the idea. The cool thing is that these are actually flower stamps! Yep, they are the same stamps I used in the second card in the post A Walk in the Garden (June 9, 2012). If you look closely, you can see that the larger "firework" is actually the detail stamp for the orange flowers, and the smaller one is the detail stamp for the purple flowers. I even used one of the stem stamps to create the "trail" for the large fireworks.

Inside of card: A couple more fireworks and a quick
handwritten greeting.

I'd never realized that these stamps looked liked fireworks. I was inspired by my good friend Faith who had used these stamps on a patriotic-themed card she made last year (unfortunately I couldn't find the card on Faith's blog to add a link, so you'll have to just trust me that it was adorable).

To finish off the card, I stamped the word "celebrate" and then hand-trimmed around it to make a waving banner. Before I adhered it to the card with a brad I gently bent it down in the middle and up on the end to add some dimension. I added another touch of Cherry Cobbler with some baker's twine wrapped around the bottom of the card.

With that card finished, I decided to make one more patriotic card, this one with a more vintage feel:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Card stock: River Rock, Cherry Cobbler, Midnight Muse
Ink: Early Espresso
Accessories: Stripes embossing folder, large and small star punches, hemp twine, paper piercer, mat pack, sponge, Dimensionals

Inside of card: A few small punched stars.

Surprisingly, there isn't any stamping on this card. I did use ink, however, to sponge the edges of all the elements to give the card a distressed look. I also added pierced holes around the edges of the blue card stock (I did this freehand, so the lines aren't perfectly straight) and in the other three corners of the embossed red card stock (used a template for these, so they're more even). The last detail was some hemp twine wrapped around the bottom of the card.




I hope you and your loved ones -- whether near or far -- have a safe and happy holiday. Thanks for stopping by!

Dreaming of fall

Oh. My. Goodness. I don't know about where you live, but it is hotter than Hades here today. Every time I step outside I feel as if I'm either going to melt or fall victim to spontaneous combustion. (Hmm ... if spontaneous combustion is truly spontaneous, would a person feel it happening? Maybe a split second before? Guess we'll never know.) I decided today was a perfect day to create two fall-themed cards -- while I sat in the cool of my air-conditioned apartment, thank you very much -- and at least dream about cooler weather.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^®):
Stamps: Branch Out
Card stock: Whisper White, Summer Starfruit
Ink: Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: 1/8" Early Espresso taffeta ribbon, Dimensionals

This card is a very basic clean and simple card. I stamped the tree, the leaves in three different colors, the tire swing and the boots on a white panel. Then I tied the ribbon around the white card stock and adhered the panel to the Summer Starfruit card base with Dimensionals. I did think about adding some embellishments, scoring or paper piercing, but I decided I really just liked the clean look.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: French Foliage, Happy Harmony
Card stock: Early Espresso, River Rock, Very Vanilla
Ink: Early Espresso, River Rock, Cajun Craze, Pool Party
Accessories: River Rock stitched ribbon, 1/8" Early Espresso taffeta ribbon, metallic brad (Making Memories), Dimensionals, Scor Bug (EK Success), Simply Scored tool, sponge

I started out with the intention of making this a clean and simple card, too, but it got away from me a bit. First I stamped the background elements in River Rock and Pool Party on Very Vanilla card stock. (It's hard to see in the picture, but I used Pool Party to stamp a few of the "splatter" images.) Then I stamped a few leaves on the card layer and on a separate sheet of Very Vanilla. I tore the bottom of the Very Vanilla layer, sponged the three straight edges with Early Espresso and layered it on a piece of River Rock card stock (also with a torn edge along the bottom).

I wrapped a piece of River Rock ribbon around the layered card stock and then tied a piece of Early Espresso ribbon over that. I don't think about layering ribbon too often, but I really like how it works here. Then I cut out two of the leaves I had stamped on separate card stock and used Dimensionals to adhere them just below the knot in the ribbon. I stamped the greeting and added a brad to the layers and pierced two rows of holes along the bottom edge of the card base. Then I used Dimensionals to adhere the layered pieces of card stock to the card base.

Here's wishing for cooler weather. Thanks for stopping by!

Little lovelies

This month the SoShelli.com creative challenge is to create projects using products from the new catalog. So today I pulled out a few goodies from my latest Stampin' Up!^® order and created a set of 3" x 3" notecards.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Lovely Little Labels
Paper: First Edition Specialty Designer Series Paper (DSP), Natural Compostion DSP, Wisteria Wonder card stock, Lucky Limeade card stock, Very Vanilla card stock (to line the inside of the cards)
Ink: Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder
Accessories: Little Labels punch pack, Lucky Limeade ruffled ribbon, Wisteria Wonder ruffled ribbon, 1" square punch, pearls, Sticky Strip, Dimensionals, Tombo multipurpose glue

I don't know why it is, but things that are little always seem so cute and fun. I mean, the miniature bottles of shampoo and lotion in hotels are much better than the boring regular ones, right? Well, stamps, punches and cards are no exception. The complete set of these notecards actually includes eight cards; I made two cards of each of these four designs, one in Lucky Limeade and one in Wisteria Wonder.

I love the new Natural Composition Specialty DSP; the glossy designs are gorgeous. I know there are great techniques you can use with this paper (I've read that you can watercolor on it), but I really like it "au naturel." And it's heavy enough to use as a card base without layering it on card stock. I used an entire sheet of it for these cards (yay, me for not hoarding!), and I love to have the pattern and texture on the back of the cards, too.

The Lovely Little Labels stamp set and coordinating punches are just adorable. I used the punches twice on each card; once to punch out the stamped image and once to add a hint of color behind the DSP banner. (I used the 1" square punch to make the V in the end of the banners.) For the remaining details I added three of the smallest size pearls on the left side of the banner, a medium pearl on the bottom right corner and a strip of ruffled ribbon across the top of the card. It's a clean and simple design, but I think that really allows all the little details to stand out.




Thanks for stopping by -- and remember to enjoy the little things!