One must have a little flower

Last weekend I took the time to make a few cards before I packed up the craft room. (Sniff, sniff.) I happened to have two very old retired stamp sets sitting on the table, so I just grabbed those and worked as efficiently as I could in an already chaotic space. The first card I made was a patriotic one that I shared in my Memorial Day post. I used the same stamp set, Love Is a Circle, for today's card.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Love Is a Circle, Distressed Dots
Card stock: Pear Pizzazz, Calypso Coral, Whisper White
Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Calypso Coral, So Saffron
Accessories: Bitty Buttons, Calypso Coral baker's twine, Scallop Edge border punch, 2-1/2" circle punch, Essentials paper-piercing pack, paper-piercing tool and mat, Dimensionals, Glue Dots

I have rescued this stamp set -- which contains four large images outlined by a quote and two small images (a leaf and a star) -- out of my donate/sell pile several times over the years; I just can't seem to part with it. It happened again a few weeks ago when I had a sale to thin out my supply of stamping and crafting supplies. I gathered up what was left after the sale and packed a box to send to a friend for her daughter's Girl Scout troop (I had also given her three bags of other kid-friendly craft supplies) and two boxes for a fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator who works with our local Ronald McDonald House. But before I sealed the boxes I pulled out a few stamp sets I decided to keep, and Love Is a Circle was one of them. For some reason I'm drawn to this set, even though I couldn't tell you when I last used it. I should probably just stop trying to get rid of it.


Anyway, back to the card. I stamped the flower image on Whisper White card stock using Calypso Coral ink. I punched out the image with the 2-1/2" circle punch and pierced a border along the edge of the circle. I stamped the image again using So Saffron ink, cut out the center of the flower and adhered it to the focal image. For embellishment I added a Bitty Button tied with Calypso Coral baker's twine and three stamped and cut-out leaves.

For the card base, I stamped the Distressed Dots background stamp using Pear Pizzazz ink on Pear Pizzazz card stock. I trimmed about 1/4" off the bottom of the card front and added a Calypso Coral scalloped border. Then I adhered the focal point to the card with Dimensionals.

The other cards I made last weekend feature the stamp set A Little Bit of Happiness. I'll post those pictures over the next couple of weeks. I hope it won't be too long before I'm able to get back to stamping and more regular blog posts. But tomorrow we get the keys for our new place, so we're making progress!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Memorial Day

On this day of remembrance, I would like to express a simple but heartfelt thank you to all the men and women who have served our country overseas or at home.

"Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay, but we can honor their sacrifice."
- President Barack Obama

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Love Is a Circle
Card stock: Riding Hood Red, Night of Navy, Whisper White
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Night of Navy
Accessories: Chevron embossing folder, white baker's twine, striped Riding Hood Red ribbon, Dimensionals, Glue Dots

Thanks for stopping by!

Hexagon punch flower

It's been more than a week since I've posted -- organizing and packing is keeping me busy -- so I wanted to pop in and share a quick tutorial for making flowers with the Stampin' Up! hexagon punch. I took these pictures ages ago because I intended to include the tutorial as part of a bigger project. That project was never finished, and since I haven't been able to do any other crafting, I decided to go ahead and post this quick tutorial.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Hexagon punch
Scissors
Sticky Strip
Paper piercer
Embellishments - I used Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons, large pearls, Smoky Slate chevron ribbon, Wire Works
Stamps and ink, if desired - I used Six-Sided Sampler, Daffodil Delight, Coastal Cabana

Step 1: Punch out a hexagon shape from card stock or Designer Series Paper. If you want to use a stamped image, first stamp it and then punch it out.

Step 2: Snip from one corner of the hexagon straight to the middle.

Step 3: Apply a small piece of Sticky Strip to the back of the hexagon next to the cut made in Step 2.

Step 4: Gently pull the sections of the hexagon on either side of the cut so they overlap. Adhere the sections together with the Sticky Strip from Step 3.

Step 5: Finish your flower with the desired embellishments.

To add a stem, I used a paper piercer to make a hole in the middle of the flower. I put a piece of wire through the hole, threaded it on a Vintage Faceted Designer Button and added a large pearl in the center of the button. I tied together three hexagon flowers to make a mini bouquet.

Thanks for stopping by!

First Communion card

I often have a hard time creating cards for religious occasions, such as baptisms and confirmations, because I don't have many stamp sets with religious images. But when I needed to make a First Communion card for my cousin's daughter a few weeks ago, I knew right away what I wanted to make.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Strokes of Wisdom (Raisin Boat)
Card stock: Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White
Ink: Calypso Coral, So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder
Accessories: Lattice die, Frost White Shimmer Paint, pearls, sponge daubers, Dimensionals

I wanted to have a rainbow on the background, so I used one of the "swoosh" images from the Strokes of Wisdom stamp set (from Raisin Boat). I stamped the image in five different colors on Whisper White card stock, lining up the images to create the look of a rainbow.

To make the cross, I cut a piece of Whisper White card stock with the Lattice die and then trimmed it down to get the cross shape. (I didn't come up with this idea, but I love the result.)

I wanted the cross to stand out a little, so I used a sponge dauber to apply Frost White Shimmer Paint. It has a pretty, subtle shimmer in person. I also applied shimmer paint along the edge of another piece of Whisper White card stock to layer behind the focal panel.

To adhere the cross to the card I cut Dimensionals into tiny pieces that fit behind the cross. The final touch was a pearl in the center of the cross.

The "Celebrate" sentiment (also from the Strokes of Wisdom set) wasn't necessarily my first choice; I was looking for something more along the lines of  "God bless you." But I liked the calligraphy-style font, and the sentiment fit perfectly across the whole focal panel, so I decided to go with it. Besides, a First Communion, at least in our family, is always followed by a party with gifts and cake, so it clearly is a time to celebrate.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hip Hip Hooray Card Kit

During the past few months life has gotten in the way of fun stuff like crafting, so I haven't been able to post on my blog as often as I would have liked. And my sister and I just found out last weekend that we need to find a new place to live by the end of May, so it doesn't look like it's going to get much better in the next couple of months. (I'm especially bummed because I went to the premier of the new Stampin' Up! catalog last night, and I won't even be able to preorder any new goodies. Well I could, but I'd just have to pack them up as soon as I got them. Boo.) I do have one more card to share after today's post, but that's all I have at this point. I'm hoping I'll be able to make a card or two in between packing up boxes, but just know that I'm still around and probably wishing I were stamping!

Anyway, on with the show. I've had the Hip Hip Hooray Card Kit from Stampin' Up! sitting on one of my craft shelves, taunting me, for weeks. I finally had a chance to sit down and make the cards, and it was really fun. The kit comes with a three-piece greeting stamp set, a clear block, twenty printed kraft note cards and envelopes, Basic Gray ink, card stock stickers, clips, Whisper White Baker's twine and Dimensionals -- everything you need to sit down and whip up twenty cute cards. I wanted to add a little something to my cards -- including a little bling -- so I also used some additional supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Yippee-Skippee!, Just Sayin'
Card stock:  Whisper White, Very Vanilla (for layers inside the cards)
Ink: Calypso Coral pad and marker, Baked Brown Sugar marker, Basic Gray marker
Accessories: Small heart punch, Bitty Banner punch, Merry Minis punch pack, gold sequin trim, Calypso Coral baker's twine, gold baker's twine, Glue Dots, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Embossing Buddy

Altogether I used ten different sentiments: the three that came in the kit and seven others. I made two cards using each greeting, and no two cards are exactly alike. I think I'm going to divide the cards into two sets, so each set has one card with each greeting. And I might just keep one of the sets for myself.

The card kit also comes with a color instruction sheet that illustrates each of the card layouts Stampin' Up! designed. I used the instructions as a starting point for several of my cards, so I could get ideas for how to layer the different elements.

I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig tool to help stamp the greetings straight. Another useful tool was the Embossing Buddy, which I used to lightly dust the back of the stickers that I adhered to the card with Dimensionals.

I used Calypso Coral, Baked Brown Sugar and Basic Gray markers to apply ink to the greeting stamps so I could have multicolored sentiments.

After finishing all the cards, I still had two partial sheets of stickers and the white baker's twine left (since I used different twine). And about one-third of the sheet of Dimensionals, which surprised me since I go through Dimensionals like they're water. That's plenty of supplies to make several more cards using my own card bases - hip hip hooray!

Thanks for stopping by!