Birthday Flamingos

Happy Monday!  Over the weekend I decided to finalize the screen card we will be making at card classes on July 12th and 13th.  I definitely wanted something bright and summery.  Once I decided on Tempting Turquoise and Melon Mambo and since I can't seem to get enough of the Flamingo Lingo stamp set, a little flamingo will be on the front of the card.  After inking and stamping the flamingo I was going to hand cut it and then saw my Scan N Cut Machine.  Yes, it cut out the stamped image almost perfectly!  I did have to hand cut the little white section between the flamingo's legs, but that was easy!  After a little stamping and punching, the screen card was assembled and it is very cute, if I say so myself!  Have a great day!

With Sympathy

I will admit that I did not create a card yesterday~~I just thought about it!  I needed a sympathy card so this morning I ran down to my scrap room and created these simple yet pretty sympathy cards.  The flower is from Love and Sympathy and the sentiment is from Teeny, Tiny Wishes.  I used my Pistachio Pudding and Crisp Cantaloupe markers rather than ink pads and my oval framelits.  One oval was matted on a larger oval; the other oval was matted on an embossed layer of Crisp Cantaloupe cardstock.  At times I find myself over-thinking what to create only to find that sometimes less is more.  Have a great weekend and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Open Sea Birthday Wishes

Once again I used The Open Sea stamp set, this time together with one of the paper patterns in the Maritime DSP collection. The Maritime paper coordinates with the Sea Street stamp set, but some of the patterns such as the one used on this card coordinate perfectly with The Open Sea and other nautical/patriotic/beach stamp sets.  The little stars were stamped using one of the stamps in the Pictogram Punches set while the sentiment is from the Four You stamp set.   I must mention that the ledger and stars were stamped off on a piece of scrap paper prior to stamping onto the white cardstock giving those items a faded look.  Finally, the red twine is our Whisper White  Baker's Twine, dyed using Real Red reinker and alcohol.  Thanks to this set, I will have no problem coming up with masculine cards.  Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Soft & Pretty Work of Art

Aren't these cards pretty?  The Crumb Cake and Pool Party card includes light splatter on the background, the splatter being from Gorgeous Grunge.  The other stamped images are from the Work of Art set.  The Pink Pirouette and Smokey Slate card has a punched heart and the "so much" is from Another Thank You.  Again, the remaining images are from Work of Art.  I colored the rhinestones using alcohol markers. The  "heart you so much" card will be perfect for Valentine's day, but until then, it would work for an anniversary or just to let someone know you love them!  Cards couldn't be much easier than these cards.  You don' t even need the Stamp-a-ma-jig!  Have a great day!

Gorgeous Grunge & Pictogram Punches

I honestly think I could make cards all day using Gorgeous Grunge!  Yesterday I decided to team Gorgeous Grunge with Pictogram Punches to create today's cards.  One thing I would change on the Thinking of You card is the color of the butterflies (Papillion Potpourri).  For me, the Blackberry Bliss is a little too dark with the Crumb Cake and Crisp Cantaloupe.  I decorated one card with flowers, the other with stars, both using punches from the Itty Bitty Accent Punches pack and both have a few little sequins, too.   Have a great day!

Cricut Sunday Favors

Yesterday was Cricut Sunday at my house and my granddaughter returned from her week at camp.   I will start with Sydney~~she absolutely loved her experience.  She was in Jr. Vet Camp and was able to watch two surgeries:  the neutering of a dog and the docking of part of a dog's tail. She let a tarantula crawl on her, washed a dog, camped in a teepee~~just a few of the things she did.  She liked it so much, she is already signed up for a week next year.  Her Grandpa John and her Mom went to pick her up.  On the way, John and Jen enjoyed a St. Louis Cardinals' ballgame and John was in his glories.  He grew up in St. Louis and continues to be a diehard Cards' fan.  I spent quality with my grandpuppy while he was away.  Since it was Cricut Sunday, while I cleaned up my scraproom, I let my Cricut make a few rosettes.  How easy they were!  The Explore scored the rosettes and made quick work of it, too.  No Explore?  Not a problem!  I used the new Star Framelits on the middle favor, cutting a red star, a blue star and then cutting the blue star in half.  I topped it off with a little Shimmery White punched star.  The Sixlets were found at Meijers.  Have a great day!

Decorative Masks

One of the new items in the catalog is the Decorative Masks on page 205.  This card was created using the stars mask as I was planning and preparing things for my red, white and blue open house a couple of weeks ago.  When using the masks (stencils) you can spritz, sponge, trace and more.  I sponged the stars and I will say it was quick and easy.  That being said, you do need to be careful as the ink stays on the stencil and can cause smudging.  I used one of the 5" x 3-1/2" notecards which are already cut and scored.  So between the mask and note cards, this is a rather quick and easy card to create.  The White Glimmer star was punched using the little star punch from the Itty Bitty Accents punch set and the sentiment is from And Many More.  My favorite part of this card is the new Night of Navy Seam Binding bow.  It really is very pretty!  Have a great day and weekend and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Peace, Love & Cupcakes (and more)!

The Peace, Love & Cupcakes stamp set is one of those that is so cute~~I ordered it!  Then I wondered what I was going to do with it~~hahahah!  Here are two cards I made yesterday.  The cupcake on the Tempting Turquoise card was inked using my SU markers and then I asked myself, "Now what?"  The Star framelits were on the counter and from there the card just came together.  I used the star punch from the Itty Bitty Accents punch set to punch random stars in the embossed white cardstock layer.  And then I had a great idea:  use an aqua painter and my Tempting Turquoise ink pad to color the White Glimmer paper.  In the past I showed a card on which I used an ink refill and rubbing alcohol in a mister to change the color of the White Glimmer paper.  Today's method was much quicker and since I only needed a few stars, no waste of the reinker.  I used images and words from the Peace, Love & Cupcake set on the second card along with other new products:  the new Sweet Sadie Washi Tape (love it) and the In Color sequins.  I stamped the ampersand and my Brother Cut N Scan cut it out.  It is a cute stamp set, but not sure how many cards I will make with it.  Time will tell.  Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time!
 

No Card Today!

Today I want to share a couple of photos of Sydney at camp.  I am just so proud of her!  Sydney was a very shy toddler.  Jen worked with her continually introducing her to new experiences and leaving her in preschool while Sydney was crying.  She enrolled her in various local camps/programs and Sydney has blossomed.  Earlier this Spring,  Sydney heard about this camp with a program for Junior Vets.  She told Jenny and Mark that she really wanted to attend.  They talked about the realities such as she would be there for a week, it was far away from home,  it was rather expensive and that would be her summer vacation.  She thought about it and nothing changed her desire to attend.  Syd applied to the camp and was accepted.  Shortly after that, their school district announced it was offering summer camp scholarships.  Jenny suggested she apply and write the required essay.  Sydney did so and was awarded a scholarship of something like $150.  She was ecstatic that she earned some of her camp money!  (So were her mom and dad!)  Anyway when the kids arrived at camp on Sunday, they each had their photo taken with the llama.  You can see her happiness in this photo.   And then on Monday a picture of Sydney patiently waiting for the Mommy Lemur and her babies to take the little piece of food that was on her knee was posted for parents on the camp website.  Sydney looks so content and peaceful that I get tears in my eyes..  The little girl I went to Brookfield Zoo with when she was about two and wanted to play vet with a stuffed lemur in the kids' play area has turned into this beautiful almost 10 year old young lady~~sitting with real lemurs.   I just am so proud that she is growing up so beautifully~~thanks to Mom and Dad!  What a blessing!

Pictogram Punches

Both of today's cards were stamped using images from the Pictogram Punches set. The vase and stems stamped on the  "just because" card are one image, inked up using SU markers.  I chose to top the stems with stamped flowers, although since the little images in this set coordinate with the new Itty Bitty Accent Punch Pack, I could have punched the flowers.  The sentiment is from And Many More.  Since receiving the new Star framelits, I have been using them quite a bit.  The largest star on the "you're a STAR" card was cut out using a medium sized framelit with the smallest  framelit centered on that star.  Once the star was cut, it was embossed and White Glimmer paper added under the smaller heart negative space.  The stamped stars and the sentiment are from Pictogram Punches, while the star's "tail" is an image from Work of Art.  The perfect embellishment on this card are the little sequins now offered in the 2013-2015 In Colors (pg. 208).  This would have been a perfect card to give our granddaughter after her star performance in three numbers in her dance recital last weekend.  Have a great day!

The Open Sea

First, I have to tell you that the cute little Red, White & Blue Post-it Note easel card  (posted here and a Make & Take at the Open House) was selected as a favorite of the week on Splitcoast Stampers!  I  thought it was a really cute idea and so did someone else.  Since it was Father's Day yesterday, I wanted to make a couple of masculine cards.  I am in need of something that is a little more on the masculine side and The Open Sea fits that requirement.  The Crumb Cake with Navy and Cherry Cobbler is a card we will be making at the July classes, unless I come up with a better idea before then--lol!  The Navy and Soft Suede card is a little more vintage.  If you search "SU & Open Sea" on Pinterest, there are many pretty cards that have been created using it, so much so that I could do a class using just this stamp set.  This is one of those sets from which I will get my money's worth.  The possibilities are endless.  I mentioned July classes.  The dates are July 12th for my group and July 13th for Cherie's group.  Mark your calendars.  Have a great day!

Flowerpot Paper

Today's card uses two new products: the And Many More stamp set and Flowerpot Designer Series Paper. You all know how much I use my Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.  Well, you will be seeing the sentiments from And Many More (pg. 20) on many more of my future projects.  The Flowerpot DSP collection includes a nice variety of colors:  Blushing Bride, Crushed Curry, Garden Green, Lost Lagoon, Night of Navy, Tangerine Tango and Whisper White.  Although you rarely (or never) see me use colors such as Blushing Bride or Crushed Curry, when used in patterns such as the two used on this card, they look pretty darn good! Have a great day and a wonderful weekend.  And don't forget to find yourself a little stampin' time!

Tap, Tap, Tap

Having been a secretary in my younger days, the typewriter in this set caught my eye.  I don't remember the typewriters I used as being this vintage, but they were old!!  I can remember when the office I worked at purchased typewriters with correction tape in it!!  We thought that was the ultimate luxury in a typewriter.  And when you were pressing those keys, it did sound like "tap, tap, tap".  Not sure how often I will use the set, but it had to do with fond memories of being a teenager learning how to type.  My mom made me and my sister attend a business high school in Chicago so we would learn secretarial skills.  She wanted to be sure that we would be able to support ourselves.  That was in the 60's, when women working was far from the norm.  And the funny thing, my first secretarial job during my senior year in high school, led to meeting my husband when he started working at the same place after college!  WOW, that was 42 years ago!  Maybe the typewriter was this vintage--hahahah!!!  On that note, have a great day!

Thinking of You Koala

In my opinion, the stamp used on today's card, Kind Koala, is one of the cutest in the new annual catalog.  In my mind, koalas are a light brown.  No matter what brown I used to color in the little guy, he just didn't look right.  I looked up pictures of koalas and found that most are gray.  So, out came the Basic Gray marker and the first try with gray produced this little koala.   I did emboss the stamp using Black embossing powder and that is very helpful to avoid going out of the lines.  I colored the flower red as I wanted to use one of the papers in the new Maritine DSP collection as the background, accented with black cardstock and black polka dot strips of paper from the  DSP Neutrals collection.  Have a great day!

Make A Difference

When I heard there was a new stamp set in the catalog with the name Flamingo Lingo, I knew I would be adding it to my collection--sight unseen.  And to make it even better, Flamingo Lingo is this year's Ronald McDonald House project stamp set.  So, with every set purchased, $3 goes to the Ronald McDonald House. I went down to clean up for yesterday's Open House and decided half way thru cleaning that it was time to break out Flamingo Lingo.  The Strawberry Slush card used three of the seven stamps in the set.  In addition, the sentiment stamp coordinates with the Itty Bitty Framelits and the flowers with the Petite Petals punch.  Guess what I used for the leaves? My well-used Bird Builder punch.  The I  Miss You card was sponged after I stamped the flamingo and the sea grass (Wetlands) was used to complete the "beach" background. The sentiment (Really Good Greetings)was perfect for the lonely flamingo! Have a great day!

Open House

Today I am posting a picture of the Post-It Note easel holder that was one of the Make & Takes yesterday. A while back I posted a photo of the first Post-It Note easel I created and this is a much improved version.  I used the Stylish Stripes embossing folders on the  Real Red cardstock, the new star framelits, white Glimmer Paper and retired Night of Navy ribbon.  I discovered the white post-it note pads at Office Max which I was very happy about and which completed the red, white, blue theme.  Following are the dimensions of the cardstock used should you want to recreate it yourself. 
       

• 3x3 white post it note pad                                         
• Night of Navy 8-1/2" x 3-1/2", scored at 2-1/8" & 4-1/4"
• Night of Navy 4-1/4" x 3-1/2"                                      
• Real Red CS 4" x 3-1/4"       

One thing I want to mention if you plan on making these:   burnish the score lines firmly.  The burnishing is what helps the easel part to stand, together with the note pad.  Have a great day!                                           

 

Card/Home Decor

The other day I posted the "beach" cards I made using the Work of Art stamp set.  The one I made especially for my friend, Regina, was turned into a framed 12 x 12 wall decoration.  I matted the card front on an embossed piece of Pool Party Core'dinations cardstock before layering that on more coordinating cardstock.  Yesterday was her birthday and I wish her many sunrises in the years ahead.  And since she and her family are Florida-bound, I also made her a little tropical card-in-a-box, too.  Don't forget~~New Catalog Open House on Sunday.   I look forward to seeing many of you and sharing the new cattie.  Have a great weekend and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Polka Dot Hexagons

Today's cards were quick and simple to create.  I punched the hexagons from Designer Series Paper scraps.  The black and vanilla card has a sentiment from Petite Phrases.  The red, white and blue card has a sentiment  from the retired set, Something To Celebrate.  The Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack includes three cute little shapes.  The stars and flowers were punched using two of the punches and make cute little embellishments.  I did use my score tool to add a little texture to the cards, although you could use a ribbon.  Have a great day!

New Catalog Open House

This year's catalog open house has a red, white and blue theme.  I played around, wanting to showcase new product and the flag card is the winner.  I used the Work of Art stamp set~~again!!  The cupcake card is very cute, but in order to create it, you would need an electronic cutter capable of cutting svg files.  Or, as in this case, capable of scanning and enlarging a punched shape.  And then there is the fact I used a non-SU embossing folder and the tiny little star punch that is also non-SU.  But it is the perfect July 4th birthday card, isn't it?   And I am really proud of the red, white and blue 3D item you will Make & Take that afternoon.  Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time.

Wetlands With Work of Art

When I first saw the Wetlands stamp set, I knew I had to have it.  When I first saw Work of Art, it was just okay until it was demonstrated at the catalog premier and I caved!  I have been making good use of Work of Art and am glad I did order it.  Over the weekend, I saw a card on line that was a combination of both sets and I loved it!!!  So, today's post includes two of the cards I created using the two sets.  The sentiment on the Soft Sky version is from the Really Good Greetings set, made especially for you Regina! Reminds me of those Florida sunrises or sunsets, depending on which coast you are living on!!  Have a great day!