Brick Wall First Attempt

I have been waiting for the Brick Wall embossing folder and it finally arrived~~yeah!  I have watched quite a few videos on techniques for coloring the bricks and here is the first sponged brick wall I created.  Now I saw the bike and tree on one of the videos I watched and Frenchie's tree and sun showed up very nicely.  The sun and tree were supposed to be a shadow on the wall while the bike is leaning against the wall.  The tree and bike is from Sheltering Tree; the sun from Kind of Eclectic and the sentiment from the Watercolor Wishes stamp set.  At any rate, the wall itself turned out pretty darn good, if I say so myself.  I embossed the bricks on Crumb Cake cardstock and sponged using Tip Top Taupe, Soft Suede and Chocolate Chip.  The brick color is pretty realistic looking.   To tell the truth there are so many color variations of brick I think a number of color combinations could be used.  I know one thing and that is no two "walls" will ever look alike!  I have already created the next brick wall and I will post that card tomorrow.  I pretty much think that I will be making quite a few cards that will have a brick wall of some sort on it!  Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Lavender Lace Birthday

One of the things I really wish Stampin' Up presently offered is a pretty purple ink and cardstock.  I mean we do have some pretty purples but not exactly what I am talking about.   So, I decided to use a retired purple that I really like, Lavender Lace. The cupcake is from the Avery Elle stamp set, Make A Wish while the sentiment is from SU's Cottage Greetings. The Lavender Lace cardstock was run thru the Big Shot with a Sizzix embossing folder that I have had for quite some time.   The idea for the card layout came while watching a Jennifer McGuire video.   I knew I wanted to use the cupcake from Make A Wish and I just had to top it off with a little cherry created with the Build A Cupcake punch.  I also made this same card using Tempting Turquoise, but I did not assemble it in time to post.  This card is a great card to make multiples of in a variety of colors.  Have a great day!

Watercolor Words

Happy Monday!  Today's cards were quick, simple, cute and stamped using the Watercolor Words stamp set.  On the Bermuda Bay card, I used the Watercolor Wash Background stamp before stamping the sentiment in Bermuda Bay ink. The card base is actually cardstock from Amuse Studios.   The little flower was stamped in Melon Mambo with an enamel dot from Doodlebug in the center of the flower.  Doodlebug has a line of these self-adhesive enamel dots in a variety of colors and sizes to match any project.  The "you're the best" card was stamped on a stitched rectangle left over from another project I created, layered on SU DSP.  Now on this card I used Stampin' Up! candy dots~~yellow in the center of the flower and a couple Melon Mambo candy dots on the lower right corner of the card.  Watercolor Words is a very cute stamp set with the sentiments being large enough to take up a nice part of a card front.  Have a great day! 

Happy Haunting

Another Halloween card!  Actually, I saw something similar on the internet and thought it was cute enough to create my own version.  A square framelit was used to cut the square in the black cardstock.  After cutting a doily to fit in a portion of the square, I glued the doily down and stamped the little spider on the white card base.  The sentiment is from the stamp set that came with this month's My Paper Pumpkin and was stamped in Versamark and embossed with white embossing powder.    Before adhereing the black layer to the white card base using dimensionals, I wrapped black and white twine around it.  This is another card I think is just adoreable!  Have a great day and enjoy the first  Fall weekend of the season.

Woodland Boo

I watched a couple of videos on different ways to use the Woodland Textured Impressions Embossing folder and then I tried one of the techniques myself.  I brayered Smokey Slate ink on the embossing folder and the background on today's card was the result. After adding the doily to the Woodland layer, I adhered that to a black card base.  The hat and "boo" are from the Howl-o-ween Treat set, but the card needed a little something.  So I added the little bats which are from the retired Holiday Home stamp set. I will be trying this in other ink colors and then we will create one in class in the near future!  Have a great day and a wonderful weekend. 

My Paper Pumpkin Treat Bags

Happy Fall!  Yesterday I received the October My Paper Pumpkin and I have to say that I think it is just adorable for the Fall and the Halloween season.  Most of my My Paper Pumpkin boxes are  still half-filled, but this one for sure will be empty in no time.  As a matter of fact, I am even thinking about ordering a refill kit just to have it here.  The directions said to curl the paper fringe using a pencil.  I curled it just like I curl ribbon~~using scissors.  That being said, the paper is a little more delicate than curling ribbon, so I did take it a little slower.  Anyway, you can fit a fair amount of little candy bars in the bags and the stamp set included with this months MPP is very pretty.  Now the one thing that did not come with the kit are the little sequins.  Those are from Pretty Pink Posh and I love the bright Halloween colors included in the mix.  Have a great day!

Feel Better

A dear friend of mine recently had surgery.  I wanted to send her something cute and fun so out came Lawn Fawn's On the Mend, WPlus9's You've Got Mail and the Storybook 1 die from Pretty Pink Posh.  After stamping and coloring with Copics, I created the frame using Stampin' Up's Elegant Eggplant DSP for the layer.  I do like having the DSP frame around the white space.   Kathy is always singing, so the little birds singing are a perfect touch!  Have a great day!

More Leaves

I purchased a clear Wink of Stella brush pen and I wanted to see how Autumn leaves would look with the glitter brushed on. I first stamped the leaves on Hello Honey and then sponged over the leaves with Cherry Cobbler, Meadow Moss and a little Tangerine Tango.  After die cutting the leaves, they were adhered to white cardstock that was stamped lightly using the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set and Crumb Cake ink.  I added a little gold twine and a few sequins.  The sentiment is from a Close To My Heart set and the Wink of Stella clear glitter adds a subtle sparkle, not really glitter as it is very smooth.  Have a great day!

Abstract Flower

I wanted to use a stamp set I have not used in a while and as I was looking at my stamps, Work of Art jumped out at me.  I was thinking about what to do with the set when I remembered a card I saw a while back that had a flower stamped on the front using Work of Art.  So I got to work and practiced making the petals around the circle.  Once I knew what I wanted to stamp off and stamp direct, I created the flower.  Then it was time for leaves.  I felt that the images in Work of Art were a little too big for leaves, so I grabbed a smaller image from the Over the Rainbow set and with a little practice, the green on the card does look like abstract leaves.  You never know what you might create using those non-descript images!  Have a great day, a great weekend and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Happy Birthday Wishes

Being in birthday mode at our house, I decided to make a couple of simple birthday cards using the Hello You Thinlets and the Build A Birthday stamp set.  Pacific Point and Real Red are a good color combination and I just flip-flopped the colors and quickly made two similar cards.  A few little stars fill in the white space with a little Dazzling Diamonds on the candle flames.  While I was using my yellow Dazzling Diamonds, I saw that I was running low.  So I added a little of the white Dazzling Diamonds to the container together with a couple drops of Daffodil Delight reinker and now I have replenished my yellow Dazzling Diamonds.  Have a great day!

A Big Birthday!

Today is a big day at my house.  My husband turns 65!  The kids are coming over on Saturday to celebrate so I made these little boxes filled with hugs and kisses.  They were easy to make requiring two pieces of 5X5 cardstock and the score tool. 

John, as many of you know, is a water fowl hunter.  And one of his
favorite shows is Duck Dynasty.  If you are not familiar with Duck Dynasty, it is a program about the Robertson Family and they make products for duck hunters.  Anyway, many of their shirts, hats, etc. have the words "happy happy happy" on them.  So, John's card required the purchase of a Die-namics die, Happy Trio.  A little camouflage paper, a couple of stickers, "happy happy happy" and  "birthday" (stamped and punched out using the Washi Tape punch)  made a very personalized card for John!  Needless to say, he laughed when he opened the card!  Have a great day!

Bright Little Leaves

You can probably tell by now that I am enjoying the little stitched leaves die from Lawn Fawn.  After seeing a couple of cards on line with brightly colored leaves, I decided to create my own version.  I started with a Watermelon Wonder card base.  Then I decided on the various inks to sponge on the colors~~Watermelon Wonder, Pear Pizzazz, Tangerine Tango inks.  The sentiment is from For All Things, stamped and then die cut using SU's Tags and Labels framelits.  The little dots are a good embellishment for this card which  I enjoyed creating.  It is a combination of the bright summer colors I so love and the Fall theme that I always seem to have more ideas for than people to send cards to!!  Have a great day!

Framed Birthday Card

As soon as I did a test cut using the new die I purchased from Pretty Pink Posh I had to create a card.  The die is Storybook 1 which caught my attention because of the rectangle windows inside a larger rectangle window and the stitching.  I used the Stampin' Up retired  Build A Cupcake stamp set and punch for the cupcake.  The sentiment from the retired set, Made For You, was stamped and then diecut using one of the Tags and Labels Framelits in the annual catalog.  The sentiment was adhered with dimensionals.  And then I die cut a Lawn Fawn balloon to fill in the remaining rectangle.  I see so many uses for this particular die including using the positive pieces.  Have a good week and a great day!

Dropping In To Say Hi

As promised, here is another Fall card with acorns and leaves!!  This card is not all Stampin' Up.  The die cut layer was created using the Stitched Cover-up die from My Favorite Things.  I like the way this particular die showcases the acorns and the sentiment so they look framed.  The acorns were punched using our new acorn punch.  The sentiment is from the Acorny Thank You stamp set~~a sentiment I really like.  Once again I added a couple of Lawn Fawn's stitched leaves as they are just the right size to embellish the acorns.  And our linen thread adds texture and interest to the card.  In my opinion, the color combination of Blackberry Bliss and Tip Top Taupe is pretty.  Have a great weekend!

More Vintage Leaves

It seems that this week I have spent  my time with Fall stamp sets and framelits.  That means that both today's and tomorrow's cards will be leaves and/or acorns! Today's card includes vintage leaves stamped in the same color ink as the cardstock on which they were stamped.  I have not used Soft Suede for a while and it looks very nice with the Cajun Craze.  Now that I am looking at the acorn, I should have made the bottom of it Cajun Craze and the top Chocolate Chip.  Oh well, next time!  Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Quadrangle Frame

I saw this Quadrangle Frames framelit set on the Simon Says store website and I am very pleased I purchased the set.  The quadrangle square I used on this card measures about 2-1/4".  There is a second frame which is a little smaller.  I wanted to get my money's worth when it comes to shipping so I also ordered the Stitched Pumpkins Framelits.  The Stitiched Pumpkins include three pumpkins and 5 little leaves.  I used the medium pumpkin in the quadrangle adhering it after I sponged the edges and the stitches lightly. The sentiment is from the Stampin' Up! stamp set, Good Greetings which is retired.   And a few sequins from the Pretty Pink Posh Trick or Treat Mix added a little bling. Simple, but pretty.  Have a great day!

Marbled Flowers

This week on Splitcoaststampers.com there was a tutorial on marbling using the MISTI.  I do not have a large stamp that it would work well with, so I played with the technique using flowers from  the Crazy About You and Flower Patch stamp sets.  The MISTI is a stamping tool that enables you to line up your stamps and restamp if necessary without moving the stamp.  Anyway, you have your stamp on the MISTI, you ink it up and stamp. Without moving the paper or the stamp you add a second color by tapping that color on the stamp using your finger and then stamp right over the first stamped image.  In the tutorial, a third color was used, but I just couldn't work a third color in on the flowers.  I used Daffodil Delight first and then tried to get the marbled effect using Tangelo Twist.  I tried it a number of times and the three flowers on this card are the three best!  I will be working on this technique and when I perfect it, you will be using the technique in card class!  Have a great day!

Red, White & Blue Treat

Happy Labor Day!  Hope you are all enjoying this "last weekend of summer".  As I was looking at different websites, I saw this cute little mini deco bag die from Paper Smooches.  The assembled size is about 3-1/4" x 2-1/2" and is perfect for a little treat such as the mini Ghirardelli chocolates.  I usually purchase the little mini bags at Michael's, but now that I have this die, I can make them using DSP paper of my choice.  I used Stampin' Up Star  and Bitty Banner framelits together with the And Many More stamp set to decorate the bag.  Have a great day!

Many Thanks

I was in need of a few thank you notes so out came the note card/envelope set Stampin' Up sells.  I filled a couple of mini misters with alcohol and reinker and rather than spritz or mist the card fronts, I opened the mister and tapped the stem of the sprayer to create the splatter on the cards.  As they dried (which is quickly because of the rubbing alcohol) I diecut the "thanks" from the Hello You thinlits.  After adhering the thanks to the card fronts, I used  the "so much" stamp from the Crazy About You stamp set to complete the sentiment.  But, I did not need the "so" and that is where my Post It Note tape came in handy.  I covered up the "so", inked the stamp, removed the tape and stamped "much".   The cards were a little plain, but baker's twine took care of that!  Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend.  Have fun and safe travels.   

Vintage Leaves

The colors of Mossy Meadow, Cajun Craze, Hello Honey & Tip Top Taupe make for a great Fall combination.  I originally was going to focus on the Woodland Embossing Folder in the new Mini, but the pretty   Vintage Leaves kind of overtook the background layer. But it's okay as the background still shows and the Woodlands embossing folder will be used on future cards, too.  When I first stamped the leaves, I stamped direct from the ink pad to the cardstock.  Once the leaves were die cut using the coordinating dies, the ink was just too dark.  So I restamped the leaves stamping off first and that made all the difference.  The sentiment is from For All Things and punched using the Washi Tape punch.  I needed to fill in a little, so the tiny leaves were cut using framelits from Lawn Fawn, their Small Stitched Leaves set.  And to complete the card, Stampin' Up's gold sequins and that pretty gold thread did the perfect job!  Have a great day!

Halloween Square Pillow Box

You all know that I am a sucker for favor boxes, bags, etc.  I was going to resist this square pillow box, but I couldn't!  In my defense, it fits gift cards and I always need packaging for gift cards. After diecutting the pillow box (you need to cut two pieces) and assembling the box, I wrapped it in a black cardstock band.  The tag was created using the little angled corner square framelits included with the Square Pillow Box set.  The Cucumber
Crush square was stamped with the spiders from the A Little Something stamp set and the Tangelo Twist square stamped using a sentiment from the same set. The little pumpkins were also die cut using a framelit included with the Square Pillow Box set.  Now the little bats were created using a die I have from Amuse Studios.  I gathered a small piece of black netting, wrapped it with  gray twine and added some of the silver thread that I like so much.  I envision some really pretty holiday boxes created using this Square Pillow Box die and lots of pretty ribbon and embellishments.  Have a great day!

Quick Fall Favor

On Saturday night I wanted to make a little treat for the ladies who were coming for Cricut/Card Sunday.  I had just received my box of goodies from the new Mini on Friday and the acorn punch was needing to be used!  Out came some little 2-1/2" x 3" brown paper bags and the For All Things stamp sets and in no time I had the little bags completed.  Using the punch, I used solid cardstock for the bottom of the acorn and printed paper for the top of the acorn.  After stamping the leaves in Always Artichoke, I adhered the pretty gold thread to the underside of the acorn and then used dimensionals to adhere the acorn to each bag.  The bags were pretty just the way they were, but then I saw the die from the square pillow box that was a little row of leaves and needed to add a couple of leaves to each bag.  Inside the bag is a little mini Ghirardelli chocolate.  Have a great day!