Jun 30 2008
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May 23 2008
Blogger’s Challenge – Red/White/Blue
This week’s challenge was to use Red, White and Blue. Now…if I was thinking correctly, I should have waited and posted LAST week’s card today! It fit the criteria perfectly! However, during my challenges with Lisa and Mary over the past couple days, I made one that fits both the traditional patriotic holidays AND a necessary “man” card! Lisa and Mary will see that I “tweaked” the sketch a little. I thought the upper left corner was a little empty, so I added the half moon greeting “happy day”. My father’s birthday is coming up on June 2nd, so I’ll save this card for him!
The ONLY stamping on this card is the greeting, the rest are combination designer papers from the Western Sky pack. I also used Ruby Red and Blue Bayou to punch the stars, and added a red Rhinestone brad to the center. Tied some Blue Bayou double stitched ribbon around it (I HOPE they bring back the ribbon in more colors next catalog!)
Enjoy your holiday weekend. We have plans to go to the lake house at least on Sunday…maybe Monday, too. A couple graduation parties to attend, too!
May 16 2008
Blogger’s Challenge Week #47
This week’s challenge was to use the layout on page 21 of the Spring Mini catalog…the puppy dog card! I don’t think I even really looked at the layout until this challenge, but it was fun to do!
Don’t ask me how I came up with this card. Looking at the layout, it just popped into my head that I wanted to use Big Birthday Candle (page 43 of the Spring Collection book). When I first purchased this set, I thought it would make cool firecrackers. And, the Snow Blossom punch (page 181) has always looked like fireworks to me. Voila! I combined them both to make my patriotic 4th of July card. I had to dig deep in my stash to find a Happy 4th of July greeting…it is in the set, More Great Greetings, that retired MANY years ago. I’m happy I kept it.
The bar code lines on the base card are from the background stamp Happiness (page 122) and stamped with Craft White ink. (I totally cut up my background stamp into the different segments, so I can use them separately.) The firecrackers were stamped in Basic Black ink on Real Red, Whisper White and Brilliant Blue cardstock, then the design circles and lines stamped with White Craft ink. On the white firecracker, I used my markers to color the Real Red and Brilliant Blue lines. I’ve had the red/white/blue stripe ribbon from back with Stampin’ Up! carried it in their catalog. The Snow Blossom is punched from Yo Yo Yellow Faux Diamond Dust paper, so they really sparkle! Oh, and I wanted a strip of red/white/blue paper along the left side, so I made up some “faux designer paper” by inking the line stamp with my Real Red and Brilliant Blue markers again and stamping it down the strip of Whisper White cardstock.
I had LOTS of fun making this card and it came together very easy…actually looking a lot like I had pictured in my head! I wish all cards came together that easily!
Have a great weekend!
May 02 2008
Blogger’s Challenge Week #45 – Graduation
Our Blogger’s challenge this week was to create a Graduation card. Instead of recreating the wheel, I decided to use the money holder card that I designed for my Stamp Club last month. This is the same card design as the birthday one I did for the Control Freaks swap. I plan on making these up in the graduate’s school colors as necessary. Glorious Green, Whisper White and Brushed Silver are the colors of our local Dublin high schools.
I wheeled the Nursery Jumbo wheel in Glorious Green over the Brushed Silver cardstock. I felt the definition of “Journey” from Define Your Life was appropriate to send off the graduate to their next experience…either college or work. (If you don’t have Define Your Life, you are missing a wonderful addition to your stamp collection! This set has a definition for almost everything you’d ever need!) I used the tag corner punch and 1/8″ circle punch for the hole on the tag and tied it with White Taffeta ribbon. The large and small stars are layered and a mini brad attached in the center…popped up with dimensionals. Inside I added more stars and the Good Luck greeting from Sincere Salutations. 
I have a full day finishing up some design projects. Hope you have a great weekend!
Apr 08 2008
My Stamp Studio
I’ve been promising several people that I share my stamping space! My husband built the wood shelves for me after Christmas. I pretty much have them filled with retired stamps the way I want. Still need to label the shelves according to how they are sorted. Lots of room to still add to them. One area I want to work on is the wire shelves on the opposite wall…I may put in some cabinets along that side. My work area is pretty clean in this picture…trust me, it doesn’t look like this often! The black holders by my work area are tilt-down bins…I store a lot of my little things in them…sponge daubers, sanding blocks, adhesive, pop-dots, etc. I have all my paper, both 8 1/2 x 11 and 12×12 on paper racks, labeled with the color names.
My back wall holds a grid system (from The Container Store…love it!) and wire baskets filled with ribbon spools. I am running out of space, so will probably add another grid panel and more wire baskets. I love ribbon and have some of it hid away! lol! Behind one of the double doors where you enter, I have the small wood shelves (from Ikea) that hold my individual stamps.
The tables are in the center. I have set ups for 10 all the time, but can bring in another 7′ foot table for more space. I also have a game table outside the double doors of this room that holds another 4-6 people when needed.
Hope you’ve enjoyed the peek into my Studio. Sorry the pictures are so wonky…Blogspot just doesn’t like to line them up well!
Apr 03 2008
Essence of Love
This stamp set in the new Occasions mini caught my eye from the very first. Very unusual and unlike my normal style. I’ve really seen some striking cards, so I’m glad I gave in to the temptation to purchase it! This card is one of the challenges I completed with my friends Mary and Lisa. The challenge was to use this sketch and the colors of Blush Blossom , Groovy Guava, Wild Wasabi and So Saffron. I don’t use a lot of Blush Blossom, so I was excited when Lisa mentioned this color combination!
It may be hard to see, but the small butterfly is stamped randomly over the Blush Blossom layer. The focal floral image is embossed with black. I stamped the cut-out butterfly between Happy & Birthday with Groovy Guava on Blush Blossom cardstock, then glittered it with Dazzling Diamonds. The printed paper is from Jersey Shore DSP.
American Idol results show is tonight! Again…wondering who will go. I just finished watching last night’s show (since I had my Techniques Class), so now I have an idea of who I’d like to see go!
See you soon!
Mar 30 2008
Always
Yesterday, I spent some time doing online challenges with two friends, Lisa and Mary! I had a blast joining them…they have done this frequently in the past, but it was my first time. We selected sketches, then a color combination, stamp set or accessory to use with that sketch. It was interesting to see how similar two would be…maybe using the same color values, or picking the same stamp set to use…but not the same two of us all the time!
For this card, we used the sketch layout and needed to use the stamp set Always. This was the one that Mary and I used similar color values. The color combination I used was Not Quite Navy, So Saffron, Mellow Moss and Purely Pomegranate. I decided to dress up the scallop along the bottom with one of the circle flowers in the set. It is difficult to see, but I did pierce the centers of each of the scallop flowers. One of the new Stylized Silver Hodgepodge ribbon slides is placed with the Pomegranate DS ribbon. I also used Glossy White for a more vibrant look to the bird and leaves. I really liked this layout and will be using it again soon!
A couple of the cards we did, I will save until after my classes next week and then share them with you. I want my class members to be surprised!
Enjoy your Sunday!
Feb 19 2008
Classic Backgrounds 4
Another card made with Classic Backgrounds…I really liked the large star in this set. Too bad I didn’t have the large star punch when I was making all these cards for Leadership Display!
This one is a basic pocket card…the cardstock cut 4 1/4 x 11 and then scored and folded up and the flap down. I stamped the stars in craft ink, then sprinkled Irridescent Ice EP over them and heat set. I layered the cut out star on the Scallop Circle punched from Brushed Silver. I also used Totally Tags for the Round Tab punch. I added the faux stitching around the top of the pocket.
I don’t use Glorious Green very often, but I did like it paired with the Brushed Silver and Whisper White cardstock! I thought this would make a great graduation invitation, so I used the school colors where my boys went to High School…Dublin Shamrocks and Dublin Irish!
Stay warm…we are getting MORE snow today. I’m SO ready for spring! I was checking out places near Hilton Head Island to vacation today…it can’t come soon enough for me!
Connie
Nov 22 2007
Happy Turkey Day!
I made this card to send to my niece and nephew for Thanksgiving! I totally CASED it from someone online and for the life of me I can’t find my note with their name on it to give them credit. I absolutely LOVED their idea! Too clever.
The body is done with the small oval punch and the “feathers” are made from two Scallop Circle punches from Apple Cider paper. The diamonds are individually cut in a row from the Apple Cider paper, too!
I’ll be brief here…lots to do to get ready for Turkey Day tomorrow. I’m grateful to all of you checking my Blog! Hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving!
Nov 07 2007
Summer by the Sea
As we are winding towards winter, I wanted to capture one more glimpse of summer (even though there were snow showers here yesterday!) My technique class did this card last night using a technique called Watercolor Wash. When I was looking for a beach scene type of stamp, I remembered Summer by the Sea that is on the Dormant List at Stampin’ Up! Basically that means it is still available to order, but that it does not appear in the Fall/Winter catalog. I also need a Wedding card, so this one will do double duty!
To do Watercolor Wash, I scribbled 3 different colors of Watercolor Crayons (Tempting Turquoise, Apricot Appeal, Creamy Caramel) on Shimmer cardstock. You can also substitute Watercolor paper or Confetti/Naturals paper. Then I took my Aquapainter and brushed across the scribbles to soften and blend them into each other. After it dries, you stamp your image on top using Black Stazon ink and you are done! However, in this case, I wanted the man and woman to come to the foreground a little…so I did an additional step by watercoloring them in using Night of Navy, Taken with Teal, Garden Green and Creamy Caramel watercolor crayons. This makes them pop forward and the background recede. Pretty cool technique, I think! I kept the rest of the card simple with clean lines so it wouldn’t detract from the stamped image.
Sets: Summer by the Sea, Warm Words
C/S: Soft Sky, Apricot Appeal, Chocolate Chip, Taken with Teal, Shimmer White
Inks: Black Stazon
Other: Watercolor crayons, Aquapainter, Piercing tool and mat, Silver mini brads