Hello, Dear Friend

Welcome back!  Today I have a card to share that was made for The Paper Players sketch challenge this week.   

Here's the sketch:

Tea for Two designer paper provided the color scheme for the card, and the two circles on the sketch just begged for flowers, in my mind.  So I gladly complied!  The flowers were made from Creped Filter paper, punched with several Scallop Circle punches in the catalogue (yes I am a bit obsessed with punches LOL!) plus the Blossom punch.  I then pushed each punched petal around a stamp pad with a sponge dauber and after they dried, scrunched them up around a brad.  The coverage wasn't uniform, but I was fine with how it turned out.  

I liked the color of the blue hexagon in the designer paper as a juxtapose to the warm coral and yellow, and it seemed to match up nicely with some Marina Mist card stock, so I used it as my cross panel and topped it with more paper from Tea From Two, including the flags on the top.  The sweet sentiment from Moving Forward was stamped in Marina Mist as well.  Pearls in the rounded corners finished it off (don't they always??).

I appreciate your visit today!  Hope you have a great remainder of the week!

Hugs,

Stef

All products by Stampin' Up:

Stamps:  Moving Forward

Paper: Very Vanilla, Calypso Coral, Marina Mist, Tea for Two designer paper

Ink:  Marina Mist, Calypso Coral, So Saffron

Accessories:  Creped Filter paper, multiple sizes of Scallop Circle punches, Blossom punch, Scallop border punch, Basic Pearls.

 

Hooray For You!

Welcome back once again!  Today I have a card that was made for the challenges at Freshly Made Sketches and Stampin' Royalty.  The sketch was perfect to accommodate a cute image from a new stamp set I just got, Vintage Rides by The Craft's Meow.  I saw an image from this set a couple of weeks ago and knew I had to have it.

I love this little airplane with the banner flying behind it.  I stamped it in Midnight Muse on Very Vanilla and then, rather than color it, I decided to paper piece it.  I pulled out my Print Poetry paper pack to get a masculine piece of designer paper.  When I saw the striped paper, I realized it would meet that need plus work for this week's Color Challenge at Stampin' Royalty.

And here's the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

I rotated it 90 degrees to work with my stamped images.  The Summer Starfruit panel was run through the Big Shot with the Clouds embossing folder...I figured with lots of imagination it could represent the sunny sky behind the plane.  ;-)  

It's a pretty simple card for me and I kept looking at it, wondering what else I could add.  But it's actually great for a boy with its lack of fussiness.  

Thanks for taking a look today, and I'd love to hear from you if you have a moment to leave a comment.  

Hugs,

Stef

All products from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted:

Stamps:  Vintage Rides (The Craft's Meow)

Paper:  Midnight Muse, Very Vanilla, Summer Starfruit, Print Poetry designer paper

Ink:  Midnight Muse, Gumball green

Accessories:  Clouds embossing folder, Linen Thread, Gumball Green Stitched Satin Ribbon, Mini Brads, Paper Snips.

Live Life

Hi there and welcome back to my little piece of the blogesphere real estate.  I don't think that's a real word but it's kind of fun!

Today I have a card to share that was made for the sketch challenge at Mojo Monday, the SUO Challenge to use anything Sizzix (SUO Challenge blog), and this week's color challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers.  SCS is honoring the beloved retiring Stampin' Up colors Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze and River Rock.  I am very, very sad to see Baja Breeze be retired because it is one of my favorite blues.  Evah.  And Not Quite Navy is the perfect match to it as a darker blue.  But I stocked up with enough supplies that should carry me forward until I turn my fickle affections to another light blue sometime down the road (Soft Sky?  Pool Party?)

Anyway, you came to see my card, so I should probably get around to showing it to you.

Here's the Mojo sketch:

When I saw this sketch I immediately thought of the little stamps from Postage Due.  I had fun using my markers to color them, and then I decided to add the Designer brad with the flower from Collage Curio in the center for a bit of additional interest.

The sentiment is one of my favorites (sorry the twine is covering it up a bit in this shot).  It's one of those small phrases I utilize on those days when things don't seem to be going well, to remember to be present in every moment and embrace all that life offers, even when it's a bit of a challenge.

I pulled out my old Print Pattern background stamp, inked it up with River Rock and used it on the same color card stock for the bottom panel.

Well, time to run.  It's a lovely, sunny day here and there are lots of things to get done.  Thanks so much for taking a look and I hope  you have a moment to leave me a comment; I'd love to hear from you!

Hugs,

Stef



All products from Stampin' Up:

Stamps:  Postage Due, Collage Curios, You're A Gem, Print Pattern
Paper:  Confetti Cream, Not Quite Navy, River Rock, Baja Breeze
Ink:  River Rock, Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze (all markers), Crumb Cake (to distress)
Accessories:  Woodgrain and Delicate Designs embossing folders, 7/8" Natural cotton ribbon, Hemp Twine, Postage Stamp punch, Naturals Designer button, Designer brad, 1/2" circle punch, Cutter Kit

Flourish Elements

I have a card to share this evening that I made for this week's sketch challenge at Pals Paper Arts.  I've tried to find ways to give Summer Starfruit a little love, and I found that I really like how it looks with Pool Party and Basic Black.  Sparingly.  ;-)

I stamped the flourish from Creative Elements in Jet Black Stazon and colored it with my Pool Party and Summer Starfruit markers on Very Vanilla card stock.  It was very therapeutic, and I really do like those colors together.

After the flourish was complete I used an Oval Framelit to cut it out it and layered on a larger oval of Basic Black.  The strip underneath included scalloped layers of Basic Black and Pool Party card, and then topped with a strip of Summer Starfruit punched with a Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch.

Basic Pearls and buttons in the corner added some visual interest, along with a sweet little butterfly from the Beautiful Wings embosslit.

Here's the great sketch from PPA:

 Thank you so much from dropping by!  I'd love to hear from you if you have a moment to leave a comment!

Hugs,

Stef


All products from Stampin' Up:
Stamps:  Creative Elements
Paper:  Basic Black, Pool Party, Summer Starfruit, Very Vanilla, In Color Pattern Pack designer paper.
Ink:  Jet Black Stazon;  Markers:  Pool Party, Summer Starfruit
Accessories:  Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Scallop Border punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Oval Framelits, Basic Pearls, Itty Bitty, Neutrals and Sycamore Street Designer buttons, Linen Thread

Loving Memories

Welcome back!  Hope you are having a lovely day!

Today's card was made for two challenges, one based upon an inspiration picture and the other to use a clock or watch on your card.

I visualized using the diamond pattern from Clockworks and the floral images from Elements of Style based on the following picture from this week's challenge at Stampin' Royalty.  I actually ended up using stamps from a few stamp sets.  

Stampin' Royalty

The gray was taken from the picture on the left, with the adorable metal jug lamp and the metal top of the box (or picnic basket?) next to it.

The watch is for the Papercraft Star challenge:

Challenge 141 - Clock or watch 

After creating my collage with several stamps inked in Riding Hood Red and Basic Gray, I sponged more Basic Gray around the edges and through some of the open spaces.  I added the watch image, then searched for the right sentiment.  The collage ended up with a vintage feel to it, and to me the watch symbolized time passing, so I thought the card could work as a sympathy card and chose the sentiment from Loving Thoughts.

A ribbon flower anchors the sentiment.  It was made from Gray Two-Tone ribbon and then topped with a Vintage brad with a tiny Basic Pearl in the center,  It was adhered atop two ribbon banners.

Thanks for coming by today!  I'd love to hear from you if you have a moment to leave a comment.  I hope the week ahead brings you happiness and peace.

Hugs,

Stef

All products from Stampin' Up:
Stamps:  Clockworks, Bliss, French Foliage, Elements of Style, Loving Thoughts
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Basic Gray, Riding Hood Red, Confetti Cream
Ink:  Riding Hood Red, Basic Gray
Accessories:  Gray Two-tone and Satin ribbon, Riding Hood Red Striped Grosgrain ribbon, Jumbo Sticky Rounds, Vintage Brads, Basic Pearls, Corner Rounder.

Get Better, Lil' Gator!

The card I am sharing today was made for my 11-year old grandson.  Last Saturday he had an emergency Appendectomy and was home all this last week recovering from the surgery.  I  made this card to cheer him up (btw he's recovering just fine).

I wanted to make something fun, so I pulled out an old Stampin' Up set, Wild About You.  I stamped the Alligator image with his friend the bird, who decided to ride along on top.  That alligator is the cutest, don't you think?  

After cutting the stamped piece of card stock into a rectangle shape, I adhered it to a piece of Bashful Blue card stock cut with an Apothecary Accents framelit.  Flags were added underneath for additional interest.  Then it was popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals on the Chevron embossed card base, and I was ready to send it off.

Thanks so much for dropping by today!  If you have a moment, I'd love it if you'd take a moment and say hi!

Hope the remainder of your weekend is great!

Hugs,

Stef

All products by Stampin' Up:
Stamps:  Wild About You
Paper:  Whisper White, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Bashful Blue, Celebrations designer paper (ret)
Ink:  Old Olive, Daffodil Delight
Accessories:  Chevron embossing folder, Apothecary Accents Framelit, Jumbo Brads 

Calypso Birthday

ETA:  I was chosen as a "Glamette" at Friday Mashup  for this entry.  Woo Hoo!

I had a chance to watercolor another flower from the Secret Garden stamp set.  Lovely images, this one is the largest of them.  The flower was stamped in Jet Black Stazon and then water colored in Calypso Coral with an Aquapainter.  A Summer Starfruit marker was used to ink up the center of the flower.

I decided to create a layer between the Crumb Cake square and the flower, so a Windows Collection framelit was cut out of Confetti Cream card stock and then stamped in Crumb Cake with the Canvas backgrounder stamp.

The card was made for this week's challenge at the Friday Mashup, where one could use the sketch or make a birthday card, or "mash" it up by doing both.  Which I did.

Here's the sketch:

Yes, I now realize I literally mirrored the sketch with my polka dot Calypso Coral designer paper LOL!!  Oh well, I really love that paper and it looks fantastic with Crumb Cake.

The colors were chosen in order to join the color challenge at Fab Friday:

This is a great color combo, however, other than the center of the flower, I wasn't sure how I wanted to incorporate Summer Starfruit.  I decided to add a butterfly, which was then stamped with the Hello Doily stamp.  Actually, the butterfly was carefully laid upon a specific area of the stamp inked with a Summer Starfruit marker.

Basic Rhinestones on the butterfly and in the opposing corner add a little of bling.

They are a little harder to see in this picture than the other full shot above.  I am definitely going to do some research into photo editing software.  I use what came with my computer and it just isn't doing what I need.  Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for dropping by today!  I really appreciate your comments and would love to hear from you!

Until next time!

Hugs,

Stef

All products are from Stampin' Up:
Stamps:  Secret Garden, Bring on the Cake, Canvas, Hello Doily
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Confetti Cream, Pool Party, Summer Starfruit, watercolor, Tea for Two designer paper
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral, Summer Starfruit, Stazon
Accessories:  Secret Garden and Windows Collection framelits, Scallop Border and Bitty Butterfly punches, Honeycomb embossing folder, Linen Thread, Basic Rhinestones, Neutral Button.
  

Thoughts of You

Hi there!  Welcome back and I hope you've had a good weekend.  I have a card for you that I made for the weekly challenge at Freshly Made Sketches. This sketch is one that really caught my eye.  Here's the sketch:

And here is my card:

Since we could choose any shape on the upper portion, I decided to use a tag.  The tag was cut out in Pool Party card stock with a tag die from Papertrey Ink, stamped with the Woodgrain stamp in the same color ink, then topped with designer paper from Graphic 45 and crochet trim from the Artisan Embellishments kit.  The tag die also comes with a reinforcement piece that was cut out in Calypso Coral.

The smallest stamp from Daydream Medallion was stamped in Calyso Coral and cut out with a Floral Frame Framelit, then topped with a silver Basic Button tied with Hemp Twine.  The sentiment is from Verve's Small Phrases, which was punched out with a Modern Label punch.

The designer paper is from the Secret Garden collection by Graphic 45.  I love the vintage images and was so amazed and pleased at how well the dp matches the Stampin' Up colors Pool Party and Calypso Coral.

Flower Trim atop more Crochet Trim separated the designer paper from the Lacy Brocade embossed Pool Party card stock.  I used retired Fire Circle Rhinestone brads down the left side of the embossed card stock.

I had planned to post this yesterday, but a family medical emergency drew me away.  My 11-year old grandson had an emergency Appendectomy, so it was a long afternoon Saturday at the hospital.  The surgery was a success, and his recovery should be short, thank heavens.  A pretty routine surgery, but I was still terribly nervous until I could see him afterwards!!  He's home today and should be back to his normal, rascally self by next Friday.

I'll be back later with another post.

Hugs,

Stef


All products from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted.
Stamps:  Daydream Medallion, Woodgrain, Small Phrases (Verve)
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Secret Garden Coming Up Roses (G45)
Ink:  Calypso Coral, Pool Party
Accessories:  Flower Trim, Artisan Embellishments kit, Modern Label punch, Floral frame Framelit, Lacy Brocade embossing folder, Basic Buttons-Silver, Hemp Twine, Very Vanilla Seam Tape ribbon, Calyson Coral, taffeta ribbon, Fire Circle Rhinestone brads, Tag Sale #6 (Papertrey Ink)

 

Birthday Bliss

Hello once again!  Today I have a card for the weekly challenge at Seize the Birthday. 

I grabbed a scrap of leftover Lap of Luxury designer paper, adhered it to a base of Basic Gray card stock.  Gray Two Tone ribbon was used for the banner down the middle, then topped with a strip of Pink Pirouette textured card stock and the oval framelits.

Here's the sketch from STB:

  
The sentiment is from Curly Cute and was stamped on top of the beautiful damask image from the retired stamp set Bliss.  I took a sponge dauber and rubbed the sweet little blossom from Flower Trim around on the Pink Pirouette stamp pad, then got more ink on the dauber and rubbed the places inside to get better coverage.  I then attached it to a bow of Very Vanilla Seam Tape ribbon.

Basic Pearls adorn the Very Vanilla strip punched with the Eyelet Border punch.

Thanks so much for dropping by today.  I'd love to hear from you if you have a moment to leave a comment!

Hugs,

Stef

All products from Stampin' Up:
Stamps:  Curly Cute, Bliss
Paper:  Basic Gray, Very Vanilla, textured Pink Pirouette, Lap of Luxury dp
Ink:  Pink Pirouette, Basic Gray
Accessories:  Oval Framelits, Eyelet Border Punch, Very Vanilla Seam Tape ribbon, Flower Trim, Basic Pearls, Gray Two Tone ribbon

Pool Party Postage Due

Back for post number two today!  I was debating whether or not I had time to squeak in a card before the deadline for the Mojo Monday sketch challenge and decided to go for it.  This is possibly the quickest card I have ever put together.  I had a plan that was floating around in the head for a few days but sometimes execution is not always as easy as imagined.  Does that happen to you too?

However, today everything came together, and I ended up with a very clean and simple card (for me anyway!) that went together in a snap.

 

Here's the sketch:

I turned the sketch 90 degrees to accommodate the Postage Due stamp and used Collage Curios and Fabulous Phrases inside the Soda Pop Top for the circle.  The designer paper Botanical Gazette.  All of this was adhered to a base of textured Basic Black card stock.

I used the colors from this week's color challenge at Dynamic Duos which is Light Aqua (Pool Party) and Cherry Red (Cherry Cobbler).  I used white and black as my neutrals.

The Bitty Butterfly in Cherry Cobbler and velum card stock is popped up on the right had corner, and is topped with Basic Rhinestones.

Thanks so much for dropping by this afternoon!  I hope your week ahead brings peace and happiness.

Hugs,

Stef


All products from Stampin' Up:
Stamps:  Postage Due, Collage Curios, Fabulous Phrases
Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black, Pool Party, Cherry Cobbler, Velum, Botanical Gazette
Ink:  Pool Party, Jet Black Stazon, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories:  Soda Pop Top, 1" and 1/2" circle, Bitty Butterfly and Corner Rounder punches, Basic Rhinestones, Scallop Circle #2 Bigz die, Cherry Cobbler Seam Tape ribbon.

Birthday Flowers

Hello again!  Glad you could come by and visit!  My card today uses the gorgeous flowers from Secret Garden.  I finally had the opportunity to watercolor the flowers, and after a couple self-created disasters with Concord Crush, I came up with three flowers that I was happy with.

I stamped the flowers in black Stazon on watercolor paper and then colored them with an Aquapainter.  The two pink flowers were colored with  Pink Pirouette and Pretty in Pink.  On the third flower I started with Wisteria Wonder and then added dark hues with Concord Crush.

My minor "disaster", such was it was, occurred while trying to watercolor the largest image of the set.  I added Concord Crush to an already fairly damp flower that I had just colored with a base of Wisteria Wonder.  I found to my dismay that a wee, wee bit of Concord Crush goes a looonnng way LOL!!  All of a sudden I ended up with a very, very purple flower that was pretty much one color.  Not what I intended!  Oops, restart.

My second attempt with the flower that ended up on my card was far more satisfactory.  It was an informative experience.  I'm not that big of a fan of Concord Crush, in fact I rarely use it, but of course in trying to burn through some older designer paper, I needed to use it as it was one of the primary colors.

The sentiment is from Stylish Sentiments: Birthday by Papertrey Ink.  Love that set and this particular sentiment.  I enjoy sentiments that are stacked and have mixed fonts.

I made the card today for the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.  It's a great sketch with loads of possibilities...I may try to use it to make another card with a completely different stamp set if I have time this week.

Thanks for looking and I hope the rest of your Sunday is fabulous!


Hugs,

Stef

All products Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted:
Stamps:  Secret Garden, Stylish Sentiments: Birthday (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Concord Crush, Very Vanilla, Pretty in Pink, Old Olive, watercolor, Lap of Luxury dp
Ink:  Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Wisteria Wonder, Concord Crush, So Saffron, Jet Black Stazon
Accessories:  Large Scallop Border punch (Martha Stewart), Secret Garden and Hearts a Flutter Framelits, Vintage Button, Large and Basic Pearls, 

Primrose Daydream

From the time I got the Daydream Medallion stamp set and the matching framelits, I thought about making a card cut out with of one of the framelits.  It's a little tricky with the shape I used, as I discovered, due to the pointed ends, but it will be something to play around.

How fun is that?  Love that framelit shape!  I stamped the Daydream Medallion in Primrose Petals, cut it out and then layered the greeting in the midst of it.  The card base behind the front piece was created by taking a 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 piece of Whisper White card stock folded in half and cut out with the same framelit, making sure that a small part of the fold was just inside the framelit.

The sentiment was stamped in Lucky Limeade, adhered to a larger circle of More Amour dp, then a Primrose Petals Windows Collection Framelit.  A piece of Lucky Limeade Ruffled ribbon was taped to the back and the entire thing popped up with SU Dimensionals.  Basic Pearls finished things off.

I didn't want to leave the interior blank so I used a circle die and circle punch to create a place for a short greeting.  The sweet little flower from Collage Curios was added as a little decoration.  

I've made this card today for the color challenge at Dynamic Duos, which is to use a dark pink such as Primrose Petals and any other color of ones choice, which in my case is Lucky Limeade.

It's also for the fun Tic Tac Toe challenge at Paper Players, where I chose the Pink & Green, Birthday and Pearls row.

Thanks for dropping by today!

Hugs,

Stef

All products from Stampin' Up:
Stamps:  Daydream Medallions, Elementary Elegance, Collage Curios
Paper:  Whisper White, Primrose Petals, More Amour dp
Ink:  Lucky Limeade, Primrose Petals
Accessories:  Floral Frames and Windows Collection Framelits, 1 3/8", 1 3/4" and 2 1/2" circle punches, 3" Circle Bigz die, Lucky Limeade Ruffled ribbon, Basic Pearls.