Dino in Pink

Hello again!  Our next door neighbor's daughter turns two today, so I made a card to give her at her birthday party Saturday.  I really love the images in Little Buddy Birthday, and decided the dinosaur would be fun to color in pink.

Dino and her little piece of cake were stamped twice in Memento Tuxedo Black on Whisper White card stock.  One was cut with a Circles Collection framelit, the other fussy cut after coloring and popped up on top of the circle images with dimensionals.  The body was colored with Pink Pirouette Blendability markers, the spots with Melon Mambo classic ink and a blender pen.

The heart was punched from Silver Glimmer paper and also colored with a Pink Pirouette Blendability marker.  I pulled out an old retired stamp set, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, and stamped it all over the pink square behind the main image.

Originally Dino was stamped holding a balloon on a string but I was struggling to figure out where to put the sentiment. Then the idea of using the Word Bubble framelit formulated, and I ditched the balloon in its favor.  While Dino is saying happy birthday to the recipient, she definitely looks like she's eyeing the cake.  So like a two year old hee hee!

I used an older sketch from Mojo Monday for my card design - here's the link:  http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/2014/12/mojo-monday-376.html

That's it for today (this is my second post).  Once again, I wish everyone a very Happy New Year and look forward to lots of stamping in 2015!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Little Buddy Birthday, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Paper:  Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Pink Pirouette, Silver Glimmer paper, Welcome Neighbor dsp
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Melon Mambo.  Blendability markers:  Pink Pirouette, Daffodil Delight, Skin Tone Assortment
Other:  Word Bubble, Circles Collection and Starburst framelits, Large Oval and Heart to Heart punches, Large Polka Dot embossing folder, White Organza ribbon, Paper Snips

Butterfly Collage

Welcome back!  I broke out my new Butterfly Basics and Butterflies Thinlits (Occasions catalogue sneak peek - available January 5th) to make a collage for the current challenge at CAS(E) this Sketch.

http://casethissketch.blogspot.com/

The wide open palette of this sketch was perfect for the largest of the 3 butterfly thinlits, but due to its size, the card had to be expanded to 5" x 7".

The butterfly was cut from Strawberry Slush card stock then sprayed with Vanilla Shimmer Smooch to add some sparkle. While it dried, some of the images from the stamp set were stamped on a slightly smaller panel and finished off with a strip of Blackberry Bliss that was cut with a Scallop Border punch.

All in all a very simple card and one that will mail well.  Because my card making tends toward multiple layers with lots of designer paper, it's a refreshing exercise in restraint for me to make a CAS card.

Thanks for dropping by!  As always, your visit and comments are so appreciated!  Be sure to use the link above to look at all the great inspiration, or even better, join in because the challenge is open for at least another week!

Happy New Year, all!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Butterfly Basics
Paper:  Whisper White, Blackberry Bliss, Strawberry Slush
Ink:  Blackberry Bliss, So Saffron, Pear Pizazz, Sahara Sand, Soft Sky
Other:  Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spray, Scallop Border punch, Butterflies Thinlits

Moon Lake Greetings & Wishes

Hi there, welcome back!  Hope you've had a great weekend!  I have another sneak peek to share with you, using the new Moon Lake stamp set that will be available in the Occasions catalogue beginning January 6.  I actually made two identical cards with different sentiments.

The first card was made for a co-worker who is taking a new position in a different area of the bank.  The boat and tree image is one of three in the Moon Lake stamp set.  It was stamped with retired Early Espresso Craft ink on watercolor paper, then colored with an Aquapainter.  Because I was in a bit of a hurry I stuck fairly close to the example in the catalogue for colors, but I have a lot more ideas for this stamp.  The sentiment was from the retired Hostess set, Express Yourself.

This second card is for an out of state relative who has a birthday on the 31st (fingers crossed it gets there in time!).  There was not sufficient room on the card for the birthday greeting from the Wetlands stamp set, so it was stamped on a piece of Very Vanilla, punched out with a Large Oval punch and then layered on a piece of Early Espresso also punched with the same punch.

Thanks so much for visiting!  I hope you have a great week ahead, including a very Happy New Year!  I may be back before then, but otherwise I'll see you in 2015!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Moon Lake, Wetlands, Express Yourself, Hardwood
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso card stock and Core'dinations card stock, Soft Sky, SU Watercolor
Ink:  Soft Sky, So Saffron, Pear Pizazz, Garden Green, Sahara Sand, Baked Brown Sugar, Early Espresso Craft, Bermuda Bay, Crumb Cake
Other:  Antique Brads, Aquapainter, Woodgrain embossing folder, Large Scallop punch

Happy Birthday, Dude!

Yup, a second post.  Gorgeous Grunge is always such a great stamp set to use for a masculine card, so it was easy to decide what to use for my great nephew's birthday earlier this month.

I had lots of fun "grunging" up this card.  The bottom half was created by using the Houndstooth embossing folder on Early Espresso Core'dinations card stock, then distressed with the Stampin' Sanding Block.  The top portion is a piece of retired Well Worn dsp.

The tag was made with a Banner framelit, then stamped with various Gorgeous Grunge stamps, distressed with the Cutter Kit (as most of the card was), then topped with a sentiment created with the Alphabet Rotary Stamp.  The rotary stamp is a hoot - make your own sentiments, anyone?

As always, I appreciate your visit and comments!  I'll be back tomorrow with another card made with one of the new stamp sets from the Occasions catalogue.  Until then, enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Early Espresso Stampin' Up and Core'dinations card stock, Crumb Cake, Well Worn dsp
Ink:  Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Soft Suede
Other:  Chalk Talk and Banner framelits, Hemp Twine, Early Espresso Satin Waffle Weave ribbon, Houndstooth embossing folder, Cutter Kit, Stampin' Sanding Block, Alphabet Rotary Stamp

Lotus Thank You

Welcome back again!  Can you believe it's almost 2015?  Every year during the holidays I think about how grateful I am for all the wonderful things in my life - dear family and friends, good health, a roof over our heads and food on the table.  Very thankful indeed!

Today I am sharing my thanks with a card I made for a wonderful friend at work.  She does so much for everyone around her and does it with grace and kindness.  I used the current sketch at Freshly Made Sketches for my card design.

http://freshlymadesketches.blogspot.com/

Looking at this layout with the circle at the apex of the two cross pieces, I thought the new Lotus Blossom stamp set (free during Sale-A-Bration with a $50 purchase) would work perfectly.  I found some lovely scraps of Venetian Romance to use with this sweet image.

As you can see, I rotated the sketch 45 degrees so I could place the sentiment on the bottom right of the card.  The fun part of the Lotus Blossom stamp set is that it takes three stamps to make the final image, but Stampin' Up has provided a little help with arrows that guide your stamping so you can layer them accurately.  The first two stamps were with full strength Island Indigo ink; the third stamp was inked then stamped off to produce the lighter areas.  I do have to say it took me a few tries to really get them all to line up perfectly.  But I think it would be easier if two colors were used rather than just one.  I'll have to try out that theory on the next card I make with this set.

Sequins with rhinestones placed in the middle added a little bit of sparkle, with the large one meant to draw the eye to the sentiment.  I do have to apologize about the photos - I'm not quite sure why the green turned out a bit more lime like than pistachio - it didn't appear that way after photo editing or when saved to my jump drive afterwards.  I have no idea why they appear much more yellowish-green when saved to Blogger......

Thank you so much for your visit!  I hope you'll take the time to use the link above to visit the FMS blog and maybe even play along - there's still time!  I'll be back very soon with a couple more posts (a backlog of cards I was unable to post earlier this month).

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Lotus Blossom
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Pistachio Pudding, island Indigo, Venetian Romance dsp
Ink:  Island Indigo
Other:  Scallop Circle Punch, Circles Collection framelit, Frosted Sequins, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Island Indigo Ruffled Ribbon.  Fancy Fan embossing folder.

A Mix of Old and New

Hi there and Merry Christmas everyone!  I hope you are having a joyful holiday, able to spend time with the people that mean the most to you!  I know it's been more than 2 weeks since I've last posted, but heightened work demands coupled with Christmas preparation didn't allow enough time for me to create something new to share...until today.  My husband and I celebrated Christmas with my daughter and her family yesterday (a few pics to share below), so today we are enjoying a quiet day at home.

I received my Occasions and Sale-A-Bration pre-order a while ago and have been itching to play with some of the fabulous new products.  Today I will share a sneak peek of a stamp set called Crazy About You and a new thinlet from the new Hello You thinklets.  I used the current Mojo Monday sketch as the basis for my card layout.  ETA:  I'm also entering this in the Way To Use It challenge at Splitcoast Stampers, where the challenge this week is to use a Thank You stamp or die.  Here's the link to Splitcoast Stampers:  http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/

http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/

When I saw this I knew I would use one of the flowers from Crazy for You would work perfectly for this card.  Some retired designer paper directed the color choices of Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo and Very Vanilla.

The flower was stamped four times in Melon Mambo, with the bottom layer punched out by the new Flower Medallion punch and subsequent layers fussy cut for layering.  This is a really easy image to hand cut, so it did not take long to construct.

The new Hello You Thinlets are so fun, I really love the large word format.  The thinlet actually spells out the work "thanks" but after I cut it out of Pretty in Pink three times and glued together in layers to make it more substantial, the "s" was snipped off.

One of my co-workers assisted our entire work group, really putting in lots of extra effort, so I made this card for her.  I hope she likes it!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Be sure to use the link above to check out the great inspiration at Mojo Monday, plus there's still time to join in if you are able.

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Crazy about You, P. S. I Love You
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Lap of Luxury dsp
Ink:  Melon Mambo
Other:  Pretty in Pink Satin ribbon, 2 1/2" Circle, 2 3/8" Scallop Circle, Flower Medallion and Bird Builder punches,  Hello You Thinlet, Distress Dots embossing folder, Basic Pearls, Paper Snips.




The remainder of the blog are photos from our Christmas Eve visit yesterday.  A disclaimer about the photos - they were taken with my phone, so the quality is so-so.  I tried to improve them with an editing program but I could only do so much.

Yesterday Kevin and I joined Jess and Tyson, along with our grandchildren Alyson, Jordyn and Collin, Collin's girlfriend Raven and their month-old daughter, Camille (yes, we are great grandparents!  Ha!).  Here's a picture of "Grandma Jessie" and Camille.

Camille is the best baby!  I held her for more than two hours and she was just content to snooze away.  Here she is catching a couple winks with her mom, Raven.  So sweet!

Here are Kevin and new daddy, Collin.

Alyson and Jordyn also posed for a picture for their snap-happy Meima!  Aly has a new shirt on that she received for Christmas - a perfect color with her pretty blue eyes.

Jordy is looking pretty dapper in his new fedora.  His "auntie" Co Co really knows how to pick cool presents!

It was a fun time yesterday.  It's incredible to me how the years continue to fly by, and now our oldest grandson is a dad himself.  Life is wonderful!

White Christmas CASE

Hello again!  Tonight I have a card to share that is a CASE (Copy And Share Everything) of a card Joanne James made for a recent sketch at Freshly Made Sketches  (http://blog.thecraftyowl.co.uk/post/2014/12/01/Im-Dreaming-of-a-White-Christmas-Snowman-Card).  I was so enamored with her take on the sketch that I just had to duplicate it - with my own spin, of course.  I needed a relatively clean and simple card that I could easily make multiples to send for Christmas and this one really fit the bill.

The base of Soft Sky was topped with a slightly smaller panel of the same card stock.  The panel is topped with a piece of Cherry Cobbler, then the main focal image, leaving just a small amount of Cherry Cobbler showing at the top and the bottom.  I made a mask of the snowman, stamped the trees in Memento Tuxedo Black over the mask, then stamped the snowman in place.  A Pumpkin Pie marker was used to color his nose and a Cherry Cobbler marker to color the stripes on the hat and neck scarf.

Joanne had the super idea of using the White Chalk marker to color the snowman and add "snow" to the trees and ground, so I gladly borrowed it.  After it dried (which was much, much quicker than using Craft Whisper White), I added a bit of Dazzling Details to the trees and the star for a little bit of sparkle.

Thanks so much for visiting!  Please be sure to use the link above to see Joanne's original version and give her some love for her great creation!  Have a great week!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  White Christmas
Paper:  Whisper White, Soft Sky, Cherry Cobbler
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black: Cherry Cobbler: Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler and White Chalk markers
Other:  Dazzling Details, Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Stampin' Up Journaling marker