It's a Good Day

Welcome back!  I hope you had a lovely Christmas and are able to take a breather before heading back to work.  We had a great time with my side of the family, playing with the littlest at 1 years old, and going head to head on the pool table with the older ones.

Well, I know you came to see a card so I'll get on with sharing my latest.  I used the current sketch from Mojo Monday and the new Happy Home stamp set available a week from Tuesday!

The stamp set has three different scenes, and I found this one so sweet, especially when accompanied by this sentiment.

The scene on the tag was created by stamping in Archival Basic Black, then lightly sponging the sky with Pool Party and the grass with Wild Wasabi.  The green in the retired dsp is Gumball Green but I no longer have an ink pad in that color, so I had to substitute.  The clouds are from another scene in the set, which I stamped on a scrap of Whisper White, then trimmed out with my Paper Snips.  I used a Blender Pen to color the kite, the boy and to add a bit of Early Espresso to the dog.

Thanks for dropping by today!  As always, your visit and comments are so appreciated!  I've add a link above so you can visit Mojo Monday and check out the always amazing inspiration.

Hugs,

Stef


Products details:
Stamps:  Happy Home
Paper:  Whisper White, Pool Party, Gumball Green, Epic Day This & That
Ink:  Pool Party, Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral, Early Espresso, Archival Basic Black
Other:  Chevron Textured Impression Embossing Folder, retired Pool Party and White twine, 1" & 1 1/4" Circle punches, Ornate Tag Topper punch, Blender Pen, Essentials Wood Elements, Paper Snips

Thanks, Karen!

Welcome back on this Christmas Eve of 2015!  Today I have not a holiday card but instead one with sincere thanks to Karen Giron for the years of sketches both on her personal blog and on the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.  Karen has decided to discontinue the SSSC as her life is taking her in a different direction and so SSSC #300 is the final hurrah!

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge

Still playing around with the Birthday Blooms stamps set (available on January 5th in the new Occasions Catalogue), this time I used the smaller flower in the set.  It was stamped with Archival Basic Black and using an Aqua Painter, water colored the image with reinkers.  After it dried, it was fussy cut with my Paper Snips.

I started with a Lost Lagoon card base, then added strips of Birthday Bouquet designer series paper (also available January 5th).  Since the dsp already had polka dots, I chose to use Mossy Meadow satin ribbon in lieu of the round embellishments in the sketch.  After the flower was adhered to the circle, the sentiment was stamped in Mossy Meadow.

Please use the link above to visit the blog and see the design team's great takes on the sketch.  I found Karen's blog in my early crafting days and she, as well as her design teams, have provided so much inspiration.  I will miss my weekly Sunday morning visits!

Thanks for taking the time to look and I hope you have a joyful Christmas!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Birthday Blooms, Watercolor Trio
Paper:  Whisper White, Pool Party, Lost Lagoon, Watercolor, Birthday Bouquet dsp
Ink:  Archival Basic Black, Watermelon Wonder, Blushing Bride, Old Olive, Mossy Meadow
Other:  2 1/2" Circle punch, Circles Collection framelit, Mossy Meadow Satin Ribbon, clear Wink of Stella, Frosted Sequins. 

Flowering Birthday

Hi there and welcome back!  Tonight I'm sharing a card made for the current challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.  It's a really great sketch that can be used in many, many ways.

Freshly Made Sketches

I decided to use a new stamp set available free during the upcoming (starting January 5) Sale-A-Bration with a $50.00 purchase.  It's perfect for large canvases, although I had to turn the base the long way to accommodate the images.


The floral images are from the Flowering Fields stamp set, which has 6 different wild flower images and the cute little butterfly.  The flowers were stamped in Archival Basic Black and colored with a Blender Pen and reinkers in Blackberry Bliss, Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz and Calypso Coral.  The butterfly was colored with Hello Honey and Delightful Dijon, then given a little sparkle with coat of clear Wink of Stella, available in the upcoming Occasions catalogue.

The base of Blackberry Bliss card stock was covered with a piece of Wildflower Fields designer series paper, also available free during Sale-A-Bration.  The stamped panel was adhered to a slightly larger piece of Old Olive then popped up on the base with Dimensionals.  The sentiment from Birthday Blossoms (2015-2016 Catalogue) was heat embossed with Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder on Vellum, then layered on top of the stamped panel with Glue Dots.  Gold Sequins and tiny pearls were then place on top of the vellum to hide the glue dots.

I love winter time (crazy, I know) and it's a bit early to anticipate flowers blooming, but I always love making cards with flowers, whatever the weather!  If you're like me, you're going to LOVE the offerings in the upcoming Occasions and Sale-A-Bration catalogues.

Thanks for taking time to drop by and take a look, and of course, comments are always appreciated!  I've added a link above to FMS so you can take in the wonderful inspiration and perhaps even join in, as the challenge deadline has been extended to January 4.

Hugs,

Stef

Meadow Birthday

Hello again!  Hope you're having a great weekend!  I was able to whip out my card in very short order today, using this week's sketch challenge at Pals Paper Arts.

Pals Paper Arts

A niece's husband is having his birthday soon and I thought the new In the Meadow stamp set (available January 5 in the new Occasions Catalogue) would work perfectly.  They both hike and camp year round, so this scene seemed perfect.

Both the mountain range and tree stamps were inked up in Archival Basic Black ink and stamped on a panel of Very Vanilla card stock.  Using an Aqua Painter, Crumb Cake and Tip Top Taupe were used to color the mountains, the meadow and grass in Mossy Meadow, and water in Soft Sky and Tempting Turquoise.  I used very loose strokes and tried not to let the brush get too wet so the paper wouldn't warp too much.  The leaves were first inked in Pear Pizzazz but it looked too close to the green in the meadow, so Hello Honey and Tangelo Twist were added to give better contrast.

After using my heat tool to dry the paper thoroughly, the colored panel was adhered to a slightly larger piece of Soft Sky card stock and retired twine was wrapped around the bottom.  The sentiment from Crazy For You was inked up in Tempting Turquoise on Very Vanilla, punched out with the Large Oval punch and layered on the piece of Mossy Meadow punched with the Extra Large Oval punch.  Very easy and clean.

Thanks for taking a look!  As always, your visit and comments are so appreciated.  Be sure to use the link above to visit PPA and enjoy all the amazing inspiration!

Hugs,

Stef

Celebrate Blossoms

Hello again!  Today I have a card to show you made with this week's sketch challenge at Splitcoaststampers and for the weekly challenge at Global Design Project to make a card with the celebrate theme.  Most of the products shared today are new, available in the upcoming Occasions catalogue available 1/5/16.

Global Design Project

SCS Weekly Sketch Challenge

I continue my love affair with the largest flower image from Birthday Blooms.  This time I've colored it with an Aqua Painter on Watercolor paper with Blushing Bride, Rose Red, Wild Wasabi and Garden Green reinkers.  I could not resist the desire to use Wink of Stella (also available 1/5/16).  It's so sparkly and pretty!  The Clear version was used on the leaves and petals, then Gold colored the stamen in the middle of the flower.  Gorgeous!

The thick Whisper White base was covered with a piece of the new Love Blossoms Designers Series Paper Stack designer series paper.  This was topped with a panel of Blushing Bride card stock, with the upper portion cut out with a Squares Collection framelit, then layered on a slightly smaller piece of Whisper White card stock.  After the  floral image was colored, it was fussy cut with my paper snips and mounted with Dimensionals on the Blushing Bride panel.

The sentiment is from the Expressions Natural Element, also treated with a coat of clear Wink of Stella (seriously, I think I'm addicted!!).  Gold Metallic sequins were added as the final touch.

Be sure to use the links above to enjoy all the great inspiration!  Thanks for visiting today and I hope the remainder of your weekend is not too hectic as we head towards the final days before Christmas!

Hugs,

Stef

Bloom For You

Hello again!  I hope your weekend has been going well.  I was excited to receive my pre-order for the upcoming Occasions and Sale-A-Bration catalogues, which will be going live January 5th.  I immediately fell in love with the new Birthday Blooms stamp set, and it was the first to be inked up.  I've used the current sketch from Freshly Made Sketches for my card layout.

Freshly Made Sketches

I began by stamping the largest bloom in Archival Basic Gray on a panel of watercolor paper.  Using an Aqua Painter, I water colored the flowers with Blushing Bride and Watermelon Wonder, the leaves with Old Olive and Mossy Meadow.  I took my color cue from the colors in the new Birthday Bouquet designer series paper that is part of the Birthday Blooms suite of products.

Once the water coloring was complete and the paper dry, my plan was to adhere the entire panel to a slightly larger Blushing Bride panel, but then I thought I should go around the edge of the flower with a light neutral color with the Aqua Painter. However, that turned out to be a disaster (looked horrible!), so I used my paper snips to fussy cut the flower.  In hind sight, it might have been less time consuming to recolor a new image but after the card was finished I realized I rather like it popped up with Dimensionals, with the leaves hanging over a couple edges.

One of the new products Stampin' Up! has decided to carry is Wink of Stella - swoon!   Love the sparkly finish it left on the flower petals!  It's a bit hard to see in the photos but IRL it looks amazing!  The other great thing is how easy the application is with the soft brush tip and it's not messy to use.

Thanks for visiting today.  As always, your visit and comments mean so much!  Be sure to use the link above to visit the FMS blog and check out all the gorgeous inspiration!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Birthday Blooms
Paper:  Whisper White, Thick Whisper White, Blushing Bride, Watercolor, Dazzling Details Glimmer Paper, Birthday Bouquet dsp
Ink:  Archival Basic Gray, Blushing Bride, Watermelon Wonder, Old Olive, Mossy Meadow, Crushed Curry
Other:  Scallop Border punch, Clear Wink of Stella, Metallic Sequins, Paper Snips

It's Snow Time!

Welcome back!  I finished a card tonight made for the Let It Snow theme challenge at Paper Players.  I also used last week's challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.

Freshly Made Sketches                       The Paper Players

I decided to substitute a tag for the banner in the sketch.  I used the Happy Scenes and retired Holiday Home stamp sets to create the scene.  The trees were inked up with Pear Pizzazz and then used a Crumb Cake marker for the tree trunks.  The sky was then sponged with Soft Sky and a bit of Pool Party, then the "snow" dots from Happy Scenes stamped in Pool Party.  After Santa and the reindeer were stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black, Dazzling Details was used to create the sparkly snow.

The Pool Party base was partially embossed on the bottom 2/3 on the front of the card with the Softly Falling embossing folder.  The top portion was then covered with a piece of Winter Frost designer series paper and a strip of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper.  After the glitter dried on the tag, it was adhered to the card and the Snowflake Element added to the top.

That's it for this card.  Pretty easy but still festive with the glitter glue.  Thanks for the visit and I'd love to hear from you if you have a moment to leave a comment!

Hugs,

Stef

Blue Mist Wonderland

Hello again!  Tonight I have two cards to share made with the Wonderland stamp set, one for my son-in law's birthday and the second being one of several Christmas cards made to give to my fellow Stampin' Up demonstrators at a dinner held by our upline next week.  I first made the birthday card and had a left over piece that became inspiration for the Christmas card.

My SIL is a hunter so the elk from Nature Silhouettes seemed a natural addition to the forest in the background.  I started by stamping the trees in Marina Mist, first in the foreground then stamping again without reinking to create the misty looking trees in the background.  I used torn post it notes to mask the foreground while stamping, then sponged Marina Mist around the lower edges and sides of the foreground.

The sky was lightly sponged with Soft Sky, then Craft Whisper White ink was sponged over the entire forest to enhance the "misty" feeling.  After that was done, the elk was stamped with Archival Basic Black.  After the ink dried, the upper left side was punched with a 1" Circle Punch, the panel adhered to a slightly larger piece of Basic Black card stock, then the Antique Brad was added.  Using Dimensionals, the entire piece was popped up on a base of Marina Mist.

This second card began with a Whisper White panel of trees stamped in Marina Mist both in full ink and stamped off once, trimmed down and then Dazzling Details added on the tree limbs.    After that dried, the card stock was naturally a bit warped due to the wetness of the Dazzling Details, so it was adhered with strong adhesive onto a slightly larger piece of Marina Mist to keep it flat.

The finishing touches are the sentiment cut with a Christmas Greetings Thinlit in Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper and the Snowflake Element topped with an Iced Rhinestone.  Very simple and great for mass production.

As always, your visit and comment are so welcome!!  Thanks for dropping by and enjoy the remainder of your weekend!

Hugs,

Stef

Peace CASE

Welcome back!  I have a quick post with a card CASE (Copy and Share Everything) of a lovely card created by Valentyna for a recent CAS(e) This Sketch challenge.  I was in desperate need of a simple yet pretty card to mass produce, and hers was perfection.  Here's the link to her blog post:  (Flourishtina) and the original CTS challenge (CTS #148).  Here's my version:

A base of thick Whisper White card stock was layered with a panel of regular weight Whisper White embossed with the Softly Falling TIEF.  The tag was made using an image from Peaceful Wishes, a long retired but still loved Christmas stamp set.  The sentiment is from the current stamp set Happy Wishes.  The Ornate Tag Topper punch created the pretty top of the tag and a strand of Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine finished it off.

To color the branch I used markers in Soft Suede, Cherry Cobbler and Mossy Meadow.  After coloring I huffed on the stamp to moisten the ink before applying to the tag.  Coloring was the most time consuming part of this card, allowing me to whip out 10 cards for my co-workers pretty quickly.

Thanks for the visit today!  I hope you're having a great weekend!  I should be back tomorrow with another post to share, so come on back and see what else I've been up to this weekend.

Hugs,

Stef

Christmas Joy

Hello!  How was your Thanksgiving?  Ours was pretty quiet, since most of our family lives out of town.  Phone calls, Facebook and texts help bridge the distance however.  My husband is the chef in the family and he made for dinner what I think was one of his best turkeys ever!

Well, I know you came by to look at a card today, so I'll get down to it.  I played along with this week's awesome challenge at the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge, using a really pretty stamp set from the Holiday Catalogue from two or three years ago.

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge

With the exception of a little extra work to fussy cut the poinsettia, this card was very easy to put together.  It started with a card base of textured Real Red card stock, then layering on the horizontal piece of Gold Fancy Foil Designer Vellum and the banner cut from Gold Glimmer paper.  The large Whisper White Circle was cut with a Circles Collection framelit then embossed with the Pretty Print embossing folder to give it some texture.  The sentiment from Endless Wishes was stamped in Real Red ink, punched with a 1" circle punch and layered on 1 1/4" Scallop Circle punched from retired Brushed Gold card stock.

The flower was created by stamping the poinsettia from Joyful Christmas in Versamark ink on vellum card stock, then heat embossing it with Gold Stampin' Emboss powder.  I made two flowers and cut the interior part of the flower to layer on top of the larger piece, using a couple of glue dots.  A Real Red marker was used to color the berries in the center of the flower.

Thanks for taking a look today.  As always, your visit and comments are so appreciated!  I've included a link above to the challenge blog, do be sure to use it to enjoy all the wonderful inspiration.

Hugs,

Stef

Corner Noel

Welcome back!  It's been fun to be on vacation this week and able to spend time making cards for various challenges I don't always have time to join in on.  Today my card was made for this week's Color Challenge at Splitcoaststampers, using Tip Top Taupe, Watermelon Wonder and Chocolate Chip, and as part of Throwback Thursday at WPlus9.  I also used this week's tutorial at Splitcoaststampers to make a really cool Decorative Corner Card - here's a link to the tutorial (http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/decorativecornercard/).

WPlus9 Throwback Thursday #9

SCS CC558

I only have one WPlus9 stamp set, the beautiful Iconic Christmas that I purchased 3 years ago before I joined Stampin' Up as a demonstrator.  It has been long neglected so when I saw the WPlus9 challenge to use an older stamp set, I decided to dust it off and use it.  The Decorative Corner Card was fun and easy to make, thanks to the really nice tutorial.  To make it you use a regular A2 size piece of card stock, score at even distances and adhere together to make a tall skinny box, which you then decorate with smaller panels.  The focal point is added with a hinge or two (see the tutorial, it's super easy), and the cool thing is that it lays flat and fits into a regular A2 envelope.

The tree was stamped in Tip Top Taupe and the girl in Watermelon Wonder, then both were cut with matching dies.  The "stars" stamp was also inked in Tip Top Taupe, but stamped off to lighten the color before applying randomly to the Very Vanilla oval.  I decided to add Silver Foil stars to the tree that were punched with the Confetti Stars punch, and also added to the ornament the girl is about to hand on the tree.

The designer series paper used to cover the Tip Top Taupe panel is from the long retired Christmas Cocoa Specialty dsp, in fact some of my last pieces of that particular design.  I was so surprised to see how it matched the current In Color, but it looks perfect with it, even under bright light.

Thanks for dropping by and taking a look today.  As always, your visit and comments mean so much!  Please be sure to use the links above and check out the challenges and the tutorial - lots of wonderful inspiration to be had!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I am so grateful for my family and friends, and all that is good in this world, especially in these difficult times.  Take care and God bless.

Hugs,

Stef

Cobbler Christmas

Hello again!  This afternoon I'm joining in the challenge at The Paper Players.  This week it's to make a card using this great sketch.  Of course, added bonus, it has a tag on it!  Love tags!

Still on my Christmas card mission this week, I went to my stash of retired Under the Tree designer series paper for this card.  The base is Kraft card stock.  It is such warm color, it looks fabulous with Cherry Cobbler.  After layering on a piece of the dsp, a banner of retired textured Cherry Cobbler.

The rectangle and tag were both created using different patterns from the dsp.  The tag was cut with the Note Tag punch, a perfect size for this card.  It was then topped with a Snowflake Element that has been decorated with a Gold Basic Metal Button and Gold Cording.  The sentiment from Petite Pairs was stamped in Cherry Cobbler on a scrap of Very Vanilla, which I then cut banner ends with my Paper Snips.  Gold Metallic sequins were the final touch.

Thanks for the visit!  Be sure to use the link above and head on over to The Paper Players blog for all the amazing inspiration.

Hugs,

Stef

Ornament Greetings

The Pals Paper Arts team has a great sketch this week, so many possibilities with it.  I've added a link below, so be sure to pop over and check out all the delightful inspiration!

Pals Paper Arts

For my card, I decided to go pretty simple and flat for an easy to mail Christmas card.  Starting with a base of Thick Whisper White, I rounded the corners and added a piece of retired Snow Festival designer series paper.  I chose the design with Christmas ornaments to go along with the big ornament made from Red Foil card stock.  You may recognize that shape...it's the Balloon framelit turned upside down!  I love the color of the Red Foil card stock.  While it's more of a true red, it goes surprisingly well with designer paper that uses Cherry Cobbler.

Really, the thing that took the longest to make on this card was having to remake the sentiment.  It was heat embossed with Pewter Stampin' Emboss powder, but I accidentally smeared it with my finger after embossing because it had not fully cooled down. Redo!

Thanks for coming by and taking a look!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Greetings of the Season
Paper:  Thick Whisper White, Red Foil, Snow Festival dsp
Ink:  Versamark
Other:  Balloon framelit, Silver Cording, Pewter Stampin' Emboss powder, Iced Rhinestones, Corner Rounder punch

Winter Peace

Hello again!  Another Christmas card to share, this time a much more CAS one, using the current sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  I've added a link below so you can visit the blog and enjoy all the beautiful inspiration.

Freshly Made Sketches

Watercolor wash has been a popular technique this year, and using it with heat embossed images also very common.  I decided to use it with the big snowflake from Holly Jolly Greetings.  I cut a small panel of watercolor paper, stamped the snowflake with Versamark ink and used White Stampin' Emboss powder to create the image.  Next an Aqua Painter was used to get the paper nice and wet where I wanted the ink to spread before applying it in the middle of the snowflake, gently spreading it out towards the edges with less and less ink to make it very subtle where then ink ended.

Next I added some silver glitter to randomly applied tiny drops of glue.  I saw Amy O'Neil use this with great effect here (http://amyoneillblog.com/2015/11/15/mondaymontage56/) and decided to give it a try.  Next a few sequins were placed around the panel.  Finally, the sentiment was cut with a Christmas Greetings Thinlit from Silver Foil paper, then added to the bottom of the panel.

Thanks for taking a look today, your visit and comments are always so appreciated!  For those in the US, have a wonderful Thanksgiving and safe travels!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Holly Jolly Greetings
Paper:  Pool Party, Watercolor, Winter Frost designer series paper
Ink:  Pool Party, Versamark
Other:  White Stampin' Emboss powder, Frosted Sequins, Silver Stampin' Glitter, Aqua Painter, Christmas Greetings Thinlit

Snow Festive

Welcome back!  I've got a quick post tonight with my card for Mojo Monday.  I'm running up against the deadline, so I'll keep things brief.

Mojo Monday

This one has lots of layers.  I pulled out some scraps of retired Snow Festival designer series paper for some of those layers.

Yup, I know, it's a busy little number!  As I was adding the layers, I seemed to be missing that finishing touch, until I added the Snowflake Element with a Silver Cording bow.

Thanks for taking time to visit today, I really appreciate it.  I hope you have a great week ahead!  I'll be back with more posts this week with more Christmas cards to share.

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Happy Scenes, Petite Pairs
Paper:  Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Baja Breeze, Garden Green, Snow Festival dsp
Ink:  Garden Green, Soft Sky, Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler
Other:  Snowflake Element, Silver Cording, Cherry Cobbler Linen Ribbon, Small Oval and Corner Rounder punches, Metallic Foil doily, Softly Falling Textured Impression Embossing Folder, Dazzling Details

Floral Thoughts

Hi there and welcome back!  Tonight the card I am sharing was made for the current challenge at CAS(E) this Sketch!  I've included a link below and would encourage you to visit to enjoy all the beautiful inspiration.

CAS(E) this Sketch!  

I started out stamping one of the flowers from Remarkable You on watercolor paper, leaving room to stamp the sentiment to the right of it.  Using an Aqua Painter and reinkers, I watercolored the flower, then masked it and stamped the Watercolor Wash background stamp over the top.  And I hated it!  It was too big, busy and the ink was too intense, so I took the Aqua Painter and just spread the ink over the entire background.

After the ink dried, I added the tiny stars on each side of the main image in Silver Encore ink.  When I received my container of Metallic Sequins, I didn't think I'd ever use the black sequins but I think they look great on this card, with all the white space around the main image.

As always, your visit and comments are so appreciated, and especially on this post, where I am celebrating a milestone of sorts, with this being my 400th post.  I started this blog nearly 3 years ago and appreciate everyone who has taken the time to come by and take a look!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Remarkable You, Holly Jolly Greetings
Paper:  Watercolor
Ink:  Archival Basic Black, Old Olive, Blackberry Bliss, Soft Sky, Silver Encore
Other:  Metallic Sequins, Aqua Painter