Winged Hello

Hello once again!  I'm back with a card made for the color challenge at Pals Paper Arts, with the lovely, soft colors of Pool Party and Mint Macaron teamed up with Tip Top Taupe.  I'm also using this week's fabulous sketch challenge at Splitcoaststampers and entering this in the current SUO Challenge to use butterflies (SUO Challenges).

Pals Paper Arts

SC552

I fell in love with this sketch and these colors and I was so happy when this card came together almost by itself.  It did help that I had the butterfly left over from another card and I simply sprayed it with Vanilla Smooch.  By the time I got to deciding on a sentiment, the wood "Hello" from the retired Hooray It's Your Day Project Kit seemed to fit perfectly.

The Tip Top Taupe base was topped with a layer of the same card stock that had been run through the Big Shot with the new Woodland embossing folder.  A sponge dauber with a bit of Craft Whisper White was applied around the edges to help is stand out from the base.  A bit of the new corrugated paper was used for one of the rectangle layers. I love the texture it adds to the card.

Thanks for looking!  As always, your visit and comments are sooo appreciated!  Be sure you use the links above to visit all three challenges - there is some amazing inspiration to gaze at!  Also, there's still time to join in, so don't delay!

I'll be back tomorrow with a card to share for CAS(E) this Sketch, so please be sure to swing by then.  Have a great evening!

Hugs,

Stef



Product details:
Stamps:  None
Paper:  Whisper White, White Corrugated, Mint Macaron, Tip Taupe Taupe, Tea Time Simply Scrappin' designer series paper (retired)
Ink:  Craft Whisper White
Other:  Woodland TIEF, Butterflies Thinlit, 2 1/2" Circle and 2 3/8" Scallop Circle punches, Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz, Hooray It's Your Day Project Kit (wood sentiment), Delicate Details Lace Tape, Large Scallop Edgelit.

Le Jardin Wishes

Happy Wednesday!  It's a lovely evening here in Sherwood, with the temps around 80 degrees, clear skies, birds entertaining us out the sliding glass door, plus I finished a card for the color challenge at Splitcoaststampers using this week's sketch from the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.

SCS Color Challenge 542

The colors for this week's color challenge - Elegant Eggplant, Delightful Dijon, Cajun Craze and Mossy Meadow - are perfect for a fall card.  At first I thought about using leaves, but then decided to use a long retired stamp set with a beautiful tree image.

Using markers, the tree was first colored in Delightful Dijon, then Cajun Craze was randomly inked over it.  Finally I added a bit of brown for the tree trunk and Mossy Meadow for the grass.  The sentiment, in eggplant, was stamped with the aid of a Stampamajig.  The panel was then layered on a larger Elegant Eggplant rectangle and topped with a strip of card stock covered with Cajun Craze Washi tape.

The base is Mossy Meadow covered with the same card stock embossed with the Woodgrain embossing folder.  The twine and button, free during the last Saleabration, tie the colors altogether.

Thanks for looking today!  As always your visit and comments are so appreciated.  Please be sure to use the links above to see all the wonderful inspiration and join in the challenges.

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Le Jardin Botanique, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Elegant Eggplant, Mossy Meadow, Delightful Dijon
Ink:  Elegant Eggplant, Cajun Craze, Delightful Dijon, Tip Top Taupe
Other:  Mossy Meadow twine and button, Linen Thread, Color Me Autumn Designer Washi Tape (from last year's Holiday catalogue, Stampamajig

Stacked Thoughts

Hi there!  Hope your weekend is going well!  We've been getting the house ready for my husband's sister and brother-in-law to arrive tomorrow, but I did manage to sneak in some time to finish a card for Mojo Monday that I started last night. It's time for Tall and Skinny this week - love it!

Mojo Monday

I started by using a piece of Stacked with Love designer paper (those little hearts are so cute!) that was adhered on top of a slightly smaller piece of card stock, then layered on top a horizontal piece of embossed Smoky Slate.  I found a piece of long-retired Stampin' Up! black velveteen ribbon to anchor the white rectangle.

The flower was stamped three times, with the base punched out then the next two smaller layers hand cut with my paper snips. Because of the tail of the "y", I had to shift the flower to the side opposite of the sketch.

Since the card is skinny (3.75"), the flower and sentiment banner could hang off their respective edges and still fit into a regular A2 envelope.  The card base is the new thick Whisper White card stock, which I find wonderfully sturdy and perfect for the bottom layer.

Thanks for looking today!  Be sure to use the link above to check out all the great inspiration and join in too - there's still time.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Crazy About You
Paper:  Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Smoky Slate, Stacked with Love designer series paper stack
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Melon Mambo
Other:  Hello You Thinlit, Boho Chic TIEF, retired ribbon, Flower Medallion punch, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Paper Snips

Sweet Blossoms for Paper Players

Hello!  A quick post for this week's challenge at The Paper Players.  This week Sandy has a great sketch with a tag - I love tags, so I knew I wanted to try to fit in time to play along.

The Paper Players

I pulled out the sweet Birthday Blossoms stamp set, planning to pop up a couple flowers on the tag along with the sentiment.  I found a scrap of retired Sweet Sorbet designer series paper that I used as my color inspiration for this very summery card.

The flowers were stamped in Calypso Coral, then colored lightly with a Blender Pen in Crisp Cantaloupe and some coral for shading, then punched with the Pansy punch.  The leaves, stamped in Wild Wasabi and colored with Pistachio Pudding, were hand cut with my Paper Snips.  The top of the tag was punched with the Scallop Tag Topper punch then decorated in retired Pool Party, Crisp Cantaloupe and White Twine.  Very quick and easy!

Thanks for dropping by today, as always your visit and comments are so appreciated!  Be sure to use the link above to check out all the amazing design team inspiration plus there's still time to join in!

Hugs,

Stef

Just Add Ink - Butterflies

Hello and welcome back!  This week at Just Add Ink (Just Add Ink blog) the theme is butterflies.  I was very excited to make my version of what I think of as an "emerging" butterfly.  I've seen this on several blogs and I think it's a pretty look.

Since I kind of spoke unkindly of Mint Macaron in my last post, I thought I should give it another chance with this card. The pretty designer series paper is from Pretty Petals paper stack.  It was adhered to a panel of Mint Macaron then run through the big shot with the middle sized Butterflies Thinlet, the butterfly die cuts removed and then it was popped up on Stampin' Dimensionals.  Earlier I had sprayed a piece of Very Vanilla with Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz, which was then cut with the same butterfly thinlet once the spray dried. Unfortunately the sparkle doesn't show in the photos, but really adds some nice shimmer IRL.

Gold became the accent color, including the button, baker's twine, sequins and embossed sentiment.  Although Mint Macaron is still not my favorite color, I do like how this card turned out.  ; - )

Thanks for stopping and taking a look today!  I would love to hear from you if you have a moment to leave a comment. Also, be sure to use the link above to check out all the design team's beautiful inspiration, plus there's still time to play along!  Take care and have a great week!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Butterfly Basics
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Mint Macaron, Vellum, Pretty Petals designer series paper pack
Ink:  Versamark
Other:  Butterflies Thinlet, Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder, Gold Basic Metal Button, Metallics Sequin Assortment, Pearl Basic Jewels, Gold Metallic Baker's Twine, Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz.

Artistic Wishes

Hello again!  Julee Tilman gave us a fun sketch over at Mojo Monday this week.  It proved a bit of a challenge for me - I think I went through 3 iterations before ending up with the final version.  But I like what I ended up with.

http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/

Initially I started out with the idea of using the colors of gold, black and Mint Macaron but the colors just didn't look good together to me, so I ditched the Mint for Bermuda Bay.  I know a lot of people love this new In Color but I'm having a hard time warming up to it.  Anyway, after I settled on the colors, here's what I ended up with.

The medallion and dragonfly were both stamped in Versamark, then heat embossed with black and gold embossing powders, respectively.  The dragonfly was then trimmed with paper snips.  The Bermuda Bay flowers beneath the sentiment were stamped off once before stamping on Whisper White, then the sentiment was added in Memento Tuxedo Black.

The embossing, the gold striped vellum and the rhinestones all made this a bit fancy, so I think it would be well used for an anniversary or wedding card.

Thanks for your visit today!  I'd love to hear from you if you have a moment to leave a comment.  Use the link above to check out all the fabulous inspiration on the Mojo Monday blog.

Hugs,

Stef



Product details:
Stamps:  Awesomely Artistic, Petite Pairs
Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black, Bermuda Bay, Gold Foil, Gold Striped Vellum
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Bermuda Bay, Versamark
Other:  Stampin' Emboss Gold and Basic Black embossing powders, Gold 1/8" ribbon, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Lacy Brocade embossing folder, 1", 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" Circle punches, Circle Collection framelit, Paper Snips

Boho Kindness

Hello once again! I've created a card to share with you that was made using the current color challenge at Splitcoaststampers and this week's sketch from the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.  I'm also entering it in the current challenge at Stampin' Up Only Challenges (SUO Challenges), where we are to use either a new stamp set from the 2015-2016 Stampin' Up! catalogue or a set that is new to us.  While the stamp set used for this card came out in last year's catalogue, I only recently bought it.

SCS CC540

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge

I started with a panel of Tempting Turquoise embossed with the new Boho Chic embossing folder, then adhered to a base of the new thick Whisper White card stock, which I LOVE because it is so nice and sturdy!

The color challenge of Tempting Turquoise, Crushed Curry and Smoky Slate are so pretty together, it just looks like summer doesn't it?  That's why I thought the Kinda Eclectic stamp set was perfect for both the color challenge and the sketch, with the bright sun image peeking out from behind the horizontal panel.

The leaves were fussy cut with my paper snips, the edges curled up a bit with a stylus, then adhered to the panel and topped with the button.  A Banner framelit was the perfect size to create the Crushed Curry banner.  All in all a very clean, simple and easy card.  Love it!

Thanks for looking today!  As always, your visit and comments are so appreciated.  Be sure to use the links above for fabulous inspiration, plus there's still plenty of time to join the challenges.

Have a great day!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Kinda Eclectic
Paper:  Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Crushed Curry, Smoky Slate
Ink:  Tempting Turquoise, Crushed Curry, Smoky Slate
Other:  Boho Chic TIEF, 2 1/2" Circle punch, Banners framelit, retired Brights Button, Crushed Curry Baker's Twine

Dahlia Happy Birthday

Happy Tuesday!  Fab Friday has a great CAS sketch for their current challenge, so I thought I would join in with this quick and easy card.  It was especially quick and easy because the stamped panel was a left over from a card made a couple of weeks ago.

The Soft Sky card base was stamped with Distress Dots in the same ink color.  For the main image, the dahlia was also stamped in Soft Sky with the sentiment stamped over the top in Blackberry Bliss, then the panel was trimmed down to just a partial image of the flower.

Once layered on the larger square of blackberry card stock, it was wrapped in twine that was offered at Saleabration this year and topped with a retired silver button.  Here's the sketch.

Fab Friday

Thanks for visiting today!  I'd love to hear from you if you have a moment to leave a comment.  Also, there's still time to join in the Fab Friday challenge or if your not able to, at least use the link to view all the great design team inspiration!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Definitely Dahlia, Happy Birthday, Everyone, Distress Dots
Paper:  Whisper White, Soft Sky, Blackberry Bliss
Ink:  Soft Sky, Blackberry Bliss
Other:  Squares framelit, Blackberry Bliss twine, retired silver button

Dreaming of...retirement

Hi there!  Today I am sharing another retirement card for my dear friend and co-worker who is retiring at the end of the month. The two cards will be signed by everyone in the work group and then presented to the new retiree on her last work day. This card is much more CAS than the first so that it can be signed on both sides of the interior without being too lumpy from embellishments on the front of the card.

The new Wild about Flowers set has the most wonderful sentiments for retirement or new events in one's life and the font had enough "girth" to enable it to be stamped in Pear Pizzazz over the Soft Sky floral silhouettes from World of Dreams stamp set.  The Lost Lagoon frame layered atop the white circle was cut sixth and seventh largest Circles Collection framelits.

This week's sketch challenge at Pal's Paper arts provided the basic design although I turned the card 90 degrees.  It's also inspired by the challenge at Paper Players to make a CAS card with a frame.  I think this card meets both requirements!

Pals Paper Arts

The Paper Players

Thanks for looking today. As always your visit and comments are so very appreciated!  Be sure to use the links to see all the wonderful inspiration from the design teams, plus there's still time to join in the challenges.

Hugs,

Stef

Product details:

Stamps:  World of Dreams, Wild about Flowers

Paper:  Whisper White, Lost Lagoon, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Sky Designer Series Paper (long retired!)

Ink:  Soft Sky, Pear Pizzazz

Other:  Circle Collection and Bitty Banners framelits, Lost Lagoon Stitched Satin ribbon, Frosted Sequins

Wild about Retirement

Hello, again and welcome back!  Recently my work group asked me to make two retirement cards for the group to present to our wonderful co-worker and my dear, dear friend who is retiring at the end of the month.  Of course I was honored to do so and was so happy that I had just received the new Wild about Flowers stamp set with the perfect sentiments for this occasion and beautiful flowers.  Today I'll share the first of the two cards.

The card measures 5 x 7 inches, leaving plenty of room on the interior for well wishes from the group.  The base is retired Perfect Plum texture card stock, which is topped with a 4 x 6" panel of Soft Sky embossed with my favorite new embossing folder, Fluttering.  The butterfly theme was carried on with two of the smallest butterflies from the retired Beautiful Wings embosslit.

The closeup shows how the clear stamps in this set make it easy it is to align the flower stamps with the stems.

This week at Splitcoaststampers, Karen Barber gave us a wonderful color challenge, a "Wild and Perfect Sky", using Wild Wasabi, Perfect Plum and Soft Sky.   Mmmm, love it!  Although I took a couple liberties with the sketch, the challenge at Just Add Ink was the basis of my card design.  Finally, I'm also joining the challenge at TGIF Challenge (#TGIF12), where this week we are to use new craft toys.

SCS Color Challenge 539

Just Add Ink

TGIF Challenge!

As always, your visit and comments are so appreciated!  Be sure to use the links above to check out these fabulous challenges with wonderful inspiration from the design teams, plus there is still time to join in the fun.

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Wild about Flowers, Hardwood
Paper:  Whisper White, Wild Wasabi, Perfect Plum, Soft Sky
Ink:  Wild Wasabi, Perfect Plum, Memento Tuxedo Black
Other:  Fluttering TIEF, Banner and Circles Collection framelits, Beautiful Wings embosslit, Whisper White Organza ribbon, Pearls Basic Jewels

Blossoms and Butterfly

This week I had the pleasure of gathering with my fellow demonstrators and upline for some fun stamping and chatting. We were to bring a swap and a shoe box card for everyone to make, and use an old Freshly Made Sketch (FMS 69) for either card.  The first card I am showing you today was the shoe box card using the sketch.

I started with a color choice of Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive and Daffodil Delight.  The flowers were stamped and then punched out with the Pansy Punch.  After stamping the leaves in a diagonal across the panel the flowers and the butterfly were popped up on Stampin' Dimensionals.

I love the group of sweet little flowers on the bottom left.  All the stamps with the exception of the butterfly are from the Birthday Blossoms stamp set, new in the 2015-2016 Stampin' Up! catalogue.  The butterfly is from Papillion Potpourri.

Thanks for taking a look!  I'll be back in a bit to post my 2nd card.

Hugs,

Stef

Boho Greetings

Hi there again!  Wow, it's been a busy week and a half, so unfortunately posting on my blog was at the bottom of the heap of the agenda.  Last Saturday was the "mega" birthday party for my daughter, all three of my grandchildren and my oldest grandson's lovely girlfriend, so all energies were focused on that event.  Post party I started working on the card I am sharing tonight for Mojo Monday.

http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/

I also used the prior week's color challenge from Splitcoaststampers, using Melon Mambo, Island Indigo and Sahara Sand. When I saw it, I knew I wanted to make something with this lovely combo.

CC538

I started out with the whimsical flowers from Cottage Greetings stamped on either side of the sentiment from the same stamp set. Using a blender pen I colored the flowers in Melon Mambo and the leaves in Sahara Sand.  I was at the "Now what?" point when I saw the Mojo Monday sketch and all the pieces fell into place.

I just think those flowers are so delightful, I hope to make time in the coming week to play around with different designs.

I think the rest of this CAS card is pretty self explanatory, but if you have questions, please be sure to leave a comment. Thanks for dropping by and taking a look!  I hope you have a great Friday and weekend!

Hugs,

Stef



Product details:
Stamps:  Cottage Greetings
Paper:  Whisper White, Sahara Sand, Island Indigo, Melon Mambo
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Melon Mambo, Sahara Sand
Other:  Brights Button, Island Indigo Baker's Twine, Scallop Border punch, Boho Chic TIEF, Blender pen

Blackberry Sky Birthday

Happy Independence Day, all!  I didn't think I would find time to make a card today, but with the scorching weather taking temps to the high 90's, we opted not to attend the outdoor Blues Festival in downtown Portland today.  There's not much shade there and it just didn't seem like a smart thing to do.  As a result, I spent a couple hours in my craft room this afternoon and created a card for CAS(E) this Sketch.

CAS(E) this Sketch

I chose to use one of my favorite color combinations, Blackberry Bliss and Soft Sky.  The flower was inked up in the lighter color and the sentiment stamped over the lower edge.  I had a couple previous attempts but for whatever reason could not get the sentiment straight, even with a Stampamajig (so irritating!) but finally everything came together.  Then.  I picked it up and had a bit of ink on my finger which ended up creating a small smear on the panel.  Arrggghh!  Fortunately it was in a spot that could be strategically covered with an embellishment (which I planned to use anyway), so three times ended up being the charm!

The edge of the top panel edge was cut with the Large Scallop Edgelit, and layered on offset scallops in Blackberry.  The card base of Whisper White was topped with a piece of long retired Soft Sky designer series paper before adhering the top panel.

I loved using this sketch (even though I was stamping challenged using it today LOL!), it's one of those with so many possibilities, which you can see if you use the link above and check out the awesome design team inspiration.  As always, your visit and comments are so appreciated!  Have a safe and fun holiday and remainder of your weekend!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Definitely Dahlia, Happy Birthday, Everyone!
Paper:  Whisper White, Blackberry Bliss, Soft Sky dsp
Ink:  Soft Sky, Blackberry Bliss
Other:  Metal Rimmed Pearl, Blackberry Bliss Stitched Satin Ribbon, Large Scallop edgelit

A Tall Thanks

Happy Friday!  Management let our credit team off a bit early today for the start of the Independence Day weekend, so that meant I had a chance to finish my card for this week's Mojo Monday challenge, where it's tall and skinny week.

Mojo Monday

The Pacific Point base for my card measures 3.5" x 6".  When I go to give this card, my Envelope punch board will come in handy to make a custom envelope.  The next layer is one of the many patterns included in the bright and fun Pretty Petals Designer Series Paper Stack.

The Boho Chic embossing folder was used to emboss the Calypso Coral horizontal piece, then the entire layer was all wrapped with some Calypso Coral Baker's Twine before adhering to the base with Stampin' Dimensionals.

The flower pieces from the Flower Patch stamp set were inked up then cut with the matching Flower Fair framelits before layering and popping up on the circle beneath.  The wood sentiment had been sitting on my desk, leftover and unused on another project, and it solved my uncertainty of where to place the sentiment.  Love it when that happens!

Thanks for the visit today!  Please be sure to use the link above to visit Mojo Monday and check out all the wonderful inspiration, plus there's still time to join in.

Finally, to all of those in the US, have a happy and safe July 4th!!

Hugs,

Stef



Product detail:
Stamps:  Flower Patch
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Pacific Point, Calypso Coral, textured Old Olive, Pretty Petals dsp
Ink:  Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight
Other:  Calypso Coral Baker's Twine, Boho Chic TIEF, Expressions Natural Elements, Pearl Basic Jewel, Flower Fair and Circles Collection framelit, 1 3/4" Circle punch

Awesome Birthday

Hi there and welcome back!  The challenge at Paper Players this week is a wonderful sketch by Nance Leedy.  It was perfect to use for an idea I've had in the back of my mind since I bought the Awesomely Artistic stamp set, with flowers flowing over the sides of wood fences or even (!) brick walls.

The Paper Players

I started with a piece of Sahara Sand card stock, stamped the flower image around the edges, then colored the flowers and leaves with a blender pen and ink.  It was then run through the Big Shot with the new Brick Wall embossing folder.

Using a sponge dauber, a bit of Sahara Sand ink was rubbed around the "bricks" to give a bit more depth.  I really fiddled around with a lot of options for the horizontal pieces, but finally landed on the beautiful crochet trim and a flag with a long string of pearls.

Thanks so much for your visit today, and as always, I'd love to hear from you if you have a moment to leave a comment! Be sure to use the link above to check out all the wonderful inspiration and to join in the challenge!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Awesomely Artistic, Watercolor Trio
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand, Blushing Bride
Ink:  Sahara Sand, Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride, Tip Top Taupe, Jet Black Stazon
Other:  Venetian Crochet Trim, Basic Pearls, Circles Framelits, Brick Wall TIEF, Sponge Dauber