Ahoy, Father's Day!

Happy weekend eve, my friends!  It's Friday night and I'm looking forward to an extended weekend. Monday is the new Stampin' Up catalogue reveal and I've taken a vacation day in order to join my upline Susan, and lots of fellow demonstrators from the greater Portland metro area, to learn about what is coming up in 2014-2015.







In the meantime, I have a card made for my father-in-law for Father's Day.  I've used the wonderful sketch from Freshly Made Sketches as the basis for my card design.

 http://freshlymadesketches.blogspot.com/

In order to keep the proportions pleasing with the size of circle and square used, my card size is closer to a square than the normal A2 size (4 1/2" x 4 1/8")

The retired image from Sail Away was stamped in Island Indigo on Crumb Cake. Unknown to me until after I made the card, my FIL once owned a sail boat.  I'm hoping this will generate some good memories for him.

I chose the Burlap Ribbon for the vertical piece to add a bit more texture and a kind of ruggedness to the overall feel of the card.  In that same vein, the circle cut from Soho Subway has such great texture with the subtle woodgrain background and waives of color that it definitely reminded me of the ocean.

Thanks so much for dropping by and taking a look.  If you have a moment to leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you!  Have a great weekend!!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Sail Away, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Confetti Cream, Island Indigo
Ink:  Island Indigo
Other:  Metallic Eyelets, CropADile, Hemp Twine, Word Window punch, Burlap Ribbon. Hemp Twine, Circles Collection framelit

You're the Best!

Hi there and welcome back!  A quick post with a card for The Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.  I had lots of fun playing around with this sketch.

http://kgiron.blogspot.com/2014/04/sweet-sunday-sketch-challenge-216.html

I pulled out the Just Sayin' stamp set and some Wooden Elements to create this easy card:

I so love Calypso Coral, Crumb Cake and the amazing Burlap ribbon together, so I decided to pull them together again for this card.  The wood embellishments were rubbed into their respective stamp pads on both sides and around the edges, then left to dry for a couple of days.

Thanks for dropping by!  Friday tomorrow, then the weekend.  Enjoy!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Just Sayin'
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Confetti Cream, Calypso Coral, Etcetera designer paper
Ink:  Jet Black Stazon, Calypso Coral
Other:  Word Bubble framelit, Distress Dots embossing folder, Linen Twine, Wooden Elements

Sketched Composition Birthday

Welcome back!  I have a quick and easy card to share today.  I pulled out some of the retiring Natural Composition designer paper intending to make a masculine birthday card, but somehow it morphed into this:

I have a box of designer paper scraps, which I pulled out to find something that would look good with the card base.  When I found this scrap of Spice Cake dp, the rest of the details came together quickly and a more feminine card emerged, with scallops and ruffled ribbon.

The sentiment and bird image were stamped in Soft Suede on Confetti Cream that was punched with the Scallop Tag Topper punch.  The bird was colored using a blender pen very lightly dipped in More Mustard ink, which resulted in a far lighter (and more natural looking) color.

I added the Soft Suede Candy Dots but I'm ambivalent about how they look, so they may be removed and saved for another card.

Thanks for taking a look and if you have a moment to leave a message, I'd love to hear from you!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Simply Sketched
Paper:  Confetti Cream, Pool Party, Natural Composition and Spice Cake designer paper
Ink:  Soft Suede, More Mustard
Other:  More Mustard grosgrain ribbon, Scallop Border punch, Scallop Tag Topper punch, Neutrals Candy Dots.

Four Happiness

Hi there again!  I've a card to share that I made for Friday Mashup.  The challenge this week includes the sketch below and the "mash up" part is to use an Ombre` Background.

Our dogwood tree is starting to bloom and the blossoms are so beautiful, it really inspired me to make a card with a range of pinks.  I thought I had a stamp with a dogwood flower but I don't, so I pulled out the lovely rose from Happiness Shared and colored it with reinkers and a blender pen.

I also decided to try my hand at the Ombre` background, using Pink Pirouette, Primrose Petals and Raspberry Ripple.  Originally I was going to use a brayer, but don't have a Raspberry ink pad, so I ended up sponging the colors onto Very Vanilla.  I really like how it looks but was a bit disappointed that I could not completely blend away all the sponge marks in the Raspberry section.  Probably a technique I will have to practice, but I still think it turned out okay(???).

I kept the rest of the card simple, with only the Baker's Twine as an embellishment because it seemed like there was already a lot going on here.

Well, it didn't turn out quite as I imagined, and I'm not sure meshing together the background technique and the watercolor image works (trendy vs. classic).  But one doesn't learn until trying, so I'll keep trying!! ; - )

Thanks for taking a look.  Have a great week ahead!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Four You, Happiness Shared
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Raspberry Ripple, Old Olive, Watercolor
Ink:  Raspberry Ripple, Old Olive, Primrose Petals, Pink Pirouette
Other:  Gold Baker's Twine

Garden Birthday Wishes

Welcome back!  The card I made this afternoon is for the challenges at Pals Paper Arts and Dynamic Duos.  Click on the links below to check out both of these great challenges, plus there is still plenty of time to play along.

http://www.palspaperarts.com/

http://thedynamicduoschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

I love when Dynamic Duos has the Black Tie week, and these colors, along with gold are so rich and elegant.  I have a friend at work that will be celebrating her birthday later this month and this card will be perfect for her "style".

The touch of gold really kicked up the glam factor for the card, I think.  Two sizes of Squares framelits were used to create the Gold Foil frame that went over the Very Vanilla square stamped with the sentiment from Fabulous Phrases.

The flower from the Secret Garden stamp set was stamped 3 times on Very Vanilla and then colored with Rich Razzleberry with a blender pen.  The layers were then cut out and layered with Stampin' Dimensionals.  The branches were cut with a Secret Garden framelit.

As always, your visit is so appreciated and I would love to hear from you if you have a moment to leave a comment!  Take care and have a Happy Easter!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Secret Garden, Fabulous Phrases
Paper:  Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Rich Razzleberry, Gold Foil, Modern Medley designer paper
Ink:  Jet Black Stazon, Rich Razzleberry
Other:  Gold Baker's Twine, Secret Garden and Squares Collection framelits, Basic Pearls, Paper Snips, Stampamajig, Blender Pen

Vintage Petals

Hi there!  I'm back with a card made for this week's card sketch challenge at Splitcoast Stampers.  I saw it and was immediately taken with what a great layout it was and the resulting card came together with ease (thank heavens, after my creativity doldrums of the prior weekend!).

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/

One of the stamps from Peaceful Petals immediately sprang to mind for the long, slim panel.  I decided to go with a vintage, distressed style.

This is such a lovely floral image, so sweet and delicate.  The petals were colored with Soft Sky and Baja Breeze using a blender pen, and Barely Banana for the center.  Lucky Limeade was used for the stem, with the "shadow" areas created with additional layers of the same color.  The piercing design from the Paper Piercing Pack Essentials meant for use with the Curly Label punch was added to the top and bottom of the green panel, then I just went around the edges of the watercolor paper.

Normally I use Crumb Cake to sponge around the edges of my card to develop the vintage, distress feel, but sometimes it can be too dark for lighter colors, even using a light hand.  I decided to experiment with this card by using Sahara Sand, and I was so pleased with the result.

Thanks for visiting today!  I hope you have a great weekend.  I will be back later today or tomorrow with another post, so please drop back by if you have time!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Peaceful Petals, Express Yourself
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Watercolor, Lucky Limeade, Baja Breeze, Everyday Enchantment designer paper
Ink:  Basic Gray, Baja Breeze, Barely Banana, Lucky Limeade, Sahara Sand, Jet Black Stazon
Other:  Paper Doily, Lucky Limeade Ruffled Ribbon, Basic Pearls, Paper Piercing Pack Essentials, Blender Pen

CAS Birthday Elegance

Hi once again, I'm back with a quick post with a card made for Retrosketches.  Check out this super fun sketch:

http://retrosketches.blogspot.com/

I knew when I saw this sketch I wanted to play along.  I walked into my craft room and less than 10 minutes later I had finished this card:

I decided to go with a bit of gold, with the sequins and the Baker's Twine, to compliment the lush Crushed Curry color in the designer paper.

My card varies a bit from the sketch, because I ended up with five cross sections rather than four, but I hope it still reflects the spirit of it!  

Thanks for taking a peek!

Hugs,

Stef

Product details:

Stamps:  Four You

Paper:  Whisper White, Eastern Elegance designer series paper

Ink:  Coastal Cabana

Other:  Gold Baker's Twine, Gold Sequin Trim, Basic Pearls

Storybook Easter Wishes

Hi there!  Easter's fast on the way and I made a card to send to my daughter and her family.  I've entered it into the current challenge at SUO Challenges to make an Easter card or other papercrafted project with the Easter theme.  There's still plenty of time to join in so go check out the blog for lots of fun inspiration! (http://suochallenges.com/)

I decided to use the cute bunny from the Storybook Friends stamp set.  He was heat embossed and colored in Crumb Cake with a blender pen.

Since the stamp includes a sentiment but not the one I wanted to use, I fussy cut old Bun and adhered him to Whisper White card stock stamped with the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes and cut out with a Windows Collection framelit.

The main image was adhered to So Saffron card stock cut out with a Deco Labels framelit and popped up on a Soft Sky designer paper pennant, cut out with the largest Pennant framelit.  My goodness, what did I do before framelits???  The Early Espresso pennant was created by tracing around the outside of the largest framelit and cut out by hand.

I am so glad when Stampin' Up! decided to bring Soft Sky back into the color fold!  It is such a lovely blue and goes well with so many other colors.  It also meant that the retired designer paper I was holding onto had new life as well!  The button and twine are also retired products but fortunately they don't have an expiration date so they can still be used LOL!  The twine has a bit more heft than Linen Thread, so I like using it behind buttons.

That's it for today.  I appreciate your visit and as always, would love to hear from you if you have time to leave a comment.  Have a great week!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Storybook Friends, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Woodgrain
Paper:  Soft Suede, So Saffron, Whisper White, Early Espresso Core'dination, Soft Sky designer series paper
Ink:  So Saffron, Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip, Versamark, Crumb Cake
Other:  Pennants, Windows, and Deco Labels Collections framelits, Blender Pen, Paper Snips, Hemp Twine, Sweet Stitches Big Designer Buttons

A Flourished Wisteria Birthday

The process of creativity is so surprising sometimes.  The last card I posted was such a struggle for me...I wasn't happy with different iterations of it and kept redoing parts of it, and it took hours to finish. Then there is the card below that I made in about an hour this afternoon, totally unplanned!

I was inspired by the color challenge at Dynamic Duos and the current sketch at the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge:

http://kgiron.blogspot.com/ 

http://thedynamicduoschallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

The DD color combination is perfect for a floral image, and initially I intended to watercolor a floral image, but when I saw the sketch today, I decided to use punched flowers atop the Flowering Flourishes image.

I really love these colors together.  The bands of So Saffron look so bright and cheerful with Wisteria, it's a great Spring color combo.  Be sure to check out both challenges, there is plenty of time to join in.

I'm glad you dropped by for my second post today and I'd love to hear from you if you have time to leave a comment!   Enjoy your evening!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Flowering Flourishes, Express Yourself
Paper:  Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder, So Saffron, In Color 2011-2013 Pattern Pack designer series paper
Ink:  Wisteria Wonder
Other:  Boho Blossoms & Itty Bitty punches, So Saffron Grosgrain ribbon, Fancy Fan embossing folder, Basic Pearls

Love Ya!

Welcome back!  I have a card to share that was made using the current Mojo Monday sketch.  I worked on this little devil off and on for several days, trying to get the flowers right.  I'm still not entirely happy with the end result because the flowers should be reversed in their position, but that's what happens when you remove things that were hot glued - must cover up the evidence LOL!!

I've seen plenty of others create perfect flowers with the new Spiral Flower die but I have struggled to finish flowers to my satisfaction.  The flowers are big and I've found them awkward to manipulate, but maybe I just need to practice more (less work, more crafting!!).

Love Letter designer paper was used for the large flower as well as the background for the new Hexagon Hive Thinlit in Riding Hood Red card stock.

Here's the sketch and link to the Mojo Monday Blog:

http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/

Thanks for taking a look!  I'm heading back outside to enjoy the remainder of the afternoon in our unusually warm 70 plus degree weather.  Take care and have a great week!

Hugs,

Stef

Product detail:

Stamps:  Just Sayin'

Paper:  Riding Hood Red, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Love Letter designer paper

Ink:  Jet Black Stazon

Other:  Hexagon hive Thinlit, Chevron embossing folder, Spiral Flower Bigz Die, Word Bubble framelit, Riding Hood Red Striped Grosgrain ribbon, Basic Pearls

  

Best for Baby

Welcome back!  Tonight I have a fun little card made with this week's sketch at The Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.  Yes, this week I actually made it before the deadline!

http://kgiron.blogspot.com/2014/04/sweet-sunday-sketch-challenge-214.html

I decided to flip the sketch on its side and shrink the dimensions to 3 1/2" x 4 3/4", which seemed more appropriate for a baby card and also to give proper dimension to the stamped image and the sentiment.  See what you think.

I recently got the Best of Brides and Babies before the offer ended the end of March and have been waiting for the right time to ink up this adorable stamp!!  I debated about whether or not to color the text but after the fact think it added a lot of vibrancy to the card.

 
I was tickled "pink" (hee hee) that the cute 1 1/4" Scallop Circle punch fits so perfectly atop the smallest of the Windows Collection framelit.  I love how it looks. And the sentiment from Petite Pairs is perfect inside the 1" Circle punched from Very Vanilla.

Well, that wraps it up for tonight.  I was glad to find some time earlier this evening to finish this card and get it posted, as much of the time its hard to find the time and energy after work.

Thanks for looking and as always, I would love to hear from you if you have time to leave a comment!  Take care and have a great remainder of the week!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Best of Brides and Babies, Petite Pairs
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Pink Pirouette, Strawberry Slush
Ink:  Pink Pirouette, Strawberry Slush, Chocolate Chip, Versamark
Other:  Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon (ret.), Blender Pen, Windows Collection framelit, 1 1/4" Scallop Circle and 1" Circle punches, Basic Rhinestones

Best in Flowers Birthday

Hi again!  I'm back with a card that was made using the sketch from Mojo Monday and the color challenge at Pals Paper Arts.

http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/

http://www.palspaperarts.com/

I was determined to use both these challenges in making my card, but after the third try and a couple of frustrating hours in my craft room, I almost threw in the towel on one or the other.  Then I was flipping through my stamp sets again, and spotted the hydrangea from Best of Flowers and knew I had found the answer.

The flower was stamped on watercolor paper with Jet Black Stazon ink, then colored with the PPA challenge colors.  The image just guides you so nicely as to where to color for shadows, it is a dream to color.  The flower centers were colored with the small end of my Summer Starfruit marker, which is very subtle in real life but is really noticable in the closeup below.

Hydrangeas are one of my very favorite bushes.  In summer we have the best of both worlds, as the flowers on our bush are the purple shade, whereas our next door neighbor's blooms are the blue color, so we get to enjoy both.

While I was distressing the edges of the embossed piece of Pool Party, one of the little honeycombs decided to totally detach.  Hmmm...what to do?  Ah, yes, add a piece of retired First Edition paper to give the card even more of a vintage look.

That's it for this weekend (yes, the one that just flew by LOL!).  Thanks for taking the time to visit, and as always, I would love to hear from you if you have time to leave a comment.  Until next time, take care!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Express Yourself, Best of Flowers
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Pool Party standard card stock and Core'dinations, Summer Starfruit, Old Olive, Afternoon Picnic, Etcetera and First Edition designer papers, Watercolor
Ink:  Jet Black Stazon, Old Olive, Pool Party, Summer Starfruit
Other:  Labels and Ovals Collections framelits, Honeycomb embossing folder, Basic Pearls, Linen Thread

Gumball Birthday

It's the weekend (yeah!) and I have a card to share with you.  I guess I'm feeling inspired by spring coming on because the colors are more vibrant than I normally gravitate towards.

The awesome Every Day This & That designer paper provided the background layers, which were then topped with a Daffodil Delight horizontal piece embossed with the Chevron embossing folder.

The sentiment, from the Wetlands stamp set, was stamped in Gumball Green on Whisper White, and then cut out with a Circle Framelit.  A Starburst framelit was used to create the Pool Party piece behind the sentiment.  The two brads are from the retired In Color Printed Designer Brads.  Glad I held onto them since Calypso Coral became part of the Subtles color group in the current catalogue.

I used last week's sketch from The Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.  I was hoping to post before the deadline on Friday but wasn't able to due to family and work events after work this week.  You should still check out the blog, Karen Giron always has great inspiration and new sketches every Sunday.

http://kgiron.blogspot.com/

Thanks for taking a look and I hope the rest of your weekend is fabulous!

Hugs,

Stef


Product details:
Stamps:  Wetlands
Paper:  Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Everyday This & That Designer Series Paper
Ink:  Gumball Green
Other:  Chevron embossing folder, Circles Collection and Starburst framelits, Printed Designer Brads, Linen Thread

Sorbet Birthday

This evening I have a card to share with you using this week's sketch at Pals Paper Arts.  It is also for the color challenge at Splitcoast Stampers and the very fun Tic-Tac-Toe challenge at Paper Players.  My card aligns with the left to right diagonal of the tic-tac-toe squares, as a birthday card using patterned paper and Pool Party ribbon.  

 http://www.palspaperarts.com/

http://thepaperplayers.blogspot.com/

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/

Coincidentally , the color challenge at Splitcoast Stampers contains all the colors contained in the some of the Sweet Sorbet designer series paper, so that became the background for my card.  I also added "dessert" by using ribbon.  

I decided to make the top of the tilted panels into a tag containing the sentiment, using the Scallop Tag Topper punch.  I used a 1 7/8" wide piece of Whisper White, topping a 2" piece of Basic Black paper also cut out with the punch.  The tag was then decorated with the cork flowers from the Sweet Sorbet Accessories Pack (only one more day to get it free with your Stampin' Up! order of $50 or more!).

The two horizontal panels in the sketch are represented by the ruffle trimmed piece of Sahara Sand and the Crisp Cantaloupe twine wrapped around the top of it. 

Thanks so much for dropping by!  I hope your week ahead is great!

Hugs,

Stef

Product details:

Stamps:  Petite Pairs

Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black Sahara Sand, Sweet Sorbet designer series paper

Ink:  Jet Black Stazon

Other:  Crisp Cantaloupe Ruffle Trim, Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon, White Baker's Twine, Sweet Sorbet Accessory Pack (Twine, sticker flowers), Basic Pearls, Scallop Tag Topper punch.