Fancy Flowers Everywhere!

Hi!  So sorry that I've not posted but it's been really busy around here!  I accepted an invitation to have a table of things for a special group of secretaries from around the state so I've been in high gear trying to get some things made!  I have cards but wanted to have some other items too.

The Extra Large Fancy Flower Punch may be my new BFF!!  lol!  I've used it so much in the last few days and it's working like the jewel that it is!  A couple of friends came over this weekend (Hi, Deanne and Cindy!!) and we made bookmarks and paperclips; the quickest and easiest way to make a quantity of like items is to use punches and we REALLY used the Fancy Flower and BoHo Blosssoms Punches!

First we made the Scallop Square Chipboard Frame Ribbon bookmarks in two different color combinations and then we made some flower paperclips using the square chipboard from the center of the frames as the base, again using the Fancy Flower Punch.  All of these flower projects also use the Boho Blossoms Flower Punch for the two smaller center flowers!



The first picture above is one of the bookmark color combos using some retired and/or retiring colors, cardstock and ribbon:  Pink Pirouette Ribbon is used for the actual bookmark portion of the project.  The frames are sponged in Regal Rose Craft Ink, leaves are Kiwi Kiss, flowers are Baja Breeze, centers are YoYo Yellow and Pretty in Pink with a gold brad center.  Pink Pirouette DSP is underneath the flower.

On the right is a picture of all the projects; they are so very colorful together!  My other project that I'll post later this week is also flowers, so other than the cards I'm selling, everything else will be flowers of some sort! 

You've probably all seen the paperclips with flowers but the Fancy Flower Punch makes them go so much faster, more dimensional and, I think, prettier!

I apologize for the last picture; the lighting was incandescent; there is a real yellow cast to it that I can't quite edit out.  It is of just the Scallop Square Chipboard Ribbon Bookmarks in Lilac and Lavender Lace.  The ribbon is the retired Kiwi Kiss grosgrain.

I actually should have posted these last weekend for the Blogger's Challenge which was for something altered.  The large paperclips are altered and I guess you could also consider the chipboard frames altered too!  If you would like to see what the other very talented Blogger Challengers did last weekend, just click HERE to see a list of the participants, then click on their name to go to their blog.

Thanks for visiting!  I'll have more projects to show you soon!

Margaret

All Holidays: Father's Day Card

Masculine cards don't seem to come as easy to many of us as do cards for our female friends and relatives.  True? 

The "Happy Father's Day" greeting is from the versatile All Holidays stamp set of 12.  I  really like it's boldness as well as it's straightforward font and reverse coloring.  The greeting was stamped in Soft Suede onto Crushed Curry cardstock and added a Jumbo Grommet in Antique Brass to the "D" for emphasis and tucked a very small piece of Twill Ribbon into the center hole.

The Brocade Blue background layer was run through the Big Shot with the Harlelquin Texturz Plaate for that marvelous texture.  A length of the widest Twill Tape was wheeled with the Friends Jumbo Wheel then adhereded to the Brocade Blue with three Antique Mini Brads added to the left side.  The blue cardstock was then layered onto a Soft Suede card. 

There it is, pretty quick and easy packing a punch with layered textures and a bold greeting!  We can't think too soon about Mother's and Father's Day card, can we?  :)

Thanks for visiting today!  I love for you to say "hi" and leave me a note that you were here.

Have a great weekend!

Margaret

Totally Tool Card

I can always use some "man" cards, can't you?...although this set isn't limited only to men because many women are handy with tools also, right?  This set, Totally Tool, is fun to work with and a little different from most of the other sets Stampin' Up! offers.  Each of the five tool images has a saying underneath it; these can be mounted with the image or mounted on the side of the block, giving you more flexibility with it.  You can also use the omitting technique, using a marker to ink only the part of the stamp you wish to use.

For the cards today, I chose to use the full stamp including the image.  These cards were for a fast make and take in a short period of time.  The first one is more simple than the second.  The image was stamped and colored with a Blender Pen and Going Grey ink then mounted on Old Olive and a Silver Mini Brad attached to each corner.

To give this card something of an "industrial" look, I wrapped a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil around a piece of cardstock then ran it through the Big Shot with the Harlequin Texturz Plate to give an interesting background layer.  This is really  easy and adds so much to the card.  You may wish to use a shim to give more pressure to the Big Shot "sandwich"; I used a sheet of copy paper but each machine may be calibrated a little different so you might need to experiment to get the best results.

The card base is Old Olive with a layer of Not Quite Navy on top.  I used Dimensionals to attach the top two layers to the cards.

The next card has an additional step in it's construction.  If you look closely, you can see that I used the Woodgrain background stamp, stamping it in Not Quite Navy ink on the NQN cardstock.  This gives a little more depth and textural interest to the card.

The use of the aluminum foil is an easy technique which gives light and reflectivity to the card and really dials up the pizazz!  Just handle the pieces carefully during construction of the card to keep from compressing the texture.

I hope you enjoyed these simple cards.  This set offers a lot more possibilities; these cards are just a fun start!

Thanks for visiting!  Hope to see you again soon!  Try this technique and post a link to your creation in the comments section of this post so we can see what you did with it!  Have fun!

Margaret

Easter Bear from Build-A-Bear

This past week I just happened on the Charlie Brown Easter special (which I saw years ago) entitled "Charlie Brown and the Easter Beagle."  Well, today we have the Easter Bear!  lol!  I made this Easter card for a little three-year-old girl.   She loved the birthday Build-A-Bear card I made her a few months ago so I thought she might enjoy a bear Easter card also!  I used lots of happy spring colors, some of which were scraps on my stampin' desk, like the punched flowers!

The bear is cut from Close to Cocoa cardstock and the clothes and shoes from the tiny patterns of Pawsitively Prints Designer Paper.   The rabbit headpiece, basket and eggs are cut with the Stampin' Up! Beary Hoppy Sizzlits Die.  Isn't that headpiece a hoot?!! 

The card base is Brocade Blue with a layer of Bashful Blue on top.  I swirled some White Craft Ink on the upper part of the Bashful Blue with a Sponge Dauber and it looks like very soft clouds, although it's not very visible in the photo.  Then a strip of Certainly Celery Designer Paper was fringed for grass and attached to the bottom.  On this are flowers punched with the Trio Flower Punch from various cardstocks and DSP.  Stems were drawn with the Certainly Celery Stampin' Write Marker.

117977  Build-A-Bear Die

117978  Stampin' Up! Beary Essentials

117982  Stampin' Up! Bear Girl Sizzlit Die

117327  Stampin' Up! Beary Hoppy Sizzlits Die

118060  Pawsitively Prints Designer Paper

109183  Trio Flower Punch

101731  Whisper White Craft Pad

105106  Certainly Celery Stampin' Write Marker

You may purchase any or all of these products on my Stampin' Up! demonstrator web site by just clicking HERE and clicking on the "Shop Now" in the upper right-hand corner.  Thanks!

Today is Blogger's Challenge Friday and our challenge this week is Easter.  You can click HERE to see what the other talented stampers in the group have made and posted to their blogs for BC Friday.

Thanks for dropping by for a visit!  I love it when you stop and say hello!

Margaret