Folded Circle Punch Flower

Have you tried any of the simple origami flowers?  My card today is just that:  simple folding of punched circles into a flower.   It was relatively easy (after a few adjustments and re-adjustments of my folding) and I was really happy with my first attempt at this.  : ) 

I punched out seven circles with my Stampin' Up! 1" Circle Punch; one circle is the base to which the other circles are attached.  Fold each circle in half, then from one end, make a point by folding the paper back alongside both edges of the circle.  Then attach all six of the "petals" to the base  circle.  I made a center from small flowers punches with the BoHo Blossom Punch and the Trio Flower Punch then attached it with a green Rhinestone Brad.  For a video of this technique, go here.

I modified Technostamper's Sketch #123 a little by using ribbon instead of the scallop and adding my sentimennt on one of the wonderful new Mini Vintage Tags (#118763) from the Summer Mini Catalog!  Those are so cool, and the paper in the tag is this beautiful shimmery cardstock with a pale golden glow!  Wow, I love them!


Layout: Technostamper's Sketch TSSC123. 
Stamps:  "Joy" from Everyday Flexible Phrases (retired)
Ink:  Rich Razzleberry
Paper:  Cottage Wall Designer Paper; Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive & Shimmery White
Accessories:  Finial Press Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Mini Vintage Tags, Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon

Thanks for visiting today!  Have a great day!

Margaret

Sentimental Journey II

Today's card uses the new Sentimental Journey stamp set, the Travel Journal Designer Paper from the Summer Mini Catalog as well as a couple of handsome Circle Brads.  Tt was made for the Blogger's Challenge #155 this past Friday, which was a sketch. 

I distressed every edge of the cardstock and designer paper with the Distresser Tool from the Cutter Kit to reflect the vintage feel of the stamp effect.  The card base is Kraft (soon to be known as  Crumb Cake) layered with Night of Navy.  I used four different patterns from the Travel Journal Designer Paper; isn't it great how they all make coordination easy?!  Pumpkin Pie cardstock was also used for layering and the punched arrow in the upper left.

The car was stamped on Kraft, cut out and mounted with Dimensionals onto the "map" DSP, which also features two of the smaller Circle Brads from the package.

Here is the Blogger's Challenge Sketch which we were to use today.  You may check out the other Blogger's Challengers by clicking here to go to a list of those who participate.

Stamps:  Sentimental Journal
Ink:  Night of Navy
Paper:  Travel Journey DSP; Kraft, Night of Navy, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories:  My Way (arrow) Punch, Circle Brads, Cutter Kit (Distresser Tool), Paper Snips, Dimensionals.

REMINDER:  During National Scrapbooking Month, May 1-31, get a FREE package of Designer brads with the purchase of My Digital Studio™ (item 118108) or any of *selected stamp sets.   You may contact me to order or order through my website here:  http://margaret.stampinup.net

*Sentimental Journey is one of these special sets.  See the list of other sets and also the brads  Here. 

Thanks for visiting today!  I hope you enjoy the ideas and the sketch.  Try it yourself and see what you can make with it!

Margaret

Elegant Notes: Easy as 1-2-3

Have you noticed the lovely Elegant Notes with envelopes on page 168 of the annual Stampin' Up! Catalog? One package of these ultrasmooth beauties contains fifteen (15) Very Vanilla note cards and envelopes!  Very generous!  They come pre-perforated so all you have to do is punch out the perforations and use as desired.

#1: 

This is very simple yet elegant.  I just added a piece of Rich Razzleberry from the Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Paper to the back of the openings and stamped "A Note of Thanks" in Razzleberry; the stamp is from the Thank You Kindly set on page 145 of the IB & C (big catalog).  The card is ready to add a personal message inside and sent to the recipient!  These notes come with the dry embossed frame around the front already.





#2:

This note also uses Razzleberry Lemonade DSP in a different print.  To dress this up a little, I dyed Pink Taffeta Ribbon by gently pulling it over the Melon Mambo ink pad, drying it and tying around the card front with a bow.  A notch above the first, but still easy-peasy.

#3: 

This is like Sample 2; I simply took a silk flower from the Pretties Kit, lightly sponged it with Melon Mambo ink, adhered it to the bow with a Mini Glue Dot and centered it with a small ivory half-back pearl.  Again, eeeeeasy!


So there you have it, truly as easy as 1-2-3 to decorate some lovely note cards to show someone that they are worth a little extra effort!

 


However, we want the envelopes to compliment our decorated notes!  I took another note, removed the perforations and used it as a stencil to lightly sponge the flaps of the envelopes with Melon Mambo Classic Ink to carry the design over to the envelopes.  I can always add cardstock or DSP to the back of this note and still use it when I'm through stenciling; I've gained decorated envelopes and not lost a thing!

Elegant Notes  #116450, pg. 168, Catalog, pkg. of 15,  $9.95

Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Paper, 12 x 12", pkg of 12 sheets, #115675, pg. 162, $9.95

Free stencil to decorate matching envelopes:  priceless, lol!

The new and adorable Mini Vintage Tags from the Summer Mini Catalog would be perfect to adorn the front of these notes also!

Thanks for visiting today!  I hope you enjoyed the ideas.  Come back soon!

If you wish to purchase any of these items or other Stampin' Up! products, click here to go to my Stampin' Up! website; once there, click on the "Shop Now" button in the upper right-hand corner.

Thanks!
Margaret

Tropical Party & Island Oasis Duo

I'm having so much fun with this Tropical Party set from the new Summer Mini Catalog!  Today's projects pair it with the fun new coordinating Island Oasis Designer Series Paper.  Tones of Tempting Turquoise, Rose Red, So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive are used in the paper and are reflected on my projects today.

The 3-D Scallop Bag is the perfect size for party favors, tiny treasures, small gifts or yummy treats (like chocolate!)  It is die cut with the Bigz XL Scallop Bag die and the Big Shot and it only takes half a sheet of 12 x 12" cardstock, or in this case, designer paper.  It is super easy to assemble; I used my Stampin' Up! 2-Way Glue Pen on this one and it worked great, and not messy either!  I love how the bold floral paper looks made up into this!  The top fold-over flap is scalloped but is hidden behind the flowers here. 

A Rose Red flower cut out with the Fancy Flower Punch is topped with a Tempting Turquoise flower die cut with the Stampin' Up! Island Floral Die (also new in the mini), then a small So Saffron flower punched with the BoHo Blossoms punch.  A White Jumbo Brad covered with Dazzling Diamonds Glitter secures the flower.  Old Olive cardstock leaves were punched with the 5-Petal Flower Punch then treated to some dry embossing with the Stylus.  A Metal Clip from the Clips Assortment sports an olive ribbon knot and holds the flap shut.

The card uses the Tropical Party set and the Scalloped Oval Frame Die.  I used the card sketch from Stamping411 Saturday Sketch Challenge #151.  The turquoise frame was die cut then run through the Big Shot again with the Distressed Texturz Plate to give it more emphasis and go with the beach theme.  A band of one of the Island Oasis DSP prints goes across the Old Olive card underneath the frame then a few palm fronds stamped on in Old Olive ink.  Three of the larger tropical flower were stamped in coordinating colors, cut out then applied to the frame.

The greeting for the card is from Teeny Tiny Wishes (great set!) and is stamped on So Saffron then punched with the Modern Label Punch and layered on additional punchouts of Pumpkin Pie and Rose Red to give it a frame and pull the color scheme together.

I hope you enjoyed today's projects!  It's always fun to hear from you who visit here, so leave me a shout-out if you would!  Thanks!

Margaret

Paper Pansies!

Have you seen the beautiful paper pansies made with the Stampin' Up! Butterfly Punch?  They are absolutely gorgeous and fun to do!  I have been eager to make some and finally got around to doing it yesterday!

I saw these pansies on Gretchen Barron's blog as well as others, then watched Dawn Olchefske's video here for the instructions.  I just want to say "Thanks" to all the stampers who share so generously!

The card base is Whisper White overlaid with Regal Rose which has been dry embossed with the Flourish Texturz Plate and the Big Shot and the edges distressed. Next is Orchid Opulence cardstock, diecut with the Top Note Die in the Big Shot then dry embossed with the new Lattice Embossing Folder in the Big Shot.  A sash of Pretty in Pink Striped Grosgrain Ribbon encircles the Top Note layer.

The pansies were punched from Shimmer White Cardstock with the Butterfly Punch then colored with AquaPainters and ink refills (see Dawn's video linked above for the technique).  Each is constructed with a Gold Mini Brad in the center.  The leaves are Certainly Celery punched with the 5-Petal Flower Punch, dry debossed with a stylus then cut apart and tucked and adhered under the flowers with Mini Glue Dots.

The greeting is from Sincere Salutations (#115068, $23.95), stamped in Elegant Eggplant ink then punched out with the Scalloped Oval Punch (#114889, $15.95).

Remember Stampin' Up!'s Color Renovation is taking place now!  If you want any of the retiring colors, order NOW because when supplies are gone, some will not be replaced!  Orchid Opulence on the card today is one of the retiring colors.

I hope you enjoy and experiment yourself in making these! 

NOTE:  You may purchase any of these or other Stampin' Up! products online through my Demonstrator Web Site here and click on the SHOP NOW button.  You will save 10% or move over ordering it directly through Stampin' Up!'s website.  It will be delivered direct to you from Stampin' Up!


Thanks for visiting!  Have a good weekend!


Margaret

Retro Distressed Tropical Party - Red, Teal, Curry

This being Friday, it's time for another Blogger's Challenge!  Wow, it WAS a challenge today to use Red, Teal and Curry!  They actually are a nice color combo and they are bright!  :)  In thinking about this challenge, I realized that this would be a great color scheme to use with my new Tropical Party set from Stampin' Up!'s Summer Mini Catalog!

To handle all that intense color, I wanted to use a lot of white to break it up.  So I mounted my set and proceeded to stamp a background on white using the smaller tropical flower from the set and the three challenge colors.  I stamped diagonal rows of each color flower.  Next I swiped my Distressed Texturz Plate with Sahara Sand Ink, placed the background cardstock face down on it and ran it through the Big Shot.  This gave it not only a distressed texture but a visually distressed appearance.  The edges were distressed with the tool from the Cutter Kit.  I ran Natural Hemp Twine around it and knotted it in front to enhance the outdoorsy rustic look.  This was adhered to a Crushed Curry card that had been "swiped" with a Soft Suede inkpad.

The Happy Father's Day stamp is from the All Holidays set, which has lots of good sentiments in it for, ahem, all holidays, lol!  I inked it partially with markers and also ink pads to get good coverage.  The curry color was added with the Crushed Curry Marker.  This layer was distressed,  adhered to a Taken With Teal layer then adhered to the front of the card.

Next I stamped the coconut drink with Soft Suede on a piece of white cardstock that had also been through the Big Shot with the Distressed Texturz Plate.  It was colored with markers, adding Sahara Sand to the coconut also, punched out and layered onto Real Red and a Vintage Brad added at the top.  This was adhered with Dimensionals to the lower right of the sentiment to complete the card.  All products are from Stampin' Up!

This reminds me so much of a magazine article I saw recently where they featured 50's and 60's Hawaiian tourist memorabilia!  The colors were so similar to these!  lol!  Does it remind you of that too?

To see what the other very talented Blogger's Challengers made this week, click here which will take you to a list of the members.  Click on a name to go to their blog.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!  I hope you've enjoyed my card and will return soon!  I have another cool project to post tomorrow.  :)

Margaret

Sentimental Journey

One of the new sets in the brand-new Summer Mini is Sentimental Journey.  I have always liked vintage-style stamps so I was intrigued by the distressed look of the stamps and the flourishes on some of the images.  I have found it fun to play with and look forward to creating some more projects with it!  Here's my first one.

My color scheme was Night of Navy,  Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie and Kraft which was taken from the new Travel Journal Designer Series Paper.  The focal image with the airplane was stamped with Brocade Blue (retiring); the swirl from the new Elements of Style set was stamped with Sahara Sand ink onto Kraft cardstock.  The ship was stamped with Pumpkin Pie Ink onto Kraft cardstock, cut out with Paper Snips then adhered to the layer with Dimensionals.

The card base is Kraft cardstock, the edges of which have been swiped randomly with the Night of Navy ink pad.  The background layer over the Kraft is Bashful Blue which has been randomly stamped with the word "Journey" from the stamp set and also the definition of "journey" from the Define Your Life stamp set.  Layered on that is a strip of the stripe (say that fast 10 time times, lol!) from the Travel Journey DSP layered onto Pumpkin Pie cardstock.

The compass stamp was stamped in Brocade Blue onto Kraft then layered onto a 1 1/4" Punch out of Pumpkin Pie, centered with a Gold Mini Brad then adhered with a Dimensional.  This would make a good card for anyone who likes to travel, is about to leave on a trip, Father's Day or any occasion for a man.

Thanks for dropping by today!  Be safe out there!  I was trying to post this yesterday but had to turn off the computer and get ready to hide in the bathtub as there were so many tornados sprouting around here yesterday.  The warning sirens went off several times and there was one spotted about a couple of miles from here.  We were fortunate but others were not so much and our hearts and prayers go out for them. 

Margaret

More Mother's Day Cards!

I have a few more Mother's Day cards to share today that I received in that recent swap.  They are all pretty and even though you probably don't need any more Mother's Day cards now, these could easily be changed for other occasions by simply changing the greeting.

The first card by Connie Stewart has a color scheme of So Saffron, Rose Red, Bashful Blue and Old Olive.  Love the flower and the blue Pinking Hearts Border Punch trim.

 

This card uses So Saffron, Pretty in Pink, Almost Amethyst and Certainly Celery.  The white portion was dry embossed with the Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder in the Big shot.  It had no name on it.




 

The last card was made by Shelia deCordova.  She used Apricot Appeal, Old Olive and a touch of Rose Red on her card.  It features a beautiful rose made with the Fancy Flower Punch, Scalloped Oval Punch, Wide Oval Punch and the leaf stems from the Large 2 Step Bird Punch.  The white layer was dry embossed with a Texturz Plate and the Big Shot.

On the right is a close up of this beautiful dimensional rose.  I've seen some tutorials on a few blogs as to how to do these roses but don't have the links.


I enjoyed swapping with these ladies!  Thanks for the lovely cards!


I wish every woman a Happy Mother's Day tomorrow, whether you are a natural, adoptive, spiritual or mentoring mother to someone!

Blessings,
Margaret

Elements of Style Mother's Day Card

Today's card uses a fabulous new set from the Summer Mini Catalog, Elements of Style.  It is vintage style and has these wonderful flowers that look like antique or wild roses, a gorgeous swirly flourish, a hummingbird and words.  Love it!

First I cut a Top Note Die out of Kraft cardstock then stamped the large flower stamp with Close to Cocoa.  I colored it with Stampin' Pastels (chalks) and cotton-tip swabs.  Then I spritzed it with the new Smooch Spritz in Log Cabin color for a wonderful aged look.  I trimmed the diecut off at the stitch line then layered it onto another Top Note die in Old Olive. 

The card base of Pretty in Pink was stamped with the swirl stamp in Sahara Sand Ink, sponged, distressed then spritzed with the same Log Cabin Smooch Spritz.

The greeting from the Well Scripted set (Occasions Mini Catalog) is not currently available but I'm hoping that it makes it into the next catalog...the script is just beautiful.  I

used Basic Brown Ink on Sahara Sand cardstock and punched it out with the Wide Oval Punch then sponged and distressed it.  This was layered onto an Old Olive layer die cut with one of the dies from the Lots of Tags Sizzlet set of 4.  You may notice that most all the edges were sponged with cocoa ink then distressed with the Distressing Tool in the Cutter Kit for the vintage look.

Pink Taffeta Ribbon was sponged lightly with Close to Cocoa ink, tied around the top note layers then I used the Heat Tool to crinkle it just a little to age it (more noticeable IRL).

The greeting was adhered with Dimensionals.  More roses were stamped, colored, cut out then layered on the side of the greeting.  An ivory pearl from the Pretties Kit was adhered with a Mini Glue Dot to the "o" in mother for a final vintage touch.

Today is Blogger's Challenge Day and the challenge is Mother's Day.  I hope you enjoyed my card; you can visit the blogs of the other talented stampers to see what they presented for today.  Just click here for a link to a list of the BC participants then click on their name to go to their blog to see their work.

Have a wonderful weekend and a lovely celebration of mothers.  If your mom is no longer with us, as is my case, we can celebrate their memory and their legacy in the lives of others and ourselves.  Be blessed.

Margaret

Mother's Day Cards

Have you made your Mother's Day cards yet?  Yes, if you don't hand deliver them, they've probably already been mailed.  I have a couple of cards to share with you today that I received in a swap with the Ink the Beginning demonstrators at a monthly meeting; they're so pretty and even if you've already made your cards for this special day, I'm sure you can adapt these lovely ideas to other occasions and projects!

This first card was made by Pam Jones.  Pam used the Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslit to emboss and die cut the heart in one pass through the Big Shot.  She then sponged on some Rose Red ink for definition.

The card was die cut with the Scalloped Square die in the Big Shot.  The Extra Large Two Step Bird Punch was used to punch out the bird and also the little stems.  Isn't it just amazing?!  The little heart was punched out with the Small Heart Punch. Two more punches, the Modern Label Punch and the Word Window Punch, were used to frame the mother's day greeting.

What a pretty color scheme of Whisper White, Pretty in Pink and Bashful Blue with a touch of moss taffeta ribbon!  Beautiful card, Pam!  Love it!

All of these punches, dies and embosslits are available for order from your Stampin' Up! Demonstrator.  Even though several of these items were in the Occasions Mini Catalog which expired April 30, they have been added to our catalog "write-ins" list with the same item number.

The second card was made by Alison Anderson.  I love this color scheme too!

The focal point of the is undoubtedly the pink flowers which were cut and embossed simultaneously by the Big Shot using the Simple Flower Embosslit.  Some rose ink sponged over them accents the embossing.  The leaves and stems were cut with the Little Leaves Sizzlit (this is a must-have; I use mine SO much!)

The greeting was stamped with the Well Scripted set from the Occasions Mini and was punched out with the Wide Oval Punch then sponged with green ink.

The bottom of the card front was treated with the Scallop Trim Border Punch which was a Sale-A-Bration bonus; however, it will be available in the new annual catalog thatwill make it's debut on July 1st of this year!

On the left you'll see another view showing a better view of how this card is constructed.  I love how the dark green shows through the scallops at the bottom of the card; it really shows them off!

Two prints from the Tea Party Designer Series Paper were used on this card.  The other colors of Pretty in Pink, So Saffron and green are taken directly from the colors found in the paper, making the development of the color scheme so easy!!

Thanks, Alison, for another beautiful swap card!!

I hope you enjoy these two cards I've shared today as I have!

Thanks for dropping by!

Margaret

More Fabric Flowers

As promised yesterday, here are the remaining fabric combinations used for the fabric flowers using the Big Shot and the Flower Folds Bigz XL Die.



Pink and Brown fabric combo.  Four coordinating pink and brown fabrics plus pink tulle used here.











Combination of four coordinated black and medium brown fabrics with black glitter tulle added.  Antique clear glass button used in the center.











Made from crimson, white and black print fabrics including a fun black and white zebra print fabric.  These are school colors.












Orange and black school print fabric with black with white polka dot fabric and black glitter tulle.




These are fun to make and wear!  The Big Shot and the Flower Folds Bigz XL Die make cutting out multiples of flowers so easy and they are all uniform!

The link to directions for making these flowers can be found on my blog post yesterday HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you have a great day and enjoy some time to be creative!

Margaret

Fabric Flowers Abound!

It's great to be back to my blog!  I've been away for several reasons but now plan to be here on a regular basis again!  Thanks for sticking with me and visiting again!  You are so appreciated!

I have been making these fabric flowers until I think I might could do them in my sleep!  LOL!!  I was making them for a table at a recent Administrative Assistant's Day event.  In the first picture you see one of each of the fabric combinations we (friends and I) made.  I'll show some close-ups of some today and the rest tomorrow.

Most of these flowers are made with fabric, mostly calico weight, although I did use some drapery fabric on the one which also includes denim.  It looks fun on a denim jacket or vest, although any of these flowers also look good on tote bags, quilted bags or purses, on headbands or hair clips also!

The idea and directions for these flowers comes from the co-founder and CEO of Stampin' Up!, Shelli Gardner.  Last summer at Convention, she showed one she made using the Flower Folds XL Die for the Big Shot which received an enthusiastic reception from the demonstrators present!  She has received so many requests for the directions that she put them on her blog SoShelli.com CLICK HERE for the tutorial.  I did do one or two things differently; rather than sewing (which I did on my first few flowers and is time-consuming), I used fabric glue sparingly and also Crystal Effects.  Those products worked great on the weight of fabric I was using!  Again, just be sparing with it; use enough to hold it but not saturate or wet it down.

Now for the flower pins for today:

Rich pink and black prints, including a pink and black leopard print!   Fun!

The blue pin is made from coordinating drapery fabrics with a lightweight medium blue denim addition.

Spring green print with black and white has a very crisp clean look!  Love that color green too!

This spring green and turquoise has touches of lavender in it.

On all the flowers, I used extra full layers of tulle cut out with the same Flower Fold XL Die.  I did not fold them but layered the flat "flower" between the bottom and middle layers when assembling the flower.  It gives another dimension to the flowers, as well as some sparkle (I used what the store calls Shiny Tulle because it does have a shine to it under the lights.  I also used some tulle in black and also white that had little dots of glitter on it, so that really added some bling!)

I'll be back tomorrow with pictures of the remaining fabric flowers.  See you then!

Thanks for visiting!

Margaret