Autumn Splendor in Gold

Autumn is here, the leaves are turning, the pumpkins are on display... I love to make cards with leaf stamps this time of year! The new Autumn Splendor set is a favorite! This time I stamped the leaves and acorns on Watercolor Paper and heat embossed them with gold, then used the Aqua Painter to add color to them. I cut them out when dry. How fun!

The card itself is Kraft cardstock then overlaid with a pattern from the beautiful Autumn Meadows Designer Series Paper. The upper portion is Really Rust cardstock which has been wheeled with the new Texture Jumbo Wheel in Really Rust (it's subtle) then run through the Big Shot with the Perfect Details Texturz Plate. The edges of both the rust and DSP were treated with the Distressing Tool from the Cutter Kit to give a shabby chic look. Additional ink was sponged on the raised portions of the Really Rust to highlight the design.

A band of that scrumptious wide Chocolate Chip Striped Grosgrain ribbon was added around that layer of the card then the leaves were added with Snail Adhesive and Dimensionals. The sentiment is from the Holiday Best set, stamped in Chocolate Chip on Really Rust and punched out with the Wide Oval Punch. The edges were sponged and a Chocolate Chip punch out with the Modern Label Punch was added to the back to ground the oval This was adhered with Dimensionals then the acorns were added to the top of it with Mini Glue Dots.

It was hard to catch all the colors with my camera this morning but it turned out really pretty in person! Here's a closer-up picture:

Stamps: Autumn Leaves; Holiday Best (Hostess set)
Inks: Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Taken With Teal, More Mustard, VersaMark
Paper: Autumn Meadows (in the Holiday Mini Catalog), Really Rust, Kraft, Watercolor Paper
Accessories: 1 1/4" Chocolate Chip Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Gold Glory Embossing Powder
Tools: Texture Jumbo Wheel and handle, Big Shot, Perfect Details Texturz Plate, Heat Tool, Aqua Painter, Modern Label Punch, Paper Snips, Distressing Tool from the Cutter Kit, Stampin' Sponge, Mini Glue Dots

All products are from Stampin' Up! You may order these or any other products from my Stampin' Up! website store HERE! For any questions, leave them in a comment with your email and I'll respond.

Thanks for dropping by today! Don't forget that Stampin' Up's NEW Deal of the Week (#3) will be announced today! Can't wait to see what's on SALE THIS WEEK!

Margaret

Build-A-Bear Magnet Board BC#121

That Build-A-Bear (referred to as BAB) is SO CUTE! I sent a little girl a BAB card on her birthday and her mother said she absolutely loved it and carried it around all day, talking about it. Children love the Build-A-Bear! I have been wanting to make a BAB magnet board for a Christmas gift and ran across one ready made so I snatched it up quickly to use for this project.

First I used Garden Green for the lower portion "grass". I trimmed the top edge with SU's retired Deckle Scissors. Then I wheeled several colors of green with various Jumbo Wheels and punched them out with the Scallop Circle Punch. I used scraps for quite a few of these punchies, and a couple of retired greens snuck into this project! (the beloved Kiwi and Wasabi!) The tree trunk is Soft Suede cardstock run through the Big Shot with the "Distressed" Texturz Plate and then trimmed by hand. These elements were all applied to the magnet board with Snail Adhesive and some Dimensionals on a few of the tree scallops. The sun is the larger scallop circle cut with the Big Shot and the Scallop Circles #2 die. I cut it once then rotated the circle slightly and ran it through again; this cut the scallops into little points. I used YoYo Yellow and then sponged the edges with Summer Sun.

The circular storage containers are great to store the clothes for the Build-A-Bears cut with the Big Shot and the Beary Essentials die. They have a magnetic bottom and are easily removed from the board.


Jumbo Wheels: Cornelli Lace, Whimsey, Texture
Inks: Garden Green, Old Olive
Paper: Soft Suede, YoYo Yellow, Garden Green, Old Olive, Wild Wasabi (retired), Kiwi Kiss (retired); Pawsitively Prints Designer Paper for the BAB clothes.
Tools: Jumbo Handle, Big Shot, Distressed Texturz Plate, Scallop Circles #2 Die, BAB Die, Beary Essentials die, adhesive magnetic sheets for BAB and clothes.

All products except magnet board and containers (c)Stampin' Up!

This was fun to put together. I may want to play with it awhile before I give it away for Christmas! :)

This project is also for today's Blogger's Challenge #121: Alter It! You can see a list of the other challengers here. Not everyone participates every week but they are all talented stampers and you'll enjoy their blogs.

Thanks for visiting today. I always enjoy your comments too! Thanks!

Margaret

Wandering Words and Shimmery Christmas Snow scape

One of the cool sets in the Holiday Mini that caught my eye the first time I looked through it was Wandering Words. Three unique good-sized stamps with a fall, Christmas and love theme are included. I love the flowing images they each one bring to a composition, perfect for horizontal cards!

First I brayered Bashful Blue ink over Whisper White cardstock that had a 1 3/4" circle mask for the moon. Once I got the Bashful Blue smooth (takes a while) I then sponged on some Brocade Blue. The mask was removed, the negative circle mask was laid over the empty circle and the new Frost White Shimmer Paint was swirled on with a Sponge Dauber. Wow, what a shimmery moon! I then laid this aside to dry. You can get an idea of the shimmer in the smaller photo below, but like glitter, pictures don't do the shimmer justice. (Photography is a challenge these days anyway because of all the rain and dreary skies for days and days)

Next I took a quarter sheet of white and, using my rotary cutter from the Cutter Kit, freehand cut the slope from left to right, then cut the right-hand slope. Frost White Shimmer Paint was added to these pieces with the Sponge Dauber. I heated this gently with Heat Tool to dry it quickly then layered these onto the brayered sheet forming the snowscape.

The reindeer sleigh stamp was inked with Basic Black Classic ink and stamped onto the sky and moon. Next to make the trees and snowflake, I used the Big Shot and the SU Merry Details Sizzlet to cut these out of Whisper White that had already been daubered with the Frost White Shimmer Paint and dried. I applied these to the snowscape then this layer was adhered to a Real Red cardstock layer. A ribbon and bow of 1/4" Red Gingham ribbon was adhered to the top corner, then the entire thing was layered onto a Night of Navy card.

Stamps: Wandering Words, inside sentiments from Christmas Cardinal set.
Inks: Basic Black, Bashful Blue, Brocade Blue
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Night of Navy
Accessories: Merry Details Sizzlet, Big Shot, 1/4" Red Gingham Ribbon, Glue Dots, Frost White Shimmer Paint, Cutter Tool Kit, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Sponge Daubers, Brayer.

This was a fun adventure to make; I was just trying things out all the way. I'm happy with how it turned out; this card has a lot of beautiful shimmer and I LOVE that! The Wandering Words set, Shimmer Paint and Merry Details Sizzlet are found in the Holiday Mini Catalog; everything else is in the large catalog. Contact me if you have any questions about purchasing these or any other Stampin' Up! products.

Thanks for dropping by! Wishing you a creative day!

Margaret

Pumpkins from Punches

What do you do when you don't have any current pumpkin stamps and want to make a pumpkin card? You make some of the rotund gourd-like creations with punches! These are easy and fun to make; just use the Small, Large and Wide Oval Punches, the 1-3/8" Circle Punch and the Scribbles Swirls Sizzlet (say that fast three times! lol!) for the stems, leaves and tendrils.

The pumpkin pieces were punched from Pumpkin Pie card stock then the edges sponged with Dusty Durango ink and a Stampin' Sponge. Use your Big Shot machine to die cut the Scribbles Swirls Sizzlet from Old Olive cardstock then the Top Note Die from both Dusty Durango cardstock and Bella Bleu Designer Series Paper. I chose that DSP for its soft subtle yet elegant design...love it!

I trimmed off the outside margin of the DSP Top Note (there is a line there that looks like stitching so it's easy) so the Dusty Durango Top Note would show for a nice frame around the composition. The "Gratitude" greeting from the Falling Leaves set was stamped on the Bella Bleu DSP in Bravo Burgundy using the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig for placement.

I found that Sahara Sand cardstock is a great complement to this DSP pattern so I used it for a background after wheeling it with the Texture Jumbo Wheel and Sahara Sand ink. It's subtle but adds depth and visual texture...I really like that wheel! You need it! lol! This was then layered onto an Old Olive card base. Another sentiment from the Falling Leaves set is stamped on the inside. Viola! finished!

Stamps: Falling Leaves stamp set; Texture Jumbo Wheel
Inks: Bravo Burgundy, Dusty Durango, Sahara Sand (all Classic)
Paper: Bella Bleu DSP; Pumpkin Pie, Dusty Durango, Sahara Sand, Old Olive cardstocks
Tools: Big Shot machine, Top Note Die, Scribbles Swirls Sizzlet, Paper Snips, Jumbo wheel handle, Stampin' Sponge.

All products by Stampin' Up! Any of these may be ordered from my Stampin' Up! demonstrator website here. Or you may contact me by email to order at funstampin @ cox.net (remove spaces)

Thanks for coming by! Wishing you a creative day!

Margaret

Ornament Punch Vase!

Happy Columbus Day in the USA today!
Happy Thanksgiving Day to our wonderful Canadian neighbors!

Ooh, the Ornament Punch found in the Holiday Mini Catalog is so cool! I'm having fun using it for non-ornament cards. Today it is used to make a vase for flowers!

I used the same sheet of Melon Mambo card stock texturized with the Damask Texturz Plate that I used on the flower petals in my last post here. and just punched out another ornament and trimmed the pointed end off flat. I sponged the edges with the same color ink, shaped it a little with my fingers and laid it aside.

Next I wheeled Certainly Celery ink (the lighter version of Old Olive) onto a Whisper White Top Note (cut with the Big Shot and the Top Note die) with the new Texture Jumbo Wheel. Then I stamped the flower stem from Flower Fancy with Always Artichoke ink on that. I then colored the images with a Blender Pen and inks. I stamped an additional large flower onto a piece of white, colored it as I did the other, cut it out and applied it directly on top of the first one with a Dimensional. It really is eye-catching that way! You can see the dimension a little better in the second picture; click on it to see it larger.

I then added the vase with a Dimensional in the center. The sentiment from the All Holidays set was stamped in Always Artichoke using the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig for placement.

The card base is Melon Mambo, then a layer of Whisper White then a stripe layer from the package of Old Olive Patterns Designer Series Paper. {Seems like I use so much Old Olive that I knew I would really benefit from having a whole package of DSP just in Old Olive! Sure enough, I'm already using and enjoying it!} Melon Mambo Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon was applied diagonally over the Whisper White and Old Olive layers. The Top Note layer was added last.

Just another use for the Ornament Punch! Of course, it also works beautifully with the coordinating stamp set Delightful Decorations, as seen here, here, here, here and here. But it truly can be used other seasons of the year too! It's not just for Christmas any more!

Thanks to Ellen Kemper and others for coming up with the vase idea for this punch. I don't know whose idea it was first, but it was a good one! Stampers are SO creative!

Thanks for dropping by! Hope you have a good Monday!

Margaret

Ornament Punch Flower

WooHoo, it's Friday and time for another Bloggers Challenge, #120 already! Today's challenge is a sketch. Lots of possibilities! I immediately thought of a large flower when I saw it. I'm also wanting to show my ladies different ways to use the ornament punch so this an opportunity for that purpose too!

I put a piece of Melon Mambo cardstock through the Big Shot with the Damask Texturz Plate then punched out eight "petals" with the Ornament punch from the Holiday Mini, then punched out eight more "petals" from Rich Razzleberry cardstock. After adhering each Melon petal on a Razzleberry petal, I built the flower by attaching four petals to a 1-3/8" cardstock circle. The second layer of four petals was added with Dimensionals to give depth to the flower. The center circle (1" Circle Punch) of Crushed Curry cardstock was put through the Big Shot with the Small Dots Texturz Plate, distressed a little on the edges and added with several Dimensionals. This was fun to build!

The card itself is Crushed Curry cut to 9" x 6-1/4", folded to 4-1/2 x 6 1/4" (it had to be larger to accommodate the large flower!), which will fit an A-6 envelope. This has a layer of Rich Razzleberry and then a layer of a print from the Razzleberry Lemonade pack. Another print from the package forms the vertical section which is then enhanced by the yummy Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot Grosgrain Ribbon. Two medium Circle Fire Brads are added to that.

The sentiment is from the wonderful Teeny Tiny Wishes set of 24 expressions. This was stamped on Crushed Curry, punched with the Word Window Punch then layered onto a Melon Mambo Modern Label Punch and attached with Dimensionals. Dots are done with the White Signo Gel Pen.

Here is the original sketch for today's Bloggers Challenge #120; isn't it a fun one?!

You can see a list of the other Blogger's Challengers and check out what these talented stampers did for this sketch here.

Thanks for visiting today! Come back soon! I'll still be stamping! :)

Have a great weekend!

Margaret