Nursery Necessities

Seems like lots of people I know are having babies or grandbabies lately! Therefore I am really needing some new baby congratulatory cards to send; I got out my new (to this catalog) set Nursery Necessities and Year After Year set to make a card for a baby boy. I also wanted to use the Bashful Blue paper from my new 6"x6" Paper Pack which is filled with pretty colors not available in the other packs of Designer Paper Prints, like Apricot Appeal, Pretty in Pink, Real Red, and Wild Wasabi. You know, it's worth having a stampin' party just to get this paper pack! I wanted a stripe to go with it and found this cool stripe of Bashful Blue, Almost Artichoke and River Rock in my Le Jardin DP pack.

I kind of went "all over the map" or rather catalog in gathering up things to use for this card, but isn't that fun?!! It's nice also that the products coordinate so that takes out the hassle and frustration of combining things too! The elephant was stamped in Basic Brown and watercolored. The star is stamped on Very Vanilla and punched out with the large Star punch (love it!) The small artichoke star was punched from an additional larger one.

I used Amy Rysavy's layout sketch here and flipped it so that my elephant would be facing the center of the card.

Sets: Year After Year (elephant), Nursery Necessities (star, sentiment)

Cardstock: River Rock, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla

Designer Papers: Le Jardin (stripe), DP Prints (River Rock, bottom scallop), Prints Pack (argyle, pinstripe blue) {free Level 1 Hostess reward}

Inks: Always Artichoke, Basic Brown, Bashful Blue, River Rock, Going Gray

Accessories: Punches: Scallop Circle, Large Star, Small Star, Tag Corner; AquaPainter, Rich Regals (artichoke) button and brad.

Hope you enjoy! Keep on stampin'!

Technostamper Challenge #6

It's Monday and time for Technostamper's Sketch Challenge of the week, #6 already!! Here's the sketch:

Today I used Friendship Blooms, one of the FREE sets you can receive from Stampin' Up! during Sale-A-Bration! And for the first time, I used one of SU's new Rub Ons (the sentiment), and it was SO EASY!! Love that!

This beautiful designer paper is in the new Occasions Mini Catalog that will be available for ordering on March 1st! It is absolutely gorgeous! I can see myself needing more of this! lol! The large flower was stamped on SU's cardstock vellum which is such a wonderful weight, then from the back I used the Empressor to dry emboss part of it. I used a smaller stylus to make the dots around the edge of the circle then layered this piece over a circle of Groovy Guava. The "Follow your Heart" sentiment is a rub-on and SO easy!! A flower and pearl from the Pretties Kit embellish the flower and two addition pearls finish it off. Hope you enjoy!

Sets: Friendship Blooms (SAB free)
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Groovy Guava, Cardstock Vellum
Paper: Afternoon Tea Designer Paper (available March 1-May 31, 2008)
Inks: Chocolate Chip Classic
Accessories: Eastern Elegance Rub-Ons, Pretties Kit, Ticket Corner Punch, Wild Wasabi Stitched grosgrain ribbon, Empressor and smaller stylus (not SU), Mini Glue Dots, Coluzzle Kit to cut circles.

Join in the fun by making a card yourself and post a comment (which includes a link to your blog, website or online photo album) either to this post or on Technostamper's website so we can all see what you made!

Thanks for dropping by! Happy Monday!

A Beautiful Thing too

"You make my life a beautiful thing" is the sentiment on another card done with the Eastern Elegance set A Beautiful Thing. This was similar to the second card we did in my workshop on Tuesday night; it's a pretty straightforward design and can be made when you need a card in a short time. It could also be embellished with brads, paper piercing or other techniques according to your available time and taste.

I really like this color scheme of Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky and Groovy Guava! The base card is Chocolate and that offers good contrast to the Soft Sky and Guava colors. The flowers were enhanced with white accents from the Signo Gel Pen and some Iridescent Ice embossing powder has been added to the centers of the flowers with a VersaMark pen and heat tool.

Sets: A Beautiful Thing

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky and Groovy Guava

Inks: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky and Groovy Guava

Accessories: NEW 1/4" Chocolate polytwill ribbon (available March 1st!),Ticket corner punch, Signo Gel Pen, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, VersaMark pen, heat tool.

Have a wonderful weekend! Thanks for dropping by!

A Beautiful Thing

A Beautiful Thing is one of the new sets in the Spring-Summer 2008 Collection from Stampin' Up! As part of the Eastern Elegance Style Watch collection, it reflects the timeless beauty of designs from India and the Far East.

I think the Purely Pomegranate and Kraft combine nicely on this card...who knew Kraft could be elegant! : ) The Pomegranate stitched ribbon combined with Signo White Gel Pen accents give punch and highlight the design. The final touch is the pearl in the center of the scalloped circle; this is a half-pearl from the Pretties Collection, a must-have and fun addition to your stamping arsenal!

Oh wait, the scallop circle! The scallop is stamped with an image from a free set So Many Scallops. Free you say? Yes, this is a Sale-A-Bration set of 4 stamps which you may receive FREE when you purchase $50. or more! Don't miss these wonderful stamps which were design to coordinate perfectly with the Scallop Circle Punch! They will only be available until March 17!

Sets: A Beautiful Thing, So Many Scallops

Cardstock: Purely Pomegranate, Kraft

Inks: Purely Pomegranate, Sahara Sand

Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, Ticket Corner Punch, Signo White Gel Pen, Purely Pomegranate Stitched grosgrain ribbon, Pretties Collection.

Happy Friday everyone!

Priceless

Here's one of the cards I did at my workshop last night featuring the Priceless set and coordinating wheel. I love it's whimsical feel and BoHo style, so, enough with this cold weather, let's have some butterflies and think spring!

I wanted to keep it simple but have some fun so came up with the color scheme of Blue Bayou, Certainly Celery and Purely Pomegranate, used only the one set and wheel and SEVERAL punches (some of my favorite toys, um, tools! lol!) I added the paper piercing on the Celery and also some Iridescent Ice embossing powder around the edge of the butterfly for sparkle.

Sets: Priceless, So Swirley jumbo wheel, So Many Scallops (free Sale-A-Bration set)
Cardstock: Blue Bayou, Certainly Celery, Purely Pomegranate, Whisper White
Inks: Certainly Celery jumbo cartridge, Blue Bayou
Accessories: Punches: Scallop, 1 3/8", 1 1/4" circles, Key Tag, Large Oval. Purely Pomegranate stitched grosgrain ribbon, 2Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds, Dimensionals, Crafters Tool Kit, VersaMark Pen, Iridescent Ice ep.

Have a good day and stamp some love for someone!
Margaret
Sale-A-Bration lasts until March 17! Free Stamps with every $50 order!

One of a Kind & Be Happy: TSSC #5

Whew! I just got back last night after having been out of town all week and I was eager to get my card made for Mary Jo's Technostamper's weekly Sketch Challenge!

I used two of the designs from the beautiful Ginger Blossoms Designer Paper over a base of Soft Sky cardstock (8x8" folded to 8x4"). I love the tall design on the paper on the right side but hadn't used it until now; I thought this sketch just called out for it! The colors in the papers are Cameo Coral, Groovy Guava and River Rock. I liked the River Rock with it but it just didn't offer much contrast so I went with the Soft Sky since blue is the complimentary color of orange (coral) and gave it more punch. It is, however, still a soft look.

To make the zig-zag edge, I adhered my two layers together using Dotto temporary adhesive, then using my 3/4" square punch, went down the edge punching half the square on the diagonal. I took them apart and readhesived them leaving a small border of the Soft Sky showing. It was VERY "easy-peasy" and gives quite a different look and use for the square punch. I just love my SU punches--they are so versatile!

Sets: One of a Kind, Be Happy (sentiment)
Papers: Soft Sky, Whisper White, Cameo Coral, and Very Vanilla cardstocks; Ginger Blossoms Designer papers
Inks: Cameo Coral, Blue Bayou, Real Red, Really Rust Classic
Accessories: 3/4" square, BoHo Blossoms punches, Dimensionals, Ice Square Rhinestone Brads, Silver mini brads, Soft Sky Stitched Grosgrain ribbon

Here's the sketch for this week (the butterfly is part of Mary Jo's watermark, not part of the sketch).

You can join the sketch challenge too! Just make your card using the sketch as your pattern, upload it on the web somewhere (your blog, Splitcoast (put TSSC5 in the title), Webshots, etc.) then leave a link to your card on either mine or Mary Jo's blog. Or if you don't want to do that, you can still take the challenge and make a card using the sketch as your guide! It's fun, motivating and non-fattening too! : )

Thanks for dropping by! Hope to "see" you again soon!

Margaret

Technostamper Challenge #4

Time again for the Technostamper Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge... this is #4 already! Here's the sketch:

This week I used one of the papers from the beautiful Bali Breeze Designer Paper pack. I cut the piece to size, cut the triangle and flipped the center over, in effect using both sides of the paper. : ) I had a little trouble photographing my card this morning as it is very gray and overcast here today, and sunlight gives the best color rendering, with my camera anyway.

Sets: A Beautiful Thing
Papers: Groovy Guava, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Sky Blue cardstock; Bali Breeze Designer Paper.
Inks: Old Olive Classic; Whisper White Craft
Accessories: Soft Subtles Celery brads, Key Tag punch, Ticket Corner Punch, Paper Trimmer, Groovy Guava Stitched Ribbon, Signo White Gel Pen.

Click on the title to go to Technostamper's website to see her card and a list of the other players this week! I am always eager to see what everone else did with the sketch of the week! : )
Have a great Monday, everyone. Thanks for stopping by!

So Many Scallops!

This is the first Sale-A-Bration set I've gotten to use and I already know this is going to be such a great and useful set! The four stamps in it are all designed to coordinate with the Scallop Punch; this makes for quick and attractive stamping projects!

To make this card to welcome a new baby girl, I decided to use the Regal Rose papers from the retired Loves Me Designer Paper package (I'm trying to use some of my stash). I stamped the Sweet One stamp in Regal Rose, punched that out and layered it on a half Regal Rose and half designer paper scallop. I added Dazzling Diamonds glitter to the moon to make it shine! The button is layered on a 1/2" circle punched from white; a sliver of cardstock is threaded through the holes. A tie of white Taffeta Ribbon finishes it off.

Sets: So Many Scallops, Warm Words (sentiment)
Papers: Whisper White, Regal Rose cardstock; Loves Me Designer Paper (retired)
Inks: White Craft, Regal Rose classic
Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds glitter, 2 Way Glue Pen, Scallop Punch, 1/2" circle punch, Ticket Corner Punch, White Embossing Powder, white Taffeta Ribbon.

Happy Stampin'!
Margaret

Baroque Valentine

Have you made your Valentine cards yet? I'm working on mine!
Today's project is a tall card that will fit in a business letter envelope. I started with a 7 1/2" square of Real Red cardstock then folded it in half which gives me a card of 3 3/4" x 7 1/2". I stamped the white layer with Baroque Motifs twice at a little bit of an angle. I stamped the small additional flowers on the flourish with Real Red CRAFT ink then embossed them with clear e.p. I stamped the large flower on extra cardstock with the same CRAFT ink and embossed it also, cut if out, then mounted it on a scallop circle punched out of Real Red with our scallop punch. I HAD to center this flower with a Red Fire Rhinestone Brad (because I just love the bling they bring) then layer it with Dimensionals on the front.
Sets: Baroque Motifs, Warm Words (sentiment)
Inks: Real Red Classic and Craft
Cardstock: Real Red and Whisper White
Accessories: Clear embossing powder, heat tool, Ticket Corner punch, Scallop Punch, large and small Oval Punches, Fire Rhinestone brad, Real Red 5/8" grosgrain ribbon.

This went together pretty fast once I figured out what I was doing. lol!

Today is our daughter's birthday! Happy Birthday, Robin!

Happy Stampin'!
Margaret

BoHo Backgrounds

I took the Splitcoaststampers Color Challenge CC152 (here) yesterday to use Apricot Appeal, Real Red and Ballet Blue together in a card. I finally settled on using my BoHo Backgrounds set...it is so versatile. I really like that medallion stamp and thought it would work well for the focal point of the design. You might recognize the design... it is the TSSC sketch from week 2!

Actually this combination reminds me of the colors used on the textiles from the Provence area of France, as do the tiny designs. Interesting how this set can go from BoHo West to Provence! Cool and so versatile!

Sets: BoHo Backgrounds, Carte Postal (sentiment)
Inks: Real Red, Ballet Blue
Cardstock: Real Red, Apricot Appeal, Ballet Blue, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Scallop Punch, 1 3/8", 1/8" circle punches, BoHo Blossoms punch, Word Window punch, ticket corner punch, Red brad from Bold Brights, Ice Rhinestone brad, Real Red 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, compass to draw semi-circle.

Have a great day and stamp some love for someone!

Technostamper Challenge #3

It's time for week 3 of the Technostamper Sketch Challenge already! Here's this week's sketch Mary Jo sent us:


Here my card using one of my favorite new sets, Always.

Set: Always, Tres Chic, Stitched (both background stamps)
Cardstocks: Purely Pomegranate, River Rock, Whisper White
Inks: Purely Pomegranate, River Rock
Accessories: Corner rounder, 1 1/4", 1 3/8", and 1/2" circle punches, stitched Pomegranate grosgrain ribbon, Dimensionals, Crafter's Tool Kit or Mat Pack, Signo White Gel Pen .

I stamped images from the Always set then punched them out and layered them. The River Rock background is stamped with the Stitched background stamp in River Rock ink which makes for a subtle backdrop for the rest of the card. The Tres Chic stamp is on the Purely Pomegranate cardstock and the words and designs are visible, readable yet still not competing with the focal point, which is the four image circles. Use of the layering circle punches makes this come together quickly. The corner punch is used to make the scalloped edge and the white faux stitching with the white gel pen repeats the stitching in the ribbon.

This was a fun sketch! Thanks, Mary Jo! Check out her blog for a list of links to the other stampers in our sketch group. Can't wait to see what they did with this sketch. Even better, use the sketch to make a card yourself and post it on your blog or Splitcoast gallery and link it to either mine or Mary Jo's blog here! Play along with us every week if you want!

Happy Stamping!

Fabulous Flowers! SC161, WT144

This is the first time I've used my Fabulous Flowers set (catalog p. 84) and I really like it! It is part of the BoHo West Style Watch Collection, and the font style of the greetings in this set are of this BoHo West type. The Splitcoaststampers Sketch Challenge SC 161 this week called for a large flower image and this fit the bill perfectly. I stamped the flower in VersaMark on Lovely Lilac Designer Print paper, clear embossed, brayered it with Lovely Lilac ink, then cut it out. The other two papers are also from the same package of Designer Paper. The base cardstock is Lovely Lilac. "So Kind" sentiment is also from this same set. Embellishments are an Ice Rhinestone Brad (can you tell I love these bling things!) and white Taffeta ribbon. All products Stampin' Up!

SC161; WT144: Monochromatic designs challenge

That looks like all my stampin' fun for today. We're going to work on taxes now. ugh. Lol.

Have a great weekend!