I'm Mad For Mosaics...

...and the new In Colors too! The Mosaic Madness set and the coordinating products are a lot of fun to work with! The punch is quick & easy...just stamp and punch out shapes to layer onto a base embossed with the Modern Mosaic Embossing Folder. There's even a DSP called Quatrefancy Specialty...but I have yet to use that because I've been too busy enjoying the latest batch of In Colors...it's no surprise that Coastal Cabana has already become an instant favorite!

The hardest part of this card was stamping each image inside the embossed area because I chose to use the Stamp-a-ma-jig. You could also eyeball it pretty easily if you are using the clear mount set, but I don't mind taking a few extra minutes using the Stamp-a-ma-jig because then I know each image will be pretty much centered. (otherwise it would bug me and I'd probably re-do it which would end up taking longer than using the Stamp-a-ma-jig to begin with!)

I used 4 out of the 5 new In Colors: Pistachio Pudding, Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush & Crisp Cantaloupe.

As you can see above, this set makes a nice card on is own...but it also works well as a background for a multitude of other sets, (I'll show you an example of that next time) it can make masculine cards, feminine cards, and just about any occasion card, which makes it a very versatile set.

This & That

Have you seen the This & That Bundle of products yet? They are so much fun! I got a couple of the albums...one for myself and the other for my future daughter-in-law. We got together one day last week to decorate the covers and we had such a great afternoon visiting while we worked on our project together. She hasn't done too much scrap booking, but I thought this would be perfect for her to journal her thoughts & some photos while my son (her fiance) is deployed in Afghanistan. Then when he returns he can read about things that happened while he was gone.

Here is my beautiful DIL-to-be along with her This & That journal. Didn't it turn out cute!? There's going to be a Hexagon Punch available in the new catalog that will punch out those shapes in the perfect size for this cover...but we had to do it the hard way because the punch isn't available yet. :-(  I made a little template out of chipboard and we just traced it onto the Epic Day DSP and cut them out...it wasn't too bad. We also added some stickers from the Epic Day Sticker Pack. Here's how mine turned out...

I had to take the coil out to adhere the DSP into place and I must have bent it a little in the process...so be careful if you do this. Other than that I love how it turned out and cannot wait to start adding some photos & mementos. I'll make another post showing some of the inside pages in the future.

Have an epic weekend!

Mosaic Madness Flower

Yesterday I finally had some time to spend playing with my Sneak Peek box of goodies! I must say...I really do love the new In Colors! I think they might just be one of my favorite sets of In Colors yet! I also had a lot of fun using the Mosaic Madness Bundle, which includes the stamp set along with a coordinating punch. I love that they've included bundle pricing in the new catalog! To make these stamps even more fun & versatile there is also a coordinating embossing folder as well.

While on Pinterest one day I saw this card and loved how she created a flower using the punched out shapes. So of course I had to try it! Here's what I came up with.

I used...
Stamps: Mosaic Madness & Itty Bitty Banners
Card stock: Coastal Cabana, Pistachio Pudding, Crisp Cantaloupe & Strawberry Slush
Inks: Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe & Strawberry Slush
Accessories: Modern Mosaic & Needlepoint Border Embossing Folders, Mosaic & 3/4" Circle Punches, Bitty Banner Framelits, Basic Rhinestone & my good friend...the Stamp-a-ma-jig

Good thing I am on very good terms with my Stamp-a-ma-jig because to really enjoy this set and be able to create some fantastic backgrounds, I feel the Stamp-a-ma-jig is a must have tool.

Check back soon for more fun cards using the Mosaic Madness Bundle and new In Colors!

Wildflower Meadow for Mom

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day! It was very cold & windy here. My oldest son had to work, so I only got to see him for a little while and my youngest son was recently deployed to Afghanistan, so I didn't get to see him at all :-( ...BUT I did get to spend time with my Mom...so that was nice! Here is the card I made for her.

I've been so busy lately that this is the first chance I've had to play with my pre-order goodies. The Wildflower Meadow stamp is one of my favorites in the new catalog! Happy it was included on the pre-order. I inked it first with Pool Party and then wiped off the areas I wanted to color Calypso Coral. I then just colored using my markers and sponge daubers to blend the colors a bit. After stamping I ran the image thru the Big shot using the coordinating Wildflower Meadow Embossing Folder. Here's a closer look...

You cannot tell from either photo, but the image really has a pretty shimmer because it was spritzed with some homemade shimmer spray... alcohol mixed with Frost White Shimmer Paint in a Stampin' Spritzer bottle. You can also add some re-inker to make it any color you wish. Unfortunately, all the Shimmer Paint is on the retiring list...so you may want to pick up an extra bottle. The strip of DSP along the left edge is from the new Quatrefancy papers.

The label is from a Nestabilities set I picked up over the weekend at the Mega Meet Scrapbook Convention...so I had to try it out! I got some really fun stuff there...like a LOT of beautiful patterned paper...because I don't already have a whole LOT of beautiful patterned paper! lol Yes, I admit it...I'm addicted to beautiful patterned papers! (I guess there are way worse things I could be addicted to, right?)

Birthday Keepsake Flip Album

Over the weekend we celebrated a dear friends milestone birthday. She requested no gifts, so I kind of respected her wish. I made her this flip album that will contain photos from her party. (I made one for another friend a couple years ago when she hit the "big 5-0" and all my girlfriends told me then...we better all get one of those when we hit 50!) So here is the one I made for Bonnie.

I used the retired Thoroughly Modern DSP through out the album, so the color scheme you see here is what is used in those papers...Crumb Cake, Bermuda Bay, Rose Red and I also added Basic Black. I used the Designer Type Photopolymer Stamp Set (embossed in black) along with Daydream Medallions (embossed in silver) for the cover. Here is another photo with the embossing shining in the light.

After I get the photos into the book, I'll share some of the inside pages. I also made her a joke gift....a basic black (so it goes with everything & looks classy! haha) bedazzled, cone bra top so she can channel her inner Madonna!

You might be asking yourself why I would post this on a SU! themed blog? Well everything I used (except for the actual bra) is Stampin' Up! I cut large circles of of Basic Black card stock and cut up one side to the center, and folded it into a cone shape, which I adhered into place with Sticky Strip.. Then I "bedazzled" it with adhesive backed rhinestones and attached the cones to the bra using hot glue. For added fun I added the little 5-0 charms to each cup using fishing line so they dangled freely. Those were made from Silver Glimmer paper, sizzlets & small scalloped punch.

You cannot say I didn't support my friend as she hit her milestone birthday, right?

Up, Up Away...& Goodbye

Have you seen the retiring stamps & accessories list put out by Stampin' Up! a few days ago? One of my favorite retiring sets is Up, Up & Away. I love this set because it's so versatile...it can be used for both masculine and feminine cards as well as for pretty much any occasion. Here I've used it along with some of my favorite retiring colors for a masculine birthday card.

Stamps: Up, Up & Away, You're Amazing & Lable Single Stamp
Card stock: More Mustard, Riding Hood Red, Not Quite Navy & Baja Breeze
Ink: More Mustard, Riding Hood Red, Not Quite Navy & Early Espresso
Accessories: Stripes & Cloudy Day Embossing Folders, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Regals Brads

Here are the links to view the retired stamps & accessories. Remember...the retiring accessories are only available while supplies last (some are already gone) so place your order soon to help insure that you get the items you want. Also note: some of the accessories are being offered at a discount.

Retiring Stamps List
Retiring Accessories List

What are your favorite retiring stamp sets & accessories?

Beautiful Baja Hydrangea

This is such a pretty image from the Best of Flowers set. Wish I could grow hydrangea in my garden! I've tried a couple times but never had luck with them here. I remember my Grandma used to have such gorgeous ones in her garden.

I used a few of my favorite colors here...Baja Breeze (Oh, how I will miss you!), Perfect Plum & Elegant Eggplant. I inked the Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder with Eggplant ink before rolling it through the Big Shot. It really makes the embossing stand out.

Stamps: Best of Flowers & En Francais
Card stock: Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Perfect Plum & Elegant Eggplant
Ink: Black Stazon, Elegant Eggplant & various Classic Ink for water coloring
Accessories: Aqua Painter, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, Window Framelits, Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder & Baja Breeze Seam Binding Ribbon & Basic Pearls

Have a beautiful weekend!

Step It Up Swallowtail

This first card is a quick & easy card that I featured at a workshop a while back.

The Swallowtail image is so pretty and detailed that even a quick card like this looks like it was more complicated than it is. While this first card is perfect just like it is, if you wanted to spend a little more time you can easily create something like this step it up version.

All I did here was mask the image and sponge on some color. I also changed the color of ribbon and added a bow. Now this butterfly really makes an impact, don't you think? You cannot really tell from the photo but both of the butterfly panels are spritzed with homemade shimmer spray. Here's a closer look.

Here's a side by side comparison.

Thanks for visiting today!

Primrose Bouquet

This pretty bouquet image is from the Best of Flowers set. It originally appeared in the set Gentler Times. The Best of Flowers set was the "Best Of" set for the month of March, but it will be available until next March, 2014. To see all of the "Best Of" sets click here.

I paired the Primrose Petals card stock and a pretty floral DSP from the Print Poetry Stack to get my color combo of Primrose Petals, Midnight Muse, Crumb Cake & Very Vanilla. I love how this image fits inside the embossed Designer Frame.

Stamps:  Best of Flowers
Card stock: Primrose Petals, Midnight Muse, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla,  Print Poetry DSP
Ink: Black Stazon & various Classic Ink for water coloring
Accessories: Aqua Painter, Designer Frames & Fancy Fan Embossing Folders, Extra Large Oval Punch & Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon

Thanks for visiting today!