Double Delightful Decorations

This card was inspired by a scrapbook page shown on page 26 of the Holiday Mini. They used Bella Blue Designer papers cut with the scalloped square punch. I really hadn't noticed the papers before and I just loved the colors and patterns used for holiday/winter theme. I paired the paper with one of my fav new sets...Delightful Decorations.
I created this card with an upcoming card class in mind. However...I started adding too many details like the textured background using the Perfect Details Texturz plate, the paper piercing, and fussing with the cord, etc... I decided if I were to do this in a class, where they would be making several, I'd have to come up something a bit simpler. Also, I didn't have any SU! ribbon that worked with my design, so I also had to change my colors and work with what I had on hand. Here's the card that my class will be making tomorrow.

As you can see, I used the same stamps and idea, but totally changed the whole look of the project. The top one looks elegant and the bottom one looks fun & festive...I like them both and I hope you do too! Have a delightful day!

Lazy Days and Flip Flops

Here's a quick card using the Just Beachy set and the Lazy Days wheel. I used a color combo of new In Colors: Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo & Crushed Curry for a fresh, summery feel.

I had the striped grosgrain ribbon for quite some time, and it's a pretty good match to Mambo Melon & Crushed Curry. I had a few clear circles left over from my Build A Brads, so I adhered one of those to the center of the sun. I left room at bottom for a sentiment...thought it would make a cute birthday card or a hello card to have on hand...so I'll add the sentiment when I need it.

Don't forget...if the Just Beachy set and Lazy Days wheel are on your wish list, there is only a few more days to get this fun set. At the end of the month (can you believe June is almost over!?) the Occasions catalog has officially ended...along with the current Idea Book & Catalog. Please visit my website or contact me to place your order.

Thanks for stopping by...hope you have a nice, lazy day. :-)

Embellish Something

This weeks challenge at Stamp Something is to Embellish Something...using at least three different embellishments on your project. The sponsor is My Little Ribbon shop, who donated the gingham ribbon and Cosmo Cricket chipboard button piece shown on my project below. It was the chipboard button and die cut "you make me smile" piece that inspired me to create this page.

The print on the button is the same color as the new Baja Breeze, and Baja Breeze makes me think of the beach. The beach makes me think of the Lazy Days wheel & Just Beachy set, and how I haven't made any scrapbook pages with these sets yet...so I dug out these photos of my son when he was an adorable five year old enjoying a day at the beach. (he's now a handsome 18 year old who can be quite a parenting challenge at times...so it's good to occasionally look back on those "cute years". I'm sure all you Mom's of teens can relate! lol) Anyways...his beach towel not only had a shade of teal which I planned to use for the background, but also Melon Mambo... score! I think this makes a perfect fun in the sun, beachy color scheme.

I also used: 12x12 Textured Taken With Teal & Basic Black card stock,Taken With Teal Craft ink, Photo Corner & Cute & Curly Label punches. (the little brackets were made using the Cute & Curly punch) The letters were cut using the Big Shot and the Go Slim Bigz dies. I also tried out a circle cutting tool I picked up after watching a demo at a scrapbook convention I recently went to. It's called the Kreaxions Circle Cutter. It works like a compass, so you can cut any size circle you want just by adjusting the setting. It sure made it easy to cut the rings I used on my layout. The best part is that it only cost 10.99.

Today looks like another hot one...too bad I won't be spending it at the beach! I'm sure I will make time to hop in the pool for a while. Stay cool, enjoy your weekend...and go embellish something!

Perfect Plum Friend

Hi there! Just a quick post to share another butterfly creation using Simple Friendship & Great Friend. Can't get enough of these sets I guess! Love the Plum colors used with Basic Gray!

Stamps: Simple Friendship & Great Friend
Card stock: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Basic Gray & Perfect Plum Designer Prints.
Ink: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum
Accessories: White Organza Ribbon, Eyelet border, 1" Circle, & Scalloped Oval punches, stick on rhinestones & Stickles

Hope you'll stop back tomorrow and play along with the Stamp Something Challenge!

Raspberry Tart Butterflies For You

On Tuesday I had my downline over for a little stamping. One of the projects we did was a matchbox filled with chocolates using the Raspberry Tart papers and the Great Friend stamp set. Today I saw a great sketch challenge on the Stamp Something blog and decided to whip up a quick card to go with the little matchbox using the sketch.
I used the Rock 'n Roll technique on the butterfly. First I inked my stamp with Cameo Coral and then inked the edges by rolling it in the Rose Red ink. A little window was created on the matchbox slider by punching it with the Curly Label punch before assembling. Then a piece of window sheet was adhered into place with some Tombow Multi Adhesive. I even found that this adhesive is strong enough to hold the slider in place for the Matchbox...I love this stuff!

See the layered tag on my card? The largest layer is one of the tags included on the Matchbox Bigz die. The second layer was made using the Lots of Tags Sizzlet and of course the top layer was cut using the Large Oval punch and the Oval All stamp set.

Click the "shop now" button on my SU! Website and you could get the beautiful Raspberry Tart papers for free during Stampin' Up!s buy 3 get 1 free designer paper sale!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Summery Great Friendship

Here's a card I created using this weeks Mojo Monday sketch...I even actually did the challenge on Monday, instead of the end of the week like I usually do, so I'm doing good! I was playing with both my Simple Friendship and Great Friend stamps sets and wanted to do a cheerful, summery color combo. I think my color choice of Passion Pink, Summer Sun & Pumpkin Pie (with some Basic Black so I could use that cute polka-dot ribbon :) was just the ticket! I used the swirly Texturz Plate on the Summer Sun layer and I think it works well with both of these stamps sets.

Hope you day is bright and cheerful!

Just Beachy

I haven't had much time to stamp recently...been busy helping at a family garage sale and working in the yard since it's been so nice. I did have a friend over for a little stampin' fun a few days ago. Here's a couple cards we made that day.
Stamps: Just Beachy, Lazy Days jumbo wheel
Card stock: Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun & Whisper White
Ink:Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie & Summer Sun
Accessories: Polka Dot Texturz Plate, Big Shot, 1-3/8 & 1-1/2" circle punches

Here's another card that kind of used this weeks Mojo Mondy sketch. Since I wanted a more masculine card, I eliminated the scalloped border at the bottom of the sketch and used my jumbo wheel instead of a layer of patterned paper.Stamps: Just Beachy, Great Friend, Lazy Days jumbo wheel
Card stock: Tempting Turquoise, Gable Green, Tangerine Tango, Summer Sun & Whisper White
Ink:Tempting Turquoise, Gable Green & Black Stazon, various other Classic inks to watercolor
Accessories: Bubbles Texturz Plate, Big Shot, square punches

So there ya have it...two easy cards made with the same set...one suitable for a girl and one for a boy. I really love the Just Beachy set. Makes me excited for the warm summer days ahead! Have a good one!

Matchbox for a Great Friend

The Matchbox die for the Big Shot is so cute! Plus it's useful, too. After seeing a cute little stack of drawers made with the die, I had to get it! Of course was also the first creation I made with it as well.
I cut 3 drawers using paper from the Walk in Park pack and 3 slides out of Baja Blue cardstock. I stacked the slides and held them in place with double sided tape and then wrapped the Walk in the Park paper around the entire box. A jumbo eyelet was used on the front of each drawer and of course I had to use my favorite little butterfly to embellish the box. See the little tag? The largest layer was cut out using the Matchbox die. In addition to the little box it also has 3 cute tag shapes. The tag image from Great Friend layers perfectly with this tag.

I put a sample of different embellishments in each drawer (even a bit of chocolate ;-) and gave it to a good great friend of mine as a little be-lated birthday goodie.

Yesterday I mentioned going to a scrapbook convention called the Mega Meet. We had fun and I got some new goodies. Mostly embellishments, some paper for a few layouts I have in mind to make, but I tried not to look at paper since I have so much I haven't used already. ;-) See what I got:Stampin' Up! had a booth and the demo was doing a make & take using the new Jumble Alphabet and Good Morning Sunshine papers...both part of Stampin' Up!'s May special.I'm sitting here hoping the rain stops. I had planned to go to the greenhouse today to get some flowers to plant for my mom...and maybe some for me too. Wishing you all a very Happy Mother's Day tomorrow!

Tea Party With Great Friend

I'm just lovin' this set, and can't get enough of this butterfly! I highly recommend the Tea Party papers too! This is a great time to try out some new prints with the buy 3 get one free sale going on this month. Stamps: Great Friend
Card stock: So Saffron, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery & Tea Party DSP
Ink: So Saffron, Pretty in Pink & Certainly Celery
Accessories: White Jumbo Grommet & Certainly Celery twill ribbon

I'm not going to have a tea party, but I am going to hang out with a great friend today. Hope you enjoy your day as well!

Somethings Fishy!

Tomorrow is my brother's birthday, so I made him this fun card. The inside says: You can't REALLY be having ANOTHER birthday already!? Can't poke too much fun at his age since he is younger than me. hehehe
The fish were stamped with Black Stazon and then masked so I could sponge the water over them. I punched a scrap piece of paper with the scallop edge punch and laid that down and sponged along the edge to create the waves. The seaweed was created using the leaf image from Great Friend. When I was happy with my background, I pulled the post-it masks off my images and finished by watercoloring them. This is such a fun set! On the Tangerine layer I also used the matching Lazy Days jumbo wheel. I really wanted to use some crystal effects on top of the fish, but I had to hurry and get the card in the mail and didn't want to have to wait for it to dry...that's what I get for waiting til the last minute I guess. Next time...

Thanks for popping in to visit...enjoy your day!

Walk in the Park With Great Friend

That title sounds like something I'd love to do on such a sunny morning! Darn!...I was actually referring to the new products from the Occasions mini that I used to create these cards. I made this first card for a good friends birthday, and totally like me - it was last minute and I only had time to make one and get it in the mail.I loved the way it turned out and wanted to re-create it so I made this card loosly based on this weeks Mojo Monday sketch. (I kind of cheated...I didn't turn the middle section at an angle, and I eliminated a layer so as not to cover up the pretty paper) I thought this was a good example on how you can change up the look of your project while using the same exact same supplies.
The most obvious difference between these cards is that my second card started with a 5 -1/4" square base vs the standard 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 base of the first card. I also changed the placement of the corduroy button and added Iridescent Ice embossing powder to the butterfly. When I was "done" I felt it still needed something so I added the flat backed pearls from the Pretties Kit.

I'm loving these new stamp sets and the soothing colors and patterns of this new DP.

Stamps: Great Friend & Oval All
Ink: Baja Blue, Kiwi Kiss & Basic Gray
Card stock: Baja Blue, Kiwi Kiss, Basic Gray & Walk in the Park DP
Accessories: Oval, Scallop Oval & Eyelet border punches, Baja Corduroy buttons, Basic Gray Taffeta ribbon, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die

Thanks for stopping by...hope your day is a walk in the park!

Flowers Just For You

After seeing all the cute flower pot pocket cards everyone has been posting on SCS lately, I had to give one a try. Here's what I came up with: I used my Big Shot and the Simple Flower Embosslit along with the Birds & Blooms and Little Leaves Sizzlits to cut all the flowers and leaves. I stamped the butterfly from the Great Friends set in Baja Blue and cut it out. The "just for you" sentiment is from the new Oval All set and punched with SU! newest punch...the Scallop Oval. I used Parisian Breeze paper on the pot and the Eyelet border punch on the rim. Here's what it looks like with the pocket pulled out:

The swirls across the bottom and the little stamped flowers on top of the embossed ones came from the Simple Friendship set. This was a fun card to make. Here is the link to a great tutorial on how to make one yourself. I have one tip I learned while creating my flower pot card: Have an envelope handy as you are building your flowers. I had to cut off a lot of the leaves I originally had glued on because it was just too large to fit inside a standard envelope.

Have a great day!

Best Fishes Spinner

These goofy fish from the Just Beachy set crack me up! I made this card for my son's 21st birthday, and wrote a "warning" inside about drinking like a fish. As I was making the card I thought it would be kind of funny to have one fish spinning "out of control" across the top, so I made it into a spinner card. I think he liked the card, but I know he really liked what was in it...tickets to last nights Red Wings game which was game 1 of the playoffs! He thought we were just going to dinner but we surprised him by taking him to the game as well. The Red Wings won 4-1 against the Blue Jackets so it was a fun and memorable night.To create this card I first stamped the seaweed using the leaf image from Great Friend. Then I stamped my fishy scene using Black Stazon. I watercolored the fish and then masked them so I could sponge the watery background. I saw this cute card on SCS and loved how she made waves using the scalloped border punch, so I added some scalloped waves as well. For the finishing touch I put crystal effects on all the eyes and then where they would fit, I added googley eyes.

Thanks for visiting me today...have a great weekend!

It's been a while...

Wow...here we are already nine days into April and I haven't made one single blog post! I've been super busy with a million different things going on around here. Thankfully things will be settling down a bit for me and I should have a little more time for stamping again. I did manage to squeeze in a little play time to try out a few of my new goodies. I've also been doing some scrap booking...so when I get those pages photographed I'll be sharing those here soon. For now, here's a card made with the Manhattan Flower Textured Impressions die. (AKA an embossing folder)This embossing die is so pretty and elegant it looks great on it's own, however...I just had to use that beautiful butterfly from the Level 1 Hostess set, God's Beauty. I stamped it in Basic Gray on Shimmery White card stock and watercolored it using Blush Blossom & Baja Breeze ink...the same colors I choose for my card stock. The Eyelet Border punch is new to me as well...so I had to use that too! It is very easy to line up and punch a flawless border - even on a 12 inch border for a scrapbook page. I find it much easier to use than the regular scallop border punch.

Since I wanted to try out more of my new stuff I used the Scalloped Oval punch and the Oval All set for the greeting. (aren't you surprised that I didn't find a way to work in those funny fish from the Just Beachy set as well?! Hey...maybe hanging from the ribbon! ;-)

You may remember me posting a spring banner that I made a couple weeks ago, and saying I would post another photo after I decorated my buffet. I had hung it up quickly for a photo, but since it was just before we got our wood floor installed,I didn't want to put up my Easter/Spring decor at that time. So here's a photo of how my spring banner looks along with the other springy decor.

If you want to know details on my spring banner, see this post. Just click on photo to see it enlarged. It is sunny, with warmer temps here today...hopefully it will melt the rest of the snow we got on Sunday/Monday...and it will look like Spring outside and not just inside! Hope you have a warm & sunny day too!

What could be better?

Than a box of new goodies!??? How about having the space to use them? I just got this box full of new stuff from the Occasions Mini delivered to me...but my stamping space is covered with china, audio equipment, etc...from our dining room and living room. I cannot wait until our floors are done and I have time (and the space) to stamp again!

Don't you feel sorry for me!???