Just Believe Birthday

I hadn't used my pastels in a while so decided to use them for the poppin' pastels technique with this pretty image from Just Believe.

The DSP I used is from the Paisley Petals paper pack which is part of the Spring is Blooming April Promo. It truly is a beautiful set of papers!

Stamps: Just Believe, Teeny Tiny Wishes & Tiny Tags
Card stock: Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla & Paisley Petals DSP
Ink: VersaMark, Cherry Cobbler, Baja Breeze & Pear Pizzazz
Accessories: Baja Breeze Seam Binding Ribbon, Beautiful Wings Sizzlets & Basic Pearls

Have a wonderful Easter weekend!

Inspired Pizzazz

I am so excited, I have been counting down the days! Just one more week to go! Next Wednesday my hubby and I will be leaving this cold, snowy Michigan tundra for two weeks in the tropical paradise of Hawaii!!! Naturally, I've had to go out shopping to buy some cute new outfits for our trip, right??? I found this cute little black dress with a fun & funky pattern while shopping the other day (it was even on sale...YES!!!) It's been hanging in my closet and I keep looking at it and thinking of this years In Colors...it has several in the pattern, so I decided to make a card inspired by my new dress.

This is a close up of the pattern...it has Bermuda Bay, Dusty Durango & Crushed Curry. Here's what I came up with based on those colors.

I stamped the flowers from Petal Pizzazz and the swirl from Baroque Motifs onto the Basic Black cardstock using White Craft ink. Then I used my Stampin' Pastels and sponge applicators to add the color. I was wishing I had an aloha stamp, but I don't, so I had to settle for hello...found in the Teeny Tiny Wishes set.

This card is actually my second attempt. The first card I made was stamped using the same images and colors, but on Whisper White card stock. I'll share that card with you in the future. (I am going to schedule some posts to appear while we are gone on vacation so that you all will hopefully continue to visit me.)

If any of you have any suggestions on places to visit and things to do while we are in Hawaii I'd love to hear from you. We will be staying on Maui and Kauai. Have a great day!

Autumn Greetings

Today is the first official day of Autumn, so I thought I would share a card created with my favorite new Autumn set and papers...Autumn Splendor and Autumn Meadows Designer Papers.
To create the multi color foliage, I used the poppin' pastel technique. To do this, I stamped the maple leaf image using VersaMark onto Very Vanilla card stock, then with a light swirling motion I brushed over them with my Stampin' Pastels. I used the same color pastels as were used in the papers to have a coordinating look.

Speaking of coordinating, the matching button was made by punching out a bit of patterned paper with the 3/4" Circle Punch and adhering it to a small Clear Button with some Crystal Effects. The "thinking of you" sentiment was stamped in Chocolate Chip using the Teeny Tiny Wishes set and punched using the Word Window Punch.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Inspired by Nature Page

Last month on club night I took a photo of each one of the girls out in my garden where the Cone Flowers and Black Eyed Susans were blooming. I told them it would be used for our September club project. As always, the month went flying by, and this past Friday was September stamp club night! Here is the project I had ready for them:
They each got a full sized portrait of themselves along with the group shot... they could then decide how to use them. They had a choice of 2 different color schemes, either the Mellow Moss with So Saffron & the Haiku designer paper as shown above or Mellow Moss with Perfect Plum and the Perfect Plum prints as shown below. They could use the "live with passion" stamp that came with the Inspired by Nature set or the "Time spent with friends..." stamp from the retired Level 3 hostess set Time Well Spent. The Mellow Moss background was stamped with the cone flowers inked in Versa mark and then we used the poppin' pastels technique to color them. Next the grass was added using Mellow Moss ink. At the top of the page the swirl from Baroque Motifs was added and then over the top of that I used the Sanded background stamp to give the page some texture.

This is the first club meeting where my "Big Shot" could join us...so of course I had to use the Top Note die cut for the journaling box. I was a little concerned that perhaps the group would have "Big Shot envy"(I've heard of other cases of this! ;-), but I shouldn't have worried...they were CRAZY for my Big Shot so that made me happy! Actually, my hostess club groups always make me feel happy and appreciated. I think they really liked the projects I had for them this time because I was getting a big head with all the nice compliments they were giving me.

Before I started with Stampin' Up! I only knew 2 of these ladies - it was through them that I have had the pleasure of meeting the rest of our group. I'm now lucky to consider them as my friends. I think that has been the most rewarding part of being with Stampin' Up!...meeting so many nice people who share a common interest.

I also did a second page to include the entire group. Here's my completed 2 page layout:
See guys...I told you that you all would be on the page and not just Julie! (they thought I was playing favorites when they saw my sample) I will also do a 2nd page for the plum layout that will include photos of the flowers I've taken in my garden this summer...because I am "inspired by nature". ;-)

Thanks for visiting me today...hope you have an inspiring day!

Stamp Something Birthday

Some exciting news! I was asked to be a guest designer for the Stamp Something Challenge Blog for this weeks challenge!!! The challenge is to stamp something with a birthday theme. Here is the card I created. Hopefully everyone will like it. As soon as I saw the Inspired by Nature set I knew I must have it ASAP! I just love cone flowers and this is such a large beautiful silhouette stamp that has so many possibilities. The poppin' pastels technique was used to create this card. I stamped the image onto Pink Pirouette card stock with Versamark ink and then lightly brushed over it with the desired color of pastels.

The large scalloped circle was cut out with the Big Shot using the largest of the scallop circle dies. The background paper is from the new Designer Prints pack in Perfect Plum. I dyed some white taffeta ribbon with a plum reinker and then set it off with one of the beautiful new filigree brads with a rhinestone brad in the center. The filigree brads come with plain silver brads, but you can put any color or type of brad in the center to make these even more versatile and fun. There are two sizes in the pack, and the one I used here is the largest size.

Stamps: Inspired by Nature, It's Your Birthday
Ink: Versamark, Always Artichoke
Card stock: Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, Perfect Plum, Pink Pirouette & Perfect Plum Designer Prints
Accessories: Bigz Scallop Die, Coluzzle, Taffeta ribbon, Filigree brads, mat pack

I hope you will take on the challenge and Stamp Something birthday! Then go on over to the Stamp Something Challenge Blog and leave a link to your creation...you could win this weeks blog candy! Thanks again to Denise at Stamp Something for asking me to take part in the guest designer challenge...it was and honor and lots of fun! I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with!

I thought i would also show you another card I stamped at the same time. I used the same technique and supplies with the exception of this time I used the Top Note Bigz die and the Paisley background stamp. Oh...and I also used the scallop border punch. Can you tell that I'm having fun with the Big Shot!? This card is going to my Mom because she gave me the money for my birthday to buy the Big Shot. :-)

Thanks for stopping by...Have a great weekend everyone!

Live Your Dreams in Plum

I hate making sympathy cards. Not only because I feel sad as I am creating them, but because I always worry whether it's suitable or not. After I photographed this card and uploaded it here, I decided that the black ribbon with it's polka dots was too whimsical of a touch for such a solemn occasion. I removed the ribbon, but I still felt it "needed" something. That's when I decided to add the butterfly image instead. What do you think...is this a better option?
Even though I'm still not entirely sure about this card, I decided to share it here because I wanted to show you that I could stamp with the Live Your Dream set and not use Guava, Wasabi or Soft Sky! It dawned on me as I was working on this card that everything I've done with this set up until this point has been done in those colors, because I've been using it along with the matching Afternoon Tea papers.

For this card I stamped the image in White Craft ink on Basic Black card stock and used my pastels to add color.

Stamps: Live Your Dreams, Sanded background & Brighter Tomorrow (retired)
Card Stock: Perfect Plum, Sage Shadow, Basic Gray & Basic Black
Ink: Perfect plum, White Craft & Basic Black
Accessories: Vintage Brads, Stampin' Pastels, ribbon

Thanks for stopping by!

Thankful

With today being Veteran's Day, I thought the topic of being thankful is a good one. Along with with being thankful for all the brave veterans who have defended our country, and those who still are, there are many things to be thankful for in life! Of course family, friends, health & happiness would top my list, but I am also thankful for all the creative fun I have because of Stampin' Up! On Friday night I enjoyed the evening visiting and sharing my November projects with my hostess club group. Our November hostess treated us to some scrumptious snacks...fondue with both chocolate & cheese and a beautiful tray filled with goodies to dip plus a nice bottle of wine. Thank you Cheri!

We did this Thanksgiving scrapbook page with a cute paper pieced turkey and pumpkin made from the Pick a Petal set and different punches. I have been wanting to use the spiral punch to create a film strip mat for a series of small photos since I got this punch months ago...I finally remembered to use it on this page. This works great for scraps of cropped photos like the oak leaves and bowls of food I used on my strip. All I did was punch them out with my 1-3/8" square punch and they were ready to adhere to the mat.

We used a strip of the Creepy Crawly designer paper to create the border along the bottom and photo corners on the title. Since there are white stripes on this paper and I was using Vanilla card stock for the rest of the project it looked kind of out of place. I easily fixed that by distressing the paper with my favorite jumbo wheel: Rough Around the Edges. I inked it up in Creamy Caramel and went right over the printed paper to give it some texture. I also used it on the journal block and title after I was done stamping those. But I didn't stop there...I also used the wheel inked in Old Olive to texturize all the Old Olive card stock. I can't say enough about that wheel...love it!!! All the edges of the card stock and paper were then "aged" by using the direct to paper technique with the Earth Elements chalk ink pads (retired) or a Chocolate Chip craft spot. For me it's a lot easier handling either of those smaller inks to distress than it is a full sized pad.

Stamps: Pick a Petal, Trimtastic, Lovely as a Tree, Letterpress & Typeset alphabets, Rough Around the Edges jumbo wheel

Ink: Old Olive, Really Rust, More Mustard & Pumpkin Pie

Card stock: Old Olive, Really Rust, Very Vanilla, Creepy Crawly

Accessories: LOTS of punches! Artichoke grosgrain, Vintage brads, markers: Old Olive, More Mustard & Pumpkin Pie for journaling

The other project everyone did was a Christmas card using Lovely As A Tree. I was inspired by this beautiful card from a blog I visit regularly called Paper Pleasing Ideas. Julie is so talented and does beautiful work!

To created this card a reverse masking technique was used. First, a mask was cut out of a piece of scrap paper using the coluzzle and the oval template. After I cut the oval out of the center of my scrap paper, I used a bit of 2-way glue on the corners to hold it in place on my white card stock. Then I sponged inside the edges of the oval with Soft Sky ink leaving the center mostly white. Keeping the mask in place, I added the 3 trees inside the oval with Versamark. Then I used the poppin' pastels technique to make them soft and appear in the background. After I was done with this I removed my mask and stamped the last tree image and the sentiment (with the help of my stamp-a-ma-jig). This card just has a simple, elegant feel to it...I love it!
Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Holidays & Wishes
Ink: Soft Sky, Versamark, Blue Bayou, Handsome Hunter
Card stock: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Whisper White
I need to run and getting busy on some Christmas cards for a class I'm doing. I need to get busy and make my own cards too! Enjoy your day!

Wishing I was there...

Where? At the beach...with the warmth of the sun beating down on me. My toes in the sand and the sound of the waves washing up on the shore. I'm sick of cold Michigan temperatures, slushy snow and muddy roads! I want to go to the beach! OK...enough whining! Here's a card I made while wishing I was at the beach.

Of course I used the Beautiful Beach set...that was a no-brainer! I stamped the shell images in VersaMark and used my pastels to do the poppin' pastels technique. You can't tell in the scan but I stamped the images on Shimmery White card stock so they really have a nice look to them.

For the background I used the Cheesecloth background stamp inked in white craft ink on both the Sage and Kraft card stock. Then I went lightly over the Kraft background with my Speckled jumbo wheel to make it look more like sand. I sponged the edges of the sage card stock with Basic Brown. I love the shell border stamp and the sentiment stamps with this set. I think they made nice final touches to this card.

Wishing you a beautiful day!

Smile...and pretend it's Spring!

To do that, just don't look outside! I've been in "Spring mode" as far as my card making goes though. Working with some of my favorite SU! springy color combos and spring subjects - like todays card. I've had this Level 1 Hostess set - Reason to Smile, for a while now, but this is the first chance I got to use it.

The large butterfly image is fun to color using the poppin' pastels technique. I stamped on Shimmery White card stock so it looks real sparkly in real life! The flower border with this set is really cute too. I just stamped the strips of card stock with it's coordinating ink and faux stitched with my paper piercing template and white gel pen. The word "smile" was taken from the quote stamp from this set and embossed in white and cut out with my favorite new toy...my oval punches.

My review on the Reason to Smile set...two thumbs up!

Hi There!

Today's card combines two stamp sets that I have had my eye on for quite a while...Petal Prints and the Cheesecloth background stamp. Both of these sets are really fun to work with and I know I'll be using them lots...sorry Mom, you may never end up seeing your Petal Prints set!

I used the poppin' pastels technique on the main image. Then I stamped over it with the Cheesecloth inked in Sage Shadow. The background also uses Sage ink stamped on Sage card stock. Then I lightly sponged the edges with Perfect Plum to give a more softened, distressed look.

The patterned paper is Enchante double-sided designer paper that matches the Carte Postale stamp set which is in the winter mini catalog. The enchante paper is just gorgeous! I made some faux hardware using the oval punches and stamped "Hi There" from Fancy Flexible Phrases inside. I attached that with pewter brads from my Hodge Podge Hardware kit, and I was done. Hope you like it!

Happy Harmony

The Happy Harmony card I prepared for my SAB open house a couple weeks ago used the poppin' pastels technique. I don't know why I don't use that technique more often? It is quick and easy and has really nice results. I decided to try it again using a different color scheme. While making this card I got to thinking - I haven't used my Pearl Ex in a while either! So I ended up getting those out and making another card.

The technique I used for this poppin' pastels card and the one using Pearl Ex powders are basically the same. Both start by stamping a bold image with VersaMark. However, when using the Pearl Ex I prefer to stamp my image on a dark background for the most vibrant results. After stamping my image, I allow it to dry for a few minutes, then I lightly rub or tap over it in a circular motion using an applicator dipped in my pastels. I have found that sponge eye shadow applicators work well. Be careful not to smear the VersaMark. (that is why it is helpful to let it dry a bit first) Sometimes I leave the background plain, or in this case I softly blended some of the colors I used in the flowers into the background. Colors I used for this card are: Pixie Pink, Gable Green & Cool Caribbean. I used the Paisley background stamp inked with white craft ink over the Pixie Pink. I really like the way that turned out.

I tried to capture the iridescent, sparkle of this card by photographing it rather than scanning it. This was the best shot I got. Not the clearest, but you get the idea. It is much prettier in person. I used Lavender Lace card stock stamped with the Canvas background, and Brocade Blue for the mat.

I started by stamping my image on black card stock and using a small, soft brush to pick up a bit of Pearl Ex powder - a little of this stuff goes a long way. I usually pick up a bit on my brush and then tap the excess off into the lid. Then using a soft swirling motion I apply the powder to the VersaMark image. When you have finished your project, there always seems to be excess powder left on the background. If you do not like that effect and want a clean looking background, simply take a small piece of a Swiffer sheet and rub it across your card stock. Like magic it takes away the powder where you don't want it, but the powder will remain on your design! Thanks to whoever came up with that! You will also need to seal your design when finished. You can use an acrylic fixative spray - I usually use Krylon Low Odor fixative, but in this case I just used hairspray. I didn't feel like going outside...too cold! So hairspray was definitely the better choice. Always use the proper precautions when using products like Krylon fixative. Even though the label claims to be low odor, you need proper ventilation, so it is best used outside. Also, when using the Pearl Ex powders, be very careful not to breathe in any of the powder or get in in your eyes, while you are getting carried away with your artwork!