Simply Sketched Hardwood Birthday

Today I have a masculine birthday card to share using the Hostess Set Simply Sketched, the new background stamp Hardwood and Gorgeous Grunge.

I used watercolor paper for the bird image and created the background by first lightly spraying with water and then using my largest Aqua Painter, adding some swipes of color with some Classic Ink, allowing the colors to bleed and blend together. While still wet, I stamped some ink splatters with the Gorgeous Grunge stamp. After my paper dried (I helped it along with my heat tool) I stamped the bird in Black Stazon and added a little more color to the image with my Aqua Painter.

I like the Hardwood stamp inked in White Craft ink and then stamped on Crumb Cake...it has that pickled wood look. Since this is a manly card, I used a stamped strip in place of ribbon and added a little paper piercing for some extra detail.

This cute little bird sitting on the green grasses has me longing for Spring...this has been such a coooold, snowy winter! I hope that wherever you are, you are staying warm!

Stippled Birthday Blossoms

It was my Mom's birthday a couple days ago, so a special card was in order. Her favorite colors include shades of purple, yellow and green. I don't have any DSP with those colors, so I decided to make my own using Stippled Blossoms and Creative Elements.

I started with a 5-1/2" x 11 piece of Whisper White card stock and stamped my design using:

• Wisteria Wonder
• Elegant Eggplant
• So Saffron
• Crushed Curry
• Pistachio Pudding
• Wild Wasabi
• Pool Party

When I started, I wasn't sure what kind of card I was going to create, but wanted to be sure I had enough "DSP". I used about 1/2 of my decorative paper for this gate fold card...so that means I can make 1 or 2 other projects using the rest of my hand stamped paper. Here's a closer look at the layered Deco Label focal point.

The left half of this label is adhered to the left panel of front of card. The bow kind of holds it in place on the right, but it easily flips open to reveal the inside of the card...

A pretty Tea Lace Paper Doily mats the sentiment on the inside.

Flippin' Friday : Simply Sketched Trio

It's Friday! That means I have a new flip card to share with you! Actually, it's a set of three cards made with the beautiful hostess set Simply Sketched and Quatrefancy Specialty DSP.

Here's a closer look at the Daffodil Delight card...

I think the little white embossed edge adds nice detail to this card. I used the Needlepoint Border EF. Here's a closer look at the Strawberry Slush card.

The left panel of each of these cards were stamped with the beautiful swirl from Creative Elements using coordinating ink. I think my favorite of the three may be this last one using Pool Party.

To watercolor these images I just stamped them in Basic Grey and then used my Aqua Painter and Classic Inks pooled in my stamp pad lid to color. Which one is your favorite?

This is going to be a busy weekend for me...shopping, decorating, parties...and hoping to get the rest of my Christmas cards done. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Supply List:

• Simply Sketched Clear-mount Stamp Set
• Creative Elements - Clear-Mount Stamp
• Pool Party 8-1/2 X 11 Card Stock
• Strawberry Slush 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Daffodil Delight 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Quatrefancy Specialty Designer Series Paper
• Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad
• Strawberry Slush Classic Stampin' Pad
• Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad
• Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad
• Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad
• Circle card Thinlits Die
• Needlepoint Border Textured Impressions Embossing Folders
• 2-1/2 Inch Circle Punch
• Basic Pearls Jewel Accents

Flippin' Friday - Daydream Medallion Boxed Set

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Yesterday I shared a cute box made with the Envelope Punch Board and promised I would be back today to share the set of cards that fit inside the box. So, here they are...

These 3 flip cards cut with the Circle Thinlit Die fit in the coordinating box along with three matching envelopes. They were quick and easy to make using the Daydream Medallion stamp set and the Floral Framelits.

The colors were chosen from the Quatrefancy Specialty Papers. The sentiments are from the Hostess Set Simply Sketched. They were punched out using the Large Oval Punch and matted onto one of the die cut pieces included in the Circle Thinlit set.You cannot tell so much from my photos, but the white 2 - 1/2" circle is embossed with the Modern Mosaic EF.

If you don't yet have the Floral Framelits...you are in luck! They are on sale right now as part of Stampin' Up!'s Weekly Deals.

If you are local and would like to make this set or a Christmas version, please contact me.

Enjoy your weekend!

Supply List:

• Creative Elements - Clear-Mount Stamp
• Daydream Medallions Clear-Mount Stamp Set
• Simply Sketched Clear-mount Stamp Set
• 2013-2015 In Color Core'dinations
• Pool Party 8-1/2 X 11 Card Stock
• Daffodil Delight 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Strawberry Slush 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Quatrefancy Specialty Designer Series Paper
• Medium Whisper White Envelopes
• Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad
• Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad
• Strawberry Slush Classic Stampin' Pad
• Circle card Thinlits Die
• Floral Frames Framelits Dies
• Modern Mosaic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
• Envelope Punch Board
• Large Oval Punch
• 2-1/2 Inch Circle Punch
• In Color Boutique Details
• Large Pearl Basic Jewels

Serene Silhouette Sympathy

Today I have two cards to share...both use the same supplies, technique and colors but I changed up the layout. One is a sympathy card and the other is for a birthday, but either could be used for any occasion really. The Serene Silhouettes stamp set is quite versatile!

I started out planning to make two of the same cards...one to send and one to have on hand for my sample board...BUT I made a slight error. When I use the Woodgrain Embossing Folder and the Timber Wheel on multiple layers, I like to make sure that the grain of the wood on all layers is running the same way. I didn't pay attention to that when I embossed my stamped image of the tree branch and birds, so I decided to make the extra card like this...

I like the way both of these turned out and cannot really pick a favorite. Which one do you prefer?

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

Colorful Autumn Thanks

It won't be long before the leaves here are as colorful as the ones on this card. This is one of the creations we stamped yesterday at my Best of Autumn card class.

The background panel was sponged using Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Crushed Curry & Always Artichoke. Then the leaves were stamped using Early Espresso. Finally, the Timber Wheel inked with Crumb Cake was rolled over the top. This coordinated nicely with the Woodgrain embossed background. The sentiment is from the Hostess Set Simply Sketched. I added detail to the strip of Always Artichoke Cardstock by cutting the end with the Mosaic Punch.

Thanks for visiting me today!

Simply Sketched Color-blocked Thanks

Here's a quick card I made recently using my clear blocks inked with color to create the background. The little bird from the hostess set, Simply Sketched, was then stamped and water colored.

Stamps: Simply Sketched
Ink: Soft Sky, Crumb Cake, Baked Brown Sugar & various other Classic Inks to water color

Card stock: Soft Sky, Baked Brown Sugar & Very Vanilla

Accessories: Subtles Candy Dots, Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon, Beautifully Baroque EF, Apothecary Accents Framelits & 1/2" Circle Punch 

Thanks for visiting...have a GREAT weekend!

Embossed Morning Meadow

This is the 3rd card in a set that I created using the same layout & technique. The first two cards I shared used the Serene Silhouettes stamp set, but since this image from Morning Meadow is the same size, I chose this one for the third, and maybe my favorite, of the trio.

Stamps: Morning Meadow, En Francias, Papillon Potpourri & Simply Sketched (sentiment)
Card stock: Blushing Bride & Very Vanilla
Ink: VersaMark, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede & Blushing Bride
Accessories: Blushing Bride Pleated Ribbon, White EP, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Basic Pearls, Beautifully Baroque Embossing Folder, Bitty Butterfly, Large Oval & Scallop Oval Punches

Here is the set of all three cards we made in my last All Occasions Card Class. (the anniversary card shown on the right is a stepped up version I made later) I am offering this class again on September 19th. If you live local and would like to attend please contact me.  

Which one of these three do you like best? 

If you would like more info on this technique and the other two cards, just scroll down to see my last two blog postings. 

Todays creation uses the Butterfly Bundle which is on sale this month for 15% off! Visit my demo website for more info.