Colorful Season Beach Chairs

With Labor Day Weekend being the last official weekend of the Summer, I thought this fun, beachy card was a good one to share today.

I used the Timeless Textures stamp set to create the sandy beach & water background and then sponged the sky using some die cut clouds as masks. The frame of the beach chairs are stamped over the background using Basic Black ink. Next the colorful part of the three chairs was stamped using the kissing technique.

To do this, ink up your solid image real well in a lighter color, in this case that is the canvas chair image from Colorful Seasons, and set it aside. Next, ink up a textured image in a darker color...I used both the polka dot image from Timeless Textures and the chevron pattern image from Work of Art. Use the inked, textured image to "stamp" or "kiss" your solid image stamp before using it to stamp onto your paper. This creates a fun, patterned chair instead of the plain, solid ones.

Colors of ink used:
Background: Crumb Cake, Pool Party & Bermuda Bay
Chairs: Berry Burst/Fresh Fig, Pumpkin Pie/Berry Burst & Bermuda Bay/Tranquil Tide

I hope you enjoy the last weekend of summer, whether it's squeezing in one last trip to the beach or perhaps a BBQ with family and friends...Autumn will be here before we know it. Yet again...Summer flew by way too quickly!

Find Your Inspiration

Happy New Catalog Day! It's June 1st and the awesome new and inspiring Stampin' Up! catalog is now live! Last week I had a "New Catalog Pick Up Party" where my local stampin' friends had the opportunity to stop by and pick up the new catalog and do some make & takes.

Everyone who attended received the above goodies created using the new In Colors. One make & take used all the new In Colors and the Thoughtful Banners & Flower Shop stamp sets. More info is here. The other make & take was created using the Sitting Here stamp set and I'll share more on that in my next blog posting.

This years In Color bookmark uses the Bitty Butterfly Punch and the Work of Art and Butterfly Basics stamp sets.

The bookmarks have magnets to keep them in place...I like to keep mine at the beginning of the Color Collection pages because I am always flipping to those pages the most.

To help mark favorite items in the catalog I made these post-it flag covers using the Thoughtful Banners set. The words Inspiring, Amazing & Fabulous describe so many of the new products found inside the pages if the new catalog!

I packaged up the bookmarks and post-it flags along with a 1/2 sheet each of the new In Color cardstock in a Large Cello Bag with toppers stamped using the Timelesss Textures stamp set.

No party is complete without treats and prizes! I made these Ghirardelli square covers using Flower Shop and Thoughtful Banners in the five new In Colors. I invited each of my guests to chose one in their favorite color. After everyone had picked one I brought out my prize basket. Each item in the basket had a butterfly punched out from the five different In Colors. Each person could choose from the items marked with the color they choose. Here's my friend Amy looking super excited about her prize and make & takes.

Here are some of the rest of the ladies at my first session. (sorry I did not get pictures of everyone)

I tried a new recipe I found on Pinterest for these Salted Caramel Buttery Crumb Bars. Oh my!...they were rich, ooey gooey buttery caramely goodness!

It was so great to see everyone and share the new catalog excitement with you all!  If you were not able to make it my event but would like a copy of the new catalog, please contact me and I'll make sure to get one to you.

Enjoy finding your inspiration as you flip through the new catalog!

Work of Art Butterfly

Today I have a quick & easy card that was part of my All Occasions Card Class this past week. It uses just two stamp sets...Work of Art & Perfect Pairings along with two colors of ink...Bermuda Bay & Pear Pizzazz.

I used the swoosh image from Work of Art stamped three times onto Whisper White cardstock. First, in Bermuda Bay, then quickly stamp again without re-inking for a lighter shade of Bermuda Bay, finally inked in Pear Pizzazz. For my sentiment I used the Sale-A-Brations stamp set Perfect Pairings, which is available for FREE for just a short time longer.

Next, diecut using the Butterflies Thinlits. Apply a strip of Bermuda Bay Sequin Trim to the body of the butterfly. Leave the top threads loose for the antennae, tuck the bottom threads under and hold with a glue dot. After adhering the stamped layer to the card base...in this case I used Watermelon Wonder, attach only the center,  body portion of the butterfly to the base so that the wings are free for some dimension.

Thanks to Mary for the inspiration for this card! I saw her card on pinterest and knew I wanted to try it myself...I just changed up the colors.

Sale-A-Bration is winding down...the last day to select FREE items with your order is Thursday, March 31st. Don't delay...shop today!

Honeycomb Happiness Easter Chick

I've been super busy the past couple weeks with home improvement projects...mainly painting the baseboard trim & door frames throughout our house. Wish I could say I was finished...sadly maybe about 2/3 of the way done. I did finish painting all the window trim though! It does look really good, but it is a killer on the knees & back! In the evening, by the time I finished cleaning up after dinner, I've been too tired to get busy in my studio...so that's why I haven't posted in a while.

However...I did take most of this week off of painting. Woo Hoo!  I had a class here on Wednesday, and some spare time yesterday, so I have some new creations to share with you! Today, I have a card using the adorable little chick from the Honeycomb Happiness stamp set.

I just love this little guy...or gal? When first seeing him, I envisioned him popping out of an egg for a cute Easter card. I figured I would use one of my oval framelits to die cut an egg shape. Then, I would have to freehand draw a jagged edge and cut off the top. Then I spotted this super cute card on Pinterest using the chevron border from the Work of Art stamp set, and it made my plan so much easier! Thanks for the inspiration Lisa!

I stamped the chevron 3 times...in Mint Macaron, Watermelon Wonder and Bermuda Bay onto scrap of Whisper White. Then I diecut using an oval framelit, and easily cut off top followed the line created by the cheveron edge. To complete the egg I used a black Project Life Journaling Pen to outline along the outer edge, so that it better matched the line art of the chick.

He was stamped in Black Stazon and watercolored using an Aquapainter. The little flower is from the Bloomin' Love stamp set. You cannot tell from the photo, but I used the Clear Wink of Stella Brush over the flower for a littler glimmer. The Basic Pearls are on sale this week as part of the weekly deals...for only $3.75.

If you don't already have the Honeycomb Happiness stamp set...time is running out! Less than one week left to pick out a FREE Sale-A-Bration item with every $50 ordered! Visit my online store to order yours today! Sale-A-Bration ends on March 31st.

Have a wonderful Easter weekend!

Wisteria Bloom

I took a welcome break from Christmas cookie baking to stamp a birthday card. Recently it seems everything I have been stamping has been for Christmas as well, so I chose a pretty flower from the Bloom With Hope hostess set to color with my Wisteria Wonder set of Blendies...(with a touch of Rich Razzleberry)

The background was stamped in Crumb Cake using the leafy branch image. I also used the rough line image from Gorgeous Grunge to add a little texture to the "happy birthday" strip. The chevron design is from Work of Art and is stamped in Blackberry Bliss.

Thanks for visiting!

Thankful Cone-nucopias

I came across this idea of creating little cornucopias from ice cream cones on Pinterest a few years ago and thought they were adorable. That year, I forgot to make them  for Thanksgiving...but came across my forgotten pin again recently and decided to make them this year...with a Stampin' Up! spin of course!

The instructions I found online were kind of vague but I used that for my guide to start with. What I found worked out best for me is as follows...

First, gather up your supplies.

You are going to need a cup of very warm/hot water. I just used from the tap...so not boiling or anything. 

1. Dip the pointed end of the cone into the water and submerge the entire bottom... leaving about the top 3 inches or so dry. Hold in water for approximately 20 seconds. 
2. Place the dampened cone onto a microwave safe plate and place in microwave on high for 30 seconds. Since microwaves vary, you might have to adjust this time. I started with 20 seconds and that just wasn't enough time.
3. Remove plate with cone from microwave and place the seam side of cone down. 
4. Use a wooden spoon handle to carefully flatten the cone from the middle on down to the tip. 
5. Once you are at the tip, curl the tip upwards around the handle of the spoon. Note: You need to work rather quickly with the warm cone once removing from microwave.
6. Hold cone in desired shape for a minute or so to cool and hold its shape
7. Place onto foil lined cookie sheet and proceed until you have shaped all your cones.

After finishing shaping all 12 of my cones they were still a little sticky where they had been dampened. So to speed up the drying time I popped them in the oven set at 325 degrees. Luckily I checked on them after just a few minutes, and noticed that the ends were starting to uncurl a bit with the heat. So I pulled them out, turned off the oven and turned the cones so they were all standing up on their circular base with curls pointing down. I then stuck them back in the warm oven. When I checked about 1/2 hour later they were all dry and no longer sticky. 

After they were thoroughly cooled I spooned in a mixture of salted peanuts, Dark Chocolate M&M's and Peanut Butter M&M's. (luckily nobody in my family has peanut allergies!) then I covered the end with a small square of plastic wrap - secured with a rubber band. You could use candy corn or whatever mixture your family enjoys.

They were cute just like that...but thanks to SU! I made them cuter!

I started by covering the rubber band with some Autumn colored ribbon. I wanted to use up some retired ribbon I had on hand, so I went with grosgrain in Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip & More Mustard...mmm kind of sounds like Thanksgiving! I used a bit of double sided adhesive on bottom of rubber band so the ribbon wouldn't slide on the plastic wrap.I could have stopped with just the ribbon...but got busy in my rubber room and whipped up some cute tags as well.

First I used the Autumn Accent Bigz Die and cut out 24 acorns...12 in Cajun Craze & another 12 in Crumb Cake. I cut the Crumb Cake colored shape down into just the cap for the acorns and sponged the edges with Early Espresso ink. The now retired Square Lattice Embossing Folder gives the perfect texture to the cap of the acorn...so loaded all 12 caps in the folder and with one pass through the Big Shot they were done.

For the tags I knew I wanted to use the "thankful for you" sentiment from the Good Greetings stamp set, but couldn't decide which background pattern I liked better. So I used both the striped design from Gorgeous Grunge shown above, and the chevron design from Work of Art, shown below, to add a little texture. 

To finish the little tags I just adhered the stamped strip to the back of the acorn and punched a hole in the stem. Using a small bit of Linen Thread, I attached the tag by sliding thread under the grosgrain ribbon (using a large needle helped with this) and knotting it. With the first few I made a little bow with the Linen Thread, but that was a little too tedious...so the rest just got plain knot.

Here's a look at all of them...

They were pretty easy to make, and surprisingly I didn't crack any of the cones...until I was finished and had placed them all in a large tupperware container for "safe keeping". Upon letting the air out to seal the lid, I heard a "crunch"...DOH! Luckily, the couple that got cracked are still holding together, so that's good! I think they will be a cute addition to our Thanksgiving table. 

Wishing all my American readers a very HAPPY Thanksgiving Day tomorrow!

Butterfly Bookmark Pocket Card

It's a card! It's a bookmark! It's...a bookmark pocket card! Sorry...not enough coffee yet this morning to come up with a more creative name! Anyways, here it is...

I started with the very versatile set, Work of Art to create the colorful, watercolor look background on the Whisper White bookmark. Then I stamped the butterflies from Papillon Potpourri and filled in the blank space with the swirl from Everything Eleanor. Last, I used a splatter image from Gorgeous Grunge.

Since there is so much color and detail on the bookmark, I opted to go with a solid color (Coastal Cabana) for the main panel of the card and just add some texture using a couple favorite embossing folders...Decorative Dots & Zig Zag. I positioned the butterflies on the base of the card to line up with the bookmark when it was inserted in the pocket. Here's a closer look at the bookmark...

After stamping, I laminated it using my Xyron machine and added the large eyelet and some pretty fibers I had on hand. The colors of the fibers coordinate surprisingly well with the colors of ink I used...which was a happy coincidence because I didn't plan it that way. Here's a look at the back...

The quote used here is from a favorite retired hostess set called The Art of Life.

Thanks for stopping by today...have a good one!

Work of Art Chevron Thank You Cards

I needed some quick thank you cards that didn't "have bows or other stuff "on them for my son to send out.

The first one is a monochromatic color combo using Pool Party,  Bermuda Bay & Coastal Cabana.

For the next one I got a little wild and added some Wild Wasabi!

This one is really wild 'n crazy with some Calypso Coral added...

These cards are a little plainer & simpler than I normally make, but I had fun playing with the Work of Art & Gorgeous Grunge sets and more importantly they met my "clients" strict stipulations.

Work of Art Peacock

I was looking for a quick way to color the beautiful Perfect Peacock image for my All Occasion Card Class last week. Since we make 3 of each design, taking the time to color each one wouldn't work well for this class, so instead we used the Work of Art set to add color to this detailed image.

After adding swipes of color over the peacock image with the Work of Art set I also added some splotches using the Gorgeous Grunge set. The next step was to spritz the piece of card stock with some water to blend the color a bit. (so make sure you stamp your image using Black Stazon) Once the piece has dried, the color softens quite a bit.You can go back at this time and add more color to the peacock body and flowers using your Aqua Painter, if you wish. On this one, I did add a little more color to the main body and a bit on the leaves, otherwise I liked it so I left it as is. Each and every one you do using this technique will turn out unique. Here's another example...

As you can see, I stepped this card up a bit by adding some embossing at the side and some Basic Rhinestones to some of the flowers. I also spent a bit more time adding more color to the peacock with my Aqua Painter, as the color wasn't quite as bright as my first example.

Thanks for visiting today!

Work of Art Thank You Cards

I think that the Work of Art stamp set is so versatile that I'm going to be using it a LOT for a variety of different cards. Here are the first few that I've created with this great new set.

Love that swoosh stamp! I inked it in Pool Party, Coastal Cabana & Wild Wasabi to create the background. Then I added some Bermuda Bay splatters with the Gorgeous Grunge set. The flower from the Flower Shop set was inked using the Rock 'n Roll Technique...inked first in Pool Party and then roll the edges in Bermuda Bay. Here's another version using a Calypso Coral flower.

My favorite ribbon of all time has got to be the Seam Binding Ribbon...I am so very happy to see it offered in a variety of new colors in this catalog! For these two cards I've used Calypso Coral & Wild Wasabi. I'm also loving the look of this new Zig Zag Embossing Folder. Here's a look at both cards...

I had fun playing with new stuff and making these fun & easy cards! Thanks for stopping by to see them. :-)