More Inspired Pizzazz

Scroll on down to my previous post if you want to hear the story/inspiration for this card. This was my first attempt to try to match the inspiration fabric of my new dress.

Even though I liked the way this card turned out, I felt that it would look more like my inspiration piece if I could manage to get the right colors on a black background...that's when it hit me! Try using the poppin' pastels technique. (shown below)

I used the damask looking stamp from Framed With Love to create the border at bottom similiar to the band at the bottom of my dress. Other stamps used are: Petal Pizzazz & Baroque Motifs. Colors used are: Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Bermuda Bay & Rich Razzleberry.

Thanks for the well wishes and ideas on things to see/do while in Hawaii. Only four more days now!!! I'm really getting excited! Enjoy your 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!

Wedding Medallion

Today my card reflects a little of what I am seeing out my window...lots of sparkling white! It's been snowing non stop since around midnight last night. This is a wedding card I made for my cousin who recently got married.

The beautiful Medallion image was embossed in Winter White EP on Shimmery White cardstock. Then using a sponge dauber I added a little Sahara Sand ink. The center of the Medallion was stamped and embossed a second time and punched out using the 1-3/4" Circle Punch and popped up with dimensionals. The bottom third of the panel was dry embossed using my Big Shot and the Perfect Details Texturz Plate. I added some Whisper White Organza Ribbon and adhered it to a Very Vanilla base. The sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set.

Thanks for stopping by.

Good Time Monkeys

I finally got a chance to play with the adorable new set Fox & Friends found in the Occasions Mini. I just love that cute little monkey, so that was the first stamp I inked up. I combined it with the Great Friend set to create this card.

The patterned paper is from the Sweet Pea pack. I also used a couple pieces of the Sweet Pea Stitched Felt...aren't they cute?! The felt pieces and the background embossed with the Perfect Polka Dot Impressions Folder adds nice textures and dimension to this card. The little label from the Great Friends set layers perfectly on one of the tags from the Matchbox Die.

We will be using this set to make a trio of cards perfect for children/baby at my upcoming All Occasions Card Class, so if you haven't registered yet, quit monkeying around...the deadline is soon approaching! ;-) Have a great day!

I Only Have Eyes For You!

That's what the crazy looking potato in a tutu said! I couldn't help myself, I just had to use this retired set called Stew Pot Pals for my hubby's valentine. He's the manager of the produce department at a large grocery store and is always making us groan with bad puns, so this was perfect for him! Plus, I really do only have eyes for him and probably look about as good in a tutu as that potato!

He commented on how cool he thought the tri-shutter cards I've made recently, so I had to make another. I used the Sending Love papers and the I {Love} Love jumbo wheel for the background.  I was wishing I had some heart brads or some other heart embellishments when I got a good idea...I punched out some hearts from Real Red card stock, covered them in Crystal Effects, let them dry and then adhered them to my card front. They look like epoxy hearts or heart brads, don't you think?

I recently got a new toy for my Big Shot to play with...the Mini Milk Carton Bigz die. They are so cute! I made a few to decorate to give away for Valentines Day. I created the window in the front by using my 1-1/4" circle punch and adhering a small square cut from a window sheet inside.

Hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Step It Up Neighbor

When creating cards I plan to use as make & takes I really try to keep them fairly simple. I struggle with keeping things simple because I love so many products and the nice detail they create. Today I want to share two cards...on the left  is a card that I used for a make & take at a recent event. It is cute, but simple and quick to make. On the right is the same card, but by taking a little more time and using a few more products it is stepped up into a more detailed card.

As you can see, both cards use the same stamps and color scheme, but the second card uses more layers and textures.

Stamps: Good Neighbors & Vintage Labels
Card stock: Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, Taken With Teal and Sweet Pea DP
Ink: Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie & Taken With Teal
Accessories: Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder, Curly Label, Word Window, Boho Blossoms & Scallop Trim Border Punches, Rich Regal Brads & Rose Red grosgain

Have a wonderful day!

Love Swag

Yesterday I showed you three projects from my Sending Love Valentine Class. I promised to share more on my favorite project, the LOVE banner today. I created mine horizontally so that I could attach it to pegs on a shelf, but another option is to have it run vertically to enable you to hang easily from a door knob or a single peg,  nail, etc...

The base of each square is a chipboard coaster, which I covered in card stock ran thru my Big Shot using the Polka Dot Textured Impressions Folder. The letters are also chip board which was cut using the Serif Essentials Bigz Dies. I had fun decorating each lettered square with different patterned papers from the Sending Love specialty pack. Here's a closer look at each letter.

The "L" uses Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon that is on sale in the Clearance Rack right now. I also used a cute button from the Latte Button pack. The "love" phrase on the side of the letter is cut from card stock wheeled with the I{Love}Love jumbo wheel.

Inside the center of the letter "O" is also is cut from card stock wheeled with the I{Love}Love jumbo wheel. I accented the center of the glittery flower, cut from Sending Love paper, with one of the cute Chocolate Chip Epoxy Brads. The "all you need is love" sentiment comes from a retired set called Cute Converse.

My favorite print from the Sending Love pack is this red piece with the pink and vanilla glittery flowers. I decorated the "V" with a Real Red Corduroy Button attached with a piece of Linen Thread.

The "E" is also embellished with a cute Chocolate Chip Epoxy Brad. The XOXOXOXO phrase is cut from card stock wheeled with the I{Love}Love jumbo wheel. I used my Crop-A-Dile to punch holes in the top corner of each square and joined them together using Pretty In Pink Satin Ribbon.

Sending Love Valentine Class

Hope you all had a great weekend! Today I have a few projects to share from my Valentine Class. I used the With All My Heart stamp set along with the gorgeous new Sending Love specialty papers and the I {Love}Love jumbo wheel.

What Valentine wouldn't feel special when they receive this tri-shutter card? These are so much fun to make and a lot simpler than they look. For a great tutorial on how to make one yourself, visit SCS.

Isn't the I {Love} Love jumbo wheel great?! It's so easy to create a background or just use part of it to add a sentiment or focal point. I just {Love} it! Check out the cute treat cup cards too.

Just pull up on the "be mine" tab and you can dispense the m&m's from the punched out hole in the back.  Along with these great new items from the Occasions Mini catalog, I also used a couple retired stamps sets - Punch Party (be mine tab) and Cute Converse (all you need is love).

Out of the three projects for my Valentine Class, my absolute favorite project was the LOVE banner shown in the first photo. Come back tomorrow to see more on that.

Sailing Into the Sunset

Here's a couple masculine birthday cards I created using retired stamps that feature a sailboat image. I created a sunset background on each one, but used two different techniques to acheive the backgrounds.

For the first one I used glossy cardstock and stamped my image in Black Stazon. I sponged on classic ink to create my sunset background. I also used the faux tearing technique to create the border along the bottom. To do this, you just need to tear a peice of scrap paper and lay it in place, masking the area you want to remain un-inked. In this case it was the bottom of my card. I inked my much loved, but retired, Canvas background stamp with Not Quite Navy ink and stamped the masked card front. With the mask still in place, I sponged on some more Not Quite Navy ink along the top of the torn scrap paper mask and on the sides of my card. After removing the mask I stamped my boat border. The name of the set I used is called Set Sail and the sentiment is from Teenie Tiny Wishes.

This next card also features a sail boat from a retired stamp set, but for the life of me I cannot remember what it's called. Anyone know? ETA: Thanks Karren for refreshing my memory! The name of this set is Ships Ahoy.

This sunset background was even quicker and easier to create. I used my Stampin' Pastels and easily blended several shades together. I also used the Vintage Label set (available during SAB) along with the Wide & Large Oval Punches to create the happy birthday label.

Thanks for sailing on in today. Have a nice weekend!

Vintage Neighbors

No...I'm not talking about Larry & Vi who live next door to us. I'm talking about combining two stamp sets offered during SAB...Vintage Labels and Good Neighbors.

The Good Neighbors set is such a fun little set. I enjoyed creating this bight cheery neighborhood. The scallopped "best wishes" sentiment was created using the Vintage Lables set. I love any set that can be used with my punches, so this one was a must have for me!

Colors used: Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie and Certainly Celery. The patterned paper is from the Sweet Pea stack.

Have a beautiful day in your neighborhood!

Vintage Birthday

Another busy weekend! It all started with the fabulous Catty Cruise. I sure enjoyed visiting all my crewmates blogs to see their fantastic creations using new products from the Occasions Mini. I also really enjoyed all the wonderful comments many of you left for me here regarding my projects using Vintage Vogue. Quite a few of you said you were visiting me for the first time. I hope you will continue to stop by and visit. Thanks to all who stopped by and took the time to leave me a sweet comment...I appreciate it!

Yesterday I held my annual Sale~A~Bration party. Thanks to everyone who came. I enjoyed stamping and visiting with you all! Here is the first make and take we made yesterday.

This uses a combo of my favorite new things: Vintage Vogue, Very Vintage Wheel, Vintage Labels, (sentiment) Beautiful Wings Embosslits & Scallop Trim Border. A party isn't complete without prizes, right!?

A couple lucky ladies had their name drawn during my Sale~A~Bration and they received these adorable matchboxes filled with embellishments. I am still waiting on a couple orders to draw the name of the winner of the free stamp set...so if you couldn't make it to my Sale~A~Bration but would like to place an order, let me know today and you can be part of the drawing as well.

Thanks for stopping by today!