Christmas Blessings - Try Stampin' on Tuesday

What a beautiful, beautiful day today.  The sun is shining brightly, and its hard to believe that Christmas is coming upon us so fast.  Just yesterday, I booked 3 more craft shows, so you can understand why the challenge with Try Stampin' on Tuesday here   turned out to be a Christmas card.

 

Technique:  The base card is Cherry Cobbler, matted with Very Vanilla.

I started by stamping the setiment on the top of the card - with Cherry cobbler ink.

Beneath the sentiment, I embossed a 3 1/2 by 3 3/4" of designer paper with the Northern Flurries folder, and than attached banners from the Be of Good cheer designer paper to the left upper end.

A piece of dotted scalloped Cherry cobbler grosgrain ribbon and bow completed this level.

To add some bling to the card, some dazzling diamonds was applied to the embossed snowflakes, and some rhinestones applied to the upper right.

Stamp: Many More Messages

Ink: Cherry Cobbler

Papers: Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Be of Good Cheer designer paper

Accessories: Northern Flurries folder, rhinestones, dazzling diamonds, 1/2" scalloped, dotted cherry cobbler grograin ribbon,

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Owl Goes Back to School - LNS Challenge 186

Challenge 186 is back to school time.

One of my grandson's is starting kindergarten and the other Grade 1.  I made each of them an Owl card - of course both are different, but the idea is the same.
This card is a CASE from Maria Pane.  I changed a few things but essentially the card is very similar.

Technique:
Owl:  Owl builder punch.  Whisper White was sponged around the outside of the body so the owl could be seen better against the black background.
Books:  Word Window punch.  Lines and word made with Basic Black marker
Apple:  From Fruits & Blossoms stamp set.  Inked with markers and then cut out
Numbers:  Junior Alphabet die.  The bar under the 3 was made from the letter 1; the plus sign from 2 letter I's
Stamp: Fruit And Flower
Ink: SU markers (Basic Black, Chocolate brown, Real Red, Gumball Green, Whisper White
Papers: Basic Black, Whisper White, Early Espresso, Real Red, Tangerine Tango, Gumball Green, Bashful Blue, Very Vanilla, retired designer paper
Accessories: Owl builder punch, Word Window Punch, Junior Alphabet die

Black & White Spooky - Try Stampin' on Tuesday # 77

This card was inspired by my own adventures with bats in my house. Although I had only 1 bat in the  house at a time, it felt like there was a whole swarm of them.  See blog post: here and here When I saw the sketch with Try Stampin' on Tuesday here I immediately visualized bats flying through the air (I wonder why!!)
Here is my card:

 

The Bats were embossed with black embossing powder on Whisper White paper. To make the card a little more spooky, the right hand corner was embossed with the spider web embossing folder. The color scheme of black and white was deliberately chosen to enhance the "spookiness"

Although the designer paper is from last year, it fit into my theme perfectly.

Stamp:  Wicked Cool

Inks: Versa Mark

Papers: Basic Black, Whisper White, Retired Halloween designer paper,

Accessories: Black embossing powder, Spider Web embossing folder, mat pack & paper piercer, Lots of Tags (Label 3) die, Ovals die, black rhinestones (retired), 5/8" Black satin ribbon (retired), Scallop border punch, dimensionals

Butterfly & Flower - Challenge 182 LNS & Rubber Redneck Color Challenge #75

Challenge 182 with the LNS group is Inlaid Embossing.  I used that technique along with the color challenge with Rubber Redneck #75 here 

 

First I embossed a piece of Whisper White card stock with the Framed Tulip folder.
Then,I  punched out a flower in Real Red and made a Lucky Limeade green center and Lucky Limeade leaves.  The butterflies were punched out in Pacific Point.   All were attached to another piece of Whisper White Card Stock and then run through the Big Shot using the Square Lattice embossing folder. Pearls were attached to the butterflies.
I chose not to put a sentiment on the card.

Paper: Real Red, Whisper White, Pacific Point, Lucky Limeade
Accessories: Framed tulips embossing folder, Square Lattice embossing folder, Bird Builder Punch, Butterfly punch, Blossom punch, Pearls.

Birthday Quilt pinwheel card

Man its a hot one out there today.  Even the mail man stopped me this morning to ask to have his water bottle refilled.  I'm outdoors at Jazzfest on Sunday so I hope it will be a bit cooler then.
So, today is a good day to catch up on odds and ends - in the basement.

I had a special request to make a birthday card for a quilter.  This is what I came up with.  I used a tutorial I found here

To make the quilt portion I used 1/4" strips of Summer Smooch designer paper in a pinwheel pattern. This type of card is a great way way to use up strips of designer paper.

Stamp: Petite Pairs
Ink: Basic Black
Papers: Lucky Limeade, Whisper White, Summer Smooch designer series paper, Island Indigo
Accessories: Argyle embossing folder, Curly label punch, Rich Razzelberry designer button, white baker's twine, glue dots

Baby Pram Card

I saw this baby pram on Pinterest and challenged myself to case this carriage using Stampin' Up products. It turned out to be quite easy to make.

Pram:

• punch two 2 1/2" circle punches in Primrose Petals.
• cut 1/4 out of each circle
• score a line on the left side of one circle and tape.  Secure 2 pieces together
• Using the scallop circle die #2 die cut the largest of the circles using twitterpated designer paper
• Cut in half
• Find the half way point of this half along the long edge.
• From this point score lines to the points between each scallop
• Fan fold to create a concertina.  Attach to top of pram
• Using the scallop border punch, punch a strip of twitterpated designer paper and attach to pram.
• Cut two 3/4" circles for the wheels.  Using glue dots attach whisper white designer buttons.
• Using a white gel pen make markings along the edge of the carriage and around the wheels.
• Attach 1/8" Rose Red taffeta ribbon and a jewellry tag labelled "baby"
• The pram is attached to a Lucky Limade scallop circle embossed with Elegant lines folder - using dimensional

Recipe for the rest of the card:
Papers: Primerose Petals, Whisper White, Twitterpated designer paper, Island Indigo
Accessories: Fancy Fan folder, Scallop border trim punch, pearls

Nature Walk Birthday - The Friday Mashup #62

I have a lot of robins in my back yard this year, and they really love the bird bath I put under the lilac tree. As I was taking a picture of this card (outside on my patio table) one robin was singing his little heart out. It wasn't a hard decision to put a robin in my card for the Friday Mashup, the challenge for which was to feature a bird using the sketch provided. Here is my card:

 

Stamps:  Nature Walk, Petite Pairs

Inks: Soft Suede, SU Markers 

Papers: Soft Suede, Country Comfort designer Series paper, Whisper White

Accessories: 1" circle punch, 3\8" Soft Suede taffeta ribbon, dimensionals

Fabulous Florets Sympathy - Unscripted Sketches 161

This is my card for the challenge with Unscripted Sketches this week. I used the color challenge with the LNS group: Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, and Wild Wasabi in conjunction with the sketch.

 

The floral image was stamped with Daffodil Delight, embossed with clear embossing powder, cut out and attached to the embossed stem and leaf with a Stampin' Dimensional.  The leaf and stem were embossed with Wild Wasabi embossing powder.

Stamps:  Fabulous Florets, Loving Thoughts

Inks: Basic Black, Versa Mark, Daffodil Delight

Papers: Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Melon Mambo

Accessories: Square Lattice embossing folder, Wild Wasabi embossing powder, Clear embossing powder, 5/8" White Satin ribbon, Scallop border punch

Paper Baby Shoes in a Clear Covered Box - Hand Stamped Sentiments

The challenge with Hand Stamped Sentiments 120 here is to make anything but a card.  So, I decided to make some baby shoes out of paper and make a clear covered box to put them in.
To make the baby shoes I used the template from here

The shoes were made using Pretty in Pink designer paper.  The strap was attached to the side with a Boho blossom flower and a pink brad.  Along the top of the strap a strip of pearls was attached.
The image on the toe was stamped with Versa Mark on Whisper White paper and embossed with pewter embossing powder.  It was cut out and attached to the toe using the fabric adhesive roll. I put some 1/8`` ribbon around the soles of the shoes.

The box was made using 4 die cuts of the scalloped envelope die and using sticky strip to adhere them together. The base was decorated with the other side of the Pretty in Pink designer series paper. The pink ribbon adhered around and on top of the DSP  is retired SU ribbon. The clear acetate top was made using a medium window sheet (now retired)

Stamp: Every Little Bit
Inks: Versa Mark
Papers: Pretty in Pink, Pretty in Pink designer paper, Whisper White
Accessories: Scallop Envelope die, Medium Window sheet, 1/8 `` pink ribbon, 3/8 `` pink ribbon (retired SU), Pewter embossing powder, fabric adhesive roll

I also made a coordinating 4 by 4 card and an oval tag to go with the box.  Although the card is not part of the challenge, I am putting it at the bottom of this post.  I used the stamp set: Baby Bundle and Teeny Tiny Wishes, and the image was colored using SU markers.

You an make these shoes in any color.  I have made them in blue, yellow and green as well.  They make a great baby shower gift (use in place of a ribbon on top of a present) or a gift to a new mom.

For You from Me - The Friday Mashup 61

This week's Friday Mashup is all about scraps/scraplings here A scrapling is a little card, notecard, or tag that you would make out of the scraps that are left from your card stock after making a square card. Since I rarely make a square card, I had other sizes of scraplings left, and I decided to make a regular A2 card using scraps.  So scraps for the scrapling!

My scrapling was the center square piece of Natural Ivory.  I took 1 1/4" squares of retired designer paper and made a quilt-like design with a retired epoxy brad in the center.  A remnant of blushing bride twitterpated ribbon was placed on the right side.

The base card is Soft Suede.  The next Pretty in Pink layer was also left over from a project, and I found some small pieces of cardstock in Soft Suede, Natural Ivory, and Pool Party and punched them into circles.  These I attached to the Pretty in Pink card stock and embossed it with the Square Lattice embossing folder (Inlaid Embossing)

The decorated scrapling was attached to the card using dimensionals.

Stamp: Friendly Phrases
Ink: Soft Suede
Papers: Soft Suede, Natural Ivory, Attic Boutique designer paper (retired),Pool Party, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Square Lattice embossing folder, 1 3/4" circle punch, 1 1/4" square punch, 1 3/4 by 7/8" Oval punch, Blushing bride twitterpated ribbon, Epoxy brad (retired), dimensionals

Heart Flower Anniversary - Sketch Frenzy Friday

Boy we went through a hot spell of weather didn't we?  Thank goodness a cold front moved in, gave us some rain and generally cooled things down to more normal levels.  It's supposed to rain all day today and frankly I'm okay with that.  My garden needs a good drink.

It's also June 1st - and the start of the new Catalogue season as well as the mini blog hop with Sketch Frenzy Friday.  I just got my catalogue yesterday, so I haven't ordered anything yet, but I did preorder the Summer Smooches paper, from which I made today's card.

The sketch today is by Sharon Wheet, and I must admit I struggled a bit with this one.  Hope you like what I finally did with it.  I'll post the sketch after my card:

 

This is an Anniversary card.  The flower was made using the large Heart punch.  I saw this on Pinterest and just had to make it. Isn't it cute? I traced the tutorial to Raquel Alves here The tutorial is in another language, but the pictures are easy to follow.

Stamp: Teeny Tiny wishes
Ink: Early Espresso
Papers: Pumpkin Pie, Naturals Ivory, Summer Smooches designer Series Paper, Lucky Limeade
Accessories: Antique Wallpaper embossing folder, Labels edgelet, Adorning accents edgelet, Designer summer smooches fabric brad, Small heart punch, 1 3/4 by 7/8" Oval punch, Word Label Punch, 5/8" Victoria crochet trim, rhinestone. Large heart punch, 1 3/8" circle punch.

Now it's your turn to create something using Sharon's sketch.  Upload your creation to the Sketch Frenzy Friday homepage here
Don't forget to visit the blogs of the other team members and check out how they interpreted the sketch.  Leave comments as we all love them.  Your next stop is Patrice's blog here

Looking forward to seeing your creations.
Stay healthy and I'll see you next week.

Fruit & Flowers - Sketch Frenzy Friday

Market began this week, but it was pretty quiet.  This market started 5 years ago with maybe 10 vendors, myself being one of them.  The purpose was to raise funds for a medical center that was being built in the community.
Now the medical center is built, doctors have moved in, and the market is thriving.  Yesterday there were 52 vendors - quite a growth.  If only the customers were there, but it is early in the season.  The Trent Severn waterway just opened and the long weekend is over.  Next week a bus load of 50 people will be arriving to take in the market then go for a boat cruise.  Hopefully the sales will be better.

Today, being Friday, is blog hop time with Sketch Frenzy Friday.  Hope you have the chance to join us, visit all the team members blogs and check out their creations.
This week's creation is by Robbie Rubella.  The sketch will appear at the bottom of the post because for some reason Blogger is picking the top picture, the sketch, to feature on facebook, my blog posts etc
I did not put a sentiment on this card, choosing to put one on later when I have need for a specific card.

Stamp: Fruit & Flowers
Inks: Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade
Papers: Calypso Coral, Whisper White,  Berry Blossoms designer paper, Lucky Limeade
Accessories: 3/8" ruffled Lucky Limeade ribbon, Two step owl punch (center of flowers), Button, dimensionals

Here is the sketch by Robbie:

 

Now it's time for you to make a creation of your own using Robbie's sketch.  When done, upload it to the SFF home page here 

Your next stop on the tour is Patrice's blog here 

Take time to visit the other team members blogs.  A link to the next stop will be on Patrice's blog or check the sidebar of this blog.

I can hardly wait to see your creations.

Have a wonderful week.  Stay well, stay active, and I'll see you next week.

Best Wishes - In Wildness - Stampin' Queen's Challenge #40

I have been making a lot of masculine cards this week, and the card for the sketch challenge with Stampin' Queen's challenge #40 here is no exception.

Just a slight change from the sketch.  Seeing as my card is a masculine one I chose not to put a bow on it, but rather a piece of ribbon tied in a knot.

Stamps: In Wildness, Petite Wishes
Inks: Early Espresso, Not Quite Navy
Papers: Not Quite Navy, River Rock, Well Worn designer paper, Whisper White, Early Espresso
Accessories: Small oval punch, 1/2" denim ribbon, Square lattice embossing folder, dimensionals, Sizzlet buttons

A Basketful of Strawberries - a Tutorial

One of my clients telephoned me a couple of days ago wanting to know how to make the 3D strawberries featured on Pg. 99 of the current catalogue.
I didn't know --- so of course  I had to figured it out so that I could show my client.
I put together this tutorial for you, after all, it is strawberry season, and strawberry teas and socials are sprouting out all over the place.
As a bonus, I now have a decorative basket to put on my craft table next week.

Supplies:

• Flower Folds Bigz XL die
• 5 Petal Flower punch
• Polka dot embossing folder
• 3/8" ruffled  Lucky Limeade taffeta ribbon
• Bone folder
• Tombo glue
• Glue dots
• Scissors
• Designer paper of choice
• Cardstock - calypso coral, or poppy parade for the strawberry, and Lucky Limeade for the top

Forming the Strawberry:

Step 1:
For each strawberry, punch out 1 (one) 5 petal flower punchie in Lucky Limeade; one flower in either Calypso coral, Poppy Parade, or designer paper in whatever size you wish using the Fun Folds die.  I used the smallest for a few strawberries, and then the next size up.

Emboss the flower using the polka dot embossing folder.

Step 2:
Cut out 2 of the petals from the flower.  You are left with 6 petals.

Step 3:
Apply glue to one petal and overlap with the petal on the other side of the gap. You now have a 5 sided strawberry body.

Step 4:
With a bone folder, curl up the ends of the flower petals to form the top of the strawberry.

Overlap each petal slightly and place a glue dot to hold the petal in place.  Alternately you can punch out a 1" circle and glue to the top to hold the petals in place (I have done that in this sample), but  I find the glue dots easier.
Do this for each petal.

Forming the Top:
Step 5:
Curl the ends of the 5 Petal punchie using a bone folder

Apply glue to the center and half way along each petal.
Attach to top of strawberry and hold in place until glue gets tacky.

Step 6:
Tie a piece of 3/8" ruffled Lucky Limeade in a knot and attach it to the top of the strawberry.
Your strawberry is not complete.

Now wasn't this easy? Unfortunately the 5 petal flower punch is about to retire the end of this month and Stampin' Up informs me there are no more punches available for order.
Let me know what you think.

The Open Sea Retirement - Unscripted Sketches #159

I love doing the challenges with Unscripted Sketches, especially when there is an additional Piggyback challenge to the sketch. The additional challenge this week is to add ink, which could be a stamped image, distressing, or anything creative.
Here is my card.  I decided to make it a retirement card because a lot of us feel like sailing off into the sunset when our full time jobs are finally behind us.  Wouldn't it be lovely just to sail the open seas without a care in the world?

I added ink in several ways.  First of all the background which was created by dropping reinkers onto wet watercolor paper and letting the colors run.  Before the ink dried I added a bit of coarse sea salt creating the design in the background that almost looks like fireworks going off.
The second way was stamping the image using Black Stazon ink and embossing with clear embossing powder.  The focal image was then distressed by inking the edges with Early Espresso ink.  Actually all the edges of the various card elements were distressed with Early Espresso ink.

 Here is a close up of the focal image showing the reinker created background.

Stamps: The Open Sea, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: Reinkers (Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso, Pacific Point), Black Stazon, Early Espresso
Papers: Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Retired SU designer paper, Watercolor paper
Accessories: Clear embossing powder, Hodgepodge hardware (vanilla), 1" circle punch, Word Window Punch, Oval Punch, 1/8" Early Espresso taffeta ribbon, dimensionals

Now here is the sketch:

Tool Time Retirement - Technostamper #223

Hope everyone in Canada is having a wonderful holiday weekend.  The weather has been absolutely gorgeous and so hot I've even had to put the air conditioning on.  I think this is the earliest I have ever had to do that.
Like some of you I have been a bit distracted of late trying to get my gardening done and getting ready for market which starts tomorrow. As a result I haven't been blogging as much as I usually do, but hopefully that will change as I adjust to my new schedule.

Today's card is for the Monday Lunchtime Technostamper Sketch challenge here. 
I wanted to make a masculine card because that is the theme for the challenge with the LNS group and I am on their design team (although I don't post until Saturday).  Most of my cards this week will have a masculine flavour as they are very popular at market.

The stamp set "Tool Time" is retiring, as is the designer paper "Well Worn", so again, I am making this a retirement card.

Each tool was stamped using Black Stazon ink and colored with markers.  The metallic portions of the tools was painted with Platinum all purpose ink.  The tools were then cut out and mounted on a piece of crumb cake card stock embossed with the polka dot embossing folder - to mimic a peg board.

Here's the sketch:

 

Stamps:  Tool Time, Teeny Tiny wishes

Inks: Black Stazon, markers, Bravo Burgundy

Papers: Bravo Burgundy, Crumb Cake, Well Worn designer paper, Whisper White,

Accessories: Platinum all purpose ink, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/2" circle punch, dimensionals

Happy Anniversary - Challenge 173 LNS

This week's challenge was a lot of fun - to use designer paper that is retiring.  Like a couple of the other design team members I have been making cards all week using designer paper that is about to retire.  Just check out the earlier postings on this blog.
Now, back to Challenge 173---
I chose to use the faux quilting technique to showcase the Beau Chateau designer paper.  This is such an easy technique and you get a lot of "bang for your buck" .

Here's the card for Challenge 173

Using a 1 1/4" punch, I punched a sample of each side of the designer paper for a total of 12 different pieces.  These I attached randomly to a 5 by 4" piece of whisper white card stock, which was then run through the Big shot using the Top Note die. Wallah you have a quilt!! This technique can be done to feature any designer paper.

Stamp:
Ink: Marina Mist
Papers: Marina Mist, Very Vanilla, Beau Chateau designer paper, Whisper White
Accessories: 1 1/4" square punch, Top Note die, Finial press embossing folder, 5/8" Marina Mist seam binding, dimensionals

Double Embossing Thank You - Sketch Frenzy Friday

The craft sale didn't go as for some reason my name got left off the list. Well, these things happen and I wasn't too upset.  I'm still pretty sore from the surgery.
And now it's time for another mini blog hop with Sketch Frenzy Friday. Hope you will join us.
Today's sketch is by Patrice, a terrific sketch where you can really use some of that designer paper that is about to retire. I'll show the card first.

To make the panels I double embossed a piece of Morning Mocha designer paper  - using Versa mark ink on the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and then embossing with gold embossing powder.

Stamps: Teen Tiny wishes
Inks: Soft Suede, Versa Mark
Papers: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Mocha Morning specialty paper
Accessories: Stripes embossing folder, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Modern Word Label Punch, Word Label Punch, Large Pearls, gold embossing powser, 3/8" soft suede taffeta ribbon

Now let`s see your creation using this sketch.  Don`t forget to upload it to the Sketch Frenzy home page here.
Your next stop on the blog hop is here where you will find the link to the next blog.  Don`t forget to leave comments along your journey.

Stay well, and I`ll see you next week.

Thank You With All My Heart - Unscripted Sketches #158

The weather was a bit cooler in Southern Ontario today - which was a bit of a shocker when I left the house this morning!  I fully anticipated that it would be as warm as it was yesterday, but a cold front moved in mid morning and cooled everything down.

This is a card was done for the sketch challenge with Unscripted Sketches here, which was perfect for featuring retiring designer paper.  I made a few alterations in the sketch, using ribbon to divide the paper rather than cutting the paper, and placing the upper embellishments in a vertical rather than horizontal alignment.

The flowers were stamped with Poppy Parade ink and embossed twice with clear embossing powder.  The images were then punched with the 3/4" punch and placed on top of a 3/4" square of Whisper White paper using a dimensional.

Stamp: With All My Heart
Ink: Poppy Parade, Marina Mist, Basic Black
Papers: Poppy Parade, Whisper White, Just Add Cake Designer Paper, Marina Mist
Accessories: 1/8" Marina Mist Taffeta ribbon, 3/4" circle punch, Pearls, Beautiful Wings sizzlit, Oval Punch, Clear embossing powder

Here is the sketch:

Up in the Air Congratulations - Technostamper 221

This is a very versatile stamp set because when I decided to use it for the Technostamper Monday sketch challenge #221 here I started out thinking about a graduation card, but after I had the card made, I changed my mind and thought that it would make a cute new baby card. So, I am leaving the inside blank, except for some decoration.

This card features the retiring hostess set "Up in the Air" and retiring designer paper Paisley Prints designer paper. The ribbon is also retiring. All edges were sponged with Always Artichoke ink.

Here is the sketch:

 

Stamps: Up in the Air
Inks: Black Stazon, SU markers, Always Artichoke
Papers: Old Olive, Whisper White, Paisley Prints designer paper
Accessories: Labels framelits, 5/8" Old Olive satin ribbon, dimensionals.