Flowers for Daisy

Sorry for the shadow in the photo on this card...for some reason I couldn't take the picture without it showing a shadow. This card uses the colors Blue Bayou and Soft Sky (sadly both are now retired, but I stocked up on lots so I am good for quite a while) andalso the SU background Polka Dot.
I colored the daisy using the ink from the top of the stamp pads. I really like the sentiments included in this stamp set...this one is my favorite.
Have a great day! :o)

Merry and Bright

Lately I have been in a bit of a Christmas card making mood. I made this card using the stamp set Merry and Bright as well as some retired SU designer paper. It is a nice and easy layout! I used the Cuttlebug on the bottom half of the card to add the Swiss Dots embossing.

This past week I bought a new Penny Black snowman stamp from Hobby Lobby....they were having a wonderful 50% off sale on wood mounted stamps this week and I kept myself to only one! There were others I wanted, however they were gone so that helped my wallet. :o) I will share that the next day or two...right now the images are colored and waiting to be placed on a card layout.
Have a great day!

Best Blossoms

When I saw the new Cuttlebug folder, Leafy Branch, I knew it would coordinate perfectly with the stamp set Best Blossoms (it is my favorite SAB stamp set from several years ago). I used a piece if Mellow Moss cardstock for the CB layer and sponged it with Mellow Moss ink to make the leaves really pop! The Pale Plum card base was randomly stamped with the tri-flowers from the stamp set in Pale Plum ink. To tie is all together, I used the flowers from One of a Kind with the matching punch to make the 5 flowers on the branches. The final touch was Diamond Stickles in the center of each flower to make them sparkle. Easy, peasy! I plan on making lots of these to have handy with different sentiments.
Have a great day!

Seasonal Whimsy

The last couple of mornings have been quite cool...quite a difference from the heat and humidity that usually defines the month of August. I am so looking forward to the fall.... I love the crispness of the air in the mornings and the leaves changing! Since the mornings have been so pleasant, I wanted to make a thank you card using some nice fall-like colors. I had picked up this striped designer paper from Hobby Lobby (the Paper Studio) and thought Really Rust and Handsome Hunter would be the perfect compliment.

This coming week school starts back up. We are ready to start another homeschooling year...this will be my 9th year homeschooling..the years have just flown by! I am looking forward to more of a schedule for the day. I will still be stamping when I can, it just won't be as frequent (as the summertime) so hopefully on the weekends I can get a lot of cards made :o)
Have a great weekend.

Joy Fold Card

I wanted to make a Joy Fold Card today and using this week's color challenge: Close to Cocoa, Ruby Red and Blush Blossom. I don't have designer paper in Blush Blossom so I thought I would create my own using stamps. I used the stamp set Flowers for Daisy again by Gina K. Designs because I just love the verse and want to send this card to a friend (knowing that this verse will bring about comfort as His Word always does).

I stamped the flowers in Ruby Red Craft ink and embossed it with Clear Embossing powder. The sentiment I broke off into two separate pieces by omitting and centered the verse reference in the circles with a stamped sprig on either side. The edges were sponged in either Close to Cocoa or Ruby Red and I added some ribbon tied on a clip to complete the card.
I hope you have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Paper Piecing

One of my favorite techniques in paper crafting is paper piecing! It is a great way to use up all of those little designer paper scraps so that their is little to no waste. Gotta love that! I knew when the stamp set Retro Boutique was released by Gina K. Designs that it would be a good stamp set to use the paper piecing technique. The dress alone screams "Paper Piece me!", and the purses do as well! I love purses that have a cloth design to them...now it does mean more purses to coordinate with outfits, but it is all good! :o) Purses are just like shoes, you can never have enough...

Back to the card... I used the SU colors: Chocolate Chip, Pink Passion and WW because it coordinated beautifully with the Basic Grey Sultry 6x6 paper pad. I also used the Paisley BG from Stampin' Up! for the background design on the Pink Passion layer.
The purses were stamped with Staz On Black and then paper pieced using Basic Grey Sultry. All in all an easy card to put together. Have a great day!

Flowers for Daisy

I like to have plenty of "Thinking of You" cards on hand for when the occasion arises. This was a fun card to make using the stamp set Flowers for Daisy that was designed by Asela Hopkins (it can be purchased from Gina K. Designs and $4.00 from every set will be donated to the American Cancer Society through the end of August). I used the colors Close to Cocoa and Mellow Moss cardstock/ink and they compliment each other nicely. The flower was colored using Yellow Blaze Bic It marker and it was a little too bright for the card so I toned it down a bit by going over it with Creamy Caramel. That really helped as you can see in the close up....



The flower is cut out and adhered with a stampin' dimensional to make it really stand out.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great day!

Hip Hop Accessories

This card uses the stamp set Hip Hop Accessories, designed by Melanie Muenchinger and sold by Gina K. Designs. This giraffe is just the cutest image, I love the eyelashes! I stamped the giraffe using Brilliance Graphite Black pigment ink, sprinkled it with clear embossing powder and heat set it. The giraffe was colored using Bic It markers (they can be found at Walmart or Target). I sponged over the mustard layer with More Mustard after I put it through the Cuttlebug and it helped the Tiny Bubbles to really stand out. I am loving that technique! All in all, this was a simple card to make!
Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Recipe:
Stamp set: Hip Hop Accessories
Cardstock: Not Quite Navy, Close to Cocoa, More Mustard and WW
Ink: Archival Brilliance Graphite Black, More Mustard and Not Quite Navy
Accessories: Bic Mark It markers, Clear Embossing Powder, Tiny Bubbles CB folder, Martha Stewart border punch, Word Window punch. brad, Brown Polka Dot Organdy ribbon and Mustard Grosgrain

Baroque Motifs

I saw the Sketch Challenge for this week on SCS and decided to combine it with the Color Challenge. The color challenge was to use the colors Elegant Eggplant, Taken with Teal and Old Olive....great colors but I wasn't sure of them together. :o) I had to figure out a way to get the Old Olive color in there so I stamped the flourish in Olive after it had already been stamped in Eggplant. I am pleased with how it lined up, just a little off so that you can see it was stamped twice. All of the flowers were stamped in Taken with Teal and I even cut around the larger one and popped it on a dimensional and added a little bling to the center. The Taken with Teal layer of cardstock was punched with the new Scalloped border punch...great punch that is so easy to use!
Have a great day!

Always

Always is one of my favorite Stampin' Up! stamp sets...mainly because I love the image of the bird. It is just a classy looking stamp set. I added some bling to the center of the letter "a" and used the Martha Stewart punch on a strip of Elegant Eggplant cardstock. I ended up carefully stamping the berry sprigs in Certainly Celery after I had put together the card because it looked a little too stark, I think it helped...

Someone had asked what Copic markers are...They are markers used for coloring images in which you can blend colors together without leaving coloring lines like water based markers (Stampin' Up! markers are water based). The downside to Copics is the expense and a learning curve in using them.

Have a great day!

Pun Fun

This is a fun little card I made using yet more scraps in my stash. :o) Honestly, the scraps seem to grow overnight! The designer paper is from a year ago and the stripe design was/is my favorite from the pack. I used my Jumbo wheel See You Around for the top part of the card and the sentiment is from All About U.

There are only two weeks left until school starts up again. I cannot believe how fast this summer has flown by! I homeschool my two oldest so we all really enjoy the summer break. :o)
Have a great day!

Flowers for Daisy/Weathered

Copics right now are so popular and I am not sure that they are something I want to invest in...so I recently bought the Bic Mark It markers to try (some have said they are similar to Copics in not leaving lines). I thought this image would be perfect to see how they work. I colored the petals of the flower in a circular motion and they colored nicely. I also wanted to make my own designer paper using stamps, so I used the double daisy from the Flowers for You stamp set as well as the SU Weathered BG. I double stamped the Weathered BG inverting it to give good coverage. I am really pleased with how it turned out.

My only tip with the Bic Mark It markers...use something other than Staz On Black and SU Basic Black. The markers cause the stamped image to bleed a little bit so I will be looking for the Memento ink next time I go to a craft store.
Have a great day!

60th Birthday Card

This is a card I made for my dad who turns 60 years old today. This is a "big" birthday so I wanted to make something special and include the number, since 60 is significant! :o))) I am not one to get down about age at all and neither is my dad so this will be perfect for him. I had to use several different stamp sets to put this together: All About U, Whimsical Numbers and Headline Alphabet. The color scheme is muted and masculine, using Basic Black and the retired In Color: True Thyme.
Hope you have a great day!

Flowers for Daisy

This is a little later post than normal. It has been a full day and last night my little one decided he didn't want to sleep quite as well as usual, so I am running on fumes! :o))

This is another card made from the Flowers for Daisy stamp set (by Gina K. Designs). The SU colors Sage Shadow and Barely Banana seemed to be a close enough match to the designer paper so that is what I used for coloring the focal image, as well as layering the card. I colored the image using reinkers and watercolor crayons on Confetti White cardstock. The Whisper White cardstock was not holding up real well to the AquaPainter, so I had to use a sturdier cardstock. I find that is often the case with Whisper White when I am coloring a larger image.
Have a great day!

Crayon Resist Technique

This is a card I made for the Sketch Challenge on SCS. When I ordered the Flowers for Daisy stamp set, I knew I wanted to try the Crayon Resist technique with the petals on the daisy. The designer paper is from a pack of scrapbook paper I got years ago from a scrapbooking kit (K&Co., I believe). Crayon Resist is such a fun technique to try and easy too!
Have a great day!

Flowers for Daisy

Over the weekend I received the stamp set I ordered from Gina K Designs: Flowers for Daisy. This is the stamp set that for each stamp purchased through the month of August will have $4 donated to the American Cancer Society.
I have a lot of ideas for this stamp set, but this is what I was able to put together with some scraps I had sitting around. (Sorry the picture is a little fuzzy, the light wasn't that good when I took it.)

One of my favorite color combinations is Pale Plum and Perfect Plum. In fact, they are first colors I purchased when I took the plunge into stamping! :o)
Off for a busy day here so hope you have a great day!

Artfully Asian

I recently discovered that Walmart is now carrying Martha Stewart paper crafting supplies. That is good news for me because ever since my little one has arrived (and gas prices as well), it is a rare occasion when I actually make it to Michael's or AC Moore. While at Walmart last week, I bought this cute border punch. I was also considering the scalloped punch, but having just bought the SU one knew I want a little more variety. I know I can use it both with card making and scrapbooking so it will have dual purposes. :o) However, I may have to get the other one too... Martha Stewart's punches really punch smoothly and are easy to line up!
I hope you have a great day!

Pun Fun

This is a fun birthday card using the stamp set Pun Fun. I made this card for a challenge of using the negative from a punched out piece of cardstock. Basically, I punched an large scalloped oval out of the red cardstock, put it through the Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles folder and then centered the stamp image underneath it.
Have a great day!