More Quilt Cards

I've been having a great time making some cards on commission, inspired by some really amazing quilts. I didn't do much stamping on these cards, but rather let the colors, patterns and textures stand on their own.

Here are some samples of what I've come up with. I won't give all the details here, but would be happy to answer any questions about the cards.

Quilt Square: Close to Cocoa, Rose Red, Early Espresso card stock; Garden Green, Regal Rose dsp; Big Shot, Birds & Blossoms Sizzlits, Texturz Plates.





Tiled Image: Real Red, Basic Black, Very Vanilla card stock; Real Red 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon; Best Blossoms stamp set (retired); Real Red, Always Artichoke, Close to Cocoa Classic Inks.



Top Note Quilt: Garden Green, Rose Red, Close to Cocoa, Whsiper White card stock; Big Shot, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Top Note Die.



Here's the inside:

Christmas in September

I'm getting a start on my Christmas card designs; here is the first one. The stamp set is one I got last year, but it is still current: Snow Swirled. In addition to the images seen, there is one more, larger, snowflake and two Christmas-y sayings.

Don't you love these retro colors? Card base is Marina Mist, and I've added Cherry Cobbler and Early Espresso along with Shimmery White as my neutral. To give the snowflakes an extra sparkle, I stamped them in Whisper White Craft Ink, coated with Heat-n-Stick Powder, heated with my embossing tool, then added Dazzling Diamonds glitter and heated once more.

This fold was supposed to be a Joy Fold card, but I didn't really do it right. I think the front panels are supposed to overlap as well as have the panel to hold the card closed.

Are you thinking about Christmas cards yet? I'd love to hook you up with some excellent products; just let me know!

Balloon Bunch

I tried out the color combination for last week a second time--and this time I used the right colors!



This Balloon Bunch, a birthday card for a 6 year old boy, combines three of Stampin' Up!'s In Colors: Concord Crush, Pear Pizzazz and Peach Parfait. I used the Enjoy Every Moment stamp set for the polka dot image and the jumbo "enjoy" sentiment on the card front. The balloons are stamped with an image from the retired Birthday Whimsy set. I also used the birthday cake + candles image and the "happy birthday" sentiment from that stamp set on the interior of the card.

Card base is standard-size Crumb Cake (formerly Kraft), and I added a matching envelope. The Whisper White panel is cut just 1/8" smaller in each dimension (4 1/8" x 5 3/8"). To create the bunch of balloons, I stamped six balloons on Whisper White, cut them out, and arranged them on the card front. Then I carefully picked them up one at a time to stick them together. I tied a short piece of Linen Thread to each balloon, and tied the strings together to form a bunch. I used an old spiral from the Hodgepodge Hardware kit to anchor the strings in the center of the O. Mini Glue Dots and Stampin' Dimensionals helped me hold everything together.

I know it looks like a lot of work, cutting out all of those balloons. But with the Paper Snips, it really isn't hard. Of course, I had Catherine's help, too.

Elements of Style

I am so happy with my Elements of Style clear mount stamp set. I really like everything about it: great images, versatile sentiments, clear mount option. Here are some cards I made Friday night with some of the new In Colors.



Here was a failed attempt at a color combination challenge over at SCS. Failed only because I used the wrong color (Blushing Bride instead of Peach Parfait.) Oh, well. I like the result, though.

I have a new way that I'm creating the curved torn edge like you see here. Maybe everyone else always does it this way, but I just figured out that if you cut with a scissors on the curve and then distress it, it is easier to get a smooth curve.




For this weeks Workshop Wow Demo Challenge, I made these two cards, inspired by a sugar cookie! I needed to make a CAS card, use punches or dies and keep it mostly vanilla or white. I kept with the color combination I was using for the first card (again with the Blushing Bride instead of Peach Parfait). On this card I also used my color spritzer tool, which is perfect for using my In Colors Stampin' Write Markers.

For the second card, I decided to add a couple of more punches and use the spotlighting technique. I'm not that thrilled with the way the coloring turned out using the Markers, but I guess I just need more practice! That's always fun.

I hope you like these cards, and I'd love to hear your comments.

Project Home

What is it about stamping? Everyone loves it, or so it seems. Tonight I spent the evening at our church, where we are hosting Project Home for the month of September. While our congregation has been involved for many years, this is only the second year that our building has been needed as an overflow site.

Tonight we had 19 guests: moms, dads, kids. We took digital photos and made a quick run to get prints made. Then we helped the guests make envelope scrapbooks to hold the photos.

This project is super-simple, and it is a hard one to mess up. All you need is 3 envelopes, some card stock, adhesive and embellishments of your choice. Here's what you do.

1) Open the flaps of the envelopes and adhere the bottom front edge of one to the flap of another. Do this twice, and you should have a string of 3 pockets that you can fold together.

2) Cut 3 card stock pieces (5 1/2" x 4 1/4") to serve as the backing for your photos. If you like, you can attack a brad or ribbon pull on the long side.

3) Crop your photos so they'll fit on the 3 pieces of card stock. Make them no larger than 5 1/4" x 4" for best results. If they are smaller, that's OK--just add some journalling or embellishments in the margins.

4) Decorate the exterior of the envelopes if you'd like. DSP is a simple choice. Stampin' Up!'s envelopes are a good quality paper, and also take ink well, so you can easily stamp right on the envelopes, too.

5) If you're feeling adventrous, add a length of ribbon (adhered with Sticky Strip) to tie the booklet shut.

This project is a great one for kids and grown-ups alike, and is a quick gift idea for that person who has everything.

A Froggie Sketch

When I am looking for some quick inspiration for my card-making, I almost always turn to the Splicoast Challenges Forum. Most of the cards I post here on my blog have their roots in either the Weekly Demo Challenges or the open forum challenges.

A favorite of mine is the weekly Sketch Challenge. It is so inspiring to see how different stampers take the same layout and tweak it to fit thier individual styles and materials. Some of the sketches are pretty complex, but most of them are fairly easy to duplicate. Also, the challenge hostess always posts a diagram and includes measurements for her sample. What a great service!



Last week's Sketch Challenge looked like a good candidate for me to use with my Hoppy for You stamp set. As you probably know, I really like monochromatic color combinations, so I had fun using 3 different shades of green (Always Artichoke, Certainly Celery and Old Olive) for this creation.

To make the frog leap out at us, I folded a little strip of card stock into a "W" shape, and adhered it with Mini Glue Dots. The only other embellishment I included was some paper piercing around the smallest square.

Thanks for checking out my blog; I'd love to hear where you are getting your inspiration!