Love Birds

Nothing says "Happy Anniversary" like a couple of caged birds.  Right??!?

Well, probably not, but I thought they looked cute.  This is a card I made for the 25th anniversary of a couple of friends of ours.  The stamps are from the Aviary set and the sentiment is from the Chit Chat Rub-Ons. The Scallop Trim Edge Punch and a bow of Very Vanilla finish things off. 

Simple Saturday

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Blings and Bows

Tags?!?  Yup.  I had this purple punched butterfly, so not sure of the colour of it, other than purpley,  stamped it willy nilly with flowers from the Cottage Garden set in Concord Crush, then stamped a sentiment from Occasional Quotes in the same colour.  You'll note I used the shimmer spray experiment (Champagne Shimmer Paint with rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle) and it worked ok for 2 pumps so I stopped.  Woot! I blinged my butterfly and used some just-happen-to-have-a-matching-colour-ribbon to finish things off.

This tag is one of my more 'elegant' creations.  No shimmer spray or bling. Flowers from the Friends Never Fade set are willy nilly stamped in Crumb Cake on the tag base.  I punched a Night of Navy circle with my shiny new 2 3/8" scallop circle punch and layered a white circle on top with my sentiment (it IS SU, but I don't remember the name of the set at the moment).  I used some Very Vanilla ribbon to make a bow and glued it to the bottom.

Extraordinary

More chipboard coasters! Yes.  That's more shimmer spray.  I used Pacific Point in the flower with some Crushed Curry for a centre.  I had a just-happen-to-have-a-matching-colour bling and some designer paper that had the right colour combo.   Then I used my Scallop Trim Edge punch on a strip of Pacific Point to tie it all together.  The sentiment (not SU) is stamped in Marina Mist.

I'm thinking I should get a display system for all of my chipboard creations.  Something like a spinny display with clips, there's a few out there that intrigue me.  Would be nice to have these on display on the mantle or coffee table or something. 

My first challenge

I really don't think I'm ready for this, but what the heck, it'll be fun. 
So this is my first challenge and it's from HSS - Hand Stamped Sentiments

This is my take on their sketch Challenge #25.  You'll notice that I've whipped out my Scallop Trim Edge punch, again.  The only SU items are the Pear Pizzazz cardstock, the Friends Never Fade floral and the sentiment from Occasional Quotes.  This is actually a card for my Mother's birthday which is tomorrow, I'm hoping she likes it.

Ok, so...that wasn't so bad. Challenge #2, where are you?

Size DOES matter...

I love me a 3" square. So easy and quick to throw together.  This thank you card is a base of Daffodil Delight embellished with a strip of Blushing Bride Designer Paper that's been edged with the Scallop Trim punch (of course!) The sentiment is from the Little Bit of Everything set.  Can't tell from the picture but there's a little bit of bling in the centre of the flower.

Oh the Pizzazz....love Pear Pizzazz.  This little cutie also uses a stamp from Little Bit of Everything and also has some bling in the flower centres.  The sentiment is stamped in Rich Razzleberry and little flowers in Blushing Bride.  A touch of just-happen-to-have-a-matching-colour ribbon and TADAAA!!

Sunny Day

So this one was a quickie.  I used Marina Mist as a card base...really like this colour! The designer paper is just-happen-to-have-a-matching-colour lying around and the ribbon is from the same "lying around" collection.  You'll note that the edge of the designer paper is punched with the Scallop Trim Edge punch and then I wove/I've woven/I weaved the ribbon through it. The stamp set isn't from SU (sorry) but I did use Marina Mist, Crumb Cake (the perfect colour for sand!) and Daffodil Delight in the stamping process.

I don't have a lot of SU supplies, but I do LOVE to create, so when I do sometimes it's all SU and sometimes it's not, but I ALWAYS try to use some SU in my project, as my collection grows that will change, but in the meantime......

Simple Saturday

I'm a small town girl, so when I have to go to a BIG city on business, there's a flood of fear, excitement and fear! A couple of months back I had to take a trip to Vancouver and we stayed at the Sheraton Wall Centre....this is a pic of the tower across from ours we were on the 21st floor and this is from our window, so there's way more tower at the bottom that you don't see (it's a two tower hotel, who knew?) Had fun, met a great group of people and most importantly....I shopped!

The Tri-Fold Victory

My first Tri-Fold card! Woot!  So this baby is Early Espresso with Designer Paper in Blushing Bride.  The stamp from Cottage Garden is done in Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride and Melon Mambo.  A strip of Old Olive that's been edged in the Scallop Trim and stamped with willy nilly Cottage Garden makes the belly band that holds the card closed.  I've stamped another solid flower in Blushing Bride and Melon Mambo then cut it out and decorated the band with it. 

Below you can see what it looks like with the band removed.  I like it.  Victory!

Me....(di)stressed?

This may be one of those 'experiments' that don't turn out as expected, maybe I just need to get used to the look.  I've taken a chipboard coaster and stamped with the Watercolour Trio in Rich Razzleberry and Pear Pizzazz, the butterfly isn't SU (sorry).  Then I created a fancy schmancy shimmer spray with the Champagne Shimmer Paint and rubbing alcohol. It was ok for the first couple of spritzes and then the bottle clogged and it came out in sputters and spurts.  The overlay piece is vellum and the sentiment is from Occasional Quotes.  My thoughts? Meh.

Ok, so....another chipboard coaster that's been shmooshed with different inks along the edges; Rich Razzleberry, Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive and then some Champagne Shimmer Paint directly on the surface with a towelette.  The stamp (of course) is the Hydrangea from the Because I care set.  I did some sanding and spritzing and shmootzing to get a weathered, distressed look.  Not feelin' it really.  I'll have to work on technique.

Versamark Backgrounds

I'm loving the Scallop Trim Edge punch, it's a quick and easy embellishment.  The card base is Cameo Coral, the floral is from Cottage Garden set stamped in Blushing Bride and Pear Pizzazz. The Designer Paper is just-happen-to-have-a-matching-colour, which is also edged in the Scallop Trim.  The background of the card is stamped willy nilly in Versamark then embossed with Iridescent Ice....lovely.

This card is the direct result of consulting with the Colour Coach.  I started out with Tempting Turquoise and the Coach recommended Pear Pizzazz and Rich Razzleberry. What do ya know? I had both of those kicking around.  The Scallop Trim strip is from the Designer Series Paper Pack in what else? Pear Pizzazz.  The sentiment is stamped in and layered on Rich Razzleberry.  The background is a Versamark stamped image from the Friends Never Fade set that I just repeated willy nilly.  I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out and can safely say that I wouldn't have come up with this combo on my own.  The sentiments on both of these cards aren't SU, sorry, but they looked really nice together.

Tag I'm it

When I first saw the Long Fellows set I immediately had some interesting ideas, the first was to split the stamped image (like I did above).  This is stamped in Cajun Craze with the background stamped from Tiny Tags in Versamark ink. Finally a scalloped strip of Petals and Paisley Designer Paper and some just-happen-to-have-a-matching-colour paper flower, gem and craft floss wrap it all together.  

Ok, last tag for a while...at least a day or two.  Still lovin' the Hydrangea from the Because I Care set (can you tell?)

Small Squares

Nothing says happiness and joy like an owl. Right?!?  Well, this little owly friend is in the Aviary Stamp Set and he's adorable.  The base for this little 3" square card is Pumpkin Pie.   I've stamped Mr. Owl in Cajun Craze, the branch is actually a stem from the Cottage Garden set stamped in Old Olive and the little blossoms are from the same set but stamped in Blushing Bride.  The sentiment is from Pocket Silhouettes. I used the new 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch for the stamping and a circle of Peach Parfait Designer Paper to layer it on. Quick, easy and cute!

The Daffodil Delight card stock is so bright and cheery you can't help but smile.  This little gem is from the Cottage Garden set stamped in Melon Mambo and Old Olive, with a Basic Black outline.  A little strip of just-happen-to-have-a-matching-colour ribbon and a simple sentiment from the Fashion District Rub-Ons.

Crumb Cake does sound far more delicious than 'Kraft' doesn't it? The base of this card (another 3" square) is in Crumb Cake, Pear Pizzazz Designer Paper punched with the Scallop Circle Punch and the For You Flower stamp that's been stamped in Old Olive and punched with the Fancy Flower Punch are layered on a strip of Pumpkin Pie that's been trimmed with the Scallop Edge punch.  Another easy card, that's a snap to make.

Simple Saturday

Ok, ok...it's Sunday, but I was a bit busy yesterday so here's my simpleness for the day.

Later today the FIFA World Cup Finals will happen (finally). Sadly, all of my teams have been eliminated one by one (Italy, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina) so....I'm cheering for Spain. We'll see how it goes.

Back soon with some new stuff. Promise.

Christmas? Already?!?!

Yes, I know it's still July.  I'm not jumping the gun, BUT Stampin' Up! has just released images from the upcoming Holiday Mini Catalogue to the demonstrators!

Giddy!!

So many wonderful things, not just for Christmas but for Halloween, Thanksgiving etc.  Being a Demonstrator,  I'll get to order goodies in advance so I can play  and share my triumphs, I may even share my failures, not that I have any ;)

So be on the look out in the coming weeks for some Christmasy goodness!

Friends Never Fade

Today I am playing with the Friends Never Fade set.  The card is a base of Crumb Cake (Kraft) with a slice of Old Olive and some Brocade Background designer paper.  Stamping is done in Old Olive with the sentiment from the Whimsical Words set.  That set is sooo handy! A wisp of Very Vanilla ribbon softens the bottom of the card a bit.

The next card is my favourite kind of card to make the 3"x3" square, so quick and easy.  I used some more of the Brocade Background and a piece of Whisper White to stamp my sentiment in Basic Black, and of course the Basic Black Taffeta Ribbon brings it all together.   

Tag time! Did I mention I enjoy making tags? This was a new technique for me - "embossed resist".  I used the floral image from the Friends Never Fade set and stamped it in Versamark randomly on my tag, then embossed using clear embossing powder.  Once the tag was back to room temperature (ha!) I shmooshed Crumb Cake and Old Olive ink all over the tag willy nilly.  When I got the look I wanted I used a towelette to wipe the ink away from the embossed images.  I'm not horribly patient, so I used my heat tool to speed up the drying time then attached my sentiment tag (stamped in Old Olive on Whisper White, layered on some Crushed Curry) tied a little craft floss that I had lying around (in the perfect colour) and BOOM! another tag.

**note that 'shmooshed' and 'willy nilly' are actual technical terms and I will use them often to describe my technique.

Simple Saturday

The view from the edge of one of our 'local' lakes.  Beautiful.

Tempting.....

 Ok, so I loooove it when things come together so easily.  The card base is Tempting Turquoise, I had some ribbon that matched perfectly so I used that around the piece of Petals and Paisleys paper.  I used Versamark Ink to stamp one of the Watercolour Trio stamps on the Turquoise cardstock, because I didn't think it looked 'right' blank. The sentiment is also from that set. With this card I could have easily used Cherry Cobbler or Old Olive ribbon and it would've still looked great.

Watercolour Trio

Here's some play time with the Watercolour Trio stamp set.  The first is a tag. I love tags, they're quick and easy and are always handy to have around for last minute giving.  I shmooshed (technical term) Daffodil Delight all over the tag willy nilly, not wanting to cover the entire surface.  Then I stamped one of the images in Early Espresso and repeated stamping without re-inking, this creates a softer image.  A fancy flower punch in Crushed Curry with the sentiment from the same stamp set and a bit of Black taffeta ribbon and BOOM! gift tag in a snap.

The card is probably just as easy.  Same technique of stamping without re-inking on the Bermuda Bay card stock, only this time I used Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive.  The sentiment is from Occasional Quotes and the Designer Series Paper is from the Wintergreen collection.  I threw some ribbon I had lying around across the bottom and pulled everything together.