Thank You Cards

I had a small surprise party for my husband's birthday earlier this month, and these are the cards I made to thank the people who came to help celebrate.

I had this idea, and think it really worked out well - even better than I expected!

I used Wisteria Wonder cardstock as a base, and the En Francais stamp with Versamark ink on the background, and covered it with silver embossing powder.

The flowers were stamped, punched, inked... and the butterfly was stamped on vellum and colored on the back with markers.  I like using rhinestones for the body.

I've also started adding a button with a rhinestone center on flowers - I like the 3 D effect.

Usually a design works better one way or the other, but this card, I was able to switch it up, and the design felt good with the flowers on the left, and right sides so even though they're almost identical, each card is a bit different.

Please enjoy!

Cousin's Birthday Gently Falling - Leaves

My cousin Jon recently moved to Texas...  I'm sad I can't be there too, but time will tell.  His birthday is this coming Saturday, in early September.  Can't remember how old he'll be, but I used to babysit for him - especially on New Year's Eve.  I loved it, because when Aunt Nancy and Uncle Paul came back from their night out we would sit up and talk for a long time!

On to Jon's card.

  It's really difficult making cards for men - especially since I'm in flower mode right now, playing with ideas, and finding new ways to make and mount them...  I thought why not do the same things with the awesome Gently Falling set.  Lots of colors on the leaf bases - Old Olive, Cajun Craze, Pumpkin Pie, Baked Brown Sugar.... and gold embossing powder as the overlay.  It doesn't sparkle, but it sure does glow!

This piece is a close-up of the leaves.

I used the stripes embossing folder, and ran over it with a brayer loaded with Early Espresso.  It gives a GREAT barn board effect.  Better than I planned!  :)

The sentiment on the front is also done with Washi tape, and I used the negative piece as a frame to highlight the sentiment.

Please enjoy!

Dress Forms - 1

After their appearance in the Stampin' Up catalog, and looking at all the beautiful creations from other demonstrators and crafters, I decided to give these dress forms a try.

I had this Modern Medley paper out and just enough from another project to cut this dress.  It's simple, I just added rhinestones and a double bow I already had - just to play around.

The bow is pretty large for the dress, but I've seen that in fashion magazines, so I decided to leave it just as it was.

There are so many beautiful creations out with this set of dies, I'm definitely going to play more with them as well as improve my designs.  :)


Please enjoy!

September's Christmas Cards!

On September's Christmas cards, I'm using almost all new product from the Holiday catalog, except one.

I recently rediscovered how much I really love the Stampin' Up Silver Embossing Powder!  It gives a beautifully smooth, shiny surface.  You don't have to fight it, you don't have to worry much about coverage, etc.  It just embosses beautifully.

SO, with one of the newest stamps that really caught my eye, I decided to make it really stand out and use very unusual colors.....

Before I go much further, let me tell you September's Challenge:   Sentiment!

Your 6 (or more cards) must have the sentiment as the focal point on the cards.

  I used the very last of my (small) stash of the new Smoky Slate cardstock, embossed it and inked the edges.  The black rectangle shows off the silver embossed piece spectacularly.  This is one of those cards that don't translate well on the computer, but are stunning in person!

I also love the new rhinestone embellishments.  The gray ribbon is a retired satin ribbon that just needed to be at the bottom. 

Here you can see the completed 6 cards.



Please enjoy!!!

Windows and Washi Tape

Yes, another one of the window cards, but this one is very special!

Another Stampin' Up Demo and I were having a chat on FB the other day (Thanks, Mary Director!), and we were talking about Washi Tape.

She gave me the GREATEST hint!  ** Use a 5 x 3 1/2" piece of cardstock, cover it with Washi, and then cut shapes from it!

Here you can see two of the shapes I cut.  I still have one negative and one positive piece from each of these to play with on other cards. :)

LOVE the colors!  Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, and the Washi Tape I got from Queen and Co. at the Tulsa CKC show at the end of August.


If you REALLY look closely at the card, by scrap booking and card making standards, it's unbalanced.  Maybe so, but I love the look, and with the addition of the colors, it works so well!

Here you can see the inside view.  I like using the cut out piece as a base - sort of an optical illusion when you first see the card.

Please enjoy!!

August Stampin' Up Club Cards

Well, one card, and one project this month.  :)

NEW framelits card die sets aren't even in the catalog - but they're available.  There is the one shown - the Label Framelits, and a Circle Framelits die set.

Click HERE to see more information about these really CUTE card options!

  Three colors on this card - Black, Vanilla, and Bermuda Bay.

The way the framelits cut, it makes a flip card!  You can see the front image at the top, and when you pull the front panel, the label flips around to the back for a sentiment or handwritten message option.

 These framelits card dies are so versatile!  So so many options!  I'm working on one myself, and will show it here on the site soon.


These muslin bags show up in the Holiday catalog this year, and we used the Banner kit dot stencil and the sponge daubers to color these really adorable bags!

Colors?  Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight, and Tangerine Tango.  We broke out our "old" ink pads for inking up the bag.  I really like the stencil effect of the lighter center, and darker edges.

They didn't take long at all, and are so cute!  While we were working on these, we came up with a list of things to do with the bags.... color ideas, stuffing items...  so many options!

I used a diagonal design on the bag, one of the ladies used only two colors and alternated them... one of the girls used a random design, and our sample used a horizontal design with the dots. 

This could be a really cute design for a card front.... muted background colors - polka-dot background.  And - the Banner kit has 2 other stencil options, so polka dots aren't the only way to go!

Please enjoy!