More Painted Petals

I merged two stamp sets for this card.
Painted Petals and
Butterfly Basics

 I used my Stampin' Up markers to make this very colorful card.  Daffodil Delight, Blackberry Bliss, Bermuda Bay, and Melon Mambo.  I stamped the flowers twice, reinking with the markers for each stamping.  I then added the Wild Wasabi leaves.

The butterflies are stamped off once in each color listed above, punched, and added to the card with dimensionals.

Card Refills for Mom (Part 1)

I was quite upset to find out that one of my very favorite stamp sets, Stippled Blossoms is retiring.  It is not continued in the Stampin' Up 2015-2016 catalog.

I guess Ms. Shelli didn't hear me when I told her this was my very favorite stamp set... and we had a quiet moment together with no one else around in Dallas.  Oh well.  I will continue to use it! 

 The last time Mom and Dad came to visit, Mom brought her envelope holder from a Christmas ago saying it was empty, and showing me how empty and lonely it was. 

 After some searching and thinking - the thinking part of the creative process always takes me the longest.  How do I want the cards to look?  What embellishments?  What colors?  Composition?  Placement?  Oh, so many thoughts!!! 

 SO, this is the first of two sets she received.  If you know the Stippled Blossoms set, you know it's a 2 step stamping set with a flower base, and the piece I used for these cards is actually the detailed top piece.

 All I did with these cards was to take the top piece and stamp it as close as I could with some overlapping going on.

 I used coordinating card stock for matting and stamping the Happy Birthday on the white card stock.  From each mat, I punched two flowers to add to the center piece.

 So now you've seen each of the six cards with its envelope flap stamped as well.  I left the individual cards quite large so if you click on them, you'll see a very large image indeed.

 I haven't yet mentioned colors.  Pacific Point,  Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Blackberry Bliss, Bermuda Bay, and Tangerine Tango.  I'm not sure why the Blackberry Bliss photographs so muddy.  It's quite a pretty purple in person.

As any stamper does, I am most critical of my work, and will make the mat pieces smaller next time I make a version of these cards so more of the background shows.  Just thought I'd put that out there.

Painted Blooms

Today I present two very simple cards - quite quick to put together with just 3 colors.

 Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight, and Perfect Plum ink.  Add some pearls, and the sentiment in Perfect Plum.  Use a sponge or sponge dauber in Plum to add some color to the edges.

Mat the Whisper White with Daffodil Delight, and the card base is Perfect Plum.

So simple, but very pretty in person.

Thinlits Dies, and a New Technique

YES!  I'm still here....  I promise!  See?  Still here!

March 11th was my last post?  I've been quite recalcitrant about keeping up here on the blog, but I've been busy creating!

Here I've got a new technique using the Hello You Thinlits dies.

 First, choose some colors - I used the same for each card:  Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Tangelo Twist, and Daffodil Delight.  Color each on the E block (I'm pretty sure it was my E block), not leaving space between.  Then spritz with water.  The one above, I didn't spritz very heavily, and got lots of dots.
Place it on your 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Whisper White, and hold it there for a moment.  Remove, and allow to dry.

 Then.... cut another piece of Whisper White card stock and leave it plain.  Cut the "Happy" from both the dried stamped colorful piece, and the white piece.  I use the Dryer Sheet Technique to put the pieces back together.  Don't lose any of the pieces!  I just left them on the dryer sheets until I was ready to reassemble. 

 Here's another example where I colored the blocks darker and sprayed the water heavier as well.

This is one of the finished pieces, using the Painted Petals stamp set.  LOVE it!!!

Here are the products I used:
Hello You Thinlits Dies by Stampin' Up!
Painted Petals Photopolymer Stamp Set by Stampin' Up!

Christmas Cards 2015

I had a thought that I would give up the Christmas Cards throughout the year UNTIL I sent out my cards this past December.
I had them all prepared - signed and sealed - ready to go.  All I had to do was address them (didn't use printed labels this year), and stick on the return address labels and stamps.
After all the other work I did, it was a HUGE time saver for me!

 So, on I go, merrily making my Christmas cards all year long.  It's probably not possible that I'll stick with the 5th as I've always done, but I still plan to get 6 cards done, and I DO plan to continue with Christmas in July, and make one (a different design) for each day of the month.

Aren't those bows adorable?  It's the new bow punch available in the Spring Occasion catalog!  I used some of my old favorites, Be Of Good Cheer DSP, and my very favorite Merry Christmas stamp.

January 2015 = 6 Christmas Cards

13 Thank You's

I received some wonderful gifts, and needed to send out some Thank you cards.

I found this idea on Pinterest, and made a few changes.

 Stamp Set:  Work of Art, and Lots of Thanks
Ink colors:  (left)  Pacific Point  (right)  Bermuda Bay

 Ink colors:  (left)  Melon Mambo,  (right) Daffodil Delight
below, on the top left, Blushing Bride.

I really loved this design, and I hope you do as well.

February Stamp Club Cards

We made 2 cards, and a pin/flower project for February.

The first one uses DSP to make the candles, and 2 punches to make the flames - the bird punch, and the mini ornament punch!  We stamped and then die cut the sentiment.  This would be a perfect 'guy' card.

LOVE this Happy Birthday card!  The stamp comes from the current Sale-a-bration catalog, and is colored with blender pens.  

No, it's not paper - it's fabric!  We die cut it on the scallop border die, layered it onto a piece of circular sticky strip, and added a brad to the center.    This could be an embellishment on a project, or a pin.

Card in a Box with a link to a Tutorial

I do so love learning new crafting techniques!

One of the girls from my card club brings samples she makes in other groups.  We lit upon this Card in a Box she made.  

I've seen them before, but as you know, in person it's always more stunning!

HERE is the tutorial I watched to get measurements, and tips on making these gems.  Have paper and pencil ready so you can write down your own instructions.  Doing this helps me immensely!  I can remember watching the video while I reread my written directions.

One very AMAZING thing with these cards - they fold up to fit into a regular A2 envelope! 

 I (again) used my DSP Gingham Garden - I really love that paper!  It's so versatile, and the bright colors are usually what I favor in my crafting.

 Main colors:  Pear Pizzazz card base, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, and Island Indigo.  I used the same colors on the larger butterflies - coloring them with markers, rhinestone bodies (as always) and then some Diamond Stickles to make them glitter.

 The larger flower centers are PK Glitz embossing glitter on regular brads...  Burgundy, Azure, and Honey.  The smaller flowers have rhinestone centers.

 Love that butterfly stamp and punch combination!