Quick and Easy Raining Flowers

This is a quick and easy card to make up for any occasion.  Sometimes a simple, single layer card is what the occasion calls for.  Of course I cant go COMPLETELY flat so the Early Espresso flower center is popped up with a dimensional and I added some Linen Thread around the spine.  :)

Supplies:
Stamp Set(s) - Curly Cute, Raining Flowers
Card Stock - Very Vanilla
Ink - Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories - Linen Thread, Dimensionals, Corner Rounder Punch

Aviary Fun

I just LOVE the Aviary set!  So adorable and very versatile!  This cute card is great for any occasion.  This set is also a great way to demonstrate one of the benefits to Clear Blocks. 

You can put the three bird cages on one block so to be sure they go on to the card lined up.

The set the bird stamps on the birdcages to you know they are lined up.

Put the clear block down on to the birds so you can ink them up.

Once inked stamp them on the birdcages!  Easy Peasy!

Supplies:
Stamp Set(s) - Aviary, Touch of Kindness
Card Stock - Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Bashful Blue
Ink - Bashful Blue, Wild Wasabi, Sahara Sand, Early Espresso
Accessories - Subtle Buttons

Bloomin' Away

I purchase the Build a Blossom set and coordinating punch from the mini catalog and arent they fun!  I torchured my Stamp-A-Stack group by having them stamp and punch enough petals and leaves to make 4 of these cards.  I thought they were going to kill me, but at the end they all loved them!  I got the idea for this card from fellow demonstrator Carol Seitz.

Supplies:
Stamp Set(s) - Build a Blossom
Card Stock - Whisper White, Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso
Ink - Wild Wasabi, Marina Mist
Accessories - 5/8" Marina Mist Satin Ribbon, Ribbon Slide from Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware, Build a Blossom Punch

My Halloween Card

October is almost here. When it comes to card making and crafting the holiday season is the best time of the year and it is beginning!!! My next couple of posts will be some more fun Halloween and fall cards then I will be full into Christmas!!! Can you believe it is only 12 weeks out!


Here is the Halloween card I plan to send this year.  I am a big fan of cartoon, light cards.  This card is pretty straightforward and I got to pull out my Watercolor Pencils and color!

Supplies:
Stamp Set(s) - Fang-tastic
Card Stock - Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White, Basic Black, Old Olive
Ink - Basic Black
Accessories - Big Shot, Spider Web Embossing Folder, Watercolor Pencils, Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Dimensionals, Raven Lace Ribbon

Happy Holidays Christmas Tree

Christmas continues!  This is another great card in which the idea came from the catalog (pg. 31).  I just love how the set up this two page spread to show you how everything can coordinate!  They even did the thinking with the color combinations!

In this card I used the technique Masking. For the Large Cherry Cobbler Orniment and the Narrow Daffodil Delight Orniment I stamped them on paper and cut them out. Then I stamped them where I wanted them on the tree. Before staming the Small Orniment I covered the other Oriment with the cut out mask. This gives the effect that something is behind something else. VERY EASY!

Supplies:
Stamp Set(s) - Holiday Happiness
Card Stock - Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Ink - Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories - None

Trendy Trees

Still in Ohio.  My grandfather passed away Monday evening.  This has been a very stressful and difficult week.  The hard part is over with the funeral being yesterday.  I will visit a little while longer and then head home Tuesday night.  I will be glad to get home and get back to my stamping room and begin to get back to a regular routine.

Here is a great card that I did in my April classes.  This card is perfect for the ever difficult males of your life.  This can function well for a thank you, birthday, or Father's Day card.

Supplies:
Stamp Set(s) - Trendy Trees
Card Stock - Whisper White, Handsome Hunter, Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip
Ink - Sage Shadow, Handsome Hunter, Chocolate Chip
Accessories - 1/4" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Big Shot, Polka-Dot Texture Plate, Dimensionals, Paper Snips

Awash With Flowers Vase

I created this card based on this one.  I modified it using the new Awash with Flowers set that is part of the Two-Step Stampin' promotion.  I just love this set!  It is so versatile with four different flowers to create and endless combinations.  Hurry to get yours before the offer is over (April 30th)!  Otherwise you will have to wait until the new catalog comes out in July.

I used colors that will soon be retiring (Pixie Pink and Green Galore).  I have to admit that I dont really like these colors, they are too bright for me.  But the card came out adorable!  The vase is the Ornament Punch with the bottom trimmed off.  I popped it up with Dimensionals.  After I took this picture I decided there was too much white space on the right and added a fly trail by hand with the Basic Black Marker.  The saying is one that I like from the Simply Said Set.  I probably should have stamped it in the Pixie Pink as it is kind of hard to see.  Oh Well.  Live and learn.

Supplies:
Stamp Set(s) - Awash With Flowers, Simply Said
Card Stock - Whisper White, Pixie Pink
Ink - Pixie Pink, Green Galore, Basic Black
Accessories - Big Shot, Emblosslit-Beautiful Wings, Ornament Punch

Back Into the Swing of Things and Color Renovation

I am back to blogging!  And just in time too.  Stampin' Up! has announced a Huge change!  But more on that in a minute.  Thanks for all the support with my layoff!  I am still job hunting but now that things have settled down and I have actually finished working at my previous job, I am able to get into my stamp room a little more!  The last couple of days I have been working on cleaning and rearranging my stamp room.  I will post pictures of that "renovation" later this week. 

(Making you wait another minute on that big announcement.) 

Yesterday I was able to go and hang out with a couple of my stamping girls during the day!  That was a first for me and we had So Much Fun!  We made two cards that were modifications of cards that I have done in the past.  Yes, we were together for half a day and only made two cards!  We were having so much fun talking and teaching that we didn't accomplish as much as we originally thought we would.  Here are the two cards we made.

This is the same card as here; however we used Vintage Vogue for the flower top instead of Awash with Flowers.  The only reason we made this change is because when I was grabbing stamp sets to take I grabbed another set instead of the solids part of Awash with Flowers.  I was so mad at myself but we recovered nicely.

This card is using a retired set one of the girls was playing around with.  I just think it is a beautiful card!  The dimensions are 5 1/2" x 2 3/4".  We used Bravo Burgundy, So Saffron, and Kraft paper.  The background is stamped with White craft ink and the flower is stamped with Basic Black.  We then used Bravo Burgundy and Blender pens to color in the flower.  Just varying the amount of ink on the blender pen and mixing in the white craft ink that wasn't quite dry, we were able to get the different shading.  It is hard to tell from the picture; however, on the Bravo Burgundy we stamped a retired background stamp with Basic black to give the card a nice texture.

Color Renovation
Okay I held out long enough, now for Stampin' Up!s big announcement!  We are going to have a color renovation in the 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog released on July 1st!  I love that Stampin' Up keeps things fresh!  Colors and styles are constantly changing and cycling—and Stampin’ Up wants to stay on top of current trends.
First, for the very sad news; to accomplish these great changes some current colors will retire as of June 30. Everyone has their favorite colors, and I am no exception. If some of your favorites are retiring, you will definitely want to stock up on them before they’re gone. You can place orders for retiring colors through June 30, while supplies last. Click here to see a list of the retired colors.

The good news is that there are some beautiful colors being added. Our core color line will be reorganized into four color collections of ten colors each for 40 core colors. And then each July 1st 5 additional "In Colors" will be released and best of all, they will last for two years each time instead of just one as they do now! (so that will be 45 colors in the 2010-2011 catalog and then 50 in the 2011-2012 one.)

Within the new four core color collections we will be getting 6 brand new colors (including a great one called Crumb Cake that is an ink version of our current Kraft card stock) plus 10 former In Colors that were very popular are returning! Click here to see the new color families.

Now I know you're wondering about things like pastels, markers, watercolor crayons, etc. that you may have in your stash. Stampin' Up is going to be offering lots of great kits to retrofit lots of existing color tools you may already own. I will have more on that soon.

I am so excited about the new colors and I can't wait to share them with you soon!!!

Awash with Flowers - Color Challenge

I am back with the Awash With Flowers Stamp Set!  I am really loving this set!  Check out this blog post for more info on how to get this set.

I am meeting with fellow Demonstrators today and our card challenge from last month's meeting was to use our least favorite color in a card.  Well, I don't know if Bermuda Bay is my least favorite color but I have never used it.  The pack of paper is still untouched from when I bought it last June.  So I decided that was the color I was going to use.

I pulled out another layout from my card history.  If you are wondering where these are coming from, I had mentioned that my husband bought me a netbook for my birthday last weekend.  Well in transferring and reorganizing all my files and photos I came across a folder of almost all the cards I have ever created.  I dove into the project of trying to organize them by stamp set (a MAJOR task I must say).  But in playing I am seeing all these great cards I have created and I am slowly bringing them back to life.  Nothing like casing yourself.  If you are just starting out or even if you are well into making cards, I highly recommend taking a picture or scanning an image of the card before you give it away.  You will enjoy the "catalog" you have created and it is a great place to go for inspiration.

This card is actually 4 different stamps.  I love two-step stamping, it makes detailing SO easy!  The ribbon is not tied around anything,  I just made a simple knot and then glued it over the stem.  Very simple card!

Supplies:
Stamp Set(s) - Awash with Flowers
Card Stock - Bermuda Bay, Soft Suede, Whisper White
Ink - Basic Black, Bermuda Bay, Certainly Celery
Accessories - 1/2" Soft Suede Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon

Two-Step into Spring-Awash with Flowers-My Birthday

I had my birthday this weekend!  I had such a great time!  It was very relaxing.  We saw several movies and for my birthday dinner my husband took me to a sushi bar and we ate until we were stuffed.  Wonderful!  I wanted to share my birthday card from my husband.  The thing I look forward to most is the card from him.  He is SO sweet!  Though the present wasn't too shabby either, he got me the netbook I have been drooling over!  Now it is even easier to be mobile and connected to all of you!

Now for today's project and April's special.  I hinted in a previous blog that in April Stampin' Up! was offering a special stamp set that will be in next year's catalog.  Well here it is!

It is called Awash with Flowers.  I am just in love with this set!  The black lines are one stamp and the color images are another stamp for a total of 18 stamps.  It will only be available in April then you have to wait until the new catalog to get your hands on this beauty.  Along with this stamp set there will be some other current Two-Step Stamp Sets on sale but you will have to wait for another post of those ;)

I got to finally sit down and play with it and it is GREAT!  My stamping helper likes it too. :)  My four girls are always available to "help". 

Here is the first card I made with the set.  I am doing this card as a shoebox swap at my Demonstrator meeting this Thursday.  I pulled this layout from a card I made YEARS ago.  I am so glad that I kept pictures of almost every card I made!  I had a lot of fun playing with this design.  The flower is more than meets the eye at first glance.  See the second picture to see what I mean.  First I stamped the Basic Black outline.  Then I mixed Frost White Shimmer Paint with Rose Red reinker (just one drop).  I used a Sponge Dauber to sponge the mixture on to the stamp.  I stamped it right onto the card (be careful not to let it slide around).  For the leaves I just used Certainly Celery ink.  The Scallop Oval/Ovals Punched saying is attached with Dimensionals.

Look at that Shimmer!  So cool!  This is a great card for many different occasions.

Don't forget that all these great items from the Holiday Mini Catalog are still available (including the Shimmer Paint)!

Supplies:
Stamp Set(s) - Awash with Flowers, Short & Sweet
Card Stock - Rose Red, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink - Basic Black, Certainly Celery, Rose Red reinker
Accessories - 3/16" Black Gingham Ribbon, Frost White Shimmer Paint, Scallop Circle Punch, Large Oval Punch, Small Oval Punch, Dimensionals, Sponge Daubers

Thank You Butterflies

I found this idea on the Demonstrator site, Stampin Community.  There are many wonderful ideas and great support from demonstrators on this site.  You gain access to this site when you become a demonstrator.  Join today and learn of all the benefits and support you can receive.  Just go to http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/nicolebstampin/startyourownbusiness to learn more.
The password is nicolebstampin

Supplies:
Stamp Set(s) - Flight of the Butterfly; Short & Sweet
Card Stock - Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Old Olive, Whisper White
Ink - Perfect Plum, Pale Plum
Accessories - Butterfly Punch, 1/2" Old Olive Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Designer Label Punch

Chicken Curry Color Challenge

What a week!  I am so glad to have a weekend to stamp!  Too bad the Superbowl will get in the way of a perfect weekend.

Today's post is my submission for Dreena's Chicken Curry Color Challenge I just love her challenges, her inspiration come from the best things!

I had great fun putting these colors together.  The requirements were to use Real Red, Night of Navy, Crushed Curry, and Whisper White.  I used the retired sets Botanical Blooms and Bitty Basics for the flowers.  I stamped the flower then used a mask to stamp the leaves.  I then hand cut out the entire flower and attached it to the card using Dimensionals.  The thank you label is the Lots of Tags Sizzlit for the Big Shot.  I stamped the thank you from the Short & Sweet stamp set in Crushed Curry and then used the marker to go around the edge and highlight it as well.  The DS paper is from the Patterns Pack III Level 1 hostess gift.  The rhinestones I added were for a little bling.  Not sure yet if they are too much or not.

Masking-A mask is the same image cut out of cardstock.  When you lay it over the image it protects it and makes it so whatever you are stamping second (in this case the leaves) appear behind the object.

Supplies:
Stamp Set(s) - Short & Sweet; Botanical Blooms (retired); Bitty Basics (retired)
Card Stock - Night of Navy; DS Patterns Pack III; Whisper White
Ink - Crushed Curry, Real Red, Old Olive
Accessories - Lots of Tags Sizzlet; Big Shot; 5/8" Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon; Dimensionals; Rhinestones (not SU)

February Birthday Card

I have been trying since about August last year to make all the birthday cards I need for the next month by the middle of the month.  I even fill them out and prep the envelopes, then when I see the birthday approaching I just toss them in the mail.  I have been pretty successful so far.  This post is my birthday card for February. 

I know, I have been using this set ALOT.  I can't resist, I just LOVE it!  I am really happy with how this card came out.  It is a little hard to tell in the picture but I used the small butterfly and the flower along the right edge of the card.  The butterfly is popped out with my usual technique.  I just put a strip of Sticky Strip on the body of the butterfly and then bent up the wings along the edge of the tape.  The image below the punched butterfly is the solid butterfly stamped on the paper first.  Hope you enjoy.

Supplies:
Stamp Set(s) - Flight of the Butterfly
Card Stock - Real Red, Pink Pirouette (retired), Whisper White
Ink - Real Red
Accessories - Filigree Brads, 3/4" Real Red Grosgrain Polka Dot Ribbon, Butterfly Punch, Sticky Strip, 1/16" Circle Punch

Flight of the Butterfly Pretties

I needed a card for someone that was down in the dumps and decided that the saying from Flight of the Butterfly was perfect for the occasion. "If nothing ever changed there would be no butterflies-unknown". Haven't we all be there. I am a firm believer in 'Everything happens for a Reason'. Some of the best things in my life have come from terrible events pointing the way.

This card is a very simple card but I just think it is very elegant and gets the point across. I know I would feel better just by looking at it :) The card base is Sage Shadow; however, I put a piece of Soft Suede on the inside of the cover to give the layered look at the bottom.

Supplies:
Stamp Set(s) - Flight of the Butterfly
Card Stock - Sage Shadow, Whisper White, Soft Suede
Ink - Sage Shadow, Handsome Hunter
Accessories -Pretties Kit, 1/2" Polka-Dot Grosgrain Soft Suede Ribbon, Scallop Edge Punch

Flight of the Butterfly 3D

I have been so busy with scrapbook projects when I am in my stamp room that I haven't made any cards in a while. Here is a card from a Stamp-A-Stack I had a couple months back. I love this card because of its 3D effect. To create this effect I first stamped the butterfly in Dusty Durango onto the Whisper White. I then stamped one of the background butterfly images on Dusty Durango Cardstock and punched it out. I only taped down the body of the butterfly with sticky strip then bent the wings up from the card!

Supplies:
Stamp Set(s) - Flight of the Butterfly
Card Stock - Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Whisper White, DS Razzleberry Lemonade
Ink - Dusty Durango, Crushed Curry
Accessories -Butterfly Punch

Flight of the Butterfly Card

My husband and I received a generous gift from our boss and I wanted to make a cute thank you card to give him. I am not sure this is quite what I had in mind but I still had fun making it. The gift was SO generous, I feel I need an even more spectacular card. I will save this one for another occasion. Sorry the Picture is not great :(

Supplies:
Stamp Set(s) - Flight of the Butterfly
Card Stock - Sage Shadow, Bravo Burgundy, So Saffron
Ink - Sage Shadow, So Saffron
Accessories -Bravo Burgundy 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Scallop Edge Punch, Butterfly Punch