Tropical Rain Flowers

This color combo just screams warm and tropical to me.  I used Island Indigo (a new In Color for 2011-2013), Tangerine Tango, and Daffodil Delight.  I made this card for a color challenge, where I was given three colors and told to make a card.  My Raining Flowers stamp set was still sitting out, so I decided it would make a great tropical card.  The greeting is from the A Word for You stamp set and is punched with the oval and layered with the scallop oval punch.  I love the narrow Daffodil Delight ribbon and (if you look closely) the Brights DSP Patterns paper in Daffodil Delight.

Kindness Fest

I love it when cards come together quickly!  This card was a super quick one to make.  I used the Big Shot leaves sizzlit and new stripes Textured Impressions Folder.  The stamp sets are Flower Fest (flower is punched with the Fancy Flower punch) and Heard from the Heart (for the greeting).  Melon Mambo and Wild Wasabi are the colors I chose.  I used to use Certainly Celery more than anything, but right now I'm loving Wild Wasabi--I think it works better with the bright colors and that's what I'm into with Summer!

Hooray for the Best of Everything

I'm hooked on this color combination!  Poppy Parade and Pear Pizazz are just so fun together (and add in a bit of So Saffron).  I'm so glad that Stampin' Up! decided to keep In Colors for two years now instead of one, so at least I have two years to make samples with these colors.  The red paper is from the In Color DSP Patterns Stack (surprise, surprise).  I used the Best of Everything set once again for this card and the greeting is from the Happiest Birthday Wishes Hostess set.  Have you noticed that the hostess program has changed?  Instead of having to choose from a hostess set plus an amount in free product, you get "hostess dollars" to spend.  With the hostess dollars you can choose from ANYTHING out of the current catalogs, and get even more for your (free) money by selecting from hostess sets.  I love that the Happiest Birthday Wishes set is the biggest set (value of $37ish) and I was able to get it for FREE with a $150 order (you couldn't do that with the old program) and I even had a few hostess dollars to spare!  I love free stuff :)

Patterned Presents

I'm always on the lookout for a new birthday stamp set.  This year the Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog delivered!  This card features one of the stamps from the new Patterned Party stamp set, and I can't wait to use the other stamps in the set as well.  I make a lot of different kinds of cards, but it seems that I use birthday and thank you cards more than any others.  This card could easily be made more masculine by changing out the colors and removing the ribbon (maybe substitute a strip of card stock or a piece of twine instead).  I inked up the present stamp with my Stampin' Write markers (Marina Mist and Pink Pirouette) so that I could have them be more than one color.  The dotted background was done with a textured impressions folder for the Big Shot (love those texture folders).  I punched a pink oval with the Window Punch after I stamped the "happy birthday" from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set.  Happy unBirthday (or happy birthday as the case may be) to all of you!

Flower Fest Buds

Here's another card with the fabulous Flower Fest stamp set.  I copied this card idea from another demonstrator (I'd love to give credit where credit is due, but she didn't put her name on it and I just borrowed the sample from a friend).  I just loved the color combination and layout that she used, so I copied that and made a few tweaks of my own.  Poppy Parade, Pear Pizazz, and Crumb Cake are the colors I used.  The green background paper is from the In Color Designer Series Paper Patterns Stack and the green frame is actually the Top Note die for the Big Shot.  I used the extra large oval punch, the 1-3/8" circle punch, and the blossom petals punch (for the leaves).  The ribbon is Poppy Parade poly twill ribbon.  The greeting is from the good ol' Sincere Salutations set--what would I do without that set, it's such a great staple in my collection!

Best of Everything Bird

I've been using my Designer Series Paper Patterns Stacks a lot lately, so I've decided that I need to start using up some of the scraps now.  They work perfectly for a background!  I chose colors from the Subtles stack--Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink, and Certainly Celery.  I stamped the branch, bird, and greeting from the Best of Everything stamp set. Overall, this is a pretty quick and easy card (yes, quick and easy is my motto lately, it's the only kind of card I can find the time for these days)!

Flower Fest Trio

One of my new favorite stamp sets is the Flower Fest set (which debuted in the Summer Mini but is also in the 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalog).  I love the fun floral images that coordinate with so many of our punches.  I remember the days of carefully cutting around stamped images so that flowers and such could be layered on a card--thank goodness those days are mostly gone.  I don't have time for that anymore!  I'm lucky that I had an hour or so on Saturday to sit down and stamp a handful of cards.  My new stamps have just been calling to me so that I'd use them and I was happy to get the chance to do so!

This card uses the Flower Fest stamp set and the Sincere Salutations set.  I used the 3/4" circle punch and the Fancy Flower Punch for the blossoms.  The leaves were punched with the 5 Petal Flower punch and the greeting uses the oval and scalloped oval punches.  Colors are Pear Pizazz, So Saffron, Pink Pirouette, and Melon Mambo.  I did see a card similar to this that I used for inspiration and modified a little (sorry, I don't know the original artist to give credit to, but thank you to whomever made the card that inspired me).

Best of Friendship

Happy Pioneer Day to all of you from Utah (for those of you outside of Utah, today is a state holiday where we celebrate the arrival of the pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley).

This card features the new Best of Everything stamp set.  I love the bold images with the outlines.  I used Poppy Parade and Pear Pizazz (2010-2012 In Colors) to make this quick and easy card.  The flowers were inked up with Stampin' Write markers so that the flowers and stems could be different colors.

Eggplant Rainflowers

Rainflowers, hmmm.  Is that a real kind of flower?  I try to title my blog posts so that they relate to the card, so sometimes I have to get creative and make up names.  Anyway, this is another card made with the Raining Flowers stamp set.  I used Elegant Eggplant, Daffodil Delight, and Wild Wasabi.  The greeting is from the Sincere Salutations stamp set and is punched out with the oval punch and layered on wasabi card stock punched with the scallop oval punch.  I love how the punches can layer and add to the card!

Flowerpatch

So it took me a while to get this posted.  I actually got most of the card made the same day as the last post, but the too short of a nap time thwarted my plans to continue stamping.  I made this card with the Raining Flowers set as well.  I combined Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, and Wild Wasabi for a bright and fun collage of flowers.  The yellow polka dot paper is from the Brights Designer Series Paper Patterns Stack.  I love these paper stacks, they offer such a great addition to cards and they match all of the colors!  I used the Sincere Salutation stamp set for the greeting (sorry, it's a little blurry--due to the camera focus, not the stamping).  I cut out one of the flowers and raised it up with a Stampin' Dimensional. 

It's Raining Flowers

Well it's about time that I added a card idea to this blog.  Sorry for the lack of ideas and inspiration over the past several months to those of you who have been following.  I just haven't had time to stamp and I've sure missed it!  What have I been up to instead?  Well, I really slowed down with the stamping in the fall when my doctor required that I take it easy for the last trimester of the pregnancy.  Then just before baby arrived my stamp room turned into the nursery so the stamps and accessories got boxed up and moved to the storage room.  Once the renters moved out we redid the basement and finished that in March so that my stamps once again have a home in my new stamp room/shared office with hubby.  So the stamps have a home but now my task is to find the time to use them while taking care of the two kiddos. 

The new catalog is out and my new sets arrived just the other day, so I took advantage of a (too short) nap time and mounted the Raining Flowers stamp set and made a quick card.  That's all I was able to get done, but making one card is better than making none at all.  This card uses the new Raining Flowers stamp set, the Perfect Polka Dot textured impressions folder for the Big Shot, Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight, and Early Espresso ink, and Daffodil Delight ribbon.  I started making another card with this set, but it lies unfinished on my craft table.  Hopefully I'll have it to share with you very soon!

The New 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog is Here!

Check out the link on the right for the new catalog, or call me or email me to see a hard copy.  There are a lot of fabulous new stamps and accessories that you'll want to check out.  Stay tuned for some new card ideas--I really am going to get posting them again.