Amazing Hearts and Circles

I ran across a card a while back and can't remember how I stumbled upon it (I think on pinterest but I didn't pin it).  Anyway, I remembered seeing circles down the side of the card and loved the use of various patterned papers.  I decided to try the idea out for this week's challenge over at The Card Concept.  The patterns and the colors in the challenge photo inspired my use of multiple patterns and colors (Melon Mambo and Basic Gray).  I chose to go with a Clean and Graphic style where my text is the only actual stamping.  I used circle punches and the heart from the Itty Bitty Accents punch pack as my simple embellishments.

Stampin' Up! Butterfly Thoughts

Today's card inspiration is brought to you by the blog challenges over at Freshly Made Sketches and Stampin' Royalty.  It's fun to combine a sketch challenge and a color challenge and see what turns out.  I started this card with no set plan (except to incorporate the challenges) and I think it turned out nicely.  I grabbed the challenge colors (Pacific Point, Rich Razzleberry, Blackberry Bliss, and Smoky Slate) and then decided to turn the sketch sideways.

I started out by stamping the greeting (from the Perfect Pennants set) in Blackberry Bliss and then added the butterflies (from Papillon Potpourri) stamped in Rich Razzleberry, Smoky Slate, and Pacific Point.  I punched out the large blue butterfly---love those coordinating punches, and popped it up a bit with a Stampin' Dimensional.  The stamped panel is mounted on Pacific Point and Blackberry Bliss.  I added some texture to the Smoky Slate card base by using the chevron embossing folder and then added the polka dot stripes (Backgrounds DSP stack) along the side to complete the sketch. 

Double Pink Blossoms

I've been hooked on blog challenges lately, but I do stamp cards just for fun as well.  Today's post is one of those cards.  I pulled out my Mother's Love stamp set from the Stampin' Up! Occasions Catalog and created from scratch.  This is such a great set!  I love the two step stamps because it's so easy to add multiple colors (the outline and the inside) with very little effort.  I used Melon Mambo and Pink Pirouette for my color combo.  My card base is textured (surprise, surprise--can you tell I love the embossing folders?).  I used the Spring Flowers embossing folder.  I added some polka dot paper from the Brights Backgrounds DSP stack and tied some Pink Pirouette ribbon above it to divide it from my stamped panel.  I stamped the "for you" which is also from the Mother's Love stamp set and then punched it with the pansy punch. 

 

Soft Hello Stars

A few days got away from me, but I'm back with more card ideas.  There are a few challenges that I wanted to make sure to play along with, so to help catch up, I combined two challenges.  I made this card for a sketch challenge from Freshly Made Sketches and a photo inspiration challenge from Stampin' Royalty.  I chose the soft colors from the photo, so I decided to use Soft Sky and Crumb Cake to mimic those colors.  I also added the star elements because of the photo.  For the sketch, I wanted to think outside of the "box" a little, so instead of using an image or text box, my text (the hello from the hello you framelits) fills the space of the box.  I textured the white card stock with the Lucky Stars embossing folder (I just love those embossing folders).  I stamped stars from the Pictogram Punches stamp set on the Crumb Cake card stock and then added an additional Crumb Cake and Soft Sky star next to my text.  To tie everything together (literally), I used some soft Crumb Cake seam binding and then adhered everything to my Soft Sky card base.

 

Occasions Catalog Idea Trio

Nothing gets my creative juices flowing like a blog challenge.  I love how I can look at a sketch, grab a few specified colors, or look at an inspiration photo and then get stamping.  Our friends over at Stampin' Royalty are having a Guest Designer Open Call.  I love how so many blog challenge designers share their talent to help inspire others.  Today I'm sharing three cards that are my try-out to be a guest designer.

When creating this first card, I gave myself a color challenge.  I wanted a bright and fresh card that didn't use corals or pinks (which I tend to gravitate towards), so I chose Tempting Turquoise, Wild Wasabi, and Daffodil Delight.  I made a couple of cards with these colors and am sharing my favorite.  The combination of these colors seems very Springy or Summery, which is perfect to offset the weather for today (we're currently in the middle of a Winter-like snowstorm.....welcome to Spring in Utah)!  I'm trying to make a bunch of samples using sets from the Stampin' Up! Occasions Catalog for an upcoming class, so I used the Painted Petals stamp set.  I added a bit of the polka dot paper from the Backgrounds DSP stack (Brights) and layered that with my stamped panel onto some Daffodil Delight and then tied it up with some Daffodil Delight cotton ribbon.  I textured my card base with the Spring Flowers embossing folder and glued everything together.

This second card would work well for a color challenge (Strawberry Slush, Wild Wasabi, and Basic Gray).  It would also work well as a sketch challenge.  I like using Basic Gray in place of Basic Black when I want to keep the lines softer and not so bold.  I used another set from the Stampin' Up! Occasions Catalog called Mother's Love.  It's a two step stamp set which makes adding color the images a breeze.  I again added a bit of polka dot paper from the Brights Patterns DSP stack and used the Spring Flowers embossing folder for the background.  Two of my top go-to products are embossing folders and DSP stacks.  I added a bit of Smoky Slate 1/8" taffeta ribbon to tie in the gray.  I stamped the "for you" and layered it on some circles thanks to the circle framelits.  Finally, I added a little flower punched from the Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack (complete with rhinestone jewel in the center).

For my third and final card, I went with a card that is easy to duplicate.  I love having so many fun stamping supplies and I like to be able to use them.  I make a lot of cards for samples, and then find that I don't send enough.  This year I'm trying to send out more thank you notes, so I needed to create something that I can mass-produce to use for that purpose.  I also like to make a bunch of cards to give packs of 6 to teachers and school staff at the end of the year, so they can't be too time-consuming.

I used the Painted Petals stamp set again for this card.  I stamped the stems in Mossy Meadow and then used the Petite Petals punch for the flowers so that they'd extend past the 2-1/2" circle.  I added some rhinestone jewels to the flowers for their centers and adhered the flowers with Stampin' Dimensionals.  I stamped some flowers on the Soft Sky card stock in Soft Sky ink so that they would be subtle, but add a little something to the background.  I tied that layer up with some Blackberry Bliss ribbon and mounted it onto my white card base.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing 3 cards today instead of just 1.  Since I've been stamping so much lately, this is a good way to keep up on posting my ideas.  Enjoy!

Blackberry Mambo Flower

It's time for another color challenge.  This week over at Just Add Ink, the challenge is to use Melon Mambo, Blackberry Bliss, and Smoky Slate.  I don't think I'd have thought to put these together, but I think the combination is striking.

I love combining the chevron embossing folder with the chevron paper (from the Backgrounds DSP stacks).  I stamped a flower from the Petal Potpourri stamp set and then added a center by stamping a new pencil eraser with Melon Mambo ink.  I punched some Smoky Slate leaves with the Bird Builder Punch and punched the flower with the Flower Medallion punch.  I stamped the "thank you" from the Hey You stamp set.  This is a pretty simple card to put together, hope you enjoy!

 

Balloon Stars with Stripes

Today I'm playing along with a new (to me) blog challenge: Seize the Birthday.  Every time Stampin' Up! comes out with a new catalog, I always look for a new birthday set.  After being a demonstrator for 17 years (yikes, am I getting that old?), I have collected a lot of fun birthday sets.  Some years I find a set that it just okay, and some years I find something great.  Well, this year's Occasions Catalog has not just one, but two fun birthday sets.  My favorite is the Balloon Bash set which I used on this card.  The Balloon Bash set has some fun greetings that could be used as the focal point on the card, but I'm a huge fan of the three balloons in the set (as evidenced by how much I use them on birthday cards lately).

This week's challenge at Seize the Birthday is to make a Tall and Skinny card.  I generally make the standard card size (5-1/2"x4-1/4"), like I make that size 99% of the time, so it was fun to branch out a little and create something a bit different.  I decided that this would be a great size to put cash or a check in.  I stamped my balloons in Calypso Coral, Real Red, and Crisp Cantaloupe to match the striped paper from the Stacked with Love DSP.  The Crisp Cantaloupe layer at the bottom of the card actually has stars embossed on it (using the Lucky Stars embossing folder) but they don't show up well in this photo.  I stamped the Happy Birthday greeting from the Crazy About You stamp set in Calypso Coral and mounted that on a strip of Real Red.  To give it the pennant shape, I used my hexagon punch to punch each layer.  Everything is tied up with some Calypso Coral seam binding ribbon and layered on my Calypso Coral card base.

  

Purple Papillon Potpourri

We're in the middle of a war at our house--a war of fighting dandelions.  I've got the beginnings of some blisters on my hands from so much digging, but a bit of yard work is good for all of us, right?  The trouble is, I notice that my hand is sore when I'm stamping.  I guess I need to be more careful with my stamping hands :)  I won the battle in my front yard yesterday, and another battle in the backyard today, but I'm not certain that I'll win the war.  My husband looked out the window today and noticed that the neighbor's back lawn looks more yellow than green.  Yikes!  Oh well, at least the front looks pretty good (gotta keep up appearances).  In previous years I've offered my kids a penny for every yellow dandelion that they pick so that they don't go to seed, but for some reason they aren't as excited about it this year.  Too bad, they could earn some good money.  Today while digging dandelions, my husband pointed out a butterfly.  Well, it was actually a moth (he was corrected by a first grader), but it got me in a butterfly mood.

I love the Papillon Potpourri stamp set.  Those butterflies work for so many cards in so many colors.  Today I played along with Pals Paper Arts and their monochromatic color challenge.  It was fun to combine Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, and Blackberry Bliss (I admit that Perfect Plum and Elegant Eggplant have been collecting some dust lately, so it was fun to be encouraged to use them again).  I stamped the thanks from the Crazy About You set (definitely a favorite from the Occasions Catalog) and punched it with the oval punch, layered on the Scalloped Oval, and layered again on the Decorative Label punch.  I tied some Blackberry Bliss ribbon around the card between the Patterns DSP and the stamped panel.  I textured the white card base with the Spring Flowers embossing folder to complete the look.

  

Fresh Star Balloons

My kids love birthday balloons.  We have a tradition where one of the kids gets to go to the store to choose a mylar balloon for another on their birthday.  It's fun to see how long the mylar balloons last, some of them have lasted up to a month!  We also hang regular balloons from the ceiling fan in our kitchen.  Balloons just scream birthday to us.  

I love the balloon stamps in the Balloon Bash set that's in the Stampin' Up! Occasions Catalog, especially the star balloon.  I guess I have a thing for stars lately (star framelits, star embossing folder, star stamps).  The layout for this card is thanks to the fun sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week.  I stamped star balloons in Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush, and Daffodil Delight.  I stamped the #happybirthday in Strawberry Slush as well.  I know I'm not alone when I say that I am NOT ready to say goodbye to the retiring In Colors in a couple of months.  These colors feel so summery to me (and I have a summer birthday--maybe that's why I'm drawn to them).  I layered stamped panel on some Daffodil Delight card stock and then on some Strawberry Slush that I textured with the Lucky Stars embossing folder.  I added a Coastal Cabana chevron strip from the In Colors Backgrounds DSP stack and then tied all of the layers together with some Daffodil Delight cotton ribbon.  Finally, I mounted everything to a white card base.  Happy Birthday (or unBirthday) to all of you!
  

Amazing Blackberry Stars

I think the Lucky Stars embossing folder has got to be one of my favorite embossing folder.  I have almost all of the folders that Stampin' Up! has made (I just love the texture that they add to card), and I'm so glad that this one was carried over into the Occasions Catalog.  It's fun to combine the textured stars with the Stars Framelits (which are coincidentally on sale this week).

This week's challenge from The Paper Players is to use a die cut on a card.  I remember when Stampin' Up! first introduced the Big Shot and I didn't think I "needed" it.  Well, after a few months one of my customers ordered one and that got me thinking.  During Sale-a-Bration I decided that if she had one, I should have one too (and I've never looked back).  I found that I used it a lot of the time and that was before fun things like embossing folders and framelits (now I use it almost all of the time). I decided to use my Big Shot for both a die cut and an embossing folder on this card.  I stamped the "Amazing" greeting from the Painted Petals stamp set in Blackberry Bliss, cut it with the Stars Framelits, then layered it onto a Basic Gray star also cut with the Stars Framelits.  For the card base, I textured the Blackberry Bliss card stock with the Lucky Stars embossing folder, added a 1" strip of Blackberry Bliss polka dot Backgrounds DSP, then added a 1/2" strip of the silver glimmer paper.  I love how just 1/2" strip of glimmer paper adds so much to the card.  At first I had a hard time incorporating the glimmer paper onto my cards since it's around $2.50 per sheet, but then I realized that a little goes a long way, so you can actually make 50 cards like this with one sheet!  The star is layered onto the card base with a couple of Stampin' Dimensionals.  Stars are great since they can be used for so many types of cards (birthday, baby, congrats, graduation, all occasion, etc).  With the busy Spring season upon us, I thought this card would be very fitting for end of school year activities like graduations or end of year performances and concerts.   Have an amazing day!

  

Petite Painted Petals

So, I had this great idea at the beginning of the year to be more grateful---and to show my gratitude through thank you notes.  Well, I've been stamping a bunch of thank you notes and now I just need to get them sent out.  I've kept a mental list (and now I'm writing it down before I forget), but I need to be better about acting on my gratitude.  I sent out a couple of notes at the beginning of the year, but haven't done any since.  It seems like we hardly mail things anymore since so much can be done online.  Well, handmade cards can't be done online.  I have all of these fun tools and crafting supplies, so I need to use them!  It's easy for me to give someone a stack of cards as a gift, or to attach a card to a birthday or wedding gift, but I need to send cards in the mail cards more often!

I stamped this card to go along with the challenge over at The Card Concept.  I went with a clean and layered card style.  I liked the flower inspiration photo along with the colors of Coral, Aqua, Green, and White.  They are similar to the colors I did for a challenge yesterday, but I just lightened up the blue and the green.  For this card I used Calypso coral, Wild Wasabi, Pool Party, and White.  I stamped the stems and the thank you from the Painted Petals set (in the current Stampin' Up! Occasions Catalog).  I punched the white circle with my 2-1/2" circle punch.  I punched coral flowers with my Petite Petals punch and added a rhinestone jewel to the center of each for a little bit of bing.  I adhered the flowers with Stampin' Dimensionals so that they pop off the card a bit.  The Pool Party background needed something subtle on it, so I continued the shape from the punched flowers by stamping one of the stamps from the Petite Petals stamp set with Pool Party ink (I stamped it 3 times for every time I inked it up).  I tied some coral seam binding around the Pool Party card stock and then layered it onto my white card base.
  

Painted Coral Petals

It feels so good to be back in the swing of doing challenges and I find them quite addicting :)  I love how they give me a bit of inspiration to get my creative juices flowing.  They also get me creating some fun samples to share using my Stampin' Up! collection.  Today I combined a couple of challenges: a sketch challenge from The Challenge and a color challenge from Hand Stamped Sentiments.

I stamped my flowers from the Painted Petals set using Calypso Coral and Mossy Meadow.  I stamped the greeting from the Crazy About You set (such a great set for greetings) in Bermuda Bay.  To tie in the color of the greeting, I added a small butterfly from the Papillon Potpourri set and punched it with the coordinating butterfly punch.  I always love to add some texture and patterns to my cards,  so I used the Spring Flowers embossing folder and some Calypso Coral Backgrounds DSP for the base of my card.  I hand-cut the greeting pennant and layered it onto Calypso Coral so that it stands out a bit.

  

Spring Flower Thanks

Hope you all had a nice Easter.  I enjoyed doing a little stamping yesterday and when I finished up, I looked at all of my creations and found a very common theme--Spring colors!  I didn't even plan it, but I guess Spring is just on my mind.

I got the inspiration for this card from the color challenge at Fab Friday.  Pink Pirouette, So Saffron, Pear Pizazz and Soft Sky combine nicely for a Spring card.  I used the Mother's Love set from the Occasions Catalog for the greeting and the flowers.  I used some Pink Pirouette Backgrounds DSP to go along with my stamped panel.  I tied some Pear Pizazz cotton ribbon around the card.  The greeting is punched with the scalloped oval punch and layered on the designer label punch.  I love those two punches together!

This photo is playing tricks on my eyes since the backdrop of the card matches the DSP panel on the card, it almost looks like there's a whole in the card.  Next time I'm using a different backdrop :)
  

Bright Easter Blooms

Happy Easter!  What a beautiful day we're having--it's a bit windy, but otherwise the weather is perfect outside.  We started the day by going on a walk looking for the Easter Bunny (he hadn't been to our house yet) so we asked a neighbor if he had seen anything.  He hadn't.  Next we walked to my mom's and she hadn't seen anything.  We had to check and see if he mistakenly hid our eggs at her house (at the suggestion of a 4 year old).  As we continued around the block we saw a cat running after something and wondered if that was the clue.  Believe it or not, there were eggs hidden all over the backyard by the time we got home.  The kids got sugared up just in time for us to turn on General Conference.  What a nice day to sit home and listen to our church leaders testify of the Savior as we celebrate Him this Easter Sunday.  One of my favorite things to do on Conference weekend is to get a little stamping done.  During the break between sessions, I set the kids up with some Easter stamps as I pulled out some of my newer stamps from the Occasions Catalog.

I made this card to go along with the current challenge from ColourQ.  What perfect Spring colors--Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Kiwi Kiss, and Cool Caribbean (I subbed Old Olive and Pool Party the the last two so I was using current Stampin' Up! colors).  Since it's Easter and Springtime, I knew I wanted to make a cheerful Spring card for today.  I used the Painted Petals stamps set and combined various flowers from the set to create my little garden.  I added a strip of  polka dot Melon Mambo Backgrounds DSP and tied some Pool Party cotton ribbon around it.  Before layering everything onto my card base, I ran the Pool Party card base through my Big Shot with the Spring Flowers embossing folder.  Happy Easter!
  

Lagoon Baby Congrats

Embossing folders are one of my favorite Stampin' Up! products.  They seem to add that finishing touch to any card background without a lot of effort.  I love the Lucky Stars embossing folder that came out in the Holiday Catalog and am so glad that it returned in the current Occasions Catalog.  I've used the star folder for Christmas, birthday, thanks, and now baby cards.

I tried out this week's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  In addition to the embossing folder on the background, I added some of the polka dot paper from the Backgrounds DSP stack added then added the curved shape beneath the ribbon with some silver glimmer paper cut with the Deco Label framelits.  I used the Zoo Babies stamp set for the lion stamp and the congratulations stamp and stamped them in Lost Lagoon.  I wanted to tie in the embossed stars from my background, so I stamped the patterned star from the Pictogram Punches set in Crushed Curry.  The big stars are cut with the stars framelits in white and Crushed Curry.

  

Soft Cantaloupe Painted Petals

Yesterday I finally got the chance to sit down and stamp and work on some blog challenges.  I took advantage of the time when the little one was napping and the others were happily playing together (it's Spring Break around here).  I need to have my little stamping escapes more often.  I was only interrupted a couple of times and some of the time I did the interrupting when I chose to go upstairs to remind the kiddos to play quietly (I did NOT want nap time to end prematurely).  I almost felt like I was on Spring Break since I was ignoring most Mommy responsibilities, too bad it only lasted an hour. 

I knew it was time to play along with a couple of challenges once again, maybe someday I'll be able to play weekly, but I'll take what I can get for now.  I paired the color challenge from Pals Paper Arts (Pistachio Pudding, Crisp Cantaloupe, and Kraft/Crumb Cake) along with the inspiration challenge from Just Add Ink and came up with this card.  I love the softness of Crisp Cantaloupe and Pistachio Pudding (both 2013-2015 In Colors) and hope that we may see them come back after their 2 year time is over.  I stamped the roses from the Painted Petals stamp set and layered them on some Crisp Cantaloupe card stock, then tied some soft Crumb Cake seam binding around it before layering it onto some Pistachio Pudding.  I textured the Crumb Cake card base with the Spring Flowers embossing folder.  I stamped "you are amazingly amazing" in Crumb Cake (it's also in the Painted Petals set) and punched it with the Designer Label punch.  I'm planning to stamp up a bunch of cards to give away at Mother's Day and think this is a card I should definitely create more of.  It feels so soft and calming and seems so perfect for Mother's Day.  I'd better get started, just over a month to go!