Christmas Scrap Strips

It's good to have a little external motivation to really get things cleaned up every once in a while.  My external motivation--having my husband's boss' boss came from Ohio to our house to meet with him last week.  Unfortunately that getting things cleaned up meant putting my stamp stuff away (and leaving it put away) for a few days--which would be the reason I haven't posted for several days.  You see, a couple of years ago I had a nice stamp room on the main floor of my house and it was out of sight and my things could always be out (I could just close the door).  Then baby #2 came along and I decided to give him that room so off to the storage room went my stamp things for a while.  Our basement renters moved out shortly after and so we decided to stop renting and convert the basement into our own living space.  After a few months of remodeling, I again had a nice stamp room, this time in the basement, where I could leave things out and close the door.  A year later my husband got a new job and he now works from home.  This is a good thing, but he needed an office, so once again I no longer had a nice little room where I could close the door.  I won't complain because I still have a stamp area and now it is even bigger--it's the old kitchen area of our basement.  I have cupboards and counters and room for tables for classes.  I just don't have a place where I can close the door.  That means when the boss came over to meet with him, he has to walk through my house and through my basement to get to the office.  Translate that to mean things REALLY have to be cleaned up and put away (no pressure on me--yeah, right).  So, instead of spending my little bit of free time last week stamping and creating, I spent it cleaning.  Now that is all over and I finally was able to pull out my stamping things again.  It's funny how fast things can get messy when creating :)

Now to the stamping!  I made this fun Christmas card to go along with the current sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches.  This would be a great use for scraps of paper, although I actually cut up some designer series paper to make mine.  Each of the strips are about 1/2" wide.  I used Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, and Gumball Green on this card along with the Be of Good Cheer dsp.  I tied some Gumball Green stitched satin ribbon around the card before adding my image.  The stitched satin ribbon is FREE with a $40 order this month and you can choose between the 5 In Colors (or spend $200 and get them all).  My Christmas tree stamp is from Scentsational Seasons (in the Holiday Catalog) and the Merry Christmas comes from Embellished Events.  I didn't realize how much I'd use the words from Embellished Events--they sure are a great size and come in handy a lot!  I punched my image out with the 2-1/2" circle punch and put that on the top.  Have you started working on your Christmas cards yet?  We have just over 3 months to go!

Leaves and Acorns

I just ordered the Gently Falling set so that I could stamp some fun Autumn cards.  It's hard to believe the season is already upon us!  I made this card to participate in last week's Dynamic Duos challenge, but I didn't get it uploaded in time.  Oh well!  I still have it to share with you.  The challenge colors were Always Artichoke and Cajun Craze--both are perfect for fall.  Next I want to try using them in combination with a few other fall colors, but I limited myself to just the two since I thought I was going to be linking this card to the challenge. 

I stamped the leaves and acorns with the Gently Falling set in the two colors and then stamped the outline with Basic Black.  I wanted to fill in the white space, so I grabbed my color spritzer and spritzed some ink off my Cajun Craze Stampin' Write marker to speckle all over the layer.  My background papers are both from the Regals Patterns DSP stack.  Finally, I stamped the "friends" from Sweet Essentials, punched it with the oval punch, layered it with the scalloped oval punch, and layered both on the designer label punch.

Baja Breeze Snowflakes

A friend of mine mentioned that there are around 100 more days until Christmas.  That means it's probably time to start thinking about cards so that they can be done ahead of time.  I decided that I ought to start coming up with some Christmas card samples, so here goes.

This card goes along with the color challenge over at The Paper Players.  I used Baja Breeze, Basic Gray, and Basic Black.  I have so many snowflake sets, but I "have" to keep getting the latest one from Stampin' Up! so I just got the Snowflake Soiree set and used it on this card.  I wanted a small greeting, so I used one from the Embellished Events stamp set.  This card is pretty simple to make, it is just a bunch of layers.  I did use a few accessories beyond stamps and card stock--some baja breeze patterns dsp, a bit of black 1/8" taffeta ribbon, and the scallop trim border punch.

Rich Silhouette Blossoms

Fall is in the air.  It was strange to walk outside this morning and feel cool air (instead of the 90 degree heat we've been experiencing for so long).  It was refreshing, I just hope it doesn't get cold too fast.  I love the in-between weather--where you can still wear summer clothes without being cold.  When I saw the current color challenge at Pals Paper Arts I thought of Fall.  First I was thinking a Halloween or Fall Leaf card would work well, but then I decided to use flowers since I'm still trying to hang onto Summer a bit longer.

I stamped the Summer Silhouettes stamp set into a little garden pattern and topped it with a greeting from the Sweet Essentials stamp set.  The colors used are Pumpkin Pie, Lucky Limeade, and Elegant Eggplant.  I love how rich and bold these colors are together.  I layered some of the patterns designer series papers (my favorite) with their coordinating card stock.  I edged the Lucky Limeade card stock with the scallop trim border punch and tied some Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon to finish things off.

Wisteria Blossom Party

Here's another card with my favorite blossom from the Lacy & Lovely set.  I stamped it all over white card stock with Wisteria Wonder ink and mounted it on a strip of Wisteria Wonder card stock punched with the scallop trim border punch.  I ran the piece of Pool Party card stock through my Big Shot with the Elegant Lines textured impressions folder and layered it on white and then tied a piece of Pool Party seam binding ribbon around everything.  The Thank You comes from the Sassy Salutations stamp set and is punched with the decorative label punch and is mounted to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.  Finally I mounted everything onto my Wisteria Wonder card base.  I sure love these In Colors together, I'm sad that they will only be around for another 7 months or so.  I guess I'll have to be sure to get a lot of use out of them before they retire.

Soft Floral Friends

It's time for another card from a Stampin' Royalty color challenge.  This week the combo was Pool Party, Crumb Cake, and Soft Suede--a soft palette that was definitely a good challenge for me.  Most of the time I stick with bold and bright colors, so this was a lot of fun and got me out of my comfort zone!  I chose the Lacy & Lovely stamp set for my main stamps and the Sweet Essentials set for my greeting. 

I love the Decorative Label punch, although I really wish there was a punch with the same shape just bigger or smaller so that it could easily be layered.  I decided to stamp my greeting and punch it with the oval punch, and then I couldn't decide if I wanted it mounted on the scalloped oval or the decorative label when it dawned on me--use both!  I'm sure I'll be doing this more in the future, I just hadn't realized that they fit so well together until now!  I love the small blossom from the Lacy & Lovely set so I stamped that in Pool Party all over my main layer.  That is mounted on Soft Suede and Pool Party card stock.  I couldn't decide whether to use my Pool Party or Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon, so again I decided to use both.  I guess today was a day that I didn't want to have to make a decision between two products.  My card base is Crumb Cake card stock and I stamped the larger flower from Lacy & Lovely all over it with Soft Suede ink--that way it would stand out a little more and help tie in that color.  Looking back to a couple of months ago, I'm surprised how I didn't think I needed the Lacy & Lovely set.  In fact I had passed right by it in the catalog several times.  It wasn't until I saw a card made by another demonstrator that I "had" to have it.  I love how we can all share ideas (despite the fact that my checkbook may not love it). 

Cheerful Snowflakes

The days are getting shorter and I'm realizing the my beloved summer is coming to an end.  I'm okay saying goodbye to the super hot days, but I'll miss the outdoor fun, the long days, the evening walks, the warm nights, and the more carefree feeling that goes hand in hand with summer.  Fall and I have a love-hate relationship.  I love the colors and the cooler (80s, 70s and even some 60s--but not cold) weather but I hate that it gets dark earlier and that Winter is just around the corner.

I actually sat down and stamped for a few minutes today.  It's the first time I've had a chance to in almost three weeks--that is way too long!  I was hoping to get more than one card done, but the end of nap time brought and end to my stamping.  Oh well, at least I finished one card.  I needed some inspiration to get me back in the stamping groove, so I turned to the color challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I love combining yellow, green, and blue on cards, and I thought this combo was especially striking (and one that I may not have come up with on my own).  I decided to think a little outside the box with this combo and I used it with snowflakes!  Normally I would have chosen something floral or more playful, but I wanted to use my new Snowflake Soiree stamp set.  I think my biggest problem with Winter is the darkness, so I decided to help ward off the Winter Depression by using a bright and cheerful color palette with the snowflakes.  I often use a variety of blues with snowflake stamps, and maybe I've occasionally used green (with red), but I think this is the first time that I've stamped a yellow snowflake--oops, hope that's not bad--I didn't even think about it until now :)

My supplies are: ink and card stock in Daffodil Delight, Certainly Celery, Tempting Turquoise, and Not Quite Navy, stitched grosgrain ribbon in Daffodil Delight, Stampin' Up!'s Snowflake Soiree stamp set, Stampin' Dimensionals (to pop up my greeting a little) and the designer label punch.  I actually cut a 1-1/4" strip of white card stock to stamp my greeting on and then I decided that it needed a little pizazz, so I fed it through the back of the designer label punch and punched just the one edge with it.  I did the same with the celery card stock, although it is cut at 1-3/8" (a tight fit for the punch, but it worked).

Lime & Gray Butterfly Birthday

I'm back!  Sorry for the lack of posts over the past couple of weeks.  I was on a little vacation and have also had a lot going on so I haven't had time to stamp or blog. 

I had some ink pads sitting out from a different project and just happened to have the Lucky Limeade and Basic Gray sitting side by side when I realized that they'd make a great color combo--so of course I had to give it a try.  I love the duo together!  I used the Papillon Potpourri set and just randomly stamped butterflies in different sizes and designs to fill in my white card stock.  I stamped my birthday greeting (from Sassy Salutations) with Basic Gray ink on the patterns designer series paper.  My card base is Lucky Limeade card stock that I ran through my Big Shot with the Petals-a-Plenty textured impressions folder.  I tied it all together with some Basic Gray stitched grosgrain and a butterfly stamped and punched out with the Elegant Butterfly punch.

Lacy, Lovely, and Bright

I love the color combo that I used a few weeks ago for a color challenge--Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, and Lucky Limeade--so I decided to use it again on a card with the Lacy & Lovely stamp set.  I picked three images from that set and stamped them randomly on my white card stock, layered that on some Daffodil Delight card stock, tied some ruffled ribbon (way fun stuff) in Calypso Coral around those layers, and mounted them on my Calypso Coral card base.  I stamped the greeting (that is also in the Lacy & Lovely set) on a white rectangle and then layered it onto a piece of Lucky Limeade that I punched with the Decorative Label punch.  Pretty quick and simple, but I like the results!  You can't go wrong with great stamps and bright colors!

 

Butterfly in Razzleberry

It's fun to see how cards evolve when I don't have a finished idea in mind.  For this card, I started with the Rich Razzleberry dsp from the Summer Smooches dsp pack.  I noticed that the pattern in the paper would go well with the Fancy Fan Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, so I used that with the Rich Razzleberry card stock.  At that point I looked through my stamps to see what I wanted to use and chose Sassy Salutations and Papillon Potpourri.  I picked the floral butterfly from Papillon Potpourri set and punched it out with the Elegant Butterfly Punch.  I like the simple, clean, and quick to put together card that this turned into. 

Coral Blossoms For You

I love this little blossom from the Lacy & Lovely set.  I like all of the images in that set, but especially this fun flower.  So, I decided to give it all of the attention on my card!  I stamped it all over white card stock with Calypso Coral ink, layered it on Calypso Coral and white card stock, and then tied some ruffled Calypso Coral ribbon around it all.  My card base is white card stock with Calypso Coral patterns DSP layered on it.  The "for you" banner is from the Itty Bitty Banners set and it cut with the Bitty Banners Framelits die on my big shot.  Sometimes I get so caught up in what colors to put together on a card, that it is nice to just concentrate on one color for a change.

Formal Fall Season

I just got a new die for my Big Shot--Perfect Pennants--so I used it on this card.  The die has some pennants and some decorative circles, I'm so glad that the scalloped circle is just larger than my 2-1/2" circle punch so that I can layer them together!  I stamped my image from the Four Seasons stamp set in both Basic Black and River Rock (this week's Dynamic Duos), and used my 1" circle punch on the center of black one to help highlight it.  My black striped paper is from the Neutrals Patterns dsp stack and is layered on a strip of black card stock.  I stamped my leaf image in River Rock all over my River Rock card base for a subtle effect.  I like how formal the two colors look together, so I decided to stamp the "congratulations" from Stampin' Up!'s Sweet Essentials set to make this a card I can use for a wedding.

Primary Topsy-Turvy Cake

When I started making this card, I decided that I wanted to use the Polka-Dot Parade Designer Series Paper--I just love that pack of paper!  I picked the Real Red and Daffodil Delight pieces and layered them on their matching card stocks and added a scallop edge (done with my punch) along the bottom of the red.  I knew I needed a third color and wanted this to be a bright and fun card, so I went for a primary colors color scheme and chose Tempting Turquoise.  I wasn't trying to make a gender neutral or more "boyish" card, but that is how it turned out (I'm glad, most of my birthday cards are more feminine and I need some good boy cards!  I was going for kind of a circle theme, but the stripes on the turquoise patterns stack seemed to work well.  I used the labels framelits to punch out my stamped panel, but then cut of the top and bottom so that it was straight instead of pointy.  I stamped the cake from Topsy-Turvy Celebrations along with the "celebrate" from the same set.  Thanks for the fun sketch Stampin' Royalty!

Patterned and Striped Papillon Potpourri

Here's another card with Raspberry Ripple, Summer Starfruit, and Gumball Green.  I figured I'd might as well make a few cards with this combo while I had my ink and paper already out.  This time I stamped various butterflies from the Papillon Potpourri set for my stamped panel.  I tied some gumball green stitched satin ribbon around it to bring out the green.  My raspberry strip was textured with the Elegant Lines embossing folder and then layered on some white that I used the scallop edge punch on.  My greeting is from the Lacy & Lovely set and is punched with the oval and scalloped oval punch.  My card base is Gumball Green patterns DSP layered on Gumball Green card stock. 

Silhouette Flowers and Patterned Paper

When I think about some of my must-have products that Stampin' Up! sells right now, right towards the top of my list are the Patterns Designer Series Paper Stacks.  If you look back at the cards that I've been posting over the last few months, you'll notice that I use the patterns dsp on most of my cards.  I love how they seem to give the cards a more-finished look and they add some easy design to the cards.

I used my In Color combo again on this card--Raspberry Ripple, Summer Starfruit, and Garden Green.  The "miss you" stamp comes from the Lacy & Lovely set and my flowers are from Summer Silhouettes.  I tied a bit of Raspberry Ripple stitched satin ribbon around my main layer to really help the Raspberry pop on the card.  My base was made by piecing the four different patterns from the In Color Patterns DSP stack together and then layering them on white and on the raspberry base.  I really like how the four patterns blend together and have a good balance of light and dark.  I was inspired by the Pals Paper Arts sketch challenge when I put together my card layout.  Hope you enjoy!

Earth Toned Butterflies

I've been having a lot of fun participating in color challenges lately--they really help me try out different combinations than I usually would.  This week's challenge over at Just Add Ink was to use Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Garden Green, and Very Vanilla.  I decided to use the colors with my Papillon Potpourri set to give them kind of an "earthy" look.  I love the Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon that I just ordered and knew before I started the card that I wanted to use it on this card.  I made the scalloped circle butterfly by stamping directly onto green card stock and then punching it with the elegant butterfly punch, then layered it onto a 1-3/4" circle punch and finally onto the 2-3/8" scalloped circle punch.  My stamped panel is layered onto chocolate chip and then some garden green patterns dsp, garden green card stock, and finally on my Very Vanilla card base.  I think the earth toned butterflies are a fun change from my typical color combinations!

Bold and Fresh Silhouettes

I played along with the sketch challenge again this week over at Freshly Made Sketches.  I like how this sketch incorporated the three strips behind the stamped image.  What a great way to use scrap strips of card stock--although I admit that I cut up a piece of card stock because I didn't have any scraps of this color.  I picked three of this year's In Colors--Raspberry Ripple, Summer Starfruit, and Gumball Green.  I love how bold and rich these colors are together.  My flowers come from Summer Silhouettes and the greeting is from Sassy Salutations.  I used the Elegant Lines Textured Impressions Embossing Folder on the side piece of Gumball Green card stock to accent the green leaves in my stamped image.  My card base is Raspberry Ripple with some of the patterns designer series paper (from the In Color stack) mounted on top of it.  Thanks for stopping by!

Sweet Summer Silhouettes

10 years!  It's hard to believe that 10 years ago I married my sweetheart.  In some ways it seems like it wasn't that long ago, but in other ways it is so natural that it seems like forever.  I thought a floral card using the Summer Silhouettes set would be appropriate for today, so that is what I made to go along with the Dynamic Duos challenge.  This week's Duo colors are Certainly Celery and Pretty in Pink--a pretty and sweet combination!  I used Basic Gray for my neutral (including the Basic Gray stitched grosgrain ribbon).  I stamped my little garden and layered it on pink and gray, and then again on a pink strip of the patterns dsp (from the subtles stack).  I mounted that strip on some white card stock and I punched the edge with the scallop edge punch.  My card base is Certainly Celery card stock and it is textured with the Elegant Lines embossing folder.  Can you tell that I'm really liking that folder?  I just got it last week and it works so well with so many cards!  I stamped the sentiment from the set called A Word for You and punched it with the oval punch layered on pink card stock punched with the scalloped oval punch. 

I Dig You

Since my baby boy is turning into a little boy, I decided that it was time to start getting more "boy" stamps.  The Stampin' Up! I Dig You set looked like one I could get some use out of.  Maybe for his next birthday, I'll have to pick up some diggers or other construction type trucks.  I paired this stamp set with this week's color challenge at The Paper Players and came up with the card you see here.  I love this color combo--the colors are so rich and fun and they have a lot of potential!  I think I'll have to try it on more cards with other stamps--like floral and such.  When I saw Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, and Not Quite Navy, I immediately thought of some of the floral or butterfly sets that I've been using a lot lately, but I knew I needed to branch out and try something new.  I stamped the digger in Cherry Cobbler and then again in Not Quite Navy,  I cut the main part out of the Not Quite Navy one and glued it onto the other so that my digger had a two-toned look.  I mounted that on some Not Quite Navy card stock and then on some Cherry Cobbler Patterns DSP.  I cut the small banner from the Bitty Banners framelits and stuck those out the side of my stamped image before layering it all on the Cherry Cobbler card stock.  My card base is Not Quite Navy with Crumb Cake card stock that I textured with the Chevron embossing folder (to give it a more "rugged" look.  I like how it turned out and I think I successfully created a card without frills or ribbons for a change :)

Papillon Blues

Last week I made this card and had some scraps of my stamped butterfly collage layer.  When I was cleaning off my stamp table (I had to, there was hardly any space to stamp), I found the scraps and instead of throwing them away, I figured I could use them on another card.  I wanted to join in on the fun with Freshly Made Sketches and realized that one of my scraps would be perfect.  I love it when one card can inspire another.

I chose to use Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, and Midnight Muse again for my color palette.  I stamped one of the butterflies from the Papillon Potpourri set onto Tempting Turquoise card stock with Midnight Muse ink.  I then punched it with the Elegant Butterfly stamp and layered it with the 1-3/4" circle punch, where I stamped the antennae.  That is layered on the 2-3/8" scalloped circle and the 2-1/2" circle.  I used a couple of scraps from the patterns dsp (brights and in colors) for my strips above my butterfly collage strip.  My Pacific Point layer is textured with the Elegant Lines embossing folder and is layered on white to help it stand out.  My base layer is Tempting Turquoise patterns dsp from the Brights stack mounted on Tempting Turquoise card stock.  There are a lot of layers on this card, but they are all pretty straight and simple--and a great way to use up little scraps of designer series paper (or stamped images)!

Daffodil Layered Butterfly

Daffodil Delight is such a great color.  I love how bright and cheery it is along with how many colors it seems to coordinate with.  I paired it with Basic Gray to make this card based on the Mojo Monday sketch.  I stamped my buttefly (from Stampin' Up!'s Papillon Potpourri set) directly onto daffodil cardstock.  I then used my Elegant Butterfly punch to punch it out and layer it on a 1-3/4" circle and a 2-3/8" scallop circle and finally a 2-1/2" gray circle.  My yellow polka dot square is from the Polka Dot Parade designer series paper pack and the gray polka dots come from the Neutrals patterns dsp stack.  My greeting comes from Stampin' Up!'s Embellished Events set and is stamped on a banner made from the Bitty Banners Framelits (for the Big Shot).  I'm a huge fan of the stitched grosgrain, so I had to add some of that in Basic Gray to my card.  I actually cut a little slit in the fold of the card and laced my ribbon through that--partly because I wanted the ribbon going in that direction and I didn't cut my card stock length-wise and partly because I like how it keeps it in place.  My card base is textured with the Elegant Lines embossing folder in my Big Shot.  I like how the textured backgrounds really seem to give cards a more finished look.

Shades of Blue Butterflies

Tomorrow we're having our family pictures taken.  I think the hardest part about doing portraits is figuring out what everyone should wear.  After a lot of shopping, I finally decided that we'd all wear shades of blue.  When I saw this week's Stampin' Royalty challenge, I knew it was right up my alley with all of the shopping and looking at blues that I have done lately.  I was pretty excited to take the color palette that I've been working with from fabric to paper :)

I chose the Papillon Potpourri set and grabbed a few different blues to put together.  After a little trial and error, I came up with this palatte (Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, and Midnight Muse).  After stamping various butterflies in various colors, I used my Color Spritzer and my Pacific Point marker to speckle the background--I think it helps fill in any gaps nicely.  I layered it onto Pacific Point card stock and tied some Pacific Point stitched grosgrain around it, then layered it onto some Tempting Turquoise Patterns DSP and finally onto my Pacific Point card base.  I added the "friends" sentiment from the Sweet Essentials set and punched it with the oval punch and layered it onto Pacific Point punched with the designer label punch.

Color Blocked Papillon Potpourri

Have you seen the new Papillon Potpourri stamp set by Stampin' Up!?  It's full of gorgeous butterflies and coordinates with the new Elegant Butterfly punch (LOVE it when those punches work with sets)!  I played along with the color challenge at colourQ and used Summer Starfruit, Certainly Celery, Gumball Green, Midnight Muse for my color palette.  I've used most of the colors together in the past, but haven't thought to add celery to the mix--and I love it!  I stamped the butterfly in each of the colors and punched it out before layering it on color blocks (each 1-3/4"x1-1/4")  I mounted those on white and then on Midnight Muse card stock and tied some Gumball Green stitched satin ribbon around it.  The greeting comes from Embellished Events (the greetings in that set are the perfect size to use with the Bitty Banners Framelits).  I used my scallop edge punch on some white card stock before mounting everything to my card base.  Since I had some empty space on the Certainly Celery card base, I decided to texture it with the Fancy Fan embossing folder to give it a more finished look.  Enjoy!

Summer Patterned Flowers

Patterned paper (or Designer Series Paper) is a great addition to cards.  I love how it is an easy element to add but it seems to really help the card go together.  I decided to play along with this week's SUO challenge and do something different with my dsp on this card, so I mixed up my background.  I took strips from the Brights Patterns stack, the Floral District pack, and the Summer Smooches pack.  Each of these strips matched my colors--Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, and Tangerine Tango.  My stamped layer uses the Summer Silhouettes set and it then layered on all three layers of card stock and tied some Daffodil Delight stitched grosgrain around it.  I stamped the "thank you" from Sassy Salutations and punched it with the Designer Label punch and raised it up a bit with a few Stampin' Dimensionals.