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.

Fall Flower Silhouettes

It seems like Fall is ages away.  Don't get me wrong, I love Summer, but I've had enough of the days of 90+ degree temperatures lately.  I'd love a few days of 70s and 80s, but I'm not quite ready for Fall and the associated constantly cooling temperatures.

The color combination I used on this card screams Fall to me.  At first I thought of making a Halloween card, but I decided to stretch myself a little and use it in a non-Fall way.  I chose the Summer Silhouettes set, seeing as I just started using it this past week and I'm having fun making card samples with it.  These two colors--Pumpkin Pie and Wild Wasabi are this week's Dynamic Duos.  I stamped my garden and then added the greeting from the Sweet Essentials set.  My white layer is punched on the right side with the scallop edge punch and is mounted on a piece of Pumpkin Pie Patterns Designer Series Paper (from the Brights stack).  I tied some stitched Wild Wasabi grosgrain ribbon around that layer and then mounted everything on my Pumpkin Pie card base.

Triplet Trio Sailboats

A friend of mine just had triplets!  She has three girls and now has evened out her family with three new baby boys.  I decided that I need add some triplet cards to my idea gallery so this is my first.Have you ever needed a triplet baby card?  I haven't until now.  I'm hoping to make more so that I can give her a stack of cards that she can use as well, so when I get those done I'll be posting more of them.  

I used the sailboat from the Moving Forward set and the "hello, baby" from the Baby Bundle set.  The greeting is stamped on white card stock and then punched out with the smallest banner from the bitty banners framelits.  I layered each of those banners on the coordinating color of card stock cut with the bigger banner framelits on my big shot.  I chose my colors of Real Red, Summer Starfruit, and Marina Mist since they are this week's color challenge over at Pals Paper Arts.  My three background papers are from the Patterns Designer Series Paper Stacks (Brights, 2012 In Colors, and Subtles stacks) and are layered on a white card base.

Pink and Simple

I'm finding that a lot of my cards lately need a lot of layers, so it was refreshing to find this sketch from Retro Sketches.  I wanted to keep my card clean and simple, so I picked a pink and white color scheme.  It's a little hard to see in the photo, but between the ribbons I have a row of stamped flowers (that match the centers of the punched flowers).  The flower comes from the Summer Silhouettes stamp set and the greeting is from Sweet Essentials.  I used pretty in pink stitched grosgrain ribbon and layered flowers from my new sizzlits die in my Big Shot.

Friends and Flowers

Banners, pennants, and labels seem to be all the rage lately in card making.  I love all of the fun new products that have been released lately to keep up with this fun trend.  I combined a couple of those trends on this card with my banner and the label.  I'm enjoying not always using a rectangle for my stamped layer on cards (the labels framelits are a great change).  I made this card using the sketch from the newest sketch challenge over at Stamping 411.  My focal image is stamped with the Summer Silhouettes stamp set and the greeting is from Sweet Essentials, both of which are new Stampin' Up! sets.  The flowers, greenery, and stems are each individual stamps, which make it fun to "grow" the garden.  I cut the layer out with one of my framelits dies on the Big shot.  I used a colorful piece of Designer Series Paper from the Summer Smooches pack for my banner and layered it on Rich Razzleberry.  My base layer is Tempting Turquoise patterns dsp mounted on the same color card stock. 

Raspberry Bloom and Butterfly

Are you hooked on the new In Colors yet?  I love them all!  This card features Raspberry Ripple.  It's so rich and vibrant and works well for so many occasions and types of cards.  Lots of layers and a monochromatic color scheme make up this card.  I stamped the flower from the Summer Silhouettes set, layered it on Raspberry card stock and tied some of the new stitched satin ribbon around it, and layered that on white so that it would stand out.  I mounted this with Stampin' Dimensionals over the layer of Raspberry card stock textured with the Petals-a-Plenty embossing folder mounted on white.  My card base uses the patterns designer series paper on top of Raspberry card stock.  To finish it off, I stamped the Thank You from Stampin' Up!'s Sassy Salutations set in Basic Black and added a small butterfly from the new Papillon Potpourri set.  Thanks Just Add Ink for the sketch challenge for this fun card!

In Color Summer Silhouettes

I'm a bit behind on stamping and blogging, but I'm trying to catch up.  Last week my Stampin' Up! order came and I'm excited to start using the new stamps and ribbons that I ordered.  Two of the new sets are Sweet Essentials and Summer Silhouettes, which I used in this card.  Sweet Essentials is a great word set that has a variety of greetings in a simple, and not too bold, font.  I chose the "friends" stamp for this card.  I love how you can build a garden with the Summer Silhouettes set, so that's what I did with Gumball Green, Summer Starfruit, and Raspberry Ripple.  These colors are the color challenge at Stampin' Royalty right now.  I used my petals-a-plenty embossing folder on the gumball green card stock and then mounted it on white before mounting it on my favorite patterns dsp (the In Color stack) and finally onto a raspberry card base.  I also wanted to use my new ribbon, so I tied a bit of the raspberry ripple stitched satin ribbon around my main layer.  I really like these colors together, they are so rich and so pretty!

Simple Silhouettes

Here's a card with the new Summer Silhouettes stamp set.  I used Raspberry Ripple, Summer Starfruit, and Always Artichoke Ink for my stamped images. I layered the stamped images on Always Artichoke and River Rock (to help tone down the Summer Starfruit) and then layered it all on a strip of artichoke DSP.  I wanted to keep this card simple so I tied a piece of Raspberry Ripple stitched satin ribbon around it and called it finished.  I like to have some cards on hand that are without words so that I can use them for any occasion or as a just because card.

Embellished Events Circles and Cake

Circles seem to be my thing lately.  I've combined four different circles on this card--The 2-1/2" circle punch, the circles on the Pumpkin Pie paper from the Polka-Dot Parade DSP pack, the polka-dots on the Daffodil Delight paper from the Polka-Dot Parade DSP pack, and finally the textured polka dots from the embossing folder I used on my card base.  I layered the designer series paper onto white card stock so that it stands out more from the next layer.  I tied some white stitched grosgrain around the pumpkin layer and punched the daffodil layer with the scalloped edge punch.  I chose Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, and Daffodil Delight as my colors--I love how vivid and fun these three colors are together.  My stamps are both from the Embellished Events stamp set.  I wanted my cake to have a multi-colored look, so I colored it with the cake with my Stampin' Write markers.  The greeting is punched with the oval and scalloped oval punch and the cake is punched with the 2-1/2" circle and both are mounted with Stampin' Dimensionals.

Baby Blues Sailboat

I think the sailboat image in the Stampin' Up! Moving Forward set is perfect for baby boy cards!  I wanted to participate in the current sketch challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches, so I paired this set with two of the 2011-2013 In Colors--Pool Party and Island Indigo.  I stamped my sailboat in Island Indigo Ink and then punched it out with the 2-1/2" circle punch.  Do you have a 2-1/2" circle punch?  I'm finding that it is a staple that I've been using a ton lately!  I added a 3" square of patterns dsp from the In Color collection, layered it on white and then Island Indigo, then tied some Pool Party seam binding ribbon around it.  I stamped the greeting (that comes from Stampin' Up!'s A Word for You set) with Island Indigo ink on my Pool Party card base, then ran the front of the card through my Big Shot with the polka dot textured impressions folder.  It's a pretty quick and simple card, but that's what I need around here.  I'm one who realizes I need a card just before I run out the door to a baby shower or other event!

Birthday Pinwheel Layers

This is another card that we made at my stamp class just over a week ago.  The tool that this card showcases is the Color Spritzer (which splatters ink off a marker--in this case a Basic Gray Stampin' Write marker).  We used the same triple time technique that I used on this card.  The pinwheel comes from the Stampin' Up! Sweets for the Sweet set and is stamped in Daffodil Deight and Tempting Turquoise.  The Happy Birthday stamps is from the hostess set called Wacky Wishes.   I tied a bit of daffodil delight stitched grosgrain ribbon around the top layer and mounted all of the white layers on Tempting Turquoise card stock.

Layered Tulips and Blossoms

I've posted a couple of samples with the triple layered technique, but I decided to put a different spin on things.  For this card, I took a strip of card stock and stuck it to the middle of a larger piece and then did the stamping.  That way, the images line up where the layers meet.  Once I stamped it, I took the layer back off and then mounted it and the bottom layer on some Midnight Muse card stock.  I used the Bright Blossoms stamp set with some of the current In Colors (Raspberry Ripple, Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green, and Midnight Muse).  I stamped the greeting and punched it with the oval punch and layered it on the decorative label punch.  Finally, I wrapped a bit of gumball green 3/8" stitched ribbon around the layers before mounting it all on the Raspberry Ripple card base. 

Joy and Good Cheer

The pack of Designer Series Paper called Be of Good Cheer is such a fun assortment of paper.  I used three different patterns from it for the background on this card.  Earlier this week I made another card with this same color scheme--Very Vanilla, Gumball Green, and Cherry Cobbler. This time, I wanted to use it for a Christmas card.  Gumball Green is such a great Christmas Color and just an all around good green.  I chose Stampin' Up!'s Delightful Decorations set for my stamped images and punched them on Very Vanilla card stock then punched them out with the 3-/4" and 2-1/2" circle punches.  I layered the small one on a piece of gumball green card stock that I punched with the 1" circle punch.  All of my circles are mounted with Stampin' Dimensionals so that they are raised just a bit off the card.  Finally, I tied a bow with the 3/8" stitched Gumball Green ribbon and stuck it down with a mini glue dot.  This card layout was inspired by this week's Mojo Monday challenge.  Merry Christmas in July--there are only 5 months until Christmas :)

Double Layer Cake

I love Summer!  Okay, I'm not crazy about the 100 degree days that we have, but I love the more carefree feeling and the long days and warm nights.  I find that when I'm stamping in the Summer, I have a tendency to use bright colors, which are my favorite!  I chose bright colors for this birthday card--Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, and Daffodil Delight.  I used my Chevron Textured Impressions embossing folder on my card base then layered some pumpkin stripes dsp (from the brights patterns dsp stack) and the daffodil polka dot (from the Polka-Dot Parade dsp pack) on top of the base.  My stamped images all come from the Topsy-Turvy Celebration stamp set.  I cut out the flowers to stick on the cake and then continued the flower theme with the Boho Blossoms punch (with brads in the center).  My layout was inspired by this week's Pals Paper Arts sketch challenge.  

Cheery Cherry Tulips

I am in love with the cute little tulip from the Bright Blossom stamp set.  Most of the samples that I've seen with this set use bright colors to match the Summer Smooches paper, so I decided to try something a little different.  When I saw last week's color challenge over at splitcoast, I decided to not use it for a Christmas card, but instead use it with this fun set.  The colors are Very Vanilla (card stock), Gumball Green, and Cherry Cobbler.  I used the fabulous new Be of Good Cheer pack of designer series paper and picked a few patterns from it that didn't necessarily scream Christmas.  I added a piece of Cherry Cobbler scalloped polka dot ribbon and then layered the greeting punched with the oval punch onto a piece of cherry cobbler card stock punched with the designer label punch.  I used a few Stampin' Dimensionals on the label so that it stands up a little to finish off the card.

Primary Colored Pinwheels

I find that most of the cards I design have pinks, purples, ribbons, etc.--all things that make them more feminine (or "girly").  That's probably the case because: (1) I am a girl, (2) my first child was a girl, and (3) a LOT of stamps and craft products are designed for girls.  I've tried to be better lately about using colors and products that can be used for girls and boys, or even just boys since I have fewer masculine cards on hand.  I've also realized that a lot of those who attend my classes have boys and they want cards they can use, and, now I have a little boy and I need to make things that work for him as well.

I love this background paper from the Summer Smooches product suite.  I love how colorful it is, and how you can pick out just a few colors from it and make a fun, bright card (I used the primary colors: Real Red, Daffodil Delight, and Pacific Point).  I choose this layout from this week's Stamping 411 sketch challenge.  I've been using my 2-1/2" circle punch a lot lately--I love how the stamps fill the circle and how the shape really adds to the card.  I used my Sweets for the Sweet set for the pinwheels, the Itty Bitty Banners set for the greeting , and the bitty banners framelits to punch out the greeting in my Big Shot.  I also used the Big Shot to add the Chevron detail to the Pacific Point card stock--I just LOVE those embossing folders!  I added a strip of Daffodil Delight along the designer series paper and I punched it with the scallop edge punch.  Finally I added a very thin layer of white card stock and mounted everything on my Daffodil Delight card base.  I can't wait to use more of that Summer Smooches designer series paper and pick out different colors and see what look I can achieve.  Thanks for visiting!

Best of Simple Spritzed

Here's another card that we made at my card class last week.  I wanted to showcase the new Stampin' Spritzers, so we used them to create a simple background.  This is a super quick card to put together.  I filled my spritzers with alcohol and a few drops of reinker (the alcohol dries a lot quicker than water).  Colors are Summer Starfruit and Pacific Point and stamps are from the Best of Everything set.  We spritzed each color once on a white piece of cardstock.  Once that is dry (usually just a matter of seconds), stamp the flowers and greeting on in Pacific Point, layer on s piece of the Pacific Point card stock, add a bit of stitched grosgrain ribbon, and mount on the card base.  Quick, simple, with a literal splash of color thanks to the Stampin' Spritzers.

Bright Coral Blossoms

Today I mounted my new Bright Blossoms stamp set.  I love the style of the petite flowers and I'm excited to spend more time using it.  This is the first card that I've made with it.  I decided to combine using this new set with the color combo challenge over at Just Add Ink.  I decided to combine black and white with Calypso Coral.  I cut the three layers and temporarily adhered them together so that I could stamp on all of them at the same time.  After stamping, I used my color spritzer and speckled coral all over it.  My greeting comes from the A Word for You set and is also stamped in black.  Once things were speckled, I took the layers off and layered them onto pieces of Calypso Coral Cardstock (that were each 1/4" bigger than the white pieces).  Since I made my card the standard card size and my layers are squares, I filled in the extra space at the bottom with some patterns designer series paper.  To finish it all off, I added a piece of 1/8" black taffeta ribbon.  Have you tried a color challenge lately?

HONORABLE MENTION!