Parisian Bouquet – I Used My Fav DP!!!!!

FINALLY!!! I finished a whole card from start to end in one sitting! Well, to toot my horn a bit, I actually did TWO cards in under an hour – wow!

I went with the sketch challenge posted for this week. Details can be found here. I really like this sketch. It is great for scraps, leftover dp, focal images, and quick & easy cards.

I am on a mission to spread some love amongst my retired sets. So I went to my drawer in search of an image that would look good in the center of a card like this. Almost immediately this window from the Parisian Plaza set jumped out at me. I love this image. Once I had settled on this as my foacl point, I looked for some paper that would continue the soft, serene feeling I saw in my head. (I see lots of things in there, don’t be alarmed!)

I knew this Fancy Pants paper was perfect for this card. It is from their new Wildflowers line, and this particular paper is called Bouquet. I’ve been hoarding it ever since I snapped it up as soon as Jacksonbelle’s store (link at right) got it in stock. It is sooooo delicious! I trimmed it and matted it with Chocolate Chip, to bring out the browns in the design. I stamped my image in Chocolate Chip on Blush Blossom cardstock, to compliment the light pinkish hue to the paper. It is also matted with Chocolate Chip, as well as sponged with Regal Rose, which is a perfect match to the deeper pink on the paper.

I chose a creamier Prima so it would stand out a bit, and attached it to the smaller panel with a word brad that says “sweet”.  I mounted all of the layers directly to a Kraft base, after I ran it through my Cuttlebug and sponged on some Regal Rose.

I am definitely a fan of this card – for once the picture in my head is exactly what came out on the card!!! Wow!!

Black Eyed Susans

  This is the last challenge card from VSN I’m going to share, I promise! This challenge, Run for the Black Eyed Susans, was hosted by MelenaPrincess (Kim). Check out her gallery here, and the gallery with everyone else’s entries here. Basically, her challenge was to use a Summer Sun and Chocolate Chip color scheme to make your card – like the flower.

I chose to keep mine pretty simple (as usual!). I started with a base of Chocolate Chip. I used my circle cutter to cut out two semi-circles from Summer Sun. On the larger one, I stamped a sentiment in Chocolate Chip ink, and sponged some on, too. On the smaller one, I stamped a Rhonna Farrar swirl. I used my fingernail to distress the edges of both of them.

In the middle of the card I stamped my flowers (flowers and sentiment are from the Best Blossoms set) in Versamark and embossed them using the Maize EP from the Earth Elements EP stack. To finish the card off, I added a fabric tag under the large circle, and some fun two-tone ribbon to the side.

Pretty darn simple! I am quite pleased with the layout – I can think of lots of possibilities for it, and will defintitely be using it in the future.

Yet Another VSN Card!

This was for stargirl’s (Carla) challenge, which was to use adhesives of some kind to emboss something on your card. Carla is an amazing creator of cards – check out her  SCS gallery!

The challenge really stretched my brain – I had no idea you could even do this!! DD was uncool enough to break two of my snail refills, so I decided to use some strips from one of them (can’t waste it, you know!), and some mini glue dots.

 In an effort to use scraps, my color scheme is similar to the Quilled card I did. Pretty in Pink base, Pixie Pink large panel, Gable Green smaller panel. I used the mini glue dots on the Pixie Pink, and embossed them with Pink EP from the Soft Subtles stack. On the Gable Green panel, I placed some randon lines with the snail adhesive, and embossed those with the Pink EP also. It is on dimensionals. I added a couple of snazzy Primas, one in a Gable Greenish color and one in a light blue. The brad is a funky little flower I got at Hobby Lobby.

The blue Prima was added to tie into the Basic Grey tag I put on dimensionals on top of the Gable Green panel. I LOVE those little birds on it!! To match the other brad, I put a pink one on the tag. In the lower corner I stamped my sentiment with Karen Foster Snap Stamps, 1/8″ formal in Pixie Pink.

I toppped the whole card with some hot pink organdy ribbon with white polka dots. Mmmmm….how I love polka dot organdy ribbon! I got it at Jacksonbelle’s store (link at right) – she has a great selection of ribbon!

The card looked better in my mind than how it turned out. But it is growing on me!!!

My Favorite Card from VSN

This card was for a monochromatic color challenge. I am such a fan of using a monochromatic color scheme on a card!

I decided on yellows because I spent the afternoon outside in the sunshine with DD. So I was feeling kinda sunny 🙂

I started with a More Mustard base. I cut a piece of patterned paper that I have had since I started scrapbooking 5 years ago (see – it DOES pay to hoard!) that matched perfectlyand used that as my main panel. I like the subtle script it had on it. An you can’t see it in the pictures, but it has tones of all the yellows, and a hint of green as well. My next layer is a piece of So Saffron, Cuttlebugged with the Script folder to echo the printed paper. I dtp’d it with a More Mustard spot. My final layer, and the focal point of the card, is Barely Banana. I stamped the flower stems in Old Olive, and the tulip petals are More Mustard and Really Rust.  The sentiment, from the Delight in Life set, is also stamped in Really Rust.

I broke out my Crop-a-dile (man I LOVE that little gizmo!) to punch holes for the Primas. I used flowers from the “Flower of the Month” collection – October and December. The flowers in the middle on both sides have a hint of green at the center, to coordinate with the Old Olive.

I put both small panels up on dimensionals for some depth to the card. I also sponged More Mustard on the edges of every panel. I absolutely love the way this card turned out, and will be casing myself in the very near future!

I can quill! (sort of)

The first VSN challenge I did involved quilling something for the card. I’ve never tried this technique before, and was more than a little skeptical!!

 I immediately thought of the easiest approach – just quill a plain old circle.  Doodle This was already out on my table, so this flower caught my eye immediately.

 The color combo I used, Pretty In Pink, Pixie Pink, and Green Galore is definitely a favorite of mine. It seems so happy and cheerful!

I used the slit punch to scallop a piece of the Green Galore, and attached it under the Pretty In Pink panel, which I had already stamped with the Dots & Daises background. Before I put them on the Pixie Pink base, I stamped some Rhonna Farrar swirls around the edges of it, just to give it some movement. I stamped the doodle flowers on the Green Galore with Basic Black ink, and used Pixie Pink strips to quill for the center. Each flower is on a thick dimensional.

To finish the card off, I stamped “wish” from the small script set in Basic Black and tied a yummy piece of hot pink organdy ribbon with black polka dots at the top. I got the ribbon from Jacksonbelle’s store (link at right).

I really enjoyed this challenge, and actually love the way this card turned out!

My Sample Card for VSN

Well here it is!!! My challenge for VSN was called Sharing the Light – the basics of it was that you should make the sentiment the focal point of your card! And WOW did those SCS ladies come up with some stunners!! I’m never gonna be able to pick just five for the “honor gallery”, which is being named “The Bouquet” this month.

The card I did for my sample has one of my all time favorite quotes on it. Anne Frank really said it all when she said this one!

I started with a Basic Black card base. Then I cuttlebugged a layer of So Saffron, outlining each of the flowers with my Sakura Gelly Roll Pen (which is hard to see in the pic). On top of that I added a layer of Rose Red (with dtp’ed Basic Black ink around the edges). I cut (and no joke, this was the hardest part – cutting up the paper that I looove so much!) into a piece of Stella Ruby by Basic Grey – choosing to highlight this stunner of a flower on one of the sheets. On th reverse side of a piece of vellum cardstock I stamped the small flower from Delight in Life in the Rose Red ink. Then I flipped it over and stamped the sentiment, part of the Sage Advice set, in Versamark and used Black EP to emboss it. I ran the vellum through my Xyron, and adhered it to the Stella Ruby. That panel is on dimensionals. I sprinkled some Primas with black brads as centers on, corner-rounded away – and voila!! The whole thing took maybe 25 minutes. And I LOVE it!

A Challenge for Myself!

I have found that stamping really relaxes me – gets me in a good mood. I love it (which is good, considering how much money I’ve invested in it!)!!!! I find that I am not prioritizing my time well, and don’t get as much stamping done as I’d like. Part of it is that DD needs to be with me at all times; in all fairness I love to be with her all the time when I am home, too. Obviously there is no stamping with her – she loves it but isn’t as helpful as she intends to be!

On Monday of this week, Valerie guest hosted the “Try a new technique” challenge for Beth. It can be found here. I really like her idea of stamping a bit each day, just something quick, to keep creative juices going. What a great challenge!

 So I am challenging myself to stamp something everyday. It doesn’t have to be a card from beginning to end – I want to at least start it. So my goal is 30 minutes of stamp time or more in the evenings. I can manage that, right? It’d be easier if I could pull myself off this darn computer!

Different is good, right?

So here is another card I made for SIL. Same paper and colors scheme as the previous card, just a serious twist on the layout.

I mounted a strip of Chocolate Chip and used the slit punch to put a “holder” for the Fancy Pants dp.  I mounted both of those to thte Certaianly Celery layer, which I did not stamp at all — what a shocker!!! It was tough to leave it plain, but I wanted to showcase the gorgeous dp.

I stamped the long doodle from Doodle This on a piece of overhead transparency (swiped from the “never used anymore” top shelf of our supply rooom!) with white sraft ink, and zapped it with my heat gun to dry it. I attached it using pewter brads.

The whole card is on a Whisper White base. Not alot of stamping, but it did take a ton of patience to dry these suckers. And I smeared MORE than a few. But I love the way it turned out!!

I did make her lots of girly notes, with soft colors and primas. But I thought it would be fun to have some non traditional notes thrown in too. And guess what? So far they’ve been everybodys’ favorite ones!!

I’m pretty proud of these notes – they took a lot of effort, a lot of time, and were made with lots of love. I think they are an awesome wedding present!

Fun and Funky…

This is another one of the thank you notes I made for SIL. I had this fabulous patterned paper left over from a coaster book I made for her mom for mother’s day (and filled with pics of DD – huge hit!), so I figured I’d go ahead and use the scraps, rather than selfishly pile them away like I usually do. It is such pretty paper – Fancy Pants makes awesome dp!!

As with most of SIL’s cards, I started with a Whisper White base. I layered on Certainly Celery and Chocolate Chip. Each layer is stamped using Big Pieces, from the Winter Mini. I used the ticket corner punch to add a little flair to the corners of my dp, and put it on with dimensionals. The primas are attached with a teal blue crystal brad, which irl is much closer to the teal in the dp.  I stamped the word thanks on the tab punch with Karen Foster Formal 1/8″ Snap Stamps. The paper is the reverse side of the dp. I attached it to the Chocolate Chip layer with diamond shaped SU brads.

I am a fan of this note – kind of different, funky, and fun. It was DH’s fav, also. MIL loved the ones with this paper too. I was secretly hoping she wouldn’t, and then I could keep them!!

A Few More Thank You Notes

So I finally got some thank you notes done for SIL. Whew! It is hard to see in the picture, but they both have the large doodle from SU’s Doodle This stamped on it – the tall one just once, the horizontal one has it twice. Each card is based on Whisper White, with a cuttlebugged layer of Pretty in Pink and then a cuttlebugged layer of So Saffron. The doodle is stamped in Mellow Moss. The Primas, one large pink and one small yellow, are attached with a silver SU brad and have light pink organdy ribbon behind them. These are some easy cards to crank out, I tell ya!

All Occasion Notes

I made some all occasion notecards last night – good for thank-yous, thinking of yous, birthdays, whatevers. It took me forever to come up with something I liked – I started out with one set of colors, switched to another partway through, added the embossing at the last second, the Primas were an afterthought. But I like how they turned out!

Supplies: Paper: SU Sage Shadow (base), Not Quite Navy, Bordering Blue Ink: SU Classic Not Quite Navy Stamps: Rhonna Farrar Swirls v. 1 Accessories: Ribbon from Starlit Studio (link at right), Primas, Ribbon buckle from Joanns.com, SU NQN brads, SU Horizontal Slot Punch

I Got Mail!!! And My Friends Got Birthdays!

Look at what I got in the mail yesterday!!! Isn’t it fabulous?!?!?! My friend Sara’s daughter has a birthday today (HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIA!!) and for her birthday she got an American Girl doll that looks just like her. Well, I figured, every little doll needs jammies, right? And every little girl deserves to be spoiled rotten, especially on their birthday! So I sent her these for her as yet unnamed new buddy. Cute, aren’t they?

Anyway, she made me this card, and I love it! It is on my fridge, and Ava Grace thinks the flah-flahs (that would be flowers, for those who don’t speak 19 month old) are awesome.

Also today, two dear friends have birthdays. I hope you have a wonderful day, ladies!!!

Another Jar of Primas!

Ok, I admit it. I loooove me some salsa, seriously. But I also love to make these little jars and fill them with goodies. I just think they are so cute and fun to make! Plus, they are an excellent way to share Primas with my friends. I suppose I could put other things in them besides flowers, like ribbon or hardware, but Primas are so springy!!

The person who is getting this jar doesn’t know it is coming either, so I can’t spill the beans yet. She is an SU demo also, so I figured I couldn’t do much she couldn’t do waaaaaay better. I turned instead to my Papertreyink butterfly set. I have this fabulous piece of printed paper from a mega-huge slab of vintage designs I found at Hobby Lobby. It is a perfect match to SU Brocade Blue and Certainly Celery. So, I put the paper on, stamped little whats-its from the PaperTreyink Butterfly Kisses set, and then added mini butterflies – all in Brocade Blue classic ink. I stamped a solid butterfly in Certainly Celery classic ink on the Celery paper, and the patterned butterfly on top in Always Artichoke classic ink. I cut out all four of them, and went over all of the detail swirls with my Sakura Gelly roll pen (which, of course, is hard to see in the picture!). I mounted them to the Brocade Blue strip with mini glue dots.

Under the blue strip I stapled alternate Celery and White small pieces of grosgrain ribbon (SU).  Then I glue dotted the whole strip to the patterned paper.

The lid on this one was kind of a bear. I got it in my head to use the blue ep form the Rich Regals stack. But it just did not want to cover well! However, some spots turned a whitish color, so it ended up looking kind of marbled. On the very top, I put three Primas – greenish, light blue, and white – together with a Karen Foster brad that says “special”.

Overall, I’m happy with the way the jar turned out! It makes me smile, and I hope it makes my friend smile too!!

This is the first time I’ve taken pictures outside – what great quality of light!! I wish I could always photograph outside. But usually, it’s long since dark by the time I get around to taking pictures for uploading!

A Cased Card for a Secret Someone!

Yesterday Sara showed me an AWESOME card she made, and I instantly fell in love with it.  I have to make a bunch of cards this weekend, so I figured I’d cheat and case her design for at least one of them! Sara’s original card can be seen in her gallery – be sure to check it out and leave her a comment about it!

This one’s recipient is a secret, but I used colors I know she likes. Since Rich Regals is her favorite color family, I started by using a base color of Taken With Teal. I turned to my trusty color wheel for the complimentary colors of Certainly Celery and Apricot Appeal (and Soft Subtles is her next favorite family – bonus!).  The Certainly Celery layer is Cuttlebugged using the French Script folder, distressed, and edged with matching classic ink. The Apricot Appeal panel is also distressed and edged in its matching classic ink. The top panel is Naturals White with the Linen background stamped in Barely Banana (although it is hard to see in the picture!). I stamped flowers in Apricot Appeal with Pumpkin Pie as its contrast and Blush Blossom with Pretty in Pink as its contrast. The stems are all Certainly Celery. The word “heartfelt” is stamped in Taken With Teal classic ink; the same color was used to edge the panel after I distressed it. 

I used SU’s double slit punch to make holes for the Apricot grosgrain ribbon (SU). I also added Primas (from the October collection) to the bottom of the Apricot Appeal panel. They are attached with Celery brads from the Soft Subtles brad collection (SU). I could not be happier with the way this card turned out, and I hope the person getting it like it too!

 Thanks Sara, for your inspiration and permission to case! (And for all of the other wonderful things you do!)

Reduse, Reuse, Recycle!!

I love this Jack Johnson song from his Curious George Soundtrack. It is such a happy little melody…

This used to be a salsa jar – good salsa, at that! I do have a serious love of  black bean and corn salsa……mmmmmmm….. 

Anyway, it occured to me the other day after throwing out countless empty jars that I should be saving these little guys to make presents for my buddies! Duh!

 So I started with this jar’s transformation by embossing th elid – which in its former life was a hideous combo of a yo-yo yellowish shade and some DOT orange – yikes! A couple coats of Versamark and Winter White ep (with some Dazzling Diamonds mixed in just for fun) later, it looks brand new.  I paired a light lime green Prima with a dark brown one, and put a pewter brad through them. They are adhered to the lid with a mega pop-dot.

Then I reached for a scrap of Prima patterned paper. On it I stamped some doodles by Rhonna Farrar using Bravo Burgundy craft ink. 

The fabulous scalloped ovals were a RAK from a friend (thanks Laura!!). The white one is also stamped with the Rhonna Farrar doodles, but this time in Certainly Celery classic ink. I stamped the sentiment from Blooming With Happiness in Chocolate Chip classic ink. I snailed it onto the Chocolate Chip oval, and put a couple monster pop-dots on the back.

 On each side of the ovals, I added some Hodgepodge Hardware (*note to me: go find list of names SU! just gave the pieces!). I threaded some fabulous brown and cream stitched grosgrain from Starlit Studio (link at right) through and frayed the edges.  

All done!

I filled this jar with an assortment of Primas – in tons of different colors, sizes, and styles. I’m sending to a secret somebody!!