Cupcake, anyone?

Here is another card with Party Hearty. I have to admit I like the set more than I thought I would and the cupckae especially is too cute ! I had a feeling it might look good with some yummy chocolate chip paper.

Party Hearty !!

Party Hearty is the name of a new stamp set. This set will be part of the Fall/Winter collection and I was able to earn it for free by attending Regionals and placing a qualifying order. Yay, free rubber !! The UPS man drove up yesterday and I got to play with it last night.

April Club Projects

I am a little late posting club projects from April 8. Diane, we missed you ! Kell, hope you can make the next meeting :) Here is what we made:

Direct on paper with Bloom Beautiful (also using watercoloring with markers)
Faux Tearing with Infinite Goodness (hostess level 2)
Post it Note holder using Afternoon Tea designer paper (occasions mini)

Faux Metal Belt Buckle

I submitted this card for a challenge that called for using a buckle or another piece of hardware. I turned down the idea of using hodgepodge since I figured that will be widely used and made a custom "belt buckle" with the faux metal technique. I have been wanting to try this for a while now. If you are not familiar with faux metal, see directions below. The image I selected (from Bronc Buster stamp set) was a bit hard to work with since it is so large and detailed. When pressed, part of the embossing powder would already start to harden and not take a good impression. It took a few tries to get a half decent image. To tie the silver focal point into the rest of the card I used brushed silver cardstock and embossed small images along the bottom.

Oh, I almost forgot the best part. The challenge was part of Virtual Stamping Night on SCS (I was only able to submit a card to one of the wonderful challenges, soccer is in full swing and our weekend was way too busy for me to get any more stamping done) and my card was selected as one of 5 best submissions - I am an honoree !! I am so tickled, I would not have known but someone mentioned it as a comment in my gallery. I made the card with hubby in mind since I usually shower him with more frilly feminine cards (which is more my style), but I don't think it hit the spot so I will be making him another card for Father's Day with LOTS of pretty flowers, ha !!! Hubby is hard to impress these days.

Faux Metal directions:

Take a piece of scrap cardstock (slightly larger than the image you plan to use) and rub it with versamark to cover the entire piece. Sprinkle with embossing powder of your choice (silver, gold or copper work best for the metal look) and emboss with a heat gun. Rub again with versamark and repeat the process until you have three layers of embossing and the surface is smooth and shiny. After the last heating, have your stamp ready to press onto the cardstock while the powder is still melted and soft. Press down evenly to make a crisp impression. Let sit for a minute and then cut out with scissors or use as is.

Ready for another Paper Tole??

This is probably getting old but I have been on the roll with this technique. So much fun to see it come to life. Only this time I pulled out a Halloween set. I received these cute hedgehogs in a trade and they are almost brand new so I was definitely excited to ink them !! This particular image just screamed to be popped and it was a lot of fun. However, I struggled for half a day to make a card with it, until I decided to go vertical and make a tent topper and then it all came together again. I have seen people use these big beautiful bows and I literally "tied" that into my card here. Overall I am very happy with it, you probably can't make a bad card with these adorable hedgehogs. Made me wish for fall all over again too. Images are colored with markers, all circles free-handed, they are not perfect but what's a girl to do when the coluzzle is missing again??? Have a blessed day.

Christmas in April - Paper Tole Cardinal

I have a few more paper tole cards for you. The technique is great since you really don't need anything but a pair of scissors and some dimensionals . Oh, and plenty of patience, ha ! I went through my retired sets (after I discovered none of my current sets will work) to select some to play with and layer and the Cardinal was definitely on my list. A little challenging with the snow and leaves mingled into the main image but it was worth it. I used a real red marker to color the bird and mellow moss for the leaves. I used Wild Wasabi textured card stock and the same print of Prints designer paper in wasabi and real red. The finished card could be both a holiday greeting or a masculine card for someone born in January or February (or any time 'till May if you live in Maine, ha !). Anyway, so much for a Christmas stamp set in the middle of 70's temps here in Oklahoma.

Another Paper Tole card

I had so much fun with my first paper tole card I had to make another (and I have more planned). I played and played with this card looking for the right contrast color and finally ended up with black. Black always seems to save the day for me. The cake is cut out and layered twice. It really pops out in real life. The designer paper matches the flowers on the cake well, I thought. I hope you like it.

Live Your Dream

My resolution this year is to "break-in" new stamp sets as soon as I get them and attempt a sampler. I am nowhere near having a sampler but I did break in this set and the matching Afternoon Tea designer paper. The colors are so soft and pretty !! The layout is based on a sketch from last week's challenge but I changed it slightly. You cannot see the textured card stock well in the photo but it really adds dimension to the finished card.

Quick and Simple Mouse

Here is a quick card (well, if you don't count the cutting time, ha!) I made for a Technique Lovers' Challenge. The technique was paper tole, you can see from the side view how parts of the image are cut out and layered. There are three layers total of the can and mouse's head. It was a lot of fun and the card looks much better in person with the main image truly "sticking out" ;) The mouse is from a set called Say Something Mice and designer paper from Stampin' Up Prints series in Real Red (available in assorted pack as Level 1 hostess set) .

Pretty Amazing

Pretty Amazing is the name of the stamp set, not a title for my card, ha ! I have to admit I have never even looked twice at this set until Regionals where I received some beautiful swap cards and just had to have that little hummingbird. The card is based on a card by Laura, who was the Featured Stamper on SCS last week. I had hard time choosing a card for my inspiration since there are so many beautiful creations in her gallery. I finally decided to go with this card mainly for the large flower. I thought this would be a good layout to break in my "Pretty Amazing" and layer the flower that comes with it. I must say that even though I don't see myself buying Dare to be Fabulous (set used for Laura's card) I really like all the samples others make with it.

I kept my color scheme monochromatic with a layer of brushed silver for a little sparkle. I still feel the card needs glitter but I am not yet sure where I would put it.

Infinite Goodness

A quick card using Infinite Goodness and scraps. The extra daisies were cut out and adhered with dimensionals.

Thoughts of Father

I feel guilty for not putting any of my own creations up since Regionals. So here are some of my recent ones. I completely spaced on Easter cards this year so I felt very accomplished with these Father's Day cards ! This set has been on my wish list ever since the new Spring/Summer collection came out. I made the really rust color one first and then softened the look up some with the bashful blue/celery card. The images were colored with SU markers (the grass and flowers took FOREVER to color), the oval cut out with SU Coluzzle and the layers free handed (the Coluzzle layers are too thick for my taste).

And the rest of Regional displays

There were so many wonderful displays at Regionals I cannot possibly post all the pictures here, so here are the last three and with this, I am finally moving on ;) Displays showcase Thanks So Much (set we received for free at Regionals, I actually learned to like it once we made our projects), Live Your Dream (this set made top of my wish list once I saw the beautiful samples and the versatility in projects we got to create, and it's on its way to my house right now !! I can't wait to play!) and Party Harty (This is a free set I earned by attending Regionals and placing a qualifying workshop order following Regionals. The stamp set is from the fall/winter catalog collection and I am really excited about it since I don't own a good versatile birthday set). So, that's that.

More regional displays .....

More Regional Displays

More display pictures from Tulsa regionals.

Tulsa Regionals

Some of you know I got to attend my very first regionals on Saturday in Tulsa. My friend Diane who was supposed to go with me was experiencing some health issues and generously offered her ticked to our mutual friend Erin. My hubby was scared there for a while he would have to drive me to Tulsa, ha ! Erin has never been to Regional seminar either so it was exciting for both of us and it was so nice to have a buddy. I was hoping Shelli would be there and she was, she was very inspiring and came across as such a nice genuine person, I could not help but have a picture taken with her, ha ! The projects were beautiful, the techniques were wow, the displays were awesome (found 5 of my cards there !! what an honor), the swaps were great and everyone was so friendly. We had a great time. Sorry it took me a while to get over here and post some of the pictures, things were very busy right after I got home and the time change has really affected me this year, so I am now finally getting back to normal. Below are some display boards, I know you will enjoy the beautiful cards - hope you find your cards there too!

March Club Projects

These were my club projects for March. We made a spring card using the Chalkboard technique with Garden Whimsy set, Tri-fold card featuring the cake from Birthday Whimsy (SAB set) and an envelope pouch - the ladies got to make their own design - these pouches are a great way to use up your Simply Scrappin' Kit left-overs. Please excuse the quality of pictures I will try to replace them as soon as the weather gets better.

Long NoteTrio

It's official, I've fallen in love with the long notes. I have not purchased any yet, but I love all the samples I see in our catalog and so I cut up my card stock to size and boy, are they fun to play with. If you feel stuck with the regular sized cards, you need to try a long note. I am showing all three of my designs here in one picture. If you have a favorite , please leave me a comment and I will draw 3 names and send them the card. My blog is not frequented much so your chances of winning are pretty high ! You probably noticed two of these don't have any sentiment. I really like the sentiment I used on the middle card (both the font and message seem perfect for this card) but it is from a retired set and I would like to make these for a swap at upcoming regionals in Tulsa. So I am still in search of the perfect sentiment or might leave them blank for people to add their own.

The middle card was made for a color combo challenge using River Rock, Basic Black and Whisper White. I did not have any Whisper White left (I know , the horror !) so I used Very Vanilla here and it worked. Both images are from Stampin' Up set Embrace Life and the designer paper is from DSP Prints series in River Rock.

Again, I hope you like them and remember to leave a comment if you have a favorite ;) Any suggestions for sentiment are welcome as well (current SU sets only, please).

Glitter Window Christmas Carolers

Sorry for the lack of posts this past week, we had a lot going on. The challenge today was to make a window of any kind. I knew right away I wanted to make an outdoor scene and window frame to look out. Since I could not find my Lovely as a Tree for my original idea I ended up using the Christmas Carolers. Being February 21, I know it's way past Christmas but I really thought this set would be perfect for my vision. I wanted the window to be glittered as if it was actually snowing and frosty outside. I paired the layout with a color combination challenge - river rock, basic gray and basic black.

Sketch Challenge 163

I tackled several challenges in this card - the sketch challenge, ways to use it polka dot challenge, trying to finish the card before my snail adhesive ran out and double it to work as a Valentine's card for hubby. My hubby is my best friend and has been for 10 years now so I felt the sentiment fit. Did I mention the 13 layers??

Stamp Set: Time Well Spent
Paper: Close to Cocoa, Groovy Guava, Apricot Appeal, Very Vanilla
Ink: Close to Cocoa
Accessories: SU markers, apricot ribbon, Prints DSP Close to Cocoa and Groovy Guava

Tuesday Color Challenge

I am getting my feet wet again with the Splitcoast challenges. Today's color combo was Taken with Teal, Green Galore and Kraft. I would have never though of this combination but it was fun to work with. The kraft softens the bold tones for a nice balanced look. I had a circle focal point in mind but could not find my coluzzle so I ended up cutting out a circle of whisper white and free hand layering it with kraft. I pierced both the edges as well as the taken with teal layer. I wish I had my sewing machine set up to add actual stitching. Tomorrow is a sketch challenge so watch for more uploads :)

Stamp Set: Blossoms Abound
Card Stock: Taken with Teal, Green Galore, Kraft, Whisper White
Ink: Taken with Teal, Soft Sky, Green Galore
Embellishments: white organdy ribbon, hodgepodge hardware, dimensionals

More Spinners !!

I finally got my hands on the Autumn Fest stamp set. I had it on my wish list ever since it came out in the Fall/Winter collection but I've never got around to buying it, even when it was on sale. I have to say I got it for a bargain price now that it's retired. I know it's not fall season but I just had to make at least one card with the set. And to go with the retired set I used retired Cranberry Crisp ink paired with Bravo Burgundy card stock. I knew I wanted to do one sheet wonder for the background so I stamped a large piece of very vanilla in colors that I randomly picked. I cut it into 4 pieces and layered with bravo burgundy, pumpkin pie and purely pomegranate.
Then I could not decide what to do next. Any other layer was covering up my pretty leaves and ruining my background effect. The spinner acorn was exactly what it needed and I am very happy with it. To top off my retired item "rebellion" (so tired of always thinking everything I make needs to be current) I used a long retired sentiment set that I absolutely love and will always keep. I think it gives the card the right amount of "jazz". So here you have it, a useless card that cannot be demonstrated, sent to SU! for submission or used for a swap, but I still love it. I am definitely stocked up on all my masculine birthdays come fall !!!

Stamp Set: Autumn Fest
Card Stock: Purely Pomegranate, Bravo Burgundy, Pumpkin Pie, Very Vanilla
Ink: Apricot Appeal, Only Orange, Cranberry Crisp, Bravo Burgundy, Rose Red
Accessories: Circle Punches and Spiral Punch

February Club Project - Spinner Card

It looks like spring is around the corner here in Oklahoma, my daffodils are peeking through the ground and the days are getting warmer - so I am going with soft spring colors and some critters this month at club. I could not decide between the butterfly and the snail for my spinner, so I will be giving my girls a choice - all the layers are the same except for the card base and that can be cut on "as needed" basis. My personal favorite is the snail but the butterfly card is bolder and probably more fun. I will be also giving them a choice of sentiment.

February Club Project - Aging

For February club meeting we will be distressing cardstock to make it look aged. This is a fun technique for vintage or masculine cards. I used the Wanted stamp set that I have been admiring since it first came out last year but I have not yet made anything with it. My boys liked the card so much that Remy now wants to have a cowboy party and use this as invitations. I will probably steer away from the black for kids birthday invite though !!

Stamp Set: Wanted
Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Basic Black, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, True Thyme, Close to Cocoa, Sahara Sand
Accessories: Circle punches, Scallop Punch, vintage brads

February Club Project - 3D

My club projects consist of 2 technique cards and a 3D item. My customers are limited in the stamping products that they own since most of them just got started in stamping so I try to demo items they already have and show them different ways to use it. This month we are making the 2-5-7-10 box in fresh spring colors, filled with chocolates or jelly beans (their choice).

Stamp Set: Heartfelt Thanks
Card Stock: Apricot Appeal, Pretty in Pink
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Purely Pomegranate, Apricot Appeal
Embellishments: ribbon

Here Kitty Kitty

My friend and downline Heather challenged me to make a card using a set that has been sitting, well, I did better than that I used a set that had yet to see any ink. I bought it last year and it sat in my closet waiting to be used. Here is the card I made for Heather, I hope by now she has already received it so I won't spoil a surprise posting it.

Stamp Set: Here Kitty Kitty, Warm Words
Card Stock: Purely Pomegranate, Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate
Accessories: ribbon

Another Embrace Life Card

I fell in love with this fun flap design when I received my friend's card in a swap we were both in. It puts a different spin on a regular ol' card front. I used the hibiscus flowers as closures so when the card is closed you really cannot tell how it will open until you open it. I'll say it again, what a fun fold !!

Stamp Set: Embrace Life
Card Stock: Cameo Coral, River Rock, Purely Pomegranate
Ink: Basic Black, Sahara Sand
Embellishments: DSP Ginger Blossoms, ribbon

Embrace Life

Embrace Life is the only set I have from the newly released sets in the Spring/Summer collection. That is , besides a sentiment set Celebrate Everything. I love that is has coordinating designer paper, so many possibilities. Here are a couple of cards with the same layout , just different color combinations.