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.

Club Projects for January

Crayon Resist was my technique for January club. I made two different designs but in the end went with the brown/pink combo which everyone seemed to like better.

Stamp Set: Doodle This, Holiday Hugs & Wishes
Card Stock: Blush Blossom, Chocolate Chip, Glossy
Ink: Basic Black, Chocolate Chip
Embellishments: Pink grosgrain ribbon

One Layer

Don't you love the simplicity of one layer cards? I have been on a whisper white roll, incorporating it a lot for added crispness. The combination of the warm fall colors and the cool white reminds me of brisk autumn mornings in Maine. I used a faux torn frame and sponged around the edges to define the space more. The leaves are stamped randomly inside the frame.

Stamp Set: With Gratitude, sentiment from Touch of Nature
Card Stock: Whisper White, Purely Pomegranate
Ink: Apricot Appeal, Purely Pomegranate, Creamy Caramel
Embellishments: Purely Pomegranate double stitched ribbon

Another Retired Set

I have two boys ages 8 and 4 and I believe one can never have enough little boy cards, just in case. So I pulled out a set that is now retired but has not seen much ink in my house and made this card. I used glossy card stock for the background and it gives it a nice sheen.

Stamp Set: By Sea
Card Stock: Glossy, Soft Sky, River Rock, Blue Bayou
Ink: Bue Bayou

Season of Joy

Whenever SU releases a new mini catalog, I am always the last one to jump on the wagon. I pre-order one set to play with and I am happy with that one for a while but by the time the mini catalog only has a week of life left, I start falling for all the other sets in it. Again, I am a late bloomer when it comes to recognizing sets with potential, ha ! It was the same with Season of Joy, after seeing all the beautiful samples out there I just had to have it. Keeping fingers crossed to see it again in the Fall/Winter collection. I used crystal effects and glitter to add a little sparkle and dimension to the tree image. The background uses a stamp from True Friend stamp set, also from holiday mini.

Stamp Set: Season of Joy, True Friend, Birthday Hugs & Wishes
Card Stock: Taken with Teal, Soft Sky, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Taken with Teal, Soft Sky
Embellishments: crystal effects, glitter, soft sky double stitched ribbon.

Happy Birthday

I am not one to reach for bold and bright colors often but I like a challenge every now and then and making this card was fun. The gifts are cut out and arranged to overlap.

Stamp Set: Year After Year, Birthday Hugs & Wishes
Card Stock: Taken With Teal, Purely Pomegranate, Whisper White, Certainly Celery
Ink: Taken With Teal, Purely Pomegranate, Certainly Celery
Embellishments: teal and celery grosgrain ribbon

Autumn Harvest

I am a sucker for anything fall and especially pumpkins. This is a set from the holiday catalog and I am still keeping my hopes up it will make it to the next Fall/Winter catalog. I made this card for a holiday mini swap but did not get my swaps to the hostess in time so I received all 25 of them back. Well, they came very handy when Thanksgiving rolled it, I felt I was so ahead on my Thanksgiving cards !!

Stamp Set: Autumn Harvest, Everyday Flexible Phrases
Card Stock: Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Ink: Basic Black, Old Olive, Only Orange, Really Rust
Embellishments: hodgepodge hardware pewter

Distressed Rose

I made this card for my baby sister, she was turning 20. I am not sure if I actually ended up sending it to her though. I stamped the rose image on two pieces of card stock and cut out the second one into petals, then curled up the edges to make it look three dimensional.

Viewmaster Card

I think this is my favorite yet. I thought it would be neat to show the apples changing colors according to seasons. I cut out the buckets so they would line up easier, but it was still a challenge. Definitely an advanced project and not something to demo at a workshop but fun and different for a change.

Altered Composition Notebook

I had so much fun playing with my Cutie Pie paper I had to make a notebook to match my snail card. I had a lot of fun with this one, again, many many layers and more ribbon. I am still grieving the loss of our chocolate grosgrain, I don't understand that move on SU part, it was the best selling color in my opinion. Chocolate just goes with everything, people who come to my events and classes know I use my Chocolate Chip all the time.

Another favorite was this Snail card using mostly Cutie Pie paper and the adorable snail from Garden Whimsy. I layered this one to death and then tied a few knots on top with ribbon. Recipe follows:

Stamp Set: Garden Whimsy, Simple Sayings
Card Stock: Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Ink: Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip
Embellishments: Cutie Pie DSP, Chocolate and Celery ribbon

More Pocket Cards

Pocket Cards

Here are a couple of pocket cards I made using All Through the Year stamp set.

Oh So Lovely

I made this as a thank you card for our neighbor's daughter. They are just the best neighbors and have been such a blessing to our family. I sponged the whisper white card stock with several layers of ink, starting from the lightest (creamy caramel) and ending with the darkest (chocolate chip), it creates a really nice aged affect.

Stamp Set: Oh So Lovely
Card Stock: Whisper White, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Basic Black

Fall Flowers

Fall Flowers was the first designer paper I purchased from the Fall/Winter collection. This card was a submission for a contest and ended up on Stamper's Showcase. I used the colors from the designer paper to design the card.

Stamp Set: Give Thanks
Card Stock: Soft Sky, Really Rust, Whisper White, Sahara Sand
Ink: Basic Black, Soft Sky, Sahara Sand
Embellishments: Fall Flowers DSP, Soft Sky double stitched ribbon

Prehistoric Card

I have a large collection of retired sets, many of them rare. I feel bad I don't reach for them as often so I decided to revisit some of them at least once a month. I used the Weathered background stamp for the texture and discovered a "technique" by mistake (probably how many of them are discovered in the first place). I stamped the weathered background horizontally but did not like the way it looked so I stamped it again vertically but forgot to turn over the card stock !! However, the result was a reptile skin effect and it goes perfect with the rest of the card

Stamp Set: Dinosaur Days, Weathered
Card Stock: Going Grey, Mellow Moss, Not Quiet Navy, Basic Black, Very Vanilla
Ink: Basic Black, Mellow Moss, Creamy Caramel, Not Quite Navy
Embellishments: Black and Moss grosgrain ribbon

Three Panel Baroque Motifs

Baroque Motifs was one of the stamp sets in the Preview Brochure for our Fall/Winter collection. It did not speak to me until I saw all the wonderful samples created by fellow Stampin Up demonstrators. I was in love and the love affair continues still today. It's such a versatile set, perfect for both soft and feminine as well as masculine cards. I love all the layers in this card, I would probably have to add some postage if I wanted to mail it but it's quite over sized so I could fit my panels where I wanted them. Here is what I used:

Stamp Set: Baroque Motifs
Card Stock: Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi, Groovy Guava, Very Vanilla
Ink: Purely Pomegranate, Groovy Guava
Embellishments: Purely Pomegranate Double Stitched Ribbon

A few of my favorites ....

My blog is looking so bare, I want to post some of my personal favorites in the following posts to fill it up with some samples.

Tent Topper Card

Stamp Set: Seasonal Whimsy
Card Stock: More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Ink: More Mustard, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Really Rust
Embellishments: Chocolate Chip Ribbon, Sponge

Prints Designer Paper

Here is a card using the Prints Designer paper and almost no stamping. I cut out the flower and layered it for the focal point of the card. These were quick and simple but I really like the way they turned out.

Stamp Set: Birthday Hugs and Wishes
Card stock: Soft Sky and Basic Black
Ink: Basic Black
DSP: Prints in Apricot Appeal

Starting from Scratch

After using my other blog for both personal and stamping purposes, I decided it was to split the two. I am going to dedicate this one purely to my stamping addiction and only sneak a picture or two of my cute kids here and there. I made a New Year resolution to keep up my blog regularly so my plan is to post at least once a week - hopefully this will keep me stamping on regular basis as well.

God bless,

Jana