Build a Blossom

Today was the first time I got to play with my new punch and its partner Build A Blossom stamp set. I really believe this is one of the most versatile stamp sets I have seen. You can do all kinds of things with it - from vintage to elegant to just plain silly. My goal for my next several blogs is to see what I can come up with using this punch and stamp set.

Here is my first one:

I used the jumbo wheel stamp "Friendly Words" inked with So Saffron ink to create a light background on a 5" x 3 3/4" piece of Very Vanills Cardstock
I then used the flourish stamp from the "Elements of Style" stamp set inked in Not Quite Nave to stamp over the background. Then I attached a piece of 3/8" Not Quite Navy taffeta ribbon to this panel

Once that was done I stamped Very Vanilla card stock with the largest. petals in So Saffron, after stamping off. Then I just punched them out. The smaller petals were punched out of Very Vanilla and sponged with So Saffron ink. I assembled the petals to form a flower, adhering them to
each other with glue dots. A yellow rhinestone was glued to the center of the flower. The flower was then glued to the left side of the above panel

"Friends" and a flourish from the "Tiny Tags" stamp set was stamped in Not Quite Navy on Very Vanilla card stock. These were punched out Jewelry Tag punch. A piercing tool was used to make a hole in the top of each tag. Linen thread was run through the hole and tied to the ribbon.

Finally this panel was attached to a Not Quite Navy card base, 5 1/2" x 4 1/4".

Whew! I sure hope this makes sense.

I can hardly wait to try something totally different tomorrow.

SImple Card with Trendy Trees

Do you ever feel overwhelmed and a bit lost? Well, that would have described me for the last couple of weeks. There have been family members with health issues and big occassions and I just couldn't keep up. Hopefully, things will slow down and I will be back to card making.

The card I am going to show you is really simple. I will have to guess on the exact measurements, because the card was made, photographed and sent to a friend. Opps! I forgot to measure in the rush.

Materials: 1. Whisper White cardstock measuring 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" scoring and folding at 4 1/4" and 1 3/4" x 1 3/4", Pink Pirouette cardstock - 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" and 4 1/4" x 1"; Certainly Celery - 2" x2" and 4 1/4" .

2. Certainly Celery, Wild Wasabi, and Soft Suede classic ink

3. Trendy Trees and Sincere Salutations stamp sets.

4. Scallop Edge Border Punch

5. StamStamp-a-ma-jig

6. Melon Mambo Stampin' Write marker

7. Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder & Big Shot

I think you can put this card just by looking at the picture. The only thing that might need some explanation is the focal piece. Just stamp the leaves from the stamp set a little below the center in Certainly Celery. Then restamp the leaves in Wild Wasabi so that they are slightly to the right or left of the first stamped image. Draw in flowers with the Stampin'Write marker. Finally, stamp the tree trunk in the appropriate position. I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to make sure I got it where I wanted it.

The front of the white card was embossed 3/4 of the way down.

Have a great day!

All Occassion "For You" Card

This card just evolved. I started out trying to do one thing, but ended up with something totally different from what I had envisioned.

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Materials: 1. 5 1/2" x 8 1/4" Crumb Cake card stock, scored and folded at
4 1/4" to form a top fold card and two 3"x 3" Crumb Cake
squares.

2. 5 1/2" x 2 1/4" Not Quite Navy card stock.

3. 1 3/4" and 2" circle punches.

4. Two pieces of 1/8" Marina Mist Taffeta Ribbon, one measuring 4 "and the
other 1 1/2".

5. "Aviary" and "One of a Kind" stamp sets

6. Poppy Parade and Soft Suede Stampin' Write markers and Classic
Ink Pads.


Form the Crumb Cake card base. Punch a 1 3/4" circle on the right side of the Not Quite Navy strip. Glue the ribbon so that it goes to the center of each side of the circle. Tuck ribbons to the back of the card stock and glue.

Stamp the small bird in Poppy Parade on the center of the lower third of the 3" x 3" piece of Crumb Cake. Then stamp the cage over the bird in Soft Suede. Use the Poppy marker to darken the bird and the Soft Suede marker to draw in the cord holding the cage. Sponge Not Quite Navy around the cage. Adhere this square behind he punched out circle so that it is centered. Punch out a 2" Crumb Cake Circle. Then punch out the center of this circle with the 1 3/4" circle Punch. You will end up with a frame to go around your caged bird's window. Finally, stamp the large bird in Poppy Red and Soft Suede, the second bird in Not Quite Navy and Soft Suede and the sentiment in Not Quite Navy at the bottom of the card..

Friendship Card

I have a great friend who has recently returned from a month long trip to the Texas Valley and Mexico. When she came home she was bearing gifts - yummy tamales, grapefruit and a great yellow leather purse. Wow! Talk about being spoiled!!! And I am proud to say I shared everything with my husband, except for the yellow purse. Anyway, the card below is my thank you card to her. However, I am contemplating how I can repay her in the future. I am sure you will see what I come up with, because her gifts will be handmade.

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Materials: 1. 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" Whisper White Card stock, scored and folded
4 1/4"; 5 1/2" x 1 1/4" and 2' x2" Whisper White Card stock.


2. 5 1/2" x 1 1/2" and 2" x 2" Real Read card stock.

3. Small scrap of Old Olive DSP

4. Inks: Real Red and Wild Wasabi (Stampin' Write Markers)

5. Other: Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Friendly Words
Jumbo Wheel, corner punch, 1 3/4" Scallop punch, 1 1/4"
Circle Punch, Two-Step Bird Punch, sanil adhesive and
dimensionals, Tart & Tangy stampset., Real Red 3/8" taffeta
ribbon.
Making this card is fairly quick. Take the white card base and use the
Perfect Polka Dot folder to emboss it. Round the corners with the corner punch. Ink the Friendly Words wheel with Real Red ink and run it across the strip of white paper. Center and adhere a piece of Real Red 3/8" taffeta ribbon. Then mount this piece in the center of the red strip. Adhere this combo to the center of the card base. Punch out a scalloped circle from the 2" x 2" red paper. Use the markers to ink the cherry stamp, except for the leaves, and then punch it out with the circle punch. Use the Two-Step Bird punch to punch out leaves from the DSP paper. Attach the leaves tothe top of the cherry stamp. Glue the cherry piece to the scallop and attach the finished piece the Friendly Words piece.

Wow! I hope this makes sense. I am in a rush to make an appointment. So, pleaase forgive any errors.

Inspiration

This card was made for my 10 year old grandson, because I am so very proud of him. He fasted for 30 hours to raise money for World Vision. Right now he is truly an inspriation to me, because he is doing exactly what we all are called to do - sacrifice for the good of others .

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This card just takes a few minutes to make. The base is the standard 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored and folded at 4 1/4", in Sahara Sand card stock.
A 2 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of Early Espresso DSP was glued on the bottom of the card front. A 5 1/2" piece of Early Espresso was punched with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border. The result was adhered to the top of the DSP. The definition of inspire was stamped on the top, right of the Sahara Sand. This sentiment came from the "Define Your Life" stamp set.

A 2 5/8" scallop was punched out of Early Espresso. A 2" circle was punched out of Crumb Cake. The owl from the "Punch Bunch", which is in the "sale.a.bration" catalog, was stamped on the Crumb Cake circle. This circle was glued onto the scallop and then embossed with the "Square Lattice" folder.

Where ever you are I hope that your days are blessed and filled with much happiness.

Learning To Think Out of The Box

I love looking at cards that other people have made and one of the things I have observed is that that most creative card makers think out of the box. They look at a product and think of as many different ways to use it as possible. Lately I have seen multiple people turn the oval punches into vases. Stampin Addicts showed a technique of inking acrylic blocks and stamping directly onto card stock to add texture or color. So I tried both of these techniques on this card:

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First, I formed a 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" card base out of Very Vanilla card stock.

The second layer is Baja Breeze and measures 5 1/4"x 4". I embossed it with the Elegant Lines folder and attached it to the center of the card base.

The third layer is a piece of Very Vanilla, 4 3/4" x 2 1/2". I placed an acrylic block on a Baja Breeze ink pad and then stamped the block directly onto the Very Vanilla panel. Then I sponged the ink around the edges.
Next I colored the flowers from the Nature Walk stamp set with the Riding Hood Red and Garden Green Stampin' Write markers and stamped them in the top middle of the panel. I repeated this 2 more times. Then I used the Regal Rose anad Garden Green markers to color the berry stem from the Autumn Days stamp set and stamped it among the flowers.

I used the 2" x 1 3/8" oval punch to form a Baja Breeze oval and snipped off the ends to form the vase. I painted it with Frost Whie Shimmer Paint to give the vase a look of frosted glass. I used dimensionals to attach the vase over my flowers.

Finally, I added Basic Pearls to the vase and the embossed Baja Breeze.

Try to think of multiple ways to use your Stampin'Up products. You can come up with some cool looks and make your investment really pay off.

Beautiful Butterflies

Wow! I just got my "Beautiful Wings"embosslit die and had to try it out. I absolutely love it. It cuts and embosses 5 butterflies, the distance bewteen wing tips range from 5/8" to 1 7/8". I put 2 on the outside and 3 on the inside.

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I formed a Pink Pirouette card base. I cut out a piece of Basic Gray card stock and adhered a piece of 1/8" Pretty in Pink Taffeta ribbon 1 3/4" from the top and a second one 1 1/2" from thte bottom. The I centered and attached this panel to the pink card base.

Then I stamped the Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set rose in Basic Black ink on the top part of my Very Vanilla card stock. I stamped a second rose onto a sheet of copy paper, cut it out, and used it as a mask. I then stamped the lily from the same stamp set on the bottom of the vanilla card base, making sure part of it overlapped the rose. I created a mask for the lily. I coverd both the rose and the lily with their masks. Finally,I stamped the last flower from the set between the rose and lily.

I colored the rose with Pink Pirouette and Pretty In Pink inks and the lily with Melon Mambo, Peach Parfait and Basic Black. I cut the flowers out on the right side only and then attached the resulting piece on the top left of the gray panel.

I cut the butterflies out of Whisper White scraps with the embosslit and sponged them with Pretty In Pink ink .

I punched out 1 3/8" x 5/8' oval in the Pink Pirouette and stamped my sentiment on it. I dotted a border around the oval. Then I placed the oval between the ribbons.

Materials:

5 1/2" x 8 1/2 " Pink Pirouette card stock scored and folded at 4 1/4", plus a 2" x 1" for punch

3 1/2" x 4 3/4" Basic Gray card stock

2" x 4" & 2 1/4" x 2 1/4" Very Vanilla Card stock

2 - 4" pieces of 1/8" Pretty In Pink taffeta ribbon

Basic Black, Mellon Mambo, Pretty In Pink, Pink Pirouette, Peach Parfait and So Saffron Inks.

Beautiful Wings embosslit

1 3/8" x 5/8" Oval Punch

Amazing Ink

I love ink. Before I discovered Stampin'Up's ink I had almost every brand you can think of - at least 8 or 9 different brands. But what I have learned in the 8 months of using Stampin'Up products, is that their product can do everything the others can do. There is no need to buy so many different kinds of ink. The advantage of Stampin'Up is the graduation of shades for each color family. It allows you to blend colors in the most beautiful ways. The card below is the result of working from yellow to darker shades orange:

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I started out with a 3 1/2"x 3 1/2" piece of Whisper White card stock.
I brayered it with a light coat of So Saffron ink. Then I brayerd a light coat of Peach Parfait ink on all of the panel, except for the top left corner. Finally I brayered Pumkin Pie ink on the right side of the panel.

I then stamped the palm tree from the Plant Hope stamp set on the left side of the panel. Using the Basic Black Stampin'Write marker I colored in the trunk and spines of the palm leaves and drew 2 birds to the right of the tree. I sponged Basic Black ink at the bottom of the panel to represent the ground and used the black marker to draw in blades of grass. I stamped the sentiment from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set on the right side. Finally I used the uni-ball Signo Gel Pen to hilite the trunk and leaves.

I know I have seen a card similar to this some where on line, but cannot remember where. I am so sorry!!!!

Color Coordination Love

One of the things I like the most about Stampin' Up produts is the color coordination. I used to spend what seemed like hours trying to find paper, card stock, ink, and ribbons that would match. With Stampin'Up products I don'thave to worry about that any more. The company has done all the work for me. YEA! What a time saver!!! You can see how exactly they match their colors in the card below.

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I simply brayered a piece of 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" Whisper White with So Saffron and then stamped the palm (Plant Hope stamp set) in Basic Black.

I mounted this panel on a piece of Basic Black card stock, 3 3/4 "x 3 3/4", which was then adhered on the top 2/3's of the So Saffron card base. The final touch was punching a small strip of the black card stock with the "Pinking Hearts Border" punch and adhering it 1/2" below the panel.

I don't know about you, but I think that it is very difficult to tell the brayered yellow from the yellow card stock. Stampin'Up products are truly color coordinated!

Stamp, Sponge, Brayer and a Water Color Video

Before I show you my next efforts I have a request to make. Please keep Kerry in your prayers. He is a 20 year old dance instructor who has stage 4 brain cancer. He is such a delight, but is really having a hard time. Also, pray for his mom who is his primary care giver. She is so tired and her heart is breaking that her youngest child is having to go through this.

Well this card needs much improvement, but I want to encourage all of you to try new techniques. The only way to learn is to try things out. This card has multiple techniques.

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Materials:
1. Whisper White card stock: 5" x 3 3/4"; Cajun Craze card stock 8 1/2" x
5 1/2" scored and folded to form a 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" card base.

2. Inks: Bashful Blue, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Cherry, Cajun Craze,
Chocolate Chip, VersaMarker(pen)

3. Stamp Set: Countryside, Plant Hope, Teeny Tiny Wishes

4. Other: Sponge, clear embossing powder, Aqua Painter, brayer

Steps:

1. Stamp truck on white card stock. Color the truck with Cajun Craze.Use
the aqua painter to pick up ink from Cajun Craze Stampin Write
marker. Use markers to color apples, their stems, bumper, etc

2. When you have finished coloring allow ink to dry and then coat all
of the truck image, except for the windows with VersaMark pen. Heat
emboss with clear embossing powder.

3. Brayer Bashful Blue ink on the top two thirds of the card. Whip ink
off of the truck.

4. Brayer Tempting Turquoise ink diagonally from the top left corner,
covering about two thirds of the horizontal space. Wipe ink off of
truck.

5. Apply Old Olive ink only to the grassy area on the truck stamp. Stamp
grass behind and in front of truck to form road.

6. Sponge bottom part of card with Old Olive to form grassy area.

7. Apply Old Olive ink to trees and stamp behind truck and along
horizon. Use Chocolate Chip marker to draw in in trunks of
trees.

8. Stamp sentiment in Chocolate Chipor Black on the bottom right
of panel. Center and attach it to Cajun Craze card base.

Below is a video I found on how to use your aqua painter and classic ink pads to watercolor. I thought some of you might enjoy it!