Encre, papier, ciseaux

Stampin' Up!'s Perfect Pennants - Daydream Wishes

Oh, what a fun card that turned out to be today! I looked up some challenges and settled on the Deconstructed Sketch #140 and ColourQ #230. When I saw the sketch, the scallop circle shape reminded me of the Floral Frames Collection Framelits dies, which I bought last summer and have barely ever used, so I thought the sketch was the perfect kick to run them through the Big Shot again. The ColourQ combo seemed really modern and different from what I would choose to pair myself, which is always a good way to keep my card collection diversified.

I started with the Dream Medallions stamp set and embossed the biggest circle in Basic Black Stampin' Emboss powder on Coastal Cabana cardstock and die-cut the image using one of the Floral Frames Collection Framelits dies. I then created a circle from Summer Starfruit cardstock for the center, punched with the 2-½" Circle punch. The circle was embossed with the Mosaic embossing folder and I stamped images from the matching Mosaic Madness stamp set in the embossed grooves using Summer Starfruit and Crumb Cake inks.

Then, when came time to find a Circle die big enough to create the card base... I had none. That's when I had to get creative and I spotted my Oval Accent Bigz Clear die, which I thought might work. I then stamped the card base with the Hardwood background stamp (Occasions catalogue, p. 37 - if you don't have it yet, make sure you purchase it before the catalogue ends, it's a kick-ass background stamp!). Doesn't it look fantastic with those shapes combined?

A banner made out of Basic Black Designer Series Paper was created and I added a bow made out of Gold Sequin Trim, which I tied with a piece of Gold Baker's twine. (Note: We carry Gold Baker's twine in the Occasions catalogue, but the one I used here was a leftover piece from the Mini Memories Simply Created Album Kit - it's thinner than the other one.) A Summer Starfruit In Color Dahlia was added on top.

The main sentiment is from the Perfect Pennants stamp set and was embossed with Pool Party Stampin' Emboss powder. I die-cut it using the Pennant Framelits dies and rounded the top using my 2-½" Circle punch before layering it with Stampin' Dimensionals on the card.

A matching envelope was made out of Summer Starfruit Designer Series paper using the marvelous Envelope Punch Board (in a non-standard size, which is made possible with this great tool).

 

 

 

 

  

Color Combo: Summer Starfruit + Coastal Cabana + Crumb Cake + Basic Black

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Parfaits fanions (Perfect Pennants), Mosaic Madness, Hardwood
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Coastal Cabana, Summer Starfruit
Designer Series Paper: Neutrals paper stack, 2011-2013 In Color paper stack
Ink: VersaMark, Crumb Cake, Summer Starfruit
Big Shot: Floral Frames Collection Framelits, Pennant Collection Framelits, Mosaic embossing folder,
Oval Accent Bigz Clear die
Accessories: In Color Dahlias, Stampin' Emboss Powders (Basic Black, Pool Party),
Stampin' Dimensionals, Gold Sequin Trim, Gold baker's twine, Envelope Punch Board

 

Stampin' Up!'s Happy Congratulations - Sparkly Banners

I really like the Happy Congratulations stamp set - it's cute and it's SO quick to use to make a fun card. For today's creation, I combined the Color Throwdown challenge (#280) for colors and the As You See It sketch (#025) for the design. A few gold sequins taken off of the sequin trim were added to the card for a bit of glitz. The cards says Congratulations, so it could be used for a number of various occasionsm abd the colors make it appropriate for a man or a woman.

Hope you like it!

 

 

Color Combo: Night of Navy + Pool Party + Soft Sky + Very Vanilla

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Tout le bonheur du monde (Happy Congratulations)
Cardstock: Night of Navy, Soft Sky, Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Inks: Night of Navy, Soft Sky, Old Olive
Accessories: Gold Sequin Trim, Adorning Accents Framelits and embossing folder, Delicate Designs embossing folder, Vanilla envelope

 

Stampin' Up!'s Timeless Talk - Birthday Tune

This card was designed based on the Sketch Frenzy Friday. I thought the retro vibe of the Retro Fresh Designer papers and stickers would work well with the vintage-inspired Timeless Talk stamp set, one of my favorites from this year's annual catalogue.

This card is fairly straightforward: I cut a cardbase plus mat and then cut a piece of patterned paper to go on it. To get the two colours, I simply cut the bottom part of it and turned it to show the flip side. I then added a piece of Coastal Cabana ruffled ribbon at the top of the bottom piece of patterned paper, and added a piece of Retro Fresh Designer washi tape as well. The little triangles at the bottom come from the Retro Fresh Designer Stickers, and to make them stand out more, I added medium pearls on top of each sticker.

A banner was cut out of patterned paper from the same pack using the Banners Framelits dies. Another sticker was added at top and I used a handheld punch to create two notches on each side, then wrapped Pool Party baker's twine I got from the Sweet Sorbet Accessories pack offered during Sale-A-Bration as an exclusive SAB item.

The main image was inked with Stampin' Markers and cut out with a Circle Framelits. How did I get the bubble cut out that way, hanging out of the circle die-cut?

TIP: To have part of an image coming out of a die-cut piece, place your die face down on your image, center it where you want it and use a pencil to trace where the die hits around the part of the image that will be outside. Then, using your paper snips, handcut around the part of the image hanging out up to the line in pencil. Then, place your piece of cardstock in the die, sliding the die underneath the cardstock you have cut out and making sure this part is OVER the die, instead of being under the cutting part of the Framelits. Clear as mud?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Timeless Talk
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Tango Tangerine, Baked Brown Sugar
Designer paper: Retro Fresh
Ink: Baked Brown Sugar, Coastal Cabana
Accessories: Stampin' Markers (So Saffron, Tango Tangerine), Pearls Basic Jewels,
Circle Collection Framelits dies, Paper Piercer and piercing template,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Sweet Sorbet Accessories Pack (baker's twine), Handheld punch,
Retro Fresh Designer Stickers, Banners Framelits dies, Coastal Cabana ruffled ribbon,
Retro Fresh Designer Washi Tape, Vanilla Envelope

 

Featuring Stampin' Up!'s Baby, We've Grown - Baby Booties

Today's card is inspired by the "Inspired By" challenge (#107) and Viva la Verve Sketch (February #2). I really like how it turned out. I never would have thought to use black, white and Pool Party for a little girl's card, but I think it gives it a modern edge. I made sure to color the little bows on the booties in Strawberry Slush ink for a feminine touch.

There's a few elements I took from the inspiration picture: the color combo, the stripes and polka dots, and the hearts. The hearts were created with the Hearts a Flutter stamp set. I embossed the empty heart in black powder and the chevron heart with Pool Party embossDecing powder on matching Core'dinations cardstock. The white background was embossed using the Decorative Dots embossing folder, which is currently offered as a Sale-A-Bration item until March 31st. It's both classic and whimsical and you need to make sure you snatch up one for yourself! The second embossing folder I used is the Scallops embossing folder sold in the Occasions catalogue. I embossed a piece of Basic Black Core'dinations cardstock and then sanded the embossed details to change the color of the cardstock and make the design stand out more, and matted it with Smoky Slate cardstock.

Two banners were cut out of Neutrals Designer papers (the retired one from last year, but we have some fun designs in this year's catalogue as well) and I decorated them with rhinestones. I also added a white Candy Dot on one of my hearts.

Oh, and of course, I used my beloved Envelope Punch Board to create a matching envelope out of Designer paper. The tag on the envelope was die-cut using the Chalk Talk Framelits dies.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Mon petit chou (Baby, We've Grown), Hearts a Flutter
Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Smoky Slate, Pool Party, Basic Black Core'dinations,
Pool Party Core'dinations
Designer paper: Neutrals Paper Stack
Ink: Soft Sky, Pool Party, VersaMark
Accessories: Stampin' Emboss powders (Black, Pool Party), Rhinestones, Neutrals Candy Dots,
Blending pen, Paper Piercer and Pîercing Template, Circle Collection Framelits dies,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Scallops embossing folder, Decorative Dots embossing folder,
Sanding Block, Envelope Punch Board

 

Naughty and Nice

When I saw the "Naughty and Nice" sentiment in the Christmas Bliss photopolymer stamp set from SU!, I knew it would work great with my cheeky Mother Christmas image. I embossed the sentiment with Crushed Curry embossing powder to match the patterned papers and make it stand out. The little Christmas tree image comes from the same Greeting Farm stamp set. I inked it with markers and decorated it with In Color Sequins. The scallop circle was die-cut out of Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper, which has a nice sparkly snow shimmer to it. The ribbon used is actually Silver ribbon, but I used my Blendabilities markers to color it red. A nice way to get the right width of ribbon in the color you need!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Christmas Bliss (SU! - photopolymer), A Cheeky Xmas (The Greeting Farm)
Paper: Snow Day (Crate Paper), Summer Sun, Whisper White, Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, VersaMark
Accessories: Crushed Curry embossing powder, In Color Sequins, Circle and Scallop Circle Nestabilities dies, Markers, Silver ribbon, Edgelits, Circle punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

 

Congratulations on your retirement

This card was a special request for a retirement. My colleague wanted something with lots of flowers since her friend loves to garden, so I pulled out the Fresh Prints paper stack from the Occasions catalogue (which is gorgeous in person) and paired it with two retired SAB stamp sets that had the perfect sentiment and flower image in them. The card was almost entirely done with Stampin' Up! supplies, but I had those Prima flowers from a long time ago that were just the perfect shade of Pool Party and that were perfect for the "flowery" request. I also pulled out the Pool Party satin ribbon that was part of the SAB offering last year, and I added rhinestones and rhinestone brads in the center of flowers.

The sentiment was embossed with Pool Party Stampin' Emboss powder on Real Red cardstock and die-cut using the Ovals Collection Framelits dies. A matching Crumb Cake finishes off the set.

I have to say that this finished card really speaks to me. Because of the beautiful color combo, possibly?

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Félicitations, Heureuse pour toi
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Real Red, Pool Party Core'dinations
Designer Paper: Fresh Prints
Ink: VersaMark, Real Red
Accessories: Pool Party Stampin' Emboss powder, Oval Collection Framelits die,
Crumb Cake envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals, Rhinestone basic jewels, Rhinestone brads,
flowers (Prima Designs), Sycamore Street Accessory pack (ribbon)

 

Stampin' Up!'s Follow My Heart

This year, Stampin' Up! offered two special Valentines stamp sets offered for a limited time. They were cute, so I jumped on the chance to add them to my collection and I am afraid to admit that they hadn't seen ink until this week! Dreadful, I know! Today's set was perfect to use with the cute Mojo Monday Sketch (#332), so my card features the Follow My Heart stamp set. The clear-mount version is already sold out, but the wood-mount is still available (item 134611, CAD $19.95) if you are interested. Just send me an e-mail and I'll make sure to order it for you.

I created my own tag out of Whisper White cardstock and stamped the Eiffel tower in Coastal Cabana ink. I used the same ink to add the sentiment on the Soft Sky strip. Since Valentines' Day is almost here, I decided to create a card that would be more useful for the upcoming months and stamped "congratulations," as I think this could make a great wedding card.

The hearts were created with the Hearts a Flutter stamp set and the matching Framelits dies. The big heart was embossed with white powder on vellum cardstock and the small heart was embossed with white powder on Real Red cardstock, then they were layered on the card using Stampin' Dimensionals.

TIP: Adhesive shows up under vellum, so the best way to adhere it, whenever possible, is to apply the glue underneath something that will be hiding it. In this case, I glued the red heart in place over the vellum heart, flipped the vellum over and applied glue underneath the red heart, where it would be hidden. The vellum cardstock we carry is thicker than vellum paper and so it will hold in place even though I have not put glue everywhere.

 

The top of the tag was stamped with an image also from the Follow My Heart stamp set, in Real Red ink, and a piece of Natural Chevron ribbon (from the Occasions catalogue) was folded in half at the top.

The adorable pattern paper is from the Fresh Prints paper stack. It's well hidden on page 33 of the Occasions catalogue, but you should check it out because it's beautiful and have a variety of patterns that will work well for many occasions. I cut my piece of paper to size and add a leftover strip that was the perfect width to do my middle band, so I simply flipped it over and used the reverse side of the first piece. I then added a piece of gold sequin trim (another item I LOVE from the Occasions catalogue - it adds a little of shine and flair to my projects) at the top of the paper band.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Follow My Heart, Hearts a Flutter, Notes de saison {retired}
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Vellum
Designer paper: Fresh Prints
Ink: Coastal Cabana, Crumb Cake, Soft Sky, Real Red, VersaMark
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Natural Chevron Ribbon, Hearts a Flutter Framelits dies,
Whisper White Envelope, Gold Sequin Trim, Buttons

 

You Melt My Heart

One more page for my niece's album.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Early Espresso
Patterned Papers: Bo Bunny
Accessories: Glitter chipboard flourishes, Gold Sequin Trim, Flower and accents, Rhinestones, Dazzling Details, Pear Pizzazz seam binding, Primrose Petals Satin ribbon, Stitching Rub-ons,
Stampin' Write Markers

 

December 25th

It took a while for me to come around to using this scrapbooking kit from SU!, but I finally found some pictures that worked for it a few weeks ago. Most of the work was done for me since the kit included pretty much everything, but I did add a few things from my stash (buttons, twine, lace trim, doily, glimmer brads).

I used the Endless Wishes photopolymer stamp set to add words at the bottom, and the Saison festive hostess set to add snowflakes and the deer to the background, as well as the cardinal tag at top.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Saison festive, Endless Wishes
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler
Inks: VersaMark, Cherry Cobbler, Wild Wasabi
Accessories: Glimmer brads, Buttons, Ribbons, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Cherry Cobbler and Gumball Green Stampin' Emboss Powders, Large Oval punch,
Simply Scrappin' Kit, Cherry Cobbler baker's twine, White Paper Doily, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Lace Trim, Stampin' Write Markers

 

Little Face

While these pictures aren't the best quality, I still wanted to scrapbook them because they make me smile. When my niece was a little younger, she really loved running towards the camera to try and grab it when we were taking pictures of her. There was always that moment when she became aware the camera was out, and then she would burst out into a big smile and start running towards me. I just had a couple of seconds to capture that moment of pure glee on her face and shoot a couple of frames before I had grubby little hands in my lens.

 

 

 

 

Destiny

I didn't have a specific picture for this theme, so I used tags from the store (including the one with the picture of the little girl on her bike) instead, as well as the washi tape they use on their packaging. The Retro Fresh suite was absolutely perfect to suit the feel of the page.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Make Note This and That Rotary Stamp, Lovely Little Labels
Cardstock: Tango Tangerine, Copacabana, Baked Brown Sugar
Patterned Papers: Retro Fresh
Ink: tango Tangerine, Baked Brown Sugar
Accessories: Designer Buttons and Big Designer Button, Vintage Trinkets,
Pool Party Baker's Twine (Sweet Sorbet Accessories Pack - SAB), Billboard Alphabet Die,
Typeset Alphabet dies, Champagne Glimmer Paint, Pearl Basic Jewels, Vintage Brads,
Apothecary Accents Framelits Dies, Oval Collection Framelits Dies, Stampin' Write Markers,
Retro Fresh Journaling Dies, Baked Brown Sugar and Costal Cabana Ruffled Ribbon, Gold Baker's Twine,
Victoria Lace Trim, So Saffron Organza Ribbon, Bitty Accents Punch Pack, Retro Fresh Stickers,
Essentials Wooden Accents, Gold Sequin Trim, Champagne Glimmer Paper, Tasteful Trims Die,
Retro Fresh Washi Tape

 

Toupet rapporté

Oh, my poor, defenseless niece... She's a redhead just like me and when she was just a baby, I was having fun placing my hair on her head to see what'd she look like when she had hair! My sister didn't find this funny at all and I think Megan didn't like it either because it tickled her head!

This picture just cracks me up every time I look at it. Thank God her hair looks nothing like that now that it's grown! haha!

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers and die-cuts: Bo Bunny
Accessories: Big Designer Buttons, Circle die, epoxy brads, Yellow baker's twine,
Essentials Wooden Accents, Gold Sequin Trim, Essentials Hardware Clips, Washi tape,
Baja Breeze striped ribbon, Scallop Circle Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stampin' Write Markers

 

Surprise Gift

I was very excited to learn that SU! was bringing us to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for Manager's Reception in 2013. I hadn't seen that part of the Universal Studios yet and I'm a fan of the books so I was really looking forward to visiting it.

During the Olivanders tour, I was lucky enough to get selected to be the one to "try out wands." (I think the Potter shirt I had bought while waiting for my friend at the airport and wore that night was an indication that I was a fan and explains why I got picked.) I was even more excited to learn at the end that I could keep the wand as a gift! A nice little souvenir from my Orlando trip and Manager's Reception.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers: Fancy Pants Designs
Accessories: Alphabet stickers and rub-ons, Stampin' Write Markers, Fancy Pants Designs Die-Cuts,
Silver Glimmer Paper, Tasteful Trims Die, Metal Word, Big Designer Button, Yellow Baker's Twine,
Rhinestones

 

Ray of Sunshine

Playing around with some Sale-A-Bration supplies. I did the sunray technique and used my leftover pieces to create a second card.

 

 

Shoot for the Stars

Another stamp set that hadn't seen ink yet that I put to good use! I used some of my long retired cardstock to go with the patterned papers: Brocade Blue and Bordering Blue. Remember those? I need to try and dwindle down my cardstock stash because we keep coming out with new colors and the pile is getting bigger and bigger! I don't really want to give my old cardstock away, because it comes in handy to have a large variety to choose from when matching patterned paper (whether it's older SU! Designer papers or non-SU! patterns). Can you tell I have a hard time letting go of supplies?

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Aim High (The Cat's Pajamas)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Brushed Gold, Whisper White, Bordering Blue, Brocade Blue
Patterned Papers: Fancy Pants Designs
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), VersaMark
Accessories: Envelope Punch Board, Ticket Corner Punch, Cloud CutUp die, Cloudy Day Embossing Folder, Markers, Nestabilities dies, Stampin' Dimensionals, Crushed Curry Stampin' Emboss Powder

 

Thank You Cards

These are other creations from my using paper scraps series. The first two cards are using the Ronald McDonald set from this year, called Tag It. I think the lezard image looks so cute when inked with Stampin' Write markers in many colors like that! It was die-cut with the matching Framelits from the Chalk Talk Framelits dies and as you can see, I added a narrow strip of patterned paper at the bottom of the image before die-cutting it for added interest. The background part is a strip of cardstock on which I glued long strips of patterned paper I had leftover in my pack. When using scraps like that, it's easier to make two cards or more at once because I was able to assemble my strips on a wider piece of cardstock and then cut it to size afterwards and get two pieces ready at once.

As for the third little card, I encourage you to have a look at your Envelope Punch Board because it has all kinds of different sizes on it to create small and large envelopes of all sizes. I found one that worked with the little piece of paper I had leftover and I worked around those dimensions to create an unconventional-sized envelope. The matching card didn't need much embellishment since it was so small: I simply punched out a flower from my patterned paper and added it with Dimensionals on top of the sentiment strip.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Étiquetage (Tag It), Remerciements (Lots of Thanks)
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Designer Series Papers: Petals & Paisley
Ink: Old Olive
Accessories: Envelope Punch Board, Circle Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Subtles Brads,
Designer Buttons, Certainly Celery Twill, Chalk Talk Framelits Dies

 

Little Angel

This card was inspired by a color combo challenge. I had a hard time putting things together in a way that I liked and even after embossing the background with an embossing folder, I still felt it lacked something, so I spritzed it with Silver Smooch Spritz and I don't really like the result, to be honest. Had I done the spritzing before adding the green Designer paper in place, I think it would laready have looked better. Now, it looks too busy and creates a distracting pattern. Oh well... You have to make tests and try stuff to see what might work and what doesn't.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Beau petit chou, A to Z
Cardstock: Opulent Orchid, Going Grey, Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Designer Series Papers: Certainly Celery
Ink: Baja Breeze, Opulent Orchid, Certainly Celery
Accessories: Silver Glimmer Paper, Pennant punch, Bitty punch pack, Brads, Rhinestones,
Silver Smooch Spritz, White Envelope, Stampin' Write Markers, pearls, Subtles Designer Buttons,
Smoky Slate Chevron Ribbon, Oval Framelits Dies, Piercing Template and Paper Piercer,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Argyle Embossing Folder, Stardust gel pen (non-SU!),
White Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon