Encre, papier, ciseaux

Featuring Stampin' Up!'s Dotty Angles and Yippee-Skippee! - I Freakin' Love You

This was a fun card to put together. I combined two challenges to make it: Mojo Monday sketch #365 and ColourQ colour combo #261. Some of the colours in the suggested colour combo are retired, so I chose current colors that are really close to replace them and recreate the same look.

Looking at my stamps, I decided to pull out Yippee-Skippee!, which is a sentiment set I received at convention last year. I really like the fun, funky sentiments but I have not used the set a lot simply because it's in English. That being said, I have found a market for English cards now that I live in Montreal and since I create mostly in French, I tend to run out of those quickly so I'm making a conscious effort to make more English cards for more occasions than just birthdays and Christmas. I think this funky sentiment can be used for more than a spouse, but also for friends so there's lot of occasions this card could be used for. The darker tones would also work well for a man.

The design is fairly simple. The card size is 6-1/2 x 3-1/4, one of my favorite card sizes. The Old Olive and Island Indigo cardstock were both stamped with the Dotty Angles stamp set (p. 98 of Annual Catalogue). I stamped the image twice, once with full ink and a second time, stamping off the ink of a scrap of paper before stamping on my cardstock, to create an ombre look.

I was looking for something to put over my sentiment on the banner and fill in the blank and found the Essential Wooden Elements. I also had a scrap of Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper on my desk, so I colored it with the darkest shade of Pumpkin Pie Blendabilities marker before punching a heart out with the Bitty Accents Punch Pack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colour Combo: Cajun Craze + Old Olive + Island Indigo + Chocolate Chip

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Dotty Angles, Yippee-Skippee!
Cardstock: Old Olive, Island Indigo, Cajun Craze, Chocolate Chip
Ink: VersaMark, Pear Pizzazz, Island Indigo
Accessories: Early Espresso Baker's Twine, Essentials Wooden Elements,
Pumpkin Pie Blendabilities Markers, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper,
Pear Pizzazz and Island Indigo Chevron Ribbons, Long Narrow White Envelope,
Bitty Accents Punch Pack

 

Stampin' Up!'s Motley Monsters Designer Series Papers

The Motley Monsters Designer Series Papers are awesome and even cuter in person than in the catalogue. I really like the fun, fresh color combo and I plan to use the papers on non-Halloween projects as well. Let me share an Halloween card to begin, though. Another set I stumbled unto when placing my stamp sets in my library is Joie des Fêtes, and I realized I was not sure I had ever used the Halloween sentiment before so I thought it would look great paired with the papers. I also drew inspiration from the Create with Connie and Mary challenge #322 and Retro Sketch Challenge #134.

The sentiment was embossed in black powder and colored with Blendabilities markers on patterned papers. I added a border cut with the Finishing Touches Edgelits dies out of Silver glimmer paper, which I colored Basic Grey using the Blendabilities markers.

Another detail I'd like to bring to your attention is the ribbons I used, which are the new In color Hello Honey and Tangelo Twist satin ribbons. They're not the exact colors used in the papers - those are Tango Tangerine and Crushed Curry - but the ribbons colors are often close enough matches to other colors that they can be mixed and matched without clashing. Something to keep in mind when you're putting together your projects and building your ribbon collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Joie des Fêtes, Gorgeous Grunge
Cardstock: Tango Tangerine
Designer Series Papers: Motley Monsters
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: Silver ribbon, Neutrals Designers Buttons, Blendabilities Markers,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Tangelo Twist and Hello Honey satin ribbons, Sweet Dots,
Banner Punch, Silver Glimmer Paper, Finishing Touches Edgelits Dies, White Medium Envelope

 

 

 

Speaking of using the papers for a non-Halloween project, I needed to wrap a gift I brought back from my trip to Seattle for my niece yesterday and decided at the last minute to decorate the bag and add a tag. It was half an hour before I needed to be out of the door, so it was a quick project.

I cut a 2-inch-wide strip of patterned paper and punched the top with the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch. I cut the strip to a few inches long, punched the bottom with the Stars Border Punch, then turned the remnant paper strip around and used the backside to mat the tag.

Tip: In order to be able to insert ribbon in the hole at the top, I punched a circle opening out of the second piece of patterned paper before gluing it to the back of my tag.

Using the piercing templates, I added piercing around the top of the tag and the bottom. A piece of Crushed Curry Chevron Ribbon was tied around the tag. A piece of Soft Sky cardstock was cut with the Chalk Talk Framelits Dies. I used the Banner Blitz stamp set (from last Sale-A-bration) to add pennants to the side of the die-cut and add "To" and "From" with the Calendar Alphabet & Numbers stamp set (now retired). I used the star from Banner Blitz on Crushed Curry and a circle punch to create accents for the die cut.

White cotton ribbon was used to tie the tag to the bag and a piece of gold sequin trim was added as well. As for the bag, I spritzed it using mist I mixed myself using Pool Party reinker, and then I sponged some stars using the star mask we sell with a dauber and Crushed Curry ink.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Bannières en folie (Banner Bitz), Calendar Alphabet & Numbers
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Crushed Curry
Designer Series Paper: Motley Monsters
Ink: Soft Sky, VersaMark
Accessories: Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder, Circle Punches, Gold Sequin Trim, White Cotton Ribbon,
Bermuda Bay Stampin' Write Marker, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stamp-a-ma-jig,
Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, Chalk Talk Framelits Dies, Crushed Curry Chevron Ribbon,
Star Border Punch, Paper Piercer and Piercing Templates, Star Mask, Stampin' Spritzer,
Pool Party Reinker, Ticket Corner Punch, Kraft Gift Bag

 

Blast From the Past: Gift Givers - Christmas Stocking

I worked on the Monday Lunchtime Sketch #332 a little too late to post to the challenge gallery, but I liked the simple layout and as I was placing some older sets in my library, I stumbled upon the retired Gift Givers set and decided it would work great with the sketch. I also used a sentiment set from last year's Holidays catalogue, Christmas Messages. The sentiment was embossed in Early Espresso powder on Old Olive cardstock. The background patterned paper is from the Season of Style paper stack (also from last year). I added it to a Sahara Sand card base, on which I rounded the bottom corners with a Corner Rounder punch.

The stocking was colored with the Blendabilities markers (have you tried them yet? They're awesome!) and punched with the matching Stocking punch. A mini jingle bell was added with a glue dot.

I was contemplating dry embossing the card base or adding a background stamp to it, but then decided I liked the simplicity of my design and left the background untouched. It's a rare streamlined design for me, but I'll admit to looking the result.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Gift Givers, Parfum de Noël (Christmas Messages)
Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Old Olive, Whisper White
Designer Series Paper: Season of Style
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Mini Jingle Bell, Blendabilities Markers, White Medium Envelope,
Early Espresso Stampin' Emboss Powder, Stocking Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Featuring Stampin' Up!'s Label Love - Specially For You

I drew inspiration from the Color Throwdown challenge #311 and the As You See It challenge #055 - "I find inspiration in...". I love drawing inspiration from the Stampin' Up! catalogue and I hadn't yet copied anything from it since the annual catalogue came out, so I thought it was a great chance to CASE a project. The inspiration came from the first sample at left on page 14. You'll notice it's more of an "inspired by" than an actual copy because the project in the picture is a box. I liked the layered hanging tag idea, though, so it was the starting point for my card.

Although I liked the doily in the back and considered adding one to my card, I also wanted to create a masculine card and therefore decided to forego the doily. I used some new stuff from the Holidays catalogue on there, namely the Lucky Stars embossing folder and the Vanilla and Olive Two-Tone Trim.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Un amour d'étiquette (Label Love), Dictionary
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Whisper White, Pool Party Core'dinations
Ink: Old Olive, Pool Party, Crumb Cake
Accessories: Silver paper, Designer Series Tape, Sweet Dots, Bitty Accents Punch Pack (star),
Artisan Label punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Vanilla & Olive Two-Tone Trim,
Lucky Stars Embossing Folder, Sanding Block, Crumb Cake Medium Envelope

 

Featuring Stampin' Up!'s Bright & Beautiful - Joy

I just came back to work after a two-week vacation. You would think that would have given me time to stamp, but I didn't craft at all during my time off from work. We had the golf tournament at work, then my sister's 30th surprise party, along with an helicopter tour the next day, then I had to prepare for the trip I took on the West Coast with a couple of friends. We visited Seattle, Portland and Vancouver, which were all great. Now, it's back to work and reality, but the upside of being back to my routine is that I had a little bit of stamping time after dinner.

I had the Bright & Beautiful stamp set waiting on my doorstep when I came back from vacation (I preordered it in August, but it didn't ship until now - not sure why it wasn't available before) so I wanted to use it on my project. I found a few challenges that were perfect for it and inspired me, so I combined the Sketch Frenzy Friday challenge, Merry Monday challenge #127 and Festive Friday challenge #40.

The colors and vintage vibe of the card were inspired by the Festive Friday picture. I began by stamping the two largest stars on Very Vanilla cardstock and embossing them with Pewter Stampin' Emboss powder. I used the Stars Framelits dies to cut them out. They didn't pop out enough when I superposed them, so I inked the edges with Crumb Cake and Blushing Bride ink.  I colored the center of the top star with a blender pen and ink, and added a 2013-2015 In Color sequin in the center, using a glue dot.

For the background, I thought the small star could fit in the polka dots from the Large Polka Dot embossing folder, so I embossed Blushing Bride cardstock, stamped the star in matching ink and matted the cardstock with Baked Brown Sugar cardstock, then added the piece to a Crumb Cake card base.

The pennant part of the sketch was created with a piece of Typeset Specialty Designer Series Paper, punched out with the Scalloped Tag Topper punch. I added a smaller strip of Crumb Cake cardstock on which I stamped "Joy" repeatedly (from the same stamp set), and I added a piece of Venetian Crochet Trim at the bottom. Two buttons from the Neutrals Designer Button pack were also added, and a Crumb Cake Medium envelope was stamped to match.

By the way, the Merry Monday challenge was a bingo and I managed to make three different lines with this card! Almost a complete card, but there's no red on my card so that's the only element missing. I have sparkle woth the sequin, patterned paper with the tag, embossing and die-cuts with the stars, ribbon on the tag, kraft as one of my cardstock colors, punch with the tag edge, and buttons!

 

 

  

 

 

 

Color Combo: Blushing Bride + Baked Brown Sugar + Crumb Cake + Very Vanilla

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Éblouissants de joie (Bright & Beautiful)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride, Baked Brown Sugar, Very Vanilla
Specialty Designer Series Paper: Typeset
Ink: Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride, VersaMark
Accessories: 2013-2015 In Color Sequins, Neutrals Designer Buttons, Sponge,
Pewter Stampin' Emboss Powder, Stars Framelits Dies, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, Venetian Crochet Trim, Blending Pen,
Crumb Cake Medium Envelope, Large Polka Dot Embossing Folder

 

Sweet Kisses

This card was inspired by the Sweet Sunday Sketch #235. I needed a love card to add to my stash since I sold my last one at the office and I found this retired hostess set, which was perfect for the sketch. I paired it with the retired More Amore Specialty Designer Papers.

The image was embossed with Pool Party Stampin' Emboss Powder and cut out using the scallop heart die from the Hearts a Flutter Framelits set. I also used our new masks along with a mix I made in our spritzers, using a Pool Party reinker. I used the Envelope Punch Board to make a matching envelope as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Tout à fait toi
Cardstock: Real Red, Very Vanilla, Pool Party Core'dinations
Designer Papers: More Amore Specialty
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: Designer brad. Pool Party satin ribbon, Paper Piercer and piercing template,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Pool Party Stampin' Emboss Powder, Hearts Mask,
Pool Party reinker and spritzer, Hearts a Flutter Framelits Dies, Envelope Punch Board

 

Pina Colada Flowers

When I saw the Retro Sketch #130, I knew it was a perfect sketch to use leftover pieces of papers to make a card. I had the Pina Colada Simply Scrappin' kit (long retired) out on my desk that I had pulled out previously when looking at paper options for another project. Since my kit had just a few pieces of papers left and a few flower die-cuts, it was perfect for this sketch.

I miss the SS kits - they were perfect for putting together quick cards and scrapbook pages! I wish SU! would bring those back...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Simply Scrappin' Kit: Pina Colada
Cardstock: Tango Tangerine
Accessories: Circle and Scallop Circle Punches, Rhinestone Basic Jewels,
Envelope Punch Board, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Featuring Santa Stache - Ho Ho Ho

The new Holidays catalogue is now online. Have you peeked yet at its contents?

My favorite stamp set from it is Santa Stache. Beyond adorable! I have shared a card using the nutcracker from the set last week and now I'm sharing a card done with the Santa. I stamped him twice in Tuxedo Black Memento ink so that I could handcut the mustache to pop it up with Dimensionals. Although I kind of feel foolish that I didn't realize this when I preordered, but did you know the Mustache Framelits die sold in the annual catalogue fits the two images in this set perfectly? I am so getting the die on my next order to make my life easier... The image was colored with the Blendabilities markers and I used the two-way glue pen to add Dazzling Diamonds glitter to the beard and fur on the hat.

Since I was drawing inspiration from the Paper Players challenge (#211) to make this card, I made sure to include embossing on my project: heat embossing for the sentiment (with Early Espresso Stampin' Emboss powder) and dry embossing on the Early Espresso cardstock as well (diagonal stripes). The other two elements are buttons and patterned papers. Speaking of patterned papers, those were taken from last year's Festival of Prints paper stack. I thought the traditional colors and patterns would look great with the Santa. Pairing older papers with new stamps is a good way to breathe life and inspiration into your stash and putting it all to good use.

The card design comes from the Sweet Sunday Sketch #234. The sentiment comes from a retired set called Oh, Goodie! (sold in last year's Holidays catalogue).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Santa Stache, Oh Goodie!
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Island Indigo, Very Vanilla
Designer Series Papers: Festival of Prints Stack
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Early Espresso
Accessories: Early Espresso Stampin' Emboss Powder, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Blendabilities Markers, Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter, Buttons, Diagonal Stripes Embossing Folder,
Vanilla Envelope