Encre, papier, ciseaux

Falling from the Sky

This card was inspired by the Sweet Sunday Sketch #297. I used the lovely Flurry of Wishes stamp set and since the biggest snowflake doesn't have a matching die or punch, I had to go old school and handcut my stamped image. I hung the big snowflake from Silver Cording Trim.<

I used the Snow Flurry Punch on Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper and added a Winter Wonderland Embellisment on top.

The background was stamped with the Brushstrokes stamp. The diagonal panel (from the Season of Cheer Designer Series Paper) was trimmed with White 3/8" Glitter Ribbon at the top and Silver Sequin Trim at the bottom, and I detached a couple of sequins from the trim to glue at random on the card. The center of the big snowflake was decorated with an Iced Rhinestone Embllishment. (I'll admit I didn't think much of those based on the picture in the catalogue, but they look really nice in person and add a more intricate detail to card than the regular rhinestones do.)

The card base was covered with a piece of Silver Foil Paper, so the edge of the card behind the Night of Navy panel is actually silver.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Tempête de souhaits (Flurry of Wishes), Brushstrokes
Cardstock: Whisper White, Night of Navy, Silver Foil, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper
Designer Series Paper: Season of Cheer
Ink: Night of Navy, Whisper White
Accessories: Silver Sequin Trim, White 3/8" Glitter Ribbon, Iced Rhinestone Embellishments,
Winter Wonderland Embellishments, Curvy Corner Trio Punch, Envelope Punch Board,
Silver Cording Trim, Handheld Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Thinking of You

Looking for specific papers for one of my latest projects, I found paper scraps along with a matching envelope I had done for another card but had not used. There wasn't much left, but I knew there was enough to make one last card to go with the envelope, so this was the starting point of this card. The Mojo Monday sketch #425 helped me with the design, and this card was put together quite quickly. The sentiment comes from the Perfect Pennants stamp set, and I've added a Silver Metallic Doily at the bottom as well. The wonderful Envelope Punch Board was used to make the envelope as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Parfaits fanions (Perfect Pennants)
Cardstock: Bazzill
Ink: Blackberry Bliss
Accessories: Metallic Doilies, Designer Buttons, Corner Rounder Punch,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Satin Ribbon, Envelope Punch Board, Circle Punch

 

Stampin' Up!'s Festival of Trees - Cardinal

This card was inspired by the Match the Sketch challenge #100 and the Paper Players challenge #273. This week's challenge is a tic-tac-toe grid and I selected 1) Patterned paper, 2) Sparkle or shine and 3) Tree.

I hadn't pulled out Festival of Trees yet this year. It came out in the Holidays catalogue last year, but has come back in the annual catalogue this year (p. 71).

The holly leaves and berries at the bottom of my main image are handcut from a sheet of patterned paper from the Season of Cheer pack, as well as the other papers used on this card.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Festival d'arbres (Festival of Trees)
Cardstock: Mossy Meadow
Designer Series Paper: Season of Cheer
Ink: Night of Navy, Mossy Meadow, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: Metallic Doilies, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Tree Punch,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Home for Christmas Enamel Dots, Curly Tag Topper Punch,
White Medium Envelope, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Mossy Meadow Satin Ribbon

 

Leopard

I found a piece of glittered leopard-print paper at a local store and knew it woukld be perfect for a page recounting one of the times my niece really cracked me up. I was babysitting her when she was about 2 years old and we were reading a book together and we had moved on to the "fancier" animals - hippo, zebra, leopard... When I mentioned the leopard, she looked at me, dead serious, and said "Just like grandma's pyjamas." I burst out laughing and I wondered if her parents had cracked that joke before while reading the book. When I asked them later, they also started laughing and said this didn't come from them. To this day, I still don't know if her grandfather had made the joke to her or if she really made a connection between the book and the PJs on her own. Pretty funny when they start drawing links between things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Background with Circles (Carabelle Studio), Playful Alphabet and Numbers (Hero Arts)
Cardstock: Bazzill, Crumb Cake
Patterned Paper: Cheetah (Recollections Signature)
Ink: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede
Accessories: Alphabet Stickers (American Crafts), Pen, 2-1/2" Circle Punch, Ribbons

 

You'll Be Missed

This is another layoff card I had to put together. The person who was leaving was well-loved by everyone, myself included, so I wanted the card to be worthy, which made me stress a little over the design. I perused Pinterest to get the creative mojo going and when I saw an Artisan Dinner invitation from years ago I had pinned, the wheels started spinning.

The sentiment was actually created in Word and printed, which is something I rarely do, but in this case, it allowed me to have the perfect sentiment. Our coworker has lived in Belgium for years and his favorite expression was "Nom d'un p'tit bonhomme!", which always cracked everyone up because this is not something we typically say in Quebec. Sure enough, when the card started making the round at the office so that people could sign it, coworkers were coming to me to say that the card had made them laugh out loud and that this was just perfect. What a relief!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Messy Stitches (Autumn Leaves)
Cardstock: Tango Tangerine, Basic Grey, Very Vanilla
Designer Series Paper: Chair de poule et chevrons
Ink: Black Archival
Accessories: Dew Drops, Envelope Punch Board, Alphabet Dies, Black Glimmer Paper,
Black Needlepoint Floss (DMC), Autumn Accents Bigz Die, Basic Grey Corduroy Button,
Printer (sentiment)

 

Thoughtful Frame

My little spin on Pinterest made me stumble upon another wonderful card I wanted to copy, so this one is a CASE as well. It's pretty close to the original. I simply added a button in lieu of the ribbon bow and I changed the sentiment, using one from the Watercolor Wishes stamp set (page 80 of the annual catalogue - a must-have).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Pensées au pinceau (Watercolor Wishes), Élégance élémentaire (SAB - retired)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede
Ink: Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Red Riding Hood
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Copper Button, Baked Brown Sugar Thick Baker's Twine,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Curly Label Punch, Pearl Basic Jewels, Riding Hood Red Ruffled Satin Ribbon,
Embossing Folder, Vanilla Medium Envelope

 

Lucky Stars

There's been some layoffs at the office lately and colleagues have requested cards for the people who were leaving us. Needless to say, those cards, just like sympathy cards, are hard to create because they are not cheerful and inspiring events to stamp for. To help with my crafter's block, I went over to Pinterest and perused my galleries. I ended up finding a card from Erica Cerwin that was the right mix of masculine and understated. It is pretty much CASEd as is, except that I changed the sentiment, added Gorgeous Grunge elements in the background and used a different border for a more masculine look. And I added pearls on the stars.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla
Designer Series Paper: Newspaper
Ink: Night of Navy, Crumb Cake
Accessories: 1" Circle Punch, Daffodil Delight Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Small Star Punch, Edgelits Die, Medium Crumb Cake Envelope

 

Baby Blues

There's been a baby boom on our team at work and all of my baby cards on hand got given away, so I knew I had to make some more when I had the chance. I made a careful effort to make them gender-neutral because whatever gender I pick when making a baby card, it seems that what I need is the other one (Murphy's Law, I guess). I found remaining pieces of the Hello Baby collection from Simple Stories I had used for the baby album I shared not too long ago and based on the Retro Sketch #189, I made my first card in a flash.

As I was putting away the scraps, I noticed the polaroids on one of the piece of papers and thought I could handcut one and use it paired with the Paper Players Sketch #272. I wasn't planning on making a second card, but since my mojo was on, I decided to just roll with it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Silhouettes en script (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Barely Banana, Soft Sky, Whisper White
Patterned Papers: Hello Baby (Simple Stories)
Ink: Pear Pizzazz
Accessories: Iced Rhinestones Embellishments, Crisp Cantaloup Thick Baker's Twine,
Designer Washi Tape, Sparkly Buttons, Stampin' Dimensionals, Medium Envelopes,
Silver Cord Trim, Baja Breeze Grosgrain Ribbon, So Saffron Taffeta Ribbon,
Lace Border Punch, Candy Dots, Curvy Corner Trio Punch, Hung Up Cute Clips,
Hello Baby Die-Cuts (Simple Stories), Kraft Woodgrain Frames (Jillibean Soup), Sparkly gel pen

 

Happy New Year, Deer!

Merry Monday #180 + Sweet Sunday Sketch #296 + Global Design Project #11

I wanted to make a card with a handcut deer from the Home for Christmas Designer Series Paper and when I saw the Sweet Sunday sketch, I thought it would be perfect. I wanted to use the Metallic Doilies, so I changed the size of my card to 6-1/2" x 3-1/4" so the doily wouldn't be lost on the card front. I then used the Envelope Punch Board to make a matching envelope.

The sentiment was pulled from the Six Sayings hostess stamp set.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Six souhaits (Six Sayings)
Cardstock: Mossy Meadow
Designer Series Paper: Home for Christmas
Ink: Night of Navy
Accessories: Home for Christmas Enamel Dots, Mossy Meadow Satin Ribbon, Very Vintage Designer Buttons,
Curly Label Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Metallic Doilies, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Envelope Punch Board, Deco Labels Framelits Dies

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I've had quite the busy week at the office, so it was nice to sit down to stamp and relax. Inspired by the Merry Monday challenge #180, Simon Says Stamp (Christmas Theme) and the MFT Sketch #255, I created this card. The sparkly stag was die-cut out of Silver Glimmer Paper with a die from the Stag Trio die set.

The sentiment comes from the Six Sayings hostess stamp set from the current Holidays Catalogue (get it while you can!). It was stamped in VersaMark on a piece of chevron patterned paper and embossed with Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Emboss Powder. Hand stitching was added around the panel using metallic thread from DMC. A piece of washi tape was added at top and decorated with a Winter Wonderland Embellishment (love those!). A few silver sequins were added as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Six souhaits (Six Sayings)
Cardstock: Rose Red
Patterned Papers: Be Merry (Recollections)
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: Silver Glimmer Paper, Stag Trio Die (W Plus 9), Silver Metallic Floss (DMC), Stampin' Dimensionals,
Winter Wonderland Embellishments, Washi Tape, Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Emboss Powder, Silver Sequins, White Medium Envelope

 

Do Not Open Before Christmas

This card was inspired by the Cat's Pajamas challenge #303 (Anything Goes). It's no secret that I love the little penguin characters, and these are especially cute.

I used sticky strip around the patterned paper and added chunky glitter for a frosty look. The sentiment comes from the Oh, What Fun stamp set (Holidays Catalogue, p. 5).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Peace, Joy and Penguins (The Cat's Pajamas), Hourra pour Noël (Oh What Fun - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz, Vellum
Patterned Paper: Aspen Frost (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, VersaMark
Accessories: Pool Party Stampin' Emboss Powder, Circle Punch, Markers, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Project Life Cards and Labels Framelits Dies, Scallop Tag Topper Punch, Ribbon,
Frosted Finishes Embellishments, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Chunky Glitter, Snowflake Punch

 

Photo Bomb

The images from the Photo Bomb stamp set just make me smile. They're so silly! Right now, I'm a little low on birthday cards since I've been mostly focusing on Christmas cards lately, so I made a specific effort to make a birthday card in between the rest. I found the punny sentiment in an old Stampin' Up! set from years ago, which is still a favorite.

The design of the card was inspired by Mojo Monday Sketch #424.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Messages illustrés (Stampin' Up!), Photo Bomb (Mama Elephant)
Cardstock: Rose Red, Pool Party, Whisper White
Patterned Papers: Be Merry (Recollections)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento
Accessories: Button, Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon, Markers, Stampin' Dimensionals, Washi Tape, White Medium Envelope