Encre, papier, ciseaux

Golfing Dad

Inspiration: Fab Friday #168 + CAS(E) This Sketch #331

I wanted to play with my new catalogue stuff and the sketch inspired me to pull out On to Adventure, with the cute golfer. The bottom section of the sketch made me think I could sponge some ink to create the green and anchor my golfer image, which I colored with Stampin' Blends markers. We're starting to have a nice wide range of colours, so it's getting fun to color and get some depth.

I have been struggling to find some storage for the markers because they need to be stored horizontally. My Copic markers are stored vertically in a metal CD container, which I've divided with cardboard insert to keep the colour families separated. The collection fits in two containers, which I simply bring on my desk when I'm coloring. It would have been so much easier if I could have stored the Stampin' Blends with them, but since they are not meant to be stored vertically, I had to come up with something else. They were first stored in a shoebox, but it was hard to find the colors I was looking for. I later updated to zipped pouches with elastics for each individual markers (found on Amazon). The insert can be taken out of the zipped pouch, so I was able to have the markers by my side on the desk while coloring, but that took room and I kept having to flip back and forth since the markers are on both sides of the holder. It was just not as convenient as I would have hoped. This Spring, Stampin' Up! came out with the marker organizers. I think they are great for people who have the desk room for this kind of setup. I don't. Only room I could have made for it would have required for me to stand up or walk to where the markers would have been and that was not was I was hoping for. I finally found something at Michaels a couple of weeks ago that got me really excited. The bottom of the box is divided for 60 markers and hinged so you can stretch it out if you want and it has a top that clips on both sides and has a handle to carry the box around. The dividers allow me to organize my colours and to stand the markers on my desk vertically when I'm coloring, and then because the top contains them, I can store them on their side and it doesn't take up a lot of room. Problem finally solved!

Back to my card, the rest of the design was pretty simple: a strip of cardstock, which I added a row of stitching on using the Stitched Nested labels die on, and a piece of 1/8" grosgrain ribbon. I then added "Happy Father's Day" using my new sentiment dies (so excited any time I can find French sentiment dies) and the card still felt a little too bare, so I added gold faceted gems (which happen to look like golf balls) to the card. I also layered a second die-cut in another colour over the word "father" to make it stand out.

 

 

 

  

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: On to Adventure
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Pacific Point, Pineapple Punch
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Bermuda Bay
Accessories: Lovely Lipstick 1/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Stitched Nested Labels Dies,
Stampin' Blends Markers, Mots de souhaits Dies, Gold Faceted Gems,
Whisper White Medium Envelope, Sponge

 

Adventure Awaits!

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #519

Many years ago, my friend Brandi sent me a few stamped images from a cute stamp set I didn't own and I've used a couple of a card and still had the rest stashed away in the pile of things kept aside for a rainy day. I stumbled unto those images again today and was inspired to make something with them. I looked for masculine papers and decided to use the Creative License Simply Scrappin' kit - which also dates back many, many years. I've always loved this kit - there's something about the bright colours and the distressed stickers that I find really appealing. The card came together quite easily.

I colored the images with Copic markers. I don't know that the images had necessarily been stamped with an ink meant for that - I don't think we carried the Tuxedo Black ink back when those images were stamped. I could see the ink was moving around a bit on the cardstock, but since I kept the blending to a minimum, the ink didn't really bleed too much. Since the kayak was stamped separately, I had to handcut it, but I really love how it's out of the square image – I find it makes the card more dynamic.

While embellishing, I found an arrow sticker and decided it would be perfect to stamp my sentiment on. I looked at stamp options and found "Adventure Awaits!", which had the perfect theme, font and size. This came together pretty easily and I'm happy with the result. This could work well for retirement, someone going on a trip, starting a new job or moving away.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Je me souviens, Unknown (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Wild Wasabi, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Simply Scrappin' Kit: Creative License
Ink: Basic Black, Not Quite Navy Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Square Nestabilities Dies (Spellbinders); Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Markers (Copic); A2 Aquamarine Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com);
Wonky Stitched Rectangles Die-namics (My Favorite Things)

 

My True North

Inspiration: As You See It #203 (My favorite colour to wear is blue!) + Little Red Wagon #503

The colors of this card are inspired by an outfit I put on this week. I had a steel blue sweater and when I put on my navy coat and mustard yellow scarf, I thought it would make for a nice masculine or nautical color combo. This gave me the chance to pull out an old favorite colour that retired years ago: Bordering Blue. I've always liked that it falls between a steel blue and a grey and I think it's been one of Stampin' Up!'s most underrated colors back when it was current.

I inked a full 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" panel of white cardstock with a mix of Fossilized Amber, Mustard See and Scattered Straw Distress Oxide inks and die-cut the Sunrise Backdrop, keeping the lighter yellow at the end of the sunrays. I then inked a panel of the same size with Stormy Sky Distress Oxide ink, which is pretty much a perfect match for Bordering Blue. I made sure to leave white space in the center, where the sun is, to create a nice gradient.

So, I initially was going to pass on the Slide On Over Waves dies because I don't do a lot of sliding cards and I already have other sliding dies - but then Kelly Marie showed how the boat bumps around when you use the shorter waves and that gave me a chuckle, so when I saw that the dies were pretty inexpensive, I went for it. I used a strip of Night of Navy cardstock longer than the card size and I die-cut the slider first. I then placed the Wavy Border die over it to match the track, and then I cut the strip to size. You have to be careful because the slider part will come really close to the edge and you will end up with an open side if you don't measure things properly.

I wanted to add the cute lighthouse and needed to ground it on something. I pulled out the Beach House Add-On dies to see if the sand dunes would be big enough, but the scale was not working, so I reverted to using the rounded edge from the Palm Tree Border dies instead. I die-cut Crumb Cake cardstock and used a Soft Suede Stampin' Write marker to add dots for a sandy look. Little clouds and seagulls were added to the sky, some under the sunrays and other over for dimension. I then started looking for sentiment options. There's a nautical-themed stamp set in the new Stampin' Up! annual catalogue that has some French sentiments in it, so I pulled "You are my true north" since it was all on one line, and I tried to give it a little wave (it's a red rubber stamp, though, so it's not as flexible as a photopolymer one). I stamped it in Night of Navy on a Simple Wavy Banner and I added two little hearts from the Smooth Sailing set on each side to fill in the space and introduce red again to tie it with the lighthouse.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Smooth Sailing (Lawn Fawn); Terre à l'horizon (Sailing Home - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Night of Navy, Bordering Blue, Crumb Cake, Thick Whisper White
Patterned Paper: Unknown source
Ink: Night of Navy, Bordering Blue, Calypso Coral Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!); Tuxedo Black (Memento);
Stormy Sky, Scattered Straw, Mustard Seed, Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Dies: Smooth Sailing, Stitched Rectangle Frames, Stitched Simple Wavy Borders, Slide on Over Waves,
Palm Tree Border, Sunrise Backdrop, Simple Wavy Banners (Lawn Fawn); Soft Suede Stampin' Write Marker,
Envelope Punch Board, Foam Adhesive Strips, Lots of Tags Framelits (Stampin' Up!); Markers (Copic);
Blender Brushes (Picket Fence Studios); Spritzing Bottle (Ranger); Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Tonic)

 

To the King of BBQ

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #518 + Little Red Wagon #503 + Inspired By #78

I crushed really hard on the Sparkle City collection when I saw it in a video from the Creativation show and bought most of the items from the collection when they came out. I hadn't made anything with it just yet because I was a little intimidated to dive into the big paper pad. This is something that I've learned to fight over the years, to save my favorite items for something extra special. This is just supposed to be a fun hobby and there's no point hoarding the pretty stuff, so might as well dive in! I would usually have made a page first and then a card afterwards but I was feeling like making cards today and decided there was no reason to not dive straight into my pretty paper pad, so I picked the fun fast food pattern first, since it fit the BBQ theme from Inspired By, and I pulled out the Let's BBQ stamp set to go with it.

I was working off the Mojo Monday sketch  and the little grilling fork and spatula were perfect to mimick the hanging element of the sketch, but the card was not balanced if I placed them underneath the barbecue, so I moved them to the right side and added mini silver brads as hanging hooks.

The Little Red Wagon challenge was calling for non-occasion cards and this fit the theme perfectly. I looked at various stamp and die options, but in the end, I reached for my trusty Dymo to make my own: "to the king of the grill". Can't be more generic than that.

Because the paper pad is huge - 48 pages - I felt I had enough paper to make my own matching envelope, and I used a tag from a paper from the same pad to have a blank space for the address.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Let's BBQ (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Smoky Slate, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Sparkle City (Shimelle for American Crafts)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Let's BBQ Dies, Outside In Stitched Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn);
Distressing Tool, Envelope Punch Board, Mini Silver Brads (Stampin' Up!);
Markers (Copic); Black Tape and Label Maker (Dymo); Pînking Edge Square Die-namics (My Favorite Things)

 

Miss You Polaroid

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Monday (Stars & Stripes) + Hand Stamped Sentiments #317 + Little Red Wagon #503

I really wanted to use the Deep Blue Sea paper from Carta Bella (I have a thing for nautical stuff, I'm always drawn to it), so the Smooth Sailing stamp set seemed like a natural fit for it. I initially thought I would put the boat in a porthole frame, but when I saw the Selfie Frame dies on my desk, I figured it would be even more fun to make a picture instead.

When came time to add a sentiment, "Wish you were here" popped into my mind. I went to my sentiment spreadsheet to see if I had it anywhere and I was really surprised to find out in all of my stamps (and Lord knows I have a few...!), I only have one, in an older set from The Cat's Pajamas called Small Sayings. (This right there shows why putting this spreadsheet together was a worthy time investment - I would never have found this sentiment otherwise.) When I pulled the set out, though, it was the words "Miss You" that caught my eye. I liked the font and size better for my card. I was still hesitant and I also looked at French options, and I tried three different sentiments on my Stamp-a-ma-jig sheet to see how they would look on the card, but Miss You was definitely the one that had the best impact so I stamped it in Night of Navy ink.

For the ribbon shown on the sketch, adding a nautical knot seemed like the cutest option. The only reason I was hesitant was because I knew it would make the card bulky, both because of the knot and because of the rope ends tucked behind the panel. I still went for it, though, and I do find it looks pretty cool. I had to double the foam adhesive on the back of the panel for everything to be level, though. I added two Cherry Cobbler enamel stars at the top. (The sketch has those at right, but it was not working as well for my design, so I moved those around.)

For the inside of the card, I cut a piece of Seaside Spray cardstock (a new 2019-2021 In Color), whch I found was a perfect match for the blue in the patterned papers. I used the Large Dotted Rectangle Stackables dies and since the second size looked a bit small on the card, I decided I would mat it with patterned paper. As I was finishing with the die-cut, though, I spotted a pile of random pieces on my desk corner and one of them was a white cardstock with diagonal stripes. I know it's from an old Stampin' Up! kit and I had left the cardstock aside to use on something else. Here, the size and stripes were perfect for the card, so I matted my blue cardstock with it and stamped an anchor in Night of Navy ink to match.

For the envelope, I picked an A2 Nautical Blue linen envelope and used the Porthole Frames for a place to include the name and address.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Smooth Sailing (Lawn Fawn); Small Sayings (The Cat's Pajamas)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Thick Whisper White, Seaside Spray (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Deep Blue Sea (Carta Bella)
Ink: Stormy Sky Distress Oxide (Ranger); Night of Navy Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!);
Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Smooth Sailing Dies, Large Dotted Rectangle Stackables, Porthole Frames Dies,
Stitched Simple Wavy Borders Dies, Outside In Stitched Rectangle Stackables, Selfie Frames Dies (Lawn Fawn);
Mini Cloud Stencil (My Favorite Things); Blender Brushes (Picket Fence Studios); Stampin' Dimensionals,
Regals Enamel Shapes (Stampin' Up!); White Cord Trim (unknown); Markers (Copic);
A2 Nautical Blue Linen Envelope (envelopes.com); Circle Nestabilities Dies (Spellbinders)

 

 

To an Amazing Man

Inspiration: Color Throwdown #544 + Freshly Made Sketch #389 

The Color Throwdown combo read very nautical with me and with the new Lawn Fawn summer release, I had plenty to work with... except that my preordered Charge Me Up kit was delivered today and I was off work (yeah for Fridays off!), so I couldn't resist inking this little guy up­. The combo was also great for masculine card so it became the starting point of the card.

My local store recently received a bunch of Heffy Doodle stuff, including the Love Circuit stencil. I loved the idea of the circuits, but I wasn't sure about the heart shape in the center (cool idea, but just not as useful as a generic circuit stencil would have been). Because I had the Charge Me Up stamp set coming my way, I decided to get the stencil as I knew they would pair up really well. So it was the first thing I reached for when I started working on my project.

I've seen a lot of projects using foil online lately and I figured the one pack of foil sheets I've bought (Amber Watercolor) would work really well with the circuit stencil as it would look like copper tape! I don't own a laminator, so I had to think of what I could use to transfer the foil with. I pulled out my Heat 'n Stick from Stampin' Up! to try out (which I've been meaning to since buying the foil). I daubed some VersaMark through the stencil using a sponge, pourred the heat 'n stick, heated it just enough to have it melt and placed the foil sheet over it. It transferred everywhere but in a very spotty way. Because I wanted a subtle background, that was fine by me but it should be noted that this method does not produce a high-shine, even result. I was tempted to try out the Distress Resist spray, since it's basically liquid glue, but I decided to test it out later on a different project to compare the results instead. I did go back with a glue pen to complete some of the lines that had not transferred to my liking and the glue did transfer more foil than the heat 'n stick. (I do want to test out heat 'n stick with stamping rather than sponging, to see if the result is better.)

I started layering my piece to mimick the sketch and I kept thinking this would make for a cool card if I added a Chibitronics light, so I finally decided to go for it. Because you push on the heart and the top of the robot's head lights up, it was a very simple circuit to prepare (and now that I've put together a couple of circuit cards, I have a better understand on how to prepare the circuit without tutorials).

To make the card seem more finished, I die-cut a scalloped frame out of Galvanized paper, which goes great with the robot. For the sentiment, I wanted something in a typed font, not too fancy or flourishy, and I found "to a wonderful man" in an older hsotess set from Stampin' Up!, which was the perfect size and font. I stamped it on a scrap of Pool Party cardstock and die-cut it with the Sentiment Labels from Simon Says Stamp. I added a tone on tone "push here" on the heart to let the recipient know something fun's about to happen.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Charge Me Up (Lawn Fawn for Chibitronics); À tout un chacun (Happy Birthday, Everone - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Pool Party, Midnight Muse, Poppy Parade, Whisper White, Galvanized Paper, Vellum (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: VersaMark, Midnight Muse, Poppy Parade Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Amber Watercolor Foil (Deco Foil); Envelope Punch Board, Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder,
Sweet & Sassy Framelits Dies, Urban Underground Embellishments, Stampin' Dimensionals, 
Regals Enamel Shapes (Stampin' Up!); White Light, Copper Tape, Battery (Chibitronics);
Charge Me Up Dies, Stitched Scalloped Rectangle Dies (lawn Fawn); Sentiment Labels Dies (Simon Says Stamp);
Love Circuit Foil (Deco Foil); Markers (Copic)

 

2 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

Inspiration: As You See It #200 + Fab Friday #163 + MFT Color Challenge #117

I really like the colors proposed in this week's MFT challenge and they seemed perfect for me to go with the retiring Bubble Over stamp set, the rust color working well with the beer bottles. I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted to make for this card, but it still ended up taking a while to put together because of the inking and because I played with various elements for a while before finding a mix of embellishments I liked.

I used Crumb Cake cardstock instead of white cardstock to stamp the bottles to avoid something too bright against the dark colors. The Copper Foil paper was a perfect complement to the rusty colour, and I used it for the bottle caps and the circle embellishment at right. The copper heart on the bottle was a happy accident - I had initially die-cut a heart in the bottle cap at right to try and make it more interesting. The foil paper had gotten scratched, though, and I wasn't liking the look. I had stamped the thumbs up image previously to embellish the beer bottle and I wasn't liking the look, so I had put it aside. I tried using the stamped image on the banner, but it was feeling a little bare. It was only after I layered the two pieces together that I found a combo I liked. I was then left with the copper heart and I was moving it around the card - between the two bottles, over them on the background and finally, I decided to glue it on the neck of the beer bottle to hide an imperfection in the stamping.

Instead of pulling out my sponge dauber for the inking, I tried out my Picket Fence brushes. Be warned - you won't get as much control as you would with daubers to get the ink only close to the edges, but in this instance, I like the look. I wanted to ink all of the raised surfaces on my background anyway, and I like the softness I get with those brushes. I used Crumb Cake ink instead of Real Rust on the background, to get a softer, dusty look.

Finally, I pulled out a Teal A2 envelope from my recent envelope haul and stamped it to match the card.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Pétillant de bonheur (Bubble Over)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Real Rust, Island Indigo, Night of Navy, Copper Foil Paper
Designer Series Paper Stack: 2011-2013 In Color
Ink: Crumb Cake, Island Indigo, Night of Navy, Cajun Craze
Accessories: Bottles & Bubles Framelits Dies, Corrugated 3D Embossing Folder, Tin Tile 3D Embossing Folder,
3/4" Circle Punch, Night of Navy Velvet Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals;
A2 Teal Envelope (envelopes.com); Lifechanging Blender Brushes (Picket Fence Studios)

 

A-maize-ing Dad

Inspiration: Lawn Fawnatics #51

This is a little out of season since it's a harvest-themed set, but I went where inspiration was taking me. I thought I could turn this into a masculine card and when I spotted the "you're a-maize-ing" sentiment in the set, I got the idea to pull out Dad + Me to add the word Dad in front of the other words and have this be a Father's Day card. I'm not sure how I feel about the glitter washi tape stripes on a masculine card, but other than that, I'm happy with how the card turned out.

When looking at dies, I saw the fun shaped opening from the Shadow Box Card Park Add-On set and decided to use this for my opening. I inlaid a plaid pattern inside, flat on the card, and added the part with the window using foam tape to lift it up. It looks better than having the patterned paper on top of the card front.

The scarecrow on the envelope came from me turning lemons into lemonade. Even though I used low-tack tape on my dies when I cut my images out, one of them shifted and the scarecrow was not die-cut properly. I had no white on one side and way too much on the other. I was not going to be happy with having this imageo n my card, so I restamped and colored a new one. Instead of trashing the first one, I handcut it out with not white border showing and glued it on my envelope, along with a yellow rectangle for the address.

Another random idea that came from my scrap is the way I did my signature on the back of the card. I was looking at the leftover piece from the window opening, trying to figure out if I could reuse it somewhere. The front was too busy with the two patterns and the glittery stripes, but when I turned to the back, the heart pattern was upside down, so I turned it the other way around - and immediately noticed the rounded shape looks just like a pocket. (Mental note there for future scrapbooking project.) I couldn't pass up on this idea, so I stamped my signature on patterned paper, punched it out and added it on a cute matching tag, using a topper punch. To make it really obvious that the tag was meant to be taken out of the pocket. I used the Push Here stamp set to stamp "Pull Here" and embossed it in orange powder. This might be my favorite way I've ever added my name to the back of a card!

Inside, I added a patterned paper stitched rectangle and decorate it with some corn with a crow on top.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Happy Harvest, Dad + Me, Push Here (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Marigold Morning, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Pretty Prints (Sunny Studio)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); VersaMark
Accessories: Markers (Copic); Shadow Box Card Park Add-On Dies, Happy Harvest Dies,
Outside In Stitched Rectangle Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn); White Gel Pen (Gelly Roll);
A2 Chocolate Chip Envelope (Simon Says Stamp);  Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Modern Tag Topper Punch, 
Classic Label Punch, Tango Tangerine Stampin' Emboss Powder (Stampin' Up!); Glitter Washi Tape (unknown source)

 

Sailing in the Sun

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #514 + Color Throwdown #540

I haven't used the Swirly Bird bundle in ages and I thought it would be nicely suited to the sketch and color combo I wanted to play with. I had initially planned on using just a little piece of the wave die-cut and cut out the bottom so that it followed the circle. When I placed the die-cut on the card to see where I wanted to fit the waves on the image, I decided I loved having the waves extend beyond the image - it made the card a whole lot more dynamic. I didn't want the waves to all end at the same place and in a straight line, though, so I used my scissors to snips some parts shorter and rounding out the edges.

Since the Swirly Bird set does not come with any sentiment, I picked amongst my other set and found "I'm swimming in happiness in the Jar of Love stamp set. The sentiment comes in two parts, so I stamped each one, making sure to bend the stamp as best as I could to try and follow the rounded edge of the circle.

Clear Wink of Stella was applied to the wave and to the sun. The background was stamped with the speckles image and then embossed with the Subtle 3D embossing folder (still a favorite to this day). I added two white sequins to the side panels and when I spotted the little star sequins, I knew it would look awesome to have one placed in the center of the main sail.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Swirly Bird, Petit pot d'amour (Jar of Love)
Cardstock: Pineapple Punch, Mango Melody, Blueberry Bushel, Whisper White
Designer Series Paper Stacks: Subtles. 2018-2020 In Color
Ink: Pineapple Punch, Mango Melody, Blueberry Bushel, Granny Apple Green
Accessories: Basic Adhesive-Backed Sequins, Twinkle Adhesive-Backed Sequins, Clear Wink of Stella Brush,
Subtle 3D Embossing Folder, White Medium Envelope, Layering Circles Framelits Dies, Swirly Scribbles Dies

 

We All Live in a Yellow Submarine

inspiration: Lawn Fawnatics #48 + Little Red Wagon #488 + ColourQ #31

The current Lawn Fawnatics challenge is a good one: create something based off a book, song or movie. I encourage you to check out the projects posted on the blog, they are incredibly clever and inspired! I went with something that had been on my mind ever since the You Are Sublime stamp set came out: to do a... yellow submarine! I decided to pair it with the Magic Picture changer die so that I could try out the new stuff as well. This is arguably one of the easiest interactive card dies Lawn Fawn has come out with so far. But there is an important detail to remember: the hidden image has to be stamped on the moving part. I'm sure it's mentioned somewhere online or in the Lawn Fawn videos, but I got lazy and just winged it and well... my yellow sub became the hidden image instead of the diver with the sentiment. Not a huge deal in this case, but noted for next time.

I used the Ruffled 3D embossing folder fpr the turquoise background to mimick waves and added torn Champagne glimmer paper at the bottom to ground my scene. I added a few fish and plants to make the card more interesting and colorful. I was initially unsure if I really needed the Magic Picture Changer Add-On dies, but I think they're going to be useful it getting a nicer finish on the overall project.

Because the song says "We all live in a yellow submarine," I wanted to incorporate faces in the sub's windows. I had the perfect selection of faces in the Be Hap-pea stamp set - a wide variety of faces and just the right size.

This is a fun one. I bet my niece will be loving this new type of interactive card (since she always ask when seeing a new card if it "does anything"!).

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: You Are Sublime (Lawn Fawn); Souhaits et voeux (Sunshine Sayings - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Crushed Curry, Brilliant Blue, Certainly Celery, Tempting Turquoise, Champagne Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Brilliant Blue, Night of Navy Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: You Are Sublime Dies, Magic Picture Changer Dies,
Magic Picture Changer Add-On Dies (Lawn Fawn); Markers (Copic);
Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo); Whisper White Medium Envelope (Stampin' Up!)

 

Growing Older and Wiser

Inspiration: Color Throwdown #532 + Tuesday Morning Sketch #492 + Festive Friday #29 (Green)

We have this expression in French that says "you're gaining in wisdom and beauty as you get older." I figured it would pair nicely with the So Owlsome stamps. Because I didn't have this specific sentiment, I used my typewriter to type it myself. I matted the sentiment strip with two pieces of glimmer washi tapem and added the apple from the stamp set as a little decoration. For the backgrounds, I picked papers from the Let's Bokeh in the Snow, Perfectly Plaid Christmas and Really Rainbow 6" x 6" petit paper packs.

Because I kept it simple and added adding too much froufrou, I think this could make a great masculine card.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: So Owlsome (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Buckaroo Blue, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
6" x 6" Petite Paper Packs: Really Rainbow, Knock on Wood, Perfectly Plaid Christmas,
Let's Bokeh in the Snow (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Cool Cucumber Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Stapler, Stitched Shapes Framelits (Stampin' Up!); Markers (Copic);
Typewriter (We R Memory Makers); Coin Envelope (envelopes.com); Glimmer Washi Tape (unknown source);
So Owlsome Dies (Lawn Fawn)

 

Classic Father's Day

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Anything Goes) + Paper Craft Crew #324 (Something new + No hearts + Texture) + Mojo Monday #504

As I've said in previous posts, I was happy to see the Mojo Monday sketches make a comeback and since I only found out about it after a few sketches had been released, I'm catching up on the oes I missed. I was looking at sketch #506 and decided the leaves could be gears instead and that I could break in my Geared Up Garage bundle. I was happy that this one was translated. It's a nice masculine set and the French sentiments are awesome. Here, I picked the "Happy Father's Day" one and embossed it in Silver powder over Silver Foil paper. In order to give the tag dimension and dirty it up a little bit, I used a Q-tip to rub Jet Black StazOn ink over the embossing. It makes the tag a little less shiny and gives it dimension.

The die-cut gears were cut in half so I could spread both ends over the card front. I also got the idea of adding brick texture using texture paste dyed with Cajun Craze reinker. I made sure to spread the paste unevenly, as I didn't want a clean edge and wanted uneven bricks. I used the leftover paste inside the card and also on an envelope (only to realize later that I had used an A2 envelope while the card was square - brain fart moment). The car was colored with Cajun Craze Stampin' Blends markers, and I pulled out older embellishments to finish off the card: Urban Underground embellishments for the screws, Home for Christmas Enamel dots for the Mossy Meadow dots and the Merry Merlot reversible ribbon from the Holidays catalogue.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: À plein moteur (Geared Up Garage)
Cardstock: Cajun Craze, Mossy Meadow, Lost Lagoon, Merry Merlot, Silver Foil Paper
Designer Series Paper Stack: 2017-2019 In Color
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: Texture Paste, Cajun Craze Reinker, Stitched Shapes Framelits,
Home For Christmas Enamel Dots, Urban Underground Embellishments, Stampin' Blends Markers,
Garage Gears Thinlits, Merry Merlot & Copper 5/8" Reversible Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Pattern Party Decorative Masks

 

Guest Designer for Global Design Project - Galoping Horse

Inspiration: Global Design Project #174

I have been really lucky lately and was extended another Guest Designer invitation, this time by the Global Design Project team. They sent me their latest sketch and I went looking through my latest purchases for inspiration. Let It Ride is one of the stamp sets that immediately drew me in when looking at the new Occasions catalogue. Can you believe that after over 15 years as a stamper, this is my first horse set? It's a good one to have, for masculine cards, but also because one of my colleagues who purchases cards from me has a horse herself and likes to give cards to her friends from the stable. I have a feeling she'll be enjoying cards made with this set.

For some reason, the first idea that popped into my head after selecting this set was stamping it on Crumb Cake cardstock and using Distress Oxide inks to watercolor it. I've been collecting Oxide inks since they started coming out, but had not watercolored with them just yet. Because they are hybrid ink, I knew the pigment would look lovely on a kraft-colored cardstock. Because it's not watercolor paper, though, blending the ink is a little trickier and you have to watch your water flow to make sure the cardstock does not buckle. I will say this: halfway through watercoloring the scene, I started assuming the piece would end up a practice piece and would not make it on a finished card. I've learned years ago that it's okay to try out things and discard cardstock - it's not expensive and it's how you grow your skills, so based off of that, I kept going just to practice some more. It was when I watercolored the horse that I changed my mind and decided that this scene had some potential after all!

I wanted to use the new Well Written dies (in its French version), so I pulled those out. Because the horse image was quite large and I didn't want to hide it (I was proud of my watercoloring, I wanted to show it off!), I picked a shorter word and moved the sentiment strip to the left rather than have it centered. The Framelits set includes not only words but images as well, and the image dies became inspiration to embellish the background. I embossed the cardstock with the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder first and then layered die-cut flowers over it. The flowers would have been too short to show up on both edges, so I cut them in the middle and glued the pieces along the top and bottom edge of my embossed cardstock to make then appear longer. The flourish was added to the oval to fill the space a bit, and I used a Gold Foil Paper scrap on my desk to mat the bottom of my sentiment piece to mimick the scallops on the sketch. I found some old Copper cord Stampin' Up! used to carry to wrap around my center piece (embossed with the Basket Weave 3D folder), to go with the orange cardstock nicely.

I drew my colour inspiration from an old ColourQ challenge combo.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Let It Ride (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard, Gold Foil (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Rich Cocoa (Memento); Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso,
Peeled Paint, Shabby Shitters, Antique Linen, Tumbled Glass (Distress Oxide - Ranger)
Big Shot:
Accessories: Basket Weave 3D Embossing Folder, Subtle 3D Embossing Folder, Aqua Painter Brushes,
Les bons mots Framelits, Copper Cord, Neutrals Candy Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
A2 Oak Woodgrain Envelope (envelopes.com); Stitched Oval Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn)

 

Guest Designer for Color Throwdown #525

Inspiration: Color Throwdown #525

This card I made in December was picked by Color Throwdown as a Featured Stamper, so the team kindly offered me to take part in their challenge #525 as a Guest Designer, which I was happy to do. The suggested combo did present a real challenge for me, as I tend to gravitate towards colorful creations, and this one is all about neutrals: white, black and brown. I had to sit on this one a little while before I was ready to work on it. I was inspired by the picture, though: I liked the black and white buffalo plaid, the wooden door, the wreath, the framed sentiment and the sentiment pillows, and they became the starting point of my creation.

I first pulled out the Buffalo Check background stamp from Stampin' Up! and stamped it on white cardstock, in Tuxedo Black Ink. I then picked a piece of patterned paper from the Wood Textures Designer Series Paper stack and die-cut it to size. To add interest, I glued a second strip at an angle from corner to corner, cut the excess off and added metallic brads. Then I went looking through my stamps. My initial idea was stamping a large sentiment and emboss it in white on the wooden paper, or possible frame it in a wreath. As I was looking at stamps and pulling out possible options, I spotted the Tap Tap Tap set, and inspiration took a left turn. I figured the old typewriter could work well with brown and black, so I stamped it on white cardstock and embossed it in Copper embossing powder. It looked really great and crisp and I was wondering whether I should leave it as is or add watercolor. I pulled out my Gansai Tambi watercolors and initially planned on just adding a few black details, but then I fell down the rabbit hole and ended up watercoloring the whole thing and handcutting the image.

The "tap tap tap" stamp was added in the top corner of the wood piece and embossed in copper. I also had the alphabet stamp out and was trying to decide whether to use it or not and if so, where. I ended up embossing the alphabet in copper on another piece of wood paper and adding it to the middle of the card. The typewriter and tap tap images were also added to a woodgrain envelope to match. I was also wondering whether to add a greeting to the sheet in the typewriter. The stamp set includes English greetings and if I added something, I would have gone looking for a French equivalent that would work in font and size, but in the end, I really liked the empty sheet and decided I liked the card being able to be used for any kind of event, so I left it blank.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Tap Tap Tap, Buffalo Check
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White
Designer Series Paper Stack: Wood Textures
Ink: VersaMark. Black Tuxedo Memento
Accessories: Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder, Metallic Brads, Stampin' Dimensionals;
Watercolors (Gansai Tambi); Woodgrain A2 Envelope (envelopes.com);
Dotted Rectangle Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn)

 

Starry Forest Scene

Inspiration: ColourQ #152 + Freshly Made #366

When I saw the Freshly Made sketch, I figured it would work nicely with the Starry Scene stamp set, which I was hoping to use. The big starry sky was stamped in VersaMark and embossed in Aqua Tinsel embossing powder. I used my stamping platform and went back for a second coat of VersaMark, hoping for a more opaque result, but even after the second coat of embossing, the Crumb Cake cardstock was still showing through. I don't mind too much, but it'll be interesting to compare how the sky looks when I stamp it instead of embossing it. I figured I would be adding a few sequins in there to try and distract from the uneven embossing.

The colours were inspired by a past ColourQ combo and looked masculine to me, so I tried focusing on picking elements that would work for a masculine card. I created the mountains and trees by die-cutting the base shapes out of Basic Grey and Crumb Cake cardstock, and then I paper pieced some Gumball Green and Whisper White cardstock . I ran my VersaMarker over the edge of the snowcaps and added some white textured embossing powder from Lawn Fawn for a bit of texture. I found a nice big Happy Birthday sentiment in an old Stampin' Up! set and placed the paws of the beat over the top word to anchor him in place in the design. (I went back and forth between adding him or not, but the scene felt a little bare without him.)

A nice A2 Seafoam envelope is completing the set.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Starry Scene, Polar Peek-a-Boo Pals (Avery Elle);
À tout un chacun (Happy Birthday, Everyone - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Gumball Green, Basic Grey
Ink: Basic Grey (Stampin' Up! Classic Ink); Tuxedo Black (Memento); VersaMark
Accessories: Aqua Tinsel Embossing Powder (Ranger); A2 Seafoam Envelope (envelopes.com);
Sparkling Clear Confetti Mix (Pretty Pink Pôsh); Nautical Sparkle (Little Things from Lucy's Cards)

 

A Note of Good Luck

Inspiration: MFT Sketch #400

When I saw the MFT sketch, I immediately saw a piano keyboard. I immediately had this image of stamping the white background with the Musical Background from Taylored Expressions and embossing it with clear powder for a subtle tone-on-tone design, and then add an image from the Critter Concert stamp set in the bottom corner. It's a very litteral interpretation of the sketch, but this idea kept running around in my head, so I finally gave it a try to see how it would turn out.

I used the Little Music Notes to create a score out of Silver Foil Paper and I use it to add my die-cut sentiment, which reads "Good Luck." I also pulled out the new Black Foil Sheets from the 2018 Holidays Catalogue to die-cut the treble clef, hoping the shine would make it stand out against the black cardstock underneath. I was a little perplexed when I received the black foil sheet in my preorder. I was expecting them to be shinier. I would call them black glossy paper more than black foil paper, if that makes sense. To me, foil has shimmer to it, but this is more glossy. Not a bad product, you just have to be aware of what you are buying. I use a TON of silver and gold foil paper, but I don't know if that one stands out as much on the project.

I wanted to do something fun for the envelope, so I pulled out one of those Mirror A2 envelopes I recently purchased, and decorated it with matching images and die-cuts.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Critter Concert (Lawn Fawn); Musical Background (Taylored Expressions)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Basic Black, Mango Melody, Silver and Black Foil Papers (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: VersaMark; Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Critter Concert Lawn Cuts, Little Music Notes Lawn Cuts (Lawn Fawn);
bonne retraite chance journée Dies (simple à souhaits); Markers (Copic);
Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder (Stampin' Up!); Mirror A2 Envelope (envelopes.com)

 

A Tale of Pumpkin Pie

Inspiration: Lawn Fawnatics #35 (coffee, tea and treats) + MFT Color Challenge #100 + Simon Says Stamp Monday (fall/autumn)

Confession: I went all out on this one and spent hours on it. Not only did I decorate the front of the card, but I also fully decorated the inside... and the back!

Me spending a lot of time on the card front is not than unexpected – I was inspired, the ideas kept coming so I rolled with it and created this little story of how the squirrels are picking their pumpkin, emptying them and making their own pumpkin pie! (The pumpkin pie, wood table and mushroom bench all come from the Forest Feast stamp set.) I knew I wanted to use a peekaboo die for the last square, in which I stamped and embossed "happy fall", and then I created a cute fall wreath out of champagne and orange glitter papers, topped with a cute blue bow. Little accorns were added on each side of the sentiment inside the peekaboo flap. I also put Liquid Appliqué on the whip cream topping the pie. I like how the Pick of the Patch stamp set can be easily used for fall and not only for Halloween (keep that in mind when deciding whether you "need" it or not).

Now, to make life simpler for myself when creating the various scenes, I die-cut the Peekaboo Backdrop four times: out of Marina Mist for the frame, Bashful Blue for the sky, Soft Suede for the ground, and Tango Tangerine for the flap section. That left me with a lot of leftover pieces, so when came time to decorate the inside of the card, I figured I could use a rectangle for an additional sentiment, and one for a little scene to match, then the two other squares would be room for adding a message. I already had half a table left from cutting off the excess in my third panel, and so I stamped and colored a couple more pieces and created a little scene. I included a jack-o-lantern because the inside sentiment reads, "I've carved out time to say have a very happy fall."

The last panel on the back was a bit of an overkill and I would not have added it had I not screwed up and mistakenly placed my card right in the little gob of Liquid Appliqué I had scribbled on my scrap paper to test it out before adding some to the card! And not only did I placed my card on it, but I did not notice I had placed my card on it, so it dried there and when I picked it up, I had a really hard time getting the paper off of the card, so it half ripped and half left glue behind on the card. It was not the prettiest result, and since it was at the top near the fold, it was hard to decorate there in an organic way, as I usually do my signature and stuff at the bottom. So I had a few more pieces left on the desk and adding the frame plus the two squares totally hid the boo-boo. Whoever will be receiving that card will think I'm overzealous with the decorating, but there were reasons. :)

I love the MFT color combo, I think those colors look really striking together. Adding the green leaves and vines around the pumpkin really helped break off the huge amount of blues and browns, though - there's just a smidge but it made a difference in the end result.

 

 

Front

Peekaboo Flap Opened

Inside of Card

Back of Card

 

 

Color Combo: Marina Mist + Bashful Blue + Soft Suede + Tango Tangerine

 

Supplies
Stamps: Pick of the Patch, Forest Feast (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, Tango Tangerine, Soft Suede, Whisper White,
Champagne Glimmer Paper, Pumpkin Pie Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Knock on Wood (Lawn Fawn); Subtles Designer Series Paper Stack (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Mini Wreath, Peekaboo Backdrop, Spooky Fence Border, Stitched Windy Backdrop, Forest Feast,
Pick of the Patch Lawn Cuts (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Envelope Punch Board, Early Espresso Stampin' Emboss Powder (Stampin' Up!);
Markers (Copic)

 

Happy Birthday, Old Branch

Inspiration: Clean & Simple #85 + CAS Colours and Sketches #286

I love how this card turned out. The pretty fall colours were speaking to me and I figured they would pair well with the Jump for Joy stamp set. After deciding to use those images, the Clean & Simple sketch (which I always love to play with) caught my attention, as I figured the corner images could be the pile of leaves. From there, the whole card came together really easily. I'm also happy I decided to use Crumb Cake for the card base, as it showcases the fall colors really well. Another favorite detail is the Tin Tile embossing folder pattern on the Merry Merlot cardstock. This 3D embossing folder is from the Stampin' Up! 2018 Holidays catalogue and it is truly gorgeous. I dry-brushed some Bright Copper Shimmer paint (also from the Holidays Catalogue) on the raised surface and it gave this antique finish to the pattern, which I really love.

As I was thinking of sentiments, I got the idea to write "Happy Birthday, Old Branch," which worked well with the tree leaves. I already had a cute die for the Happy Birthday I knew I could use, but I needed to hand stamp the other two words, so I pulled out my old Snap Stamp Alphabet from Karen Foster. Even though those were bought years ago, they still are my best options to quickly add personalized wording. They are quite small, so they won't really fill space on a card, but they are perfect when adding something longer, and the fact that they snap together makes lining and spacing very easy.

With the darker colour palette and the limited embellishing, I think this would work very well as a masculine card.

Card size is 6-1/2" x 3-1/4". I used the coin envelopes I found in my earlier envelope purchase to make a matching envelope. I did end up cutting a sliver off the end of the card (so it's not exactly 6-1/2" anymore) as it was too tight of a fit in the envelope when closing the flap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Jump for Joy (Lawn Fawn); Snap Stamp Alphabet (Karen Foster)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Merry Merlot, Mango Melody, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla
Ink: Early espresso, Merry Merlot, Mango Melody, Poppy Parade
Accessories: Tin Tile 3D Embossing Folder, Bright Copper Glimmer Paint,
Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Jump for Joy Lawn Cuts (Lawn Fawn); Markers (Copic);
Coin Envelope (www.envelopes.com); Bonne fête/Merci die (Dee's Distinctively); Ribbon (unknown)

 

Shut the Front Door

Inspiration: Clean & Simple #79 + Little Red Wagon #452 + Fusion + Just Add Ink #419 (Add a Twist)

In the $2 bin at Michaels, I found a stamp combo that had a mini door image and "Shut the Front Door." I thought the sentiment would be perfect to go with the Shut the Front Door die from Lawn Fawn. I've been meaning to pair the two items together on a project since, and I finally got to it when I saw the door image from the Fusion challenge this week. Since fall will be coming soon (but not too soon, I hope!), I decided to do a fall wreath on the door. I was putting everythubg together quite fast, but I still had no idea what would be going inside the door. I figured I would simply put one of the Lawn Fawn characters. But when I went through my stamp, I got the idea to do an alien coming out of a beam, with the words "you are out of this world." The sentiment tied in nicely with Shut the Front Door, which would probably be for a congratulations card or something impressive being achieved.

I want to point out a detail: because the 6" x 6" papers from Lawn Fawn are single-sided, the inside of my door was white. I decided I wanted it to have the wood texture on the back as well, so I looked more closely at the door die and found that the window would be lining up if I die-cut the door a second time and glued it to the back. (In this case, because I sandwiched yellow cardstock between the two doors to hide what was inside, it does not matter much, but if you were leaving it empty or adding vellum or a transparency, it would line up nicely.)

The top left of the card felt a little bare, so I found a window in the Scalloped Treat Box Spring House Add-On set.

By the way, the link between this card and the Little Red Wagon challenge (inspiration from a movie or TV show) is the show What Not to Wear. Cohost Stacy London always used to say "Shut the Front Door" whenever she found an outfit fabulous. To this day, I still always think of her when I hear that expression. I must have seen most episodes, if not all of them. My sister and I used to watch it together all the time. One of my favorite tip from Clinton and Stacy was them explaining that "it doesn't match, it goes." That tip has been helpful in putting together outfits, but also in putting together craft projects, actually!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Shut the Front Door (Studio G); Out of This World, Beam Me Up (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Hello Honey,
Vellum (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Knock on Wood, Perfectly Plaid Fall (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron (Stampin' Up! Classic Ink);
VersaMark; Rich Cocoa (Memento)
Accessories: Stampin' Emboss Powders (Copper, Early Espresso), Crumb Cake Medium Envelope,
Metallic Pearls, Sponge (Stampin' Up!); Tangerine Cord, Shut the Front Door Dies, Mini Wreath Dies,
Scalloped Treat Box Spring House Add-On Dies, Outside In Stitched Rectangle Stackables,
Beam Me Up Dies (Lawn Fawn); Markers (Copic)

 

Head Down in a Book

Inspiration: CAS Colours and Sketches #282 + ColourQ #15

I totally love the images from the Book Worm stamp set. This is totally me when I was a kid. I spent the first 18 years of my life (minus the years I couldn't read yet) with my head down in a book. I would read in the car during our long road trip (think the whole way from Quebec to Florida), at the restaurant and sometimes even when we were walking around when I was too excited about a new book and couldn't wait to start it. The amount of reading I did died down a little when I reached college. Not because I was out all of the time, but because I had so many mandatory books to read for my litterature classes (between 6 and 8 by trimester) that I needed a breather the rest of the time. In university, I again had a lot of reading for my classes, and I often used my transit time on the bus to do some of that reading. I remember one time sitting beside a guy that asked me why the heck I was reading a grammar book. Hahaha! Definitely for classes, and not as "fun, light reading!" Nowadays, I read about a dozen novels or so a year, which is not nearly as much as I once did, but I always have a pile of books on my nightstand, waiting to be read. I also still love to stop at bookstores once in a while to peruse through new books.

The sketch challenge was the starting point for this card, and I selected a past ColourQ combo as inspiration. Don't those colours look great together! There's something both soft and striking about that combo, and I think it could work for a baby theme or for a masculine theme as well. I tried to stay away from fluff as much a possible in order for this card to work for a gentleman. I has this idea to use the A to Z stamp to create a soft background on the Barely Banana cardstock and because I was using that colour, I just had to pull out the Gold Pearl embossing powder, which pairs tremendously well with this cardstock colour.

I was unsure what to add for the sentiment, so I decided to just go through stamp sets until inspiration struck. I found a few interesting options, but the one I liked the most was a little bigger than I would have liked. I still really liked how the idea tied with the theme, so I switched gears with my design to incorporate it in - and that's where the white banner comes in. The sentiment reads, "It's Your Birthday - Do what you please." And isn't curling up with a great book a great way to treat yourself on your special day?

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Book Worm (Mama Elephant); A to Z, Fais ce qui te plaît (Let Your Hair Down - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: So Saffron, Going Grey, Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Ink: Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Going Grey (Stampin' Up! Classic Ink); Tuxedo Black (Memento), VersaMark
Accessories: Banners Framelits, Subtles and Neutrals Candy Dots, White Medium Envelope (Stampin' Up!); Markers (Copic);
Stitched Scallop Basic Edges Die-namics, Chevron Stripes Die-namics (My Favorite Things);
Book Worm Dies (Mama Elephant); Tangerine Cord (Lawn Fawn); Gold Pearl Embossing Powder (Ranger)

 

Party at the Pool

One of the July VSN challenge was "pool party." I pulled out my Beach Day stamp set and my Distress Oxide inks to make a pool backdrop, then I decided the Color Throwdown combo #502 would work well (since both the elephant and the rhino can be colored grey, and the pool was going to be using shades of blue). I also decided I wanted a circle card to mimick a pool. I recently purchased a set of layering circle dies from Tonic because the largest size goes up to 5-1/2". Despite having a few circle sets already, I noticed that a lot of sets don't include larger sizes, which is surprising considering that the Big Shot can accomodate dies that are up to 6" wide. It made creating circle cards frustrating because I ended up with cards that were too small for my liking. This one measures 5-1/4", which is more in line with regular card sizes.

The French sentiment reads, "Wishing you a day filled with love and happy moments." There's a tiny detail added to the right side of the sentiment that might not be showing up in the picture: I used the little clear raindrop enamel shapes Stampin' Up! was selling in the Occasions catalogue this Spring. If you look closely , the elephant is splashing water with its trunk, so I added the clear shapes to play on that detail. I also used Sea Breeze Jewel Drops from Nuvo to create a border all around the card.

As for the watery background, I smooshed some Distress Oxide inks (Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean and Blueprint Sketch) on my non-stick mat, spritzed the ink with water and dipped a piece of watercolor paper on each color. drying the paper with my heat tool between layers. Using watercolor paper makes a huge difference - I absentmindedly started with thick white cardstock and when I saw the cardstock curl up do to water, I remembered that I usually use watercolor paper, so I went back to that option. It layers better and it makes for a less splotchy result.

 

 

 

  

 

Supplies
Stamps: Beach Day (Neat & Tangled); Ravissant bouquet (Beautiful Bouquet - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Blueberry Bushel, Balmy Breeze, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!);
Watercolor Paper (Fabriano)
Ink: Blueberry Bushel, Balmy Breeze (Stampin' Up! Classic Ink); Tuxedo Black (Memento);
Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch (Distress Oxide - Ranger)
Accessories: Circle Layering Die Set (Tonic); Sea Breeze Jewel Drops (Nuvo);
White Square Envelope, Glitter & Clear Epoxy Shapes, Marina Mist Cotton Ribbon,
Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder, Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (Stampin' Up!);
Travel Stamp Platform, Non-Stick Mat, Glossy Accents, Tim Holtz Embossing Folder (Ranger);
Alcohol Markers (Copic)

 

Backyard Barbecue Party

This card was inspired by Splitcoast Stampers' July VSN challenge A. It calls for a barbecue-inspired masculine card. I didn't want to go for the obvious and pull out the Let's Barbecue stamp set from Lawn Fawn, so I went digging further and found Beerafella, which to me looks like a guy enjoying a beer at a backyard barbecue. I paired him with the CAS Colours and Sketches #280, and with an old ColourQ combo, #6.

I decided I wanted to use color pencils on kraft cardstock as I like how it makes the colors pop. After I finished coloring my image, I spotted a piece of cardstock which has been floating around my craft room for a long time. Back when I bought my first jar of Glitter Kiss in Periwinkle, I tested out the product on a few pieces of cardstock, including using a dot stencil on Bordering Blue cardstock. I figured I could easily reuse this piece in an underwater scene project. It sadly never seemed to fit anything I was making... until I happened to make this card which actually includes Bordering Blue in the combo AND the glitter kiss is the same color as Blue Brocade. That was too good to be true, and it allowed me to save on time as well since the VSN challenges are times and supposed to be under an hour. I also think the dots looks like bubbles - beer bubbles!

I added a few clouds, which I added shading to with pencils as well, and I went hunting for a sentiment. I found it in one of the first sets I flipped through - Endless Birthday Wishes. It's an English set, but we use the word party in French as well, and it was short, so I didn't look any further.

For a one-hour card, I'm happy with the result. And happy to add a new masculine card to my pile. I certainly never have too many of those around.

 

 

 

  

 

Supplies
Stamps: Beerafella (Stamping Bella); Endless Birthday Wishes (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Bordering Blue, Brocade Blue,
Real Rust, More Mustard, Whisper White
Ink: Rch Cocoa (Memento); More Mustard, Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Pencils (Prismacolor); Candy Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stencil, Crumb Cake Medium Envelope (Stampin' Up!);
Periwinkle Glitter Kiss (Cosmic Shimmer); Puffy Clouds Die-namics, Stitched Dome Die-namics (MFT);
Outside In Stitched Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn)

 

Leveling Up

This was a fun card to make! It started with the color combo from Lawn Fawnatics #32. I didn't use the beachy theme, but I thought the colours could be great for a masculine combo, and that lead me to pull out Screen Time. This is another that was at the top of my favorite list of the new release (although the new release was so fantastic that there really wasn't much at the bottom of the favorite list...). I like that this one is unique and yet so relevant. The fact that the game console is very much a Nintendo II just makes it that much sweeter. (Yup, I'm that old, and yes, this is the first game console my sister and I had. It's actually still in my closet and up until I moved to Montreal, I still had it plugged in my apartment and was playing it once in a while. Tetris II and Dr. Mario were my personal favorites, and Mario Cart was another popular one.)

So anyway, I totally love the sentiments in the set - love the bubbles and love the game fonts. But of course, they're all in English, so I used my Word software and a free font found online (ArcadeClassic) to print my text, which I die-cut using the Speech Bubbles dies from Lawn Fawn.

The card layout was inspired by a Page Maps card sketch from the July 2018 series. I tried to work in elements that went well with the game theme: embossed stars on the tag, a grid pattern on the green cardstock to keep it masculine, some silver hologram stars, and I turned my background piece into textured cardstock thanks to the awesome Subtle embossing folder from the Stampin' Up! annual catalogue. The stars were die-cut out of adhesive backed sheets of holographic film found at my local scrapbook store. I loved the look and new I could transform those into cool die-cut accents. The fact that they already have adhesive on the back just made my just that much easier. Pieces of washi were added to fill in the card a bit as well, and little enamel dots made with Ranger's Enamel Accents.

See that bit of sequin trim at the bottom of my yellow tag? It was Plan B to cover up something I tried out and didn't really like. I had seen a scrapbooker put some enamel dots close together, knowing that they would link, and creating a cool black and white border to her page. I decided to try that at the bottom of my tag, alternating the teal and blue enamel accents. Well, it looked... just wrong. The stripes were not the same width, the line was not straight, it looked like a weird snake at the bottom of the card and totally out of place. So I just added the sequin trim and was able to salvage my card and bring it back to something that I actually like.

 

 

 

 

 Supplies
Stamps: Off the Grid (Stampin' Up!); Screen Time (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Tango Tangerine, Blueberry Bushel, Lemon Lime Twist, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Lemon Lime Twist (Stampin' Up! Classic Ink)
Accessories: Washi Tape, White Square Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals, Lucky Stars Embossing Folder,
Circle Punch, Angle Tag Topper Punch, Subtle 3D Embossing Folder (Stampin' Up!);
Mini Silver Stars Adhesive Backed Sheets of Holographic Film (Funky Films); Enamel Accents (Ranger);
Markers (Copic); Speech Bubbles Dies, Stitched Star Frames Dies, Outside In Star Stackables Dies, Screen Time Dies,
Stitched Square Frames Dies, Orange Cord (Lawn Fawn)

 

Cornered

Inspiration: Freshly Made Sketch #339 + Hand Stamped Sentiments Color Challenge #290

This is a fairly simple card, as reflected by the simple supplies list, but I must say I'm pretty happy with the result. The colors look great together, and the addition of a little touch of copper really made a huge difference in the final result. I used copper embossing powder for the bird, but I also lined the two corner pieces with a strip of Copper Foil paper, and that totally changed the look of the bottom part. I stamped the sentiment on a scrap of white cardstock, handcut it and popped it on Dimensionals, and I also used the same sentiment tone on tone to create a pattern on my piece of Marina Mist cardstock. Confession time: I never really liked that shade of blue and had the hardest time pairing it with anything to make good use of my ink and cardstock. Paired with these two colours, though, it looks good. What's funny, though, is that I initially wanted to make my card base with Marina Mist (you know, try to use it up!), but the color combo was not looking as good. By simply switching the blue card base for a Razzleberry one, and using the blue for the corner, the combo suddenly came alive. I'm still amazed at how big of a difference subtle design changes can make sometimes. I will miss this fun stamp set, I must say.

 

Retiring items:

• Marina Mist cardstock and ink
• Color Me Happy stamp set

 

 

 

 

Color Combo: Marina Mist + Rich Razzleberry + Old Olive

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Couleur bonheur (Color Me Happy)
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Marina Mist, Old Olive, Whisper White, Shimmery White
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Marina Mist, Old Olive
Accessories: Fresh Fig 1/8" Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Copper Foil Paper,
Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder, White Medium Envelope

 

Retirement Relaxation

Inspiration: Lawn Fawnatics #29 + May Viva La Verve Sketch + Little Red Wagon #446 (Waterworlds)

I found those nautical patterned papers in my stash that I thought could work well with the new sealife-themed Lawn Fawn stamps and dies. I knew the porthole and circle flap would work great with the sketch, and I had a nice ombre patterned paper in the collection that allowed me to make a quick water background.

I wanted to add a French sentiment on the front of the flap, so I went looking through my stash and paired two sentiments together to read "Happy Retirement! It's time to relax!" Seemed to go well with the little diver (who by the way might be my favorite image of the new release!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: You Are Sublime (Lawn Fawn); Retraite (Simple à souhait)
Cardstock: Pool Party, Whisper White, Silver Foil (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Ahoy There (Echo Park)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Porthole Frames, Lift the Flap Circles and You Are Sublime Dies,
Sweetheart Single Cord (Lawn Fawn); White Medium Envelope, Brights Enamel Shapes, Metallic Brads,
Triple Banner Punch, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Glossy Accents (Ranger);
Sentiment Dies (Waffle Flower); Markers (Copic); Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo)

 

For the Boys

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (For the Boys) + CAS Sketch #271 + Stamp Ink Paper #149 (Dads & Grads)

When I saw the CAS Sketch, I knew it was my chance to pull out the Sneak a Peek stamp set and have the critters peek in windows. I was looking for patterned papers and the second stack I looked at had nautical papers in it, and I instantly decided to turn the square windows from the sketch into portholes. From there, the card evolved pretty easily. I used my Repeating Circles die from Simon Says Stamp yo make lining up the windows easier (the dies has six holes, but I only used a row of three).

The images were colored with Prismacolor pencils on one of the patterned paper, which is kraft coloured. I think if I had used actual kraft cardstock, it might have had more teeth and helped with blending, but I like how my coloring turned out nonetheless. The sentiment reads "Happy Father's Day, Dad" and I stamped it on patterned paper, then cut the words apart, both in order to fit the long sentiment in the narrow space, but also to have the words stand out on the patterned paper. The little banner at the top is from the dies that came with my Sidekick machine that I thought I wouldn't use and have now used twice in a couple of days. I filled the heart shape with a gold enamel heart.

I had to punch out many circles before I found a combo that worked on the portholes, so instead of wasting those punched circles, I used them to decorate the inside of the card and the envelope. (Remember it's a good place to put those scraps to good use!)

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Sneak a Peek (Taylored Expressions), Tout en losange (All-around Argyle - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: So Saffron
Patterned Papers: Rough & Tumble (Carta Bella)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Blueberry Bushel, So Saffron, Poppy Parade (Stampin' Up! Classic Ink)
Accessories: Repeating Circles Die (Simon Says Stamp); Platinum Liquid Pearl (Ranger); Pencils (Prismacolor);
Crumb Cake Medium Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals, Metallic Enamel Shapes, Circle Punches (Stampin' Up!);
Stitched Rectangle Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn); Banner Dies (Sizzix)

 

Epic Birthday

Today I'm sharing something quick and simple. Based on the Freshly Made Sketch #324 and the Global Design Project #125, I've put together this simple card that showcases the Epic Celebrations stamp set offered during Sale-A-Bration. I embossed my background with the Brickwall embossing folder to keep with the cool vibe, and stamped one of the sentiments repeatedly to mimick graffiti. For the main circle, I wanted a starburst. I don't own the Starburst punch we currently carry, but I pulled out the retired Starburst Framelits and picked the closest size to recreate the look. I die-cut it out of Champagne Foil paper, and layered a Daffodil Delight circle over it. The guitar was colored with Stampin' Blends (the closest colours I could find, so Cherry Cobbler instead of Melon Mambo and Night of Navy instead of Dapper Denim). A bit of Clear Wink of Stella was added over the strings.

The finished card seemed a little bare, so I added two buttons from the True Gentleman pack, one of which I threaded with a very slim strip of Daffodil Delight cardstock. (Remember that trick when you don't have thread or floss in the right colour.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Fête épique (Epic Celebrations - SAB)
Cardstock: Dapper Denim, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Champagne Foil
Ink: Dapper Denim, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Tuxedo Black Memento
Accessories: Brickwall Embossing Powder, True Gentleman Buttons, Starburst Framelits,
White Medium Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals, Circle Punch, Dapper Denim Ruffled Ribbon

 

Late Wishes

After I finished my last scrapbook layout, I used the same papers to make a card. The starting point was a die-cut from one of the sheets with the typewriter, which I paired with the Freshly Made Sketch #323. The sentiment reads, "Here's a good reason to celebrate your birthday longer: my late wishes." I used Wild Honey Distress Oxide ink to ink the edges of the Apothecary Accents die-cut, and I embossed my sentiment with clear powder after stamping it with Peeled Paint Distress Oxide ink. (Took advantage of the fact that this ink is a cross between pigment ink and waterbased ink to add embossing.)

Because of the size of the die-cut, I went bigger on the card: I used a 4*1/4" x 5-1/2" Stitched Rectangle Stackables die from Lawn Fawn to cut the background paper and made a card base measuring 4-1/2" x 5-3/4", with an envelope to size made with the Envelope Punch Board. This would make a great masculine card.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Pour ton anniversaire (On Your Birthday - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Bazzill, Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up!)
Designer Series Paper: Fan Fair (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Distress Oxide (Wild Honey, Peeled Paint - Ranger)
Accessories: Vintage Brads, Apothicary Accents Framelits, Envelope Punch Board, Stampin' Dimensionals, Linen Thread,
Myths & Magic Washi Tape, Square Punches, Deco Label Punch, Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder (Stampin' Up!),
Blending Tool (Ranger)

 

You are my Fairy Tale

The little knight from the Magical Day stamp set seemed perfect for a different kind of love card (as per the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge). It just happens that the "you're one of a kind" sentiment has been translated to "You are my fairy tale" in French, which was just perfect. The design was inspired by an old Mojo Monday sketch (#476). The little knight was stamped and colored with Stampin' Blends markers. The castle, trees and dragon were handcut from the matching Myths & Magic Specialty Designer Series paper. I also added a touch of 6" x 6" glimmer paper around my backgorund paper to give the card a bit of oomph.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Journée magique (Magical Day)
Cardstock: Dapper Denim, Whisper White
Specialty Designer Series Paper: Myths & Magic
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, VersaMark, Dapper Denim
Accessories: 6" x 6" Myths & Magic Glimmer Paper, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stampin' Blends Markers,
White Square Envelope, 2-1/2" Circle Punch, Clear Wink of Stella Brush,
White Stampin' Emboss Powder, Magical Mates Framelits Dies, Baker's Twine

 

Lookin' Good, Dad!

I was really excited about the masculine suite called True Gentleman. For the second year in a row, Stampin' Up! is knocking it out of the park with its masculine line. The matching French set is also filled with great sentiments, so I see myself keeping and reaching for this one for a long time. The design was inspired by the In[k]spire Me challenge #336 and I just simply followed the sketch and layered various elements, including ribbons for the little flags. The sentiment reads, "Lookin' good, dad!" I added the second part in VersaMark and embossed dad in gold powder. Two True Gentleman buttons were also added to the card, and matching envelopes were made out of the True Gentleman Designer Series Paper.

 

 

 

 

 

 Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Bien soigné (Truly Tailored)
Cardstock: Tranquil Tide, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Designer Series Paper: True Gentleman
Ink: Tranquil Tide, VersaMark, Night of Navy
Accessories: Envelope Punch Board, Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder, True Gentleman Buttons,
night of Navy 3/8" Corduroy Ribbon, Tranquil Tide 1/2" Finely Woven Ribbon, 5/8" Burlap Ribbon,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Layering Circles Framelits, Crystal Effects