Jumping for Joy

I've recently purchased some stamps from companies other than SU and PTI. I've seen so many new stamps featured on SCS, so I decided to give them a try. These stamps are red or gray rubber that need to be cut. They are cling mounts, which means they are not mounted on wood, but instead have a Cling vinyl backing on them that "cling" to an acrylic block. Some, like ones from Bella and High Hopes, come "naked", which means that there is no backing on them. I purchased a sheet of this cling vinyl backing from Gina K. Designs, mounted them on it, then cut it out (like you would do for SU stamps). Well let me tell you that this cling vinyl stuff is STICKY!! My scissors were a mess and had to be cleaned several times! The cut pieces were all stuck to me too! I had several stamps to cut from High Hopes, Bella, and four sets from Gina K. Designs (I only cut up three of them), and my hands were very sore! I thought to myself that I was never going to buy these again! Until I stamped with them! The impressions were very crisp and clear, so I guess it was worth it!

This is one of the sets I bought from Gina K. Designs, called "Jumping for Joy" by Melanie Muenchinger. She's designed a few sets for Gina K., but this is my favorite because of the zebra. I really liked him! I was at Walmart the other day (I'm not a Walmart fan, but I was picking up some Georgia-Pacific card stock) and went into their craft area. They have some nice choice of ribbons. I came across this zebra design and grabbed it and immediately had this card in mind. At first I wasn't going to add the pink, but I thought it really punched it up. The black glitter dots are from Gina K. too. I don't know if you can see the glitter on them, but they are really cool! I attached them with glue dots. This is a fairly simple card to do, not much stamping and coloring, and I'm pleased with it! Let me know what you think! I'll probably be posting more of my new purchases tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by.
Recipe
Stamps: Jumping for Joy, Riveting
Paper: Black, Pixie Pink, whisper white
Ink: Black, pink marker
Accessories: Ribbon, glitter dots, SU scallop and round punches, CB Swiss Dots folder, dimensionals

To Friendship

I am really fortunate to have some really great friends in my life who I have known for many years. But there is one who has been my friend since I was five and she was three. She is like a sister to me. I never had a sister, just one wonderful brother, so I'm lucky to have a friend I can call a sister. Her family is like my second family, we've been on vacations together, "girls' weekends", we've gotten each other through family tragedies, etc. I had a birthday recently, and not even one of those "special" birthdays, just a regular old birthday. Maria surprised me with a beautiful bracelet. It's a Pandora bracelet and she put three charms on it (I should have taken a picture of it)! It was such a generous gift, I couldn't believe she did that! I've neglected sending her a thank you (sorry, Maria!), so this is the one she'll receive.

I just got this Karen Lockhart stamp and was playing with my Copic markers the other day. I liked the way this particular image came out and decided to make a card with it. One thing led to another and it evolved into this thank you card to Maria. I like the sentiment and think it's perfect. Since I had already colored the image, I had to find paper to match. I wanted the base white so it looked "fresh". Then I looked through my stash of patterend paper and came up with this Cosmo Cricket Dutch Girl Anna paper. I liked the colors and the flowers matched those in the image. The river rock came next, then the ruby red. The ribbon is just a happy accident! It matched perfectly and I like the checks (it reminds me of a picnic table cloth). The sentiment is stamped in ruby red and the brads started out white and were colored with a copic marker (I didn't have the right red and this worked). The river rock looked too bare, so I stamped it with Sanded background stamp with river rock ink. Well, I hope Maria likes it! If you are reading this, Maria, STOP and wait til you get the card! Thanks for stopping by!
Recipe
Stamps: Karen Lockhart chair, PTI Green Thumb (sentiment), SU Sanded bg
Paper: PTI white, river rock, ruby red, Cosmo Cricket Dutch Girl Anna
Ink: River rock, ruby red, Adirondack Pitch Black, copic markers
Accessories: brads, ribbon, dimensionals

More Invitations!

I have another nephew that I'm making invitations for! This one is for a graduation. Mark is graduating from High School next month! He was born just after my husband and I started dating, so it just doesn't seem possible that he is graduating already (or that I have managed to stay with this man for this long...here I am fainting ...LOL )! I'm only joking, because I do have a wonderful husband! Anyway, my SIL asked me to make invitations. She just asked for the kind you print out and fold in fourths. GASP!! I couldn't do that! She wanted the HS logo on it, the bulldog, so I copied it from their website and used Word Art in Microsoft word to do the rest. Here are the pics of the front and inside.














I used Lovely Lilac, but it looks blue in the picture. (***ETA: I found an editing software on my computer, so I lightened this pic up a bit. It looks much better than the original!***) I stamped a paw print (which is something else my SIL wanted on there) on that piece and mounted it on black. The main image was cut and embossed with the Cuttlebug. The stamps on the inside (diploma and grad cap) are $1 Studio G stamps I picked up at AC Moore. They look so much better in person. The purple and black look so rich. I hope they like them! Thanks for stopping by!

Featured Stamper...Dawnsing

Today's Featured Stamper is Dawn aka Dawnsing on SCS. She has a great gallery and blog that you can visit. I chose to case this card from her gallery. I really liked her flourish in the main image and I immediately thought of Frames with a Flourish which was one of the stamp sets I received *free* because of my sales during the Sale-A-Bration promotion. I hadn't even cut it up yet, so this was the perfect time to do that! The things I changed were obviously the stamp set, the sentiment (mine is from PTI), and the papers. Even though I kept mine blue, it's a different blue. I also got to use the chocolate chip poly-twill ribbon that you can find in the current SU mini catalog. Everything worked out really nicely for casing this card! You know how when you're done with a card and you sometimes want to change something that you didn't even think of while making it? Well, after I took the picture and sat down to upload it to my blog, I realized that the main panel should have been white, not vanilla! I probably shouldn't have said anything cause now you are sitting there going "oh yeah! I didn't even notice!" Well, I did but it was too late! I'll probably be sending it to my husband's aunt who has been hospitalized for quite a while and hopefully she won't notice! Thanks for stopping by!
Recipe
Stamps: Frames with a Flourish, Simple Little Things (PTI)
Paper: Soft sky, chocolate chip, very vanilla, Afternoon Tea, soft sky and close to cocoa dp
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: brads, chocolate chip poly-twill ribbon, dimensionals, stamp-a-ma-jig

Where Do You Get Your Inspiration From?

I always hop on over to the Inspiration Challenges on SCS! I made this one for today's inspiration challenge. They had En Fleur Candles to choose from in So Saffron, Certainly Celery, and Lovely Lilac SU colors. I chose to use this certainly celery colored candle as my inspiration.

I wanted to create my own background, so I picked out all the flower stamps I own (which are many!), and ended up with this one from Garden Silhouettes. I stamped it in Adirondack Pitch Black and used the stamp-a-ma-jig for placement of some of them. I didn't want them to overlap and look messy. That was the easy part! Creating the middle took longer because I wanted just the right sentiments and accents. So where do I go for those "little things"? PTI, of course! There are always a multitude of little sayings and doo-dads in those sets that you can use. I used Simple Little Things for the "thanks so much" and curved it on my block. That's another nice thing about these stamps is that you can arch them instead of stamping straight all the time. The accent in the middle is from Boxes, Bags & Tags. It reminded me of the accent on the inspiration. "You're too kind" is from Mixed Messages, and the floral accents in the corners is from Out on a Limb. Wow, four different sets were used just for the middle piece! I backed that piece with a black piece just to get that black outline, and then backed it on another white piece. I put the little snippet of certainly celery grosgrain ribbon behind that piece (like in the inspiration piece) and mounted it on dimensionals. This is definitely not one of my favorites, but I think it came out nice. It certainly was a quick one to reproduce once I had all the stamps picked out. What do you think?

Recipe

Stamps: Garden Silhouettes, Out on a Limb, Boxes, Bags & Tags, Simple Little Things, Mixed Messages

Paper: Certainly celery, white, black

Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black

Accessories: Certainly celery grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals, stamp-a-ma-jig

Giraffes and More

Well, I'm hoping there'll be more today! I'm making cards today for gifts I'm delinquent on. One of the teachers at work and his wife had a baby a couple of months ago and I never sent a card or a gift, so today's the day for that. Another teacher just built and moved into a new house, and I wanted to give her a gift also. That card is yet to come, so come back and see that one. ETA: It's done...scroll down to see it! I have a cute idea for a "new house" card that I got at my LSS, Buffalo Stamps & Stuff.

I received this image (his name is "Stretch" from High Hopes Rubber Stamps) from Cheryl Rowley in this lovely box a while ago. She gave it to me as a gift the first time we got together. I had mentioned that I really liked this guy, so she stamped quite a few of them and put them in the box. She also sent me a birthday card with him on it, which you can see in this post. That watercoloring is awesome! I used her layout for my card, but used copic markers to color him with. I tried to watercolor him, but it just wasn't working for me. I have to practice more, I guess! This turned out much nicer. After I colored the blue spots, I used a light brown and a beige for the rest of the giraffe. He looked too "blah", so I took an orange/yellow marker and colored over it, then blended it with the colorless blender. It brightened it up and gave me the more apricot color I was looking for. That's what is so great about these markers. You can color over another color, blend it in, shade, etc. They are wonderful! I used the tiny bubbles CB folder for the background and used this cool new rub-on paste I got from Bonnie's Best with a coupon I won at the WNY SCS gathering I went to a few weeks ago. I used a Luster Amber color and it gives a little sheen to the embossed parts. Real cool IRL! I also used this cute dp from Making Memories called Animal Crackers/Ella Giraffes. Crystal Stickles are on the giraffe and the sentiment...I love glitter and shine! There's another card to see....don't leave yet!

Recipe
Stamps: Riveting, Stretch from High Hopes Rubber Stamps
Paper: Apricot appeal, bashful blue, very vanilla, Making Memories Animal Crackers/Ella Giraffes
Ink: Apricot appeal, bashful blue, black, copic markers
Accessories: Tiny Bubbles CB folder, Amber luster rub-ons, dimensionals, dauber, Crystal Stickles, circle and scallop punches


Here's the other card I made for a co-worker who just bought a new house. The picture is so dark. I just can't seem to get a good photo. I think I need another light.



I got the idea from a card I saw at my LSS. I kept the layout, but changed the colors and used background dp from Afternoon Tea. The nest and branch are colored with copic markers. The bird should have been facing the other way, or I should have stamped the sentiment more over to the right and put the bird on the left side, but everything was stamped and mounted, and I didn't feel like changing it (lazy!).

The inside of the card reads "You have a new nest". I thought that was cute. Anyway, thanks for stopping by and come back soon!

Recipe

Stamps: Great Impressions, Live Your Dream (bird)

Paper: Close to cocoa, garden green, ivory (unknown), Afternoon Tea

Ink: Close to cocoa, Adirondack espresso and pitch black, copic markers

Accessories: American Crafts brads, circle punches, dimensionals

Happy Mother's Day Sister!

I was making Mother's Day cards (see the next post) and decided to make my SIL one. I hadn't used this SU set called Time for You yet, and thought it would be an easy one to do (at midnight!). I stamped it in Adirondack espresso and colored it with my copic markers. The sentiments are all PTI. The patterned paper is Basic Grey's Sugared, which I just picked up at my LSS Buffalo Stamps & Stuff. I used Always Artichoke, Barely Banana, and Pretty in Pink. The pink metal dots were purchased at JoAnn's for a $1...what a steal! I used crystal stickles on the flower centers and on the bike chain. The metal dots were also used on the wheels of the bike. The sketch is from Great Swap Girls. I really liked it, so I printed it out because I knew I'd use it someday. Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe

Stamps: PTI Women of Life, Many Messages; Time for You

Paper: Always artichoke, barely banana, pretty in pink, very vanilla, Basic Grey Sugared

Ink: Adirondack espresso, copic markers

Accessories: Circle and scallop punches, crystal stickles, dimensionals, metal dots, SU pink tafetta ribbon

Happy Mother's Day!

This is the card my mom and mother-in-law are receiving today for Mother's Day. I received this stamp at the recent SCS WNY stamping event I went to. You can see pictures and cards from that event here. We each received 3 stamps donated by Rubbernecker. I had seen this one before on SCS, and when I opened my bag and saw it in there, I was excited! But as I sat down to use it, I was intimidated until I saw Jeanne Streiff use it just the other day. It's posted on her blog here. I totally cased her image, but did a different layout. I used mostly the same copics, but didn't have a couple, so I improvised. This image was surprisingly easy to color once I had the colors chosen (which Jeanne did for me)! I also used her idea of sponging the image while it was still in the Nestability. You get that nice white rim around it. So cool! I used PTI's Polka Dot Basics in Pretty in Pink for the background. I was going to used patterned paper, but it was too busy. I really like this polka dot stamp. It's subtle enough but gives the background some texture. The sentiment is from SU's All Holidays and I tied it with the ribbon slide from the Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware. (I just read on SU's demonstrator website that the finishes on the HPH in the Spring/Summer catalog are being retired, so get yours before they go!) The green ribbon is from Michael's and I tied a piece of SU's pink taffeta ribbon with it. There are Crystal Stickles all over this card! I love shine and glitter on my cards! I also made this a 5.25" square card because of the larger image. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Mother's Day!

Recipe

Stamps: Stamp Oasis Hearty Vase, All Holidays, PTI Polka Dot Basics

Paper: PTI white, old olive, pretty in pink

Ink: Adirondak pitch black, old olive, pretty in pink, copics

Accessories: Nestabilities, crystal stickles, HPH silver, dimensionals, ribbon, daubers

Stamp Club Cards

This card was done for an SCS Try a New Technique challenge and I used it for my stamp club class. It is a Two Way Open Card and the easy directions can be found here. I used brillant blue and only orange cardstock along with whisper white and SU's Jersey Shore dp. I decided to do a kid's card, because I rarely do them. This set is called Zoofari, and I just got it. I love the images in it! I colored the zebra with blender pens, and used the same colors as the cardstock. I then used Soft Sky and the blender pen to outline him and give him a shadow to stand on. I really makes it pop! I put a belly band around the card to make it stay closed. The ribbon is something I picked up at one of the craft stores. The Marvy punches were used on the main image and I used the white gel pen on the scallops. Here is a picture of the card opened:

You can see why it's called a two way open, because it does!
This one is a Flap Card, and the directions can be found here. This card is very "petite" looking, much smaller than I anticipated, but a great one nonetheless. I totally CASED this card for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I just love this Afternoon Tea dp that SU has out in the Mini Catalog. I also love the colors together (groovy guava and sky blue). I colored the flower with the ink on the lid and a blender pen. Then I used Garden green to draw in the stems. Those sparkily things in the middle of the flowers are bling. They really are shining in this picture! I then punched it out with SU's scallop punch and mounted it on groovy guava punched with a Marvy punch. I also paper pierced the scallops and sponged some soft sky ink around the edges. The flap looked a little "blah" to me, so I cuttlebugged it! It added some much needed texture to the card. I used the small and large oval punches from SU for the sentiment and put that on dimensionals. To hold the flap shut, I used some magnets that I purchased at AC Moore for $.99 for 12 magnets. They aren't as strong as the Basic Grey ones everyone is using, but they worked fine. (You can also use Velcro dots.) Lastly, I tied a groovy guava ribbon around the flap. Here is a picture of the card open:
I stamped the flower in Soft Sky on the whisper white cardstock to repeat the design. You can see the big black dot on the flap that is the magnet. The Basic Grey ones are much nicer looking in silver and are smaller! Oh well!
The other cards we are making are this one and a variation of this one.
Thanks for stopping by!