Happy Together

Seven years ago today my hubby and I exchanged "I Do's". I can hardly believe how quickly the time has gone!

With three young kids now, there's no chance of a romantic weekend getaway anytime soon, so dinner out this evening will have to do. ;)

Of course I had to stamp a card for the occasion but after dinner clean up and getting the kids to bed, it was late by the time I actually got into my craft room last night.  Once again, masculine cards don't come easily for me, so this card probably took a lot longer than it should have to create as well. I'm mostly happy with it.

Nothing too extravagant with this one.  I knew I wanted to use the double bike image from the set Pedaling Past from the current summer mini catalogue.  This set is only available until the end of August.  Because the image is smaller, I stamped it on one of the tags I'd cut with my Matchbox bigz xl die.  I finished it off with a little Chocolate Chip satin ribbon (instead of Chocolate Chip, we now carry Early Espresso satin ribbon) and two small hearts punched from our Cherry Cobbler cardstock with my Heart to Heart Extra-Large punch. :)

It didn't quite turn out the way I'd hoped, but my hubby was happy with it, so that's all that matters. ;)

Happy Stamping!









Stamps:  Pedaling Past, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Artistic Etchings
Ink:  Early Espresso Classic, Garden Green Classic, Soft Suede Classic, Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write Marker
Cardstock:  Early Espresso, Wild Wasabi, Very Vanilla,  Woodland Walk Designer Paper, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories:  Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon (retired), Stampin' Dimentionals
Fun Tools:  Corner Rounder, Mat Pack & Paper Piercer, Bigz xl Matchbox die & Big Shot, Heart 2 Heart Extra Large Punch, Scallop Border Punch, Stampin' Sponges

Butterfly Tags

Here's a quick and simple project you can create to add some color and interest to a gift bag or wrapped gift. I made a few gift tags in only minutes using my Big Shot, my Beautiful Butterfly Bigz die, some chipboard and some designer paper!

Aren't they adorable?!  I also stamped the "thank you" using a new set called "Just Believe", cut it out and popped it on the butterfly with a couple dimensionals.   I added the initial by stamping and punching out with a couple of my oval punches.


A quick and simple way to personalize a basic paper gift bag. :)

Happy Stamping!










Supplies:
Stamps: Just Believe, Alphabet Set (Retired)
Ink: Soft Suede Classic, Early Espresso Classic
Cardstock: Chipboard, Designer Paper (Retired), Whisper White
Fun Tools: Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die, Crop-o-Dile, Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Paper Snips

Two for One

Yesterday I posted a card I'd made for a workshop using my Aviary set. Here's another card that uses the same card sketch, but slightly different colors, different accessories and a different stamp set. I think just those few changes gave me a completely different looking card. My Birdie Birthdays card is a little more fun and whimsical while this card is a little more "grown up".  This set is called Artistic Etchings and was only released last month and is available in both wood or clear mount.

I embossed the Marina Mist layer with my Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and my Big Shot, tore one edge and sponged it with a little Early Espresso ink and finished it off with two silver brads.

I popped up the Effiel Tower with dimenstionals and added a piece of Very Vanilla grosgrain ribbon. I also used three of our new self-adhesive pearls along the bottom and used our corner rounder to round the bottom edges of the card.

Hope you like it!

Happy Stamping!










Stamps: Artistic Etchings
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Marina Mist, Rose Red, Very Vanilla
Ink: Early Espresso Classic, Marina Mist Classic, Rose Red Classic, Soft Suede Classic
Accessories: Silver Brads, 5/8" Very Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon, Basic Pearls, Stampin' Up Dimensionals
Fun Tools: Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Paper Snips, Mat Pack & Paper Piercer

Birdie Birthday

Here's a card I came up with this afternoon using a few of our fun embellishments.  Once again I used one of my favorite stamps sets - Aviary.   I just can't get over the adorable little owl! ;)

This card uses one of our Early Espresso Designer Buttons from our Neutral Collection, some of our 5/8" Very Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon & 3 of our Rhinestone self-adhesive jewels!  I just love a little extra bling on a card!!!  I also used our Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder with my Big Shot and distressed the folded edge on the turquoise layer for a little added texture.  I could have stamped, cut and popped up the bird cages, but decided to skip it as I wanted to keep this one on the simpler side. :)

Happy Stamping!









Stamps: Aviary, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Early Espresso, Tempting Turquoise, Rich Razzleberry, Very Vanilla
Ink: Tempting Turquoise Classic, Chocolate Chip Classic, Old Olive Classic, Rich Razzleberry Classic
Accessories: Early Espresso Designer Button, Linen Thread, 5/8" Very Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon, Rhinestone Jewels
Fun Tools: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Paper Piercer & Mat Pack, Sponge Dauber

Grrrrreat Birthday Wishes

I am ALWAYS running out of birthday cards, so last night I decided to stamp one...and not just ANY birthday card, but challenged myself to make a MASCULINE birthday card!  I have just as much trouble stamping masculine cards as I do stamping simple ones!

I flipped through my stamp sets and decided to use one called Under the Stars which I've had for quite awhile.  I also wanted to use some of my new Woodland Walk designer series paper.  I thought the wood grain print would work perfectly with the bear in the set.  Here's my card.  (Click the image for a closer peek).

 

Nothing super fancy with this one.  I used my linen thread to "sew" the bear image to the card front.  When I tore the designer paper, I loved the look of the white core that was left showing.  I popped up both the bear and smore images with dimentionals for some added texture. 

The "stitching" on the card was done with my paper piercer and markers! Love it!  Hope you do too! :)

Happy Stamping!









Stamps: Under the Stars, Lovely as a Tree, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso, Not Quite Navy, Crumb Cake, Woodland Walk DSP, Whisper White
Ink: Not Quite Navy Classic, Early Espresso Classic, Soft Suede Classic, Sahara Sand Classic, Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write Marker, Not Quite Navy Stampin' Write Marker.
Accessories: Linen Thread, 3/8" Twill Tape, Stampin Dimenstionals
Fun Tools: Paper Piercer & Mat Pack, Curly Label Punch, Scallop Border Edge Punch, Corner Rounder Punch, Aquapainter, needle

Pumpkins & Broomsticks

I am not a Halloween fan. I don't decorate my home for Halloween (other than carving a pumpkin) or throw lavish parties. Sure, we'll dress up the kids and take them out trick-or-treating to a few neighborhood homes, but that's pretty much the extent of it. When the cooler weather hits, my thoughts turn to Christmas.

SO, when the new catalogue comes out, I usually just skim over the Halloween stuff. Of course, every so often a set will jump out at me that I just HAVE to have. One of the sets I've already mentioned is the Greeting Card Kids. I just fell in love with those adorable little children! One of the stamps in the set is a little witch and is not one I would have purchased had the stamps been available individually (even though she IS adorable). Of course, when I buy a new set, I try to use each image at least once. SO, last night I decided to sit down and stamp a Halloween card. It will most likely be the ONLY Halloween card I stamp this year! ;)

The original colors I'd planned to use were Basic Black & Pumpkin Pie. When I started watercoloring the little girl's dress, I decided I didn't want to go with a traditional black, so decided to try blue instead. 

I stamped and colored her twice and used dimentionals to pop her up off the pumpkin a bit. A little sponging and some paper piercing helped finish it off.

I tore the bottom edge and embossed the Always Artichoke cardstock with my Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and sponged over the top a bit with my Early Espresso classic ink. This helped make the embossed areas pop a bit more.  I then layered that over a piece of Early Espresso cardstock I'd punched with my Scallop Edge Border Punch.

I absolutely love that we now carry twill tape on a spool and dressed it up with a little 1/8" Early Espresso taffeta ribbon and a clear rhinestone brad.

What do you think?  Hope you like it!

Happy Stamping!

Stamps:  Greeting Card Kids, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Cardstock: Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie (textured & smooth), Always Artichoke, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla

Ink: Pacific Point Classic, Pumpkin Pie Classic, Early Espresso Classic, Sahara Sand Classic, Blush Blossom Stampin' Write Marker

Accessories: 3/8" Twill Tape, 1/8" Early Espresso Taffeta Ribbon, Clear Rhinestone Brad, Stampin' Dimensionals

Fun Tools: Big Shot, Top Note Die, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Paper Piercer & Mat Pack, Scallop Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Edge Border Punch, Sponge Daubers, Aqua Painter, Paper Snips

A KISS Card

I have a difficult time making simple cards. Sounds ridiculous, right? But it's true! I always want to keep adding additional layers, embellishments or techniques! A fellow demonstrator used the term "KISS" (Keep It Simple Sweetie) for some of her cards and so I thought I would challenge myself and make a KISS card.

I wanted to use another new set I recently purchased called Pedaling Past from our current Holiday Mini catalogue. I loved the little tricycle as soon as I saw it. :)

Here's my card: (Click the image for a closer peek)

Wouldn't this make an adorable card for a new little baby boy?  I wrapped the top with some of our linen thread and added a small knot using a piece of our twill tape.  I could have stamped or even dyed the twill tape, but I was supposed to keep this one simple, so I left it as is. ;)

The tricycles are stamped using our Crumb Cake & Marina Mist Classic ink and the cardstock is Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla.

The "Congratulations" is from the set Well Scripted which I realized after I used it that it's no longer available!  It was in our Occasions Mini from a few months ago.  Oops.  There are a few current sets that could easily replace that stamp such as Curly Cute or A Word for You.  Both sets are available in wood or clear mount.

Happy Stamping!