Christmas, and it's Almost July!

Hello, Everybody!  We are having record breaking temperatures here in St Louis- 107 for the high-so staying in is definitely preferred today!  I made a quick card for today's Ways to Use It Challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers.  The challenge was to make something with a child on it, for a child or, inspired by a child.  I had this great image from Stampin' Up's Greeting Card Kids set already colored so I decided to use that for this Christmas card.

I am really happy with how this turned out.  The card base is Pink Pirouette, the dsp is retired.  The image is stamped on Naturals White and colored with the Aquapainter using Real Red, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, and Pool Party reinkers.  The Curly Cute sentiment is stamped in Stazon black.  Snowflakes from the retired "Snowflakes" set is stamped in Versamark and embossed with clear ep.  The image panel is mounted on Raspberry Ripple and an edgelit was used.  Tiny pearls are placed between each scallop.  A white Baker's Twine bow finishes it off with a retired Rose Red button in the center of it.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you stay cool and have a blessed day!

Lee Ann

June 28, 2012- 8:44pm
I was able to sneak in a little more crafting this evening and decided to try the sketch at The Paper Players this week.  

Here is my interpretation-

It was difficult getting a good picture of this card as I wanted to be able to get the shiny clear embossing on the Naturals White panels while still having good lighting for the card as a whole.  This was a fun card to make and I tried a new technique as well, emboss resist with a twist.  I sponged a piece of Naturals White with Pool Party and Wisteria Wonder and then stamped the snowflake in Versamark and used clear embossing powder on it.  I then sponged Concord Crush over the entire image/inked area.  This I then cut in a circle and paper pierced along the inside of the circle, around the snowflake.  The two Naturals White panels were dry embossed; I then rubbed a Versamark pad over it and used clear embossing powder on it to give the panels a shiny/icy look.

To make this card I used-

Stamps-Snowflakes, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Paper-Concord Crush, Wisteria Wonder, Pool Party, Naturals White

Ink-Versamark, Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder, Concord Crush, Basic Gray

Other-Dimensionals, clear embossing powder, scallpp edge punch, polka dots embossing folder, spellbinder

I really wanted this to be an "all Stampin' Up" card, but could not resist using the spellbinder behind the snowflake image.  

Thanks for stopping by!  

Lee Ann

P.S.  Apparently, it hit at least 110 degrees here in St Louis today!

Challenges x2

Hope everyone had a good great day!  I had a little time this morning to work on a card and then I got to enjoy lunch out with a friend and fellow stamper.  How much time can two people talk about rubber and ink??  Well, time passed quickly and this afternoon I decided to try this week's ColourQ challenge and the sketch challenge at Retrosketches. 

 The sketch was pretty straightforward; all I did differently was rotate the sketch.  The colors, on the other hand, were quite a challenge for me.  The were a tough combination to work with but on top of that, I am not a fan of bright blue so the Pacific Point gave me some trouble.  Also, as I don't care for the color, I don't own Pacific Blue, so I had to substitute the retired Brilliant Blue instead.  

I leaned heavily towards the Poppy, So Saffron and Gray and the card started to take on a muted, somewhat natural look to it, so I went with it.  I am happy with how this turned out.  I hope you like it and are inspired by it.  

To make this card I used-

Stamps-Stampin' Up's Kindness Matters, ODBD's Scripture Collection 3

Paper-Poppy Parade, Basic Gray, So Saffron, Naturals White, Whisper White, Sale-a-bration dsp

Ink-Basic Gray, So Saffron, Poppy Parade, Brilliant Blue

Other-Blender Pen, Color Spritzer, Sahara Sand marker, embossing frame

Also, torn paper is kind of a "thing of the past" but it seemed to work with the look of this card so I went with it.  

The next card came together quickly and is for the color challenge at Splitcoast Stampers today.  The colors for the challenge are Pool Party, Island Indigo and Whisper White.  

I had been wanting to try the pleated paper technique and I took the opportunity to try it on this card.  Splitcoast Stampers has a great tutorial on how to do this.  Just search "pleated paper" under the resources tab. 
I adhered my Whisper White, polka dot embossed panel to the Pool Party card base and then added the pleated panel which is backed with Twitterpated dsp.  I added some Pool Party Baker's twine to the panel before adhering the panel to the card.  The flower is made with the large scallop punch and the blossom punch.  The top layer is stamped in Indigo with the Mixed Bunch stamp.  I added a Tangerine Tango flower center, which is popped up with a dimensional.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a Happy Hump Day tomorrow!

Lee Ann

Watercolor Oceans

It has been a while since I have done a challenge at Our Daily Bread Designs, but after picking up a few more of their stamps at a local scrapbook convention, I felt it was time to get back into the groove.  It really does feel good to be stamping again.
This week's challenge is to use 3 or more stamps on a card.  That is quite a challenge for me, but with my new "The Sea" stamp and "Count the Waves" set, it was pretty easy.  I used these 2 sets and added "Keep My Lamp Burning" to the card as well.

Now my son thinks this card is amazing, but it really is pretty simple.  I colored The Sea stamp with Stampin' Up markers-More Mustard, Real Red, Tangerine Tango, Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, Basic Gray, Wild Wasabi- and also added Not Quite Navy.  I then Spritzed it with a water bottle (this is called faux watercolor technique) and stamped.  I repeated this with the lighthouse from Keep My Lamp Burning-stamped in Midnight Muse. The Sky is lightly sponged with Marigold Morning. I cut out the lighthouse and popped it up on dimensionals, although it is hard to see this in the photo.  The card base is Buckaroo Blue.
I thought this was going to be daunting, but it turned out to be a fun and easy card to make.  I can see this in Father's Day, masculine birthday...Hmmm, lots of possibilities!
Thanks so much for stopping by and checking out my blog.  Have a very blessed week!

Lee Ann

Stamping with New Stampin' Up

Happy Sunday to everyone!  Yesterday was an exhausting day of having a garage sale, breaking it down and then starting in on the overhaul of my basement. Needless to say, I thought today would be a great day to take it easy and relax.  What better thing to do to relax than to stamp?
I made this card for the Featured Stamper Challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers-

 

This is a very simple card using the masking technique.  It is also a single layer, but gets some dimension from the scoring with the Simply Scored tool and from double stamping some of the rattles from the Button Buddies set and popping them up on dimensionals.  I mixed up the colors some, some old and some new:  Pumpkin Pie, Gumball Green, Real Red, Summer Starfruit and Tempting Turquoise.

The next couple of cards use a set that is not new to Stampin' Up but is new to me.  It has turned out to be quite versatile.  I made this Get Well card with Thoughts and Prayers, as well as the following Sympathy card.  To learn what materials were used for the Sympathy card, see this post.

Finally, I gave one of my newest sets another try and came up with a card that I really like.  I just did not have any mojo the first go around with this Rejoicing with You stamp set. Today, however, the results were golden!

For this card I used-

Stamp set-Rejoicing with You

Paper-Brushed Gold, Real Red, Whisper White, River Rock, Twitterpated

Ink-Versamark, Basic Gray

Other-Dimensionals, Whisper White organza ribbon, Gold ep, Stampin' Up's new framelits and new paper piercing templates

I hope you like the results as much as I do. I think this basic design will be used for one of the Christmas cards in my Christmas in July stamp camp. 

Christmas Style

I am very glad that I am being productive today (in a crafty sense-not housework!) and I am also happy to feel my mojo coming back.  I really liked the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week, so gave it a go with another new stamp, Quint-Essential Flower.  This is such a versatile stamp!  This stamp can be colored and used for just about any occasion, including Christmas.

Here is my interpretation of this sketch-

-Freshly Made Sketches Winning Card-

 To make this card I used-

Stamps-Quint-Essential Flower, Elements of Style, Tiny Tags

Paper-Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green, Whisper White

Ink-Gumball Green, Cherry Cobbler, Basic Gray

Other-stripes ef, Polka Dot ef, large and small Scallop Circle punches, 1/2" circle punch, 1" circle punch, White Organza Ribbon Dimensionals

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by; Have a fantastic weekend!

Lee Ann

June 22, 2012
5:30pm
I am still crafting and going strong.  It is a peaceful Friday with nothing pressing going on.  Don't you just love those kinds of days?  Bella, my dog, is doing better.  I had to take her to the vet yesterday as she had stopped eating or drinking for a couple of days.  She seems to be on the mend now so I have all of this free time.  What better thing to do than papercraft!  I am enjoying all of the new goodies Stampin' Up has in the new catalog.  This card uses the new Apothecary Framelits and the wonderful paper piercing TEMPLATES!  I love paper piercing and now it is fool proof!

To make this card I used:

Stamps-Thoughts and Prayers

Paper-Whisper White, Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, Midnight Muse, Patio Party dsp

Ink-Soft Suede and Midnight Muse

Other-Apothecary Framelits, Paper Piercing Templates, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack

Pearls

This went together very quickly and easily; perfect for the type of card that sadly, is needed so frequently.  

Thanks for stopping by my little corner of blogland!  Have a fantastic weekend!  

Lee Ann

Happy Hibiscus

Happy Friday all!  Seemed like a good day to work with the set, Happy Hour, although instead of working on a Christmas card, I ended up going a little tropical!  Oh well, it was quite fun to make.

The flowers are handmade; see the close up below.

What I used:

Stamps-Happy Hour, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Paper-Whisper White, Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight and Lucky Limeade; dsp

Ink-Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral

Other-Scallop Edge Punch, Word Window Punch, Blossom Punch, flower soft

 

More to come later!

Later-

I made the flowers with Stampin' Up's Blossom Punch.  To make the Hibiscus, cut out one petal from each flower.  Then  work the paper so that it is somewhat pliable and glue/adhere the flower petals together to fill in the gap from the removed petal.  This creates a somewhat cone shaped flower naturally.   Next use your stylus from the Simply Scored tool and burnish the inside center of the flower to round it out and make the paper still more pliable.
To make the stamen, simply cut a narrow piece of card stock about 3 inches long and moisten it with water to make it pliable.  then start rolling the edge of the paper lengthwise.  This takes a little patience, but once you get going it goes pretty easily.  You will end up being able to roll it smoothly in your fingers, tightening the roll.  It will be maybe the size of a toothpick.  Let it dry; it does not take long.
While you wait for the stamen to dry, gently roll each petal outward, using a pencil, pen or similar item to wrap it around.  Poke a hole through the center bottom of the flower, making sure it is big enough for the stamen to fit through. Once the stamen is dry, insert it through the hole from the underside of the flower.  Initially, allow more than you want to come through. For the next part, I used Flower Soft that I happened to pick up recently at a Scrapbook Convention.  I applied glue to the end of the stamen and rolled it in the flower soft.  I let this dry and then pulled the stamen back to the length I wanted it.  Trim the stamens on the underneath side and, using glue dots, adhere the flowers to your card!
Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

Angelic Card

I am so happy that I just got my new order from Stampin' Up and am ready to try out all my new goodies!  The first stamp to get inked up is this morning was the angel from the Rejoicing with You set.  I wanted to experiment with supplies and not be afraid of the end product possibly not being what I wanted it to be.  So with that in mind, I decided to try the sketch over at Merry Monday.

Unfortunately, I was not able to get a good picture of this card.  The Bravo Burgundy card base looks washed out and the gold frame around the circle does not look gold.  This looks better irl, but still does not compare to a card that inspired me from the Merry Monday blog post earlier this month.  If you want to see perfection, check out this card.  

                      I used:

Stamps- Rejoicing with You

Paper- Bravo Burgundy, Crumb Cake, Nataurals Ivory and gold

Ink- Versamark, Bravo Burgundy

Other-sponges, gold ep, Victorian ef, new Stampin' Up framelits

Well, time to "experiment" with more new supplies!  Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!
EDIT-Thursday evening-
I have been working with this set much of the afternoon and evening and am getting closer to what I want, but still not there.  These cards no longer follow the Merry Monday sketch, but I do like them much better than my first attempt with this stamp.

Honestly, I think I am making this too difficult, but as my mother always has said, I make more work for myself than anyone else she knows!  Oh well, back to the Angel drawing board!

I did have fun trying out another new set today.  I know a lot of you will love this fun set, Happy Hour.  I hesitated getting this set, but am so glad I did.  And in contrast to the angel cards, this one was a snap! 

Supplies for this card include-

Stamps-Happy Hour

Paper-Whisper White, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, dsp

Ink-Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade

Other-Stamp-a-ma-jig, Decorative Labael Punch, dimensionals

Don't you just love these sunny colors?  Perfect for a friend's birthday.  Thanks so much for visiting and have a blessed weekend!

Thinking Christmas

Here it is only June and I, along with many other stampers, am already thinking about Christmas.  I am anxiously awaiting my Stampin' Up order with my new Christmas set in it and REALLY can't wait til July 1st when demonstrators can preorder from the Holiday Mini due out on August 1st! I will be ordering all the goodies for my Christmas in July workshop, girls!
Today  I checked out the Merry Monday card challenge, and although it was too late for me to enter my card, I decided to use the sketch anyway, as it worked perfectly for the little snowman in the Button Buddies stamp set. 

I used the following for this card:
Real Red cardstock
Whisper White cardstock
Basic black cardstock
Twitterpated dsp (as I have to anxiously await getting the newest Christmas dsp!)
Snowflake stamp set
Button Buddies stamp set
 Versamark ink
Basic Black ink
Dimensionals
Punches-circle punch, scalloped circle punch and scalloped edge punch
pearls, colored red
baker's twine
markers-chocolate chip, tangerine tango and black

The white panel with the sentiment is stamped with snowflakes in versamark; you can't see them in the photo.  The snowman's hat is double stamped and cut out and popped up.  I added a tiny bit of Glorious Green as a piece of holly on his hat and finished it off with a red pearl as the holly berry.

I wanted to continue playing with Button Buddies, so I got out the adorable rattle stamp and got busy.  I decided to create a Victorian card with non-traditional colors.  

Supplies used-

Button Buddies stamp set

Cranberry Crisp, Summer Starfruit, Pool Party, Whisper White and Soft Suede cs

Soft Suede, Cranberry Crisp, Summer Starfruit, and Pool Party ink

Victorian and polka dots embossing folders

Baker's twine

dimensionals

punches-Modern Label punch, circle punch, Word Window punch

The edges of all layers are sponged in Soft Suede and the twine is also "aged" with More Mustard and Chocolate Chip from reinkers, diluted in water.  

That's all for today!  Tomorrow is my garage sale, so hopefully I will have extra money to place my Christmas order.  Have a Blessed day and thanks for stopping by!

Lee Ann

Back in the Saddle

Well, I have been away from stamping for quite awhile. As I am sure all of you know, LIFE happens and sometimes it is not very fun.  But I have been finding time recently to get some scrapbooking done and today I broke out some of the new Stampin' Up products.  I am loving one of their newest colors, Summer Starfruit.  I have never had starfruit, but if it tastes as good as the color looks I am sure to like it!

Seeing as one of my favorite color combos is yellow and gray, these seemed to be the perfect colors to start with.  I quickly added the new "pinks" to the mix, stamping the Button Buddies flower in Primrose Pink and using Raspberry Ripple as the card base.  Three additional panels include Whisper White embossed with the polka dot embossing folder on top and the stripes embossing folder on the bottom, 3 gray twitterpated die cut panels from the newest set of Stampin' Up framelits, and-here it is- the Summer Starfruit panel die cut with yet another new framelit and embossed with the polka dot embossing folder.
The flower was punched out with the small scallop circle punch and the other two layers were fussy cut out and then popped up on dimensionals.  The flower center was stamped with More Mustard and punched with the 1/2 inch circle punch.  The Wild Wasabi leaves are cut with the Little Leaves die.  Lastly, the sentiment is from the Kindness Matters set and was stamped in Basic Gray and punched with the Modern Label punch.   
I hope you like it, especially that Summer Starfruit!  Thanks for stopping by!