One Tree Times Two

I haven’t tried one of Mary Jo’s sketch challenges in a while, so I thought I’d give this week’s simple sketch a try. I finished this card in less than 30 minutes using only Stampin’ Up! supplies.

I used the fun Trendy Trees set for the focal image, stamped in Kiwi Kiss and Close to Cocoa. I have a sheet of thick acetate, stamped with the set’s tree trunk images in StazOn, that I keep with the set so that it’s quick and easy to line up the images with my Stamp-a-ma-jig. That’s one of my favorite stamping tips for those sets where I know I’ll want to use the SAMJ to keep things straight.

I love the colors from the Urban Oasis paper pack. I used a strip of paper from this pack along the left side of the card. I placed a strip of Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon to cover where the patterned paper meets the solid card base, then layered the stamped tree image and mats over it.

Materials Used (from Stampin’ Up!):
Trendy Trees stamp set, Kiwi Kiss and Close to Cocoa Classic inks, Close to Cocoa, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, and Very Vanilla cardstock, Urban Oasis designer series paper, 1 3/8” and 1 ¾” circle punches, silver brad, Chocolate Chip 5/8” grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

And, since my Great Swaps Girls new catalog swaps arrived in my mailbox yesterday, I figure it's safe to share my contribution now. Wow, are these ladies talented! The cards are fabulous. Anyway, here's mine using Branch Out.

I stamped the tree image and leaves on a Baja Breeze panel using craft inks. The tire swing image was colored with markers, then stamped on to the image.

I kept the layout simple to keep the focus on the image. I added some Chocolate Chip accents--a photo corner, a knotted piece of ribbon, and a scalloped strip--and a simple sentiment panel using one of the sentiments from Trendy Trees.

Materials Used (all from Stampin' Up!):

Branch Out and Trendy Trees stamp sets, Baja breeze Classic ink, Close to Cocoa, Certainly Celery, and Old Olive Craft inks, Close to Cocoa and Basic Black markers, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, and Very Vanilla cardstock, scallop edge punch, Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, silver brad, photo corner punch

Rock Star!

Here’s my card for this week’s sketch challenge at Paper Craft Planet. The sketch comes from DT member Kim and is a fun one! It’s a standard sized card with about 1 ¼” cut off from the right edge of the front panel. This reveals a bit of the back panel of the card and gives you the perfect place to put a sentiment or some embellishments.

I used a sneak peek set from Clear & Simple Stamps for my card. These images are from the new Rock Star set. I colored the guitar image with pink Copic markers and highlighted it with some silver gel pen and pink Spica glitter pen, too. I cut out the guitar and attached it to the yellow panel with dimensionals, then added a trio of star brads to the corner of the panel.

The front of the card is covered with some shiny, sparkly striped paper from Debbie Mumm. I continued the sparkly theme by adding some sparkly yellow ribbon around the card, too. And, to tie in a few more stars to go with the star brads, I used a Martha Stewart star border punch to create a strip to attach underneath the cardfront, just peeking out. I stamped the “rock star” sentiment in Regal Rose ink on the back of the card--a perfect match for my star punches and star brad embellishments. I'll have more samples to share using this set over the next week or two . . .

Materials Used:
Rock Star stamp set (Clear & Simple Stamps); white cardstock (Xerox); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); markers and pink Spica pen (Copic); patterned paper (Debbie Mumm Baby Girl); Regal Rose Classic ink, Regal Rose, Pink Pirouette, and Barely Banana cardstock, mat pack and paper piercing tool, dimensionals (Stampin’ Up!); star border punch (Martha Stewart); sparkly yellow ribbon (My Favorite Things)

New Stuff!

No, I haven't gotten my new SU! stuff yet, but I do have some stuff from the new catalog to share with you. I got my Great Swaps Girls hostess set and sneak peek set swaps back in the mail earlier this week, so I figure it’s safe to post them now.

I chose the Goody Goody Gumdrops set for the Hostess set swap. The images in this set are so cute! I loved the gumdrops in the retired All Wrapped Up set, so I was thrilled to see gumdrops appear in a new set.

I did some paper piecing on my card, stamping the gumdrops on scraps of colored paper, then cutting them out to attach to the white circles. I gave each gumdrop a “sugary” coating of Dazzling Diamonds.

I lined the gumdrops up along the edge of a piece of Kiwi Kiss Patterns designer paper, set on a Barely Banana cardfront. The “goody-goody gumdrops” sentiment is stamped in Kiwi Kiss ink in the lower right corner to finish the card.

Materials Used (all from Stampin’ Up!):
Goody Goody Gumdrops stamp set, Kiwi Kiss and Basic Black Classic inks, Kiwi Kiss, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Barely Banana, and Whisper White cardstock, Kiwi Kiss Patterns designer paper, Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon, 1 ¼” and 1 3/8” circle punches, Dazzling Diamonds, horizontal slot punch

For the sneak peek swap, I used the new Petal Pizzazz set. I guess it’s the replacement set for the just retired Ginormous Flowers set. Of course, the image I wanted to use for the swap (the large flower) had a small crack/flaw in the rubber, so my stamped images didn’t come out as nicely as I would have liked. SU! sent me a replacement image, but it didn’t arrive in time for me to use it in the swap.

Anyway, I stamped the large flower in Regal Rose Craft ink on Pink Pirouette paper, then cut it out. I used my ¾” circle punch to punch out the center of the flower. The flower center is covered with a 1” Rose Red circle so you don’t even know that the center is missing! I attached the punched out piece to the Rose Red circle using a dimensional.

The rest of the card is pretty simple. I wanted to show off some of the new Raspberry Tart designer paper, so I based my color choices on that. I attached a scalloped strip and a paper pierced strip to the Pink Pirouette cardbase along with the piece of Raspberry Tart paper, then wrapped a knotted piece of Regal Rose ribbon around the card.

I used a dimensional to attach the flower to the cardfront. I slipped some Kiwi Kiss leaves under the flower, too. Each leaf was stamped in Kiwi Kiss on Kiwi Kiss cardstock, then cut out. I scored each leaf at the center (on the line on the leaf) and folded it up (mountain fold) for some dimension.

I'll be back tomorrow morning with another SU! only post to share . . .

Materials Used (all from Stampin’ Up!):
Petal Pizzazz and Short & Sweet stamp sets, Rose Red Classic ink, Regal Rose Craft ink, Pink Pirouette, Rose Red, Regal Rose, and Kiwi Kiss cardstock, Raspberry Fizz designer series paper, Regal Rose 5/8” grosgrain ribbon, 1” and ¾” circle punches, mat pack and paper piercing tool, scallop edge punch, dimensionals

Blogger Challenge: Week 79

This week’s blogger challenge theme is "celebrate." I’m sharing a card I made for a Great Swaps Girls swap earlier in the year that I just realized I never shared here. It’s perfect for this week’s theme!

When I saw the Cheers to You set in the Fall/Winter SU! catalog, I knew I’d have to order it. It’s great for so many occasions. I created a celebratory card for the swap using the champagne glass image. I stamped the image in black ink, then colored it with my So Saffron ink pad and a blender pen. I covered the colored portion of the image with Crystal Effects to give it a liquid-like look. Once the Crystal Effects had dried, I used my two way glue pen to add some Dazzling Diamonds to the image, too.

The rest of the card is pretty simple. I used one of my go-to layouts and simple accent pieces, like the Rose Red grosgrain ribbon, a small scalloped strip of brushed silver cardstock, and a black and gray striped piece of paper from the Ghostly Greetings designer paper pack (yes, this year’s Halloween paper—doesn’t it look elegant here?) to complete the card.

For more celebratory ideas, you can visit the other challenge participants. Links to their blogs are in the sidebar on the right.

Materials Used (all from Stampin’ Up!):
Cheers to You stamp set, Rose Red, So Saffron, and Basic Black Classic inks, Rose Red, So Saffron, Basic Black, Whisper White, and Brushed Silver cardstock, Ghostly Greetings designer paper, 1 ¾” circle punch, scallop edge punch, Coluzzle, Rose Red grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

Wrapping Up Wednesday

I was so excited this morning to find one of my cards on Stamper’s Showcase, a section on the SU! website accessible only to SU! demos, featuring cards submitted to SU! by demos. This is the first time that anything I've submitted has made it online! If you can’t access Stamper’s Showcase and want to check out my card, you can see it here. It was my card for the swap that the Great Swaps Girls did at this summer’s SU! convention.

Now on to some new things . . . Since it’s getting late, I’ll keep this pretty brief tonight. Here’s my card for today’s SCS sketch challenge. I decided to break in one of my yet-to-be used Stella images from Stamping Bella. I love this character!

I stamped Stella and her presents in black ink, then colored the images with Copic markers and some Spica glitter pens. I added a tiny sentiment to the upper left corner of the image panel. The colored panel is matted with some coordinating cardstock pieces then layered on a piece of Regal Rose cardstock embossed with the Cuttlebug Spots & Dots embossing folder. I picked the folder to mirror the pattern on the pastel patterned paper I used to cover the cardfront. The finishing details were a piece of soft pink satin ribbon and some matching pink "dew drops" to continue the circle theme.

Materials Used:
Stella needs a prezzie image (Stamping Bella); sentiment (Papertrey Ink's Mixed Messages set); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); white cardstock (Xerox); markers and glitter pens (Copic); Regal Rose Classic ink, Regal Rose, Perfect Plum, Pretty in Pink, and Gable Green cardstock, Crystal Effects, dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); pink dome embellishments, pink satin ribbon (Michaels); patterned paper (Sassafras Lass); Spots & Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug)

And, one last thing before I head off to bed-- my first official card as member of the Page Plans card sketch design team! I used one of the sentiment images from Unity Stamp Co.’s September kit of the month for the focal image on the card. I really like this sentiment. It reminds me of an essay called “The Star Polisher” that I used to refer to a lot as a classroom teacher.

Anyway, since the words were star-themed, I went with starry and sparkly elements for the rest of the card. I used a piece of star patterned paper from a Prima paper pad for the bottom of the cardfront. I matched this with a simple striped pattern for the top of the card.

I used a piece of wide blue grosgrain ribbon to form a band bridging the two different patterned papers. In keeping with my sparkly theme, I attached two blue rhinestone brads to the ends of the ribbon. The final embellishment I added was a light blue chipboard star from a multi-colored package from American Crafts.

Materials Used:
Love. Friendship. Miracles September Kit of the Month (Unity Stamp Co.); Brocade Blue Classic ink, Barely Banana, Brocade Blue, and Shimmery White cardstock, Bashful Blue Prints Series designer paper, dimensionals (Stampin’ Up!); patterned paper (Prima Baby Boutique Collection); oval dies (Nestabilities); rhinestone brads (Making Memories); chipboard star (American Crafts)

Celebrate!

At the SU! convention last month (was it almost a month ago already? Wow!), Shelli Gardner announced that she'd be starting a blog and including some challenges for SU! demos and customers as well. The first challenge was to create a project that includes the word "celebrate" in it. Today is the deadline for project submissions, so I got mine completed and in just in time!

My project is based on one I received in a swap at convention with my swap group, the Great Swaps Girls. I loved the layout of LeeAnn's card and I've been wanting to do my own version since I first saw her creation. She described the card as an accordian card, which is an appropriate name for the alternate folds at the card's base. I thought I could make a celebration themed one by combining a few SU! sets. This card was so easy to make and looks great when open or closed.

I used a pink and brown color theme so that I could have a yummy looking cupcake as the last image. The front image is the from Big Bold Birthday. The second image is from the new Crazy for Cupcakes set. I paper pieced the balloon image, attaching it to the panel with dimensionals and covering it with Crystal Effects for a shiny look. The next image is one of the gift boxes from Big Bold Birthday. I added a rhinestone brad to the gift box. The final image is the large cupcake image from Crazy for Cupcakes. I paper pieced this image too and added some glittery embellishment.

The belly band (seen in the first photo) that holds it all together is stamped with the "celebrate" sentiment from Celebrate Everything. I wrapped a piece of Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon around the panel for a fun accent. I'm so glad that SU! has made the Chocolate Chip ribbon available in the 1/4" size again. It's one of the colors I use a lot, so it's nice to have it back.

Here are a few more views of the project. It was a little hard to photograph so that all the different panels were visible, so I took a whole bunch of pictures from different angles. This one shows all of the different panels when the card is open. The final photo shows a sort of close up view of a few of the panels.

I'm looking forward to seeing--and participating in--Shelli's challenge for next month.

Materials Used (all from Stampin' Up!):
Celebrate Everything, Big Bold Birthday and Crazy for Cupcakes stamp sets, Regal Rose and Close to Cocoa Classic inks, Regal Rose, Pink Pirouette, Close to Cocoa, and Whisper White cardstock, Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds, Stamp-a-ma-jig, 2-way glue pen, rhinestone brads, sponge, Crystal Effects, dimensionals

Swapping with the Great Swaps Girls

One of the best parts of convention has been the chance to meet up with some friends that I don’t get to see a lot—and even ones I’ve never seen before. I had the chance to meet up with another Kitchen Sink Stamps design team member, Nicole, at the SCS dinner on Wednesday and I’ve met some of my SBS2 blogging sisters, too. I’ve also met up with some members of my swap group, Great Swap Girls.

Some of the Great Swaps Girls participated in a small in-person swap at convention. Here’s the card I created for our in-person meeting. I used the Moose You set along with two of the new In Colors, Riding Hood Red and Pink Pirouette. Since all of the designer paper in the current catalog is retiring, I created my own for this cardfront using the heart image from the stamp set.

The little prickly guy is stamped in Close to Cocoa ink, then heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I punched him out, then layered him on a slightly larger circle, then on a scalloped circle with paper pierced edges.

I stamped the sentiment along the bottom edge of the card. This is such a tricky sentiment to stamp! I trimmed it apart from the image, so it’s really narrow and sometimes wobbles and smudges when I stamp. I managed to get through this stack of cards without too many mistakes.
Materials Used (all from Stampin’ Up!):
Moose You stamp set, Riding Hood Red Classic ink, Close to Cocoa Craft ink, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Close to Cocoa, and Whisper White cardstock, mat pack and paper piercing tool, 1 ¼” and 1 3/8” circle punches, scallop circle punch, white taffeta ribbon, dimensional, Crystal Clear embossing powder

First Swap with Great Swaps Girls

I came home to find my very first set of swaps from the Great Swaps Girls group waiting in my mailbox. How exciting! All of the cards were fantastic and I've enjoyed admiring them tonight.

The theme for this swap was the SU! color wheel. The color wheel is a fantastic tool--so helpful for coming up with new and different color combinations. I had two ideas in mind when I chose my color combination for the swap. First, I wanted to do something spring-like And, second, I wanted to use colors I don't use often.

Based on that, I came up with this card. The main color was Gable Green and the accent colors were Cameo Coral and Apricot Appeal. Definitely spring-like and definitely rarely used colors for me!

I went with a floral image to stay with spring "theme." I used the flower from Stemming From for my main image. I cut out the flower and attached it with dimensionals. I also punched out the flower center and used dimensionals to attach that.

I used some of the patterned paper from the Prints Series hostess pack on the cardfront. It matched nicely with the dots on the flower center.

It's hard to see in the photo, but the sentiment is stamped on the cardfront in Gable Green ink, right alongside the image panel. I made these into thank you cards, but it would be easy to adjust this layout for other things by changing out the main image, the sentiment, and the colors.

Materials Used (all from Stampin' Up!):

Stemming From and Warm Words stamp sets, Gable Green, Cameo Coral, and Apricot Appeal Classic inks, Gable Green, Cameo Coral, Apricot Appeal, and Whisper White cardstock, Apricot Appeal Prints Series designer paper, Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon, slit punch, 1/2" circle punch, silver brads, dimensionals