PAPER PUMPKIN ALTERNATES

These are two of the alternate Valentines that our demonstrator, Cyndy, had for us to make on Thursday.  She found these, and a few others, online somewhere; and they were very easy to make.  I came home inspired to come up with more on my own, so check back later in the week!

TIC-TAC-TOE CHALLENGE

For Stamp Ink Paper's challenge #32 I chose a diagonal row on the Tic-Tac-Toe board.  The card needs to have a heart, "Love" and Patterned Paper.

This was easy to put together.  For a look at the other submissions -- great way to gather new card ideas-- click HERE.

SIMPLE SATURDAY #41

BOTANICAL HELLOS

I'm really enjoying these Botanical stamps and papers, especially in the middle of winter.  This first one looks bright and cheery, and I may just use it as an unconventional Valentine card...or maybe an encouragement card.  The raised petals are held up with clear foam tape.

This second card is on a Cajun Craze background which, unfortunately,  looks brighter here.  I stamped the veins and centers on the dsp and added some sequins for embellishment.  The "hello" is a die cut of black cardstock.



I hope the recipients of these cards find them as cheerful as I have while making them!

BOTANICAL BLOSSOMS

Well, all I can say is that it sure pays to host a Stampin'Up party!  I put together a catalog order with my friends to take advantage of the Sale-a-bration event (ongoing to March 31st) and used my Hostess credits and free stamp set rewards for the Botanical Blooms Bundle and matching cardstock, dsp and embellishments.  This is the first card I've made since UPS delivered everything yesterday afternoon.

I saw this card on a Frenchie Stamps video and couldn't wait to try it, so I asked my demonstrator, Cyndy, it she would teach us how at our next Technique class.  That was last week, so as soon as I got out my new supplies, I came up with this one.  I can't wait to make some more.

The "My friend" stamp is from the Sale-a-bration stamp set "Hello" (free with a $50 order).  I just love the tropical leaves and flowers, and it will go with a stamp I have that says, "Always maintain a kind of summer, even in the middle of winter."  Good advice, and this stamp set will help me do that!

STILL SNOWING AND BLOWING...

...and I'm STILL STAMPING!

First I made two Valentine goodie bags for my two youngest grandsons, using the January Paper Pumpkin kit.  Then I tried piecing this quilt pattern with another of the new dies.

Gluing the tiny pieces of this design was tedious and took forever, although I do like the look now that it's done.  I used the same paper for the "hello" below so that it would match.

All the cards I made today will serve as Valentines, along with several other more traditional designs.  It has been a great day to stamp, and (so far) we still have power!


(Be sure to scroll down for the other 2 posts for today.)

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS FRIGHTFUL,

...BUT THE STAMPING IS DELIGHTFUL!




A package of three new quilt dies arrived yesterday, and I used one of them for these two cards.  I'm off now to try another one.




TIP:  When I die cut and glued the greeting on the front of each card, there were shiny spots from the glue around some of the letters.  So I dabbed the spots with my anti-static brush.  The powder stuck to the glue and eliminated the shine!

LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!

 Snow is blowing horizontally across the yard,

 outside the stamping tower window.

 The front porch through a snow-covered window.

...and a lonely little birdie trying to find

some bird seed.

No way to measure how much snow we got due to high winds and heavy drifting,

but it's a LOT!  There's more coming, too.  Thankfully, we still have power.

This is definitely GOOD STAMPING WEATHER!

FLORAL VALENTINE

This card came together really quickly.  Starting with a light green card base, I added a panel of metallic gold lacy flowers from SU!.  The oval, laying on my table from a previous project, was ready to use so I stamped the leaves on it and added the flowers.  To finish it off, I sponged the oval with olive green ink and added sequins to the flower centers.

Finally, I die cut the word "love" from a scrap of metallic purple. Scraps really do come in handy!

CASEing the iPad--Simon Says Stamp

For the Critter Challenge on SSS, Lois made the most adorable goodie bags.  I decided to mimic that look in a card.

For the "handle" I used the word window punch and tied the white twine around just the front so it could be opened.  I then rounded the bottom corners to make it look a little bit like a bag.

Using the stamps and dies from the "Hello Foxy" set by Papertrey Ink, I created a gray fox for my critter and popped him up on a punched pink heart.  The love die, from Winnie and Walter, cuts/releases perfectly.

This card will go to my granddaughter!

FIRST VALENTINE THIS YEAR

Since all my friends know I avoid the "dreaded pink" whenever possible, it's not surprising that I would use red roses on this card.  I keep coming back to this SU! set, even though the flowers have to be fussy cut, which really doesn't take long.  The image is from a hostess set called "So Very Grateful" and is popped up with dimensionals.
 
I stamped the image with Versafine Black and then painted the flowers with Twinkling H2O's to make them shine.  The greeting is from another SU! hostess set, "Wacky Wishes."  I'll probably make a few more of this design since it was so easy to do.

QUILTED STAR PATTERN

After gluing the 6 punched pieces of dsp to a scrap of white cs, I cut it out and punched a hole in the center.  I then found a brad that I've had in my stash for years that turned out to be just right for this design!  Then I mounted the "quilt" to the yellow panel and light blue cs. Finally,  I added "stitches" around each segment with a black pen.

Later on, I came up with the idea of using all the so-far-unused stamps and patterned papers in my tower before buying any more new ones.  That idea lasted all of three seconds!

LESS IS MORE--Kissing

What a fun way to use solid stamps!  Just ink one up, then ink up another stamp and "kiss" them together to get one image on top of another.  Then stamp.

For this card (and technique) I pulled out an old SU! set, Best Blossoms.  I combined it with the script in the SU! French Foliage set.  The greeting is from another company and has a variety of saysings for the inside.

Less Is More can be found HERE.

VALENTINE CHALLENGE

The hardest part of this card was photographing it!

This will go to one of our grandchildren, but meanwhile it is for the Valentine Challenge on the Paper Players here.

The stamp set I used is from Stampin' Up, "Nuts About You."  The red hearts are shiny stickers.

Enjoy!

MORE PASTOR CARDS

A package of stencils, some sponges and inks, and just one stamp set and, as Frenchie would say, "Voila!"
Since I had made a bunch of similar cards the other day, it took very little time to do these.

Here's a secret:  Since only a border of dsp shows around the edges, I die cut the middles out to use on other cards!

WINTER BIRTHDAY CARD

This would certainly work for a masculine card!

First, I stamped the trees with gray ink and added the snow flakes with white ink.  Then I covered the "ground" with snow, making sure that when I glued the bottom piece, there was room at the top for the deer feet to be inserted.  I then added "a happy hello" stamped with dark brown ink.

When done, I noticed that the ends of the tied knot and the deer's antlers mimic the tree branches!

STAMPING WITH JOYCE

 Joyce needed to make some cards yesterday, so she came over after lunch for help.  Wanting to keep it clean and simple, I brought out some stencils, pre-cut designer paper  and a couple of stamp sets.  First we sponged some stencils, making some spots darker than others.  Then we stamped the leaf and berries, coloring them with Distress markers and adding some Wink of Stella on the berries.  After stamping the greeting, we mounted the panel on the dsp and attached it to the card front.

 Next, we repeated the process with a different stencil and stamp.

Finally, we stamped the leaves, colored them in with Distress markers and added some yellow in the centers.  Joyce went home with five cards, ready for anything!

Stamp sets used were:  Serene Silhouettes and Awesomely Artistic

SECRET OF HAPPINESS

I got some more use of all my floral punches today!

Since the back of the greeting can be seen when the card is opened, I stamped "Happy Birthday" and attached it to the back.  The colorful strip is the leftover piece of blue and brown floral which you can see on a previous card.

There's just enough room underneath the tan panel to write a personal note.  The torn piece was used on another card front.

The sentiment on this one is so true.  What would the world be like if everyone stopped complaining and developed a thankful attitude instead!

PASTOR CARD--Psalm 124:8

This was a super easy card to design and make.  Starting with a white card base, I added the dsp on the front.  The more colorful strip is just a piece of the reverse design.

After a quick search through my cardstock scraps, I pulled out this matching gold one and die cut the oval for a background.  I used a smaller oval for the verse and glued them together.  Then I mounted them on the front with dimensionals.

For the only embellishment, I made a slit on the left fold and wrapped the jute around the card front, tying just a knot.

It really is amazing how using some dsp and a little twine can make such an impact on a card!

SCRAPS GALORE!

Here's a pastor card I made after reorganizing my scrap box.  The green strips on the sides are only 1/2" wide--that's all I had left of that cardstock.  The piece on top was mounted on top of the strips, and the map piece was glued on top of both.  Using a confetti scrap, I stamped the bird, colored him in and fussy cut him, mounting him with dimensionals.  Next, I stamped "Blessings" on a small piece of leftover confetti cs.  After winding some jute around the panel, I attached everything to the card front.


TIP:  To organize my scraps, I first dumped them all on my table and separated them into color groups.  Any pieces that had jagged edges or punchouts, I trimmed to a neater rectangle.  Pieces that were big enough to use on a card front, I moved to pre-cut dsp collection. (Some are 4 x 5 1/4, some smaller.)

I placed each color pile into open quart-sized zip lock bags:  one for blues/purples, one for reds/pinks, one for greens and one for neutral/metallic.  Anything smaller than a business card went in the trash.  Whites/ivory/confetti went into a plastic drawer where I can grab one when I stamp a greeting (like the one shown above.)   

Once I was finished organizing, I was able to quickly use them for 6 pastor cards.  January and February are good months for de-cluttering!  (Hint, hint...)

BIRDIE BIRTHDAY

I really have enjoyed using this set, especially the bird.  He (or she) is very easy to watercolor.

The card base is white cardstock on which I glued a torn piece of Crumb Cake cs over a piece of dsp.  After painting the bird, I glued the white cs to a scrap of dark brown and popped it up on the card with dimensionals.  The greeting is glued flat, tucked under the bird a bit.

Since this is a side folding card, I made a tiny slit in the fold to enable the jute to be wound around the front and tied in a knot.

The Crumb Cake card from which this was torn was used for another card--coming soon!

FANCY FOLD CARDFRONT

This is the card I made for my son's birthday which we'll be celebrating on Saturday.  He'll be 45 on Friday--where have all those years flown???

When it comes to cardstock and designer papers, I've always said StampinUp is the best.    Their cardstock is solid core, and matches their inks and dsp colors perfectly.  (No, I'm not a SU demonstrator.)  The double-sided dsp was just perfect for this masculine card.

After cutting part way in, I folded the paper to form flaps.  I think the technique is called a "collar fold" when used horizontally; but I chose to use it vertically.  The wooden greeting also adds to the masculine look.

For embellishment, I used a variety of sequins, a couple of gold stars and some jute.

INTERACTIVE WINDOW

Using a set of Interactive Window dies from Die-Namics, I ran one of them through the Big Shot, cutting three sides of the square.  The die also scores the 4th side at the same time.  For this card, I chose to place the score on top.


After stamping the inside message on the white cardfront, I glued the panel to the front so that it could be read when the window is flipped up.

After embellishing with a strip of the reverse pattern and adding some "sunny" die cuts from another set, the card was done.  I left the inside blank to write a personal note to someone later.

When adhering the circles to the front, I used glue dots and positioned them strategically so that they would allow the bottom of the window covering to be tucked in and lay flat.

Interactive cards are always a delight to make.  This one was very easy to do!


(The saying is from a set entitled "The Future" by Sweet & Sassy.)

BACK TO STAMPING!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

After cleaning up my stamping tower from the rush of Christmas cardmaking, I'm finally able to do some stamping again.  Today I pulled out this set I got months ago that I  never even opened.

I made two cards, one with olive branches and this one with blueberries.  The greeting at the top and scriggles on the bottom are from the "Tin of Cards" stamp set.  I like the bold lettering, which is what attracted me to that set in the first place.

The holidays were wonderful here, but I'm glad I can relax now that it's over.  My usual plans for January are to hibernate.  The good thing about winter is that it's good stamping weather!