STAMPERS, START YOUR CREDIT CARDS!

Here's a use for credit cards that a husband can love.  All it takes is an old credit or gift card, three or four Distress Oxide inks, some water and cardstock.

For this card, I chose Broken China, Peeled Paint and Wilted Violet; and I smeared them onto a craft sheet.  Should have been easy, but I messed up my first attempt.  Instead of water, I sprayed the inks with stamp cleaner--is that dumb or what!  Once I figured out what was wrong, I started over again, with my water spritzer--much better.

All you do is take your credit card, swipe the edge into some ink (one color per swipe works best) and spread it on to white cardstock.  I added some black lines using the edge of the credit card and a black ink pad.  Let it dry while you proceed with your design.

For my design, I started with a piece of  Marina Mist cs cut to 4x5 1/4".  After cutting out the middle (and saving it for a future card) I glued it to a white card front.  Next, I die cut the inked cs with the same die (Lil Inker) and popped it up in the empty space with dimensionals.  I noticed a piece of glitter paper that matched the card color, so I added that a third of the way up from the bottom.  Then I die cut the violets (Poppy Stamps) and attached them with glue dots under the leaves.

For the finish, I punched a small butterfly from a piece of scrap, sponged the edges with Wilted Violet and added some pearls for a body.  In spite of my earlier mistake, I made it to the finish line with a card that turned out better than I thought it would.  Whew!

JUST US GIRLS #395

Since I have no weddings or anniversaries on the calendar (except ours--our 50th) I made this card an all purpose one instead.

With an all-white card, texture is a necessary element.  I also added some shine with the greeting done in silver embossing.

Thanks for the inspiration HERE.







NOTE:  Be sure to scroll down for the Paper Players challenge.

PAPER PLAYERS #346

I think this coordinated stamp/die set, "Botanical Blooms," is THE BEST set Stampin' Up has ever come up with!  I love the dsp, and the dies are to die for.  (intended pun, sorry...)

The Paper Players sketch was a joy to work with.  The dsp does most of the work for this card, and the floral centerpiece gives it focus.

Other cards using this sketch can be found HERE.

APRIL PAPER PUMPKIN ALTERNATE

I turned this one into a butterfly birthday card, and I love how it turned out (if I may say so myself.)

After water coloring the heart, I ran it through the Big Shot with the butterfly die and mounted it over the striped paper supplied in the kit.  After attaching the butterfly with foam tape, I slipped two snips of black cs underneath for the antennae.

The greeting, which fit the tag better, is from another SU! kit.  The b'fly body is just two of the "sprinkles" from the May Paper Pumpkin kit.  For the flower center, which is hollow, I squirt some black diamond Stickles in the hole.

Hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend!

GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY

Rick and I are celebrating our 50th Anniversary this weekend!

We had planned to go to the Metropolitan Art Museum in NYC today; but the traffic was so heavy with heavy rain, we turned around after an hour of 35mph and only half way there.  We would have gotten there too late to see anything before having to leave.   It was so disappointing; but we will try again another day.

Tomorrow the plan is to go to Longwood Gardens, and I hope we'll be going early enough to avoid the Philadelphia rush hour traffic. At least it won't be raining (so they say...)

Meanwhile, having found an unplanned day for stamping, I made another Paper Pumpkin alternate card from the May kit.  Enjoy!

MAY PAPER PUMPKIN

 This month's Paper Pumpkin is going to be fun!  This first photo is one of the projects:  a "donut card" in a paper bag.  It's adorable.







The second photo shows the kit as just opened.

The third photo shows the contents.  Check back for ideas for alternative uses of all the pieces.

DREAMY DRAGONFLY

Thanks to the "Dragonfly Dreams" die set, this top fold card was quick and easy.  After cutting the dragonfly twice and the body once, I assembled it as shown.  The bottom wings are from a scrap of rainbow dsp and the top wings are vellum coated with clear W-O-S.  The body was cut separately from a scrap of black glitter paper and glued on top. 

I mounted the blue oval on the cardfront and popped the dragonfly on top.  I had some matching blue glimmer paper which I glued to the bottom of the inside and shortened the top of the card so the glimmer paper would show.  The sentiment was stamped, cut and attached to the bottom of the card front...just to make it a little bit different.

SUMMER ROSE

Here is my latest attempt at water coloring.  It turned out better than I expected.

First I used a light color ink, stamped off once and then stamped the image on plain white cs.  This allowed me to paint without any lines showing when I was done.  In fact, the outline was so faint I unknowingly changed the shape of the center.

Once I was satisfied with the coloring, I outlined the image with a light turquoise marker to make it pop.  I added the tiny butterfly from a SU punch and stamped the small greeting.  For a touch of glimmer, I used clear W-O-S on the butterfly wings.

BUTTERFLY BIRTHDAY GATE FOLD

This 6x6 pad of SU dsp was somehow hidden in my stash, and I rediscovered it the other day.  Using all three patterns from that one pad, I easily assembled this card.

Uh-oh, I'm starting to like "the dreaded pink!"

SIMPLE SATURDAY #49

CASE of a Silver Stamper Card

This Happy Mail is for a Silver Stamper friend who sent me a GORGEOUS Spring card that I CASEd.

Her card featured a beautiful Spring wreath stamped on a die cut with 5 large scallops.  She colored it beautifully, which was quite an inspiration.  So I got out my peg stamps and went for it!

The design works very nicely.  Her wreath featured a bird's nest with four blue eggs.  Mine has a bumble bee in the same spot, which is part of the SU! dragonfly die set. 

The envelope features the same flower as the ones on the wreath, stamped over the lines from an envelope stamp set at Simon Says Stamp.  The name of the set is "Sending Flowers."  Very appropriate name, don't you think?

FANCY FOLD CARD

I found this pre-folded green card base in my stash the other day, and I had no idea what it was planned for; so I used it for this card.

Starting with a scalloped circle die, I cut the dsp, added the dragonfly and the sentiment, and punch out 2 flowers from the back of the same dsp scraps.

The flower on the right acts as a lock to hold the card closed.  I wrote a note on a piece of white paper for the inside.  For a final touch, I added Wink-of-Stella (clear) on the dragonfly wings.

LAST CLASS

Today is the last class of this semester at Bible Study where we have been making some encouragement cards.  This involved a lot of die cutting, which I did here so I wouldn't have to bring my Big Shot.

The silver under the butterfly wings is from a pre-pasted sheet which apparently was too thin to be separated after die cutting it.  Here's a TIP on how to overcome that problem:

Cut a piece of the glitter paper, peel off the backing and apply it to a piece of scrap cardstock.  Then run it through the Big Shot with the die, add the wings on top and attach to the card with a dimensional.  Problem solved.

Another problem solved was how to use dryer sheets with the butterfly die so the little pieces would not have to be poked out. (Takes forever--ask me how I know!)  Simply die cut as usual, but then run the die, with the pieces still in it, through the machine face down over 4-6 layers of dryer sheets.  When you peel off the wings, the little pieces remain embedded in the dryer sheets.  No more mess!