Just in Time Sketch {CCMC229}

This week's sketch over at Create with Connie & Mary was just in time for a card I needed to create for my nephew's birthday!  It had been forever-and-a-day since I played along so I decided to dig in.  Here's their fun sketch:

Normally, that skewed panel would have me running for the hills, lol.  But I wanted to use the Extreme Skateboard digital stamp in My Digital Studio and the tilted panel seemed like a perfect ramp to me!

Would you believe that there is no traditional stamping on this card?  There's hardly any layers or embellishments either!  I designed it completely in My Digital Studio to fit on a 4.25" x 5.5" card base. Once it was finished in MDS, I printed in onto Whisper White cardstock, matted it with some Crumb Cake and popped it up on a Midnight Muse card base.  The only thing I added were some Mini Silver Brads to the wheels.  I have to say I was pretty pleased with how it turned out and I [hope] think my nephew will too!

Since I wanted to use the same image on the inside and it was a digital "stamp", I designed the inside with MDS too.  Just copy and pasted the chevron borders from the front, colored them in the same "inks" (Basic Gray, Midnight Muse & Summer Starfruit) and then staggered them.  I also played around with the coloring tool in MDS2 that allows you to color sections of a digi stamp just as we would if we used markers to color a rubber stamp.  How cool is that?!  I used Basic Gray, Baja Breeze and Summer Starfruit to color the sentiment from the Word Play digital set.  I also got a little digi crazy with the paint splatter tool--also a new feature of MDS2.   

Well, thanks for checking in on me today...lots to do as we get ready for my daughter's birthday tomorrow!  Have a great night!

 

Two for One {CCMC195}

Hiya friends, and welcome to another week at Create with Connie & Mary!  The gals have a fun color challenge for us this week:

Basic Gray and So Saffron are two of my favorite colors and while they do look good with Poppy Parade....I'm still not in love with that color!  I think I will be glad to see it retire in June!  So what to do with these colors?  Well, inspiration truly is everywhere as evidenced by the design on this tee at I recently bought from Old Navy:

I loved the interlocking diagonal stripes and the pattern that runs underneath the stripes.  So...with that in mind, here's what I made for Connie & Mary:

Kinda cool, huh?  Different?  You know my philosophy when I am not keen on color, right?  Use it in small doses...as in half inch wide strips, lol!  I cut half inch strips from a collection of designer papers (supply list below) and started laying them out on a piece of textured Basic Gray cardstock.  The Basic Gray cardstock started out slight larger than I wanted the end product to be.  That way, I could lay the strips with edges hanging over and trim the whole edge at once.  Gives a nice even cut that way.  Once I had the strips laid out, I used the 2 1/2" circle punch to pop out a space for the sentiment from the Word Play set.  

Of course, there was some leftover strips which I just added to the inside along with a sentiment from Happiest Birthday Wishes.  I even stamped it in Poppy Parade!  Now, before I let you go I also wanted to show that these colors could be used for a more feminine card.  I saw this beauty over at Kristin's blog and just knew I had to case it.  Be sure to check out Kristin's blog--she is amazingly talented and one of the nicest people I've met in blog-land.  Anywho....here's my take on her blossom card with this week's colors:

 and a peek at the inside:

Sorry for the pic-heavy post, there's just so much to show you!  And there's also much to see from the Design Team over at Create with Connie & Mary...be sure to check it out and maybe you'll think about playing along with us this week!  The challenge ends on Wednesday, April 4th at Noon (EST).  Hope to see you there!

 

Supplies 

Card #1: Stripes

Stamps: Word Play; Happiest Birthday Wishes

Ink: Poppy Parade

Paper: Naturals White, Whisper White CS; Basic Gray textured CS; Attic Boutique DSP (poppy); Pocketful of Posies DSP (so saffron); Designer Patterns Stack (Neutrals-basic gray)

Xtras: Basic Gray Satin Ribbon; Basic Rhinestones.

Card #2: Blossom

Stamps: Friendly Phrases; Pursuit of Happiness; Broadsheet Alphabet; Mixed Bunch

Ink: Poppy Parade, So Saffron

Paper: Naturals White, Whisper White CS; Basic Gray textured CS; Just Add Cake DSP

Xtras: Basic Gray Satin Ribbon; Basic Rhinestones
Punches: Blossom, 1" circle, 3/4" circle, 2 1/2" circle, Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer, Boho Blossoms

In My Thoughts {CCMC191}

Happy March 1st, friends!  You know what Thursday means...it's Create with Connie & Mary day! This week its a color inspiration.  Check out these happy, spring-time colors:

 I combined our colors with this beautiful sketch from the gals over at Card Patterns:  

I really liked the layout and the unique border treatment in the sketch.  So, here's what I did with it:

Just Believe was one of those sets I just HAD to have when it came out but it's been sorely neglected in my craft room.  So, I dusted it off and colored it with Wild Wasabi and So Saffron Stampin' Write markers to create my focal image.  I needed a thinking of you card for a friend and this one from Word Play is among my favorites.  I overstamped it in Island Indigo to coordinate with the card base.

The Lace Ribbon Border punch made a lovely trim piece through which I wove a piece of So Saffron 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon and with a glue dot added a little knot and some Island Indigo Baker's Twine--love that stuff!  And that's it, pretty simple really, especially when the sketch and colors are picked out for me!

I hope I've inspired you to play along with these gorgeous colors over at Create with Connie & Mary.  Be sure to check out the amazing inspiration from the rest of the Design Team--it's sure to be a treat!  If you decide to play along with us, please link up your creation by Wednesday, March 7th at Noon (EST).  I can't wait to see what you make...happy crafting!

 

Supplies 

Stamps: Just Believe, Word Play

Ink: Island Indigo

Paper: Island Indigo, So Safforn, Whisper White CS; Patterns Designer Paper Stack (Subtles)

Xtras: Lace Ribbon border punch; So Saffron 3.8" Taffeta Ribbon; Island Indigo Baker's Twine; Wild Wasabi & So Saffron Stampin' Write markers

KA-POW, Gator Style {KKC02}

Look what I found...a new challenge!  It's the KA-POW Kreative Challenge over at my friend Carrie Gaskin's blog.  Carrie is just bursting with creative energy and I'm so excited to see what her challenge brings!  This week Carrie has this fabulous sketch for us to follow:

OK, before I show you my card...let me 'splain something.  This is a masculine card for a co-worker who LOVES football!  Specifically, GATOR football.  Gator colors are orange & blue, I mean straight up Orange and Royal Blue--yikes--not colors I use very often or ones that I even like together sooooo using Carrie's sketch and some Well Worn DSP, I made a Gator card Stampin' Up style:

Not being a huge sports fan either, LOL, I didn't have any appropriate stamps so I used My Digital Studio to color the football from the Touchdown set in Cajun Craze and print it onto Very Vanilla cardstock. I actually printed two of them so that I could layer each piece and give it some dimension:

A little Soft Suede sponging makes it gritty and a little dirty, just like it came off the field!

 The Two Tags die was a little too big for my needs so I just moved the paper down and ran it through the Big Shot again to make it smaller.  On the other end I added a Soft Suede circle, some twill and tiny tags attached with a vintage pin.

 And check out the button trim!  I threaded three retired buttons onto a single piece of linen thread and tied a knot at each end.  Glue dots on each button attached it to the card easy-peasy.

 And a quick look at the inside with another piece of Well Worn DSP and a Cajun Craze sentiment from Happiest Birthday Wishes.  And there you have it...Gator football, Stampin Up style.  I would love to hear what you think and encourage you to check out all the samples over at the KA-POW Kreative Challenge.  Best wishes to Carrie and the team!

supplies:

stamps: word play, happiest birthday wishes, tiny tags, french foliage (waterspots), touchdown (MDS)

ink: soft suede, not quite navy, cajun craze

paper: naturals ivory, soft suede, not quite navy; well worn DSP

xtras: two tags die; vintage trinkets; linen thread; designer buttons (earth--retired); medium jewelry punch; twill tape; 1 1/4" circle punch

Embossed Wedding Frame

Happy Tuesday evening all!  Tonight, I'm sharing a simple but elegant card I made for a co-worker's wedding.  The photos really don't do justice to the sparkle and sheen of this "Happy I Do Day" card.  The base is Baja Breeze over which I laid a piece of cardstock vellum embossed with the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder.

Notice the embossed envelope too!  The vellum looks so pretty covered in Dazzling Diamonds and basic pearls:

But the really cool part is the embossed oval around the sentiment which was made with the new Designer Frames embossing folders (#123130).  There are two in the set:

and their size, 4-1/2" x 2-7/8", means that you can place them just about anywhere to create an embossed frame.  Here, I sandwiched my vellum cardstock in the oval folder from the side and ran it through the Big Shot:

Isn't it pretty?  Happily, the Wide Oval punch fits right in the center too!  I used silver Stampin' Emboss powder for the Word Play sentiment and popped it out with the wide oval punch.  A little whisper white organza ribbon hid the row of snail tape at the top.  And those pearls?  Not only are they pretty, they're hiding glue dots used sporadically to hold the vellum in place!  

Would love to know what you think of tonight's card.  Let me know if you have any questions and thanks for stopping by!

supplies:
stamps: Word Play
ink: Versamark
paper: Baja Breeze, Whisper White & Vellum cardstock
xtras: Designer Frame embossing folders, Elegant Bouquet embossing folder; Wide Oval Punch; Whisper White organza ribbon; Basic Pearls; Mini Glue Dots; Dazzling Diamonds; glue pen

Worth the Wait: {PP56}

Happy Paper Players Sunday everyone!  What a great way to start off the week--with a sketch from The Paper Players!  This week the fun and fabulous Anne-Marie is our hostess and she has designed this awesome clean-and-simple sketch for you to try:

Now, the sketch is a square but I know Anne Marie won't mind if you make a traditional A2 card like I did.  I noticed a few other design team members snuck in a standard size too!  :-)  I love the circle elements in the sketch and couldn't get my mind off of buttons for this one.  So I built the card around some [retired] large designer buttons to make a welcome baby card for some friends of ours who recently welcomed a baby boy!

In addition to the buttons, I wanted to use the new Not Quite Navy 1 1/4" striped grosgrain ribbon I had left over from my ribbon share.  This ribbon is gorgeous and I love it in NQN!  I'm totally hooked on flagged ends too and my craft scissors made a quick flag on one end of the ribbon.  The other end I just looped around and adhered with snail adhesive then applied the whole piece of ribbon to my card base with sticky strip.

With the buttons and the ribbon selected, I had three colors for the sweet little turtle from Fox & Friends: Daffodil Delight, Not Quite Navy and Tangerine Tango.  The sentiment from Word Play, inked in Early Espresso, was the perfect companion to the slow and steady trio of turtles!

The buttons each received a treatment with Early Espresso Baker's Twine to dress them up nicely!  And here's a peek at the inside:

 Be sure to check out the rest of the Design Team inspiration:

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

Jaydee

Lauri Ingram

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan

Nance Leedy

Sandra Azzopardi

Tui Nathan (GD)

We hope you'll play along with us this week--we enjoy peeking at your creations and sharing the fun with you!  You have until Friday, July 29th at midnight (PST) to link up your creation over at The Paper Players--we hope to see you there!

supplies:

stamps: fox & friends; word play, a word for you

ink: early espresso, not quite navy, tangerine tango, daffodil delight

paper: very vanilla, crumb cake, early espresso CS

xtras: scallop squares duo die; early espresso bakers twine; polka dot impressions folder; not quite navy 1 1/4" striped grosgrain ribbon.

Play Along on the Open Sea: {PP48}

Hiya friends!  It's Tuesday night and we're half-way to a holiday weekend here in the States.  I can't wait for a long weekend of relaxation!  Tonight, I am so excited to share another card using my sketch for this week's Paper Players challenge.

I just received The Open Sea stamp set--I know what took me so long?--and couldn't wait to use it.  I took a little creative license with the sketch to make this:

My Basic Gray cardstock was inked up with the manifest image from The Open Sea.  Stamped randomly on one side in Basic Gray ink, overlapping to create a collage effect.  

Some Cherry Cobbler paper from the Nautical Expedition DSP was edged with a Basic Black spiral border...

and triple wrapped with Cherry Cobbler baker's twine and a Crumb Cake (AKA Kraft) corduroy button.  These buttons are retired but still available in the Clearance Rack in many fabulous colors.  Their texture is perfect for the feel of this card.

The main circle was cut with the 3" circle die (still available on the carryover list) and stamped with the map image from The Open Sea in Crumb Cake ink (stamped off once) and a Cherry Cobbler ship.  Oh my mateys, the detail on this ship is amazing!  The line art is so delicate it's incredible!

And just a quick finish to the inside with another Crumb Cake map and a Cherry Cobbler sentiment from Word Play.  These two stamp sets are just made for each other! I hope my variation on this week's Paper Players sketch will tempt you to play along.  You have until midnight (PST) Friday, May 27th to post your creation and with my birthday on Saturday, your participation would be the perfect gift (wink)!  Have a great day, my friends!

supplies:

stamps: the open sea; word play; teeny tiny wishes

paper: basic gray, whisper white, basic black CS; nautical expedition DSP

ink: cherry cobbler, basic gray, crumb cake classic ink; jet black stazon

xtras: cherry cobbler baker's twine; 3" circle die; kraft corduroy buttons [clearance rack]; spiral border punch

Paper Players Challenge Extension

So did you survive the big Blogger crash?  Whether you have your own blog or follow others it was a rough stretch for a few days in blogland.  I was lucky and didn't lose posts or info but I'm still glad they got everything working again!  One good thing that came out of the Blogger troubles is an extension to The Paper Players Colour Challenge!!  You have one more week to play along with these yummy colors:

I just received the Nautical Expedition designer paper as well as The Open Sea stamp set and couldn't wait to use both of them so I made another card with our color combo!  

Yes, it looks alot like this card from a couple days ago!  Sometimes I want to create something but don't have the mental energy to put forth, you know?  Yesterday was one of those days so I CASED myself!  This time I stamped the sailboat from Sail Away in timber brown Stazon on SU watercolor paper and brushed on some Not Quite Navy ink with my aqua painter.  I used a Cherry Cobbler base with the manifest stamp from The Open Sea as my background:

Some Early Espresso Nautical Expedition paper was crumpled and sponged with Early Espresso ink.  The Tasteful Trims die got a workout again:

but this time I wrapped it with some Cherry Cobbler baker's twine--doesn't it look oh-so-nautical?  I can't take the credit for the idea--my good friend Elizabeth came up with that fantastic idea (hi, E!).   And here's a quick peek at the inside too:

I hope you've enjoyed my sample for round 2 of our Color Challenge at The Paper Players.  I'd love to know what you think of today's card.  If you would like to play along, you have until Friday, May 20th at midnight (PST) to link up your creation at The Paper Players blog.  We hope you'll play along with us!

supplies:

stamps: sail away, the open sea, word play

paper: cherry cobbler, very vanilla CS; nautical expedition & first edition DSP; watercolor paper

ink: timber brown stazon; early espresso, not quite navy, cherry cobbler

xtras: sprial edge punch; tasteful trims die; cherry cobbler baker's twine; star designer brad [retired]

Breezy Cajun Sails {CCMC149}

Hiya friends!  Today's card started with this great sketch over at Create with Connie & Mary--those gals always have the best challenges!

I'm not sure I stuck with the sketch exactly.  :-)  It's still in there and hopefully you can recognize it although it's been flipped up and simplified a bit.  I wanted to pair with with my favorite stamp of the moment...Sail Away.  I can't put it down!  I love the line art and the movement of it--can't you just feel the Baja Breezes filling those sails?

I sure can!  The sailboat was inked first in Versamark, then Crumb Cake, stamped onto watercolor paper, sprinkled with clear stampin' emboss powder and heat set.  I lightly colored the sea and sky with my Aqua Painter and Marina Mist ink and a touch of Cajun Craze for the flag.  

The Marina Mist turned out so light that it looked better paired with Baja Breeze so I crumpled and distressed a piece of Elegant Soiree DSP, edged it with the Spiral border punch and sponged all the edges with Crumb Cake. 

Since the Sanded background stamp was sitting on my craft table from Sunday's card (yes, I hadn't cleaned up yet--shame on me!) I inked it up in Crumb Cake and stamped it on an angle on the card base.  I usually stamp it straight all over the front of the card but this card was turning out all wonky and distressed so angled seemed to fit!  My mom is laughing at this one (hi, Mom!) because she always angles everything and I always straighten out her angles!  So, this card broke all kinds of rules for me!

For the Crumb Cake trim down the side, I used the double scallop from the Tasteful Trims die.  See how both ends of the trim piece are rounded?  This die cuts a long piece of trim--about 12" actually.  So a short piece like this would have one end that was cut off.  That just wasn't acceptable!  So, I cut the cardstock a little bit longer than I actually wanted and ran it through the Big Shot to finish one edge.  Then I picked it up, turned it around so one scallop hung over the edge of the die and ran it through the Big Shot again.

 Which gave me a finished edge on both ends!  Pretty cool, huh?  

And here's the finished trim again.  I sponged the edges with Crumb Cake ink and finished it with a Vintage brad and some Early Espresso/Whisper White Baker's Twine.  You can also see that the sailboat image is matted on some colored Newsprint DSP.  It was actually a scrap, sponged with Baja Breeze, I had laying on my table from a previous effort that got put to good use here!

I made quick work of the inside with a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock, Sail Away stamped in Baja Breeze and another fabulous sentiment from Word Play overstamped in Crumb Cake ink.  You can't see it in this picture but I also stamped the Sanded background inside on the Cajun Craze base.  I can't put that one down either! :-)

So, I hope you've enjoyed the Baja Breezes of my Cajun sailboat today.  Please let me know if you have any questions and, as always, I would love to hear from you!  Have a great day, friends!

the goodies:

stamps: sail away, sanded, word play, you're a gem [retired]

paper: cajun craze, very vanilla, crumb cake CS; watercolor paper; elegant soiree & newsprint DSP

ink: baja breeze, crumb cake, early espresso classic ink; versamark

xtras: clear stampin emboss powder; early espresso baker's twine; vintage brad; tasteful trims die.