Friendly Valentine {SUO11}

Hi friends!  I have a sweet little valentine to share with you and the SU-Only Challenge design team today.  This is a card that we made a couple weeks ago in my monthly stamp club--it was a big hit!

The base is SU's Scallop Square Clear Die (a SU exclusive) that creates a 4 3/8" x 4 3/8" square.  I simply cut two from Crumb Cake cardstock, scored a line at the first scallop on both pieces and adhered the top together with sticky strip.  Easy Peasy.  There's something about small cards for Valentine's Day that warms my heart--maybe they remind me of the ones we gave and received as children.

With my base together, I inked up the hearts banner from Valentine Defined in Crumb Cake ink and stamped it 3 times across the top--it fit perfectly!

Next, I inked the tree with Pretty in Pink ink and went over just the base of the tree with an Early Espresso marker.  The EE is dark enough that it covered right over the pink.  I punched an itty bitty heart out of red glimmer paper with the 2-step owl Heart-to-Heart XL punch and popped it up on a smidgen of a stampin' dimensional.  I keep my dimensionals sheet until every scrap is gone--using the edges as little trim pieces for detail work like this.  Can't bear to throw them away!  :-)

I thought the tree looked a little bare and needed something to ground it, so I dug through my stamps until I came up with the perfect grass accent.  Do you know where this stamp came from?  Can you guess?  If you have small children--girls especially--in your house you might already have this one...Pony Party!  That's right the one that looks like My Little Pony.  I bought it for my daughter but actually it has all kinds of great little accents such as this grass, a birthday hat, rainbows and a cloud--so cute!  Anway, inked in Old Olive it was perfect for my little tree.  A sentiment from Tiny Tags in Real Red made a sweet addition to the bottom corner.  I added a scallop trim border of Glimmer Paper and tied the whole thing with a piece of Early Espresso 1/8" taffeta ribbon.

The inside needed the finishing touch so I stamped the heart banner again in Pretty in Pink and added a Teeny Tiny Wishes sentiment in Real Red.  And there you have it!  If you like this card and others that I've made you might consider joining our monthly Canopy Club virtually--check out this post if you're interested.  Thanks for stopping by today and before you go, please let me know what you think of today's card with a comment.  I love hearing from you!  Have a goodie, my friends!

supplies:

stamps: valentine defined; teeny tiny wishes; pony party

ink: real red, pretty in pink, crumb cake, old olive

paper: crumb cake, whisper white CS; red glimmer paper

xtras: scallop border punch; heart-to-heart xl punch; square scallop clear die; early espresso 1/8" taffeta ribbon; scor-pal; early espresso stampin' write marker

Color Dare Blossom {95}

Hello, Color Dare fans!  It's Wednesday and that means another color combo from Riley at the Color Dare.  Our colors are so lovely this week that I couldn't wait to share them with you: Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight and Basic Black.  I added Whisper White as another neutral to make this cheerful birthday card:

You Like?  I am pleased with the results and it will make the perfect birthday card for my husband's grandmother who turns 101--yes, one hundred and one(!)--on Saturday.  Nothing very tricky about this one so I'll keep it short and let the pictures do the talking:

A Daffodil Delight center stamped and punched with a 1" circle punch and accented with a black jewel brad from my stash (i.e. contraband)!

Daffodil Delight 1 1/4" striped grosgrain ribbon given the scrunchy treatment--love this ribbon!

The Framed Tulips embossing folder with some adhesive Black basic jewels [retired from holiday mini].

So what do you think?  I would love to hear from you.  I hope you can make time in your stamp space this week to play along with these yummy colors.  Be sure to check out the rest of the Design Team for more fabulous inspiration.  Then come on back to the Color Dare blog and link up your creation so we can come visit you!  Enjoy the rest of your week, my friends!

• Riley - our leader
• Glenda - Papers, Scissors and Rocks
• Heather - Princess Scrapper Stamper
• Joan - JJ Creations
• Marisa - Rosemary Reflections
• Melissa - My Paper Obsession

supplies:
stamps: build-a-blossom; birthdays count

ink: marina mist, daffodil delight, jet black stazon

paper: whisper white, basic black, daffodil delight CS

xtras: daffodil delight 1.25" striped grosgrain ribbon; black jewels; brad from my stash; framed tulip embossing folder; blossom petals punch

Laughter is {Heal}thy

Oh my goodness, the first Paper Players blog hop was a resounding success!  I am simply stunned and amazed at how many of you visited this blog 'o' mine yesterday and left such sweet comments!  I treasure each and every one of them.  It was so nice to hear from old friends and new friends and a few that I didn't even know I had ;-).  Big hugs to all of you for stopping by.  If you left your email or blog address, I intend to visit you it just may take me awhile to get through to everyone! :-)

So I have a quick little card to share with you today that needs a little back story.  A dear friend and colleague recently completed a very successful round of chemotherapy.  We were all soooo happy for her and wanted to celebrate this milestone.  She has had the best attitude through everything and I wanted to make her a happy, vibrant, upbeat card to match her personality!  I also need to tell you that her maiden name is....Button.  I know, how cool is that?!  So here is the card I made for her:

So more of the fun and fabulous Sweet Stitches DSP took center stage here with a strip of [retired] Tempting Turquoise DSP and that fun button border!  Now before you go looking for it in the SU catalog, I'll tell you that it's "contraband", that means non-SU!  Shhh.  I don't own it but had to use it while visiting my mom a few weeks ago.  Isn't it perfect?! 

and the punched needle was just crying out for an embellishment so a little bit of embroidery floss tied onto a Daffodil Delight button was the perfect touch!

and a quick peek at the inside with a sentiment from Curly Cute.  I think it did the trick as she squealed with delight when she opened it!  And that's what I love about giving a handmade card--making something uniquely personal that just makes someone's day.

You all certainly made my day yesterday so I hope this has brightened your day just a little--have a great one my friends!

supplies:

stamps: curly cute, word play

ink: early espresso, tempting turquoise

paper: early espresso, whisper white, daffodil delight CS; sweet stitches DSP

xtras: button border punch (EK Success); embroidery floss; designer buttons (brights); corner rounder punch

Paper Players Blog Hop: PP32

Hi everyone and welcome to stop #9 on the first ever Paper Players Blog Hop!  I'm so glad you could join us on our hop through all the new products in the Spring Mini Catalog!  If you're following the hop, you've arrived here from Marlene Peters's blog where I'm sure you found loads of inspiration!  I am so exited to share my favorite stamp set from the mini catalog with you, Sew Suite:

 

I started with an Early Espresso base and using another favorite--Pattern Pieces--stamped the patterns onto some Daffodil Delight cardstock creating my own background paper.  I am a big fan of paper piecing--probably because I'm not great at coloring(!)--and I love the way the mannequins look in all the papers from the Sweet Stitches line.  I stamped the gals in Early Espresso onto Whisper White CS and then again on 3 different papers.  I cut them out and adhered two with SNAIL and the middle one with dimensionals.

A lady just isn't dressed without her pearls so I trimmed each gal at the waist with a row of adhesive Basic Pearls.  Such a fun little touch!  I matched one of the mannequins to the strip of DSP I used along the side to pull it all together.

And my other favorite item is this adorable Melon Mambo Pom-Pom trim!  Isn't it just the cutest?!  So perfectly coordinated to the designer paper.

Now, it wouldn't be a blog hop without a little candy so I offer you one of my favorite items, the can't-hardly-make-a-card-without-it...Polka Dot Impressions Folder!  To win, all you have to do is become a follower of my blog, become a follower of The Paper Players blog and leave me a comment here telling me that you did so!  If you're already a follower of my blog, then sign up at The Paper Players and then leave me a comment.  And if you're already a follower of both my blog and The Paper Players, then just let me know in a comment! (and big hugs to you!)  I will draw a random winner from all those who follow and leave a comment and post the winner on Sunday February 6th!

In the meantime, be sure to check out our challenge this week at The Paper Players--it's anything goes!  We can't wait to see your creations and peek into your blog.

Happy hopping!

1. Anne-Marie Hile- www.stampinanne.blogspot.com 
2. Ann Schach- www.stampinchic.com 
3. Jaydee- http://www.jaydeestamping.com 
4. Jeanne Kupsh- http://happy-jeannie.blogspot.com/
5. Julie Gearinger- http://stampingwithjuliegearinger.blogspot.com/
6. LeAnne Pugliese- www.weeinklings.blogspot.com
7. Lesley Croghan- www.alwaysplayingwithpaper.blogspot.com
8. Marlene Peters- http://marlenehandson.blogspot.com/
9. >>you're here>>Nance Leedy- /http://nanceleedy.blogspot.com

supplies:

stamps: sew suite, pattern pieces, puns from the past

ink: daffodil delight, early espresso

paper: early espresso, whisper white, daffodil delight

xtras: melon mambo pom-pom trim; basic pearls

Pretty in Spring {CD94}

Happy Wednesday everyone and welcome to another week of The Color Dare.  This week Riley has chosen a happy springtime combination for us: Pear Pizzazz, Pretty in Pink and Perfect Plum.  So soft and pretty!

With colors like these, I just had to go the springtime route even though it is nowhere near spring--not even here in Florida!  I cut a Whisper White oval with my Scallop Oval Frame die and stamped the little girl silhouette from Easter Blossoms in Pretty in Pink.  so sweet.  I love how the oval looks like an Easter egg!  Next I ran the Pear Pizzazz card base through the Framed Tulip embossing folder.  The pear polka dot DSP is from the level one hostess pack and is matted with Perfect Plum.  You might remember from last week's Color Dare post that when I color stumps me, I try to use less of it than the other colors.  Perfect Plum has always been a stumper (hi Diane) for me.  But here, it tones down the pastels just enough.

I stamped the Perfect Plum strip behind the bow with a row of eggs from Nature Walk.  They're mostly hidden but I like that--it makes you want to peek around the bow to see what's behind there.

I made a big bow with Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon and with a piece of Linen Thread tied this little flower button onto the bow.  I just trimmed the thread short and tucked it behind the ribbon.  Our largest basic pearl fits snugly in the center and because they're self-adhesive it stays in place!

More cherry blossoms from the same set for the inside--stamped in Pear Pizzazz and colored with a Blushing Bride marker (I don't have a PIP marker!).  Love this sentiment and stamped in Perfect Plum, it pulls all the challenge colors together!

So there you have it: speckled eggs, cherry blossoms, tulips and a little girl in her Sunday best!  All the ingredients for happy springtime wishes!  If only that's what it took to make spring, spring!  We'll have to wait a while longer for but you don't have to wait to check out the rest of the design team inspiration on their blogs:

• Riley - our leader
• Glenda - Papers, Scissors & Rocks
• Heather - Princess Scrapper Stamper
• Joan - JJ Creations
• Marisa - Rosemary Reflections
• Melissa - My Paper Obsession

Gonna make this one short on the details...I'm pooped!  Thanks for stopping by and, as always, I would love to hear what you think.  I read each and every comment--sometimes more than once(!)--and appreciate them all!  Have a great day everyone!