Hello Thursday Design Team!

Oh my gosh, I've been busting at the seams to share my news with you!  I am delighted to report that...I received an invitation to join the Create with Connie & Mary Thursday Design Team!!  This is a huge honor to me as I have been playing along with their challenges for awhile and find them among my faves.  Now, I am excited to share them with you!  OK, enough about me (LOL) you came here for a card and a card you shall have but first...this week's challenge!  It's a sketch challenge--don't you just love sketches?  

I flipped the sketch on it's side and made this:

Isn't it happy?!  Last week I was working on a big project with the Playful Polka Dots Simply Scrappin' Kit and many of the elements on today's card are left-overs from the kit...

including this big Daffodil Delight polka dot scalloped circle onto which I layered three Rose Red flowers from Fabulous Florets.  I tucked in a few polka dot leaves from the kit--love how they repeat the polka dots in the circle and the embossed background.  And what is my favorite companion pattern to polka dots?

Why stripes of course!  This fun paper is just one of the great patterns included exclusively in the Simply Scrappin' kit.  Aren't those colors great together?  The banner tag was cut from the Petal Cone die and stamped in Old Olive with a sentiment from Happy Greetings. 

and I used an left-over piece on the inside trimmed out with a Rose Red scallop ribbon border.

In lieu of the two brads from the sketch, I used the polka dot embossing folder and wrapped the whole front panel in some yummy Rose Red seam binding ribbon.  Love how this ribbon ties so easily!  Thank you for stopping by today and sharing in my happy news!  Be sure to stop by and see what the other Create with Connie & Mary Design Team members did with this week's sketch--you'll find tons of inspiration!  We hope you'll play along with us!

supplies:

stamps: fabulous florets, happy greetings

ink: rose red, old olive

paper: playful polka dots simply scrappin' kit

xtras: polka dot impressions folder; rose red seam binding ribbon; scallop ribbon border punch; petal cone die

Dreaming in the Garden: {CCMC153} {CI158}

Hiya friends!  I am continuing my spotlight of retiring stamps and accessories with another Thank You card.  My birthday was last weekend so, I've got a lot of thank you cards to send--lucky me!  Another favorite of mine on the Last Chance list is Dream Garden and when I saw this week's sketch at Create with Connie & Mary, I immediately thought of the cranes in this set:

Then, I went looking for a color challenge suitable for an Asian-inspired card and found these over at Stamping 411's Color Inspiration #158:

OK!  So off I went to my craft room.  And after fiddling around a bit--took me awhile to get the Certainly Celery just right--here's what I came up with:

See how the three panels of the crane stamp line up with the three panels in the sketch?  I stamped the cranes 3 times in Peach Parfait on So Saffron cardstock and matted the panel with Peach Parfait.  The Very Vanilla circle was cut with a circle nesties and I used the rock 'n' roll technique for the geisha image.  

I inked her first in So Saffron then rolled the edge of the stamp around on a Peach Parfait ink pad and then again, lightly, on a Real Red ink pad.  After I stamped her onto the circle I used a q-tip to add a little Very Vanilla Smooch Spritz directly on the image for a pearl effect. 

I used another retired favorite, Embrace Life, for the beautiful bamboo fronds that were stamped on the circle in Certainly Celery and on the background in So Saffron.  I love how it makes her look like she is praying in a bamboo grove.

I also grounded her with a Blender Pen and Certainly Celery ink.  Without it she appeared to be floating--much better to be on the ground!  :-)  That's a little bit of Subtles Patterns Designer Series Paper stack in Certainly Celery peeking below the circle and some lovely Certainly Celery 1/4" grosgrain ribbon.

Here is the crane stamp again on the inside--just a single stamp inked in Certainly Celery and stamped off once.  Happy Greetings from the summer mini catalog provided the perfect sentiment inked up in Peach Parfait.


So, what do you think of my Dream Garden card?  I'd love to hear from you!  Remember, we've got a Kind Thanks challenge going on over at The Paper Players this week so come check us out!  Thanks for stopping by today and I hope wherever you are today...it's a good one! :-)

supplies:

stamps: dream garden, embrace life, happy greetings

ink: so saffron, certainly celery, peach parfait, real red

paper: so saffron, very vanilla, peach parfait CS; subtles DSP stack

xtras: circle nesties; certainly celery 1/4" grosgrain ribbon; blender pen; very vanilla smooch spritz

Sunny Flip Flop Fun: {CQC87}

Happy June 1st, everyone! It's been ages since I played along with a Colour Q challenge and I couldn't wait to make a bright and happy card with Colour Que #87 this week:

Isn't that little owl the cutest?  I'm pretty sure that I had a sundress or some other summer outfit in these colors when I was a kid and they just make me happy!  Summer, of course, means flip-flops so I inked up the Sunny Fun stamp set for the first time to make this card:

Love those flip-flops, don't you?!  I started with a Soft Suede card base, rounded one corner and added some Soft Suede spritzing with my Color Spritzer tool to give the illusion of sand.  Here's a closer look:

For the main panel, I cut a strip of cardstock in Pumpkin Pie, Crushed Curry and Melon Mambo and stamped a portion of the flip flops onto each strip in Versamark ink, sprinkled on white stampin' emboss powder and heat set.  

 Next, I laid all three strips face down and taped them together with sticky strip.  One edge was not quite even so the tabletop paper cutter made a nice clean edge over all three panels.  Then I added some small basic rhinestones to each of the flowered flip-flops because even your flip-flops have to have bling...at least mine do, lol!

I ran a piece of Whisper White cardstock through the Square Lattice embossing folder and tore the left edge.  I wanted this panel to look like a towel laying on the sand and the Square Lattice folder is a great one for adding a fabric-like texture.  Tui Nathan had a great banner tag on this card which inspired my sentiment panel--thanks Tui!  You really must check out her work--it's amazing!  For the sentiment, I ran a piece of Soft Suede through the Big Shot with the Petal Cone die to make the banner tag.  Did you notice it's a bit smaller than the die?  Using the same technique I introduced on this card, I laid the banner back down in the die and ran it through the Big Shot again to make the banner shorter with a perfect edge.    I heat embossed the "Hello" sentiment from Happy Greetings with white stampin' embossing powder, punched a small hole in each end and looped some linen thread through each hole.  I secured the thread on the back with a piece of tape--easy!

And here is a not-so-great look at the inside.  The storm clouds were gathering as I snapped this pic so I didn't have time for a do-over!  More Sunny Fun flip-flops along the edge in Crushed Curry, a piece of Pumpkin Pie patterned designer paper and a Melon Mambo sentiment from Happy Greetings finished it off!

Thanks for stopping in today...I would love to know what you think of my sunny flip-flop card!  Until next time, have a great day friends!

supplies:

stamps: sunny fun, happy greetings

paper: soft suede, whisper white, melon mambo, pumpkin pie, crushed curry [retired]; brights pattern dsp stack

ink: versamark, crushed curry [retired], melon mambo

xtras: petal cone die; square lattice embossing folder; linen thread; white stampin' emboss powder;

basic rhinestones; color spritzer; soft suede stampin' write marker

Paper Players CAS Sketch: {PP43}

Welcome to Paper Players Sunday! It's a good thing I have to post a card for the Paper Players because otherwise this blog would be pretty quiet (insert chirping crickets here). I'm not sure if life will ever slow down but lately it's been difficult to find time in my craft room! :-(  Anywhoooo...so glad it's a clean-and-simple challenge this week! We have a great sketch from Jaydee for you:

and here is my card:

The Wild Wasabi base was stamped with a random pattern of single stamps from Button, Button.  This is such a cute set with 18 different button selections that coordinate with some of our punches!  I stamped the buttons in Versamark and heat embossed with clear embossing powder for a glossy effect:

You might be thinking that I stamped each of those little buttons separately.  I could...but I didn't!  I used our largest clear block (F), placed all the buttons in a collage pattern on the block and stamped the whole thing just once! 

How easy is that?  Next, I trimmed some of my very favorite Sweet Stitches designer paper with an Early Espresso scalloped border.  Did you spot the sneak peek product?  If you follow any other Stampin' Up blogs, you no doubt have seen the Four Frames stamp set that is currently available to customers as a pre-order this month.  The set of 4 stamps coordinates with the Decorative Label punch for a perfect label every time!  Here I used the polka dot frame in Melon Mambo on Very Vanilla.

The sentiment, from Hello Again, was stamped in Wild Wasabi on Very Vanilla and punched out with the Large Oval punch.  I popped it up on dimensionals and added a little Early Espresso ribbon tail underneath topped off with a Daffodil Delight flower button.  That's a little snip of Early Espresso cardstock threaded through the button holes for instant matching "thread".

 Here's another sneak peek for you--Happy Greetings provided the wonderful sentiment I used on the inside--just one of the many new stamps and goodies awaiting you in the Summer Mini Catalog.  I finished it off with a scrap of designer paper and a few buttons stamped in Wild Wasabi, Melon Mambo and Daffodil Delight.

I hope you like today's card and that you will play along with The Paper Players this week.  You have until midnight (PST) Friday, April 22nd to load your fabulous creation at The Paper Players.  I hope to see you there!  Have a great day, my friends.

the goodies:

stamps: button button, hello again, four frames, happy greetings

ink: wild wasabi, melon mambo, early espresso, daffodil delight, versamark

paper: wild wasabi, early espresso & very vanilla CS; sweet stitches DSP

xtras: clear block "F"; large oval, decorative label, & scallop trim border punches; brights designer buttons; clear embossing powder