How stinkin' cute are these little lovebirds? Totally cute with the assistance of the 2-Step Owl Punch. It was one of the first items from the new catalog on my wish list. Love how it punches all the separate pieces so you can customize your owls. And SU's double-sided designer paper makes coordination a breeze! I love this new Play Date designer paper--so fun and whimsical! All the patterns featured here are from the same DSP--so cute!
The sketch is very loosely based on this one over at Create with Connie & Mary. Yes, very loosely based...but it's just supposed to be an inspiration, right? :-)
Since this is an anniversary card for my MIL & FIL, I wanted to make one of the owls a little feminine. I really wanted to give her a bow but the owls are so tiny, none of my ribbon is thin enough. I tried linen thread but that didn't pop and then it dawned on me...embroidery floss! So I made her a little green bow (it's almost old olive isn't it?!) with some red bling. Now she's dressed and ready for her anniversary dinner!On the inside I repeated the Funky Four mushrooms coloring and stamping with Stampin' Write markers in Tempting Turquoise, 
Chocolate Chip, Old Olive and Real Red. These are perfect for my MIL because she loves to draw mushroom houses with our daughter!I used a combination of sentiments here. The first is from a level 2 hostess set Occasional Quotes, which has many sentiments for use both outside and inside a card. Again, I colored it with Stampin Write markers. "Celebrate Today" is from a retired fave Starring You and was inked up in Tempting Turquoise. I already mailed this one otherwise I would show you that the coordinating envelope was stamped with the same colorful mushrooms--it's a little sneak peek for the recipient to what's inside. I hope this one brings a smile to your face...thanks so much for stopping by...Cheers!edit 8/11/10: So excited this card was a Top Three choice at Create with Connie & Mary! Thanks ladies, I'm delighted you liked my card!supplies:
stamps: funky four; occasional quotes, starring you; teeny tiny wishes
ink: chocolate chip, tempting turquoise
paper: play date dsp; so saffron, chocolate chip, real red & whisper white CS
xtras: 2-step bird punch (branches); stampin' write markers in tempting turquoise, chocolate chip, old olive and real red; circle nesties; dmc embroidery floss; adhesive rhinestone from my stash
Tonight I have an entry for two of my favorite weekly challenges to share with you. Lesley and the design team over at Paper Players challenged us with a "vintage" theme and boy, is that ever a challenge for me! Is there such a thing as too much vintage?! This card has been distressed, smudged, spritzed, shimmered, embossed and stamped within an inch of it's life! I'm not sure but...I think I like it!The color scheme was
inspired by another favorite over at Stacey's Stamping Stage. I did take a little artistic liberty and changed the neutral from Whisper White to Very Vanilla to better coordinate with this lovely bit of Victoria Crochet Trim from the new SU catalog. Otherwise, the colors stayed true using Night of Navy, Marina Mist and Crumb Cake. What a beautiful
combination! 
At stamp club with my upline this week, we made these wonderful flowers with the Scallop Circle Punch. I don't know where this technique originated...if anyone knows please tell me so I can give proper credit. You can use as many layers of scallop circles as you wish depending on how full you want your flower to be. For this one, I used 5 Marina Mist scalloped circles--4 punched with the 1 3/4" Scallop Circle punch and 1 using the 2 3/8" Scallop Circle punch (new). The technique is super simple:
- Punch desired number of scalloped circles.
- Punch a small hole in the approximate center of each circle. I used my 1/16" circle punch but you could also use a Crop-o-Dile or even pierce a hole. Don't worry if the hole isn't in the center--you want each layer to be a bit wonky so it looks more natural.
- Using a regular spray bottle, spritz each circle with water so it is covered. I just held it in the palm of my hand and sprayed a couple times.
- Scrunch each circle in your hand.
- Unfold each circle and layer them one of top of the other, aligning the center holes and with the largest circle at the back.
- Place a small brad through all layers of the flower.
- Starting with the top layer, scrunch up each scalloped circle until it looks the way you want it to look. You can spray the entire flower with water a few more times to get the desired effect.
- Set your flower aside to dry--should take about 15 minutes or so. You'll be amazed at how quicky it dries and how beautiful it is when finished! Leave me a comment if you would like me to post a photo tutorial on how this is done. I've been thinking I need to start doing some tutorials so this might be a good place to start--let me know if you're interested.
Before my flower dried, I used SU's Color Spritzer and an Early Espresso Stampin' Write marker to give it an aged, vintage look. After color spritzing, I sprayed on a mixture of Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint and rubbing alcohol for some extra sparkle and glitz! I warned you this one was spritzed within an inch of it's life! LOL. (click on the photo above to get a better look at the shimmered spritz!)
Finally, the inside. A piece of Very Vanilla was stamped with the En Francais background stamped I used on the front. Also stamped in Crumb Cake but this time I stamped off twice so it looks almost like a watermark. I wanted a soft and washed-out image that wouldn't compete with any writing on the inside. The little piece of Marina Mist is punched with my new favorite punch--Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border--and the Night of Navy flower is from Charming. And because I couldn't 
let well enough alone (!), I sponged the edges of the inside with Crumb Cake just as I did on the sentiment oval from the front. That little background stamp in the oval? It's from Charming too and is also stamped in Crumb Cake...pretty, eh? Maybe I do like this vintage thing after all...what do you think? Don't forget to go check out all the other vintage entries at the Paper Players Challenge and the beautiful colors at the Curtain Call. It's always fun to play along...cheers!8/8/10 edit: I'm so excited! Stacey chose this card as the LEAD in the Curtain Call Color Challenge {Act 41}. I just can't believe it...I'm thrilled...thank you!8/9/10 edit: WOW! Just found out that this card also made it as a Cut Above at the Paper Players...a big thank you to Lesley and the design team! Hmmm, maybe vintage is my style afterall. :-)supplies:
stamps: en francais; charming; because i care
ink: night of navy, marina mist & crumb cake
paper: crumb cake, night of navy, marina mist, very vanilla cardstock
xtras: vintage wallpaper impressions folder; 1 3/4" scallop circle, 2 3/8" scallop circle, wide oval, 1/16" circle; dotted scallop ribbon border punches; lots of tags & little leaves sizzlit dies; victoria crochet trim; basic pearls; champagne shimmer paint; color spritzer; early espresso stampin write marker
Just a quick post tonight to share a card for a friend at work. I received the happy task of making birthday cards for everyone at work and love it! This one is for a male co-worker who enjoys the outdoors...I hope he likes it.I love the look of sponging color onto SU's glossy white paper. The first time I tried it, I was so surprised that I could use Classic Ink without it rubbing off. Here, I sponged Daffodil Delight, So Saffron and Pumpkin Pie for the sky as well as Old Olive and Always Artichoke for the land. A 1 3/8" circle punch provided the mask to create the setting sun. Early Espresso provided a deep rich brown for a stand of trees from Lovely as a Tree. So glad that set made it into the new catalog again--it's a classic.The other elements are easy enough to figure out but I do have some "contraband" products in use here from PTI. Just adore their woodgrain impression plate and the sentiment is from a fillable frames set. Thanks for looking...cheers!
supplies:
stamps: lovely as a tree; fillable frames #4 (PTI)
ink: Daffodil Delight, So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Always Artichoke & Early Espresso
paper: old olive, very vanilla, early espresso, peach parfait
xtras: chocolate chip striped grosgrain ribbon, top note die, 1 3/4" circle punch, linen thread, pumpkin pie corduroy buttons (retired), woodgrain impression plate (PTI)
I am not usually a fan of purple and, in fact, have previously tried to use Perfect Plum with little success. Maybe I just needed to give it the starring role to reveal it's true perfection. Leave it to the fine design team at Pals Paper Arts to show us how great a monochromatic color scheme can be. This week it was purple...I literally groaned when I read it (!)...but the need arose for a card to give to a dear friend who likes purple and lo and behold this one was born. I actually like it, alot. There are so many fun new things here that I just love. First the Elegant Lines impressions folder makes such a statement for just $7.95. Second, the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch is so pretty and subtle. Kind of the best of both the scallop edge and eyelet border punches. Third...adhesive PEARLS...say no more! And lastly, adore the Just Believe stamp set. Proving it's versatility here on a sympathy card.
I tried a new-to-me technique that worked very well. I wanted to emboss the flower silhouette image but I didn't want my embossed image the same color as my paper. Usually to emboss in a color, you would use Craft Ink in the desired color + clear embossing powder but I don't have any Perfect Plum craft ink so I fudged a little. I used regular Classic ink in Perfect Plum + Versamark + clear embossing powder. Here's how I did it:
- Ink the image in Perfect Plum and stamp on colored cardstock (here I used lovely lilac-retired) using my trusty Stamp-a-ma-jig. Clean stamp.
- Next, ink the same image in Versamark and using the same Stamp-a-ma-jig, stamp directly over the Perfect Plum. If you use the Stamp-a-ma-jig carefully, it will line up just right.
- Sprinkle with clear embossing powder and heat set.
- The end result is an embossed Perfect Plum image without Perfect Plum craft ink! I was thrilled to discover how easy it was.
Just a little bit more to show you...here is the inside. Love how beautifully the frame stamp from 
Just Believe surrounds so many phrases...big and small as seen here with Teeny Tiny Wishes. The sentiment is inked in Rich Razzleberry which coordinates with the 1/4" grosgrain ribbon and sentiment on the front. So I managed to use 3 different colors of purple...not bad for being out of my own little color chart!
Another strip of Dotted Scallop "Ribbon" adds just an extra special something. And, doesn't the inside of the embossing folder look just as pretty as the outside?OK, that's it for today...thanks so much for stopping by. I would love to know what you think of my purple creation...cheers!supplies:
stamps: just believe; teeny tiny wishes
ink: perfect plum, rich razzleberry; versamark
paper: perfect plum, very vanilla, lovely lilac (retired) cardstock
xtras: dotted scallop border & 1 3/4" circle punches; stamp-a-ma-jig; adhesive pearls; clear embossing powder; elegant lines textured impressions EF; rich razzleberry 1/4" grosgrain ribbon.
My mom taught me to sew when I was 7. It was not a common hobby for my generation but I loved it! My earliest sewing memory is making handkerchief blouses that were successful enough to sell to my fellow fifth grade friends! It was an early introduction to the pride of handcrafting which continues to this day. Today, my daughter enjoys helping with the cutting and sewing is always very proud when she wears a "made by mama" outfit! While on vacation in Michigan last week, my mom introduced me to her favorite craft store...Archiver's. When I saw this Sew Stylish set there, it was a must-have! OMG! I was in heaven at that store. It's probably a good thing there isn't one in Florida, LOL! The color combination is a little out of my comfort zone but I actually like it and think it works well with the images. The Crumb Cake base was stamped with Versamark using a companion stamp made up of pattern pieces. Might be able to see it better here:
I stamped the oh-sew-stylish lady in Chocolate Chip on a Very Vanilla Top Note and sponged the edges with a little cat's eye ink pad (sorry can't remember the color and I'm too tired to go get it right now!) Her outfit was colored with a Real Red marker with a few "white" spaces peeking through to highlight the "fabric" and show movement. In my head her suit is a plaid wool boucle (a la Chanel) and I think the Square Lattice impressions folder on the Night of Navy cardstock evokes the texture of my imaginary fabric. 
Lastly, you can't sew without a tape measure so I stamped the measuring tape image from this set on a strip of daffodil delight and created my own measuring stick! And I love the little bit of chocolate PTI baker's twine threaded through the fun yellow button. (Thanks Mom!)Thanks for stopping by and indulging my little trip down memory lane. Have a great day!supplies:
stamps: sew stylish & make your own (hero arts)
ink: chocolate chip, versamark
paper: crumb cake, very vanilla, night of navy, daffodil delight cardstock
xtras: top note die, square lattice impressions folder, baker's twine (PTI), real red stampin' write marker,
How stinkin' cute are these little lovebirds? Totally cute with the assistance of the 2-Step Owl Punch. It was one of the first items from the new catalog on my wish list. Love how it punches all the separate pieces so you can customize your owls. And SU's double-sided designer paper makes coordination a breeze! I love this new Play Date designer paper--so fun and whimsical! All the patterns featured here are from the same DSP--so cute!
Since this is an anniversary card for my MIL & FIL, I wanted to make one of the owls a little feminine. I really wanted to give her a bow but the owls are so tiny, none of my ribbon is thin enough. I tried linen thread but that didn't pop and then it dawned on me...embroidery floss! So I made her a little green bow (it's almost old olive isn't it?!) with some red bling. Now she's dressed and ready for her anniversary dinner!
Chocolate Chip, Old Olive and Real Red. These are perfect for my MIL because she loves to draw mushroom houses with our daughter!
