Hand Stamped Sentiments #150

Sooo, looks like I haven't blogged in over a month.  I was thinking about it, so does that count?  No, I don't think it does.

However, today I finally sat down and took time to take a picture of something that I made.  Again, Hand Stamped Sentiments had a lovely colour challenge to work with.  It's the same palette that you can find on one of the new DSPs in the new catalogue.

Pool Party and Primrose Petals are both fairly gentle colours and the black makes them really pop.  A little background embossing adds a gentle girly element, and you can't go wrong with butterflies!

Twitterpated Part III

On Monday I am hosting a card buffet so today I was bust preparing everything.  This one includes 8 different designs ranging from simple to elaborate.  I tried to include a few cards that showcased paper more than stamping to change things up a little.

I still have a bunch of this paper left over and since the mini's over next month I want to use it up while it's still current.  I love the gate fold design of this card, and the belly band offers one more place to show another of the patterns.

I am not really a huge fan of Riding Hood Red, but thus DSP is certainly doing a good job of changing my mind in it. Maybe I'll play with it a little tomorrow and see what I can come up with.

Needed More Mojo

For the Mojo Monday challenge yesterday I used Twitterpated.  I was not terribly in love with the card, but I convinced myself that I liked it well enough.  However, upon entering my craftroom this morning, I realized that I still felt it was lacking something, so I pulled the paper out again and began playing.

I have a binder on my desk with old sketches on it that I wanted to get to, but never did.  I flipped through this morning and found this layout.  It gave me a few options for displaying the different patterns, so I went for it.  Mother's Day isn't right around the corner, but I figured it would be a good time to make my cards up now so I am not scrambling later on.

I'm MUCH happier with this card.  I recently purchased the Textured Impressions pads and pulled them out to have a little play.  I just wanted something subtle in the background, and the Damask print was perfect for this DSP.  I added a few of the coordinating buttons to finish it off, and voila!  1 mum's day card down, 1 to go.

Mojo Monday 232

It's the first Monday of SPRING BREAK!  This means that I get to stay in bed until I feel like getting up (which, incidentally, was 5:50am this morning so I could take a colleague to the bus to Vancouver en route to Italy).

So after I crawled out of my cocoon the second time I meandered into my craft room and started my morning surfing.   I've had a package of Twitterpated sitting around that I haven't used yet, and this sketch practically yelled it out.

I'm a big fan of Very Vanilla, and hardly ever use white.  It's just so...bright.  Glaring.  Stark.  White.  That said, this was quite a challenge for me.  However much I dislike that palest of shades, I'm pretty happy with this one overall.  I haven't added a sentiment yet, but I feel like it would be nice for Mother's Day.

Mojo Monday 231

What's this?!  A card before work?!  How unusual!  I am an early-riser.  Even when I don't have to be.  So even though I don't have to be at work until almost 9:00, I was still up at 6:00.  That left me time to make a card!  I never have time during the week to play with Mojo Monday while it's still current, so I was VERY excited this morning when I have the chance.

SAB is coming to an end this month so I am trying to use up the paper while it's still current, and this layout was perfect for showcasing all of the coordinating patterns.  I'm also in love with rolled roses right now, so I got two birds with one stone on this one.

Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge 243

On Monday night after work my husband and I came home and had leftover turkey dinner and sat down to watch a movie.  The plan was to watch a movie and then go to bed and read for a bit, but the movie was over at 8:00, and I couldn't convince him to go to bed that early.  So what did I do?  Came into my craftroom and started blog surfing.

I found this sketch on Stamping 411 and the card popped into my head immediately.  I love it when that happens.  Instead of taking an hour from start to finish, I whipped up this card in less than 30 minutes.  It's amazing what you can accomplish with a sketch and a stamp in mind.

I love the colour combo of Soft Suede and Very Vanilla.  I usually want to turn cards like this into wedding cards (think "Happy I Do Day" in place of the "Stay" sentiment), but I figured I'd stick with friendship for now.

The card looked nice with the Doily stamp but I felt the need to emboss it as well.  Makes it nice and rich.  I love layers and textures so I'm pretty please with the whole thing.

Sale-a-bration!

On January 24th Sale-a-bration starts again!  I love this event.  For each $60 order you place, you get to choose a free item.  These aren't junky no-one-wants-them-so-let's-give-them-away items either.  There are a few items from the IB&C (buttons, brads, stamps, paper, etc.) and as always, there are a couple of amazing items exclusively for SAB.  The DSP you see here is called Everyday Enchantment, and is part of SAB.  See those cute little brads over on the corner?  They're included in a bundle with some gorgeous organdy ribbon.

The sentiment shown on this card is from the new mini.  For the cling mount set the cost is $33.95.  Those amazing shapes under it?  Made in flash with the new Framelits Die.  For a set of 6 of these coordinating dies you pay only $32.95.  Order these 2 items and choose one of the SAB items for FREE!  Who doesn't love free stuff?!

I'll post a link to the SAB catalogue as soon as it goes live!  As an extra thank you from me each month during SAB, customers that place an order through me will have their name put in a draw for some great prizes including paper shares from current DSPs, coordinating ribbon shares for Attic Boutique and Twitterpated, free stamp sets, and more!  Each $60 order (pre tax & shipping) gets you one entry.  The draws will be held on the last day of each month and posted the following morning.  Shopping in my online store?  You're in the draw too!  Until then, look through your IB&C and the new mini and make yourself a wish list!

Joy Fold

I am ADDICTED to Pinterest.  It is the worst time-hole of all.  I'll give myself 10 minutes before I go to bed, and then I look at the clock and realize I've just spent an hour farting around.  However, you can find some really good stuff whilst doing just that.  I've seen a bunch of pins with these little seeds colour pallets and never bothered to find the source.  I did yesterday though!

This morning as I was doing my regular rounds of my favourite blogs I found a joy fold card on Mary Fish's site.  I immediately wanted to make one.  The many layers lend themselves to a multi-colour card well.  Then I remembered the pallet, and voila!

I was rather pleased with myself after making this one.  So I call my husband in and proudly show him,"Isn't this a nice one?"  His response:  "It's pretty busy.  I mean, for mailing, you know.  It's really...thick."  I'll tell you something that's really thick alright.  Dud moment for him on that one.

Whether or not he thinks it's a great as I do, it was fun to make and I think I'll try and find a way to work this into my next stamp class.  The Tea Shoppe set was the perfect match for these colours too.  Overall, I think of my granny-twin tea cousin when I look at this card.  Yep, that's you Amber. :)

I made a little flap on the back of this card to act as a stand so that it could be displayed once it was opened.  It's got just a nice little space inside for writing a little note to a lovely friend.

A La Card Monkey 90

After I spent a luxurious two hours on the couch reading, sipping coffee, and snuggling with the pets, I finally decided to get dressed and do something productive.  By productive, I meant fun.  So into the craft room I went!  I knew I wanted to continue working with my new Attic Boutique, so I poked around for some sketches.  A La Card Monkey won this week.  I love love LOVE the colour combos on this DSP.

Speaking of this DSP, if you'd like a share of it (one 6 X 6 piece of each 12 designs) please check this post.

Attic Boutique

 The new Stampin Up Occasions Mini has a LOT of good things in it.  Don't ask me if I've already ordered most for myself (I have).  Attic Boutique is one of the new DSPs and I am smitten.  I love the mix of colours and the patters they've chosen.  Perfect as a simple card layered with just a little ribbon.  For this first one I clear embossed the Medallion background stamp and then took my brayer and covered the rest up with Soft Suede.  The new Pool Party seam binding ribbon really caps it off.  This is one of the cards my ladies will be making this month.

This one also utilizes Attic Boutique, one of the nice backgrounds offered my the series.  I've embossed it with the Elegant Soiree folder, and then heat embossed some white powder onto Poppy Parade for my tea cup, from the new set Tea Shoppe.  I am a tea granny, so as soon as I saw this set, I knew it had to appear on my shelf.  Keep checking back here for more samples with this set over the next few weeks.

                              

I love the quilting technique.  I used it a lot back with last year's mini and the Springtime Vintage DSP. I CASEd this layout from someone out there in card land (if it was you, please give me your name and I'll happily give you credit!).  I thought the quilting look would look great with this antique looking paper.  After I "quilted" the paper, it was still missing something so I added the frame.  Still didn't look quite right so I played with ribbons, choosing the Victoria Crochet trim in the end.  I love the different textures on this card.