Papaya Collage (SUO Challenge - For the Birds)

I am in L.O.V.E.!  I’ve had this set for about two weeks but since I’ve only started back in my craft room recently, it took me until today to mount it.  Why?!  This is by far my favourite stamp set.  Sorry Elements of Style.  Move over Creative Elements.  There’s a new kid in town.  Over at Stampin' Up Only challenges, they've got a "For the Birds" challenge this week, and the image in this set is nothing short of stunning.  It was a perfect fit for my current project.

 

This weekend will be the start of my summer at the Farmer’s Market.  It runs from 8:30 to 1:30 on Fridays in a little parking lot in town.  It’s a lovely way to spend the morning – wandering and chatting with other vendors.  There’s some amazing produce and locally raised beef products.  And of course, there’s crafty stuff like what I bring.

Last summer I started making a few journals to bring and they were a hit!  I usually sold out of them each time I brought them so I’m trying to get  a little ahead of the game this year.

 

So this morning I came out to make some more cards and get a whack of journals done but then it happened.  I mounted Papaya Collage.  That was at about 11:30.  It’s now almost 2:30 and I’ve only made two journals.  Blame the stamps!

 

I’ve been stamping, tearing, inking, embossing, distressing, and stamping some more.  This set has endless potential for what you can do with it.

 

I love the combination of Pool Party and Soft Suede, but I threw some black into the mix this time and an pretty pleased with how it pops.

Just for fun, I decided to ink up some scraps of Wisteria Wonder, and it turned into another journal.

Patience is a Virtue (however overrated it may be)

As promised, here is a shot of one of my new toys.  On my little trip to Ever After (where I spent way more than I intended) the girl who owns the shop told me all about this little toy.  It's a set of dies that cut neat little strips which you use with a quilling tool to make these chrysanthemums.

I carried it around the store with me for about half an hour before deciding that I would take the hit and buy it.  I've been on a little binge making these tiny journals (you can't tell in the photo, but it's only 4.5" X 3.25" - really cute) and this was the perfect place to put a little flower.  I use my larger flower dies for the regular sized journals that I make, but this one was a little small for that so I tried it out here instead.  I think it would be the perfect little gift for someone's purse, or for a small person that wanted to have a beginner diary.  It took me a bit of fidgeting and more patience than I wanted to exercise, but it came out looking pretty great.

Paper:  Melon Mambo, Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight
Extras:  Cuttlebug Chrysanthemum die, Pool Party ruffled ribbon, Butterfly punch

Hello Doily

 

Things I love this week?  Delicate Doilies and the colour scheme from Domestic Goddess.  I couldn't sleep last night so I was thinking about cards that I would make today.  I almost got out of bed at 4:30 to make this card.  If there is one set that I think will be used the most out of my sets for backgrounds, this it is.  I made a set with in an earlier post that I loved as well, but these colours are funky and give it a totally different vibe.  If you don't have this set, do yourself a favour and buy it.

Stamps:  Delicate Doilies, Happy Greetings

Ink:  Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Daffodil Delight, Basic Grey

Paper:  Basic Grey, Whisper White, Calypso Coral, Pool Party

My favourite layout shines once again!

I liked the first card that I made so much that I made an altered journal just like it!

Altered Journal (workshop)

Fee:  $15 or free with $25 catalogue order 
1 - 1 1/2  hours

These stunning journals made beautiful, thoughtful gifts.  You might end up liking yours too much to give away!

Paisley Petals

This is the newest designer paper put out by Stampin' Up (available in the new catalogue coming in July).  There are 6 different prints that all work nicely together.  I wasn't too sure how much I liked this red one, but it's grown on me over the past few days.  It's not a colour I would usually choose to work with so it gave me a chance to go outside my comfort zone.

Stamps:  Clearly For You
Paper:  River Rock, Paisley Petals
Ink:  River Rock, Old Olive, Soft Suede
Extras:  Whisper White Ribbon, Basic Jewels Pearls

I love Baja Breeze so I was thrilled to see it used so much in this colour palette.  The clean lines  of this card give it a touch of mordernity  juxtaposed against the heritage feel of the pattern.


Stamps:  Elements of Style
Paper:  River Rock, Baja Breeze, Paisley Petals
Ink:  River Rock, Crumb Cake
Extras:  Modern Label Punch, Basic Jewels Pearls

I wanted to make something on a larger scale to really show off this print so I made up this altered journal.  Right now I am slightly obsessed with making these paper flowers, so it seemed a perfect fit to give the cover a vintage feel.















 Here's a detail of the flower, as well as the tag to keep your place, or to use as a bookmark.
 

Altered Journal

Unfortunately, I cannot claim this idea as my own. I saw on someone's blog somewhere an altered journal and I knew that I wanted to try making one.  I love journals (though I never seem to follow through with writing in them regularly) and I think they make really nice gifts.  I think I might send this one down to my niece.

You could cover it with plain cardstock as opposed to designer paper, but I really like the look of stamping on newsprint, so my First Edition paper was hauled out once again.  I don't have my Melon Mambo ink yet, but as soon as it comes in, I'll make another one with that colour.

Stamps:  Elements of Style (120045)
Paper:  First Edition (121878), Basic Black (121045), Real Red (102482)
Ink:  Real Red (103133)
Extras:  Modern Label Punch (119849), Embosslits Beautiful Wings (118138)