Dynamic Duos #9

I love Crumb Cake - who doesn't?  I usually use at least three colours when making my cards, so picking only two this time for the Dynamic Duos challenge was certainly a challenge for me.  However, you can pretty much pair anything with Crumb Cake, knowing it's going to turn out lovely.

As I'm typing this post, I'm looking at the Stitched Satin ribbon I've got on the desk right now and thinking I've got another combo to try out.  Will update this post later if I have time!

CCMC 161

I had seen this colour challenge last week and had wanted to complete it.  This morning I had some time to play in my room and came up with this card.  I've had Word Play for quite some time and use many of the sentiments in it, however I hadn't found the opportunity to use this one for anything.  On most of my cards I use punches to add extra layers but I really like the look of sentiments stamped right on the patterned paper, so I gave it a whirl.  I like it.  Once again, Fabulous Florets has proven to be an amazing set.  It fits pretty much any occasion, and gives you the versatility to use many colours.

Stamps:  Word Play, Fabulous Florets
Ink:  Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black
Paper:  Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, Whisper White
Extras:  Basic Black grosgrain ribbon, silver brads

If you're looking for a challenge blog, this is a good one Create with Connie & Mary.  They have a great selection of colour and layout challenges, using all Stampin' Up colours.

What's the Difference?

In the past few weeks, I haven't really been very good at posting.  For the whole month of July, it rained.  I mean it.  Everyday it rained.  This is supposed to be summer, but apparently whoever is in charge of the weather didn't get the memo.

And then, summer arrived!  The sun has finally been out for a week now, and I have been out with it.  I've still been crafting away in the morning while drinking my coffee, and in the evening when it gets cool.  I haven't been posting anything because I'm in mass production mode, trying to get a start on craft fair stuff (Close up is a magnet with some retired DSP).  This morning however, I woke up thinking about how much I like black and white together, and decided I throw together a card.  When I finally poured my coffee and made it to my craft room, it seemed like red needed to be added to the mix.

Stamps:  Fabulous Florets, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink:  Real Red

Paper:  Basic Black, Whisper White

Extras:  Decorative Label punch, Modern Label punch, Word Window punch, Perfect Polka Dots EF, Fun Flowers BS die

And this last one has absolutely nothing to do with this blog, but I have the most hilarious dog ever and figured I needed to share this pic.  My husband was trying to get a nice picture of us together, but she was only interested in licking my face.

Generosity

Back in April, my husband's grandmother passed away at the age of 93.  Rather than receiving flowers and cards, the family asked that people donate to the Heart & Stroke Foundation.  The generosity showed by Celia's friends and family is a testament to the impact she had on their lives.

To thank those people for their generous donations that will help to make a difference in many peoples' lives, my mother in law asked me to make some thank you cards.  Gramma's favourite colours were pinks and purples, so it was only fitting that these were the shades I worked with.

Stamps:  Strength & Hope, Fabulous Florets
Ink:  Pink Pirouette, Crumb Cake, Perfect Plum
Paper:  Pink Pirouette, Crumb Cake, Perfect Plum, Very Vanilla
Extras:  Modern label punch, Word window punch, Scallop Oval punch, Oval punch

Sympathy Flowers

My husband called me from work this afternoon for a little pick-me-up.  We live in a small town, where everyone knows everyone, and how and what everyone is doing.  At his work, there is a sweet old, albeit curmudgeony, gentleman (the father of one of the owners) who spends his day driving customers around town while their cars get serviced, drinking coffee at A&W, and doing a fair amount of old-man style complaining about some SOB or other.  During his travels around the dealership, he often drops in on my husband for a visit (according to him, my hubby is "one cool cat").  So when dear old Frank seemed a little off yesterday, Chris asked him if everything was ok.  The response he got was that Frank seems to think he's "come to the end of my rope."  80 some odd years is a pretty good shot at things, but when Frank decided to stay home today because he wasn't feeling well, it got everyone down a little.  Thinking about this hardy ex-truck driver as a frail old guy made me think of all the people that I've heard have passed along recently.  So with this in mind, I set out to make some sympathy cards that aren't black and grey and depressing.  The muted blue tones of this card made it solemn, but the punch of yellow is that light that you see at the end of the tunnel.

Stamps:  Fabulous Florets, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink:  Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Daffodil Delight
Paper:  Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Whisper White
Extras:  Oval punch, Scallop Oval punch, Flower Garden embossing folder

Bright & Cheery

The end of the school year is pretty much here (insert excited squeal here), and I've got a few people that I want to send a thank you out to.  So this afternoon I put on some music, opened the window wide, and pulled out this happy making paper.

After spending all day playing with this paper and making all sorts of cards, I realized that I have about 20 grad cards to make and that I had better get started on those too.  However, by the time this happened, it was nearly dinner time so I only ended up with one.  Guess I'll be crafting tomorrow again!

Stamps:  Teeny Tiny Greetings, Because I Care, Fabulous Florets
Paper:  Melon Mambo, Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Beyond the Garden DSP
Ink:  Melon Mambo, Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango
Extras:  Scallop Edge punch, Whisper White ribbon, Oval punch, Scallop Oval punch

Beyond the Garden II

 

Maybe I don't like yellow or orange, but who doesn't love hot pink?  Green happens to be my favourite colour, so when I saw the pairing of Melon Mambo and Wild Wasabi, my heart leapt!  Usually I like a more muted pallete for my cards, but the brave flowers bearing their petals against the brutal Cariboo "spring" made me feel the urge to use some fun shades.

Stamps:  Fabulous Florets, Oval All

Paper:  Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi, Beyond the Garden DSP, Whisper White

Ink:  Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi

Extras:  Oval scallop punch

Just Can't Get Enough

In the new Summer Mini there's a beautiful new set called Fabulous Florets.  I've been playing with it like mad and can't seem to get enough of it.  I originally started this card with the intent of using the new DSP (Beyond the Garden) but loved the pattern created using the colour scheme from one of the sheets so I used it as a background instead.  This Melon Mambo and Wild Wasabi version was created on Friday while I was crafting with some ladies from work. 

This afternoon I started out with the same goal in mind, use new DSP, and ended up making pretty much the same card, but with Pacific Point instead of Melon Mambo.  I even ended up using the Square Lattice embossing folder again.  On Friday afternoon I had made another card like the top one, and I had forgotten that I'd used the set for a background design.  I pulled it out to compare to this one, and had a little giggle at myself for making what is pretty much exactly the same card.  Like I said, I just can't get enough of this set.

Stamps:  Fabulous Florets, Full of Life
Paper:  Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi, Pacific Point, Whisper White
Ink:  Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi, Pacific Point
Extras:  Whisper White ribbon, Square Lattice embossing folder