Halloween Fun

For those of you visiting because of my email, here are the goodies:

The candles:


The test tubes:


This is the green and black sets. There is also an orange and a purple. Sorry for the poor quality of the photos. Let me know if you see anything that you like!

Boho Square

Another quickie for you today. We made this card at one of my previous Stamp Camps. It's hip to be square! (I crack myself up :)

The card base is a 4-1/4 square piece of Old Olive stamped with the same color ink with the Stitched background stamp. The colored squares (Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, and Regal Rose) are stamped with 2 of the Boho Background stamps and then punched out with a 1 inch square punch. They are layered together on a piece of textured Old Olive cardstock. The flower is punched from the 5-petal flower punch. So easy! The color combination came from the 'trendy' color combos SU! highlights in the beginning of the catalog. It could be changed up with pretty much anything! So many possibilities!

I'm excited tonight to be starting another Stamp Club. I have so many other stamps and products that I would love to share with my stamping buddies, and they seem to be just as excited to be shared with! Have a great night!



Supplies:

Stamps: Boho Backgrounds, Stitched (SU!)
Paper: Old Olive, Old Olive textured, Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink (SU)
Ink: Old Olive, Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Regal Rose
Accessories: copper brad

Ahoy Little Sailor!

I'm back with another card! I'm on a roll!

I made this card for a co-worker of mine who had a little boy not too long ago. I love this little boat from PTI's Bitty Baby Blessings!

The card base is Real Red, followed by a layer of Brocade Blue that has been embossed with the Tiny Bubbles Cuttlebug embossing folder. The horizontal strip is Night of Navy, and I added some faux stitching with my paper piercer and white gel pen. The little boat image is paper pieced from Sahara Sand, Brocade Blue (that had been stamped with the Polka Dot Basics stamp set) and Real Red. This was layered onto PTI SS White and then Sahara Sand. The card measures 4-1/4 square. The cutie sentiment is also from Bitty Baby Blessings stamped in Brocade Blue ink. Easy, simple card! Thanks for stopping by!



Supplies:

Stamps: Bitty Baby Blessings, Polka Dot Basics (PTI)
Paper: Real Red, Brocade Blue, Night of Navy, Sahara Sand (SU!), Stampers Select White (PTI)
Ink: Palette Noir, Brocade Blue (SU!)
Accessories: Paper piercer, white gel pen

Poppies

I knew that it had been a while since my last post, but I didn't realize it had been that long. I apologize, life sometimes gets away from me. But I'm back and feeling creative and inspired again and hopefully I can ride that for a little while.

I am going to share a project that I made this weekend. I have been wanting to make a soldered piece ever since I saw this piece that Debbie Olson had made. If you don't read Debbie's blog, then you must go there NOW and every day after today. Her work is amazing! Seriously.

I have played with stained glass before, so the whole soldering thing wasn't new to me. But what a great way to take stamping to the next level.

Here's what I made using Stampendous' Poppy Stems.



The image was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and then colored with my Copics (which I love so, so much). I cut the image down to fit inside the 2x2 piece of Memory Glass. I didn't have a hanger or jump ring for the top, so I used a square paperclip. It has a different look to it... and as much as I hoped it wouldn't look like a paperclip.. it still does :) Oh well! I picked some yummy orange American Crafts ribbon to hang it from and off it went to my friend Julie for her birthday (I hope I didn't spoil your surprise!)

So what do you think? I think I will be doing this more often. I really like the way it turned out, and my mind is just buzzing with all the other things I can solder!

I promise I will be back with more tomorrow! Thanks for hanging in there!



Supplies:
Stamps: Poppy Stems (Stampendous)
Paper: PTI SS White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copic Ciao markers, 2x2 Memory Glass, Soldering supplies

Mom's Pond

My mom has a big koi pond in her backyard. It started out small and then the next year my brother and I were recruited to dig it a little bigger and then the next year we brought some friends and dug it a little bigger.. it is about 1,000 gallons now and its been a while since it has been expanded.

When PTI came out with the Pond Life set, I knew that I needed it for cards for my mom. This is the card I made her for Mother's Day:

This is my favorite card sketch right now. I have a few more cards I've made over the past few days using the same sketch.

The card base is PTI Spring Moss. The patterned paper is from the Everyday Blessings pack. For my little pond scene, I started by sponging Aqua Mist for water and Soft Sky for the sky. I stamped the grass in Spring Moss and the swirl of water in Aqua Mist. The lilypad was stamped on Old Olive in Old Olive and cut out. The water lily was stamped in Pixie Dust and Pink Petunia VersaMagic. The frog was stamped in Sage VersaMagic and also cut out. Finally, I stamped the dragonfly body in Pearlescent Sky Blue and the wings in Pearlescent Starlite Black. Then I layered two vellum wings to make him look like he just landed! I used lots of foam tape to add dimension. This piece was layered on a piece of Old Olive. I added some Green Ivy Dew Drops to the side and added the sentiment.

That's it! My mom loved it and I know I will be using this set again for her!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a great night.



Card supplies:

Stamps: Pond Life (PTI)
Paper: Spring Moss, SS White, Everyday Blessings patterned (PTI), Old Olive (SU)
Ink: Spring Moss, Aqua Mist (Palette for PTI), Old Olive (SU), Pixie Dust, Pink Petunia, Sage, Midnight Black (Tsukineko VersaMagic), Pearlescent Sky Blue, Pearlescent Starlite Black (Tsukineko Brilliance)
Accessories: Green Ivy Dew Drops

Monday, Monday

I am a big fan of the Discovery Channel. One of my favorite shows, of course, is Dirty Jobs. The show's time slot is moving to Mondays and the commercial for it features the song Monday, Monday written by The Mamas and the Papas. Hence, today's title because the song gets stuck in my head every. single. Monday.

I do have a card to share with you, but before that a little jabber about my weekend. On Saturday night, Bill and I went to see Jason Deutsch play. Jason is a fantastic musician, and the brother of a dear friend of mine (hi Josette!). Jason played at mine and Bill's wedding, so that was the coolest of the cool. Jason is awesome, his songs are incredible, and he is such a sweetheart. He was promoting his new cd release called Peaceful Oblivion. Everyone: go see him and buy his music! Seriously, we need to support our local musicians.

Ok, so here's my card:

I made this for Mary when I sent her the Anniversary Set that she won. I used the small cross stamp from Simple Little Things and stamped some patterned paper. I used Summer Sunrise and Cognac Palette Ink. Then I sponged on a little Ranger Distress Ink in Old Paper. This was then layered onto a piece of Summer Sunrise cardstock that had been paper pierced. I stamped the larger cross from Simple Little Things in Summer Sunrise, Cognac, and Burnt Umber and cut them all out. I layered them on top of each other and added a copper brad. Its like a big ol' fancy flower. The sentiment is also from Simple Little Things. It reads 'So Happy For You' but I just inked up what I wanted. The card base is Chocolate Chip. That's it! Easy as pie.

Enjoy your evening. Thanks for stopping by - I'd love to hear from you!



Card supplies:

Stamps: Simple Little Things (PTI Anniversary Set)
Paper: Chocolate Chip (SU), Summer Sunrise, SS White (PTI)
Ink: Summer Sunrise (PTI), Cognac, Burnt Umber (Palette), Distress Ink Old Paper (Ranger)
Accessories: Paper piercer, copper brad

Two Lovely RAKs

I just love getting RAKs in the mail. I have two that I received recently.

The first is from Mary - she was the winner of my Anniversary set giveaway. I love the multi-colored flowers and the combination of Summer Sunrise and Berry Sorbet. Mary, thank you so much for the thank you card, I love it!



The second card is from Jackie (Teal on the PTI forum). She sent me this beautiful RAK using Berry Sorbet and the Butterfly Kisses stamp set. I love all the polka dots. Thank you, Jackie, for the sweet sparkly card!



Its another hockey night here in Pittsburgh, so I'm not stamping again. Maybe I should have stamped.. this game isn't turning out so well! Hope your night turns out better!

Groovy Flower

Thanks to everyone that stopped by during PTI's Blog Hop. Your kind comments were very appreciated. It was also great to have a chance to look at everyone else's projects - they were all fantastic. I am looking forward to next month's Hop!

Again, I apologize for the sporadic blogging. I was so proud of myself there for a while since I was doing a good job of posting everyday. My job has been pretty overwhelming recently, and I am wrapped up in playoff hockey, so I haven't been very motivated. The card I am going to share today is one that we made at Stamp Camp. It has a very simple layout, but it was one of my favorites.

The card base is a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock. Layered on top of that is a strip of Afternoon Tea Designer Series Double-Sided paper. I pulled the colors from the patterned paper for the main image. The stamp set is Live Your Dream, from the Occasions Mini Catalog. Instead of directly inking my stamp, I used my Aqua Painter and painted the ink onto the stamp. I huffed on it and then stamped it onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock - it gave the image a sort of washed out, weathered look. If you've never tried it - give it a shot! It was a fun technique. I used Wild Wasabi for the stems, Groovy Guava for the flowers, and Chocolate Chip for the flower centers. I then stamped the butterfly in Soft Sky on a separate piece of cardstock and cut it out. I added some sparkle with my Sakura Clear Gel Pen and mounted it on my main stamped image with foam tape.

The entire piece was layered on a piece of Groovy Guava. I added a strip of Chocolate Chip Poly-Twill ribbon finished off with the flower slide from the Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware, both available in the Occasions Mini Catalog. Finally, I stamped the triple flower stamp from the Live Your Dream set in Chocolate Chip to the upper left side. That was it!

Thanks for stopping by, have a great night!



Card Supplies:

Stamps: Live Your Dream (SU!)
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava, Whisper White, Afternoon Tea DSDS (SU!)
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky (SU!)
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Poly-Twill ribbon, Flower Slide from Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware (SU)!

April Blog Hop!

Hi everyone! Welcome to another edition of PTI's Blog Hop! When I saw Nichole's challenge for April, the part that stuck with me was the theme of the small squares. I wanted to make sure that my project maintained this concept. I thought about what I wanted to do, and then the other day, sitting at my desk at work I spied this:

It is my pencil cup, which was originally a mosaic glass votive candle holder... so using that inspiration, here's what I came up with:

It is a lantern!

Here is closer shot (bear with me, I have a few different photos to share with you to give you the full effect!)

I started with a clear paint can (this one was purchased at Staples). I then cut a piece of vellum to line the inside of the paint can. This was going to be my base for the mosaic. I used a 3/4-inch square punch to punch out my tiles from the Father's Knows Best patterned paper sheet provided by Nichole. Since the squares on the paper were 1-1/2 inch square, I could get 4 squares out of each!

Next, I adhered the patterned paper squares to the vellum, keeping the pattern random. After all the squares had been adhered, I just slipped the vellum inside the paint can! It was a perfect liner, and was so easy.

Then I was ready to begin working on the outside of the paint can. I used white StazOn to stamp the fancy square from Simple Little Things, (the Anniversary Set) randomly on the outside of the can. I was hoping it would create a shadow effect once the lantern was lit. I added a strip of brown twill ribbon to the bottom rim of the can, and pearlescent Dew Drops around the top rim. The final touch was to tie different colored ribbons to the handle and I was ready to light it up!

While I did use a candle for my photographs, I would recommend using one of the battery-operated votive candles if you should make something like this.

Here's a view with the lights out:

It turned out just as I had imagined! The stamped images on the outside create a pretty patterned shadow when the lantern is lit. Here's a close up:

Well, what do you think? Wouldn't this be a great addition to a deck or patio? Even a non-hanging version (with a battery-operated votive) would make a beautiful centerpiece for an evening party or wedding!

Thank you for stopping by - I am really looking forward to reading all your comments. And don't forget to head back to Papertrey Ink's Forum to vote for your favorite, most inspiring project! Please keep me in mind! I can't wait to see what all the other participants have come up with!

Thanks again for stopping by and participating in the Blog Hop!

Project Supplies:

Stamps: Simple Little Things (PTI)
Paper: Vellum, April Blog Hop Father Knows Best patterned paper sheet
Ink: StazOn white
Accessories: Acrylic paint can, Lemon Tart and Summer Sunrise Topnotch Twill (PTI), Chocolate Chip twill (SU), yellow ric-rac (American Crafts), Pearlescent Dew Drops (The Robin's Nest)

April Blog Hop is tomorrow!

Tomorrow is Papertrey Ink's second monthly Blog Hop. This month, 25 blogs were chosen to be listed on the Featured Blog List! And what do you know, my blog was picked!! How exciting is that! So check back tomorrow to see my project! I am very excited about it.. I did my best to think outside of the box. I look forward to seeing you then!

Blue Butterfly

This card is one that we made last week at Stamp Camp. The layout for this card was taken from one of my previous issues of Stampin' Success.

The card base is Brocade Blue. Layered on top of that is a strip of Bashful Blue, Shimmer White, and Night of Navy textured cardstock. The Bashful Blue is stamped with the fancy scalloped circle from the Kind Thoughts set in Bashful Blue ink. The flower centers are highlighted with my Sakura clear sparkle gel pen. The butterfly is stamped in Night of Navy on a piece of Shimmer White and then cut out. It is layered on top of a circle punched out of Shimmery White. The sentiment is from All Holidays, stamped in Night of Navy. I like how it is slightly larger than the cardstock and the little flourishes extend off the paper.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed today's card. Stop back tomorrow for more Stamp Camp cards!



Supplies:

Stamps: Kind Thoughts, All Holidays (SU)
Paper: Brocade Blue, Bashful Blue, Shimmer White, Night of Navy textured (SU)
Ink: Bashful Blue, Night of Navy
Accessories: Sakura clear sparkle gel pen

Fabulous Flower Birthday

Sorry about the neglected blog. I have been so swamped at work lately, and I have had little time or energy for stamping and blogging once I've gotten home. Oh well, I will try and work to be more motivated!

I was visiting with my in-laws over the weekend and learned that my husband's great aunt is having a birthday this week. We don't see her very often, but every time that we do, she is always so classy and put together. I was looking for some motivation to create, so I decided to send her a card. No matter how many cards I have on hand, I always like to make a special one for the occasion. I went for a classic, simple sketch and made myself pass over the Papertrey stamps to pick a Stampin' Up! set. Here is what I came up with:

I flipped through my patterned paper stash and found this one, Admire, from the Basic Grey Blush line. I pulled my colors from the paper, choosing Soft Sky, Ruby Red, and PTI Sweet Blush. The strip of patterned paper was layered onto a piece of Ruby Red that was scalloped with my corner rounder.

The large (dahlia?) flower from SU's Fabulous Flowers set was stamped three times in Ruby Red onto Sweet Blush cardstock and cut out. I sprayed the flower with some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Iridescent Gold and added some adhesive pearls to the center. I tied a strip of Sweet Blush Topnotch Twill to the patterned paper and adhered it all to a base of Soft Sky. The sentiment is from PTI's Birthday Basics set, which has a wonderful selection of sentiments for the card inside and outside. Next step was into an envelope that had been stamped with the large flower in Sweet Blush, and it was off to its recipient! Happy Birthday, Aunt Billie!

That's it for me! I have another post for you tomorrow.. some things we made at Stamp Camp last week. Thanks for stopping by!



Supplies:

Stamps: Fabulous Flowers (SU), Birthday Basics (PTI)
Paper: Soft Sky, Ruby Red (SU), Sweet Blush (PTI), Admire (Blush line, Basic Grey)
Ink: Ruby Red (SU), Burnt Umber (Palette Ink)
Accessories: Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist (Tattered Angels), Sweet Blush Topnotch Twill (PTI), adhesive pearls, corner rounder

We Have a Winner!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

9
Timestamp: 2008-04-16 16:05:55 UTC

Mary, that's you! Please send me your postal address and I will get your Anniversary set in the mail right away. Check out Mary's awesome stained glass card here.

Thanks to everyone for participating! All of your cards were beautiful - it was really interesting to see what each of you chose from the original card to use as inspiration. I wish I had enough sets to send you all one!

I hope you stop back from time to time and I will be sure to visit your blogs as well.

I hope you have a great day!

A Gift, A Card, A Challenge, and a Giveaway!

I have been lazy and neglectful of my blog lately, but I'll make it up to you!

Earlier this week, I received my much-anticipated Anniversary set from PTI! What a wonderful gift for buying their fabulous products! The card I have to share with you today is using PTI's Anniversary Set, Simple Little Things. That link takes you to the PTI forum, where Nichole posted a picture of the set. (If you don't want to see it, watch out! And quit reading this! :)

My first impression of the set was that the images looked like stained glass. So I set out to create that look in my card.

I started with a 5.5" by 11" piece of Spring Moss. The back panel of the card is longer than the front to show off the 'stained glass'. I stamped three of the circular images in Palette Ink Noir onto vellum. Then I used my good old colored pencils to color them in. I actually added the color to the back of the vellum - to me, this keeps the black sharp and creates the leaded look.

The vellum is actually sandwiched between the cardstock: a 1.5" piece is folded towards the back of the card to give it a clean finish. The circles were punched with a 1 3/8-inch punch.

Here is a close up shot of the images (you can click any image for a larger view):

And now one with the light behind it:

For the front of the card, I masked off about half an inch on each side and stamped the smaller cross repeatedly. I added a white dot to every other row using the smallest single dot from Polka Dot Basics. The medallion on the front is actually 3 different stamps all layered together. First I stamped the very ornate circle from Simple Little Things in Spring Moss onto Kraft cardstock. Then I followed up with the bolder image in Palette Ink Noir. Finally, I used one of the small designs from the Borders & Corners Oval set in Palette Ink Claret to add more color. I finished it off with a green brad in the center. The sentiment is also from the Anniversary set.

With that said, I challenge you to create something! Find something about this card that inspires you, whether it is the layout, the colors, the multi-stamped images, or whatever! Post a comment with a link to your blog or gallery sharing your creation. On Wednesday, April 16 at 12:00 pm EST I will use the Random Number Generator to randomly choose a winner. We should all have recuperated from Tax day and the PTI Release at that point. And what are you playing for, do you ask?

Why, the chance to win my extra Anniversary set! I know there are many of you PTI forum members that did not qualify for a set, and I'd like to give one of you the opportunity to have it. So hit your craft room and share your creations! I am really looking forward to seeing them!

Have a great day!



Supplies:

Stamps: Simple Little Things, Polka Dot Basics, Borders & Corners Oval (PTI)
Paper: Spring Moss (PTI), Kraft, Vellum (SU)
Ink: Spring Moss, Noir, Claret (Palette Ink), Whisper White Craft (SU)
Accessories: Colored pencils, brad

A Quick RAK

I am beat. I really didn't get much R&R this weekend and work has been just overwhelming. I spent some time with a friend on Saturday, which was a lovely time, but then as soon as I walked in the door Bill called and asked if I could fill in at the store. Uh, no. I have a full time job already. I don't want to work on the weekend too. Of course I went. Then I was there on Sunday, too. So needless to say I didn't get much time to play around in my stamp room. I forced myself to get my Stamp Camp cards done for later this week and I hate the feeling of forced creativity. Thank goodness for card sketches.

I was delighted to check my mail on Saturday and receive this RAK from Jeanne. I love the little punched out flower over the ribbon. Thank you Jeanne, it is wonderful! So, that's all you guys are getting from me today. I have to attend a township meeting for work this evening (yipee!), so I've got to get myself out of here. Enjoy the lovely card and I will be back with something sometime soon, I promise!

Pretty Bird

I snuck some stamp time in before the hockey game started last night. I had written down a sketch I saw on Jen Del Muro's blog, i{heart}2stamp a few days ago and wanted to try it out! I jumped on the bird trend bandwagon and picked up Inkadinkado's Birds Galore clear set at Stamp Fanci, my local stamp store. It was sitting on my desk and I thought it would work well with this sketch.

Here's my card:

All the colors were chosen basen on the patterned paper, which is Fiona, from the Basic Grey Perhaps collection. I picked out Purely Pomegranate, Really Rust, Groovy Guava, and PTI Sweet Blush to match the colors in the patterned paper.

The card base is Sweet Blush and is approximately 6-1/8" by 4-1/4". I know its a strange size, but I thought I would use a piece I had cut already. I stamped the large group of birds stamp onto the card base in Sweet Blush. The horizontal strip of patterned paper was layered onto a piece of Purely Pomegranate. I added some faux stitching to the top of this piece. The vertical strip of patterned paper was layered onto a piece of Really Rust. Rub-ons from SU's Eastern Elegance Collection were added to the patterned paper.

The ovals were cut out of Groovy Guava and Really Rust using my oval Nestabilities. The rust oval was stamped with the double line oval stamp from PTI's Borders & Corners Oval set. Two orange brads were added to either side.

The bird was inked first with Groovy Guava, then the edges were inked with Really Rust and then Purely Pomegranate. I spritzed it with water and then stamped onto PTI SS White. I added clear embossing powder to the image and heated until it melted. I then cut the image out and mounted it onto the rust oval with foam tape. Everything was sponged with Chocolate Chip ink to give it an aged look. That's it! I really like the way this turned out- and I used products that I might typically hoard! :)

One of my Stamp Campers asked how I take my card photographs. I thought I would share in case anyone else was wondering as well. Anytime I have come across any information from other stampers about how they take their photos, I always take note. Here's a photo of my set up:

I use a styrofoam box that the fish are delivered in to the store as my backdrop. It works well, and was free! I have two Ott-Lite Truecolor Craft Lamps that I got on sale at JoAnn's. I just put my cards in the box, adjust the lights and take my pictures! I am glad that I set this up - I really felt like without good pictures, how could you tell what my cards really looked like? I feel much more confident in sharing things now. So that's what I do - if anyone has any more questions, just let me know.

Thanks for stopping by - have a great day!



Supplies:

Stamps: Birds Galore (Inkadinkado), Borders & Corners Oval (PTI)
Paper: Purely Pomegranate, Really Rust, Groovy Guava (SU), Sweet Blush (PTI), Fiona from Perhaps Collection (Basic Grey)
Ink: Sweet Blush (Palette Ink for PTI), Groovy Guava, Really Rust, Purely Pomegranate, Chocolate Chip (SU)
Accessories: Oval Nestabilities, orange brads (Making Memories), Eastern Elegance Rub-ons (SU)

Ride 'Em Cowboy!

This is another card from a while back. We made this for a Stamp Camp project. It is one of my favorites!

The card base is Creamy Caramel stamped with two of the designs from SU's Wanted. The card base was then stamped with the Sanded background stamp - all were stamped in Creamy Caramel.

The main image is the cowboy from Bronc Buster. He was stamped in Close to Cocoa and then stamped with the Sanded stamp in Creamy Caramel. This image was then layered on a square of Really Rust. The star is from Wanted and was stamped in Close to Cocoa on Sage Shadow and punched out with the small star punch. The photo corner was punched out of a piece of Sage Shadow that had been stamped with the paisley image from the set. Copper brads were added to both of these and they were adhered using foam tape. The Close to Cocoa textured cardstock strip was dry embossed using the Crop-o-dile. I love to do this - it looks like rivets.

That's it - simple layout that is very versatile!

As promised, I also want to share a picture of the necklace that my mom made me. It is much prettier in person - lots of color and texture! She has made others with other color combinations. The most recent one she showed me was a nice royal blue and silver and also a jade green and brown. That one was gorgeous!

Wouldn't you like one too?

Have a great day, thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps: Wanted, Bronc Buster, Sanded (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Creamy Caramel, Really Rust, Whisper White, Sage Shadown, Close to Cocoa textured (SU!)
Ink: Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa (SU!)
Accessories: Star punch, Photo corner punch, copper brads, Crop-o-dile

An Oldie but a Goodie

I spent last night on the couch with Bill watching the Penguins game, so I didn't have time for anything new. I do have a few projects that I haven't shared with you yet, so you're getting one of those today (and tomorrow too, since I have scuba tonight).

I made this tin for my mom for Valentine's Day using PTI's large heart tin with clear top. This is a blatant CASE of Debbie Olson's awesome heart tin she made for the January release. As soon as I saw it, I knew those flowers had to be on my tin. I wasn't even original in my placement! I used different patterned paper for the project, but followed Debbie's instructions for application. The flowers were cut out of PTI SS White using my Cuttlebug and the Flower #1 die. I used the Beautiful Blooms set to stamp my flowers. I've showed you this before, but see how they coordinate? Genius, I tell you! I used SU! Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, and Rose Red ink for the flowers. The leaves were stamped with um.. I don't remember. VersaMagic Aloe Vera and Sage, I think. I sponged over everything with Creamy Caramel to give it a slightly aged look. The rhinestones in the flower centers are from K&Company. Here's a close up:

I filled the tin with beads for my mom (she is making these awesome crocheted wire necklaces - you should see the pretty one she made me... well maybe I'll show you!) and it was her present. Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!

Supplies:

Stamps: Beautiful Blooms (PTI)
Paper: SS White (PTI), patterned paper unknown
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Creamy Caramel (SU), VersaMagic Aloe Vera, VersaMagic Sage (Tsukineko)
Accessories: rhinestones (K&Company)

Sweet Cupcakes!

The Monday work day is almost over. Thank goodness. I really hate having 5 days of work in front of me, so to get one out of the way is a start.

This is a card I made last night. I had this in my head for a while, and finally snuck in a few minutes to put it on paper.

The cupcakes are from PTI's It's A Celebration stamp set. The set comes with 4 different cupcake tops! The one with the spots reminds me of a mushroom :) Like the little red and white Super Mario Brothers mushrooms. I know you know what I'm talking about. Anyway..

The cupcake bottom is stamped in Sweet Blush. The tops are stamped in Berry Sorbet and Boudoir Blush (all Palette Ink). The Boudoir Blush is just a teensy bit darker than the Berry Sorbet. I stacked my cupcakes, adding two that were cut out of the new Pink Patterns patterned paper and popped up with foam tape. The 'how sweet' is a portion of the sentiment 'how sweet it is' from the set. I said that just so you too would be singing Marvin Gaye all day. You're welcome :)

This piece was layered on Night of Navy and then onto of a piece of Sweet Blush that I stamped with a teensy star from the stamp set. The card base is PTI Berry Sorbet. I added another strip of Night of Navy which I layered with Sweet Blush and then another piece of the Pink Patterns patterned paper. I added Tutti Frutti and Stardust stickles to the two popped up cupcakes and that was it. The sparkles never show up well in the photographs. I am rushing a little in an effort to finish this before I leave work for the day. I hope that I am making sense.

I really liked these colors together - the Navy was just enough to ground things a little. Keep from getting lost in all that pink! Thanks for stopping by, I hope your Monday went by quickly!



Supplies:
Stamps: It's A Celebration (PTI)
Paper: Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet, SS White, Pink Patterns PP (PTI), Night of Navy (SU)
Ink: Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet (Palette Ink for PTI), Boudoir Blush (Palette Ink)
Accessories: Night of Navy marker, Tutti Frutti & Stardust Stickles

Come On Get Happy!

First off, I want to thank everyone that stopped by during Papertrey's Blog Hop! I was so grateful for all your wonderful comments; I am really glad that you liked my project. It was great fun - I am looking forward to next month's!

I have been a little lazy about posting. I haven't had much free time this week for stamping. Plus, puppy Luca makes it hard to sit down for extended periods of time! I made this card for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #41. Have I ever said how much I love the sketch challenges? Having that inspiration is a big help! The colors and images on this card remind me of The Partridge Family! I used to watch it on Nickelodeon at my Gram's house after school - who else remembers it?

The colors came from this paper I got last week at a local scrapbook store. Seriously - after going to this place, I will never buy patterned paper at JoAnn's or Michael's again. The paper is K-Ology Addison Blue, Teal, and Green Floral from K&Company.

And here is my card:

Doesn't it have a great 70's funky feel to it? The colors I used were Night of Navy, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, Very Vanilla and just a bit of Groovy Guava. The stamps are all from Spring Solitude, a Level 2 Hostess set. All products are Stampin' Up! (see Sandi, I DO still use SU! stuff ;)

The card base is a 5" x 5" square of Night of Navy. I layered a strip of Old Olive on a distressed piece of Very Vanilla. The flower cluster was stamped repeatedly in Night of Navy on Very Vanilla. I stamped the single solid flower in Old Olive over the largest flowers in the cluster. The smallest is watercolored with Tempting Turquoise. Another stamp in the set, a single flower made up of little dots (hey, I don't know what these are) was stamped in Groovy Guava over the medium sized flower in the cluster. I didn't ink the stem.

The oval part was cut out with my Oval Nestabilities (finally!) I stamped the tree branch in Night of Navy (to keep with my color scheme) and popped up the leaves in Old Olive. The bird (a perfect Partridge if you ask me) was stamped in Tempting Turquoise and then popped up. The sentiment is from Papertrey's Mixed Messages - I love this set because there are sentiments for any occasion, and they are a great size. The Very Vanilla oval was layered on Tempting Turquoise that I had paper pierced (by hand, no template - I like the funky uneven-ness of it). I sponged all the Very Vanilla pieces with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Antique Linen. I think the flower panel looks like old wallpaper or a tablecloth my Nana would have. I highlighted the bird, leaves, and flower centers with a Sakura glaze pen and added the Pearl Dew Drops. That's it! Great sketch, Beate, I am sure to use this one again! Thanks for stopping by, hope to be back with new stuff tomorrow!

Have a great night!

Supplies:
Stamps: Spring Solitude (SU!), Mixed Messages (PTI)
Paper: Night of Navy, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, Very Vanilla (SU!)
Ink: Night of Navy, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, Groovy Guava (SU!), Antique Linen Distress Ink (Tim Holtz)
Accessories: Sakura Glaze gel pen, paper piercer, Pearl Dew Drops (The Robin's Nest)