Scrappy Congratulations - Stampin' Up! Many Messages

  Today's card is one of the easiest designs you'll find!  And you'll feel good about using up some DSP scraps at the same time.  Win-Win!

  Sometimes I need a congratulations card for someone and it's not an accomplishment that I have a stamp set for.  New babies, weddings, engagements, graduations are all easy because we have lots of stamps to cover those events.  But for something like congrats on running that marathon you've been training for or congrats on getting that new job that you've been working towards or even to those special friends; congrats on getting your garage cleaned out!  It's nice to have a general congratulations card in your stash that can fit for any congrats occasion.

  This one is a nice, neutral card with lots of texture in the way of the DSP strips.  I used a lot of patterns from the In Good Taste DSP and just layered them across the card front in varying lengths and widths so it wasn't too matchy-matchy.  A bit of linen thread for some embellishment, a nice label die and some dimensionals are all you need!

  Check your scraps and make a whole pile of cards for any occasion!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Many Messages

Ink: Gray Granite

Paper: Gray Granite, Basic White, In Good Taste DSP

Accessories: linen thread, dimensionals, Tasteful Labels dies

Bright Boots - Stampin' Up! Flowering Rain Boots

   Not a lot of time to stick around and gab about stamping today as I'm running in and out of the house all day long!  I have a moment to share a card we did at my class yesterday.  I hadn't used the Flowering Rain Boots bundle in a class yet and now that it is officially spring I thought it was time for another tulip card.

  This card uses 3 of the 5 retiring In Colors so if you haven't gotten them yet time is running out.  Magenta Madness, Just Jade and Bumblebee are sticking around for just a few more weeks.  Don't they go well together on this card?

  The base is Just Jade and the checked background is made with a Just Jade Stampin' Blends marker and makes a nice subtle, casual background.  Just be sure to not let your marker tip just rest on the paper; keep it moving in even strokes or it will bleed through the other side.

  The background for the boots and flowers has Gray Granite and Pool Party ink lightly blended on with Blending brushes to give a base for the images.  Otherwise they look as if they are floating up in the air.  

  Once the images are stamped they are adhered with dimensionals and the embossed sentiment is added to the side.  A Magenta Madness ribbon knot accents the boots for the final touch.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Flowering Rain Boots 

Ink: Magenta Madness, Just Jade, Bumblebee, Versamark, Gray Granite, Pool Party

Blends: Just Jade light (dark can be used as well for a more bold stripe)

Paper: Just Jade, Bumblebee, Basic White

Accessories: Rain Boots dies, white embossing powder, dimensionals, Magenta Madness ribbon, circle punch/circle die

Birthday Blessings - Stampin' Up! Blessings of Home

    The Concept Art team at Stampin' Up! has been issuing a set of colors each week to inspire us in our own stamping.  I've not had a chance before now to play with the fun color combos they've given out but I had a bit of time to stamp yesterday so I set to 'work'.  

  The colors this time are Pumpkin Pie, Pale Papaya, Old Olive, Balmy Blue and Misty Moonlight.  I decided these colors would work well for a floral card so I pulled out the Blessings of Home set and did some coloring with my Blends for this birthday card.  Not terribly innovative but a good floral card is always welcome in my card stash!

  I enjoyed taking some time to slow down and color after getting things organized for my classes today.  It's always nice to top off a busy work day with some stamping.  

  This card starts with a Misty Moonlight base and then a layer of Basic White embossed with the Bark embossing folder.  A piece of Frayed Grosgrain ribbon is adhered across the front of the card for even more texture.

I stamped the image in Basic Gray for a softer look to the flowers than black would have given me and the using blends I just colored in with basic shading.  The flower is cut out with the Stitched So Sweetly dies for a soft scalloped edge.  I added some greenery and flower die cuts to the edges and then attached it to the card front with dimensionals. 

  Finally, I added an embossed sentiment strip popped with dimensionals.

  To see the colors each week that the Concept Art team puts out you can follow Stampin' Up! on Instagram and/or follow the hashtag #conceptartcreativechallenge  You can also find me on Instagram @didyoustamptoday

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Blessings of Home

Ink: Basic Gray, Versamark

Blends: Pumpkin Pie light & dark, Pale Papaya light & dark, Old Olive light & dark, Balmy Blue light & dark

Paper: Misty Moonlight, Basic White, Old Olive, Pale Papaya, Balmy Blue

Accessories: Bark embossing folder, Stitched So Sweetly dies, white embossing powder, Flowers of Home dies, Frayed Grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

Happy Birthday Daisies - Stampin' Up! Flowering Rain Boots

   My card today is one that I first made when I was guest designing over at CAS Colours & Sketches.  At the time I couldn't decide if I liked it or not so I kept some of the elements and ended up with this card instead.

  After having some time not staring at it I decided I do like it and thought I would share today on this supposedly spring day!  Another sunny day that is colder than it looks!

  The DSP between the Basic Borders cloud dies is the Sale-a-Bration Simply Marbleous DSP.  I stamped the watering can in Pool Party and the daisies in Fresh Freesia.  The daisies are then filled in with Blends markers.

  The sentiment is from the retired And Many More set.  The only embellishment is a bakers twine bow.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Flowering Rain Boots, And Many more (retired)

Ink: Pool Party, Fresh Freesia

Blends: Fresh Freesia light, Daffodil Delight light

Paper: Basic White, Simply Marbleous DSP (SAB)

Accessories: Rain Boots dies, Basic Borders dies, dimensionals, baker's twine (retired)

Birthday Tulips - Stampin' Up! Tulips Dies

   Even though our weather looks nice today with sun shining down and pretty blue skies it's actually windy and kind of chilly but a few brave tulips have decided to start to bloom in my yard and they are even a similar color to the tulips on my card! After a lot of yellow from my daffodils we are getting into the pink and red of tulip season!

  This card just has stamping for the sentiment and gives the focus to the beautiful flowers you can make with the Tulip dies.  I used Calypso Coral for the blooms and Pear Pizzazz for the stems and leaves.  I love how each one is slightly different.

  I used 2 different patterns from the Flowering Fields DSP to create the background and base for the birthday sentiment.

  A few Brushed Brass Butterflies and a Frayed Ribbon knot are the embellishments for this card.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Flowering Tulips

Ink: Calypso Coral

Paper: Pool Party, Flowering Fields DSP, Pear Pizzazz, Calypso Coral, Basic White

Accessories: Tulips dies, Layering Circle dies, Tasteful Label dies, dimensionals, Brushed Brass Butterflies, Frayed Ribbon

Forever Fern Hello - Stampin' Up! Forever Fern

  My card today is one we made at my last Quick & Easy Cards class.  The point of this class is to stamp cards that don't use a ton of supplies and still make some cute projects.  New stampers can be overwhelmed with tons of tools and dies and having a more basic card is a great way to teach them without it becoming overwhelming.  My veteran stampers love this class as well because they 1) get more stamping and social time with friends and 2) end up with 3 fun cards without a huge time investment!  Win win for stampers at every level!

   I've made a quick video showing how I put this one together.  

 

  Also, 2 of the 3 colors used on this card are getting ready to retire; Just Jade and Magenta Madness are in the retiring set of In Colors so if you like this combo don't wait to order the inks and papers.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Forever Fern, Biggest Wish

Ink: Just Jade, Night of Navy, Magenta Madness

Paper: Crumb Cake, Basic White, Just Jade

Accessories: dimensionals, Magenta Madness twill ribbon

Sunflowers for Ukraine - Stampin' Up! Jar of Flowers

    Many card challenge sites have lately been doing blue and yellow or sunflower themed challenges to show support for the people of Ukraine.  I made this one more than a week or so ago for one such challenge but didn't get it photographed or edited in time to share in real time but of course I wanted to show my support for these brave people however small.  A card isn't very much in the grand scheme of things but I hope my card added to the thousands of others that are being made can at least continue to keep the people of Ukraine in the forefront of our minds and do what we can to help them.  I urge everyone to seek out a trusted charity or aid foundation that is helping in Ukraine and donate if you are able.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Jar of Flowers, Through It Together

Ink: Versamark, Daffodil Delight, Mango Melody, Soft Suede, Garden Green, Early Espresso, Balmy Blue

Paper: Crumb Cake, Pacific Point, Watercolor paper, Basic White, In Good Taste DSP

Accessories: Clear embossing powder, Early Espresso embossing powder (retired), dimensionals, twine

Hand-Penned Lace - Stampin' Up! Penned Flowers Dies

   I have to get a move on making some Easter cards before it's too late. The soft colors at Just Us Girls Challenge were perfect for a soft floral Easter card.

  

Please forgive the poor photo; the weather here has been gray for a few days and the natural light just hasn't been great for photos!

  This is very easy card design though a bit fussy for the background.  I just cut out a bunch of the floral outlines in Very Vanilla and glued them to a piece of Very Vanilla.  I think the look has a wonderful lace feel to it.

  I cut a Soft Succulent scallop edge and then adhered a bit of Blushing Bride Frayed Grosgrain ribbon to it and layered across the card front.

  The sentiment from an old retired set called Well Scripted is stamped in Soft Succulent and cut out with a Tasteful Label die.  I cut a few flowers and leaves and adhered them to the side. The the whole label is then popped on dimensionals.

  I added a few Polished Dots to finish off the details.  

  I love the end result but this is definitely not a design to make multiples of!  

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Well Scripted (retired)

Ink: Soft Succulent

Paper: Very Vanilla, Soft Succulent, Blushing Bride

Accessories: Penned Flowers dies, Tasteful Label dies, dimensionals, Blushing Bride Frayed Grosgrain ribbon, Polished Dots

Paper Hug Birds - Stampin' Up! Catch You Later

   Aren't these little birds just so sweet?  I love that they are snuggled into one another giving and receiving a hug.  We all need that now and again don't we?  

  I paired the sweet birds with an itty bitty sentiment that is just perfect for so many occasions!  The colors are inspired by The Color Hues challenge which is to use a pale teal and yellow for a card. Such great colors for this time of year.

  Looking now at everything I used to make this card the only current products are the stamp sets and Blends markers!  It feels good to use some retired products doesn't it? And isn't it great that something that retired a few years ago still matches a newer product!  Just one of the many things I love about Stampin' Up!; color coordination and matching!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Catch You Later, Through It Together

Ink: Basic Gray

Blends: Pool Party light & dark, Daffodil Delight light & dark

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Peaceful Poppies DSP (retired)

Accessories: dimensionals, Stitched Shapes dies (retired), Basic Gray baker's twine (retired), sequins (retired)

Sweet Hello - Stampin' Up! Sweet Strawberry

   The team at CAS Colours & Sketches is back today with a brand new challenge.  I'm guest designing with them this month and it has been such a blast stretching my clean and simple stamping skills.  I've enjoyed playing along with them and today's challenge is no exception!  Today is a slimline sketch challenge.  I don't do slimline cards very often and once I started on this one there seemed to be so much space to fill!  I got to a place where I think it came out ok though in the end.  I will definitely be practicing this one more often!

  I pulled out a set that I feel I only use when the weather is warm.  Strawberries just make me think of early summer and bright sunny days and it was in the 70s over the weekend!

  I started with a Basic Black card base, then cut a smaller Basic White top panel.   I stamped the flower and leaf stamp from Sweet Strawberry in the corner twice, stamping off Granny Apple Green two times to get a very light and delicate background. Next I did some paper piercing all around the border using a very old template we had back in the day.  It definitely helped me stay straight!

  With Real Red and Granny Apple Green I stamped and punch 3 strawberries and stems and layered them in the corner with the top one being popped on dimensionals.

  The final bit of stamping is the larger sentiment from the Sale-a-Bration set Friendly Hello inked in Versamark and embossed in black.

  I really like clean look of the open space with the bold pops of black and red.

  Thanks to CAS Colours & Sketches team for having me join them!  I hope you'll play along with them in this cool challenge!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Sweet Strawberry, Friendly Hello (SAB)

Ink: Versamark, Granny Apple Green, Real Red

Paper: Basic Black, Basic White

Accessories: paper piercer, black embossing powder, Strawberry builder punch

Blessing for Healing - Stampin' Up! Blessings of Home

   Last week I did a quick card making session for a women's circle at my church.  None had stamped before, a few had mobility challenges and all were a little hesitant about trying this new thing.  But they all did fantastic and ended up with sweet cards to share with someone.  

  I don't do many classes with completely new stampers so I kept this one very basic and straightforward without using any techniques or special tools.  I pre-cut the the scalloped rectangles and had extras just in case and just focused on the stamped and adhering!

  This would be a great layout for anyone to use with new stampers.  Change out the stamps and papers and it could be any kind of card.

  I thought the Blessings of Home and Heart & Home DSP were the perfect products to use for this sweet group of ladies.  And I love the soft spring-like colors.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Blessings of Home, Inspired Thoughts

Ink: Fresh Freesia, Soft Succulent

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Heart & Home DSP

Accessories: Stitched So Sweetly dies, dimensionals, adhesive pearls, Soft Succulent open weave ribbon

Not A Christmas Birthday - Stampin' Up! Christmas Season

   So the title of this one might be kind of confusing but I used a Christmas stamp set to make today's card.  I wanted to use some greenery stamps and I do have Forever Fern but it was already all packed up ready to go for a class so I didn't want to dig it out and risk forgetting it or something.  So I searched through my stamps for something else that had some leaves and greenery that I could use.  Boom! Christmas Season stamp set worked perfectly for what I had in mind!

  I'm going to be sharing this one over at three challenges (it might be a record for me!  2 is usually my limit!): Seize the Birthday which has make a birthday card with Green & White and over at Just Add Ink they have a lovely inspiration photo using greenery and soft green colors on a wreath.  The layout comes from Global Design Project.  I think this card works well for all three!  Thanks for the inspiration to those challenges!

  This one is quite straightforward in the design so I won't do a deep dive into how I made it but I did emboss the sentiment in black which looks really sharp against the white and green.  I also used light Granny Apple Green blends marker to color the Elegant Faceted gems.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Christmas Season, Sweet Ice Cream (sentiment)

Ink: Soft Sea Foam, Pear Pizzazz, Versamark

Blends: Granny Apple Green light

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Basic Black

Accessories: dimensionals, black embossing powder, Elegant Faceted gems, black bakers twine

Love in Spring - Stampin' Up! Here Together

 Better late than never in getting a card posted today.  I wanted to make sure I got this one shared as both challenges are soon closing.  My layout is from TGIF Challenges and my colors are from my pals over at The Paper Players.

  I just love these spring colors and especially on this gray rainy day that I'm having it definitely cheers things up!

  I used the long border die from Brilliant Rainbow dies to layer the challenge colors along the side of the card front (the card front is textured with the Subtle embossing folder).

  To make the tag element from the sketch I used the Tailored Tags dies and embossed the sweet sentiment from Here Together in black.  It really stands out against the cheerful colors.  I added a bit of sunburst detail in each of the colors above the sentiment. 

  The tag is jazzed up with a Mango Melody heart, sequins, gems and a Pear Pizzazz shimmery ribbon tied off with black twine.  The finished tag is popped on dimensionals.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Here Together

Ink: Mango Melody, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Versamark

Paper: Basic White, Mango Melody, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz

Accessories: Rainbow of Happiness dies, Tailored Tags dies, Subtle embossing folder (retired), dimensionals, black embossing powder, Here for You dies, Artistry Blooms sequins, In Color Jewels, black twine, Pear Pizzazz shimmer ribbon (retired)

Get Well Giraffe - Stampin' Up! Back on Your Feet

   I'm a guest stamper with the Color Throwdown challenge crew today.  This is the card that was featured on a recent challenge so I'm lucky enough to get to join them this week.  I have to say I was hoping for a bright spring color palette but the more I played with these neutrals the more I liked them together!

   I haven't used the Back on Your Feet set in a while and that giraffe definitely seemed like he could carry these neutral colors!

  

  I decided to use Crumb Cake (tan) and So Saffron (yellow) as my main colors with Smoky Slate & Black as small accents.

  The giraffe is colored with Blends and the embossed background is the Hammered Metal folder.  I used the chain of hearts from the Sweet Hearts dies to make the border along the bottom.  And as always, the Tailored Tags dies are just right for highlighting a sentiment.

  Thanks to the Color Throwdown stampers for having me join them this challenge.  It was a fun one!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Back on Your Feet

Ink: Crumb Cake, Memento Black

Blends: So Saffron light & dark, Crumb Cake light & dark, Smoky Slate light

Paper: So Saffron, Crumb Cake, Basic White, Smoky Slate

Accessories: Hammered Metal embossing folder, Tailored Tag dies, Sweet Hearts dies, Classic Matte dots, dimensionals, baker's twine (retired)

Baby Boy in Blue - Stampin' Up! Rainbow of Happiness

   As I was going through my card stash I realized that I had a few baby girl cards but none for baby boys. Can't leave the boys out of the card receiving! And it's perfect timing with the latest CAS Colours & Sketches Challenge which is a gorgeous palette of Night of Navy, Balmy Blue and So Saffron.  I'm guest designing this month so I got to see the colors early!

  Since it's a clean and simple challenge I kept it very crisp with a lot of open white space and showed off this great color combination.

  

  A crisp rainbow in the challenge colors with a little bit of texture from an embossing folder in the background, a cloud punch to soften the lines a bit and minimal embellishments and this card is complete.

  I hope you'll play along with the CAS Colours & Sketches crew and share your creation in the gallery!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Rainbow of Happiness, Many Happenings

Ink: So Saffron, Balmy Blue, Night of Navy

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Night of Navy

Accessories: Stripes & Splatters embossing folder, cloud punch, dimensionals, baker's twine (retired), Candy dots (retired)

Rainbow Thanks - Stampin' Up! Amazing Thanks Dies

  A few weeks ago I needed to say a lot of thank yous to my customers for February orders so I started looking at some supplies and seeing what I could use to make the same design but varying the colors and papers.  I needed 25 cards so I knew I didn't have enough of one DSP pattern to do the exact same design for all of them.  I came across a fun design on Instagram by a New Zealand demo using the Sunshine & Rainbows DSP and the Amazing Thanks dies.  See Angela's card here.  As with any good CASE I changed up a few things.

  Some changes I made were using a different embossing folder in the background, shortening up the lengths of the DSP strips to 3x3 so I could get 4 cards out of each piece of 6x6, adding ribbon knots instead of bows in the corner, doing 2 layers for the thanks die cut instead of one and then adding the little extra sentiment strip from Ornate Thanks.

  I just turned on Netflix and started cranking pieces through the die cutter. And then I kept watching Netflix to put them all together!

  Here are all the different designs I ended up with.

  So thanks to Angela for the awesome inspiration for a fun design!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Ornate Thanks

Ink: Pool Party, Bermuda Bay, Granny Apple Green, Misty Moonlight, Magenta Madness

Paper: Sunshine & Rainbows DSP (SAB)Pool Party, Bermuda Bay, Granny Apple Green, Misty Moonlight, Magenta Madness, Basic White

Accessories: Gingham embossing folder, Amazing Thanks dies, dimensionals, various retired ribbons

Birthday Hat - Stampin' Up! Hats Off

   This week I was woefully short on guy birthday cards which really means I had zero guy birthday cards just when I needed to send one out!  I quickly got to work with 2 great challenges again!  It's awesome when challenges just seem to naturally go together especially when I'm short on time and trying to get a card in the mailbox before the mailman comes around!

  I used the colors from Global Design Project and the layout from Freshly Made Sketches to put this one together.  I did flipped the sketch to to the side to better accommodate the orientation of the hat.

  I was happy to find some Garden Green DSP in my retired stash and it was such a small piece that I don't even know the name of it but I do know it was a Christmas design.  It works for a guy birthday card too right?  And the embossed piece of Balmy Blue was already in my scraps so I just trimmed it down to fit.  Love using up bits and pieces that I've saved!

  I stamped the hat in Garden Green then colored it in with Mint Macaron Blends and cut it out.  The patch is colored with regular markers, stamped and die cut.

  The hat is adhered with dimensionals and the sentiment is stamped to the side in Balmy Blue.  This happy birthday sentiment can be found in the Paradise Palms stamp set in the Jan.-June mini catalog.  The final touch are some retired Garden Green candy dots in the corners.  

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Hats Off, Paradise Palms

Ink: Balmy Blue, Garden Green

Blends: Mint Macaron light & dark

Paper: Balmy Blue, Garden Green, Basic White, unknown DSP

Accessories: Hat Builder dies, dimensionals, Corrugated embossing folder (retired), candy dots (retired)

Delicate Spring Flowers - Painted Poppies

   I'm combing 2 challenges again today.  The Spring is in the Air theme at the Paper Players was perfect to use with the soft colors at Hand Stamped Sentiments.

  I haven't inked up Painted Poppies in forever and it has the cutest little grouping of delicate tiny flowers that I though would work wonderfully for these 2 challenges.

  I used a piece of Hand-Penned DSP for the background and now looking at the package this color is actually Daffodil Delight not So Saffron like the challenge calls for!!  I totally thought it was So Saffron the whole time.  Maybe it's faded enough to fit??  Well I used it in good faith nonetheless!  

  The flowers are stamped in Mint Macaron and then colored in with Blends in So Saffron (I promise!) and Fresh Freesia.  I trimmed the edge into a scallop with the Penned Flowers dies.

  The sentiment from Flowering Tulips is stamped in Mint Macaron and cut with the Tasteful Labels die.  I added a second shape from the Tasteful Labels dies to give the sentiment a bit more weight and popped it up on dimensionals.  A few pearls and Fresh Freesia open weave ribbon finish off the details.

  Thanks for looking! Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Painted Poppies, Flowering Tulips

Ink: Mint Macaron

Blends: So Saffron dark, Fresh Freesia dark

Paper: Hand-Penned DSP, Basic White, Mint Macaron

Accessories: Penned Flowers dies, Tasteful Label dies, dimensionals, adhesive pearls, open weave ribbon

Hand-Penned Thank You - Stampin' Up! Hand-Penned Petals

   Do you need some quick but cute thank you cards and you need to do a bunch of them?  This is a great card design to make multiples of and to mix and match DSP strips.

  I made this video a while ago and kind of forgot about it so it references the Friendly Hello DSP from Sale-a-Bration which is no longer available but the it's the perfect design to just swap in whatever DSP you want to use.

  It's so easy it doesn't really need a video but it's a good visual for new stampers or for new demos looking for a great project to do in a class.  It took 5 minutes to put together and could have gone faster if I wasn't blathering or messing up my ribbon lol!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Hand-Penned Petals

Ink: Petal Pink, Memento black

Paper: Petal Pink, Basic White, Friendly Hello DSP (SAB retired)

Accessories: dimensionals, Brushed Brass Butterflies, 1/8" cotton ribbon combo pack

Tulip Fields Birthday - Stampin' Up! Tulip Fields

   The CAS Colours & Sketches team is back with a fun new challenge today!  I'm guest designing with them all month and this week the challenge is a great sketch!  A little bit of a split or wave element down the center and then a non-geometric shape towards the bottom.  

  This is definitely one of those challenges that I had a lot of ideas for but it took a while to get to one where I was happy with the finished product after a few trials.

  I took the split down the center of the sketch literally and used the Basic Borders cloud die to cut a piece of Basic White into two pieces.  I adhered a piece of colorful Flowering Fields DSP in the center of the card base and then popped the cloud panels up with dimensionals.

  For my non-geometric shape I thought the windmill would be perfect to go with the tulip DSP.  I stamped it in Soft Suede, highlighted a bit of it with a blender pen and Crumb Cake ink and then cut it out.  I popped it up on a small piece of retired shimmer ribbon in Pear Pizzazz.  It looked like it was just floating out in the clouds with out some sort of base!  

  I dug through my stamps to find a smaller birthday greeting to fit with the scale of the windmill and found it in Penguin Place.  I stamped it in Calypso Coral to the side of the windmill.

  And finally to balance the heavier elements at the bottom of the card I cut a few clouds and added them above the windmill.  I also colored them with a bit of clear Wink of Stella which doesn't show up in the photo.

  Head over to CAS Colours & Sketches and see the fabulous samples from the Design Team and then play along!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Tulip Fields, Penguin Place

Ink: Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Flowering Fields DSP

Accessories: Basic Borders dies, Windmill Fields dies, dimensionals, Wink of Stella, Shimmer Ribbon (retired)

Spring Birds - Stampin' Up! Birds & Branches

   We have had a lot of bird activity in our yard the last few weeks.  It's so fun to see the birds pairing up and starting their nests.  We for sure have a bluebird nest and a house finch nest and there are a lot of comings and goings in all of our bushes and trees so I'm sure there are more.  Mr. & Mrs. House Finch decided that my front door wreath looked like a good home.  I usually take the wreath down before they get interested in it but I was too late this year.  I went to take it down and there was already a full blown nest all tucked up in the top edge.  So we just moved it down the porch off the front door so they wouldn't be constantly disturbed and now it's hanging on one of our shutters.  The birds didn't seem to mind at all and have gone about their business.  It will be fun to see them start their little family.  

  So with all that said the birds inspired me to make a bird card using the colors over at TGIF Challenges.  I was going to skip these colors as I just find Magenta Madness hard to use.  I'm not a big pink person generally but this shade just doesn't speak to me at all.  I ended up changing my mind because the whole point of a challenge is to stretch youself creatively.  I think I like the finished card as long as I don't linger too long over the Magenta Madness lol!

  What do you think?  I was going for a congrats on your engagement/wedding type of card. The inside greeting says 'yay for love!".

  I do love these chubby little birds though.  The 2 step stamps made it easy to get the Bumblebee and Soft Suede lined up.

  I popped 2 of the flowers up for some dimension and brought in a bit of texture with the piece of woodgrain DSP from the In Good Taste DSP.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Birds & Branches, Happy & Heartfelt

Ink: Soft Suede, Bumblebee, Magenta Madness

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Magenta Madness, In Good Taste DSP

Accessories: Birds & More dies, 2022-2022 In Color enamel dots (retired)

 

Get Well Petals - Stampin' Up! Hand-Penned Petals

   I needed to send out a get well card to a special friend who had a bad fall recently.  She's going to be laid up for quite sometime so I wanted to make sure I used something with cheerful, bright colors to jazz up her hospital room.  The colors over at Just Add Ink were absolutely perfect for the kind of card I had in mind!

  I started with a Basic White thick base then added a strip of retired Birthday Bonanza DSP at the bottom.  Then I cut a layer of Basic White with the scalloped border die from the Penned Flowers dies.  

  I stamped the flower outline in Smoky Slate and then filled in the different parts with the challenge colors, stamping off once for a few to give a nice variation in tones.  Next the whole panel is embossed with the retired Subtle embossing folder.  I added the crinkled seam binding ribbon at the top before adhering it to my card base.

  The sentiment is stamped in Smoky Slate and cut out with the Tasteful Labels dies and popped up with a dimensional.   A fork bow finishes off the details.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Hand-Penned Petals

Ink: Smoky Slate, Coastal Cabana, Polished Pink, Daffodil Delight

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Birthday Bonanza DSP (retired)

Accessories: Penned Flowers dies, Tasteful Labels dies, crinkled seam binding ribbon, dimensionals

Cheer Up Boots - Stampin' Up! Flowering Rain Boots

   I was able to create another card combining two great challenges!  I used the layout over at Freshly Made Sketches and the choice board from Festive Friday.  Festive Friday is celebrating World Planting Day so the choices are all sorts of outdoors-y planting things.  I chose to use flowers/plants, green, encouragement, Wellington boots and stencils.

  Hopefully this will be a card for someone who needs some cheering up.  I enjoyed using the bright colors and pulling in different elements from the choices.  The big open center panel on the sketch leaves a lot of room for all kinds of images.  The boots and tulips seem to fit the space just right.  I used one of the masks from Basic Patterns set and angled it and faded it out as the pattern went up just for a little bit different look.

  For all of the images I filled them in a bit using ink pads and a blender pen.  I still have some of the retired cardboard wrapped baker's twine in Calypso Coral so I added a bow on the side of the boot for just a little detail.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Flowering Rain Boots

Ink: Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Calypso Coral, Basic Gray

Paper: Flowering Fields DSP, Daffodil Delight, Basic White

Accessories: Rain Boots dies, dimensionals, Basic Patterns masks, Calypso Coral baker's twine (retired)

Birthday Fishes - Stampin' Up! Whale Done

   In my free time the last few days I've been busy doing stamping business-type stuff so the actual stamping has been minimal but I found some time yesterday to pull out some inks and paper.  Sometimes 2 challenges seem made to be used together and I thought that when I saw the Seize the Birthday challenge to do a birthday card with sea creatures and the Color Throwdown Challenge colors which are fun and bright.  The Whale Done stamp set was calling my name for this one!

  Since I had a lot of bright colors to use I kept the background very basic with a Basic White thick card base then I stamped all my elements onto a piece of Basic White.  I started with making my own stencil with a circle die and then blending some Coastal Cabana ink to create my little bit of ocean.  I then I stamped the sandy bottom in Crumb Cake using a mix of full strength ink and stamped off once ink.  I did the same with the Granny Apple Green seaweed.

  The fish are stamped in Pumpkin Pie and the whale and sentiment are stamped in Pacific Point.  The whale is punch out and popped on dimensionals.  

  To add some texture I put some of the clear Faux Sea Glass Shapes along the sandy bottom and then added some "air bubbles" above the whale with 2 clear Elegant Faceted Gems.

  This was such a fun one to put together using the 2 challenges and now after looking at my birthday calendar I probably should have made more than one!  Oh well I guess I'll just have to make more time to stamp!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Whale Done

Ink: Coastal Cabana, Pacific Point, Crumb Cake, Pumpkin Pie, Granny Apple Green

Paper: Basic White Thick, Basic White

Accessories: Faux Sea Glass Shapes, Elegant Faceted Gems, circle die (to make stencil) 

Blue Bird Here for You - Stampin' Up! Catch You Later

 Today's card is another blue bird card but definitely a more whimsical and cutesy pair of blue birds.  I love the images in the Catch You Later set because they are fun and cute and easy to color!  

 Once I decided on which blues to use to color my birds the rest of the card came together nicely.  I used a bit of the Heart & Home DSP for the background and stamped the birds in Soft Suede and colored them in with Blends (listed below).  I cut them out with a Stitched Rectangle die; added some Garden Green twine and some candy dots in opposite corners (still have so many to use!!).

 I stamped the sentiment in Misty Moonlight onto Balmy Blue cardstock then trimmed it to a flag and popped it on dimensionals.

  A quick layered card so some support to a loved one!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Catch You Later

Ink: Soft Suede, Misty Moonlight

Blends: Soft Suede light, Balmy Blue light & dark, Misty Moonlight light

Paper: Misty Moonlight, Garden Green, Basic White, Balmy Blue, Hearth & Home DSP

Accessories: Stitched Rectangles dies, dimensionals, candy dots (retired), Garden Green baker's twine retired

Bowl of Love - Stampin' Up! What's Cookin'

   I'm so pleased to be joining the fabulous stampers over at CAS Colours & Sketches challenge for the month of March as a guest designer.  It's so exciting to join in these clean and simple challenges to showcase this style of card making.  I wouldn't say I'm a CAS stamper generally so this will really make me focus on a well designed card while still keeping it CAS.  Thanks so much for inviting me to join you ladies!

  The first challenge for the month is a beautiful color combination: 

  How lovely are these colors?  So perfect as we begin to look ahead to spring!  At first I thought they would make for a lovely spring flower card but then I completely veered off into another direction!  Isn't that just the way things happen sometimes?

  My What's Cookin' set has been a bit neglected so I thought I would give it a go with the challenge colors!  I started with a Basic White base then stamped the sentiment and bowl in Gray Granite.  I hand trimmed the bowl and cut a slit in the top of the bowl and then filled it with a bunch of hearts cut in the challenge colors.  I used one of heart dies in the Sweet Hearts dies set.  They were the perfect size.

  I added a length of Fresh Freesia Open Weave ribbon at the top of the card to balance the elements at the bottom.

  This was such a fun challenge and I can't wait to see all the creative ways these colors will be used so be sure to link up in the CAS Colors & Sketches gallery!

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: What's Cookin'

Ink: Gray Granite

Blends: Soft Sea Foam light

Paper: Basic White thick, Basic White, Flirty Flamingo, Soft Sea Foam, Fresh Freesia

Accessories: Sweet Hearts dies, Fresh Freesia Open Weave ribbon