Soaring By

Happy Friday all.. :) I needed to sit down and make a quick card for my Neice who's Birthday is Halloween. If you hadn't noticed, I play along in alot of the challenges on Splitcoaststampers, and today was no exception. I go to the challenges to get inspiration for the task at hand. So Friday's challenge is a free for all. The only challenge was to paper piece with scraps. I have lots of scraps of older SU dsp, so I went for those. I used papers from last Sale-a-bration called Good Neighbor. These papers are fun and bright, and perfect for my niece. I am sure it will be well received. Thanks for taking a peek today! :) All Supplies Stampin' Up! Details below -

Stamps - Crazy for Cupcakes, Teeny tiny Wishes
Paper - Soft Suede, Old Olive, Baja Breeze, Good Neighbor DSP (retired), Pink Pirouette
Ink - soft suede
Access - Scallop edge punch, paper pircer, big shot, scallop rectangle clearlit, linen thread, mini library clip, dimensional dots

Vintage Sketch

Happy Wednesday everyone...I am playing instead of working, and I will probably pay the price when my husband comes home and sees that I am a little behind.. Oh well, it's worth it! I wanted to play along in yesterdays color challenge on Splitcoaststampers, but never got the chance. So I am playing along in the sketch challenge today, and using the colors from yesterdays challenge. CHACHING! A two for one!  The colors were blushing bride, crumb cake, and baja breeze. So soft and elegant. Our dessert option was to use pearls and lace. These are elements that I have in my stash, but really never use. I guess I just like looking at all the bling in their little boxes, like a treasure. I used Vintage Vogue, and Bella Toile for my sets, and a retired sentiment from Elegant Greetings. This card just called for it I think. :)
My proportions are little smaller than the sketch given, but that is what is great about the sketch challenges. You fit it to your needs. They are a great starting point. So if you are ever in need of a little inspiration, check it out! Thanks for taking a peek. :) All supplies are Stampin' Up!, Details below -

Stamps - Bella Toile, Vintage Vogue, Elegant Greetings (retired)
Paper - Blushing Bride, Crumb Cake, Confetti White
Ink - Crumb Cake, blushing bride, Pear Pizzaz
Accessories - Baja Breeze double stitch ribbon (retired), victoria crochet trim, baja button, linen thread, pretties kit, half back pearls, lg oval punch, 1/4 hole punch, sponge, dimensional dots

Lovely SFYTT

I played along in Jen Del Muro's SFYTT today, as I needed to sit down and make a card for my brother-in-law, so I used her SFYTT sketch as a starting point. I used SU Lovely as a tree, another set that I have had forever, and rarely use. I stamped the trees in Cajun Craze, then moved the stamp over a little and stamped again to create some dimension. I stamped the top of the card with the oak leaves also in Cajun Craze. I sponged around the edges to give the scene some depth. Next, I stamped my oak leaves 2 times in Timber brown Stazon and watercoloered them with my SU markers, pumpkin pie, Cajun Craze, Daffodil Delight. I cut out one, and poped it up over the first one. I paper pirced the circle and added a simple bow out of linen thread to finish it off. The sentiment is from a retired SU set called It's your Birthday. Viola! A bithday card for my brother-in-law. Now to get it in the mail before the actual day. *wink* Thanks for taking a peek! Details below, All Supplies are Stampin' Up!

Stamps - Lovely as a tree, It's your Birthday, Sanded  Paper - Cajun Craze, early espresso, more mustard, confetti white, Ink - timber brown stazon, pumpkin pie, Cajun Craze, Daffodil Delight, Access - 21/2 XL circle punch, paper pircer, latte button, linen thread, dimensionals

Back to Basics

Did you ever feel sometimes you just need to get back to the root of it all or the basics? I have an upcoming club, and I have been trying to think of that WOW card. After a lot of trial and error, (too many layers, too much technique, etc.) I looked around my stamp room with a sigh, and this stamp set called my name.. (Well no not really *wink*) .. and I immediately knew what I was going to do. This set came in my starter kit oh so many years ago, and I rarely use it. It is so fun, that trusty old pick up truck. So I went back to my basics..paper and ink. I love the outcome. I stamped my image on confetti white, in Stazon, and water colored it with my aquapainter and reinkers. I found a leaf in Awash with flowers that went really well with this set, and used it to add a little whimsy to the card. I ran my cajun craze layer through the bigshot using the square lattice folder ( kinda looks like a brick road), and finished it off with some twill tape. Thanks for taking a peek. Details below -

Stamps - Loads of Love and Accessories, Awash with flowers,  Paper - More Mustard, Crumb cake, Confetti White, Cajun Craze, Very vanilla, Ink - Stazon, old olive, Early Espresso, Pumpkin pie, Accessories - aquapainter, big shot, square lattice folder, mini library clip, twill tape, dimensional dots

Spooky Stuff Kids.....

Hi .... I am still fawning over the colors from yesterday post, so bear with me and my new "crush". I played along in today's sketch challenge on Splitcoaststampers. I took a peek at the sketch before I actually went into work today, and was thinking about it on and off through out the day. Got the kids through homework, and dinner, and put the ideas to work. The sketch called for an oval in the center, but the hostess let us change it to our specific needs. I flipped the sketch upside down and created my Spooky scene. As I stated earlier I used the same colors from yesterdays color challenge on SCS, which were Crushed Concord, Cherry Cobbler, and Old Olive. The dessert option was to use argyle, but I subbed in a scrap of some hounds tooth. The moon was punched out of retired SU Walk in the park dsp. Super Fun card Don't ya think? Thanks for taking a peek! Details are below -

Stamps -  SU Home is where the haunt is (retired), Wicked Cool, Wood grain, Paper - Crushed concord, Cherry Cobbler, crushed concord dsp, ski slope dsp (retired) Early Espresso, Walk in the park dsp (retired), Whisper White, Ink - black, river rock, Accessories - scallop edge punch, sponge, dimensional dots, Googlie eyes

Crush on Concord...

..Sigh....Today I have to admit, I have a new love..it's name is Concord Crush. I was really busy today here at home (work), and took a little peek at the color challenge for today at splitcoaststampers. Well that's all I needed to be totally SMITTEN with this color. The colors we were to use were Concord Crush, Cherry Cobbler, and Old Olive. The Dessert option was argyle. Are the colors not lush and Delicious. Betty the hostess for the challenge NEVER dissappoints with the combos. I kept my layout simple and quick, as the kiddos still needed some help with homework.  Thanks for taking a peek ! Details are below -

Stamps - Occasional quotes, Paper - Concord Crush, old olive, Play date dsp, very vanilla, Ink - concord crush, versamark, Accessories - big shot, impression plates I, so saffron 5/8 ribbon (retired), playground buttons, scallop edge punch

Thankful Thoughts

Hi , what weekend we had here in my house... Fall seems to be in full swing. Birthday parties, pumpkin carving, and taking a day trip to the Arboretum to take in all the gorgeous fall colors. This trip has been a tradition since the kids were really small. I always try to put them in the same colors that day, so I can take the christmas picture for that year. So when I let them know what is up for the weekend, I usually get A LOT of grumps and groans, but then we get there, and the air seems to change and it is all Good! Nothing like asking your kids to all look at the camera at the same time, and SMILE! *wink* I know we have ALL been through this is some fashion, but it always amazes me that they can act like that, when they allready know what to expect going into it.. Here is a pic of them at their best. Of course this is not this years xmas card picture, that one has to be approved by the kids. (HA!) Ok, so enough about my weekend, and back to the reason for this post. I played along in Jen Del Muro's SFYTT this morning, and was inspired by all the colors I saw and things I did over the weekend. I used a variety of SU designer papers for this card. I have a lot of scraps, and am challenging myself to use as many of those that I can before I go buying more, or cutting into a sheet just for a small piece. I used Newsprint, some retired Sweet Pea ( some of my faves of all time by SU) and greenhouse gala. I love the fact that I can pull out papers from past and present and they all go together. So I don't feel bad about using up the scraps.



Thanks for hanging in there all the way to the bottom of the post for the details, and thanks for taking a peek today! Details are below -

 Stamps - Grateful Greetings, Paper - So Saffron, tangerine tango, pear pizzaz, early espresso, newsprint dsp, sweet pea dsp (retired), Greenhouse gala dsp, very Vanilla, Ink - old olive, tangerine tango, early espresso, river rock (to distress)

Accessories - Lg SU oval punch, scallop edge punch, sewing machine, hole punches, pear pizzaz poly twill ribbon, photo corner punch, dimensional dots

Making Friday Merry!

FRIDAY!! Whoot! Whoot! I thought it would never get here.. My Thursdays seem like they go on forever sometimes. If you are wondering why I am so excited about Fridays, they are my official day off, and I get to do what I want, and that means hunkering down and getting inky fingers.. amongst other things *wink*. I checked out the Free 4 all challenge for this Friday on Splitcoaststampers, and it was to create a winter card/project, with out any white. I chose to use up some more scraps of some older SU Holiday dsp, and vanilla card stock. I also used a retired SU set called Berry Christmas. I {heart} this set, and was sad to see that it did not make it back into the current catalog. sniff..sniff.. But it's all good. The set makes me happy, and only good things come out of things that make you happy. :) Thanks for taking a peek today! Details Below :

Stamps - Berry Christmas (retired) , Paper - Pear Pizzaz, Holiday Treasures(?) DSP (retired), Very Vanilla, Ink - Chocolate chip, old olive, red ridinghood red, Accessories - Big shot, Merry Details Sizzlit, SU Felt ribbon (retired) red ridinghood tafeta ribbon (retired), linen thread, jingle bell, pinking heart border punch, photo corner punch, pircer, dimensional dots.

Sketchy Robot...

My son Ian comes to me this morning with a Birthday Party invite for this weekend... I am like Cool...until I look at the RSVP, which was YESTERDAY! The invite has been in his backpack for at least a week. Don't ya just love Kids! So I took advantage of the Sketch challenge at Splitcoaststampers, and came up with this super simple and quick card. (Note to self - Sit down and make more!) I used Lots of Bots, a must have in my opinion. I stamped my image in SU classic black, heat set, then colored with my SU markers and a versamarker. If you use your versamarker as a blender, the colors stay wet, and your SU markers become very blendable. I have had a lot people ask me about this technique, and I guess that will have to be my first tutorial.. So Stay tuned. I also created my own DSP, using Apple Blossom, and Extreme Elements. I like the outcome, I hope you do too!  Thanks for taking a peek. (:   Details are Below -

Stamps - Lots of Bots, Apple blossom, Extreme elements , Paper - Whisper White, Basic Gray, Green Galore (retired), Making memories DSP, Ink - SU  Classic black, green galore, going gray, veersamark, versamarker, white craft, Access - Spiral punch, Dymo Label maker, sm star punch ( retired ) dimensional dots.

SCS Color Challenge

Good Morning... I am playing hookie this morning from work, as I have a few appointments through out the morning, so I decided to check out todays color challenge on Splitcoaststampers. The colors to work with today were Real red, Pink pirouette, and Pear Pizzaz. These colors shout Christmas to me, so I went with it. No stamping on this card, as adding our own handwritting was the dessert option that was listed in the challenge. So this is as Simple as it can get. I used some older DSP scraps and the new Pear Pizzaz DSP for my papers, and some pircing, and a scrap of that yummy felt ribbon from Stampin' Up! Thanks for taking a peek. Card details below -

Stamps - none, Paper- Crumb cake, whisper white, Pear pizzaz DSP, Bella Rose DSP (retired), Cocoa Kisses DSP (retired ), So Saffron, Accessories - choc chip felt ribbon (retired), paper pircer, lg star punch, Latte Button (retired) silver cord, xl bird punch, dimensional dots

Make Merry!

Had a little bit of time this weekend to get creative, so I participated in Jen Del Muro's SFYTT again. I just received this stamp in a recent order, and thought it went perfectly with the sketch this week. I am using up some scraps from SU retired DSP. I still need to get some of the yummy papers in the holiday mini to create with, but it's all good until then. I really like how this came out in the limited time I had to play, I hope you do too! Details are below......

Stamps - Sweet Snowglobe, Berry Christmas, Paper - Early Esspresso, red ridinghood red, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Old Olive, Baha Breeze, Ski Slope DSP ( I think) Ink - Red Ridinghood red, old olive, bashful Blue, Baha Breeze, Versamark , Accessories - Big Shot, Northern Flurry embossing folder, snow flake punch, 1 1/4 circle punch, pinkng heart punch, paper pircer, white button, elastic cord, clear EP, dimensionals.

Greetings! (My New Blog)

 As you know from my first post, I FINALLY got around to starting this BLOG! (I know crazy right!) I have only been talking about it for 2 years now. I just hope I can keep it up, and together. *wink* So Welcome to Downstairs Designs. A place where I can share my papercrafting adventures with you. I hope you join me in my journeys. Today,  I am sharing a card that I made for Jen Del Muro's SFYTT this week. I am  really trying to get into the Halloween spirit, and I think this did the trick......so...with that said I think I will go find my BROOM! (insert wicked laugh here)!   All Supplies are Stampin' Up!, card details below :

Stamps - Grateful Greetings, Wicked Cool, Paper - Concord Crush, Basic Gray, Old Olive, Peach Parfait and Concord crush DSP, Ink - Black, Access. - scallop edge punch, pinking heart punch, Big shot, Top note die, ticket corner punch, mini vintage tag, dimensionals, old olive satin ribbon, sponge.

I did it!

I told you I could!..... Look Mom no Hands!!
Come Back soon for some more Cute Schtuff! I promise it will be here. So until then...

Heather