Create with Connie and Mary Sketch Challenge: Bring on the Cake

Welcome back friends.  I love the joy you get and receive when someone receives a hand stamped, personalized card in the mail for a special occasion so I really work hard to make sure to send greetings to special people in my life so they know how special they are.  For this weeks Create with Connie and Mary Sketch challenge I decided to use the challenge for a special birthday.  This card is so bright and cheery which fits this person to a T.

The cardbase is Melon Mambo and I added is piece of Island Indigo that I punched with the Scalloped Trim Border Punch as well as Whisper White, and the Gingham Garden designer series paper.  I like to hid seams where paper meet as much as possible so in this case I used a piece of Daffodil Delight 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon.  I used the Paper-Piercing Tool and the Festive Paper-Piercing Pack to make an outline for the Label Collections Framelit shape.  Then I stamped the birthday greeting from the Bring on the Cake stamp set in Island Indigo, cut it out with the Big Shot and the Label Collection Framelits and then sponged around the edge with Melon Mambo ink before attaching it to the card with dimensionals.

 

For the flower accent I cut a small flower piece with the Floral Frames Framelits and scrunched it up.  The leaves were cut with the Bird Builder punch and I added a small white flower I made with the Simply Pressed Clay and the Buttons & Blossoms Simply Pressed Clay Mold.  I like these clay flowers and I have several made in different colors as well as white so I can use them at a moments notice for a project (can color the white pieces with markers for customer colored accents, love it!)

 

This card is fun and fresh and will really brighten up some one's special day.  I'm also mailing this card this week so I'll be interested to see how the clay element handles the postal processing.  If you haven't tried the Simply Pressed Clay you really should, it's fun and easy and you get a lot out of each bag of clay (I've made over 100 different elements of different sizes and still haven't used half of my package of clay.

 

Happy Stamping,

 

Diana

Christmas in July: WOW Gift Tag

Good afternoon!  We're about to start the closing general session for this years convention and we've been having so much fun we can't wait to see what Stampin' Up! has in store for us.  Since it's so hot year and back home in VA I decided to help cool things off a little by sharing the gift tag I made for a swap group I'm in.  This gift tag uses the Big Shot, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Decorative Label Framelits, and Striped Embossing Folder.  I sponged around all the edges with Smoky Slate ink and stamped on the Silver cardstock with the Dictionary Stamp set (make sure to let this sit since it will take a little longer to dry than our regular cardstock).  I wrapped a piece of Whisper White Organza Ribbon around the tag.

 

The snowflake was made with the new Simply Pressed clay.  I colored it with Bermuda Bay reinker and pressed it into the Simply Pressed Holiday Cookie stamp to get the 3D snowflake (I did sprinkle Dazzling Diamonds into the mold before adding the clay so it really sparkles in person.  The greeting is from the Greetings of the Season stamp set and I sponged around the edge.  The final touch was to add some Whisper White bakers twine for the attachment.

 

This tag is so fun it'll definitely dress up holiday packages and as an added bonus it actually matches one of the new Designer Series Papers that's coming out next month in the Holiday catalog. 

 

I hope you're enjoying the projects this week, I haven't even shared them all and remember if you want to make some of these projects join me next Sunday for the special "The Boys are Away, Let's Play Just Cards Class".  We'll be making 5 of the cards I made for swaps that you're sure to love.

 

I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!

 

Diana

Convention 2013 - Day 3 Yippee-Skippee Card Swap

Happy Saturday friends!  We're having an amazing time at convention this year.  After a full day of classes and sessions we had the awards ceremony and after party last night.  It's so fun to see such amazing demonstrators get recognized for their achievements, it really gives you something to aspire to.  Plus who doesn't love a little dessert, music, and dancing to end the evening.  I also hope all my peeps back home and on the east coast are getting so relief from the heat.  I've really enjoyed escaping from the humidity this week (it's still over 100 degrees here in SLC but the lack of humidity really does make a difference).

 

  Today I'm sharing another swap card I made.  This once is pretty simple but was a big hit.  The cardbase is Crumb Cake and I added a layer of Very Vanilla and I stamped the greeting from Yippee-Skippee (I've warned you I love this set) that I colored in with Gumball Green and Baked Brown Sugar Stampin' Write Markers.

 

Next I ran a piece of Calypso Coral cardstock through the Big Shot with the Hexagon Embossing folder.  I also added a layer of Epic Day This and That Designer Series Paper and the oh so fabulous Baked Brown Sugar Ruffled Stretch ribbon for flag layers.  The final touch was to add a flower I made with the Simply Pressed Clay Button and Flowers Mold and Simply  Pressed Clay.  I did color the clay with reinkers (this was actually Bermuda Bay) and then let them dry before attaching it to the card with Tombo Mono Liquid Adhesive.  This clay is so fun and I love that even after it drys it still have a "squishy" texture that is so fun.

 

I hope you're enjoying these projects and remember, I'm hosting a special class next Sunday, July 28 at 1:00PM called "The Boys are Away, Let's Play Just Cards Class."  We'll be making 5 of the swap cards that I designed for convention so you'll get to get in on some of the fun.  Make sure to RSVP soon to reserve your space.  Hope to see you there!

 

Take care!

 

Diana

Create with Connie and Mary: Delightful Dozen

Good morning friends!  What started as a stormy week is turning really warm and pretty which I love!  We're also starting to wrap up the spring and school activities so we're starting to get some of our evenings back which is oh, so nice.  Today I wanted to share the card I made for this weeks Create with Connie and Mary sketch challenge.  I decided to mix some old and new elements to create a fun and easy card.  I started with a cardbase of Pear Pizzaz (so excited that this color returned to our color collection) and then added a piece of Melon Mambo cardstock that I embossed with the Big Shot and Chevron Embossing Folder.  The next layer is a piece of Gingham Garden designer series paper.

The greeting is from the Delightful Dozen stamp set and was stamped in Night of Navy ink before being punched out with the oval punch and then matted it with the scallop oval punch and Daffodil Delight cardstock.  I used dimensionals to attach the greeting to the card.  The final touch was to add a button that I made with the Simply Pressed Clay and the Buttons and Blossoms Clay Mold.  I made the button directly with the white clay and then used the Island Indigo Stampin' Write marker to color it in and added a White Baker's Twine bow to finish it off.

 

This is such a fresh and cheery card, sure to make someone feel better in no time.  What can you do with the fabulous new catalog items?  There's still time to participate in the challenge or get some fabulous inspiration from all the other sketch participants.

 

Make sure to stop by tomorrow.  This months Stylin' Stampin' Blog Hop is starting tomorrow and we'll be sharing some fabulous projects using items from the new 2013-2014 Annual Catalog, can't wait to see what everyone comes up with.

 

Have a great day!

 

Diana

 

Paper Players Challenge: Mosaic Madness and Lots of Fun New Toys!

Happy Friday!  I've been so excited for this day to arrive.  Not only is it Friday, which means the weekend is just a few hours away, but today is a HUGE day with Stampin' Up!  Today is the release of the 2013-2014 Annual Catalog and there are so many awesome new products I can't wait to try out.  On top of that, this year there is an overlap in the catalogs so for today only, you can order from the 2012-2013 Annual Catalog, Spring Catalog, and 2013-2014 Annual Catalog so you can get all the retiring and new items you want at the same time (love it!!!!).  For today's Paper Players sketch challenge I decided to show off several of the new products that you can get today.  This card is actually really simple, the cardbase is Strawberry Slush (one of the five new In Colors) and I added a layer of Pool Party.  The designer series paper is also new and from the Quatrefancy Specialty DSP and the patterns and colors are so fresh and fun.

 

The upper right hand panel was made by embossing a piece of Whisper White cardstock with the Big Shot and the NEW Modern Mosaic Textured Embossing Folder.  Next I used the new Mosaic Madness stamp set to set some of the quatrefoil images and then punched them out with the Mosaic Punch (you know how much I love stamp sets and matching punches and now we matching embossing folders (I'm in heaven!).  The greeting is also from a new stamp set, Really Good Greetings.  The final touch was to add the button and Island Indigo Baker's Twine bow.  Now you may be asking about where that button came from, it's another fun new product, it's Simply Pressed Clay and the Buttons & Blossoms Simply Pressed Clay Molds.  That's right, now you can make your own buttons and flowers anytime you want and in any color you want (for this button I made it with the standard white clay and then colored the formed button with a marker.  I've been having lots of fun playing with this new product and I love how it doesn't take a lot of clay to make so you can get lots of creations out of each package (very cost effective).

 

I hope this card has excited you for some of the awesome new products so go check out the new annual catalog so you can see what all the fun's about.

 

Enjoy your day and have a great weekend,

 

Diana

The Paper Players Color Challenge: Label Love Sneak Peak

Good evening friends!  We're about to head out on an exciting weekend adventure and are leaving early tomorrow so I wanted to drop in quickly to share the card I make for this weeks Paper Players color challenge.  This card is really simple but the cool thing is that I uses several sneak peek items from the upcoming catalog release.  I started with a cardbase of Crumb cake and embossed it with the Big Shot and the Elegant Fan Embossing Folder.  The designer series paper is from the Poetry Prints DSP stack (which is retiring at the end of the month) and is matted with Raspberry Ripple.  I also added a piece of Midnight Muse 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon.

The stamped image is from the new Label Love stamp set.  You can get this stamp set starting May 31 and the great thing about it is that there's a matching punch which makes popping these out a snap (I'm a sucker for any stamp set that has a matching punch!)  I layered this on a piece of Midnight Muse that I cut out with the Apothecary Accents Framelits and embossed with the Lattice Embossing folder.  Do you notice the cute little button in the top right corner?  This is another sneak peek.  It's not a button but it's the new Simply Pressed Clay and Matching mold.  The clay comes in white and you can either press the buttons (also comes with a flower mold) in white and color the button once they've dried with Stampin' Write Markers or you can color the clay with reinkers and then press the clay so the clay is colored all the way through (I used the Raspberry Ripple marker to color the button) then I added a piece of Linen Thread in a bow.

 

This card is so easy and fun, I love all the different textures elements.  There are lots of options with this color sketch so enjoy!

 

Have a great weekend,

 

Diana