Endless Birthday Wishes Challenge

 My upline Tami has a get together quarterly and we were given a challenge - to use Endless birthday Wishes set to make 4 different cards using notecards and washi tape and you could stamp but only using one color for the stamp.  (so the colors do not get messed up during workshops for example) and these were my takes on it.

The funny thing is, I really love limited item challenges because it forces you to use things you normally would not have- like these wood pieces but they were SO MUCH FUN!

 And the Endless birthday set is that- Endless!  you can create so much different combinations of messages.  Love It!

So challenge yourself and get started on some cards- you can always use them as gift enclosures and everyone has a birthday- what a nice surprise to find a card for a co-worker, a teacher, a friend or family on their special day....

This one was so simple but was my favorite. 

The wood pieces fit these words so nicely and gave a fun dimension to the cards.  Enjoy!

Flower shop thank you

Just a very easy and pretty thank you cards.  The base card is Pool Party with a Whisper white CS stamped into band using a houndstooth tape stamp in melon mambo then embossed part way with Houndstooth embossing folder to the stamped area. 

Or you can use a washi tape but then I would tape it AFTER embossing.  Stamp Thank you from Lots of Thanks set  (separated off the "for caring" for more versatility- why I LOVE cling mount- use them together or separate!)  - stamped the flowers from Flower shop in melon and pool party and mounted with dimensionals and one with vintage faceted buttons tied with  baker's twine...  Quick and easy thank you or whatever occasion card you may need.

Flowershop in Primrose Petals

A pretty simple card that has a lot of drama.  Yah, yah yah, I heard all those arguments about why you can't  need another stampset and another flower punch.  I just bought Secret Garden- do I really want another punch? Heck, Yeah!
Is this not the cutest easiest card?  Stamped the flowers using Raspberry Ripple onto Primrose Petal CS.  There is directionality to the stamp so I put a little mark using a Sharpie on the bottom of the stamp that coordinates with the punch so I could easily punch it out. Something about punching is so satisfying to me. It goes so quick that for something you think you will use a LOT like this flower, it makes more sense to use the punch than a diecut.  I used the Pretty Print textured impressions folder for the square panel but you could just as well use a  3x3 piece of DSP.   Hello from Four You stampset.  Used the stayput technique for the ribbon and easy peasy done.

June Paper Pumpkin - Hello to you.

 This little box you get every month is actually quite fun.  This time there was a zigzag background, hello to you, and small heart stamps and 3 diecut hexagons in polka dot yellow, red pattern (self adhesive) and blank white in addition to the base cards and envelopes and a soft suede stampin spot.  The base cards have little hexagons cut that you can punch trhough but I left some of them for a more minimalist look that I liked.  For the one on the left I punched out 2 of the windows, stamped the heart through one and attached the polka dot yellow one on the inside.  Then I stamped hello - stamping off each time to get the gradation and stamped the "to you" on the inside to the right of the heart- you can't see it though.

 I played with the supplies but I really LOVE the square zigzag background so I started to play with that- the card to the left is one I made using just one layer of whisper white and the new in-colors- I did use stampamajig to place the squares- kind of fun card- beach colors- Coastal Cabana on top left,  Crisp Cantelope on right top, Strawberry Slush bottom left and Pistachio Pudding bottom right- HELLO to you is in Baked brown sugar.  I thought about punching out a heart stamped with the red zigzag and putting it over the pistachio square but I stopped myself. I think this would be a great background for lots of punched shapes

This is a variation from above using the the square from this set in Pistachio pudding then stamped the flowers from Summer Silhouette in Strawberry Slush  and sentiment in Baked brown sugar again for a one layer card.  Added little tiny pearls in the center of the flowers - the large one had black stamens stamped first.

I am enjoying these kits much more so than I would have imagined.  I hope you are too.....

A Secret Garden make and take

This is a make and take from  my last Stampin' Party.  I wanted to show the technique of white embossing the flowers on a colored cardstock, enhancing with a blender pen and same color inkpad, diecutting the image with matching dies and this is a more simplified version of the one I shared yesterday.  Take Pool party basecard- I am going to be so sad when this retires.  Take a small piece of whisper white- this is 4 x 2 1/2 . Stamp the sentiment from Friendly Phrases in Basic Grey then emboss the top with Chevron folder. Tie the pool party ribbon- one of the free items from Sale-a-bration. Mount the flowers and leaves- It's the same stamp stamped twice, once in regal rose CS and another onto celery then cut out the celery flower showing only 2 petals and mount with dimensionals.  Real easy but elegant card for a make and take.  Enjoy!

Swallowtail embossed in Pool Party

I made these cards for some thank you's this month.  It is Swallowtail and Curly Cute  embossed in Pool Party EP onto Early expresso CS. One layer card really easy but quite dramatic- I am trying to play with different Embossing powder colors as well. What fun!

Pastel Swallowtail

Another swallowtail embossed onto white using versamark and white EP then daubered with bashful blue, pretty in pink, so saffron and celery to create a really subtle color combo. Tied the whole thing with celery seam binding ribbon and the sentiment from Curly Cute set in Bashful blue and then mount the whole thing on another whisper white CS and a really easy but elegant card.  We made this at our last party and from the beginner to the expert all had a good time making it!

Swallowtail in basic brown

This was a really easy one.  Stamped the sentiment and swallowtail in basic brown and used watercolor crayons to color it directly onto the vanilla CS. Layer the whole thing onto Expresso CS and you are done!
I think this was a take 5 card!

Swallowtail with markers

This was a fun little card. I embossed a whole bunch of swallowtails onto whisper white CS with white EP to try different techniques.  I did this initially with  daubers and pads but it was too pale so I tried blender pen and markers and it was so much more dramatic.  This was using eggplant, daffodil and melon mambo pens then used dauber with pool party to add a softer background.  Stamped the sentiment from Curly Cute in Eggplant then layered it onto eggplant then pool party base card and easy as pie card. 

A week of Swallowtail Play

I have been busy playing with this Swallowtail stamp. I thought to get it initially so I can stamp canvas and Tshirts because I thought it too big for cards but I 've been liking it.  This was done with watercolor crayons directly onto the stamp then spritzed it with water then stamped onto shimmering white CS. Sentiment from Trust God stamped with Rich Razzleberry and layered onto same and then layered onto Summer starfruit base card.

After it all dried, I went over some of the area with a 2 way glue pen and added some dazzling diamond glitter which did add something extra.

Oh, whale case

I cased this card from the Stampin Up website January 2nd. They changed the look of the website and I had some mixed feelings about it at the beginning but I like it.  My only thing is that it is pinned from somewhere and I could not find out from the picture who originally made the card.
I changed up the color and added the sentiment and the hears but I think it is sweet.  Take a white cardstock, slight smaller than the base card.  Diecut the large oval as shown using the Oval framelets.  Emboss with the Needlepoint border embossing folder as shown.  Stamp the waves on the base cardstock with pool party -using stamp off technique to get various shades.  I used a post it on the right side to make sure it was not going to show when the top cardstock was mounted.   Stamp the whale and diecut with the Happy Whale clearlit.  Stamp the sentiment and the hearts with pool party and mount using dimensionals.  Mount the whale and add the tiniest pearl for the eye.  Easy peasy card.  Credits to Stampin Up for posting such a cute card and credits to original creator!

Lynda

rain or shine make and take

This was my favorite of the cards I had at my stamping party this month.  I love the Rain or Shine set- although I wish they had a matching framelet or die to go with it.  I thought it would go well with the Cloudy Day embossing and so it does.

For some reason I have been gravitating toward Pool party these last few months.  I don't know what I am going to do when it and Lucky Limeade retires this summer.    Anyhow, I took a white CS and embossed it with cloudy days folder and then layered the Sycamore street DSP from Sale-a-bration (which you can earn for free for any $50 purchase- starts Jan 22, 2013)  I took the color lead from the DSP and tried the raspberry and the other colors but tangerine tango just was the thing- gave a just the right bit of cheeriness the card needed.  Stamp the umbrella in tangerine tango and the stem with crumbcake (tried black and grey and chocolate and they were all too dark and did not look right) and the sentiment in island indigo.  Layered the whole thing in tangerine and a simple card that did not need to have the umbrella cut out!  Looooove It!

Sweet thread simply sent bundle

 I've been a fan of cross stitch for many years having made several pillows and eyeglass cases even.  So when I saw this it peaked my curiosity as to how I could incorporate it into cardmaking which I never tried.  It is usually a bit of effort to do it and I was concerned it would take too much time but these went in no time at all.  You can do both of these while watching an hour long show.  I stamped the sentiment first in case I screwed up; I did not want to waste the stitchwork.   I did have to be careful to not pull too hard as in certain areas the hole could rip. I used the entire strand but it was a bit thick and next time I may take a strand or two out.  I love the simplicity of it but of course I had to embellish it a bit.  On the first one, I just added a

little seambinding ribbon and on the limeaid one, a layer of raspberry ripple cardstock and used dimensionals to pop it up a bit and I think it is really sweet.  I may even try it around some other paper pierced images. So simple, cute and easy!  It's just my style.

Enjoy!

Lynda

Another Wonderful Winterland CASE

Base of whisper white CS base and use a scrap piece of paper to cut out a curve you want and stamp the Lovely as a tree in Midnight Muse. Now these new stampsets are not as quick drying as the old formulation so I used that to my advantage by using a piece of sponge with the mask still in place rubbed the stamped trees to get a blue smudge-y background which totally works.  Then stamp the little guy in black (I use memento black but staz-on will work too so the colors do not run) and then colored it in with Bashful blue and Real red and blush blossom for the face. Stamp another little guy and cut out using Eclipse paper or some other thin piece of paper to create masel.  I then used the curves of the mask to lay it down on different places and used Bashful blue to add some more colors to create the valleys in the snow and the little skating pond. Stamp the sentiment from Friendly Phrases in midnight muse and use 2 way glue pen to add sparkle over the trees and top of the snow banks with dazzling diamonds. So cute!  Again, totally cased from Janine Tinklenberg http://stampspaperscissors.typepad.com/stamps_paper_scissors/2012/09/two-one-layer-cards.html

Winter Wonderland CASE

 So I made whole bunch of these cards- I thought they were just so stinkin' cute!

Again, took a whisper white CS base and used a scrap piece of paper and cut out a curve I wanted and stamped the Lovely as a tree in Midnight Muse. Now these new stampsets are not as quick drying as the old formulation so I used that to my advantage by using a piece of sponge with the mask still in place rubbed the stamped trees to get a blue smudge-y background which totally works. I then stamped the little guy in black( I use memento black but staz-on will work too so the colors do not run)  and then colored it in with bashful blue and real red , Crumbcake on the feet and hair and blush blossom for the face. I then used the curves of the mask to lay it down on different places and used Bashful blue to add some more colors to create the valleys in the snow. Stamp the sentiment from Friendly Phrases in midnight muse and use 2 way glue pen to add sparkle over the trees and top of the snow banks with dazzling diamonds. Don't forget to add sparkle to the trim on the little kid's outfit!

Details on the coloring.

Enjoy!









Credits to Janine Tinklenberg at http://stampspaperscissors.typepad.com/stamps_paper_scissors/2012/09/two-one-layer-cards.html

Case from Janine Tinklenberg

 I don't get a chance to spend a lot of time perusing through internet but I love this Wonderful Winterland set and wanted to use it for my next stamping party but I was not inspired by much of what I saw until http://stampspaperscissors.typepad.com/stamps_paper_scissors/2012/09/two-one-layer-cards.html  by Janine Tinklenberg. I love how she used the Lovely as a tree as the background which I think totally rocks it.

 So I took a whisper white CS base and used a scrap piece of paper and cut out a curve I wanted  and stamped the Lovely as a tree in Midnight Muse. Now these new stampsets are not as quick drying as the old formulation so I used that to my advantage by using a piece of sponge with the mask still in place rubbed the stamped trees to get a blue smudge-y background which totally works.  I then stamped the little guy in black and then colored it in with bashful blue and real red adn blush blossom for the face. I then used the curves of the mask to lay it down on different places and used Bashful blue to add some more colors to create the valleys in the snow.  Stamp the sentiment from Friendly Phrases in midnight muse and use 2 way glue pen to add sparkle over the trees and top of the snow banks with dazzling diamonds.  Don't forget to add sparkle to the trim on the little kid's outfit!

Field Flowers with Apothecary Accents leftover

When I made the Toxic Treats card for yesterday's project diecutting the Lucky Limeade paper, I made a point of centering it on a folded A2 card (it's not like I could have cut 3 out of a half a sheet of paper so if I was only going to get 2 out of a half sheet of paper it made sense that I could actually "use the negative".   I pierced the borders using the piercing template.

 Whenever I think about a card, I usually do a dry run with a left over copy paper folded into quarters and check out the proportions and colors before I actually make a piece which saves lots of good paper and frustrations.    So that's what I did here.  Used the color coach to get compatble color ideas (here Daffodil and Marina Mist.

Test out the colors and layout and if you like it then stamp it on a good piece of whisper white about 1/8 inch smaller all around.  After stamping it the way I wanted using Field Flowers, I mounted dimensionals on the front as shown and mount it behind the Lucky Limeade basecard opening.  A real simple card using the left over piece from another project.  Recycling at it's best! 

 

Perfectly preserved- corns in a row

I love the look of Indian Corn. It really signals that the autumn is in full swing!   Take a base card of crumbcake, emboss the delicate designs and stamp the sentiment from Loving Thoughts in Olive.  Stamp the corn with daffodil ink pad then ink usikng limeade marker, more mustard, pumpkin, Cajun Craze  - the middle one was done with chocolate chip but looked almost purple- weird.
Then HUFF then stamp. Diecut the corn then attach as desired using dimensionals.  Really easy cards but oh so cute!

Easy almost one layer Summer Silhuette

I like to include a little thank you with each order I deliver when I can. But it has to be easy to make and one layer if possible.  I took whisper white and stamped Summer silhouette leaves in Lucky limeade, then the little starburst flowers adn the Sentiment from Lacey and Lovely in Raspberry Ripple. Stamp the big flowers with Daffodil Delight and then the starburst in the center with same raspberry the handcut- Yikes! (but I only did 2 flowers each) - and mount with dimensionals.
Easy peasy Silhouettey!
This could be an easy stamp and stack with change in sentiment to fit whatever occasion you have!
Enjoy!

Scentsational Season CC387

Splitcoast challenge today was to use Old Olive, Raspberry Ripple and Midnight Muse.  Such a great combo challenge from my idol Karen Barber.  So this is such a simple card, how I like it- not quite one layer but almost. I've been meaning to use this set for something other than a holiday card and I thought the sentiment lets me do that. Stamp the mug from Scentsational Season in Midnight muse, and the steam in Old Olive.  Stamp the sentiment from Kindness in Bloom in Raspberry Ripple and the candy cane on a scrap piece of whisper white and cut it out rounding out the bottom to fit the mug and just taped on- because I was too lazy to mask but I thought it looked great for a two minute card.  Clean and simple how I like it.  Enjoy!