Do you need more ideas for masculine cards? Well, To the Nines Designer Series Specialty paper is the way to go. I've used it here for the cupcake frosting and the striped panel. the background layer of Sage Shadow was run through the Big Shot with the SU! Perfect Details Texturz Plate. If you want a deeper impression than the plate gives you, spritz your cardstock lightly with water and then run it through on the plate. The cupcake was made with the SU Big Bold Cupcakes Sizzlits. I crimped the cupcake paper and then dragged the edges over the Sage Shadow ink pad.
Hello! I'm taking advantage of our quiet Sunday afternoon to show you some more cards. FINALLY! This first Medallion card is similar to the Curry swap that I made. I was going to make some of these for swapping, but I ran out of Basic Black. Yes! I really did! I'm waiting on my next shipment so that I have more. I'm down to a 1/2 sheet. The Medallion is stamped in Rich Razzleberry. The Oval All stamps are stamped in Basic Black. The butterfly is colored in with my Razzleberry marker and the white gel pen helps the dots on the frame stand out. The finial folder, one Rhinestone and a bit of Black Gingham ribbon finish off this simple card.
This card is a CASE of a swap that my friend Cheryl received. Nope, I didn't get one of these beauties, so I had to take a pic and then make one myself. Isn't it gorgeous???!!! And so simple! I stamped the Wedding Sweet stamps in Soft Suede. Since I didn't have the coordinating wheel for this stamp set, I used my Illuminated wheel, which I think goes quite well with these stamps. I punched out the greeting with the Curly Label punch. The mat behind it was punched with my Movers & Shapers Die. The ribbon is the polka dot suede flipped over. (can't have white dots with vanilla cardstock!) CS is Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand, and Soft Suede.
This card is a CASE of one that I saw on the display boards at convention. Isn't that cute? Since I didn't have the stamp that the stamper used for the cake stand, I decided to make a scalloped stand out of the Scallop Edge Punch and the Crop-A-Dile. The base of the cake stand is from the Scribbles Swirls sizzlit. The background is the new texturz plate. The cupcakes were stamped with Party Hearty in Melon Mambo and Bermuda Bay and the Fine Cosmo Glitter was adhered with a 2-Way Glue Pen.
I'm still busy getting ready for convention. I am SO EXCITED!!! But first, I need your opinion. This first card in Blush Blossom and Chocolate Chip is a card that we made at the last two workshops. I really like the softness of the colors, but it did require some extra sponging around the corners.
I had the best of intentions to stamp with my new goodies last night, but a fibro crash got the better of me. So sorry about that. In place of that, here is a project that we made at the last two workshops. It's a total CASE of this card. Sometimes you just don't need to recreate the wheel, so you copy it instead. I loved this one so much, that virtually nothing needed to be changed except the length of the panels. You can't see it, but we used the Damask SU! Texturz Plate on the background white. I'm truly going to miss this Raspberry Tart DSP, but I'm sure that I'll fall in love with another DSP from SU! How could I not??? There are so many beautiful papers!
I just love water- coloring these flowers from Fifth Avenue Floral. They're such gorgeous images and look so great with watercoloring. Of course, you don't HAVE to color them. They look great as an outline image also. This little notebook is something that I've wanted to do for awhile. I had some extra lilies from watercoloring a few days ago. I used my round tab punch to make two sections: color combinations and sketches. The spiral punch allowed me to completely cover the front of the notebook. Isn't that cool??!! This way I can have the notebook along with me, write down ideas and not lose them because they're on a scrap piece of paper. I don't know about you, but looking through magazines while waiting for an appointment is prime time for finding inspiration. 
This is a special thank you to a special lady who gives of her time so freely to our school. We love her dearly and want her to know that. This card had to be special to convey that thought, so I used more watercolored flowers and my Damask texture plate. The thank you is from Beautiful Borders, a lovely set.
Ack! I can't believe it's been since Thursday since I posted. Life sure has a way of flying. On Friday, my kids took part in their school's jog-a-thon. Prizes are usually given to the kids who earn the most money. This first card is for the highest earners in each class. It will be given to them with their prizes. There are a few retired items on this card, but I don't think the kids will mind.
This second card is for the top earners of the whole elementary. I used the glitter window technique for the yellow stars. Do you like the striped Pacific Point cardstock? It's from my Sizzix texture plates that I bought through SU. I just love the 3-D look that the texture plates give.
Yes, I'm having no problem admitting that this swap card was a CASE of my blogging buddy Georgeann. Her card is so much more fabulous than this one, but I had to simplify to get 20 done in 1 day. Eeeeeek! Yes, you read correctly, stinkin' taxes! Alas, I did get the taxes done on time and I did manage to make 20 of these cards and 20 of my vellum rose cards. (See this post.) Yes, I did 20 of these also. Why, you ask? Because I love to swap, I love to have samples of stamp sets that I don't own, and I love to hear everyone say "ooooh, that is soooooo pretty!" Yes, vain and crazy, since I won't see most of those people again, but hey! It's my life. So, this card...not as gorgeous at the original, but still managed to draw some oooo's. I'm happy. :-)
Well, by now you probably know that TAWC stands for Three Amigas Weekly Challenge. My stamping friends Sharon, Joanne, and I have really enjoyed these challenges. They've also helped me to break out of a few ruts and blocks. Block? Creative block...happens to the best of us...especially when we're under pressure. So tomorrow it's my turn to set the challenge. We usually post the challenge to the Three Amigas a day or two in advance so that we can think about it and be prepared. So are you wondering yet what B, B & B stands for? Buttons, Brads and Bows. Our creations for this challenge must contain at least one brad, one button, and some ribbon. I set this challenge because I was sick of looking at all of those lovely buttons that I've bought and haven't use. Do you have buttons that you've been collecting and not using? Are you hoarding brads and ribbons? Well, get them out! :-) I challenge you! I'm laying down the gauntlet...the question is, will you pick it up? I'd love to see what you come up with!
Unfor- tunately, a friend of mine exper- ienced a loss this past week. So this is the card that I made for her. I wanted to try out my new Cutter Bee Circle Scissors from SU! and thought that this would be a good opportunity. I colored the flowers from Close as a Memory with Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, and Always Artichoke markers. Then I stamped it not once, not twice, but three times to get the shadowed effect. I cut out a think circle of Pumpkin Pie to draw the eyes to the bouquet.
The back- ground Rose Red was run through the Big Shot with a SU Back- grounds I Texturz Plate. I used the Eyelet Border Punch on all three card layers and the sentiment. I also used the Corner Rounder Punch and sponge on the sentiment piece. A Mini Glue Dot is holding the Riding Hood Red Taffeta ribbon in place. I'm hoping that this card brings comfort to my friend.
It was my turn this week to set the challenge. After talking with my upline Sharon about where we want to go with our blogs, I decided on this challenge: to make a card and then a scrapbook page with some of the same elements. Needing a card for Heidi, my last hostess, I made this card and matching Thank You tags. My inspiration was designer paper that we had about a year ago. I was really missing the chocolate and vanilla combo. Sweet and simple. Then it occurred to me that I could slightly recreate this paper by running my vanilla cardstock through the damask SU texture plate and then sponge across the raised pattern with my ink. Yahoo! For the tag and greeting, I first stamped "Thank You" in Chocolate Chip and then put the cardstock through the Big Shot with the texture plate. You have to stamp the greeting first, before putting the texture on, otherwise you will get an inconsistent image on your stamping. The card was finished off with the new Eyelet Border Punch.
So how do you use the same ideas on a scrapbook page? Well, the top and bottom of the texture plate match up. I textured my strips of vanilla on the first 7" and then put the last 4" on at the bottom, exactly where I had placed the first 7". This is easiest if you use the side edge of the texture plate for a placement guide. There is a small seam across at the 7" mark, but I covered it up with the photo frame. I used my embosslit Simple Flower from SU! for the flowers. I sponged ink gently across the vanilla flowers and sanded the raised areas off of the chocolate flowers. (You can do this when you use Designer Paper with a white core for your embosslit.) I used the Swirls Scribbles sizzlit for vanilla and chocolate swirls for accents.
The last part of the challenge was to use an accessory that is new to the catalog and an accessory that is old to the current catalog. For my new accessory, I used the texture plate and the embosslit. For the old accessory, I used the half pearls from my Pretties Kit. I love the way the pearls finish off the flowers. Just a touch for elegance.
Joanne is the hostess this week for the Three Amigas. Our chal- lenge from her is to make a mas- culine card with browns and blues. I combined the challenge with the sketch challenge for today at SCS to kill two birds with one stone...except that I was stamping at 1 am and I forgot one of the layers of the sketch! Ouch! And so, out of desperation due to my computer woes, I'm posting it anyway! The colors here aren't very true, even after I adjusted them, due to taking the pic at 1:30 am and having to use a flash.
Tonight's another workshop. I do love workshops because there are so many fun ideas to share. My customers mostly like to do Totally Hands On workshops, so these are examples of a 5 minute card and a 10 minute card. It's all in the layers and the tools. This first card is a CASE from Diane Noble, who CASEd her upline. (Copy And Steal Everything.) I loved it so much that I had to use the idea. And who doesn't need a 5 minute card once in awhile?
This second card is just a bit more work. The back Barely Banana panel was run through the SU! Flourish texture plate and then the side punched with the new SU! eyelet punch. The girl and dog were stamped in StazOn Black and then colored with markers. The dog is sitting on a round tab punch and he was punched out with the 3/4" circle punch. Add a bit of bling (Fire Rhinestones) and the tab is no longer just a tab, but a decoration on the card. A bit of Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon finishes off the project.
Time to play with those new texture plates from SU! again. Here's how I made this great back- ground. Ink up the brayer and roll it across the texture plate. Using your multipurpose pad, place your piece of cardstock on the texture plate and cover with the impressions pad and the cover plate. Run the cardstock through your Big Shot as usual. That simple. I found that it works sometimes better than others. There are a few blotches and sometimes it looks like the cardstock slid across the ink, but this one turned out great. The flowers were made with the Polka Dot Punches SAB stamp set and the 5 petal punch. Nice and simple.
This first card is for the sketch on Mercy's blog. It's a fun sketch and I thought it would work nicely for a masculine birthday card using my Branch Out set. I know I'm repeating myself, but I LOVE THIS STAMP SET!!! The background of the tree scene was made using the Watercolor Wash technique. What's that? Well, color a bit with your watercolor wonder crayon on the plastic of a stamp set container. Mist a sponge and pick up the color off of the plastic. Rub the sponge across a piece of shimmery white cardstock. Repeat with other colors if desired. So on this card, I used Ballet Blue, Brilliant Blue, and Always Artichoke crayons. Isn't that fun? The DP is To the Nines, a new SU! Designer Paper.
This card is for the color challenge of the day. I was a bit leery of putting Rose Red, Kiwi Kiss and More Mustard together, but it turned out better than I thought it would. The background Mustard is DP run through the Big Shot with the Flourish texture plate from SU! After running it through to get the texture, I sanded it so that the white would show through on the design. The flowers are the Simple Flower Embosslit and the leaves are the Little Leaves sizzlet. The dots in the center of the flower are from the Bold Cupcakes sizzlets. I took a ribbon slide from my Hodgepodge Hardware and after filling the channel with Tombow, I sprinkled it with Fine Cosmo Glitter and set it aside to let it dry. I love the look of it. Really dresses up the ribbon.
Hi there, stamping friends. It's my week to host the Three Amigas Weekly Challenge. I decided to make a layout and see what my stamping buddies could come up with. So this is what it looks like.
This first card is a simple masculine card. I used To the Nines Designer Specialty Paper (and oh my is this stuff gorgeous!), Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Sage Shadow and Very Vanilla cardstocks. There's a bit of 5/8" Chocolate Grosgrain on the sides and the little pieces of Sage Shadow have the diamond pattern from the Stampin' Up! exclusive Texturz Plates. I cut out the circles with the coluzzle and distressed the edge of the chocolate chip circle with my Cutter Kit. I stamped the train from Happiness is a Journey in Sage Shadow. I used my Chocolate Chip marker on the word "Father" from the Father's Day greeting in the All Holidays set.
This next card was really fun to make. The back- ground Banana and Celery cardstocks were run through with Stampin' Up!'s exclusive Texturz Plates. To get the best impression from your texture plate, spritz the cardstock with water, before you run it through the Big Shot. The scallop is from the Scallop Circles #2 die. Designer Papers are the Delicate Dots set from the current Sale-A-Bration catalog. I embossed the Mother's Day saying in Iridescent Ice powder and paper pierced the scallops. After stamping the butterflies (you'll have to email me for info on those!), I cut them out and embossed them with Iridescent Ice. The leaves and branch are from my new Sizzlet Little Leaves.
Here's a double challenge card! The Three Amigas challenge for this week was to use a layout that you can use at any time. For me it's the pic on the left, saying on the right. Very basic. Now throw in this week's color challenge of Caramel, Coral, and Olive and you have card! I was doubtful about this color combo at first, but it does seem to work! I stamped the dress from Humor in High Heels 3 times and cut out the dress and flower to paper piece it. For the frame, I used chipboard, covered it in classic Caramel (because I didn't have craft), then clear embossed it.
