Happy (almost) Spring!

The days are getting warmer, the snow is melting, and ski lessons are over for the year.  Yeah!  We get Saturdays back again.  Yippeee Skippeee!

Here is a little spring card inspired by one I saw on Jackie Toppa's blog.  We are making this at my stampers' club this month.

To make that little basket, start by cutting out an oval (from Baked Brown Sugar card stock) with the largest non-scalloped oval in the oval framelits set.  Next, use the next smallest oval framelit and center it on top of the larger one (use your magnetic platform to minimize shifting of the pieces) -- making sure to put the framelit vertically into your Big Shot.  Place your top cutting pad such that the bottom EDGE of your cutting plate is right where you want the TOP edge of your basket to be.  When you run it through your Big Shot, only the "handle" part of your basket will be cut out.  You can then trim off the excess oval flap to create that top edge of the basket.  Emboss your basket with the square lattice embossing folder, and sponge with Baked Brown Sugar ink.  Adhere some Coastal Cabana ruffled stretch ribbon to the front edge.  To make the folded oval card, take a 4 1/4" by 11" strip of Whisper White card stock -- scored at 5 1/2".  Fold on the score line, and cut the scalloped card by placing the scalloped oval framelit on top of the folded white strip, so that the top edge of the framelit hangs over the folded end by about a 1/4 ".  Run through the Big shot and you now have a folded scalloped oval card.

To make the glittery Easter eggs, I adhered Big Shot multipurpose adhesive sheets to some designer paper (from the Fresh Prints little paper pack in the Occasions catalog).  I then punched out little ovals using the small oval punch.  You then carefully peel off the adhesive liner, and you have a "sticky egg" that you can now dump glitter on.  For the flowers in the spring card, I first stamped the little flowers from the Petite Petals stamp set (also in the Occasions catalog) in Strawberry Slush, Coastal Cabana, and Crisp Cantalope inks.  You then punch out the flowers using the coordinating Petite Petals Punch, and again, carefully peel off the adhesive layer to create a sticky flower.  Dump glitter over, shake off excess, burnish upside down on scratch paper to get the glitter to stick really well -- and Ta Dah! you have a lovely glittery flower to add to your project.  I used the same little punch to make the leaves -- simply punch out some green flowers, then cut the petals apart to make little leaves.

Ok! That's it for today.  Don't forget -- Sale-a-bration ends on March 31st.  If you want to get in on all the freebies, place your orders before March 31st -- get a FREE Sale-a-bration product with every $50 purchase.  Visit my website to see the SAB brochure if you don't have one.

"Faux Tile" technique meets Lovely as a Tree!

For my stampers' club this coming Sunday, I wanted to show the "faux tile" technique.  Believe it or not, I have never done this technique before.  It is fun and actually pretty easy!

I started with a Very Vanilla 3 1/2 x 4" rectangle.  I then scored it diagonally every 1 1/2" to create 1 1/2" blocks, using the diagonal score plate that fits over the SU score board.  Next, I stamped the new Hardwood background stamp in Sahara Sand ink onto the "valley side" of the grid.  Then, stamped the trees in Espresso ink on top.  Finally, I used the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set and added a little "splatters" in Old Olive ink.  Sponged the edges in Early Espresso ink and added a sponged a little ink over the panel to make the grid stand out even more.  Finally, I applied Versamark to the entire panel and embossed it with clear embossing powder.  It is such a cool look, and not that hard to do.  Those cool little wood greeting pieces are from the Occasions catalog -- Essentials Wooden Elements.  There are a lot of little wood pieces in this pack, that are perfect for stamping on, sponging, etc.  LOVE these little things! and a lot of embellishing for $4.95!  Of course, some neutral candy dots, striped grosgrain ribbon, and linen thread finish off this manly card quite nicely.

Hope you'll feel inspired to try your hand at a masculine card or two!  They are always my hardest cards to create, but definitely a necessity! :)

Happy Wed to each of you!

Birthday card madness!

Hello Everyone!  A very long time since my last wee post....  BUT, I do redeem myself (Ahem!!) with a whopper post of 12 CARDS this time.  I've been stamping like crazy, getting ready for my annual birthday card buffet class.  Several of these cards use Sale-a-bration freebies!  You gotta get them before March 31st when they're gone, gone, gone! :)

Ok, ok, onto the cards.

This sweet little cutie pie is my own twist on a version of this card I've seen on multiple sites.  I thought it would be darling to add a face to the sun for a little munchkin card.  I used the pool party Cordination card stock, embossed with the chevron embossing folder, and then sanded -- for my base.  The sun is punched out with the 1 3/4" round punch (from paper in the Quatrefancy DSP pack) and the "sun rays" are the FREE Sale-a-bration banner punch.  Cute, huh!  The clouds are made with the new word bubble framelits in the Occasions catalog, and then embossed with the dots Sale-a-bration embossing folder.  Simple card, really, but will surely bring a smile to a little face somewhere!

Doesn't it just look like that little elephant is asking the question?  I used the new "Just Sayin" stamp set that coordinates with the word bubbles framelits.  Of course, the Zoo Babies stamp set is hard to make anything ugly with -- love this little elephant, and that little toucan was just begging to hop on for a ride.  Also featured on this card, are the new "Starburst Framelit" dies -- also in the Occasions mini catalog.  The colors used here, are Smokey Slate and Pretty in Pink (a retired color I happen to have a lot of).  I also used a little designer paper from the Eastern Elegance dsp pack.  Finally, a little flower to tuck behind the elephant's ear -- using a punch from the Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack.

I can take no credit for this darling little minion card!  I found him on Pinterest, and just had to share it because it's just so darn cute!  I used a variety of round punches -- 1 3/4, 1 3/8, 1 1/4, and 3/4" round punches.  The colors are Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Black, Smokey Slate, and Whisper White.  My eight year old saw this card, and just had to make one himself when he got home from school the other day.

Simple, easy card in Chocolate and Regal Rose (a retired color) and Whisper White.  This features the Summer Silhouettes stamp set as well as the two butterfly punches.  This card was also inspired by a similar one I saw on Pinterest.

I wanted to use this "Hello, Doily" background stamp set as I haven't used it enough.  I simply stamped it in Crumb Cake ink, and then stamped the frame (from a Sale-a-bration set called You're Lovely) in black.  Then stamped the birthday greeting from Teeny Tiny Wishes stamps set, and then cut it out with the coordinating Decorative Labels framelits.  I added a little color with a blender pen and ink pads.  Simple, but elegant.  A perfect card for your grandma!

This is a brand new stamp set called "Happy Watercolor" from the Occasions catalog.  I wanted to create a Himalayan blue poppy -- for those of you who have seen them, they are so beautiful and unusual, as far as poppies go.  (For those of you who know me, poppies are very special to me, as they are my mom's favorite flower as well as my grandma's.  I cannot remember a day of summer in my childhood where there weren't at least a couple varieties of poppies growing.)  Anyways, I used a blender pen and pool party ink to color in the poppy, and I used the new Scalloped Tag topper punch (from the Occasions catalog) to punch the tag.  This designer paper used here, is from a free pack of DSP you can get during Sale-a-bration with a $50 order.

Here is another Pinterest inspired card, using the Sale-a-bration stamp set -- Petal Parade.  I used two retired card stock colors here -- Baja Breeze and Bravo Burgandy.  To jazz up the flowers just a little, I punched out some little flowers (using the Itty Bitty Punch pack again) from silver glimmer paper.  Just gives them a little "pop".

This iPod card is a remake of a design Dawn Oshefske made.  Simple teenager card, but quite effective, I thought.  AND, since I don't have teenagers yet, I felt a little "out of my zone" creating these. :)

I have purchased 6 (yes, six!) rolls of washi tape, and was DETERMINED to use it on one of these cards.  I thought these colors would be perfect for a teenager card -- Tangerine Tango and Coastal Cabana.  I simply cut out a die cut with the chalk talk framelits, stamped my sentiment FIRST, then added my washi tape in strips and folded it over to the back.  For the background, I stamped images from the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set -- a set I had to have, and then haven't really used much.  Some little ribbon pieces and a button finishes off this little card.

And, now for the masculine cards! -- the hardest ones of all for me to make!  I used a new background stamp from the Occasions catalog called "Hardwood".  So realistic looking!  Looks so cool with the Natural Wood buttons.  I stamped the oak tree from "Lovely as a Tree" stamp set, using Old Olive and Espresso markers.  I then punched it out with the 1 1/2" punch and layered it onto a die cut with the Starburst framelits -- kind of looks like an old saw mill blade to me.  Some burlap ribbon, and ta dah! this card is done.

A cool ocean looking card inspired by several I saw on Pinterest.  I used the Sale-a-bration dots folder to make the "gravel", then stamped the coral in Pear Pizzaz ink, and the fish in Not-Quite-Navy ink.  I then highlighted the fish in the foreground using Crystal Effects.  He truly looks shiny and slimy!!!  Some little pearl bubbles and he's off to my favorite fisherman!

One card, two ways.  Featuring the "World Map" background stamp -- stamped in Basic Gray on Very Vanilla card stock, and sponged with either Marina Mist ink, or Crushed Curry ink.  Very simple card, but kind of cool and manly none-the-less.

Ok, dear crafty friends!  That's it for a another month. Ha ha! :)

All the crafting best to each of you!