Thursday, April 16, 2009

Nice to see the birds, finally!

Here in Boise, the weather hasn't been able to make up it's mind lately. I thought spring was supposed to be here weeks ago, but it seems to have been delayed. I think that I can safely say it is finally here though! I love watching the little birds hop around outside my window. they are so cute! So I decided that todays post would have a birdie on the card!

This one is made with Baja Breeze, Pretty in Pink, and Whisper white cardstock, Always and Hugs and Wishes stamp sets, Baja Breeze and Chocolate Chip ink, white taffeta ribbon, and a silver brad.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Upcoming class sneak peek

This is one of the cards we will be making in my next class. I thought I would give a little sneak peek!

I stamped the flower in Elegant Eggplant, then used the blender pen to color the flower in. I started with the yellow first, then added the purple, and followed along the lines of the stem and leaves with Old Olive. Using the the spatter stamp from Itty Bitty Backgrounds really finished it up.


Stamps: Echoes of Kindness (hostess set), Gods Blessings, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Sanded
Cardstock: Old Olive, Pale Plum
Ink: Old Olive, Elegant Eggplant, Yoyo Yellow
Slot Punch, White Taffeta Ribbon, Blender Pen

Monday, April 13, 2009

Super Simple Monday

Sometimes the beginning of the week can be hectic...(or ANY day for that matter!) So I thought I would post a card that would literally only take about 5 minutes to make. It takes minimal supplies, and only one color of ink.
I took inspiration for this card from one made a while back by my wonderful upline, Carrie Rhoades. I don't have a link to a picture, but it was really cute! she used pinks and browns for hers, and the scallop punch with "thank you" for the sentiment.

For this card I used:

Stamps: Wild About You, A Little Birthday Cheer, Sanded
Ink: Old Olive
Cardstock: Old Olive, Yoyo Yellow, Whisper White (also I added a small strip of Always Artichoke for the band, but you can omit that)

You know, looking at this card now, I think I will go back and stamp and cut out a little party hat for him from the Party Hearty set! How cute would that be!

Friday, April 10, 2009

Too much?

Remember how I was saying in my previous post about cards popping in my head? Well, this was another one that I am not sure if it turned out quite how I pictured it. I don't know if the colors are just a little too shocking or what. I tend to be pretty critical of my work and sometimes see it differently than others might.

I made this card for our group swap this last week and let me tell you.... I need to start making easier cards! If I had really made them the way I wanted, the butterflies would have been cut out and been 3-D. But after making 11 of these cards as they were, I just didn't have the time or energy to stamp, cut out, and glue 11 of these butterflies!.
The butterfly and the swirl on the main image have Iridescent ice on it to make it sparkly!
I'm still not sure about it, but I hope you like it!


Stamps: Priceless, Baroque Motifs, All Holidays
Cardstock: Garden Green, Yoyo Yellow, Whisper White
Ink: Handsome Hunter, Garden Green, Yoyo Yellow, Bashful Blue, Basic Black
Big Shot Top Note Die, Stampin Sponge, Iridescent Ice.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Inspired winner!

Every once in a while, a card design just pops in my head out of nowhere, and this one was one of them! I actually made this card several months ago, but hadn't had a chance to photograph it until this last week.
I liked this card so much that I made more for last months group meeting swap, and lo and behold, I won the swap contest! Hooray!
I'll admit, making this card can be a bit time consuming, but worth it I think!
For this original card, I had stamped and cut out each of the flowers. You can also use the Trio Flower punch for each one too, but you lose the outline.
This card would also be really pretty using this technique from my blogging buddy Julie! (what an awesome idea!)

The basics to making this card are:
Whisper White cardbase, Bashful Blue panel, Whisper White scraps to stamp flowers on.

Using Brocade Blue ink, stamp off once then stamp the branches on one side of the Bashful Blue panel. Stamp the flowers on the white cardstock and either cut or punch out. Stamp the sentiment in Basic Black ink just below the halfway point to the right.
Using a Stampin Sponge and Brocade Blue ink, daub the edges of the card to give it some shading, avoiding the sentiment area.
Wrap white taffeta ribbon around the blue panel, lining it up just under the sentiment. Glue on flowers in a random pattern, gluing some off the panel (cut off extra). Use a white gel pen to color the center of the small flowers and to add random white dots to fill out the branches. Adhere the blue panel to the white cardbase.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Love those butterflies!

Here is another one we did for my last class. Very easy!
For this one, I used the Designer Series paper from the Sale-a-Bration catalog, but you can substitute any paper or even stamped cardstock.

Stamps: Flight of the Butterfly
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, So Saffron DSP, Whisper White
Ink: Barely Banana, Certainly Celery, Going Gray
Scallop edge punch, 1/16 hole punch
So Saffron wide Grosgrain ribbon.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

I'm back!


Hello everyone! I have returned from a long hiatus and I think I'm ready to start blogging again!
I thought I would start with some of the cards we made at the class I held the week before I left. I wish I could take credit for this card, but I totally CASED it from this card.

I thought it was a very striking card, yet really simple to make. I always try and do somewhat simple cards in my classes so that anyone who might be new can start on something that won't overwhelm them.

This card uses Botanical Blooms from the now retired Sale-a-Bration catalog, a Whisper White base, Kiwi Kiss strip stamped with the leaves from the stamp set, and a Chocolate Chip strip. Inked in Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss and Baja Breeze. I stamped the sentiment in Chocolate Chip, then punched it out with the 1 1/4 square punch, then inked and stamped off once for each color of the flower on the square. then punched out a scallop square in Baja Breeze and put the whole thing together.
Ok, I should have another one in the next few days! Until then!