Very Sweet Indeed

We're down to the wire now...only two days left until the "so very sweet" announcement!! Don't forget to keep checking back...

Until then, how about a very sweet card? :-) A simple design, barely any stamping. I purchased some Crate paper (this design is called Crush) from Eclectic Paperie (ps - don't they just have the best stamping stuff??) a few weeks ago and have barely been able to put it down. This card is a combination of a few of those papers (the tag and polka dotted pieces) and a piece from my other favorite paper designer, Amy Butler. How about the cool velvet ribbon? Also from Crate paper, you get a bunch of darling spools of ribbon on a giant ring that coordinates with the paper! Oh my spinning head!! The "so very" and "sweet" words are from a retired SU! set, So Very.

This piece came together quickly but then I sat there and looked at the separate parts (I tend to create as I go, alternating pieces of cardstock, ribbon, etc. on the card base until I find a design I like) but I just wasn't satisfied; something was missing. So I let the card sit overnight and the next night spied my giant primas on my counter and thought...ah...the perfect fit. Another card was complete!

Happy Creating!

Big News X 2!

I just realized...I have two big things to share!! One next week and one, well, one as soon as I can get my act together! LOL! Three more days...

Here's a card to hold you over:

This was created for a swap I participated in last month. The idea for this card was cased from someone (I really need to write names down when I randomly case!) on SCS. I've seen a bunch of cards using SU!'s Pick a Petal stamp set to create the shell of a ladybug. How clever is that!

The card base is Chocolate Chip and the Pumpkin Pie cardstock has been run through my Cuttlebug. The circles on the white strip is from the same SU! set. The ladybug was created by using a circle punch for the body and half a circle for the head. I drew in antenna and used brads for the little doo-dads (that's a technical term) at the top. I used two colors for the wings; So Saffron in the center and Pumpkin Pie on the edges. I then dry embossed the back of the wings on a mouse pad to give them a slight curve and attached them on top of the "body" with stampin' dimensionals. The dotted trail is from a Papertreyink set and the sentiment from one of my favorite SU! sayings set.

Enjoy and be sure to check back often next week!!

Supplies:
Circle, sentiment, and ladybug images by Stampin' Up!
Dotted trail by Papertreyink
Cardstock, ink, and brads by Stampin' Up!

Big News...

The countdown is on to some wonderful news I have to share next week...can't tell you much right now so stayed tuned...Four more days....

Sympathy Card

A sympathy card I created for the husband of a work associate who recently passed away after. The idea for this card was taken from a creation by Debbie Olson, who posted this amazing card using SU!'s new Basic Grey paper. I didn't have any of the SU! paper but I did manage to find a beautiful piece of dark grey, lightly textured (think linen) paper in my stash that worked perfectly.

The background cardstock and plain oval are white cardstock, which I recently purchased from Papertreyink. Wonderful weight and feel to this cardstock, perfect for stamping, I highly recommend it. The background is stamped with the SU! Baroque Motifs set, using Basic Black ink. I then added a few flowers (from the same set) in a light pink chalk ink. The scalloped oval is punched with one of my now beloved Marvy punches and the sentiment was colored using Basic Grey and Basic Black markers. Everything is held together with a piece of black grosgrain ribbon and two black brads. I really liked the end result - hope you do too! :-)

Happy Sunday!

Supplies:
All supplies Stampin' Up!

Mini Canvas

Saw an amazing card and idea on Emilia's blog (Weekend Stamper, Happy Emilia) a few days ago and had to try it out! She created the look of a painted canvas by wrapping cardstock around a piece of cardboard. Just amazing! Since I was in need of a birthday card, I thought it would be a fine time to try out this technique.

I used a retired SU! image, which I thought looked like a mini painting. Used my SU! markers to color the image and once again tried my hand at layering and shading. It's getting a bit easier and the effects are better but it really does seem to take practice. Love the end result though! I used watercolor paper for my image and then found a thick piece of cardboard to wrap the paper around. It really does look like a mini canvas in person, just love it! Will use this technique again and again! The image was then mounted on top of four scalloped rectangles that I secured together to create a rectangle large enough for the image.

The background of my card is lightly stamped with a antique cracked and canvas background stamps to give it that nice antique look, which suited the image of the New England type colonial home. I found a piece of already stamped and aged twill that was the perfect size and look for the card. It wasn't long enough to tie in a bow or knot or I secured the ends with a piece of Hodgepodge Hardware by poking the end of the circle through the twill and twisting until it was resting in a visually appealing position. I then simply added the sentiment to a piece of cardstock punched with a SU! word punch. Voila!

Happy Day Before Friday! :-)

Supplies:
All supplies by Stampin' Up! Some images have been retired.

"On Stage" Case

Recently received the latest edition of Stampin' Up!'s "On Stage" magazine, which features contest winners, top demonstrator stories, and promotions and really loved one of the cards included in the magazine. I was in need of a "Thinking of You" card late one night last week, when the brain sometimes just doesn't want to think, so I decided a CASE was in order!

Super easy card to make, really like this layout, although there are so many layers of cardstock that the front of the card is actually heavy! ;-) I used some of SU!'s new In Color cardstock and inks for this card. The base of the card is Purely Pomegranate and there are layers of River Rock, which looks quite green in the picture, and Very Vanilla. The edges of all the paper has been distressed with my handy dandy distressing tool and sponged with Basic Brown ink for some good 'ol aging. The floral background image was stamped in Wild Wasabi ink and then lightly covered with a Creamy Caramel layer of the Canvas background stamp, creating more of that worn look. The main floral image is from SU!'s Heartfelt Greetings set and was stamped using the same In Color colors. Added some paper piercing, faux stitching, and ribbon to complete the look!

Happy Tuesday!

Supplies:
All supplies by Stampin' Up!

Wedding Cards - Just Johanna Style

Wanted to take out my Just Johanna stamps a few days ago to play with them a little more...This cake image has always made me think of a wedding cake so I thought I'd use the stamp to create a few wedding themed cards. Here are the two I came up with!

Both cards are very easy designs and both have the image stamped and embossed on vellum. The top card also includes my favorite swirly image from one my new SU! stamp sets in the background, which is embossed in silver. The cake image is embossed in white, cut out, and adhered with stampin' dimensionals. I like that you can see the swirls through the cake. :-) I then added a chipboard circle to the top. The circle has been covered with white cardstock, the edges embossed with silver, and a "Mr. & Mrs." sentiment, which didn't photograph that well, added to the circle. A bit of silver cording and this baby was done!

The second card was even easier as I simply stamped and embossed, in silver, the cake image, and adhered it with silver eyelets. The "cherish" sentiment was stamped on a plain oval and embossed.

Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

Supplies:
Cake image by Just Johanna
Swirl and sentiment images, ink, chipboard, and cord by Stampin' Up!