Monthly Archives: June 2010

More Stars

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Ugh, I can see coming up with titles for each of my 4th of July posts is going to be tedious. Thankfully I’m sure you’re only here for the cards and not the witty banter.

This card was created using a Fall-to-Layout (ftl87).

After getting all the cards into the mail I decided I really like mostly-flat cards like this one. Most of the cards I use are ones that get mailed and mailing bumpy cards always seems to be hit-or-miss when it comes to needing extra postage or special handling. When you mail cards do you tend to create flat cards?

Happy 4th of July
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Star Prints, Vintage Picnic;
Colors: Enchanted Evening, Pure Poppy, White;
Other: star punch (SU/EK Success); Poppy ribbon; Spring Rain Bitty Star DSP;

4th of July Stars

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Here is another July 4th card. This one was done using a Fall-to-Layout (ftl89). I wanted to use a diamond embossed background, but I don’t own one, so I used what I had.

This particular label stamp is actually 3 dotted outlines on one stamp. The one that fit the die I used was the outside one – so inking was actually pretty easy.

Happy 4th of July
Stamps: Star Prints (PTI), Let Freedom Ring (PTI), Vintage Labels 4 (Waltzing Mouse), Trendy Greetings (TAC);
Colors: Pure Poppy, Enchanted Evening, White (PTI);
Other: Labels 4 die (Spellbinders); texture plate (Sizzix);

July 4th

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I actually got my act together this year and stamped a bunch of 4th of July cards to send to family. Over the next few days I’ll share some of them with you.

This card was created for a past SCS CAS challenge (cas72) which was a sketch. It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to do. Once I decided all my 4th of July cards were not going to be 1-layer cards, this one came together pretty quick.

Next time I’ll use a light color ink for the stars in the background, and I’ll mat that layer with dark blue.

Happy 4th of July
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Star Prints, Let Freedom Ring, Vintage Picnic;
Colors: Pure Poppy, Spring Rain, Enchanted Evening, white;
Other: star punch (SU/EK Success);

Orange Blossom

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So, the orange blossom tree doesn’t have orange blossoms. Anyway….on to the real point of this point.

Today’s card is for this week’s Clean & Simple Challenge on SCS (cas73). The challenge is a color challenge – light blue, light green, and orange. I love this color combo!

Thanks So Much
Stamps: Mega Mixed Messages (PTI);
Ink: Summer Sunrise (PTI);
Paper: White, Spring Moss, Summer Sunrise (PTI);
Other: Spring Rain ribbon (PTI); leaf die (SU), flower die (PTI), tag die (CB); rhinestone (MM); texture plate (SU);

Tropical Partings

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A woman in my hubby’s office is moving away. The office had a party the other day, but no card…so I made one. 🙂 I don’t have StampinUp’s Tropical Party set yet, but my mom was very kind to stamp and mail me some images. She even sent me a strip of the umbrella pattern paper so I could cut out colored umbrellas for the drinks!

The Hawaiian’s have a great saying: a hui ho – which (roughly) means ‘until we meet again’; it isn’t goodbye. That is definitely the right feel for the purpose of this card.

The card came together pretty quickly. One detail I want to highlight is the flock that I added to the coconuts. I love this extra tactile detail.

Since this is a card for the office folk to sign, I added an extra piece of cardstock inside so there are 3 writing surfaces. I added a stamped jungle leaf (CTMH) to those pages to help carry the theme.

A Hui Ho
Stamps: Tropical Party (SU); Fresh Alpha (PTI);
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red, Soft Suede (SU);
Paper: So Saffron, Tempting Turquoise, White (SU);
Other: Oval dies (Spellbinders); flock (Doodlebug); rhinestones (Kaiser); texturz plate (SU/Sizzix);

Wish Big

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This week’s CAS challenge at SCS (cas71) is a theme challenge: things that fly. My first thought was “pigs”, but I’ve already done that (see). My next thought was a baseball…but alas, no baseball images (hrm, I thought I had an old set, but apparently not – another reason to move that PTI set up my wish list!). So on to other ideas, of which I had many! I went with the fairy idea.

I chose to color the image with Copics, although I found I am lacking in many color areas (geez, guess that means I need more Copics! 😀 ). I used the Stampin’Up marker for the purple.

Boy this card had many iterations before this final look. First I colored the fairy with green stockings & boots (so NOT a good look); then I wanted to do a purple base and include the long swirly magic dust that is included with the fairy image – but I couldn’t make that work. Everything else that came to mind kept the card from being CAS. Finally, I cut out the image and went with a very simple layout. I still wish I could do something in the background, but I just can’t think what could add without detracting.

** Making big wishes that PTI comes out with a light purple!

Wish Big
Stamps: Beautiful Fairies (Inkadinkado); Star Prints (PTI);
Ink: Orchid (SU); Copics;
Paper: White (PTI); Orchid (SU);
Other: Summer Sunrise ribbon (PTI); rhinestone (Kaiser); frame die (SU);

Sad News

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The last few weeks have NOT been good for my brother and sister-in-law. They lost both their pets within a few weeks of each other. Both from old age, but still, to have both go is sad. I’m sure their home feels empty! I made this card for them.

Casey, the cat, was a mancoon with attitude. Also the first female cat my brother ever owned. Bear, the dog, was a bull dog and was very well loved. My brother and SIL both had their animals when they met and merging their household may not of been easy, but everyone figure out how to live together. Heck, the loss of Casey a few weeks ago may have contributed to Bear’s rapid decline (but I may be just a sentimental fool).

I send my sincerest sympathies to them.

A note about the card. The sentiment I chose fit in the Fillable Frame 5 image, but I didn’t feel the dots added the right feel to the card, so I ended up using a StampinUp green so I could use a marker to ink the frame stamp and leave off the dots.

Pet Loss
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: With Sympathy, Loss of Pet, Fillable Frames 4;
Ink: Scarlett Jewel; Always Artichoke (SU);
Paper: Rustic Cream, Vintage Cream;
Other: Fillable Frames 4 die;

Vase of Posies

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I was in the mood to stamp the other day and saw this sketch on the Stamping 411 blog (ssc155) and decided to do a card.

I colored the flowers and vase with Copics. Of course after I colored I decided to think about the rest of the card. I didn’t want too much pink, so I went for yellow which does set off the pink nicely (I think).

I made the curly brace using the Curly Label punch from StampinUp. Punch once and then move the punch over just a bit (look through the bottom of the punch to help with positioning) and punch again. Easy peasy!

take care
Stamps: Vases in Vogue (SU);
Ink: Copics; Olive (SU);
Paper: Lemon Tart (PTI); Old Olive CS & DSP (SU); Hibiscus (PTI);
Other: Lemon ribbon (PTI); Curly Label punch (SU); Linen impression plate (PTI);

Friendship Block

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Today’s CAS challenge on SCS (cas70) was to have the sentiment be the focus.

As with most things I had lots of ideas but not the right supplies to pull them off. I thought a rebus would be really cute but I couldn’t come up with one I liked. Then I really wanted to do something like Erin’s Sit a Spell card (4th card down). Which got me thinking of a word block (like this) but in a cool retro font like an old circus poster.

I eventually settled on using this old background from StampinUp. Hmmm…I hate it when my imagination out paces my abilities!

Thanks for checking it out.

Friendship
All supplies StampinUp unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Word by Word;
Ink: Melon Mambo;
Paper: Wild Wasabi, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, White;
Other: Melon Mambo ribbon; Texturz Plate (Sizzix/SU); scallop square die (Spellbinders);

Going for a Ride

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I really love serendipity. I would never have planned this card (at least not without seeing someone else do it first). I have a piece of cheap cardstock that I have cut to 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 that I use as a template. If I’m designing a card I lay the pieces on the template and move them around or make sure they fit (it was what helped me realize my butterfly card would have to be on a different size card).

Anyway, I have a bad habit of doodling on said template – but I try to keep it to one side so I always have one clean side. Last week I traced a spellbinder rectangle die with a copic. Being a copic on cheap carstock, it bled through – but only very very lightly and normally I don’t even notice it…but today – today it was a lifesaver! I had die cut and stamped the car, but that was all I had figured out. As I was moving the car around I saw the frame and instantly this card formed.

I have the hardest time with solid stamps – from every company. I rub with an eraser to remove the residue, I use padding / I don’t use padding, I ink up until my test comes out clean, I hold my tongue just right – but I never get a good solid image. I would love to buy SU’s Medallion but I just know I’ll never get a good impression…so why spend the money? I stamped this image until my scratch paper was perfect (about 8 times) and as soon as it hit the real paper…I get that. ARGH. Any suggestions are welcome.

Despite the inept stamping, I like how the card turned out. It is for my hubby, hence the lack of anything fun girly.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Days
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Enjoy the Ride, Up Up & Away, Wonderfully Whimsical;
Ink: Enchanted Evening, True Black, Fresh Snow;
Paper: Kraft, Spring Rain, New Leaf, White, Black;
Other: Car & Balloon dies; Copics (color balloon), black pen (stitching & birds), white gel (road markings);