Sunshine Flowers Gift Bag

Back in early February, I made a card (found here) using Heart-2-Heart #7 by Papertrey Ink that was case'd from someone else.  I love the bright sunshiny flowers and when I pulled it out of my card stash, I decided it was perfect for a friend of mine.  I needed to package up some thank you cards, so I copied the card design for my gift bag.

As you can see, I stamped the same flower in Daffodil Delight ink and leaves in Tuxedo Black ink on a white lunch bag in a random pattern.  I pulled a white cardstock circle from my scrap drawer, stamped the stems in black, and then added flowers and leaves cut using the matching dies.  I used black Candy Dots for the flower centers just like the matching card. 

Before stamping the sentiment from Luck of the Irish, I curved it on my acrylic block to follow the circle and fit above the flowers.  I love this sentiment and it suits my friend so well!  She's dealing with some difficult things, but always has a sunny outlook.  I admire her resilience.

I folded Daffodil Delight and Basic Black flags over the lunch bag and then added the circle.  Pretty simple!  It makes a fun gift bag.  I probably should have used a white square like the card, but it doesn't really matter.  They look like a set and the real gift is the cards inside!  :)

Stamps:  Heart-2-Heart #7, Luck of the Irish (Papertrey Ink) Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento); Daffodil Delight (Stampin' Up) Paper:  White (Papertrey Ink); Daffodil Delight, Basic Black (Stampin' Up) Misc:   Heart-2-Heart #7 dies (Papertrey Ink); Fishtail Flags Layers STAX dies (My Favorite Things); neutral Candy Dots (Stampin' Up)

Striped Thank You

Can I just say how much I love summer?  Not the heat, oh definitely not the heat.  I am an autumn girl.  I simply love the relaxed schedule and having my kids around all day.  They are older now and I love having the company.  I also LOVE not having to get up at 5am!!

I've been kicking back.  Watching movies and old TV shows, like Murder She Wrote.  Being silly.  Reading books and old Somerset Studio magazines.  It's been true bliss.  Yesterday, my daughter and I headed down to Charlotte to shop at IKEA for a white desk for her room.  We also picked out a fun bright pink swivel chair.  She's thrilled to have a place of her own to create and play.  (and do homework, but not for another month!)  It took a while to put the desk together, but so worth it.  In fact, she put together the chair by herself!

I haven't done any stamping since my Urban Garden streak earlier this month.  I did pull out some paper and cut it with dies, but it's still sitting on my desk unfinished.  This morning I needed a thank you card to fit a small regular envelope.  I was rather in a hurry to beat the mailman, so I used an old design from a year ago and adapted it.  You can see the original post here.

The card is about 6-1/4" by 3-1/2".  I cut Poppy Parade cardstock with a scalloped border punch and added a piece of striped paper from the retired Just Add Cake dsp pack by Stampin' Up.  It's quite convenient when the paper you have lying on your desk is perfect for the card you're doing in a hurry! 

I cut the "thank you" phrase using the Wonderful Words: Thank You die by Papertrey Ink, also using Poppy Parade cardstock, and then stamped the sentiment in black ink using Wonderful Words: Hello.  I love this design in this longer format!  It's just the right size to fit a check.  I love these summery colors too.   :)

Stamps:  Wonderful Words: Hello (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Paper:  White (Papertrey Ink); Poppy Parade, Just Add Cake dsp (Stampin' Up)
Misc:  Wonderful Words: Thank You die (Papertrey Ink); Scalloped Border punch (Stampin' Up)

Bird Stack

Today's offering is a set of five cards using For the Birds by Stampin' Up.  This is the final post in my Urban Garden series.  What's funny is that these are the first cards I started using this paper pack, but the last ones to be finished.

I matted the pretty blue circle patterned paper with Baja Breeze cardstock and mounted it on a white card base.  They sat on my desk for well over a week in that state!  Sometimes inspiration takes its time.

I cut out several fishtail banners from white cardstock and stamped this cute bird stack image.  I colored them with a Baja Breeze marker to complement the paper, adding tiny little dots to their bellies.  (easier to see if you click on the picture)  After gluing the banners to each card, I just wasn't quite happy with the cards.  They needed something!

After thinking about it overnight, I added a black dotted line from Love Birds above the colored image.  I was so nervous I would mess up!  Thankfully I didn't.  Sigh of relief!  I also added the large white die cut word at the bottom of the card.  For a final touch, I colored and fussy-cut one single bird to perch on the letters.  And yes, I put it on the "a" originally, but decided I liked it better on the "t".  Naturally, after I had glued the first one down.  lol

 

Voila!  Now I really like the cards and can declare them done.   :)  Not sure yet if these will be gifted.  Either way, these will be great to have in my stash.

Stamps:  For the Birds (Stampin' Up); Love Birds (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Paper:  White (Papertrey Ink); Baja Breeze, Urban Garden dsp (Stampin' Up)
Markers:  Baja Breeze, Barely Banana, Lucky Limeade, Riding Hood Red, Basic Black (Stampin' Up)
Misc:  Fishtail Flags Layers STAX die (My Favorite Things); Thanks Word die (Lil Inker)

Thoughts of You

I went back to the green pattern from Urban Garden for my next card.  I cut it and the Kiwi Kiss scalloped mat with the Sunshine Layers dies by Wplus9 Design Studio.  I glued them onto a white card base and then stalled.  Now what?  lol

I pulled out Bloom With Hope, a retired hostess set by Stampin' Up, and colored the images a pretty blue using Copic markers.  The three blooms were fussy-cut and then placed on the card.  I stamped the sentiment directly on the patterned paper.  It's from Tag-Its #3 by Papertrey Ink.

I only made two cards using this side of the patterned paper.  You can see the other card here.   Tomorrow I will post a set of cards made with the reverse side, a pretty blue circle print, which you have seen bits of already on two previous cards.

Stamps:  Bloom With Hope (Stampin' Up); Tag-Its #3 (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Paper:  White (Papertrey Ink); Kiwi Kiss, Urban Garden dsp (Stampin' Up)
Copic:  B37, B91, B95, E55, E57, E59, YG93, YG95
Misc:  Sunshine Layers dies (Wplus9 Design Studio)

Brain Dead

I forget people's birthdays all the time, so when I first saw this sentiment in Undying Love by Sugar Pea Designs, I just had to get the set.  It's perfect!  The fun zombies are a bonus.  :)

I used a piece of Urban Garden paper matted with black cardstock on the bottom of the card and stamped my sentiment above it.  I colored my zombie with mostly grays, along with ivory bandages and slightly blue skin.  After cutting him out, I used a bit of scrap cardstock for a shim and glued him in place.  Too fun! 

Now I need to mail this out to my brother, because naturally, I forgot his birthday.  :)

Stamps:  Undying Love (Sugar Pea)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Paper:  White (Papertrey Ink); Basic Black, Urban Garden dsp (Stampin' Up)
Copic:  0, C1, C3, N0, N2, N4, T6, E41, E42, BG72

Bowl of Lemons

This is my 300th blog post!  Can you believe it?  I'm celebrating by posting a bowl of sunshine.  Okay, a bowl of lemons actually.  The stamp set is called Bowl of Sunshine, and my lemons are bright yellow, so it looks like a heaping bowl of sunshine on my card.  :)

 
I had three small pieces left of the Urban Garden paper and I stitched them to a white base using my sewing machine.  I haven't done that in a good while!  It was fun and nerve wracking, all at the same time.  I bent up the edges after stitching.  I punched a narrow Yoyo Yellow cardstock strip with a scallop border.  I stamped my sentiment (also from Bowl of Sunshine) on a Baja Breeze piece cut with an Initial Thoughts die.

I cut out white cardstock with the Bowl of Sunshine dies and then stamped the bowl in black ink.  I added the decorative strip in Baja Breeze ink.  I stamped the lemons and leaves (two separate pieces) using Yoyo Yellow and Pear Pizzazz ink.  Then I simply glued it all together.  After adhering the different elements to the stitched mat, I distressed the outer edges to add more texture.  The whole thing was placed on a Baja Breeze card base. 

This was a fun card to make!  I kept changing which Urban Garden card was my favorite as I created them, but now that I'm done with that paper, I must now declare this one as my very favorite.  I love the colors and that sweet bowl of lemons would brighten anyone's day.

Stay tuned for the remaining Urban Garden cards.  Three posts left to go!

Stamps:  Bowl of Sunshine (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento); Baja Breeze, Yoyo Yellow, Pear Pizzazz (Stampin' Up)
Paper:  White (Papertrey Ink); Baja Breeze, Yoyo Yellow, Urban Garden dsp (Stampin' Up)
Misc:  Bowl of Sunshine dies, Initial Thoughts die (Papertrey Ink); Scallop Border punch (Stampin' Up)  

Urban Daisy

Let's continue on with the Urban Garden series, shall we?  I continue to be amazed at how many cards I got out of two sheets of 12x12 patterned paper.  For this one, I pulled out the retired Upsy Daisy stamp set by Stampin' Up.

I mounted a narrow piece of Urban Garden paper on black cardstock.  I stamped the Upsy Daisy image using black ink directly on my white card base and then added the patterned paper.  I stamped the sentiment from Painted Petals on a white circle, also matting it with black cardstock.  I stamped a portion of the stamp using Baja Breeze ink and cut out one of the daisies.  I tucked it in between the circles to add a spot of color and dimension.  Simple!

Stamps:  Upsy Daisy, Painted Petals (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento); Noir Black (Palette); Baja Breeze (Stampin' Up)
Paper:  White (Papertrey Ink); Basic Black, Urban Garden dsp (Stampin' Up)
Misc:  Circle STAX Set 2 dies (My Favorite Things)