Lots of Smilies

I watched a recent video by Jennifer McGuire showing the emboss resist/distress resist technique and I really liked her simple card design, so I decided to copy it.  :)  I chose to use Little Emotions by Mama Elephant to make a card for my daughter Emily.  She's had a rough week after hurting her ankle at a trampoline park a week ago.  We thought it was just a sprain at first, but it turned out to be a small fracture.  She loves emoticons, so I knew these cute little images would be perfect for her!

I stamped the emoticon images all over the right side and bottom of the card with VersaMark ink and embossed them with white powder.  I chose several Distress Ink colors and blended them right over top.  I love how bright and cheerful they are!  It definitely makes me smile.  :)

I cut an angled piece of white cardstock using a rectangle die.  After stamping a phrase from Sunday Sentiments on the bottom edge, I cut that narrow piece off with my paper cutter.  Then, I stamped the large smile word from The Big, The Bold & Friends by Winnie & Walter.  I popped the two white pieces up with foam tape with space in between them, adding a few Pansy Purple sequins as a final touch.

Again, this is not my original design.  Check out Jennifer McGuire's cards on her blog.  They are just darling!  I must try the more subtle distress resist technique soon.  Anyway, I hope this fun card brightens Emily's day when she finds it in her backpack.  :)

Stamps:  Little Emotions, Sunday Sentiments (Mama Elephant); The Big, the Bold & Friends (Winnie & Walter)
Ink:  VersaMark; Tuxedo Black (Memento); Picked Raspberry, Twisted Citron, Wild Honey, Carved Pumpkin, Wilted Violet (Distress Ink)
Paper:  White (Papertrey Ink)
Misc:  Blueprints 2 die (My Favorite Things); Pansy Purple sequins (Pretty Pink Posh); white embossing powder (Filigree); sponge tool (Tim Holtz); foam tape

Beautiful Birthday

Here's the last card from the workshop I attended recently.  I love this new stamp set by Stampin' Up!  It's called Beautiful You and it reminds me of the old retired Summer by the Sea and Seaside Sketches sets.  I'm pretty sure there's a third one, but I can't remember the name offhand.  I still have them all, but haven't used them in ages.  I need to remedy that!

I stamped the girl on white cardstock and cut her out with the Layering Ovals dies.  I stamped her again on a floral patterned paper and cut out just the dress and hat, gluing them in place on the white oval.  I love the look of paper piecing!  I matted the stamped oval with a scalloped oval cut from Mint Macaron cardstock.  To dress her up, I placed three tiny pearls along the neck.  Looks pretty, doesn't it?

Using the So Detailed dies, I cut a lacy floral piece from Mint Macaron cardstock and adhered it along the edge of floral patterned paper from the Blooms & Bliss dsp.  I also stamped a sentiment from Beautiful You in the lower corner.  I then glued the whole piece to a Mint Macaron card base.  Finally, I popped up the oval in the center with dimensionals.

I love the finished card.  It's gorgeous!

Stamps:  Beautiful You (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Black Archival (Stampin' Up)
Paper:  Whisper White, Mint Macaron, Blooms & Bliss dsp (Stampin' Up)
Misc:  So Detailed Thinlits dies, Layering Ovals Framelits dies (Stampin' Up); pearls

Birthday Balloons

I'm popping in to post the next card from the Stampin' Up workshop I attended.  I really like these fun dies!  This time I used the Balloon Adventures stamp set and the Balloon Pop-Up dies.

Isn't that fun?  I stamped the three balloons on white cardstock using Cucumber Crush, Dapper Denim, and Pumpkin Pie inks.  Then I added the confetti images all around them with Smoky Slate ink.  I glued matching balloon die cuts over top of the stamped balloons.  It's a cool look!  Naturally, my favorite part is the silver glitter bows..  :)

For the sentiment, I stamped it in Smoky Gray ink on white cardstock, cut it out with a Stitched Shapes die, and matted it with a scalloped Pumpkin Pie oval.  I added three little rhinestones as an accent.  The whole sentiment piece was popped up with dimensionals.

Inside the card, I stamped two balloons in Dapper Denim and Pumpkin Pie ink, adding the balloon strings and another sentiment with Smoky Slate ink.  Everything is adhered to a Cucumber Crush card base.  Fun and colorful!  Drop in tomorrow to see the last workshop card.

Stamps:  Balloon Adventures (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Cucumber Crush, Dapper Denim, Pumpkin Pie, Smoky Slate (Stampin' Up)
Paper:  Whisper White, Cucumber Crush, Dapper Denim, Pumpkin Pie, Silver Glimmer (Stampin' Up)
Misc:  Balloon Pop-Up Thinlits dies, Layering Ovals Framelits dies; Stitched Shapes Framelits dies (Stampin' Up); rhinestones

Sweet Purple Cupcake

Here's another card from the Stampin' Up workshop!  I love these pretty purples.  It was interesting using the Sweet Cupcake stamp set for the first time.  Lots of layers.

I stamped the cupcake frosting with Elegant Eggplant, Rich Razzleberry, and Sweet Sugarplum ink.  I stamped the cupcake base with Tip Top Taupe, Soft Suede, and Sahara Sand ink.  Both pieces were then cut with the Cupcake Cutout dies.  I also stamped the candle in Elegant Eggplant ink and cut it with the matching die.  After putting a small slit in the frosting, I inserted the candle and glued the cupcake together.

I stamped the white panel with a sponge dauber to get those soft-looking polka dots.  I think I used Sweet Sugarplum ink for them.  At that point, I accidentally dropped one of the brown inkpads on it so I chose to ink the edges.  That way it looks like a deliberate choice!  lol  I adhered that panel to Elegant Eggplant cardstock.

After cutting a doily in half, I glued it to the card along with some burlap ribbon.  I placed my cupcake on top with dimensionals.  I tied a bit of linen thread through my sentiment tag, also stamped in Elegant Eggplant, and glued it in place.  It makes a sweet birthday card!

Stamps:  Sweet Cupcake (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Tip Top Taupe, Soft Suede, Sahara Sand, Elegant Eggplant, Rich Razzleberry, Sweet Sugarplum (Stampin' Up)
Paper:  Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant (Stampin' Up)
Misc:  Cupcake Cutout dies (Stampin' Up); burlap ribbon, linen thread (Stampin' Up); 1/16" Circle Punch; white doily, sponge dauber

Avant Garden Birthday

I love the colors on this card from the workshop.  I used a new set called Avant Garden in the Sale-a-Bration catalog.  It reminds me of an old retired set called Paint Prints, which I still have.  I rarely use ribbon, but it looks darling on this card.

I stamped the flowers using Peekaboo Peach and Flirty Flamingo inks, stamping off each flower on the card a second time for a lighter color.  I added leaves and dots with Pear Pizzazz ink, again varying the color with generational stamping.  Quick and easy!  I brushed on some sparkle with a Wink of Stella pen.

I stamped two of the borders from Delicate Details (another Sale-a-Bration set) onto Peekaboo Peach and Flirty Flamingo cardstock in the matching ink.  I glued those strips to a white card base and then added the flower panel over top with dimensionals.

I stamped my sentiment in Pear Pizzazz ink and cut it out with the Layering Ovals dies, adding a Pear Pizzazz scalloped oval mat.  Underneath the sentiment, I glued two pieces of ruched ribbon and popped up the ovals so there would be room.  Sweet and simple!

Stamps:  Avant Garden, Delicate Details (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Peekaboo Peach, Flirty Flamingo, Pear Pizzazz (Stampin' Up)
Paper:  Whisper White, Peekaboo Peach, Flirty Flamingo, Pear Pizzazz (Stampin' Up)
Misc:  Layering Ovals dies (Stampin' Up); 3/8" Peekaboo Peach and Flirty Flamingo ruched ribbon (Stampin' Up); clear Wink of Stella pen

Party Hat

I treated myself to a workshop at my Stampin' Up demonstrator's house last week.  I've struggled with my mojo since Christmas, so I knew that just doing the fun stamping part without the design part would give me a jumpstart.  We made five birthday cards and I'll be posting them over the next few days.

This was fun to make, although it's definitely of the hand-deliver variety.  I used the Biggest Birthday Ever stamp set and the Wish Big dies.  I stamped the hat in Bermuda Bay ink.  Love that color!  The dotted border and the little flower were stamped in Calypso Coral.  The three hat pieces were scored down the center and then glued together to make it dimensional.

I stamped the background using Crumb Cake ink.  Very simple!  The sentiment is from Butterfly Basics, embossed with white powder.  The little twine tassel is a fun touch.  I adhered the Crumb Cake and Calypso Coral layers to a Crumb Cake card base.  See you tomorrow with the next one!

Stamps:  Biggest Birthday Ever, Butterfly Basics (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  VersaMark; Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral, Bermuda Bay (Stampin' Up)
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral, Whisper White (Stampin' Up)
Misc:  Wish Big dies (Stampin' Up); white embossing powder; rhinestone; Calypso Coral baker's twine (Stampin' Up)

Happy Blooms

It's the first monthly Papertrey Ink blog hop of the year!  I loved the inspiration picture and the challenge to do pretty florals on a black background.  One of my crafty goals this year is participate every month, so I'm glad the first one really caught my attention.  I knew exactly which stamp set I wanted to use - Mini Blooms by Papertrey Ink.  That was the easy part.  Execution, not so much.  I refuse to admit just how long it took me to make this.  lol

Time doesn't matter anyway.  I love the finished card!  I cut my black background with a stitched rectangle die from Blueprints 13 by My Favorite Things.  I stamped the floral clusters from Mini Blooms onto the black cardstock in VersaMark ink to give myself a pattern.  (It ended up being really hard to see.)  I added white Nuvo Crystal Drops over the dots.

All of the florals and leaves were stamped on their matching die cuts using Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, Pure Poppy, Royal Velvet, Ripe Avocado, and Simply Chartreuse inks.  I popped up the main flowers with foam tape and the rest were glued directly to the cardstock.  It turned out so bright and cheerful! 

Finally, I embossed the sentiment and flourish using white powder in the center.  I love how the colorful flowers pop against the black background.  This was a fun challenge!  Stop by Nichole Heady's blog to see everyone else's cards.  I'll be back soon to post some cards I made at a workshop last week.  Ta!

Stamps:  Mini Blooms (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  VersaMark; Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, Pure Poppy, Royal Velvet, Ripe Avocado, Simply Chartreuse (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White, True Black (Papertrey Ink)
Misc:  Mini Blooms dies (Papertrey Ink); Blueprints 13 die (My Favorite Things); White Nuvo Crystal Drops; white emobssing powder (Filigree)