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Posts Tagged ‘Handmade Cards’
One of a Kind Flowers!
Aloha, all!
In its 2012 Occasions Mini Catalog, Stampin' Up! promotes its Blossom Builders Kit as one that will allow us to layer up one-of-a-kind flowers. So, with today's card, that's just what I did!
I also made the card in response to the Create with Connie and Mary Occasions Edition Sketch Challenge today. While I rarely take a sketch challenge literally, this time there were two flowers in the sketch, and I used that as my opportunity to use the heretofore unused (at least in Robin's Craft Room) Blossom Builders kit!
Besides the Blossom Builders Kit, I also used the Hat Pins, some of the Lucky Limeade Baker's Twine, the Mixed Bunch Stamp Set, and the Blossom Punch – all from the Occasions Mini Catalog. Oh, and I can't forget the Labels Framelit! I can't stop using them!!! The colors in this card are predominantly Poppy Parade and Lucky Limeade, so I decided to use the Poppy Parade Stitched Poly Ribbon for the ribbon accent. Poppy Parade is a 2010 – 2012 Stampin' Up! In Color, so it won't be around for many more months. I'm going to try to use as much of this as possible before it's retired the first of June this year. Lucky Limeade will be around for another year, but I still used some of the Patterns Designer Series Paper in that color for the paper on the right side of the card. Fun stuff, that Patterns paper!
The addition of the Baker's Twine to this card is an idea that I got from looking at the samples in the Occasions Mini Catalog. Using the samples in the catalogs is a great way to get your creative juices flowing when they seem to be stagnating a bit as mine have been this week. Now I'm ready to go at some more projects – including my project for the Create With Connie and Mary Occasions Edition Week 4 next week! It's not too late to subscribe to this fantastic edition of Create with Connie and Mary! You never miss a project – they're all there for you from day 1, no matter when you sign up!
So – off to finish up my blog post for Monday, my assigned day for the Occasions Edition. You just don't know what you're missing if you haven't subscribed!
Subscribe to the comments for this postHappy Birthday, Morgan!
Aloha, all!
Not only is this my card for the Create with Connie and Mary Occasions Edition Challenge, it's a birthday card for my granddaughter, Morgan, who will turn 9 tomorrow! She is such the little lady now, and I just know that she'll love all the fun stuff from the Stampin' Up! 2012 Sale-a-bration Catalog! I can remember being so excited when the Build-a-Bear Workshop images came out and I was excited to be using those. Somehow I figured that they would be good for her for years. Not so! She's into the feminine, now!
And are these colors not just perfect for that "Celebrate" greeting?! The stamp set is called Outlined Occasions, and I just love outlined stamps so that I can color them in. Can you tell that I'm really a 9-year old at heart myself? Give me markers, and I'll use them just like I used my crayons back in grammar school (oh, can you tell my real age? It's "elementary" school these days, isn't it?). I'm even critical of myself when I color outside the lines! Oh, for heaven's sake, I can't just let go of Mrs. Matson's pointing out when I did that in 3rd grade!
But enough of the reminiscences. The colors in the Sale-a-brations products this year are just fabulous! And the Create with Connie and Mary challenge picked up my favorites among them for this color challenge: Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Peach Parfait and Calypso Coral. The Limeade and Coral Colors are featured in the ribbons – they're 1/8" wide Organdy Ribbon, and they tie like a dream. And they're oh so frilly, perfect for this card for a little girl!
Now my little "secret" about this card. It's been put together and pulled apart again. (Boy, have I learned to do that well!) I originally had the layers with the greetings down a little bit on the card. But when I stood back and looked at it, I realized that the Poppy Parade brad (also from the Sale-a-bration Catalog) would look oh so much better if I placed it as if it were the center of the flower. So I broke out the bone folder and pried that layer off (it was adhered with Stampin' Dimensionals, so not much to pry off) and moved it up a skosh. Much better.
Kind of like coloring outside the lines – gotta have those layers lined up just right. I have GOT to get a life!
Speaking of getting a life – I have been ooohing and aaahing over all the projects at the Create with Connie and Mary Occasions Edition, and I have just got to make the time go DO something with them! They are truly fabulous, from simple to complex and with so many styles. It's not to late for you, too, to register! We're only just finishing Week 2 and you'll have access to everything since the beginning – and all the rest of the next 4 weeks of projects – for a full year! Plenty of time to have fun with all those projects yourself!
But no matter what you do this week, have fun with it – and don't worry about coloring outside the lines.
A Favorite?
Aloha, all!
This week's challenge over at the Stampin' Up! Only Challenge blog is to make a project with my favorite product from the 2012 Stampin' Up! Occasions Mini Catalog. My FAVORITE? How do I pick a favorite????
Well, as you can see by this card, I cheated a bit. I started out thinking that the Twitterpated Designer Series Paper was my favorite. But which sheet? Ah – three of them. OK, so I took the three, punched them with the 1" Square Punch and made a pieced design. But that was kind of plain. So off I went to find the new Labels Collection Sizzix Framelits to cut the pieced section. Nice! I also used the same label framelit to cut a piece of Riding Hood Red Card Stock to use as a mat. Now that should make THIS my favorite, right?
Ah, not so quick. I just had to spruce up the little squares, and what better embellishment to use than the Twitterpated Designer Buttons. Hmmm. Maybe that's my favorite. But then I realized that this card didn't have an appropriate sentiment. So off I went to find the sentiment from the Loving Thoughts Stamp Set. Nice! But what to use to stamp on? Ah, I went off to yet another favorite, that label stamp in the Take It To Heart Stamp Set! Another possibility for a favorite.
But then I realized that the card base of Blushing Bride Card Stock looked much too plain. Embossing is always in style, and we have that fab new Adorning Accents Embossing Folder with all the hearts on it! Wow, what a difference that made – times two! But still too plain in the middle of the card. Ah – maybe it's the Pleated Satin Ribbon that's my favorite! It even sits so nicely without having to be tucked under anything when you snip off a piece of the back of a pleat – even better when you use TWO pieces of the ribbon and have them facing in opposite directions behind the central motif!
Update to answer a question: When snipping off a piece of the back of the ribbon isn't an option – for example, when that would make the ribbon too short – I cut the ribbon a bit longer than I want it to be. Then I use my paper snips to cut the thread holding the last pleat in place. Finally, I tuck the flat piece that I just made under the strip of ribbon, keeping the ribbon the length that I want it, and trimming the piece on the back down to about 1/4." I adhere the ribbon to the card with Sticky Strip. In some cases (a project I’m working on right now needed this) I use a mini glue dot to keep that tucked piece in place.
OK – how many "favorites" is that? SEVEN! I give up – I can't name my favorite! Oh, the shame of it being so indecisive! I just may have to go make something with Bordering on Romance to get my spirits up. Hmmm. Maybe I should have made that…… No; we'll just leave this whole thing where it sits now!
I hope you're better at figuring out YOUR favorite than I am. And then go post a link to your card on SUO Challenges!
Back Making Cards!
Aloha, all!
Where have I been all week? All over Hawaii's Big Island! We have family visiting and my husband and I have been playing tour guide. Of course, this is play and not work. There's so much to see on our island, and I love showing it off to people who are new here, and I always learn something new myself along the way.
But also along the way, I had some time to make a card for the first weekend challenge of the Create With Connie and Mary Occasions Edition! On the other hand, I was almost late with it because, well, I haven't had much craft time! So when I got that reminder on my computer that it was due in 2 hours, was I surprised – and panicked! But it all turned out well because I had all the "stuff" from the 2012 Occasions mini out that I'd been using to make my projects for the subscription. (It's still not too late to subscribe! Everything is available to everyone who subscribes – you never miss a thing no matter when you subscribe!)
But I digress (happens to me more than most, I think).
I'm not sure which part of this card is my favorite. OK, I'll confess that I really loved cutting up the front of the Designer Cuts Card and doing something different with it. I actually did something different with the Designer Cuts Cards in my Week 1 project for the Occasions Edition, but this wasn't it. So I've been having fun with them – and not using them in any traditional manner at all!
I have to tell you that I'm loving using Riding Hood Red! Up until Christmas, I hadn't been using it much at all. Then Stampin' Up! started making it a part of some gorgeous Designer Series Paper sets, and I was hooked on the color all over again much as I had been when it first came out. This time around, I am so loving the look in the printed papers that are part of the Twitterpated Designer Series Paper set. This is actually the first time that I used the darker of the floral patterns in a project. I liked the pastels so much that I've been overlooking this print. Now I wish I had more sheets of it!
This is also the first time that I've matted the Labels Collection Framelits like this. I cut the same size for the mat as for the stamped layer, and then cut the mat in half and have it peeking out at the top and bottom of the stamped layer. With a little more effort I could have made it peek out at the sides, too. But I'd put in just about as much effort as I could for this project before I had to go play tour guide again!
Except for the card stock and the Little Leaves Sizzlit, everything in this card is from the Occasions Mini Catalog! It's a great mini catalog, and I'm really looking forward to using more and more of its products as the next couple of months go on! If you don't have a copy of the mini, yet, be sure to let me know and I'll get one right out to you!
We're off doing our last weekend of touring this morning – to the south side of the island, hopefully to see some green sea turtles basking on the black sand beaches of Punalu'u. I love living in Hawaii! I hope you love living where you are – and will have lots of fun with whatever you're doing this weekend!
A Bit Over the Top – and Blog Candy!
A special Aloha to all!
Today is the day that I get to be featured on the Create with Connie and Mary Occasions Edition blog! And that means that today is the day I get to pick names for blog candy! All you have to do is leave a comment aboutmy card for today and your name will be included in the drawing for a FREE subscription to the Create with Connie and Mary Occasions Edition!
But first my card – after all, you have to have something about which to comment, don't you!
As the title of my blog says, it's a little bit more "over the top" than I usually make. But, as this is a special "occasion" for me, I thought, "More is better!" And with all the fab products in the Stampin' Up! 2012 Occasions Mini Catalog, that's easy to do!
With this picture of my card, you are only beginning to see the "more." But it's still a lot fussier that I usually make my cards, don't you think? On the other hand, I had so much fun "fussing" with this, that I may just do more of that. There's that word, "more," again!
I'm sure you can see that the whole card is cut with the largest of the hearts in the Hearts Collection Sizzix Framelits now offered by Stampin' Up! I discovered in making this that the framelits will cut through two thicknesses of card stock. That's a bonus if you're trying to make a card with as many panels as this one!
From this photo of the front of the card you can see quite a few products from the Occasions Mini Catalog.
- First and foremost is the Stamp Set, "P.S. I Love You." The stamped heart in the very middle (which is actually on the back panel of the card), as well as the sentiment and the stamped frame around it, are all from the same stamp set, as are several sentiments inside the card.
- Then there are the delightful Twitterpated Designer Buttons (in Blushing Bride and Baja Breeze)
- And the Twitterpated Designer Series Paper
- And finally the Blushing Bride Pleated Satin Ribbon.
Now for the inside of the card – yes, there are FOUR panels to this card, with all of them including a stamped image or sentiment from the "P.S. I Love You" stamp set! The final panel has a bit of an addition from another Occasions Mini, images from the Stamp Set, Take It To Heart. All of the Designer Series Paper on the inside is also from the Twitterpated Designer Series Paper Set.
I had so much fun with this card that I'll be making several for really good friends (and my very own sweetheart) for Valentine's Day this year! In fact, I've been having a lot of fun with ALL my projects for the Create with Connie and Mary Occasions Edition, and I'd love to share them all with you! But I can only do that if you're a subscriber to the Occasions Edition. The Occasions Edition is now in Preview and there's an Early Bird Special price if you sign up this week! And of course you can always try to win a FREE subscription by commenting on this blog post today!
I'm not the only one offering blog candy this week. Keep an eye out for others who are offering it by checking the Create with Connie and Mary blog the rest of the week. Did you see that gorgeous card that Artisan Award Winner Elizabeth Price showed off yesterday? Was that not the most fabulous card?? I can hardly wait to see her projects for the Occasions Edition – or to see what the rest of the team has to offer. You don't want to miss the projects either. So leave a comment and then head over to Create with Connie and Mary!
Something New!
Aloha, all!
One of my hobbies used to be painting with watercolors. I took several years of lessons, but that was ages ago, and I probably have forgotten more about how to use watercolor than I remember. Nonetheless, I have had the Stampin' Up! Watercolor Wonder Crayons in my craft room since back when you could buy all the colors at once in a big tin (awhile ago!). And even though I hadn't used them in a long time, when the new Stampin' Up! color families came out in 2010, I went ahead and ordered the updated colors of the crayons.
Yesterday, for the first time since I ordered them, I opened them up. In fact, when I went to the drawer in which I keep the crayons and the Watercolor Pencils, I was surprised to have to remove the paper from the packaging and then find that there were only 3 or 4 crayons in the boxes I opened! It took awhile to remember that that's how they came back when we were able just to purchase updates for our collections. So I think that I'm comfortable with my Stampin' Up! Only Challenge entry for the week! The challenge was to use a new technique – or one that you've not used in a long while. Using Watercolor Wonder Crayons with an Aquapainter certainly meets that criterion!
The stamp set that I used for my card is one that cries out to be watercolored! It's the set, Bordering on Romance from the Stampin' Up! 2012 Occasions Mini Catalog, and its line art is perfect for this. For my stamped image, I combined two of the stamps to make an L-shaped image and then went after the watercolors. I started the pink flowers with Pretty in Pink and then started adding in a big of Riding Hood Red. I let the Riding Hood Red bleed into the Pretty in Pink for the start, and then added just a bit more at the centers when the paint had dried. For the leaves, I laid down a base of Wild Wasabi and then some darker accents with Always Artichoke. For the blue, I started with Baja Breeze and, just in the larger flowers, accented that color with Night of Navy.
It's a lot of fun making card fronts with the new Sizzix Framelits with their wonderful curves and overall shapes! For this card, I used two of the shapes from the Labels Collection Framelits. They cut into the Watercolor Paper beautifully – just in case you were wondering! I accented the card with the larger lable framelit and Riding Hood Red (nice touch to bring out the Riding Hood Red in the coloring).
I tied the whole thing together with ribbon (what a surprise), this time Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, and accented that with one of the Trinket Hearts, also from the Occasions Mini Catalog.
Fun card! I hope whatever you do with your crafting today, you have just as much fun! And maybe you can even share a project with the Stampin' Up! Only Challenge Team!
Bringing Back Memories
Aloha, all!
Do you ever start a crafting project and find that making it takes you back to something in your childhood? That's what happened to me with this card, and I thought I'd quickly take you through a few of those memories.
A good part of my childhood was spent at the home of my aunt who was also my Godmother. Aunt Agnes collected many things, and among them were her teacups. So I was immediately drawn to this stamp of an elegant teacup, though most of her teacups were white or cream with flowers painted on them. At some point, I think I'll try to stamp this cup with a lighter color embossed on a base of a darker color. But by the time I had this idea, I was way too far into this project and I really wanted to finish it.
A beautiful part of my aunt's household was an amazing collection of African Violets – of every color imaginable; but my favorite were the pale violet flowers that seemed to be (and probably were) so fragile that a touch would turn them into dust. I could almost see right through them! The little African Violets that adorn this teacup reminded me of those flowers, and that's why I decided to stamp the cup again in a lighter color and cut out the flowers to adorn this one.
And then there were the doilies! Doilies were EVERYWHERE around her house – on the tables, on the chairs, on the piano, on the bookcases. While the teacups and African Violets from her home are long since gone, I still have a few of her doilies – much more delicate than this doily made of paper, but this doily nonetheless reminded me of them.
When it came time to pick the sentiment for this card, how could I not choose, "A Cup of Thanks." Thanks to Aunt Agnes who meant so much to me – and for the wonderful memories she made for me.
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Back to the here and now and a quick reminder that much of what is on this card is from the Stampin' Up! 2012 Occasions Mini Catalog. And another reminder that there are going to be dozens of fabulous projects using these products – and many, many more! – in the Create with Connie and Mary Occasions Edition, which is now in preview. I hope you'll take the time to visit the Create With Connie and Mary blog to learn more about preview week, their early bird pricing AND the blog candy that will be available throughout the week – in various places around the blogosphere,
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An addendum. I just heard from my sister-in-law and downline, Deb, who said that she has some of Aunt Agnes' teacups and that my niece, Margie, will have them one day. Margie is my goddaughter, so it's wonderful that these will be passed from generation to generation – as will the memories of Aunt Agnes.
The Start of a Busy Week!
Aloha, all!
Well, this is the week I've been working towards since before Christmas – the week when I have to have my first Create With Connie and Mary Occasions Edition projects done AND my sister-in-law and her husband are coming for a 10-day visit. Can you imagine all the different directions my mind will be traveling this week?!
For today, the direction is towards the Stampin' Up! Occasions Mini Catalog and all the scraps of paper that have been flying all over the place as I've been trying to finish projects and challenge cards! Among the flying papers are the insides of a bunch of windows I've been making with the Sizzix Hearts Framelits (in the Occasions Mini Catalog, of course). You'll see the fab card I made with those right here on Wednesday. But today I'm featuring the "leftovers."
This card has four of the hearts left over from making windows – all of them from the Twitterpated Designer Series Paper – which is my favorite paper set from the Occasions Mini. The sentiment is one of the 11 in the Occasions Mini Stamp Set, Loving Thoughts, and it's stamped on the banner from another Occasions Mini Stamp Set, Take it to Heart.
The final touch to go with all those hearts is one of the Trinket Hearts from the mini. I bought them to use with my Simply Adorned Jewelry, but decided this one would be perfect for this card. I hope you think so, too!
And speaking of the Create With Connie and Mary Occasions Edition, today is the start of Preview Week! There will be projects all week on the Create With Connie and Mary Blog and they're available to EVERYONE! The whole idea is to show you just how wonderful this Occasions Edition will be so that you'll sign up – with the Early Bird Discount! Besides that great offer, every day this week someone with the Create team will be offering Blog Candy – a free subscription to the Occasions Edition. So hop on over to the Create With Connie and Mary Blog to see who's offering the Blog Candy today and get in on the action!
Filling a Heart with Balloons!
Aloha, all!
The first card I made today was totally unplanned. But deep in my memory bank was the idea that the balloons in the stamp set, Up Up and Away would make a nice heart shape! Add to that a challenge from one of my online groups to make a card with a stamp set that had never seen ink in my studio, and off to find that very stamp set. When I brought it to my work table, there was the Hearts Collection of Stampin' Up!'s new Sizzix Framelits sitting right there waiting for me!
In an instant I remembered that thought about the balloons and the heart shape, and this card just kind of took itself over.
Besides the challenge to use a never-before-used stamp set, we were given the option of using a specified set of colors – Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, and Tangerine Tango. Now that was easy given that hot air balloons are among the most colorful creations on earth. I should know because I spent many years living in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, area, and their October Balloon Fiesta is amazing with hundreds of balloons in the air at the same time. So off I went to gather stamp pads and markers, and here's the card that resulted!
Now that I've been using the Hearts Framelits for awhile, I've found that there is a new storage need in Robin's Craft Room – storage for all the hearts that get cut out of card stock or paper to make an opening like the one on the front of this card. So off I went again – this time in search of a Whisper White heart the same size as the window. It didn't take long to locate what I needed, and the card was almost finished. I had a time limit on this card (supposed to be finishing it during an online chat) so I looked at my ribbons and immediately found the 1/2" Scallop Dots Ribbon in Tangerine Tango. So, as frequently happens with my cards, I tied this one all together with a bow!
Now I'm back to working on my creations for the Create with Connie and Mary Occasions Edition – preview week starts next week!! I guess I should have some of the projects done by that time, huh? One will be finished tonight as I just received my Stampin' Up! shipment with one last piece I need for it. The other awaits yet another last minute purchase which will arrive on Monday. I think they're really cool – and I hope that you'll be among those that enjoy them as they are exclusive to Create with Connie and Mary and I can't share them here! Click on the link at the top of the column on the right to visit their web site for more information – and to meet this edition's guest designers! I'm humbled to be in the same group as all of these wonderful ladies!
Know what the best part about all of this is? I'm having FUN with it! I hope you, too, are having fun with whatever you're doing today!
Fun and Quick!
Aloha, all!
With all that I'm doing the next few weeks, I decided I had to take some time this morning to show off some of the products from the brand new Stampin' Up! 2012 Occasions Mini Catalog. On the other hand, it had to be quick because I'm already behind on so many new year's projects and it's only the 4th!!!
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Believe me, this was quick – and it was fun on top of it! The basic card design was one that was featured in this month's magazine for Stampin' Up! Demonstrators as something we could easily demonstrate at a workshop. They were right, even though I had to think for a few minutes because I wanted the colors and design just a tad different from those in the magazine.
What really makes this easy are the two brand new products from the Occasions Mini Catalog that I used: the stamp set, Mixed Bunch, and the brand new punch made just for the stamp set (or is it the other way around??), the Blossom Punch. There are three big flowers in the stamp set, and this shows off just one of them. I'll be getting to the other two before long, I hope!
The card base is Sahara Sand, and the colors that I used to stamp the flowers were (left to right) Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade, and Tangerine Tango. I stamped the Peach Parfait and Tangerine Tango flowers on So Saffron Card Stock, and the Poppy Parade flower on Peach Parfait Card Stock. The center image on each flower is also from the Mixed Bunch Stamp Set and cuts perfectly with the 1" Circle Punch.
To finish this quick and easy card off, I punched some Whisper White Card Stock with the Scallop Edge Border Punch, then quickly colored in some circles using Poppy Parade Stampin' Write Marker, the Paper Piercing Template from Stampin' Up!'s Mat Pack. I trimmed the Whisper White Card stock and mounted it on a strip of Poppy Parade Card Stock. The sentiment is from the stamp set, Petite Pairs, and I just had to punch it with the Postage Stamp Punch. I've been dying to do that to a sentiment with the word, "Sending," in it! I tied on a little bow with Linen Thread.
The one thing that's not quite evident from the photo is that I made my card base 5-1/4" wide rather than 5-1/2" so that I could let the flowers hang off the edges a bit, yet still allow the card to fit in a standard A2 envelope (Stampin' Up!'s Medium Envelope).
OK – I've had my fun for the day, now back to work. Hmmm. Actually, my "work" IS fun! How many people get to say that? It's easy when you're a Stampin' Up! demonstrator! Hope you're having fun today, too!
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