Getting Back In the Groove

I'm finally starting to settle in after a month of travel, medical appointments and other activities for my mom.  I'm afraid this has taken all my time, energy and attention, so apart from updating you on Stampin' Up! promos I've been unable to take time to blog or work on any projects.

Well, all that's about to change as things are starting to get into a rhythm around here and I feel like it's time to get my creative mojo working again.  To get me started I decided to dive in and make a card using Susan Horr's wonderful colour challenge WWC21 on the Wacky Watercooler this week.   When you see these colours you're going to know why it got my interest:

Here's What I Came Up With:
Earlier this year I received a birthday card from my friend Phyllis, that I absolutely adored.  Here's Phyllis' card: 

When I saw Susan's colour challenge yesterday I knew I had only a little bit of time to enter the challenge so I needed a quick and easy card. The colours in the challenge made me think of Phyllis' card and so I decided to CASe her idea adding some of my own touches, of course.  Here's my card:

The card base is Sahara Sand with a layer of Bermuda Bay.  I used the same image from the Work of Art stamp set as Phyllis, and stamped it with my stamp-a-ma-jig in Calypso Coral, Pool Party and So Saffron inks.  To me these stacked images resemble the layers of a birthday cake.  

The butterflies were embossed with the Beautiful Wings Embosslit, and are   adorned with small basic rhinestones. I used dimensionals to mount them to the card face. 

I'm a big fan of banners so I was super excited to use my new Balloon Framelits Die to create this fun little banner.   I added the teeniest butterflies from the Beautiful Wings Embosslit along the length of the banner and also adorned each of them with a basic rhinestone.  They are just so cute! 

When I bought the Balloon Framelits, I purchased them as a bundle along with the Celebrate Today stamp set.  This saved me 15% off the total cost.  I loved the script of the "celebrate" sentiment from this set and think it looks great stamped in Calypso Coral on the face of this card.  It's just one of 17 stamps in this wonderful photopolymer set and is available in the Occasions Catalogue until June 2nd, 2015. 

The raised embossing was done with the Filigree Finial Embossing Folder.  I think it adds a very festive look to this card, and reminds me of confetti.

The inside of the card is stamped with the birthday sentiment "celebrate" from the Big Day Sale-a-bration stamp set.

 

 

Supplies:
Stamps:  Work of Art, Celebrate Today and Big Day (Sale-a-bration)
Ink:  Calypso Coral, So Saffron, Pool Party and Momento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock:  Sahara Sand, Bermuda Bay, So Saffron, Calypso Coral and Pool Party
Accessories:  Trimmer, Big Shot Machine, Filigree Finial Embossing Folder, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Balloons Thinlet Die, Basic Rhinestones, Dimensionals, Adhesive.

I hope you enjoyed this card and will come back and visit my blog again. The Wacky Watercooler challenges are a great place to get inspired and creative. If the urge hits you, there's still a bit of time left before this challenge ends. If not make sure you check out this blog link regularly to see the great challenges that are offered.  

Happy Stamping!
Penny Tokens 

Scalloped Tag Topper Punch Gatefold Card

Do you like flowers and butterflies?  How about fancy fold cards?  Do you like learning new techniques?  

Well today I've got all that and more for you, because I want to share a fun gate fold card made with Stampin' Ups! Scalloped Tag Topper Punch. 

My stamping friend Sheri and I made this card on Tuesday when we were trying out some new techniques.  

We based ours on one made by Linda Bauwin of Stamping With Linda. She called it a "landscape scallop tag topper card" because it is done width wise as opposed to the Scallop Tag Top card that's been around for awhile. Linda has included a video on her post.  

Here's one that is made features the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch on the length of the card or in portrait mode.  I made this one during Sale-a-bration, using the Flower Shop stamp set and the Sweet Sorbet DSP:

Tag Top Closure Card made with the Flower Shop stamp set.

Measurements for this card are:
1.  Card base 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 in basic black
2.  Cut panels for front - Cranberry Crisp measures 2 1/2 x 5 1/4" and DSP panel (Sweet Sorbet) measures 2 1/4 x 5". 
3.  Inside panels measure - Whisper White 3 3/4" x 5" and Cranberry Crisp measures 5 1/4 x 4.  
4.  On 5 1/2" side mark with a pencil 2 3/4" from the top and the bottom.
5.  Pull cardstock through Tag Topper Punch and line up pencil mark with the center of the scallop on the punch and punch.  Repeat on the other side of the card.
6.  Cut off the excess tabs at the top and the bottom of each side by lining up the end of the tag in the channel of the trimmer and then sliding the cutting blade up to the top to remove the little tab and then repeating to remove the bottom tab.  On the right hand side of the card you will need to score the scalloped tag topper and crease.  
7. Once you have removed the tabs on both sides of the card put the card base back in the trimmer with the creased scallop tag topper on the left hand side and line it up with the 4 1/4" line and score.  This will create your front panel.  


Here's My Card:  
   

Here is the front of our beautiful card.  I love the mix of Gumball Green, Island Indigo and Smokey Slate.  You'd think that might be a gloomy colour mix, however it looks so soft and cheerful in this card.   

The inside of the card is stamped in Island Indigo with the Papillon Potpourri stamp set.  Tip:  I like using Clear Mount stamps and acrylic blocks because they offer me more options than wood block when I'm stamping.  For instance, Sheri mounted all four butterflies on Block F (118483) Stampin' Ups! 4 7/8" x 6 inch Acrylic Block, instead of stamping them individually.  This comes in really handy if you're making several of the same card and you want them all to look the same. It allows you to set up the layout exactly as you want it.  Mounting more than one stamp on the block also works well when you're working with multiple two-step stamp images, such as the ones in the Too Kind stamp set.    

In this view you can see the full inside of the card.  There's plenty of room for writing a note or adding an additional sentiment stamp. 

SUPPLIES:
Designer Series Paper (DSP):  Watercolour Wonder DSP Occasions Cattie*
Card stock:  Whisper White, Smokey Slate, and Island Indigo
Ink:  Island Indigo
Stamp Sets: Papillon Potpourri and Chalk Talk
Accessories:  Tag Topper Punch, Chalk Talk Framelit Dies, Beautiful Wings Embosslits, Smokey Slate Taffeta Ribbon, Dimensionals, Basic Pearls, adhesive.

Papillon Potpourri is a 7-piece two-step stamping set featured on page 90 of the IB&C.  It comes in wood mount #132058 $22.95 or clear mount #123759 $17.95.  This set coordinates with the Elegant Butterfly and Bitty Butterfly punches sold on pg. 183. 

Chalk Talk is available in English, Spanish, French and Germany languages.  It coordinates with the 1 3/8" Circle, Extra Large Oval punches on pg 182 of the IB& C and with the Chalk Talk Framelits seen below. 

Chalk Talk Framelits and the Chalk Talk Stamp set can still be purchased as a bundle until the end of May 2014.  By purchasing as a bundle you automatically save 15% of the regular price.  The wood mount bundle #132731 is $53.50 and the clear mount bundle #132730 is $45.75.

* The Occasions Catalogue will be finished it's sales period on May 31st so if you need any of the products used to make this card (with the exception of the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch) you'll have to order by then or they'll no longer be available.  

HOW I MADE IT: 

1.  To make card base cut a piece of Smokey Slate card stock to measure 4 1/4 x 10 3/4".  
2.  Score this piece at 2 3/4" and 8".  Crease score lines.
3.  On 4 1/4" side measure to 2 1/8" and put a mark in pencil.  This will be your punch guide.  Repeat on both sides of the card.
4.  Insert the 4 1/4" side of the card into the Tag Topper Punch and pull all the way to the top of the punch.  Center the middle of the Tag Topper over the pencil mark and punch.  
5.  Insert in paper trimmer and cut away from top edge to the tag and repeat on the bottom half cutting away from the side of the tag to the end of the card.  Repeat on other side of the card. 
6.  To finish inside of the card cut a piece of Island Indigo card stock to measure 4 1/8" x 5 1/8" Adhere to card base.  
7. Cut a piece of Whisper White card stock to measure 4 x 5.  Stamp with butterflies in Island Indigo and adhere to Island Indigo card stock.
8.  To finish outside panels of the card cut two side panels from Island Indigo to measure 1 3/4" x 4" adhere to the card front.
9.  Measure two pieces of DSP to measure 1 1/2" x 3 3/4" and adhere them to Island Indigo panels.  
10. Using Beautiful Wings Embosslits run a scrap of Island Indigo through the Big Shot and attach to either side of the front panels.  I attached the largest butterfly die cut with dimensionals and added four basic pearls down its spine.  
11.  Stamp the "happy Big day" image from Chalk Talk in Island Indigo on a scrap of Whisper White card stock and cut it out with the corresponding die from the Chalk Talk framelits set.  Adhere to the right panel with dimensionals. 
12.  Cut a 10" piece of 3/8" Smokey Slate Taffeta ribbon and fit an end through each of the tabs on the Tag Top punch pieces and tie a box.  
13.  Now stand back and admire your card, it's all done and it was easy peasy! 

I hope you enjoyed this card and find the instructions easy to follow.  Please leave me your comments if you like making these type of cards.  I think this is a design I'll be using often as it gives such a WOW look.  

Thanks for dropping by I sure appreciate it. 

Beautiful Wings Thank You Cards

Along with all the March Birthday Cards, I also need to send thank you cards to a number of folks who've had us for dinner, invited us to play golf and for customers who have orderd from me during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion.
Since I had a number of cards to make I wanted a design that was easy to reproduce and one that I could use for not only "Thank You Cards" but for other occasions too such as "Sympathy", "Thinking of You", "Just a Note", or an "Anniversary" or Wedding card".  I know I won't get bored with the design I came up with and these cards go together so quickly they'd be great for a swap or being made in an assembly line fashion. 

When thinking of what design I would make I remembered seeing a lot of cards and scrapbook pages that have incorporated the Basic Black and Very Vanilla DSP "Newsprint" (117166 page 174 of IB&C). This DSP is the perfect medium for stamping on.  And, by matching the ink, mounting and embellishment cardstocks, and ribbon, it makes for a very pretty and easy card.  I chose Very Vanilla cardstock for my card base and the coloured cardstock and matching satin ribbons I chose were:  Cherry Cobbler, Melon Mambo, Elegant Eggplant, Tempting Turquoise and Old Olive. 

Here are some pictures of my samples.  Hope you enjoy them.  Let me know.

By matching the card stock for the embellishments, the ribbon  and mounting card stock piece, you get a strong colour surge.  I've tied in the ink by sponging and using markers in the same color on the flowers in the swirl stamp.  The leaves are stamped in Wasabi and Pear Pizzazz greens which I've added using markers.  I've also used the 2-way glue pen along the stems and then added dazzling diamonds for a glittery but subtle effect. You can just see the little trails of glitter in the picture above.  I added  Basic Rhinestones to the butterflies for the final touch. 

Inside of the card stamped with the label from Baby Blossoms and the swirl from Elements of Style.  I stamped the label in ink that matched the cardstock on the front of the card and I used my Wild Wassabi and Pear Pizzazz marker pens for the "thank you" sentiment.  It just seemed to tie everything together.

Cards and matching envelopes.

My Little Road Trip, and Friends along the Way

My husband went golfing with his buddies last week, so I took the opportunity to go on a road trip and drove to Vernon BC where my dear sister Heather lives.  I hadn't been there for almost 3 years and wanted to spend some quality time with her and also to hold a Stampin' Up! workshop called appropriately, "The Vernon Girls Night In". 

When I left on Monday morning I was running late as I'd stayed up into the "wee" hours the night before prepping and getting all my stamping gear together............. you know how it is!  I finally managed to get on the road around noon and with my loyal companion Murphy for company headed into the pouring rain, heavy winds and bleak gray skies.  It's at least a 5-hour drive through steep mountain roads, but what a trip it was and it was so worth it. The scenery was beautiful and in the afternoon the weather improved.  I finally arrived in Vernon around 4:30 and let me tell you it was good to get out of the car.   Heather had lots planned for the week and we made the most of our time together.  We visited relatives and old friends, attended a birthday party and went to the show.  We thoroughly enjoyed talking until midnight, walking when we could, eating healthy or at least trying to.  The time went so quickly and we had an all around good time.  Did I mention the Margarita's - they were good too!  Heather's hubby, who's a gem, was very accommodating and let us be "girls".  Thanks Ken!

So, here's a shot of my fabulous sister prepping a card for the birthday bash we went to on Tuesday night. Although she's been making cards for a while now, this year she's really gotten into it and is developing a wonderful style.  Although we've often got together to make cards, it's just so much fun seeing her enthusiasm and love for making cards and other paper projects.  I just get the biggest kick out of seeing her smile and I love looking at her projects. 
Here's the card Heather made for the Birthday Girl.  I showed her how to set her camera on Macro for picture taking so she was trying to take a shot of it before the party.  The card is a very pretty little Easel card made with Pocket Silhouettes, Certainly Celery card stock and DSP. The white taffeta ribbon just made the card.    What a great job she made of it!

As most of Heather's guests at the Vernon Girls Night In had not done a workshop with me before I brought up some of my latest card and 3-D projects so they would have a concept of what they could do with a little card stock, ink and paper. What a great hostess Heather was.  She helped me display my projects on top of her TV Stand and set up the room for the party which was being held on the Wednesday night. She even helped me finish off some last minute gifts for the girls.  I wanted to hire her as my assistant!!!

If some of these look familiar, it's because they are some of the projects I've designed for UStamp over the past couple of sessions, including my latest project  a "Halloween Luminary Gift Can", which was posted on UStamp Early Summer Edition on July 15th.

As Wednesday quickly sped around I was really getting up for the party.  I was excited to show case the new Idea Book and Catalogue for 2010/11, the Summer Mini and the Definitively Decoratrive catties. I also was super excited to meet two new customers and see one of my friends/customers who had worked on the Coast with me in our working days.   They were definitely excited too when they arrived and gleefully dug into the new cattie.   I should have taken pictures, but decided not to, and just let them savour the moment.  

Because the new In Colours had just been released along with the Idea Book and Catalogue for 2010/11 I decided to make some book marks to show case them.  Everyone received a book mark along with their new catties,  and some small thank you gifts - a Coaster Post It Note Holder and a Matchbox with Hershey's nuggets, to show my appreciation for them coming.  Here are some pictures of their goodies!

 The bookmarks were made on Very Vanilla card stock and included a punched flower image and marker squiggle in each of the new In Colors:  Poppy Parade, Concord Crush, Peach Parfait, Blushing Bride and Pear Pizazz (pg 165).  The tab at the top of the bookmark is also one of the new core colours from the Brights Collection, called Daffodil Delight (pg 166). 

The little nugget boxes were made using the Matchbox Die and Big Shot machine.  Another new core colour cardstock called  Early Espresso (one of my new favs) ,was used for the base,  and the tops of the boxes were cut from the new Designer Series Paper (DSP) Greenhouse Gala #117167.  This is gorgeous paper and you're going to see it a lot!

The Post It Note coaster pads were a big hit.  They were made using a bar coaster as a base or you could use a 4 x 4 chipboard piece and covered in another of the fabulous designer papers from the Greenhouse Gala series.  The bulldog clip at the top was also covered in Greenhouse Gala and a bashful blue satin ribbon was tied at the top.  The flower image from the "Friends Never Fade" stamp set (Pg 99 118750 W/120618 C) was stamped on the bottom in Baja Breeze. 

For the workshops I chose to do 3 projects featuring the Big Shot and a variety of different dies as these gals hadn't had much exposure to all that Big Shot offers.  They were very excited about this and eager to begin. 

The first card we made was based on a "less is more" type of format.  Sahara Sand which has returned as part of the Neutrals Collection (pg. 169) was used for the card base.  A strip of Basic Black was texturized in the Big Shot using the new Square Lattice textured impressions embossing folder (#119976 pg. 214) and adhered along the center of the card face. Everyone loved the design made by the textured plate and marvelled that it looked great on both sides, offering up some additional options.  Butterflies were die cut using the embosslits Beautiful Wings die (#118138 pg. 215) and Poppy Parade In Colour card stock, and mounted in a flight pattern across the front of the card.  I used Basic Black Ink and the sentiment "Many Thanks" from the All Year Cheers retired stamp set.  I just love that sentiment and will never stop using it.  Unfortunately I hadn't purchased the new basic rhinestones (#119246 pg 188) yet, so had to make do with someone else's brand........................can't wait to get the new ones though - they come in small, medium and large and there are 150 to a package - not bad for $6.50.  On the inside of the card I stamped an image from one of last year's retired level one hostess sets called Of the Earth.  I just love that set too.  Here's some pictures of the project. 

I've also made this card using last year's In Colours for the Butterflies.  this sample is done on Kraft cardstock, with a Chocolate Chip textured strip and Tangerine Tango butterflies.  I used Early Espresso classic ink and it looked fabulous too.  Great fast card when you're on the run!  

Our second card was made using the Movers and Shapers Curly Label Die Cut #114506 on pg 209.  What a riot this die cut is.  Everyone had fun setting up their movable piece on the magnetic surface of the die and figuring out where the window shape would line up.  Our card stock base was Pear Pizazz.  Baja Breeze was used to stamp the sentiment on Whisper White, and a large butterfly was cut using the Baja Breeze and the Wings Embosslit.  A piece of chevron striped Greenhouse Gala DSP was layered on Early Espresso for the front of the card.  For the inside, an image from the Friends Never Fade stamp set was stamped on Whisper White Card stock in Baja Breez and then over stamped with a "best wishes" sentiment from a retired stamp set.   This image was cut out using the Curly Label punch and then mounted with dimensionals to the inside of the card.  What a great fast and simple card! 

I made another sample using Chocolate Chip and Marina Mist for the card base and I liked it too. 

My third and final card for the evening was cased from a design made by Jenn Picard for the Early Summer Edition of UStamp With Dawn and Friends using  the Scallop Circle Punch. For my version of Jenn's card, I used Blue Bayou cardstock.  Here's some shots of that card, which I've posted on my gallery in UStamp. 

For the workshop the gal's made a simplified version using Chocolate Chip card stock for the base and scalloped embellishment.  Whisper White card stock was used for the stamped portion of the circle on the front flap of the card, along with a piece of striped dsp from the Sweet Pea collection.  Once again I used the stamp set Of the Earth (can you tell I like it) and both the image and sentiment were stamped in Early Espresso.  Although it's hard to tell from the pictures, I stamped an image from Pocket Silhouettes with So Saffron ink on the front of the card to add some depth and then sprayed it with Gold Glow Smooch spritz (118770 pg. 195).  If you like this card and would like to see the original tutorial and Jenn's stunning card in which she used the Butterfly Prints set, there's still time to sign up for this session of UStamp. Click on this link for more information. http://www.ustampwithdawn.blogspot.com/.

So to wrap up here I just wanted to say what a ball I had doing this workshop.  These Vernon gals are just the best and because of that I went above and beyond the normal make and take for this workshop.  Their excitement over the new cattie and products, as well as the projects we made reconfirmed why I love being a Stampin' Up! Demo!  Can't wait to go visit them again.  Thanks everyone for a great time, and thanks Heather for being such an awesome hostess!  Oh did I mention that for hosting this workshop Heather earned a level one and two stamp set of her choice and $70.00 in free product.  Whoo, Hoo............ can you say great workshop!!!