July Pals "Summer Sunshine" Blog Hop

It's time for some fun in the sun with the Pals! Glad you could join us for the Pals Summer Sunshine Blog Hop! You've probably hopped over from Susan Lankford at Stamp and Scrap with Susan, I'm stop number 7 on the Pals Hop and I'm glad you hopped in! I'll help you "hop along" from blog to blog where you'll find great ideas for summer themed Stampin' Up! projects from the Stampin' Pretty Pals! Should you hop off course, simply click on any of the links in the Pals Hop Line-up below and you'll be back on track.

 When I read the theme for this month's blog hop "Summer Sunshine" the new in-color Summer Starfruit and the stamp set Reason to Smile came right to mind. The card just seemed to build itself from there :)

I recently added the 2 1/2" circle punch to my stash and was eager to use it on this project. When I punched a circle out just to get an idea of size I realized that the negative space left behind would make a great template for stamping my images! I used Soft Suede to ink up my images and used my Stamp-a-ma-jig (love this tool!!) to place the flowers in just the right spots. The flower image faces left so I inked up my image and then cleaned away the ink on the stem and turned the flower until I was able to face it to the right. The I inked up the stem, turned it upside down to get it to go the other direction as well. I couldn't have done this without my trusty Stamp-a-ma-jig! I just realized that the Stamp-a-ma-jig was in my first order I ever made and for good reason! Definitely a go-to tool!

The scallop circle is from Perfect Pennants Bigz L Die and I just love how the scallops just barely peek out from behind. The punch of color is a DSP from the Patio Party DSP collection and the sentiment banner is handcut. A few flowers in coordinating colors with just a touch of bling and there you have it--ezpeasy!!

Stampin Supplies:

Stamps: Reason to Smile, Curly Cute

Paper: Crumb Cake, Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit, Whisper White CS; Patio Party and Comfort Cafe (envelope) DSP

Ink: Soft Suede, Summer Starfruit

Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Pennants Bigz L Die, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, Scallop Edge Border Punch, Itty bitty Shapes Punch Pack, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Dimensionals

Now hop along for more inspiring ideas from Rae Harper At Wild West Paper Arts, stop number 8 on the Pals Summer Sunshine Blog Hop! Thanks for "hopping" by

BLOG HOP LINEUP:

1. Dawn Tidd at Tiddbits from Dawn
2. Barb Furlong at The Love of Stamping
3. Angie Blake at AngiesMusings
4. Diane Roberts at Score at Four and a Quarter
5. Marian Kay at All Aboard the Crafting Train
6. Susan Lankford at Stamp and Scrap With Susan
7. Shannon Jaramillo at ezpeasycards
8. Rae Harper at Wild West Paper Arts
9. Mary Fish at Stampin' Pretty
10. Maggie Mata at Maggie Made Cards
11. Angela Curry at Kindred Stampers
12. Jen Takacs at Stamped in Full
13. Kimberly Deacon at Delightful Stampin
14. Nicole Watt at Impressions By Nicole
15. Mikki Sarkisyan at Mikki's Creative Corner
16. Nicole Picadura at Scraps & Stamps
17. Nina Dee at Deesigns by Nina Dee
18. Kim Luithle at Kims Stampin Stuff
19. Lori Martin at The Rejoicing PaperCrafter
20. Brian King at Stamp with Brian
21. Maxine Conrad at Stamp to the Max
22. Beth Beard at My Little Craft Blog
23. Kim Czenszak at Live Love Stamp

Graduation Thank You

Today I wanted to share with you the graduation thank you cards that I made for my son to send out. My goal with these cards was to keep them simple enough for a twenty one year old young man to want to send out, yet elegant as well :) I used a retired sentiment (two years retired I believe) but I have kept the set because it is so timeless and versatile. I was SO pleased with how well it worked with the Labels Collection Framelits Dies! I changed up the embossing folders as I went.

I was very satisfied with how they turned out and my son was thrilled, so really, that's all that counts, right?!

Stampin Supplies:

Stamps: Engraved Greetings

Paper: Basic Gray, Whisper White CS; Twitterpated DSP

Ink: Basic Grey Classic Ink Pad

Accessories:  Big Shot, Stripes and Houndstooth Embossing Folders, Labels Collection Framelits, Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by!

Paris in Love - Freshly Made Sketches #42

My project today is based on a sketch I found over at Freshly Made Sketches:

I pulled out a (unfortunately) rarely used stamp set for this, Artistic Etchings. I knew I wanted to use the image of Le Tour d'Eiffel and a traditional color palette, but this card just didn't want to go there. It wanted to be light, like a springtime breeze in Paris (I'm just imagining that, I was there in July, lol) so Pool Party it is! I also used a jumbo stamping handle and the Very Vintage jumbo wheel for the first ever (hang head in shame, I've had them for probably two years!) and I feel a bit ridiculous now...they were SO easy to use, I'm not quite sure what I was so scared of!

I added a bit of ribbon and some jewelry tags with the sentiment 'love' because that's what Paris is famous for! Oh and one of the new Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons to add the final touch of jewelry :)

Hope you are inspired!

Stampin Supplies:

Stamps: Artistic Etchings, Tiny Tags, Very Vintage (Wheel)

Paper: Pool Party, Whisper White CS; Twitterpated DSP

Ink: Pool Party & River Rock Classic Ink Pads

Accessories: 5/8" Organza Ribbon, Jewelry Tag Punch,  Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons, Stampin' Around Jumbo Handle, Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by!

MOJO Monday #248 - You're Amazing!

Happy Saturday! It's getting close to the end of vacation for me (sniffle), back to work on Monday. I used some precious days of vacation to move my craft room around, a big shout out to my DH for putting shelving up in the spare room closet to make room for all my goodies! Everything is finally where I want it and I found a sewing table online that is going to fit purrrfectly in the niche I have created for it, can't wait to add a bit of sewing to my projects! Anyway, while I wait for my new table to arrive I decided to play along with this awesome layout posted over at Mojo Monday. Playing along with these challenges is, well, challenging (lol) but hopefully will help me lose the fear of experimentation. Sometimes stepping out of our own box is rough!

Back on point, here's the challenge: 

And here's what I created with it:

I picked a DSP at random as my starting point. This pattern is part of the Comfort Cafe DSP collection and a bit outside of my box, so good thing to choose, yes? It's a very vibrant color, I have decided I really like it. Once the paper was chosen, I pulled out my trusty color coach and learned that Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke, and Perfect Plum work together. Hmmm, I would never have come up with that on my own, but they are right, I think they look wonderful together! The color scheme seemed masculine to me so I built on that. I paired two framelits from different collections and added a few brads for some masculine bling (hee hee, gotta get it in there somehow, right?) and changed up the bottom of the banner from the scallops in the layout to a banner, it seemed to tie in better. (BTW, I freehanded the banner cut.) I sponged everything to give it a bit of roughness but it still seemed to be lacking something. So I searched through my collection and found a nice masculine-looking stamp from the Clockworks stamp set and stamped it onto the Perfect Plum DSP for a bit more interest. I tied it up with some retired denim jean ribbon in Always Artichoke, it just had that right vibe for this card :)

Hope you enjoyed it and please stop on by Mojo Monday to see other creations with this wonderful layout. 

Stampin Supplies:

Stamps: You're Amazing, Clockworks

Paper: Perfect Plum, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla CS, Comfort Cafe DSP, Color Collection DSP Stacks in Perfect Plum

Ink: Cajun Craze Always Artichoke Stampin' Write Markers, Perfect Plum Classic Ink Pad

Accessories: Big Shot, Square lattice Embossing Folder, Apothecary Accents and Labels Collection Framelits Dies, 3/16" Regals Brads in Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke Denim Jean Ribbon (retired), Dimensionals

PPA138 - A Reason to Smile

Hi there again! This week I chose to participate in the Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge #138 using these colors:

These colors just said 'sunflower' to me so I pulled out the stamp set Reason to Smile and got down to work!

I really wanted the flower to be the focus so I kept the rest of the card simple. Some Cherry Cobbler cardstock and Early Expresso DSP for the backdrop, layered ribbon, and a button on top of the main image all help draw the eye in. I used a blender pen to add some color to the other stamped images, just a touch of soft color.

I hoped you have enjoyed my creation, and please don't forget that this wonderful stamp set is available this month only with a $50 purchase.

Thanks for stopping by!