Just Give Me Stamps...

Orange Challenged...

It's true.  I've very orange challenged!  I mean, I really like what others do with it...but I can never get it to look right!!  So, when I saw what the colors were for Verve's May Project Parade Challenge, I knew I was in trouble!  The Project Parade Challenge this month is a "Summertime" Color Challenge:  So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Sky (or Bashful Blue), Regal Rose (or Cameo Coral), & Old Olive (optional).

I did try to incorporate Pumpkin Pie into my card....I really did!!  Once again, I just couldn't get it to look right.  Now, before you go telling on me to Julee (owner of Verve), I did actually use just a tiny bit of Pumpkin Pie!  I colored the butterfly with a Pumpkin Pie colored Copic marker!!  LOL!

I embossed one of the small flowers from Floral Whimsyin white on all three background panels.  I then layered a few circles (cut/embossed with my Circle Nestabilties).  The butterfly (from Fluttering By) and the two larger flowers are embossed, colroed with Copics, & cut out.

If you haven't already joined in the Project Parade fun this month, there is still time to play!!  Check out THIS post for all the details!  The winner is going to receive $15 of FREE Verve Bucks!! 

Recipe   Stamps: Floral Whimsy, Fluttering By  Paper: Shimmery White c.s., Vellum c.s., Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, So Saffron, Cameo Coral   Ink:Versamark, Chocolate Chip craft  Other: Clear e.p., White e.p., Circle and Rectangle Nestabilities, Decoarative brad, Aged copper brad, Copic markers, 5/8" Chocolate grosgrain ribbon

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge # 50!

Happy Friday!!  Can you believe that there have now been 50 Weekend Sketch Challenges??  Wooohoo!!  Something that just occurred to me the other day...is that I should be keeping these sketches in a binder so I can refer back to them.  (I know...I'm slow!  LOL!)  They really are a great resource!!

For this card, I was going for a fresh and clean style.  I normally don't leave so much empty white space on a card (maybe I think of it like "dead air" on a radio??)...but it really did fit the fresh and clean style so I broke out of my stamping "box" and went for it!!  LOL!  I decided to use my Priceless set (it's been waaay to long since it's seen any ink).  The flowers are embossed with Clear e.p. (I really think this helps the color pop a little more) and cut out.  I scored the bottom Chocolate Chip panel to create a striped pattern (I looooove stripes and polka dots together).

You should also check out what Beate, Cambria, Charmaine, Lori, Mary Jo, &Sharon have made!  It's so fun to see all of the different cards they come up with using the same sketch!!  If you want to play along...make sure to check out Beate's sketch HERE.

The sun is shining here...and it promises to be a gorgeous Spring day!!  Woohoo!  I hope you all have a fantastic day!

Recipe   Stamps: Priceless, Short & Sweet   Paper: Shimmery White c.s., Closet to Cocoa, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip   Ink:Certainly Celery, Versamark   Other: Clear e.p., Corner rounder punch, Scor-Pal, Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder, Brads, Ribbon, White e.p., Paper piercer

Inque Boutique Meets Everyday Blessings...

Happy Thursday!  Can you believe that it is the end of May??  I really can't believe it!!  Where did May go?    For us, spring is just beginning...and I am loving every minute of it!  I think that may be the reason that I am on this pastel color "kick"!  LOL!

I again, wanted to create a soft and springy card...but wanted it to look elegant.  I started with an Aqua Mist card base, and layered on a piece of patterned paper (from the Everyday Blessings collection by Papertrey).  I embossed this beautiful flower stamp (from Inque Boutique's Birdies set) with white embossing powder on vellum cardstock.  (I know, I know...I'm using vellum again...but I just can't seem to help myself!  LOL!)  I used the Ticket corner punch on each corner of the vellum and then added a small adhesive backed pearl.  To finish the card, I used some Aqua Mist satin ribbon and a small piece of Narrow White organdy ribbon to tie my Thinking of You sentiment (also from the Birdies set) that I had embossed onto a vellum tag (made with the Spellbinders Tag Trio dies).  The vellum tag by itself didn't show up enough against the vellum background layer, so I backed it with some Spring Moss cardstock.

I hope you all have a wonderful day!  Thanks for stopping by!  ~Laurie

 Recipe

Stamps:  Birdies (Inque Boutique)    Paper:  Aqua Mist, Spring Moss, Everyday Blessings (Papertrey Inc.), Whisper White, Vellum c.s.    Ink: Versamark    Other:  White e.p., Ticket corner punch, Aqua Mist satin ribbon, White organdy ribbon, Pearls (Hero Arts), Spellbinders Tag Trio dies

Shabby Chic Florals...

Today, I will share with you another card I made with Verve Visual's newly released stamps.  I really like the way this one turned out...and I think it is the soft colors!  I don't know why, but I always forget about using only pastel colors!  I seem to always sneak some brown in there somewhere!  LOL!  Another "style" that I'm continually drawn to, but seem to somehow forget to incorporate that into stamping is "Shabby Chic". 

I wasn't sure exactly what constitued an item to be considered Shabby Chic...so I looked it up in the dictionary.  Shabby means "Showing signs of wear and tear" old and worn in appearance".  Chic means "stylish or elegant".  Well, I thought it was high time I brought this to my stamping...I mean I LOVE to add signs of "wear and tear" to my cards!!  LOL! 

I found some of this pink striped patterned paper (by Making Memories) waaaaay in the back of my stash.  It was so crisp and clean when I started...I almost didn't want to "dirty" it up!  LOL!  I used some Versamagic Dew Drops to ink up the stems and flowers...and then embossed them with Clear e.p.  You all know how I love dimension...so I just had to pop up a couple of the blooms!  LOL!  The card base is a standard 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card...I just cut off an inch or so from my top flap to give the "illusion" of a unique fold...without all the work!  LOL!  I also wanted to make sure these gorgeous buttons were visible on both the front and the inside.  The Celery grosgrain ribbon was a little too bright for my "dirtied" up card, so I sponged the ribbon with Sahara Sand ink (the same ink I used to sponge all of the layers on the card).  The pink gingham "loop" addition was actually an accident...but I like it much better than what I was originally going to do, so I kept it as is.  :-)

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you all have a wonderful day!  ~Laurie

Stamps: Floral Whimsy (Verve Visual)
Paper: Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink (Stampin' Up!), Pearlized White, Patterned paper (Making Memories)
Ink: Versamagic Dew Drops (Aloe Vera, Pixie Dust, Pink Petunia), Creamy Caramel (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Clear e.p., Nestabilities, Buttons, 5/8" Celery grosgrain ribbon, Pink gingham ribbon, Corner Rounder (Stampin' Up!), Thread

Just Because...

Happy Tuesday!  Today and tomorrow I'm going to be sharing with you some of the samples I made with this month's new Verve stamps!

The polka dots on the butterfly's wings reminded me of this patterned paper (Overton House Designs by EK Success) that I had picked up a while ago.  As part of my "I'm going to use all the stuff I buy" self-imposed rule...I only bought ONE of each of these designs.  I know, I know...what was I thinking??  (On a complete side note:  I've discovered some interesting things about myself...if I only have oneof something I will hoard it and not use it, but if I have more than one of the same item...I'm much more likely to use it all.  I'm not sure what that says about me pshycoloically...but stamping wise, that tells me I need to get lots of stuff!!  ROFLOL!!)  Anyway, when I saw how perfect this paper was for the new Fluttering By set...I just had to use it!!  :-)

I wanted to keep the design fairly simple, because the patterned paper is pretty "busy".  I did know that I wanted three butterflies on my card, so I decided on a tall skinny card (3 1/8 x 6 1/2).  I also wanted both patterns visible from the front but there wasn't much room to break up the front...so that's how I decided to cut part of the front flap off.  I used a very high-tech tool to make the rounded flap (one of my kids' plastic plates) LOL!!!  I used my circle Nestabilities to make the circles that the butterflies are mounted on.  embossed the butterfly (I first stamped the butterfly in Versamark then in Close to Cocoa Classic ink) with Clear e.p., and then colored them in lightly with my Copic markers.  I didn't have the right color of ribbon...so I used the same Copic marker that I colored the butterflies with and dyed my own (I used White taffeta ribbon).

For the inside, I adhered a sentiment that I made by stamping "Just Because" onto Soft Sky c.s. and punching it out with my Large Oval punch.

Thanks so much for visiting!!  I hope you have a wonderful day!

Recipe   Stamps: Fluttering By (Verve Visual)
Paper: Soft Sky (Stampin Up!), Patterned paper (Overton House Designs by EK Success)
Ink: Close to Cocoa (Stampin' Up!), Versamark
Accessories: Clear e.p., Circle Nestabilities, Lg. Oval punch, White taffeta ribbon, Copic markers, Dew Drops

Enjoying Pink...

I have been really drawn to pinks lately!  In fact, I've had to make a conscious effort not to stamp everything in pink!  LOL!  It might have something to do with the fact that Spring has finally came!!!  Wooohooo!  Yes, our snow has melted...and the green grass and leaves have shot up overnight it seems!  Since I'm always sharing pictures of it snowing...I thought I'd share a picture of the start of a (hopefully) very wet and green Spring (see below for the picture).

I decided to just let myself use as much pink as my heart desired...and this fun, bright card was the result!

I started with some Memory Box paper(Sugar Collection) as the starting point for my color selection.  I added some fun ribbon and ric-rac over a panel of patterned paper that I had covered with some vellum c.s. (I love the softness that vellum provides).  I felt like I wanted to define the edges a bit more, so I used my Ranger Inkssentials white gel pen to add some dots across the top and bottom borders of the vellum layer.  For my focal layer, I stamped the small open flower from the Sweet Momentsset (a Hero Arts small Sparkle set) and then layered three sundaes (also from the Sweet Moments set) on top (I added dimensionals under the middle one so it would pop up a little).  After the sundaes were colored (with Copics) I added some Diamond Glaze to the glass cups (so it would really look like glass), Liquid Applique to the whip cream (who doesn't love fluffy whip cream), and Stardust Stickles to the cherry on top!  Finally, I added a Celery flower (from the Spring Art Flowers Collection by Hero Arts).  After my flower was added, I still felt like it might need a little something more...but couldn't decide what.  I didn't want to add any more ribbon...paper layers...or even bling (I had some bling already with the pink rhinestone brad).  Then I saw some Celery c.s. shavings still sitting on my desk next to my paper cutter.  That was it!!  I adhered them under my flower using a mini glue dot.  The little enjoy tag was made by embossing the enjoy stamp with white emobssing powder, punching it out with my Word Window punch, clipping off the end to look like the end of ribbon, and adding a Pale Pink Gemstone.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!!  I hope you all enjoy the rest of your day!

Recipe  Stamps: Sweet Moments (Hero Arts)  Paper: Certainly Celery, Rose Red, Vellum c.s., Memory Box paper (Sugar collection)   Ink:Adirondack Pitch Black, Versamark   Other: Copic markers, Inkssentials white gel pen, Liquid Applique, Stardust Stickles, Diamond Glaze, Word Window punch, White e.p., Ribbon, Ric-Rac, Spring Art Flowers, Paper piercer, Pale Pink gemstone

Taste and See...

Happy Saturday!  I hope you all are enjoying your holiday weekend!  It's so quiet around here (a very strange thing indeed!!), so I got a little extra stamping time in today!  Yay!

I made this card for a Color Challenge that Kelley (owner of Our Daily Bread Designs) issued to her Design Team.  She sent us some samples of the new Prism Cardstock that she is now carrying in her store.  I had actually never used Prism c.s....but I really, really like it!  It's sturdy, has a smooth side and a fun textured side, & the color saturation is wonderful!

I stamped the fruit basket (from Fruit of the Spiritset) onto Shimmery White c.s. with Adirondack Pitch Black ink.  After coloring the image in with my Copic markers and highlighting it with my Spica Glitter pens, I masked it and stamped my En Francais (Stampin' up!) background stamp (inked up lightly with Creamy caramel ink) over the top it.  The background is embossed with the Textile Cuttlebug embossing folder.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!

Recipe   Stamps:Fruit of the Spirit (Our Daily Bread Designs),  En Francais   Paper:Shimmery White c.s., Very Vanilla, Prism c.s. (Herbal Garden Dark & Medium, Sunflower Light)   Ink: Adirondack Pitch Black, Always Artichoke, Creamy Caramel   Other: Copic markers, Nestabilities, Dew Drops, Textile Cuttlebug embossing folder, Ribbon, Spica Glitter pens

Inspiring Blooms...

Happy Friday!!!  Woohoo for the long weekend!  :-)  Even though it warms up a little during the day...it is still pretty chilly outside...so no camping for us!  LOL!  I'm sure we'll get some warmer weather pretty soon...and since we've been in a drought for several years now, I cannot complain about the moisture we're getting (even if it does come in the form of snow!!)!!  LOL!

When I saw the sketch for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challengethis week, I was thrilled!  I have been wanting to use my Bloomin' Beautiful set again...and this sketch is perfect for it!  :-)

I don't know what it is about K & Co paper exactly...but I swear I'm addicted to it!  This paper was the inspiration for the colors of my card, the embellishments...well just about everything!  LOL!  I stamped the flowers onto Shimmery White c.s. with Adirondack Espresso ink and then colored them in with my Copic markers.  I cut the flowers out and mounted it on the circles with dimensionals.  I wanted to define them just a bit more, so I added Crystal Effects to both the flowers and the vase.

I used my new Spellbinders Tags 5 die to  cut/emboss the large tag at the top.  The "inspire" metal embellishment is one that I've had in my stash for a while.

You all have to check out what Beate, Cambria, Charmaine, Jenn, Lori,Mary Jo, & Sharon have made...they always knock my socks off!!

I hope you all have a fantastic day!!  I'll be back tomorrow with a couple of cards to share with you!  :-)

Path of Life

Happy Thursday!  You are not going to believe this...(well, maybe you will believe it..as I've mentioned before all of the crazy weather we've been having)...but it has been snowing non-stop since about 3:00 this morning!!  SNOW!!  Again!!  I have to say, though, that this is probably the first time in a while that I'm actually glad I'm not a gardener!  I say that because all of the flowers that I didn't plant...did not get frozen!  LOL!!

Even though I seriously lack in gardening skills...I am so drawn to beautiful flower and garden stamps!  And the new "Path of Life" set by Our Daily Bread is no exception...I LOVE it!!

I stamped the garden scene onto Shimmery White c.s. with Adirondack Pitch Black ink and then colored it in with my Copic markers.  I added some Stardust Stickles to the flowers (see close-up) below.  I then decorated the inside of the card with a verse and some more patterned paper (see second photo below).

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Recipe   Stamps: Path of Life (Our Daily Bread Designs), Fancy Flexible Phrases   Paper: Soft Sky, Almost Amethyst, Soft Sky & Almost Amethyst Palette of Prints patterned paper, Shimmery White  Ink: Adirondack Pith Black, Almost Amethyst craft ink   Other:Clear e.p., Tag punch (Martha Stewart), Butterfly brad, Stardust Stickles, Rhinestones, Corner rounder punch

Woooo Hooooo!

It's the 20th again...and that means it's time for another Dirty Dozen/Alumni Challenge over at Splitcoast!  This month's challenge is to use an owl image...incorporate texture...but we can't use any rhinestones, crystals, or Dew Drops.  Now, I know what you are thinking...."How in the world can she NOT use any rhinestones or Dew Drops"??  Well, it was tough!!  LOL!

I  used today's Color Challenge colors (Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Certainly Celery) on this card.  The owl and polka dot background is from C.C. Designs (available at All That Scraps).  I chose various ribbons, buttons, & Stickles as my texture.

This was the first card I made...but I was feeling guilty that I didn't actually stamp my owl, so I made another one!  LOL!  I found this owl pendant at Micheal's.  The handmade paper is some that I had in my "stash".  The sentiment is from Hero Art's "Thinking of You" set and the ribbon is from May Arts.  Both the ribbon and Thinking of You set is available from Stamper's Dream.

Click HERE if you would like to check out all of the Owl Challenge cards.

Thanks so much for stopping by!