Welcome 2014 - Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone.  It seems just like yesterday when I started playing with the chalkboard technique to make my new year's greeting for 2013.  And here we are welcoming another new year!  For 2014, my new year's greeting was made using My Digital Studio (MDS), Stampin'Up's digital design software.

I forget how much fun I have creating different projects using MDS.  Once I get started it's so hard to stop.  If you ever want to get your hands on this software, Stampin'Up has a free version that you can play with.  Click HERE to get the free trial version or just jump right in and get the full software.

I wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous new year!  Don't forget to make at least one resolution that you can keep.  Don't be so hard on yourself.

CHEERS!!!

irene

Holiday Cards - Peace and Joy II

I just love this set of One Liners die collection from Papertrey Ink.  So much fun to play with and so easy to use.  Like my previous post, these cards are quick and easy.  You can make a stack of cards in no time.

So simple and clean!  The red glimmer paper really made the die cut pop.  I used the Pretty Print Textured Impressions Embossing Folder for the background.  Instead of ribbon, I thought one of the washi tape from the Season of Style Designer Washi Tape set was a great alternative.

On the second card, I used the Stylish Stripe embossing folder for the background.  The washi tape is from the Epic Day This and That set, one of my favorites.  Sadly, the more I look at this card the more I dislike the layout.  I was way off on this one but it's done so I'm moving on.

I'm behind in posting but hopefully with the long weekend coming up I'll be able to catch up.  

Thanks for stopping by...... until next time.

Cheers!!!

Holiday Cards - Peace and Joy

I have a few new "toys" to play with this holiday season.  Since October, I knew what I wanted to make but somehow I just couldn't get started.  Last weekend, I finally sat down and made some simple, quick and easy cards.

 There is no stamping involve.....imagine that!  The colors are not traditional but the I really like how they turned out.  On the Joy, card I used bermuda bay and basic gray card stocks.  The silver glimmer paper set the holiday tone.  I used D'vine Swirl embossing folder and love how the swirls matched the font of the die cut sentiment.

On the second card, I used cherry cobbler and basic gray card stocks.  Again, the silver glimmer paper is the perfect accessory to this color combo.

I got the "new" thinlit dies from Papertrey Ink and the "old", at least seven years old, embossing folder is from Cuttlebug.  They compliment each other so well. With these tools holiday cardmaking just got so much easier!

Thanks for stopping by today.  Check in again soon to see other samples using my new favorite tools.

Cheers!!!

irene

Sponging Technique

I recently re-discovered this embossing folder by Darice called Dandelion buried in my stack of embossing folders.  The inks I used for my best friend card were still out on my work table so I used them to sponged the embossed images - primrose petals, summer starfruit and gumball green.

Amazing how the same inks yielded a very different outcome.  The card made with the sponging technique turned out nice and soft, don't you think?  In contrast, the best friend card made with painter's tape technique was bold and bright.

If you haven't tried these techniques, give 'em a shot and see how your color combination turns out.

Thanks for stopping by.  I really need to get busy with my holiday cards, Christmas is just around the corner.

Cheers!!!

irene

Best Friend Card

I'm a sucker for funny, sarcastic sentiments.  This one fits the bill perfectly!  When I first saw this stamp, one particular friend came to mind.  Don't get me wrong, she's not the violent type or anything but I imagined her skipping next to me and laughing.

I wanted to try a technique, painter's tape technique,  that everyone is doing lately.  You basically use a painter's tape to apply ink on your paper.  On this card, I used three 6" long painter's tape or masking tape as some people calls it.  One for each of the colors I used - raspberry ripple, gumball green and summer starfruit.  The smaller sentiment is from the Six Sided Sampler stamp set by Stampin'Up and the best friend stamp is by Riley and Company.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Coming soon - Holiday Cards.

Cheers!


irene

Perfect Blend

I LOVE COFFEE!!  I have been drinking coffee since I was five years old, maybe even younger but that's my earliest recollection of drinking coffee in the mornings.  Today's post is all about coffee.  When the current SU catalog came out, Perfect Blend was one of the first stamp set I ordered.

  

This was my swap card at my last stamping group meeting in August.  I was in the middle of moving and I hurriedly put this together to meet the deadline.   I love the Dictionary background done in baked brown sugar ink.  My attempt to add shadow to the coffee cup ended up looking like spilled coffee.  Oh well, you can't win them all!

 I used both sentiments from the Perfect Blend stamp set.  I fussy cut them and used dimensionals for a little pop.  Just so you know, the sentiments were designed to look shaky, from caffeine overload I suppose.

Speaking of caffeine overload, last week I was customer of the week at the Peet's Coffee & Tea store in my office building.  That means FREE coffee all week.  I got my usual large non-fat Caramel Latte with extra shot twice a day.  Hot in the mornings and iced in the afternoons.  Yummy!!  I was really productive at work but didn't get much sleep.  LOL!!!  Here's the mug shot, no pun intended, they had on display all week long.

For all you coffee lovers out there, if you don't have a Keurig kcup machine at home you need to get one!  I consume a lot of coffee and if I have to go to a coffee shop every time I want a good cup of coffee I'd go bankrupt!  With Keurig, I can have a fresh cup of coffee anytime.  Peet's finally joined the kcups market and their kcups are the bomb!

Now I'm ready for another cup of coffee!  Thanks for joining me today and I hope to see you soon.

Cheers!!!

irene

World Card Making Day Share Part Two

This is the continuation of my mish-mash cards post.

I made this similar card for my son's 13th birthday last year and these are the leftover pieces.  I now have a card for my nephews' upcoming 13th birthday!  I used the Pennant Parade and Memorable Moments stamp sets.

I love this retired stamp set called Greenhouse Gardens.  Raspberry ripple and old olive is a nice color combination.  I added the playful sentiment from Yippee Skippee.  So sweet.

The center panel on this card was already put together when I found it.  Just mounted it on an old olive card base.  I hardly use Wisteria Wonder ink so this was a surprising find.  Greenhouse Gardens is one of my favorite stamp set and I kept it when I purged my stamp sets.

Lastly, another favorite stamp set and a keeper called Inspired by Nature.  I've seen how they do cattails using the old slot punch and I did it on this card.  The butterfly is too big but it was there so I used it.

It was fun revisiting some old and new favorite stamp sets.  Until next time.........

Cheers!!!

irene

World Card Making Day Share Part One

Today is World Card Making Day and I want to share with you some cards I made recently.  During my recent move I came across quite a few unfinished projects and left over stamped images that would be perfect for quick cards.  So my post today is a mish-mash of cards made with old and new stamp sets.

This one was made using the Papaya Collage stamp set.  I mounted the pieces on a midnight muse card stock.  I think at the time I wanted to try all the new 2012-2014 In Colors.  The only one I didn't use here was primrose petal.  I really like that little "love" sentiment.  I can't even tell you which stamp set it came from but I'm hoping it's not in one of the sets I sold before I moved.

 When I first saw this background stamp called Pleasant Poppies I knew I must have it.  I remember stamping several images on plain white card stock using black ink and just played with different color combinations.  Some were heat embossed with black embossing powder.  On this card, I mounted the image on black card stock and added the thin ribbon with a tiny sentiment.  It's all about the poppies!

This card is my attempt to create the sunburst technique.  Not perfect but I see sunburst, don't you?  I found this sentiment stamped on a long strip of paper and I could only make it fit a circle punch, well sort of.  At least I got a partial "rising sun" and that's what led me to try the technique. The sentiment is from Riley and Company.  Papers are from the Epic Day This and That designer paper.

I remember cutting apart these doilies from the Flirtatious specialty designer series paper set.  I found quite a few of them in different colors.  On these two cards, I used the doilies and other found pieces including the sentiments which were already stamped and punched out.

There you have it, the first group of cards I made with found stuff!  Stay tuned for more...........

Cheers!!!


irene

Quickie Birthday Cards

It's taking awhile for me to get back to regular blogging after my move from Berkeley to Alameda, California.  I'm just going to jump right back in and share these cards I quickly made for a birthday party a couple of weeks ago.

I didn't have much time to put together three birthday cards so I grabbed the most obvious stamp set for the occasion - Make a Wish and Patterned Party.  The images and sentiments are perfect for quickie cards.

I didn't take pictures of the matching envelopes made using my new envelope punch board but future posts will definitely include this new fun tool.

That wasn't too hard!!!  Stay tuned for some throwback cards I came across when I was unpacking my crafting stuff.

Cheers everyone!!!


irene

Backyard Basics meets Off the Grid

Here's the last card made with the Backyard Basics stamp set.  After all that distressing I'm so ready for bright and cheery.

The base card is whisper white.  I stamped the Off the Grid stamp using black Staz On.  The focal point was stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with white embossing powder.  I recently got a tiny brayer and it's the perfect size for this panel.  I brayered tempting turquoise, pumpkin pie and gumball green inks across the embossed image.  Matted the panel in black and added the bermuda bay ribbon.  Love that ribbon.  And the card is done!

I did not add a sentiment so I can use it for any occasion.   You can easily make a stack of these cards in no time.  Change the image and try a different color combination.

Thanks for stopping by today........... until the next post.

Cheers!!!

irene

Vintage Distressed Backyard Basics Tri-fold Birthday Card

I had one more leftover flower from my Backyard Basics project but wanted to do something completely different from the other three.  I am sending this to my good friend Susan whose birthday is in a couple of weeks.

 

I started with a 6" x 12" very vanilla card stock, scored at 4" and 8".  I stamped the Dictionary background stamp using baked brown sugar ink on the three panels.  On the third panel, I used a die cut scrap paper to mask the center of the panel.  The mask left a "blank" area to write a message.  I sponged baked brown sugar ink on all the edges.  I folded the card to sponged the inside "edges" as well.  I also stamped the bee and egg on the front of the card using island indigo ink.  I'm loving this already!

Next I sprayed a doily with island indigo ink mixed with water.  I used the heat gun to speed up the drying process.  The butterfly was stamped on a scrap vanilla card stock with versamark, heat embossed with white embossing powder and die cut with the matching framelits.   The label was die cut with the Apothecary Accents Framelits.  The sentiment, from Simply Sketched stamp set, was stamped with island indigo ink.

Then I sponged baked brown sugar ink all over the doily, the left over flower, the sentiment label and the butterfly.  I cut  5" and 3" pieces of natural 7/16" trim, frayed the edges and sponged baked brown sugar ink all over them.  When all the pieces were properly distressed, I assembled the focal point and added an antique brad and the candy dots.

On the middle and last panel I stamped the images using island indigo ink.  I added the other frayed natural trim on the last panel.

This was really fun to work on, lots of details but totally worth it.  Hope you like it as well.

On the next post, I go back to clean and simple.  Hope you check it out.

Cheers!!!

irene

Framed Backyard Basics - Sympathy Card

One more Backyard Basics floral card.  I really liked the framed flowers from the last post that I decided to make another one using a different frame.

My card base was made with baked brown sugar card stock.  The frame is also baked brown sugar card stock and  dry embossed with Modern Mosaic Embossing Folder.  I used a paper trimmer to cut the rectangle hole in the center.  Using the frame as guide, I stamped the background flowers and the sentiment.  The background was stamped with baked brown sugar ink and the sentiment, from the Simply Sketched stamp set, was heat embossed with white embossing powder.

The flower was created the same way as my previous post HERE except I used crushed curry and pear pizzazz markers to color.  Finally, I added the candy dots.  As I'm posting, I thought a ribbon would be nice.  So I added a ribbon!  What do you think?

Coming up... more Backyard Basics cards.  Hope you'll come back to check them out and see how versatile this set really is.

Until then...

Cheers!!!

irene

Backyard Basics - Happy Birthday

Here's another card using Backyard Basics stamp set and the coordinating Framelit dies.  I wanted my layout to include a frame to highlight the die cut flowers.  I have to say that I was quite pleased  that I was able to execute the concept floating in my head!

I started with crumb cake card stock for the base card.  I made the die cut flower the same way as my previous post HERE.  I chose island indigo and chocolate chip card stocks for the main panel and frame.  The flowers really pop against these two colors.  The sentiment was stamped with versamark and heat embossed with white embossing powder.  It's from the Simply Sketched stamp set.  Finally, I added the white candy dots.

Really love how this turned out.  Looks plain and simple in the photo but much more striking in real life.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Come back and check out the next post - using a different frame concept!

Cheers!!!

irene

Backyard Basics - A Million Thanks

Today's card features a new stamp set called Backyard Basics and it's available with matching Framelit Dies.  I also used the new Modern Mosaic Embossing Folder.

My base card is whisper white card stock.  The dry embossed panel is pistachio pudding.  I took a piece of white cardstock and stamped the flowers with versamark ink and heat embossed them with clear embossing powder.  I used strawberry slush and pear pizzazz markers to color the leaves and flowers.  Then I die cut the image with the matching die from the Backyard Basics Framelit Dies.

The sentiment is from the stamp set called Million & One.  I stamped the sentiment using smoky slate ink on a white card stock, die cut from the Labels Collection Framelits.  I tied the natural twine around the front panel to finish the card.

There you have it, a clean and simple card.  You can make a stack of these cards in no time.  Stay tuned for more cards using the Backyard Basic bundle.

Thanks for stopping by.......... until the next post.

Cheers!!!

irene

Tape It Chalkboard Frame Father's Day Card

I didn't get a chance to post this earlier.  But if you need ideas for any occasion masculine card, I think this will fit the bill.  Once again I'm using smoky slate card stock for my base card.  If you're not familiar with the chalkboard technique, check out THIS post.

The arrows, squiggly lines and stripe images are all from the new Tape It stamp set, one of my favorite set from the new catalog.  Also love the new candy dots, the red dots are the perfect embellishments for this card.  This is my all time favorite color combinations - red, black and gray.  How about that faux frame?

When I was mounting the chalkboard panel on the front of the smoky slate card, I thought it looked too plain.  I wanted to make it more dimensional and came up with the idea of a creating a frame without adding anymore layers.

I took a long piece of scrap card stock and laid it across the front of the card from top left corner to the bottom right corner and sponged smoky slate ink on the two corners.  Then I did the same thing on the other side, top right corner to the bottom left corner.  Hope that makes sense to you.  As you can see, the sponged ink created a shadow that "framed" the center panel.  I think it looks really cool. Makes you forget the imperfections of the stamped elements, lol.

I thank you for stopping by today.  You got to see my second card without flowers!  Two cards in a row without flowers is indeed a rare event here.

Cheers!!!

irene

Gorgeous Grunge Congratulations

Today I'm sharing with you the simple graduation card I made for my son.  His eight grade promotion ceremony was this past week.  He sometimes read my blog so I couldn't post it here sooner.

I used the new stamp set called Gorgeous Grunge.  I started with smoky slate card stock for my base card.  The main panel is 4" x 5.25" whisper white card stock.  I stamped the lines using coastal cabana ink and the dot splatter were stamped using island indigo ink.  Then I added the gray washi tape across the front of the card.  Washi tapes are great alternative to ribbons.

The sentiment was stamped with island indigo ink on a white cardstock that was die cut with the Apothecary Accents dies.  I stamped the bigger splatters over the sentiment using coastal cabana ink.  I sponged the edges of both the main panel and sentiment label with smoky slate ink.  My son likes bling, so I had to include them on his card.

I really like the new smoky slate color, made me forget that lucky limeade is retired.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Cheers!!!

irene

Simply Sketched Sympathy Card

I don't make sympathy cards in advance to keep on hand for "just in case" moments.  So every time I need one, I always make it on the fly and I'm never satisfied with what I come up with.  Here's one I made that needed to be mailed right away.

 I had the Simply Sketched stamp set out so I used it.  I started with the focal point - heat embossed with white embossing powder.  I sponged coastal cabana on top and baked brown sugar ink on the bottom.  The base card is white cardstock and embossed with the new Modern Mosaic embossing folder.  The sentiment is also from the Simply Sketched stamp set and stamped with coastal cabana ink.

Not my best work but I was able to mail it right away.  I'm now planning on keeping a stash of sympathy cards because I seem to need them a lot lately.  Maybe if I have a stack on hand I won't need them so much.

Thanks for stopping by.... until the next post.

Cheers!!!

irene

Heat Embossed Washi Tape

Heat embossing technique is what got me hooked with paper crafting.  It is my favorite technique.   When I was deciding on a layout for my next card, I thought I'd try heat embossing washi tape.  I've used washi tapes before and it never occurred to me to do something with it other than it's original purpose.  So glad Stampin'Up is finally carrying washi tapes.

I used the Simply Sketched stamp set.  Both cards are simple and easy to put together.  The first one was made with pistachio pudding card stock.  I stamped the bird image with Versamark and heat embossed with black embossing powder.  Then I stamped the image repeatedly across the front of the card with pistachio pudding ink.  I placed the washi tape on a scrap card stock, stamped the sentiment with Versamark and heat embossed with black embossing powder.  I carefully peeled the washi tape from the scrap card stock and positioned it on the card.  I added the natural twine and punched butterflies.

The next card was made crispy cantaloupe cardstock.  I also used the Simply Sketched stamp set.  Love this set!  I masked the bottom of the main panel and stamped the images using crispy cantaloupe ink.  I stamped the sentiment with Versamark ink directly on the washi tape and heat embossed it with black embossing powder.  I added the ribbon and punched butterfly to finish the card.

Now you know you can heat emboss washi tapes!  Try something different, think outside of the box.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Until the next post..........

Cheers!!!


irene

Simply Sketched and Smoky Slate

Today's card is a perfect example of why I love making cards.  I knew I wanted to use the new member of the neutral color family - smoky slate!  The rest quickly fell into place and before you know it, I'm admiring this gorgeous card!

I even managed to take pictures as I was completing each step.  Here's the simple step by step direction to make this card.  

I created a mask from a white cardstock measuring 4.25" x 5.50".  Using the Stampin' Trimmer, I cut the rectagular window which measures 2.25" x 3".  Use the mask as a guide to get the proper placement and spacing of your image and sentiment.

The base card was made with smoky slate cardstock measuring 4.25" x 5.50".  I stamped the image and sentiment, from the Simply Sketched stamp set, with Versamark ink and heat embossed with black embossing powder.  

Then I placed the mask on top of the card and sponged the top half with crisp cantaloupe ink and the bottom half with pistachio pudding ink.  With the mask still in place, I stamped the leaves with smoky slate ink.

I removed the mask and added the embellishments - pearls and washi tapes.  I love how the card turned out, I made another one in a different color combination - strawberry slush and coastal cabana!

So simple and striking.  Don't you just love the new In Colors?

Thanks for stopping by today.  Until the next post ............

Cheers!!!

irene