Double Layer Cake

I really like the versatility of the Topsy-Turvy Celebration stamp set and I think it was a great match with this designer paper that I found in my stash.  Love all the polka dots!

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Topsy-Turvy Celebration
Paper:  Whisper White, Wild Wasabi, Brilliant Blue, Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Jersey Shore DSP
Ink:  Pumpkin Pie, Wild Wasabi, Brilliant Blue
Accessories:  Dots Embossing Folder, Circle & Scallop Circle Nestablilities Dies, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Mini Flower Punch, Pearls, Tombow Adhesive, Dimensionals

Watercolored Flowers

I'm trying to improve my water coloring skills and I thought this would be a nice image to practice with since the main flowers are larger.  I need to practice more but I like how this turned out and I wasn't afraid to give this card to a friend of mine for her birthday.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Bordering on Romance, Sincere Salutations
Paper:  Watercolor, Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder, Concord Crush, Concord Crush DSP
Ink:  Black Staz-on, Wisteria Wonder, Concord Crush, Old Olive, Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade
Accessories:  Blender Pen, Stripes Embossing Folder, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Pearls, Dimensionals

Sledding Fun

This is the second card that I made for the February 2013 Christmas card challenge.  I actually made a set of 4 cards to complete my 8 for the month of February.  I used discontinued card stock that I still have in my supplies and a stamp set that was discontinued in 2007 (I think).  It was a hostess set that you could earn for having a party.  The pine bough is a stamp in the Christmas Lodge stamp set.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Winter Play, Snowflakes, Christmas Lodge
Paper:  Whisper White, Sage, Shadow, Ballet Blue
Ink:  Black, Always Artichoke, Ballet Blue, Various SU Markers
Accessories:  Snowflakes Embossing Folder, Scallop Border Punch, Sponge Daubers, Frost White Shimmer Mist, Sage Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals

Skating Couple

February 2013 Christmas card challenge: Winter sports...skating, skiing, snowboarding, ice fishing, making a snowman, you name it, as long as it is an outside fun activity.  

I knew exactly the stamp sets that I was going to use to create my 8 cards for the month and decided to make 4 cards of each design.  My first card features a couple skating and I also combined the Christmas card challenge with a sketch challenge.  I stamped the skating couple in black and then masked them so that I could stamp the trees in the background.  The trees were stamped in basic gray that I off stamped once so the images would be softer.  I kept the colors very neutral in keeping with the vintage look of the stamp.  

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Winter Post, Lovely as a Tree, Short & Sweet
Paper:  Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, Crumb Cake, Snow Festival DSP
Ink:  Black, Basic Gray, Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Bordering Blue
Accessories:  Oval & Scallop Oval Nestabilities Dies, Bitty Banner Framelits, Rhinestones, Frost White Shimmer Mist, 2-Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Dimensionals

Asian Inspired

All of the elements for this card were inspired directly from the designer series paper.  This isn't my normal style of card but we all need to stretch and try new things every once in a while.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Embrace Life, Petite Pairs
Paper:  Whisper White, Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie, Bali Breeze DSP
Ink:  Black, Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories:  Apricot Appeal Grosgrain Ribbon, 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" Circle Punches, Scallop Circle Punch, Frost White Shimmer Mist, Atyou Spica Glitter Pen, Dimensionals

Quick & Easy Birthday

This card came together quickly since all I had to do was trim the background paper to create my scene and then I just stamped the airplane on whisper white card stock and colored it in.  I did stamp the banner twice just to create some dimension but I think this card could be made in about ten minutes.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Ain't Love Grand, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper:  Whisper White, Bermuda Bay, Welcome Neighbor DSP
Ink:  Black, SU Markers
Accessories:  Bermuda Bay Ribbon, Bakers Twine, Dimensionals

Star Wars Angry Birds

My grandson turned 5 this past week and when I asked him what kind of party he wanted he knew exactly what he wanted...an Angry Birds Star Wars party.  I've made his birthday cake every year and I try to make the card to match the theme.  The cake was the easy part since I was able to purchase the small characters but the card was a bigger challenge.  I spent most of one day just punching and gluing all the little pieces but the result was exactly what I had hoped for.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  You're My Type, Let it Snow
Paper:  Not Quite Navy, Midnight Muse, Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Black, Basic Gray, Chocolate Chip, Early Espresso, Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, Pink Pirouette, So Saffron, Bashful Blue, More Mustard, Brushed Silver
Ink: Black, Illuminate Shimmer Watermark
Accessories:  Circle & Scallop Circle Nestabilities Dies, Crop-a-Dile, 1/4", 3/4", 1", 1 1/4", 1 3/8" Circle Punches, 1/4" Square Punch, Horizontal Slot Punch, Boho Blossoms Punch, Small & Large Oval Punches, Pennant Builder Punch, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Paper Snips, Multi-Purpose Adhesive, Frost White Shimmer Mist, Silver Glitter Pen, Dimensionals

Chalkboard Technique

I've been seeing the chalkboard technique on various stamping blogs and sites and thought I would try it.  I kept things simple since it was the first time trying this technique.  I like the overall look of the card, but I think I need more practice with this technique.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Block Party
Paper:  Whisper White, Black, Real Red, Night & Day DSP
Ink:  Versa Mark, White Craft
Accessories:  White Embossing Powder, White Gel Pen, Bitty Banners Framelits, Dimensionals

Bring on the Cake!

My daughter's birthday was this past week and now that she has her card I can finally post it.  Her favorite color is purple so I used two different shades of purple.  In hindsight, I wish I had used concord crush card stock instead of elegant eggplant.  To create the polka dot background I punched out varying sizes of circles using wisteria wonder card stock and glued them to a background piece in elegant eggplant and then embossed it using the square lattice embossing folder.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Embellished Events, Bring on the Cake
Paper:  Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant
Ink:  Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant
Accessories:  Circle & Scallop Circle Nestabilities Dies, Wisteria Wonder Ruffled Ribbon, 1/2", 3/4", 1" and 1 1/4" Circle Punches, Scallop Border Punch, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Rhinestones, Tombow Adhesive, Dimensionals

Black & White

I made this card for a friend's birthday, but the more I looked at it I realized it could be a card for almost any occasion (birthday, anniversary, wedding, thank you, sympathy, etc).  To get the flourishes lined up I used my stamp-a-ma-jig.  I love the clean and simple look and feel of this card.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Papillon Potpourri, Bliss
Paper:  Whisper White, Black
Ink:  Black
Accessories: 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" Circle Punches, Elegant Butterfly Punch, White Taffeta Ribbon, Rhinestones, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Mini Glue Dots

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've seen several different versions of this card and this is my take on it.  This will be my husband's Valentine's day card this year.  To create the "wire" the bird is perched on I used the curved edge from a small storage drawer I have and it worked out great.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Cheep Talk, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper:  Whisper White, Early Espresso, Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red
Ink:  Early Espresso, Rose Red
Accessories:  Fashionable Hearts Embosslit, Tombow Adhesive, Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Word Shaped Cards

I found this tutorial with a printable template and decided to give it a try.  I made two cards using the same template but chose different designer paper for each card.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Flowering Flourishes, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper:  Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette, Loves Me DSP
Ink:  Versa Mark, Chocolate Chip
Accessories:  Clear Embossing Powder, Bitty Banners Framelits, Fashionable Hearts Embosslit, Heart to Heart Punch, Dimensionals

This is the other card I made using the same template.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Love & Care, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper:  Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Rose Red, Making Memories Kids Collection - Kate
Ink:  Black, Gumball Green
Accessories:  Bitty Banners Framelits, Fashionable Hearts Embosslit, Dimensionals

Bright & Fun Birthday

I'm really enjoying this Topsy Turvy Celebration stamp set.  I love that you can create multiple layers using any color and build the cake as high as you want.  This card is bright and cheery and with lots of winter still left, it is just the kind of birthday card to give this time of year.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Topsy Turvy Celebration
Paper:  Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, Crushed Curry, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP
Ink:  Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, Crushed Curry
Accessories:  Triple Flower Punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Rhinestones, Tombow Adhesive, Dimensionals

Reason to Smile

I needed a birthday card for a co-worker and this card came together very quickly.  The flowers were embossed with white embossing powder on apricot appeal card stock and then I used a sponge dauber and peach parfait ink to highlight the center of the flowers.  I finished the card off with a border piece and a paper punched flower.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Reason to Smile, Bring on the Cake
Paper:  Whisper White, Apricot Appeal, Peach Parfait, Apricot Appeal DSP
Ink:  Versa Mark, Peach Parfait, Early Espresso
Accessories:  White Embossing Powder, Large Scallop Edgelit, Blossom Punch, Boho Blossom Punch, Button, White Baker's Twine, Pearls, Mini Glue Dots

Comfort Cafe Sympathy

I needed a sympathy card and looked for a sketch challenge to jump start my creativity and chose sketch number 273.  This also meets the free for all challenge 155 to use blues and browns.  

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Thanks for Caring
Paper:  Very Vanilla, soft Suede, Comfort Cafe DSP
Ink:  Soft Suede, Midnight Muse
Accessories:  2 3/8" Circle Punch, 2 1/2" Scallop Circle Punch, Pearls, Dimensionals

Triple Stamping Technique

I'm posting the cards I created for the January 15th all occasion card challenge which was to chose one of the tutorials on Splitcoaststampers and  I chose the triple stamping tutorial.  I wanted to create a more masculine card using the triple stamping technique and used a discontinued stamp set called Calm Seas.  I really like how this card turned out.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Calm Seas
Paper:  Whisper White, Black, Baja Breeze DSP
Ink:  Black, So Saffron, Baja Breeze, Basic Gray, Bordering Blue
Accessories:  1 1/4" & 1 3/8" Circle Punches, Black Twine, Cloud Embossing Folder, Dimensionals

Since I needed another card to complete the four I signed up to make for the monthly all occasion card challenges I created another card using the triple stamping technique.  To create a more aged/antique look, I used my spritzer tool with both a basic gray and soft suede markers.  Although I like how this turned out, I prefer the previous card.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Fresh Cuts
Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Gray, Basic Gray DSP
Ink:  Black, SU Markers
Accessories:  Gray Satin Ribbon, Spritzer Tool, Frost White Shimmer Mist, Dimensionals

Concord Crush Birthday

This year in addition to participating in the Christmas card challenges (CCC) on Splitcoaststampers I also decided to participate in the all occasion card challenges (AOCC).  Each month there are two challenges posted on the 1st and the 15th.  I thought, if I could create four cards each month I would have a nice collection of cards for various occasions but I'm really concentrating on birthdays.   I completed and posted the cards I created for the January 2013 CCC and I'm finally posting the cards I made for the January 2013 AOCC.  

The first challenge was to CASE (Copy And Share Everything) a card that we have in our favorites.  I chose this card to CASE which interestingly enough was a CASE of this card.  I changed the colors and the sentiment and I also used sahara sand card stock instead of crumb cake.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Bordering on Romance, You're My Type
Paper:  Whisper White, Sahara Sand, Concord Crush
Ink:  Versa Mark, Wisteria Wonder, Concord Crush, Lucky Limeade
Accessories:  White Embossing Powder, Concord Crush Ribbon, Pearls