It’s not a Melon, It’s a Pear!

Well I know I’d promised to show only retiring items this month but I’d love to share a new stamp set that is going to be available in the new catalogue coming July 1st!

For my colour inspiration today, I used the AWESOME colour challenge from the Inkspirations Challenge Blog and here it is:

The base for the card is Melon Mambo and you’ll see that there is a large panel of Basic Gray designer paper which is stamped with the large floral stamp from Elements of Style. I then layered it on Old Olive and added a little bit of Whisper White cardstock which was punched with the Dotted ribbon border punch. The sentiment is stamped with Basic Gray ink on Old Olive cardstock and is from Inspired by Nature.

For the image piece, I used some Confetti White cardstock and stamped it with the pear image from Faith in Nature (upcoming hostess set). It is stamped with Jet Black StazOn and then very wetly watercoloured with the challenge colours. I then added a large beveled windowpane tied on with some Linen Thread.

Thanks for stopping by today to check this project out! Now head on over to play along with us at Inkspirations Challenge Blog!

Look at what the rest of the design team did with this challenge:

 

Cindy Kirsty Makeesha Renée Brandi Carrie Helen Ilina Lee-Anne Marisa

Products used on today’s project – CLICK HERE to buy them NOW!

Cardstock: Old Olive, Confetti White, Melon Mambo.

Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Old Olive, Melon Mambo, Basic Gray.

Stamps: Inspired by Nature, Faith in Nature.

Accessories: Neutrals designer paper, rhinestones, Linen Thread, Beveled Windowpanes, Aquapainter, Dotted Ribbon Border punch.

For My Dad…

Trying to get a jump start on my weekend crafting needs! This Sunday is Father’s Day! I used the very creative sketch from Create with Connie and Mary this week. It really is a great one!

I went with a fairly monochromatic colour scheme on this one (I think this lends itself nicely to a masculine theme). The base is Sahara Sand and I’ve layered it with Early Espresso and then some Sahara Sand designer paper.

For the side piece, I actually made a scallop envelope out of Early Espresso designer paper and adhered it on it’s side. Then I made a small tag on which I stamped the Father’s Day sentiment from All Holidays. I stamped it three different times in coordinating colours and then cut out the pieces and affixed them with dimensionals.

I stamped the large tree from Lovely as a Tree in Jet Black StazOn and then watercoloured with various shades of green (Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, Always Artichoke).

For a little extra pop of colour, I added a strip of stapled 5/8″ Old Olive grosgrain.

Now it’s your turn! Head on over to Create with Connie and Mary and play along with us!

Products used on today’s project:

Cardstock: Early Espresso, Confetti White, Sahara Sand, Old Olive.

Ink: Early Espresso, Sahara Sand, Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz, Always Artichoke, Jet Black StazOn.

Stamps: All Holidays, Lovely as a Tree.

Accessories:  Neutrals Designer Series Paper, 2 1/2″ circle punch, Mini Library Clips, 1 1/4″ circle punch, Scallop Envelope Die, Sizzix Big Shot, Aquapainter, 5/8″ Old Olive grosgrain.

At Least She’s Older than Me!

This card is bright and fun and for a great lady who turned 40 yesterday. I love when I’m younger than someone, I totally flaunt it! So bad, I know but so much fun!

I decided to use two challenges as the starting point for today’s card – Mojo Monday and the Paper Players. Both are great go-to challenge blogs that I love to use.

The base is Daffodil Delight and I’ve made a central layered panel of Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo (punched with the Pinking Hearts border punch), Wild Wasabi, and then Sweet Stitches (retired) designer paper.

The central circle is a 2 1/2″ circle of Confetti White. I stamped an image from Golden Oldies (I think this is one of the only retired stamp sets I’ve kept and keep using) and coloured it in with coordinating colours. I added a bracket from the Hearts and Brackets Sizzix Die with a little Ice Cream Parlour button from Sale-A-Bration. Lastly I added a little piece of retired Melon Mambo dotted grosgrain and a “happy birthday” from On Your Birthday.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Products used on today’s project:

Cardstock: Confetti White, Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight.

Ink: Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight, Blushing Bride, Crumb Cake, Basic Gray, Sahara Sand.

Stamps: Golden Oldies, On Your Birthday.

Accessories: Hearts and Brackets Die, Sizzix Big Shot, Pinking Hearts Border punch. Retired items:  Dotted Melon Mambo grosgrain, Ice Cream Parlour buttons, Sweet Stitches designer paper.

A Pocket Full of Fun!

Continuing on with my highlight of retiring items, I’m happy to show you another of the projects I’ll be highlighting at my retiring workshops.

I’m focusing on the Celebrations Designer Paper and Accents on this one. I just love the colours of this collection of products. So what exactly is this, you ask? Well, you can use this as a mini book or an addition for journalling on a scrapbook page. Let me show you the inside:

You’ll see that once you open the little pocket, there are two strips of Celebrations designer paper which form pockets for journalling or photos to be slid under. I used the Merry Details and Birds & Blooms sizzlets as little accent pieces and I used coordinating colours of cardstock. And if you open it one more time:

You’ll see that there are two little “books” on either side of the inside. Again, these would be perfect for journalling or photos!

The measurements are super easy for this project and can be made for any occasion.

Outer cover: 12″ x 3″ (scored at 3″, 6″, 9″)

Inner designer paper strips:  1 1/2″ x 3″

“Pages” to slide behind Designer Paper:  2 1/2″ x 2″

“Book” pieces: 2 3/4″ x 5 1/2″ (folded in half)

Give it a try!

Products used on today’s project – CLICK HERE to buy them NOW!

Cardstock: Whisper White, Real Red, Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Pacific Point.

Ink: Real Red.

Stamps: Jumbo Star Wheel.

Accessories:  Star punch, Stars #2 Big Shot Die, 5/8″ Old Olive grosgrain, Baker’s Twine, Corner Rounder punch, Celebrations designer paper, Celebrations Accents, Birds & Blooms Sizzlet, Merry Details Sizzlet, linen thread, Paper Trimmer.

A Cute Kleenex

WordPress is giving me a little grief on spacing this morning, so sorry!

It’s Friday Mashup Time again! As I have two design teams that have Friday postings, I’ve put them up separately, sorry for any confusion!

This week, here is your challenge, should you choose to accept it:

1. Create a project with soft texture…fabric, felt, even cotton balls (ribbon doesn’t count).
2. Create a get well project.
3. Or “Mash It Up!” and create a get well project using a soft texture!

Once I saw this challenge I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I love when that happens. You see, it’s allergy season in our house (for my hubby only thankfully) so we use a LOT of Kleenex. I mean a lot!  I decided to use some of the retired Springtime Vintage designer paper on this card for the stripes because lots of Kleenex boxes are striped. For the base I used Pear Pizzazz and the layer is Not Quite Navy.  For the actual box itself, I used some Paisley Petals designer paper from the upcoming 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalogue. It is just lovely. And here is a close up:

Making the box is very easy. I took a 3″ by 2 1/4″ piece of designer paper and scored in 1/4″ and 1/2″ on all sides. I then cut out a couple of corners and voila. Yes, this is an open backed box which you’ll find if you make it. And that’s okay because it is just adhered to the card. I punched a large oval into the box and then layered a scalloped oval outline overtop. Added my Kleenex inside and voila! For a little extra detail I added a small tissue to the outside with a matching button (or booger as my son said).

Lastly, I added a sentiment from Fun and Fast Notes and that was it! So head on over to The Friday Mashup and show us your stuff!

Fancy Thank You – Inkspirations Challenge #73

Yep, I completely took creative license with this one! This week on the Inkspirations Challenge Blog there is a fantastic sketch challenge to try out! There are so many interpretations of this as you’ll see from the fabulous design team. Here is the sketch:

Now when I first saw this, I just knew that the two large panels looked like a “T” and with the current Paper Players “thank you” challenge, this was my starting point.

The base of my project is Naturals Ivory and I’ve layered it with Cherry Cobbler and then Blushing Bride. In keeping with the sketch I added a strip of Blushing Bride designer paper (but on an angle).

Now for the letters:

T:  I used Soft Suede ink on Soft Suede cardstock and the A to Z stamp.

H:  GoGo Boots (retiring) Alphabet in Cherry Cobbler (sponged).

A:  Chipboard letter. I added Tombow Multi Adhesive and then Champagne Glass Glitter.

N:  Soft Suede cardstock which was sponged and cut to make the letter.

K:  GoGo Boots (retiring) Alphabet in Cherry Cobbler (sponged).

S:  Soft Suede ink cut out using the Serif Naturally Sizzlet.

For my extra little details, I added a Very Vanilla small heart and a little row of 3 pearls on the “s” and a tie of Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding with a Very Vanilla ribbon slide. Through the slide, I added some Blushing Bride designer paper.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look today! Now make sure you drop on by Inkspirations Challenge Blog and play along!

Check out what the rest of the Design Team has come up with this week:

Cindy Kirsty Makeesha Renée Brandi Carrie Helen Ilina Lee-Anne Marisa

Products used on this project – CLICK HERE to buy them NOW!

Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Naturals Ivory, Blushing Bride, Soft Suede.

Ink: Soft Suede, Cherry Cobbler.

Stamps: A to Z.

Accessories: Chipboard, Champagne Glass Glitter, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, Very Vanilla HodgePodge Hardware, In Colour Designer paper, GoGo Boots alphabet, Big Shot, Naturally Serif Alphabet, Small heart punch, pearls.

Cupcakes are for Eating!

For this week’s challenge at Create with Connie and Mary, I decided I’d do something a little different and make a scrapbook page. I don’t scrap that often but a dear friend said to me lately that she’d love to see more scrapbooking from me, so here you go N!

The challenge is a colour one this week and here it is:

The base for my page is River Rock and I’ve layered it with Melon Mambo which is stamped with the solid flower from Pick a Petal (retiring) and I added a small strip of Elegant Eggplant which was punched with the Dotted Ribbon Border Punch to the left.

For the titling, I used two little flags on a faux post. I used the GoGo Boots Alphabet Sizzix Die (retiring) in Elegant Eggplant for the letters.

Below the flags and tucked behind the picture is my journalling area. I cut the scalloped tag from the Two Big Tags Die in Elegant Eggplant and then added a 1 3/4″ Scallop circle of River Rock and then a piece of Very Vanilla on which I stamped an image from So Cute (which was coloured in with the challenge colours).

Lastly, the special added cupcake!

I used the retiring Baskets and Blooms Sizzix Die and cut out the basket in Springtime Vintage fabric. I then used Sticky Strip and folded in the edges and then to the page. I stuffed it with tissues to give it a little extra padding. I affixed some rosettes and a twill bow for a little extra somethin’ somethin’ and the top of cupcake is just lots of scallop circles with some added pearls.

Okay, I think that is about all I’ve got the energy to put into this post, it seems like it just goes on forever!

So now let’s see what you can do with this colour combo – head on over to Create with Connie and Mary!

Products used on today’s project:

Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Elegant Eggplant, River Rock, Very Vanilla.

Ink: Melon Mambo, Elegant Eggplant, River Rock, Jet Black StazOn.

Stamps: So Cute.

Accessories: Big Shot, GoGo Boots Alphabet, Two Big Tags Die, Springtime Vintage Fabric, Vintage Trinkets, Scallop Circle Punch, Basic Pearls, Rosettes, 3/8″ Twill.

Don’t You Forget About Me…..

I just love that song, don’t you? If I could title every blog post with a good ol’ 80s song, I would! But I used this title for two reasons. The first is that this card is an oldie but goodie that I learned so long ago and the stamp set/accessories I’ve used are retiring.

This is one of the projects I did at my Downline traning meeting last night and that I’ll be showcasing at retiring workshops this month.

This type of card is called “waterfall” and I’ve got some really quick and easy instructions. Which I’ll add below.

I used the following colours: Marina Mist, Real Red, Garden Green and Night of Navy. A bright and fun combination! I used the Cheers to You stamp set and instead of stamping and colouring it in, I’ve just stamped each image with a coordinating colour. This card is just pure happiness!

Here are the instructions:

This is a really cool card. The white squares are 1 3/4 x 1 3/4″ on top of 2″ x 2″ purple squares. They are glued to the a white 9″ x 2″ strip of cs that is scored at 2″, 2 3/4″, 3 1/2″ & 4 1/4″. Bend your strip so that the scored lines fold. Fold in half using the center score line as the top, with the scored lines facing front and the unscored part at the back. This is your mechanism. Stamp, color and attach your 4 squares just beneath each score line.

The purple strip is attached only just under the bottom stamped image ON TOP OF the fold over piece of scored cs — that is the only place that it’s glued. It’s very important NOT to put any glue/tombo/whatnot on the back of the strip, or it will not slide! The purple strip is attached with brads to the pink/purple layers.

Pull the ribbon tab and the images flow!

Speaking of pure happiness, I wanted to talk briefly about my wonderful downline. Now, although there was a Canucks game on last night, many of them came out to our monthly meeting at my home. We discussed what is new on the horizon with Stampin’ Up!, Convention, Swaps and more! Then we started on our make and take projects (the one above is the first of three which I’ll share with you).

Then, Carole (my Convention roomie) began a lovely speech. I didn’t know where she was going with it but soon figured it out. I was again an Artisan Award “loser” this year and although I swore it wouldn’t bother me, it did. But this is a bonus for you all because this means I can post my projects here! (which I’ll do over the next month or so).

Anyhow, my dear friends presented me with the one-and-only “Master Artisan” Award to celebrate my artistic adventures. I was thrilled, very honoured and touched to be a part of this wonderful group. I’m so glad they all chose me to be a part of not only their SU businesses but their lives.

Here is a photo of us (a little goofy, but that’s us!):

Products used on today’s project – CLICK HERE to buy them NOW!

Cardstock:  Marina Mist, Night of Navy, Garden Green, Whisper White.

Ink: Marina Mist, Night of Navy, Garden Green, Real Red.

Stamps: Cheers to You.

Accessories:  Paper Trimmer, Silver Brads, Night of Navy Taffeta, Treehouse Designer Paper.

Fun Fables

Today is my first challenge at Friday Mashup! I’m super excited to be their guest designer for the month of June.

This week the challenge is to make a kid’s themed card using the following colours:

This week for the Mashup Challenge, you are welcome to:

       1. Create a Kid Themed project. 

       2. Create a project using just the Color Combo.

       3. Or “Mash it Up!” and create a Kid project that uses the Color Combo!

For my card, I wanted to use the challenge colours in a really fun way. I have had this idea brewing for a while now and just needed a push to make it.

The card is 5″ x 5″ square and I made the “stage” using Chocolate Chip cardstock and the challenge colours. The top layer is adhered using a double pile of dimensionals. Now, by doing this, it allows the card to be used a fun stage for a child to make believe and make up their very own stories.

I used the stamp set, Fox and Friends to make the little characters and adhered them to popsicle sticks using some Tombow Multi Adhesive.

Wouldn’t this be a great card to give to a child with a big imagination?

I’d love to see what you come up with at Friday Mashup! Head on over and play along!

Products used on today’s project:

Cardstock: Pacific Point, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Whisper White.

Ink:  Pacific Point, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard.

Stamps: Fox and Friends.

Accessories: 1 3/4″ circle punch, Hobby Blade, Real Red 5/8″ Grosgrain, Scallop border punch.

Octopus in Orange – Inkspirations #72

Today I’m thrilled to post my latest creation for the Inkspirations Challenge Blog. I love the challenges that Keesh comes up with! This week it’s a colour combination:

Wasn’t quite sure about these colours at first but once I started working with them, I was hooked! The base if Peach Parfait and on half of it, I embossed with the Perfect Polka dots folder but showed the opposite (or innies of the dots).

On the other side, I added some Peach Parfait designer paper but wanted to dress it up so I added some little circles of the coordinating colours highlighted with some Rhinestones.

The centre panel is Night of Navy and I used a 2″ x 2 5/8″ piece of Pear Pizzazz and the Clearlit to make the little scalloped opening in which I stamped the octopus from Summer Splash.

For the sentiment, I used one from Smarty Pants. I made a little tab that rests in behind the octopus piece. When you give a little tug on the piece of Peach Parfait ribbon you can pull the sentiment out from behind the octopus.

This was a really fun card to make and I think I’ll be using this layout and some various ideas here on future projects!

Won’t you play along at Inkspirations with us? Head on over to the challenge blog and show us what you’ve got!

Need more inspiration, check out what the rest of the design team has done….

Cindy Kirsty Makeesha Renée Brandi Carrie Helen Ilina Lee-Anne Marisa

Products used on today’s project – CLICK HERE to buy them NOW!

Cardstock: Peach Parfait, Night of Navy, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper white.

Ink: Peach Parfait, Night of Navy, Pear Pizzazz.

Stamps: Smarty Pants, Summer Splash.

Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Peach Parfait ribbon, Bitty Punch Bundle, Rhinestones, Clearlit, Silver Brads.