Running With Scissors...

Ruby Tuesday

Stella has been waiting a long time for me to finish this card.  Several months ago I made the copper frame from Spellbinders Classic Frame Frameabilities and created the filigree edges by cutting away all the embossed areas with a craft knife.  I know... who has time for that?  Not me!  I guess that's why it took me so long to finish the card -- once that was done, I felt I'd spent just about enough time on it!  Add to that, the whole reason for this card was to make use of another of Stella's papers which just doesn't speak to the oooooooh and ahhhhhh of my soul.  I didn't use very much of it but, oddly, I don't have much of this piece left, which tells me I must have liked it at one time.  Funny how a person's tastes change.

I thought I might bring out the prettier aspects of the paper by giving it a good dose of pink paired with burgundy, which is the deeper color in the paper.  Still, it looked cold to me and, once again, it was set off to the side on my stamp table.  Today I gave it a focal image, and that little bit of extra color in this exquisite stamp (retired Stampin' Up! Gentler Times) gave the card the life it needed.

A few more details:  The burgundy card base is embossed with the Cuttlebug Textile embossing folder.  It required that I reposition the folder and emboss a second time in order to cover the entire card front.  I positioned the paper under the frame so there's a flower in each corner.  The oval in the frame was cut after the paper was in place.  The image is colored with Copics, and the edges of the image oval were sponged with caramel ink while the die was still in place.  The ribbon is retired Stampin' Up!, and the pretty copper flower embellishment is one of Flourishes Finishing Touches brads.  I had one remaining Brenda Walton rhinestone in this color, and it was perfect!

I think that covers it.  My goodness, Stella has got some staying power!  I was reassessing the Stella situation again today and, though her stock is dwindling, I believe she'll still be with us for a while yet.

I'm glad you could drop in for another Ruby Tuesday.  Take care!

Daisy, Daisy, I've Got Some News for You

Happy Monday, everyone!  I've been keeping something under my hat until my official first day, but today I'm free to share my news:  I've joined the Stampers Dream Team!  I'm just a tad bit excited about that because it means I'm working with a fabulous group of sweet and talented stampers and I've got lots of new stamps and products to share with you.  Michelle (store owner) and her team have always been tops in my book, and if you're not already acquainted with them, I hope you'll enjoy getting acquainted through the links provided further in this post. 

I'm jumping right in there today with Impression Obsession week.  All week long the team is sharing cards and projects made with this line of stamps which, lucky me, I just happen to love!  My card today uses Daisy Love.  I colored the image with Copic markers and gave the card a distressed appearance with frayed edges and ink smudges.  I can really feel the garden when I do a card like this because it's pretty much how I look when I come in from a day of gardening -- frayed and smudged.  This image would represent what I call my "casualty vase" -- blooms that fall under a heavy rain or a clumsy hand.  They always turn into the prettiest arrangements.

I used neutral tones in the layout with a chocolate Bazzill base, My Mind's Eye Lush Green designer paper, and lattice made from Prismatics Spring Willow Light.  The center smudgy panel was repeatedly stamped with one of the daisy images in the set.  The red burlap string adds a splash of color and suits the tone of the card more than a fancy ribbon would (though I do love my fancy ribbon!).

So you won't miss any of the wonderful designs the team has prepared for you, the schedule for the week is as follows:

Monday:  Me, Laurie, Becca, Michelle

Tuesday:  Michelle, Cindy, Amy, Denise, Dawn

Wednesday:  Michelle, Tosh, Silke, Cammie, Amy

Thursday:  Me, Michelle, Cindy, Denise, Dawn

Friday:  Michelle, Laurie, Silke, Tosh

Thanks so much for your time today.  I hope your Monday is most wonderful!

Flourishes Friday Fancy Cake

When I needed a feminine birthday card recently I decided to pull out my newest and most favored birthday set, Let Them Eat Cake, from Flourishes.  I know... I'm using the daylights out of this DCWV Nana's Nursery designer paper and it's probably time I gave it a rest.  It's one of those situations where I bought paper I needed like a hole in the head, and I was determined to justify its purchase.  It's fun for childrens' cards and little celebrations.  In this case, it looked like a party and this certainly is a party cake.

I embossed the cake layers and candle in a mustard-yellow embossing powder, and the cake stand in brown.  The designer paper is glittered, and the blue Bazzill cardstock is shimmery.  There's also a little glitter on the candle flame.  It's a very simple and quick card, considering there's no coloring, but this cake and the other images in the set are so very pretty.

The Flourishes designers are all doing their own thing today, and I think it will be fun to see what they have up their sleeves.  If you'd like to come along, let's visit:
 

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Danielle Kennedy

Dawn Burnworth

Julie Koerber

Laura Fredrickson

Stacy Morgan

Thank you so much for your time today, and for every sweet comment you leave.  I don't know what I'd do without you.  Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Stamps:  Let Them Eat Cake (Flourishes)  Paper:  Bazzill shimmery textured blue, Flourishes Classic White, DCWV Nana's Nursery Baby Boy designer paper  Ink:  Versamark, Chocolate Chip  Accessories:  Ribbon, gold cord, rhinestones, brown and mustard embossing powders, oval punch, Fiskar's photo corner punch, Stickles glitter

Boy & Girl Easter Cards

Hello, stamping friends!  Today I have two cards to share, both using some older Art Impressions Easter images which I still think are adorable.  The site I've linked is where I've purchased Art Impressions stamps in the past, though I doubt these particular stamps are still available.  Do have fun looking around the site... they have some very cute stamps!

My first card is for a little girl:

Are they heading off to color the eggs, or have they just finished?  I thought my little friend might be disappointed in all white eggs, so I depicted Grandpa and the kids on their way back from a morning of egg coloring.  "Are we gonna hide 'em now, Grampa?  Huh?  Huh?  Are we gonna hide 'em?"

The coloring on both cards was done with Copics on Flourishes Classic White cardstock.  The designer paper on both cards is DCWV Baby Boy, and the colored cardstock is Bazzill.  The first card uses a sentiment from Stampin' Up!'s Loads of Love accessories, and is accented with button brads and Offray ribbon.  Both cards are 5 1/4" square.

The next card is for a boy:

It's slightly less frilly, but still with a big, Eastery bow.  I used PTI's super soft, pliable Summer Sunrise grosgrain ribbon, and a sentiment from Flourishes Easter Basket set.

When I color with Copics, I use my color groups from Flourishes -- easy to grab and go, as I do most of my coloring in bits and pieces when I have a few minutes available, mostly on coffee breaks at work.  I don't know that I'll ever manage the time to pull out all the individual markers and arrange them for a photograph.  I will mention that the sky blue halo around the images is done with B0000, and colored into with the colorless blender to soften the edges.  There's a soft green in the lower portion of each image, and that is done in the same manner with YG11.

I hope you enjoyed your visit today.  I sure did enjoy making these cards!  Have a happy day!

Ruby Tuesday: Can Stella Wear Purple?

I thought, perhaps, with a little smudgy watercoloring, plenty of Stella's green, and a little splash of her pretty rose red, Stella might look nice in purple.

 

I gave her a cameo of crocuses, with chocolate velvet trim and copper accessories on vanilla and chocolate textured cardstock.  The watercoloring was done with Stampin' Up! inks in varying shades of Eggplant, Artichoke, Celery, and Saffron.

I've left the card sentiment free for the time being to assure its versatility.  I really should do this more often as I don't know how many times I've searched through my collection for just the right card only to be thwarted by the sentiment.

Thank you for spending a bit of your day with me.  As always, may your Tuesday be Ruby!

Stamps:  A Year in Flowers Set 1 (Flourishes)  Paper:  Chocolate and Vanilla textured, watercolor, BasicGrey Stella Ruby designer paper  Ink:  Palette Umber, various Stampin' Up! inks for watercoloring  Accessories:  Chocolate velvet ribbon, copper Finishing Touches (Flourishes), Spellbinders Classic Oval Nestabilities, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

An Easter Delivery

I'm on a mission to finish some Easter cards a friend requested for her grandchildren.  This is one of the last few I'll be making this year.  I've used a Whipper Snapper image I purchased specially for one of her little granddaughters.  It's called An Easter Delivery. 

I colored it with Copics on Classic White Cardstock, choosing colors to coordinate with this retired Stampin' Up! designer paper.  The soft green card base is a textured Bazzill -- very close to River Rock, one of my all-time favorite SU! colors which is sadly retired.  The "hugs and kisses" is an SU! sentiment, punched with a 3/4" circle punch.  I covered it with a square Page Pebble, then trimmed down to the punched circle.

I had a rather busy weekend and didn't get much stamping done.  I did put together three "card kits" for the Easter cards -- selected my papers, cut the pieces for simple layouts, and coordinated accessories.  For each kit, I tucked its parts, including the stamped image, into a baggie.  I'm hoping the kits will make for quick cards, provided I can find time to get the coloring done.  I'll be back to share more when coloring happens!

I hope this Monday finds you well!  See you soon, I hope...

Stamps:  An Easter Delivery (Whipper Snapper)  Paper:  Pastel green Bazzill textured, Classic White, retired SU! designer paper  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics for coloring  Accessories:  Silk flower, brads, Page Pebble (clear resin sticker), 3/4" circle punch

A Child's Easter

Hello, and happy Friday!  Let's say it together... you know the words... TGIF!

Today I'm sharing another Easter card I made for a friend to give to her granddaughter.  I brought out an older Flourishes set for this one.  It's called Easter Bunnies.  I think the image is sweet for a little girl, and the sentiment is fun.

The little bit of coloring was done with Copics.  I made grass with Flower Soft, and gave the bunny a puffy tail with Sparkly Fluff (purchased locally).  There's a bit of glitter on the tag, the eggshell, and the tips of the bunny's ears.  The sweet papers are DCWV Baby Girl.  See the bunnies on it?

Easter Bunnies is on its way to retirement and is on sale now for 40% off.  If you hop on down the bunny trail you'll see another sample or two with this set, as well as samples with Flourishes new Easter sets:

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Danielle Kennedy

Dawn Burnworth

Julie Koerber

Laura Fredrickson

Stacy Morgan

I'm hopping off to a happy weekend now.  I've got a wedding to attend and my son is coming to spend a day or two.  I should be able to squeeze in a little fresh air frollicking with Wally, as well as some stamping.  Looking forward to it!  I hope you have a good weekend, too!

Stamps:  Easter Bunnies  Paper:  Flourishes Classic White, DCWV Baby Girl  Ink:  Memento Rich Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Copics for coloring  Accessories:  Ribbon, brads, Making Memories resin flowers, Flower Soft, Sparkly Fluff, Stickles glitter, SU! tag punch and edge punch, Spellbinders Classic and Scallop circle Nesties, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

Christine Okken

Cindy Lawrence

Danielle Kennedy

Dawn Burnworth

Julie Koerber

Laura Fredrickson

Stacy Morgan

I'm hopping off to a happy weekend now.  I've got a wedding to attend and my son is coming to spend a day or two.  I should be able to squeeze in a little fresh air frollicking with Wally, as well as some stamping.  Looking forward to it!  I hope you have a good weekend, too!

Ruby Tuesday: Stella's Dahlia

When I saw this card on Danielle's blog the other day, it reminded me that I haven't had my Kitchen Sink Stamps out for a while.  What's up with that, I wonder when I love them so much?

This set is called 3-Step Daisy, but I sometimes like to pretend it's a dahlia so I can enjoy a variety of colors.  Today I tried to match the colors in my most favorite of all Stella's papers.  I used Stampin' Up! inks, starting with Pink Pirouette and working my way up through Regal Rose, Rose Red, and Basic Black.  I used soft chalks to shade around the image and then sprayed with matte sealer, which pops the colors and holds the chalk in place.  Cutting down the panel so the leaves extend beyond its perimeter adds the illusion of dimension without adding an extra layer.  This card will be an easy mailer.

The rest of the card explains itself, I guess -- lace, velvet ribbon, pearls, stitching, all of which Stella wears so well.

By the way, did you know Danielle has joined the Flourishes Team?  She wowed us as a recent Limelight designer -- a match made in heaven!  You can read the latest here, on the Flourishes Blog, and give her your congrats if you like.

I must dash off now.  May your Tuesday be Ruby!

Stamps:  3-Step Daisy, Multi-Step Rose (sentiment)  Paper:  Vanilla textured, River Rock textured, Flourishes Classic White, BasicGrey Stella Ruby designer paper  Ink:  Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Basic Black, Certainly Celery, Old Olive  Accessories:  Soft chalks, lace, velvet ribbon, pearls, spray matte sealer, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

B'kok!

I think I'll send this card to my son for Easter.  Nothing fancy -- just a chicken and a big ol' Easter Egg. 

This is one of my new Whipper Snapper stamps called Hen's Easter Egg.  I colored it with Copics on Flourishes Classic White Cardstock.  The sentiment is from one of Flourishes' older Easter sets called Easter Bunnies.  It fit perfectly in my Stampin' Up! Modern Label punch.

The white is layered on SU! Cool Caribbean and Memory Box Key Lime.  There was some space left over on the opening side, so I trimmed it with pinking shears, added a border of green underneath and pinked that, too.  When the card is closed, the inside layers add a little more trim to the border -- see the photo at the end of this post.

Just a note:  Ordinarily I like to keep my cards easily mailable.  I don't mind adding extra postage for weight, but a button tied with linen thread and glued atop three layers of ric rac is pretty bulky and could step this up to parcel status.  In this case, it will be mailed in a package, so I'm not concerned about it.  I love to embellish, but I forego a lot of the really fun stuff in favor of making cards I'm more likely to use...sigh...

In regard to a card I posted the other day, I was asked how I made the Swiss Dot border while leaving the inside area emboss-free.  I'll try to explain...

I scored the outer edges of the cardstock first, to help define the frame and act as a guide for placement of my embossing folder.  I then embossed one edge at a time.  I hope this photo helps to illustrate:

There were certain areas where the folder edge overlapped previous embossing, and subsequent passes through the Cuttlebug flattened those embossed areas a little bit.  The score lines were slightly flattened, as well:

For a quick fix of the score lines I simply scored again.  To pop up the flattened Swiss Dots I turned the panel face down on craft foam and pressed into the flattened dots lightly with one end of a tapestry needle.  Any small, blunt point would work, such as a stylus:

Here she is again!  You can see how the inside edge of the card plays with the card front in the border design:

I'm so glad you could drop in and spend a moment today.  I'll be back tomorrow with something pretty for Ruby Tuesday.  See you then, I hope!

Stamps:  Whipper Snapper Hen's Easter Egg, Flourishes Easter Bunnies  Paper:  Classic White, Cool Caribbean, Key Lime  Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Only Orange, Copics for coloring  Accessories:  Ric rack, button, linen thread, Modern Label punch, Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder, pinking shears, Scotch brand foam mounting tape

New Sets are in the Store!

This week was full of fun as Flourishes unveiled not only it's brand new webstore but a whole host of challenges! Keep in mind, you have until Monday, March 15th at 6 PM to enter these challenges and there are some fantastic goody bags on the line with free stamp sets, decorative paper and ribbon! So, we hope you'll play!!

As we wrap up the week, the sets we've been peeking are now officially in the store. Take a gander at.............

Easter Basket

Lily of Hope Friendly Reminders

 

Time for some R&R now. Hooray for Friday!