Cheer up Buttercup

I kinda fell in love with the Regarding Dahlias stamp set when I first saw it, and ordered it around early January with some Christmas money from my in-laws. I FINALLY had the chance to ink it up over the weekend and can’t wait to play with it some more!

I took inspiration from the color combo at The Paper Players and the challenge at Catherine and Cathy Create to make a Gold-i-licious card!

I super-duper love the gold vellum sheets in the new Occasions Catalog and thought to myself that I could make something similar with my vellum, stamps and embossing powder. I used the circle from Geometrical, stamped in Versamark onto the vellum sheet and then embossed it with gold powder. I love that it has some variations in it!

So to get the look, I used a Very Vanilla card base, added cardstock strips of Crisp Cantaloupe and Night of Navy, then layered over my custom made vellum. After that was done, I added a doily and strip of navy card stock. I had already cut out the shape and then stamped the flower and sentiment BUT with the magnetic platform you could stamp and then line up the shape so you get the exact placement you want with the Chalk Talk dies! So easy right?! Last, I added a little boutique details embellishment in Crisp Cantaloupe.

So I seriously love how this turned out! It’s not often that I get this excited when I finish a card but the colors, this stamp set, the small details, I just kinda love it. :)

Supplies (All supplies Stampin’ Up!)

CS: Very Vanilla, Crisp Cantaloupe, Night of Navy, Vellum

Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe, Night of Navy, VersaMark

Stamp: Geometrical (circle/sentiment), Regarding Dahlias (flower)

Misc: Chalk Talk dies, doily, gold embossing powder, heat gun, Boutique Details embellishment

 

Lattice Heart Love

Today is my hubby’s birthday! We’re going skiing today and I hope he enjoys it! We’ll be at State Wrestling this weekend but are hoping to do a mini overnight trip in the next weekend or so to celebrate! :)

Today  I have another valentine card to share! I had a blast over the weekend and was in the mood to make some red and love themed cards.

I used my Cameo to cut the lattice heart and it was the starter for my whole card. I used the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch, the color combo from Fab Friday and the inspiration code word Love from Addicted to CAS. Thanks for the great challenges everyone, I had a blast!

So, clean and simple is kind of my go to style and I love how effortless and clean it looks, but anyone that has done CAS knows that’s never usually the case. Less is more, but also can be hard to achieve that balance! :)

After I layered the heart lattice onto a Crumb Cake Card base I topped it with a strip of Coastal Cabana cardstock that had been stamped with some images from the latest Paper Pumpkin Kit. A little strip of lace trim topped with a threaded button finished it off!

 

Supplies:

CS: Crumb Cake, Real Red, Coastal Cabana – Stampin’ Up!

Ink: Coastal Cabana– Stampin’ Up!

Stamps: January Paper Pumpkin Kit– Stampin’ Up!

Misc: Antique lace trim, linen thread, red corduroy button (retired) – Stampin’ Up!; Silhouette Cameo, heart lattice cut file

 

Love You So

Sometimes it’s hard to make a masculine valentine, right?! I went a little grungy on this one but added a few embellishments to keep it pretty but I think it’s minimal enough that a guy wouldn’t mind too much. :)

I used the sketch from Hand Stamped Sentiments and the color combo from Just Add Ink to whip this little card up.

I started with a Sahara Sand card base, and stamped the Off the Grid image to create my first “circle” and then stamped a few hearts in Real Red to create my second “circle” in the sketch. That’s the beauty of using sketches as a starting point, you can really go anywhere with them! :)

I used a left over word bubble in Pool Party from a scrapbook layout I made last week and stamped the sentiment from Geometrical on it in Island Indigo ink. After that was adhered to the card I added some sequins and a mini heart punched from the Owl Builder punch. Last, a little arrow was added below the word bubble.

Tomorrow the hubby and I are going skiing for his birthday! He’s such an awesome guy and I hope he enjoys the day!

Be My Valentine

One more card for today! I had fun combining two challenges for this little valentine.

First, I used the sketch from Create with Connie and Mary and then the Mod Squad challenge of at least one heart and some glitter on your card.

I started off with a Crumb Cake card base and layered some Modern Medley patterned paper, along with a real red strip that was embossed with the new Arrows Textured embossing folder.

I added a strip of silver glimmer (glitter!) paper across the top and then layered on a doily that was stamped with a sentiment from the Delightful Dozen set. This is such a great starter set because of all the variety of sentiments! I added a smaller heart from the Banner Blast (SAB) set and then topped on a rhinestone and some sequins.

So now it’s *almost* time for The Walking Dead! Anyone else a fan?

Adore You

I have a quick card to share today! It’s almost Valentine’s Day and  I’ve been in a festive heart/love/red mood in my craft room this weekend!

This card was goes with the the colors at Color Throwdown and the Stampin Royalty All About Love challenge!

Now, I was a little liberal with the colors but you could say I was totally inspired by the color swatch. :) Instead of red I used Calypso Coral, and instead of Pink Pirouette I used Blushing Bride only because the stickers from my latest Stampin’ Up! Paper Pumpkin Kit were just screaming to be used, and they were pretty close to the colors! I did get the Crumb Cake, Pistachio Pudding and white in there, but (don’t be mad) I also got a little Summer Starfruit and Coastal Cabana in there because of the stickers. I’m a teeny rule breaker and rebel today. ;)

Pretty much everything on here except the little colored candy dots and boutique details embellishment came in my Paper Pumpkin Kit! I know I’ll be using the sticker sheets for awhile to come as there were tons of pieces to use!

Fun fact: I ended up doing quite a few cards in a craft/crumb cake base this weekend, ha! I’ll be sharing those later this week!

Supplies:

All supplies Stampin’ Up!

Ink: Calypso Coral

Misc: Card stock, stickers, heart bubble stamp – Paper Pumpkin Kit; candy dots (subtles collection)

Practical Solutions for Paper Crafters, Vol. 2 Pubs

Since I shared some January pubs yesterday, I thought it made sense to share another card that was in the Practical Solutions for Paper Crafters, Vol. 2 that hit newsstands on 12/31! :)

This submission call actually came before the January call and was my first experience in having multiple cards in an issue. Talk about a cool thrill – I had three cards in all! We were in Florida visiting my family over the summer when the call came out and although I’d packed some crafty supplies so my mom, sisters and I could have some craft days, I had to be resourceful. That’s essentially the concept of the issue so it helped me get some ideas going and find a way to stretch my supplies!

My favorite card has to be this Cherry Blossom Kindness card that appears in the DIY Embellishments section. I also had another card in the embellishments section and one in the scraps section  (but you’ll have to check out the issue!). So fun to stretch and challenge your self with your supplies!

The reason I love this card is because I used a branch from my Mom’s yard and seashells from her collection that she’d gathered on the sunny beaches of Florida! She is a sea shell jewelry expert so I definitely felt out of my depth when trying to glue these shells together, but as soon as I saw them I knew they’d make perfect cherry blossoms! My Mom was there to watch and encourage me the whole way as I was putting them together – whew! Fun (or not so fun) fact: Bringing this home the branch broke right in the center so I had to replace it when I got home (after I’d found out it had been accepted). Luckily my Mom saved my behind and mailed me extra shells and branches to fix it! :)

So, if you’ve ever thought about submitting, or wanted to see your cards in print I’m here to tell you to GO FOR IT!

Supplies: (All supplies Stampin’ Up!)

CS: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla

Ink: Pear Pizzaz

Stamps: Heartfelt Thoughts

Misc: tree branch, seashells; Quick Dry glue; half back pearls (SU)

Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking January Pubs

Hi everyone happy Monday! I took a little (more like long!) blog hiatus during the month of December, but it’s time to get back into the swing of things!

To get back into it I thought I would share a card that was published in the January 2014 issue of Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking magazine. This was the first month PC went all digital for the monthly issues (and you could see it as early as December 1st!), but the nice thing is if you missed the issue you could still get a subscription today and purchase any past issues!

This was in the vellum section. The butterflies were stamped and embossed in black powder, water colored with an aqua painter and then punched out. TIP: By only securing the middle of the butterfly to the cardstock the wings can naturally lift and give some movement! I topped off the middle butterfly with a clear vintage faceted button and a simple sentiment.

I had two cards in this issue, you can see the other one posted on the PC blog here and here!

I am so fortunate to have such amazing people in my life cheering me on and encouraging me in my crafty endeavors! I had not submitted cards for publication in a LONG time and didn’t really have intentions to start again. However, the amazing Susan Open (yes that one, the Creative Editor at PC) surprised me at my house for a crafty workshop one day and gave me that encouragement to start submitting again! I’m so thankful for that day and for our newfound real life friendship (vs. our ongoing online FB friendship)! :) Submitting can be a fun process and although I’ve been super busy the past few months, I’m hoping to make some more time to submit again!

Supplies: (All supplies Stampin’ Up!)

CS: Smoky Slate, Vellum

Ink: Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, VersaMark

Stamps: Lacy and Lovely (sentiment), Papillon Potpourri (butterfly)

Misc: Aqua painter, black embossing powder, vintage faceted button, Elegant Butterfly punch