2008 Christmas Cards

Colorful Classic Stripes

Here is my second Kristina Werner Color Inspiration Challenge card - I stayed with the juvenile theme and used the Wild About You stamp set. For the background I really wanted to ink up my new Classic Stripes background stamp.

I thought inking the stripes with my Stampin' Write Markers would create a really sharp background...I really like the way it turned out, but next time I need to color faster. By the time I got to the last stripe, the first one was almost too dry to "huff"! I was really tempted to add some ribbon to this card, but I had to restrain myself! I added the brads instead.

This card is going in to my "Just In Case" card stash. When a birthday sneaks up on me or when I need a thank you card and I don't have time to sit down and stamp one, I pull out my "Just In Case" stash!

Bugs & Kisses - Kristina Werner Style

Here is the card I worked on yesterday for Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenge. This week's color combination was Ballet Blue, Ruby Red, So Saffron, and Certainly Celery. When I saw these colors together, I knew I wanted to make a juvenile card. Not only because this combo really lend itself to kid-friendly themes, but I also had to make a birthday card for the son of a good friend!

I decided to kill two birds with one stone and use this week's Splitcoast Sketch Challenge for the layout. Participating in all of these challenges really makes it easy to create a card. All I had to do was decide which stamp sets to use! (FYI - I used Bugs & Kisses and Polka Dot).

My New Recruit

Here is a picture of my newest recruit - this is baby Aubrey! Normally I try to stamp during her naptime, but she really didn't want to sleep this morning. So, off to the craft room we went! Aubrey sat in her little pink chair and watched me stamp for almost an hour - can you believe it?!? She was so patient - I got to stamp TWO cards for Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenge (too bad I didn't finish them in time to actually submit them...maybe next week!). Anyway, you'll get to see the cards tomorrow, but I wanted you to see Aubrey today!

Upsy Daisy

When my September Stampin' Success magazine came in the mail last month, there was a great card on the cover that I knew I wanted to CASE. The original card was a tad bit smaller (4 1/2" x 4 1/2" I think) but I have this thing about cards filling up their envelopes. If I'm sending a card in a 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" envelope, I like for the card to be 5 1/4" x 5 1/4". Its a little weird, I know, but it bugs me to have a smaller card floating around in a big envelope. I wanted to keep the proportions of the original card, so instead of just making the Kiwi Kiss card base bigger, I mounted the main layer on to a 5 1/4" x 5 1/4" Whisper White card base.

The main flower image is from the Upsy Daisy stamp set. Since a number of my greetings/sentiments stamp sets were retired this Summer and I am slowly replacing them, I had to pull out an oldie-but-goodie for this card. Its from the Much Appreciated stamp set. This is my all time favorite thank you sentiment - I love the font! You can't really tell it from this picture, but instead of grosgrain ribbon I used Chocolate Chip poly-twill from the Occasions Mini Catalog. I was really disappointed that poly-twill didn't make it in to the big catalog. My fingers are crossed for the Spring-Summer edition!

This is probaby one of my favorite color combinations using the 2008-2009 In Colors. Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, and Chocolate Chip are FABULOUS together! I especially love this combo for Christmas cards. (NOTE: there are a couple of collections of Designer Series Paper that use this exact combo!) I think I'm completely addicted to Kiwi Kiss. You know, I thought it couldn't get any better than Certainly Celery. Then came Wild Wasabi and I fell in LOVE. I was heartbroken when it came time to say good-bye. Now there is Kiwi Kiss and I can't seem to put it down!!! I'm normally more drawn to blues, but now I'm goin' GREEN!

Rock Star Card Elements Kit

One of the products new to the Fall-Winter Idea Book and Catalog is the Card Elements Kit. Each kit features coordinating cardstock, patterned paper, die cut images, embellishments and instructions for two or three different cards. I love the idea of the kits so I added a two of them to my first catalog order.

For this card, I chose to break out the Rock Star kit. I have to admit, this kit uses a color combo that is definitely out of my comfort zone. I love Bashful Blue and Old Olive, but I rarely pull out the Brilliant Blue and More Mustard. But, since the patterned paper and the die cut images are already coordinated, it was a little easier to branch out!

I found this layout in a recent Stampin' Success magazine. It was actually used on a Christmas card, but I thought that it would work well with the Rock Star kit as well! For the circles I used my circle punches as well as my Coluzzle.

The "random" placement of the circles on the card front is actually anything BUT random. I guess its my mild case of OCD that kicked in, but it took me nearly 10 minutes to figure out how to place each circle!

In celebration of National Cardmaking Day (which was Oct 4), Stampin' Up! is running a special on all Card Elements and Simply Sent kits. Contact me if you're interested in trying out one of these kits!

Groovy or Gaudy

I'm still trying to get my creative mojo back, so I've decided to start participating in Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration challenges. The most recent color combination is Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Pumpkin Pie, and Very Vanilla. At first glance, this combo reminds me of Autumn. My instinct was to use a Fall-themed stamp set - maybe something with leaves or pumpkins. But then I thought that a Fall card would be too easy and I wanted to do something a bit more funky. I pulled out my Organic Outlines stamp set and went to work!

The card base is Kiwi Kiss with a border of scalloped Chocolate Chip. I really like the look of using two colors on the main image. First I inked the entire image with my Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad and then I went back and colored over the dots with my Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write Marker. I stamped the image on to Very Vanilla cardstock and then matted it with Chocolate Chip. I added a strip of Pumpkin Pie cardstock with Chocolate Chip ribbon along the bottom of the card front to tie the whole look together.

I think I really like how this card turned out...but I'm not totally sure. Sometimes I look at it and love the groovy feel of the color combo and the funky stamp set. And other times it looks a bit gaudy to me. You decide - groovy or gaudy?

Aloha Stampers!

No, I haven't made any recent trips to Hawaii. Actually, I haven't made ANY trips to Hawaii - recent or not! But my friend Leslie has! She just got back from a family vacation to Hawaii and after looking at the pictures, I'm completely jealous! Since I'm such a great friend (wink, wink) I thought I'd make her a little something to show off all of those great vacation pics! (This project took me a couple of naptime stamping sessions to complete - that's why you haven't seen me since last week!)

This is a little tin that I found on clearance at the local craft store. There was a piece of scalloped cardstock glued to the front of the tin, but it didn't match my color scheme. I pulled it off and replaced it with a piece of patterned paper from the retired Jersey Shore collection. The letters are chipboard - the "m" is covered with a piece of patterned paper and backed with a piece of cardstock so it really stands out against the background. The "a" and the "x" were inked with my Whisper White craft pad.

Inside there is a little circular accordion book that folds up to fit perfectly in the tin. I decorated both sides of each circle with various designs of patterned paper and each circle has either a place to mount a photo, a place to journal, an envie for little keepsakes, or some sort of Hawaii-themed image. Here are some pics of the inside:

Organic Outline Card and Envie

Here is another project that I was able to squeeze in during naptime. When I first saw the Organic Outlines stamp set, I was really drawn to it because of the funky design but I wasn't sure how I would be able to use it. I went ahead and ordered it anyway. When I had my opportunity to stamp, I pulled out the stamp set, some new patterned paper, and a couple of the new In Colors and got started!

This layout is CASEd from a card I saw on Splitcoast. For this version I switched up the colors, the papers, and the greeting. The card base is Kiwi Kiss (LOVE it!) and the image is stamped in Baja Breeze and then matted in Basic Grey. The patterned paper is Urban Garden - not only is the color combo super-chic, this patterned paper coordinates with a number of new stamp sets like Upsy Daisy and Kindred Spirits. I used this retired birthday sentiment for the greeting because I thought it really fit the look of the card. I used some Basic Grey taffeta ribbon as well as one of my mini library clips for some extra umph!

One thing I really love to do is stamp the envelope to coordinate with the enclosed card. This stamp set is PERFECT for that - the outline looks fabulous when its stamped on the envelope.

Back to Stamping!

It seems like ages since I've had a chance to get in my craft room and stamp. Now that Aubrey is here (she was born on September 4th) we are adjusting to our new life and settling into a bit if a schedule. Yesterday, during Aubrey's morning nap, I was able to go downstairs and stamp a few projects. Since I'm a bit rusty and my creative juices aren't flowing freely just yet, I decided to keep it pretty simple.

This is a project that I CASEd from Splitcoast. The layout is super-simple and with the use of punches, this card goes together pretty quick. I broke out my Pink Pirouette cardstock and Classic Stampin' Pad for the first time. I just adore this soft shade of pink!!! I used one of my favorite baby sets, Nursery Necessities to stamp the stars and the greeting.

This card is for a friend of mine that just found out he and his wife will be having a little girl in February. They are in for such a treat!!

Squash Book

In addition to the thank you notes, I've also been working on the Stampers 6 projects for this weekend. The theme for this month is "Fancy Folds" - we'll be doing a series of projects that each feature some sort of fancy or unique fold. This project is called a Squash Book. Its a type of brag book made from 2 square chipboard coasters and a three pieces of cardstock that are scored and folded in a way that squashes down to a 4"x4" book.

The patterned paper is from the Jersey Shore collection. The main pieces of scored/folded cardstock are Wild Wasabi with Bashful Blue used as photo mats and Pumpkin Pie used as mats for the patterned paper. There isn't any stamping on this example, but you could stamp the reverse side of the Wild Wasabi for some added WOW when the book is opened! Another option is to substitute pieces of Whisper White cardstock in lieu of some of the patterned paper triangles - this would give you room to journal about each of the 4 pictures.

Once all of the pieces and parts are cut out and scored, it doesn't take very long to assemble the Squash Book. This book would be a perfect way to share memories from your family vacation this summer!!!

By the way...as I was typing this I realized that my big ole' preggy belly made its way into the picture of the unfolded Squash Book. Oops! :)

Thank You Notes

Now that I'm officially unemployed (yay!!), I actually have time to create my own thank you notes for showers and such. Here are two different designs that I'm working on. The Certainly Celery thank you note is a little twist on one that I've done for a previous stamp camp. First, I wheeled the Nursery Letters Jumbo Wheel along the bottom of the card front. Then I layered a strip of Pretty In Pink scalloped cardstock in the middle of the card front, followed by the polka dotted patterned from the Spring Flowers collection along the top of the card front. The scalloped square was punched out with my Marvvy punch and then the punched star from Nursery Necessities was layered over it with dimensionals. Of course, I had to add some ribbon to make the thank you note complete!

The teddy bear thank you note was created by cutting a 12"x12" sheet of Pretty In Pink cardstock down to 3"x12" and scoring it at 6". The background was wheeled in Pretty In Pink with the Sweet Stars Jumbo Wheel. The teddy bear image from Bundle of Joy was stamped with my Basic Brown Classic Stampin' Pad and then watercolored with Close to Cocoa and an AquaPainter. I used a 1/8" hole punch to punch 2 holes under the chin of the teddy bear and tied a piece of Pretty In Pink grosgrain ribbon for a little pop of color. For the greeting on the front, I alternated between "adorable" and "giggle" from Warm Words.

I'm so glad that I have the opportunity to make my own thank you notes - I'm still tossing around the idea of making my own birth announcements. We'll have to wait and see how things go once our little bundle of joy gets here!!!

Update...

OK, first off let me fill you in on my Summer. My little brother got married June 21st. The ceremony was perfect - so sweet. The reception was an absolute blast - even for someone with a big ole' preggy belly! Then, once the wedding was behind us, it was time to really focus on little Aubrey Claire. We had THREE showers back-to-back. The first two were actually surprise showers - I know, how sweet right?!?

First, my Bunco group threw me a surprise shower after our June Bunco get together. Then, one of my monthly Stamp Camp groups threw me a surprise shower! I swear, I have the best stamp campers in the world - imagine my surprise when I come wheeling in with all of projects and stamping supplies only to find the room decorated in pink with presents everywhere. The third shower was thrown by my co-workers. My downline created these AWESOME onesies with the sticky cuts letters and cosmo glitter and decorated the room with them! She also stamped the guest and gift sheets. They really went out of their way to make me feel special!

I do have one confession to make though...with all of my wonderful friends spoiling me rotten, I wasn't able to keep up with creating my own thank you notes. So, I had to order printed ones! I know...GASP!!! I can honestly say I felt super-guilty about it. I wondered if I had hurt anyones feelings by sending them a printed thank you as opposed to one that I had hand-crafted!

As of Monday, my extended maternity leave has started (I know - YAY, right?). Now I'll actually have a chance to create some thank you notes, get the nursery ready, and relax!! Today is the first time I have stamped anything in at least a month, so I just had to upload it and show you all!!


This is a card that I created for my fabulous downline, Trish. (I hope I can deliver it with her present before she actually reads this post!) The card base is Chocolate Chip with a strip of patterend paper mounted on to textured Soft Sky cardstock.

I really wanted to cut out pieces of a flower bloom and mount them with dimensionals for a 3D look. So I chose this image from the Embrace Life stamp set. I stamped it with my Timber Brown StazOn pad - once on the main piece of Whisper White cardstock and a second time on a scrap piece. I used my Blender Pen to color in the blooms on both the main image and the image to be cut out. Once the ink was dry, I cut out a couple of the blooms and mounted them directly on top of their coordinate blooms on the main image.

I used a hat pin from the Pretties Kit as well as some Chocolate Chip satin ribbon to embellish the card front. The front of the card reads "Someone like you" and the inside of the card reads "should be celebrated everyday. Happy Birthday". I really like the way this card turned out - not too shabby for not stamping in a month!

Be Back Next Week....

My little brother is getting married this weekend...no free time for me! I'll be back next week when the festivities are over!!

The last of the kit projects...

This past week's posts have been focused on the Tart & Tangy kit projects. So far, you have seen all of the cards that will be offered. Now its time to see the card box that is also included! I found the template for this box on a paper crafting website - its the perfect size for the 10 cards and envelopes that can be stamped and assembled with the Tart & Tangy Stamps in the Mail kit. The template is simple and the directions are pretty easy to follow. Add some patterned paper (the one remaining design from the Summer Picnic collection) and the box coordinates beautifully with the cards. This would make a great gift...or just a really cute way to get organized!!

Real Red Delicious Apples

This is the last of the Tart & Tangy kit cards (there is still one super-cute project that goes along with the kit, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see that one!). This one features the apple stamp. With this stamp and the Summer Picnic designer paper, you could either create Red Delicious apples (by using Real Red) or Granny Smith apples (by using Old Olive). This collection of patterned paper has one design of the Real Red apples (shown here) and another with the Old Olive apples! For some reason, the Real Red apples remind me of teacher thank you cards, so thats what I went with for this final project!

For the background of the card, I matted a piece of the red apple patterned paper on to a piece of Real Red cardstock. Next, I mounted a strip of Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain ribbon around the matted patterned paper. Then, I inked the apple stamp with my Real Red and Old Olive Stampin' Write Markers and stamped the image three times on to a piece of Whisper White cardstock. I matted the Whisper White with Old Olive to bring out the color of the stem and leaves and then mounted it on to the card front with dimensionals. I chose this greeting (from a current hostess set that I cannot remember the name of for the life of me!!!) because it fit so well in the Key Tag punch. So I stamped it in Old Olive on to a scrap piece of Whisper White and then I punched it out with the Key Tag punch. The final step in creating this card is to mount the greeting on to the card front with adhesive! Ta-Dah!!!

Strawberry Flap Card

Not too long ago, the flap card was featured as a technique or a sketch on Splitcoast. I've wanted to try it out for some time, but I just now got around to it. This is a great layout - I modified it slightly so it was closer to a standard sized card (this card is 4" x 5 1/4" compared to the standard 4 1/4" x 5 1/2").

The card base is Old Olive - I started with a 12" x 12" sheet of cardstock and scored it at 2 1/4" and 7 1/2". I used the Coluzzle to round off the flap. I mounted the Old Olive striped patterned paper on to the bottom flap of the cardstock. The strawberry stamp was inked with my Real Red and Old Olive Stampin' Write markers and then stamped on to a scrap piece of Whisper White. I used my 1 1/4" circle punch to punch out the strawberry and my 1 3/8" circle punch to punch out the Old Olive mat. I layered the Whisper White on to the Old Olive and then mounted that on to the Real Red scalloped circle with dimensionals. I attached the scalloped circle to the rounded flap with a bit of adhesive. REMEMBER - only apply adhesive to the top portion of the scalloped circle, otherwise you will glue your card shut!

I used Absolutely Fabulous (again!!!) for the greeting. This time, I inked the greeting with Real Red and then stamped it on to a piece of Whisper White cardstock. The "I'm there for you" greeting fits perfectly into the Word Window punch, so I punched it out and mounted it to the card front. For a little bit of embellishment, I added a Real Red brad at the greeting and I added a bit of Real Red gingham ribbon across the rounded flap!

This is a fun little layout to use and once you get the hang of the measurements for cutting/scoring, you can pull it together in a snap!

All Four Fruits

Here is another card from the Tart & Tangy kit - this one features each of the four fruit stamps included in the stamp set. Each fruit was stamped on to a Whisper White square of cardstock. Then 3 of the 4 corners of each square were rounded with the 3/16" corner rounder. The rounded squares were then mounted on to the piece of Bashful Blue cardstock.

For the background, I chose the patterned paper with all of the colors used to stamp the fruits - the dotted design. I layered the polka dotted patterned paper on to the Real Red cardstock. Then I mounted the Bashful Blue cardstock on to the patterned paper with dimensionals. Of course, I had to add some ribbon to the project, so I tied a piece of Real Red grosgrain around the bottom of the patterned paper. The final step in completing the project is to mount the Real Red cardstock on to the Whisper White card base!

This is probably the most complex of the kit cards, but it can still be stamped and assembled in a matter of minutes!!

Yummy Oranges

This Tart & Tangy Kit project pairs the orange stamp with some striped/dotted patterned paper. I layered the striped patterned paper on to the Pumpkin Pie cardstock mat and then layered the dotted patterned paper below it. Since the orange image is somewhat plain, I added some extra visual interest by mounting a strip of scalloped Whisper White cardstock along the seam of the patterned paper.

Since I can't seem to complete a card without ribbon, I added some orange ribbon along the top of the scalloped Whisper White strip of cardstock. I stamped the orange image in Pumpkin Pie 3 times on to a scrap piece of Whisper White cardstock and then punched it out with my 1 1/4" circle punch. I punched mats for each of the stamped oranges out of a scrap piece of Pumpkin Pie cardstock with my 1 3/8" circle punch. Each of the oranges was matted and then mounted on to the striped portion of the patterned paper background.

For the greeting, I inked "Happy Hellos" from the SAB Lots of Thoughts stamp set with an Old Olive Stampin' Write Marker and stamped it on to a scrap piece of Whisper White. The greeting was then punched out with the Small Oval punch. It was matted in the bottom right corner and then brads were attached at each end. The final step in completing this project was to mount the Pumpkin Pie cardstock on to the Whisper White card base.

Tart & Tangy Kit

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned my Stamps in the Mail stamp camp that I am going to be offering in July. This weekend I sat down and finalized the projects that will be included in the kit. Now I'm working on a flyer to e-mail out to all of my customers and stamp campers! In the meantime, I'll show pics of all of the projects here on my blog!

The kit will feature the Tart & Tangy stamp set as well as the Summer Picnic patterned paper (both currently available in the Occasions Mini Catalog). This is the first of 5 different card designs that are included in the kit - the kit will include all of the materials necessary to make 2 cards of each of the 5 designs for a total of 10 cards and envelopes!

The main image is the cherry from the Tart & Tangy stamp set inked with Real Red and Old Olive Stampin' Write Markers. Its stamped on to an oval of Whisper White that was cut out with a Coluzzle. The greeting is from the Absolutely Fabulous stamp set - its stamped in Bashful Blue. For the background, I selected the coordinating cherry design. The reverse side of the cherries is the polka dotted pattern. So I layered one side on to the Real Red cardstock mat for the top of the background and then I layered the reverse side below it. The Real Red grosgrain ribbon covers the "seam" of the patterned paper. Next, I mounted the Whisper White oval on to the card front with dimensionals. To really tie in the Bashful Blue greeting and the Bashful Blue from the patterned paper, I added 2 Bashful Blue brads in the bottom right corner of the card front. I finished assembling the card by mounting the Real Red cardstock on to the cardfront!

Stay tuned this week for more pics of the Tart & Tangy Kit!!

More Beach Thank Yous

My beach thank yous are finally done!! Whenever we head down to Orange Beach, there are quite a few people to thank for making our trip possible. I thanked my hubby's aunt and uncle with a previously posted card. I'm sending this design to my parents and my inlaws - without them we couldn't get away as easily!! My inlaws take care of our 2 fur-babies (our dogs, Annie and Gomer) and my parents come by to check the mail and check on the house! Needless to say, BIG thanks are definitely in order!

The base of the gate fold card is Close to Cocoa - its an 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of cardstock scored at 2 1/8" from each end. The Soft Sky panels are 2" x 5 3/8" and stamped with the Sanded background. The main image is the conch shell from the Seaside stamp set. It was stamped on to a piece of Naturals Ivory with my Close to Cocoa Classic Stampin' Pad and then watercolored with my Close to Cocoa and Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pads and an AquaPainter. Since I used a Classic Stampin' Pad instead of a more permanent ink, when I watercolored the image, the lines tended to blur a bit. This gave the image a really soft look.

The main image is matted on to a piece of Soft Sky cardstock. For a little something extra, I set a Jumbo Eyelet in the corner and attached a piece of narrow twill and hemp twine. Originally I wasn't planning double matting the main image, but it needed something to set it apart from the panels, so I added the Close to Cocoa mat. Then I attached the main image on to the card front!

Don't forget - when you're working with a gate fold card, be sure to only apply adhesive to HALF of the main image. Otherwise, you glue your card shut!!

Another Set of Patterned Paper Projects

Here is the third set of patterned paper cards for the June Stamp Camps. The Father's Day card was inspired by a graduation card I saw on SCS that showcased 3 different background stamps. I thought if I switched the backgrounds to different designs of patterned paper, it would fit right in with this month's theme.

For the Father's Day card, I used Blue Bayou as the card base. The three designs of patterned paper are from the Spring Break collection - I love, love LOVE this collection!!! The Happy Father's Day greeting stamp from the All Holidays stamp set was inked with my Blue Bayou Classic Stampin' Pad, and my Old Olive and Sahara Sand Stampin' Write Markers. It was stamped on to a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock and matted with a piece of Old Olive cardstock. Since this is more of a masculine card, I attached a piece off frayed twill under the greeting layer. You can't see it in the pic, but I attached two Not Quite Navy brads in the bottom right corner of the card front. (NQN is just a tad darker than the Blue Bayou, but the brads blend perfectly on this project)

The alternate version of this layout features the Le Jardin collection. I have to be honest - I have a tough time using this collection because, while its very pretty, its not exactly my style. But I really wanted something to contract with the other, more masculine, version of this layout...so I thought this would be a great chance to put Le Jardin to good use. I used River Rock cardstock for the card base to corrdinate with the patterned paper. The "my dear, kind, and wonderful friend" greeting is also from the All Holidays stamp set (and it also happens to be one of my faves!!!). I used Bashful Blue and Always Artichoke Stampin' Write Markers to ink this stamp. The greeting was then stamped on to a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock and matted with Bashful Blue cardstock. In lieu of the twill, I used Bashful Blue grosgrain ribbon underneath the matted greeting. For this version, I chose So Saffron brads to accent the another color in the patterned paper.

I'm really pleased with the way these cards turned out. One card features one of my favorite designs of patterned paper and the other card features designs that have been collecting a bit of dust...but both cards turned out just GREAT!

Caribbean Seaside

Yesterday I posted a pic of the thank you card that I'm sending to my hubby's aunt and uncle. I'm also sending this little pack of notes along with it. The main card base is Whisper White. I stamped the Cool Caribbean layer with the Sanded background stamp and my Cool Caribbean Classic Stampin' Pad. The main image is a conch shell from the Seaside stamp set (I love this set!). Then I added a little "happiness" from Warm Words stamped with my River Rock Classic Stampin' Pad.

For some reason I think distressing the edges makes it look more beachy, so I distressed the Whisper White layer and the River Rock mat. I mounted the main image on to the card front with dimensionals and added a piece of River Rock double stitched grosgrain ribbon. The envies are stamped with seashells to coordinate with the notes.

Beach Thank Yous

I've had a couple of projects that I've been working on (don't worry, you'll see them when I'm finished!) so its taken me a little longer than I'd like to get my beach thank yous finished. I was bound and determined to finish them this weekend, so I sat in my craft room and stamped away!

This is the thank you note that I'll be sending to my hubby's aunt and uncle - the ones that let us stay at their condo. I pulled out this palm tree stamp from the retired stamp set Do the Hula and paired it with two sayings from the Absolutely Fabulous stamp set. I knew I wanted to use patterned paper for the background and while I love the current Spring Break patterned paper collection, I really wanted something bright and fun. After some digging, I found some scraps from a Simply Scrappin' kit that was available ages ago. I can't even remember its name, but I'm pretty sure that it was offered as an option for Hostess Benefits.

Anyway, the card base is a 5"x5" square. I used the patterned paper as my background and tied a piece of Tempting Turquoise grosgrain ribbon to cover the seam. I stamped the palm tree in Black StazOn on to the piece of Whisper White cardstock and colored it in with my Stampin' Write Markers. The greeting, "you're absolutely fabulous" was stamped with my Tempting Turquoise Classic Stampin' Pad. To add a little emphasis to the greeting, I pierced a line of holes beneath the words. To bring in some more Tempting Turquoise, I matted the Whisper White with Tempting Turquoise and then added a couple of TT brads in the upper right corner.

I cased this card from Debbie Olson - if you aren't familiar with her fabulous work, check her out on Splitcoast!

A Man's Bathing Suit???

Here are the next two sneak peeks at the June Stamp Camp focusing on patterned paper. I CASE'd the original (the one of the left) from a card I found on SCS. It features the Spring Break patterned paper collection. The original used the double-stitched grosgrain ribbon, but my stash is pretty low so I substituted the 5/8" Old Olive grosgrain instead. Once I finished placing the patterned paper squares on the Kraft card front, I took a step back and realized that it reminded me of a man's bathing suit. Maybe I still have beach on the brain, but there's just something about this patterned paper that SCREAMS boardshorts to me!

Anyway, when it came time to select a sentiment, I pulled out one of my Spanish sets. I have a friend that comes to my stamp camps that happens to be bilingual and much of her family speaks Spanish. So I ordered this Spanish set so she can use it instead of my English greetings if she wanted. Even though I took 3 years of Spanish in high school, I am far from bilingual. I can't say anything other than "Donde esta el bano por favor" (I think that translates to "Where is the bathroom, please") But some of the Spanish phrases in this stamp set are cute and fun...and for some reason, Ay Caramba just fit this card. No worries though, I'll have English greetings on hand if my gals want to substitute for something else!

The alternate version of this card features the Cutie Pie patterned paper collection. This is a great color combo and the designs that come in this pack are very versatile and not gender-specific. For this card, I mounted the patterned paper squares on to the Rose Red card front, tied a piece of 5/8" grosgrain around the front, and added a greeting stamped with my Whisper White Craft Pad.

This card is really quick and easy - especially if you use one of the square punches to punch out the patterned paper squares!

Patterned Paper Stamp Camp

OK - In addition to being a ribbon junkie, I'm also totally hooked on Stampin' Up!'s patterned paper! I just can't get enough of it! What better than to incorporate my addiction into the June Stamp Camp?!?

For this stamp camp we will be working with 3 basic layouts and doing 2 versions of each one. One version will feature one collection of patterned paper and the other version will feature a different collection of patterned paper. I think sometimes we (me included) see a card that we like and get locked in on the specifics of that card. By using the same layout and stamp sets, you get to see just how a simple switch of the patterned paper can change the look of a card.

Here's a first look at one of the pairs of projects we'll be doing. The original (the one on the right) was CASE'd from a card that Jackie Wright posted on SCS. It uses a color combination inspired by the Ginger Blossom collection of patterned paper - Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava, and Ruby Red. The alternate version - the one of the right - uses the Fall Flowers collection of patterned paper and the coordinating color combination of Old Olive, Sahara Sand, and Soft Sky.

You can't really tell in the pic, but each card base was stamped with the Canvas background stamp and embossed with clear embossing powder. It really gives it a glossy look in real life. Hopefully my gals will enjoy this stamp camp and the variety of projects we'll be making with patterned paper!

My Baby Brother

With the little one on the way, I'm really trying to get better about scrapbooking. Normally, my biggest obstacle is actually taking the pictures (and getting them printed). So now I carry my camera with me everywhere I go. I've also picked up a few scrapbooking magazines and layout books for some extra inspiration. I came across this layout in one of the magazines and I just had to try it out! My baby brother (I only have one brother and he is 27 - not quite a baby, huh?) is getting married and my mom had pulled out some of the family pics for a little slideshow at the Rehearsal Dinner. I got my hands on a couple of the pictures and had copies made so I could practice some of these super-cute layouts!

The base of this double layout is 8 1/2" x 11" Soft Sky cardstock. My "masculine" patterned paper is somewhat limited, so I pulled out my scraps from the retired Wintergreen collection from the Fall-Winter catalog. A couple of the patterns are real Christmas-y, but the others are pretty versatile. Since I used a variety of different pictures with different color schemes, I used the patterned paper for my color combo inspiration - Soft Sky, Always Artichoke, and Certainly Celery. I still struggle with journaling on my pages and I didn't want to mess up this page by flubbing up my words, so I stuck another picture in the area which was originally reserved for journaling.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out! Here is a close up pic of each of the pages in this double page layout:

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope you all had a great Memorial Day filled with friends, family and good food. But more importantly, I hope you all took time to think about the reason for this holiday and remembered all of those brave men and women that have given the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedoms.

I was able to spend a good part of the day in my craft room catching up on a number of projects. This is one that I am working on for my Summer stamp camps. I'm going to have to take some time off this Summer to get ready for the baby, so instead of meeting with my normal monthly stamp camp groups, I will be offering a "Stamps in the Mail" option. The kit will include the stamp set, ink pads, markers, cardstock, embellishments, and envelopes required to complete all of the projects. I'll also include full-color instructions on how to stamp and assemble each project. Its a great way to stamp 8 cards while stocking up on your stamping supplies.

The first kit will be fun, Summer themed cards using the Tart & Tangy stamp set and Summer Picnic patterned paper. I'll post pics of the complete kit once its complete!

Beach Babe

Clear, blue skies...waves gently crashing in the background...toes playing in the nice warm, white sand...thats how I spent the last week! (Which explains the blog-silence) Hubby and I went to the beach for a little R&R before the baby gets here and let me just tell you - it was FABULOUS! We spent time on the beach, spent some time shopping, and ate some fantastic food. Needless to say, I didn't get any crafting done. But I did catch up on my scrapbooking and paper crafts magazines, so I came home with some great ideas. I have big plans on spending the Memorial Day weekend in my craft room, so hopefully there will be a lot to show you over the next couple of days!!!

You know what else I was thinking??? Wouldn't it be fun to take a stampin'/scrappin' trip to the beach? Spend the day on the beach or in the pool and then spend the evenings working on paper crafts projects? Hmmm...this has some potential!

More Velvety Stickers!

When I find a layout that I like, I normally go ahead and use it to make a couple differnt cards. This is the same layout as the graduation card from yesterday - I also needed a birthday card, so I made one to keep on hand and one to send to a co-worker!

For this version of the layout, I used the Jersey Shore patterned paper. Instead of each piece being the same pattern like yesterday, I used a single piece of striped patterned paper to coordinate with the other polka dot pieces. Since the card base is Wild Wasabi and the patterned paper is pretty bold, I chose to mount the velvety greetings directly on to the card front. These are two of my favorites from the birthday assortment - "eat cake" and "how old??". To lighten things up a bit, I tied a piece of 5/8" Whisper White grosgrain around the bottom of each of the cards.

I'm completely in LOVE with these little stickers...I think I might make another trip to the clearance rack at Hobby Lobby!

Cheers!

The other day I had some extra time to kill on my lunch hour and a Hobby Lobby coupon burning a hole in my pocket...so I stopped in to see if there was anything that tickled my fancy. I came across these velvety sticker phrases on the clearance rack. There were three different assortments and they were just over $2 a piece. OK...the baby ones were the first to catch my eye, but I quickly fell in love with the other two assortments as well!!

With a birthday and a graduation coming up this week, I thought this would be a great time to try out my new velvety-smooth embellishments! This is the graduation card I created (you'll see the birthday card tomorrow). I totally CASE'd the patterned paper layout from a card that I saw on Kristina Werner's blog. The card base is Bashful Blue and the patterned paper is from the Jersey Shore collection.

I didn't want the "cheers" sentiment to get lost on the patterned paper, so I trimmed down a piece of Wild Wasabi and rounded two of the four corners to mimic the patterned paper. The velvet stickers are kind of hard to get lined up, but the adhesive is pretty forgiving. So if you do mess up (which I did about 4 times!), all you have to do is carefully peel it up and try again! Once you are satisfied with the placement, be sure to press down hard so the edges won't curl up.

To complete the project, I added 3 Bashful Blue brads in the upper left corner of the card front. Let me just tell you - it was SUPER hard not to put single stitch of ribbon on the card! But I'm glad I didn't because I'm LOVIN' the way this one turned out and hopefully Ashley will too!! Congrats Ash! (She graduates from Pharmacy school on Friday!)

Saffron Giraffes

For the past couple of posts I have spared you all from looking at every single baby card I've made. While babies are definitely on my brain, some of you may want to see other stuff. This time there was no getting around it - I had a couple of very sweet people to thank and not much time to create. Without extra time to do non-baby stuff, you'll have to grin and bear it through my Saffron Giraffe Thank Yous!

I love this little giraffe from the Bundle of Joy stamp set and I really wanted to do something OTHER than a pink card. So I pulled out my So Saffron and my Close to Cocoa and went to stampin'!

The giraffe was first stamped with Timber Brown StazOn and then colored with a Blender Pen and my So Saffron and Close to Cocoa Classic Stampin' Pads. I matted each image on to Close to Cocoa cardstock. Each card features a different pattern of the So Saffron Designer Series Patterned Paper layered on to the main Close to Cocoa card base. I wanted each card to be unique, so I embellished them differently. No surprise though - each one has ribbons and brads!!

Tomorrow, I promise, no baby stuff!!!