Happy Birthday LeAnne!

Today's post is a surprise mini blog hop for LeAnne Pugliese's birthday of the ColourQ Design Team!  For my inspiration for this card, I decided to try this week's ColourQ Challenge.

I got my inspiration for the toppling bird cages from Jenn Nahrstadt.  Isn't this idea great for this stamp set?

Stop by and visit the blogs below as we celebrate LeAnne's birthday.  Happy Birthday, LeAnne!

Stamp Sets	Aviary, Curly Cute
Ink	Early Espresso, Old Olive, Peach Parfait, Bermuda Bay (retired)
Paper	Early Espresso, Old Olive, Peach Parfait, Bermuda Bay (retired), Whisper White
Accessories	Eyelet Border Punch, Peach Parfait 1/2" Stitched-Poly Ribbon, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Glue Dots

Happy Birthday - Masculine

Today's card is a masculine birthday card using the new stamp set, Plant Hope.  I colored the stamp with my Stampin' Write Markers to make the trunk brown and the needles green for a more realistic image.  Then I spritzed the Very Vanilla piece with Early Espresso.  Using my bone folder, I broke down the fibers of the Very Vanilla card stock and then crumpled the piece into a ball.  I tore the edges on three sides and then lightly sponged the entire piece with Crumb Cake.  The whole piece is popped up on Stampin' Dimensionals.

For a more masculine feel, I added the jumbo eyelets and threaded my linen thread between the eyelets around five times.  For some additional texture, I zipped the Early Espresso piece through my Big Shot sandwiched in the Square Lattice embossing folder.

Stamp Sets	Plant Hope, Occasional Quotes (Hostess Level 3)
Ink	Garden Green, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake
Paper	Garden Green, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla
Accessories	Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Color Spritzer Tool, Linen Thread, Pewter Jumbo Eyelets, Crop-A-Dile, Stamping Sponges, Stampin' Dimensionals.

Tutorial - Modified Stay Put Bow

A few of my followers have asked for a tutorial on how to create the bow I made for this project.  So, here it is! My very first tutorial :).

Step 1: Use your Crop-A-Dile to punch a hole where you want your bow to be on your project.

Step 2: Cut a piece of ribbon to desired length, fold in half, and thread the looped end through the hole from the inside of the card through to the front.

Step 3: Pull the loose ends through the loop on the front of the card and pull the ribbon taught.

Step 4: Tie a bow!  (Tip - Don't pull the ribbon too hard or you'll rip your card stock like I did!)

Now your bow will "stay put" with a little twist!  Thanks for stopping by and let me know if you have any questions!

July Stamp Club

Here are the projects we made at my upline's (Christina Dungca-Lico) stamp club this month!  Aren't these projects adorable???  She always comes up with such great projects for us to do.  She's been so kind to invite me to her stamp club as part of my demonstrator training - the girls in her club are so fun to spend time with for a couple of hours once a month - I always look forward to it!

Here are the supplies we used (left to right):

Gate-Fold Card:

Stamp Sets	Afterthoughts (Hostess Level 1)
Ink	Early Espresso
Paper	Crumb Cake, Poppy Parade, Early Espresso, Whisper White (inside), Greenhouse Gala DSP
Accessories	Poppy Parade 1/2" Stitched-Poly Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, Moonlight Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink, Illuminate Top Coat Smooch Pearlized Accent Ink

Mini Milk Carton:

Stamp Sets	Tiny Tags
Ink	Peach Parfait
Paper	Pear Pizzazz, Baja Breeze, Poppy Parade, Greenhouse Gala DSP
Accessories	1/2" Circle Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, Daffodil Delight 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Mini Milk Carton Bigz Die

Kimono Kids:

Stamp Sets	Kimono Kids
Ink	Basic Black, VersaMark, Stampin' Write Markers: Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade, Concord Crush, Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride, Blush Blossom
Paper	Baja Breeze, Whisper White
Accessories	Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Cutter Kit, Old Olive 1-1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Rich Razzleberry 1/2" Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon (retired)

Happy Birthday - SSSC78

This week, I tried the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge for the first time.  Here's a birthday card using three of my new favorite stamp sets: Punched Posies, Aviary, and Curly Cute.  I chose the colors for the card based on the Designer Series Paper (DSP) I used from the Greenhouse Gala DSP pack.  I really like the zig-zag patter of this piece used, so I cut out a strip following the zig-zag pattern and placed it as the back layer.

The Punched Posies pieces are all popped up on dimensionals.  For the Happy Birthday sentiment, I used a Baja Breeze Stampin' Write Marker to color the 'birthday' first - stamped it - then colored the 'happy' next - stamped it.  Both using the stamp-a-ma-jig for perfect line-up.

And isn't the little birdie in the cage just adorable?  I eyeballed this stamping, stamping the birdie first and then the cage - it's a little askew, but fine with me :).

And last but not least, I made an error with the ribbon, so had to fix it - and lo and behold - I came up with a new way to tie a ribbon!  My plan was to add a 'stay put bow' (see tutorials link on the left), but once I affixed the bow, it covered the Happy Birthday sentiment and it didn't look right!  So, I tried a few things and came up with this - and I love it!

Let me see if I can explain it without pictures...

First, I punched a hole where I wanted the bow with my trusty Crop-A-Dile.  Then, I folded my ribbon piece in half and fed the folded end through the hole from behind the card.  Next, I took the loose ends of the ribbon and fed them through the loop on the front of the card, so were pointing upward.  And last, I just tied a bow and it looked great, so I went with it!  Let me know what you think!

Stamp Sets	Punched Posies, Curly Cute, Aviary
Ink	Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, Pear Pizzazz, Daffodil Delight, Baja Breeze, Real Red
Paper	Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz, Greenhouse Gala DSP, Real Red, Whisper White
Accessories	Fancy Flower Punch, 1-3/4" Scallop Circle Punch, 5-Petal Flower Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Crop-A-Dile, Stampin' Dimensionals, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Daffodil Delight 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon

Happy I Do Day - PPA51

Today's card is an anniversary card for my best friend and her husband's 5th wedding anniversary.  I chose their wedding colors for the card - pink & green :).  Happy Anniversary, Amy & Chris!  This week's Pals Paper Arts challenge is a wedding theme challenge.

On the card base, I used the Confetti stamp set to add the hearts pattern.  Instead of ribbon, I used the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch.  I used the Movers & Shapers die to add a layer of card stock behind the Full Heart punch (I love that effect!).

For the Watercolor Trio, I used my Stampin' Write Markers and the "masking" technique on the middle Wild Wasabi stamp so that I didn't stamp over the images already stamped.  To finish off the Top Note Die piece, I used the Spritzer Tool with the Rose Red and Wild Wasabi Stampin' Write Markers.

Stamp Sets	Watercolor Trio, In a Word, Confetti
Ink	Rose Red, Wild Wasabi, and So Saffron Stampin' Write Markers, Crumb Cake
Paper	Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Rose Red, Wild Wasabi
Accessories	Heart Punch, Full Heart Punch, Movers & Shapers, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Spritzer Tool

Happy Anniversary - Mojo 147

Here's my take on this week's Mojo Monday sketch challenge.  What I love about the Mojo Monday challenges is the sketches are never something I would come up with on my own, but I am always happy with the end result.

The circle design stamp from Artistic Etchings fit really well with the square punch and I added the scallop square punch and the small heart punch to finish off the pieces.  For the ribbon, I just used Sticky Strip and randomly bunched up the ribbon and stuck it to the sticky strip for some interesting detail.

Don't you love the new Fabulous Phrases stamp set?  You can come up with so many combinations to make a phrase - I'll be using this one a lot for my cards.  I chose "love & happiness" for this anniversary card.  Let me know what you think!

Stamp Sets	Artistic Etchings, Fabulous Phrases
Ink	Early Espresso, Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride
Paper	Early Espresso, Pear Pizzazz, Blushing Bride, Whisper White, Greenhouse Gala DSP
Accessories	Scallop Square Punch, 1-1/4" Square Punch, Scallop Circle Bigz Die, Clear Circle Bigz Die, Paper Piercer, Heart Punch, Pear Pizzazz 1/2" Stitched-Poly Ribbon, Sticky Strip, Stampin' Dimensionals

Curly, Cute, and Always Elegant - cQc41

This week's ColourQ Challenge has fabulous colors - Pink Passion, Pretty in Pink, Basic Gray, Basic Black, and Whisper White.  These colors just scream elegance and sophistication for me - I love pinks with neutrals.

Can you tell I just received some new goodies from the new catalog???  This card took me forever to put together because I was so overwhelmed with all my new stuff!  But, I'm happy with the end result.

The main stamp from the Always Elegant reminded me of a chandelier when turned upside down, so that's the effect I went with.  I added some of the new adhesive rhinestones to make it look more like a chandelier :).  And I LOVE THE NEW DOTTED SCALLOP RIBBON BORDER PUNCH!!!  Yes, I am shouting - it's awesome!  For this card, I adhered it behind the sentiment, hiding half of it to create a border.

The final touches were a few butterflies and some quick sprays with the Color Spritzer Tool.  Let me know what you think!

Stamp Sets	Always Elegant, Curly Cute
Ink	Basic Black, Pretty in Pink
Paper	Pink Passion, Pretty in Pink, Basic Gray, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories	Basic Rhinestones, Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Elegant Lines Embossing Folder, Color Spritzer Tool, Stampin' Dimensionals

Wish Big - PPA50

Here's my take on this week's Pals Paper Arts challenge.  The color challenge called for Basic Gray, So Saffron, and Chocolate Chip.  I added More Mustard based on the "dynamic duo" of So Saffron and More Mustard from the Color Coach.

The rick-rack background was created with 1" strips of Basic Gray card stock that I ran through the Scallop Edge punch twice - each side a little off center from the other side for the effect.  For a little more dimension, I scored each piece of rick-rack down the middle and also scored the So Saffron base in between the rick-rack.  On the Bitty Buttons, I added a little sliver of Chocolate Chip card stock as "thread".  What do you think?

Stamp Sets	Word Play
Ink	Basic Gray, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip (Stampin' Write Markers)
Paper	Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Basic Gray, More Mustard, Whisper White
Accessories	Scallop Edge Border Punch, Star Punch, Bitty Buttons, 1-3/8" Square Punch, Basic Gray 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Paper Piercer, Silver Brads, Stampin' Dimensionals

Masculine Happy Birthday

Here's a masculine birthday card for my friend Pavan.  The color combination comes from the new color coach - Crumb Cake, Garden Green, and Cajun Craze.  It's reminding me a little bit of Christmas, but the combo is growing on me :).  I wanted to try a new effect with the ribbon, so I used my trusty Sticky Strip and cut two pieces of ribbon to twist around each other.  What do you think?

The "scallop circle" behind the sentiment is just two fancy flower punches.  My brads are just slightly out of alignment, but I did use the Mat Pack to help me!  Thanks for stopping by!

Stamp Sets	Watercolor Trio, On Your Birthday
Ink	Crumb Cake, Garden Green
Paper	Crumb Cake, Garden Green, Cajun Craze, Whisper White
Accessories	Metallic Eyelets, Crumb Cake 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Fancy Flower Punch, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Crop-A-Dile, Stamping Sponges, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mat Pack

I'm Here For You...

I made this card for the card swap I'm participating in.  This card showcases two of the new Hostess sets - Fast & Fabulous and Occasional Quotes.  I also chose the colors from the new Color Coach - which is full of great color combinations!  It's definitely a must-have item from the new Idea Book & Catalog.

On the Crumb Cake base, I ran it through my Big Shot with the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder and then lightly sponged the raised texture with Early Espresso.  The final touch was a few sprays of Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz - love this stuff!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend!

Stamp Sets	Fast & Fabulous (Hostess Level 2), Occasional Quotes (Hostess Level 3)
Ink	Rich Razzleberry, Pretty in Pink, Early Espresso
Paper	Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White
Accessories	Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Clear Rhinestone Brads, Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz, Stamping Sponges, Stampin' Dimensionals, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack

Quick & Cute Thank You Note

I'm currently just a hobby demonstrator (I love my hobby!), so I don't have very many customers, but I wanted to make a cute little 3x3 thank you note to include with any catalogs I send out.

I used my Stampin' Write markers to color in the parts of the hydrangea I wanted.  Isn't it a sweet little thank you note?  I got the idea from one of the blogs I frequent: Dawn's Stamping Thoughts.  Stop by her blog - it's full of great inspiration and wonderful videos.  I loved the layout of her simple thank you notes, I just changed the stamp set I used.

Stamp Sets	Because I Care (Hostess Level 1)
Ink	Concord Crush Marker, Pear Pizzazz Marker
Paper	Whisper White
Accessories	None - How easy is that!  :)

Let's Celebrate! - PPA49

A couple of things to celebrate - first it's a new Stampin' Up year and the new Idea Book & Catalog is to die for!  There's a link on the right sidebar of my blog to the PDF of the catalog as well as the stampin' supplies list for all of the wonderful samples in the catalog.  If you've had a chance to look at the catalog, what's your must-have stamp set?  I have 2 that I added to my first order - Just Believe and Word Play.  I can't wait to get them and show you some samples!

Second, Happy Fourth of July!  I'm having a nice, long, relaxing weekend in Chicago - the weather is just beautiful here!  I've been out and about doing things this weekend, but I took a break to create a card based on this week's Pals Paper Arts challenge.

I don't have any fireworks stamp sets, so I had to be creative.  Looking through my stamps, I noticed parts of the Watercolor Trio stamp set look kind of like fireworks!  Although, I still see flowers when I look at my finished card, my husband thought they looked like fireworks, so that's good enough for me :).

I used my VersaMarker to ink the parts of the stamps I wanted to use and then used white embossing powder and my heat gun to heat emboss the "fireworks".  What do you think?  Do they fly as fireworks???

Have a safe and wonderful holiday weekend!

Stamp Sets	On Your Birthday, Watercolor Trio
Ink	Not Quite Navy
Paper	Crumb Cake, Not Quite Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White
Accessories	Whisper White 5/8" Satin Ribbon, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Large Star Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, VersaMarker, Heat Gun, White Embossing Powder, Stamping Sponges