Hand Stamped Sentiments Color Challenge Meets Paper Craft Crew Theme Challenge: Everything Eleanor

Good morning!  What a fantabulous weekend!  The sun finally came out and Aidan was able to get his baseball game in before it started raining and then a relaxing Sunday with some great ladies at stamp class.    This morning I decided to do a mix and combined the Hand Stamped Sentiments Color Challenge with the Paper Craft Crew theme challenge Craft Crew theme challenge for this pretty card that continues my ongoing showcase of retiring items.  These colors were perfect for the flower theme so it really seemed like the perfect combination and I decided to use the Everything Eleanor stamp set (retiring) that hasn’t had any love for awhile.

I started with Pool Party cardstock for the cardbase and then added a layer of Whisper White Cardstock.  On this piece I used the large swirly image from Everything Eleanor and Calypso Coral ink for a great base for the flowers before adding a piece of Smoky Slate Designer Series Paper from the Neutrals Designer Series Paper Stack (so glad these patterns are sticking around!!)  Next I had a little strip of White Corrugated cardstock (retiring) from a class project sitting on my desk so I inked up using a sponge Dauber and Calypso Coral ink and attached it along with a piece of Pool Party Glitter Ribbon (retiring and awesome!!) around the center of the cardfront.

 

Next I stamped the scalloped circle label image from the same stamp set using Pool Party Ink and Whisper White cardstock and punched it out using the 2 3/8” Scallop Circle Punch (retiring) and then was able to stamp the greeting from the A Whole Lot of Lovely Hostess Stamp set (retiring) using Stampin’ Write Markers to ink the image and able to get a great alignment on the stamp the first time (whoo hoo, doesn’t always happen!!) and attached this piece to the cardfront with dimensionals.  

 

For the final flowery touches I stamped and small and large flower images from Everything Eleanor and hand cut them out with Paper Snips.   I added a Pool Party Enamel Dot from the It’s Your Party Enamel Dots (retiring) to the center of the Calypso Coral flower and attached with a dimensional.  Tiny pearls were added to the center of the large Pool Party flower for all the little filaments.  After attaching the flowers to the cardfront I gently folded the petals up to add some dimension to the card.  

The soft and pretty colors really work with the flowers and Smoky Slate is a great neutral color to let the softer colors shine.  I love these stamp sets and am sad to see them go (but great things are coming) and this saying is perfect to send someone just to let them know you’re thinking of them.  Just another reminder to make sure to order your retiring favorites soon so you don’t miss out if they sell out!

 

Below are easy ordering links to the products used on today's card:

Enjoy!

Diana 

30-Day Gratitude Challenge: Rice Paper Technique

Good morning!  Today I'm over on the Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration blog sharing a super fun and easy technique that you'll love!!!  This is call the rice paper technique and adds some great texture to your card. 

For this technique you start by taking a piece of Whisper White cardstock and you stamp all over it (in this case I used Everything Eleanor and Lost Lagoon ink.  Next I take a piece of tissue paper (this technique is perfect this time of year since we have lots of tissue in our gift bags and packages) and I scrunch it up.  I take one of our glue sticks and add glue all over the front of the cardstock before attaching the tissue paper.  It's OK if the tissue is isn't straight, in fact it adds to the effect if it's not and you just rub the cardstock until the tissue paper is fully attached and all the air bubbles are removed.  Then all you have to do is trim off the extra tissue paper (doesn't this look cool??)  Now you can just use this like a regular piece of paper for your project.

 

 This is a close up of the finished paper

I decided to use my rice paper piece for the gratitude card I made for the 30-Day gratitude challenge I'm currently participating in.  The cardbase is Blackberry Bliss and I added a piece of Lost Lagoon cardstock that's embossed with the Big Shot and Polka Dot Embossing Folder.  My rice paper piece s matted with Basic Gray cardstock and then I added some Blackberry Bliss 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon.

The greeting is from the Blooming with Kindness stamp set and was cut out with the Big Shot and Ovals Collection Framelits before sponging around the edge with Basic Gray ink and attaching the greeting with dimensionals.  For a little extra I stamped one of the flowers from the Everything Eleanor stamp set in Blackberry Bliss and cut it out with my Paper Snips.  I added a few small pearls to the center of the flower for some bling and a dimensional was used to attach the flower to the cardfront.

Isn't this a fun technique?  It works great with so many different images and helps soften it.  You've got to give it a try.

Below are easy ordering links for the products used on today's card:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Enjoy!

Diana

Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration Color Challenge: Everything Eleanor Birthday Greetings

Good morning!  We had a great weekend, the boys were at Cub Scout camp and had lots of fun adventures and I had the weekend to myself, which included an all day crafting day on Saturday with one of my BFFs (we're definitely going to have to do that more often).  My big project this weekend was trying to get everything ready for a birthday party I'm hosting on Friday, Chris and 3 of our neighbors are all turning 40 within a month so we're having a big party to celebrate these great milestone.  I made large cards for each of the birthday peeps for the guests to sign and decided to used this months Stampin' Stylin' INKspiration color challenge for one of the cards.

 

For this card I started with Crumb Cake for the cardbase and then added a piece of Whisper White cardstock.  I used the Dotty Angles stamp set and Strawberry Slush ink to stamp along the left side and then took the Everything Eleanor stamp set and used the swirl image and Mossy Meadow ink to stamp the "leaves" for my flowers on the White Cardstock and then stamped on a piece of Mossy Meadow cardstock (to kind of mimic grass).  The Mossy Meadow piece was embossed with the Big Shot and Zig Zag Embossing Folder before attaching a piece of Strawberry Slush Thick Baker's Twine.

For the flowers I stamped three of the larger flowers in Tempting Turquoise ink and then three small flowers in Strawberry Slush ink on Strawberry Slush cardstock and then used Paper Snips to cut out all the flowers.  I used a Bone Folder to curl up the flowers for texture and then layered them and added little pearls to the center of the flowers.

 

For the greeting I used one of the new hostess sets, Let Your Hair Down (this is a really fun set) and I used my Stampin' Write Markers to color in just a portion of one stamp and then centered the birthday greeting (also from this set) in the middle of the frame.  I did use a Mossy Meadow Marker to add some little swirls inside the stamped image.  The final touch was to add a "40" in Champagne Shimmer paper that I cut out with my Big Shot and the recently retired die set.

 

I wouldn't normally pick these colors to go together but it was a lot of fun to play with them and they do work together, it's fun to get outside your comfort zone.  I hope you enjoy this card and check out the other great cards the designers are sharing and come play along with this color challenge and see what you can create.

 

Below are easy ordering links for all the products used on today's card: 

Everything Eleanor Clear Stamp Set

$26.95

Let Your Hair Down Clear-Mount Stamp Set

$9.00

Big Shot

$99.95

Zig Zag Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

$7.95

Strawberry Slush Thick Baker's Twine

$3.50

Pearl Basic Jewels Embellishments

$4.95

Neutrals 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

$6.95

Mossy Meadow 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$6.95

Champagne Glimmer Paper

$4.95

Dotty Angles Photopolymer Stamp Set

$15.95

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

 Have a great day!

 

Diana

Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge: Perfect Pennants a Mixture of Old and New

Good morning!  Unfortunately our holiday vacation has come to an end and today we're heading back to school and work (cue sad music).  We had a wonderful time and always hate for our vacations to end.  With our crazy, travel filled vacation I haven't had much crafting time over the past week and a half so I'm looking forward to getting back into the studio for some quality time.

 

I did have a few moments and I whipped up with fun and fresh card for the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge.  This card is a mix of fun items from the current catalog as well as a sneak peak of a fun new stamp set from the Occasions Catalog that is being released tomorrow (so exciting!)  For this card I decided to go with a square card and the cardbase is Strawberry Slush and then I added a layer of  Soft Suede that was embossed with the Big Shot and the Modern Mosaic Embossing Folder.  The designer series paper is from the Festive Prints DSP package and is in the Holiday catalog so today is the last day to order (love how you can use this paper for non-holiday projects) and is matted on a piece of Pistachio Pudding cardstock.  The ribbon is Strawberry Slush Ruffled Ribbon.

 

For the main stamped image first I stamped the swirl images from the Everything Eleanor stamp set in Crumb Cake ink and the greeting is from the new Perfect Pennants stamp set and was stamped in Strawberry Slush Classic Ink.  I matted this layer on Strawberry Slush cardstock before attaching it to the card.  For the final decorative elements I added a Pistachio Pudding In Color Boutique Details and used the Tape It stamp set to make the Washi Tape element (it was stamped on Crumb Cake ink with Soft Suede ink before being cut out with Paper Snips).  I attached this element with dimensionals and added a couple of small pearls for the final touch.

 

I so love mixing the old and new items in this card and am glad I have these products in my stamp studio so I can continue to use them, if you don't have anything from the Holiday Catalog that you love don't miss out and place your order today so you'll have everything you need for your upcoming projects.

 

Good luck today!

 

Diana

Hand Stamped Sentiments Sketch Challenge: Lots of Thanks

Good morning and welcome to another Monday!  What a beautiful weekend, not only did we get to check out a great fruit market that's new to us and spend some family time but I also got some fun crafting time which was really needed and I can't wait to share my projects with you.  Today I'm sharing the card I made for this weeks Hand Stamped Sentiments sketch challenge.  I decided to embrace this challenge and switched up my usual card for a 5" square card.  I used the Afternoon Picnic Designer Series Paper as the inspiration for my color combination and started with the Wisteria Wonder cardbase.  Next I added a layer of Coastal Cabana before adding a piece of DSP that I sponged all over with Crumb Cake ink to help distress it.  I used several different patterns of paper from this same pack since they work so perfectly together.

 

Behind the half circle layer I added a paper doily that was also sponged with Crumb Cake.  I added some candy dots along the curve of the circle for some fun bling.  The flower is from the Everything Eleanor stamp set and I stamped the small flower with Wisteria Wonder ink and then colored it in with a blender pen and Wisteria Wonder and Crushed Curry ink.  After cutting the flower out with Paper Snips I added small little pearls to the center of the flower.

There are three layers of flags as a fun accent on the card, one is designer series paper, another is Victoria Lace Trim Ribbon, and then I used the Lots of Thanks stamp set to stamp the greeting a on piece of Very Vanilla cardstock and sponged around the edges.

 

This card is so soft and pretty, it's perfect!  Also, since this is a square card you could make a perfect matching envelope with designer series paper and the new Envelope Punch Board, check out the video below for all the details on this new product.

 

 

Hope you enjoyed this weeks card and make sure to play along, it's a lot of fun.

 

Have a great week!

 

Diana

August Stamp-a-Stack Samples

Good evening! We've had a busy day celebrating my husband's birthday. He's had a lot of fun and we're looking forward to our family outing to celebrate on Saturday when we head to the inner harbor in Baltimore for the day and ending with dinner at Roy's Restaurant, can't wait to try it!  I wanted to give you a peek at some of the projects we'll be making on Sunday for this months Stamp-a-stack.  There's a lot of fun cards and a great variety so I know there will be something for everyone.

There are just a couple of openings left for class so if you haven't RSVP'd make sure to contact me soon to ensure you get a spot.

Thanks,

Diana