Fab Friday Sketch Challenge: Gently Falling

Good morning friends! What a fun-filled weekend, we ended the baseball season, attended two Halloween parties, tried some new recipes for some yummy treats, and even managed to get the bulbs and fall flowers planted so we're all set for spring.  Even with all that I was able to run down to the studio to make a couple of quick cards.  Today I'm sharing the card for this weeks Fab Friday sketch challenge.  This was a fun sketch and gave me the opportunity to use one of the stamp sets that's part of the 25 for 25% off sale that's ending today (you don't want to miss out).  I started with a Sahara Sand cardbase and added a piece of designer series paper from the Sweater Weather DSP package and matted it with Tangerine Tango cardstock.  I also added a piece of Victoria Lace Trim Ribbon wrapped around the DSP layer.

For the main stamped image I used the Gently Falling Stamp set (on sale) and stamped the leaves in Sahara Sand, Tangerine Tango, and Crushed Curry Ink on Very Vanilla cardstock (I stamped off to lighten up the ink color).  This piece was sponged with Sahara Sand ink around the edges and then matted on a piece of Crushed Curry cardstock.  I used the new Chevron Punch to punch out some chevrons with the Sweater Weather DSP and attached it along the bottom.  The greeting is from the Lovely Thoughts stamp set and was stamped on Sahara Sand cardstock with Tangerine Tango ink.  I sponged around the edge with Sahara Sand ink and cut tails on both ends with Paper Snips.  I used a bone folder to soften the cardstock and used glue dots to attach the greeting to the card so it flows.

 

This card turned out so fun and the greeting is so versatile you can use it for several different occasions.  I hope you enjoyed today's card and check out this sketch and play along, it's fun and a great way to get your creative juices going.

 

Happy Stamping,

 

Diana

All About Parker's Prints DSP

Happy Wednesday!  We're having a fun relaxing week for spring break, Aidan's going to Tae Kwon Do camp (which he loves) while we're at work and we're enjoying having our evenings free before all the craziness of baseball, cub scouts, etc. starts up again this spring.  Today I'm dropping by to share my card for this weeks Paper Players challenge.  This is a very versatile sketch and can be used for so many things, I decided to use to to show off several of the papers of the Parker's Print's Designer Series Paper package.  I took a class this past summer at our annual convention about mixing patterns and while I don't do it very often it was fun to work with the different patterns.  Other than the DSP I used the Woodgrain Embossing folder and the Big Shot to emboss the Sahara Sand layer, Scallop Trim Border Punch along the right edge, Naturals Buttons with Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, and the greeting is from the Loving Thoughts stamp set.

This was the sketch layout we were given to work with.  I had so much fun playing with all the different textures and elements and really like how they work together.  The Parker's Print's DSP is in the Spring catalog so you'll definitely want to make sure to add this to your crafting supplies since these patterns on so on trend right now and make it easy to make more masculine cards which we all seem to struggle with at times.

Enjoy and have a great rest of your week!

 

Diana

Double Easel Valentine Card, Sending Loving Thoughts

Happy Valentine’s Day!  Today I’m sharing the card I made for my hubby that was so fun to make.  So when you make cards all the time there tends to be some pressure to make each card “better” than the one before and I wanted to make something fun.  I received one of these double heart easel cards at last months Leadership Conference and it had such a WOW factor that I immediately decided that I wanted to make a version of this card for Chris.  This card comes together quite easily with the Hearts Collection framelits and the Big Shot and there are several tutorials online.  Other products I used on this card are:

Stamp Set(s):  Loving Thoughts, Heart (Single Stamp Set)

Paper:  Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Real Red, Polka Dot Parade DSP, First Edition Speciality DSP, Red Glimmer Paper, Champagne Glimmer Paper

Ink:  Versamark, Basic Black

Embellishments:  Champagne Shimmer Paint (used to make shimmer mist), Large Heart Punch, Soft Suede Taffeta Ribbon, Brights Glimmer brads, Silver Basics Designer Buttons, 1/8” Basic Black Tafetta Ribbon, Black Embossing Power, Heat Gun, Small Heart Punch

I even made a matching envelope for this card (so easy with the Simply Scored and Diagonal Scoring plate) and decorated to coordinate with the card so I can’t wait to see how Chris likes it.

I hope you have a special day and I want to let you know how much I love and appreciate each person who has touched my life.  Enjoy being showered with love by your friends and family!

Diana

Quintessential Flower Meets 2012-2014 In Colors

Happy Thursday! Today I wanted to share one of the cards we made at last weekends stamp-a-stack.  This was a great card since we used all the new 2012-2014 In Colors as well as the new firm foam stamp pads.  I have to say, these new stamp pads are amazing and once you use them you'll want to get them in all our colors.  The flower image is the new Quintessential Flower single stamp set.  I loved how the new Annual Catalog showcased this stamp and how you could make all the different color layers with our punches so we recreated it here.  In the center of the flower is a Dahlia flower that come in all the new In Colors. 

The cardbase is Raspberry Ripple and layered with a piece of Gumball Green (this green is awesome!) cardstock that was run through the Big Shot with the Striped embossing folder.  We also used the new Midnight Muse Stiched Satin Ribbon.  The greeting is from the Loving Thoughts stamp set and we cut the banner with the Petal Cone Die and Big Shot.

This card is nice and simple, a perfect way to showcase our new colors which we're sure to love.

Enjoy,

Diana

Fresh Vintage Distressing Page

Good morning friends.  I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend, Chris and Aidan really made my Mother's Day special and I loved spending quality time with them all day.  We were so busy this weekend that I never even made it the studio.  So today I thought I would share the last project from the distressing class last month.  This was a decor page which fit in an 8 x 10 frame.  So we started with a piece of Soft Suede cardstock and stamped the floral image from the Fresh Vintage stamp set in Soft Suede ink and then used the sanding block to distress all over the page.  Next we took a piece of Attic Boutique DSP and tore along one of the edges and sponged along the edge with Tea Stain ink from the Distressing Essentials kit then we added a strip of Pool Party Cardstock and Poppy Parade that was punched with the Scallop Edge Trim border punch.  For the picture of Aidan I picked a picture from his Kindergarden graduation last year and printed it in Sepia so it looked aged.  The picture was matted on a piece of Poppy Parade and Pool Party cardstock that was distressed on the edge with the cutter kit and then sponged Soft Suede ink around the orders.

The piece layered in front of the picture is Very Vanilla cardstock that I stamped with the En Francis stamp set with Crumb Cake ink.  Next we crumpled up the paper, spritzed it with water, distressed the edges with the round standing tool, and sponged the edges and all over the page with the Tea Stain ink.  We spent a lot of time on this element just making it have lots of texture and detail, we even added three large pearls to the top left corner.

We also added a fun label in front.  We took a piece of Soft Suede taffeta ribbon and ruffled it up with sticky strip.  Then we embossed the oval with the Designer Frames embossing folder and tore around the edges and once again sponged the edges with Tea Stain ink.  The blue piece is DSP  was also from the Attic Boutique package that was punched out with the large oval punch and then sponged with Tea Stain ink to help tone it down.  The words are from the Loving Thoughts stamp set and was stamped in Soft Suede ink and a small pear was added to make the dot on the "I".

The final touch was the bow.  It was made with Pool Party seam binding ribbon.  We first tied the bow and then we sprayed the ribbon with water and spritzed it with water until it was wet and then crumbled it up and unfolded it part of the way and let it dry so it still add some of the wrinkles.  We used glue dots to adhere the ribbon to the page and formed the bow with the dots. 

Finally, I have to tell you a bit about the frame.  I got this frame at Ikea and it was a bargin but it was also bright white.  So I used a sponge and Soft Suede classic ink and rubbed it all over the frame including all the little nooks and cranies.  I did this several times and was rubbing the frame to work to get the color to set, I even used a heat gun.  It was a long process but I love how it turned out and it really works well with the picture.

This page turned out so awesome, it's beautiful  I made a second page during the class and that one I added to a 12 x 12 scrapbook page.  We had so much fun and the ladies loved learning how to use the kit and some great techniques that they can use in the future.

Take care and have a great week!

Diana

Apothocary Art: Sketch Challenge

Good evening friends.  We've come to the end of another busy, fun-filled weekend, why is it that the week seems to move slowly but the weekends are gone in a flash?  Tonight I wanted to share with you my card for this weeks Stamping 411 challenge.  Tomorrow is the last day to purchase items from the Occasions Mini catalog and I couldn't believe that I have not used the Apothecary Art stamp set since I purchased it months ago.  This is such a pretty stamp set and so easy to use with the matching Labels Framelits.  The greeting is from the Loving Thoughts stamp set.  After stamping the image and cutting it out with the Big Shot and framelits I colored in the flowers with Stampin' Write markers and sponged the edges with Crumb Cake ink.  The cardbase is Crumb Cake and I ran a piece of Pool Party cardstock through the Big Shot with the Lattice embossing folder.   

The beautiful floral designer series paper is from the Attic Boutique DSP and is only guaranteed to be available through tomorrow.  I also added some Pool Party Seam Binding Ribbon and a nice fluffy bow.  The final touch was to take a small Old Olive flower button, tied a bow with linen thread and added it to the center of the bow.  I also had to make a matching envelope with the same DSP and was nice and simple with the Simply Scored and new Diagonal scoring plate.  This card is so soft and pretty, love it.

Have a great week!

Diana