JAI #132 : STAMPIN' UP!'S BEAU CHATEAU

Mae has come up with a great sketch for this week's Just Add Ink challenge:

With only a week left of our current Stampin' Up! catalogue, it's time for me to use up some of the Designer Series Papers that I am guilty of hoarding.  The card I have to share today was made with the lovely Soft Suede and Pink Pirouette paper from the Beau Chateau pack.

To create the flower, I used my Blossom punch to punch out 5 flowers, from a mixture of Pink Pirouette cardstock, Pink Pirouette paper and Beau Chateau paper.  I used an Antique Brad to hold all the layers together, before spritzing each layer with water and scrunching, then unfolding, each layer.  The edges of the petals were sponged with Crumb Cake ink.

Stamps: Elements of Style, Kindness Matters

Card: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Pink Pirouette (textured and smooth)

DSP: Beau Chateau and Pink Pirouette Patterns Designer Series Papers

Ink: Soft Suede, Pink Pirouette and Crumb Cake stampin' pads

Other: Blossom Punch, Victoria Crochet Trim, Adorning Accents embossing folder, Antique brad, Mat Pack and Paper Piercing Tool, Large Oval punch, Basic Pearls, sponge daubers, edge distressing tool

Make sure you pop over to the Just Add Ink site, to check out the Design Team samples - varied, and gorgeous!  We'd love to have you play along with us.

SC 042: STAMPIN' UP! KINDNESS MATTERS

With all the nervous energy I have to burn, in the lead-up to Stampin' Up! Convention in a few short sleeps, I've made another card today.  This one is for Sunny Challenges & Creations.

As you can see, there is a sketch to follow, as well as a technique - the Baby Wipe technique.  I LOVE this technique, but haven't played with it for a while.

I have used Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red and Crumb Cake ink refills to create a palette on a baby wipe.  I inked up the gorgeous butterfly stamp from Kindness Matters, on the baby wipe, and stamped it repeatedly on Very Vanilla card, to create a background. 

Using my Color Spritzer Tool, I added some splatters of Blushing Bride and Crumb Cake ink to the stamped panel.  Here's my card (warning: I got a little carried away with baker's twine bows!):

Stamps: Kindness Matters, Trendy Trees

Card: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla, Blushing Bride

Ink: Chocolate Chip and Riding Hood Red re-inkers, Crumb Cake re-inker and marker, Blushing Bride marker

Other: Labels Collection Framelits dies, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Cherry Cobbler and Early Espresso baker's twine, Color Spritzer tool, Basic Pearls, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, Chocolate Chip satin ribbon, Riding Hood Red pleated satin ribbon, sponge dauber, stampin' dimensionals, Tombow liquid glue

Unfortunately I have to work tomorrow, so I can't guarantee another card will make it onto my blog before I go away.  Watch this space!



FM59 & SUO#45: STAMPIN' UP!'S SIMPLY SENT EVERYDAY ELEGANCE

I'm joining in with The Friday Mashup challenge for the first time.  This week's challenge is to make a card with a decorative edge, and/or ribbon.  I made a happy discovery, of a Simply Sent kit from Stampin' Up!, that I'd forgotten I had!  (Does anyone else know that feeling, of owning so many craft supplies that it's like Christmas when you discover a long-since purchased item that you'd forgotten about?!)

The Simply Sent kit contains really pretty, ready-made, card bases with laser-cut edges - PERFECT for this week's Mashup!  All I've done is add a little stamping (including a sentiment stamped onto one of the labels from the kit), a flower, bow and punched border - and voila, a gorgeous card.  (My handmade flower is thanks to the wonderful tutorial from Joanne Leddy.)

I'm also entering this card in this week's SU Only Challenge, to add a 3-dimensional flower.  It's been way too long since I've played along at SUO!

Stamps: Curly Cute, Kindness Matters

Card: Simply Sent Everyday Elegance card, Cherry Cobbler cardstock

Ink: Baja Breeze and Cherry Cobbler stampin' pads

Other: Cherry Cobbler seam binding, Dotted Scallop ribbon border punch, Subtles glimmer brad, Fancy Flower punch, 5-Petal flower punch, Boho Blossoms punch, mini glue dots, sticky strip

JAI #107: JUST ADD .... NIKKI SPENCER!

This week's challenge at Just Add Ink is to case one of the gorgeous creations of the equally gorgeous Nikki Spencer, one of our Design Team members.

I decided to CASE this card, as I own, but haven't used, Stampin' Up!'s Build A Blossom stamp set and co-ordinating Blossom Petals Builder Punch.  I love the reds used by Nikki, but challenged myself to go with a blue colour scheme, as I rarely reach for blues.


Here's my version:

As you can see, I've used my standard top-fold A5 sized card (as opposed to Nikki's square).  I have difficulty tilting panels on my cards, so I placed the sentiment straight; perhaps I need to work on that neurosis!

Here's a closer look at the sparkly butterfly that is perched on the satin ribbon.  The stamped image was coloured in with markers, then spritzed with Champage Shimmer mist (shimmer paint mixed with rubbing alcohol).

Stamps: Build A Blossom, Kindness Matters, Field Flowers, Four Frames

Card: Marina Mist, Whisper White

DSP: Marina Mist Patterns Designer Series Paper

Ink: Bashful Blue stampin' pad and marker, Marina Mist stampin' pad and marker, Wild Wasabi and Basic Black stampin' pads

Other: Decorative Label punch, Blossom Petals Builder punch, Framed Tulips embossing folder, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Antique Brad, Champagne Shimmer paint, Basic Pearls, Crimper, sponge dauber, Bashful Blue satin ribbon, sticky strip, mini glue dots, paper snips

JAI #102 : JUST ADD KATHY TANNER

This week's challenge at Just Add Ink, is to draw inspiration from the gorgeous creations of Kathy Tanner, a member of the Design Team.

I scrolled through Kathy's blog and found a number of cards that I wanted to CASE, but finally decided on this card.  If I'd read Kathy's 'recipe' before starting, I would've realised that her card base is Crumb Cake .... but, I thought it looked like Soft Suede, so that's what I started with!  After consulting my handy Color Coach from Stampin' Up!, I decided on the colour combo of Soft Suede, So Saffron and Riding Hood Red.  I thought Very Vanilla would be a little less stark than Whisper White with these colours.

Like Kathy, I used the Just Believe stamp set, but as a slight variation, after stamping the main image on Very Vanilla card using Versamark ink, I embossed it with Iridescent Ice embossing powder.  I then sponged So Saffron ink over the top.   Here's a close-up of the embossed image, so you can (hopefully) see the subtle sparkle:






...... and my card in its entirety:

Stamps: Just Believe, Kindness Matters, Happiest Birthday Wishes, Parlor Prints

Card: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, So Saffron, Riding Hood Red

Ink: So Saffron, Soft Suede and Basic Black stampin' pads, Versamark inkpad

Other: Iridescent Ice embossing powder, 1 3/8" square punch, paper snips, Subtles brads, Paper Piercing tool and Mat Pack, sponge daubers