Stampin' Up! The Open Sea and Flower Frenzy

Happy Sunday.   I thought I'd try to do a quick post before lunch to share a couple of the cards I made for the Dare to Get Dirty challenges yesterday.  This one was a fun one.  I stamped and heat embossed the Hardwood background and then painted over it with some white paint.  The flower is using the Flower Frenzy die which I just used for the first time!  I put it on my first order from the new catalog and somehow forgot about it.  (Or I was still protesting the retirement of Fun Flowers)   I used white tissue paper to cut two different sizes and then spritzed them with a mixture of alcohol and reinkers.   The sentiment is heat embossed on vellum and is from the And Many More set.  

Now the masculine card.  It features a bit of watercoloring of The Open Sea set.  I pulled out some retired designer paper because I have got to use up some of that stuff.   It's out of control!  lol   I can't really share the details of the challenges, but if you are a Fan Club member over on Splitcoast, be sure to check them out.   If you aren't, go join!  :)  

Always in on the picture action!  lol  She has her Hope Calendar pictures on Friday, so I hope she likes the camera then.   We got the most adorable dress for her to wear.   She's already had a meltdown wanting to wear it.  Shocking, I know!  lol

Stamp Review Crew The Open Sea Edition

It's time for a new hop of The Stamp Review Crew!   This time we are featuring one of my favorite sets, The Open Sea!  :)   Remember, if you get lost or turned around at any point in the hop we have a main landing page for you!

I'm a bit obsessed with watercolor paper lately.  I've made a lot of cards with this set, but nothing like this I think.  I used my reinkers and Aquapainter to do a watercolor wash on the background.   Then I stamped my ship on watercolor paper and used the Aquapainter and reinkers again for that.   I'm a bit impatient for this technique as I hate waiting for it to dry, but it ends up worth it in the end!

Stamps:  The Open Sea, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink:  Staz On black plus Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana, Soft Sky, and Crumb Cake reinkers
Paper:  Basic Black, Watercolor Paper
Tools:  Big Shot, Starburst framelits, 2 1/2 circle die, Aquapainter, Distress Tool
Accessories:  Neutrals Candy Dots, Linen Thread, Brights Designer Buttons

    

Stampin' Up! The Open Sea

Not much time to stamp this week.  :-/  I'm hoping tomorrow brings some craft room time for me as I need it!  Here's another card we made at my recent open stamping event.  I always like to offer a masculine option and this seems to be my go-to set for that.  It pairs perfectly with the World Map stamp too.  

Stamps:  The Open Sea, World Map, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Gorgeous Grunge

Ink:  Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake

Paper: Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla

Accessories:  Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Naturals buttons

Tools:  Big Shot, Window Collection framelits, 2 1/2 circle punch, Distressing Tool, sponges

Moms make the best beds sometimes. :)  She and "bu bu" napped  and cuddled with me for a while the other day.   I don't get much done on those days, but I know as she grows up I won't get this.  I'm enjoying it while it happens.    She's officially walking now and it's so crazy to look up and see her just moving all through the house.   We'll be heading to Stride Rite soon for some real shoes!  

FMS: The Open Sea

Uh oh!  I got so busy last night trying to find a photographer for Laila's one year pictures that I forgot to do my blog post.   Better late than never, right?   I swear the other ladies at Freshly Made Sketches are saints for putting up with my constant forgetfulness and failure to do things.   Now this week IS Amy's sketch; I was just a week ahead last week.   ;) 

Are you thinking "didn't she make a card like that already"?  If so, you are right!  I seem to be fixated on using this color combination with this stamp set.  They look so good together!   So forgive me.   

Stamps:  The Open Sea, Something to Celebrate, French Foliage

Ink:  Midnight Muse, Bashful Blue

Paper:  Midnight Muse, Bashful Blue, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Print Poetry stack

Accessories: Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine

Laila went to her first birthday party last weekend and here she is in her little cupcake outfit.  I had originally bought it for her birthday pictures, but I'm not sure it will fit by then!  :)  

CAS Sent with Love

When I saw the sketch at CAS(E) this sketch this week, I immediately had the idea for my card.  I just had to wait on UPS to show up with my stamp set.  ;)

It doesn't really get more clean-and-simple than that!  I'm usually not good at leaving cards like this alone without adding more and more, but Jason got home from work just in time to distract me from adding anything.  I love how simple and sweet it is.  Easy to mail too!  :)

This girl was a napping fool today.  After sleeping for 11 hours last night, she took two naps today that were around two hours each!   I'm guessing she must have been going through a growth spurt or something!  She was very pleasant today and that was such a nice change too!  I'm so glad to have my smiling girl back.  :)  She has learned to pull up on me and the baby gate now, so watch out world!

FMS81: Open Seas

Believe it or not, I finally stamped!   Cindy gave us this fun sketch for Freshly Made Sketches this week and it got me out of my slump for a minute.  Well, more than a minute I guess.  Who can make a card in a minute?  

I have really been struggling with stamping lately.  I don't want to stamp, I don't enjoy stamping.  It's a very strange place for me.   I have been avoiding it unless I have to do it.   When I sat down to make this card, I had no idea where to start.  I finally pulled out my Color Coach and picked a combination.   After that I made most of the card and then looked for a stamp set that would work with it.   Not the most traditional way of doing it, but it ended up working out.  I like how it turned out and that's a nice change for me. :)  

Stamps:  The Open Sea, French Foliage, Something to Celebrate

Ink: Midnight Muse, Bashful Blue

Paper:  Midnight Muse, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Print Poetry DSP, Tea for Two DSP

Tools:  Big Shot, Scallop Circles #2 die, 3-inch circle die, Scallop Border punch, paper snips

Accessories: Midnight Muse ribbon

Someone has discovered that they LOVE mom's iPhone.  Uh oh!  I'm sure it won't be long before she knows how to use it better than I do.  :)

Like all Texas kids, Laila had to have her picture made in the bluebonnets.  Her poor eye was really bugging her after our trip.   Our doctor gave us a referral if we wanted to get it checked out, but let us know that it can take up to she's a year old for the tear duct to open all the way.   We are going to wait for now and try to massage it as much as we can.  That's quite a task considering how active she is now!

Standing on One Leg?

I can't really call this one clean, but it is simple. :)  I was working on Denise's HYCCT challenge this morning and I now have a stack of great cards to finish up that didn't work out.  lol  She gave us a tough one that's for sure.  Here's the description: So my challenge to you is be like a flamingo and stand on ONE leg ! That means, use only ONE of each supply...one stamp, one button, one sheet of DP, one sheet of colored cardstock, one rhinestone...You can use any combination of things but only one of each type of product (the card base, a sentiment stamp, and your ink do NOT count). 

Yikes, right?!   I kept having too many of things so I finally decided to go really simple and came up with this one.  I'm not sure you can see "the world" that's stamped very lightly behind the sentiment, but it's there.  :)   I actually like how simple but NOT boring it turned out.  

Stamps:  Word Play, The Open Sea
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Midnight Muse
Paper:  Crumb Cake
Tools/Accessories:  Simply Scored, sponges, Midnight Muse stitched ribbon, color spritzer

My little 4 month old!  Goodness.   She's going to be out of stickers before I know it.  It is amazing to watch her grow and learn new things.  I can't believe how she changes from one day to the next.   She is such a blessing and I love her so much!

One sketch, three cards!

If you are looking for my Friday Mashup post, please click here or scroll down.  

Yesterday I had a wonderful lunch with two of my club ladies and we came back and stamped a bit afterwards.  I wanted to show them the versatility of a sketch, so I made up three designs for us using this sketch from Papered with Love.  I knew one of them had recently purchased the Top Note die and thought this one would be a perfect way to show her how to use it.  :)  

Our first card was the feminine version!  I used the same colors from my Freshly Made Sketches card this week because I am really loving them!  (I know, PINK!)    I kept it fairly simple, just added a bit of stamping on the card base with a small stamp from Raining Flowers.  

Stamps:  Raining Flowers

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Melon Mambo, Lucky Limeade, Pretty in Pink, Subtles DSP stack

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Top Note die, Tasteful Trim die, Fun Flowers die, circle punch, Blossom Builder punch, crimper, Neutrals glimmer brads

Our next project was the masculine version and of course I had to use The Open Sea!   The Color Coach gave me this gorgeous color combination; it has two of my favorites, Crumb Cake and Not Quite Navy.   For this one we used a background stamp on the card base, the Netting stamp.  It adds a bit of interest without taking away from the main image.   We also embossed the Top Note with the Houndstooth embossing folder. 

Stamps:  The Open Sea, Netting background

Ink:  Crumb Cake, Not Quite Navy

Paper:  Crumb Cake, Not Quite Navy, Riding Hood Red, Naturals White

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Tasteful Trim die, Top Note die, houndstooth embossing folder, circle punch, Neutrals buttons, White Baker's Twine

Our final project was the child version!   For some reason I just love this one; it seems fun I guess?  We left the card base plain this time, but embossed the Top Note with the Stripes embossing folder.   Button Buddies was being neglected, so I thought it would be the perfect image for this one.   I used the pennant stamp set and punch to give Mr. Piggy a party hat with a bit of bling.    Isn't he cute?

Stamps:  Pennant Parade, Button Buddies
Ink:  Real Red, Pacific Point
Paper:  Pacific Point, Real Red, Whisper White
Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Top Note die, Tasteful Trim die, Stripes embossing folder, circle punch, Pennant punch, Itty Bitty Punch pack, Brights buttons

If you like this concept, we'll be doing it again next Friday night!   I'm having a Girls' Night Out stamping event where we'll take a sketch and do 3 cards each of 3 different designs.  It starts at 6:30pm and is only $20!   You can check out the details and RSVP on my website.  I hope to see you there.  :)

FM56: Text the Grad

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

1. Make a project for "Graduation".
2. Or Make a project using " Text or Definition Stamps and/or Paper".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a " Graduation project with Text or Definition stamps/papers".

Friday Mashup time!  This week our challenge is to use text stamps/paper or to make a graduation card.   I did both with my card this week which wasn't easy considering we don't have any current graduation stamps!   

What do you think?  Does it pass for a graduation card?  :)   I tried to use colors from one of the local high schools to make it work a bit better.   I hope someone will appreciate it.  I'm all shopped out and tired, so I'm keeping it short tonight.   Please come play along with us this week!    We love seeing new players as well as our regulars.  

Club Cards

I thought I'd share the cards we made at club last night.   I hope the ladies enjoyed them.  :)

I just had to demonstrate Send Me Soaring before the mini catalog ends this month.  It is one of my favorite sets and so perfect for this time of year!   I made over one of my Friday Mashup cards because I just loved the colors and design!

For our technique card, we used the Distressing Essentials kit and the Stained Mosaic technique.  I love the vintage look of this one.   Soft Suede works so perfectly with the Tea Stain ink from the kit!

Here's what I did yesterday.  Easter is one of my favorite holidays because I just love bunnies, baskets, and hiding eggs!    I couldn't resist putting together a little basket for Laila.   I'm pretty sure Jason thinks I've lost my mind, but I'm just SOOOO excited and love her so much already.  

Finally, I wanted to mention that I did change the comment settings on my blog.   I had allowed anonymous commenting for a while, but someone left a hurtful comment the other night that really upset me and it is now off.   I hope from here on out that anyone who has any issue with me or my work will have the courage to email me so that I can at least defend myself.  To be accused of copying someone else's work, especially when it is untrue is very hurtful. I believe I know the particular card this person was referencing and it was made almost 4 months after mine.  After having my cards repeatedly copied with no credit and my photos even taken at one point, I'm very sensitive to this issue. I try so hard to always give credit back if I am inspired by another person's work.   As a human, I'm not perfect of course, but I do try my best.   Anyway, sorry to those who were able to comment before but won't be able to now.  

Mailable Monday!

My friend Mindy has a weekly blog feature she calls Mailable Monday and I love the idea of it!  The trick is to keep the cards flat without a lot of embellishments so that you can quickly throw them in the mail with a regular stamp.   If you hate going to the post office as much as me, then this idea is perfect!   I pulled out my Distressing Essentials kit to play with and here's what I came up with.   Now I wanted to stick a ton of brads on it and maybe a button, but that defeats the purpose!    I did have fun playing with the kit, so I think it might be our featured technique at stamp club in April.   Distressing is such a great way to get those frustrations out!  :)  

Stamps:  The Open Sea (still available as a write-in)

Ink:  Soft Suede, Tea Stain distress ink

Paper:  Soft Suede, Very Vanilla (textured and normal)

Tools/Accessories:  Distressing Essentials kit, Cutter Kit, Color Spritzer tool, Big Shot, Tasteful Trim die, Linen Thread

FMS11: The Open Sea

Wow! Where has this week gone already?   I can't believe it is already Wednesday!    You do know that that means though!   Time for a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches!   My awesome friend Linda designed the sketch for this week.   Isn't it a cool one?   So many possibilities!   I pulled out one of my favorite sets, The Open Sea, because I just knew it would be PERFECT for this layout!  

See what I mean?  PERFECT!   Now this stamp set is still available, but if you missed out on the gorgeous matching paper, you can only find it on My Digital Studio.   I'm a bit sad about that as I love them together and should have bought an extra pack or four.   :)   You will be seeing some retired stamps and paper on here for a bit as I'm trying to be a good girl and use up some things.  I reorganized my room and found lots of goodies that need some love!  

I hope you'll go check out the rest of the samples from the design team and start thinking up some ideas for your own card!

Stamps:  The Open Sea

Ink:  Crumb Cake, Not Quite Navy

Paper:  Not Quite Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Nautical Expedition (retired)

Tools/Accessories:  Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, Regals buttons, Cherry Cobbler baker's twine

Play Date Cafe #105

The Play Date Cafe had a wonderful inspiration photo this week and I just had to play along.   I am more than  a little obsessed with any kind of coffee drink, so it took me a bit to quit looking at the picture and actually work on my card!   Don't those look yummy?    Anyway, on the the card....

I'll start by saying that I don't do vintage.  It is totally outside my comfort zone and I find it very confusing.  Distressing?  I end up way more distressed than the paper!  However, I love to challenge myself so I recently purchased the Distressing Essentials kit.   I pulled out my tea stain ink and started swiping, wiping, and crumbling like an old pro.   I hope I managed to achieve a vintage feel to it.  Any suggestions or comments from you vintage professionals?  I'm so happy that Stampin' Up! decided to carry this set over through June.   I had no idea I was such a fan of nautical things until I got it.  

I hope you enjoyed my card today!  I'm off to start some pizza dough and get ready for some football!  Go Texans!   

Stamps:  The Open Sea, Something to Celebrate (retired)

Ink:  Marina Mist, Crumb, Cake, Chocolate Chip, Tea Stain Distress ink

Paper:  Marina Mist, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla

Tools/Accessories:   Big Shot, Stripes embossing folder, Distressing Essentials Kit, Mini Brads - silver, 2 1/2 circle punch, Chocolate Chip 1 1/4 striped ribbon (retired), paper snips

Cupcakes & Cards class

Tomorrow I'll be hosting a fun day out for some lovely ladies.   We'll be making 4 cards, including this one, and snacking on some cupcakes.  I'm making these yummy looking Shirley Temple Cupcakes with a matching drink!   :)    I'll post more pictures after I get my baking finished.  (Just don't expect them to look like the website; I am NOT a cake decorator.  I failed miserably at the one Wilton class that I took!)

And seriously, I'm going to CRY on September 1st when I can't use this set for classes!   I LOVE it so much!

Stamps:  Word Play, The Open Sea
Ink:  Not Quite Navy, Riding Hood Red
Paper:  Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, Riding Hood Red, Nautical Expedition designer paper
Accessories: Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine
Tools:  Cutter Kit, sponges, 3/4 inch circle punch

Creative Crew Open Sea

Here's the last of my July Creative Crew projects.   I LOVE this stamp set!    I can't believe it will be gone in just a little over 2 weeks.   I hope you have added it to your collection by now; if not, what are you waiting for?   It's THE perfect masculine set and you can buy the equally perfect designer paper to match!   Shoot, you can even buy 3 packs of it and get another one free right now!    What? You don't hoard designer paper?  Really?   Hmm...  Me either.  :o)  

This set uses my absolute favorite color, Island Indigo with two neutrals, Early Espresso and Crumb Cake.    (Doesn't a coffee with some crumb cake sound delish?  We've been following the South Beach Diet for about 2.5 weeks now and I am very sugar deprived.)   Anyway...   I embossed the compass stamp with white embossing powder on watercolor paper and then used my Aquapainter and stamp pad to color the rest of the paper before stamping the ship and travel log in Early Espresso.  While I was at it, I added some personality to my Island Indigo layer by stamping the other images from the set on it.   Isn't it just screaming MAN?  Thankfully it doesn't smell like one!

Stamps:  The Open Sea
Ink:  Island Indigo, Early Espresso, Versamark
Paper:  Island Indigo, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, watercolor paper, Nautical Expedition designer paper
Accessories:  white embossing powder
Tools:  Aquapainter, heat tool

Workshop Cards

Wisteria Wonder and Concord Crush together are so fabulous!!!   Here I paired them with the Strength & Hope stamp set and the faux mother-of-pearl technique.   I love how it turned out and I hope my wonderful ladies do as well.   :)

Stamps:  Strength & Hope
Ink:  Concord Crush, Wisteria Wonder
Paper:  Concord Crush, Wisteria Wonder, Glossy White
Accessories:  Basic Pearls, Frost White Shimmer Paint
Tools:  Big Shot, Framed Tulips embossing folder, sponge, plastic wrap

This has been my favorite stamp set from the Summer Mini catalog and I wanted to show it off tomorrow.   I love how well it pairs with Word Play!   I kept it simple and didn't add any accessories.  Our post office is getting really strict on cards with bumps, so this would be a great card to mail with just a regular ol' postage stamp.  

Stamps:  The Open Sea, Word Play
Ink:  Cherry Cobbler, Not Quite Navy, Early Espresso
Paper:  Early Espresso, Naturals White, Nautical Expedition DSP

Techniques Class Cards

Embossing is fun, but double embossing is even more fun! Ink up your embossing folder with Versamark, emboss as normal in your Big Shot, and then add your embossing powder and heat. I want to redo this one and use plain card stock and a vintage brad for my flower as I think it would look better that way. 

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Versamark, Basic Black 
Paper: First Edition DSP, Brights Designer Paper stack, Wild Wasabi, Very Vanilla, Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: black embossing powder, Rich Razzleberry ribbon, neutrals jumbo brads
Tools: scallop circle punches, 1/2 inch circle punch, Blossom Petals punch, Big Shot, heat tool, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder

How about a different card fold? This is a pocket fold card and it is super easy to do. I decorated it with all the fun nautical items from the Summer Mini Catalog.

Stamps: The Open Sea, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Not Quite Navy
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Naturals White, Not Quite Navy, Nautical Expedition DSP
Tools: circle punches, Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch, scallop edge border punch

Faux mother-of-pearl is one of my favorite new techniques. I love the aged look that it adds to a card.  Erica's lovely card was the inspiration for this card.   

Stamps: Nature Walk, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Staz on black
Paper: Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, glossy white
Accessories: Frost White Shimmer Paint
Tools: Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, sponges, plastic wrap


And just for fun:  

Here's a card using the fun new set, Button Buddies.   Pardon the crooked image; I was just too excited to get ink on my new toy!

Layered Background Technique

I finally gave up and finished this card today.    It was totally not what I was going for, but that happens sometimes.   I was trying out this cool technique that I saw over on Carrie's blog; isn't it awesome?   I didn't have Sahara Sand, so I tried using the closest thing I had, a Crumb Cake marker.   Well...it separated out red instead of brown!  I was totally thrown for a loop, but tried to salvage it using the closest color I had, Riding Hood Red.   I am not good at distressing, nor do I like putting things on crooked and/or off-center, so this card is most definitely NOT one of my favorites.  I am putting the right colors on my next order and trying it again because I love Carrie's card and am determined to get that look.  :)

Stamps:  The Open Sea, French Foliage
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Not Quite Navy, Riding Hood Red
Paper:  Riding Hood Red, Not Quite Navy, Crumb Cake, Nautical Expedition designer paper, watercolor paper
Accessories:  Baker's Twine, clear embossing powder
Tools:  cutter kit, sponges, sanding blocks, clear blocks

PP46: Color Challenge

Ann has a great color challenge for us this week at the Paper Players.    It is perfect for a masculine card and coordinates with the new nautical suite in the Summer Mini.    I've used The Open Sea for several masculine cards lately and wanted to use it again, but without the ship stamp.    Thankfully, I just got my new order in this week and had the awesome Word Play set to use.   It is a really fun set and I loved that I was able to get it for 30% off thanks to Stampin' Up!'s May scrapbooking promotion.   What do you think?   I think it is perfect for a graduation card!

Stamps:  The Open Sea, Word Play
Ink:  Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Not Quite Navy
Paper:  Not Quite Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Naturals White, Early Espresso, Nautical Expedition designer paper
Tools:  circle punches, sponges, cutter kit

May Creative Crew Challenges

These two cards were designed for the May Holiday/Seasonal Focus.  I used the same rough layout, just flipped it for the second card.      CCREW0511HF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM - Holiday/Seasonal Focus -- Family Time!  This month we're doing a his & hers challenge. Choose one layout and make a masculine card and a feminine card!   

These two projects focus on the DSP/Color Focus challenge of using the Elegant Soiree DSP or all neutrals with a splash of Baja Breeze.   CCREW0511DF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM - DSP/Color Focus: 
-- Go neutral with a splash of color! Instead of whisper white or very vanilla, try naturals white or ivory, confetti white or cream. Large emphasis on neutrals. Look to the Elegant Soiree DSP this month for inspiration: All neutrals with that splash of baja breeze! You do not have to use the Elegant Soiree DSP but that is the look that we're after.

My final creation was a difficult one for me as I am not good at "vintage".   It ended up being a very soft, elegant card with just a hint of distressing.   I love the vintage trinkets and they are perfect for this look.  CCREW0511CF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM - Catalog Focus -- So Distressing. Use the Distressing Essentials kit, cutter kit, sponges, daubers. Make the new look old.


The last challenge is one that I didn't do, the scrapbooking focus.   CCREW0511SF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM - SB Inspiration Focus: -- Vintage Pages. We want to see black and white or Sepia photos! We want the page to look like it's from a by-gone era, think antiquing, distressing, lace, etc.


I encourage you to play along with us over on Splitcoast this month and upload your beautiful creations!   Be sure to use the challenge id and creativecrew in your keywords so that we can see you work.  :)