May Club Cards

I don't think I posted our club cards for this month!   I swear I have no memory left at this point.   :)

For our sketch card I did a bit of a remake on one of my Freshly Made Sketches cards.  I wanted to use the awesome vine image from Best Friends Forever and it worked perfectly on the base.   I also toned down the colors a bit by using So Saffron instead of Daffodil Delight.  

Our technique this month was the rock n' roll technique and Dawn's gorgeous card inspired me to create this one.  Upsy Daisy is just perfect for so many techniques, so I know many of us demonstrators are going to miss it.  

I'm feeling a bit under the weather today due to a scratchy throat, so I'm keeping this short.   I did want to give a shout out to my friend Lesley who made me the new watermark that you've been seeing in my photos.   Isn't it cute?   She managed to whip it out in minutes; the one I made took me months to do!   It's good to have clever friends.  :)  

FMS20: Pink Flower

I can't believe we are on sketch #20 at Freshly Made Sketches!   It feels like we started the challenges just yesterday.  Lesley is our hostess this week and challenged us for sure!   It took me a long time and a lot of tears to get my card made this week.   I have really been struggling creatively and have wanted to lock the door on my stamp room and never go back in lately.   I hope that feeling goes away soon as stamping is supposed to be fun, right?!  

Anyway, here is what I came up with this week:

I decided to try and make an A2 card with the sketch as I don't own any long, skinny envelopes.  Maybe that was my first mistake?   The second was using Regal Rose.   I told you guys that I don't like pink and I wasn't kidding!   It made me SOOO grumpy!!   I am determined to work on the idea for this one again one day as I think it does have potential.  I just need to do something with the vanilla parts of it; perhaps replacing the First Edition paper with plain vanilla card stock that's embossed or something?   We'll see.  For now I'm done thinking about it!

Be sure you got check out the blog and the other design team cards.  They all did a great job and I think you'll find their projects inspiring.  

Upsy Daisy Birthday

I have been getting a lot of customers who are new to stamping so to be able to help them, I've been looking through the catalog and getting some ideas of what products I think would work best for them.   Upsy Daisy was one of the stamp sets I picked for my Starter Kit last year when I signed up.   I think it's a great set for starting out because it has a nice image to work with as well as three different sentiments.   You can make a birthday, thinking of you, or thank you card with just this one set!

This card would be fairly inexpensive to recreate if you leave off the embossing on the strip of Bashful Blue.   You'd need 2 packs of card stock, 1 pack of designer paper, a stamp pad, baker's twine, and the stamp set. Not too bad, huh?   You could get this stamp set for free in your Starter Kit if you decide to sign up to be a demonstrator.   If you join this month, you'd also get a free Big Shot that would allow you to do that cool embossing too!    It's a great deal for those of you starting out or who want to get a discount on the products you already love.   :)   Contact me for more information or visit my website to sign up today!

Be sure to come back tomorrow so you can see the digital version of this card!

Stamps:  Upsy Daisy
Ink:  Early Espresso
Paper:  First Edition Designer Series paper, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Bashful Blue
Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder, Early Espresso Baker's Twine

Inspired by Maureen's card that can be found here.

Clean and Simple Class continued...

Here are the last 3 cards for my upcoming class.   I am proud of myself for finishing up my designs a whole week early!    Wow!   :)   This card is similar to one I've made before; it was just too awesome not to include for this class.   Lovely as a Tree might be an old set, but it is a good one for sure.  I'm happy it is sticking around for another year as I've only had it for a few months.  :)

Stamps:  Lovely as a Tree, Teeny Tiny Wishes, En Francais

Ink:  Old Olive, Early Espresso

Paper:  Confetti White

Accessories:  Early Espresso 3/8 taffeta ribbon (retiring)

Tools:  sponges, stamp-a-ma-jig

The Stampin' Up! catalog isn't called an idea book for nothing!   I love the projects on the front of the current edition and just had to make one of them for this class.   It is probably on the extreme side of clean-and-simple, but I wanted to show a bit of the spectrum for the class.   Isn't it lovely?  It makes me smile just to look at it! 

Stamps:  Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Early Espresso

Paper:  Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Pear Pizzazz, Baja Breeze, Pumpkin Pie, Greenhouse Gala designer paper (retiring)

Accessories:  Brights buttons, Early Espresso 3/8 taffeta ribbon (retiring), linen thread

Tools:  Big Shot, Top Note die, Lots of Tags Sizzlits, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder

Rich Razzleberry is one of my favorite colors and I've totally been neglecting it lately.   I decided to use it along with another neglected item, Upsy Daisy, for this card.   This stamp set is a great beginner set because it has the image and 3 sentiments.  It is so versatile and can be used for so many different techniques.   I think I must have some pent up aggression to get out because I can't stop using my paper piercer this week.  :)   

Stamps:  Upsy Daisy

Ink:  Rich Razzleberry

Paper:  Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry

Accessories:   Rich Razzleberry 5/8 grosgrain ribbon (retiring)

Tools:  Mat Pack, Paper Piercer

Upsy Not So Much

Well, this was one of those cards that I thought about and had an idea for before I stepped into my room. My idea was using the Paper Players sketch that you can find here.  When I started putting together the card I had in my head, it didn't turn out quite the same on paper. The colors I wanted to use just didn't work together like I wanted them to, so I changed up things and decided to finish it up and try the sketch again tomorrow. 

Stamps: Upsy Daisy
Ink: Melon Mambo, Basic Gray
Paper: Melon Mambo, Basic Gray, Neutrals Designer Series stack
Accessories: Basic Gray Taffeta ribbon (retired), Dazzling Diamonds

My sweet boy sleeping last night.   I love that kitty.

Two Projects in One Day! Oh My!

Here's my project for today.   It is not my normal style at all!  I got the idea from this card by djahner on SCS and ran with it.   I love Melon Mambo, so be prepared to see it a lot!  Sorry for the bad picture; not much sunlight at midnight.  :)  

Card Recipe:
Paper:  Whisper White card stock (#100730), Basic Black card stock (#102851), Pretty in Pink card stock (#100459)
Ink:  Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad (#115656)
Stamps:  Vintage Vogue (#118598) clear mount
Accessories:  Pretty in Pink button (retired?), Hemp Twine (#100982)
Tools:  Cutter Kit (#106958), Spiral punch (#108341)

Here is how I finished off my brayered sunset card.    I think it turned out pretty good for a first attempt.

Recipe:
Paper:  Whisper White card stock (#100730), Pumpkin Pie card stock (#105117), Chocolate Chip card stock (#102128)
Tools:   Brayer (#102395), Stamping Sponges (#101610), Stamp-a-ma-jig (#101049, Paper Cutter (#104152)
Ink:  More Mustard Classic Stampin' Pad (#103152), Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad (#105216), Riding Hood Red Classic Stampin' Pad (will be in new catalog), Chocolate Chip Classic Stampin' Pad (#100908)
Stamps:  Upsy Daisy (#111710)  

Technique Tuesday: Brayered Sunset

I have been in love with these types of images for ages now and finally broke down and purchased a brayer.   I had never really used one except to ink up an embossing folder or background stamp, so I was a bit scared to try anything more difficult than that.   I saw this great tutorial over on Andrea Walford's blog and decided it was a great place to start.   Mine has a ton of flaws and I'd love some ideas on how to turn it into a card, but I have to say, it was FUN!    I can't wait to try again and I hope my technique gets better as I keep practicing.   Any tips/hints welcome.  :)

Recipe:
Paper:  Whisper White card stock (#100730)
Tools:   Brayer (#102395)
Ink:  More Mustard Classic Stampin' Pad (#103152), Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad (#105216), Riding Hood Red Classic Stampin' Pad (will be in new catalog), Chocolate Chip Classic Stampin' Pad (#100908)
Stamps:  Upsy Daisy (#111710)

If you haven't thought about trying out this technique, DO It!  It is so fun and I think it makes for such a pretty image, even when done by a beginner.    If you are interested in trying it out and want some help, call me up and we'll get together and brayer away!   :)