Peace on Earth Deer

I was organizing my cards in my craft room and came across this card that I created 2 years ago. It was, and is, one of my favorites. Then the wheels started spinning and I created today's card which reflects a new, updated version. Sort of. It uses 3 completely new stamp sets: Christmas Deer, Evergreen, and Greetings of the Season.

It only uses 2 colors: Very Vanilla and Soft Suede. Those 2 colors together make lovely Christmas or winter cards. Also, you can barely see it but there is a star in the upper right corner. I used the new Illuminate Glimmer Watermark stamp pad for the star. If you haven't tried this new ink pad - it is soooo cool. I highly recommend it! 

Note: the deer has a funny shadow on its hind quarters due to the photo, not the stamped image. He is completely brown in real life. Apparently my photographic skills are lacking. :)

When I look at this card I see a stately deer standing on pristine snow in the twilight of the day. And all is quiet and peaceful. 

Stamps: Christmas Deer, Evergreen (Holiday Mini), Greetings of the Season (Holiday Mini)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede
Ink: Soft Suede, Illuminate Glimmer Watermark (Holiday Mini)
Other: Sponge

Peace to you, my friends.

Stippled Blossoms and Daydream Medallions

After my daughter's wedding I thought I would never want to see or use the color Coral again. We were on Coral overload! Lol. But all that has changed, thank goodness, because the reality of it is that I really love the color. And I love to pair Stampin' Up!'s Calypso Coral with Pool Party as you will see in today's card.

I have a few birthday's coming up that I will be needing cards so I figured I would get a head start on them now. I wanted to make this card soft and feminine so I gave it a lacy look by using stamps, punches and embossing folder. Read on for details!

If you haven't tried Daydream Medallion stamp set, I would like to give my recommendation. It can be used as a background, an accent, by itself or paired with the coordinating framelit set, Floral Frames. The latter is what I did with this card.

As far as the flower goes, everything is stamped directly to the cardstock except the leaves. Those are were stamped, cut and added with glue dots.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! and can be ordered by going to Shop Now Here.

Stamps: Daydream Medallions, Stippled Blossom, Bring On the Cake
Paper: In Color 2011-2012 dsp collection pack
Cardstock: Pool Party, Whisper White
Ink: Pool Party, Calypso Coral
Other: Pool Party Ribbon, Pool Party Brad, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, dimensional, Dotted Ribbon Border Punch, Big Shot, Floral Frames Framelit, Delicate Designs Emb. Folder

Happy Saturday! Thanks for visiting and I hope you will come again!

French Foliage Direct to Paper

My hubby and I took a walk the other day and noticed that the leaves are beginning to change. I think that has been the case for a while now but I am in denial. I hang onto summer for as long as possible!

But I was inspired enough to make a card using some autumn colors and the stamp set French Foliage.

First, I tried using ink refills and my aquapainter for the background but it wasn't going the way I wanted it to. So I decided to revisit an old technique called Direct to Paper. It is pretty simple. You just swipe an ink pad, or in this case 3 ink pads, directly across the cardstock. The new ink pads are perfect for this by the way!

Once I completed the background, I stamped the images and then sponged the edges to make the foreground "pop". After stepping back and looking at it, it needed something on the right hand side to balance the colors. That is why I added a little piece of punched cardstock and a button with linen thread. 

The base card is the new In Color, Summer Starfruit - perfect for autumn!

Stamps: French Foliage, Curly Cute

Cardstock: Summer Starfruit, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie

Ink: Summer Starfruit, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Early Espresso

Other: Button, Scallop Oval Punch, Linen Thread

Once again, thanks for taking the time to stop in.

Stippled Blossoms Sympathy

I needed to make a sympathy card this week and was really at a loss for design and color. All I knew was it had to include flowers since the recipient is a flower genius. I remember seeing this card and thought I would like to make a similar card only use all Stampin' Up! product and change the focal image a little.

Here is the card I made.

It is a little difficult to see the teeny tiny pearls in the center of the flower but they are there.

Stamps: Stippled Blossoms, Petite Pairs

Paper: Neutrals Color Pack

Cardstock: Whisper White

Ink: Certainly Celery, Daffodil Delight, Summer Starfruit, So Saffron, Basic Gray

Other: Basic Pearls, Primrose Petals Ribbon, Big Shot, Window Frames Framelits

Have a great day! Thanks for stopping.

Halloween card

I warned you that I would be trying my hand at masking, sponging, and stamping. :) I had so much fun creating my brother's birthday card (found Here), that I made another only I switched it up a little. 

For this card I stamped and sponged directly onto the base card. I just masked off the top and bottom first. 

I stamped the birds and branches first. This image is also from the Serene Silhouettes stamp set. I thought it would make a great Halloween card even though it isn't a Halloween stamp. That is one of the many things I love about Stampin' Up! stamps. Versatility!

After I stamped the image, I lightly sponged some Daffodil Delight across the general area where the moon would be. Then I made a mask with a 1 3/4" punched circle and sponged Pumpkin Pie, Elegant Eggplant over and around the mask. I also added a little bit of Basic Black around the edges. 
Note: The streaks were not intentional. It was just the way the ink was on the sponge. And I did not sponge round and round. I sponged left to right and right to left. 

I used a Basic Black marker for the sentiment because I didn't want the little pumpkin in the scene even though I love that little pumpkin.

And finally, I added the strip of punched cardstock to the bottom of the scene to give the impression of a fence. Imagination is required. lol.

Stamps: Serene Silhouettes, Seasonal Sayings (Holiday Mini)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Elegant Eggplant, Basic Black
Other: 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch

As always, thanks for stopping!

My Brother's Birthday Card

My brother's birthday was last week but I was away and he was away so I didn't get around to making him a card until this week. I had a specific type of card that I wanted to try to make just by using stamps, sponge and ink. And cardstock too of course.:) It is all in the masking. I must admit I have been totally inspired by Heather Telford and her beautiful cards.

My brother and I grew up in the country and not far from our house in the midst of some woods is a big beautiful meadow. In the center of the meadow is one stately oak tree. And that is the scene I tried to capture on my card.

I did emboss the tree with Early Espresso embossing powder to make it stand out even more. And I found that stamping and embossing the tree first helped the placement of the  land and sky. I loved making this card and am now inspired to try some more sponging and masking on other cards!

Stamps: Serene Silhouettes, Curly Cute
Ink: Versamark, Pool Party, Soft Suede, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze
Cardstock: Whisper White
Other: Sponges, Early Espresso Embossing Powder

Have a wonderful day. Thank you for stopping by.

Changing the color of Naturals Composition dsp

I have been really enjoying the Naturals Composition specialty paper. It is a new product this year and comes in different patterns which look and feel like they are clear embossed. Very cool!

And just like anything that is clear embossed, it can be sponged or brayered with colored ink for a completely different look! Love that.

So my card today uses that technique. I sponged Cajun Craze ink over the Naturals Composition dsp and created an autumnal looking card. Yes, I have finally resigned myself to the fact that summer is over and fall is here. Well, technically it isn't over for another 2 days so I guess I can hang onto summer for that long. :) I love summer!

I used the stamp set, Everything Eleanor for the shadowy background and the flower. I wanted to show how versatile this stamp set is! I also used the new Finishing Touches Edgelit and the new Delicate Designs embossing folder. Love them both.

Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Made For You
Paper: Naturals Composition Specialty Paper
Cardstock: More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Whisper White
Ink: More Mustard, Cajun Craze
Other: sponge, brad, Scallop Circle punch, Big Shot, Finishing Touches Edgelit, Delicate Designs emb. folder

Have stamp happy day!

Watercoloring on First Edition DSP

This is another card I made by stamping on the First Edition designer paper with Black Stazon and then watercoloring the stamped images. Here is my first example.

And because this card will be mailed, I didn't add any embellishments!

I am pretending that the bird is lost a feather and it is floating down to the ground. In reality it is a bit of ink that got picked up by the edge of the stamp. The beauty of art. :)

Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Made For You
Paper: First Edition dsp
Cardstock: Certainly Celery
Ink: Cajun Craze, Rich Razzleberry, Certainly Celery, Crumb Cake, Raspberry Ripple, Black Stazon
Other: Aquapainter

Have a blessed day!

Mixed feelings on this one

I have mixed feelings about today's card. I love the background. I will explain that later in my post. And I love the tree. But I'm not sure how I feel about the 2 together. What do you think?

The tree is from the stamp set, Serene Silhouettes. I used markers and colored directly on the stamp and then stamped it onto First Edition dsp. that was pretty easy and I really like stamping on the First Edition designer paper!


The background was done by first stamping with the Woodgrain Background stamp and then running it through the Big Shot with the new Woodgrain embossing folder. Once I did that I distressed it and added some Lucky Limeade dsp along the bottom. The woodgrain background kind of looks like a birch tree which wasn't my original intention at all.

If I had to do this card again, I think I would separate the 2 elements and make 2 different cards. I think. Always second guessing myself....!

Stamps: Serene Silhouettes, Woodgrain Background, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: First Edition Specialty, Lucky Limeade (In Color collection)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Early Espresso
Ink: Early Espresso, Lucky Limeade, Cajun Craze
Other: Big Shot, Woodgrain emb. folder (Holiday Mini), button, linen thread, Vintage trinket, sponge, word window punch


Thanks for stopping.

Turquoise, Coral and Brown

When Stampin' Up! introduced Calypso Coral and Pool Party last year, I fell in love with both colors especially Pool Party. But I also love Tempting Turquoise paired with Calypso Coral. It is a bright, cheery combination. For today's card I added some Early Espresso just because I had some pre-cut pieces in my scrap pile.

I also had some punched circle scraps in Coral And Turquoise so this is what I came up with using 2 stamp sets: Daydream Medallions and Serene Silhouettes. Well, actually I used 3 sets if you count the sentiment from Fabulous Phrases.:)

 If you look closely at the strip of embossed Calypso Coral cardstock, you can see where I used the scallop from the Essentials Paper Piercing Pack. It gets lost with the embossing but it is still a fun embellishment.

Stamps: Daydream Medallions, Serene Silhouettes, Fabulous Phrases
Ink: Calypso Coral, Tempting Turquoise
Cardstock:  Whisper White, Early Espresso, Calypso Coral, Tempting Turquoise
Other: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots Emb. Folder, Adorning Accents Emb. Folder, Two Tags Bigz die, 3" (I think) Circle Die, 1 3/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1" circle punch, button, brad, bakers twine


Thanks for stopping. Have a great week!

Blooming With Kindness and Dahlias

I am taking a break from Christmas/Winter cards! I have plenty of time for more of those. Instead, I have been playing around with some of the new embossing folders and stamp sets.

Here is my latest. It is definitely one of my more "artistic" cards and not one I would mail. I would/will hand deliver this one.

LOVE the Lacy Brocade embossing folder found in the Holiday Mini catalog. It is so elegant! For this card I stamped the background twice: first with Netting Background and then En Francais Background. I was going to add another background stamp but decided 2 was enough. :)

The flower from Blooming with Kindness was stamped several times and then cut out and layered. There are 3 layers in all, popped up with dimensionals. I think this flower is a dahlia which is one of my newest garden flowers - in my real garden. I have never planted them because the bulbs have to be dug up each year. Otherwise they freeze here in New England. This year I decided to plant dahlias anyway and they were soooo pretty!  I have already dug up the bulbs for next year. If you have any tips on the care of dahlia bulbs let me know, I am open to any help and advice I can get! I digress.

Stamps: Blooming with Kindness, Netting Background, En Francais Background

Ink: Pool Party, Soft Suede, Basic Black

Paper: Neutrals Color Pack

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Pool Party, Basic Black, Whisper White

Other: Big Shot, Lacy Brocade emb. folder, Labels Framelit, Oval Accent Bigz die, sponge, dimensionals, Basic Pearls, Pool Party Ribbon, Circle punch

Have a wonderful weekend!

Christmas Deer Swap

Today's card is another sample using the Christmas Deer stamp set. It is actually one of the swaps I made for the Providence, RI regional. If you don't celebrate Christmas, it can still be used for a wintery kind of card. 

A couple of details: 

• the deer is heat embossed with Early Espresso Embossing Powder (Holiday Mini)
• the crumb cake background is the new Natural Composition Specialty paper
• the Early Espresso cardstock is the Core'dinations cardstock (Holiday Mini) embossed with the Lacy Brocade embossing folder (also Holiday Mini)
• I added a little Basic Rhinestone for some bling
• The Color Spritzer Tool adds some random speckles.

If you haven't tried the Natural Composition Specialty paper - it is awesome! I have another card to show you another time using this paper. One of the demonstrators at Providence showed us a fun way to use it.

Have a great day!

Christmas Deer Tag

Not sure why, but I have been in a tag making mood lately. Maybe it is because tags generally go on gifts/packages and therefore can be embellished without fear of being charged for all of those "bumps". Sorry, I just get really frustrated with the post office.

But a tag - ahhh - a completely different story. This tag features the new stamp, Christmas Deer. It can be found in the large catalog on page 19, and includes little ornaments and a bird. What I love about it is again, the versatility.

 

To make this tag, I used the Big Shot and Two Tags Bigz die. I cut 2 Very Vanilla Tags, one of which I only used the bottom portion. That part I embossed and adhered it to the other tag. There may be an easier way but that is how I did it. 

Then I burnished (rubbed out) the score line in the middle as much as I could. I used a bone folder for this. I didn't want the crease to show up when I heat embossed the deer and for the most part you can't really see it.

Once I stamped and embossed the deer with Pewter Embossing Powder, I added some speckles with the Color Spritzer Tool and sponged some color around the deer to make it stand out a little. And finally, I added some teeny pearls here and there on the antlers.

Here is a close up of the antlers so you can see the pearls. And by the way, the Pewter Embossing Powder is one of my favorites!

My last step was to add a piece of Red Glimmer Paper over the seam and a rosette. Rosettes are perfect for tags and so fun to make! This tag will be saved for a special Christmas gift. Because the back is blank, I can write my To and From on that part of the tag! 

Stamps: Christmas Deer, Petite Pairs
Ink: Versamark, Soft Suede
Cardstock: Very Vanilla
Paper: Soft Suede (Neutrals Stack), Red Glimmer Paper
Other: Big Shot, Two Tags Bigz Die, Delicate Designs emb. folder, Pewter Embossing Powder, Color Spritzer Tool, Sponge, Antique Brad, Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon, Linen Thread, Vintage Trinkets, Circle Punch, Bone Folder, Basic Pearls

 Thanks for stopping. Hope you are having a great weekend so far!