TSSC 365 - Flower Card

EDIT 6/16/15: For some reason my design team sample didn't make it on the TSSC blog with the others. I just went ahead and linked it the way you will when you play along. So if you look for it there, it's underneath with the challenge entries.

Here's my design team sample for this week's Techno Stamper Sketch Challenge. I used the faux suede technique on the flower.

Supplies:

Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White

Designer Series Paper (DSP): In Color Envelope Paper (Watermelon Wonder)

Big Shot: Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder (retired)

Punch: 3/4" circle, Pansy Punch (on the weekly deals through tonight), and a punch from the Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack (retired)

Sorry about the retired items. You could use the Decorative Dots embossing folder instead of Perfect Polka Dots ef. There are a few options for the retired punch - 1/2" circle punch would be a little bigger, but still good; a Brights Designer Button; or if you used Delightful Dijon instead of Daffodil Delight, a 2015-2017 In Color Blossom Accent would look cute.

Here's this week's sketch. Use it to inspire you! I was pretty literal with it.

You can link your project and see the rest of the design team samples at the Techno Stamper Sketch Challenge site. Hope you'll play along this week!

Sale-a-Bration ends 3/31

Sale-a-Bration (SAB) ends tomorrow (Monday, 3/31)! Get your exclusive SAB items before they're gone!

Here are a couple of cards I made featuring Sale-a-Bration items.  The top card has the following SAB items: Banner Blast, Banner Punch, Summer Starfruit Baker's Twine (from Sweet Sorbet Accessory Pack). The other stamp is from Starburst Sayings and is cut out with the Starburst Framelits. The banner holders were punched with one of the punches from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack.

This card is a CASE, but I've seen so many versions that I don't know who to give credit to. SAB items on this card: Banner Punch and See Ya Later. Other products: Circles Framelits, Word Bubbles Framelits.

Pacific Point Pansies (Flower Shop)

Here's one of the cards we made in stamp club last week.  It uses the new Stampin' Up! set Flower Shop and the coordinating Pansy Punch.  You can get both of the items in a bundle and save 15%.  The sentiment is from Petite Pairs.

The embossing was done with the Fancy Fan folder.  The flower centers on the Whisper White piece were punched with the circle from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, but in class we used circles from the Owl Punch.  They are a little smaller and looked better because you can see the inner ring of white polka dots (like on the punched Pansy, which has a new Candy Dot for it's center).  I just haven't changed my sample card yet.  The Designer Series Paper is the Patterns Paper Stack - Brights.

Colors:  Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White.

Boo Hoo Girl (Punch Art)

This card was made by my friend and customer, Nancy Baker, whose work I've shared before.  She made this for the birthday of a mutual friend.

 The face is the Ornament Punch (119847, retiring, 25% off).  The hair is the Scallop Oval Punch.  The mouth is a Circle Punch.  She used the Little Leaves Sizzlit, Boho Blossoms Punch and a punch from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack for the flower above the Happy Birthday Label (which is from the Bitty Banners Framelits). The medallion was made with a Scallop Punch (not sure which size) which was punched twice, with a smaller circle layered inside.  Not sure what else, though I believe several parts were hand cut.

Here's another card she made:

Some of the supplies I recognize:  a label from the Lots of Tags Sizzlits (retiring), a retired Embossing Folder, Butterfly Embosslits, Ticket Corner Punch (retired).  I'm sure the crocuses are made with some small piece from a punch, but I don't know which one.

Nancy often gets inspiration from other stampers, so it's possible these may resemble something you've made.  If so, please let us know by leaving a comment with a link to your work.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.  I hope you've enjoyed seeing my friend's cards.

Friendly Phrases Flower

Friendly Phrases is such a great set.  I love the phrases, the font, and the size.  Sadly, it's on the retired list.  You can see other cards using Friendly Phrase here.  You can see the other flower type included with the Pop-up Posies kit here.  Be sure to get both these items before they're gone.

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Friendly Phrases (on retired list)

Card stock:  Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight

Ink:  Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo (sponged flower)

Embellishments:  Pop-up Posies Kit (Spring Catalog), Brights Glimmer Brads,  3/16" Brights Brads (on retired list)

Punches:  Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, Large Oval, XL Oval, Boho Blossoms

Big Shot:  Honeycomb Embossing Folder

Techno Stamper Sketch Challenge 259 and Late Night Stampers 219 (Four Frames)

Good Morning!  I combined challenges again this week.  Last week when I saw the challenges, nothing came to mind and I just had to start creating to come up with something.  Well, this week was just the opposite.  As soon as I saw the challenges, an idea popped into my head right away.  The only thing I had to do was decide on the colors.  Isn't that funny how my reaction to seeing the challenges was so totally opposite?  Just goes to show - you can't control the creative process.

So, here's my card:

 

Edit 4/16/13 - You may notice this card is slightly different than the one on the challenge sites.  Something about it just didn't seem quite right.  I looked at the sketch again and moved the Decorative Label punched element to the left. 

 

Did you notice I used one of the returning colors?  I paired Blushing Bride, which will be available in the new catalog, with Pool Party.  The 2010 In Color Designer Series Paper Patterns Pack, which I used on this card, is available on the Clearance Rack now.  I used a card from the Note Card and Envelope pack  to match the shape of the TSSC sketch.

The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes and was stamped inside a stamp from Four Frames, which was punched out with the Decorative Label Punch.  The vertical strip was punched with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch.  The flowers were punched with one of the punches in the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack.  I used my stylus (that came with my Simply Scored) and my Stampin' Pierce Mat to give the flowers some dimension*.  Because they weren't flat, I used glue dots to adhere them.  I put a Basic Pearl in the center of each.

Here's the Techno Stamper sketch:

The Late Night Stamper Challenge this week is Paired with a Punch.  This week we are creating samples using stamp sets that have a matching punch!  What a fun one this is going to be.

I hope you'll play along this week.  You can see the other design team challenges and link your entries here:

Techno Stamper Sketch Challenge

Late Night Stampers Sketch Challenge

Thanks for stopping by my blog and checking out this week's challenges!

*See more flowers that I've given dimension using a stylus here (gave texture and dimension all over) and here (scroll down in post to second card - gave texture to center, which raised the outside petals).  The flowers on today's card were done in a similar manner.  I pressed my stylus in a small circle around the center of the flower, which raised the outside edges.

Crosses of Hope with Flowers

I think this set, Crosses of Hope, is so pretty and I'm excited to finally get to use it.

I've said before that I think challenges are fun because you never know what you're going to end up with.
Originally I was going to use the cross and the Floral District Designer Series Paper for the Techno Stamper Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge.  But I ended up cutting the Whisper White cardstock  to fit the cross and it was too short.  So, I rotated the card.  I still added the ribbon, but rather than add the two embellishments as on the sketch, I added punched flowers with pearl centers along the bottom of the cross.  I'm so pleased with how it turned out that it's going to be the third card for this month's club.

Technically, I could have used this as my design team sample, since this card was inspired by the sketch.  But I ended up making another card that follows the sketch more literally.  You can see it here.

Stamps:  Crosses of Hope
Designer Series Paper:  Floral District
Cardstock:  Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry
Ink:  Lucky Limeade
Punch:  Itty Bitty Shapes Punck Pack
Embellishments:  Basic Pearls
Ribbon:  White Organza

All Dressed Up

Here's another card I made at the team meeting on Saturday morning.  It was designed by Frances Wagner.  This is the first time I used the Dress Up Framelits Dies.  Isn't that dress made with the More Amore Designer Series Paper just the cutest?  The flower at the waist with the pearl adds a nice touch.  The sentiment is from the All Dressed Up stamp set.  The front says, "happy birthday" and inside it says, "fashionable late...but worth the wait."

Do you ever have something that when you first see it in the catalog you think you aren't going to want?  In my case, it's more like, "Thank goodness!  Finally, something I won't have to buy." (lol)  The dress items were like that for me.  But, as usually happens, now that I've seen samples and made this cute card I know I'll be making more projects with these little dresses and the dress form.

If you love Stampin' Up products (and who doesn't?), why not consider becoming a demonstrator?  It's a great way to get your products at a discount and earn some extra cash.  If you join during Sale-a-Bration you'll get an extra 25% of merchandise for free in your Starter Kit.  See here to join or contact me for more information.  I'd love to have you on my team!  Not only will I be honored if you choose me to be your upline, I'll be here as a resource as you build your business.

Double Challenge (Madison Avenue)

This week I doubled up on my design team challenges - a challenge in itself.  I incorporated both challenges in one card.

The Late Night Stampers Challenge is:

Still Sale-A-Brating!  By now you should have at least one SAB freebie, lets see what you can do with it!  My card has three Sale-a-Bration items on it.

And here is this week's sketch from the Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge (aka Technostamper Sketch Challenge - TSSC250):

Here's my card for this week:

The Sale-a-Bration items are:  Vine Street embossing folder, Sycamore Street buttons and the Madison Avenue stamp set.

Colors are:  Lucky Limeade, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, and Whisper White

I tied Lucky Limeade Baker's Twine in the the button.

And just for kicks, I took my card and changed it up a bit.   This one has a little different color scheme and the Pool Party strip is embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.

 I really changed the colors around on this card.  I left the polka dots and added some Pool Party Sycamore Street ribbon.  Instead of using Baker's Twine on the Sycamore Street button, I used the circle punch from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack for the center.

This card doesn't follow the sketch, but it was inspired by it and by the cards I'd already made.  As I've said before, that's one of the things I enjoy about sketch challenges.  They spark my creativity and I never know what I'll end up making.  I was going for a single layer card.

 So now that you've seen my card for this week's challenges, why not go check out the samples from the other design team members and create your own card(s) to enter?

Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge 248

I am very excited to announce that I was invited to be on the Techno Stamper Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge Team.  I'm quite honored because Mary Jo Price-Williams saw my work and liked it enough to invite me.  The members of the team are listed at the bottom of this post.  They are a talented group of stampers.

Here's this week's sketch:

I was pretty literal with my card and followed the sketch closely.  The color combination reminded me of summer and 4th of July, which made me think of the fair and Ferris Wheels.  Here's what I came up with:

The stamps are from the Sale-A-Bration set Feeling Sentimental, which can be yours free with a $50 order.  Colors:  Midnight Muse and Raspberry Ripple. 

The sketch is merely a starting point to jog your creativity.  This week's sketch also inspired the next card.  It is not nearly as literal as the other.  I turned it on its side and replaced the two same colored layers with a ribbon at one end and flowers at the other.  The stamps are from Amazing Family, which is in the new Spring Catalog.

I love how one sketch can inspire so many different ideas.  Why don't you let the sketch inspire you?  Create a card using the sketch and link to it so we can all see your creation.  Never done this before and not sure how?  Just ask and I'll walk you through it.

Sketch Team Members:

Sue Root 
Nicole Tugrul
Robbie Rubala
Ellen LeFevre
Tanya Bell
Carolyn Bennett
Jonia Smith
Mary Brown
Mary Jo Price-Williams

Merry Christmas!

Wishing all of my readers a very Merry Christmas!  I hope  your Christmas is truly wonderful.

Here's a little card and gift combo that I made.  I used the Petal Cone Die to create both the 3d item and the tree on the card.  They were both embossed with the retired Finial Press Embossing Folder and the stars on top were made with the retired Stars #2 die.

 The presents on the card are just small squares and rectangles cut from Festival of Prints Designer Series Paper.  The bows were made with one of the punches from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack.

The message is from one of the hostess sets in the current Holiday Catalog.  The center is punched with the 1" Circle Punch and the outer layer is punched with the 1 1/4" Scallop Punch.

 This 3d tree opens on the bottom, so you can fill it with candy or a small gift.  It looks cute with a cut out from the Scallop Circle die as a tree skirt and little boxes around it for presents.

Between sickness and family visits, I know it's been a week since my last post.  Since we're lucky enough to have continuing family visits, it will probably be a while until my next post.  Hope you, too, will continue to enjoy the holiday season and I'll be back in the new year.

In the meantime, my next class is January 9th.  Check out my whole schedule here and then contact me to register.

Holiday Frame with Berries

Wreath Card

I embossed the wreath on Whisper White card stock using the Holiday Frame Embossing Folder and the Big Shot.  Then I cut out the wreath and sponged it using sponge daubers and three different green inks.  I used the circle from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack to make the berries and then mounted the wreath on a piece that had been embossed with the Woodgrain Embossing Folder.

Butterflies and Flowers

Here's a coordinating set I designed.  I think it's nice when you give a gift to coordinate the card with the packaging if possible.

 The candy wrapper die is an interesting way to package a small gift.  You could also fill it with candy and use it as a favor at a banquet or party.  Here is a close up of the candy wrapper.

 This is a 3 x 3 card.  Stampin' Up sells square envelopes to fit this size card.  They can't be mailed, but are great for hand delivering, packing in a lunchbox, leaving on a co-workers desk, or attaching to a gift.

Cardstock:  Calypso Coral, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive

DSP:  First Edition

Punches:  Boho Blossoms,  Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack

Big Shot:  Candy Wrapper die, Butterfly embosslits

Bright Birthday Trifold Shutter Card

This is the trifold shutter card that we made in the Fancy Folds class yesterday morning and Tuesday evening.  I love trifold shutter cards!  It takes me a while to design them because there are so many panels and sometimes it's hard to find small enough stamps, but the assembly is easier than it looks and the end results are well worth the time.

The main image on the front consists of 4 stamps from the Make A Cake stamp set.  The center image is from Delightful Dozen and the other two are from the hostess set, Happy You.

The Big Shot was used to emboss the Daffodil Delight pieces with the Fancy Fan embossing folder and to cut the front image and its background layer with the Labels Collection Framelits.  The flowers were punched with the Boho Blossoms punch and the centers with one of the punches from the Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack.

A great thing about Stampin' Up's Designer Series Paper (DSP) is how the sheets in a package coordinate with each other.  Often they coordinate with stamps and embellishments, too.  Another great thing is that the catalog lists all of the colors in the DSP so it's easy to choose colors for a project.

This is a view of the card when it's closed:

If you are part of my stamp club, you got to take this class for FREE.  If not, you were able to attend by paying a class fee.  Everyone there had a great time and enjoyed all three projects we made.  Don't miss the next one -- either Thursday, July 19th at 6:30pm or Wednesday, July 25th at 10:00am.  See the Classes/Events page or contact me for more details.  We'd love to have you join us!

Delightful Dozen Mother's Day Card

One of the reasons I haven't posted in a while is because I was away on our annual Mother's Day trip that my mom, sister and I do.  It was our 7th one this year and every one has been great!

Here's the card I made for my mom for Mother's Day this year.  Even though the trip wasn't until June she did get the card on the right day.

I made the rosette using the Designer Rosette die.  The sentiment is from Delightful Dozen.  The background was embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder.  The flower and leaves in the center of the rosette were made with the retired 5 Petal Flower punch.  The center of the flower was done with the Boho Blossoms punch, the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack and a designer pearl.

Thanks for reading my blog today.  Come back soon.  I'm not planning on such a long break until I post again.

Posy Punch with Faux Suede

Happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers out there!  Hope your Mother's Day was as wonderful as mine was!!

This card is made with the retiring hostess set, Posy Punch.  It's not too late to get this cute set, but time is running out (May 31).  Contact me today to see how this set can be yours!

I stamped the image in Tangerine Tango and punched it out with the Fancy Flower punch.  I also punched two more Fancy Flowers in Tangerine Tango so that I could layer them behind the punched image.  I stamped the center Hello in Daffodil Delight and punched it out with a circle punch.  I sponged around the edges in Tangerine Tango and then sponged a little more lightly in the center.

The frame is from the retiring Oval Scallop Frame die.  It was cut with my Big Shot out of Daffodil Delight cardstock.  The flower in the lower right was punched from Tangerine Tango using the Fancy Flower punch.  I used the Faux Suede technique to get that cool soft look.  Some of you have seen this technique at my recent events.  The flower center is one of the Itty Bitty Shapes Punches and a retiring Fire Circle Rhinestone brad.  I finished the card with the Corner Rounder punch on each corner.

May Team Meeting

Once again, we had a wonderful time at our team meeting!  It was held Sunday at the home of my upline, Frances Wagner.  Thanks Frances for providing a wonderful lunch and Deb Dodd for the delicious dessert!!

Here is the make and take we did.  Frances designed it using the new stamp set Everything Eleanor.  The sentiment is from Pursuit of Happiness.  I love how she also used the Tasteful Trims die and Baker's Twine, two of my favorites.

Here are the swap cards.  The first one is a double punch card from Karel Standish.  Isn't this just the coolest idea?  Karel has instructions on her blog.

This card was made by Debbie Green.  Looks like Mixed Bunch and the Blossom Punch were popular for this swap!  Of course, I think they are popular with everyone!!  The sentiment is from Elementary Elegance, which was one of this year's Sale-a-bration stamps.  With everything that's retiring, I'm glad to see this ribbon is staying!

 This card was made by Deb Dodd.  She used the Bright Blossoms stamp set.  If you missed it during the Sneak Peak, you can get it when the new catalog begins on June 1st.  I just love the angled card stock layers.  Expect to see that soon on one of my cards.

 I showed some of the cards I've made with fabric and the keychain we made at my last class.  I hoped this would give everyone some ideas.  I also demonstrated the rock and roll technique.  I'll post more on that a different day.

Frances had door prizes and I won supplies (foam board and a decor element -- that's all that's needed) to make a chalkboard like the one below.  Thanks, Frances!  This decor element was from S-A-B, but there are lots more available (both chalkboard style and regular) but only until May 31 (sadly they are being retired).  There are even chalkboard sheets that you can cut with your Big Shot!  How fun to use them to make labels (just like in a recent article in Martha Stewart's magazine -- except you could cut yours in cute shapes, like the Top Note or a scallop).

Oops, I just realized that the watermark on the board should have had Frances's name since she made it.  Guess I was distracted because I thought it was clever to put the watermark on the board in white like it was written in chalk.  Sorry about that!

Want to come to great meetings like this and have fun, share ideas, and stamp?  Join my team and you can!  Not to mention all the other great benefits!  Stampin' Up has introduced a new $99 starter kit.  Check it out here and then sign up to take advantage of this fantastic offer.  I'd love to have you on my team!

Projects Using Fabric

We had a good group at the Fun With Fabric class this morning.  We made two cards and a flower keychain, all of which used the beautiful Twitterpated Fabric from the Occasions Mini Catalog.  This fabric is only available until Monday, 4/30, so be sure to get yours before it's too late.  The projects also use several items from the Accessories retirement list, which are only available while supplies last.  Some of the items are even discounted!

I used the following retiring items on this card:  Scallop Circle #2 die, Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch (40% off), Circle Fire Rhinestone brads (25% off), and Finial Press embossing folder.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes, which thankfully is NOT retiring.  Card stock colors are Baja Breeze and Whisper White.

 I used the Finial Press embossing folder on the flap of the envelope.  I just love how elegant this makes an envelope look!

 I used the retiring items Vintage Vogue stamp set and ticket corner punch on this card.  I also used one of the flower punches from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack and a plain old hole punch for the flower center.  Card stock colors are Riding Hood Red, Pacific Point, and Whisper White.

 Here's a little bonus project using Vintage Vogue.  We didn't make this in the class, but I thought you might enjoy seeing it.  The bookmark was cut with the Two Tags Die and embossed with the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder.

Here's the keychain we made.  I got the original idea from Erika Clark.  She posted instructions, too.  You can see her post here.  The big pearl in the center is available in the Occasions Mini Catalog.  It's bigger than the ones in the big catalog.  The Pear Pizzazz ribbon is retiring (25% off).  There is felt on the back to help hold the flower together.  It looks cute when the felt backing is the big flower from Blossom Party die because the petals stick out a bit.  I used the Scallop Circle #2 die for this one, but have since bought the other die because the keychain looks much cuter with the petals.

Hope you've enjoyed these projects.  At the end of the class I shared a couple other tips, like how to layer the Blossom Punch and how to unmount a wheel so it can be used as a clear mount stamp.  You never know what you might learn at one of my classes.  The next one is May 22 (evening) and again on May 23 (morning).  If you're local to the Garner/Raleigh, NC area I hope you can make it.

You can get retiring items, Occasions Mini catalog items and any other Stampin' Up supplies that you need at my Online Store.  Thanks for your support!

Triple Treat Card

This card uses the Triple Treat stamp (available FREE through midnight tonight as a Sale-A-Bration freebie or for purchase from the big catalog), the fancy flower punch, the five petal flower punch (the leaves), the scallop oval and large oval punches, the itty bitty shapes punch pack and the cropodile (in the corners), and the ticket corner punch.  The sentiment is from the retired set Because I Care.

Mixed Bunch Cards

I made this card using Mixed Bunch and the coordinating Blossom Punch.  I really like the strip from the Tasteful Trim die behind the flower.  It just gives the card a little extra something.

  

I actually made the above card back in January but am just getting it posted now.  A few weeks after I made the card above, I made the card below for a color challenge.  The funny thing is, I didn't even remember the first card until I was putting out samples at my next event.   Guess I just really like this layout :)

Anyhow, you can see how the same layout can have a totally different look and feel just by changing the colors.