Unique Fold

I was inspired again by Beate. If you don't make a daily stop by her blog-you should! Click here to see the specific post. I need a unique fold for my swap next month. I had seen this before, but Beate's sample pushed me to give it a shot!

Let me first warn you that these pictures are not the best! I added Stickles that weren't dry, so I couldn't scan. I had to improvise and use the camera! and the old camera at that!

I used the On Gossamer Wings set. The colors are Elegant Eggplant, Certainly Celery & Apricot Appeal.

I used more of the Palette O' Prints Designer Series Paper. The images are stamped on Very Vanilla and watercolored with reinkers. I added Stickles as I mentioned above, to the center of the flowers and just a touch on the butterfly.

The pictures below show how the card opens. First, the flower/Apricot layer opens to the right.

Then the Celery/Eggplant layer opens to the left.

The card base is 4-1/4 x 9, scored at 5-1/2 leaving you a traditional card size of 4-1/4 x 5-1/2. The inside piece started at 8 x 3, scored at 4. I trimed just a bit off the top near the stamped image. Clear as mud??? Let me know if you need more direction!

Now, here's to hoping this set is NOT on the retirement list tomorrow!

Pretty Paper!

I got my new paper from SU!® today! Love it! It was a little hard to break into to it! But I did, and here is the result!


The color faded some in the scan, but the main color is So Saffron. Note the striped paper, and the flower paper. Those are two of the images from the sneak peak color pack. I started with a So Saffron Long Note from the Spring Mini. Rolled it in Saffron with the Rough Edges jumbo wheel. Stamped the wonderful (from Warm Words) in More Mustard. Tied a cream grosgrain ribbon around the papers, secured with a glue dot. Cut out a Sunflower (not one of my faves!) stamped with So Saffron. Did the center with More Mustard, and flicked the flower edges on the card to give the edge a contrast. It was washing out too much! Added a Vanilla button with Linen thread. I daubered More Mustard on the thread. More samples coming soon with the other papers!

Birthday Flowers

I needed to mail a card today to my SIL for her birthday tomorrow. Did I make it last night like I should have?? Nope! Whipped it out quick this morning before work/school. It made the mail though and nobody was late!

These are such happy flowers, even though the set is a sympathy one-Close as a Memory. Used Rose Red & Certainly Celery markers to color the stamp. Fine Lace Background & Happy Everything for the words. I always get this set a little crooked, but didn't have time to use the positioner! I added some gemstones by Hero Arts to the center of the flowers. The white again is Shimmery White for more added sparkle.

Purple!

A new set arrived in my delivery box today (long story, but yes I do have a box on my porch for deliveries!). FREE from Stampin' Up!® for Consistency Counts 1st Quarter is the Blossoms Abound set! I've admired this set from afar since it's preview last year. I decided it was time to give it a whirl!

Colors are Lovely Lilac and Glorious Green. Lovely Lilac is an OLD favorite of mine which I haven't use much recently. Purple is a favorite of mine though, so I still fall back on it now and then! Background is the Fine Lace. White grosgrain is daubered with a little Lovely Lilac. The white layer is Shimmery White. Scans never do this CS justice, but it's AWESOME in person.

Hope you've all had a great Monday! Spring seems to have returned to Nebraska. This card was actually created in memory of my Lilacs which I don't think will bloom this year. 80 degree temps for a couple weeks, followed by over a week with lows in the teens does not do well for plants that bloom! Trees and such seem to be re-budding (is that a word?), but I think my Lilac shrubs will just be pretty green bushes this year!, once they leaf out again!

Thanks to all of you for stopping by!

Happy!

After uploading my other 2 Serene Sunflower cards, I was inspired to dig the set out again and see what I could create!

This first one shows how the set can be used in a NON sunflower way! Coneflowers! I used Regal Rose and Chocolate Chip, with the flowers stamped on Naturals Ivory. The Cheesecloth background, Tag Corner punch, Chocolate & Rose grosgrain. Also the Happy Everything set for the verse! The Cheesecloth background and the Happy Everything have been hanging around here for a while, and not seeing ink! It was past due time to break them out!!!

This one seems more Fall-ish, than Spring, but that's OK. I've seen flowers that look like this, but couldn't tell you what they are! The technique here is Rock-N-Roll! Ink the Flower in Summer Sun, then rock the edges of the stamp on the Really Rust pad. Don't press it flat onto the pad, but tip it round the edge onto the pad. You'll get a different look every time! I also did the center that way. Natural Ivory CS again. and the Happy Everything set again, this time I did Happy Days though. For accent, I pulled out my Tool Kit and used my mat guide and needle to poke corner holes.

Sunflowers!

As you may have guessed by the name of this blog, Sunflowers are one of my favorite flowers! There aren't many flowers I don't like, but Sunflowers have always been one I really like! Growing up in Kansas may have had something to do with that!

These 2 cards are not new creations, but some I did last fall. The Vintage Violet one made the Stampers Showcase!. That is always such an honor!

Both of these cards use the In Color™ colors from Stampin' Up!® for the 2006/2007 Idea Book and Catalog. The Vintage Violet is paired with True Thyme and Marigold Morning, with Basic Black for Accent. The set is Serene Sunflower, with the Fontastic background and 'wonderful' from Warm Words. Black brads & black gingham ribbon finish it off.

The next one is Cranberry Crisp with Bravo Burgundy and True Thyme. The Cranberry and Bravo go very well together! I used the Rough Texture wheel for the background on this one and black embossed the verse. A Hodgepodge Hardware™ accent with Cream and Burgundy grosgrain finishes it off.

I hope to finish the butterfly cards for the swap tonight so I can get back to creating new things! Thanks for stopping by!

Butterfly Buckle

One more buckle card-hopefully you aren't tired of them yet! I have a swap due this week, with the subject being vellum. This is what I've come up with, so far. I'm still trying to decide if I like it! I'm running out of time though, so this may be it!

The set is Bold Butterfly, the color is Regal Rose, with Whisper White and Vellum Cardstock. For the Butterfly, I first stamped it with Regal Rose on the Vellum CS, then clear embossed. I stamped it again on Whisper White, and reverse masked and stamped the flowers (off once) inside the butterfly. The background behind the butterfly is done with the Rough Texture wheel, first in Craft White, then in Regal Rose. That was a happy accident! I did it just in white first, but it didn't look quite right. So I went over it again with the Regal Rose. I liked it! The flowers on the white are alternate stamped, some full ink, some stamped off once. The edges on the Whisper White & Regal Rose are edged with the ink pad. The words were also stamped with Craft White, and then again (using the Stamp-a-Ma-Jig® for placement) with Regal Rose. Let me know what you think of the card, ask if you have questions, and thanks for looking!

Sassy!

Time was very limited again tonight, and I'm up late again! Therefore, this is not a new creation, but something I created last fall for the Nebraska Mini Convention shoebox swap. The swap was a great time and this card was a hit. It also made the Stampers Showcase (for SU!® demos). The colors, Ruby Red, Always Artichoke & Creamy Caramel were inspired by the ribbon.

The flower set is Sassy Stems. The Linen background was used and a sponge for the edges. The circle stamps were from Little Pieces and Simple Shapes. Notice that a couple of the circles were stamped off once to give a different effect. The word set is Warm Words. Enjoy!

More Buckles!

I should have named this blog Late Night Stamper! I had the best of intentions tonight to stamp during Lost and get to bed at a decent hour. Life got in the way though and tonight was one of those nights! I didn't even get to watch Lost, but did manage some time time to stamp and destress a little bit! Who really needs that much sleep anyway?!?!

I decided to try a few more Buckle Cards using more Designer paper! I'm so proud of myself for finally using some of it!!

This first one uses the Petals & Paisleys Designer paper along with the Polka Dots & Paisley (verse) and Polka Dots & Petals sets. And the Giga Scallop Round punch-probably it's first use on a card! The circles on the paper led me to the punch.

This one didn't wow me, I'm not real sure why. I'm thinking because the colors don't pop. I used the Sarah Designer paper with Bashful Blue, Brocade Blue and Barely Banana. Oh well!! This one used the Giga Square punch (twice) and the Bundle of Joy set from the Spring Mini. The Baby is from one of the All-Year Cheer sets, and celebrate from Everyday Flexible Phrases.

Buckle Cards-First try!

I've been seeing these for quite a while and finally decided to give them a whirl! Mainly because my downline and I are teaching them to a stamping group Friday night. That's inspiration! and procrastination, but that's usual! If you're from the Stamp Heaven group, we'll show you how Friday night. If not and you need directions, go check out Beate's tutorial on SCS here. One thing to note: most of the buckle cards I've seen have the buckle tucking into the slot punch from the top down. These samples are the opposite of that.

This is the first one I did. This Rebecca paper has been laying on the floor in my stamping room begging to be used for quite a while now and I decided this was the time!

The colors are Pixie Pink, Sahara Sand, Close to Cocoa & Whisper White. The Ticket Corner Punch was used, along with the Chocolate & White grosgrain. The Canvas Background was stamped in Pixie Pink with Pixie Pink. The Everyday Blossoms Wheel was done in Sahara Sand on the Sahara Sand.

The second one uses the new Notations double sided Designer Series paper with Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery & So Saffron CS. The Ticket corner punch again, along with a Tempting Turquoise button, Celery & White grosgrain. This one uses the Paisley background stamp in Tempting Turquoise on Tempting Turquoise, and again the Everyday Blossoms wheel, with So Saffron on So Saffron.

Spring ZBecky!

Even though it's decided to not be Spring here in Nebraska, I gave my Z Becky the Spring look this week! I've been needing to change it for quite some time, and it's finally done! Just in time for Easter!

Following are the front, side, and back view with the family pic. Last pic are the matching check books for inside! Yes, two checkbooks, one for my money, one for our money! That's how it works right?

Have a good Easter weekend everyone! Hope you get to spend quality time with your families. I will be offline most of the weekend, so probably won't be posting again til early next week. I have some projects and swaps to get done then, so I will be sharing!