A Banner Day - Girly style

About a week ago I posted a really cute birthday card for boys, with nautical colors and the banner stamp and punch from the Sale-a-bration flyer. I thought it was such a cute concept that I decided to change it up a bit and make a feminine version of the same card. The colors I used for the girly version are straight out of what I used for my daughter's nursery, 7 years ago: Light pink, hot pink, and lime green. I LOVE these colors together for girls! AND, this card passed the ultimate litmus test. My daughter saw this card laying on my stamp table, came over, picked it up and studied it for a minute, and then asked me if I could put this card in a special place and save it to give to her on her next birthday! A banner day, indeed!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Starburst sayings, Banner blast (SAB)
Cardstock: Pink pirouette, Melon mambo, Wild wasabi, Whisper white
Ink: Pink pirouette, Melon mambo, Wild wasabi, Versamark
Other Stuff: Embossing buddy, Melon mambo embossing powder, Banner punch (SAB), Starburst framelits, glitter pen (non-SU)

A Special Request

My grandmom (we call her Mommom) comes to stay with us for several months at a time throughout the year. Since it is a monstrously awful winter up in Pennsylvania this year, she is having an extended winter stay. Even though she spends so much time here, she makes sure to keep up with what is going on back home. She asked me to make a special 80th birthday card for her sister-in-law, so if Mommom asks, Mommom gets. I even used my special silver foil sheets and silver designer vellum, which I have a tendency to hoard and not use because they are 'fancy.' I don't know if there is a 'color' associated with an 80th birthday (similar to a golden 50th) but I figured an 80th birthday deserved my most fancy schtuff! Although, now it is making me want to get the gold foil and gold designer vellum too!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: None
Cardstock: Smoky slate, Island indigo, Watercolor Wonder DSP, Fancy Foil Designer Vellum (silver), Silver Foil Sheet
Ink: None
Other Stuff: Typeset Alphabet Bigz Die (for the numbers), Delicate Doilies Sizzlit, Organza ribbon

Working with patterns

Sometimes in a paper pack, there are some prints or patterns that might not appeal to you, even if you like the overall look of the paper pack. For this card, I challenged myself to use a pattern that was difficult for me. This chevron pattern is very bold and not something I would gravitate to on my own, so that's what I decided to try. The trick, I've found, is to use it in small doses. The other thing that I had to do with this card was add some white layers behind the two chevron panels - I had the card laid out without them, but in this case it needed something more, and that extra little layer did the trick. I found this sketch (from Splitcoast, I believe) and it works. This card turned out very neutral; it could be for males or females, old or young. A perfect card to keep in your stash for when you need a quick card!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: See Ya Later (SAB)
Cardstock: Real red, coastal cabana, Bermuda bay, whisper white, Fresh Prints DSP
Ink: Real red and Bermuda bay markers
Other Stuff: Chevron EF and dimensionals

A Banner Day

Today's card was inspired by two things. First, I saw a really cute card on Splitcoast that used banners on the top and bottom (thank you Jennie Maier, who I don't know but I loved her card!). It made me think of flags, so then naturally my mind went to a nautical theme, which always makes me think of the Pottery Barn Kids summer catalogs. I love these catalogs because they have such cute, preppy boys' rooms. I decided to go with Soft Sky, Night of Navy, and Real red as my color theme. From there it came together so quickly and was fun to make - I'm already thinking that I could do one with the same stamp sets in 'girl' colors. This is the kind of card I need to sit down and make a few of, so that I have them when I'm scrambling to get the kids to a birthday party and they say, as we're walking out the door, 'Hey, don't we need a card??' Sometimes it's nice to get back to basics - this card is just stamps and punches, nothing fancy or time consuming.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Banner Blast(SAB), Blue Ribbon
Cardstock: Whisper White, Soft Sky, Night of Navy, and Real red
Ink: Night of Navy, Real red
Other Stuff: 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, Banner Punch (SAB), Dimensionals

Love the Starburst

The Starburst Sayings and Starburst Framelits have got to be, hands down, my favorite things in the Occasions Catalog. I keep reaching for them every time I start to make a card. I always stayed away from card sketches with circles on them, because I never had the "right" stamp set to incorporate into the design. Not anymore!!!! Now I LOOK for sketches with circles just so I can use this set more. Today's card uses a little tip I picked up somewhere along the way and I'll share it with you. The Starburst framelits have lots of space in between the different layers, and sometimes I want a closer layered look (look at the layers on the small circles). The smallest starburst on each of them is from the framelits. The next 'starburst' is home-made by using the 1 1/4" scalloped circle punch. I punched the scalloped circle out, and then stuck it to a sticky note to be able to put it back into the punch and re-punch, this time in the center of each scallop, to give the 'starburst' look. Pretty tricky, huh?

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Starburst Sayings
Cardstock: Crumb cake, Whisper white, Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay, Fresh Prints DSP stack
Ink: Pool party, Bermuda Bay
Other Stuff: Starburst Framelits, Circles Framelits, Dazzling Diamonds, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, 1 1/4" scalloped circle punch, Basic Rhinestone, Dimensional, Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay and Crumb cake markers

My blog is back!

Hi everyone!
Yes, it's true. I'm going to start posting on my blog again. Let's do a one sentence recap of the past couple years. Sold house, moved in with mom, built house, moved into new house, had benign brain tumor removed. Sooo . . . I've been kind of busy and have not had much motivation for stamping at all. Now that all the big stuff that I knew was coming up has come and gone, I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders and I have a lot of creativity that's just coming out. Plus, I REALLY like the new stuff in the Stampin'Up! occasions spring catalog and it's helped me get over my creative slump.
So, without further ado, here's my Valentine's Day card, with hardly a minute to spare! I used a sketch to help me get started (that will be a common theme). This one is from the Mojo Monday blog, if I recall correctly. It's my take on a Shabby Chic style and I had a lot of fun putting it together.
I'm still working out some kinks, so expect to see some changes in the future. I'm going to figure out how to watermark my pictures (please don't steal my pictures!), and I have to update all the sidebars and stuff, but I didn't want to wait any longer to start posting, so we'll just fit that stuff in as I can (and as I figure it out!)

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Hearts a Flutter, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Yippee Skippee
Cardstock: Raspberry ripple, Crumb cake, Primrose petals coredinations, Whisper white
Ink: Raspberry ripple, Crumb cake
Other Stuff: Primrose petals marker (because I can't find the ink pad!), Burlap ribbon (from the Burlap and Blooms Simply Created Wreath Kit), Hearts a Flutter framelits, Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, Raspberry ripple ribbon, Very vintage button, Vintage faceted button, Basic pearls, Chevron Embossing folder, sponge dauber, glitter pen (non-SU), mini stapler (non-SU), dimensionals, Sanding block

Thank you notes from my daughter

Hi again everyone! Things as usual are busy in our household. A few weeks ago my lovely daughter turned 6 years old!!! For her birthday, she wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese, and I vetoed that idea (there is only so much a mother can stand, and after more than a few friends' parties that place is on my 'intolerable' list). So for her 'second' choice she wanted to have an art party. We had a wonderful party for her at a studio in downtown Plano for 10 of her closest friends. For the first time, I decided that she needed to write her own thank you notes. She has embraced this idea and has been working on her thank you notes for the past week. She only writes about 2 a night because she spends a lot of time thinking of what to write to individually thank each person. It makes me almost burst with pride to see her sitting there, pencil in hand, writing notes in her kindergarten handwriting. I know that the recipients are going to love the effort she puts into those cards as well.
I had to come up with a card worthy of her efforts, but easy enough to replicate a dozen times. I used the Sale-a-bration set called 'Patterned Occasions' and went with a mostly monochromatic look. I did add a pop of color with the little flower and some of the new striped organdy ribbon from the Spring Catalog. Enjoy!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Patterned occasions, Distressed dots background
Cardstock: Whisper white, Pool party or Wisteria wonder
Ink: Pool party or wisteria wonder
Other Stuff: Markers, Basic pearls, Melon mambo striped organdy ribbon, dimensionals, Perfect polka dots EF