Stamping In My Neighborhood

Shimmery Ornament

I just love the new Ornament Punch and Delightful Decorations stamp set from the Holiday Mini catalog (link is in the margin).  I used a scrap piece of Night of Navy cardstock and dressed it up using some Frost White Shimmer Paint (also in the mini) directly on one of the stamps. 

Add a little of the fabulous silver cord (yep, also in the mini), a dimensional and a sentiment stamped in Night of Navy and the card was done.  I will admit that I'm not the greatest at tying bows, so that did slow down this card (the bow is kept up by Crystal Effects), but it's definitely a card that's doable for Christmas.

Sharing Someone's Sorrow

Someone I know recently lost his wife to cancer.  Actually, she was the recipient of one of the gift cards that I purchased from last year's Breast Cancer fundraiser.  Unfortunately her cancer spread and she did not make it.  She was blessed by the generosity of my customers who made the gift card possible, though, so I wanted you to know that.  For those who don't know what I'm talking about, I held a fundraiser last October (and the one before that) in order to purchase gift cards to a local lingerie shop that specializes in undergarments for women who've undergone mastectomies. 

The background of the image layer has a Watercolor Wash on it (AquaPainters and Classic ink) of Bashful Blue, Apricot Appeal and Certainly Celery.  Once that dried, I stamped the daisies from Upsy Daisy and the sentiment from Thoughts & Prayers in Black StazOn.  A little matting completed the card. 

A 1-Minute Card

And that's probably stretching the time.  I made this for friendswho recently moved.  I was going for a very clean and minimalist kind of design.  I grabbed a piece of Crushed Curry (definitely not green, as it sort of looks like to me in this image), some Chocolate Chip cardstock and my Autumn Harvest rubons.  So quick and easy.  And I totally love it.  Most of you know that I like clean and simple anyway, but this really pleased me.  When I look at others' creations that are all decked out, it can be intimidating for me, but when all is said and done, most times they're a little too cluttered for my liking.  Maybe all the elements just overwhelm me.  But give me a card like this and I'm overwhelmed by it's simplicity and beauty...in a good way.  I still made it myself, which meant I cared enough to take the time.  I'm not going to get hung up on the fact that it only took me one minute.  My friends are worth more time than I could ever put into a single card, so I guess it doesn't matter if it took me one minute or 1 week.

Not my usual stuff

This is definitely not one of my typical cards.  First of all, I tend to rarely put anything other than rectangles on my page.  But the Big Shot makes it so easy to get this scallop circle shape, I decided to give it a try.  I also knew I wanted to use some of my beautiful Bermuda Bay polka dot ribbon, so I selected the combination of Bermuda Bay, Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie from a chart that SU provided us with for the new In Colors.  It's a great fall combination. 

It's a little hard to tell from the picture, but I used the Paper Piecing technique on the large flower.  It's actually three layers!  Sure it takes a little time to cut out each layer, but not that long and when you add them with dimensionals, it really adds realistic dimension to the flower.

I had to make something a little out of the ordinary because this was going to one of my friends (and former downline) for her birthday.

Revisiting Reinker Spread

One of my first square cards.  Made using one of my favorite techniques, Reinker Spread.  I used the Embrace Life set, and Sincere Salutations for the sentiment.  Although this was created using the retired 2008 In Colors of Riding Hood Red and Tango Tangerine, you could make an equally striking card using current colors.  I was just trying to use up some supplies, lol. 

If you would like to learn how to do this technique, you can click on the Reinker Spread link above, or you can schedule a workshop and I'll show you in person.  It's really easy and lots of fun with awesome results!

Nearing the End...

Yes, I'm coming to the last of my Autumn Days creations...at least the ones that I have made.  Most of the ideas have been my own, so that tells you how easy I've found this set to be to work with.  There are lots of sets out there that I love but I need inspiration from others.  This set really spoke to me.

This is the last of the Pastor/Staff Appreciation cards using this set.  This card could not have been easier to make.  The base is Kraft with a layer of Always Artichoke that's been stamped on with Always Artichoke.  The Chocolate Chip layer has a piece of Whisper White that's been stamped with Always Artichoke and Chocolate Chip.  What a great card for a man, don't you think?  And I think it could cover a couple seasons.  The color combination is one you should write down...PERFECT for men!

 

Autumn Days are Winding Down

I know I've shown you a bunch of different cards...have I convinced you that this is one of the those sets that you'll get lots of use from?  I just love it, hope you do as well. There's still all of November to make autumn-themed cards and then you can, as you'll see in a future post, use it for Christmas or winter cards!

  Another Pastor Appreciation card.  I markered the sentiment in three different colors for interest.  I didn't like how plain the top was so I added some leaves.  The berry branches were also markered.  I do love my markers...they allow me to do so much more with my stamps!  The bottom vine is a rub-on from the Autumn Harvest collection.  Remember, to get a better look at any of the images on my blog, all you have to do is click on them and it will enlarge.

This card went to the lead pastor of my church.  I cannot take credit for the design.  It was CASEd from someone at SCS.  I know I wrote down her name somewhere, but because I've waited so long to post, I can't find the piece of paper.  My craft room is actually a disaster area right now, with only a few spots left to stamp...tiny spots, I might add.  The button looks a little different than most of our buttons...that's because I markered it and embossed it so it would be a color that coordinated with the card.  I wish I'd had the right color craft ink as it would have yielded better results, but it worked well enough. 

More Autumn Days

Wow...where did the time go?  I thought I'd written a few more posts to be put in the queue, but I guess I only THOUGHT it.  I actually have a ton of cards to show you, so I guess today will be the day I actually write a bunch of posts for the queue.  Let's get started.

Here's another Autumn Days card that I made as a quick thank you note.  Well, I suppose that was obvious based on the sentiment, huh?  By the way, that sentiment came from the coordinating Autumn Harvest Rub-On package.  I used a multitude of colors for the leaves, but it was so long ago that I can't remember exactly which ones.  No doubt Crushed Curry and Dusty Durango were among them.  Probably some Ruby Red and Pumpkin Pie too.  I just love the fall...the colors are so gorgeous!

This next card I made for one of the pastors at my church in honor of Pastor Appreciation Month.  I got a little daring and threw in the non-traditional (as far as fall is concerned) Elegant Eggplant color.  The picture doesn't quite do it justice, but the combination is really striking.  I think if I had to modify the card in some way, it would be to change the Crushed Curry layer.  I might change that to Elegant Eggplant.  Since it was for a man, I didn't feel too comfortable putting a lot of purple on the page, even though it's a very rich purple.  Aside from using the leaf from Autumn Days, I used the large image from Baroque Motifs (one of my all-time favorites!) and the sentiment from Thoughts & Prayers.

My Digital Studio

Late last week I received my copy of My Digital Studio, Stampin' Up!'s latest product addition.  I LOVE IT!  I first saw it demonstrated at Leadership in January.  It was released to demonstrators on Sept. 1st and tomorrow, Oct. 1st, it will become available for SU! customers.

This product is easy to use and makes designing  a snap!  You can design albums, cards, calendars and even movies.  I've only played with the album feature so far.  The first image you see hear is the result of playing for about 10 minutes.  I used the "photos only" option, which basically gives me a template (scrap map, for those of you familiar with the term) for where to place my photos.  I selected the background color of my page and also added the Baroque Motifs elements you see. 

From the second image, you can see my first attempt.  I made the elements Real Red because I thought it would pick up the red from the apple in one of the pictures.  However, I did not like that result so I softened it by changing the elements to Going Grey.  It was all VERY easy!

Check back soon as I'll be playing a lot more with this awesome new product and letting you know about the many, many features it has.  If you'd like to learn more, I would love to show you and some friends at a workshop.  If you hostess a workshop in October that reaches the $400 sales mark, you qualify to receive My Digital Studio at 50% off (reg. $79.95).  So schedule today, I only have a couple available dates in October!

 

Tranquility

This card just says "tranquility" to me.  Perhaps it's the simple layout or the earthy colors.  Maybe it's the idea that if I were watching this pheasant strut around, it would be on a calm, fall morning. 

The base of the card is Soft Suede that I've embossed the wheat image onto it with gold embossing powder.  I stamped the wheat in Crushed Curry onto the Very Vanilla layer, then added the Soft Suede pheasant.  I stamped a Soft Suede "Thinking of You" and mounted the layer onto Crushed Curry, then onto the card.  VERY easy.  I'll be demonstrating this in my August workshops, as well as some other fun projects.  It's not too late to get on my calendar...