Lilies for Mom

My Mom has quite the collection of lilies growing around her home. I saw the most beautiful lily card made by Mary on her blog.  It instantly reminded me of Mom and I had to recreate! In order to make the note cards I'm making for Mom more realistic, I took pics of the real things and then used them to inspire my coloring.

 and here are some of the cards! Her birthday isn't until August, but since she doesn't have a computer, I think I'm safe posting them!  Just don't tell her!! 

I used whisp. white card stock as the base and then added a variety of colors from the brights and subtles collections. The lilies are colored w/ pastels. This is probably the most time consuming set of cards I have ever created, but it was def. a labor of love!

The recipe: Card stock and inks- whisper white, pretty in pink, pumpkin pie, rich razzleberry, and daffodil delight, DSP- a variety from the Brights pack, Ribbon- a variety of 1/4" grosgrain, Stamp set- sentiment from Faith in Nature (available July 1), Accessories-scallop edge trim punch, pastels

Pinwheel Quilt Card

This is the card I created to enter in the blog hop challenge.  Our inspiration project was a two page scrapbook layout using a lot of colors from the brights palette and featuring pinwheels.  My initial plan was to create a large pinwheel on a 'stick' as the focal point of my card, but after I made the pinwheel my thoughts went another direction.  My Mom, sister, and aunt are all quilting ladies (this gene somehow skipped me...) so while I do not quilt and barely sew, I do remember seeing a quilt square resembling this pattern. So... my card is now a 'quilt block' instead!

The 'stitching' was created using a ruler and an Early Espresso marker. I did this step before running it through the Big Shot.  This will be the only 'quilt' my family is likely to receive from me! TFL!

Card Recipe: Stamp Sets-precious butterflies and word play, Card Stock-pumpkin pie, and whisper white, DSP-pacific point (from Brights pack), Inks-pumpkin pie, Accessories-square lattice embossing folder, pacific point corduroy brad (retired)

Yes, Another Peek!

Are you ready for July 1st yet? I promise this will be my last peek for this week.

This card has lots of new and returning goodies! I love the stamp set I used for this!  It is a new hostess set and I think it is so versatile! I am posting this card at Sketches by Carly. She has such amazing talent for such a young lady! TFL!

Card recipe: Stamp Set-Faith in Nature, Card stock-Old Olive and Whisper White, DSP- Paisley Petals (a new one!), Ink-Soft Suede, Accessories-Pear Pizzazz seam binding ribbon (returning from the spring mini), pastels, linen thread, and some of my 'stash' buttons. 

Blog Hop Challenge

I spent this past weekend surfin' the net and found the coolest blog hop through one of my 'followers' (I follow her too!).  Bron is super creative and is a part of UStamp with Dawn and Friends Blog Hop! It was so much fun to see what SU demonstrators from other parts of our country and other countries are doing with SU products! (My DH has informed me that my blogging habit is getting almost as bad as my stampin' habit!) The blog hop is free. All you have to do is use the link and sign in.  There are free tutorials for all of the projects and they also have daily challenges that you can enter or just showcase your talents on their blog.  Too fun!  I am entering a card in today's challenge and will post the pic later this week! Happy Hopping!

Another Peek!

I have been playing with some of the items that will be available July 1st (demos get to preorder some items :-)  I love this job!).  I also completed a sketch challenge for Clean and Simple Stamping. I have seen so many creative people decorating the inside of their cards as well.  I have never done this. Don't know why...just haven't. But I love the look, so I am going to try to do this more often.

Card recipe: Stamp set-Precious Butterflies, Card Stock-Very Vanilla & Pretty in Pink, Ink-Concord Crush, Pretty in Pink, Basic Gray, & Certainly Celery. Accessories-Scallop Trim Border punch. TFL!

Hello and Goodbye...

I just received my new stamp set previews this weekend and couldn't wait to play around! I haven't participated in Stamping 411's sketch challenge in the past 2 weeks and thought this would be a great place to start! I knew I wanted to use Precious Butterflies (a new hostess set), so my next decision was which DSP? Elegant Soiree is retiring from our current catalog and I thought this would make a nice blending of old and new...Which led to my creating wedding cards. You know-something old, something new, something blue (Sorry, nothing borrowed!).

As you can see, I changed the second card a little. This new stamp set is quickly becoming one of my favorites! TFL!

Card Recipe: Stamp Sets-Precious Butterflies, Fabulous Phrases, Card Stock-Crumb Cake, Baja Breeze, and Whisper White, DSP- Elegant Soiree, Inks-Baja Breeze & Soft Suede, Accessories-square lattice embossing folder, baja breeze seam binding ribbon (returning from spring mini), 1 3/4" and 3/4" circle punches

Clean And Simple

Another challenge card! This is for the sketch challenge at Clean and Simple Stamping.  I love the sketch, but seemed to have a hard time getting it to come together... I finally decided on an image and then it went a little better (I'm thinking lack of mojo today...) Stampin' Up supplies used were Warm Words (sentiment), brilliant blue (ret.), real red, and very vanilla card stock.  The DSP is from Merry Moments (also retired). It is actually Christmas paper, but it reminded me of a man's handkerchief. The main image is stamped with black Stazon and the sentiment is brilliant blue ink. The image is colored with copics.

Father's Day

The ladies at Hand Stamped Sentiments have a Father's Day card challenge this week.  So I pulled out my trusty Sail Away stamp and got busy.  Masculine cards are not normally my thing. Especially since the females in my home outnumber the lone male!  But I do have  brothers, nephews, and of course my Dad to make cards for as well, so I often have to step out of the comfort zone and make 'manly' cards.  Other supplies on this card are brilliant blue (ret.), real red, and very vanilla card stock, black Stazon  and brilliant blue inks, pastels, linen thread, and some retired star brads. I also used my 'go to' square lattice embossing folder.  Since I already had the paper cut, I went ahead with a birthday card too. I'm pretty sure none of my male family members will view this before receiving their card!  :-) TFL!

Both card images were colored with chalks.

Tough Guys...

I actually got a little scrapbooking done today.  My pages tend to be pretty basic and I normally don't post them, but this one just called to be shown off...  The pictures are from Easter this year.  It was very wet and rainy, but the kids wanted to go exploring in the woods.  My nephew didn't have appropriate footwear, so he borrowed Grandma's boots which just happen to match my DD.  They are the best of friends and thought this was so funny!  I am still using up some of my stash that is non SU, so if I can't remember who or what it is, I'm sorry! SU products used were chocolate chip and whisper white card stock, Butterfly Prints stamp set, pretty in pink ink, butterfly and scallop trim border punches and basic pearl jewels.  I used the cricut to cut out the letters.

Unusual Fold Card Swap

Our May card swap was a birthday card with a different fold. I went completely out of the box and created an easel card.  The base doesn't open at all and the 'card opening' is actually the butterfly.  The inspiration started here, but I wanted my card to fit a standard envelope so I attached the butterfly easel to the card stock. I used wild wasabi, so saffron, pretty in pink, and perfect plum card stock.  I also used the Big Shot a lot on this card (elegant lines embossing folder, backgrounds 1 texturz plates, and beautiful butterflies die).  The two butterflies are held together w/ a pretty in pink brad and I added a pearl jewel.  The stamp is part of a retired set (I forgot the name...)  TFL!

Sail Away- Father's Day Challenge

Update: I made the top 3 with this card (insert girly giggle here)!

!

This is my second challenge card of the day!  This is the challenge from SUO Challenges.  Their challenge this week was to create a Father's Day card.  I decided to get out one of my newer stamps, Sail Away, since it is one of my more masculine stamps.  (I don't think my Dad would be overjoyed with my more 'girly' images that I normally use!)  I used Baja Breeze and Whisper White card stock.  Inks used were Baja Breeze and Stazon Black-was originally going to watercolor this one, but changed my mind at the last minute...  I dry embossed the first layer of whisper white with the square lattice folder.  The image is colored with chalks.  The sentiment is from the stamp set Bold Blossom.  Both stamp sets are in the Summer Mini. TFL!

Just Believe...

Two challenge cards in one day? I'm on a roll!  This card is for the paper piecing challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  To be quite honest, this is not my favorite thing.  This is why punches were created :-)  But I sucked it up and got busy.  The challenge mentioned patterned papers, but I didn't like the choices I had on hand.  So I hope it's OK to use stamped card stock instead... I have to say that it turned out better than I thought it would!  I used the stamp set Just Believe.  Card stock colors were certainly celery, bashful blue, and whisper white.  Inks used were certainly celery and bashful blue.  You can't tell too well from the pic, but I also used Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz (adds a nice shimmer to the flowers). After cutting out the flowers, I used dimensionals to  pop them up and added just a little bling with the basic pearl jewels.  The certainly celery ribbon is some of my retired stash.

Stamping 411 Challenge

I haven't been very crafty since the girls got out of school, so I decided to check out Stamping 411's sketch challenge for this week.  My card changed up the sizes a little, but still stayed pretty true to the original. Here's the recipe...  Stamp set is Because I Care (hostess set).  Papers used were whisper white, so saffron, and chocolate chip, & some retired DSP.  Inks used were certainly celery, so saffron, and blushing bride.  Tools used were scallop trim border punch, and the square lattice embossing folder & Big Shot. TFL!

Last Chance...

It's June 1st and that means that Stampin' Up has just released it's retiring items lists.  You can view them here .   I would not recommend waiting on any of the accessories.  They tend to go quickly.  All retiring stamp sets will be available until June 30th.  If you are interested in placing an order please email me or leave a comment and I will contact you.