Simplicity with Lacy & Lovely

As I mentioned in a previous post, fall colors in Ottawa are in full swing. And they're more gorgeous than ever this year. Every day they seem to be getting more intense, more colorful. The trees are full of colors like Cajun Craze and More Mustard. Which is why I thought that the Pals Paper Arts Challenge this week was so fitting. We were asked to use the colors More Mustard, Cajun Craze and Early Espresso.

Try Stampin' on Tuesday had a most fantastic sketch for us to work with this week, as well. So simple, yet so many possibilities! And we all know I just love to mix up different DSPs. Why stick to just one package? lol! On this card I mixed together Comfort Cafe and Candlelight Christmas.

Tips & Tricks:
*The Espresso pattern I used from Candlelight Christmas has large snowflakes on it, but I cut them off enough so it doesn't look as Christmas-y. Because that's not what I was going for ;)

*I'm loving the 7/8" Cotton Ribbon. You can stamp on it! And the Lacy & Lovely has stamps that are perfectly sized for it.

*I love stamp sets like Lacy & Lovely and Delicate Doilies. The larger stamps that work coordinate together are perfect for creating a custom look on any neutral surface. This card is super simple - just a Very Vanilla base with strips of DSP!
*Love flagging but can't get your card stock/ribbon flagged evenly on both sides? Check out this quick tip. Cut a slit down the centre of your card stock/ribbon (like on the Cotton Ribbon). Then cut from one corner of the DSP down to the end of the slit (you're cutting a diagonal, see the Candlelight Christmas DSP). Finally cut out the second notch from the opposite corner (like on the Comfort Cafe DSP). And voila - easy flagging!

I hope this card inspires you to simplify your cards a bit ;) Sometimes simple is best! To my Canadian followers, I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving! 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Lacy & Lovely
Card Stock: Very Vanille, Candlelight Christmas DSP, Comfort Cafe DSP
Ink: More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso
Accessories: 7/8" Cotton Ribbon

A Big Thank You with Betsy's Blossoms

Today I bring you the first hand stamped card made in my brand new stampin' studio :) The studio is not fully outfitted yet, I'm still missing my punch racks and am still trying to sort out storage. But I'm getting there. And very fittingly the cards I made were 'Thank You' cards for the people who helped us move. I will be ever so grateful to them because let me tell you... that move was NOT a walk in the park ;) Next time, movers! Lol!

The photo isn't the best, I know. I have yet to sort out how and where the lighting will be the best for photographing my cards. But it's better than nothing, right? I've currently got an eBay bid in for a collapsible photo tent, so cross your fingers for better photos soon!

For my card, I used this week's Freshly Made Sketches sketch. A cute and simple sketch :) I also layered two of my favorite patterns from the Patio Party DSP: the gorgeous flowers and sweet little hearts. I hope the folks who receive this card (as well as a little gift) know how much their help meant to us. For the large blossom, I stamped off before stamping my image to make the blossom a bit paler. I did add a little Basic Pearl in the bird's eye for a bit of extra dimension.

I did promise some pics of my studio. Here we go... please keep in mind that I'd still like to do a bit of stenciling on the walls, and a bit of decor. But it's functional and should be good to go soon!

Back wall. Dasher will probably hang on the right. Any tips with SU!'s Decor stencils? What type of sponges would I use?

I know that SU! doesn't do Decor Elements anymore. But I couldn't resist:

Storage unit (IKEA Expedit). Sadly, I need even more storage ;) Already.

*My* gorgeous workspace with the serene trees in the back. :)

My daughter's workspace/Big Shot table:

Ribbon storage. I got the rolling storage unit below it for only $15 at Home Depot!

Thanks for visiting and looking at my new space! If you're in the Ottawa area and would like to come to my New Studio Grand Opening Party, sign up here: http://studiograndopening.eventbrite.com/ . 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity :)

Lacy, Lovely & Quintessential

I had put the Lacy & Lovely stamp set on my Wish List when I first started going through the new SU! catalogue. I didn't order it right away but then I used it at a stamper's meeting (a perk of being a Demo - Monthly stamping meetings with my upline!!!) and I knew I had to have it. It was on my next order ;)

This week's Freshly Made Sketches sketch made good use of circles and it was absolutely perfect for both the Lacy & Lovely and Quintessential Flower stamps. I love how I can use many different SU! punches to layer the different images in these stamps.

Tips & Tricks:

*The Lacy & Lovely stamp set is made to coordinate with a variety of SU! Circle Punches, including the 2-1/2", 1-3/8" and 1" Circle Punch. That means perfectly punched out shapes and no cutting! What's better, use other circle or scallop circle punches to punch out even more lovely circle shapes.

*Both stamp sets I used for this card is a dream for those who love to layer!

*When I first saw the Comfort Cafe DSP I wasn't sure what I thought. But after using it a few times, I fell in love with it! It has gorgeous feminine and masculine patterns. And the colors are so soothing. I can understand why it's called 'Comfort' Cafe.

*Do you love the embossed background as much as I do? It's the Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder from the upcoming Holiday Mini. At first I thought it may be a bit busy, but it's not at all! And the pattern is so different from anything else we have in the catalogue.

*Do you see the ribbon I stamped the greeting on? It's also from the Holiday Mini. I received this 7/8" Cotton Ribbon in a special bundle FREE from Stampin' Up! Just one of the many perks of being a Demonstrator :) It's smooth, soft and easy to stamp on. I just love the vintage, soft look of it.

I hope you've liked this card. I don't often use Cajun Craze, but I really love how it works with these colors and have been inspired to use it more! 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity.

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Lacy & Lovely, Quintessential Flower
Paper: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Comfort Cafe DSP
Ink: Cajun Craze, Summer Starfruit, Soft Suede, Island Indigo
Accessories: 2-1/2" Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, 1-3/4" Scallop Circle Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, 7/8" Cotton Ribbon, Big Shot, Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder, Stampin' Dimensionals, In Color Dahlias

What *is* a Papaya Collage?

I'm not really sure... The new Papaya Collage stamp set has the image of a bird, a gorgeous frame, leaves, a funny party hat but I'm just not sure what the papayas are all about ;) Today I got a HUGE (and I mean HUGE) order and this stamp set was in it. There were actually quite a few stamp sets in my order and at first I couldn't decide which one to use. But these Papayas - they intrigued me.

In my order today, I also got the Sweet Essentials greetings stamp set which has the cutest font and a multitude of great greetings! From Congratulations to Merry Christmas to Hello, Baby!. It's just a great set.

Finally, I got a few new packages of Designer Series Paper. I decided to use the Fan Fair paper. I haven't really seen this one used yet and I'm not really sure why. It's so pretty and has some really great patterns. I also love the colors in it. There are seven main colors in this DSP (don't you love how SU! tells up what colors our DSPs coordinate with???) and on this card I chose to use Island Indigo, Pink Pirouette and Crumb Cake.

For today's card I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch. It was a lovely simple sketch. For the middle strip, I used a 1-inch strip of DSP and layered it with the Victoria Trim Crochet Ribbon. I also sponged the edges of the Island Indigo card stock as well as the Very Vanilla/Pink Pirouette card stock with Soft Suede ink to give it a bit more dimension.

I can't wait to give this card to a special friend! I also can't wait to use all the other stamps and accessories I got today! 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

More Daydreams, More Medallions

This week at Try Stampin' on a Tuesday we had a lovely simple sketch. They actually apologized for the simplicity of the sketch. I'm not sure why though, it's a lovely sketch. And because there aren't too many details in the sketch, we can use our imagination a bit more :)

I was trying to decide between using the Oval Accent Clear Bigz Die or the Floral Frames Framelits. Both are new to the catalogue and I haven't used them much yet. In the end, because I knew I wanted to use the Floral District DSP I thought the second largest Floral Frame would look best with the flower-patterned paper.

Because the Daydream Medallions stamp set coordinates with the Floral Frames I was super excited to use this stamp set again. But I didn't want to have a repeat of one of my last cards. So I decided to mix it up and use the Mixed Bunch stamp set and coordinating punch. LOVE how everything with Stampin' Up! works together so well!

Tips & Tricks:

*Before you ADHERE your card together, make sure that you're happy with how it all looks. That way you're not ripping anything apart if you're not happy with it ;)
*My card was missing dimension when I first put it together (see it above ;)). So I took it apart and sponged all the edges. Suddenly the DSP flower, the Razzleberry medallion and the daffodils popped out!
*The white stitching in the Rich Razzleberry 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon really pops on this card. I thought I was going to really miss the plain grosgrain ribbon, but the Stitched style is really starting to grow on me.
*When I sponged the daffodil, I had already adhered the button with White Baker's Twine. So I added a bit of color to it by sponging it as well.
*I still can't get over how well these new Firm Foam Ink Pads work. Such a gorgeous, crisp image!

As I mentioned before, this sketch really allowed me some creativity and to combine a few different stamp sets and accessories. I really love simple :) 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

A Fun Sunday Stamps Color Challenge

I really made a concentrated effort to get this post out on, well, Sunday. I'm really enjoying being on the Design Team for the Sunday Stamps Challenge and feel I should really try to get my posts out on the Sunday. So here we are :) This week's challenge was a color challenge: Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit and Basic Gray. I have to admit though, out of all the new In Colors, Primrose Petals is likely my least favorite. But I decided to really challenge myself and use it as the focal point on this card.

I really love this stamp set, Four Seasons. It has images for spring, fall, Christmas - any holiday really :) It's a Hostess only set, so if you love it, talk to me about booking a private stampin' party for you or your friends. You can also place a $200+ order my Online Store to earn hostess benefits.

Tips & Tricks:

*The larger circle images in the Four Seasons stamp set coordinate with the 2-1/2" Circle Punch and/or the Large Scallop Circle Punch. Coordination made easy!
*Unfortunately, you will need to cut out the butterflies with your Paper Snips. ;) But try it, it's not as bad as you think!
*I've seen this done so many times and never done it, but I love the look... Embossing your cardstock with punched/cut out elements glued onto it. Using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder gives it a quilted look and I love how it turned out.
*I made this card for two downline that were integral in helping me earn the Fiji Incentive Trip so I thought the Create greeting from Loving Thoughts was appropriate here ;) They're both on the Sunday Stamps Design Team though, so they'll see this card before they actually get it... I really have to get better at actually mailing these things out, lol!
*This is the first time I've used the Primrose Petals Stitched Satin Ribbon and I have to say, I have really grown to love the colour! It's good to step out of that box of mine sometimes.

I hope my downline love their card - when they actually get it! 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Two-Tone Flourishes

I'm really loving the Flowering Flourishes stamp set. It's so versatile and is great as both a background stamp *and* a stamp for the focal point on a card. The stamp set has three flourishes, a large one, a medium-sized one as well as a small one. I used the medium one on my card.

I used two challenges for my inspiration today. The first was the Dynamic Duos Color Challenge. This week's colors were Crumb Cake and 'Our Choice'. Usually I'd turn to Marina Mist or Rich Razzleberry. But I decided to shake things up this week and use my new fave color, Raspberry Ripple. It's not quite pink, it's not quite red, it's raspberry. It's a very rich color and I love it!

The second challenge I used was the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge. We had a nice, simple, clean sketch to work with this week. And guess what? I pretty much followed it to a tee! I even kept the orientation in the sketch! How often does that happen with me? ;)

Tips & Tricks:

*I just LOVE how rich, solid and bright my images come out when I use the new Firm Foam Ink Pads. No patchiness.
*The sketch I was using for inspiration had a thick band across the width of the card. We don't have the 1-1/4" ribbon anymore and I really wanted to use ribbon ;) So I created my own. I layered two strips of Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon and then ran the Stitched Satin Raspberry Ripple Ribbon across the middle.
*I think the Fancy Fan Embossing Folder is my new favorite. Horizontal, vertical, it looks good in either orientation!
*I know the sketch didn't have the button (or any other element) on it on the ribbon. But I liked the way it looked with it. It was the only thing I changed about the sketch ;)
*Something was missing. I finished the card and I just didn't the way it looked. So I added a few Basic Pearls to the flourishes. Voila - card finished!

This is a great simple, blank note. Perfect for birthday, thank you or 'just because'. Hope you enjoyed my tips today. 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Postage Due!

I am totally in love with this stamp set! Postage Due. It has a gorgeous larger stamp which works well as a background stamp, as well as few other postage-type accent stamps. Even though there are only four stamps, there are so many different things you can do with it. I used it at a meeting with my upline and was sooo glad I ordered it... Now I'm using it :)

For my card, I used the sketch in this week's Mojo Monday Challenge. It was a 'Round or Square' challenge, but I decided to go rectangle. Because since when do I follow rules ;) 

Tips & Tricks:

*Love the little polka dots? I'm using the new Polka Dot Parade DSP. So cute!
*I used the same stamp for the background as well as focal point on my card. I wanted to make sure the 'no. 3' was prominent - it's my favorite number ;)
*I did a lot of sponging on this card. I sponged the edges on the scallop square, on the focal panel as well as the emobssed Soft Suede mat. Sponging is a very cost-effective way to 'embellish' and 'vintage-ize' your cards.
*One thing I love about Stampin' Up! card stock is that it's dyed all the way through - no white core. It's also nice and thick. So to add a little something to my cards I can tease it with the Bone Folder and separate the layers. Another easy, cheap way of adding a little something extra to the card.

We'll be making this card at my Fast & Fabulous Monthly Card Class tomorrow. I hope the ladies love it! I still have a few spaces if you're interested, too. 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Sunny Colors at Sunday Stamps!

I should've posted this yesterday so that it hit your inboxes this morning - on Sunday! But I compeletely forgot... I am posting now though, and it's still Sunday, so I guess that's not too bad :p This week at Sunday Stamps we had a fun, sunny color challenge: Daffodil Delight, Old Olive and Basic Black. To make this card even more sunny and summery, I used the new Summer Silhouettes stamp set.

I love all different images in this stamp set - so many options. I chose the little dandelions so that I could do some two-step stampin' :)

Tips & Tricks:

*I used black ink for the dandelion 'puffs' but I did second generation stamping so the puffs came in greyish.
*One of the new embossing folders in the Delicate Designs set (there's two) has this cute doily edge border. I trimmed around the round edges to give it a scalloped look.
*I really love the Loving Thoughts stamp set that was carried over from the 2012 Occasions Mini. It has greetings just a bit different than the usual like 'Create', 'Dream', and 'Memories' that are great for a large variety of cards as well as scrapbooking.
*Don't have Old Olive twine? Use a thin 'thread' of card stock instead :)
*Love this card? Come make it at my Fast & Fabulous Card Class this Wednesday from 7:30 - 9. We'll be making 6 cards, 3 each of 2 designs with all new stamp sets! It's a great class for beginners as well as more experienced stampers :)

I hope you enjoyed this Sunday Stamps card. 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Special Thank You for a Special Teacher

My daughter Anna is finishing up Senior Kindergarten this year and she has been lucky enough to have the most fantastic teacher for the past two years. She is patient, caring and just plain fantastic. We truly couldn't have asked for better. Last year I gave her an alphabet collage (on the left) that she loved. We didn't know she'd have her again this year again and I knew I couldn't really top last year's gift (I gave her 10 handmade cards and garnet earrings straight from the Czech Republic). But I could make her a great card ;)

I used two challenges as the inspiration for my card:
1) The Paper Players challenged us to use Basic Grey, Lucky Limeade and Melon Mambo in our card.
2) Try Stampin' On a Tuesday (a NEW one for me!) gave us a great sketch to work with.

I was pretty happy with the final product and her teacher liked it too :) My daughter goes to an all French school so I used this non-SU! embossing folder that has 'Merci' in it.

Tips & Tricks:

*I colored the apple stamps from Fruits and Flowers with Stampin' Write Markers, cut them out and then re-stamped them with Basic Grey ink and cut out the center heart.
*The apples and hearts are both mounted on Stampin' Dimensionals to make sure that they pop out. I love how easy it is to add texture to cards with these little sticky pop-ups.
*To coordinate my button 'thread' with my card (and to add a bit of visual contrast in colors) I threaded a thin strip of card stock through the button. It really pops!
*I did stamp the whole apple, including the center heart, in Melon Mambo. I wanted that little bit of pink peeking out from under the grey ;)
*I've been in a bit of a Crystal Effects mode lately. I love the glossy look it gives my card elements. I've had the same bottle for almost four years now and used it for many many projects. Talk about good bang for your buck!

I'm glad Anna's teacher loved her card and hopefully this will inspire to make a special card for your child's fantastic teacher. 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Teacher's Gift Card Holder

It's that time of year again ~ the end of the school year! I can't believe it's June already, time flies. Soon I'll be knee deep in summer camps, blow-up swimming pools and sunscreen. But, in the meantime I have to focus on making sure that my kids' awesome teachers get a proper thank you.

I used the new DSP, Floral District, as well as the Itty Bitty Banners and Bright Blossoms stamp set. For the card sketch, I used this week's Retro Sketch. I was also inspired by a gift card holder I saw on a blog this week. But, for the life of me, I can't remember which blog it was!

Tips & Tricks:

*For my gift card holder, I scored at 1-1/2" and 6-1/2". To make sure the gift card stays put, I secured the inside flap with the Mini Silver Brads.
*Although the Itty Bitty Banners stamps coordinate with the Bitty Banners Framelits they're super cute on their own too. I love the wavy curves of the "thank you".
*I love the colors in the Floral District DSP. Rich Razzleberry, Baja Breeze, Old Olive and Daffodil Delight... can't go wrong!

*Sometimes the right image is just enough. Even though this flower vase from Bright Blossoms is small, I love it! And it's just right for this card.
*What do you think of the new Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon? I love the little extra effect the stitching adds :)

I hope the ladies who come to my New Catalog Event and BOGO Sale enjoy this make-and-take ~ yup, this is one of the projects they'll be making! I hope they love it :) 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!