Gone to the Birds...

A couple of weeks I *finally* acquired the gorgeous stamp set Nature's Pace. I am not sure why it took me so long to buy it. It's been around for over a year! So from now on, when I like a stamp set, I will just buy it. Not sure my business account will agree, but atleast I can write it off on my taxes, right?

For this week's Friday Mashup Challenge, we had the option of
1) making a project using the sketch to the left;
2) making a project featuring birds; or
3) or Mash It Up and create a project using the sketch featuring birds.

So I turned to the bird from Nature's Pace as well as the Certainly Celery prints from the Twitterpated DSP. I also pulled out my Aquapainters and colored the bird in a soft So Saffron. I should really remember to watercolor more often.

Tips & Tricks:

*To follow the stripes theme of the sketch, I embossed my Pink Pirouette card stock with the Stripes Embossing Folder. Coordination made easy.
*To get the various shades of Saffron in my bird, I watercolored him one, let him dry and then watercolored him in spots to darken the color. Love how he turned out!
*I love second generation stamping for a softer look. To make the 'no. 147' a bit softer than the bird, I stamped off on my grid paper and then stamped on my card stock. It's a bit paler so it doesn't take over the image.
*I'm still loving how the Stitched 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon effortlessly adds that little something extra to my cards!
*To adhere buttons onto my cards, I always use Glue Dots. They may be small, but they're incredibly tacky. Even for a bigger button, I only needed one!
*If you know my style, you know that these are not my typical color choices. I got the my inspiration from the Twitterpated DSP. I love how it helps me come up with new color combos!
*There's no fancy cutting on my card. No fancy techniques except the watercoloring. But I think this goes to show, sometimes simple is just right :)

My friend just moved out to a country house and loves all the different birds that visit her birdfeeders. I think she'll enjoy this card for her birthday :) 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

Clean and Simple with the Baby Wipe Technique Tutorial

I first did this technique over a year ago at a Demonstrator meeting. And I've been meaning to do it again but somehow I just haven't gotten around to it. When I saw the sketch for the Clean and Simple Stamping Challenge #193. I did change up the challenge a bit, because all three of my flowers are the same size, so I guess I broke one of the challenge's rules. But who am I to follow rules? lol! Oh and I'll say it again... THANK GOODNESS this challenge is open for two weeks :p Otherwise I wouldn't have made it!

I've also done up a little tutorial for the baby wipe technique. It is *so* easy and I wanted to show you how to do it :) What I love best about it is that each image you stamp has just a wee bit different color distribution. And the tie-dye effect - love it! With respect to my tutorial, I know the photo tutorial is sooo passe... but I can't get organized enough to do a video... yet. ;)

Step 1: Take a baby wipe and fold it twice. Then choose the colors you want for your stamped image. For my flowers, I chose Raspberry Ripple, Summer Starfruit and Primrose Petals - all new In Colors :)

Step 2: Put a few drops of reinker on the baby wipe in each color. Put the reinker on the baby wipe in any pattern you wish. I did three stripes.

Step 3: Use your inked up baby wipe as a custom ink pad: stamp your image on it :) I washed my stamp in between stamping to try to keep the ink even on the baby wipe. See how the three colors show up on the stamp?

Step 4: Because of the dampness of the baby wipe, the ink goes onto the stamp and the card stock really nicely. Do you like how each flower looks different?

My card base is Primrose Petals. Isn't it a lovely pink? I also love the Gumball Green that I used for my flower stems. I stamped the greeting in Raspberry Ripple. What a gorgeous, rich color! I did cut out all my flowers and I admit, that took a lot of work. I tried to get around all the little nooks and crannies and there sure were a lot. But these flowers from Fabulous Florets were perfect for this card.

I hope my tutorial made sense, and made you realize how easy and wonderful this technique is. 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!

With a Cherry On Top!

I'm *just* squeaking in for the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge this week. I had a super busy week with my New Cattie Event as well as Retired Merchandise Sale. I was busy stamping, but also pricing, setting things up, didn't have the time (or energy) to post. Which is really awful, I want to post more than every 8 days :p And here I was doing so well at being consistent.

But I really wanted to make sure I got in this sketch challenge. I really like the simplicity of it, but also the fact that you could make a bit more ornate. It has a great space for a focal image, a spot to use our fab DSP and ribbon. Does it get better than that? True to my style, I did have to change it up a bit and I rotated the image.

These are the cherries from the Mouthwatering stamp set. It was carried over from the 2012 Occasions Mini. Don't they look good enough to eat?

Tips & Tricks:

*Like the two-tone image? I used my 2012-2014 In Color Stampin' Write Markers to stamp the image.

*I'm not much of a green girl, but I'm loving the Gumball Green color! I didn't have any non-Christmas Gumball Green DSP so I dug into the new Christmas Cheer DSP and found this cute polka dot pattern! I think it's fun and works for this non-Christmas card.
*Are you loving the Raspberry Ripple color as much as me? Can you say YUM! And it works for the cherries.
*When I think cherries, I think juicy, plump and sweet. I used a whole lot of Crystal Effects on them to give them that plump sheen. Just make sure you give your image enough time to dry if you use a thick layer of the Crystal Effects.
*When I first heard SU! was retiring the 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, I wondered what they could possible replace it with. As usual with SU!, I needn't worry. I LOVE the Stitched 1/4" Grosgrain. The stitching adds just a wee little something special ;)

I hope you've enjoyed this juicy card and I'll be back really soon! In the meantime, if you're in the Ottawa area and looking for bargains on retired stamps, DSP, punches, Big Shot Accessories, etc., send me a note! I still have all the items from the garage sale set up so you can come check them out anytime :)

'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!

New Catalogue Fun!

What a big day! Big, big day! The 2012-2013 Stampin' Up! Catalogue debuted today and I am so excited! New ribbons, new colors, new DSPs, new stamps, new Big Shot accessories. I have loved my preorders and can't wait to place my first new cattie order! You can check out the Catalogue Online Here.


Today, I have a card for you with all new products. I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch for my sketch inspiration. I also used the new Oval Accent Bigz Die to cut out my DSP quilt. I have to say, one of the Freshly Made Sketches Designers and fellow SU! Demo, Cindy Hall, made a gorgeous paper quilt for her card this week and I admit, it inspired this card's design.

Tips & Tricks:

*Paper quilting is easy to do. Cover a rectangle of card stock with pieces of DSP. I used my 1" Square Punch to punch out my pieces. Once securely affixed, cut out with your desired die cut shape. I wanted to add a bit of texture to my 'quilt' so I embossed it with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder.
*I embossed the Raspberry Ripple card stock with the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder as well so that it coordinated with my quilt.
*I really love Baker's Twine. And it's so cost effective, I can warp it around my card as many times as I want :)
*I've used the new colors on this card: The card base is Summer Starfruit, the scallop border is Midnight Muse and the flower is Raspberry Ripple.
*I used the Itty Bitty Banners stamp set and coordinating Bitty Banners Framelits for my greeting ~ isn't it cute?

I can't wait to show off all the new colors, stamps, products, all the new TOYS at my New Catalog Event and BOGO Sale. It's on Thursday June 7th from 7:30 to 9:30. Want to come? Sign up here: http://monicasnewcattieparty.eventbrite.com
'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!