Birthday Smiles - April 2007

I love this card design and how versitle it is. I made a whole bunch of them. Of course part of why I love it so much is because it uses Tempting Turquoise which has to be one of my absolute favorite colors. You could defiantely do this card using the other coordinating colors in the flowers and put different wording in the middle as well.

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Smile, Petals & Paisley
Paper: Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, DP Petals & Paisley
Ink: Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: Tempting Turquoise Grosgrain

December's Challenge Prize

These are the cards I made for the winner of the December montly challenge. Colleen received 5 of the birthday cards and 5 of the thank you cards shown here. I think they turned out great and plan on making a bunch more of them. They're very elegant but really simple to make. I love the colors though the apricot appeal isn't a color I typically use. Although I've made birthday and thank you cards using here they could very easily be changed to another subject/theme.

Card #1 Recipe:

Stamps: Embrace Life, Spring Solitude Bundle Set
Paper: Bali Breeze, Apricot Appeal, Whisper White, pumpkin pie
Ink: basic black, certainly celery
Accessories: brads, dimensionals, white gel pen, wild wasbi double stitched ribbon, SU Markers, Three For You Punch

Card #2 Recipe:

Stamps: embrace life, it's your birthday
Paper: bali breeze DP, Certainly Celery DP, Taken with Teal, Whisper White
Ink: Certainly Celery, Basic Black
Accessories: Brads, Wild Wasbi Double Stitched Ribbon, Three for You punch, SU Markers, white gel pen, dimensionals

More Birthdays - August 2007

I made several of this card because I noticed most of my birthday cards in stock were more girly then masculine so I came up with this one. I thought it could work for both girls & boys but was definately more masculine. I also liked t he idea that it could very easily work for a Halloween Card. I guess that's what I get for using halloween themed designer paper but it's okay. I have alot of birthdays in October so the cards should go over really well.

Happy Birthday Girls - August 2007

I made these two cards to stock up on some girly birthday cards. They didn't turn out quite as I planned but they're not terrible so I'm not going to complain. I definately will use the layout again. I'll just need to tweek them a bit.

Card #1 Recipe:
Stamps: Circle of Friendship
Paper: DP Flowers For You, Lovely Lilac, Whisper White
Ink: Lovely Lilac
Accessories: Ribbon (non-SU), Scallop Punch

Card #2 Recipe:
Stamps: It's Your Birthday
Paper: DP Flowers for You, Lovely Lilac, Whisper White
Ink: Lovely Lilac
Accessories: Ribbon (Non-SU), Scallop Punch

Baroque Birthday - July 2007

I made several of these cards. They were really easy to make and I love the colors together. I also like how versatile it could be as far as making it in other colors. I didn't think I liked this set that much at first but it has definitely grown on me and become a favorite. I love how it can be used for such a variety of things and for a variety of types of cards as well. I think the more versatile a stamp set is the more valuable it can be and therefore I'm more likely to buy it. I hate just buying a stamp for one thing and being limited. This is not one of those stamp sets.

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Baroque Motifs, It's Your Birthday
Paper: Blue Bayou, Whisper White
Ink: Whisper White Craft Ink, Blue Bayou, Lavender Lace
Accessories: Rhinestone Brad, Dimensionals, Slit Punch

Belated Argyle Birthday - August 2007

I made a couple of this card for some of my guy friend's who had birthdays earlier in the year that just slipped by without me noticing. This year seemed like it just flew by and that the more I thought about something the more likely I was to forget it once I was suppose to remember, which made this card and the saying absolutely perfect. I plan on making some more using this design but in more girly colors for some of my female friends.

CARD RECIPE:

Stamps: All Around Argyle, Linen
Paper: Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow
Accessories: Chocolate Grosgrain, Hardware, Gel Pen, Paper Piercer, Sponge

Punch Flowers & Polka Dots - April 2007

These are almost complete cased from someone on SCS though I can't remember who now. I really enjoyed making the cards though it was tricky at first getting the petals to look right. I still don't think I got them exactly right but at least they look okay.

Card 1 Recipe:

Stamps: Polka Dots & Paisley
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Cool Caribbean, Old Olive
Ink: Craft Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Grosgrain
Techniques: Punch Petals
Difficulty (1-Easy 5-Advanced): 3

Card 2 Recipe:

Stamps: Polka Dots & Paisley

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Marigold Morning, Old Olive

Ink: Craft Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive

Accessories: Chocolate Chip Grosgrain

Techniques: Punch Petals

Difficulty (1-Easy 5-Advanced): 3

June Technique Class - 2007

My upline's technique class in June was all about movement, so we made a waterfall card, spinner card, and pop up card. I think the spinner card was probably my favorite though the pop up was probably the easiest.

This is my first attempt at making a waterfall card. It's a good thing my upline was there helping and had done them before because without her help and assistance in teaching this technique in her monthly technique class I don't think I would have ever figured it out or even tried it. It was actually pretty easy once I got the hang of it and I can foresee myself trying to make more of the cards in the future. It definately was an evening of new techniques and learning. Along with the Waterfall card we also learned out to make spinner cards and pop-up cards. I love the way all the cards turned out, and I have already cased the spinner card for my Afternoon of Stamping with Friends class. It was a big hit with my friend's teenage daughter.

WATERFALL CARD RECIPE:
Stamps: Bugs & Kisses, Petals Wheel
Paper: Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst, Apricot Appeal, Confetti
Ink: Certainly Celery, Apricot Appeal, Almost Amethyst
Accessories: Eyelets, Ribbon
Techniques: Waterfall card





SPINNER CARD RECIPE:
Stamps: Fishy Friends
Paper: Taken with Teal, Cool Caribean
Ink: Taken with Teal Craft
Accessories: Pennies, Dimensionals, hole punch
Techniques: Spinner card

POP UP CARD RECIPE:

Stamps: Ruff Day, It's Your Birthday
Paper: Cool Caribbean, Au Chocolate DP, Chocolate Chip, Confetti
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Ribbon, Watercolor Pencils
Techniques: Pop Up Card

HAPPY BIRTHDAY - July 2007

I made several of this card to play with my new stamps from the new catalog and to stock up on birthday cards and what a better time to make birthday cards but during the month when we celebrate the birth of our great nation and the new SU Catalog. Can things get any better you ask??? Well it could because now instead of just 1 catalog a year we're going to get 2 ... 1 in July and 1 in January. YEAH!!!

CARD RECIPE:

Paper: Purely Pomegranate, Blue Bayou, Whisper White, Going Gray
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Rhinestone Brads, Cuttlebug, Blender Pen
Difficulty (1-Easy 5-Advanced): 3

Alphabet Soup Birthdays - March 2007

I made several of these cards for upcoming birthdays. I love the Alphabet Soup and Alphabet Stew stamp sets. At the time I made these cards all I owned was Alphabet Soup, but since then I have also bought Alphabet Stew. I plan on making a lot more cards using these two sets in the near future. I also love the Au Chocolat Designer Paper SU had in the spring mini, and am terribly disappointed by the fact it didn't make it into the new 2007 Idea Book.

Recipe for Card 1:
Stamps: Alphabet Soup
Paper: Designer Papers - Au Chocolate & Loves Me, Cardstock - Whisper White, Cool Caribbean Ink: Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Pewter Hardware, Corner Rounder Punch, Chocolate Grosgrain Ribbon
Difficulty (1-Easy 5-Advanced): 2

Recipe for Card 2:
Stamps: Alphabet Soup
Paper: Designer Paper Pool Party, Garden Green, Brocade Blue, Sage Shadow
Ink: Brocade Blue
Accessories: Silver Brads, Square Brads(non-SU), Corner Rounder Punch, Ticket Corner Punch, Paper Piercer
Difficulty (1-Easy 5-Advanced): 2

Masculine Series II

While making the other boy card I also came up with this design that can be used for both boys and girls depending on the color combos. This combo definitely works better for boys I think though. I actually gave this card with the brown ribbon to my husband for his birthday. He said it was his favorite of the different combos. I like it because it's simple but sort of elegant in a manly way. I am going to definitely play with it some more to come up with some more color combos and different additions using some different pieces of hardware and possibly some other techniques. I learned the shaving cream technique the other night at the local demo meeting and I think it would work really nicely to make some different swirly designs similar to the background on this one. I am aware though that this one has some actual clear nautical shapes in it... those would be missing from the shaving cream technique but I still think I could come up with some really neat paper that way that would work for this series. Below are the other two card designs in this series so far.

Masculine Series I - Jan 07

I realized while making the Stripes & Flowers Series cards that I didn't really have any cards that would be truly acceptable by boys and men. So I started playing with the different stamps I had that weren't flowery or girly and came up with this card. It could definitely be made more flowery for girls but it works with these colors for boys and men. At this time there is only the one color combo and design for this card, but there will be more in the future as I've gotten some more stamps, ink colors, and paper.

Delight In Life Series - Feb 2007

This is one of my very favorites. I love the Delight in Life Stamp Set and earned it during Sell-A-Bration by making a $50 purchase. It is so flexible... you can use the flowers to make springy flowers or even put them together in red to make poinsettia. I really hope this set doesn't get retired or at least shows up in the main catalog in July so that I can use it for some swaps in the future. I really like the set. I guess it doesn't matter if they bring it back or not because I'll still keep and use it anyway... I just won't get to demonstrate it to anyone else. :( Such is life I guess. Have I said how much I love this stamp set. I'm selling the above pictured delight in life birthday card gift bag set on my friend Rebecca's website for charity. If you're interested please check out her website at http://www.enchantedmoods.com/ There is also a link to the left. So far I have made 2 versions of the bag and 3 versions of the cards using this set. I love it very much and will add to this series as time goes on for sure.

Flowers, Buckles, & Presents - Oh My! - Jan 07

This card was also suppose to be part of the Stripes & Flowers series but was also just different enough that I decided to create its own series. There will be more cards to join this series in the future. ENJOY!!!

Flowers & Stripe Series - Jan 2007

This card is the only card made so far for this series but I plan on making some more to go with it very soon. It originally was going to be part of the Stripes & Flowers Series but was just different enough that I thought I better put it in its own series. Enjoy!

Stripes & Flowers Series - Jan 2007

I was playing around with different card designs one night and came up with the following designs. I thought they were sort of pretty and definitely made with some different color combos then I would normally choose on my own. I guess having to coordinate the colors with the print paper played a part in that, but they still turned out really nice. Some of the cards are for birthdays and others just say Thanks.

Spring Birthday in Winter - Jan 07

I created this card for my cousin's birthday after looking through a card design magazine. I didn't have the right size flower shaped punch and since I didn't have my cricut or any die cuts for my cuddlebug at the time I was forced to improvise. I ended up using a snowflake stamp for the SU set "Merry" and cutting out around it. They didn't look half bad. I used light pastel colors even though her birthday is at the beginning of January because I thought... she's probably use to getting the short end of the stick and getting Christmas/winter type themes on her cards since her birthday is so close to Christmas and is in January.... so why not make something that is cheery and springy. I'm not sure what she thought of the card though since she's never said anything about it. My aunt did say that my cousin got it, but nothing else was said about it. This cousin doesn't care for me a whole lot because of a grudge she's decided to hold. I don't even remember what I did or said 2 years ago that made her mad. Oh well... her deal I guess. I'm over it and am just doing my own thing. Even though I knew I probably wouldn't be given any appreciate for having sent the card I didn't want to send all my other cousins and aunts and uncles cards on their birthdays this year and not her, so I sent her one too. No big deal really in my eyes. The card was really easy to make and didn't cost much in supplies so if she just threw it away... I wasn't out much, and I had fun making it so that's what matters the most.

Paisley Design Series

All the following cards were made over the past few months after creating the Engagement card in my previous blog. I decided to come up with names of all designs I came up with and since I seem to make several similiar designs that coordinate I decided to make them into a series. The following cards are part of what I call the paisley design series. I used the Stampin' Up "Paisley" Background Stamp as the main stamp and then used different stamp sets for the middle. For the most part I used the SU set "In My Thoughts" but there is at least 1 that used a different stamp set. I hope you like this series because I really do and there will probably be more cards created for it as time goes on, even if SU retires these stamp sets.

These cards are really easy to make because you can have them made up without the message in the middle before you need them and then just add the appriopriate message on at the last minute. As you can see I have one picture showing a blank middle. I took the picture of it before I customized it for a friend. I then forgot to take another picture of it once it was customized, but that's okay. This is probably one of my favorite designs. Now that I have more colors of paper and ink I will making some more of them in different color combos. I hope everyone enjoys them. They're simple yet elegant in my eyes.