PPA1 Blog Challenge

This is the card I created for the “New” Pals Paper Arts Challenge Blog. Wow! What do you think of the Pals Paper Arts Challenge Blog? I hope you will all join us on this wonderful new Challenge Blog. Created by Mary Fish and her downline, of which I am a member.

The first challenge (PPA1) was to use the colors, Melon Mambo, Chocolate Chip, and Bermuda Bay. I first embossed the Melon Mambo and the Bermuda Bay cardstock using the Cuddlebug Embossing Folder, Dots. I then used Designer Series papers from Thoroughly Modern DSP and Razzleberry Lemonade DSP for my layers. Choosing to create the flower from the SU Flower Daisies 2 Die and the Butterfly from the new Butterfly Punch. The sentiment is from Stampin UP’s Lovely Flowers Hostess Level 3 Bundle Set and is stamped in Chocolate Chip. Added touches are… Bermuda Bay Polka Dot Ribbon, Teal Blue Gems by Icons and Raindots by Cloud 9 Design.

I hope you enjoy my card today and please visit the Pals Paper Arts Blog and play along.

Best Wishes…

Just poppin’ in with a quick card today. I used the Gamsol Technique with this stamp set. It is by far my favorite technique. I’ve done it for a quite awhile, but never did it right, until I saw Gina K’s video over at Stamp TV. After starring at this card while I’m typing, I think I should of put another Night of Navy lacy layer over the Lovely Lilac lacey layer. I think that would of made a richer looking card. Oh well… Let me know what you think.

Here’s the close up of the flower. I love embossing over them. I don’t have any special reasoning for it, just like the looks of it.

Carla’s Ingredients…

Stamps:	Asian Artistry Hostess Level I #114399 Oval All #113790
Cardstock	Night of Navy Lovely Lilac Gina K’s White Luxury (perfect for the Gamsol Technique)
Coloring	Polychromo Colored Pencils in… Leaf Green, Light Green and Prussian Blue for the leaves Purple Violet and Bluish Turquoise for the flower Night of Navy Ink with clear embossing for the Sentiment
Coloring Medium	Mona Lisa Odorless Paint Thinner (same as Gamsol) available at Michaels
Tools:	SU Scallop Oval Punch #114889 Oval Punch #112082 Martha Stewart Border Punch Cuddlebug Embossing Folder Polka Dots

Hope everyone has a great day! Hugs,

Just a quick card to post today…

I made this for my manager at work today. His birthday is tomorrow, but I’m off. I had the cat already done which made this card super quick to put together. Don’t ya just love that cat!!! Kevin is a cat person, so I thought something cute for him would be perfect, especially since he is my boss. Sorry about the pic, I took tons of shots, and of course when your in a hurry, none turn out. I’m gonna have everyone at work sign the card today. He’ll get a kick out of it.

The Cat stamp is from Whipper Snapper Designs, Inc. and the sentiment is Swirly by Inkadinkadoo. The cardstock is just older stock on hand from Michaels. Nothing Stampin Up today… shh don’t tell.

The technique I used for the cat is colored pencils and gamsol.

Hugs to all… have a great day!

Do you enjoy stamping challenges?

Soon you will be saying “I love to Play @ PPA!”

Join the design team as we unveil a new official challenge web site at 5:00 AM CST on July 30th! At that time, a link to this new challenge site as well as the first challenge and inspiration cards will be provided right here on my blog.

A Simple Thank You…

Thanks for stopping by today. I made this Thank You card for a friend of mine who just loves the Retired Sweet Nothings Simply Scrappin’ Kit. Kris, a member of Mary Fish’s downline, of whom I’m a member, suggested we use buttons as an embellishment. I love buttons, I just rarely think to use them. So I decided it was high time I did something with my ‘scoops’ of buttons I purchased at our local Scrapbook shop, Scrapadoodle.

I started the card with a base 8 1/2 by 5 1/2, scoring at 4 1/4 using the textured Red Riding Hood cardstock that came in the Simply Scrappin’ Kit. Layering the striped/flowered DSP onto Pink Pirouette textured cardstock. To the left is, 2 different border stickers from the kit, placed side by side with the 3 border layered on top in the center for added dimension. The red buttons are then placed on top of the border stickers using flat 3/16” clear glue dots.

The dies I used are SU Blossom Party #115971 and Ellison Thick Cut Leaves. I cut the flowers twice using 2 different pieces of DSP from the kit, so I could flip the flowers and see how I wanted my layering to turn out. I popped the flower layers for more added dimension. Plus, I had enough leftover flower layers to put a flower on the inside of the card. The layered Love sticker is also from this kit. Tip: I always like to try and leave a space for the sender to sign the card.

The SU Punch is the Round Tab #108340 and the Thank You on the tab is from SU Teeny Tiny Wishes #115370. Of course the gems are from Michaels.

I hope your enjoyed your visit today. Any questions, drop me an email. I would be so excited to hear from you. Hugs,

Just a Swingin…

This is a wonderful little Gift Card project I found over at My Creative Corner quite awhile back. The tutorial is there for you too. The gift card inserts right into the middle of the card. So easy and fun to make.

I stamped the girl in the swing from A Kind Word Set using black Magenta Ink on Whisper White Crdstk. I then stamped the same image 2 more times, once on Tea Party DSP pink polka dot paper and once on the small flowered designer paper in that same set. I cut out the entire dress outline in the small flowered paper and the ribbon on the hat. I then cut out just the apron and hat from the pink polka dot paper and layered them on top of each other using 3/16” flat clear dots. The ribbon on the hat I glued on using A Fine Line… by Adhesive Tech. The image is then glued to the band that holds the card closed. I used red line tape.

The flowers and leaves on the vine are colored in using Pretty in Pink and Certainly Celery Stampin’ Write Markers. Her blonde hair is colored in with So Saffron and then I added a few highlights of Summer Sun… *smile* You really can’t see it in the photo, okay nor on the image. *smile*

Her skin is colored in using Copic # E00 and her blush is Copic R20.

The sentiment is my own, using Word and Lucida Handwriting font and printing on the cardstock cut to 8 1/2 by 11 in green. The back sentiment “Luv U” is pink Cardstock letters I purchased from Michaels a very long time ago. The hearts are punched from Martha Stewarts Heart Punch and scattered on the background of the front and back inside pages.

Now all it needs is a Gift Card in the center pages. I hope everyone has a great week!!!

Carla’s Ingredients…

Stampin Up Stamp Set:	A Kind Word #113194
Inks:	Magenta Tuxedo Black SU Markers In… So Saffron Summer Sun Pretty in Pink Certainly Celery Copic Markers in… R20 Blush E00 Skin White
Paper:	Tea Party DSP #113992 Certainly Celery Textured CS So Saffron Cardstock
SU Punch:	SU Round Tab Punch #108340
Embossing Folder:	Polka Dot Cuddlebug Folder
Pretties:	Yellow Gems, Unknown

Some days ya wanna stamp and some days ya don’t…

While waiting for my SU Paper and Cardstock order to arrive.  I decided not to use any stamps on this card, that I’d just use my So Saffron Designer Series Paper on Night of Navy Cardstock.  I just love those 2 colors together.  I decided to pop in some Orchid Opulence Cardstock using a Martha Steward Border Punch, just to give it some added dimension. I created the flowers using the SU 5-Petal Flower Punch #109041 and the SU Boho Blossoms #110711 punch for the flower centers, using So Saffron DSP #112152. I popped in more color using the Martha Stewart Punch with 3 butterflies in Orchid Opulence Cardstock adding little gems down the body.  Finishing off with the new Modern Label SU Punch #116630 and the Happy Birthday sentiment from new Teeny Tiny Wishes Set #115370. 

Hope everyone has a great day. 

Chocolate Ice Cream Bar anyone…

This sweet treat was originally created by Angie over at Chic n Scratch. Isn’t it wonderful. She has a complete set of 4. I am creating a set of 4 Thank You’s for mine. My first being a chocolate covered strawberry. I used Stampin Up cardstock in Chocolate Chip, Mellow Moss, and Real Red. The Strawberry Stamp is from “My Cute Stamps”, the Thank You and You’re Sweet sentiments and polka dot ribbon are from Michaels. Round Nestibilities were used to embellish and pop the strawberry up off the base of the card. I also used Stampin Up inks in Real Red for the strawberry, Chocolate Chip, embossing in Clear for the chocolate and Mellow Moss for the little leaves atop the strawberry.
Anyway I hope you enjoy this quick post today. I’m working on some new projects for you. Enjoy, hugs…

Feelin’ Blue… here’s a Pop Up Card just for you!

This is my favorite pop up card to make and its so much fun to do.  I love the detal you can put into this card.  If only I could figure out how to do baby’s breath for a card.  Guess I’ll have to google that. 

I started this card with a Whisper White base, then layered Bashful Blue cardstock, Melon Mambo cardstock and then the Yellow DSP from the new Level II Hostess set, Lovely Flower Bundle.  I added a strip of Bashful Blue DSP from the Delicate Dots DSP set that was in the last Sale-a-brations catalog.  Using the same DSP I scattered little flowers punched with a $1 mini flower punch from Michaels, adhereing them with tiny clear dots.  The Inkadinkadoo sentiment is stamped on Whisper White using SU Markers and adhered to a pc of Melon Mambo cardstock.  To make the sentiment pop, I put yellow gems in each corner.

The flowers on the front and inside the Vase were stamped from the Lovely Flowers Bundle stamp set onto the DSP that is included and then cut out.  I cut out 4 full flowers and then just the centers out of 4 more and layered them using clear glue dots.  Mom said the centers needed to pop a bit more, so I added tiny yellow gems… which then made it complete.  These flowers are attached to a piece of floral wire with seed beads covering the stem.  I also added some more tiny bashful blue flower clusters to fill out the vase.  The leaves are from the SU Sizzlets Die, Little Leaves and are cut out of Old Olive Textured Cardstock. 

Tip:  To make your flowers stand out in the vase, be sure to use different thickness’ of Stampin Dimensionals by adding a pop dot on top of a pop dot.  I have 1 pop dot on the back flower, 3 layers of pop dots on the middle flower and the front flower is attached to inside front of the vase with scotch tape.  You want to make sure the sticky side tape is not peeking thru… or your card will not open.  If  you have a sticky area, be sure to brush baby powder on that area and it will no longer stick.

Carla’s Ingredients…

Stamps:	Hostess Level II Lovely Flower Bundle #116916
DSP/Crdstk:	Hostess Level II Lovely Flower Bundle Bashful Blue DSP from Delicate Dots DSP Melon Mambo Cardstock So Saffron Cardstock Old Olive Cardstock Bashful Blue Cardstock
Ink:	Rich Razzleberry Melon Mambo Crushed Curry Bashful Blue
Tools:	SU Sizzlets Die Little Leaves #114511 Stampin Dimensionals #104430 Mini Glue Dots #103683 Tip: for the tiny flowers, cut in half then roll using the end of a straight pin and attach to the back of your flower, this will make your tiny flower pop, just enough.
Misc:	Yellow Gems and Tiny Flower Punch are from Michaels
	Blue Moon Seed Beads are also from Michaels

I hope this card made you smile today.  If it did, then my goal was accomplished.  *smile*  If you’d like the template for the Vase, I’ll be posting it in a day or two on the upper left of my blog, under Tutorials… so check back soon.  Heck, I might even brave a tutorial for ya.  Better give me more time for that one.  Hugs…

Polka Dots and SC236

Here’s my card for today's Splitcoast Sketch Challenge .  I really thought this was a great sketch.  I used Whisper White Cardstock for the background, embossing with the Cuddlebug Polka Dots Embossing folder.  I then layered So Saffron Cardstock and Brocade Blue Designer Series Papers (Hostess Level 1 from the Spring Summer 09 Catalog), embossing the bottom layer of Brocade Blue.  The image is from SU Bloomin Beautiful #111490, colored with SU Markers in Brocade Blue, Certainly Celery and Garden Green.  The tab is QuicKutz and Gems from Michaels. 

I hope you enjoy this card, I could be mailing it to you.  *surprise for someone*  Make it a great day.  Hugs,

Happy 4th of July

I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Fourth!  I will be taking the next couple days off from Stampin’ Up and Michaels to spend time with family.  I’ll be back here Monday or Tuesday.  I will be checking my email regularly.

I hope you get to spend some time relaxing.  If ya do, remember you can download a copy of the new catalog with the link on the right.  So spend some time browsing and let me know if there is anything I can do for you.  I’d love to help in anyway I can, from technique questions to ordering questions. 

As always, have a terrific weekend.  Hugs,