Big Bold Birthday Sketch

I needed some birthday cards, so I decided to do one for Beate's weekend sketch challenge. I realized after I finished the card, though, that my two panels are flipped. I made the one on the right higher than the one on the left, so it's opposite of the original sketch. I think it's fairly close, so hopefully it still qualifies.

My card base is a standard 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 from Rose Red cardstock. The striped panel at the bottom is from the Cutie Pie DSP. I've had such a hard time using that paper for some reason, so I was glad that I was able to finally add it to a card and like the end result! The Cutie Pie DSP is matted on Basic Black. The right panel is from the Rose Red Prints DSP. I loved the 6x6 sample pack that I got during Stampin' Up!'s promotion, so I had to have a full package of that paper. I love it and would love to have even more colors of it! It is also matted on Basic Black. I then added Basic Black grosgrain to this piece.

For the focal image, I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp the Happy Birthday stamp around the square. I then added the cupcake bottom in So Saffron, cut out, folded accordian-style (like a true cupcake holder), and adhered with glue dots. The cupcake top was stamped in 2nd generation Rose Red, and then I added the polka dots in Rose Red, cut it out, and adhered it with dimensionals. The candle is stamped in Certainly Celery. I used the out-of-the-box cutting technique to cut around the candle flame.

Finally, I used my Rose Red marker to selectively ink words from the Make a Wish stamp, so I could stack the words on top of each other. It was punched with the 1" circle punch and matted on a 1 1/4" circle of Certainly Celery. The bling in the lower-right corner are gems from Target's $1 spot. I've had them for quite awhile and always forget to use them.

Recipe:
Stamps: Big Bold Birthday
Cardstock: Rose Red, Basic Black, Certainly Celery, Cutie Pie DSP, Rose Red Prints DSP
Ink: Basic Black, So Saffron, Rose Red, Certainly Celery
Other: Basic Black Grosgrain, Gems

Priceless 2,5,7,10 Box

As I've mentioned before, there is a different challenge on splitcoaststampers just about every day. I tend to do the color and sketch challenges, but I check out the others from time to time as well. The Technique Lover's Challenge this week was to create a 2,5,7,10 box. If you're not familiar with them, they are adorable little boxes/bags that are perfect to hold a small gift, treat, or party favor.

I made one of these boxes for a workshop last week, so it fit perfectly with the challenge. I won't go into detail of how I created the box since there is a great tutorial available, but I will share the stamps, ink, etc. that I used.

I started with an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of Whisper White cardstock and stamped the large swirl from Priceless in Purely Pomegranate ink. I added a few of the small flowers to fill in any gaps. For the focal image on the front, I stamped the butterfly from Priceless also in Purely Pomegranate. I then inked the butterfly again, this time in Groovy Guava and rock-and-rolled it in Purely Pomegranate. I stamped it on a scrap of Whisper White, cut out the body, and adhered just the middle to give it some dimension. I also added the smaller swirl from Priceless in 2nd generation Purely Pomegranate for the butterfly trail and the Wish defintion from Define Your Life in Basic Black. Finally, I added the For You from Happy Everything as a tag on the side and matted it all on Purely Pomegranate.

Once I assembled the box, I scalloped the lid with my corner rounder, sponged the edges, and added Purely Pomegranate double-stitched ribbon.

These are such cute boxes/bags. The girls at the workshop loved them.

Recipe:
Stamps: Priceless, Define Your Life, Happy Everything
Cardstock: Whisper White, Purely Pomegranate
Ink: Purely Pomegranate, Groovy Guava, Basic Black
Other: Purely Pomegranate Double-Stitched Ribbon

Combination Challenge

I didn't get a chance to do the color challenge last week since I didn't have one of the colors (or a close substitute), so I was happy to see a color challenge this week that I could play with. The colors for this week are Really Rust, River Rock, and Chocolate Chip. I've been using these colors A LOT lately with all of the cards I've made using the Apple Cider DSP and True Friend set, so the challenge for me was to come up with something a little different than I'd already done.

I decided to combine this challenge with the weekend sketch challenge Beate had on her blog Fresh & Fun. I started with a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch card base of Chocolate Chip. I wheeled my base with the Rough Texture Jumbo Wheel and sponged the edges in Chocolate Chip. My focal image is the flower from True Friend, inked in River Rock and Really Rust, and stamped on Very Vanilla. Part of the flower edge was also inked with a Chocolate Chip marker. I stamped a second flower, cut out part of it, added a Vintage brad in the center, and popped it up on a dimensional. This piece was also wheeled with Rough Texture in River Rock and layered on a Chocolate Chip mat.

My focal image was then layered on a Really Rust piece that was also wheeled with Rough Texture. I added the swirl from Baroque Motifs to the corner and added the sentiment from Hugs & Wishes. For the bottom strip, I randomly stamped images from True Friend in Really Rust, Chocolate Chip and River Rock, and again - wheeled it with Rough Texture.

The edges of all the layers were also distressed and sponged. The final piece of the card was the circle medallion. It was stamped first in Chocolate Chip on Very Vanilla. I then stamped it in Really Rust and cut out part to adhere to the Chocolate Chip piece.

Recipe:
Stamps: True Friend, Baroque Motifs, Hugs & Wishes
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, River Rock, Very Vanilla
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, River Rock
Other: Vintage Brad

Tiled Baroque

I wasn't able to do much personal stamping last week because I had 2 workshops, a crop day and stamp club to prep for. It was a crazy week, but it was a lot of fun! I was able to find a little bit of time for this card though. I really love the look of the tiled cards but hadn't tried one yet.

The card base is a 4 1/4" square of River Rock. For the tiles, I cut a 3 3/4" square of River Rock and stamped the swirl from Baroque Motifs in Blue Bayou. I then cut it into nine 1 1/4" squares and labeled the backs of the squares so I wouldn't forget what order they should be in. To create the tiled look, I inked each square with Versamark and then embossed with clear embossing powder. I added 2-3 layers of embossing on each. The tiles were then layered on a 4" square of Blue Bayou and a 4 1/8" square of Chocolate Chip.

To finish the card, I added a piece of Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon and the sentiment. Kind was stamped with Chocolate Chip on River Rock, and then I added 2nd generation Blue Bayou flowers. (The sentiment was embossed as well.) The final addition was a Blue Bayou flower stamped on Blue Bayou and cut out.

I love the result and know I'll be making more of these in the future!

Recipe:
Stamps: Baroque Motifs
Cardstock: River Rock, Chocolate Chip, Blue Bayou
Ink: Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip, Versamark
Other: Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon
Techniques: Embossing

Emboss Resist Thank U

I can't seem to put down the True Friend set. I just love it! I know it will be one that I keep after the mini catalog ends. Wouldn't it be great if it's one of the few mini sets that makes it to a big catalog - a girl can dream! Anyway, back to the card.

I stamped the large image from True Friend in Versamark on Glossy White cardstock and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I then inked up my brayer with River Rock and covered the cardstock. After letting it dry just a little bit, I added the other images in Really Rust and Chocolate Chip. After adding the focal piece to a Really Rust base, I added a strip of Chocolate Chip that I had wheeled with the Rough Texture Jumbo Wheel (I think that wheel works so well with this set). The Thank U stamp was stamped in Really Rust on Whisper White. I added the texture wheel and sponging to this piece, as well as a small piece of Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, before adding it to the card.

Recipe:
Stamps: True Friend, Rough Texture Jumbo Wheel
Cardstock: Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Glossy White, Whisper White
Ink: River Rock, Really Rust, Chocolate Chip
Other: Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, Vintage Brad
Technique: Emboss Resist

A Dashing Christmas Set

I didn't have many Christmas sample cards yet, so these are just a few that I came up with. The first card, and the gum holder (shown next), are done with one of my current favorite sets, In the Spotlight. I love creating backgrounds with these stamps. They look great regardless of the colors used.

For these 2 projects, I used Real Red, Old Olive and River Rock ink to go with the Dashing Designer Series Paper. The rest is pretty self-explanatory, so I won't bore you with the details.


Recipe:
Stamps: In the Spotlight, Holidays & Wishes
Cardstock: River Rock, Real Red, Old Olive, Dashing DSP
Ink: Old Olive, Real Red, River Rock
Other: Real Red Grosgrain





The next card is a holiday thank you card done with the All About Gratitude Jumbo Wheel. I kept it pretty simple - just added some Real Red and Basic Black cardstock and a small strip of dots from the Dashing DSP. The square Thanks was popped up with a dimensional.

Recipe:
Stamps: All About Gratitude Jumbo Wheel
Cardstock: Old Olive, Real Red, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Dashing DSP
Ink: Old Olive, Real Red
Other: Basic Black Grosgrain, Vintage Brad

The final card was done with the gift stamps from Big Bold Birthday. I only own one Christmas set (Snowflake Spot), so I am always looking for ways to use other sets for holiday cards. I was looking for a straightforward card that a new, or busy, stamper could recreate, so I hope this one fits that description.

Recipe:
Stamps: Big Bold Birthday, Holidays & Wishes
Cardstock: Old Olive, Real Red, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Dashing DSP
Ink: Basic Black, River Rock, Old Olive, Real Red
Other: Basic Black Grosgrain

Snowflake Spot

I had the Snowflake Spot set out from working on my Christmas cards, so I played around a little bit and came up with these cards. Both use Blue Bayou and Basic Black for the snowflake background on Very Vanilla cardstock.

The card on the left has a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 mat of Basic Black for the back of the card. The Blue Bayou card opening is 3 3/4 x 10, scored at 5 and adhered to the Basic Black mat. The card on the right has a traditional fold.

The other details are pretty self-explanatory, so I won't bore you with a description of everything else.

Recipe:
Stamps: Snowflake Spot
Cardstock: Blue Bayou, Basic Black, Very Vanilla
Ink: Blue Bayou, Basic Black
Other: Basic Black Grosgrain, Vintage Brads
Punches: Scallop, 1 1/4 in Circle, 1 1/2 in Circle (non-SU!)