Baroque Sympathy

When I saw the color challenge for today to use River Rock, Basic Gray and Basic Black, I immediately thought of a sympathy card. I always have such a hard time with sympathy cards, so I decided it might be good to have one on hand. I broke out my Baroque Motifs set again and used a layout similar to one I've used before with that set. You can see that card here.

For this card, I started with a 4 1/4 x 8 1/2" piece of River Rock folded in half. I stamped the swirl from Baroque Motifs in the lower left and upper right corners of the card base. The swirl was first inked in Versamark and then in Basic Gray so I could emboss it with clear embossing powder. I thought the Basic Gray looked a little "flat" on the River Rock by itself, so I decided to emboss it to give it some dimension. I then stamped the swirl again in River Rock as a shadow.

The inside piece of River Rock measures 3 x 4 1/4" and was stamped the same way as the card base. This piece was then layered on a 3 1/8 x 4 3/8" piece of Basic Gray and a 3 3/8 x 4 5/8" piece of Basic Black.

The center strip of River Rock measures 1 x 4 1/4" and is layered on a 1 1/8 x 4 1/4" piece of Basic Black. With Sympathy was stamped in Basic Gray. (It is from one of last year's hostess sets, but I can't remember the name off the top of my head.) The medallion was also stamped in Versamark and Basic Gray and embossed with clear embossing powder, and the small flower was stamped in Versamark and River Rock and embossed as well. A black brad is attached in the center of the flower.

I hope I don't have to use this card anytime soon, but I guess I'll have it now in case I need it.

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!

Recipe:
Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Hostess Set
Cardstock: River Rock, Basic Gray, Basic Black
Ink: Basic Gray, River Rock
Other: Vintage Brad, Clear Embossing Powder

Happy World Card-Making Day!

I wasn't going to stamp today. I REALLY wasn't because I have some housework that needs to get done. BUT, how could I resist on World Card-Making Day? I don't think it was truly an option! Anyway, I saw the Inspiration Challenge on SCS today and thought I'd give it a shot. I've never done this particular challenge before.

The challenge was to use this bedding from Pottery Barn as your inspiration. So, here is what I came up with.

I started with a 3 3/4 x 4 1/4" piece of Whisper White. I stamped one of the flowers from Big Blooms in Pumpkin Pie and then rock-and-rolled it in Purely Pomegranate. I added some additional flowers (from Papertrey's Green Thumb) in Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink and Pumpkin Pie, with centers of Basic Gray. I then added a couple of leaves in Old Olive. The leaves are from a CTMH set that I've had forever, but I don't remember the name. I then sponged the edges of the piece in Bashful Blue.

After stamping the focal image, I cut it into 3/4" strips. I decided to do this as a panel card to imitate the quilting on the bedding. (And I just really like that layout!) I added my panels to a 4 x 4 3/8" piece of Basic Gray and then added a piece of Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon. I just got that ribbon yesterday, so I had to use it. It is beautiful!

The bottom piece is a 4 1/8 x 2 1/2" piece of Bashful Blue cardstock. I stamped "from the heart" onto it in Basic Gray before adhering to the card.

I hope you like it! Now - back to housework. I need to get some done so we can watch football tonight. I'm not usually a big football fan, but Missouri is playing Nebraska. I am a Missouri alum now living in the heart of Cornhusker country. Football is a big deal here, so we'll see how the game goes. Regardless, I am rooting for my Missouri Tigers!

Recipe:
Stamps: Big Blooms, Green Thumb, CTMH set
Cardstock: Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Basic Gray
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Purely Pomegrante, Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink, Basic Gray, Old Olive
Other: Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon

ETA: Missouri 41 Nebraska 6

Falling for Quilts

I saw a thread on SCS last week about quilt cards, and I knew I had to make some. Both my mom and mother-in-law are quilters, so I wanted to make some for each of them. And with the beginning of fall and cooler weather, they are definitely appropriate for this time of the year. It was fun to put the patterns together, and I'm really happy with the result of these.

The first one uses my neglected Au Chocolat DSP. My card base is a 5 1/2 x 8 1/2" piece of Very Vanilla folded in half. To create the quilt, I cut eight 1 1/4" squares from the various patterns of Au Chocolat and then cut each in half diagonally. The quilt is created on a 5 x 2 1/2" piece of Very Vanilla. Before I started adding the triangles, I covered the entire rectangular base with double-sided tape to make adhering the pieces a little easier. I then placed the triangles in an alternating pattern (i.e. one up, one down, etc.)to fill in the rectangle. I layered this piece on a 5 1/8 x 2 5/8" piece of Very Vanilla and then a 5 1/4 x 2 3/4" piece of Chocolate Chip. I added my twill tape, adhered it to my card base and then added the sentiment from Happy Harmony at the bottom.

Recipe:
Stamps: Happy Harmony
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Au Chocolat DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Other: Twill Tape


My second quilt uses the Cutie Pie DSP in a log cabin style. I followed the basic directions in Nancy Riley's tutorial and just modified my dimensions a little bit for this particular card. I started with a 4" square piece for my quilt base. The center of the quilt is a 3/4" square, and then the strips are 1/4" wide. I used 9 strips to fill in each side. The finished quilt was then layered on a 4 1/8 by 5" piece of Rose Red. I finished off the card with white grosgrain and the "from me to you" sentiment from So Many Sayings. I think the Cutie Pie paper made such a fun pattern for this one.

Recipe:
Stamps: So Many Sayings
Cardstock: Rose Red, Whisper White, Cutie Pie DSP
Ink: Rose Red
Other: White Grosgrain

The third card also uses the log cabin style. This was actually the first quilt card I made, so I followed Nancy's dimensions with one exception - I started with a 4" square for my quilt base. This one uses the Apple Cider DSP and Warm Wishes from Hugs & Wishes (I thought very appropriate for a quilt card). I also stamped the medallion from True Friend in the center.

Recipe:
Stamps: Hugs & Wishes, True Friend
Cardstock: Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Apple Cider DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Other: Twill Tape

The first two of these cards meet the Limited Supplies Challenge for today - to use just patterened paper and a sentiment (any other cardstock and embellishments ok). I met a challenge and didn't even know it! Now I just need to find some time to finish the gift sets for the mothers.

Have a great weekend!

Sweet Little One

I needed a baby card for a friend who recently had a little girl, so I decided to use this week's sketch challenge for it. I don't have any traditional baby stamps, so I pulled out my Papertrey Little Lady set that I haven't used in awhile. I tend to like wood mounted sets better, but I do like the quality and versitility of the two Papertrey sets I have.

I started with a 5 1/2 x 8 1/2" piece of Pretty in Pink cardstock folded in half for my card base. To that, I layered a 5 1/4 x 4" piece of Whisper White that was stamped with the small flower in Pretty in Pink and Purely Pomegranate and the Polka Dot in Basic Black. The middle strip of Pretty in Pink was scalloped using the SU! corner rounder. I added Black Gingham ribbon and Vintage brads to that piece as well.

For the focal image, I stamped the lady bug body in Pretty in Pink and her spots in Basic Black. I stamped her body a second time, cut it out and covered it with Crystal Effects. The trail was stamped in Basic Black. This piece was then layered on Basic Black and Purely Pomegranate.

The "sweet little one" sentiment is from Holidays & Wishes.

I'm really pleased with how this turned out. It's always nice when the image in your head actually turns out the same on paper. This was a really fun sketch, and I'm sure I'll be using it again!

Recipe:
Stamps: Papertrey Little Lady, Holidays & Wishes
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Purely Pomegranate, Basic Black
Other: Black Gingham Ribbon, Vintage Brads
Tools: Corner Rounder, Crystal Effects

Merry & Bright Thank Yous

I just got Merry & Bright yesterday, so of course I had to play! Those little images are just so cute! I went back and forth several times on whether to get this set, but I've seen so many cute samples that I finally caved. It's not like it's an expensive set, so I don't know why I waited so long. Anyway, I know I'll enjoy playing with it more in the next few days.

I didn't have anything specific in mind when I started on these, so as I was working on the first one I decided to do some holiday thank you cards. I know I'll need some in a few months.

I think these images lend themselves well to 4 1/4" square cards, so that is what all of these are. The stamping on them is pretty straightforward, so I won't go into a lot of detail on that. I'm not sure if you can really see it in the pictures or not, but I did do some paper piecing on the snowman's hat and scarf. I know it's small so it might not make a huge difference, but I think the pattern adds to it IRL. Individual pictures and basic recipes are included below.

Recipe:
Stamps: Merry & Bright, Much Appreciated
Cardstock: Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Whisper White (this week's color challenge colors)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Other: Blue Bayou Double-Stitched Ribbon, Real Red Brad, Pastels
Tools: Corner Rounder, Scallop Punch, Circle Punch



Recipe:
Stamps: Merry & Bright, Much Appreciated
Cardstock: Rose Red, Basic Black, River Rock, Whisper White, Rose Red Prints DSP
Ink: Basic Black, Whisper White
Other: Basic Black Grosgrain, Twill
Tools: Scallop Punch, Circle Punches



Recipe:
Stamps: Merry & Bright, Priceless
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Certainly Celery Prints DSP, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Certainly Celery, Real Red
Other: Real Red Grosgrain, Silver Elastic Cord, Vintage Brad
Tools: Spiral Punch, Scallop Punch, Circle Punch

Embossed Baroque

[NOTE: This image has been temporarily removed. This card will appear in the August 2008 issue of the CARDS idea book series. It will return here sometime after publication.]

I was having trouble sleeping last night, so I found the Tuesday color challenge for this week a little earlier than normal. I figured I might as well do something productive with my time, so I decided to give it a try. The colors for this week are Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip and River Rock. I really like these colors together and did a card with them a few weeks ago.

For this card, I used a 4 1/4 x 11" piece of Blue Bayou folded in half for my card base. To that, I added a 4 1/8 x 1 1/2" piece of River Rock. The River Rock piece was stamped with a portion of the swirl from Baroque Motifs and the kindness definition from Define Your Life, both in River Rock. I also added vintage brads in the bottom 2 corners.

For the focal piece, I used a 3 3/4 x 3" piece of Very Vanilla and stamped the swirl in Chocolate Chip and then in River Rock and added flowers in Blue Bayou. I then covered the entire piece in Versamark and embossed it with clear embossing powder. While the powder was still hot, I added a couple of additional layers of embossing powder to give the piece a tile look (similar to my other card). After embossing, I cut the piece into three 1 1/4" panels and adhered them to a 4 x 3 1/8" piece of Chocolate Chip and added the Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon (I love that stuff!).

After the card was assembled, I added the sentiment on the top right. I've been hoarding my cards lately, so I decided to make this one a thank you card so I could send it to a family that had my DH and I over for lunch on Sunday. I hope they like it. (And I hope I can stay awake at work today after stamping in the middle of the night!)

Have a great day!

Recipe:
Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Define Your Life
Cardstock: Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Very Vanilla
Ink: Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip, River Rock
Other: Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, Vintage Brads
Techniques: Embossing

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Holiday Glitz Promotion
October 1-while supplies last

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Full-color instruction sheet (1)

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October 4-8

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