WSCC2 - Hang in There!

This time the color challenge used three colors: Handsome Hunter, Taken with Teal and Green Galore...now as I type this, I realize I used Wild Wasabi. How's that for a silly hostess I am???? UGH!!

Anyway, I had someone in mind when I made this card, and since I just recently remembered I had this set, I was happy to dig it out and try out the watercoloring technique using my Stampin' Write markers and an aquapainter. How fun is that!! I never did that kind of watercoloring before, and it was just as fun as watercolor pencils.

Sets: Hang in There, Houndstooth BG

Colors: Handsome Hunter, Taken With Teal, Wild Wasabi

Other: Gold eyelets, aquapainter

Dazzle Birthday

We're off to a girl's birthday party today with DD, and if the weather holds out it's going to be a POOL party! Woo hoo for her!! So, I had to come up with the card this morning (me? Procrastinate? Never! lol), and here's what it looks like:
The cake was done with Faux Diamonds technique, so it's super glittery all over that panel. The DP is done with Cuttlebug embossing folder for the Happy Birthday message all over... I got a little crazy with some things and started punching and piercing and glittering and stamping everything on this one, but isn't that what stamping is all about?? ; )

I'll come back and add details about stamp sets and stuff later on today because I'm running LATE for the party.... so come back later if you want more details, kay?

HUGS~

Here's the RAK I cased~

Okay, I decided to post the original RAK I received from my friend Sherri. You'll probably like hers better because it's GORGEOUS, but here it is!
I also know that some of you have been requesting instructions on how to make this card, and I did not forget you nor am I ignoring the requests. I am going to get in touch with Sherri and ask permission to share them before I do. I'm respectful like that. ; ) So anyway, she's got some stuff going on so I'm not sure how soon it will be, but when I can, I'll add a post and share them with you!

Have a great day~

Blog Candy Alert!!

OMG, this is not an SU! thing, and it's not my own blog candy (though I will be offering some soon!), but it's AWESOME ENOUGH to share with all of you! Click HERE to find out how to get your own chance to win this candy (but I'm secretly hoping it's me! lol). It's a new release from Starving Artist Stamps, and if you're anything like me, I'm DYING to get my hands on these!!!

Good luck!!

I actually CASED something!

My super-talented friend, Sherri, sent me a RAK with a beautiful card in it, complete with instructions on how to make my own! Well, I took it as a personal challenge and did it with my own colors/stamp sets. I just love it, and I hope that she posts hers on her blog so I can show you where it came from. I may end up editing this post to add hers in if she gives me permission. So here's my version:This is the front of the card. It works on it's own, but the fun charm of this card is in the opening! Here's how it opens, first the clip comes off, then the triangle opens, then the inside opens up. Here's how it looks open: Oh my, it was fun to make and I like the result. Thanks Sherri for the inspiration! I may just have to CASE something again sometime!!

Set: Unfrogettable
Colors: Real Red, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery

Paper: Summer Picnic dp

Other: red gingham ribbon, swirl clip - brushed silver

Have a Hoppy Day! tee hee

Big Flower!

Have you ever gotten a big stamp and wondered, "now what the heck am I gonna do with this thing?" Well, I did too. I liked the idea, but I wasn't sure if I could come up with something. And, being the terrible CASEr that I am (if you know me, you know I have a hard time copying anyone, I just think of them on my own), this was a personal challenge for me. However, I took it on and here it is:

The pic doesn't show well, but there are CE highlights all over this baby, including the center of the flower. It's also WAY more dimensional in person, but again the photo doesn't show too well (other than the front petals of the flower). Maybe I need to get a lesson in photography! Trust me, it's more "interesting" to look at in person, but for blogdom this will have to do!

Set: From the Garden
Colors: Basic Gray, Old Olive, Orchid Opulence, Confetti White
Other: Artichoke brad, 1/4" circle punch, slit punch

Wondering how I colored the flower? I used my watercolor crayons from SU! and an AquaPainter. First I picked up the color with the brush directly from the crayon and then applied it to the image. Lighter colors first, then I went in with darker colors for shading and highlights. If you want to know which colors I used, please contact me (click the "contact me" link under my picture to the right). The list is longer than you'd think!

Berry Yummy!

Summer brings to mind fun, sun and food. I took the ideas of fresh fruit and a monochromatic theme (sans one highlight of color) to come up with this fresh little number.

Set: Tart & Tangy
Colors: Real Red, White, and a hint of Glorious Green
Other: Swiss dots folder (Cuttlebug), red gingham ribbon, 1 1/4" circle punch and 1 3/8" circle punch, dimensionals

I hope you like it!

Super plain...birthday

This card didn't photograph well at all. The large Soft Sky paper has white paisley pattern all over it, and the birthday square is dry embossed and the outer rim is highlighted in Soft Sky using a blender pen and the inkpad. The black dots were done with a Stampin' Write journal marker and the eyelet template from SU! for alignment. It's super plain, I know, but I was going for a sort of monochromatic, clean line look. I hope you don't hate it!

Sets: NO STAMP SETS! lol
Colors: Black, Soft Sky, white
Other: Black & white grosgrain, birthday cuttlebug folder, soft sky designer paper

WSCC1 - Suzie Hospitality

Time for some fun! Since I had such a great weekend at my brother's house last weekend, I decided that a card was in order! AND, this Sassy Suzie sentiment was one I was DYING to use, because it's so funny - the inside of the card says "...I've decided to move in with you." tee hee! This card also serves as my entry for my own online group's first color challenge - blue and orange. I chose some softer versions of these two colors and was pretty happy with the combo over all. Here's the card:

Sets: Sassy Suzie, Priceless, Trimtastic
CS Colors: Soft Sky, Groovy Guava
Other: slit punch, 1/4" circle punch, silver brads, blender pens

How I did a few things:
1) Coloring - blender pen and puddle technique (squeeze the inkpad and using blender pen I pick up ink from the puddle in the lid of the inkpad).
2) brad washers - poke a hole in a scrap of cs and then using a 1/4" circle punch, line the hole up in the center and punch it out. Then put brad in.
3) edging - I stamped the trimtastic edge and then used paper snips to carefully cut the scalloped edge around the image.
4) notched corners - using slit punch (same punch I used to make the tab on the side of the sentiment), line the cardstock corner into the center of the punch and punch it out.

I think that covers it. Please let me know if you have any questions. Have a great day~

Wanna See the New InColors??

well, here's the names:

Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze and Pacific Point. Sound interesting?

Well, if you want to see a sneak-peek pic of these colors, click HERE to see them. Remember to scroll down toward the bottom of the post for them! After you check them out, come back and tell me what YOU think of the new colors!

See ya later~

Masculine Card

I know we just got done with Father's Day, but I had another masculine card to make today. I actually enjoyed it, too, because I pulled out my watercolor crayons too, which I haven't used in quite a while. I also used a stamp set that I haven't used in a while as well as the twill tape that hasn't seen the light of day in a long time either. So, it's like resurrecting the sleeping supplies today! lol Please forgive the messy faux stitching... I'll claim I was in a hurry and that's why it's a little "off"... (tee hee) Anyway, here's the result:

Sets: Weathered BG ( soon to retire!!), Coast to Coast (already retired)

Colors: Going Gray, Soft Sky, Not Quite Navy, River Rock

Other: Watercolor crayons, Aquapainter, wide twill tape, non-SU! hardware in Aged Copper, paper piercing tool/templates, white gel pen

SU!s Retired List is HERE!

I know I'm a day behind posting this, but due to my traveling this weekend and having to work today, I did not have the chance to post until now, but the Stampin' Up! retired list is now available!! SO, without further "ado," and if you're interested, click the following to view the list in:

Numerical Order (the order they show up in the book)
Alphabetical Order (by set name)

Oh, and if you then want to compare the lists against the catalog and you don't have a book handy, click the picture of the catalog to the right of my blog and you can view the book online!

I have a bunch of sets that are retiring, and I have a list of things I'd like to get before they're gone...how about you?

Well, enjoy - and get your pennies together to get those last sets before they're gone!

Bling-tastic Car!

Well, since we gave my husband his Fathers Day gift and card early, I thought it would be okay to post, even though I doubt he snoops my blog to find out what his card looks like! LOL
This one was actually a lot of fun to make, even if it was messy. Want to know how I did this sparkly car?? Well, I used a 2-sided sticky sheet and put some new glitter I bought at Michael's (it was in the mosaic section, so it looks like little pieces of mirror - extra blingy!) on it. You have to really rub the glitter onto the sheet or it ends up falling off. Then I stamped the image of the car on a transparency sheet, and with a craft knife, I cut out the car and sparkle sheet together so that my lines would match. It's tricky because you have to press hard or it doesn't cut all the way through, so if you try it, be careful! Then, to make the car stick to the sparkles, I put some crystal effects in spots on the glitter piece, and then stuck the car down on top of it and let it dry. Honestly, i wasn't sure if it was going to work, but it DID!! Woo hoo!

Then I ran the tire track over the whole thing with Basic Gray ink, and since the Staz On black was already dry, I was able to wipe the gray right off the car so that it didn't muddy the image. You could easily roll the tire track before applying the car, but I had already done it so it was too late. I didn't want the glitter to come off or the car to separate.

Okay, so here's the stuff I used:

Sets: Classic Convertibles (retired), making tracks wheel, Mixed Greetings (retired)
Paper: Basic Gray, blue off-brand paper (don't know what kind)
Other: Silver brads, Crystal Effects, 2-sided sticky sheet, transparency, craft knife

PS - he liked the card!!

1 Car, 2 Cards - Which is better?

Here's another card for Fathers' Day, and this one I'm showing you two versions of it because I am not sure which one I like better. It's only one detail that's different, but I will let you tell me which one YOU like better!
The detail that's different? The white faux "threading" is not on the first one but is on the second. Not sure which one is better. And believe it or not, there is silver detailing on both cars, it's just the lighting in the photo that's a bit different, so you can't really see the silver in the first car. Weird!

Now I know the piercing is more lined up than the second one, but that's becuase I purchased a new plastic canvas circle today to use as a piercing guide (it only cost me $.49 for a 6" circle), and it takes a bit of refining to get it just right, but I figured it out - you just need to pick a corner of the hole to line your piercing tool against and be sure to do it on that same spot on each hole all around.

Here's the second card:

What do you think? Which is better? Well, here's the details:

Sets: Classic Convertibles, Making Tracks, Mixed Greetings

Colors: Not Quite Navy, Ruby Red, So Saffron (basic gray ink)

Other: Metallic silver paint pen (details on hubcaps and grate), white gel pen, paper piercing, Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder, dimensionals

I highlighted the outer edge of the car circle and word cutouts with the inkpad direct-to-paper technique.

Did I forget anything? I hope not... but hey, I hope you like these cards.

Hugz~

PS - recognize the So Saffron triangle corners? They are the scraps from the Wild About You cards I made. See, scraps come in handy sometimes, especially when I hadn't put them away so they were still sitting on my stamping table! lol

Daddy's Day!

Hi there! Today was a stamping day! Since Father's Day is RIGHT around the corner, I had to make a bunch of cards, for my husband, my dad, and my friend's husband and father-in-law. I was excited that my friend asked me to make them because it's a huge compliment to me to be asked for my work. I loved it and of course I said YES!!

So this one was simple, but it was really fun, because I love to color. I would eventually like to get some Copics, but I do truly love my blender pen and inkpads, too. My friend has a daughter, a son, a dog, and a bird, but the bird made it on the envelope (tee hee). It's an old set, but again, it's one I'll never let go of. Here's the card:

Set: From the Heart (retired SU!)
Colors: So Saffron, Brocade Blue (the paper is not SU!, it's some random craft store brand pack of 6x8 paper that I got as a gift. The color is very close to Brocade Blue though)
Other: French Blue grosgrain (retired SU!), rectangle punch

More cards to come~

Busy weekend!

Sorry no cards to post today. I had a busy weekend~ the highlight of it was yesterday. We were invited to see an air show at Rockford airport. A new friend of mine's father-in-law has a metal fabricating shop right across the street from the runway, and so we did the whole barbecue thing while sitting in the parking lot. It was kinda like tailgating at a concert. FUN!

It was almost the day that wasn't, though. We got there and it was POURING rain. I mean, you know all those storms that hit the Midwest in the last few days? Well, we have certainly been hit with them, and yesterday was no exception. It was dark and pelting rain, but thankfully no tornadoes like Thursday. Anyway, we moved the whole operation to my friend's house, and then after about an hour longer the rain stopped and the show went on as scheduled. It was significantly shorter than it was supposed to be, but totally worth it nonetheless. The jets flew literally right over our heads. It was awesome.

The kids ran through a sprinkler they had set up in the front "yard" of the shop, and it was a great time. Of course, no time for stamping, but that can come later. Fun with my family and friends came first.

I hope you all had a great weekend and if you were caught in the storms, I hope you all survived okay without too much damage. I'll see you all later! I think I'm going to stamp tomorrow. Yippee!!

Citrus Fun - WSCC1

I love these little slices of heaven from Tart & Tangy! It gave me motivation to play with a color I don't use very often - ORANGE! I picked some colors that I thought would mix things up a bit, and this is the result:

There ARE sparkles in the centers of the oranges, of course. They're kinda hard to see (I swear, that's my new tagline!!). Here's the deets:

Sets: Tart & Tangy, On The Spot, Smarty Pants
Colors: Only Orange, Bashful Blue, Gable Green
Other: Bashful Blue grosgrain, 2-way glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds, 1 3/8 circle punch, dimensionals

Have a fresh and Fun day!

New Look!

What do you think of the new look?? I made the header myself.... and I kinda dig it. Post here and let me know what you like better, the old or the new?

Cherry Case

Today I thought it would be fun to case myself! Actually, I liked the layout of my Wild About You card from two posts ago, so when I was going to play with my new Tart & Tangy set, I thought this layout could work for that too. Hence, this card came to be:

To add an extra touch, I put Crystal Effects on the Cherries (on the punched circles) and then on the word "cherry." It doesn't show well in the photo, but it's there.

Sets: Tart & Tangy, Fruity Phrases (long retired)
Paper: Summer Picnic designer paper, Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Bashful Blue

Other: Crystal Effects, scalloped circle punch, 1 3/8 punch, spiral punch

Well, that's the details for today, have a CHERRY DAY!