kind and caring thoughts

On this card I used Soft Suede and Rich Razzleberry cardstock (one of my favorite combo's), and Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot grosgrain ribbon for the base. I used Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive markers on the chrysanthemum, then spritzed it with water and quickly stamped it twice. The second (lower) flower turned out really cool I thought.
I finished it off with the spiral punch and a clip from the Clips Assortment. The sentiment is also from Kind and Caring Thoughts, and was stamped in Soft Suede.

last stair step, for now

For this last stair step card, I wanted to try using DSP for the base, and it works just fine, just be careful not to score as hard as you would for regular cardstock, or you'll have little cut pieces of paper instead of a stair step card (wonder how I know that?)! I used the eyelet border punch to make the ocean waves, and even used the little cut pieces from that punch to make the ripples on the first level. I used Bermuda Bay cardstock and ink for most of the whales, and used Versamark on DSP for a couple of extras. I cut the clouds out of the Tall Tales DSP and stamped the "just for you" from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set on the whale in front in Soft Suede ink. ok, that's it for stair step cards for now. Hope you try them, they're really fun.

stair step #2 - look out!

I spent most of the time humming "Pink Elephants on Parade" from Fantasia on this card. Once again, I used the Animal Stories stamp set and versamark on Razzleberry Lemonade DSP for my "technicolor pachyderms", and Tall Tales DSP for the other elements. I added a cut skewer to the tree in the middle row to keep it sturdy. It's only attached by its "trunk" (no pun intended, well, ok, maybe a little bit). Soft Suede cardstock is the base for this card.

stair step card #1

I've never made a stair step card, but once I got started I had to make 3, it's that addictive. It's a very simple process: start with cardstock cut to 5"x10 1/2", then score at 1 1/4", 2 1/2", 4 1/4", 6", and 8 1/4" and accordian fold the paper so you have 3 peaks and 2 valleys. Then you can do pretty much anything to decorate. My first card uses the Tall Tales DSP and the Animal Stories stamp set. I cut a couple of images out of the DSP and layered them onto the different levels of the card base, then took one part of the DSP and ran it through the big shot with the top note die for my "backdrop". I stamped the giraffe with the versamark technique and cut him out, and that pretty much finished this card. I used the gorgeous rich razzleberry cardstock for this one.

versamark

I just wanted to share something I started doing, and I haven't noticed it being done before, but I'm sure it has, there are just SO many talented and creative people out there. So, if you've already done this, boy are you smart!!! I started using bold stamp images in Versamark on the SU! DSP, then embossing it in clear embossing powder. After it cools, I use the sponge daubers to outline and define the image, then cut or tear it out and use wherever. Here are three examples, in addition to the card I posted the other day with the bird from the Wings of Friendship Level 2 hostess set.
These are also sneak peaks of 3 projects I'll be posting in the next few days. Stay tuned!

razzle dazzle

Still playing with the new sneak peak pre-ordered items from SU! This card uses the Razzle Dazzle stamp set. For the base of the card I stamped the floral image in Bermuda Bay ink on Bermuda Bay cardstock, then for the next layer I used Razzleberry Lemonade DSP, and added the Bermuda Bay floral and the Melon Mambo floral. I stamped off the Melon Mambo so it would be more subtle. I used our eyelet border punch along the side, then added the floral stamp on top, layered with Crushed Curry and Melon Mambo. I colored the stamp with the new In Color Markers (love those, I think I've said that before), then added the sentiment in Bermuda Bay on Melon Mambo cardstock, and outlined it with more eyelet border around the Modern Label punch. I'm having too much fun, and I should be unpacking!

circle circus

I made this card using the new Circle Circus set with Crushed Curry and Dusty Durango cardstock and ink.

I embellished it with Antique Brass Jumbo Eyelets and Vintage brads. I used the new Modern Label Punch to imitate hinges, and the scallop circle punch to use as a closure.

hostess set

The last of the Luv2Stamp challenge is a card I made with the Wings of Friendship Level 2 Hostess Set and the Razzleberry Lemonade DSP. I stamped the image with Versamark ink onto the DSP and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I then used ink daubers to smudge Crushed Curry, Soft Suede and Rich Razzleberry ink around the image and the edges of the torn DSP.

To mount it, I used Rich Razzleberry as a base, then stamped another one of the images from the set in Rich Razzleberry onto Crushed Curry cardstock, then stamped the sentiment in Soft Suede onto Crushed Curry cardstock and punched it out with the Designer Label punch and backed it with a 1 3/8" circle punch. I thought it gave the image an old wallpaper sort of look.

top note box

I tried 2 techniques with this share. First was making a Top Note Box, second was the quilt technique. What better way to try out 2 new things than to use brand new Razzleberry Lemonade DSP! I've seen this quilting technique several times and wanted to try it, but just hadn't gotten around to it yet. It's so simple, but looks great. Using the 1 1/4" square punch, cut 2 squares of each of the 6 patterned papers. That gives you all twelve designs since the paper is two sided. I used snail to mount the 12 squares onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock, then ran it through my Big Shot with the Top Note die. Now if you want to make a card, you'd mount the "quilted" Top Note shape to a card front, then decorate from there. In making the top note box, you'll repeat the process, so you'll have 2 quilted top note die cuts when you're done. I used the new Rich Razzleberry cardstock to build the box. I cut a 1 1/2" x 11" strip of cardstock and scored it at 2", 5", 7", and 10" which leaves a 1" tab to adhere the box shape. Before gluing, I scored 1/2" along the entire length of the cardstock and added sticky strip, cutting at each score mark. Once the box is formed, remove the red liner and center the box onto the quilted top note shape. Repeat the process with another 1 1/2" x 11" strip, adding a 1/8" to each score mark - 2 1/8", 5 1/4", 7 3/8", and 10 1/2", this time leaving 1/2" for the tab. Adhere this box to the white side of the second top note shape so the quilted pattern is on top and slide this box over the other one. I decorated the top with the new Circle Circus stamp set in Melon Mambo and Crushed Curry cardstock and ink, and punched those out with the Scallop Circle punch and the 1" circle punch. I added a white scallop Circle behind the Melon so it would stand out more and added the Crushed Curry Polka Dot Grosgrain ribbon. Fun project!

holidays already?

Continuing with Patty Bennett's Luv2Stamp Group challenge, I used the new Autumn Days Stamp Set to make a very simple card. I used the absolutely fabulous and finally available (soon) In Color MARKERS to color the pine cone with Soft Suede, and to keep it exclusively new, the Bermuda Bay marker for the pine needles. I then stamped it on Soft Suede cardstock and added the Thinking of You sentiment from the Kind and Caring Thoughts Level 3 Hostess Set, also stamped in Soft Suede. To add a little sparkle, I outlined the image with Tombow glue and sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds all over.

bleaching

Last year for convention, I made cardstock rings using the small tag punch, and included all 48 colors, our neutrals, and the 6 in colors for the 2008-2009 year. In addition, I made a few complete rings that I stamped with bleach, using the Dreams Du Jour stamp set, and gave those to some special friends, my sister included. It's really a great process, and shows a lot of interesting base colors in our cardstock. I use this reference a lot to make up color combinations for cards I'm putting together. This year, all I have to do is replace the In Colors with the new 2009-2010 colors. I also used the new Circle Circus stamp set for the bleaching process, and added one of the new In Color Polka Dot ribbons to show those off too. My sister Ellen and I had a great time making these, and since all we're doing is replacing 6 colors, it went super fast.

moving/unpacking

I thought I'd show you the status of the craft room: everyone thought it was a great idea to move all the boxes into the "spare" room - little did they know that I get more use out of this room than almost any other (draw your own conclusions).

So, my darling sister Ellen came up to help me try to get through some of this, and the two of us built this shed in the backyard (Rubbermaid Big Max). Not bad for two middle-aged women! It's 7'x7', and took us a whole lot longer than we thought, and did a fair amount of physical damage, but we did it.Once we had that finished, we started moving boxes out of the future craft room and into the shed so there would be room to move around and start putting shelving up. Even though it's coming up on summer, it's pretty foggy in the morning, so just putting boxes outside would have been a big problem, and who knows what damage could have been caused. Note the SU! box on top, boy did I use a lot of those. I don't have a total count of boxes, but there's a huge number that are marked CR (craft room). Way too general though, so it's going to take some time to get through them all. I'll keep you posted on the progress of the room - shelving next!!!

sorry

I'm involved in a very long and drawn out move, so I haven't had a chance to post anything. Things are looking up and I hope to be up and posting regularly pretty soon. In the meantime, I received my box of new goodies from Stampin Up! - preview items from the new 2009-2010 catalog (available early for demos) - and Patty Bennett issued a challenge to her group. We need to post 5 projects using new products to our group website, and in return, we'll have a chance to win free merchandise from the new catalog!!! Couldn't pass that one up, so here's the first of my new product shares:

I'm really fond of the bleaching technique, as you'll see with my next post, so I tried bleaching on the new Melon Mambo cardstock with the Razzle Dazzle stamp set, then offset the stamp and restamped it with Melon Mambo classic ink. I mounted it on Melon Mambo cardstock with Razzleberry Lemonade DSP (love it!), then used the new Modern Label punch with another stamp from the Razzle Dazzle set, and inked the edges of the punched out image with Melon Mambo ink.

Thanks for your patience, and I hope you'll visit again soon. Now that I have a whole box of new things, even if everything else is in carboard boxes, I'll find time to do something crafty.