A sunset just for you

The art of stamping.  Seems to be making a comeback.  For awhile, the thing to do was create a card with a gazillion layers of card stock. Gosh, a card may not even have stamping on it, but be filled with embossing and designer papers and trinkets.  Nothing wrong with that kind of card. (well, except maybe the extra postage it takes to send it somewhere!)  This card is only two layers and the impact is made with the inks and stamping.

I had to ask my son about making the sunset.  I have really never noticed which direction the colors layer themselves in the night sky at sunset.  Yes, I know the colors of a sunset, but how to recreate it with ink?  My son informed me that his art teacher said, "Dark on top."  So that's what I did.   There is a line under the words Just for you on the actual stamp that I masked before stamping.  I like the top part of the sentiment, but not the teasing tone of the bottom half of the sentiment.  Especially for this card.  I love that with a wee bit of transparent tape I can adjust a stamp to my liking.

Below you can see the glimmer of the card.  I went back over each bunch of flowers with some Dazzling Details and just dotted on a little sparkle. 

Supplies:

Stamps: Serene Silhouettes, Afterthoughts (retired)

Card stock: Whisper White, Night of Navy

Inks: Stazon Black, Night of Navy, Cajun Craze, Daffodil Delight

Dazzling details, sponges

Hope you like the card.  Thanks for stopping in!  Special thanks to my followers and subscribers for giving me someone to "talk" to!

Kristine

Did you miss me?

Here I was, plugging along getting a post in not once but twice a week.  It was grand!  Grand, while it lasted.  I have been traveling and hosting for the past two weeks.  I do have a card to share with you though!

Stamps: Wild Rose (retired), Hope Happens (retired)
Cardstock: Pool Party DSP (retired), Gumball Green, Barely Banana (retired), Whisper White
Inks: Daffodil Delight, So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz (retired), Gumball Green, Primrose Petals ink mixed with Craft ink and added with a brush.

I made this card for my mom.  She found out last week that she has oral cancer.  Never smoked in her life, but she has the cancer of a smoker.  This is her third battle with cancer.  She had a sarcoma in her Kidney in 2005, then melanoma on her head in 2007, and now carcinoma in her mouth.  She has a good outlook, and her spirit is strong.  She amazes me.  If you are of the mind, a prayer for her would be appreciated.  She is in for some painful surgeries and some blows to her appearance for awhile.

On the good news side of life, my son was honored with an award from his middle school on Wednesday.  His school mascot is the Diamondback (yes, only in Northern Nevada) and they have a education matrix they call S.T.R.I.K.E.  The letters stand for Strength, Tolerance, Responsibility, Knowledge and Empathy.  Thomas was chosen for the honor because the staff at the school feels he exemplified these characteristics for the past three years at the school!  His graduating class is around 600 students, so this is a wonderful thing to be selected among so many. I am such a proud mom! I know he is a wonderful person.  I have been blessed by God with both of my children.

And here is another rascal in my life.  This is my friend's son, Kyle. I think of him as one of my own. He calls me Ne-Ne.  I think that is his attempt at Auntie.  He just turned two.  Lordy I remember the twos.  I will say this...being around a 2 year old when in one's 30s in a heck of a lot easier than doing it in one's 40s!  He's fast. Colleen and Kyle stayed with us for a week.  He adored being with my kids. They adore him, but you know what the best birth control might be for teens?  Put them in a room for a week with a two year old.  Then ask...wouldn't you love to have a two year old around all the time?! (insert menacing laugh here) I love the vagabond beard he has created for himself in this photo.  I know he REALLY enjoyed that ice cream! :-)

And finally, when I came home from my trip, my peony bush greeted me in full glory.  So many luscious blooms that the poor thing was bent to the ground even with a flower ring to support the blooms.  I picked a few to enjoy inside and fill my house with the wonderful scent.

Thanks for sharing some time with me.  You're grand. 

Kristine

Playing with Olivia and a Sneak Peek

Note:  I have blathered a lot before getting to my card and the sneak peek.  If you are visiting just to see the sneak peek and a new product, scroll to the bottom.  If you don't mind a wee bit of blathering...read on!


I am so lucky that my daughter, Olivia, aka Livi, likes to paper craft with me.  She is 12, and I love that it makes her smile when we bring out the craft supplies and get down to a challenge.  This weekend we are missing Thomas.  He is her brother and my son.  He is 14 and off on a trip to Disneyland in LA with his school orchestra.  We miss him terribly.  I am very fortunate that my children love each other and consider each other best friends.  I know!  Can you imagine my surprise as each year they grow they continue to treat each other with respect and love!  It says a lot about who they are as people.  So we are missing Thomas and we felt a little paper therapy was in order.  So we have been doing some challenges.

Because Livi likes sketch challenges we started there.  She combed my bookmarked sights until she found a sketch she thought she could work with and like.  What she found was the Saturday Sketch Challenge at Stamping 411. Perfect! It's an older sketch, but that's what we used. Here it is:

Then to make the challenge a wee bit more difficult, we each picked a color from the Stampin' Up! Color Coach.  This had to be a focal color in the card.  Here's a picture of Livi selecting my color.  She's so funny.  Look at that cute face!

And wouldn't you know it, we each by happenstance picked colors for each other that we would NOT normally pick.  She picked Melon Mambo for me.  I picked Tangerine Tango for her.  We each gave a heavy sigh.  Oh the tortures of working outside a comfort zone! :-)  Then we got to work.  Lots of laughs, and Oh-my-gosh-this-card-is hard! later we had our finished cards.  One of the rules of our working together is no peeking at the other person's work.  We like the surprise of the finished card.  I ripped my card up a few times.  Livi sticks with her plan and is always okay with what she creates.  Say anything about our personalities?

First Livi's card.  Remember she had to use Tangerine Tango.  I love how she interpreted the sketch and made that color work for her. 

And here is my card.  Remember I had to use Melon Mambo.  I fudged a bit.  Although Melon Mambo is a main color, I think the Elegant Eggplant is more noticeable.

The stamp set used is a new stamp in the upcoming 2012-13 Idea Book called Betsy's Blossoms.  I received this set as a part of a bundle that Stampin' Up put together as an incentive.  If you reach a certain level in your title, you begin to get the opportunity to buy these bundles at a discount, or eventually you get them free!  I got my first discount bundle. Hehehehehe, grin.  Have I mentioned that I LOVE Stampin' Up! :-)  Love getting things for free or at a big discount. 

I think the set has a retro feel to it.  Yeah man...retro! 

Thanks for visiting today.  Thanks to you, my followers and subscribers.  You are da bomb.
Kristine

For Mom

I love Stampin' Up!  I really do.  But sometimes I see something that is non-SU that I must have.  So it happened last weekend when Livi and I went to a big craft store.  I saw this beautiful paper in the bargain bins.  It was love at first sight.  The roses on the paper spoke to me of times gone by.  So I bought it.  And I used it.  Everything except the designer paper is SU, but the colors are retired.  I have been rearranging stuff to make room for the new goodies to come, and I miss so much some of the colors of the past--such as Mellow Moss.  It was/still is a favorite.  It doesn't surprise me that Mellow Moss matches the design paper.  We are all drawn to certain colors.  Okay, now the card. This is my mom's Mother's Day card.  My mom does not own a computer, so no worries about her seeing it before I give it to her. :-) 

I decided to use the sentiment "family" instead of "Mom" because she is the glue of our family.  She has also never really thought much about needing a special day for moms.  She's all for another family day, however!  So it fits her better.

I fussy cut some of the roses out of the paper for the small pair above the circle and then popped them up on a dimensional.  Here's a side view of the card so you can see some of the dimension as well as the inside of the card (before I write in all the mushy stuff I write inside cards.)

Supplies: 

Cardstock: Brilliant Blue (retired), Mellow Moss (retired)

Designer Paper: Treasures by Shabby Chic

Polka Dot Embossing Folder, 2 1/2" circle plus and Circle Scissor Plus

This card fits the bill for two challenges as well. Cool. It is the Mojo Monday Sketch 240, and it fits the theme for the Paper Players Theme Challenge 94.   I thank the ladies at both challenges for helping me create my mom's card. :-)

I just realized there is no stamping on this card!  Huh? 

Thanks for stopping by.  Special thanks to my followers and subscribers.

Kristine

Sketch Challenge

My email today delivered a sketch challenge from the Stampin' Queens. I like the simplier sketches without so much layering. I thought I might be able to get a card made in the 30 minutes I had.  Amazingly, the card came together quickly.  Once I picked the stamp set, the rest just fell into place.  Gotta love it when that happens!  Here's the sketch:

  And here's my take on it:

Supplies:

Stamps: Love and Sympathy

Card stock: Very Vanilla and Bravo Burgandy

Inks:  Bravo Burgandy and Alway Artichoke

Always Artichoke Seem Binding, Basic Rhinestones, Extra Large Oval Punch

I used a stamp set I just bought called "Love and Sympathy."  I like the sentiment in the set and the font of the word "Sympathy." And this set is NOT on the retiring list. Big smile.  As you can see on the sketch, there are three "somethings" in the lower right side of the card.  I stamped three of the flowers and cut them out and popped them up with dimensionals.  A small rhinestone adds just a little flair.  Kinda reminds me of dew drops.

Amazingly there is actually nothing on this card that is retiring!  I lost of ton of sets to the retiring list.  I'm excited to see what there is to buy to replace them.  (Shhh, don't tell my hubby I want to replace that many sets. :-)  He doesn't need to know the extent of my addiction. Although with the fact that my stamping space is in our dining area, I bet he has a pretty good idea. Grin.)

I hope to not have to send this card out.  It seems to me that when someone dies, there are two more deaths that follow closely behind--as if God takes souls in threes.  An oddity I have noticed in my own lifetime.  Anyone else ever notice that?  And so as not to end on a morbid kind of thought, ...here are my beautiful blooming violets. 

    

Are they not GOR-JUS!  In real life the "blue" violets are actually a deep purple.  Think Concord Crush rather than the Pacific Point they look like in  the pictures.  I really need to figure out my camera settings to get the right colors. 

Thanks for sharing some time with me.  Special thanks to my Subscribers and Followers. 

Kristine

A Potpourri!

I have such a back log of projects to share that I thought, "I'm going to post a bunch today!" So enjoy the potpourri of projects!

A Workshop card.  Uses the wheel Take a sip. What ended up being cool about this card was that each person's card looked a bit different depending on where in the wheel they were when rolled.  We each had a different grouping of cups!

This card was made at the same workshop.  I think that it is a CAS (Clean and Simple), stunning card.  The Chocolate Chip Card Stock is textured, which gives it a nice finish.  I saw this card on the display boards at convention in 2011.  Loved it!  I have no idea who to credit it to, however.  The base paper looks white in this photo, but it is actually Very Vanilla.  The stamp set used is called In Wilderness.  It is on the retiring list.  Don't miss buying this set.  It truly is beautiful.

The third card from this same workshop uses the set from the Occasions Mini called Sweet Cake.  It is a fun gate-fold card.  We used Dazzling Details to frost the cupcake and a Red Glimmer Paper cherry on the top.  This card idea came from my upline, Linda Gutierrez.  I think it is a super cute card.  When I saw her version on her blog, I had to buy the set.  Then I just had to do the card at a workshop.  Thanks Linda!

This card came from a Stamp-a-stack I did at my home.  It was a CASE of the card in the Sale-a-bration Mini. 

Next up is a Thank you card I sent to the gals who placed orders with me in March.  The paper behind the image looks likes DSP, but it isn't!  I used Vanilla Craft Ink and stamped the image from the background stamp Weathered, which is a retired stamp, on it.  I think it came out great!  I used some Dazzling Details on this card as well.  Just makes the flower centers pop a bit.

For my thank you cards I allow myself to use anything in my stash.  If you want a special thank you from me, just place an order and a thank you card or gift always comes your way!

My final share is a card I made for a thank you in December. I don't think I ever posted this? Hmm.  I like for my customers to be able to reuse the cards I send, so I never put anything which marks me as the maker on the card.  The cards are meant for reuse, so they are a thank you and a gift in one!

If you don't already have a demonstrator, I would love to help you enjoy the hobby of stamping and paper crafting.  Please check out the links at the top of this blog to see my rewards program and card kit offers.

My thanks to my subscribers and followers.  I appreciate you.

Kristine





A little swishy dress

There is one thing that has always appealed to me...light, swishy, classic dresses.  Alas, I do not have the body build to wear them, but I love them.  Do you remember the dress Julia Roberts wears in the movie Pretty Woman?

She is at the race track and has on a brown and white, spotted dress along with a wonderful floppy hat.  I love that dress!!  My daughter and I were at Stein Mart Department store last week, and they have a wonderful breezy dress with this same color and pattern.  It was a filmy material in a shirt waist style.  Oh, if I only had the kind of figure that could pull it off, I would have bought that dress!  {sigh}  I have thought about that dress ever since seeing it on the rack. 

Then as I went through my DSP, I came across the polka dot pattern in the Mocha Morning Specialty Designer Paper.  It was kismit!  It was a way for me to express my love of the dress!  So, long story shorter...I made a card.

I wanted to keep the card clean and simple, and I wanted that polka dot design to be a main focal point.  I blinged up the card just a smidge by adding some Champagne stickles to the flower centers. (Didn't Julia's character sip champagne in the movie?) The flowers come from the Posey Punch set.  A piece of Espresso Satin Ribbon to cinch the card's "waist", and a Curly Cute sentiment finishes it off. 

Maybe not as glam as Julia Roberts in her dress, but I likey.  Plus, it's easier to make this card than shed the 30 pounds needed to fit into the dress at Stein Mart! lol!

Still for sale:

I am still taking orders for this Christmas Card/Tag workshop.  The next order will be placed on October 1st and will ship to you by mid October.  Please click HERE to see the full details.

And a final note:

I have added a few items for sale in my Selling Spot Blog.  Click on the link on the right side-bar with the For Sale sign to see the retired items I am selling!  Thanks!

Thanks for spending time with me today.

Kristine





Hello Again

Sorry to be MIA for a little time.  My husband had the last three weeks off, and we have been enjoying time together as a family.  Blogging didn't make it into the timeline!

This is a card whose color palette is different for me.  I started with the DSP paper Berry Blossom and then went to my Color Coach to coordinate some card stock.  The colors used are Calypso Coral, Baja Breeze and Daffodil Delight along with the basic Whisper White.  I think it's a happy card!  A customer of mine, Kimberley, gave me a subscription to Better Homes and Gardens Magazine this past Christmas. After making this card, I realized that the color combo is used in the magazine as a room makeover! How cool is that! This will be my order thank you card for August.  I thought it would be a quicker card, but it took me and my daughter, Olivia, some time to run all the pieces through the Big Shot and to punch the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch for each.  There is a learning curve on that punch--at least for me. :-)  The original design came from a convention card swap made by Arlene.  (Her last name has been smudged, and I cannot read it!  No blog address to refer you to. Sorry.)

One of the reasons I decided to CASE this card is the use of the Ornament Punch used as the vase.  I have seen this idea before, but I have not used it.  If you look closely at the flower, you will see that it has been run through the Polka Dot Embossing Folder.  First I adhered the flower pieces together and then ran them through together.  The littlest part of the flower, punched out in the Baja Breeze, is the flower punch found in the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack.   The card also uses one of the new triple punches Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch. Finally, the sentiment is from the set Curly Cute. I masked the thank you to make it run vertical rather than horizontal.

Next up is a card we did at the class I held on August 13th to show how to convert wood mount sets to the clear mount style.  Man, did we get sticky!  This is a card that came from Convention, too. Stampin' Up in their +One program gave each convention attendee not only the Make and Takes that we could complete during a workshop time there, but also gave us a gift bag filled with materials to do a workshop at home, including a hostess gift, a demonstration card, and 10 make and takes. We did the make and takes at the class. I think they're pretty cute! Very simple, but I like that.

What I like about the whole thing is the use of the open envelope with the circle cut out of it.  I also like the ribbon tied around the envelope and not the card.  Makes it feel like a present!  One of the new items SU will have available in the new Holiday Mini Catalog is dazzling diamonds in a little bottle.  I love adding shimmer and bling to cards, but it can get messy.  This new product works like stickles and putting it on a card ain't nothin' but a thing!  Can you see that the frosting is glittery as well as the pompoms on the platter?  The coloring of the image was done with a blender pen and classic inks.  One thing I have to mention is that this stamp set is really a great one.  It is called Easy Events and it was one of the FREE sets given to convention attendees.  (Aside: One thing I really like about SU is that there are always opportunities to get free things as a demonstrator.  Since I joined SU I have received more than 100 sets free. That's a conservative guess.  It could be more than that.  Isn't that cool?!)  If you want to buy one stamp set that will cover many occasions, put your money in Easy Events.  It's worth your money.

Alrighty all.  I should be back to my weekly postings now.  Thanks for sharing some of your time with me.

Kristine

Convention Bound

Convention Bound tomorrow.  Eight hour plus drive to Salt Lake City from Reno.  I went to college in Salt Lake, and I have not been back there for many a year.  I think the last time I visited was ...hmmmm...more that 20 years ago! Geesh, that was 2 stinkin' decades! Not years, my friends, DECADES! How did I become able to count by decades??? (mumble, mumble).  Anyway, I digress. Again. Convention bound!!!! Yes. That's exciting!  I have a couple more swaps on my desk to finish up, but not too bad. But rather than show you a swap for convention, I'm going to share the three cards we made at my Open House. 

This card is part of my new thing with one layer cards.  The set is the Level 2 hostess from the Summer Mini called Love and Care.  I LOVE this set! The design is almost a direct CASE of a card made by Sharon Field.



These cards were a great way to use up my DSP. Just think how versatile this layout is! Christmas paper and it's a Christmas card! Make the patterns male and put a "buckle" in place of the bow and you have a simple masculine card.  The sentiment can be anything you want. The DSP measures 1" x 3 1/2" in case that helps you CASE my card.

And the final card of the trio is a simple birthday card using markers for the stamping.  Want to know a secret? Shhhh.  This was the first time I used this set and now it's retired! Why does that happen? I really like this set and yet, it never saw ink. It really is baffling.  Well, at least it baffles me.  The layout and colors are a CASE from The Stamper's Den.

That's it folks.  I hope to see some of you at convention.  If you see me there, come say hi!!

Kristine

Yet another convention swap

I'm still making cards for convention.  Still!  I am not the kind of person who can make 100 or more of one card.  I start to get sloppy because I'm bored.  So I make 25 or so of each one.  Again I made a swap that was probably too time intensive.  Emboss this...sponge it all...worry it isn't right...start over.  You get the picture.  I tell you, my family is up for sainthood living with me.  The words most frequently out of my mouth right now are, "So, what do you think of this? How would you score it on a scale of 1-10?"  Yes, sainthood and nothing less is what they deserve.  I have not seen one eye roll nor have I heard a sigh of exasperation...well at least not from them.  My eyes are a rollin' around in my head and I sigh every couple of minutes as I stick my tongue out with concentration and design something.  Here's one of the cards from my stash.

This card is for a special swap which has the theme of flowers since the convention theme is garden related.  I didn't want to use the same sets most people would use...Fabulous Florets for instance.  Trying to think outside the box, I thought I would do my favorite flower, the daisy.  This card morphed so many times during it's birth that I was afraid I had a transformer on my hands.  But this is it.  I BE DONE WITH IT! Umm...so...on a scale of 1-10 how would your rate it? (Eye roll, sigh)

Tools of torture: (at least for this card)

Stamps: Teeny tiny wishes
Dies: Daisy 2 Die, Texture plate Backgrounds 1
Card stock: So Saffron, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla
Inks: Chocolate chip craft
Accessories: Hemp twine, Gold Embossing powder (I did not heat it.  I used it as a glitter. Clever, eh?)

A little Mojo

Happy Father's Day!  As happens every once in a few years, today also happens to be my birthday.  I turn 22 (cough, cough) today! Actually, I am 44 today and glad to be 44 rather than 22.

I have been working on my convention swaps today.  I have one to share!  It is based on the Mojo Monday sketch #195. It uses two new hostess sets from the upcoming 2011-12 Stampin Up catalog called Posy Punch and Perfect Words.  The Posy Punch works with the Fancy Flower Punch.  So easy peasy to punch out those posies!  I made a boat load of these.  But, you know what, there are a stinkin' lot of pieces to this card!!  Took me forever and a day to get them all assembled!  Two pieces ran through the Big Shot to be embossed, lots of sponging...I kill myself with work sometimes! But, I get that bee in my bonnet and stubbornly keep with the original plan to make a boat load to swap. 

I can't see the sponging in the picture? The middle circles are sponged as are the rims of the posies. The sentiment flag is also sponged. (They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  Some of the words in this picture are missing since the picture is not clearly representing real life!) The leaves are actually the wings on the bird from the 2-step bird punch.  Love making the easy leaves.  Lots of gold brads too.  Six per swap!!  But I just likey the way they looky, so no changey, changey! 

Recipe:

Stamps: Perfect Words and Posy Punch (hostess sets from new catalog)

Embossing: Pattern 2 from the Perfect Details Texture Plate, Polka Dot EMF

Ink: Baja Breeze, So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz

Card stock: Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze, So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz

Punches: Fancy Flower, 3/4" circle, 2-step bird, Eyelet border

Accessories: Gold brads, Victoria Crochet Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate it!

Kristine



Two challenges, one card

Imagine my pleasure when I discovered a little time to sit and play with my stamps.  I decided to check out Mojo Monday to see the sketch
and to see the color inspiration challenge at Stamping 411. 





I took those two challenges and created this card.

I liked the way it turned out!  I rarely use the color Rose Red.  I had a whole unopened pack.  It's funny how a person tends to a certain hue of a color.  It's a good reason to try some of the color challenges out there in blog land.  Trying a challenge or two is always good for a creative boost. 

Thanks for stopping in today.

On the Grow and waiting for warmer weather

Did I not get the memo?  Isn't it Spring?  It's cold and raining in Reno. {sigh}  I love rain.  Hate wind and cold.  But...I am cozy in my home playing with paper and stamps.  I can see the wind and the rain, but my heater kicks on, I sip on my tea, and life is good. :-)

Hmmmm?  You came to see a card?  Ohhhh!  Yes, I have one for you. Look!

I made this card for a friend.  (Hi Rhonda!) When Stampin' Up! went through their color renovations, most of the purples said goodbye.  This card uses the retired color Lavender Lace.  This is one of the purples that I did use often.  Alas, my stock of Lavender Lace card stock is dwindling.  But...who the heck knows...maybe a new color in July will be a kissing cousin of Lavender Lace?  Oh! That makes me smile.  The Stamp is from the new Summer Mini Catalog (you can take a peek at the catalog by clicking on its picture in the right-hand sidebar) called On the Grow.  It has that wonderful scooter too.  Notice the sparkle in the center of the flowers?  Those sparkles are the handy work of the tiny Basic Rhinestones.  Purdy.  The placement of the Silver Hodgepodge was serendipitous.  I placed it down and just liked where it landed! 

So, I must leave blog land and go back to preping for my "Onderful" One Layer Class being held this Saturday.  It a challenge to create cards using only ONE layer of card stock.  I know that vintage is "in" right now, and I'm bucking the crafting trend, but that's the rebel in me. ;-)  I run with scissor too.  Wild woman! I'd show you the cards, but I always like the class participants to get first gander at the projects.  I promise; you'll see my work soon!  If you would like to know when I hold classes or camps, drop me an email and I can put you on my newsletter list. 

Okay...off I go. Enjoy the rest of your day.  Stay dry!

Kristine

Bright daisy

Reno weather has been sporadic lately.  80 degree day followed by snow the next.  Here's a bright card to remind us that summer IS on the way!  The technique is a basic reverse stencil.  I used the medium daisy on the Daisies#2 Die.  By placing it against the Glossy White Paper and sponging around the shape, I ended up with white daisies!  For the center, I used a Sponge Dauber and smudged (a very technical term) some So Saffron ink onto the paper for a bit brighter center to the flower.  Since the Die has three sizes of daisies, you could change up the sizes of the flowers, but I liked the one size.  I like the way the Baja Breeze Seam Binding Ribbon offsets the orange.  This combo came from my Color Coach.  The color coach actually suggested Pacific Point for Tanagerine Tango, but I wanted a softer look.  After sponging all of the daises, I had a very tangerine daisy!  So I incorporated it into the inside of the card!  Look!

I made two tags that pull out of a transparent pocket.  The pocket is super easy to make.  I took a Clear Translucent envelope (pg 171 of the idea book 102619 $4.95 for 50) which people often miss in the catalog, and cut off the top.  I adheared it to the card inside which actually gives you TWO pockets.  The backside of the envelope creates one pocket, and the envelope itself creates a second pocket.  The tags could hold gift cards, or maybe pictures or little notes.  The main panal on the right inside could have a sentiment, or maybe a larger picture.  I think this layout would make a great card to send to a grandparent.  Pictures of the kids on the pull-out tags, and a family picture on the right!  Good Christmas card idea!

Thanks for stopping in. 

Kristine

Top Fold with an inside slider

Today's card is another card with a different fold for the opening.  It is a card I made for my Swap Group. 

(Side note: If you like making cards, and want to be a part of my Swap Group, please contact me.  We use SU only materials, but the materials do NOT have to be current.  It's a wonderful way to get usable cards for giving, and at the same time enjoy your hobby and share some of your own creativity and skill!)

Here is the front of the card...

Stamps: Perfect punches, Live like you mean it

Card stock: Close to Cocoa, Whisper white  DSP: ? I can't remember it's name!

Inks: Chocolate chip, blushing bride, Certainly Celery, Bashful blue

Ribbon: Blushing bride 1/2" poly twill

Punches: Decorative label, Wide oval, Curly label

Isn't it pretty!  A couple things I want to point out.  See that delicate edge on the blue stripe border?  I made that using the Curly Label Punch!  I LOVE it when a tool or stamp set can be used for more than its intended purpose!  More bang for the buck!

It's easy to make this border.  Draw a pencil line where you want the edge of the border to be.  Then line up the punch on the pencil line and punch!  I slipped my paper into the punch only about 1/4" .  Below is a sample of how I did the punching, but I'm using the Decorative Label Punch in this sample.  . 

As you can see, I used the points on the punch to line up against the pencil line.  I also used the Decorative Label Punch to mat my sentiment, which I think makes a nice continuity on the card front.  To open the card, the decorative lip lifts and... 

a little note, which is adhered under the ribbon, slides up!  The DSP makes the pocket for the slider note-card.  Cute huh?!  I copied this fold from a card that came from convention.  I thought it too clever!

 Thanks for sharing a few moments of your day Inking out loud with me. :-)

Kristine

Sweet Summer and a Tidy Tip

I recently helped to host a multi-demonstrator Sale-a-Bration event.  It was a lot of fun!  One of the cards that I had for the ladies to do used the Sweet Summer Sale-a-Bration set.  It is an outline set, which means it works well for coloring!  I used to love to color as a child.  I still do.  For awhile when my daughter was younger and all I ever colored were princesses from Disney, the love of coloring disappeared.  I enjoyed watching my daughter color, but could not muster the excitment to color one more ball gown.  But now that I'm back to coloring with wonderful Stampin' Up markers on my cards, the love has returned. Here's the card.

Stamps: Sweet Summer, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Embossing folder: Tulips

Card stock: Whisper white, Blushing Bride

Inks: Blushing Bride marker, Pear Pizazz  marker, Daffodil Delight marker, Stazon Jet Black

Ribbon: Blushing Bride Poly twill

Punches: Scallop Oval, Medium Oval

It's a super simple card, which is why I think it ended up being such a hit!  It is also the kind of card that will work for many occasions, I used one of the stamps from the set Teeny Tiny Wishes for the sentiment.  That brings me to today's Tidy Tip.  I have to admit that I am one of those people who likes everything neat and tidy.  I cannot create in chaos.  I must have all chores off my mind before I can settle into the right side of my brain.  So, something that was driving me ab-so-lute-ly NUTS was the stamp set Teeny Tiny wishes.  Love the set...hate how the blocks refused to stay neat and all standing up so I could easily read the sentiments.  Because this was the set I used at the Sale-a-Bration event, I spent a lot of time helping guests find a sentiment.  By the time I got home, I wanted to chuck the whole thing!  Urgh!  Then a thought dawned from my weary mind.  It said, "Make ledges."  It wasn't a voice like Kevin Costner hears in Field of Dreams, but I did hear it.  So I took a piece of scrap Window Sheet and began making mountain and valley folds.  Mountains were taped together and valleys were about 3/4" wide.  I then taped the valleys to my plastic case and placed my stamps into the valleys with the mountains becoming the ledges the stamps could rest against.  And it happened...that sigh escaped my lungs as I smiled and felt all neat and tidy!  Look!

Okay, it may not look like much, but those stamps do not slop around in the case anymore.  I can put a sentiment back exactly where I left it last.  No other stamp has slid into it's place or flopped over and messed up the arrangement.  And when I close the lid!!!...Yes... NOTHING changes. Makes me all emotional.  I tried to get a picture of the mountain and valley folds inside the case.  Dare I say this might just be genius!?

 

Just look how that line of stamps stays so soldierly on their ledge!  It's a little slice of heaven for a neat and tidy chic.

Okay, go tidy up your own Teeny Tiny Wishes.  You can thank me later. :-)

Kristine

The cards I'm sharing today are from my last workshop.  My hostess wanted an Easter card, so the following is what I came up with. 

The card uses a technique that I think is such a simple WOW called faux letterpress.  Using an embossing folder (in this case the Vintage wallpaper Embossing folder), you rub ink onto the folder on the side that is bumpless.  (Is that a word?)  Then place your card stock into the folder and run it through the Big Shot and the paper will be embossed, but the color you rubbed onto the folder will be laid down around the embossing.  It is just too cool!  I also found the very pretty ribbon technique on the Paper Crafters Sampler site and added that the center of the cross.  It looks hard, but it really is not.  Trust me...I'm all about being easy. (Okay, that didn't sound right, but you know what I mean.)  Then added to the center of that gor-jus ribbon is one of Stampin' Up!'s new Vanilla Rosettes.  Notice how I said vanilla, but mine isn't?  I'm too clever!  I daubered blushing bride ink onto the rosette to change its color!  Vanilla with white ribbon looks...well, puky.  So by adding color I get ahhhh, not eewwwehh.  Using Versamark ink I stamped the leaf image from the stamp set Just Believe onto the bottom.  I wanted the cross to stand out, so I didn't do any other stamping.  Now for the inside...

Using the same set, Just Believe, I used markers to color in the image and then stamped.  Pretty!  Isn't the sentiment perfect for Easter? :-) Yup!

Next up is a simple, elegant card which was inspired by a similar card designed by Sarah Wills.  Love her stuff.  Rich Razzleberry Satin Ribbon and ink on white.  Good combo! Three pearls from the Basic Pearls gives the butterfly a body. Look!

And finally another stamp you can earn free during Sale-a-bration called Tiny Teacup.  The colors remind me of a delicious cup of coffee.  This card is a direct CAS of Lisa Young. Isn't is wonderful?!  I think the Love Letters Designer paper and the Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon are so complementary to each other.

That's it!

Here's a question for you...I have no idea how many readers I have out there in blog land.  I can see that there are some of you since my counter at the bottom of the page is going up, and that cannot possibly be just my mom and daughter and friends who kindly look at my cards!  So, the question...would it be helpful to you, my kind reader, if I include a recipe of my cards?  Leave me a comment.!  You have no idea how excited I get when I receive a comment. I do a little happy jig and SMILE!

Have a great day, and if the mood strikes you, do your own happy jig! 

Kristine