On the softer side

Happy Tuesday morning to you!  Today I am in a funk.  Ever have those days?  Just cannot get the rear in gear! Fortunately, I am ready to post some more cards for you!

The first uses the watercolor roses technique shown to me by my friend, Lynnette.  She's a talented lady! (Shame, shame shame she does not have a blog we can all oogle. Sigh)  Using an aqua painter and some reinker, you float the color on top of glossy or shimmer paper and let it dry.  I used So Saffron and Peach Parfait reinkers because, as Donkey says in Shrek, "Everybody like Parfait!." I used that wonderful flourish from the set Baroque Motifs (may it never retire) and the rose image from Fifth Avenue Floral.  The leaves of the rose are punched from the wing of the Two step bird punch! 

 "Ahhh!" you say, "What a versatile punch!"

  "Yes," I answer wisely, nodding my head, "It is not just for the birds!"  hahahahaha 

 Okay, add ramie to that funky thing I got goin'.  With a Polka Dot dry emboss on the Peach Parfait panel (again, because "Everybody like Parfait!")  and a vanilla Top Note, the card has a Victorian feel.  Yes?

 

"But, Kristine...how did you make those bird wings look like such realistic leaves?" 

I blush, smile and say, "It's easy!  Punch out the wing from Pear Pizzazz card stock.  Then crumple it 'til it's tiny, tiny.  Then uncrumple it and press it against a Pear Pizzazz classic ink pad.  The ink fills in the crumples and makes it look great!" 

You smile at me and we are both happy to know how to make leaves from bird wings.  I only wish I could press myself up against a classic ink pad and make my "crumples" look great. {sigh}  Basic pearls in the swirls of the flourish, some Victoria Crochet ribbon and a pretty font in the sentiment from Fabulous Phrases finish off the card.  Okay, you now get to look!

Next up is a direct CAS card from Mary Fish.  She is becoming my idol.  Love her stuff!  This card uses the Rub-ons from the Occasions Mini called Love Impressions.  An aside: Have you ever stopped to think that there is someone,( maybe multiple someones!) whose job it is to name the stuff in the catalog!  Hmmm, guess that would take a talent for alliteration or maybe just a need to control the world and name things?  Anyway, moving on....The card is framed with the pretty Tulip Embossing folder.  Simple black, red and white with a touch of pink keep it simple.  Not an ounce of ink is used on this card!  I suppose this isn't a stamped card, technically.  It's a rubbed card!  No inky fingers.

And the final card.  Thank you for reading this far.  My... you're a saint. 

This card uses Lap of Luxury DSP and the Square Lattice Embossing folder.  To get the look of a quilt, first layer all pieces and then run the whole thing through the Big Shot with the embossing folder.  It squishes (a very technical stamping term) all the layers together and it looks very "quilty."  The sentiment is from the Occasions set You're a Gem.  And really...YOU'RE a gem if you read my whole post today.  Gracias!

Best wishes

Sometimes the color orange suits me.  Not often, but sometimes.  This is a card I CASED from a past Stampin' Up! catalog.  There's a reason the catalogs are called "Idea Books!" lol  One of the things I would not have thought to do on my own is to lay strips of DSP down a card.  No matting, no frills, just strips.  I made this card for a swap, and I hope the ladies like it.  Do you?  (hint hint...leave a comment :-))The front flower is cut out and popped up on a couple of dimensionals.  I enjoy cutting things out.  It's almost a meditation for me.  I just watch my scissors snip and turn and pretty soon I'm soooo peaceful.  I didn't mind cutting out a bunch of these!  You know what else?  I like this photograph!  The card actually looks like the card IRL! Imagine that.  Might this mean my photography skills are improving?  Nahhh. Luck. ;-)

Thanks for popping in today.  I've listed a recipe after the picture. I hope you find some time to make something today, be it a card a scrapbook page, or a pan of brownies! Yum.

Stamps: Kind and caring thoughts (retired)
Ink: Tangerine Tango, Old Olive
Cardstock: Old Olive, Tangerine tango, Whisper white
Designer paper: Haiku (retired)

3Ds for Valentines

For Christmas I made a lantern and a candy holder using Christmas Designer Paper and colors.  (Click here to see them.) For Valentines, I decided to do the same projects, just changing the colors and adding another bird for the lantern.  I think I like the Valentine colors better, even though I like Christmas much more.  Go figure.  I will fill the candy holder on the right with dark chocolate Ghirardelli squares before I give it away.  The lantern does have a flame less candle inside.  As I was making it, it made me think of a gift my husband and I received when we married many moons ago.  The gift was a beautiful crystal bell.  The note that came with it said to set the bell in a special spot if you have had an argument and are ready to talk, or ring it if you are ready for some "love."  I thought, hey, this lantern could be a sign for a significant other!  Light the candle inside and set it somewhere your partner will find it, and they will know "you're in the mood."  That just makes me laugh.  What fun!

Next is a project by my daughter, Olivia.  I had made some letters decorated with Designer Paper as gifts at Christmas.  (Click here to see those.) She really liked them and wanted to do something for her room.  I love how she put her baby picture in the center of the "O."  She's clever.  She turns 11 in March and she is wanting to change her room.  Make it more "who she is."  Lordy, the teen years are a comin'.

Thanks for sharing some of your time with me today.  I hope your day brings you happiness.

Kristine

Product of play

Amazingly, recently I had some time to sit and play with my schtuff.  This is the card that was produced out of that play.  I used the designer paper Lap of Luxury which has a Pretty in pink sheet with the words, Life is Beautiful in this glorious script.  I wanted to use the paper, but I didn't want the card to be pink.  Oh what to do?  So, I stamped the Medallion background stamp in Versamark onto the DSP.  Then I embossed using clear embossing powder.  THEN...oh then, I brayered Basic Gray ink over the DSP.  Waalaa!  Not so much pink!  The DSP when heated turned more of a blush color.  I likie!  I wiped the gray ink off of the medallion (the embossing powder lets you wipe off the ink and lets the words show through.  It's magic!)

I added some Basic Pearls around the center of the Medallion and larger ones down the side.  And of course one in the very center of the Medallion.  Some Gray Satin Ribbon adhered in a wave of glory and a Styled Silver Hodgepodge piece adds some class.  The sentiment is from a set out of the Occasions Mini Catalog called You're a Gem.  I used this same set on my last project too.  I thought the script of the E in "enjoy" was so similar to the script of the DSP.  Do ya think SU did that on purpose? Hmmm.

Next are the cards that my club made for January.  They are wonderful, no?  YES!  I cannot take any of the credit for their design.  Mary Fish is the creator of all three cards.  So pretty, clean and simple.  Valentines is not my favorite holiday.  I'll eat the chocolate that is in abundant supply around Valentines, but the rest of the holiday leaves me feeling...ehhhhh.  Even with all that said, I really liked these cards.  So I had my club make them!  The card with the trio of flowers could easily be made into a birthday card.  Just switch out the sentiment.  My favorite thing about all of the cards is the scrunched ribbon on the bottom card.  Love it, baby!  The bottom card is actually a "clear" card, meaning that the main card is made from mid weight Window sheets.  Very cool.  All of the stamps are from the Filled with Love set available until January 24th as a Promotion from SU.  I made 36 cards from the paper that comes in the bundle, and I still have three FULL sheets left!!  That's a heck of a good deal. If you would like to purchase the Filled with Love Bundle, which comes with free Bitty Buttons, shoot me an email.  I can help you order what you need.

It's time to sign off.  I have other projects to share, but they will have to post next time. 

Take care, be kind to yourself, and smile.

Kristine

My hand at a vintage look

The New Year has started, and I can feel it in my bones that it's going to be a good year.  So far each day in 2011 has brought me a little, nice surprise.  What fun!

For this week's card, I was going for a vintage look.  You know, vintage is all the rage.  But I am a pretty simple girl who goes more for the clean lines.  BUT, I thought I'd give it a try.  I don't think I made my goal of a vintage look (other than the distressing of the card stock), but I do like the way it turned out.  The stamp set is one of my favorites, Friends 24-7.  I like the Fleur-de-lis in the set.  As you can see, I used that as my background.  The little tag hanging off the ribbon is stamped with a sentiment from a new set in the Occasions Mini catalog called You're a Gem.  I like phrase sets.  I tell ya, this Occasions mini is packed full of things I want.  I am really having to hold myself back from breaking the bank buying everything on my wish list!  Anyone know where the line is drawn between something being a hobby and when it becomes an addiction? :-)

Have a lookie:

It's hard to see in the picture (geesh, when will my photography improve?) but there are "smudges" of ink on the background as well as on the vanilla floral piece.  I used the Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon which has a light feel to it.  It reminds me of the kind of ribbon I used to find in my grandma's sewing basket.  The card stock I used is Soft Suede and Pear Pizzaz.  There are also mini Basic Pearls in the flower centers.  Me likee. You know what would have made this card more vintage?  More schtuff.  Ahh well, not vintage, but I like it.  :-)

Thanks for popping in.

Kristine

Finishing up the year

I have a couple of projects to share with you from the past month.  I have been creating, but not blogging.  I'd make a New Year's Resolution about blogging more often, but that resolution may go the way of many and not be realized.  So I won't make the resolution! lol 

I hope you have a wonderful New Year with lots of fun and time to do the things you love most.  Enjoy the following posts. 


A card I made to send to the troops.  I made a bunch of these so that they could be sent to the troops and the troops would have time to receive them and then be able to send them back home to a loved one for Valentines.  This was a challenge made by Gretchen Barron on her blog.  The card design is a CAS of Rhonda Beadell.

Next, a gift using DSP on letters from Joanne's.  Of course I had to bling them up just a tad.

Exploding gift boxes.  These boxes use just one sheet of 8.5x11 card stock plus DSP or stickers as you desire.  These are filled with chocolate. :-)

My first ever Hanukkah card made for my friend Dan. 

A little bitty lantern.  Soooo cute.  The idea came from a fellow demonstrator (and very nice person I might add) Laura Lipe.  I changed mine up a bit from hers.  This was a club project for December.  Inside is a flame-less tea light. 

Another December club project.  Chocolate Ghirardelli squares are always a great gift, but when presented in this decorative box...well they become just a little more special, yes?

And the final club project for December was punch art gift tags. 

Three more Christmas cards

One of the nice things about Stampin' Up! is the people you meet as a demonstrator.  I belong to a group of demonstrators here in the Reno area.  A few of us are orphans, meaning our uplines are gone.  To support each other, we get together and play and talk shop.  We got together a week ago and made Christmas cards.  Below are some of the cards others brought to. 

The first card is designed by Lynnette Parker.  Her stuff is always wonderful.

Next is a card provided by Mary Cargill.  I didn't finish it while there, so mine looks a bit different than hers.   I just love the sparkle of the card.  The trees are stamped in wild wasabi craft and then embossed with irridescent ice embossing powder.  Really pretty IRL.

And finally is a card from a newbie to our group, Nancy Stafford.  This card is too cute.  Easy to put together as well--a huge bonus for Christmas cards if you're going to make a lot!  The card is basically punches punched, cut and arranged into Santa's jolly face.  Makes me laugh that just by placing the eyes a wee bit differntly, you can gve Santa lots of expressions!  I was going for a jolly expression, but he actually looks a little baffled to me.  Ah well, that more clearly reflects me! lol