Dude, You're Welcome!

How awesome it this?  Finally, Stampin' Up! has come up with a manly kit for guys!

As a guy, it’s not always easy to express yourself. You know you want to say it, but you just don’t know how. That’s why we’ve created the Dude, You’re Welcome! Kit. Quickly build a card that says just what you want it to say, whether it’s because you messed up (when does that happen?), for a Special Occasion (you know the occasion), “I _____ You” (love, adore, miss, see?), or a simple “Thank You.”

We’ve got your back. Dude, you’re welcome.

The kit includes four stamps, 12 manly-coloured postcards, 12 gray envelopes, 1 Basic Gray ink pad and instructions all packaged in a manly box for only $30.95.  Click here to order online, or contact me to place your order.

Blessings,

Some Non-Christmas Cards!

I know Christmas is only four days away, but I am honestly a little bit tired of making Christmas cards!  I started making them in August, so I'm feeling ready for something else! Luckily, my friend, Kennie, booked a stamp-a-stack last week where we made different occasions cards.  She wanted to make some cards to give as Christmas gifts so people would have an assortment to use throughout the year.  Here are the cards we made:

I love the bright colours in the Summer Smooches designer series paper!  This card screams "Happy Birthday" with Daffodil Delight, Rich Razzleberry, Island Indigo and Lucky Limeade!  The images are from Bright Blossoms, and the sentiment is from Sassy Salutations.  Some Daffodil Delight stitched grosgrain ribbon finishes off the card.

Okay, I admit the colours in this one are a bit Christmas-y, but I love Gumball Green and Raspberry Ripple!  The Gumball Green piece is embossed with the Lacy Brocade embossing folder.  The image from Fabulous Florets is stamped in Raspberry Ripple, and the greeting is from Word Play.  We also added some Raspberry Ripple stitched satin ribbon.

I've had the Apothecary Art stamp set for awhile, and I think this is the first time I've used it!  It's so beautiful!  I used Wisteria Wonder and Basic Gray as the base colours, along with some Pretty in Pink polka-sot scalloped ribbon.  The image is stamped in Basic Gray, and we used blender pens with Pretty in Pink and Wisteria Wonder ink to colour in the flowers.  Of course, the Labels Collection framelits dies coordinate perfectly with the stamp set, so I had to use those!

This is our masculine birthday card.  I used Early Espresso as the card base, along with a layer of Very Vanilla cardstock.  The 1" circles are punched from the Orchard Harvest designer series paper.  The sentiment from Petite Pairs is stamped in Early Espresso on some Cajun Craze cardstock and punched with the Decorative Label punch.  At the stamp-a-stack, I also had out the Four Frames stamp set, so the ladies could stamp that on the label piece before stamping the sentiment.  It looks a lot better with the frame border!

I hope you enjoy these non-Christmas cards!  If I don't get a chance to post before then, Merry Christmas to all of you, and all God's blessings for a safe and prosperous New Year!

Blessings to you,

April Stamp Club Cards

I have been challenged to come up with more masculine cards this month, as I usually do girly, flowery cards!  (And who can resist with the Springtime Vintage suite?!)  So, I hope these are more masculine fare (except for the Easter card).

Okay, this one has a flower, but the colours are more masculine and neutral!  This card was created by Lorna Raczynski, a talented demonstrator in our big WeCanStamp group.  I love all the texture in this card.  It uses Elegant Soiree designer series paper, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla cardstock and Crumb Cake seam binding.  The flower is made from a wood sheet, punched with the Fun Flowers die, then embossed with the Elegant Lines embossing folder in the Big Shot.  I then sponged Chocolate Chip ink over it.  The sentiment is from Curly Cute, stamped in Chocolate Chip ink. To finish it off, there is a 1" Chocolate Chip circle covered with a Neutrals Collection button and some Very Vanilla 3/8" taffeta ribbon.

As soon as I saw this bunny on Christy Fulk's Easter basket, I knew I had to use him on a card!  How cute is he?  She gives a tutorial on how to make him at the above link (except I used Blushing Bride for the ears and nose instead of Pretty in Pink because it matched the designer paper better).

For the rest of the card, I used Whisper White, embossed with the Tulip Border embossing folder.  I added some gorgeous Paisley Petals designer series paper and stamped the image from Four Frames (both of which are a sneak peek from the new 2011 - 2012 Idea Book & Catalogue, on special this month). I wrapped some Whisper White Organza ribbon around the designer paper and punched the image with the Designer Label punch.  The greeting is from Something to Celebrate (level 2 hostess set in the Occasions Mini Catalogue, which can be yours if you host a workshop in April!).

The final card is another CASE, from the Occasions Mini catalogue.  I wanted to use the Game Spinner Hands for a Stamp Club project, and this is a cute masculine kids' card.  The base is Not Quite Navy, layered with some So Saffron Patterns designer series paper from the Subtles Paper Stack.  I punched the scallop circle out of Rich Razzleberry with the Scallop Circle #2 Big Shot die.  The image is from Take a Spin, stamped in Pear Pizzazz with Rich Razzleberry accents (I used my Stampin' Write marker for the accents, colouring directly on the stamp after I inked it with Pear Pizzazz).  The image was punched out with the fantastic new 2 1/2" Circle punch.  Some Pear Pizzazz ribbon finishes it off, along with a sentiment from On Your Birthday in Not Quite Navy.

I made this card 4 1/4 x 4 1/4" so the scallop circle could be above the top of the card and still fit into a standard envelope.

I'm very excited for Stamp Clubs this month!

Blessings to you,

April Stamp Club Cards

How on the ball am I?  I actually have my Stamp Club cards planned and posted more than a week ahead of time!

I've been wanting to try an easel card for quite some time, so I figured I'd better just do it!  I started with Bella Bleu designer series paper and went from there.  It turned into a soft, semi-masculine card since I used the paper with Close to Cocoa in it!  I stamped the tree from Pendant Park in Close to Cocoa ink on the Bella Bleu paper and layered it on some Very Vanilla.  Then I used my mat pack and paper piercer and Close to Cocoa Stampin' Write marker to add some faux stitching around that piece.  For the base piece, I added a strip of dsp to a Close to Cocoa piece that I had punched with the Scallop Trim Border punch.  A Very Vanilla taffeta bow completes that piece.

 

I've posted this card before, but I had some requests from my ladies to do this one when they saw it on my display board!  You can check out the details here.

I've seen a few cards with these tulips, so I thought I'd give it a try as well!  Since it's the last month of the Occasions Mini Catalogue, I figured I'd better use as much from there as I could this month!  I've got the Sending Love designer series paper, edged with some Lavender Lace (punched with the Scallop Edge punch).  I also added a Very Vanilla layer, embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder using the Big Shot. 

The tulips are made from the wing of the Extra Large Two-Step Bird punch.  I used Pretty in Pink, Lavender Lace and Barely Banana for the flowers and Certainly Celery for the stems.  The greeting is from Thank You Kindly, stamped in Lavender Lace.

Thanks for stopping in today!

Blessings to you,

Masculine Patchwork

This is a card I made for a masculine swap that I'm in this week.  It is so difficult to come up with masculine cards!  I hope this works...  My Big Shot club will be making this card this month, along with a little box that I'll post tomorrow.

I was flipping through the Hostess Level 1 Patterns pack of designer series paper, and I thought all the colours in there looked pretty masculine, so I decided to do another patchwork card.  I've seen tons of these cards on Splitcoast, using the Top Note Bigz die, so here's my version!

 

I punched 1 1/4" squares of the designer series paper and glued them onto a Whisper White piece of cardstock before running it through the Big Shot.  I used Sahara Sand as the card base and Night of Navy to mat the Top Note piece.  For the tag, I punched a wide oval of Night of Navy and added a Sahara Sand Modern Label piece.  I used the Horizontal Slot punch to put holes at each end and threaded some Mellow Moss 1/4" grosgrain ribbon through it.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes (what else?!).

Thanks for stopping by! 

Blessings to you,

A Little Birdie...

I got to play with some of my new Occasions Mini Catalogue stuff a few weeks ago, and I'm finally getting a chance to post this!

This card uses the new Bird and a Branch punch (love the new punch style!).  I punched the bird with Not Quite Navy Patterns designer paper and the branches with Mellow Moss Patterns designer paper.  It's a pretty simple card!  Again, it's amazing how easy it is to make a card with some designer paper and punches!  I finished it off with some Night of Navy ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Baja Blossoms

I guess it's been awhile since I've posted! I've been so busy with family and other stuff that I haven't had time to blog. I thought I'd have more time for fun being a stay-at-home mom, but it's a gong show!

Anyway, this is a card I made for a new accessories swap I'm participating in with my upline, Winona and her group. I think I may use it as a Stamp Club card in the near future as well! I love these colours together. For the flower, I used the Flower Blossom sizzlets to cut three flowers and I layered them together.

Here's the recipe:
Paper: Manchester dsp, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Kraft
Accessories: Ticket Corner punch, Latte Buttons, Linen Thread, Baja Breeze ribbon, Flower Blossom sizzlet, Stampin' Dimensionals, mini glue dots

Thanks to all of you who keep coming back. I'm starting to accept that I can't blog everyday during the school year, but I will try my best to post at least once a week, so don't give up on me!

Blessings to you,

Silhouette Birthday

This card is another CASE! I just love browsing the gallery at Splitcoast Stampers. I am always amazed by how creative people are! I'm not very creative, but I like to borrow ideas from other people! As it turns out, my card is a CASE of a CASE of a CASE. I think I've traced it back to the original creator (at least I hope so!).

So I will, of course, give credit to Jessica for coming up with this card. Here are some of the other cards I found by Vera and mhewitt (which is the one I originally copied).

I used the Manchester designer series paper and took the colours from that. The card base is Baja Breeze, layered wiht Kraft, Always Artichoke and Very Vanilla. The images are from Pocket Silhouettes, stamped in Always Artichoke. To finish the card, I wrapped some Baja Breeze double striped ribbon around it and stamped the sentiment from Sincere Salutations in Baja Breeze.

This is one of the cards my downline team could earn with their sales.

Bayou Birthday

I don't know about anyone else, but I am so sick of making Christmas cards! It was fun while it lasted, but I started in September, so I've about had it! I still have to make a few more to give to my family, but I'm just not feeling it right now!

I decided to take a break from Christmas and make a birthday card for my step-father, whose birthday is in January. I always have such a hard time with masculine cards, so I bought the Blue Bayou Prints designer paper specifically for the boys and men in my life! I'm going to make my son a piggy bank for Christmas using it (altering a can). But I digress...

This is a sketch from the SU! demo website. I used Blue Bayou, of course, as my card base and layered on the designer paper. I attached some double-stitched ribbon across the front and embossed the sentiment from Sincere Salutations with white ep. For the image, I used Baroque Motifs (this stamp set can be used for ANYTHING!). I stamped the big flourish in Soft Sky, then stamped the big image in Blue Bayou over top.