April Creative Crew ~ My Final Month!

I'm sad to say that these are my final Creative Crew challenges as a Design Team Member :( I want to say a huge thank you to the team, Patty, Lydia, Jana for their fabulous management of the CC challenges, I can't wait to see who's up next. I will, of course be participating in the May challenges, but as a player, not a designer.

First up, keyword CCREW0411CF ~ Catalog Focus *Punches*. We are to use the many and varied Stampin' Up punches in our projects. I chose to make a criss-cross card using the Sweet Stitches DSP along with the little tiny flower from Trio Punches. I love the dimension these dinky little flowers can add to a project. I added bling to mine :)

Here are a couple of close ups so you can see how it was all pulled together.


Keyword CCREW0411DF ~ Blueberry Crisp DSP, or the colour combo of Sahara Sand, Pacific Point, Not Quite Navy and Very Vanilla. This first card is made with the Flower Folds Bigz XL Die, the first pic is the flower all folded up with a ribbon to tie it shut, then you can see it open with the lovely sentiment in the centre.

When you untie the ribbon, the flower opens up, like this ...



My second Blueberry Crisp card is this one. It's a tri-fold. I love this one ;)



Keyword CCREW0411HF ~ Holiday Focus is on Mother Ocean ... or ... Watercolouring. Here's a very simple watercoloured card for this challenge. I adore these Scotties, I had a smile on my face the whole time I was colouring!




Keyword CCREW0411SF ~ Scrapbooking Focus was to make a page with NO DSP, so we were to make our own backgrounds. I am not a scrapbooker so I decided to make a picture with my lovely daughter, Sarah as my focal point. I made my background out of the Simply Said and Always stamp sets.




And that's it for my April Creative Crew Projects. I hope you get a chance to play along with us on Splitcoast, all the recipes can be found at my Splitcoast Stampers Gallery which you can find here.

A Clean Cut Sketch

This is the sketch today on Splitcoast. I really like its simplicity so kept my card VERY plain and simple ... I wanted to use Designer Papers for the layering and keep the focal image uncluttered and unadorned. It is SCREAMING out for a sentiment, so I shall computer generate one when I decide who is getting this :) Here's a close up of the detail in the sewing machine.



Recipe
Stamps : Sew Suite
Cardstock : Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Sweet Stitches DSP
Ink : Early Espresso
Accessories : Blender Pen & Reinkers

The Perfect Colour Combo!

Mmmmmm, Baja Breeze, Marina Mist, Certainly Celery. Look at it! Fresh, springy, clean and zingy. I love this colour combo and today it's CC316 over on Splitcoast Stampers!

I pulled out the very first Stampin' Up stamp set I ever bought, 5 years ago! I still love it and I'm so glad it remains in the catalog. I have my fingers crossed it will still be there in July when the new book comes out :) Here's a close-up ...

Recipe
Stamps : Simply Said
Cardstock : Shimmery White, Baja Breeze
Ink : Certainly Celery, Baja Breeze, Marina Mist
Accessories : 1/2 Pearls, Celery Satin Ribbon, Scallop and large Oval Punches, Blender Pen & Reinker

A Fun Technique

Happy Monday! Today's technique is to make a card with a cut out edge. There are some lovely samples in the SCS gallery (search in the gallery against TLC318). I wanted mine for my friend Lorien's birthday ~ I decided on CAS and 'minimal'. I love how this turned out, not very 'fancy', but less is more, right?!

I stamped the tree from Valentine Defined close to the edge of the card, then just used my paper snips to trim around the tree and make the edge. Very simple to do, give it a try!

Recipe
Stamps : Valentine Defined, Fabulous Phrases
Cardstock : Shimmery White
Ink : SU Markers, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories : Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding Ribbon, 1/2 Pearl

I'm a SLACKER!!!

Oh my word, 11 days with no posts ... I didn't realise it had been THAT long ;) The Splitcoast MI Mingle was last w/end so I did get a little side-tracked!

Today I needed a card for Sarah's friend, Emily. She was 16 yesterday so she's taking some of her girlfriends out to brunch.

I went to find inspiration from the Featured Stamper today, QUIXOTIC aka Elaine. I chose this card. I love the colours and the layout, the texture of the snowflakes is very subtle and works beautifully with that pocket.

I changed it up quite a bit, but kept the main idea of a pocket with a tag inside. I haven't made many pocket cards and thought it would be a good way to make the 16 the main feature. I love how this turned out :)

Here's a close-up of the tag. I used the Island Floral Die to make the flower at the top, very easy to do but very effective, I think.

Recipe
Stamps : Fundamental Phrases
Cardstock : Shimmery White, Marina Mist, Patterns Pack (Subtles), Certainly Celery
Ink : Marina Mist
Accessories : Big Shot, Timeless Type Jr Sizzlits, Island Floral Die, 2 Tags Die, 1/2 Pearls, Decorative Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Celery Taffeta Ribbon

Awash with the Colour Challenge

Morning ~ today's colours are gorgeous ~ Baja Breeze, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake ... love it! I used Awash with Flowers along with Elegant Soiree DSP. Love it :) Here's a close-up of the flower (Jill showed me how to make them).

And don't forget the inside :)

Recipe
Stamps : Awash With Flowers, Curly Cute
Cardstock : Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake
Ink : Baja Breeze, Soft Suede
Accessories : Baja Breeze Seam Binding Ribbon, 1/2 Pearl


ETA ~ Good idea, Paula ~ I'll check with Jill and see if she wants to do it, I'll link to her if she does, if not, I'll make a quick and easy photo tutorial! Thanks!

Busy Weekend and a TECHNIQUE

Happy Monday! Busy weekend here, Sarah was in the music "Festival" for our school district so I seemed to be driving up and down to school all w/end. Her Dad did take us out for supper at Bonefish Grill on Saturday to celebrate, yummy! The symphony orchestra scored all I's, the youngsters were so excited about that!

Today's Technique on Splitcoast is "Make a Trellis" for pretty spring flowers. I have had a couple of classes using the SU Lattice Die and quite a few customers have recently purchased it. What better thing to use today? I love how this turned out. SUPER simple, but so elegant!

Here's a closer look.

I also wanted to share the finished Fairy Shoes my sister, Sarah, made last week. I thought they were finished when I posted the first pic, but look at them now! I made her take a pic of them nesting on her hand so you can see how teeny tiny they are.

I think everyone needs a pair of fairy shoes somewhere in their house .... don't you? (My big sis was complaining that this pic makes her hands look chubby ... I just KNEW she'd want me to share that with you all ... hee hee hee ... glad that I can still tick her off now we're in our 40's ~ just like old times, eh Sarah?!!!!)

Recipe
Stamps : None
Cardstock : Shimmery White, Blushing Bride
Ink : None
Accessories : Lattice Die, Big Shot, Trip Punch, 1/2 Pearls.

It's the Free 4 All Challenge on SCS

My blog seems to be a great long list of all the Splitcoast Challenges. I wonder if people get sick of that? Here's why I do them. More often than not, I sit at my desk and wonder what I should do, what sort of card to make? What stamp sets, colours, embellishments. And then, all my cards start to look the same because I'm drawn to a certain style.

THAT'S why I do the SCS challenges, they make me stamp outside my comfort zone, they spark an idea, they remind me of things I 'had to have' and have never used! I encourage everyone to try at least one challenge a week. You'll be amazed what you're capable of!

So, on with today's challenge, it's to make an 'edge' interesting, sponge it, distress it, whatever you want ~ I decided to pull out my decorative label punch, I punched out 2 shapes, cut them in half and stuck them to the inside edge of this card. I'm not 100% sure I love it (probably the colours ~ I picked up a scrap, no thought went into it!), but it's different!

And speaking of different ... my sister is doing a few classes this week at the Harbour Galleries in St. Aubin's Jersey (that's the original Jersey, not New Jersey!). She e:mailed me a pic of some 'fairy shoes' she's busy making. Now, WHAT do you do with a pair of fairy shoes? Well, I don't know, but I want a pair, they're teeny tiny. I'll have to get her to take another pic so you can see how teensy they are! I wonder if a real fairy will steal them to wear, she better not leave them lying around her quilting studio ~ hee hee.

Are you feeling the FELT?

I don't think I've ever used felt on a card ... so I was really excited when I saw the 'WT' challenge on SCS today was for felt (WT=ways to use).

This is a VERY simple card! I cut my felt out with the Big Shot and the Island Floral Bigz Die. Luckily I have a fancy schmancy quilting sewing machine so I can do lots of different stitches. The card turned out SO plain that I decided to blanket stitch the edges with a pink variable thread. You may need a closer look :

Recipe
Stamps : Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink : Chocolate Chip
Cardstock : Crumb Cake, Pretty in Pink
Accessories : Felt, Big Shot, Island Floral Bigz Die, Word Window Punch, Trio Punch, 1/2 Pearl, SU Button, sewing machine, variable thread.

Another Simple Sketch!

I thought today's sketch was quite modern and 'sharp' ... so I didn't want to try to make anything vintage, or distressed. This set is such a funky, pretty pattern so I pulled it out and set to work. Super easy to do! I teamed the main bloom up with the trip punch and tried to give it a bit of dimension by pressing on the centre of the flowers, then added some much needed bling!

... and a close up!


Recipe
Stamps : Printed Petals
Ink : Poppy Parade
Cardstock :WW, Poppy Parade
Accessories :Poppy Parade Ribbon, 1/2 Crystals, Trio Punch, Dimensionals

Sew Suite

After spending the whole weekend sewing Shelli Bear, I decided to keep today's challenge card along the sewing theme :)

The TLC is to make a card "that's odd" or in other words, a card which doesn't follow the regular square or rectangle shape. Well, I thought of my bendy fold card (tutorial in the sidebar) and decided to make the back a circle (or part circle) using the Circle Scissor Plus. It actually came together relatively easily.

Here's a close up of the elements on the front.

Recipe
Stamps : Sew Suite, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Four Frames
Ink : StazOn, Baja Breeze
Cardstock : Sweet Stitches DSP, Naturals Ivory, Baja Breeze
Accessories : Sewing Machine, Decorative Label Punch, Aquapainter, Reinker, SU Markers

Shelli the Bear!

I've named this bear Shelli, after Stampin' Up's co-founder and CEO, Shelli Gardner. She's made with SU's Springtime Vintage Fabric, her eyes are SU buttons and her nose is a Springtime Vintage adornment. I made her this weekend as a door prize for the Michigan Mingle which is in less than 2 weeks' time. A group of SCS Michigan stampers meet every year for a weekend of stamping fun. I hope someone will take her home and love her :)

For anyone wanting to make one yourself, this bear is made from the Simplicity Pattern 8418.