Dancing!!

I had someone request special order cards to thank a dance teacher and to congratulate the dancing graduate.   Unfortunately, Stampin' Up! does not have any stamps or digital downloads that relate to dancing.   After going to my favourite source of inspiration, Splitcoaststampers, I found some wonderful samples of ballerina punch art.   The samples I created were a culmination of ideas from some wonderful stampers:    Jackie Topa , Anne Marie and Tammy Q.   Thank you ladies for inspiring me.   You can check out each of their blogs by clicking on their names.

Here's what I came up with:

The card base is pacific point layered with whisper white embossed with the polka dot embossing folder.   The tutu is vellum that has been brayered with pacific point ink and then punched out using the blossom petals builder punch.   Ballerina legs are punched from blushing bride using the retired stocking punch.   Ballerina slippers are also punched from pacific point using the stocking punch and then trimmed down to resemble slippers.   Bakers twin is used for the lacings.    Congratulations (from a retired set) is stamped on whisper white using pacific point ink.   The new Apothecary Accents Framelits  (sneak peek!) is used to frame the congratulations.    The edges are sponged with pacific point and embellished with large basic pearls.   Tiny pacific point flowers are made using one of the punches from the Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack.   Basic pearls embellish the flowers and the small petals of the tutu.

This card uses the same colour combinations with the addition of DSP from the Beau Chateau pack.  The tutu and the ballerina legs were made the same way as the previous card.  The bodice of the dress is created by punching the DSP with the retiring round tab punch.  Basic rhinestones dress up the neckline and petals of this dress.   Small spiral roses were cut from pacific point and centered with basic pearls.   Pear pizzazz cut with the little leaves sizzlit makes the tiny leaves for the flowers.    Another sneak peek - thank you is from the new Itty Bitty Banner set and cut using the itty bitty banner framelits.    I'm so excited with all of the new product!

Finally:

The melon mambo ballerina!   The card base is melon mambo layered with whisper white that has been embossed with the Elegant Bouquet folder.    Punches used for the ballerina - scalloped circle, word window, heart to heart (retiring) and circle punches.  The colours used for the ballerina are melon mambo, blushing bride, pretty in pink and chocolate chip.   Dazzling details adds some bling to her tutu and to the flowers.

I hope you enjoyed these projects.   I enjoy doing punch art and love the end result.    Thanks for stopping by.

Pat

Elements of Style

I love the Elements of Style stamp set and I'm very glad it is carrying forward in the new catalogue.   It is such a versatile set and very elegant looking.   Once again I found an old sample of a card I created using this set and decided to make a few more.    This card also uses one of my favourite colour combinations:

This is a clean and simple card that works for any occasion.   Soft suede is used for the base and the floral image is stamped on using whisper white craft ink.   The corners are accented with a paper piecer and mat with the guide.    Happy Anniversary comes from Teeny Tiny Wishes and is stamped on very vanilla with soft suede and then punched out with the scallop oval punch.   The scallops are also paper pierced.   Easy peasy!

This card also uses Elements of Style:

Once again, my favourite colour combo - soft suede and very vanilla.   The very vanilla layers are stamped using soft suede ink.   For the Newlyweds also comes from Teeny Tiny Wishes and is set off with soft suede punched with the Decorative Label punch.   The Word Window punch was used to punch out For the Newlyweds.    A soft suede taffeta fork bow and some basic pearls finish off this card.

That's all for now.    This weekend I will be posting some cards that use punch art.   Creating with punch art helped me in a pinch as Stampin' Up! did not have a stamp set or digital download that suited the occasion.    Check in again soon!   Thanks for stopping by.

Pat

Something old, something new ...

No, this post is not about weddings!     I wanted to show you some of the projects I have been working on.   It has been hard to get any stamping done as I have been busy doing yard work.   Some days it's a real effort to drag myself down to my stamping space when it is so gorgeous outside.     But the stamping must go on as I needed to replenish my card supply for upcoming sales.     Here is a sympathy card that I had made ages ago and it is still one of my favourites:

I found my sample of this card and decided to make a few more for selling at the Market.    The card base is soft suede with very vanilla used for the tag and butterflies.    The soon to be retired medallion background stamp was inked with soft suede to give a tone on tone look.   My favourite butterflies were made using the Big Shot and the beautiful wings embosslit.   Whew - I'm so glad this embosslit is sticking around.   Some basic pearls add some softness to the butterflies.

This is a card we had made in Club but I never posted a pic:

This is a z-fold card.    It is very difficult to take a picture of this particular card so I just have a picture of it closed.    Rich razzleberry was used for the card base and layered with some patterned paper from the Summer Smooches DSP that will be in the new catalogue.   The whisper white layer is stamped with flowers from the Awash Flowers set that will also soon be retiring.    As this is a two step stamp, the stem and flower base were stamped in basic black and the flowers were filled in with rich razzleberry ink.   Old olive leaves filled in the stems.   It is very  hard to see in this picture but I used the En Francais background stamp in rich razzleberry.    Some very tiny basic pearls in the top of the white layer add a nice touch.   The layers and the card base were cut using the labels collection framelits.   The card base was cut by making a fold in the front and only cutting on one side of the fold.   A tricky technique but a very nice effect.

Finally, something new:

This petite purse die was available during the Summer Smooches promo and will be in the new catalogue.   I used calypso coral card stock.   Two purses can be made from one sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 card stock.   This tiny little purse is so cute and can be made with card stock or DSP and embellished any way you want.   I used a white gel pen to create the faux stitching.    Tiny clear rhinestone brads (soon retiring) were used to attach the purse handle.   The flower is punched from whisper white using the boho blossoms punch.   The edges are sponged and distressed and rhinestone adds a little bling.    I used this purse to give a friend a little something to thank her for her order.

I hope you enjoyed these projects.    I'm off to work on some special order cards that could be quite cute if everything works out according to plan.    Pictures will be posted if the project is a success!   Thanks for stopping by.

Pat

May Stamp Club projects

With all of the focus on upcoming Mother's Day, I thought we better create a card appropriate for Father's Day or a masculine birthday.   I received my inspiration from Deb Fearns.   Check out her blog:  http://debfearns.wordpress.com/             Here is my version:

Early espresso is used for the card base and is stamped with the anchor from The Open Sea, also in early espresso ink.   A crumb cake layer is stamped using the ledger stamp with early espresso, distressed and splotched using the color spritzer and early espresso marker.   A marina mist circle is cut using the big shot and the 3" circle die.    The ship is stamped on watercolor paper using black stazon and the water is coloured using a blender pen and marina mist ink.    This circle was punched using the 2 1/2" circle punch.  Those mini silver brads work perfectly on this masculine card.

We also created a card that was based on the Build A Bear card I used for the last blog hop:

The Build A Bear version would be too time consuming for a class project so I simplified it.   The crumb cake card base was first embossed using the oval frame embossing folder and then embossed again with the Elegant Bouguet embossing folder.    The embossed flowers were coloured using sponge daubers with rich razzleberry and old olive inks.    A white gel pen highlights the flower centres.   The Happy Birthday sentiment was stamped using old olive on whisper white card stock and then punched with the large oval punch.  This punch fits perfectly within the oval frame.   The inside of the card also has a whisper white layer with the bottom corner embossed with the elegant bouguet flowers which are also sponged.   I always try to add a little something to the inside of the card too.

The last card we created in Club was the Bright Blossoms Friend card which I displayed in the last blog hop.   I love this card because of the bright colours - island indigo, real red and lucky limeade.   Another clean and simple card and oh so cute!!

My next post will be the projects we are doing for Club this week.   Thanks for stopping by.

Pat

Stylin' Stampin' Squad May Blog Hop

Yaaay it's May! And that means time for another blog hop! You may have just come from Dawn's blog. Please make sure to leave comments for our blog hop participants so we can all feel the love!

This month we are focusing on Mother's Day/Kids/Friendship. This first project meets the May challenge and the stamp set challenge:

The May challenge was to use any three of the summer smooches colours - Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo, Tangerine Tango or Rich Razzleberry. The stamp set challenge was to use the Bright Blossoms set. This card uses island indigo for the card base which has been embossed with the framed tulips embossing folder. The centre layers are DSP from the Summer Smooches pack and whisper white stamped with images from the Bright Blossoms set. The images were inked with real red, lucky limeade and island indigo. It is hard to see in the picture but I used the simply scored to create two lines below the flowers. The friends sentiment comes from the Tiny Tags set and is embellished with an island indigo bakers twine bow and basic rhinestone. This is a very clean and simple card and I love it!

This next project uses the retiring Build a Bear and matching accessories dies and meets the kids portion of the challenge:

My pretty bear is dressed up with DSP from the Summer Smooches pack, whisper white and rich razzleberry. Basic pearls add some nice bling to her hair, blouse and shoes. The crumb cake card base is embossed with the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder. The embossed flowers are sponged with rich razzleberry and old olive using sponge daubers. The flower centres are brightened up with a white gel pen. I'm going to miss my Build a Bear!

Finally, this project meets the Mother's Day portion of the challenge:

I painted a wooden picture frame with white acrylic paint. MOM is cut from chocolate chip using the retiring Serif Essentials alphabet dies. The polka dots are punched from chocolate chip and blushing bride card stock using various sizes of circle punches. Pretty scalloped flowers were created by punching whisper white with the 2 3/8", 1 3/4" and 1 1/2" scallop circle punches. The punched circles are sponged with pretty in pink and stamped in chocolate chip with an image from the retiring Wedding Sweet set. After distressing the circles, they are layered together and a shimmer brad is used in the centre. Instead of a picture, I used a heart framelit to cut a heart from blushing bride and then embossed it with the polka dot embossing folder. The so many smiles... phrase comes from Petite Phrases and is stamped on whisper white using chocolate chip.

I hope you are enjoying the hop. Make sure to continue on to Heather's blog by clicking on the next button below.

Dawn's blog

Heather's Blog

SUPPLY LIST

Project #1

Stamps - Tiny Tags, Bright Blossoms

Paper - Island Indigo, Summer Smooches DSP, Whisper White

Ink - Real Red, Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo

Accessories - Island Indigo Bakers Twine, Basic Rhinestones

Tools - Big Shot, Framed Tulips  Embossing Folder, Simply Scored, Jewellery Tag Punch

Project #2

Stamps -Happiest Birthday Wishes (hostess)

Paper - Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Summer Smooches DSP

Ink - Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, white gel pen

Accessories - basic pearls

Tools - Big Shot, Elegant Bouguet Embossing Folder, Build a Bear Die, Beary Essentials Die, Fiskars small flower punch (non SU)

Project #3

Stamps - Petite Pairs, Wedding Sweet

Paper - Chocolate Chip, Blushing Bride, Whisper White

Ink - Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink

Accessories - Shimmer brads

Tools - Big Shot, Serif Essentials Alphabet dies, circle punches, scallop circle punches, heart framelit

Blog Hop Participants:

1. Shellie G. of Creative Electica
2. Annie L. of Love Me Cards
3. Pam S. of Stampin' in the Sun!
4. Nancy B. of Lady Stamps a Lot
5. Rose C. of Stamp with Rose
6. Tonya B. of Stampin' with Tonya
7. Dawn S. of Dawn's Creative Chalet
8. Patricia T. of Sunnyone Stampin'
9. Heather W. of Heather's Stampin' Blog
10. Pamela W. of Stinky Tofu
11. Marla R. of Marla's Stampin' Spot
12. Darcy J. of DJ's Stampin' Place
13. Nicole B. of Creations by Mommy
14. Kim R. of Stamping with Kim

Stampin' Up! Creative Crew Design Team Challenges for May

This is my first month to create for the Stampin' Up! Creative Crew Design Team.   Wow - I'm overwhelmed and hope that I'm up to the challenge!    My term is for May - August which will be an exciting time as we get to focus on the new catalogue.    Each Crew member is required to provide four projects per month to meet the challenges set for us.      I took this opportunity to use many of the products that will be retiring soon.  Definitely a hint of nostalgia when creating these projects! 

The first challenge is the colour focus - showcasing the colour I will miss the most from the retiring in colours:

I actually had two favourite colours and used them both on this card.   Concord crush and pear pizzazz go great together, I think.   Lots of embossing on this card!   The concord crush card base was embossed with the Framed Tulips embossing folder.    The inlaid embossing technique was used for the whisper white layer and the pear pizzazz sweet stems using the square lattice embossing folder.   Concord crush flowers were cut using the Floral Fusion Sizzlit and then embossed with the square lattice folder.   A pear pizzazz flower centre was created using a punch from the itty bitty punch shapes and sparkled up with a basic rhinestone.  A pretty ruffled bow is made with pear pizzazz seam binding ribbon.   The friend sentiment comes from the You're a Gem set.   

The next challenge was the catalogue focus - focusing on flowers.   Once again I chose to use all retiring colours and retiring product to create this project:

This framed project uses ALL of the retiring colours, with the exception of the crumb cake card stock used for the vase.   The retiring circle scissors plus was used to create the vase and the top and bottom were trimmed.    Decorations on the vase were punched from poppy parade with the retiring ribbon lace border punch and embellished with peach parfait itty bitty shapes and basic rhinestones.    Retiring dies were used to create the large flowers - the Island Floral and Daisies #2 dies.    Blushing bride daisies were centered with poppy parade circles and retiring clear circle brads.   Island floral flowers were made with concord crush, peach parfait, pear pizzazz and blushing bride, topped off with more clear circle brads.   Talk about colourful!

The third challenge was a holiday focus - create a free standing pop-up card for a special female, ie: mom, sister, friend, etc.:

Once again I used my favourite retiring colour combination of concord crush and pear pizzazz.   This was a great project as I had never used this technique before.   What a different twist for a card!   The tutorial for this technique can be found on Splitcoaststampers and I encourage you to give it a try.   The stamp set used is My Friend.    The rain drops were given some sparkle with dazzling details.   The retiring 5-petal flower punch was used for the flowers and the retiring round tab punch made the pull tab for the pop up portion of the card.

The final challenge was a scrapbook focus to showcase someone you love.   I love my Mom!:

This 12 x 12 layout starts with DSP from Beau Chateau - perfect with the Cherish flourish at the top of the page!   I finally ordered the heart framelits and just had to use them for this layout.   The largest scallop heart shape was embossed with the polka dot embossing folder and then sponged with soft suede to make the dots pop.   Smaller heart framelits were used to cut the pictures.   MOM was cut from soft suede using the Big Shot and the Serif Essentials alphabet dies (also retiring!).   The letters were stamped with an image from the retiring Wedding Sweet set and the edges sponged with more soft suede to give them definition.   The nice sentiment comes from the Petite Pairs set and is stamped on very vanilla with soft suede.   Embellishments include designer buttons and shapes punched with a punch from the itty bitty punch pack.   Tiny basic pearls and whisper white bakers twine add the final touches.

I hope you enjoyed these projects.   It's already time to start working on the challenges for June!   Thanks for stopping by.

Pat