Bloggers' Challenge for today is a Spring theme…perfect!  I also combined it with another challenge and used Mary Jo's Monday Lunchtime Sketch to build the card for my punch flowers.

I started with a base of Old Olive cardstock and layered on a piece of Stampin' Up!'s Cottage Wall Designer Paper in the olive print.  For the back layer, I ran the Pale Plum Cardstock thru the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder and layered it on Rich Razzleberry.  The next layer, I used the stripe pattern in Cottage Wall DSP and layered it on Rich Razzleberry cardstock again. 

I used the Two-Step Bird Punch (and you thought it was just for punching birds…lol!) and created the vine from the leaves, then used the bird's wing and created the buds for the flowers.  The Old Olive part of the bud is the wing with the point down and a V cut into the rounded part.  The Pale Plum is the wing with the point upward for the flower bud.  I sponged the edges of the Pale Plum with Rich Razzleberry and the Old Olive cardstock with Old Olive Classic Ink, too, for some shading and definition.  I adhered them to Whisper White cardstock and layered that on Rich Razzleberry cardstock.  Finally, I stamped Happy Birthday from Stampin' Up!'s Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set in Rich Razzleberry Classic Ink and punched it with the Word Window Punch.  That was layered onto a Pale Plum Modern Label Punch and tucked under the front panel.

I loved Mary Jo's sketch, and I think it fits the Spring Theme for Bloggers' Challenge as well!  I hope you have a great weekend!  Come back tomorrow for the monthly Control Freaks Tour de Freaks Blog Hop!  You'll be glad you did!

More snow!  I can't believe we are getting more snow!  The last winter storm dumped 14 inches…now we could get anywhere between 4 to 8 inches.  Schools have already called off today.  I'm ready for SPRING!

My Technique's Class last week made this card using the technique, Newspaper Reveal, from Technique Junkies!  I'm showing you because it also fits my LateNightStampers Design Team Challenge for Who's the Boss…embossing techniques!  It is fun stamping and recycling at the same time…we always have tons of newspapers around the house.

The base of the card is Old Olive with a strip of designer paper from Tall Tales and I added a strip of Close to Cocoa punched with the Pinking Hearts Border punch along the left side.  Stampin' Up!'s Inspired by Nature image was used for the Newspaper Reveal technique.  I layered it on So Saffron and wrapped the Barely Banana striped Ribbon around it and tied.  I cut the tag from Lots of Tags Sizzlet Pack with the Big Shot and So Saffron cardstock, then stamped Happy Birthday from Stampin' Up!'s Well Scripted on the tag and added two small Clear Rhinestone Brads on top and bottom.

It's a fun technique and my stampers really liked it!

Since it is snowing today, I plan on staying home and stamping all day!  Woohoo!

It's time for another Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge!  This one came together pretty easy.  Mainly because my Stamp Club did a similar card last night using the same colors and stamp set, but I changed it around so I could make it fit the sketch!  Now it shows those in my Stamp Club who bought this set, another way to use it!

I started with a base of Dusty Durango cardstock.  The next layer of Soft Suede I ran thru the Big Shot with my FInial Press Impressions Folder, then I used a sponge dauber and added Soft Suede Classic Ink around the edges, and lightly ran it across the raised portions of the embossed cardstock to highlight them.  I wrapped some Dusty Durango Polka Dot Ribbon around to the back and secured to the base card. 

I inked the border image from Vintage Vogue by using my Dusty Duranto and Soft Suede Stampin' Write Markers and colored the images I wanted in each color.  I stamped at the bottom of the Whisper White cardstock.  The flowers were stamped on scrap Whisper White and cut out.  I used a 1/2 punched circle of Soft Suede for the center of the larger flower, then a Gold Fire Rhinestone Brad.  The two smaller flowrers have Gold Mini Brads.  I added some leaves randomly in the upper left corner, then placed the flowers with Dimensionals.  The Whisper White was mounted on Bashful Blue ( I know!  But the color works!)  I stamped "The more Candles the bigger the Wishes" from Whimsical Words,  in the Sale-A-Bration Mini, in Soft Suede ink in the upper right corner.  Finally, I added a small border of Dusty Durango punched with the Scallop Trim Border Punch (another Sale-A-Bration freebie) and pierced holes in each of the spaces between the scallops!

Make sure to check out what the rest of the Stamping 411 Operators have done this week!  I'm sure they will have fabulous ideas with this sketch!

Wow…today is Friday already and it is time for the Bloggers' Challenge!  Our assignment this week is a Birthday Theme! 

I've liked Stampin' Up!'s set, Birthday Bliss, for a while, but never purchased it.  When it came out on the FREE Sale-A-Bration list, I snapped it up quickly!  I LOVE this greeting…May your layers be many & your frosting be thick"!  How TRUE is that!  Yes, I've always been the one who wants the corner piece with the MOST frosting!  lol!

I've had this sketch for a while…maybe it was one that Mary Brown and I worked on together…I forget.  I stamped the birthday cake image on Basic Black, then watercolored with my So Saffron, Regal Rose and Bermuda Bay Stampin' Write Markers and AquaPainter.  I took my colors from the Welcome Neighbor Designer Series Paper that was also FREE Sale-A-Bration with purchase.  I cut 1 1/4" x 5 1/4" strips of three patterns for the background.

The base card is Bermuda Bay and I layered on Whisper White.  The stamped image was punched with 1 3/8 circle punch, then layered on a 1 3/4 So Saffron circle.  The larger scallop is from the Pennant XL Bigz Die in Regal Rose and I added some dots around the scallops with my White Gel Pen.  Finally, I added the White Stripe Organdy Ribbon and tied.

Pretty simple card, but darling for a birthday…hmmm…who has a birthday next that I could sent this to???

I hope you have a great weekend!  Mine is working up to be a BUSY one!

This one I made for my girlfriend's birthday (hi Annette!) a couple months ago.  I was saving it thinking that I'd do it in a punch class, but with the Stampin' Up! Ornament Punch going away at the end of December, I know I won't have another Punch Class before then.  (Hopefully the ornament punch will be in the new catalog next year, but you never know!)

I love the bright colors, especially on a day like today with gloomy clouds.  I punched the ornament punch 8 times with Pretty in Pink card stock.  I used a sponge dauber on the edges with Melon Mambo Classic Ink.  In the center I placed a 3/4 punched circle from Crushed Curry, then added Crystal Effects and a lot of Clear Micro Beads.  The leaves are the ornament punch, too, from Old Olive card stock.  You can see I pinched the tips of the petals and leaves together to give them some dimension.

I started with a base card of Melon Mambo, then a layer of Rich Razzleberry.  On top of that is Crushed Curry card stock, and a Top Note cut from Razzleberry Lemonade Designer paper to tie all the colors together!  Happy Birthday was stamped in Basic Black on Pretty in Pink, then punched with the Modern Label punch and layered onto the same shaped punch in Movers & Shapers, but cut from Melon Mambo.  I love that I can layer the Modern Label punch for some added interest!

Hope you like my bright card and it brings some cheer to your day! 

INKspired Treasures Blog

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My friend, Mary and I, were able to play some challenges this weekend.  It had been a long time since we did!  What fun!  I needed to make up some cards for posting, too, so it came at a good time!

This card was inspired by a layout that Mary found over on SCS.  VERY simple.  In fact, I joked that I would be done in two seconds.  But, sometimes I find the simple ones are harder for me to do.  Too many directions I could go with not a lot of design room.  But, this one did come together pretty easy. 

Almost no stamping.  I used a base of Old Olive.  Cut a strip of Tale Tales Designer Paper and layered it on Chocolate Chip cardstock.  Stamped the Happy Birthday greeting from On Your Birthday with Chocolate Chip ink.  Then I used Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Paper scrap laying on my desk and the Cherry Blossom Embosslit die for the flower, sanding it a little for some extra texture, then adding a Chocolate Chip Corduroy Button in the center of the flower!  Finally, punched the 5 petal flower from Old Olive and cut two of the petals off for the leaves.  I sponged Melon Mambo around the flower and Always Artichoke around the leaves for extra dimension.  It is popped up with dimensionals on the front of the card.

Busy week for me….I have to get ready for Punch Class on Wednesday night and my Acrylic Mini Scrapbook Album class on Sunday!  Plus, we have two business dinners to attend on Friday and Saturday night.  Yuk!

Have a wonderful week!

INKspired Treasures

Here is a card my Technique Class did last night.  The Technique is called Faux Rattan.  It was a collaborative effort from several of my stamping idols…Mary Brown for part of the layout, Kimberly Van Diepen for the other part, Sharon Field for the Rattan Technique.  I took pieces of all of their cards to make mine.  Thank you to all of them!  This is also my Dad’s birthday card which was yesterday!  Happy Birthday, Dad!

I started with a base of Baja Breeze cardstock.  The Creamy Caramel layer (Faux Rattan) I ran thru the Big Shot with the Texturz Weave Plate.  I used Creamy Caramel direct to paper, then ran it through the Big Shot again and used Close to Cocoa direct to paper.  Love the look this gives it…actually like rattan!  I stamped the Measuring Tape from Totally Tools with Basic Brown on Naturals Ivory and colored with a blender pen and ink pad.  I used the Original definition from Define Your Life on the large, punched 1-3/4 circle, stamped with Creamy Caramel on Creamy Caramel for a very subtle look, then stamped Father from Wonderful Favorites stamp set in Basic Brown on Naturals Ivory and popped it up over the Original Definition.  I used the 1/2 circle punch with Chocolate Chip cardstock on the Baja Breeze strip.

Hope you had a wonderful day!  I hope to get to stamp tomorrow after I finish up the paperwork tonight (I was REALLY behind!).  Stay tuned for my June Card Kit…hopefully tomorrow!

I needed a birthday card for my dad, so I pulled this one out of my stash.  Even though it has some retired items on it, I still thought you’d like to see it!  I know I always need ideas for masculine cards.  Plus, I’m on a mission to use up some of this retired designer paper I have laying around!  lol!

I also haven’t used the My Way punch very much, so it seemed a perfect choice to fill that empty space!  The DSP is Western Sky, with Real Red, Whisper White and River Rock cardstock (sniff…I miss it!).  I used the Sanded in Real Red on the Real Red cardstock.  The Dotted Circle is from Think Happy Thoughts and I punched it with the 1-1/4 circle.  Then the Large and Small punches from Blue Bayou and Whisper White.  A red mini brad in the center.  The greeting is from It’s Your Birthday…a retired set now.  Really, a pretty simple card!

I have several things I’m in the middle of working on right now for swaps and design calls…except I can’t show you yet!  Our demo Round Up meeting is this weekend, so I’m trying to prepare things for that, too.  I’ll be able to share those with you next week!

Have a good weekend…I’ve been up late watching the Olympics (what is it with the judges for the Gymnastics!  USA has been RIPPED off TWICE now!)