Sunday, June 25, 2017

At Home

Whoa, I'm on a roll this week, I've again been playing with one of my new stamp sets, At Home With You. The set has 26 stamps and it comes in a bundle that includes 12 thinlets all for $50.00! I mean, you can't beat that price-wise now can you! It includes stamps for spring, summer, fall and winter, you can't go wrong with this set, there's a little for everyone! There are already a lot of cards on Pinterest using it, some with blue doors, some with red doors, some with wooden doors. I decided I wanted a red door! I chose Early Espresso for my card base which is portrait style, 4 1/4 x 11 scored and burnished at 5 1/2.  I married that with a pumpkin pie mat. I embossed a piece of Sahara Sand with the Brick embossing folder and then 'dirtied' it up a bit with a sponge and some Crumb Cake ink. I stamped the door with Early Espresso on to Real Red card-stock and cut it out using the door thinlet. Now the fun thing about the door thinlet is that you can either just cut out the door or you can cut out the frame and have the door open! How fun is that! You may be able to see from this picture but I chose to have the door open! So, when is a door not a door - when it's ajar! Sorry, I couldn't help it, reminds me of when I was a kid and we were always looking for riddles to solve! Anyway, to continue I stamped the two lanterns and the sentiment with VersaMark and embossed them with copper embossing powder. The wreath and two planters were stamped with Early Espresso and then colored with my markers using Old Olive for the Leaves and Melon Mambo and Blushing Bride for the flowers. The Welcome mat was also stamped with Early Espresso. I finished off the wreath and flower pots with some Wink of Stella on the flowers and little linen bows. Oh, and the lantern, wreath, welcome mat and sentiment also have thinlets which I used to cut them all out. Now, after the whole card was put together, I decided I wanted to make the door look kind of freshly painted if you will, so I covered it with Glossy Accents, should really have done this before I put the door on to the mat! The picture, because of the lighting, makes it look wet, but it looks quite good in person ---- I promise (she says!)
Now, as the saying goes  - let's see, what's behind the red door!
The sentiment on the front says "Thanks" so inside the door I chose the sentiment "For Everything". I stamped this on a piece of (now retired) Serene Scenery DSP which I also cut out using the door thinlet, that way it fits perfectly behind the door itself. I'm sorry you can't really see this in the picture, but I wanted to show you how the door opens and you can still write your message on the inside of the card as well. Oh, and by the way, there is a thinlet for the little windows on the door, 6 panes! You can't really see them on the front of the card because the wreath partially covers them, but there they are, peeking out just here! Isn't that just the cutest thing!
I really enjoyed making this card, At Home With You is a fantastic set! If you would like to purchase the bundle, the number is 145351. All you have to do is go to my Stampin Up site, there is a link at the top right corner of this page and put the number in under 'Search the Store' and Bob's your Uncle, there it is! Of course, you can buy them separately, but why on earth would you want to! LOL! Thank you for taking the time to look at my post, I hope you like my card!

Friday, June 23, 2017

Graceful Garden

So today I'm just making a card to just make a card as they say! I received my new goodies from Stampin' Up on Monday and today has been the first day I've been able to dedicate a little time to stamping! I've wanted this set since the demonstrators have been able to see the catalog on line. It's called 'Graceful Garden'. It's a 6 piece stamp set, I have placed a picture below. I wanted to do something a little different, I saw one of the Stampin Up bloggers demonstrate a 'basket weave' and I actually managed to complete one on this card! The card base is the new in-color Berry Burst. After I completed the weave, I stamped the actual card base with the 'trellis' stamp, in the same stamp set, using Berry Burst and stamping off once. I used a piece of the Fresh Florals DSP next and then my stamped image on top. For the rose, I stamped it in Memento Tuxedo Black and then, using my stampin' write markers, I colored the rose in Berry Burst and the leaves in Old Olive.To finish off, I used my Wink of Stella on the rose and added three of the new faceted gems which come in 4 different colors and have a beautiful ombre effect. The sentiment seemed just perfect to sit beneath the rose. I think I'm going to make a set in different colors, which would be a perfect gift to give, to maybe, a rose lover!

If you have any questions or would like to order any of the items in this post, please do not hesitate to use the links at the top right of this post. Thank you so much for looking!

Monday, June 19, 2017

Colorful Seasons Birthday Card

Yesterday was Father's Day and also my daughter's birthday! She was born on Father's Day 'x' number of years ago! (Kara would die if I put her actual age here!). So, anyway, it was a double whammy day for my grandchildren and I! We had a wonderful time together as always and this is the card that I made for her. I got the inspiration from a card on Pinterest (don't we all!) made by Jesse Holton, a fellow Stampin' Up demonstrator!

I looove this set, Colorful Seasons, I could play with it all day (and probably will!). For the background, I used shimmery white paper, really excellent for water coloring. The inks I used were  Bermuda Bay, which is Kara's favorite, I've probably mentioned that before! I also used Powder Pink which is one of the new in-colors. I used Sahara Sand for the stamen and the flowers were stamped using Powder Pink, stamped tone on tone on the same color paper and cut out using the matching set of die cuts.  For the sentiment, also from Colorful Seasons, I used the new in-color Tranquil Tide, which is a bluey greeney (don't think they are actual adjectives!) color - love it! To add to the way Jesse made her card, I finished mine off with a double linen bow glued to a piece of burlap, I thought it just added that kinda 'umph'! I've always tended to shy away from water coloring, it always kinda scared me, but I took my own challenge and I think this came out rather well! Love the card, love the set, can't wait to sit down and use it some more!