Sending Sunshine and Rainbows

Hi,

I'm back with Day 11 cards for the Spring Card Camp. This class was taught by Dawn Waleslagle and it's all about making rainbows using nesting circle dies. Another super fun class!

Here are my two cards.

Using the Die-namics inside and out stitched circle dies, I taped them together as Dawn showed us to do, then cut them from Neenah Solar White card stock. On the brighter rainbow, I used TE blending brushes and TE ink cubes in bright red, yellow, green, blue and purple to color the individual circles. The colored circles are glued onto a plain white circle cut using the largest die. This is cut in half to make two rainbows. The background on this card is stamped with the Concord & 9th Sunshine Turnabout stamp. The clouds are made using a C&9th die and the unicorn and greeting are from Ellen Hutson sets.

For the lighter rainbow, I used pastel shades of Copics to color the circles. The cloud dies are Lawn Fawn and the unicorn is from the Ellen Hutson set. The sun stamp is from C&9th.

On both cards, I brushed a very liberal amount of Wink of Stella clear glitter over the rainbows.

I'm really enjoying these classes!

Thanks for stopping in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Unicorns and Rainbows and Pure Magic sets by Ellen Hutson, Brighter Days set by Concord & 9th
Paper: Neenah Solar White, SU Basic Black
Ink: TE ink cubes, SU Pineapple Punch and Mango Melody, Memento tuxedo black, Copics
Other: Die-namics Inside and Out Stitched Circle dies, Concord &9th Brighter Days cloud die, Ellen Hutson Unicorns and Rainbows dies, Lawn Fawn cloud border die, Misti, Gemini Jr, TE blender brushes, Wink of Stella, Dimensionals, liquid glue

HBD

Hello and happy Hump Day,

I had to go out to see a hospital customer today so I'm late getting some more post done for cards I've made over the last few days for the Spring Card Camp. I've been skipping around since I'm about 4 days behind, but that's okay. I'll eventually do all of the techniques.

This post has Day 8 cards. The teacher was Kathy Zielske, and the lesson was to make a shaker card with  a word die, and then use the negative cutout to make a second card. I looked through all my dies and the ones that are words are very small and I didn't think they would work for the shaker. What to do? I used alphabet dies and a couple of rectangle dies instead and it worked pretty well.

The front of both cards are inked with Hero Arts birthday stencils with Distress Oxide inks. These were super fun to make.

Kathy used watercolor paper and brushed Distress Ink in 4 colors over an area to cover the die being used, so that is what I did. After drying the panel with a heat tool, I cut it out with the stitched rectangle die. Then I centered the three letters and cut them out. After putting the shaker elements together, I cut a slightly larger rectangle from the card front then glued the shaker in place. The cutout letters are used on the second card. Love how colorful these turned out.

Thanks for stopping in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Hero Arts Party set and Hero stencils
Paper: TE bright yellow and green card stock, Neenah Solar white card stock, Bristol watercolor paper
Ink: Distress and Distress Oxide inks, Memento tuxedo black
Other: Die-namics lower case alphabet  and Stitched Rectangle dies, Misti, Gemini Jr, water brush, enamel dots, foam tape, sequins for shaker

Season's Greetings

Hello,

I hope your work week is off to a good start. Mine certainly is! The technical organization of my company, which is the organization that I work for, had our Annual Awards meeting this morning (virtual this year) and I learned for the 2nd year in a row, I was a winner for my job category. Whoo-hoo! It's nice to know that your hard work and willingness to help others is recognized.

Enough of that, on to my card for today. I made this card for Nance's color challenge on The Paper Players blog. This week is white on white. Classy and elegant is what I think of for this color theme. Viewing the cards already in the gallery, the PP ladies are going to have a tough time choosing winners because they are all gorgeous!

Here is the card that I made.

I used some MFT, Mama Elephant and TE dies for the card front. No stamping! ( I just realized that part). The Die-namics tree die was cut from X-Press It Blending white card stock and from SU silver Glimmer paper. The Falling Snow die is Taylored Expressions and the Stitched Scalloped panel underneath is a Mama Elephant die. The sentiment is also Die-namics. I cut out the words twice and glued them together. I then heat embossed them with white EP 3 times for a thick coating to make them stand out. I wanted a little variation in the white shades, so the card base is made with Neenah Solar White 100 lb card stock.

I'm also entering this card in this week's Inspired By All the Little Things challenge. The white, sparkly tree fits their inspiration photo this week.

The inside is stamped and heat embossed with silver EP and I've added a Paper Source snowflake sticker.

I don't know where that air bubble came from, but I'll fix it before sending. The sentiment is from SU Hearts Come Home set.

That's it from me today. Thanks, as always, for stopping by,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Hearts Come Home by Stampin' Up (inside sentiment)
Paper: X-Press It Blending  and Neenah Solar White card stock, SU silver Glimmer paper
Ink: VersaMark
Other: Die-namics Tree and Season's Greetings dies, Mama Elephant All Prettied Up die, Taylored Expressions Falling Snow EF, Silver and white EP, heat tool, the Big Shot, SU silver twine, foam tape, Paper Source snowflake sticker

Hello My Friend

Hi and happy Monday,

Why are weekends so SHORT? I'm not ready for another work week. Luckily, I won't be working out of town like the last four weeks. That's a step in the right direction.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I made several "beach themed" cards over the weekend. This one is my fave! No challenges to enter it into, just a layout that came to me.

First I cut the Lawn Fawn Palm Tree dies from SU Close to Cocoa, Old Olive and Gumball Green card stocks. Second, I cut some SU Sahara Sand card stock using the Die-namics Wonky Stitched Rectangle die, then I cut the panel with the LF Palm Tree dies. The panel was layered over a card base covered with a piece of SU Naturally Eclectic DSP. The palms tree trunks were placed into the negative spaces and the tops glued and popped up with mini-dimensonals. Instead of using the coconut dies, I used sequins instead. The greetings are Avery Elle Sentimental stamp and die. The Hello die was cut 3 times from Sahara Sand and finally from the SU DSP all glued together.

Here's the inside of the card using more of the same supplies.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Have a great day!
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Sentimental set by Avery Elle
Paper: SU Sahara Sand, Close to Cocoa, Old Olive, Gumball Green and Night of Navy card stock and SU Naturally Eclectic DSP
Ink: SU Night of Navy
Other: Palm Trees Lawn Cuts by Lawn Fawn, Sentimental by Avery Elle, Die-namics Wonky Stitched Rectangle and Small Scalloped Border  by Taylored Expressions dies, the Big Shot, brown, coper and gold sequins, Ranger Multi Mat glue, SU mini dimensionals

Hugs

Happy Friday all,

It's been a long time since I've had any crafty time. Between traveling for work, or just plain busy with work, and then traveling up to northern CA last weekend to attend a memorial service, I couldn't fit it in. Also, my creative MOJO seems to have disappeared on me. I really wanted to get a card posted for Claire's Valentine's challenge at The Paper Players so I sat down last night after dinner to see what I could come up with. Luckily, this week's CAS(E) This Sketch helped me with a design.

I very rarely do a card without any stamping, but here one is. (confession, the inside is stamped with a simple "Happy Valentine's Day.")

I started with a card base of SU Whisper White card stock. The Inside panel is very old SU DSP. The Real Red frame is cut with a Die-namics Stitched Rectangle Frame, the heart shaped balloons, strings and Hugs are Lawn Fawn dies. I added a couple of SU clear rhinestones for sparkle. Pretty darn simple!

I'm headed to Flanders, NJ tomorrow for a work project and I fly home the next Saturday so no crafty time again all week. I think I'll take some colored pencils and a couple of coloring books for the evenings in the hotel. I'm hoping that flights are back on schedule tomorrow from yesterday's storms in the east. I hope you all have a fabulous week!

Thanks for looking in,
Colleen


Supplies
Paper: SU Whisper White, Real Red and Gray card stock, SU DSP (retired)
Other: Die-namics and Lawn Fawn dies, SU rhinestones, dimensional tape and glue dots

Cheers!

Hello stamping friends,

I have a fun birthday card for you today that I made on Sunday afternoon using this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch #288.  For the background, I masked off about 1/4" all around the card base and randomly stamped the images using the "stamping off" technique to achieve a softer ink application. I used the square and circle elements to make a shaker card. I hadn't made one in a long time and I think the sequins and cocktail theme go well together here.

Supplies
Happy Hour set by Stampin' Up
Paper: X-Press It Blending card stock, SU Pistachio Pudding and Crisp Cantaloupe DSP
Ink: SU Pistachio Pudding, Crisp Cantaloupe, Blushing Bride and Old Olive classic ink, Memento tuxedo black
Other: Die-namics double-stitched square, stitched fishtail flags STAX, circle STAX and martini glass dies, SU window plastic, foam tape, sequins, the Big Shot

Thanks for looking,
Colleen

Finally A Day. . .

Hi there,

After taking care of some Saturday errands today, I sat down to make a card that my friend asked me to make for his Administrative Assistant. Since next week is Administrative Professional's Week and Day, he asked for a card to say thanks for all she does for him.

I used The Freshly Made Sketch for the layout.

I thought this stamp from SU makes a perfect outside sentiment. The inside sentiment is printed from my computer. The macaroons are stamped with Memento black and colored with Copics. For the filling in the cookies, I used my E000 for a slight caramel color, then used my Uniball gel pen on the squiggly part. There is a thin coating of Wink of Stella glitter over each cookie.

Here is the inside:

Supplies
Stamps: Bonjour set by Avery Elle and Really Good Greetings set by Stampin' Up
Paper: SU Calypso Coral, Basic Black and XPress-It Blending card stock and SU DSP
Ink: Memento tuxedo black and Copics
Other: Die-namics stitched rectangle, pierced fishtail flag, stitched circle and pinking circle dies, Taylored Expressions embossing folder, Wink Of Stella glitter pen, sequins, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

I hope you're having a nice and restful weekend. Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Celebrate 2014

Hi everyone and happy last day of 2013!

I trust everyone had a fun and festive holiday season. It's almost behind us for another year, which means it's time to head back to work for many of us. I was lucky and had about 10 days off. I have to say, I was very lazy. I read. A lot. I did some stamping, but not much. I took some walks. Went out to dinner with friends. It was a super relaxing time and I'm kinda' bummed that it's almost over as I do return to work on Jan. 2.

This morning was one of the times that I took a few hours to do some stamping. I rarely make "Happy New Year" cards, but decided that I wanted to send a few good friends/family New Year's wishes. While cruising around blogs this morning I ran across the latest and newly posted Colour Q 222 challenge. Super good colors for New Years cards. I did substitute silver for the basic gray, however.

I used several dies to make this card. The only stamping is on the inside. The sunburst die is from TE and the "Celebrate", "2014" and "champagne glasses" are Die-namics from MFT. After scoring my background paper, I cut out the 2014 using dies, then placed some SU silver glimmer paper behind the cutouts. The "celebrate" is glued with a swipe of tape runner. I then sprinkled it with SU silver glass glitter and pushed it into the tape for added sparkle (as if the gold glimmer paper isn't enough LOL).  The champagne glasses are popped up with dimensional tape then gold rhinestones were added for the bubbles.

I think these blingy cards will be a hit with the recipients.

Supplies
Paper: SU black and whisper white card stock, SU silver and gold glimmer paper
Other: Taylored Expressions Ray Of Sunshine cutting plate die, My Favorite Things Die-namics By the Numbers, Let's Toast, LLD Accent It-Celebrate dies, Kaiser gold rhinestones, the Big Shot, and dimensionals.

HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL. I hope 2014 is good to you.

Thanks for stopping by,
Colleen

Sending You Sunshine

I picked up some very thin cork sheets a few weeks ago at one of my local stamp stores. I wanted them to use with my TE and Die-namics scalloped border dies. When I saw Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch #108 this morning, I had in my mind to make rolled roses out of it for an "organic" look and feel.

I have to confess, this card did not go together as easily as I expected.  It turns out that it's not as easy as it may seem to roll very thin cork. (it crumbles) But persistence paid off and in the end, I think the look is pretty cool.

(click image to view larger)

Unfortunately, I need a sympathy card for one of my co-workers who lost her father this past Friday. This one will be in the mail to her tomorrow to let her know I'm thinking about her and to give my condolences.

Supplies

Stamps: Taylored Expressions Friendship Blooms and It's a Banner Day 2 sets

Card stock: SU basic grey and baja breeze textured and TE choice snow white, cork sheet

Patterned Paper: SU DSP retired

Ink: SU old olive and not quite navy

Other: Classic circle, scalloped circle and labels 3 Nesties, TE It's a Banner Day 2 die, Die-namics rolled rose dies (3 sizes), SU butterfly die, SU corner rounder punch, SU old olive ribbon, Kaiser black rhinestones, sewing machine, the Big Shot, pop-up glue dots, small glue dots, and dimensionals

I hope everyone has a good coming week. Thanks for stopping by,

Colleen

Just Add Ink 57 Color Combo

While looking through the most recent Crate and Barrel catalog last week I saw a pillow that was appliqued with spirals and circles. The spirals reminded me of the Die-namics rolled flower die. I thought that I'd play around with the look on a card and see what I could come up with.

Here is the inspiration photo:

And here is my card:

(click image to view larger)

The pillow in the inspiration photo is made with felt. I thought about doing the spirals on the card in felt, but decided to use paper for the first try. I may do another version with felt to see how it looks. I crumpled the paper for the medium circles to give them a little more definition. The centers of the  yellow flowers are white candy dots colored with a Copic marker to match cherry cobbler.

The color scheme comes from the Just Add Ink #57 Color Combo challenge. This week's colors are river rock, cherry cobbler and daffodil delight. 

Supplies

Stamps: Bring on the Cake by Stampin' Up

Card stock: SU river rock, cherry cobbler, and daffodil delight

Ink: SU cherry cobbler and Copic sketch marker

Other: Die-namics rolled flower die, SU circle punches, candy dots, the Big Shot, and dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by,

Colleen