Congratulations Graduate

Hello,

My youngest nephew graduates today from high school. He has been awarded Valedictorian of his class. Yup, he's a smarty just like his older siblings.

Here's the card that I made for him. I combined several supplies from several different companies.

This Ellen Hutson bear stamp is one of my very favorite! He is so versatile! Using the corresponding die, I cut him out using X-Press It Blending card stock and then using the Misti, stamped him onto the cutout. I made his background using a cloud stencil and a brush. There are three ink colors in the clouds, Baja Breeze, Pale Plum and Powder Pink. The grassy hill is cut from Baja Breeze card stock using a Lawn Fawn die. The round balloon is also a Lawn Fawn die and the Mortar Board is a Taylored Expressions die. These are cut from metallic card stock.

The left side of the card is a piece of X-Press It Blending white card stock stamped using the Concord & 9th Stripes and Sayings set. The stripes are stamped in Baja Breeze ink and the sayings are stamped in Pale Plum. Using foam tape, the bear panel is raised up.

Here's the inside:

Unfortunately, since I'm working in Denver this week, I couldn't make it up to Portland to attend his graduation. Not sure why they held it during the week instead of on the weekend!?

I hope you're week is going well. Thanks for looking in,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: All Inside by Essentials by Ellen, Stripes and Sayings set by Concord & 9th,  and Dream Big by Taylored Expressions
Paper: SU Baja Breeze and X-Press It Blending and SSS metallic card stocks
Ink: Baja Breeze, Pale Plum, Powder Pink, Memento tuxedo black
Other: Cloud Stencil, All Inside set dies, Taylored Expressions Mortar Board die, Lawn Fawn Grassy Hill and balloon dies, Misti, Gemini Jr, foam tape, cloud stencil, blending brush

Hi Friend

Hello again,

This is my second post this afternoon. I made this card using inspiration from the  photo at the Inspired By Challenge blog. I used this week's  Freshly Made Sketches sketch again for the layout.

I used the daisy flower for my main focal point and added a little boarder of lace using white craft ink and white EP.  The background is made using the SU Country Floral 3D embossing folder. Before using it, i inked the smooth side with light yellow ink. After running it through the Big Shot, I trimmed a small amount off one edge to allow the stamped lace along the edge of the Summer Sun card base to show.

The daisy is stamped using Memento tuxedo black ink and colored with Copics then cut out using the corresponding die. The sentiment dies are also part of the set. They are cut from SU Basic Black card stock. I cut two sets and glued them together, then glued them onto the daisy. The dots over both i's are black enamel dots, and I brushed Wink of Stella over the words for a little sparkle.

Here is the inside of the card:

There you have it. Thanks again,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Mondo Daisy Stamp set from Essentials by Ellen (Ellen Hutson)
Paper: X-Press It Blending and SU Summer Sun card stocks
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, SU Summer Sun, Hero white craft ink
Other: SU Country Floral 3D embossing folder, Mondo Daisy set dies,  SU white embossing powder, heat tool, Misti, Wink of Stella, liquid glue, Big Shot, Gemini Jr, dimensionals

Stay Cool

Hello stampers,

I hope that you're weekend has been fun and relaxing. I've certainly enjoyed being home for a couple of days. Work travel took me to Montana last week and tomorrow I fly to Denver for this week's work. I'm really, really hoping that this travel calms down soon! I guess I can be thankful that I'm not having to go to these places in the winter.

Yesterday was spent doing some chores in the morning and then going to a Little League Baseball game. Our little friend's team was playing in the championship game, so of course we needed to go watch. Happily, they won! Today, I've been in my craft room and having a great time. I managed to make three cards too.

This first one is for the new Paper Players Challenge. Ann has a fun theme challenge for us this week called Summer Vacation. I have tons of beachy stamps that would be perfect, but I wanted to use another new Concord & 9th set that I got a few week's ago. It's called Cool Treats Turnabout set. I didn't actually use the turnabout stamp, but I used some of the greeting stamps and the corresponding dies. I also used the Concord & 9th Faceted Turnabout Stencil for the background. The layout comes for the current Freshly Made Sketch.

I started by sponging some very summery SU inks using the Turnabout stencil onto a white panel. Ink colors are Pineapple Punch, Mango Melody, Lemon Lime Twist and Strawberry Slush. The panel was trimmed about 1/2 inch and layered it onto a piece of Mango Melody card stock and then finally onto the card base of Lemon Lime Twist. Using SU card stocks in the same shades as the inks, I cut the popsicles using the corresponding dies. After layering all of the elements according to the FMS, I used my Wink of Stella pen over the popsicles so they look frozen. Perfect to cool off with on a hot summer day.

The inside of the card uses the large popsicle die from the Concord & 9th set. Before cutting out the die, I stamped a pice of white card stock using the Concord & 9th Polka-dot stamp using Mango melody. The inside sentiment is from the Cool Treats set.

Have a great Sunday evening and thanks for looking,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Concord & 9th Cool Treats Turnabout set and Dotted Fill In set
Paper: X-Press It Blending, SU Pineapple Punch, Mango Melody, Lemon Lime Twist, Strawberry Slush, Crumb Cake
Ink: SU Pineapple Punch, Mango Melody, Lemon Lime Twist, Strawberry Slush, Gina K black
Other: Concord & 9th Cool Treats dies, Die-namics Wonky Stitched Circle and Spellbinders Circle dies, Simon Says Stamp banner dies, Concord & 9th Faceted Turnabout Stencil, SU sponge daubers, Misti, Wink of Stella, Gemini Jr, Dimensionals

Howdy

Happy Sunday to all,

I hope your holiday weekend is going well. Before we head out to do more wine tasting today, I had some time to make a card. Since it's Sunday, it's time for the new Paper Players Challenge. My friend, LeAnne, is our hostess this week with a sketch challenge.

Since I'm away from home, my supplies are a bit limited. I only brought white and the new SU In-color card stocks with me, and the new SU Mosaic Mood DSP for patterned papers. Since I had a background already done that I stamped using the Concord & 9th Stuck on You Turnabout set, I decided to use it along with the Stuck On You dies to make my card. For the missing card stock colors that I needed, I used ink cubes direct to some white card stock.

I thought that this mosaic DSP in Terracotta would work great for the background. I trimmed down the piece that I previously stamped with the turnabout set for the vertical element in LeAnne's sketch, and using the dies from the C&9th set, cut out the other images. I really like how using the Faceted dots under the cactus flowers look. (and you know I love my embellishments) To add a little distressing to the clay pot, I rubbed on extra ink using my finger and also dropped some water on the paper. For the sentiment, I cut "howdy" three times and glued them together with liquid glue. All of the dies are from the same C&9th set.

I used some of the small single stamps from the set on the inside of the card.

We are about to head out for the afternoon. Have a wonderful Sunday and thanks for stopping by,
Colleen


Supplies
Stamps: Stuck on You Turnabout set by Concord & 9th
Paper: SU Whisper White and Terracotta Tile card stock, Mosaic Mood DSP
Ink: Various Gina K ink cubes
Other: Stuck on You dies, Misti, Big Shot, SU Faceted Enamel Dots, dimensionals

Hi

Hello again,

For my second post today, I have another card using the same Concord & 9th sets that I used on the card in my previous post. This one in different colors and for another challenge, the As You See It Challenge.

The ink and colored card stock used are all the new SU In-color shades, Pretty Peacock and Rococo Rose. I think these two really go well together. You can see that I had fun again with the new Gingham Background stamp. In addition to using the new Filled In Floral set, I also used the Fine Line Florals set to stamp the white panel. For the greeting, I used another size of the Die-namics Pierced Fishtail Flag dies and for embellishment, some new SU Faceted Enamel dots in Rococo Rose.

And here's the inside of the card:

Thanks again,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Gingham Background, Filled In Florals, Fine Line Florals sets by Concord & 9th
Paper: SU Pretty Peacock and Whisper White card stock
Ink: SU Pretty Peacock and Rococo Rose
Other: Misti, Big Shot, Die-namics Fishtail Flag die, Filled In Florals dies, SU Faceted Enamel dots, dimensionals

Forever Friends

Happy Saturday Peeps,

We are still on the California Central Coast and today's activities include, what else, wine tasting.

Yesterday morning I had some time, while the others were working, to do some stamping, and I made cards for a few more challenges. These cards are all made with Concord & 9th stamps because when I packed up my supplies to come last week, I grabbed that bin of stamps.

This card is inspired by both the Inspired By. . . Challenge, and by this week's Color Throwdown Challenge.

For the background, I used the new Concord & 9th Gingham background stamp. Man oh man it was fun! (You'll see it on another card that I'll post later). The light blue ink is one of the new SU In-color shades. The rest of the ink are all Gina K cubes because they are easy to pack.

After making the background, I stamped the flowers from the new Concord & 9th flower set in light and dark shades of poppy and cut them out with the set dies. The circle is a Die-namics Circle Frame die and the banner is also Die-namics.

Here is a look at the inside of the card.

I'm loving these new C&9th sets! Thanks for looking and have a nice and relaxing weekend!
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Filled In Florals set and Gingham Background set by Concord & 9th
Paper: SU Seaside Spray card stock and X-Press It Blending card stock
Ink: SU Seaside Spray and Gina K cubes in dark blue, light and dark poppy shades
Other: Filled In Florals dies, Die-namics Stitched Circle Border and Pierced Fishtail Flag dies, the Misti, the Big Shot, dimensionals

All The Good Stuff

Happy Friday!

A quick post with another of the four cards that I made yesterday. You know when you have something in your mind and you put it together and think, YIKES! That's what happened here. I started with the Freshly Made Sketch, so that certainly wasn't my problem, but after some re-working, I really like how it turned out.

On the first card, I glued the circle flat on the card base. I also used black ink to stamp the sentiment on the banner. It just looked "blah"! My corrections were to add another layer of white, pop up the circle and the sentiment banner using foam tape, and use pink inks to stamp the sentiment. I also moved the sentiment banner to the top of the circle.

This is a birthday card for a good friend, whom I've know since she was two. She is now finishing her  medical school residency in NYC. Her mom, Mr. Personal Chef, and I went to college together way back in the 70s and we've pretty much been inseparable since. In fact, we are at her mom's house this week on our little vacation.

The inside:

Looks like we are going to have sunny skies today instead of gray and damp. I may go out and do a little shopping later this morning.

Thanks for stopping by,
Colleen

Supplies
Stamps: Gem Turnabout set by Concord & 9th
Paper: SU Whisper white and Rococo Rose card stock
Ink: Gina K ink cubes in pinks, red and black
Other: Gem dies, Die-namics Pierced Circle and Fishtail Banner dies, SU Faceted Enamel dots, Misti stamping tool, the Big Shot, dimensionals