from my ink pad to yours

Lattice Work with Autumn Meadows

When I first saw the Lattice die I thought it looked like a part of a quilt. I'm thinking wedding ring or something like that??? At any rate, I've had fun doing this for some classes and swaps. 

A few pointers:

• I centered a 4" square over the die and marked the corners with a white gel pen. This makes it easy to center your paper and use the resulting frame without further trimming
• This card is made with 3 7/8" squares which are layered onto a 4" x 5 1/4" layer on a standard A2 card.
• Play around with different pattern combinations. You may even want to piece in the smaller cut-outs. 
• This is a great layout to feature small stamps that would normally be used as accents.

Here are some more shots of the same design:

This next card uses the same layout with Kaleidascope DSP and Asian Artistry. Have you niticed that there is no white or vanilla in the Kaleidoscope papers? I think this increases the vibrancy of those bright sherbet-like colors. It also increases your options - you can use either white or vanilla when designing with it.

 

Acorn Card Key Ingredients: 

Stamps: Autumn Splendor (116503) Teeny Tiny Wishes (115370) paper: Autumn Meadows Designer Series Paper (116769); Accessories: Lattice BIGZ die (115958), Magentic Mover and Shapers (115953), Scallop Circle Punch (109043), Modern Label Punch (116630)

Dragonfly Card's Key Ingredients: 

Stamps: Asian Artistry (hostess)Teeny Tiny Wishes (115370) paper: Kaleidoscope Designer Series Paper (115680); Accessories: Lattice BIGZ die (115958), Magentic Mover and Shapers (115953), Scallop Circle Punch (109043), Modern Label Punch (116630)

Thank for stopping by! I'd love to hear what you think...

A few more DSP photos...

Quick Post: Here are a few more shots of the Night and Day purse set I posted earlier.

And, here's another Autumn Meadows card with cut-out leaves and a brad from the Vanilla hodgepodge. the words are from Chit Chat Rub-ons.

Night and Day Purse set

Do you like to make card sets? Here is a darling purse set featuring the classic stamp set, Lovely as a Tree and the warm and luscious Autumn Meadows Designer Series Paper. Isn't that Herringbone perfect? And harmony of the weathered Taken with Teal just makes me want to sing. (Don't worry. I'm not going to add a music feature to my blog!) The instructions for this set are available when you make a $50 purchase through me. Click on bonus for more details.

Of course, once you have the pattern, there's no end to the ways that you can play with the design and make it your own. Here is another set that I made the Autumn Meadows set directions switching out the stamp set for Upsy Daisy and the paper for Night and Day. Melon Mambo and Pretty in Pink are the perfect foil to the crisp black and white. I kept the look of the herringbone but moved it to the flap of the purse. 

Did you notice the card peaking out on the right? The black and white patterns in the Night and Day DSP can be brayered or sponged to match many color schemes. In this case I sponged it with Melon Mambo.

 

Update:

Supplies for the Autumn Meadows version

Stamps:

• Lovely as a Tree  115026
• Fundamental Phrases 114698

Ink: 

• Chocolate Chip Classic  100908
• Versamark 102283
• Stampin' Pastels 105542

Paper: 

• Autumn Meadows DSP 115769
• More Mustard 8.5 x 11" 100946
• Chocolate Chip 8.5 x 11" 102128
• Really Rust 8.5 x 11" 100661
• Very Vanilla 8.5 x 11"    101650
• Medium Vanilla Envelopes   107300

Accessories:

• Stampin' Pastels 105542
• Sticky Strip   104294
• Stampin' Dimensionals 104430
• Mini Glue Dots 103683
• Snail
• Chocolate Chip 5/8" grosgrain ribbon   109051
• Gold elastic cord  109867
• Gold brads 104337
• White embossing powder  109132
• Button Latte  114333
• Scallop Edge Punch 112091
• 1/16" handheld punch 101227
• Blender Pens 102845

misc: velcro circles, library clip,

Upsy Daisy Substitutions:

Stamps:
    Upsy Daisy for images and words
Inks:
    Basic Black, Versamark, Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo
Papers:
    Night and Day DSP, Basic Black, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink
Accessories:
    Daisies #2 die, White embossing powder, Black Embossing powder, Vintage brads - black, Textruz #4, Basic Black 1/4" grosgrain, Melon Mambo, 5/8" polka-dot grosgrain, black and white gingham ribbon, Black button (retired), 2-way glue pen (I use this for applying skinny left over strips to the inside layers).

More Petals

I can't tell you how different this card ended up from the idea I started with.  I was going to use a sketch with 3 circles in a HORIZONTAL line. But, I set aside my first set of circles and opted instead for the big flower from Petal Pizazz,  punched them out, and layered more punched flowers over them before turning them into this posie bouquet. Not what I intended, but it was fun...as was the VERTICAL row of flowers that ended up on the inside. I punched half flowers with the flower trio punch along the edge of the polka-dot paper (Night and Day DSP from the Holiday Mini).  That way I have a perfectly spaced column at the edge of my inside message.

Yes, this still uses my October Petals Palette with Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry and Dusty Durango. The black layer is textured (Texture Plate Kit #4) and layered onto Whisper White and then onto a Kraft card.

Another view, straight on. (Do you like my baskets - they just happen to be near a window with good light.)

Here's one more card using just a bit of my October Petals Palette: more Night and Day paper, and Crushed Curry ribbon and cardstock. The flower center is punched from the center of a snowflake, from Serene Snowflakes.  The Five Petal Punch was used for the flower. The greeting is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Patchwork Monkey

Though I finished up today's card with the October Petals Palette in my previous post, I'd colored this little monkey ages ago using a color scheme I'd ripped out of an old Vogue magazine. Here's a snapshot of the colors that caught my eye:

Anyway, this monkey has been sitting on my desk with his funny little hat and flag, wondering  what would become of him. Surely he influenced the October Petals palette I eventually put together! Once I had those papers and accessories sitting there it was a snap to pull this card together.

Stamps: Sock Monkey (111550)

Ink: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun, Old Olive, Certainly Celery

Paper:Kraft, Basic Black,Old Olive Patterns, Razzleberry Lemonade

Accessories: Dimensionals, Modern Label Punch(116630) + Movers and Shapers ML die(115953), Vintage brads - black, Rich Razzleberry Polka-dot ribbon, Aquapainters

Speaking of October Petals, here is what my razzleberry colored mums looked like yesterday:

 

Thanks so much for stopping by.

 

October Petals Palette

Take a look at the the palette of colors I've been playing with lately. I really love the Halloween colors but don't send many Halloween cards or projects. So, I've been trying to incorporate these lovely shades into projects for other occasions. Here are the supplies I've pulled onto my work area while I play with this palette.

Cardstock/Ink:

• Basic Black
• Whisper White
• Kraft
• Old Olive
• Rich Razzleberry
• Dusty Durango
• Crushed Curry
• Orchid Opulence

Accessories:

• 1/2" Polka-Dot Ribbon in Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, and Rich Razzleberry
• Black Gingham Ribbon along with 1/4" Black Grosgrain
• Black Hemp (this is from my retired stash)
• Vintage Brads (black in particular)
• Rhinestone Brads (orange, yellow, purple, green all blend with this palette)
• Playground Buttons (Old Olive)

Designer Series Paper

• Night and Day
• Old Olive Patterns
• Razzleberry Lemonade

One of the first cards that I made with this palette is this Thanksgiving number:

I based it a card I did a few years ago with another jumbo word wheel. This is card is one of the choices in my upcoming October Card Buffet class. Note that this card doesn't have any Old Olive or kraft.  That's the beauty of playing with a palette.  You don't have to use all of the colors!

I invite you to pull together an October Petals Palette of your own and join me.  Use whatever shades of Purple, Green, Orange and Yellow that you have, along with black, white and kraft.  Feel free to share your post in my comments section. If you post your work on other sites like Splitcoaststampers or Stampin' Addicts you may want to use palette.10.2009 as keyword so that we can easily find others' work with this palette.  Feel free to add other accessories as you see fit.

Stay tuned for more October Petals cards as I'm lovin' these colors!

Thanks for stopping by!

Let's hear it for retired In-colors

This was inspired by a photo I saw in Vogue a few months ago.  A linen-like clothing ensemble had colors close to Red Riding Hood, Tangerine Tango, Pretty in Pink, and Chocolate Chip.  I think there was a flower pin. I added the Pirouette Pink as a card base and again as a base for the daisy. The Close to Cocoa button is sponged with Chocolate Chip ink.  The dots and message are from the Chit Chat Rub-ons.  Yes, Red Riding Hood, Tangerine Tango and Pink Pirouette are retired. I hope you have them.  I pieced the three background colors together for a color-block look. Before impressing the texture I brayered Versamark ink over the Texturz plate to add a little emphasis to the texture.

This card in turn inspired a card I designed for my mom.  This one uses 3 in colors from three different years. Purely Pomegranite from 2007-2008, Kiwi Kiss from 2008-2009, and a current in-color, Crushed Curry. For mailing purposes we used a paper center for the flower, punched out of textured Purely Pomegranite.

Both of these cards feature the Daisies #2 Bigz Die. The invitation greeting is from the set, Sincere Salutations which, by the way, ISN'T retired.

Thanks for stopping by!

Chris

Very...heart 2 heart...thankful

This turtle is such a cutie! He's from the new set, Very Thankful. Every year Stampin' Up! has an exclusive set designated to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC).  Two dollars from the sale of each Very Thankful set goes to RMHC.

I colored this guy for yesterday's Splitcoaststampers Color Challenge (CC229): Pixie Pink, Certainly Celery, and Apricot Appeal. Apricot isn't a color that I use frequently but Betty's color combo is inspiring - the other colors seem to make the apricot glow!

 After squeezing my closed inkpads so that I would have some little pools of ink on the insides of the covers, I used a blender pen to pick up and apply the color. Very quick to do - just use more concentrated ink where you want more intense color or shading. If you want a little less color just scribble your blender pen in corner of the cover to thin it out.

I'm not sure how well it shows in the photo but I brayered Apricot Appeal ink onto the texturz plate before impressing the Apricot dots  to make them pop a little more.

I add about 1/4" to the measurement of a layer if I plan to scallop the edge.  The apricot layer was 4" x 5 1/2" before I used the scallop edge punch.The Whisper White inside layer was 4 1/4" x 5 1/4".

After some light sponging on the left edges of the hearts, the little heart from the Heart to Heart punch is adhered to the larger heart with with a mini glue dot.  I punched a few small holes in the small heart and drew in some white "thread" before attaching my paper heart "button" to the card with a Stampin' Dimensional.

I picked up on the pile of hearts idea and punched all three hearts from the Heart to Heart punch in the corner of the white inside layer so that the Pixie Pink card base shows through.  

Stamps: Very Thankful (115338)

Ink: Pixie Pink (105212), Apricot Appeal (105218), Certainly Celery (105217)

Paper: Pixie Pink (105112), Apricot Appeal (105124) and Whisper White(100730) cardstock; Old Olive DSP (112160)

Accessories: Blender Pen (102845), Signo White Gel Pen (105021), Heart to Heart punch (113694), Scallop Edge Punch (112091), Paper Piercing Tool (116631), Stampin; Dimensional (104430), Mini Glue Dot (103683), Texturz Plates - Stampin' Up! Backgrounds I (114512), brayer (102395)

By the way, the Heart to Heart punch is on sale for $10.99 for the remainder of July! Contact your Stampin' Up! Demonstrator or shop with me 24/7. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Chris

 

Lemonade Plus Orchid

I really enjoy using this Crushed Curry Print from the Razzleberry Lemonade DSP. With a touch of Pumpkin Pie it practically glows. Of course, I included strips of many of the other patterns to blend this pattern into the  Orchid Opulence card base. And what do you think of the graceful style of "Thanks So Much"? It's from the new level 3 hostess set, Kind and Caring Thoughts.

Stamps: Kind and Caring Thoughts
Ink: Rich Razzleberry
Paper: Razzleberry Lemonade, Orchid Opulence
Accessories: Scallop edge punch, 2-Way Glue Pen, Silk Flower - this is one I had before the Pretties Kit came out. You could get a similar look by using Pretty in Pink ink in the Center and Pumpkin Pie on the petals of one of the flowers from the Pretties Kit.

Here's another card that also combines a few of the other patterns from Razzleberry Lemonade with Orchid Opulence:

Did you see how easily the Sympathy sentiment fits into the SMALL oval! The Teeny Tiny Wishes set is designed to use with punches. As you can see, I've been using lots of skinny strips on my cards lately. I lay the strip upside-down on the cover of an old stamp box and apply 2-way glue.  Using the cover keeps my stamp area from getting sticky.

and just a peek into the inside...

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Rich Razzleberry
Paper: Razzleberry Lemonade, Orchid Opulence, Whisper White
Accessories: Scallop edge punch, Beautiful Butterflies BIGZ Die, large and small oval punches, 2-Way Glue Pen

Thanks for stopping by!

Chris

Bella's Flower Fancy

This card is from a class I'm doing this month, based on Andrea Walford's Simple Friendship Class.  I adapted the class to use the Flower Fancy stamp set along with messages from the Chit Chat Rub-Ons. I just love the delicate look of Kraft and Very Vanilla!

Stamps: Flower Fancy (111578)

Ink: Basic Brown (104315), Not Quite Navy (103008), Close to Cocoa (103139)

Paper: Bella Bleu DSP(1139740, Not Quite Navy (101722),  Very Vanilla (101650),

Accessories: Eyelet Border Punch (113692), Blender Pens (102845), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430), Chit Chat Rub-Ons (111804)

Place an online order with me this month for $50 or more and I will send you the 31 page pdf handout  for the Simple Friendship Class (pictured below) that this card was  inspired from, complete with materials list, template, and detailed instructions. Upon request I will also include the instructions for making the cards with the Flower Fancy set.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Pieced Sunshine Garden

This is  one of a stack of cards I whipped up with the Sunshine Garden Simply Scrappin Kit. The colors in the kit are So Saffron, Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery, and Old Olive. I applied the Certainly Celery and Baja Breeze dotted strips of paper to the bottom of the card and then cut curved pieces to go over them.  The stitches were done with the Signo white gel pen and the buttons are Apricot Appeal - from the Fresh Favorites I collection. The Sun in the corner is actually one fourth of a larger flower in the kit.

My inspiration for the pieced landscapte after seeing  Patricia Wyatt's work at a art show in Tubac, AZ in February.  My color palette for this card is much different from her lovely bright art but playing with these layers of pattern is a lot of fun.

Pillowcase Cards

Well, I don't know that "Pillowcase" is technically the proper name for this kind of layout but that is definitely what kept coming to mind as I put this lace and trim together. This reminds me of pillowcases that my grandmother emboidered for me years ago.

I began this card wanting to use some of the Old Olive Designer Series Paper and striped grosgrain I'd ordered last month. I was thinking it would have a whole lot more Old Olive but I really like the way it plays with the white. I love the embossed dots from the Texturz plates.  The additional skinny strip of DSP is applied with the 2-way glue pen and is meant to mimic the look of piping. The birds and blooms flower is sponged to highlight the layers with a So Saffron brad topping off the center. Finally, the Oval All stamp set and scalloped oval punch, from the new Occasions Mini catalog lend the perfect finishing touch.

Stamps: Oval All
Ink: Old Olive, Regal Rose, So Saffron classic pads; Regal Rose stamp and write marker
Paper: Whisper White, Old Olive, Regal Rose, So Saffron cardstock; Old Olive DSP
Accessories: Punches: Scallop oval, Large oval, Eyelet border; Sizzlets: Little leaves and Birds and Blooms; Old Olive striped grosgrain ribbon, So Saffron brad.

Pillowcase  Border with  western theme:

I couldn't wait to try this technique shown at the Minneapolis Regionals last Saturday. I simply brayered the damask texturz plate with Close to Cocoa classic ink before embossing a piece of Red Riding Hood cardstock with my Big Shot. The ink covers the unembossed part of the design. The subtle striped kraft paper from the Taste of Textiles collection could easily have an image stamped on it though I chose to leave it plain for this card. I used a leftover strip and star in the inside:

Check out these and other wonderful, new stamps and accessories in Stampin' Up!'s new Occasions Mini Catalog.

A Sahara Hippo?

This is for today's Technique Lover's Challenge which called for a recessed window in the card. I had embossed some images last night and been thinking about doing a card with Red Riding Hood and Kraft from the Sweet Slumber specialty paper pack.  This hippo seemed like she would fill all requirements nicely!

The hippo is colored with a blender pen and inkpads. The balloon (Crazy for Cupcakes) strings are just slivers of paper though it took me a while to make them behave. You can find directions for making the recessed frame on the link to the challenge in the preceeding paragragh. The kraft paper for the balloon is from the Taste of Textiles pack.

Thanks for stopping by!

Chris

Another String of Hearts

Sharon (Notimetostamp) has weekly challenges for simple cards and this week's challenge is to focus on love. Since I'm on a roll with my Heart to Heart punch I thought I would try another. These sure are quick!

The paper is called Candy Stripe and if you've been surfing Stampin' Up! blogs over the past month plus you've probably seen it quite a bit as it has been part of the Love You Much Bundle. The bad news is that tomorrow is the last day of the special which gives you 20% off of the punch, paper and the Love You Much stamp set. The good news is that if you wait until February 1st even though you will pay full price, these three items will qualify you to earn a free Sale-A-Bration set. Either time you order its a good deal. Just don't put it off it you want to use it for this year's Valentines! 

Love Birds

This weekend I'll be doing my first Sale-A-Bration event with my stamp clubs. Here is one of the projects we will be doing:

This project features the Sale-A-Bration set Congrats along with two colors I've been using so much recently: Baja Breeze and Red Riding Hood. I also used the bird from the Birds and Blooms sizzlets.  The heart is from the same punch I used for yesterday's post, Heart to Heart. I used the smallest heart in the punch right under the inside greeting which reads "on another year of happy togetherness!" Even though this punch is featured in Stampin' Up's Love You Much Bundle with the coordinating stamps you can see that I've found many other uses for it.

he'Artstring

A few days ago I was making a card for a challenge based on art work form Lang Calendars. (The card is here.) Anyway, the original piece had crayons lined up in a rainbow type arrangement. I tried and tried to get something that worked for this element of the challenge but eventually gave up. These hearts are the leftovers from my efforts. The crayons originally were shaded on the right side so that's why my hearts are shaded too. I did that with a Versamarker and Versamark pad. My Stampin' Up! downline is called The he'Artstringstampers, hence the name for this card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Chris

Three Gerberas

Gerberas are one of my favorite flowers but I've never been particularly good at growing them.  Last summer I tried them in the ground instead of pots.  They seemed to be a little healthier but smaller than usual. When I saw the Daisies #2  bigz die in the new catalog I knew it would be on my first order.  I'd have success with gerberas at last!

Here is a card I planned almost as soon as I saw the Sweet Slumber paper and the daisies #2 die.

I love using this layout with a freehand curve.  I just knew it would be fun to try with these polka dots and stripes. The daisies #2 die has three sizes of fine petaled flowers. This is the medium sized flower, layered three times. The center is punched from the soon to be released Sale-a-bration set Polka Dot Punches which was embossed in white on Red Riding Hood paper. I used a 1/2 in circle punch, layered it on a 3/4" So Saffron circle and used the 1/16" punch to make the dots around that.

This next card shows the biggest of the daisies, along with the fact that no scrap of paper is too small for an impact.

Knowing that such a skinny strip of those stripes can still make a statement helps to me to dig in and use the paper. The goofy stripes on the baja at the bottom are made with the Versamarker and Polka Dot Punches was used again for the So Saffron background and flower center. BTW, this is the largest flower.

Here is the tiniest flower:

Thanks so much for stopping by my "inkpad" today!

Chris

PS: Please check out the Links sidebar.  "Chris' Google Reader: Shared Posts" will bring you to a whole bunch of great, mostly Stampin' Up! projects I've found on other blogs.  Just click through on the big title if you want to get to their actual blog to leave a comment or on the little title (it's the name of their blog) after "via" to check out the rest of their artwork. One of my customers tried this out and told me it worked for her. Let me know how it works for you.

Parisian Breeze Pair

These are from a couple of Splitcoast challenges I did over the weekend while playing with a few things from the new Stampin' Up! catalog.

This first card was one that incorporates last Thursday's Ways to Use It Challenge: Pattern Pizzazz and Saturday's Inspiration Challenge: Lang Calendars. One of the calendars posted on the challenge involved the colors from my new Parisian Breeze Specialty paper and I needed to stamp some swirls on it to approximate the look of the calendar and meet the challenge to do something to my patterned paper.

As you can see stamping on the textured papers doesn't give the crispest image though I think the image (Stampin' Up!'s Baroque Motifs) I got works for the look I was trying to achieve.  I had tried stamping some words too but didn't like the appearance. So, I tried rub-ons and they were perfect.

The partially completed card sat on my desk until this morning because I couldn't figure out what to do about the bird element from the calendar and the corresponding empty space on my card. A new day brings new answers and I dropped the bird idea and added dressed up wide oval. I got the scallops around the wide oval with my retired Stampin' Up! scallop scissors - much easier than I thought. Boy, do I wish those were still available! The ribbon is from the Valet Ribbon Originals, buckle from Hodgepodge Hardware, and the flowers from the Pretties Kit. Oh yes, the background is three papers pieced together. This mimics the look of the original calendar. 

Parisian Breeze Card #2   Featured Stamper Challenge 103: Vicky Gould  based on this card

I used her color scheme but with a finer pattern. Actually, I meant to use this challenge for a bold pattern but got sidetracked. I really liked Vicki's idea to wrap ribbon through the punch edge opening but decided to do a little overkill by adding more ribbon. I added my pearls to flowers instead of putting them on the scallop edges. With such a small background pattern it didn't work for me to embellish the scallops. Like the first car this features the Parisian Breeze Specialty paper, Valet ribbon originals and the Pretties Kit. I was also able to try out my new jumbo wheel, Friendly Words and the White organza Ribbon. The slots are made with the scallop edge punch.

Thanks for looking!

Chris

The Time to Be Happy

Yesterday's Splitcoaststampers Inspiration Challenge came from Lang Calendars.  I was especially attracted to this image.  There are so many aspects of this that I liked: the black images on the warm shaded red, the checks at the bottom, the curved top piece.  I wanted to include all of these features in my card and set out to find some stamps that would work. 

If you look closely at the inspiration piece, you'll see that there are saffron colored details in the black images. The best set I had to get this look was Garden Whimsey. 

I started with the bottom of a piece of So Saffrom card stock, scoring a 1/2" line from the bottom so that I could make a relatively straight line of checks with my versamarker and black embossing powder. The red section is embossed with black ink on the upper part of the So Saffron card and then brayered and sponged with Red Riding Hood ink. I trimmed the black piece into a curve and used the curve to trim the curved saffron band.  The curve and checks are not perfect lending a handmade look - as does my less than perfect embossing.  My versamark pad needed reinking, but luckily I could use my black marker to fill in where needed. 

I've been having fun with new toys from my first Spring/Summer catalog order, so check back as I'll be posting more work soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Chris

Quick Happy Heart

Just a quick post today. This is a simple Happy Heart card I did a while back, using the same package of Baja Blue I used in the card yesterday.  I find that color irresistable!

Another thing I'm finding irresistable is the new Stampin' Up! Spring and Summer Catalog that arrived yesterday...so much fun!

Other supplies on this card: Chocolate Chip ink, taffeta ribbon, and card stock; Baja ribbon and DSP, Whisper White card stock with the corner punch. Stamp set: A Happy Heart (which is in the new catalog!!)

Thanks for stopping by!

Chris