from my ink pad to yours

Orchid Opulence

I did this card for two challenges on SCS a few weeks ago. The first challenge was Sketch Challenge, SC121, and the Ways To Use It challenge, WT110, which was to use Orchid Opulence.  I hadn't use the color much myself until using it for a color challenge about a year and a half ago.  Since then I've used it more and more.
    This card combines Orchid Opulence with Gable Green.  The stamps  used are Petal Prints, Paisley, Flannel Plaid and In My Thoughts.  I used the Word Window punch and teh corner rounder. There is a little non-SU "bling" on the message piece, a gemstone sticker.

A number of years ago Stampin' Up! changed tweaked the color of Orchid Opulence.  Since I wasn't using it much, I didn't replace it until just recently and forgot that it had been tweaked. I found that the difference between my old pad and the new pad was fairly significant so I'm posting it here in case you happen to have the old pad and want to see how it compares with the new pad.  The new is on the left, old on the right. I like them both but they aren't necessarily interchangeable. The above card was made with the new pad.

Since I've done a number of other cards with Orchid Opulence  - I thought I'd post them together in a photo album listed on my sidebar.  Please note that other cards are made with the current cardstock and the old inkpad.

Graduation Quotes

We went to my daughter's  high school Art League Banquet this evening and her teacher/advisor presented a wonderful program of recognition and a message for all students, especially the graduating seniors.  Since I have been working on graduation cards I thought I would post some of the quotes she included.

The first she shared was a quote made famous by Nelson Mandela but originating from Maryanne Williamson: 

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Used by Nelson Mandela in his 1994 inaugural speech 


As  she closed the program she sang Bob Dylan's Forever Young - beautifully, I might add.  It was very touching. 

I loved Mrs. Orr's message and choice of quotes which inspired me to locate some shorter quotes for use in cards.  Here are some sources that looked good to me.  Maybe you'll find them useful too!

Quote Garden - Graduation

All Great Quotes - Graduation

Useful Information - Graduation Quotes


It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

Aristotle

Happy Mothers' Day to all!

Blogger's Swap: Michelle and Julie

Michelle Laycock really makes these paisley images from Polka Dots and Paisley and Polka Dots and Petals harmonize in her lovely patterned piece.  (One of my hesitations in using patterned paper is that it is SO fun to make your own).  Other details to note are her use of the word window punch tab and the delicate way she incorporated hardware with her ribbon.  Here is a direct link to her card recipe.

I think Michelle was the first rubberstamper to blog, having been at it for over 4 years now. Her blog is Ink Artist and you will find lots of great stuff on her blog including a late April  trip down memory lane: entries about her early blogging.

This is a card you could actually send to it's creator, Julie Masse, who just gave birth to her 4 child, Aaron last week.  You can see him and more of her work  on Julie's blog, Stampin with Julie.

I really like Julie's use of tabs on this card and the darling ric rak running down the side. Let's all hope that Julie's feeling as good as this card looks!

Celebrate!

You guessed it. Here's yet another graduation card.  I used stars from All Through the Year and the hostess set, Love It, for this one. I stamped them in Real Red Craft ink on tan confetti cardstock, stitched around them with a black marker and trimmed them before mounting on a piece of Basic Black cardstock.  SU no longer carries tan confetti but Creamy Caramel or kraft cardstock would also work.

I made holes wth the anywhere punch from the tool kit to thread the ribbon through.  Oh yeah, I used a Creamy Caramel marked on the black gingham ribbon to make it blend better with the cardstock. Celebrate is from the retiring set, All Year Cheer II.

Well, this should be it for me and the computer today. I registered for the Stampin' Up! convention (session 1, track 1 if any of you are going???) earlier this morning and now I can't spend anymore time inside on this beautiful day.  Have a good one!

Bloggers Swap: Leslie and Mimi

What punch this card has! This clever little beauty was made by Leslie Brown.   One more reason I should be thinking harder about the tab punch. My picture doesn't do justice to all the detail Leslie gave this card.  She even used the paper piercer on the right edge  of the inside.  It really compliments the dots she stamped from Paisley and Polka  Dots.  You can see more of Leslie's beautiful stamping world on her blog, Continuing to Create. Check her out soon and you might get in on some blog candy.

Here is Mimi Hornberger's Bubble Bath card! While the picture is beautiful to look at you don't get the full effect until you touch it.  She has sewn tulle over the white cuttlebugged layer that is awash in Pretty in Pink punched flowers.  What texture! The stamp is from JoAnn's.  Take a look a Mimi's great blog,  Stamps-a-latte Stamp Cafe.  Today she features a gorgeous Beautiful Beach card which also uses one of my favorite backgrounds, Cheesecloth.

The future belongs...

Here' another graduation card I did last week.  In fact I did quite  a few of these as this was also the card I used for my stamp club's swap.

The dry embossing was done with my cereal box stencil.  I do this style quite often but if you haven't seen the how-to yet check out this post: Cereal Box Stencil.

The daisy is from the retiring set, Petal Prints. I stamped it with Timber Brown Stazon, colored it with my white Signo Gel Pen and More Mustard marker.  As an afterthought I added just a touch of Always Artichoke using an Aquapainter and my inkpad cover. After doing a few of these, let me tell you: less is more when it comes to the artichoke.

The words are: "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams - Eleanor Roosevelt".  This quote is from the hostess set, Measure of a Life. The other stamps in this set are lovely too, but it was this quote that made me choose this set above the other level 2 sets.  As I've said before, I'm a sucker for word stamps.  The inside of the card simply reads "Congratulations" using the stamp from another hostess set, Warmest Regards. 

I thought I had a photo of a variation of this card done on Kraft cardstock with black ink and red petals - school colors.  Alas, the photo does not yet exist so I'll edit it in at a later time.

That's it for today.  Thanks for looking!

Blogger's Swap: Fairle and Donna

I sure hope I got my camera to do justice to this pretty card by Fairle Beaman Carroll, Fairle on SCS.   Can you see the glitter on the pink petals? And, how clever was she to spell out her cheerful "Hello" in the centers of those flowers. The background is glossy cardstock stamped with Polka Dots and Petals.  You can see more of Fairle's lovely work at her blog, Stamping 101.  She also did something I try to do when I use black in a card, especially one as softly colored as this: repeat any you use color more than once.  She could have just used black on the letters but can you see how she creates a little rhythm and focuses her work by repeating the black with a very thin border?

Today's other Blogger's swap card is from Donna Baker.  This was the swap that allowed the participants to use products from any company.  Donna used background(Canvas and Paisley and accessory word stamps (Expressive Flexible Phrases) from Stampin' Up! but the main image and message are Map Girl and Scenic Route by Inky Antics. Such a fun card - Donna's going to convince me to order that tab punch yet! Isn't the ribbon tied around the tab with the brad cute?

Donna's blog is Serenity in Stamping. Go check it out!

Bloggers RAK from Lori

Look what came last week... when I wasn't doing much blogging.  This lovely card is from Lori Tecler.  She has a really great blog, Inking Aloud, that you should check out. 
You can read about this card here. I really like her work and had to make sure that her blog is added to my Google Reader and sidebar links.

Graduation Stars

I know it's been a while since I've posted - just busy with life, I guess!  This is maybe a good time to remind you that using Feedblitz, which can be found on my sidebar, or Google Reader to keep up with new posts is very helpful.  Either of these  services will let you know when I have made new posts so that you don't have to keep checking.  May is a busy month for me and, much as I love to post, it doesn't fit into my schedule every day or sometimes even every week!

I have been able to fit a little stamping in this last week. Here is one of the cards I've made for my graduation card stash - the stash needs to be big this year.

This card is a remake of a card you can find over in my Tag Time photo album.  By the way, Tag Time is one of many sets that Stampin' Up! will be retiring this year. You can see the entire list here.

I used 3 circle punches on this card: 1 3/8", 1 1/4", and 1/2". The "wishing you the best" images is from the hostess set, Riveting.  I stamped the image again on the Really Red cardstock and punched the star out with the 1/2" punch.  The stars on the red strip are from the set Background Basics.  I've also made a variation of this card without the extra stars.

One extra detail  on this card is that I layered the red and black layers and then punched a half circle out with the 1 3/8" circle punch BEFORE adding the "Wishing You" circle.  This gives it a very smooth look!

Oops! One more detail: I used a stamp from my new All My Thoughts set: " May today be filled with happy memories of the past and bright hopes for the future."  on the inside of this card.  It's perfect!

Bloggers Swap: Amber and Anna

This lovely card is by Amber Porter. I'm really impressed by the way that she drew black into her design to bring focus even though black is no where to be found in the patterned paper, Petals and Paisley, that she features.  And you've just gotta love the ticket corner punch!  I'll have to try some of my patterned paper with colors that aren't actually in it and see if I can get results like Amber's. You can see more of Amber's wonderful creations on her blog, Ramblings of a Sassy Stamper.

Isn't this fun! Anna Zuniga, whose blog is StampAnna, made this with the boot stamp from Papertrey's Green Thumb set. Note how the second boot is raised with dimensionals for just the right touch. And, her dotted background is perfect with the boots! Make sure you give Anna's blog a visit to see more of her creative stamping!