Hearts With Love Anniversary Card For Hubby

It's our wedding anniversary today and this is the card I made for Owen.  I got the recessed hearts idea from this card Becky made for the Simply Stampin' Punch It Up Challenge.  I started off with a Riding Hood Red 5 3/4" card base.  I made a template using post it notes so I knew where to punch out the hearts on the black layer.  I used the Eyelet Lace Border punch to give my black layer a decorative edge.  I stamped the gorgeous flourish from the Bliss set three times on Shimmer White CS with Riding Hood Red ink and punched out 3 hearts.  That flourish stamp is perfect to use with the heart punch!  The hearts are glued flat to the card but the black layer is popped up with 3d foam tape.

I added a red strip to the black panel.  I embossed a piece of Shimmer White CS with my Stained Glass embossing folder and trimmed it into a strip.  When I came to trim, I noticed part of the embossed pattern looked like a row of Xs - ooh, perfect to represent kisses!  I stamped the sentiment onto Shimmer White CS, used a Spellbinders Label Trio die to cut it out and added two red pearls.

I added a Shimmer White CS panel inside with a punched border, sentiment and heart.  I coloured in the heart of the sentiment with my Riding Hood Red marker.

For the envelope, I stamped the elegant frame from the Four Frames set and that's where I wrote Owen's name.  I then stamped the flourish in Riding Hood Red ink, stamped it again in black ink on red CS, punched that out and aligned it over the red image.  I wasn't sure I liked that after I'd done it but Owen really liked it so that's what matters!

Owen has to work this evening.  After the postman had been I told him I was glad that he wouldn't be home - and on our wedding anniversary as well - shocking!   The postie delivered some new stamps so I'll be able to play tonight LOL!  We've been married long enough (27 years!) for us to say things like that to each other - plus I'll be forgiven when Owen finds the Lindt choccy bar I hid in his work bag!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Bliss, Sweetheart & Four Frames sets, front sentiment PSX, inside sentiment Stampendous
CS: SU! Riding Hood Red, Basic Black & Shimmer White
Ink: SU! Riding Hood Red, Memento Tuxedo Black
Tools: SU! Heart & Eyelet Border punches, Craft Concepts Stained Glass embossing folder, Spellbinder's Labels Trio die
Embellishments & accessories: red pearls, 3d foam tape

Cheery Happy Mail For Wendy

A little birdie has told me that my friend Wendy took a nasty tumble last week and is quite bruised and battered.  I thought I'd send her some cheery happy mail to wish her well.  I made a tent topper card, a butterfly post it note holder and a tealight holder.

Like me, Wendy is a pink lover so I definitely had to use pink!  I chose Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi and Early Espresso, along with Whisper White.  The SU! Printed Petals and Sweetheart sets go together so well and they scream fun and happy to me so they're perfect sets for a cheery card!  I used my new Sizzix Rounded Tags dies to make the tent topper element.  I added a punched grass border at the bottom and a butterfly on one of the leaves.  The flower and sentiment are popped up. I love how that dotty frame matches the leaves!  The white patterned strip was made with the Petite Petals wheel stamp.  I added teeny flowers to the sentiment and finished the front with clear rhinestones.

 

I stamped and punched an element to go on the envelope flap.

I then made a tealight holder using circle dies. The tealight is attached with glue dots to the top layer I stamped with the large Printed Petals flower.   Rather than having to remove it, it can be used safely on the circular holder.  I've used quite a few CS layers plus there is a thin chipboard circle as the base layer so any surface you place the tealight holder on will be well protected.  I've tested it myself so I know it's completely safe!  I stamped the flower on white tissue paper, punched it out with a 1" circle punch, punched a hole in the centre for the wick to go through and then melted the tissue into the tealight by heating it with my heat gun.  You can't tell from the photo but I added a Petite Petals stamped patterned strip around the metal tealight cup.  I placed it in a cellophane bag, tied it closed with ribbon and added a tag made with the Sizzix Rounded Tags dies. 

Then there's this sweet pink butterfly post it note holder - and the post it notes inside are pink as well!  I used the Petite Petals wheel stamp on the largest and smallest butterfly shapes.  I tied a strip of Espresso ribbon around the medium and small butterflies and tied it together with linen thread to make antennae.  I then added a button and some bling to the butterfly.  A small book ring holds two large butterflies together and the post it note pad is glued to the back butterfly.  I love these butterfly post it notes - the fab idea came from the Inking Idaho blog on this post.

I hope this cheery ensemble puts a smile on Wendy's face - I certainly enjoyed making it for her!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Printed Petals, Sweetheart, Four Frames & Itty Bitty Bitssets, SU! Petite Petals jumbo wheel stamp, 'just for you' from Ovals All set
CS: SU! Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi & Early Espresso
Tools: Sizzix Rounded Tags nesting dies, circle Nestabilities dies, SU! Decorative Label punch, SU! Scalloped Circle punch, SU! Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, plain circle punches, SU! Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die, SU! Beautiful Wings Embosslit die
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Melon Mambo dotty grosgrain ribbon, SU! Early Espresso taffeta ribbon, button, clear rhinestones, linen thread, tealight, post it notes, small book ring

Shabby Flower Birthday Wishes Card

This is the birthday card I made for Pam.  Pam is a lovely lady who started coming to my card group a few months ago.  Each of us make everyone a birthday card and bring it along to the appropriate month's meeting.  Except I forgot to take Pam's card to our August meeting, d'oh!  So I popped it in the post a few days ago as it's her birthday today.

I had a layout in mind after I'd seen a card in a magazine that had a large part of a circle on the front.  I started off with a square white card blank and chose some CS and patterned paper.  I then used my Circle Scissor Pro tool to cut out the circles.  I've used Bazzill Swiss Dot Textured CS and it cut beautifully - if I try to cut thick CS like Stampin' Up's!, the Circle Scissor doesn't always cut that well.  I glued the circles to the card and cut off the excess.

I've used dies to cut the flowers and leaves.  I used the Bazzill CS for the leaves and Core'dinations CS for the flowers.  I embossed each flower shape with a new embossing folder, the Craft Concept 'Stained Glass' folder and scuffed the embossing to bring out the detail.  I then made my flower shapes shabby by giving them a thorough scrunching.  I sewed the flower layers together by adding a pink button to the centre with linen thread.  I used oval Nesties for the sentiment and finished off the front with some silver metal pearls.

I decorated the inside of the card.

And also the front of the envelope.  Yay, almost a whole piece of patterned paper used for one card, that's one less piece in my stash!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Sincere Salutations set, Hero Arts Yummy Treats clear set
CS: PaperMania white square card blank, Bazzill Clover Dotted Swiss CS, Core'dinations CS in Love Potion & St. Valentino
Patterned paper: PaperMania Green Ornamental Flourish
Ink:  SU! Always Artichoke
Tools: EK Success Circle Scissor Pro, Petite Oval Nestabilities dies, Sizzix Tattered Florals die, PTI Beautiful Blooms II #1 die collection & Leaf Prints collection dies, Craft Concept 'Stained Glass' embossing folder, EK Success small flower punch
Embellishments & accessories: Pink button, SU! Linen Thread, silver metal pearls, green gems, ultrafine sandpaper, glue dots, 3d foam pads

Three French Foliage Cards

I've been umming and aahing over the SU! French Foliage set for a while.  I love leaves and all the images in the set really appeal to me but I thought it may well be a stamp set I'd struggle with.  It's not my usual style but I took the plunge anyway and bought it.  I spent a few hours getting inky with it yesterday - with very mixed results.  Let's just say some things will never see the light of day LOL!  My first few attempts were messy and far too busy.  I just kept playing though and thought eventually I'd end up with something I'd be reasonably happy with!

So here's the first card I made that I'm happy to share.  Still a bit busy and a lot of colours used -  I lost count of the number of ink pads I had out on my desk for this one!  The leaves on the main panel were stamped on Crumb Cake CS, cut out and popped up.  I've added some shimmer to the 3 leaves by applying Champagne Mist shimmer paint with a sponge dauber.

I really liked how the inside and envelope turned out.

Next I thought I'd try the emboss resist technique.  I inked the leaf with VersaMark, heat embossed it with clear powder and added ink.  I tried brayering the ink over the image - absolutely disastrous!  So then I tried sponging.  My first few sponging attempts went in the bin, I tried various colours but nothing was winning me over.  I then tried this green and goldy brown combo and I finally felt happy.  I used SU! Shimmery White CS and the shimmer twinkles subtly but very nicely.  I've used SU Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive and Chocolate Chip inks plus Adirondack Caramel for the sponging.  I decided to make my main image square and place it on a square Crumb Cake card.  I thought the French Script background stamp would be great to use on the card base.  The stamp wasn't quite wide enough to cover the whole card front so I lopped a bit off the side and added an Old Olive strip I die cut with a brackets edge die.  I then stamped the splodge stamp repeatedly over the script and added the narrow Choc Chip strip.  Before gluing the image panel to the lacy square, I wrapped some Choc Chip ribbon around the left side and added some linen thread.  I then stamped and punched an Old Olive button, threaded linen thread through the holes and popped that on.  As I'd liked what I'd done with the previous card I decorated the inside and envelope exactly the same.

Finally, I decided on a one layer monochromatic card using only green inks.  I've used Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz, Wild Wasabi, Always Artichoke, Garden Green and Mellow Moss inks.  Very simple but very satisfying to make.  I'll use this as a BRAK card 'cos it's one layer with no embellies and so will be easy to post.

Here's the envelope and inside the card.

I really love all the images in the set, the postmark and splodge stamp are fab!  I'm sure this set will continue to be a challenge for me, but even so, I'm really glad I bought it!  I think it would be great for writing paper or note cards - and bookmarks too.

Supplies for Birthday Wishes card:
Stamps: SU! French Foliage & Sincere Salutations sets, inside sentiment from Hero Arts Yummy Treats clear set
CS: PaperMania A6 cream card blank, SU! Very Vanilla, More Mustard & Chocolate Chip
Ink: SU! Old Olive, More Mustard, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler & Basic Gray, Adirondack Lettuce, Caramel, Latte & Currant
Tools: sponge daubers
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint, 3d foam pads

 Supplies for Best Wishes Card:
Stamps: SU! French Foliage, Sincere Salutations & Button Button sets, SU! French Script bg stamp
CS: SU! Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip & Shimmery White
Ink: SU! Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Pear Pizzazz & Old Olive, Adirondack Caramel, Versamark
Tools: Square & Lacy Square Nestabilities dies,  Sizzix 'Brackets' On the Edge die, SU!  3/4" circle punch, sponges
Embellishments & accessories:  clear embossing powder, SU! Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, SU! Linen Thread

Supplies for Happy Birthday card:
Stamps: SU! French Foliage & Curly Cute sets, inside sentiment from Woodware Special Wishes clear set
CS:  PaperMania A6 white card blank
Ink: SU! Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz, Always Artichoke, Wild Wasabi, Garden Green & Mellow Moss

Punched Flower Thanks - Simply Stampin' Challenge

The Simply Stampin' challenge this week is right up my street - Punch it Up! I do love using punches and dies in conjunction with my stamps, I don't know that I could do without them! I mixed some of my newer purchases with my older, and sadly neglected, SU! Slot punch.

My Baja Breeze card measures 5 3/4" square. I've used the SU! Fancy Flower and Two-Step Bird punch to make my flower. I punched two stems from the bird punch, snipped off the leaves, glued the two stems together and added the snipped off leaves - making sure to cover the join of the stems. I punched 3 Rose Red flowers, embossed them with the Square Lattice embossing folder and then highlighted the embossing with Platinum Shimmer Paint that I applied with a sponge dauber. The centre was made with a stamp from the Button Button set. I cut the Whisper White panel with a die from my new Sizzix Tickets nesting die set and mounted it onto a Rose Red panel. I then used the Slot punch, threaded a piece of Old Olive ribbon through the slot and tied a piece of Early Espresso taffeta ribbon around the olive ribbon in a knot. I used Word Window and Modern Label punches for the sentiment and added a teeny flower from the Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack. Down the side I added a punched Lace Ribbon border and I used a 1" circle punch to pop Old Olive circles behind the border. I added some clear rhinestones to finish off the card front.

For inside the card, I used the Decorative Label punch for the sentiment, the bird punch again for more leaves and the Boho Blossoms punch to cut out the stamped flowers.  I added Boho Blossoms flowers  to the envelope flap also.

Supplies:
Stamps: 'thanks' from SU! So Happy For You set, SU! Button Button set, SU! Elegant Thank You stamp, SU! Punch Potpourri set
CS: SU! Baja Breeze, Rose Red, Old Olive & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Early Espresso & Rose Red
Tools: SU! Fancy Flower, Two-Step Bird, Slot, Ribbon Lace Border, Word Window, Modern Label, Boho Blossoms, Decorative Label, 1" circle, 3/4" circle & Itty Bitty flower punches, Sizzix Ticket die, SU! Square Lattice embossing folder
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Platinum Shimmer paint & sponge dauber, SU! Old Olive & Early Espresso ribbons, clear rhinestones

Stars Birthday Gap Card For Kevin

This is the birthday card I've made for our friend Kevin.  I've swapped some craft goodies with Lesley for a few weeks and I have this stars border punch on loan from her.  I thought it would be ideal to use it to make a gap card.

I started off with a Marina Mist side opening landscape A6 card.  I punched the stars border and then cut the card apart.  I stamped the fab sentiment with VersaMark ink and embossed with white powder.  I then die cut the stars using white CS and silver mirror card and embossed the silver star die cuts with the Square Lattice folder.  I used Marina Mist brads to attach the stars together.  I've added 2 punched silver stars to the card front.  I joined the card together by gluing two stars between the gap.  I punched another Marina Mist stars border and glued it behind and I also die cut two more stars and glued those behind to add strength to the gap.  I covered the whole inside back panel of the card with Bashful Blue CS so that's visible through the gap and stars border when the card is closed.

I found this lovely Stampendous "Wishing you many happy moments of discovering new things in life.  Have a wonderful Birthday" sentiment stamp recently.  I love using nice sentiments inside cards so I couldn't resist buying this stamp!  I love it, it's meaningful but not slushy - I'm not keen on slushy sentiments!  As it was a new addition to my stash I couldn't wait to ink it up and use it.  After stamping it I realised putting it inside a gap card probably wasn't the wisest move - I wasn't left with a lot of room to write a message, I didn't want any writing to show through the gap from the front!  Mind you,  that sentiment says enough so it wasn't a major problem.  I punched 3 silver mirror stars for the envelope flap.

I decorated the front of the envelope with strips of Marina Mist, Bashful Blue and silver mirror card and used the stars border punch on the Marina Mist piece.  This was a fun card to make - blimey, a masculine card that I actually enjoyed making!

Supplies:
Stamps: 'Happy Birthday' from SU! Swirls & Curls Verses set, inside sentiment from Stampendous
CS: SU! Marina Mist, Bashful Blue & Whisper White, silver mirror card
Ink: VersaMark, SU! Marina Mist
Tools: Sizzix Stars #2 die, star punches, Martha Stewart Classic Stars border punch, SU! Square Lattice embossing folder
Embellishments & accessories: white embossing powder, SU! Marina Mist brads

Kelly's Card & Two Gift Bags

A few weeks ago Kelly made this lovely gift bag for the Simply Stampin' Anything but a Card challenge.  I left a comment saying she must tell me how to make one.  Kelly, sweetheart that she is, sent me a kit containing all the bits I'd need to put a gift bag together!  Along with the gift bag kit came this fabulous card.  So bright and cheery and the popped up cotton reel is just so cute! 

Here's my gift bag made with Kelly's kit.  I embossed the four flower shapes using the Square Lattice embossing folder and brayered ink over the top.  I stacked and glued them together and then added a button centre made with a stamp from my beloved Button Button set.  As always when I make buttons with this set, I punched more circles and stacked them together so the button has some dimension.  I absolutely love the buttons paper Kelly chose from the Sweet Stitches DSP pack!

Kelly has used the SU! Scallop Circle die to make her gift bags but I don't have that die - however, I do have scallop circle Nestie dies.  I used the largest die in the large scalloped circles set  (which is a tad smaller than the size of the SU! die) to make my gift bag.  I used Early Espresso CS plus some gorgeous My Mind's Eye patterned paper.  You have to make a box insert piece to glue inside between the two circles.  I cut a piece of Espresso CS measuring 18 x 4cms and scored at 5 and 13 cms on the long side and scored at 1 and 3 cms on the short side, folded all the score lines and cut the tabs.  I glued the box piece together and glued that between the two scalloped circles.  

Here's a pic of the inside piece cut, scored and with the tabs snipped.

This pic shows the box insert piece assembled.

This pic shows where I scored my Nestie scalloped circles.  Glue patterned paper to the CS circles, score both circles like this and glue the insert piece between the circles.  Use an oval punch to make the handles.

I wanted to make a bag closure for this gift bag so I gently pinched the sides of the box piece together so the handles would meet.  I punched an oval with the SU! plain oval punch, embossed it with the Square Lattice folder and added a rhinestone brad.  I glued the oval to the back of the bag and have attached it to the front with a glue dot so it's easy to open.  I then stamped the sentiment, punched it out with a tiny tag punch and tied it round a handle with a bow made with Early Espresso taffeta ribbon. 

 

These are great little gift bags - huge thanks to Kelly for letting me know how to make them! Also, huge thanks for that lovely card which is brightening up my craft room!


Supplies for buttony bag:
Stamps: SU! Button Button set
CS: SU! Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point & Whisper White
Patterned paper: SU! Sweet Stitches Designer Series Paper pack
Ink: SU! Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise & Pacific Point
Tools: SU! Scallop Circle & Fun Flowers dies, SU! Square lattice embossing folder, SU! plain oval punch, SU! 3/4" circle punch, brayer
Embellishments & accessories: glue dots
 Supplies for For You tag bag:
Stamps: sentiment from SU! Vintage Frames set
CS: SU! Early Espresso, Core'dinations Aqueduct
Patterned paper: My Mind's Eye That's My Girl
Ink: SU! Early Espresso
Tools: Scalloped Circle Nestabilities die, SU! plain oval punch, SU! Square Lattice embossing folder, Woodware tiny tag punch, tiny circle punch, metric Scor-Pal
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Early Espresso taffeta ribbon, SU! rhinestone brad, glue dot

August SU! Make & Take Projects

We had another fab Make & take evening at Joanne's on Tuesday.  We made a card and a card with a matching gift box.  This first card uses So Saffron CS for the base and three squares of Brights paper.  We stamped that lovely Curly Cute birthday sentiment and added the flowers with brad centres.  A very bright and cheery number!

This next card uses the Cottage Garden stamp set.  Hmmm, I haven't bought this one - yet - but I really like it after using it on Tuesday!  My card differs from the one Joanne designed as she used the Scallop Trim Border punch on the Wasabi piece.  I won't use that punch if I can help it - I struggle badly with lining it up so I used the Eyelet Border punch instead!  The larger flowers were popped up after getting their rhinestone centres.  The butterfly wings are sparkly as we sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds on them.

We stamped the inside of the card (and I sneaked a butterfly on my envelope flap!)  I finished this card off at home and I've added a non SU! birthday sentiment inside and the sweet butterfly and trail from the SU! So Happy For You set.

Then we made the matching gift box using the Pillow Box die.  We die cut two shapes, one in Perfect Plum and one in Wild Wasabi and trimmed a bit off the Wasabi one.  The Plum piece was stamped randomly with the small flowers stamp from the set using Perfect Plum ink.  We embossed the Wasabi piece with the Perfect Polka Dots folder and trimmed the edge with a border punch - again I substituted the Eyelet Border punch for the Scallop Trim Border punch.  We then glued the Wasabi piece over the Plum one to make a longer box.  We then stamped and punched the tag and tied it on with white ribbon.  To stamp the tag Joanne shared a fab tip - we inked the whole stamp using a Wild Wasabi ink pad and then removed the Wasabi ink from the flower and bud with a blender pen so we were able to ink those parts of the image with a Pefect Plum marker.  Much better than inking the whole image with markers!  A flower was popped up to finish off.  I'm really happy with this lovely card and matching gift box!

Supplies for So Saffron card:
Stamps: SU! Curly Cute set
CS: SU! SO Saffron, Old Olive & Rich Razzleberry
Patterned paper: SU! Brights paper stack
Ink: SU! Pumpkin Pie
Tools: SU! 1 3/8" Square punch, SU! Boho Blossoms punch & tiny flower punch from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Paper Daisies, SU! Pumpkin Pie brads, glue dotsSupplies for Cottage Garden card and gift box:
Stamps: SU! Cottage Garden, Curly Cute & So Happy For You sets, inside sentiment from Hero Arts Yummy Treats clear set
CS: SU! Perfect Plum, Wild Wasabi & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Pretty in Pink, Perfect Plum & Wild Wasabi
Tools: SU! Pillow Box die, SU! Eyelet Border punch, SU! Small & Large Tag punches, SU! Perefect Polka Dots embossing folder
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Blender Pen, SU! Whisper White taffeta ribbon, SU! Basic Rhinestones, SU! Dazzling Diamonds, SU! Dimensionals

Whimsical Wings & Wonky Squares Birthday Card

Here is a birthday card I made with the SU! Whimsical Wings set and Wonky Square Nestabilities dies.  I love this set and it's a great one to use with markers!  I stamped an extra bird and larger flower and popped them both up.  I stamped another wing in Marina Mist ink, cut it out and glued it over the Espresso wing.  I stamped the sentiment underneath and added some gems.  Nothing fancy, a very simple card but I was happy how it turned out - and I love those Wonky Square dies!

For the envelope and inside the card I used the lovely flourish from the set and I stamped one of my fave sentiments for inside birthday cards.  I really like blue and brown together and it's even more fab on crisp white! 

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Whimsical Wings set, Hero Arts Yummy Treats clear set
CS: PaperMania square white card blank, SU! Marina Mist
Ink: SU! Marina Mist, Old Olive, Early Espresso & Night of Navy
Tools: Wonky Squares Nestabilities dies, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig
Embellishments & accessories: gems, 3d foam pads

Best Wishes Z Fold Card - Simply Stampin' Challenge #20

When I checked this week's Simply Stampin' Challenge blog and saw the colours for the colour combo challenge I felt quite daunted!  I absolutely adore pink, brown and white together but adding Pacific Point to the mix - really?!  Then I thought "well, it is supposed to be a challenge so why not give it a go?"  It's only paper and ink after all!  This week, there's also a prize on offer!

Anyway, I decided to make a Z fold card but I took the safe option of using a neutral card base!  I scored the front of the card at the halfway mark and folded it back.  Then I worked on the punched strips by punching out Pretty in Pink CS and putting 1" Pacific Point circles behind.  I punched a strip from Early Espresso so I could add the tiny quatrefoil flower shapes to the flower centres.  Next I stamped the leafy medallion in Espresso ink, cut it out and added a hint of blush by sponging on some Pretty in Pink ink with a dauber.  I wanted a blue centre piece so I stamped with Pacific Point ink - hmmmm, my ink pad ink is not a good match for my Pacific Point CS.  So I tried using the Pacifiic Point marker and that was better.  I cut the blue piece out, fixed it to the centre with a Pretty in Pink brad and popped the medallion up.  I added large and small punched photo corners to finish off the front.

 

For inside the card, I used the dotty frame from the Four Frames set for the sentiment.  I stamped another medallion centre with the Pacific Point marker, cut it out and used it as a flower to go with the leafy sprig.  

 

Lastly, I used Early Espresso, Pacific Point and Pretty in Pink markers to ink the flower image, punched out a circle, matted on an Espresso circle and glued it to the envelope flap.  I have to say I definitely found this colour combo a challenge - glad I gave it a try though!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Day of Gratitude, Four Frames & Sincere Salutations sets
CS: PaperMania square white card blank, SU! Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Early Espresso & Pacific Point
Ink: SU! Pretty in Pink, Early Espresso & Pacific Point
Tools: SU! Lace Ribbon Border, Photo Corners & Designer Label punches, circle punches, circle Nestabilities dies, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: SU! Pretty in Pink brad, 3d foam tape

Sunshine & Smiles Card - Less Is More Challenge

This week's Less Is More challenge is to make a one layer card and use ink.  That sounded a nice, simple challenge for a Sunday afternoon so I gave it a go!  I dug out an oldie but goodie stamp from my stash, chose some inks to work with and got out an A6 white card blank.  I inked the sun stamp all over with Memento Dandelion ink and then dabbed Cantaloupe ink randomly around the edges of the sun before I stamped on the card.  The sentiment (perfect to use with this image!) is stamped with a dark brown ink.  I then sponged Memento Summer Sky ink onto the card and added Adirondack Stonewashed ink just to the edges of the card.   A touch of sparkle has been added with a spritzing of Perfect Pearls gold mist all over the card front - you'll have to click on the picture to make it larger to see that though!  To finish off the card I rounded the corners and added a yellow gem to the sun. 

Lastly, I stamped just a portion of the sun stamp onto the envelope flap.  This stamp is one of the oldest in my collection but I still really love it!

Supplies:
Stamps: Stampendous Soleil Points, sentiment from Hero Arts Sending Smiles Messages clear set
CS: PaperMania A6 white card blank
Ink: Memento Dandelion, Cantaloupe & Summer Sky, Adirondack Espresso & Stonewashed
Tools: Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper
Embellishments & accessories: Perfect Pearls Heirloom Gold mist, yellow gem

Dotty Leaves & Flower Square Happy Birthday Card

A simple birthday card I made using Hero Arts stamps and some fun Bo Bunny dotted paper.  I stamped the leaves and flowers in black ink, cut them out and sponged the edges.  I also sponged the edges of the raspberry panel.  When cutting out the flower I cut between the petals so I could get some dimension.  I've glued the centre flat to the card but have put 3d foam pads under the petals.  I stamped the sentiment on a separate piece of CS, trimmed it and rounded the right corners.

I then stamped the leaf on the front of the envelope, stamped the flower on the vanilla panel, sponged the edges and added the sentiment.  An unusual colour combo maybe, but I really like how the aqua flower pops!

Supplies:
Stamps: Hero Arts Leaf Flourish & Small Sweet Petals cling stamps, Happy Birthday from Hobby Art, inside sentiment from Hero Arts
CS: PaperMania recycled kraft square card blank, SU! Very Vanilla
Patterned paper: Bo Bunny Raspberry Dot, Clover Dot & Ocean Dot
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Peeled Paint & Broken China Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Adirondack Raisin
Tools: Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper, sponge daubers
Embellishments & accessories: 3d foam pads