Softly Thinking

Wow! I can't believe it's been over a week since I last sat here at my computer! It's amazing what a fever and spring cold will do to you. And none of it's good either!! Last Wednesday afternoon I had a slightly scratchy throat that I thought I should do something about - maybe drink oj or gargle or something. By evening I had a lovely fever and ached from the top of my head all the way down to the tips of my toes, and every inch in between too. Oh, yuuuuck! I still tried to babysit the grandbaby (that's where this bug came from BTW) on Thursday, but I had to have him picked up early because I just wasn't functioning by then. The fever lasted through Saturday and by Sunday I thought I'd been through the worst of it. But my hubby wasn't feeling wonderful by then. After babysitting on Monday, I was totally exhausted and then the coughing started. Yes, this thing is still hanging on. Hubby is still struggling and the grandbaby is still sniffling and wiping his snotty little nose on my shoulders. Oh, we're having so much fun! But even though I haven't been stamping at all, I do have a card to share with you. My hostess club ladies were here last Tuesday (before the germs attacked!) and we made some cute cards that I'd like to share with you. The card today uses the Every Moment stamp set which I think is so lovely. I've used it several times and shared with you, but I think maybe you'd like to see one more, right? Stamps: Every Moment and Sincere Salutations Cardstock: Basic Gray, Very Vanilla, Concord Crush, and Pink Pirouette, with Lap of Luxury Designer Series Paper Ink: Basic Gray, Pretty in Pink, Concord Crush, Sahara Sand, and Certainly Celery Accessories: AquaPainter, Scallop Border Punch, 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, White Gel Pen, Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon (retired), and Dimensionals The sentiment was stamped with Concord Crush ink. I was surprised how very dark it looks, but can be very sheer when painted on the butterfly wings. The colors for the card were all chosen to match with the DSP. I keep thinking the pink and purple colors need a clear white cardstock to go with them and would never have chosen the vanilla myself. Now that I see them together, it looks much more soft and feminine than I would have thought. The gel pen added just enough brightness and pizzazz to the card. It seemed too dark and just a little boring without it. So there you have it. Sorry for the extra long wait. Hopefully I'll be better rested tomorrow night to add the other card we made at Hostess Club. Thanks so much for checking in today. I appreciate you stopping by so very much! Sharon

Cupcake Birthday

Late last night I was spending a little time on the computer trying to get caught up on the many things I haven't been keeping up on. Like checking in at the Stamping 411 blog to see what their challenge was for this week. Yikes! Let me tell you it was a bit intimidating to see all the different 'stuff' on the challenge sketch! But then I saw Tiffany Bauer's card and I was totally inspired to make something right away. (Actually they were all fabulous, but you know how it is - one just calls out to you!!!) She had made a lovely sympathy card, but I'd been making so many sympathy cards lately I knew I didn't want to do another just yet. It was the DSP that really got me thinking. I had purchased that paper and then used only one of the prints for a class. The rest of the packet had been languishing, just waiting for me to get it out and play with it. So, last night I put it out of it's misery and had some fun with it!


Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes, A Word For You, Birthday Greetings (retired old, old set), and cupcake from a really old incentive set
Cardstock: Concord Crush, Pretty in Pink, and Whisper White with Lap of Luxury Designer Series Paper
Ink: Stazon Jet Black, Concord Crush, Pretty in Pink, Crumb Cake, and Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: AquaPainter, Pink Satin Ribbon, 3/4" Square Punch, and Dimensionals

I need to confess I shamelessly copied the base of Tiffany's card. When it got to the sympathy part, that's when we parted ways. I thought the colors and background print wanted to to happy and party, so that's what I went with!

Yes, if you must know, I hang on to all my old stamps and supplies. You just never know when you might need them! Even if they are really, really outdated!!

I've got to say it was really crazy going through all these old sets looking for a 'happy' that I could use. They were all too big, too small, too something! I just wanted to have the little layer say happy, happy, happy all over it. And then when it came time for the little sentiment, nothing seemed to work because I had stamped all those happys. So I went rummaging around for a little cupcake. Not too little (Itty Bitty Bits), but not too big either. Anyway, I remembered a box of old incentive stamps and there was this little cupcake - just right for this little layer! Time to do the happy dance!


Here's the inside of the card. I had to use the sentiment 'with a cherry on top' because of all the cherry-topped cupcakes on the front! And then finished it off with the large cupcake from the Crazy for Cupcakes set.

All in all, this wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. And it was definitely interesting going through a lot of old sets looking for just the right stamps. In fact, I saw a few that I might try to stamp with later this week if possible. Oh, I really do like to stamp! It's so relaxing and inspiring, and feels so good when you accomplish something!! Have a great day!
Sharon

Home Run Birthday

Last month one of the ladies new to my classes asked if I could do a teen sport themed birthday card. She has boys that are teen and preteen that are all sports nuts and needed some ideas. Hoo Boy! That wasn't the easiest thing for me to come up with, that's for sure! I can do all kinds of floral and frilly stuff, but have such a hard time coming up masculine ideas. It took several evenings of playing around with ideas before I settled on this one. And then I was shocked at all the wonderful comments the class ladies made about the card and who they'd give it to. Guess I need to work on these types of cards a little more often. Here's the card I made - what do you think about it?


Stamps: Home Run, Extreme Elements, and It's Your Birthday (retired)
Cardstock: Night of Navy, Real Red, and Whisper White
Ink: Sahara Sand, Real Red, Night of Navy pads, and Night of Navy marker
Accessories: Large Tag and Extra Large Tag Punches, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Crimper, Real Red 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, and Dimensionals

Here's a closer picture of the layering of the stamps and colors. It was fun pulling the elements together so it worked. I was frustrated looking through all my stamps and not finding anything that I liked for the tag sentiment. So we all wrote something by hand instead. Some used "you're an All Star" or just a big #1. Either way it looked good and made it more personal for them. So I guess you don't always have to have a stamp for every little thing. (Of course, it is nice if you do!!)

Can't remember the last time I used my crimper, but it worked out well here. Sometimes you need just a bit more texture and brads, buttons, ribbons, etc. just don't work.

Thought you'd like to see how the design carried over to the inside of the card too. Loved how the colors and design all worked together. Think I finally came up with a winner on this one!

Thanks for stopping by and checking if there's anything new to see. I've been so scattered getting things posted. Hope you'll forgive me and stay patient with me. Have a great week and I hope we'll both get some stamping in!!

Sharon

Bright Cupcake Card

Hi there! Today I was in a gray mood and got out the new Ice Cream Parlor DSP to cheer me up. The colors and patterns are so bright and cheerful, I just knew they'd do the trick! These are not colors that I'd normally choose to use together, but they're all on the paper so why not? Usually if I use alot of one bright color, I offset the brightness with some more subdued colors. Or just use a small amount of bright for a little pizzazz. But not on this card - it's so bright I almost need my sunglasses on! lol See what I mean?

Stamps: On Your Birthday
Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Early Espresso, with Ice Cream Parlor Designer Series Paper, and Red Glimmer Paper
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Build A Cupcake Punch, Decorative Label Extra-Large Punch, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, and Dimensionals







I think this might be one of the fastest cards I've ever made! When all the detail on the card is punched and layered up, it takes really no time at all. And it definitely is bright and cheerful! Like I said, you almost need sunglasses! But that's what makes this card so fun. Can't you just imagine sending this to a child on your card list, or maybe someone who's 'young at heart' instead!

Thanks for stopping by to get a little cheer! Have a fabulous day. And get out those stamps if you can - it's just what you need to stay bright and cheerful yourself!
Toodles,
Sharon

Spring Forward!

Here it is late at night and I should be tucked up in bed. But I couldn't sleep tonight. Why is it when we're going to lose an hour with the time change tonight and I should be getting to bed early to get enough sleep, I can't keep my eyes closed? Arrrrrgh! So frustrating! So I figured if I wasn't going to sleep anyway, I might as well get a post on here.

I got a couple cards made while trying to figure out what the class projects were going to be for this week. I kept running into problems - like not enough ribbon or dsp to make all the cards, or being short a couple of brads in the right color. Do you ever run into that problem? It was giving me fits! But it did result in a few more samples to show the ladies at my next workshop coming up soon. So that's a good thing, isn't it? Anyway, I finally got my Easter set put together and started creating with it. Hope you like it....


Stamps: Easter Blossoms
Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz, Basic Black, and Confetti White
Ink: Pear Pizzazz
Accesssories: Big Shot with Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Scallop Trim Corner Punch, Pear Pizzazz 1/2" Stitched-Poly Ribbon, Basic Pearls, Sponge quarter, and Dimensionals

I love how subtle the flower stems look on the background because of the embossing. Makes it look sort of like toile fabric which I love.

Did you notice the cute little pearls in the basket? Does this make it look like eggs? Or could this card be used for something besides Easter because I didn't use any sentiment whatsoever on the front? I haven't decided yet if it will be for Easter or not. What do you think??

No matter the reason I choose to send this card, I think it'll be well received. The soft mono-chromatic colors give just a gentle reminder that spring is on it's way. And after the winter we've been having, this reminder is really needed!

Thanks for stopping by. Don't forget to change your clocks and watches forward!
Sharon

Bright Birthday Idea

What a miserably cold and damp day today. The only positive is that it's a bit too warm (if that's what you'd call it!) outside to snow!!! But I've got just the project to chase away the blues (or grays if you're looking out the window).

Have you ever looked at a project shown in one of our catalogs and thought it was great, but...? Sometimes you don't have the stamp set they show, or maybe not all the colors or accessories. But you still like the idea. So what do you do? Take the idea and change it around to fit your needs. On a slightly different tack, the Occasions Mini had a darling tag displayed showing off some of the stamps from the Bring On the Cake set. Now I seldom need tags, so didn't want to do that. But I just loved that little tag. Hmmmmm, could the sample be expanded to make it into a card? That's what I did here. Hope you like it....


Stamps: Bring On the Cake and Itty Bitty Bits
Cardstock: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Real Red, and Peach Parfait
Ink: Stazon Jet Black and Peach Parfait
Accessories: Big Shot with Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Punch, 1/4" and 1/2" Circle Punches, AquaPainter, Peach Parfait Stitched-Poly Ribbon, Dimensionals, and Tag Corner Punch (retired)

I loved the cute tag. It looks like a party that's just waiting to get started. So I thought, "what could be better for a birthday card?" I didn't take a picture of the inside, but used the same stamp set with the big 'happy birthday' stamp that can be colored in just like the front of the card. This way it tied it all together inside and out. Oh yes, I almost forgot. I added the birthday cake from the same set to the inside of the card and the envelope too.

Now that's really making use of one set. Two stamps on the front and two more stamps on the inside of the card. Yeah, I just love it when a plan comes together like that!

Thanks for stopping by on this chilly, rainy day. Hope this card has injected a bit of sunshine into your day!
Sharon

Pink and Plum Friends

I'm back to using one of my favorite sets again. The 'Friends 24/7' stamp set is one of those perfect sets as far as I'm concerned. It has a little bit of everything - a bird, floral, sentiments, and a background element. Stampin' Up! does a fab job of putting coordinating stamps together into sets that are so easy to use! For this time around, I'm using a very subtle palette of Pink Pirouette, Perfect Plum and Sahara Sand. Quite an interesting mix that I don't think I've ever put together before. Guess it was about time to try it, right?


Stamps: Friends 24/7, Fabulous Phrases
Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Pink Pirouette, Perfect Plum, and Confetti White
Ink: Stazon Jet Black, Wild Wasabi, Perfect Plum, Pink Pirouette
Accessories: Big Shot with Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch, Wide Oval Punch, and Scallop Circle Punch, Subtles Mini Brads, Sponge quarters, Dimensionals, and Pink Pirouette Striped Ribbon (retired)

Seems like my punches have been getting quite a workout lately! And yes, they're laying out all over my table again. Guess I need to get a few of them put away so I can see the table surface! But it's so handy having them sitting there so I don't have to get up every 2 minutes to get another one down from my rack. Uh, yuh, guess I'm getting a bit lazy here. Back to the card now...

Did you happen to catch the very subtle stamped background behind the floral? It's stamped in Pink Pirouette so it's very light, but it fills in the punched area very nicely. Plus it matches so well with the embossing folder. It just had to get used on that card somewhere.


Also I liked the touch of the Plum brads to accent the sentiment. Tried the pink ones, but they just got lost on there. I also tried to add an extra tie on the ribbon, but it was just too much. So this is what we're sticking with. Hope you like the idea. And thanks for stopping by!

Sharon

Cupcake Purse Copycat

While doing a little checking on other blogs, I came across this darling idea using the Build A Cupcake Punch. I'm sure there have been others that have tried this idea already, but it was new to me. Therefore, I thought maybe you hadn't seen it yet either. Whatever the case may be, you're gonna see it now unless you quickly click off this blog! I made a few changes to Julie B's card as usual, but the basic idea is the same.

Oops, too late! You stuck around too long and you have to look at it now! So sorry - not!


Stamps: Tiny Tags and Silhouette Sentiments (hostess set)
Cardstock: Naturals Ivory, Rose Red, and Early Espresso, with Springtime Vintage Designer Series Paper
Ink: Crumb Cake and Rose Red
Accessories: Big Shot with Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Scallop Circle #2 Die, Build A Cupcake Punch, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, 3/4" and 1" Circle Punches, Small Oval and Large Oval Punches, Small Heart Punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Basic Pearls, Rose Red Seam Binding, and Dimensionals


Whew! I didn't realize I had used so many punches to make this until I started listing them all. I was going to use the 2 circle punches to make the handle, but liked the shape of the ovals a little better.

If you'd like to see Julie B's idea, check it out here It's really very cute, but I had to use the materials I had on hand. Hopefully mine is good enough.

Don't you love the additional layer of the ruffly ribbon? It adds such a feminine touch to the card which is already pretty girlie. I just love making those girlie-girl cards and have such a time making the masculine ones. Note to self - spend time on some masculine ideas!

Hope you weren't too disappointed in having to see this idea. It was fun to make. Give it a try yourself! Thanks for stopping by.
Sharon