Tangerine Daisies

I love the look of complimentary colors on a card.  It's so eye-catching and happy looking to me.  So that was the idea that I started with on today's card.  Tempting Turquoise and Tangerine Tango - both bright colors and a great compliment for each other.  Here's what I mean...

Stamps:  Secret Garden, Hearts a Flutter, Sweet Essentials, and Hey There (from Paper Pumpkin)
Ink:  Tempting Turquoise, Tangerine Tango, and Daffodil Delight
Paper:   Tempting Turquoise, Tangerine Tango, and Whisper White
Accessories:   Big Shot and Hearts a Flutter Framelits, Brights Buttons, White Baker's Twine, Dazzling Details, and Glue Dots

Don't you love a really simple card that has lots of color and pizzazz?  The flower centers were glitzed up with the Dazzling Details glitter glue.  Because it looked so yellowish, I added ink splats (from the original Paper Pumpkin kit)stamped with Daffodil Delight to coordinate it.   I chose one of the tangerine buttons to layer onto the stamped and die-cut banner.  The banner is stamped with turquoise along with the sentiment.

Hope you enjoyed this simple card.  It's bright and spring-like and makes you happy just seeing it.  Wish it was a little nicer outside around here.  We're waiting for a nasty spring storm to hit in a few hours.  There's warnings of flooding in our area.  Yuck.  Been there just a few too many times and would be happy to take a pass on that today.  Hope your day is going better than mine.  Keep you posted.  Hugs, Sharon

Spring Looks

Yesterday I spent several hours with some newer friends in Toledo stamping, eating, and having a great time.  I'm so happy these ladies have asked me to join their little group.  They meet once a month and take turns planning the stamping projects and/or bringing the food.  It was my month for food.  My menu was Spinach Dip with tortilla chips, Taco Salad, Apple Crisp, and Brownies.  I know, who needs two desserts?  Well, the brownies were an old stand-by, and the Apple Crisp was just a new fun dessert I tried.  Here are the lovely cards we made yesterday....

These cards are a mixture of SU! current and retired, and non-SU! stamps and products so I'm not going to try to give you a run-down on each of them.  They all look so spring-y and make me happy just looking at them.  I've added a single picture of each card so you can see them clearly and maybe get ideas for layouts or color combos.  Enjoy them!!

 

  I'll be back with my usual cards to share with you in another day or two.  Hope you enjoyed this little side trip into the darker side of stamping (anything non-SU! related!!)  ha ha      I need to get back to stamping so I've got something new to share.  Been just a bit busy lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't been doing a little stamping here and there.  See you soon....     Sharon

 

Dads and Ties

Or maybe not so much in the case of my hubby.  Never did like to wear ties, and never would if he could get away with it!  So maybe a card with ties he could never wear, but only look at would be perfect for this man of mine.  It's a tad early to be thinking of Father's Day cards, but this could be used for a birthday, or for whatever reason came up to tell your dad how wonderful he is.  And all dad's would appreciate that, wouldn't they?    Let's take a look and see what you think...

Stamps:  Best Dad Ever
Ink:  Lucky Limeade and Night of Navy markers
Paper:  Whisper White, Lucky Limeade, and Night of Navy
Accessories:   2011-2013 Designer Printed Brads, Piercing Tool and Mat, Tag Corner Punch(retired), and Dimensionals

This card ended up very clean and simple looking after several tries at something else.  Originally I had used multiple colors of Regals markers on the different ties.  The colors all went together fine, but it just looked too busy for my tastes.  I still wanted more that one color for the ties, so my compromise was making a navy one in the center and limeade for all the rest.  To me it looks so much more calm and dignified.  Or something like that anyway! grin 

I love the contrast of the circle brad which is at odds with all the other lines and angles on the card.  But the brad has a subtle windowpane check on it that carries through with everything else.

 I just had to dig out that retired punch to have the two corners mimic the bottom of the ties.  It didn't look finished without it!

So there you have it - a very clean and simple card for your dad (or hubby, depending what wording you choose).  Wonder if I could just use a marker to cross out the word dad and write in husband over it?  I think my hubby would get a kick out of me doing that to a card.  Think I'll give that a try...

Thanks for checking in today.  We made it back from the wedding late Sunday night, and we're getting back to a routine of sorts.  My niece's wedding was truly wonderful - maybe the best, most meaningful wedding I've ever gone to.  What a great foundation for the rest of their lives together!   That's it for today.  No telling what I'll have for you next as I skip around on the holidays.  I seem to have forgotten Mother's Day in there somehow.  Now I'll need to get going on that, won't I?
Many hugs, Sharon

Vintage Hello

This is the morning of the big day for my niece and her fiancé.  I'm so excited for this great couple and their wedding which will be the beginning of their lives together.  They are great kids and will do wonderful things together.  Salute Ricky and Caitlyn - I wish you the very best in your marriage!!  Now on to business and card-making.  The card today actually reminds me of Caitlyn, sort of vintage and elegant with a touch of modern thrown in for fun.  That's the feel I get from this card.   See what you think...

Stamps:  Oh Hello
Ink:  Basic Gray pad, Garden Green and Primrose Pink markers
Paper:  Basic Gray, Whisper White, Primrose Petals
Accessories:   Big Shot with Vintage Wallpaper TIEF, Ovals Collection Framelits, Vanilla Flower Trim, Pink Pirouette/Rose Red Two-Tone Ribbon, Distressing Tool, and Dimensionals

Isn't this a fun mix of vintage and modern?  The sentiment and chevron stamp from the Oh, Hello stamp set give more of a modern feel and the rest is girlie sweet.  With the chevron stamp, I used Basic Gray ink, but off-stamped first to give it a lighter look so the sentiment and flowers would show up nicely.  With the flowers, I inked the stamp with markers and stamped.  Then used the Primrose Petals marker to touch in some color on the Vanilla Flower Trim.  These little flowers are so soft and pretty and add a nice touch of whimsy to a card.

The background of course has been embossed.  Whatever did I do before we had all these awesome embossing folders to choose from?  The added texture really makes the difference in so many of my cards.  The last accessory to mention is the pretty two-tone ribbon.  I was worried it might be too wide and the wrong color for this, but it's worked out perfectly.  So there you have it - an eclectic mix of colors and styles that all come together to make a pretty card. 

Hope you're enjoying your weekend.  We are having a fabulous time with family and making new friends too here as we celebrate these two wonderful kids.  God bless you Ricky and Caitlyn.  Many blessings and happy years together.  Hugs, Sharon

Paper Flowers

I'm in love!!!!  I finally tried using the Creped Filter Paper that's in the Mini Catalog.  What was I waiting for?!  This paper is just fabulous and so easy peasy to work with!!  Can you tell I'm just a little bit excited about this product?  Here's my first attempt with using this paper...
 

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink:  Early Espresso and Calypso Coral
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Calypso Coral, Tea for Two Designer Series Paper, Creped Filter Paper
Accessories:   Big Shot with Blossom Party Originals Die, Delicate Details Lace Tape, In Color 2011-2013 Designer Printed Brads, Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Sponge Dauber, Piercing Tool and Mat, and Dimensionals

This card has so much going for it with all the lacy and feminine details.  It all starts with the vintage-looking rose DSP.  That's where my inspiration came from.  I wanted to add the lace tape, but it needed the strip of cardstock behind it to make it show up nicely.

 Then comes the flower accent.  I wasn't sure how it would punch or cut, so I gave it a try.  I used all four layers and die-cut them together.  Used 3 sizes of flowers to make this one.  So all together I think there are 8-10 layers here.  The edges were very softly sponged with Calypso Coral to define them a little.  Loved the printed brad holding the flower together and adding a little more color.  Gotta tell you that even after being scrunched in my suitcase, the flower fluffs up so pretty.  I think these cards should come with a note to "play with the flowers - it's good therapy and makes them pretty!"  Squish, scrunch, fluff...

That's it for today.  Hope I can find time to post again tomorrow.  Hope you're all having a fabulous week.  I know I sure am enjoying the slightly-warmer-than-home weather down here.  And of course the visits with family members.  Happy stamping!  Sharon

Butterfly Emboss Resist

Oh my!  Have you ever stopped for a minute and wondered just how life got so out of control?  I keep thinking things are all getting done in a timely fashion and then wham!  Everything starts spinning out of control again.  Spent the past 8 days trying to get the cards prepped for making them for the soldiers this past Tuesday and also getting ready for classes next week.  So somehow the posts here just didn't get done.  Everything had to be finished early for classes because we're down in NC for my nieces wedding this weekend.  So now there's a few days to relax, spend time with family and catch up on my emails and posts here.  Who's crazy enough to travel with their catalogs and finished cards just to get some blog time in??  Oh well, enough of the chit-chat and on with today's card...

Stamps:  Swallowtail and French Foliage
Ink:  River Rock, More Mustard, Cajun Craze, and VersaMark
Paper:  Very Vanilla, More Mustard
Accessories:   Heat Tool, Gold Embossing Powder, Distressing Tool, Sponge Daubers

Have you stamped with this Swallowtail stamp yet?  It is so gorgeous and has such lovely detail.  Gold embossing makes the detail really stand out and shine.  When I do the emboss resist technique, I like the ink to bleed out beyond the lines.  Some of you have a really hard time with anything "outside the lines", but with this technique, that makes it look even better in my humble opinion.

Can you see the faint stamping in the background?  The two stamps from French Foliage that I used are the text and spatter.  These work very nicely on so many different cards as a delicate background that isn't intrusive.  And the River Rock ink is dark enough to see, but light enough to blend.

I might have gotten just a little carried away with the distressing, maybe.  But I like the heavily distressed look this has.  It's a nice counterpoint to the elegance of the gold-embossed butterfly.

Well, that's it for today.  Back to relaxing and visiting.  I could get used to this life, but I'd miss my little guys I see everyday.  We've only been gone 24 hours and already I miss my hugs and smooches!!  Talk to you soon....    Sharon