Yellow and Gray CAS Card

I'm thinking that one of my new favorite color combos is that of Daffodil Delight and Smoky Slate or Basic Gray.  They are so clean and crisp together and can fit any kind of card.  The card layout I've used today is very versatile, but with these colors and the pretty embossing it's very feminine.

Stamps:  Yippee Skippee
Ink:  Basic Gray
Paper:  Smoky Slate, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, and Basic Gray with Watercolor Wonder Designer Series Paper
Accessories:   Big Shot with Delicate Designs TIEF, Daffodil Delight Seam Binding, Bitty Butterfly and Elegant Butterfly Punches, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, and Glue Dots

I just love how pretty this card came out!  So feminine and sweet looking.  The Delicate Designs lace embossing along the top is such an elegant touch to this simple card, and really makes it special.

I had planned on using either Flower Shop or Petite Petals as the accent on the card.   But on further review, I decided the butterflies were a better fit with the overall card look. 

Changing up the sentiment could lend this card to many different uses.  If you have the components to make this, try it with other colors of cardstock and designer papers to get something altogether different.   Just a really nice and happy card style to have on hand.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.  Happy stamping,    Sharon

Patriotic Stars for You

Again I have used a retired stamp set that I will miss a lot.  The Simply Stars stamp set was such a basic set to add stars to a project whenever needed.  Today's card is very patriotic with it's red, white, and blue theme.  It kind of shouts out - God bless America!

 Stamps:  Simply Stars, and Gifts of Kindness
Ink:    Night of Navy and Cherry Cobbler
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Night of Navy, and Cherry Cobbler
Accessories:  Big Shot with Stripes TIEF, Large and Small Star Punches(both retired), Word Window Punch, and Dimensionals

I used the Stripes embossing folder to go with a stars and stripes theme.  The colors of Night of Navy and Cherry Cobbler gave the card a slightly more vintage feel instead of a brighter red and blue.

Some of the stars are raised with Dimensionals, but not all of them.  I liked the differences of height to give it more interest.

With all the national holidays coming up, I thought it would be good to have a few of these on hand.  Hope you like this clean and simple idea.  Very quick to do when you're in a time crunch.  Thanks for stopping in again.  Have a great week!        Sharon

Playscape on Steroids

I mentioned a few days ago that there was a huge building project going on over here.  Friends have asked how the building went, when they got finished, and how the boys are enjoying it.  Well..... 


It's actually not even finished yet.  And it's not because they haven't been working at it for hours on end.  I thought you might like seeing a couple pictures to give you an idea of the magnitude of this playscape.

We own a double lot and as you can see the structure is taking up a fair amount of the 2nd lot.  See the little playscape the boys had originally there in the background?

This is the bare-bones structure.  None of the decking and just a few of the side slats are already done.

The weather has NOT been very helpful at all!

One of the slide pods has been installed here and a little more of the west tower construction has been roughed in

Here's mama and the boys checking out the work done that day before they went home.  This kind of gives a good idea of the size again.

Many more hours were spent working over the weekend and on Tuesday evening.  Coming along nicely, but still more work to be done.  And then Tuesday night was still more rain of course, so the work was suspended for today as everything was a little muddy.  Still need the swings attached, the decking on the bottom of both towers, and little touches to finish it all.
Whew!!  What a lot of work the three of them did to get this built.  But the boys are sure gonna love their playscape!

Happy Congratulations card

Today's card reminds me of outdoor parties in the summer with the pretty paper lanterns hanging from the fence and shining in the dark.  The set used is from the Occasions Catalog that will be retiring from Stampin' Up! on June 1st.  So there's a few more days left to get this happy stamp set that's waiting to help you get the celebration underway.

 Stamps:  Happy Congratulations
Ink:  Island Indigo, Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding and Baked Brown Sugar, with Early Espresso marker
Paper:  Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, and Baked Brown Sugar
Accessories:  Big Shot with Woodgrain TIEF, 3/4" Circle Punch, Gold Baker's Twine, Paper Snips, and Dimensionals

Isn't this great?  It looks like the decorations are all ready for a luau.  The fence is made by making lines with a marker on a piece of Baked Brown Sugar cardstock, embossing it with the Woodgrain TIEF, then snipping each 'board' with a pointy top to look like a privacy fence.

The party lanterns are stamped with different colors of ink onto Whisper White cardstock then punched out with the 3/4" Circle Punch.  A length of Gold Baker's Twine was attached to the fence, then the lanterns were attached with a Dimensional under each.


The inside of the card was stamped to mimic the card front.  And the wording that is part of the set would work well for a graduate, Father's Day, or maybe even a retirement party.  This is one set that is a lot more versatile than you  think when you first see it.

Thanks for coming by to see what's going on here.  Hope you liked this idea and give it a try.  You can always change up the lanterns to fit any color scheme you might need.  Happy stamping,    Sharon

Rev Up

It's the last time to share a card using the "Rev Up The Fun" stamp set that is retired.  I'm so sorry to see it leave the line-up as it's a great card both for men and teens.  My 4 year old grandson likes it too.  He stamped up a few sheets of paper for his own race cars!  The card I have to share with you is from last week's class.  It was pretty much a class to say goodbye to colors and stamps that would no longer be available.   So here goes...

 Stamps:  Rev Up The Fun
Ink:  Real Red and Basic Gray pads, Real Red and Bermuda Bay markers
Paper: Real Red, Bermuda Bay, Basic Gray, and Whisper White, with I Am Me Designer Series Paper
Accessories:  Big Shot with Circle Collection Framelits, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, Neutrals and Brights Candy Dots, and Paper Snips

 I used the colors from the DSP to decide the card colors.  I loved all the arrows in the DSP to suggest movement on the card.  The tire tracks fit nicely on the punched white layer and the sentiment fit perfectly underneath them.  The Candy Dots were just added for fun.

Everyone seemed to like this card even though they had to cut out the card!  Yes, I know we're all getting spoiled by all the wonderful punches and framelits that do all the work for us!!  But sometimes you just need to get out those snips and do some fussy cutting to make the card perfect.

This card was made earlier in the month when we got together to make cards for the military.  I chose to use a combination of Whisper White,  Pacific Point, and Smoky Slate.  The Arrows Textured Impressions Embossing Folder was used to give the background some interest.  (Guess I really like arrows and Candy Dots with this stamp set, don't I ?)

Anyway, there you go for today's share - and it's a two-fer-one deal at that!  Hope you have this set already because it's totally sold out.  Bummer!   Thanks for stopping in today to see what's new.  (or old, I guess)  I have more coming up later in the week, so come on back again.        Happy stamping,   Sharon

Sunny Birthday Flip Card

Don't you love making flip cards now that Stampin'Up! has made the Thinlits to die-cut them?  It's so easy to do them now that you don't have to get out your ruler,  Exacto knife, cutting mat, pattern, etc, etc.  I always loved the look, but they just took too much time to put together.  Today's card is one of my favorite birthday cards.  Hope you like it too.

 Stamps:  Sketched Birthday, and Really Good Greetings
Ink:  Stazon Jet Black, Daffodil Delight, Chocolate Chip, Island Indigo pads, and Island Indigo marker
Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, with Gingham Garden Designer Series Paper
Accessories:  Big Shot with Label Card Thinlits, White Chalk Marker, Gingham Garden Washi Tape, AquaPainter,  2-Way Glue Pen, and Dazzling Diamonds Glitter

I used cardstock measuring 8 1/2" by 5 1/2" for the card base.  The extra end of the cardstock is tucked over the Thinlit while it is being cut.  This way you get a slight line for folding another whole flap on the card.  I love when you end up with an easy tri-fold card this way.

The card base is Daffodil Delight, so it's very bright and happy looking.  The Gingham Garden DSP is a perfect match for the card.  I thought the front of the card needed some attention, so I added a strip of the pretty Washi Tape and then added stitch lines with the White Chalk Marker.  Doesn't it show up nicely on the Daffodil cardstock?

The slice of cake was colored in with an AquaPainter and coordinating ink colors.  I added a bit of sparkle on the decorative frosting on the cake edge and the candle flame.  I also continued with the stitching line around the white layer using the Island Indigo marker to frame it in a little.

Hope you like today's card idea.  I didn't get outside to get pictures of the playscape like I had planned  because it started raining yesterday.  Maybe tomorrow - we'll see how the weather goes.  Sure can't get it finished if the weather won't cooperate.  Thanks for stopping by today.      Sharon

Daughter's Mothers Day Card

Hope you enjoyed your Mother's Day yesterday.  My daughter and I decided that we'd postpone our celebration for a couple of weeks as the entire weekend was spent getting started on this huge playscape they are building in our backyard.  I'll try to get some pics to show you the project!  The neighbors have all been by to comment on it and wonder when we're moving into our new house!  Did I mention that it's huge!?  Anyway, we'll get to our special dinner in the future, but we did exchange cards, so I can share with you the card I made for her.

 Stamps:  Wildflower Meadow, and non-SU! sentiment
Ink:  Calypso Coral
Paper:  Calypso Coral, Basic Black, and Naturals White
Accessories:  Big Shot and Wildflower Meadow Embossing Folder, Sponge Dauber, Dimensionals, and retired fabric brad from previous catalog

I haven't shared anything using this coordinating stamp and embossing folder yet.  But that doesn't mean I don't like them, or use them!  In fact I made some cards for the military using the combo just recently.  Since the stamp is so large, it's easy to make a bundle of cards very quickly and easily.  Just stamp the full image,  line it up in the embossing folder, and voila!   It looks fabulous!  The skinny layered black is a great accent to give the card a little contrast from all the Calypso Coral.

I didn't have a Mother's Day stamp that I liked for this card, so I borrowed one from a friend that fit perfectly.  And the little fabric brad was just the right finishing touch for the card.  It was fancier than a button, so it even dressed up the card a little bit more.

Thanks for stopping in to see what's new.  Hope to have more to share tomorrow.     Sharon