Punched Pumpkin Card

Every year I try to make at least one fall card with multiple leaves swirling around just like they are outside my window.  This year is no exception, and this is one of the cards I've made.  We got some pumpkins from the pumpkin patch and they looked so nice on the front porch.  Then came the attack of the hungry squirrels!  Oh my, what a mess!  Maybe I should make a card that's half eaten like the real pumpkins on my porch - NOT. 

Stamps:  Fall Fest, Good Greetings
Ink:  Mossy Meadow, Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White with Color Me Autumn DSP
Accessories:  Big Shot with Fun Fall Framelits, Decorative Dots TIEF, Extra Large Oval Punch, Mossy Meadow Stitched Ribbon, Sponge quarter, and Dimensionals

This is an easy card to make because of the stamp set and Framelits that coordinate so you don't have to hand-cut all the fun leaves.  That makes it so easy to have those leaves swirling about in the wind.

For this card I punched three ovals, embossed them, sponged them, then made them into a pumpkin.  Just love these types of pumpkins!  So fun and simple.  The stem on this pumpkin isn't a bit of cardstock like I normally would use.  Instead it's a short length of ribbon knotted and tucked under the pumpkin.  Easy peasy with a little added interest.

The sentiment is from the Good Greetings set that Hostesses can earn free with a $300 party.  This is above and beyond the regular benefits.  But there's a catch - the offer is good only until the end of October.  Let me know if I can help you plan a quick party, even a book party, so you can take advantage of this offer!

Thanks for stopping by today.  Hope you liked this clean and simple card idea.   Sharon

Seeing Stars for Christmas

It always amazes me how differently cards will look just by changing the colors used.  I had originally made a card for the ladies to make for our military last month.  I used a retired designer print that was Cherry Cobbler which I just love for Christmas.  I liked the simplicity of the card so I redid it using current DSP.  The difference is almost like day and night, so I thought you'd like to see the two versions.  The first card uses the current products and here it is...

 Stamps:  Bright & Beautiful
Ink:  Lost Lagoon
Paper:  Lost Lagoon, Whisper White, Silver Glitter Paper, with All Is Calm Specialty Designer Paper
Accessories:  Big Shot with Stars Framelits, Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack, Glue Dots, and Dimensionals

This version of the card is very frosty and serene with the snowflake printed paper with multiple blues for a background.  The star layer of glitter paper in silver adds to the look with extra stars in the glitter paper to accent the whole card.  I liked the small stars added to the sentiment strip on the bottom to brighten it up too.

Here's the original card using Cherry Cobbler for the card base and Very Vanilla Champagne Glitter Paper for the accents.  This card looks very rich and elegant compared to the other card shown.

All in all, this is a simple card sketch to work with and is very versatile.  Just change the images and paper used and you can use this idea for almost any occasion.  Hope you give this idea a try.  I'm sure you'll find lots of uses for this sketch.  Thanks for stopping in today to see what's new.  See you soon......     Sharon

Wondrous Autumn Wreath

My wonderful Hostess Club ladies met last week, and one of the stamp sets we worked with was the Wondrous Wreath.  One of my favorite plusses about this set is the framelit set that matches it.  Using both items together, it's so easy to layer on a wreath anytime.  I wouldn't want to cut out this wreath to make multiple cards, but now we don't have to!!  The first card I made with the set was for Thanksgiving.  This is a favorite holiday for me as it really sets the stage for our thankfulness for Christmas and all God has done for us.  We can never be too thankful!

 Stamps:  Wondrous Wreath and For All Things
Ink:  Crushed Curry, Cajun Craze, and Elegant Eggplant
Paper:  Naturals Ivory, Elegant Eggplant, Very Vanilla, and Moonlight Designer Series Paper Stack
Accessories:  Big Shot with Wonderful Wreath Framelits Dies, Dazzling Details Glitter, Dimensionals, and a retired Purple Hemp Twine

I just love fall colors and this combo always seems so elegant to me.  So I thought it would be perfect for this lovely wreath.  When I was looking through my stash of ribbons and embellishments that I could use with this card, I came across some really old purple twine that has to be about 10 years old, but it was the perfect match.  No matter what else I tried on the card, this just worked the best.  So there you have it.  I was trying to use only current products on the card, but sometimes you just have to go with what works the best.

This stamp set is another of the photopolymer type, and was very easy to work with.  Each of the wreath layers and the framelits to cut out the wreath all have a tab on them for easy placement.  It really did work out well and was simple to do.  Thanks SU! for coming up with another winner!!

I can't wait to try out wreaths for all the seasons.  I'm sure this is one set I'll hold onto and use for a good many years to come!  Thanks for checking out what's new for today.  Hope to see you again soon.   Sharon

White Christmas

Ok, here we are with a Christmas card idea.  I loved the White Christmas stamp set as soon as I laid eyes on it.  Of course it didn't hurt that I loved each of the ideas shared with this set in the Holiday Catalog either!  So I went with those same soft colors from the Catalog and made my first card with this set.  Here's what I came up with.  What do you think??

Stamps:  White Christmas and Good Greetings
Ink:  Stazon Jet Black, Soft Suede, Real Red, Pool Party, and Sahara Sand
Paper:  Whisper White and Pool Party
Accessories:   Big Shot with Lucky Stars TIEF, AquaPainter, Glue Dots, Frosted Sequins, and Dimensionals

This turned out to be a soft and serene winter scene.  The color washed into the background is so delicate.  I kept the color softer on the trees and bird too.  All the sequins are attached with Glue Dots.  That seems to be the easiest way to attach them.

This set is so easy to use because it's made from photopolymer.  That way you can easily see where you're placing different items, like the bird and bear.  So simple - wish we'd had photopolymer to work with years and years ago!!   Hope you give this set a try - it's fabulous!!

Thanks for stopping by again.  I want to wish you all a fantastic fall!  Sharon

Halloween Holiday Home

First off, I want to thank all of you who have continued to check in here even when I wasn't up to blogging.  It's been hard lately dealing with everything going on, and I haven't been able to keep it all balanced and going forward for months now.   Hopefully I can start getting back in the groove and enjoying life again.  Ok, enough of that.  Now it's time to share some card ideas, right?  The card today is from a set in the Holiday Catalog that is so much fun.  It's such a versatile stamp set, it was hard to decide what to make first.  Hope you like this idea...

Stamps:  Holiday Home and Frightful Wreath
Ink:  Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze, Stazon Jet Black, and Craft White
Paper:  Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Daffodil Delight
Accessories: Big Shot with Homemade Holiday Framelits, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Sponge quarters, and a Post-It Note

Isn't this card fun?  The circle was punched from a Post-It Note and used to mask in the moon.  Both Pumpkin Pie and Cajun Craze were used to lightly sponge in the sky area so the moon would show.  Then the bats were stamped in - maybe too many??  Or maybe just enough.

The houses were stamped with White Craft ink then die-cut with the Homemade Holiday Framelits.  (love having framelits to match!!)

The inside sentiment I used is from the Frightful Wreath stamp set - nice big sentiments to fit across the whole card.

That's it for this easy Halloween card.  Next time I use the set, I'm thinking I'd like to try a Thanksgiving card.  We'll see.   Thanks for stopping in one more time to check on me.  Hopefully I'll be better equipped to post on a more regular basis.  Talk to you soon...        Sharon

Kinda Cool and Eclectic

Oh, I'm lovin' the new Kinda Eclectic stamp set.  Woo Hoo!  It's pretty fabulous if I do say so myself.  All of the pieces will work nicely with other stamps as lovely soft background additions  or boldly stand out as they do on this card.  Hope you like it!

Stamps:  Kinda Eclectic
Ink:  Daffodil Delight, Basic Gray
Paper:  Daffodil Delight, Basic Gray, and Whisper White
Accessories:  Daffodil Delight Seam Binding Ribbon, Pearls Basic Jewels, and Dimensionals

Don't you just love how the Basic Gray and Daffodil Delight colors go together to make such a "sunshiney" card?  It always makes me happy seeing these colors together!

This card actually used all but one of the stamps in the set.  I'll get around to using the gorgeous leaves on something else real soon.  They are just too pretty to ignore!

 I really love the dotty stamp border in this set.  I thought it might be hard to line up, but it was so easy with the clear-mount set I have.  Instead of adding more texture to the card with tons of layers or embossing, I just relied on the different textures in the stamps themselves.  Really cool if you ask me.  To change things up a bit, I decided to attach the layering at a slight angle to give it more eye-appeal.  Set on straight it looked just a little too staid.  Then I added a pop of pearl to the butterfly and it was good to go.
 
Hope you liked this idea.  I know I need to keep this set out on my table and play around a little more with it.   Enjoy!!    Sharon

Summer Silhouettes times 2

Seems like I'm grabbing my Summer Silhouettes stamp set more and more often lately.  There's just so much good stuff in this set with the solid images and 2-step stamping pieces.  And don't forget that simple border stamp that can be used to advantage on many cards.  So today I have two totally different card ideas to share with you.  I'm only going to give the full product list on the first one.  The 2nd one will be a little sketchy on that, but it's pretty self-explanatory.  And you're so smart, I'm sure you'll figure it all out easily! 

 

Stamps:  Summer Silhouettes, Work of Art, and A Dozen Thoughts
Ink:  Blushing Bride, Rose Red, Pear Pizzazz
Paper:  Blushing Bride, Whisper White, and retired DSP in Pear Pizzazz
Accessories: Pear Pizzazz 1/4" Cotton Ribbon

As you can see, it's a clean and simple card, but not boring at all.   I just love the swashes of color as the base for the stamping done with Blushing Bride ink.  The color is soft enough not to overpower the rest, but pulls it all together for a finished look.

I needed to use a retired Designer Paper because I don't have all the new ones yet.  Just can't buy everything I want make that need in the first month or two of the new catalog coming out.  Sure would like to, but it's just not feasible.  Too bad!

Here's the 2nd card I have for you using the Summer Silhouettes stamp set.  Have you noticed the difference in looks from the first card?   Yep, just a little difference here and there!  This one uses a lot of last year's retired In Colors - in fact I just realized that it uses all five of them - Midnight Muse, Gumball Green, Summer Starfruit, Primrose Petals, and Raspberry Ripple.   Yes, I miss these colors, but I still own them and get them out every once in a while to play so they don't get too lonesome!

That's it for today.  It's a little short I guess, but at least it's posted!  I'll be back with more ideas from class and Hostess Club soon.  Hope you're enjoying your summer.  The little guys are having a blast and keep me running.  Check back in again soon.     Sharon