Witch's Brew

This card, which I titled "Witch's Brew", was made as a Design Team card for Try Stampin' on Tuesday Color Challenge #5 that required the use of purple, red and orange.

It's nearing Halloween, so I wanted to use my Stampin' Up! "Tee-Hee-Hee" stamp set which gets so little use but once a year. I was inspired by the layout Angie Anny used back in 2014 when this stamp set was released. I changed the colors and mixed up the papers a bit, but I was so inspired by her card I wanted to inspire others with it, too!

This great stamp set doesn't have matching dies, so all the pieces had to be fussy cut :-(  In keeping with the color challenge, the witch's dress is SU Tangerine Tango, her shoes and hat are SU Rich Razzleberry, and her stockings and wall trim are SU Real Red. All stamping was done multiple times using my MISTI to ensure good color coverage.

The wall itself and the floor are patterns from the 2014 retired SU "Motley Monsters" designer series paper. I stamped the bats with Memento Tuxedo Black ink using my MISTI again. Stamping onto pattern paper always requires more than one inking and stamping... I stamped them three times!

The cauldron was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, then when it was dry, I fussy cut it out and placed it face down on a Versamark ink pad and pressed firmly. I then sprinkled clear embossing paste on it and heat set to give it the shiny metal color.

The witch and her accessories were assembled with Tombow glue. They were then glued to the cauldron, and then mounted on the 2.5"x 3.5" white cardstock using adhesive foam strips. The white panel was then matted with 3"x 4" purple cardstock. This assemblage, was then mounted to the card front using more adhesive foam tape.

The sentiment is stamped with the same purple as the witch's shoes and hat using the MISTI once again.

I am rating the difficulty level of this card as a "3" only because of all the fussy cutting required. Other than that, it was pretty simple with Angie's card to inspire me!

Stamps: SU Tee_Hee-Hee

Paper: SU Elegant Eggplant, Real Red, Motley Monsters DSP

Paper Size: A2

Ink: SU Tangerine Tango, Rich Razzleberry, Real Red, Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark

Accessories: Paper Snips, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, MISTI, Adhesive Foam Strips, Tombow Multi Liquid Glue

Techniques: Heat Embossing, Fussy Cutting

Holiday Sampler

This holiday card was made for 52 Christmas Card Throwdown sketch challenge # 39-18.

I have a retired 1999 Stampin' Up! (SU) stamp set called "Holiday Sampler" that I just seem to come back to over and over because of its versatility. I used it on this card to create the different sized circles of the sketch challenge.

The circles were cut with a variety of circle dies after each image had been stamped onto SU Whisper White thick cardstock. I matted then with circles that were cut from SU Garden Green and SU Real Red cardstock.

The card base is also the thick Whisper White cardstock. The horizontal element is from the new SU "Under the Mistletoe" Designer Series Paper - I love the diagonal plaid! The plaid panel was matted with SU Real Red.

The circles were arrange per the challenge sketch. The largest circle and the present circle were glued directly to the card front using Tombow glue. The Santa hat and sentiment were layered over the top of the other circles using adhesive foam strips to add depth and extra interest to the card.

Believe it or not, the hardest part of this card was to find circle dies that fit the size I needed for the stamped images and the matting behind them. The rest was super easy! So I am rating this card at a difficulty level of "2" out of a possible "5".

I am also entering this card as a candidate for 55CCT's call for new Design Team members for 2019. Happy holidays!!!

Stamps: SU Holiday Sampler

Paper: SU Whisper White Thick Cardstock, Real Red, Garden Green, SU Under the Mistletoe DSP

Paper Size: A2

Ink: SU Real Red, Garden Green, Crumb Cake

Accessories: Sizzix Circle Framelits Dies, Spellbinders Nestabilties Circle Dies, Tombow Multi Liquid Glue, Adhesive Foam Strips, MISTI

Techniques: Layering, Die Cutting

Thinking of You with Flowers

This was made as a Design Team card for Try Stampin' on Tuesday Sketch Challenge #381 with the optional challenge of using thread, twine, or ribbon: 

I thought I would really challenge myself this week and make a "girly" floral card. I chose the Stampin' Up! (SU) "Sweet Soiree" Designer Series Paper for both the background, and the scallops (which I trimmed by hand from the pattern on the back of the floral design sheet).

The card base is the standard A2 (5.5"x 8.5" folded in half for a side fold) cut from SU Berry Burst cardstock. 

The background on the floral paper is SU's Marina Mist, so I chose that for the center panel which I backed with the hand-cut scallops. The sentiment panel is SU Powder Pink, matted with Berry Burst. The sentiment is a 1999 card from Personal Stamp Exchange (PSX) which went out of business shortly after I bought the stamp. It is stamped with SU Melon Mambo ink. The blue flower rhinestones are from Bead Landing purchased many years ago as well.

The optional part of the challenge was met by a dark pink ribbon "flag" attached per the sketch part of the challenge.

The card came together rather quickly once I decided what I wanted to do. The sketch and optional challenge helped a lot, plus the family of related SU papers made it easy to build a palette.

I'm rating the difficulty level for this card as a "2" out of a possible "5".

Stamps: PSX Rosebud Thinking of You

Paper: SU Sweet Soiree DSP, Marina Mist, Berry Burst, Powder Pink

Paper Size: A2

Ink: SU Melon Mango

Accessories: Paper Snips, Nicole Ribbon, Bead Landing Jewels, Tombow Multi Liquid Glue, Adhesive Foam Strips

Happy Birthday Background

Made for TGIF Challenge #179 which required that you create your own background. I chose a 2007 Stampin' Up! (SU) Hostess stamp set called "In the Spotlight" to create the background.  I stamped the large "floral" image using SU Coastal Cabana ink, and the small solid flower with SU Smoky Slate ink. Then I die cut two heart circles from the Spellbinders die set and glued them on randomly (note I cut one in half and used the pieces on different sides of the card front). Then I stamped the "Happy Birthday" sentiment from SU's "Sassy Salutations" set using SU Calypso Coral ink. The "ribbon" at the top was tied using some scrap DMC Celadon embroidery thread from my sewing stash. The main panel was then glued to the SU Smoky Slate card base using Tombow glue. I am rating this card at a difficulty level of "1" out of a possible "5" because it comes together so easily and quickly.

Celebrate the Season in Stitches

Made for Try Stampin' on Tuesday October Technique Challenge - Stitching.

I had never done paper embroidery before, but was introduced to it by a friend from Perth Australia two weeks ago... great timing, huh???

There are several companies that make patterns for paper embroidery - you just select your pattern and place your heavy cardstock beneath it and prick the paper based on the pattern. These holes in your cardstock are where you do your embroidery. You don't want lumps under your finished piece, so you tape the start and end threads on the back of the card. It took me about 90 minutes to do this piece (it was my first, so I was extra cautious).

The sentiment was stamped onto a banner from the SU "Birthday Banners" set using SU Garden Green and Real Red inks. The banner was hand cut using paper snips. It was adhered to the embroidered panel using adhesive foam strips.

The main panel was glued to an SU Real Red matting, which in turn was glued to the SU Garden Green card base.

The entire main panel is stitched with embroidery thread left over from another project - even the candle. Only the banner and sentiment were stamped. I did use finger daubers and chalk ink to color inside the stitching for the flame, candle and "pineapples".

I am rating the difficulty level of this card as a "3" out of a possible "5" because I was learning to do paper embroidery, and the time it takes to do all the stitching. Embroidery is definitely more time consuming that stamping - but I'm happy with how the card turned out for my first attempt! Thank you, Peggy from Perth!!!

Stamps: SU Happy Scenes, Birthday Banners

Paper: SU Garden Green, Real Red, Whisper White Thick Cardstock

Paper Size: A2

Ink: SU Real Red, Garden Green

Accessories: Misc DMC Embroidery Thread, Paper Snips, Sewing Needle, Bondex Int'l Christmas No. 2 Pattern, Tombow Multi Liquid Glue, Adhesive Foam Strips, Colored Chalk.

Techniques: Paper Embroidery

Holiday Festivus Spinner

Made for Retro Rubber Challenge Bog #96 (#rrbc96), this sketch challenge called for a circular element.

 I went one step further and made it a circular opening with a spinning ornament stamped with an image from the 2009 Stampin' Up! (SU) "Delightful Decorations" stamp set. I used SU Real Red ink and stamped two ornaments using my MISTI so I could stamp multiple times for this solid inked image. It was stamped onto SU Whisper White Thick Cardstock for extra sturdiness. A piece of mono filament fishing line was glued and taped between the two ornaments after they had been punched out with their matching SU "Ornament Punch" from that same era.

The card base is SU Garden Green cardstock cut at 8.5"x 5.5", then folded in half in landscape mode. As I put the card together, I realized my choice of pattern paper from Recollections "Festivus" paper pad wasn't the best,,, no matter how I cut it, the pattern runs wonky! I used up a whole 12"x12" sheet trying to get the 5.25"x 3" panel I needed, and it STILL isn't straight! I assembled the card base, the SU Real Red narrower panel, and the patterned paper together using a repositionable tape runner so I knew the pieces we align correctly. Then ran the whole stack (with the card opened up to prevent the card back from getting embossed) through my Big Shot. This thick of a sandwich requires running through multiple times to get all layers to cut.

The ornament and it's fishing line was then lined up in the opening and attached to the card base with tape, then the red and patterned papers were glued down on top of the fishing line to hold it in place. Note that since the pattern paper has a dark brown background, the cut edges were brilliant white. I felt that was too distracting, so used a black Sharpie marker and run it around all the edges (including the round diecut hole) before gluing the panels together.

The sentiment is stamped onto a scrap piece of the thick SU Whisper White cardstock using SU Real Red ink, then die cut with the smallest banner from the SU "Banners" diecut set. It was attached to the right side of the card using a piece of adhesive foam strip to raise it above the card surface for added interest.

The small circle to the left of the spinner that mimics the star pattern of the ornament was stamped with SU Garden Green ink on another scrap of the thick cardstock. It was punched out with a 3/4" circle punch, then glued to the card front so it overlapped the opening, but not enough to prevent the ornament from spinning.

This card isn't difficult, it just takes some attention to the details to get it right. So, I am rating its difficulty level at a "3" out of a possible "5".

Feel Better Nest

This card was made as a Design Team card for Try Stampin' on Tuesday Sketch Challenge #380 with the optional challenge of "embossing magic".

The sketch reminded me of feathers, so when I started thinking about all my stamps, I recalled the 2000 Stampin' Up! (SU) "Soft as a Feather" stamp set with a sweet nest and eggs.

The nest was stamped with Stazon Timber Brown alcohol ink onto SU Very Vanilla cardstock. I used the Stazon ink because I wanted to color the nest with SU dye inks, and didn't want the nest image to run or smear when I painted it. The painting was done with two SU retired shades (Creamy Caramel, Blush Blossom) of Stampin' Write Markers for the twigs and Bordering Blue for the feathers in the nest. I wanted the nest to have an irregular, rather than a circle shape, so die cut it using the wreath die from the SU "Wonderful Wreath" Framelits Dies.

The eggs (also from the "Soft as a Feather" set) were created by inking the stamp first with Versamark (so I could emboss the eggs), then inking with SU Not Quite Navy ink before stamping on SU Whisper White cardstock. After I sprinkled them with clear embossing powder, I heat set the egg images, and used my water brush to color them with SU Soft Sky ink. Each egg was then fussy cut with paper snips. To give them the rounded look, I used the rounded end of my Xacto Knife on the back of each egg to make it concave, then to help the egg retain the rounded look, attached a small piece of adhesive foam strip into the concaved "well". The eggs were then arranged inside the nest.

The feathers were created using the SU "Four Feathers" stamp set. I stamped them on SU Very Vanilla, Whisper White, and Smoky Slate cardstock scraps using stamps that were first inked with Versamark, then inked with either SU Smoky Slate or Not Quite Navy inks before stamping them. They were then covered with clear embossing powder and heat set to make them glossy. The feathers were die cut with their matching "Four Feathers" Framelits Dies, and attached to the 4"x 3" Marina Mist panel with Mini Glue Dots. The assembled nest was then attached partially overlapping the feathers with Mini Glue Dots on the right side of the nest's back.

The feather/nest panel was glued to the Dapper Denim card base using Tombow glue.

The sentiment was from the SU "Sassy Salutations" set and stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

This card was pretty straightforward using LOTS of heat embossing. I am rating its difficulty level as a "2" out of a possible "5". I think it will make anyone smile who is not feeling at the top of their game due to health of emotional issues.

Stamps: SU Soft as a Feather, Four Feathers, Sassy Salutations

Paper: SU Dapper Denim, Very Vanilla, Marina Mist, Whisper White, Smoky Slate

Paper Size: A2

Ink: Versamark, SU Smoky Slate, Not Quite Navy, Soft Sky, Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black, Stazon Timber Brown, Various SU Stampin' Write Markers

Accessories: SU Clear Embossing Powder, SU Wonderful Wreath Framelits Dies, Feathers Framelits Dies, Paper Snips, Tombow Multi Liquid Glue, Mini Glue Dots, Adhesive Foam Strips, SU Aqua Painter

Techniques: Heat Embossing