May Occasions Card Class – Part 2

May 24th, 2010

Welcome back for part two of the cards we made at this month’s Occasions card class! :) The theme for this month’s class was weddings, anniversaries, graduation, & babies.  You saw the graduation & baby card yesterday, in this post.

The anniversary card we made was cased from one made by someone else.  Unfortunately, I can’t remember who created the original – if you recognize it, please let me know so I can give her credit.  It’s pretty simple.  The background is the Very Vintage wheel from the Occasions mini.  The tag is made using the Tiny Tags set & matching punch & tied onto the olive butterfly, leaving the ends longer to look like antenna.  The butterflies are cut with the butterfly embosslit Big Shot die and popped up on dimensionals.  The colors (Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Orchid Opulence) were based off of the Cottage Wall designer paper, even though I didn’t use any of that paper on the card.

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For the wedding card, we made this combo card-gift card holder.  I found instructions for it on Angie Kennedy Juda’s blog.  I don’t know if she came up with it, but she does have a good video tutorial for it.  Click here to watch it!  Angie’s cards sure are cute, aren’t they!  I knew this would make a fantastic wedding card and I was right.   I had seen the “bride & groom’ hearts on other cards I really liked the look, so I incorporated it here.  The patterned paper is from the Bride specialty paper – the same pack we used on the baby card, but a different pattern.  This time I let the paper & pattern speak for themselves and didn’t add any color.  I love how elegant it makes everything look!

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Hope you’ve enjoyed the cards we made at this month’s Occasions card class.  If you’re in the area and would like to attend next months, please contact me for details.  I’d love to have you there!

May Occasions Card Class – Part 1

May 23rd, 2010

The theme for this month’s Occasions card class (#2 of 4, running through July) was weddings, anniversaries, graduations, & babies. Just a small group this time, but lots of fun, as always!

We made 8 cards total – 2 each of 4 designs – oops, we made 9… everyone there got to make a bonus card because I had left over supplies from myFather’s Day Grill card swap (see this post).

This is the graduation card we made.  I tweaked the design from a number of different cards that I saw on Stampin’ Connection (a Stampin’ Up demonstrator community website).  The background is simply Real Red cardstock, textured with the Lattice embossing folder from the Summer mini.  I almost didn’t buy this folder, but I’m so glad I did – it’s awesome!  The bottom edge is scalloped using the Scallop Border punch, as is the back edge.  My friend, Karen, wraps a layer over the top of the card onto the back like this quite often and I really like the effect.  Stamped images are from Go, Graduate – a Summer mini set.

may-class_red-grad    may-class_red-grad-back

For the baby card, we made a pocket card.  This one is my own design.  I used a piece of the Bride specialty paper on the bottom of the pocket, braying it with Gable Green – the stripes in the design resist the ink, giving it the two-tone look.  The Gable Green border under the ribbon was made using the Eyelet Border punch.  The image & saying on the front are from Fun & Fast Notes.  Colors used are Barely Banana, Gable Green, & Whisper White.  If you’d like to make a similar pocket card, cut the base cardstock to 4 1/4″ x 8 3/4″, then score at 5 1/2″ & 8 1/4″.  You won’t need any adhesive to hold the pocket together if you wrap ribbon around it like this one.

may-class_baby1  may-class_baby2

Stop back by tomorrow to see the wedding & anniversary cards!

Swaps by my SU Sisters

May 22nd, 2010

I recently had a chance to spend a day stamping with some of my Stampin’ Up ’sisters’.  What a great group of ladies… I have made some of the best friends through Stampin’ Up!

Every time SU demonstrators get together, we swap cards.  This is a fun way to get new ideas.  This time, we did a shoebox swap.  For a shoebox swap, you design a card and make a sample, then put all the supplies for the card into a box and everyone else makes their own.  It’s a blast and is my favorite way to swap!

Here are the swaps we made that day.  Yes… these pictures were taken with my new camera… no more grainy, off-color pictures!  As always, to see larger versions, click on the pictures.

Swap by Amy
Swap by Amy

This pretty card is by Amy and is made with the Fresh Cuts stamp set, Summer Sun ink & cardstock.  The white background was textured with one of the Big Shot texture plates.  Don’t you love the sweet little center of the flower?  It’s one of the rhinestone brads.

Card by Cheryl
Card by Cheryl

I hope I never have to use this card!  It’s a sympathy card for the death of a dog and is the first one of those that I’ve stamped.  In the 9+ years that I’ve been making my own card, I’ve only purchased 2 cards – both were for friends who lost beloved pets…. I was just never able to come up with one on my own.  Thanks to Cheryl, I have one I can copy from if I ever need to.  This was made using the D is for Dog set and is a neat gate fold card. 

Swap by Jociel
Swap by Jociel

Jociel is my upline, the one who convinced me that I should join Stampin’ Up as a demonstrator.  She is the sweetest person and a fabulous friend!  We used the Eastern Blooms & Well Scripted stamp sets and Designer Paper from this year’s Sale-A-Bration.  The flower pot was made with the Ornament Punch from the Holiday mini (did you know you can still buy this??) – how cool!  Make sure you look at the full-size version of this – all the flowers have glitter on them.

Swap by Karen
Swap by Karen

If it’s possible to be in love with a card, then I am in love with this one!  Karen taught us the Black Magic technique to make the main image.  So easy… stamp a bold image with white craft ink and let it dry, then color over it with SU’s Watercolor Pencils.  You can add accents using a white gel pen.  The background paper is the striped pattern from our Bride specialty paper.

Swap by Laurie
Swap by Laurie

I don’t know where to start with this gorgeous card.  Laurie started with SU not too long after I did.  She’s an amazing demonstrator and a talented cardmaker who I’m proud to call a friend.  Can you believe that she let us use the new Presto Pattern specialty paper from the Summer mini?  I don’t have any and was thrilled to have a chance to play around with it.  We sponged color onto it (the diagonal lined background) which brought out the pattern.  After we assembled the card, we sprayed it with Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spray.  Wish you could see how much it shimmers in real life!

Swap by Linda
Swap by Linda

This card by Linda was so fun to make!  The daisy is made entirely of cardstock punched with the Large Oval punch, with the exception of the stem, which was cut free-hand.  The stitching and the dots on the flower center were made with a white gel pen. Oh.. we shaded the leaves & the petals by swiping them directly on ink pads – quick & easy!

Swap by Maxine
Swap by Maxine

Punch images are so popular right now and Maxine found this cute owl to use on a graduation card – I can’t get enough of it!  Love the googly eyes!  Let’s see if I can come up with all the punches we used…. Tag, 1 3/4″ circle, 1/2″ circle, Scallop circle, Round Tab, 5-Petal Flower, Boho Blossoms.  Jociel had the idea to add the tassels using some string she had. 

Swap by Nicole
Swap by Nicole

The top card is the swap I took.  I used the King of the Grill set from the Summer Mini and some of this year’s In Colors – Dusty Durango, Burmuda Bay, and Soft Suede.   I used the Spotlight technique to pop out part of the image.  This is another easy technique… stamp the image on another piece of cardstock, color part of it (I used our pastels & blender pens), punch it out & layer it on colored cardstock.  The second version is one I did today using the Motorcycle stamp, also from the Summer mini.  I think this version will go to two of my nephews for their birthdays – both love Harleys. 

Hope you enjoyed seeing everyone’s swap cards as much as I enjoyed making them!

Mothers Day Lilacs

May 13th, 2010

Well, my new camera has arrived, but not in time to take a picture of this card. I hope you’ll forgive me once again for the poor quality picture! Future pictures will rock the house! :)

I used a retired set and some retiring colors to make this Mothers Day card for my hubby’s grandma. Lilacs are one of my favorite flowers. I’m not sure if they’re one of hers, but my MIL reported back that Grandma loved the card!

Now it’s your turn. Show me a card you made featuring your favorite flower.

Recipe:
Stamps: Blossoms Abound, All Holidays
Cardstock: Whisper White, Lovely Lilac
Ink: Lovely Lilac, Lavender Lace, Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke
Accessories: Moss grosgrain ribbon, Eyelet border punch

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Minimalist

May 4th, 2010

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My hubby is always saying that if he were making a card (as if) it would be black & white. Period. So every once in a while, I get an urge to make a b&w one that would actually look good. I really am a color sort of girl – this is hard for me! :)

This card was heavily inspired by a card I saw Stampin Connection – a website by Stampin’ Up just for demonstrators. She used the new motorcycle stamp from the Summer mini, but mine hasn’t arrived yet so I used one of my fav masculine sets – “Classic Pickups”

As you can see, this really is a minimalist card. I used only Whisper White cardstock and Basic Black ink. The lines were made with a Basic Black marker and a ruler.

We’ll be making the motorcycle version of this at this month’s Occasions card class – a bonus card for Father’s Day.

Sorry about the terrible picture. I just bought a fancy new camera so from now on my pictures will be MUCH better!