Card of the Week

Welcome to my very first Card of the Week! To recreate this very card, you will need the Sell-a-Bration Simply Scrappin' Kit, the Word Search background stamp, A Happy Hi stamp set, silver brads, and the Ticket Corner Punch. I also used Watercolor Paper, Ribbon (Blue Gingham), a White Gel Pen, Black Stazon, and a variety of ink pads (Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Regal Rose, and Sahara Sand) with my Aqua Pens.
I first stamped the image on Watercolor Paper with Jet Black Stazon, because the ink won't run at all, and the paper won't get "eaten up". These two things practically make watercoloring a no-fail technique! Then I colored the image with the ink pads and Aqua Pen, including the background. I used my White Gel Pen to make the bunny's tail white. This image is 2in x 1 3/4in. Then I used those measurements to cut a hole in a Regal Rose piece of paper cut to 3in x 2 3/4in, to make a frame. I stamped that piece with Regal Rose and Word Search.
I cut the striped paper from the Kit to 4in x 5 1/4in, and punched the corners with the Ticket Corner Punch, and adhered it to the card (cut 8 1/2 x 5 1/2, and scored the long side at 4 1/4 in - this is what most of my cards are, and they fit perfectly in the medium Stampin' Up! envelopes - this is half of a sheet of paper for the card making newbies) with my Dotto. Then I cut the green patterned paper from the Kit to 4in x 1in, and layered it onto a Bashful Blue piece cut at 4 x 1 1/8, and adhered both strips to the card.
I then stamped the sentiment onto the circle die-cut sticker from the Kit with the Jet Black ink pad, punched a hole in the top, and tied it to the frame with a ribbon bow. To finish it off, I placed 2 brads on the bottom and 2 on the side, using my 1/8in Circle Hole Punch.
I hope that you like it, and will want to recreate it. You can alternate colors, stamp sets, and ribbon to make something your own, if you like, too! Have fun, and Happy Stamping!!!

Best Wishes

This card was a Sketch Challenge (106) from Splitcoast. I had a lot of fun with this one! This is a 5 inch square card. I used the Four Seasons paper, along with Bravo Burgandy, Whisper White (WW), Brocade Blue, and Old Olive. The background paper has Bashful Blue in it, but I thought that the Brocade stood out a little more.

I used three stamp sets - All in a Row (must have), Circle of Friendship (also, must have), and my new Take Three.

I used the markers (Pumpkin Pie, Bravo Burgandy, and Apricot Appeal) to ink the main image stamp, then cut the corners with the Ticket Corner Punch and elevated it with dimensionals onto the Bravo. I placed the brads in the corners of the Bravo and mounted it onto the Brocade with glue dots. I used the glue dots to anchor the brads, because their prongs were bent the same way for them not to show! I'm using more of the Pop Up Glue Dots these days for some more dimension on the cards, instead of the Dimensionals.

The All in a Row is a 1/4 inch strip stamped with White Craft, and heat set. The Circle of Friendship is stamped with Bravo Burgandy, and punched with the circle punch (1 1/4 inch, with the larger circle punched with the 1 3/8 inch). Lastly, there are 5 ribbons tied onto the end of the large layered piece.

This was a fun one that I hope that you enjoy!

Happy Today

I should've explained this on my last card, but Splitcoast has challenges throughout the week, including Color Challenges (CC) and Sketch Challenges (SC)- which are my favorite. This is a card that I made for both CC96 and SC105. I'm never on time for the challenges, but they do provide a lot of inspiration for me.

This is a set called Living Large. I didn't get this set right away, but regretted it after seeing all sorts of samples made with it. I love this chick now! The sentiment on the bottom is from Small Sayings.

This is another Cuttlebug creation. (Man, how I wish that Stampin' Up! sold these guys!!!:)) It is the Bloom Dots folder with White Craft "flicked" over the top to make them stand out a little more.

I stamped the main image on Watercolor Paper, which I adore for watercoloring. The paper doesn't get "eaten up" from the water. I used Pink Passion, Lavender Lace, and Gable Green - plus Black Stazon because it will not run - ever! - so it's also great for watercoloring. Both are a MUST in my opinion. I also used Yo Yo Yellow, Pumpkin Pie, and Going Gray for the main image. I used Stampin' Up! ribbon, both gingham and grograin, and the ticket corner punch for the corners of the main image and Gable layer. I used Glue Dots to give a bit more dimension than usual for the layers, as well. The card itself was inked with Gable.

I used black brads (Bazzil, because I already have them - but I TOTALLY could have made them with Black Embossing Powder - SEE TUTORIAL) and punched holes in between. The circle was cut out with a CTMH cutting system (also could use a Coluzzle, but I don't have one).

I hope that you enjoy it - I had lots of fun making it!

Happy Joyful Birthday

This is a card that I made for both the Sketch Challenge 104 and the Color Challenge 94. I used the Cuttlebug Happy Birthday folder on the plain WW in the background. There is Flannel stamped on the large WW background in Cool Caribbean. The Giraffe is stamped in Vintage Violet with the "holes stickled". The flowers are from Close to My Heart. The corners of the main image Caribbean layer were "tag corner punched". The sentiment says "happy joyful birthday", from Small Sayings, along with the birthday hat. The brad is the one that I "altered" with the White embossing powder.

This is a card that I made for one of the MOMS Club members Sunshine Cards that I send out. I hope that you like it!

Some of My Favorite Wyatt Pix...

This is the scrapbook double page layout that I finally finished! You'd think with such cute pix, it should have been simple, right! Well, this is a multi-manufacture layout for sure. I used American Crafts flowers, Chatterbox paper, Heidi Swapp letters, and lots of Stampin' Up! products!
I stamped the Flannel background behind the pix in Cool Caribbean. Then I mounted the 8x10, and cut the 5x7 pic, and mounted it at the page split. I used markers to stamp the "so very" (also the name of the SELL-A-BRATION stamp set - ask me how to get it for free!!!), and used Chocolate Chip to stamp "adorable" (from Warm Words) underneath. I covered the chipboard (On Board Simon Lower) with the paper, and tied a ribbon on.


I liked the idea of the circles with the edges covered by the flowers. So, I used SU! silver brads in the center of them, and glue-dotted them to the page.

For the title, I used the SU! On Board Accents for the brackets, and inked them with Chocolate Chip Craft and heat set them. The "our" is QuicKutz (QK) Olivia in Old Olive. The "Wyatt" is SU! Typeset Upper and Lower Alphabet in Pumpkin Pie. The "@" is SU! Well Worn Alphabet in Old Olive. The "SIX" is QK Tangerine in Cranberry Crisp. And lastly, the "months" is Heidi Swapp with a piece of Cool Caribbean, inked with White Craft, underneath it.

Oh yeah, there is a thin strip of Cranbery Crisp matting the verticle dotted strip.

I am happy with how it turned out, and I hope that you enjoy it, too!

You Have to Try This!

This is the tutorial that I promised you on a previous post. I just discovered this technique, and when I tried it, I couldn't believe that I was paying so much more for the Bazzill Wings brads from the LSS (local scrapbook store)! At first it may cost more, but you'll definitely save money in the long run, if you invest in these valuable items that can be used for so many other purposes.

You'll need a heat gun, silver metal brads, long-handled tweezers (found in the SU! tool kit), and colored embossing powder (EP). I'm using Detail White EP, because Stampin' Up! doesn't offer white brads. I also use the Powder Pal for easier clean-up (especially for larger embossing projects), but they're not necessary. See the first picture.

Wait till you see how easy this is...

1. First, place the brad that you want to "alter" in the long-handled tweezers. Make sure you keep your fingers far away from the heat! (There's a reason it's called a heat gun!) It should take about 20 seconds for the brad top to get real "good and hot". See the second picture.

2. Second, place the piping hot brad top directly into the embossing powder. The powder sticks to the brad, and will begin to melt. I have had it either melt completely or partially, and in that case, I just hit it with the heat gun again for a second (like literally), and it comes out perfectly every time. See the third and fourth picture.

3. Lastly, just set it aside for a moment to cool and harden. It will look like a perfect LSS white brad!

I hope that this was helpful, and that you all will try out this technique. Leave a comment when you do to let me know how syched up you are about this!

Happy Stamping!

To Answer Your Questions...

I know that a few of you are wondering what I'm talking about when I mention the Cuttlebug. It's a new embossing/die cutting machine from Provocraft. There are folders that you can put paper in, and you crank it through to emboss. It also accepts all other brands of dies. I've used it on the new QuicKutz Revolution dies with no problem at all.
And the ribbon from the Trying To Pretty-Up the Place post is from Michaels. Thanks Becky!

More Pretty-ing-Up...

This is a card that I made using Stampin' Up! ribbon, stamps, and ink, but some Chatterbox plaid paper, and my beloved Cuttlebug. I used Heartfelt Thanks and Fancy Flexible Phrases sets, and Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Pumpkin Pie, and Old Olive inks. For the cardstock, I also used Apricot Appeal, Bashful Blue, and WW (Whisper White). There are 3 eyelets at the bottom right, too.

Trying to Pretty-Up the Place!

Okay, today, I thought that because my blog was lacking some eye candy, I'd try to pretty up the place a bit! These cards have already been posted to my Splitcoast Gallery, but, since I'm going to be sending people here (instead of my Stampin' Up! website), I thought that I'd give them something to look at!!!

These are cards that I made with all Stampin' Up! products, with the exception of the ribbon and the Cuttlebug. The stamp set that I used is one of my favorites from the Winter Mini, Carte Postale. The colors are WW, Old Olive, Creamy Caramel, and Chocolate Chip.

For the first card, I stamped the sentiment on a transparency with Timber Brown Stazon, and the flower was embossed with Creamy Caramel Craft ink and Crystal Clear Embossing Powder and elevated on dimensionals.

With the second card, the Chocolate Chip layer is recessed, and the Old Olive layers are elevated. This one also uses the set, Fancy Flexible Phrases, from the Winter Mini. That is DEFINITELY a must-have set for card makers and scrapbookers.

You're So Missed

This is my first altered clipboard, and I think that I'm very happy with it. It is "in memory" of my mother whom I miss so much. I used Chatterbox paper, among numerous other "whatnots" to make it special.

This is made using Stampin' Up! stamps, chipboard, ink, ribbon, and punches, QuicKutz Original and Revolution dies, Heidi Swapp flowers, Rhona Farrer Autumn Leaves v.2, $1 Store blue rhinestones, and my Cuttlebug Swirl folder.

The picture is from 1980, making me 3 when it was taken. The top left tag says "you're very missed". The bottom left tag says "happier because of you", and the right tag says "i heart you my mom". I hope you like my attempt to explore my artistic side!