TWO MORE SU Painted Blooms

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THREE CARDS - SU Painted Blooms DP

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BIRTHDAY CARD FOR KRIS

Kris celebrated her birthday last week and this is the card I sent to her. It was a fun layout that I had never used before and  like the way it used two pieces of designer paper that had great designs on both side to use.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BROTHER

Recently I received a free stamp set for my order with Stampin' Up!  I chose "The Gangs All Meer" set as my free set.  My brother spends January through March in Arizona and I thought it would be fun to make him a card using the Meer Cats and cactus stamps.

When I finally got down to making a decision of what I wanted to do, I turned to Pinterest (as usual) for inspiration.  I saw several cards that would be have been fairly quick and easy.  Then I ran across a video from Laura's Craft Closet for making a "Pull Up" type card.  My first thought was NO WAY. Then there was something about the video that was saying, "I dare you to try it!".  So I did.

First I made two masks of the cactus and went about stamping on the card stock.  For full explanation, I am referring you to the video: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/10203536644450305/

The card took me between 2 1/2 and 3 hours to accomplish.  I watched the video, paused it with each step so that I could make mine along with the video.  There are definitely changes I would make when stamping the cactus.  The first one would be to sponge the lighter color of tan instead of using the marker so that the entire area below the cactus would look like the ground. I wasn't terribly pleased with the way these were grouped.  I'll be making more cards with this really cute stamp set, but not sure I'll be doing more "Pull Up" cards.

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STAMPIN' UP! - Butterfly Basics

Sunday I was needing to focus on making something.  I had gotten two FREE packages of the  "Irrisistably Yours" DSP  when it was offered in a previous Stampin' Up! Sale-A-Bration but had used very little of it and yet the paper is really fun to use.  It has an embossed white design on it and color can be added with ink so that only the background is colored.

First I cut several 3" x 4" pieces of the flowered design and colored them by dragging an ink pad across them and then wiping off the excess that was on the embossing.  I was stuck with what I wanted to do with the pieces. When no ideas come, I turn to Pinterest and this time I searched for ideas using the Irrisistably Yours DSP.

I found a card that I CASED using one of the other sheets.  Using a sponge I added Old Olive ink just in the portion you can see.....like the card on Pinterest.  I did make three changes in this card.  I didn't have the same ribbon so I used a strip of black card stock and I used a dragonfly instead of a butterfly.  My sponged piece was slightly smaller so I matted it with Old Olive card stock before adding it to the black card base.

It felt really good to use three items that had not been used in a very long time......Basic Butterfly stamp set, the dragonfly die and the embossed paper.  I really like this card and think it would be fun to do in different colors.  Thank you for coming by!

MORE SCRAPS

Nothing too difficult about this card but a good way to use up small pieces of designer paper that are just too pretty to throw away.

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TWO DIE CUTS USED

Someone at our group's gathering last June had a die for this intricate die cut of birds on a branch.  I had two of them that had been cut with "Stick It" adhesive on the back and they have been on my table for a very long time.  It was high time they were on a card!

I'm not terribly fond of the one below but I'm glad they have been used.  

How are all of you doing during this time we need to isolate ourselves?   Stay safe and stay healthy!

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A TWOFER

I forgot to schedule cards for yesterday and today and since they both use the same papers, I'm sharing both of them with you for this post.  

This card is actually getting mailed to a friend of mine who I lived with after getting out of business school "years ago".......too many to admit.  It's wonderful that we have stayed in touch all this time.

The Covid-19 has not come to our county yet but my husband and I are being very careful about staying in and not traveling outside our small town.  My husband love the outdoors but fortunately he likes to read......that only goes so far.  He's feeling a little like a bear in hibernation.  As for me, I'm very content staying inside and either reading or sitting at my craft table.  

It's also one time for sure that I am grateful that we don't live in a big city.  One of our daughters is offering to grab any groceries we might want or need.  We are fortunate to have family so close.  Please take care wherever you are!

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USING MORE SCRAPS

I have had two of our grandchildren here for a few days due to their school now being closed for a month.  I wanted to have them come early in their time off before we decide to close off visitation from anyone.  This virus is causing so much disruption in everyone's lives and we are trying our best to stay healthy.

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I'M ANXIOUS FOR FLOWERS AND BUTTERFLIES

This paper is double sided so I split the piece to use both sides.  Once again a die cut butterfly . Yesterday's card and this one both used a SU Crumb Cake card stock for the base.

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STAMPIN' UP! DESIGNER PAPER

Spring is supposed to be right around the corner so today's card features SU designer paper.   Hopefully butterflies will be appearing soon after the flowers.  This is a really easy card to do using up a scrap of paper.

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IT'S YOUR SPECIAL DAY

As you can tell by now, I've really been having fun using the shapes from the One Sheet Wonder patterns.  You don't have to do the whole 12 x 12.  You can cut pieces the sizes that are mentioned on the pattern and use up some small left over pieces of dp from other cards you've made in the past.

I'm going to continue making and posting cards that I've made with some of these shapes.  I'm trying really hard to use up some of the retired Stampin' Up! designer papers that I have.  My goal is to have a large number of cards to send to the Iowa Veterans Home.  I leave most of them blank inside so they can write their own message.  I also understand there are people there who will assist veterans in writing inside the cards. They have appreciated receiving them for the residents to use and I really don't have a good outlet for them otherwise.  Donating to  the veterans feels good.

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USING A SCRAP OF DP

When my friend Carol made her 14 cards, she stamped off some of the bird designs and colored them with a Copic marker that matched the Pacific Point matting for her pieces.  I CASED her idea and really like this card.  

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USING A PARTIAL PIECE OF DESIGNER PAPER

A couple of weeks ago my friend, Carol, came and I showed her how she could get 14 cards from one sheet of 12 x 12 designer paper.  Her cards turned out beautifully!  I had a partial piece of the same paper she used so I figured out how I could get three cards out of it and get it used up.  You don't have to do a 12 x 12 One Sheet Wonder challenge to see how you can use up some small pieces of designer paper.  Don't throw them away..........It's amazing what you can do with just a scrap!  Come back tomorrow and Friday to see the other two I was able to make. 

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TWO MORE CARD PARTS USED

The black die cut flower design and the alcohol ink piece both had been in a pile on my craft table for too long.  I'm not exactly thrilled with the card but it is two more pieces used.  

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EASTER TREATS FOR GRANDCHILDREN

These cute little baskets will have some little foil wrapped chocolate eggs in them.  I also bought some cute vellum Easter bags that I will fill with more goodies.  Three of the granddaughters are in college now so I thought it would be fun to give them a little extra......but there are six bags so I guess all of the grandchildren will get a the "extra" as well.  I found some individual bags of Chex Mix and I'm going to buy some prewrapped Rice Krispie treats for the vellum bags.  I'll be looking for more goodies to include.  Any ideas for what else I can put in besides candy?

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USING MORE CARD PARTS

The alcohol ink background for this card had been on my table for a long time with some other ones that were made at the same time.  I added the die cut piece on it allowing the alcohol ink piece to also act as a border.  I matted it again with black card stock before putting it on the white card base.  

My sister's birthday is tomorrow and this is the card I sent to her.  The sentiment is appropriate since we are in Iowa and she is now permanently residing in the southern tip of Florida.  I debated about doing anything with the white space above the sentiment from Penny Black "Eloquence".  I discovered that I had a tiny butterfly sticker from "Litle B".  The wings don't appear to be the right color but the jewel on the butterfly is a perfect match.  

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BALLERINA DIMENSIONAL STICKER

I purchased this dimensional sticker a long time ago knowing that eventually I would use it for one our two granddaughters who take dance.  The oldest granddaughter graduated in 2019 and is now in college.  Her younger sister has a few years to go, so she will receive this card at some point. 

The sticker was on my table and in an effort to use some pieces, I decided it was time. I simply added it to an embossed piece of white card stock.  Then I double matted it with a layer of Stampin' Up! Pretty In Pink and another layer of white.  The card base is Pretty in Pink.  I added a 5 1/4" x 4" of white card stock inside for the sentiment to be added later when I use it.

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LASTING IMPRESSIONS - BUNNY & CHICK

This was actually the first card I made using the Lasting Impressions brass stencils.  And this is when I discovered that trimming out these pieces and putting them back together for the design was not as easy as I remembered.

I no longer have any of the Lasting Impressions white card stock but using a light weight white worked fine since the paper and template is placed on a light box to do the embossing.  

I'd like to make another card like this but I would do a couple of things differently. I would use plain yellow paper for the chick.  Before assembling the pieces I would use a Ultra Fine Sharpie to enhance the eyes and noses on the bunny and chick.  I would also sponge some pink ink onto the bunny ears.  Looking at the design now, I think I would "cheat" and use a Martha Stewart punch to do the grass.

If I get another one like this done, I'll be sure to post it with the changes.  Thank you for checking out today's post.

LASTING IMPRESSIONS - 3 PEEKING BUNNIES

Today's card is once again made using a Lasting Impressions brass stencil.  I embossed each section with a different color and cut them out.  This was an easy design to cut out.   The Lasting Impressions papers have a white core that makes it possible to scuff the designs to enhance the designs.  The three pieces were added to a white strip and then onto a piece of Stampin' Up! Gingham dp.

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LASTING IMPRESSIONS - EASTER EGG

Last Thursday marked the sixth anniversary of when we lost the "Mother" of our group on the Internet.  It was suggested that all of us spend some time in our stamp room in honor of Joanne.  When our group was formed we started off mainly as a group that did dry embossing.  Joanne made wonderful cards using the templates.   I hadn't used my brass stencils in a very long time so I decided to pull them out.

My first instinct was to dry emboss the pieces on colored Lasting Impressions papers, cut them out and then assemble them.  (Joanne was very good at this.)  I quickly discovered that trimming them out was not as easy as it used to be.  

Instead I elected to dry emboss the design and then sponge SU Perfect Plum ink through the openings.  That worked very well on this design.  I matted with SU dp and then added it to the white card base.  The "Happy Easter" is from Darcie's.  I'm definitely going to look through more of my brass stencils to see how many I can use in this manner.

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