STAMPIN' UP! - Heartfelt Blooms

I was preparing to sell this stamp set but decided to stamp off some images to make a few cards before I let the set go.  I didn't plan on making as many as I did, but I managed to very quickly get 14 cards from this beautiful set.  I made some in three different colors.  I'm going to show all of them here and if you are interested in buying the stamp set let me know.

It's just time to start weeding out my stamp sets..........especially with a new catalog coming out in the next few days!

Thank you for stopping by today!

ANOTHER MYSTERY CHALLENGE

Directions called for three different colored pieces of card stock.  When I saw all of the supplies needed, I knew I wanted to use SU Balmy Blue but didn't like any other color than the Old Olive with it so I chose strips of designer paper for the third color.   This was kind of a fun layout.

The lady doing these Mystery Challenges is in the process of moving so won't be posting another one for a while. 

Thank you for stopping by today!

RETIREMENT CARD

Recently I had a lady ask me for a birthday card with cats.  After she was very pleased with it, she called and ordered some graduation cards and a retirement card.  She mentioned that the person who was retiring played a guitar.  I didn't have any stamps or dies with a guitar, but made this one for her approval.  She loved it.

Thank you for coming by today!

ANOTHER BOOK BINDER STYLE

After I made a card like this for a friend recently, I made a second one but wasn't going to post it.  One of the ladies (Cheryl) who commented on the other card had suggested adding something to the narrow portion as an embellishment.  I actually had tried to do that on the card you've already seen but was struggling with trying to tie a bow with that ribbon.  It looked terrible so I pulled it out and taped that portion closed.

Then I remembered having some sheer white ribbon that would be easier to work with and made this second card and already had it done when I read her comment.  (Suggestions are ALWAYS welcome.)

Thank you for coming by today!

ANOTHER MYSTERY STAMP CHALLENGE

One of the ladies who gave presentations for the online stamp retreat sometimes has a "Mystery Challenge".  Once again she revealed the supplies we would need and then one by one told us what to do with the items.  We weren't shown a picture of what it would look like in advance.  Only after it was over did she show us what her card looked like.  

My card was made horizontally but there were a couple others had made where they made it vertically because their stamped image was vertical.  

I added a piece of the same dp on the inside of the card which was not part of her directions.  I thought it looked a little too plain without it.

It is interesting to see what others come up with when we are all working kind of blindly with no picture. 

Thank you for coming by today!

USING UP A SHEET OF DP

This was not a One Sheet Wonder.  I had purchased this pretty card stock several years ago at a store in Des Moines.  It wasn't doing any good sitting in my stash so I got busy and cut it up.  Three are matted and two aren't.  One has a circle "frame" around a portion of the design.  I was able to complete three of them with little strips of sentiment made from a stamp/die set from Taylored Expressions.

It's Friday and people will be wanting to celebrate Memorial Day Weekend.  This year is going by so fast for me in spite of the virus that has kept us pretty close to home for a long time.  I hope all of you have remained safe and healthy.  Have a great weekend and I hope you'll come back next week.

SYMPATHY CARD

Tomorrow:  Using up a sheet of Designer Paper

Thank you for stopping by today!

2 SYMPATHY CARDS

The father of a friend of our and one of my classmates died recently.  These were made using the Stampin' Up! Botanical Builder thinlits.

Thank you for coming by today!

Tomorrow:  Another sympathy card

MYSTERY CHALLENGE - Final project

This had me completely confused.  There was no sample shown to us.  We were simply given a Clue periodically of what to do.  The first clue was the materials we would need with the measurements and other supplies.  Then the instructions came one by one.  A few missteps were made along the way but I finally got it.  Once again I used some long retired designer paper from Stampin' Up!

Below is a recap of all of the projects I made from April 25 to April 30.  What a fun few days!

Tomorrow:  2 Pretty Sympathy cards

Thank you for coming by today!

CHALLENGE - Make A Pop Up Card

The retreat started off with this as the first class and I thought I was going to be in for a real challenging day.  I watched the class but decided to try one of these much later.  Since I had decided to make some of these into holiday cards, that helped me get started when I was brave enough to give it a try.  The theme I chose was Christmas.  

The card base is SU Pool Party card stock.  I stamped the very large snowflake with VersaMark on Pool Party card stock, heat embossed it with white powder and then cut it out with the matching die. (See below for inside.)

This proved to be a really fun project and I'm so glad I took up the challenge.  I think whoever receives this card and opens it will get a nice surprise.

Tomorrow:  Mystery Challenge 

Thank you for coming by today!

CHALLENGE: Make a Gift Box

This was a little confusing for some reason but a second one would be much easier.  I wasn't sure of myself so I chose some old SU Halloween paper and decided to just use it as a beginning try.  I made a couple of  "Oops" when scoring and cutting because it was the second project of the day when I made it and was getting tired. (Good excuse anyway.)

Monday:  Make a Pop Up Card

Thank you for coming by today!

Since the one design had black cats, I pulled out a set of black cut dies to use.  Below you can see the inside and see how there is a little place to insert a "gift".   Since this is for Halloween, I'll insert a couple of treats inside for some special little Trick Or Treater.

CHALLENGE: Make Your Own Designer Paper

I had never done anything like this and I was pretty intimidated by it.  I really wasn't sure what I would come up with but was pretty happy with what I did.  After I "randomly" stamped the designs around a piece of card stock, I cut them into strips and made this card.   The sentiment on the belly band was perfect for the dp I had made.  Below is a picture of the card opened up.

Tomorrow:  Make a Gift Box

Thank you for coming today!

CHALLENGE: Using a provided format

The pretty designer paper I had used on the Starburst card was still on my table so I decided to use it for this challenge.  It was a quick and easy card and went out in the mail the same day I made it.  

A family friend heard we were running out of puzzles and actually ordered two for us.  When the package arrived, we had no idea what was inside because we hadn't ordered anything from that company.  Inside there were two 1000 pc puzzles!  There was no name to tell us where it had come from.  We assumed it was from one of our daughters but she denied it so I posted the story on Facebook.  The mystery was then solved but she said she had wanted to keep us guessing for awhile.  

I wanted to thank her for the surprise so returned the favor and sent her a package of my cards and this thank you card.

This was not part of any challenge but since I had a small piece left I decided to make one more quickie card with it.  The mat isn't from Stampin' Up! but happened to be in my container of small paper pieces and it matched perfectly to the green.  Waste not, Want not.  

Interesting note about this card:  I was preparing it to send to a friend and her husband who celebrated their anniversary on May 3rd.  I had added a white piece of card stock inside for the sentiment and added it to the inside. But then I messed up when stamping the sentiment. I was able to remove it and made a new insert before adding it to the card, but this time I added it and it wasn't straight at all so I tried remove it and in the process the fold of the card tore!  I cut the front off and added it to a 5" x 6 1/2" card - but after i made sure the inside was done just right!  At least I saved it!

Tomorrow:  Make your own Designer Paper (Now this was a challenge for me!)

Thank you for coming by today!

CHALLENGE: Use Blending and Frame

This is the new Ornate Garden stamp.  I love it and it was a great one to use the SU Blending pens.  The frame and card base are SU Seaside Spray.  I love this color and I almost passed on it.

Tomorrow:  Using the Format

Thank you for coming by today!

CHALLENGE - 2 Make a Scrappy Cards

The challenge was to make a card with narrow strips.  Two samples were shown so I decided to do both.  One was like the card above and the other is shown below.  Some people save leftover narrow strips in a container and make these cards using the pieces from various pieces of designer paper or even card stock.  Since I didn't have any scraps like that already,  I chose some coordinating sheets from a 6 x 6 designer paper pad and started cutting.  I like these papers together.  

Then I punched two flowers with the SU Daisy Punch and 1 from the Medium Daisy Punch.  The center is from some of the designer paper.

For this card I covered a piece of card stock  changing up the direction of the strips and then added the flower.

Tomorrow:  Blending

Thank you for coming by today!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! (3 views)

On Palm Sunday my mother fell and fractured her left shoulder and left wrist.  She has been in a rehabilitation facility ever since and unfortunately will have to spend Mother's Day there.  I wouldn't be able to get together with her anyway because she lives in an independent living center. and they have been locked down for over  month.  She enjoys my cards so I wanted to really step it up and make something different and special for her.  I know butterflies make me smile so I was hoping she would enjoy this one.  Mother has to go to a doctor on Tuesday.  I'll get to see her in person and give her this card then.

I saw a video of a card using this method with different designs.  The butterflies from the SU Botanical Butterfly designer paper made this one a really easy choice.  I'm not sure but this technique may be an accordian fold.  It's not that difficult to make.  It just takes a little planning for the designs you want to put in the folds and then that will help you decide which designer papers to use.

Tomorrow's card from retreat: Scrappy Card 

Thank you for coming by today!

CHALLENGE - Window Card

The challenge was just to make any type of window card.  But the demonstrator stepped it up and made her sample with the "Floating Image".  Since I had never made one, I took a deep breath and gave it a try.  It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought.  Before mailing this kind of card you carefully turn the image several times so that when the recipient pulls the card out and opens it, the image will spin.

Inside

Sunday:  Fun card for my Mother on Mother's Day

Monday's Card:  A Scrappy Card

Thank you for stopping by today!

CHALLENGE - A Fun Fold Card

Once again, this is an easy card to make but a little more fun for the person receiving it.  I used the patterned paper from the Botanical Butterfly designer paper from Stampin' Up!  Below you will see two more view of the card.

Tomorrow:  Window Card with added challenge

Thank you for coming by today!

UP, UP AND AWAY

PP #489 Challenge

I just received the retired hot air balloon dies a few days ago and thought it would be a fun card to make for this challenge.  It's been a long time since I've participated in the Paper Players challenges.

The light blue card stock was embossed with the clouds, I added the other pieces and think it's a happy scene.

CHALLENGE - Starburst Card

Any combination of designer papers can be used for this design, but when I thought of "Sunburst" I immediately thought of  Yellow.  These are papers from two different Stampin' Up! designer packs.  It's fun when you can use the reverse side of a dp design, but I didn't like the reverse side of the flowers for this card.

Tomorrow:  Fun Fold Card

Thank you for coming by today!

THE CHALLENGE - Make 5 cards with 6 x 6 dp

On April 25th five wonderful Stampin' Up! demonstrators gave an all-day retreat.  There were 11 challenges plus two other videos with ideas.  We were given a week to complete any or all of the challenges and post them for a chance to win a prize in each of the categories.  I'm not expecting any prizes, but I sure did have fun all week making them and was able to complete all of the 11 challenges.

If you follow my blog, you know I really had fun recently making cards with One Sheet Wonder patterns. This was the second class of the day and very easy to complete.  Class #1 was going to take some serious thought so I waited with that one until the end.  My posts will not be in the order of the classes because I tended to do the easiest ones first.  

I like the One Sheet Wonders because as with this one, I had a piece that was left from this pattern and it worked out perfectly to get the pieces I needed.  Tomorrow come back for the Sunburst card I did next.

Thank you for coming by today!

SENDING HUGS TO A FRIEND

Recently one of my friends lost one of her furry friends that she had loved for nearly 20 years. I remember how hard it was to lose the two furry friends we had adopted.This is the card I made for her. 

It just happened that I had seen a card using the "book binder" side to it and I'd never made one before so I used the idea for her card.   Below you can see two more pictures with different angles.

Tomorrow I am going to begin posting cards that I made after signing up for an all-day stamping retreat on April 25th. It was so much fun!  I will post one of the cards made for the challenges each day so you can see all 11 of them.  So be sure to come back!

Thank you for stopping by today!