fresh & fun

Here is a baby boy card with this beautiful set. This set is so cute. I used it first when I got my order and just continued to stamp the images in the new in colors on white cardstock and oohed and aaahed. They are so pretty!!! I think they would make great card candy!

I started with a a 3 3/4″ x 6 1/4″ piece of Kiwi Kiss cardstock, scored at 3 1/2″  and punched the right edge with the Scallop Edge punch.

The inside of the card shows a 3/4″ wide strip of Hawaiin Papaya Designer paper, followed by a 1/4″ wide strip of Whisper White. What you can’t see in the photo is the 2 1/2″ wide strip of Baja Blue cardstock that finishes of the inside.

The sentiment is simply stamped in Baja Breeze and punched out with the Wide Oval punch and adhered slightly over the scallop edge with dimensionals. To be able to tie the Chocolate Taffeta Ribbon I punched small holes on the spine and slightly under the oval image.

I know my latest cards look simple. I am very much into simple and clean right now. The new stamps are perfect for it.

Have a wonderful Sunday! Hugs and smiles

 P.S.: I haven’t forgotten about Scrapbook Sunday. I will start it again soon (I hope).

Have I mentioned how much I love the hostess set Punches Three yet?

I can’t believe I made four cards with this set. Here is the first one.

The card base is a 4″ x 8″ strip of Whisper White cardstock folded in half.

I cut a 2″ x 4″ piece of Hawaii Papaya Designer Paper, punched the bottom edge with the Scallop Edge Punch and taped it on the lower half of the card.

Over the designer paper I tied Striped Pink Pirouette Grosgrain ribbon.

For the main image I stamped the baby stamp from Punches Three once in Pink Pirouette, one in Riding Hood Red on Whisper White cardstock. I punched the Pink one out with the Wide Oval Punch (Which I LOVE!) and layered it on a Riding Hood Red scallop oval that was cut with Oval Nestabilities. I cut the sentiment part out of the red stamped image, adhered it to the pink layer with dimensionals and placed Ruby Red brads on each end of the cutout.

Easy peasy with an unusual color combo….but I think it’s cute anyway!

Have a great weekend! Hugs and smiles

I played mostly with my Level 1 Hostess set Punches Three for the last two days, but the card I made for the sketch challenge was with Best Wishes & More. Originally I had planned to have three birds in the main panel, but I changed it to three flowers.

I started out with a 8 1/2″ Whisper White square that I folded in half.

On the bottom of the card front I adhered a 2″ x 8 1/2″ strip of Hawaii Papaya Designer Paper and scalloped the bottom with the Scallop Edge Punch (I am telling you, you NEED it!!!).

I tied Tangerine Tango grosgrain ribbon around the card, placing it on the top of the designer paper.

For the main panel I stamped three flowers from Best Wishes & More on a 1 7/8″ x 4 5/8″ piece of White cardstock, the two outer onces in Baja Breeze, the one in the center in Tangerine Tango.

I stamped the same flower three more times in Chocolate Chip and punched their center out with my 3/4″ circle punch. Those punchouts were layered on the colored flowers. The center flower was topped with a new Designer Circle Brad. Well….I took the brad and tried to add it and the back part came off. So I adhered the top piece with Crystal Effect. I hope the other brads won’t fall apart like that!

The white layer was adhered to a 1/4″ bigger piece of Baja Breeze and on a scalloped Chocolate Chip rectangle, that was cut with the Long Rectangle Nestabilities. None of the Nestablities sizes fit perfectly, so I cut out the one that fit height wise twice and pieced it together to fit my layers.

I paper pierced a border around the edges of the White cardstock. It still looked a little blahhhh…so I added two vertical paper pierced lines to divided up the space. Last I added Crystal Effect over all three flowers and set that panel aside.

I inked up a bird in Tangerine Tango and outlined it with Chocolate Chip Marker before stamping it on Whisper White cardstock. The bird was cut out and the eye and wing was highlighted with the Chocolate Marker. Next I added sparkles with my Gelly Roll pen from Sakura and a Crystal Effect layer.

I stamped the sentiment “Couldn’t do without you” on the bottom right in Chocolate Chip.

I cut two 1″ x 8 1/2″ strips of Chocolate Chip and two 1/4″ x 8 1/2″ strips of Kiwi Kiss. The Kiwi Kiss strip was taped on the top of the Chocolate Chip strip and paper pierced. I taped on of those strips to the bottom of the inside of the card, another on the back of the card front.

I am in love with the new in colors, punches and stamps. I am having so much fun!  Have a wonderful weekend! Hugs and smiles

To participate in the challenge and be entered in the  raffle, make a card with this layout and upload it either to your blog, or to an online gallery.

 If you upload your card on SCS, put WSC55  (NO SPACE INBETWEEN WSC AND 55) in the keyword section. That way we can look at all of them at once!

Post a link to your card to this blog entry as a comment. Please add your entry# to it.

I will determine the winner  with Random.org on Monday at 11:00 a.m. CST

To see samples made with this sketch now, check out the blogs of

Cambria Turnbow

Charmaine Ikach

Jenn Balcer

Laurie Schmidlin 

Lori Craig

MaryJo Albright

Sharon Harnist

Have fun creating! I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

SCS submissions

The stamps are here!!!! I am in love!!!!

I love that the new stamps are die cuts now. I had to mount (blushing here) 15 stamp sets and I finished mounting them last night! No sore hands from cutting all the stamps. I even had time to stamp a little bit.

When I first saw the new In Colors, I knew I would love them all except for Pacific Point. It’s so bright. Well….I changed my mind. I used it on my first card. It looks great with Kiwi Kiss and Baja Breeze.

Sorry about the image.

It’s not quite as sharp as I wanted it to be.

But it’s still early and not that bright out yet.

I started out with a 3″ x 6″ piece of Baja Breeze cardstock folded in half.

Next I stamped one of the sentiment of the Bella’s Bloom stamp set  in Pacific Point on a 1″ x 3″ strip of Pacific point. I taped that strip to the bottom of the card.

Then I punched the bottom of a 1 3/8″ x 3″ strip of Bella Rose Designer paper with the Scallop Edge punch (boy….everyone NEEDS that punch!!!) and adhered it right over the sentiment. At the upper edge of the designer paper I tied 5/8″ Old Olive Grosgrain ribbon.

For the main image I inked up the flower from Bella’s Bloom (isn’t it gorgeous???) with Old Olive marker and Baja Breeze ink pad. Before stamping it on Whisper White cardstock, I inked up a sponge dauber with Pacific Point and added that ink to the edge of the flower head. The image was punched out with the 1 1/4″ circle punch and layered first on a 1 3/8″ Kiwi Kiss circle, then on a scallop circle in Pacific point.

To spice it up a bit I added Dazzling Diamond glitter to the flower head. Two 1/4″ Pacific Point circles were adhered to the top right of the card and Old Olive brads were attached to their centers.

On the inside I added another small strip of Pacific Point cardstock stamped with the same sentiment as on the card front, topped with a 1/4″ paper pierced strip of Kiwi Kiss.

The small flower from Bella’s Bloom was stamped in Pacific Point on Whisper White cardstock, punched out with the 1/2″ circle punch and adhered with a silver brad in the center.

Today and tomorrow I have friends coming over to play with my new goodies! Wohoo! What’s better then getting to stamp with friends and new stamps!

Have a wonderful day! Hugs and smiles

MaryJo Albright wrote today’s wonderful tutorial on SCS. I wanted to make a sample yesterday, but I had a nasty migraine that started after grocery shopping. I spend the rest of the day in my dark bedroom. This morning the medicine finally started working. That’s why my post is a bit late.

I incorporated Monday’s technique challenge Faux Dry embossing, also known as Shadow stamping, and Tuesday’s Color challenge (Rose Red, Basic Black and Kraft).

I stamped my Rose Red cardstock base with the Stitched Background in black ink.

For the center panel the main stamp from Essence of Love was first stamped in White Craft ink, then overstamped with Rose Red craft ink on Kraft cardstock.

And yes, I actually used my Stamp-a-majic. Usually I don’t use it (too much work) and just eyeball, but for this technique it is essential.

I layered the Kraft cardstock on a scalloped black layer I had cut with Long Rectangle Nestabilities. I paper pierced the edges of the Kraft cardstock and stamped My Friend from Fundamental Phrases in black on the upper right hand side.

Retired ribbon was tied around the front panel. Over it I layered the sentiment. It was stamped on Whisper White cardstock in black ink and punched out with my large oval punch. The “weed” stamp was stamped in Rose Red classic ink after stamping it off twice and the edges were sponged. The oval was layered on a 1 3/8″ Kraft circle and a black scallop circle.

I inked up the butterfly from Essence of Love with Rose Red classic ink and outlined the edges with the black journaling marker. It was stamped on white cardstock and cut out. I adhered one butterfly on the top left of my main panel and another one made just like that on the top right of the sentiment panel. Last I added Dazzling Diamond Glitter with Crystal Effect over both butterflies.

If you haven’t made one of these cards, go ahead. Try them out. They are super easy. Let’s fill the new gallery made for it on SCS. Add a link to your card in the comment box here so I can check it out.

 Have a great day! I hope my migraine will stay away so that I can play with my new goodies that should arrive early this evening. I just CAN’T wait!!!!!

Here is the card I created for today’s Inspiration Challenge. I can’t wait for my new stamps. I want to use them SO bad!!! But…I hadn’t used this set before. It’s almost like having a new set right? NOT! LOL! 

I picked Ruby Red, More Mustard, Always Artichoke and Basic Black as the colors, kept the square layout and flowers in the center. I first wanted to use Heartfelt Thanks. But….my center square got way to small for the flowers from that set.

I started out with a 4 1/4″ x 8 1/2″ piece of Basic Black cardstock folded in half.

Next is a sponged 4″ square of More Mustard followed by a 3 3/4″ square of Ruby Red.

The Ruby Red square was sponged on the edges, stamped with the stripes from Happiness. A border was added in black with one of the All in a Row borders (no way will I get rid of this set! What was SU thinking to retire it???)

For the center panel I inked up the flower bouquet from Best Kind of Friend with Always Artichoke, More Mustard and Ruby Red Markers, sprayed it with my water mister and stamped it on a 1 7/8″ square of Very Vanilla Cardstock. I sponged the edges with Creamy Caramel and used the Color Spritzer and More Mustard Marker to add the speckling. Last I added a doodled border with my 03 black Micron pen and added some definition lines to the stamped image with the same pen as well.

The Vanilla square was layered on a 1/4″ bigger sponged  and paper pierced  square of More Mustard and a Black scallop square that was cut with my Square Nestabilities.

When I stamped the flowers, the weren’t quite centered. So I added a sponged 3/4″ ruby red circle on the bottom left, topped with a large Pewter Eyelet. I tied Moss Taffeta ribbon through it. 

The sentiment is from the same set. It was stamped in black on Vanilla cardstock, punched out with the small oval punch and sponged with Creamy Caramel. Again I added speckles with the Color Spritzer and More Mustard marker.

A 1″ More Mustard circle was sponged, stamped with the vase of Best Kind of Friend (for texture) and taped on a Designer Label Punchout. After taping the oval over it, I paper pierced the top of the oval and added a Three for you flower in Ruby red on the top right. For the flower center a Fire Rhinestone brad was used.  Both the center panel as well as the sentiment were adhered with dimensionals.

This framed poppies print si by Jo Moulton and can be bought at Coldwater Creek.

Use the colors or the pattern….anything that will inspire you to create your card.

I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

Check out the cards made by the Inspiration Challenge Team:

Charmaine Ikach 

Danielle Lounds

Dawn McVey 

 Jennifer Buck

 Silke Ledlow 

 Susan Roberts If you upload your image to your splitcoast gallery, don’t forget to add BIC20 in the keyword section. That way your card will appear in this search: SCS Submissions

Random.org picked #64 for this week’s WSC winner.

That is Deborah with wonderful card!

You can see more of her work on her blog Stampin’ on the Mountain.

Thank you all for participating in the challenge. I still have to check some of the entries out, but every card I have seen so far looks gorgeous!

I have to admit. I slipped back in summer laziness. I had a friend over on Friday and Saturday and Sunday I just read. No new shares.

Thank goodness Fay didn’t arrive here until Saturday. But besides gusty wind and rain we didn’t get hit hard. We are still expecting rain and thunderstorms until Wednesday, but nothing like the East and the South of Florida experienced. My thoughts and prayers are for everyone there.

I made this pouch a while ago while writing the tutorial for SCS.

I remember making this fold back in elementary school to use as a cup.

It’s a perfect little pouch to give away small goodies and show off the beauty of the double sided paper.

I used a 8 1/2″ square of  Bella Rose Designer Paper, the large flower from the Pretties Kit along with a button from the new Designer Button assortment.

Wednesday evening my new stamps should arrive. I can’t wait. Too bad our street is always one of the last ones on the UPS route! But at least the stamps are coming.

Don’t judge me about the size of the order. LOL. My September order will be just as big. I can’t help myself. I want it all!!! Here is what I ordered:

• All the new punches, including the punch kit
• Most new ribbon
• Flower, Filigree and circle Designer Brads
• Designer Paper: Parisian Summer, Urban Garden, Hawaii Papaya and Green Tea
• Snow Swirled
• Eastern Blooms
• Pocket Silhouettes
• Inspired by Nature
• Upsy Daisy
• Under the Stars
• Contempo Alphabet
• Only Ovals
• On your Birthday
• To You & Yours
• Best Wishes & More
• Party Hearty with wheel
• Flight of the Butterfly
• Bella’s Bloom

Next month I will preorder stamps from the Holiday mini catalog, more stamp sets and paper and the Big Shot! I can’t wait!