The May 31st Blahs

Tomorrow, the new Stampin' Up! catalogue goes LIVE! I for one cannot wait because there are fantastic products coming. So many great new stamp sets, papers & accessories. I know you'll love it too!

Maybe my creative funk lately is because I'm saving all my creative juices until I get my hands on those new products! :) June 1st can't come soon enough...

Speaking of June, the coming month seems to be all about the men. When I think of June, I think of BBQing (not that women can't do that too!), Father's Day and the beginning of Summer. I have also been doing a lot of "manly" cards lately... Maybe the month of June has something to do with that.

Here is a hybrid card I did recently that has deemed to be very popular. The motorcycle is a stamp image I purchased in My Digital Studio (MDS) - big news around MDS in the new catalogue too! - and the sentiment is hand stamped. Simple, but I think it turned out great!

What do you think?

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Double Whammy

I'm back with another Friday Mashup card and a custom card I did for a customer recently. First, I'll briefly chat about The Friday Mashup!

This week's challenge is entitled "Boys Will Be Boys". The "Mashup" Challenge is to either:
1. Make a project for "that special man in your life",
2. Make a project with the "sketch":

3. Or, "Mash it Up" and create a "masculine card using the above sketch".

I decided to "Mash it Up".

I chose to do a simpler card using the Tool Shed stamp from Stampin' Up! It's hard to tell in the picture (sorry about that!), but the first layer is embossed foil - cool, eh?! Then I've popped up each layer after that with dimensionals. Each layer is layered perfectly so that you get the entire image of the stamp, even though the image was stamped 3 separate times. The final layer is also layered on foil. I added a simple sentiment and some wire accented with a "screw" brad.

What do you think?

I recommend checking out The Friday Mashup to see all the other creations from the same sketch and maybe try doing a challenge yourself. They're tons of fun!

Next...

A couple of weeks ago I was commissioned to do a custom card for a barber's 60th birthday. The client wanted something "barber themed" and this is what I came up with:

Again, the background is embossed and I created a barber poll as the focal point. Again, hard to tell from the picture (sorry!), but I popped up a sheet of acetate to give the whole thing a 3D look. I'm really happy with how this turned out, and so is the client... which is what counts!


What do you think?

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Mojo Monday!

Here's the sketch for this week's Mojo Monday:

I'm starting to really enjoy these challenges. I get great inspiration from the sketches and from seeing the other fabulous crafters who post their designs. It's amazing to see so many different creations just from one sketch! I got this one in just in time since the deadline is tonight at 8... here's my take on it:

What do you think?

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

The Bashful Blues

A while back I designed a few wedding invitations for some clients. They really liked Bashful Blue with white. They fell in love with one design in particular and before I knew it, I was making 170 of them! Here is what the final result looked like:

 

There was lots of embossing and cutting to be done! This invite was very time consuming... I don't know what I was thinking when I designed them, but I'm sure you can agree that they came out beautifully with lots of WOW factor. :) Unfortunately, aside from the Bashful Blue & Whisper White, not much else is SU! The client fell in love with the embossing folder used on the front of the invite (also used behind the invitation itself) and SU! doesn't have any fancy decorative embossing borders that would work with this invitation.


Now that you have a little background information on the wedding invitations, you'll understand my theme for the 100 thank you cards I just completed for the couple. I really couldn't commit to doing the same card 100 times, so I made several different designs. I also added in some neutral colour tones to the colour scheme and here are the finished cards:

 Stamps: Baroque Motifs (retiring May 31st), Sincere Salutations (retiring May 31st)

Stamps: Baroque Motifs (retiring May 31st), Perfect Punches

Stamps: Sincere Salutations (retiring May 31st)

Stamps: Papaya Collage (NEW for 12/13!), Tiny Tags

Stamps: Sincere Salutations (retiring May 31st), One of a Kind (RETIRED)

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes

Stamps: Baroque Motifs (retiring May 31st), Elizabeth (retiring May 31st), Perfect Punches

 

 Stamps: Sincere Salutations (retiring May 31st), Faith in Nature, Hostess Set (retiring May 31st)

The majority of materials used for these cards was SU! However, I did manage to get rid of some non SU! ribbon I had kicking around (slowly I'm switching over to all SU! product because it's far superior to other brands!) and also some retired SU! product I had too.

What do you think?

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

I'm A Glamette!

So last week I entered a card design over at The Friday Mashup! and I'm so humbled that my card was named as a Mashup Glamette! Which means, I get to post this honorary badge:

There were so many great posts and such fabulous designs... it's not too late to head on over to check them all out! And don't hesitate to comment on your favourite designs because it's always nice to know that people appreciate your work. :)

I've only recently started getting involved with these types of challenges and let me tell you, they are TONS of fun! Not only do they get your creative juices flowing, but it's unbelievable to see all the different creations people come up with just from a single sketch. I highly recommend that you at least try one out. But I warn you... once you start, you won't be able to stop!

I'll probably be back later with pictures of a few things I've been working on...

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Friday Mashup!

I know, it's Tuesday... but I thought this card would be great for Friday Mashup! FM59. The Mashup challenge is to make a project "with a Decorative Edge!", or make a project with "Ribbon &/or a Bow", or to "Mash it Up" and create a project "with a Decorative Edge & Ribbon".

I "Mashed it Up" by using the scallop decorative edge to create a dress and added some ribbon around the waist.

What do you think?

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Mojo Monday!

When I saw today's sketch over at Mojo Monday, I immediately thought of the new Bitty Banners Framelits that are debuting in the 2012 - 2013 Stampin' Up! Catalogue. Here's the sketch:

See that banner at the top? Well, that's what inspired me to create this birthday card using LOTS of Bitty Banners - that's a lot of rolling through the Big Shot!

What do you think?

It's pretty bold & busy, but I think it works! I cut out 1 banner in a sheet of whisper white cardstock, then glued 45 (!!) banners around that point. Once all was dry, I ran it through the Big Shot again using the Top Note Die. I popped that up to give the card some dimension, added a few other accessories (notice another banner used, folded, behind the button?!) and added some layers of DSP & coordinating cardstock and my card was complete.

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Bitty Banners!

Here's a sneak peek for ya! The new Itty Bitty Banners Framelits! Love them, especially because there's also a coordinating stamp set for them (not used here). This card was so quick and easy, and turned out super cute! There are 3 banners in this Framelits set. I used the smallest one and the curvy one to hang on the "rope" (a.k.a. baker's twine) and then the largest one to cut out a spot to stamp "Happy Birthday". I also used several NEW In Colors - Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit & Gumball Green.

The best thing about Framelits is that you can use them anywhere on the page, giving them a great advantage over punches. And guess what?! SU! is coming out with many new Framelits & coordinating stamps in their new catty which premiers June 1st!

What do you think?

Paper: First Edition Specialty, Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green
Ink: Gumball Green
Stamps: You're My Type
Tools: Big Shot, Bitty Banners Framelits
Accessories: Brads, Baker's Twine

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Mother Dearest

Mother's Day is only a few short days away, so today I'm featuring a Mother's Day card instead of a sneak peek... although I might come back later with one of those. :)

This is a step-fold card. The middle section is embossed and then the rest of the panels are covered in FABRIC! Isn't it sweet? The flower is also made entirely of fabric and then accented with one of my favourite vintage brads!

What do you think?

These were a hit at the craft show last weekend and I think I might just have to make some more.

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Sneak Peeks!

So, it's been a little nutty around here lately. Of course I was busy prepping for my craft show on the 6th (which was a success!) and then there was the much anticipated release of the 2012-2013 Annual Stampin' Up! Catalogue, my mom's (big) birthday... and now I have time to play again... with some sneak peek products from the 2012-2013 Stampin' Up! Catalogue!

Now, it's only available to us demonstrators right now, but will be available to everyone on June 1st! All I can tell you is that I'm in LOVE with most of the catty and although I can't show you any images from it, I can share some projects I've made with the items that will be available to you come June 1st.

Here's a simple birthday card I made using some of the new In Colours and the stamp sets Make a Cake & Itty Bitty Banners. I also used some of the new grosgrain stitched ribbon, Patio Party DSP & the Itty Bitty Banners Framelits!

What do you think?

With the new In Colours (and come June 1st, all of the current colours), come the NEW and improved ink pads. They are a firm-foam pad and let me tell you that I'm also in love with those! You get the crispest image every time, with every stamp!

I'll be busy making more sneak peek projects in the coming days, so stay tuned for more.

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

For the Girls!

Woah, it's been a while! As you may or may not be aware, I'm taking part in a craft fair on Sunday (check out the sidebar for more information). I'm buried up to my head in cards & other handcrafted items - that's almost 6' of crafts! :)

Anyway, thought I'd share a quick picture of one of my favourite cards I've made... okay, one of several favourites. I thought I was quite clever using the tools I did. I created this card for the girls who are getting married. This would make a great bridal shower card.

Take a look and tell me what you think.

I used the scallop edgelit to create the ruffles on the dress and the large heart punch, trimmed, for the top. I added some ribbon, pearls, more embossing to the background and viola!

Hope to see you Sunday...

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph