Easter Sunday... and Sunday Stamps!

Happy Easter everyone! If you're visiting from Sunday Stamps, welcome... and so glad you decided to play along with us this week. Hayley has got a great sketch challenge for us this week and since it's Easter, I created an Easter card.

Paper: Island Indigo, Summer Starfruit, Birds of a Feather DSP
Stamps: Everybunny, Delightful Dozen
Accessories: Raspberry Ripple Satin Stitched Ribbon, Jewels
Techniques: Watercolouring

As you can see, I flipped the sketch. That's the beauty of sketch challenges... it's a base to go on and then you can switch it up slightly and use your imagination. I almost always flip a sketch every which way before I create to see if that sparks some design ideas.

I used my all time favourite Easter set - Everybunny - and even though the DSP wasn't meant to be for Easter, the colours and some of the patterns from the Birds of a Feather DSP pack work perfectly for such a card.

I stamped the egg plant in StazOn and then watercoloured the images with a Blender Pen. I cut the images into banners and popped up a fifth banner with the sentiment on it. For some added texture, I added some of the gorgeous Satin Stitched Ribbon.

I hope you'll play along with us this week. This sketch is sure to spark some creativity... especially when you check out what the rest of the wonderful Design Team has come up with!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Everybunny for Sunday Stamps

It's another week, which means it's another challenge over at Sunday Stamps. Joan has a wonderful colour challenge for us this week! Check it out:

Paper: Calypso Coral, So Saffron, Rich Razzleberry Paper Stack (Brights), Watercolour Paper
Ink: Brights Watercolour Crayons
Stamps: Everybunny
Tools: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots TIEF, Blossom Punch, 2-1/2" Circle Punch

I just love the bright colours for this week's challenge. I find So Saffron to be a rather dull yellow, but it seems much brighter when paired with the other colours, don't you think?! I kept the card fairly simple. I focused mainly on the image, which I watercoloured with my crayons and a Blender Pen. I hadn't used those in a while...

Instead of adding bling, I added a couple of banners from the Brights Paper Stack and cut three petals from the Blossom Punch. I popped up my image and the three petals for a little dimension.

Hope you like my design and head on over to Sunday Stamps to play along with us!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Fancy Wedding

Sometimes I create cards that are truly unique and "one of a kind" because for one reason or another, I wouldn't be able to create an exact replica. Today's card is an example of that (and you'll see why below)... Check it out:

Paper: Very Vanilla
Ink: Soft Suede, Baja Breeze
Stamps: Sweet Essentials, One in a Million
Tools: Big Shot, Fancy Fan TIEF, Decorative Label Punch
Accessories: Pleated Ribbon (retired), Antique Brad

The beauty of this card is that the flower is created from some tulle I saved from another wedding (that had mints in it). I reused the piece of tulle by punching out some scallops and folding them in fourths to create my flower. I then simply added some pleated ribbon and the sentiment and the card was complete.

This card will never be created again because I do not have the tulle anymore and although I managed to punch some scallops from the tulle, it was a real pain & wasted a lot of it trying to get good punches. I love how this card turned out, but it's not worth it to try and recreate it. :)

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Best Wishes for Sunday Stamps

Well, better late than never... right?! This post is way late for Sunday Stamps this week, but if you saw my post the other day, you'll know why. :)

Holly had a great colour combo challenge for us this week and here is my design:

Paper: Baja Breeze, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Black
Stamps: Fabulous Florets, Sincere Salutations (retired)
Tools: Big Shot, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Lacy Brocade TIEF,
Decorative Label Punch

I used one of my all-time favourite sets - Fabulous Florets, along with another favourite, but retired set, Sincere Salutations. I just can't get rid of that one because I love the font and the greetings.

I don't know why, but the colour combo spoke "wedding" to me, so I created a card that could be used for a wedding or a shower. Heck, it could even be used for an anniversary. I didn't add much "bling" to the card, but instead, fussy-cut and popped up many of the flowers for dimension and embossed for some texture.

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Baby, Baby!

I thought I would take a quick sec here to let you all know where I've been. I haven't purposely been ignoring you... my bundle of joy finally decided to make his entrance into the world on Friday!

We are thrilled to welcome Nicholas into our family. Big Sister Mikaela is especially excited, as you can tell from the photos. :)

I couldn't just post a photo or two, so I did up a quick little page in My Digital Studio (MDS). Extra fast and simple when you use a pre-done template that I customized to my liking. Gotta love that! I also have a few projects lined up over the next few weeks while we all get settled in, including designs for Sunday Stamps... stick with me as I promise not to disappoint.

Until next time (maybe a bit longer than usual), stay crafty!
Steph

Mmmmm... Cupcake!

I love cupcakes and the cupcake on this card looks so scrumptious! This card is pretty much a CASE off Pinterest from Kimberly VanDiepen.

Paper: Calypso Coral, Sweet Shop DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder
Stamp: Sweet Cake
Tools: Big Shot, Labels Framelits
Accessories: Pear Pizzazz Seam Binding Ribbon, Sweet Shop Brads
Dazzling Details

I know this card uses all retired products, but I still wanted to share. This card just screams Birthday! I love the bright colours of this card... they just make me so happy. I didn't have to do much with this card. Stampin' Up!, for one thing, does the work for you when they create lines of products that all coordinate together - stamps, paper & accessories. Plus, part of the DSP pack that I used included a piece of embossed paper (the polka dots), so I didn't need to use a folder for the effect. :) Love SU!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

The Easter Bunny is Coming...

... and he stopped in at Sunday Stamps! This is the first Easter card I created this year. I can't believe Easter is just around the corner!

Paper: Crumb Cake, Pink Pirouette, Rose Red
Ink: Rose Red, StazOn
Stamps: Everybunny
Tools: Big Shot, Fancy Fan TIEF, Scallop Circle Punch, Oval Framelits,
Blender Pen, Watercolour Crayons (Brights), Paper Piercing Mat Pack & Tool
Accessories: Two-tone Ribbon
Kit: Pop-up Posies Designer Kit
Techniques: Watercolouring, Paper Piercing

Instead of using the banners in Joan's sketch this week, I opted to pleat some ribbon instead. I also figured out that the Oval Framelits work wonderfully with the Pop-up Posies labels. I was happy about that!

For the bunny, I whipped out my Watercolour Crayons (haven't used those in a while!) and forgot how easy they were to use. I added some subtle colour and then inked the edges for some pop!

Now check out what the rest of the Design Team has created for you and then play along with us this week! Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

I'm Still Waiting...

Wow, have I been ignoring my Blog or what?! Thanks for sticking around... I do have lots of projects coming up (I promise!), I'm still just waiting for my bundle of joy #2 to arrive. :) Could be any day now...

In the meantime, here is a quick little project I did in MDS for my daughter. It hangs in a frame for three pictures and I continue to swap out two photos as she grows.

I CASEd the layout from my blogging friend Tara (Murphy) Bourgoin who is an MDS genius! Her's was entirely text and I opted to add a newborn photo in the middle.

I chose to share this project now because you'll see another very similar one when this baby decides to make it's entrance into the world... and because MDS is great for so many things. It's especially great and easy to use for all those popular home decor projects you could pay big bucks for elsewhere! :)

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph