sniff... sniff

My time has come to step down from Sunday Stamps. It's been a wonderful two years designing with many lovely ladies along the way. You've seen some new faces on the DT over the last few months and I know that these ladies will continue to wow you with their awesomeness!

For my last post as a DT member, I wanted to give a little sneak peek on new products coming out in January. I kept the card fairly simple because I wanted to showcase the delicate butterfly - a new Framelits collection from the Occasions catty. Do you recognize that stamp set? Probably not... but you can earn that beauty for FREE during Sale-A-Bration!

These delicate Framelits will take a little patience (clearly I've got to spend a little more time cleaning up my cutouts in the future), but I think well worth the effort! I am a sucker for butterflies after all and I think these Framelits are a definite WOW! Can't wait to play with them a little more...

You've got three weeks - until Friday, January 2nd - to play along with us this time around and hope you'll join in the fun! 

Until next time, stay crafty!

Steph

RECIPE:
Paper: Whisper White, Soft Suede, Daffodil Delight, Bermuda Bay
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Daffodil Delight
Challenge: Sunday Stamps

Colour Challenge for Sunday Stamps!

Welcome to another week at Sunday Stamps! This week we've got a colour challenge - Cherry Cobbler (red), Daffodil Delight (yellow), Pumpkin Pie (orange) & Tempting Turquoise (blue)... neutrals are also always welcome, should you choose.

This one was tough for me! Not just the colour combo, but also because I was challenging myself not to make a Fall or Thanksgiving card (these colours were screaming me to do so!).

A while back I did many posts around buttons, and today I went back to them again. I knew I still had some of these colours in there. I added some jewels to them (because who doesn't love bling?!) and placed them on top of some punched butterflies.

After stamping the butterflies on the base layer, I embossed it with the Honeycomb TIEF for some added interest. After all was glued, I felt like it needed something else. I remembered seeing a project with baker's twine and I thought that would be a nice touch. Turns out I was right!

Hope you'll be able to play along with us. I know you the colour scheme may be tough, but I hope you'll challenge yourself. That's what this is all about anyway, right?! Don't forget to check out the other DT Member Blogs and link up before October 31st!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph


RECIPE:
Paper: Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Tempting Turquoise, Daffodil Delight & Pumpkin Pie
Ink: Cherry Cobbler
Stamps: Kinda Eclectic
Tools: Big Shot, Honeycomb TIEF, Bitty Butterfly & Butterfly Punches
Accessories: Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Buttons, Jewels
Challenge: Sunday Stamps

DSP Butterflies

Today is a very simple card and a quick post - one that has been sitting in my "drafts" for months now. :)

Using scraps of DSP (Designer Series Paper), I punched using the two butterfly punches from Stampin' Up!. I wasn't concerned about which patterns to use, I just punched and glued two different patterns together. There really wasn't a match that didn't work.

After embossing my card layer with the Honeycomb TIEF, I adhered my butterflies and added some pearls for extra texture and interest.

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph


RECIPE:
Paper: Naturals, Very Vanilla, Various DSP Scraps
Tools: Big Shot, Honeycomb TIEF, Butterfly Punches
Accessories: Pearls

Hummingbird Collage

Here's a card I did (before the summer, even!) featuring one of the Best of 25 year stamp sets. This one is Best of Shelli and features a good assortment of random images - perfect for collages!

I don't usually use so many bright colours together, but this card makes me happy. I had created several punched embellishments from scraps, so I picked two colours and built from there. Using (seven) different colours on a card is also new for me. ha. It works though because I let the collage be the focal point.

Collage stamping is fun and turns out different every time. I think I'll have to look through my other sets now and see what other creations I can come up with. With the right set, projects can come together really quickly. Great for when you need a card in a hurry!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph


RECIPE:
Paper: Crumb Cake, Pistacio Pudding, Tangerine Tango, Melon Mambo
Ink: Calypso Coral, Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay
Tools: Big Shot, Decorative Dots TIEF, Flower & Butterfly Punches
Accessories: Sequin Trim, Organdy Ribbon (retired)

Nothing But Embossing

So, if you don't know by now, I sell all my cards and today I have some quick and easy ones to show you. In fact, the reason for having ignored my Blog for the last several days is because I'm preparing for a big show on Monday.

After this year's retirement of colours and products, I was left with a lot of product, paper especially. I sold some off and have come up with several projects to help use up the remainder that I can no longer demonstrate with... but that I still love and can utilize in my card sales. Of course, I'd like to share these ideas with you too!

These cards are so simple and I love them! I went with tone-on-tone and each layer is embossed and popped up on the base. I have made several different varieties using many of my embossing folders, some specific to special occasions, like birthdays, and others like this one featured here that can be used for any occasion.

You can view most of my varieties here. I sell them in packs of three, with envelopes for $6.00.

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

RECIPE
Paper: Lucky Limeade
Tools: Big Shot, Manhattan Flower TIEF

Coral Floral for Sunday Stamps

I know, it's Monday and I'm late with my post! The truth is, I have come to realize that many of my photos were extremely dark. I spent yesterday retaking all my photos, and took several of this card. I was finally happy with it, but now dropping it into Blogger, it seems very off.

Paper: Pistachio Pudding, Naturals Ivory, Gold, Calypso Coral
Tools: Big Shot, Honeycomb TIEF, Blossom Punch, Boho Blossom Punch
Accessories: Pearls

Can I just say that I'm in love with Pistachio Pudding! Such a yummy colour, and I think that paired with Calypso Coral and Gold is a super sweet combination! I will definitely be using this one again.

This card is very simple. No stamping, just punching! I still had several flowers left over from a kit I had (that happened to be in Calypso Coral) and then all I did was pair some with some punches with the Blossom Punch. I punched one in the Pistachio Pudding layer to let the card base show through and then used the punched out flower for the inside of my card.

Be sure to check out what the rest of the Design Team has created over at Sunday Stamps and I hope you love this colour combo as much as I do!

Until next time, stay crafty!


Steph

Honeycomb for Sunday Stamps

It's Sunday and our bi-weekly challenge over at Sunday Stamps. This week is a sketch challenge (created by yours truly) and I hope you can play along with us!

Paper: Calypso Coral, Pistacio Pudding, Naturals Ivory
Tools: Big Shot, Honeycomb TIEF
Accessories: Pearls, This & That Washi Tape, Die Cut Flowers (retired)

I'll start by saying that I am really happy with this card - the 15+ pearls in the center of the flower and the pleated Washi Tape draws the eye, I think. But to be honest, I had been thinking for the past few weeks (since I created this card) that since it was my sketch and the challenge fell on my birthday, that I should create a birthday card with this sketch layout. I unfortunately never got around to it...

Well, maybe I'll create some belated birthday ones with this sketch. It's a simple & versatile one. So versatile, you should head on over to Sunday Stamps (if you haven't already) and check out how the rest of the design team used it & then play along! As always, they rocked it... and there are even a couple of birthday-themed ones too. :)

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Gold Elegance

I'll give you a break from the Christmas cards for today. Here is an elegant gold embossed card, inspired from the SU! Convention:

Paper: Modern Medley DSP, Very Vanilla
Ink: Black StazOn, Versamark
Stamps: Happy Day
Tools: Big Shot, Fun Flowers Bigz Die, Perfect Polk Dots TIEF, Heat Tool
Accessories: Very Vanilla Button
Techniques: Heat Embossing

I randomly stamped and heat embossed directly on the DSP with gold and did the same on the Very Vanilla pieces for my flower. I embossed the middle flower to break up all the gold embossing and instead of using the two smallest pieces from the die, I used a button that is also heat embossed in gold. Did you know you could do that?!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Colour Challenge

It's Sunday and a new challenge over at Sunday Stamps! This week is a colour challenge & hope you'll play along... this combo challenged me!

Paper: Soft Suede, Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder, Tempting Turquoise
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Wisteria Wonder
Stamps: Mixed Bunch
Tools: Big Shot, Chevron TIEF, Blossom Punch
Accessories: In Color Printed Brads (retired)

I just realized how off my picture is. Sorry for that! It's actually much more vibrant than it looks. Anyway, this colour combo really challenged me. Not a combo I've ever used before or would have used, but that's why I love this challenge! Gets me thinking and working outside of my comfort zone.

The challenge is open for two weeks and we'd love to see what you can come up with!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph