I'm Back!

I know, I know... another long hiatus! I was consumed in 4 floors of "stuff" for the last week. We took part in a huge neighbourhood yard sale yesterday and I can't believe how much "stuff" I managed to pull out of my house! I was purging like crazy, packaging and pricing... every day! I had no time for anything fun. :( I shouldn't complain though, my hard work paid off... and I'm not ashamed to say that I crashed before 8 p.m. last night. ha.

Now on to why you came to my blog... the crafty stuff! Since I was on such a long hiatus, I needed some inspiration. What better way to get some inspiration than to find a challenge that interests me. Well, I found two! Mojo Monday and Sunday Stamps. Here are the sketches:

I decided to combine both challenges since Mojo Monday had a sketch challenge and Sunday Stamps had a Colour Challenge. Here is the card I created based on these two challenges:

What do you think? I love, love, LOVE the new Stippled Blossoms stamp set from SU!. It is such beautiful set and since I just got it last week (but didn't have time to play with it!), I had to use it when I found the opportunity to stamp today. I also used one of the new embossing folders from the Delicate Designs Textured Impressions set. I added some Daffodil Delight Seam Binding Ribbon and some hat pins that were in the last Occasions Mini.

I'm really happy with the way this card turned out. Just so cheery!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Colour for The Paper Players

This week I had the opportunity to play with The Paper Players! It was a fun colour challenge because the colours are fabulous and they just look so great together! Here's the colour scheme:

Banners are all the rage now... especially so since SU! just released some Bitty Banners Framelits in the recent catty. They are so adorable! Well, I didn't use them on this card, but used them as inspiration. I cut all my banners by hand using a mix of card stock and ribbon.

For this card, I used the Basic Gray Striped Ribbon (that just retired). I haven't used it until this card... so it was time to create something with it! Then I added Melon Mambo & Lucky Limeade card stock in different widths. I embossed all the hand-cut banners with different embossing folders and my oh-so-loved Big Shot!

I accented with a Melon Mambo button (retired) and the Lucky Limeade Organdy Ribbon that I stocked up on from the last SAB. :) I thought it added a little something extra treading it through the button and fanning it out.

What do you think?

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

The Last Humming Bird

This is the first time playing with Pals Paper Arts. The challenge this week (PPA136) was a colour challenge. In order to participate, you had to use Real Red, Night of Navy and Whisper White in your design.

Here's what I came up with:

It's hard to tell in the photo, but I interlocked two frames that I cut out with the Labels Collection Framelits and then cut out the inner pieces the same way so that everything would fit nicely together. Cool, eh?! Before gluing everything down, I stamped the floral image from Elements of Style and if you've been following my blog, you'll notice I used that humming bird again (!) from the same stamp set. I promise, that's the last of my humming bird cards for a while. :)

I embossed the card front with the NEW fan embossing folder from SU! and then created a flower with folded ribbon. The Real Red Grosgrain ribbon that I used is retired now, but it's the only ribbon I had in that colour. I threw in some hat pins (also retired), glued on my humming bird and viola!

What do you think?

Until next time, stay crafty! 
Steph

Battle of the Demos

Ok, not really. But our Demo group, lead by our fabulous leader, Leena Girsa of A La Cards had a "back to basics" challenge that I just loved! Here's what we were given:

• Two pieces of DSP:  4x6 and 2x6
• Whisper White CS 3 7/8" x 5 1/8"
• Rich Razzleberry 4 1/4 x 5 1/2
• Tempting Turquoise 4 1/4 x 5 1/2
• Daffodil Delight 4 x 5 1/4 and 2 x 5 1/4
• Island Indigo 4 x 51/4
• Real Red 2 1/2 x 5 1/2
• Tangerine Tango 2 1/2 x 5 1/2
• Card Bases in Real Red, Lucky Limeade and Whisper White
• 12" of Daffodil Delight stitched grosgrain ribbon
• 16" of Daffodil Delight seam binding ribbon
• 18" of Lucky Limeade baker's twine
• 5 brights buttons
• 2 glimmer brads

The goal was to create as many projects from the supplies - no BIG SHOT, but we could use any stamps and punches we had in our possession. I admit, I was stuck for a long while because I absolutely love using the Big Shot and just felt lost without it. I just didn't think I could create a "wow" factor without it. Finally, I told myself just to start cutting and it wasn't long before I got down to business.

Here's what I came up with:

What do you think? I'm sure you've noticed that humming bird again! :)

We had to make at least 2 full cards, and in addition to that, I made 2 bottle tags, 1 bookmark, 5 teeny tiny gift tags, 1 mini card, 2 mini tags and 1 "scrapling". That's 14 projects!

I urge you to give this a try. It's lots of fun and you'll be amazed at what you can accomplish when you go "back to the basics".

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Mash It Up!

I love playing with the ladies over at Friday Mashup! so I had to post again today. Lucky you! This week's challenge was to use the sketch, incorporate birds in your design, or to "Mash It Up" and use the sketch AND birds. Again, I just had to mash it. :)

Here's the sketch:

 

And here's my creation:

 

What do you think?

As I mentioned in a previous post, I just recently inked up Elements of Style and I've been using it a lot! Since this stamp set has a humming bird in it, I thought it would work well for this challenge.

First, I stamped the floral image in Soft Suede ink on a piece of First Edition Specialty Paper - love that stuff! I created a frame by nesting two framelits from the Labels Collection to create kind of an abstract window. Seam Binding Ribbon in Daffodil Delight and Crumb Cake add some texture - the first I scrunched across the card and the latter was used to create a rosette. The white daisy and hat pins are retired SU! product, but thought they added something to the card. Lastly, I accented my flower with a lovely Vintage Brad and added my cut-out Cherry Cobbler humming bird in order to "Mash It Up".

Until next time, stay crafty!

Steph

Swaps

On the weekend, I attended a Demonstrator Event. It was a ton of fun. Part of that event (as I'm told happens with all SU! events), is that there was an optional swap. It was my first one and although it was daunting at first, I can tell you that I'll be participating in them again! So much fun and you get so many great ideas from the cards you receive.

The hard part for me was finding items to use that I had enough of... but after participating in this swap, I found out it's not necessary to have them all the same. Good to know for the future!

So on to my swap card. I really didn't do much stamping with this one, but instead created a fun "locking" card. I used mostly cardstock and fabric.

What do you think?

 

I just love the Labels Framelits collection. So versatile and easy to use. The Big Shot was definitely my friend on this card. At the last minute, I decided I wanted to also do a little stamping... so I used some stamps from the Papaya Collage and Memorable Moments stamp sets. The latter actually has a nice outline stamp that coordinates with the Labels Framelits. How perfect! I also hand-drew some faux stitching on the front label to mimic the inside stamp... did you catch that? :)

Until next time, stay crafty!

Steph

Royalty

I'm back, after a long hiatus. I've been busy over the last week working and creating, chasing my 2 year old around, attending a Demo event last weekend and watching the Euro. :) Don't worry though, I've got lots of posts and samples coming your way. In fact, it was hard to choose where to start...
Today, I have a post for the challenge over at Stampin' Royalty. It's my first time playing with the ladies over there. Here's the sketch for this week:

 

I decided to keep my design pretty simple. I used some new In Colors and the humming bird from Elements of Style. You're going to see me using this set a lot over the next while because I just recently got my inky hands on it and I LOVE IT! I accented with Baja Breeze, and used Midnight Muse (love it!!) and Summer Starfruit (learning to love it!) from the 5 new In Colors.

What do you think?

 

Like I said, I kept it pretty simple and other than the humming bird, didn't stamp any other images or sentiments. The Big Shot and punches were my friend for this card.


Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Today's the Day!

 

New Catalogue Day!! So excited that June 1st is here. Today, the new 2012/2013 Stampin' Up! Catalogue goes live and the products are available for purchase after noon MT (SU! has to update it's online ordering system with all the new goodies!).

As if the new Catty wasn't enough, there are several other great promotions too! There is even more incentive now to host a Stampin' Up! party, or join in the fun!

If you host a qualifying party of $575 or more (before taxes and shipping), you earn an EXTRA $60 in hostess benefits! That's a total of $150 PLUS 1 item at 50% off... you can spend your hostess benefits on anything you want in the catalogue! How awesome is that?! This promotion will run for the months of June & July. So gather up some friends and contact me today to book a party!

Now is also the time to join in on the fun! Whether you want to sign-up to start a business, or just want to support your crafting addiction hobby, now is the time to join Stampin' Up! Not only do you get to choose up to $155 worth of products for your FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE Starter Kit, but during the month of June, you will also receive up to $60 worth of select products from the brand-new Patio Party Suite for FREE - this includes the Make a Cake Stamp Set (your choice of wood or clear-mount), the Patio Party Designer Series Paper AND the Patio Party Digital Collection DVD (for My Digital Studio). All this for $125, FREE shipping! Contact me today to learn more, or click on the "Join the Fun" tab at the top of this blog.

Until next time, happy crafting!
Steph