Baby Alpha

Believe it or not, I've got so many "draft posts" that I never got around to writing or publishing during my disappearance. Some of the upcoming posts will be older projects (that may even feature now retired items!), but I'll mix in some newer stuff too. What I'm saying is, I've got posts coming out my...

Anyway, here are some cards I designed using my Alphabet Home Decor print I designed and sell in my online store. These were misprints, but perfect enough to cut up and use on some cards! Check 'em out:

These babies were actually quite popular that I've just about sold out of them! Other than my print, I just accented with ribbon and some texture with an embossing folder and glimmer paper. The paper colours aren't your typical soft hues for a baby card, but it works! At the time, I was trying to use up retiring In Colors...

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph


RECIPE:
Paper: Gumball Green, Primerose Petals, Summer Starfruit, Naturals White, Whisper White
Ink: Gumball Green, Primerose Petals, Summer Starfruit, Early Espresso
Stamps: Zoo Babies, Baby We've Grown
Tools: Big Shot, Decorative Dots TIEF, Scallop Circle Punch, Circle Punch
Accessories: Stitched Satin Ribbon (retired)

DSP Series: Card and Envie

This is Day 3 of my series on DSP and today I've created an adorably cute 3-½" x 5" card with coordinating envelope, all from DSP! This is made super easy with SU!'s Envelope Punch Board.

I made my card base from two scraps of card stock - Primrose Petals & Basic Grey and then layered with DSP. I accessorized with pearls and coordinating ribbon.

If you've been following along, I hope you're enjoying this series. Also, if you look back over the last several posts, have you noticed I've been using the same DSP and stamp set to make cards and projects for different occasions? Stay tuned for more on that also. :)

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

RECIPE:
Paper: Primrose Petals, Basic Grey, Birthday Basics DSP
Ink: Basic Grey
Stamps: Petite Pairs
Tools: 1-¼" Circle Punch, Artisan Label Punch, Envelope Punch Board
Accessories: Pearls, Summer Starfruit Stitched Satin Ribbon

DSP Series: Tags

This week, I'm focusing on DSP - Stampin' Up!'s Designer Series Paper. They offer a great variety of double-sided, high quality 12x12 paper. It's awesome! The thing is, sometimes people don't know what to do with it. The first few posts this week will be simple projects and then we'll get into some more detailed ones.

First up, tags!

These ones are simple 2x3 inch tags. I simply cut some Naturals Card Stock, made a hanging tag from some coordinating ribbon and then glued DSP on the other side. So quick and simple, this took me less than five minutes! How cute would these be with a coordinating card and bag?! Stay tuned later in the week for some ideas. :) In the meantime though, you can check out one of my bags here.

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

RECIPE:
Paper: Naturals Card Stock, Birthday Basics DSP
Accessories: Summer Starfruit Satin Stitched Ribbon

Team Swap

Every month for the last few months, we've done a team swap. This past month the idea was a holiday card in non-traditional colours. I was still feeling Christmas cards, so that's what I did:

I got the inspiration from a card on Pinterest by Vicki Wu and the Eastern Elegance DSP. I love the colours and designs in it and thought "I could make that work for a Christmas card!". I pulled the colours from the DSP - Summer Starfruit and Smokey Slate and as my neutral, I used Naturals White.

I heat embossed the Beautifully Baroque stamp in Smokey Slate and used the coordinating TIEF of the same name for the background. I heat embossed the sentiment (inside & out) using Silver because I wanted it to stand out more... and what's a Christmas card (or any card for that matter) without some bling?! I randomly adhered some jewels and used some Silver Glimmer Paper. I gotta tell you, I am loving the look of scattering jewels randomly on a project. You should try it out!

Until next time, stay crafty!

Steph

RECIPE:
Paper: Naturals Ivory, Eastern Elegance DSP, Summer Starfruit
Ink: Summer Starfruit
Stamps: Beautifully Baroque, Petite Pairs
Tools: 1-3/8" Circle Punch, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Beautifully Baroque TIEF, Big Shot
Accessories: Jewels, Summer Starfruit Satin Stitched Ribbon
Techniques: Heat Embossing

Piece of Cake

For an SU! event I attended a couple of weeks ago, I created a swap card. Check it out:

Lots of techniques on this card - distressing, clear block stamping & paper piecing. I love SU! Designer Series Paper (DSP) because it's double-sided and coordinates so beautifully. Makes paper piecing so easy!

You'd never know it, but I stamped the cake image on the back of the DSP I used (in the bottom corner) so that I could cut out the pieces I needed for the cake. I didn't have to waste any DSP this way and I hid it all with my top layer. ;)

If you'd like to purchase this card, you can do so here.

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

RECIPE
Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Birthday Basics DSP
Ink: Pool Party, Summer Starfruit, Early Espresso
Stamps: Sketched Birthday, Petite Pairs
Tools: Distressing Tool, Spritzer
Accessories: Summer Starfruit Satin Stitched Ribbon, Jewels
Techniques: Clear Block Stamping, Distressing, Paper Piecing

M is for Merry

I created this card so long ago that I don't even remember now where these scraps are from, but this card was created based on scraps! Check it out:

Paper: Cherry Cobbler, WW, Gumball Green
Ink: Cherry Cobbler
Stamps: Occasions Alphabet
Tools: Big Shot, Elegant Lines TIEF, Labels Framelits, Merry Minis Punch Pack
Accessories: Gumball Green Stitched Satin Ribbon

This card came together really easily since everything was in my scrap pile, there wasn't a lot I had to do. The only thing really was to punch the trees in the label and then I put the punched trees inside my card. Can't forget about the inside!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Stamp Cases Revamped

When SU! changed their wood-mount stamp cases with the release of their new catalogue this year, I was not only extremely excited, but also started to think of ways to use the old ones. When the ideas started flowing, I wanted more! Thanks to my lovely and generous sideline, Laura Bart, I got 100's. Here's one way I used them:

Last night we went to visit friends in their new home. I wanted to bring them a little something (naturally, cards) and wanted to package them up nicely and quickly. What did I use? Old stamp cases of course! A little Sticky Strip, some lovely Stitched Satin Ribbon in Midnight Muse and this box fit four of my note card packs and a card... that I didn't need an envelope for because of the clear case. :)

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Pierced Ornaments

Today I have another Christmas card I created. The only stamp I used on this card is for the sentiment. The rest is paper pierced. Check it out:

Paper: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla
Ink: Gumball Green, Raspberry Ripple, Early Espresso
Stamps: More Merry Messages
Tools: Big Shot, Stripes TIEF, Paper Piercing
Accessories: Jewels, Stitched Satin Ribbon

I used the ornament Paper Piercing Template to pierce my ornaments of choice. Once that was done, I used my Stampin' Write Markers to "connect the dots"... this gives the look of stitching. I fooled around a bit with my Blender Pen and moved some the ink around to give the ornaments some colour.

I added some ribbon to the top of each ornament and A LOT of bling with some jewels.

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Christmas in July Series - Post 5

This has got to be one of my favourite cards from this series so far. I just love how it turned out and I'm quite proud of myself for really pushing my brain for this one!

Paper: Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Baked Brown Sugar
Ink: Pistachio Pudding, Early Espresso
Stamps: Papillon Potpourri, Delightful Dozen
Tools: Punch Pack Punches
Accessories: Summer Starfruit Satin Stitched Ribbon, Jewels

If you read my supplies above, it wasn't a mistake that I wrote Papillon Potpourri as one of the stamp sets used! Can you believe it?! When I first started this series, I pulled out all the stamps I thought I could work with. At our team meeting on Tuesday, my sideline (thanks Mirela!) was talking about how she's addicted to using this stamp set on all her cards... so that made me want to try using it for Christmas!

I used some grade school skills for this card... I cut a template from a piece of scrap paper and then randomly stamped one of the butterfly images, making sure to get into my pointed corners. The delicate design really worked for this:

I used the middle butterfly on the right.

Now I really set the bar high for myself on using non Christmas stamps for this series! But I gotta tell you, this has really helped me to be more creative and think about my stamps in a completely different way. I might have to try doing this series for another occasion later on, but for now, I can't stop making non-Christmas Christmas cards!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

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

For the Mashup

It's been a loooooong time since I've played along with any online challenges. The Friday Mashup is one that I've enjoyed and I decided to play along this week...

Paper: Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Sycamore Street DSP (SAB Sneak Peek)
Ink: Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, Island Indigo, Summer Starfruit
Stamps: Simply Soft (Retired Hostess), Perfect Punches, En Francais
Tools: Big Shot, Honeycomb TIEF, Labels Framelits, XL Oval
Accessories: Summer Starfruit Stitched Satin Ribbon

This card was inspired by one I saw on Pinterest by Kristin Moore. I went a little overboard on the patterns maybe, but I think it works. The challenge this week is to use at least three of the suggested colours (Early Espresso, Summer Starfruit, Tangerine Tango, Island Indigo, Sahara Sand) &/or to use patterns. I mashed it up by doing both.

I had a lot of fun making this card and I hope you like it!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Mr. & Mrs. Snowman

Today I have a couple of cute tags to show you. I have seen many like this floating around the net, so I can't credit just one person with the idea. For my tags though, I used the stamp set Stylin' Snowfolk and that I have not seen yet. :)

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Black, Peach Parfait, Blushing Bride, Pool Party
Tools: Big Shot, Two Tags Bigz Die, Modern Label Punch, Curly Label Punch
Accessories: Basic Grey Ribbon, Primrose Petals Satin Stitched Ribbon, Baker's Twine

The base is a tag using the Two Tags Bigz Die. For the "Mr.", I made his hat using 1/2 the Curly Label Punch and the Modern Label Punch. All the stamping is using the Stylin' Snowfolk stamp set. Perhaps I was inspired by Movember, which is why I gave my "Mr." a stash... to finish off, I added a ribbon scarf to each.

I made this cute couple into a pair of hanging tags. Perfect for holiday gifts!

What do you think?

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Boo!

Happy Halloween!! I'm back today with a short post about some Halloween fun. I finally got my computer back (needed a new hard drive!), luckily everything was backed up.

I made some treat bags for the little toddler munchkins that will be coming through the neighbourhood tonight. I had fun making them. The other kiddies will just get a mix of candies and chocolates. I wouldn't dare do up packages for everyone... we have well over 200 kids come through on Halloween. The candy alone puts us in the poor house! haha

Paper: Googly Ghouls Kit
Ink: Black, Summer Starfruit, Pumpkin Pie
Stamps: Googly Ghouls
Accessories: Baker's Twine, Summer Starfruit Satin Stitched Ribbon, Googly Eyes, Tags

Every year, as a family, we also carve our pumpkins. My little one really enjoys gutting it and then my hubby and I carve them. He usually does two and I concentrate on my own. I'm happy with mine this year, but it's certainly not my best. I really had to force myself to carve it last night... this prego mama has no energy!

Anyway, hope you have a wonderful and safe Halloween! I'll be back with another post tomorrow.

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Back to Spool!

September brings a new, fabulous Promotion!! For every $50 you spend (before tax and shipping), you receive a FREE spool of 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon in your choice of one of the five new In Colors. There's no limit either - spend $250 and get all five!! Ribbon is valued at $12.25 each.

This ribbon is fabulous! It's so easy to work with and you get 10 yards per spool. This is a great deal and should not be passed up. Contact me today for further information and to place your order. Don't miss out, this Promotion ends September 30, 2012!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph