3" Cuties, Cards 6 and 7

I have two more 3" cuties to share with you today.  These are the last of the bunch.  

This one is done with a Sahara Sand card base.  I sponged a few highlights onto the 'brick wall' background, along with a stamped off image at the bottom corner.  It adds a lot of texture to it.   

Sadly, this dotted embossing folder is retiring, but I hang onto most of my embossing folders.  When a new catalog comes out, I try my best to purge my stamps, but I have trouble letting go of any of my Big Shot items.  Anyway, most people who are not demonstrators hang onto their products, so I like to show them ways they can still use them and combine them with some of our new products.  

I did a major purge of my punches this last week, which is a big deal for me.  I will be having a nice big sale as a part of my Open House/New Catalog Party on June 26.  If you live in the area, you'll want to drop over for the party and enjoy some great deals, some new Make and Take projects, and a ton of fun.

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- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or look on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration. 

Acrylic Block Technique Cards, Part 8

Recently, I shared an Acrylic Block Technique card with you, using By the Tide and silver embossing.  Today, I have a similar one, using gold embossing. 

I've used some of our new Gold Cord on this card, as well.  I chose the Decorative Dots Embossing Folder to give a vague nod to underwater bubbles.

This pretty card could work for most any occasion where a card is needed.  I've been using Marina Mist a lot lately.  It sat by quietly just waiting for me to come back.  It really is a beautiful shade of blue.

Come back for more Acrylic Block Technique cards.  

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Tutorial for My Happy Flowerpot Card

I am thrilled to say that I've received a lot of fun emails since my previous post.  Everyone was excited to learn more about my Happy Flowerpot Card.  I guess it ended up being a teaser,
So... here are the details.  

General tips and info for my cards:
Inside of card:
I like to line the insides of my cards with a 4 X 5 1/2" piece of CS.  I either stamp on parts of it or, as with this card, I add a strip of coordinating DSP --- usually just 1" wide.

Coordinating envelope:
I either stamp on the envelope or add DSP to the flap on the envelope or cut an envelope liner from DSP.

The card front for this card:
Cut a card base of CS  (4 1/4 X 11").
Score at 5 1/2" (using Simply Scored Tool) and fold.  Crease using a bone folder.
Cut a piece of CS (4 X 5 1/4").
Lay this piece over the front of your card base with the card open.
Cut the smaller circle first, just as you would when using 2 punches, through both layers.
Now you know your circles will be lined up.
Use the opening to determine where to place the next larger size framelit.
Cut this larger circle through just the top piece of CS.
Stamp or emboss after cutting out your circle.
Attach this top layer using dimensionals.
Cut a 4 X 5 1/2" piece of DSP and another piece of CS (same color as base/same size as DSP).
Attach these 2 pieces together and then attach behind the front of the card, so the DSP shows through the circle opening.
Cut 'happy' and determine where to attach the ends of the letters.  Place Liquid Tombow or 2-Way Glue over the ends of the word and carefully attach over your circles.
Sit back and admire.

Whew!  There you have it.  Please let me know if you have any further questions.  I love sharing with you.  I hope you'll try a card like this.  Once I figured out the circle placements, the rest was super simple.  Let me know if you come up with a new version of this and share it with all of us.

Click here to see all the photos of my card.

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Happy Flowerpot Card

I love our Flowerpot DSP and used it to make a happy card.  This paper makes me happy.  The card sends a happy message.. literally.  We're actually going to make this one at my upcoming class ... making beautiful cards using Thinlits and Framelits.  I'm really looking forward to it.   

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A Journaling Card for A Card

Today, I'm sharing a card I made using a Project Life Journaling Card.  I love these little cards and they seem to come in handy for lots of things.  Today's card is in pretty Coastal Cabana.  I don't think I need any explanations here.  The photos kind of tell it all.  Enjoy!  

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A Fancy Bunny Card

I have another bunny card for you today.  This one is a fancy version of the bunny card from my previous post.  It features some easy coloring that makes a big difference.

The image was stamped and embossed onto Whisper White CS and then lightly sponged over to color the entire oval.  I added touches of coloring using the Aqua Painter and ink pads.  It's really easy to color the tiny images when you emboss them first.

I dressed up the envelope and the inside of the card, as well.  

I decided to add a fluffy tail to my happy little bunny.

I honestly think this one looks better in real life.  Sometimes, it's difficult to capture it all in a photo.  It is a really pretty card and I like it.

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

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Fall Card With Cute Little Squares

I've taken some time off to work on puppy training and hope to get back to a lot more stamping now, as well.  Here's another Fall card for you today with cute little squares.

Once again, I stayed with colors from our Color Me Autumn DSP for my color story.  I've used Crushed Curry, Blackberry Bliss and Mossy Meadow.  I've embossed the layer directly beneath the squares.  I've spritzed a little sparkle onto the embossed layer, but I don't think you can see it in the photo. 

The leaf squares are popped up on Stampin' Dimensionals and I sponged around the little banner.

You'll notice that I have a couple more cut leaves, as embellishments on this card.  (I made a lot of them)  Here's the set of framelits I used to cut them.

They are shown here on the magnetic card I use to store them.  Notice how I added a number to the top corner, to remind me to check if they're all back on the card before I put them away.

Puppy Update:
The puppy training is still quite a full-time job but I do have lots to share with you and think it will be easier, as time goes by, to keep up with it all.  They are growing fast and my days of carrying them both at the same time will soon be over.  They have lots of toys and I love watching them play with them all in their pen.  The play pen has been a life-saver!  Buster can go up and down the 4 steps off our deck.  Lilly has a harder time going down, because she is smaller.  All this would be a lot easier if we hadn't had so many wet, rainy days here.  Thanks for stopping by and come back soon.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

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Dip, Dye, Emboss, Spritz and Glitz, Part 7

Are you ready for the last of the series from my techniques album?  Have you tried any of the techniques yet?  If you do, I hope you'll share what you create.  Today, let's finish off the album with some more beautiful techniques using watercolor papers.

Page 17:
Stamp images onto watercolor paper.  Spritz with water and then Vanilla Shimmer Mist.  Sprinkle with sea salt.  Let dry and then brush off the salt.  This makes a unique background that is a wonderful surprise each time you try it.  I'll have more fun examples of this technique in some of my upcoming posts.

Page 18:
This next technique is so much fun and comes out a little different each and every time you do it.  Create a unique background using an embossing folder.  Ink the label side of an embossing folder with 3 complimentary shades of ink (using sponges to apply ink).  Spritz folder with water.  Lay watercolor paper onto the wet side of the folder.  Close folder and press evenly.  Remove paper and spritz with more water, if needed, to even out the color.
Optional:
Add shimmer by spritzing with shimmer mixture.
WARNING:  This technique is rather addictive because it's so much fun!!!

And that's our album.  After all those wonderful pages, I couldn't leave the back cover plain.  I stamped it, spritzed it with water, let it dry and spritzed it again with shimmer.  Pretty!!!  (It's even more striking in real life, but you'll just have to come and see it to believe it.)

Thanks for stopping by!  Come back soon for more fun design techniques and inspirations.

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Oh Happy Day! Embossed Stripes

Keeping my knee iced and elevated yesterday helped a lot.  I will be cautious today, but I'm ready to get creative!  Today's card is one we'll be making at my next Friday Night Cards class.  In playing with our new In Colors, I decided to create a card that uses ALL the new In Colors.  I came up with embossed stripes.  I love how all the colors work together.

Once again, I coordinated everything by decorating the envelope and the inside of the card with coordinating papers.  To add the ribbon, I tied one piece of ribbon around the card front.  Then, I tied a short piece of ribbon around the first piece, to add a more elegant look.

Embossing the layer of stripes adds a lot of great texture.  I decided that 1 little rhinestone would add the finishing touch.

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Very Hungry Caterpillar Party

As I mentioned in my previous post, my daughter-in-law and I get together each year (for 3 years now) to create all the party stuff for Olive Jane's birthday.  It is so much fun.  This year, I was delighted when Olive chose to have a Very Hungry Caterpillar party.   There were a lot of ideas out there that sparked my creative mode and, with the help of many, wonderful Stampin' Up! products, here is what I designed and then Jen and I made them all.  Spoiler alert:  If you're coming to the party and want to be surprised, stop here!

The book:
This is a big anniversary year for Eric Carle, so Olive Jane has great taste! 

The invitations:

The treat bags are from our Celebration Basics Kit and then I added the coordinating invitations.  I got out one of my most favorite (retired) stamps sets ever (Bugs and Kisses) to use the caterpillar stamp for the envelopes.

The treat bags:

The thank you cards:

The color story:
Chocolate Chip
Crumb Cake
Garden Green
Gumball Green
Old Olive
Real Red

The finishing touch --- personalization:

It's difficult to read the second stamp at this angle.  It says 'Thanks from Olive Jane.'

We decided not to make a birthday banner this year and try our hand at making a caterpillar from big lanterns.  I can't wait to see how it all comes together!
Perhaps, if you have a little one, this post will give you some party theme ideas.  I think we're going to have a great party.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

Levi Tag Card

Sometimes, the tiniest little touch of embellishment can add so much to a project.  This is the way I feel about the Levi Tag ribbon embellishment.  It is so named because of the little tag on the pocket of a pair of Levi's jeans.  It's a good use of those little ribbon scraps, too.  Today's card has several special techniques that bump up the card to a 'wow' level.  Take a look:

See how cute the Levi tag looks on the card.  A really nice thing about this tag is that it pops up to add a nice dimensional element to the card but doesn't make a problem for mailing it like bulky embellishments can sometimes do.  I save those types of cards for hand delivery.  Problem solved:)

Special features of this card:
- an extra (tone on tone) layer that is embossed
- layered vellum flower (Both layers were embossed and then colored on the back.)
- Levi tag for an embellishment
- a great color story of Sahara Sand and Crisp Cantaloupe
- a coordinating, lined envelope

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or click on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.