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birthday dots

Hello all! This is a crazy month as we prepare for our daughter’s wedding on Oct 2! Plus, we just finished the annual Stamp-n-Storage Warehouse Sale. Add in other life happenings and I’m not sure where the month went. I wanted to share the card I made for my husband Brett’s birthday earlier this month.

I love polka dots. The Scattered Dots Turnabout stamp from Concord & 9th is quickly becoming a favorite in my studio. As are the new C&9 inks! I absolutely LOVE the colors. For this card I used Midnight, Aqua Sky, Stardust and Dove. The present is from the collaborative set Happy Birthday by The Stamping Village.

It’s been awhile sine I have done a shaker card, so I thought this would be a good time to tackle one. I used 1/8″ and 1/4″ hand held circle punches to created the confetti for inside the shaker.

It is a happy coincidence that my husband’s initials are BH. So I took the cut letters from the front and added them to the inside to personalize the card.

I hand wrote his name with a white gel pen. It added a fun touch to the inside of the card. I really should add to the inside of cards more often. I think it really makes them more interesting. What do you think about decorating the inside of cards?

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you are loved

Last month, I was commissioned to create a first anniversary card for a friend’s daughter and son-in-law. She gave me free rein to create whatever I wanted. Hmmm. Where do I begin? I have been practicing my watercoloring lately, so I started with a fun water color background.

I used Petal Pink, Calypso Coral and Crumb Cake markers scribbled on a silicon mat. Spritz with water and press watercolor paper onto mat to pick up the ink. I let the first layer dry some then repeat to deepen colors. The anniversary couple loves the outdoors, so I added the Birch background stamp on the card base.

I really enjoy creating special cards when people ask. Lots of love and care goes in to each creation. Thanks for stopping by! Join me again to shine a spotlight on creativity!

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sunflower smile

Hello, friends! Summer is coming to an end. Fall is right around the corner. One of the sure signs of the end of summer are the fields of tall sunflowers. They really are beautiful. Today’s card was inspired by a field of sunflowers on a cloudless, bright blue sky day.

I stamped the small sunflower image from the Celebrate Sunflowers set on watercolor paper. I colored the panel with my Karin watercolor markers. They are so much fun to work with. I love the bright, vibrant color I was able to achieve. The wood print from the In Good Taste designer series paper pack is a perfect background and gives the card a rustic feel. The sentiment is from the Daisy Lane set. I embossed it in white on black card stock, then colored the word with my Daffodil Delight Stampin’ Blend marker.

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pcc #391

Hello friends! We are kicking off another month of creative challenges at the Paper Craft Crew with a fun twist – CASE the PCC Design Team!

I decided to play with the adorable Really High Five set from Lawn Fawn.

Isn’t that little mouse the cutest?And that tiny little party hat!! Floating along to wish you a Happy Birthday. Love it!!! I also love the pops of bright colors against the white.

Head on over to the Paper Craft Crew page and you will find the Design Team’s awesome creations. Choose your favorite, put your own twist on it and get creative. Be sure to share your project once you are done. And let me know if you choose to CASE my card. I’d love to see what you come up with!

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paper craft crew challenge #390

It’s Wednesday and that means it’s time for the next Paper Craft Crew Challenge! Each Week, PCC issues a new challenge to inspire your creativity. The design team kicks things off to offer up some inspiration for you. This week it is a fun vertical layout.

I am trying to hold on to summer, so I went with a bright, summer fruit for my card using the Cute Fruit stamp set. I have to say the color scheme is inspired by my daughter Rachel’s bedroom. And the pineapple is a nod to her FAVORITE tv show (and one of mine) Psych.

I used the rock and roll technique on the pineapple base to get the two tone look. To make the pineapple stand out a bit more I used my black Stampin’ Write marker to color the edges of the cut out pineapple.

I can see so many possibilities with this sketch. I will definitely be using this one again. Why don’t you try it out for yourself. Then head over to the Paper Craft Crew and link your creation to share with us. I’d love to see what you create.

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stamp review crew: celebrate sunflowers

Hello, my crafty friends! I’m so glad you are stopping by today. The Stamp Review Crew is back to shine a spotlight on one of my favorite new stamp sets: Celebrate Sunflowers!

I liked this set when I saw it in the new Stampin’ Up! catalog. Once I got it and started plying with it, it quickly became one of my favorites. the giant sunflower is so much fun to color in. But, it is also great if you just stamp the outline image. Or add a watercolor wash background. Or….well, there are SO many possibilities!

I have been on a watercolor kick lately. So both of my cards use some different watercolor techniques. For my first card, I spritzed a panel of watercolor paper with water. Then, I stamped the flower and leaves on watercolor paper in Bumblebee and Old Olive inks. This made the ink bleed out. before it was completely dry, I stamped the images again to get back some of the stamp detail.

I added the Early Espresso center with my water painter. I wish I would have gone a little lighter. Maybe I should have used Soft Suede. The layered panel is a piece of vellum that I embossed with the Tasteful Textile 3D embossing folder. I think the wood grain print from In Good Taste DSP pack is a perfect base for this lovely flower. I finished off with some Linen Thread and a few Cinnamon Cider enamel dots.

For my next card, I started with a watercolor wash of Blackberry Bliss, Magenta Madness, Melon Mambo and Bumblebee.

I added some black flecks with my Stampin’ Write marker and stamped the smaller sunflower in black. Don’t you just love that large sunflower die cut! I went back to the In Good Taste DSP pack for the lighter woodgrain base and added a couple of bits of Bumblebee DSP. A few rhinestone and some Magenta Madness and Embroidered ribbon finish it off.

Celebrate Sunflowers is definitely a set you need in your collection! I have so many more ideas I want to create with this. Make your way through the rest of the blog hop for some more amazing projects to inspire you! I’m going to send you over to Mike and his awesome creations, just click the NEXT button below. Or you can go back to Kelly and her fantastic projects by clicking the PREVIOUS button.

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paper craft crew challenge #388

Boy, summer is just flying by. I kind of wish it would slow down. But, time marches on. And with another week, comes another Paper craft Crew challenge! We are stepping away from the card sketches this week and working with an inspiration photo.

Oh, I love the summer vibe of this photo. The bright colors are fantastic. So, obviously, I didn’t use any of that for my card. LOL! I really like the rule grouping of threes in this pic. Here’s how that played out in my card.

I sponged three columns of color on my stitched rectangle panel: So Saffron, Rococo Rose, and Blushing Bride. Then I stamped the diamond image from the Prized Peony set in those same colors. The peony images were stamped in Gray Granite and watercolored. Finished card size is 3.5″x5″

The PCC Design Team has some wonderful projects to share with you on the Paper Craft Crew blog. Head on over to check them out and play along!

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paper craft crew challenge #387

Hello friends! Are you ready for a challenge? A Paper Craft Crew Challenge that is! This PCC has a vertical card sketch to jump start your creativity.

For my card, I did try to work with triangles, but I really wasn’t happy with anything I came up with. So, I decided to go for something else. I die cut some flowers from the Poppy Moments die set from Petal Pink and Flirty Flamingo. Then I used Polka Dot stencil to create a fun background to show off the beautiful flowers. I love black and white polka dots!

I extended the strip across the full length of the card front. I felt it grounded the images more. and, I like the two rhinestone gems on the right. I think I need to make a bunch of these in different color combos!

Head over to the Paper Craft Crew blog to see all of the fabulous creations from the PCC Design Team. We’d love to have you play along!

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paper craft crew challenge #386

Welcome friends! I am so glad you are here for another Paper Craft Crew Challenge. I am having a lot of fun with these challenges! They are great for sparking creativity. You should give it a try!

This week is another sketch challenge.

I have to admit, I stared at this one for quite awhile before I figured out what I wanted to do. Here is what I came up with:

I used Oh, Snap set from Concord & 9th. Isn’t that camera adorable! There is a bit of extra fun in this interactive card. You can’t have an instant camera with out an instant print!

Such a fun card with an unexpected element. Great to let a friend know how beautiful they are!

Head on over to the Paper Craft Crew page and play along!

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paper craft crew challenge #385

Hello crafty friends. Come play along with this week’s Paper Craft Crew Challenge. We are changing things up this week with a Tic Tac Toe challenge. Just pick a row and include those things in your creation.

I chose the center vertical row: Watercolor Background, Favorite Color and Anything but a Floral. But, my creation also fits the top horizontal row: Birthday Theme, Watercolor Background and Masculine. Double win!

I started with a card base from water color paper. Card size is 3.5″x5″. I did the watercolor background freehand using some of my favorite colors: Lemon Lime Twist, Coastal Cabana, and Grapefruit Grove. For the cake, I did some no line watercoloring.

Head over to the Paper Craft Crew page and play along!

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