More birdcage!

Title said in my best Christopher Walkin "More Cowbell" voice.

I started out creating the card in yesterdays post because I loved the way the stamp filled up the bracket shape of my card.  Then I proceeded to make two more cards with it - three cards within two days of purchase!  That's just crazy talk!

Here was the second.  I wanted to just simply stamp it in black rather than the embossing I did yesterday.  I knew the birds *had* to be yellow.  And I also colored in the bases of the cages black:

Supplies
Stamps:  Impression Obsession, Papertrey Ink
Markers:  Copic

I wanted to do something a little more colorful for the last card (and switch it around to the portrait orientation).  I thought about coloring each of the birds a different color but decided to use the color on the cages and let the stamping and birds be brown:

I think I might have preferred the brown to be black but I was just trying to be different.  It's not easy to tell in this picture but I did cut out two of the cages and popped them up for some dimension on this one - here's a better look:

Supplies

Stamps: Impression Obsession, Papertrey Ink
Markers: Stampin' Up

Cards Blog Challenge

This weeks challenge was to use a card base that anything but a square or rectange.  Thankfully I have enough Quickutz dies to choke a horse so my shape options were plentiful.  I decided to use the bracket shape along with this new stamp (watch for more options on this one later):

I embossed the body of the stamp with white embossing powder on kraft so I would still have the option of coloring those cute little birds.

Once I started playing with this stamp I just couldn't stop - so look for two more options coming up in the next few days.

For details on the Cards Blog challenge check here.

Supplies
Stamps:  Impression Obsession, Stampin' Up
Die:  Quickutz
Twine:  Papertrey Ink
Other:  Copic markers

Curtain Call Color Challenge - Act 18

Such a great color combination you could use for either a masculine or feminine card:

I went for the feminine side:

Supplies
Stamps:  Stampin' Up, Papertrey Ink
Punches:  Stampin' Up
Button:  Papertrey Ink

Tuesday Trigger (with a little help from FTL #79)

This weeks Tuesday Trigger was an inspiration card from the new Stamp It magazine (which I just purchased and haven't even had a chance to crack open yet!):

Yummy yellow and kraft with a touch of black (and my next Papertrey order that background stamp will be mine!).

I started playing around with my new Year of Flowers: Violets set that just arrived and remembered the latest FTL sketch:

So I combined the two for this finished product:

The violet is much more obvious is real life (it's embossed with white on the yellow).  I see myself using that flower more often as an outline like this rather than coloring it in but it's nice to have options, right?

Supplies
Stamps:  Papertrey Ink
Pearls:  Kaiser (a blog candy gift from the super sweet Teri Anderson!)

Big Bold Wishes

I love this set from Papertrey - I never realized what I was missing sticking with generally small greetings.  Plus the little "subtitles" can always be paired with other main greetings (what about a die cut sentiment).

This one just took a quick trip to my scraps pile (okay it probably wasn't so quick I tend to agonize over those choices).

Very similar layout - just simplified a little bit.  I probably would have never thought to stamp the smaller sentiment over top but that's why I love the Papertrey design team!

Other than the Papertrey stamps I have no idea where those papers are from - but if you have a specific question about these cards just leave a comment.

Embellish Birthday Challenge

I was a little unsure about these colors - it seemed like so much to make work together (although I loved the floral inspiration photos):

Here is my card:

Supplies
Stamps:  Autumn Leaves, Stampin' Up
Punches:  Stampin' Up (the leaves are bird wings)

ColourQ Challenge #20

This weeks challenge colors made me think of bright, pretty kitchen tiles:

As I searched through my stamps for something that looked "tile-ish" I decided on a stamp from Circle Circus.  It was large enough that I could still get a 1" square from the center of it:

I also inked the edge of each of the squares in the same color to help give them a little definition.

Supplies
Stamps:  Stampin' Up

Tuesday Trigger

One more card made from that unknown floral stamp.  Since I already had it colored yellow and red it was a perfect image to use for this weeks Tuesday Trigger:

Just added a little gingham ribbon, some scallops and faux stitching:

Supplies
Stamp:  still unknown
Punch:  Stampin' Up

Wishing for Spring

Well this couldn't have been a more perfect theme for this weeks CAS challenge!  I immediately remembered that I had stamped this floral image on a leftover strip of cardstock just to have a little fun coloring.  And they've been sitting very sad and unused on my desk ever since.  But it doesn't get much more spring-y so I finally decided to use them:

There!  Much better than that sad little strip waiting on my desk for inspiration to strike!

Unfortunately, I have no idea who makes this floral stamp.  Any ideas?

Curtain Call Color Challenge Act 17

LOVE these colors!!  That's all I have to say about that!

I knew I wanted to use the Circle Circus stamps for this but I don't have going gray ink - I tried both basic gray and sahara sand and decided I liked sahara sand better as a substitute.  There is also a small gem  in the middle of the far right circle that looks much better in real life.  I think I would use this as a wedding card:

Thanks for looking!

Supplies
Stamps:  Stampin' Up
Ink:  Stampin' Up

Paper Piecing

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!  I wish I could say that I didn't have a card to post yesterday because I was swept away in the romance of the day but really it was because I've been sick and had no desire to even sit down at my desk and create anything since last Tuesday!

But last night the mojo was back so I tried to do a few challenges that I hadn't missed.  Today's card was a challenge on Betsy Veldman's blog to incorporate paper piecing into your project.  I usually think of using die cuts for this kind of technique but I remember a particular stamp I had thought would be great for this.  Here's my final project:

A simple Hot Spot stamp from Archiver's and some pink patterned paper scraps is pretty much the whole store here!  And this is on a kraft cardstock base - although it seems to have some weird blue cast to it.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies
Stamps:  Basic Grey, Autumn Leaves
Paper:  Sam's Scrap Mountain ;)

Picture This - Part 2

Here's one more card with this set - I've gone from stumped to stamping with these cute little sentiments!

Supplies
Stamps:  Stampin' Up
Markers:  American Crafts, Copic

Colour Q Challenge #19

Such soft and pretty colors for this weeks challenge:

I also challenged myself to use this little tag punch and stamp set from Stampin' Up -

Excuse the colors in this one - they seem way off.  Must be all the overcast skys and glare from the snow!

All of the stamps are from Stampin' Up except for the tree and the bird and branch (which is actually just a small part of a large tree) which are from PTI's "Through the Trees" set.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies
Stamps:  Stampin' Up, Papertrey Ink
Button:  Papertrey Ink
Ink:  Stampin' Up
Twine:  Martha Stewart
Punches:  EK Success, Stampin' Up
Other:  Tiny Attacher from Ranger

Picture This

I ended up with this cute Stampin' Up Hostess set but was a little stumped by what to do with it once it arrived.  Since each sentiment already has a little image incorporated into it pairing it with more images seemed like too much.  Then I had one of those out of the blue ideas - I just love those! 

Check it out - most of these sentiments will fit in the modern label punch and then - whoa - how fantastic does that punch look over this Vintage Label stamp?

What I ended up with was a super simple design that would work for any occassion!

Supplies
Stamps:  Stampin' Up
Punch:  Stampin' Up
Markers:  Copic

Curtain Call Color Challenge - Act 16

So how could I not finish a color challenge that includes kraft, right?  Such a classic combination from Stacey this week!

I have to give credit to my three year old for part of today's card - she loooooves to help me emboss (e-boss as she likes to call it).  So she had picked this background stamp and wanted to emboss with white on a scrap of kraft.  I had never tried that combination before but I loved it!  For the card I just used PTI's vintange cream ink (sorry no e-bossing) and the effect is just as nice.  I think I've finally found a way to use this stamp!

Thanks for looking!

Supplies
Stamps:  Stampin' Up (all retired, sorry!)
Ink:  Papertrey Ink
Buttons:  Papertrey Ink
Punch:  Stampin' Up

Tuesday Trigger

I'm actually very inspired to make a project just like this weeks framed inspiration for the Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab World:

It would be a darling Valentine's Day decoration but it could easily stay in one of my girls rooms all year round!

Here's the card I ended up with:

It's a little bit difficult to tell in the picture but the patterned paper is attached from the back with a few pop dots to give them some dimension.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies
Stamps:  Stampin' Up
Punches:  Stampin' Up
Paper:  Cosmo Cricket, Anna Griffin
Brad:  Creative Cafe
Twine:  PTI

CAS 52

This weeks CAS challenge at Splitcoast was to create a card based on this adorable design by kmahany.

Here's my take:

I thought it looked a little flat so I ended up stamping the blue bird again and cutting him out so he could be popped up a little bit.

Supplies
Stamps:  PTI
Ink:  Colorbox
Twine:  Stampin' Up

ColourQ Challenge #18

I certainly enjoyed making this very spring inspired card today when the threat of snow is headed our way!  Such a pretty color combination for this weeks ColorQ Challenge.

I don't usually purchase in color inks so I only had the paper to work with for this one:

Rather than stamp the coordinating images for this punch in a color I used clear embossing powder to add the design.  There is a bit of a glare so here is a detail shot of the flowers:

Supplies:
Stamps:  Stampin' Up
Punches:  Stampin' Up

PTI Emboss Resist Challenge

Emboss resist is one of these techniques I've seen and always wanted to try but just never got around to it.  So when this challenge was posted on Nichole Heady's blog and I looked through the beautiful examples created by the Papertrey DT I was finally inspired enough to take the plunge!

This is a little more "shabby chic" as compared to what I normally do - but I think it keeps the clean and simple look well enough that it still looks like "me".  I'll set this card aside to save for the end of the school year rush on teacher thank you cards!

Nichole did a wonderful job of explaining the technique in the post linked above but if you have any specific questions about this card feel free to leave them in the comments.

Supplies
Stamps:  PTI (Polka Dot Basics, Background Basics: Text Style and Through the Trees)
Ink:  Ranger Distress Ink
Button and twine - PTI
Tools:  Quickutz (Apple die)

Cards Blog Challenge

This weeks challenge was to make a Valentine's Day card without using red or pink. 

How about purple?   I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce you to Kraft cardstocks sweet little cousin that I used for the base of this card.  I recently found this cardstock at one of my favorite paper sources - Hollo's Papercraft.  Who doesn't love paper by the pound?  It's the perfect shade when white is too bright and cream is too yellow.  It's a little hard to tell in the picture but there are little flecks just like my beloved kraft.

For details on this challenge and to see the beautiful cards from last weeks look here.

Supplies
Stamps:  Papertrey Ink
Ink:  Colorbox
Punch:  Stampin' Up
Twine - Papertrey Ink

Embellish Color Challenge with Ribbon

Alright I have plenty of ribbon to use up so maybe I should participate in this challenge more than once!

For reasons I really don't understand I had a hard time working with these colors.  Individually I love each and every one of them but putting them together proved to be a challenge.  My final verdict was that I was using too much of each of them so I decided to back off the turquoise a little bit and just added a small bit of string.  In the end I was happy with it but it took way to long to get there!

Supplies
Lace cardstock:  KI Memories
Ribbon:  Stampin' Up
Punch:  Stampin' Up
Button:  Papertrey Ink
Twine:  Martha Stewart
Stamp:  Papertrey Ink

Curtain Call Color Challenge Act 15

This was one of those rare times when the vision in my head transferred perfectly to the actual card.  I love it when that happens!

The colors in this weeks challenge were so pretty I decided to use them for a Mother's Day card (mom maybe you don't want to look since you'll probably end up on the receiving end of this card).

Here's my take:

Supplies
Stamps:  Stampin Up, Anna Griffin (background)
Punches:  Stampin' Up
Vellum:  Stampin' Up

Learning My Way Around a Copic Marker

I tried to resist, I really did.  But I lost the battle when PTI gave the matching Copic marker colors to their cardstock.  So I'm very slowly trying to start a small collection of Copic markers.  They do color beautifully - I'm still working on the whole blending part.  Here's one of my first attempts:

I stamped the heart onto PTI's white cardstock and cut it out after I colored it.  As a side note - how much do I love PTI's snow white and vintage cream inks!!  Finally a white/cream ink that actually covers and doesn't take forever to dry!

Supplies
Stamps:  PTI, Stampin' Up
Ink:  PTI, Memento
Markers:  Copic
Tools: WRMK Corner Chomper