More 2011 convention swaps

Love this whimsical

use of the owl punch and embedded technique!

 All the rest of these samples are made using stamp sets that are retiring.

Extreme elements graduation card AND new ink pads

I have had this set, but have rarely used it and now it is retiring. I needed 8 graduation cards in a hurry, so I used this set with the new 2012-14 In Colors: Summer Starfruit, Midnight Muse, Gumball Green, and Raspberry Ripple. I used "go confidently in the direction of your dreams" from "Word Play" inside. For the girls, I added another swirl in Primrose Petals and used retired pomegranate cardstock for the base.

I got the new firm foam stamp pads in the new colors also the newly formulated black ink pad. They are juicy and don't bow in the middle for more even coverage. All ink will be the new pads as of June 1st.

Recent club cards

Here are the cards we have made in April and May. Click on any of them to enlarge for details.

 This is the double dutch fold technique. Directions/measurements for this card: Cut cs in half lengthwise 11x 4 1/8or 4 3/16 (slightly narrower than 4 1/4), fold in half at 5 1/2". Normally you could cut 2" off the bottom all the way across before cutting in half, but with the card we are making, I'm using the new edgelits dies to make a special edge. Add a 2x8 1/2 piece across the bottom, glueing from the back and fold edges around to the front to form "dutch doors". It will be clearer when you see/make the card. 

The stamp set Bordering on Romance and the framelits and edgelits from the Occasions mini are in the new catalog if you missed them. They also kept the twitterpated DSP even though it has a couple of retiring in colors. :)

 Everyone that came to club Sat got a pattern to make their own cup, but basic measurements are 3 1/2 x 10" folded to make 3 1/2 x 5", then cut sides and round bottom. I made the pattern by tracing an actual cup then fine tuning it. The top is 1 x 4" with 5/16" trimmed and layered. The lipstick is SWAK single stamp that is retiring soon. DSP is mocha morning (how apt is that name) that is also retiring. I changed the layers around and used garden green for the back "four frames" piece and cherry cobbler for the front "oval all" scallop. It popped a bit more that way. A layer of crimped crumb cake and espresso bakers twine was the finishing touch.

This was the inspriation for my starbucks card, made by my sister Joyce. But the DSP is from SAB and is retired, so I used Mocha Morning. Hers is smaller and fits in a notecard envelope.

This stamp set and wheel made it into the new catalog. It is such a fun wedding set that also includes a cake and sentiments. The wide striped ribbon and blushing bride cardstock is retiring as is the pinking hearts border punch :(

I love this new set that was in the Occasions mini and is also in the new catalog-Mixed Bunch. I was less than thrilled with it when it was in the mini, but saw many great ideas for it's use, so decided to get it. The coordinating punch is a perfect pair.

This is a card that my sister Joyce made at a workshop recently. She let us make one in Nashville. It is a joy fold and uses emboss resist technique for the flower on the card and rock and roll on the envelope.

Making up for lost time

I have been sooooooo busy helping my granddaughter achieve her goal to finance her Poeple to People Student Ambassador trip to Europe that I haven't had much time for things that I love. She made it by the way, the trip is paid for and she leaves Sun 6/10 for 19 fun filled days! But she still owes about $750 to her other grandparents, so she and I have one more weekend to work. Garage sale Sat morning, HyVee coupon book sales in the neighborhood Sat afternoon, and Papa Murphy's fundraiser cards Sat evening. Then she/they are on their own for the rest. She and I personally have raised $3643, over half of her amount needed.

Now on to stamping! I made quite a few cards when I was in Nashville last month on a family of origin trip. I spent a week with my 2 sisters and parents. We had a ball catching up with each other and spent a lot of time crafting. Many of these cards were "CASED" from my sister Joyce, but she "CASED" most of them first. Most use dsp in some way, trying to use some of my stash.

This cupcake was originally a stamp in a previous years catalog. My sister Joyce traced it and made a pattern to make this larger than life cupcake. The inside sentiment "happy birthday with a cherry on top!" from "A word for you" stampset gave me the idea to add the cherry. Before I gave this card to a friend, but after I photographed it, I made the cherry bigger.

Uses DSP and several punches that I presume most of you have for a quick easy card. Choose your clors from the DSP colors, no wondering what goes together.

I had this piece of cardstock that I had scored at 4 1/8 instead of 4 1/4, so I then scored the whole front instead of wasting it. Use your circle punches and any dsp, then add hearts, butterflies, and/or flowers for a fun easy card!

I love the blossom petals builder punch and any dsp to make a quick card that is stunning. Boho blossoms punch for the center adds the finishing touch.

Made with well worn DSP and uses "build a blossom" and the coordinating blossom petals punch for the flames. I added iridescent ice embossing powder as well.Wish big is from "word play".

Both of the cards, above and below, use the houndstooth embossing folder. It really makes a nice masculine card and works well to sponge after embossing. How easy is the circles card!! It uses circles #2 die and well worn DSP that is retiring soon.

This uses retired cottage wall DSP, one of my favorites, and boho blossoms punch with the butterfly embosslit.

"Vintage vogue" stampset was a choice from SAB, but you could use this idea with other stamps as well and any embossing folder. Love the monochromatic look.

These last two use the fancy flower punch. Above I also used the 5 petal punch which is retiring as is the triple treat flower stamp.

For this one, I embossed with the square lattice folder then crumpled the cardstock until I could separate the layers to make 2 flowers from one punch. I used 4 layers, 2 punched flowers, for this fun card and added leaves from the bird builder punch and the white flower is from boho blossoms.

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Framelit challenge

I gave my stamp club ladies some of the leftover frames from a card we made and challenged them to make a card with them and bring them back. Here are the finished cards.

by Cindy, she cut out another frame because she used the limeade one for a birthday card for her son.

 This is the other card Cindy made for her son's birthday

 by Dorris, she used the spirelli technique we learned the month before

 by Jackie, she used a copy of an old photo for this card.

 by Joy, using the sale-a-bration ribbon, love the butterfly folded over

 my card

 by Marlene, I love the idea of embossing the frame first

 another card by Marlene

by Melba, she used a smaller frame for the inside as well

Only 6 more days to take advantage of Sale-A-Bration free stamps or accessories!!

March 31st is the last day to place a $50 or more order to choose any item FREE from the SAB mini catalog.I absolutely love the Fresh vintage stamp set and the Everyday enchantment dsp, but there are lots of other choices as well. Call, or email to place your order or you can place an online order. See the catalog by clicking on the image in my right sidebar.

Cards for missionaries

Every year I design and prep cards for our ladies group to make to send to our female missionaries for their birthdays. These are the cards I made for this year. Our group of 24 ladies made 67 cards in 1 hr and 15 min. Some of the cardstock that I used is not SU or is retired since I totally donate all of my supplies for this project. 

I used the pink and red paper pack that I got from the clearance rack. The flame is from the build a blossom punch. The teen table made these cards and did a pretty good job.

The butterfly is stamped on vellum. The gals who made this card did a really good job.

This card was a bit more challenging than I thought it would be. Just using a wheel and sponging was new to some.

Another card using the pink and red paper pack. I love the simplicity of this card, a great way to use up scraps of dsp.

I used the happy birthday with a cherry on top sentiment from the stamp set "A word for you"  for the inside and we used a pink brad on the top cherry. The paper is another one that I picked up from the clearance rack. It matched some non SU card stock that I had.

I have seen several samples using black and daffodil and loved them, so this is how this card came about. The stamp is from "Fresh vintage" Sale-A-Bration free with a $50 order.

Birthday card class

I did a Christmas card class in Oct and the gals asked for another one. So this is my birthday card class. We did 4 cards each of these 5 different cards. I had 7 gals come 3/24 and have 5 more for 4/7. If anyone else is interested let me know asap for the 4/7 class. The cost is $37.50 and includes lunch. Most of the cards were inspired from others on Splitcoaststampers or Stampin' Connection, but I used some of my own touches as well.

 Embedded embossing technique, a card for all ages! Not sure who to credit for this, can't find the card again. I used cherry cobbler, night of navy, more mustard, and old olive.

 This is an interlocking card using the new label framelits. A little challenging, but definitely worth the effort. The stamp is from the fresh vintage set, a free Sale-A-Bration selection. Colors are pear pizazz, blushing bride, and island indigo, with baja breeze seam binding. I actually used baja breeze for the butterfly on my final card.

 Meant to be a masculine card, but could be dressed up with a flower or hearts for the ladies in your life.

 Saw this ship in a bottle done by several people, but found the template for the bottle from Marie Shaughnessy. I made the bottle a bit narrower and used sponging then embossing powder to age it! Again, quite a bit of work, but a real hit with my group of gals.

Totally my own creation, this uses card stock weight vellum for the scallop envelope, then it is embossed. The dsp is a hostess selection. Very bright cheery card. We used a lot of punches for this card.

Cards made with the NEW Doily Sizzlet

I saw this idea on Stampin'Connection by Michele Reynolds and made my own version. I loved the idea of making a table and lace tablecloth. We used the decorative label punch to make the table.

 This card uses the new edgelits and embossing folders to create the cut and embossed edge, as well as the doily.

I love the elegance of this monochromatic card. This is also a CASE, I saw one by Chris Smith on Stampin'Connection. I added the brads. The colors are crumb cake and soft suede.

OOPS, just realized that I already posted some of these.

Everyday Enchantment DSP (FREE from Sale-A-Bration) cards

This is a card we made at club in Feb. I think it was inspired by Dawn Olchefske.

This card was made by a customer, Diane Doro, and was inspired by the above card. Such an easy way to use scraps of DSP
 
Love this "quilt card" that was inspired by a card that I saw on Stampin'Connection, a website for SU demonstrators. This shows all 12 colors/sides of paper in the pack that you can have for FREE with a $50 order by 3/31!

 This uses the spirelli technique with ribbon and the scallop circle.

OOPS, just realized that I already posted some of these. Got to upload more pics.