Sunny Cahllenges

Hi everyone, A big welcome to the first Sunny Challenge! Here is the first sketch and the featured stamp set, which this week is Inspired by Nature. Please play along with us, and remember it is all about having fun! It is as easy as 1,2,3. We will be using current Stampin' Up! sets and perhaps some weeks not even a particular stamp set but embossing folders, dies or Designer Paper. We hope that you all play along with us, and enjoy after all that is what it is all about. Dont forget to check out Kris's and Vicky's blogs to see their wonderful creations too! We would love to know what you think, so please leave us a comment. Bye for now .....

Sail Away

I decided to partake in CardPatterns' Challenge this week, and this is what I came up with. I stamped Sail Away several times onto cardstock and cut out various sections of it so I could layer them to add dimension. When it was all cut and layered I smeared Crystal Effects over the hull of the boat and the sails. I tied a knot in the Hemp Twine which I am seriously hoping it looks like a knot that would be used on a boat. Because it is such a long card I had scored a frame for the Basic Black mat to sit inside and then I used the Tasteful Trims Die and cut the large scallop edging top and bottom. The two smallest buttons in the Sweet Buttons embosslit I cut and placed on the top and bottom of the card. This card id different to what I usually do but I do like it, and hope you do too! Bye for now.....

Growing Green and Water colours

Growing Green is such a delicate stamp set, and I do love using it. The maidenhair fern is so delicate and the flowers have such fine lines and features that they all just scream out to be water coloured, which is what I did. The main images are all stamped using Balck Stazon.  I CASED the layout for these cards from Vicki Burdick The first card I used Old Olive So Saffron and Perfect Plum Classic Stampin Pads and my trust Aqua Painter, I ran the Eyelet Border Punch through twice to give a double decorative edge. and topped that with Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon. I cut the flowers out when I had coloured them and attached them to the Water Colour Paper which I had stamped the fern on and coloured with Old Olive. The sentiment is from Thoughts and Prayers. A quick confession here, The sentiment, because it is a double maounted stamp, I accidently stamped upside down, but I was still happy with the result. The second card is on a white base. The Real Red layer I ran through the Big Shot using the Very Vintage Embossing folder. The Water Colour pater was matted onto Real Red which was in turn adhered to Basic Black, and the whole thing was attached to the embossed layer using dimensionals. I used Read Red and Tangerine Tango to colour the flowers and Pear Pizazz for the leaves. The sentiment is from Friends 24-7. I love the effect and hope you do too. Bye for now......

This Little Fellow Will put a Smile on Your Face

This happy little fellow is a CASE from Krista Pomeroy. He is so cute and once again using very limited supplies a wonderful card for a little person has been made. I used a base of Pacific Point, topped with Whisper White. A strip of Pacific Point was passed throught the Scallop Edge Punch and attached to the back of the Baja Breeze card stock. The cupcake wheels was run over the Baja Breeze using that colour ink as well.. The petals which make the collar of the clown's outfit were stamped in Real Red, Garden Green, Daffodil Delight and Tempting Turquoise. The face was the 1 1/4" circle punch and the woollie hair was the scallop punch. I punched 2 scallops and split one in half so that one would be able to sit on top and give dimension to his hair. The split can not be seen because the face covers the scallop circle. The hat is another petal from the Pick a Petal set and I stamped that one in Elegant Eggplant. I used the Boho Blossoms Punch for the flowers on the hat and the flowers from the Itty Bitty punches for the top of his head. His nose is a small rhinestone brand, the mouth was drawn on using a Black Stamp n Write Marker. A Black Brad was used as the centre of the flower on top of the hat. The googly eyes are not SU unfortunately. Dont you think that this is just the best little clown card ever? Let me know what you think. Bye for now....

Clean and Simple Pick a Petal

Baja Breeze and Not Quite Navy, arent they beautiful together? This card literally took less than 5 minutes to make, honestly. The base is Whisper White the next layer is Baja Breeze and the image is of course stamped on Whisper White as well. The tafetta ribbon I used was white but I used my dauber and run the white ribbon across the Baja Breeze stamp pad to colour it. Use light pressure on the dauber as you pull the ribbon through to colour it. Much better to run it through a couple of times to get the colour just right rather than be heavy handed the first time and not be happy with the resultant colour. I was thrilled with the colour of the ribbon such a great match to the card stock and the Baja Breeze stamped image. The main petals are stamped in Baja Breeze and the petal outlines are stamped in Not Quite Navy as is the centre of the flower. The sentiment is also stamped in Not Quite Navy, To add a bit of interest I punched the edge using the Spiral Border Punch. You are going to just love the last of the Pick a Petal creations tomorrow, so make sure you come back and check it out.l Would love to know what you think,. Bye for now.......

Beautiful Dragonfly

Yet another amazing way to utilise the Pick a Petal Stamp Set! The colours I used for this cute litle dragonfly are So Saffron for the wings and I have coloured the spots using my Stamp n Write Marker in Pretty in Pink. The body was stamped with Wild Wasabi. I drew the antennae on using my Black Stamp n Write Marker and the basic rhinestones were placed at the end of the antennae to add just a tiny bit of 'bling'. The 'wings were cut out and attached to the cardstock at the second section of the body. I then ran this through the Big Shot using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. I decided to sponge around the edges with Pretty in Pink. This was then attached to a mat of Perfect Plum and the card base is Pretty in Pink. What a lovely card to give a little girl as a birthday card. It could be changed for a boy by substituting the pink for Blue. There are just another couple of these beauties to go, so see you in here tomorrow. Bye for now.........

A Happy Face and A sad Face Either Way They are Too Cute!

 

Now who would have thought that by using just two petals and a couple of centres that these cute faces would be created. The happy smiley face was stamped onto Whisper White using Melon Mambo, Early Espresso and Tempting Turquoise. I matted this onto Tempting Turquoise. The Whisper White mat I run through the Big Shot using the Finial Press embossing folder. The card base is Melon Mambo. I love the combination of Melon Mambo and the Tempting Turquoise together, they are such happy colours and I think that this card could be used for many different occasions, from  Birthdays to Friendship, Congratulations you name it and it would suit! Now onto our sad face, and he does look sad doesn't he? The base is So Saffron and it has been topped with Pacific Point card stock that has been run through the Big Shot using the Framed Tulips border edge. I attached the Whisper White card stock that had been stamped using once again just the two petal stamps, this time with the word smile upwards. The petal nose is stamped using River Rock, the eyes Pacific Point and mouth and outer eyes with Early Espresso. I attached photo corners to add a bit of interest. Don't you think they are so much fun. Looking forward to seeing you in here again tomorrow. Bye for now.........

Pick a Petal Take 2

This simple Pick a Petal card is made using Whisper White and Baja Breeze, with just some light sponging of the Whisper White mat in Baja Breeze. The sentiment is from Heard from the Heart. This card is so similar to the very first card I ever stamped using Stampin' Up! stamps and it was from this simple creation that I became hooked on the quality of the stamps and the cardstock. The versatility of this set never ceases to amaze me as you will see as the week goes on. I have cased a couple of the cards this week and unfortunately I do not know who some of the ladies are that posted the original, as these have come together from memory for the most part. Drop by tomorrow and see what Pick a Petal surprise we have in store for you. Bye for now.........

A long neglected stamp set - Pick a Petal

I am quite ashamed to say that until I saw this delightful creation that Wendy Hawkinson posted of the card sent to her by her mother-in-law, I hadnt had Pick a Petal out of the cupboard in a long long time. When I saw the card I knew I had to case it. I started with a Choc Chip base and matted that with Pretty in Pink. I next added a band of Choc Chip with a strip of DP from the Greenhouse Gala collection.  I stamped the petals in Pretty in Pink and cut them out leaving just a fine border of white around the edges. I attached these to a small oval and then added dimensions to each petal and also under the centre of the flower. The stem is made from creating a 'bite' from the wide oval. The sentiment was stamped on Whisper White and punched out using the Wide Oval Punch. I then attached that to the Choc Chip Modern Label Punch. I matted a piece of Whisper White onto some Certainly Celery, which I used the Scallop Trim Border Punch just down one side. It was finished off with three medium sized basic pearls. I loved doing this card, and I am ever so thankful that Wendy posted it to her blog and to Yahoo Groups. This card is the beginning of quite a few Pick a Petal cards I created this week, I hope you will come back and look to see what is next tomorrow, Bye for now.....

Tent Card - Welcome Baby

This evening I was sitting at my desk and found some owls that I had punched out, and started to play with them. I saw a picture of a tent card on the net a while back and thought I would attempt to make one. Well I am here to tell you, they are the easiest cards ever to make. I sponged the inside of the card with a combination of More Mustard, Crumb Cake and Wild Wasabi for the ground area and sponged Marina Mist for the sky. I then stamped 3 little rabbits from the Forest Friends set along the bottom. I covered the front piece of cardstock with Designer Paper and run it through the Big Shot using the Top Note Die to give the opening to hang the little owls from. I attached them to the card with a piece of Certainly Celery Grosgrain ribbon and a rhinestone brad to attach it to the top of the card. I stamped and cut out some bambi's and some baby owls and attached them to the four corners of the front. The sentiment I stmped in Early Espresso and punched out using the large oval, then placed that onto a scallop oval that I had punched out in Always Artichoke. I think it is so cute, even if it is a little unorthodox for the occasion. The measurements to use for the Tent Card are to cut 2 of 12 x 16cm  and for the base 1 of 10cm x 12cm. The base is folded in half then each side folded back so that a W is formed. Attache the back of the card to the base, sitting it in the crease of the valley on the right hand side and adhere. The front of the card sits on the outside of the other side of the W leaving the mountain fold in the middle which enables the card to fold flat for postage. Either glue the tops of the card together or join with brads (I think glue is tidier)
  Hope you like it too. Bye for now,

Spongeing and watercolour paper

The other day I made this lovely card of which I was inspried by Beverly Pollen. Beverly lives on the Coast in the USA and quite a bit of her work comes about from inspiration she gets from her surroundings. Last week was no different, she came up with a beautiful creation using sponging and  the effects were beautiful. I 'cased' her card to a degree, but then added my own twist to it and this is the result. It was so quick and easy to do I couldnt believe how quick. I added the boat and the sun and clouds to my card just to add a bit of interest. Hope you like it as much as I do, Please let me know what you think. Bye for now

Double Fancy Folds Card Instructions

Card base measuring 21 x 28 cm

On the long edge of cardstock score at 2.5cm down 2.5cm, then between 8 to 13cm, and from  18.5cm to the edge of cardstock.

Next Scoreline on long edge is from 5cm down 2.5cm, then from 8 to 13 cm then from 18.5cm to the edge of cardstock.

Nest scorelines will be from the 14cm mark, in 2.5cm from edge to 8cm, then from 13cm to 18.5cm Next scorelines will be from the 16.5cm mark, from the edge to 2.5cm then from 8 to 13cm, then from 18.5cm to edge of cardstock

Using either paper trimmer or craft knife, cut from e the2.5cm mark at the 16.5cm scoreline down to the 5cm scoreline. Repeat these cuts from the 16.5cm scorelines at 8 and 13cm, and also from 18. 5cm down to the 5cm scorelines.  All folds are MOUNTAIN folds with the exception of the scorelines at the 5cm mark which are VALLEY

Decorative panels cardstock is 5cm x 11cm. 2nd layer 4.5cm x 10.5cm. 3rd layer 4cm x 10cm

Centre panel cardstock is 4.5 x 11cm. 2nd layer 4cm x 10.5cm. 3rd layer 3.5cm x 10cm

Stamp images on smallest panels and adhere to larger mats. Attach to card base, and add sentiment.

This card was so easy to make, and I was quite surprised at how quickly it all came together. Please feel free to use these instructions to make your own Double Fancy Folds creation or in a class, but please give credit where credit is due. I look forward to seeing some of your creations. Bye for now, Gwen

 

Double Fancy Folds

Today I would like to share with you a double fancy folds card that I designed. I  attended a class by my very good friend, mentor and honourary upline Kris McIntsoh and as we were making the fancy fold card I thought that I could do a double, so I set to and designed one! They are so simple to do and once you get the scoring right the rest falls into place so easily. I used a combination of colours that I would not usually use for this card and I also used my Dazzling Diamonds whch has been sitting neglected for quite some time :) I thought they added a lift to the finished card. The colours I used were Peach Pizazz Parfait for the base which I stamped with the vine from Elements of Style using Peach Parfait, and the mats were Bashful Blue, Cajun Craze and Whisper White. I love the softness of the Elements of Style stamp set, stamped it onto the Whiaper White using Stazon as I wanted to colour the flowers. On the two side panels I used Perfect Plum for the main flowers and Peach Parfait for the smaller blossoms and Old Olive for the leaves. The sentiment was stamped using Cajun Craze and punched out with the large oval punch then backed onto a scallop oval in Cajun Craze. I finished it off with two bows with a rhinestone in the middle and attached them to the card on the outer panels using mini glue dots (how I love them things!!)   I hope that you like this creation of mine and I would love to hear what you think. Bye for now, Gwen