Wonderfully Wicked Wednesday Challenge #4

Happy Wednesday, everyone!  This is the last week of March's Challenge using Purple, Green, Black and a neutral.  I cheated a bit this week and used 2 neutrals, but I like the way it turned out.

In anticipation of the new Postage Stamp punch in the coming Summer Mini, I decided to make my own version for the time being by trimming the scallops on the larger Scallop Square in Basic Black from the Scallop Squares Duo Die. I added a Whisper White Layer, and then stamped the Elizabeth stamp in Concord Crush ink on Certainly Celery cardstock before trimming it down for the final layer. It's a little bigger than a postage stamp, but it kind of reminds me of the edging on an old black and white photograph.  I must be very nostalgic this month.  Everything I've made ends up leaning toward vintage! I used my small oval punch for both of the purple ovals.  For the shadow in Concord Crush cardstock, I punched 2 of them and cut one in half.  Then I glued each half on the full one to extend it a bit.  I used a rub on from the Occasions Mini on the Perfect Plum oval and popped them up on dimensionals.

I took the card base of  Confetti Cream and sponged it with Concord Crush ink. Then I used dimensionals to adhere the square to the base.

The Flower uses The Fancy Flower punch, the 5-Petal Flower punch, and the 2-Step Bird punch. (The leaves are the wings!) Colors are Concord Crush, Perfect Plum, and Old Olive.  The center is a Filigree Designer Brad. I stacked 2 dimensionals near the bottom to pop it a little higher than the square.

It's pretty simple, mostly punches and Big Shot with only one stamp set. Hope you like it!

Stop by the UDI blog to see what the rest of the team came up with.  Have a great week!

Wonderfully Wicked Wednesday Challenge #3

Hi, everyone! It's Week 3 of  Wonderfully Wicked Wednesday Challenge, and time for another look at our color palette of Purple, Green, Black and a Neutral.

This week I chose cardstock in Perfect Plum, Old Olive and Whisper White. I ran the card base through my Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions folder.  I decided to do a little 2-Step Stamping, and since I'm actually using this card for a group swap, I stamped the flowers and leaves from the Awash with Flowers set randomly on a full sheet of Whisper White cardstock and then cut it in 4 pieces to make fronts for all my cards.  It didn't quite work as well as I'd hoped, but this is one of the better pieces.

I stamped the flower outline in Concord Crush Ink, then used the Baby Wipe technique to stamp the solid flower in Perfect Plum and Old Olive.  The leaf outline is stamped in Old Olive while the solid leaf is in Certainly Celery.

After cutting the White layer, I sponged it with Concord Crush and Old Olive. I added a folded scrap of Striped Grosgrain Ribbon in Basic Black between the top two layers, and  a greeting from the With All my Heart set stamped in Old Olive ink on Whisper White with a Perfect Plum Scalloped Oval behind it. I popped the greeting up with dimensionals.

All in all, a pretty simple card!  Go to the UDI blog to see what the rest of the Design Team came up with today!

Amy's Card

Here's a card I made for my friend, Amy's, birthday.  She had told me a great story about taking her 3 sons rollerskating for the first time and how great it felt to see the awe on their faces as she gracefully zipped and twirled around the rink. She had obviously been elevated to Super Cool Mom status and felt pretty euphoric.  The story inspired me to make this card, and Amy gave me permission to share it with you!

I used some DSP from the Clearance Rack and Regal Rose and Melon Mambo for the mat layers. I punched a strip of Whisper White with the Scallop Edge Trim punch.

I don't know that I can explain all the punched pieces on the skater, but I can tell you that her shirt is cut freeform from a piece of Perfect Plum Cardstock I had run through the Big Shot with my Petals a Plenty Textured Impressions folder. After that, the body and skates (including the wheels) are made with the Medium Jewelry Tag punch. The elbow and knee pads are made with a circle punch and then I used one of the smaller oval punches to punch out pieces from around the edge of the circle.

Her head and hair is made with a 5/8" x 1-3/8" oval punch.  I used the same punch to make layers in her hair. the top two layers are pieces from the same oval.

Finally, the Helmet was made with the 3/4" x 15/16" Oval punch.

The letters are cut from Schoolbook Serif Alphabet stamped in Melon Mambo on Whisper White cardstock, then mounted on Perfect Plum cardstock and cut freeform with scissors, mounted again on Concord Crush cardstock and cut again freeform with scissors.

I think the rest is pretty self explanatory.  I had a lot of fun playing with this picture, and I have to admit, it came out better than I expected. Happy Birthday, Amy!

Saturday Sketch #128

The ladies on  the design team for Saturday Sketch at UDI, made some pretty amazing cards with this sketch, and I couldn't resist playing along this week!

Okay, it probably needs a little explanation.  The fishing lines are pretty obvious, but the little bumps at the top are meant to represent the 3 pairs of shoes of the fishers standing on the dock. Cute idea in my head. Not sure I'm happy with this particular version, but I think with a few adjustments, it has potential.  I used Confetti Cream cardstock for the card base and Marina Mist for the mat layer. The dock is Crumb Cake cardstock stamped several times with the Solid Stripes stamp I received for free during Sale-a-bration! I used Soft Suede ink to stamp and sponge the dock. The Whisper White stripe sponged with Soft Suede is meant to be the soles of the 3 pairs of tennis shoes made from 3/4" circles cut in half from Bashful Blue, Basic Black and Real Red cardstock.

I added a greeting from the Something to Celebrate stamp set stamped in Basic Black Ink on a medium Bashful Blue oval, and I took a 3/4" wide strip of Marina Mist cardstock and centered it horizontally in my Scallop Oval punch to make the back layer.  I think it looks a little less "girly" that way, and can make it a more masculine card. I used dimensionals to pop it up.

The hooks are made from Brushed silver card stock using my small oval punch and trimming around them with scissors.  The eyes of the hook are made from a 3-hole punch with circle punch from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pak punched around it. The fishing line is 1/8" taffeta ribbon in Basic Black.

The fish is a small Daffodil Delight Oval with 3 small heart punches sponged with soft suede ink. I used a brass metallic brad for the fish eye.

Finally, I used my Scallop Square punch to make a mask and sponged waves at the bottom in Marina Mist ink.

It's a fun card and I'm really glad I saw the sketch this week!  I think this card will go to my grandnephew who made the Honor Roll this month for the very first time! WOOHOO!  He's very excited because he's been working very hard this year, and I have to say I'm a very proud aunt myself!

If you want to see how the design team interpreted the sketch, go to the UDI Blog.  Hope you're having a great weekend! Come back on Tuesday to see our Wonderfully Wicked Wednesday Challenge using themes chosen from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the Broadway musical, Wicked.

Wonderfully Wicked Wednesday Challenge #2

Hi, everyone! It's Week 2 of our first WWW theme, using green, purple, black and a neutral.  I used a lot of different colors and stamp sets on this one, so I'm going to list my ingredients first, and then help you figure out where I used them.  I had some issues with my photo this week since it was raining most of the time, and I couldn't get any natural lighting.  At the last minute I was able to catch a shot between downpours, but I'm not sure I got the improved pic to Leslie in time to make a change, so there's no need to adjust your set--the picture on the UDI blog may, in fact, be different!

Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Perfect Plum, Basic Black, Crumb Cake
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Certainly Celery, Concord Crush, Old Olive, Garden Green
DSP:  In Color Hostess Pack
Embellishments: Glimmer Brad
Punches: Fancy Flower, Spiral Punch, Itty Bitty Shapes, Decorator Label
Stamp Sets: Sense of Time, Itty Bitty Bits, Vintage Vogue
Textured Impressions Folder: Spider Web

The base card is Certainly Celery, and the spiral punched piece is Crumb Cake stamped with Sense of Time in Rich Razzleberry and sponged with Garden Green, Concord Crush, Rich Razzleberry.  I crumpled this piece and the flower before adhering them to the card.  The flower is 2 pieces of Crumb Cake cardstock, punched with the Fancy Flower punch and sponged with Rich Razzleberry ink, then held together by a Razzleberry Glimmer Brad.  I used the ledger sheet pattern from the In Colors hostess pack and stamped the clock face from Sense of Time in Certainly Celery and attached it to a black mat I ran through the Big Shot with a Spiderweb folder.  It's hard to see, but it gives it just a little bit of texture, and helps it stand out.  I popped the mat with dimensionals, and added a cut-out tag with the sentiment stamped in Rich Razzleberry on Certainly Celery cardstock.  The flowers are from Itty Bitty Bits stamped in Concord Crush and punched out. The leaves are  cut out from the Vintage Vogue set, stamped with Old Olive ink.


Check out the UDI blog to see what Leslie, Sarah and Maxine came up with this week!

UDI--Wonderfully Wicked Wednesday Challenge #1!!!

I am so excited about Utah Divas International's new weekly challenge!  It's called Wonderfully Wicked Wednesday, and all of the themes will be inspired by The Wonderful Wizard of Oz or Wicked, the musical.  There is SO much fuel for inspiration in these sources.  The other kicker in this challenge is that each theme will last for a full month!  I'm excited about that, too.  While it may be challenging with some themes, I think that's kind of the point, and I think more often we'll find that seeing what everyone comes up with in the early weeks of the month will help us all springboard on to even more exciting creations by month's end! 

Okay, now that I have that out of my system, here's my card for the first week:

The theme for March is Purple, Green, Black and a neutral in any combination.  When you think of it that leaves a lot of room for creativity, since we have 3 purples, 6 greens, and a huge variety of neutrals if you look at the confetti, naturals, and glossy in addition to the Neutrals Collection.  When you look at all those choices, I suppose we can settle for the limitations of having only one black. : )

I used several greens and purples in this one, but I started with a card base of Basic Black and used Perfect Pear cardstock for a mat and layered another Basic Black piece on top that I ran through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice Textured Impressions Folder.

I used my 2-3/8" Scallop Circle Punch to make the Concord Crush circle, and I layered a piece of Springtime Vintage DSP, stamped with the Friends stamp from the Vintage Vogue set.  I have to say that set is one of my favorites!  The big green circle is a piece of Always Artichoke punched with the 2-1/2" Circle Punch and run through the Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions folder.

I punched a piece of Perfect Plum cardstock with the 5-Petal Flower Punch and added a flower punch from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pak in Whisper White.  I attached them with a green Glimmer Brad and popped them up with a Whisper White streamer stamped with Certainly Celery and Concord Crush ink from the Vintage Vogue stamp set.

I really enjoyed playing with this theme and can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with and play with it again next week!

Check out the UDI blog to see what the rest of the design team came up with this week!

UDI Sketch Challenge 126

 Here is the sketch challenge for this week on the Utah Divas International blog.  I was stumped for a bit on this one, until I saw what the design team came up with.  I have to say they really inspired me this week!

It's a Bashful Blue cardstock base with the ducky from Every Little Bit stamped in VersaMark and then run through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions folder.

The greeting was stamped with the Sweet Shoppe alphabet set, and the ducky and stars are from the Every Little Bit set. All are stamped in Marina Mist ink. The mats on the greeting are Baja Breeze and the greeting cardstock is Naturals White.  I used the Baja Breeze seam binding ribbon for 2 of the stripes on the sketch.

Lots of fun! Have a great week, everyone!

Check out the samples the design team came up with at http://utahdivasinternational.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.html

UDI Inspiration Challenge 137

Here's the photo for this week's UDI Inspiration Challenge. Looks delicious!  My first thought when I saw this picture was "Great! I'm out of white cardstock..." Then I remembered I have a pack of GLOSSY White! YIPPEE!!! Yes, small things amuse me.  It was perfect to represent the shiny white dishes! The yellows and blues and white in this photo remind me of some of my favorite quilting fabrics, paired with eyelet lace bedskirts and breakfast (or brunch) in bed.

So here's my take on the photo:

This is probably the simplest card I've made in months! The card base is So Saffron The next mat is Marina Mist, and the top mat is, of course, Glossy White.  I brought in a quilting theme by using the eyelet border punch on the bottom edge of the white layer, and adding a Marina Mist Square Lattice diecut, which always reminds me of a double wedding ring quilt.  I added a 1/4" blue grosgrain ribbon secured with a white ribbon slider from Hodgepodge Hardware.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes, stamped in Marina Mist ink on Bashful Blue cardstock and punched with the 1-3/8" by 5/8" oval punch.

See? Simple! and lots of fun. Hope everyone's ready for a great weekend!

Welcome Baby!

Cardstock:
Daffodil Delight
Pumpkin Pie
Melon Mambo
Whisper White

Punches:
2-1/2 Inch Circle
Fancy Flower
Scallop Oval
Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack 4-petal flower

Big Shot Accessories:
Top Note Die
Petals-a-Plenty Textured Impressions Folder
Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Folder

Embellishments:
Basic Pearls
1-1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon-Pumpkin Pie

Stamp Sets:
Sweetness Unlimited
Itty Bitty Bits

Ink:
Pumpkin Pie
Melon Mambo

This card is deceptively simple.  With the exception of the ribbon, everything is either punched or run through the Big Shot.

I used Daffodil delight for the card base, then ran a piece of Pumpkin Pie and Melon Mambo cardstock through the Big Shot with the Top Note die. I took the Melon Mambo Top note and ran it through again in the Petals a Plenty Textured Impressions Folder. Then I trimmed off the perforated edge and used snail to adhere it to the front of the Pumpkin Pie Top Note.  I snipped the ends of the 5-1/2-inch striped ribbon and laid it across the top note, adhering with sticky strip or mini glue dots to help it stick to the textured cardstock.

Next I took a Pumpkin Pie and a Melon Mambo punched flower, overlapped them at one petal and adhered them with a glue dot.  Then I stamped the Sweetness Unlimited stamp on Whisper White Cardstock with Melon Mambo ink and punched it out with the Scallop Oval Punch. I punched a second scallop oval from Daffodil Delight Cardstock, cut it in half and layered it under the white one.  I used glue dots to center the ovals on top of the flowers.

Then I took my 2-1/2" Circle punch and made 2 Whisper White circles, which I then ran through my Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions folder.  I laid them next to each other and used dimensionals to center the flowers over the circles. Then I used glue dots to adhere the circles to the Top Notes.

Finally, I stamped the 4-petal flower shape from the Itty Bitty Bits stamp set several times on Whisper White and punched them out with the Itty Bitty Shapes pack corresponding punch and used glue dots to adhere them around the edge of the scalloped ovals. I used the smallest Basic Pearls in the center of each flower.

UDI Color Challenge #25

So, here's the color challenge for this week.  I have to admit as challenges go, this one stumped me more than others have.  Mainly, because I don't think I've ever actually used Basic Gray in anything.  As evidence, I submit the completely empty scrap folder labeled Basic Gray and the fact that I had to open the paper pack to use it in this project.  I'm a firm believer that you can add white to just about any combo and make it work, but if you can believe this, I actually ran out of white cardstock! I'm not exactly sure how that happened...um, yeah.  But I like to stretch my creativity, so after some gnashing of teeth, here's what I came up with.  Not entirely sure I'm happy with it, but I can definitely say that I'm seeing Basic Gray in a new light, and that after all was the point, right?

I used Rich Razzleberry as a base, and Tempting Turquoise for a mat.  I ran my Very Vintage Jumbo Wheel over the Tempting Turquoise in Basic Gray ink.  I had a large scallop square from the Scallop Squares Duo in Rich Razzleberry left over from my Valentine's Day projects with the heart shape punched out of it, so I layered it over the Tempting Turquoise and a square of Basic Gray cardstock, which I ran through the Big Shot in my Square Lattice Textured Impressions folder.

I punched a few 5-petal flowers out of So Saffron, and used the Itty Bitty Punch pack to make the centers from Perfect Plum.  I stamped Thinking of You from Silhouette Sentiments on So Saffron in Rich Razzleberry ink, then punched it with the Modern Label punch.  I ran over all of the saffron pieces with the Very Vintage wheel in Basic Gray.  Then I cut out a butterfly from the Very Vintage Wheel stamp.   I didn't like the way the Turquoise mat looked, so I tore the top and bottom edges and balled up the scraps to make the flower centers.

I think I may try it again and see if I can do something I like a little better, but to the ladies (and gentleman) at UDI, my sincere thanks for helping me stretch my thinking!

Happy Wednesday!

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