Stamping with Karen

A Pocket Card College Graduation Announcement for UT

Rather than purchase the expensive pack of way-too-many graduation announcements from the university (and because I am a stamper!) I decided to make my own for my son's college graduation.  I almost forgot about it so it was a last minute deal.  Somehow I was inspired to do a pocket card style using the "Great Grads" stamp set.  Rather than use the G in the stamp set in the center of the graduation medallion, I chose to emboss the UT with copper embossing powder and punch it out to put on the medallion.  I also used some of the designer paper I had previously purchased at the University Coop in a UT scrapbooking pack.  I also wanted it to coordinate with my graduation card for him.  I hope this will inspire you to add your personal touch to your own events by making your own announcements, invitations, etc.  Supplies and ideas are easy to get....just contact me!

 

 

Mother's Day

I subscribe to "Scrapbook Trends" magazine and in the May 2008 issue the card on page 86 by Renee Foss really caught my eye, probably because of the bright colors.  I decided to try to copy it as close as possible with my Stampin' Up! materials.  Here is the result:

I just used a piece of the Designer Paper "Spring Break" for the orange background, punching scallops along the edge with my Corner Rounder Punch (guard removed).  For the MOM portion, I used another piece of "Spring Break" DSP and stamped the two M's with my retired Typeset Alphabet, but you could use anything of similar size.  For the "O" I punched the small circle in the DSP, then punched the same hole with the larger circle punch, and finally put back the small circle I punched out.  The flowers are stamped with "One of a Kind" and punched with the Boho Blossoms Punch.  You could also use some of the felt flowers in Flower Fusion.  I thought it was a bright and happy card!  You can find all of these supplies in the SU catalog here.  Let me know if you need anything.

The Masterpiece Graduation Card!

It may not really be a masterpiece but I worked on it all day...and started it the night before!  Now I shouldn't admit to my customers that it took me so long to make one card, but since this is for my son's college graduation it had to be special.  I was thinking of making a hanging tag with "UT" on it from the ribbon, but just as I got it punched out I got the brilliant idea (I thought!) to put the UT in the center of the "graduate medallion", rather than the G.  That seemed to do it for me as far as design, so then I got the idea to emboss the UT to make it stand out.  First I tried clear on Really Rust letters.  OK, but not great.  Then I tried the Copper Embossing Powder and felt like it was a pretty close match to the color I wanted.  The striped paper on the bottom of the card is from a scrapbooking pack I bought at the UT bookstore on a previous trip.  The stamp set is "Great Grads".  If you don't already own this set you might want to get it so you can make a bunch of graduation cards before school is out!

And here is the inside of the card.  The quote is from the stamp set "Live Your Dream" from the Occasions Mini, page 9.  I bought that stamp set just to get this quote for this card.  The star is a stamp from "In the Stars" also from the Occasions Mini, page 5.

It's Time for Graduation Cards!

Last week I sat down with the "Great Grads" stamp set on page 55 of the SU catalog to see what I could come up with. This is the result!

  Here is the whole group of cards.

This one I stamped the background all over with the multi-word stamp using my Stamp-a-ma-jig to get the stamping lined up right.  The little cap over the "a" is popped up with a Dimensional.  The "G" is layered on a scallop punch with another black scallop behind it for contrast.

This one my demo friend, Anne, embossed the quote with the stamp set in silver, which made something resembling a little plate on the front of the card.  Tying the red ribbon around the side strip seemed to add balance.

For this card I CASEd (copied) a card I saw on Splitcoaststampers made by Nancy Riley.  She used Designer Paper and the jumbo star wheel whereas I stamped the words on the strip, used a smaller star wheel at the bottom and used my white gel pen on the black strips.

This card opens at the top.  Again an embossed quote at the bottom and just the "Graduate" medallion at the top for a very simple look.

And one more, very simple and easy!

Now I just need to make a special one for my son graduating from the University of Texas at Austin!

A Wildflower Card

You may have heard or read that you can take inspiration for your cards and scrapbook pages from many places.  Here is an example for you of taking inspiration from nature!  After seeing this beautiful field of bluebonnets, I got the idea to make this card using the Stampin' Up! set "Blossoms Abound" on page 99 of the catalog.  If you look at the set, you will see the stamps are meant to hang down, maybe like wisteria...or even a bunch of grapes!  But I pointed the stamp upward to resemble the bluebonnets.  I have to admit I got carried away and could have stamped less and made it look more like individual flower stalks, but I still am pleased with the card.  Sometimes you have to know when to stop, though!  This set is one with "two-step stamping", if you like.  I stamped a very light color first with one stamp, the overstamped with another with darker colors.  I just scribbled on the stamp with different colors of SU markers.  Once the wildflowers were finished the card needed something...luckily I thought of using the butterfly from "Priceless" on page 108 of the SU catalog. Can there be a more beautiful and versatile stamp set?!  A little glitter never hurts, and I also popped it up with a Stampin' Dimensional.  The words are from "Sincere Salutations" on page 149, another set I turn to again and again.

Sadly, I think the bluebonnet season is over here in southwest Houston.  The ones in the backyard are finished for sure.  I'm hopeful there are still other varieties of wildflowers out there along the highways that we will get to enjoy in a couple of weeks.