Monthly Archives: May 2016

A Quick and Easy Mother’s Day Card

Quick and Easy Mother's Day Card

If you are running behind, here is a quick and easy Mother’s Day card that is simple for anyone to make at the last minute! You can copy this exact idea or just use it for a starting point and give it your own twist.

After playing around with a couple of other ideas that honestly weren’t working out very well, I decided to just stamp three stems, stamp three flowers and use a die cut word I found in my stash of unused pieces I’d already made at one time or another.  You could just as easily stamp a greeting at the bottom instead of using a die cut.

The flowers are from the stamp set Flower Patch. Lots of flower designs to choose from in that stamp set. But if you don’t have that stamp set, just use another one. The die cut “enjoy” is from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies.  The card base is Blushing Bride with a layer of Whisper White.  The card is square at 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″ but it fits in a regular size Whisper White Medium Envelope so no need for a square envelope. And for a little embellishment, I added Pearls to the center of each flower!  You could do rhinestones or candy dots or whatever you like.

This card is actually perfect for many other occasions, not just Mother’s Day, but if you are looking for a quick and easy Mother’s Day card today, something like this one will be much appreciated!

 

Birthday Bouquet Gift Bag for Mother’s Day

Birthday Bouquet Gift Bag for Mother's Day

If you need a quick gift bag for Mother’s Day or any occasion, it’s easy to make one with the Stampin’ Up! Gift Bag Punch Board or you can follow some directions online to make a bag. This gift bag is made with the pretty Birthday Bouquet Designer Series Paper.  I actually intended to use the side that is on the inside of the bag, but I didn’t think about which way the pattern was going when I used the Punch Board, so the hearts would have been upside down! When you are using the Gift Bag Punch Board, remember that what you are punching and scoring at the top of the board is actually going to be the bottom of your bag.  Make sure you check your paper pattern and make sure it is going in the correct direction! However, the pattern on the other side of almost any Stampin’ Up! paper is also going to be pretty and coordinating with what you are making so it worked out just fine to use this polka dot pattern for my gift bag!

I found a scrap of designer paper that was from a boo-boo awhile back, and really all that I could use it for would be cutting out the flowers by hand.  Depending on how much you like or hate to cut things out, you might prefer to stamp a flower rather than cut one out! But this worked for me.  I love these flowers on this paper so I just cut out around the flower and all its parts and didn’t worry about perfection.  If you leave a little border then perfection in cutting doesn’t matter! Having Paper Snips really does make the job of cutting things out a lot easier.

To make the snipped flower stand out on the bag, I punched a 2 1/2″ circle of Blushing Bride cardstock, then thought of putting a Tea Lace Paper Doily behind it. I had some doilies already cut in half so I decided that would be better. Then I added some White Jute Ribbon and a scrap of Venetian Crochet TrimSince I had a scrap of Watermelon Wonder 1″ Stitched Ribbon that was already tied in a knot, I just put the ends through to the back and had that little pop of color in the front holding the bag shut.

Birthday Bouquet Gift Bag Embellishment

I like the Gift Bag Punch Board for making small to medium size gift bags. It comes in handy sometimes!  If you take an afternoon and make a bunch at one time, you can have a supply of gift bags of all kinds on hand ready for when you need them! Almost any of the designer paper by Stampin’ Up! is pretty enough for gift bags, but I really like this Birthday Bouquet Paper for this Mother’s Day Gift Bag!

Circle of Spring Embossed Wreath Watercolor Thank You Card

Circle of Spring Embossed Wreath Watercolor Thank You Card

This Circle of Spring Embossed Wreath Watercolor Thank You Card seems perfect for spring! Doesn’t the watercolor look just feel like spring? I found this watercolored and embossed piece laying in a pile of odds and ends because there was a little imperfection in the embossing. Do you have a little pile of pieces that maybe you punched out but didn’t use or scraps of cardstock or something you stamped and then didn’t need?

The focal point of this card is a layer of Watercolor Paper watercolored with several colors, perhaps with the acetate sheet method I think in my last newsletter. Then I used Versamark Ink to stamp the wreath from the Circle of Spring Stamp Set and embossed with the Heat Tool and Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder. I recommend when you stamp or stamp to emboss on Watercolor Paper that you make sure your ink pad is juicy and make sure you give your stamp a good press on the paper since the paper is a little bit textured compared to regular card stock. To color the flowers and leaves of the wreath use either light-colored Stampin’ Write Markers or use the Aqua Painter and pick up small amounts of ink either from the ink pad or from a drop of ink refill.

The bow is stamped and diecut and actually trimmed a little bit with scissors to get off the excess white border. The small butterfly is punched with the Bitty Butterfly Punch out of a scrap of watercolored paper that was lying around on my table.  The little turquoise rhinestones are actually some “contraband” I had in the drawer, but you can use your Stampin’ Up! Rhinestones and color them with Sharpie Markers to color them, or use the Blendabilities if you happen to have those that Stampin’ Up! used to carry.

The card base is Melon Mambo and the layer is Tempting Turquoise. There are several different greetings that come in the Circle of Spring Stamp Set so you can have your choice. You can use the Wonderful Wreath Framelit Dies to cut out the wreath, bow, and hanger.

The wreath in the Circle of Spring Stamp Set will make a beautiful card for you whether you just stamp or emboss, watercolor or not. Make it look like spring or another season by the colors you use on the wreath and the rest of your card or project.

Shop Stampin’ Up! Online HERE!

Check the Retiring Products that are available this month while supplies last!

Stamping Off Easy Petite Petals Congratulations Card

Petite Petals Congratulations Card

I’m getting a little more use out of my 2014-16 In Colors before they retire in this Stamping Off Easy Petite Petals Congratulations Card. I have to admit, I stole the idea from a sample in the new upcoming Stampin’ Up! Catalog! Mine is even simpler, just stamped on a folded piece of Whisper White Thick Cardstock and stamped the greeting right on the center of the card.  I could have stamped and punched a few extra Petite Petals to adhere in a popped-up fashion, but I just kept it simple.

I chose to use three of the retiring In Colors:  Hello Honey, Tangelo Twist, and Blackberry Bliss (ink pad not available). I did LOTS of stamping off to get the lighter colors of the flowers and less stamping off to keep getting darker colors. What is it about having a stamp in your hand and doing repetitive stamping that is so satisfying?! The flower is from the Petite Petals Stamp Set, which is not retiring and you will see in the new catalog. And for the small price difference, only $4, I would recommend getting the wood-mount stamp set.

For the greeting, I chose the Bravo Photopolymer Stamp Set with it’s great bold greetings for many occasions. Sadly, this is a retiring stamp set, so if you are interested, be sure to put it on your order!

This Stamping Off Easy Petite Petals Congratulations Card is fun to stamp and would work for graduations, weddings, thinking of you, birthday, hello, birthday, Mother’s Day – many occasions!

Shop Stampin’ Up! Online

Adult Coloring Flower Shop Card

Adult Coloring Flower Shop CardYesterday I made my own adult coloring page and today I have made it into this Adult Coloring Flower Shop Card! If you are into the adult coloring craze, don’t forget, you can make your own coloring pages!  Just stamp randomly with Stazon Ink or Archival Black Ink and then color in with Stampin’ Write Markers, watercolor with ink, color with colored pencils, whatever you would like to do!  It’s fun, easy and therapeutic! Just take a little while to stamp and relax, and color like when you were a child! I recommend using lighter colored markers or else pick up the ink with an Aqua Painter so it doesn’t get too dark for your images. I used the Flower Shop stamp set to stamp these outline flowers.

After “adult coloring” this page yesterday, I decided to make it into a card today!  It is layered on a piece of Basic Black cardstock with a very thin margin and then layered on a card base of So Saffron. The greeting is from the Tin of Cards Stamp Set (one of my favorites!). I stamped it and then punched out with the popular Decorative Label Punch. I couldn’t resist adding a couple of Rhinestone Jewels.  The ribbon is the Basic Black 3/8″ Stitched Satin Ribbon (retired).

If you want a layer behind your Decorative Label Punch, punch out two pieces of the contrasting color.  Then cut each piece in half, one horizontally and one vertically and layer behind the top label.

If you want to see my adult coloring Flower Shop page before I made it into a card, visit my Facebook page HERE.

Take a few minutes and stamp some Whisper White card stock with an outline image of your choice.  Just holding a block and stamp in your hand will feel wonderful! Stamp and then color in with whatever art supplies you have. Stamping and coloring is good for the soul!

Shop Stampin’ Up! Online for all your papercrafting needs!

Flower Shop Mother’s Day Card

Flower Shop Mother's Day Card

Mother’s Day is coming next Sunday so here is a Flower Shop Mother’s Day card! Sometimes I totally surprise myself with what I end up making compared to what I thought I was going to make when I get out my supplies and start stamping. This card was inspired by one I saw in the Stampin’ Up! Catalog on page 126, made with the Flower Shop Stamp Set.  I don’t even know how they made it so I just came up with something similar.

The card base is made with the Whisper White Thick Cardstock with a layer of Whisper White (regular) Cardstock. The flowers are stamped with Crumb Cake ink, but stamped off first before stamping again on the Whisper White layer. A couple of the flowers are stamped and punched out with the Pansy Punch.

Now the unusual part of the card is the fiber heart.  Can you guess what that is made from?  I used the White Jute Ribbon!  I’m not sure at all how they made the heart on the sample I was copying, but I made mine with the Jute Ribbon. It wasn’t wide enough, so I just took 3 pieces of the ribbon, laid them side by side to make one heart. I actually folded the center piece in half lengthwise, then put the side pieces on each side of that folded center piece and cut out a heart shape like you would out of folded paper. Then I used Fast Fuse to adhere the three pieces down on the card in the heart shape.

I added a few embellishments: two of the Neutral Designer Buttons (retiring and discounted) and one of the 2015-17 In Color Blossom Accents (retiring and discounted).  The greeting is from the retiring stamp set And Many More. This stamp set, in the wood-mount, is discounted almost $10! Change the greeting to anything you like for a card for another occasion!

If you need inspiration, just look through the Stampin’ Up! Catalog and look at the samples.  I’m sure you will find something that jumps out at you that you want to make.  You can copy exactly or change the paper or the embellishments or the colors or the stamp set! It’s fun and easy! That’s how I came to making this Flower Shop Mother’s Day Card.

Shop Stampin’ Up! Online!

 

Botanical Gardens Big News Birthday Card

Botanical Gardens Big News Birthday Card

Yesterday I showed you a baby card made with the retiring Big News Stamp Set and today I have used one of the birthday stamps in the set to make this Botanical Gardens Big News Birthday Card. Today is May Day, the 1st day of May, so I thought a few flowers would be appropriate!

Normally I don’t care for the off-kelter, look of cards that seems to be popular recently, like I have done with the designer paper on the background of this card. However, I was looking at a sample that I was copying except for changing the designer paper, so I decided to give it a try. The card base is Hello Honey Card Stock and I used the Botanical Gardens Designer Series Paper for the background layers. This paper is retiring, so get it while you can!  I angled them slightly, which normally I don’t like.  The greeting from Big News is stamped on Whisper White Card Stock with Old Olive Ink.

The flowers are cut out from another pattern of the Botanical Gardens Designer Series Paper. The flowers are pretty as is, but if you like, you can use the stamps in the Botanical Bloom Photopolymer Stamp Set to stamp the flower centers, as I did. I simply cut out the flowers myself, but you can use the Botanical Builder Framelit Dies to die cut them. If you want it all, get the Botanical Blooms Photopolymer Bundle while you can and get the stamp set, the framelits, and the designer series paper.  You will save 15% with the Bundle and get everything you need!  You could also add some other embellishments if you wanted – ribbon, rhinestones, Candy Dots.

Now that it is May, this is the last month for the Stampin’ Up! Retiring Products! See all that is still available in my Stampin’ Up! Online Store HERE. Accessories are only available while supplies last and some are sold out already. Stamps, since Stampin’ Up! manufactures them, will be available through May 22 even if they sell out.  Stampin’ Up! will make more until that date.

See if you like the angled look of my Botanical Gardens Big News Birthday Card today, and if so, try it yourself for something different!