August PL Swaps (Part 1)

I joined a Project Life Swap group on Facebook a few months back and have really been inspired. Basically every month, the admins post swap themes (8-10 usually). You sign up for how many you want and commit to making usually 10 cards utilizing the theme. Before the due date, you send your cards to the swap host. She collects everyone’s cards, sorts them, and sends you back a packet of cards.

This month, I joined eleven swaps. I'll be showing four of the swaps today:

Love -- For the love theme, I immediately knew that I wanted to use this heart tree stamp (Michael's). I found a pretty pink polka paper to be a background and start cutting and stamping. Then came the hard part: coloring all the hearts. I took a bunch of my Stampin' Up markers and went to town. The effect is fun and colorful and I love it! To help round out the card, I added the love stamp from SU Ciao, Baby (retired) and punched it and some pink paper out with SU Petite Curly Label Punch (retired). Very clean card, but lots of fun.

Butterflies -- I pulled two random stamps (medallion and "Live") from my non-SU bucket and decided they would work well together. With added punched butterflies, the stamps actually create a cohesive card. I stamped the medallion in Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green, or Primrose Petals. The "Live" sentiment was stamped in Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, and Raspberry Ripple. I then pulled coordinating patterned papers from the SU Print Poetry DSP Stack (stacked) and punched out big (Elegant Butterfly) and small (Bitty Butterfly) butterflies. For the finishing touches, I added some coordinating ribbon (mostly scrap pieces) and a jeweled rhinestone. Love this set!

Fall -- Initially I wasn't super excited about making a fall card, but I thought I would challenge myself. Turns out, I absolutely love this card! I stamped a leaf design (Michael's) in Baked Brown Sugar as a background. I then used my alphabet stamps to stamp "fall" in Mossy Meadow on top. The pumpkin stamp actually had "Happy Halloween" written underneath it. I masked out the words to stamp just the pumpkin in Early Espresso. I then colored in the image with Always Artichoke, Early Espresso, Crushed Curry, and Pumpkin Pie. The pumpkin was then punched out with the Artisan Label Punch. I layered the pumpkin onto a circle of random paper scrap, added a strip of washi tape (SU retired), and finally added a brad on the pumpkin. Overall this card looks amazing and very fall without being cutesy.

Washi tape -- For this theme, I decided to go simple but with some extra fun. I adhered a few strips of washi tape to the base. I then stamped a few quote bubbles and a camera from the SU Project Life Point & Click Stamp set in Staz-on black ink. Finally I added a small brad in either yellow, blue, or green to help add a bit of embellishment.

Card Class #1

A few weeks back I held my first ever card class. We made four cards using a ton of retiring/retired DSP. I wanted to make sure that the card designs were fun, but easy to make. I think I found the right balance with these.

Card #1

Inspiration: From Stamp with Sandy

My Interpretation:

Supplies:

Stamps: Morning Meadow (retired)
Cardstock: Whisper White; Afternoon Tea (retired); Smoky Slate
Ink: Wisteria Wonder; Certainly Celery; Primrose Petals
Accessories: Large Pearls
Tools: Pansy Punch

Card #2

Inspiration: I have two inspirations for these baby cards. One is a card I had made a few months back

And the other is from a card made by Lucie Bell

My Interpretation:

Supplies:

Stamps: Sweetest Gift (retired)
Cardstock: Marina Mist; Blushing Bride; Whisper White; K & Company Paper Stacks
Ink: Marina Mist; Crumb Cake; Regal Rose
Accessories:
Tools: 2" Circle Punch; Cloud Embossing Folder (retired); Polka Dot Embossing Folder; Pattern Scissors; Paper Trimmer; Snail

Card #3

Inspiration: From Stamp with Amy K

My Interpretation:

Supplies:

Stamps: Wacky Wishes (retired)
Cardstock: Crushed Curry; Kaleidoscope DSP (retired); Whisper White
Ink: Strawberry Slush
Tools: Banner Punch; Snail; Paper Trimmer

Card #4

Inspiration: From Mama Mo Stamps

My Interpretation:

Supplies:

Stamps: A Word for You (retired)
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry; Floral District DSP (retired)
Ink: Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Tangerine Tango Ribbon (retired); Silver Jewels
Tools: Elegant Butterfly Punch; Bitty Butterfly Punch; Snail; Paper Trimmer

May PL Swaps

I joined a Project Life Swap group on Facebook a few months back and have really been inspired. Basically every month, the admins post swap themes (8-10 usually). You sign up for how ever many you want and commit to making usually 10 cards making the theme. Before the due date, you send your cards to the swap host. She collect everyone's cards, sorts them, and sends you back a packet of card. This month, I joined four swaps:

Yellow -- I used SU's Hip Notes and Petal Parade stamp sets and the Bitty Butterfly punch. The base cardstock and yellow patterned paper were from my scraps pile. Very simple card, but lovely.

PL Card Revamp -- The goal was to take existing PL cards and revamp them with embellishments, stamps, paper, etc. I chose some random 4x6 cards (mostly from Studio Calico kits) and the Vintage Collection Paper stack and started layered. I also added some pink chevron washi tape and stamps from SU's new PL collection.

Children's Book -- I joined the children's book swap because I immediately thought of my favorite children's book: Alice in Wonderland. I took a simple quote on a black background and layered some paper that reminds me of Wonderland. I used American Craft's Galaxy Marker in medium, DCWV's Bewitched paper stack, and SU's Pocketful of Posies DSP (retired).

Butterflies and Ribbons -- For this swap, I challenged myself to use all non-SU stamps, accessories, and papers. I'm use really trying to use as much non-SU stuff as I can to make room for my growing SU side business. I took a sentiment stamp from a forgotten set (with peacocks) and combined it with some punched out butterflies and ribbon tassels. I was going for a fluttering look and they do flutter if you wave the paper around a bit. I also tried to use paper scraps for the butterflies (a few are slightly different papers because I ran out) and leftover ribbon. And it change it up a bit, I made five purple and five red cards, just for the variety. I like how these came out: clean but with a bit of flair.

Archives: Cards #34

Originally published on March 23rd, 2014 A ton of crafting this week... but you'll have to read my post here to get the scoop. On the other side of crafting, I received the rest of my Project Life card swaps from February. Overall, I am very pleased by what I got back. I can't wait to incorporate some of these cards into my spreads.

Archives: Cards #31

Originally published on February 16th, 2014

I joined a Project Life Swaps group on FB and signed up to participate in three swaps (all for February!). The idea is that you create PL cards based off of a theme, send them to the organizer, and she sends you cards from others. I went a little overboard, creating more than I needed. So, I decided to make some of the extras RAKs for my other PL group on FB. Now I just need to get to the post office sometime tomorrow to send these packets of happiness out.

Archives: Another Card Making Session

Originally published on February 8th, 2014

Reorganizing my Pinterest boards to include one for "This Week's Project" ideas has really motivated my crafting. Now I pull some random ideas over on Sunday night (recipes, cards, sketches, crafts, books, projects) and use that board for inspiration when I want to craft. I spend less time thinking of what I want to do and more time just doing. Love it! If you want to check it out, click here. It turns out I was crafting fool this week. Let's see what I made:

Card #1

My first card combines a color challenge and a sketch to create my homework for February Stamp Club. Again this week, I tried to use as many scraps as I could and not cut up whole sheets. It was a success. The only full sheets I cut were those used to make the card bases. I love the play of patterns with this card. I also added my own sentiment design. I didn't want to stamp over the floral patterned paper so I used some layering framelits to highlight the sentiment. The dimensions of the paper scraps are 4" x 3", 1.75" x 1.75", 0.25" x 1.75", 0.5" x 4"

Stamps: Stampin’ Up Best of Greetings
Inks: SU Primrose Petals
Cardstock: SU Primrose Petals, SU Gumball Green; various scraps
Tools: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Eight; Dimensionals; SNAIL; Big Shot

Card #2

My second card used the same sketch as the first but I used different scrap papers. I also changed up the sentiment design in favor of an oval scrap I had laying around. While it's not a traditional sympathy card, I think the cool blues and greens are soothing and the patterns are completely distracting.

Stamps: Stampin’ Up Best of Greetings
Inks: SU Midnight Muse
Cardstock: SU DSP (don't know the name), various scraps
Tools: SNAIL

Card #3

My third card is straight from a card on my Pinterest boards. I love the simplicity of the squares but with the fun coordinating patterns. Robin used the SU Festival of Prints paper stack (which I have), but I decided to use more of small scraps. If you look closely, many of the papers used in this card were also used in card #2. Way to make double use of scraps!

Stamps: Stampin’ Up Best of Greetings
Inks: SU Marina Mist
Cardstock: SU DSP (can't remember name); various scraps
Tools: 1″ Square Punch; SNAIL

Card #4

My fourth card used a sketch (that has since disappeared from Pinterest, odd...) and my new SU Smoky Slate cardstock. I am in love with this shade of gray. It's light and not overpowering but such a fun departure from white bases. I also tried to again use a ton of scraps for this card and succeeded!

Stamps: Stampin’ Up Stacks of Wishes
Inks: SU Basic Gray
Cardstock: SU Smoky Slate; various scraps
Tools: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Eight; SNAIL; Big Shot

Card #5

My fifth card came from the need to use these specific papers. So I scoured my techniques and sketches board and pulled this sketch out. The picture is horrid, but somehow I couldn't take a non-yellowed photo. Something about these papers just threw off the picture. Anyway, I am loving how geometric and layered this card is and yet it's still very nice and simple.

Stamps: Random Stampin' Up retired stamp
Inks: SU Pumpkin Pie
Cardstock: SU Pumpkin Pie; various scraps
Tools: 1 1/4" Circle Punch; SNAIL

Card #6

I adore the simplicity of the original butterfly card. I had to try and make my own. Looking at the finished project, I love the design and my pattern choices. But, the butterflies are all crooked... Next time, I need to use a ruler.

Stamps: Random Stampin' Up retired stamp
Inks: SU Primrose Petals
Cardstock: SU Print Poetry DSP
Tools: 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch; SU Bitty Butterfly Punch; SNAIL

Card #7

I wanted to try out a different interpretation of the butterfly card. For this one, I decided to make everything bigger and see what happened. I love the asymmetrical design of this card. I was going to just do a straight line of butterflies down the middle, but at the last minute I change up the placement. I like this look much better. Also, I repeated the use of the Print Poetry DSP but chose only papers featuring Midnight Muse, Raspberry Ripple, and Crumb Cake. I love the color play!

Stamps: Random Stampin' Up retired stamp
Inks: SU Raspberry Ripple
Cardstock: SU Primrose Petals
Tools: SU Elegant Butterfly Punch; 1 3/4" Scallop Circle Punch; SNAIL

Card #8

My last inspiration card was this gorgeous play of circles and patterns. To help me narrow down the choices, I used only paper from SU's retired Festival of Prints DSP stack. For the first card, I ended up using the Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Gumball Green, and Cherry Cobbler pages. I had to make it an actual Christmas card after seeing the results. My only issue is the placement of the circles. It was much harder than I thought it was going to be. Now I know how to place the first (bottom) row to get a better placement overall. Also, next time I will probably use a smaller size circle punch.

Stamps: Random Stampin' Up retired stamp
Inks: SU Cherry Cobbler
Cardstock: SU Festival of Prints DSP; various scraps
Accessories: 3D flower sticker
Tools: 1 1/4" Circle Punch; SNAIL

Card #9

My last card of the week is another version of the circles card. This time, I used the Island Indigo, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, and Crumb Cake papers from the stack. After putting it all together, it didn't look like a Christmas card so I made it a Congratulations card. Also, I did a bit better with the circle placements. I'm sure that I will revisit this design in the future.

Stamps: Random Stampin' Up retired stamp
Inks: SU Early Espresso
Cardstock: SU Festival of Prints DSP; various scraps
Accessories: Fabric flowers; brad
Tools: 1 1/4" Circe Punch; SNAIL

I'm loving my cards from this week. Next week, I want to play around with one sheet wonders...

Archives: Crafting Time

Originally published on February 2nd, 2014

I spent some time Sunday afternoon making some cards. I had a few leftover kits from crop night, so I thought I would focus on those. I took a few ideas from Pinterest and put my own spin on them.

For my versions, i used a ton of random paper from my stacks and a few Stampin' Up products. I left off the ribbon in favor of a more streamlined one-layer (but not really) look. My only complaint is that I don't own a circle punch between 1 1/4" and 2". I really need to add that to my Stamp Club order for February.

Supplies:

Stamps: Stampin' Up Wacky Wishes
Inks: SU Primrose Petals, SU Garden Green
Cardstock: SU Primrose Petals, various scraps
Tools: Cuttlebug Swiss Dot Embossing Folder; 2" Circle Punch; 1 1/4" Circle Punch; 1" Circle Punch; SNAIL; Big Shot

I found an interestingly designed card on Pinterest, but couldn't find the original source. Of course, this was after I had already made my own version of the card. Oh well! At least I can showcase my cards. I played around with layering and shades of pink.

Supplies:

Stamps: Stampin' Up Morning Meadow; SU Flower Shop
Inks: SU Primrose Petals; SU Regal Rose; SU Garden Green; SU Certainly Celery
Cardstock: SU Primrose Petals, various scraps
Accessories: Rhinestone jewels
Tools: SU Pansy Punch; SNAIL; Dimensionals

I love the graduated colors of the original design and wanted to make my own interpretation. I made a near copy of the original and then decided to play up with the placement of the butterflies for the second card. I also used a ton of scraps for these. The dimensions of the strips are 3/4" by 3 3/4", 3 1/2", and 3 1/4".

Supplies:

Stamps: Stampin' Up Banner Greetings
Inks: SU Primrose Petals
Cardstock: Scraps
Accessories: SU 2012-2014 In Color Dahlias
Tools: SU Elegant Butterfly Punch; SNAIL; Glue dots

Hope you enjoyed the cards. I definitely enjoyed making them.

Archives: Cards #30

Originally published on January 26th, 2014

Wednesday was crop night. Usually I get overwhlemed by my options and end up not getting much done. I also always forget something. This time I got smart at least on one point. Instead of throwing a ton of supplies into a big bag, I made little card kits in quart size ziploc bags. Everything I needed for a specific card except ink went into the bag. As an added organizational tool, I found six different inspirations on Pinterest to use. Unfortunately, I forgot my snail adhesive at home. Thankfully Judy let me borrow hers. Thanks friend! I'd say even with my forgetfulness, the night was a huge success. I made six cards using three of my designs. Love them!

Archives: Cards #23

Originally published on June 23rd, 2013

Waiting until the last moment, I scrambled to finish my stamp club homework last week. I got on a roll and made four variations. My favorite is the first one. I love the subtle colors and play on pattern. The last one was my second attempt at negative image using a brayer. This one turned out much better than my first attempt. I love the watermelon colors and the simplicity of the star stamps.

This beauty of a card was made by my Stamp Club friend Sara. She made each of a us a pretty card. Of course, I got a new baby card with a nice little message inside. I love the simplicity of this card. Although I can't believe that she cut out that kangaroo. So nice!

At stamp club, we made three awesome cards. I always love Pam's designs. I love the ruffled ribbon on the first one, but don't think I would use it enough to justify the cost from Stampin' Up. The second card makes great use of washi tape to add extra fun to the butterfly. The third card was sent through Pam's trading program. The lady cut out each of the inserts. So time-consuming! But it does make for a gorgeous card.

Archives: Weekly Crafting

Originally published on June 3rd, 2013

I figured I should finally dedicate posts to my card crafting and scrapbooking. Over the past two weeks, I've done a lot of crafting. My first task was to finish the boys' scrapbooks for last summer. I am determined to be completely caught up before the baby comes in October. I've ordered our pictures from last September to now; should get those in a few days. Then I can get started on that section of pages to catch up. I'm planning on switched to Project Life for the family album in October. I want to start with a clean slate. The baby will also start with a Project Life album. The boys will stay the same, but I still want them all caught up.

Now on to the card making...

Last month I snapped up the Round Array Bundle (Stampin' Up) with the stamp set and punch. I couldn't wait to try it out. I used a pretty dark pink paper as a card base with a light pink paper to stamp onto. For the white paper, I used my swiss dot embossing folder and the Big Shot to give some dimensions. I like the randomness to this card.

A card class card. The original design was different. I messed up my designer paper piece, so I changed the design to work with what I had. I like the simpleness of this card. All supplies are from Stampin' Up.

A new technique I was trying. We made an awesome card at class using Versa mark and a brayer. I bought some glossy paper and tried it out. Unfortunately the color did not adhere evenly. I want to try it again and see if I get different results. I do kind of like the tie dye effect I attained by mistake. (Looks better in person)

Another class card. I like the simplicity of this card. The colors work well together to create a masculine multipurpose card.

Class card. We were focusing on retiring stamps. I love the play of pattern with the designer paper and the embossed piece.

I love the designer paper on this card. The colors are bright and very cheery! Class card.

This card came from me grabbing some random supplies and working with what I got. I'm not in love with this card, but something about the mix of patterns intrigues me. After finishing the card, I went back to add the metallic jewels. Without them, the card just looks plain.

Another random supply card. I would have loved to see a thicker font for better contrast. But I do love the flower I constructed. I layered different sizes and shades to create a better embellishment.

Class card. I never bought them, but the button stamps really grew on me in the last month or so. Plus, I love the designer paper.

Class card. Love the mix of patterns on this one.

Class card. I love the rock n roll technique to create two color stamps. But overall I'm not a fan of the colors and stamps on this card.

Class card. Love, love, love this card. I love the combo of purple, pink, and orange. I love the simple sentiment.

The following two cards were part of my homework assignment for stamp club. We had a general sketch. I decided to play with the alignment of the card to make two different cards. Both cards used Stampin' Up paper, stamps, and punches. I just love the Print Poetry designer paper pack from the spring catalog. I'm rationing the paper to make it last.