March 2017 Crafting Goals

Finish my birthday month celebration -- I have a big list of events planned!
Host two Facebook parties -- Part of my birthday celebration.
Finish March SSINK cards -- Got a few more to finish!
January PL (possibly also February) -- Ready to break out the new albums to start the 2017 spreads.
Plan out April and May classes/events -- Hoping to push into the next quarter on a high note!
Clean out card kits -- My card kit box is very full right now. I think I need to do a bit of a culling and make some of the ones that only have one left in the bag. Added bonus, I will have some more birthday and thank you cards ready to send.
Card inventory -- Definitely need to do this monthly and especially after all the cards I made in late February. early March...

A recap of last month’s goals:

Nov.-Jan. PL Spreads — Almost success. I finished November and December and printed January's photos. Just haven't finished January's pages.
The Craft Sea Newsletter — Fail, although I did send a detailed update email to my club ladies.
Plan out February and March Classes and events — Success!
Feb SSINK cards and at least half of the March SSINK cards — Success! I only need to do a few more for March.
Cardstock Inventory — Success! I have my spreadsheet updated.

Birdcage Triptych

As part of my birthday month celebration, I'm going to try and make a cards with every single Stampin' Up stamp set I currently own. Today’s card is being featured on Stylin’ Stampin’ Inkspiration. The challenge was to create a quick and easy card. This card may not look quick and easy, but I assure you it is! Start with a simple watercolor wash on a piece of watercolor paper. I usedWatermelon Wonder, Peekaboo Peach, and Daffodil Delight reinkers to paint my background. The longest part of the card comes next: letting the piece of watercolor paper dry completely. From there I quickly created three different birdcages, cut the paper in three, and glued onto a layer of Basic Black before adhering to my card base. Simple but very striking!

Stamps: Birdcage Builder
Inks: Basic Black; Watermelon Wonder; Peekaboo Peach; Daffodil Delight
Cardstock: Watermelon Wonder; Basic Black; Watercolor Paper
Accessories:
Tools: Aqua Painter

Stamp Sets to Use:

Birthday Blooms
Celebrate Today
Build a Birthday
Love and Affection
Foxy Friends
No Bones About It
Watercolor Wings
Papillon Potpurri
Jar of Love
Petite Petals
Seaside Shore
Suite Sayings
Friendly Wishes
Flower Shop
Timeless Textures
Playful Backgrounds
Work of Art
Blooms and Wishes
Botanical Blooms
Kinda Eclectic
Labeler Alphabet
Cookie Cutter Christmas
Paisleys and Posies
Endless Birthday Wishes
Dragonfly Dreams
Cool Treats
Bookcase Builder
Birdcage Builder
Tasty Trucks
Hey Chick
Designer Tee
Reverse Words
Four You
Four Feathers

SSINKTC42: Understated Bloom

Today’s card is being featured on Stylin’ Stampin’ Inkspiration. The challenge was to create a card using the technique below.

For my card, I used the traditional way of doing stained glass cards. I have also seen others use a large cutout die (like the Rose Garden Thinlits) and replace the middle pieces with colored paper. Very cool effect, but I enjoy doing the heat embossing and vellum technique. For my card, I used the Birthday Blooms stamp set as my stained glass image. I have found that the trick to coloring is to use darker markers to show the color more. After coloring, I handcut my vellum and placed it in the corner of my card. I added a metallic doily and a sentiment.

Detailed of the flower:

Stamps: Birthday Blooms; Dragonfly Dreams
Inks: Perfect Plum; Elegant Eggplant; Always Artichoke; Pumpkin Pie
Cardstock: Falling in Love DSP; Very Vanilla; Crumb Cake
Accessories: Metallic Doily
Tools: Gold Embossing Powder; Vellum

Sunday Haul #3

My stamp club order arrive! Woohoo! Let's see, I got:

Endless Birthday Wishes Stamp Set
Pop of Pink DSP
Pear Pizzazz Ink Pad
Flirty Flamingo Cardstock
Reverse Words Stamp Set (new SAB)
Bermuda Bay Cardstock
Dimensionals
Glimmer Paper Assortment (new SAB)
Rich Razzleberry Cardstock
2016-2018 In Color Markers

Sugarplum Dragonfly

Today’s card is being featured on Stylin’ Stampin’ Inkspiration. The challenge was to create a card using your favorite Sale-a-Bration item. My newest obsession is the new 6x6 Glimmer Paper Assortment Pack. You get four sheets each of three colors: Bermuda Bay, Mint Macaron, and Sweet Sugarplum. I need all the shiny things so of course I got this as soon as I could! For my card, I kept it simple to highlight the awesome glitter paper. I die cut a dragonfly from my piece of whisper white and a piece of vellum. I layered on a few coordinating colors of cardstock and added a simple sentiment. For final touches I added a few enamel shapes to give a bit extra sparkle. This card really shines in person!

Stamps: Dragonfly Dreams
Inks: Rich Razzleberry
Cardstock: Sweet Sugarplum Glimmer Paper; Rich Razzleberry; Sweet Sugarplum; Whisper White; Vellum
Accessories: 2016-2018 In Color Enamel Shapes; Metallic Enamel Shapes
Tools: Detailed Dragonflies Thinlitsdra

Fun n' Crafty Blog Hop February 2017

Welcome to the Fun n’ Crafty Blog Hop for February. This month's theme is watercolor. For my card, I kept the design and embellishments simple to focus on the watercolor pencils. I love love love this product and am so excited that they are back in stock after a temporary outage. The pencils are so versatile. You can simply color an image or apply a bit of water and create an amazing watercolor effect. For my card, I colored in some jars using two different colored pencils to create a fun paint jar look. The color combos are: Calypso Coral and Read Red, Pool Party and Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry, and Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie. I then die cut the jar and trimmed a bit off the edges. I stamped the jars onto a piece of Whisper White and then glued the die cut jars onto the stamped images. I used a similar effect on this Jar of Love card. I also added a stamped and die cut lid for each of my jars. For my sentiment I stamped is with a two tone effect. I kept the background simple with a layer of silver foil paper on top of a Basic Gray card base. It's hard to tell in the first photo, but I did add a bit of sparkle with some clear Wink of Stella in jar.

Detail of the Wink of Stella.

Stamps: Jar of Love; Suite Sayings
Inks: Basic Gray; Smoky Slate; Melon Mambo; Rich Razzleberry
Cardstock: Basic Gray; Silver Foil Paper; Whisper White; Smoky Slate
Accessories:
Tools: Everyday Jars Framelits; Wink of Stella Clear; Wink of Stella Gold

Blog Hop List:

Carousel for a Friend

Today’s card is being featured on Stylin’ Stampin’ Inkspiration. The challenge was to create a card using elements of the Cupcakes and Carousels suite. I haven't bought the stamp set from the suite, but I couldn't resist the patterned paper. For this card, I pulled all the papers featuring the Bemuda Bay and So Saffron color combo. From there, I pulled some Early Espresso cardstock to create my color trio. I played around with layering the papers until I found a combo I really loved. To add texture, I embossed my piece of Bermuda Bay using the new Hexagons Embossing Folder. To finish my card, I glued on some sequin strands.

Stamps: Friendly Wishes
Inks: Bermuda Bay
Cardstock: Cupcakes & Carousels DSP; Bermuda Bay; So Saffron; Early Espresso
Accessories: Bermuda Bay Sequin Trim
Tools: Hexagons Embossing Folder

Currently...

Watching: J and I finally started watching Broadchurch. Only two episodes in, but we're hooked!

Reading: Cress by Marissa Meyer. I'm working my way through The Lunar Chronicles. Enjoying this volume even more than the last.

Listening: The rain is still here in the Bay Area. On Monday it rained all day. In many ways, I missed listening to the sound of the rain.

Making: Pushing to wrap up my 2016 pages in the Project Life albums. Getting close! i need to do Arthur's December pages and the twins and then 2016 will be done.

Feeling: I've gotten a decent amount of sleep this past week. Feeling better. Now if I could get the toddler to stop yelling about everything, I would feel fine.

Planning: March is my birthday month and I've got some great things planned to celebrate on my Facebook craft group. Lots of challenges, giveaways, and fun. If you want to play along, join The Craft Sea to get all the news.

Loving: Quentin's belly laughs are adorable. I wish I could bottle them for those times when I need a pick-me-up.

SSINKIC42: Hot Air Balloon View

Today’s card is being featured on Stylin’ Stampin’ Inkspiration. The challenge was to create a card using the picture below as inspiration!

For my card, I played off of the hot air balloons and some of the colors from the picture. I pulled out my trusty Celebrate Today stamp set. While most use this set to make balloons, it does include this cute little basket stamp to turn balloons into hot air balloons. Perfect for the photo! I simply inked up a few hot air balloons in some coordinating colors. I made sure to feature some great DSP from the Sale-a-Bration Carried Away pack. Love that paper so much. To finish my card, I added a few little embellishments.

Stamps: Celebrate Today
Inks: Peekaboo Peach; Watermelon Wonder; Sweet Sugarplum; Rich Razzleberry; Mint Macaron; Night of Navy; Basic Gray
Cardstock: Carried Away DSP; Watermelon Wonder; Whisper White
Accessories: Dapper Denim Ruched Ribbon; Metallic Enamel Shapes
Tools:

Affectionately Yours Flowers

Today’s card is being featured on Stylin’ Stampin’ Inkspiration. The challenge was to create a card featuring one of your favorite products. Lately, I've rediscovered my love of the Affectionately Yours DSP. So pretty! And I love the color combinations. This is a super simple card with some fun accents. I love the inclusion of the coordinating washi tape and rhinestones.

Stamps: Remarkable You
Inks: Watermelon Wonder; Cucumber Crush; Basic Black
Cardstock: Affectionately Yours DSP; Watermelon Wonder; Whisper White
Accessories: Rhinestones; Affectionately Yours Washi Tape
Tools: Circles Framelits