
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Embrace Bling!

Friday, August 29, 2008
Embrace Bling Stickers
Embrace that bling!
Here are few ultra simple but lovely holiday cards. The product focus today is bling. We already focused on glitter, so it's now time for some of those other dazzling embellishments. I am featuring some twinkling gem stickers on these two cards.
I love how small they are, they add just the perfect about of sparkle to the cards. It's also nice how they are stickers, no annoying glue dots or tape to apply!
Several companies out there make self-adhesive gems. I used Martha Stewart gems that I found at Walmart.
Supplies:
Stamps: Retro Flakes, Oh Christmas Tree (gel-a-tins)
Paper and Ink: Blue Bayou, Soft Sky by Stampin' Up!
Clear Gem Stickers by Martha Stewart

Tuesday, August 26, 2008
FTL 10

Supplies:
stamps - On Your Birthday
paper - chocolate, chocolate patterns, white
ink - chocolate, baja breeze
acc - sweet blush gg (PTI), Flower Fusion Too, silver brads, chocolate brads (Darice)
FTL10
Monday, August 25, 2008
FTL10

I have to say, I quite like this sketch and use variations of it often. Here's my card, I timed it, it took 15 minutes. The longest part? Attaching the brads to the felt flowers.

Supplies:
Stamps: Birthday Basics (PTI)
Ink: Old Olive
Paper: Bali Breeze, Rose Red, Old Olive, Confetti White
Accessories, etc.: white brads, felt fusion flowers, glue dots, pop dots, olive ribbon
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Tips: Change up your dimensions!
This week's tip is to change up your dimensions! By this I mean step outside the 4.25x5.5 box. No squares either! Making cards with different dimensions really allows you to use your supplies differently. Maybe you have a large alphabet set you are dying to use, but it's too big for a standard size card. Try a bigger style card. Maybe you have some really big primas that would work well on a larger format. On the other side of the spectrum, maybe you have some cute, but tiny stamps. They would go nicely on a smaller format, perhaps you'd want to look into using the notecard size.
Popular sizes include the 6x3 or 7x3.5, the
3.5x5, I've even had fun with 6x5 cards. For my card today I went with an A Muse 4 bar blue notecard. These ones measure 5 1/8"w x 3 5/8"h. They work really well with the slightly smaller size of the A Muse stamps. This card was definitely on the quick side. I cut a 2 inch vanilla square, stamped my scene and sentiment (both from the Sushi clear set) . I coloured in the leaves and flowers with Copics and then applied a thin coat of stickles.

Not Your Normal Rectangle
Friday, August 22, 2008
Tips: Using black cardstock or embellishments
One thing I have found, is how using just the smallest bits of black cardstock can really bring extra dimension and 'pop' to a card. This applies to other media as well, like ink or embellishments. The darkness of it helps to separate elements which seems to make things more exciting to our eyes. When I am stuck on a design, sometimes I find that a thin black mat, a touch of ribbon, or a black sentiment can really bring it up to that next level.
*photo removed for publication*
Supplies:
Stamps: Birds Clear Set by Inkadinkadoo, Three for You Punch set by Stampin' Up!
Ink: Bamboo Leaves, Rhubarb Stalk, Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Cranberry Crisp
Accessories, etc.: pop dots
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Embrace Alphabet Stickers

Supplies:
stamps - QT Hootie (PCS)
paper - eggplant, lavender, kraft, ww
ink - memento tuxedo, copics
acc - alphabet stickers (SEI), lavender brads (Darice), stickles, oval nesties, dimensionals
Embrace Stickers

Embrace:

This card actually fulfills several challenges. I wanted to do something here, something that fit as a birthday card, and something that fit into this month's DDA challenge (Make a birthday card using numbers and don't use the word birthday)
These stickers are what I like to call "no-name thickers". They are foam stickers from the dollar store. They are decent quality and sometimes there is even a decent selection available! Underneath the numbers the phrase "it's your day!" is stamped.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Fall-To Layout 9

Fall-To-Layout 9

FTL9


I recently went to Michaels and was inspired by all the fun Halloween product. I went into my Stampin' Up! paper stash and pulled out this paper from last year. I still really love it, so I have been using it sparingly. Whenever I make long style cards I find that I like to use my corner rounder on at least 2 of the corners. It just seems to add a nice finished touch to this style of card.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Some more blue and orange
Here's another card featuring my favorite complimentary colour combination.
I was in the the mood for glittery flowers, so I inked up some chipboard, covered them with Mod Podge, then sprinkled on the glitter and went from there.

Supplies: Stamps: Stampin' Up! Chipboard: Stampin' Up!, Colorbok Ribbon: American Crafts Patterned Paper: Scenic Route Ink: Bahama Blue, Tangelo by Memento ,Accessories, etc.: Glitter (some Michaels brand)
Friday, August 15, 2008
Complementary Colors

Thursday, August 14, 2008
Tips:Complimentary Colours

Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Fall-to Colours

Sunday, August 10, 2008
CAS Friendly Techniques

- You can do a whole 8.5x11 sheet very quickly. Cut it up and place on several cards.
- The versatility of looks you can get make it great for virtually any kind of card.
- Minimal supplies needed, and if you don't have them, they are relatively inexpensive and they go a long way.
- The look that is achieved with polished stone is conducive to a CAS type card. You really don't want to cover up all that pretty patterned paper you just made!
Supplies: Stamps: Asian Flair (Verve Stamps), Ink: red, black, gold reinkers Paper: black, white, red, glossy white Accessories, etc.: rubbing alcohol, cotton balls, gold EP, ribbon, gold cord
Friday, August 8, 2008
Embrace Grosgrain!

Embrace...Grosgrain Ribbon

Wednesday, August 6, 2008
FTL 8

FTL8

Tuesday, August 5, 2008
FTL 8!

For my card today, I went with some "old friends". This card is all Stampin' Up! I even did the scallops using the corner rounder instead of my nestabilities!
For my scalloped circle I went with a patterned paper covered flower. It's so nice to choose 4 different papers that you know are going to coordinate nicely! I've been on a bit of a chipboard kick these past few days. I have so much of it, and it really covers up or inks up nicely! It's a pretty quick process too! For these ones, I didn't feel like dealing with Mod Podge, so

Speaking of using the chipboard I have... I'm trying really hard to use more and more of all the stuff I have. I think it's really good to step back and evaluate all the stuff you have. Figure out new ways to use your supplies before going out and buying more! If you can use a certain supply for a quick CAS type card, all the better! It'll give you more motivation to use that supply again and make more cards!
Supplies:
Stamps: It's your birthday
Ink:Brilliant Blue
Paper: Jersey Shore, Bashful Blue
Accessories, etc.: On Board Blossoms & Basics, Sanding Block, Wasabi Ribbon, Corner Rounder
Remember, if you want to play along, put a link here or use the keywords FTL8 at SCS!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Tips: Repetition
Repeating an element on a card is a really quick and easy way to unify your theme. There are several different ways you can do this, listed below are just a few ways to use repetition to your advantage.
For my card, I went with the third option. I used the cat head stamp and paws several times to make a fun background. The cat head is also stamped once in a brighter colour as my focal point. One thing to keep in mind if you are doing a random type background with more than one image- start with the biggest image first. You'll be able to fill in spots with your smaller images.
Supplies:
Stamps: Inkadinkadoo Cat clear set, Sun Spirit Studio Sentiments
Paper: Summer Sun, Only Orange, White
Ribbon: American Crafts
Ink: Canteloupe, Tangerine
- You can use a shape, such as circles or squares, for your repeated element.
- You can use a specific theme as a repeated element, say all flourish type stamps.
- You can use the same stamp over and over to make a background, then use it again for your focal point.
- You can even use a monochromatic colour scheme as your repeated element.

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