Quilted Calmness

After the craziness of last week, I've been looking forward to today ... quiet, calm, no plans other than time in my stampin' quarters. Well there were a few interuptions, but ya know I had to take a break to play with that cutie little baby next door ... and to visit with my favorite daughter-in-law for a bit. THOSE are the kind of interuptions I appreciate and welcome!!!

After looking at the SSC110 sketch challenge at Stamping 411, I was excited to participate once again. I decided on making the circle portion of the layout into a "quilt" using the Cottage Wall designer series paper, cut it out with the clear circle Bigz die and layered it with the scallop circle Bigz die. I love it when I have a picture in my head and it actually turns out even better than I imagined!


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Flower Fancy, Heard From the Heart
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Orchid Opulence, Certainly Celery
Paper: Old Olive, Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry, Cottage Wall DSP
Accessories: 1 3/8" square punch, 1/2" circle punch, Big Shot, Scallop Circle Bigz die, Clear Circle Bigz die, Build-a-Brad, brads, ribbon, dimensionals

Dream, Dream, Dream

I fell in love with this stamp set the moment I saw it in the new catalog, but since it's arrival in my hot little hands I've drawn a complete blank.

The house was quiet yesterday so I took advantage and sat down to play ... decided to take a look at the Saturday Sketch Challenge at Stamping 411 for some (hopefully) inspiration.

I composed this a bit backwards, thought the caramel floral ribbon from the Masterpiece ribbon originals would be perfect with this image. From there I chose coordinating colors, backgrounds, etc. The most difficult choice was those teeny tiny embellishments in the corner - Yikes, what to do??? I tried using Chocolate Chip craft ink on some eyelets - after 3 hours they are still not dry. That's ok, I discovered pearls from the Pretties kit finished this project off perfectly! What do you think?

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Dream Gardens, Woodgrain, Medallion
Ink: Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Very Vanilla, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Circle Scissors, Masterpiece Ribbon Originals, Pretties pearls, dimensionals

More Stampin' Fun, SSC104

Oh how I wish Baja Breeze wasn't retiring in a week, it looks so nice paired with the new Soft Suede. I'm also loving the new Modern Label punch, layers wonderfully with the word window punch! It's so much fun to find new uses for our old toys.

I took a little liberty with this weeks Saturday sketch challenge over at Stamping 411 and offset my main image just a bit. This is the very first time my Classic Sketches stamp set has seen ink, I'm sure it was feeling very neglected. This image just screams "distress me" so I sponged heavily. This is my end result:

Stamps: Classic Sketches, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Parisian Breeze DSP
Ink: Soft Suede
Accessories: brads, word window punch, modern label punch, sponge, dimensionals

A Happy Sunday! SSC103

I can't believe it's Monday already, not sure exactly where I lost last week ... guess time really does fly when you're having fun! It also means it is once again time for the Saturday Sketch Challenge over at Stamping 411, I'm determined to get my entry submitted on time this week.

Yesterday it was bright and sunny, I felt a teeny bit guilty toying with the idea of staying inside to stamp. When hub decided to get caught up on the yard work, the decision was made. I really hated to give up that rare opportunity of uninterupted stampin' time. I know you know what I mean ... no telemarketing calls ... no silly favors being asked ... no crises to attend to ... just good old fashioned, all alone, quiet, ME time! I took full advantage of it (thoroughly enjoying every minute) and got quite a bit accomplished. I finished one swap that I am participating in, which is what I based this card from. I had a very difficult time finding something for those thin upper and side panels - everything I tried seemed to take away from the softness of the main image. I finally decided to dig through my designer paper stash (aka: hoard) ... WOOHOOOOO, I found some Old Olive Patterns DSP that I was happy with! So here's my creation:

I must have stamped 100 various color/image combos with the new SU hostess set Kind & Caring Thoughts, finally hit on something that I was thrilled with. I applied Crushed Curry ink to the entire image, then used those little finger sponge daubers to edge the flowers with Dusty Durango and the buds with Old Olive. I used a marker to color the stems in Old Olive. I love how those flower buds look kind of yellowish green, yet the stem is so much bolder ... and I thought the flowers were so bright and cheerful. Give this a try, you won't belive how easy it is!

Stamps: Kind & Caring Thoughts, Tres Chic (background), Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Paper: Whisper White, Old Olive, Dusty Durango, Crushed Curry, Old Olive Patterns DSP
Ink: Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Old Olive
Accessories: Dusty Durango polka dot ribbon, rhinestone brad, large oval punch, scallop oval punch, wide oval punch, corner rounder punch, sponge, sponge daubers, marker, dimensionals

Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch; SSC102

It seems I've been having a bit of a creative slump lately, and I've really been wanting to play with all my new "toys" from the recent SU catalog preview. I thought maybe trying my hand at the Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge would be a great place to start ... instead of sitting at my desk staring aimlessly at piles of paper, ink and stamps.

I started by using versamark on this wonderful wildflower image from the Asian Artistry hostess set, colored over the versamark with the new In Color markers (are you as excited about them as I am???) then heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

I tore a strip of paper to mask the background for the main image and sponged in some color. The tag is also an image from the same set, heat embossed and colored with blender pens.

The card base is one of the new In Colors ... Soft Suede. I LOVE this color, such a great addition! Sponging around the base gave it just a bit of added depth and the softness I was hoping for.

Stamps: Asian Artistry, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Sanded (background), En Francais (background)

Paper: Very Vanilla, Soft Suede, Dusty Durango

Ink: Old Olive, Crushed Curry, Soft Suede, Dusty Durango

Accessories: Clear EP, markers, blender pen, circle punch, small and large tag punches, hemp twine, distressing tool, sponges