Happy hump day everyone!  Hope your week is going wonderful.  We’re half way through the week and under a heat advisory down here in the south (SC) so it’s a fabulous day to stay inside where it’s cool and make cards. 

Here’s a card I made yesterday for my oldest god son’s 16th birthday which is coming up next week.  The Travel Journal designer paper I used couldn’t have been more perfect.  He’s an Auburn fan just like his dad, so the orange and blue was fitting.  You can get the Travel Journal paper in the 2010 Summer Mini Catalog which is available only until the end of August.  The map paper included is awesome since his first priority is to get his driver’s license.hence the reason for the truck! 

I decided to make it a spinner card just for the fun of it.  I think I used the same stamp set for his birthday last year, although it looked much different.  It’s just a great set for masculine and boy cards.  In case you were wondering exactly what the card does, I included a video below.  It’s short and sweet and the lighting isn’t all that great, but I think it will show you how a spinner card works.

If you have any questions, just let me know.

Also – don’t forget that there are a little less than 2 days left in the monthly sketch challenge blog candy.  Hope you’ll participate!

Happy Stamping

Lianne Carper
CS partner and DTM for Brenda Cook
Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator

• Stamps:  Loads of Love, Occasional Quotes
• Paper:  Night of Navy, Pumpkin Pie and Bashful Blue card stock, Watercolor paper, Travel Journal designer paper
• Ink:  Jet Black StaZon, Night of Navy, Basic Gray, Going Gray
• Other:  Aqua Painter, Stampin’ Write Markers, Dimensionals, Word Window Punch, Glue Stick

Today I’ve got a relatively simple card to show you using the new Level 1 Hostess Set, Because I Care.  The flowers in that set are spectacular!  The layout in this card was inspired by a card created by Lisa Johnson although I changed up everything except for the layout.

Cards like these are perfect for mass production, so I will be sending these out for birthdays this month.  I used up some scraps of retired colors as well as a few current colors.  For the most part, they all look like the two standing up just using different colored card stock with a Crumb Cake card base.  However, I wanted to make one with Crumb Cake as well, so I switched it up and used a Soft Suede card base.  Love how that one turned out as well.

Are you interested in making one of these?  It’s been a while, so I figured it was about time to post another project sheet.  You can download the project sheet for today’s card in the Resources – Project Sheets section.  While you’re there, check out the other numerous project sheets we have for download.

Happy Stamping

Lianne Carper
CS partner and DTM for Brenda Cook
Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator

• Stamps:  Because I Care, Sincere Salutations
• Paper:  Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery, Orchid Opulence, Sage Shadow card stock
• Ink:  VersaMark, Baja Breeze, Soft Suede, Sage Shadow, Certainly Celery, Orchid Opulence Classic Inks and Whisper White Craft Ink
• Other:  Perfect Polka Dots and Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folders, Scallop Oval and Scallop Border Punches, White Embossing Powder, Sponges, Soft Suede Grosgrain Ribbon, Glue Stick, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Stampin’ Write Markers

Another episode under our belts where Brenda demonstrates how to create an adorable child’s birthday card and bookmark.  Hope you enjoy it.  We’d love to hear what you think.

Remember, you can download the project sheets for the projects shown in our Resources -> Projects Sheets section.

Happy Stamping

Lianne Carper
CS partner and DTM for Brenda Cook
Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator

I have to say that I am truly IN LOVE with the new Vintage Vogue stamp set that came out yesterday in the new 2010 Occasions Mini Catalog.  This is going to be one of those stamp sets that you reach for time and time again.  I made this one for the Adult Birthday Card swap here at CARDScraps.

I CASEd this gorgeous card from Lori Rider.  I stepped this up a little bit from hers although I truly fell in love with the simplicity of her card.   There was no ribbon used, nothing popping up at you other than the brads used in the center of the flowers.  I’m not normally attracted to cards without sticky-up parts – lol – but this one was different.  It was beautiful; the colors, the layout, and of course the stamps. 

Once I got to working on mine, I had to change a few things.  First of all, I made the card base Rich Razzleberry.  Stampin’ Up!’s Whisper White card stock is awesome for stamping – however, I’ve gotten used to the thickness of their standard card stock and I prefer it for my card bases as the Whisper White is just a little bit thinner.  I also added a layer of cutout flowers.  This was mainly because when I stamped my small flowers, the color was too dark and a little too close to the big flower and I wanted a little more contrast.  So for the top layer flower, I stamped off twice before stamping on my Whisper White card stock.  Anyway, my card began to blossom and was no longer as simple as Lori’s – and I don’t mean that in a bad way at all because as I said, it was the simplicity of her card that I fell in love with.  In my case, I made an error and had to find a way to cover it up – hence, more layers!

1. Score a 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ piece of Rich Razzleberry card stock at 4-1/4″ and fold for the card base.
2. Cut a 5-3/8″ x 4-1/8″ piece of Whisper White and lightly sponge the edges with Soft Suede Classic Ink.  Glue to the card base leaving a 1/16″ border all the way around.
3. Cut a piece of Soft Suede card stock to 5-1/4″ x 4″ and stamp the border stamp the from Vintage Vogue stamp set in the center of each of the 4 edges using Soft Suede ink.  Fill in the corners on the long edges by just inking the ends of the stamp.  Sponge the edges using Soft Suede ink and then glue to the card front.
4. Cut a piece of Whisper White card stock to 4-1/8″ x 2-7/8″ for the stamped image.  Sponge the edges using Soft Suede ink.
5. Stamp the Happy Birthday sentiment from the Well Scripted stamp set in the bottom right corner.
6. With Rich Razzleberry ink, stamp the large flower near the top left corner (refer to the images for placement).  Load the small flower stamp with Rich Razzleberry ink but stamp on scrap paper two times and then stamp next to the previously stamped flower.  This technique is called Stamping Off and in this case, I stamped off twice before stamping on my image.  Repeat for the other small flower.
7. Load the leaf stamp with Soft Suede ink.  Randomly stamp leaves around the edges of the flowers.  Stamp them in clusters of two or three leaves before re-inking your stamp.
8. On scrap Whisper White paper, stamp the large flower with Rich Razzleberry and two small flowers with Rich Razzleberry that you’ve stamped off twice as in step 5.  Cut each of the flowers out.
9. Lay the cutout flowers on the main flower image and use a paper piercer to punch through both layers.  Insert brads to secure.  Curl the flower petals around the barrel of your paper piercer to get them some lift and dimension.
10. Glue to a 4-1/4″ x 3″ piece of Rich Razzleberry card stock and glue to the card front.
11. For the inside of the card, cut a 5-3/8″ x 1-1/2″ strip of Whisper White card stock and sponge around the edges with Soft Suede ink.  Load the small flower stamp with Rich Razzleberry ink and stamp off twice before stamping on the left side of your paper strip.  Add a couple of leaves using Soft Suede ink.  Glue to the inside of the card approximately 5/8″ from the bottom of the card.
12. Cut a 5-3/8″ x 1/2″ strip of Soft Suede and stamp the border stamp along one edge.  Sponge the edges and glue below the Whisper White strip as shown.  Cut another strip of Soft Suede to 5-3/8″ x 1/8″ and sponge.  Glue to the top of the Whisper White strip – I find it’s easier to glue these small strips using a 2-way Glue Pen.

I hope you enjoyed today’s card and tutorial.  If you have any questions, just let me know!

Happy Stamping

Lianne Carper
CS partner and DTM for Brenda Cook
Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator

Stamps:  Vintage Vogue (WM#117690 – CM#118598), Well Scripted (WM#117072 – CM#118601)
Paper:  Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry and Whisper White card stock
Ink:  Soft Suede and Rich Razzleberry
Accessories:  sponges, 2-Way Glue Pen, Glue Stick, Hodgepodge Hardware Set Brads

I needed to make several cards for upcoming birthdays, so I figured I would go ahead and share them with you too! Tomorrow, I will show you a different card using Baroque Motifs, with a different theme! For the sentiment, I used a stamp from the “On Your Birthday” set. I tried something different (for me) on the flowers.

Here is how I did it:

I cut and scored the black card base. I then cut out the card front from Naturals cardstock. I chose the Naturals cardstock because it had flecks in it and I knew that I wanted to speckle the flower petals.

Next, I took the Baroque Motifs flourish and stamped with Versamark and sprinkled Black embossing powder over the flourish and embossed with the heat gun.

Then I took 2 of the flowers from the Pretties Kit and applied pastel chalks on both sides of the flowers with a cotton ball. Then I headed to the kitchen sink with a Basic Black reinker bottle and an old toothbrush, laid the flowers into the dry sink and speckled the flowers by dragging backwards on the brush with my fingertip. WARNING: Wear a disposable glove on the hand that you will stroke the toothbrush with. If you don’t, you will have a inky fingertip like I have right now!

Next, I used the Stamp Ma Jig and stamped the sentiment. Lastly, I took the brads and put through the flowers and secured to the card front. Once you have it all together, adhere the card front to the card base.

Brenda Cook
Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator
Tarboro, NC

Supply List – all products are by Stampin’ Up!

Stamp: On Your Birthday, Baroque Motifs
Paper: Basic Black, Naturals CS
Ink: Basic Black, Versamark, Basic Black Reinker
Other: Flowers-Pretties Kit, Ice Circle Brads, Black EP, Stampin’ Pastels, SMJ, Snail, Heat Gun, Toothbrush, QTip, Cotton Ball
Technique: Embossing, Speckling

For the next three days, I’m going to show you a sneak peek of a couple of the new upcoming stamp sets from the Stampin’ Up! 2010 Occasions Mini Catalog which goes live on January 5th!  The cards I’m going to show you are “stepped up” versions of the cards that Brenda will be making with the gals at the nursing home, so they are all going to match.

The first one uses the new stamp set called Well Scripted.  This set comes with 6 different sentiments all in the same fonts as seen here. A beautiful little set and a must have for your stamp collection.  Although I didn’t notice it until I got to looking at the close-ups of my cards, I got a little smudge on the b in birthday – oops!

I used the Flock Together designer series paper from the 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog which I’ve been wanting to play with for quite some time.  The spring colors are fabulous!  And now with Christmas behind us, I’m looking forward to Spring before Winter really even sets in.

Here’s how I did it:

1. Cut So Saffron card stock to 4″ x 5-1/4″ and glue to a standard A2 Tempting Turquoise card base.
2. Cut the blue branch print designer paper to 3-7/8″ x 5-1/8″ and glue to the card front centered on the So Saffron matte.
3. Glue a 1-1/4″ x 4-1/2″ strip of blue designer series paper to a 1-3/8″ x 4-5/8″ strip of Tempting Turquoise card stock. Tie a piece of So Saffron Grosgrain Ribbon around it lengthwise and glue to the card base a little to the left of center as shown.
4. Glue a 3″ x 2″ piece of yellow designer paper to a 3-1/8″ x 2-1/8″ piece of Tempting Turquoise card stock.  Stamp happy birthday in the bottom right corner using Basic Black ink.  Attach it to the card front using Stampin’ Dimensionals.
5. On a scrap piece of Tempting Turquoise card stock, stamp the polka dot butterfly from Flight of the Butterfly stamp set using Versamark.  Use the Butterfly punch to punch it out.  Using the Two-Way Glue Pen, glue the butterfly’s body to the card front in the top left corner of the yellow designer paper.
6. Punch an additional butterfly from a piece of blue designer series paper.  Glue the body to the top of the other butterfly body using the Two-Way Glue Pen.  Curl the top butterfly’s wings up.
7. Add a couple of half pearls to the center of the butterfly for the body.
8. Cut a 1/2″ x 4-1/4″ strip of So Saffron card stock and glue to the inside of the card approximately 1/2″ from the bottom.  Glue a 3/8″ x 4-1/4″ piece of designer paper to the center as shown.

I hope you enjoyed today’s Sneak Peek.  Come back tomorrow to see another card showcasing another set coming in the new 2010 Occasions Mini Catalog.  Don’t forget to leave a comment on Brenda’s New Years card for a chance to win some Blog Candy!

Happy Stamping!

Lianne Carper
CS partner and DTM for Brenda Cook
Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator

 Supplies:  (all Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise noted)

Stamps:  Well Scripted (WM#117072 – CM#118601 shown right) and Flight of the Butterfly (#111564)
Paper:  So Saffron and Tempting Turquoise card stock, Flock Together designer series paper
Ink:  Basic Black Classic Ink; VersaMark
Other:  Butterfly Punch, So Saffron Grosgrain Ribbon (retired), Glue Stick, Two-Way Glue Pen, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Half Pearls (Kaisercraft)

Well, they’re not necessarily small, but they are not the standard A2 cards that I normally make.  I actually trimmed the A2 cards to a 4-1/4″ square to make these cute little birthday cards.  I had a couple of the paper pieced cupcakes left from my previous card and didn’t want them to go to waste.  I was sick all weekend but did manage to get enough energy to participate in one sketch challenge during World Cardmaking Day which I’ve pictured here.  To be quite honest, I didn’t make either of these cards on Saturday.  I completed one of them yesterday and one of them today.  That’s just all of the energy that I could muster right now.

Anyway, here are my two cards.  I’m not going to go into how I made them this time but they are pretty self explanatory.  However, if you have any questions, please just let me know. 

I will say that it’s not easy sewing a pretty circle with the sewing machine..LOL.  You’ll notice that neither of my circles are perfect, but I kinda liked their imperfections, so I kept them.  I tried doing it with the zig zag stitch and the straight stitch.  All in all, I’m still pleased with how they turned out.  I think I like the zig zag stitch with the sponged edges the best.  Oh – and just so you know, the scalloped circles are also leftovers from a previous project.  Some of you may remember that we did a class with the Red Hat ladies.  Well, these scallop circles are actually leftover from a cutout from the cards they made.  I save everything.LOL. 

Anyway, sorry for the short post today.  I’m off to bed for some more rest so that I’ll hopefully feel better tomorrow.  I just wanted to show off a couple of cards I did manage to get made over the last couple of days.

Oh and before I go, I just wanted to remind everyone about our upcoming Holiday Preview Open House that’s going on this coming weekend at Brenda’s house.  I’ll be there helping to showcase all of the wonderful new items in the Holiday Mini Catalog and I hope to see you there.  If you can’t come, remember that you can still be entered to win a door prize by placing an online order by October 14th.  You can get all of the details here.

Supplies (all Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise noted)

Stamps:  Crazy for Cupcakes
Paper:  Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, Ballet Blue and Whisper White card stock, Pawsitively Prints designer paper
Ink:  So Saffron, Basic Black
Accessories:  White Organza Ribbon, Mistletoe Ribbon Originals, Playground Buttons, Circle Punches, Scallop Circles (cut on the Cricut), Texture Plate (Fiskars), sewing machine and thread

Well, if you’ve downloaded the new Stampin’ Up!T Holiday Mini catalog, you’ve surely noticed the Build-a-BearT stamps and Big Shot dies.  I had fun creating this adorable little card and dressing up my sweet little girl bear.  I used the new Sweet Treat Cups (#116802) to make the little candy center on the front of the card.

Remember you can click on the images to enlarge and view the details a little better.

This is the second card I’ve made with the Sweet Treats Cups (the first one you’ll see at some point later) and I had to figure out a way to be able to access the candy without tearing the card apart. It was mentioned on one of the SU! groups to make something that slides out of the way.  So that’s what I did.  The blue flowery tag with the “Happy Bearthday” sentiment on it actually slides out and then the candy comes out from the inside. 

Here you can see the inside of the card.  The first shot is with the tag showing through the opening.  The second shot is with the tag removed and now you can get to the candy.  Notice how my Skittles match her dress perfectly?!?  I planned that…LOL.  You can also see how I decorated the inside of the card.  Adding just a few strips of coordinating DSP really finishes the card off nicely.  You can also do the same with your envelope.  Remember, it’s not just the card front, the presentation begins from the time they pick up the envelope.

Here’s a shot of the front with the tag removed.

Now lets move on to the little bear herself.  After stamping the bear on Whisper White card stock, I stamped her again on the floral Pawsitively Prints DSP.  I cut her dress out and then used a blender pen with some Ballet Blue ink to shade her dress a little in the folds and creases.  I colored her using a blender pen as well with Creamy Caramel ink.  I ended up making her muzzle too dark, so I stamped it again on Whisper White and cut it out.  I liked the extra dimension it gave so I also cut out her little flower in her hair.  Next I added Crystal Effects to her nose, eyes, flower, the trims on her dress and her shoes.  I sponged So Saffron all around her to make her pop even more. 

I think this will make the perfect birthday.or rather “bearthday” card for any young lady!

Supplies (all Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise noted)

Stamps:  Beary Best Friends (shown right), Beary Nice Wishes
Paper:  Pawsitively Prints DSP, Old Olive CS, Ballet Blue CS, Pretty in Pink CS, Whisper White CS
Ink:  Black Stazon, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, Ballet Blue, Chocolate Chip
Other:  Sweet Treats Cups, Hemp Twine, Circle Punches, Crystal Effects, Blender Pens, So Saffron Grosgrain Ribbon, Slot Punch, Corner Rounder Punch, Button (from stash)

Happy Stamping!

Lianne Carper
CS partner and DTM for Brenda Cook
Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator

I’ve just recently learned a new technique with the Aqua Pens and have been having a blast trying it out. Since it was my husband’s birthday on Monday, one of the things I made was this cute birthday card with the Loads of Love stamp set. As some of you may not have tried this technique yet, I figured I’d write you up a quick tutorial on how to achieve this look.

Loads of Love Birthday Card Tutorial

Supplies (all Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise noted):

• Stamps: Loads of Love, Fundamental Phrases, Big Bold Birthday
• Paper: Always Artichoke and Night of Navy card stock; Watercolor paper
• Ink: Black Staz-On; Night of Navy, Real Red, Riding Hood Red, Ruby Red, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Tempting Turquoise, Creamy Caramel, Only Orange, YoYo Yellow, Brilliant Blue, Basic Gray, Basic Black Classic Ink
• Other: Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Snail Adhesive, Aqua Pens, Stampin’ Write Markers, Signo Gel Pen, Crystal Effects, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Basic Black Journaling Pen, Sticky Notes (office supply store)

1. With Black Staz-On, stamp the truck image in the middle of Watercolor Paper.
2. Using the Aqua Pen, pick up some Riding Hood Red ink and float in some color on the body of the truck. Continue to build up the color this way to color in the whole truck. Leave some of the areas lighter to create highlights. Pick up Real Red and float in areas to create shadows.Pick up some Basic Black ink and color in the tires. Add Basic Gray to the bumpers and the hubcaps.
3. Once dry, mask off the truck bed by placing a sticky note over the top of it lining up the edge with the top of the truck bed.
4. Place a few random candles in the back of the truck with the candle stamp from Big Bold Birthday and Brilliant Blue Stampin’ Write marker. Color the flame outline with the Only Orange Stampin’ Write marker. Fill in with a few more candles using Real Red and Only Orange. Color the flames in with YoYo Yellow.
5. Using Old Olive and the Aqua Painters, float in some color underneath the truck for the grass. Continue to float in color making it a little darker directly under the truck. Add some Always Artichoke to create shadows. Add a little bit of Creamy Caramel as well to give it the grassy dirt effect. You can continue to build up color as long as you let it dry in between.
6. Using a tiny amount of Tempting Turquoise with the Aqua Painter, float in some color in the background for the sky area as well as the truck windows.
7. Using the Stamp-a-ma-jig, stamp “Wishing You Loads of” with Basic Gray. I used the markers for this step so that I could move the word “of” below “Loads”. Stamp “Birthday Wishes” below the truck in the grassy area.
8. Using the Basic Black Journaling Pen, outline the candles and draw in the candle wicks. I had some bleeding issues since my paper wasn’t quite dry (ooops!) so I “covered” this by adding little hash marks on the right side of the candles.
9. Use the White Signo Gel Pen to draw in some highlights on the truck.
10. Trim this piece to 4-3/4″ x 2-1/2″.
11. Add Crystal Effects to the candle flames, hubcaps, headlight, taillight, and door handle. Set aside to dry.
12. On another piece of Watercolor paper, float in some Tempting Turquoise ink to form the sky area as you did previously.
13. At the bottom of the sheet, randomly stamp some of the candles as you did in the back of the truck. I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to make sure I got the candles just where I wanted them.
14. Outline the candles and draw in the wicks with the Basic Black Journaling Pen. Add the hash marks if you’d like. I had to do this so they would match the candles in my truck.
15. Trim this piece to 4-3/4″ x 1-1/4″.
16. Add Crystal Effects to each of the candle flames and set aside to dry.
17. Matte the truck image with a piece of Always Artichoke card stock cut to 5″ x 2-3/4″. Matte the candle strip image to a piece cut to 5″ x 1-1/2″.
18. Cut a piece of Night of Navy card stock to 5-1/4″ x 5-1/4″. Leaving a 1/8″ border, mount the truck image near the top and the candle strip image near the bottom leaving a 3/4″ gap between the two matted images.
19. Cut a 6-1/2″ piece of Striped Grosgrain Ribbon and tie in a knot in the center. Align the knot in between the two matted images and adhere the tails to the backside.
20. Trim Always Artichoke card stock to 11″ x 5-1/2″. Fold in half to create card base.
21. Mount matted image to the card base.

Update (3/18/2009): A few people have asked me what I mean when I say “float” color in. This is a term from my tole painting days. Although normally it is done with a flat brush and color loaded on one side of the brush, it basically means to slowly build the color up blending until it’s the color/shade you want. So, what you want to do is continually “float” in more color until it’s the shade or as dark as you want.

Enjoy!

Lianne Carper