Thinking of Inking

Hello!  Today I’m sharing two cards with you.  These were made at stamp club in January, so I give my Stampin’ Up demonstrator credit for the overall card design. 

As you can see from the photos, they are basically the same card, just with different color schemes and images.  I drew in the wire for the birds to perch on and the shelf for the cupcakes by hand.  There’s some glitter on the hearts on the bird card, but glitter and I do not get along well so it looks kind of funky.  Oh well.  On both of these cards, the light-colored card is attached to a 5.5″ x 4.25″ base mat of the colored cardstock, for a little variation on the typical card size.

Supplies:
Stamps: The More the Merrier (SU)
Cardstock: Naturals White, Tempting Turquoise, Pixie Pink (SU)
Ink: Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise, Pixie Pink (SU)
Other: Stampin’ Up markers; sponges; glitter

Today, I have another birthday card to share.  I combined two of the recent challenges at Splitcoaststampers for this one… Color Challenge #256 for the color scheme, and Clean and Simple Challenge #52 for the layout.  I decided to pull out my nearly forgotten distressing tool for this one and roughen up the edges a bit.

Supplies:
Stamps: Trendy Trees, Birthday Whimsy (SU)
Cardstock: Crushed Curry, Bravo Burgundy, Basic Gray, Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Crushed Curry, Bravo Burgundy, Basic Gray (SU)
Other: Cranberry Crisp ribbon (SU); distressing tool; Stampamajig

Have you ever had a time where you’ve suddenly remembered you need to mail a card right away - but you haven’t made (or bought) the card yet?  I have to confess that happened to me yesterday. 

A couple of the Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple challenges were lurking in the back of my mind.  I combined them for this card by using the layout from one and by using designer paper to create some of the elements on it.  If I’d had more time to work on this, I would have added some sponging, or possibly would have swapped the pink and white layers.  It looks a little stark to me the way it is.  But it’s in the hands of the postal service now, so I just have to hope it brightens the day of its recipient.

Supplies:
Stamps: On Your Birthday (Stampin’ Up!)
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip (Stampin’ Up!); “Cherry Blossom” from LilyKate 6″ x 6″ pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (Stampin’ Up!)
Other: 5-Petal Flower punch (Stampin’ Up!); LilyKate ribbon (Basic Grey); clear crystal mini brads (Making Memories); 1/4″ circle punch

Hello!  It’s snowing here today, so I hope that will give me a chance to get some more cards made to share with y’all soon.

Today’s card was sent to a friend who gave birth to a little girl in December.  I used Lizzie Anne Designs Sketch Challenge #109 for the layout.  My friend’s baby has a lot of hair, so I was tempted to add some to the stamped image, but I was afraid I’d mess it up if I tried that.  LOL 

Congratulations and all the best to my friend and her family!

Supplies:
Stamps: Petite Phrases (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Raspberry Tart designer paper (Stampin’ Up!)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Other: markers, buttons (Stampin’ Up!); embroidery floss (DMC); ribbon (Michael’s)

I made today’s card for a friend who’s been going through a very difficult time in her life.  I just wanted to let her know that I’ve been thinking about her, and that things will eventually get better.

The layout for this card is Lizzie Anne Designs Sketch Challenge #110.  I realize I use this color scheme pretty often but hey, I love it.  :)  The kite is paper pieced with a bit of the background paper.  The sentiment seemed lost on its own down at the bottom of the card, so I drew in the little dots in an attempt to mimic the tail of the kite.  The sentiment reads “Hope things are looking up soon!” 

Supplies:
Stamps: High Hopes (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Purely Pomegranate, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla (Stampin’ Up!); “Haight Street” from Phoebe 6″ x 6″ pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Purely Pomegranate (Stampin’ Up!)
Other: Chocolate Chip satin ribbon, Purely Pomegranate stitched ribbon, Chocolate Chip marker, Rose Red marker (Stampin’ Up!); sponges

Today’s card was sent to a dear friend who is celebrating her birthday today!  I hope she has a marvelous day!

I combined Lizzie Anne Designs Sketch Challenge #109 with Splitcoaststampers Color Challenge #253.  Except for the houndstooth check panel, there is no stamping on this card!  The sentiment and flowers are some of my Stampin’ Up rub ons. 

Supplies:
Stamps: Houndstooth (Stampin’ Up!)
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Very Vanilla (Stampin’ Up!)
Ink: Rich Razzleberry (Stampin’ Up!)
Other: Love & Happiness rub ons, Chocolate Chip twill ribbon (Stampin’ Up!)

My kids are out of school today and Monday for teacher workdays marking the end of the first semester of the 2009-2010 school year.  It’s been a difficult year so far at our elementary school.  Our clinic aide’s teenage daughter passed away in the fall due to injuries sustained in an automobile accident.  In December, one of our special education aides lost her battle with cancer.  I think everyone’s hoping for a brighter 2010.

So on behalf of the PTA Executive Board, I’ve had to make some sympathy cards.  I’ll share them here today.  Both of these were projects from the stamp club I attend, so thank you to my demo for coming up with the ideas!

The first card is the one for the clinic aide.  The color scheme is a lot brighter than what I’d normally use for a sympathy card, but something about the card seemed to work for this situation.

Supplies:
Stamps: Medallion, Teeny Tiny Wishes (Stampin’ Up!)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Real Red (Stampin’ Up!)
Ink: Crushed Curry, Real Red (Stampin’ Up!)
Other: sponge, blingie flower that my demo found somewhere

Here’s the card that was sent to the family of our special ed aide. My demo had this card for us at our September club meeting. I’ll be the first to admit I’m a perfectionist, and that night I was having a creative block or something. This card just wasn’t “feeling right” for me with the sentiment stamps and embellishments we were offered that night. So I decided I’d leave the pieces as they were and assemble the card at home. When I needed the sympathy card, I finally decided the floral pieces and colors would work nicely with this sentiment stamp and didn’t need any additional ribbon or anything, and the card finally came together.

Supplies:
Stamps: Friends 24-7, Always in My Thoughts (Stampin’ Up!)
Cardstock: Naturals Ivory, Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue (Stampin’ Up!)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue (Stampin’ Up!); Versamark
Other: sponges

I hope the year has gotten off to a wonderful start for everyone! 

I’m back to birthday cards again.  This one went out to one of my longtime friends.  The layout is from Lizzie Anne Designs Sketch Challenge #108, but I used Stampin’ Up! products to create the card.  I chose some of the designer papers that I remembered she liked very much. 

Supplies:
Stamps: All Occasions (Stampin’ Up!)
Cardstock: Blue Bayou, Porcelain Prints designer paper (Stampin’ Up!)
Ink: Blue Bayou (Stampin’ Up!)
Other: Blue Bayou ribbon (Stampin’ Up!), 1″ circle punch, scalloped circle from Cuttlebug “Harmony” alphabet

The majority of the cards I make are birthday cards, so it felt nice the other day to make a card for no real reason other than just because I wanted to play along in some online challenges.  Today’s card uses the layout of Lizzie Anne Designs Sketch Challenge #106  and the color scheme from Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple Challenge #44.  I love this sentiment from Lizzie Anne Designs!

Supplies:
Stamps: sentiment from Garden Inspirations (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Basics White (Papertrey Ink); papers from Phoebe 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Creamy Caramel, Purely Pomegranate (Stampin’ Up!)
Other: Purely Pomegranate ribbon (Stampin’ Up!); petite oval and petite scalloped oval Nestabilities

Here are a couple more birthday cards I’ve made recently.  Both follow Lizzie Anne Designs Sketch Challenge #105. 

First we have a kind of simple version:

Supplies:
Stamps: Garden Inspirations, High Hellos (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, Whisper White (Stampin’ Up!)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow (Stampin’ Up!)
Other: Seaside Ribbon Originals, corner rounder punch (Stampin’ Up!); Swiss Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug)

I tried a different effect with the ribbon on the second card:

Supplies:
Stamps: Jolies Fleurs, Sketched Sentiments (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Apricot Appeal, Almost Amethyst, Very Vanilla (Stampin’ Up!); French Floral (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine); Apricot Appeal, Almost Amethyst, and Certainly Celery markers (Stampin’ Up!)
Other: Sweet Shop Ribbon Originals, Hodgepodge Hardware (Stampin’ Up!); Paisley embossing folder (Cuttlebug)