More of Ben's Thank Yous

This is the other card that I made several of to use as thank yous for all of the wonderful gifts that Benjamin received from friends and family.

I love this baby prints set and finally got the chance to use it! The handprint panel is raised up on dimensionals too.

Stamps: SU Baby Prints, Thank You Kindly (retired)
Ink: SU bashful blue, not quite navy
Paper: SU ww, not quite navy, maine blueberry dsp (retired)
Brads: SU 3/16" night of navy
Misc: SU dimensionals

Benjamin's Animal Thank Yous

Benjamin has been quite the spoiled little guy! We have SO many thank yous to write. Here are some of the thank you cards that I made.

I used the retired stamp set Fox & Friends because it is one of my favourite Stampin' Up! sets for baby cards because the animal images are so cute!

The designer paper I used is the long since retired Maine Blueberry because the colours really say baby to me and I haven't liked any paper for baby cards as much since! It's hard to tell in the photo but the animals are raised up on dimensionals - I think dimensionals are one of my favourite things to add to a card!

I'll post a set of pink baby thank you cards that I made like these cards in the next week or so. I made them for a friend of ours who was due 2 weeks after us and after seeing how many thank yous we have needed I thought it would be a great part of our gift!

Supplies

Stamps: SU Fox & Friends (retired), Fabulous Phrases

Ink: Versamark

Paper: SU ww, certainly celery, bashful blue, maine blueberry dsp (retired)

Ribbon: SU 1/4" bashful blue grosgrain (retired)

Misc: SU white embossing powder, heat tool, dimensionals

Hostess Gift

I was originally going to share one of the two cards we made at a recent workshop but apparently I didn't photograph them, I'll have to get on that. So instead, this is the gift set that I made for the hostess.

I knew that this hostess loves this years' "in colours" so I decided to make her a set of cards using them as well as preview for the guests some of the items we would be using in the workshop - beautiful wings embosslits, pearls and berry blossoms dsp. I'll have to show you one by one rather than the full set because I can never get a good picture when I try to get that many cards in one shot.

It's difficult to tell in the photos but there is a bit of dimension to the butterflies. I placed a glue dot in the center of the butterfly so that I could bend the wings up so it looked as though it just landed on the paper.

I love the way this set turned out and I think I'll have to make a set for myself to use! These in colours are definitely my favourite since I became a demo over four years ago. I'm so glad they stick around for two years now.

Stamps: SU fabulous phrases
Ink: SU early espresso
Paper: SU early espresso, ww, pool party, calypso coral, wisteria wonder, island indigo, lucky limeade, berry blossoms dsp
Ribbon: SU 3/8" ruffled ribbon in pool party, calypso coral, wisteria wonder, island indigo, lucky limeade
Punch: SU scallop edge border
Die cut: SU Beautiful Wings embosslits die
Misc: SU basic pearls

Last of the Valentine's

Here is the last few Valentine's I had made. These were inspired by this card by Ilina, and changed only slightly. These would be a lot better to look at had I got a photo of all 5 cards together - oh well!

 

As you can see from the above cards, I turned her card into a 5 piece set, changing the ordering of the colours of candy hearts and changing the sentiment to the same colour as the center heart. I also changed the colours to be a bit more pastel-like so they would look closer to the real candies. All of the candies were cut out with my paper snips and adhered with dimensionals.

Stamps: SU Candy Conversations
Ink: SU pear pizzazz, blushing bride, wisteria wonder, pool party, peach parfait
Paper: SU ww
Punch: SU corner rounder
Misc: SU paper snips, score tool, dimensionals

Goodbye Eastern Blooms

Eastern Blooms has definitely been one of my favourite sets since I got it in 2008 so I will be sad to see it go. I recently posted this paradise card set that I modified from the original inspiration piece that had been made using the eastern blooms set (as seen here). Well, I liked it so much I made the eastern blooms version again but swapped out the colours, designer papers (to feature the retiring elegant soiree dsp) and sentiments.

Here's a closer look at each of the individual cards. You can again click on any of the images to enlarge them.

My favourite is definitely the last card in all versions I've made of it! I just love that layout!

Stamps: SU Eastern Blooms, Thank You Kindly
Ink: SU soft suede, baja breeze
Paper: SU crumb cake, baja breeze, very vanilla, elegant soiree dsp
Ribbon: SU very vanilla 3/8" taffeta
Misc: SU piercing tool, mat pack, dimensionals, paper snips

Goodbye Paradise

Since posting the last chance lists on June 1, I have decided to make cards for this month that feature retiring items that are some of my favourites! Today, I'm sharing items made with the Paradise stamp set and Woodland Walk dsp. I also recently discovered The Paper Players challenge blog and found that this weeks challenge #50 coincides perfectly with my need to make thank you cards for people who have donated towards my volunteer nursing trip to Haiti! Click on the photo to enlarge it for clarity!

Some of you may recognize the layouts and designs here as I used them previously in this post (which also features the soon to retire set Eastern Blooms).

Here's a closer look at each of the cards individually. Click on any of the photos to enlarge them (they appear a bit fuzzy until they are blown up).

I'm sad to see this leaf set go - it was one of my go to sets for masculine cards, but at least I will still have the Autumn Splendor leaf set to use!

The background stamp on the main panels is the grassy image from the set Inspired by Nature. I also used the linen thread for a more natural look to go along with the leaves, grass and woodgrain (plus it keeps them a bit more masculine than ribbon).

It's also hard to tell but these cards have a lot of dimension. All of the leaves are raised up on dimensionals and all of the sentiment panels are raised as well.

Stamps: SU Thank You Kindly, Inspired by Nature, Paradise
Ink: SU chocolate chip, garden green, wild wasabi
Paper: SU crumb cake, garden green, wild wasabi, very vanilla, Woodland Walk dsp
Ribbon: SU linen thread
Punch: SU scallop border punch
Misc: SU dimensionals, paper snips

Gift Set for Hostess

Here's a set of 6 cards I made as a little gift for my hostess at last weekends workshop.

This is made using the Ornate Blossom stamp set that I received free during Sale-A-Bration, the sentiment is from the set Thank You Kindly that can also be earned during Sale-A-Bration.

Stamps: SU Ornate Blossom, Thank You Kindly

Ink: SU daffodil delight, baja breeze, pear pizzazz, basic black

Paper: SU whisper white cs, basic black cs, greenhouse gala dp

Ribbon: SU 1/4" basic black grosgrain

Bliss Step-it-Up Cards

I saw this card a while back on Mary's blog and wanted to re-make it. I thought I would start really basic and then show you how changing one or two things can really make it pop!

This is the most basic version. The bliss stamp is stamped in crumb cake on crumb cake dp using my stamp-a-ma-jig to line it up.

This version adds the extra detail of an extra layer of early espresso dp and the button/threadcombo tied around the ribbon rather than just applied on top.

Stepped up again, this version adds a vanilla layer and swaps the button and thread for a brad and bow.

This final version, swaps the espresso satin ribbon for vanilla and adds an extra layer of espresso taffeta ribbon.

I think the third version is actually my favourite, but it just shows how much you can change a card by changing very few details.

Also note that for my bows, I again used Mary's tutorial here.

Stamps: SU Bliss (SAB), Bring on the Cake

Ink: SU crumb back, early espresso

Paper: SU crumb cake, early espresso, very vanilla

Ribbon: SU 5/8" early espresso satin, 5/8" very vanilla satin, 1/8" early espresso tafetta, linen thread

Brad: SU very vanilla 5/16" jumbo brad

No Stamp Holly Jolly Christmas Set

I know it's way out of season, but I only just got around to using my Holly Jolly rubons that I just had to have! I guess it's a good way to get a head start on Christmas cards (this past year was the first time we used all the Christmas cards I like to make because Grant used them for coworkers).

Here's a look at the 4 cards I made!

Happiest Holidays:

Merry & Bright:

Merry (based on February's SFYTT):

Season of Cheer:

These 4 cards were so cheap/affordable to make! Rubons are a fantastic way to make a lot of cards for less. These cards only used a couple sheets of cardstock, hardly any of the pack of designer paper and only a very small portion of the rubons. I could easily make dozens more cards with the amount of supplies left over. The rubons come with two sheets of each image set so I could even make doubles of each!

Rubons: SU Holly & Jolly

Paper: SU very vanilla, cherry cobbler, Jolly Holiday dp

Ribbon: SU 1/2" cherry cobbler seam binding, 3/8" old olive taffeta

Punch: SU 1" circle, scallop circle

Misc: circle cutter, dimensionals

Christmas Cookie Bags

Here's the last project I created for this Christmas. I made these cookie treat bags for dessert following Christmas dinner. I had purchased these glassine bags when SU had them out during Valentine's Day (unfortunately they are no longer available) and have been waiting for the perfect time to use them.

I ran the glassine bags through my cuttlebug using the swiss dots embossing folder so they would have more texture. Before putting my Christmas cookies (each bag contained 4 cookies), I put them inside SU cello bags so the glassine bags wouldn't get all greasy.  

Then I just wrapped a piece of the dp around it, added the stamped circles and adhered a white felt flurry snowflake using the real red glitter brads from the Holiday Mini that coordinate with the red glitter on the dp! I made 6 treat bags and each had a different shaped felt flurry attached so everyone would know which was theirs to take home. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good picture of all of them because of the shadows they created and the light shining off all the glitter! A very quick but fun project!

Stamps: SU Holiday Collection (retired)
Ink: SU baja breeze
Paper: SU ww, real red, candy cane christmas dp (unavailable)
Brad: SU real red glitter brad
Snowflake: SU felt flurries (retired)
Misc: Swiss dots embossing folder, SU glassine (retired) and medium cello bags, glue dots, circle cutter

This could easily be a SUO project if the swiss dots embossing folder was substituted for the SU perfect polka dots embossing folder.

Merry Christmas Cards

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! I know I did! I was spoiled again this year!

I just have a couple of other Christmas projects to share to round up the holiday season. These cards are a hybrid project using digital images from MDS as well as actual ribbon and embellishments.

 All of the sentiments are from My Digital Studio and printed in baja breeze ink. It`s so easy to do and you don`t necessarily have to use SUs professional printing services, I just used my printer at home for this project. I had these sentiments in a retired rubon set from SU one or two years ago but it wasn`t in the colour I wanted so MDS made it so more versatile. Plus, you can resize them so they fit better with your project (for these cards, I left the sizing as they come).

Here`s a closer look at each of the cards so you can see how well it works out!

A great tip for spacing out pearls is to use your piercing mat pack and lightly pierce equally spaced apart holes to use as guides for where to place your pearls!

Supplies

Digital Stamp: SU Wishes & Greetings

Paper: SU ww, baja breeze, candy cane christmas dp

Ribbon: SU white organdy (retired)

Pearls: SU white halfback

Misc: MDS, dimensionals

Eastern Blooms Card Set

Some of you may recognize this from Andrea Walford's Eastern Blooms class planner. I made some modifications to it to make it more of my style such as eliminating the distressing and sponging of the edges. I also modified it to make it a "thank you" note set only. Click on the image to enlarge it for a better view.
Please do not CASE these cards and if you are interested in purchasing the complete planner, visit Andrea's page here. Let me just warn you, this project does take some time wtih the cutting out of all of the flowers, but it is so easy to put together!

Favourite New Christmas Set

The Jolly Bingo Bits stamp set in the new Holiday Mini catalogue is too cute and has so many fun images. I saw this card on Stampin' Connection and had to create a little set inspired by it using more of the images from this set. This set was fairly easy to make - the most time consuming thing was trying to line up and space the images as perfectly as possible. I accomplished this by straightening the white cardstock they are stamped on along grid paper then figuring out the center line and working out from there for horizontal spacing. Then, I just eyeballed vertical spacing and the angle I wanted the image at. It's not perfect - but I still like it.

Here you can get a better look at the cards:
It's kind of funny how even with such similar cards I still have a favourite!

The stripes were created just using my real red stampin' marker and a ruler! I have to say too, that I love this 1/8" taffeta ribbon! I originally thought it would be too skinny to be useful but it turns out quite nicely.

Stamps: SU Jolly Bingo Bits, Four the Holidays
Ink: Real Red
Paper: SU ww, real red
Ribbon: SU 1/8" real red taffeta