OCC Sketch Challenge: Take 2

I loved the way that this card turned out so much that I decided to recreate it using designer paper that is the same pattern but a different colour. This card isn't quite as nice as I had pictured but I still quite like it. I just find the green doesn't seem to fit in as well with the pinks as it did with the blues! Also, I couldn't decide which pink to make the butterflies so I went with both colours and matted one of them so there would be an even number of each colour but still a total of three butterflies (if that makes sense)!

Stamps: SU thank you kindly, organic outlines
Ink: SU old olive, regal rose
Paper: SU ww, pretty in pink, regal rose, georgie peach dp (retired)
Punches: SU scallop border
Brads: SU pretty in pink
Embosslits: SU beautiful wings
Misc: SU dimensionals

Viva La Verve Challenge: Week 3

I skipped week 2's sketch of the challenge because I just wasn't inspired by it and moved right on to week 3's challenge and chose to work with the red/black/wood/white inspiration picture. I love the way this card turned out. It has an Asian sort of feel to it. I love how the red and black look on the kraft background. This is one of those few cards that turned out even better than I had imagined!

Stamps: SU eastern blooms, upsy daisy
Ink: SU basic black, real red
Paper: SU ww, kraft, real red, basic black, urban oasis dp (retired)
Brads: SU real red corduroy buttons

Decor Definitions Update

My blog has been so quiet for comments these days! There's lots of new posts below so be sure to check them out if you haven't!

Some of you may remember this post where I finally made frames with the Decor Elements definitions "create" and "inspire." Well, I finally completed this project and hung it up! I didn't like that the two fabrics were different from each other, and Grant wanted them to be different colours, so I ordered some of the honeycomb pattern in blue! We both like the way the pink looks the best, but like having them the different colours so they are here to say. The blue doesn't translate well in the photo due to the lighting and size of the area in the picture, but it's quite soft and pretty!

Also, some of you have emailed and asked what size the frames are - they are 10" x 24" from Michael's.

Diaper Cake and Card

I have been wanting to make a diaper cake for a long time now and finally had the perfect opportunity to for my girlfriend at work. I'll probably be heading over there to give it to her this week and can't wait to see how her little baby has changed. I saw her the day after she was born and now she'll be a couple weeks old!

Here is the front view of the cake (You can click on any of the pictures for a larger view): Here's a view of the cake from the sides where you can see a little bit of where I decided to place all the items that are included in the cake. The seams in cardstock appear more noticeable in the photos than in real life. What's included in this diaper cake:
-72 diapers
-1 blanket
-4 onesies
-1 temperature sensitive rubber duckie
-1 Johnson's essentials pack (that includes baby wash, lotion, shampoo, baby powder, penaten cream and nursing pads)

These diaper cakes can be as cheap or expensive as you want depending on how much you wanted to include. Seeing as I am quite good friends with her outside of work, I wanted to do more than just the diapers and top decoration!

After making the diaper cake, I didn't want to use the original card (you can see it in this post) I had made for her and wanted to make something that would match the cake. I was inspired by Jen's SFYTT for this card. Here's a better pic of it close up. I hope she loves this gift! I was a bit concerned that there is so much blue, but I don't think she'll mind. I really just took inspiration from the onesies!

You can see a tutorial on how to make your own diaper cake here. I personally had to modify it a fair bit in order to include all of the gifts but it's a great foundation to start with!

Stamping Related Supplies for Cake
Paper: SU Delicate Dots dp (retired)
Ribbon: SU 5/8" so saffron grosgrain

Card Supplies

Stamp: PTI bitty baby blessings
Ink: SU so saffron, versamark, pumpkin pie
Paper: SU ww, bashful blue, so saffron, delicate dots dp (retired)
Button: SU bashful blue
Misc: SU white embossing powder, circle cutter, dimensionals

Viva La Verve Challenge: Week 1

In searching for my sketch challenges to inspire me, I re-discovered the Viva La Verve monthly challenges. This is for the Week 1 challenge for the month of March. In addition to the sketch challenge, there are three pictures to choose from to inspire your sketch (either colours, textures, etc). The above picture shows the picture that I chose to inspire my card (below). As you can tell, I worked mainly off the colours in the pictures. I love the way this card turned out. These aren't my typical colours but they work well together. The flower was coloured using SU markers and my aquapainter on watercolour paper. It was then cut out and mounted on dimensionals with the leaves adhered behind.

Stamps: SU organic outlines, fifth avenue floral
Ink: SU dusty durango, crushed curry, kiwi kiss (retired), black StazOn
Paper: SU ww, dusty durango, crushed curry, kiwi kiss (retired), watercolour paper
Die-Cut: SU little leaves
Misc: SU aquapainter, dimensionals

SC270 Shabby or Chic?

This card is based on SCS's SC270.This card is my least favourite of all the cards I've made recently. I thought I would try sponging the edges for a distressed shabby look and I have to say I don't really like it. I contemplated not even sharing this card, but figured I may as well, we all have bad days! I've seen other people do this technique and I like it but I don't like the way it turned out here - it just looks dirty in my opinion. I didn't like the way the white image panel seemed so bright against everything else being sponged so I sponged the whole thing as well. I realized afterwards, it would have been easier to just use vanilla cardstock! Oh well, hindsight is 20/20!

Stamps: SU Botanical Blooms (retired), Short & Sweet
Ink: SU soft suede, pretty in pink
Paper: SU ww, soft suede, pretty in pink, shades of spring dp
Misc: SU dimensionals

SSSC59 Shades of Kindness

Since Sale-A-Bration will be coming to a close at the end of the month, I thought I would feature one of the stamp sets, Whimsical Words, that you can earn through purchases, hosting a workshop or becoming a demonstator. This card also features ribbon and designer paper available until April 30 in the Occasions Mini Catalogue. Please click on the links in my sidebar to view either the Sale-A-Bration or Occasions Mini catalogues. This card is based on the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge on Karen Giron's blog here. I did alter the placing of the image and sentiment panels by overlapping them in a different order just because I liked the way it looked better! I love this colour combo - it's definitely one of my favourites!

Stamps: SU Embrace Life, Whimsical Words
Ink: SU basic black, pretty in pink
Paper: SU ww, basic black, pretty in pink, shades of spring dp
Ribbon: SU 5/8" pretty in pink satin
Misc: SU dimensionals

SFYTT Earthly Thank You

This card was created using the Jen's SFYTT on March 6 as well as the Crazy 4 Challenges C4C27 to use paper piercing. I'm not a big fan of purple but I love the way this card turned out. The cottage wall dp is so beautiful, although I have a hard time incorporating the larger patterns (as you can probably tell by the background piece in this card). I love how the "of the earth" flower fit so perfectly inside the circle!

I'm not happy with the way my paper piercing looks once it's glued down but I just got a great tip from Jessica to glue the pieces together and then pierce through the multiple layers for a cleaner look. I'll have to give this a try. It should work as Jessica is the queen of piercing!

Stamps: SU Of the Earth, Sweet Little Sentiments
Inks: SU orchid opulence, old olive, rich razzleberry
Paper: SU ww, orchid opulence, rich razzleberry, cottage wall dp
Misc: circle cutter, paper piercing pack, beautiful wings embosslits, dimensionals

Feeling Creative and Productive

Just as the title of this post says, I've been feeling very creative and productive with my stamping lately. Just the other night, I sat down for a few hours and made 5 cards! I haven't had much mojo lately, so I've been using a lot of sketch challenges as inspiration - works great! This card is for Our Creative Corner's sketch challenge posted here. This is my favourite of all of the cards! I love the colours, all the white space and the organic outlines stamp. Many people weren't a big fan of this stamp set, but I had to have it when I saw it!

Stamps: SU Organic Outlines, Thank You Kindly
Ink: SU old olive, not quite navy
Paper: SU ww, bashful blue, not quite navy, maine blueberry dp (retired)
Punches: SU scallop border punch
Brads: SU not quite navy brads
Embosslits: SU Beautiful Wings
Misc: SU dimensionals

SFYTT Catch-Up

These last couple weeks have been really busy, so I'm catching up on Jen's sketches for the last two weeks! I've been working a lot and then my Grandma had a fall and broke her C2 vertebrae, or in lay-terms, she broke her neck! As the nurse in the family, I've felt it quite important to go and be with her in the hospital especially sine three of her daughers are away on vacation. She is doing well, but has a long recovery process ahead of her. So, I created this card for this Saturdays SFYTT as I don't have any get well cards on hand. I love the way this card turned out. My inspiration was purely the colours - I love barely banana but haven't been using it much as most of the designer papers that incorporate yellow use so saffron instead. I love the way it combined with soft suede for a nice change from my usual choice of chocolate chip. This picture shows a close-up of the image panel (click on the image to zoon in even further). I didn't want to add another layer to create the white circle outline so I sponged barely banana ink in the center by using another circle as a guideline. Looks so fabulous!

I again used more barely banana and created this baby card (based on last weeks SFYTT) for my girlfriend who just delivered a baby girl this morning! This is the same friend who I created these thank you cards for. Unfortunately, I don't have any Stampin' Up! baby sets so I had to use the Bitty Baby Blessings set by PTI! I've had the SU set "nursery necessities" on my wish list for some time now but never actually end up getting it. I think I'll have to now since so many people I know are having babies!

Supplies:

Get Well Wishes Card
Stamps: SU Kind & Caring Thoughts (hostess), Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: SU soft suede, barely banana
Paper: SU ww, soft suede, barely banana, thuroughly modern dp
Punches: SU tag punch
Ribbon: SU soft suede 1/2" polka dot grosgrain
Brad: SU barely banana (retired)
Misc: SU paper piercer and mat, circle cutter, sponge dauber, dimensionals

Baby Makes Three Card
Stamps: PTI Bitty Baby Blessings
Ink: SU basic gray
Paper: SU pretty in pink, barely banana, spring fling dp (retired)
Punches: SU scallop edge punch, corner rounder
Ribbon: SU 5/8" pretty in pink satin
Misc: SU dimensionals