Wanna Scoop?

I thought the "Mouthwatering" stamp set was the most wonderful stamp set for summer and just had to have it.  HAD to, I tell you. 

And then, it sat there.

And sat there.

And sat there.

And sat there.  Collecting dust. 

Holy smokes!  How could a stamp set with so much promise be so hard to use?!? 

I finally settled on stamping the image on a scrap of white and cutting it out--I figured I could do something with that, right?

So, I carefully colored, stamped and cut out the ice cream cones, and they just sat there. 

And sat there.

And sat there.

And sat there.

Are you sensing a theme here? :oP

Then, I began playing around with using the acrylic blocks to stamp blocks of color for a focal point, and that was it!  Perfect! 

I finished with the sentiment stamped underneath and popped the ice cream up on dimensionals.  :o)

Whew!  I did it!

For this card, I had the sentiment already cut and mounted lying on my desktop so I used it instead. 

Either way, it makes for a fun card.  :o)

--Rach

This card uses:

*Stamp Sets:  "Four You", "Mouthwatering", "Curly Cute"
*Inks: Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush, Garden Green, Real Red, Baked Brown Sugar
*Paper: White card stock, whisper white, Coastal Cabana
*Accessories: dimensionals

More White on White

I was still fiddling around with white on white when I made this card. Once I made the focal point at the top half of the card, I realized I needed something below to add balance. 

Stamp Set: Outlined Occasions

Ink: Strawberry Slush

Ribbon: Strawberry Slush

Embellishments: Pearls

Embosslit: Beautiful Wings

--Lissie

Back to Those Sillohuettes

I just love this stamp set!  I can't seem to get enough of it. I can't help but wonder if I'm going to glut myself on it and then never want to see it again, or if it's more like eating way too much cookie dough and getting a stomachache and vowing to NEVER eat it again and then somehow managing to do so again anyhow. 

At any rate, I've continued to play around with fewer layers and using acrylic blocks to create a focal point. 

I played around with this idea, trying to get the layout just right, and wound up using up an entire card base doing so.  This one was particularly lovely so I just cut down the card and mounted it on another card.  Most of the time, you can save a mistake--it just takes a bit of thinking outside the box. :oP

--Rach

This card uses:

*Stamp Sets: "Summer Silhouettes", "Express Yourself"
*Inks: Strawberry Slush, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Sky
*Paper: PTI white card stock

I Love Yellow

A friend's birthday is this week, and I wanted to make a card to go with the gift I purchased. Yellow is one of my favorite colors so I decided to put a lot of yellow onto a white background. I've had the stamp set, Mixed Bunch for a good while, and it always makes me happy when I use it. There is a large punch that works perfectly with the set, but instead of punching a yellow flower I decided to punch two white ones, layered, and then embellish them with yellow. Here's the supply list:

Stamp Sets: Mixed Bunch, Madison Avenue, and Sincere Salutations
Cardstock: Whisper White and Daffodil Delight
Button: Daffodil Delight
Dimensionals to pop up the two-layered white flower
Inks: Daffodil Delight and Pear Pizzazz
Punches: Large Flower and 1 1/8" Circle

--Lissie

The Frustrations of Using White Craft Ink

I am often drawn to cards that use white craft ink, but am frustrated whenever I try to use it because the white never shows up white enough no matter how much ink I add to my stamps. So it is with this card. I bought the stamp set Hearts a Flutter because I envisioned making cards with dark cardstock and white ink, and I should have known better because of past failures at both Christmas and Valentine's Day using white craft ink on red cardstock. But I was so determined I soldiered on anyway. Sadly, the results are not at all what I pictured in my brain. I also wasted quite a bit of cardstock in the process because I never could get good results. This cards shows the best of the lot, and it still falls far short. If anyone knows how to get good results using white craft ink, please post a comment tell me how.

--Lissie

Outside My Comfort Zone

Sometimes I just like to think and stamp outside the box so to speak, as was the case with both of these cards.

I had been using my acrylic blocks inked up as a background/focal image for a number of cards when I decided to use a couple of them to create an abstract card. 

I began by inking up my blocks and stamping off once on a scrap piece of paper before stamping once on this card...

...and then again on this card, thereby creating softer images.  

I wanted to move the eye across and down to the lower right corner where I had thought to add the sentiment, so I stamped the blocks accordingly. 

I finished the cards by mounting the images on a piece of Coastal Cabana, stamped the sentiment and added a pearl as an accent.

They're not my usual style, but I thought they were fun and a nice break from my "norm".

--Rach

These cards use:

*Stamp Set: "Express Yourself"
*Inks: Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, Strawberry Slush
*Paper: Whisper White, Coastal Cabana
*Accessories: pearls

BIrthday Greetings

I'm still enamored of my new MFT hibiscus die and chose to use it to make a birthday card for a friend. I used my top note die to cut a window and added both the sentiment and a butterfly in the window. Here are the other supplies I used:

Stamp Set: Sincere Salutations
Dies: MFT Hibiscus, Stampin' Up Beautiful Wings
DSP: Beyond the Garden
Cardstock: Whisper White, Real Red, Daffodil Delight

--Lissie

Butterflies and Silhouettes

A month or two back, the Paper Players had a sketch challenge that I was really inspired by.  I created a couple of cards and left a couple of sponged pieces of card stock lying around. 

As I was sitting at my desk in the offudio, I happened to spy it and decided to create a card.  I inked up the Queen Ann's Lace looking flower from "Summer Silhouettes" and stamped it, and decided it needed a little something more.  I found a butterfly I had previously stamped and fussy cut from "Strength and Hope" and thought it would be perfect.  I stamped it on the page as well, and then adhered the butterfly using a strip of Tombo and then dimensionals under its wings.  I finished it off with some pearls for it's body. 

I stamped the sentiment from "Express Yourself" and added the pearls in the upper left corner and I was done. :)

--Rach

This card uses:

*Stamp Sets: "Summer Silhouettes", "Strength and Hope", "Express Yourself"
*Paper: Whisper White, Soft Sky
*Inks: Pool Party, Wild Wasabi, Strawberry Slush
*Accessories: pearls, dimensionals

For Hadley

 

My niece's baby, Hadley, had a liver transplant a few days ago, and I wanted to send a card expressing my joy that the surgery was successful. I had just received an order from MFT, a company I have only bought a few things from. (99% of what I own for card making came from Stampin' Up.) I purchased a hibiscus die because I love the flowers of the hibiscus shrub. I am, after all, a Florida girl, and we had huge red hibiscus flowers blooming in my front yard throughout my childhood. I couldn't wait to make some flowers using the die, but when I dd, I was puzzled. Here's what I ended up with (not counting the center piece.)

I didn't quite know what to do with it, so I did what I always do when I am stumped. I searched the Internet, and I found this handy video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSDld7Py9aw

Yes, it was that simple. And, naturally, it makes perfect sense. 

Here are the supplies I used:

Stampin' Up Washi Tape
MFT Hibiscus Die
Whisper White Cardstock
Real Red Ink
So Happy for You Stampset

--Lissie

Nature Walk

I have chosen to post this card to illustrate a point. A technique that works well for one card does not necessarily translate to another card. To better understand what I'm talking about, scroll down to see the card Rachael posted yesterday. It is perfect in every way. The stamp set, color choices and layout all work together. The card is whimsical, and the filmstrip format with the stamped animals complement each other well. However, this card (above) does not work because the layout is far too informal for the stamp set and the DSP I used. But, live and learn, eh? I do like that I focused on using Cherry Cobbler, a lovely rich color. The stamp set is Nature Walk and the DSP is Botanical Gazette. 

--Lissie

Another OWH Birthday Card

Continuing to take a break from flowers and such, here's another children's card I created for OWH.

One of my most favorite stamp sets for children is the now retired "Wild About You".  The animals are all so whimsical and I love their faces. :o)

I wanted to create something using all the stamps and settled on a filmstrip.  I stamped each image and then punched them out using a 1" square punch.  Alas, I was unable to use the penguin as there just wasn't space on my black strip. 

I used the spiral notebook punch to create the edges of the filmstrip, mounted the images on the strip, mounted the strip on the base, and stamped the sentiment. 

--Rach

This card uses:

*Stamp Set: "Wild About You"
*Papers: Basic Black, PTI white
*Inks: More Mustard, Smoky Slate, Gumball Green, Early Espresso
*Accessories: 1" square punch, spiral notebook punch