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

Gingham Garden for Ella

First off, an apology for the quality of the photos.  While the golden light of dawn makes for beautiful landscape photography, it causes some problems when trying to snap photos of cards.  However, we're off to visit Jess and crew in a few minutes, and I wanted to get this loaded before we were.

Why are we off to visit?  Well, for Ella's First Communion, of course!  And, I needed a card for our sweet girl.  I'm so happy for her and can't wait until tomorrow to see her make that sacrament for the first time. :o)

I found a fun sketch over at Paper Players and thought it would work well for Miss Ella Bella's card.

Since my new goodies arrived yesterday, I couldn't wait to play with them (may I just say how in love I am with the new In Colors?  They're so fresh and crisp and clean and just wonderful!).  I picked up the Gingham Garden DSP and washi tape (I'm a bit of a washi hound so getting that was a no brainer ;oP) and knew they were it.  Ella's favorite color is pink, and in fact, has a wall that is either Melon Mambo or Strawberry Slush in her room.  Yes, it's very intense. ;o)

However, what is intense for a wall in a little girl's bedroom makes for a lovely card base.  :o)

I inked up "Summer Silhouettes" with Pear Pizzazz and Melon Mambo, used my "Beautiful Wings" embosslit, and some pearls as a finishing touch.  Since washi tape is rather transparent, I didn't want to lie it down directly on that gorgeous Melon Mambo gingham so I put it down on Whisper White first and then cut it out.  I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.  Oh how I adore washi tape...but, that's a post for another time...;o)

I'm not one to let an inside go unfinished if I have the time, and well, I had the time. ;o)  The sentiment comes from the new SU! hostess set, "Express Yourself".  I'm a sucker for sentiments in a lovely font, so these were right up my alley.

I added another pearl to dot the "I".

And, here's a close up of the focal images.  I popped the stamped image up on dimensionals, and only adhered one side of the butterfly's wing to give her some movement and depth as well. :o) 

All in all, a happy (if terribly photographed--ugh!) card for a beautiful girl. :o)

This card uses:

*Stamp Sets: Summer Silhouettes, Express Yourself
*Inks: Pear Pizzazz, Melon Mambo
*Paper: Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Gingham Garden DSP
*Accessories: Beautiful Wings embosslit, pearls, Gingham Garden washi tape, dimensionals, scallop border punch

--Rach

A Thank You for Sister Rose

Our girls were baptized two weeks ago, and my dear friend, Sister Rose was such an amazing help that day I wanted to send her a thank you note. 

Alas, I was stymied, I had no idea what to do, how to do it.  I have been out of the studio so long the ideas were stalled and NOTHING was coming to me.  OH NO!  My mojo was gone!

Thank goodness for Jaydee!  She posted her card for this week's Paper Players challenge--a color challenge--and I was immediately struck with inspiration.  :happy sigh:

The challenge was to use Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze, River Rock and Rose Red in a project.  I wanted the Rose Red to be a little "pop" of color to draw interest to the sentiment, so I stamped the sentiment in the Baja Breeze and then had a butterfly from my "Beautiful Wings" embosslit resting on it. 

But, then I worried, maybe the sentiment was lost?  Maybe it needed to have a little more "pop" to it? So, I created this card:

I'm not sure which one I like more.  I'm leaning towards the first one, as it is a bit more subtle, but this one is lovely as well.

I lined the inside of the card and added another butterfly to tie the front and inside together.

This card uses:

Stamp Set: "Short and Sweet"
Paper: Very Vanilla, River Rock, Baja Breeze and Rose Red
Inks: Baja Breeze, Rose Red
Accessories: "Elegant Bouquet" embossing folder, "Beautiful Wings" embosslit

I'm hoping this has now opened the floodgates and I'll be back to stamping once more.  :fingers crossed:

Birthday Butterflies

Grandma's birthday is Sunday and I wanted to create a card I knew she would love.  Grandma's favorite color is pink and she has always loved butterflies--more so now that we've lost Hannah, as she (like us) views them as a symbol of the Monkey.

So, all I had to do was combine pink and butterflies. No problem!  I remembered how much I had enjoyed working with a similar color combination on a Paper Players challenge and pulled out Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery and Very Vanilla and went to work.

"Just Believe" is an incredibly beautiful, feminine set and lent itself perfectly to meet my needs.  I knew the "Beautiful Wings" embosslits would coordinate wonderfully with the set as well. 

I love it when a card just comes together. :o) 

Because it's a birthday card for a very special lady, I decided to bling it up a bit.  I used Dazzling Diamonds on the flowers and butterflies, and then went a step further, adding pearls as well.

I just knew "Curly Cute" would be the perfect sentiment to accompany such a pretty card.  :o)

And, you know me, I had to add a little something to the inside.  I mimicked the scalloping on the outside and added a butterfly, Dazzling Diamonds and pearls as well.  I left plenty of space to write a personal message to Grandma.

This card uses:
Stamp Sets: "Just Believe", "Curly Cute"
Papers: Very Vanilla, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery textured card stock
Inks: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery
Accessories: Scallop edge punch, "Beautiful Wings" embosslit, Dazzling Diamonds, pearls

It's such a sweet card I just want to prop it up and look at it all day. :oP  I can't WAIT to give it to Grandma. :o)

--Rach

P.S.  I'm sure I must have CASE'd this from somewhere, but for the life of me I can't remember where...

Poppy Love

I was so taken with how well my wedding card turned out, I decided to try another one using a different embossing folder and color. Once again, I'm pleased with the clean and simple feel of the card.

This card uses:
Stamp Set: "Short and Sweet"
Papers: Poppy Parade, Whisper White
Ink: Poppy Parade (note: I still haven't purchased the stamp pads--the markers continue to work well)
Accessories: Elegant Bouquet embossing folder, Beautiful Wings Embosslits, crystal effects

This was another SUPER easy card that came together in no time, but looks lovely nonetheless.

--Rach