A Fortunate Mistake!

My third sample from my Box of Cards (see Saturday's post here) started out with a goof that turned into a happy mistake:

I was really happy with the way this one turned out.  Again, my card base is Coastal Cabana (the "theme" for my box of cards), 5-1/2" x 8-1/2", scored at 4-1/4".
Using the pretty gingham-like piece of Designer Series from the Retro Fresh paper collections, I trimmed the edge with my Big Shot and the Finishing Touches Edgelits.  But I did it upside down and missed the pretty design!  (yes, I'm woman-enough to admit my mistakes!)  Of course, every mistake is an opportunity, and I adore how this one evolved...I took a piece of Very Vanilla trimmed with Finishing Touches the RIGHT way (!) and added it just below--a lucky error as it turns out, as this is just perfect!

Now for the focal point (although if it were up to me, I'd be focusing on that edge--can't get enough of how cute it is!!!  But I digress)...

Happy Watercolor was stamped with Old Olive to a panel of Very Vanilla.  I stamped the flower in Strawberry Slush, and again (twice) with Melon Mambo on scraps of Very Vanilla.  The Strawberry Slush one was snipped (Paper Snips!) and adhered to the front panel, and the the two Melon Mambo ones were snipped and layered with Dimensionals.  Butterflies were cut/embossed using the Beautiful Wings Embosslits and the Big Shot from Coastal Cabana card stock.  My panel (with opposite corners rounded) was adhered to a piece of Strawberry Slush and then onto my card front.

The sentiment was stamped in Coastal Cabana on Very Vanilla and cut using the Apothecary Accents framelits and the Big Shot, layered on Coastal Cabana.  I added a butterfly to the front of the envelope and the inside of the card.

Another sample will be featured tomorrow...hope you'll come back and see it!

Let's get creating!

Pleasant Poppies Card

Welcome back to my series of cards from the birthday gift I created for a colleague (see the past few posts).

Today's card uses the beautiful background stamp, Pleasant Poppies.

But you'll notice that it also has another background stamp--En Francais!  (Love this!)  And I stamped both on a piece of Designer Series Paper from the Retro Fresh collection...I was so happy with the results!

My base card is a standard 4-1/4" x 11" piece of Coastal Cabana Card stock, scored at 5-1/2". 

Using a piece of the small coastal cabana print from the Retro Fresh DSP, I carefully stamped En Francais in Coastal Cabana.  I actually gasped when I saw the results--just gorgeous!

I then stamped my Pleasant Poppies using Baked Brown Sugar--I wanted the lines, but wanted them subtle, and BBS was the perfect choice! 

The flowers were colored using Blender Pens and Stampin' Write Markers in Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Strawberry Slush, Melon Mambo and Old Olive. 

A sentiment from Four You was stamped on Very Vanilla using Coastal Cabana ink.

A strip of Crisp Cantaloupe, punched with my Scallop Trim Border punch was added and adhered to the card front.

After stamping Pleasant Poppies in Coastal Cabana on the envelope (and of course, finishing the inside of my card with a piece of Very Vanilla and a Scallop Trim border) I was done.

Please visit again tomorrow for the next card from my gift.

And let's get creating.

Vivid Birthday Card

Are you a collector of Designer Series Paper?  I am!  I find that I own nearly all that are available...but I don't always use them. (insert "frowny face")

So for a birthday gift that I made for a colleague (see yesterday's post), I challenged myself to use one color scheme and Designer Series Paper for a box of cards.  I also wanted to use stamp sets that haven't seen too much light of day! (*grin*)

I'll be highlighting each card over the next few days, and here is the first:

Choosing the Retro Fresh Designer Series Paper gave me a color scheme for my "Box of Cards"--Coastal Cabana will be the card base for each.

I stamped the image from Vivid Vases on Whisper White card stock with Black Staz On ink, and then carefully outlined each vase (one at a time using a black Stampin' Write marker) and stamped it on different snippets of the Retro Fresh papers.  These were carefully snipped (LOVE my Paper Snips) and "paper pieced" on the stamped image, giving color and texture to each vase.

 The flowers were colored using Blender Pens and ink pads (Tangerine Tango, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Coastal Cabana, Wild Wasabi and So Saffron).  This layer was mounted to a layer of Tangerine Tango.

My base was Coastal Cabana, cut to 5-1/2" x 8-12" and scored at 4-1/4".  A slightly smaller (4" x 5-1/4") piece of Whisper White was run through the Big Shot with the Stripes Embossing Folder and adhered to the card base using SNAIL adhesive.  

And since I happened to have a few rolls of the Retro Fresh This and That Designer Washi Tape sitting on my desk, I thought I'd add a few strips of those too:

 Then I popped up my stamped panel with Dimensionals.  Two more strips of Washi tape were added to my envelope, and I was done with my first card!  So fun!

Come back tomorrow for another sample from my gift box.

And let's get creating!

A Birthday Gift

I have a colleague who recently had a birthday, and I needed a small gift.  So I sat down at my craft table (over 3 nights) and created a box of cards for her.  Just in case she had  "card emergency" (ever have one of those?  When someone has a birthday and you forgot all about it?)

This was the gift:

Using two sheets of 8-1/2" x 11" Coastal Cabana card stock, I crafted a box.  Cut one piece for the bottom at 7-7/8" x 6-1/2" and score at 1" on all four sides.  Cut the other piece for the top at 8" x 6-5/8" and score at 1" on all four sides.  Snip one line of each corner and fold into a box, using Tombo Multipurpose Liquid Glue or Sticky Strip to hold it together.  

I covered my box using Retro Fresh Designer Series Paper.  The belly band is embossed with the Sophisticated Stripes embossing folder and the Big Shot, and the rosette was cut from the Designer Rosette Bigz XL Die (gotta love that die!  Makes rosettes from 1-12" wide and with two different types of edges!).  Of course, you can't make rosettes without the trusty glue gun and our wonderful Silicone Craft Sheet! 

I finished it all off with a quick banner (Happy Birthday from "Bring on the Cake", stamped in Tangerine Tango) and an In Color Boutique Details button. 

And the best part?  It fits 5 cards/envelopes:

I'll be detailing each card over the next few days, so c'mon back for more!

Let's get creating!

I Dig My Grandsons

I've been posting Valentine's cards this week, and yes, I know I'm late.  However, I didn't want to take a chance that my grandchildren would see them before they got them in the mail...and I think you could use these ideas (layouts, colors, stamps, papers) for cards of any occasion.

So here is the card I made my two young grandsons (one lives in Northern CA and the other in SoCal, so I didn't worry about them getting the same cards!).

I let the Retro Fresh Designer Series Paper choose my color theme--Baked Brown Sugar, Tangerine Tango and Coastal Cabana.  Then I used the Deco Labels Thinlets to cut a hole in the front of the card (I did this in two steps, as the thinlet is not "deep" enough to cut through all three layers).

Isn't that sun perfect?  It's cut with the Starburst Framelits, and I punched clouds using the Cupcake Builder Punch--these were run through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  

The "hill" is just torn paper, run through the Big Shot with the *FREE* Decorative Dots Embossing Folder (*FREE* during Sale-A-Bration with any $50 order).  My truck was stamped using "I Dig You" (retired, but one of my favs) and fussy cut, then popped up on Dimensionals.  Two hearts were cut using the Hearts Framelits and Champagne Glimmer Paper. 

Happy Valentine's Day, Jacob and Nathan! 

Let's get creating!