Birthday Poppies

Materials needed:
Melon Mambo cardstock 4 1/4 x 5 1/2"
Wild Wasabi cardstock 4 x 5 1/4"
Simply Sketched stamp set, hostess (#129672)
Melon Mambo 3/8" Striped organdy Ribbon (#129293)
Brights Candy Dots (#130931) Love 'em!
Candy Dots Brad bases (#132293)
Scallop Oval punch (#119856)

This is a super easy card to make. Simply stamp, tie ribbon, punch greeting, add brads and adhere to base.
I love using the new Candy dots! They are so easy to choose the color you need, stick on top of the brad and voila' you've got the color brad you need. They can also be used without the brads. They are great to just place on top of an item to make it look like a brad or to just add some color somewhere on your card.
Have fun and keep on poppin'.

Doily and Daisy

Yes, I'm using what was still on my work table for today's card.

Materials Needed:
Tangerine Tango cardstock 4 1/4 x 5 1/2"
Old Olive cardstock
Patterned paper 1 x 4 1/4"
Whisper White cardstock scrap
Secret Garden stamp set (#129144)
Really Good Greeting stamp set (#130333)
Doilies (#129399)
Simply Scored Scoring Tool (#122334)
Simply Scored Borders Plate (#126192)
1 3/4" Scallop Circle punch (#119854)
Old Olive ink
Tangerine Tango ink

1. Line your Borders Plate onto your Simply Scored Scoring Tool /board. Line your cardstock up with the embossing border that you want for your card. Place the plastic overlay (that comes with the border plate) over the cardstock. Use your scoring tool to emboss the border that you wish onto your cardstock. Turn the cardstock over to see the embossed border.
2. Adhere your patterned paper (I used some a retired scrap that I had) vertically on the right side about 1/2" from the edge.
3. Crumple the center of the doily somewhat to make pleates in the doily. Adhere this to the center of the card, overlapping the patterned paper.
3. Stamp a flower from the Secret Garden stamp set onto Old Olive cardstock with Old Olive ink. Stamp the same flower on the left hand side of the card within your embossed border. Punch out the flower on Old Olive cardstock with the Scallop circle punch. Adhere this to the center of the doily.
4. Stamp your greeting in Tangerine Tango ink on white cardstock. Cut it out around the outside of the greeting. Adhere it to the bottom left side of the card.
5. Adhere your card front onto your card base and add a note or greeting to the inside of the card.
Have fun stamping today! 

Hot, hot, hot summer orange

Materials needed:
Tangerine Tango cardstock 4 1/4 x 5 1/2" plus a small scrap
Baked Brown Sugar cardstock
Summer Starfruit In Color cardstock
Patterned paper (I used a retired piece) 1 1/2 x 5 1/2"
Whisper White cardstock scrap
Secret Garden stamp set (#129144)
Really Good Greetings stamp set (#130333)
Baked Brown Sugar ink
Tangerine Tango ink
Brayer (#102395)
Framelits Labels Collection dies (#125598)
Chevron Embossing folder (#127749)
Modern Label punch (#119849)
Cherry Cobbler Stampin" Emboss powder (122949)
Heat Tool (#129053)
Versa Mark ink
Brights Collection Brads (#119740)

1.  Emboss Tangerine Tango cardstock using the Color and Emboss technique that I posted on Aug. 14. Use Baked Brown Sugar ink to do this technique.
2. Cut 3 different size Framelits Labels using Baked Brown Sugar, Tangerine Tango and Summer Starfruit cardstock. Layer these on top of each other with your adhesive.
3. On the smallest framelit, stamp a flower from the Secret Garden stamp set  with Versa Mark ink. Sprinkle the Cherry Cobbler embossing powder over it. (Be sure to use a tray or a piece of paper to catch the extra powder so you can return it to the container.)
4. Using your heat gun to heat the embossing powder. If you've not done heat embossing before, heat the powder until it melts, about 20-30 seconds. You will be able to see it change color.
5. Adhere the strip of patterned paper across the center of your cardstock base. Adhere the layered dies in the center of that.
6. Stamp a greeting from the Really Good Greetings stamp set with Tangerine Tango ink on white cardstock. Punch the greeting out with the Modern Label Punch. If you've chosen a larger greeting than I did, you will want to use a larger punch.
7. Adhere it to the bottom left corner and add Tangerine Tango brads to the ends of the label.
8. Finish your card by adhering it to a card base. Write or stamp a note on the inside.

Summer Sunflowers

It's hot here in Texas and August is always our hottest month bringing 3 digit temps almost every day. What a good time to think about sunshine and sunflowers! So that's what I've got for you today. Hope you like this. It could be used for almost any occasion. Have fun.

Materials needed:
Whisper White cardstock 4 1/4 x 8 1/2"
Crushed Curry cardstock about 4 1/4 x 5 1/2"
Baked Brown Sugar cardstock, scraps
Sunflower stamp (#123608)
Secret Garden stamp set (#129144)
Feel Goods stamp set (#129684)
Secret Gardens Framelits Dies (#129372)
1/2" Circle Punch (#119869)
Season of Style Designer Washi Tape (132155)
Early Espresso marker
Crushed Curry marker
Crushed Curry In Color ink pad
Baked Brown Sugar In Color ink pad
Stampin' Dimensionals (#104430)
Sponge Dauber (#102892)

1. Score and fold the white cardstock at 4 1/4" or use a separate piece of cardstock that is 4 1/4 x 5 1/2."
2. Use your Early Espresso marker to ink up the Sunflower stamp (#123608) center. Use your Crushed Curry marker to ink up the petals. When you are stamping with a large background stamp, I find it easier to bring the cardstock to the inked stamp. I lay it on top of the inked stamp and press down all over the cardstock. Pick it up and turn it over to find your stamped image.

3. Make 5 small sunflowers using the daisy petal stamp from the Secret Garden stamp set(#129144) and Crushed Curry In Color ink pad to stamp them on white cardstock. Punch them out with the cooresponding Secret Garden Framelits Die(#129372) and your Big Shot machine.
4. Punch 5 circles from Baked Brown Sugar cardstock with the 1/2" Circle Punch (#119869). Use the fine tip of the Early Espresso marker to make circles of small dots to look like sunflower seeds on each circle. Place a Stampin' Dimensional dot on the back of each circle. Put the dots in the center of each flower to complete your sunflowers.
****Helpful hint: I use every bit of my Stampin Dimensionals. After all the hexagonal pieces are used, I use the side and end bits. Cut the size that you want for your piece and stick it in place.****

5. Pull off 3 strips of Washi Tape that are about 3-4" each. Carefully tear each Washi Tape strip down the center to make the strips narrower. Lay your small sunflowers on top  of the sunflower background to see where you want the placement of each one. After that is decided, move each flower and press on a strip of Washi Tape to be the stem for the flowers. Add a full 4 1/4" piece of Washi Tape across the bottom.
6. Adhere each flower in place above the end of the Washi tape. 

7. Stamp the "sunshine" greeting with Baked Brown Sugar ink on to Crushed Curry cardstock. Cut around the edges. Ink up your sponge dauber and ink the edges around the greeting. This will help to pop out the color. Place Stampin' Dimensionals on the back and place it in the bottom left corner of the card. It is ok if it covers some bits of the sunflower petals.
8. Finish the card by daubing Baked Brown Sugar ink on the outside, white edges of the card. IMO, with the card on a white cardstock, daubing or distressing the edges a bit, brings the whole look together.

Colored Lace

After learning to color and emboss at the same time from Wednesday, Aug. 14 post, I had fun playing around with the ink on my other embossing folders. These are using the Delicate Designs (#127023) embossing folder. I wondered what it would look like with  the opposite side colored. The top picture is using Bermuda Bay ink the way I showed you last Wednesday. Apply the ink inside the side with the Stampin' Up logo. The bottom one would be the debossed side. I applyed the ink to the opposite side to get this effect. I think both of them are pretty but it just depends on what you want on your project.

For this card, I used the embossed look with the ink applied to the logo side.

Materials needed:
So Saffron cardstock 5 1/2 x 8 1/2" scored and folded at 4 1/4"
Whisper White cardstock
Bermuda Bay cardstock
Bermuda Bay ink
Taken with Teal marker
So Saffron marker
Daffodil Delight marker
Delicate Designs embossing folder (#127023)
Secret Garden stamp set (#129144)
Secret Garden Framelits Dies (#129372)
Very Vintage Designer Buttons (#129327)
Mini glue dots (#103683)
Stampin' Dimensionals (#104430)
Beige or Ecru floss

1. Color and emboss the lace from the Delicate Designs embossing folder with Bermuda Bay In Color ink using the technique from last Wednesday. Trim the embossed area and attach to the bottom edge of the folded So Saffron cardstock. Trim the So Saffron around the edge of the embossed design.
2. Using markers, color the flower stamp from the Secret Garden stamp set. I colored the outer petals Taken with Teal and the inner ones with Daffodil Delight or So Saffron. Stamp one with Bermuda Bay ink on Bermuda Bay cardstock.
3. Use the Secret Garden Framelits Dies and your Big Shot machine to cut out the 3 flowers. Use adhesive to place two flowers on the card as shown. Trim the edge that hangs over the card even with the edge of the card. Put 3 Stampin' Dimensionals on the third flower and place it above the other two.
4. Thread the floss through the Very Vintage button. Place glue dots on the back of the button and press onto the card just about the lacey strip on the left hand side.
5. Since I used the So Saffron for my card base, it is not necessary to attach the card front to the card base. With a light colored cardstock like So Saffron, you can stamp or write a greeting or note on the inside of your card.
Have a scrappy good day and God bless you as you make cards for others.

Flower Garden Wall

For this card, I did the homemade texture paste that I told you how to make last Friday. The idea here was to have the background look like a brick wall in an old garden. I colored the textured paste with Rose Red reinker.

Materials needed:
Kraft cardstock 4 1/4 x 5 1/2"
Whisper White cardstock
Old Olive cardstock
Remember This and That Rotary Stamp (#130133)
Secret Garden stamp set (#129144)
Secret Garden Framelits Dies (#129372)
Modern Label punch (#119849)
Word Window punch (#119857)
Brights Collection brads (#119740)
Daffodil Delight ink
Mariana Mist ink
Wisteria Wonder ink
Lovely Lilac marker
Almost Amethyst marker
Daffidol Delight marker
Metal or plastic stencil

1. Make your brick wall on the cardstock as I showed you on Friday. Add some leaves, if you wish. Set aside to dry.
2. While this is drying, punch out 2-3 plain flowers from the Secret Garden Framelits to use for masking some of the flowers. (See my instructions on masking here if you are not familar with this technique) I stamped 3 different flowers using masks to create this image.
3. Use markers to color in sections of the lily. Cut out loosely around the outside edge of the flowers. Adhere them to the bottom right corner of the card.
4. Stamp the word "remember" with Wisteria Wonder ink on white cardstock. Punch it out with your Word Window punch. Punch out a Modern Label punch with Old Olive cardstock. Adhere the word on top of the label punch.
5. Attach the word with brads.

Have fun playing and experimenting with the homemade texture paste. It's really inexpensive to make and you can do lots of texture with it!

Homemade Textured Paste on card

I love texture and I love when I learn a new technique! Recently I learned how to make my own texture paste. I've used spackle and gesso on my cards and layouts before but that stuff can be kind of expensive, especially the texture pastes that you can buy. Well, making your own is super easy! All you need is baking soda (Yes, from your kitchen), Elmer's (or any brand) school glue, a bowl and a stir stick or knife.

1. Mix about 1/4 cup of baking soda with about 2 tbl school glue. You might want to do less but these would be your proportions. Mix them until it looks like a thick icing. You might need to add a drop or two of water to get the consistency that you want.

2. If you want colored paste instead of white, you can add a drop or two of your SU! reinker. For the leaves on this card, I used a few drops of Old Olive reinker.

3. You can use a plastic or metal stencil (like you see in the top picture) to form the shapes you want. About 12-13 years ago, the brass metal stencils were real popular to use for your embossing before all the embossing folders came out. If you have some of these hiding in your closet or craft room, dig them out for this project. The daisy stencil I used here was from the SU! catalog in 2000. Wow! now that's a while ago! lol
4. Place the stencil flat on your cardstock. You may want to use a bit of repositional tape to hold the stencil in place. Use a popcicle stick, a knife or a paint palette knife (see top picture) to spread the paste onto the top  of the stencil on the cardstock. Scrape off the excess above the stencil and remove the stencil. Allow the paste 15-20 minutes to dry and you have your texture on your card.
5. I used Pacific Point cardstock here and to complete the card, I added a button from the Brights Collection(#119747) of designer buttons from SU!
This dries fairly quickly and will not work well after it has dried. For leftovers, you can place it in a zipper type baggie but it doesn't keep well. It's best if you make just the amount you think you will need for your project.
Finish out your card with a card base and you are ready to amaze your friends!