Glamorous Eleanor

So I'm still playing around with Stampin' Up's Everything Eleanor set. This time, I coloured the flowers in red and couldn't resist adding that little sparkle and shine in the form of gold sequin trim and foil board.

This is another re-do of a plain series of cards that I made a long time ago. This time, I cut and mounted the original card onto another patterned card that I got in a set a long time ago.

These cards will be making like a piggy (going to market haha get it? Okayyyy) in November.
Thanks for looking!

 Materials Used:

Stamp Sets: Everything Eleanor, Perfectly Penned (retired)

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Basic Black

Designer Series/Specialty Paper: First Edition (retired), Gold Foil Sheets

Ink: Basic Black, Memento Tuxedo Black(for flowers so that markers can be used without any colour bleeding)

Dies/Punches: 1" Circle

Ribbons and Trims: Gold Sequin Trim

Other: Black and Cream patterned Cards, Kraft Paper, Tag Die, Red and Yellow markers (similar to Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities), Black Epoxy Dots, Foam Dimensionals, Sponge Dauber  

Sparkle and Shine

I'm going through a little glimmer and sparkle stage. Can't seem to keep from adding something shiny to all my cards. I'm loving gold sequin trim and foil sheets to add a little glamour. 

Today's card is a do-over of an old, plain card I made a long time ago. I added the flowers from Everything Eleanor, coloured in beautiful bright teal, added a simple circle punched from gold board and scattered a few sequins. From a plain, boring male card to a rather fabulous glitzy female card!

Thanks for looking!

Materials Used:

Stamp Sets: Everything Eleanor, Perfectly Penned (retired)

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Basic Black

Designer Series/Specialty Paper: First Edition (retired), Gold Foil Sheets

Ink: Basic Black, Memento Tuxedo Black (for flowers so that markers can be used without any colour bleeding)

Dies/Punches: 1" Circle

Ribbons and Trims: Gold Sequin Trim

Other: Kraft Cards and Envelopes, Tag Die, Striped Twine, Teal and Yellow markers (similar to Coastal Cabana Blendabilities), Black Epoxy Dots, Foam Dimensionals, Sponge Daubers  

Razzleberry and Starfruit

A colour combination for the brave: not everyone's taste!

This is the second series of cards I made using the Designer Series Paper, Sycamore Street. I have used the same design for the cards as I did in this post, but changed the colours to match the other papers in the series. 

The photo below looks a little dull, but the dark colour is Rich Razzleberry, which is a yummy, vibrant purple. The other photos show the colour up better. The yellow, Summer Starfruit is a retired colour but you could easily used Crushed Curry as a replacement.

Thanks for looking!

Materials Used:

Stamp Sets: Dream a Little (retired), One of a Kind (retired)

Cardstock: Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Summer Starfruit

Designer Series Paper: Sycamore Street (retired sale-a-bration item)

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Summer Starfruit (retired)

Dies/Punches: Labels Collection Framelits

Ribbons and Trims: White Baker's Twine,  Rich Razzleberry buttons (retired sale-a-bration item)

Other: White Cards, Foam Dimensionals  

Greetings of the Season

Here's a quick little Christmas card using three colours: Kraft, Lost Lagoon and a tiny pop of red. I used Raspberry Ripple, a retired Stampin' Up colour and one of my faves. 

A touch of sparkle adds some festivity, so too does the dangling snowflake. (How I love a little movement on my cards!)

Materials listed below.

Thanks for looking!

Materials Used:

Stamp Sets: Festival of Trees (Holiday Catalogue), Greetings of the Season (retired)
Cardstock: Lost Lagoon, Very Vanilla, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper (Punched leaves)
Ink: Lost Lagoon, Raspberry Ripple, Soft Sky
Dies/Punches: Labels Collection Framelits, Bird Builder Punch
Ribbons and Trims: Lost Lagoon Silky Taffeta Ribbon (Holiday Catalogue),  Linen Thread, All is Calm Snowflake Embellishments (Holiday Catalogue),
Other: Dazzling Details in Silver Sparkle, Hot glue, Kraft Cards 

Something new.... (A head start on Christmas!)

It's never too early to start on Christmas cards, especially when you have a delicious assortment of new products to play with! I purchased the Festival of Trees bundle from the current holiday catalogue: I love sets that have punches to match: it makes creating matching products a snap and I plan to let the kids use it to make favours for their friends.

Details for making the cards and a list of materials used are listed below.

Thanks for looking!

For the Soft Sky card above, I cut two framelits from very vanilla card stock. I distressed the edge of the larger one using my favourite (and free!) tool: my fingernail! I then applied silver glitter glue to the edges.

On the smaller framelit, I stamped my greeting with Soft Sky and used Island Indigo and Lost Lagoon for the tree image. I punched the tree using the new tree punch and dazzling diamonds glimmer paper. I foam mounted this to the largest framelit, then foam mounted the smaller framelit on top. In total there are two layers of foam so it is quite a thick embellishment. I used hot glue to attach a bow made from seam binding ribbon.

Finally I threaded a crystal button with linen thread which I tied in a bow and then hot glued this to the ribbon before attaching the entire piece to a Soft Sky base.

The Very Vanilla card above is double mounted on a Lost Lagoon base for a decadent feel. I distressed the edges and stamped the trees in Soft Sky gently over the base, stamping off for a faded look.
The image and greeting is stamped on the framelit die cut using Island Indigo and Soft Sky. I distressed the edges and applied a thin layer of silver dazzling details before foam mounting it to the card for extra dimension.
I used seam binding ribbon for the bow as it creates a soft, flowing effect. I like to use hot glue (sparingly) when working with my 3D elements: it dries almost instantly which is wonderful when you're impatient like me! I gently curled the ribbon and applied small dabs of glue to give a feel of movement to the card. I attached a snowflake embellishment (back to front) using linen thread.
Finally, I added tiny, random dots of dazzling details to give the effect of snow.

My husband has never understood using the greeting 'Noel' for a Christmas card: he has only known it as a man's name. He thinks he is quite the comedian as I show him my work. 

'Oh a card for Noel,' he says. 

He's no fun :/

Materials Used:

Stamp Sets: Festival of Trees (Holiday Catalogue), Greetings of the Season (retired)
Cardstock: Lost Lagoon and Soft Sky for card bases, Very Vanilla, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper (Punched Christmas Tree)
Ink: Island Indigo, Lost Lagoon, Soft Sky
Dies/Punches: Labels Collection Framelits, Tree Punch (Holiday Catalogue)
Ribbons and Trims: Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon, All is Calm Snowflake Embellishments (Holiday Catalogue), Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons, Linen Thread
Other: Dazzling Details in Silver Sparkle, Foam tape, Hot glue

Something Old....

So I'm on a bit of a trip down memory lane this week, revisiting some old papers and some even older stamp sets. The flower is from Dream a Little and the sentiments come from One of a Kind.

Any bold flower would work equally well and there are plenty in the new Catalogue.

The Paper is Sycamore Street from Stampin' Up's 2013 Sale-a-bration promotion. When I truly love a design, I tend to hoard it, for fear of using it up! Too many times I get sick of a design that I have stashed for so long, but this time I decided to cut in and come up with some simple cards.

The colours are Island Indigo, Pool Party and Tangerine Tango

I love the clash of orange against the blue.

I have made another similar set using Rich Razzleberry and Summer Starfruit which I will post in the near future!

Thanks for looking!

It's beginning to look a lot like.... Summer!

So I've cracked open an assortment of old Stampin' Up designer series papers in fun, playful designs and paired them with one of my favourite stamp sets, Cycle Celebrations, to come up with some simple, cheerful designs that remind me that Summer is just around the corner (well, three months away and counting!) 

I love the simplicity of plain kraft backgrounds: it makes the colours pop without being too much. 

One of the things I most enjoy about card making is colour matching products like ribbons, buttons, papers and inks. This is Stampin' Up's specialty, but something that took me awhile to click onto to! All of their products are easily matched and come in delicious colour combinations that make designing effective cards a breeze.

Sticking to one or two colours plus a neutral is a simple formula for success.

I've used pool party, crisp cantaloupe, tangerine tango and daffodil delight.

I like to stamp my envelopes, too, for a little extra effect.

These cards will be going to a friend's shop for sale.

Passing the sunshine along.

Thanks for looking!