Wednesday, February 27, 2013

A Love Letter for Retired Wednesday!

Today is another day for retired Wednesday!  I really liked this card - I must...I made three of them! I used the SU! retired paper called "Love Letter".  The whole package is very vanilla, basic black and cherry cobbler colors. I am a HUGE cherry cobbler fan!

 
 
I started with cherry cobbler cardstock, distressed up the very vanilla and added just a touch of the Love Letter DSP along with cherry cobbler baker's twine and a cute mini vintage tag. I used the SU! stamp set Creative Elements and crumb cake ink for the distressing and the stamp behind the butterfly.
 
 


The inside I continued to add some more DSP and little touches. I decided to make these all birthday cards. I love the vintage look and this DSP is perfect for that!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Wednesday!

Gail S.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Sketch Callenge

My SU! group that I belong to (Luv 2 Stamp)has started a weekly card challenge.  The challenge for this week is a sketch from page maps and for the life of me, I cannot get the sketch to copy and paste to this post. 

This is the card that I came up with for this challenge:

 
 
I used Pool Party,Summer Starfruit and Whisper White Card stock along with a piece of DSP from the Summer Smooches pack and the Pool Party baker's twine.  This stamp that I used is one of the new single stamps that just became available for a limited time only (until March 31st). You can check them out here: 
 
 
 
 
 


Of course I have to decorate the inside of the card also :)


Just very simple inside using the retired corner punch.

Thanks for stopping by!  I love it when you leave comments - it makes the sun shine on my day!

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Sympathy Cards

Once again, I am need of more Sympathy cards.  A friend of mine needed some to have on hand also so we recently got together and spent the noon hour crafting and card making. We ended up each making 4 cards, 2 each of the same design. Here is card #1.



A simple yet elegant card using just Whisper White cardstock and Basic Black ink. I used the dotted and framed embossing folders and some pretty sheer ribbon.

This is card #2.

 
 
We used Marina Mist and Whisper White card stock and again the pretty sheer ribbon. I used the Love & Sympathy set and added some delicate pearls.
 
 
Hopefully I will have these cards on hand for awhile.
 
Thanks for stopping by!
 
Gail S.

Friday, February 22, 2013

Summer Smooches

Hello!  Today in Nebraska we are getting S*N*O*W and blowing winds - Yeah!!! We really need the moisture here so I am even thankful for snow! I do love snow days because I can hibernate in my craft room and have fun! 

Today I whipped out some SU! DSP paper that I have had for quite a while.  It is the Summer Smooches DSP that coordinates with the stamp set Bright Blossoms. This set is a cute, simple set. I ended up making several cards.



I used whisper white and daffodil delight cardstock. 


Isn't this card just so cute? Of course, I finished the inside ~

 
 
I used just a scrap of the DSP paper and punched some trim, added a stamped image in the corner and my card was finished. Just a little extra touch inside adds so much to a card.
 
 
I also had just an extra flower I had made months ago and it was laying on my work space so I real quick made up this card using the same DSP paper.
 


I hope I added a little sunshine to your day. If you would like to purchase the DSP paper or the stamp set featured, please contact me!!

Thank you -

Gail S.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Retired Wednesday Post

I made some Birthday cards using the retired paper "Greenhouse Gala". I saw a similar card - using the layout on the blog Stamping Up North. This card is perfect if you have those scrap strips of paper that you hate to throw away.


This layout is was so much fun that I just may have to use it again! For these cards, I used so saffron paper and some scraps of orange and green papers along with some embossed whisper white. I used some seam binding ribbon and added a few buttons on the sides and that was it.

Of course, I always have to finish the inside - I never can leave a card "naked" inside BUT I forgot to take a picture of that (sorry). I did get a close up of the stamped Happy Birthday image.


Thanks for leaving a comment! I love it when you do...

Gail S.

Monday, February 18, 2013

My Spring/Easter Square

I told you awhile back that I would show you what I ended up making for the Spring/Easter Square Swap that I am participating in and today I have the photos. Before I show you which square I decided on, I will show you the "rejects"!  I really struggeled with this swap. I worked and worked to come up with something and every one was just a flop! This was the first one I made:


Of course, I would have added a pearl or rhinestone to the center of this flower but I thought it was just too plain. Then I came up with this:



I made this layered butterfly and added some tiny pearls but still didn't care for it.  Then I grabbed a new stamp set that I just got called spring sampler. It is FULL of small spring stamps. I chose the bumble bee and came up with this:


I have no idea why it posted upside down but you get the idea! I used velum for the wings and cut the image out and put a dimentional under it but I did not think it looked "springy" enough. So....I finally came up with this square and made 16 of them!


I thought this was bright and ready for spring. I did end up distressing the larger daffodil delight punched flower and made the rhinestone bigger but other than that - this is the winner!

I will be sure to post all of the squares when I receive them so stay tuned!

Gail S.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Valentine Swap

I recently participated in a Valentine Square Swap with other card crafters. The rules were to make a square no bigger than 1 1/2 inches big that was Valentine themed, Stampin Up! products only.

There were 20 crafty ladies that signed up for the swap. This was the square that I sent for the swap.


And this is all of the squares that I received back:


Aren't they ALL soooooo cute?  I love each and every one of them!! If you notice, some of them even are 3D and have layers that bend up. The butterfly in the bottom left corner was sewn together. Lots of sparkle. So many talented women to make each square different :)

I have signed up to do a Spring Square Swap and that is due to be sent the end of this week. I don't know why but it was a challenge to come up with something this time.  I will show you what I made in another post.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Gail S.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Masculine Birthday Card

Well, I thought about it and I am going to TRY to keep up creating for "Retired  Wednesday"  I really NEED to get rid of my BIG pile of retired Designer Series Paper (DSP) and what a great way to do it!  I will try to find ideas for cards and adapt them to use the DSP that I have on hand.

This post is a masculine card that I found on Pinterest.  I pretty much cased this card because it was using the same DSP paper that I had on hand.


Simple...no buttons, ribbons, or bling.  A view of the inside:


The good news about this DSP paper is that it is currently on the clearance rack on the SU! website! Yes, it is still available!  I think a whole pack of different, coordinating papers are on sale for $2.99! A bargain for masculine styled DSP paper.


Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Patty's Challenge!

Wow! TWO posts in one day!!  I don't think I have ever done that! 

Patty at Patty's Stamping Spot has a challenge today on her blog. The challenge is to use the SU! colors: Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral, and Island Indigo.

Color combo-001

I worked all day at my day job and as soon as I came home I quickly dropped some chicken in the oven and set upstairs to my craft room and quickly made this up:


I just received the new burlap ribbon and the needlepoint border textured impressions embossing folder and really like both. 




Notice I did not even use one stamp to make this card!  A little linen thread just added that extra touch along with the island indigo brad in the center of the flower.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Gail S.

Congratulations...It's a Boy!

Today I needed a card for a friend of mine who just became a Grandma for the first time. I am enjoying being a Grandma and Carol is a very proud one also.  Her daughter recently had a baby boy - Easton and I wanted to help her celebrate the birth by sending a congratulations card. I came up with this card using the new stamp set "Oh Whale" that is currently in the Sale-A-Bration catalog.


I love the look of adding a doily for the background. I also added a rhinestones for the whales eye and on the Congratulations tag. Marina mist and real red are the cardstock colors. I did emboss the real red cardstock to add some texture. Do you like the way I made the Congratulations tag?


I actually saw this idea on Pinterest. It was so easy. It is using SU! scallop square punch. This shows you how it is done:


Slip your tag through the TOP of the punch, align it the same on both sides and punch. Easy!

This is the inside of the card - super simple with just a few words from a retired stamp.


Thanks for stopping today at my blog - Please Enjoy the moments!

Gail S.

Monday, February 11, 2013

My Valentine Treats

Today I am sharing the Valentine treats I made this past week. I will pass them around to my co-workers, friends and my little nieces that live in town this Thursday for Valentine's Day. I had fun using these cute little tubes that have been so popular!


Each one of them I made a little different from the next so each one was special for the recipient. Some had a little sparkle, a bow or a tag. For my long distance Valentines, those I dropped in the mail and hopefully they will be delivered on or by Thursday.

I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day!


Gail S.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Happy Birthday to You!

 
 
Happy Day to You!! Is is Wednesday....we are half way through the week - yeah!  My Mom's birthday was Monday, the 4th and I wanted to make her a special card.  I saw this card  on this blog as a Valentine's Day card and I knew that I could adapt it to a birthday card - especially a birthday that is in February!!
 
 
 

I am still using up that old DSP paper and it is dwindling.  I need to start a weekly post called "Retired DSP Paper Wednesday" (or Thursday or whatever day works!!)  I am a designer paper hoarder and need to resolve that!  Of course, I had to do the inside also - I hate leaving cards naked inside!!


I used the top note die and the little heart embosslit folder. Easey, Peasy!  Have a wonderful Wednesday!!

Gail S.

Monday, February 4, 2013

Welcome Baby

Wow! Where did January go??  I cannot believe that it is February already!

I got this card idea off of Pinterest for some simple cards.  I really need to use up some old DSP paper and this was another way to get some used up.  I made some baby congratulation cards just to have on hand!


I made both boy and girl baby cards! You can use this card layout idea for any simple card. 


These are the insides of the cards. You can tell which one was in the little girl's congratulations card and which one the was the little boy's congratulations card!
 
Thanks for stopping by today.
Gail S.

Friday, February 1, 2013

My Final Valentine's Day Card

Thanks for stopping by!  I am going to show you the third and final Valentine's Day card that I made.  I still have the treats to share with you but that will be another day.  They are so cute!

Today's card turned out cute also!



This photo makes the doily look ivory but it is white.  Stampin' UP! has doilies for purchase but I had some on hand and used them. Again, I used some retired DSP.  I ended up making just two of these cards because I ran out of time.

I will be sharing my Valentine's treats to you soon!  Have a great weekend!!  We have a tax appointment and I get my nails done :)

Gail S.