Thinking of You in Yummy Colors

Yea! It's Friday and I am so happy about that. I love the weekends when the family is all together. 

Here is my card for today. I was so happy to check in with my online card class this morning and find fun and new color schemes to choose from. I chose pink, yellow, grey, and aqua. I wasn't sure how the colors would work but found that sometimes giving yourself a challenge helps you create something you wouldn't have otherwise...and you like it!

I went back to the same sketch as Monday's card. It just seems to be my favorite. I used Stamp my Story, Brush along with a variety of coordinating paper pieces for the edge of the card. I love this sentiment from Simon Says Stamp and find I use it frequently. "Thinking of you" sentiments are great for versatility.

The colored inks are Hero Arts Shadow Inks: Soft Granite, Butter Bar, Mint Julep, and Bubblegum.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Stamping!

*Hero Arts Cling Stamps BRUSH STROKES AC026 Rubber Unmounted 2013	*Simon Says Clear Stamps STAMPtember?äó FOR THE RECORD Exclusive	*Lily Bee Design SWEET SHOPPE 6 x 6 Tiny Tablet SST300	*Echo Park BUNDLE OF JOY GIRL 6 x 6 Paper Pad Dots & Stripes BJG45030	*My Favorite Things STEEL GREY Cardstock Heavy Weight 8.5 x 11
*Neenah Classic Crest 80 LB SUPER SMOOTH SOLAR WHITE Paper Pack 25 Sheets	*Hero Arts Shadow Ink Pad SOFT GRANITE Mid-Tone 2012 AF226	*Hero Arts Shadow Ink Pad BUTTER BAR Mid-Tone 2012 AF207	*Hero Arts Shadow Ink Pad BUBBLE GUM Mid-Tone 2012 AF208	*Hero Arts Shadow Ink Pad MINT JULEP Mid-Tone 2013 AF246
*VersaFine ONYX BLACK Ink Pad Pigment

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Sunflower Magic

I am taking a break from my online class homework tonight to bring you a card I did a couple of weeks ago. This gorgeous sunflower stamp is from The Craft's Meow, Stitched Flowers. I love the buttons in the center of the flower. The Glossy Accents really help them to pop.

I used a leaf stamp from the set to create a tone on tone background for the card. The sentiment is also from The Craft's Meow called Stitched Sentiments. These are so fun because you can color your sentiment to match the card. 

Add some ribbon, glossy accents, white gel pen and a fun border and I am in card heaven. All these summer colors make me so happy. This is paper crafting sunshine yumminess for sure. 

Happy Stamping!

Day Two: Multi Colored Inking

Here is my homework for day two of Online Summer Card Camp 2. I am LOVING this class. I am impressed with everyone's different styles and techniques. It gets me to think outside of the box and look at my stamps in different ways. Today, I decided to try my hand at inking one stamp in different colored inks for an ombre effect. Playing with ink is one of the funnest things about card making. I used a variety of flower and leave stamps from Hero Arts and Paper Smooches. I also have a confession to make...I'm addicted to the white gel pen. No, truly. I may cry if someone tries to take it away. It is so fun to add details to everything. 

My greeting is from the Lawn Fawn Hello Friend Set. I tried masking off parts of the stamp in different colors but really struggled getting a clean impression. I finally just pulled out my Memento markers and colored right on the stamp than retraced it after stamping to darken the color. I am really excited with how this turned out. 

My advice from today is to just have fun experimenting. Leave yourself open to changing your mind as you go. This card looks completely different what I started to make but I am very happy with the results. 

Happy Stamping!

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Birthday Zebra - First Day of Summer Card Camp

Today was the first day of the Online Summer Card Class. I've taken several of these online card classes in the past and absolutely love them. This particular class goes for three weeks with lifetime access to all of the content afterwards. If you haven't checked them out in the past it is really a wonderful investment and a fun way to brighten up your summer. What better diversion than a little card crafting?

Tonight's homework assignment was to make a card following one of three sketches and using a particular color scheme. Here is what I came up with.

The color scheme was white, blue, yellow, a bright pinkish/red and orange. I went with a birthday theme since my youngest daughter has a birthday coming up very soon. Who doesn't love a birthday zebra wearing a party hat...seriously...

I can't promise that I'll get my homework done every night but I will try and keep up with it as much as possible and post what I'm working on here. 

Check out the online card classes here for more information.

Happy Stamping!

*PRE-ORDER Lawn Fawn CRITTERS ON THE SAVANNA Clear Stamps	*PRE-ORDER Lawn Fawn CRITTERS ON THE SAVANNA Lawn Cuts Dies	*Lawn Fawn HATS OFF TO YOU Clear Stamps	*Hero Arts Layering Papers CERULEAN PS605	*Lily Bee Design SWEET SHOPPE 6 x 6 Tiny Tablet SST300
*Hero Arts Shadow Ink Pad PALE TOMATO Mid-Tone 2013 AF233	*Hero Arts Shadow Ink Pad BUTTER BAR Mid-Tone 2012 AF207	*Hero Arts Shadow Ink Pad CHARCOAL Black Mid-Tone 2013 af236	*Hero Arts Shadow Ink Pad TIDE POOL Mid-Tone 2012 AF223	*Hero Arts Shadow Ink Pad SOFT CANTALOUPE af242
*Uni-ball Pen Signo Gel Pen WHITE Smooth Broad	*New Copic 36 Sketch Markers Most Popular Colors	*Ranger ENAMEL ACCENTS Black White Opaque Dimensional Glaze Inkssentials	*Ranger STICKLES STAR DUST Stardust White Clear Glitter Glue	*Elmer's CLEAR BOND Foam Mounting Tape Permanent Adhesive
*ZIG Wink of Stella GLITTER CLEAR Brush Tip Marker 025320	*We R Memory Keepers Cropadile CORNER CHOMPER

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A Card in Browns, Blues, and Greens...YUM!

What a beautiful Friday. I hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July yesterday. 

Today I have yet another card using the Stamp Your Story Brush set. Even though I'm not really into journaling...yet, this set is so versatile and so perfect for card making. My favorite thing about it though, is how FAST a card can come together with it. 

I love the soft tones of the blue, green and brown. Anyone who knows me know that blue is my favorite color in ANY tone.

Confession time, when I started stamping the green and blue background, I had some brown ink left over on the stamp that "messed up" my stamping. I just flicked some more brown ink in the background and you would never know that it was an accident. For beginning card makers, you SERIOUSLY can not mess this up.

I love this artsy flower stamp from Hero Arts. I just added a touch of white to the centers with a gel pen, added some embellishments, white heat embossed this greeting and (smile really big here)...another fun card ready to go. 

Have a great day!

Happy Stamping!

An EASY Happy Birthday Card

Hello Everyone!

While I am sure most of you are tired of the heat wave, here in the northwest I am enjoying every minute of it. What is a heat wave for you is a sunny summer day for me.

I have a really quick, easy and fun birthday card to share today.

Sometimes I work on a card for a long time. Sometimes it comes in pieces over several days. While those cards are so much fun to put together, it makes me happy when I can put together something in less than five minutes and fall in love with it.

Of course this is using my new favorite go to stamp set that you can find here.

Isn't it so bright and happy. I need to remember to make a card like this in January when the rain is back. 

This was so fast, it would be an easy card set to make. 

I don't know if you can tell, but I added a little glitter on the paint splotches as well. (That took an extra 30 seconds.) 

Hope everyone has a great week!

Happy Stamping!

Portable Paper Crafting...A Colorful Tip

Happy Monday everyone!

I've got a great tip to share.

I have a group of friends that get together every Wednesday to sew. They have made the most beautiful quilts. While I am friends with all three, I don't really enjoy sewing. One thing that I love about card making is that I can start and finish a project very quickly. Well, they invited me to join them for their Wednesday play dates and just bring my paper crafting projects. In theory that sounds like a blast. In reality the thought of packing up my craft room, or trying to guess what tools I will want seemed really challenging. 

I hit upon my solution when I watched a video from the Kick Start Online Card Class. I LOVED the solution of just taking stamps to color. Once the idea took hold it kept growing into such an easy and fun transportable idea. 

I started what I call my "coloring basket". I stamp several images ahead of time and have my markers and scissors handy. It gives me plenty to do without needing to really think about it. This makes it easy to sit on the couch at night with my husband while he's watching television, or put it in a travel bag and head over to laugh and visit with my friends. I love the concept of having a bunch of colored images all ready to go on a card.

Here is one of my first cards using a colored image from my stamp stash. I love this Stitched Flowers and Stitched Sentiments stamp sets from the Craft's Meow. Who doesn't love to color flowers?

Because I wasn't stressed or hurried in my coloring, I could color just to color. It is so relaxing and fun to just play. Also, details like a white gel pen, glossy accents and stickles are easy to add at night before bed. 

Try making your own coloring basket and share what works for you. Also, I would love to hear what other ideas you have to "travel" with your paper crafting hobbies. Especially with summer vacations

In case you are interested, here is a picture of my coloring basket.

Happy Stamping!