Another Manly Birthday Card!

It is my brother's birthday today and I created a simple card for him using some of Stampin' Up's new goodies.  Check it out:

I know, I know....more Comfort Cafe.....have I mentioned how much I like it?!!!  It's a must (in my opinion) for everyone's stash of Designer Series Paper!!!  And isn't the Itty Bitty Banner Framelit so cute?!!  The Framelit dies are great.....and there are some FANTASTIC ones coming in the new Holiday Catalogue! 

Here are the rest of the details:

Stamp Sets:  Teeny Tiny Phrases

Paper:  Midnight Muse, Pool Party, Very Vanilla card stocks, Comfort Cafe DSP

Ink:  Midnight Muse

Other:  Itty Bitty Banners Framelits dies,  Word Window Punch

Happy Birthday Dad for SSC 261!

My father's birthday is this week and I turned to Stamping 411's Saturday Sketch Challenge to help with a layout for a card for him.  I had fun creating a "manly" card using my brand new "Clockworks" stamp set from Stampin' Up's new catalogue!  Love it!  I admit that visualising what could be created with this set is a little difficult for me, it really does lend itself to some cool designs.  Check out what I came up with:

Manly "Clockworks" card

I was really pleased with the result.  I had fun with lots of new product to make this card.  As I mentioned, "Clockworks" is a great new Stampin' Up stamp set and includes a great "splat" stamp which I stamped in Crumb Cake first.  I then used the "seagull splat" stamp in Soft Suede and finally stamped the cogs in Cajun Craze and Midnight Muse.

One of the other new product "bundles" I used was the "Itty Bitty Banners" stamp set and matching "Bitty Banners" Framelits dies.  What a great combination.  The DSP is "Comfort Cafe"....love it!  This collection of Designer Series Paper contains such versatile patterns and I really like the colour combinations.

I finished off the card with Early Espresso Baker's Twine and Linen Thread.  I found that the Baker's Twine was a little too white against the Very Vanilla so I took a sponge inked with Soft Suede ink and ran it along the thread a few times to "antique" it a little.  I also distressed the edges of the cardstock.

I mailed it off almost as soon as I finished it.  I hope he likes it : )

Here is a more concise list of products used:

Stamp Sets:  Clockworks, Itty Bitty Banners
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Soft Suede and Very Vanilla card stock.  Comfort Cafe DSP.

Ink:  Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Midnight Muse and Cajun Craze

Accessories:  Bitty Banners Framelits dies, Early Espresso Bakers Twine, Linen Thread.

Happy Stamping!

Another Father's Day Card

I created this card for my Stampin' Up! Catalogue launch party that I had last week.  I wanted to create a relatively simple card that could be created without much guidance and this one fit the bill. 

I turned to the Comfort Cafe Designer Series Paper again for this card.  I love the versatility of the colour combination that Stampin' Up! has put together in this paper.  I wanted to showcase a number of the designs in a relatively small space and I like how the strips of paper accomplish that.  I framed the sentiment using a Labels collections Framelits die and embossed it using the Stripes Textured Embossing Folder. 

To up the "wow" factor one could use a textured embossing folder to emboss the Very Vanilla matte and add embellishments such as ribbon, baker's twine, brads or buttons.

Here are some more of the details:

Stamp Sets: Best Dad Ever

Paper:  Soft Suede, Very Vanilla and Midnight Muse card stocks, Comfort Cafe DSP

Ink:  Cajun Craze

Other:  Labels collection Framelits die, Stripes Textured Embossing Folder.

Happy Stamping!

It's all about Dad for Monkey 112

With Father's Day fast approaching I used this week's A la Card Monkey challenge for my inspiration.  I must admit, I've had quite a creative block the past couple of weeks.  I don't know what it is....I find that I just can't get my brain in gear when I sit down in the evening to "work".  But I got a bit of my mojo back with this card.  Here's the sketch:

Here's my interpretation:

Best Dad Ever stamp set and Comfort Cafe DSP

I love the simplicity of this sketch.  Once I settled on a colour scheme (Pool Party, Midnight Muse, Soft Suede and Very Vanilla) it was actually really easy to put together.  My favourite part was creating the button.  I don't tend to purchase a lot of embellishments so I was intrigued by a recent "Techniques" article in the Stampin' Up! demonstrator magazine, "Stampin' Success".  It outlined how to create your own buttons using card stock and Designer Series Paper (DSP) along with Crystal Effects.  Really quite simple and I will be teaching this technique in the fall at one of my techniques classes.    Here is a close up of the button:

Do-it-yourself button....using card stock and Comfort Cafe DSP.

I really like this colour combo.  The new Stampin' Up! catalogue has got some great DSP and one of my favourites is "Comfort Cafe".  This collection of paper has both "masculine" and "feminine" paper which makes it very versatile.  The "Best Dad Ever" stamp set is great as well because it's got a nice collection of sentiments.

Here are the details:

Paper:  Pool Party, Midnight Muse, Very Vanilla card stocks, Comfort Cafe DSP

Ink:  Midnight Muse, Pool Party, Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip

Stamp Sets:  Best Dad Ever

Embellishments:  Pool Party Baker's Twine, Crystal Effects (on button).

Stayed tuned for another Father's Day card tomorrow.

Happy Stamping!!

Something new for SSC256

I FINALLY got a chance to sit down with some of my new product tonight (it arrived on Tuesday!).  Wow!  I LOVE the new stamp pads that Stampin' Up has come out with.   They are firm foam rather than linen pads and I only had to set my stamp on one of them to have it fully inked...and the imaged that comes out is "perfect".  For tonight's card I used the sketch from this week's Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge.

Here is the sketch:

I have been looking at Stampin' Up's new "Comfort Cafe" DSP all week and I was excited to actually get to use it tonight.  I really like how this new line of DSP has both "masculine" and "feminine" patterns in it.  I used the new colours "Midnight Muse" and "Summer Starfruit" with stamps from the "Circle Circus" set to create a "button".   I can't wait to use more of my new product...stay tuned!

Details:

Stamp Sets:  Circle Circus, Friendly Phrases

Paper:  Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Comfort Cafe DSP

Ink:  Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit

Other:  Stripes Textured Embossing Folder, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1" circle punch

Happy Stamping!