New Stamps! StampInsanity Release Day

It’s a big stamp release today for StampInsanity Stamps!  StampInsanity owner Beth Schultz has come up with three, count ‘em, three, new rubber stamp sets, available today!  They’re sold exclusively at the Stamp Happens Shop – go and grab yours!  The three stamp sets are called Morgan’s Star, Henry’s Snowman, and Naughty and Nice.  I used the latter wicked cute set on my card for today – more on that below.

The Stamp Sistahs Design Team will be displaying their projects using these stamp sets today as well – check them out!

Senior Design Team Members

Tonya, Stamp Happens; Owner, Stamp Happens Shop

Beth, Stamp Insanity; Owner, StampInsanity Stamps

Jen, Deconstructing Jen, Owner, Wildflower Kids Stamps

Design Team Members

Alyssa, My Addiction

Donna, Donna’s Diary

Gayle, Little Bird Design

Leigh Ann, Stamping With Annie B.

Sarabeth, Scrap Happie

Stephanie, A Paper Buffet

And here’s my project – my first holiday card of the season!  It was FUN to break out that red and green combo for this one!  The two stamps used on this card are from the Naughty and Nice set.  And the cheeky nature of these images informed the design of the card.  The designer paper that I used, from Bo Bunny’s Tis the Season line (also from the Stamp Happens shop!) is a bit distressed, and I was just about to start distressing away on everything else on the card.  But I realized that using the “Jingle Bell Rock Star” sentiment called for some bling on the card, so I went in that direction, with lots of glittery touches on the stamped images, rhinestones, and glittery red snowflakes.  You know, that classic sign of Christmas.  And Morgan is SO fun to color – look at her cute little winking expression! 

What I Used:

Paper:  Papertrey Ink Rustic Cream and Vintage Cream cardstock; Stampin’ Up! Riding Hood Red and Garden Green cardstock; Bo Bunny Tis the Season designer paper

Stamps:  StampInsanity Stamps Naughty and Nice set

Ink:  Versafine black

Accessories:  Cuttlebug: Spellbinders Nestabilities long rectangle and square dies; Kaiser rhinestones; Martha Stewart snowflake punch; Sakura Gelly Roll pens (clear, white, red, and gold); Copic Ciao markers; dimensionals

Thanking a Friend, Once Again

The other day I posted a thank you card I made for Dani from the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge Design Team, and here is another card for yet another team member.  I sent this card to Eve a while ago to thank her for some lovely items she sent to the team; can you tell that we’ve got a very generous group? 

This card was a little brighter for me as I usually use softer colors, but it’s good to stretch a little every now and then, right?  That purple cardstock and ink are in Papertrey Ink’s Plum Pudding shade.  The white background is embossed with the Swiss Dots embossing folder (where would I be without that folder?).  For the vertical panel, I made a background with a floral flourish stamp from Inkadinkado and that is mounted on a panel of Plum Pudding cardstock trimmed with a Martha Stewart border punch.  The sentiment is on Nestabilities’ ovals.  I added a few more embellishments, as detailed below, and that did it! 

Card Details:

Paper: Papertrey Ink white and Plum Pudding cardstock

Stamps: Anna Griffin – Sentiment; Inkadinkado Floral Flourishes set – background image

Ink:  Papertrey Ink Plum Pudding

Accessories:  Cuttlebug:  Swiss Dots embossing folder & Nestabilities Oval dies; Martha Stewart border punch; Stampin’ Up! ticket corner punch; Dew Drops; ribbon; dimensionals

Sending a Little Encouragement

This card was made for a very sweet friend of mine.  I was happy to finally get the chance to break out the Stampin’ Up! Parisian Breeze paper!  I love this paper so much that it was hard to cut into it.  I immediately want to hoard it, which makes very little sense, really, so I moved forward, as you can see!  

The base of this card is Stampin’ Up’s Baja Breeze.  I stamped and mounted the sentiment on labels cut with the beautiful Nestabilities Labels Four set.  I used a Martha Stewart border punch on the Baja Breeze and Chocolate Chip panels and then embossed the top panel with a Cuttlebug border embossing folder for a little texture.  The embellishments in the corners are from the Cuttlebug Vintage Corner set.  The jewels are from a K & Company Christmas  set, and I wish they were not just a seasonal thing because I love the color and it coordinates really well with Baja Breeze. 

Card components:

Paper: Stampin’ Up!  Baja Breeze & Chocolate Chip cardstock and Parisian Breeze designer paper; Papertrey Ink white cardstock

Stamps:  Anna Griffin (sentiment); Inkadinkado Love Letters set (floral flourish)

Ink: Stampin; Up! Baja Breeze

Accessories: Cuttlebug: Vintage Corner die & With Love embossing folder; Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Four dies; K & Company adhesive jewel; Martha Stewart scallop border punch; dimensionals

JustRite Monogrammed Notecard Set

Here is a set of cards that I made for my sister’s  birthday.  This set needed to be really special, so I had to break out the really good paper for this one!  The designer paper that I used for this set is from K & Company’s new Madeline line, which is just gorgeous and coordinates really well with Papertrey Ink’s Plum Pudding cardstock and ink. 

First up – the notecards (see the photo on the left) featuring that Madeline paper.   The monogram for the cards was stamped with the JustRite Stamper Damask Border kit and mounted (with dimensionals) on circles die cut with Nestabilities.   The lace border was done with a Martha Stewart border punch.  The Madeline paper and a panel embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder make up the background, which is popped up with dimensionals. 

Next came the box for the cards (see the photo on the right), done with the help of my Scor-Pal and made with the same materials as the notecards.  (The top of the box is basically another card front.)

And finally, the actual birthday card!  I kept this consistent with the set by using the same materials, but in a different layout.  I really wanted this Madeline paper to be prominent on this card, so I went with a square card (5 1/4”x5 1/4”), which gave me a little more room to fit that square panel.  The background, in Papertrey Ink’s Vintage Cream, was  embossed with a Fiskars Texture Plate (leaves) and I used an EK Success Deco corner punch.  The sentiment is from Anna Griffin and stamped and mounted on Nestabilities circles.  Pink Dew Drops are in all four corners of the card.  I really hope that my sister enjoys this set!

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Components:

Paper: Papertrey Ink Plum Pudding and Vintage Cream cardstock; K & Company Madeline designer paper in Wild Roses

Stamps:  JustRite Stamper – Damask Border set; Anna Griffin (sentiment)

Ink: Papertrey Ink hybrid ink in Plum Pudding

Accessories: Cuttlebug: Swiss Dots embossing folder. Nestabilities circle and scalloped circle dies, Fiskars texture plate in leaves; dimensionals; ribbon; Dew Drops; EK Success Deco corner punch; ribbon; Scor-Pal; Martha Stewart lace border punch

Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge #18 — Twilight Valentines!

Happy Tuesday — here’s an early wish for a Happy Valentine’s Day too!  This week it was my turn to choose the theme for the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge and it was a really easy decision this time…it’s Twilight Valentines!  All of the details on the challenge can be found at our home base for the challenges, Twilight Tuesday.com.  As always, we welcome you to play along with us!  And, please visit the blogs of the design team members to see what they’ve created!

Beth ~ Dani ~ Eve ~  Jen ~ Margie ~ Rebecca ~ Tonya

The creative portion of the challenge is to make a card that could be given from character to another in the Twilight world.  Because I am totally predictable when it comes to choosing a Twilight character to focus on…yeah, I chose Edward.  I made a card that Edward would give to Bella.  In the Twilight world of my imagination.  (Just go with it — it’s more fun that way.)  More on the card in a bit.

The comment portion of the challenge is to talk a bit about the couples in the Twilight  world. Which couple’s story you might relate to or admire, which couple might not work for you (hey, imprinting on a baby theme – I’m looking at you!). Anything you like. I would bet that a lot of us love the stories because of the romantic elements — just elaborate on that a bit, and tell us what parts of that appealed to you. 

Hmmm…my favorite relationship would have to be that of Renee and Phil…yeah, just kidding — you all know what I’m going to say!  It’s all about Edward and Bella. {Or really, it’s all about Edward.  Has there EVER been a fictional character that has inspired this much adoration?  Seriously?!}

And for my least favorite relationship(s) in the story — I hinted at that one above.  The imprinting on an infant does not work for me, nor will it ever work for me.  So Renesmee and Jacob, Quil and Claire  = not my faves. 

My card for this challenge is not very black and red and Twilighty-looking.  I really just wanted to do a somewhat straightforward Valentine card, something that Edward might like for Bella.  (Again, in my imaginary world.)  There are just a few Twilight hints here.  Aside from adding Bella and Edward’s names to the heart shape on the card, the "forever" sentiment reminded me of the last scene of Twilight (both the book and the movie).  

And my nod to Edward — the presence of the rhinestones on the card, especially the rhinestone heart.  Was that not one of the loveliest of scenes, when Edward gives Bella the  diamond heart for her bracelet?  Edward seemed so thrilled to be giving it to her…so lovely.  So let’s take a moment with this; allow me to quote from one of my very favorite moments of the whole series:

On the opposite side of the chain from the wolf, there now hung a brilliant heart-shaped crystal.  It was cut in a million facets, so that even in the subdued light shining from the lamp, it sparkled.  I inhaled in a low gasp.

"It was my mother’s," he shrugged deprecatingly.  "I inherited quite a few baubles like this.  I’ve given some to Esme and Alice both.  So, clearly, this is not a big deal in any way."

I smiled ruefully at his assurance.

"But I thought it was a good representation," he continued. "It’s hard and cold."  He laughed.  "And it throws rainbows in the sunlight."

"You forgot the most important similarity," I murmured.  "It’s beautiful."

"My heart is just as silent," he mused. "And it, too, is yours."

I twisted my wrist so the heart would glimmer.  "Thank you. For both."

Eclipse, pages 438-439

Card components:

Paper:  Papertrey Ink vintage cream cardstock; SU! Riding Hood Red; 7 Gypsies Savannah flock paper – floral

Stamp: Inkadinkado from Love Letters set, Bella and Edward names computer-generated

Ink:  SU! Riding Hood Red

Accessories:  Cuttlebug:  Fiskars texture plate in dots; Nestabilities long rectangle and heart dies; SU! ticket corner punch; Martha Stewart floral lace border punch; rhinestone accents; ribbon; dimensionals