Bookmarks!!

Have you ever been reading a good book, but for the life of you, you can't find a bookmark and just end up using whatever empty envelope or old receipt you can find?? Well, that happens to me a LOT, so I thought, why not make my own bookmark?!?

I decided to make one for myself and one for my mom for Mother's Day.

For both bookmarks I used the Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set. I also got to try out my new Stampin' Pastels for the first time on the flower cut-outs! I was a bit apprehensive at first, but wow, do I like them!!! On both the main and center pieces of cardstock I distressed the edges using a sponge dauber and the Chocolate Chip ink. I also used the sponge dauber in the center of the cut-out flower, and then used the pastels on it.
The ribbon, bead, eyelet and clip are not from Stampin' Up!

Stampin' Up! Products:
Cardstock: Yoyo Yellow, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Chocolate Chip, VersaMark
Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral
Other: Gold Embossing Powder, Sponge Dauber, Stampin' Pastels (Yoyo Yellow, Only Orange)

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The bookmark I made for my mom I also used Wonderful Favorites and Park Avenue Patterns along with the Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set.

For the stamped images on the Orchid Opulence and the Tempting Turquoise cardstock, I stamped the images with VersaMark. I used clear embossing powder on the "Wonderful" image. For the "to my", "mother", flower cut-out and lantern images I stamped on Whisper White cardstock in a matching non-SU ink.

The "to my" and "mother" pieces were cut out with the Word Window punch. To do this, turn your punch upside down so that you can see the stamped image through the punch hole, align the stamped image to the left of the punch and punch the cardstock. You will have a lot of white space to the right of the stamped image. Take the punched piece of cardstock and insert it back into the punch, and line it up with the punch, again holding the punch upside-down. Use the right-side of the punch on the right side of the cardstock, and line it up with the stamped image, holding the bit of cardstock that is sticking out with your fingers on the right side, and punch again.

On the flower and the lantern cut-outs, I used the Stampin' Pastels again. On the edges of the turquoise center piece, I used the Scallop Edge punch. I also used the VersaMark ink and a sponge dauber on the edges of the purple and turquoise pieces of cardstock to distress faintly.

Again, the ribbon, eyelet, beads and purple ink used are not Stampin' Up!

Stampin' Up! Products:
Cardstock: Orchid Opulence, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White
Ink: VersaMark
Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral, Wonderful Favorites, Park Avenue Patterns
Punch: Scallop Edge
Other: Clear Embossing Powder, Sponge Dauber, Stampin' Pastels (Orchid Opulence, Tempting Turquoise, Yoyo Yellow - though you can't quite see it in the picture)

Happy Birthday, Myrna!

Well, here's a card I made for my boyfriend's mom, Myrna. I used the Wild Wasabi (2007/08 In Colors) cardstock with a rose print and a textured burgundy paper I had laying around. The ribbon is the Wild Wasabi, and a burgundy ribbon I had that matched the textured paper. The butterfly is one I had purchased from a dollar store, which I glued to the paper with a hot glue gun.
For the circle layers in the scallop, the inside circle is the 1 3/8" circle punch, and the larger circle was made using my Fiskars Shape Cutter with the 1 1/2" circle.

The "Happy Birthday" is from Warmest Regards which is retired, and the "MOM" was stamped with some alphabet stamps I had. The inside and the envelope, as shown in the picture, has the three flower stamp from the Eastern Blooms set stamped in Purely Pomegranate ink.

I love this color combination!

Stampin' Up! Products:
Cardstock: Wild Wasabi (2007/08 In Colors)
Ink: Wild Wasabi and Purely Pomegranate (2007/08 In Colors)
Ribbon: Wild Wasabi double stitched ribbon (2007/2008 In Colors)
Punches: Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch
Stamps: Warmest Regards (retired); Eastern Blooms

My first blog....

Well, this is the first time I have ever blogged... so here goes!

I decided to start this blog as I am a crafter, cardmaker and artist, and wanted to share some of my work with the world! I am also a new Stampin' Up! demonstrator, and thought what better way to get out there!

So my first blog will show a couple of cards I made last night for some male coworkers who are retiring, so I wanted more masculine colors and layouts - nothing too feminine.

For this card, I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to repeat the "congratulations" stamp from the Congrats set on the chocolate chip cardstock. I used a sponge dauber around all pieces of cardstock with chocolate chip ink to distress it. I didn't have a brad in the brown color I wanted, so I used a antique copper metallic paper I had and punched it with my Crop-A-Dile (used the larger punch). Worked like a charm!

Stampin' Up! Products:
Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Punches: Word Window Punch

Stamps: Congrats set (Sale-a-bration)

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The second card I made I got the inspiration from the the Happy Birthday card on page 9 of the Sale-a-bration brochure.

I am trying to get rid of a lot of my old cardstock and scrapbooking paper, so the only paper from Stampin' Up! used here is the cardstock that "Congratulations" is stamped on - very vanilla. For the lower half of the navy paper, I stamped the flourishes from the Priceless stamp set using Versamark ink. For the large circle, I used my Fiskars Shape Cutter - 3" circle.

I also embossed the "Congratulations" on the very vanilla cardstock using clear embossing powder.

Stampin' Up! Products:
Cardstock: Very Vanilla
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Versamark
Punches: 1" Circle Punch
Stamps: Congrats set (Sale-a-bration), Priceless
Other: Clear embossing powder, heat tool