April tag - Steam Guy

Hi, all!  This is my interpretation of Tim's tag for April.  I've been looking for something to use the Steam Guy from Time Travelers on, and this turned out to be the coolest tag! 

The stamp sets used are Time Travelers (CMS 157) and Simple Sayings (CMS 155) by Stampers Anonymous.  

Enjoy!

Copycat Tag of Tim's January 2015 creation

Hello friends!

Tim Holtz has begun another year of tags, and January's had some fun techniques that I wanted to try and share with you.  The link to Tim's tag is http://timholtz.com/12-tags-of-2015-january . I love Tim's work, but unless you're independently wealthy, hopelessly obsessed, or work for Ranger Industries, you probably don't have everything that Tim uses on hand.  Sometimes we have to go for the next best thing.

Tim's first step is to cover a #8 manila tag with Idea-ology Tissue Wrap - which is gorgeous but not on my shelf.  My solution was to take a sheet of tracing paper and stamp some background using Staz-on ink.  Staz-on works the best, archival ink works in a pinch but it will smear a little bit.  These stamps are from Stamper's Anonymous: "Artful Artifacts" CMS 080 and "Life Adventure" CMS 077.

To adhere the backround, smear Liquitex Acrylic Matte Medium over the #8 tag, here cut from Stampin' Up "Very Vanilla" card stock using the Sizzix Alterations Bigz Die "Tag and Bookplates." Lay the tracing paper background on top of the wet medium and trim aound the edges.  That's the medium there, I didn't blow my nose on the tag.

Like Tim, give it a bit of sanding - gently - around the edges and finger-paint another layer of matte medium over the top.  Make sure to put some paper between your sanding block and your craft mat - a scuffed craft mat does not work well.

After the matte medium dries, finger-paint with some Distress Paint for color and spritz it with water.  The colors here are Peacock Feathers, Weathered Wood, and Antique Bronze.

After the paint dries, spritz with Distress Spray Stain.  Here, I used the classic recipe of "1 dropper of Distress Re-inker and fill the rest of a mini-mister with water" to make my own "Walnut Stain" Distress Spray Stain.  The whole tag got a generous spritz.

Because I didn't have the cool plastic words and numbers Tim used in his blog, it was time to "fake it" again.  I cut a "15" from black card stock using Sizzix Bigz die set "Serif Essentials,"  covered them with Glossy Accents and poured Martha Stewart's "Citrine" glitter  over the top and set it aside.  Don't deny that those sparkle-y little vials at the craft store haven't found their way into your basket before.  Martha knows marketing.

For the "twenty" I cut black card stock using Sizzix Alterations "Carnivale" decorative strip die, covered it with "Antique Linen" Distress Paint, and followed up with a coat of "Squeezed Lemonade" for a little extra brightness.  Hey, I could have made myself an "age" tag and said "Twenty x2" instead of "Twenty 15"... that'd be a great birthday card, I think I will do that.

Again, making do with what's on hand, I printed my own words out on the computer using "Bookman Old Style" font, 12 pitch.  After sticking them in place with some tape runner, I covered the tag with matte medium again and let it dry.  There was a futile attempt at splattering some "Picket Fence" Distress paint, which got everywhere but the tag.  Following that debacle, I went around each word with a Stampin' Write marker in Basic Black, smudging off as I went.  

To dye the ribbon, take Idea-ology Crinkle Ribbon and smudge "Vintage Photo" Distress Stain all over and spritz it with water.  Crumple and dry with a heat tool. The Crinkle Ribbon is beautiful in person, it has a lovely sheen when it's been 'stained'. 

The Spritzer tool is fun, that's the truth.  My gold pen of choice is a Zig Painty that's been rocking for years.  Finish the tag by gluing the card stock letters and going around them with a black marker to add some depth.  The embellishment in the bottom corner is an Idea-ology Philosophy Tag that says "Simplify."  That seemed like a good resolution for the new year.

Here are the finished tags.  The second one is my "age" tag.  There are a few differences, first is that the "age" tag is sealed with  "Rock Candy" Distress Crackle Paint to cover the tag before adhering the letters and numbers. Also, the "twenty" was cut from black card stock using the Sizzix "Go Go Boots" alphabet.  Each letter was covered with Glossy Accents, for an epoxy look.  The number 2 was traced onto black card stock from the old Idea-ology Grungeboard Numerals, which I saved to use as stencils. The Crinkle Ribbon is dyed with "Broken China" Distress Stain, and the Philosophy Tag is backed with an Idea-ology Vial Label to help it stand out.  

Enjoy, and thanks, Tim!

Epic Thanks

The zig-zags on the Gumball Green background were made with the 1" square punch...

Supplies available from www.creativeflare.stampinup.net

Stamp Set:  Six Sided Sampler (w#130953, c#130956), Gorgeous Grunge (w#130514, c#130517)

     (*Buy as a bundle with the Hexagon punch and save 15% - w# 132725, c#132724)

Ink:  Gumball Green, Crumb Cake

Card stock:  Crumb Cake, Gumball Green, Calypso Coral, Very Vanilla, Daffodil Delight, Pool Party;  Epic Day Designer Series Paper

Tools:  Hexagon Punch (130919), 1" Square Punch (124094)

Crescent Craze

Last week's feathers and crescents keep popping up.  Like a kid with a new toy, I can't stop playing with these!  

Supplies:  available from www.creativeflare.stampinup.net

Stamp Set:  Lots of Thanks (w129687, c129690)

Card Stock: Midnight Muse (126843), Calypso Coral (122925), Crisp Cantaloupe (131298), Soft Suede (115318), Coastal Cabana (131927), Whisper White (100730)

In Color 2013-15 Designer Series Paper (130136)

Ink: Midnight Muse (126860), Early Espresso (126974)

Tools:  Chevron Embossing folder (127749), 2-1/2" Circle Punch (120906), 1-3/4" Circle Punch (119850), Itty Bitty Punches (118309), Big Shot (113439).

Moon Shadow Feather Flower Card

Last week I was playing with "feathers" and crescent moon shapes made from 2-1/2" punched circles, so I call these "Moon Shadow Feathers" because it's the shadow area left over from cutting a crescent moon.

Supplies: available from www.creativeflare.stampinup.net

Stamp Set:  Chalk Talk (w130631, c130634)

Card stock:  Crisp Canteloupe (131298) Coastal Cabana (131297), Whisper White(100730), Baked Brown Sugar (131296), Pistachio Pudding (131294)

Venetian Romance Designer Series Paper (130144)

Ink:  Calypso Coral Stampin' Write Marker (Subtles Collection 131263), Coastal Cabana Classic Ink Pad (131175)

Tools:  Honeycomb Embossing Folder (129378);  Big Shot (113439)

Eastern Elegance Card

I love the colors Smoky Slate and Crushed Curry together!  The Eastern Elegance Designer Series Paper artfully blends these colors together.  I used a couple different sheets - both sides to decorate this gate-fold card.

Supplies:

Card stock: Smoky Slate (131202), Basic Gray (21044) and Crushed Curry (131199)

Ink: Crushed Curry (131173)

Stamp Set:  Hello, Lovely (w130240, c130243)

Eastern Elegance Designer Series Paper (130131)

Label Bracket Punch (132153)

Enjoy!!

Paper Pumpkin can be at your door...

This is one of the coolest crafty things and I just had to let you know about it... The Paper Pumpkin is a card kit that you receive via UPS monthly, it comes with everything you need to make a stash of fabulous all occasion cards.  Stamps, ink, pre-cut card stock, embellishments and instructions.  Paper Pumpkin is a stamp class in a box - at your convenience.  It's different every month - endless variety!  Right now its 50% off, so it's a great time to give it a try.

If you'd like to try before you buy, Stampin' Up has a "Try It" kit (132600) that you can order from  my website www.creativeflare.stampinup.net that is a little journal making kit, comes with 2 passport sized journals and embellishments, cling mount stamps and a stamp block for 16.95 plus shipping and tax.  They're so cute and a great back to school gift.

Enjoy!

Morning Coffee.... Perfect Blend with Gorgeous Grunge

"Given enough coffee, I could rule the world...temporarily."  Yeah, I feel like that most days.  This card is  done in what you can call "The Starbucks color scheme"  - Baked Brown Sugar, Early Espresso, Garden Green and Very Vanilla.  The coffee cup is stamped with Early Espresso on Whisper White and colored in with a Blender Pen loaded with Baked Brown Sugar ink.  The sentiment stamped in Garden Green ink, and the cup was cut out and attached to the Very Vanilla background with Stampin" Dimensionals.  The coffee splatters are Baked Brown Sugar - stamped off for the big splat, straight to paper for the darker spot, and Early Espresso for the spray.  The washi tape is the Witches' Brew from the Holiday Mini Catalog.  

Supplies - available from www.creativeflare.stampinup.net

Stamp Sets:  Perfect Blend (w 130745, c 131392), Gorgeous Grunge (w 130514, c 130517)

Card Stock:

Baked Brown Sugar (131296), Garden Green (102584), Very Vanilla (101650), Whisper White (100730)

Ink:  Baked Brown Sugar (131174), Garden Green (126973), Early Espresso (126974)

Tools:

Stampin' Dimensionals (104430), Blender Pens (102845), Witches' Brew Washi tape (132156)

Enjoy your coffee!

Stampin' Up Convention 2013 - Make and Takes!

Hello, Lovely make & take part 1

This July, I went to my very first Stampin' Up Convention!  Talk about an amazing Girlz Weekend Out.  I went by myself and made 5 new best friends.

One of the many fun things about convention, is that we get to test new product through Make & Takes, Mini Classes, and Product Playgrounds.   They give us the stamp sets and consumable materials for all the sessions on the first night (in a very swanky convention bag - this year's model was a custom Stampin' Up back-pack complete with padded laptop carrying pocket - ooh!  Loved it!).  On "Expo Day" tables are set up with tools and volunteer demonstrators guide participants through making the projects.  Participants get to choose when they want to complete those projects... or if they want to be like our crew and go to the mall instead...  we skipped doing the projects at convention.  Hey, there was an amazing mall just across the street from the convention center - we just couldn't resist the allure of retail therapy!

Now that I'm back, here's the first card that I made using the same ink, stamps, and products that were in the make and take package, with a few added twists of my own.

This is a scan of the instruction and idea sheet that came with the make & take.  Included was 4 of the new 5" x 3-1/4" Note Cards and envelopes.  It is interesting to note that even though the cards have the same great finish of the Whisper White card stock sold individually, the card stock of note cards is heavier weight.

Supplies:  (available from www.creativeflare.stampinup.net)
Hello, Lovely stamp set, set of 10  (Wood mounted blocks: item #130240, $32.95.  Cling mount stamps: item #130243, $24.95) Acrylic Blocks C and H recommended.
Note Cards  (item #131527 - $5.95 for 20 cards and envelopes.)
Crisp Cantaloupe Classic Ink Pad  (item #131176 - $5.95)
Old Olive Classic Ink Pad  (item #126953)
Bermuda Bay Classic Ink Pad  (item #131171)
Coastal Cabana Classic Ink Pad  (item #131175)
Old Olive card stock  (item #100702- $6.95 for 24 sheets)
Whisper White card stock  (item #101730 - $8.50 for 40 sheets)
In Color 2013-15 Designer Series Paper Pack  (item #130136 $21.95 for 40 sheets)
Rhinestone jewels  (item #119246 $4.95 for a sheet of 150 self-adhesive jewels)
Stamp-a-ma-jig (item #101049 - $11.95)

Here was my retouch of the card on the lower left hand corner of the instruction sheet.  The original sheet had just the 4 stamp pattern on the plain card front.  I stamped them separately on a 1-3/4" square of Whisper White card stock, mounted it on a 2 x 2" square of Old Olive card stock, and cut a little banner of Crisp Cantaloupe Designer Series Paper that was 1/2" x 3".  The Rhinestone jewels were part of the make and take package, just hard to see in the first picture.

Hints:  Using the Stamp-a-ma-jig was essential to getting these stamps positioned.  Also, because my new ink pads were super juicy, it worked well if I stamped off the ink lightly on a scratch sheet of paper before stamping on my card stock.  When using clear blocks and cling mount stamps with the Stamp-a-ma-jig, I find it helpful to mark the corner of block that fits into the jig, that way I know that I'm holding my stamp the same way each time. I use a "Sharpie" marker to mark the block, and it cleans off easily with the "Staz-On" ink cleaner when I'm done.

Enjoy!

Card Swap I

In giddy anticipation of attending Stampin' Up's annual convention this month, I have been making card fronts  for swaps.  It's traditional to make cards to swap with other demonstrators, looking for fresh perspectives and new friends.  The dunes were traced from a french curve drawing tool onto Sahara Sand card stock and  sponged with ink.  The shell was a folded piece of Crisp Cantaloupe punched 3/4 of the way into the punch.

Supplies for this card are all available from my website: www.creativeflare.stampinup.net

Stamp Sets:  sentiment- World Treasures(132100w $$23.95/126767c $17.95)
seaweed - Papaya Collage (132055w $31.95/126612c $23.95).  Block E is recommended for both sets

Ink:   (131171) Bermuda Bay
(126959) Wild Wasabi
(126983) Calypso Coral
 (126976) Sahara Sand
(131179) Smoky Slate

Card Stock:
Background: (131297) Coastal Cabana
Seashell: (131298) Crisp Cantaloupe
Sand:  (121043) Sahara Sand
Oyster: (131202) Smoky Slate
Sentiment:  (131203) Soft Sky

Punches:  7/8" Scallop Circle (129404 $12.95)
Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack (118309 $16.95 set of 3 shapes)

Sizzix Big Shot die cutting machine (113439 $99.95) with the Apothecary Accents Framelets (127003 $24.95)

Also used were Sponge Daubers (102892 $10.95 for 12), Stampin' Dimensionals (104430, $3.95 for 300) and last but not least, Pearl BasicJewels (119247 $4.95 for 150)

Stampin' Up new 2013-14 Catalog Sneak Peek

Here's a card I "scrap-lifted" from our new catalog (pg 114), with a few of my own modifications.  Featured here are our new In-Colors for 2013-15.  The card stock color is Coastal Cabana, the flowers are inked in (largest to smallest) Strawberry Slush, Baked Brown Sugar, Pistachio Pudding, and Crisp Cantaloupe.

Stamp set:  Daydream Medallions (131976w $36.95/126467c $26.95)
     }cling mount stamp set requires Clear Block F (118483) $16.95
Stamp-a-ma-jig  (101049 $11.95)
Floral Frames Collection framelets (127012 $26.95)
     }for use with the Sizzix Big Shot (113439 $99.95)
Fabulous Phrases (128577w $37.95/120501c $ 26.95)
     }cling mount Clear Block B or larger 117147 ($5.95)
Bitty Butterfly Punch (129406) $15.95
Artisan Label (new!) (130920) $15.95
Mosaic Punch (new!) (131267) $15.95
In Color 2013-15 Card Stock and Pad Kit (131204) $29.95

Label Love (new!) 130619w $24.95/130622c $17.95

All of these supplies are available from my website: www.creativeflarecards.stampinup.net .  New Items will be available May 31, 2013. Other items are currently available.

Enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, aunties, and mentors out there!  This is the Mother's Day Card that I sent this year.  It's a combination of new product sneak-peek and current merchandise - there's soooo much gorgeousness in the new catalog...

New beauties available June 1:

Coastal Cabana card stock and ink (blue-green card base) - the French translation for "Coastal Cabana" is "Copacabana" - feel free to sing a little Barry Manillow if you like... :)

Crushed Curry card stock and ink

Bermuda Bay card stock and ink (small label and darker blue green shading) I'm so glad it's back!!!

Artisan Label Punch

Modern Mosaic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Current and continuing catalog beauties:
129216c/131943wSwallowtail stamp
127790c/128562wEn Francais stamp
125845c/128436w Loving Thoughts stamp set
Chocolate Chip Classic Ink Pad
Whisper White card stock
Sponge Daubers
Stampin' Dimensionals
Versamark Ink
Basic Black Embossing Powder

It's a very simple card to make, but is very striking!  For a 5" x 7" card, I cut a 5 x 3-3/4 rectangle of Whisper White and stamped the Swallowtail in Versamark ink slightly off - center.  I heat embossed with black embossing powder and set aside to cool.  For the card base, I used a 10" x 7" piece of Copacabana card stock folded in half to make a 5"x 7" card.  The En Francais stamp is stamped 4 times on the back to cover the corners, with the "seams" of the stamping under the Crushed Curry card stock and Swallowtail image. Then I sponged the card base edges with Bermuda Bay ink and a sponge dauber.  Then I embossed the Crushed Curry (3" x 7") with the Modern Mosaic TIEF and Big Shot, and sponged the edges and ridges with Crushed Curry ink.  When the Swallowtail image was dry, I rubbed over it with Crushed Curry and Chocolate Chip ink and sponge daubers, edged the Whisper White with Copacabana almost to the butterfly and Bermuda Bay along the edge.  Added the sentiment in Copacabana ink over the Artisan Label punched from Bermuda Bay card stock.  Voila!  Enjoy!

Beautiful Bee Boxes

I love making boxes!  There are loads of cool box templates available out there on the great big internet, but I favor taking apart boxes found around the house.  This "template" is a hexagonal Haci Bekir Turkish Delight box that came from the World Market.  Yes, the Turkish Delight was delicious.


Supplies:
2 sheets 8-1/2 x 11 card stock (here I used Crumb Cake and Bashful Blue by Stampin' Up)
1 sheet 12 x 12 card stock for the bottom (Crumb Cake by Stampin' Up)
1 sheet Designer Series Paper - it's double sided and a little thicker than average paper.  Of course, it's by Stampin' Up.

The decor on the box is my little "sneak peek" into the new catalog, I just got the Mosaic Madness bundle (item 132733c/132734w), and the Label Love bundle (item 132722c/132723w) which is the stamp set plus the coordinating punch "bundled" and discounted.  One of the great things about being a Stampin' Up demonstrator is getting all the new stuff first.

The foofy flower is 7 layers of filter paper, spritzed with Marina Mist ink (put 4 drops of Marina Mist ink in a Stampin' Spritzer and fill the rest of the way with water).  Spritz until you are satisfied with the color saturation and dry with a heat tool.  Cut 3 - 4 layers at a time with the Floral Frames Collection framelets and the Big Shot, stack and pierce in the center and secure with a brad.  Scrunch the flower layers to the center individually and when you're ready, attach using a Stampin' Dimensional.

First, I take apart the box.  The cool thing about this one is it is held together by folding.  In it's original form no glue or tape is required.   The box size is about 1" deep by 6 3/4 inches corner to corner.   Contact me at creativeflarecards@gmail.com and I can send you a poster board template with instructions to recreate this box, cost is $10 (shipping included).  Whoever originated this box was a genius, and I can't find them in stores anymore...

To use colored card stock, however, it does have to be broken down into parts.  There is an "inside" flap for each top and bottom (above).  Trace these on to 8 1/2 x 11 card stock.  The top is 1/8" bigger all around.

Trace the "outside" pieces on double sided Designer Series Paper (top) and Stampin' Up 12 x 12 card stock.  A light tack masking tape is a big help here.  Thicker paper is better, and I highly recommend Stampin' Up's card stock because it is heavier (80# weight) than most craft store card stocks.  This DSP was a Sale-a-Bration score from a couple years ago....

Cut out all 4 pieces and score using a straight edge and stylus.  It is helpful to have a soft surface underneath like a piercing pad or some grid paper.  Yes, the ruler is a "Tim Holtz" tool....

Place a generous amount of adhesive on the connecting tab of the inside flaps.  I used SNAIL adhesive, but Sticky Strip works well too.

Adhere to the inside of the paper or card stock exterior.  The edge of the inner tab should be flush with the score line on the middle of the exterior tab.

Fold along score lines.  

The fold follows an in-in-out pattern, curling over on itself.

Fold all the sides in, making sure to fold each successive side over the previous side tab.

 

Fold the inner flap over - this will hold all the other folds in place.

Repeat same steps for bottom card stock pieces.

Now it is ready to decorate!  You can have a lot of fun with these, they obviously are great candy boxes, and are great for small gifts, gift cards, jewelry, etc.  They're fun boxes for end-of-year teacher gifts, too.

Enjoy!

Bee Box with Nestabilities Dahlia pattern

Bee Box with Stampin' Up Labels Collection framelets and Blossom Builder Punch.

 The name "Bee Box" comes from my 5 year old, who compares it to the hexagonal designs in honeycomb.

Card Challenge 7

Supplies by Stampin' Up:
Basic Gray, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Whisper White, Old Olive, and Tempting Turquoise card stock; Night of Navy ink pad;  Blossom Builder, 5 Petal Flower, Large Oval and Curly Label punch; Beautiful Butterflies and Clear Oval Accent Bigz dies, Labels Framelets, Red Glitter paper, crystal effects, Betsy's Blooms and Vintage Labels stamp sets; Stampin' dimensionals, Hexagon and Chevron embossing folders,
Other Products
Nestabilities Dahlia

I love the look of glitter paper, but like all glitter, it can be a bit messy.  Die cut or punch a shape from the glitter paper, then coat it with the crystal effects and let it dry for about an hour.  Keeps glitter on the paper and off your hands (and work space and clothes and floor...)

I love the Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die from Stampin' Up, so as a result, my scrap bin is often filled with various colors of butterflies.  

Supplies:  

Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Labels Framelets.  Punches:  Small Tag, Large Tag and Right Way; Paper: Pocket Full of Posies; Card Stock: Garden Green, Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie, Always Artichoke, Whisper White, Not Quite Navy;  Ink:  More Mustard, Not Quite Navy, Early Espresso.  Stamps by Stampin' Up.

Inking the dots helps them "pop".

Enjoy!

Spring Break Scrap Card Challenge 3

One other thing in common most of these cards have is that they have no sentiments stamped on them yet.  Right now, they're sitting in "the stash" waiting to be sent, but I never know what's going to be needed sooner, a thank you, a birthday, or a thinking of you card... This card looks good turned 90 degrees as well.

Supplies by Stampin' Up:
Sizzix Big Shot: Labels Framelets, Punches: Large Oval and Ornament punches, Paper: Petals and Paisleys, Wintergreen; Cardstock:  Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, Naturals Ivory
Other supplies:
Tag from Sizzix Bigz Tags die

Ginormous Cards

My grandparents recently celebrated their 68th anniversary, and I wanted to commemorate the event with an extra special card.  The finished size of the card is 12" x 9-3/4", able to fit in a standard 10" x 13" mailing envelope.

Supplies:

2 sheets of 12 x 12 card stock

Hearts Framelets 

Big Shot

Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die

Small Heart Punch

Blossom Builder Punch

Scallop Trim Border Punch

Designer Series Paper

Tim Holtz' Grungeboard Numbers

Step 1:  I scored 1 12 x12 sheet of card stock at 9-3/4" and folded it along the score line.  This forms the spine of the card.  The second sheet of card stock I cut at 9-5/8", and adhered it to the inside of the small flap.  This makes the front and back of the card

This is the card, opened on my Simply Scored board to show the scale...

This is the finished card.  I used Tim Holtz' grungeboard numbers to trace the large "68" and cut it out with scissors... I'm too cheap to actually use them, I just keep tracing and cutting them for my projects :)

The stamp sets used are: Perfectly Penned and Elements of Style, ink and card stock colors used are Always Artichoke, River Rock and Calypso Coral, the little hearts were coated with Crystal Effects and let dry - takes about an hour.

Artisan Award Design Team Submission

Hello!

Welcome to my first blog as Creative Flare Cards.   Previously I'd been using the domain name www.happystamperkris.blogspot.com,  and that was working for where I was at the time.  Now that I'm branching out more it's time to consolidate all the web entities under a similar name.  

My website is 

www.creativeflare.stampinup.net; 

facebook is 

www.facebook.com/CreativeFlareCards; 

email is 

creativeflarecards@gmail.com.

I've got a theme, and I'm sticking with it ;)

So here's one of the things been on the work table in May:   My submissions for Stampin' Up's yearly Artisan Award.  It's a competition open to all Stampin' Up demonstrators in the USA and Canada.   All the submissions had to be made exclusively with Stampin' Up products that were for sale during the first part of the year, and they were due May 31.    The requirement was 5 cards, 3 scrapbook pages and 2 decorative items.  After racking my brain for about 2 months, this is the result!  

Card 1 is a standard A2 size card made with the Thoughts and Prayers stamp set.  It features the Boho Blossoms, XL Oval, and Butterfly Punches; Lattice Bigz and Beautiful Butterflies Bigz dies; Pool Party, Island Indigo, Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White, Always Artichoke and Blushing Bride card stock; Pool Party  seam binding ribbon, and Basic Pearls.

I love 3-D cards.  It's a great impact and the same size as a regular A2 card when folded, but literally stands out when open.  Typically it's called a zig-zag or shutter card, and the card base pattern can be found at www.splitcoaststampers.com - but what you do with it is completely up to you.    Stampin' Up did a sneak peek promotion in April featuring some of the new Summer Smooches Designer Series Paper.  The card base is  5-1/4' x 12" strip of Rose Red card stock.  I also had fun with the Basic Rhinestones and the Fabulous Phrases set.

For the epicureans, this was the Studio Sketches stamp set, on More Mustard, Bravo Burgundy, Whisper White and Basic Black.  A little Bakers' Twine in Early Espresso gives it an added texture.

This was the first card I used Crystal Effects on... it gives a little shine to some of the dots on the outer circles, and I coated the little punched flowers with it and let it dry.  It gave them the effect of being an acrylic bubble embellishment.  Cajun Craze, Island Indigo and Confetti Cream were the colors used.

I enjoy shaped cards, this was made with the Framelets Labels collection, cut on one edge to make it fit into a medium (A2) envelope.  The flower was made with the Ornament Punch.  Basic Gray is a smashing background for Calypso Coral, Cherry Cobbler, and Riding Hood Red.  I used the "shaving cream" technique with Whisper White card stock to get the pattern on the flower petals.

Inside of the same, using the Summer Solstice stamp set and the En Francais background stamp.  There's a little Frost White Shimmer Paint sponged on the background, too.  The window was cut with a Hearts Framelet die.

The contest called for 3 scrapbook pages, all are 12 x 12,  and they all feature my boys.  This first one uses the Blossom Builder punch to create a flame border along a 1-1/4" piece of Riding Hood Red card stock.  It was really hard to let go of these!

The arabesque border was created using the Ornament Punch.  I will add that older blog to this one for reference.

This was a spontaneous act of patriotism on the part of my oldest son when he was in Kindergarten.  It was so touching, and the best way to keep it simple seemed to go with a Haiku poem instead of trying to write out the whole story.

I did a shadowbox collage for one 3-D item submission, it was based off products featured for Sale-a-bration this past winter.   I did one for myself, without the frame, backed on foam core to decorate my office, and my husband liked it so much he suggested I make another for Stampin' Up.  The stamps are the Fresh Vintage set and the Pursuit of Happiness set.

This is my last one, it's about 34-35 roses made from Cherry Cobbler card stock and the Blossom punch, hot glued to a 5" floral Styrofoam ball.  The leaves were made with the Ornament punch and Garden Green card stock, sponged in Garden Green ink.  It hangs from a bow of Cherry Cobbler Seam binding ribbon and some Victoria 5/8" trim.  The roses were sponged with some Champagne Shimmer Paint.  This took 8 sheets of 8-1/2" x 11" Cherry Cobbler card stock to complete, plus every scrap I could get a hold of... time to order more....


There it is!  That was my submission for this year's competition, and the results will be released toward the mid-month about who won and will be admitted to the Design Team... There's probably a 1:1,000 chance of winning, but I'll let you know what happens :)


Enjoy!!!
Kristine