Parisian Tree Thank You Box

I know you have seen a couple cards I have made using SU's cardstock-weight textured paper called Parisian Breeze Speciality.....I have paired it here with Trendy Trees, which is such a cute, fun set, and made it into a one-sheet box. You can find the directions at SCS here. Although it is a little tricky to get the folds the first time you make it, once you get it, it's not difficult at all. This cardstock is heavy, so it builds a nice sturdy box to hold lots of goodies! Be sure to use Sticky Strip so it doesn't fall apart!

I did not tie the top of the box together, but punched an oval in each top and added a ribbon fastened with a brad. There is still enough room to put some goodies inside:

and the ribbon makes a nice little matching handle! Thanks for visiting today....I hope to be able to do another card using the Mojo Monday sketch!

• Stamps: Trendy Trees
• Paper: Confetti White, Close to Cocoa, Parisian Breeze Specialty DP
• Ink: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip
• Acc: Vintage Brads, Wide Stitched Ribbon, Dimensionals, SAMJ, Sticky Strip

Courtney's Birthday Challenge

Libby has a lovely little blog which features her daughter, Courtney, and her challenges highlight all the cute clothes her daughter wears!  Libby has been participating in our CTD challenges, so I thought it was fair to check out hers!  Courtney has turned one and here is Libby's inspiration challenge #29 :

Isn't she a cutie?  And her shirt says it all:  "Cute as a cupcake"!  Don't you just want to give her a big hug?

So off to create a special little cupcake card.  SU's new hostess set, Darling Dots, has a sweet little cupcake image, so I got to work!

 

 

 

Just stamped & layered the cupcake a few times (can you see the Pink Passion peeking out from the Only Orange icing?), mounted it on some nesties and then on a CB'd 4 1/4" square card of PTI's Aqua Mist.  I added a strip of Sweet Always DP and looped on some orange ribbon that was  a RAK from somewhere. At the bottom is a CB diecut stamped with a sentiment from All Holidays.  Bling is from my stash, probably Michaels'!  This photo is rather bright, the colors were hard to capture!  But since Courtney's shirt was full of bright colors, I think this is like the little cherry on the cupcake--sweet & yummy!

Be sure to check out Libby's blog as she has BLOG CANDY!!!  Have a great Sunday -- it is beautiful here today, I am going to drag DH out for a walk!!!

• Stamps:  Darling Dots, All Holidays
• Paper:  Aqua Mist, PTI; Pink Passion, Tempting Turquoise, Only Orange, WW, Sweet Always DP
• Ink:  Tempting Turquoise, Pink Passion, Only Orange
• Acc:  Nesties, Satin Ribbon, CB Swiss Dots, CB Tags, Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Black & White & Red All Over

Remember that joke from when you were a kid?  What's black & white & red all over?   A newspaper!  Corny, huh!  Well this is a black, white & red valentine!  I just had to have PTI's Love Songs, and have barely been able to play with it!  So while perusing Nichole's blog (lots of cool stuff going on there--it makes your head spin!  They're getting buttons!  Woohoo!) I remembered she lets you download little snippets of her patterned cardstock.  I printed out some Black & White Basics here; (scroll all the way down to the bottom) and stamped some hearts in Real Red ink.  I mounted them all on a piece of Real Red cardstock, then on a 4 1/4" square Whisper White card:

The hearts looked kind of blah; I remembered my "note to self" about using glitter, so I coated each heart with a liberal amount of Crystal Effects, then sprinkled on MS's Garnet glitter!  Wowza!  The hearts actually have a rounded, 3D effect.  Very cool IRL!  I added a simple red sentiment and decided not to add anything more that would detract from those blingy hearts!  TFL!

• Stamps:  Love Songs, PTI
• Paper:  WW, Black & White Basics, PTI, Real Red
• Ink:  Real Red
• Acc:  Dimensionals, Crystal Effects, Martha Stewart Garnet Glitter

Inspiration Challenge 166

I haven't participated in SCS's Inspiration Challenge for a while, and as I was perusing the hunkydorey home website for my inspiration, I looked at their header and thought how cute it was!  I am a cat owner, but I have ONE cat stamp....but I made it work here, I think.  It is just difficult to photo these colors---they don't want to cooperate!  And I cannot believe I am using Perfect Plum again--two times in one week!!!  So here it is:

Can't get much simpler than this.....this will be for a special friend who lost her kitty--the inside says "so sorry to hear of your loss".  Have a great Saturday!  I have some free time, so you may hear from me again!

• Stamps:  Punny Farm, MFT
• Paper:  WW, Kiwi Kiss, Almost Amethyst, Perfect Plum
• Ink:  Stazon Black
• Acc:  Black Marker, Gingham Ribbon

Slow as Molasses

I cannot seem to make any progress on my new samples---I have been getting ready for a couple clubs and some church stamping activities, so I guess that is where my stampin' time has been going!  I did manage to finish a couple before my first club tonight.  Of course, all the time I spend on the computer looking at others' blogs could possibly be another reason!  But there are so many cool things out there!  I found a wonderful blog, Rose's World,  and really fell in love with this card, so I decided to case it.  Mine is a tad bit different--I really prefer the colors in hers, but wanted to use some more of the Sweet Always DP:

I used the colors in the DP, and the Pink Pirouette is just a little too light.  But it is still a fun card.  It uses the SAB set Polka Dot Punches (the only SAB I own--can you tell?)

The other is another using the Parisian Breeze Specialty paper, and is a similar layout to one of my sympathy cards:

I seem to be needing a lot of get well cards lately, so I am making good use of the Always in my Thoughts set.  The cute little button is from the new Buttons Latte set!  TFL!

Let's Get Negative!

Did that get your attention?  While growing up, my mother was a great reader of Norman Vincent Peale, and she always told us, "Think positively!".  Well, today I am thinking negatively, because I am playing Sharon's Stamp Simply Challenge 73, which is to use negative images on your card.  I just happened to have a piece of DP from Sweet Always laying on my desk; I had been playing around with SU's new Swirls Scribbles diecut and I thought this looked cool, so I saved it.  And a good save it was, because I was able to use it for today's challenge:

 

As you can see, I stayed true to the "stamp simply" motto, as there is only one little stamp on here, some ribbon and a button!  Since the card base is Chocolate Chip, I did add a white panel inside and stamped it with my new favorite flourish from Friends 24-7:                                                            

Be sure to check out Sharon's blog and see what the others have come up with!

 

 

 

• Stamps:  Friends 24-7, Always in my Thoughts
• Paper:  Chocolate Chip, WW, Baja Breeze, Sweet Always DP
• Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze
• Acc:  Swirls Scribbles Diecut, Curly Label Punch, Stitched Ribbon, Buttons Latte

Sympathy Cards

A dear friend and customer lost her 37-year-old son-in-law to a long battle with cancer a day or so ago. So with a heavy heart I made these cards for her family and her daughter.  Their tastes run to non-frilly and simple, and I know she likes purple and is a bird-watcher like me, so this is hers:

Pale Plum and Perfect Plum are colors I rarely use, but I just got a Basic Gray ink pad and ribbon, so I thought I would pair them up with the gray pattened DP from Urban Garden.  This Friends 24-7 set is really versatile--I am so glad I got it.   I don't know if you can see a little of the Perfect Plum peeking out from behind the sentiment.

Her daughter's card uses an image from the same set, but the sentiment is from Always in my Thoughts, another new set:

Again, these are quick cards as they need to be in the mail asap!  Why I don't make a whole stash of these is beyond me---always something else to stamp, I guess!  This one is watercolored with reinkers.  Thanks for visiting today!

• Stamps:  Friends 24-7, Always in My Thoughts
• Paper:  Basic Gray, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Mellow Moss, Confetti White, Pink Pirouette, Urban Garden DP
• Ink:  Basic Gray, Stazon Black, Pretty in Pink, Mellow Moss, Pink Pirouette, Pale Plum
• Acc:  Taffeta Ribbon, Circle Punches, Curly Label Punch