Mother of Pearl

Last week, I signed up for the Unique Background card challenge in the SSUS group. This is what I came up with. I have been meaning to try the Faux Mother of Pearl technique forever so this was the perfect opportunity. Beate's tutorial makes it super easy!

I loved the way blush blossom looked on Beate's sample, so I decided to do the same. Once again, I pulled out Buggies & Booties for a more vintage feel. The color coach suggested Close to Cocoa with Blush Blossom.

The layout is Amy's Super Sketch 15.

Stamps: Buggies & Booties
Ink: Blush Blossom, Stazon Timber Brown
Card stock: Whisper White, Blush Blossom, Close to Cocoa, Glossy White Cardstock
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Taupe Grosgrain Ribbon, Lumiere
Tools: Saran Wrap

More Blogger's RAKs!

I am such a lucky girl and I'm so sorry that I'm late in posting these.

The first is from Sharon Crown, scrown8301, on splitcoast. Isn't this so cute and summery? I love the bright colors she used. I struggle with these colors so much!












The second card was a bit more mysterious. The return address is from S. Atterbury, but I don't know her SCS name or her blog address. I did check the RAK list on splitcoast, but I didn't see your name there. If this is your card, please let me know so I can give you proper credit!

I love the brayered Au Chocolat paper on the bottom. I hope this paper makes it to the new catalog because it is so versatile.

Thanks so much for the beautiful cards! You made my day!

Bridal Shower Favors

As promised, here are the party favors from my friend Adrienne's bridal shower. Adrienne has always been into gardening, so when I saw this idea during a google search for bridal shower favors, I thought, "I can make that!" And if I do say so myself, mine came out better!

I used small Terracotta pots from Home Depot that cost about 54 cents each. Then my husband spray painted the outsides of them white for me. I then painted the rims a celery green color with a foam brush and some acrylic paint from Michaels. After another google search for painting pots, I found this site which recommended sealing the inside of the pots with polyurethane. So, my husband did 3 coats for me with a water-based polyurethane I picked up at Michaels. As a final touch, he gave the outsides a spray with Patricia Nimrock's Matte Sealant to make them easier to keep clean. This process took a couple of days, but it was totally worth it. The pots are super cute and more durable than the little plastic ones that my inspiration included.

Once the pots were completely dry, I tied a ribbon around each one. This ribbon is Martha Stewart's brick-coffee bean piped ribbon that is now available at Michaels. I used exactly 1 roll for the 12 pots that I made. I was going to use Stampin' Up's wine narrow organdy ribbon, but I didn't have enough on hand and I cut this project a little close to the deadline. ;)

The seed packets were made with whisper white card stock. I made a template in Word that had all the text on it (the back of the packet has planting instructions). Then I cut them out, folded them up & stamped the blooming heart from Simply Said on the front. Isn't it just perfect for the "love is blooming" sentiment? I colored it in with Ruby Red, Pumpkin Pie & Certainly Celery markers.

I slipped a mini-ziplock bag in each packet filled with Love in a Mist seeds that I ordered from cheapseeds.com.

I promise to post a tutorial on the seed packets later. This post is certainly long enough!

I'll leave you with a picture from the shower showing the pots in their natural habitat. In the background you can see the plate full of yummy Italian Almond Cookies that were made by the mother of the bride.



Stamps: Simply Said
Ink: Palette Noir Black Ink, Ruby Red, Pumpkin Pie & Certainly Celery Markers
Card stock: Whisper White
Tools: Sticky Strip, Bone Folder, Paper Cutter

Bling Baby!

My college roommate is getting married next month, so on Saturday I trekked up to Albany for her bridal shower.

This was the card that I made for her. The stamp is blingabella from Stamping Bella. I thought she was so cute with her sparkly giant diamond ring! My bella's ring is sparkling from a little touch of my Sakura Stardust Pen.

The card base is the new Stamper's Select White Card Set from Paper Trey Ink. When I read about this heavier white card stock on Nichole's blog, I had to order it to try it out! It is not quite as smooth as Stampin' Up!'s Whisper White, but it is much thicker. So it is perfect for white card bases. I haven't actually stamped on it yet, but so far I'm loving it's sturdiness. :)

The patterned paper is once again from the Old World Mat pack from Die Cuts with a View.

The layout is modified from Valerie Strangle. She has some great go-to layouts!

Stay tuned because I also made the party favors for the shower. :)

Stamps: Blingabella from Stamping Bella
Ink: Palette Noir Black Ink
Card stock: Whisper White, True Thyme, Blush Blossom, Paper Trey White Cards, Old World Mat Pack from DCWV
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, White Polka Dot Organdy Ribbon from May Arts
Tools: Aquapainter, Watercolor Wonder Crayons

Cape Cod Swap

SSUS Cape Cod folks, don't peak if you want to be surprised! This is my 6x6 2 page spread for our Cape Cod memories swap. The rules were, 2 pages with at least one picture of you (either from that weekend or another recent picture.)

Let me start by saying that I love the idea of scrapbooking and I love the end result. I can spend over an hour in a scrapbooking store browsing the paper & stickers and spending my fair share of money. But, when it comes to actually scrapbooking? I totally freeze up. I think the idea that it is permanent -- a keepsake -- just adds too much pressure! I agonize over every color choice and every layout decision. Cropping my pictures is one of the most stressful things about it! It can literally take me over an hour to do one 6x6 page without the journaling!

This is something I need to work on, so I thought this swap from our Cape Cod weekend would be the perfect opportunity! I started with two 8x8 layouts from page maps and then scaled them down to 6x6 size. This proved a little harder than I thought it would, but I think it worked out.
The oval frame is from the largest size from the Bookplates Sizzix die. First, I cut it out of a thin white coaster and then I cut the same frame out of Cool Caribbean card stock and glued it on the chipboard one. I found the card stock frame was a little too flimsy when working with the ribbon. The chipboard made it much sturdier!

The journaling font is the Passing Notes font from one of the Stampin' Up! font cds.

I'm the one on the right in the tilted picture. The lovely lady to my right is Lisa Sommerville. That picture was taken at our A Muse card class at Colorful Creations. I'm also in the picture directly above it, but I refuse to tell you which one is me. Butt shots are not the most flattering. ;)

Blogger's RAK

Allison from Stampin' When I Can sent me this gorgeous thank you RAK today for the blog candy I sent her. I love grumpabella. I may have to add her on to my next order. :)

Thanks Allison!!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is one of the hardest days of the year for me. My mom died when I was 16 years old and my grandmother died this past December. Since I have no children of my own, the day just reminds me of what I have lost. When I start to feel down, I force myself to remember what I have gained in the past 12 years since my mother died -- a wonderful step-mother and mother-in-law that are very loving and supportive. They could never replace my mom, but I am blessed to have them in my life.

This card is for my step-mother for Mother's Day. I always struggle with the sentiment for her card. I don't call her mom or mother, so statements like "to my mom" are out. I usually just stamp "Happy Mother's Day" inside, but this year I decided to be a little more creative. The sentiment stamp is from the You Are set by Anna Griffin. On the inside, it says "very special to me".

The flowers are the Bella's Garden stamp from Stamping Bella. Tulips and daisies are my favorite flowers, so this stamp was a no-brainer for me to add on to my last order. I stamped the flowers on a scrap piece of a Fabriano Medioevalis note card with Palette Noir Black ink. Then I watercolored with my Watercolor Wonder Crayons and an Aquapainter. I drew the line in with a Stampin' Journaler to ground the pots.

The patterned paper is from the Old World Mat pack from Die Cuts with a View which I recently picked up for 50% off at my local Joann's. The coolest part about this paper is that it is textured like Bazzill card stock. The card base is So Saffron stamped with the Paisley background stamp in So Saffron ink. I thought it gave just enough texture to complement the patterned paper I chose.

The layout is from sketch challenge 106 on splitcoast.

Stamps: Bella's Garden from Stamping Bella, Paisley from Stampin' Up, You Are from Anna Griffin
Ink: Palette Noir Black Ink, So Saffron, Basic Black Stampin' Journaler
Card stock: So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Old World Mat Pack from DCWV, Fabriano Medioevalis scraps
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals
Tools: Aquapainter, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Ruler

Glitter Kick

So I seem to be on a glitter kick. What can I say? Glittering this patterned paper is so much fun! I will warn you though, there is such a thing as too much. On my first attempt, I glittered every single swirl on the Rose Red version of this pattern and it looks horrible. I will spare you the details on that one.

Learning from that mistake, I selectively glittered some of the swirls on this Almost Amethyst piece. Then I glittered every other line on the celery piece.

Fairy-Tale Wedding is sadly retiring this year. I bought this set because I loved the sentiments "happily ever after" and "once upon a time" that come in it. Unfortunately I forgot to leave room on this card for one of them. Too much glitter!!

The layout for this card came from sketch challenge 68 on a shade of blue. I just discovered the sketches on this site and I am super excited. Now I have even more options when I get stamper's block.

Stamps: Fairy-tale wedding
Ink: Palette Noir Black Ink, Almost Amethyst & Elegant Eggplant Markers
Card stock: Shimmery White, Elegant Eggplant, Certainly Celery, Blush Blossom, Palette O' Prints pad
Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Stampin' Dimensionals
Tools: Coluzzle, Two-way glue pen

Another Purse

This was one of the make-n-takes at my workshop tonight. My hostess, Lisa, wanted to learn how to make Julie Ebersole's purse cards. The template is available on splitcoast, but you need to be a Stampin' Up! demonstrator to access it. If you aren't a demonstrator, ask your demonstrator to show you how to make it.

This time, I stamped the paisley stamp from Polka Dots & Petals from the spring mini catalog in Chocolate Chip ink on Cool Caribbean card stock. Then, I highlighted the paisleys with my Signo White Gel Pen.

For the flap, I brayered Cool Caribbean ink over the Au Chocolat paper from the spring mini catalog. Linda Heller (LucyStamps on scs), first posted the idea of brayering over the Au Chocolate papers. It makes them so much more versatile!


Stamps: Polka Dots & Paisley
Ink: Cool Caribbean, Chocolate Chip
Card stock: Cool Caribbean, Au Chocolat designer series paper
Accessories: Chocolate Grosgrain
Tools: Foam Brayer, 1/8" circle hole punch, Coluzzle, Signo White Gel Pen

Out with the Old

The Stampin' Up! retirement list was posted today and it's the longest one ever! I own 61 stamp sets that are retiring. Considering that 2/3 of the current catalog is on the list, that's not too bad...

At any rate, Roses in Winter is on the list and I will miss it. I don't use it very often, but it gives such an elegant look with so little effort. For this rose, I used the Rock 'n Roll technique. On the bottom layer, I first inked up with Cameo Coral ink and then rolled in Rose Red. I stamped off once before stamping on the card stock. Then for the second layer, I used the same colors but did not stamp off before stamping on the card stock. For the top layer, I only inked in Rose Red ink and stamped directly onto the rose. I then masked the rose before stamping the leaves which were inked in Certainly Celery ink and then rolled in Garden Green before stamping. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the rose is stamped on Shimmery White card stock to give the card just a little more sparkle.

The tab was stamped with "to my mom" from All Year Cheer III. On the inside, I stamped "Happy Mother's Day" from All Year Cheer II. All three of the all year cheers are retiring this year.

I'm super proud of my glittered patterned paper. This paper is from the Palette O' Prints pad that is available as a sneak peak this month. I simply drew lines on the striped celery paper with my two way glue pen and then covered in Dazzling Diamonds glitter. Bingo, instant glittery paper. I was inspired to try this after seeing the awesome samples using the DCWV glitter stack that have been popular on splitcoast lately. I also glittered the polka dot paper used on the round tab punch out.

The layout for this card came from Cindy Lyles' Butterfly Kisses card.

Stamps: Roses in Winter, All Year Cheer III
Ink: Rose Red, Cameo Coral, Certainly Celery, Garden Green, Basic Black
Card stock: Shimmery White, Basic Black, Cameo Coral, Palette O' Prints pad
Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Stampin' Dimensionals
Tools: Round Tab Punch, Two-way glue pen