Simple, Bright, and Fun Greeting Cards

The weather in Minnesota this week was a bit off.  We started the week at 104 and are starting the weekend at 53 degrees.  However, the similarity in most of the weather was that the sun has been shining.  I decided to use one of my newly favorite colors, Daffodil Delight,  for some simple cards. 

I have 5 crafting friends coming over on Sunday to help me finish up wedding invitations, and then I can spend more detailed time on my paper crafts again.  I'm getting ready to start my 2012 calendars...Stay tuned.

Here is the first card.  I used the technique of stamping and punching shapes out instead of using pattern paper.  I first shared this look with you in a Thrifty Thursday tip with a square card which you can find here.

 For this look, I trimmed the two outside circles in each row.

 I pop-dotted three of the 1 inch circles, and used a punch for the flowers and embellished them with pearls.

 I decided that I wasn't going to limit myself to stamps that were shaped like circles this time, and I used some of my background stamps and just punched them out as well.

A close up of some of the circles.

Another look at the final card.

Onto card number two.  I made this card for a CAS (Clean and Simple) challenge over and Splitcoaststampers, which was a play on words.

 I used the same Daffodil Delight color for this card.  The stamped image is actually two stamps from different makers, and the flowers actually did have real flower heads that I covered with the buttons and the crochet flower.

Call out to my wonderful sister-in-law, Mary, who made the crochet flower which is the focal point of this card.  Thanks honey!

 The buttons were from my stash...I'm still working on using a giant random bag that I bought at a garage sale almost 5 years ago.

 This is the first time that I've folded ribbon on a card.  I like the look, and was trying to decide if I should continue the folding across the entire card, and as you can see, in the end I decided to only fold a portion of the ribbon.

 I used my Martha Stewart version of the Scor-Pal to emboss a "frame" around my image.

 Here is a close up of the flowers and the sentiment, "bloom where you're planted"

 And one more look at the card.

Thanks for looking!

Elegant Congratulations Greeting Card

I was working on cards for the Less is More Monochromatic Challenge, and one of the images I set aside was this hydrangea stamped in Chocolate Chip ink.

 I used a lot of texture, border punches, pearls, and ribbon, but I think this still turned out to be a nice "Clean and Simple" card.

 I stamped off the image repeated times to lessen the amount of the ink showing up, and I like the look it adds to the card.

 I used Because I Care and Perfect Punches stamp sets.

 I added some graduated pearls for a finishing touch.

What do you think?

Greeting Card Organizer

Almost a year ago, I shared with you just a few photos of my handmade card organizer.  I never got you more photos, or got it listed to sell (oops!), so...time to fix that.  I got the photos taken and I got the organizer listed over at my Etsy Store.  Here is the link directly to the organizer, and here is the link to my store.  Most of what I make and share with you on my blog goes into my store for sale.

OK.  Here are the photos:

I really liked the final outcome and I spent a lot of hours on this organizer.  My goal was to stamp, and have focal points other than pattern papers.  I think I accomplished that.  I used chipboard for the front and back covers, and I used a lot of different brands of items for this project, and I am looking forward to making another one this summer to match a 2012 calendar that I'm working on.

Be sure to check back for those posts!

My Friend Greeting Card

I've decided that I'm on a brown and a polka dot kick...oh well, there is something to be said about going with what moves you and right now, it's pinks, browns, and dots!

 This is a fast card (remember I'm still working on wedding invitations).  I used the eyelet border punch on each of the layers and used versamark for the butterfly.  I love the Perfect Punches stamp set, and used that for the My Friend image.

 Polka-dot ribbon and the perfect pink button from my stash for easy embellishing.

 And there we have the final card.

Thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday Greeting Card--Turquoise and Chocolate

I'm working on my cards for a swap over at Splitcoaststampers.  The theme is polka dots.  I'm having a "ball" playing with options for this card and I'm excited to participate in my first card swap over there.

Today's card is one of the cards I've been playing with for this swap.  I'm not quite happy with it yet, so I'll be changing it up a bit before I send the cards out.


 I'm not sold on the ribbon or the one striped patter paper.

 I stamped the inside with more polka-dots.

 I ran the cardstock through the embossing folder and then sanded it a bit to show the white core.

 The pattern papers are from My Mind's Eye

 I used my nestie for the sentiment, and my circle punch for the other circles.

 I actually used the nestie to also emboss the edge on the sentiment.

So here is one more look at my first prototype for my polka dot swap card.  You should sign up too!  Here is the link to the discussion if you want to read more about it.

Thanks for looking, and happy crafting!

Thinking of You in Style Greeting Card

 Today's card was made with one of my all time favorite stamp sets called Elements of Style from Stampin Up!

 I stamped the main image in Chocolate Chip, and then cut it out with my circle scissors by EK Success and then distressed the image. 

 The pattern papers are from My Mind's Eye, and I added the touch of machine sewing to both pieces.

 I like look of graduated pearls as well, so I added them to the sentiment as well as to the main floral image.

 I also love texture, so I ran the chocolate circle through my Cuttlebug embossing folder before adhering it.

 There are four sizes of the pearls on the main image, and I repeated the smallest size to fill in some of the white space.

Here is one more look at the card.

Thanks for looking!

Penny Black: Whimsy Birthday Greeting Card

With the weather being so gorgeous out, I decided to make a fun and whimsy card with some bright colors.  What could be more whimsy than a cute stamp from Penny Black?  These colors also work wonderfully for the challenge over at The Corrosive Challenge Blog to use summer colors...what say summer more than blue?

I used some fun pattern paper from My Mind's Eye. 

 Stampin Up! cardstock in Pacific Point, Green Galore, and Passion Pink

 My sewing machine in a fun an whimsy patter rather than straight rows.

 And a trio of buttons from my stash.

 I didn't have Nesties large enough for my image, so I used my trusty EK Success Circle Scisors for the image and pink layers.

For the scallop, I used my small circle scallop punch from Stampin Up! and cut it into pieces and then attached them around the edge.  I used the same technique as the large flower punch border tutorial, except I cut the small scallop circle into two bumps for each cut...I'll take photos and do a tutorial specifically for this some time in the future.

Thanks for looking and happy crafting!

Thinking of You Greeting Card

Today's card is in honor of a Queen for the Day challenge over at SplitcoastStampers, QFTD63.  It also works for the Monochromatic challenge over at Less is More

I picked red for a few reasons.  Today, we participated in the American Heart Association 5K walk, so for "hearts" and for the sunburn I received during the walk :), I chose to use the color red!

 I used my Martha Stewart version of the ScorPal to make the vertical embossed lines on the left side of my card.

 I kept the card clean and simple (CAS) but I did choose to punch my sentiment out and then layered it with more red.

 I used two Stampin Up sets for this card:  Close as a Memory, and Whimsical Words.

I'm pretty happy with the card.  It was simple, so it allowed me LOTS of time to be outside today!

Thanks for looking!

Personal Update: American Heart Association Walk

Tomorrow is the American Heart Association 5Kwalk.  I'm happy to say that my sister will be walking as well as the sister of her heart donor.  In honor of Jennifer and in memory of Kandyce, I'm proud to participate and walk along side some very special people.  I'm hoping the weather is beautiful, but if not, I know the day will still be touching.

I'll get back to scrapping and paper crafting sometime this weekend, but I'm sure you all understand that this walk is taking priority.

HUGS!

Thrifty Scrapbook Tip: Stamp Instead of Pattern Paper

Today's thrifty tip is to save the money you pay for pattern paper, and use stamps instead.  For this card (ok quality of the photos STINKS--Sorry!) I stamped backgrounds or circles of different types in VersaMark.  In future cards using such a light cardstock, I'll use the same color ink as the paper to ensure the images show up better.

I used my 1" circle punch to make the "design"

 I punched some flowers with my flower trio punch from Stampin Up!

 I added some mini pearl flat backs to the center of the flowers,

and selected some circles to add pop-dots too for more dimension.

 Another great look is to stamp the sentiment onto the base instead of the extra circle.

 This is a technique and layout I can repeat many times and use less than one sheet of cardstock to create it!

Cheap and I get along well!