BUTTERFLY POP-UP

Yesterday, I made one of these butterfly pop-up cards, but I wasn't really pleased with the coloring on the butterfly--thought I should have just left it white. I just had to try another one, and this one also isn't perfect. The little bumpy things on the butterfly are actually glitter. It really does look better in person! I used the Cricut to make this card, and the only SU products used were "Stem Sayings" stamp set, slit punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, and Groovy Guava double-stitched grosgrain ribbon.

WE GO TOGETHER LIKE SUMMER & POPSICLES!

You've heard me mention Laura, and you heard about Cassy recently, but have I mentioned Lisa? Well, Lisa is a fellow demo and friend who showed me how to use the Key Tag Punch to make the cutest popsicles! Aren't they adorable????? This card isn't all that exciting, but it would be a cheery one to receive! Thanks, Lisa, for the inspiration!

WATERCOLORED BLOOMIN' BEAUTIFUL

For quite some time now, I've assumed that watercoloring with SU products didn't really involve the markers, but rather watercolor pencils, crayons, and ink pads. The three flowers on this card were colored using SU markers! Awesome, huh? I noticed that some colors actually worked better, but it's definitely a technique to try. I wouldn't recommend anything other than watercolor paper since you'll want the Aqua Painter to be pretty wet, and you'll be moving it around on the card stock. Anything but watercolor paper would probably begin to disintegrate. I stamped my flowers with Black StazOn ink, and then added color (using a marker) to the shaded areas of the flowers. I then used the Aqua Painter to pull and move that color around. As I said, some colors are going to work better than others, although I don't know why. I used the marker to color the stem, but I watercolored the leaves the same way that I did the flowers. Markers used for this project were Cameo Coral, Bashful Blue, Apricot Appeal, and Old Olive.

GIFT BAG

How cute is this????? And easy, too! The base for this project is a box, and the designer paper is--literally--just wrapped around it to form a bag. The ribbon through the two tabs at the top pull the front and back together so the bag stays semi-closed.

JUST FOOTBALL

Chadrick had a birthday yesterday--his 17th--but one of his gifts didn't get here in time. Fortunately, it came today while he was out to lunch with friends, and I had time to make this box for it. I'm sure he could care less about the box, but he'll probably notice the football theme. Inside is what looks like $30 worth of nuts and bolts and other hardware for his paintball gun. Really! It looks like NOTHING for the $$$. Obviously, I had no idea what I was ordering, but I swear I could probably sweep a section at Lowe's Home Improvement, dump the dust pan in a bag, bring it home, and have pretty much the same as what's in this bag. Goodness! Boys and their toys! If you've ever had a teenager, you know that the more candles you add to their cake, the more $$$ you spend on their gift. Chadrick's big gift this year was a 32" flat-screen TV for his room. He's been working (at a snail's pace) to purge his room to just have the things he wants in it, and he really did need a new TV. Somehow, he accidentally shot the one he had (with an airsoft gun, I think), and I don't even really want to know how that came to happen. All I know is this . . . the older he gets, the more I want to do it all over again . . . bring him home from the hospital, rock him to sleep, hold him for feedings at all hours, help him with those first steps, eat up those belly laughs, cherish the flowers he picks for me (even when they're the only flowers in the yard). I want to pick up Legos that are scattered everywhere, free the plastic army men who are tied to silk plants, find sippy cups hidden in the seat of his favorite ride-on motorcycle, and give (and receive) sweet snuggles. And yes, I'd even go on the cub scout camp-outs all over again, but this time it wouldn't be the first time I've slept outdoors. I used to think I'd like to have a daughter, but that was mainly because I didn't know anything about boys. What do I know now? I wouldn't trade having a boy for ANYTHING, and I'd gladly live the past 17 years all over again! Well, thanks for taking this sentimental journey with me. Even though I feel this way, it's not something I can readily share wtih Chadrick because . . . hello! . . . he's a 17-year-old boy! ;-) I need to find a place for this box now before he gets home. I don't think I'll tell him about it . . . I'll just let him find it. ;-)

"DECOR ELEMENTS"

You'll never guess what (at least one) of SU's new product lines will be. Vinyl wall decor!!!!! There should be a little slash above the "e" in "decor," but I don't know how to get that on the blog. Just pretend it's there, and say "decor" with some sophistication. ;-) There are some neat choices for us to try, and the vinyl can be placed on a variety of surfaces . . . walls, mirrors, scrapbook albums, etc. This product line will be available for purchase on July 1, so be looking for it! If you'd like to see the brochure before July 1, shoot me an email and I'll send it to you via email.

ANOTHER WILD ROSE

Why, oh why, does this stamp set have to retire? If SU had just asked me, "Regina, which stamp sets did you purchase in hopes of loving, but then they ended up gathering dust?" I could have given a list, albeit short, of stamp sets that would be okay to retire. After five years of stamping, you'd think by now I would know my style and preferences, but I don't always make the best choices for myself. Until I learned precisely how to use the Stamp-a-ma-jig, I had trouble with some of the images in this set, but now it seems too beautiful to be going away. What I like about "two-step" stamp sets is that you can create a two-color image using a multitude of color combinations OR get the appearance of two different colors by using one color of ink and stamping off to lighten the color for the solid (base) image. BTW, a two-step stamp set is one that has solid images (to be stamped with light colors of ink) and detail images to be stamped (with dark colors) on top of its solid image "partner." The only color of ink used on the rose for this card was Groovy Guava, and Wild Wasabi was used on the leaves.

AN UNLIKELY TRIO

Baroque Motifs. Life is a Breeze. Tart & Tangy. What do they have in common? Seemingly, nothing, and yet those three stamp sets were used to create this card. I have to admit that this glass of lemonade wasn't totally my idea, but this project is totally my design. It took forever to complete, but that's just the nature of the beast when a simple idea turns out to not be so simply completed. Sticky Strip was used to hold the Chunky Glitter around the top edge of the vellum "glass," the lemon was embossed with Iridescent Ice, although its sparkle doesn't show, and the straw was created by cutting a thin strip of card stock and using the Yoyo Yellow marker to stripe it. Other products used include the Crop-a-Dile, Slit Punch, Big Bite, Stampin' Dimensionals, White Craft ink, Yoyo Yellow Classic ink, and Tempting Turquoise Classic ink.

WILD ROSE GIFT SET

When I saw "Wild Rose" on the list of retiring stamp sets, I just had to pull it off the shelf and give it a work-out. I hate to see this set retire! My friend, Cassy, who is my "grandmother upline" in SU had a birthday yesterday, and I made this gift set for her. The gift bag was (very simply) decorated by adding a stamped strip and tied closed with a bow. If you're in one of my clubs, be prepared to use "Wild Rose" in July. We can't let it retire until you fall in love with it, too! It's a two-step stamp set, and there are tons of color combinations that you can use to create elegant projects with these roses. The rose bud is my favorite! SU products used to create this gift set include Scallop Circle punch, 1-3/8" Circle punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Pretty in Pink 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Sticky Strip, Wild Wasabi, Pretty in Pink, and Purely Pomegranate inks and card stock, Whisper White card stock, Stampin' Dimensionals, and the Stamp-a-ma-jig.

RILEY GOES CAMPING

So it's almost 1:00 a.m., I'm expecting guests in about 13 hours, there's still plenty of housework and meal prep to be done, and I just made a mess while making this card. Where exactly are my priorities???? I finally took the plunge and ordered my third set of Nestabilities dies (the Long Rectangle Scallops), which arrived today, and I just couldn't wait to play! This card design is what I call a "kickstand," and I believe that's the real name for it. The Bravo Burgundy piece of card stock is just a base. The scalloped white piece actually folds like a card (it IS the card), and I cut and embossed it with the largest of the Nestabilities dies I received today. I love how it turned out! I don't know where the plaid paper came from, but you've met Riley the moose in a previous post. I colored the image with Prismacolor markers and adhered it to the bottom of the scalloped card so that it forms a "kickstand" and can hold its own on a shelf, table, etc. Other than the card stock, the only other SU product used tonight was the Kraft Taffeta ribbon. I love that stuff! It ties so easily, isn't bulky, and it lends a soft touch of "a little something else" which our projects sometimes need.

IT'S A CARD! IT'S A BOOK! IT'S ALL THE SAME!

I often mention my friend, Laura, but I have to mention her again. She has these adorable "Riley the moose" stamps and shared some uncolored images with me recently. When I sat down to make a Father's Day card for my daddy, I decided to use some of those images. I ended up needing "Riley at the campfire" for the front of my card/book, so Laura sent me an envelope (received today) with several more images for me to play with! So, is this a card or a book? Well, it started out to be a card, but it ended up looking like a very short book. I know it's rather plain, but I did all that I could think to do. My mind was thinking "card," but my hands were making something that resembled a book. Anyway, I used an assortment of SU designer papers (current and retired), SU chipboard letters (covered with designer paper), and a few other products that are non-SU. The "Happy Father's Day" at the back of the book was designed on and cut with the Cricut. BTW, I wrote the poem just for this card/book because I wanted something that related to the stamped images. ;-)

POT OF TULIPS

This post has nothing to do with stamping unless I print this picture and use it on a card. My friend, Laura, lives in the mountains and is always taking beautiful "nature" pictures. After taking a picture of my blooming gardenias, I decided to snap a shot of the silk tulips on the porch. Neither picture looked nearly as glamorous as Laura's, so I edited this one with a watercolor pencil effect. How cool is this????? It looks much better than the real photo! I think this effect could make an ugly picture look interesting. This effect DID make an ugly picture interesting, and I'll have to try it again . . . and again. LOL!

BLOOMIN' BEAUTIFUL ON ACETATE

For this card, I stamped the flower on a piece of acetate and started coloring on the back. I ended up coloring on the front, too, and then attached the acetate to the designer paper and card stock layers with brads from the Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware kit. Before attaching this layer to the card, I tied the ribbon around it and then adhered the layer with Stampin' Dimensionals.

AND ANOTHER THING YOU CAN DO WITH BLOOMIN' BEAUTIFUL

The possibilities with "Bloomin' Beautiful" seem endless! Have I mentioned that I "LOVE" this stamp set???? I've been thinking about this technique (using the word "bloom" for the flower stem) and finally got a chance to try it. Unlike how I planned it in my mind, it was bit tricky. Most of the time when you want to ink just part of a stamp (the flower, in this case), you can use a marker. Since I wanted to watercolor the flower, I needed to use StazOn ink, for which I don't have a marker. I had to wrap a scrap piece of paper around the portion of the stamp that I didn't want inked, being careful to cover the leaf near the flower. Worked like a charm! I discovered, though, that the Stamp-a-ma-jig was a MUST to align the word "bloom" under the flower. To apply the Fine Cosmo glitter to the word "bloom," I just used a glue pad (non-SU), but I used 2-Way Glue to hold the Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the flower. The background image on the card front is SU's "Paisley" background stamp and, of course, the other SU products used were the Coluzzle cutting system, "Afternoon Tea" designer paper, and Groovy Guava double-stitched ribbon.

WHO NEEDS WINE WHEN YOU'VE GOT PRISMAS?

Took myself shopping today--didn't find many bargains--but I did find this 4-bottle wine rack. I had to do a good amount of searching for "just the right" glasses since the "most perfect" ones were $20 each. Geez! Who needs a $20 glass???? Chad was having a "wonderful" time on the glass hunt with me . . . he was like a 4 y/o, picking up tall thin glassworks and twirling them around, stacking some of the ridiculously tall glass items, and just making me nervous. I've often wished I could press a button and enjoy his younger days in doses, and I do believe I had a dose today. He really was a big help, but he clearly was thinking of a dozen better things to be doing! On the way home, he commented that I had spent more money on the wine rack and glasses than I spent on the markers, and I said, "Honey, that's only until I buy more markers."

SOMETIMES YOU'RE THE WINDSHIELD . . .

My sister has already had a bad week, and it's only Tuesday. Well, technically, it's Wednesday, but my Tuesday hasn't yet ended. Anyway, Renee was sick all weekend, found out on Monday that instead of teaching 2nd grade next year, she'll be teaching Kindergarten (NOT what she wanted) and, when she got home last night, she found out that her family's beloved dog, Maxx, had been fatally injured by a car. I've already made a sympathy card (of sorts) to send to her family, but this little bug is just for her . . . for the many ways she's hitting the windshield this week! But this isn't just any old bug . . . this one is complete with glittery accents and a rearview "mirror" cut from reflective paper! Thank you, Chad, for that idea! He didn't know when he suggested that the mirror be a mirror that I actually had the paper to do it! Ha! The hardest part is letting this card leave the stamp room because it's the first one that I've made with this stamp set, it's the first one I've made with the reflective paper, and it's the first one that I've colored with my new Prismacolor markers. I could have done a better job with the coloring but, for the most part, I did manage to stay inside the lines (except for a few tiny places that Chad pointed out). ;-) Oops! I almost forgot to mention . . . when Renee and I were little girls, we both enjoyed Barbies, but I also enjoyed Matchbox cars. I had quite a collection--still have some of them (the ones Chad hasn't shot w/BBs or tried to burn)--and I had a copper-colored "bug" like this one that Renee pretended was hers. I'll bet she still remembers that!

ANOTHER BURST OF FLOWERS

I made two more of these cards this evening . . . one for my grandmother (which was orange) and this purple one for my mother. This is actually my favorite. I think the sponging on the tips of the flower petals makes them look so much better.

A BURST OF FLOWERS

As I've mentioned several times before, I swap a card once a week with my friend, Laura. I'm really pleased with the card she'll be getting this week. I kind of want to keep it for myself (I often say that, I know), but I'm also anxious for her to see this one. It's a 7-petal flower pop-up card, and it was a doozy to make! The flowers are far from perfect, but I just don't have time for a re-do. And I'm a cheater! The only SU products used were card stock, markers, and glue dots. I wanted to use SU stamps, but this one seemed so perfect.

ETA: This is actually a 7-flower card--not 7-petal--although each flower begins w/7 petals.