Strawberry Silhouettes

Happy Tuesday, Everyone.  Well it's going to be a hot one here in Michigan today.  I think we finally have some true summer weather.  I could definitely live without the humidity that's coming along with it though!  Well today's card had a lot of white space on it from Try Stampin' on Tuesday, and when I see sketches like this I just want to fill it up with some type of scenery so that's what I did.  

I stamped the flowers from Serene Silhouettes in Strawberry Slush, then stamped them again with VersaMark and embossed them with white embossing powder (I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to help line them up the way I wanted).  After that I brayered with Crisp Cantaloupe on the top and bottom of the card so it was lighter in the center.  Then made a horizon by blocking off the top of the card with piece of scrap paper.  Then I punched out a 1" circle and cut the bottom of it off and put it on my card where I wanted the sun lining the bottom up with the horizon, then brayered with Strawberry Slush.  I know this pic makes it look like everything is pink, but it's really not.  The sun and center of the card actually match the Crisp Cantaloupe card stock, the sun is just a bit darker (I sponged that in to make it darker).  I'm positive my camera just doesn't like me.  Someday I'll get a pic of one of my cards that actually looks like my card. :)

Head on over to Try Stampin' on Tuesday HERE to see all the other cards from the designers.  Lots of great cards and ideas over there.  What will you create using this sketch? :)

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Stamp Sets:  Serene Silhouettes & Blooming with Kindness

Card Stock:  Crisp Cantaloupe & Whisper White

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Crisp Cantaloupe & Strawberry Slush

VersaMark

Stampin' Emboss Powder:  White

Embossing Folder:  Stylish Stripes

Punch:  1" Circle

Ribbon:  5/8" Organza in Whisper White

Smooch Spritz:  Vanilla Shimmer

Brayer, Sponges

Serene Saturday...or Sunday

Hi Everyone...today's card is for this week's Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch challenge and the twist is Life is a Picnic.  Since I don't have any stamps that have anything to do with a picnic I thought I'd bring you the field or meadow that you could have the picnic in. :)  I haven't done a lot of sponging lately so I thought it was time to get busy with it again. :)  Make sure you head over to Try Stampin' on Tuesday HERE to see all the other great cards made using this sketch.  Don't forget to play along.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Stamp Set:  Serene Silhouettes

Card Stock:  Early Espresso, Island Indigo,

Garden Green & Very Vanilla

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Island Indigo, Pool Party,

Blushing Bride, Old Olive & So Saffron

Stampin' Write Markers:  Old Olive,

Pool Party & Early Espresso

Embossing Folder:  Woodgrain

Punch:  1 1/4" Circle

Sponges

Fancy Fold Flip Card

Hi again, Everyone.  Today I have a different kind of card for you.  Over at the Friday Mashup Cindy's really mashing it up with a fun fold project and polka dots.  Here's the challenge...

Create a project with "Polka Dots".

Create a project with a "Fun Fold".

or Mash it Up! and create a "Fun Fold project with some Polka Dots"!

The reason my card is different is because of all the folds in it.  I made one of these years ago, and though to myself, "Why don't you make another one of those flip cards?".  I don't know what I was thinking! lol  Making the flip part isn't so hard, but deciding what to put on it and adding a bunch of layers is what's hard...that's why it's all one layer, meaning I decided to stamp directly on the flip part of the card.  It didn't turn out too badly, but because I didn't add the layers you can see what's on other parts of the card through the cracks.  Like I said I did make it a long time ago and totally forgot about that.  I also forgot the polka dots part of the card.  I got so wrapped up in making each of the "pages" that I totally forgot about the dots unless you consider what I put on the first "page" as dots. :)  Make sure you head on over to the Friday Mashup HERE to see what kind of folds all the other designers put on their cards, then show us what you can do too.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Stamp Sets:  Serene Silhouettes, My Friend & Field Flowers

Card Stock:  Naturals White

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Old Olive, Primrose Petals, 

Perfect Plum & Marina Mist

Punch:  1 1/4" Circle

Smooch Spritz:  Vanilla Shimmer

Sponges

Serene Silhouettes

It's Tuesday so that means it's time for a card for this week's Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch challenge.  The twist to go along with this week's sketch is a cameo appearance.  Since I don't have any stamps that are cameos I went with a silhouette stamp from Serene Silhouettes.  This is a pretty quick and simple card to make and could be for a few different occasions.  Make sure you check out all the cards the other designers made HERE, and if you get a chance play along with us.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Stamp Sets:  Serene Silhouettes & Express Yourself

Card Stock:  Basic Black & Very Vanilla

Classic Stampin' Pad:  Basic Black

StazOn:  Black

Embossing Folder:  Modern Mosaic

Smooch Spritz:  Vanilla Shimmer

Masculine Serene Silhouettes

Hi, Everyone.  Yes, I've been a little lazy about posting lately.  Last week was SO busy, so this week I've been taking it a little easier.  Good thing I'm involved in a few challenges or I might not get around to posting at all!  Since it's Friday, that means we have another mashup for you over at the Friday Mashup, and this week it's from Holly.  Let's check it out...

Create a "Masculine" project.

Create a project with some "Stitching/sewing on it".

or Create a "Masculine project with Stitching on it".

I had a little help with a Red Hot color challenge and this week's Try Stampin' on Tuesday sketch challenge.  I have to admit it's kind of hard to make a manly card with pink on it.  I really like how it turned out though, but I'm not to sure my hubby was impressed! lol  He actually said it wasn't too bad, but it wasn't his usual response to my cards.  Guess I'm lucky he has any response at all since I've heard some husbands don't really care. lol

Don't forget to check out what the rest of the design team made and play along HERE!

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Stamp Set:  Serene Silhouettes

Card Stock:  Early Espresso, Pear Pizzazz & Very Vanilla

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Early Espresso, Pear Pizzazz & Primrose Petals

Stampin' Write Marker:  Early Espresso

Embossing Folder:  Argyle

Punch:  3/4" Circle

Candy Buttons:  Neutrals (Early Espresso)

Paper Piercing Tool

Sponges

Cajun Craze Silhouettes

Yea...it's Friday!  And that means it's time for another Friday Mashup challenge.  Today's challenge is brought to us by Avery and she has a great sketch and mashup to go along with it...

Create a project using the "Sketch".

Create a project with "Spritzing / Splattering". 

or Create a project using the "Sketch & Spritzing". 

Ever see a picture and get a little inspired to create a card to look a little something like what you've seen?  I have, and I love to look at pictures of sunsets.  I've had a picture with the setting sun, these colors  and a tree waiting for me to try and somehow recreate it.  I finally had the chance with this sketch and got busy with it...then I totally forgot to do some spritzing or spattering!  Duh, that's me lately...go figure since I spritz a ton of my cards.  Too late though because I wasn't taking my card apart after I realized it! lol

Dont' forget to check out what the other designers made HERE.  There are some great cards this week!

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Stamp Sets:  Serene Silhouettes & Express Yourself

Card Stock:  Cajun Craze, Basic Black & Basic White 

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Cajun Craze, Basic Black,

Crushed Curry & Cherry Cobbler

StazOn:  Black

Punch:  3/4" Circle

Embossing Folder:  Argyle

Brayer & Sponge

Soft Serene Silhouettes

This is another fun sketch I had to work with from the Red Hot Stampers.  Not sure why I went with purples, but that's what popped into my mind when I saw the sketch. :)  I just might use this as one of my stamp a stack cards, but use sponges instead of the brayer for the background.  

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Sara

Stamp Sets:  Serene Silhouettes & Express Yourself

Card Stock:  Perfect Plum, Wisteria Wonder & Whisper White

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Perfect Plum, Wisteria Wonder,

Pink Pirouette & Basic Black 

StazOn:  Black

Embossing Folder:  Fancy Fan

Punches:  Large Oval, 3/4" Circle & Scallop Edge Border

Brayer & Sponges

Soft Serene Silhouettes

Just a quick post for today.  This is one of the cards I'll be using for this month's stamp a stack.  It was inspired by this week's Paper Craft Crew sketch challenge.  To get the blue and green color behind the stamp I used a sponge and rubbed it back and forth and re-inked it until I got it as dark as I wanted it. 

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Sets:  Serene Silhouettes & Simply Sketched

Card Stock:  Pool Party & Whisper White

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Pool Party & Pear Pizzazz

StazOn:  Black

Framelits:  Windows Collection

Festive Paper-Piercing Pack

Jewels:  Basic Pearls

Sponges

TSOT Autumn in the Air

Today is Try Stampin' on Tuesday's sketch challenge.  I whipped up a card and was happy with it until I realized I forgot to check out the theme!  My card was suited more for winter than for autumn in the air!  So I went back to the drawing board.  I just could NOT come up with something that had those dots!  Well I made them stars on my first card, so I decided to do the same with my second card.  I've been seeing a lot of orange, black and purple cards out there for Halloween too so I decided to go with that color theme for my card and sponge the colors on, then add the stars in the night sky using a gel pen.  As you can see I also rotated this card.  My other one is vertical and I'll have to show it to you some other time this week. :)

Don't forget to check out what the design team made using this sketch at Try Stampin' On Tuesday HERE.  If you're game give it a try and show us what you've made too. :)

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Sets:  Serene Silhouettes & Express Yourself

Card Stock:  Elegant Eggplant, Basic Black & Whisper White

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Elegant Eggplant, Perfect Plum, Pink Pirouette,

Blushing Bride, Crushed Curry, Calypso Coral, Cajun Craze & Always Artichoke

StazOn:  Black & Versa Mark

Stampin' Emboss Powder:  White

Embossing Folder:  Square Lattice

uni-ball Signo Gel Pen:  White

Sponges

RHSSC - Serene Silhouettes

It's Sunday so for those of you who follow me regularly you know I'm going to show you my take on this week's Red Hot Stampers' sketch challenge.  Not sure what I think of this card, but the rest of my family seems to like it. :)  It was hard to get a decent picture of it though since it has shimmer.  Yup, I found another way to add shimmer without it costing too much.  I mix the vanilla shimmer smooch spritz with rubbing alcohol just like I did with the champagne mist shimmer paint.  It doesn't go as far as the shimmer paint since you don't get as much in the bottle as the shimmer paint, but it goes a lot farther than the small spritzer of smooch spritz.  Plus when I mix it with the alcohol and put it in a different spritzer it doesn't blob on the card like the smooch spritz does.  Yup, I'm happy since I can make things shimmery again without using a retired product. :)  Don't forget to head over to the Red Hot Stampers blog HERE to check out what the other ladies made using this week's sketch.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Sets:  Serene Silhouettes & Teeny Tiny Wishes

Card Stock:  Very Vanilla

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Night of Navy, Pacific Point, Bermuda Bay,

Coastal Cabana, Pool Party, Garden Green & Island Indigo

Versa Mark

Stampin' Emboss Powder:  Clear

Smooch Spritz:  Vanilla Shimmer

Sponges

 To make the background I started with very vanilla card stock and sponged about one inch circles all over it with the colors I have listed (except Night of Navy).  I made sure they were nice and dark and filled in everywhere.  Let the card stock sit for a few minutes, then rub it all over with the embossing buddy (the background piece needs to be dry so your embossing powder only sticks where you stamp).  Then I used the VersaMark pad to stamp my design all over it (from Everything Eleanor).  Use clear embossing powder over the VersaMark and heat it making sure it is melted and shiny.  The last step is to sponge over the whole piece with Night of Navy, then wipe down with a kleenex or rag to get the color off your embossed design.  This color is dark enough that it covers all the colors you sponged on earlier except where you put your clear embossing powder.  I did spritz it with Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz mixed with rubbing alcohol, but that is optional.

Swaps from Australia

I thought I'd post a few more pics of swap cards today that I got at convention since I still have quite the pile of them sitting on my table.  These are three different cards that I received from ladies that came to convention from Australia and their cards are awesome! 

This first card or maybe I should say bookmark is from Michelle Z.  It is just beautiful.  I love the vintage look and of course the sparkles that have been added.  The whole layout is fantastic.

This second card from Russarna M. is just lovely.  The way she used this set on the card from stamping, to cutting out flowers to making layers in the corner just makes the card pop for me.  The few touches of washi tape and an added strip of an embossing folder just brings it all together beautifully.

My last card from Shannean M. is clean and simple, yet gorgeous.  I'm not sure if she sponged the color, dragged the ink pad across the paper or what, but I love it.  For those of you who know I love sponging this is something right up my alley. 

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Serene Silhouettes Graduation

    Today's card is for this week's Red Hot Stampers' sketch challenge.  I must say I had a hard time with this week's sketch!  I finally just sponged in some colors on the semi-circle to kind of show a sunset since it seems that's all I've been working on lately, then stamped one of the trees from Serene Silhouettes.  I also needed one more graduation card, so it kind of served a dual purpose today.  

If you like the look of sponging and aren't sure how to do it I have four cards that I made for the Inky Fingers Club Summer Session.  They range from pretty simple to a bit of work, but I will have detailed instructions and a LOT of pictures for each card.  Here is some more info you can check out if you're interested...

Inky Fingers Club
Summer 2013 Session
July 7th through July 20th

All New Stampin' Up! Products
Over 50 Exclusive Designs
Creative Card Sets and Containers
14 Daily Tutorials
Talented Guest Designers
Step by Step Directions
Lots of Photos

Daily Challenges with Prizes
Original Artwork Shipped to Members

I would love for you to become a member and join me and the other designers at the Inky Fingers Club HERE!  If you do decide to join and become a member please send me your email by clicking on the "Contact Me" box at the top of my blog. 

Don't forget to check out what the other Red Hot Stampers made using this sketch HERE.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Sets:  Serene Silhouettes & Teeny Tiny Wishes

Card Stock:  Bermuda Bay, Pool Party & Whisper White

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Strawberry Slush, Daffodil Delight,

Bermuda Bay & Pool Party

StazOn:  Black

Framelits:  Circle Collection

Sponges

Celebrate Today!

What an appropriate title for today's card...Celebrate Today!  It was my dad and mom's anniversary, so I wanted to make them something special.  Right now I'm working on sponging, so I wanted to make a nice scene for them.  I think I need to work on figuring out some different scenes, but for now this will have to do.  Since I started their card so late I went looking for a bit of help.  I liked the colors for this week's Paper Players color challenge, so I quickly pulled them out and got to work!  Since sponging makes my colors mix a little I knew I would end up with a hint of green on my card too.  I have no idea why I think this, but a card just doesn't seem right if it doesn't have any green on it.  Ok, I don't think that of all my cards, but I do think that about a lot of them that I make.  Maybe some of you have this weird obsession too...there has to be a certain color to make things just right. lol

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Sets:  Serene Silhouettes & Perfectly Penned

Card Stock:  Calypso Coral, Pool Party, 

So Saffron & Early Espresso

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Calypso Coral, Pool Party, 

So Saffron & Early Espresso

Framelits:  Squares Collection

Sponges

Serene Silhouette Sunset

It's time for some sponge art again.  I've been practicing it since I'm going to be a guest designer this summer for the Inky Fingers Club!  I'm really excited about this!  It will be challenging, but so fun to create some more scenes using sponging.  I'm also excited to see what the other guest designers will be making too!  
Today's card is for my sister and brother-in-law's anniversary.  Funny thing...everything was going fine while I was working on it until I decided I wanted the yellow sponged a little darker.  Of course I had already attached my scene to the card and I ended up getting  the yellow on the lighter embossed part of my card!   Well, I was NOT about to start over! My mistake meant I had to sponge around the the rest of it too.  I think my mistake added just the extra touch it needed though.  I love it when a mistake turns into even something better than I first had planned! :) 



Here's a little more info about the Inky Fingers Club that you can join, not only for my projects, but for other projects by talented guest designers.

Inky Fingers Club
Summer 2013 Session
July 7th through July 20th

All New Stampin' Up! Products
Over 50 Exclusive Designs
Creative Card Sets and Containers
14 Daily Tutorials
Talented Guest Designers
Step by Step Directions
Lots of Photos

Daily Challenges with Prizes
Original Artwork Shipped to Members

In a couple of weeks I will be going away for the weekend to create four unique sponged scene cards with a special box to hold them in.  I will be taking a lot of pictures, and maybe even some video (yes, maybe! lol) so you can create some beautiful cards to give to family and friends.  I would love for you to become a member and join me and the other designers at the Inky Fingers Club HERE!  If you do decide to join and become a member please send me your email by clicking on the "Contact Me" box at the top of my blog. I can't wait to get my stamp set and get started!  :)

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Set:  Serene Silhouettes
Card Stock:  Island Indigo & Very Vanilla
Classic Stampin' Pads:  Calypso Coral, Summer Starfruit,
Pool Party, Island Indigo, & Lucky Limeade
StazOn:  Black
Embossing Folder:  Argyle
Framelits:  Apothecary Accents
Paper-Piercing Pack:  Essentials
Brads:  Neutrals (black)
Punches:  3/4" Circle (sun) & 1" Circle (framelit)
Sponges

Serene Sunset

I must say making cards for teenage boys is way too hard!  Right now I don't really have any sets that fit them, so I decided to just sponge and stamp a scene for my nephew.  Probably not his thing, but I sure enjoyed making the card.  I wish the camera would have taken a better picture too, but it just couldn't get it to show that the sponging in the picture is darker than what it looks.  That's just the way it goes sometimes!  

 

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Sets:  Serene Silhouettes & Teeny Tiny Wishes
Card Stock:  Island Indio, Basic Black & Whisper White
Classic Stampin' Pads:  Island Indigo, Pool Party, More Mustard,
Lucky Limeade & Calypso Coral
StazOn:  Black
Embossing Folder:  Square Lattice
Punches:  Word Window & Modern Label 
Sponges

RHSSC - Mother's Day Card

It's Sunday and time for another Red Hot Stampers' sketch challenge card.   We had an additional challenge to also make it a Mother's Day Card.  Well, that was easy enough to do. :)  It might not look like I followed the sketch because it is a little hard to see in the picture  but I did. :)  I scored lines on my card instead of using ribbon or additional paper.  I didn't want to block the doily stamp. :)  I'm also entering it into the Paper Players theme challenge since it's Mother's Day.  Don't forget to check out what the other Red Hot Stampers made this week with the same sketch.  Check them out here.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Sets:  Hello Doily & Serene Silhouettes

Card Stock:  Very Vanilla

Classic Stampin' Pads:  More Mustard & Calypso Coral

Stampin' Write Markers:  Raspberry Ripple, Calypso Coral & Always Artichoke

Shimmer Paint:  Champagne Mist

Sponges

Simply Scored Scoring Tool

Thank You - RHSSC

It's Sunday, so that means it's time for another Red Hot Stampers sketch challenge.  I did make my card a little bit different from the sketch.  I wanted all of the ink colors to show on the strip so I moved the oval up and put the sentiment on the bottom.  Keep reading to see the other challenges that inspired this card...

The theme for the Stampin Celebration Blog this month is rich warm colors and I put those into my card.  And those colors came from the Friday Mashup challenge...Indian Summer and a mix of five colors.  One of those colors is Cajun Craze and when I grabbed the ink pad I found out that it's the first time I've used it!  The ink pad was still wrapped in the plastic.  It seemed to blend in well with today's challenges though. :)

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Sets:  Serene Silhouettes & Curly Cute
Card Stock:  Early Espresso & Very Vanilla
Classic Stampin' Pads:  Raspberry Ripple, Cajun Craze,
More Mustard, Lucky Limeade & Early Espresso
Embossing Folder:  Woodgrain
Punch:  1 1/4" Circle
Sponges

Serene Silhouettes in the Fall

To those of you who come to my stamp a stacks, I did say I was going to post the cards we were making.  Well, I think I'm running a little behind! lol  Anyway, I wanted to make a fall card, and of course I always have one masculine card in the set of five.  Well, I think this is going to be the guy card.  It could probably go either way because of the coral color, but I still think it's more for a guy...who likes a little "pink"! lol

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Set:  Serene Silhouettes & On Your Birthday (retired)

Card Stock:  Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Calypso Coral & Very Vanilla

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Calypso Coral & So Saffron

Embossing Folder:  Woodgrain

Punches:  1 1/4" Circle, Word Window & Modern Label

Hemp Twine (retired)

Sponges

Delicate Doilies - 2

Well, I see I have a couple of cards that I never posted just hanging out in my blog waiting to be shown. lol  These were made to feature the Delicate Doilies die.

 


This second card was inspired by Lauri over at Paperville Crafts...such a cute card.  I didn't have the delicate designs embossing folder yet, so I improvised a little bit.  That's what's so great about making cards.  You can see a card to get ideas, but improvise when you don't have "everything" out there...although I was pretty close with this one!

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

First Card:
Card Stock:  Very Vanilla
Classic Stampin' Pads:  Rose Red & Crumb Cake
Sizzlit:  Delicate Doilies
Embossing Folder:  Vintage Wallpaper
Ribbon:  1/2" Seam Binding in Crumb Cake
Punches:  Modern Label & Word Window
Jewels:  Basic Pearls
 Shimmer Paint:  Champagne Mist

Second Card
Stamps:  Serene Silhouettes & Field Flowers
Card Stock:  Whisper White & Melon Mambo
Classic Stampin' Pad:  Melon Mambo
Sizzlit:  Delicate Doilies
Embossing folder:  Perfect Polka Dots & Adorning Accents
Edgelit:  Adorning Accents

Sunny Serene Silhouettes

Well, it seems like the lazy side of me has been showing again this week.  I have plenty of cards to put on here, but I haven't been doing it!  I figured I'd get to it again and show you the cards I made to swap with the Red Hot Stampers.  I got some really cute cards in return too!  I love the variety of cards I get from doing swaps. 

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Set:  Serene Silhouettes

Card Stock:  Rich Razzleberry, Pretty in Pink & Whisper White

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Rich Razzleberry, Pretty in Pink & Daffodil Delight

Framelits:  Labels Collection

Punch:  1 1'4" Circle

Ribbon:  5/8" Organza in Whisper White

Shimmer Paint:  Champagne Mist

Sponges!