Cherry Cobbler Carnation

* I've added instructions at the bottom of this post on how to make carnations *

Well, carnations are my favorite kind of flowers and today's card was inspired by a red carnation my daughter gave me when she stopped by to visit last week...how sweet was that! :)  I figured this flower would be perfect for this week's sketch challenge from Stamping 411 because of the flower on the front of the sketch challenge.  I hope you enjoy the card...and the flower too. :)

I had to show the actual flower too, just couldn't get a very good pic. :(

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Sets:  Elements of Style & On Your Birthday

Card Stock:  Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler & Whisper White

DSP: Mocha Morning
Ink:  StazOn Black
Ribbon:  1/2" Seam Binding in Cherry Cobbler
Scissors:  Deckle
Shimmer Paint:  Champagne Mist
Circle Scissor Cutter

First I cut out 6 circles.  My biggest one was 3 ½”, then 3 ¼”, 2 ¾”, 2 ¼”, 2” and 1 ¾”.  If you want a smaller flower just start with a smaller circle.  I then cut around the edges with a deckle scissors (Stampin’ Up! sold these a long time ago).  When I cut the four biggest circles I didn’t just cut around the circle I weaved in out a bit.  Kind of like a wave going around the circle.  The last two I didn’t weave back and forth, just cut as close to the edge as possible.  

For the red carnation I sponged just a tinge of the edges with StazOn black ink so the ink doesn’t run. I did this sample with Stampin' Up!'s Classic Stampin' Pad in Marina Mist because I wanted it to run into the Whisper White.  Do it on both sides!

I then make sure I have a few layers paper towels and spray each of the flower pieces with water to get them wet...dab off the extra water.  

Next I crinkle crinkle all the pieces.  Note that if you're using Whisper White or Very Vanilla the card stock is not as thick as the rest of Stampin' Up!'s card stock.  The Cherry Cobbler does not rip as easily as the other two, so handle the lighter card stock with care.  

Now carefully open it back up and straighten the edges as best as you can, but don't pull too hard.  Now let it dry...or dry it with the heat gun because you're too impatient like me! lol  Notice how the ink bled.  You want that!

The final step before putting it together is to use your paper piercing tool to split each piece you have (yes, this is a little tedious, but your patience will pay off!), so you now have two of every piece making twelve pieces.  

Now you just layer them with the biggest on the bottom all the way to the top making sure you vary where the edges are at.  

Once you have them in place on the paper piercing mat use your paper piercing tool to put a hole through all of the layers.  Put a brad through it and close it.  

Now starting with the smallest piece in the middle pull it all up and pinch the piece together.  Do this with every piece. 

The final step is to pull the pieces back to your liking.  And if you like sparkle add a little spritz of Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint.  Hope the instructions were simple and you enjoy making carnations of your own!

  

RHSSC 35 - With Sympathy

It's Sunday and that means it's time for another Red Hot Stamper's sketch challenge.  I must say this challenge threw me a little! lol  I happened to see Stamping 411's Color Inspiration #170 post and decided to use their colors.  Then I needed to figure out what stamp set to use.  Well, I needed something big to cover the open side.  Ok, I got that part figured out, but then what to do for ribbon???  I didn't have any that was skinny enough to look good on what I had already done.  That's when I came up with the idea to twist the seam binding ribbon to make it smaller.  Voila!  I managed to come up with this pretty card.  I loved the soft colors and thought I would make it a sympathy for a fellow demonstrator who just lost a loved one.  

If you're in a crafty mood why not give our challenge a try.  You can head  here to see a few other samples too.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Set:  Elements of Style

Card Stock:  Perfect Plum, Always Artichoke & Very Vanilla

Classic Stampin' Pad:  Sahara Sand

Stampin' Pastels:  Perfect Plum, Always Artichoke, 

Pink Pirouette & So Saffron

Ribbon:  1/2" Seam Binding in Very Vanilla

Shimmer Paint:  Champagne Mist

A Rainbow of Daisies

Here's another sample of sponging that I demo'd the other night.  I saw Stampin' Celebration sketch challenge #54 full of rainbows here and thought that would be another perfect way to demo sponging.  All of the card stock used here is Whisper White.  Any color has been done with sponging. :)  Can you tell I love sponging...and do it all the time! lol

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Card Stock:  Whisper White

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Real Red, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight

Wild Wasabi, Island Indigo & Elegant Eggplant

Punch:  1/2" Circle

Embossing Folder:  Square Lattice

Bigz Die:  Daisies Flower #2

Shimmer Paint:  Champagne Mist

Sponges!

Fabulous Florets Sponged Flowers

Sponging demonstration!  That's what I made this card for.  For some crazy reason I volunteered myself to do a demo at my upline's meeting again.  I survived...barely. lol  Actually I love the demo meetings and they've really brought me out of my "way too shy" shell.   I didn't want to do too much thinking (talk about lazy! lol), so I used a couple of colors on flowers that I had made before and used the sketch challenge Less is More for my card's design.

Zoomed in a bit...

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Set:  Fabulous Florets

Card Stock:  Whisper White

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Melon Mambo, Calypso Coral & Wild Wasabi

Embossing Powder:  White

Shimmer Paint:  Champagne Mist

Simply Scored Scoring Tool

Nature Silhouettes

Today's card is for my brother-in-law, so Happy Birthday to you!  I really do enjoy making masculine cards and would love to have more sets out there.  Here's hoping Stampin' Up! comes out with at least four or five really great ones in the new catalog because this one is retiring. 

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Sets:  Nature Silhouettes & On Your Birthday

Card Stock:  Early Espresso, Night of Navy, 

Always Artichoke & Very Vanilla

Classic Stampin' Pad:  Early Espresso

Embossing Folder:  Square Lattice  

Thinking of You

Today's card is for a coworker who lost her mother-in-law Sunday.  I know the "Live, Laugh & Love" sounds unusual on a Thinking of You or a Sympathy card, but she posted a tribute to her mother-in-law telling everyone how she lived out these three words everyday in her life.  It was very touching and when I read it I thought of the stamp that had these words (minus the happy birthday!) and knew I wanted to add them to the card I sent her.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Sets:  Apothecary Art, On Your Birthday & Curly Cute

Card Stock:  Baja Breeze, Pink Pirouette & Very Vanilla

Classic Stampin' Pads:  Baja Breeze & Pink Pirouette

Stamp and Write Markers:  Baja Breeze, Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink & Wild Wasabi

Edgelits Dies:  Adorning Accents

Embossing folders:  Adorning Accents

Framelits Dies:  Labels Collection

Blossom Birthday

Today's card is one I made for my mother-in-law's birthday.  I saw a video for a neat card idea here from Julie Davison and decided to give it a try.  I did change the dimensions a bit to make it a 5 1/2" x 4 1/4 " card and instead of adding the DSP to the card, I used a sheet of the DSP...that's because I don't have any paper that's 12 x 12" and that's the size you need to make this card.  I really wish pictures turned out as nicely as what we see in person, because this is really an elegant card.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Stamp Sets:  Old retired ones!

Card Stock:  Mocha Morning Specialty DSP, Basic Blalck and Crumb Cake
Classic Stampin' Pad:  Basic Black
StazOn:  Black
Punches:  Blossom, Decorative Label, 1" Circle & 3/4" Circle
Jewels:  Basic Pearls
Shimmer Paint:  Champagne Mist