card making night - a little taste of Easter

I held another card making night at my mother-in-law's on Tuesday night. It was a smaller group, which meant a little more one on one time with the ladies and I know that many of them really appreciated that. Many of those who attend these card making nights do not have much stamping experience so I was glad to lend a hand in passing along some helpful hints. As much as I love and appreciate a large group, having a smaller group is great, too...just like my last card night.

Since Easter is just around the corner, I put together a couple of Easter cards for the ladies to create. I really wanted to use the watercolor pencils and blender pens and I was very thankful for a smaller group because I was able to do a mini-tutorial with some of them to show them how effective the blender pen can be, especially with creating shadows. It was an 00h-aah moment for many of them...so fun to see them excited! :) I have A LOT more to learn about water coloring, but I really do enjoy it!

I am soooooo glad I decided to order the Everybunny stamp set. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, but I love this set! I can't wait to make more cards with it!

Stamp Set: Everybunny
Paper: Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Very Vanilla, Everyday Enchantment DSP (SAB exclusive)
Ink: Black Stazon
Accessories: Rhinestone Accents, Stampin' Diemensionals, Watercolor Pencils, Blender Pen, 3/8" Calypso Coral Ruffled ribbon
Tools: N/A

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I have been a Stampin' Up! demonstrator for three years and this is the FIRST time I have used Basic Gray! I wanted to try and go outside of the box and use some different color combos and I really wanted to use the Twitterpated DSP for my second Easter card, so I went with Basic Gray for the card base. On the inside of the card I ended up putting a white layer so that you are able to see the writing. I don't have many Easter stamp sets, so I worked with the flower and paper to pull together something "Easter-y". I had other sentiments there to choose from if the ladies didn't want to do an Easter card.

Stamp Set: Delightful Dozen
Paper: Basic Gray, Blushing Bride, Cherry Cobbler, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Twitterpated DSP
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Baja Breeze (sponging around the white where the sentiment is)
Accessories: Pearl Accents, Stampin' Diemensionals
Tools: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Embossing Folder, Blossoms punch, 1" Circle punch, Boho Blossoms punch, Eyelet Border punch

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For the last card I decided to double up on a card I had created for a workshop I held at a friend's house a couple of weeks ago. I was happy with the design and I figured these ladies would love the teacup idea, so I made up some more card kits. Plus, I just love the combo of Elegant Eggplant and Wisteria Wonder (thanks to my Color Coach!) This card was inspired by one of my own creations that I had once made for a color challenge, but as you will see I decided to go a little more simple with this one.


Stamp Set: Tiny Teacup (single stamp), various sentiments

Paper: Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder DSP (polka dots)
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, marker - Wisteria Wonder
Accessories: 1/4" Elegant Eggplant Grosgrain ribbon, Stampin' Diemensionals
Tools: 1-1/4" Circle punch, 1-3/8" Circle punch, Two-Step Owl punch (for the heart)

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It's been a busy week so far, so I didn't include many of the links in this post that I normally do, but please feel free to leave a comment if you have a question or would like more information about a product. Hope you all have a blessed week and thanks for stopping by!

3 for $6 Card Making Night - June

On Tuesday night I traveled to my mother-in-law's home and held a 3 for $6 card night with her and her friends! She lives about an hour away and we started to have card nights every other month since there were so many friends interested in making cards, but it was such a long drive for them to come my way (understandable!). With the beginning of summer, it wasn't as well attended as the last one, but I really enjoyed being able to stamp with the few ladies that were there and answer questions without feeling like I was running around everywhere!

The first card is a CASE from the ever-so-talented Mary Fish with just a few little changes made. I just love this Tiny Teacup stamp and I'm so glad it's staying in the next catalog. My mother-in-law holds a monthly "Grandma's Tea" with her friends and I knew this was the perfect stamp for her (she ended up purchasing one for herself!) It's a single stamp with the tea cup and the "hello" right underneath it. I've seen some really fun things made with this ONE stamp! It doesn't show it in this picture, but I ended up adding a small little flower with a rhinestone in the middle and stuck it right next to the hello. I'll try to update with a new picture later!



Stamp Set: Tiny Teacup

Paper: Whisper White, Concord Crush, Perfect Plum

Ink: markers - Concord Crush, Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, Rich Razzleberry

Accessories: Dimensionals, Whisper White 3/8" Taffeta ribbon

Tools: 1-1/4" Square punch, 1-3/4" x 7/8" Oval punch, Small Oval punch (retiring and no longer available!)

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This next card I actually used for one of my card nights last summer, but I just had to pull it out again to use for this summer as it was new to these stampers AND the Tart & Tangy stamp set is retiring, so I wanted to ink it up some more!! I added the rhinestones this year instead of the silver brads which is what I used last time. If you look closely you'll see the polka-dotted textured background on the Pumpkin Pie card stock.

Stamp Set: Tart & Tangy

Paper: Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron

Ink: So Saffron, markers - So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie

Accessories: Dimensionals, Pumpkin Pie 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon, Rhinestone Accents, Pumpkin Pie flower brad, Dazzling Diamonds

Tools: Ticket Corner punch, Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plates (used with Big Shot)

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The last card we created each guest had their choice of what color scheme they wanted to go with. It was interesting to see which colors were the winners and by far more chose the green and purple (it would have been my first choice, too!) You may recognize these cards as I shared about how to make a "quilt" card awhile back. I added a little butterfly accent this time around.

Stamp Set: With All My Heart

Paper: Poppy Parade, Whisper White, Sunny Garden DSP

Ink: Poppy Parade

Accessories: Dimensionals, Daffodil Delight 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon

Tools: Top Note Die, Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die (used with Big Shot), Wide Oval punch


Stamp Set: Perfect Punches

Paper: Old Olive, Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Cottage Wall DSP (retired)

Ink: Rich Razzleberry

Accessories: Dimensionals, Old Olive 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon

Tools: Top Note Die, Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die (used with Big Shot), Wide Oval punch

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Don't forget to enter to win a FREE JUNE SUBSCRIPTION to Craft Project Central by leaving a comment on MY FOURTH OF JULY PARTY ENSEMBLE POST. With a FREE June subscription, you will get 10 full tutorials with step-by-step directions, pictures, and a list of supplies for each project!

My Project Contribution to June!

fun with color!

It was {another} rainy day here in Oregon, which meant time in my stamp room! I decided to play along with a couple of color challenges and a sketch challenge.

First challenge was over at The Color Dare, where we were encouraged to use:

So Saffron
Concord Crush
Neutral of Choice

Stamp Set: Tiny Teacup, Best Wishes & More (retired)

Paper: Whisper White, So Saffron, Concord Crush, Crumb Cake, Concord Crush DSP (from Hostess Level 1 pack)

Ink: Concord Crush

Accessories: Itty Bitty Buttons, white floss (non-SU!), 1/2" Concord Crush Poly-Stitched ribbon

Tools: 1 1/4" Circle punch, 1 3/8" Circle punch, Itty Bitty Punch Pack

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For this next card I used a sketch challenge and a color challenge to create it!

The sketch was from The Paper Players (PP48)...


The colors are from Create with Connie & Mary (CCMC152)...


And, here is my card...

Here is an up close view to see the polka-dotted textured background on the Baja Breeze and the ears of the elephants in 3-D.

Stamp Set: Baby Steps, Teeny Tiny Wishes (sentiment)

Paper: Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, Peach Parfait, Peach Parfait DSP (from Hostess Level 1 pack)

Ink: Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, white gel pen (dots on scallop circle)

Accessories: 1/2" Peach Parfait Poly-Stitched ribbon, Dimensionals, Riding Hood Red brads,

Tools: 3/4" Circle punch, Heart to Heart punch, Scallop Circle Die (used with Big Shot), Texturz Plate (polka dot)