The Paper Players Challenge #65

Hello! I wanted to create a bright and colorful card this week using the great sketch from The Paper Players. I used the Hostess Paper from Stampin' Up!, which has a great mix of bright colors. To soften the look I used the Boho Blossom Punch to punch flowers, which I then crumpled up & peeled the layers of the card stock apart to reveal the "linen-like" look. I then used mini glue dots to adhere the two separated pieces back together but slightly askew to give the flowers a bit more depth. A great pearl finished the look of the flowers.

Enjoy! ~Julie

Hello Birdie! - Mojo Monday #207

Hello! This little birdie will put a smile on anyone's face. I modeled this card after last week's Mojo Monday's Sketch Challenge #207.  The bold and beautiful blue color is Pacific Point from the Brights Collection from Stampin' Up! and the stamp set Best of Everything is one of my favorites.  This stamp set has a variety of stamps including flowers, sentiments and even a great made for you stamp just perfect for the back of the card.

Design Tip! : Tired of boring white paper? Try sponging on ink from your ink pad or ink refills. That's how I achieved the old olive (olive green) color on top of my whisper white paper. Also, I have layered the oval shapes with Stampin' Dimensionals to 'pop" it out more and I used my markers to color the stamps.

Materials! : Card Stock = Morning Sunshine DSP (retired), Walk in the Park DSP (retired), Pacific Point, Whisper White

Stamp Set = Best of Everything

Accessories = 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon Striped Pacific Point (retired), Stampin' Dimensionals, Sponge

Enjoy!   ~Julie

Flowers & Lace - PPA #112 and PP #64

Hello! I've created a card for our friends MK and Mike who recently tied the knot. Nothing beats the elegance and simplicity of the Elegant Soiree DSP.  Unfortunately, I don't have any lace ribbon, so I decided to use the Lace Ribbon Border Punch instead. Now I can create lace in any color cardstock...even better!  This week I am submitting it to the Pals Paper Arts Challenge #112 (use lace in your design) and the Paper Players Challenge #64 (use a plant or animal in your design).

Inside of Card

Design tip!: For special occasions don't forget to add a little bling.  On the front of the card, I placed pearls in the circle design under the leaf and on the inside of the card, I added jewel bling to the diamond ring. I also wrapped linen thread around the inside of the card & tied a cute bow near the sentiment. This card measure 6" x 6".

Materials! : Card stock = Elegant Soiree DSP (retired), Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Basic Gray (frames the Elegant Soiree rectangles)

Stamp Set = Happy Greetings (retired), Word Play (inside saying), Valentine Defined (inside string of hearts-retired)

Tools = Ticket Corner Punch, Lace Ribbon Border

Accessories = Basic Pearls, Linen Thread

Pals Paper Arts Challenge #111

Hello! Today I've created a fun thinking of you card for the Pals Paper Arts Sketch Challenge #111.  I used many of the new Stampin' Up! In Colors and paired them with a fun design from the Pocketful of Posies DSP. 

Enjoy! ~Julie

A Monumental Occassion!

Hello!  This card was made for a friend of mine, who will turn 50 at the end of the week.  Unfortunately, Stampin' Up! doesn't make neon lights and live fireworks for cards, so I decided the candles on top would have to make do.  The Freshly Made Design Sketch #2 was a great inspiration for this cute card and paired nicely with the Just Add Cake DSP. 

Design Tip!: Can't find your Baker's Twine? I became resourceful & used a scrap shaving of whisper white card stock. Gotta love those scraps!

Now I'm off to hunt for my Baker's Twine. Enjoy! ~Julie

And along came a spider...

Warning! Before viewing this card put down all slippers, sneakers, and rolled up newspapers. Secure all liquids ...there's a spider on its way through your computer monitor!  My card this week is inspired by The Paper Players color challenge for this week and Pals Paper Arts Halloween Challenge from last week.  When I sat down to make this card, I quickly realized that I didn't have any Halloween stamps. So this spider was made from scratch!  I hope you enjoy his cuteness without feeling like he needs to be squished.

Design Tip! : The web was heat embossed with black powder to make this design stand out. The gray flag on the left was crimped and then to give it a spookier look I dragged my black marker along the edges and over the crimps both horizontally & vertically.  What a great way to make the paper look old and it was simple and fast to do. I colored some pearls with a black permanent marker but distressed black paper or black brads would look great too. 

Materials! : Card Stock = Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Basic Gray, Whisper White, Basic Black

Tools = Spider Web Textured Embossing Folder, Crimper, Black Embossing Powder, Heating Tool & Powder Tray

Accessories = Basic Pearls, Stampin' Dimensionals

Enjoy! ~Julie

Thank You! - Freshly Made Sketches #1

Hello!  This past Friday my husband and I went to see President Obama speak at the University of Richmond. Whether you agree or disagree with his politics, it is not every day an average citizen gets to see the President of the United States.  It was an energetic and lively event and I feel very fortunate that we were able to get tickets, which leads me to my thank you card. It was hard to get tickets but one of my husband's very nice co-workers, had two extra tickets that she shared with us. This card was designed from the first sketch posted by a new blog site called Freshly Made Sketches.  So a big THANKS and a hot off the press thank you card goes to Melody!!!

Inside: The back of the brads are covered up by Boho Blossom flowers & I just love coloring in stamp designs with markers. Wicked fun & cute!

Design tip! : The great thing about the Designers Series Paper (DSP) from Stampin' Up is that it is double-sided with great coordinating color on each side. I folded the corner over  to show off the other side & it softened the sharp corners. In addition, the solid paper of Lucky Limeade behind the DSP is embossed with the solid stripes pattern and the dotted ribbon punch in Very Vanilla was crimped after it was punched.

Materials! : Card Stock = Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade, Very Vanilla, Berry Blossom DSP

Stamp Set = Thank You Kindly, Perfect Words (Hostess set - used on inside)

Tools =   Front = Curly Label Punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border, Crimper, Paper Piercer

   Inside = Boho Blossoms Punch, Little Leaves Sizzlit Die, Top Note Bigz Die, Big Shot

Accessories = Silver Mini Brads, Stampin' Dimensionals

Cheers! ~Julie

Manly Birthdays - The Paper Players Challenge #62

Hello!  Sometimes making cards for men can be the most daunting task I undertake, especially when it's for your father-in-law's birthday.  You want to impress but not go too overboard with the flowers and bling.  I created this card after watching Mary Fish's idea about how to use the Lattice cut out  from the Big Shot and all of the remaining pieces from the Lattice to create a "leaded-glass" look. These little pieces are great fun to play around with and can even be used elsewhere (notice the diamond to the left of the Happy Birthday sentiment).  I have posted this on the Paper Players Card Challenge for this week as the theme is birthdays.  This card is quick and simple to make!

Design tip! : I gave the main card design depth by layering the two different lattice colors off-center from one another (the white lattice on top/off center of the gray lattice).  I also used the diamond from the lattice punch outs to accent my Happy Birthday sentiment.

 Materials! : Card stock = Whisper White, Basic Gray (textured), other colors scraps from cards with my mom
Stamp Set = Something to Celebrate (Retired Hostess)
Tools = Bigz Lattice, Big Shot
Accessories = Basic Pearls

Enjoy! ~Julie

Best Father's Day Card by Stampin' Up!

Hello! I cannot take any credit for this card but it is one of my absolute favorites.  This was one of Stampin' Up!s creations from the Spring 2011 Mini Catalog and it took me about 2 hours to recreate every detail from the catalog picture. I like to be thorough on my replicated cards to do them justice!  I worked on this card (and some duplicates) with my mom and somehow she got to give this card to my dad on father's day...haha!

Design tip! : I used Stampin' Up! markers to color the ties as it makes life much easier (Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Marina Mist & Crumb Cake).  One reason why I prefer markers over stamp pads.  This card would also make a great birthday card - just substitute the "Happy Father's Day" with "Happy Birthday" which is also a stamp in the Best Dad Ever stamp set.

Materials! : Card stock =  Marina Mist (textured), Old Olive (smooth), Chocolate Chip (textured), Crumb Cake (smooth-just a 1/4" strip under the Old Olive to show only 1/2 of that paper), Very Vanilla (smooth)

Stamp Set = Best Dad Ever

Tools = Big Shot, Polka Dots Textured Embossing Folder

Accessories = Staples (yup you heard correctly!), Baker's Twine, Mini Glue Dots (great to adhere the letters), Versa Mark Ink (used on the Old Olive paper)

Enjoy! ~Julie

Mojo Monday Challenge #206

Hello!  We were without power for 4 days after Hurricane Irene hit. So you can imagine the time I had on my hands to not only clean out our fridge but to make some fun cards.

This wedding card was made for our college friends, Jesse & Emily, who are taking the big plunge this weekend.  I used the weekly challenge on Mojo Monday's Blog, and I was inspired to use some of the beautiful Elegant Soiree DSP (retired) from Stampin' Up!.

Design tip! : This card has tons of Stampin' Dimensionals on it. These are another one of my favorite accessories that Stampin' Up! sells as they add great dimension to my card creations (a low cost item with a big impact).  Also, my square card measure 6" x6"...an extra large card for an extra special occassion.
For finishing touches, the "i" in "Happiness" also has one of the smallest pearls above it and the Linen Thread softens the seam between the two different paper patterns - a nice organic touch.

Materials! : Stamp Set = Happy Greetings (retired)

Card Stock = Elegant Soiree DSP (retired), Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla

Tools = Decorative Label Punch, Ticket Corner Punch, Elegant Lines Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Big Shot

Accessories = Linen Thread, Stampin' Dimensionals, Basic Pearls

Much Love & Happiness! ~Julie

Pals Paper Arts Challenge #109

Hello!  This week's Pals Paper Arts Challenge asked us to feature the following different colors in our card designs: Basic Gray, Calypso Coral and Riding Hood Red. I decided to keep this card simple & cute.

Design Tip! : The sanding block is a great & inexpensive tool to have as it can give you so many different distressed looks. I used this tool on the punched flower made from Riding Hood Red Patterns DSP to give it the aged look. It also comes in handy for smoothing out any uneven and rough edges left from punching and cutting. A great tool for a perfectionist!

Materials!:  Stamp Sets = Posy Punch (Hostess Set), Flower Fest

Card Stock = Regals Collection Patterns DSPS, Calypso Coral, Riding Hood Red, Basic Gray, & Very Vanilla

Tools = Fancy Flower Punch, Butterfly punch, Ticket Corner Punch, Sanding Blocks, Stripes Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (NEW!), Big Shot, Paper Piercer (to punch a small hole for the silver mini brad in the center of the flower - the crop-a-dile small hole punch is too large...I learned that the hard way!)

Accessories = Silver Mini Brads (NEW!), 3/8" Ruffled Ribbon -Calypso Coral (awesome ribbon!)

Cheers! ~Julie