A banner birthday

Hello!  Today I'd like to share with you a birthday card I made using some of my favourite Purple Onion Designs stamps.  I took the birthday noteblock stamp, heat embossed with black powder and then layered it onto some Basic Grey birthday papers and Core'dinations cardstock.  (Note:  You lose a little of the detail on the letters of the Noteblock stamp when you heat emboss but you do get a nice shine.  If you wanted to keep the detail AND shine I would recommend using coloured ink of your choice and then embossing with clear detail powder.)

I then added two strips of paper pieced banners across the card (I wanted the whole happy birthday sentiment at the top to show so I attached the banners more towards the bottom.)  After attaching the stamped banners I added some twine across the top with a few bows on the ends.  Tip:  To attach the twine I use Beacon's 3 in 1 glue.  You can apply in a very thin strip and it dries completely clear....I *LOVE* that adhesive :)

Thanks for stopping by!!

If you would like to see more cards created with the Noteblock stamps, check out the POD Noteblock gallery.

Supplies:

Stamps:  Stephanie Ackerman’s Build a Banner set from Purple Onion Designs, Happy Birthday Noteblock from Purple Onion Designs

Ink:  Palette Noir, Versamark (for heat embossing)

Paper:  Basic Grey, Coredinations cardstock

Accessories: Twine from the Twinery, Spellbinders die, black detail embossing powder from Stampendous

Wishing you the sweetest Friday day ever

Here is the second card I created using the felt strawberry embellishments that I made (see another card on yesterday's post) using a Jillibean Soup Itty Bitty stamp from Unity Stamp Co.  On this card I used a Cuttlebug fruit themed embossing folder as the focal point and added some of the coordinating Jillibean Soup papers on the bottom before adding the felt strawberry.

How I made the strawberry embellishment:

Stamp the strawberry image onto red felt and the leaves onto green felt (I just used the “cheap” acrylic felt from the craft store) using Palette Noir ink (I find this type of ink is the best for stamping onto fabric).  Cut out the images and piece together using fabric glue.  Add red and green stickles to accent image.  Tie small bow out of red satin ribbon, add small Prima flower with green jewel and adhere to strawberry.

Don't forget to stop by the Unity Stamps blog today for lots more Friends with Flair creations and of course your chance to win some stamps!!

Supplies:

Stamps:  Jillibean "Sweetest Day" Itty Bitty from Unity Stamp Co.

Ink:  Palette Noir

Papers:  Jillibean Soup, kraft cardstock from The Paper Company, Bazzill cardstock, MME journal block

Accessories:  Cuttlebug embossing folder, Spellbinders die, craft felt, Offray ribbon, Prima flower and bling, Stickles
Challenge:  Unity Stamps Tooty Fruity challenge for May 2011

Feeling Fruity with Card Patterns #116

This month's Unity Stamp Co. challenge theme is "fruit" so last week I thought outside the box a little and created several felt strawberry embellishments using the Jillibean Soup "Sweetest Day" Itty Bitty stamp. 

This week, I took the embellishments that I made and created a series of cards using the coordinating Jillibean Soup Strawberry soup kraft papers.  This is the first of the set.

Be sure to stop by later for more "berry" cute creations as well as more details on how I created the felt strawberry embellishments :)

Supplies:
Stamps:  Jillibean Soup "Sweetest Day" Itty Bitty from Unity Stamp Co.
Ink:  Palette Noir ink
Papers:  Jillibean Soup, The Paper Company kraft cardstock, Jenni Bowlin Core'dinations cardstock, Making Memories kraft polka dot paper
Accessories:  Spellbinders Nestabilities, craft felt, Stickles, Prima bling, Prima flower, Offray ribbon
Sketch:  Card Patterns #116

You are my sunshine

Since we’ve been plagued in Ontario with rainy weather for the last few weeks (like, we’re talking DAYS on end with no sun!!),  I thought making a nice cheery card to take away the blahs. 

I did this card for this week's Wee Memories stamping challenge. The sun and cloud images are from Stephanie Ackerman’s Home Sweet Home set from Purple Onion Designs.  I added some rub on letters to make the sentiment.  To make the card look more "sunny" I matted the image panel onto the Spellbinder’s Pinking Circles die cut of out yellow Jillibean Soup paper.  The cardstock is from the Whitewash collection from Core'dinations (I love the distressed-ness of that line).

Here’s hoping to lots of sunny weather ahead J

Supplies:

Stamps:  Stephanie Ackerman’s Home Sweet Home set from Purple Onion Designs

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black

Papers:  Jillibean Soup, Core'dinations cardstock, Neenah cardstock

Accessories:  Copic markers, yellow button, Offray ribbon, Spellbinder’s dies, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Daisy D’s rub on on letters

Merry Friday!

Hello and Happy Friday! 

I know Christmas is a LONG way away but I’m working on building up this year’s card stash so that when December comes I have a pile of handmade cards ready to mail out.

I was organizing all my Unity Stamp Kit of the Months last week and came across these two cute snowman images on the January 2011 KOTM.  I paper pieced the images with some kraft paper and assembled the card using a bunch of scrap papers.  The bow is made from some cotton string that I purchased in the kitchen aisle at a local dollar store (Dollar Giant).  It looks sort of like the trendy baker’s twine but a fraction of the price and I like the neutral colour.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps: January 2011 KOTM (snowmen) from Unity Stamp Co.
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Papers: Jenni Bowlin embossed cardstock, Basic Grey, Making Memories, Coredinations cardstock
Accessories: Kelly Panacci chipboard sentiment, kitchen string, button, Copic markers, scallop edge die from My Favorite Things
Sketch:  Unity KOTM sketch challenge for May 2011

Suzi Blu part 2: A little Pooey Love

Time for a little more Suzi Blu (from Unity Stamp Co)....this time I used the Pooey love kitty cat, coloured with my grey Copics and created a fun gift tag using this month's Unity KOTM Sketch (the diamond background and the sentiment are both from the April KOTM).  When I was done creating the tag I decided to turn it into a card by mounting it on a long and narrow card base.

You may notice LOTS of embossing on this project.  I drew some inspiration from last week's Lily Pad Card's embossing challenge and went to town.  I wet embossed the background diamonds by stamping with purple distress ink and then embossing with clear powder (it's a bit difficult to see on the shimmer cardstock background but it gives a nice shimmer to the tag).  Then I also heat embossed the sentiment in black powder on the tag.  For the card base I used a diamond patterned embossing folder and distressed with the purple distress ink to make it stand out.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Supplies:

Stamps: Pooey Love Itty Bitty (Suzi Blu) from Unity Stamp Co, April 2011 KOTM (diamond backgrounder and sentiment) from Unity Stamp Co.
Ink: Ranger Mill Lavender Distress Ink, Versamark (for embossing), Memento Tuxedo black ink
Papers: Coredinations cardstock, Lily Bee papers
Accessories: Copic Markers, crepe paper, Ranger black embossing powder, Stampendous clear embossing powder, mailing tag, Offray ribbon, red stickles, Cuttlebug diamond embossing folder

If you cannot be a poet, be the poem (Suzi Blu)

Hello and happy Friday!!  Today I'd like to share a card with you a card that is a little different from what I would consider my "normal" style---but hey, I love to try out new things!  I took one of Unity Stamp's Suzi Blu designs, coloured her with my Copics (not sure I'm loving the freaky eyes though LOL!) and created an artsy/grungy card using some Jenni Bowlin embossed cardstock.  To tone down the red glitter on the curtains and the image panel, I used some distress ink.  I roughed up all the embossed cardstock with my sanding block and curled the edges of the black cardstock to add even more grunge to my project.

Thanks for letting me share my experiment with you -- hope you like it :) 

Supplies:
Stamps:  Suzi Blu "Be the Poem" stamp from Unity Stamp Co.
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo black, Ranger Black Soot distress ink
Paper:  Core'dinations cardstock (Jenni Bowlin), Neenah cardstock
Accessories:  Spellbinders die, Copic markers, Stickles, Offray ribbon, Recollections brand flower

Bright birthday wishes

Good morning!  Today I have a nice bright and cheerful birthday card to share with you.

For this card I got out the watercolours to paint my flower images.  As I have mentioned before, my paints of choice are my Peerless watercolor papers (which can be purchased in Canada at Curry's Art Supply---where I buy a lot of my supplies including Copics).  See how the blue centers fade to white in the middle?  Well, to achieve this look I lightly wet the whole center with my water pen and then just painted around the edges with the blue paint.  The water draws the paint into the center by itself to create that look.  If I want to darken the edges, I just go back with more paint.

It's a bit difficult to tell in the photo but the blue cardstock is Bazzill bling cardstock and has a nice shimmer to it.  For something a little different I debossed the image so that it's indented rather than sticking out (o.k. I totally screwed up and put it in the embossing folder backwards but I think it looks great hee hee).

Supplies:
Stamps:  Mixed Middles Flower set from Purple Onion Designs (see Stephanie Ackerman section once no longer in New Release section), Birthday Wishes sentiment (#HOP02) from POD
Ink:  Palette Noir (works well for watercolouring)
Papers:  Watercolour paper from Curry's Art supply, Bazzill cardstock
Accessories:  Peerless watercolor papers, Stickles, Fiskars Edge punch, Cuttlebug embossing folder
Sketch:  CPS #217

Happy Mother's Day!! There's no place like home....

Happy Mother's Day to all the special ladies out there!!  Since I completely forgot that Mother's Day was this week Although I don't have an actual Mother's Day card to share I do have a nice girly and vintage-inspired card for your viewing pleasure.

A few weeks ago, two of my crafting buddies, Kerry and Lesley, got together dyed some seam binding tape that I purchased.  It was pretty easy to make.  All we did (and by we I mean, I supervised while they did all the work LOL!) was cut the binding into long strips, spray with coloured glimmer mists and rolled them up in plastic wrap overnight.  The next day I just undid all the "balls" of ribbon and allowed them to loosely dry on my desk.  As you can see, the results turned out great!  To make the bow, I used my Bow Easy and wrapped the ribbon loosely three times around the arms (as to not un-wrinkle it) before tying into the bow.  Next time I'd probably use the bigger bow template and less loops to make it slightly less bulky :)

Thanks for stopping by!!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Home Sweet Home set from Purple Onion Designs --- please note you can find this set under the Stephanie Ackerman category once it's no longer on the "What's New" page
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Ink
Papers: Neenah cardstock, My Mind's Eye papers, Bazzill cardstock
Accessories:  Copic markers, Spellbinder's dies, Snug Hug seam binding (dyed with Tattered Angels mists), wood button, Fiskars border punch

Happy International Scrapbooking Day!

Just a quick note to let you know that Purple Onion Designs is having a BIG scrapbooking day sale.  You'll find many stamps for 50% off!!  Great time to pick up some of the new releases (not included in the sale) and grab some sale stamps while you're at it :)

Small things sometimes matter most

Happy Friday!  I'm keeping it short and sweet....

Today I'm sharing a quick and easy baby card that I made for the Unity Place embossing challenge and the All Things Unity texture challenge using some Lily Bee paper scraps that were sitting on my desk and the Unity April Kit of the Month. 

Thanks for stopping by!  For more fabulous Unity creations stop by the Friends with Flair post on the Unity blog.

Supplies:
Stamps:  April Kit of the Month (Small things matter) from Unity Stamps
Ink:  Palette Noir
Papers:  Lily Bee designs, Geogia Pacific cardstock
Accessories:  Wilton doily, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Spellbinders die, Creative Bags ribbon

Welcome home!

I have to admit that when I started out this project I had no idea where it was headed---I wanted to make a tag to possibly put onto a card base, but then *ding* light went on and I decided to make a house-warming tag for a bottle of wine.  The tag could also be used on a gift/gift bag or remove the string and mounted onto a card base. 

For the tag I created a little mini scene using paper piecing onto a kraft mailing tag.  I added some dimension using a nice big double bow (thank you Bow Easy!!) and stamped the clouds onto felt to make them look puffy.

Even though I didn't have a specific direction with this project right away, it turned out to be my personal favourite of all the things I created for this month's Purple Onion Designs release.  Oh, and speaking of POD....I've been asked to join the design team on a full time basis *happy dance*!!  Thanks to Michele for this great opportunity :)

Some of the details:

Supplies:
Stamps:  Home Sweet Home set from Purple Onion Designs (designed by Stephanie Ackerman)
Ink:  Palette Noir (works great for stamping on felt)
Papers:  October Afternoon, Lily Bee Designs, kraft mailing tag (office supply store)
Accessories:  ribbon from Creative Bags, cotton kitchen string (for tying onto bottle), white craft felt

I *heart* banners and with this one, you can build your own!

I'm back today with another card I created using the new release Stephanie Ackerman stamps from Purple Onion Designs. 

Like many other crafters these days, I'm totally smitten with anything banner related so when I saw this "Build-a-banner" set I was giddy with excitement.  The set comes with eight different banner flags so you can design your own custom banner!  You can either stamp the images individually or do what I did on this card and lay them all out on your paper and then stick them all at once onto your acrylic block in the shape you desire and then stamp with ink onto the paper (the stamps come unmounted but I added my own cling mount to them).  Once I finished stamping them onto the grey paper, I adhered my string across the top (or you could also hand draw it) with lots of little bows and then paper pieced the centers of the banner.  To create the sentiment for this card I stamped the vintage typewriter "thank you very much" twice across both the top and bottom of the main panel of the card.

See you later this week with some more creations---thanks for stopping by :)

Supplies:
Stamps:  Build a Banner (by Stephanie Ackerman) from Purple Onion Designs, Thank you very much vintage typewriter sentiment from Purple Onion Designs (I believe that specific stamp is retired now but there are lots of other sentiments here)
Papers:  Lily Bee Designs
Ink:  Palette Noir
Accessories:  Cotton twine (dollar store), Copics, Fiskars border punch

A floral celebration with Stephanie Ackerman stamps (POD)---and a chance to WIN :)

I was thrilled a few weeks ago when Michele from Purple Onion Designs stamps e-mailed me to ask if I would like to be the guest designer for the next release.  I totally jumped at the chance since they have such wonderful and unique designs in my favourite red rubber format.

I got to work with some wonderful stamps designed by Stephanie Ackerman.  If I had to describe them in two words, I'd say fun and quirky all wrapped up into one!!  (She has some amazing mixed media and paper craft art on her blog, so be sure check it out sometime).  Today I'm showing you one of the projects I made using the "mixed middles flower" set.  The set is really cool----it comes with the large flower image and four different centers that you can mix and match.  I stamped the flower onto some ledger patterned paper and coloured it with my Copics.  Then I stamped and coloured the image a second time and adhered it over top leaving the flower petals curled to add dimension.  The rest of the card is a simple panel design with an embossed background and a double bow that I tied on using my new Bow Easy (how the heck did I *EVER* live without that for this long?!?!)

You can see all the rest of the amazing new Purple Onion Designs stamps here and I'll be back with more creations all week :)  And one more thing....how would you like to WIN some of these fabby new stamps?  All you have to do is stop by the Purple Onion Designs blog and leave a comment for your chance to win.  There are also some amazing design team creations over there too ;)

Supplies:
Stamps: Mixed Middles Flower set from Purple Onion Designs
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Papers:  Neenah cardstock, Coredinations cardstock, My Mind's Eye patterned papers
Accessories:  Offray Ribbon, Tim Holtz embossing folder, Nestabilities die, Copic Markers

With heartfelt sympathy (Gina K Designs)

I don't often make sympathy cards --- in fact the last time I needed one, I actually bought one because I find them difficult to make.  I had the Gina K Designs "Hugs and Prayers" set sitting in my get inky pile and decided to create a sympathy card with it last week.  I was actually drawn to the stamp set originally because of the beautiful floral images rather than the sympathy theme. 

This card was really quick and easy to put together.  I simply layered some patterned paper circles onto a white card base that I cut out on my Mom's Cricut machine and then stamped the solid floral images onto white cardstock in black ink for the focal image.  I stamped the sentiment directly onto the ribbon using Palette Noir ink and added a bow and button to finish off the card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps: Hugs and Prayers set from Gina K Designs
Paper: Georgia Pacific cardstock, Basic Grey papers
Ink: Palette Noir (for both stamping on ribbon and images)
Accessories: Offray ribbon, button, Cricut card base (Wild card cartridge)
Card Sketch:  Weekly sketch challenge from Gina K Stamp TV group