Fifth Avenue in Bermuda

I know I promised you Easter cards, but I finished the Clean And Simple challenge which I combined with the Color Challenge and want to share that with you tonight as well as post it on splitcoaststampers.

As you can tell, I am not an expert in watercoloring. That middle flower just had to show off I guess. The CAS challenge was to use this sketch by Carly. The color challenge this week is to use Bermuda Bay, Basic Gray (Oh no! Not Again!), and So Saffron. As you can see, this time I went light on the gray and the saffron. I really like the brighter Crushed Curry better with Bermuda Bay.

The flowers were painted with the Aqua Painters and re-inker. After they were dry and mounted, I used glue in the centers of the flowers. Luke woke up and needed attention and I found that letting the glue set about 15 minutes works really well. Then I pressed microbeads into the tacky glue. These beads are not SU but some that I found in my embellishment box. I used that Scallop Trim Border Punch that will only be available one more day. (I hope you were able to get one and love it as much as I love mine! ) The butterfly was cut and embossed with an embosslit and the BIG GUY.

Card Recipe

Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral, For All You Do

Paper: Bermuda Bay, Basic Gray, So Saffron DSP, Whisper White

Ink: Basic Gray, Bermuda Bay

Acc.: Big Shot, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Scallop Oval & Large Oval Punches, Aqua Painters, Microbeads (non SU), Bermuda Bay Polka Dot Ribbon

Hope you had time to have a little fun today.

Bonnie

Caramel Birthday Cake

This is another card for last week's color challenge to use Creamy Caramel, Pretty in Pink and Dusty Durango. Last week was a little crazy and I have been slow to take photos and share. I keep hoping life will slow down a bit so I can get back to stamping with my friends. Hopefully in a few more weeks the house will be on the market and I will have more time for fun.

There are only 2 more days of Sale-A-Bration ladies. As usual I have had so much fun with these sets, that I will be sad to see it end.

For this card, I used the Happy Moments stamp set. I stamped the happy birthday sentiment in Dusty Durango on the Dusty Durango piece. Then I used Black Staz-On to stamp the Birthday cake and colored it with markers. (The flowers are P in Pink with Durango centers and the candles are Durango.) Lastly, I stamped the sentiment from Whimsical Words with Dusty Durango. The matting is Pretty in Pink and the card base is Creamy Caramel. Then I tied it all up with a piece of Pretty In Pink Taffeta Ribbon. It really went together fast and I love the color combination. I saw an ad in the newspaper yesterday for an outfit in these colors. It was beautiful! I think I will use these colors again...and again.

I'm off to take some more photos so I can share more Easter cards and to work on the CAS challenge for this week if I have time.

Happy stampin',

Bonnie

Plum Posies

I was playing with the plum colors and had seen a card using this stamp set and the Ornament Punch (still available by the way, item # 116794, $15.95).


I punched the ornament out of Vellum and flattened the bottom with my trusty scissors. I stamped the little flower from the Eastern Blooms set on the vellum vase with Whisper White and set it aside to dry. (I could have used my heat tool for faster drying but sometimes interruptions work to my benefit, LOL!) The branch is stamped with Whisper White on the Perfect Plum. The stems are outlined with a Mellow Moss marker and the centers colored with a Pale Plum Marker. I used some Vellum Adhesive (non SU) and found out that I needed to cover the bottom of the "vase" to look like water. The card base is Textured Perfect Plum with a pale Plum mat.

This is a very quick and easy card. The other flowers in this set are also beautiful.

I'm off to do some more stampin'. I need to photograph some cards I made yesterday too.

I appreciate your stopping by. Come again soon.
Bonnie

Masculine Birthday

Today's post is a very simple Birthday card suitable for a man. Why is it we have such a hard time doing manly cards? With me, I think, it is because I'm always drawn to the flower stamps. Usually they are too feminine for a guy. I like the plain and simple, but I love the girly, girl cards.

For this card I used the Vintage Labels stamp set and the Designer Series Paper Pad from the Sale-A-Bration catalog. Only 7 more days to earn your Sale-A-Bration sets! Let me know if you want to order or click on the catalog on the sidebar and put in an Internet Order. You'll notice that I used the "whacked" embossing folder. Remember a while back I cut it into strips? It made a lovely embossed design that isn't feminine. The "label" that I used to stamp the sentiment on is one of the Sending Love Notes, Kisses that you will find on p. 19 of the Occassions Mini Catalog. I love these as well as the hugs. It's a real time saver not to have to cut them and I always did like hugs and kisses!

Card Recipe

Stamps: Vintage Labels

Paper: Whisper White, Bravo Burgundy, Welcome Neighbor DSP

Ink: Old Olive

Acc.: Sending Love Notes; Kisses, Big Shot, Finial Press Embossing Folder, 5/8" Neutral Brad (Silver)

Hope you enjoy today's post. Don't be afraid to leave a comment. I love comments!

Bonnie

Dusty Wings

Hello Friends,

Today's Color Challenge is.....Creamy Caramel, Pretty in Pink & Dusty Durango. I have to admit I initially questioned the wisdom of this combination, but Betty does have a great sense of color. The stamp set on my table was Greenhouse Garden and I started out with that but realized quickly that it wasn't what I wanted. When I opened my stamp drawer, Wings of Friendship was sitting on top pretty as you please. Soooooo.....

What do you think? I knew it would be tricky to ink even with the spots, so I got out the markers. When the image wasn't as sharp as I wanted, I used the markers and a blender pen to fill it in. The picture doesn't show the Sanded stamped background. It is very subtle, but makes the card look textured. I popped the sentiment up to balance the ribbon. By the way, you can earn this stamp set by holding a $300 workshop. Let me know when you want to book one.

Card Recipe

Stamps: Wings of Friendship (Level 2 Hostess gift), Sanded

Paper: Creamy Caramel, Whisper White, Basic Black

Ink: Creamy Caramel, Pretty in Pink & Dusty Durango SU Markers, Creamy Caramel ink pad

Acc.: Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon, Large Oval & Scallop Oval Punches

Hope you enjoy this card my friends,

Bonnie

White Camelia

Hello Friends,

Over the weekend we were in Roanoke Rapids still working on getting the house on the market. My camelia bush is in full bloom and it is beautiful! The flower on this card reminds me of a camelia.

The flower is really quite simple. I put a link to a blog with directions on March 3. You can scroll down and use that link for a really good tutorial or you can read on and I'll give you the short & sweet version.

Cut 2 sets of the flowers from cardstock with the SU Birds & Blooms Sizzlit set and the Big Shot. (The large one is on one die and the smaller 2 on on another.) Fold all the flowers in half, in half again and in half again and unfold. Use the bone folder to curl the petals of all the flowers and separate the layers. (If the layers don't want to separate, curl them a little more.) Once all the flowers are done, adhere them in the middle. I used 2 large, then 2 medium and 2 small flowers alternating the petals to make it look fuller. I just used the Summer Sun SU Marker to color the center but you could easily use brads or micro beads. If you don't have a Big Shot, you can order one from me or use the Extra Large Fancy Flower punch from the Occasions Mini (p. 10) or any large flower punch. I've tried flowers done with the scallop circle punch too, but I didn't like them as much. If all else fails, you can come to see me. My Big Guy is sitting on the edge of the table ready to work. (The Big Shot, not the husband, LOL)

I don't know if you can tell or not, but the yellow background of the card is embossed with the swirlly Texturz Plate from the Backgrounds 1, again using the Big Guy. The punched square is 2 1/4" square and punched using both of the Scallop Trim punches.

Card Recipe

No Stamps

Paper: Whisper White, YoYo Yellow

Ink: Summer Sun Stampin' Write Marker

Acc.: Big Shot, Sizzlit die, Texturz plate, Scallop Trim Corner & Border punches.

Hope this brings a smile to your face as my camelia did over the weekend.

Happy Stampin', I mean Punchin',

Bonnie

Easter Garden

Here's another card from the recycled envelopes. You can see what the lining looked like. Isn't it beautiful? I love the watercolor look and the spring colors.


After I photographed it, I noticed that I could have done a much better job of cutting and rolling the flowers. I'll have to try again and see if I can do better.

The card base is So Saffron and the Oval behind the sentiment is Elegant Eggplant. I used the Scallop Oval & Wide Oval punches for the sentiment and mat. The ribbon is from the stash. (Actually it was from the yard sale bag. I keep digging into it, lol)

Hope you get to work on your Easter cards this weekend. It's not far off!

Thanks for stopping in,

Bonnie

Easter Flower

This is an Easter card I made a few weeks ago for Scrap & Share. Many of you have seen it already but I thought you might want a refresher.

Several years ago a very kind lady gave me the leftover lined envelopes from her daughter's wedding invitations. They had a beautiful watercolor look floral lining in pastel colors. The Scrap & Share group has been using them very creatively. Barbara started cutting out the flowers and putting them on her cards. That was beautiful! I saw some paper tole cards on splitcoast one time and, when I came across the last of the envelopes, I just knew I had to try this technique with them. This is one of the cards that I came up with.


The paper is some leftovers from before my Stampin' Up! days and I don't know where it came from. It is a lovely soft pink. I used the BIG GUY to cut some ovals since I don't have an Easter Egg Punch. It has 3 sizes of ovals and I found that the wide oval punch is just a tad smaller than the smallest one.





Here is a closeup of the flower. I cut one out and rolled it with my bone folder and adhered to an identical flower with dimensionals.

The "lace" at the top of the card is a strip of the pink edged on both sides with the Scallop Trim Border punch and another narrower piece punched on one side. The ribbon went over the "seam". All of this was mounted on a Very Vanilla card base and the sentiment is from the Well Scripted set.

This can be done with stamped flowers as well as any decorative paper. It's really quite easy and pops up a simple card.


Have a great weekend,
Bonnie

Easter in Pastel

Opulent Bloom

Today I really went from my normal and used a Bold Bright color. It seems like whenever I get these colors out, I just shake my head and put them back. The Color Challenge this week was to use Orchid Opulence (a Bold Bright color), Rich Razzleberry, and Old Olive. I had bought this DSP a while back and this was the perfect opportunity to open it, especially since the dessert option was to use swirls. This Cottage Wall DSP has all three colors in it.



I used a 2 step stamp set that was a Christmas present. I have been itching to get it out and I really like it! It has 4 flowers and a stem. Each flower has 2 stamps, a solid and a detail. I stamped the background flower in Orchid Opulence then inked the detail stamp with Rich Razzleberry and stamped off once. The stamps leave a little blank space so you have a touch of white showing through. The stem also has a background & detail stamp that adds some dimension.

For the butterflies I used the BIG GUY and the Beautiful Wings Embosslit that embosses and cuts at the same time.

I think I really this Bold Bright color. Now I'll have to try some of the others.

Card Recipe
Stamps: Greenhouse Garden, Short & Sweet

Paper: Whisper White, Orchid Opulence, Cottage Wall DSP
Ink: Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive
Acc.: Pearl from the Pretties Kit, Old Olive narrow grosgrain ribbon, Big Shot, Beautiful Wings Embosslit

This was fun. Hope you get to have some fun today too.
Bonnie

Flutter-by

Today's card color combo was inspired by a card on Splitcoaststampers by a British stamper, ApricotRose. I loved the yellow, black, & white together. It makes a cheery card don't you think? With Spring coming so late this year, I think we all need lots of yellow!

Card Recipe
Stamps: Dreams du Jour, Autumn Leaf Prints (Retired)
Paper: Whisper White, Yoyo Yellow, Basic Black
Ink: Basic Black
Acc.: Corner Rounder Punch, Scallop Trim Corner Punch (in the Occasions Mini Catalog, p. 11), Big Shot, SU Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plate, Black Gingham Ribbon, SU Markers

You can't really see it in the picture, but the yellow piece has been embossed with the BIG Guy. In real life you can see the swirls.

Wishing you butterflies and sunshine.
Bonnie

Mint Chocolate Chip

Hello Friends,

Here is a card I did for the CAS challenge to use green & brown with White or Cream. I've been wanting to ink the Happy Moments Sale-A-Bration stamp set and this was a perfect opportunity. This set is still free (until March 31st) with a $50.00 Stampin' Up! purchase. It has 4 adorable images plus 3 sentiments. You can click on the Sale-A-Bration catalog on the side to see all the great sets available.


Card Recipe

Stamps: Happy Moments, Short & Sweet

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Certainly Celery

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive Stampin' Write Markers

Accessories: Big Shot, SU Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plate, Ticket Corner Punch, Horizontal Slot Punch, Old Olive 5/8" Satin Ribbon (from the Occasions Mini Catalog), Circle Ice Brad

Sorry about the crazy spacing. If anyone can tell me why it spaces the way it wants please email me and tell me. Hope you enjoy the card anyway.

Happy Stampin',

Bonnie

Ye Olde Garden Shoppe

Hello Stampin' Friends,

I had some leftover pieces from the last card and some stamps out that I was going to use, but didn't. Sooo, I played a bit last night. I love the Bella's Bloom stamp set and I have barely wet the rubber! I meant to stamp a few flowers, but got carried away and decided if a few was good, a lot was better. I used the leaves on the sentiment as well as a stamp from a retired set, Watercolor Minis for the greenery at the bottom. I cut around the top of the flowers and put some dimensionals in the middle to lift it out a bit. Then I trimmed a piece of the Bashful Blue DSP that I had "quilted" with the Big Guy and punched it with that oh so popular Scallop Trim Border Punch (still free with a $50.00 purchase). I thought it looked like a store canopy and the Shoppe was born! The bloom sentiment is from another stamp set, Bloomin' Beautiful. (I always thought that Bloom would be a great name for a flower shop.) The butterflies are from the Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die, p. 24, in the Occasions Mini Catalog.


Card Recipe
Stamps: Bella's Bloom, Bloomin' Beautiful, Watercolor Minis
Paper: Melon Mambo Textured, Very Vanilla, Bashful Blue
Ink: Melon Mambo, Certainly Celery
Acc.: Scallop Trim Border & Scallop Trim Corner punches, Big Shot, Beautiful Wings Embosslit die, Perfect Details Texturz Plate, Dimensionals

I had fun with this one. I hope you enjoy seeing it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Don't forget to get inky this weekend.

Hugs,
Bonnie

Lindsay's Card

I made this card for several challenges. I love it when I can combine challenges for a card! Sometimes I get way too confused but this one went together well. It wasn't at all like I planned when I went in my stamp room. Sometimes it goes like that!

The Color Challenge this week was Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery & Melon Mambo with neutrals of choice. Bashful & Celery I could see. They are both Soft Subtles. But Melon Mambo??? It's one of my favorite colors but I never ever thought of using it with the Subtles! When I inked the branch with the Celery & Melon, it didn't look bad. So then I went all out and decided to use Melon for the card base too! What do you think?

The Color Challenge was combine with the Tea Pot Challenge to do a card based on quilting. So I ran the pieces through the Big Guy to make it look more like a quilt. I also drew little stitches to try to make it look like an applique piece. (I'm not sure if I succeeded with that or not but there was no going back!)

Then I used the Sketch Challenge this week for the layout.

This card will go to a young woman, Lindsay, who found out she had cancer right after she found out she was pregnant. She is fighting a big battle and my heart goes out to her and her mother. Say a prayer for them, ok?

Card Recipe
Stamps: Thoughts & Prayers
Paper: Melon Mambo, Bashful Blue, Whisper White
Ink: Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue & Melon Mambo Markers, Night of Navy
Acc.: Big Shot, SU Perfect Details Texturz Plate


Wishing you good health and a joyful day.
Bonnie

Today I met with the Creative Arts group of the Cary Newcomers Club and not only learned how to "paint" with Prismacolor pencils but made a new and very creative friend. She demonstrated how she creates wonderful pictures. It is amazing that they are "painted" with colored pencils! She has some really neat tricks up her sleeve (and in her makeup bag) and she graciously had made prints of her work for us to make a card with.

This is the card I made. It was hard to choose which print to use.

All I did was tear the edges, mat the picture and use the paper piercer & mat pack to outline the design.


Not only is the rose painted beautifully, but the background is gorgeous! Here is a close up. Can you believe it was done with colored pencils?

Jean doesn't think she is an artist. What do you think? I hope I can remember some of her tricks. If I can't, I will just have to pester her to get together again...and again...and again.

'Til next time, happy stampin', or drawing, or tracing or coloring or anything that you enjoy doing.

Bonnie

Easter Lily

Still keeping to an Easter theme with the CAS challenge this week which is to layer 2 different shapes. I hope this qualifies even if I shaped one layer myself. The lily was stamped on Shimmery White in Going Gray then I painted the petals with Frost White Shimmer Paint. It's the first time I have used this paint and it definitely has a shimmer but not too much. The oval was first dry embossed with a Texturz Plate and then cut with the Ovals die. I've been using pastel shades for my Spring cards but like the brightness of the Crushed Curry for this one. It looks like a sunny day, which we had today. Spring is going to come after all!

Card Recipe

Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral, Well Scripted

Paper: Crushed Curry Textured, Crushed Curry, Whisper White, Shimmery White

Ink: Going Gray, Crushed Curry

Acc.: Scallop Trim Corner Punch, Big Shot, SU Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plate, Ovals Die, Frost White Shimmer Paint, Crushed Curry Marker, Crushed Curry Polka Dot Ribbon

Hope you saw the sunshine today and maybe got to stamp too.

Bonnie

Here Comes the Easter Bunny

I had a wonderful time stamping with my Roanoke Rapids Scrap & Share friends yesterday. We made quite a few Easter cards. This is one that I took to share and I promised that I would post it so those that didn't have time to make it could catch up. It is a CASE of a card by Sandi MacIver. She generously shared her template. You can see her card here. She constantly amazes and inspires me. I actually combined her card from last year and this year and this is what I came up with. She has templates on her blog. Just follow the links.

Card Recipe
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Garden Green, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Basic Black, Tea Party DSP
Ink: Basic Black
Acc.: Egg & Bunny Templates, Big Shot, Ovals Die, Large Oval, Word Window, 1/2" Circle, & Heart to Heart Punches, Cropodile, Brads, Sponge Dauber, Stampin' Pastels, Dimensionals. Certainly Celery Grosgrain Ribbon.

This little guy wasn't a quick and easy project but he turned out so cute that I think I will try another one. My grandsons would probably love Sandi's with the candy in the tummy, but this with a bit of chocolate on the side will have to do. Hope you get to try him too.

Sweet dreams,
Bonnie

Silhouette

Hello Stampin' Friends. No stamping today but a lot of cutting and embossing with the Big Shot. I saw a card on Splitcoast this week with a silhouette and I thought it would be perfect for a certain special friend. You can see Sally's card here. The layout is from the Sketch Challenge this week. Instead of using decorative paper, I embossed white card stock with different backgrounds. This friend favors black & white.


Card Recipe

Paper: Whisper White, Whisper White Textured, Basic Black

Acc.: Big Shot Machine, Perfect Polka Dots & Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folders, SU Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plate, Oval Die

I'll be stamping with my Roanoke Rapids friends tomorrow. I always look forward to sharing ideas with them. Have a great weekend. Looks like the sun is going to shine here. Hope it shines for you too.

Hugs,

Bonnie

Easter Basket

This card was for the CAS Challenge this week to make a square card. As a rule I don't make square cards because they take extra postage. I did see a hint that they can be put in a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" envelope and sent for regular postage. The envelope can be lined with coordinating paper and the lining adhered together on the ends so the card doesn't slip and slide. I will probably hand deliver this one anyway. I would hate for the Post Office to scrunch my bow!


The basket is made from a Top Note cut with the Big Shot Machine. I cut it in half and adhered it on the bottom with the back piece a tad higher than the front. I cut a strip from the leftovers for the handle. The eggs were cut from Decorative Paper with the Oval Die (it has 3 sizes) and the Wide Oval Punch. I put the eggs in the basket with dimensionals so it would have some depth. Sorry the picture isn't better.



Card Recipe
Stamps: Well Scripted (p 19 Occasions Mini Catalog), Sanded
Paper: Barely Banana, Whisper White, Tea Party DSP
Ink: Almost Amethyst, Sahara Sand
Acc.: Big Shot, Top Note & Ovals Die, Scallop Trim Border, Scallop Oval & Wide Oval Punches, Pretty in Pink Taffeta Ribbon

Hope you like this and I hope they like it over at Splitcoaststampers. You can see all the beautiful cards for this callenge here. It's a great source of inspiration.
Bonnie

Yellow Rose on Gray

This week's Color Challenge was to make a card using Basic Gray (ugh!), Crushed Curry, Always Artichoke and Neutrals of choice. Dessert was using a border with Nesties. Usually when there is a color I really don't like (Basic Gray) I use it very sparingly. This time I got brave and just put it out there! Thankfully the Crushed Curry and Whisper White do perk it up.

I found a Tutorial for the flower on this awesome blog. Instead of the punch, I used the Stampin' Up Birds & Blooms Sizzlit with my Big Shot Machine. I used 2 large, 1 medium and 1 small flower. This is one time that nothing but the bone folder would do.

The little butterflies were done with the Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die in the Occasions Mini Catty (p. 24). It punches 5 butterflies at one time. These are the smallest. I also used the Big Shot to emboss the Basic Gray piece with a Texturz Plate. (Trying to pretty it up!) I really gave the Big Guy a workout on this card!

Card Recipe

Stamps: Short & Sweet

Ink: Always Artichoke

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Gray, Crushed Curry, Always Artichoke

Acc.: Big Shot, SU Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plate, SU Birds & Blooms Sizzlit, Ovals Originals Die, SU Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die, Extra Large 2 Step Bird Punch, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Large Oval Punch, Artichoke Brad

I love the card I did for the CAS challenge but unfortunately the photograph didn't come out well. I'm off to work on that now. Hope to show it off tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy!

Bonnie

Upsy Daisy Funky Fold

Hello Creative Friends. Sorry for the delay in posts. We babysat over the weekend and it always takes a while to recover from having so much fun. We have some of the sweetest grandchildren in the world. Of course there is no prejudice there at all!



A while back I posted a card made with this fold. The base card is cut as a tent fold by cutting the cardstock the long way at 4 1/4" and folding in half to make a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card. Then I cut 1" the end of the front of the card. I used the Scallop Trim Border Punch (free with $50.00 order until the end of this month) on the short side and also punched a 2 1/8" piece of Rose Red to adhere on the back piece. This Upsy Daisy stamp is one of my favorites. I stamped the flowers with So Saffron ink and used a cotton swab dipped in Rose Red ink to add some color to some of the flowers. The stems are traced with a Certainly Celery Marker and the sentiment (from the Heard from the Heart set) is stamped in Bravo Burgundy.

I have been busy today doing challenge cards. I've almost finished the second one and as soon as I have pics, I'll share them with you.

Hope you get to play today.
Bonnie