#FF0010: A Cute Summer DOG Card

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Comments: 7

summerIt’s time for the Festive Friday Challenge, where every challenge is a party! For FF0010, we are celebrating  Independence Day with a Summer twist. You can create a card to celebrate Independence Day, or you can create a summer card,  or you can create a card or a project that combines both! Whatever way you decide to create is fine with us! We would love to have you play along, so don’t forget to link up.

This week, I created a cute summer card featuring the Sitting Here stamp set. The porch swing reminds me of summer evenings back in the day, when people would sit on the porch swing with a glass of lemonade, and watch people in the neighborhood stroll by.   I hope you enjoy today’s card!

Cute Summer Card

cute summer card

Colors of the Day
The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips

I am so in love with the pillows adorning the swing.  When I was growing up, our porch swing was just plain old wood.  However,  this one sports a Pool Party bench pillow, which I actually stamped onto Pool Party cardstock.  The stripes were colored with a Pool Party marker.  The round pillow was stamped in Granny Apple Green, while the other two pillows were stamped onto Poppy Parade and Lovely Lipstick cardstock, and accented with Stampin’ Write Markers.

cute summer card

I docked the tail on the dog, and watercolored it to resemble Muffy.  The flowers were stamped twice, once onto Grapefruit Grove cardstock, and once onto Whisper White.  I used Stampin’ Write Markers to color the flowers, and then snipped them out.  They were then adhered onto the Grapefruit Grove image, creating a Grapefruit Grove ceramic flower pot.

cute summer card

Muffy looks so comfy snuggled up against the pillows, don’t you think?

cute summer card

The Challenge Twists

As mentioned earlier, Festive Friday is a challenge with twists.  If you do not wish to create an Independence Day project, you could create a “summer” card or project.  We offer alternatives for every challenge.  Plus, if you play along with us, you will be earning Fest Points which can be redeemed for items such as tutorials (including the tutorial for today’s card), retired Stampin’ Up! products, design team cards, and even a spot as a Guest Designer! But remember:  To earn Fest Points, you need an account on the challenge site. Just click on login/register on the challenge site to get started.

To see all of the inspiration our Design Team has created for you, head on over to Festive Friday Challenges!

Would you like to create your own card?  If you enjoyed today’s card, and would like to create your own cute summer card,  the supply list is located below.  Clicking on a product takes you right to my store.  Be sure to use this month’s Host Code.  Online orders over $50 (before tax and shipping) will receive a little gift from me IF you use the Host Code.  If your order is $150 or more, please do not use the Host Code.  You will automatically receive the gift from me, as well as your own Host Rewards.

June:  K2QQUSBK

Until next time…
siggy-1

Price: $110.00

The CASE of the Serene Garden

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Comments: 6

Serene Garden

Nicole and I are back On the CASE. Our mission: To work through current Stampin’ Up! catalogs, breaking down gorgeous samples step-by-step, just for you! CASE means to Copy and Share with Everyone, and that is exactly what we do. We hope you enjoy the cards we CASE and the free tutorials included in our posts.  I hope you enjoy today’s CASE of Serene Garden with tutorial.

On the CASE: Serene Garden
Annual Catalog Page 166

Serene Garden

Serene Garden is one of my favorite bundles from the new annual catalog.  I love the large corner embossing die and the correlating framelit which cuts out the leaves.  CASEing today’s card gave me a chance to try it out to see how it works. I think it will definitely be a fun set with which to experiment. I hope you enjoy today’s CASE with tutorial.

Serene Garden

Colors of the Day
Stamps and Papers and Inks … Oh, My!

Stamps: Serene Garden (Bundle includes Garden Scene Framelit Dies), You’re Inspiring (sentiment – Ann’s CASE), Beautiful Promenade (sentiment – Stampin’ Up! sample)
Paper:  Mint Macaron Cardstock (4-1/4″ x 11″, 4″‘ x 5-1/4″), Shaded Spruce Cardstock (3-1/2″ x 4″), Whisper White Cardstock (2-1/2″ x 2-1/2″, scraps)
Ink: Lemon Lime Twist, Lovely Lipstick, Shaded Spruce, VersaMark
Other:  Big Shot, Garden Scene Framelits dies, SNAIL Adhesive, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Lemon Lime Twist 1/4″ Ombre Ribbon,  Pearl Basic Jewels

“On the CASE” Notes
Your Step-by-Step Guide

1.  Score the Mint Macaron cardstock at 5-1/2″ to form the card base.

2.  Measure 1-1/4″ from the bottom and 1/2″ from the left side, and emboss the corner using the large corner die.

Serene Garden

3.  Cut out the leaves with the correlating framelit.

Serene Garden

4.  Stamp the vine border in Shaded Spruce.

Serene Garden

5.  Emboss the Shaded Spruce cardstock using the large corner framelit.   Adhere it behind the Mint Macaron panel, positioning it so the leaves peek through the spaces.  (Arghh!  Due to having to play with GQ while creating this card, I made a mistake.  I used the framelit to cut out the Shaded Spruce leaves, and I did not need to.  But rather than do it over, I simply added the Shaded Spruce leaves into the Mint Macaron panel like a puzzle.  The look is a little different than Stampin’ Up!’s sample.)

Serene Garden

Serene Garden

6.  Stamp the corner image in Mint Macaron.  (Because my Mint Macaron pad was stamping a little too dark for my liking, I used VersaMark.)

Serene Garden

7.  Adhere the panel to the card base with dimensionals.

8.  Stamp the bird in Lemon Lime Twist, and cut out with the framelit.  Adhere to the card with dimensionals.

Serene Garden

9.  Stamp the butterfly and cut out with the framelit.  Adhere to the card with dimensionals.  The Stampin’ Up! sample uses Grapefruit Grove.  I used Lovely Lipstick.

Serene Garden

10.  Ink the sentiment in Flirty Flamingo.  (I used Lovely Lipstick again.)  Stamp onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock approximately 1/2″ x 2″.  Snip each end to form a “V”.  Add a snippet of ribbon behind the sentiment, and adhere to the card with dimensionals.

Serene Garden

11.  Embellish with three pearls as shown.

Serene Garden

How Hard Was It to Crack This CASE

There is nothing tricky about today’s card.  It is a photopolymer set, so it is easy to line up the vines for stamping.   The most difficult thing is making sure the embossing framelit is in the correct position and is straight. Difficulty Level:  3 out of 5, only because it takes a little time to do the embossing and die cutting.

 #SUontheCASE

Nicole and I hope our projects today inspire you to try CASEing the catalog, too! We’ll be “on the case”, looking for the hashtag #SUontheCASE on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+ & Pinterest). If we find one of your projects, we’ll share it, like it, repost it – we’ll do it all!

On the CASE: Picnic with YouNow head on over to Nicole at  Pixel Maven’s Retreat to see the CASE file she has been working on.  Nicole always writes the BEST tutorials!  What she has CASED is fabulous…and you will be delighted!

Ready to get On this CASE?  If you enjoyed today’s card, and would like to try your hand at creating your own CASE,  the supply list is located below.  Clicking on a product takes you right to my store.  Be sure to use this month’s Host Code.  Online orders over $50 (before tax and shipping) will receive a special little somethin’-somethin’ from me IF you use the Host Code.   If your order is $150 or more, please do not use the Host Code.  You will automatically receive the gift from me, as well as your own Host Rewards.

JUNE: K2QQUSBK

As always, if you have any questions about the cards I create or the techniques I use, I am only an email away. Until next time…

siggy-1

Price: $110.00

The Stamp Review Crew: Beautiful Bouquet Edition

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Comments: 26

Beautiful Bouquet
It’s time for the Stamp Review Crew: Beautiful Bouquet Edition! If this is your very first visit to one of our hops, the Stamp Review Crew is a group of international Stampin’ Up! demonstrators whose mission is to do a blog hop on the first, third and fifth Mondays of each month. Our hops are unique because each of us features the same stamp set used in a variety of ways, giving you loads of inspiration for that set. The hops are archived at the Stamp Review Crew blog. You will be able to click through each hop at any time, going directly to the posts for that hop whenever you want. This week we are featuring the Beautiful Bouquet stamp set. If you are following along in order, you have just arrived from my good friend, Mike Funke. After visiting me, you will continue to the next stop, the talented Bronwyn Eastley.

Beautiful Bouquet

Beautiful Bouquet

Beautiful Bouquet is one of my favorite sets.  Most of what I have created with it was designed using brighter colors and the larger flower images. This time, however, I decided to highlight it in more subtle tones.  I hope you enjoy today’s card.

Colors  of the Day
The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips

Because I wanted to keep the look soft and subtle, I created my own paper by using washes of Highland Heather and Pool Party for the flowers.  The leaves are Whisper White, while the stems are Soft Sea Foam.

Beautiful Bouquet

For a bit of bling, I added a single rhinestone and several of the new Share What You Love Artisan Pearls.

Beautiful Bouquet

The Basket Weave 3D Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder adds a touch of texture, and provides the perfect back drop for the bouquet.  The simple sentiment is accented with more pearls, of course!

Beautiful Bouquet

I love the soft and delicate look of this card.  To show you how Beautiful Bouquet looks in brighter colors with larger flowers, here is the card I CASED for the On the CASE with Ann and Nicole series:

Beautiful Bouquet

The step-by-step tutorial for this card can be found HERE, just in case you would like to CASE it!

I hope you enjoyed today’s cards.  If would like to try your hand at creating your own Beautiful Bouquet card,  the supply list is located below.  Clicking on a product takes you right to my store.   You will receive a little somethin’-somethin’ from me IF you use the Host Code.   If your order is $150 or more, please do not use the Host Code.  You will automatically receive the gift from me, as well as your own Host Rewards.

JUNE: K2QQUSBK

Of course, if you ever have a question about the cards I create or the techniques I use, I am only an email away.  Now hop along to Bronwyn Eastley to see what she has in store for you!  If you get lost along the way, you can find a list of all the hoppers at The Stamp Review Crew.  Until next time…Stamp Review Crew: High Tide EditionStamp Review Crew: High Tide Edition

siggy-1

Price: $110.00