A Lonely, Lovely Tree

I LOVE TREES! Silhouetted against a predawn or dusky sky, they are just about my favorite part of nature. When I saw this set, Branch Out, which is retired (I'm sorry! You're welcome to borrow it anytime though), I knew I wanted it. Then I purchased it and was distracted by other stamping activities. Until the other day. I saw this card by Silke Ledlow and was inspired!

This look is one that's difficult for me. I'm not sure what it is about white space that intimidates me, but I find it hard to leave well enough alone. (When I was growing up, the household mantra was "if a little's good, a lot is better!") So, I followed Silke's design mostly, but I had to infuse it with a bit more Rich Razzleberry, for some reason.

Okay, here's the skinny on this card. It's a WW base, scored every 1/4" on the right side. There's retired Walk in the Park DSP anchoring the whole design. The tree and the tire swing are stamped in Chocolate Chip, with "leaves" of Pretty in Pink and Rich Razzleberry. The sentiment is from Wow Flowers and the strip is curled slightly to give it some more interest against the White card stock.

This is one of the cards I'm offering at next month's--how can it be that NEXT MONTH is just 2 days away?!--Stamp-A-Stack, being held at my home Friday evening, Feb. 5, from 6:30-9:30p, Sat. morning, Feb. 6, from 10a-1p, and Sun. afternoon, Feb. 7, from 2-5p. I have slots available at all times, so feel free to leave me a comment if you'd like to join me!

Preppy Happy Bling

I was in high school during the '80s, so I know a thing or two about being a prep. Polos worn with the collar turned up. Izod crocs and Ralph Lauren ponies gracing those shirts, if you had money. The hottest color combination? Pink and green. I don't remember having any wardrobe pieces with this combination, but perhaps I'm blocking the memory.

This afternoon I had an '80s flashback of sorts when thinking about a card I could make using the InColor Collection. It occurred to me that I hadn't used Pink Pirouette and Kiwi Kiss together--like, DUH!

I wanted to use the Wow Flowers set that I have, which coordinates with the Power Flower Card Elements Kit that I highlighted here last week.

I pulled out KK first and found a large scrap. Using my scalloped edge punch, I created an 8.5" length. I cut it .5" thick and set it aside. I decided to use PP as the base, so I stamped the Wow Flowers flower in the same ink as randomly as I could. Then I went back and did the same with KK.

Then I needed a focal point. After toying around a bit, I stamped the happy birthday circle three times, punched it out with my too big 1.25" circle punch (1" circle punch is preferred, but I do not own said punch), and punched out three more circles using my 1 3/8" circle punch so that they could be matted. Although not perfect, still rad.

Back to the scalloped edge. I wanted to add some totally awesome bling to this preppyness, so I put Sticky Strip along the bottom edges, removed the covering, and sprinkled liberally with Dazzling Diamonds. This turned out, like, so, like cool! I had added some silver brads to the centers of the flowers in the middle of the birthday circles, so I whipped out my 2-Way Glue Pen and sprinkled again, and spread a little more pixie dust.

This was as girly as I could get (I was NEVER an all-out prep or a Valley Girl, and I'm SO not a girly girl), so I finished it off by adding some KK double-striped ribbon.

Hope you enjoyed the flashback!

Flower Power to the People!

I am NOT a child of the '60's. I was a child IN the '60's. IN, not OF. So, to me, Flower Power is all about cards!

Let me explain. Flower Power Card Elements is a new product by SU! that has supplies to make 9 cards. Sold separately, but that coordinates with this, is a stamp set called Wow Flowers. These two items are in a line called Simply Sent, introduced by SU! in 2007 to help new stampers be able to create cards quickly and easily. The supplies set and the stamps used to be sold together, but this catalog marks the debut of them as coordinating, but not joined at the hip tools.





The Flower Power Card Elements comes with the following items:
6-8.5" x 11" sheets of textured card stock
2-8.5" x 11" sheets of designer series paper
brads, buttons, and ribbon
2 sheets of self-adhesives (otherwise known as stickers)
step-by-step instructions

I bought the coordinating set, although you could use any sentiment stamp sets you already own. Once I organized everything, the biggest challenge was deciding what to do first! I am really bad when it comes to stuff like this, because there's a limited amount of it. That means I want to hoard it and not use any of it frivolously. Oh the choices! Finally, I decided to make one of the cards using the instructions.

What I like about these is that there are words AND pictures. So, if you're not the type to read, but can figure out something by looking at a diagram or a photo, you're golden. This came out exactly like it was supposed to, and that inspires confidence.

When making the second card, I wanted to follow my own whims...well, sort of. Having already stated for the record that I get paralyzed by too many choices and it also being a well-documented fact that I like getting inspiration from those in cyberland, you should not be surprised that my second attempt was my own interpretation of this card by Diane Gilbert that I found on SCS.


I liked how she used one of the flower stickers and the sentiment from the Wow Flowers set to make a stem for it, thereby creating a focal point. What I did to kick it up a notch was use the stamp that looks like a 1000% enlarged asterisk and added glitter to said sticker. I was really stoked to figure out that that image fit inside that flower perfectly. Whoever designed this stuff was thinking! I was even more excited when the sticker didn't curl or freak out when I applied the heat tool to it to melt the Heat and Stick Embossing Powder so that the Dazzling Diamonds could stick to it!

I used some scraps of More Mustard and a rectangle of Perfect Plum to create a matting for the striped DP (oh, how I love STRIPES!), and the ribbon from the kit finished it off. The little leaves are a cut up felt flower from my Felt Flowers Accents and Elements kit.

I bought extra card stock in the colors of this elements kit because I really like the combination of Perfect Plum, Rose Red, Old Olive, and More Mustard. If you'd like to own either of these items, just contact me and I'll be happy to tell you how you can have them delivered directly to your doorstep!