Finally Friday Simple Thanks

Wow it's finally Friday! I haven't been able to post much this week! I've had my scrapbooking hat on!
Today's card is a simple Thank You card I made using the gorgeous new Sweet Floral stamp! This extra large stamp is perfect for scrapbooking pages! I love it!
Any color scheme or sentiment would work for this versatile card!
I have shared supplies and instructions for you below! :)

Supplies:
- 5x6.25 inch Kraft Card Base
- 4.5x5.75 inch piece of Cajun Craze
- 4.25x5.5 inch piece of Baja Breeze
- 1.75x5 inch piece of Basic Gray
- Scrap piece of Cajun Craze
- Seam Binding Ribbon in Very Vanilla
- Mini Clothespin
- Baja Breeze Ink and Chocolate Chip Ink
- Brayer (Optional)
- Thanks sentiment from the Tagtastic stamp set
- Sweet Floral Stamp
- Any swirl stamp OR the you can use the swirls on the Thanks stamp
- Framed Tulips Embossing Folder and Big Shot
- Scalloped Circle Punch
- Scallop Trim Border Punch
- Score Board and Bone Folder

Instructions:1. Ink your Sweet Floral stamp with Baja Breeze ink. (Optional)You can make it easier to ink larger stamps by using a brayer to roll over the ink pad and then roll the ink onto your stamp. Stamp the center of your piece of Baja Breeze cardstock.
2. Take your piece of Baja Breeze and emboss with the Framed Tulips embossing folder.
3. Adhere your large piece of Cajun Craze cardstock to your card base. Adhere the piece of Baja Breeze to the piece of Cajun Craze.
4. Take your piece of Basic Gray and use the Scallop Trim Border Punch to punch along the top and bottom. Lay the piece onto your score board and score lines at the top and bottom right along the punched border.
5. Take your seam binding ribbon and tie a piece onto a longer piece. Adhere this to the piece of Basic Gray cardstock. Slide the knotted piece to the left and adhere to the front of your card.
6. Stamp your sentiment onto the scrap piece of Cajun Craze and punch with the Scallop Circle punch. Adhere under your knotted piece of ribbon with a foam adhesive square.
7. Take the mini clothespin and stamp a swirl onto it with the Baja Breeze ink. Clamp the clothespin onto the knotted ribbon and adhere the back to the card with a foam adhesive square.

And it's that simple!
To purchase any of the Stampin Up products I used please contact your Stampin Up demonstrator OR go HERE! If you have ever thought about joining Stampin Up you have until July 31st to take advantage of the $99 starter kit! Click HERE for details!
As always if you have any questions simply send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com or comment here!
Have a safe and wonderful weekend!!

Welcome Tooth Fairy!

We had a visit from the Tooth Fairy at our house last week!
Brodey's tooth has been loose for a while and it started to bug him when he ate. I knew it was coming out soon so I asked him if he wanted to help me make a Tooth Fairy Box! He was so excited!
I die cut a pillow box with my Big Shot out of white cardstock. I gave it to Brodey and let him color it however he wanted to! (He only chose green lol)
I stamped the Tooth Fairy stamp onto watercolor paper and colored her with my watercolor pens, blender pens, and ink. I punched her out, added the strip of Tempting Turquoise paper, and topped it off with the punched Tooth Fairy! SO cute and personalized by Brodey! He loved it and was so proud of it!
Thank goodness we made it! That very night he pulled his tooth! He put his tooth in his Tooth Fairy pillow box and tucked it under his pillow. The Tooth Fairy left him a little note saying how proud she was that he took good care of his teeth and she loved the box he made! He was more excited that she left him $8! ;)
We had fun making the Tooth Fairy pillow box and it reminded me that Brodey and I need to make more things together!
This was a quick post, but I'll share a card tomorrow! I've been busy scrapbooking this week! If you have the Creating Keepsakes Scrapbooking Tips and Tricks Summer Fun and Travel Issue check out page 65! I have shared a fun technique using the large Medallion stamp!
Enjoy your Wednesday!

Simple Holiday Greetings

Well we made it to Friday! Yeah!
Today I am sharing a super simple holiday card. The best thing about this card is it can be for any occasion. Simply change the sentiment and colors!
My Stamper's Night Out girls made this at the last class! They all enjoyed it and everyone's turned out differently! We used the Circle Circus set and Sincere Salutations for the sentiments! This would be a great Christmas card because it takes no time to put together!
I have shared the supply list and instructions for this card below!

Supplies:
- 5x6.5 inch Kraft card base
- 4.5x6 inch piece of Whisper White cardstock
- Scrap piece of Whisper White cardstock
- Circle Circus stamp set
- Sincere Salutations stamp set
- Ink in Old Olive, Pretty In Pink, Real Red, Baja Breeze
- 1 3/4 inch Scallop Circle Punch (119854)
- 1 3/4 inch Circle Punch (119850)
- 1 inch Circle Punch (119868)
- Itty Bitty Circle Punch (118309)

Instructions:
1. Ink your circle stamps and stamp the piece of Whisper White cardstock as shown in the photo above leaving room for the punched circles. Adhere to the front of the card.
2. Take your scrap piece of Whisper White cardstock and stamp the circles that are punched out in the above photo. (The large scallop circle, large flower circle, tiny circle, and medium flower circle)
3. Use the coordinating punches to punch the circles out. Adhere them with foam adhesive squares.
4. Ink your sentiment and stamp onto the card as shown in the photo above.

Super easy but so pretty!
I hope you like today's card! If you have any questions you can email me at aprilmassad@yahoo.com or comment here!
To purchase the Stampin Up products from today's post simply contact your Stampin Up demonstrator or click HERE!
Have a wonderful weekend!!

Hey Friend - Combined Techniques

Hey friend! The weekend is right around the corner! Woohoo!
Today I'm sharing a card that I have combined the Versamark Resist technique and the Faux Denim/Linen technique on. The stamp set I used is called Friends Rock and it's retired. You can buy my used Friends Rock set HERE or the current stamp sets Best Friends Forever or Grunge Rock would be perfect for this card!
Supplies and instructions for making this fun card are listed below!

Supplies:
- 5x6.5 inch white card base
- 4.5x6 inch piece of glossy cardstock
- 1.75x5 inch piece of Lucky Limeade carstock
- 3x5 inch piece of Elegant Eggplant carstock
- Glossy cardstock for stamped and colored elements
- Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder
- Friends Rock Stamp Set
- Border Punch
- Versamark
- Ink pads in Lucky Limeade, Tempting Turquoise, Elegant Eggplant, Melon Mambo
- Stazon in Black
- Markers in Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade, Tempting Turquoise, Elegant Eggplant, Melon Mambo
- Sandpaper or sanding block
- Sponges or ink applicators

Instructions:
1. Take your large piece of glossy cardstock and stamp your images randomly all over the piece with Versamark ink. Allow to dry or heat with a heat gun until dry.
2. Take your glossy cardstock and sand in straight lines horizontally and then vertically from top to bottom. (This will give you the linen texture)
3. Take your ink and ink the glossy cardstock with your sponge starting at the bottom with the Elegant Eggplant and working your way to the top of the cardstock with different colors. Keep going over it with the sponge and work in circular motions to wipe the ink from the stamped images. This will make the images pop and become lighter. Set aside to dry.
4. Attach the inked piece of glossy carstock to the front of your card base.
5. Take your piece of Elegant Eggplant cardstock and border punch along the bottom. (Optional: Rip along the top of the cardstock so it will be close to 2.5 inches wide.)
6. Take your piece of Lucky Limeade cardstock and emboss it with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder. Adhere to the piece of Elegant Eggplant and adhere to the front of the card.
7. Stamp the desired images and sentiment onto glossy cardstock with the black Stazon ink. (Stazon is a permanent ink and will not bleed while coloring with the markers.) Color the stamped images and cut out. To make the color darker on the glossy carstock simply color over it again with the same color until the desired darkness is achieved.
8. Adhere the images and sentiment to the front of the card using foam adhesive squares.

This card is so much fun to make! You could change up the colors and make it a boy card! Any of the sports stamp sets would make perfect backgrounds! The possibilites are endless!
If you have any questions about this card simply email me at aprilmassad@yahoo.com or comment here!
To purchase the Stampin Up products in this post contact your Stampin Up deomstrator or go HERE.

Thinking of You - Faux Denim

Happy Wednesday! The week is half over!
Today's card is another glossy cardstock card! I have used glossy cardstock on the last few cards I have shared and today is a faux denim technique!
This technique works with any blue ink that matches your project. I wanted a darker denim look to match the Paisley Petals Designer Series Paper(DSP). I used a combination of Not Quite Navy and Night of Navy. If you want a lighter denim you could use Baja Breeze and Marina Mist.
Like the Versamark Resist technique, the Faux Denim technique has been around for a while! It's a fun technique that isn't just limited to blues! This technique is beautiful with any color! It especially looks good with Melon Mambo or Rich Razzleberry for teen/girly cards!

To distress your denim even more you can go back over it with your sandpaper once you apply the ink! This photo is of the same card but I went back over the "denim" with the sandpaper a second time.

Below I have shared the supplies and instructions for making this card!

Supplies:
- 4.5x6 inch Kraft card base
- 4.25x5.75 inch piece of glossy cardstock
- Sandpaper or a sanding block
- Ink in Not Quite Navy and Night of Navy
- Sponges or ink applicators
- 5.5x2.75 piece of Kraft carstock
- 4.25x2.5 inch piece of Paisley Petals DSP
- .25x2.5 inch piece of purple Paisley Petals DSP
- 1x2.5 inch piece of pink Paisley Petals DSP
- Seam Binding Ribbon in Very Vanilla
- Corner Rounder
- Eyelet Border Punch
- Sentiment Stamp (Mine is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set)

Instructions:
1. Round the bottom corners of the front of your card. Round the corners of the tops of the large piece of DSP, the piece of Kraft, and the piece of glossy cardstock.
2. Take your glossy cardstock and sand in straight lines horizontally and then vertically from top to bottom. (This will give your glossy cardstock a linen texture)
3. Take your sponge and apply the inks along the edge and into the middle of the glossy cardstock. I use circular motions. You can keep applying ink until you get the desired affect.
(Optional) Once the ink has dried go over the glossy cardstock again with the sandpaper. This will give you the look in the second photo.
4. Use your border punch to punch along the bottom of your piece of Kraft and the piece of pink DSP.
5. Adhere the pieces of DSP to your piece of Kraft as shown in the photos.
6. Stamp your sentiment with Night Of Navy ink onto the top of the DSP and tie your Seam Binding Ribbon around the bottom. Adhere to the front of your card using foam adhesive squares.

Fun and easy! Practice this technique on a scrap piece of glossy cardstock using various ink color combinations! The affects are beautiful! The new color Island Indigo is also a beautiful blue to use!
I hope you like today's card! If you have any questions please email me at aprilmassad@yahoo.com or comment here!
To purchase the Stampin Up products used in today's post simply contact your Stampin Up demonstrator or go HERE!

Thanks So Much - Versamark Resist and Glossy Cardstock

Well happy Monday stampers!
Today I am sharing another card I made using glossy cardstock! You will LOVE today's technique! It is so easy and SO cool!
This card also shows off Stampin Up's new 2011-2012 colors...which I LOVE! They are bright, cheery, and look so good together!
The technique I used on this card is called Versamark Resist. I know many of you have used this technique for years, but many of you have never heard of it! I thought I would give it a little twist today!
To keep it short and sweet I'm only going to give you instructions for doing the glossy panels. For the sentiment I used the Thanks So Much stamp from the Sincere Salutations set. I heat embossed it using white embossing powder. Behind the sentiment I put a strip of Pool Party cardstock punched with the Lace Ribbon Border Punch. The flower on the end of the sentiment strip is punched with the Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer punch.
If you have any questions about this card simply send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com or comment below!

Supplies for Glossy Panels:
- Glossy Cardstock White
- Versamark Ink
- Sponges or Ink Applicators
- Circle Circus Stamp Set
- Ink in Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Wysteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade

Instructions:
1. Make sure the stamp set you choose to use is perfectly clean with no residue.
2. Cut your cardstock into 4 panels that fit your card size. (My card is 6.5x5 and my panels are 4.5x1.25 PLUS 2 millimeters)
3. Apply temporary adhesive to the backs of your panels and line them up on your stamping surface exactly as they will be on your card base. (My panels are about .25 of an inch apart)
4. Take your circle stamps and stamp with the Versamark as shown in the sample above.
5. Once you have stamped all of your circles allow the cardstock to dry or heat it with a heat gun until it's dry.
6. Take your sponge or ink applicator and apply your ink to the panels. (I ink in circulur motions) The more ink you apply the lighter the stamped areas will be. Just keep going over the panel with your ink until you get the desired affect.
7. Once all four panels are inked simply apply to your card base!

Yes it's as simple as that! I hope you enjoyed today's card!
Like I said if you have any questions please email me at aprilmassad@yahoo.com or comment below!
To purchase the Stampin Up products used in today's card you can contact your Stampin Up demonstrator or go HERE.
Enjoy the rest of your warm summer Monday!

Happy Birthday with Glossy Cardstock

Happy Friday to you!
Today I'm sharing a card I made using Glossy Cardstock! I shared a little bit about Glossy Cardstock in yesterday's post.
Glossy Carstock is basically white cardstock with a glossy layer on one side. It looks like photo paper that you print photos on, but it is NOT the same. (Trust me I've tried lol)
One of my favorite things to do is use sandpaper to give it texture! It might be difficult for you to scratch up that pretty glossy shine, but it's so much fun! It's kind of like being the first one out in a yard of freshly fallen snow! ;)
Here is a close up pic of the glossy cardstock.

I'm going to give you the directions for making the patterned glossy cardstock. If you have any questions about anything else on the card just send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com or comment below.

Supplies:
- Glossy Cardstock
- Sandpaper (I used fine grit)
- Fine Flourish Stamp (Or any background stamp)
- Array of Sunshine Stamp Set
- Ink in River Rock, Calypso Coral, Baja Breeze, Perfect Plum, Certainly Celery, and Old Olive
- Scrap Paper to stamp off on
- Stamp-a-ma-Jig
- Sponge

Directions:
1. Take your Fine Flourish stamp (or any background stamp) and stamp all over your glossy cardstock using the Stamp-a-ma-Jig to line it up perfectly.
2. Take your sandpaper and sand in straight motions from top to bottom, and flip the cardstock and sand again from top to bottom. Sanding vertically and then horizontally will give the cardstock a fine linen texture.
3. Take your sponge and sponge the River Rock ink lightly around the edges of the cardstock and into the middle. The sanded areas will take the ink differently than the non-sanded areas and the cardstock will look like burlap.
4. Take the largest flower stamp and ink it with the Baja Breeze ink. Take your sponge and pick up some of the Certainly Celery ink. Ink into the middle of the flower and around the sides. Huff on the stamp the remoisten the ink and stamp onto the glossy carstock. Repeat and stamp again.
5. Ink the largest flower again with the Perfect Plum ink and sponge the stamp as you did with the Certainly Celery in step 4. Stamp onto the glossy cardstock.
6. Ink the large leaf stamp with the Old Olive ink, stamp off on a scrap piece of paper to mute the green, and stamp the leaf onto the glossy cardstock. Repeat and stamp two more times.
7. Ink the rose with the Calypso Coral ink, stamp 0off on a piece of scrap paper to mute the color, and stamp onto the glossy cardstock. Repeat and stamp two more times.
8. Take the smaller leaf stamp and ink with the Perfect Plum ink. Stamp onto the glossy cardstock.
9. Use your sponge inked with the River Rock ink and ink around the edges again and into the middle.

I just LOVE the look of distressed glossy cardstock! It's so pretty and vintage!
Like I said if you have any questions about measurements or anything else on this card please let me know! You can comment below or send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!
To order any of the supplies mentioned above you can contact your Stampin Up demonstrator or go HERE to shop online.
My next card share will be another glossy cardstock card! Fun fun!
Enjoy your Friday!

1 Card...3 Cardstocks

Hello everyone!! Long time no see!
Today I thought I would do a little cardstock comparison. It's something I talk about at every card class and something that every stamper should explore!
Now for this comparison I am only going to compare 3 basic types of SMOOTH cardstock. I'm not trying to leave out poor textured cardstock because he has his place in papercrafting too, but he isn't the best choice when stamping! We want a good smooth surface when stamping so that our image comes out nice and clean!
Below you will see photos of 1 card with the 3 types of smooth cardstock I'll talk about today!

Discount Cardstock:
When I say discount I mean the cardstock that is thinner and cheaper than Stampin Up's Whisper White cardstock. It's the cardstock you pay less for at Wal-Mart or Hobby Lobby.
While it has it's purpose, it does not give you a beautiful stamped image. When you stamp on the discount cardstock it isn't your fault that the image doesn't come out perfect or that the ink isn't as rich and colorful. It's just the paper!
Like I said it does have it's purpose! It's great for scrap paper or projects you don't stamp on! Practice makes perfect so practice on the discount paper!

Whisper White:
Whisper White is my most favorite cardstock to stamp on hands down. The weight is perfect. It isn't too heavy to use a punch with, but it's heavy enough to give you a beautiful, rich stamped image! The stamped image is cleaner and you really see how beautiful and rich your ink colors are!

Glossy White:
Some people consider Glossy White cardstock a specialty cardstock like watercolor paper. I put it in the category of cardstock because it is perfect to stamp on! It gives your stamped images a brighter almost cartoon or 3d look. The glossy finish gives a a fancy or store bought sheen!
Besides stamping on it there are SO many different ways to use glossy cardstock. In future posts I'm going to show you several different ways to use this product!

Tip: Always make sure that you use the same type of cardstock to stamp on that you use to make your sentiment. Different cardstocks look different when next to each other! Your project will look better when your sentiment cardstock matches your stamped cardstock!

To purchase the products mentioned above contact your Stampin Up Demonstrator or go HERE.

Supplies used above:
- Flower Stamps: Array of Sunshine
- Ink: Riding Hood Red and Night of Navy
- Cardstock: Whisper White, Glossy White, Riding Hood Red, Night of Navy
- Sentiment Stamp: Something to Celebrate
- Modern Label Punch

It's always interesting to me to see different products compared! It gives you a better idea what you like and might spark some creativity!
If you have any questions please send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!
Enjoy your Thursday!