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!

For Your Shower

Hello! :)
Yesterday was my son's last day of pre-k! Where does the time go? It seems like he was just a little baby and now he's a big kindergarten boy!
Today's card actually is for a baby! I used the cute Animal Stories
set by Stampin Up. I used this set on another card I made HERE. It is another baby card, but this is a great stamp set for kid's projects as well!
I also used the brand new Triple Layer Doily Punch from the Summer Mini Catalog! I LOVE this punch and it's sister Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch! They are both so much fun to use and add a little wow to your cards!
I've shared the supplies and directions for making this sweet card below!

Supplies:
- 5x6.5 Card Base is Soft Suede or Kraft
- 3 Pieces of Shimmery White Cardstock 1.75x3.75
- Scrap Pieces of Shimmery White, Regal Rose, and So Saffron
- .5x6 Strip of So Saffron
- .75x6 Strip of Regal Rose Punched with the Eyelet Border Punch
- White Ribbon
- Ink Pads in So Saffron, Regal Rose, and Soft Suede
- Animal Stories Stamp Set
- Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Set
- Fine Flourish Stamp
- Stamp-a-ma-Jig
- Doily Triple Layer Punch
- Modern Label Punch
- (Optional) Movers and Shapers Die, Big Shot, and Punch Windows

Directions:
1. Adhere your strip of Regal Rose onto the bottom of your card base.
2. Take your strip of So Saffron and stamp it with the Fine Flourish stamp in So Saffron. Adhere above the strip of Regal Rose.
3. Take the three pieces of Shimmery White cardstock and use the Stamp-a-ma-Jig to stamp your three animals onto the bottom of the cardstock.
4. Adhere to the card as shown in the photo above.
5. Punch your So Saffron and Regal Rose with the left setting on the Doily Punch. Punch your So Saffron, Regal Rose, and Soft Suede with the right setting on the Doily Punch.
6. Cut all of the punched doilies in half. Adhere the Regal Rose and So Saffron pieces together.
7. Adhere the doily pieces to the Shimmery White cardstock as shown in the photo above.
8. Stamp your sentiment onto Shimmery White cardstock and punch out with the Modern Label punch. Ink the Fine Flourish stamp with So Saffron and stamp the edges of the punched sentiment. (If you click on the photo above you can see it enlarged)
9. Run a scrap piece of Regal Rose through the Big Shot using the Modern Label die in the Movers and Shapers window. Adhere behind the punched sentiment. Adhere to card with foam adhesive squares.
10. Tie the white ribbon across the bottom of the card between the strips of So Saffron and Regal Rose.

Well I hope you like today's card! The colors can be altered for a boy! Riding Hood Red, Night of Navy, and Soft Suede would be so handsome!
As always if you have any questions about this card please send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!
Thanks for stopping by!

Don't Judge a Stamp Set...

I've always agreed with the phrase "Don't judge a book by it's cover." I have read many books that were wonderful but had terrible covers! After this week I'm convinced this phrase applies to stamp sets as well as books! Although I'm not quite sure how you would alter it. "Don't judge a stamp by it's black and white image in a catalog?" Haha! I hate to admit that this hostess set in the new Summer Mini wasn't my favorite stamp set in the catalog. When I got it a couple of weeks ago I wasn't that thrilled about it but I was in a Poppy Parade kind of mode. I had just been at the Gap and bought a shirt that exact color, painted my toes that color, and I was dying to use it in my papercrafting. I guess you could say Love and Care came at the right time. I started playing around with it and came up with the card above. I LOVED it and I knew my girls at Stamper's Night Out would too!
I had so much fun making that card that I just starting stamping different color combinations. Then I thought WOW! I could make Brodey's teacher a set of cards for Teacher Appreciation week!

I took several different sentiments from the Sincere Salutations set and stamped them with Basic Gray. (Basic Gray goes with any color combo) I took the smaller flower stamp and stamped around the sentiment with So Saffron ink. Then I punched the sentiments out with the Decorative Label Punch. I also adhered double sided foam adhesive squares to the backs of the sentiments. I left the backing on the adhesive so that she can add the sentiment she needs to whatever card she chooses.
So Saffron is a beautiful shade of yellow that has many beautiful color combos in the Color Coach. I ended up stamping 6 different card with 6 different sentiments. Listed below are the color combos I used for the cards starting with the card in the upper left of the photo.

Regal Rose - Early Espresso - So Saffron
Tangerine Tango - Pacific Point - So Saffron
Melon Mambo - Tempting Turquoise - So Saffron
Cajun Craze - Always Artichoke - So Saffron
Perfect Plum - Wild Wasabi - So Saffron
Poppy Parade - Baja Breeze - So Saffron

Once the cards were stamped I put the sentiments in a baggie and tied them all together with a pretty ribbon! I let Brodey stamp her a card with the same stamp set and he really enjoyed doing it!
This stamp set is a Hostess Set that is available for a limited time in the Summer Mini Catalog. If you would like more info on how to get this set please send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!
I hope you enjoyed today's post! Tomorrow I will share a Father's Day card using the new Open Sea stamp set and Nautical Expedition Paper!

Thinking of You

YES! I HAVE been thinking of you! I've been thinking how much I have missed blogging but I'm back! :)
Summer is right around the corner! The grass is green, the birds are chirping, and here in Oklahoma today it will be good and HOT today! I LOVE summer and you will LOVE the new Summer Mini Catalog! You can click HERE to view the online version, email me your mailing address at aprilmassad@yahoo.com to receive one by snail mail, OR you can come to my Stamper's Night Out class tonight at the Scrappin Pad!
There are SO many cute products in the Summer Mini, but one of my faves are the Triple Layer Punches! They are...wait for it...THREE punches in ONE! If you love punches as much as I do you will be as excited as I am about these! I used the Blossom Bouquet for the card above! We will be making this card tonight at SNO!
Well today's post will be short and sweet because I have to load up all my goodies for class tonight! I'll be back tomorrow with a cute Father's Day card using THIS set from the Summer Mini!
Have a wonderful May day!

Chocolate!

Hello all! I'm back from a little trip to Arkansas to visit my wonderful cousins!
Today I thought I would post a few simple little cards I made for the Habitat for Humanity Chocolate Festival we had a table at recently! We had a pretty table with all sorts of yummy chocolate items and I thought the Eat Chocolate stamp set was perfect! I made several sets of these cards and put them around the table! Everyone thought they were funny! If you click on the photo you can read what they say.
The colors I used were Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo, and Early Espresso. I also used several different border punches. They were quick and easy to make!
Well this will be a short post! I'm getting ready for my Stamper's Night Out tomorrow as well as catching up on laundry! ;)

It's a Girl!

Okay my friends...don't get too excited! I'm not preggers!! My wonderful friend Christie's daughter-in-law is! Congrats Ciara! Christie owns the Scrappin Pad which happens to be right down the road from my house! It's a wonderful scrapbook retreat where I teach classes! Christie is one awesome gal and if you ever want to stay at a beautiful CLEAN cute scrapbook retreat you should check it out! PLUS I could come and see you! ;)
She asked me to make Ciara's baby shower invitations and I was very excited to do so! Ciara chose the colors and she loved how they turned out.
I stamped and hand colored the little onesie and hearts from the Baby Bundle set. I love how they turned out! :)
So I'm sorry I have been absent for a while! I've missed everyone!
I have been wearing my scrapbooking hat and working on scrapbook layouts that you will see in Creating Keepsakes this summer!


Before I go I have to share this FUN blog award I received from Julie DiMatteo! I was so surprised to come back from my blog hiatus to see she awarded me the Cherry on Top Blog Award! Thank you so much Julie! You made my day! :)
So now I have to pass it on to 5 wonderful bloggers and list 3 things about myself!
Here are some fun bloggers:
1. Michelle Last
2. My friend Kris from SUDSOL
3. Patty Bennett
4. My Stampin Up Upline Kris
5. Amy Celona
Love your blogs girls! :)

So here are my 3 things!
1. My sweet hubby and I have been together for 18 years and have been married for 9! Our parents went to high school together(yes both of our parents were high school sweethearts as well) and we have known each other almost our whole lives. I used to go over to his house and play all the time. We were even boyfriend and girlfriend through many elementary and junior high school years.
I had a layout published about it a couple of years ago in CK.

2. I LOVE to cook almost more than I LOVE to eat! ;) I cook at least 6 nights a week. I share recipes sometimes on my personal blog, Scrap Happens.
3. It's near impossible to embarrass me. The only person that can achieve that is my son when he misbehaves in public! Luckily it doesn't happen very often!
I have no problem getting on stage or speaking in front of people. As a matter of fact my DREAM JOB is selling stuff on QVC!!
I LOVED being in theater in high school and college! No one would EVER describe me as shy....right Christi? ;)

Well I hope you enjoyed the invitation share today! If you have any questions about recreating it yourself just send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!
Please remember that Sale-a-Bration ends March 31st! If you want to host a Stampin Up night OR place an order let me know!