Doilies are the new black...

That title makes me laugh. But seriously doilies are pretty popular right now!
You can do alot with them and they are inexpensive! You can find them at Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby, or just about any craft store. The doilies come in white and they come in different sizes, but for this card I used the smallest ones.
For this card I wanted my doily to be different shades of orange. I simply inked the doily with Pumpkin Pie and Calypso Coral with my ink applicator tool. Yes. It's that simple.
I'm on the run today so I'm not going to post step by steps for this card. I think it's pretty simple, but if you need specs just send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com! I would be happy to share them with you!
I'll be sharing another doily card this week! They are just so much fun!
Have a fantastic Wednesday!
Oh and if you haven't heard....I'm taking pictures again! Eek!!

Bye Bye Animal Stories!

Well it's Stampin Up retirement time! The new catalog comes out July 1 and that means we will have to say buh bye to lots of stamp sets from the old catalog! Animals Stories is one of those sets. I've used it on cards here and here. I'll be a little sad to let it go, but there are so many new sets in the catalog I can't wait to use!
Today's card is a fun and colorful card we made in my Stamper's Night Out class on Tuesday night. My example is for a baby shower but this would be a perfect little birthday card!
My Stamper's Night Out girls loved the inlaid embossing technique we used for the circle background! I'll be sharing a 4th of July card with the same technique tomorrow!
Supplies and instructions for making this card are listed below!

Supplies:
- 5x6.5 inch card base in Kraft or Soft Suede
- 4.5x5.75 piece of Daffodil Delight Cardstock
- 4x5.25 piece of Whisper White Cardstock
- 3 different sizes of circles punched from Pear Pizazz, Pumpkin Pie, and Bashful Blue Cardstock
- 1x5 piece of Pumpkin Pie Cardstock
- 2x4.75 Piece of Whisper White Cardstock
- 2.25x5 Piece of Pear Pizazz Cardstock
- Scrap Piece of Whisper White Cardstock
- Animal Stories Stamp Set
- Bubble Stamp from the Summer Splash stamp set (Optional)
- Sentiment Stamp (Mine is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Set)
- Ink in Soft Suede, Pumpkin Pie, Bashful Blue, Pear Pizazz
- Modern Label Punch
- Border Punch
- Square Lattice Embossing Folder and Big Shot Machine

Instructions:
1. Adhere your circles to the largest piece of Whisper White cardstock with liquid adhesive or a glue stick. (This will help the pieces stay down after you emboss them) Run through your Big Shot using the Square Lattice die to emboss.
2. Adhere your embossed piece to the piece of Daffodil Delight cardstock and adhere to the front of your card.
3. Punch the strip of Pumpkin Pie with your border punch and adhere to the bottom portion of the card.
4. Using the Stamp-a-ma-Jig, stamp your animals onto the medium sized piece of Whisper White cardstock. Cut two slits on either side of your giraffe's neck and tie a ribbon through it. (Optional)
5. Adhere the stamped piece onto the piece of Pear Pizazz cardstock and adhere to the front of your card with foam adhesive squares.
6. Stamp your sentiment onto the scrap piece of Whisper White cardstock and punch out using the Modern Label punch. Stamp the corners with the bubble stamp. (Optional)
7. Adhere to the bottom portion of your card front with foam adhesive squares.

This sweet card looks complicated to make, but it is very easy. The colors could easily be changed to suit the event or to make the card feminine!
I'll be sharing another card using this fun technique tomorrow!
As always if you have any questions about this card just send me at email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!

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! ;)

Happy Color

When I first saw this color combo in the Color Coach I knew I had to use it! These colors together just seemed so happy! Haha! That may seem crazy, but if you love color like I do you totally get it! ;)
It took me a while to figure out a card that was right for it! Melon Mambo, Pacific Point, and Pumpkin Pie are very beautiful, but bright colors! I was flipping through an older issue of Paper Crafts magazine a few weeks ago and a card caught my eye. I thought it would be perfect for this color combo! Between now and then I have cleaned the scrap room several times and can't remember what issue the card was in! If I come across it I will gladly give credit to the artist that inspired this card!

Supplies:
4x5.5 inch white card
Silhouette Sentiments Stamp Set (Hostess Set)
Ink in Melon Mambo, Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie
Cardstock in Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
Melon Mambo Ribbon
Small Oval Punch
Scallop Oval Punch
Stamp-a-ma-Jig

Scrap piece of cardstock

Directions:
*It is very important to use the Stamp-a-ma-Jig on this card. I'm going to assume you are using this to line up your stamps so I am not going to include this in the directions.
1. Cut a piece of Whisper White cardstock to 5x3.5 inches.
2. You will be stamping your flowers at about .75 of an inch from the top of the cardstock. Start stamping on the left with the Melon Mambo ink.
3. Ink your stamp and stamp once on the cardstock. Stamp two more times without re-inking your stamp. (You may have to huff on the stamp to remoisten the ink.)
4. Next you will stamp with the Pumpkin Pie ink. Ink your stamp and stamp off twice on your scrap piece of paper and stamp the first Pumpkin Pie flower.
5. Ink your stamp again with Pumpkin Pie and stamp off once on your scrap piece of paper and stamp your second Pumpkin Pie flower.
6. Ink your stamp again with Pumpkin Pie and stamp the third flower without stamping off.
7. Last you will stamp with Pacific Point ink. Ink your stamp and stamp once on the cardstock. Stamp two more times without re-inking your stamp. (You may have to huff on the stamp to remoisten the ink.)
8. Cut a piece of Pacific Point cardstock to slightly smaller than your card front. Adhere to the front of the card.
8. Adhere your stamped piece on your Pacific Point cardstock.
9. Adhere your ribbon along the bottom of the stamped flowers.
10. Punch a scallop oval out of the Pumpkin Pie cardstock. Stamp your sentiment onto Whisper white with Pacific Point ink. Punch out with the small oval punch and adhere the the scallop oval. Adhere just below the knot in your ribbon.

I hope you love this card as much as I do! You could use just about any color combo!
If you have any questions please don't hesitate to send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!
I hope you have a fab Friday!!








ETA: I found the magazine! Wahoo! I very rarely CASE or scraplift so it was very important to me that I find the magazine and give credit where it's due!
This card was inspired by a card in the new Papercrafts special Stamp It issue. The card is on page 86 and it's by Cristina Kowalczyk. Thank you Cristina for the inspiration! :)

Keep it Simple Day 2

The boys are still here! While I LOVE them being home I get way more accomplished when I'm alone! ;) So today I am sharing another super simple card.
I was uploading a photo to the gallery at Split Coast Stampers and this card by Emily Keaton caught my eye.

As soon as I saw it my light bulb came on. I LOVED the scored stripes at the bottom of the card, but what if I scored it on the opposite side and then used the skinny side of my marker to draw in the line? And that's where the inspiration for today's card came from!
It's very quick to make and you can personalize it with the All in the Family stamp set! The scored lines are difficult to see in the photos, but look so cute in person!

The color combo for my card is Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, and Tangerine Tango. LOVE this color combo! It makes me think of summer!

Supplies:
All in the Family Stamp Set
Family Accessories Stamp Set
Sentiment from the Fun and Fast Notes Set
4x5.5 Inch White Card
Three Orange Brads
Score Pal or Bone Folder
Scallop Square Punches or Dies
Black Stazon
Markers in Blush Blossom(for skin), Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, and Tempting Turquoise
Watercolor Paper
Cardstock in Tempting Turquoise
Stamp-a-ma-Jig

Directions:
1. Stamp your little person onto a piece of watercolor paper using the Stamp-a-ma-Jig to line the stamps up. Color in with your markers.
2. Punch or die cut the person out with your square scallop punch or die.
3. Punch or die cut a larger scallop square from the Tempting Turquoise cardstock. Adhere the smaller square to the larger square with foam adhesive squares.
4. Take your card and score (outside up)at 0.5 inches from the bottom and two more lines at .25 inches apart. Use the skinny end of your markers to draw a line in the scored lines of the card. (This is best done while your card is still on the Score Pal.)
5. Ink the sentiment only from the birthday stamp in the Fun and Fast notes set. Stamp on the card right above the highest scored line. Outline with the skinny end of the Old Olive marker.
6. Add three orange brads just below the sentiment between two of the scored lines.
7. Adhere your scalloped squares to the card.

This card was a ton of fun to make and the kids LOVE having a card with a cartoon look alike! ;) You don't even have to make it a birthday card! That stamp set has a ton of different accessories with it! The possibilities are endless!
Well I'm headed back into the scrapbook room to try and finish a layout! We will see how that goes!
If you have any questions about this card send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!

Shadow Stamping

Hi all!! I hope your week has been fab!
Today I'm sharing a card that is a variation of a card we will be creating in my February Stamper's Night Out class!
My students will get to learn this FUN shadow technique in person, but I'm going to give you the quick How To today. I will be sharing my class card and a more detailed How To after my classes.
For this card I used the Thanks for Caring and Nature Walk stamp sets. I also used the Botanical Gazette Designer Series Paper.

The ink pad colors I used are:
Floral Stamp (Old Olive)
Birdcage (So Saffron for background and Early Espresso for the outline)
Butterfly (Pumpkin Pie)
Sentiment (Marina Mist)

Now the technique is the same for all of the stamped images on the card, but to make it short I'm only going to tell you how to do the birdcage image.

Birdcage Image:
1. Ink your stamp with So Saffron and stamp onto watercolor paper
2. Use your blender pen and go over the image with it so that it blurs the lines. You are just creating a shadow and this does NOT have to be perfect. The messier it is the better!
3. Ink the same stamp with the Early Espresso ink and use your Stamp-a-ma-Jig to line up the image and stamp right over the blurred image.

That's it! That's how I created these beautiful images!
For the images that are one color, I simply stamped off on a scrap piece of paper before stamping the first image. Then I just blurred it with my blender pen as in the steps above and stamped the second time with the same color!
I hope you have fun with this technique! If you have ANY questions please don't hesitate to send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com!

Bitty Bot Card!

Wow! It's Friday already!?!?! Having Brodey home for the second snow day in a row has made the week fly by!
This last week I have been (not so patiently) waiting on my new Stampin Up goodies to arrive. These new goodies are what we will be using in our next Stamper's Night Out classes. So...you can imagine that I am very anxious for them to get here! They have been delayed because of "adverse weather conditions" so hopefully they will get here this afternooon!
In the meantime I have been trying to use some of my stamp sets I haven't used very much! The Lots of Bots set falls into this category. I used it to make this little bitty Get Well Soon card.

This poor little guy is so cute I want to give him a hug and a kiss on his little metal cheek! ;)
I got out my paper crimper for this one. I haven't used it in well over a year and I love how it adds a little texture to the card!

Directions:
1. Trim your Baja Breeze card stock to 3.5x7 inches. Score lengthwise down the middle at 3.5 inches.
2. Take the nuts and bolts stamp from the Lots of Bots set and stamp randomly on the front of the card with Baja Breeze ink.
3. Trim a piece of Pumpkin Pie cardstock to 0.75x3.5 inches. Stamp the numbers stamp from the Lots of Bots set with black ink. Attach this piece to the front of the card at 1.5 inches from the top.
4. Trim a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock to 0.75x3.75 inches. (always add at least a quarter of an inch to the length of cardstock when crimping it with the paper crimper) Run it through the paper crimper and adhere below the Pumpkin Pie strip.
5. Stamp your Bot image onto watercolor paper. Using the blender pen, color the bot with Pumpkin Pie, Cherry Cobbler, and Baja Breeze markers. Punch out the image with the scallop square punch. Add metal brads to the corner and adhere to the center of your card.

Supplies:
Lots of Bots Stamp Set
Cardstock in Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, and Pumpkin Pie
Blender Pen
Markers in Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, and Pumpkin Pie
Black Ink Stazon
Metal Brads
Paper Crimper
Scallop Square Punch

If you have any questions please feel free to send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com! You can buy any of these supplies by visiting Stampin up!
Have a wonderful Friday and STAY WARM!! :)