Etsy Inspired Thank You Card

When I browse Etsy I just sit in awe of the talented people that share their work on that site. If you have never visited it you really should. Etsy is a smorgasbord of handmade objects, vintage objects, and supplies to make them. Truly beautiful things can be found there.
I was searching artwork on Etsy last night and came across THIS beautiful mixed media piece. These prints are very popular right now. They are gorgeous and I thought hhhmmm....I can make a card similar to that with the First Edition DSP and the Sweet Floral Stamp I used for Friday's post. I really love how it turned out. The colors aren't as vibrant as the Etsy print because theirs is printed with a high quality printer, but I think the stamped version is beautiful! (Option: Heat embossing your image onto the First Edition DSP would really make the colors pop!)
There are so many stamps that would be perfect for this technique! If you want to try it yourself, keep in mind that you are stamping onto patterned paper and the bolder ink colors will work best. For my card I used Always Artichoke and Night of Navy. Experiment with a scrap piece to see what colors you like!
To get both colors onto that extra large stamp, I used my Stampin Spots. They are smaller versions of the larger ink pads Stampin Up makes. They are perfect for smaller jobs or when you want two colors on a stamp but don't want to have to use your markers!
This is a very simple and beautiful card! My card base is 5x7 and I ripped the edges of the First Edition DSP.
If you have any questions about this card simply email me at aprilmassad@yahoo.com or comment here!
Enjoy your Monday!

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!

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!

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!

1 Stamp Set...2 Cards

Hello all! :)
Next month Stampin Up will release the brand new 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalog! While I am SO excited to see what new products they come out with, I am a little sad to see certain stamp sets go! Especially the fun hostess sets! Get 'em while you can!
Silhouette Sentiments is one of my favorite hostess sets. It's a very simple set that has great sentiments. I used it on a card HERE and I have used it on two different wedding cards that I'm sharing today!
When I think of making a wedding card I always think of light and simple. I shared another simple wedding card HERE. Today's cards use the Silhouette Sentiments set to make a pretty scene.

For this first card I made a window in my card base using the Curly Label punch. I simply punched once, lined up the outer curves, and punched again. I then took a pencil and lightly traced the window onto the inside of my card base. I then stamped my scene within the penciled lines.
For the sentiment I used the "For the Newlyweds" stamp from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set. This stamp set is one of the best stamp sets I own. There are 24 sentiments in this set and every one of them fit in the Modern Label Punch.
I also used the Curly Label punch to punch the ends of the pink strips of cardstock on either side of my sentiment.

For the second card I simply stamp my scene onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock, cut it out, and rounded the edges.
For the sentiment I used the same stamp and used the Modern Label punch that I mentioned above!
In case you are wondering how I backed the Modern Label punch with the Wild Wasabi, I simply took a scrap piece and ran it through my Movers and Shapers Die for the Big Shot. The Punch Windows Set that go with this die are all slightly larger versions of punches. I LOVE this because I LOVE to layer! (In case you haven't noticed haha)
Another fun technique I used on both of these cards was to adhere my cardstock to my card base BEFORE I emboss. That way several of the layers are embossed along with the card base. Fun!
I hope you enjoyed these cards! I didn't post directions, but if you have any questions don't hesitate to send me an email at aprilmassad@yahoo.com. I would be happy to answer your questions!
Have a terrific Tuesday!