Orange You Thankful?

Sorry for the delay in posting today's Cupcake Inspirations Challenge post! In the midst of preparing for our visitor, Irene, I wasn't able to get a photo and post up. Hope everyone stayed safe!


DEEtails:

My card today is all about yellow and orange flowers. I actually created a card very similar to this in monochromatic pinks last year. I stamped various SU! images from Fifth Avenue Floral, Itty Bitty Buds, Wings of Friendship, and Lovely Flowers. Then I colored the blooms in with my Stampin' Write Markers - So Saffron, Daffodil Delight, Summer Sun, Apricot Appeal, Peach Parfaith, Pumpkin Pie, and Tangerine Tango. Then I matted my image on Summer Sun and Peach Parfait card stock, wrapped a Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain ribbon around it and attached my sentiment from SU!'s Thank You Kindly on my layered card stock. Hope you like it!

Wonderful Wisteria

Yikes! It's August already! Which means summer is quickly coming to an end... :( Today I'm sharing a card that I made for the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club sketch challenge.

DEEtails:

If you notice, I took our one of the layers from the sketch since my elements were a little on the larger side... I loved the stamped notebook page that I made the other day, so I copied that element in Wisteria Wonder and added it to this card. Then I stamped the beautiful bird image from SU!'s Wings of Friendship in Wisteria Wonder and a bit of Pear Pizzazz and framed it with this fun lavendar canvas frame from my stash. I layered some strips of white crepe paper, die cut with SU's Tasteful Trim die, added some Whisper White grosgrain ribbon and a crepe paper Ruffled Flower, embellished with a little lavendar button from my stash. Isn't Wisteria Wonder Wonderful?! :)

Don't forget! You still have time to play along in my I {Heart} Ribbon Taffeta challenge! So craft up and link up! :)

Pretty Pleats

When I saw the 2Sketches4You challenge this week, I immediately knew that I wanted to do pleats - my new favorite technique. :) It's really perfect for this sketch, don't you think?


Here are the DEEtails:

Of course, I started off with creating my pleats. I chose to do smallish pleats this time, with paper from the Secret Garden Simply Scrappin' Kit. Then I stamped my flower from the Bella Blossoms set. I stamped the stem and leaves with Old Olive ink on River Rock card stock and the bloom with Cameo Coral ink on Naturals White card stock. I cut out the blossom and adhered it to the card, allowing some of the petals to go past the edge of the base (which you can't see in this photo - sorry!). I adhered my pleated paper to the back of my card stock with some Sticky Strip. I added an Old Olive Satin ribbon to my card, then adhered my stamped image to the card. For a final touch, I stamped the sentiment from my Wings of Friendship set in Old Olive ink on Groovy Guava card stock. I punched it out with my Designer Label punch and added some Hodgepodge Hardware. I am so loving this girly card!

Lovely Bird

Yes! I made a card today! This one is for this week's Off the Wall Craftiness challenge. I love these colors and the inspiration photos are just gorgeous!


Here are the DEEtails:

I started off stamping the image from my Wings of Friendship set. I inked the branches in Early Espresso and stamped it onto Baja Breeze card stock. Then I stamped the bird separately with VersaMark ink, embossed him, then cut him out. I adhered him to the branch with Stampin' Dimensionals. Then I took a few cream flowers from my stash and arranged them on the card. I took one, and folded it up for the flower on the right. I took two flowers, adhered them together and added a cream halfback pearl from my Pretties kit for the flower on the left. I added a Very Vanilla mat before tacking on a crimped Early Espresso eyelet border and a strip of Early Espresso Satin ribbon.

Hope you like it!

Reflections

Sorry I haven't been around this week. We finally made it back home after visiting family for a few weeks. We've been busy getting settled back into our normal routine and I finally had a chance to make a card last night.

The card is for The Shabby Tea Room Challenge theme, 'Reflections'. Isn't this mantle beautiful?


Here are the DEEtails:

I started by stamping a swirl from my Priceless stamp set in Basic Gray on Very Vanilla card stock. I love this stamp and actually used it on our wedding invitations! I used it as a sort of 'branch' to 'hang' my birdcages from my Aviary set in Going Gray ink. Then I embellished the birdcages and swirls with 1/8" Taffeta ribbon in very Vanilla, Rhinestone and Pearl Jewels, plus a few gray pearls I had in my stash. I stamped the sentiment from my Wings of Friendship set and added a taffeta ribbon and Scallop Edge trim. Then I added some Going Gray and Basic Gray mats.

Hope you like it!

Pink Ink

I am so loving monochromatic looks right now! I was in Target the other day and saw some adorable accessories by Liberty of London that inspired me to make this card. Here's the Clean & Simple sketch that inspired this layout.


Here are the DEEtails:

1. I started out by randomly stamping flowers in Basic Gray ink on Whisper White card stock from various sets: Fifth Avenue Floral, Itty Bitty Buds, and Wings of Friendship.

2. I used various shades of pink Stampin' Write markers to color in my flowers: Blush Blossom, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Pixie Pink, and Pink Passion.

3. I added a Regal Rose card stock mat, then added a piece of Melon Mambo Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon.

4. Then I created a Scallop Edge rectangle with Melon Mambo card stock and stamped the sentiment from my Whimsical Words set onto Whisper White card stock trimmed to size. I recently was asked how to make the Scallop Edge rectangle, so I've posted some DEErections. You can click here or click on the DEEsign Tools button at the bottom of my blog.

5. Finally, I mounted everything onto a Melon Mambo card. Hope you like it!

Hello There Birdie!

I love birds (and green!), so I had to play along with this week's Pals Paper Arts Challenge:


Here's my DEEsign (I was totally inspired by the colors and rug in the top right photo and the birdcage in the bottom left photo):

And the DEEtails:

1. Making the birdcage was not easy! I used 24 gauge jewelry wire and created the birdcage by hand. I used 3 metal brads to help hold it in place at the top and sides. It's a little hard to tell in the photo, but the cage is 3-dimensional, as in, the wires are curved out so there's a little space inside for the birdie. After looking at the photo, I think it could use a little handle thing at the top... perhaps I'll add it later. For now, my fingers hurt too much!

2. I stamped the bird from my Wings of Friendship hostess set (love it!) with VersaMark on Kiwi Kiss paper and embossed him. The I mounted him so he's 3-dimensional inside his cage. Sorry, he didn't photograph very well...

3. Then I stamped the Hello there! sentiment from my Cheep Talk set. I used a 1" and 1 1/2" circle punch around the text instead of cutting it out, so I have a nice arc there. I used 3-dimensional mounts again.

4. I mounted my Going Gray square onto a piece of Kiwi Kiss card stock, which I then placed on my Basic Gray card. I love this color combination!

5. And of course, I had to have some distressed and crumpled flowers! I sure crumpled the heck out of these, punched out of 1", 1 1/4" and 1 1/2" circles and secured together with a metal snap.

Hope you like it!

So Exciting!

I made it on the Stamping 411 Stampers Showcase! I'm so excited (I actually squealed when I saw this!). So I'm back to play in the Color Inspiration Challenge:

Here's my DEEsign:

And the DEEtails:

1. I hardly ever make a white card, but I wanted to incorporate the crisp white sheets from the inspiration image. I used Naturals White (I like it because it is a nice, thick card stock and has a nice soft look to it). I started off with a Brocade Blue base stamped with VersaMarked flourishes from my Wings of Friendship set.

2. I inked the "Happiness" part of a sentiment from my Heard from the Heart set with Brocade Blue on the bottom of the card.

3. I used the same leafy flourish stamp on the So Saffron mat with Certainly Celery ink. (It's hard to see, but there is actually part of the flourish stamped underneath the bow.) I also used my Scallop Trim punch to add a bit of frill to the edge of the yellow mat.

4. Then I used VersaMark to stamp the flower from my Bella Blossoms stamp set on So Saffron card stock. I embossed two flowers and cut them out. I used 3-dimensional mounting squares to adhere flowers onto the leafy flourishes.

5. To tie it all together (no pun intended), I used some Certainly Celery satin ribbon and made a bow that tilted just so.

Hope you like it!

Clean and Simple, Blue and Gray

I love the new Clean & Simple Fall-To Layout:


Here's my DEEsign:


And the DEEtails:

1. I used SU! Basic Gray and Going Gray with a hint of Paper Source Lake card stock. I love the color combination!

2. I stamped the small swirl image and the swirly branch portion of the large bird image from my Wings of Friendship stamp set, using my Basic Gray Stampin' Write Marker. (Now that my card is done, I wish I had done this part in blue...)

3. My sentiment is a very simple one from my Trendy Trees stamp set, stamped in Basic Black.

4. The patterned paper is from Amy Butler's Lotus line from K & Company. I mounted it on a 2 inch strip of Going Gray card stock that I punched on both sides with my Scallop Trim border.

5. The final touch is the paper flower. I punched 1", 1 1/4" and 1 1/2" circles - 2 of each size, using the three colors. I distressed the edges and scrunched them up, punched the centers, then layered them together. I used a blue rhinestone brad from my stash and adhered it to the card.

Inspired By Etsy

I love Etsy and I'm really into challenges right now, so imagine my excitement when I came across the EtsyInspired Challenge blog! To participate in their current challenge, all you have to do is visit Sweetie Pie Tutus on Etsy, find an image that inspires you and create! How fun!

Here's the adorable inspiration image I chose:


Here's my DEEsign:


And here are the DEEtails:

1. I was absolutely captivated by this baby's gorgeous eyes. The lavender just seemed to make them so brilliant! I have very little lavender & purple supplies, but I knew I just had to make it work!

2. I started off with SU! Lovely Lilac, Kraft, and Naturals White card stock. I used my Stampin' Write markers to ink the bird stamp from the Wings of Friendship hostess set. It's always so exciting to use a stamp set for the first time! I stamped the bird twice and cut him out to make him 3-dimensional.

3. I found some flower embellishments in my stash (I can't remember where I got these) and crumpled up the flowers. Luckily, they were the perfect color! I layered them over the actual flower image from the stamp (two large and one small flower) and used a rhinestone brad in the center. I wanted to use something sparkly to remind me of those beautiful eyes! I took a second small flower, crumpled it up, and folded it to cover the other stamped flower image. I really like how this one turned out.

4. I used my Hodgepodge Hardware kit to embellish the sentiment, "Your friendship means the world to me." Love it!

5. For the finishing touches, I added a piece of ribbon on the edge of my card, inspired by the headband in the photo and distressed the edges of the card stock.

My original plan was to use more ribbon, inspired by the tutu, but the purples didn't look right together and didn't sit right with the layout. I really like how this turned out and hope you do too!