Get a Hop on Easter Card Making!

Now don’t give me credit for having my Easter Decorations out yet! This project was one I did last year (pre-blog) and I just had to share it with you. I used the Paisley Background stamp (now retired from Stampin' Up!®...big sigh!) for tone on tone stamping in the background with So Saffron ink and paper. I also used the same stamp to create the patterned tie-dye egg. You can try this out with any background stamp you have. Using brush side of marker, color the stamp (rubber side up) in bands of color. Mist with spray bottle of water to give a fuzzy dyed look and stamp onto cardstock. Now stamp the outlined egg from the SU “A Good Egg” stamp set over top and trim out the egg shape. I used a pair of decorative edge scissors  to make the angled cracked edge across the egg. Stamp the chick in black ink also onto so saffron cardstock and trim out. Color beak in orange and set aside. Use scallop punch and Pretty in Pink cardstock to make small pink border and Gable green CS cut with a wavy edge line on top to make the grass panel. Run through paper crimper then use sharp pointed paper snips to make cuts closely together to create the blades of grass. Ruffle with fingers  for texture. Stamp happy easter verse in bashful blue on same colored cardstock, punch hole, tie pink gingham ribbon and attach all elements onto smaller white cardstock panel on card front.

Finally I can show you the projects!

Remember my post back in early January that showed some teasers of what I was working on? Well now, that Scrap & Stamp Arts April ' 09 issue is available for purchase with my favorite article...Dress Up Your Embellishments. If you are not already a subscriber, click here. In this article you will learn some cool ways to dress up ordinary supplies. Some of them are very simple to do and others may be some you haven't tried yet...such as tattering, altering or glazing. Since Spring is a time we think of sprucing up our houses, livening up our wardrobes, why not apply the same concept to your scrapping and stamping? 

Below is a slideshow of the projects featured in the issue. For details and information on techniques, see pgs. 38-41 of the magazine.

Birthday Sale-A-Brations!

With just two weeks left of Sale-A-Bration, I wanted to showcase another Birthday card made with the Sale-A-Bration Yummy stamp set. I call the top card Birthday Yum. It is another fast and easy to duplicate card using a wheeled background, hand colored stamp with hand colored verse. Selective coloring is a stamping technique shown in these two card samples where you choose portions of the stamp design to add different color(s). In the Birthday Yum card (top), I applied markers directly to the stamp to make a colorful cupcake. Since the sprinkles are reversed out, I added those marker colors in after the design was stamped. I used the same selective coloring technique to add emphasis to the word Yummy by making it red in the verse. The ribbon is red gingham threaded through a tiny slit in the seam!

In the second card, Candles and Sprinkles, I got a little bit trickier by coloring in the top of my cupcake in brown, using a versamarker (clear ink) on bottom, stamping and embossing the cupcake liner in silver EP. I then went back and added the color sprinkles afterwards. I used the same Illuminations wheel on each background. Instead of using the candle in the cupcake, I repeated it at the bottom of the card as a graphic pattern. I separated the color block panels with a white scallop edge border that I punched. All supplies available on my SU website for order! Don't wait because the S-A-B sets are only available for a limited time, until March 31st!

The birthday set used in both of the cards is my new Stampin' Up! favorite...Party Hearty!

Another momentous birthday- making light of turning 70!

You may remember the You Still Rock Bag I posted not long ago. Well that inspired me to make this cheeky 70th Birthday card for someone in my family who might not appreciate it if I divulged her age. Hopefully, she will get a big kick out of it when it arrives with her gift. It uses the brand new eyelet punch from Stampin' Up!® and the Just Jawing stamp set. For the numbers, once again, I used the Inque Boutique set Sharie Numbers. To give the shimmer to the bow & eyes, I used a Pixie Pink marker with two way glue and Dazzling Diamonds glitter over top. I used just the glue and Dazzling Diamonds to make the shiny teeth. The stars were embossed using silver embossing powder with Versamark ink. Cardstock is all from SU: Going Grey, Whisper White, Pixie Pink & Basic Black.