Wedding Invitation

Check out this invitation that I made for my friend.  Let me tell you, that is a labor of love.  There are so many small pieces when you have to make 160 of these babies.  My fingers are still sore from pressing down on the stamp multiple times on each invite.  Luckily my friend's daughter came to help.  She stayed for the entire day to help me finish these invitations.

Making of these invitations is definitely easier with the new Simply Scored score board.  That was probably the easiest part of this whole process. :)

 Look at this inside.  I'm so proud of myself for having designed this.  We embossed the Very Vanilla piece with Elegant Lines embossing folder.  Then layered a piece of vellum on top to soften the embossed lines.  The invitation itself is printed on the vellum.  The ink from the printer took forever to dry, so I decided to pour some clear embossing powder on top and heat emboss the vellum.  That was an ingenious touch, I thought!  The invitation looks so elegant with both dry and wet embossing!  I just loved it.

My Supplies List (all supplies and images by Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Stamp Set(s): Because I Care (retired), Sincere Salutations

Ink: Certainly Celery, Rich Razzleberry

Papers: Certainly Celery, Rich Razzleberry, Vellum paper

Accessories: Elegant Lines embossing folder, Simply Scored, clear embossing powder

Because I Care CASE

Today's card is CASE'd from Georgeann Manning.  I thought her layout was very interesting with the main portions going all the way up to the edge.  She also popped up the entire main panel.

I turned the card on its side and changed colors.  You know, it's not as easy as it looks when you decided to change a major thing like the dimensions of the card you're CASE'ing. :)  I think I made a lot more work for myself.  Anyways, for the hydrangea, I first stamped it on the Whisper white.  Then I stamped another, just the stem and leaves on scraps and cut that out and popped up with Dimensionals.  I colored the hydrangea with Blender Pen for a soft look.

My Supplies List (all supplies and images by Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Stamp Set(s): Because I Care

Ink: Concord Crush, Peach Parfait

Papers:  Peach Parfait, In-Color Pattern Stack DSP

Accessories: Scalloped Oval punch, Oval punch, Scalloped Trim Edge Border punch, Blender Pen, Stampin' Write markers

Inlaid Embossing - Faux Fabric PLUS Specials

I have seen this effect done on many blogs previously, so it's difficult to credit who started it.

I had some scraps of Beyond the Garden DSP laying around, so I thought I'd cut them all down to 1" square and adhered them to a piece of Daffodil Delight.  Then I inked up my Square Lattice embossing folder with Soft Suede (I tried Crumb cake, but it was too light) and ran the piece of cardstock through the embossing folder.  This is what you get.  What do you think?  Is this cool or what?  Sort of has a mosaic look, too, doesn't it?

Here's another card using the inked up embossing folder as the background.  Then I used the new Flower Garden embossing folder from the Summer Mini as my main image.  After it's embossed, I just used a sponge inked with Melon Mambo, and swiped it across the whole piece, making sure to ink the raised portions well.

My Supplies List (all supplies and images by Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Stamp Set(s): Word Play, Because I Care

Ink: Pacific Point, Wild Wasabi, Soft Suede, Melon Mambo

Papers:  Daffodil Delight, Pacific Point, Wild Wasabi, Beyond the Garden DSP

Accessories: Square Lattice embossing folder, Flower Garden embossing folder, Decorative Label punch, Corner Rounder punch, Pacific Point Striped Grosgrain ribbon (retired), Wild Wasabi Striped Grosgrain ribbon (retired), sponge, brayer

Do you like the sentiment I used on the first card?  It's from the stamp set, Word Play.  It's on special this month for 30% OFF!!!  WM $41.95, now $29.37.  CM $28.95, now $20.27.

Here's the other stamp sets that are also on special this month.

Animal Stories: WM $15.95, now $11.17

Grunge Rock: WM $20.95, now $14.67;
CM $15.95, now $11.17

Party Hearty: WM $26.95, now $18.87

Printed Petals: WM $19.95, now $13.97;
CM $14.95, now $10.47

Simple Friendship: WM $25.95, now $18.17

Sweet Shoppe Alphabet Lower:
WM $31.95, now $22.37
CM $23.95, now $16.77

You can purchase these and all other Stampin' Up! products from MY STORE HERE.  Or you can simply contact me and I will take care of your order for you!

Hydrangea Birthday

I had some time, so I thought I'd make a birthday card for my mom, too.  I CASE'd this one from Gretchen Baron.  Isn't her card beautiful?

 With this card, I wanted to use purple and green.  I looked at my Shades of Spring DSP (retired), and picked Orchid Opulence (retired) and Certainly Celery.  I don't have the same embossing folder that Gretchen used.  Hers is from SU!  Mine is a *gasp* contraband from non-SU! Shhhhh.  For the life of me, I can't tie a bow correctly.  I came up with a great solution, utilizing a brad.  I just took a strip of ribbon, fold in the two sides to create the bow, then used a brad to secure it all.  Doesn't it look like it's a nice bow?  No one would know I didn't really tie it!

I cut out the hydrangea from Because I Care hostess set.  Added some Stickles and Pearls to the flowers.

Here's the inside.

I used the Ornament punch for the vase, by cutting off the pointy bottom.  Then I adhere the strips of pearls that come all attached to each other in the Basic Pearls pack.  I painstakingly cut out the flowers and stems to stick in the vase.  Well, I guess my mom is worth it. :)

My Supplies List (all supplies and images by Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Stamp Set(s): Because I Care hostess set, Sincere Salutations, On Your Birthday, Silhouette Sentiments

Ink: Orchid Opulence (retired), Orchid Opulence Stampin' Write Marker (retired), Certainly Celery Stampin' Write Marker

Papers: Orchid Opulence (retired), Shades of Spring DSP (retired)

Accessories: Ornament Punch, Flower Designer Brad, Basic Pearls, Ribbon (my stash), Stickles (non-SU), Embossing Folder, (non-SU)

Because I Care II

This card was inspired by yet another session of web surfing. I found this one as inspiration.
I used the Cricut to cut the similar-to-SU's Top Note Die pieces on the bottom. I'm so glad there is this cut on the Storybook cartridge (along with the scalloped oval and scalloped circle). It kinda feels like I'm cheating. Hee-hee. I am actually just glad that I am, um, saving money by having the cartridge instead of the punches. Heck, the cartridge came with the machine when I bought it, so it's like it's free, right? *wink*

The Color Purple

Today's card was inspired by Liz Hughes. She made her card for the Pals Paper Arts' monochromatic challenge. In her post, she said "so break out the Concord Crush, Rich Razzleberry, Elegant Eggplant or any other shade of purple that you may have and join in on the fun!" Well, I just had to get up from my comfy chair and find my new Razzleberry paper.
I really like how this card turned out. The background was done by stamping off the ink couple of times on scratch paper, with the third time on the actual cardstock. I had embossed the bottom layer with the Big Shot. I also got to use my newly acquired ribbon and brad. Added a little Stickle on the hydrangea for a little shimmer.

Because I Care

Got some time to surf the galleries on splitcoaststampers. With some clicking around, got linked to a website and found this! Isn't it a gorgeous and elegant card?
I was particularly excited, because I used a piece of vellum that's been laying around for 4 years! And I got to use vellum tape that was never used. Wow, what a great product! Then I got to use my new Viva Decor pearl gelpen. Yummy! The string on the bottom is a new way of embellishment for me too. The best thing was that this card was super quick to put together. Love that!

ETA: my piece of vellum is backed by a piece of light gray cardstock, thus the need for vellum tape.

Workshop

Look at what we made at a workshop I hosted last weekend. Isn't this so pretty? Tutorial Here.
Then, I decided that it needed to REALLY pop. So I added some bling!