Lovely Lilac Tulips

Yesterday I spent a little time out in my flower beds pulling weeds and checking out the bulbs that are starting to push up.  It's so fun to see the dead looking flower bed start to emerge with new life from the roots buried beneath the soil.

That's what inspired me to pull out this tulip stamp and my Copic markers.  Right now there are just green leaves poking out, but soon my flower bed will be awash with color.

Linking up with 2 fabulous challenges today:

CAS*ology


Stampin' Celebration



Stamps: Blessed Easter (SU), Tiny Tags (SU)
Copics: G21, RV93, V12, V15, YG63, YG67
Ink: Trunk Bay Glimmer Mist (Tattered Angels), Tuxedo Black (Memento), Wink of Stella Glitter Pen
Misc.: Garden Vines Stencil (Memory Box), Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon (SU), White Baker's Twine, Jewelry Tag Punch, Scallop Trim Punch (SU)

Merry Monday CASE

I've been busy in the stamp room working on some future design team cards, so I wanted a quick card that I could make and show to you today.  Merry Monday, and my friend, Kristie, to the rescue.

MM#94

Stockings are my favorite part of Christmas.  There is so much goodness that can be filled in a stocking.  (Especially when your stocking is knit and can stretch with every gift that gets put inside it.)  ;)

Stampin' UP!'s Snow Festival DSP is retired now, but I still love it and will continue to use it until the pack is gone.  One of the things I dearly love about cardmaking is that the paper stretches so far.  I even used a scrap to punch the little jewelry tag.

I love the added detail of the little jewelry tag.  That is one retired product I might not ever get rid of.

Anything goes w/baker's twine

I'm also linking up with the current "Anything Goes" with "Baker's Twine or Thread" at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.  It's a small detail, but it adds the finishing touch to my card.

Another week, another Christmas card.  I'm pretty impressed with how easy the Merry Monday challenges are making it to create a card a week.  Thank you!

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

Card Supplies- Stampin' UP!

Stamps: Christmas Tagables, Tiny Tags (retired)

Paper: Gumball Green, Snow Festival DSP (retired), Baja Breeze (retired)

Accessories: Brushed Bronze Metal Sheet (AALD), Gumball Green Stitched Satin Ribbon, Jewelry Tag Punch (retired), Scallop Square Duos Die, White Baker's Twine

Scallop Square Duos DieClearance WSL

Christmas Tagables

Gumball Green Ribbon

Playing Christmas Catch Up

Two days without a post.   Can you guess what I have been doing?  Probably the same things you are...  finishing my Christmas shopping, wrapping presents, mailing packages, sending cards, stressing out, going to a Financial Aid meeting for parents of high school seniors....  Ok, perhaps you didn't have to do that last one.  The week before Christmas they have a meeting to discuss all the costs of college we will be facing next year.   Really?  As if I didn't have enough to worry about.  Sigh.   Good thing I have needed to spend lots of time in my hobby room.  :)  It's my therapy!

I've been making cards, tags and boxes.  I've got my Christmas CDs playing while I work and I find peace while I am creating.  Here's a card I made inspired by Catherine & Mo's "A Very Trendy Holiday" card class.   For some reason I really loved using non-traditional colors.

This is one of those cards that I would like to make again.  I would fix the Raspberry tree on the right side and I would add some sequins.  This card was made in November and I didn't have sequins then.  I kept meaning to make another one and show you the improved version, but time is running out.  :)

Have I shown you my Christmas Deer card yet?  This was a fun card to create. I just sat in my hobby room and played.  If I've already shown it, I apologize, but I didn't want the Christmas season to go by and not show you this one. Remember, if you have a deer stamp they make great masculine cards.  ;)

My plan was to film a video showing you how I created the background added the ribbon, but Christmas snuck up on me and I've been fighting allergies for a couple of weeks.   Perhaps I can show you at a different time using Spring colors and images. For today I am adding this card to this week's Merry Monday challenge.

December comes with a few changes to the Design Team.  First, we have more members so each of us take turns getting a week off.  Today is my off day, so I am going to show you a sneak peek of last week's card.   Which brings me to the second change.  All of my Design Team submissions for StampNation will now be exclusive to StampNation.  Just one of the many perks of being a member is that you get exclusive content. Now the DT content is exclusive too.   It's as though I am a part of a special club.  ha-ha.

Not a member of SN yet?  It's only $9 a month and it is well worth the investment in my "me time".   If you are a member you can see my card along with the rest of the DT and member cards by clicking HERE.   If you would like to see this week's challenge click HERE.  My hope is to show you how I made the tag that is on this Christmas Carol card.  If all goes well I'll even have a video for you. :)

Have I made up for two days without posts?  :)  It's time for me to edit my video that I hope to share with you tomorrow, if I don't fall asleep first.  Above is a sneak peek for the video I will be editing.   I hope you enjoying the magic of this season and that you find a parking space near the entrance next time you head to the store.

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

Friday Fun Day

On Tuesday I gave you a little glimpse of this card and promised to show you the rest.   The star of this card is the Soho Subway DSP (Designer Series Paper or Double Sided Paper) and the Postage Collection Stamp Set.

I used the paper as my backdrop.  Then I stamped the image and punched them out with my Postage Stamp Punch, then layered it with a slightly larger Crisp Canteloupe square. 

I also used my Tiny Tags (retired) and Gorgeous Grunge stamp sets on these postage squares.  The Happy Birthday square is layered with a bit of the Tea Lace Doily that I sponged with Crisp Cantaloupe ink before sticking it behind the square.

The inside carries over from the outside.  I again used Gorgeous Grunge stamp set, but added in the sentiment from Blooming with Kindness.  I used another small strip of DSP as well.  Many cardmakers leave the inside of their cards blank.  If I know who the card is going to and the occasion I will usually decorate, or at least stamp a sentiment, on the inside.

I wonder if it is too late to send this 3rd birthday card to my Mother-in-Law????  Her birthday was at the beginning of August, and I already sent her two cards.  I could save it for next year, but I would probably lose it again.  :)  What would you do?

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

P.S.  Did you know you can Hostess Credit for a personal order of $150 or more?  You can spend your Hostess $$$ on the exclusive hostess items or any other item SU carries in their current catalogs.  :)



Postage Collection
Hostess



Soho Subway DSP




Postage Stamp Punch



Flowing Copics

Today's StampNation Inspiration Nation picture was one of my favorites for the month.  I had an immediate visual of what I wanted to make.  Sadly, the end result fell short of what I wanted.  That's ok though.  It happens.  It's still an interesting card, even if it didn't turn out the way I envisioned it.

Here is the inspiration photo.  I knew I wanted to make a card with gradient shades of purple.   

At first I really wanted to use ribbon, but I didn't have shades of the same color, and SU doesn't have a good purple selection.  I thought about buying some, but I wasn't pleased with what I found at the stores either.  My next thought was to color tissue paper.  I tried using my SU markers, but they didn't look right, so I took the plunge and invested in my first set of Copic Markers.  :)

The good news is I found a website that has a GREAT price on Copics. (CarpeDiem)  The bad news is that I couldn't try them out online, and when I got them in person they were more grey than lavender and purple.   Thankfully  I do like the colors though and want to get more so I have a better range to play with.

The focal piece was made by coloring layers of Copic onto tissue paper and then folding the tissue paper where the layers overlap.  Then I glued it down to a piece of Whisper White cardstock and layered that on Concord Crush (retired) cardstock with the bottom scalloped. 

The inside has a darling little touch.  I stamped another flower, like the one you see on the front of the card, and punched out my stamped image with the bitty butterfly punch.  Then I layered that on top of the Elegant Butterfly punch in Concord Crush.  I love making the inside with a touch of the front on it.

Part of creativity is trying new things.  Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't.  There are even times where the end result turns out better than you imagined.  This wasn't one of those times for me, but it's still an interesting card and one I will be proud to send. 

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

Card Recipe: (Mostly SU unless otherwise mentioned)

Stamps: Flower Shop, Tiny Tags (Retired)
Paper: Concord Crush (Retired), Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White, Tissue Paper
Inks: Wisteria Wonder, Concord Crush
Copics: FV2, BV20, BV23, BV25, BV29
Misc: Fancy Fan Embossing Folder, Pansy Punch, Jewelry Tag Punch (Retired), Bitty Butterfly Punch, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Sparkly Jewel (LSS)




Flower Shop Clear Mount Bundle
Get Punch & Stamp Set Together to Save $$$  :)





Various Punches



Fancy Fan Embossing Folder



Pink Wishes

Did you see anything you MUST HAVE on the retirement list yesterday?  I know I did.  Some of my favorite stamp sets are on the list.  In fact, half my stamps are on the list.   So are many accessories, including the jewelry tag punch, DSP and the Pretty in Pink color I used on today's card.

 

 

The sentiment was stamped in versamark and then heat embossed with white embossing powder.  I love the way white pops against every color cardstock I have used it on. 

My card was made for a sketch challenge at Inspired to Scrap.  The sketch had 4 boxes with a heart in the middle of each.  Mine has a circle, but the concept is the same.  Each box is popped up using dimensionals.   It was a bit tricky finding the center of my squares, so I came up with a clever trick and decided to film a video so I could share it with you.

***Note: If you are reading this post in an email, you may need to click on the post title above "Pink Wishes" to take you to my blog to watch the video below.

A unique twist I added to the original sketch was to add some crepe paper flowers to each box.

If you haven't seen the video on how to make these flowers I will include it for you below.  I didn't sponge these flowers, but I did use my own home-made Shimmer Mist to add a bit of sparkle to them.

Of course the inside had to be decorated too.  Sometimes I wait to add my sentiment to the inside until I am ready to send a card, but this time I knew what I wanted inside. 

One of the great things about this card is that you can remake it with whatever colors you want.  I like to customize birthday cards if I know the favorite color of the birthday girl/boy.  You could also change the sentiment and make this a Mother's Day card.  (or any other occasion)  That's what I love about learning the art of card making.  Once you learn "how" the creativity can freely flow!

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

To visit my online store and see the retiring products available WSL click HERE.

Card Recipe
Stamps: Tiny Tags (Retiring), Blooming With Kindness
Paper: Pretty In Pink, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Subtles DSP Patterns Stack(retiring)
Ink: Versamark, Pretty In Pink, Primrose Petals(inside)
Misc: Jewelry Tag Punch((retiring), Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon, Crepe Paper, WW Baker's Twine, Various Punches, Subtles Brads(retiring)


Tiny Tags
Retiring-WSL




Blooming with Kindness



Jewelry Tag Punch



Creped Filter Paper



For the Newlyweds

Spring is coming and so are Spring Weddings, Easter and Mother's Day. This card could be used for any one of those things by changing the sentiment. 

The tag has been spritzed, smooched, layered and popped up using thin strips of dimensionals.  If you look closely at the big heart you can see how thin I had to cut it to fit behind the heart frame.

There is so much going on with the collage card. I think I put just about every embellishment I could on that little tag. :)

As you can see in the close-up photo the sentiment says "For the Newlyweds", but you could easily change it to fit your needs. 

Come back tomorrow to see another way I used this tag.

Creative Blessings,
Heather North


Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes, Tiny Tags
Ink: Smooch Spritz (Gold and Log Cabin), Crumb Cake, Early Espress
Paper: Crumb Cake, More Amore DSP
Misc.:  Artisan Embellishment Kit, Basic Pearls, Hearts A Flutter Framelits, Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder




Artisan Embellishment Kit



Teeny Tiny Wishes





Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder



Heart Rainbow ~ PDCC168

Every time I look at this card my opinion of it seems to change.  Sometimes I really like it and other times I dislike it.  I'm not sure what to think.  Perhaps the problem is that I like the separate elements, but don't like how I put them together.   Or, maybe my heart on the right is too big, or the blank space on the left is too, well, blank.  ;)  Who knows?

One thing is sure, I had fun making it.  That is often the point of me spending time in my craft room... it's the creative process that thrills me.  I love the pinks and rose colors.  The hearts are right up my alley, and that banner is my favorite thing on the card.

My plan was to make a video showing you how I made the heart "rainbow", but the more I looked at the card, the less I was sure I even liked it.  I basically stamped, then stamped off each heart frame using the Hearts A Flutter stamp set.  Then I repeated it using the small heart from Tiny Tags in the same colors to stamp in the center of the heart frames.  The decorative edge comes from the Adorning Accents Edgelits Die.

Color inspiration came from the challenge over at the Play Date Cafe.

Aren't they wonderful colors blended together?  I love the inspiration photo too.  It uses the white and craft colors just like my card, but there is also a touch of green. 

Creative Blessings,
Heather North

Stamps: Hearts A Flutter, Tiny Tags, Itty Bitty Banners
Paper: More Amore Specialty DSP, Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand
Misc.: Hearts A Flutter Framelits, Adorning Accents Edgelits, Modern Label Punch, Bitty Banner Framelits, Regal Rose Taffeta Ribbon, Small Heart Punch