I made this card for my dear friend Leslie's birthday. I have to admit that I love the way it turned out. Sort of an impressionistic, water-colored look. What do you think?

Here's how I made it:

1) Cut Rich Razzleberry card stock at 5.5" x 4.25".

2) Cut Whisper White card stock at 8" x 5.25" and score at 4" (so folded card is 5.25" x 4").

3) Dry emboss card front using the Manhattan Flower Textured Impressions Folder and the Big Shot (love the deeply etched images these folders create!).

4) Water color the flowers using an Aqua Painter and Rich Razzleberry and Crushed Curry ink pads. Add a bit of foliage color with Garden Green ink.

5) Stamp greeting from Sincere Salutations with Garden Green ink in upper right corner of card front.

6) Attach embossed card front to Rich Razzleberry card base. Stamp birthday greeting on inside using Rich Razzleberry ink.

Leslie - I hope your birthday was as special as you are!

Stamps: Sincere Salutations, Full of Life

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry, Garden Green

Paper: Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry

Accessories: Aqua Painter, Manhattan Flower Impressions die, Big Shot

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I think I've mentioned previously that I am learning how to quilt and I just love it when I get to combine 2 of my favorite hobbies like stamping and quilting! Don't you love this scrappy-looking
"quilt" as the front of this birthday card? This card just makes me happy. And I am sucker for purple, so the Rich Razzleberry is perfect for me. Not sure I'm going to be able to give this card away. LOL! Oh wait, I can make more.

Unfortunately you cannot see the texture this card has. Once I made my "quilt", I texturized the piece by running it through my Big Shot with one of the texturz plates, and then cut it out with the Top Note die. It looks really cool in person. And don't you just love that Modern Label punch? It's so cute!

Here's how I made this card:

1. Punch 1 ¼" squares from the Razzleberry Lemonade DSP. You need enough to cover a piece of Whisper White card stock that is 4" x 5.25". Attach the squares as desired to the white card stock (note: you don't need perfect coverage on the edges, because you are going to die cut this piece with the Top Note die).
2. Using your favorite Texturz plate, dry emboss this piece using the Big Shot (tip: spritz your cardstock with a little water before dry embossing in the Big Shot – it helps create a deeper impression)
3. Die cut this piece using the Top Note die and the Big Shot.
4. "Stitch" the blocks together with a black pen (this is faux stitching).
5. Tie a piece of Rich Razzleberry polkadot ribbon around the Top Note piece.
6. Attach a 4" x 5.25" piece of Melon Mambo card stock to the front of your Rich Razzleberry card (5.5" x 8.5" folded in half).
7. Attach Top Note piece to the front of the card.
8. Stamp happy birthday from Teeny Tiny Wishes with Rich Razzleberry ink on a scrap piece of Crushed Curry card stock and punch out with the Modern Label punch. Sponge edges with Rich Razzleberry. Attach to front of card in desired location.

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black marker

Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Whisper White, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP

Accessories: Modern Label Punch, Rich Razzleberry Polkadot ribbon, sponge dauber, Big Shot, Top Note die, Stampin' Up! backgrounds 1 texturz plates

This was a fun card to make and perfect for that golfing fan (or is it fanatic?) in your life. Unfortunately the picture doesn't show it, but the golf ball actually has little dimples on it, just like a real golf ball – how fun!

This card uses our new In Color – Soft Suede – which is a great color for guys. Not quite green, not quite brown, but definitely not a "girly" color. The golf tee is made from the letter U in the Big Shot Serif Essentials alphabet die. Clever, huh? Wish I could take credit for it, but I learned it from Jennifer Randall (thanks!). The golf ball and the "sky" background both use Glossy white card stock. I love using glossy card stock but sometimes I just totally forget about it (crazy – I know). Glossy card stock gives such a shiny quality to any image you stamp on it – or in this case sponge on it.

Directions:

1) Create card base – 8.5"x5.5" textured Soft Suede card stock folded in half. Sponge edges with Soft Suede ink using.
2) Sponge a piece of glossy white card stock (2.5"x3") using Ballet Blue card stock. Leave some white space towards the bottom of the panel.
3) Mat this glossy card stock with a piece of Dusty Durango card stock (2.75"x3.25"). Attach this to the front of the card.
4) Run a piece of glossy white card stock through the Big Shot with the Stampin' Up! Backgrounds 1 texturz plate (using the dotted background to give the golf ball it's dimples). Punch out golf ball using 1 1/4" circle punch.
5) Create golf tee by die-cutting a piece of Real Red card stock using the Serif Essentials alphabet die (the die with the letter U – you only need a piece big enough to cover the U). Trim off one half of the letter U, leaving the side that looks like a golf tee.
6) Attach the golf tee to the glossy panel, and then attach the golf ball on top of the tee.
7) Fringe a piece of Old Olive card stock (1"x3.25") – be sure you only cut about half way down the strip, or you may accidentally cut off part of your grass. Attach over the golf tee, hiding the bottom of the tee.
Stamp Happy Birthday with Soft Suede ink on Whisper White card stock and punch out using the small tag punch.
9) Using the large tag punch, punch a tag from Dusty Durango card stock. Layer the 2 tags and attach a metallic eyelet using the Crop-a-Dile. Attach to front of card as desired.
10) Tie a piece of Soft Suede polkadot ribbon around the left side of the card.

Give to your favorite golf fan and watch how happy you make them!

Do you look at some colors and they just aren't you? If I'm perfectly honest, Soft Suede is not one of my favorite colors (but I love the rest of the new In Colors this year!). When I have a color that doesn't call to me, it can be a struggle to use it. Do you know what I mean? As I mentioned previously, I *love* the new Razzleberry Lemonade designer paper, and have been playing with it quite a bit. While it doesn't have any Soft Suede in it, I found that this pattern (with Crushed Curry and Dusty Durango) complemented the Soft Suede very nicely. So after all is said and done, I am rather pleased with how this card turned out.

I don't know how well you can see it in the picture (you can click on the picture to bring up a larger view), but I textured the Soft Suede card stock using my Texturz impressions plates and my Big Shot. The texture adds so much dimension and interest to the card – love it! I stamped my silhouette images with Crushed Curry ink on Whisper White card stock and punched them out with the 1 ¼" punch. I sponged the edges with Dusty Durango ink and a sponge dauber. Then I punched Crushed Curry squares using 1 3/8" square punch. When I auditioned my squares on the designer paper I found that they were getting "lost". So I cut some 1 ½" squares from the Dusty Durango and that popped them off the paper. Sometimes just one more layer is all it needs to make an okay project into a wow project.

Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes, Elegant Thank you, Itty Bitty Backgrounds

Ink: Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango

Paper: Whisper White, Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Soft Suede

Accessories: Scallop oval punch, word window punch, sponge dauber, Big Shot, Textures Plate Kit #4, scallop edge punch, paper piercing tool

Have you ever tried our Simply Sent kits? They rock! They have everything you need inside a beautiful box (you don't even have to wrap it if you want to give it as a gift) – stamp set, card stock, envelopes, ink, accessories, step-by-step instructions to create at least 2 cards – everything!

I purchased the Just K Simply Sent kit a couple of years ago, and for whatever reason I haven't been using it – how silly is that? So, I pulled it out today to create a thank you card for a customer. But I decided that it needed something a bit modern, so I turned to my favorite embossing tool – the Big Shot and the Manhattan Flower textured impressions die folder to create some texture and dimension on my Chocolate Chip card before adding my stamped embellishments. I decided that I preferred the debossed side to the embossed side and here is how my card turned out:

I used all of the pieces from the kit and followed a template that was provided in the kit (though I modified it a bit to suit my new card). This was incredibly quick and easy to make, and I think it looks quite elegant with the Manhattan Flower embossed in the base card stock. I also ran the envelope flap through the Big Shot and the Elegant Bouquet impressions die to give a little something extra to the card.

Stamps: Just K Simply Sent (retired)

Ink: Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, Mellow Moss

Paper: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Mellow Moss

Accessories: Manhattan Flower impressions die, Big Shot, Vintage brads, 1/16" hole punch, chocolate grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

We're back from convention and had a fabulous time (as usual)! One of my favorite things to look at during convention is the 4 vignettes they create while we are there. They create these themed rooms from 4 "wall" in the shape of a plus sign (+), and have different themes in each room.

I really enjoy Halloween, and while I know this holiday isn't for everyone, but I think you can get some great decorating ideas from this room (remember that you can click on the pictures for a larger view):

On the left wall they used the Definitely Decorative Décor Stencils, specifically the Brocade Flourish. On the lamp shade –on the right - they used the Kind Thoughts Brocade stencil. And they used the Definitely Decorative Toil & Trouble vinyl wall art (which comes in 4 different colors and 2 sizes!).

It was fun watching them create the cupcakes with their cute little skirts and the coordinating tree and treat holders:

And this banner was a lot of fun (sorry the picture isn't more clear):

Doesn't this give you all sorts of ideas for decorating your home? How do you decorate for the holidays? Please leave me a comment or email me here.

I wanted something cute, but easy to mass produce, for invitations to my daughter's upcoming birthday party. I shared this cute cupcake card previously and decided these would be very easy to make (especially if I used designer paper) and fun to receive!

Here is the jumble of invitations before sending them out:

I love playing with my Big Shot, and using it made these cards a snap to make. I cut out all of the "frosting" in just 2 cuts (4 pieces of designer paper were cut with each pass through the Big Shot).

The card base was quite easy to make. Take a piece of card stock 3 5/8" x 8 ½" (this way you can get 3 from one piece of 8.5" x 11" card stock), and score at 2" & 6". Fold up the card stock on the 6" line and make a simple angled cut from the fold to the top of the card stock through both layers of card stock. This forms the cupcake bottom (where the liner will be).

You can click on the diagram above to bring up a larger view.

Want to make some cupcakes yourself? Here's how I made mine:

1. Cut Pacific Point card stock 3 5/8" x 8 1/2". Score, fold and cut as described above and in diagram to form cupcake "frame".

2. Create the liner - cut Walk in the Park designer paper at 2 1/2" x 4" and run short end through the crimper (so the crimped lines are parallel with the short end).

3. Attach the liner to the bottom of the Pacific Point card stock (the piece that you cut at an angle). Turn the paper over and cut the liner along the same lines you cut the card stock (you want the liner to be the same shape as your cupcake).

4. Fold the Pacific Point card stock along the 2" score line so that it overlaps the liner. Set aside.

5. Create the "frosting" - die cut a piece of Walk in the Park designer paper using the Scallop Circle die and the Big Shot. Then cut off the bottom of the circle leaving approximately 3 1/4". (I actually cut my designer paper to 3 1/4" to begin with and only scalloped the top part of the paper.)

6. Attach the frosting to the top flap of the Pacific Point card stock (the 2" flap).

7. Add whatever greeting/invitation to the inside. I used my computer to create all of the details and printed it on Whisper White card stock.

These were so much fun that we are going to make them again at my August Inspiration Club!  You can register online here.

When I first started stamping and paper crafting, one of my favorite things to do was to dry emboss the envelope flaps in which I sent my cards. After so many years of making cards, scrapbook pages, 3D items, etc. I had almost forgotten about embossing my envelopes. Luckily I just received my new Elegant Bouquet Textured Impressions Die (for the Big Shot or Cuttlebug) and new it would be perfect for dry embossing the flaps on those envelopes again! And how fun to receive a card/envelope like this in the mail – all of that texture and design is almost irresistible.

I made a birthday card for my friend, Carolyn and had to emboss the envelope to match the card. Not sure how well you can see the embossing in the picture above, so here is a close up:

Isn't that just scrumptious? I love, love, love it! This is so elegant, yet oh so easy. These would be perfect for wedding or bridal shower invites. I'm sure you can think of many other reasons to decorate your envelopes.

Did I mention this was easy? Way easier than when I first started with my brass template, wax paper and stylus. Now I just put the flap in the embossing folder, create my sandwich for the Big Shot (in case you were wondering – MultiPurpose Platform/Tab1 -> cutting pad -> embossing folder (with envelope inside) -> cutting pad (top of sandwich)), and run it through the machine. Easy peasy!

Here is the card I made to coordinate:

This is a very simple card, because I wanted the dry embossing to stand out. Here's how I made it:

1) Dry emboss a piece of Pacific Point card stock (8.5 x 5.5") using the Elegant Bouquet Textured Impressions Die and the Big Shot. Note: I pre-scored and folded my card stock in half (at 4 1/4") so I knew where to place the card stock inside the embossing folder.

2) Ink up a Stampin' Sponge with Whisper White Craft Ink and lightly brush it across the raised embossing to make the design pop out a little more.

3) Using the scallop edge punch, punch the long front edge of the card (leaving a scallop edge).

4) Attach a 1 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of Designer paper (I used Walk in the Park) behind the front edge, lining it up so it is even with the back of the card. (You don't want your designer paper on the front to extend farther than the back of the card or your card won't fit in the envelope.)

5) Stamp the best wishes image from Oval All with Pacific Point ink. Punch with the large oval punch and sponge the edges with Kiwi Kiss ink.

6) Punch a piece of designer paper with the scallop oval punch. Attach the stamped image from the step above to the scallop oval.

7) Use the horizontal slot punch to punch a very small sliver out of the folded edge of the card (you need room to slide the ribbon around).

Tie a piece of Kiwi Kiss/Very Vanilla satin ribbon (mine was approx. 15"), sliding it through the hole you punched in the previous step. Trim the ends of the ribbon as desired.

9) Attach the stamped image to the card using dimensionals. Stamp birthday greeting on the inside of the card.

Here's a close up of the dry embossing:

Carolyn, I hope your birthday was as special as you are!

Join me on Sunday, July 26 (1-3p) to make this adorable cupcake card along with a beautiful brayered roses card and a 3D box.

What is Inspiration Club? This is a monthly club, which you can attend with 3 versatile options:

1) Join the club!
    This is an 8 month club where you commit to spending $25 each month for 8 months. You will receive a FREE Idea Book & Catalog ($9.95 value), get to create all of the projects (2 cards and a 3D project) each month for free, and will enjoy hostess benefits for 1 month!

2) Come as you can – for only $12 you can come every month or just when you can make it – no commitment required.

3) Spend $25 in catalog products and get the class for free!

You can register online here. If you are long distance and would like to make these projects, please let me know. If there is enough interest, I will make the class available as a kit.