My Technique Class made this card last week using the Cut & Fold Technique.  Pretty simple…can you see where the wings of the owls have been cut and gently folded upward to give them some dimension?  This technique would work with flower petals, butterflies, dragonflies…anything that could use a little lift.

I’ve had this set, Owl Together Now, for several months.  I got it free from my upline, but never mounted it!  Many years ago, I used to collect owls…I’m sure I have a box of them around somewhere!  Funny to see how they are back in style!

The base of the card is the NEW Dusty Durango In Color!  I layered that with Sahara Sand…it is hard to see, but the Sahara Sand has the Paisley Texturz Background embossed on it.  Then I used a scrap of To The Nines Designer Specialty paper (it is printed cardstock weight!) and mounted it on Chocolate Chip cardstock.  The Owls are stamped with Basic Brown and colored with Watercolor Pencils and smoothed out with the Blender Pen.  Then I did the Cut and Fold on their wings.  When you mount it on another color, in this case, Chocolate Chip, you can see the color beneath the cut pieces.

I used a couple punches (of course!) on this card.  The NEW Modern Label Punch I cut in half and placed under the focal element with a gold mini brad.  I stamped Hoot Hoot Hooray in Basic Brown and punched with the 1-1/4 circle, then layered it on the Curly Label punched from Dusty Durango cardstock.  It is popped up with dimensionals!

I think it is a FUN card!

*************************************

Have you thought about joining Stampin’ Up! for fun?  Do you want a little extra cash to help pay some household bills or to support your own stamping and crafting habit?  How about getting together with others who enjoy stamping as much as you do? 

I’d LOVE to have you join my team of INKspired Treasures!  As a BONUS…join between July 15 - July 30th and receive an EXTRA $25 Gift Certificate from me! 

Why wait?  See my SPECIALS page for the benefits of being a Demonstrator and then JOIN here!  My passcode is BLEACH.

Join Stampin’ Up! for as little as $85
for a limited time!
July 15th – August 31st 

While anytime is a great time to join the Stampin’ Up! family as a demonstrator, joining during July and August is especially sweet!

Starting your own Stampin’ Up! business means free and discounted products, plus a little extra cash–and who couldn’t use that?  Plus, from July 15 – August 31, you can become a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator for only $85!

The special, limited-time Mini Starter Kit contains many of the items you need to get started in your new business, including

• For All You Do stamp set
• In Color Classic Stampin’ Pads (6)
• Whisper White card stock (8-1/2" x 11")
• In Color assorted card stock (8-1/2" x 11")
• Business forms and tools

 Or see my SPECIALS page for the contents of the full $199 Starter Kit with a BONUS of getting all six In Color stamp pads AND a assortment package of In Color cardstock!

Thank you everyone for your congratulations!  I am still floating on Cloud 9 today!

This minute I saw this new Peace Within stamp set in the new catalog, I had to have it.  First, it has a kitty cat that looks like my Bleach and second, it has an Adirondack chair that I love to sit in by the beach!  Then, it also has a basket of wildflowers!  Now…normally, I am not a big fan of coloring, a little goes a long way.  No patience, I guess.  But…lately, I’ve been on a coloring kick!  I even completed 20 cards for a design assignment that had watercoloring on them!

I knew I wanted to make a square card for the LateNight Stampers Design Team Challenge this week (unusual shaped cards).  The base card is 5 1/4 x 5 1/4 of Melon Mambo cardstock, then I layered 5×5 layer of Pretty in Pink.  The chair image is stamped on Shimmer White with Black Stazon ink and watercolored with Stampin’ Markers and my AquaPainter.  Then it is layered on Close to Cocoa and Melon Mambo cardstock.  The designer paper is from the Razzleberry Lemonade package and ties the two pink colors together.  I punched a hole so I could wrap the Pretty in Pink Striped Ribbon around the upper left corner.  The greeting is from Peace Within stamp set, too, and stamped with Black Stazon on Shimmer White and punched with the Large Oval punch.  That is layered on the Scallop Oval punch and finally layered on the Curly Label punch.  I added two small 1/2 pearls from the Pretties Kit to the bottom right corner.

***Notice:  Stampin’ Up! changed the Deal of the Week!   Square FIRE Rhinestone Brads for $6.99! 

Place your ONLINE order HERE…or feel free to EMAIL me!

Connie
www.inkspiredtreasures.com

Peace Within
#114312
$22.95

Here is the BBQ set again!

Woohoo!!!!

Connie
www.inkspiredtreasures.com

Again…I LOVE this Wedding Sweet set!  It makes such elegant cards, not just for weddings!  Stay tuned in a few weeks, because I will be featuring this set on the Royal Blog Tour on July 26-28, too!  For today, I am using the sketch from Stamping 411.  I think the simplicity of this sketch adds to the elegance of this card!

I hadn’t used the new In Color, Bermuda Bay, yet, so I pulled it out to use it.  I also hadn’t used my Movers & Shapers XL Die, so I decided to use it, too!  I started with a base of Bermuda Bay, then added a layer of Basic Gray.  On top of that, I stamped Whisper White with Bermuda Bay ink using the large floral stamp from Wedding Sweet.  I added the Bermuda Bay Polka Dot Ribbon across the bottom of the front and then stamped Thank You from that set on scrap Whisper White.  I used the Curly Label punch and punched out the Thank You greeting.  The Movers & Shapers diecut mats behind the Curly Label punch perfectly, and it added just the right amount of definition around the greeting.  Finally, I wanted to add a bow, but a regular knot looked too fussy.  So, I did the loop bow…it adds just the right touch!

Make sure to check out the rest of the Stamping 411 Operators design work and play along by using this week’s sketch!  We love to see what you do with the sketch inspiration! 

Today’s Bloggers Challenge was to case a card from another Bloggers Challenge player!  What fun!  Of course, the talent is amazing, so it was hard just to choose one person to case!  But, my card was cased from one I found on Tiffany Bauer’s Blog.  I love all the layers that she uses on her cards!

On this card she used a retired set called Always in my Thoughts and Kiwi Kiss colors that retired last month.  I decided to update her card with a new set from the NEW catalog called Herb Expressions, along with one of the new In Colors, Rich Razzleberry!

I started by using my Old Olive and Rich Razzleberry markers to ink up the Thyme herb in the Herb Expressions stamp set and stamped it on Whisper White.  I layered that on Orchid Opulence and then on Rich Razzleberry.  That element was mounted on more layers of Whisper White, Orchid Opulence and Rich Razzleberry and the 1/4 circles (Crop A Dile) were added in the upper right corner, and the 1" and 1 1/4 punched circles with Thyme stamped as an accent were popped up with dimensionals on the front.  I wrapped the Rich Razzleberry Polka Dot Ribbon around that entire unit and secured it with adhesive, then used one of the Kraft Corduroy Buttons to hold both the ends together (wish we had these in the new In Colors!).  The base card is Old Olive with a layer of Rich Razzleberry, then the dotted pattern from Cottage Wall Designer Paper.  I love this color combination!

This was such a fun challenge!  I hope you enjoy your weekend!  Make sure to check out the rest of the ideas by clicking on the Bloggers Challenge badge on the right!

I had my eye on this set when I first went thru the new catalog…and that was BEFORE my son announced his engagement!  I love the elegance of it…so suitable for MORE than weddings!  But, this week’s Challenge #27 over on LateNightStampers is "Here comes the bride"…so I thought it would be fun to make a little wedding accessory!  Wouldn’t these be fun along side the pews at the church?  The triangle cones are quick and easy to make and I learned how to make it from a patriotic one I received from Laura Lipe using stars.  The Hydrangea flowers are from my garden!   They are gorgeous this year (my hubby keeps them well fed!)  Edit:  The creator of this Paper Cone is Kathy McGuire!  Here is an excellent tutorial on how to make them!  Kathy used 9×9, I used Laura’s directions of 8×8 so I could use 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock.

I started with an 8×8 base of Almost Amethyst cardstock and stamped the large flourish from Wedding Sweet randomly on it with White Craft Ink.  Along the flap that is folded outside, I arranged the punched 5-Petal punches and the Boho Blossoms punches in Almost Amethyst, Bashful Blue and Whisper White.  In some of the centers I added Clear Rhinestone brads.  It is hard to see, but on the back flaps, I added two large Pewter Jumbo Brads and then ran the White Stripe Organdy Ribbon thru them for a hanging loop.

That’s it!  Simple, but beautiful (in my humble opinion!)

Connie
www.inkspiredtreasures.com

Wedding Sweet
#115466
$25.95

EDIT: No, you aren’t seeing things…I did change out my card for today.  That one will be back next week!

Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps is proud to be sponsoring the CPS sketch challenge blog again this week. Here is a fabulous sketch that Tami Mayberry made up for us to use!

Here is my take on the card, using the Sweet ‘n Sassy stamp set, In His Time.  It is a fun sketch and I’m sure I’ll be using it again!

The butterfly is actually stamped with Basic Brown ink on Cardstock Vellum and colored with Stampin’ Up! markers on the back side.  I made the background butterfly paper by stamping the butterfly with So Saffron Ink randomly over Whisper White cardstock.

Enjoy!

I participated in a Summer Invitation swap and this was the card that I made for the swap!  Can you tell how I made it?  Yes!  From the Pennant XL die!  I ran the folded Whisper White cardstock on the small pennant thru the Big Shot and then cut along the folded edge so I got two pieces.  I stamped one side with the fruit slice from Tart & Tangy so it looked like lemons in Yo Yo Yellow and the other side for limes with Gable Green!  I adhered just the side tabs and bottom edges of the pennant in a criss cross pattern to Gable Green cardstock to form a pocket for the invitation.

The margarita is from Cheers to You and I colored it with Stampin’ Up! markers.  I added some liquid glue and Dazzling Diamonds Glitter for a "salted" rim and punched with the 1 3/8 circle punch.  Then I added a Scallop Circle punched from Gable Green cardstock.

Inside I stamped Your Invited from Sincere Salutations on Whisper White and the Lime with Gable Green over on the bottom right.  I adhered it to a Yo Yo Yellow layer of cardstock.  I stamped the Lemon on Whisper White and punched with the 1 3/8 circle punch, cut a slit and adhered it to the top, so it could be used as a pull out tab. 

I think this would make a pretty cute party invitation!  Margaritas anyone???

Well…ok…are you ready for the FINAL Control Freaks swap I did?  As I mentioned, the other two were the ones I started with, but just couldn’t get the look I wanted.  Here is what I ended up making.  Isn’t it funny how just playing with the set, you can turn out a final product so different than the original direction you were going? 

This card uses two of the new in-colors, Dusty Durango and Soft Suede.  I loved those two matched with Blush Blossom from the Soft Subtles color family!  What do you think?

I started with a base card of Blush Blossom and added a layer of Dusty Durango.  Then I took a 3-3/4 square of Soft Suede cardstock and stamped the Asian grass from Asian Artistry Level 2 stamp set in the bottom right corner with Chocolate Chip Craft Ink, let it dry, then ran it thru my Big Shot with the Texturz Kit #4 plate.  I lightly ran my Soft Suede ink pad across some of the highlights of the texture.  I mounted the Soft Suede cardstock to the Dusty Durango layer and wrapped Soft Suede Polka Dot Ribbon around to the back to hide the seam.

I used the Butterflies die and Blush Blossom cardstock to make the small butterfly.  Then I stamped on it with the Flower stamp in Asian Artistry and Dusty Durango ink.  I added two gold mini brads for the body and popped it up on the card with dimensionals.

I stamped the greeting in that Asian Artistry hostess set with Dusty Durango ink on Whisper White and punched with the Wide Oval.  I layered that on the smallest oval cut from Chocolate Chip cardstock and the Ovals Die in my Big Shot.

I was really happy with my final Control Freaks swap!  Hope you like it, too!

Email me if you’d like to take advantage of the Deal of the Week!

Connie
www.inkspiredtreasures.com