Little pink bag

This sweet little gift bag was made by my daughter L14.  As she is on holiday and the music theory exam, which took up the last month is over, she has spent a bit of time creating things at my craft desk. The front is 5¼” square and the side 1½” wide.  The designer paper was in my stash from several years ago and matches beautifully with Pretty in Pink.  Two lengths of ribbon are threaded through holes at the top of  the bag and knotted on the inside to make handles.

Supplies:

Stamps: With Gratitude, Simple Sayings 2
Inks: Pretty in Pink
Cardstock: Whisper White, Pretty in Pink
Also: Pink and Light Pink grosgrain ribbon

Peaceful Blossoms

I’ve been wanting to participate in one of Sharon’s Stamp Simply challenges again so I was pleased when I read what this week’ challenge was.  I had planned to try remaking a favourite card of mine anyway.  Sharon’s challenge is to choose one of your own cards and then use it as your inspiration for a new card.  You can change as little or as much as you like.

The card I chose was this one:

I love this set and have enjoyed using it lately to create some cards with a Chinese style.  I decided to use the same technique and stamp set but change colours and layout.  When I had settled on the size of the image panel and the mattes, it still need something so I created the little tassel which is a design element I often saw when in China.

I stamped the white blossoms in versamark first and embossed them with clear e.p.  Then I sponged in Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue and Almost Amethyst.  Over the top of the sponging I stamped pale versions of the blossoms, stamping off on paper first so the colour was not at full strength.  To make the medallion I stamped the blossom in versamark and then Rose Red so I could emboss it with clear e.p.  The tassel is made from embroidery thread.  The sentiment is a Cherished Memories rub-on.

Supplies:

Stamps:Garden Silhouettes
Inks: Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, Almost Amethyst
Cardstock: Rose Red, Whisper White, Almost Amethyst
Also: Clear embossing powder, circle punches, embroidery thread

Caramel Art

My daughter L14 made this card.  Her inspiration came from the artwork on a cd insert.  Her aim was to blend different images into one design, creating a style which you do see around the place a lot a present.  I think she did a great job.

Supplies:

Stamps: Baroque motifs, Garden silhouettes, Canvas, Sincere salutations, Boho backgrounds
Inks: Creamy Caramel
Cardstock: Whisper white, Creamy Caramel

Late summer flowers

When I was arranging all the elements on this card it was oriented the other way, landscape not portrait, and I was trying to decide whether the ribbon was needed or not.  My older daughter suggested turning it around and making stems from the bits of ribbon.  It was exactly the right thing to do.  The flourishes became tendrils, something like the tendrils of a weed which is taking over in my garden at present.

To make the card I embossed the flourishes with black e.p before sponging in garden green, pumpkin pie and apricot appeal. It was then that I decided to cut the image into three panels.  Then I embossed three flower images and punched them out with the 1 3/8′punch and sponged them.  The flowers are raised on Stampin’ dimensionals.

Supplies:

Stamps: Baroque motifs
Inks: Garden Green, Pumpkin Pie, Apricot Appeal, Versamark
Cardstock: Whisper white, Basic black
Also: Black grosgrain ribbon, black e.p.

Blue Butterfly

I am enjoying watching swimming finals and semi-finals as I post this card.  It is amazing to think we were in Beijing just over a month ago!  I chose some cooler colours for this card, colours which seem summery to me, and then left plenty of blank space on the vanilla cardstock.  It is a very simple design and  the only fiddly bit was cutting out the butterfly, which I attached with a glue dot.

Supplies:

Stamps: Garden Whimsy, Fundamental Phrases
Inks: Mellow Moss, Bashful Blue, Brocade Blue
Cardstock: Mellow Moss, Bashful Blue, Brocade Blue, Very Vanilla
Also: Moss gingham ribbon

Swirls of fall colours

It seems wrong to be stamping in fall colours when we are in the middle of summer, but I know fall will be here before we know it. ( I have a card in soft summer colours for tomorrow, though)  I took all the cards featuring retired cardstock, stamps or accessories down from my display board on the weekend and once again it looks very empty.  Today I ordered a few sets from the new catalogue so when they arrive I will have some totally new designs to share.  Until then, I will be looking for fresh inspiration using my old sets.

When making the card above I started out with the flourish embossed in gold but I wasn’t happy with it.  Wnen I started arranging things without the gold it came together.  I inked the flourish unevenly, leaving some patches entirely uninked.  After stamping it a couple of times in both chocolate chip and pumpkin pie I added some sponging and the flowers.  Once again I did not have the right coloured brad so I pressed a silver one into the Close to Cocoa Craft pad and then embossed with clear e.p.

Supplies:

Stamps:With Gratitude, Baroque motifs
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Close to Cocoa craft ink
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie
Also: Chocolate grosgrain ribbon, brad, clear e.p.

Shadows

Here are the other two cards that A12 made recently. I think both turned out beautifully.  She did an expert job on the shadowing of the sentiment in the card above and created a nice faded motif on the card below.

Supplies:

Stamps:Garden Silhouettes, All Year Cheer, Baroque Motifs, Graceful Words
Inks: Not quite Navy,Taken with Teal, Gold, Summer Sun
Cardstock: Not quite Navy, Taken with Teal, Summer Sun, Whisper White, Natural White, Brushed Gold

Pink Simplicity

While I have not had a chance to make any more cards my daughters have, so I will post a few created by A12.  L14 made a card with the Great Wall on it for a friend from the China trip but unfortunately I didn’t get it photographed before it was given.  A12’s cards have been made to go in the stash.  The pink one below is a simple but very pretty design using one set and one colour with white.

Supplies:

Stamps: In Full Bloom
Inks: Pretty in Pink
Cardstock: Whisper White, Pretty in Pink