Another Mixed Bunch Thank-You

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Hey y'all. Happy Thursday! Just one more day until the weekend. YEA!

I have a Quick and Easy card for you today. A few weeks back I got my first online order. Wow, it was so surprising to get that e-mail from Stampin Up saying someone had stopped by and placed an order. Surprising in a totally unexpected, fabulous kind of way. Well, I sent an e-card to that wonderful person, but I wanted to make them a card too. I knew just the stamp set I wanted to use too and it was due in that week. *Happy Dance* Well my stamp set came but not the punch I was going to use, so it took me a few extra days to be able to make this card. It's in the mail now, so if it's recipient is reading my blog and seeing it here first, just know it's on it's way and you are very appreciated!

Here's today's card-

Heat Embossed Mixed Bunch Card

Like I said, this is a Quick and Easy card and I had so much fun making it as a special Thank-You! I used Calypso Coral as my base and stamped two of the images from my new Mixed Bunch stamp set randomly (I just can't bring myself to like that word (:  ) all over the front of  my card. I used Calypso Coral Classic Ink for a tone on tone look. (Love that look!)

Next I stamped my floral images with Versamark and then Heat-Embossed them with Silver embossing powder. Then it was just a few simple punches and my focal point was ready to put together. I punched an extra flower from my Summer Smooches DSP to coordinate and used my bone folder to curl all my "petals" down on the bottom layer and up on the top layer. A few dimensionals in-between all the layers and my pretty little flower focal point was finished. All it needed was a sentiment and I used one from my Teeny Tiny Wishes. I stamped it in Calypso Coral on a scrap of Very Vanilla c/s, flagged the end, sponged the edges, curled it to give it some extra flair and dimension and adhered it with a few Mini-Glue dots. See, I told you, Quick and Easy! :)

Here's the inside-

The sentiment is from Three Little Words and it will be retiring at the end of next month. I sponged the edges of my Very Vanilla c/s for a little added depth and then stamped my floral image on the bottom. Want to know a secret? I didn't intend for the image to be lighter in the center. I guess I just didn't press down good enough and it ended up that way. I liked it though,one of those happy little accidents that happens so often in stamping. It looks like a tone on tone, rock and roll image. 

I didn't write on the card, I wrote my message on a sticky note, so it's recipient could use the card when she needed a Thank-You card for someone. I hope she likes it! What do you think?

If you'd like to get a special card, made just for you, I'd love to make one for you! Anyone that places an order in my Online Store will get a special card, from me. Now's a great time to shop since our retired list is out. Also, our current Occasions Mini catalog is ending at the end of this month. I sure hope that the Mixed Bunch stamp set and Mixed Bunch Punch will be in the new catalog that comes out on June 1st, but I have no idea and we won't know until then. If you love it or any of the other great items in our Mini, don't let them go without getting your favorites.

You can shop in my ONLINE STORE 24-7, you don't even have to get dressed up to do your shopping. :) Bonus!

Well, that's all I have for today. I hope you liked it and I hope this post hasn't ruined the surprise for it's recipient! :)

If you liked today's card, please feel free to leave me a comment. I love hearing from you! Also, feel free to +1 it or Pin it. I've put the buttons on my sidebar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcomed too.

I hope to see you back here tomorrow.

Till next time-

Remember- Life isn't about Waiting for the storm to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

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Mixed Bunch Thank-You / Monday Mojo Challenge #237/ Personal Challenge #17

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Hey y'all. Happy Tuesday or should I say Tax Day. I hope you have your taxes in and everything works out positively for you. Mine are done and in fact the money's all spent except a little that I'm going to pay for my airfare to Convention with. I was lucky enough to get some new stamping supplies and to pay for my convention registration as well as a few other niceties. :)

Today's card uses some of my new refund purchases. That alone makes me smile, although I think the card's kind of cute too. I used the sketch over at Mojo Monday's for inspiration and that takes care of my personal challenge for the week as well.

Here's today's card-

Mixed Bunch Thank-You Card, Summer Smooches DSP

I think the colors are so bright and cheery and I'm just loving this stamp set and punch. I really hope they make it into the new catalog. I was inspired color-wise by a card I made this weekend at our team meeting (Thanks Robin!)

Here's the Mojo Monday Sketch-

I kept pretty true to the sketch. I simply turned it on it's side and re-positioned the flag.

I started with a base of Daffodil Delight and layered a piece of DSP from the new Summer Smooches collection. How much are you loving that collection? I love it all and that's rare for me, but all the pages are just fabulous. It may be the first pack that I have to fully replace. :)

I inked up my two of my Mixed Bunch stamps in Daffodil Delight to make the flowers. I used my Mixed Bunch Punch to punch them both out and then punched out two more from DD c/s to layer them. I used my bone folder to curl the petals and a little Tombow to adhere them together. Next a few dimensionals to lift them up off of my Whisper White c/s layer.

I love the look of the upper layer of c/s being punched out to show the DSP beneath it. I know it seems like it's everywhere, but it's the first time I've used it and I think it just adds a little something to the card. (Plus it allowed me to get in all 4 circles!) I elevated the WW c/s layer with dimensionals as well to give it more of a 3-D effect. I used my left over corner pieces for this. You use those right? They work great for all sorts of projects and save you money (You know I'm all about the saving money!). Make sure you don't throw them away.

I used another punched flower to make the leaves. I used a little Tombow to stick them up under the edges of my flowers.  I stamped my sentiment from 3 Little Words on a scrap of WW c/s, flagged the end and sponged the edges and then used more Tombow to secure it. Three Little Words is on the retired list that just came out on Sunday. You can check out my website to see all the stamps that are leaving to make room for some Amazing New Ones!

The flag is the only spot on the front of the card that got sponged. This is a departure from most of my cards. Normally if you sponge one element you should sponge them all, but I sponged this layer just to give them impression of another layer instead of adding one. I think it still looks ok. .What do you think?

Here's the inside-

I kept it soooo simple here. The sentiment is from Many Thanks. It's on the retired list so if it's one you been meaning to get don't wait too long. It will be gone May 31. It's been around for quite a while, in fact I got it when I signed up the first time almost 7 years ago. I added a little sponging to the edges of my WW layer here for some added depth and my card was finished.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked today's card and I hope it inspires you to try something new today, maybe a challenge or a new design element.

If you liked today's card, please feel free to leave me a comment. I love hearing from you! Feel free to +1 or Pin it as well. I've put the buttons on my sidebar for your convenience.  Friends and Followers are always welcome too. :)

You can stop by my ONLINE STORE to see our Retired List and to get any supplies you might need.

Till next time-

Remember- Life isn't about Waiting for the storm to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan

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End of the Week Technique # 24- A Paisley Petal Make & Take "De-Construct"

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Hey y'all. Happy Humpday! I missed you guys yesterday! But I was non-stop literally from 8:30am until 10:30pm.

I have a new card for you today and a question.

Do you ever look at other designers cards (or sites) and think "I wonder how long it took them to make that card" or "I wonder how many attempts it took to get that just right?"

Maybe I'm alone in thinking I'm the only one who doesn't make a card "Blog Perfect" on the first try, but I doubt it. I'm sure I'm not the only Scaredy Cat who has failed to produce the "Perfect" card on the first go round. In fact I have 2 cards at home that took multiple tries to turn out "right". In working and re-working the first one, I came up with the initial design for this card which then evolved into the final design.

I will show the other cards evolution on another post. I will also start keeping track of these "evolutions" so I can show them in future posts. Sometimes people say "I got my inspiration from X" but it's hard to know how they got form X to Y to Z. I'll show you how I got there. Then you can let me know if you think it's helpful, or interesting or not.

Here's today's finished card-

Paisley Petal, Mixed Bunch Punch Make and Take

I did this card recently, as a Make & Take, for a team meeting. I have to admit I was a little nervous because it was the first Make & Take I had done for my team, but it was well received. I really love that Paisley Petal DSP and I couldn't believe when I went to use it that I hadn't even opened the pack yet. I'm one of those people that Loves their DSP but just doesn't use it enough. SMH! And this card uses my ALL-Time Favorite Color Island Indigo! Love it!

So- By now (if you've read any of my posts at all) you know I've got a little OCD problem when it comes to stamping. And also, I hate to throw out usable scraps of cardstock or DSP. After all, You just never know when you might be able to use them for punches or making those cards where you use strips of cardstock to make patterns you know.... I just can't. So I keep the scraps in a folder with the packet of c/s so they're all together and there you go. But if it weren't for keeping scraps, well we wouldn't have this pretty little card.

In the process of making my swap card, which underwent multiple changes, I ended up using an Edgelet in the final design here-

This made this weeks EWT So Very Easy! 

You see that big open cut-away space formed by using the Edgelet? It gives you a nice piece with beautiful decorative edges....

Of course, I couldn't just throw away that "Huge" scrap of c/s. Oh No! And as I looked at it and turned it, I began to think that the decorative edges might look good on a card, framing some DSP... and so it turns out they did.

I cut a piece of Paisley Petals DSP (I think it's 7 x 2 1/2 it was a month ago), Tombowed it down and then Tombowed the two Island Indigo pieces down on top of it. I then simply flipped it over and trimmed the DSP over-hang with my paper-snips. It needed more. So, back to the drawing board or in this case the Big Shot-

I repeated the process this time running my scraps through the Big Shot with the Adorning Accents folder that coordinated with the Edgelet. Now we were cooking with Crisco! Love that combo!

***For the EWT-After a little playing around I discovered you could, depending on how much DSP you wanted to show, change the size of your borders. For the size I have, I cut squares that I believe were 6x4 to go with my DSP of 7 x 2 1/2. Use a piece of grid paper and lay it out on an old card front to check your sizes. You can make it any size you'd like. It's your card, Personalize it to make it uniquely yours!***

Then, I punched two flowers with the Mixed Bunch Punch, one with Island Indigo and one from a coordinating DSP. I sponged the edges of both with Island Indigo and then ran them through the Big Shot with the Petals-a-Plenty Embossing Folder. I used my Bone Folder to curl the edges up to give the edges some dimension and staggered the petals when I layered them so you could see both layers. I used Mini-Glue Dots to adhere them to each other and to the Island Indigo layer.

I stamped the sentiment from Petite Pairs, what a great set, in Island Indigo on Whisper White and used the Modern Label Punch to Punch it out. I then sponged it with Island Indigo, gave it a little dimension by curving it with the edge of my paper snips and tucked the edge under the flower and secured it with a Mini-Glue Dot and the Front was done.

Here's the inside-

Very simple- Whisper White edged with Island Indigo. The sentiment is the rest of the one from the front. The flower is from Fabulous Florets. I thought it coordinated well with the flowers on the front.

So that's how my card evolved... from a Swap Card Scrap, to a card that had potential that is now in the "it's got to be fixed-up pile" (cause you know I couldn't just throw it away, right?) to the finished product that went with me to the team meeting for people to see as they made their cards.

What do you think? About the card? About the idea for this as a blog topic? Yea, Nea, Maybea? :) LOLOL

At any rate, I hope I have inspired you to try something new today, maybe with some old scraps.

If you liked today's card, I would love it if you left me a comment. It's great when I get to hear from you! Also, if you liked today's card, please feel free to +1 or Pin it. I've added the buttons to my side-bar for your convenience. Friends and Followers are also welcome. :)

If you need supplies to make your own cards, you can shop in my ONLINE STORE 24/7.
Today's Card Recipe-
Cardstock- Island Indigo, Whisper White, Paisley Petals DSP
Ink-Island Indigo Classic Ink
Stamps- Petite Pairs, Fabulous Florets
Big Shot-Edgelet, Adorning Accent Embossing Folder, Petals-a-Plenty Embossing Folder
Punches- Mixed Bunch, Modern Label
Accessories- Mini-Glue Dots, Sponges, Tombow

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you have a great day. I hope to see you back tomorrow.

Till next time-

Remember- Life isn't about Waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to Dance in the rain

Be Safe,
Shan

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