There's No Time Like the Last Minute

BIG NEWS!  Kiran and I will be attending a Stampin' Up! Regional Seminar in Baltimore this Friday, and we are so excited!!  It's our first official Stampin' Up! event, and we aren't sure what to expect, except a fabulous day full of fun stamping and great stampers.  We also are hoping and planning to swap cards, which is where the last minute comes in.

Yikes, we haven't started making our cards yet!  Designing swap cards was high on the to-do list on our Stamping Saturday...but after design comes mass production, and neither of us have had the time to dedicate to that.  So our swaps will have to be sweet and simple...which means that this card is not the one I'll be swapping.  But it's close.

Of course, this card isn't all that complicated.  I used Pendant Park, and stamped the tree in Old Olive on a piece of Whisper White.  I decided to tear the cardstock, which I almost never do, and then sponged that edge with Cajun Craze for a fall feel.  I layered this piece onto some Cajun Craze cardstock that I embossed with my trusty Big Shot and the Square Lattice folder (love that texture!).  I used Early Espresso for the card base, as well as to stamp "hello" and punch out the Modern Label.  I used the Word Window punch to make that piece of Crumb Cake fit perfectly on its mat.

The final touch is where things got tricky--I am really on a ribbon kick now!  I used Pumpkin Pie 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon to make the double bow (step-by-step illustrated tutorial on Ilina Crouse's blog here), which isn't as hard as it looks...but I still need practice.  And I don't have time to practice while making swaps!

Cheers!
~Melanie

Stamps: Pendant Park
Ink: Old Olive, Early Espresso
Paper: Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, Whisper White
Extras: Pumpin Pie 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Modern Label punch, Word Window punch, Big Shot, Square Lattice embossing folder

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

Sometimes life is just crazy...like right now.  Everything seems to be going at top speed, and I can barely keep up, let alone get ahead!  But stamping is my relaxation, so I'm just going to leave all that stuff behind...except that this card should have gone into the mail last week.  Oops!

I actually made this card last Monday night, for the ColorQ challenge #51, which provided the great line-up of Poppy Parade, Old Olive, Peach Parfait, So Saffron, and Whisper White.  I really like these colors, which are so fresh and fall-like, and the inspiration cards were great!  I sat down with images of leaves in my head...and ended up with daisies.  This wasn't at all what I was planning, but I really like it.

Obviously I'm still pleased that I traded for Upsy Daisy--I inked that up in Poppy Parade to get started.  I'm also still working on incorporating more ribbon, which is where my peach "stripe" came from...though it's actually Pumpkin Pie.  Could you tell?  I wasn't sure how to incorporate the So Saffron, until I realized that Designer Label punch would fit around that "Happy Birthday" sentiment, which is stamped in Old Olive.

I love all the white space on this card, and hope to make more cards that use so much white.  The finishing touch for this card is the half pearls, which I spaced out along the ribbon.  I wanted just a little extra something, and these really hit the spot!  I used the medium and small size, and just eyeballed their placement (so don't look too closely!).  Now it's time for this to go in the mail, finally--which leads me to my TIP: When you use hard embellishments like brads, buttons, rhinestones or these pearls, you should include an extra sheet of paper in the envelope to cover and protect the embellishments in the mail.  Otherwise the postal machines could tear them off, and that is no fun.


Cheers!
~Melanie


Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Sincere Salutations
Ink: Poppy Parade, Old Olive
Paper: Peach Parfait, Old Olive, Whisper White, So Saffron
Extras: Pumpkin Pie 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Basic Pearls, Designer Label Punch, dimmensionals

On Hiatus...

You may have noticed our absence.  Sorry to leave you hanging!  But the suspense will have to continue a bit longer...our regularly over-scheduled lives are in full swing for September.

Get ready though.  Kiran is coming to my new creative corner for a Super Stamping Saturday this weekend!  And I promise that we'll have LOTS to share after that.  I hope it will be worth the wait.

Cheers!
~Melanie

Ingredients: Patience

Just as Planned...Almost

As you'll recall, I did a little card planning in My Digital Studio last week--so you've already seen this card once.  And as promised, once I got back I made the real thing...and I learned a few things about how My Digital Studio compares to the real deal.

First of all, I had resized the stamp images by half for the digital card I showed you...and they were still MUCH bigger than actual size.  To remain true to my plan, I had to stamp the border image twice along the bottom, and my flowers with leaves don't take up nearly as much room along the side of that Top Note piece.  For the record, masking and cutting with the Paper Snips was a much more involved process than layering with "send backward" in My Digital Studio.

On the other hand, I was able to use En Francais for the background on that Top Note, stamping it in retired Pale Plum for just a hint of texture.  The "thank you" sentiment came from a retired hostess set--Warmest Regards--which is the reason for this card.  While I was home last week, I received a very generous gift of stamps and supplies from someone who has fallen out of love (is it possible?  apparently!) with paper-crafting.  Warmest Regards was among the sets she gave to me, and I adore that font...so even though it's retired, you may see it often.  This card went in the mail on Monday, and I hope it conveys at least a sliver of how grateful I am for all that I received.

Cheers!
~Melanie

Stamps: Vintage Vogue, En Francais, Warmest Regards (ret)
Ink: Marina Mist, Rose Red, Regal Rose, Old Olive, Concord Crush, Pale Plum (ret)
Paper: Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla
Extras: Big Shot, Top Note die, Paper Snips, Dimmensionals

The Holiday Mini is HERE!!!

Go ahead, download the mini right away from the sidebar.  My card will wait...

The final sample from my great day at the Loft is this card, which features some favorites in the Holiday Mini.  The base is Bashful Blue, and I stamped Peace on Earth from the Hostess Level 2 set Peaceful Season in Cherry Cobbler Ink--you'll find it on page 5.  (That set makes ME want to host a party, just so I can earn it!).  The overlay is vellum, embossed with the Big Shot and the Northern Flurry Embossing Folder (page 26).  I attached the embossed vellum to the card front using mini glue dots...which you can't see, because they're covered with the seam binding and rhinestones.  Those were the finishing touches--Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding (page 21) and Basic Rhinestones from the Idea Book and Catalog.

Hungry for more?  Download the Holiday Mini already, and book your parties or place your orders ASAP.  You'll want as much time to create as possible!

Cheers!
~Melanie

Stamps: Peaceful Season
Ink: Cherry Cobbler
Paper: Bashful Blue, Vellum
Extras: Big Shot, Northern Flurry embossing folder, Cherry Cobbler 1/2" Seam Binding, Basic Rhinestones, Mini Glue Dots

New Month, New Look, New Mini Catalog

For once, we're right on schedule!  As promised, our blog has a new look to greet the new month (if you're reading this post in a reader, be sure to hop on over to the blog and check it out).  Once again, this was all done in My Digital Studio--even the background!  We can share tips if you'd like to know how to do this yourself; just leave a comment to let us know.  While you're at it, let us know what you think of the new look.

Be sure to check the sidebar for the new mini, which you can download now.  You're going to love it!

Cheers!

~Melanie & Kiran