Cheers and Sips

Honestly, I had so much fun making these cards last week!  The colors from Celebratory Sips are so vibrant and happy.  And the papers have cute, colorful drinks on them that you can cut out.  :)

For my first card, I cut some green designer papers into strips and mounted them onto the card.  I offset them to give them some visual appeal.  I added a piece of the beautiful Celebratory Sips paper as the focal point.  Then I cut out a couple of "drinks" to add to the card.  

This set does not have to be alcoholic, they can just be lemonade and grape juice drinks.  Here is another version:

For this card, I used a darker colored purple for the background.  I think it makes the images stand out better.  I got the idea for this card online but don't remember where.  (Let me know if it's your card so I can give you credit.)  I love how it came out.  :)

For the second card, I made a couple of slits in the middle of the front of the cardstock so that it opens only in the middle.  The top and bottom layers are glued down.  The papers are so pretty and bright.  What a fun card to make.  :)

This card has a pink lemonade with a little umbrella - how cute is that?  I got the idea for this card from Karen Titus on Pinterest.

The third card is a side fold card, so when you open it you only have room on half of the card to write your sentiment.  The pretty pinks on this card make it a happy card for someone, no matter what their special day may be.

Or just make it a Happy Birthday card to celebrate someone you know.  I stamped the orange and strawberry for the right side of the card and also for the inside.  

The papers are so nice in this set that you don't have to really any drink images.  I ordered more papers so that I can make some more bright cards.  Which card do you like best?

 

Summertime Stamping

Ah, it's the lazy days of summer are here in upstate NY.  One of my fondest memories of summer as a girl is when I used to sit out in my backyard relaxing under the big maple tree and reading a book.  Those were the carefree days...

This week I made some cards with a summer theme. 

I used an old favorite stamp set, Sheltering Tree for my card.  It kind of reminds me of the tree in my backyard when I was a girl. 

I added the new gingham in-color paper paired with the Butterfly Gala punch and new Rose Rococco cardstock to give it an updated look.  It's hard to see in the photo, but the green tree just looks very summery to me.  :)

Next up is the Daisy Delight stamp with its coordinating punch.  Daisies happen to be my favorite flower.  Although I've never actually seen a daisy in Rose Rococco, I like the soft look of these on my card.  I used the new Birch background stamp for the base of my card.  Seriously, I want this on every one of my cards! 

The cut out words and the little bird are framelits from the Well Written dies.  Cute, right?

How are you spending the lazy days of your summer? 

Enjoying a Day at Lily Pad Lake

 One of the new stamp sets from Stampin Up that first caught my eye when I was looking through the new catalog was Lily Pad Lake.  The set has lovely boat and a heron with some lily pad images in it- just perfect for creating those lazy-day summer projects.

I decided to do a class using the set, starting at what the lake might look like in the morning when the sun first comes up.  Here you can see the ships sailing on the lake early in the morning when the sun first comes up.  Welcome to the Lake!  Can you just feel the cool breeze blowing the sailboats in its gentle wind? 

There's a hint of Wink of Stella on the waves that actually looks the glimmer of the sun's rays on the water!

Now that the sun has risen in the sky and lunch time approaches, you can see a heron hiding in the sea grasses.  Boats are still out on the lake and the sea is now calm.

Really, it's turning out to be a beautiful day on the lake today.  :)

As the day wanes, you can see the sun starting to go down.  The herons are still out on the lake, now wading through the lily pads.  I like the black diorama that especially highlights the white bird as he looks out onto the lake.

I added a back panel to the diorama so that you can put a saying on the inside of your card.

Here is what the inside of the card looks like attached to the back of the diorama.

And finally, as the sun is setting low in the sky, a lovely orange glow appears in the sky, this time making our heron look like a silhouette against its warm glow. 

Our day at Lily Pad Lake is almost done.  Did you enjoy your day crafting with me using Lily Pad Lake? 

Thanks to Patty Bennett, Joanne Hewins, Eimear Carvill and stampinsmilesbyJackie for their ideas for crafting a perfect day at the Lake. 

Ah, Still More Summer

 I just love the end of summer when the air gets less humid and the nights get a little cooler.  This time of year I love sunflowers and the mellow yellows and browns.  I saw this card idea by Kathy Beck on Pinterest.  I used the Awesomely Artistic stamp set to make it. 

My next card using the same color scheme is this Happy Day quick-and-easy card.  I used The Perfectly Wrapped stamp set and then stamped and punched out the saying using the 2" circle punch and the 2 3/8" scallop punch.  I colored some pearls with a deep yellow Sharpie marker for the centers of the flowers. 

Which one reminds you more of late summer?

Cards "All Abloom" with Color!

These are the cards that we made at this week's Stamping Class.  I used the new designer paper set called All Bloom.  I love the colors and diversity of the cards.  Yet they somehow look great together because of the colors. 

The pretty quilted card idea came from Vicki Burdeck.  She is so talented and has a great blog with her cards.  I changed the colors and the stamp set that she used to include the Flower Fun.  I like the stamps that have punches to coordinate with them.  They made stamping so easy!  The leaves are made using the bird punch- much easier than taking out the embosslets.

The next card has a cut-out on the front to showcase the little heart!  Cute, right?  I got this idea from Tracey Roy.  I added a simple flower image from Bloom with Hope set and gently watercolored it.  I also added some "dots" using markers and then embellished it with some rhinestones and the new sequins!

The Happy Birthday card is the simplest one of the four.  It's made using the set, Too Kind.  I got this idea from Vicki, also, but changed the colors.  Simple, and yet so beautiful! 

Lastly, this art-deco card is made using the new stamp set, Choose Happiness.  I copied the idea from  So Shelli's blog from Stampin Up.  I changed the colors and added some of my own embellishments. 

I love how all of the cards coordinate.  I think this was one of my favorite card classes.  What do you think?