Best Dressed Suite

There were so many great stamp sets and papers in the spring Mini catalog.  One of my favorites was the Best Dressed Suite.  I made these cards using the Dressed to Impressed stamp set and the Best Dressed papers. 

The first card has some cute purse cut-outs that I snipped right from the paper.  For the Bold as your Lipstick card, I stamped the lipstick and colored it in using the blends.  Then I added a lot of flowers for embellishment.  The gray purse is a gift card holder.

For the shoe cards, I used some designer papers from the Parisian Blossoms papers.  I added the silver edging using a die from the Arts & Crafts die set.  In the first card, I colored the shoes in pink, but then I thought that they needed a brighter color, so I made the second card using colors that are more bold.  To finish it off, I added some tiny rhinestones to the top of the shoes.  The tiny tag in the second card is from an older set.  It almost makes them look like they are still in the shoe store!

I just love this pretty paper that came in the Best Dressed suite.  I think I tend to use pinks and greens a lot in my crafting, so maybe that's why I love this one so much.  I changed the saying to a more generic thank you instead of the lipstick saying.  If I hadn't used up all my paper (I had 3 packages!) I would definitely make more of these!

In the Mood for Mosaic

While browsing some cards on Pinterest one day, I spotted some pretty cards made using the Mosaic Mood designer papers that were in the spring Mini catalog.  So I took out the paper, cut out some of the beautiful birds and put together some cards.

This card is made using Soft Suede and Rococco Rose cardstocks.  I embossed the background using the Tin Tile folder and added a strip of the designer paper across the front of the card.  Although you can't see it in the photo, the designer papers have a raised shine to them and the cards look so much better in person than in the photos.  I got the idea for this card from Dani Bastelzauber.

For this card, I cut the negative using a rectangle die from the Stitched So Sweetly die set.  I mounted another piece of cardstock to the back of the frame to make it more durable and then popped up the frame with dimensionals.  I stamped in the center of the frame and added the bird using dimensionals.  This idea is from Jackie Bolhuis.

The next two cards feature the mosaic stripes from the pretty papers.  I added a daisy and a couple of embellishments from the Well Said die cuts.  The idea for these cards is from Anne Marie Hile and from the Nigezza Creates blog.

This card has the mosaic embossing folder in the background.  I thought the daisy punch looked good with the mosaic papers.

This is pretty much the same card, only vertical with different colors.

Lastly I made a little Ghiradelli candy pouch using the envelope punch board.  It came together quickly and easily.  And who wouldn't want some candy along with their card?

Happy Nurses Day

Last year my daughter got her nursing degree and license and is currently working in a local hospital.  When Nurses Day rolled around this year, she asked my why she didn't get a card from me.  Honestly, I wasn't even aware that there was a Nurses Day, but I thought that I should make her a card, even though it would be a bit late.

I looked through my many (yes, many) rubber stamp sets for a nursing image and struggled to find something that would make a cute nurses card.  I finally found a little medicine jar from an old set from 1999 and used it to make her this card.  I stamped the Happy birthday stamp from the Ladybug set and just added in "Nurses" using letter stamps. 

About 5 days later, I asked her if she got her card.  She said she never received a card in the mail from me that week.  So guess what, I need to make her another one this week!  Hopefully she will get it this time. 

Inspiring Iris Card

In June I held a new catalog Open House for my Stampin' Up friends.  Because of the social distancing rules, I had the party in my front yard, where everyone could sit far enough apart. They enjoyed looking through the new catalog, seeing one another again, playing games and eating snacks together.

Our Make & Take for the day was this pretty card featuring the Inspiring Iris stamp set.  I got the idea from Vicki Burdick and cut them out in different colors for the ladies to make.

The first card that I made had watermelon wonder cardstock for the background, but I felt that it needed just a bit more contrast, so I made the card again using black for the background of the card.  I added a black scallop border around the stamped image and I love how it came out.  The center border is from the Magnolia Memory dies,  I think it adds a nice touch to where the designer paper and white paper meet.  I used the "thanks" from the stamp set and cut it out with the small die in the Stitched So Sweetly die set. 

There are a few Make & Take kits left, so I'm off to do some more stamping!

Fourth of July Pincushion

Every Friday, some of my crafty friends come over and we make all kinds of projects together.  Sometimes we sew, other times we stamp or make things using wood, paint, beads or other craft items.  We have so much fun together and encourage each other in our craft making.

This week I picked up the book, Pin Pals at Joann's while shopping.  It has all kinds of cute little pincushion ideas.  I love the look of little quilted items. 

Because July 4th was coming up and we were crafting patriotic things, we thought that we'd make the little flag pincushion in the book.  The measurements were very small, so I made up my own star that finishes up a bit larger than the pattern calls for.  I was really pleased with the result.

The author of the book spent time making a pincushion every day.  That sounds something right up my alley.  I'm not sure if I will make one every day, but I would like to make more!

It's the 4th of July Table Topper

 I made this table runner/topper this week and finished it up for the 4th of July.  I have white and red dishes that it looks great with for my summer dinners.  I saw the idea on Pinterest from Moda fabrics.  I started with some stars and then added the red and white rows. 

If you look closely in this pic, you can see my quilting lines.  I used the wavy stitch on my machine and just love how it turned out!  I will definitely use it again on another project sometime.

My kitty Ginger gives her seal of approval on this mini quilt.  Here she is sitting on it while I'm trying to hand sew on the binding!  She can't pass up a good "quilt" lap.  :)

Masculine Cards Using Seagulls

I needed a masculine Thank You card today to send out and after looking through my card stash, I found that I didn't' have a single one to use!  So I made this sweet card using Bird Ballad designer paper and the seagull stamp from a Paper Pumpkin kit that coordinated with the Bird Ballad suite.  I found this idea from Kerry Bunting on Pinterest.

After I made that, I realized that I needed more masculine cards.  My son's birthday is this week and I wanted to make one for him, too.  So I made another one.

And another one.

And another!  I ended up making 5 cards using these colors and this theme.  Why have I not used this amazing designer paper before? 

Here are four of the five cards.  Which one do you like the best?