Joyful Fleur de Lis Swirls

Happy birthday, Julie! My friend turned 31 in June, and only recently posted it on her blog, so I'm sending her this belated card. It's similar to the Father's Day card I made for my husband. We made this particular design at my monthly card-making soiree which I host. I liked using the red prefolded note cards from Michael's, sold in packages of 20, in a variety of colors. It matched Stampin' Up's Real Red close enough, since I just had a little bit of red. It's a bit larger than my standard cards, measuring 4.5" x 6.25." Here are a few other details.

• Paper: Confetti Cream, Basic Black, Real Red by SU, The Paper Studio Black & Cream Ornate Leaf from Hobby Lobby, cream and black striped gift wrap, and Simply Paper by Gartner Studios folded cards, size A6, red
• Stamps: Timeworn Trim, Small Sayings, Linen background by SU
• Tools/accessories: Sewing machine stitching, red brads

Maria's wedding

This is the summer of weddings for my friends' kids. Maria used to babysit for us and it's hard to imagine that she's getting married this weekend. I designed this card using the wedding announcement colors, which were gorgeous.

• Stamps: Timeworn Trim fleur-de-lis, Wedding Elegance, and Linen background
• Paper: Confetti White, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive cardstock by Stampin' Up!
• Ink: Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip
• Accessories: brads, ribbon

Congratulations to Maria and Joel. I love when a photo is added to the wedding announcement, as they did. I hid the wedding details with their picture, so you can see the colors and the beautiful couple. The inside sentiment says: "Congratulations to the two of you for choosing the perfect one."

Cherish Baroque

Here is my first design using the new Baroque Motifs set from Stampin' Up that I created today that has a bit of an antique look to it. My inspiration for the colors was from my Dutch Girl papers by Cosmo Cricket, for which I'm very affectionate about. This card was created for a swap that I'm participating in (made 20 of these) and I could only use SU items, although I haven't memorized all that will be discontinued and just tried to keep it basic, to avoid use of items that will no longer be available next week when the new catalog takes affect. Here's the lowdown on what I used:

• Papers: Mellow Moss, Close to Cocoa, Naturals White cardstocks
• Inks: Creamy Caramel, Always Artichoke, Rose Red, Marigold Morning (oops...that one's on its way out), Bordering Blue (that one might be too). I need a new catalog so I dont have to keep checking the discontinued lists!
• Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Linen
• Accessories/tools: Caramel gingham ribbon, vintage brads
  

Happy Father's Day to my husband

I'm baaack! Finally. Hopefully I will not take a month off again any time soon. I've been busy, but not THAT busy. So, here's the first creation for this month, a Father's Day card I made for my sweet, wonderful, handsome, etc., husband, who is an awesome daddy to our two kids. I was inspired by Pam Hooten and will some day recreate her orginal design when I get the supplies because I love the card so much.

Here's what my version is made from. Cardstock: Confetti cream, black, real red by SU. The black print DP is from Hobby Lobby, and the striped paper is gift wrap. Stamps: Fleur de lis stamp (from the Timeworn Trim set) and linen background stamp, both by SU, and your special day is a clear stamp by Studio G (thanks, Suzanne). Accessories: red brads, sewing machine stitching, and black SU grosgrain ribbon.

Polka Dots & Paisley

Finally, I'm using some of my Flirty ribbon! I saw this card by cdrhoades on SCS that I wanted to recreate and was blown away by the new technique I learned. A B*I*G thanks to Carrie for answering my "how to" inquiry. For the pretty in pink scalloped strip at the bottom, you start with a strip of cardstock about 1 1/4 inches wide, then use the SLIT PUNCH repeatedly to make the scallop design. Then punch holes using the 1/8" hand held punch for the little dots inside. Mine turned out a bit crooked, but I didn't want to start all over. The next time, I'll pencil in dots in a straight line as my punching guide. I'm planning to keep playing this game of "do as I'm doing" until I have my epiphany for a fabulous original design to share.