Wowzer! Wednesday

Hi to all of you! How are you doing today?

Our Wowzer! Wednesday focus today is on simple cards

that still give that "Wowzer!" factor!

We're featuring work from 4 wonderful card makers today,

so let's get started with the wowing! =)

Here we go!

First up is this beautiful card by Renee. She used a combination of patterned paper and a stamped background along with a punched border and a simple, yet stunning, stamped flower focal point. She added a build-a-brad and a die-cut element to add a little "extra" to this card. In addition, her color combo is a departure from the ordinary and it a total Wowzer!! You can visit Renee HERE for a complete list of supplies and to give her a wave! =)

Next is this lovely and calming card from Julie Davison. Julie does such a great job keeping things simple and yet turning out lovely work. This card is no exception. She stuck with one stamp set primarily (except for the sentiment) and used it in a variety of ways. The rounded corners on the panels, the multi-colored floral image and the silver brads give the "extra" that make you forget that this card is simple. Love it! You can visit Julie HERE for a complete list of supplies and let her know her card is beautiful! =)

Our next Wowzer! pick is this bright and fun card from Nancy Riley. She kept things simple using designer paper and die-cuts as the main basis of this card, but she added the "extra" by using an eye-catching color combo and a fun button in the middle! It's perfect for the winter blues! =) You can visit Nancy HERE for a complete list of supplies and to say hi!

And last, but not least this week, is this sweet card from Vicki. The simple layout of the card is taken from simple to "wowzer!" with a few "extras" that are very easy to add, but they make such a difference! The ribbon, the embossed cardstock, the butterflies and the addition of the silver pearls on the butterflies all combine to make a lovely card. You can visit Vicki HERE for a complete list of supplies and to say something sweet! =)

We hope you've been inspired today with these cards. Next time your simple card looks a little too simple for your tastes, try adding one or more of the elements we saw in today's cards. A little ribbon, a button, a die cut element, or some embossing can make all the difference!

Have a wonderful day today and stay creatively inspired! =)

Using the new "Mom" set...

From Adriel:

We ordered the new "Messages for Mom" set from Stampin' Up! recently and a couple of days ago my mom and I both played with it and had some fun and laughs. I like creating with my mom. =)

This set has a ton of text in it, which I like for the reason that a lot of the sentiments can be used for other occasions and other people besides just "Mom", but they also fit well with the fancy "MOM" image that comes with the set. It doesn't come with very much else... one flourish image. This can be difficult if you're trying to use the set all by itself, but I used it along with the new "Vintage Vogue" stamp set and loved how the two sets went so well together! =)

For my card:

- I used a Kraft CS base and the size is just slightly under 3-1/2" x 5"... I think it's like 3-3/8" x 4-7/8"... I did that because it fits in the note card envelope better.

- I stamped an image from "Vintage Vogue" in Taken w/ Teal ink along the top and bottom of the card base.

- I stamped the "Mom" and the sentiment in black craft ink (on a strip of Kraft CS layered with Taken w/ Teal CS) and embossed w/ clear embossing powder. I didn't use a Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp these... I'm just that good... no, not really! LOL! We bought the set as clear-mounted, so it was very easy to see right where I was stamping and that is my secret! =)

- My black gingham ribbon ruffle was done by applying a strip of Sticky Strip on the back of the bottom of the sentiment panel. I just pressed and gathered the ribbon as I went.

- My flowers are embossed, even though I didn't have craft ink in Taken w/ Teal! Here's how: I inked up the floral image first with versamark. I then inked up the image again with Taken w/ Teal classic ink, directly after the versamark. Then I stamped this on my cardstock, which I then sprinkled with a mixture of clear embossing powder and dazzling diamonds glitter and set with the heat tool. So cool... you can pretty much emboss with any color that way, without needing to have craft ink pads! =) The flowers were then cut out carefully, punched with the 1/16" hand punch and attached to the Kraft CS strip w/ clear rhinestone brads.

It was fun to make... I'm going to make more (if I have time). ;-)

Don't forget about the color challenge that we're hosting! You can get all the details about it HERE!

Have a wonderful, creative day! =)

Supplies for Mom card (all SU unless noted): Vintage Vogue stamp set, Messages for Mom stamp set, Kraft CS, Taken w/ Teal CS, Whisper White CS, Black craft ink, Taken w/ Teal classic ink, Versamark ink, clear embossing powder, dazzling diamonds glitter, heat tool, Sticky Strip, Clear rhinestone brads, Black gingham ribbon (not SU), stampin' dimensionals, adhesive.

Ribbon Weave

From Heidi...
I love cardmaking, but I also really love sewing and anything related to fabric, so when I saw this Ribbon Weave technique on Lynn Pratt's blog, I had to try it. It's a little addictive, as you can tell...once I got started I had to try the weave on different types of ribbon.My granddaughter, Kayla, was over one day and I showed her this technique which she quickly took to and she made the long pink chain of ribbon. As she was weaving the ribbon she was thinking of all the ways she could use this chain of ribbon.One thought she had was to use it as a hair embellishment, so we picked up some plastic headbands and finished the ends of the ribbon chain and hot-glued the ribbon chain to the headband. It came out so nice, and Kayla did such a great job keeping her weave tension even.Another idea of Kayla's is to use it as a belt, so that will be our next ribbon weave project. I just received JoAnn's advertisement and the good news is that they're having a 50% off sale on all their ribbon next week...you know what we'll be busy doing! Thanks for looking and Merry Christmas!!

Something from the Scrap Pile

From Adriel:

The other day I found a piece of Old Olive CS in our scrap bin that was already folded as a standard A2 size card and the front of it was stamped with some images from Fifth Avenue Floral. I must have been feeling adventurous because I decided to make the poor card into something...

Um... I'm not sure if I like it. The card may have been better off left uncompleted in the scrap pile. I don't know... when I picked it out of the scraps, it seemed to be screaming for someone to finish it. I just think I wasn't the right person to finish it. =D


Anyway, it was fun to play around with. I used my mom's sewing machine again and tried out
(by memory) a ribbon pleating tutorial I ran across awhile back. It also has a nice paper pleating tutorial along with it and you can find those HERE on Studio Calico's blog. I don't know if I followed their directions exactly, but I ended up with pleated ribbon and that was the point, so I was at least successful in that regard. =P

At least I tried something new and had some fun. And I enjoyed myself!

Card for Kwerner's Color Challenge #53 and Big News about my Bro!

From Adriel:


So I'm late in getting this posted (even though it was done yesterday), but that's okay. =)


I used the colors from this weeks color inspiration to make a birthday card for my brother who is turning 17 next month!! I thought the colors were great for a masculine card.


BIG NEWS ALERT!! My brother finished 3rd place in the classical guitar competition today! Congratulations, Daniel! I've included a few links about my brother... hopefully he won't mind! =D


Daniel's website where you can find samples of his beautiful music HERE.
All the details about his latest competition HERE.
Article from 2008 about Daniel HERE.
An old video... he has gotten SO MUCH better since this video, but this is all I could find:





He is probably going to go, "Oh, brother!" when he finds out I put all this information about him on here, but that's okay! I'm very proud of him and glad for him... now he can take a break from the 3 hours of practicing a day!


Now that I'm thinking about it, hopefully he doesn't look too much on here, because he will see his birthday card! Oh well! =)

Simple Cards

From Adriel:

The other day I whipped up some quick and easy cards to give to friends that were needing some birthday cards. I thought they would be great to share with you, so here they are!

Very easy, very simple... no frills. Just thought I'd share some simple layouts and card ideas! Have a great day! =)

Gift Tags Galore!!

From Adriel:

Hope you all had a great weekend! What can I say? It went by way too fast... =(

We're looking forward to stamping with some of you this week at our SAS! The sponging technique is a great way to add more interest to your projects. I think you'll like the cards we'll be making and you're going to fall in love with the Sixth Avenue Floral set!

In the meantime, here's some gift tags to inspire you that we've made for spring and for our Etsy shop.


This set of tags is very simple and made with soft earth tones. We used the Sale-a-Bration set "Botanical Blooms" and the scallop edge punch as well as the eyelet border punch. The rounded corners add to the softness. Hemp cord finishes off these tags for an added earthiness!

This set of tags is made with bright pastels and the hostess set, "A Little Somethin'", which works great with various punches. By using the Stampin' Write markers, you can get a multi-colored image! Layered with other punched shapes and some marigold yellow ribbon, they make super cute tags!

This set of tags is sweet and girly, using primarily the curly label punch and the Boho Blossoms punch. The Boho Blossoms are the main focal point of the tag and rhinestones added to the centers make them extra special! White satin ribbon finishes them off for added girly-ness! =)

I hope we gave you some fresh ideas for making your own gift tags! Dress up those gifts you plan on giving or even your baked goods with a beautiful tag! =)

Valentine Treat Jar

From Adriel:

Just giving you another idea on how to use the Love You Much bundle! I love how this turned out!

So simple... used a clear glass jar that we got at Michael's. Made a belly band out of the DS paper (Candy Lane) and cardstock. Wrapped that around the jar, securing it with stick strip. I suppose you could use Snail adhesive or other glue, but this was what came to mind when I was making it! LOL! I wanted it to STAY! Used the coluzzle circle template and cutter to make a nice matching circle for the top of the lid (larger circle out of CS, smaller circle out of DS paper). Stamped the large heart image from the Love You Much set on Riding Hood Red CS and cut it out, attaching it to the top of the jar with dimensionals. Tied some pretty cream-colored satin ribbon around the jar and attached a cute little tag! Put some fun red candies in the jar! How easy was that! So easy, you can do it for someone you know for Valentine's Day! Have fun!

Materials used for this project:

Love You Much stamp set

Curly Labels set

Candy Lane DS paper
Riding Hood Red CS

Pink Pirouette CS

Curly Label punch

Coluzzle Circle Cutter template and blade

Chocolate Chip ink

Riding Hood Red ink

Ivory satin ribbon

Dimensionals

Snail adhesive

Sticky Strip

Hemp cord

Just a reminder, the Love You Much Bundle (which includes the Love You Much stamp set, DS paper & Heart to Heart punch) is only available at 20% off until January 31st!

Circle Cards

From Adriel:

Here's some cute cards I made using a coluzzle circle and blade and the cute (but retired) set, Very Punny.



Here's a close up of one of the cards.


I made four sets of these cards to sell at the craft shows. They fit into a 3x3 envelope. I water colored the images with a blender pen and inks. I used my crimper on the background circle to add some texture to the cards and topped off all the cards with ribbon! I think they're pretty cute! What do you think?

Supply list (all SU! unless noted):

Gable Green CS
Lovely Lilac CS
Barely Banana CS
White CS
Chocolate Chip ink
Gable Green ink
Lovely Lilac ink
Barely Banana ink
White craft ink
Very Punny set (retired)
Sprinkles set
Itty Bitty Backgrounds set
Ribbon (all ribbon used is not SU!)
Crimper
Blender pen
Coluzzle circle template and blade
2" circle punch (not SU!)
Scallop circle punch
1-3/8" circle punch
Dimensionals


Also, I added a new picture of my mom and I to our side bar. It was taken last Thanksgiving. Just makes me thankful for my mom. She's a very good friend. :-D