Welcome to the neighborhood!

Hello and welcome back! Once again today I have a card that is not for a challenge. Some friends have moved from suburban Chicago to suburban Atlanta and into a brand new home. Definitely a card-worthy occasion!

My inspiration for this card came from Brian King. Instead of using DSP for the first layer, I made my own using some retired Soft Sky cardstock and the Buffalo Check stamp. My Stamparatus was really helpful for this because I needed to ink up the stamp a couple of times to really get good coverage. I turned the check into a plaid by drawing lines through the pattern with a Basic Black Stampin' Write marker. The birdhouses are stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Stampin' Blends. I got the outside sentiment from the retired host set In the City and the inside sentiment from the retired set Home Life (sorry, no pic of the inside). It went together pretty quickly.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

--Cindi



Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp sets - Flying Home (retired), Buffalo Check, In the City (retired), Home Life (retired)
Paper - Crumb Cake, Soft Sky (retired), and Whisper White cardstock
Ink - Call Me Clover, Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories - Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker, Stampin' Blends
Tools - Stamparatus, Stampin' Dimensionals, SNAIL

Iowa Hawkeye birthday card

Hello and welcome back! Today's card is not for a challenge - unusual for me! A friend who is an Iowa Hawkeyes fan had a birthday this week, so I wanted to make something special just for her. What do you think?

I got some inspiration from Pinterest and changed the card up just a bit. Instead of using DSP for the punched pieces, I used the Hawkeyes colors and ran the pieces through my Big Shot with the Subtle Dynamic embossing folder. The base layer is also embossed.

Since this is a birthday card, I used the Happy Birthday thinlit and cut it out of gold foil paper and black cardstock. I added the multi-purpose adhesive sheet to the back of the cardstock before die cutting and layered the die cuts so they would stick up a bit. It's a lot easier than trying to put dimensionals on the back!

A couple of gold sequins added for bling, and it's done! I hope she likes it!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

--Cindi



Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp set - Endless Birthday Wishes (retired, for inside sentiment)
Paper - Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, and Whisper White cardstock, Whisper White Thick Cardstock, Gold Foil Paper
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories - Gold Sequin Trim (retired)
Tools - Big Shot, Happy Birthday Thinlit, Subtle Dynamic Embossing Folder, Tailored Tag Punch, Tombow Glue, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals, Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets

FMS 360 & Ink 172 - an anniversary card

Hello and welcome back! Today's card is for the sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches and the designer's choice challenge at Inkspirational Challenges.

And here is today's card:

As soon as I saw the sketch, I knew that I had to use the Floral Frames stamp set and coordinating framelits. I used the new color coach to come up with the palette of Granny Apple Green, Daffodil Delight, and Mango Melody. I incorporated the vellum in the leaves and the sentiment piece. The sentiment was stamped in Granny Apple Green and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder. This is my favorite technique for stamping on vellum with inks other than Staz-On. There's a bit of Wink of Stella on the flower centers for just a touch of shimmer.

I'll be using this as an anniversary card for some friends and family this month. Hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

--Cindi



Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp sets - Floral Frames, Express Yourself (retired, for inside sentiment)
Paper - Whisper White Thick Cardstock, Granny Apple Green, Mango Melody, and Daffodil Delight Cardstock, Vellum Cardstock
Ink - Mango Melody, Granny Apple Green
Accessories - Clear Wink of Stella, Clear Embossing Powder
Tools - Big Shot, Foliage Frame Framelits, 2" Circle Punch, Starburst Punch, Heat Tool, Tombow Glue, Stampin' Dimensionals

A Fancy Fold for the Paper Craft Crew!

Hello and welcome back! Today's card is for the tic-tac-toe challenge at the Paper Craft Crew. 

I decided to make a card using the middle row - leaves, fancy fold, and baker's twine. And here is my card:

I found the tutorial for this fancy fold at The Craft Spa (thanks, Amanda James!).

Since one of the elements I needed was leaves, the Rooted in Nature suite was the perfect fit. I even had some 12 x 12 Soft Suede in my stash from several years ago, so it was just what I needed for the card base. There are a lot of little bits and pieces to this card, but it goes together pretty quickly. 

The front is kind of plain, and it doesn't stay closed very well, so I created a belly band to keep it together. It turned out to be the perfect place to add the baker's twine!

The Nature's Poem DSP had lots of patterns with leaves, so that was very helpful.

This will be a birthday card for a dear friend - I hope she likes it!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

--Cindi



Supplies used:

Stamp set - Rooted in Nature
Paper - Soft Suede, Mint Macaron, Whisper White cardstock, Nature's Poem DSP
Ink - Crumb Cake, Tranquil Tide, Mint Macaron
Accessories - Nature's Twine
Tools - Big Shot, Nature's Roots Framelits, Stitched Shapes Framelits, Simply Scored, Tombow Glue, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Fast Fuse