Friendly Love and Support

 Hello and welcome back! I needed a quick, simple card for a friend who recently lost her mother. Here's what I came up with.

I used the sketch at CAS Colours & Sketches and the Sale-A-Bration challenge at TGIF Challenges for inspiration. 

I simply cut 1-1/2" squares from the DSP and Basic White for the sentiment and layered them onto 1-5/8" squares of Basic Black cardstock. I used a 1/2" circle punch to notch the edge of the card so that I could tie the ribbon around the card front. A few gems were added to the flower centers for a bit of accent. Even a clean and simple card needs a bit of embellishment.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp sets - Friendly Hello, In Your Words (inside sentiment)

Paper - Basic White Thick Cardstock, Basic Black Cardstock, Friendly Hello DSP

Ink - Pool Party

Accessories - Elegant Faceted Gems, White Glittered Organdy Ribbon

Tools - 1/2" Circle Punch, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Mini Glue Dots

Another Dino Birthday!

 Hello and welcome back! While yesterday's card was a repeat of the Honey Bee set, today's card is a repeat of the Dino Days set. My great niece and great nephew are both dinosaur lovers, so whenever their birthdays roll around, this set gets another workout!

This design was inspired by the sketch challenge at TGIF Challenges. I've also got the elements for the bottom row and right-hand column (sentiment, embellishment, die-cut, stitching, white) at Tic Tac Toe Challenges.

I used the Pretty Peacock Stampin' Write Marker to add faux stitching around the punched cloud to coordinate with the stitching on the square element. A few Garden Gems were added for some bling and a bit of Denim Ribbon for texture.

I didn't want to forget the inside of the card, so I added another dino!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp sets - Dino Days, Lift Me Up

Paper - Basic White Thick Cardstock; Lovely Lipstick, Old Olive, and Soft Sky cardstock; Dinoroar DSP

Ink - Mango Melody, Pretty Peacock, Pool Party, Lovely Lipstick; Stampin' Write Marker: Pretty Peacock

Accessories - Garden Gems, Denim Ribbon

Tools - Big Shot, Stitched With Whimsy Dies, Dino Dies, Cloud Punch, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots

Honey Bee Birthday - Again!

 Hello and welcome back! Every year at this time, I pull out my Honey Bee stamp set and coordinating dies to make a birthday card for an old high school classmate who is a beekeeper. Here's this year's card.

I CASEd this card from Teri Pocock, a demonstrator in the UK. I just made a couple of changes. I didn't have any sequins or beads to make a shaker card so I used a layer of Be Dazzling Specialty Paper to substitute for the shaker. This also cut down on the thickness of the card. Just like Teri, I stamped the bees and sentiment with Memento Tuxedo Black and then Versamark so I could heat emboss with clear embossing powder. The Stamparatus makes it so easy to do this!

I used a different sentiment and punched it using the Double Oval Punch. I added a bit of Daffodil Delight ribbon from the old Gingham Gala combo.

The bees on the inside are also stamped and embossed. I just finished the card to get in the mail but her birthday is today, so I added the belated sentiment stamp.

Teri's card was a great inspiration to me. I don't know what I'd do without Pinterest!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp sets - Honey Bee, Itty Bitty Birthdays

Paper - Basic White Thick Cardstock; Basic Black and Daffodil Delight Cardstock; Be Dazzling Specialty Paper; Window Sheets

Ink/Coloring Tools - Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark; Stampin' Blends: Daffodil Delight Dark and Light

Accessories - Gingham Gala Ribbon Combo, Clear Embossing Powder

Tools - Big Shot, Detailed Bee Dies, Double Oval Punch, Heat Tool, Stamparatus, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Tear 'n' Tape

Biggest Wish Birthday

 Hello and welcome back! I've been posting a lot because I need lots of cards this week. Between February 14 and February 18 I have 15 friends and relatives with birthdays and anniversaries! Add in Valentine's Day and I'm going a little crazy right now! Anyway, here's my latest card.

I used the color challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments and the minimalist challenge at Just Add Ink for inspiration.

This card was so easy to make using the Stamparatus. These words are the perfect size for hinge step stamping.

I wanted to add a bit of texture so I used the Checks & Dots embossing folders on the card fronts. I couldn't decide which one I liked better, so I used them both!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp set - Biggest Wish

Paper - Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, and Basic White cardstock

Ink - Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Petal Pink, Memento Tuxedo Black

Tools - Stamparatus, Big Shot, Checks & Dots Embossing Folders, Multipurpose Liquid Glue

Super Combo Challenge Anniversary Card!

Hello and welcome back! So, my sister and one of my oldest friends both have wedding anniversaries on Valentine's Day. A lot of the challenges this week seem to have kind of a "love" theme, so I decided to see how many of them I could combine into one card. It turned out to be SEVEN!!! Here's the card.

Here's the challenge roll call: CAS Colours & Sketches color challenge called for Melon Mambo, Blushing Bride, and Real Red; Try Stampin' on Tuesday called for a monochromatic design; Double Trouble Challenge wanted something other than a standard A2 card; SUO Challenges was looking for a Valentine; the Inkspirational photo challenge was a floral heart; the center column at Tic Tac Toe Challenges had embossing, purple or pink, and a shaped card; and the Retro Rubber Challenge theme this week is "love."

I think the most challenging part of making this card was hand cutting the card base. I used my largest heart die to cut the glimmer heart and then measured how big my base would need to be - it turned out to be 5-1/2" wide by 10" long, scored at 5". I adhered the heart to the base just below the fold and then cut around the heart with my snips. It's not perfect but it'll do!

I had originally planned to heat emboss the sentiment on the front to satisfy one of the Tic Tac Toe requirements, but decided to dry emboss the inner hearts instead. Then as I was assembling the cards, I realized that I had forgotten to use an older stamp set - oops! So I pulled out Banners for You (from the 2018-2019 Annual Catalog) and made a new center sentiment banner.

Again, here are the challenges.

How do you think I did, combining all these challenges?

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp sets - Love & Happiness, Flowing Flowers (on envelope), Banners for You (for Retro Rubber Challenge

Paper - Basic White Thick Cardstock; Melon Mambo and Basic White Cardstock; Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper

Ink - Real Red, Blushing Bride

Tools - Big Shot, Hearts Collection Framelits, Bouquet of Love Dies, Bloom Dies, Bunch of Banners Framelits, Bouquet of Love Hybrid Embossing Folder, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

Amazing Silhouettes Birthday

Hello and welcome back! Here's today's birthday card.

This design was inspired by the challenge at Freshly Made Sketches and the color challenge at As You See It. 

The tree was stamped on a piece of Crumb Cake cardstock before embossing with the Brick & Mortar folder. I used a sponge dauber and some Calypso Coral ink to highlight the embossing around the tree before adding the ribbon and adhering it to a layer of Calypso Coral cardstock and attaching it to the card base. The sentiment is stamped in Evening Evergreen ink on a scrap of Soft Succulent cardstock and die cut with a label from the Seasonal Labels Dies.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp sets - Amazing Silhouettes, Inspired Thoughts

Paper - Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral, and Soft Succulent cardstock

Ink - Evening Evergreen, Calypso Coral

Accessories - Soft Succulent Open Weave Ribbon

Tools - Big Shot, Brick & Mortar 3D Embossing Folder, Seasonal Labels Dies, Sponge Daubers, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

Quilted Birthday

Hello and welcome back! February is a busy birthday month for me, so I'm making lots of cards. Here's another for today.

The "cozy" challenge at Inkspirational and the color & inspiration challenge at Sunday Stamps inspired this design. After all, what's more cozy than a quilt?

 I was very excited when I realized, after debossing the card front and quilt motif separately, that I could line them up perfectly! That was serendipitous for sure! I made another card with the front embossed instead but I like this one better. It looks more like actual quilt stitching to me.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp sets - Balloon Celebration, Christmas Quilt, Happy & Heartfelt (inside sentiment)

Paper - Smoky Slate, Real Red, Blushing Bride, Basic Gray, and Basic White cardstock

Ink - Real Red, Blushing Bride, Basic Gray, Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories - Resin Hearts Embellishments

Tools - Big Shot, Quilt Builder Dies, Quilt Top Embossing Folder, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals

Celebrate Your Day!

 Hello and welcome back! Today's card is a CAS (clean and simple) birthday card.

I was inspired by the tic tac toe challenge at The Paper Players. 

I started out with just the left column in mind, but it turned out to be a "cover all"! I used the negative space from a die-cut circle as a stencil to create the rainbow with sponge daubers. I stamped the flower on top of the rainbow, then added the brass butterflies and a couple of gems for sparkle on this CAS birthday card - and that's all the squares! 

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping! 

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp sets - Encircled in Friendship, Designer Tin of Cards

Paper - Basic White Thick Cardstock

Ink - Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Granny Apple Green, Balmy Blue, Highland Heather, Gorgeous Grape

Accessories - Garden Gems, Brushed Brass Butterflies

Tools - Big Shot, Layering Circles Dies, Detailed Trio Punch, Sponge Daubers

A Combo Challenge Birthday Card

 Hello and welcome back! Today's card is for a couple of challenges.

The colour challenge at Just Add Ink and the weekly challenge at Tic Tac Toe Challenges provided the inspiration for this design. I used the top row of the tic tac toe board.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy stamping!

--Cindi

Supplies used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamp set - Peaceful Moments

Paper - Basic White Thick Cardstock; Basic White, Magenta Madness, and Just Jade Cardstock; 2020-2022 In Color DSP

Ink - Magenta Madness

Accessories - 2020-2022 In Color Square Gems, Flowers for Every Season Ribbon Combo

Tools - Big Shot, Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots