Friday Flashback - Grateful for You

I think a while ago, OK - a LONG while ago, I had done a few "flashback" cards here and there using retired SU product from my stash.  I'm not one to give up my favorite retired merchandise so easily... I love it too much!  And, this card my inspire you pull out and use that same DSP or stamp set today - which serves my purpose for making my "flashback" cards!


I made a card for one of Splitcoaststampers challenges this week.  What a fun challenge, too!  This is my first Teapot Tuesday card, and I was able to make this for EPEC (extra points for extra cookies!).  Here's the story behind the challenge, and I hope that you'll be able to play along, too....

I loved making this card with the always beautiful, Always Thankful, stamp set.  The image was watercolored with an aquapainter and SU inks.  The edges of the vanilla and DSP panels were lightly sponged.  These were matted and then glued down.  I stamped an extra set of the wheat stalks, watercolored them, cut 'em out and glued them on top of the original image to add that little extra dimension and have a couple of the wheat sprays on top of the sentiment.  Lastly I added little 1/8" circle punch-outs from black cardstock to make faux brads.

Thanks for looking at my challenge card, and I hope you can dust off some items in your stash and play today...  Comment below with a link to your card - I'd love to see it!

~June

Stamps:  Always Thankful (retired)
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Riding Hood Red, Basic Black, SU Love Letter DSP (retired)
Ink:  Basic Black, Riding Hood Red, Daffodil Delight, River Rock, black pen
Accessories: 1/8" circle punch, sponge dauber, aquapainter, designer label punch, 1 3/8" circle punch

WT310 Silhouette

The Ways to Use It challenge on SplitCoast is all about Silhouette Stamping today. This is where your main image is solid and stamped in one color only (you can use an "open" image and color it in a solid color). This kind of stamping is really striking and has alot of WOW factor.

To make my card above, I brayered black ink on white cardstock on the top of the main panel, then stamped the tree from Nature Silhouettes. The deer was stamped next, then I filled in the edges with black ink. Then to really make my main panel visually pop, I heat embossed it about 5 times with clear embossing powder. The surface is now really glassy. I got alittle close with the heat gun during one of the layers, and it caused the ink or paper beneath to spread a golden brown color from the inked areas.... I thought it provided a very cool background effect! After the main panel cooled down, I matted a couple times on white and black cardstock, then popped it up on a So Saffron embossed panel using the Square Lattice embossing folder/BigShot.

Thanks to Kim for hosting this challenge once again. I hope that you have a great Thursday, and are able to come visit with me again soon...
~June

Stamps: Nature Silhouettes

Paper: White, Black, So Saffron

Ink: Basic Black

Accessories: brayer, heatgun, clear embossing powder, sponge dauber, striped ribbon, dimensional popdots, Square Lattice embossing folder/BigShot

SC320 CC310 for you...

Hello everyone! Today's card is a combination of Sketch Challenge #320 and Color Combination Challenge #310 on SplitCoast. The colors this week are So Saffron, Wild Wasabi, and Pacific Point. These summertime colors are so refreshing and coordinate very easily. This card actually uses stamps from 4 different stamps sets. I really like how many of the sets can blend together to really expand the usefulness. I inked the leftmost panel in Wild Wasabi ink, then sponged on Pacific Point ink on the flowers. After a few moments, the ink was dry and I colored in the flowers with a white gel pen. The middle panel was inked in So Saffron ink, with Wild Wasabi sponged on the very edges before stamping on paper. The stamp was cleaned before each use so that the Wild Wasabi green ink wouldn't contaminate the So Saffron yellow inkpad. I had stamped the polka dot label on scratch paper and cut out the oval circle so that I could use it as a mask to sponge in So Saffron ink on the label that was stamped for the card. The butterfly and label are raised with popdots.

I hope you have a great day and thank you for visiting with me!


Stamps: Baby Blossoms, Just Believe, Vintage Vogue, Great Friend
Paper: So Saffron, Wild Wasabi, Pacific Point, Whisper White
Ink: So Saffron, Wild Wasabi, Pacific Point, white gel pen
Accessories: sponge daubers, dimensional popdots, pearls

IC271 Pink Lemonade

Today's card reflects inspiration challenge #271 over on SplitCoast. This is where we can look through a website found by the challenge hostess, Stef, and find a picture for inspiration. I chose this picture called Pink Lemonade. I love pink lemonade in real life, so I think that's why the picture stuck out to me. I am having such a hard time getting my camera to capture light, soft colors like pink correctly, so I apologize for the poor quality photograph. I took a bunch of pictures under a variety of light conditions, and this one was the best that I could muster, even with the aide of Photoshop. I hope you can see the details well enough...

This stamp set is featured in the Occasions Mini Catalog and called Baby Blossoms. I love 2-step stamping, and there's a variety of different florals in the set. The lighter area of the rose was inked up in Pretty in Pink, stamped once on scratch paper, then stamped again on Whisper White. The darker area of the rose was stamped directly in Pretty in Pink ink without "stamping-off" first. The frame and roses are popped up with dimensional popdots, and the middle white panel has very light sponging done of the edges. The scrunchy ribbon is held in place with sticky strip.

Thanks to Stef for bringing a wonderful challenge today... I hope you have a great Saturday!!

Stamps: Baby Blossoms
Paper: Whisper White, Pink Pirouette
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery
Accessories: Perfect Polka Dot embossing folder, Bigshot, sticky strip, whisper white organza ribbon, dimensional popdots, sponge dauber

Birthday Bling

I came home from work and jumped right into today's "Ways to Use It" challenge #309 over on SplitCoastStampers - it is all about birthdays! We go through birthday cards rather quickly here in my household... in fact, when my oldest son saw that I was making a birthday card this morning, he chirped up and said a good friend's birthday is today and needed one... see what I mean!?! :)

As you can see, the layout is pretty straightforward. The designer papers come from the SAB offering called "Icecream Parlor" - YUM is all I can say! The stamped image comes from the Level 1 Hostess Set, Birthday Bakery, and is simply colored in with SU markers. My final touches are the lots and lots of Rhinestone Jewel goodness scattered around - it's so hard to capture the sparkle in the picture, but I'm sure you can imagine how the bling catches the light.

If you're interested in finding out more about Stampin' Ups Sale-A-Bration promotion where you can receive Free Products, please check this link for more information. You can contact me by email at june@mycreativecorner.com. Have a super day, thank you for visiting, and see you later!

Stamps: Birthday Bakery
Paper: Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Vanilla, Icecream Parlor DSP
Ink: Basic Black, various SU markers for coloring
Accessories: Dimensional Popdots, SU rhinestone jewels

Punched Posies using SC93

There are lots of adorable flower selections included with the Punched Posies Hostess Set that's available in the Summer Mini catalog. This layout is based on Splitcoast's Sketch Challenge 93. To add a bit of dimension on my large flower, I added additional ink on the outer petal edges using a sponge dauber in Bashful Blue ink. The center flower ring was stamped and punched out with the 3/4 inch circle punch, then I added a green brad in the center. The circle was popped up with a popdot on the flower. I used some masking to create the mass of leaves down at the bottom, as well as popping up 3 cut-out flowers. The sentiment comes from the new 2010-2011 IB&C Hostess set called Occasional Quotes.

Stamps: Punched Posies, Occasional Quotes
Paper: Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Wild Wasabi, Vanilla, 2009 SAB designer paper
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Bashful Blue
Accessories: dimensional popdots, sanding block, sponge dauber, brad, 3/4 inch circle punch

As always, thank you for your visit and I'll see you next time! Have a great day...

Sketch Challenge Baby Cards

Hello there! Here's a quick post to show you a couple of baby gift cards that showcase today's sketch challenge over on Splitcoast. Here are the card details -

Stamps - Animal Stories
Cardstock - Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, 2009 & 2010 SAB DSP
Ink - Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue
Accessories - sponge dauber, dimensional popdots, punches: corner rounder, pinking hearts border, wide oval

They are 3x3 gift cards and very quick to put together. Hope you like them - have a great day!

Happy Retirement

This was made for this week's Technique Lover's challenge on SCS. We were to do paper piercing on our card - I kept the piercing simple and just framed the main panels.

The palm trees come from a soon-to-be-available (May 1st!) Stampin'Up! Summer Mini catalog set called Tropical Party. I used Old Olive and Soft Suede markers for coloring the palm trees. The sun was created from a 1/2 inch circle punched in a post-it to use as a mask for sponging Summer Sun ink. I lightly sponged Bashful Blue and Creamy Caramel inks along the lower half of my main panel. The sentiment comes from Teeny Tiny Wishes and was lined up with a StampAMaJig. The background paper is from the Welcome Neighbor SAB paper pad and is popped up with dimensional popdots. Melon Mambo ribbon and paper piercing finish off the card.

Have a great day, and thank you for visiting with me. Come back again, soon! :)

Roses for Prom

Hello again - This card was made for my oldest son to give to his date on their way to their high school's Junior-Senior Prom next weekend.... along with chocolates and a rose corsage, of course! He will be wearing the standard black tuxedo and white shirt with a red vest/tie to match her lovely red dress, so that's why I chose these colors for the card. The layout is this week's Sketch Challenge over on Splitcoast.

The large rose and rose buds on the tags were made with hearts punched from various heart sizes, and I inserted little half-back pearls that are held in place with Crystal Effects. The two smaller roses were made with the Trio Flower punch, with 3 punch-outs stacked on each other and scrunched up with a little pearl inside. The stamped "flower stem" is a portion of the flourish stamp from SU's new Elements of Style (which will be available for purchase on May 1st), and it was selectively colored with Old Olive marker before stamping. I lightly sponged the edges and used the speckle stamp from Itty Bitty Backgrounds in Real Red ink to add alittle more color to the flower panel. I applied a smidge of Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint with a make-up sponge to the large rose/leaves - the leaves were hand cut from scrap DSP.

I used the scallop trim border and tiny tags punch for the ribbon layer. I left the middle tag blank so that my son could write his date's name in Japanese handwriting - my son and his date met in their Japanese language class, so I think that will add a special, personalized touch for this card. The background embossed panel was created with the Finial Press folder/Bigshot.

I hope you have a great weekend and can stop in again very soon! C Ya!!

Baby Cakes

Howdy! This baby card was created using multiple paper patterns to fit the Ways to Use It challenge over on Splitcoaststampers.

The patterned paper comes from selections within SU's Welcome Neighbor SAB paper pad. The On Board chipboard circular ring and heart is from the Blossoms & Basics package. Sadly, these are no longer available, but the chipboard shapes can be found repackaged in the "Essentials" and "Batch of Blooms" selections that are available now. I used Versamark and white embossing powder/heatgun 3 times on the ring to get the thick coverage needed for a smooth surface. I colored the heart with Melon Mambo ink, then applied a thick coat of Mono-Multi glue and sprinkled the Crystal Iris chunky glitter on top.

The elephant from the Pun Fun stamp set was stamped in Basic Black, and watercolored with Going Grey and Pretty in Pink inks before punching it out with a 1 3/4 inch circle punch. The edges of the elephant panel and Hip-hippo-ray label were lightly sponged with Pretty in Pink ink. The Whisper White Organza ribbon bow was tied around the white embossed ring and everything was assembled. The ring was glued down with Mono-Multi, and I used dimensional popdots under the elephant panel and hand-cut wavy label. The heart is adhered with a square of sticky strip, and half-back pearls were added last.

Thank you for visiting today!

Bookmark Card and Bag

A recent challenge on Splitcoaststampers, TLC268, was to incorporate a bookmark into a card. I had some small items to give to a sweet friend, so I thought this would be a nice way to add something more to her gifts.



This little color combination started with this paper rose that I originally had made for a different project. The rose turned out to be larger than I needed, so I set it aside till I found another use for it - today's project! The paper rose was created by using different sized heart punches. I sponged ink on the edges and curled the heart's curvy edges under before gluing the pointy tips together (a brad can help to secure all the pointy tips before shaping as well).

The designer paper came from my never-ending scraps pile, so I don't know the maker, but I loved the summery feel to the colors and it matched the flower well enough for my needs. This was matted together using Tempting Turquoise cardstock. The paper gift bag is Stampin' Up's Fancy Favor Sizzix die cut out of YoYo Yellow. I threaded a strip of Whisper White Organza ribbon on top to make a bag strap. The flower is attached to the designer paper with dimensional popdots.



The front of the card seen at the top of this post is using stamps from Great Friend and Pocket Silhouettes stamp sets in YoYo Yellow, Tempting Turquoise and Green Galore inks with the same in cardstock colors. The inside of the tri-fold card contains the bookmark held in place with repositionable tape. Here's the bookmark removed from the card below-



The butterflies were diecut using the Beautiful Wings embosslit die found on page 24 of the Occasions Mini. I love how it has 4 different butterflies on it - I've used it a ton already! The bookmark is a perfect size and comes from the Two Tags die, and I have an inside mat of Tempting Turquoise cardstock punched from the Scallop Circle punch. The 1 3/8 circle punch was used for the pattern paper circle background.

I hope this gives you some ideas to use when presenting gifts to someone special. I hope you have a fabulous Monday, and may your week be a good one! Till next time....

WICKED 3D Butterfly Box

Here's my last submission for the WICKED challenges posted for Stampin Up demos over on Split Coast Stampers - a HUGE thank you goes to Brenda (aka QBee's Quest) for providing such an awesome template/project idea! You rock! :)

After cutting out and assembling the butterfly box template using a sheet from the Raspberry Tart designer paper collection, I used the Big Shot and Beautiful Butterflies die to create my smaller die-cut butterfly on the front. I used a small piece of Pink Pirouette cardstock as a base layer for the butterfly, and lightly sponged the edges in Riding Hood Red ink. The top butterfly layer was shaped for dimension, as you can see. The sentiment was stamped and punched out with the small oval punch. This was lightly sponged too. The ribbon is 1/4 inch Pretty in Pink and I used a small cut-out rectangle of Sticky Strip to hold each ribbon tail in place while I punched a 1/16 inch hole to insert my brads. Lastly, I stripped the paper from a twist-tie and formed the thin wire around the butterfly body and curled the ends for antennae. You may need to click the picture to see a bigger version of the card to view that detail. The butterfly and sentiment oval are popped up with dimensionals.

Have an awesome weekend, everyone! Come back soon!!!

Stamps - Great Friend (sentiment)

Paper - Pink Pirouette, Raspberry Tart DSP

Ink - Riding Hood Red

Accessories - Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies BIGZ die, brads, ribbon, small oval punch, sponge, twist tie wire, 1/16 inch hole punch, Sticky Strip, dimensional popdots, candy

WICKED color, Watercolored Rose

Hello again... here's my WICKED submission for the color challenge posted by Brenda (aka QBee's Quest) on Split Coast Stampers. I mentioned alittle bit about these challenges on my previous post. With this particular challenge, we were to use these three colors: Riding Hood Red, So Saffron and Baja Breeze. These are awesome color choices - thanks, Brenda! :)

I love roses more than any other flower, and I especially love the bi-color ones, so this was my inspiration for this card. The open-lined flower was stamped in black ink and immediately heat embossed with clear embossing powder on glossy cardstock. I watercolored the flower with Riding Hood Red and So Saffron re-inkers and aquapainter. The ink doesn't dry immediately on glossy paper, so watch out for that or you might smudge ink in places you didn't intend! :0 (I helped speed up the process by hitting it lightly with my heatgun). I stamped the flower again on scrap paper and cut it out so that it would serve as a mask for sponging done in Baja Breeze and a touch of So Saffron inks. I used my coluzzle to cut out the oval, and hand cut the matted layer out of Riding Hood Red cardstock. This was mounted with dimensional popdots. The cardbase is So Saffron, and I trimmed off about 3/4 inch from the front flap so that I could adhere my Riding Hood Red eyelet border strip down one side.

Thanks for checking out this card project! Remember, you can click the picture and it will open up a larger version for you (so you can see better details). The gloss from the paper made it hard to capture the depth of color with this rose - but I hope you enjoy it anyway. Stay tuned for another WICKED project to be posted tomorrow - so, until then, have an awesome day!!

Stamps - Fifth Avenue Floral, Great Friend (sentiment)

Paper - Riding Hood Red, So Saffron, Baja Breeze, Glossy White

Inks - Riding Hood Red, So Saffron, Baja Breeze, black

Accessories - aquapainter, sponge, coluzzle/oval template, heatgun, clear embossing powder, eyelet border punch, dimensional popdots

WICKED sketch, Friend

Many congratulations and thanks to Brenda (QBee's Quest)!!!! She was selected as May's WICKED challenge hostess on Split Coast Stampers! I just recently found out about these challenges, and couldn't wait to give them a try. I loved the challenges that Brenda set up for us this month! WICKED stands for Wonderfully Inspiring Challenges Keep Educating Demos - and if you are a registered Stampin Up demo on SCS, please stop by and check it out.

This is the card that I made for the sketch challenge. The triangles in the corners were stamped with the large swirl from Baroque Motifs, then sponged, with Ballet Blue ink. The floral stamp was selectively colored with markers, huffed on to re-moisten the ink, then stamped. The sentiment is from Great Friend and was also selectively colored with markers. The sentiment was stamped using a StampAMaJig to line it up in the fancy frame, then cut out. It was adhered with pop dots for dimension. Thanks for visiting today - come back tomorrow for another WICKED submission!

Stamps - Thoughts and Prayers, Baroque Motifs, Great Friend

Paper - Ballet Blue, Old Olive, Black, White

Ink - Black, Ballet Blue, SU markers: Ballet Blue, Old Olive

Accessories - sponge, eyelet border punch, photo corner punch, brads, SAMJ, dimensionals

Inspirational Friend

Hi everyone... I combined two challenges posted on SplitCoastStampers this week to create this card today.... here are the links to the sketch challenge, and the inspiration challenge.

I used this little black and white zebra striped dress from Little Daisy Designs as my inspiration - http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12704590

My card background was created with the Big Shot and Sizzix Distressed Texturz plate. I brayered over the raised areas with black ink to bring out the pattern. The top layer was stamped multiple times with a selection from Pocket Silhouettes stamp set. I sponged this panel with black ink on the edges. The butterfly was heat-embossed in clear EP using black ink and cut out. The tips of each butterfly wing are slightly curled upward. The sentiment was colored with markers, so that I could highlight the word "friend" in Real Red ink, and cut out. Half back pearls were added last on the main panel and butterfly. The panels, sentiment and butterfly are adhered with dimensionals popdots.

Thanks for stopping by today. I appreciate all of your kind comments! Have a great spring Saturday, and I'll see you next time!

Stamps: Great Friend, Pocket Silhouettes
Paper: Whisper White, black
Ink: black, SU markers: Real Red, black
Accessories: Big Shot, distressed texturz plate, sponge dauber, brayer, clear embossing powder, heatgun, StampAMaJig, 1/2 back pearls, dimensional popdots

Floral Crimped Envelope & Pocket Card

This is such a simple technique for those of you wanting to make a card, or present a gift card with pizazz, for someone really special! So often, we don't seem to really embellish the envelope as much as the beautiful card we've created, and this project really fills that void... and how!!! This technique was featured a couple weeks ago on Splitcoast's Technique challenge, and I encourage you to click on the link to learn how it's done so that you can give it a try!

I used a couple different stamp sets for this, Botanical Blooms and Heartfelt Thanks. The envelope was stamped first with the leaves from Botanical Blooms in Old Olive and Kiwi Kiss inks, and I lightly sponged around the perimeter with Kiwi Kiss. The envelope was crimped, then the flowers from Botanical Blooms were stamped using a Stamp-A-Ma-Jig on a separate piece of Whisper White cardstock and cut out. They are adhered to the envelope with dimensional popdots, along with several sprays of leaves diecut using the Little Leaves sizzlet/Big Shot. The envelope topper is sponged lightly all around, with a strip of Bella Rose DSP layered a couple times, and a ribbon knot attached around the strip before being glued to the topper. The pocket card is stamped with a flower from Heartfelt Thanks on Whisper White cardstock (again using a Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, every stamper should have one of these in their arsenal!). This panel was layered a couple times, then I used my Eyelet Border edge punch along the bottom. I sewed along the edges of one panel with a zig-zag stitch to add a little bit of oomph. Finally, I added a stamped tab using the Round Tab punch to make it easier on the recipient to remove the pocket card from the envelope.

I hope you enjoy my little project for today... I would love to hear what you think! Again, I encourage you to try this technique for yourself - it really is a wonderful way to present someone with a beautiful handmade card or giftcard. See you tomorrow... I've got another fun project to show you that I'm finishing up today.... ta ta for now!

Stamps: Botanical Blooms, Heartfelt Thanks

Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, white, Bella Rose DSP

Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive, Riding Hood Red

Accessories: Envelope, Kiwi Kiss ribbon, crimper, sponge, Big Shot, Little Leaves sizzlet, dimensionals, brads, sewing machine, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, SU punches - Round Tab, Eyelet Border

Easter Mosaic

This was made for Splitcoast's Ways to Use It challenge, and today's item was to use alcohol is some way on your card. My card title is Easter Mosaic, but I didn't do a mosaic on the two large eggs, just the chick's egg with the leftover "pattern" paper that I made with alcohol and reinkers. Basically, I just used a Q-tip and soaked each cottony end in alcohol, then added 1 drop of Riding Hood Red reinker on one side, and 1 drop of Kiwi Kiss reinker on the other. I lightly spritzed a quarter sheet of white cardstock with alcohol and just rolled my Q-tip back and forth, all around to make a marbling of color. (I guess this is a variation of the Polished Stone technique.... hey, I know... let's call it the Rolling Stones. tee hee hee! OK, I'm just kidding!)

Anyhow, after letting the paper dry, I stamped the egg on top and cut around the outline. I added a ribbon bow on each egg and set it aside. The chick/egg was stamped and colored in with colored pencil above (chick) and watercoloring below (egg). I cut up leftover pieces of my "pattern" paper and glued them down on the egg to create my mosaic. The sentiment was stamped and brads were added. This was matted and adhered to my cardbase. The large eggs were glued down last. It was fun to do something alittle different today. I encourage you to challenge yourself and do something outside your comfort zone. I appreciate you visiting with me and checking out my Easter card... have a great day!!

Stamps: A Good Egg
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, YoYo Yellow, Riding Hood Red, white
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Black
Accessories: colored pencils, brads, ribbon, Q-tip, alcohol, spritzer bottle, aquapainter
Techniques: polished stone

Great Times

Paper Pleats are today's cool technique challenge on SplitCoast! I made today's card for someone leaving on vacation, and my pleats are the tied-back tent flaps. I used several different stamp sets to create my scene: Under the Stars (raccoon and chow), Happy Camper (trees and campfire, & also retired), and Cute and Curly (sentiment). The trees were stamped first, then masked so that I could sponge in the night sky. The ground is also sponged. The moon is made from a 3/4 inch circle post-it that was put down before sponging. The sentiment is computer generated and punched out with the Curly Label punch and mounted on popdots. The campfire, raccoon and grub were stamped on white cardstock and cut out with scissors, then popped up with dimensional popdots. They are colored in with colored pencils. Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a great afternoon!

Stamps: Under the Stars, Happy Camper, Cute and Curly
Paper: Night of Navy, Garden Green, white, black
Ink: Night of Navy, Handsome Hunter, Chocolate Chip, black
Accessories: sponge daubers, ribbon, dimensional popdots, colored pencil, post-it, computer/printer, SU punches: 3/4 inch circle, Curly Label
Techniques: masking