Graduation and Birthday

 My nephew graduated last week.  Yes, it's that time of year!  I wanted to do something different and so I got out the SAB designer papers and used his school colors of blue, black and white as a base.  This card is made with the Blue Ribbon stamp set, which is an incredibly versatile set.  I love using it.  One of the great things about it is that you can use your punches to punch out the layers of the ribbon.  Yes, I did hand-cut the lower portion of it.  I kept this card simple because it was for a boy and they don't like all of those pretty ribbons and bows.  Wow, is that hard to hold back on the accessories!  Anyone else experience that?

And this card is for another nephew whose birthday is coming up.  Same type of card base, this time using Island Indigo and Summer Starfruit.  Isn't that DP versatile?  I love how many colors I can use it with!  The washi tape was really fun to play with and it's not ribbon, so my nephew won't hate it.  :-D  I spritzed the birthday bomb with my gold Spritz, which is now a retired accessory.  Sorry!  I do love this stamp set.  It's one of the photopolymer stamp sets that Stampin' Up! has available.  I'm hoping that they switch all of the stamp sets over to this lovely stuff! 

This is also a very clever set!  Love the words on it.  Lots of them are applicable to the adults in our lives. 
Yes, Stampin' Up! didn't get into the clear stamps very quickly, but that was because they were looking for a material that would support their intricate designs and not rip or fall apart.  They've found the perfect material here.  Very sticky and nice and thick to give you a great stamped image.  Here's a link so that you can see what sets they have available exclusively in the photopolymer material.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station once again.

Blessings!
Julie

Scalloped Sympathy

There have been so many deaths over the past month.  So sad that I need to make a ton of Sympathy Cards, but I guess that's where we are in life.  This card is a CASE of another one somewhere here on the internet.  I forgot to write down where I found it.  :(  Sorry about that!  If it's yours, please link to your post in the comments and I'll add it up here.  This card uses the SAB DP from this last campaign, paired with Perfect Plum and Always Artichoke.  The stamp sets are Loving Thoughts and Growing Green (ret.).  I love the lattice die and now it adds such a wonderful background to almost any card.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie

Layered Labels and Many Layers...

This is quite different than what I usually make.  Still am not sure how I feel about the red flower, but needed something else on it.  I made this for a friend of mine who just found out that she has MS.  She's a dear, dear friend and I'm heartbroken for her, although she has a wonderful attitude about not worrying over it.  I made this card using some retired stuff.  The embossing powder used for the Layered Label is Handsome Hunter from the Rich Regals Embossing Powder set.  Remember that one?  The DP is Twitterpated.  After gluing the DP on, I ran it through the Big Shot with the embossing folder.  Two types of ribbon were folded and the glitter brad is holding it all together.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,

Julie

Baby Monkey Punch Art

 I'm so sorry that I haven't been taking photos of the cards I've been making recently!  I'll try to be better about it.  This is one that I quick snapped before putting in the envelope.  I was late for the shower, so didn't have time to set up a nice photo shoot.  Sorry about the quality of the photo.  As you can see, this was all made with SU punches.  I've posted a photo of the wall decor that the new mom picked out at Babies R Us.  That little monkey at the top of the door is what I was trying to mostly recapture.  To start with, I needed an idea of how to make a monkey with punches!  Yes, I did go to pinterest and found a great sample here.  I've pinned it to my punch art board so that you can easily find it if you'd like to go back to it.

As you can tell, it's close, but not perfect.  But do we really expect perfection?  Not really. As I tell my customers, if it's perfect, it doesn't look handmade for the receiver.  Ok, I'll try to list here the punches that I've used.
Circles:  large from owl punch, Itty Bitty Shapes, 3/4", 1", 1 3/4", 1 3/8"(belly)
Large Oval Punch
Word Window Punch
Flower from the Itty Bitty Shapes
The DP is retired.  The small Basic Pearls were colored with a yellow sharpie to match the yellow circle of the flowers on the photo.
That's the Ticket, which coordinates with the Ticket Punch was used for the awesome greeting.  Do you know what I like about this greeting?  The baby doesn't need to be born yet!  ;-)

So that's a look at what I've created this week.  I'm eagerly waiting to attack my UPS driver when he drops of my box of goodies from the NEW CATALOG!!!!!  Can't wait!  Until then, here's a link to the new catalog.  Just click on the "shop now" button.  I just KNOW you're going to love it!

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!

Blessings,
Julie

Pretty Petites and Woodgrain

Baja, Espresso Celery, Pretty Petites, Woodgrain Emb. Folder

This card was a project from a workshop last month.  We used the Early Espresso Coredinations cardstock from the Holiday Catalog and the Woodgrain embossing folder to make the cool wood background.  The canvas ribbon is from the Spring catalog.  I like how just the lower edges of the cardstocks are rounded.  Dazzling Details was used in the centers of the flowers from the bigz die.  The ribbon punch finished off the piece under the woodgrain.  I can't remember where I got this layout from, but it was inspired by something posted online.  Sure wish I could keep track of all that!

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!

Blessings,
Julie

Happy Easter Chocolate Bunny Style

I usually don't do Easter bunny cards, but I saw this little guy on Pinterest and had to try him.  The bottom is the ornament punch, the head is the 1 3/8" circle, and the ears are the large and small oval punches.  The clouds were made with Stampin' Up!'s cloud embossing folder, available in the Occasions Catalog, and the cute little tail is the fabric flowers in the same catalog.  So, what do you think?  Isn't he adorable?  And super easy.

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter.  I also hope that you have fun celebrating with family and friends.

Many blessings to you!

Julie

Happy Good Friday

It's Good Friday and we just got home from an amazing service.  I posted this today instead of Sunday since the ribbon is red.  On Sunday it will be white as snow. 
The cross was made with Stampin' Up!'s Lattice Bigz Die.  The greeting is stamped from the Delighful Dozen stamp set.  I hope this card reminds us all of what started yesterday (Thursday) and was finished on Sunday (Easter Morning).  Without the crucifixion, there is no resurrection.  I am humbled.

Blessings,
Julie

Ladybug Love

Blooming With Kindness, Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White

 Another project we made on Saturday, this card features the Blooming With Kindness stamp set and some fun Punch Art.  I think this wonderful stamp set speaks for itself in it's loveliness and versatility.  It's really easy to make this into a juvenile card if you use a bolder, simpler flower.  The Ladybug was made with the 2 1/2" Circle Punch, the 1 1/4" Circle Punch, and the 1/2" Circle Punch.  The antennae were hand drawn using a Basic Black marker.  How much simpler can you get, right?  Super easy and fun.  If you want to step it up a bit, you can also add a layer of vellum that slightly shows under the inside of the wings.  Ladybugs actually have clear wings under the red shell. 

A Fitting Occasion, Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White

And this is how we decorated the inside.  Quick and simple, the Fitting Occasion stamp set was a no-brainer to finish this card off.  We stamped the Ladybug in StazOn Jet Black (the only black that I recommend to my customers since it's waterproof and dries almost instantly) and colored the wings with the Real Red marker. 

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie

Beautiful Butterflies

Pool, Gumball, Red, Marina, Eggplant, Mustard, Razzleberry

Greetings!  Had to share this one with you.  I got this layout off of Pinterest and the guests at Saturday's workshop loved it.  Yes, I'm aware that the greeting (Petite pairs) is smudged a little ... I used it as a lesson in how to stamp before folding so that you get a clear image.  :-)  Only the Marina Mist and More Mustard butterflies are stamped with the Papillon Potpourri stamps.  I left the rest of them plain to save on some time with the option of the guests using embossing folders on the plain butterflies if they wanted to dress up the card.  Seemed like this was a favorite of the workshop because it was so simple and lovely.  Aren't those great colors?  This just goes to show that the Stampin' Up! Butterfly Punch and Papillon Potpourri stamp set are wonderfully versatile and easy to use. I didn't think I needed this set and now I use it at almost every workshop!  Go figure.  Anyway, let me know what you like to use your butterflies for.  Would love to see your projects.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!

Blessings,
Julie

Nature Sympathy

Do you ever struggle with not wanting to use a traditional sympathy stamp set for a sympathy card?  I do.  Sometimes I get tired of what I have and want to switch it up a little.  So, I found this retired DP in my stash and thought it would make a nice starting point.  I think the Gently Falling set coordinates nicely with it.  And, as always, my Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set (40 different sentiments!) came in handy to finish off the card.  The woodgrain folder was used on the background piece and some retired grosgrain ribbon and the retired eyelet punch finished it off.  I love it when a card comes together this easily.  I might have to make a few more for a craft fair fundraiser coming up.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!

Blessings,
Julie