Two Challenges in One

Sorry that I've been MIA over the last week.  My new laptop has a hard drive problem.  We had a new one shipped to us and then we found that the Blue-Ray drive was also bad, because it couldn't get the discs for the operating system loaded.  Grrrrr....  Anyhow, I'm on my old one, so this is a bit more time-consuming and cumbersome, so thanks for bearing with me. 
I combined two challenges from SCS last night to make a swap card.  It's so wonderful to have a couple of suggestions to get you started.  I used CAS110 which was called Out of the Box.  Yes, exactly...it means to have your image extend outside of your background piece of cardstock.  In this case, the flowers are popped up and reaching out over the Pear Pizzazz.  The other challenge I used was CC313, a color combination of Concord Crush, Bashful Blue, and Pear Pizzazz.  Since the first challenge was a Clean and Simple challenge, I just have a few layers and not much stamping.  The lattice fills in the open space nicely without having to use a designer paper or stamping the background. 

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie

New Swaps....I Love It!

I've joined a new swap group that I'm SUPER excited about! First of all, I love to swap and get new ideas to show my stamping friends. Second, this is with some of my blogging buddies and some sidelines of mine. I have received a couple back so far. I promise to show you what I've received when I get them. In fact, I can hardly wait to show you!


This is the first card that I sent in for the swap. The theme was Spring. I don't usually use oranges (as I think I've shared with you before...) but adding the Crushed Curry, Old Olive, Dusty Durango, and Always Artichoke definitely helped me with the Pumpkin Pie. I just love that little frog on the A Flower For All Seasons stamp. Some of this was colored with and Aqua Painter and ink from the lids of the ink pads and some of the image is colored straight with my Stampin' Write Markers. The "hello" tag was made with my Tiny Tags stamp set from the Occasions Mini Catalog. All of the layers on the main image are lifted up with dimensionals. It's such a fun effect...I love the way it lifts up the image from the card.


I had a lot of fun with this card. I'm not much of a pink person either. Not unless the pink has some personality, that is. Well, I love this Sending Love Specialty DSP from the Occasions Mini Catalog. The sparkle really gets me every time! :-) The beautiful satin ribbon is also from the Occasions Mini. The layout is based on a card that I saw on my wonderful friend Joanne's website Sleepy In Seattle. Since we had a Spring theme, I used the gorgeous Greenhouse Garden stamp set. The flowers in the background are stamped off so that they look faded and provide an appropriate background look. The main flower was stamped in Pretty in Pink and the flower veins were stamped in Cameo Coral. I then used my Crystal Effects to draw the veins and sprinkled it with Dazzling Diamonds glitter for a 3-D glitter effect that matches the DSP. See those cute little rhinestones? They're from our Eggcellent Eggs decorating kit in the Occasions Mini. Love it!

Ok, that's enough blathering for today. Thanks again for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie

This Shamrock Is All Heart

:-) Sorry for the corny pun, but couldn't resist. This is a quick and easy Hands On project from the last workshop. We punched hearts with the Full Heart punch and glued them on the background white after stamping the stem from Greenhouse Garden in Glorious Green. The center "shamrock" is the small flower from Greenhouse Garden. Teeny Tiny Wishes has the BEST selection of events and that's where we found this great St. Patty's Day greeting. After punching it with the large oval, we sponged the edges with ink, punched out a green scallop oval and decorated the scallop oval with some dots from a white gel pen. Super simple and very fun!

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings!
Julie

Razzleberry and Curry Thank You

Have you seen this gorgeous stamp set in the new Idea Book & Catalog? It's called Greenhouse Garden and it's GORGEOUS!!!!! I just love the look of 2-step stamping and this set takes it to new heights. Look at the detail on those beautiful flowers.
This card was made as a thank you to the demonstrators who participated in a swap that I just hosted. I wanted to give them something special for making a lot of swaps, so this is what I came up with. The bottom border was made with the Eyelet Border Punch. The DSP is Razzleberry Lemonade. Colors for the flowers are Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, and Rich Razzleberry.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie

Sketch Challenge and More Christmas Challenges

Greetings! It's been so long since I had a chance to stamp! But I have a really good reason. We are housing a Korean student this year and she arrived on Thursday. Hurray...a girl in my house!!! She's wonderful, but it has meant extra work for me during the adjustment period. She would like to learn how to stamp, so maybe I'll be able to show you her creations soon. In the meantime, did I mention that I'll have a girl in my house? I think I'm giddy!!!! :-D
Now, on to the challenges. This first card is for the simple part of Georgeann's and my Christmas Card Challenge. I CASE'd (Copy And Share Everything) this card from a card displayed at convention. In less than 10 minutes, I made and put the whole thing together. The stamp sets are Tree Trimmings and Teeny Tiny Wishes. Colors are Real Red, Soft Suede, Bravo Burgundy, and Ballet Blue. The scallop edge punch was used for the upper piece of Soft Suede and it was finished off with 1/4" Real Red Grosgrain and Elastic Gold Cord.
This is a sketch challenge from Mercy. She hosts a sketch challenge every Tuesday. I really love the sketches, but I don't usually get to play. I'm glad to have the opportunity and inspiration today. I've used this sketch for two cards.
This first card also counts for the second part of George- ann's and my Christmas Card Challenge... a Christmas card stepped up a couple of notches. I've punched out the tree ornaments with the Large Oval and Scallop Oval Punches, with Scallop Oval Punches behind as frames. The cording goes in between the ornaments and their scallop so that it looks like they're hanging. The edges of the soft Suede are sponged for depth and interest. I punched out the greeting with the Modern Label Punch, punched holes on the sides with my Crop-A-Dile and threaded my ribbon through. The background swirls are from Baroque Motifs and the designer paper is the Soft Suede Paper. I "had" to add some glitter on the ornaments for the "pop" effect. Besides, shouldn't Christmas ornaments glitter a little?
This last card uses the same layout with a totally different theme and total effect. I just love this new stamp set called Greenhouse Garden. It's so gorgeous. If you click on the picture, you will notice that I've stamped the Medallion stamp in a couple of the corners in VersaMark for a watermark effect. The flowers were stamped in Regal Rose and Melon Mambo, Orchid Opulence and Rich Razzleberry, Lovely Lilac and Elegant Eggplant, and Crushed Curry and Dusty Durango. I used the Curly Label, Scallop Edge, Word Window, and Modern Label Punches. The DSP is Razzleberry Lemonade. A Circle Rhinestone Brad and White Taffeta Ribbon finish it off.

Well, this post was a lot longer than I intended. Hope you've enjoyed these projects. Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie