Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration Sympathy Cards

Sympathy cards are never fun to make, but they feel good to give. I really like having them on hand because you never know when you will need one. Today at Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration, some of our Design Team members are sharing what they have created. Please take a moment to stop by and check them out!

For this card, I chose to use {Ex Libris} as the background. I think that has to be one of my absolute favorites. It is so elegant. Because the background is fairly busy, I didn't want to over power the card with too many embellishments or layers. Sometimes less is more?

Supplies

Cardstock ~ Smoky Slate, Whisper White

Ink ~ Rose Red, Basic Gray

Stamp Sets ~ Ex Libris, Perfect Pennants

Tools ~ paper trimmer, paper snips, dimensionals, sponges, adhesives, stamp-a-ma-jig

Embellishments ~ Sweet Sorbet Accessory Pack (Pool Party Twine), Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons, Pearls Basic Jewels

Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration ~ Spiral Flower Die Tutorial

Today at Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration, I'm bragging about the new Stampin' Up! Spiral Flower die for the Big Shot. I just love it. I love making flowers, but they're always so time consuming. Stampin' Up! Has come up with a simple way to create gorgeous flowers, without spending hours to do them. 

One of the things that I really love about it, is that each flower is so unique and different. No two are alike! Another thing I love is that it really doesn't take THAT much paper. Just a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" piece. It makes it pretty easy when you're using 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock. 

I am always at a loss when it comes to making wedding cards or gifts. I prefer a classy look, especially for a wedding, so while playing around with the Spiral Flower die it came to me. Lots and lots of flowers, all different sizes, in a few coordinating colors, on top of a box. Perfect! A few weeks ago I created a cute little candy box. The box was simple and quick to put together and I thought it would be the perfect size for this project. It worked out great!

Stampin' Up! Occasions 2014 catalog item# 129379

Supplies

Cardstock ~ whisper white, basic gray, smoky slate, perfect plum, wisteria wonder

Ink ~ White StazOn

Tools ~ embossing folder, paper trimmer, paper snips, spiral flower die, big shot. glue dots, hot glue, boho blossoms punch, flower punch

Embellishments ~ rhinestones basic jewels

Finished size: 4 1/2" x 6" x 1 1/4"

Dimensions

Base box: 6 1/2" x 8" Score @ 1 1/4" on all four sides

Lid: 6 5/8" x 8 1/8" Score @ 1 1/4" on all four sides

Beautifully Baroque #146: A Soft Subtle Thank you

This card totally strikes my fancy. I love the subtle tones. I think these two colors complement each other perfectly. I created this card for Retro Sketches challenge #96. It's a fun sketch with lots of room to play.

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Smoky Slate, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White

Ink ~ Smoky Slate, Pink Pirouette

Stamp Sets ~ Beautifully Baroque, Gorgeous Grunge, Lovely Little Labels

Tools ~ Beautifully Baroque Embossing Folder, Brayer

Embellishments ~ Pink Pirouette Chevron ribbon, Frosted Finishes Embellishments

How To:

*You will assemble these with Dimensionals

So Sorry #140: Lots of Sympathy

Once again I'm making a Sympathy card. They are never fun, but they are necessary. This one is for a friend that lost a family member. My heart goes out to their family. This too shall pass my friend.

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Core'dinations in Chocolate Chip and Smoky Slate

DSP ~ Sweater Weather

Ink ~ Chocolate Chip

Stamp Sets ~ So Sorry

Embellishments ~ Chocolate colored satin ribbon (not Stampin' Up!)

Merry Christmas Money Card

Who doesn't love money? That's pretty much my standard gift. Little to no thinking involved, no Black Friday nonsense, everyone loves it, and it's always appreciated. But, I can't just hand over a wad of cash, right? Well, I could but that would be boring. So, I made a cute little card to hold it.

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Basic Grey, Wisteria Wonder, Smoky Slate

Ink ~ Smoky Slate, So Saffron, StazOn White, Wisteria Wonder

Stamp Sets ~ Beautifully Baroque, Gorgeous Grunge, Chalk Talk

Embellishments ~ Rhinestones Basic Jewels, Stampin' Up! Shaker Frames, 

white linen fabric, tule, snow glitter

*I rolled So Saffron ink onto the white linen fabric with the Brayer tool. 

The JOY of Christmas

I was really in the Christmas mood this morning. Snow is on the ground. The sun is shining. It's beyond FRIGID outside so the best thing to do was stamp! Of course I should have been doing housework but it will still be there later.

I decided to play with the December Color Challenge from Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration's blog (which I am now a design team member!). I think these colors created a FABULOUS scheme for this card. 

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Smoky Slate, Whisper White, Raspberry Ripple

Ink ~ Pistachio Pudding, Raspberry Ripple, Smoky Slate

Stamp Sets ~ Gorgeous Grunge, Beautifully Baroque, Santa's List, A Banner Christmas

Embellishments ~ 1/8" mini brads, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Frosted Finishes, white cotton twine

Class Act

I freaking LOVE this card! I saw this stamp on Pinterest (eye roll) and just HAD to have it. However, it's expired. Why do they expire the really cool ones? I got into this whole stamping thing a little too late. Obviously. So, my mad hunting skills paid off and I found one for sale. SWEET!

I am addicted to purple and haven't done a Christmas card in purple yet so... it's about time! It was such a simple card and went together so quickly. I love the colored holly too! Even though it's red and green.

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Smoky Slate, Elegant Eggplant

Ink ~ Elegant Eggplant, Gumball Green, Real Red

Stamp Sets ~ Christmas Collage, Curly Cute

Tools ~ Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Square Punch, Sponge Daubers

Embellishments ~ Dazzling Details, Brads dipped in Cherry Cobbler Embossing Powder

An Engagement with Ex Libris...

rMy computer has been down for the past week or so. It's been dreadfully painful not being able to post my cards. I didn't want to have to download all of my programs to my husbands computer, so I (not so patiently) waited for mine to be fixed. It came back to me on Monday and is STILL (it's now Thursday) acting weird, so back to the computer geek it goes. Needless to say, I'm using my husbands computer and have spent quite a bit of time downloading my programs anyway. Can you tell I just love computers? Grrrr! PLUS, I have 2 horses and a donkey staring at me through the window (because it's dinner time).

I created this card for a dear friend of mine. She was recently engaged. It's about DARN time! She's my best friend and I look up to her (even though I'm 8" taller and 5 years older). I love her like a sister. We share a deep love for purple so I thought this would be perfect.

Supplies

Cardstock ~ Basic Black, Smoky Slate

Ink ~ Perfectly Plum

Stamp Sets ~ Ex Libris

Embellishments ~ Frosted Finishes, Rhinestones, Ribbon

Happy Dance

The kids are back to school! I'm totally doing my happy dance. I kinda feel bad every morning as I peel out of the school parking lot. Kinda. I love my children dearly, but this mama needs a break! I'm definitely looking forward to getting back onto our normal schedule. Especially looking forward to that quiet time. Yeah, I mostly spend it cleaning something. At least my house can stay somewhat clean for more than 20 minutes. Today, I got to spend a little time out in my woman cave. I'm extremely behind on my projects. I think it's been over a week since I last stepped foot in there. So I locked myself in and went to work.

Since the kids are back to school, I needed to create a card for Kylie's (2nd Grade) teacher. I don't have ANY school-related stamps. None. Zip. Zilch. I totally had to comb through my stamp sets to come up with SOMETHING that would do. The sketch is from the Paper Craft Crew for challenge #57. The color combo came from The Paper Players challenge #161. I really liked how it turned out. Another fabulous color combo that I would have never come up with on my own. 

The sketch:

My take on the sketch and color combo:

Supplies:

Cardstock ~ Smoky Slate, Crisp Cantaloupe, Whisper White

Ink ~ Strawberry Slush, Certainly Celery, Crisp Cantaloupe, Smoky Slate

Stamp Sets ~ Positively Chevron, Off the Grid, Gorgeous Grunge, From my Heart, Hearts a Flutter, That's the Ticket, and ABC-123 Sketch Alphabet & Numbers

Embellishments ~ Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons, Hardware Clips Essentials

*white string (not SU)