Hoot of a Friend

Recently I was honored to have been asked to make a sample for the Inspiration Challenge over on Splitcoaststampers. I loved the site, Greenheart Shop, so much, I had to make two cards because I could not choose which piece of inspiration I loved the most!  Today I'm sharing a card inspired by this sweet little wool owl birdhouse.

I inked up the new Owl Be There set from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and attempted to stick to the fun colors of the inspiration piece.  I think I ended up a smidge pinker than the original owl, but he's still cute!  I also added some hand-stitching to two of the panels, and snuck some of my favorite lace tape from Love My Tapes on there too.

Supplies:
Stamps: Owl Be There (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps)
Card Stock: Kraft, White (Neenah); Black (Recollections)
Patterned Paper: Social Club (Cosmo Cricket)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Coloring Medium: Copics
Accessories: Lace Tape (Love My Tapes), Pearls (Creative Impressions), Thread (Unkown)
Tools: Circle Punches (SU); Paper Piercer, Needle

Hap-bee Bearthday!

Good Morning Sweet 'n Sassy fans!  Today is my last post as a Guest Designer and I want to begin by thinking Korin and Taylor for letting me join their team this past month.  I have truely had a blast designing with "Bee Happy Rhubarb" and "Owl Be There".  I also want to take a moment to remind everyone about the un-bee-lievable sale the store has right now!  40 % off til Wednesday!  I got my order in Sunday. 

My card today was inspired by this week's sketch challenge over on the Sweet 'n Sassy Sketch Challenge Blog.  A new sketch is posted every saturday. 

I also have a party favor / bag to share with you.  I designed the bag myself and intended to shoot a how to video, but that didn't work out this week.  I haven't posted it on my blog (Paperlicious Designs) yet, so if you are interested in the video, stay tuned.  I should get it done later this month.

I hope you have a bee-utiful week!!

hugs, Melisa

A Stitch in Time

Good morning stamping friends!   I get to help you start a new week with some Sweet 'n Sassy elegance! Taylor hosted the "Hump Day" challenge for me over at Splitcoaststampers this week due to a family emergency. Thank you, Taylor!  The challenge was to use faux or real stitching, so a little bit of real sewing was done to create this sample.

"To Paris With Love" was a new clear stamp set released last month.  The set includes the beautiful collage, five sentiments, and three other detail elements. Some soft color was added to a piece of Vintage Cream card stock by smearing Antique Linen, Spun Sugar, and Victorian Velvet Distress inks onto a non-stick mat. These were spritzed with water and the card stock was dabbed into the color several times, then dried with a heat gun.  The Paris collage was stamped using Versafine Onyx Black ink.  Some zig-zag and straight stitching were used to attach the light pink and tan patterned papers to kraft card stock and everything was layered onto a Vintage Cream card base.  The corners of the image were stamped on some pink patterned paper, cut out and popped up in the bottom corners.  A little lace, a punched border, some pearls, and a mulberry flower finish the card.  This set makes it easy to create elegant cards for your friends and family!

So...to sew or faux sew...that's the question!  I hope I've encouraged you to try a little sewing on your next project and to check out the "Hump Day" challenge every Wednesday over at the Sweet 'n Sassy Forum on Splitcoaststampers!

Don't forget....there's a 40% sale on everything at the store until the end of the month in honor of Mr. Sweet 'n Sassy's birthday!  Now's a good time to add this set, or others on your wish list, to your collection!

This is the day the Lord has made...enjoy it...and have a wonderful week!

Hugs,
Cathymac

He giveth more grace...

Good morning!

Jessica here this morning with a card to share with you that I created using Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Graceful Calla Lily stamp set illustrated by Dina Kowal.  I adore this gorgeous flower as well as the sentiments Dina included in her stamp set.  The text in the background of the calla lily is all about God's grace... so fitting and encouraging!

Dina did a great job helping make the shading and coloring of this image a snap - just a few shades of green, some light yellow, and a pale blue to help the white pop a bit and it's done!  I've enjoyed seeing the color variations of calla lilies and think I'll have to try my hand at that next time I ink up this lovely image.

When I created my card I decided to leave the front without a sentiment so it could be used for whatever occasion I need it to at a later date.  I find I am in need of sympathy/praying for you/ thinking of you cards a lot lately and this one will certainly fit the bill.

Have a wonderful grace-filled day!
Jessica  

Important Inventory Update

Our 40% off sale has gotten such a great response we are selling out of some of our popular stamps and dies....rest assured we will have them back in stock as soon as possible, but some orders may be delayed. Thank you for understanding and for your continued support!!

Friday Feature: One of a Kind

Friday is finally here!  To kick off an exciting weekend, we have an adorable springtime stamp set to highlight today.  And be sure to check out the whole post....we're sharing details of a huge sale you won't want to miss!

Have you seen One of a Kind?  It's got the three sweetest birds on a branch, and it's full of wonderful sentiments.  Take a look:

Here are a few details about this set:

~Includes 1 image and 5 sentiments 

~Set measures approximately 4"x3" 

~Large image measures approximately 3.5" x 1.85" 

~Illustrated by Korin Sutherland

And here are some samples from the Design Divas:

WOW!!  Such fun, cheerful cards!  Head over to the store to pick up your set today, and don't forget to share with us what you make!  You can upload your work to our gallery over on Splitcoaststampers.  We love to see your beautiful cards and projects!

And now.....we have a HUGE sale to share with you!  Mr. Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps is celebrating a milestone birthday very soon, so Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps is celebrating too!

Use the coupon code DAN40 at checkout for 40% off everything in the store through April 25th.  Happy shopping!

You Inspire Me ~ Flourish

With a "flourish of creativity" I created this 8x8 layout of my parent's holding hands. The picture explains the title of my layout, my Parent's love and devotion for each other is truly inspiring and a blessing!

I embossed the butterfly flourish to frame my image using versamark and white embossing powder. Next I layered the designer paper onto the base and began "building" my layers that I prepared in advance. I embossed another cardstock using the same flourish and inked the edges with a coordinating ink and stamped the word You. Taking my black and white photo I "direct to papered" using Ranger's vintage photo distressed ink. Stamping directly on the photo with versamark, I carefully embossed the flourish again to match the design beneath it. I embellished it using our heart dies and seam binding ribbon that was heat set to give it a vintage look.

Thank you for joining me! I hope you will visit again and hop on over to SCS member forum and see what everyone has been creating!

Enjoy your Day!

Mary

Stamps: You, Butterfly Flourish

Inks: SU, Versamark, Vintage Photo DI

Papers: SU

Accessories: Ribbon, dies

Wildflower Wishes

It's my turn again to host the sketch challenge over on Splitcoaststampers, and this week I'm sharing one that can be completely CAS, or semi-jazzed up.  I made two different card samples for the sketch; the one I'm sharing today is the sort-of jazzed up version (but I still think it is sort of CAS!).  I'm also standing in for someone this week and hosting the Hump Day Challenge over in the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps forums - the original challenge planned for this week was to add real or faux stitching to your cards.  I'm sticking with that, because I love it!

I stamped my Wildflowers image directly on my patterned paper and had stitched it to the black card stock. I added an extra circle panel to the original sketch, and used a sentiment from the Smell the Flowers set.  I used some silver self adhesive half pearls to finish off the card.

Stay tuned on Friday - I'll be sharing the second card I made using this sketch!  I hope you get a chance to play along with both the sketch challenge and the Hump Day Challenge this week!

Supplies:
Stamps: Wildflowers, Smell the Flowers (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps)
Card Stock: Kraft (Neenah), Black (Recollections)
Patterned Paper: For the Record (Echo Park)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Pearls (Queen & Co.), Thread
Tools: Classic and Scalloped Circles, Pennant Banner (Spellbinders), Circle Punches (SU)

Owl be here ...

Good morning Sweet and Sassy fans!  I'm back today with another "Owl Be There" card.  Lots of paper piecing on this one, but it really doesn't take long.  I sketched the tree and leaves on patterned paper.  I used my brown NeoColor II water color crayon on the tree and around the edges of all the other pieces.  I used a toothpick to create the flag.

Have a great day!

Owl be back next week with another Sweet N Sassy project!

Melisa

***********************************************

Project Details

Stamps : Sweet 'n Sassy "Owl Be There"

Colorization : PanPastels, "Turquoise Tint" and "Turquoise"

NeoColor II Brown #59

Patterned Paper : Bo-Bunny 12 x 12 Et Cetera Ledger (tree), My Mind's Eye 6 x 6 paper pad - Blush II (pink polka dot) and Lime Twist (green polka dots), Basic Grey 6 x6 paper pad "Origins" 2009 (yellow).

Scalloped Scissors : Fiskars

Mini Attacher / Stamples : Tim Holtz

tooth pick

~The Gift of Grace~

Howdy, my Sweet N Sassy friends!

I got to thinking the other day that the majority of my cards are A2 sized (that's 4.25" x 5.5").   Over the years I've learned how to make so many different fancy folds and I just don't "go there" often enough.

Today I am sharing a Gatefold card I made with the new Calla Lily set.

I embossed the image on navy blue cardstock and gave it just a tiny bit of distress ink.  The side panels are layered Kay & Co. Blue Awning designer paper over night of navy, then stitched (a little wobbly, I might add!).

Then I decorated the inside:

The chipboard pieces are also from Kay & Co's Blue Awning collection.

I am going to challenge myself to do some different fold cards each week.   There are so many out there and  they add just a little more interest to our creations!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope your Monday feels like a Tuesday! :)

~Holly~