3.12.2014

Hopping For Spring!


Thank you so much for joining us for our March Stylin' Stampin' Squad Blog Hop! Temperatures are on the rise and there is just one short week until the official first day of Spring!  We are all so ready to put away our snowflakes and break out the flowers in our craft rooms!  Stampin' Up! has so many options for Spring-time flowers and we are showing you just a few of those today!

As you hop along, please be sure to comment and show some love on every blog! We are always excited to hear from our followers! You should have just left stop number (insert number here) on the Stylin’ Stampin’ Squad blog hop – (insert name of hopper and blog name here). If so, you are in the right spot. If a link doesn’t work or you get off track, you will find the full blog hop lineup below.
I knew that I wanted to use the Flower Shop Bundle and Gingham Garden Designer Series Paper for my card today. My color inspiration came from the Gingham Garden DSP. 



Growing up I was drawn to gingham fabrics, so when this DSP was released last spring, I fell in love. Since there were so many elements on my card, I wanted to stay within a 3-color scheme; but felt it need a pop of color. Melon Mambo gingham to the rescue! 

My favorite elements on this card are the Decorative Dots embossing, and the Daffodil Delight frame. While the Decorative Dots aren't incredibly obvious on the Night of Navy, it gave just the right amount of added dimension. For the frame, I cut the Pear Pizzazz with the #6 Square Framelit (if you count up, starting with #1 as the smallest). Then I cut the Daffodil Delight with # 3 and #6 at the same time. They are attached with Stampin' Dimensionals to really give the frame illusion. 

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope spring is in the air where you are (and without allergies) and you start seeing some spring flowers popping up around you! Let's click the Next button and head on over to see Bree's fabulous spring creation. 


http://craft-somniamomma.blogspot.com/2014/03/stylin-stampin-squad-blooming-blog-hop.html



Blog Hop Participants


  1. Dawn S. of Dawn's Creative Chalet
  2. Pam S. of Stampin' in the Sun
  3. Diana E. of Stampin' Fun with Diana
  4. Cynthia R. of Ink-A-Doodle Creations
  5. Erica B. of Stamping Starlette
  6. Anastasia R. of Stampin' Blondie
  7. Darcy J. of DJ's Stampin' Place
  8. Bree R. of Craft-Somnia
  9. Heidi B. of Stuck on Stampin'
  10. Shellie G. of Craft Smashup
  11. Kim R. of Stamping with Kim
  12. Jennifer C. of Happy 2 Scrap 4 Life
  13. Tonya B. of Stampin' with Tonya
  14. Donna S. of Organized Chaos
  15. Jamie H. of Unique Ink
  16. Darla R. & Nancy K. of Stampin with Darla and Sisters
  17. Kathy P. of Katrina P's Creative Corner

3.11.2014

Mad for March!

March is here! Can you believe it? Today is the day for my monthly featured project as part of the Design Team at Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration. I chose to make one of the popular Card In A Box.


March Madness is almost upon us! This card can be given to your favorite player or fan! I wanted to create the illusion of a hardwood floor, so I stamped the Hardwood image in Chocolate Chip ink on Baked Brown Sugar Cardstock. I then took a foam brush and brushed Crystal Effects over the top to give it that sealed effect. The "Heart. Spirit. Soul. Champions" is from a digital download for My Digital Studio. The {free} embossing folder from the Sale-A-Bration catalog screamed basketball at me when I first saw it. I was going to dry emboss the grooves in the ball as well; but I got tired and the cat started trying to help, so I decided to free hand them with the Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker instead. The full supply list can be found after the tutorial.

To start making the "box" you need a 12" x 12" sheet of cardstock. Trim it to 8-1/2"x 12". Next, use your Simply Scored Tool to score along the 12" side at 2-3/4", 5-1/2", 8-1/4", and 11".


Once, you have done that, trim the cardstock down to 6-1/2" X 12".  Then score along the 6-1/2" side at 2-3/4".


Use your paper snips to cut along the shorter score lines, making flaps. Trim the shorter side of the 1" flap off, and cut the bottom part at a diagonal to make it easier to glue together. Fold on all score lines.


Put Sticky Strip on the little tab to hold your box together. Before you glue it together you will want to decorate all of your panels. On the above example, my hardwood pieces were 2-1/2" x 2-1/2". The bottom panels would have been 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" if I had chosen to decorate them.


To create the inserts to glue your pop-up items to, you will use the 2" strip we cut off earlier. You will cut it at 4-3/4". Make sure that the 1" score mark is lined up near the 4-3/4 when you cut. Perhaps the picture will make it more clear.


The result is that you have a score line at 1" from each end when you cut it down. You will then cut this piece in half; resulting in 2 pieces that measure 1" x 4-3/4". Fold on the score lines and put sticky strip on the little tabs. Glue these to the inside of your box so the backs are facing each other. Here's a downward view to clarify.


If you want your back flap to stand up, glue a piece to the back that measures 2-1/2" x 6". The great thing about these cards is that you can fold them flat and send them in a large envelope! 

Please let me know if you have any questions regarding the tutorial. I hope to see you tomorrow. If you stop by, you might just see a fun gift card holder with tutorial! Psst! With the new supply list below, you can click on any of the items and it will take you directly to my online store to order them!


3.10.2014

Back With a Card Sketch

I'm back! Apologies for my hiatus. I recently started working full time again, after only working part time for the last five years. In addition to being physically exhausting to my lupus/fibro body; it's been mentally exhausting too as I'm learning new duties in my office. To say that I've pretty much let everything else go the last month would be an understatement. However, I'm happy to report that I'm adjusting and it felt great getting back to my stamp table today!

It's Card Sketch Monday at Stylin' Stampin' INKspiration. My grandma-in-law has requested some more birthday cards, and I thought this was a great sketch for that purpose.



This is technically a hybrid card, as I've not purchased the Watercolor Wonder Designer Series Paper out of the Occasions Catalog. If you remember from the February Blog Hop, I do have the digital download of it, however. I picked the design I wanted to use in My Digital Studio and created a "page" with it. Then I printed it out on a piece of Whisper White cardstock. Easy! I opted to color the flowers with Stampin' Write Markers, however I think the next time I make this card, I will use the Blender Pen for a softer effect. What do you think?

We'd love to have you stop over at SSINK to get INKspired by the other designers as well!