Papers & Plums

Get Well

My mom had surgery on her back last week and since she is in Sweden and I am all the way over here in the US I wanted to make her a card to let her know that I am thinking about her. Of course we have been talking on the phone almost every day, but I think it is always nice to get a real card in the mail instead of all that junk that always fills up the box. Don't you think. =) Again, I used my beloved Beautiful Blooms set from PTI. You would think its the only set I own!! But not to worry. I am awaiting a box full of goodies from Stampin Up! today. I hope Mr. Brown shows up before the end of the day so I can play with my new stuff this weekend. Yay!! Ok, back on track. Here is the card I made for my sweet mom.

I decided to use purple and green for this card and it turned out to be a challenge. I don't really like to work with purple that much but in the end I liked how it turned out. Again, I stamped a bunch of flowers on a separate piece of paper so that I could pop them up on dimensionals for a bit of interest. There is absolutley no glitter on this card...but not because I didn't want it...only becuase I was in a hurry to get it sent so I didn't realize it until it was in the mail. ha ha. I was wondering if I could have added some glitter with my photo editing software but that was a bit to complex for me. =)

Here's what I used to make my card: {Stamps}: PTI Beautiful Blooms, {Paper}: SU! Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Whisper White. {Ink}: SU! Perfect Plum, Old Olive, Summer Sun

See ya soon,
Sara

Grateful

I stumbled upon Cammie's blog just yesterday and got to read about the World Alzheimer's Day, the amazing give away she is hosting and her incredible initiative to brighten the day of those that give care to people with this disease. You can read all about it here. I thought it was a really great thing to invite other stampers to participate and send a card to encourage these care givers. Who wouldn't love to be acknowledged for the hard work they're doing? Here's the card I will be sending:

It's a small pumpkin pie square card (I seem to be doing these a lot lately) using one of my very favorite SU! sets, "a tree for all seasons". The DP paper is something I've had for a long time so I can't remember what company makes it. Now that I'm blogging I am trying to pay attention to all that but there are a few stamp sets and some embellishments that lack this information in my stash. =) Oh well, I'll do what I can. I hope that this card brings some encouragement to the staff at the Artman Home.

Sara

Busy, busy

Wow, it's been quite a while since my last post. Time just seems to slip away some times. I even have a couple of cards lined up to be posted. I just haven't had the time to sit down and do it. I guess it happens to all of us. =)
I have one more card to show you from my little kraft card stock experiment. I made this one first but decided not to reproduce it on white card stock so I didn't feature it with the other cards.

I case you haven't already noticed...I tend to use the same stamp several times before moving on to another set. I do this when I have something new to use. I want to see how many different ways I can make a card. That's why I buy stamps too though. I want to be able to use them over and over again. If I didn't I might as well just buy greeting cards I think. This card was really simple. I like the way the white ink looks on the kraft card stock. Not much more to say. =) But now I have a card ready for when I want to send someone a little "hi".

Ingredients: {Stamps}: PTI beautiful blooms (Sentiment), Memory Box. {Paper}: PTI Kraft, SU! Chocolate Chip. {Ink}: Colorbox frosty white. {Other}: American Crafts Buttons, hemp twine.

Thanks for stopping by,
Sara

An Experiment

The stamp that started it all...

 

This little stamp is part of the Beautiful Blooms set from PTI. I am not sure what its purpose is, but I thought it might be possible to create some kind of abstract design with it. Or perhaps the stem of a flower. Well, I gave it all a try. I started out by cutting a piece of Kraft card stock cut into a 4" square, then I stamped away.

Not only is it nice to make a small card once in a while, it is also very quick. All in all I think I spent about 40 minutes to make these three cards. I can't say they all turned out that great, but sometimes when you experiment you just have to go with the flow. And in this case, I was determined to make something out of that tiny little stamp. {lol}

When I was all done I asked my husband; "So what do you think?" He is always sweet enough to take the time to look at my stuff and share his take on it.=) This time he said he thought the colors were a bit drab on the kraft card stock. Not my best work. WHAT!! Drab!! Doesn't he know that kraft is the new white!! The new black!! The new very popular, use it all the time color?? Guess not. He suggested I stamp it on white card stock instead....Hmmm. I guess I could do that, but just as an experiment. So off I went to make the exact same cards one more time. This time it only took me 25 minutes. =) Here's what it looks like on Whisper White card stock.

In my humble opinion I still like the way it looks on Kraft. But I think I am influenced by all the blogs I have been reading that use this new oh-so-fun color of card stock. So, I would like to ask for your opinion. Is it best on Kraft or White?? Go ahead and have your say. If I have any readers out there, tell me what you think. I would at least like a comment from my husband and my sister, cause I know for sure that the two of you will be reading this. And my Mother-in-law too! =)

Ingredients: {Stamps}: PTI Beautiful Blooms {Paper}: PTI Kraft, SU! Whisper White {Ink}: SU! Old Olive, More Mustard, Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Summer Sun, Ruby Red {Other}: 1 1/4 SU! circle Punch, Corner rounder punch, MM Brad, Dimensionals

Sara

More Swedishness =)

Hello again. In my last post I showed you a card I made using a flower and sentiment I got from my sister in Sweden. After reading my post she made her own version of this card and sent pictures of how they turned out to me. She doesn't know that I am posting her cards on my blog, but I thought they were so nice I wanted to show them too. The sentiment says "congratulations" in swedish. Lookie:

 

I love the background paper she used. I think they turned out really nice. Thank you Anna for sending them to me. =)

Sara

A Swedish Greeting

Don't be shocked!! I am posting two days in a row!! =) Caleb took a long nap today so I was able to do a little bit of stamping. On top of it all I had some inspiration to keep me going. Yay! I thought I would use some stamps my wonderful sister Anna gave me a while back. The sentiment says "Greetings" in Swedish. I can't recall what stamp company makes these two images....they were unmounted when I got them so I don't have anything that gives me a clue. If I can find the information I will add it later.

 Anyways, here it is. I used Summer Sun, More Mustard and Really Rust Ink to add some depth to the sunflower. On the flower center I used Glossy Accent. You can probably tell since I took this photo before it was done drying. =) The back ground paper is from Die cuts with a view. I've had this for a while and was happy to use it. I think it matches really well with the Pumpkin Pie card stock. All in all this was a very simple card, just as I like it. Now I am off to make lunch. Perhaps I can get that done to before my little boy wakes up. =)

Ingredients: {Paper}: SU! Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla. DP from Die cuts with view. {Ink}: SU! Summer Sun, More Mustard, Really Rust. {Other}: Glossy Accent, Ribbon from Michaels, Dimensionals.

Sara

Round n' round

Absolute bliss...well, creating this card was anything but blissful. This particular card stumped me for days. But I am quite sure I'm not the only one out there that occasionally gets stuck like this. I was hoping to post this on Monday, but the pieces of the card just didn't come together. They just laid there on the table staring at me saying, ..."come on, finish me if you can. I bet you don't know how to put me together...". Sheesh, I tell ya, it was so annoying. I cut so many pieces of card stock in so many different colors too. But, tonight was it do or die. The end result...well, you be the judge.

 

Funny...round cards roll...like a cheese wheel...who would have thought... I had to stop it from rollin' to far by propping it against a paperclip. Perhaps one day I will be savvy enough to airbrush it out of the photo but for now...there it is. =)

Ingredients {Stamps}: SU! So many sayings, Delight in Life. The cup is also from an SU! set from 2002. I lost my label for it so I can't remember the name of it. {Paper}: SU! Rose Red, Blush Blossom, DP from Heidi Grace {Ink}: Rose Red, Basic Brown {Other}: Punches, Sponges, Ribbon from Michaels, Stickles.

Bye for now,
Sara

...and another Thank You

This will be a quick post. My husband just had a couple of days off so we have been out and about quite a bit. I have barely been at home and that has been nice for a change. But I wanted to show you the second thank you card I made last weekend. I used my new favorite set again (Beautiful Blooms). I really like this one. =) I think it stamps beautifully and its so fun to work with. On to the card:

I love this particular flower and will most likely use it soon again.  You have been warned. =)
That's it for now as I actually have some spare time stamp right now. Dinner has been eaten, dishes put away, floor is vacuumed and my little baby boy is sleeping. So, instead of rambling I hope to be able to show you something new soon.

Ingredients: {Stamps}: PTI Beautiful Blooms, {Paper}:PTI Kraft, SU! Chocolate chip, ruby red, whisper white. {Ink}: SU! Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Really Rust, More Mustard, Old Olive. {Other}: Stickles.

Sara

With Gratitude

 

I'm back! It's been a few days since my last post. Still getting used to having a blog I guess. =)Though I am happy to say I have been stamping!! Over the weekend I had the chance to play some more with my new set Beautiful Blooms from Papertreyink. I had two thank you cards that had to be made. I know, for a card maker that is such a hardship. {lol} Not really. For the first card, that I will share with you in this post, I decided to create a bouquet of flowers using the different type of blooms in the set. I stamped several flowers on a separate piece of white cardstock using different shades of ink to create a more interesting look. Then I cut them all out...and yes...that took longer than I would have preffered. I really like quick cards. I am all about instant gratification when it comes to stamping, but the result is better when I take my time. =)
Anyways, the rest was very simple. I stamped the green leaves directly on to the white card base. Then I layered the cut out flowers on top using dimensionals for a bit of pop. Then, as I reached for my little glitter bottle I thought to myself...what if I use glossy accent on the flowers instead of glitter. That would be cute. And guess what! It turned out great! I love that stuff. Makes it all shiny and smooth. Fun fun.
Here is how it all turned out.

This was really easy to make. Just a bit time consuming. I hope the recipient will enjoy it too.

Ingredients: {Stamps}: Papertreyink Beautiful Blooms. {Paper}: SU! Whisper White. {Ink}: SU! Ruby Red, Really Rust, Summer Sun, More Mustard, Old Olive

That's all folks!
Sara