Vera Stamps

I started working on my holiday cards back in January, thanks to the 2008 Holiday Card Challenge on SCS. Every month, you make 10 cards so that when the holiday season rolls around, you have lots of cards ready to be mailed.

When I saw Beate’s Weekend Sketch Challenge today, I knew I wanted to use it for my Christmas cards this month. I used up some of my retired 2007 In Color and Designer Series paper with this design. I tried Julie Buhler’s No Copics No Problem watercoloring technique on the little tree image, but it looks like I’m going to need a lot more practice!

Thanks for stopping by!

All supplies by Stampin’ Up!® unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Fun & Fast Notes
Paper: Old Olive, True Thyme (retired), Bashful Blue, Watercolor Paper, Holiday Thyme DS Paper (retired)
Ink: Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: SU Markers, Aqua Painter, Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon, Earth Elements Brads, 1/16″ Circle Punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I combined today’s SCS Sketch Challenge with Kristina Werner’s Color Inspiration Challenge #3.

When I went looking for an image for the long skinny panel, my eye fell on this retired SU stamp set, Haute Couture. I stamped the dress in black StazOn on Whisper White paper and colored it in with Watercolor Wonder Crayons and a blender pen. “All the Best” was stamped on a Pumpkin Pie layer, and the (retired) French Script background in Rose Red ink on a Rose Red panel. Both panels were matted with a 1/16″ black border. The Orchid Opulence card was stamped with the Baroque background in Orchid Opulence ink. The only embellishment I used was a Pumpkin Pie Flower Fusion felt flower with a black vintage brad. Both the white panel and the flower were adhered to the card with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!

All supplies by Stampin’ Up!® unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Haute Couture (retired), Elegant Cheer, Baroque, French Script (retired)
Paper: Orchid Opulence, Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Orchid Opulence, Rose Red, Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Blender Pen, Flower Fusion, Vintage Brad, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Woohoo! My GreatSwaps friend Amy Sheffer was selected as today’s Featured Stamper on SCS. I was drawn to one of her older cards, Birthday Soup, because of the Alphabet Soup stamp she used and the lovely orange (Pumpkin Pie) color! I hope I did Amy’s card justice!

Alana, my next-door neighbors’ daughter, is celebrating her birthday next week, so I wanted to choose more girlie colors for my card. I picked my colors from the (retired) Petals & Paisleys Designer Series paper. The coordinating Alphabet wheel was used on the bottom panel. I inked up some of the letters from the wheel and from the stamps with Regal Rose ink, stamped them on Pretty in Pink paper and outlined them with my Rose Red marker. They were cut out to form Alana’s name.

The Happy Birthday stamp was inked up with Cool Caribbean (retired 2007 In Color), Pretty in Pink, and Certainly Celery. Then I outlined the letters with Tempting Turqouise, Regal Rose, and Old Olive markers. I sponged Regal Rose ink along the edges and tied light pink gingham ribbon around the DS paper panel.

Thanks for stopping by!

All supplies by Stampin’ Up!® unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Alphabet Soup (retired), Alphabet Wheel (retired)
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Petals & Paisleys DS Paper
Ink: Cool Caribbean (retired), Certainly Celery, Regal Rose
Accessories: SU Markers (Tempting Turquoise, Regal Rose, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Rose Red), Light Pink Gingham Ribbon, Ticket Corner Punch, Stamping Sponge, Stampin’ Dimensionals

Kristina Werner posted a second color inspiration challenge on her blog, and I wanted to make a card with the colors she suggested: Blush Blossom, So Saffron, Groovy Guava, and Wild Wasabi. I knew I had the Prints DS paper in three of these colors, so I ended up with the same patterns side by side. The sketch is from SCS sketch challenge #168.

After I did the zig-zag faux stitching on the bottom Groovy Guava strip, I remembered seeing this cool tutorial on Stamp With Diane’s blog. I grabbed my 1/4″ square punch and cut the bottom edge into a zig-zag pattern.

The sentiment was inked up with Groovy Guava and Wild Wasabi, and I used my pinkie to wipe the ink off the word “NICE.” I then colored the word with a So Saffron marker, huffed on the stamp and put it to the Whisper White paper.

All supplies by Stampin’ Up!® unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: That’s Nice (retired)
Paper: Blush Blossom, So Saffron, Groovy Guava, Whisper White, So Saffron Prints DS Paper, Groovy Guava Prints DS Paper, Wild Wasabi Prints DS Paper
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Groovy Guava, So Saffron
Accessories: Crafters’ Tool Kit, White Gel Pen, 1/4″ Square Punch, Wild Wasabi Double-Stitched Ribbon, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I love doing the Featured Stamper challenge on SCS. This week we’re allowed to CASE a card from BeckyTE’s gallery, and I picked her Baroque Birthday card. I chose to use the colors from the Afternoon Tea DS paper on my version, and instead of a jumbo eyelet I embellished with a Build-A-Brad (those are fun!).

If you click on the picture to see the larger view, you might be able to see that I heat-embossed the row of white flowers near the bottom. Those flowers are from the Boho Backgrounds set, and I only inked up two of them with VersaMark ink and stamped them in a row using the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig. All the Chocolate Chip images were stamped with Craft ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.

Thanks for stopping by!

All supplies by Stampin’ Up!® unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: One of a Kind, Boho Backgrounds, Baroque Motifs
Paper: Groovy Guava (regular and textured), Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Whisper White, Afternoon Tea DS Paper
Ink: Groovy Guava, Craft Chocolate Chip, VersaMark
Accessories: Clear and White Stampin’ Emboss Powders, Chocolate Chip Poly-Twill Ribbon, Pewter Build-A-Brad, 1/2″ and 1/8″ Circle Punches, White Gel Pen, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig