Vera Bradley Inspiration

I have a Vera Bradley tote in the pattern called Baroque.  I just love the colors in it, which are Basic Black, Basic Gray, Whisper White and something close to Pear Pizzazz.  I recently participated in a swap featuring sneak peek products, and this is the card I made.

Recipe:
Stamps: Strength and Hope, French Filigree background
Inks:  Basic Gray, Pear Pizzazz
Papers:  Whisper White, Pear Pizzazz, Versamark
Accessories:  Black embossing powder, sticky strip, Pear Pizzazz seam binding

The butterfly really looks beautiful with the black embossing, but it doesn't show up very well in the picture.  That's what happens when you need to use flash!  I much prefer to take my photos in daylight.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,
Barbara

Bunny Treat box

This bunny treat box is one of the projects that we will be making in my Easter treats and cards class on April11 and 13.  He was really fun to make, and if you don't own the Big Shot, this is why you need one!  :-)

Recipe: 
Paper:  Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, white paper shred for whiskers and fill
Ink:  Pretty in Pink, Crumb Cake (for sponging)
Dies and punches:  Large Oval, Extra-Large Oval, 1/4" circle, 1" circle, 3/4" circle, 1 1/4 " circle, top Note die, Fancy Favor box die

I saw something similar on another blog, but I can't remember where.  I did tweak it to make it my own, but I am happy to give credit to the designer.  Give me a holler if you know who it is.

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,
Barbara

Pretty in Pink

Here is another onesie, this one for a baby girl.  Tomorrow I will scan the pattern that I made, in case you are interested.  Here's the recipe:

Stamps: So Cute
Paper:  Pink Pirouette, Whisper White
Inks:  Black Staz-on, Crumb Cake and Pink Pirouette markers
Accessories:  Large oval punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, 2 3/8" scallop circle extra large punch, 1/8" hole punch, dotted scallop ribbon border punch, stampin' dimensionals, pretty in pink 1/8" tafetta ribbon, dotted swiss embossing folder

Thanks for stopping by!  As always, I love your comments if you have time!

Blessings,
Barbara

P.S.  Here is the template that I made. 

On a Roll!

I'm finding this hard to believe, but I have posted for four days in a row!  I'm really on a roll here!  Today I'd like to share a card I made for a friend of mine who has a new grandson.  While I'm at it, I thought I'd make some more onesies so I have them on hand when I need them.  I'm at the age where most of my friends are welcoming grandchildren into their families!

So here is the card to welcome Grayson.  Tomorrow I will be making one to welcome another little boy, Evan!  I haven't made one of these "Onesie" cards in a while.  It sure is sweet, isn't it?  I hope to do a variety of bibs and appliques, lace and buttons to make them all a little different.

Recipe:
Stamps:  Fox and Friends
Paper:  Bashful Blue, Whisper White
Ink:  Soft Suede
Accessories:  Dotted Swiss embossing folder, large oval punch (legs), 1 3/8" punch (neck) large cicle punch for bib, paper piercer, Marina Mist 1/8" tafetta ribbon

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,
Barbara

Saturday Sketch Challenges

I didn't have a chance to do last week's sketch, and I had an idea that I wanted to try.  I thought of a Japanese tea house when I saw the sketch, and when I saw this week's DIVA IC 140, it pushed me over the edge! Here is last week's sketch and the card I created.  If at any time a link is missing you can head over to the UDI blog to get back on track.

I flipped the layout vertically so the stamp set would work. I'm really pleased with the results.  Here's the recipe.

Stamps:  Dream Gardens, Circle Circus, Inspired by Nature
Paper:  Wild Wasabi, So Saffron, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso and Vellum
Inks:  Wild Wasabi and Cajun Craze

Now on to this week's sketch.

I just got the Extreme Skateboard stamp today, and it was free!  I earned it with Sale-a-Bration.  Here's the recipe for the card.

Stamps:  Extreme Elements, Extreme Skateboard
Papers:  Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Baja Breeze,  Soft Suede
Inks:  Early Espresso,  Baja Breeze,  Soft Suede
Accessories:  Square Lattice embossing folder, Stampin' dimensionals

If you are following the UDI Saturday Sketch team, the next stop is Elizabeth's blog.  I'm sure she has something fabulous to show us.  If you have a little time, you might like to take a peek at some of my other posts from this week.  I have been busy stamping!

Thanks for stopping by, and as always, I love to read your comments!

Blessings,
Barbara

For the Love of Pansies

I have seen these paper pansies numerous times but finally tried them yesterday. They are so gorgeous in real life! They are made using Shimmery White card stock, re-inkers, and the butterfly punch. I kept the cards simple, a basic white on white with some texture and ribbon, and the greetings will be added as I need them. That is one thing I've learned over the years... Add the greeting when you are ready to send it. If you stamp "Happy Birthday" on it, for sure you will need a "Thinking of You" card instead!

Accessories used: Top Note die, Square Lattice embossing folder

As always, comments are most welcome!

Blessings,
Barbara

P.S.  Here is a link to the video instructions I saw on Dawn Olchefske's blog, DO stamping with Dawn.  You will see that I pretty much cased her card, too!

A Stand Up Card

I recently participated in a fun folds card swap, and I just fell in love with one of the cards.  It stands up on its own yet folds flat to fit in a standard size envelope.  I made a dozen of these to send as thank yous, and they all got mailed on Tuesday.  I took a picture before I tucked the last one in the envelope.  This is the gorgeous new paper that will be in the Stampin' Up! 2011-2012 catalog that will be available on July 1.  This is a sheet of card stock cut to 4 1/4 " by 11", scored at 5 1/2", 6 3/4", 8", 9 1/4" and 10 1/2".  If you cut and score the paper, then fold all of the score lines, I think you will figure it out.  The bottom makes a little boxlike shape.  If you have any questions, just holler.  I can try to explain better or post a picture of the side.

Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!

Barbara

Stampin' Up Regionals

Yesterday I was in Hartford, Connecticut for a Stampin' Up! Regional event, so I did not have a chance to work with this week's sketch.  (Actually, I could not find this week's sketch or I would have prepared it ahead of time. )  So instead, at Carol's suggestion, I will bore you with the projects we created at Regionals!  (I'm sure you realize I am only doing this to stay on Carol's good side since I did not do the Saturday sketch challenge!)  We had fabulous make-and-takes, some over-the-top Workshop WOW's, and some +ONE surprises!  Our make-and-takes were stepped up, we all came home with Glass Glitter (Thank you Stampin' UP!), and we had a three o'clock ice cream break!  Our last +ONE of the day was on the way to the parking garage.  We needed to take the elevator up one level, and we really packed the elevator tight with SU! demonstrators.  Someone saw that the maximum capacity was 10 people and we had 11!  I piped up with the comment, "We're just working on our commitment to this year's theme, +ONE!"

Here is the first card, a 3X3 with matching envelope, Thanks Card.

This card, No. 147 Card, is really pretty because we added Champagne mist glimmer paint to the edges as well as the bird cage.

Here's another beauty, A Note of Thanks Card, which featured the crimper on both the card and envelope.

The last of the cards was called Hostess Gift, and holds four 3 x 3 note cards.

The last project is an adorable banner which is not quite finished.  I will post it as soon as I can.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the projects from Regionals as much as I enjoyed making them!

To see the UDI sketch challenge cards, head over to Elisabeth's blog to see her beautiful work.

Thanks for stopping by!  Enjoy the weekend as well as the warmer spring weather.

Blessings,
Barbara

Stuck in Neutral

... colors, that is! I had a Black and White class earlier this week and really enjoyed working with the neutral colors. So for this week's UDI Saturday Sketch Challenge, I used the sketch below and altered a card that I did in the class to fit the sketch. I hope Carol is sitting down when she sees this, because I didn't flip or turn the sketch for the third week in a row! Here's the sketch.

And here is the card.

Stamps: Great Friend
Papers: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Basic Black and First Edition DSP
Inks: Black Staz-On, Crumb Cake for sponging
Accessories: Framed Tulips embossing folder, 1 3/8" square punch, basic pearls, Stampin' Dimensionals, corner rounder punch

Here's a detail of the butterfly. I folded it down the center and only popped up one side with Stampin' Dimensionals to give the wings a little lift.

If you are following the sketch challenge, the next stop is Elizabeth's blog. If you run into any problems along the way, you can always head back to the UDI blog to see the links.

Have a great weekend, and thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,
Barbara

Happy Birthday to Me!

Those of you who know me know that I have a Leap Year Birthday. Over my years of teaching, I had three students with Leap Year birthdays, but we were never able to celebrate together because they were not Leap Years! Three years ago that changed, and I had a student who had her "third" birthday the year I had my "fifteenth." We had so much fun!  The next year I brought cupcakes in so we could celebrate together, and we decided that in the future, in non-Leap Year years, instead of trying to decide if we should celebrate on February 28 or March 1, we would just celebrate on both days!  So that is exactly what we did.  No more feeling sorry for us since we only have a birthday once every four years!  So happy birthday to Jen, and happy birthday to me!

On to the Diva sketch card. This is sketch number 126, and I have to be honest, at first I had no idea what I was going to do.  My inspiration came from the fact that (1) I was working on cards for an upcoming black and white card class, (2) I saw a small piece of artwork on my work table that has a collage of sayings on it and (3) I was sipping on a glass of Shiraz!

Surprise! I didn't even rotate the sketch, which I very often do. I'm quite happy with the results, and I think the card really gets the message across to have a happy birthday!

Here's the recipe.

Stamps: Bring On the Cake, Create a Cupcake
Paper: Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Soft Suede, Love Letter DSP
Ink: Black Staz-On, Soft Suede for sponging

If you are following the links in the Utah Divas Saturday Sketch Challenge, the next stop is Elizabeth's blog. I'm sure she'll have something wonderful to share with us. If any of the links are missing, you can always go here to see all of the links.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Enjoy your weekend!

Blessings,
Barbara