May is for Mother's Day!

My monthly challenge for my Facebook craft group this month is creating a Mother's Day project since May will be here before we know it, so I thought I would share this challenge on my blog too! I love creating projects for my mom and my mom-in-law because they both love something that I love too: beautiful blooms and gardens! They are both kind, generous, selfless women who mean the world to me.

My mom-in-law's card was created with bright colors and tons of flowers! This little set came as a freebie for Sale-a-Bration last year, and it is tiny but mighty! It creates beautiful backgrounds and focal points.

My mom is an avid gardener, so for her card I cased the glassine envelope project from page 112 of the Stampin' Up annual catalog and created a pocket card. This Butterfly Basics set was on my list for a long time, and I know it will become a staple in my stash! I added a few of my own touches to the envelope (if I'm honest, some of my "touches" were added to cover up whoopsies. Whoopsie!) I added a flat panel inside where I added some more butterflies and a sentiment. 

Mint Macaron is a new addition to my color collection, and it is a stunning blue/green!

Here's a cheer for all the moms out there! I'll add a cheer for all the sisters, aunties, grandmas, and strong women in my life who teach me daily lessons and serve as incredible role models for my daughters. Thanks for all you do!

More Birthday Color!

Many of my daughters' friends have birthdays in the spring, so I'm busy stocking up on some brightly colored birthday cards for a group of fun, energetic, kind young teens. I am so grateful for this group of amazing girls!

I passed the Sweet Cupcake stamps and dies in the annual Stampin' Up catalog a hundred times before I gave them a look. For whatever reason, they weren't "my style" and didn't grab my eye. I was looking to add to my birthday stamps recently and wanted a set with some larger images, so I decided to pick the bundle up with some rewards I had earned. OH MY WORD. The catalog does not do this set justice. In person, the results are show stopping. 

The best part about this set might be its ease of use. Even though the cupcake and frosting each have three steps, they are a breeze to line up. I used Blushing Bride for steps 1 and 2 on my frosting and Strawberry Slush for step 3, and the dimension is incredible in real life! For the cake, I used So Saffrom for Step 1, Daffodil Delight for step 2, and Crushed Curry for step 3. The dies also come with some great extras that make them a great value.

Lesson learned! Don't judge a stamp by its catalog page alone!

While I was at it, I decided to pull out an old favorite and recreate a card I've made many times for many birthdays! This z-fold card is fun and easy, and the birthday balloons in Celebrate today look great in a variety of color schemes!

I would love to know about your favorite all-time birthday designs! What sets (retired or current) do you find yourself returning to over and over? 

Spring Flowers

Spring is in the air, and so is my love for girly spring colors! Even though 2/3 of my wardrobe is black or gray, I seem to love pastels in my paper crafting. (Do you have a paper crafting alter ego, or is it just me?)

During a recent watercolor kick, I decided to try some stamping effects on watercolor paper, and I love the results! (As my crafting companions know, this is not always a guarantee!)

I used Papertrey Ink's Brushed Blooms for this card and decided to try the stamp spritzing technique. I stamped the base in Calypso Coral ink after spritzing the inked stamp with water and repeated the top layer in Rose Red. The leaves are stamped in Pear Pizzazz and Lucky Limeade - also spritzed with water before stamping. I added some additional water with a water brush to spread the color a bit more and then dried thoroughly. The greeting was stamped with watermark ink and embossed in gold. I added a few gold flecks with Tattered Angel spray to finish the center oval off.

For the card background, I scored vertical lines every 1/2 inch to create a diamond pattern and added a drop of pink Perfect Pearls to the intersection of every set of lines. 

This was a fun technique, and I think it lends itself especially well to solid floral images. I hope you'll give it a try!

Colorful Birthday Treats!

Maybe it's the months of dreary Montana weather, but my creativity has been taking a bright and cheerful turn lately! I have been having so much fun creating colorful birthday cards and projects using some of Stampin' Up's latest and greatest products!

Early in March, my craft group met at my place for a project night. We had so much fun exploring the new Cool Treats stamps and dies from the Occasions catalog, and we created these colorful gift bags using the gift bag punch board, white paper, and a variety of bright and cheery ink colors!

I love Lauren's take on the project!

Stacy reversed the banner and added some chocolate swirls and sprinkles!

Lindsay is a new crafter, but you wouldn't know it by her projects! And of course Gia's project looks as amazing as ever!
(Erika and Jae, I'm sorry I missed getting a photo of your amazing projects this time around. Shoot!)

I couldn't get enough of these Cool Treats, so I created a second gift bag just to showcase the adorable strawberries that come in this set. This gift bag has a stamped background and features die cut ice cream and sprinkles. Yum!

Of course, March's order came with some additional goodies because of Sale-a-bration! I snagged this adorable Tasty Trucks set as my freebie and had a blast creating a few more colorful projects.

For this project, I stamped the truck once on watercolor paper, painted with reinkers, and fussy cut to create my main image. I stamped the background at an angle in multiple colors, and then stamped and colored cupcakes on the center truck. I filled the window of my cut out truck with vellum and attached with dimensional adhesive. A strip of black paper and white gel pen created the perfect highway for my little truck!

This Tasty Truck can double as a taco truck too, so couldn't resist trying a little emboss resist on some watercolor paper using all of the cute foods that come in the set. The quirky greeting topped off this little project just perfectly!

I hope nature is providing some spring color wherever you may be! Thanks for visiting!