Beautiful You-Template Thursday

  For my template this Thursday I have changed the background for each card and changed the image.  I did not put any sayings on these cards because I like to have blank cards that I can personalize for any situation.

Card Number 1 uses the washi tape that coordinates with the Pop of Pink designer paper.  I love using washi tape on cards and find it so easy to use.  Tear, place on the card, tear again.  I never use scissors.

 Card number 2 uses one of the papers from the Serene Scenery paper stack.  These papers are 6 by 6 and come with 48 in a pack. I love how much fun the ones in the Serene Scenery stack are to use.  Several of them are photos of nature.

Card number 3 uses a stamped image as the background.  This image can also fit on top of the lady with the hat stamp and eliminate the need to color in the image.  A very casual artsy look.

As you can imagine I could keep going with changing my backgrounds.  Maybe use an embossing folder, creating a word background.  Why don't you try making a card using one of these background techniques.

Come back tomorrow to see how I take a simple card and turn it into a gift card holder and a simple box.

Swirly Bird-Template Thursday

Did  you guess Washi Tape?  Then you were correct.  Why do I love Washi Tape?

1. Easy to place on the cardstock.  I tear a piece a little larger than I need and wrap it around to the back side.

2. Easy to tear.  Not as thick as masking tape and easier to move if you get some in the wrong place.

3. Colorful and helps you make a lot of cards quickly.

This template is so easy to duplicate. 

   Washi Tape
   A Saying
   A stamp from Swirly Birds

Another card with this template....

 I could go on and on, but will stop for the night.

Come back tomorrow to see how I go from a simple card to one that is a little more difficult for Fix It Friday.

Painter's Palette-Fix it Friday

    Do you recognize this card?  It was copied from the card on page 119 of the new catalog.  118 and 119 show off the Playful Palette Suite.  This includes.......
      Card stock
      Stamp set
      Washi Tape
      Thread and Twine
       Designer paper stack
   All these things coordinate together.  That sure makes it easy to have all the supplies needed to make a bunch of great looking projects.

  I decided to fix up the card that was in the catalog.  Can you see what I changed.

   The direction of the card
   Instead of a heart I decided to use a flower punch instead.  I did however use a heart for the leaves.
    The words are now under the focal flower instead of in the middle of the focal heart.
  Both cards look good but I thought it was great fun to try to fix the card up and make it look a little more advanced.

 Painter's Palette week is now over and I had such fun making the cards.  I used most of the parts of the stamp set and am ready to take on a new stamp set next week.

Come back on Monday to see the stamp set that jumped out at me on my first look of the new catalog.  I had everyone who came to my open house try and guess which stamp set it was.  No one guessed correctly this year.  If they had I would have purchased that stamp set for them.  

Build a Birthday-New catalog card buffet

     Don't you love the bright colors in this card? 
Background-Cherry on top washi tape,
Candles-new in-colors
Put it all together a great birthday card.

Bohemian Borders-New Catalog card buffet

      Another card using Washi tape......Yeah!  The people at the Senior center and the library card class made this card as the third card for June.  I loved this card because it has several of my favorite items.........punches, washi tape, and simplicity.

New Items

Delightful Dijon marker and card stock
Bohemian Borders stamp set
Bohemian Washi Tape

Freaky Friends-Fix it Fast Friday

     I love Washi tape!  This fast Halloween card made with Freaky Friends will make any one you send it to smile.  Can't you see duplicating this card many times and on each card place on of the images in the stamp set.  Voila you have a cute set of cards ready to go!

Washi Tape Galore-Simple Sunday

   This is a swap I got at convention.  Know what I love about it?

1. Washi tape, fast and easy to use.

2. Simple design easy to duplicate.

3. Great way to showcase my sentiment.

Supplies used:

Whisper White, Crisp Cantaloupe, Basic Black card stock
Scalloped Oval, Extra Large Oval and Modern Label punches
Sweet Sadie washi tape

Retiring Washi Tape

   
 I love Washi tape.  I think it adds a nice focal point to a card, and is easy to use.  These 3 tapes are retiring from the SU catalog so I wanted to get some more use out of them. When I made this card I wanted the word smile to be the top word on the card, but I noticed there  was too much white space above the word.  So, I reached for some punches and fixed the card right away.

Retiring items....
  Gingham Garden washi tape and designer paper
  Happy Day stamp set

Items remaining......
   Whisper White and Melon Mambo card stock
   Melon Mambo ink
   Rhinestones
  Who can you make smile by sending them this card/

Two for One Washi Tape card

  

    Do you like the idea of making one card turn into two?  Well, the card I did at Knollwood assisted living facility this month was just that.  I had been wanting to try Washi tape with my stamping friends and created this simple card based on one I had done a while ago with my stampers. I had enough colors of Washi tape to give each lady two colors.  The tearing of the tape was very easy for them.  I did the punching of the butterflies.  Okay you ask how can I make another card from this card?

     The punched out butterflies helped make the second card.  I thought the results looked good and fit my requirements for Stamping at Knollwood: simple, cute looking, and easy to make.  How would you design a two for one card?

Occasion Catalog Bundles

 

    Do you love things that match? Well, this card was made with lots of things that match.  One of my favorite things Stampin'Up! has been offering in all their catalogs are Bundles.  When you buy specific objects that are similar, Stampin'Up! has grouped them as a bundle and discounted them if you order both items at one time. This card uses  the 2 items that were offered in the Starburst Bundle. 

1. Starburst Sayings stamp set

2. Starburst Framelits dies

     And to tie everything together in this card is a piece of washi tape from the Retro Fresh This and That designer washi tape. It looks like a piece of cardstock, but that is because it was mounted on a piece of white cardstock to show it off. All the other colors in the card reflect back to the colors in the washi tape.  It was so easy to coordinate everything in this card.  Now what happy day would you want to celebrate with this bright and cheerful card inspired by Justin Krieger?

How to decide what card to make?

   
    Do you ever have a hard time trying to decide what to stamp?  I know that I do.  Since it had been so long since I had sat down to create a card I had more trouble than usual.  So, I went through my list that I use to help.

1. First decide what stamp set you want to use.  That part was easy because I knew I wanted to use Just Sayin.

2. Next go online to look at ideas.  I tried several places and did not get inspired by what I saw.

3. If that does not work, go to the catalog.  I knew that I had not used the ideas in the catalog very much since it came out so I decided I would use it for my inspiration.

4.  Earmark somehow the pages of designs you really like even if they do not feature the stamp set you want to use.  For this card I found a design on page 3 of the Occasions catalog that used Washi tape and looked fairly easy to replicate.

5. Make some changes to make the card your own.  I decided I wanted a full sized card since I might want to use this as one of my swaps for Leadership. I liked the changes I made but something did not seem right. After lunch I looked at the card again, and the sample in the catalog and made a color change.

     Isn't it amazing how a simple change can make such a difference in the look of a card.  The Washi tape was lost when I used the Basic Grey cardstock, but really pops when I changed the background color to white.
Let me know how you decide what card to make.

Watercolor Wonder Suite

    
   The new Occasions catalog is divided into suites and one of my favorite suites is the Watercolor Wonder suite. I have always loved the look of watercolor and think the items offered bring out my favorite things I like about watercolor.

1. The Happy Watercolor stamp set used in this card sample.  Love the splotches with the watercolor look, the poppy and the sayings.

2. The gold washi tape.  Usually not to crazy about gold and silver, but love this because it is a dull gold look, not bright and flashy.

3. The subtle look of the baker's twine with a bit of gold or silver twisted around the basic color.

4. The string of sequence.  I have seen card samples where people even pull out individual sequence as accent pieces.

  We made this card at the Jubilant Butterflies meeting and I realized after making the card how much I loved all parts of this suite.  Which suite is your favorite?  There are several ways you can purchase your favorite items from this catalog.

1. Order online through my website

2. Come to one of my classes and place an order which will make the class free.

3, Have your own private class and earn some items for free.

Contact me for more information or leave me a message on my blog and I will get back to you.

Simple Sunday Washi tape cards

    I have spent the last few hours trying to figure out this lap top!!!!  So, you can imagine I needed a simple project to post for today.  I like to include a tiny thank you card in every order that I receive.  I have lots of fun creating the designs, and they go pretty fast since the cards are 3 by 6 folded in half.  This is the card I created for the next 10 customers.  I thought you might enjoy my formula for making a quick thank you note card.

1. Choose one of the Washi tape grouping and place one strip of each color on your 3 by 6 card. In this first card I used the Witches Brew tape.

2. Look for a small image that complements the Washi tape. I thought the images in the Halloween Hello stamp set were so cute and the size was just right for the card.

3. Find a small saying you can add to the card.  I wanted mine to all say Thank you in some way.

After I made this one, I thought I would just make a bunch using the same design and a different Washi tape collection each time.
 

For my next card I used Epic This and That Washi tape and the Postage collection stamps.

On to the Gingham Garden Washi tape and the A Round Array stamp set.

Next  was the Season's of Style Washi tape and the That's the Ticket stamp set with matching punch. I definitely on a roll and did not want to stop so......

I chose one color of each grouping and placed them in a group using the A Fitting Occasion stamp set as my accent piece.  This was so much fun. It took me about 30 minutes to make the 5 cards and 90 minutes to figure out how to get them on my blog.

What combinations can you think of to use to make a Simple card this Sunday?






Washi Tape Fun

     I decided that one of my swaps for convention needed to be a Washi tape swap.  I love using the tape.  In just a short time I had 20 swaps made using the new Season of Style Washi tape that is featured in the Holiday Catalog.  I was able to preorder the tape and customers will be able to order it starting August 1.  Look for your catalog in the mail soon if you are one of my customers.

    Now that I was inspired, I decided to use the new Witches Brew Washi tape also in the Holiday catalog to make a similar card.  I love using the same template to make several different cards.

    Which card do you like the best?  I wonder what other Washi tape cards I can make using this same template?

1 Template, 2 Different Looks

     Sometimes I am just not too sure what kind of card I want to make so I look at previously made cards that I really liked.  I knew I wanted to make a card using Washi Tape, so I looked at the samples from my Washi Tape class.   

    The card on the left was the one from the class, the card on the right is my different look.  Can you see what I changed?

1.  The Honeycomb embossing folder looked to busy for the new card so I just used the Polka dot folder.

2, I changed up the colors of the card to match the Gingham Garden Washi Tape.

3. I used two flower punches instead of the banner

4.  The saying is from the new hostess set called Express Yourself.

     Now, I have two different looks from the same template.  What look can you make from this template?

Wahsi Tape 2 for One

     Do you love Washi Tape as much as I do?  It is so easy and has a quick great looking result.  These are two more projects we made at my Open House on Sunday. 

1. First, lay strips of Washi tape on your card base.

2.  Next punch out an image in the center of the Washi tape.  I used the new Pansy punch.

3. Finally, take the punched out image and make a second card.

     Two cards for one in less than 10 minutes.  I was thinking any shape would work with the technique.  A heart, ornament, scalloped oval, even the Mosaic punch.  I think I am going to have to try several different versions, how about you?

Super Snails Washi Tape Challenge cards

Supplies for the April Challenge for the Super Snails



     At the April meeting of my downline, The Super Snails, we learned how to decorate ribbon so that it had a rainbow effect.  Then, I gave each person attending the meeting, 3 strips of washi tape and a piece of This and That Epic Day designer paper.  The challenge was to create a project using those items.  Well, last night was the night they brought back their finished projects.  Everyone agreed it was very challenging to find ways in include the washi tape, but I loved the results.

I had fun making this card, but wondered if it was too busy.

Nan used the backside of the designer paper.  Can you find her washi tape?



Janet twirled her ribbon into a cute ball.

Amanda used every bit of the ribbon.  I love the scarf and waist feature of the dress.

Cindy used some wire to make a flower focal piece.

Jody added some of the window sheet the washi tape was attached to on her card

And had enough supplies to make two cards. I think she added some of her own washi tape to this one.

     It was great fun to see how every one approached the challenge in a different way.  What would your card have looked like if you had gotten the supplies the Super Snails received?  I often take other people's designs as my starting off point for a card, but in these challenges they are always a Sushi Original. 







Washi Tape swap card

     Are you ready for the new catalog?  Well, this card is a sneak peak to some of the products you will find in the catalog.  Last night was the Jubilant Butterflies meeting and I participated in the swap.  I wanted to use some of the new product.  You know how your fingers just itch to try things out.  Here is what I used.

1. New Washi tape called Gingham Garden

2. New designer paper for the tiny butterfly called Gingham Garden

3. Best of Butterflies stamp set

   This card is a great example of how you can change up elements of a card for a totally different look.  Check out the card below that we will make Monday the 13th in my Washi Tape card class.

   Same design, just different Washi Tape, colors of card stock, and saying.  Which one is your favorite?

Wonderful Washi Tape

Quick card made in under 10 minutes

     What exactly is Washi tape?
 
        Comes in a variety of widths
        Delightful variety of designs
        Tears easily
        Removable if you made a mistake in placement
        Easy to use
        Helps you make a quick card

     This card was inspired by one that Julie Davison made and demonstrated at a recent event I attended.  In order to make the card work for my Male Birthday card class, I stamped a ship on top of the Washi tape.  CAUTION:  Since the tape is slick, the ink did not absorb into the tape so we used the first setting on the heat tool to dry the ink.  Otherwise it had a tendency to smear.
   What design can you think to use with Washi Tape?  Look for a May Washi tape class.  All projects will be made using the tape and you will go home with the leftover rolls.