Fussing with World Treasures

I am not a natural fussy cutter.  I'll do it if I absolutely have to, but if I can avoid it I will.  That being said, I've been itching to do some serious fussy cutting with Stampin' Up!'s World Treasures stamp set.  


I started out by stamping the peacock six times using Tim Holtz's Spring and Summer limited edition Distress Inks.  Why?  Because they were there, and I've never really played with distress inks before.  If I were to do this project over, I would use SU!'s Glorious Green (retired), YoYo Yellow (retired), Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo, Almost Amethyst (retired), and Bermuda Bay (retired) because this just isn't a distress-y project -- unless you count the distress I experienced trying to figure out the peacock layers!  Here's how the peacock finally turned out:

Once I assembled the peacock, my head started swirling with ideas on how to finish the card.  I finally called in my BFF Chris to help me calm the brainstorm and settle on something.  (Thanks, Chris!)  I went with Almost Amethyst as the card base. Next I ran a layer of black/white core Core'dinations through my Big Shot using the Fancy Fan folder, and sanded it and brayered it with Tim Holtz's Shaded Lilac to match the purple in the peacock.  I decided to layer the peacock on Almost Amethyst after running it through the Big Shot twice, once with an Apothecary Accents framelit and next with the Stripes embossing folder.  I used the sentiment from World Treasures, cutting it out with another framelit from Apothecary Accents.  A bit of ribbon, some sponging and some bling, and lots of Stampin' Dimensionals later -- voila!  Here's the finished project:

(Click on it to enlarge.)  As I post this card, I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself.  I only hope the card holds up to scrutiny once daylight hits it!


I started out making this card for the tenant association, but after all the fussing I'm not so sure I can give it up so easily yet.  That leaves me still needing two cards by Wednesday, so tomorrow it's back to the drawing board!  I hope I can come up with something a lot simpler with NO fussy cutting!!


Today is Chris' birthday, (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Chris!!!), and I have my fingers crossed that her birthday card will arrive on time.  Once she's feasted her eyes on my creation, I'll be posting it here, so stay tuned!


Smiles,
Joyce Spear (a.k.a. StamperJoyce)

I've Been Stamping... !

This month I resolved to not wait until the very last minute to work on my four cards for the tenant association where I live.  I hope you'll be proud of me when you hear that I'm halfway done with extra cards to spare!

I started out with a warm-up exercise, which was to pretty up a Yoplait yogurt container that I've been using to hold my Tombow mono multi glue upside down and ready to use.  You may remember that I have already covered a Yoplait container, but I needed a second one since my first is now being used to hold my Smooch Spritzes upright.  Anyway, I kept it simple, using Stampin' Up!'s Summer Smooches designer series paper:

My first two (identical) cards were created using one of the designs in the Patio Party designer series paper, the World Treasures and Papillon Potpourri stamp sets, and the new butterfly punch, all from Stampin' Up!

I punched the butterfly twice -- once from a scrap of Primrose Petals and once from vellum. I layered the two and then used four basic gemstones to form the butterfly body.  The ribbon is an organdy from a few years ago.  To get the sentiment, I used markers to add color to the stamp while omitting the given saying.  I then took the "Thinking of YOU" from another set and plopped it into place using my trusty Stamp-a-ma-jig.

I'm pretty pleased with my next batch of cards, all made with the Summer Silhouettes set.  I used a Labels Collection framelit to create a white canvas on which I sponged some background color and then built a bright garden using the colors Marina Mist, Gumball Green, Regal Rose, and Daffodil Delight.  I used small sentiments from Vintage Labels and Silhouette Sentiments, stamped on a 1" circle and then layered on the SMALL scallop circle punch which will be in the upcoming Holiday Mini catalog.  I raised this up with a couple Stampin' Dimensionals, then added four butterflies created with the Beautiful Wings embosslit.  Finally, I added some Dazzling Details (Stampin' Up!'s version of Stickles) to the pink flowers on both the front and insides of the cards as well as the envelopes.  Here, why not just take a look?  (I uploaded multiple pictures of some in the hope that you can see the sparkly on some.)

I had a brave moment and spritzed some iridescent gold Glimmer Mist on the pink card.  In "real" life, the card looks like I stamped it on SU!'s shimmer white card stock!

 And, of course, I had to make matching envelopes!

I did make another card, but I'll post it after the recipient receives it so I don't spoil the surprise!

Wishing you a happy, stampy weekend!

Joyce Spear (a.k.a. StamperJoyce)

  

Handcrafted Paper Flowers

While my BFFs were in town in June, we played with making paper flowers using various papers, various sizes of dies and punches, various inks, and various colors of Smooch Spritz and Glimmer Mists.  We used antique brads in the larger flowers and simple silver brads in the "babies."  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

It was so good to see my friends again and have time to play!  

Smiles,

Joyce Spear (a.k.a. StamperJoyce)

  

Reason to Smile

I had a request for a floral thank-you card, so thought to myself -- What better excuse to break into my new Reason to Smile stamp set?  It's a two-step stamping set, but all of the stamps can be used individually depending on the "feel" you want.  I've also been wanting to use the new In Colors some more, so I decided on a color palette of Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit, and Gumball Green.  I also used a bit of Patio Party DSP.

Here's the inside:

When I first started playing with the Reason to Smile stamp set this afternoon, I was less than impressed... but now it's grown on me!  I'm hoping I'll have time this week to make some more cards with these stamps!

Smiles,

Joyce Spear (a.k.a. StamperJoyce)