Quick Asian Artistry Card

My BFFs from North Carolina came to visit this week, and in the course of chatting and chowing and chuckling I managed to start seven different cards. Here's one of them.



Stamp set: Asian Artistry

Colors: Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo

And: In Color markers, Melon Mambo polka-dotted grosgrain, color spritzer tool (my new favorite toy!), square gold brads (non-SU!)






My hot water heater broke this week, so I've been dealing with clean-up and downstairs neighbors and all kinds of frustrations that are keeping me from stamping as much as I'd like. I'm also working on a couple sympathy cards that I can't show at this time. After that, I hope to finish up the cards I started earlier this week, and then come up with some ideas for a baby first birthday party I've been asked to make invitations for.



I also realized this morning that it's officially "birthday season" -- oddly enough, most of my close friends have birthdays in August and September, with a few stragglers in October. Looks like I've got plenty to keep myself busy and out of trouble for awhile! :)

Asian Artistry Gold Embossed

I pulled out my gold embossing powder and played a bit with the Asian Artistry hostess set again this evening. The flower images are colored in with markers.



Cameo Coral and Old Olive:






Real Red and Glorious Green:






Pretty in Pink and Garden Green:

Asian Artistry

I wanted to play with the Level 2 Hostess Set Asian Artistry today, but I wasn't feeling terribly adventurous -- so ended up with three pretty simple cards.



My dear friends in North Carolina (Hi Katie! Hi Fonda!) introduced me to the Dotted Wave edger punch from EK Success by punching up a pile of SU! cardstock for me to use as card bases or whatever. (I know you're shocked to read that as soon as I saw the borders this punch makes, I had to get a punch of my own!) That batch of cardstock was calling out to me this afternoon to be used, so that's how I ended up resurrecting my old color friend Wild Wasabi for this first card.



Colors: Wild Wasabi and Almost Amethyst

Additional Supplies: Keytag punch, pastel and dragonfly brads from my stash, Stampin' Dimensionals






My second card is similar, but this time colors are Certainly Celery and Cameo Coral.






As sweet as these two cards came out, I was starting to put myself to sleep, so I dragged out a different punch, this one by Martha Stewart, and decided to make a vertical card. Colors are yummy Burmuda Bay, Cameo Coral, and Basic Black. I don't have my new In Color markers yet -- they're on their way! -- so I opted to use a watercolor brush to color in the bird with Burmuda Bay reinker. Despite reading a million times (not that I ever exaggerate) about the quality issues with the Burmuda Bay inkpads and reinkers, I puzzled for awhile over why the bird wasn't the same color as the card base. (Did I mention my brain was a bit sluggish today?) Mental note: Do not use the Burmuda Bay inkpad or reinker until I have my replacements!






Oh! I almost forgot to mention... See those three black dots on the card? Those are not brads. (Gasp!) I thought I'd be hip and trendy and do what the big girls are all doing these days; namely, I used a hand hole punch to make the circles and then covered them with Crystal Effects. Then began the grueling work of watching a two-hour movie (A Room with a View) while the CE dried before I could finish assembling the card.



Ohh!! I got the COOLEST card today that I can't wait to show you! I tried to take a picture of it tonight, but I just couldn't do it justice. You'll have to wait until my new camera (*see Joyce do her happy dance*) arrives so that I can get a decent photo of it. You'll either be amused like me, or else worry about my sick friend who came up with the idea. Stay tuned!

Autumn Days

I decided I better do something productive while I was waiting for my media card reader to arrive yesterday, so I gleefully pulled out the new Autumn Days and Asian Artistry sets fully prepared for another marathon stamping session... and no sooner had I finished one quick "warm-up" card than Mr. Postman brought me the much-awaited toy. Doesn't it always work that way? I should know that anytime I make plans, I'm just asking for them to be screwed up. In this case it worked out well, though, as I've been able to post a boatload of new cards for your viewing pleasure.



Anyway, here's the quickie card I made with Soft Suede cardstock, ink, and ribbon. I think I made the card in about four minutes. The hardest part was tying the ribbon so that the polka dots would be on top -- another practice makes perfect thing, I suppose.