Pocket Silhouettes

I recently did a batch of cards using Stampin' Up!'s (retired) Pocket Silhouettes stamp set and Eyelet Border punch.  I used several different sentiments, mostly from Teeny Tiny Wishes, to create cards that can be used for a variety of purposes.

I started out using Real Red, then decided to try the card in Melon Mambo and Cherry Cobbler as well.  I think all the colors work great!

I have a lot of ATCs due this month, so I need to switch gears this weekend to see if I can make a dent in my To Do list!

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

Artist Trading Cards (ATCs)

I got sidetracked from traditional card making this month, choosing instead to focus on something called Artist Trading Cards (or ATCs for short) -- mini art projects that artists and stampers trade among themselves.  I very recently joined a Yahoo! group that focuses on ATCs, and these are the trading cards I signed up to make during this month.

1) Theme:  MAN (to be followed in subsequent months with WOMAN and CHILD cards)

2) Theme:  Birthday RAK, or Random Act of Kindness, to one of the group members

3) Theme:  Artist's Choice - I titled this little beauty "Happiness Felt"

4) Theme: Winged Things

5) Theme:  Mystery Image - This month's Mystery Image was a set of stamped theater tickets.  I decided to make them into a "White Ticket Fence" with flowers behind it.

6) Theme:  Quote of the Month - The idea is to use a famous quote as the focal point for an ATC.  Being the  goofball I am, I decided to use one of my own quotes -- one of the funniest things I've said in a long time!  Well, maybe the quote isn't funny by itself, but the ATC commemorates an event that happened this month which GREATLY amused one of my friends.  See, I was taking some pills, and absently swallowed a little plastic flower along with them.  I couldn't believe it!  I got a good laugh at myself, and so did my friend.

I've signed up to make nine (9!) ATCs next month, and hope to also do some card making as well.  Looks like October will be a busy month for me!

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

Custom Birthday Card and Quick Recovery Card

I was asked to make a personalized card for someone's daughter who is just turning nine this month.  I was instructed to use pinks and purples and come up with something girly with lots of shimmer and shine.  Here's what I settled on:

and inside:

I spritzed the front with several layers of pearl Smooch Spritz, so in real life it truly shimmers.  I created the sentiment and flowers in the oval on the front as well as the inside flower using Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio 2 (MDS2).  I love love love that stamped images can be colored, resized, and rotated; and I found so many other features in the newly released version that I can't wait to try!!  

This card will not, of course, fit in a regular envelope.  I have clear acetate boxes that are held closed with gold elastic cord, and I think this will help Riley understand her mother's intention to present her with a keepsake.  I do hope Riley likes it!

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On another note, the husband of a dear friend of mine went through heart surgery recently, and I wanted to create a card to let both of them know they're on my mind.  The trick was to come up with something masculine, but not TOO masculine so that my friend would enjoy the card, too.  I decided to try my hand at papier tole, and created the medallion/flower on this card:

For those not familiar with papier tole, it involves layering increasingly smaller pieces using thin foam to create a multi-dimensional object.  I cheated and used a kit for my first attempt, but I did add another layer at the bottom to create contrast between the medallion and the background designer paper.  I sponged everything with Early Espresso ink to give it a somewhat vintage look.  The brads are antiqued, and the button is crisscrossed with linen thread.  The gorgeous ribbon is wonderfully textured and in person adds so much to the card.

The inside:

The ribbon on the main inside sentiment is held on with a small antiqued paperclip.  All the sentiments in this card were sized and printed in MDS2.

I just got a new order of Stampin' Up! goodies and am sorting through it all trying to decide what I want to use first.  Decisions, decisions!!

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

Wesley the Amorous Owl

I recently had lunch with a dear friend who told me a story about her daughter having had the opportunity to raise a baby owl to adulthood.  I got a chuckle when my friend told me how, when the owl matured -- never having had contact with other owls -- he would follow his natural instincts and affectionately rub himself against her in an attempt to mate.  The owl's name was Wesley, and so I took on the challenge of making a card featuring Wesley the Amorous Owl for my friend to send to her daughter.  I hope it brings a smile to her face!

In case you can't quite read it, the card front reads:  Wesley says...  Whooo-oo-oo loves you, baby?   Inside:  You turn me on!

Stampin' Up! supplies used in this project:  Baja Breeze, Island Indigo, Gumball Green, Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals, Chocolate Chip, Daffodil Delight, and Whisper White cardstock; Owl builder punch; Bird builder punch; self-adhesive Googly eyes; Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch; Heart to Heart punch; Word Window and Modern Label punches; corner rounder punch, and Stripes textured impressions (embossing) folder.

I got so "into" making this card that I ended up staying awake all night as the hours flew by -- and I paid dearly for it today to the tune of zero productivity.  My hope is to crawl into bed within the hour and wake up refreshed and ready to stamp all day tomorrow!

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

Last Cards of August

I had a rather productive last week of August, with seven cards to show for my efforts.  Good thing I took pictures right away, too, since the cards have been snatched from my inky fingers with a loud HURRAH!  already -- which couldn't make me happier!  I resolved to cut my time on Facebook games to 30 minutes or less a day effective this weekend, which leaves me with lots more time to create -- and it seems this was a good decision given the demand for my artwork.  Turns out the creative time is also very good for the soul, as I've been happier than ever this last week as I've been gradually cutting down the Facebook hours!

I strayed a bit from the beaten path with this batch of cards by using non-Stampin' Up! designer series paper and tools along with SU! cardstock, inks, stamps, and embellishments.  I have a standing request for sympathy and anniversary cards, so I started out with some of those.  (Remember, you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.)

Card 1:

Card 2:

Cards 3 and 4:  I'm particularly proud of the hearts on these anniversary cards.  I found a flourish in one of my embossing folder's design that fit perfectly into the area of the hearts, and then I used a sponge with some ink to make the embossing more pronounced.

Card 5:  I've been wanting to use this Not So Seriously stamp set from Stampin' Up! for forever, and finally got to it this week.  I think the paper piecing of the dress is fun!  The buttons were done with the Sweet Buttons embosslit from SU!, and isn't the stitched satin ribbon dreamy?

Card 6:  This quick card was created with a specific friend in mind (whom I affectionately call my Piglet), but since the card got snagged so quickly, guess I'll be making another one!

Card 7:  I found the indigo button below on the seat of my car, so I'm guessing it came off a purse or article of clothing belonging to one of my passengers.  I've been shifting it around in my apartment for months, and this week it finally cried out to be used as a center of a Mixed Bunch flower.

Stampin' Up! colors used on the above cards include Chocolate Chip, Island Indigo, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green, and Whisper White.  If you have any questions or comments about these cards, please leave a comment and I'll respond as soon as I see it.

Coming up next:  I have requests for a card featuring an amorous owl named Wesley and a frilly card for a special young lady's birthday.  I hope the muse is kind to me this week, as I also have some more non-SU! product I want to play with before my September Stampin' Up! order comes in.  We'll see how it goes...

Stampin' Smiles,

Joyce Spear (a.k.a. StamperJoyce)

Summer Afternoon

I asked my stamping buddy (Hi, Chris!) to stamp some images from the special Stampin' Up! hostess set called Summer Afternoon, and here are five cards I came up with using them.  As you can see, I need a lot more practice using colored and watercolor pencils -- but I gotta start somewhere!  

This first card gave me fits until I thought to duplicate the Poppy Parade color of the planter in the quote's mat.  Wish I had remembered to add some twine in the button holes!

On the card below, I used some Sweet Pea Flower Soft on the flowers in the basket.  Too cute!

My least favorite of the five... too plain.  And the buttons really need twine...

This is where I finally thought to pull out some baker's twine.  Isn't the tiny scallop circle punch adorable?

And finally, my personal favorite:

I'm not real sure what my next project will be -- because I have so many cool new stamps and "toys" to play with out on my worktable.  I'm itching to try Gelatos and some Textural Accents (my birthday present to myself), and I also have a brand new large Martha Stewart butterfly punch.  And then there's my new Floral Oval nestabilities that I want to try embossing now that I have the needed tan embossing mats.  And my new autumn leaves die that coordinates with the Wonderfall stamp set in the Holiday mini.  And some WAY cool Halloween projects.  And some In Color stitched satin ribbon.  And...  well, I guess I better get to work!!

Smiles,

Joyce Spear (a.k.a StamperJoyce)

  

Blooming with Kindness for Birthday

Here's the birthday card I made for my friend Chris for her birthday earlier this week.  I used the Blooming with Kindness stamp set from Stampin' Up! with the colors Gumball Green, Marina Mist, and Regal Rose.

(Click on each picture to see it larger.)


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

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)