Fabulous Finds Friday — Punch It Out!

I love punches because they make it so easy to create multiple shapes … and because you can use up a lot of scraps with punches. But wait … there’s more! I also love flowers. So imagine my joy when I found these punches from EK Success:

The two longer punches create oh-so-easy flowers. Simply punch a long border, roll the “petals” around a straw or pencil, and wha-la — instant floral:

The pink flower would have been fuller had I used two pieces of 12-inch paper, but I was too impatient so I just used smaller scraps. To make a fuller flower, use two strips, each one 10-12 inches. Before rolling the flowers, offset the papers so the petals don’t directly overlap. Glue the bottom, then gently curl the petals outward.

Here’s a closer look:

Not feeling floral? Leave the punched out strip flat and make a pretty border.

The third punch is such fun — it makes your butterflies ready to take flight by punching three — count ’em, three! — butterfly shapes with slightly different designs so you can layer them:

Simply move the button to the design you want. Here are some samples (again, diggin’ into the ol’ scrap basket):

Another thing I love about these punches is that they lock in the down position, making them uber easy to store.

Thanks for swinging by, and thanks to EK Success for sending these punches for me to try.

Funky Friday — A Mish Mash of Ideas

Today’s entries are a mish mash of items that have been hangin’ around….

In July, my mother celebrated her 90th birthday (yes, 90!) and the family had a big birthday party. Everyone expected me to make the invitations, so I went with a simple, but I think elegant, and fast design:

(It’s a litlte hard to see here… and really, it’s MUCH prettier in person!) I did a fast dry emboss (using a Cuttlebug folder) and strategically added some Ranger Liquid Pearls.

Here’s a close-up:

Next up is a card for a baby shower:

(Stamps and trim, which I inked to match the rest, from Close To My Heart — love these silhouettes!)

One more note… the Marsha McCarthy image used in this card (which I featured last week):

… is now available from Gourmet Rubber Stamps, a new stamp company from American Art Stamp, which recently acquired Lizzie Anne Designs.

Thanks for stopping by!

Next week I have some new punches to share.

Random Cards Unearthed

Here are three random cards unearthed (yes, sometimes my desk is like an archeological dig) while (attempting) to restore my studio to some semblance of order:

This one is fairly new. I had a scrap of BasicGrey carstock and this darling chair (Hero Arts) that I had previously stamped. I colored the chair using Twinkling H2Os (aren’t these pretty?):

And here’s a card that is so old it was photographed using my first digital camera, which had two basic settings: close and far.

The lava lamp image is an old one from JudiKins. I gold embossed the image, then cut it out and cut out the inside portion as well to make the background show through. Such an elemental card, with poor technique. The card looks so old fashioned to me now!

One more oldie but goodie:

I found this card on an old computer file. It’s SO old it was scanned into my computer. The card is long gone, but the scan lives on! I think I used a shadow stamp and a rainbow inkpad for the background. The image is from American Art Stamp and the sentiment  (one of the first I bought) is from Hooks, Lines & Inkers.

Thanks for joining me on this trip down memory lane!

Fabulous Finds Friday — Quick Quotes

A quick post using some new paper and embellies from Quick Quotes.

First, the stash:

(note the nice Spanish quote!)

Now, the results:

(Paper from Quick Quotes; butterflies and “wonderful” from Layers of Color, white embossed on vellum, then cut out. Love that look!)

One more:

(Paper and “G” card from Quick Quotes; flower & gemstone from Hero Arts)

Thanks for stopping by!

Play Time!

A new friend came over to play this week. She is relatively new to stamping and although she has bought some stamps, paper, punches, etc., she was feeling overwhelmed — like, where do I start? What inks do I use? How do I pull together a card?

My mission was to get her to make a card — without scaring her away with the dozens of choices and techniques. I kept our supplies to a minimum, starting with just a black ink pad and some water color pencils. I also wanted to show her how easy it is to make a simple, yet eye-catching card, in five minutes.

I started with chalk inks (these happen to be from ColorBox) to point out that you can, indeed, create a card using one stamp and some ink. (All images Hero Arts.) She was impressed with the quick-drying chalk ink, which lets you layer color in a snap.

Next, I couldn’t resist playing with my newest Impressibilities texture plate (Spellbinders):

I wanted to show the fun and ease of texturing, and how it sets off a focal image. It was like magic! She oohed and ahhed appreciatively. The background was perfect for this scrap that I dug out of my stamped scrap box. (poinsettia by Hero Arts, Stickles glitter glue by Ranger)

And one more, again using a previously stamped image:

Again, using chalk inks and background stamps. (Crow by OnyxXpressions; background circle in circles cube by JudiKins)

And there … within a few minutes, we made three cards! Can’t wait to have another play date!

Thanks for stopping by … and stay tuned for some crafting news about new products.