Watercolor Thank You Cards

Good evening, everyone!  I hope you had a wonderful day today.  Just wanted to share a couple of thank you cards I made back in May or June (yep, can't remember). I have two different versions of the same card.  This first card is actually the result I was going for.  I found a description of this technique on Instagram, I believe.  You're supposed to color on a clear stamping block with the markers of your choice, spritz it with water, and then press your watercolor paper to the block and see what result you get.  This was my second attempt.

This card was actually my first attempt - after I fixed it.  I accidentally overdid it with the water spritzing and so the ink was pretty much just running off the paper.  So I got out my Stampin' Up Aqua Painters and went to work.  It turned out great, but I was pretty worried that I'd wasted a whole sheet of watercolor paper - that stuff is precious!  The colors I used were Lost Lagoon and Blackberry Bliss (both retired).  The stamp set is also retired from the Holiday Catalogue a few years ago.. I can't remember the name of it for the life of me right now, sorry!  If you want me to go look it up, let me know and I will! 

Our son gave one of these cards to his music teacher at the end of this term - she was pretty happy!  Hope you have a great long weekend! <3 JEM

July Birthdays

Happy Saturday, everyone!  Hope you are having a beautiful day today like we are!  I'm so glad it's nice out, as we're celebrating my husband's 30th birthday today with an outdoor BBQ. 

Here's the card I made for his birthday.  It feature's Stampin' Up's Number of Years stamp set, as well as Balloon Celebration.  I love how the framelits and punches made this card so easy to put together - no tedious fussy cutting required!

My husband's father shares the same birthday, and yep, another milestone year!  I kept this one simple as well, with the Number of Years set and the framelits to cut the Designer Series Paper (quite retired!).

Anyway, the reason I actually came on the computer was to make sure my phone was backed up, as it keeps dying so I have to get a new one - so I should probably get back to party preparations!  Enjoy your weekend! <3 JEM

Babymoon Christmas Cards

Hello, everyone!  Today I'm sharing the cards I made on my babymoon in May.  I thought it would be a good time to get a head start on my Christmas cards for this year - I typically choose 8-10 different designs, and then make 8 of each so it really doesn't take that long.  Some of you are probably thinking that I'm crazy to want a babymoon where I was tucked away in my craft room, but for me, that was totally the thing I needed: some creative time all alone to recharge. 

So here we go!  This first card features the stamp set Wonderland from Stampin' Up.  It reminds me of cross country skiing with my family when I was young - just the starkness of the landscape and how beautiful it is.

This card is made quite simply with washi tape and layering - nice and fast when you're assembly lining it!  It features the stamp sets Festival of Trees and White Christmas for the sentiment.

This next card features a little deer that I've always loved - Dasher from Stampin' Up.  It's been retired for a few years but I've held onto it.  The snowflakes and sentiment are from the set Endless Wishes.

And finally, for a more traditionally-colored card!  This features some lovely Designer Series Paper from either last year or the year before (yeah, I kind of have a paper hoarding problem!) - I believe the series had something to do with Nordic Noel??  The sentiment is from last year's Among the Branches.  Anyway, I'm off to start making thank you cards for the baby gifts we're receiving now!  Have a nice day! <3 JEM

Wedding Cards

Hello everyone!  I was recently asked to make some wedding cards for a friend of mine, with the specifications that they be lacy and old-fashioned.  I had some fun making these and was finally able to deliver them this weekend, as the previous two were tied up with things like childbirth and sewer backups.  You know, normal kind of things. :)

Anyway, here they are!  This first card is a variation of one I've made before, just using different colors.  It features the Butterfly Basics stamp set and framelits, and I used the retired Blackberry Bliss for the rich purple.

This next card is one that I had seen on Pinterest and adored, but had never recreated.  It uses some lovely embellishments from the previous Stampin' Up Occasions catalogue and the stamp set For The New Two.  I used Pistachio Pudding for my contrasting color, as I don't own the newer Mint Macaron.

This final card features a bunch of retired sets, actually... everything on this card is retired haha!  The bicycle is from a Sale-a-Bration set a few years back - names are escaping me at the moment.  Anyway, hope you liked these cards! <3 JEM

Pineapples!

Hey everyone!  Hope you had a lovely day today!  I just wanted to share two cards I made with Stampin' Up's new Pineapple background stamp.

This first card I believe was CASEd (Copy And Share Everything) from the very talented Allison Okimatsu (www.nicepeoplestamp.com). To create this look, you ink up your entire stamp in the yellow, and then using your sponge daubers, ink the other colors over top.  It gives it a very neat effect!

I believe this card was CASEd from Kylie Bertucci (www.craftykylie.com).  It involves stamping the image on black card stock and white with the opposite color, and then cutting the page into strips and lining it up.  Fairly simple and looks awesome!

Anyway, that's all I have time for right now, as the baby is starting to fuss!  Hope you enjoy! <3 JEM

June Stamp Camp

Happy July, everyone!  We had an early surprise with our new little one being born two weeks early, just over a day after my last stamp camp!  She was patient with me, but not patient enough to let me get my hair cut before making her appearance.  Oh well!

These are the cards we made at my June stamp camps this year.  This first card features the ever so trendy fruit of the moment, pineapple.  You can purchase this stamp from the new 2016-2017 Stampin' Up annual catalogue.  To get this slightly worn look, I used a Stampin' Write marker for the leaves(?) and didn't totally saturate the rest with the ink pad.  The Designer Series Paper is from a retired stack that I just thought happened to look like watermelon seeds and just go with the theme.

This next card was a gate fold card I saw on Pinterest by one of the Stampin' Up Artisan Design Team members.  I thought it would be something fun and different to try.  It features the Balloon Celebration stamp set that so cleverly helps you build a dandelion in seed!

This card also features the Balloon Celebration stamp set, using, obviously, the balloons.  A few of the girls at one of the parties loved antiquing the sentiment so much that they also antiqued around the outside of the card front - it looked lovely!

This is the baby card of the bunch.  It features stamps from the Made With Love stamp set.  The idea I saw on Pinterest actually made this a shaker card, but I kept it simple and just punched out the front panel to have the cute little cat on the inside of the card.

And finally, another slightly trendy thing right now is the use of mason jars on this card.  Stampin' Up has a new set that has many different sizes of mason jars and matching framelits to cut them all out for you - but I'm on a budget, so I pulled out my old set from a few years back and made do.  I also used some retired washi tape and Designer Series Paper to round things out.  Nothing like a stamp camp to bust out some of your stash!

Hope you enjoyed these cards and had a wonderful Canada Day!  We just laid low around the house - hopefully we can make it out next year... :) JEM