Celebrating You – Freshly Made Sketches 198

by Shannon Jaramillo // August 8, 2015 // 10 Comments

Hello Friends!!

I’ve been on break for just about a month now but my hubby’s back in school so I’ve dusted off my crafting supplies and put them to use!!

I came across the Pretty Petals Designer Series Paper Stack by Stampin’ Up! and was immediately drawn to the delightfully bright colors! I managed to use three different patterns here (!) and used Calypso Coral as my focal color.

I had such fun stamping with this set from Clearly Besotted Stamps called Celebrating You. There are separate stamps for each of the flowers as well as the flower centers. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy they were to stamp!

Matching die cuts are available which make adding pretty details easy. Isn’t the bow and ribbon adorable?? One simple button is the final touch to this creation, the first in quite awhile!

Enabling Alert…The Precision Base Plate by Sizzix made die cutting this VERY delicate die easy. It’s meant to be used with the Magnetic Base Plate and if you use intricate dies, this is a must have tool!

I didn’t want to stop there so I flipped the card open and kept going…

Too Fun!!

I want to thank the design team over at Freshly Made Sketches for providing inspiration week after week. This week’s sketch is darling…

Thank you all for your kind comments while I’ve been on break, it’s so good to know that sharing my joy with this craft is making a small difference in the world…

Wishing you joy and blessings!

Products Used:

Cardstock: Vintage Cream by Papertrey Ink; Basic Black and Calypso Coral by Stampin’ Up!

Pattern Paper: Pretty Petals by Stampin’ Up!

Ink: Tuxedo Black by Memento; Calypso Coral by Stampin’ Up!

Stamps: Celebrating You by Clearly Besotted Stamps

Dies: Celebrating You by Clearly Besotted Stamps, Pierced Rectangle STAX by MFT Stamps, Envelope Liner Die by Stampin’ Up!

Tools: Sizzix Precision Base Plate; MISTI

Embellishments: Designer Buttons by Stampin’ Up!

A Dino-mite Birthday – The Paper Players 249

by Shannon Jaramillo // June 14, 2015 // 15 Comments

Hello there my stamping friends!! It’s time for another Sunday challenge from The Paper Players! This week Sandy has given us a fun color combination!!

I fussed a bit with this combination. First I tried flowers. Nope. Then I tried a nautical theme. Nope. Both good options if you want to use them yourselves, but they just weren’t working for me. Then I inadvertently put Real Red next to Island Indigo and thought “little boy birthday colors!!!” And whamo! my whole card popped into my head.

Do you like it???? I L-O-V-E it!!! More than anything in a long time…these colors are just perfect for this sweet little dinosaur!! He looks like he could be up to a bit of mischief!! Do you see the paper I used for the envelope liner? I am OUT of coordinating DSP stack papers in Real Red and Island Indigo and my new papers haven’t arrived, so I went digging through my stash and would you believe I found this perfect paper in a Christmas themed pack!! Who knew!!

I stamped with red along the side and then cut a layer to fit over top. I used my dual-stitched oval dies to add the opening and then stamped, die-cut, and popped the dinosaur up with Stampin’ Dimensionals. I embossed the ‘dino-mite’ sentiment with white embossing powder. There are a few strays, sorry about that, my Embossing Buddy is nowhere to be found!! Personally, I think it’s hiding from me because I usually have a few negative comments about it every time I use it (I HATE the feel of the powder) but I have instituted a full on search…it can’t hide for long!! lol

The layout was inspired by the current sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches…they always have such fun designs! Now let’s see if I can remember to link up! (I forgot last week, so sad)

And a close up of this little guy…so adorable!! And the sprinkles add just the perfect touch of Pool Party!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my project today, feel free to leave some love or tips on where my Embossing Buddy may have hidden, and make sure to see the awesome inspiration from the rest of the design team!!

The Paper Players Design Team

Wishing you joy and blessings!

Products Used:

Cardstock: Stamper’s Select White by Papertrey Ink

Pattern Paper: Cozy by Authentique

Ink: Real Red, Versamark

Stamps: Dino-mite and Diagonal Stripes by Clearly Besotted

Dies: Stitched Mats: Ovals by Lil ‘Inkers and Envelope Liner Die by Stampin’ Up!

Tools: White Embossing Powder and Heat Tool by Stampin’ Up!

Embellishments: Swimming Pool Assortment Sprinkles by Doodlebug Designs

Thanks for Teacher – The Card Concept 36

by Shannon Jaramillo // May 27, 2015 // 8 Comments

Happy Hump Day!! Do you have as much trouble as I do getting out of bed? Ugh. For me, this is the WORST day of the week for wanting to just pull the covers back over my head! But now…I have something to look forward to so who knows, it may become one of my favorite days of the week now! It could happen! lol

I’m excited to share that I have joined the design team over at The Card Concept. It’s a challenge blog with a fun twist! Each challenge showcases different design styles and provides examples of each style and then challenges you to make a card within the parameters of one of the styles! How fun! I rarely design that way, I just make whatever happens to float my boat that day! This is going to be a FUN challenge!

Here is the design concept photo this week:

Isn’t it yummy?? What about this photo inspires you most? I barely even noticed the fact that they were cupcakes and to go with a birthday theme, or to pull out the gray in the counter top. All I saw were the bright, graphic lines of the straws and cupcake liners. Which is probably not a coincidence, as I am a designer for the Clean and Graphic design! Please click on the link for a description of the styles.

I know I’ve blathered on quite a bit…so here’s the card I was inspired to create:

Isn’t this pattern stamp amazing?? And the MISTI makes it so easy to line it up and create a repeat. The stamp set also has lots of options to fill the design with, I chose a bold pattern, but used it only only the smaller sections of the pattern, I wanted to leave lots of white space.

I then accented it with an adorable little apple and fun sentiment. This card is a wonderful thank you to that teacher who always puts out that extra effort! And guess why I chose the ink color??? It’s a bit different than the inspiration photo, but I couldn’t resist it as it is called GREEN APPLE!!!! Hahahahahaha, I’m falling all over myself at how cute that is 🙂

So…did I fulfill the definition of Clean and Graphic? Let’s see…

clean lines (check)
simple treatment of text (check)
no frills (does this mean no Wink of Stella???)
bare boned (I think so?)
message is communicated quickly (check)

Please feel free to tell me how you think I did with the style guidelines…and I hope you think this is fun too and decide to play along! Please do hop over and see the lovely cards by the rest of The Card Concept‘s design team and let me know which style you think matches you the best! Or, trying stepping out of your box and try a different design style! It’s all up to you!! Have fun!

Wishing you joy and blessings!

Products Used:

Cardstock: Stamper’s Select White by Papertrey Ink

Pattern Paper: Joyous by Authentique (for envelope)

Ink: Green Apple by Simon Says Stamp and Tuxedo Black by Memento Ink

Stamps: An Apple A Day & Teacher’s Pet by Clearly Besotted Stamps; Quilt Prints by Wplus9

Dies: Apple Die by Clearly Besotted Stamps and Envelope Liner Die by Stampin’ Up!

Tools: MISTI by My Sweet Petunia

Embellishments: None

Cheerful Daisies – The Paper Players 242

by Shannon Jaramillo // April 26, 2015 // 10 Comments

Hello and welcome to a new challenge from The Paper Players! This one is from Ann…

Great sketch, Ann! I can’t wait to see what you all do with it! Here’s a bit of inspiration to get you going this morning…

Aren’t those daises delightful? And the perfect size for my stitched oval die! I picked a few coordinating papers for my background and then colored my daises to compliment. I recently invested in a few Copic Markers and this card is my first attempt to use them! I know I have a lot to learn, but it sure was fun to color!!

I didn’t have two colors of yellow close enough to blend well, so I just added a second layer of color, keeping it away from the edges. I think it looks great, and a liberal dose of Wink of Stella doesn’t hurt either!! It’s nice that you can just see a bit of it in this photo.

The sentiment is from Clearly Besotted Stamps. I chose it because I felt that the dainty font complimented the dainty flowers well. A few Marshmallow sequins from Pretty Pink Posh are the perfect jewelry!

Please stop by to see the designs from the design team…they are beautiful!!

The Paper Players Design Team

Wishing you joy and blessings!

Products Used:

Cardstock: Rustic White by Papertrey Ink

Pattern Paper: Lost & Found: Sunshine by My Mind’s Eye

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Stamps: Daisies by Rubbernecker; Many Messages by Clearly Besotted Stamps

Dies: Stitched Mats: Ovals by Lil ‘Inker; Femme Frames by Mama Elephant; and Envelope Liner Die by Stampin’ Up!

Tools: MISTI by My Sweet Petunia (for the sentiment)

Embellishments: 4 mm Marshmallow Sequins by Pretty Pink Posh; Wink of Stella

Other: Copic Markers: BG11, BG15, BV00, E000, G24, R20, YG03, YR23

A Basket Full of Get Well Wishes – The Paper Players #231

by Shannon Jaramillo // February 8, 2015 // 14 Comments

Welcome to a new challenge from the talented crew at The Paper Players! Last week’s cards were so exciting and cute! This week, the theme is a color challenge from Nance:

This color combination is wayyyyy outside of my comfort zone, but then I saw the beautiful inspiration photo and I had hope for me 🙂 The colors are a bit scary for me, but the flowers, no problemo!! Which is funny because I raised two boys so I NEVER had flowers in my scrapbooks, maybe that’s why I like them so much now!!

And here is what the photo inspired me to create!

I woke up with the basic design in my head, I just needed to narrow down the details so I popped over to Pinterest and found this sketch. Inspiration doesn’t have to be current!

Believe it or not, this black and white polka dot paper is a scrap left over from this card, a Christmas card! Who would have thought? Anyway, the scrap was perfect for today’s project! It has a soft white in it so I paired it up with Rustic White card stock from Papertrey. It’s fast becoming a favorite of mine, all those lovely little specks and the softness of the color…yum!!

I want to show off my flowers a bit. Do you like them? I LOVE them because I colored them!! This may not seem like a big deal to some, but my hands shake and I have nerve damage in my thumbs that means at any time they can do something they are NOT supposed to do. But the Color Lifter Blendability Pen is a life saver, now that I know how to use it! I thought that it erased the color and was pretty mad when it didn’t do that. After watching a video, it turns out that it pushes the color, so I just pushed the ‘oopsies’ back into the flower and voila! Magic!! lol

I used my Calypso Coral Blendabilities for the flower petals, Daffodil Delight Blendabilities for the flower centers and Wild Wasbi Blendabilities for the leaves. And I had tons of fun coloring, so you may see more of it in the future!

I used lots of tools on this card such as the MFT Pierced Traditional Tags STAX, new to me and fast becoming a favorite; the Angled Tag Topper Punch from Stampin’ Up! (I know you can’t see the angled top on the Calypso Coral tag, but it’s there); and the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, also Stampin’ Up!, for the bit of Real Red peeking out on the right side of the tag. I love that you can use just the scalloped outside of that border punch to add a bit of detail!

Did you see the itty bitty pearl on the bow? SO cute!! And though it’s hard to see, my flower petals have been liberally coated with Wink of Stella so they sparkle so prettily!

Oh! And the inside!

Some fun color to border a sweet sentiment from Papertrey Ink 🙂

I had so much fun making this card…thank you for letting me share it with you and I truly hope you will visit the other very talented designers to see what they have created to inspire you this week!!

The Paper Players Design Team

Wishing you joy and blessings!

Products Used:

Cardstock: Rustic White by Papertrey Ink; Calypso Coral, Real Red, Basic Black by Stampin’ Up!

Pattern Paper: Peace Joy Love by Lawn Fawn

Ink: Calypso Coral, Real Red by Stampin’ Up!; Tuxedo Black by Memento

Stamps: A Basket Full & Say It in Style by Clearly Besotted Stamps; Inside & Out: Healing Touch by Papertrey Ink

Dies: A Basket Full by Clearly Besotted Stamps; Pierced Traditional Tags by My Favorite Things and Envelope Liner Die by Stampin’ Up!

Tools: MISTI by My Sweet Petunia; Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight & Wild Wasabi Blendabilities by Stampin’ Up!; Angled Tag Topper Punch by Stampin’ Up!

Embellishments: Pearl Basic Jewels and Real Red Ribbon (retired) by Stampin’ Up!; Wink of Stella