Birthday Stamps

One of my oldest friends had a birthday recently (waves to Jenny) and as always I was caught short and only remembered at the last minute.  You'd think after all these years I would be more organised *sigh*.  Anyway, I was inspired by this adorable card, especially the way she had punched the Postage Stamp out of coloured cardstock, and had to try my hand at something similar.

So one morning on my day off, after my daughter had left for school and before I started my chores for the day, I whipped this up.

As you can see, I've used a stamp from the Sale-A-Bration set Fresh Vintage (available FREE until the end of March with a purchase of $100 - contact me for more details) which coordinates beautifully with the 1" Square Punch from the Summer Mini (and of course the Postage Stamp punch, also in the Summer Mini).

And from start to finish, this took me around half an hour to make.  I have to admit to being quite proud of myself when I was done :-)

And look!  It's that framelit again (from my last post).  This time you can see it a little better;  in fact I sponged the edges just so it would stand out a little more.  The funny thing is I had stuck the card together then looked across the table and realised the Crumb Cake piece - my crowning glory, that was going to bring the whole thing together - was sitting there all by its lonesome.  Fortunately the "stamps" are stuck to the red border, not the layer underneath, and I managed to slide the finishing touch in *phew*.

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamps: Fresh Vintage
Ink: Basic Black, Crumb Cake
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler
Other: Lace Ribbon Border Punch, 1" Square Punch, Postage Stamp punch, Labels Collection Framelits Dies, Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die, Elegant Bouquet Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Faux Postage

I haven't had nearly as much time as I would have liked over summer to play with the new punches from the Summer Mini, the 1" Square and the Postage Stamp.  So I was pretty happy with myself when I came up with this the other week:

The 1" punch makes the whole "faux postage" thing a breeze ... stamp an image (or even use patterned paper!), punch out the bits you like and there you have it!  Here I have stamped the gorgeous En Francais, punched out little squares, then overstamped with images from Creative Elements.  I sponged the edges of each square before putting them together with the postage stamp shapes.

And how about that border?  Recognise it?  It's the Lace Ribbon Border punch, well, half of it at any rate - doesn't it make a great edge?

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Stamps: En Francais, Creative Elements
 Ink: Basic Gray, Pool Party, Crumb Cake
Cardstock: Pool Party, Island Indigo, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Other: Lace Ribbon Border punch, 1" Square Punch, Postage Stamp punch, Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Stampin' Dimensionals

My new obsession

... and it's not stamping!  Well, it is stamping related, kind of ...

A friend told me about Pinterest, I took a look and now I can't stop browsing!  It's a site where you can store pictures of things that you love - like a giant pinboard.  In the past, I have bookmarked pictures of things to look back on later, but trawling through all those bookmarks is hard work *phew* - so much easier to have all the pictures right in front of you!  Less clicking = more time to look!

So why is this relevant?  Well, I have been pinning pictures of cards I liked, whether it was a colour scheme, a layout, an interesting way of using something, and was inspired to make this the other night:

 

Here's the original  - isn't it gorgeous?  And such an effective use of the Lace Ribbon Border Punch.

I've made the cute scrunched flowers before, but this one was made by spritzing the punched scallops of cardstock with water, as per the very entertaining tutorial here (I have to admit I laughed a little while reading this one!).

Here's a closeup of the strip of cardstock and the flower - I really like how this came out, and was surprised at how "solid" the flower became once it was dry!  You can also see the flecks of Shimmer Paint (in Champagne Mist) I used to spritz the base and flower for a little sparkle.

And just because I love the flower, here's another closeup.

Images © 1990-2012 Stampin' Up!®

Supplies used:
Cardstock: River Rock, Very Vanilla
Other: Lace Ribbon Border Punch, 1-3/4" Scallop Circle Punch, Basic Pearls, Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint