A Mother's Day Card!

Sorry I've been MIA! Lots of stuff going on! Work has been hectic at the Walk-In-Clinic...does that say it all? Just got over some stomachy thing...yeah, fun times! I haven't grown a pig snout yet, so don't worry! Nuff said!

On with the show! Well, I managed to slam out a few projects, thanks to all the wonderful challenges by the Vintage Plum Girls! You guys are awesome! I was able to spend a block of time on sunday May 3rd croppin' the day away at the VP Crop for National Scrapbooking Day (well, day after technically). Anyway, I will be sharing my creations within the next couple of weeks!

For Mother's Day, I created a card to give my wonderful mother! Shhhh, don't tell! This was a fun one!

This challenge was for Beth's "Wild Kingdom" challenge where you use an animal in your creation. As you can see, my card wasn't that wild at all.....pretty peaceful if you ask me! But I love the way the card turned out! What's cool is that you could use it for different occasions! I just stamped a "Happy Mother's Day" greeting inside and ta-dah...a Mother's Day Card!

Make a bunch of these and keep it next to a greeting stamp set, envelopes and a black ink pad. Then, all you have to do is stamp your sentiment and there you are!

How cute is that?

I'm lovin' the ribbon "grass". This card is great for Spring and Summertime giving!

What did I use to make this, you ask????

Here's a list:

Stamps

Best Wishes and More (Item # 111602)

Ink

Basic Black Classic Stampin' Pad

Signo White Gel Pen

Paper/Card Stoc

Kraft

Ballet Blue

Baja Breeze

Accessories

Big Shot by Sizzix

Bigz Top Note

Birds & Blooms: Large Flower, Scallop Circles, and Bird

Old Olive Ribbon

Stampin' Dimensionals

Twine

Stapler

Yellow button brad by Making Memories

Below is a photo of the stamp set I used! This set is pretty handy! Look! It covers the seasons! You even have a heart! It's very versatile and a good buy! (I got it free when I attended the Stampin' Up! Regionals in Seattle!) I've used it LOTS since I got it!

Don't have it? Want it? I can help! You can purchase from me 24/7 from my Stampin' Up! website (maureenkao.stampinup.net)! And they can ship directly to YOU! If you already have a Demonstrator, though, please order from them :) Sorry, United States orders only!

*I did some faux stitching around the edges of the Top Note piece with my Signo Gel Pen (really, you gotta get one).

*I used the gathered ribbon technique to form "grass". Haven't tried this technique yet? It's fun! I learned it from Kristina Werner! Want to see it? I pasted it to an old post, so CLICK HERE and scroll down to find the video.

*I love this set because I don't have to worry about stamping the sentiment on straight!!! I didn't have that nervous feeling, cuz you know it's not meant to be straight!!! No pressure!

Just for fun, I thought I'd mention that the stamp set has a COORDINATING kit! It's the Petal Party Simply Scrappin Kit (Item # 113059). I sooooo want this!

Okay! So, go ahead Make that Mother's Day card TODAY!

Don't have a Big Shot but still want this card? Give me a few days, I'm going to put some up on my Etsy Shop (MoMoStamper): momostamper.etsy.com! Got any ideas for Etsy Shop items? Just ask...and maybe you shall receive! I would love to hear your comments!

Bear with me....I hope to post over the weekend but I have some custom invitations I'm making for a client! This is my first endeavor in custom cardmaking!

I hope to have inspired!

For all the mom's out there, you guys ROCK! From the bottom of my heart,
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

P.S. Enter my BLOGOVERSARY GIVEWAY (the post before this one...or click on the photo on the top right hand corner of the blog for info!) GOOD LUCK!

HaraJuku Lovers Perfume......LOVE......and a card!

Okay, so I'm a perfume FREAK....meaning, when I go to the store and wander into the perfume section.....and smell a new fragrance....then FALL IN LOVE with it......it's all over! So, I try to stay away and only wander there....when I have money to spend. Now, in the last few years I have done much better....but that's because I have 2 kids now and lots more responsibilites. The funny thing is, since I've been married (going on 7 years), I really haven't bought a bottle of perfume.....but I wear perfume just about every day. AND I still have at least 3 or 4 full bottles of some sort of perfume I haven't started using yet......yes, I have THAT MANY BOTTLES. I took a Macy's gift certificate I had (been sitting in my wallet for nearly 1 year) and excitedly floated through the pefume section. If I had a stop clock to see how long it took me to gravitate towards this bottle......it had to be less than 1 minute!
This bottle is called "Love"....and it comes from a line called HaraJuku Lovers by Gwen Stefani. (Check out the cool website link.....and the super cute video). This specific sent is said to be a "sensuous floral". There are five different scents....(what a great strategy to get you to buy!)! Anyway, the bottles resemble Gwen Stefani and her HaraJuku girls. The website talks about the different fragrances....check it out. It's like collection of little dolls!!!!!! What is HaraJuku? It's the name of the fashion or style.....from Harajuku, Japan. Very cool, VERY different.....and CUTE CUTE CUTE!

So what is the whole point of this?????? I just wanted to say that my adorable bottle of perfume inspired a card creation that I wanted to share!!!!!! Not my usual cardmaking style....which was great! It's hard for me to get out of my crafting comfort zone and doing something different. It was so much fun!

I knew I HAD to bring in the laces from the shoes.....and of course the pink hearts! I didn't have any of the light blue cardstock.....:C so I used the gray instead. I placed 6 black eyelets so I could lace the thin red ribbon through it. I then had to place Stampin' Dimensionals behind it (foam) because I couldn't just glue it down (the eyelets made it impossible for the black cardstock to lay flat...so I popped it up). I wanted stripes in there somewhere, so I had to cut 1/4" strips of gray cardstock and glue it onto the blue cardstock.

I used the Love You Much stamp set once again......colored the heart red and cut it out so I could place some foam behind it and place it on top of the same stamped image. I also punched out a scallop circle and glued it to the back of the image so that it would show through the holes (see below). I added more foam to the back and popped up the whole scallop circle!


I stamped the hearts with Versamark then added white opaque embossing powder and heated it up to get the embossed effect. I then took my coordinating heart punch and punched the hearts out. I couldn't stop using the Stampin' Dimensionals....so these hearts are popped up too!

Here is my cute little HaraJuku girl next to my fun card! I think I will be on the prowl for new perfume bottles to inspire my cardmaking! I'm on a mission! I would LOVE to see other creations inspired by this post!!!!! Just email me or leave a comment with a link to your post/photo!!!!!

November Project of the Month: Super Quick Cards

I got this "quick card" idea when I attended a Stampin' Up! event last year. One of the great things about being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator is being able to attend these events and swap cards with everyone! You leave with such inspiration and excitement!. But I have to apologize because I do not remember who I learned this technique from. It was one of the demonstrator booths at the event (when I do find out, I will post her name).
Supply List

Supplies Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Stamp Sets:

Wanted 109395

Pocket Silhouettes 111672
Boho Backgrounds 111072
Upsy Daisy 111710

Cardstock:

Whisper White 100730

Ink:

Versamark Pad 102283

Accessories:

Sponge Daubers 102892

On Board Essentials 112085

Non-Smear Pastels by The Stencil Collection
*Stampin' Pastels 105542 blend better!

I knew I wanted to make some card packs to give to my friends last year and so I made these cards! It went pretty quick. I think it only took me a couple of hours to make about 80 cards!

I think Birthday and Thank You cards are most popular.

The best way to go about it is to decide how many cards you want in a pack. I think 3 are sufficient to give in a package. Design 3 cards which are simple. It is best to choose solid images which will pick up the color of the chalk.

You stamp your image with a watermark ink or Versamark Pad, then take a sponge dauber and chalk/pastels to rub the color on. The chalk sticks to the Versamark ink!

The stamp image I used here is in between an outlined image and solid image. It worked out well. But when you compare this to the other card with the horse, I actually like the horse image better because it is more solid.

As you can see on the video, I use a chipboard frame to "frame" the image. You could also use the left over negative space from your chipboard packs to use as stencils! Or, you could just not use a stencil and just rub the chalk on (as I did with the next card with the horse)....the effect is still very nice! I did this with the sentiment "friend to friend". I just took my chalk and rubbed it on in a circular motion over the words.

Here you see the horse card which I am so very fond of. I didn't use any stencils for the second card.....just rubbed on the chalk.



Here's a closer look the the horse image. I think the dark and bright colors look very nice against the white cardstock!

Chalk is very forgiving......it doesn't take a lot of know how to use it....you just rub it on!
I think I'll be giving these away again this year :)

I packaged them in medium sized cellophane bags 102757 with the envelopes and tied them with ribbon. You could also use raffia. You could choose to not use a cellophane bag and just tie ribbon around the 3 cards and envelops and it looks just as nice!

Stamp something inside if you wish. You can use dye ink or the same technique with Versamark ink and chalk.

People have told me how these cards have come in handy!

They're very inexpensive to make too!

Thanks for coming by my blog!

Happy Thanksgiving
and
Happy Stamping!
below is the YouTube video on this card

Here are some recommendations of Holiday Stamp Sets fthat would work well for this project:
1) Spotlight on Christmas 111694 p. 33 IBC (Idea Book & Catalog)
2) Season of Joy 110384 p. 34 IBC
3) Holiday Trinkets 111650 p. 35 IBC
4) Two Cool Dudes 111708 p. 41 IBC
5) A Holly, Jolly Christmas 111558 p. 41
6) Shalom Sayings 111686 p. 44 IBC
7) Happy Kwanzaa 111640 p. 45 IBC
8) Best Wishes & More 111602 p. 55 IBC
9) Season of Simple Grace 111778 p. 16 HMC (Holiday Mini Catalog)
Click on the catalogs below to download them!




2008/2009 IDEA BOOK AND CATALOG (IBC)











HOLIDAY MINI CATALOG (HMC)