Thursday, July 21, 2011

I'll Fly Away - 2 Step Bird Punch Cards

Today, I am continuing my "Series" of simple cards.  These feature the 2-step Bird Punch from Stampin' Up.  I love this punch and use it all the time.  I think the fact that you can interchange the punched parts when you punch it out of different colors of cardstock or our two-sided Designer Series Paper, lends itself to an elegant composed but coordinated look.
  

 The chunky & glass glitters add just the right touch, too.
Thanks for stopping by for the easy projects!  Click here for others and the reason I am featuring easy to do cards right now. 

Thursday, July 14, 2011

We All Scream for Ice Cream ~Triple Scoop Card

Who doesn't like Ice Cream?  What's your real life favorite?  I love all things Oreo and mint.  But, my favorite time of year is the fall when Pumpkin ice creams come out.  John will sweetly drive me 30 minutes to the opposite side of town so I can get a waffle cone scoop of one of thier pumkin varieties.  I think my fave might be Pumkin Praline Cheescake.  Can you tell I am counting down until October when they arrive?!
Enough about me and my Ice Cream Obsession, now to the cards..

Yesterday I posted a quick & easy card using the new Pennant collection from Stampin' UP.  
Petite Pennants Builder Punch




The "cone" was made using the above punch and coordinating stamp set Pennant Parade 
{Doesn't it totally look like a waffle cone?}
The "ice cream" part was made using the Cupcake Punch from Stampin' Up.
Cupcake Punch

Isn't that clever?  I would love to take credit for it but I saw numerous examples from a variety of demonstrators.  It is so nice to have a community of creative people to be inspired by all the time!
Here are 2 similar cards I did, the only difference is the type of glitter I used.  
I wish I had taken a better close up for the glitter.  It didn't quite catch their glimmer and chunky factor.  Sorry about that.

You could do this for a lot of the other flavors, too.  I can totally see Mint Chocolate Chip being done.
I like this basic template for quick & easy cards, too.  Can you see the similarity?
If you can get a basic template in your head, it doesn't matter the color scheme or final decorative pop, they will be easy to create and come out pleasing to the eye.
Again, as I said in yesterday's post, these are quick & simple cards I am showing because I truly believe that at least 90% of stampers prefer these quick projects.  At least I bet my mommy friends would!
And remember, if you are going to make 1 of these cards, make 10!  It takes about the same time to cut, stamp & assemble and then you have a nice little stash!  
Thanks for stopping by today.  More simple cards to come!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Fly Your Flag! ~Pennant Flag Card Ideas

I was so excited to see the new Petite Pennants Builder Punch and Pennant Parade stamp set in the sneak peek for demonstrators!  
Petite Pennants Builder Punch

Pennant Parade Stamp Set {Available in wood mount or clear}
If you follow any party blogs, pennant flags {small or large} are hot and here to stay.
Here are a couple of cards that I came up with in a hurry using this easy coordinating products.
 
This is a very versatile set that can be used for a wide variety of occasions.  I love sets like that!
And though you could cut out the plain flags, why would you when you have this fun matching punch?
I tend to try to show more "project" type items on this blog but I realized that most people probably make cards more than anything since they are easy to accomplish.  
So they next few posts will be showing some of the simple cards I did recently for a large order of greeting cards from a sweet lady at church.  
I know there are "masterpiece" cards out there that are amazing.  But honestly, most of the gals I know are not going to spend an hour on 1 card {or hours/days on 1 project} so let's get back to the basics.
Tomorrow, I am going to show you a card using part of this punch and another to combine and make the cutest little card accent.
Hope you enjoy and see you tomorrow.  :)

Monday, July 11, 2011

Make Your Own HandCrafted Coordinating Drink Umbrellas

Who doesn't love a little flair in their drinks?  
We had a Babies & Bunco ladies night for our Sunday Connect class to celebrate the mommas that had a baby since we had started the class.  With a class for Parents of Preschoolers, we figured there were a lot of showers in our future if we did one for each momma so we decided to do a group celebration instead.  Eventually we will do this quarterly or twice a year.  Anyway, we wanted to keep the decorations gender neutral so I went with Stampin' Up's color, Crumb Cake.  I didn't have Designer Series Paper in that color so thankfully, with My Digitial Studio, I could just print out a wide variety of designs with this color.  That is the {one of many} nice things about that program because you have an endless suppply of designs & colors that can be instantly printed without the delay of purchasing and waiting.
My co-party-coordinator, Jennifer, asked if we could make umbrellas to coordinate with the Congratulations banner.  I hadn't caught that was the "new" thing but thought it was a fun idea.  Anything with paper, I am on board!  I should have known about them.  After I made them, I happen to notice one of the featured cover projects of the latest Summer Mini Catalog had them on it.  Way to go SU for being up with the trends, even if I was clueless.  ;)
I had to use my Sizzix, well, because I have one and it makes things so much quicker and easy.  I did find a nice tutorial of a gal that did them using the old plastic stencil and scissors way and it is here.
Here is my quick tutorial on them.
I punched out the largest scallop circle from Scallops Circle #2 Bigz Die then cut a slit up to the center.
I used hot glue because of the fast set up and the stiffness makes me think it is more sturdy.
I just lay the edges over each other till the edge kind of matched up. Some cut out a small triangle..either way would work I bet.
Next I used a dab of hot glue in center of the inside of the umbrella to adhere the lollipop stick.  You could also use small wood skewers {less expensive}.
Sorry it's blurry. :(
Ta-Da!
Not rocket science but fun what you can do with paper and a little glue!
I used a variety of designs with the same color which also coordinated with the banner {coming soon}
Fancy Hipsmatic pictures courtesy of Jennifer Cook.
 Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Guest post at Delicate Construction

I was a guest post on Delicate Construction

Come over and check it out when you get a chance.  
She has a lovely blog just full of inspiration.  
Definitely worth a "follow"!
As a side note, I hope you enjoy your long July 4th Weekend as much as we are hoping to!  Hoping to get much accomplished or at least have a little fun!

Stay Cool!