Shine

For my Dad's birthday, I decided to do a card that was unique.  Guess what came to mind?  SUNBURST SAYINGS.  This bundle is just too much fun and there are many, many ways to use it.  I showed you a masculine card with the SUNBURST THINLIT on Sunday where I cut the rays into a circle.  This time I'm cutting it down in a different way.

Isn't this a fun card!  I love the sentiments in this set, they are great for many occasions.

There's lots of shine going on for sure!  I heat embossed gold splotches on the white cardstock using GORGEOUS GRUNGE and the spots from SUNBURST SAYINGS.  I love the speckled look behind the gold glimmer sunburst...it really takes it to the next level!

I toned down the bling a little by using Basic Black as my accent color.  The black keeps the gold from being overwhelming...I think I reached a good balance!  I did have to add in some sequins (couldn't help it!) and embossed the envelope as well.  It all coordinates beautifully!  I wish I had taken a picture of the inside before I sent the card out, I added embossing there as well.



How about some bright and shiny news??  The NEW CATALOG PRE-ORDER has started! (A great perk to being a demonstrator!) I ordered mine yesterday and can't wait until it's delivered TOMORROW!!  Yep, I splurged on 2nd day shipping so I can get my hot little hands on the goodies ASAP!  I need to get creating right away, the May CREATE WITH CONNIE AND MARY MINI SESSION will be all about the NEW PRODUCTS!!



We are working hard to bring you lots of NEW IDEAS with NEW PRODUCTS!!!!  You'll be seeing sneak peeks very soon, we can't wait to share all these new goodies with you!  So stay tuned on how to sign up, I'll be sharing lots over the next 2 weeks.

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Masculine Birthday

Welcome to the Creation Station Blog Hop for May!  This month we are featuring MASCULINE cards and projects, so be sure to hop all the way around to see all the fabulous ideas!

I created a birthday card for you that combines several items from the Occasions catalog....the SUNBURST THINLIT, NUMBER OF YEARS and PARTY WITH CAKE.



The inspiration for this idea came directly from my husband.  It's a running joke that he is 29 and holding.....and he's said that the entire 17 years I've known him!  I can tell you he's definitely not 29, but what's the harm in letting him think he is??



I started out with Basic Gray as my card base and added lots of splotches with GORGEOUS GRUNGE.  I just love how a little grunge can give a more masculine look and feel to a card when using the right colors.  Then I layered on a couple of sunbursts that had been cut down with circle framelits.  I added a little grunge stamping to both then offset them slightly.



The die cut numbers from NUMBER OF YEARS are just too awesome and were the perfect addition to the center of the sunbursts.  I also added a couple of sentiments in the bottom right corner to complete the design.  "Let's Party" from PARTY WITH CAKE was an obvious choice, it coordinated perfectly!  Just another example of how well the different stamp sets can work together!



After the front was all grunged up, I had to do the same for the inside!  I used PARTY WITH CAKE again for the awesome sentiment and added lots of splotches.  I think Hubby is going to get a kick out of this card for sure!

Now let’s check out what the rest of the FABULOUS Creation Station Design Team has for you.  The next stop is KIMBERLY VAN DIEPEN's awesome blog.   If you’ve just started here, you can also go back to DENITA WRIGHT's wonderful blog to see her project for today.  Be sure to hop all the way around to see all the fabulous Spring inspiration!

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Man Up

Welcome to another Create with Connie and Mary Saturday Blog Hop!  This week our theme is MAN UP so we are featuring MASCULINE cards!



Masculine cards are usually harder than flowery, girly cards.  So, I did spend a little extra time pondering today's card.  I had zero, yes I said ZERO ideas.  It happens to all of us at some point.  What do you do when you need a little spark of creativity??  I usually look to the catalog to re-visit the stamps and ideas that made me love them to begin with.  For today's card, the spark I needed came from looking through the main catalog and seeing the sentiments in PERFECT PENNANTS.



"Sending Good Thoughts Your Way" made me think of the car in Beautiful Ride.  What a perfect sentiment to put with a car!  Then, I decided to change it up a little and cut out the middle and replaced it with "love".



An unusual aspect to this card is the designer paper.  This striped pattern, from the Have a Cuppa DSP Stack, was the source of my color pallet. Yep, a girly pack of paper had a pattern perfect for a masculine card, I guess you just never know!



And since I couldn't add a bunch of bling with sequins (not very masculine!) I added vellum clouds for extra texture and interest.  Ok...ready for the supplies to make your own??

SUPPLIES:

STAMPS:  Beautiful Ride, Perfect Pennants


INKS: Memento Tuxedo Black, Real Red


MARKERS:  Pool Party, Versa Mark Pen with Smokey Slate

PAPER: Whisper White, Smokey Slate, Vellum Cardstock (clouds), Have a Cuppa DSP Stack, Pool Party (stack of suitcases)


ACCESSORIES: Tree Builder Punch, Paper Snips, Stampin' Trimmer, SNAIL, dimensionals


Next, let’s check out what the rest of the Design Team has for us today. Click Previous to visit the very talented Mary Brown and Next to see the very talented Debbie Henderson.



Thanks for hopping with us, we love inspiring you!  Happy Stamping!

Botanical Blooms

Do you over think things??  And stress yourself out??  Sometimes I am guilty of that very thing when it comes to making cards.  That's one of the reasons I am so in love with the whole CLEAN AND SIMPLE card design.  Simple can be beautiful!

The first time I sat down with the BOTANICAL BLOOMS stamp set and coordinating BOTANICAL BUILDER FRAMELITS, my mind was BLANK with a capital B.  I had seen so many great ideas already that I didn't know where to go with it!  THEN I took a breath and said "keep it simple!"

Today I have a great example of simple cards made with this gorgeous bundle.  I hope it inspires you!



Just because it's a floral set doesn't mean it is completely a "girly" stamp set.  The leaves are so beautiful and can easily take center stage!



All the cards are monochromatic with Mossy Meadow ink for the sentiment and the background.  The gorgeous giant leaf on this card both makes a statement and blends in.



Once you have a design you like, USE IT!  Change things up a little but use the same basic design that works for you.  For these 3x3 cards, I simple changed the sentiments using PERFECT PAIRINGS and flipped the design elements to the other side.  A couple of simple changes, yet it gives you a new look!



SO.  Are you ready to give this stamp set a new look??  It's a very versatile set when you look at it in a new light!  Give the masculine side a try like I did!!  In fact, for the MARCH MINI SESSION from Create with Connie and Mary, I did a card set with the BOTANICAL BLOOMS Bundle that I think you'll really enjoy!  I made some beautiful girly cards and threw in a masculine one as a twist.  I also added a BONUS CARD IDEA by showing you how to change the masculine card into a feminine one with just a few additions.  ARE YOU READY TO JOIN THE FUN??  Head over to CREATE WITH CONNIE AND MARY for all the details, I hope you'll join us!



To buy the BOTANICAL BLOOMS BUNDLE and give these fun 3x3 cards a try, click on the picture below to visit my stamping store!

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Masculine Botanical Blooms

Let's take a break from Birthday Blooms today and look at a masculine version of BOTANICAL BLOOMS that I made.



Using just the leaves from the set gives a distinct masculine feel when combined with the right paper and sentiment.



I went with a sentiment from PERFECT PAIRINGS in the Sale-a-bration Catalog in Early Espresso. I paired it with neutral colors and paper from the GOING PLACES designer paper stack.  I also added in a little paper piercing since that was part of the challenge for this card for the March CREATIVE CREW on Splitcoaststampers.



For the March Mini Session from Create with Connie and Mary I also gave an idea for making a masculine card.  I made a card set with BOTANICAL BLOOMS that I think you'll really enjoy!  To find out more about subscribing to the MARCH MINI SESSION, just visit Create with Connie and Mary!

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Color Smash Masculine Card

I sat down and played a little with two techniques from last week, COLOR SMASH and COLOR RESIST.  I went with a masculine look and a simple design.



I must confess, the card I originally envisioned turned out terrible!  It happens all the time, a vision doesn't quite work in reality.  Well, that happened with this card!  I had planned on adding a butterfly over this background, but it was too busy and didn't look quite right.  So, I improvised and added a simple sentiment turning this into a fantastic masculine card!



The background has leaves embossed from Butterfly Basics then color added with the COLOR SMASH technique.  I only used two colors for the color smash, Mint Macaron and Wild Wasabi.  I added in a bolder sentiment in Mossy Meadow so it would stand out from the background.



Of course I had to add a leaf to the envelope, I love to coordinate!  I also added a nice sentiment inside with the hostess set Happy Birthday Everyone but forgot to take a pic...oops!  Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this masculine version and give these techniques a try!



Also, today the NEW MINI SESSION from Create with Connie and Mary is available and I am so excited!  For only $8.95 you get 5 step by step tutorials, 3 card sets and two 3D items!  We even have a sneak peek snippet for you and the sets featured.  For all the details visit Create with Connie and Mary....I hope you'll join us!

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