Hello!

It's been a busy week...I keep wondering where the time is going so quickly. 

Last Friday was the debut of the 2012-2013 Idea Book & Catalog.  I am so excited about all the great new stuff in this catalog!  Here's a card I made for my SASS Stamp Club members to thank them for their orders in May. 

(click on card to see larger image)

This card features the new In Colors (from left to right):  Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, Raspberry Ripple, and Primrose Petals.  I made the curve at the bottom of each color cardstock by inserting the end of the cardstock into the punch window of a 1" circle punch.  All of the cardstock pieces started out at 3/4" x 4 1/4".  The graduated cuts for the card front begin at 2 3/4" for the Summer Starfruit piece and increase by 1/4" for each successive piece of cardstock with the Primrose Petals piece at 3 3/4".

The sentiment comes from the Layered Labels stamp set.  The "For You" image was stamped on a piece of Whisper White cardstock using Gumball Green ink.  I really love the new firm foam ink pads.  The ink coverage is just awesome!  The label was die cut with the Big Shot using the corresponding die from the Apothecary Accents Framelits.  The "For You" image was stamped a second time using Midnight Muse ink.  The "For You" part of the image was punched out using the Large Oval punch and adhered to the die cut label using Stampin' Dimensionals.  The label was adhered to the card front using Stampin' Dimensionals.  A 3 mm Basic Rhinestone was placed on each side of the "For You".

The cardstock pieces that were cut off to create the graduated pieces for the card front were adhered to the Whisper White liner placed at the inside sentiment area of the card.

(click on card to see larger image)

The "For You" image was stamped on the Medium Whisper White Envelope flap using Gumball Green ink.

(click on envelope to see larger image)

One of the events I attended last weekend was a graduation party for my nephew, Casey.  He graduated from Fort Pierce Central High School and was one of the top 10 students in his class.  Needless to say, my brother and sister-in-law are very proud of his accomplishments!  I did not take a picture of his card; however, I made his card (in his school colors of Eggplant and Gold) just like the card shown below--one of the cards I was commissioned to make for my husband's sister-in-law to give to her grandson.

(click on card to see larger image)

I first saw this card on Heidi Baks' blog, Running With Scissors Stamper.  I really liked the simplicity of the design and the clean lines of the card folds.  You can find a very nice tutorial by Sandy Hulsart for creating the fold for this card at Splitcoast Stampers. 

This card begins with a piece of Whisper White cardstock for the card base.  I created the score lines, made the cuts, and then began cutting cardstock for the color layers.  The bottom of the card is layered with Cherry Cobbler, Brushed Gold, and Whisper White cardstocks.  The diamond was folded closed and a light pencil line was made along the edges of the diamond fold where it rests atop the bottom.  On the left side a piece of Whisper White cardstock was edged with a Krylon Gold Leaf pen, rolled up, and tied off with a piece of Basic Black 1/8" Taffeta ribbon.  The diploma was adhered with a Mini Glue Dot.  On the right side, the "congratulations" sentiment, from the Delightful Dozen stamp set, was stamped with Cherry Cobbler ink.  Once the ink dried, the pencil marks were erased.

At the top of the card, on the diamond shape, layers of Cherry Cobbler, Brushed Gold, and Basic Black cardstock were adhered together and a Basic Black Glimmer brad inserted at the center.  A tassel created from embroidery floss was snugged under the brad.

When you pull on the mortar board (diamond shape), the card opens up to reveal a sentiment from the Word Play stamp set.

(click on card to see larger image)

The sentiment was stamped on Whisper White cardstock using Cherry Cobbler ink and matted with a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock.  I used the sentiment "Go Confidently in the Direction of Your Dreams" for my nephew's graduation card.

The envelope was made using a piece of Cherry Cobbler paper from the Regals Designer Series Paper Pack and the Simply Scored Scoring Tool with the Simply Scored Diagonal Plate.  I cut the Designer Series Paper to 8 1/2" square and made a diagonal score at 4" on each side of the paper.  Then I clipped the paper triangles between the score line overlaps along the edge of the paper and folded three of the sides to the center.  I placed a thin line of Tombow Multi Adhesive along the inside edge of the fold that comes up from the bottom of the envelope and pressed the paper in place. 

(click on envelope to see larger image)

On the front of the envelope I placed a piece of Whisper White cardstock printed with the tossed mortar board image from the Go Graduate Plus Digital download for My Digital Studio and die cut with the Labels Collection Framelits.  I colored the digital line image with a Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Write Marker and a SuperNova Gold Galaxy Marker.  A piece of Brushed Gold cardstock was die cut with the next larger size of Labels Collection Framelits.

I'm working on projects for the June meeting of the SASS Stamp Club this weekend (June 10th).  In addition, there's a Stampin' Addicts New Catalog Blog Hop the following weekend, June 15-17, where I'll be featuring projects using the Layered Labels stamp set.  I can't wait to see what I come up with!

I'll be back soon with the final card my husband's sister-in-law commissioned me to make.  This one's for a baby shower with a "girly safari" theme.  It turned out pretty darn cute!

For You Card
Stamps:  Layered Labels; Inks:  Gumball Green, Midnight Muse; Cardstock:  Basic Black, Gumball Green, Midnight Muse, Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple, Summer Starfruit, Whisper White; Embellishments:  Basic Rhinestones Jewels; Adhesives:  SNAIL, Stampin' Dimensionals; Tools:  Paper Cutter, Bone Folder, Paper Snips, Large Oval punch, 1" circle punch, Big Shot w/Standard Cutting Pads, Multi-Purpose Platform, Apothecary Accents Framelits; Other:  Medium Whisper White Envelope

Graduation Card
Stamps:  Delightful Dozen, Word Play; Inks:  Cherry Cobbler; Stampin' Write Marker:  Cherry Cobbler; Cardstock:  Basic Black, Brushed Gold, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White; Designer Series Paper:  Regals Pack; Embellishments:  Basic Black 1/8" Taffeta ribbon, Basics Glimmer Brads; Adhesives:  SNAIL, Mini Glue Dots, Tombow Multi Adhesive; Tools:  My Digital Studio using Go Graduate Plus Digital download, Paper Cutter, Simply Scored Scoring Tool, Simply Scored Diagonal Plate, Paper Snips, Bone Folder, Paper Piercing Tool, Mat Pack, Big Shot w/Standard Cutting Plates, Multi-Purpose Platform, Labels Collection Framelits; Non-Stampin' Up!:  Krylon Gold Leaf Pen, SuperNova Gold Galaxy Marker, DMC Embroidery Floss (#782), HP Photosmart C6280 All-in-One printer