Party Purse

I tell you, this purse is just the cutest thing! Our second challenge at the Inklings Cyberstamp was to make one of these purses, using a template from the demo side of the Stampin' Up! website. Being late with the challenges as it was I went the simple route and printed the template on DSP so I didn't need to spend a lot more time decorating it. The paper I chose was one of the Almost Amethyst sheets from the Tea Party pack. I knew I wanted to use my favourite colour combination again (Lavender Lace, Almost Amethyst and Baja Breeze), but decided that the other two colours would be accents. Initially I wasn't going to have a second layer on the flap, but I massacred the curved slit for the closure and wanted to cover it up... I also thought it needed to be a bit sturdier with the button and brad on there too. For this second flap I just traced it out on Almost Amethyst cardstock and cut it out, stamped it and stuck it on. To get the rhinestone brad on the flower I simply pushed the prongs through one of the holes in the button. Why I put them both through the one hole I can't recall right now... but I then decided that the prongs would interfere with the purse closure if I put them through the flap, so I trimmed one with wire cutters (otherwise it would have been visible out the side or the button) and simply attached it with a mini glue dot.

The other special feature of the purse is the handle. It is Whisper White taffeta ribbon that I died with my Lavender Lace marker. I have had a little trouble with the colour running a little bit from the ribbon onto the finished card even though it seemed dry, so to play it extremely safe this ribbon has been sitting out for a couple of months to dry - to make absolutely sure!

All supplies by Stampin' Up!
Cardstock: Almost Amethyst
Stamp Set: Embrace Life
Inks: Whisper White
Accessories: Tea Party DSP, Button Bouquet buttons, Ice Circle Rhinestone brads, Flower Fusion II, Trio Flower punch, Planter Box Rub-Ons, Whisper White taffeta ribbon, Lavender Lace marker, mini glue dots

Embrace Brights

Today I have a card for you! This is the card I made for a recent Inklings swap... Are you sick of this stamp set yet? I hope not, because I think you are going to see a lot of it! Most of the card is pretty straight forward, but I did want to explain how I did the flower (though I probably should have taken a side-on shot to show it better). Firstly, I stamped the flower on Confetti White cardstock using StazOn. I then swiped my clean aquapainter over the flower to moisten the cardstock. Using my aquapainter I picked up colour from the lid of my Orchid pad and coloured the flower in - starting in the middle and working my way out. Once I was happy with the overall colour I let it dry out a bit before coming back and adding more colour to the center. Once it was dry I cut it out and yet again wet the surface with a clean aquapainter. This wasn't to blend the colour more, but so I could shape the petals (I curled them around my paper piercer). Once this was dry I added the Dazzling Diamonds glitter with my 2-way glue pen. To mount the flower I used a mini glue dot in the center and pop-up glue dots under the petals to help them keep their shape.

All supplies by Stampin' Up!
Cardstock: Orchid Opulence, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Confetti White
Stamp Set: Embrace Life
Inks: StazOn Jet Black; Orchid Opulence for watercolouring
Accessories: Scallop Edge punch, Word Window punch, Tempting Turquoise grosgrain, mini glue dots, pop-up glue dots, dimensionals

Embrace Frames

Still playing with Embrace Life... in fact it's exactly the same stamps as I used on yesterdays card. On the previous Embrace Life card I coloured the flowers with the white gel pen to get a very full and stack white. On todays card I used a blender pen to colour the flowers with Whisper White craft ink so I could vary the intensity.

This morning I have uploaded another card to the Elite Challenges blog, this time using the Eastern Blooms set. If you note my comment about the Soft Sky marker, I'll have more about that tomorrow.

All supplies by Stampin' Up!
Cardstock: Purely Pomegranate, Basic Black, Pale Plum, Whisper White
Stamp Sets: Frames With a Flourish, Embrace Life
Inks: StazOn Jet Black; Whisper White for colouring
Accessories: blender pen, Purely Pomegranate "marker" (blender pen + refill), Sherbet Ribbon Originals, dimensionals

Embrace Scallops

This card features another new set from the Summer Mini - Embrace Life. The scallop rectangle is not another new punch, I simply used the Scallop Edge punch to create that... with one punch you can make scallop squares and rectangles in a heap of different sizes! I love me some versatile products As for the rest of the card, I went back to a neglected colour for this one - Cameo Coral, which has had to make room for Groovy Guava this year. I know Cameo Coral doesn't have a wide fan base, but I really like it so it was about time it came out to play again.

I also wanted to mention I uploaded a card to the Elite Challenges blog yesterday. I used the new Ocean Commotion set for it, which I totally love... seahorses and swirly seaword - what's not to love?

All supplies by Stampin' Up!
Cardstock: Cameo Coral, Blush Blossom, Whisper White
Stamp Sets: Embrace Life, Frames With A Flourish
Inks: Whisper White, StazOn Jet Black
Accessories: scallop edge punch, white gel pen, Cameo Coral marker, dimensionals