Color Throw Down and a Sketch!

Good Morning Stampers! Thanks for stopping by!
Today's card is another two in one-you know how I like to multi-task! I combined this week's Color Throw Down using Certainly Celery, Baja Breeze and Ridinghood Red with Kerrin's sketch at Stamps, Paper, Glitter

I started with my typical WW cardstock base, added a panel of Candy Lane DSP matted with some Certainly Celery cardstock and then added the panel of Urban Garden DSP also matted with Certainly Celery. I added some White Taffeta Ribbon and stamped my sentiment from the Great Friend set in Basic Black. I stamped my butterflies in Baja Breeze and Ridinghood Red and the leaf image in Certainly Celery and popped up the Ridinghood Red butterfly with a piece of Dimensional
.

Ingredients:
Stamps: Great Friend Paper: Urban Garden DSP, Candy Lane DSP, Certainly Celery, WW Ink: Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery, Basic Black, Ridinghood Red Accessories: Scissors, Dimensionals, White Taffeta Ribbon

So what do you think? I'd love to hear from you so leave a comment!
Thanks for stopping by!
Elizabeth

My First Blog Award!

Good morning Stampers! Hope you had a terrific weekend and Mother's day. We certainly did at the lake! Even though my husband and I have a head cold it didn't stop us from having a blast with my dear friend, Valarie and her family.

While I was away I got my first blog award from a new blogging friend, Rose! She gave me the Lemonade Stand Award for having great attitude and gratitude! I must say I am surprised and honored to say the least! Thank you Rose! Click HERE to check out her fabulous blog!





Now I will pass on this fun award to some of my favorite blogging friends who inspire me with their art, humor and awesome attitudes!
Lydia at Understand Blue
Corrine at Stamping with Roxy
Kristin at Sunshine, Smiles & Stamps=Lovin' Life
Ashley at Design with Ink
Cindy at Cindy's Inklings

Now to play along with this award-
1. Cut and paste the award and post to your blog
2. Nominate 5-10 blogs who you feel show great attitude and gratitude and link them in your post.
3. Leave a comment on their blogs to let them know they've received the award.
4. Link back to the person who gave you this award!

Thanks so much to those who share their art and lives with me through your blogs!
Hugs,
Elizabeth

Happy Mother's Day!

Hi there Stampers! Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there! Hope your family is treating you right and letting you stamp to your hearts content! ;)
Today I am going to show you a project I made to give my sister and some friends for Mother's day. I learned how to make this at my Woo Hoo Stampers event last month. It's pretty simple and uses one of my favorite dies, the Top Note.

I started out with some Kiwi Kiss cardstock cut to a regular card size (5 1/2" x 8 1/2" folded in half). I also took a single piece of Bella Rose DSP (sooo pretty!)and stacked it on my folded cardstock piece. I layed that down on my Top Note Die with one side just inside the dashed lines and ran it through to cut it. I then took my folded piece and cut it on the fold so I had two partial Top Note pieces in card stock and one in the DSP. I cut them all at the same time so they would match perfectly. I trimmed along the dashed lines of the DSP piece and then adhered it to the top of one of the cardstock pieces to make the top. I used my Crop-A-Dile to set an eyelet in it and then worked on the box part. I took a piece of Ridinghood Red cardstock cut to 5 1/2" x 8" and scored on the long side at 1", 3 1/2", 4 1/2" and 7" then turned it and scored at 1" on the two short sides. I snipped the scored lines from the edge to the 1" scores on the long side and then assembled it into a box using Sticky Strip. Next I added some White Grosgrain Ribbon and the Top Note top and bottom pieces. Last I added a Little Leaves die cut and a Cherry Blossom Embosslit to the top to embellish it. Super cute! I hope my directions are clear-I'm a visual person generally but think you can figure this out. :)

thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!
Hugs,
Elizabeth

Scallop Sunflower

Hi there Stampers! How are you?
Today's card and 3-D item is one I gave one of my customers and now friend for her birthday a couple of weeks ago. I just loved how it turned out but hadn't had a chance to post it yet These sunflowers are super cute and super easy to make! I saw them first on Paty Bennett's blog-if you haven't visited her blog lately-you really must check out her awesome water colored and brayered roses-they are stunning! I made mine using some Apricot Appeal punched with the Scallop Circle Punch. I sponged the edges of the scallop with Close to Cocoa ink and then used scissors to cut in between each scallop towards the middle careful to not go too far so I didn't cut a "petal" off. Then I simply added a 3/4" Circle of the Chocolate Chip dotted Bella Rose DSP to the centers and some Kiwi Kiss die cut with the Little Leaves Sizzlit. Ta-da!. The jar is a cleaned and re-used artichoke heart jar! I wrapped some DSP around it, added my sunflowers and leaves, put a bit of scrunchy paper (whatever that basket filler is called!)and added my gift to her inside (a stamp, of course!). Super cute, pretty simple and green! :)

Hope you enjoyed my post today and come back again to visit soon!
Hugs,
Elizabeth

Another Two Challenges in One!

Good Morning Stampers! Yippee it's Friday! I'm excited because we are going camping with some friends this weekend at the lake. Sun, boating, family, friends and fun what more could I ask for for Mother's Day weekend? Well I guess I could add stamping in there to make it perfect but I'm not about to schlep my stamping stuff to the lake! :)

So obviously I'm a big fan of all these fabulous challenges out there and love to play along but sometimes I just have to combine them or I'd miss out! There's just not enough time in the day!


Today's card combines the Diva Coffee Break Challenge to use things from the current catalog and your Big Shot and Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenge.

I started out with a Rose Red base, added a panel of More Mustard and a panel of Candy Lane DSP. I die cut my Rose Red and More Mustard pieces with the Daisies #2 Sizzix Bigz Die and layered the flowers together. The center is my 1/2" Circle punch with some more Candy Lane DSP and I placed the flowers on a strip of WW.
The sentiment comes from the Great Friend stamp set and is stamped in Chocolate Chip ink and punched with the Small Oval Punch. I layered it on Rose Red punched with the Large Oval Punch and then onto More Mustard punched with the Scallop Oval Punch. A little Chocolate Chip and Rose Red Grosgrain Ribbon and it's done!


The fun thing about some challenges is that they really stretch you out of your "normal" habits! I rarely use More Mustard and cannot imagine ever pairing it with Rose Red on my own. But it works!

Ingredients:
Stamps: Great Friend Paper: Rose red, More Mustard, Candy Lane DSP, WW Ink: Chocolate Chip Accessories: Small, Large and Scallop Oval Punches, Rose Red and Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by to visit! I hope you have a great weekend, be sure to stop by I programmed some posts in advance so you'd have something to look at while I am on the boat watching my kids have a blast being dragged around the lake in the tube!
Hugs,
Elizabeth

Matchbox Drawers

Hi there stampers! Happy Thursday!
Today's project is one I've been seeing here and there and knew I just had to make one too. It is so stinking cute it's hard to resist! The best part is it is easy peasy! It is also my submission to the Diva Coffee Break Challenge for the week since I used my Big Shot!


I started with some Baja Breeze cardstock and ran it through my new Matchbox Die from the Occasions Mini three times and then just put the three matchboxes together. The base of the box doesn't even require any adhesive-how great is that?! The top sleeve part only uses a tiny bit of Sticky Strip. Then I used Sticky Strip to adhere all three boxes together and added a piece of Walk in the Park DSP also from the Occasions Mini (I LOVE this paper!)all the way around the stack of matchboxes. I added some Baja Breeze Striped Ribbon (LOVE this too!) and used Mini Glue Dots to stick the buttons from the Button Bouquet package. Easy peasy and super cute!

This would be a great project for students or scouts to make or as teacher appreciation gifts filled with candies, paper clips, chapsticks or whatever little treat you want!






Here's one I saw at my Woo Hoo Stampers event used with the Top Note die as the top and bottom! The used some chipboard, a Fleurette and a butterfly from the Beautiful Butterflies die to embellish the top! Can these get any cuter?

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!
Hugs,
Elizabeth

Par-fect Mojo

Hi there stampers! Happy Wednesday! I'm so glad you stopped by to see me!
I had such fun with my Many Mower Mojo card yesterday that I made another using the same set.
I started out with a Very Vanilla base, added a panel of Always Artichoke (wow it's been a long time since I've used this color!), and some Manchester DSP and a Sahara Sand piece.
I added some Chocolate Chip Grosgrain ribbon and a piece of Baja Breeze stamped with the sentiment from Many Mower. I stamped my main image from the Many Mower stamp set in the Occasions Mini in Black Stazon on Very Vanilla, colored my golfer with my SU Markers and matted it with some more Always Artichoke. I think we will be making this card at my upcoming Maculine Card Stamp Camp in a couple weeks.

Ingredients:
Stamps: Many Mower Paper: Manchester DSP, Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze, Always Artichoke, Sahara Sand Ink: SU Markers, Black Stazon Accessories: Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals

Have a terrific day!
Hugs,
Elizabeth

Mojo Mower :)

Good Morning Stampers! Thanks for stopping by!

Today I decided to play along with the ladies over at the Mojo Monday blog and came up with this really bright card!
I started out with a Real Red base, stamped "and many mower" from the Many Mower stamp set in the Occasions Mini catalog randomly in Tempting Turquoise on the same color cardstock and added it with my Only Orange and Summer Sun panels to my card. I stamped my main image in Black Stazon and colored it in with my SU Markers and matted it with some more Only Orange cardstock. I added it to my Real Red piece with dimensionals and ta-da! It's done. Super simple but I don't think you need too many frills with a card for a guy.

Ingredients:
Stamps: Many Mower Paper: Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, WW, Only Orange, Summer Sun Ink: Black Stazon, Tempting Turquoise Accessories: SU Markers, Dimensionals

Hope you have a great day!
Hugs,
Elizabeth

Sweet Sunday on Monday :)

Hi there Stampers! Sorry for the later than usual post. I made a few things yesterday but then started feeling sick before I could take pics and prep for my post today.

Today's card is my submission for Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge. I can't believe it's been 16 sketches already! It also is my submission for a new challenge I found at the fabulous Order of the Opus Gluei blog. These ladies are FUN! They are giving away some awesome blog candy too!


I started with a 4 3/4" x 4 3/4" piece of Close to Cocoa base and added a piece of Bella Rose DSP punched with the Scallop Edge Punch along the bottom. Next I added my frame of some more Bella Rose DSP and stamped my images from the Blooming with Love Stamp Set in Black Stazon. I cut out my stamped flower pots and wheelbarrow and adhered them over the original stamped image. I colored in my flowers with my SU Markers and stamped my sentiment from the Great Friend Stamp Set in Chocolate Chip. I punched it out with my Small Oval and layered it on a Large Oval of Kiwi Kiss. I added a button from the Button Bouquet with a bit of Linen Thread tied through it as a final touch.

I think this is a perfect card for my mom who was born with a green thumb-it is obviously not a genetic trait passed on since I kill all live plants. :)

What do you think? I thought it was so cute I made a couple love notes of just the center piece for Mother's Day gift enclosures. This image is totally CASED from one of my favorite stampers, Becky Roberts at Inking Idaho, click HERE to see her fabulous card.

Ingredients:
Stamps: Blooming with Love, Great Friend Paper: Bella Rose DSP, WW, Close to Cocoa, Kiwi Kiss Ink: SU Markers, Black Stazon, Chocolate Chip Accessories: Button Bouquet, Linen Thread, Small and Large Oval Punches, Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by!
Hugs,
Elizabeth

Gift Card Pocket Card

Good Morning Stampers! Hope your weekend is going well!
I didn't actually stamp yesterday, but did make some of the boxes like the one posted HERE for Mother's Day gifts. No stamping required just my Big Shot, the Sizzix Little Leaves Sizzlit, the Cherry Blossom Embosslit and a ton of Sticky Strip! Well I made several so it seemed like a ton!

Today I am going to show you another project we made at our Woo Hoo demo event. This one was from Richard Garay, one of the few male demonstrators. He was nice enough to give us a template to keep so I've scanned it to share!

We used some Sweet Always DSP and the colors that match for ours but this would look great with any color combo! We started with a piece of Pumpkin Pie cardstock, cut and scored it according to the template and then adhered some of the Sweet Always DSP.! When you cut your paper you will end up with two pieces to make two gift card holders.
We stamped the greeting and the cupcake from Wagon Full of Fun from the Occasions Mini and colored the cupcake in with our SU Markers in coordinating colors. We cut out the cupcake and used the Eyelet Punch to create the cute border. Some Chocolate Chip Ribbon and it's done! The Regal Rose piece is to write or stamp and note and the Chocolate Chip piece represents your gift card. Super cute!

Hope you have a terrific day! See you tomorrow!
Hugs,
Elizabeth

Make and Take Project from the Woo Hoo Event

Good Morning stampers! Happy Saturday!
So yesterday was a busy day here in the Fortuna household so I didn't get a chance to stamp anything new to post but I do still have the wonderful projects from last week to show you!
This project is my favorite! It uses our Top Note die, Cherry Blossom Embosslit, and Little Leaves Sizzlit. It's perfect for Mothers' Day or Teacher Appreciation and would be great with a little something in it-can you say CHOCOLATE?!?!
We already had our Top Note pieces cut for us and the Embosslit so it came together pretty quickly. To make our box we took a 8" x 5 1/2" piece of Baja Breeze card stock and scored on the long side at 1", 3 1/2", 4 1/2" and 7". Then we turned our card stock around and scored at 1" on both sides. After scoring, we cut the score lines up to the 1" score mark to make the box flaps. We added sticky strip and put it together. We trimmed the Walk in the Park DSP Top Note on the little score lines so it fit inside the Kiwi Kiss Top Note Piece.
We added our Jumbo Eyelets using our Crop-A-Dile and then adhered the Top Note pieces to the Baja Breeze box using Sticky Strip. We added the Gray Taffeta Ribbon, the Embosslit with the Half Pearl fromt he Pretties Kit and the Kiwi Kiss leaves from the Little Leaves Sizzlit. Super cute!!!

That's it for now. Check back later for some more cute projects!
Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!
Hugs,
Elizabeth

Three Challenges in Two!

A second post! Scroll down to see some exciting new promotions from Stampin' Up for the month of May!

Hi again stampers! I hadn't had a chance to play along with Taylor's Cupcake Sketch Challenge and thought I'd better do it quick-there will be a new one posted today! I paired Taylor's sketch with the Color Throw Down of the week, in fact the colors were so fun I made two cards and did two sketches with the same throw down colors. For the card I made for Taylor's sketch I CASED her sample with the cut panel. It was so super cute I thought I'd try it too.

I started out with a Sage Shadow card base (Oh my gosh-it's not whisper white?!?!)and added my Whisper White panel(phew-there's the white!) stamped with the flowers from Fifth Avenue Floral in Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip and Sage Shadow. I matted my little piece in Chocolate Chip and stamped one of the flowers in Pretty in Pink and added my sentiment from Birthday Hugs and Wishes in Chocolate Chip. I punched it with my 1 3/8" Circle Punch and added it to my Sage Shadow Scallop Circle.
I added a strip of Chocolate Chip punched with my Scallop Edge Punch, added some Pretty in Pink Grosgrain Ribbon around it and tied on the scallop circle with some Linen Thread. I think it turned out pretty, how about you?

Ingredients:
Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral Paper: Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, WW Ink: Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Cicrle Punch, Pretty in Pink Grosgrain Ribbon, Linen Thread, White Gel Pen

My second card uses the Diva Coffee Break sketch of the week! I started again with a Sage Shadow card base, stamped the leafy image from the Great Friend set in the Occasions Mini Catalog in the same color and added my whisper White panel stamped in Pretty in Pink and Sage Shadow. I trimmed it with some Chocolate Chip cardstock punched with the Scallop Edge Punch and added doodle dots with my White Gel Pen (gotta love those doodle dots!). I stamped the butterfly again, cut it out and popped it up on half a Dimensional after glittering it up with my 2-Way Glue Pen and some Dazzling Diamonds. The sentiment is inked up with my SU Markers and punched with my 1 1/4" Square Punch and matted with some Pretty in Pink punched with the Scallop Square Punch. Simple but cute!

Ingredients:
Stamps: Great Friend Paper: WW, Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip Ink: Sage Shadow, Pretty in Pink Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Scallop Square Punch, 1 1/4" Square Punch, White Gel Pen, Dimensionals, 2-Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds

Thanks so much for stopping by and be sure to scroll down to check out the specials for this month!!!
hugs,
Elizabeth

$75 Starter Kit and FREE DSP!

Good Morning Stampers! Oh my goodness do I have three super exciting promotions for you!! In honor of this month being National Scrapbooking Month Stampin' Up is offering the opportunity to join our stamping family for ONLY $75!! Really! You get more than that in product in the customizable scrapbooking starter kit and then continue to get your demonstrator discount! Here are the details of the starter kit promotion:

Dates: May 1-31, 2009

Promotion Details

In celebration of National Scrapbooking Month, join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator for only $75 with our limited-time Scrapbooking Starter Kit. The Scrapbooking Starter Kit contains the following:

Item Code Description Retail Value
113510 Schoolbook Serif Alphabet stamp set* $42.95
113059 Simply Scrappin' Petal Party $19.95
108697 Earth Elements Assorted textured card stock (12" x 12") $11.95
105240 Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad $7.50


*Substitutable for any stamp set up to $43.95 value.

Please note: Each of the products listed above may be substituted for like items. Please see the Scrapbooking Starter Kit Order Form for details.The Scrapbooking Starter Kit also contains all the business supplies contained in the standard Starter Kit:

Getting Started DVD
Getting Started Guide
Guest Invitation Postcard (100)
Idea Book & Catalog (8)
Occasions Mini Catalog (8)
To My Hostess Envelope (10)
Recruit Folders (5)
Recruit Brochures (20)
Hostess Brochure (20)
Hostess Benefits Form (10)
Customer Order Form (50)

The second promotion for this month is BUY THREE GET ONE FREE of the Designer Series Paper or Textured 12x12 Cardstock, including the Specialty Papers. You'll definitely want to take advantage of this promotion and load up on all your favorite DSP!



The third promotion for the month is a sneak peak and 20% off on the new Jumble Alphabet Stamp Set which will be in the new catalog that premieres in July.
Click HERE to check out this new set!

set of 52; double-mounted
Item #: 115199
Description: Jumble Alphabet stamp set
Regular Price: $43.95
Sale Price:$35.16

All I can say is this is the month! If you've ever thought about joining you have nothing to lose! I'd love you on my team, part-time, full-time, or just as a hobbyist! Feel free to email me if you have any questions!
Hugs,
Elizabeth

Kristina Werner's 50th Color Challange!!!

Wow I can't believe we are on #50 already of Kristina Werner's awesome color challenges! As I'm sure you have seen, I love to play along with challenges and sketches, but this one is one of my favorites! So many people play along and it's wonderful to see what everyone comes up with.


I started out with a WW card base, added a panel of Real red and some Tempting Turquoise punched with the Scallop Edge Punch, and sponged my background with Tempting Turquoise ink, a sponge and a scrap Scallop Oval. I made my boat using the 1 1/4" and 3/4" Square Punches and the 1 1/4" Circle Punch and cut them all in half. I sponged the edges or used the coordinating SU Marker and adhered them with Dimensionals. The sun is Summer Sun punched with the Scallop Circle Punch and the cloud is Whisper White punched with the new Scallop Oval from the Occasions Mini Catalog.

I think it turned out pretty cute! I was inspired by a swap I received that I showed in THIS post.

Ingredients:
Stamps: none! Paper: WW, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun, Close to Cocoa Ink: Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun, Close to Cocoa Accessories: Scallop Circle and Scallop Oval Punches, 1 1/4" and 3/4" Square Punches, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Dimensionals, Sponges, Scallop Edge Punch
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll come back soon!
Hugs,
Elizabeth

Mojo Thursday!

Happy Thursday Stampers! Thanks for visiting me today!

Here's my submission for this week's Mojo Monday sketch. I can never play along on the day it comes out, or if I do I have already posted for the day. :)

I started out with a Whisper White card base, added a panel of Real Red and then foraged around in my DSP scrap pile and found a fun combo of colors! I used the orange from the Summer Picnic DSP(retired), the turquoise from the Polka Dots and Paisley DSP(retired), and then the olive from the Old Olive DSP. I stamped my main image from the Big Bold Birthday set using my SU Markers and added the Metal Dot stickers (Colorbok)along the side. For the Scallop Circle I used Tempting Turquoise paper, with a cicrlce of WW stamped with dots in Sahara Sand and then the wording in Basic Black. I left the bow on the sketch off so this could go for either a boy or a girl.

Ingredients:
Stamps: Big Bold Birthday Paper: Polka Dots and Paisly DSP(retired), Summer Picnic DSP (retired), Old Olive DSP, Real Red, WW Ink: SU Markers Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Dimensionals, Colorbok Metal Stickers

Thanks for stopping by to check out my latest post! have a super day!
Hugs,
Elizabeth