Razzle Dazzle Bird Mojo/ Mojo Monday 193

Wow, it's almost June! For the last sketch of the month the folks over at Mojo Monday always have a Circle or Square challenge. I typically gravitate towards the square & this month was no exception. They did add an extra fun element with the background though. It's made up of a square cut on the diagonals to form four triangles. I then just flipped two pieces of my Blueberry Crisp designer paper before adhering them. Oh, and a tip, try adhering those to a square that's the same size as your original before gluing them down. Otherwise I found I had a hard time getting my spacing just right! The only stamp I used on this card was the one from Razzle Dazzle that matches the pattern on the designer paper. It adds a little something to my bird as well as my little Night of Navy square. Today's the day I start thinking about all my older sets & wondering which ones will appear on the Last Chance List tomorrow. Do you think Razzle Dazzle will be on there? We'll have to wait and see!

Moving Truck

I know it's Monday, but I'm not going to even look at the Mojo Monday sketch until tomorrow. There's lots to do on this Memorial Day & I already had this little number ready and waiting. First off, though, may I wish you a happy and safe Memorial Day. I hope we'll all take a moment to remember those for whom today was dedicated. On our European Adventure I was struck by how much more real their war memorials seemed...somehow less forgotten than ours. Let us remember vividly as well.

In addition to the solemn reason behind this long weekend, it's also the start of summer! We kicked it off with a House Warming Party yesterday for our friends. Great fun was had by all. I created this card for them yesterday during our theme class. I never tire of the little Loads of Love set & have such fun loading it up with different bits from the Accessories pack. Too much fun. The colors were also a great fun surprise combo: Cajun Craze, Pear Pizzazz, & Bashful Blue. Have fun out there today & I'll try for a late Mojo tomorrow. :)

It's Graduation Time!

It's that time of year again. It's time to celebrate the achievements of our graduates. This year, one of my dear friend's daughter is graduating high school. That's a bit of a shocker to me because we met when she was about seven! My how the time flies. :) A couple of years ago, another friend of mine gave me the great idea of using bits from the graduation invitation to create a card. They are such formal & lovely cards that it seems a waste to not use parts of them again. That, and I'll never have a stamp to match the crest of the school. So, there's no stamping on this one. I just punched out the school crest & created a backing layer for it. To make them stand out a bit more, I used my distressing tool around the edges of both layers. Then I cut out the year & punched a scallop backing for it from my Brushed Gold paper. All I had to do to finish up was run the card front through my Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper folder & add some gold Smooch Spritz. It's very simple (which is perfect for this busy time of year) but still looks elegant enough to fit the occasion. Now, if the rain will just hold off for the graduation on Saturday...

Crimper Flower Fest

While my mom was visiting, I discovered that she had never used a crimper. Well, I just had to fix that! So I took out three of my favorite greens: Always Artichoke, Pear Pizzazz, & Wild Wasabi. I adhered them together & cranked them through my crimper. Then, I wanted to try out something new to me as well. Out came my Antique Brads & my embossing stuff! I just dabbed the brad with Versamark & embossed in white. It needed a little extra bling, but my Basic Jewels rhinestones made that no problem at all. Once I had the brad, I decided it would make a great center to the large flower in my Flower Fest set. From there, the Blushing Bride 5 Petal Flowers were needed to offset the Concord Crush. An Elegant Lines background in Whisper White seemed to work perfectly with my floral pieces. The bottom bits were added last. First came the punched strip courtesy of my Dotted Scallop Ribbon Punch, then the sentiment, & finally the little butterfly. I debated on the butterfly for quite some time, but after a survey of my artistic advisers (hubby & mom), I decided to add him. The Flower Fest set makes it so easy since the images coordinate with my punches perfectly. And who doesn't like easy?

Elegant Bouquet Embossed Mojo

Happy Monday to all! This week, I'm celebrating a bit of a milestone. The Accidental Stamper reached over 10,000 all time page views last week! :) Thanks to all of you for visiting and taking a look at what I create. It's such fun to share with all of you.

Today, I took another shot at the Double Embossed Technique. Isn't it fun? I just inked up my Elegant Bouquet Folder using my brayer & Versamark ink, ran it through the Big Shot, & embossed with Silver Emboss Powder. Simple, but great! My mom wanted to see how this technique was done and she insists that you must see it in person. And if mom says so...

All of the stamped images for this one are from the Simply Said set--- one of my very favorites. Since it's Monday, the sketch comes from the excellent folks over at Mojo Monday. Must keep it short today, I need to take mom off to the airport. Happy Stamping!!

Color Throwdown 142/ Strength & Hope Wedding

It's been a while since I've participated in the Color Throwdown & I would like to get back in the habit. This week's colors include Basic Black, Basic Gray, & Lime Green. For my green selection, I picked Certainly Celery. I knew I wanted to use the elegant butterfly from Strength & Hope & then the rest of the card just sort of flowed. :) Remember that for every Strength & Hope set SU sells they will donate $2 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Also, I'm going to enter everyone who buys one from me in May into a drawing for one of my unmounted stamp sets. It's really hard for me to create a wedding card, but the season is upon us! I wanted this one to be simple, but elegant. With fewer pearls, I think it could easily become a sympathy card as well. Odd, how those two can pair so well. I inked up my Texturz Plate with Basic Gray to form the background & sponged both the Certainly Celery pieces with Basic Gray after I embossed them. A little sticky strip let me play with my ribbon to create a fun layered look. I'm sure it wouldn't go through the mail well, but most of my wedding cards are put in packages or at least delivered by hand. Then I don't have to worry about mailing issues!

Double Emboss + Much More

Well, today's card is sort of the opposite of yesterday's. If Monday was a study in simplicity, this one sure has a lot going on! I've been itching to try out the Double Embossing technique ever since I read about it in my demonstrator magazine last week. It's so fun! You ink up one of your embossing folders using a brayer & Versamark. Run it through the Big Shot like normal & then add embossing powder to heat emboss too. For this card, I started with Melon Mambo cardstock, ran it through using the Vintage Wall Paper folder, & added Wild Wasabi embossing powder. Then, I went a little crazy with my new Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch & an Occasions Mini catalog. This card showcases all the fun shapes you can make with just one punch! I think it would be fun to create at classes because each one would be so very different. What do you think?

Mojo Monday 191/Printed Petals Leaves & Dots

Welcome to a brand new week! As usual, I get to start my week off with a great sketch from the ladies over at Mojo Monday. Today, I decided to keep things simple. No crazy new techniques or experiments for this one. I also decided at the start that I wanted to use Certainly Celery as one of my colors. So, with that & the sketch in mind, I started. Thinking about the lovely light green of Certainly Celery, I remembered the great leaf scallop from my Printed Petals set. I'm such a sucker for a great deal, so when SU put this set on sale for May (30% off!) I just couldn't resist. Now, I'm glad that I didn't show more willpower! It's very versatile. I also had some Certainly Celery ribbon from a ribbon bundle I snagged off the Clearance Rack. I guess the real theme for today's card is "what a bargain"! The designer paper is one of the more subtle sides of Sunny Garden. My leaf is the Little Leaves Sizzlit. Some days I have a bit of trouble getting that one off the die, but today it decided to cooperate. Perhaps it's a good omen for the week! It just went so well with the stamp that I had to give it a try.

Recycle Vintage Style

Okay, I'm really excited about this one. Of course, it doesn't photograph as well as I would like, but that happens. I created it Thursday night during card class, but blogger wasn't working yesterday morning so I had to wait to share. Imagine my frustration! :) This card started because I wanted to play around with my new Triple Layer Punch. I'd only experimented once before and didn't have the results I wanted. Then I discovered that was because I tried holding the punch while using it just like I do with all my other SU punches. Once I put it down on a table top, all was well! I've also been trying to find a creative way to use up catalogs once their sales period is over. So, I took out an Occasions Mini and went to work. I kind of wish I would have photographed this card in stages. I assembled everything with curled up corners, the two brads, & the torn paper so I was well on my way to the vintage look. Then I added the two stamped images from Tiny Tags. We were getting closer. Next, out came my Color Spritzer Tool & I added the black splashes. Almost there. Then, I got really brave, and took out my Smooch Spritz. I spritzed the whole card, ribbons and all (thanks to encouragement from the folks at class!). I was so afraid it would ruin the whole card, but I love the effect it creates. You'll have to see it in person. My ribbon is so shinny & the whole card really feels complete. Mission accomplished! I think I'll play more with punching bits from my old catalogs this afternoon. Stay tuned to see how that experiment turns out. :)

It's Summer! (Almost)

Wow! Doesn't this one just about shout "Summer"? I've been spending lots of time in schools the last couple of weeks and you can just feel the almost summer vibe. Perhaps that's where this card came from. I really wanted to experiment more with the new colored embossing powders from the Summer Mini Catalog & saw a great technique that showcases them inside our demonstrator magazine. It's how I made the multicolored central flower. You just mask parts of the flower while you add the different colors of powder. Super simple, but such a "wow" effect when you're finished. This set is a brand new one for me. I couldn't resist when I saw it was 30% off for the month of May. Little did I know at the time that it would be just a great fit for this new technique. :) My biggest challenge on this card was finding the finishing touch that told me the card was done. I had it all almost assembled before I realized it needed a Jumbo Brad in the center of the flower. That was it! It's always such a relief to find that last little bit that makes my design complete. I hope this one adds a little summer sunshine to your day!

On the Grow Flower Mojo/ Mojo Monday 190

Welcome to a brand new week! I so love to start my stamping for the week off with a sketch from the folks over at Mojo Monday. It's just a great way to get everything going. :) This weekend finally felt like summer has found Colorado. We had a lovely day for the Horseshoe Market on Saturday and I was able to plant some flowers yesterday. I think that's why I was in the mood to play with this great little bouquet from On the Grow this morning. I used my Watercolor Crayons to color it in & then used Ultrathick embossing powder & my Versamarker to give the vase depth. Of course, that's kind of hard to see here, but you'll have to check it out at classes this month! My little extras are thanks to the Beautiful Wings & Sweet Buttons Embosslits. It's all simple but fun. Now I'm ready for my week to officially begin!

Cupcake Remake

A while back I made a card that used both the Birthday Bakery set & the cupcake punch. You can check it out here. I liked it & thought it was great fun, but I really wanted to give it another go. So, here is round two. :) The colors on this one are just super rich & I love the added touch the textured Razzleberry gives my background. It doesn't overwhelm, but it really does add something. The little bling on the cupcake also makes things just a bit more sassy. I've found that the Elegant Lines folder is just right for frosting on a cupcake too. Then, the inside is stamped with the cupcake wheel and reminds us "you are what you eat, so eat something cute". I took my color pallet from those I used to color in the cakes. You'll find Pretty in Pink, Rich Razzleberry, Regal Rose, Rose Red, So Saffron, & Soft Suede---way more colors than I typically use but I love how they all work together on this one.

Fun with Embossing!

It's always such fun to have a new catalog! Today's card features a product line I was super excited to find in the Summer Mini, colored embossing powders! Aren't they fun? Right now they come in Wild Wasabi, Tangerine Tango, & Melon Mambo. I hope that the list expands with the new Idea Book & Catalog. Fingers are crossed. :) Today's card was inspired by a pair of pants worn by a super well dressed three year old in the preschool class I worked with a few weeks ago. I giggled when I saw her pants exactly matched my new embossing color pallet & the Flower Fest stamp set. Too much fun. I kept things super simple this time around & just inked my images using Versamark. Then I embossed using my colored powders. It was like playing with puff paint on T-Shirts! Magic. Next time, I may try mixing in Iridescent Ice powder for a shimmery colored effect. There are lots of possibilities here!

Just had to Share...

Typically I don't like to post cards that use products you can no longer order, but I just had to share this one. Yesterday afternoon I was busy cranking out cards for the Horseshoe Market this weekend when inspiration struck. This was the result. My hope is that the Thanks for Caring set will make its way into the new Idea Book & Catalog this summer (fingers crossed) & perhaps the Springtime Vintage paper will appear on the Clearance Rack one day? Then you WILL be able to get all the parts for this lovely card. I used my Scallop Edge Punch to create the fun medallion. You just need a 2 3/4" square of cardstock to make the dimensions work. Then I backed it with a bit of Baja Breeze. The base color is Not Quite Navy and I think this is my favorite use of it. I find ways to incorporate this color from time to time, but here it really is at its best. Embossing my butterfly in gold and adding just a touch of satin ribbon also make this card a stand out. Little bits of elegance make such a difference! So I hope you'll forgive the homage to the Occasions Mini Catalog here, but I couldn't keep this one to myself.

Mojo Of Hope/ Mojo Monday 189

I'm back! Sorry I've been MIA lately. I'm afraid that the sniffles hit me with a vengeance. Last week, I was down for the count for most of the time. However, I'm back in the swing of things now. At least I hope so! What better way to get things started than with a Mojo Monday sketch?

I knew my design for today would center around the Strength & Hope set from the new Summer Mini. I'm excited about this set, not only because it's lovely, but because it's a set with a cause. For every one of these sets SU sells, they will donate $2 to Breast Cancer Research. Perfect for the month of may, don't you think? It's why I'm centering my May drawing around this set. Everyone who purchases Strength & Hope from me will be entered into a drawing to win a set from my hostess set grab bag. So, let's stamp and make a difference all at the same time!