Quick Birthday Card

Vacations always fly by so fast and I have to go back to work tomorrow. I had so much fun catching up on stamping the past few days. Here's a quick card for SCS FS308 and Simon Says Anything Goes challenges. Love it when cards come together in under 20 min (that includes some measuring mistakes, embossing text and flower and cutting it out by hand).

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Sincere Solutations, Embrace Life
• Paper: Real Red, Basic Black, white
• Accessories: Black and clear embossing powders, ribbon by the yard from local store, Liquid Pearls
• Tools: Cuttlebug embossing folder - Modern Wallpaper 

~Olgy

White Glamor - Wedding Gown Inspired Card

This card is for SCS Inspiration Challenge IC369 to make a card inspired by something on the Wedding  Bells site and I chose this picture of a wedding gown as my inspiration. I'm not big on yellow gold when it comes to my jewelry or even card making but in this case the touch of gold on the wedding dress caught my eye and I thought it'd be perfect to emboss a background stamp.

 

The "skirt" of the card is vellum that I first sprayed with shimmer and then ran through embossing folder. It's hard to see from the picture but the sentiment on the tag is embossed with iridescent powder and the edges are embossed in gold. I didn't have any gold cardstock to layer on my tag so I improvised with the gold embossing by layering a smaller circle punch inside the tag and then running my Versamark pad along the exposed edge. Couldn't decide wither to add the swirls or not, but I may do a more clean variation on this later. Thanks for visiting.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Stitched background stamp, Best Yet
• Paper: GinaK Pure White base, vellum
• Ink: Versamark
• Accessories: Ribbon from Michaels, Pearl Glimmer Mist, White Gold Martha Stewart Glitter (for swirls)
• Tools: circle punches & Martha Stewart, Cuttlebug Modern Wallpaper embossing folder

~Olgy

Riley Anything Goes Challenge

Couch Riley is one of my favorite Riley stamps. I lost this stamp some time ago and finally caved and bought it again. I really like to use paper piercing technique with this image. For those new to stamping, paper piercing is done by stamping the image twice - once on the regular cardstock and once on patterned paper; the patterned paper is then cut out and glued on the cardstock. On my card Riley now has a stylish polka dotted sofa. 

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Couch Riley by Riley and Company, So Very
• Paper: Chocolate Chip, Berry Bliss and Ginger Blossom DP
• Ink: Ruby Red, Copics (E35, E57, E47, E49) 
• Accessories: Jumbo Eyelets
• Tools: Oval punches, Lables One Nestabilities

~Olgy

I'm Back...

My poor little blog has been abandoned. Life took over and after a while the longer I waited, the more I felt like my returning post had to be really spectacular, deserving of fireworks and a welcome parade. It was a perpetual cycle and I stayed quiet.

Well, I'm giving it another go. No fireworks, but picking up where I left off with the occasional projects and see if it's something I want to continue dedicating time to. Kicking things off on a light note. Isn't this stamp a hoot? It reads "Listen Honey - The dress is by Ralph Lauren... The body is by chocolate chip!" It also seems appropriate around the holidays :)

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Emerson American Art Stamp
• Paper:SEI Dill Blossom collection DP, SU Close to Cocoa
• Accessories: Button, twill
• Tools: SU scallop border punch

~Olgy

Secret Santa Swap

Jennie organized a really fun Designer Secret Santa Swap this year to make a chipboard album, a card, an ornament and a tag in time for Christmas. I used a lot of Basic Grey papers on my album, tag and ornament and the card was featured in an earlier post .

Here's the same picture showing the back of the ornament. It's the fist time I've ever made one and I was a bit at a loss so kept it simple and decorated the Basic Grey ornament template with rhinestones on one side and cut out some some Christmas DP and rub ons for the other.

My Secret Santa was Novell and I got an absolutely stunning album and gifts from her! Check them out on her blog.

~Olgy

Puppies!

I know, I haven't posted in ages and here's why... we got these furry kids a few weeks ago and they've taken over our lives. I'm running on just a few hours of sleep a night and the whole day is dedicated to housebreaking, feeding, spending time with them etc but with cute paws and faces like this make it worth it.

This sweet and super energetic girl is Mia. She's a Dane and is growing by the minute. I wanted to get a Dane for a really long time and she's mommy's "little" girl. Soon after we found Mia, Pete found this fluffy teddy bear Dex in a shelter's foster home and our household doubled.

Happy belated holidays!

~Olgy

Bella Birthday Hop

Welcome to the Bella Birthday Blog Hop celebrating her 3rd birthday! If you want to start at the beginning, visit Bella's blog today after 9am central. Now on with the party.

We got our first freeze in Austin last night and I can't wait for the winter to end. At least these Bellas are enjoying the sunshine on their birthday.

The Gardenbella is paired with spring colors, flowers and of course some glitter and pearls. What girl can go without them? The sketch is from SCS255 challenge.
Supplies:

• Stamps: Gardenbella
  
• Paper: BasicGrey Lilykate, My Mind's Eye Tres Jolie , gruvy guava & chocolate chip by SU
  
• Ink: Momento black, certainly celery by SU, Copics (E53)
• Accessories: Prima flowers, pink pearls, Stickles, clear button, twine, yellow SU ribbon, green Basic Grey ribbon

The Beachbella is doing even better on the sun and dressed up in the yellow paper pierced bikini and towel. The sketch is from SC254 challenge. I was singing the Yellow Polka Dot Bikini song as I was making this card, so I printed the lyrics on the inside.

Supplies:

• Stamps: Beachbella
  
• Paper: Bordering  from SU, DP from BasicGrey Offbeat collection and Plum Daisy from Chatterbox
  
• Ink: Momento black, Bordering blue, Copics (E53, Y21)
• Accessories: Metal Tag and clips, Prima flower, button, rhinestones
  
• Tools: Cuttlebug, punches

Thanks for stopping by my blog and your next stop on the hop is Margie's Blog or you can find the master thread of participants here.

~Olgy

Clean and Simple Monday

A quick CAS redo today. No layers, no ribbon  - just a simple white card. A good way to start a Monday.

The line creses were made with a score blade on regular cutter because I don't have a ScorePal. The flower is colored with Copics and glazed with Glossy Acrylics. Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Oh So Lovely
  
• Paper: Whisper White
  
• Ink: Momento Black, Copics (BG10, B23)
• Accessories: Pretties Kit, Glossy Accents

~Olgy

Poppy Fields Hedgehog Card

Thanksgiving is over, winter is just around the corner and it's gloomy outside right now. To momentarily forget this weather and step back into summer I chose to CASE this card from MrsBoz for todays SCS Featured Stamper challenge. 

I already had this adorable hedgehog Wish RAK image colored begging to be used on the next card, so I had to oblige. Besides, I needed to take a break from Christmas cards. I added some brads, acrylic on the poppies and Stickles on the butterflies. I kept the overall layout and color scheme the same, but added splashes of yellow and ribbon tabs. Doesn't this card just scream summer?

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Poppy Fields by Penny Black
• Paper: Basic grey, real red, certainly celery, whisper white
  
• Ink: Real red, certainly celery, summer sun, Copics (C5, E00, blender)
• Accessories: Brads, RibbonFX, ribbon from Michaels, Prima flowers, Glossy Accents, Stickles
  
• Tools: Cuttlebug

~Olgy

Christmas Cards

In the past years I came up with Christmas card design and then made the same set for that year. It streamlined the process and I didn't have to think who gets which card. This year, however, I just couldn't make up my mind on what I wanted and continued to make cards until I had about a dozen different ones. I finally gave up on the idea of a single design. I just hope that everyone likes the card they end up with. Here's a sneak peak.

This first one is a cute penguin by Whipper Snapper. The layout was for a clean and simple SCS challenge, so it's pretty basic, but I flocked and added glitter to the little guy for some dimension. Both the tan (ok, I know penguins aren't tan, but he was willing to make the sacrifice for the sake of color coordination) and white parts are covered in fun flock which I had to apply it in two steps. If you want to know more about using flocking see my earlier Fun Flock Tutorial post.

Supplies: (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted)

• Stamps: Whipper Snapper Ice Cream Penguin
  
• Paper: Very vanilla, My Minds Eye DP
  
• Ink: Momento Black, chocolate chip, close to cocoa, certainly celery, real red, rose royal, pumpkin pie
• Accessories:  RibbonFx, Fun Flock, Stickles

Next is a quick poinsettia card using Basic Grey paper. I just added some chunky glitter for a frosted effect and ribbon with sentiment. Each card is just a little different since it was cut from a 12x12 sheet.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Cute and Curly
  
• Paper: Whisper white, Basic Grey Dasher DP collection
  
• Ink: Cranberry crisp
• Accessories: Ribbon, chunky glitter

For these next few cards I was trying to use up my Vintage Violet paper stash, which was one of the first "in colors" offered by Stampin'Up!. The first few are the fun Christmas tree Fluffles images and the last is a more traditional design. It didn't show up on the picture at all, but in person the card looks a lot prettier because there's glitter mixed in with the white embossing powder, so the card sparkles.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Fluffles Tree by Stampendeous, Best Yet, Snowflake spot, Cute and Curly
• Paper: Vintage violet, whisper white
  
• Ink: Vintage violet, Versamark, sage shadow
• Accessories: Silver Stickles, Diamonds EP
  
• Tools: Cuttlebug, punches

~Olgy

Clean and Simple Embossed Cards

I'm having family in town this week for Thanksgiving, which is great, but there won't be much stamping and blogging for the next few days.

I did make a few quick CAS cards yesterday. I'm really happy with this Thank you card and it's fitting for the holidays this week. It was inspired by this Autumn Whimsey painting from art.com I embossed the image on Chocolate Chip cardstock, framed it by drawing a border around it and adding sentiment and finished it with a few pearls. I should have tried matting the pearls on darker circles, but I still like how it turned out.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Agapanthus cluster by Stampendous
  
• Paper: Whisper white, chocolate chip
  
• Ink:Versamark and white EP
• Accessories: Pearls from the Pretties Kit

The second card is for this week's sponging CAS challenge. I sponged a red circle by cutting out a template on a separate piece of card stock, embossed and cut out a butterfly to pop it up over the circle, framed it like I did with the previous card, but instead of pearls I added buttons.

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted) :

• Stamps: Happy Harmony, God's Beauty
  
• Paper: Whisper white
  
• Ink: Really red, Versamark and black EP
• Accessories: Buttons
  
• Tools:

Thanks for stopping by and happy holidays.
~Olgy

Asian Inspired

I love cherry blossoms. I'm drawn to pictures, paper, stamps and anything else with their image. Even the header on my blog has cherry blossoms. Today's SCS featured stamper Birgit had so many gorgeous cards, but I just couldn't take my eyes off of this cherry blossoms one. My card plays off the branch and flower design, but I used a different frame, layered DP and vellum for subtle background design and used leaf branches with Prima flowers. The sentiment is stamped on Far East paper and the edges and flowers sponged for extra dimension.

I couldn't pass up CASing a cherry blossom card without adding some cherry blossoms of on my own, so I decorated the inside of the card with the Artfully Asian stamp and Far East DP.  

Supplies (All supplies are Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted):

• Stamps: Wonderful words, Artfully Asian
• Paper: Pretty in pink, chocolate chip, vellum, Far East DP by Die Cuts With a View
• Ink: Chocolate chip
• Accessories: Prima flowers, ribbon, silver chord, Pretties kit
  
• Tools: Little Leaves Sizzlits, Bigz Top Note die, Martha Stewart border punch

~Olgy