A Fond Farewell to Simply Stars and Perfectly Penned

Posted on April 26, 2014 by amyoneillblog

Continuing on with my theme for the week, I am featuring some products that are included on Stampin’ Up’s retiring list that I am sad to see go. Today I’m paying my respects to Simply Stars and Perfectly Penned.

I tried a technique that’s new to me. My goal was to create an ombre watercolor effect. I started with a piece of Whisper White card stock and four ink pads — Island Indigo, Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana, and Pool Party.

I used a sponge dauber and my Island Indigo ink pad and swiped the right side of the card stock from top to bottom. I repeated this process about 1/4 of the way across the card, swiping more or the very right side to give it a slightly darker hue. Then I repeated this process with the Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana, and Pool Party inks, blending them a little between each color with the sponge dauber.

I then took a clean paintbrush and dipped it in water. I then lightly touched it against my newly colored ombre card stock, leaving larger pools of water where I wanted larger splats. The water does all of the work for you.

After this dried, I embossed the sentiment with White Stampin’ Emboss powder. I stamped the stars with Pumpkin Pie and Crushed Curry inks and popped them up with dimensionals. I think this would make a great guy card.

I’m not usually a “technique” kind of girl, but this was really fun, and I’ll be trying it again with some different colors.

Spring Clean and Simple Style — Monday Montage #16

Posted on March 30, 2014 by amyoneillblog

It’s time for another Monday Montage blog hop! There are ten of us participating, and you can easily hop from one blog to another by clicking on the buttons at the end of each post. Just work your way through all ten because you won’t want to miss a single one.

I’ve been doing some Spring cleaning and that includes getting rid of a lot of STUFF. Sometimes it’s hard to decide what needs to go versus what I should keep, because there’s always a part of me that thinks, “I might need that someday.” But the urge to purge has really ruled in my efforts lately, and it feels pretty good. I actually have three EMPTY drawers in my bathroom cabinets now and one whole empty draw in my craft room. I’m sure it won’t be long before they’re filled, but I feel like it’s a real accomplishment.

I’ve found that this theme has carried over a little into my card making. I’m drawn to cards with lots of white space. And I love the Clean and Simple (CAS) look. I still love layers, but lately I’ve felt the need to keep it really simple. I have two cards to share with you tonight that reflect that style. In addition, I really needed some teen boy birthday cards, and those aren’t really easy, but using a CAS style makes it easier.

I used the Banner Blast and coordinating punch for this first card. Hurry! If you haven’t received these for free yet during Sale-a-Bration, Monday, the 31st is the last day! This card came together really quickly. I started by drawing the two lines using a ruler and a black Stampin’ Write marker. Then I punched out the stamped banners and placed them with dimensionals onto the card base using the lines as a guide. I stamped the sentiment from Bring on the Cake and colored it with my Stampin’ Write markers.

For this next card, I cut a piece of the I am Me dsp and placed it on the card base. Then I used my ruler again and drew two lines with my Stampin’ Write marker. I punched out a 1-3/4″ circle of Vellum card stock and placed a stamped star from Simply Stars on it with a dimensional. I embossed the sentiment from Express Yourself with black Stampin’ Emboss powder.

Well, you’re ready to head on over to Breelin Renwick’s blog and check out her amazing creativity. Or you can work your way backwards by visiting Wendy Weixler’s awesome blog.

Enjoy your Sunday evening! Thanks for stopping by!

My Paper Pumpkin Mish-Mash

Posted on March 29, 2014 by amyoneillblog

I just received my March My Paper Pumpkin kit, and I love the wooden sentiments that are included. I felt inspired to pull out some of my stamps from previous months’ kits and make a card using one of the wooden sentiments. One of the things I love about My Paper Pumpkin is that the kits usually contain some items (like stamp sets) that you can use long after the other items in the kit are depleted.

So can you tell what other My Paper Pumpkin items I used on this card? The star is from Simply Stars, so that’s not one. But the Island Indigo circle and the Crushed Curry striped circle are both from a previous month’s kit. The splatters are from a previous kit as well. The Pumpkin Pie circle is punched out of the Brights dsp pack.

Here’s a closer view of the cool dimension that the wooden sentiments add:

If you haven’t already signed up for My Paper Pumpkin, this is a great time to do so but you need to hurry. Monday is the last day for a promotion in which Stampin’ Up! is offering a set of free In-Color Stampin’ Write markers to all new subscribers. You can click on the link to the right on my blog to go to the site to sign up.

I think this card will be great for one of the teens in my house. Enjoy your Saturday! Thanks for stopping by!

A Tilted Star Birthday — FMS126

Posted on March 5, 2014 by amyoneillblog

Happy Wednesday, Everybody! It’s time for a new sketch over at the Freshly Made Sketches site, and I have the pleasure of being the hostess this week. I designed a sketch with some tilted panels, so you can use a mix of dsp patterns or make a scene of your own.

I need to replenish my birthday card stash, so I decided to go that route. I pulled out my Simply Stars set, and used a sentiment from a hostess set called Express Yourself. I also used the little star from the Sale-a-Bration set, Banner Blast.

I hope you’ll join us and play along with the challenge this week. I’d love to see what you do with the sketch. Meanwhile, feel free to go on over to the Freshly Made Sketches site and see what the other designers created. They are always awesome and inspiring.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Make a Wish upon a Star — FMS121

Posted on January 29, 2014 by amyoneillblog

It’s Wednesday, which is also known as new sketch day over at Freshly Made Sketches. This week the super fab Linda Callahan is our hostess, and she has a fun sketch for us:

I have to say that I was stumped for a while with this one. I pulled out quite a few stamp sets before I finally decided what I wanted to do with this sketch. I ended up using an old favorite, Gorgeous Grunge, and another great set, Simply Stars.

My color scheme is Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay and Pumpkin Pie. I think this card would work great for a guy or girl, and would even work well for a kid.

I hope you can join us in this challenge and post your card in the gallery. I think we’ll have a great variety this week. This is definitely a sketch where you can let your creativity loose! If you need a little inspiration, head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches site, where the design team has some fabulous samples.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Starry Wishes — FMS114

Posted on December 4, 2013 by amyoneillblog

It’s Wednesday, and the super talented and very lovely, Jennifer Timko has a great sketch for us over at Freshly Made Sketches:

This is such a nice, simple sketch. You can really use your creativity or you can keep it nice and simple and strictly follow the sketch.

I decided to use a non-Christmas themed stamp set on a Christmas card for my sample. I pulled out my Simply Stars set and stamped three of the stars. We have a star on the top of our tree, so I think of stars as having a Christmas theme. What about you? Do you have a star or an angel on the top of your tree? Or something else?

I added some sequins (I know — I’m addicted) and trimmed some Silver Foil paper with a fun blade on my Stampin’ Trimmer. This was really a pretty easy card to make.

I hope you’ll join us at Freshly Made Sketches this week and make your own card to share in the gallery. You should go check out what the rest of the design team made while you’re at it.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Simply Stars, Endless Wishes
Ink: Real Red, Basic Black
Paper: Whisper White, Silver Foil Sheets, Winter Frost Specialty DSP
Embellishments: Silver 1/8″ Ribbon, Tiny Waves Stampin’ Trimmer Rotary Cutting Blade, button (retired), sequins (non-SU)

Birthday Stars

Posted on November 11, 2013 by amyoneillblog

I needed a birthday card for a guy, and when I saw the sketch over at Sketchbook Saturday, I knew exactly what to do.

I pulled my color combination from the Color Coach. That is such a great tool to use when I get stuck on colors.

Since it’s a card for a guy, I kept the embellishments to a bare minimum and refrained from adding any ribbon.

Enjoy your Monday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Simply Stars, Bring on the Cake
Ink: Marina Mist, Real Red
Paper: Real Red, Whisper White, Marina Mist, Brights DSP Stack
Embellishments: Brights Candy Dots

A CAS Masculine Birthday Card

Posted on October 22, 2013 by amyoneillblog

I was intrigued by LeAnne’s challenge over at The Paper Players this week:

This sounded hard to me — not because it’s CAS, but because it’s masculine. The only thing harder would be lots of layers and masculine. Whenever I need to make a masculine card, I default to CAS.

I went with a guy-friendly color palette — orange, blue, and gray. And I forced myself to not use any ribbon nor buttons. But I still added some fun embellishments with the candy dots and cute clips.

Enjoy your Tuesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Off the Grid, Simply Stars, Four You
Ink: Versamark, Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise, Smoky Slate
Paper: Smoky Slate, Brights DSP stack, Whisper White
Embellishments: Clear Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Neutrals Candy Dots, Hung Up Cute Clips, Witches’ Brew Designer Washi Tape

Happy Independence Day Birthday!

Posted on July 4, 2013 by amyoneillblog

I have always loved the 4th of July! We usually have a big family get-together at my grandmother’s house with lots of yummy food and fun games outside, and then sit in the backyard and watch fireworks that night. Plus, it’s my dad’s birthday, so we have another reason to celebrate. I always thought it would be so cool to have a birthday on the fourth because you’d always get to celebrate with fireworks.

I just got the Simply Stars stamp set and I thought it would be perfect for a manly Independence Day birthday card for my dad. If you still have the star punches that SU used to sell, you’ll be happy to know that they work with this stamp set.

Enjoy your Thursday, and for those of us in the U.S. I hope you have a fun day with friends and family celebrating the many freedoms we enjoy in this country. May we always be thankful and not take them for granted. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Simply Stars, Perfectly Penned
Ink: Midnight Muse, Real Red
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Midnight Muse
Embellishments: Midnight Muse Stitched Satin Ribbon, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Stripes embossing folder, Large Scallops edgelit