Brusho, Baby Wipes & Party Pandas!

Yesterday we celebrated our second oldest!  This little guy is such a spitfire! He's our early riser, goofy-trouble maker and our very best eater.  This kid will try every food once and eats almost anything.  He has a sweet soul and will talk your ear off.  In fact, yesterday his doctor told him he has the "gift of gab".

And now he's a "whole handful" - in more ways that one.

For his card, I wanted to try a new trick that I saw on Lyssa Zwolanek's blog.  If you are new to the Brusho products like I am, I am amazed to see many different ways to use this coloring medium.  This particular card was made with Brusho and a baby wipe (and I have a lot of those around the house).

The first thing I did here was the embossed background.  I took words from both the Tabs for Everything and the Thoughtful Banners.  I arranged them onto a clear block and stamped the words in Versamark - embossed in White Emboss Powder.  Andrew really got a kick out of the words I chose - especially the "wild & crazy" combo.  I also added the little cake afterwards.  Arranging these on the block really made this quick and easy, and perfect for stamping it twice across the background! 

Next, get a baby wipe - a good quality one that won't fray easily and is moist.  Now, Lyssa said this wipe will work for a few card fronts, so feel free to make multiple.  I was stamping late so I didn't bother making more than one.  Sprinkle a little Brusho across the wipe until you have a surface area covered that will cover the front of a card base.   You may need to spritz the wipe if the Bursho isn't activating enough.  Then lay your cardstock onto your baby wipe.  I recommend Shimmery White, Thick Whisper White CS or Watercolor Paper.  I used regular white and my paper warped a lot.  

We can blame that mistake on the lack of sleep.

Finally, use an Aqua Painter or paintbrush to blend in any areas that you would like. I used Huggies wipes, so I had some "H circles" to blend. :)

The black and white sentiments are from the Thoughtful Banners set and this adorable panda is from the Party Pandas set that you can earn FREE now through March 31st during Sale-a-Bration!  

So grab the Brusho and stamp sets and you've earned yourself a free Party Pandas set!

(Plus you earn a "heart" for my customer rewards with a $50 order!)

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

-Holly

Product List

Party Pandas Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[147221]

$0.00

Tabs For Everything Photopolymer Stamp Set

[143907]

$17.00

Thoughtful Banners Photopolymer Stamp Set

[141614]

$21.00

Basic Black 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[121045]

$8.00

Smoky Slate 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[131202]

$8.00

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[100730]

$9.00

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

[132708]

$6.00

Versamark Pad

[102283]

$8.50

White Stampin' Emboss Powder

[109132]

$5.00

Heat Tool

[129053]

$30.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.00

Brusho Crystal Colour

[144101]

$30.00

Myths & Magic Trio - Another Sneak Peek!

Before I turn off my computer for a few days and focus on Christmas, I have one last sneak peek to show you from the upcoming Occasions Catalog.  I love this adorable stamp set and coordinating framelits. The stamp set Magical Day grabbed my attention right away and I knew it would be on my pre-order.

I'm a mom of 4 kids.  Three boys that will love the knight, wizard and dragon - and a little unicorn and mermaid for our little girl.  Perfect kid set and really fun to color!

Another product coming out on January 3rd is the Brusho Crystal Colour - a watercolor ink crystal that you use to watercolor in a beautiful way.  I had never used this before, but I'm loving this!  I had a lot of fun using this technique.

Another coordinating product in the Magic and Myths suite is the washi tape.  This sparkly silver star tape is part of the 3 pack.

This one was really fun to see come together.  I used different Brusho colors and mixed them by adding more and more and drying in between the layers.  Once it was dry, I added Wink of Stella all over.  It looks very celestial - so pretty in person!

The unicorn was colored using the Stampin' Blends Markers and because I loved the background so much, I decided to use a skinnier sentiment from the Fairy Celebrations stamp set (Annual Catalog).

My final card I made using the sketch from The Global Design Project.

My boys really like this dragon.  I told my mascot in elementary school was the "Red Dragon" - it was gray and red - so I might have to make another with those colors.

I used the Moss Green Brusho for the Stitched Shapes Circle that matched the Old Olive Blends Marker.  I also added Wink of Stella on the dragon. 

The sentiment is from Epic Celebrations - a stamp set you can earn free from Jan 3-Mar 31st with a $50 purchase!  (The Magical Day bundle gets you pretty close!)

I sure hope you enjoyed these cards!

Praying you have a wonderful Christmas!

Blessings,

Holly

TGIF Challenges Turns TWO! Let's Celebrate!

We are celebrating a birthday over at TGIF Challenges today!  We are TWO years old already as a challenge site.  I remember playing along with the first challenge - it was a color challenge and I submitted two different cards.  But what is really neat is that Stampin' Up! had both of my cards featured on their homepage!  I may not have won the challenge over at TGIF, but the highlight from SU was huge for me! Fast forward two years and here I am as a design team member.

So much fun!

So since we are celebrating a birthday, we have a fitting challenge theme this week!  Click on the image below to go to our homepage to see the rest of the design team's creations and join the fun this week!

For this challenge I decided to make a birthday card.  It's a little stretch from the "party" theme - but a birthday is a reason to party - so it fits!

This card was actually cased almost to the T from the new catalog.  I won the Special Celebrations stamp set at OnStage earlier this month.  It's a wonderful stamp set with sentiments for both the front and inside of the card.

The flowers are from the Blooms & Wishes stamp set.  If you've followed me for awhile, you may remember that I'm not much of a floral stamp set fan, but this set is my favorite floral set.

I added some Brights Enamel Shapes - both Melon Mambo and Bermuda Bay.

When I made a second card, I decided to add a little bling instead.  (I was also short on the Bermuda Bay enamel shapes!)  I actually like both looks.  

A little shabby and chic - which one do you like best?

I hope that you like the cards I shared with you today.  Please head on over to TGIF Challenges and check out all of the fabulous creations the team made!  You won't be disappointed!

Have a wonderful weekend!

-Holly

Circus Fun for GDP079

Wow! It has been awhile since I've played along with the Global Design Project.  In fact, the last one I think I did (according to my saved photos) is GDP065 when I was a guest - and #61 before that!  When I saw this week's challenge I knew I wanted to play along.  The Cupcakes & Carousels stamp set from Stampin' Up! is probably the obvious choice - but these fun images in the set are hard not to use for this theme.

I have not used this set as much as I had hoped but I have found that I really like this sentiment.  I used my Stampin' Write Markers to color the sentiment for some extra fun detail.  When I think of the amusement park or the carnivals I think of all the fun colors, fonts and lights that are on the food trucks/buildings.

 I added some Bermuda Bay DSP from the Cupcakes & Carousels Designer Series Paper Stack on the bottom half of the Calypso Coral card base.  (This card is 3"x 6")

I created my own banner by simply adding some extra white cardstock at an angle underneath the sentiment.  Cut each piece like a small banner and place a Stampin' Dimensional between the pieces of white CS.

Extra details on this card include the Peekaboo Peach enamel dots from the In-Color Enamel Shapes, some Peekaboo Peach 3/8" Ruched Ribbon and some Calypso Coral splatter made with an Aqua Painter.

I masked the tent image a few times - looks like a grand circus!

I hope you like this card!  Makes me want to go to the state fair now! :)

Be back tomorrow for our 100th challenge for TGIF!

Blessings,

Holly

Happy Birthday to the Best. Guy. Ever.

Happy first day of spring! Our boys have been asking when it is going to be Spring, so today is a good day for them!  They say a little sunshine is good for the soul - and boy do we need it.  Yesterday we decided to get outside and we took a walk in the woods behind our house - it must have been exactly what we needed! We all slept well last night and (so far) we seem to be on the mend.  As of Saturday, all 3 boys were in antibiotics and my husband was in bed for the 3rd straight day.

I was spared.

So far...

So since the sicknesses have been in full swing at our house, I forgot to post my husband's birthday card that I made for him.  If you missed my Instagram post of the boys' cards they made, you can see it here.

I wanted to keep my husband's card fairly simple.  I think I've used the same masculine sets over and over in the past years, so I decided to just highlight the Large Numbers Thinlits Dies and make a cheerful and bright card using some scraps of paper and ribbon.

For the background I used the "Best. Guy. Ever." stamp from the Suite Sentiments set from the Occasions Catalog.  This set is one of my favorites as the fonts and sentiments coordinate with each of the 7 "suites" in the catalog.  (This stamp coordinates with Urban Underground.)

Because the words are in "threes", I was able to stamp the image repeatedly in a way that you can read it from top to bottom or left to right.  I was pleased with how it turned out.  I did this without a Stamp-a-ma-Jig, but if you wanted it to line up perfectly, that would be the best tool to use!

Thanks for swinging by today!  Enjoy your Monday :)

Blessings,

Holly

A Succulent Pop & Twist Birthday for TGIFC96

Happy Friday everyone!  It's a beautiful, sunny (and COLD) day here in Minnesota.  I hope you're ready to play along with a new challenge at TGIF Challenges.  We had over 20 entries last week and they were all great to see!  This week we are honoring the lovely Bibi Cameron - she has recently left her job as a SU! demonstrator, but she is still worthy of admiration - she truly is gifted!

Bibi is one of the BEST at watercoloring flowers - or making floral cards in general.  Make sure to check out her website for inspiration!

Yesterday we celebrated my beautiful mother-in-law Linda.  She turned 60 so I knew I wanted to make a very special card.  I decided to (finally) try a Pop & Twist card.  I've seen so maybe over the past year but have yet to try one.  Linda likes fun folds and techniques so I needed to make it for her.

 

I focused mainly on the Oh So Succulent Photopolymer Bundle except for the front of the card's sentiment which is from the Milestone Moments.  The "sixtieth" fits perfectly in the banner framelit from the Large Number Framelits Dies.

The Succulent Garden DSP and Succulent Garden 3/8" Ribbon Combo Pack finish off the front.

If you are not familiar with the Pop & Twist card, here is the video I watched.  It was a lot less complicated than it looks!

I altered the sentiment a little since the front of the card had "happy birthday" on the front too.

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Please take a moment to play along this week at TGIF Challenges!

Blessings,

Holly