Sunny Garden Collage....

Today I want to share with you a collage I made last week to celebrate spring.  I used the beautiful Sunny Garden designer series paper for this collage.  I'll tell you right off the bat that my friend Regina Andari made the first one of these and inspired me (mostly different rectangles).  She hasn't posted hers on her blog, or I'd give you the link to it.  Regina has made several these collages--one at Christmas, one last spring, and this one.  They are all beautiful!  So I had to give it a go!

I had so much fun working on this one and it really went together fast.  The frame itself is 8"x10" and you can purchase one locally at any store.  I removed the glass so my artwork could stand out where I used dimensionals.  The hardest thing is to decide what you want on each rectangle.  My rectangles are 2-1/2" x 3-1/8" for the cardstock and the designer paper on that is 1/8" smaller. 

OK, let's look at the rows individually.  Here is the top row.

If you are familiar with Stampin' Up! products, you will know what I used on each rectangle.  The first rectangle on the left uses the Fun Flowers die.  The center used the Two-Step Bird and the right uses the Designer Label punch, the Photo Corners punch, and the Modern Label punch.

Here is the center row:

On this one, I used the Jewelry Tag punch and my Naturally Serif die for the letters on the left rectangle.  The center one uses the Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch and the Butterfly punch.  The right rectangle used the Pinking Hearts Corner punch, the Heart Punch,  and the large oval punch.

Here is the bottom row:

For this one, I used the flowers on the Blossom Party Die on the left rectangle.  The other two rectangles use the Two-Step Bird punch and the Scallop Oval punch to make the little chicks.  The punches for ENJOY are the Scallop Oval, the Large Oval, and the Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch.  I also used the Scallop Edge Border punch on the right rectangle.

I hope you like the collage.  I'm glad I finally made one!  I think it just LOOKS like spring.
                                              
Big thanks to Regina for inspiring me!!!  And thanks to you for visiting my blog. Come back soon!!
Smiles, Laura

Crazy for Cupcakes....

I promised to share another card using the same layout I showed you yesterday.  Well, here it is.  I love doing that--finding one layout that works for me and seeing what other colors and patterns I can use for it.

This one uses the same tilted layer on top, but it is a birthday card.  I used the Crazy for Cupcakes stamp for the main image.  And I used the Occasional Quotes set for the sentiment.

The designer paper on this one is from the Celebrations collection.  Some neat, bright patterns in that one. 

Thanks for stopping in today.  Hope to see you again!! Smiles, Laura

Sew Suite

Today's card uses the Sew suite set again.  I've shown you several cards using this set.  Since sewing used to be my passion before I found stamping, I'm kind of partial to this set.  I think there are so many ways to use it.

For this one, I decided to tilt the top layer a bit, just give the card some interest.  The designer paper is from the Springtime Vintage collection.  It's so nice and delicate.  I used Always Artichoke for the card itself. 

                            

 The ribbon is the Rose Red 1/2" seam binding ribbon---also ver delicate.  The sentiment, shown below, is another stamp that I had Stampin' Up! personalize for me.  It probably should have read, "Fit in some time for me!"  I debated back and forth about it.  Oh, well, the recipient will know what I mean!!

Tomorrow I'll show you another card using this same layout.  Come back then!  Smiles, Laura

Gabby and Chelsea and their toys....

I kept Gabby's sister Chelsea last week while her "mom" and "dad" were on vacation.  Let me tell you, these two girls had a ball running around and playing.  Since we live on acreage, they can free-range and run in the woods and just have fun---and they did.  Chelsea is a "chew-er".  She came on Friday evening and by Saturday had totally demolished the toy her mom brought for her (a new one when she arrived) and a couple of Gabby's toys.  So I went to Pet Smart on Wednesday and brought them both a monkey--Gabby's is green and Chelsea's is pink.  Well, wouldn't you know it--Gabby liked Chelsea's and Chelsea liked Gabby's.  Here is Gabby with Chelsea's pink monkey.  Notice the missing arm?  Gabby didn't do it and this look on her face says:  "I'm NOT the guilty party!! I'm not even touching it!"

Here is Chelsea with Gabby's toy, ready to chow down.

Here they are, each with their own toys.

This is how they liked to run around the house with their toys.

It was so funny to see the legs, arms (those that were left) and tails dangling as they ran from room to room with these monkeys, squeaking all the while. (Yes, the squeakers still work so far.)

Saturday night when it was time for Chelsea to go home, I could tell that they each wanted the ones they wanted---not the colors I wanted them to have.  So I sent the green monkey home with Chelsea.  I had such a great time with these two little sisters!!  I'm glad they get to "go to camp" at each others homes when the "humans" have to be away!!

Smiles, Laura

Sweet Summer---were will you go?

This card uses the Sale-a-bration (SAB) set, Sweet Summer, and I am sure going to miss it when it's gone!!  Stampin' Up! has told us that SAB sets will never make it into the big catalog, so I know we are loosing this one at the end of March.  I just LOVE it and have enjoyed using it on my cards!! I'll keep using it, but hate that I cannot interest others in buying it.

For this card, I used Concord Crush, one of the In Colors this year.  I have a strip of Lap of Luxury designer paper on the front, and since it uses Pretty In Pink in the designer paper, I used it as another color on the card.

Can you tell the card is not as wide as a normal card?  Well, I cut 3/4" off the right side of the card, so allow the Top Note to hang over.  If you do this, be sure to measure and don't let it extend beyond 4-1/4" so it will still fit into your envelope.

I stamped the branch and flowers in Concord.  I colored the flowers with the Pretty in Pink marker and the leaves with the Always Artichoke marker.

 I wanted to highlight the oval.  That oval is from our Ovals #2 die.  You KNOW we don't have a scalloped oval to layer under it, right?  Well, I punched two Concord scalloped circles using the 2-3/8" Scallop Circle Extra-large Punch.  One of those I cut in half and mounted at the top and bottom in the back of the oval.  The other scallop circle, I cut in half and the took 3 scallops from each half and mounted that between the top and bottom scallop circle.  It fits perfectly and LOOKS like a layered solid scallop oval!  Love it!!

Those little flowers on the side of the Top Note are the Bitty Buttons, with Pretty in Pink layered behind them.  And the sentiment, "You make life sweeter!" is a stamp I had SU make for me.  I love how you can have personalized stamps made with the sentiment of your choice.  I've had several made recently.

Thanks for visiting today!! Hope to see you again soon!!  Smiles, Laura

Eastern Blooms

Here is a card I made recently that I wanted to share today.  It uses the Sahara Sand as the card color, with layers of Not Quite Navy and Marina Mist.  I added Rick Razzleberry for interest. 

                                      

The two panels on the front were run through the Square Lattice embossing folder to give it some texture.  Love it!!  I think the 3 little 1/8" ribbons wrapped around the front are a hit, don't you?  If you haven't started using these smaller ribbons, you should try them!!

 Of interest on this card is the flower.  Using my stamp-a-ma-jig, I stamped the same flower from Eastern Blooms onto three  pieces of vanilla cardstock, add the same size, using Razzleberry, Marina Mist and Not Quite Navy.  Then I tore two of the flowers so that I could layer some of each color onto the Marina Mist one.  I have Razzleberry on two sides.  I think this adds more interest than just having one colored flower.

I want to show you one more thing about the card.  Notice the label I stamped Hello onto?  Well that's one END of the Decorative Label Punch.  Yes, I punched out one Decorative Label, then put one end of it back into the punch just a bit and punched again.  I wish I had taken a shot of it in the punch, but hope you can figure it out.  Makes a neat little label for just one word like this.  (That's "Hello" from the Tiny Teacup set.)              

                                       

Hope this one has inspired you today!!  Thanks for stopping by.  Smiles, Laura

Happy Anniversary, Lee and Margaret

Yes, we are celebrating another anniversary this month--this one for our friends Lee and Margaret.  They seem to enjoy my cards, so yesterday I made them a special one for their anniversary.

This one uses the Lattice die, but cut in two long pieces for the left side of the card.  The card itself is Soft Suede with a Bashful Blue layer.  I just be into these colors for aniversary cards (see my last entry with the same colors!)

I used the One-Step Bird punch to make these two bluebirds.  I'm telling you, spring is here and the birds are really starting to sing and fly around our house, so I wanted this spring anniversary card to have two birds on it.  I love how most birds mate for life---Lee and Margaret are celebrating their 42nd anniversary--so another reason to have birds on the card!

 Again the sentiment on this card is from the Occasional Quotes Level 3 hostess set.  There are so many nice sentiments in that set!!

I hope Lee and Margaret have another perfect year together!!  Our best wishes to them!!
Smiles, Laura