Today's Class

This morning I had the March "Create, Challenge, Encourage" Stamp Class. We had a great time together. These ladies are such an encouragement to me. I was sorry to tell them that the April class will be our last one. I am finding it harder and harder to be creative as my husband's battle with Parkinson's Disease continues. The first card was posted on March 7. Another card needs some extra pictures. So that leaves two.

On this first card, I wanted to highlight the new Sale-A-Bration embossing folder called "Country Floral". This folder is beautiful. A small piece of card stock was embossed and added to a white card base. The accent color used was Lost Lagoon. The sentiment and heart was from the set "Ribbon Of Courage." I sponged on a little ink in order to accent some of the flowers.

I ended up making two samples of the next card. The first one was made using Lost Lagoon ink and card stock. But not wanting to make two cards using the same color I chose the color Sweet Sugarplum.

This is called "RetiForm Technique". It has been around for sometime. You basically section off different  parts of the card stock, sponge on your ink choice and then stamp the images in that section. It might have been better if we had used a darker shade of ink. I still like the cards this way.

I chose two stamps sets "Touches of Texture" and "Painted Seasons". I thought these two sets worked well together.

A Color Challenge

I was working on a card yesterday for a color challenge that my stamp class is doing on August 26. The colors are Marina Mist, Crushed Curry and Wild Wasabi. I can't wait to see what every one comes up with.

 I wasn't sure how this was all going to turn out but I do love these colors together. The die I used was from Gina Marie Designs. I cut the die three times--one in Marina Mist, one in Crushed Curry and finally one in white. All the die cuts were taken apart and then one was re assembled. I love the patchwork look. The leaves were cut from Wild Wasabi card stock. The flowers were stamped and die cut. I really do love these colors together.

The Crushed Curry frame was used in yesterday's card.

Create, Challenge, Encourage

Sometime ago the three words "Create, Challenge, Encourage" became my motto for the stamp classes I have been leading. We all learn from another. I love sharing things I have learned, challenging others to try new things and encouraging them in their daily lives. It has been a blessing for me to get to know a special group of ladies that had been attending my classes at the local scrapbooking store Altered Art Addicts.

We were all sad when the owners of the store announced that they were closing. Everyone wanted to continue the classes but I was going to have a conflict with the Saturday afternoon time. The group decided to try meeting at my house on the fourth Saturday of the month at 10 o'clock in the morning. Saturday, April 29 was our first meeting. We had a great time.

Here are the three cards that I had prepared for the class to make --

This first card was based on the "Gift Card Holder" I posted a few days ago. The card base is Primrose Petal card stock with Primrose Petal designer series paper used on the inside. The birthday stamp comes from the Stampin' Up set called "Birthday Blooms". The stamp creating the design on the front is from the retired Stampin' Up set called "Fresh Vintage". The sentiment on the right side is a quote from Corrie Ten Boom; the stamp is from Our Daily Bread Designs.

My goal for the next card was to create a card using only one stamp set. The set used was Stampin' Up's "Kinda Electic" which is being retired. Since this stamp set has no sentiments I pulled a stamp from "Flourishing Phrases". The card base is SU Pool Party. The inks that were used are Pool Party, Soft Sky and Smoky Slate -- all from Stamping Up.

Because Masculine cards are always a challenge, I wanted to include one. This card is on a white card base. Smoky Slate and Basic Gray with black accents make up the other card stock colors. The birds are from the Stampin' Up set "Wetlands". The backgound for the image was created with a stamp from the set "Gorgeous Grunge" using Memento Desert Sand and Sky Blue ink. These are such soft colors that they are ideal for adding color to a background.  The sentiment is from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. The dots were made using a paper punch, gluing them onto the card and covering them with a crystal lacquer.

Thank you for your visit today.