Packing a Punch!

I'm hoping today's post will pack a punch, but I don't have the punch I needed for the card I made today for my good friend, Dee's birthday.  I wanted a small 5 petal flower punch, but had to make do with a 4 petal Sizzlit die with my Big Shot.  Four petal flowers look stylized because of their symmetry, and I wanted something a bit more realistic-looking.  I made quite a few layers and staggered them to give the impression of more petals.  I decided to join the Pals Paper Arts Challenge#132 this week.  It was a colour challenge with our palette being Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink and Certainly Celery.

Here's my take on the challenge:

I like those three colours together and the stamp sets, Stampin' Up's Elements of Style and Elementary Elegance are beautiful.  I used the embossing folder Petals A-Plenty on the Certainly Celery and Pretty in Pink panels.  But those flowers just are not doing it for me, even with all the manipulating I did - curling, separating, crumpling, sponging and everything short of feeding them to the cats! 

I just need to order myself some new flower punches or dies, but that will have to wait for awhile since I just made a large order for some business basics.

I would also like to share a Get Well Soon card for my daughter, who is recovering from surgery.  She loves ochre and brick colours and so the palette I used for this card is More Mustard and Cajun Craze.  The DSP I used is from the Well Worn pack.

The stamp sets are Daring Adventure and Teeny Tiny Wishes, and even though the wishes are teeny, we're hoping that the thoughts and prayers are big enough to help her feel more like her lovable self! 

Have a wonderful Easter weekend!

MOJO Monday on Tuesday - The Sequel

What a busy place it was around here today!  We had a new high efficiency furnace installed, but as the furnace cubbyhole is right next to my craft room, it was out of bounds for most of the day.  Talk about itchin' to get stampin'!!  Well, I just got started with the card I had been planning, when it was time to go visit my Stampin' Up demonstrator, Tamara.  I went to see her to find out how to become a Stampin' Up demonstrator!  I'm really excited to be part of Tamara's team.  Everyone is soo much fun and we always have a great time when we're together!  So now, you'll be able to access the amazing Stampin' Up products through me, when I get it all set up!

But on with the card.  This one was made for my daughter and son-in-law, as they are moving into a larger apartment on Thursday and we are helping them move.  It was also made for the MOJO Monday Challenge #232.  Here's the sketch we had to work from and I really liked the layout.

And here's my take on the design:

Don't you just love that shiny paper?  Did I mention I like shiny?  I bought some bronze and green metallic paper at the craft store the other day.  Not sure what the brand is, though.  I used some SU Chocolate Chip cardstock for the base and the bottom panel is Cajun Craze textured card stock embossed with the SU Flower Garden embossing folder.  The ribbon is just some I had in my collection already (probably saved from a gift).  My photo doesn't show the stamped sentiment very well, but it is quite clear in real life.

The foliage is die cut on my Big Shot using the Little Leaves Sizzlit and also using the Spellbinders Shapeabilities Foliage set I mentioned a post or two ago.  The flowers are made with the SU Floral Fusion Sizzlit and two new little punches I bought from ek tools.  They are held together with some SU brads.

The significance of the sentiment stamped from SU Word Play is that now my oldest daughter and her husband have a suite with more room, they will be able to start thinking about the next phase of their family life.  Wink! Wink! Nudge! Nudge!