Thank You for Mint Macaron

May 30, 2015May 30, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Isn’t this lovely minty color so pretty? This is the third of the five new In-Colors for Stampin’Up! and I am already having so much fun with them. I wasn’t quite ready to let go of coastal cabana or some of the others, but this helps me feel better.

I hadn’t made a bag or box for a bit, so I thought I would do both. I am still using the same stamp set, A Whole Lot of Lovely, three days in a row. That just goes to show how versatile this set is.

Of course I got the new colors, but I also had to get all of the new lace trims as well. I am quickly getting attached to them. They are a little more subtle and opaque on my projects. More of an accent than a focus.

I left this bag rather simple. I wanted to just see the stamped image and focus on that. It really is pretty. I know I will be using this one like crazy. Speaking of crazy, that is what is in store for my day, so I had better get on it!

Have a creative day!

Moana

You’re Fabulous

May 29, 2015May 29, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Today I am using the same stamp set as yesterday, even if it is hard to tell. Stamps can be as versatile as you let them be. Example, I used the tiny floral stamp in the set to make the background paper. Yup, it started out as plain whisper white and then got exciting.

Watermelon Wonder, what a yummy name for a color. It is super springy and full of fun. I experimented with bringing in some basic black, and although it looked elegant alongside, I wanted to keep it monochromatic to showcase it.

I started stamping the flowers full strength and continued stamping off on the paper to create the background. I took it inside as well, but just in two opposite colors. I did some light sponging inside and on the front. I liked it so well, I took it across the whole piece and removed any white spaces. Talk about color, it is all there.

A double tag, a few bitty butterflies with rhinestones, and a touch of the new dotted lace trim and it was all done. Another project that is very likely to be used in next weekends workshop.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Glorious Painted Blooms

May 23, 2015May 23, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

When I sat down to create something for today’s blog I was stumped. I had been reading for a while and had a hard time getting focused. What I usually do when that happens is go to my designer series paper and pick something that catches my eye and work from there.

What I discovered tucked between to organizers of paper was an unopened set of the Painted Blooms designer series paper. Oh. My. Goodness. I felt like a little kid. I have loved this set so much and have used a ton of it.

Since it will be retiring with the spring catalog, I got really bold. I opened it up and took out my favorite pattern. The first pack I had I treasured this pattern and had the hardest time cutting in up. So, I just went for it. I used one whole sheet and made a beautiful gift bag to showcase it. It was quite liberating. Good thing there is two of each pattern in a package. I can still treasure the last one. Maybe I will do like others have and frame it.

I didn’t want to cover up one bit of it with a tag or any stamping. So, I went a little crazy with the seam binding ribbon. How perfect is this gift bag!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Yippee-Skippee in Love!

May 22, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

There are times when how I feel just saturates what I create. Today’s project set is a perfect example of that.

Last night I finished a lovely book in a series I had previously enjoyed. I am a middle school librarian, so I have the perfect excuse to revel in young adult literature. Who am I kidding, I would read it regardless. I have always enjoyed reading what my children do and visa versa.

Love, true love, is an obvious theme here. Even though the series continues and I have to wait for the next novel, I was left all emotional and girlie and super in love. Hence, the color choices and such.

I used a whole sheet of 12 x 12 silver foil velum here. Two card fronts and a lovely bag. I poured out the chevron ribbon, because I love it so, and added a few elegant embellishments. I knew these cards could be for a variety of occasions, so I left the sentiment off the front. I will stamp the inside with just the right thing when I put them to work.

I might have to fill the bag with truffles or something lovely and give it to my husband. That sounds just right.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Corner Garden Gift Bag

May 18, 2015May 18, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes I design a bag around a gift or to match some cards I have made. This time I wanted to work around a specific stamp. I wanted to do a tone on tone with the Corner Garden stamp set. The detail is fine and subtle, just the look I was going for.

The bag is large enough to hold plenty. It could hold a large set of cards and envelopes, or any number of things. It is sturdy too. A nice heavy cardstock bag with my favorite chevron ribbon. Bring on the heavy gift, I am totally ready.

At workshop Saturday my ladies teased me about my need to sponge the edges of everything. I was able to say that I had controlled myself and we only sponged one of our three projects. So I was feeling the need and definitely got busy on this bag. I just love the look it gives.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Park Lane Duo

May 12, 2015May 12, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

I started this set yesterday morning, got stumped, fussed last night, and finally fixed it this morning. I kept trying to put the yellow butterfly on the card front. Yes, the one I inlaid back into the gift bag I cut it from. Strange how things come together better when you give your creativity a break to refocus.

I colored the paper with my ink sponges. I didn’t want a lot of exact color, just subtle hints. So I just used the sponges with leftover ink already on them. It did the job just right. Of course my photos make it hard to see, but I love the effect.

When you use delicate die cuts it helps tremendously to sandwich wax paper in between the layers. The paper just pops out then. I decided to use the wax paper ones as well. I didn’t want to cover up the coloring and the yellow butterfly just took over.

After I swapped things around I fell in love. I attached my wax paper butterflies with some folded glue dots and then ran a string of basic pearls down the body. It gave such a delicate finish.

One quick stamp from the Sheltering Tree set and the card was done. No ribbon, no other extras, just some light color and transparent butterflies. Since they are so thin, the move when the card does. Beautiful.

Get out there and have a creative day!

Moana

Sassy Salutations with Flowering Flourishes

May 6, 2015May 6, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Let’s just say that my camera doesn’t always do me the best favors. It is pushing ten years of heavy use, guess that is to be expected. You get the idea though.

I was stumped for an idea, so I asked my youngest daughter for a little help. All I asked her for was a color, something to get me started. She said red, but not a love card. I took her challenge and had fun with it.

I don’t normally work in red, but I do like the results. I used two cut and ready card bases, retiring sad to say, for this set. One for the card and the other for the box. You could also make these from just one sheet.

I stamped on the velum with stazon and let it dry for a bit while I did the red stamping. I hid my adhesive under the stamping and my embellishments. Aren’t these just beautiful? When they went on sale I broke down and bought a couple of containers. So glad I did. They are also retiring.

Even though my camera didn’t help out too much today, I think you get the idea. Give yourself a challenge and see what happens. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Love is Kindness with Newsprint DSP

April 15, 2015April 15, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

I wasn’t sure what I would come up with last night. I had pulled some product to work with, but when I sat down to do it, I wasn’t feeling it. Total do over. How about this awesome stamp instead? Absolutely!

I had been waiting until closer to Mother’s Day to use this beauty, because it so reminded me of my mom. She always makes flowers look beautiful, no matter how they show up. Even in rumpled newspaper.

I had to do echo stamping inside, but wanted my gift bag to mirror the stamp as well. I think it worked out pretty good, don’t you? Both the card and bag were made from one sheet of card stock, plus a little scrap to frame my stamped image.

I really couldn’t wait to make the little pretend newspaper on this image, like so many other stampers have done. It was so fun, even if it was a bit tricky. You should totally give it a try.

Just looking at this set under my spotlights makes me smile. I absolutely love them. With workshop coming this weekend, I might have to change a project? No, I will stay firm, but I don’t want to.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Crazy About You With Elegance

April 14, 2015April 14, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

“When you feel terrible, can you still create something beautiful?” That is what I asked myself last night. I had an endodontist appointment yesterday that I thought was headed one way and took another. So, I wasn’t feeling very creative.

Or so I thought. I knew black was my base, I had been wanting to make something with black for several days. But the flower I wanted to stamp with I had just used and didn’t want to just create another card in another color. I pulled the Crazy About You set out and picked this flower out of it.

I was reaching for my momento tuxedo black ink when I saw the silver. I thought it could be cool to layer the stamping. Was I right or what?

I love how this turned out. I did learn, and please trust me on this one, that you have to clean your stamp after each layering stamp. I stamped in silver first and let them dry for a while. I went back in with the black, but it was picking up silver and then I was putting it back into the pad and getting silver in it. Not fun. So I ended up cleaning the stamp after each black flower was stamped. Not too tiring, but necessary. And yes, my ink pad survived nicely.

I placed just a few of the large basic rhinestones in the centers of the black flowers. It is kind of hard to tell with my photos, but they are the perfect touch. I added a touch of ribbon and left the sentiment out of it. They turned out very elegant. My matching gift bag has an angled purse look to it, and I absolutely love it.

Sorry for the long post, I was apparently feeling a bit chatty.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Blooming With Kindness Trio

April 10, 2015April 10, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

This set started with an experiment, had some problems, then turned the corner and gave me something beautiful. Pretty fun experiment there.

I started out wanting to use pink pirouette, saraha sand and very vanilla. The papers looked lovely together, however, the way they looked on the very vanilla compared to whisper white made all the difference.

The pink looked so different on the vanilla that it made it look like my card stock was the wrong color. That was odd for sure. But I loved the paper I had created using the huge flower from the blooming with kindness set, so I had to get creative.

I made other cards using the front and inside bits I had stamped on the very vanilla. Then I made another background piece on whisper white and the pinks were much more friendly. And I ended up loving the secondary cards more than my original. How about that?

Even though my results went a bit off, I do love the look I made. I stamped the flower with versamark ink onto the card stock and quickly sprinkled iridescent ice powder on the wet ink. I heat set it and while it was still tacky I hit it again with the powder and heat set it again. You can kind of see how shiny and sparkly it is.

Each card got a different sentiment, and they are all so beautiful. My daughter is the one that said we had to have the set. She was so right, my creative buddy.

Remember, there are no mistakes in art, only opportunities.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Throw Back Thursday with Essence of Love

April 9, 2015April 9, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

I so enjoy dipping into my older stamps to create something. It is easy to get caught up in all of the new product available. It is the perfect reminder that I love all of the stamps I buy, and they should still get used, even if they are retired.

As you can tell, this floral stamp still looks as crisp and beautiful as the first time it got used, which was nearly ten years ago. I even pulled out some retired paper. That venetian romance dsp set is so beautiful. I opened my last pack of it to make these cards.

I loved mixing all of these elements together. Any time I get to use oranges I am a happy crafter. This particular card set brings together all of my favorite things. Flowers, butterflies, elegant ribbon, more flowers, lots of orange (tangerine tango), and the most beautiful sentiments ever. Like I said, my favorites.

With all that said, get into your stash of your favorite things, make something beautiful, and have a creative day.

Moana

Mixed Bunch Work of Art

April 3, 2015April 3, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

I have Easter on the brain and these are the colors that keep coming to mind. So saffron and pear pizzazz. They are so lovely together. This might suggest I am ready for Easter. Ooops, I am not. I still have a bit of time though.

So, are you a card person, a bag or box person, or do you need a matching set? I keep going back and forth. But I do like a bag that is beautiful enough to be a card as well. This bag is big enough to hold a nice gift for sure. Almost too big for candies. Wait, is there a bag too big for candies?

I used the same stamp to decorate each piece to tie the set together. But, since they have the same sentiment, I wouldn’t use them together. They just coordinate nicely.

Either way, I enjoyed making them. I also hadn’t had the work of art set out for a while. That one just begs for a quiet afternoon to play with it. When does that happen anymore?

Well, I am off with my girls to enjoy our first day of spring break. Shopping and nails then lunch. Wonderful for sure!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Flower Shop Gift Box Part 1

April 1, 2015April 1, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

How about a big gift box for a change. I had to control myself and keep the cards separate from this post. You can see them tomorrow. Eight fit inside. Curious? Check it out tomorrow.

I used one sheet of 8.8 x 11″ cherry cobbler card stock for this box. Just some basic scoring, one tiny punch for a notch and a few snips. Then, the box is there.

I made a top with another layer of cherry cobbler, giving an 1/8″ border, with a stamped whisper white sheet also cut with another 1/8″ border. Simple stamping and some sponging. I had planned on putting flowers on top, but it was just too much.

So here we are, a nice simple box. It measures 6.5 x 4 x 1. Plenty of room for the cards I made to go inside, or something else fun and exciting for sure.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Yippee-Skippee! for Sale-a-bration!

March 31, 2015March 31, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Today is the last day of Sale-a-bration. So sad, but happy because of all of the beautiful and fun products I have been able to enjoy. I thought I would celebrate by giving myself a gift.

I started out with this gift bag in mind. I took a whole sheet of Irresistibly Yours DSP and sponged it like crazy with blushing bride. It was so beautiful just sitting there on my desk. When I cut the large pieces I needed for the bag I had a good portion left.

So, of course I had to make a set of cards to go along. The Yippee-Skipee! stamp set is chuck full of wonderful sayings, six all together. A great set to have, really. I have used it like crazy.

All I knew when I sat down is the color scheme and the designer paper. I was more than pleased when they all came together. The cards all fit so nicely inside the gift bag.

My Denali said that set spoke of lovely rich chocolate. So perhaps I will have to find just the right one to complete it. I really love this set. I love that I do this!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Hello There Painted Petals!

March 30, 2015March 30, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Bringing together my favorites once again. This whole painted blooms and painted petals brings me so much joy. Pairing it with this beautiful hello there phrase makes it work!

I think I could use the painted petals suite exclusively for some time without getting bored. Maybe that should be a challenge for me. Just how many different things can I make, while having them look different, from the same set. I like it!

Of course the paper I am showing here is either side of the same sheet. Yup, awesomeness on both sides! I just love that!

And my little punch buddy. That bow builder makes anything look wonderful. I even have a couple made up that just sit on my desk. They are adorable even all by themselves. What a treat!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Because You Care and Gold Soiree

March 28, 2015March 28, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Today is all about the paper. And I couldn’t decide on which combinations to use. The Gold Soiree specialty designer series paper is more than wonderful. The other sides of these two papers are equally awesome. You will get to see those tomorrow, so come back to check.

Can you see the obvious glare on the paper? I know my photos are less than ideal at times, but the glare is on purpose. I wanted you to see the glossy reflection. This paper is so smooth and glossy and just fancier than the rest. Hence the specialty title.

The colors in this set are some of my favorite. Especially calypso coral. Can I just say that in my last house I painted my laundry room just a few shades lighter than this. It was called marmalade. I got teased, but it was so super happy in there.

As you have noticed, I have been creating extra birthday cards. My mother-in-law is so good about sending out cards. So I keep her supplied. Last night she picked up six. She only needed three this month, but couldn’t decide and took six. So cute. Now I have to get back to work!

Hope you have a super creative day! Don’t forget to come back tomorrow to see how the other side looks.

Moana

Lovely Amazing You and Wisteria Wonder

March 27, 2015March 27, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Well, I finally did it. I jumped on the ‘feather’ bandwagon. I really didn’t see the big interest, just thought it wasn’t my thing.

That is until a friend talked about them at our last workshop and how she thought they were different and looked nice. You know what? She was totally right. Something else to be grateful for that was carried over into the spring catalog from last fall, the feather set. More to buy, oooops!

I did enjoy taking the paper and softening it up with ink. With the card above I just gave it a gentle sponging all over with the coordinating wisteria wonder ink. Below I gave it the ombre look. The photo gives you an idea, but it looks better in person, of course.

And of course I loved that I got to use a favorite ribbon that hadn’t been out in a while. I do so love the chevron ribbon. Good stuff there.

As we head into the weekend I think you should take a little time for yourself, and have a creative day!

Moana

Bloom With Hope Birthday

March 25, 2015March 25, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

I don’t think I can ever get enough of this color combination. It is just so soft and elegant. I am trying to get my fix of coastal cabana in before it retires this summer. I really do love this color.

The sale-a-bration designer paper I used is already soft and pretty. But doesn’t it look even dreamier with velum over the top? Absolutely yes!

This cute box is open on top and is ready to be filled. My girls thought it should be filled with hershey’s kisses. How fun to have this out and ready to be shared!

Can you see the echo stamping I did on the inside of the card. It looks just as pretty in blue as it does in black on the front. I do love the inside stamped.

Well, this set speaks for itself, in volumes. You should try it out.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Kinda Eclectic Ray of Sunshine

March 21, 2015March 21, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Eclectic is the true nature of this card. A little bit of everything coming together to create something beautiful. With these colors, stamped images, punches, and a perfect Walt Whitman quote, how could you go wrong?

Of course I had to layer in the 1/8th” fashion as is my thing these days. But it makes me happy, even if it seems a bit wasteful. I often punch or cut out underneath anyway, so it isn’t too bad. I didn’t think I would notice if I inked the edges or not in such a narrow border, but you totally do. It looked almost plain otherwise with this combo. Interesting.

When I stamped inside I used just the corner of the sunburst, it was just right. It made me think of a quilt block I have never been brave enough to try. I think I have seen it called New York beauty and it involves paper piecing to keep those points just so. Beautiful, but daunting. Maybe someday.

Well, today is workshop day, so I had to keep it brief. No time for a second variation of the card and a matching bag. I still have to get to the store before I go!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Balloon Bash Gone Wild

March 17, 2015March 17, 2015 ~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

This got a bit wild I think, but my girls thought it was great. I suppose for teen girls it would be. Sometimes we need to just step outside a bit and see what happens.

I suppose I should have done something green, for St. Patrick’s Day, oooops. I am wearing what I call my grinch shoes. Quite comfy, if a bit silly too.

I digress…so let’s focus here. This tiny bag is just 2 x 2 x 3 1/2″, but you could fill it with lots of little treats or a gift or two. It looks adorable, don’t you think?

I normally have to use a die cut or punch for my sentiments. I was distracted and found myself fussy cutting. So I just went that way all around. Admittedly, I am not the best at that. I avoid it as much as possible actually. I know, it’s silly.

The stacked with love paper stack isn’t just about Valentine’s Day. The back side of the red prints are more than fun in all of these exciting black and white patterns. I use it more than my other stacks to be honest. Interesting.

Have a creative day!

Moana

studio824

Creativity for all seasons and reasons.

feminine

Thank You for Mint Macaron

You’re Fabulous

Glorious Painted Blooms

Yippee-Skippee in Love!

Corner Garden Gift Bag

Park Lane Duo

Sassy Salutations with Flowering Flourishes

Love is Kindness with Newsprint DSP

Crazy About You With Elegance

Blooming With Kindness Trio

Throw Back Thursday with Essence of Love

Mixed Bunch Work of Art

Flower Shop Gift Box Part 1

Yippee-Skippee! for Sale-a-bration!

Hello There Painted Petals!

Because You Care and Gold Soiree

Lovely Amazing You and Wisteria Wonder

Bloom With Hope Birthday

Kinda Eclectic Ray of Sunshine

Balloon Bash Gone Wild