My goal the last few weeks has been to use retired cardstock colors and retired stamp sets. I hate to see all that paper and ink go to waste, so why not get creative? Some of the reasons I love Stampin' Up stamps are their designs and the detail of the stamps. I've tried many other brands over the years in addition to Stampin' Up but they just never seem to compare in quality or design.
The Architectural Elements set is a retired set but it is still one of my favorites. I used the bleach technique with this set and am always amazed at the detail that still shows up. I am away from home at the moment so can't look up the exact colors I used. I'm thinking it was Bordering Blue and of course the bBasic Black. I love layering the same color to keep it simple and elegant but give it some dimension. I used black ink to define the edges of the cardstock. This is a great masculine card.
This is also one of my favorites. Wonderful detail in the stamps. I believe it's called Kind Thoughts. (I may have to come back and edit this blog with all the correct names and colors.) I used Whisper White, Not Quite Navy and River Rock cardstock, Not Quite Navy ink and then white craft ink for the blue background.
This card is made of Pixie Pink and Regal Rose cardstock. Once again using retired stamps and paper. I used the Letters from Friends and Trimtastic stamp sets. I stamped my images in Timber Brown Staz On ink so that I could water color the images using the new Baked Brown Sugar ink and retired inks: Taken with Teal, Regal Rose, More Mustard and Going Gray. I also added some buttons to give it a collage look. The primary image was torn and brushed with the Baked Brown Sugar ink to give it a charred effect. Regal Rose cardstock was put through the Big Shot using the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder to give depth to the card. I just love the embossing folders. So fun and easy.
This card has a Going Gray base, Bordering Blue trimmed with Basic Black cardstock with the image from Carte Postale stamped on Going Gray in Basic Black ink.
The Embrace Life card is a design I CASEd off of Split Coast stampers. You will find some marvelous inspiration and talented people on that site. I used Apricot Appeal, Basic Black,Whisper White and Bliss Blue cardstock on this card. I also used the Apricot Appeal , Bliss Blue and Staz On black ink with a watercolor technique on this card. Embellished with a pearl from the Stampin' Up accessories line. I love watercoloring images. It's soothing, kind of like coloring in a color book. Even cutting out the images can have a calming effect. Probably why I was working on these at 3 a.m. when I couldn't sleep.
This next card is from the Country Morning set (also retired). The Very Vintage jumbo wheel was used to do the background on the More Mustard cardstock. I used More Mustard (ret.), Basic Black, and water color paper to make this card. The black cardstock was put through the Big Shot using a houndstooth embossing folder.
Another set I love is the Doodle This set. I used Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana and Whisper White cardstock for this. I stamped the flowers with black Staz On and the stems were stamped and water colored with Certainly Celery. Flowers were colored with Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana and Lovely Lilac inks.
Thanks for checking out some of my latest cards. I will be showing off some of the new colors, stamps and embossing folders soon.
