Tag Archives: Sky is the Limit

Sky is the Limit

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I’ve been trying to avoid the pun that it’s my head, but it’s no use! I have to say that it took a while for me to get off the ground with this stamp set. There. I said it! 🙂 The Sky is the Limit set is one of the Sale-a-bration sets that was guaranteed until February 15th but it’s still available as of the time of writing. I wouldn’t wait much longer if you want it though – it’s free with an order of $50 (not including postage and tax).

Stampin' Up! Sky is the limit and Endless Birthday Wishes and Sweet Li'l Things DSP

I love the typeface of the sentiments (although I didn’t use them here – they didn’t fit) but I wasn’t expecting to use the plane much. But the stamp has been used quite a few times. I was inspired by the sketch challenge at CAS on Sundays and I actually had a totally different plan, but the plane insisted that it be used again.  Especially as I wanted a male birthday card. Here’s the sketch banner:

I started by selecting the DSP which is from Sweet Li’l Things and cut it to the right shape and then stamped out the aeroplane in basic black. This seemed to harsh so I tried early espresso which was much better. The sentiment needed to be fairly concise and that’s the beauty of the Endless Birthday Wishes – you can mix and match and fill all sorts of different spaces. I stamped this in early espresso and then snipped out my plane. It’s not a big deal but I wouldn’t fancy making a dozen of this design! I originally intended to use a very vanilla card base but, as I usually do, I tested a few more colours and early espresso was the clear winner. I decided to match the envelope liner to the pool party colour of the DSP.

I rather like this sketch and definitely intend to go back to my original idea – as long as the plane doesn’t get pushy again!

See you tomorrow,

Liz

Balloon Celebration

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As you’ve probably noticed, I really love the Balloon Celebration set. This is a bit of a surprise to me – obviously I expected to like it otherwise I wouldn’t have bought it, but I didn’t expect to use it quite as much as I have. I used it so much that a couple of weeks ago my sister Caro (blog here) said that if I did another design card using it, I’d probably get a cheeky comment! I forgot to ask how many weeks I needed to restrain myself before balloons were allowed again… 🙂

This card is using the colour palette from a February challenge where I made a number of balloon cards. It really shows how a card is changed by using a different card base.

Stampin' Up! Balloon Celebration and Sky is the Limit

Here’s a previous card but on a white background which gives is a totally different feel.

Stampin' Up! Balloon Celebration and Sky is the limit and Softly Fallling TIEF

So my point today is that it is worth taking the time to try out different card bases to get the look that you want. I almost always try out combinations of different mats and card bases.

To continue with today’s card. To save you looking back, the colours are melon mambo, pumpkin pie and pink pirouette and I stamped the design on each balloon in the same ink as the card

Balloon celebration bubbles

I used the balloon bouquet punch to punch them out and then positioned them over the strings that I stamped in my favourite black, the archival basic black. On this card, the strings came together in one place so they look like an organised bunch (a bow was too much over the top there) whereas on the previous card, the balloons looked as if they’d been let go and were floating off, separating from each other. In my opinion anyway!

The sentiment is from the retiring Sale-a-bration set, Sky is the Limit, but when I checked just now, it’s still available. If you want it, snap it up quickly. The typeface of the sentiments is beautiful. I then mounted the whisper white piece onto a melon mambo card base.

I finished off the envelope by embossing the flap with the elegant dots embossing folder

Elegant dots tief

It’s a very quick and fun way to make a big impact.

See you tomorrow,

Liz

Perfectly Artistic DSP

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As I mentioned the other day, we have three new Sale-a-bration free items to replace the three that are retiring. But when I checked last night, they are still retiring and not retired. So you may still have a little time to snap them up. Here’s a non-pink card that I made at the weekend using two of the retiring freebies

Stampin' Up! Perfectly Artistic and Sky is the Limit

I fully intended to use the other side of the Perfectly Artistic DSP  – the side that looks as if it belongs on the endpapers of an old hard backed book but when I decided to add the biplane from the Sky is the Limit set it occurred to me that there was part of the paper that looked like smoke. So I added clouds in craft white ink (there are two sizes of clouds in the Sky is the Limit set) on the watercolor side of the Perfectly Artistic DSP and switched from tempting turquoise swirls to soft sky on the watercolor side. I used the heat gun to dry the craft ink a bit but even then, left it over dinner to let it really dry. I then stamped the beautiful happy birthday sentiment from the same set (the other sentiments are in the same gorgeous typeface) in archival basic black and the plane onto a scrap of whisper white. I cut it out using my paper snips and popped it up with dimensionals. The whole piece was put onto a soft sky card base. The envelope is lined with a piece of retired soft sky backgrounds DSP cut out with the envelope liners and the big shot. I really like making the envelopes interesting. I had thought in a sexist manner that only females would notice them but one of the guys at work noticed a lined envelope at Christmas. So really, all envelopes need to be decorated.

My today’s order is still picking so it will be a week or so before I can share cards with the new Sale-a-bration items. I look forward to it but for now, I’m happy playing with the previous freebies.

See you tomorrow,
Liz

Sky is the Limit for 11 more days!

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Here’s a birthday card which I’m really happy with – especially as it targets that hard to make type of card – the masculine one.

Stampin' Up! Sky is the Limit and Endless Birthday Wishes and Going Places DSP and Hello You thinlits dies

I stamped the biplane from the Sky is the limit set on crumb cake in archival black and, presumably because I was at a crop and had loads of time, fussy cut it out. Actually this was the second biplane – the DSP says it’s sahara sand but crumb cake was a warmer tone and looked better with the DSP. So I need to find another use for a snipped out biplane soon. I liked the Going Places DSP very much and this one gives an impression of mountains which fits rather well with the plane. I matted this in black and mounted it on a crumb cake card base. Then I used the Hello You thinlits to cut out a happy sentiment in basic black. Before sticking this down, I stamped the birthday greeting from Endless Birthday Wishes in crumb cake. Just in case there was an issue. But happily it worked out okay, stamped on one of the mountains and then I could position the happy. I used the 2 way glue pen to stick this down – it seems the easiest method. It doesn’t ooze and the angled tip makes it easy to apply to small places. After putting the matted piece onto the crumb cake base, I attached the plane, popped up on stampin’ dimensionals. I’d say that this card was a success judging by the reaction from the nearby ladies. I used the leftover piece from the 6″ by 6″ DSP to line the outside flap of the matching envelope.

And why only for 11 more days? This is a set that you can get for free as part of the Sale-a-bration promotion but this particular set is only available through February 16th. So if you need this one, you need to spend $50 on product and then select this as your free item. If you don’t have the Hello You dies or the Going Places DSP, might I suggest you add them to your basket right away as a start?

See you tomorrow,

Liz

Balloon Celebration for CC&S

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It’s Thursday which means it’s time for another challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches. It’s the beginning of a new month too so the hostess duties change over – this month it’s Stef’s turn to set the challenges. I went to the crop at the weekend armed with the upcoming challenges hoping to get ahead. And here I am typing this on Wednesday night! But at least I got my card done. Actually, I got next week’s too although I used this week’s colours. I was quite amused when I produced my card to realise it fit both challenges. I figured that people would notice if I reused it two weeks in a row, so I started over for the colour challenge.

Stampin' Up! Balloon Celebration and Sky is the limit and Softly Fallling TIEF

Here’s the banner which inspired this card:

This challenge set the stage for a lot of my weekend cardmaking – I’m thinking about banning myself from using pink on my next card! Balloon Celebration got quite a bit of use too. I first stamped the balloons with their bubbles in their matching inks and then punched them out with the matching punch (which this time, I’d remembered to pack, thank goodness). I then came up with an arrangement I liked and then stamped the strings in basic black more or less where I was planning. Then I stamped the sentiment from the Sky is the Limit stamp set because I’ve found (through making an error) that it doesn’t work brilliantly trying to stamp when there are things popped up on the card. The pink pirouette and pumpkin pie balloons are glued to the whisper white card base (which has the fold at the top for a change) and the melon mambo one is popped up with a few dimensionals.

I decided to dry emboss the envelope and used the Softly Falling TIEF which sort of reminds me of balloons with all the bubbles.

I hope that you’ll pop over to the CAS Colours & Sketches site and check out the rest of the inspiration from the Design Team. And then have a go yourself.

See you tomorrow,

Liz