Merry & Bright

Here's a pretty quick card for you tonight. I received this paper this last year some time from a publication. I hadn't used it because I believe I received it some time in the spring. Anyway, I "refound" it and was inspired. I thought it'd be fun to use a rub-on on some ribbon, so that's what I did. It's really very basic and I figured with paper as pretty as this, you might as well let it shine!

Asian Lanterns

Here's a quick birthday card I made with some new-ish stamps that I haven't used to their full potential yet. I really love making a branchy scene and adding something slightly dimensional to it, like flowers, or birds, or these fabulous lanterns. There's not much else going on here, I was just having fun making that particular scene. I added a birthday greeting and found a nice patterned paper that coordinated well enough.

Supplies:
Stamps: Far East, Say it in Script (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Paper: Vintage Cream, Dark Chocolate, Bali Breeze DP (I think?)
Ink: Lady Bug, Dandelion, Tangelo, Rich Cocoa
Accessories, etc.: pop dots (do I remember how to make a card without them anymore?!?)

A Birthday Flower

Here's a quick card I made last night. I really love the fancy label shape. I knew I wanted to set a flower in the shape, so that's what just what I did. First I chose the flower, then picked a size that worked well with my intentions (setting the flower off center to the bottom and still having room for a greeting). Once I had that, I had to decide what to do with the rest of the card. I decided to go with a simple scallops and white polka dots on brown. Ideally I would've liked to put lemon tart satin ribbon on here, but I don't have any, and I don't have the right colour Copic to match that lusciously lemon cardstock from PTI.

Also, in case you're wondering, I'm kind of a bit crazy about having my layers being 1/8'' or under, and unfortunately these Nestabilities dies are more along the lines of 1/4'' apart, perhaps a bit more. If you're patient and a little crazy, like me, this is easily resolved by taking your one layer, adhering it to your next layer and cutting around the first one, leaving your fine mat. I guess I'm just used to cutting approximately 1/8'' mats around items of all shapes, so it's really become no big thing for me.
Supplies: Stamps: Birthday Basics, Garden of Life, Polka Dot Basics
Ink: Dandelion, New Sprout, White, Rich Cocoa
Paper: Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise, Textured Chocolate, Whisper White
Accessories, etc: Nestabilities Labels One & Long Scalloped Rectangles,White Satin Ribbon, pop dots

In the meantime, we've been getting a bit of this stuff this week. So it actually looks (and feels) like Christmas. There's nothing quite like big fluffy snowflakes and temperatures that approach -30C. Although today it was actually quite nice out, it was -11 when I last checked.

Sweet!

For this card, I had a bunch of ideas running through my head because I wanted to use at least 3 elements. First off, I wanted to use the happy gingerbread man, secondly I wanted to make background strips with the silhouette images, and thirdly, I wanted to place a greeting somewhere, but I wanted it to really pop out.

As is pretty typical for me lately, I started by colouring the main image, then found paper to match. I realized the colours I chose reminded me of Neapolitan taffy. And just like that, it came together. I stamped one silhouette image per coloured strip. Next I decided on the greeting "sweet". I decided that didn't quite cut it though, so I got out my stamp-a-ma-jig and place the rest of this holiday greeting around it. I have to say, this is not a typical "me" card, but I like how it turned out. It's just fun.

Supplies:

Stamps: Santa's Sweet Shoppe and Sentiments

Ink: Rich Cocoa, Pixie Pink, Lemon Tart, Creamy Caramel

Paper: Chocolate Chip, White, Creamy Caramel, Pixie Pink, Lemon Tart

Accessories, etc.: Pop dots, deck the halls quickutz alpha, Copics, SAMJ

A few holiday brights

I uploaded these two cards to the Starving Artistamps gallery blog today so I thought I'd share them here as well. I know I tend to lean towards 2 colour palettes over everything else, brights and earth tones. Well, with this stamp set, I just couldn't resist bringing on the brights in full force. They are just so cheerful!

First up is my favorite polar bear. I had considered doing the white shading with the greys, but I had just done another card doing that, so I went with the icy light aqua. I decided to get really crazy and pair that with its retro complimentary colour- coral, and then I brought in a touch of olive (as if it wasn't feeling a retro enough vibe yet!). For this card, I knew based on past experience that PTI's Berry Sorbet and Sweet Blush were well matched to the coral Copics I coloured with. However, I knew it'd be difficult to find the perfect aqua. So I did the old standby. Cut out a piece of white cardstock with a nestability and then coloured just the edges with my aqua marker. I was even more certain that I would never find matching ribbon, so I cut a strip of 1/2 white satin and coloured that. It's interesting what alcohol based markers do fabric. The ribbon still has its sheen and satin softness, but it becomes very stiff as the colour soaks in. This can be beneficial though, that knot is not going anywhere.

Next up is a simpler card (well less layers and no embellishments). I decided to make a scene using masking as my main technique. So first up I stamped the sleigh, then Santa, then the 2 elves. Once again the marker colours dictated the rest of the card's colour choices. I tend to do that, but hey it usually works out, so why not right?

Supplies:

Stamps: Santa's Sweet Shoppe, Holiday Sweet Shoppe Sentiments , Dot Background

Ink: Tuxedo Black, Versamark

Paper: Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet, Real Red, Green Galore, White,

Accessories, etc.: satin ribbon, pop dots, nestability

Wishing You Peace

Here's a fairly quick holiday card. These stamps all come the Cat's Pajamas Elegant Christmas set. I thought that the swirled pattern would pair nicely with the patterns in the Ski Slope paper. I had already picked a brown, white, and metallic theme, which I was quite happy with, but that touch of Baja Breeze really livened up the whole card. I had the reindeer only stamped once, but it seemed too flat, so I stamped a second image, cut it out and placed over the first with pop dots.

Supplies:
Stamps: Elegant Christmas
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Gold
Paper: Metallic Mocha, Ski Slope, White, Chocolate Chip
Accessories, etc.: White satin ribbon, pop dots, chocolate chip grosgrain

Make a Wish!

I finally made time to use some of my latest acquisitions. I had been eyeing this birthday set for quite some time and finally picked it up when it was on sale last month. I used the Hawaii Papaya patterned paper as my colour inspiration. It's a pretty standard layout, but I was on a square kick tonight, so that was a slight change.

Supplies:

Stamps: Big Bold Birthday

Ink: Really Rust, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip

Paper: Chocolate, Kiwi, White, Hawaii Papaya

Accessories, etc.: Chocolate Twill, pop dots, stickles

Oops!

I just realized it's been almost two weeks since I posted... So here's a quick card I made last week, I think. It's a design I'm sure you've seen several times before. However, I still love using it. Plus it uses this ultra cheap metallic cord I found at Superstore of all places. It forms so nicely. It actually keeps the bow shape quite nicely.Supplies:
Stamps: Snowflake Spot, another Stampin' Up! Christmas set
Paper: Shimmery White
Accessories, etc.: Silver EP, Organdy, Silver Cord

Sandy Olives and Celery

Hmm, what an appetizing title that is, however the colours are quite appealing together! That's right it's time for another KWernerDesign Colour Challenge. I liked this subtle mix of greens and neutrals. Sahara Sand is a highly neglected neutral in my papers. I tend to grab kraft instead, but it's a nice colour!Onto the card! I've been fiddling with parts of this card since 10:30 this morning. I really wanted to make glitter letters. For the first batch I used green glitter and sticky tape, with a celery backing. Well, that wasn't a very good colour match. Next, I decided on celery cardstock, a bit of mod podge and clear glitter. Then I left my table for a while, took the cat out (so she could realize again that winter has arrived), had lunch, tidied up my craft table (and didn't misplace my letters, amazingly!), then finally come back to the project. I found that the celery letters contrasted best on the olive background. Next I wanted to bring in some embossing and polka dots. I decided on a layout, found this cute chipboard flower that I customized, added a bit of ribbon and a button to the card, and 3.5 hours later I was finally done!

I quite like how it turned out. At first I was going to have it only say "friend", but that seemed a tad stupid. All my friends know they are my friends, why announce it on a card? So I tagged on happy birthday in front of it.

Supplies:

Stamps: Polka Dot Basics, Birthday Basics

Ink: Versamark, White, Olive Olive

Paper: White, Sahara Sand, Old Olive, Certainly Celery

Accessories, etc.: Chipboard flower, button, ribbon, pearly sparkly EP, white EP, Chocolate Alphabet, pop dots

A sketch challenge

It's been a while since I participated in a sketch challenge (other than my own at CAS that it). When I saw all the fun sketches going on in the Verve forum, I thought I'd join in. I jotted down all 5 sketches, then made them in the order of most complex to least complex. It's been so long since I've made a more complicated card, I wasn't sure if I would remember how...

Since this was a Verve event, I decided to get out all my Verve stamps and give them a little lovin'. You know how it is sometimes, you get in a bit of a rut of always reaching for the same types of stamps and you neglect all that other amazing stuff you have. Before I started, I actually did a little bit of planning. I assessed each sketch and wrote down which Verve images I thought would work out best for each sketch. I even stuck to that. The colours and minor details just kind of fell into place along the way.

For this first card (which is actually the second sketch), I had decided on using Filigree Fantasy Filigree Fantasy. It's such an elegant set, so I decided to do a bit of copper embossing, especially since I have this gorgeous copper paper to match. Well that worked nicely, but then I was a bit stuck on what colour to pair it with. I went through my SU! patterned paper stash and came across Apple Cider. While it obviously doesn't have copper in it, it does have Really Rust. That rust goes fairly nicely with River Rock. So that's how I came about this semi-unusual colour combo!

Supplies:

Stamps: Filigree Fantasy, Great Expectation

Paper: White, River Rock, Copper, Apple Cider

Ink: Versamark

Accessories, etc.: Copper EP, ribon, brads

3-D Poinsettia

I was in the mood for colouring this afternoon, and with the snow from last night, it only seemed appropriate to make it a Christmas card. I stamped the poinsettia (from a year in flowers) and the leaves twice, cut them out, then coloured them. I only cut out part of the second flower to get a cooler layered effect. I added a bit of stickles, then applied gold glitter overtop (originally I had used cinnamon stickles, but I decided I wanted a bit more gold). For the background I stamped French Script in a once stamped off Creamy Caramel, then sponged all around the edges. Next up, I used my mini Scor-it (seriously love that tool, I use it for ALL my cards now!). I don't recall what this type of fold is called, but basically, I scored 3/4'' in from the center fold. That gets glued together, then you have a bit more of a square canvas to work with. Finally, I stamped and embossed the sentiment on vanilla, then cut it out with a tag die. That got tied onto this funky 40% metallic ribbon I found in my stash. It's like wire edged ribbon, without the edge. It's pretty neat stuff, very flexible, but it keeps its shape. For the curled edges, I simply wrapped it around a pencil. I quite like how it came together, considering it started out with the desire to colour something.

Supplies:
Stamps: A Year in Flowers, French Script
Ink: Rhubarb Stalk, Bamboo Leaves, Creamy Caramel, Versamark
Paper: Vanilla, Caramel, Shimmer Willow
Accessories, etc.: Gold EP, Copics, pop dots, gold glitter, stickles, gold cord, gold ribbon, tag die cut

Have you seen??

Irene has done it again! The latest DoodleFactory release is AMAZING. I think my favorite image is Coco the polar bear, too cute.

You have a chance to win the stamps here (click link :D ). Or if you'd rather not risk it, you can always purchase them, they start shipping next week some time. The matching sentiments are free when you buy the full unmounted sheet. That offer is good until Christmas!

Assignments and Challenges

As I mentioned before, I am currently enrolled in an online scrapbook class. ( Design Your Life at Big Picture Scrapbooking) It's been really awesome so far. I've been doing the assignments in digital format, paper format, and sometimes hybrid. The new assignments come out on Thursdays, so I was inspired to make a layout.This week's theme is Unity. I had my pictures all chosen, my journaling all printed out, and then it hit me. The latest KWD colour challenge was perfect for my layout, most of the colours or ones of similar tones could be found in my photographs!

Here's the half that photographed better. Other than the fact that week's theme is Unity, I think its able to stand alone quite decently

If you want to read the journaling: "Okay, so maybe two people isn’t exactly a convention, but we certainly had a lot of fun going through the baskets of hats that my mom had brought out for the evening’s Halloween party. It all started with Tamara finding her apparently “lost” Disney boas. So those got put on, then we just went from there. I have this obsession with the silly bee hat. It’s pretty much impossible to keep a straight face with that hat one. Next up came the medieval headband mixed with clown hair. That was a really crowd pleaser. Finally we needed a group shot. So with boas all around, a pirate hat for me, and this strange corduroy hat for Tamara, we got this ridiculous shot in. Good times all around."

My photography of 2 page layouts is less than awesome. I kept the page pretty simple, like my cards. But here's a close-up of my flower cluster.

Supplies:

Paper: Pacific Point, White, Eggplant, Pumpkin Pie, Teal

Accessories, etc.: Trio Flower punch, brads, felt fusion flower, Secrets Font, pop dots

Birthday Purses

I finally picked up some stamps from Gina K. These ones were designed by Rupa Shevde. I love her clean, detailed, graphic line designs. I've been wanting this set since it first came out, but I just kept putting it off.

I needed to design a birthday card for my mom's boss, I thought that these purses seemed perfect for her. I coloured them in with Copics, then cut them out, popped them over another stamped image, and added a bit of bling to the olive coloured purse. I was going to make the card in really bright tones, but it just didn't seem right. I'm glad I settled on earthy tones, it just seemed more appropriate for the recipient. To add that little extra something, I applied the Swiss Dot folder to some Kiwi cardstock then sprayed a shimmer spray.

And just so you can see the effect of the popped up purses, here's a close-up.

Supplies: Stamps: Retro Boutique
Ink: Tuxedo Black
Paper: White, Kiwi Kiss, Black
Accessories, etc.: Copics, Spicas, shimmer spray, Swiss Dot folder, gemstone, pop dots

CPS89

This week's CPS sketch is sponsored by Starving Artistamps, so the design team decided to play along! Here's my take on the sketch. I decided on images first, chose my marker colours, then found cardstock to match. I just love these mushrooms from the Fairy Tale sheet. I used various Copics to colour them in, added a red mat, then stamped some of my own patterned paper using the Dot background. I decided to let the mushrooms star in the image panel, since I was pairing them with the punny "fungi" sentiment.

Supplies:
Stamps: DoodleFactory FairyTale, Fairy Tale Sentiments, Dot Background
Paper: White, Pure Poppy, Spring Moss, Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie
Ink: Tuxedo Black-Memento, Wild Wasabi
Accessories, etc.: Copics, pop dots

Autumn Birthday

I really do love this leaf image from PTI's Text Boxed! I especially love how it's such a bold image and therefore works well with spectrum techniques. For this one I applied the spectrum of colours directly to the stamp. I used Memento dye inks, as I find these really stick and blend well on clear stamps. The order was Dandelion, Cantaloupe, Tangelo, Potter's Clay. I love how well the colours blended! I stamped my greeting into the image using Rich Cocoa. The rust paper was embossed with clear embossing powder. Finally, I really wanted to add ribbon, but I wanted to keep the earthy vibe. So I found some poly twill and stamped the leaf image onto that. It worked quite well. The ink has spread a little bit more (I used a dye ink), but I like the softness that adds.

Supplies:

Stamps: Text Boxed, Faux Ribbon

Ink: Dandelion, Cantaloupe, Tangelo, Potter's Clay, Rich Cocoa, Versamark

Paper: White, Chocolate, Really Rust, Kraft

Accessories, etc.: corner rounder, twill, clear embossing powder

Blog Hop

For the past few months I've been meaning to participate in Papertrey Ink's Blog Hop. When I saw that this month's theme was polka dots, how could I resist?? I actually forgot that today was the 25th, so I relied on an "old stand-by" layout, as I whipped this one together in 20 minutes or so. I changed it up a bit, since I added these cool mulberry primas I bought last week. They coordinate so nicely with Berry Sorbet! I finished the flowers off with pearls, since that went well with the shine of the satin ribbon.

Can't wait to see what everyone else did!

Supplies:

Stamps: Birthday Basics, Polka Dot Basics

Ink: Berry Sorbet, White Craft

Paper: Pink Patterns, Berry Sorbet, Kraft, White

Accessories, etc.: Mulberry Primas, half pearls, satin ribbon

Iced Cupcake

How cute is this cupcake image! I thought it'd be fun to make the image very dimensional. I stamped the cupcake on the white, then I stamped the cupcake again and the candle on some other white cardstock. I cut out the top and the candle, coloured everything then, covered bits of the top and flame with glitter then pieced it all together. For the little tag, I started out from a cut out double-ended tag. I can never get tags tied exactly where I want, so I placed the base strip of ribbon, then carefully tied the tag with the another piece of the same ribbon onto that strip. I was quite happy when it actually worked. It's an almost seamless look- it looks like the knot is attached to the base strip. Another tip, one I've done in the past, but is worth repeating: if you chose colours of markers before selecting your cardstock, consider colouring the edges one of your layers with the same markers. Here I coloured the green stripes with Willow, so I cut out a scalloped circle from white paper then just coloured the edges before attaching the cupcake image. Easy and quick!

Supplies:
Stamps:Sentiments Fairytale, Simple Birthday, Dots Background
Ink: Rich Cocoa, Regal Rose
Paper: Sweet Blush, White
Accessories, etc.: Copic markers, ribbon, various nestabilities(circles, double edged tags), Stamper's Magic Tape (for applying the glitter on the cupcake top), glitter

Beaded Flowers

A week or so back I was working on a design for the CaS blog. I also happened to be going through an old desk and found beads that day. While making the card, I realized that beads would be the perfect addition to the cherry blossom branch in Eastern Blooms. Although it's a cute idea, it didn't really fit into my plan for something quick, clean, and simple. So that idea got shuffled to the back of my mind. This weekend, I decided to give it a shot. I have to say, I love how it turned out, and I have a LOT of beads, so I will be sure to try this more often.

To apply the beads, I added a tiny droplet of crystal effects to each flower center. Next I placed the beads into the glue using tweezers (this is a great tip to help you from going insane). Then, let dry. It's not super complex, but it does require a bit more patience than some techniques. For the rest of the card, I decided to pair Baja Breeze with Soft Sky. I added a bit of Close to Cocoa in there. That's definitely one thing that makes me a tad sad about the In Colors- so many of the past years' colours work well with the current colours. Other details: the Baja scalloped strip was stamped with Baja coloured branches, than again with Soft Sky Linen (it feels like forever since I got creative with BG stamps!) The strip of ribbon is actually just a tad darker than the cocoa, but it looks crazy dark in the photo.

Anyway, it's nice when a card turns out exactly as planned. I really like the layout and seriously, if you have lots of beads lying around, think about applying them in this way!

Supplies:

Stamps: Eastern Blooms, Linen

Ink: Close to Cocoa, Baja Breeze, Soft Sky

Paper: Soft Sky Textured, Baja Breeze, Close to Cocoa, White

Accessories, etc.: Crystal Effects, beads, SAB rub-ons, scalloped rectangle die, pop dots

Spook or Treat

So this month's challenge, in the spirit of October, was for a Halloween creation. Here are the guidelines:
Challenge Focus: Create a Halloween card or treat holder.
Required Element: Googlie Eyes! We want to see those eyes jiggle!
Restricted Element: No pumpkins! You'll have to use a different image associated with Halloween!
Keyword: DCST1008 (click to see the uploads at SCS)

Here's my card, I kept it simple, but I quite like it. I started off by choosing one of the DoodleFactory Halloween II images. This is Trouble the cat. I used various grey markers to colour him in. Next came the googlie eyes. How perfect are these embellishments for this image!! They don't look out of place whatsoever! I added some Doodlebug paper, a bit of sparkly ribbon, and then put everything onto a vellum card base (which was decorated with some white craft ink and spiderwebs). I can't wait to check out everyone else's!

Supplies:

Stamps: DoodleFactory Witch's Brew, Grave yard sentiments

Paper: Vellum, Basic Grey, Doodlebug, White

Ink: White Craft, Memento Black

Accessories, etc.: Purple ribbon, Copic, googlie eyes

A mini card of sorts

This card started out simply because I wanted to use this long scalloped rectangle. So I started with that, then found an image that fit nicely into. One of the images from Pocket Silhouettes fit in there fantastically. The sentiment comes from that set as well. Next up was deciding what colour would compliment the mix of vanilla, baja, and chocolate. I looked around my desk, saw this piece of So Saffron cut to some different dimensions and thought, perfect. I really love how this colour combination turned out, especially since it got thrown together in a pretty random fashion.

Bright & Happy

Here's another quick, clean, and simple card featuring my new SU stuff. I am quite enjoying the new colours, papers, and rub-ons!

For the flowers I did the old reinkers and blender pens. As a cheaper way to experiment with the new In Colors, I buy all 6 reinkers and a pack of the assorted cardstock. Then I see which I end up using the most. The reinkers I simply use with blender pens. A little goes a LONG way. Plus, if you decide to pick up the full size stamp pads, you're all set for later! I suppose what I feel is missing from this card are some leaves. I know the set is called Eastern Blooms, but I really feel they should have included a matching leaf in the set. I really wanted to add some Kiwi coloured leaves in there, but I didn't know what set to take them from.

Supplies: Stamps: Eastern Blooms
Ink: Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango
Paper: White, Kraft, Chocolate, Haiku
Accessories, etc.: Hidden Garden RO, twill

Inspired by Ribbon

I spotted this adorable American Crafts ribbon at Michaels last week. I loved the addition of turquoise and brown to the more traditional colours of red and green. I really wanted to make a card featuring the ribbon. I made this simple layout to accommodate the ribbon. It's a super simple card, but I'm quite happy with how it turned out. I'm always amazed at how "full" such an open-spaced card can feel.

Supplies:

Stamps: Snowflake Serenade, Take a Bough (PTI)

Ink: Turquoise, White

Paper: Dark Chocolate, White, Turquoise, Poppy

Accessories, etc.: Long rectangle scalloped nestabilities, circle punches, pop dots, ribbon

Two Cards!

It was the beginning of stamp club recently(the first rule of stamp club...there is no stamp club- sorry I had to throw that out there, long-time inside joke) so I was having fun with new catalog stuff!

I was quite impressed with myself tonight, I tidied a big chunk of my space, which always helps re-inspire me. Here are the cards, they are as good as SU-only. The items that aren't SU could easily be replaced with SU product, I just used what was nearest to me.

First up- a little bit of Pocket Silhouettes with Haiku paper (love that stuff!!!) I really love the look of the solo silhouette image with the sentiment just off to the side. All that open space with the bold images just makes me happy.

Supplies: Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes

Paper: Dark Chocolate, So Saffron, White, Haiku

Ink: Mustard, Chocolate

Accessories: Chocolate Twill Ribbon, pop dots

Next up, what, no stamps??? I had to have these rub-ons, and instead of just looking at how pretty they are I actually used them. I started by placing the rub-on on some white cardstock. I cut that out, then I used some more Haiku paper and cut equally (near equally, really) sized squares and put together this quaint little layout. Both cards are 4.25x4.25 and used the smaller corner rounder on the bottom edges.

Supplies:

Paper: Haiku, Dark Chocolate

Accessories: Hidden Garden Rub-ons

Thanks for dropping by!

River, Rust, Wasabi?

I was feeling a tad uninspired the other day. That was quite a disappointment, especially since it was my day off. I was determined to make something though. So I went into my paper stash and pulled out this paper from last year's Apple Cider pack. I used that as my inspiration. I also happened to have some Christmas music on in the background (the Mantovani Orchestra one, it's nice to listen to all year round, actually). The music inspired me to make something Christmas. I know these aren't typical holiday colours, but I really like how it turned out. I did some paper piecing, something I so rarely do, and used a nice textured paper for my base.

Supplies:
Stamps: Made of Snow, Take a Bough (PTI)
Paper: Really Rust, River Rock, Wild Wasabi, Apple Cider DP
Ink: Rich Cocoa
Accessories, etc.: pop dots, ribbon

Swedish Collage Challenge!!

Starving Artistamps is running their first ever company sponsored challenge. The challenge will run until October 1st. Everyone who participates will be put into the raffle and one person will be chosen by random number generator to win YOUR CHOICE of one FULL SHEET of Starving Artistamps or DoodleFactory unmounted rubber stamps!
Here is your challenge should you choose to accept it!
There are several key points which regularly appear in Swedish collage style stamping...

The shape of the card is SQUARE
A bold mix of PATTERN PAPERS is used
CHIPBOARD titles (in any language!), BUTTONS and/or STAPLES are often incorporated into the design
COLOUR COLOUR COLOUR the more colour the better! (this is not your regular vintage style collage frequently done in the states! Ban the brown!)

Think you are up to the challenge?
Here is how you can participate. From now until October 1st email a link to your blog showing your version of the Swedish collage style challenge card. Please include your name in your email. We will post links to your blogs here and in the gallery.
Here is the email for questions and submissions: strvingartistmp@aol.com

I know there are only a few days left for the challenge, but it'd be great to see your take on this fun and unique style! I struggled for a bit with it, so here's what I did to help get the juices flowing...First up, bring in another person, get them to help you choose your supplies. In this case I got my sister to help choose my supplies. We went through the stamps, chose an image and sentiment that went together. Next, she chose some coordinating papers for me. I found some matching sticker letters. She found me some buttons. Then, I went away from my craft area, bringing only what I needed. It came together really quickly. It's the craziest card, it's nothing like I've ever made before (and honestly not likely to make again), but the challenge of it was really fun!

Supplies:

Stamps: Starving Artistamps (DoodleFactory Animals, Clouds, Outdoors sentiments)

Ink: Tuxedo Black

Paper: Scenic Route Metropolitan Collection

Buttons: Many companies

Stickers: sei

White embossing powder

Egads, it's Thursday already!

I meant to do something creative earlier in the week, but it just didn't happen. I'm working evenings this week, which means I don't feel like doing much of anything in the daytime. I decided to make a different wedding card for this Saturday. I hate having to fold a cheque, I don't know why, but anyway I made a card that could accommodate an unfolded cheque. I recently wrote down a big list of colour combinations that interested me. Instead of ignoring it, I actually used it as my starting point! I had written down River Rock, Chocolate, Sky, Vanilla and twill. That's exactly what I used! The stamping is relatively simple. I did the detailed flower in soft sky first, then I stamped off the solid image once and filled in over the detail flower. The leaves and centers were also stamped off once to give a softer look. I spritzed the whole vanilla panel with a shimmer spray to make it more "wedding-y". The card measures 4x6.

Supplies:

Stamps: Garden of Life (PTI), Happy Thoughts (Verve)

Ink: River Rock, Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip

Paper: River Rock, Chocolate Chip, Vanilla

Accessories, etc.: Chocolate Twill, Piercer and Mat Guide, Shimmer Spray, Corner Rounder

Sweet and Simple Season's Greetings

I have to admit, ever since picking up the Rhubarb Stalk Memento ink, I have been digging into my retired supply of Cranberry Crisp cardstock. Ruby Red is nice, I have yet to see Riding Hood Red, but I really love Cranberry Crisp. I hope a certain online stamp company comes out with a comparable red sometime...

Anyway, the card is extremely basic, but I think the scallops, the polka dots, and the satin add a little something to an otherwise plain card.

Supplies:
Stamps: Take a Bough (Papertrey Ink), Polka Dot Background
Ink: Bamboo Leaves, Rhubarb Stalk, White, Gold
Paper: Dark Chocolate, White, Cranberry Crisp, Old Olive
Accessories, etc.: Long rectangle nestabilities, satin ribbon, pop dots

Hooray for Cupcakes

When I saw that fellow DD Alumni Taylor was starting to carry her own stamp line, I was more than happy to help support this new venture (especially once I saw how cute the images were!).

I threw together a fairly quick card using a few of the Coordinating Key Ingredients and this adorable image from Sweet Celebrations. I thought that a vanilla cupcake would go nicely with the blue and green theme. I was really happy with how that turned out- Buttercup, Sand, and Pale Yellow are becoming one of my favorite Copic colour combos!

KWD Colour Inspiration

I wasn't really planning on posting twice today, but I spotted Kristina's colour inspiration and knew I needed to make a card. Sometimes you see a group of colours and, sorry to sound cheesy, it kind of speaks to you. This one definitely said AUTUMN loud and clear. I thought about going with leaves, but I've been using my Garden of Life set so much today that I thought I would make a card focusing on a fall flower-chrysanthemums. We have pink ones in the backyard that are almost ready to open.

One thing I noticed with this colour combination is how ideally it works for 2-step stamping. I decided to make 2 types of 'mums. Burgundy base with a chocolate outline and saffron base with a pumpkin outline. I added in bits of olive leaves for the 5th colour, doing all my image stamping on Vanilla paper.

Supplies: Stamps: Garden of Life, Birthday Basics Ink: Bravo Burgundy, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive Paper: Saffron, Olive, Vanilla, Chocolate Accessories, etc.: Tag and Label Nestabilities, orange brad, pop dots

Thanks for stopping by!

Thanksgiving Menu

This was one of my submissions for the Star Stamper monthly contest at Papertrey Ink. I had a lot of fun making it, since I rarely make such a large, matching ensemble. I started out with a place card, then a napkin ring, and a wine charm. I really wanted a menu, so I looked up Thanksgiving Menu and found one I liked here. I looked through my fonts, and although I am not sure it's a definite match, I found one that was pretty darn close. Imagine my delight when I found something similar out of 1, 430 fonts!

I thought I'd finish off the ensemble with a simple, yet sweet card- featuring one of my favorite layouts. I jazzed it up by tying the gold cord with the chocolate twill (this is terribly annoying to do, but looks stunning) and by cutting out and popping up the pine cone.

Stamps: Papertrey Ink- First Fruits

Sparkled Flowers

Recently I picked up a few small bottles of Martha Stewart glitter. I am quite impressed with the colour selection and the fineness of the grains. This card features Rose Quartz, which I thought went nicely with a black, grey, and cranberry theme. The glitter came in a pack of 3 and also with a small tube of glue. The glue is great, it has a very small opening, making control as easy as a marker. It doesn't goop or glob and it stays wet long enough to get a whole flower done!

Other details: I had stamped the sentiment in grey first, but it just wasn't dark enough, so I went over it with a darker grey which ended up making a cool shadow effect! The black strip of paper has various dots embossed on it for added texture.

Supplies:
Stamps: Floral Frenzy, Birthday Basics
Ink: Rhubarb Stalk, Basic Grey, Versamark
Paper: Basic Grey, Black, Cranberry
Accessories, etc.: Cranberry Ribbon, Glitter

Starlight, Starbright

This is one of those cards that started out because I really wanted to add some glitter to one aspect of the image. I really wanted a sparkly moon an d some sparkly stars. I coloured those with a yellow marker, then applied the glue and glitter. Next, I wanted a tent that fit into my mental image of what a tent should look like. For some reason, aqua and teal tones fit that image. I really love how the colouring turned out. Now, the hardest part was finding cardstock that matched the tent. Luckily I found this textured piece of paper from Colorbok that matched nicely.

All stamps from Starving Artistamps-
The Great Outdoors and Outdoors Sentiments

Cute Little Camper

I absolutely love this adorable camper from the DoodleFactory Great Outdoors release. I thought it'd be cut to just feature the camper on a card. I went with semi-retro colour scheme: red, white, and grey. The red cardstock layer is actually a piece of white cardstock that I coloured with the same marker used on the trailer. If all you are wanting is a thin mat that matches your coloured image, this is a good and quick method.

Supplies:
Stamps: Great Outdoors, Outdoors sentiments
Ink: Tuxedo Black
Paper: White, Basic Grey
Accessories, etc.: pop dot, Copic markers

Halloween Lights

For years, I've been wanting to make these vellum lanterns. They are super easy, depending on how complex you choose to make it. The first one came together in less than 5 minutes. I stamped some bats onto a piece of vellum, taped it into a circle and fit it into my glass container. The next one was a bit more complicated. I found a spider web stencil, traced it onto some black cardstock, then started cutting with an x-acto knife. Next, I layered vellum behind it for a frostier look. Finally, I taped it into a circle and placed it into the container. This one probably took closer to 20 minutes to make. I used battery operated "tea lights", not actually ones, since obviously, paper is flamable. So this is what they look like with the lights on, and then I also had to post the spooky atmosphere picture.

Supplies:

Stamps: Spooky Sweets (PTI)

Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Paper: Vellum Cardstock, Black

Accessories, etc.: Spider web stencil (1.50 at Michaels for a pack of 6), x-acto Knife

A Little Christmas Sparkle

Here's another contender for the mass production of this year's Christmas cards. The colouring takes a bit of time, but it's not too bad, beats cutting stuff out! I wish you could see how sparkly this really is. The card base is burgundy, sprayed with a Blue Russet shimmer spray. The tan layer is actual Mocha Metallic paper, and the tree itself is covered with little sparkle berries. I find that the touch of organdy ribbon also gives a nice shine to the whole thing. I embossed Peace on Earth, then had One Tin Soldier stuck in my head from then on... At least it's a pretty song, and I know most of the words, so it doesn't keep looping one little part.

Supplies:
Stamps: Believe (PTI)
Ink: Bamboo Leaves, Versamark
Paper: Mocha, White, Burgundy
Accessories, etc.: Glitter, Gold EP, thin organdy ribbon, Copic markers, pop dots, shimmer spray

Robo-Rock

Yeah, it's a cheesy title... However I just LOVE using these robots with the "you rock" sentiment. In general DoodleFactory news, have you seen the new Halloween release!?! These are adorable. I'm thinking they may be my favorite yet! There's also some other fun new stuff over at Starving Artistamps- some nice new backgrounds as well as some entertaining witches.

If you're interested in winning some new stamps, you may want to go here.

Anyway, here's my robot card.

Supplies: Stamps: DoodleFactory Urban, SunSpirit Studios sentiment

Ink: Tuxedo Black

Paper: Stampin' Up DP, gable green, turquoise, white

Accessories, etc.: orange ribbon, rectangle nestabilities, pencil crayons, pop dots

Gordie the Giraffe

When I saw that Peggy at PaperWorks Co. was starting a stamp line, I was super excited for her. She's one of the nicest people I've never met :D. By that I mean in person of course, we have chatted back and forth through the occasional email.

So, onto the stamps, so far there are a few Safari Friends. I love giraffes, so I had to use Gordie right away. In case you're wondering, the stamps are rubber,die-cut, ez-mounted, and ready to go. Very nice quality.

For my card, I stamped Gordie in Tuxedo Black, then coloured him in with Copics, I used E33Sand and Y21Buttercup, and a bit of Y11 Pale Yellow to blend. I cut that out, mounted it over a stamped background.

Supplies:
Stamps: Gordie by PWC!, Sentiments from Bitty Baby Blessings by PTI Ink: Lemon Tart, Tuxedo BlackPaper: White, Lemon Tart Accessories, etc.: Swiss Dot Cuttlebug Folder, Satin Ribbon, Yellow Dotted organdy ribbon, circle nestabilities, tag die cut, pop dots, yellow brad, Copic markers

Rockin' Dragon

So I picked up a few more colours of Copics yesterday which put me in the colouring mood. I believe all the colours I used on Drake I already had, but I was having lots of fun experimenting with different colouring techniques before I finally made a card. The big thing I learned: definitely do NOT over look the value of having the shades of grey. When you want that slight shadow over top of some colour, the greys come in very handy. I didn't use them on Drake, but I did on some of my other items yesterday. I also found having one of the lightest colours in each grouping works nicely in place of the blender pen. So for Drake, I coloured his body first with YG95 (Pale Olive), then I added in some shadows with G99 (Olive). Next I went back with YG95 to blend the two Olives. There was still an apparent line of separation between the colours, so I took YG91 (Putty) and went over the entire body with that. That blended the colours nicely.

Supplies: Stamps: Drake can be found here! Sentiment can be found here!
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Paper: Only Orange, Old Olive, Stampin' Up! last year's Halloween DP
Accessories, etc.: Poly-Twill ribbon, pop dots, Copics

Woo, Friday!!

For some reason I am really looking forward to this long weekend. It's not like it's been an overly stressful week, not at all actually. It's just nice to have 3 days off. Mondays off are few and far between!

Today's card was inspired by one of Kristina's MACM creations from June. When I say I was inspired, I don't mean CASE in this situation. Her card inspired me to use my gel-a-tins Off to School stamps, as well it inspired me to get back into embossing and make my own backgrounds with dot stamps. This card really was one of those cards where I sat down, started with a totally random part and went from there. I decided I wanted to use a brighter colour, so guava it was. Next up, I really wanted an embossed dotted background, or a partial one any way. I grabbed this cute dot from Flower Frames and Letters. If you remember Stampin' Up!'s Alphadots set from a few years back... this set is similar. I like this one better though since all the letters are capitals (I cannot STAND when an alphabet provides a mix of upper and lower case, decide on one, you know!). It's also a clear set, so it's super easy to line up, and it comes with a few fun flower and dot center images as well. Basically, if you were ever regretting not getting Alphadots and like clear stamps, you may want to look at this set.


Okay, back to the creation. So I stamped that dot with versamark, clear embossed it, then worked on my sentiment panel. I did a sample stamping on some scrap white first (pre-embossing!) to see just how much space I would need. I would highly recommend doing that when piecing together sentiments with larger alphabet sets. By the time I was ready for the embossed sentiment I knew exactly how I wanted the placement. Finally, I added in some stitched ribbon and I stamped and embossed a flower to add a bit more interest and "pop" to the card. To emboss with dye inks, remember, ink up the stamp first with versamark, then ink over that with the dye ink, stamp it, and cover with embossing powder. Have an awesome long weekend!


Supplies:
Stamps: Flowers Frames and Letters, Off to School (gelatins)
Ink: Groovy Guava, Close to Cocoa, Versamark
Paper: Cocoa, Guava, White
Accessories, etc.: Ribbon, Corner Rounder, Clear and White EP