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