Get Your Party Hats On!

Ok. So, I have to admit -- I don't know anyone who's turning 8. I'm such a dork. I found these huge number brads and wanted to try them out with some of the birthday images from Kim Hughes' U R A Hoot set. So... I stamped and cut the birthday hat... and I liked the curve of the hat paired with the curve on the #8.

I think I've got a serious problem too. I like to make cards, but I like to hoard them! So... it kind of works out well that I don't have anyone who needs this card. But... isn't that the whole point of this craft? Making cards to give away? Hmm.... Anyone else have this problem?

Supplies:

Stamps:
- (sentiment & party hat) U R A Hoot by Kim Hughes for Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink:
- Graphite Black Brilliance

Paper:
- Classic Orange, Baby Blue Dark, & Black Prismatic card stock by Prism
- small scraps of white card stock

Accessories
- Cuttlebug Number Collage embossing folder by Provo Craft
- Small circle punch by EK Success
- American Crafts Occasions "celebrate" ribbon
- Lucky Number Big Metal Brads by Around the Block
- Copic Markers
- paper piercing tools

Tips:
* Cut several small circles and adhere them behind your stamped panel to create a scalloped edge.

* Color in the centers of some of the letters in your sentiment to give it some visual interest.

*

If you would like to see more birthday card ideas, click on the "Bloggers Challenge" icon on my sidebar. All of the girls took this challenge with stride!

Oh How Painful!

This week's Bloggers Challenge was a color challenge: Purely Pomegranate, Old Olive, & Brilliant Blue. Yikes! I honestly looked at the 'assignment' three times because I couldn't imagine putting those colors together. I kept thinking I was reading it wrong. LOL! For one, I NEVER use Brilliant Blue. The good thing was... I had plenty of paper to play with - since it's never been touched. :)

Looking at the finished product... I guess the colors are not as painful as I first thought. :) We're getting a snow storm tonight and it makes me cringe! I am SO ready for Spring! When I was in California for CHA, I was amazed to see beautiful blooming flowers everywhere. I guess if I can't have real flowers right now, the next best thing is a stamped one.

I was looking through my stamps and realised that I hadn't used this one for awhile! I love this image (found in the Simple Pleasures set) by Gina K. I used my Copics and then highlighted the blooms with Stickles. For the vase, I applied Ranger Glossy Accents to create the illusion of 'water'. It looked like it still needed something, so I ran it through my Cuttlebug to emboss it.

The Pomegranate panel is stamped using CHF's Pretty Pattern BG. The sentiment is also by CHF (from Kim Hughes' Silhouette Blooms II set).

I have been dying to do one of Julee Tilman's Mojo Monday sketches! This is based off of this sketch of hers. If you want to see what other bloggers did with this funky color challenge, just click on the link on my sidebar. :)

My First Silhouette

This week's Bloggers Challenge was a color challenge {Blue Bayou, Real Red, & River Rock}. I've seen some really pretty cards made with Kim Hughes' Silhouette Blooms set and wanted to give it a try. Today's 'Ways to Use It' Challenge on SCS was to use embossing powder... so I decided to do a 2-for-1 card and incorporate both challenges in one project.

I inked up each individual flower image with River Rock ink and then sprayed the rubber (I used stamp cleaner because it was close by). When you stamp, it leaves a pretty watercolored image. I stamped another flower in red and then covered the entire piece in Versamark. I coated the image in clear EP and heat set. It really makes the colors pop!

The left panel is stamped using CHF's Grid Background stamp. The sentiment is from the same Silhouette set (and is also embossed).

Floral Frenzy

This week's Blogger's Challenge was to create a card based off of the layout of THIS CARD in the new Stampin' Up! catalog.

Can I just say for the MILLIONTH time how much I love a "sketch" challenge? It just makes card making SO much easier. I made this card in about 15 minutes... just because I didn't have to come up with the layout.

I started by looking for patterned paper that I liked. Then I matched up several shades of card stock that coordinated and picked out stamps that I wanted to use.

The floral images are from Lizzie Anne Designs' Floral Frenzy set. I just love the design of these images -- and they take ink so well. I added color with Copic markers and dotted the centers of the flowers with Liquid Pearls.


Supplies:
Paper: My Minds Eye: Front Porch, Picket Fence Table Cloth
Card Stock: Pumpkin Pie; Cool Caribbean; Certainly Celery; Shimmery White (SU)
Stamps: Lizzie Anne (Floral Frenzy); sentiment by Papertrey Ink
Accessories: Liquid Pearls, Copics, Martha Stewart eyelet border punch; paper piercing tools; brown grosgrain ribbon; Ranger Distress Inks (for edges)

"Cool" Inspiration

Today's Bloggers Challenge was an "Inspiration Challenge". -- (Find something that inspires you and create a card based off of it.) I love this jacket! This shade of blue is probably my favorite right now... and I found it very inspiring!

Below is the card that I created based off of my inspiration piece. I LOVE this image from Rubber Romance! This stamp is from Paper Pretties' December RR Subscription box. I think she's so chic and I *love* her coat!

I made this card to fit a standard long envelope (9" x 3/5" I believe). I've never made a card this size, but I really liked how it turned out! (***Click on Picture to See Details!***)

I colored my main image using Copics and Copic Spica Glitter Pens. If you look closely, the blue card stock is stamped with Cornish Heritage Farm's Spanish Script BG. I am SO excited to see a BG stamp in a language other than French! I have a lot of ideas for it and can't wait to put them onto "paper". If you look closely, you can see a glittered swirl on the bottom left corner of my card. The image comes from Autumn Leaves' (A Rhonna Christmas Collection by Rhonna Farrer -- Rhonna's Christmas Swirls). It has tiny snowflakes mixed in with the swirly design.

The sentiment is by Rubber Soul's Rose Border clear stamp set.

I used Martha Stewart's Snowflake border punch/embosser for the grey edging. I had a few Making Memories diamond brads that I added to the edge (just to glam it up a bit)... and used my sewing machine to add stitching.

*** If you have a regular sewing machine, adding stitching to card stock is super simple! Just run your card stock through just as you would fabric! No special thread or needle is required! Give it a try! It adds a lot of detail and takes no time at all!

You Move Me

This week's Bloggers Challenge was to make a card that moves. I thought I would try something different, so I stamped my little lamb and added a "stick" by punching out some thin chipboard with my Word Window Punch. I added some sparkle with my black Spica Glitter pen.


Here is my finished card. The little sheep can be lifted and move along the "meadow" (attached with dimensionals on just the right and left sides).

Stamps: Rubber Soul (A Day at the Zoo);
Papertrey Ink (Spiral Bouquet) - sentiment

Paper: K & Co. Amy Butler - Belle Collection; Pixie Pink CS (SU)

Your New Nest

I found these 'guava' notecards/envies sets at Michaels a few weeks ago for $1 a pack! (love a bargain!) I was so excited until I opened them up and realized that they are more of a stationary pack than a note card (just a card front - doesn't open). But... I cut a piece of white CS and adhered it to the back and it worked just fine! So now I'm happy again.

This week's Blogger's Challenge was to watercolor. Now, this card is the simplest card in the history of card making, but I think it's kind of sweet. I stamped the birdhouse directly onto the guava notecard and once again on a scrap of white CS. Then, using the lid from my Celery Classic Pad and an Aquapainter, I watercolored the house and trimmed. Then, I simply adhered it over the top of the image I had already stamped on the notecard.



The birdhouse and sentiment are by Cornish Heritage Farms (Kim Hughes Collection - Pretty Birds set). The sentiment originally reads "Our New Nest", but I wanted to send this to a friend who just moved into her new house --- so the sentiment wasn't quite right. I pulled out on of my new Monogram sets by Papertrey Ink and stamped the letter "Y" in front of the sentiment. PERFECTION! I think it looks like it had always been there.

This is the coordinating envelope that came in the pack. I stamped the birdhouse once again and added color with my Aquapainter and Classic Pads again.

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I'll be back later this week with some holiday ideas!

Get More Bang Out of Your Buck!

This week's Bloggers Challenge was an interesting one. We were challenged to take one stamp set and use it in a different way to showcase the versatility of the images. This was a card I made earlier this year using the Doodle This set by Stampin' Up! I really love this set, but now I love it even more!

I was doing a card class the other day and wanted to make some Christmas themed projects. I started looking through my sets and wasn't really excited about any of them... until I came across this doodle set again. I thought.... "I think this would make a perfect poinsettia!" So, I gave it a try and really liked how it turned out!

The card needed to be really simple to make because most of the girls at the workshop had never stamped before. I love the fact that this set can be used for ANY occasion! I just stamped and embossed 2 floral images, trimmed, and placed one on top of the other. I used a dimensional to adhere it to my card front. The swirly 'leaves' in the background were stamped with a Versamark pad (the same pad I used to emboss)... so the whole project took very little supplies. Don't you just love getting more bang out of your buck?

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas......

I know it's still a few months until Christmas, but I am having so much fun with these new holiday stamps from Rubber Soul... so I had to get them out and play! Do you like this sketch? The inspiration card came from Stampin' Up!'s new Holiday Mini, page 12. This is today's challenge from my Blogger's Challenge group (check out everyone's version by clicking on the links on my sidebar!). I have a full day to stamp and I am SO EXCITED! So... you'll probably see several posts from me soon!

For this card, I started by picking out my cardstock and printed paper. The card base is Always Artichoke (SU). The red snowflake paper is by Making Memories (Deck the Halls). I love this paper because it's all glittery IRL. The other two papers are actually from the same sheet (front and back). I don't know who makes it because it's not labeled (weird!) except for a sticker that reads 'St. Nick Vintage Snowflake'. The scalloped circle is cut from Ruby Red CS (SU). I added a little antiquing to the edges of the patterned paper with a sponge and Sahara Sand ink (SU).

Don't you just LOVE this little car! It just makes me smile! This stamp is from the Joy to the World clear stamp set from Rubber Soul. I stamped the image twice (once in black and once in artichoke). I cut out just the tree and added pop dots to adhere. The sentiment is from the Winter Wonderland set (the same set as the camping stamps from my earlier post). I colored in the car with my Ruby Red Stamp 'n Write marker (SU).

I added snowy dots around the scallop with a white Souffle pen. This was the first time I've used it and... I LOVE this pen! It's a lot more opaque than my other white gel pens. It comes out very liquid-y (but super easy to control) and then dries to a nice satiny finish with dimension. Fun!

To finish off the card, I added some twill ribbon (SU) and attached a snowflake charm from Karen Foster. Love it!