Twinkling H2O's

Since I didn't show you a card this morning, I thought I'd give you a little eye candy now. This is another Dirty Dare challenge card, a different size and it had to have a clear element on it. I painted twinkling H2O's on the stamp and then misted before stamping. What a fun, shimmery effect and it washes off the stamp pretty easily. The rest of the card really doesn't need any explanation.

supplies
stamps: brushed coneflower (Paper Inspirations), sentiment (Lizze Anne)
ink: jet black stazon
paper: groovy guava, always artichoke, purely pomegranate, sahara sand, dp (old world mat stack - dcwv)
other: fun yarn, copper brads, clear baubles, dimensional foam tape, twinkling H2O's, waterbrush

Thanks for visiting.

A Winner!

Good morning. The day you've all been waiting for has arrived. I decided to wait until morning so I'd do it right this time - lol. And the winner of Melody Mints is...

amy

Amy said...

Love the photo! Meeting Anna would be fabulous...especially if I could soak up some of her immense talent by osmosis :-). Thanks for sharing the fabulous blog candy, too!

July 25, 2008 12:03 AM

Congrats, Amy! If you will please email your snail address to me, I will get your package out in the mail. Thanks to everyone who commented. I hope you all get a chance someday to meet those people you admire.

Have a great day.

another sketch

This was a card for Natasha's sketch challenge as part of the Dare to Get Dirty celebration. This was a really easy sketch, and the guidelines were pretty lenient. I pulled out a stamp I hadn't used in a long time from Summer by the Sea. I stamped the image in stazon on watercolor paper. Then I lightly misted the paper and sponged bashful blue around the top part for sky and certainly celery on the lower part for land. Then I colored the image the same way I described in my last post. On the dress, I only used lavender lace, but on the hat I used apricot appeal and more mustard. It is so easy to blend the colors on the watercolor paper. I sponged the edges with lavender lace and backed the image with a black piece that I punched one end with my Martha Stewart doily lace punch.

The celery piece is embossed in my cuttlebug with distressed lines embossing folder. I added some piercing across the bottom of the card. The image panel is raised on dimensional foam tape. The ribbon was black and white, so I colored it with a copic marker (the closest match that I had).

supplies:
stamps: summer by the sea, small script
ink: jet black stazon, bashful blue, certainly celery, lavender lace, various markers
paper: basic black, lavender lace, certainly celery, watercolor
other: mat pack & piercing tool, cuttlebug, distressed lines embossing folder, blender pen, sponge, ribbon, doily lace punch (Martha Stewart), dimensional foam tape

Thanks for stopping by.

all primary

Yay! I finally finished all the challenges for the Dare to Get Dirty celebration on SCS. Carole's challenge was to use primary colors and I must say this was a really hard challenge for me. I tried several ideas, stamps a bunch of images and colored them, only to set them aside, unsatisfied. I finally decided to use a retired SU hostess set called All Natural and just stamp the flower. Using black stazon, I stamped on watercolor paper nine times. Then I colored them using markers and blender pen. I used a lot of marker on these, because I wanted vivid color. I have found that this method is so easy to use. Simply add marker to the image along the edges and where there is shading indicated and then blend it with a blender pen. This works really well on watercolor paper, but not on other card stock. I colored three flowers each color and cut them out and stacked them. I added a black flower punched with my boho blossoms punch and a black brad.

For the stems and leaves, I used black grosgrain ribbon. Each flower is raised on dimensional tape. I added faux stitching around the edge. This was actually my second attempt with this layout. The first one, I put a lot of faux stitching around the flowers and really didn't like it. I really didn't want to have to do all the flowers over, so I ripped the ribbon and flowers off and started with a new piece of white. This version was a big improvement.

supplies
stamps: all natural
ink: jet black stazon, markers - basic black, yoyo yellow, brilliant blue, real red
paper, brilliant blue, whisper white, watercolor
other: blender pen, black grosgrain ribbon, boho blossoms punch, piercing tool, black brads, dimensional foam tape

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

So distressed

Oh, not me... my card. Yesterday after my class, I only got one card done. I started another, but I had a hard time getting a handle on it, so I decided to sleep on it. I'm still working on the Dare to Get Dirty challenges on Splitcoast. I have three more to complete. Laura's challenge was to get dirty and make a distressed card. I really love the look of these and manipulating paper is fun. Of course, there's a tendency to get ink all over your fingers. But this type of card tends to take more time to complete.

I used SU's With Gratitude set. The card base is really rust and all the images and sponging are done in chocolate chip. The right edge is also roughed up with a distressing tool.

The main image is stamped in black stazon on watercolor paper. Then I just scribbled on some markers and blended with a blender pen. Over the top I stamped Sanded lightly in creamy caramel and Itty Bitty Backgrounds randomly in chocolate chip and backed with black. Lots of sponging and distressing. I punched two holes in each corner and threaded some natural hemp through the holes and around the corners. The hemp didn't want to catch on the upper right corner, so I just tied it in front. I think I actually like that better anyway. Two black brads add some interest. I attached the image panel with dimensional tape. Then I added two cut off word window punches and sewed the button and ribbon to the card with black crochet cotton.

supplies:
stamps: with gratitude, sanded, itty bitty backgrounds
ink: jet black stazon, creamy caramel, chocolate chip, more mustard, really rust, ruby red, old olive, summer sun, always artichoke
paper: really rust, basic black, watercolor
other: blender pen, 1/16" punch, black brads, natural hemp, ribbon, button, crochet cotton, dimensional foam tape, word window punch, sponge, distressing tool

Thanks for stopping by today.

Stamping up a storm

Yup. That's what it feels like I've been doing today. Actually, I finished a couple more cards last night, as well. These are all for the Splitcoast fan club anniversary celebration challenges. Here's what they are: a cupcake challenge, a sewing challenge, a flap card, create a scene card, and another sketch. You can find the recipes in my gallery on Splitcoast (see sidebar).

Besides these cards, I also needed to do up two for a small class I have tomorrow. I pretty much cased those, so I'm not going to post them. Have a great night. Thanks for stopping by.

A little funky

Happy Sunday - a new day, a new week. Today the last of the challenges for the Dare to Get Dirty fan club challenges will be posted on SCS. I'm still behind, but I did get one of Friday's done last night. I couldn't post it though, because I had my camera on the charger.

This card was made for Joan's silhouette challenge. I used wet paper watercoloring, a fun and easy technique. Recently I saw a card on someone's blog that had some buttons on circles in a vertical strip, but now I can't find it to give credit for the idea. The card was in pastels with a print of stuffed animals. If you know where that is, let me know and I add appropriate credit. I really love the funky look of the old buttons on the striped paper. And of course, I like the autumn colors.

supplies
stamps: warm words (SU), just leaves (Jeanne Streiff Collection - Rubbernecker)
ink: old olive, night of navy
paper: bravo burgundy, old olive, night of navy, ruby red, chocolate chip, more mustard, really rust, shimmery white, dp (Provo Craft - The Den - bitty scrap pad)
other: water mister, 1" and 1-3/8" circle punches, old buttons, black crochet cotton, needle, dimensional foam tape

Don't forget to leave your comment for a chance at some Melody Mints.

Now, I'm off to make some lunch and then some more creating. Thanks for stopping by.

Splitcoast Non-Raffle for Midwest Flood Relief

Check out this forum thread to read how you can help. I was asked to make one of the prizes. Here is a picture.

I made these boxes with removable covers from heavyweight chipboard and decorated them with designer papers, baubles, punched flowers, lacy trim, etc. The insides are also covered with designer paper. Each box is approximately 3" x 3" x 4" high.

I hope you will check out the link and donate generously. Your donation will help those devastated by flooding in the Midwest and will also enter you in the drawing for one of many prizes. Thank you.

Will I ever get caught up?

Happy Saturday. Because I was up so late last night, I decided it was OK to sleep in this morning, so I didn't get up until about 8:30 (yes, that's late for me). When I went and checked the Dirty Dare challenges, today's were already posted. All week, they have been posted about 11:00 AM my time, so I thought I'd have some stamping time this morning to do some earlier ones before the new ones were posted, but I guess not. Anyway, so far today, I've stamped two cards, one with mega layers for Holly's sketch challenge, and the other very simple for Sharon's stamp simply challenge. The card on the left has eleven layers if you count the three layers of butterflies. I don't think I've ever made a card with that many layers before.

I have something more to share, but I want to put it in a separate post. I'll be back soon. Don't forget about the blog candy in this post if you haven't already commented.

More cards today

Hello. I've been so busy stamping today that I almost forgot to post here. I did all four sketch challenges from the Gina K release party last night in the Gina K forum on Splitcoast. I really wanted to get these all done, because for each challenge a random name is drawn to win a free stamp set. Right now the only way I'm going to be getting any more of Gina's sets is to win them, so I hope my name gets picked.






















The first two cards also fit Lauren's monochromatic challenge for the Dare to get Dirty challenges for fan club members. It's late, so I'm not going to go into detail on how I made these. If you have a specific question, just ask and I will try to give you more details.



Stamps are Botanical Dreams and Peace & Comfort, both Gina K Designs.

Thank you for stopping by.

An inspiration challenge

Yes, I finished another card. But I am still behind in the Dare to Get Dirty challenges. And there are other challenges going on this week on splitcoast. Besides the normal weekly challenges, tonight was another release party for Gina K Designs, with 3 sketch challenges due by Monday. I'd like to get those done, too, since there are prizes. And Friday evening is another mini VSN, which is always a lot of fun. However, I'm just not sure I can fit that much stamping in. We'll see.

This card is for Jenn's inspiration challenge (visible to SCS fan club members only). I had fun with this card, although it's much busier than my usual style. Everything is embossed in white except the sentiment.

I'm just a bit too tired to go into all the details, so here is the supplies list.

stamps: always, noteworthy, antique background (all SU)
ink: white craft, jet black stazon, rose red marker
paper: basic black, very vanilla
other: winter white embossing powder, heat tool, cuttlebug, oval nestabilities, small oval punch, white gel pen, dark red grosgrain ribbon, jewels, dimensional foam tape.

I'm so glad you stopped to visit.

Oooops!

Good morning. Some of you may have read my post last night announcing a winner of my Melody Mints. Obviously, in my half-asleep state, that was in error and I have edited the post to correct it. However, since I did announce a name to win, I am going to send something out to Susie anyway. It just won't be that stamp set, since that wouldn't be fair to the rest of you. So Susie, please email me your snail address, so I can send you some goodies.

Now, on to my card. I finished another Dare to Get Dirty challenge late last night or I should say early this morning. I was going to post it -- even started -- but I just couldn't keep my eyes open, so I decided to wait until this morning, so my post would at least make sense. This card was for Julie's challenge (for SCS fan club members only).

I really love Julie's style, very clean, with very little stamping or embellishment. I think I accomplished that with this card, which is a single layer card. I started by stamping the single coneflower on whisper white in black stazon. I then colored it with prismacolor pencils and gamsol and added a bit of copic markers over the top and for shading. The sentiment was also stamped in black stazon. For embellishment, I added some rhinestones and ribbon. DONE! How simple is that?

supplies
stamps: single coneflower & sentiment (Cornish Heritage Farms)
ink: jet black stazon
paper: whisper white
other: prismacolor pencils, gamsol, copic markers, rhinestones, white sheer ribbon

Thank you for stopping by today.

flowers and lace

I think I may be on a roll. I got another Dare to get Dirty challenge done and this one went together really fast. This one is for Christine's challenge (for fan club members only).

I stamped the flower two times on watercolor paper with black stazon and colored with watercolor pencils and blender pen. I'm certainly no expert on watercolor, but maybe someday I'll get better. I added some stickles to the little dots along the leaves. I layered the image piece on black and added some cranberry ribbon. This pieced is popped up with dimensional foam tape. Behind this are layers of pomegranate, pumpkin, vanilla and the a black card base. The vanilla edges are punched with my new Martha Stewart border punch.

supplies
stamps: perk me up daisy outline (Stamping Bella)
ink: jet black stazon
paper: watercolor, basic black, purely pomegranate, pumpkin pie, very vanilla
other: watercolor pencils, blender pen, diamond stickles, doily lace border punch (Martha Stewart), cranberry grosgrain ribbon, dimensional foam tape

I'm so glad you stopped by.

a red corvette

Happy hump day! We've been having some beautiful weather here in Wisconsin. About mid-afternoon, it gets a bit warmer than I like and I usually end up turning on the AC, but only for a few hours and the nights have been around 60, which is so comfortable for sleeping with the windows open.

I'm still working on the Dare to Get Dirty challenges on SCS, although I seem to be getting further behind each day. This card was made for Michelle's challenge yesterday (for fan club members only). I started with a completely different image, but messed it up when I literally dozed off with an open marker in my hand. Obviously, it was past time to go to bed. So this morning I changed my mind and picked a different image. I had in mind to try to use paint chips on my card, but didn't have any red ones to go with my image, and I really didn't feel like a trip out to Walmart, where I had gotten this particular shape. Then I had the idea to simply trace the shape on card stock and I could make it any color I wanted. The idea worked perfectly.

I stamped the corvette from classic convertibles with adirondack pitch black and colored it with copic markers. I highlighted a bit with a white gel pen and spica clear glitter pen. Then I cut out the image and popped it up on white card stock that was cut in the shape of the paint chips. I used my layer ease to make the black and silver layers and added the silver brads as an accent.

For the background, I cut two red and two black faux paint chips, added the screw brads and arranged them as you see them for a fun layer behind the image. The image panel is also raised on dimensional foam tape.

supplies
stamps: classic convertibles
ink: adirondack pitch black
paper: real red, basic black, whisper white, silver (retired SU)
other: copic markers, white gel pen, copic spica clear glitter pen, silver brads, screw brads, dimensional foam tape

(edited: I mistakenly announced the winner of the blog candy, when you still have a week to post. However, since I did give out a name -- Susie (who said) I would love to meet Lauren Meader, she is such an inspiration to all and a busy lady.... -- Susie, email your snail address to me and I will send you some goodies. You will still be included in the drawing for the stamps.)

I'm so glad you all stopped by.

Another shimmery flower

Hello everyone. I'm working my way through the Dare to Get Dirty challenges, but I'm already behind. I did the second one from yesterday, but didn't get any done for today. This one is for Jody's ribbon challenge. (If you are not a SCS fan club member, you will not be able to view this link.)

Since I still had Doodle This out from yesterday, I decided to use it again. I love that big flower. I started with some turquoise velvet ribbon, but that fell by the wayside as I went along. It was too thick for how I wanted to use it. So I ended up using this narrow dotted ribbon instead. I stamped the big flower on white five times with black stazon and painted them with twinkling H2Os. I really love the shimmer those give. I wish I had more colors. Then I cut them all out. This flower is so easy to cut out, because you don't have to be real accurate with your cutting. When I stacked the flowers, I added a small circle of card stock between each layer for a little bit more dimension, although I'm not really sure it made any difference. The black center is made of two punched flowers. I added some turquoise stickles around the jewel brad.

The rest of the layout is exactly what I had in mind, but I think I probably should have used a background stamp, so the background had a little bit of texture.

supplies
stamps: doodle this (SU), sentiment (Lizzie Anne)
ink: jet black stazon
paper: tempting turquoise, basic black, whisper white
other: buttons, thread, ribbon, jewel brad, turquoise stickles (Ranger), twinkling H2Os, dimensional foam tape

I'm so glad you stopped by. Remember if you haven't already done so, you have until Wed. evening to comment on the post for blog candy.

Fun vellum challenge

Happy Monday. This week splitcoast is celebrating their fan club anniversary. There are special challenges for fan club members only each day. This card was made for Laurie's vellum challenge. You can read more about Dare to Get Dirty here.

The blossom on this card is made up of four layers of vellum card stock and two more layers of card stock for the center. After stamping the large flower from doodle this on the vellum with Stazon, I then colored the back side with Copic marker R29 and painted the front with gold dust twinkling H2Os. Then I dry embossed each petal from the back and cut out. I love the dimension you get with the embossing and all the layers.

The faux ribbon was made by embossing a strip of card stock with my Swiss dots embossing folder in my cuttlebug and then brushing gold dust twinkling H2Os on it.

I really love how this card turned out.

supplies:
stamps: doodle this, priceless (SU), sentiment (Gina K)
ink: jet black stazon, Copic marker R29
paper: gable green, basic black, marigold morning, vellum card stock
other: twinkling H2Os, aqua painter, cuttlebug, Swiss dots embossing folder, empressor stylus, dimensional foam tape, boho blossoms punch, border punch (Fiskars)

Don't forget to comment on this post for blog candy. Thanks for stopping by.

Watching an expert & Melody Mints

Happy Sunday! Today was very special for me, because I was able to meet someone whose talent I had been in awe of for some time. Artist and designer, Anna Wight, who many of you know as SweetMissDaisy on Splitcoast, was demonstrating this afternoon at a local stamp & scrapbook store, Creative Pals, in Brookfield, WI. What a treat to watch Anna make magic with ink watercolor brush. She was using many stamps from her current release with Whipper Snapper. With everyone crowded around the table, I managed to get a spot standing right next to her and looking over her shoulder. How cool is that! And even better, I remembered to take my camera (even charged it first) and was able to get a picture of us together. In case you don't know, Anna's the pretty one on the right.


















And now, for those of you who have been patiently waiting... I didn't forget... just had a lot going on this week, I have some Melody Mints. This is an unmounted SU level 2 hostess Spring Solitude Bundle, which includes a stamp set and matching wheel.
To qualify for winning this blog candy, leave a comment (only one per person, please) on this post telling me what artist or designer you would love to be able to meet. Leave your comment by 5:00 P.M. Central Time on Wednesday, July 30, and I will randomly select a winner either Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

Thanks for visiting. Good luck.

Hen house?

Good morning. I woke up a bit early this morning, so I have a few minutes for a quick post. I have my OSW class this morning (I think I'm all ready).

This week's inspiration challenge on SCS was posted last night and I knew immediately what stamp I wanted to use. A bit of history -- when I was a little kid, we had an outhouse! Yup, no indoor plumbing until much later - maybe by the time I was in high school - I don't remember exactly. Anyway, when I saw this outhouse stamp years ago, I knew that I had to have it, (for the memories - haahaa!), but alas, it has been sadly neglected. But I knew I had to bring it out for this challenge.

I started by stamping the outhouse on vanilla with adirondack pitch black, then on a post-it, which I cut around the roof and used as a mask when I stamped the chicken from SU's best of cluck. I then colored the images with copic markers -- (no special effects - I'm still learning). Then I heavily sponged the edges (and more) with chocolate chip ink. I used a distressing tool on the edges, as well as the teal and chocolate layers behind it. I used my 1/16" punch to make three holes to thread the hemp through.

I then stamped the line of trees from lovely as a tree (SU) in chocolate on the really rust card base and attached the image panel with dimensional foam tape.

For a little accent, I punched a couple of photo corner punches, sponged the vanilla one and tied a piece of hemp through them and attached with the dimensional foam tape.

Now for my dilemma... What kind of sentiment do you put on a card with this image? I started looking through my stamps and when I saw this particular sentiment, I knew it would work -- how can you not grin at this image? I hope I've brought a smile to your face. And there you have it.

supplies
stamps: best of cluck, lovely as a tree (SU), outhouse (out west rubber stamps)
ink: chocolate chip, adirondack pitch black, copic markers
paper: really rust, taken with teal, chocolate chip, very vanilla
other: sponge, distressing tool, photo corner punch, 1/16" punch, natural hemp, dimensional foam tape.

I'm so glad you took the time to visit. Have a wonderful weekend.

eye candy

These are my two entries for the Lizzie Anne Birthday Sketch Challenge contest, which is now closed. The first is sketch #1 and the second is sketch #3. All stamps are from the Lizzie Anne set In the Meadow.

Thanks for stopping by.

SCS Fan Club Fun

If you are a member of the Splitcoast Fan Club, you want to know about this. The Dirty Girls are planning a week of challenges (July 21-27) in honor of the Fan Club anniversary. They did this last year and it was so much fun! If you haven't already joined the fan club, consider joining now and you can be in on the fun.

Check it out --> A Day in the Life of a Dirty Girl

And plan to join the fun.

I don't normally add plugs for other sites, but this one will be worth checking out.

Have a wonderful day!

10,000 +

Wow! In the last couple of days, my blog has had almost a thousand hits -- pushing the counter over the 10,000 mark. Since I'm not very technical, I wasn't sure I even wanted to have a blog and I know I'm not real consistent with posting. Needless to say, I'm thrilled that anyone likes what they see here enough to come back for repeat visits.

So keep an eye open and in the next few days I will have some Melody Mints (blog candy) for you!

I'm so glad you took the time to visit.

Spice it Up!

Hello. I'm so excited to be guest hostess for the ways to use it challenge on SCS this week that I posted the challenge early. The challenge is to use something that would be found in your spice rack. I would love to have you play along. I made two cards as samples.

The first card I used chili powder mixed with clear embossing powder. I tried several other spices, but I liked the color I got with the chili powder the best, so that's what I used. I stamped the large flower from fabulous flowers 4 times with versamark and embossed with the chili powder mixture. I cut out different portions to get a full popped up flower. I wanted a little better coverage, so I went over the pieces with versamark and another layer of clear ep. Then I edged them with krylon copper leafing pen and popped up each layer with dimensional foam tape. I used really rust for the card base, with a layer of groovy guava, which I punched with a fiskars border punch and added white dots with a white gel pen. For some accent color, I cut strips of purely pomegranate and taken with teal and backed them with brushed copper. I tore the ends and added some copper brads and white dots. The sentiment was stamped in pomegranate.

For the second card, I stamped the largest flower from a retired set, summer sunflower, in summer sun and more mustard, and the leaves in old olive and always artichoke. For the flower centers, I glued celery seeds on with tacky glue. I popped up the center flower on dimensionals.

I stamped the sentiment on a strip of twill and attached it with black brads. I added two more pieces of twill and a word window punch attached with brads. The background is certainly celery backed with always artichoke.

Supplies
card 1:
stamps: fabulous flowers, absolutely fabulous
ink: versamark, purely pomegranate
paper: really rust, groovy guava, purely pomegranate, taken with teal, brushed copper, very vanilla
other: chili powder, clear ep, heat tool, copper brads, piercing tool, white gel pen, border punch (Fiskars), dimensional foam tape

card 2:
stamps: summer sunflower, everyday flexible phrases
ink: summer sun, more mustard, old olive, always artichoke, basic black
paper: very vanilla, always artichoke, certainly celery
other: celery seed, tacky glue, piercing tool, black brads, dimensional foam tape

Thank you so much for stopping by.

a sultry embrace

Well, not really. When I saw the sketch challenge on SCS, I knew I needed to make a card, since it was a pretty simple sketch. I know that lately I've been using a lot of stamps that are non-SU, mainly because there have been some challenges with prizes and who doesn't like to win stuff. So, with that being said, I decided that I wanted to use something SU for today's challenge.

I haven't played with embrace life lately, so I pulled that set out to use. I only used one stamp, the big flower, but I colored some green for leaves. I stamped the flower is black stazon on vanilla and colored it with watercolor pencils and blender pen. I used 4 cut out flowers for the blossom. This particular flower, when cut out, has a good sized gap between two of the petals, so it's pretty easy to fit two flowers together and make a fuller flower. I did that twice, gluing the sets together and then building the flower up with dimensional foam tape between the two double flowers. It really pops up off the card. It's mounted (again with dimensional foam tape) on a piece of purely pomegranate backed with black. Each piece of dp is also backed with black and the green galore strip as well. The green strip is also pierced using my mat pack and piercing tool. I added some white dots around the edge of the pomegranate piece with a white gel pen.

supplies:
stamps: embrace life (SU)
ink: jet black stazon
paper: basic black, very vanilla, purely pomegranate, green galore, dp (sultry & perhaps - Basic Grey)
other: black brad, mat pack, piercing tool, dimensional foam tape, white gel pen

I'm so glad you stopped by.

a scored grid

Hello, my friends. This afternoon I got to meet Marianne Walker, the Copic marker lady. She's in Milwaukee for a certification class tomorrow and she was doing a free demo at a local art store today. Fun, fun, fun and very informative, although you really can't cover a whole lot in an hour.

Now, on to my card. Today the technique challenge on SCS was a grid card. I had never made one of these, so it was a fun technique to try. I'm sure it can be done using a ruler and scoring tool, but the easiest was is to use a Scor-Pal.

First, I cut a square of vanilla card stock and put it on my scor-pal diagonally and scored every half inch. Then turning it a quarter turn and again scoring every half inch. Then I inked up my twill background stamp with creamy caramel and laid the scored card stock on the stamp and lightly pressed to stamp it. It leaves all the scored indentations blank and only stamps the square in between - cool!

I then stamped the floral stem from Artfully Asian twice with basic brown ink and colored the image with markers - ballet blue, real red and sage shadow. I added white flower centers with a gel pen. I sponged the edges with chocolate chip. I could have used this on my card just like it was, but I decided to take it one step further. I coated the entire square with versamark ink and clear embossed with UTEE, making it look like a tile. I loved it.

I added some copper brads in the corners (easy placement with the grid in place) and mounted the piece on chocolate chip and vanilla and attached it to a ballet blue card base with dimensional foam tape.

For the sentiment, I stamped the thank you on vanilla and punched it out using my key tag punch. I sponged around the edge with chocolate chip and attached it with the dimensional foam tape.

The second photo shows some reflection from the camera flash, so you can really see that it looks like a tile.

supplies -
stamps: artfully asian, twill (SU)
ink: creamy caramel, ballet blue, sage shadow, real red, chocolate chip, basic brown, versamark
paper: ballet blue, very vanilla, chocolate chip
other: copper brads, scor-pal, key tag punch, sponge, white gel pen, brayer, dimensional foam tape

Thank you for stopping by today.

lots o' dots

Hello. I hope you're having a wonderful weekend. Gina K is having a weekend challenge where she'll draw a random entry for a prize on Monday, so I thought I'd participate. It's a sketch challenge with a requirement of using only Gina K stamps, so I pulled out my set Peace and Comfort.

As a starting point, I decided to use pumpkin pie, purely pomegranate and always artichoke, because I really like these colors together. I inked up my images with markers (I substituted rose red for the pomegranate), then misted with water and stamped them on vanilla card stock. Then I used my oval nestabilities with my cuttlebug to cut all the oval layers. I sponged the two front layers with pomegranate and added a lot of white dots on the scallops. The ovals are raised on dimensional foam tape.

The pumpkin bar behind the ovals was embossed in my cuttlebug Swiss dots embossing folder. Since the embossing folder is just a tad shorter than the card width, I embossed each end separately since any imperfection would be then hidden underneath the ovals. Then I brayered lightly over the raised embossing with pomegranate ink and sponged on the edges.

To fold up the lower right corner of the card, I simply put it in my Fiskars cutter at an angle and ran the embossing blade across it. I stamped a small piece of vanilla the same way I had done the main image and adhered it behind the folded up corner. For a small accent, I punched a pumpkin flower and added a brad. A line of white dots surrounding the card pulled it together nicely.

supplies:
stamps: peace & comfort (Gina K)
ink: purely pomegranate, always artichoke, pumpkin pie
paper: purely pomegranate, pumpkin pie, always artichoke, very vanilla
other: brayer, sponge, white gel pen, brad, flower punch (EK Success), cuttlebug, swiss dots emb, oval nestabilities, dimensional foam tape

I'm having a hard time keeping my eyes open, so I apologize if there are typos in this post. Thanks for stopping by.

One Sheet Wonder

This is a picture of cards made with one sheet of stamped card stock. I totally cased Jami Sibley. This class is my first technique class and will be held Saturday, July 19, 2008 from 9:45 am until approx. noon. If you live in or near Waukesha, WI and are interested in attending, please contact me by Thursday, July 17 (see sidebar). As of today, I still have some openings. I need firm reservations, so I know how much card stock to cut.

lots of leaves

Today's inspiration challenge on SCS consisted of some cakes. I chose the blue and yellow one. I stamped the leaf from natural beauty many times with adirondack pitch black ink, highlighted with a yellow copic marker and cut them out. I drew a curved line across the bashful blue card stock and placed the leaves along it. Each leaf is glued at the stem end and attached with a dimensional at the other end. I added the sentiment, a row of brads and some ribbon and glued it all to the barely banana base. Done!

supplies:
stamps: natural beauty, hugs & wishes
ink: adirondack pitch black, yellow copic marker
paper: bashful blue, barely banana
other: mat pack, piercing tool, 1/4" circle punch, lt. blue grosgrain ribbon, blue brads

I'm so glad you stopped by.

wildflowers

Oh, have I been a bad, bad blogger! I've been working on some projects that I can't share yet, so I haven't posted anything. Yesterday I spent the day at my sister's stamping, and I did get a couple cards almost completed, but I didn't have everything along that I needed to complete them. One I finished after I got home last night and the other today.

I knew the basic layout I wanted to use for this card, but it took me a long time to figure out how to finish it. I really struggled with the right side of the card. I'm not completely happy with it, but it's ok, just a little funky. I really love this combination of colors - olive, rust and not quite navy.

The main image is made up of a couple of different stamps just overlapping. I colored them with markers, then huffed on them to moisten and stamped. I added faux piercing with not quite navy marker and rubbed my chocolate chip ink pad along the edge of both the vanilla and the rust layer under it to give the illusion of extra layers.

I stamped the sentiment in not quite navy and then used my cuttlebug and circle nestabilities to cut it out. I backed it with a scalloped circle of not quite navy. I added some white dots to the scallops and faux stitching along the edge of the circle. I popped the circles up on dimensional foam tape.

After much deliberation, I finally decided to add the 1/4" circles along the edge of the card as faux brads, and faux pierced around each one. Then I added a white dot in the center of each (although I think it would look better without that). I then coated each rust circle with crystal effects and added some swirls to fill in the blank space.

supplies:
stamps: priceless (SU), in the meadow & sentiment (Lizzie Anne), wildflowers (Inkadinkadoo)
ink: really rust, old olive, not quite navy
paper: really rust, old olive, not quite navy
other: cuttlebug, circle nestabilities, white gel pen, 1/4" circle punch, crystal effects, dimensional foam tape

I'm so glad you stopped by.

grunge and glitter

Good morning. The card I have for you today was made for the Rubbernecker Blogger Challenge, which is posted each week on Jeanne's blog. This one was to use either grungeboard or chipboard on your card. I opted to use some grungeboard, since I have a bit that I forget to pull out and use. The main image and background are both from Rubbernecker.

I started by stamping the image on Georgia Pacific white card stock with adirondack pitch black ink and coloring with copic markers. Then I cut it out. I love this out of the box type image. I backed it with chocolate chip card stock and set it aside.

Since I have a limited number of colors in my copic markers, I typically have to choose my card stock by which copic colors I use. That was the case for this card. Hence, the purely pomegranate and regal rose.

For the background, I inked up baroque background with pomegranate and stamped the rose card stock, but decided it was way too dark and too busy, competing with the image. So I flipped the card stock over and stamped on the other side with regal rose instead - a much better choice. I sponged the edge just a little with pomegranate ink and glued this piece to the pomegranate card base.

Then I pulled out my grungeboard and found a swirl that was a good size to use. Of course, since the grungeboard is a grayish color, I needed to change that, so I used the same copic marker that I used for the darker part of the flowers to color the grungeboard swirl. I decided how I wanted it to lay and glued it to the image, then added the brads.

I wanted to add some ribbon, but didn't have any that matched at all, except rose grosgrain, but I wanted it to stand out more, so I took that same copic marker and dyed a couple short pieces of grosgrain ribbon - perfect match. So I glued them to the back of the image and then attached the image to the card using dimensional foam tape.

I liked it, but there still seemed to be something missing. So I added some faux stitching with my white gel pen. This is a step that should really have been done before gluing everything together, so my stitching isn't the best. And then I added some crystal effects and dazzling diamonds glitter to the flower centers.

supplies
stamps: daisies, baroque background (rubbernecker)
ink: adirondack pitch black, purely pomegranate, regal rose, copic markers
paper: purely pomegranate, regal rose, chocolate chip, GP white
other: grungeboard, gold brads, grosgrain ribbon, white gel pen, dimensional foam tape, crystal effects, dazzling diamonds glitter

Thank you for stopping by today.