Check out this blog candy!!

Cammie (Carolyn King) has HUGE blog candy in honor of Alzheimer's care givers.

I made a card to send. Colors used are white and regal rose. Stamp sets are SU's Beautiful Borders, Upsy Daisy and Heard from the Heart. Butterfly punch is Martha Stewart.

Thanks for stopping by.

In a world of faux

Happy Friday. I haven't been doing a lot of stamping for splitcoast challenges lately, but today I did a card and managed to fit two challenges into it, the ways to use it challenge (using a white gel pen) and the limited supplies challenge (using only ink, stamps and paper).

I really love this stamp set. I still haven't found another block for the other large stamp though. Maybe I should go scour the basement and garage and see if I can find a board that I can cut.

I inked up the stamp with markers and misted with water, then stamped on vanilla card stock. I layered this on black, then ballet blue and a eggplant card base. The corner pieces are dp from an old world stack by DCWV. I just cut squares and then cut them in half diagonally. The white stitches are made with the gel pen. For the ribbon across the bottom, I cut a very narrow strip of black card stock and faux stitched it with the white gel pen. The brads are also faux. I used the plastic grid from my mat pack for a guide and just filled in three holes with ink and added highlights with a white gel pen.

The sentiment is from a retired hostess set, warmest regards.

what's in it:
stamps: inspired by nature, warmest regards
ink: brilliant blue, ballet blue, elegant eggplant, always artichoke, basic black
paper: elegant eggplant, ballet blue, basic black, very vanilla, dp (Old World stack DCWV)
other: mat pack, white gel pen

I was finally able to put in a small order from the new catalog and it came while I was making dinner. I haven't opened it yet, so that's what I'm going to do now.

Thanks for stopping by.

Brrrrrrrrrrrr...

Fall is definitely on the way! The temperature here this morning is 48F. I'm sure it was only a week or so ago that it was around 90F. But I haven't caved yet. The heat has not been turned on. With the windows closed overnight, it's not cold inside (well maybe just a little). I'm sure I'll hear noises from the family if it's too cold for them.

Yesterday's technique challenge on SCS was one I hadn't seen before called embossed shimmer. But after looking at some of the awesome samples, I knew I wanted to try it. The technique involves painting a piece of acetate (clear transparency) with a combination of white lumiere paint and ink refills and then running it through my cuttlebug in an embossing folder. As the drying time was rather lengthy, it was suggested to use time to do other household duties, so I showered, got some laundry done, crocheted some flowers... you get the picture.

I used yellows, oranges and reds on mine, since I wanted autumn colors. Even though the acetate is covered with paint, it is still somewhat transparent, so I tried several different colors of card stock behind it and really liked the copper tone I got with a piece of groovy guava. I used ruby red as a card base and accented with chocolate chip.

I was really slow this year getting in my first new catalog order, so I just got this new stamp set, inspired by nature. I really don't like the fact that it's supposed to be double-mounted, so the other large stamp is not mounted yet. I need to find a block the right size for it. I don't feel that double mounting a stamp like this is an acceptable option, since I use my stamps in a large class (20+). This is the first card I used this set on. I colored only two of the flowers with markers (ruby red, chocolate chip & always artichoke) and misted with water and then stamped on vanilla card stock. The dots are done a chocolate chip marker and white gel pen.

Since it's really hard to glue acetate, the brads and photo corner punches are more than just part of the design. They are also how the acetate is anchored to the card stock behind it.

I used my horizontal slot punch for threading the ribbon through and then raised the image panel on foam tape.

Details-
stamps: inspired by nature
ink: ruby red, chocolate chip, always artichoke, only orange, summer sun, pumpkin pie
paper: ruby red, chocolate chip, very vanilla, groovy guava
other: acetate, white lumiere, stipple brush, artist palette, white gel pen, cuttlebug, cb floral fantasy embossing folder, photo corner punch, brads, piercing tool, horizontal slot punch, chocolate grosgrain ribbon, foam tape

Thanks for stopping by today.

challenges

Good morning! I have been so neglectful of this blog lately. Sorry, peeps.

This past Friday night was a release of new stamps at Gina K Designs, so of course there was a release party on her SCS forum. Gina's parties are always fast moving and fun. Along with the party, there are always challenges and giveaways, making it more fun to participate. I did both the sketch challenge and the waste not, want not challenge and have them to share with you today.

The card with the oval was for the sketch challenge and I stuck right with the sketch. All stamps are Gina K. I colored the image with SU pure color pencils (because they were closer than my prismacolor pencils) and gamsol. I wasn't sure how well they would work, but I got a nice vibrant color, which is what I was aiming for. I chose my card stock after I colored the image, simply pulling in colors from the image.














The second challenge required using an entire piece of 6"x6" designer paper. If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that using designer paper does not come easy for me, so this was definitely a bigger challenge than the sketch. Some of the designer paper could be on the inside of the card, as shown in the third photo. The main image is stamped off first, so that the color matched the Basic Grey Perhaps paper better.

The flower embellishment is one that I crocheted. I've been making a lot of these in hopes of being able to sell them. I have many colors.


If you wish to see a list of supplies used for each of these cards, please check my SCS gallery.

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a wonderful week.

on the farm

Happy hump day. Last night I participated in an online class over at Cornish Heritage Farms' forum. We made magnets. Since I didn't have the stamp set that was used for the class, I had to make a little substitution. So I chose some individual stamps that would still work for small items. I picked Bossy the Cow and Clarice the Sheep by Cornish Heritage Farms and a goat by Whipper Snapper Designs.

I first stamped the images on white card stock with black stazon and then punched them out with a 1-1/4" circle punch. I colored them with prismacolor pencils and gamsol. I then punched out the same size circle from cereal box chipboard and glued each stamped circle to a circle of chipboard for added stability. I sponged some chocolate chip ink around the edges to tone down the brightness of the white card stock. I then backed each with a scalloped circle punched with my new EK Success 2" scalloped circle punch. Then I coated them all with 2 coats of Plaid Royal Coat Decoupage Medium. I attached a magnet strip to the back of each one and I was done.

The remainder of the project is to make a bag topper and put the magnets in a bag with the topper attached. I haven't done that part yet.

supplies:
stamps: Bossy the Cow, Clarice the Sheep (CHF), goat (Whipper Snapper Designs)
ink: jet black stazon, chocolate chip
paper: white, black, cereal box chipboard
other: prismacolor pencils, gamsol, sponge, decoupage glue (Plaid), paint brush, 1-3/4" circle punch & 2" scalloped circle punch (EK Success), magnets

Thanks for stopping by.

Black Magic Joy

Hello everyone. I can't believe it's September already. I guess that means that the hot summer months are almost behind us and cooler fall weather is on its way. I love fall, the cooler crisp weather, the rich colors of the fields and changing leaves. And one of my favorite things about fall is the smell of burning leaves.

Today's technique challenge on splitcoast was black magic. I've done this technique before, so it wasn't a new one for me, although the instructions were a bit different than I had done before. They said to use odorless mineral spirits with the prismacolor pencils, but I found that didn't work as well, so I chose not to use it.

I started by stamping the single coneflower (Cornish Heritage Farms) with white craft ink on a black scalloped circle that was on my desk. I think the circle could have been a tad smaller, but I made this one work. After drying the ink with my heat gun, I colored the image with prismacolor pencils, being careful to leave the white ink showing. Adding the white outline with gel pen is how I have done the black magic technique before, so I did that on this image. I then added a lot of white dots around the scallops and used my crop-a-dile to punch holes and place white eyelets at each scallop. I used a white cord to weave through the eyelets and covered the knot with a crocheted flower and a little plastic flower embellishment.

The card base is perfect plum. I certainly had not planned to use this color, but it matched the flower the best, so I went with it. I scalloped a strip of wild wasabi card stock with my scalloped border punch and added a dot in each scallop. Then I used the same punch to create faux rick rack.

The sentiment is from small script, a retired SU set.

I attached the circle with foam tape. It sounds a lot simpler than it was to create this card. I really struggled with putting all the pieces together so that the result was pleasing.

Supplies
stamps: small script (SU), single coneflower (Cornish Heritage Farms)
ink: white craft, jet black stazon
paper: perfect plum, wild wasabi, basic black
other: prismacolor pencils, white gel pen, scalloped border punch, cuttlebug, circle nestabilities, crop-a-dile, white eyelets, white cord, crocheted flower, plastic flower, foam tape

Thank you so much for stopping by today. Have a wonderfilled week.