Play Date Cafe Challenge 31

The Play Date Cafe Challenge this week is to use the colors violet, light green brown, and magenta.  These colors  define pansies, don't you think? The pansies are from Kitchen Sink Stamps. The background layer was created using a Fiskars border punch. The paper used is from Club Scrap.
Color recipes: (all ink used is Adirondack unless noted)
Large pansy -- 1 cool peri stamped off, 2 cool peri, 3 purple twilight, 4 wild plum
Smaller pansies -- 1 cool peri stamped off, 2 cool peri, 3 purple twilight, 4 fuschia (Club Stamp)
Leaves -- 1 citrus, 2 lettuce, 3 meadow

Color Throwdown Challenge 94

This week the Color Throwdown challenge was to use close to cocoa, so saffron, old olive, tangerine tango, and soft sky in  a piece of art. When I saw these colors, I knew that I wanted to use them with some scene stamp. This is a stamp from the Kodomo line of stamps (no longer in business) that I was lucky enough to acquire recently. I thought it would be fun to use it for the challenge. I decided to use my Creative Inspirations paints for the color. They have such beautiful colors which sparkle. I stamped and embossed the image on a piece of watercolor parchment and painted the image. I used one of my Spellbinder dies, labels 2 to cut the image and frame it. The card front was dryembossed with a cuttlebug folder. The sentiment is a clear label from a Club Scrap kit.

Kitchen Sink Stamps Crew Challenge 25-4

Mahalo! Here's one last challenge card for the Kitchen Sink Crew Challenge this month. I decided to use the Kitchen Sink Stamp set "Aloha" for this card. I had several reasons. I really like the set and had never used it before; I haven't seen anything stamped with the set; and I guess I was thinking tropics as I enjoyed the beautiful weather here in Chicago today. As many times as I have used KSS stamps, I am still amazed at how detailed they end up stamping. The KSS Crew challenge is a sketch challenge. I had some fun with this one. I altered the layout slightly by using a horizontal layout. The colors I chose reminded me of the tropics. The background is dry embossed with one of Tim Holtz's new texture fades, "Cracked". It was done on Core'dinations paper and the design was sanded. The flower brads are from my stash. The paper is from Club Scrap.

Color recipes: (All inks used are Adirondack)

Hula Dancer -- 1 peach bellini, 2 butterscotch, 3 caramel, 4 rust

Flowers -- 1 shell pink, 2 peach sherbert, 3 raspberry, 4 wild plum

Leaves -- 1 willow, 2 lettuce, 3 meadow

Gratitude Magician's Box Project--Club Stamp

Magician's Box closed

This month's Club Scrap project is a Magician's Box. Basically it is a decorated cube which is held closed by a ribbon and bow. When the ribbon is untied, the box opens to reveal decorated sides and two mini booklets or albums. As is obvious, I used an Asian theme to decorate the box. All of the paper except the square design paper panels on the outside is from Club Scrap. The panels are from Kodomo. I used stamps from the Club Scrap Gratitude collection and the Asian Ambiance collection to decorate the inside and outside walls. There are also some outline stickers used as decor. The inside base has dimensional ephemera from my stash. It always amazes me that a few pieces of bookboard, some adhesive, some pretty paper and a few stamps can be put together into an amazing piece of art.

Critter Sketch Challenge 15

This week's Critter Sketch challenge is a sketch. This month's challenges are sponsored by Doodle Dragon Studios. The digital cat and mouse image is from Doodle Dragon Studios and is colored with Copic markers. The ribbons are from my stash. The embossed background is done with one of Tim Holtz's new Texture Fades embossing folders. Cool huh! The sentiment is a sticker I found in my stash. It's part of a scrapbook kit, but I don't know what company it is from. I bought it years ago when I thought I would make a scrapbook of my kitties. Not gonna happen. But the sticker made a perfect finish to my card.

Play Date Cafe Challenge 30

This week in the Play Date Cafe the challenge was pale yellow, light green, and pink. I know it was not an original idea to make a baby card with these colors, but my nephew and his wife are expecting a baby girl any day now so this was a perfect time for a baby girl card. The flowers are a Club Scrap stamp. I  used a faux watercolor technique using markers direct to stamp. All other stamps are all from Kitchen Sink Stamps, the Baby set.

Color recipe: All inks are Adirondack unless noted

1 shell pink, 2 angel pink (Memento), 3 pink sherbert, 4 raspberry

Bloggers Challenge 152

Another week, another challenge, and another story. This week's Bloggers Challenge is a sketch. Again, this is a card which has various effects which are lost by scanning.

I chose this stamp image by circumstance this time. My daughter was looking for a craft project that she could demonstrate to a group and asked me for help. I had some scratch board I had found at a stamp flea market. Since it was something that didn't require carrying a lot of supplies and was relatively easy, it seemed like the perfect solution. I used this peacock image and demonstrated the technique to her. I stamped it with white Staz-on on the black scratchboard and began scratching the details. When starting to work on my challenge card, I decided that this peacock was the perfect image for this sketch, so I finished scratching it. The peacock image is from I Brake for Stamps and is one of my favorites. Of course, the scan doesn't really show that the image was scratched out, but it's cool to see in real life. The image of white on black needed a strong background. What appears to be a white background is actually a white holographic Shimmer Sheetz. In different light it shimmers rainbow-like colors. I dry embossed it with a Cuttlebug folder. The red papers are from my Club Scrap stash. The three grommets along the side are highlighted with red Stickles.

The Bloggers Challenge always has lots of beautiful art to see. Click on the Bloggers Challenge box on my sidebar to see what the others have done.

Color Throwdown Challenge 93

This week's Color Throwdown challenge is to use the colors pink pirouette, melon mambo, and baja breeze in a piece of art.

This card was a bit of a challenge and actually went a totally different way than I first envisioned. Although it's not evident when one looks at the scan, the top layer is a portion of a transparency. Under the transparency, the layer is stamped with light pink (Adirondack shell pink) flourishes (Tim Holtz stamps) and darker pink (Adirondack mountain rose) flowers ("Botanical Dreams" stamp set by Asela Hopkins at Gina K. designs). I had just received the stamp set and decided that the flower was the perfect image to go with the transparency.

Kitchen Sink Stamps Crew Challenge 25-3

Here is another card for this month's Kitchen Sink Stamp Crew Challenge. The challenge this month is a sketch. For my focal image I use the KSS limited edition set Lily of the Valley. This is the first time that I used this image; I really like it. The paper is all from Club Scrap. I love the colors of dark blue and green together. It's a happy combination. The buttons are from my button box.

Color recipe: All inks are Adirondack.

Lily of the valley leaves: 1 willow, 2 lettuce, 3 citrus, 4 meadow, 5 bottle

Critter Sketch Challenge 14

This week the Critter Sketch Blog challenge is a sketch. This month the challenges are sponsored by Doodle Dragon Studios which features a lot of cute digital stamps. I thought this would make a cute birthday card for a little boy. I used the digital treasure map and the digital pirate parrot for my images from the Pirates 10 set. I used Copics to color the parrot and the X and distressed the map with Old Paper Distress Ink. The sentiment is a Club Scrap stamp.

Try That Technique -- Warhol Technique

This week's Technique Junkies Try That Technique challenge is the Warhol technique. It's one of my favorite techniques. It's easy enough to do, but it's very eye catching. There are three Warhol techniques. I chose Warhol 1 because I thought it was most effective for this image. The stamps and paper are all from Club Scrap.

Play Date Cafe Challenge 29

This week's Play Date Cafe challenge is a color challenge. The colors to use are lime green, leaf green, and light blue. Green and frogs are an obvious match. I just received this frog stamp from Paula Best stamps and decided that it was perfect for this challenge.

The lily pad is adapted from an old Hot Potatoes stamp that I have had a long time. I cut the point off the end to give a rounded lily pad look. I used the Technique Junkies Faux Velvet technique on the lily pad which adds texture. The sentiments and sparkles stamps are from Club Scrap, as is the paper. I highlighted the sparkles and the word "Enchanted" with the glitter gel pen. This frog needs a kiss.

Created By Hand Challenge 05-11

This week's Created by Hand Challenge is to create art using the them of "Mirror, Mirror" and/or the color purple. Although you can't see the mirror on this card because of the scan, it is the oval behind the owl. I guess the purple is more evident. I will be sending this card to a friend of my daughters who is graduating from college. I thought the mirror theme was perfect for this card. As she looks at the card, she will see her reflection behind the graduate owl. It'll make the card very personal.

Bloggers Challenge 151

What do the colors red, teal, and curry have in common? They're the colors of the the Bloggers Challenge this week. I guess I was in a psychedelic mood when I worked on this card. These colors yelled wild. I decided to use Tim Holtz's technique of  dripping alcohol inks on glossy paper and blowing with compressed air. If the technique has a name, it escapes me. I used my Adirondack alcohol inks in red pepper, stream, and butterscotch (the closest I had to curry) with a can of compressed air and created the background. Who better to feature on the card than Jimi Hendrix? This image comes from Stampsmith stamps. The saying is a Jimi Hendrix quote and is from Paula Best stamps. The card and frame papers are from Club Scrap. I used my Distrezz-It tool to distress around the image frame. Another fun challenge!

Critter Sketch Challenge 13

This month's Critter Sketch Challenges are being sponsored by Doodle Dragon Studios. This week we are to create a "critter" birthday project. Doodle Dragon Studios has digital images at reasonable prices to download. This adorable kitty is from the Kit E Cat Deal set. Being owned by four cats, I am used to this occurrence. No empty box is safe in my house. And now, back to my card. The image was colored with Copic markers. The background is a plaid made using alcohol inks. This was one of the techniques shared by Tim Holtz during his 2009 Twelve Tags of Christmas. I think it made the perfect (or should I say purr-fect) bright background for this cute image. The sentiments are from Kitchen Sink Stamps and Tim Holtz stamps.

Color Throwdown 92

The Color Throwdown Challenge this week was to use the following colos: baja breeze, so saffron, old olive, and kraft. I love this stamp from Innovative Stamp Creations and thought it would look good in these colors. I used Copic markers to color her. The background designer paper fit the colors perfectly. The oval frame and the card base are the kraft color paper.

Stampotique Designers Challenge 7

This week's Stampotique Designers Challenge is to use a template. As I was trying to decide what template I would use, I came across this postage paper template from 100 Proof Press. Oddly enough I had just refound the stamp paper a couple of days ago. So I put together the template and the paper, a few stamps from Stampin' Up, I Brake for Stamps, some numbers, and a couple of wings. The result is my postage card.

Try That Technique 05-06-10

This weeks Technique Junkies Try That Technique challenge is Faux Designer Paper from the December 2008 newsletter. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I remembered the technique being in the newsletter, but I was afraid to try it. It seemed too complicated. Wow, was I wrong. It looks complicated, but it is really easy. All of the stamps in this card are from Tim Holtz. This may have been the first time I tried the technique, but it won't be the last.

Play Date Cafe Challenge 28

The challenge for the Play Date Cafe this week is to use the colors pink, grey, white and black. I'm not normally a pink person but this was a fun challenge. The background is designer paper with the three flowers painted with luminarte paints with black diamond stickles as centers. The stamp is from Innovative Stamp Creations. I love the message...Relax!

This is the color story that the challenge was based on. The color scheme is kind of retro. I had to smile when I saw the challenge. These were my class colors when I graduated from 8th grade, many years ago.

Critter Sketch Challenge 12

This week's Critter Sketch Challenge was a sketch with the added requirement for a touch of green somewhere on the piece of art. The sketch at first appeared to be quite a challenge, but it proved to be easier than expected once the parts were broken down. I decided that my card would be a gatefold card. The almost ovals are stamped in Club Scrap leaf green with a flourish from I Brake for Stamps (Stampinback). The rectangle was dry embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. The center stamp is also from I Brake for Stamps. The frame around the image was distressed with my Distrezz-It-All. The background paper is from Club Scrap.

Bloggers Challenge 150

The Bloggers Challenge theme this week is Mother's Day. I had fun making this card. I just received this stamp in the latest Club Scrap kit. I just love it. When I went to use it, I decided to make a watercolor image using my watercolor crayons.  I used one of my Fiskar border punches to make the lacy border along the sides. The paper is all Club Scrap. Happy Mother's Day is gold embossed. It's a more girlie card than I'm used to making, but it seemed appropriate for the day. I hope my aunt likes it.

Color Throwdown Challenge 91 and KSS Crew Challenge 25-2

The color pallette for the Color Throwdown challenge this week is near red, tempting turquoise, and kiwi kiss. I love the kiwi and turquoise colors together. I just didn't know about the red until I thought about my Kitchen Sink cardinal stamp. The turquoise oval was left from another set of cards I did where I cut out the shape and used the reverse for my card front. Suddenly I had a card which not only met the criteria for the Color Throwdown Challenge, but also for the Kitchen Sink Stamps crew challenge which is a sketch. See my May 4th post.
Color recipes: All inks are Adirondack
Cardinal -- 1 mountain rose, 2 watermelon, 3 cranberry, 4 archival black
Branch -- 1 sandal, 2 hazelnut, 3 expresso
Leaves -- 1 willow, 2 lettuce

Kitchen Sink Stamps Crew Challenge 25-1

Another month, another Kitchen Sink Stamp Crew Challenge. This month's challenge is a sketch. I used my latest KSS set, Hibiscus to create this card. The paper is all from Club Scrap. I love the background piece both because of its color and its texture. The oval is cut with my Spellbinder nestibilities oval die.

This is the sketch for the challenge. I tried to follow it pretty closely.

This card also meets the requirements of the RangerInk Challenge. That theme is Blossom. We are to use a blossom or blossoms and Ranger products. My usual ink of preference when using KSS multi-step images is Adirondacks, so these challenges were closely related. The additional Ranger product I used was Stickles in the small flower centers.

Color recipes: all inks are Adirondack
Hibiscus -- 1 mountain rose, 2 watermelon, 3 cranberry, 4 sunset orange, 5 raisin
Leaf -- 1 willow, 2 lettuce, 3 meadow
Stickles -- golden rod

Play Date Cafe Challenge 27

This weeks Play Date Cafe challenge was to use the colors light green, light blue, and off white. The stamp is from Bella Rosa Stamps. It's an unusual sized stamp since it is quite long and somewhat narrow. The card is a perfect size for a #10 envelope. When I saw the challenge colors, the light blue triggered a picture of this stamp. The rest of the card just fell into place.

This is the image showing the challenge colors. They are so soft and springlike.