Asian theme

 As I was looking through my incidental paper stash, I came across the Asian paper you can see in the background. Suddenly my card headed in an Asian  direction.
Today is Friday which means Bloggers Challenge. This week Lisa provided a wonderful sketch to follow. I am also entering my card in the Cheery Lynn Designs challenge which has the theme anything goes as long as there is at least one Cheery Lynn die used.
 I dry embossed the paper using an Asian floral embossing folder from Cuttlebug. I placed the lattice diecut (Cheery Lynn French lattice large) over the background. The center panel was stamped twice using a Kodomo stamp. The center border panel is part of the ribbon eyelet border from Cheery Lynn. The beautiful lady in the focal oval is a stamp from Stampington. She was colored with copics.
It's amazing how art can go in a completely different direction than one anticipates. I had no thoughts of creating an Asian themed card until I got started on it. Yet here it is.

Today is Yours

Three challenges are represented by this card. Stampsmith has an anything goes theme as long as at least one Stampsmith stamp is used. Mojo Monday has its round or square sketch theme. Marks Finest Papers Simple Salutations has an anything goes theme as long as there is a sentiment on the card.
As you see, I followed the square card sketch for Mojo Monday. My focal image is Mopsa (from Shakespeare's Winter's Tale) which is on the Julia and Friends stamp sheet from Stampsmith. I colored her with Ranger dye inks using nibs. Her background was done with a stipple brush. My background is from a Tim Holtz paper stash and the sentiment is a Club Scrap stamp.

Vintage Silhouette

I made it with a day or so to spare. I finished my August tag for the Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2012 challenge. I just love the vintage look of this tag. I received my silhouette stamps and frame just in time to work on my tag. I love the look that the heat embossed frame gives the stamped silhouette. The dry embossed background with the paint dabber accents and the distress ink shading is lovely. I am really pleased with how the roses turned out. That pinecone die really does make great roses.
I am also entering my tag in the Fashionable Stamping challenge. The challenge is anything floral/handmade flowers.

Life

This month the challenge at Stampendous Impressions is sentiments. Tuesday Throwdown wants to see bold colors this week and Simon Says Stamp and Show has summer distress inks as its challenge.
To make my card, I started by using my ink applicators and adding the three summer distress inks as my background. I just love the bright bold colors. I layered the background on a black panel. I stamped the sentiment (from Club Scrap) on a white piece of cardstock and layered it on a black layer and adhered it to the background. I stamped the butterfly (Stampendous) on the background and slightly over the sentiment with embossing ink. I then embossed the butterfly with black embossing  powder. Rock Candy distress Stickles was used on the butterfly. I love how the butterfly sparkles. A rhinestone flourish finishes off the card front. I then adhered the front to a bright, bold yellow base card.

Domino Art

It's been a while since I worked with dominoes, so when Third Coast challenged us with altered dominoes, I knew I had to enter. With the popularity of Dylusions sprays, I wanted to try to use them on the backgrounds. As you see, I did get a pretty color. The color isn't as intense as it is on paper, but it made a pretty background. I then stamped the images on the dominoes with Stazon. I used my Tombow markers to add color to the images. Both the wizard and Cleopatra are Third Coast stamps. I adhered lace around the Cleopatra domino and added some red rhinestones in the corner. Around the wizard domino I adhered a metallic sticker border and added some of the sticker to the wizard's belt. Now all I have to do is decide whether to add a bale or a pinback to these pieces.

Collage

What fun! This week the Stampotique Designers challenge was to make a one layer card. This challenge worked along perfectly with the Design Junkies Try That Technique challenge which was block college from the Feb/Mar 2009 TJnewsletter.
My focal image, the little sentiment in the top corner, and all of the collage stamps are from Stampotique. I used Ranger's sandal and rust inks for the stamping. this is such an easy technique, but the results are amazing.

Floral Gatefold

This week the challenge at SweetStamps is watercolor. I was happy to be able to use a new SweetStamps stamp as my image. I used the marker watercoloring technique from the Jun/Jul 2008 TJ newsletter to watercolor my image. The markers I used were distress markers.
City Crafters had the challenge, Wishi Washi where we are to use washi tape and only two other items. I used washi tape along the top and bottom of the card. My two items were the image panel and the diecut frame.
The Mark's Finest Papers Speedy Fox and Friends challenge is to use a different fold. My card is a gate fold card. If you look closely, you can see the split in the center of the card.
Finally, the Sunday challenge at Ink on my Fingers is Green Tambourine, use green. My card base and all of the leaves and stems are green.

Frida

What do circles and squares have in common? They are both challenge themes this week. At the Octopode Factory the challenge is circles. The challenge at Tuesday Throwdown is hip to be square. Besides Frida's circular eyes, the background on my card is made up of 42 1" circles. I used the collaged circles technique from the August September 2011 Technique Junkies newsletter. The image of Frida (Octopode Factory), her frame (Spellbinders), and the letter tiles (Spellbinders) are my squares. The image of the paintbrush is a stamp from Club Scrap.

With Sympathy

I was in need of a sympathy card this week and the challenge sketch  at Our Daily Bread Designs was the perfect design. The hymn background and the cross image (all ODBD stamps) were perfect for my card. I die cut the cross using the OBDB matching die and popped the cross over the stamped image. The ribbon is from Webster's Pages and matched the card perfectly and finished it off. The sentiment is an outline sticker.

Everything is Possible

The challenge at Cheery Lynn this week is doilies. That's a great challenge for me since their doilies is what started me with Cheery Lynn. (My collection has since expanded to many other of their dies.) My doily is the nautical wheeler doily. Other CL dies used here  include dragonfly, one free wish (the fairy part), and large rose.
At Fashionable Stamping the current challenge is summer ice cream colors. What is your favorite ice cream flavor...chocolate, strawberry, mocha, pistachio, vanilla? All of these flavors are represented in my card. Mmmmm.
My third challenge represented here is for the simple salutations challenge at Mark's Finest Papers which is flower. My sentiment is a stamp from Club Scrap.

Joy and Wonder

Happy Friday! This week's Bloggers Challenge is one of my favorites--black and white, with a splash of color. As a coincidence, that is also the challenge at Three Muses.  In addition, the challenge at I Brake for Challenges is I Brake for...I Brake for Stamps. My image is from I Brake for Stamps and the sentiment is from Club Scrap.  I love the pop of the green borders against the stark black and white. For fun I added the three green square rhinestones along the bottom.

Steampunk

I decided to have a little fun with a steampunk card today. I used the sketch from the Critter Sketch challenge as the basis for my layout. All of the stamps used are from Artistic Outpost. Since the August challenge at Artistic Outpost is anything goes, my card fits right in. The Sunday Challenge at Ink on my Fingers is steampunk, so I'm right on target.
I started my card by embossing a metal foil sheet with the riveted metal texture fade (Tim Holtz). I used ginger and black soot alcohol ink to distress it.  I stamped and adhered the image panels and added a few gears and some number washi tape. And there you have my bit of steampunk for today.

White Wash Stamping and More

Until a couple of weeks ago, I had never missed a Compendium of Curiosities challenge, neither book 1 or book 2. However, because I was busy spending time with my grandson before school began, I had to sit out both challenge 15 and 16. This card incorporates three challenges from Tim Holtz's Compendium of Curiosities II:  #15 - enameled metals p. 56; #16 - perfect pearls mist p. 54; and the current challenge #18 - white wash stamping p. 47. This weeks Compendium challenge is being sponsored by the Funkie Junkie Boutique. The layout of the card is based on this week's Mojo Monday sketch challenge (turned on its side).
The black panel of the card was done with the perfect pearls mist technique. Although you can see the beautiful colors a little on the scan, in person they are phenomenal.  The strip across the bottom shows the enameled metals technique. I just love the distresses look. The butterflies on the middle panel show the white wash stamping technique. I decided to use the Club Scrap birthday sentiment because I thought that the distressed look fit with the card. It was so much fun to be able to use all three techniques on my card.

All That We Behold

Today my card meets two challenges. At City Crafter the challenge theme is fabrication. Simon Says Stamp and Show says no rules.
My card uses the watercolor whimsy technique from the current Technique Junkies newsletter. The art panel on my card is vellum. I painted the back with denium, spring green, and plum Creative Inspirations Paints. The shimmer of the paints doesn't show through the vellum very much, but the colors are so deep and rich; they worked beautifully for the back. On the front I first used rose quartz, sage, mocha latte, and sky blue with a Crafters Workshop stencil. I then used a Cornish Heritage Farms background stamp stamped in black and highlighted with a white pen. The sentiment is from Artistic Outpost and is framed with a Spellbinders die cut. The flower is made from five layers of fabric diecut using a Tim Holtz die and is painted with rose quartz and spring green CI paint. The shimmer of the paint against the deep background is wonderful.

School Days

It's that time of year again; time to go back to school. This week's Bloggers Challenge is back to school. I created my card based on the layout from the Mojo Monday sketch challenge.
The design paper panel is from Graphic45 An ABC Primer which I die cut using a Cheery Lynn Reflections Boutique die, Celtic Chain rectangle. I layered the panel on red cardstock.  Instead of ribbon, I used a ruler sticker (I've had this embellishment in my stash for years. It was just the touch I was looking for today.)  The black panel was cut from a piece of very smooth cardstock which reminded me of a blackboard. The a, b, c letters are grungeboard painted with my white paint dabber. The letters were layered on the die cut butterflies. (Cheery Lynn) The other paper elements are also from An ABC Primer.
My card also meets the challenge at Cheery Lynn which is ABC; the Take a Word challenge which is wings; and the Creative Belli challenge which is winged things.

Papillons

It's been a cool, gloomy day today--the perfect day to work in my basement studio. I created this card with three challenges in mind. The Compendium of Curiosities II challenge is to create something with the Creative Core'dinations technique from p. 61 of Tim Holtz's book. City Crafters shared an image (Papillons) from Graphics Fairy which we were to use in our creation. Marks Finest Paper Simple Salutations challenge theme is butterfly.
This weeks Compendium of Curiosities challenge is being sponsored by the generous Simon Says Stamp. My card demonstrates both techniques discussed by Tim. The frame around the image shows one of the techniques and the leaves at the bottom shows the other. For complete details see p. 61 of Compendium of Curiosities II.
The large butterfly is the image from the Graphics Fairy. The smaller stamped image with sentiment is from Club Scrap.

Pleasant Words

This week I was able to finish my challenge card for Sweet Stamps and for Our Daily Bread Designs before the deadline. Hooray! Sweet Stamps wants to see a stamped background and ODBD asked for scripture on the card.
I started my card by stamping the flower (Sweet Stamps) on light green cardstock. The flower was colored using distress markers. Then I masked the flower and stamped the background honeycomb pattern (Rogue Redhead Designs). The bee (Stampotique) was stamped over the background and colored with distress marker and picket fence stickles. The scripture text (ODBD) was stamped on cardstock and die cut using a Spellbinders die. I cut out a layering piece and adhered the diecut to it. The imag/sentiment panel was layered on a black anel and then to an ochre card base.

CHAPTER 18: Now you see him. . . Now you don't! Week 2

`Do you play croquet with the Queen to-day?'
`I should like it very much,' said Alice, `but I haven't been invited yet.
`You'll see me there,' said the Cat, and vanished.
Alice was not much surprised at this, she was getting so used to queer things happening. While she was looking at the place where it had been, it suddenly appeared again.
-- Chapter 6, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Just like the Cheshire Cat, we would like you to make a card where things appear and disappear! It could be as simple as a tag in a pocket or something more interactive and fun, for example a wiper card, a slider box or a slider card or even a double slider card, a telescoping card, a T-slide card, a swing (flip-flop) card, or a ViewMaster card. These tutorials from Splitcoaststampers are for inspiration; your project does not need to be a card. Enter by August 24 , and the winner will receive three digi stamps from our sponsor!

Our sponsor this month is Dilly Beans, featuring the whimsical art of Megan Suarez, famous for her charming big-eyed girls! You can see the digi stamps and collage sheets on her blog, Dilly Beans Stamps. There is also a Dilly Beans design team challenge blog and an Etsy shop with Megan's artwork to inspire you. Dilly Beans offers four Alice-related digi stamps: Alice in Wonderland, the Queent of Hearts, the Cheshire Cat and some whimsical mushrooms; the design team will be featuring the first three.

I've got two cards to share with you today. My first card is a telescoping card. (Technique Junkies 3D and Fun Folds CD)

Here is adorable Alice trying to make sense out of her adventures in Wonderland. The image is Alice from Dilly Beans. Coloring was done with distress markers.The die cut flower and lace are from Cheery Lynn's Manon's Wedding garland. The background was dry embossed with flowers (Cuttlebug) for texture. All of the sentiments are from TweetyJill.

Here is what you see when you unfurl the card. In the center is the crazy, or should I say "mad" Cheshire cat (Dilly Beans). He is surrounded by leaves. (Cheery Lynn Flourish leaf strip).

Below him is the Red Queen (Dilly Beans) still looking for her tarts. Behind her is a row of flamingoes (Alpha Stamps) just waiting for the Queen to play croquet. The lacy border was also cut from Cheery Lynn's Manon's Garland. The outside circle is also from Cheery Lynn (Reflections Boutique Mini Pearl Circle).

 

My second card is a double slider card. (Technique Junkies 3D and Fun Folds CD)

On the front of the card stands Alice (Dilly Beans). I wonder what she is looking at...let's pull the tab and see.

It seems like the Cheshire Cat is up to his old bag of tricks. There he is with just his grim. All images on this card are from Dilly Beans and the sentiment is from Tweety Jill Stamps.

My first card is also being entered into the following Challenges:
Cheery Lynn --shaped card, Critter Sketch--round it up (circles), and Bloggers Challenge--texture.
My second card is being entered into the Tuesday Throwdown challenge--on the move (moving parts).

Simple Pleasures

I haven't been blogging for several days and I'll probably be somewhat sporadic for the next week. My grandson is between day camp and school, so we have been enjoying each other's company and visiting the local sites. I did get a chance to finish a few things today.

Today's card follows the layout of the Mojo Monday sketch challenge. Three Muses has the challenge theme of strawberries. The strawberries and sentiment were stamped using Kitchen Sink Stamps.  Cornish Heritage Farms wants to see a black and white card with one other color. Mark's Finest Papers Speedy Fox challenge is dots. I love it when challenges work so well together.

Fun With ATC's

I love making atc's, but I haven't made any for quite a while. I had so much fun creating these. I am entering the entire collection into the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge which is paint it up. All of the backgrounds are monoprints made on my Gelli Arts plate using Creative Inspirations Paints. I wasn't sure how the CI paints would work, but they worked beautifully. The shimmer really comes through even after I went over the cards with distress stains. I also added paint to the continents on the globe, the butterfly, and the metallic numerals. On the cat atc, the cat stamp is from Stampa Rosa and the sentiment is from Club Scrap. On the bird atc the words are diecut from Spellbinders dies. All of the rest of the diecuts, distress ink and stains, ChitChat word stickers, stamps, filmstrip tape, photo sticker, and metallic numbers are Tim Holtz products.

Here they are individually.

I am entering this card in the Take a Word challenge which is memories. I just love the little camera.

This card is being entered into the MFP Speedy Fox challenge which is getting back to nature.

This card is being entered into the Great Impressions challenge which is walk on the wild side - feature an animal.

Carpe Diem

Fashionable Stamping has given us anything goes as the current challenge. I chose to share this card created using the newly released Nature Notes from Rogue Redhead Designs. The lovely girl was stamped and embossed twice, once on the blue and once on white. I then colored the white image using distress markers and cut her out. I adhered her over the image on the blue. The border was made using the vine stamp which I stamped repeatedly using my stamp positioner. The sentiment was stamped and heat embossed right over the leaves. I am really enjoying playing with the stamps in this set. They all work in so many ways

How Hot It Is!

Hot Time in the summer is the challenge theme at Cheery Lynn this week. It wasn't too hard to get inspired for this card.  This summer has been a hot one indeed. To begin my card I found a wonderful piece of orangy glitter paper. (much brighter IRL). Over that I used the French lattice die cut. Along the side I used the flourish leaf strip to cut the vine. A diecut of the spring flower burst doily in yellow over a red angel wing creates the center focus. A fan die cut (Tim Holtz) and the word hot (grungeboard letters colored with black soot distress stain) help to emphasize the heat while a dragonfly (Cheery Lynn miniature dragonfly and angel wing) looks on.
I'm also entering this card in the Classy Cards 'n Such challenge die cuts. Classy Cards 'n Such carries a lot of the Cheery Lynn dies.

Nature Notes - New Release

Today Rogue Redhead Designs is releasing a wonderful new set of stamps. Express yourself with the latest half-plate collection from Rogue Redhead Designs - Nature Notes!  With the clean art deco lines of the 1920s, this elegant set focuses on the simple majesty of nature.  This set includes 3 main focal images, a mini background, 5 sentiments and 2 decorative elements.  Create sweet notes, eclectic ATCs and charming cards to celebrate the spirit!  Nature Notes will be available for its introductory price of US$12.00 until August 31, 2012, a 20% savings off its regular price of US$15.00.

Don't forget to check out all the great Specials available during the RRD Summer Sunsational Sale!  Need mounting supplies with your new stamp purchases?  We carry EZ-Mount Cling Foam and EZ Mount Stamp Storage Panels in our Mounting Solutions Section. Great stamps and a great sale. Who could ask for more!

My card today features the beautiful grove of trees and a sentiment.

When I was trying to decide which of these stamps I wanted to use on my card, my hand and my mind reached out for this stamp and the sentiment just followed. My day had been a little chaotic with my grandchildren wanting lots of attention. The peacefulness of this scene was so calming. I knew that I wanted to keep the feel of the scene, so I didn't want to add a lot of extra embellishments. The card is on the edge of CAS with just a little layering and a dry embossed background.
I am entering this card in the Creative Belli challenge which is vacation/travel. I really believe that this place would be a fantastic travel destination.

Creative Inspirations Paints' Birthday Blog Hop

Creative Inspirations Paints is celebrating its third anniversary with a fun blog hop and a fabulous sale.

If you have arrived here from the CI blog, you're in the right place. If not, you'll want to start at Creative Inspirations Blog as you don't want to miss out on all the fun!
I'm glad you've joined us today. There will be lots of inspiration to see along the way and to a lucky winner, there is a wonderful prize. CI will be giving away 10 paints to a randomly chosen person, but to be eligible you need to leave a comment on the CI blog and all of the participating design team member blogs! You have Friday and Saturday, August 3rd and 4th to make your comments.
My project today is an ATB (artist trading block) or chunky atc. I've labeled my project "From white to bright" since I started out by gesso-ing my wooden block with white gesso and I used only white paper for the elements. Almost all of the color comes from Creative Inspirations Paints and other products.

I began by painting the gessoed block with sky blue and sage paints. I diecut two of the house diecuts from Tim Holtz complete with windows and a door. I dry embossed the house pieces with a brick texture fade, painted the house with rustic red, and layered the house over a scrap of paper painted with bright yellow for the lighted windows. I used the fence (on the edge diecut, used 2) around the whole atb to tie everything together. The fence was painted with winter frost. I cut a narrow roof and painted it with tan. On the top I added silk and paper flowers which had been dusted with Resplendence Angel Dust glitter.

On the reverse of the house, I diecut a tree (Tim Holtz) and added leaves (Cheery Lynn flourishes) and red jewelled inspirations gems for apples.




I place small flourished as vines on each side of the block.





On the other side I added a sentiment by Henry Van Dyke. (Club Scrap)
"Every house where love abides and friendship is a guest, is surely home, and home sweet home for there the heart can rest."




The result is a very colorful piece of art with lots of shimmer and sparkle.
The next stop on the blog hop is the very talented JESSICA.

Here's a look at the entire hop list:

Creative Inspirations

Barbara (You're here)

Jessica

Irit

Kassi

Kendra 

Sandie

Shanna

Creative Inspirations

I am also entering this project in several challenges:

Bloggers Challenge - alter it; City Crafters - solid colors; Three Muses - windows or doors; Marks Finest Papers Simple Salutations - building/sentiment

Sneak Peek and more

Today I am sharing a sneak peek from Rogue Redhead Designs soon to be released Nature Notes.  This set of stamps will get your mojo moving in fine spirit. The stamps will be available on Saturday, August 4th. Be sure to visit the Rogue Redhead Designs blog then for the full details, and maybe even a sale price. Speaking of sales, don't forget to check out all the great Specials available during the RRD Summer Sunsational Sale!  Need mounting supplies with your new stamp purchases?  RRD carries EZ-Mount Cling Foam and EZ Mount Stamp Storage Panels in the Mounting Solutions Section.

Now to details about my card. Mojo Monday's sketch challenge this week is round or square. Just for fun I decided to go with the round sketch this time. I started by cutting the gold layering panel using Cheery Lynn's mini pearl circle from the Reflections Boutique series. I die cut the card using a circle die which fit with the gold panel. I then diecut two layering circle panels, one in white and one in design paper. On the white I stamped and gold embossed butterflies. The DP panel was cut in half and layered over the white. The ribbon was cut from the gold cardstock. The background panel was cut from designer paper and stamped over with one of the RRD sneak peak stamps. The center circle was die cut from white and stamped with a RRD sneak peak flower (distress marker stamping) and sentiment and then layered on a gold die cut circle. To finish the card I diecut 4 butterflies (3 Cheery Lynn miniature butterflies) and one of Tim Holtz's mover and shakers butterfly which layered well with one of the Cheery Lynn butterflies. I used the butterflies instead of the hearts on the sketch because they went with the stamped butterflies on the background.
I am entering this card in several challenges. Hels Sunday Challenge at Ink on My Fingers has the challenge theme fields of gold. The theme at Take a Word is butterflies. Marks Finest Papers Friends of Speedy challenge is diecuts.