Christmas Tag

The SweetStamps challenge this week is to create a Christmas tag. I started with my tag and dry embossed it for texture. I die cut my Christmas tree using my new Cheery Lynn die. I really wanted a silhouette image in front of the tree, so I took my Sweet Stamps Children Skipping stamp and stamped it on black cardstock using white ink. I then fussy cut the image. As I had hoped, the reverse of the cut image (no white lines) made a perfect silhouette image. I used grungeboard numbers which I colored barn door red using distress stain for the 25. A little barn door red around the edges of the tag and a red ribbon completed the look.
I am also entering my tag into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge --anything goes.

Forever Friend

This is a card which uses several older and seldom used stamps. I love when that happens. My dog is from Rare Images. The paw prints are from a Hero Arts set. The sentiment is a Chapel Road stamp. I used Club Scrap paper for the card base and black, Kraft Outlet kraft paper for the background panel, Core'dinations for the layering panel and Stampland paper for the image and sentiment. The collar buckle is from Tim Holtz.
I am entering this card in several challenges: Mojo Monday -- round or square challenge, Kraft Journal -- cute critters, Word Art Wednesday --anything goes, and Mark's Finest Papers Inspiration Thursday -- Boxers.

If the Old Only Could

This month the Stampsmith Challenge is shabby chic or vintage grunge. What fun!

My background was done using the peeled paint (with vaseline) technique first. Then I overstamped by partially stamping  stamps from Club Scrap. The focal image is a Stampsmith stamp. She is framed by a Spellbinder's diecut. The sentiment is from Dyan Reaveley (Ranger-Dylusions)

Dare to Dream

This week the Ink on My Fingers Sunday challenge is time and the Simply Steampunk challenge is to use an embossing folder.My image is Jacob from Simply B designs. He was colored with watercolor pencils. I double embossed the metallic sheet background with a gears folder and a rivets folder from Tim Holtz. I added a light touch of alcohol inks for a bit of color. The clock die and sentiment are also from Tim Holtz.

Summer Yum

Here's a fun summer card. Bandana and popsicles--how much more summer can you get?
The bandana stamp is from Stampendous. The bandana technique is an old one from Technique Junkies. The popsicles were die cut using the Tim Holtz arches die. The sentiment stamp is from Serendipity. Pan Pastels were used for the background color with Viva Decor ice white used for the bandana dots and lines. The popsicles are really sparkly due to a covering of distress glitter.
This card is being entered into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge -- summer food/drink and into V's Sweet Challenge -- summer fun.

Butterfly

The Ink on my Fingers Sunday Challenge and Serendipity Stamps both challenged us to use fabric on our cards. I had a few ideas, but then I remembered a technique I had learned years ago. I used the Heartlooms velvet embossing technique with the small butterfly and milkweed stamp from Serendipity. (Of course, I had several pieces of the Heartloom velvet in various colors in my stash that I had to have back then because of the technique.)
For those of you new to this technique, it's very easy. You need a piece of Velvet, a craft iron (or if using a steam iron, no steam and stay away from the holes in the iron), and a rubber stamp. Spritz the velvet with a tiny bit of water, lay the velvet soft side down on the stamp and press the iron on the back of the velvet. It only takes a few seconds and the image will be embossed in the velvet. I cut my velvet using one of the Tim Holtz ovals. I was amazed at how easy the velvet cut.
The background of my card is cut from a piece of My Mind's Eye designer paper. The sentiment is a stamp from Club Scrap. this was a fun trip down memory lane.

Birthday Wishes

Although I'm a little late, I couldn't miss another Bloggers Challenge. Today the theme is  they say it's your birthday.
To make my card I cut the fairy using a Cheery Lynn die out of silver metallic paper. The sentiment letters (Tim Holtz) were also cut from the silver paper. I love silver against a navy background. Because of the metallic silver and the intricate die, I kept the card simple. I added a bit of bling to finish the look.
 I'm also entering this card into these challenges: Cheery Lynn Designs -- silver and/or gold, and Word Art Wednesday -- anything goes.

Birthday Cupcake

My card was inspired by several interesting challenges this week. The layout is based on a rotated sketch from Mojo Monday. The Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge is celebrating its 3rd year, so the challenge is to create something birthday related. Two separate challenges. want to see something inspired by cake. Our Daily Bread Designs' challenge is inspired by cake and MFP Inspirations' challenge is luscious cakes. The inspiration images are below. MFP Simple Salutations wants to see cards for men.( Yes, my card has lots of pink, but I think the tone of the pink and the card treatment are quite appropriate for a man). The Kraft Journal challenge is tie it up.

My card features the pink, white, and animal print of these two cakes. The base card is kraft cardstock. The horizontal panel and cupcake wrapper are cut from animal print. The rest of the cupcake is colored with distress markers. Distress markers also highlight the sentiment. I added a little Viva Decor glitter line to the frosting for a little dimension. The stamp is from the Tim Holtz collection. The background is a piece of pink core'dinations paper which was double embossed (Cuttlebug folders) and sanded. Since this was a man's card, I added the string bow (dyed with spun sugar distress stain) instead of a flower.

Life Measured

The first card I am sharing today is a CAS card. I stamped my daisies (Mark's Finest Papers) on the white card base. They were colored with distress markers. I then added Viva Decor glitter liner to the flower heads. Over that I sprinkles a little distress glitter. The sentiment is from Verses stamps.
My card was created for the challenges at Addicted to CAS -- glitter and Marks Finest Papers Friends of Speedy Challenge -- no design paper.

Postage Stamp

I am joining a new challenge for me today. SerendipityStamps wants to see something inspired by a postage stamp. Hooray, I finally got to use the postage frame from the Tim Holtz Collection. The stamps are from Serendipity Stamps. I used a scrap of cardstock from Club Scrap to paper piece the vases. The cardstock was a mixture of colors, so I cut each bottle from a separate part of the paper. The lightest section was the reverse of the paper. I love that I could get different looks from one scrap. The postcards were also stamped on the reverse and then given a touch of color using distress markers. The two 4's were stickers I had in my stash. The base card is also from Club Scrap.

Shabby Chic Midge

I just shared a card with a designer paper background using the sketch from the current Rogue Redhead Designs Rebel Challenge. The background on this card was hand created. First I stamped the bubblewrap background stamp from the RRD Behind the Scenes stamp set with embossing ink. I then heat embossed it using clear powder. I masked the embossed sections. Using a brayer, I brayered distress stains over the sections and wiped a damp paper towel over the embossing. Using Cheery Lynn dies, I cut the oval and frame. First I stamped Midge (This 'n That). Then I masked her and stamped the hand writing background stamp. (RRD Behind the Scenes) I think the distress and embossed background gives a very shabby chic feeling to the card.
I am entering this card into the SweetStamps challenge and the Great Impressions challenge. Both sites have an anything goes challenge.

Blossoming

The current challenge at Fashionable Stamping is Flora and Fauna and the challenge at Tuesday Throwdown is anything goes. I am entering my card in both challenges.
To create this card I followed the sketch challenge at Rogue Redhead Designs. Its an easy sketch to follow, but you can do so much with the background. For my card I stamped stamps from the RRD Floriculture stamp set. I then die cut the oval and frame (Cheery Lynn Designs). I gave the image a touch of color using my distress markers. The background design papers are from the Graphics45 "Secret Garden" paper pad.

12 Tags of 2013 -- July

I can't believe that I'm finally posting my July tag from the 12 Tags of 2013 challenge from Tim Holtz. It took me several days to complete this tag. Don't get me wrong, it was really rather easy to make. However, my first attempt at the flag was not to my liking. The difficulty started when I pulled out my rock candy distress crackle paint. First, the cover was stuck hard to the jar. By stuck I mean hammer and then throw on the cement floor stuck. However, perseverance paid off. I got the lid off--only to find the contents to be the consistency of rubber. At that point, since the crackle paint was totally unusable, I decided to try the old Ranger crackle medium. But, I also decided to put water in the jar and soak my rubberized crackle paint. I couldn't lose anything by trying. After the crackle medium dried, I wasn't really too pleased since it only crackled slightly along some of the edges. I tried to color it with the stains, but that didn't work very well, so I tried the distress paints. That covered the medium, but actually came out flat. Then I added a little distress glitter. The results were better, but definitely different from what the crackle paint would give. After completing the flag, I remembered the water and distress crackle paint. I had soaked the contents overnight. I picked up the jar and shook it a bit. When I looked in the jar, it actually looked like crackle paint. I had nothing to lose but a part of a piece of grungeboard, so I cut another flag. I am ecstatic to report that my crackle paint was revived and worked perfectly and I love the results.

Stroll Upon the Beach

Keeping with the summer theme, I created this card showing two children walking on the sand along the ocean. The image and sentiment are both stamped using Rogue Redhead Designs stamps from Beach Babes.
To create my card I first stamped the background with the Beach Babes background stamp. I used Pan Pastels to add the beach colors. I stamped the two children over the background to maintain the fine details and then again on white cardstock. Distress markers were used to color the children. I fussy cut them out and layered over the stamped image on the background. I took a layering panel and dry embossed it. The sentiment was then stamped on a scrap from that panel. I thought that the kraft base card went well with the sandy beach image. It really was a simple card to make. The background looks complicated, but it is a single stamp with three swipes of a sponge for color.
This card will be entered into these challenges: City Crafter -- cooling down; Mark's Finest Papers Simple Salutations -- By the Beach; and Addicted to CAS -- water.

Bathing Beauties

Lately I've been on a summer kick. Today's card uses the Mojo Monday sketch as its layout. The gorgeous bathing beauties (and sentiment) are from the Artistic Outpost Boardwalk stamp set. The sand background is stamped using a Rogue Redhead Designs stamp from Beach Babes. Although the sparkle doesn't show very well on the scan, the deep teal background panel and the circle were die cut from glitter paper.
This card is being entered in these challenges: Mojo Monday -- sketch; Simon Says Stamp and Show -- anything goes; Artistic Stamper -- Ladies' Day; and Artistic Outpost referral program -- anything goes.

Happy 4th of July

Happy Birthday America. It's a gorgeous day here in Chicago. Hope everyone is enjoying a lovely 4th of July.
My card today celebrates the holiday. I used the Designer Paper Starburst technique from the April/May 2013 Technique Junkies newsletter to make my background. It seemed like a perfect background for a 4th of July card. The stars are cut using a Sizzix die. All of the stamps used are from the Artistic Outpost stamp sheets, Heroes and She-roes.
This card is being entered into a number of challenges:
Tuesday Throwdown -- stars and stripes; Our Daily Bread Designs -- red, white, and blue; Creative Belli -- stars; Simon Says Stamp -- patriotic; Marks Finest Papers Inspiration Challenge -- red, white, and blue; Inspiration Journal -- Happy Birthday, America; and Artistic Outpost Monthly Referral -- anything goes.

"Tis the Season

July is underway and it's time for Christmas in July. That's the challenge theme at Cheery Lynn Designs. Going along with this theme is the challenge at SweetStamps which is snow. To create my card I used the Christmas candle light die from Cheery Lynn. It's an outline die, so I cut it several times in order to paper piece the image. The actual process was a bit tedious, but quite effective (I think). For the background I used dark green cardstock and stamped the snowflakes using some outline (flower) stamps from SweetStamps.