Secret to Staying Young

Saturday is my dearest friend Don's birthday. I wanted to create a fun, masculine card for him. Here's wishing Don a happy and wonderful birthday and many, many more!

I based my layout on the Mojo Monday sketch challenge. The background is a gold strip panel with a stamped kraft panel. The focal gentleman, sentiment, and background stamping are all Artistic Outpost Stamps.

I am entering this card into these challenges: Mojo Monday --sketch; Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge -- touch of gold; and Artistic Outpost monthly referral challenge -- anything goes with Artistic Outpost stamps.

Masquerade

My card today has the flair of Mardi Gras. The card base is gold metallic.The background is a favorite of mine. I used a piece of Shimmer Sheetz which is a kind of plastic. The colors are holographic and very shimmery. I die cut the oval from the panel and then dry embossed it with the fleur de lis pattern. The stamps are all from Rogue Redhead Designs, Carnival Dreams. The image was colored using watercolor pencils on watercolor paper. The layout is based on the Rogue Stampers sketch featured on the Rogue Stampers Facebook page.
I am entering my card in these challenges: Flourishes Timeless Tuesday -- MASKerade and Inspiration Journal -- bright colors.

Tranquility

For my card today, I pulled out a product that I haven't used in ages. I created my image background with alcohol inks. My stamp is an oldie, but favorite from Club Scrap. The card design is based on the sketch from Mark's Finest Papers Oriental Sketch Challenge.
My card is also being entered in these challenges: Flourishes Timeless Tuesday -- use a stamped image but no coloring; and Kraft Journal --birds.

Birthday Circle

Today I decided to play with offset dies technique from the current Technique Junkies newsletter. I also used the out of the box technique (Oct/Nov 2004).I used a kraft basecard. I chose several colors of cardstock for the frame and offset circles. I stamped the background frame and the brown circle with background stamps from Rogue Redhead Designs behind the scenes plate. The image and sentiment are from RRD Winter Women. The lime and orange circles were dry embossed using a Sizzix (Tim Holtz) embossing folder.
This card is being entered into these challenges: Technique Junkies Try This Technique -- offset die cuts; Flourishes Timeless Tuesday -- lotta polka dots; Three Muses -- out of bounds; and Mark's Finest Papers Simple Salutations challenge -- stamped background.

Love is a Promise That Lasts Forever

It seems like Christmas was just yesterday, and now we're days away from Valentine's Day.  So many challenges are looking for Valentine's Day type themes. Here's another Valentine with red, pink, white and hearts and love for you to see.
For my image I used a larger SweetStamps stamp which I die cut into a heart shape. I then overlaid the sentiment (rub-on). The background is a fun red with white polka dot design paper. I used the Club Scrap Love stencil painted with white distress paint across the bottom of the card and added a little heart and bling..
I am entering my card in these challenges: SweetStamps -- pink, white, and red; Three Muses -- love; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge -- have a heart; Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge -- red and love; Great Impressions -- floral image; and Mark's Finest Papers Sketch with a Twist -- sketch and hearts.

Love Gives us a Fairy Tale

Today's Valentine is a large tag with a little Steampunk influence. Are you starting to see a pattern? To create my background, I started with several drops of distress paint. I pounced the brayer in the paint and then on to the tag. I stamped (all stamps from Tim Holtz) the Valentine words and then letterpressed them using the matching texture fade. The hearts were stamped next. Before stamping the sentiment, I used a bit of picket fence distress stain so the sentiment would stand out better against the darker background. Jacob, the focal image is from Simply Betty. I added the metallic paper die cut wings and an arrow spinner. The tag string was dyed using a distress marker.
I am entering my tag in these challenges: Simply Steampunk -- wings/grunge; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge -- twine or string; Word Art Wednesday -- anything goes; Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge -- purple; Fashionable Stamping -- tag along; Artistic Stamper -- use distress; and Stampin' for the Weekend -- anything but a card.

Love Letter

Today I had some extra time to spend in my studio, so there will be several posts. I decided to try a new TJ technique, washi shapes which just happens to be this week's Try This Technique challenge. Since I just bought some roles of washi tape a short while ago (which I  have never used) today seemed like the perfect time to try them out. To make my card I started with a red base card. I die cut the background panel using a stamp frame and then I die cut the sentiment "love". I also used an embossing folder to add the Valentine word background. The Cupid, heart and flower were all die cut using washi tape covered cardstock.

These are the blog challenges I am entering: Technique Junkies Try This Technique -- washi shapes; Mark's Finest Papers Color Thursday challenge -- bright colors; Flourishes Timeless Tuesday -- in with the new; Fashionable Stamping -- hearts and flowers