Skeleton in the Closet

Do you have a skeleton in your closet? Well, I do and here he is. In the RangerInkLink Yahoo group we had a challenge entitles skeletons in the closet. I decided to take the challenge literally and put my skeleton (Tim Holtz stamp) inside the closet. Even the hangers (also Tim Holtz) are there. At Stampendous Impressions the November challenge is chipboard. The closet with door was made using chipboard and then painted. Hopefully, this is the only skeleton I'll find in my closets.

Black and Grey

This card was created for the challenge at Gingersnap Creations (black and grays) and at Outlines Rubber Stamps (friendly fliers).  I started with this beautiful tulip stamp from Outlines Rubber Stamps. I stamped it on gray cardstock and Painted the flowers first with bleach and then over painted with winter frost Creative Inspirations Paints. The dragonflies are black outline stickers. The sentiment is also an outline sticker. I know that the challenge at Gingersnap Creations was announced during October, Poe month. My card isn't macabre; it was created in November and I guess I mellowed. Hopefully, Poe liked tulips and dragonflies.

Tribute to my Grandma

Again several challenges worked well together and this card was created. To begin with, the challenge for Grungy Monday is to use your favorite Tim Holtz products to create a loving tribute to a friend, relative or inspiring person who's passed away. 
 My grandmother was a very special person in my life. She and I had a very special relationship.There were almost 50 years difference in our ages, but age is really only a number. I always say that she was a woman who was way ahead of her time. This card is in tribute to my Grandmother. By coincidence, the challenge at Created by Hand is grandmothers/label dies.

The design of the card is based on the sketch challenge from Mojo Monday. I did rotate the sketch 90 degrees. The background is done using Tim's wrinkle free distress technique. The lower panel is embossed using one of Tim's texture fades. The flower was die cut using one of Tim's dies. The flower center is made using the I-Top Brad Maker. This is actually related to Tim since it was through his 12 Tags of Christmas that I was introduce to the I-Top (and of course, had to have one).

The doily panel was cut from vellum using a Cheery Lynn die. The frame for Grandma's picture was cut using a Spellbinders die. I used my Print Shop program to change the photo to a sepia photo in keeping with the vintage look I was going for. The Three Muses challenge is vintage collage/memories.

Finally, the challenge at Inspiration Emporium is favorite tools. The I-Top Brad Maker is one of the tools I used; however, my favorite, favorite tool is the Vagabond die cut machine which I used for die cutting and dry embossing. I use it for everything I make. 

The Second Spring

I love this quote from Albert Camus (Stampscape stamp). It really captures the beauty of the colors of autumn. My tree is a multi-step stamping image from Kitchen Sink Stamps. Behind the panel is a border punch of leaves. The background is done using the waterstamping on distress ink technique using the leaf background stamp from Heartfelt Creations.. The cardbase is Kraft cardstock.

My card was created to meet the criteria of several challenges. The design is from the sketch challenge at Critter Sketch Challenge Blog. At Kraft Journal the challenge is banners or border punches. The monthly challenge at Artistic Stamper is backgrounds.

Autumn Colors

While I don't like the chill of autumn and the forecasting of winter, I do love the

colors of autumn. This week's Bloggers Challenge is a wonderful sketch provided by our challenge leader, Lisa. Although simple in layout, the design is very eye catching. My back panel is a piece of design paper from Club Scrap. The taller panel is stamped with a music background stamp from I Brake for Stamps. The floral panel is a scrap of  designer paper from my stash. The flower is made of layers of stamped flowers from Heartfelt Creations. The raffia ribbon is a piece I had in my stash.

This card is also being entered into the challenge at I Brake for Challenges which is whiteout (Use no white or cream cardstock in your art piece.)

Happy Friday everyone!

Flappers and Philosophers

This week Simon Says Stamp and Show a House, so I'm showing three -- each one occupied by a lovely flapper (Artistic Outpost Flapper Fashions). Each of the houses was die cut using Tim Holtz's Artful Dwellings dies. The background was done using the texture duet technique from the Oct/Nov 2010 TJ newsletter.

Ticketed Backgrounds

This week's Try That Technique challenge is tagged backgrounds from the Stampbooking CD.  Since I was making a card and not a scrapbook page, I didn't have small enough tags, so I used tickets instead. For my image I used a stamp from the new Artistic Outpost sheet, Favorite Book. The word tickets are from Tim Holtz's Adage tickets. The others were cut using a TH die.