Simple Things in Life

My card layout is based on the sketch challenge from Our Daily Bread Designs. I am also entering it into the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge which is what do you say and the Mark's Finest Papers Simple Salutations challenge which is anything goes.
The panel on the left was made by stamping the crochet lace background (ODBD) with embossing ink and embossing with white embossing powder. Then I used victorian velvet distress stain to color the panel. The white EP acted as a resist. On the right panel I stamped the panel with a pussy willow stamp (MFP a Heinrich Co) and added white using my white gel pen. The focal sentiment is from ODBD. 

Holiday Memories

This will probably be the last Christmas card for a while. It's still in time for Christmas in July.
I'm entering my card in four challenges: Mark's finest Papers Sketch with a twist has given us a sketch to follow and wants to see an animal on it. Third Coast has deck our halls as the challenge. Kraft Journal wants us to use any sketch. Critter Sketch has anything goes as the challenge.
For my image I used the trees stamp from Mark's Finest Papers an Heinrich Company, the reindeer from Third Coast Stamps, and the sentiment (stamped on ribbon) from Club Scrap. The holly leaves are die cut from Tim Holtz's festive greenery. Everything is layered on a green background panel and then on a kraft card base.

On the Beach

This card represents a couple of challenges and a new technique for me. Cornish Heritage Farms challenge has a summer theme and Tuesday Throwdown wants to see a tropical paradise. The new technique for me is rubbed gelatos from the June/July 2012 TJ newsletter.
All of the stamps used are Cornish Heritage Farms stamps. The colors are all gelatos.I used a Spellbinders die as the frame to my scene.

Sail Away

I had a little chance to play today  and here is a card I created. I'll be entering it into several challenges. I created a variation on the sketch at Critter Sketch. City Crafters has bon voyage as its theme. Mark's Finest Papers Tutorial challenge is to create a tent top card. This month ArtisticStamper wants to see circles.
To make the background panel I used the sand background stamp from Rogue Redhead's Beach Babes and then diecut the circles. The boat and anchor stamps, as well as the sentiment, are also from Beach Babes. I used the outside the nestie technique from Technique Junkies for the boat circle..

Birthday Celebration

This week Cheery Lynn had the challenge theme celebration and working hand-in-hand, Classy Cards 'n Such challenged us to use die cuts. (Classy Cards 'n Such has lots of dies available.)
To begin my card, I created the background using the Cheery Lynn Japanese Lace pattern die. The balloons are stamped using the Kitchen Sink Multi-Step balloons stamps and then fussy cut. In the corner I die cut the roses using the Cheery Lynn large rose and miniature rose dies. I die cut them from white cardstock and splashed some red distress stain on the petals. The sentiment is a holographic sticker.
I went with birthday celebration on my card this week because someone special is celebrating a birthday this coming week. Happy birthday, Sandy.

Non-Traditional Christmas Card

This week the challenge at Bloggers Challenge is Christmas in July. At Stampsmith the challenge is Christmas in July, summer colors. The Stampendous challenge is citrus.
I began by stamping my focal image, The Conductor from Stampsmith, on glossy cardstock. I colored the image using dye inks and my coloring nibs. I die cut the image using a Spellbinders ornament die and layered it on some lime green cardstock. The background was made by dividing the cardstock in 4 quarters. Using a cube stamp of pine branches from Stampendous I stamped in opposite corners with Adirondack citrus green ink. The other two corners were colored using squeezed lemonade distress ink. The background panel was layered on a lime green panel and then everything was layered on a yellow card base. The sentiment is an outline sticker. I think the combination makes for a bright and cheery, if non-traditonal Christmas card.

Create Time

I hit the wall when I was working on this card. The challenge for Compendium of Curiosities II was Gilded Kraft Glassine from p. 39 of Tim Holtz's book Compendium of Curiosities 2. The technique was no problem, it was actually a lot of fun. I had a cool piece of gilded glassine and my mojo went on a long coffee break. I must have held and stared at the glassine for over an hour without a clue as to what I was going to do. I kind of knew I wanted to die cut the glassine, but that's as far as I got. Everything clicked into place when I looked at the alarm clock die from Tim and realized that there was no clock face on the die. The clock needed a face and I had just the face for it (from Stampland). I assembled the ckock, stamped some flowers and flourishes (Tim's stamps) on a background panel from one of Tim's paper stacks and added the sentiment using words from Tim's ChitChat. Thanks to the Funkie Junkie Boutique for sponsoring this challenge.
I am also entering my card in the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge which is Hey, Girl and the Kraft Journal challenge which is make me smile.

Special Friend

My card today is for two challenges. It follows the sketch at Mojo Monday. At MFPSpeedyTV the Simple Salutations challenge is trees. All of the stamps are from Mark's Finest Papers a Heinrich Company. I used distress markers to color the images. The smaller panels are all from Webster's Pages. The back panel and card base are from Club Scrap.

A Matter of Opinion

It's challenge time at Stampotique Designers and the challenge is sentiments. Several of the DT there shared journal pages or canvas art. I think that inspired me to do another set of pages in my newly started art journal. I'm also submitting this artwork in the challenges at Fashionable Stamping which is messy with ink, at Take a Word which is messy, and at Ink on My Fingers Sunday Challenge which is more than one word.
I had a lot of fun playing with my stencils and dylusions sprays. I love how the bright colors work so well together. All of the stamps used on this work are from Stampotique. I chose the World of Her Own sentiment stamp as the focal sentiment. It worked perfectly with the typewriter die from Tim Holtz. Stella sits on the typewriter, typing her message. I stamped and embossed doilie twice to sit under the typewriter. On the opposite page I have Relaxin' sitting in the garden of heart flowers. Her sentiment is not as sweet as that of Stella.
As for the messy part of this art, I think that anyone who has worked with sprays can attest to the messiness. That's all part of the fun.

More Christmas in July

I love the Try That Technique Challenge from Technique Junkies. Most often I am encouraged to try a technique that I haven't tried before. That was true this challenge as we were to try Bohemian Layers from the Feb-Mar/2011 newsletter. I decided to make a Christmas in July card since that was the challenge at both Creative Belli and Mark's Finest Papers Speedy Fox and Friends. The inks used on the background are Ranger cloudy blue, sailboat blue, and denim. The tree stamps are from Mark's Finest Papers a Heinrich Co. The background stamp is the music background stamp from I Brake for Stamps. The star and sentiment were die cut using Tim Holtz dies and grungepaper. I used my white paint dabber to color and some rock candy stickles to add a little sparkle. I am quite pleased with how the card turned out.

Anniversary Greetings

This week Kraft Journal challenged us to create a wedding or anniversary card and Our Daily Bread Designs wanted to see sunshine or clouds.
To create my card I started with kraft cardstock for the base card and a navy blue for the layering panel. I found the perfect background of clouds in my My Mind's Eye paper collection. I embossed the panel with my Sizzix texture fade rays and highlighted the embossing with squeezed lemonade distress ink to simulate sunshine. The die cut is from Spellbinders and the image which matches the die cut is from ODBD. The sentiment is also from ODBD and is by Jim Croce. I thought it was a great sentiment for an anniversary card.

Swan Lake

When I first received The Emperor Swan die from Cheery Lynn, I wanted to do a white-on-white card with it. This week the challenge at Cheery Lynn is white-on-white. Please note that the entire card is made using white paper and cardstock even if the camera shot adds some other tints and hues. The Bloggers Challenge this week is die cuts. My card actually has no stamping this week. Now that's a shock even to me. The swan in the oval border (Emperor Swan), the flourish (tropical flourish), and the two smaller flowers (miniature rose) were all made with Cheery Lynn dies. The larger flower is made using the Spellbinders carnation dies. The challenge at Classy Cards 'n Such is handmade flowers. (Classy Cards 'n Such carries both Cheery Lynn and Spellbinders dies.) Sometimes challenges are made for each other.

Freedom Stars

Have you ever had a card or art piece that designed itself? That's just about what happened with this card. I was getting ready to work on a card for the Frilly and Funkie challenge which is make my metal altered. I was looking at some rusty metal embellishments that I had purchased from the Funky Boutique. As I held these stars in my hand, I envisioned this card and off to work I went.
The background is corrugated cardboard which I painted with red, white, and blue acrylic paint. The image is from the Artistic Outpost Hero stamps and the sentiment is from the Artistic Outpost She-roes set.
I am also submitting this card to these challenges: Ink on my Fingers Sunday challenge -- embellishments; Simon Says Stamp and Show -- no rules; I Brake for Challenges --red, white, and blue; and the Artistic Outpost July Referral challenge -- anything goes.

Glimpses of Life

This week the Compendium of Curiosities II challenge was a technique I've done many times. The technique is spritz and flick from p. 42 of Tim Holtz's book. The resulting background is always a fabulous distressed look. This week's challenge is being sponsored by the wonderful Simon Says Stamp.
For the background technique I used several of the spring and summer distress inks. I wanted a brighter look to my card. The background stamp is from Hero Arts and has a coordinating embossing folder which I also used. The sentiment is a Tim Holtz stamp. Besides the embossing, I added picket fence distress stickles and spiced marmalade distress stickles to the flowers. I like the added texture.

12 Tags of 2012 - July

On this month's tag Tim used a fun technique that I have loved for a long time. Alcohol ink splatter is so much fun to do and you never quite know how it's going to turn out. I love the Statue of Liberty Stamp and the layering of the kraft core panels really added to the distress look. If you haven't worked on this month's tag, there's still time and it's a blast to do. (Pun intended)

Laugh

I made this tag for the Octopode Factory tag challenge and the Tuesday Throwdown hot colors challenge. My tag background was made using dylusions sprays and stencil. Normally, using shades of blue might not be considered hot colors, but I think dylusions sprays in most colors qualify as hot! My images are Charlie Chaplin and his favorite leading lady Edna Purviance. Both images are from the Octopode collection. The quote was found on the Internet and was computer generated.

Birthday Greetings

The challenge at Cornish Heritage Farms is birthday card. My card today is a masculine card with a bit of glam to it. I stamped the bird watching stamp (Cornish Heritage Farms) on a piece of white cardstock. Then I covered the panel with a wash of sky blue Creative Inspirations Paints. On the front of my white card base I cut out the window using a Cheery Lynn die. I then cut out the top of the window again from a piece of double sided adhesive and layered it over the first cut. I was able to add gold glitter over the filigree. I adhered the image panel to show through the window. To finish the card I added the outline sticker corners and  birthday greeting.

Style

This week Cheery Lynn challenged us to use silver and/or gold. To create my card I used the Mojo Monday sketch as my layout. I cut the cheery Lynn Swedish Spring Oval Frame twice, once in silver and once in gold. I cut the center out of the gold so that I had a gold frame around the silver middle. All of my images and sentiment are from Rogue Redhead Designs.

Dreams With Wings

 This week Lisa at Bloggers Challenge challenged us with black, white, and a splash of color. I always love this challenge. This time, however, I went a different route than I usually do. Instead of a nice black and white collage image, I used a black Cheery Lynn die cut layered on a white card. The splash of color is the cardstock I used for my sentiment (Club Scrap). My rhinestone butterfly is clear stones, therefore no color. My card also works with Hels Sunday challenge at Ink on my Fingers which is dreams.

Configuration Box No. 1

Thanks to the challenge at Compendium of Curiosities II, I have completed my first configurations box. I honestly have to say that I really didn't think I would be doing this challenge. I've had my box for ever so long in its original packaging. Why is there that fear to start something? Then I had a little time, so I decided to just follow the steps in Tim's book which would have covered everything and made the box ready to fill. OK, so I just couldn't stop until I had every nook filled with something. Thank you Linda; Thank you Tim. And thanks to Mario for the fabulous prize package.
This is such a cool project. Here are a few close-ups to see the fun contents up close.

Talk, Talk, Talk

First, let me give a shout out to my friend Jan who inspired me to get this telephone die (Tim Holtz). It is so cool to play with. My card was created for the Frilly and Funkie challenge - texture with some fabric and for the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge - layered.
My base card is kraft cardstock. For the background I used a piece of design paper from Webster's Pages. I stamped the top with the talk, talk, talk border (Club Scrap) and then dry embossed it with a texture fade. I then layered a piece of wood paper along the bottom edge and adhered a layer of lace (Classy Cards 'n Such). The telephone was die cut from glossy black cardstock. I cut the receiver from the phone so I could angle it. I inserted the black die pieces into an off white dial and added silver embossing powder to the center. The flowers are cut from crinoline (Funkie Junkie Boutique) and then sprayed with Glimmer Mist.
This is really a fun blast from the past.

Kimono

Classy Cards 'n Such challenged us to use outline stickers and Fashionable Stamping had oriental as its theme. This is the card I came up with.

I had some beautiful Kodomo paper in my stash. I embossed it using the bamboo embossing folder from Cuttlebug. I highlighted the embossing with bundled sage distress ink and edged the background paper with victorian velvet distress ink.  I used the splash and stick technique from Technique Junkies on my outline sticker images. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up and the other images are Kodomo stamps. (Unfortunately, I don't think that Kodomo is in business any more).

The Classy Cards 'n Such Shop has distress inks, reinkers, and markers, as well as a huge selection of outline stickers and embossing folders. There are lots of products to choose from and Beverly Bohannon is great to do business with.

Stormy Weather

When Three Muses gave us the challenge theme of weather or not, I knew the exact stamps I wanted to use.  I decided to create an atc showing a storm. The lightning and cloud stamps are from Stampscapes. Lightning makes a great image, but I'd prefer to see a nice gentle rainstorm to help the plants and grass grow.

Christmas Resist

This week the challenge at SweetStamps is Christmas resist. Hooray, I got to use one of my favorite techniques from Tim Holtz, paint dabber resist. I cut my sticky back canvas using the vintage cabinet die (Sizzix/Tim Holtz) I stamped the wreath using white dabber paint and then covered the canvas using distress stains. The white paint resists the stains. Over the top I stamped the image of the children (SweetStamps) in black archival ink. I added an outline "Merry Christmas" sentiment and the bling. Here's Christmas card number two completed ahead of time.

'Tis the Season

'Tis the season for Christmas in July. I guess this is the beginning of my Christmas cards for this year. If it weren't for challenges, I wouldn't get started until mid-December. Well, Cheery Lynn Designs challenged us to Christmas in July. Artistic Outpost's July challenge is anything goes (as long as we are using AO stamps). And the word challenge at Take a Word is music.My image is Frosty the Snowman from AO's Frosty and Friends. I just love the images in this set. The sentiment is from there also. The pointsettias were made from Cheery Lynn's Build a Flower using sparkly red paper. I foresee lots of flowers made from this set. The background was dry embossed using a Sizzix (Tim Holtz) texture fade.

Week 2, CHAPTER 17: Hurrah for the Red, White & Blue!

The White Queen gave a deep sigh, and laid her head on Alice's shoulder. `I am so sleepy?' she moaned.
`She's tired, poor thing!' said the Red Queen. `Smooth her hair -- lend her your nightcap -- and sing her a soothing lullaby.'
`I haven't got a nightcap with me,' said Alice, as she tried to obey the first direction: `and I don't know any soothing lullabies."
`I must do it myself, then,' said the Red Queen, and she began:
Hush-a-by lady, in Alice's lap! Till the feast's ready, we've time for a nap: When the feast's over, we'll go to the ball -- Red Queen, and White Queen, and Alice, and all!

-- Chapter 9, Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There

In the United States, we are celebrating our Independence Day this month, so we have a patriotic Red, White & Blue color challenge for you! Of course here in Wonderland we know those colors are for the White Queen, the Red Queen, and Alice's blue dress! Enter your red, white and blue project by July 27 for a chance to win a prize from our sponsor. All entries are welcome, but those that feature Wonderland will have two chances to win instead of one.

Simon Says Stamp is offering a $20 gift certificate to one randomly drawn winner! Simon Says Stamp has over 100,000 items in stock. They have all of the latest releases from Magnolia, Whiff of Joy, Tim Holtz, Spellbinders, Copic and so much more! With great deals on shipping, it’s a great time to shop with Simon Says Stamp.

My inspiration this week is a flower wall hanging I created using the red, white, and blue colors.

Simon Says Stamp has such an array of products to choose from. Each of the petal backgrounds was embossed using one of Tim Holtz's texture fades from the Retro Cirque set. All images were stamped with Ranger Archival Jet Black ink and all coloring was done using Ranger Distress Markers. The painting on the flowerpetals was done using Ranger paint dabbers. With Simon Says Stamp, you don't have to go anywhere else for your product.

On the top blue petal is Alice in her blue dress of course.

Next to Alice on a red petal we see that the roses have been painted red.

The white rabbit is featured next on the white petal.

On the next blue petal is Absalom, the blue caterpillar still exactly 3 inches tall.

On the next red petal is the red queen. Looks like someone will lose their head again.

On the next white petal is the white knight.

And finally in the center of the flower is the tea pot. We can't talk about Alice without a cup of tea. As a final celebration of red, white, and blue, there are roses of these colors embellishing the whole piece.

I Pledge Allegiance

Since we just finished celebrating the 4th of July this week, I thought I would continue with the patriotic theme. This week's Bloggers Challenge is say it with words. For my focus I used the Pledge of Allegiance stamp from Our Daily Bread Designs. My background was dry embossed using a Sizzix folder. I then went over the raised areas with my white paint dabber. It kind of reminds me of a gingham tablecloth that one might use as a summer picnic. The side border was cut three times (in red, in white and in blue) using a Cheery Lynn die. I offset layered the three to create a patriotic bunting. I placed rhinestone stars around the background for a little bling.
I am also entering my card in several other challenges: Kraft Journal - red, white, and blue; ODBD - anything goes; Creative Belli - stars; and Inspiration Emporium - red, white, and blue.

Love is in the Air

Stampotique had a fabulous challenge this week, but it wasn't an easy one. The challenge theme was out-of-the-box. We were to create something outside our usual comfort zone. For the longest time, I have wanted to try and start an art journal. I guess Stampotique gave me the needed push. This is my first attempt ever at art journaling.  I really enjoyed the experience. I know I need a bit more practice, but at least I've taken the plunge. For the background I used Dylusions sprays (another first for me). All of the stamps are from Stampotique. I'd love to hear what you think. I'm also entering this into the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge: spritz, spray, or stencil. I did some of each on these pages.

StarsNstripes4evR

The 4th of July holiday (USA) is just around the corner, so I created this Independence Day card to share.
My card layout is based on the challenge sketch this week at Mojo Monday. The flag background panel is an Our Daily Bread Designs background stamp. In order to color it the way I wanted, I stamped it in Memento London Fog. Then I brought out my denim, garnet, and winter frost Creative Inspirations paints and painted the flag. I dry embossed the dark blue core'dinations panel with a Cuttlebug folder, sanded the stars, and then went over the stars with fairy dust paint. The center oval was a bit of an experiment. I spread gel medium on my nonstick mat and placed the stamp in the glue. Then I stamped the fireworks (Northwoods) on a piece of white cardstock. I quickly added Resplendence (CI glitter) emerald, regal red, and gold. This made some very sparkly fireworks. (It's important to wash the stamp off immediately before the gel dries.) The 4 is from Tim Holtz's Idea-ology line. I painted it with garnet paint and quickly sprinkled it with Resplendence regal red. The glitter stuck to the paint like it was glued. I think this card celebrates the 4th quite effectively with all of its sparkle and shimmer. I am also entering it in the Critter Sketch challenge which has the theme sparkle.