FM230 - So lucky to call you my friend

You know I like mashing things up, right?  I haven't made any secret of that fact.  And then came along this challenge from the Friday Mashup and, quite honestly, I was left wondering what to do.  The challenge?

*create a project featuring doughnuts or baked goods

*create a project with a friendship theme

OR mash the two together and combine both themes

Well, I don't have a large doughnut stamp.  I do have some designer paper featuring doughnuts, however, and could imagine that as a strip somewhere on my card.  But I wanted a big doughtnut image.  So I delayed entering the challenge, knowing that my subconscious would work on the problem in the background.  It didn't let me down, either.  I love the way my subconscious works!

For my big image I used two of my circle framelits and cut out a "doughnut" from a piece of Kraft Paper.  Well, it really wasn't very thrilling.  It definitely needed a whole lot of loving attention.  So I cut another "doughnut" out of a piece of Whisper White cardstock.  Then I tore all around the perimeter of the inside hole and the outside.  I set the poor ragged circle shape on a piece of waxed paper and, after stamping Watermelon Wonder and Daffodil Delight sprinkles on it thanks to the Sprinkles of Life stamp set, I covered the entire thing liberally with my Crystal Effects.

When that had dried I first used my Bone Folder and gave my Kraft Paper doughnut a bit more 3-D shaping.  Then I used Tombow glue to paste the shiny Crystal Effects "icing" onto the doughnut.  A bit of selective cutting to give the look of a bite into the doughnut and I was done.  

I hope you'll check out the Friday Mashup and the cards presented by the Design Team.

Thanks -- a study in neutrals (Winner at The Card Concept)

Sometimes the best way to relax after a gruelling number of days is to do something one loves.  For me that something is crafting.  To make things simpler and allow me the luxury of having a path to follow, I checked out a few challenges.  I immediately loved the sketch from the Sundays Stamps challenge:

And then I saw the photo inspiration challenge at the Card Concept and I knew what I wanted to put into that sketch design:

I began with a base of Smoky Slate and then for the "a-kilter" layers decided on Basic Grey and a piece of light woodgrain designer paper.  I stamped a bird on one small square of Very Vanilla and a piece of a farmland image with pumpkins on another small square of Very Vanilla.  I put each on a thin matte of Basic Grey and then lightly coloured areas with my aqua painter and So Saffron.

After mounting everything I knew I wanted a little something more to balance the card and so sponged leaves in the lower left and upper right area using Basic Grey.  Then I added the die-cut "thanks" and the card was finished.  My inspiration from the photo was a combination of the colours and the textures.  It is in the style of a Clean and Layered card.

I hope you'll visit the two challenges and check out the wonderful cards created by their respective Design Teams.

FM229 - Hello Fall

I love the masking technique.  You have to give the whole project such a lot of thought and have to plan ahead.  I'm not always good about either of those habits so doing techniques like this is really good practise for me.  This is the challenge for the Friday Mashup, you see, and I usually enjoy mashing up both options that they offer.

Use all 5 or 3 of the colors listed above

Create a project using a Masking Techniques

or Mash it Up! and create a project with the colors above and some Masking

I decided to use the Vintage Leaves stamp set and proceeded to use So Saffron and Delightful Dijon inks to stamp a strip of leaves down the centre horizontally, masking the leaves as necessary to ensure that they did not leave ink across each other.  After stamping my leaves, I masked all but a strip down the centre horizontally, masked the leaves, and then sponged the unmasked section using Marina Mist and Night of Navy for an ombre effect.  The results, after I removed all the masking, were striking.

I used my aqua painter to colour in the uninked areas of the leaves using Daffodil Delight and Early Espresso inks.  Then, in the upper left corner, I stamped my sentiment from the For All Things set using Early Espresso.  I stamped and cut out an acorn from the same set and adhered it to the lower right corner using Dimensionals.

My base cardstock is Early Espresso followed by a layer of Delightful Dijon.  I did all my stamping and sponging on a piece of Shimmery White specialty paper.

TAKE TWO

Sometimes you finish a card and then something about it just doesn't "click" for you.  This is what happened with my card today.  I didn't like the way the leaves turned out stamped in such light colours.  I'm used to more outlines and definition, I guess and this wasn't doing it for me.

Luckily I still had my fussy-cut leaves to use as a mask.  More lucky still, since the Vintage Leaves set is photopolymer, it was easy to line up the images and stamp on top of them.  I did exactly that using Early Espresso ink and the look of the whole card changed immediately.  I prefer it.  I've left the original as well as my "take two" so you can decide for yourself if you prefer the outlined, more darkly stamped image or one that is stamped with colours close to the ones with which you filled the images.  "Take two" is the version which is going to be posted to the challenge sites.

For more examples of this fun technique, check out the Friday Mashup this week.

I've also posted my card to the Male Room challenge since it is all about Fall.

Boo!

I love the Owl Builder Punch!  It will be a very sad day when it retires.  There are so many uses for it, especially around Hallowe'en when the little owl can become as cute or as spooky as can be.

For this card I've mixed the old with the new.  My good old friend, the Owl Builder Punch is, of course, the old.  The new?  Well, that is the Among the Branches stamp set along with its matching embossing folder, Woodland.  To really make the branches and trees of the embossing folder stand out as well as to set the atmosphere, I used my brayer to spread the beautiful retired Certainly Celery ink onto the inside of the folder.  Once I had run my paper through the Big Shot, the embossed piece of Whisper White had transformed into a slightly spooky grove of trees.  With some sponging around the perimeter using Basic Black ink, it became more spooky.

My little owl was cut from Basic Black cardstock and transformed from the normally cute little fellow into a bat-like creature with glowing red eyes (thank you, Red Glimmer paper).  I needed a spot for my monster-owl to perch and so stamped the branch from the Among the Branches set on Whisper White using the Basic Gray Archival ink and then fussy cut it once it was dry.

My final touch was to cut out the letters B-O-O using my Little Letters thinlits and scraps of Tangelo Twist, Whisper White and Pear Pizzazz cardstock.  Some sponging with Basic Black transformed the otherwise crisp, clean letters into something suitable for my scene.

My base cardstock is Basic Black with a layer of Tangelo Twist.  I mounted everything on that and my new Hallowe'en card was born---a perfect mixture of old and new.

I've entered my card into the SUO challenge which is all about punch art.

I've also entered my card into the Addicted to Stamps & More challenge because it fits perfectly into the photo inspiration.

FM228 - You Make My Heart Smile! (Friday Mashup Glamette)

*Yay!  So great to be a "Glamette"!*

I'm in the middle of sorting through all my retired stamp sets.  My mind reels at the number of sets I've accumulated over the four short years during which I've been stamping.  Time to thin the piles.  If I'm honest with myself, no matter how cute, pretty or perfect a stamp set appears, if it's not in the style of cards that I make and has been sitting, unused, for most of its time in my house, I have to put it into the "sell" pile.  For me, with my hoarding instincts, this is a very difficult task.

During my time sorting, I came across a set that I had forgotten about and that really does appeal to me.  Especially since it's perfect for the challenge over at the Friday Mashup! this week.  This is the challenge:

The choices are:

Create a project with a silhouette image

Create a project with a background filled with colour

(sponging, watercolour, etc)

OR Mash them up and use both options

Of course you know I mashed them up.  The newly discovered old stamp set gave me the best idea!  Are you wondering about which stamp set I'm talking?  It's the Asian Artistry which I believe was introduced as a Hostess Set around 2009--well before I began with Stampin' Up!  I believe I picked it up at a garage sale and promptly put it on my shelf and forgot about it.  

Wouldn't most of those images be perfect as a silhouette?  I certainly think so.  My choice was to use the bamboo with the bird perched on it.  Just black out the bird and we have a full silhouette, after all.  For my background, I chose to do some watercolouring.  I used the Watercolor paper and used my circle framelit to create a mask.  I only wanted to watercolour a certain area, after all.  My colour choices for the watercolouring were So Saffron, Crushed Curry, Calypso Coral and Watermelon Wonder inks.

I used Basic Black as the base for my card, followed by a layer of Watermelon Wonder, and then topped those with my layer of Watercolor paper.  The image and the sentiment were both heat embossed using Black embossing powder.  Then I masked and watercoloured my sun.  Finally, the bird was coloured in with my Stampin' Basic Black marker.  

I love the results!  I hope you'll take time to check out the other cards over at the Friday Mashup challenge this week.

I've also entered my card into the "Less is More" challenge because its brilliant colours remind me of a mandarin garnet.

And, finally, I've entered my card into the Addicted to Stamps and More challenge since it is clearly Clean and Simple, which is what their challenge requires.

FM227 - Another "Boo!" (Friday Mashup Winner!)

*WooHoo!  I Rocked the Mashup with this card!*

When the Friday Mashup called for a project using pumpkins, I immediately thought of the fun retired Fall Fest bundle.  What could be more fun than pumpkins combined with Hallowe'en?

The challenge reads:

Create a project with Pumpkins

Create a project using Die Cuts to create a Frame

or Mash it Up! and create a project with Pumpkins and a Die cut Frame

Of course I decided to mashup the challenge and used pumpkins as well as a die-cut frame.  The frame is a lovely deep, matte black because I've cut it from a piece of Chalkboard paper.  

My Mum always cautioned me: waste not, want not.  So I took that spider's web which was left over from last week\s challenge (I replaced it with a white web for the inlay) and built my card around that.  I also had a piece of embossed brick wall left over from a card for which I had carefully ripped off half the wall.  Combined with a piece of Pacific Point which happened to be laying on my table, I had enough to create a scenic layer.  Sponging some Basic Grey around the perimeter of the Pacific Point helped create a better night sky.

I stamped one pumpkin using Tangelo Twist and the other using Pumpkin Pie.  The stem on each is Mossy Meadow.  Then I stamped three leaves using Mossy Meadow.  I cut all the images out using the matching framelits dies and then looked around for a scrap of vellum.  I wanted my ghost to be wraith-like.  In order to get the ghost image without inking the whole stamp, I took my Basic Black Stampin' Marker and just went around the  perimeter plus around the eyes and mouth.  Stamped on the vellum, it left only the outline.  Once that had dried, I cut it out using the matching framelit die.

Assembling the card was lots of fun.  I used several adhesives:  the Dimensionals, Tombow Liquid Glue, the Fine-Tip Glue pen and the Fast Fuse.   

Don't you just love the way you can see through the ghostly shape?  I think the retired googly eyes were the perfect finishing touch.

For more cards using the challenge theme, check out this week's Friday Mashup.

FM226 - Boo! (Friday Mashup Runner-Up)

*WooHoo!  I was a Rashup Glamette with this card*

Oh my!  I can't believe I'm writing a new post.  And it's about a card I've created.  Will wonders never cease?  It's been a busy year.  So much travelling and other family stuff.  It's time to get back to what I love:  creating cards and other projects.

This one is all about inlaid die-cuts.  I love the effect that one gets with this technique but it's fussy work.  Especially since I decided to use my spider web die and had to ensure that none of the seeminly thousands of pieces became lost.  Still, even though I cursed the card several times, the finished spider web inlay is so effective that I've made peace with it.

I've used a retired piece of Designer Paper into which to inlay my spider web.  That skull and faintly printed paper is so creepy and yet such a piece of art.  I love it and have been hanging onto it, waiting for just the right project.  The Friday Mashup challenge turned out to be that project.

Challenge FM226

*Create a project with the Sketch

*Create a project with Inlaid Die Cutting

*or Mash it Up! and create a project with the Sketch and inlaid die cutting

I chose to mash it up.  You'll see that my card combines the sketch with the inlaid die-cutting.  My colours are Basic Black, Tangelo Twist, Basic White and Wild Wasabi.  You can see from the close-up photo that I've inlaid the die-cut spider's web as well as the Wild Wasabi banner.  If you look closely, you'll see that I've also inlaid each of the die-cut letters into the banners.  The Tangelo Twist banner is mounted on dimensionals, the Basic Black banner is added with adhesive and the Wild Wasabi banner is inlaid just for a variation in texture.

For fun I also die-cut several spiders from a scrap of Chalkboard black paper.  I wanted the extreme black of that paper to make those spiders "pop" against the card.  A couple are mounted on glue dots while the others are mounted on dimensionals.

I hope you'll check out the other cards at the Friday Mashap this week.  I've also put my name in for the Design Team.  Wish me luck.

A huge "Arggh!"

About my clutter...

Yes, I poked at it and it didn't attack me, so I investigated a bit further.  You know how it is, you poke the beast, the beast is sleeping and you keep going.  Well, I made a discovery (besides the one that it isn't only crafting stuff that has wound up piled in my room).  I've ordered a number of kits over the past year or so.  I've also ordered a number of My Paper Pumpkin kits.  To date I have completed precisely one of those kits.  Appalling?  I would certainly agree.  I can see where I will have to either stop ordering kits altogether or begin completing them so that, at the very least, they afford me an example to show to my customers.  So far just showing them a full package has sold precisely none.

I guess I'm just not a "kit girl".

Anyone looking for kits that aren't available any longer?  I may just have one...or two...or...

*sigh*

Stop the world and let me catch up!

I can't believe it's already June.  Where has time gone?

In April I managed to join some challenges but a lot of my energy was taken up with Khali Kho.  Poor little furry girl had major dental issues.  Who knew that a cat can have its mouth begin to treat the teeth as if they are the enemy and begin to "resorb" the teeth?  Of course after the veterinarian mentioned that, I had to research the condition on the internet and soon discovered that, yes, the condition exists.  More importantly (as well as more frightening) it occurs much more frequently among cats than one would think.  Upwards of 50% of dental problems are probably caused by resorption.

There is no cure.  There is no medicine one can give the cat to stop the condition.  The teeth will be slowly resorbed but during this time, with the enamel disappearing in "girdles" around the teeth, eating and even day-to-day life becomes very, very painful.   Poor Khali Kho is such a lightweight to begin with and began wasting away in front of me, spending more and more time sleeping.

And so I followed the vet's advice and the advice given on the various sites that I had researched, and had her teeth removed.  Initially it was to be all the back teeth, but under closer examination, during the surgery, the vet determined that the top canines were also affected and so my little furry girl only has her bottom canines and the tiny little front teeth that are barely visible under normal conditions.  She was such a trooper.  Now, a month later, she is happily eating (soft food) and playing.  She has regained her weight and is up to just over 7 pounds---yes, just a little furry girl.

Looking at her one would never guess she's virtually toothless. 

May has been a crazy month.  Of course there is the whole retiring list from Stampin' Up! which has left me with even more "stuff" and no place to stash it.  And don't get me started on the Sneak Peek which has added even more products.  I have to somehow dig myself out of this clutter of products before there is either an avalanche that causes me physical injury or a notification nailed to my crafting room door by the local health inspector saying it's not habitable as is.  *sigh*

Who has time to de-clutter?  It seems that May barely came before it went and I'm now into June, waiting for my first order from the new Annual Catalogue.  Where will the products go?  I have absolutely no idea.  Is it time for an intervention?  I am guessing it probably is.  *double sigh*

Well, that catches me up to today.  Was my post uplifting?  Doubtful.  But at least I've posted again and don't have that little voice nagging at me any longer.

FM206 --- A Rainy Day

So far this April our "rainy" days have been rather white instead of wet.  Thankfully that white stuff only lasts a day or two before it melts but it's almost the end of April and all I can say is "Enough already!"  The rainy day theme from the Friday Mashup really appealed to me.

A couple of years ago we had the prettiest Designer Paper with little umbrellas all over it.  The colours really made me think of Spring and those umbrellas---perfect for this challenge.  Of course I used it for the background of my card.  For the stamping inside my shaker window (I'm going to miss those Windows framelits) I simply inked up the umbrella from the Life's Adventure Hostess stamp set along with its sentiment.  Since April is usually a windy month, I've also got that stamped umbrella flying through the air.

The polka dot edge along each side?  I used my 1/16 inch hole punch.  I love the simple but elegant finish it gives, don't you?  

For more great rainy day cards, check out the Friday Mashup.

Happy Mother's Day -- Two Challenges

I haven't been entering as many challenges lately.  Life gets busy and some things have to give.  When I saw the picture inspiration over at the Stampin' Royalty Challenges, however, I knew I would be making a card for it.  The colours are, after all, my mother's favourites.  She may be gone but she will never be forgotten.

Mum loved flowers and the soft tones similar to Coastal Cabana.  For my base, therefore, I used the Coastal Cabana cardstock.  I added a layer of Gold Foil and then a layer of Shimmery White which I had first heat-embossed in gold using the Corner Garden background stamp.  I coloured some of the flowers and leaves with a light wash of Coastal Cabana and Pistachio Pudding ink using my Aqua Painter.  For the sentiment I cut out the "happy" from more Gold Foil and then stamped the "Mother's Day" using Coastal Cabana.

A few sequins scattered around with rhinestones in their centre, a double butterfly made from Coastal Cabana and Gold Foil, more rhinestones, and  my card was complete.

One thing that isn't visible in the photo is the Shimmery White paper on which I've stamped my images.  In real life there is a shimmery "sparkle" to the paper that makes the soft colours simply beautiful.

For more cards using this photo inspiration, check out the Stampin' Royalty Challenge.

And of course I had to enter my card into the Just Add Ink Challenge since I've used so many sequins.  For more of their wonderful cards, check out their site here.

FM203 -- Critters and colours!

I really enjoy the challenges at the Friday Mashup.  They're inventive and lots of fun, especially when one decides to do both parts of the challenge.  That would be option three.  It really adds to the challenge.

Create a project using " So Saffron, Calypso Coral & Pool Party*"

Create a project using "Easter Critters"

or Mash it Up! and create a project with "Easter critters and the colors above"

Right from the start I knew I wanted my card to be whimsical.  What could be more whimsical than an owl wearing bunny ears?  Luckily I could use the owl stamp that I carved and then, after hunting through my stamps, stamp the bunny ears from the Happy Easter Bunny stamp and cut them out.  Of course I decided to colour my owl and those ears with the Pool Party and Calypso Coral.   If you're going to be whimsical, you may as well go all the way, right?

I've used two retired stamp sets for this card:  Easter Blossoms for the eggs and Take Care for the branch and nest.  The Happy Easter sentiment is from the current Indescribable Gift stamp set.  The owl, as I mentioned before, is my own carved creation.

I began with a base of Naturals White and then added a layer of Pool Party.  Then I added a layer of Calypso Coral after embossing it using my Spring Flowers embossing folder.  I stamped the branch and the nest on a piece of Whisper White using Soft Suede and coloured the nest with my So Saffron Stampin' Marker.  Then I used my second to largest Ovals Collection framelit  to cut out the image.  After that I used a sponge to add So Saffron to the perimeter of the oval.  It added some nice dimension to the shape.

After stamping my owl on a piece of Whisper White using Memento black ink and the eggs on the same piece using Calypso Coral ink and Pool Party ink,  I cut out the images with my Paper Snips.  After cutting out the bunny ears, I coloured them using my Calypso Coral and Pool Party Stampin' Markers and mounted them on Calypso Coral cardstock.  I cut around them, leaving a narrow border.  To that border I added a layer of Dazzling Details and also to the little "head-band" that connected the bunny ears.

You can see all the details in my card.  The final touch of the Rhinestone in the middle of the Pool Party egg finishes off my creation.

I've also entered my card in the Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge for their special Holiday Challenge as well as the Paper Plunge for their Easter projects.

FM197 --- Party Animals

*So excited to be a Friday Mashup Glamette for this card.*

I've  been busy lately and haven't entered as many challenges but when I saw the one at the Friday Mashup Challenge Blog I knew I had to make a card for it.  After all, I had bought the From the Herd stamp set and what better opportunity to use it than this?

It's all about farm animals and bling, with bonus points for a goat.  Well, of course mine would have a goat.

I decided to make a tag with only the goat and the crazy chicken.  They were side by side and so inking them up with my Stampin' Marker was easy.  I used my Scalloped Tag Topper punch to cut the top of my tag and then used the Project Life corner punch to round the bottom corners.  After colouring my tag with my Blendabilities, I mounted it on Smoky Slate and cut a small border around it.  

My base cardstock is Smoky Slate followed by a layer of Naturals White.  Then I added a layer from the Adventure Bound Designer Series Paper Stack.  The grass image was the perfect background for my tag.

It's almost impossible to tell from my photo but the "Happy Birthday" is cut from the Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper.  For some additional bling I also added a red rhinestone to the goat's bell to make it look more like a ruby pendant.

I couldn't resist using the retired Googley Eyes for the goat.  

For more cards with this theme, check out the Friday Mashup.

Twitterpated --- the best way to be.

*Thrilled to be picked "A Cut Above" for the Paper Players*

Get ready to hear all about what I love.  There is so much in this card that makes me smile.  Isn't that the best way to feel after creating something?

Those owls---I love them!  They are my creations.  I didn't just stamp them and colour them---well, yes, I did.  But besides stamping and colouring those adorable owls, I created the stamp from scratch.  Yes, I did!  I used the Undefined Stamp Carving Kit and my sketch and, after some heavy-duty carving, wound up with an owl stamp that makes me smile each time I use it.  What could be better than that?

The sentiment---I love it!   Twitterpated is a word with which I fell in love the first time I saw Bambi.  To have it as a stamp just rocks my world.  Don't laugh!  Maybe my world is easily rocked but I embrace the feeling.  In this case I heat-embossed the sentiment on the retired Designer Series Paper using my Early Espresso embossing powder.

The branch?  I just winged it and cut it out of a piece of Early Espresso Core'dinations paper after first putting it through my Woodgrain embossing folder and lightly sanding it.  The heart?  Thanks to my Hearts Framelits and my Silver Glimmer paper, the heart makes a perfect frame for my owls.

My base is Early Espresso and my next layer is Marina Mist.  For a bit of added texture, I used the Filigree Frame embossing folder on the Marina Mist.  As a final touch, I scattered some pink and red glimmer hearts across the card.

This was such fun to create!  I hope you love it as well.

I've entered this card in the Paper Players Challenge which is all about "critters" and Valentines.

I've also entered my card in the Dream Valley Challenges.

And, finally, I've entered my card in the Paper Plunge.

Hugs & Kisses

February is the LOVE month.  You go into the stores and everywhere you look there is the red and white that defines Valentine's Day.  Hearts abound!  You can buy kisses everywhere---well, chocolate ones, anyway.

My card is all about kisses---well, hugs and kisses.  I've embraced the huge Ampersand embossing folder and really made it show off by using a piece of the retired Real Red Core'dinations paper.  Sanding the raised image slightly makes that ampersand something special, indeed.  I wanted to keep things simple and so used the Good Greetings stamp set and inked up the "hugs" of the hugs & kisses stamp with some Whisper White craft ink and stamped it at the upper left of the ampersand.  Then I inked up the "kisses", inked it using the same craft ink and stamped it at the lower right of the ampersand.  Simple but very effective.

I decided to use my Hearts Border punch along the top of the Real Red piece and then mounted it on a base of Naturals White.  Just for fun I punched out one extra heart from my Silver Glimmer paper and glued that into the second heart from the left.  To finish off I added three Rhinestones alone the left top margin and then another three along the right bottom margin.

For more cards using the code word Hugs and Kisses, check out Addicted to CAS.

For more projects including Valentine Wishes, check out SUO Challenges.

For more cards including hugs and kisses, check out the Curtain Call Challenge.

Dare to Dream

I love the new stamp sets in the 2015 Occasions Catalogue as well as the wonderful new Designer Papers available.  I also love some of the stamp sets that have retired as well as some of that wonderful retired Designer Paper.  What really gives me a lot of pleasure is when the new works beautifully with the "old".

For my card I've dipped in to my older stamp sets and have used the retired Loving Thoughts set along with the current Papillon Potpourri set from the Annual Catalogue and the Butterfly Basics set from the current Occasions Catalogue.   I also decided to use a piece of the Sweet Sorbet Designer Series Paper from the 2014 Sale-a-bration brochure.

Stamps:  Butterfly Basics (Occasions 2015), Papillon Potpourri (Annual Catalogue), Loving Thoughts (retired)

Papers:  Naturals White, Basic Black, Whisper White, Vellum cardstock, Sweet Sorbet Designer Series Paper (retired)

Inks:  Memento Black, Crisp Cantaloupe, Hello Honey, Versamark & Black Embossing Powder

Embellishments:  Rhinestones, In-Color Sequin Assortment, Essential Wooden Elements, Dazzling Details

For more cards using this design, check out the Friday Mashup Challenge.

A flood of Valentines

Sometimes it's about Challenges.  Sometimes it's about Valentines.  Sometimes it's about a little six-year-old girl named Daphne who is going through chemo right now and wishes she could be flooded with Valentines.  This will be in the mail to you on Monday, honey.  Stay strong!

Stamp sets:   Zoo Babies, You Plus Me, Confetti (retired)

Papers:  Real Red, Pistachio Pudding, Whisper White, Shimmery White, Red Glimmer Paper,          Stacked With Love

Inks:  Real Red, Old Olive, Pistachio Pudding

For more projects created with a Love/Valentine's theme, check out Stampin' Royalty.

To share a card with Daphne or send her greetings, check out her page on Facebook.

Guy Greetings meets Stacked With Love

The countdown has begun for Valentine's Day.  It's time to make those Valentine cards again.  This year there are some great "guy" themes in the stamps and papers of the new Occasions Catalogue.  I decided to make a tag with the muscle-man from Guy Greetings and then used a piece from the Stacked With Love Designer Series paper stack for my background.

I threw in some white, some Calypso Coral, a bit of Real Red some black and touches of gold.  I love the effect!  That gilded pocket watch was such fun to heat emboss using the retired Clockworks stamp set.  The scalloped polka dot Black ribbon is also retired but works beautifully for the top of the tag.  My sentiment is from the Good Greetings stamp set.

I've entered my card into three challenges.  It's perfect for the sketch in the Just Add Ink Challenge.

I've also entered my card into the SUO Challenge which is all about Valentine wishes this week.

And finally I've entered my card into the Stampin' Celebration Challenge which is all about love this week.

I hope you'll check out these challenges to see what others have submitted.

So Sweet --- FM194

I love the Friday Mashup because it mixes things up.  This week, for example, they are challenging people to create a project that combines baby with the colours tangerine, aqua and brown (plus a neutral).  Well, my neutral was easy enough.  White is one of my go-to colours, especially where baby cards are concerned.  The tangerine gave me a few second thoughts until I decided that, for baby especially, Crisp Cantaloupe is a washed-out tangerine.  The rest, Coastal Cabana and Baked Brown Sugar were easier to choose.

For my stamping I used the adorable little bunny from the Baby, We've Grown set as my image and the Hello Life set for my sentiment.  As an added mix-up I also entered the "Less is More" challenge for my sketch.

                                      

My base is Whisper White with my next layer being the wonderfully versatile Irresistibly Yours Designer Paper available through Sale-a-bration.  I sponged the edges with alternating Crisp Cantaloupe and Coastal Cabana to showcase the stars.

I decided to use a long strip of Vellum cardstock for my sentiment and first stamped it with the "so sweet" stamp using Baked Brown Sugar and then stamped right over it using my Versamark.  That way I was able to heat emboss the sentiment with my Clear embossing powder.  The Photopolymer stamps make exact stamping over an image as easy as can be.

For more cards using the baby theme and/or the colour scheme, check out the Friday Mashup.

For more cards using this sketch, check out "Less is More".

Amazing --- FM192

Have you tried stamping with your embossing folder?  If you haven't yet, you've missed out on some great background opportunities.  I've used the Lovely Lace embossing folder and my brayer to "stamp" a piece of Whisper White with the design rather than embossing it.  I love the wonderful background that it gives me, especially inked in Strawberry Slush.

For a fun play with shapes, I stamped the "scalloped" flower from the Crazy About You stamp set using Strawberry Slush Ink, off-stamped once, and then cut it out using my 1 3/4" Scallop Punch.  Then I used my retired Blossom Party originals Bigz die to cut another flower from Strawberry Slush cardstock.  My final floral layer was the little flower from the retired Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, cut from Hello Honey cardstock.  The centre of the flower just called for a Rhinestone.

I added leaves cut from Pistachio Pudding cardstock using my retired Secret Garden framelits, placing them over the "stamped" leaves of the background design.  For my sentiment I used the Painted Petals stamp set and Strawberry Slush ink on Whisper White.  After cutting it out using my Apothecary Accents framelit, I cut a Pistachio mat to complete it.

A heart cut from the Silver Glimmer paper topped by the bow from the Wonderful Wreath framelits, cut from Strawberry Slush cardstock, centred with a large Rhinestone, finished off my card.

My card perfectly follows the parameters of the Friday Mashup into which I'm entering it.  It uses the embossing folder stamping technique as well as having a mixture of shapes.

I'm also entering my card into the Paper Plunge challenge since it is almost entirely dependent on a variety of dies.