ATC Birthday Card

Hi! I made this ATC (Artist Trading Card) to participate in Verve's July Project Parade Challenge. I made the torn paper rose the same way as in my last post. The leaves are also shown in the video I linked last time. This time I used a button for the center, and followed a tip I have seen on multiple blogs to 'thread' the button with a thin strip of paper. The white background is embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. Happy was created with a rub-on sentiment and Birthday was created with a Tape Writer.

This is the card I made from the ATC. I gave it to my mom for her birthday. She loves purple and she loved this card. The rest of the card was pretty simple to make. I used some elegant Chatterbox paper as a background with the corners punched with the Ticket corner punch. To make the edge of the patterned paper stand out, I applied some Chestnut chalk ink direct-to-paper. I added some more paper-threaded buttons to connect with the details of the ATC, and finished off the card with tiny stick-on rhinestones by Me and My Big Ideas.

Supplies:

Perfect Plum, Garden Green, and GP white cardstock, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, Foofala buttons, organdy ribbon, Joann's brand ribbon buckle, Crate rub-on, tape writer, Chatterbox patterned paper, Colorbox Chestnut chalk ink, Me and My Big Ideas rhinestone stickers.

Inspiration Comes From Many Sources

I was inspired by many sources while making this card. First, I knew I wanted to use Julee's Mojo sketch. Then while browsing Our Creative Corner's inspiration photo, I thought of the torn paper roses I had seen Julie make at her blog. All those things came together to make this card.
So to make the rose, just click the last link to view her video. For the bottom of the rose, I stamped the stem from Verve's Petals and Stems, and went over it with Diamond Glaze. The center of the flower is also from that set, and covered in Diamond Glaze.
Everything else is pretty self-explanatory. All the edges were sponged in Basic Brown, the scallops were made with the slit punch, the background was stamped with the Polka Dot stamp, and the sentiment is a Crate paper rub-on.
Supplies:
Verve Stamps Petals and Stems set, SU Polka Dot bg stamp, Basic Brown ink, a little Apricot Appeal ink for sponging, Chocolate Chip and Apricot appeal cardstock, GP white cardstock, My Mind's Eye Tres Jolie patterned paper, Diamond Glaze, Me and My Big Ideas crystal stickers, word window punch, slit punch, Crate rub-on, American Crafts ribbon

Cupcake Inspired Cherries

This card I made for Taylor's weekly cupcake challenge. I hadn't stamped with these cherries yet, so I thought I'd give them a try for this sketch. I see now that I made the green panel too large, that happens sometimes when you hand-draw the sketch to try to remember it. Anyway, the cherries are colored in with Stardust pens and have a nice sparkle to them IRL. I tied a bow across the top and then matted it with Chocolate Chip cardstock. The green layer is from the new Basic Grey Euphoria - it does have a faint pattern, hard to see in the photo. Next, I stuck on some Primas and used a scrap of Basic Grey Sultry for the bg panel. The edge of the Euphoria was looking too plain, so I added some faux stitching. Pretty simple card overall!
Supplies:
Hero Arts cherries stamp, Versafine black ink, Kraft cs, GP white cs, Chocolate Chip cs, Basic Grey Euphoria and Sultry 6x6, Sakura Stardust pens, American Crafts ribbon, Prima flowers, K & Co adhesive pearls, Uniball Signo white gel pen.

Sparkle like a Star

Here's a card I made today, for the Verve challenge to create something with stars on it. I don't have any stars big enough for a focal image, so I thought about what would go with stars. This rock-star Bella came to mind so I got to work. I knew I wanted to use the fun star ribbon, so I colored the Bella in the same colors as the stars on it. The photo doesn't show it, but the guitar is covered in Diamond Glaze so it shines. I used my Nestabilities again to cut her out. The embossing shows a little better on this one.

Luckily, this Romani Basic Grey paper also matched the colors, so I pulled out my new Martha border punch to accessorize the edge. I love how it embosses! The ribbon was tied on the other side to hide the seam (and show off the stars!) and then I embossed the sentiment with some red ep. I got these fun Heidi Swapp Ghost stars just for this challenge. To attach them, and hide the glue, I stuck a button on top of each star. Then when I stuck a glue dot to the star itself, the button hides the glue...plus, I just like the way it looks!

Supplies:

Rockabella from Stamping Bella, Versafine black ink, Pro Art watercolor pencils and Niji waterbrush, Rectangle Nestabilities, Diamond Glaze, Heidi Swapp ghost stars, Foo-fa-la buttons, SU watercolor paper, SU cool carribean, Romani Basic Grey 6x6, Martha Stewart border punch, American Crafts ribbon, SU warm words, Stampendous ruby red embossing powder + versamark

My Friend's Bee-Day

If anybody reads this blog...Hi, strangers! It's been awhile since my last post, but thats mostly because my mojo took a vacation for awhile - I wish it had taken me along, I could use one of those! Anyway it's back and I made this card earlier in the week for my friend's birthday. She loves all things bee related, so I knew what I wanted to stamp for her. Also, if you can't tell, the sentiment is a play on B-day, the shortened version of birthday.

This card was pretty simple to make. I got to use my new Nestabilities for the bee image! It is embossed though the camera barely picked it up. The bee image looks slightly crooked in the photo, but it looked better IRL. The bee was colored with a marker and the wings were filled in with Waterfall Stickles. The fun daisy paper worked really well with the bee, I thought, and I like the Build-a-Brad that I made with the same paper. I just colored the patterned paper daisy with the same marker as the bee and punched out the center...looks cool, huh? The sentiment was created with tiny alphabet rub-ons. Thats pretty much all there is to this card. If you wanna know the size, this one and pretty much any square card I make is 4.25" square.

Supplies:

Bee by Inkadinkadoo, GP white cardstock, creamy caramel cardstock, making memories patterned paper (found at Target), Archiver's blue cardstock (has a texture),Versafine black ink, So Saffron marker, Waterfall Stickles, American Crafts ribbon, SU build a brad, 1/2 in. circle punch, Large rectangle Nestabilities, Doodlebug rubons.

A Couple Contests

Today I'm sharing with you a couple cards I made for some blog contests.


This first one is for Taylor's cupcake sketch challenge, here. As her expression goes, "You don't have to use cupcakes for the challenge, but if you got 'em, why not use 'em!" Well I looked and I guess I don't really got 'em! (Although, I really want the Hey There, Cupcake set by Stampendous.) Anyways, I thought these Elzies were just as cute as cupcakes!

I started by stamping the Elzybells image and coloring it in with Prismacolors and Gamsol. The circle was cut out with my Coluzzle and the mat was punched with a Giga Marvy punch. I wanted to make it *pop* a little so I pierced around the punch-out and adhered some Dew Drops around the frame.

For the base of the card, I chose some Basic Grey paper from the Blush 6x6 pad, (I had colored my Elzies to match) and after it was glued down, I scored two lines on each side with my new toy, the Scor-Pal. I stamped the sentiment with a Studio G alphabet and then added some polka dots to it with the fine point end of a Regal Rose marker. It was then punched with a Word Window punch. For the finishing touches, I added a brad to the sentiment and tied around this fun polka-dot ribbon. I think I'll send this card to my sister, to let her know I'm thinking about her!

My second card was made for a mojo sketch challenge over at Julee's blog, here. I knew I wanted to use this cute little owl, so at first I stamped him and then picked out some markers to color him in. On my GP cardstock, the markers looked awful. So I got out some watercolor paper, and found that the difference was amazing! No streaks on the watercolor paper!

I also tried to add in the Splicoast Ways to Use It challenge to use wire. My idea was to make this little guy a branch to stand on. It took a couple tries to get it to look right...but I think it turned out really cute! If you're wondering how I attached it, I just stuck the ends onto some Zots glue dots and covered the spot with the flower.

Again, I cut out the circle with my Coluzzle and then matted it with a Giga Marvy scalloped circle punch-out. I really liked the piercing from before, so I added it to this one as well. Then I started on the background. The bottom layer is just one of the plain color sheets from the Basic Grey Sultry pack. Then I layered on the Summer Sun that had been embossed with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder. Some more fun polka-dotted ribbon, a scalloped border made with my corner rounder, and the marker-highlited sentiment rounded out the layout requirements. For fun, I added a line of Dew Drops to the bottom, as well as one for the flower center, and two clear drops for the owl's eyes.

Supplies for card 1:

Elybells Hugs stamp by A Muse, Studio G alphabet, Versafine onyx black ink, GP white cardstock, Cool Carribean cs, Creamy Caramel cs, Basic Grey Blush 6x6 patterned paper, Prismacolor Pencils and Gamsol, Lily Pad Dew Drops + Zots, paper piercer, American Crafts ribbon, Scor-pal, Word Window punch, silver brad, Regal rose marker, Coluzzle and Marvy Giga scallop circle punch, pop dots.

Supplies for card 2:

Just Celebrate SU stamp set, Versafine Onyx Black ink, SU watercolor paper, Pumpkin Pie cs, Summer Sun cs, Creamy Caramel cs, Basic Grey Sultry 6x6 patterned paper, SU markers in Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Summer Sun, and Really Rust, brown wire, Coluzzle and Marvy Giga scalloped circle punch, paper piercer, Making Memories paper blooms, Lily Pad Dew Drops, Cuttlebug and the Swiss Dots embossing folder, American Crafts ribbon, Word Window punch, pop dots.

Happy Bluebird

I love to do challenges. Everytime I come across a challenge in my blog-hopping I make a note of it, and if I have time I try to get a card made. Well, this time the challenge is on Kim Hughes blog, and she is giving away a stamp set that she created for Cornish Heritage Farms. Her challenge was to use 2 of the colors - red, white, and blue (because of Memorial Day). I chose blue and white.

I started this card by stamping the branch in White Craft ink and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. Then I stamped the bird on a seperate piece of white paper and cut it out. I wish my camera showed the detail better, because the bird is lifted up on a pop dot. After that, I mounted the whole piece on white cardstock and cut around with scalloped edge scissors. As an afterthought, I added the rhinestones to the corners.

The rest of the card is pretty self-explanatory except for a couple things. First, the entire bird layer is also popped up. Secondly, the sentiment is a rub-on. Lastly, the faux stitching was done with the mat pack from Stampin' Up and a Signo white gel pen.

Supplies:

SU Spring Solitude stamp set, SU Brilliant Blue cardstock, Georgia-Pacific white cardstock,

My Minds Eye patterned paper, SU white craft ink and Bashful Blue ink, white embossing powder,

pop dots, Me and My Big Ideas rhinestones, blue grosgrain ribbon, decorative edge scissors,

SU rub-on, SU mat pack, Making Memories paper piercer, Signo white gel pen

Cupcake Challenge

Taylor of Taylored Expressions issued a cupcake challenge on Friday, as she does every Friday. Her challenge this week is a sketch challenge. Here is my attempt at her sketch.

I wanted to use my Just Celebrate set, since it's still pretty new, so I didn't use a cupcake...but a regular cake is close enough, right? After I stamped the cake, I colored it in with watercolor pencils and added yellow Stickles to the candle flames. I thought the candles needed an extra something so I gave them little polka dots with a fine tip marker. I don't think this shows very well in the photo, but if you click on it, you can see it a little better.

I had watched a Make a Card Monday video on Kristina Werner's blog where she used small circle punches to create a scalloped border - so that is what I did to create my scalloped frame. Later on in the card making process, I got an ink boo-boo on the edges of the cake image, so I covered the edges with dots of Liquid Pearls...I like how it gives the image a little oomph!

For the base of the card, I stamped Polka Dot in Basic Brown on Creamy Caramel cardstock, and then sponged the edges. Then came the Sultry paper that I had colored my image to match. To seperate it from the base, I attached some polka-dotted ribbon to the top and bottom. The buttons were the perfect accent for the circles in the original sketch. Finally came the sentiment, which was stamped with a Studio G alphabet (that I used on my last 2 cards as well - can you tell I like it yet?) and a little bling to brighten it up.

Supplies:

SU Just Celebrate stamp set, SU Polka Dot bg stamp, Studio G alphabet,

Versafine Onyx Black ink, SU Basic Brown ink,

Georgia Pacific white cardstock, SU Creamy Caramel and Regal Rose cardstock, Basic Grey 6x6 Sultry patterned paper,

Pro Art watercolor pencils and Niji Waterbrush, black Le Plume marker, yellow Stickles, Liquid Pearls,

1/2" circle punch, American Crafts ribbon, Making Memories buttons, Darice rhinestone

Colorful Mojo

I thought I'd try another Mojo sketch from Julee's blog, Poetic Artistry. This one is Mojo Monday 38. I also followed the color challenge for Verve Visuals contest - Cool Carribean, Regal Rose, So Saffron, and Pumpkin Pie.

I started by inking the flowers in Regal Rose, and using the Rock and Roll technique to rock the edges in Pumpkin Pie. For the centers, I punched out a 1/8" (I think) circle and glued it to the faux dew drops from Michaels, using Diamond Glaze. I attached them to the Carribean, which had been Cuttlebug embossed using the Swiss Dots folder. Two of them are popped up on foam dots. To finish the panel, I added a strip of polka dotted ribbon, and an oval bookplate. Inside the bookplate, I stamped Happy using a Studio G alphabet.

The background was created with a piece of the Palette of Prints paper, cut the length of the card. Then I created the Carribean and Rose pieces using the same set - Spring Solitude - and then sponged the edges to give them some depth and to help seperate them from the yellow. The ric rac and Birthday tab were added as the finishing touches.

I will be giving this card to a friend at work who just got back from vacation. She told me when she got back that she celebrated her birthday while on vacation. I hope she likes it!

Supplies:

Spring Solitude stamp set, faux dew drops, American Crafts ribbon, Joann's brand bookplate,

Pumpkin, Saffron, Caribbean, Regal Rose cardstock by SU, Georgia Pacific white cardstock,

Palette of Prints SU designer paper, Cuttlebug and Swiss Dots embossing folder,

Around the Block tape writer, Pumpkin and Regal rose inks by SU, ric rac, sponge

Mother's Day Mojo

I'll admit it...I am quite the procrastinator. It is the night before Mother's day, and I just now finished my Mom's card. I thought I'd use the sketch from Julee's blog. I asked my mom if she had any requests for her card (she stamps too), and she said she would like me to use her new set, Garden Whimsy. The butterfly from that set was stamped in Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue ink and has a lovely shimmer, the camera actually caught some of it at the top. Then I stamped the same butterfly in black on the orange Bali Breeze paper and attached just the wings that I had previously stamped. There is also Stickles glittering up the little white dots on the butterfly, that one the camera didn't catch.
The Mom sentiment was stamped with an Studio G alphabet, and then I added a line of piercing. Just above that, I attached this American Crafts ribbon. You can't see it in the photo, but it has tiny white polka dots on it. The sheer Maya Road flower started out plain, but I ran it through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss dots folder and highlighted the edge with a Sharpie. For the center of the flower, I created a Build-a-Brad with a punch of the Bali Breeze paper.
I created the background by using the front and back pattern of the same sheet of the patterned paper. So all I had to do was cut one big piece for the background, and when I cut that piece into the rectangles, I just turned 2 of the pieces around.....BAM, instant background. To finish off the background, I sewed around each piece. I am still learning to sew, so it's not very straight, but I'm told that is the "fashion" for sewing anyway, LOL! Anyway, the last step to finishing this card was to lift the focal piece by attaching it with Pop Dots.
P.S. I didn't realize that I made the background backwards until it was all finished and glued down! But it does still follow the sketch! Honest!
Supplies for Mom card
Garden Whimsy stamp set, Studio G alphabet stamp set,
Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue ink, Versafine Onyx Black ink,
SU Bali Breeze designer paper, Old Olive cs, Pumpkin Pie cs, GP white cs,
Stickles glitter glue, American Crafts ribbon, sewing machine,
Maya Road Sheer flower, Cuttlebug and Swiss Dots embossing folder,
SU Pewter Build-a-Brad kit, paper piercer, pop dots

A Good Try

Hi, a few weeks back Jacksonbelle had posted that she was looking for a Design Team. I thought I'd try out for it, and so I am going to show you the 2 cards I made for the submissions. I didn't make it...but, at least I can say that I tried!

For card #1, I bought this butterfly stamp in an Inkadinkado set from Jacksonbelle's store. I got the idea to cut it out and use only one of the wings, so it looked as if the butterfly was landing on something. I wondered what for awhile, and then came up with a sentiment. I already had these Heidi Swapp acrylic letters, and the Boxer 6x6 pad - so I glued each letter to some of the Boxer paper with Crystal Effects, and cut and sanded where needed. After that, they were adhered to the white cardstock and I rounded the corners. The Rust cs from SU was a good match to the flowers in the patterned paper, so I used that as the mat, and once again rounded the corners with a punch. I picked out this soft blue cs for the base, and decided to stamp the butterfly on it as well. Once stamped, I colored the 'body' black with a marker and cut out. I knew the antennae would be difficult to cut, so I tried inking it up with a black marker and stamping direct to cardstock. It gave me a faint line, but didn't go so well over the 3 layers, so I traced the faint line with the fine tip end of the same marker. Only the body is adhered so that the wing stands out. The final touches to this card was the ribbon, and the dotted Liquid Pearls on the wing. By the way, I believe the Boxer pad is also for sale at Jacksonbelle Embellishments.



---> For card #2, I had also bought some Crate brand rub-ons, from which the Superstar sentiment comes. (I just looked at her store and I don't believe these are still available.) I really liked the Superstar rub-on, so I looked through my stamps and found my Rockabella from Stamping Bella. She was perfect! I paper pieced her clothes and guitar with various Boxer papers, and colored her skin and hair with markers. A Stardust pen added some glitz to the guitar strings and cord, and a green Stardust for her eyeshadow. I cut her *out of the box* and then mounted it on the same Boxer paper that I used for the guitar. Autumn Leaves swirls stamped in chalk ink brought out the corners, and the rub-on that started it all was applied to vellum. I wanted the vellum to pop a bit, so I carefully mounted it with a very small strip of foam tape, and only on the white cs. Even though it shows, the tape and the background are both white, and it doesn't distract anything. I wanted just a bit more, so I stuck on the bling.
Even though I didn't make the team, I'm still glad I tried out. I hope to have the time to try out for other options, and you never know I just might make it!
Supplies for card #1
Heidi swapp acrylic alphabet, Basic Grey Boxer 6x6 paper, Crystal Effects,
Georgia Pacific white cs, Really Rust cs, and Archivers light blue cs,
Inkadinkado Patterned Bugs stampset, Pumpkin Pie ink, Le plume black marker,
Liquid Pearls, Joanns polka dot ribbon
Supplies for card #2
Rockabella stamp, Basic Grey Boxer 6x6 paper, Sakura stardust pens,
Crate rub-on, Kraft cs, Georgia Pacific white cs, cardstock vellum,
Autumn Leaves Swirls stampset, Colorbox Chestnut brown chalk ink,
foam tape, MAMBI rhinestones, various Prismacolor markers.

Ruffles and Pleats Challenge

This is my card for the Thursday Ways to Use It challenge at SCS. Julia challenged us to incorporate ruffles or pleats to our creations. After much trial and error trying to fold paper strips, I found a way to use ribbon and lots of small Zots (glue dots) to get the pleated look.

I used my new SU Occasions mini set, Just Celebrate - I mounted the sentiments seperately so I could stamp just the images, if I wanted. The butterfly was colored with Regal Rose, Rose Red, and Going Gray markers and then I highlighted the wings with Stardust Stickles. A Coluzzle template was used to cut out the circle, and then I cut out a square mat and rounded the corners.

I had just gotten my Swiss Dots folder....finally (it was sold out everywhere I looked, but I was able to find it at Stamper's Dream), and I wanted to add it to something on this card. The mat for the circle seemed to be the perfect place. The butterfly was originally colored to match the Sultry line by Basic Grey...this is the 6x6 version. On the Sultry paper, I rounded the corners again and finished it off with some faux stitching. To complete the card, I added a couple felt brads and a rub-on from SU's Saleabration.

I hope you like it! It just says girly and feminine to me with the pleated ribbon!

Supplies:

GP white cardstock, SU Rose Red cardstock, Basic Grey Sultry 6x6 patterned paper

SU Just Celebrate stamp set,

Coluzzle cutting system, EK Success corner rounder punch, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder

Stardust Stickles, markers stated above + black for stitching, mat pack and paper piercer

Queen and Co. felt brads, grosgrain ribbon, and SU rub-ons

Verve Visual Inspiration Challenge

It's down to the wire on the Verve Visual inspiration challenge....entries are due by midnight MT and as I am posting it is 10:30! However, I did manage to complete a card today! Wish me luck as the winner gets 15 Verve bucks and I just love their stamps!

I was mostly inspired by the flourishes on the blue pillow in the bottom left corner. I also added some yellow and white as seen on the other pillows, but that one was my starting point. First, I stamped the flourishes from the Autumn Leaves Swirls V.2 set in Blue Lagoon Colorbox chalk ink on the two opposite corners. Then I picked out the patterned paper from my SU! Palette of Prints. I would have loved to use one of Verve's awesome sentiments, but I haven't got any yet....and I emphasize yet. So I remembered the pretty sentiments from this retired SAB set, Happy Harmony - I thought the Dreams sentiment fit the pillows perfectly! I wanted to add some flowers and I spied these wonderful shimmery flowers that I found at Michael's thanks to an enabling post on Lauren's blog. She's an awesome enabler! A rhinestone by Me and My Big Ideas on the center of each one adds just the right amount of elegance. Finally, I thought about faux stitching, the inspiration point being pillows, but I didn't want to overdo it - so I just added a little bit to the corners to "kick it up a notch."

An addendum - if you'd like to subscribe, I recently added that to my sidebar. Sign up today and get a notice every time I post!

-Christina

Supplies:

Swirls V2 by Autumn Leaves and Happy Harmony by Stampin Up stamp sets,

Colorbox chalk ink in Blue Lagoon and Versafine Onyx Black ink,

Shimmery flowers in Bride tin from Michaels, Me and My Big Ideas bling stickers,

Stampin Up mat pack + paper piercer and Signo gel pen for faux stitching

Local SWISS

No, I'm not from Switzerland...S.W.I.S.S. is an anagram which stands for SouthWest Idaho Shoebox Swap. This is the sixth time the group has met, but the fifth time that I was able to go. I had fun stamping and chatting with the ladies. I even met Jacksonbelle (a.k.a. Lindsey) who has graced the likes of the SCS Dirty Dozen! Here are all the fun swappers:

Hours of stamping...that's the way I like to spend my time! So you're probably wondering about my project by now. I finally got around to ordering a couple Elzybells a couple weeks ago and they came just in time!

I needed to keep it fairly simple and affordable enough for almost 20 swappers, so I used Stampin Up markers to color her in. In case you want the deets, they were: Brocade Blue, Close to Cocoa, and a dab of Summer Sun for the flower centers. Her skin was colored with a Tombow marker I've had for awhile. To avoid marker lines, I went over the marker with a waterbrush. Now I only used the Michaels clear "dew drops" that are really sold as decorative filler, so to get the bubbles yellow, I actually colored the center of the flower with my SS marker before attaching the "drop" with a bit of Crystal Effects and/or Diamond Glaze. I did nothing to the "drops" on the photo corner piece, though - they just appear yellow because of the paper. I think the card turned out pretty cute...and I hope all the swappers did too!

Supplies:

Elzybells Flower Girl by A Muse, sentiment by My Sentiments Exactly

Cardstock is Stampin' Up except for the white which is Georgia Pacific

and the patterned paper, which is by Chatterbox.

Ribbon, clear drops, and shimmery flowers from Michaels craft store.

Stampin Up markers and one Tombow marker. Clear drops attached with

either Diamond Glaze or Crystal Effects.

I started a blog! I wanted a place to share my love of stamping and hopefully connect with people in a new way! I'll try to upload some cards and other fun stamping info ASAP.