a shaker it is, and blue (AAA, SSS)

Quick post to join the fun over at AAA Cards and the Simon Says Work It Wednesday - "blue".

For the little guy DD babysits. Inside "that's robot for happy birthday". Great way to use up leftover alpha stickers, BTW.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies for robot birthday:

Paper:  CS Bringmann, PP scraps, recycled acetate

Stamps: robot Hero Arts, BG CHF

Ink : Aladine, Versafine

Tools: die Spellbinders

Other: chipboard Studio Calico, stickers BoBunny, confetti

curtain's still up (Curtain Call, SSS)

Finally got around to turning an idea into reality. Completely inspired by this photo over at Curtain Call's huge anniversary bash

and knowing DS needed a few thank you notes after receiving birthday gifts, and seeing the current Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Emboss it! and remembering this set of tags I made a while ago... Ta da!

Made four of these mini cards from one A4 sheet of white CS. Heat embossed the lines white, then watercolored a few random squares. Added an initial to one square and a piece of washi to another, then topped with a sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies for danke:

Paper:  CS Bringmann

Stamps: line Neat and Tangled, Klartext, alpha Hampton Art

Ink : Versacolor

Tools: 

Other: washi

STAMPlorations sketch #16

"You" ve got that right. It's time for a new sketch over at STAMPlorations. Here it is.

I went pretty literal this time. But knowing I wanted to use the inlaid die cut technique to get my shape extending outside of the solid strip, hearts came to mind. Here's what I did.

1. Used the SUBWAY ART BUILDERS: Dare and stamped the strip.
2. Die cut the hearts using Simon Says Stamp Large Hearts dies.
3. Removed the hearts and inked them with Shaded Lilac and Dusty Concord.
4. Masked and inked the strip with Tumbled Glass and Peacock Feathers.
5. Splattered the card with Heidi Swapp gold spray ink.
6. Adhered CS panel to inside of card front.
7. Adhered hearts into the negative spaces.
8. Die cut Simon Says Stamp You die from violet glitter CS and adhered.

Hope you likey. A bit late for graduation season, but I think this could make a good card for a gal going off to college or starting a new job.

Have a look at the rest of the DT creations.  And check out what our guest designer Sue V. has for you. Show us what you've got over at Sketch Challenge #16. You could be our next guest designer!

Simon Says Spots and Dots this week over at the Wednesday challenge, so I'm taking my splatters there.

Supplies for you:

Paper:  CS Bringmann, glitter CS DCWV

Stamps: STAMPlorations

Ink : Distress, gold spray

Tools: heart dies and you die Simon Says Stamp

Other: 

you've got this (Curtain Call, KIS)

Happy first anniversary to Curtain Call! Do you play over there? They always have the most beautiful inspiration photos and great design work from the team. And this time the theme is Anything Goes AND  there are lots of prizes to celebrate. I'm in :)

How can you not love all that white space? (How can you not love all that storage space? I'll keep dreamin') I picked up on the touches of pink and made a card of encouragement.

Stamped trees onto panel of CS using Distress Inks spritzed with water.  Stamped sentiments. Die cut ampersand from cereal box and used it to dry emboss the panel. Highlighted ampersand with Wink of Stella for a bit of glimmer. Punched a hole and threaded the ribbon. Made a pocket of vellum by stitching it to the card. Even added a bit of PP to the inside a la Kelly G.

I'm also joining the fun at Keep it Simple #44 where it's about bows!

We've got wonderful (read: hot) summer weather at the moment. Out to enjoy it. Happy weekend all.

Supplies for you've got this:

Paper:  CS Bringmann, vellum, PP Pink Petticoat

Stamps: CASual Fridays

Ink : Distress, Versafine

Tools: corner rounder, sewing machine, die Kelly Purkey

Other: ribbon

how r u (ATSAM, CASOS)

Howdy. Here's a CAS one layer card I created basically using one just one STAMPlorations stamp - the chevron-y arrow in the middle!

Started with a cream cardbase. Stamped with light blue first. Then I partially inked (covered the rest of the stamp with the corner of a piece of scrap paper cuz it nestles so nicely into the design) and  stamped with Versamark and heat embossed. Then at the end of each I stamped one black triangle (partially inked the bottom stamp in the set pictured above). Also used the arrow stamp to make the red element in the corner. Isn't it cool how just one half of the stamp has a totally different look! Love that about chevrons. Added a Dymo sentiment trimmed to an arrow too.

Here's a closeup of the white embossing.

I'm so excited that this card was chosen for the August 2014 issue of Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking.

I'm joining the fun at these challenges too:
Addicted to Stamps & More - #104 CAS
CAS on Sunday - #37 One Layer Wonder

Have a good one.

Supplies for how r u:

Paper:  CS Bringmann

Stamps: STAMPlorations

Ink : Jenny Bowlin, Versamark, Versafine

Tools: Dymo

Other:

i'm pooped... but i've got a winner!

Catchy title, eh?

Wow, what a whirlwind the past few days have been.  Piggy-backed submission calls . A week of STAMPlorations exploration. And did ya see who won the World Cup?! Woooohooooo! I think I have to sleep for about a week to make up for time spent in front of the TV when I should have been sleeping over the past month.

And wasn't it spiffy of FIFA to schedule the final game for the eve of DS's 18th birthday? And then for his "boss" at his work experience to give him his birthday off? Can you say non-stop party?! And he's now legal for hard alcohol.  And he can now drive the car alone. Which he's doing as we speak - picking up his license. Oh my nerves!

The birthday boy/girl always gets balloons and streamers over our dining table, but I had another idea for DS this year. This is the tree on our front lawn. Theme: drinking. And driving. But not together of course.

So the invitations for our "161" party are all out and of course I needed a few more. Seven to be exact. But may I confess I was plum-tuckered out on the invites project. So I hit all my leftovers laying around my workspace and literally whipped 'em out. Absolutely nothing to write home about here, but I'm so happy I used up some schtuff! Here's a twofer.

So last but definitely not least... a winner!

There were 18 commenters on the last post of my Exploration STAMPlorations series. I of course asked the birthday boy to pick a number between 1 and 18. Need I say which number he picked?!?!  Lucky commenter #18 ...

pcmJuly 13, 2014 at 11:24 PM

eek. it's a tie between the sentiment builders and the celebrate vignettes!

... please contact me with your mailing address and choice of stamp set. I'm off. There are six boys ready to barbecue 12 steaks out in the backyard.

Have a great week. "Wir sind Weltmeister". ;)

remember (MMCC)

IMHO, nature and sympathy cards go hand in hand. I have created a "cassy" mixed media sympathy card keeping the "Touch of Nature" theme at Mixed Media Card Challenge in mind.

Mixed media... it's about texture, dimension and techniques... remember?

TEXTURE- although one-layer, I've created depth by applying some watercolor, stamping the grunge BG and then stamping the flowers

DIMENSION - gold embossing paste through a stencil and a Dymo label

TECHNIQUE- took a watercolor brush to the stamped flowers to soften them up a bit

Have you entered the challenge yet? C'mon, get messy with us ;) You've got two more weeks before the challenge closes. 

Supplies for remember:

Paper:  CS Bringmann

Stamps: BG Impression Obsession, flowers Impression Obsession

Ink : Distress

Tools: stencil TCW

Other: watercolors, gold embossing paste, Dymo label maker

exploration STAMPlorations sentiment builders: celebrate (YNS, PCC) and giveaway

This is my last day of exploration of the latest STAMPlorations release and I'm using a set near and dear to my heart cuz I got to brainstorm some of the words to include in SENTIMENT BUILDERS: Celebrate! Thanks, Shery.

I'm stuck on the rainbow after seeing this inspiration photo from Your Next Stamp - #14

 so this is what happened!

Distress inked white CS with rainbow-y stripes. Heat embossed "celebrate" onto BGYOR and die cut "you" from VIB ;)  Stamped the smaller words in black before adhering the rainbow panel over a scrap of gold/white striped tissue paper and then adding the die cut.

Since it's Anything Goes over at Paper Crafting Challenges #13 (with a cool rainbow-y header!) I'm hooking up there too.

Before you go... how about a giveaway? Sweet Shery R. is letting me give away one of the stamp sets from the latest release. Wonky cakes? Sentiment builders? Tell me which set tickles your fancy. I'll choose a random winner from all the comments left on this post by midnight EST Sunday, July 13.

Hope I've inspired you. I certainly appreciate you coming by. Have a great weekend (and don't forget to watch soccer on Sunday :)

happy birthday, monika! (TCEC)

Another STAMPlorations teamie is celebrating her birthday today.

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday dear Monika,

Happy birthday to you!

And many mooooore.

Monika always surprises me by taking some stamp or part of it and making borders with it. I always smile at that little touch. So I gave it a try.

Stamped the sentiment from VIGNETTE: Chevron and Arrows around the edges, doodled a border and stamped a strip from VIGNETTE: Grunge Floral Strips at the bottom. Then I grabbed some tidbits to create a focal point and voila.

With all these die cuts I'm going to limbo in to the Cutting Edge #2 once again too.

 Happy day, Monika!

Supplies for happy birthday:

Paper:  CS Bringmann

Stamps: STAMPlorations

Ink : Distress Ink, Hero Arts soft granite

Tools: sprig and alpha dies Memory Box, tag die PTI, border die MFT

Other: black marker, crochet thread

exploration STAMPlorations sketched: simple gift (Craft Stamper, YNS, Seize the Birthday)

For day 3 of my exploration STAMPlorations, I'm working with this stamp set,

SKETCHED: Simple Gift

this card of Shelly K.'s which inspired me, and these challenges:

Seize the Birthday - Stars and Stripes (no toppings for me on this card)

Craft Stamper Take it Make it - Emboss Resist

Your Next Stamp - #14

Created two masks of the gift, placed them on the CS and stamped the sentiment randomly. When dry, I heat embossed the gifts and then inked them with rainbow colors. Put the masks back on and splattered with black Heidi Swapp spray ink. Rounded two corners and I was done.

I'm lovin' these sketchy stamps for artsy techniques like distress inking or watercoloring. More rainbow action coming your way tomorrow... And rumor has it there might be a giveaway ;)

Thanks for looking.

exploration STAMPlorations sketched: cupcake (SSS, Curtain Call)

Back with day 2 of my exploration of STAMPlorations latest release. I chose this stamp:

SKETCHED: Cupcake

Can't you just taste that glob of chocolate frosting? Can you say craving? OK, change the subject. I did, cuz I also chose to create a card for these challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Shake it
Curtain Call - Birthday Bash

Those great crepe paper balls. Those colors! How 'bout a birthday bash with cupcakes? And sequins. 

Take a cupcake stamp. Take some Simon Says Stamp Sea Glass CS (NBUS - love this color) and some pink and yellow alcohol inks on acetate. Add lotsa sequins and confetti. Add an HB2U (from the VIGNETTE: It's Your Day set) cuz I happened to have it handy and happened to somehow get smidgens of black ink all over the front of this card after I was done with it - UGH. Thus the escaped sequins on the outside too. But it was just what the card needed since the sentiment in Sea Glass along the bottom gets a  little lost.

This is the first shaker card I'm actually thrilled about. Amy T. has a good approach to shakers - use glassine bags. But on normal shaker cards I've had an issue with sequins getting stuck on the exposed edges of the foam adhesive behind the acetate. You too?

TIP: Die cut two layers of craft foam (on this card I cut two pink square frames (gotta get me some white craft foam) and stacked them)) and use them in place of foam adhesive. No sticky edges for the sequins to stick to!

I also stamped the cupcake in yellow onto the white shaker backing, a tiny bit offset from the black stamped image. You can see it if you look closely. The depth achieved by the height of the doubled craft foam is phenomenal. TIP: Glue two or three sequins onto the shaker backing so the shaker window looks filled even when standing.

Tomorrow I'm casing one of the sweetest CAS cardmakers out there. Ya'll come back now, ya hear?

exploration STAMPlorations sketched: birthday cake (CASE, Craft Stamper, AAA)

You may have seen the latest STAMPlorations release. We hopped last week. Today I'm exploring these two sets

SKETCHED: Birthday Cake

SENTIMENT BUILDERS: Celebrate

and playing along at CASE Study #198 where the muse is none other than the amazing Shari Carroll with this beauty that speaks to my graphic-loving heart!

This is what I did.

I CASEd myself on this one too, but definitely went all girlie this time. I love playing with the wonky cake and inking it up two tone.

I got an "office supply" vibe from Shari's card. I used a layer of vellum with a circle die cut from Amy Tangerine's Plus One paper pack on top and a little tab from another die cut circle tucked underneath. I stamped "big day" from the sentiment builders set on the tab. Figured I could handwrite the recipient's birthdate to personalize the card even more. Cool, eh?

Layered focal point. Sequins. Gold splatter to mimic the flow of Shari's sequins.  A die cut number. It's a CASE.

Then I broke out the watercolors, inspired by the July challenge at Take It, Make It - Emboss Resist and the AAA Cards Challenge #10 - Watercolor Techniques.

(This photo looks like it needs to go into the washing machine to get rid of the grime - UGH - it's actually a nice cream colored CS)

Heat embossed the images and partially watercolored them. Some pink splatters and Wink of Stella shimmer to the swirls on the frosting and voila! It's "12 candles for you".

You could also fussy cut the cake and pop it up like Monika did here. And I'm thinking it would look pretty cute paper pieced on tiny polka dot PP too.

Come back and visit tomorrow when it'll be about shaking your cupcake. And if you participated in the birthday blog hop the winners have been announced here. If you didn't win, there's a great deal in the shop until July 11 - all six sets for $30. TTFN.

STAMPlorations sketch #15

There's a new sketch up at STAMPlorations and this is what it looks like.

I tweaked it slightly cuz inspired by this, I wanted to create a wrapped present. I stamped some tissue paper with the strip from VIGNETTE: Grunge Floral Strips and die cut the bow from it. I adhered it to a die cut square that I stamped with a brush stroke from Holiday Artsy. The sentiment is from PTI. Ta da!

There are plenty of variations on this sketch over at the STAMPlorations blog, including a pretty one from our guest designer, Monika R. Have a look and show us your interpretation.

Thanks for visiting. Come back again this week. I'm doing another series of Exploration STAMPlorations with the latest release stamps.

Supplies for happy birthday:

Paper:  CS Bringmann

Stamps: STAMPlorations, sentiment PTI

Ink : Amuse

Tools: square die Sizzis, bow die MFT

Other: 

you absolutely rock (TCEC, AAA)

Karolyn L., who is on the DT over at The Cutting Edge Challenge, makes the most clever cards. There is one up to CASE this week in Challenge #2, that I loved when it first hit blogland - check it out here.

And there is an Ellen Hutson GC up for grabs and who doesn't love Ellen?

I had to give this challenge a go. And although I have a (NBUS) city skyline die, I opted not to use it. But die cut, I did.

I'd seen the card of Jackie R.'s to CASE last week and I think the "rock" was in my short term memory ;)

Some splatters, some watercolors (made by sopping up leftover Distress Inks from my craft mat and therefore hooking up to the watercolor techniques challenge at AAA Cards), some staggered die cuts... it's a CASE. Gotta go.

Supplies for you absolutely rock:

Paper:  CS Bringmann, PP Amy Tangerine

Stamps: 

Ink :spray ink Heidi Swapp

Tools: you and absolutely dies SSS, alpha die PTI

Other: 

it's your day, kylie (PTI)

It's time to wish my STAMPlorations teamie, Kylie P. of Kylie is Addicted to Stamps, a very happy birthday. It's a pleasure working with you on the team. May all your hopes and wishes for the year come true.

I'm sure you know Kylie from the different challenges she organizes. Have you seen this in blogland?

She's also started a forum for stampers. See it here. Well I took that great graphic as inspiration for my card that's on its way to Australia.

And I used spray inks and the Masking with Die Cuts technique from the PTI Make it Monday #170. Love the extra punch you get with this easy technique. The party balloons and streamers are from the PTI Birthday Style set. The sentiments are from STAMPlorations Sentiment Builders: Celebrate.

Enjoy your day, Kylie! Celebrate big. And enjoy the linky party going on over at lovely Loll's blog, Stampin with Loll. See you over there, ya'll.

Supplies for celebrate:

Paper:  CS Bringmann

Stamps: Papertrey. STAMPlorations

Ink : Hero Arts

Tools: dies PTI

Other: spray inks

alles gute zum geburtstag

Judging by the number of birthdays in July, TV must be at its worst in October ;) Speaking of TV... Remember the show "Name that Tune"? Can you name that cardmaker in five words? - MIXED MEDIA ONE LAYER CARD

Need more clues? Videos accompanied by Mozart. Stamping Royalty 2014 Honorable Mention. She illustrates stamps. She's a ghostwriter. She owns a gazillion domains (what does that mean anyway?!?) She's self-proclaimed OCD, which is a really great thing cuz she's one crazy-organized leader for our DT and I totally love her for that!

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Shery R. of STAMPlorations!!!!!!!!!!

And since Shery's been on a real flower kick lately, I made this.

My birthday wishes are stamped on a beautiful wine label sent to me by the lovely Jacqueline D. (the queen of wine label cards). I paired it with the Masking with Die Cuts technique from Make it Monday #170 using some PTI floral images. Hope you like it Shery!

As part of our little celebration for Shery, we of the STAMPlorations DT are sharing not only a card, but a bit of information about ourselves. Ready?

1. My favorite STAMPlorations stamp is Chevron and Arrows cuz I love the graphic images AND the size and font of the sentiments.

2. My favorite piece of writing.... I'm gonna ramble here, scroll if you must.... First off, I love that it's not "What's your favorite book?" (great job Nonni and Sandie) Writing. I love Hemingway's. Bare bones. Nuff said.

And strange but true, the first writing that came to my mind was not Hemingway, but this ... 'Real isn't how you are made,' said the Skin Horse. 'It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.'

I've had a thing about The Velveteen Rabbit for years. Started when I read those lines from it in some romantic novel back in the 80s. I was moved. I bought the book (illustrated by Michael Hague). Which started my collection of wonderfully illustrated children's books...

Fast forward to 1996. When my son was born, BFF gave DS a stuffed rabbit (yep, velveteen). TIP: Little Me makes the best/softest baby things.

"Michael" literally became a part of our family. Michael went everywhere with us. Slept with DS who would rub his little tail while falling asleep. Had to get re-stuffed once or twice and have his tail repaired. Went on school outings, although he may have spent the entire time hidden in DS's backpack.  Heck, he could have had his own free flight from so many frequent flier miles (in the cabin with us of course)!

Fast forward to 2014. Where is Michael today? I happen to know that he is tossed up into the darkest corner of DS's closet. Did you catch that? He is still in DS's closet. Yes, folks, I believe Michael has become real. (And I'm certain that somewhere in DS's oh-so-hard-for-me-to-understand innards, he knows what real love is.)

So, on to 3. Shery, you are amazingly talented! You are a gifted artist and businesswoman. You are an incredibly generous lady.  You've got the energy of five people with hats in ten rings and you manage to keep them all running smoothly. It is truly a pleasure working with you. Here's wishing you health, happiness and success in the coming year and on your journey to becoming "Real-er".

Supplies for birthday wishes:

Paper:  Papermania, wine label, vellum

Stamps: PTI

Ink : Hero Arts, green Distress Inks

Tools: leaf dies PTI

Other: Post Its for masking

STAMPlorations july challenge "stamps and glitter"

New month. New challenge. And it's about glitter. To be honest my thoughts went to my young niece. To pink and purple and princesses and you get the picture. And this is my card.

Pink Copics at work here. Cake from the SKETCHED: Birthday Cake set. Bright pink frosting.  Ms. Sunshine didn't help me catch in the photo the pink Stickles I added to each of the frosting tidbits on the cake. Here's the glitter in all its glory.

I used a banner die and stamp from Avery Elle and selectively inked the sentiment stamp with three colors to get "it's your day".

Check out the rest of the DT work, including a gorgeous creation by our guest designer, Kimberly W. and then get out your glitter and stamps and join us at STAMPlorations this month.

There are two Spellbinders Borderabilities up for grabs if you join all three of our challenges in July...

simply create too 65 (christmas in july)

 

It's Challenge #65 over at Simply Create Too and it's "Christmas in July". Actually not a bad time to start on your Christmas cards if you make them yourself!

I've got a non-card project for you. I'm calling it "The family tree garland". It's a pun. It's the family tree. And it's a garland. Here's what I mean...

I used a PP pack, die cut stars, scored them and turned them into "barn stars". Added a B/W photo backed with a circle of burlap and then strung them on some baker's twine through eyelets.

The cool factor here is that this could be the start of a great tradition.  In my garland, the first star is DS at Christmas 1996, then 1997, then DD Christmas 1998, then DS Christmas 1998 and so on. Add a star for each child in the family, each year, and you've got a great way to document the kids' growth and also a great home decor project for yourself or the grandparents.

Check out what the DT created (we're welcoming a few new creative ladies to the DT - yay!) and join us with your Christmas project. Then go have a cocktail by the pool ;)

Supplies for garland:

Paper:  PP me and my big ideas

Stamps: 

Ink : 

Tools: star die Sizzis, circle die MFT

Other: eyelets, baker's twine, photos