spotlight on shimmer

Coming to you from Berlin today...

Want shimmer like this on your projects? Check out my Perfect Pearls tutorial over at STAMPlorations.

STAMPlorations inspiration #44

Ready for some more inspiration using the latest release from STAMPlorations? We hopped last week and I have an extra card for you using Folk Flowers. What a great set - so versatile. I'm hoping Shirley is going to create another set with more of these beauties!

I mentioned in my blog hop post that I went a bit crazy pinning folk art when I met this stamp set. Well, I looked at one of my pins from Jill McDonald

Image Source

and stamped this whimsical card!

I used pigment inks, the fronts and backs of most of the stamps in the set and a touch of white heat embossing for some texture - all on a background of PTI Soft Stone (including the PP strip along the bottom). The sentiment is from Hope Blooms, another set from the latest release. It seemed to me that "just be you" is exactly what these whimsical blooms would be saying :)

It was such fun taking Jill's print and trying to make a card out of it with this stamp set. The limitations were liberating, if ya know what I mean! Have a great today.

STAMPlorations inspiration #43

Some inspiration for you today using a couple of STAMPlorations sets. Check out the cards from the rest of the DT here. And CASE us if you have a moment. Be sure to hook your CASE up too for a chance at a prize. You can read more about our CASEplorations Playground here.

I remember thinking when Shirley's World Birthday Cakes came out, "good, I have people in all those places".  Well, person-in-Italy's birthday is approaching so I made her a card.

Used R12, R22 and R39 Copic markers to make my striped BG then heat embossed the cake in white. Stamped sentiments from the same set and also from Party Time as a frame around the image. Then I splattered and second-generation stamped two images from Mixed Media Elements onto my cardbase before adhering the image panel. A plethora of sequins finished it off.

I was inspired by:
Addicted to Stamps and More - #167 Make your Mark
Card Concept #42 Autumn Beauty

Kathy R.'s 30 Day Coloring Challenge

Maybe I've inspired you? Happy day. Happy weekend.

simply create too 97

Welcome to challenge #97 at Simply Create Too. Our theme is "Baby It's Cold Outside". And my card was inspired by a bush I see when out walking the dog on cold mornings. It has a few leaves still hanging on, with the coolest red veins. So I decided to make a card with some white leaves with red veins and some leaf skeletons.

Looks like I used kraft CS, but I didn't. I swiped Antique Linen and Pumice Stone Distress Inks onto a Neenah white CS panel then splattered it with water! Let it dry.

Then I stamped the red veins (Papertrey Leave it Be) with Cranberry Adirondack dye ink and overstamped them with white pigment ink. Did you see my last SCT card using this same stamp set?

I heat embossed the sentiment (Technique Tuesday Sorry) with Liquid Platinum embossing powder onto vellum which was die cut with a Spellbinders leaf die.

A closer look at the water splatters and ghost stamping.

It would be great to see you over at Simply Create Too! I'm joining these fun challenges:

The Paper Players #267

The City Crafter - Into the Wood (hope mine qualifies)

Thanks for visiting.

day 3 STAMPlorations spotlight - Folk Flowers

Welcome to Day 3 of the STAMPlorations October release Spotlight where it's all about Shirley's new set called FOLK FLOWERS. One of those sets where there is so much you can do with it, you don't know where to start!

Seriously. And thus I started actively using the black hole lovingly known as Pinterest! Seriously. As in, need some inspiration? Check out my board devoted to Folk Art here.

I opted to go with a "Wycinanki" inspiration I had seen a long time ago. Oh those colors!

Image Source

I used this image to determine my colors and create the layout for my card. But... I chose to use black cardstock. And colored pencils. And white embossing. This is what happened.

Easy peasy. I may give this same design another try with a technique I used here to achieve more brilliant colors. Thanks for visiting today.

Check out what the rest of the team made! You'll find links to all our projects here, as well as a Flash Linky Party where you can hook up FALL FLOWER cards you've made.

As always, Shery is being generous with the prizes:

• SEVEN (7) commenters randomly drawn from the designers' blogs will each win a $10 gift certificate.
• ONE (1) commenter randomly drawn from the STAMPlorations blog will win a $25 gift certificate.
• THREE (3) players randomly drawn from the Fall Flower Flash Linky Party will each win a stamp set from the new release.

Enjoyed another relaxing coloring episode while coloring in the heat embossing with colored pencils. Thanks for the encouragement, Kathy R.

And I'm hooking up at Addicted to Stamps and More #167 cuz I made lotsa marks with my pencils ;)

shimmering autumn leaves

Just a reminder that you can link up your black and orange mixed media cards at the MMCC until the 25th!

I got all glittery with my first card. This time I went all shimmery.

I will be showing a step-by-step over at STAMPlorations in a Spotlight post on the 27th, but it was basically a technique using Versamark and Perfect Pearls (copper, gold and gray). Added some dry embossing, heat embossing and embossing paste and a mixed media card was born. How 'bout that shimmer?

Joining the Colors of Autumn challenge at Stamping Sensations.

Also joining in over at House of Cards cuz I've got some of the colors and definitely a lot of texture happening here!

Thanks for visiting today. Did you see my post for the new STAMPlorations release?

day 2 STAMPlorations spotlight - Hope Blooms

Welcome to Day 2 of the STAMPlorations October release Spotlight where it's all about Shery's new set called HOPE BLOOMS. Besides some more great words for use on cards or journal pages, there are a couple of block images.

I decided to see what I could do with that block of butterflies. And kraft CS.

Drew a pencil line down the middle of my kraft CS piece and stamped the image with white pigment ink using a lined acrylic block, trying to keep the image lined up down the middle. Then I colored the butterfly with blue colored pencils. Love how the white pigment details still show through the coloring. Heat embossed my sentiment with WOW! opaque powder. Adhered to a yellow cardbase and voila!

Check out what the rest of the team made! You'll find links to all our projects here.

As always, Shery is being generous with the prizes:

• SEVEN (7) commenters randomly drawn from the designers' blogs will each win a $10 gift certificate.
• ONE (1) commenter randomly drawn from the STAMPlorations blog will win a $25 gift certificate.
• THREE (3) players randomly drawn from the Fall Flower Flash Linky Party will each win a stamp set from the new release.

I'm late to the party over at Kathy R.'s, but she's challenging us to color every day, even if for a short time. I don't know that I will be doing that, but there is something totally mesmerizing about coloring, as I found out in yesterday's (Zig) and today's (colored pencild) projects. Check it out!

day 1 STAMPlorations spotlight - Friends and Flowers

Welcome to Day 1 of the STAMPlorations October release Spotlight where it's all about Dee's new set called FRIENDS AND FLOWERS. Lovely, somewhat larger images. And they're just beckoning to be colored, agree?

I have been Pinteresting lately (real late to the party, I know) - in preparation for Thursday's card actually - and fell in love with this card. I think you can see how it influenced today's card.

Some stamping, some masking and some coloring with my Zig Clean Color Brush pens on watercolor paper. Adhered to a purple cardbase. And voila! Farmers's market-y, eh?

Check out what the rest of the team made! You'll find links to all our projects here.

As always, Shery is being generous with the prizes:

• SEVEN (7) commenters randomly drawn from the designers' blogs will each win a $10 gift certificate.
• ONE (1) commenter randomly drawn from the STAMPlorations blog will win a $25 gift certificate.
• THREE (3) players randomly drawn from the Fall Flower Flash Linky Party will each win a stamp set from the new release.

I'm joining the fun at Just Us Girls #315 this week.

funky, frozen, semi-spooky

OK, this one's out on a limb. But this Love Struck Lucy from Dylusions came to live at my house and hasn't seen ink yet. She just keeps staring at me. And then I see the current challenges for

Time Out #42

Stempelkueche Challenge #30

Since I'd opted to use her, those candlesticks immediately made me think of this funky Sizzix frame die. Cut it from a cereal box and painted it glossy black with nail polish. And, well, a few Avery Elle Modern Leaves sketched circles hit with a waterbrush and a Hampton Art personalized sentiment later... this card was born. Please pardon my weirdness. It gets even worse... I started humming "Let it Go" when I saw what I'd created. A funky, Frozen, semi-spooky card.

I'm also hooking up at these fun challenges:
Simon Says Monday - Wonderful Watercolor
Addicted to Stamps and More - #160 Anything Goes

Thanks for looking!

spotlight - random stamping

I'm over at STAMPlorations today with a spotlight tutorial sharing my method for not-so-random
random stamping. Check it out here.

STAMPlorations inspiration #42

Ready for more inspiration from Dee's fun Santa images from Santa is Here?

I was completely and totally inspired by Virginia's current challenge titled "All Things Colored". And you say to yourself, "What? She didn't even color anything!" True. But I wanted to show how important color is and the effect it can have on us.

First, what do you think of when you see red and green? I bet 99% of you would answer that with "Christmas". Talk about powerful, that stuff called color.

And second, notice how that bit of super strong color along the edge of my otherwise white card absolutely forces your eye to the black sentiment. And then you notice the simple Santa sharing his present with you. I seriously debated coloring the ribbon on the present metallic gold, but I think that would have ruined the effect.

BTW, I created that strip of color by sponging various red, yellow and green Adirondack dye inks through ARTplorations Just Squares stencil.

Hope you enjoyed. Wanna CASE my card? Please do, and hook up at the CASEplorations Inspiration Playground for October.

I'm hooking up at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday's - CAS Christmas.

One more look at that luscious color before you go ;) Have a great day.

orange to mix it up, purple to stop it

It behooved me (huh, where did that come from?) to throw my hat in the ring when I saw the Mix Up at Ellen Hutson Classroom - Essentials by Ellen and WPlus9.

And I hoped to support Becca C.'s Hop to Stop domestic violence. What a great idea to make people aware of this problem and perhaps encourage victims to do something to get out of a bad situation... Thanks for putting this together, Becca.

So two cards for you.

I've used the pocket and sentiments from WPlus9 A Pocketful and the blooms from Essentials by Ellen Bold Blooms. And some ancient Bo Bunny PP. Notice my enamel dot in the center of the solid bloom? Yep, a DIY fail.

Then lots of purple cuz that's the color of National Domestic Violence Awareness month. Did you know one in three women will experience domestic violence over the course of their lifetime. That is a staggering number. Please join the hop if you can. You can send your cards to Becca and she will pass them on to her local Community Violence Convention Center for their use. How great is that!

I used the long “ray” from Avery Elle Bright Days to cover card, staggering images and stamping from the top and bottom. When done, I inked the stamp with my darkest purple, kissed it with the PTI  Sketched Shapes striped banner stamp and stamped, repeating a few times for interest. Misted it all with water/Perfect Pearls mixture to soften. Then I stamped triangles from Mama Elephant Trifecta along top and bottom with platinum StazOn. Stamped a sentiment from Kaisercraft Today with white pigment ink and offset with Versamark which I heat embossed platinum. Now that's a lot of purple.

I'm sending the first card over to Simply Create Too where it's about "Halloween colors" and the second to Papertrey Make it Monday where it's about "Stripes" and Avery Elle AEIU where it's about  "Pink". I'm counting Adirondack Raspberry as part of the pink family ;)

starry winter wonders

It's an oldie, but a goodie the Autumn Leaves Winter Wonders stamp set.

Took some watercolor paper, smooshed Distress Inks in Shaded Lilac and Evergreen Bough onto my craft sheet, spritzed with Perfect Pearls water and created my background piece.

Heat embossed the wonderful sentiment and hung a strip of sheer ribbon on the panel before adhering it to my cardbase.

I'm entering these challenges:

Stempelkueche #29

AAA Cards #49 - Word Play

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - CAS Christmas (am I pushing it here?)

Not really ready for the holidays yet, but I guess they'll be here before I know it! Have a lovely day.

Mixed Media Card Challenge #16

It's nice to be back creating mixed media for the MMCC. Unfortunately I didn't have the supplies for it while I was at my folks' house this summer.

This month it's about black and orange with the option of glitter.

I must admit this theme immediately reminded me of one of my earliest memories of Cath E.'s Moxie Fab World in the Sept/Oct 2009 issue of Paper Crafts magazine.

So with that as inspiration, I set off to cover myself and my craft room with glitter.

I stamped the bats and stars from my favorite Halloween set Midnight Feast from WMS on a white cardbase (the sentiment is from the same set). Then used a Crafter's Workshop Aspen Trees stencil on adhesive paper to create the gradient orange BG of the focal panel. Even tried to create a moon up in the left corner by sprinkling yellow glitter through a die cut negative circle placed on top of the stencil. Burnished the oranges then removed the stencil and added the black glitter. I've done a tutorial on this technique here if you're interested.

So what's mixed media about this card? Well, I've got stamps and inks. And...

TEXTURE - heat embossed sentiment, glitter
DIMENSION - raised sentiment panel
TECHNIQUE - burnished glitter through stencils

Here's another view of the wonderful textures.

Mixed media and Halloween. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Join us - the challenge is open until October 25th.

I'm joining the fun at Simon Says Stamp World Cardmaking Day Challenge as well as the Work it Wednesday challenge with this.

And the challenge over at Curtain Call which jumpstarted my batty BG