Still Stampin'

I love when a new brochure is launched – it’s so exciting to see all the new goodies that Stampin’ Up! has come up with.  I just received my box that includes some of the new product and can’t wait to use some of the great things.

Be ready for some cards made with these new things!  I’ll be out of blog world for the next week while I prepare for a very important training session I’m doing for some preschool staff on life-threatening food allergies – but will post some samples from the new products after that.

Well I missed the last challenge (just couldn’t get my butt in gear), but I’m ready for this one, and it’s a rather interesting inspiration challenge!!  I kind of like the subtle background of what I would call Pool Party or Baja Breeze and White with a rather intrusive splat of Ridinghood Red right in your face!  You MUST check out the other design team’s projects on Carrie’s website and PLEASE submit a version of your own creation based on the challenge photo!  CLICK HERE.

Here’s my interpretation:

So I’ve toned down the death feel from the inspiration!!  My sister has the misfortune of having her birthday on January 3rd, which in my opinion is worse than being before the holidays (everyone’s pretty pooped by January), so I wanted to make her a really pretty card so she feels special.  I started with a base of POOL PARTY and layered 2 panels of DSP SPICE CAKE.  Then I punched out a circle of POOL PARTY and VELLUM and layered them in the centre (barely able to see it).  I got white craft paint and POOL PARTY RE-INKER and painted varying colour intensities onto chipboard pieces.  Here’s a closer up version of the card:

I used the SCALLOP TRIM BORDER to punch a strip from POOL PARTY cardstock and layered it vertically on the left.  I added some DAZZLING DIAMOND glitter using the TWO-WAY GLUE PEN to the chipboard flowers and sponged RIDING HOOD RED ink onto the outside and inside edges of the chipboard frame.  I cut 5 of the largest flower in RIDING HOOD RED from the Sizzlets Die FLORAL FUSION, glued them all together and and curled the edges with a BONE FOLDER.  I used the 1/2″ CIRCLE PUNCH, ITTY BITTY SHAPES TRIO PUNCH, a regular hole punch (about 1/4″ circle), and a RHINESTONE JEWEL to accessorize the RIDING HOOD RED flower.  And then I spritzed the flower with VANILLA SMOOCH MIST!  I tied a bow with POOL PARTY RUFFLED RIBBON and a small gathered line of VICTORIA CROCHET TRIM ribbon.  I stamped the sentiment from PETITE PAIRS in RIDING HOOD RED on VANILLA and cut down the CURLY LABEL PUNCH in POOL PARTY and sponged the edges in RIDING HOOD RED, and voila….done!  Here’s a closer look plus the inside detail.

I love feedback, so please be sure to tell me what you think.  And of course, if you want to purchase supplies, let me know!

Don’t forget to visit the Challenge site.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

My boss’s son turned 25 on Dec.21 – seriously, who has a birthday so close to Christmas….I KNOW, a ton of people, but anyways, she couldn’t find an appropriate card for him.  All she could find were really sucky and emotional cards and that’s not what she wanted.  I told her I’d make one for him.  He’s a HUGE sports fan – pretty much any sport, anytime!  So, one of the only sport theme stamp sets I have is the Slamdunk basketball, so that’s what he got.  Here’s a closeup:

Colours are Bravo Burgundy, Basic Black, Baja Breeze, and Sahara Sand.  I used EXTREME ELEMENTS stamp set and SLAM DUNK.  Notice I embossed the basketball image onto vellum to get the transparent effect, but also the texture of a basketball.  Here’s a closer look:

And of course, one of my new favourite things to do is finish off the card inside:

Hope you like it – MERRY CHRISTMAS and Happy Birthday to all you December folk.

Time for another Ka-Pow Kreative Challenge with Carrie Gaskin.  Be sure to check out all the other designs HERE and add your design to Carrie’s link!

Here’s my take on the inspiration challenge:

I know I went with the obvious – a party kid’s card, but that’s just what I had to go with.  I used lots of retired product (using up all my stash) to create this simple card.  Not much explaining needed, it’s pretty self explanatory!  Ask if you have any questions, otherwise let me know what you think!

It’s time for the next KAPOW Kreative Challenge from Carrie Gaskin, the Artistic Avenger.  Click HERE to participate in the challenge and see the other entries.

My card came as the result of some sad news from my son’s Principal.  He will be off for awhile to have surgery to remove a cancerous lesion and I wanted to make a card to let him know we wish him well in his recovery.  I felt the “journey” theme was appropriate here.

 I immediately thought of the nautical theme when I saw the colour challenge, and it’s a perfect set to use for a masculine card. HOWEVER, I made a tiny error in the challenge and used Night of Navy paper instead of Not Quite Navy!!! Oh well, the effect is pretty much the same. Here’s my take on the colour challenge.

I started with a NIGHT OF NAVY base, layering with distressed BAJA BREEZE and then a torn SAHARA SAND.  I sponged some NIGHT OF NAVY ink around the torn edge for a more blended effect.  I stamped the sailboat image from OPEN SEA stamp set (carry over from the Summer Mini brochure) and continued to stamp without re-inking to get the shadow effect.  I used BAKER’S TWINE in Early Espresso and tied a unique knot on the side.  I used 3/8″ TAFFETA RIBBON in Night of Navy and 1/8″ TAFFETA RIBBON in Real Red folded and attached with a black brad from the retired Antique Brad pkg.  I stamped the word “journey” in Night of Navy onto Baja Breeze paper from the retired set IN A WORD and punched it out with the MODERN LABEL PUNCH (adhered with dimensionals).  I stamped the “journey” definition from the retired set DEFINE YOUR LIFE in Sahara Sand.  Then I layered the “compass” stamp from OPEN SEA (stamped in Sahara Sand onto Baja Breeze) and distressed the edges of the punched circle and layered onto a circle of Night of Navy and then a torn circle punch of Real Red (attached with dimensionals).

Here’s a close up of the “journey” definition:

And the inside:

**Positive thoughts going your way, Mr. Rourke!**

This is the 4th challenge from the Artistic Avenger and you can play along too!  Check out the details HERE, but make sure you click on the current challenge to see this week’s sketch!

Finally, I’m starting to see things Christmas-y and decided to take this challenge and go for it.  I used non-traditional Christmas colours:  Night of Navy, Wisteria Wonder, Pool Party, but I’m really happy with the results.

I used the snowburst embossing folder on a layer of Wisteria Wonder paper, then took a sponge dauber inked with Night of Navy and sponged randomly to give some shadowing.  I used a layer of the new designer paper from the Holiday Mini, SPICE CAKE (I love this grouping!!) and punched the bottom edge with the SCALLOP TRIM BORDER.  Next I used sticky strip to hold down the Pool Party  RUFFLED RIBBON and cut the edges to mimic the challenge sketch.  Again, I used multiple layers of the same stamp, PERFECT PUNCHES (pg.140) and different coloured ink on each layer.  The back layer has a rim of DAZZLING DIAMONDS and I paper pierced the scallops.  I also used a light spraying of VANILLA SHIMMER SMOOCH SPRITZ on the top circle (Joy at Christmas), but it’s awfully hard to see in the photo.  And ended off with lots of dimensionals and a couple RHINESTONE accents for more effect.

Here’s some close ups:

What do you think??  Let me know…

This is one of the cutest little 3D projects I’ve seen in awhile!  All credit must go to an amazing crafter and fellow Stampin’ Up demonstrator from Ontario, Heather Summers (and her mother).  Her blog is absolutely a must to check out, and because she has such great instructions and even a video on her blog on how to re-create this adorable gift, I’m not going to say much about how to make this, other than that I don’t have the Pennant die for the Sizzix so I just cut 2.5″x2.5″ squares of Crumb Cake cardstock, folded both sides of one edge in to make the pencil “point” and then sticky striped it to another identical piece so when you turn the pencil over it looks the same.

Since I didn’t get to making these goodies until now, I made a tag that says, “Woo hoo!  I survived the first month of school.”  And inside is a KitKat chunky bar.  I will be giving one of these yummy treats to Luke’s new teacher, Principal, school Secretary, and a couple other amazing teachers in our lives.

Here’s a close up of the tag and when you pull the ribbon to reveal the chocolate bar inside:

Another great challenge from the Artistic Avenger, Carrie Gaskin!  A colour challenge this week, and you can play along too!  Post your project and you can earn a blog badge as the Superhero in the challenge!!  Go HERE to check out details…..

Here’s my interpretation of the colour challenge:

I decided this challenge was a great opportunity to get some baby cards done – I have a couple cousins who have little newborns recently!  I’m an elephant lover so I just had to get this adorable little stamp.  I’m not a water-colour expert (in fact if truth be told, I suck at it!), but since elephants are all grey I figured I might be able to handle this one alright. 

I used the stripes embossing folder (which I LOVE) in the Wysteria wonder cardstock.  I used a panel of retired designer paper in Pumpkin Pie and cut a very small strip of Daffodil Delight.  I agressively distressed a panel of Pumpkin Pie as the base of my water colour layer.  Then a panel of Daffodil Delight.  I used Whisper White paper and stamped with black Staz-on for my water colour image.  I used a combination of Aqua painters, blender pens, and markers to colour the image.  Tied a bow with Daffodil Delight grosgrain ribbon, and then I used a retired hostess stamp set for the “congratulations” along the edge.  I continued the stamp again before and after the darker image just stamping off once, however it’s tough to see in the photo.  Again, it’s hard to see in the photo, but my layered elephant image is popped up with dimensionals.

A different angle:

And here’s the inside:

Let me know what you think!!

It’s been a September of weddings for my cousins and I found this design in Stampin’ Up’s “Stampin’ Success” (a demonstrator only magazine).  I changed a few things, but the idea was definitely CASE’d.

I started with a 6×6 piece of Confetti White cardstock folded in half (which fit perfectly into the small open-end envelopes on pg. 182).  I distressed the edges of a panel of Chocolate Chip cardstock.  I stamped the medallion stamp from Artistic Etchings (pg. 129) onto Confetti White cardstock in Bashful Blue ink.  Then I stamped the Eiffel Tower stamp from Artistic Etchings set in Whisper White craft ink and heat embossed with White Embossing powder on Vellum Cardstock and attached it with a Rhinestone Brad to the medallion panel.  I used the Scallop Edge punch on some Bashful Blue cardstock and slid it behind the side of the panel.  I finished it off with the Amour stamp from the same stamp set and used some of the famous Sticky Strip and “ruffled” some Chocolate Chip satin ribbon (pg. 195).  And lastly, I paper pierced a row along the top.

Here’s some more views. 

Here’s the challenge sketch:

This is the 2nd challenge of my amazing friend and upline, Carrie Gaskin, the Artistic Avenger.  Challenges post every 2nd Tuesday and will run for a week.  Superheroes (winner) and Sidekicks (honourable mentions) will be posted the following Monday after the challenge.  Check out the details HERE.  Play along and make sure you post your creation to Carrie’s “comments” – earn a badge for your own blog!!  Here’s the link to KKC02 post: 

http://artisticavenger.com/ka-pow-kreative-challenge/current-kkc-challenge

Card details:

So I’ll start off my admitting I’m a huge procrastinator and I completed this card literally moments before I would be cut off, so the glaring error could not be fixed….the newsprint DSP is sideways!!!  😦  Other than that, I’m quite happy with the result.  I started with a card base of Cherry Cobbler card stock.  Then I used a layer of Very Vanilla under the piece in Baja Breeze that I embossed with the stripes embossing folder.  The main piece is cut from the Top Notes die in Basic Black and also the newsprint DSP, but I folded the DSP along the centre so the black layer was obvious.  I used a stamp from the new Hostess stamp set “Happiest Birthday Wishes” (pg. 10 in the catalogue) and stamped several times in 3 different colours, punched out and layered.  It’s hard to see in the photo, but I lined the edges of the Baja Breeze centre circle with my 2-way glue pen and added some Dazzling Diamonds to “bling” it up a bit.  I added some other touches:  paper piercing, brads, circle punch detail on top corner, ribbon and TA-DAH, it’s a card that resembles the sketch.

Here’s a closer detail and the inside of the card. 

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE OTHER CHALLENGE ENTRIES AT:  http://artisticavenger.com/ka-pow-kreative-challenge/current-kkc-challenge