Serve the Lord- A Color and Sketch Challenge :-)

Hi Again Stampers! 

I wanted to share another card that I created this past week using the CMCC73 Colour MeChallenge along with the HSSSC212 Hand Stamped Sentiments Sketch Challenge.

If you have not had a chance to do so, I hope you will find the time to visit both sites to check out their wonderful Design Teams as well as their challenge galleries!

To create this card:

Ink the Our Daily Bread Design (ODBD) floral image from Serve the Lord with Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink and stamp onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock.

Color the image using an AquaPainter™ along with the Classic Ink Pads and Stampin’ Write markers- Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Blackberry Bliss and Lost Lagoon.

Create shadows using the Sahara Sand Stampin’ Write Marker and cut the image out using the Big Shot™ with the ODBD Crochet Circle Die Cut.

Ink the sentiment from Serve the Lord with Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink and stamp onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock.

Ink the Honeycomb Background stamp using Rich Razzleberry Classic Ink and use your fingers to press portions of the background onto the sentiment panel.

Layer the panel onto a piece of Pumpkin Pie cardstock, trim and mount onto the Blackberry Bliss card base.

Mount a piece of Pumpkin Pie Designer Series Paper (DSP) and a piece of Moonlight DSP onto Blackberry Bliss cardstock to create the horizontal panels for the sketch.

Add the panels to the card front and mount the floral circle using Stampin’ Dimensionals®.

Add the Rich Razzleberry button (with the Pumpkin Pie cardstock strip for “thread”) to finish off the card.

Stamps: Serve the Lord, Honeycomb Background (both ODBD)

Ink: Stāz-On® Jet Black, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Blackberry Bliss, Lost Lagoon; Stampin’ Write Markers- Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Blackberry Bliss, Lost Lagoon, Sahara Sand

Paper: Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Blackberry Bliss; Moonlight and Pumpkin Pie DSP

Accessories: Big Shot™, ODBD Crochet Circle Die, Rich Razzleberry Button

Thanks again for stopping by- have a fabulous weekend, my friends!

PPA253 Four Feathers Congratulations :-)

Hi Stampers! 

I had a great time stamping with friends today- love it when we can get together!! 

After dinner this evening, I had the chance to design a card using the fun PPA253 Pals Paper Arts Sketch using a soon-to-be retired stamp set, Four Feathers.

If you have not had a chance to do so, I hope you will find the time to visit the Pals Paper Arts site- such wonderful inspiration from their Design Team as well as their challenge gallery!

To create this card:

Create the fun background layer from Back to Black Designer Series Paper (DSP) and mount onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock.

Adhere the background layer onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock, trim and mount onto the Basic Black card base.

Trim a piece of Tempting Turquoise DSP, round the corners with the Envelope Punch Board and emboss with the Big Shot™ and the Arrows Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder.

Adhere to a piece of Basic Black cardstock, trim and round the corners with the Envelope Punch Board.

Use the Sanding Block to lightly sand the DSP to bring out the white core.

Ink the feather stamps using Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink and stamp onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock.

Use the Big Shot™ with the Feather Framelits™ to cut out the feathers, trim a bit closer to the edge of the feathers, cut into each to create a more realistic feather edge and mount the three feathers onto the embossed Tempting Turquoise panel.

Create the Whisper White bow using the Bow Builder Punch, add the Tempting Turquoise button (with Basic Black cardstock strands as “thread) to the center and add the bow to the panel.

Ink the sentiment using Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink and stamp onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock, trim and create the banner points using the Banner Punch, mount onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock and use the Banner Punch to create the banner points.

Add the sentiment to the bottom of the panel and mount the panel onto Stampin’ Dimensionals® to finish off the card.

Stamps: Four Feathers, Express Yourself

Ink: Stāz-On® Jet Black

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black; Back to Black and Tempting Turquoise DSP

Accessories: Big Shot™, Feather Framelits™, Arrows Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder, Sanding Block, Punches- Banner and Bow Builder,  Tempting Turquoise button

Thanks again for visiting- I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

On Eagle's Wings- Thank You for Your Service to the Lord :-)

Hi Again Stampers! 

Here is another Thank You card that I designed this week using inspiration from the The Paper Players PP246 Sketch along with the Our Daily Bread Designs Shining the Light ODBDSLC240 Fluttering and Flying Theme Challenge.

My husband and I love to watch birds and we have pleasure of seeing a Bald Eagle in the wild along the Potomac River and this stamp set combined with the paper reminded us of that rare moment :-)

If you have not had a chance to do so, I hope you will find the time to both of the challenge sites- so much inspiration from their Design Teams as well as their challenge galleries!

To create this card:

Trim a piece of Adventure Bound Designer Series Paper (DSP) and mount onto a piece of Early Espresso cardstock.

Ink the eagle from On Eagle’s Wings (ODBD) stamp set using Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink  and stamp onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock.

Color the eagle with Stampin’ Write Markers (Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Crushed Curry and Sahara Sand) and fussy-cut the image.

Mount the eagle onto the DSP layer with Stampin’ Dimensionals®.

Close-up of Eagle 

Use the Big Shot™ with the Chevron Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder to emboss a piece of Crumb Cake cardstock and the Woodgrain Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder to emboss a piece of Early Espresso cardstock.

Ink the sentiment from the Our Daily Bread Designs (ODBD) Serve the Lord stamp set with Early Espresso Classic Ink and stamp onto a piece of Whisper White cardstock.

Layer the sentiment along with the embossed Crumb Cake onto a piece of Lost Lagoon cardstock and cover the seam with the embossed Early Espresso.

Add the three retired Circle Brads per the sketch and mount the entire panel onto the Early Espresso card base.

Adhere the eagle panel to the card front using Stampin’ Dimensionals® to finish off the card.

Stamps: On Eagle’s Wings, Serve the Lord (both ODBD)

Ink: Stāz-On® Jet Black, Early Espresso; Stampin’ Write Markers- Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Crushed Curry, Sahara Sand

Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Lost Lagoon, Early Espresso; Adventure Bound DSP

Accessories: Big Shot™, Chevron and Woodgrain Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folders, Circle Brads (retired)

Thanks again for stopping  by- have a fabulous Friday, my friends!!

Perfect Peacock Thanks- A Sketch, Color and Photo Inspiration Challenge :-)

Hi Stampers! 

I have been busy creating Thank You cards this week and wanted to share this one that was designed using the FMS188 Freshly Made Sketches Challenge along with  the CQC292 ColourQ Challenge and Just Us Girls #294 Photo Week Challenge.

If you have not had a chance to do so, I hope you will find the time to visit all three of the challenge sites- each one has a fantastic Design Team as well as inspiration from their galleries!

To create this card:

Trim a piece of Whisper White cardstock and mount onto a piece of Tangerine Tango cardstock, trim and mount onto the Coastal Cabana card base.

Ink the Perfect Peacock stamp using Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink and stamp onto Whisper White cardstock.

Color the upper two thirds of the image using an AquaPainter™ with Classic Ink from the Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight, Strawberry Slush and Tangerine Tango pads and use the same colors in Stampin’ Write Markers to add definition.  ***Note- I used Daffodil Delight first, then Coastal Cabana for the leaves :-)) ***

Add a few white highlights with the White Gel Pen and shadows with the Sahara Sand Stampin’ Write Marker.

Cut the panel for the sketch and mount onto Tangerine Tango cardstock, trim and mount onto Coastal Cabana cardstock.

Create the banners from retired Eastern Elegance and Quatrefancy Designer Series Paper (DSP) using the Hexagon and Banner Punches for the banner points. 

Mount onto Tangerine Tango cardstock and create matching points with the punches and adhere behind the peacock panel.

Stamp the sentiment onto Whisper White cardstock using Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink, punch out with the Word Window Punch and create the banners with the Banner Punch.

Adhere  the sentiment to a knotted piece of Coastal Cabana Thick Baker's Twine and mount onto the peacock focal image panel (I used Hot Glue for both of these steps:-)).

Mount the focal image panel onto the card front using Stampin’ Dimensionals® to finish off the card.

Stamps: Perfect Peacock, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight, Strawberry Slush, Tangerine Tango; Stampin’ Write Markers- Coastal Cabana, Daffodil Delight, Sahara Sand, Strawberry Slush, Tangerine Tango; White Gel Pen

Paper: Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Tangerine Tango; retired Eastern Elegance and Quatrefancy DSP

Accessories: AquaPainter™, Punches- Banner and Hexagon, Coastal Cabana Thick Baker’s Twine

Thanks again for visiting- I will share a few more cards throughout the week.  I hope you have a fabulous weekend, my friends!!

TCC36- Happy Anniversary Mixed Media Card

Hi Stampers!!

It’s time for the new Card Concept #36 Inspiration Photo Challenge! 

I was inspired by the gorgeous green and white and created my Mixed Media card by upcycling some acrylic packaging material (this is the first time I tried heat embossing on the acrylic :-)).

I combined our Card Concept challenge with the Splitcoaststampers’  MIX121 “It’s Summer- Better Work Those Quads” Challenge (see details here and gallery here), the TLC521 "Negative and Positive" Challenge (see details here and gallery here) and The Friday Mash Up! FM210 "Butterflies and Lace" Challenge (I think the embossed doily qualifies as lace...don't you)?

The Card Concept is a bi-weekly challenge that has an inspiration photo along with a number of design styles that you can choose from to create your card- Clean and Simple, Clean and Graphic, Clean and Layered, Shabby Chic, Freestyle Collage, Classy and Elegant and Mixed Media.  

So I hope you have time to gather your supplies together, stop by to check out the inspiration from the rest of the Design Team and come join in on the fun!! 

To create this card:

Apply Gesso® to a piece of Whisper White cardstock and set aside to dry.

Once dried, apply Ranger® Tim Holtz® Mowed Lawn and Squeezed Lemonade Distress Stains, dilute with water and allow to run over the background- dry with the Heat Tool.

Keep repeating the above until you are satisfied with the color and results.

Ink the border stamp from Summer Silhouettes with Garden Green Classic Ink and stamp over the background at the bottom.

Add Ranger® Tim Holtz® Picket Fence Distress Stain to tone down the green color and  use the Big Shot™ with the Heart Collection Framelits™ to cut out the heart opening.

Apply Studio 490® Wendy Vecchi® Crackled Texture Paste (using the Balzar Designs® Mini Punchenella stencil) over the  background and carefully dry with the Heat Tool.

Add additional Ranger® Tim Holtz® Mowed Lawn Distress Stain and when the desired effect has been achieved, spray the texture paste area with Frost White Shimmer Paint.

Ink the retired Notable Notions script stamp with Garden Green Classic Ink and stamp onto the background.

On a piece of acrylic plastic packaging, use the Embossing Buddy® to de-static the acrylic, ink the retired Hello Doily background stamp with Versamark™ Ink, stamp onto the acrylic, apply Stampin’ Emboss® White Embossing Powder and carefully heat with the Heat Tool.   ***Note- as I mentioned above, this is the first time I ever tried this and it did warp the plastic a bit, plus a fair amount of odor but it did work  :-) ***

Close-up of embossing paste and embossed  acrylic panel behind heart :-)

Trim the plastic and adhere behind the prepared background panel.

Mount the panel onto a piece of Garden Green cardstock, trim and mount onto the  Whisper White card base.

Ink the sentiment from the retired Express Yourself stamp set with Garden Green Classic Ink and stamp onto Whisper White cardstock, trim and create the banner points using the Hexagon Punch and layer a strip of Garden Green cardstock behind the sentiment (punching the ends as well with the Hexagon Punch).

Mount the sentiment onto the card front using Stampin’ Dimensionals®.

Create the rolled flowers with the Big Shot™ and the Royal Rose and Mini Royal Rose Die (My Favorite Things™) from Whisper White cardstock.

Adhere the flowers to the front of the card along with the leaves punched from Garden Green cardstock (with the Martha Stewart Leaf Punch) .

Ink the butterflies using Stāz-On® Jet Black Ink and stamp onto Whisper White cardstock.  Add a bit of yellow to their wings with the So Saffron Stampin’ Write marker, punch out with the Elegant Butterfly Punch and mount onto the card front.

Add Pearls to the corners and the sentiment to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets:  Papillon Potpourri, Summer Silhouettes;  retired - Express Yourself (hostess), Notable Notions, Hello Doily

Ink: Garden Green Classic Ink, Stāz-On Jet Black, Versamark™; Stampin’ Write So Saffron Marker, Ranger® Tim Holtz® Distress Stains- Mowed Lawn, Squeezed Lemonade, Picket Fence

Paper: Whisper White, Garden Green

Accessories: Gesso®, Big Shot™, Heart Collection  Framelits™, MFT Royal Mini Rose and Royal Rose Dies,  Punches- Elegant Butterfly, Hexagon, MS Leaf, Pearls, Studio 490® Wendy Vecchi® Crackled Texture Paste,  Balzar Designs® Mini Punchenella stencil, Embossing Buddy®, Stampin’  Emboss® White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, acrylic packaging, Frost  White Shimmer Paint

OK, for the MIX121 Challenge, we were supposed to use at least four mediums...this card has Gesso®, Crackled Texture Paste, Distress Stains and Classic Ink, Pigment Inks (Versamark Ink and Stāz-On Jet Black), Embossing Powder, Shimmer Paint and Found Objects - by my count, at least six mediums :-)

Anyway, I had a great time creating this card and I hope you pick a style and come play along with us at The Card Concept!

Thanks for stopping by- have a wonderful week, my friends!

SUO123 Sweet Treats- Sheltering Tree Flag Box :-)

Hi Stampers!   

It’s time for the new SUO123 “Sweet Treats” Challenge and I decided to use the Sheltering Tree set along with the new Gift Bag Punch Board to create a patriotic star box in honor of Memorial Day. 

I hope you will find the time to check out all the rest of ourDesign Team ideas and create your own “Sweet Treats” project using Stampin’ Up! Only products !!

To create this “Sweet Treat” holder:

Use the Big Shot™ with the Star Collection Framelits™ to cut two large stars from Cherry Cobbler cardstock.  Use the next size down to cut two stars from Night of Navy cardstock and the next size down for two from Whisper White cardstock.

Create a mask from scrap paper for the “star” portion of the flag and mask the Whisper White star shape. 

Ink the background shape from Sheltering Tree with Cherry Cobbler ink (the one that is normally used behind the sentiments) and stamp on the star image for the stripes of the flag- you will need to re-ink as you stamp.

Once you are finished with the stripes, remove the mask for the star area of the flag, mask the stripes and ink the foliage stamp from Sheltering Tree using Night of Navy Classic Ink and stamp into the “star” area of the flag.

Repeat the above steps for the second white star.

Side view of Gift Bag center and banners :-)

Use the Gift Bag Punch Board to create the smallest size gift bag from Cherry Cobbler cardstock (the bag only needs to be 2” high so I used a 10 ½” x 2” piece of cardstock).  Note- the Gift Bag Punch Board called for a 10” piece for the smallest bag but for some reason, I did not have a flap on the last gusset to adhere so I found that a 10 ½” piece works better for the small bag).

Layer the star shapes together and adhere the small gift bag in the middle (raising the bag up so you cannot see it between the points of the star).

Stamp the Gorgeous Grunge diagonal line stamp with Cherry Cobbler Classic Ink and the Sheltering Tree foliage with Night of Navy Classic Ink onto Whisper White cardstock and punch out with the Banner Punch. 

Punch a few banners from Night of Navy cardstock and adhere the banners to a piece of Natural Linen Thread or Baker’s Twine alternating between the Night og Navy and stamped banners (Note- you will not see the material since the banners will cover it up completely- I used retired Hemp Twine since I had it on hand).

Mount the banner line to the center sides of the box (I used Tombow Adhesive for this step).

Stamp the sentiment using Night of Navy Classic Ink onto Whisper White cardstock, trim and create the banner points with the Banner Punch.

Mount the sentiment using Stampin’ Dimensionals® to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets:  Sheltering Tree, Gorgeous Grunge

Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy

Paper/Cardstock: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy

Accessories: Big Shot™, Star Collection Framelits™, Banner Punch, Gift Bag Punch Board, retired Hemp Twine

Thanks again for stopping by – I had fun using Sheltering Tree in a different way to create this little treat box and now I just have to find some treats to fill it up!! 

I hope that you will create your own Stampin’ Up! Only project and play along with our “Sweet Treats” challenge!

Thank You for Your Service and Sacrifice

Hi Stampers! 

Memorial Day is upon us once more and I am so thankful for the men and women who have served our country and given the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom- may we never forget their service and sacrifice!

I wanted to create one more patriotic card with Memorial Day in mind and chose to find inspiration from the As You See It AYSI088 Sketch Challenge as well as the Splitcoaststampers’ Free For All FA274 “Oh My Stars” (see details here and gallery here). 

If you have not had a chance to do so, I hope you will find the time to visit the challenge sites- they all have wonderful Design Team samples as well as inspiration from their galleries!

To create this card:

Use Stampin’ Write Markers to carefully color the eagle image from the Our Daily Bread Designs (ODBD) Land of the Free stamp set... Basic Black for the white part of the feathers, Night of Navy for the star area and retired Riding Hood Red for the stripes on the feathers.  

Add additional color to the stripes with a Cajun Craze marker, Daffodil Delight for the beak and Sahara Sand over the entire image.  Add Ranger® Tim Holtz® Antique Linen Distress Stain over the entire image to “antique” a bit more.

Fussy-cut the eagle image and mount onto Vary Vanilla cardstock, fussy-cut again allowing a bit of the Very Vanilla cardstock to show and set aside (I decided to add this step since the eagle seemed to blend a bit too well with the background paper I chose- you could of course, omit this step :-)). 

Mount the Authentique® Price Collection paper onto Very Vanilla cardstock, trim and mount onto Riding Hood Red cardstock, trim and mount onto the Night of Navy card base.

Create the vertical strip for the sketch leaving a portion of Very Vanilla in the center for the sentiment.

Create the banners using the new Banner Triple  Punch for the banners (they are not as thick as the ones that the punch would normally make, just insert the banners and flip the punch over so you can see the end of the paper to punch the banner points) and mount onto the vertical strip. 

Add the Antique Brass brads and mount the layered vertical strip to the card front.

Ink the sentiment from the retired Stampin’ Up! Service and Sacrifice set using the Riding Hood Red marker, stamp onto a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock (I used a piece in my scraps that had been previously punched with the Note Tag Punch), trim the edges and mount onto a piece of Riding Hood Red cardstock (again, I used the Note Tag Punch to create the curve on the left hand side).

Mount the sentiment onto the card front and add the eagle with Stampin’ Dimensionals®.

Ink the star from the ODBD Land of the Free set with the Night of Navy and Riding Hood Red Stampin’ Up! markers and stamp onto a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock that had been distressed with Ranger® Tim Holtz® Antique Linen Distress Stain.

Fussy-cut the star, add the Antique Brass brad to the center and mount the star to the star to the card front with Stampin’ Dimensionals®.

To finish off the card, repeat the same steps as above with the flag (from the Stampin’ Up! Service and Sacrifice set).

Stamps:  Service and Sacrifice (retired SU!), Land of the Free (ODBD)

Ink: Stampin’ Write Markers- Basic Black, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Night of Navy, Sahara Sand, retired Riding Hood Red; Ranger® Tim Holtz® Antique Linen Distress Stain

Paper: Very Vanilla, Night of Navy, retired Riding Hood Red; Authentique® Pride Collection

Accessories: Banner Triple Punch, Note Punch; Antique Brass brads

Thanks again for stopping by- my husband is on vacation today and we will be reflecting on the lives that were sacrificed for our freedom today as we take a day to remember.  

I hope all of you will have the time to take a moment today to think about those that have gone before you to keep our country free!!    I am so thankful that the Lord has allowed the United States of America to remain free and that He sent His Son to give the Ultimate Sacrifice for all of us- may we never forget!!

CAS Anniversary for Stampin' Royalty SR277 Challenge :-)

Hi Again Stampers! 

This card was inspired by the colors in this week's Stampin’ Royalty SR277 Photo Inspiration Challenge- isn’t that a fabulous photo?   

I did not have enough time to create a Mixed Media card so I opted for a Clean and Simple card :-)

If you have not had a chance to do so, I hope you will find the time to visit the challenge site- inspiration from all!

To create this quick, Clean and Simple (CAS) card:

Use the Big Shot™ with the Impression Obession™ Floral Lace Heart Die to cut the heart from Whisper White cardstock.

Trim the panel and mount onto a piece of Crushed Curry cardstock, trim and mount onto a piece of Night of Navy cardstock, trim once more and mount onto the Whisper White card base.

Stamp the sentiment with Night of Navy Classic Ink onto Whisper White cardstock, trim and use the Hexagon Punch to create the banner points.

Adhere the sentiment to the card front using Stampin’ Dimensionals® and add the Pearls to finish off the card.

Stamps:  Express Yourself

Ink: Night of Navy

Paper: Whisper White, Crushed Curry, Night of Navy

Accessories: Big Shot™, I/O Floral Heart Die, Hexagon Punch, Pearls

Thanks again for stopping by- I hope all of you have a wonderful week!!