SUO182 Blast from the Past- Equestrian Dream

Hi Friends!   

Woohoo! We are celebrating our 7th Anniversary at SU-Only Challenges with a fun  “Blast from the Past” Challenge! Our Design Team had such a great time coming up with ideas for this challenge and there is even a chance at some blog candy- we hope you will play along with us! 

I wanted to pull out a few retired stamp sets and chose Equestrian Dream and Tiny Tags.  I decided to pair them with retired Outlaw background paper, Lucky Stars Textured Impressions Embossing Folder™ and Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware.  

Since I have been a demonstrator since 1999, I have kept all of my retired sets (trust me, I have many favorites) but also wanted to participate with the Match The Sketch #191 Sketch Challenge as well as the Sunny Day Crafting “H is for Horses” Challenge.

If you have not had a chance to stop by the SU-Only Challengesite to check out the rest of the Design Team projects or the other challenge sites yet, I encourage you to do so- fabulous inspiration from all!

To create this card:

1). Ink the retired Equestrian Dream image (circa 2001) with Stampin’ Archival™ Basic Black Ink, stamp onto Very Vanilla cardstock, apply  Stampin’ Emboss® Clear Embossing Powder and heat set with the Heat Tool.

2). Die cut the image with the Stitched Shapes Framelits™, layer onto Early Espresso cardstock, trim close to the edge (I split the image behind the banner sentiment).

3). Use an AquaPainter™ with Soft Suede, Early Espresso and retired Baked Brown Sugar Classic Ink to color the horse images.  Sponge a bit of Baked Brown Sugar Classic Ink over the edges.

 4). Emboss a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock using the retired Lucky Stars Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder, trim and mount onto a piece of Early Espresso cardstock,  Use a Sponge Dauber to apply Baked Brown Sugar and Early Espresso Classic Ink over the edges and stars, mount onto the Extra Thick Whisper White card base.

5). Trim a piece of Outlaw Designer Paper, mount onto a piece of Early Espresso cardstock, trim close to the edge.

6). Stamp the sentiment from Tiny Tags with Stampin’ Archival™ Basic Black Ink, stamp onto Very Vanilla cardstock, apply  Stampin’ Emboss® Clear Embossing Powder and heat set with the Heat Tool. Add a bit of Backed Brown Sugar Classic Ink (diluted), punch out with the retired Ovals Punch (trimming to fit if necessary), layer within the Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware label, add to the banner with two brads.

7). Add the horse image to the card front with Stampin’ Dimensionals® and add the banner to hide the cut edge in the center.   Create the photo frame corners using a 1” Square Punch and hand trim to create the “corners”.

8). Trim a piece of Outlaw DSP for the lower edge of the sketch, adhere to the front of the card.

9). Add a bit of distressing with the small splatter stamp from Timeless Textures with Early Espresso cardstock.  Add a few Pearls to the corner to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Equestrian Dream, Tiny Tags,Timeless Textures

Ink/Mediums: Stampin’ Archival™ Basic Black, Classic Ink- Early Espresso, Soft Suede, retired Baked Brown Sugar

Paper: Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Extra Thick Whisper White; retired Outlaw DSP

Accessories/Tools: Big Shot™, Stitched Layering Framelits™, Lucky Stars Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder, Embossing Buddy®, Stampin’ Emboss® Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Pearls. Sponge Daubers, retired items- Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware, Punches- Oval. 1” Square, Hexagon

Thanks again for taking the time to visit and I hope that you will create your own Stampin’ Up! Only project and play along with our “Blast from the Past” challenge!

SC618 You Are Absolutely Fabulous

Hi Friends!

I hope all of you are having a great week so far!  It’s time for the new Splitcoaststampers’ (SCS) SC618 Sketch Challenge and I decided to incorporate the SCS WT608 “All About Critters” Challenge and the Just Us Girls #368 "Encouragement" Word Week Challenge into the design.

If you have not already visited the above challenge sites, I hope you will have a chance to do so- fabulous inspiration from my DT Sisters at the SCS Sketch Gallery as well as the other challenge sites!

To create this card:

Ink the Inkadinkado® Horses clear stamp image with Basic Black Archival Ink and stamp onto a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock.

Use the Big Shot™ with My Favorite Things (MFT) Stitched Square STAX Dies to cut out the image and color with Derwent® Watercolor Pencils and an AquaPainter™.

Mount the die cut panel onto a piece of Early Espresso cardstock and trim close to the edge.

Trim and mount a piece of retired Stampin’ Up! (SU!) Outlaw Designer Series Paper (DSP) onto a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock, add the horizontal elements of the sketch (I used scrap pieces of Outlaw DSP mounted onto the MFT Horizontal Stitched Strip Die cut from Early Espresso cardstock).

Mount another piece of the retired Outlaw DSP onto a rectangle stitched die cut from Early Espresso cardstock (I used the MFT Stitched Rectangle STAX Dies and split the layered panel in half to make it large enough for the layer on the sketch. 

Adhere the rectangle layered die cut onto the card front panel, add the knotted polished hemp twine and mount the entire background panel onto the card base.

Stamp the sentiment from the retired SU! Absolutely Fabulous stamp set with Basic Black Archival Ink onto Very Vanilla cardstock, create the banner points with the retired Hexagon Punch and mount onto Early Espresso cardstock (trimming and using the Hexagon Punch to create the banner points as well).

Adhere the sentiment to the stamped focal image panel, add dimensional foam to the back and mount onto the card front.

Add the photo corners to the focal image (FYI- I created the photo corners from scrap pieces of Early Espresso cardstock that had been die cut with the MFT Stitched Square and Rectangle STAX Dies that were in my stash and just hand cut to create the corners :-)).

To finish off the card, I added a bit of shimmer with a clear glitter pen to the background panel behind the horse image and a few pearls to the corners.

 This card will be sent to a special young lady in our lives- she is absolutely fabulous and, of course, loves horses!

Stamp Sets:  Absolutely Fabulous (retired SU!), Horses  (Inkadinkado®)

Ink/Medium: Basic Black Archival Ink, Derwent® Watercolor Pencils, Clear Glitter Pen

Cardstock/Designer Paper:  Very Vanilla, Early Espresso; retired Outlaw DSP- all SU!

Accessories/Tools:  Big Shot™, MFT Stitched Dies- Horizontal Strip, Squares, Rectangles; retired Hexagon Punch (SU!), Polished Hemp Twine, Pearls

Thanks again for taking the time to visit- I hope you can gather your supplies and join us for the SCS SC618 Sketch Challenge this week!

Hugs and have a great week, my friends!

Two Horses for Two Special Young Ladies :-)

Hi Stampers! 

It has been a busy weekend for me as I was having fun designing and creating cards for several people on our prayer list along with our Awana ministry.

I created two cards using the same stamp set for the horse image for two special 6th grade Awana girls.  They both completed their Timothy Awards and have been so sweet to have in our club for the last two years :-)  They will be "moving up" but I should still be able to see them occasionally on club night- I will miss spending time with them each week for sure!   

I incorporated the Splitcoaststampers’ CC532 "Coastal Old Vanilla" Color Challenge with "dessert" :-) (see details here and gallery here) for both cards  and the first card uses the SC530 Sketch Challenge (see details here and gallery here) and the SC538 Sketch Challenge (see details here and gallery here) was used for the second card (modified both sketches a bit :-).

If you have not had a chance to do so, I hope you will find the time to visit the Splitcoaststampers’ galleries to check out all of the inspiration from the color and sketch challenges!

Shared steps to create both cards:

Ink the Inkadinkado® horse image from the Horses stamp set using Memento™ Tuxedo Black Ink and stamp onto two pieces of Very Vanilla cardstock.

Color the horse image with Faber-Castell® Polychromos Black colored pencil, the grass with the Stampin’ Write Old Olive marker and use the Big Shot™ with the My Favorite Things® (MFT) Stitched Rectangle Die to cut out each horse image.

Mount the images onto Basic Black cardstock and trim to create the frame.

To finish Card #1:

Emboss a piece of retired Jr. Varsity Designer Series Paper (DSP) with the Big Shot™ and retired Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder, trim the panel and mount onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock.

Lightly sand the embossed DSP with the Sanding Block to bring out the white core.

Stamp the sentiment from the retired Blessings from Heaven stamp set using Memento™ Tuxedo Black Ink onto a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock, insert the sentiment panel into the Stylish Stripes Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder (keeping the sentiment portion outside of the folder) and emboss with the Big Shot™.

Add the Coastal Cabana Thick Baker’s Twine over the panel at the edge of the embossing, mount onto a piece of Old Olive cardstock, trim the edges, add the retired Antique Pewter brads and mount onto the Basic Black card base.

Create the banner from retired Afternoon Tea DSP using the Hexagon Punch, mount onto Basic Black cardstock and create the banner points with the Hexagon Punch. 

Add the Coastal Cabana Thick Baker’s Twine with the retired Antique Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware clip and mount the banner onto the embossed Olive Green DSP panel.

Mount the embossed Old Olive DSP panel to the card front using Stampin’ Dimensionals® (I angled it a bit from the initial sketch :-)).

Add the horse image to the card front with Stampin’ Dimensionals® to finish off the card.

Stamps: Blessings from God, Horses (Inkadinkado®)

Ink: Memento™ Tuxedo Black Ink, Stampin’ Write Old Olive Marker; Faber-Castell® Polychromos Black Pencil

Paper: Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Old Olive; retired Jr. Varsity and Afternoon Tea DSP

Accessories: Big Shot™, MFT Rectangle Stitched Dies, Stylish Stripes and retired Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folders, Sanding Block, Coastal Cabana Thick Baker’s Twine, retired Antique Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware

To finish the second card:

Lightly sponge Ranger® Tim Holtz® Antique Linen Distress Ink onto the horse image.

Using My Digital Studio (MDS), insert the Word Art Wednesday Proverbs 17:17 verse and print out onto Whisper White cardstock.  Use Ranger® Tim Holtz® Antique Linen Distress Ink to “antique” the paper and match the Very Vanilla cardstock.

Emboss a piece of retired Jr. Varsity DSP with the Big Shot™ and the Modern  Mosaic Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder, lightly sand with the Sanding Block, trim and mount onto the Basic Black card base.

Adhere the Coastal Cabana pieces of Afternoon Tea DSP to Basic Black cardstock, trim and create the vertical and horizontal panels on the card front.

Add the portion of the White Tea Lace Doily (this was an afterthought since I originally had a bit of Hot Glue on my card front and when it was removed, the DSP tore so the Doily is covering up the mistake- lol!).

Mount the verse onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock and adhere to the horizontal panel.

Add the horse image using Stampin’ Dimensionals® , Pearls to the verse and the retired Antique Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware clip to finish off the card.

Stamps: Horses (Inkadinkado®), Digital Verse from Word Art Wednesday

Ink: Memento™ Tuxedo Black Ink, Faber-Castell® Polychromos Black Pencil, Stampin’ Write Old Olive Marker; Ranger® Tim Holtz® Antique Linen Distress Ink

Paper: Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Old Olive; retired Jr. Varsity and Afternoon Tea DSP

Accessories: Big Shot™, MFT Rectangle Stitched Dies, Modern Mosaic Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder,Sanding Block, White Tea Lace Doily, Pearls, Sponge Dauber, retired Antique Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware

Thanks again for stopping by- I will share more later today    Have a wonderful  week, my friends!

Happy Graduation- A Horse with a Musical Background :-)

Hi Stampers! 

I wanted to create a card for a special young lady that is graduating this year (hopefully I will not spoil the surprise- I do not believe she checks my blog :-)).  She loves horses and music so I decided to combine the two and use the colors from this week’s CQC190 ColourQChallenge along with the SR177 Sketch from Stampin’ Royalty. 

Again, if you have the time, check out both sites- great inspiration from the Design Teams and other entries!

To create this card:

Use the Big Shot™ to emboss a piece of a piece of Really Rust DSP and a piece of Baja Breeze cardstock with the Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder.  Lightly sand the DSP to show the white core and layer the DSP onto the Midnight Muse cardstock layer.   

Layer the embossed Baja Breeze cardstock onto Midnight Muse as well as the other two DSP layers for the sketch.

Ink the horse image from Horse Frontier and stamp onto Whisper White cardstock.  Color using Watercolor Pencils and create a mask from copier paper. Ink the background stamp, Musical Score (retired) with Midnight Muse Classic Ink and stamp off a few times before masking the horse image and stamping over the horse.

Cut the horse out with a Circle Cutter or Circle Framelits™.  Lightly sponge Baja Breeze Classic Ink over the edges and background.  Mount onto a Midnight Muse cardstock circle and add the partial Tea Lace Paper Doily.

Adhere the layers, add the 5/8” Rust Satin Ribbon layers along with the sentiment and rolled flowers.

Stamp Sets: Horse Frontier, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Musical Score (retired background)

Ink: Midnight Muse, Baja Breeze, Watercolor Pencils

Paper/Cardstock:  Baja Breeze, Midnight Muse, Designer Series Paper- Comfort Café, retired Spice Cake & Really Rust Hostess Pack Level I

Accessories: Big Shot™,  Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder, Circle Framelits™, Punches- 1 ¼” Scallop Circle (for rolled flowers), Word Window, Modern Label; Tea Lace Paper Doily, Sponge Daubers, Sanding Block, Pearls, 5/8” Rust Satin Ribbon (from my stash)

Thanks again for stopping by- hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!!  

"Paper Pieced" Pinto for The Paper Players

Hi Stampers!           

                                                                                                    

This week has been an unusual week with a lot of computer issues at work and sporadic connections at home – difficult to get our work done but it gives me a break from the computer and time to stamp :-)

This week the PP109 Challenge at The Paper Players is "Paper Piecing" (not to be confused with Paper Piercing).  Paper piecing is one technique that I do not use that often- not sure why, I love the results that I see on all of the Design Team projects as well as the other entries so I may have to try this one more often :-).

I decided to pull out a new favorite stamp set, Horse Frontier.  I have several women (and young ladies) in my life that love horses so when this set came out this year, I knew that I would have to own it.

To create this card:

Using Early Espresso Classic Ink, stamp the horse image on your patterned paper (two different colors if you want to create a pinto type horse or sometimes they are referred to as a "Paint" ).   I used Comfort Café (the brown tweed piece) and the Whisper White Designer Series paper from the current Neutrals paper stack (the one with small words – you can barely see them).

Carefully cut out the horse image from the brown DSP and set aside.  With the White DSP, cut pieces to resemble the pinto spots, tail, mane and “boots’).  I used Two Way Glue to adhere to the brown horse image matching up the stamped lines (fyi- this was the most time consuming part of this card so I am not sure if I would describe this technique for me as "simple"- easy but took a bit of time  :-)

I stamped the grass area onto the Lucky Limeade Poppy designed paper in the Floral District DSP and cut out the area for the horse ‘s hooves and feathered the grass a bit.

Close-Up of Horse "Paper Piecing" 

Use the Big Shot™ with the Large Scallop Edgelit™ to cut a piece of Whisper White cardstock.  Emboss with the Big Shot™ and the Delicate Accents Lace Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder.

Stamp the Estrucan Elegance Jumbo Wheel with Early Espresso Classic Ink (lightly stamping off a bit of the ink) and stamp onto your background paper – I used a piece of the retired Bella Chateou DSP.   Emboss this panel with the Big Shot™ and  the Fancy Fan Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder (the image side was accidentally on the reverse side of the EF but I think it worked better for this card). 

Adhere the background to the embossed lace edge piece of Whisper White.  Adhere the horse and grass image using SU! Dimensionals.  Add the 5/8” Early Espresso Satin Ribbon bow and little tag sentiments to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets:  Horse Frontier, Estrucan Elegance (Jumbo Wheel), Tiny Tags

 Ink: Early Espresso

Paper:  Whisper White, Early Espresso, DSP- Comfort Café, Floral District, retired Bella Chateau

Accessories:  Big Shot™, Fancy Fan and Delicate Accents (Lace) Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folders, Paper Snips, Jewelry Tag Punch, SU! Dimensionals,  5/8” Early Espresso Satin Ribbon (retired)

Thanks again for stopping by- I hope you like my take on paper piecing :-).  As I  mentioned above, it was a bit time consuming gluing all of the little pieces but I did have fun!  I hope all of you have a great week stamping and creating!

Feathered Frontier- Birthday for a Friend :-)

Hi Again Stampers!

I have one more card that I can now share (my friend should have received it in the mail by now for her birthday). 

She loves horses and as soon as I saw the new sets, Horse Frontier and Fine Feathers, I knew that I had this card in mind for her birthday. 

To create this card:

Use the Big Shot™ with the Argyle Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder to emboss a piece of DSP (I used the retired DSP- Well Worn for the blue and the Early Espresso was from a few years ago- not sure of the name).  

Lightly sand with the Sanding Block to bring out the white core and distress the edges a bit with your fingernail (be careful, once you sand the DSP it can become fragile).

Layer the panels onto Early Espresso cardstock and add the embossed piece of Early Espresso (I used the Square Lattice EF) and the punched layer with the Pinking Hearts Border Punch (I antiqued this piece of Whisper White with Crumb Cake and Soft Suede ink).

Add the knotted Hemp Twine (retired- why did they retire this wonderful twine?) and mount again onto Whisper White (“antique” with the Sponge Daubers and Crumb Cake Classic Ink). 

Using Basic Black Classic Ink, stamp the horse image onto Crumb Cake cardstock and color with SU! Watercolor pencils and the Aqua Painter.  Once you are pleased with the watercoloring, use the white pencil to bring out highlights and spritz with the Color Spritzer Tool and Early Espresso marker.

Tear the edges by hand and lightly sponge Soft Suede and Early Espresso ink to distress the edges and give the “Faux Burned” look.  

Now for the feathers :-)  Stamp the feathers using Basic Black onto Whisper White cardstock and color with the SU! Watercolor pencils and the Aqua Painter until the desired effect is achieved.  

Fussy cut the feathers out using your paper snips and also snip along the edges of each feather to achieve a “feathered” look… takes some time but well worth it (they really look real :-))

Use the Piercing Tool to punch a hole near the front area of the horse, glue the feathers together and onto the horse panel and to finish off the card, add the sentiment and Antique Brad.

Stamp Sets:  Horse Frontier, Fine Feathers, Teeny Tiny Wishes

 Ink: Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, SU! Watercolor Pencils, SU! Marker- Early Espresso

Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, retired DSP

 Accessories:  Big Shot™, Argyle and Square Lattice Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folders, Sponge Daubers, Sanding Block,  Pinking Hearts Border and Word Window Punches, Piercing Tool, Color Spritzer Tool, Antique Brad, Hemp Twine (retired)

Thanks again for stopping by and don’t forget that August 5^th is Friendship Day!  I hope all of you have a wonderful week celebrating friendship and if you have time, come join us in the August SU! Creative Crew Challenge at Splitcoaststampers!