TCC138a Love Begins In A Moment

Hi Friends!

Welcome to The Card Concept #138a {Tropical Treats} Challenge!

Normally we take a break over the summer at The Card Concept, but this year several of the designers wanted to continue the challenge all summer long, so here we are! 

If you have not had a chance to do so, I hope you will find the time to check out the rest of the inspiration from our Design Team- their cards are fabulous!!

I love the colors in this photo as well as the black and white stripes and was inspired to create a fairly simple Mixed Media /Classy and Elegant card!

As many of you know, I am making an effort to ink up some of my older stamps that I have not used in a while so I pulled out two retired Stampin' Up! sets for this card.  

I am also linking to the Double Trouble Tic-Tac-Toe #61 Challenge (Diagonal Row, Emboss-Flowers-Green) along with the A Bit More Time to Craft #119 “Anything Goes” Challenge and the Cardz 4 Galz #125 “Wedding” Challenge.

To create this card:

Tap several colors of distress oxide ink (see the colors listed below) onto a piece of acetate, spritz with water and press a piece of white cardstock into the ink.  Lift up and repeat until you are satisfied with the background, use a heat tool to dry the panel between layers.

De-static the panel with an embossing powder tool, ink and stamp the Postage Due image and sentiment, apply clear embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool.

Once the embossing has cooled, die cut the panel with a stitched rectangle die.  Mount onto black cardstock and trim close to the edge.

Use a clear glitter pen to add shimmer to the floral area.

Add a strip of black seam binding to the card front, wrapping the ends behind the panel and adhere the bow.

Mount onto a white card base and to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets: Postage Due, Occasional Quotes (both retired Stampin’ Up!)

Ink/Mediums: Versafine™ Onyx Black, Tim Holtz™ Distress Oxide- Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers, Twisted Citron; Spectrum Noir™ Clear Glitter Pen

Cardstock/Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black

Tools/Accessories: Gemini, Jr™, My Favorite Things Stitched Rectangle A2 STAX Set 1 Dies, Embossing Buddy®, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, ½” Black Seam Binding

Thanks again for taking the time to stop by!  I hope I have inspired you to create your own card based on our {Tropical Treats} photo and link up to our gallery at The Card Concept- we would love to see what inspired you! The challenge is open until July 20^th  at noon EDT.

The Card Concept #97- Colorful Basics

Hi Friends!

Welcome back to The Card Concept Challenge!!  We had the summer off and are so excited to be back. 

We are starting off our new challenge season with this fun photo for our #97 {Colorful Basics} Challenge! Our blog challenge creator, Lesley always seems to find the most inspirational photos.  This scene has so many things that could inspire you.- the stripes, the colors, the dresser , the chair, the curtains in the reflection, the award trophies ...and if you pop over to The Card Concept blog post, just wait until you see how our talented Design Team was inspired!! 

This scene is so crisp and clean (not like my house- lol!)  so I decided to create a Clean and Simple (CAS) Mixed Media card.  I was inspired by the rainbow colored stripes as well as the white/light background.   

Since I love participating in online challenges, I will also be linking this card to the Retro Rubber #94 “Anything Goes” Challenge (both stamp sets used for this card are several years old) and the Simon Says Monday “Stamp It On” Challenge.

Just a reminder that The Card Concept is a bi-weekly challenge that has an inspiration photo along with a suggestion 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 (or you can combine several styles for your own style).

If you have not had a chance to visit us at The Card Concept or visit the other challenge sites yet, I hope you will find time to do so- gorgeous inspiration from all!

To create this card:

1). Using ink from Zig® Clean Color FB Markers, color the markers directly onto the Watercolor Wash (retired Stampin’ Up!) background stamp, spritz with water and press a piece of watercolor paper onto the stamp.  FYI- I lay the background stamp face up, color (or ink, in this case color), spritz with water and press the paper onto the stamp.  This seems to work best for me when dealing with background stamps.  You can stamp a second piece of watercolor paper for another card as well :-)

2). Spritz the background panel with additional water (if needed) to allow the colors to blend a bit and use a water brush (if needed).  Dry the panel thoroughly with a heat tool.  

***Note- if the paper starts to curl too much, lightly spritz a bit of water on the back of the watercolor panel and it should straighten out. ***

3). Once the panel is dry, de-static the panel with an embossing powder tool, ink the main image from Postage Due (retired Stampin’ Up!) with archival black ink, apply clear embossing powder and heat set with a heat tool.

4). Die cut a panel of white cardstock with the MFT Stitched A2 Set 2 Rectangle Die (use the largest die), mount onto a piece of black cardstock, trim close to the edge and mount onto a white card base.

5). Die cut the watercolor/embossed Postage Due panel with a smaller MFT Stitched A2 Set 2 Rectangle Die, mount onto black cardstock, trim and mount onto the card front with dimensional foam.

Wow, that was quick and easy! A refreshing change from my Shabby Chic Mixed Media cards that can take a few hours- lol!

Stamp Sets: Postage Due, Watercolor Wash background  (both retired Stampin’ Up!)

Ink/Mediums: Versamark™, Zig® Clean Color FB Brushes- Red, Yellow, Orange, Light Green and Light Blue

Cardstock/Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black (Stampin’ Up!); Watercolor (Canson)

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot™, MFT Stitched A2 Rectangle Set 2 Dies;  Embossing Buddy®, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, AquaPainter™

Thanks again for taking the time to drop by! I hope I have inspired you to create your own card based on our {Colorful Basics } photo and link up to our gallery at TheCard Concept- we would love to see your interpretation!!

True Friends- Using Postage Due for a Theme, Color and Combination Challenge:-)

Hi Stampers! 

I hope you are having a wonderful week so far! 

I have been busy this past week designing and preparing for our Awana 5^th and 6^th Grade Girls’ Mother’s Day card/project (we had a great time and I will share after Mother’s Day :-)), so I have not been able to participate in my normal weekly challenges....can I say that I was starting to have withdrawal symptoms- lol!!

Before tackling the neglected housework this morning, I took some time to pull out some pre-printed My Digital Studio (MDS) images and create a quick card for The Paper Players PP243 "Travel" Theme Challenge along with the CCEE Stampers CCEE1519 "Self Made Flower and More" Challenge and the Splitcoaststampers CC529 Color Challenge (Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango and dessert option to use green- see details here and gallery here).

I have to admit that my cycling days are over but I love the soon-to-be retired Postage Due stamp set and wanted to highlight it along with the soon-to-be retired MDS one last time :-) 

Again, if you have not stopped by any of the challenge sites yet, I hope you will find the time to do so- fantastic inspiration from all!!

To create this card:

Open a blank document in My Digital Studio (MDS), position the Postage Due images along with the sentiment from Friendly Words (re-sizing all a bit) and print out using Black Printer Ink onto Whisper White cardstock.

Use the Big Shot™ with the following  to create part of the card elements:

The My Favorite Things (MFT) Stitched Rectangle Die to cut out the bicycle image and the Ovals Collection Framelits™ to cut out the sentiment.

Cut an oval frame from Basic Black cardstock with the MFT Dotted Scallop Oval Frame die and layer the oval cut sentiment onto the frame.

Use the MFT Royal Rose and Royal Rose Mini Dies to cut the flowers from Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo and Tangerine Tango cardstock.  Use the Crimper Tool to crimp the flowers and hand roll each into their shapes (using Hot Glue to adhere the centers). 

Use the retired Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions™ Embossing  Folder to emboss a piece of Whisper White cardstock (I used the debossed side since this piece was already in my stash and has a rejected stamped image on the other side- now you know my secrets :-)).

Layer the embossed Whisper White panel to a piece of Basic Black cardstock, trim and mount onto the Whisper White card base.

Add the stitched rectangle bicycle image panel and mount a postage stamp image on an angle to cover up part of the white space near the sentiment area (in MDS I had covered the flower on the Postage Due image before printing using a Square Punch and filling in the color with Whisper White). 

Hand cut out the postage stamp images and mount onto Basic Black cardstock (hand cutting around the frame as well- the images were too small for layering with the Postage Punch).

Mount the truck stamp images onto the Tangelo Twist Thick Baker’s Twine (knotted on the ends to create the banner) and add the Parisian stamp in the center.

Mount the banner onto the card front and add a Stampin’ Dimensional® behind the Parisian stamp.

Add the focal image oval frame using Stampin’ Dimensionals® and mount the flowers along with Wild Wasabi leaves (punched with the Martha Stewart Leaf Punch).

Use the Bow Builder Punch to create the Basic Black cardstock bow, mount to the top of the frame and add the Antique Brad to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets:  Postage Due, Friendly Words (both MDS versions)

Ink: Printer Ink- Black

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, Wild  Wasabi

Accessories: Big Shot™,  retired Lacy Brocade Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder, Oval Collections Framelits™, Bow Builder Punch, Antique Brad, retired Tangelo Twist Thick Baker’s Twine; My Favorite Things- Dotted Scallop Oval Frame Die, Royal Rose and Mini Royal Roses Die, Stitched Rectangle Die; MS Leaf Punch

Thanks again for stopping by- I hope all of you have a blessed day!

SUO121 Happy Mother's Day

Hi Stampers!   

It’s time for the new SUO121 “Mother’s Day” Challenge and I decided to use a few soon-to-be retired sets to create my card for this challenge.

It has been over twenty years since my mother went to be home with the Lord and even though I miss her greatly, I know one day we will be re-united… as I created this card,  I thought of her- she loved flowers and all things feminine! :-)

I decided to also incorporate the Splitcoaststampers’ CC527 Color Challenge (see details here and gallery here).

 I hope you will find the time to check out all of the challenge sites and create your own “Mother’s Day” project using Stampin’ Up! only products !!

To create this card:

Print the Postage Due image using My Digital Studio (MDS) (or stamp the image) onto Whisper White cardstock, trim and mount onto Pink Pirouette cardstock, trim and mount onto Basic Black cardstock.

Stamp the bloom and stem images from Bloom with Hope using Memento™ Tuxedo Black Ink onto Whisper White cardstock and color using Stampin’ Write markers-  Pink Pirouette, Wild Wasabi and Sahara Sand.

 “Fussy-cut” the images and mount onto the Postage Due panel using Stampin’ Dimensionals®.

Ink the Dictionary background stamp using Memento™ Tuxedo Black Ink and randomly stamp onto a piece of Sahara Sand cardstock.

Trim the panel, distress the edges with the Distressing Tool and mount onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock.

Use the Big Shot™ to emboss a piece of Wild Wasabi cardstock with the Chevron Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder, trim the panel, distress the edges using the Distressing Tool and mount below the Dictionary panel.

Use a Sponge Dauber with Sahara Sand Classic Ink to apply and further distress the edges and embossing. 

Add a strip of Basic Black cardstock to cover the seam and mount the entire panel onto the Whisper White card base.

Add ½ of a White Tea Lace Paper Doily to the back of the focal image and adhere the focal image to the card front.

Use the Bow Builder Punch to create the Basic Black paper bow and add to the upper left hand corner.

Stamp the sentiment using Memento™ Tuxedo Black Ink onto Whisper White cardstock, punch out with the Word Window Punch and mount onto another piece of Basic Black cardstock (also punched with the Word Window Punch).

Add the sentiment to the card front using Stampin’ Dimensionals®, adhere the Antique Brad to the center of the bow and add the Pearls to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets:  Bloom with Hope, Postage Due (MDS version), Dictionary, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Memento™ Tuxedo Black Ink, Sahara Sand; Stampin’ Write Markers- Pink Pirouette, Sahara Sand, Wild Wasabi

Paper/Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black, Pink Pirouette, Wild Wasabi

Accessories: Big Shot™, Chevron Textured Impressions™ Embossing Folder, Distressing Tool, White Tea Lace Doily, Punches- Word Window, Bow Builder, Antique Brad, Pearls

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

Imagine the Possibilities- A Fun Sketch and Cute Inspiration Photo :-)

Hi Stampers! 

I hope you had a wonderful Easter week and Resurrection Sunday!

I had a chance to create this card this past weekend for the Freshly Made Sketches FMS180 Challenge along with the Around the World AW38Inspiration Photo (I was inspired by the pink in the flowers as well as the gray wood in the log behind that cute bunny :-)).

Again, if you have not stopped by either challenge site yet, I hope you will find the time to do so- terrific inspiration from all!

To create this card:

Open a blank document in My Digital Studio (MDS), position the Postage Due image (reducing a bit) along with the Word Play image onto the page (leaving enough space between them for the paper bow and "ribbon") and print out using Black Printer Ink onto Whisper White cardstock.

Color the image using Stampin’ Write Markers- Strawberry Slush for the flower petals, Wild Wasabi for the leaves and Smoky Slate for the shadows around the bicycle, postmark, number and flower.

Trim the panel and create the rounded corners using the 2 ½” Circle Punch (hold the punch upside down so you can see the opening that the punch creates, insert the corner of the cardstock into the punch until the curve matches the edges on both sides and punch; repeat on the other side).  Sand the curves using the Sanding Block to help smooth the edges.

Mount the panel onto a piece of Strawberry Slush cardstock, trim and mount onto a piece of Basic Black cardstock, trim and mount onto the Whisper White card base.

Add a strip of Basic Black in the center (to mimic the ribbon) along with the Basic Black bow created with the Bow Builder Punch and adhere the Antique Brad in the center of the bow (I removed the brad points and adhered with glue).

Add the Rhinestones to the upper left hand corner and lower right hand area to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets:  Postage Due, Word Play (both MDS versions)

Ink: Printer Ink- Black, Stampin’ Write Markers- Strawberry Slush, Wild Wasabi and Smoky Slate

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Strawberry Slush

Accessories: Bow Builder Punch, Antique Brad, Rhinestones

Thanks again for visiting- I hope all of you have a terrific Monday!!

Bloom with Hope- Four Challenges in One!

Hi Stampers!

I had a chance to stamp this evening and wanted to play along with two of my favorite weekly challenge sites- The Pals Paper Arts PPA246 Color Challenge and Create with Connieand Mary CCMC349 Sketch Challenge along with the Just Add Ink JAI257 Inspiration Photo and the Splitcoaststamper's F4A262 "Get Krafty" Challenge- see details here and gallery here.  

Again, I hope you will take the time (if you have not done so already) to visit all of the above links to check out all of the Design Team entries as well as the galleries- tremendous inspiration from all!

To create this card:

Ink the background stamp, Post Card using Memento™ Tuxedo Black Ink and stamp onto a  piece of Crumb Cake cardstock, trim and mount onto a piece of Crisp Cantaloupe, trim again and mount onto the Crumb Cake card base.

Stamp the sentiment using Memento™ Tuxedo Black Ink directly onto the card front.

Also with Memento™ Tuxedo Black Ink, stamp the flowers and leaves from Bloom with Hope onto Whisper White cardstock. 

Color the images using an AquaPainter™ with Crisp Cantaloupe and Pistachio Pudding Classic Ink and add definition with the corresponding Stampin’ Write markers.  

Color the branches and the center of the flowers with the Crumb Cake Stampin’ Write marker.

Carefully cut out the leaves and flowers ("fussy-cut") and mount onto the card front (using Stampin’ Dimensionals® for two of the flowers).

Ink part of the Positively Chevron background stamp using the Pistachio Pudding Stampin’ Write marker, carefully cover the flowers with scrap paper and barely touch the card front directly onto the Positively Chevron stamp to transfer just a part of the chevron to the card.

Add the colored stamp image from Postage Due to the upper right hand corner to finish off the card.

Quick and easy- I am starting to get used to this simpler style :-)

Stamp Sets: Bloom with Hope, Post Card, Positively Chevron, Postage Due

Ink:  Memento™ Tuxedo Black Ink, Crisp Cantaloupe and Pistachio Pudding Classic Ink; Stampin’ Write Markers- Crisp Cantaloupe, Crumb Cake and Pistachio Pudding

Paper: Whisper White, Crisp Cantaloupe, Crumb Cake

Accessories: AquaPainter™

Thanks again for stopping by- I hope all of you have a time of reflection on this Good Friday remembering the sacrifice that Christ made for you….and that you have accepted His free gift of salvation!

MIX93 Friend to Friend- Together Again

 Hi Stampers!!

This has been another busy doctor appointment week for my hubby and I – my hubby had his first chemo treatment on Tuesday, and so far, so good (he has not had adverse side effects yet- Praise the Lord!)

Recently I have been experimenting with mixed media, so I decided to play with some of my new “goodies” last night and created two different cards using a similar color palette.  

I will be posting the two projects in separate posts and I was inspired by the Mix-Ability MIX93 Challenge at Splitcoaststampers- we were encouraged to check out France Papillon's site to be inspired :-)

  

I hope you have a chance to check out all MIX93 gallery- such inspiration from all!

The panels for both cards were created using similar colors and techniques- here are the steps to create both background panels:

On your piece of cardstock, apply a coat of Gesso and allow it to dry completely (you can use a Heat Tool to speed up the drying process).  

NOTE- I used a cardstock that is quite a bit heavier than Whisper White and it has a bit of a sheen to the finish- I received a large amount of this cardstock free from my last employer (it was "Over" from an old print job) and do not know the name of the manufacturer… I would definitely recommend Watercolor Paper or Natural White  (versus Whisper White) due to the amount of water used throughout the background process…

Once the Gesso has dried, apply Faber-Castell Gelatos™ to your craft mat (I used Cotton Candy and Guava)- spritz  water onto the Gelatos™ and mix together with your fingers (yes, this is a messy project but oh, so much fun)! 

Lay the Gesso background onto the mat and pull up- allow the Gelatos™ to spread around and dry with the Heat Tool.

Clean your craft mat and apply Ranger® Tim Holtz® Distress Stains to the craft mat- I used Chipped Sapphire, Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers and Dusty Concord (I applied them to the mat close together but separate).  Spritz with water and lay the background panel onto the colors, twisting and picking up.  Again, allow the stains to swirl around, laying the panel down again for more color as needed- dry with Heat Tool.

Add some dimension with stencils and Gesso – dry with the Heat Tool (this layer will not be evident except when you look at the card from different angles). 

Add drops of Adirondack® Jim Holtz® Alcohol Inks directly to the background- I used Eggplant, Latte, Denim, Mixative Copper and Mixative Silver- spritz with water and rotate the background panel to allow the inks to swirl and merge together, dry with the Heat Tool (the ink will spread a bit more with the air from the Heat Tool), apply more drops and keep building up the background as desired. 

Once you are satisfied with the background layer (I wanted to mimic a stone wall), ink the retired background stamp, French Script with Elegant Eggplant Classic Ink.  Lay the panel onto the background stamp (with the background stamp face up on the table) and lightly press certain areas onto the stamp to give a sporadically stamped appearance.

Use the stencil with Gesso (I used my finger) and apply Gesso to a few areas with the various stencils and dry with the Heat Tool.

Use the Distressing Tool to distress the edges and sponge Ranger® Tim Holtz® Tea Dye Distress Stain over the edges to “antique” the white part of the paper.

To create the first card:

Use the Distressing Tool to distress a piece of Blackberry Bliss cardstock, mount onto the card base (again, I used the same heavier weight of cardstock that was used for the background panel) and use a Sponge Dauber to add Ranger® Tim Holtz® Tea Dye Distress Stain to the white areas of the card base.

Mount the distressed, ink background panel to the card front.

Using My Digital Studio (MDS), insert the Postage Due and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp brush images into a blank document and resize (I had both of these already pre-printed in my stash).  I printed both of these out onto the same type of cardstock as noted above for the background panel.

Color the Postage Due using Ranger® Tim Holtz® Distress Stains – again, apply to the craft mat and lay the image into the stains, lift and dry with the Heat Tool.  Apply a bit of the Adirondack® Jim Holtz® Alcohol Inks – Mixative Copper, distress the edges and sponge Ranger® Tim Holtz® Tea Dye Distress Stain over the edges to “antique” the white part of the paper.

Mount the panel onto a piece of Blackberry Bliss cardstock, distress the edges of the Blackberry Bliss using the Distressing Tool and add the 3/8” Blackberry Bliss Stitched Satin Ribbon with the metal “Together” Embellishment (this was part of a scrapbooking kit from years ago- again in my stash).

Add the Postage Due focal image to the card front using Stampin’ Dimensionals®, insert the Paper Studio clock embellishment below the ribbon detail on the focal image and mount the lower part of the clock using Stampin’ Dimensionals®. 

Create the rolled flowers using Blackberry Bliss cardstock and Scallop Circle Punches-one each using the 2 ⅜” , 1 ¾” and 1 ¼” Scallop Circle Punches.  Hand cut a spiral from the outside edge of the scallop toward the center of the cardstock, scrunch the cardstock to break up the fibers and hand roll the flowers and adhere to the center of each scallop (I used Hot Glue to hold the flowers together)- here is a basic tutorial using Designer Series Paper (DSP)- I have found that cardstock makes a sturdier flower :-)

 Using your finger, lightly apply Gesso to the flowers and use the Faber-Castell™ Pitt Copper 252 Artist Pen to the petals to add a bit of metallic and mount the flowers onto the card front (again, I used Hot Glue).

Cut the sentiment apart, sponge a bit of Ranger® Tim Holtz® Tea Dye Distress Stain to distress the paper and mount to the card front using Stampin’ Dimensionals® to finish off the card.

Stamp Sets:  Postage Due, Teeny Tiny Wishes- both MDS versions, French Script (retired background)

Ink: Faber-Castell Gelatos™, Faber-Castell Pitt Pen- Copper 252, Ranger® Tim Holtz® Distress Stains, Adirondack® Jim Holtz® Alcohol Inks

Paper: Blackberry Bliss, misc. cardstock (from my stash)

Accessories: Gesso, Stencils, Distressing Tool, Sponge Dauber, Craft Mat, 3/8” Blackberry Bliss Stitched Satin Ribbon, Metal Embellishments- Clock- Paper Studio, Together- not sure of manufacturer, Scallop Circle Punches- 2 ⅜”, 1 ¾”, 1 ¼”

Thanks again for taking the time to visit- you are all such an encouragement to me!!  I will post the second card along with a few more of the HYCCT challenge cards later this evening – have a fabulous Friday!!