Splitcoast Featured Stamper Challenge

I made this card for the featured stamper challenge over on Splitcoast. The featured stamper this week is LilLuvsStampin. Charlene has a beautiful gallery. I decided that I wanted to case this particular card. This was a card that she had made with a small group of stampers that like to challenge each other every week. I remember that this particular challenge yielded many beautiful cards (so much so that I wanted to play too)! Well, I finally played.

The object of the featured stamper challenge is to CASE a card, but to change up at least three elements. I kept the same layout (why mess with perfection). I did change up the color palette, stamps sets used, and the corner punch used while pretty much keeping to the overall feel of her card.

The base card is Bashful Blue (I'm still learning how to use my Photo Elements program...I obviously have a lot to learn when it comes to color hue). I then used the Simplicity punch on all four corners of my Papertrey white cardstock. I really loved the Polka Swiss patterned paper used on the original card, so I used my Polka Dot backgrounder from SU to try to make my own. I stamped the backgrounder using White Craft ink on cardstock weight vellum, and then embossed with detail white embossing powder. I then used my Antique Linen distress ink pad dtp to grunge up the paper a little bit (to match the feel of the designer paper that I had chosen). The next layer is used Figgy Pudding paper from Basic Grey layered on Bashful Blue. The focal image is a retired SU set called Lace Snowflakes (I'm a sucker for Snowflake stamps). I stamped the snowflakes with White Craft ink and embossed with Winter Wonderland embossing powder. These snowflakes sparkle so much IRL! I layered this on top of white cardstock. The ribbon is some of the new Bashful Blue taffeta from SU. I then added a chipboard snowflake (by Making Memories) that I had also covered with White Craft and Winter Wonderland embossing powder to the bottom left. There is a blue rhinestone brad in the center.

Hope you like it!

Long time no post

I finally stamped!! Sorry for the long delay between posts. Life has really just been smacking me hard lately. I was laid off from work on November 14th after being with the company I worked with for 10 1/2 years. I'm making the best of it and have been enjoying spending time with my two boys. I figure that I'll start looking for new employment opportunities at the beginning of next year (after all, when will I EVER have time to take the whole month of December off again?). I also have a case of Bronchitis that just seems to not want to go away. I guess I really have no excuse NOT to stamp every day if I wanted to. I swear, I almost feel busier now that I'm not working. LOL! My house has never been so spotless!

I made this for Julee's Mojo Monday Sketch #14 on her blog Poetic Artistry. Julee has some awesome weekly sketch challenges that are just perfect for kick starting your Mojo (or lack of in my case). She also is a super talented stamper and the creative genius behind a new line of stamps (Verve Visual). Please check out her blog if you have never seen it. I promise you won't be disappointed.

My Mojo was seriously lacking last night. If you only knew how many pieces of my precious Shimmery White cardstock made it into the circular file, you would know how lacking my Mojo was. It could also be that I was very distracted by a playful Lab puppy who kept retrieving things for me (i.e. stuffed animals from the beds of my children, glass ornaments from the Christmas tree, etc.). If my cat Rocky would let him, I swear that he would bring Rocky to me. Anyway, what do you think of my first card in what feels like months?

Stamps:

A Winter Song (Elzybells), Snowflake Serenade (Papertrey), Punch Pals (SU)

Cardstock:

Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Kraft, Shimmery White

Ink:

Soft Sky, White Craft, Staz On Timber Brown

Accessories:

Nestabilities, Hero Arts rhinestones, WWC, Icicle Stickles, Snowflake embossing folder

Wanna see something cute?

This is Shadow. He is now a little over three months old. He is named Shadow because he literally is my shadow as he is always following me around (that is when he is not terrorizing the cat). LOL! He thinks that he is a lap dog (I doubt that he will grow out of this phase) and will often stare at me until I let him up on the couch or bed with me (often whining or barking to make his point). He is 100% spoiled rotten and will often go upstairs to the boys room to make off with a toy of some sort. His favorite place to stash and hide all his toys is behind the couch (he must think it is a little cave or something). He is adorable and has already made his way into all of our hearts!

Santa Baby....

I made this for Beate's weekend sketch challenge that she has over on her blog. I don't know about you, but I love it when part of the work is already thought out for me! She has awesome sketch challenges...well really awesome everything. If you've never visited her blog, I highly encourage you to go and check it out.

I had originally inked up and colored the Santa for the Thursday Ways to Use it Challenge over on Splitcoast. This challenge was WT135 Bling! Bring Out the Glam. Santa had been sitting on my desk all colored in and glittered up, but I just couldn't figure out what to do with him. To the rescue, Beate's sketch.

Santa is colored in with watercolor crayons on SU's watercolor paper using an aquapainter. I really am liking the white crayon for the beard and hair, it really makes a difference. I then used some Hero Arts Prisma glitter to make him all sparkly. The sparkle in his blue eyes comes from my Copic Spica glitter pens that I purchased from Ellen's store. I then outlined the entire panel with some Martha Stewart White Gold glitter. I like how it lends an Old World feel to the piece. The panel is then matted on a shimmer ruby CS that I picked up at Archivers. The card base is Soft Sky inked up with my Linen background. I then stamped snowflakes from the SU Snow Burst set in Soft Sky and River Rock. The patterned paper piece is Basic Grey Fruitcake. The sentiment is from one of the newer Papertrey stamp releases. It is from their Holiday Wishes set. Last but not least, the snowflake is a new Spellbinders Snowflake Wonder die that I picked up (also from Ellen...she has been seeing a little of my hard earned money lately :-) ). I used a rhinestone brad to layer three of the snowflakes together and then used Waterfall and Crystal Stickles to make it all sparkly.

Hope you enjoy!

Birthday Sprinkle

I made this card for the Technique Lover's Challenge over on SCS (TLC137). The challenge was to make an acetate card. Since I'm the one who authored the tutorial, I figured I better participate (LOL)!

The card base is 5 1/4 in square. I stamped various images from Polka Dots & Petals in Staz-On Cotton White randomly on the front of the card. I then layered a strip of designer paper (Salsa Celebrations from Junkitz) to the front of the card. The whisper white piece is matted behind the dp on the opposite side of the acetate (think of the acetate as the Oreo cream filling. The dp is the front of the cookie sandwich, and the whisper white is the back of the sandwich).

Sprinkle and Little Party Hat (both from The Cat's Pajamas) is stamped on Shimmery White cardstock. Sprinkle is watercolored with crayons and then I went over with my Copic Spica glitter pens. She is so shimmery IRL! I used my new Nestabilities Circle to cut and emboss Sprinkle out and then matted this with a Nestabilities Petite Scalloped cut from Only Orange. My only regret with the Nestabilities is that I only ordered the Circles. I want them all now (yikes...baby steps Linda...baby steps). To this I added some Heidi Swap bling and a few Prima's with a MM Rhinestone Circle brad in the center. The back of the card is made with the same "Oreo" sandwich style. I used Shimmery white for the inside Circle and then matted with a Shimmery Kiwi cardstock that I found at Archiver's. The biggest challenge with this card was lining up all those pretty scallops just right. :-)

To finish off the card, I tied some pretty Polka Dot sheer ribbon.

This card will be going out to someone who recently had a birthday (unfortunately, I'm late). I'm hoping she will enjoy it...I certainly enjoyed making it.

Frankie - Sketch Challenge

I made this for SC143 over on Splitcoast. I really was loving all of the cards that I saw made with this particular sketch. I realized I haven't made any Halloween cards yet this season, so I thought that I would get my one of my favorite sets from last seasons Holiday mini all inky again. I love to watercolor so the Best Fiends set was a natural for me to purchase.

I stamped Frankie with Staz-On Black on watercolor paper and used my watercolor crayon and an aquapainter to color him in. I still have quite a ways to go before I will be happy with my watercoloring, but I have come a long way from my first watercoloring attempts. I highlighted certain areas of Frankie with my Copic Spica glitter pens (I so wish you could see the sparkle). Once Frankie was colored in, I sponged some Vintage Violet (one of last years "In" colors) all around the edges of the watercolored piece. I used my ticket corner punch on both the watercolored layer, as well as the Pumpkin Pie layer, and then layered both of these on a Lavender Lace piece. The card base is made from Vintage Violet. To this, I added a Basic Grey (one of this years "In" Colors) layer stamped with the new Sanded background in Basic Black. The horizontal layer is a Martha Stewart ribbon tape from her Halloween collection (this stuff is uber cool). The next layer is some sparkly Glitter paper from the K & Company 2007 Halloween Line. I felt like the piece still needed "something" so I punched a bat shape from Basic Black cardstock with my Martha Stewart bat punch. The bat is covered with Black mica powder to make him super sparkly. I'm trying to save up for a nicer digital camera. I would love to be able to better capture the sparkle of my work a little better (in addition to the antics of my two very active young children). Hope you enjoy!

Stamps: Best Fiends, Sanded
Cardstock: Vintage Violet, Basic Grey, Pumpkin Pie, Lavender Lace, K & Company (dp)
Ink: Staz-On Black
Accessories: Martha Stewart ribbon tape, Martha Stewart bat punch, Copic Spica glitter pens, Ticket corner punch, black Mica powder

Casing SweetMissDaisy

I just finished making this card for the Featured Stamper Challenge over on Splitcoast. The featured stamper today is SweetMissDaisy. Anna is one of my stamping idols. When I think of what sets Anna apart, the first thing that comes to mind is her coloring skills. Other things that I can think of is that her style can go from whimsical to elegant in the blink of an eye. She has a wonderful flair for using patterned paper and she is great at doodling too (she is one of the artists for Whipper Snapper stamps). She is also an uber talented photographer. Did I mention that she is one of my idols?

Anna is solely responsible for my purchasing this particular stamp set. When I saw the two cards that she made in her SCS gallery with the Jolly Holiday set, I was a goner. Here is a link to the specific card that I cased. If you have never seen Anna's work, I encourage you to go check out her blog.

Card Details:
Stamp: Jolly Holiday
Paper: Soft Sky, Watercolor, Deck the Halls dp (Making Memories)
Ink: Staz On Black
Accessories:
Watercolor crayons, Aquapainter, Ribbon (Deck the Halls - MM), Hero Arts
Snowflake, Sakura Stardust pen, Copic Spica glitter pen.