Make Mine Stamps

Did Someone Say Purple?

Well if so, I'm all over that!  I'm trying to make cards for the Prayer Ministry this afternoon and I found the purple challenge from the Less Is More Weblog.  Although I'm using a retired stamp set (Terrific Tulips), it called my name and the purple came easy.  I've used Wisteria Wonder and Concord Crush.  Change the sentiment, shimmer liberally, and you can easily make this card work for just about any occasion.

I'll admit that when I went to post this card, my resizing program went beserk.  I think I've got it working correctly (as far as I know what correctly is), but that may also be a figment of my imagination.  I'd love to show you the shimmer but couldn't make it work.  Perhaps my camera is the culprit and I'll have to work with it later this week.

This card was created using the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig and was stamped directly onto the Wisteria Wonder cardstock.  My greens are Old Olive and Always Artichoke.

Give the challenge a shot -- check out the blog and see the fabulous creations by other stampers and see what you can do! 

In the meantime, enjoy your Sunday and have a fabulous week!

 

New Purpose in 2012

Over the holidays, I didn't do much stamping other than our Christmas cards.  Although I miss stamping, lately I haven't been in the mood.  There is nothing like the right sketch or color challenge to get me in the mood and I found both today.

Here's a card for my sister who is really going through some tough stuff right now.  She's heavy on my mind, in my prayers and in my thoughts. 

I combined a Verve Sketch challenge I found on Splitcoaststampers with a Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge.  The colors are Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy and Very Vanilla.  I remembered the floral paper in the Springtime Vintage paper pack and immediately pulled it out.  I followed the sketch exactly but added the pearls to dress up my card.  I'm finding that my style is evolving into more simple stamping to pump out cards with a purpose.  When I found this verse in my stash, I determined this was the perfect card to give my sister some renewed hope that things will ultimately improve.

If you click on the picture, the card will enlarge and the verse will become clearer.  And it is a beauty...just what God ordered for Carrie today.

My posting is going to be spotty at best for the next few months.  I'm stamping, but I just haven't taken the time to post because I've been so busy. 

Check out the Verve challenge on SCS and check out the Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge if you haven't done so already!  All cardstock and DSP for my card is Stampin' Up! 

Happy Stamping and a blessed New Year!  Make God-filled activities your focus this year and watch the miracles unfold....

 

Challenges Abound!

I finally got to sit down and stamp again after Wednesday of last week.  It's hard to keep your mojo on the move when you start and stop, start and stop.  We were busy both Friday night and all day Saturday and I told Thom that Sunday after church was my day to do what I wanted.  The Domestic Guilt Monster got on me though so I did laundry (got it ALL done!) and picked up around the house as well.  When I finally hit the stamp room, it needed a good sprucing up as well.

I've combined a Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge to use Early Espresso, River Rock and Soft Suede with a sketch challenge from the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge Blog.  You can see the sketch challenge and check out their blog here.  I love their sketches and use them often, although I very rarely connect back to their blog.  The reason:  I don't get the cards done in time and don't link back when they have moved to a new sketch.  The sketch number for this card is SSS133.

I don't use River Rock very much at all and decided to force myself to use this as the card base.  However, when combined with the Well Worn Designer Series Paper, it looks fabulous with this stripe.  This is by far my favorite of the Designer Series Packs in the new catalog and I love the colors.  This particular piece has Not Quite Navy, Cajun Craze, Soft Suede, River Rock, and Early Espresso so I was able to find a jumping off point. 

The stripe is matted on Cajun Craze, another of the colors I don't find myself reaching for very often.  I wrapped the Early Espresso Satin ribbon around the panel and adhered it to the card.  Next, I stamped the image from Leaf Lines on River Rock in Early Espresso ink.  I used my blender pens and the Early Espresso, Soft Suede and Cajun Craze inkpads to color the image.  Once I finished the image, I matted it on Early Espresso with dimensionals and then attached it to the card with dimensionals at the top of the mat, but not at the bottom and it lays very nicely.  The final step was to stamp my sentiment from Leaf Lines in Early Espresso ink. 

Mmmmm.....looked kind of bland to me so I shimmered it for a bit of sparkle and I like the final effect. 

I apologize to those of you who emailed and asked for the Gift Card Wallet information.  I'm sending it today and if you requested it and don't get it, let me know.  I'm usually better than this but life got in the way of my best intentions. 

Tomorrow and Wednesday, I'm sharing cards I created with some paper I just absolutely fell in love with.  It's the sort of paper that the whole page is a scene and you almost hate to cut it...but when you find the right sketch, the paper sings!  Thankfully, I found the right sketch.

Blessing to you!  Thanks for stopping!

 

Thank You for Your Service! We're Free!

Okay, when you've been missing a while, you get things a bit messed up.  The challenge for the Late Night Stampers group this week is actually to do a Red, White and Blue card, or any of those colors.  So, today I'm sharing my Red, White and Blue card.  There is a gentleman at church that sits behind us each week and he and his wife are absolutely delightful.  We love them!  Jack was career military and when he talks about his service, he shares some incredible stories.  I love hearing about their life while he was in the military.

When I saw the Land of the Free flag stamp in the current mini, I knew I had to have it.  I love the image and know that it can be used over and over and over again.  I've combined the Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge with the LNS Color Challenge and here is what you get.

I started with a base card of Real Red and used a panel of Whisper White.  I cut a piece of Night of Navy and used one of the floral centers from Greenhouse Garden as fireworks.  I stamped them in Versamark and embossed them in Iridiscent Ice embossing powder.  I added this to the Whisper White panel and then layered a piece of the 1" double stitched Real Red ribbon (retired) to cover the seam.

Next, I inked the focal image (Land of the Free) with my Night of Navy and Real Red markers and stamped this on Whisper White.  I matted this on Real Red and added this to my card with dimensionals.  My sentiment is from a new hostess set from the new Idea Book and Catalog and it isn't available until July 1, but I loved the font with the focal image.  I didn't originally intend to add the stars, but a red smudge from my wrist had me improvising.  Bet you can't tell me where the smudge is, can you?

I'm giving Jack this card over the weekend and I know he will love it!  Enjoy your Tuesday.  I hope to see you tomorrow.  God Bless!

 

 

 

 

And The Experimentation Continues....

I had this card ready for posting on Thursday for Friday distribution, but just couldn't get to the computer.  And we have one really busy weekend planned so I have to get moving.  However, remember in an earlier post how I said that some sketch challenges don't work using both portrait and landscrape orientation?  Here's one that did.

Earlier this week, I used a Color Challenge of Pale Plum, Elegant Eggplant, Crumb Cake and Always Artichoke.  How in the world could that combo ever be bad?  Not in my eyes!  But I had these scraps laying on my stamp desk (no, I'm not the neatest stamper who cleans up her area after every stamping session...are you REALLY?) and I decided to change the orientation of my original card to see if it would work.  This was a previous sketch challenge from Create with Connie and Mary and is one I will use again and again as I find it simple, quick and easy.

The basecard is Pale Plum and I've used three scraps I had left over from my last coffee filter creation.  I adhered the coffee filter pieces directly to my card and then stamped my sentiment on Whisper White in Pale Plum.  I matted it in Elegant Eggplant and adhered it directly to the card as well.  Because I wanted to pull in some of the Always Artichoke more than just in the background, I added the seam binding ribbon.  And because I have used bling on every card I made this week, I didn't want to ruin my streak. 

Mostly because this was a totally scrap card, it took less than five minutes and I'm really pleased with the results.  The sparkle on the coffee filter background is outstanding.  Check it out!

If you click on the picture, it will enlarge.  Now, just so you have something to refer to as far as the orientation, here's the card I posted earlier this week so you can see that indeed, this sketch works both ways.  Gotta love that!

Even if you don't like the card, you have to agree that the sketch works both ways.  I'm using this sketch for some of my Cards for the Troops because it is easy and will be very simple for newbie stampers to have instant success.  I'm getting geared up and ready and am reaching for that goal of 1,000 cards.  More to come on that though, because my current efforts are all being given to the Benefit Concert and to my mom.  The cards will have to wait a bit longer.

Enjoy your weekend and I hope your weather is gorgeous!  Things here are so green and lush and our yard is just beautiful.  I'm hopeful we can have a meal in our gazebo this weekend, even if I have to run through a drive thru to get it!

God Bless!

 

Gettin' Down and Dirty!

Well....I don't do grunge...or at least I didn't think I did!  As I was going through my challenges, I found a fabulous color combination that really intrigued me -- Colour Q challenge this week is Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla.  That's a throwdown I couldn't NOT use.  In the same session, I found the sketch challenge at Try Stampin' on Tuesday.  Here's the result of those two challenges and my explanation (you know how I think "deep" sometimes...).

I started with a base card of Early Espresso.  I cut a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock 5 1/4" x 4" and started "dirtying" it up.  I used En Francais in Early Espresso and Cherry Cobbler and then I spritzed some Log Cabin Smooch Spritz on the piece.  I thought it needed some softening, so I pulled out Greenhouse Garden and used only the flower center stamps in Crumb Cake and Soft Suede to stamp around on that grungy Very Vanilla cardstock.  Once I had it pretty well "dirtied," I used shimmer spray all over it.  Ladies, let me tell you how much this thing sparkles -- it's just really pretty!

I grabbed a piece of Soft Suede and stamped one of the flower centers in Soft Suede ink, and then I ran it through the Big Shot with the Distressed Texturz Plate.  I liberally shimmered this piece as well.

My next piece of cardstock was Crumb Cake.  I used the other flower center in Crumb Cake ink to add some zip to this piece, as well as my Log Cabin Smooch Spritz.  And when it was dry, I shimmered it too!  Got lots of shimmer action on this card....

Cherry Cobbler up.  Hmmmmm...I pulled out my Versamark ink pad and used one of the flower centers to give it some love, finishing it with shimmer.  Then I adhered all these pieces to the Very Vanilla cardstock and set it aside with the Early Espresso base card.

Here is where it got dicey.  I really wanted to use the image from Full of Life for my mom that says, "Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans."  Many of you know she had a stroke on May 23 (which happens to be my son's birthday!).  It was more than scary and for those of you who have been through this, you know what I mean.  She is really doing well but has some lingering effects that are frustrating for her, as well as causing some serious issues for her.  We will get through this, but we are all blessed that it wasn't worse than it was.  I think this sentiment truly works for the card I wanted to send her, but it wouldn't fit!   AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!

So, I opted for the verse from Thoughts and Prayers because it fit, because I know I will use this card and because I thought it was perfect for all this grunge.  When someone is requiring prayer, we know that there is so much going on around them and the cacophony of chaos on this card just fits the verse!

So, back to the focal point....I stamped the verse on Very Vanilla in Early Espresso and then added some of the flower centers in Soft Suede and Crumb Cake, both in second generation ink (I stamped off before I stamped them on the Very Vanilla cardstock to lighten up the ink).  I shimmered this piece too as I couldn't quit now that I had started.  Once the piece was dry, I wrapped the knotted Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding around the piece, mounted it on Early Espresso and added it to the card with dimensionals.  Once everything was mounted (I can't say straight because with these darned bifocals of mine, nothing ever seems to be straight when I'm done!), I added the panel to the card base.

And I love it!  My hubs asked if this was for him because he loves it too.  So, I've got his birthday card in mind (doncha just love when that happens).  And the best part?  He'll forget he ever saw this card and it will be totally new to him when his birthday arrives in October!  I CAN'T LOSE ON THIS ONE!

So, I thought I'd repeat the card for my mom and just flip the sketch.  Ladies, here's a note for you:  SIZE DOES MATTER.  It just didn't work when flipped.  I made the card, but in my mind, this one is staying in this house -- it just didn't work as I wanted it to.  You be the judge.....

My thought was that some of the background I took the time to create would show.  But even though that is true, I just don't like the card in Landscape orientation.  Much prettier in Portrait orientation.

And just so you can see some of the shimmer, check this out by clicking:

 

So, now you know where my mind was when I was creating both of these cards.  My heart was certainly in the right place, but that doesn't guarantee success....ever!

Have an awesome Thursday and I'll see you tomorrow.  God Bless!

 

Cards and Things Challenges Meets Friends 24/7

One of the blogs I follow, Cards and Things, has a couple of challenges each week.  Unfortunately, I really haven't had an opportunity to do many of the challenges, but I loved their color challenge this week.  What would you say to Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, Always Artichoke and Crumb Cake?  Probably the same thing I said:  I can DO that!  And I used their recent sketch challenge as well -- it came together well and I adore the card; however, the background I made wasn't as easy as I thought!

Here's the card and then I'll tell you how I did it.

The basecard is Crumb Cake.  I used a round, white coffee filter and crumpled it all up a couple of times.  Next, as it was laying flat, I sponged on Perfect Plum, Always Artichoke, and Elegant Eggplant in a random pattern.  I always start with the darkest color first.  Once I had the coffee filter covered, I liberally sprayed it with homemade Shimmer Spray and then blew it dry with the heat gun.

I covered a 5" x 3 3/4" piece of cardstock (used the cheap stuff since it wouldn't show) with adhesive.  Most people would use the double sided tape, but my adhesive gun works well and it's what I use when I'm stamping by myself.  (Otherwise, I would have used SNAIL!)  I smoothed the coffee filter over the cardstock and adhered the portions that overlapped onto the back of the cardstock.  For this card, I cut my piece into four 1 1/4" pieces to cover the front of the card.  Here is how sparkly the background pieces look:

If you click on this photo, it will enlarge.  In Real Life, this background just sparkles and looks absolutely stunning!

I stamped the flower image from Friends 24/7 after coloring it with Always Artichoke and Perfect Plum Stampin' Write Markers.  I used both ink pads and blender pens to color the image once it was stamped.  This is matted on Crumb Cake that has been scalloped using the Scallop Edge Trim punch and I used dimensionals.  My final touch was to add the Ice Bling Brads.  Hint:  I cannot mount these straight no matter what method I try so here is what I do:  I cut their darned brad butts off and use a glue dot!  Since I've started using this method, they are ALWAYS straight!

I also stamped a Crumb Cake envelope and I'll be happy that my mom will use this card to thank someone who gave her such good care while she was in the hospital.

There is another thank you on tap for tomorrow and I hope you like it as well.  Thanks so much for your kind comments and prayers for my mom -- it really means so much to me!  Stampers are the best!

God Bless!

 

A Flower for All Seasons...and Sketches...and Color Challenges!

I had very limited time to stamp this weekend and it really didn't matter.  My hands, although better, still need some TLC so once again, I think this week will be another week of one card wonders.  Someone asked me why I would call myself that and I said, "Ever hear of the One Hit Wonders?  You know...those groups who had a #1 hit song and then they just disappeared?"  Well, I'm worth about one card a day and I've got a library class on April 11 that I need to get ready for so each day, I'll be doing one card and am hoping they are worthy of posting.

Today's card fits the following challenges:  Late Night Stampers:  Mother's Day Cards or Gifts; Colour Q Challenge to use Pink Pirouette, Certainly Celery, Crumbcake, Early Espresso and White; and the Viva LaVerve Sketch Challenge over on SCS.  I love the sketch but seem to have a fondness for their sketches anyway and when I saw this one, I wondered how I could make it work with such a simple image.  Then I challenged myself to use the color challenge because I think these colors work so well together anyway.  Voila!

My basecard is Whisper White and I ran the about the top two-thirds of this card through the Big Shot with the Elegant Floral Embossing folder.  I didn't let it make a deep impression but just enough that you can see it.  If you click the picture here, it will enlarge and you'll be able to see the embossing on the Whisper White much more clearly.

My image is from A Flower For All Seasons and I thought it would work well with these colors.  True Story:  When I first started stamping, I couldn't figure why anyone would use Chocolate Chip cardstock.  Then I started using Chocolate Chip and found it was a color I used throughout every season.  And now, my "go to color" seems to be Early Espresso -- I love this rich, deep brown!  The image was stamped in Early Espresso and I waited a bit to color it.  Because these are water-based colors, when you color with markers, the lines can blur.  I've found if I wait, the color doesn't seem to transfer nearly as much.  The fix is to stamp the image in Staz-On ink and then you can color however you want.  This time, I chose to use the Early Espresso since it was one of the colors I was challenged to used.

The Certainly Celery and Pink Pirouette cardstock was positioned in the Elegant Floral embossing folder and embossed before I added them to the card.  I used the piercing kit on the Crumbcake Cardstock and then used my Early Espresso marker to add the stitches to this piece.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes (if you don't have this, I guarantee you need it -- it's the most versatile set I own!) and was stamped using the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig.  I have three of these and I'm one stamper, but I use them all the time!

Hopefully, I'll blow through my domestic diva duties and can stamp my one card this afternoon so I'll have something worthy to share on Tuesday.  I also hope that wherever you are, Spring is being ushered in and your grass is green, the trees and flowers are budding and that you are happy, healthy and much blessed!  Hugs to you!

 

Happiness is....

Well, today, happiness is a haircut!  Since I've entered menopause, I grow hair like it is my job!  And many people told me that I would probably lose hair, blah, blah, blah...  Well, let me tell ya that it ain't so and I'm on the every three week plan.  By the time I get to the second week, I'm just about ready to start cutting on my own, but enough about that....

Here's my card for today and it was one of those super easy-peasy cards.  I don't do one-layer cards often because I'm paper addicted and my paper is breeding in my many hiding places.  I have to use it or it will overtake my house!

For this card, I used the Nature Walk set, a current favorite.  I didn't start using it until just this month and now I'm wondering why I didn't mount it up sooner?  I'm not sure the colors came through very well, but the colors are the current Late Night Stamper Challenge:  So Saffron, Early Espresso, Certainly Celery and Blushing Bride.

I inked up the E Block with So Saffron and then stamped it onto the Whisper White cardstock.  I did put a mousepad underneath the cardstock to make certain I got decent coverage.  I inked the plant image with my Certainly Celery and Blushing Bride markers, and stamped it inside the block.

Next, I inked this awesome little bird with Early Espresso and stamped him.  As a final step, I used the Heard From the Heart set, inking the word happiness with my Blushing Bride marker and omitting all the rest of the sentiment.  I love this for a notecard and know that I will be making more of these for my personal stash.  I had to resist the temptation to add "something" and just let it rest. 

So, when was the last time you made a one layer card?  Challenge yourself and see what you can come up with -- truly, it is a challenge!  With all the tools and supplies we have, I struggle with when is enough enough -- I just love my stuff!

Tomorrow is Creative-Sketches and this sketch really kicked my buns!  I made three attempts before I threw in the towel and just made a simple card.  It's okay, but I took creative liberty with the sketch.  Check it on Thursday!

Have an awesome Wednesday -- make it God-filled!

 

One Layer Faux Flower Soft

It was a fabulous weekend for me and I'm hopeful for you as well!  My mom fixed one of my very favorite meals and it was totally awesome -- so incredible, in fact, that I WAAAAAY overate and was actually not feeling too well on Sunday.  Gluttony will get you every time -- but oh did it taste so good!

This week, the LateNightStampers Challenge #113 is a color challenge.  We are to use Early Espresso, So Saffron, Blushing Bride and Certainly Celery.  Well, let me just tell you...I love this challenge and am not finding this one difficult at all!  When I sat down to stamp, I made a card I absolutely detested so it got scrapped (translation:  TRASHED!).  I decided to get back to the basics and see what I could come up with and here is my first result.

I started with a So Saffron card base and if you follow my blog at all, you know I adore So Saffron.  It is truly one of my most favorite colors.  I pulled out a cardstock frame I had previously cut with my coluzzle, laying it on top of my cardstock.  I inked up En Francaise with Early Espresso and stamped off gently -- then I placed it over the cardstock and frame and pressed HARD (I used an old mousepad underneath to make sure the image transferred). 

Next, I sponged So Saffron around the edges and deepend the oval.  I pulled out Flowers Awash, which I'm not particularly fond of but decided it would have to work for this card.  Gotta ink that rubber before it revolts!  Leaving the frame in place, I inked the stem only with my Certainly Celery marker and stamped it.  I pulled out the petal image and inked it up with the Certainly Celery marker, using my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to place the images.  I used my marker to color around the edges of the image and to deepen the color of the stem.  I pulled out my blender pens and my Certainly Celery inkpad and used this combination to fill in the petals.

Once I had stamped the Flower image in Blushing Bride, I wasn't really happy with the color so I decided to fill in the image with my Faux Flower Soft, scraping the edges of my Blushing Bride cardstock with open scissors and adding the resulting fluff over Tombow glue.  Because I'm not certain what I will use this card for, I didn't stamp a sentiment on the front.  Actually, I think it would make a lovely note card and may just use it as such.

If you get a chance, play along this week and upload your image into the StampinUpLateNightStampers challenge folder.  If you need the link, drop me a line and I'll send it to you.  As I write this, the folder hasn't been opened yet, but I would be most happy to send you the link location.

I've already got tomorrow's post card ready to go and I really like the simplicity of the card.  I'm trying to allow some rest between stamping periods due to my carpal tunnel, but because I took a couple of days off over the weekend, I'm much better already.

Enjoy your day and check back tomorrow for another entry into this color challenge!  God Bless You!