Monochromatic Brown (with Shadow Stamping)

For the current Friday www.stamptv.com challenge I already made a monochromatic BLUE card and I like the idea so much I wanted to give it another go. I was sorting out my scraps and found I have a lot of browns so I created MORE brown scraps for this one :D

The designer paper is from a Prima paperpack (Melody) layered on brown Bazzil.  The kraft cardbase I got from my sister who was decluttering her apartment (lucky me).

The flower is from GinaK's Garden Silhouettes.

I stamped the flower using the Shadow Stamping technique and I think it came out beautiful. You have to see the close-up below:

Shadow Stamping (Source: http://www.stamptv.com/)

New: Sentiments

I'm trying my hand at creating my own sentiments. See the NEW page link at the top. I also created my first one on AFRIKAANS!!

Organizing It

Thanks to the prompting of my Mom I managed to de-clutter and organize my little craft-corner today. I still have to sort out my paper scraps but that is for another day.

I don't have a large craft area (basically the surface of one sideboard/buffet) so managing the space I have is very important.

I bought some transparent DVD cases for my Spellbinders and placed the same shapes together. In this box you can see the Petite Ovals Small and Petite Scalloped Ovals.

I know that my little stash does not compare to the professionals' out there but I'm quite happy with my little Card Corner :D

Monochromatic Blue

This week's Monday challenge over at www.stamptv.com is to create a monochromatic card. Since my Father-in-law's birthday is coming up I decided to go with a simple layout in blue.

This layout would have been almost impossible without using my new Stamp-a-ma-jig. To see what this is and how it works, look here (origin: http://www.stamptv.com/)



The circle image is from Elegant Elements and the sentiment from Garden Silhouettes

Summer Vacation

The one good thing about being on the South Side of the planet, is that we get to dream about summer when we play in challenges with those from the North!

Here's my card for 2 challenges:
1.  CPS #228 (layout below)
2.  Digital Pencil Challenge #92: Summer Vacation

This lovely image is from Mo Manning's Digital Pencil, "To the Beach". It was colored with Derwent artists pencils.

The focal image was layered on Spellbinders Labels 8 using GinaK's technique - See "Layering Label Dies".

Both DP is from a Prima paperpack, "Melody". These are layered on Tim Holtz/Ranger distress paper.

I have to admit I'm in the mood for a holiday!

CPS's layout:

Christmas in July!

I can't believe the year has passed it's halfway mark and is rushing down-hill towards December! And thanks to Flourishes, they're really challenging our clocks!  This card is an entry for 3 challenges:

1.  Meljen's #68:  Follow the recipe - 1 x Bow, 3 x Brads, 1 Circle!
2.  Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #128 - Christmas in July (FTTC128)
3.  Simon Says Stamp - Shaped cards

The image is Meljen's Christmas Tree. I dressed it up with 3 brads, a tiny bow and added some glitter (see close-up below). And it's of course layered on another circle which is mounted on a scalloped circle card base.
Note on the card base:
After I had cut out the scalloped circle, I shaded the edges with Crushed Olive (Tim Holtz DI) to fit in with the green of the tree, but left the inside and back layer white.
Spellbinders used: Petite Circles Small, Scalloped Circles

Card gift box

This is the first time I'm making anything like this and it wasn't too difficult!! I did all of it over the course of an afternoon/evening.

It was for the current www.stamptv.com Friday challenge where we had to CASE another design member's cards/projects. And this time around we looked at Carolina's!

Here's MY gift cards and drawer box set:

And this is what hers looked like (so beautiful!!):

Now for the what and where:
All the Barn Red cardstock is Bazzil.

To make the drawer box, I followed the same instructions as Carolina and you can see it here (there's also a video!): http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/drawerbox/

The flower I made by following instructions I saw in a CARDS magazine issue (JULY 2011). I used some of the Bazzil Barn Red cardstock for the bottom base circle. I then cut out 8 circles (SAME size as base!) from double-sided dp (7-Gypsies). You can only do one layer for which you will cut out only 4 circles but I wanted some height on mine. You can of course decide how big or small you want your flower to be depending on the size of the circles.
Fold each circle in half. Then half again. Use sticky dots/double-sided tape to tape this second fold down on the bottom fold.
Glue each quarter on top of the base to cover it. Since I made a double layer, I glued the next layer on top of the first, overlapping where the first quarters' ends met.
Use your fingers to gently fold up the open ends.
Stick a flower or any other embellishment of choice in the middle.  You can even glue a circle with a sentiment in the middle.

Close-up!

I made 6 cards: 3 x Happy Birthday, 2 x Get better soon and 1 x Praying for you.  These sentiments were from Fanciful Tags. The flower bunch from Enjoy the Sunshine.

Birthday wishes (for Mom)

I made this card for my Mom who turned 67 recently! She's flying in today for a 3 week visit :D

The embossed background was done using a Cuttlebug embossing folder that was first colored with Crushed Olive distress ink (yay, I got a new ink!)

Here's the technique video for that: http://stamptv.ning.com/video/inking-a-cuttlebug-folder-1

The sentiment is from Garden Silhouettes

The oval was cut from the same cardstock as the back layer (Tim Holtz/Ranger distress collection) and then I also cut a Fancy Tag from it. I cut the tag in half and adhered it to each side of the green oval.

I'm so lucky!

I won a stamp-set from GinaK! I was a randomly drawn winner in their 10-minute-card-challenge. How lucky, lucky can a girl get!

http://stamptv.ning.com/forum/topics/stvfritami1-winner-tami-s-10

And for my prize I picked this delightful and fun stamp set called FUNNY FARM

This will give a totally different flavor to my cards and these lend themselves perfectly to kiddies cards!

Sometimes you just need something simple

I made this card for my sister-in-law (also a very, very good friend).

The Fanciful Tags stamp set (http://www.shop.ginakdesigns.com/) that is designed to fit with Spellbinders Fancy Tags (1) works so nicely! And this Fancy Tag is especially one of my favorites because I can thread a ribbon through. I kept the back piece of the card white for writing on.

The front DP is from Desert Bloom paper pack (Trimcraft).
Barn door red cardstock from Tim Holtz/Ranger Distress collection.

Alternative use:

I have made these 'cards' before in a similar fashion but replaced the sentiment with a name. It was used as table markers at a baby shower for 5 Moms.  So you can even use a number in the tag to indicate a table number at a wedding, for example. Just love these Spellbinders Labels (8).

Stamptv challenge - sketch

I've been stamping up a storm this past week and it seems I've caught up on almost all the regular challenges I take part in - and then some.

This week's Mix it up Monday challenge was another sketch challenge. (see sketch below)

The dotted background paper is from a Trimcraft paperpack, "Desert Bloom". The left-hand panel and bottom panel DP is from a Prima paperpack, "Reflections".

Flower stamp: Garden Silhouettes (GinaK)
Sentiment: Fanciful Tags (Nina Brackett)

Brown back-layers: Bazzil

The sketch:

Colorful Happy Birthday

This card is for:
*  Meljen's Buttons & Bows challenge
*  CPS Sketch #227

Here's my card:

I wish I had bright blue ribbon!! Just a note on the lace:  This also belonged to my grandmother so it's practically vintage!

Here's CPS's sketch:

Let not your heart be troubled

This card is an entry for:
http://doodlepantryblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/doodle-pantry-digital-challenge-14.html
http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/2011/07/mojo-monday-200.html

I made Meljen's Top Five - Again!

I just love the Meljen's fun images and they're so easy to color and co-ordinate. My two-layer card (cupcake with blue bow) was chosen as one of the top 5s again :D

Thank you Meljen Team!

Bon Voyage Butterfly

I'm entering this card for the Simon Says Stamp Challenge, "Anything Goes". And this butterfly sure wants to go!

Butterfly from GinaK "Enjoy the Sunshine" (stamptv.com)
Sentiment from Nina Brackett's "Fanciful Tags" (stamptv.com)

Oh my goodness there's already over 660 entries!! Would LOVE some Simon Says Stamps - they are fantastic!

Wedding dance

I am entering this card for the following challenges:
*  Skipping Stones Design: Victorian Summer Release hop and SSD #84 (Sketch challenge)
*  Wee Memories: Challenge #62 - Sponsored by The Stamps of Life!!  (CAS challenge) - Keyword WMC62
*  Digital Pencil: Black & White with one contrasting color - PINK in my case! (Color challenge)
*  Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #126 (Embossing challenge)

Here's my card:

The background was embossed with Spellbinders Impressabilities and then rubbed with distress ink, Spun Sugar (TH).
Image from Mo Manning's Digital Pencil - http://www.mosdigitalpencil.com/products/Bride-and-Groom-%28Dancing%29.html
On the dress I used the crayon resist technique. The dress was 'colored' using white crayon and I then rubbed Spun Sugar over the bottom part of the circle with a foam applicator. I then rubbed over the dress with a tissue to remove any ink residue. Some areas of the dress were not covered in crayon and picked up some of the pink ink.
The sketch I followed looks like this:

Close-ups:

Cute Card challenge: Circles

I'm not always sure if it's a GOOD thing or a BAD thing when I come across another cool challenge website. I stumbled on Cute Card Thursday today and their current challenge is: Going Round In Circles!

Here's my entry:

The yellow and greenish "cardstock" are actually paint samplers thanks to the local DYI shop!

The beautiful patterned paper is from a Prima paperpack, "Memories".
Sentiment from GinaK "Garden Silhouettes"
Spellbinders die: Petite Circles

Note: Because the card had so many thick layers, I popped the whole front bit onto the cardbase with 1/18" 3D dots.

Stamptv challenge - 10-minute cards

This is the first card I created for the 10-minute-card-challenge. No prizes for guessing the aim of the challenge :D

I first used a foam applicator to rub Antique Linen ink all around the edges. I then used my Scor-Buddy to add some scor-lines as a frame around my card. I didn't even cut the squares (from my scraps-stash) with my square dies but just used my Cricut paper trimmer. I first stamped the sentiment (from Garden Silhouettes, GinaK), then glued the square on its left so that I was able to space the rest of the squares. It was really, really quick.

I then felt inspired to do a second one....

Image & sentiment from Garden Silhouettes (GinaK). Note: The sentiment is stamped on the card base.

Flourishes challenge FLLCJUL02 - Copy Cat!

For this Flourishes Challenge we had to look through any of the Flourishes teams and find one of their creations as inspiration to copy. I picked Stacy (aka Twinshappy) and here is her gorgeous card that I copied:

Here is my card:

Please click to enlarge

The brown card base is Bazzil cardstock, the blue/turquise layer is Tim Holtz/Ranger Distress cardstock. The focal image is from the Garden Silhouettes stamp set and the sentiment from Nina Brackett's "Fanciful Tags" (both sets available from StampTV).  The focal image was colored by applying Memento Markers directly to the stamp before stamping. Colors used: Cottage Ivy, Lulu Lavender, Potter's Clay.
Spellbinders Labels 8 was used.

Flourishes challenge FLLCJUL01 - Get Sketchy!

Here's a fun challenge from Flourishes, Get Sketchy. And here's the sketch we had to use as our inspiration:

And here's my card:

The embossed background was made using a Spellbinders Impressabilities die and after embossing, rubbing Tim Holtz Spun Sugar and Antique Linen directly over the paper. See GinaK's technique video.

The front pink layer (pink Bazzil cardstock) was layer on top of patterned paper from a Prima paperpack, "Reflections".

The focal image and sentiment are both from GinaK's Enjoy the Sunshine set. The umbrella was first stamped in black on white cardstock and the re-stamped on patterned paper. The 'crown' of the umbrella was cut out and paper-pieced on the line image. The rest of the umbrella was colored using Memento Markers (Lulu Lavendar, Rose Bud, Canteloupe). This was cut out using a Spellbinders Petite Oval and layer on Scalloped Petite Oval in the same pink Bazzil cardstock. This was layered on top of brown Bazzil cardstock (same as back layer). This focal image section was popped up with 1/16" 3D dots.

The pink edging was covered with Sakura Glaze Pen - see close-up below:

Click to enlarge

Flourishes challenge FLLCJUL11 - Farm Fresh!

This card is for the Flourishes challenge, Farm Fresh, and is using the CPS layout #226 for this week!

The focal image (GinaK, Enjoy the Sunshine) was stamped in black and then re-stamped on red Bazzil cardstock. The strawberries were cut out and paper-pieced on the line stamp. The leaves and stems were colored using Memento Markers (Cottage Ivy, Potter's Clay).
For the background I stamped the strawberries with Perfect Pearls Gold on brown Bazzil cardstock.

Close-up of background:

Spellbinders dies used:
Scalloped Circles small (Largest and 2nd largest sizes)
Squares small

A girly birthday card

I received new stamps from GinaK! And in this card I managed to use a stamp from each of the three sets: 

The background was created by stamping one of the circle stamps from the Elegant Elements set in Spun Sugar (Tim Holtz).

The flowers is from Garden Silhouettes and I used Memento Markers to color straight onto the stamp before stamping.

Markers used: Cantaloupe, Potter's Clay, Lulu Lavendar, Rose Bud, Cottage Ivy

The sentiment is from Fanciful Tags.

The focal layer (created on GinaK 80pd luxury cardstock) was edged with Spun Sugar and then mounted on some Tim Holtz/Ranger distress cardstock.

Each flower was also covered with Sakura Glaze Pen, see below for a close-up:

Digital Pencil's Challenge #90 - Vintage with Distress & Lace

Challenge link: http://mosdigitalchallenge.blogspot.com/2011/07/challenge-90-and-warm-welcome.html

Here is my entry for Digital Pencil's "Vintage" challenge. I love this sweet little image, "Home Tweet Home".

NOTE:  The pale yellow lace around the focal image used to belong to my grandmother around 25 years ago. After she passed away about 9 years ago, a whole bunch of lace packs that she still put together made their way to me. I've been stashing them away for sentiment sake and can now happily use them. I know she would have loved it.

I slightly distressed the edges of the white card base with Antique Linen (Tim Holtz) and wiped over the focal image as well with a foam applicator.
The designer paper is from Prima paperpack, "Reflections".
Brown base layer: Bazzil
The image is from Mo Manning's Digital Pencil, of course, and can be found <HERE>

Meljen's Challenge #66 - No more than two layers

Challenge link: http://meljensdesignsdt.blogspot.com/2011/07/challenge-66-and-new-release.html

Close-up of sparkly cupcake

Two new techniques used: Crayon Resist and Victorian Distressing

For this week's Monday challenge on stamptv, we had to follow a sketch to make a card. Here's the sketch I followed

There were two techniques on stamptv that I've been wanting to try out and this layout actually worked well with them.
1.  Victorian Distress (She calls it Victorian since her background looks like old Victorian wallpaper)
2.  Crayon Resist (Called "Sunflower Resist" on the website)

First up we have Victorian Distress. I used the following Tim Holtz Distress Ink colors as per Gina's technique:
*  Antique Linen
*  Spun Sugar
*  Aged Mahogany

For this card I also turned the sketch on its side. The patterned paper is from a Prima paperpack "Reflections".
Here you can see the image & sentiment layer up close

Next up we have the card using the crayon resist technique.

After I had colored the petal areas with white crayon, I used a mini sponge-dobber and dobbed 'Antique linen' over the centres and around the centre of the flower bunch. I then rubbed Aged Mahogany over the flowers and extended over the rest of the layer with a foam applicator. I then (as in the video) used a tissue over my finger to rub over the flowers to remove any ink that were on the crayon. I'm definately doing this technique again!

Stamptv challenge - Kiddies birthday cards

Here are two cards I've entered for the Stamptv challenge, Kid Birthday!

This card is pretty straight forward. I stamped the bicycle in black and colored the frame green (Derwent pencil). The background paper is from a cheap scrapbook paper pack I bought at "Crazy Store" (our version of America's dollar store I guess).

I do NOT know how to color water and although Gina makes it looks easy with Copics, those are way out of my budget. So I just colored them with my artist pencils. I did glitter up the fish though. Background paper from the same cheap scrapbook pack.