Colour Challenge Take Two

Happy Friday!  Finally the end of a crazy, crazy week!  As if life weren't hectic enough right now, my son has come down with Fifth Disease :(  Apparently it is going around his school and his number was up.  Poor kid is so rashy and itchy...ugh!  So glad the weekend is here and we can all rest up!

Today I have another project I made using the colours in this week's challenge over at Sunday Stamps.

Thinking of you card featuring the Summer Silhouettes stamp set with sentiment from Sheltering Tree.

 Once again I turned to the Summer Silhouettes stamp set for my images.  Isn't it funny how you'll go for months not inking a stamp set and then use it several times within a few days.  Here, I stamped the leaves in Crumb Cake ink, the stems in Early Espresso and the flowers in Soft Sky, all on Very Vanilla card stock, which I cut into different-width strips after I had stamped it.  I adhered the strips to a piece of Early Espresso card stock, which is layered on a Crumb Cake card base.

The sentiment is from the Sheltering Tree set and is stamped in Early Espresso ink on Very Vanilla card stock.  I used some long retired natural ribbon and some pearls that I coloured with an alcohol-based marker.

On the inside I simply stamped the leaves and flower images from the front of the card in Crumb Cake ink for a tone-on-tone effect.  Super simple!

Now just a quick reminder to those living in the Cambridge/KW area that tomorrow is my annual Rubber Rummage Sale and new catalogue launch.  You'll want to be here first thing to get first-dibs on a huge selection of retired products...including more than 100 stamp sets, dies, punches, embossing folders, embellishments, papers, kits...oh my!  Once you're done shopping the rummage sale, you can also pick up a free copy of the new Annual Catalogue and browse displays of new products and project ideas.  See you bright and early at 9:30 am sharp ;)

A new colour challenge

Today marks the beginning of a new colour challenge over at Sunday Stamps.  I love the softness of this pallette...check it out:

Here is my project for the Design Team:

Thank you card featuring the Summer Silhouettes stamp set with sentiment from Best of Greetings (retired)

 For this challenge I went with the obivous and allowed the image in the challenge graphic to inspire me.  I used the Summer Silhouettes stamp set, which is one I love but don't pull out nearly often enough.  The background image is from the new You've Got This set and is stamped on Very Vanilla card stock in Crumb Cake ink, but stamped off twice so is was very faded.  The leaves and stems are stamped full-strength in Crumb Cake, which gives you an idea just how faded the background is.  The little flowers are stamped in Soft Sky ink.

I used pearls that I coloured using my beloved and still-going-strong Blendabilities to add the blossom on the large flower.  The band across the bottom of the stamped images is some retired This and That Washi Tape.  I layered three strips to get the width I wanted.  The sentiment is stamped in Chocolate Chip ink on Very Vanilla card stock and is accented with a couple more little blue pearls.  The card front is matted on a piece of Chocolate Chip card stock before being adhered to a Soft Sky card base.

On the inside I stamped more of the images from the front, this time stamping the blossom images  in Soft Sky ink rather than using pearls.  

I loved this colour combo so much I used it on a couple of other projects...be sure to check back later this week.  In the meantime visit the Design Team blogs for more colour happiness and then be sure to play along over at Sunday Stamps!

Faux Frame Challenge

Happy Saturday and happy March!  I hope you have some stamping planned this weekend!  We have a fun new challenge over at The Technique Twist for you to play along with.  We're all about the Faux Frames this week!  Now, do a quick online search and you'll find TONS of variations on this technique.  That is our challenge...find a new way to create a faux frame.  Here is my take on it:

Birthday card featuring the Faux Frame technique with the Summer Silhouettes, Secret Garden, Papillon Potpourri and Sweet Essentials stamp sets.

For my faux frame I used Simply Pressed Clay in my Woodgrain TIEF!  I went for a faded driftwood kinda look.  I love the effect and am so going to try it with other patterns.  Here is how I created my frame:

• Press Simply Pressed Clay onto the open Woodgrain TIEF, making sure it is fairly thick...too thin and it will tear when you run it through the Big Shot.
• Close the folder and run it through the Big Shot with no tabs on the multipurpose platform.
• Set the folder, with clay inside, aside to dry for at least 24 hours.
• Carefully remove the dried clay from the folder, taking care not to tear the clay.  (Don't worry if it does tear...mine did (several times) and I just put it back together when I glued the frame to my project.
• Using the Squares Collection Framelits, die cut a square frame from the embossed clay.  You can play with the width of the frame by trying different sizes of framelits until you're happy with the look of it.
• Sponge the entire frame with Smokey Slate ink, following the grain of the "wood".  Be sure to get into the grooves to eliminate any white clay showing through.  Be sure to also sponge the inside and outside edges so they are no longer white.
• Sponge the entire frame again with Basic Gray ink, but this time go against the grain to highlight the texture.
• Sponge lightly one more time, against the grain, with Basic Black ink to add more depth and texture.

Once I had my frame made the rest of the card was a piece of cake.  I stamped the floral images from the Summer Silhouettes set on a 3-1/4" square piece of card stock using Basic Gray, Island Indigo and Pool Party inks.  To glue the frame to the card stock I used Sticky Strip.  Tombow will also work with Simply Pressed Clay but I didn't want to wait for the liquid glue to dry ;)
The leaves on the frame are from the Secret Garden stamp set, are heat embossed in silver and are die cut with the coordinaring Framelits.  I glued them to the frame using Tombow.  The little butterfly is stamped in Basic Gray ink on vellum and punched with the Bitty Butterfly punch.  It is also adhered with Tombow.
The background is a piece of Pool Party card stock that I embossed using the Pretty Print TIEF...sure hope that one comes back in the new Annual Catty!  I left a smooth strip at the bottom so that I could stamp the sentiment from Sweet Essentials in Basic Gray.

Inside view with sentiment from Simply Sketched.

On the inside I stamped the same floral images I used on the front and added the sentiment from the Simply Sketched hostess set.

I hope you'll make time this weekend to try creating a faux frame.  There are SO many possibilities!  Check out the projects by my fellow design team members over at The Technique Twist and then give it a go.  We'd love to see what you create!

Make A Wish CASE

Sometimes when I'm in a rush for a design I find myself CASE'ing the work of my fellow demonstrators on our online forum.  Today's card was originally designed by Deena Boos.  You can view her original design here.  This is my take on it:

Birthday card featuring the Summer Silhouettes and Papillon Potpourri stamp sets with sentiment from Sweet Essentials

As you can see, I pretty much CASE'd Deena's design exactly with the exception of the addition of the DSP layer behind the card front and the use of the larger butterfly.  I love the monochromatic look of this design and the vellum butterflies are just so pretty and delicate.  The next time you're stuck for an idea, start by CASE'ing something you like.  You'll be amazed at how it can spark your own creativity!

March Sketch Inspiration...a little late!

I have to admit I am a wee bit behind posting my samples for this month's sketch inspiration!  Here it is the third week of March and I've only shown you one lonely sample!  Well this week will be a two-fer!  Here is another project using this month's sketch:

This is the sketch, in case you missed it!

Birthday card featuring the Summer Silhouettes stamp set with sentiment from Sweet Essentials

For this example I turned the sketch on it's side!  I still kept all of the elements, but instead of putting my sentiment where it is in the sketch, I put it where the embellishments were...I even kept it to three words!  I moved my embellishment to where the sentiment was in the sketch.  And what an awesome embellishment those Designer Builder Brads are!!  I also added a little butterfly from the Papillon Potpourri set that I punched out with the new Bitty Buttefly punch...did you know the small butterfly images in that set fit the punch?  Love it!  The butterfly is stamped on Vellum to give it a different texture and add interest.
This card just happens to be one of the designs that will be available at my Spring Fling Card Buffet next weekend.  If you haven't registered yet it's not too late!  There are still spots available for both the Friday and the Sunday sessions.  Call or email to reserve your seat today!

Summer in November

Today I want to show you a card I designed to welcome the newest member of my Tri-City Stampers team.  It uses one of my favourite color combos:  Rich Razzleberry and Lucky Limeade.  Have a look:

Any-Occasion card featuring the Summer Silhouettes stamp set

Inside view with sentiment from Workshop Words stamp set.

I love this stamp set!  I have been coveting it since it first appeared in the Annual Catalogue last June, but only finally purchased it during the big One-Day sale last month. I pulled it out to create a special card to welcome a new team member.  The colour combo is so fresh and clean...it reminds me of summer! Ah, for those warm, sunny days!  It will be some months before we experience those again here in Southern Ontario!! Winter is coming and the thermometer cetainly shows it!  I had to scrape frost off my car this morning when I left for work!  UGH!