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Stars and Stamps Rebel Challenges #4 and #9

May 092012

Well, it started becoming obvious that I won’t be able to complete all nine of the Stars and Stamps Blog Rebel Challenges before Thursday’s deadline. So for this card, I’ve combined two challenges. Yvonne at Penguin Papers asked OWHers to make a card using bright colors, and Sheila at 2 Paw Prints challenged us to make a card with an owl on it (with a bonus if a punny sentiment was used). So I figured why not go whimsical rather than realistic and make card with a brightly colored owl?

I paper pieced Opal Owl using various papers from Basic Grey (and I guess that makes this card eligible for Sherry’s paper piecing challenge, too, as well as this week’s Splitcoaststampers Technique Lovers’ Challenge). The layout was strongly inspired by Sweet Stop Sketch #157 but I stretched out the sketch to a rectangle, substituted the owl for the circular focal point, and shifted the focal point toward the left so I’d have room for the sentiment banner.

I just think this would be a really cute card for one of our heroes to send home to his or her child. What do you think?

Supplies:
Digital Images: Opal Owl, Owl Sentiments 2 (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Tangerine Tango, Basic Black, Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi (Stampin’ Up); papers from Ambrosia and Blitzen collections (Basic Grey)
Ink: printer ink
Other: flowers (Prima Marketing); mini brads (Making Memories); Plaid embossing folder (Sizzix)

Sweet 'n Sassy Release Party challenges

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May 062012

Whew! Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps introduced their May 2012 release products last Thursday and held challenges at Splitcoaststampers.com to celebrate the new items. In between the housework and shopping and everything else that needed to be done this weekend, I managed to get cards made for all three of the challenges… although it really came down to the wire this evening!

The first challenge was to make a masculine card, and the second challenge was not to use markers, colored pencils, etc. to color the image on the card. I combined those ideas for my first card. I cut the ticket shapes from colored cardstock and stamped them. I had to use the trial and error method for getting the tiny envelope sized correctly for the card; I think this was attempt number three. But the envelope guide on my Martha Stewart scoring board helped make creating the envelope a fairly easy task. I took the cues for the colors I used from the current Splitcoaststampers Color Challenge. Even though the challenge was to make a masculine card, I think mine turned out gender neutral. But it’s definitely not something frilly and feminine.

I made another card for the second challenge, this time using paper piecing to add color to the image I chose. The layout for this card is OWH Stars and Stamps Blog Sketch #119. Except for the card base, all the cardstock and designer paper used on this card were scraps! The only “problem” with this card is that I can’t decide whether to categorize it as a love-themed card or an any occasion card for Operation Write Home. What do you think? Please leave a comment with your opinion!

The third challenge ended up being the most time consuming for me, and this was the card that had me scrambling to meet the deadline. The challenge was to use punched or die-cut shapes to create a faux embossed look to the card. I decided to use a flower punch to create the shapes for my faux embossing. Although I had seen the technique before, this was the first time I ever tried it. I learned that Mono Multi probably isn’t the best adhesive to use for adhering your punched shapes. I feel a Xyron would have been better. I tried a stippling technique with my Copics to create the background around Rhubarb the bear. I love this sentiment; I think it is excellent for cards for OWH! The layout for this card is this week’s Sweet Stop Sketch stretched out into a rectangle.

So that’s what I’ve been up to this weekend. I hope you had a good weekend, too! Thanks for stopping by today.

Supplies for the birthday ticket card:
Stamps: Ticket Sentiments (Sweet ‘N Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Kraft, Basic Black, Naturals Ivory, Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie, Bashful Blue (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Pennants and More dies (SNSS); 1/4″ circle hole punch

Supplies for the hot pepper card:
Stamps: Punny Fruits & Veggies (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); Basic Black (SU); scraps from Phoebe and Blush collections (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: small scallop die (Papertrey Ink); standard circle Nestabilities die (Spellbinders)

Supplies for the Rhubarb the bear card:
Stamps: Thoughtful Rhubarb (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: So Saffron, Marina Mist, Pink Pirouette (Stampin’ Up); Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Spring Bouquet flower punch (SU); markers (Copic); mini brads (Making Memories); standard circle and petite scalloped circle Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders)

clean kissing cousins

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May 022012

I have two cards to share today. They have a lot of similarities but they’re far from being two of a kind.

First is a card I made for this week’s Technique Lover’s challenge at Splitcoaststampers.com. The challenge is to use the “kissing” technique, which I did by inking up two different stamps and pressing them together before stamping the image on the cardstock. I used the colors from the Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple challenge, but after I made the card I got to wondering if there was enough “clean” space to really qualify as being CAS. What do you think?

I had planned to make a duplicate of the first card and had the cardstock all cut and ready for it when I decided to make something else for the CAS challenge. I kept the layout the same but didn’t stamp as much on the second card. I think this one better fits the bill of “clean and simple”.

So there you have it – two cards that started out from the same idea, made from a lot of the same materials, but that ended up being pretty different. Isn’t it neat how papercrafting allows that to happen? 🙂

All supplies for both cards are from Stampin’ Up.

Stamps: Happiness card – Baroque Motifs, Canvas, Heard from the Heart; Thanks card – Trendy Trees
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip, Naturals White
Ink: Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip
Other: Certainly Celery satin ribbon, Chocolate Chip twill ribbon, silver Hodgepodge Hardware

birthday seal

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Apr 232012

This week’s CAS challenge at Splitcoaststampers is “At the Zoo”. I do have a few elephant stamps and a set that includes a giraffe, a monkey, and a hippo, but for some reason I always seem to have a hard time creating with them. So I went a different route with my zoo thinking and decided to use a seal. After all, I think the seals are fun to watch at the zoo. I combined the CAS challenge with the current Desert Islands Crafts Challenge, using 6 of the 10 itinerary elements: no flowers, red and black (the red shows up rather orange-y in my photo, though), embossing, kraft, gray, and rounded corners. It might be hard to see, but the black strip is embossed with a dotted design to coordinate with the seal’s party hat. I used a black brush pen to color in the polka dots on the hat.

And now I have another birthday card to send to Operation Write Home!

Supplies:
Stamps: Critters in the Snow, Hats Off to You (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Kraft, Basic Black (Stampin’ Up); scraps from Ambrosia 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Just My Type embossing folder (ProvoCraft); multiliner brush pen (Copic); corner rounder punch (EK Success)

challenging birthday butterfly

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Apr 202012

I incorporated a lot of challenges into today’s card! First of all, this week’s Sweet Stop Sketch challenge was to follow a previous Sweet Stop sketch for your project’s layout. It took me a while to decide because there are so many awesome choices there, but I finally picked sketch #118 and stretched it out for an A2 portrait-oriented card. The current Sweet ‘n Sassy Digi Challenge is to create a project with a vintage or antique look; I think I accomplished that with the sponging I added to the different panels on the card. The OWH Midweek Throwdown challenge is to use the colors brown and turquoise; those are the dominant colors here even though I’ve added some splashes of yellow. I’ve also fit in this week’s Splitcoaststampers Free For All challenge to mix and match two or more designer papers (I’ve used three – the turquoise background, the turquoise and brown stripe, and the yellow scalloped border is also a designer paper scrap).

Enough talk… here’s the card:

Supplies:
Digital Image: Butterfly & Flower (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Sentiment Stamp: Everyday Sayings (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla (Stampin’ Up); designer papers from Blush and Two Scoops 6″ x 6″ paper pads (Basic Grey)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Cool Caribbean, Soft Sky (SU); printer ink
Other: Chocolate Chip twill ribbon (SU); Premier colored pencils (Prismacolor); odorless mineral spirits (Houston Arts); small scalloped border die (Papertrey Ink); sponge

you mooove me

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Apr 172012

When my friend Taylor asked me if I’d consider making a sample for this week’s Splitcoaststampers.com sketch challenge, I happily agreed. Sketch challenges are some of my favorite challenges.

Then I saw the sketch.

I froze. I thought, “Oh my gosh. WHAT am I going to do with this?!?”

But I printed it out, and turned it around to view it from different angles, and finally an idea popped into my head. I decided to turn the sketch on its side and make a scene in the area that the sketch showed as empty space, incorporating the banner-like and circle elements of the sketch into the scene. Lawn Fawn’s barn and fence seemed well-proportioned for the sketch, so I just needed to add in some other things to create a farm scene. The cow seemed like a good choice to me, and the bird was a simple little extra touch. I was stumped for a little bit on how to make the sentiment stand off from the rest of the card but then I thought about a quote balloon. I figured even someone with my drawing skills (read: or lack thereof) could draw a quote balloon! There is a lot of fussy cutting and paper piecing on this card – the cow is all paper pieced, and the fence was pretty tricky to cut. But overall I’m pleased with the end result. And I have to say I was amused (or maybe a-moo-sed?) by the idea of looking through my designer paper scraps for something that could be considered “cow udder pink”.

Creating a scene with stamped images is the current Lawnscaping challenge, so my card fits in there, too!

And I have a cute any occasion card to add to the box I’m filling for Operation Write Home.

Supplies for today’s card:
Stamps: Critters on the Farm, Bannerific (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); Basic Black (SU); scraps from Ambrosia, Two Scoops and Blitzen collections (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: multiliner pen (Copic)

first of Father's Day

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Apr 122012

It’s April, which means it’s time to get working on Father’s Day cards for Operation Write Home. Shippers need to receive them by the end of this month! Father’s Day cards are also the theme for this week’s OWH Stars & Stamps Midweek Throwdown, so I have a couple to share with you today.

First off is one using this week’s OWH Stars & Stamps blog sketch. I turned the sketch sideways for something a little different. I decided to let the designer paper do most of the work for me.

For my second card, I used this week’s Splitcoaststampers Sketch Challenge layout. The only thing I changed on this one is I made sure the circle with the sentiment was on top of all the others. I also rounded the outside corners of the card to go along with the circle theme. It felt nice to put some of my retired cardstock and designer papers to good use!

Supplies for the mathematical card:
Stamps: All Year Cheer II (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Naturals Ivory, Cherry Cobbler (SU); papers from Oxford 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler (SU)
Other: standard circle Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders)

Supplies for the many circles card:
Stamps: All Year Cheer II (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, Autumn Vine designer papers (SU)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU)
Other: standard circle Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders); corner punch (EK Success)

deadlines! ack!

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Mar 232012

For me, sometimes the hardest part of making cards for various challenges is making sure I get the work done before the challenge deadline! I guess I tend to get distracted too easily sometimes and then whoops, the deadline has passed.

Today’s first card is squeaking in on the last day. This is for the Sweet Stop Sketch #150. I stretched the sketch layout to make it a vertical rectangle, and then I flipped it so it’s really a mirror image. To keep the card from becoming heavy with lots of layers, I sponged the edges of the panels instead of matting them. I used dimensional adhesive to adhere the focal, sentiment and yellow background panels over the bulk of the ribbon. I paper pieced the heart from a scrap of green. The sketch challenge spin is to use green and I paired a lot of yellow with it so the card would also meet this week’s OWH Stars and Stamps Midweek Throwdown challenge.

I have a second card for today, too. Sadly, I missed the deadline for getting this one uploaded for the Sweet ‘n Sassy Digi Challenge #45. The layout is Splitcoaststampers Sketch Challenge #376 turned on its side. I don’t normally use colors this bright, but when I saw that the digi challenge said to use green, this digital image immediately came to mind and the orange had to come along with it. I was so glad I had designer paper that had both green and orange in the patterns!

So now I have two more love-themed cards for the box I plan to send to Operation Write Home next week. Yay!

Supplies for the Rhubarb the bear card:
Digital Images: Rhubarb’s Heart, You & Me (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Delicate Dots designer paper, Certainly Celery Patterns designer paper (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: printer ink
Other: So Saffron grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals (SU); markers (Copic); standard circle Nestabilities die (Spellbinders); small scallop border die (Papertrey Ink); sponge

Supplies for the Peas & Carrots card:
Digital Images: You & Me (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Tangerine Tango, Wild Wasabi (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah); designer papers from Green at Heart 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: printer ink
Other: markers (Copic); standard circle and petite oval Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders)

fraternal twins

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Mar 182012

That’s the best way I can describe the cards I have today. I used the same OWH Stars and Stamps sketch for them, as well as the same color scheme so that these would work for last week’s Splitcoastampers Clean and Simple challenge. However, the details such as the sentiments, embossing folders, and designer papers are different.

The first one uses all Stampin’ Up products except for the Nestabilities dies used to cut the ovals.

The second one is also mostly SU, but I used a Provo Craft embossing folder along with the Nesties. This one fits the OWH Midweek Throwdown Challenge to make a “miss you” themed card.

And now I have two more cards for the box I’ll be sending to OWH next week. Sadly, I didn’t get enough cards made to fill a box (and therefore make the most of postage being spent) in time for the Mother’s Day Half and Half Challenge. But I’ll still get my Mother’s Day cards to my shipper before the received-by deadline of March 31.

Supplies for today’s cards are from Stampin’ Up unless otherwise noted:

Stamps: Sincere Salutations, Three Little Words
Cardstock: Soft Sky, Whisper White, Soft Sky Prints designer papers
Ink: Soft Sky
Other: Elegant Bouquet embossing folder; petite oval and petite scalloped oval Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders); Victoria embossing folder (Provo Craft); sponge

{heart}

1 Response »

Feb 272012

Right now in Operation Write Home Land, it’s time to get ready for Mother’s Day. They are even sponsoring a challenge – send a package of your handmade cards, half with Mother’s Day/Mom themes, half with general themes such as “thinking of you” and “miss you”, to OWH so that they receive it by March 20, 2012, and you’ll be entered into a drawing for a sweet-sounding prize package of a medium flat-rate Priority Mail box filled with cardmaking goodies! You can click on the notice in my right sidebar for more details.

Today I’m sharing a “Mom” card that I’ll be sending to OWH in March. I combined two Splitcoaststampers.com challenges for it. The layout is the current sketch challenge, and the color scheme is the current color challenge. I used some retired Stampin’ Up designer paper for my pinks and added sponging to the petals of the punched flower.

Supplies:
Stamps: It’s Good to be Queen (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); Basic Gray, Berry Bliss designer papers (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Basic Gray, Pretty in Pink (SU)
Other: 5-Petal Flower punch, Spring Flower Bouquet punch (SU); Layered Arches punch (Martha Stewart Crafts); plain oval and petite scalloped oval Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders); half pearl (KaiserCraft); sponge

birthday boys

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Feb 222012

Both my husband and my older son have February birthdays. Today I’m sharing the cards I made for them this year.

My husband has loved trains ever since he was a little boy. So it seemed pretty obvious for me to use this retired Stampin’ Up stamp set for his card. I did a fair amount of sponging to try to give an aged, vintage feel to the card. (Not because of my husband’s age, but because of the old-fashioned steam locomotive!) The layout is a Splitcoaststampers.com sketch layout from several weeks ago.

My son just turned 16. In my opinion as a cardmaker, that’s sort of an awkward age because you don’t want to create something that seems childish, yet you don’t want to create something that could be considered “too old” or “stuffy”. So I decided to stay pretty clean and simple and straight to the point for this card.

And there you have it… two birthday boys, two birthday cards.

Supplies for the train card are all from Stampin’ Up unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: All Aboard
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Naturals Ivory, Recollections designer paper
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Other: Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon (SU); ribbon slide (All My Memories); sponge

Supplies for the blue and brown card:
Stamps: Quinn’s ABCs (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Brilliant Blue, Chocolate Chip (Stampin’ Up); Solar White (Neenah)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic)

snow day = stamping time

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Feb 202012

We finally got some snow this winter! It started coming down Sunday afternoon and lasted well past dark. My son measured it before he went to bed and said there was between 6″ and 7″. We need it badly because it’s been so dry.

So, since we weren’t going out and about this afternoon and evening, I stayed in my craft room and made a few cards for some of the various online challenges in which I enjoy participating. First is a card I made combining this week’s Splitcoaststampers.com sketch challenge and color challenge. Even though the color challenge was just for the blues and kraft, I added a little bit of green leaves to the image so the flower wouldn’t look naked. Doing that made the card work for the current OWH Stars and Stamps blog Midweek Throwdown challenge.

All supplies for this card are from Stampin’ Up unless otherwise noted.
Stamps: Wild Rose, Sincere Salutations
Cardstock: Kraft, Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Very Vanilla
Ink: Bashful Blue, Wild Wasabi, Night of Navy
Other: standard circle and petite scalloped circle Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders)

My second card is a true “Stampin’ Up Only” card. I used this week’s Stars and Stamps blog sketch challenge for the layout. Because I was able to find out this week’s Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple challenge early, I added the faux stitching so the card works for that challenge too. I even drew a faux stitch on the button.

Supplies:
Stamps: Artfully Asian, Messages for Mom
Cardstock: Rose Red, Very Vanilla, Mellow Moss
Ink: Rose Red, Mellow Moss
Other: Rose Red and Mellow Moss markers, blender pen, button, piercing tool kit

Happy Valentine's Day!

3 Responses »

Feb 142012

I have a quick CAS card to share today. This one was inspired by the current Lawnscaping challenge and the current Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple challenge.

I hope you enjoy Valentine’s Day with someone you love!

Supplies:
Stamps: My Silly Valentine (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Luxury White (Gina K. Designs); “Romance” from Blush collection (Basic Grey)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler (Stampin’ Up)
Other: Heart #3 Sizzlits die (Sizzix); sponge

Easter lambs

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Feb 102012

Because I’ve been making Easter cards this week for Operation Write Home, I was trying to think of the different stamps and digital images I have that could be used for Easter. I recalled a digital image of a sheep that I had bought a few months ago and wondered if I could use it as an Easter lamb. The image came with the sentiment “ewe mean the world to me”, which is cute, but I didn’t want that for Easter. So I cropped it out with my photo editing program. Then I had a cute little lamb image to use for a couple of Easter cards.

For the first card, I used this week’s Splitcoaststampers.com sketch challenge layout. I generated the Happy Easter sentiment with Microsoft Word. I added a little shading to the lamb with Copics and drew in some grass so he wouldn’t be “floating”.

I used this week’s OWH Stars and Stamps sketch for a second lamb card. This time I added a few tiny yellow flowers to the meadow grass, and I rounded the top corners of the panels to sort of coordinate with the roundness of the lamb. I don’t often use religious sentiments, but I thought since this card is going to OWH, one of our heroes might like it. This sentiment was also created with Microsoft Word.

So there are two more Easter cards fulfilling this week’s OWH Midweek Throwdown for my Operation Write Home box. I just have a few more cards to make to have a shipment of 50 cards… so I’d better get back to creating so I can mail them off Saturday morning!

Supplies for the “Happy Easter” card:
Digital Image: Ewe Mean the World (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Tea Party designer papers (Stampin’ Up); Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: printer ink
Other: Pink Pirouette ribbon, corner rounder (SU); markers (Copic)

Supplies for the “Behold the Lamb” card:
Digital Image: Ewe Mean the World (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: So Saffron, Tea Party designer paper (Stampin’ Up); Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: printer ink
Other: corner rounder (SU); markers (Copic); Apple, Cotton Candy, and Lemon twine (Really Reasonable Ribbon)

more love

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Feb 072012

Today’s card was made primarily for the release party Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps held over the weekend to celebrate their new products for February. The challenge for this particular card was to make something that fit the theme “love”. However, it also fits into the Feb. 1 Midweek Throwdown at the OWH Stars and Stamps blog, as well as this week’s Clean and Simple challenge at Splitcoaststampers.com. I cut a bunch of hearts from scraps of Basic Grey designer paper, fit them together into a curved line, and added the sentiment for a pretty easy CAS layered card.

Supplies:
Stamps: You (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)
Cardstock: Cool Caribbean, Blushing Bride, Whisper White (Stampin’ Up); scraps from Blush 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Blushing Bride, Cool Caribbean (SU)
Other: Heart dies (Sweet ‘n Sassy Stamps)

Older Entries Newer Entries

Stars and Stamps Rebel Challenges #4 and #9

Sweet 'n Sassy Release Party challenges

clean kissing cousins

birthday seal

challenging birthday butterfly

you mooove me

first of Father's Day

deadlines! ack!

fraternal twins

{heart}

birthday boys

snow day = stamping time

Happy Valentine's Day!

Easter lambs

more love

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