FMS75: Wheel of Shame

Sorry it's been so long since my last post!   It's finally Freshly Made Sketches time again, so I had to post today.   :)   Tui has this terrific sketch for us this week.  I'm sad because this is her last sketch with us, but I'm also happy for her because she's leaving to do some amazing things!  Be sure to stop by her blog and leave her some love this week!

Now on to the card...  I had lots of ideas, but they disappeared when I sat down to stamp.  Does that happen to you?  Frustrating, huh?!  Anyway, here's my not-so-fabulous creation:

This is so NOT what I had in mind when I sat down to make my card.  I don't know what happened to my original idea but it didn't come back.   This reminds me of the couch my parents had back in the 80's.   It had wagon wheels, but Ferris wheels, wagon wheels...it's all round, right?  What's so bad is that that couch had blue flowers and what color did I add?  BLUE!!!!!!!  Hopeless mess.   Hopefully somebody out there likes 80's wagon wheel couch cards...this one is totally for them!  Now I'm off to tease my hair and listen to some hair metal bands.  Ha!  

My sweet girl is 8 months old today.   It's crazy how fast time is flying by.   She's grown so much this past week that we are going to be moving up to 12 months clothes soon.   The 9 months are just too short now!   That happened overnight.   Crazy, crazy.  

Ship Wreckage :)

Whew!  Have you ever worked on a challenge that just refused to come together for you?  I can usually get them, but this HYYCT challenge from Jeanne S. has just kicked my butt. Here's her description:  The greatest thing when dealing with an illness is the hope that you or your loved one will be feeling "ship shape" again soon. My challenge to you is make a shaped card - no circle, rectangle or square cards.    I am not sure what number attempt this one is, but man!   I was about to give up and just not do that one, but I really wanted to finish them all.   I've set a goal to complete ALL of them, so I had to keep trucking.   This one is at least passable I think so I'm going to use it.   It was hard to make and ever harder to photograph!   Anyway, I got it I hope.  

I will say that cutting through 2 layers of card stock with your framelits is not recommended and does void the warranty.   If you try it, it is at your own risk.  Scary, but I like to walk on the wild side sometimes.  Ha!  

Stamps:  Stampabilities Pink Ribbon, En Francais

Ink: Crumb Cake, Melon Mambo, Pink Pirouette, Versamark

Paper:  Crumb Cake, Melon Mambo, Whisper White

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Labels framelits, Festive Piercing Pack, Crumb Cake taffeta ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, sponges, Heat Tool, Iridescent Ice embossing powder 

Jason mailed off my first box of cards to the cancer center today.  It is only about 40 minutes or so from us, so it should arrive fairly quickly.   I admit that I cried a little putting them in the box.  I put a lot of love into them and feel so good about doing something so worthwhile.   That's why we stamp, right?   To make us and others feel good?  :)   

Before Laila was born I said no bows.  Uh huh.   That's working out great as you can see.  

If you are looking for my Freshly Made Sketches post, click here.

Vintage Purple Flower

Still working on those Dare to Get Dirty challenges!   Laila was up a little after four and I wasn't able to go back to sleep after that.  I decided to just get up and stamp while the house was nice and quiet.  I'm not sure if I do my best work so early in the morning, but it was fun anyway!  I do struggle a bit with vintage, but I decided to try it...with purples!   :)   

I used a new product, the Stampin' Spritzers!  I combined alcohol, Frost White Shimmer Paint, and some Wisteria Wonder reinker and sprayed both the flower and the embossed panel.  It has a nice shimmery look to it that you can't really see in the picture.  I added in lots of distressing and sponging too.  

Stamps:  En Francais, Petite Pairs

Ink:  Elegant Eggplant, Crumb Cake

Paper:  Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder, Very Vanilla, First Edition DSP

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Fun Flowers die, Top Note die, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, circle punches, Stampin' Spritzer, Antique Brads, Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon (retired), Cutter Kit (retired), sponges, Color Spritzer

I call this one her Glamour Shot photo.  :)  What she was doing while this one was snapped was most definitely NOT glamorous.  

FM55: Ghost Sketch

So here is the "Mashup" Challenge :

1. Make a project using the " Sketch ".
2. Or Make a project using the " Ghosting (aka VersaMark Resist) Technique".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project using the " Sketch & the Ghosting Technique".

Time for a new Friday Mashup challenge!    This week is my week to host so I thought I'd challenge everyone with a sketch and a new-to-me technique!  I saw a swap from last year's Convention that used the VersaMark resist technique and have wanted to try it out for a long time.  I figured why not use that for my challenge so that I finally HAD to do it?!   :)

I'm not sure you can really see the technique.  :(   I used En Francais on the background piece and the Pink Pirouette is a bit light to really make it stand out.    I'm trying to adjust to losing Blushing Bride next month, but as of right now the other pinks aren't working for me!   I pulled this combination from the Color Coach and I like it, but it probably wasn't the best to show off this particular technique.   I did use another retiring set, Vintage Vogue.  Even though I despise fussy cutting, I always seem to do it with this set.  It just looks so pretty to pop up the flowers!   

I hope you'll find a bit of time to come play along with us this week.   I'd love to see what you do with the technique and/or sketch.  :)

Lovely Tree

In my last post I mentioned wanting to make a card of my own that was inspired by the cased card that I posted.  Well, here it is!  :)  I am having fun playing with my background stamps, sponges, and cutter kit.  For this one I added in an old favorite, Lovely as a Tree.   I'm pretty sure that's one of the best stamp sets EVER!   You can really use it for just about every occasion.   I didn't put a sentiment on this one, so it will go in my stash and get one once I find myself needing a certain kind of card.   

I actually had to break out Chocolate Chip for this one.  Believe it or not, I ran out of Early Espresso!   That's my favorite color and I guess I have been using it way more than I thought lately.   Do you remember the days when we all loved Chocolate Chip and thought it was the best color?   Poor thing.  I know here at my house it  started being neglected once Early Espresso showed up.  

Stamps:  Woodgrain, En Francais, Lovely as a Tree

Ink:  Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Naturals White, Neutrals DSP stack

Tools/Accessories:  Cutter Kit, sponges, Twine, Always Artichoke buttons (retired)

PPA120: Faux Linen Sketch

So lately I've been feeling pretty down and not really enjoying stamping as much as I usually do.  My cards are all feeling a bit plain and boring for me too.  Sad face, right?    Today I found myself a bit ahead of things, so I decided to sit down and do a challenge for fun.   I wanted to add a new technique into the mix as well.   I find that expanding my skills and trying new things a breath of fresh air, so I thought that might be just what I needed.   I decided to play along with the Pals Paper Arts sketch and to try the Faux Linen technique.   I haven't used my new Distressing Essentials kit very much yet, so it was a perfect time to put it to use!  

I used the Tea Stain ink on my image panel and I don't think it was quite dark enough to allow the linen texture to show up in my picture.  I know next time to go darker for that part, but I do like how the card turned out.  I seem to be drawn towards browns right now; maybe because of all the dead trees we have from the drought?   Or maybe cheery colors just aren't fitting my mood?   Either way, I do like mixing them up.  I never thought I'd be using Soft Suede as much as I have been!  It is a bit of an ugly color.  :)  All the panels are sponged to give them some depth and I pulled out my favorite retired ribbon, Early Espresso satin.  

Stamps:  Best Friends Forever, Nature Walk, En Francais

Ink:  Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Tea Stain distress ink

Paper:  Glossy White, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Neutrals Patterns DSP stack

Tools/Accessories:  Distressing Essentials kit, sponges, Early Espresso Satin ribbon

Friday Mashup Debut!

I'm so excited to announce that I've been asked to join the wonderful design team over at The Friday Mashup!     This week Kasey has challenged us to make a girly card, use our favorite technique, or mash it up and use our favorite technique on a girly card!   Did you get all that?!   :)    I decided to go with some girly colors and practice a bit more on my vintage/aging techniques.   

What do you think?   Girly, huh?   I love it!   I'm not that into pink, but I do love Blushing Bride, especially paired with Early Espresso!  I did a lot of sponging on this one.  I think I got every edge of all the pieces of card stock in fact!   I also added ink to the raised areas on my embossed panel to make it stand out more.    Once I finished, I gave it a good spritzing with my homemade shimmer mist!   Girly cards need a bit of sparkle, right?   :)

Stamps:  En Francais, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink:  Soft Suede, Early Espresso

Paper:  Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Blushing Bride, Very Vanilla

Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper embossing paper, Fun Flowers die, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, basic pearls, Early Espresso satin ribbon (retired)

Be sure to drop by the Mashup! blog and see what all the other lovely designers have created to inspire you this week!

Gratitude

After a pretty crappy day yesterday, I decided to go play in my stamp room a bit before I went to bed.   Making a card is the perfect cure for the blahs!   I wanted to play along with a couple of challenges, so I decided to combine the Pals Paper Arts color challenge to use River Rock, Soft Suede, and Early Espresso with the Friday Mashup challenge to make a Thank You or Gratitude card.

Now I make a lot of cards and I like some of them, LOVE others, and hide a few too.   This card is one that I LOVE and I'm amazed at how well it turned out!   I have been trying to use some stamp sets that have collected a bit of dust, so that's where I got the Vintage Vogue inspiration.  I wasn't sure about brown flowers, but I am in love with them!   I think this card will go in my "I'm keeping it forever" stash.  :)    Now it is an overcast day here in Texas, so my photo truly doesn't do this one justice.  I tried different locations and different lighting, but it just wasn't happening today.   I really need to get that light tent ordered!

Happy Sunday!

Stamps:  Vintage Vogue, Petite Pairs, En Francais
Ink:  Soft Suede, Early Espresso, River Rock
Paper:  Soft Suede, Early Espresso, River Rock, Very Vanilla
Tools:  Big Shot, Scallop Circle #2 die, circle punches, paper snips, Basics glimmer brads, Early Espresso satin ribbon (retired)

JAI 90: Sketch Challenge

First, I apologize for the lack of posts this week.  It's been one of those weeks mentally and my heart just wasn't in trying to create anything.   I decided to try making something today and here's my second card of the day.   The first one you'll have to wait on.  :)   My upline, Denise, was kind enough to lend me her Gently Falling stamp set so I've been putting it to work.   I'll definitely be sad to give this one back next week!  How gorgeous is that leaf?   I normally hate 2-step stamps as they don't fit completely in the lines, but I think I could manage to get over that with this one.  :)   Anyway, I thought it would be great for the sketch over at Just Add Ink.  I don't own an oval die, so I hope it was okay that I used a square!

Stamps:  Gently Falling, en Francais, Tiny Tags, Woodgrain
Ink:  Soft Suede, Pool Party, More Mustard
Paper:  More Mustard, Pool Party, Very Vanilla, Soft Suede
Tools/Accessories:  Big Shot, Scallop Squares duo die, Jewelry Tag punch, Pool Party ruffled ribbon, sponges

Triple Challenge for Fall

       

Look at all these fun challenges!   Even though it has been too hot in Texas to really be thinking of Fall, it is my favorite season.   Watching the leaves turn is one of the few things that I miss about living in Kentucky.   There's nothing like seeing the mountains ablaze in red, yellow, and orange.   Anyway, my friend Kathy made a gorgeous card this week where she combined French Foliage, En Francais, and emboss resist.    I thought I'd try that too, but in the fall colors.   (I like hers better because the Rich Razzleberry is so unexpected and one of my favorite colors.)   I used ideas from three challenges, this week's Card Pattern's Sketch, the autumn challenge at The Friday Mashup, and the fall challenge from Hand Stamped Sentiments.

I hope you like the Spice Cake designer paper because I can tell I'm going to be using it a lot!  :o)    It is just so pretty and perfect for fall projects.   For my leaves, I inked them in Versamark and then More Mustard before using my sponge daubers to add a bit of Cajun Craze and Early Espresso.   Once I stamped them, I embossed them with clear embossing powder so that I could use the emboss resist technique.   I stamped En Francais and some other elements from French Foliage over them to add some interest.  To finish it all off, I added some Early Espresso Baker's Twine and some tags.   You'll find hints of distressing and sponging as well; these colors inspire me to do a bit of that for some reason.

Here's a close-up of one of  leaves...doesn't it look real?!   I love it!

Stamps:  French Foliage, Tiny Tags, En Francais
Ink:  Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Early Espresso, Versamark, Soft Suede
Paper:  Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Spice Cake designer paper
Tools/Accessories:  Heat Tool, Clear Embossing Powder, Early Espresso Baker's Twine, Jewelry Tag punch, sponge daubers