Au Revoir

Sadly, after six wonderful years, it's time for me to step down as Bombshell Stamps' Design Team Captain. 

It has been my privilege and honor to work with so many creative, dedicated, loyal, warm hearted, funny, and dependable women on this team. It's been particularly gratifying to watch these women, my Bombshell Girls and Pin-Ups, grow and develop their artistry and confidence. I thank you and salute you all.

Shannon, it has been a pleasure to work with you and use your wonderful images. Thank you to you as well.

Au revoir and smooth sailing!

June Muse Monday: Homeward Bound- Week 5

Hello and welcome to the bonus week of Muse Monday! Bombshell Stamps features a special set every month on Mondays, with projects by our amazing Design Team. This month, we have been showcasing Homeward Bound. And since there are 5 Mondays this June, we have a bonus week for you! Here's a look at the set.

And here are some more fun projects using Homeward Bound. I hope you have enjoyed Muse Monday this month!

Kelli

Kim

Marnie

June Muse Monday: Homeward Bound- Week 4

Hello! Alison here bringing you Week 4 of Bombshell Stamps' Muse Monday for June. All month long, we have been featuring projects made with the super-fun set, Homeward Bound. Remember, this set is on sale only for the month of June, so if you don't have it in your collection yet, now is the time to buy it! Here's a look at the entire set.

And now, feast your eyes on these wonderful projects!

Stempelientje

Kim

June Muse Monday: Homeward Bound- Week 3

Hello out there! It's time for the 3rd installment of Bombshell Stamps' June Muse Monday. This month, the featured set is Homeward Bound, and it's a favorite among some of us on the Design Team. I hope we have been inspiring you! Here's a look at the set.

Now take a look at what some of the Bombshell Gals have cooked up for you this week.

Stempelientje

Alaine:

Muse Monday: Homeward Bound- Week 2

Hello Bombshell Stamps Fans! It's time for Week 2 of Muse Monday. This month, we are featuring the Homeward Bound set.

This is such a fun set to work with, and it's perfect for masculine cards. Do you have it? Do you want it? If you don't have it yet, this is the perfect month to get it, because it's on sale! So hurry on over to Bombshell Stamps and get yourself a set. But before you go, check out this week's projects.

Stempelientje

Kelli 

Meet Ms. June!

We're thrilled that Cheryl Valadez, one of our past Bombshell Girls, will be joining us again as Bombshell's Ms. June! Cheryl brings her incredible coloring and fabulous design skills to the table. You will most definitely be inspired by her artwork!

Cheryl was interviewed back in January, 2011, so I emailed her some new questions to answer, so you could learn more about this talented artist!

Here's her new interview!
1) Way back when, your favorite Bombshell set was 'Til Death. Has this changed? If so, what's your new favorite set and why?  
My Bombshell heart still belongs to ’Til Death.  The perfect stamp set with the perfect sentiment.

2) Let's talk favorites. What's your favorite color combination? Do you have a favorite paper company? What's your favorite embellishment?  
My favorite color combo at the moment is blue greens used in conjunction with lime greens. You’ll see this frequently show up in my projects if you scroll through my blog.  Also, I’m crazy about turquoise, red, and black together.  It has a definite Dia de los Muertos feel for me.  As for favorite paper companies, I’d have to say ALL OF THEM!  LOL!  Finally, embellishments…it seems that in every project there is always room for a little black button with a bit of twine. 

3) Now let's talk about paper crafting style! Do you have a favorite style? How has your style evolved over time? Is there a style you don't like or just can't do?  
I go back and forth between using a lot of embellishments and using very few embellishments.  I used to be big on paper flowers, but now not so much.  Clean and simple has never been in my vocabulary, so  CAS has always and continues to elude me.  I just can’t swing it no matter how hard I try.

4) Can you share some special paper crafting tips (coloring, paper layering, etc.)?  
I typically layer with patterned papers combined with solid black or kraft papers.  I rarely use colored solids.  This makes it easy to pick out papers because everything goes with black and kraft.  Plus I don’t have to spend time struggling to match colored solids with patterned paper and I don’t have to find a place in my craft space to maintain and organize a ton of different colored solids.  Plus black and kraft colored layers automatically give my projects a bit of vintage look which I like.  

5)  Do you have any tips for using Bombshell stamps?  
Bombshell Stamp images pair well with Copic markers and provide an excellent resource for practicing skin combos.

6) Do you like to combine sets of Bombshell stamps and create scenes? 
I do!  I love that most of the Bombshell Stamp images are designed to work together in numerous combinations.

7) Do you listen to music, watch tv, or prefer silence when you craft?
The past couple of years, I have been big on listening to Podcasts when I craft.  My favorites are The Nerdist, WTF, and Dinner Party Download…all extremely entertaining. 

8) Where do you find inspiration? 
It’s all around us all the time, so I might see something on TV or the Internet, or something might catch my eye when I’m driving.  Colors, images, even sounds can be very inspiring.

9) When your mojo has departed the station, how do you get it back?
I stamp an image and just start coloring.  Even if I haven’t a clue how I’m going to use it in a project.  If I get started on coloring then usually the rest of the card/project starts to take shape after that.

10) If you could give advice to a beginning paper crafter, what would it be? 
Just jump in!  I teach Copic classes and have folks tell me that they hesitate to use their Copics because they're afraid their projects will not turn out well.  Getting started is half the battle, but you’ll find that once you jump in you’re more apt discover something you really love, whether it’s coloring, playing with mixed media, collaging, etc.  The only thing that can hold you back is never giving it a try. 

Here are three of Cheryl's favorite Bombshell projects, featuring the Lucky Bride, Mermaid Treasure, Homeward Bound, Rose's Portrait, and Sacred Heart sets!

Now that you've feasted your eyes on some amazing eye candy, click on over to Cheryl's blog and become a follower!

Muse Monday: Homeward Bound- Week 1

Hello Bombshell Fans! Alison here with the first installment of Bombshell Stamps' June Muse Monday. Every month, the Bombshell gals feature a fantastic stamp set, and we share projects with that set on Mondays. The set is also on sale for the entire month, so it;s a great way to get some new at a great price! This month's featured set is Homeward Bound. It's a favorite of mine!

Isn't that a great ship? And all of the smaller images are really versatile too. Let's check out the first couple of projects featuring Homeward Bound.

Alison

Betz

I hope you have enjoyed these projects! Be sure to come back next week to see more. And, remember to pick up the Homeward Bound set up for yourself while it's on sale. Have a great day!

Ms. April Does Earth Day!

Hello! Betsie, Ms. April, here. Have you created anything in honor of Earth Day? It was celebrated yesterday on this blog. Today I am sharing with you my project for it. I created a mini album for my trip I recently took to Georgia. I used an old piece of cardboard as my base and pages. I also incorporated scraps of paper I had in my junk pile (I love my junk pile).



 Sugar Daddy set

 I was giddy with excitement because I got the Tattoo Font set the day I was putting it together! It works great with a circle punch.

 Girl's Ruin  & Tattoo Font sets

 I used a few envelopes I had in my stash to house my pictures from the trip.

Mermaid Anchor & Banner Sayings sets

I never know what to do with the cute little pins, so I just stuck them in the flower I made with my left over Primas.

Man's Ruin set

Homeward Bound & Pirate's Life sets

It was fun tearing apart the cardboard, misting, inking and distressing it some more. I also had fun coloring in the BOMBSHELLS and adding a bit of glitter and liquid glass. I must confess that I do believe this is the coolest mini album I have ever made.

Until next time -- HAPPY CRAFTING!

Ms. April's Blog

April's Sketch Challenge!

Here's April's Sketch!

Feel free to flip it, flop it, and make it your own. Share your project below for a chance to win a prize. You don't have to use Bombshell's stamps, but if you do, you'll get an additional chance to win!

Here's my sketch card using the Homeward Bound set.

 

Now that you've seen my take on my sketch, check out the other projects from the Bombshell Girls!

Stempelientje using Retro Cowgirls

Alison using Homeward Bound

Kelli using Butterfly Queen

Alaine using Hawaiian Girl

Marnie using the Lotus Garden set

~~~~~~~~~~~

March Sketch Challenge

Here's the sketch for March!

Feel free to flip it, flop it, and make it your own. Use your Bombshell stamps to be eligible to win a fabby prize.

Torrey used Lotus Garden along with Koi Tattoo to create her card.

Stempelientje used Homeward Bound, Ahoy Sailor.

Alaine continued the Nautical Theme and used Ahoy Sailor.and Homeward Bound

Monika using Live to Ride

Kim using Mermaid Anchor

Marnie using Holiday Accessories

~~~~~
 

Fabulous Friday Tutorial- Tin time!

I find something so wonderful about decorating little tins and then opening them to reveal treasure within! Of course most of the time these tins contain minty mints but I'm going to show you how you can transform them into a treasure trove for all sorts of goodies!

Here's what you need:

A Tin
Some patterned papers, don't use anything too THICK or it's trickier to mould the paper into the corners of the tin. I've used Prima 6x6" papers as they have a pattern quite small which works with size of the tin!
Wet glue this sticks the paper to the tin firmly but lets you move it slightly to line it up!
Scissors
Pencil
Tape runner

First I like to start with the lid:
Measure your paper against the edge of the lid and allow extra to form a flap and make sure it's a long enough strip of paper to go all the way round the lid of your tin with a little overlap.

Stick the strip onto the edge of the tin with wet glue:

...then snip into rim of paper to make little flaps which are easier to mould around the edge of the tin lid and stick them down with wet glue.

..the edge of your tin lid is now covered you need to repeat this process for the lower part of the tin being careful to measure and cut the tabs as above:

...you can see I have NOT covered the area where the tin lid covers the body of the tin- this allows the tin to close smoothly.

Now you need to cover the top of the tin lid and the bottom of the tin.
I use the tin as a template and draw carefully around it onto the BACK of the paper with pencil.

I then trimmed about 1/4" inside my pencil line

..and stuck this piece of cut paper to the top of my tin this time using a tape runner for speed.

Repeat this process for the bottom of the tin and the outside of your tin is all covered- you can stop at this stage if you want but I like to cover the inside of the tin and here's how I do it:

I start with the inside edge of the tin with a strip of paper that is twice the depth of the tin edge and I push and mould it into the corners with my fingers this makes it easier to fit properly when you glue it..

...you also have a crease so you know where to cut your tabs to help your paper fit better...

 ...cut your tabs on the lower folded piece...

...now glue in place....and repeat with the inner tin lid- this is fiddly as it's a SMALL lip but take your time and measure, trim your tabs and mould the paper applying with wet glue...

To complete the inner parts of the tin you need to draw around the tin again onto the back of your patterned paper and this time trim about 6/8th" inside your drawn line. When the inner sections of paper fit stick in place with wet glue.

Now your tin is all covered it's time to Bombshell it all up!!

I stamped and coloured Ahoy Sailor and cut her out, mounting her on a Spellbinders decorative oval which I attached to the top to the tin lid but as I said I like finding little things INSIDE these tins so...

...I stamped out, coloured and cut out various Bombshell stamps from the Ahoy Sailor and Homeward Bound stamp sets and added them inside the tin!

So there you have it-an altered tin which doesn't take long, you can substitute washi tape or soft for the edging bits to make the process quicker and you can add whatever treasure you want to the inside!
I hope you enjoyed my tutorial!

Happy Crafting!
GlitteryKatie
XxxxX