Shabby Tea Room Week #3 - Get Scrappy!

 No new sheets of patterned paper were harmed in the making of this card.  Seriously.  This is a 100% pure scrap-made card!  The challenge over at The Shabby Tea Room this week is "Let's Get Scrappy."  Oh, how fun and liberating it is to make yourself work from your scrap box!!  C'mon, you know we all have them... hoards of little scraps of beautiful patterned papers that we just can't bear to part with.  I take that one step further... I have a box of stamped images and leftover bits of "techniqued" papers that I save.  Usually they are the result of my stamping too many images for a project, or I stamp on ivory and decide I really should have stamped on white, etc.  Sometimes I try out a technique and either don't use the entire piece or decide to go with different colors, for example.  I save all of these misfit scraps, and today, I finally actually used some of them!

I should also mention that the fabulous Melissa Phillips is the guest designer this week at The Shabby Tea Room.  She has her own little inspiration challenge, which currently centers around this gorgeous photo, which I took as a springboard for the colors in my card (didn't stick with the scheme exactly, but that's what an inspiration photo is for, right?  a starting point....my creation is decidedly using the shabby-vintage version of this color scheme...;)

So, working up from the bottom layer... the light blue patterned paper is an ancient Anna Griffin design.  Next up are two scraps from a "Couture Pack" of paper by Autumn Leaves.  The stripe is actually a little altered piece I made - I had stamped various Cornish Heritage Farms stamps on it and clear embossed them, then ran over the whole thing with a brayer and brown ink of some kind.  I was trying to come up with an idea for the CHF Summer Stamp Star Design Challenge using "resist" way back when, but decided to go in an entirely different direction.  I saved that little experiment, though, and here it is making it's debut, LOL!  The music is vintage, already torn and left over from THIS project.  Even my Tree Swallows image is a leftover..... it's an extra from THIS artist trading card project months ago.  I had made extras, just in case....  For the flower fringe around the image, I took some inspiration from the gorgeous Prima trim I used in THIS project, and made my own, coloring some Prima flowers with my Copics, folding them in half, and affixing them to the back of the image.  A scrap of twill tape, shabbied up, is the base for the sentiment (Hero Arts).  My tape was gleaming white, and I didn't have time to tea-dye some, so I cheated:  I just ran the pad of Antique Linen Distress ink over it, then ran the edges over the Tea Dye pad and presto!  This is a good technique to use in a pinch if you only need a little snippet of twill.  And that's it.  Everything old is new again.  So try it out.... it's fun... you know you've been meaning to use those scraps.... so go on now, do it! ;)

Copics on Vellum, an Inspiration Challenge, and a Blog Candy Alert!

Boy, photographing a vellum card is tricky! Scroll down for the Blog Candy Alert... it's a good one!

Anyhoo, these are a couple of cards I made for the Splitcoast Stamper's Inspiration Challenge today, which was Bellacor Vases. I used Copics on vellum to try to mimic the effect of the frosted glass on these two vases. The poppy image is from Cornish Heritage Farms (Botanical Bliss), and the butterfly is from a Martha Stewart set. I stamped with Memories ink on vellum and let it dry for an hour or so. Then I colored the images with Copics - some coloring on the front, some on the back to get a better depth of color. For the poppy card, I cut a panel of yellow cardstock, with a strip of orange, and adhered it to the inside back of the card as the panel for writing on. For the butterfly card, I cut a square of white cardstock, stamped the grasses (Inkadinkado) in Kiwi Kiss ink, and adhered the panel to the inside back.

Here's a side view of the cards, showing a bit of the inside. Now, ordinarily with vellum, I would make sure that the image was backed with cardstock, too, so that the writing wouldn't show through the front of the card. But the vintage-lover in me had an idea.... maybe if the writing shows through, it will look like a collage image that has a text background, with a colored image floating on top. Maybe? Hopefully? When I use these cards, I'll post the result so you can see if it worked ;)!

Okay, on to the Blog Candy alert..... How'd ya like to win these beauties? I just stumbled across this post, and it is the LAST DAY to enter! Quick go to Crafty Goings On to link a card you colored with Copics! There are lots of entries already, but somebody's gotta win, right (it's a random draw, so ya never know!)

Winter Wonderland Skaters

My card today incorporates three challenges: The Winter Wonderland Week #10 challenge, which has a sketch this week; the Splitcoast Stampers' Inspiration Challenge from Saturday, which is Heavenly Hostess; and the Gingersnap Creations GC16 Spicy Supply challenge, which is to use ribbon on a project. What fun these were to use together!

The Winter Wonderland theme this week was "Winter Wonderland" (how 'bout that?) and Beth Jaffe came up with this adorable sketch.


Over at SCS, Stef found the Heavenly Hostess site, with the cutest aprons! My inspiration apron for that one was this retro skater apron. I included a close-up of the fabric too - showing my favorite winter sport!

Finally, the Gingersnap Creations ladies have been inspiring me so much lately, I just HAD to play along with one of their challenges!! It's my first, so I chose an easy one, LOL! They have three challenges going on right now, and they always allow lots of time for each one. You'll want to check out their site this month, because they have some wonderful blog candy up for grabs (you don't have to play to enter, but after you visit, you'll probably be inspired to create!).

So, onto the details. My main skater image, along with the sentiment, is from Stampin' Up!'s Winter Post stamp set (Loooove it!). The trees and the iceskates for the background paper are both from Inkadinkado. For that background paper, I made a little mini patterned paper by randomly stamping the skate image, masking it, then gently tapping Baja Breeze ink over the white areas with a sponge dauber. I then colored in only the laces (red, to match my ribbon laces embellishment). Both the skates and the main image are colored with Copics. I used two rows of eyelets to resemble those of iceskates, and then laced 'em up! The patterned paper is all from My Mind's Eye Bohemia Bliss line, and the colored cardstock is SU!'s Riding Hood Red and Baja Breeze. (Those two lines go GREAT together - I know those are retired SU colors, but come on, we're all hoarding some, right? ;)) The white cardstock is PTI, and I cut out the image with Nestabilities Labels One. Did I forget anything? Hope not.

Thanks for looking and have a great Monday!

SCS Inspiration Challenge - Chasing Fireflies

The Inspiration Challenge over at SCS was the children's clothing and accessories catalogue Chasing Fireflies. For my inspiration I chose this photo, because I just loved the rich colors in this outfit, and the fun combination of flowers and stripes. I used Scrappy Cat stamps for the flower images, which I cut out and pieced, and added buttons and twine from my stash as the centers. I free-hand cut the stems and some of the leaves (the leaves on the right are from a MacGill punch). I layered it all on a background cut with Nestabilities Labels One dies. I added striped paper from Basic Grey, layered with Kiwi Kiss (SU) and cut with Fiskar's threading water punch. The ribbon is from Martha Stewart, and the pearls are from Kaiser. Just a quick, cheery little card, for a birthday perhaps. (I haven't added a sentiment inside yet - may need a quick thank you some day!) TFL!

Secrets

Yesterday's Inspiration Challenge over at SCS was the amazing work of Sarah Collier. I chose as my inspiration this piece, entitled Frozen Custard. How amazing is her work?!?! I started by ripping out a page of old text (I liked that the chapter heading was "Secrets" - perhaps those shared by a boy and his dad) and painting it with ivory craft paint. While that dried, I stamped text with StazOn on a piece of acetate (stamps by Hero Arts and Limited Edition). I stamped the main image (Tin Can Mail) on the dry paint with ColorBox Chestnut Roan pigment ink. I stamped it another time on scrap paper and cut out just the sentiment. I then layered the image, the acetate, and the sentiment, and fixed them together with brads. I added a ticket (from Tim Holtz Idea-ology) to the top with a little paper fastener from 7 Gypsies. I then layered this whole thing onto a card base made with Basic Grey and K and Co. patterned papers. Fairly quick-n-easy.

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend - thanks for stopping by!

Mojo Monday, SCS Inspiration, and an Amazing Sight

We'll start off with the card, but if you'd like to skip to the amazing sight, then scroll down :). Here's a little card I made based on the Mojo Monday Week 90 sketch
and Saturday's Inspiration Challenge over at SCS. The Inspiration Challenge was based on a company called Design Dazzle, and the picture I chose is this one.









There's a lot happening in this card, so here we go with the deets: The stamped images are by Papertrey Ink (Bird Watching Additions), Cornish Heritage Farms (Vintage Ledger Scrapblock background behind the birds, Ornamental Beauty ornament thingy in the circle), Stampington (branch), Judith (leaves), and Fiskars (howdy from the Just Between Friends set). The circle label is by K and Company. The leaf ribbon is Papertrey Ink's, and the twine is from Martha Stewart. The patterned paper is from Crate Paper (Samantha), and the cardstock is all Stampin Up (Certainly Celery, Baja Breeze, and Ivory... is it Vanilla?) The inks are Stampin Up's Certainly Celery and Baja Breeze for the birds, and Chocolate Chip for the sentiment and feet. I used Ranger Distress Inks in Antique Linen for the ledger and branch and Vintage Photo for the distressing around the edges. The top green panel is punched with Fiskar's threading water punch. I added a little bling from my stash for the eyes. Whew, is that everything?

So on to the amazing sight. Have a look at this beauty (sorry for the blurry photos, it was dusk and I was far away).

He's an albino white-tailed deer! He was hanging out with a brown doe at the edge of a field after my son's baseball game. He appears to be either a spike buck or a 4-pointer, it was hard to tell. These two were completely un-bothered by the paparazzi that gathered to have a look and take pictures. Hopefully he will live a long and happy life! Here's one last photo of the two deer together.



Have a great day, and don't forget to be on the lookout for the little wonders of the world :)

That's why they call them "Challenges"...

Today's challenge over at SCS was to make a card inspired by a bookcover at this site. My card is based on this bookcover (small photo). . This is quite outside my box, but hey, doing this sort of thing makes us grow, right? :) I used my new Papertrey Ink set called Bird Watching Additions (my first order), which I used for the colored bird images. The black and white birds are from Crafty Secrets and my daughter's Disney Hannah Montana set, of all things LOL!!. The blue cardstock is SU's Blue Bayou, and the rest of the paper, ribbon, and bling are from my stash (companies long forgotten, so sorry!) I computer-generated the sentiment.

So let me tell you, I had a very nice experience with Papertrey Ink. I put in my first-ever order, which included two stamp sets, white cardstock, vellum cardstock, leaf ribbon, and buttons. Everything was FABULOUS - the quality is excellent. BUT.... the buttons fell well short of the advertised quantity of 100 to 275 buttons per bag. So I sent an email to customer service, and you know what? I got an email back from Nichole Heady herself (she's the founder/owner) apologizing, saying she would send me an ADDITIONAL set of buttons free of charge, and saying that they will change their website to better reflect the actual quantity of buttons now in the packets (apparently they were doing it by weight, but as the buttons got larger, the quantity got smaller). I was blown away by the quick, personal, and wonderful response. I will definitely order from them again! It's so nice when people do the right thing - made my weekend :) Have a wonderful weekend yourself!

Inspiration Skeem

The inspiration challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers this week is the website Skeem. Such lovely products! For my card inspiration, I picked this perfume bottle. This card also used the SCS sketch from today's challenge.

I started by using an Anna Griffin background stamp inked in Stampin Up's blue bayou ink on baja breeze cardstock. I then embossed French Flair and Upsy Daisy in white over the top of those panels. The sentiment is from Sense of Time (love the sentiments that come in that set!!)

Have a great day!

Grandin Road Inspiration

My card today is a *late* participation in the Grandin Road Inspiration Challenge over at SCS. I was so inspired by the collaged postcard images at Grandin Road - what a fun card project! The hydrangea is colored with Prismacolor pencils. My laundry list of stamps used (so fun!): PSX (hydrangea), Martha Stewart (butterflies), Stampington, Hero Arts, Stampin' Up, Limited Edition.

I'll leave you with a few pictures I took at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens in Durham, North Carolina. We visited for Easter sunrise service, and the gardens were in their full glory. Have a beautiful day!