Shabby Chic and Pink! New Fusion Card Challenge

Hello Friendly Friends! 
It's a whole new day and a whole new chance to make a pink card! 

There's also a brand new challenge on at Fusion and boy! is it ever a doozy! 

 

Check out that inspiration image! It's a gorgeous bouquet of pinks and creams! At Fusion,  you can either play with the sketch OR play with the inspiration image OR fuse the two and create a card based on both (hence Fusion). 

I just chose the inspiration image because I decided I needed a good shabby chic crafting session. There's something so fun about layering on a bunch of flowers and getting all messy with some mixed media! 

I began by taking a rustic looking piece of paper and adding a layer of gesso to selected areas and some splashes of Distress Spray Stain in shades of pink. 

I was also inspired by Pixels and Papers Frames challenge, so I busted one out. 

I also found a frame that I wanted to use, but it was more of an orangey coral than a pink, so I gessoed that up, too. Gesso will eventually rule the world because it covers EVERYTHING! 

I added some spray stain over the top of my frame to make it blend in more with my card and give it a rustic, antiquey finish. 

Oooooh! I tattered up the edges, added some crinkle ribbon and layered on the flowers. The sentiment is from Winnie & Walter's This Awesome House stamp set. 

Shabby and chic and oh so pink! 

I'm also going to link up to the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp: Think Pink
Fab 'N Funky - Fabulous Flowers

Unicorn Challenge Blog - Pretty Pinks or Halloween

Corrosive Challenge Blog - Pink for Awareness

Dragonfly Dreams - Think Pink

Allsorts - Pink October

Thanks for popping by!  

Make sure you stop by the FUSION challenge to see all of the pretty makes the rest of the design team came up with! 

A Tale of Two Cards: Shabby Chic vs. CAS

Good Friday! Well not THE Good Friday, but it is a good Friday! Because... well... it's Friday! And it seems like I'm on the mend from my 5 1/2 week stint of bronchitis. The doc gave me a new round of antibiotics AND some steroids. So either I am getting better OR I am turning into the incredible hulk... one of the two!

And now - back to our regularly scheduled programming. 

I am absolutely pumped about the cards I get to show off today because I've been having so much fun playing in my craft room lately. I'm in one of those really good cardmaking zones. My mojo is BACK!

I am stronger than I think. Oh wait... Just kidding. 

This card isn't ABOUT me! 

This card is about the new STAMPlorations challenge. We've got a killer sketch and a brand new theme and we'd LOVE it if you played along so we could award you some fun prizes! 

On the first card I followed the sketch to a capital T. Ok, Ok, the sentiment isn't exactly in the right place but creative liberties are my favorite kind of liberties. 

For this card, I did some stenciling with glossy black embossing paste over a piece of Graphic 45 newsprint. 

I used the Botanical Lush ARTplorations stencil and masked off an angle using some scrap paper. Then I tied a big, bold black bow and found a cool old vintage earring to weave in between the layers of the bow. OOoooo shiny! I finished off the look with an embossed sentiment from the SENTIMENT BUILDERS: Love set.

I'm going to link this up to Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes Challenge. 

Now for those of you who closely follow card making challenges, you're probably looking at this and saying..... HEY that looks familiar. (at least I hope so). 

One of my fave cardmaking challenges, The Card Concept, is having an blog-o-versary challenge and I instantaneously fell in LOVE with their inspiration image. 

Since it's their 2nd anniversary, I thought I'd make TWO cards showcasing different styles. My first card was clean and simple.... or Classy Elegance, I can't tell which. 

After peering at it, I thought "Self, why not do more of your signature mixed media shabby chic style, too?" And so I did:

I started this card off with a very similar base, except instead of stenciling through the stencil to create some texture, I used all the embossing paste still left on the stencil and pressed it onto the paper to create a reverse image. 

Once the texture paste dried, I added some splatters (because that's the STAMPlorations theme this month - remember?!) using Distress Spray Stains. 



This was the Picket Fence splatter layer, and then I went on to add some Black Soot splatters, too. I added a wealth of flowers and a sentiment from the Fond Expressions 2 set. 

I'm also going to add this card to the Vintage Stamping Challenges - Lots of Layers challenge.

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Thanks for popping by! I hope you'll play along at STAMPlorations this month because I'd LOVE to see what you make.

This weekend, my brother is coming for a visit and I'll get to see two of my adorable nieces and one of my adorable nephews. I'm ready to show off my new house (even though it's a cluttery box-filled zoo right now) and give them all the grand tour! Don't worry - I'm working on my new craft room and as soon as that's finished in a couple of weeks I'll be giving YOU all a grand tour, too!

Mixed Media Card Challenge - A Celebration Card with Vellum

When it comes to Christmas cards, I am the quintessential Fiddler on the Roof crazy person shouting "TRADITION!" ...Speaking of, I really need to go watch that movie again. 

What I mean by "tradition" is that I cannot seem to get away from the classic green and red color scheme, and I'm not even sorry about it. It's the ONE time of the year that those colors can go together without someone looking at you all cross-eyed. 

And December 1 doesn't just mean the countdown to all things filled with sugar, family, love, and magic (also known as Christmastime). It ALSO means the start of a new challenge over at the Mixed Media Card Challenge. 

Since we know that everyone in the universe BESIDES good ol' Becca is totally on top of their holiday cards already, we opened it up to "CELEBRATION" cards - whatever you're celebrating, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanakkuh, birthdays, finally potty training your three-year-old -- it's pretty wide open! 

We also have the optional element of adding vellum, which I did. Because I'm awesome like that. Actually, it's solely because I wanted to try out my new Ornamental Add-on dies from Heartfelt Creations. 

I used heavy weight vellum and die cut some of the various ivy (holly?).  Then I spritzed the heck out of them with my Distress Spray Stains (Colors Mowed Lawn and Black Soot). **Please note that when working with spray stains on vellum it is SO important to use a heavy weight vellum or else it will just shrivel up into a little ball.** A big thank you to Jenn Shurkus for teaching me how beautiful spray stains look on vellum! 

Next, I got to work on the background. I used some vintagey song lyrics, added a doily that had been sponged with Vintage Photo and Mowed Lawn Distress Inks, dropped some splatters on it, then added a final layer of gold texture paste through the ARTplorations Confetti Circles stencil. I used my heat tool to dry the paste so that it bubbled and crackled. 

Et voila!

TRADITION! 

As you can see, I finished the card with a beautiful sentiment from the Holly Berry Cling Stamp set from Heartfelt Creations (which also happens to coordinate with the ornamental die. I added some gold curlicue metal things (painted with gesso to tone down their shine) and some red plastic thingamobobs for the "berries". I tied it all together with a gold sheer ribbon from the Paper Temptress. 

 I'm going to add my creations to the following lovely challenges: 

Mixed Media World - Anything Goes

Everybody Art - Music Note Paper 

Cards in Envy - Put Some Extra Layers on

Vintage Stamping Challenge - Traditional Christmas

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Thanks for popping by! On a more personal note... My good ol' trusty Henry who has been with me for years decided he'd wander into the eternal abyss of wirelessness. 

On the plus side, I think I can break him up and make some cool steampunk textures. On the not-so-plus side. Ay ay ay --- now the hunt is on for a new computer.

Red, White, and Blue-tiful - Crafty Gals Corner Challenge

If you want a REAL challenge, try taking colors that only usually exist in one way and using them on a project that's totally unrelated to their traditional use. 

For example, Red, White, and Blue. To me, those colors are usually used as a combination together on patriotic creations. So when we got our color scheme challenge for Crafty Gals Corner and a totally non-patriotic sponsor image to use, I was initially stumped. But I dove right in and gave it a go. 

Red White and Blue 

Crafty Gals Corner Challenge

I wanted to build up my stash of graduation cards (because I'm going to my first grad party this weekend and have ZERO cards. Yikes!). I began by using a digital image from STAMPlorations that I loved. Sketchy butterflies and a grungy background? Yes, please!

I used Fired Brick Distress Ink and a wiry brush to create some splatters. 

So I had my red. Now for the blue. I colored the butterflies with Spectrum Noir markers and grunged them up using some stamps from the STAMPlorations Mixed Media Grunge stamp set. 

Then I sponged Old Paper and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks onto my background and then used even MORE stamps from the Mixed Media Grunge set (seriously, this is probably my favorite set because it makes getting grungy, distressed backgrounds SO easy).

I raised up the butterflies to give them dimensions, added some eclectic embellishments from the Bo Bunny Carnival collection and stamped a sentiment from the STAMPlorations Noteworthy set.

I had my doubts about how this was going to go, but I sure showed myself! Stop having doubts, self!

 I'm sending my creation over to the following challenges:

 613 Avenue Create - Your country's flag colors 

Clear it Out - Your country's flag colors

Corrosive Challenges - Pile it On

 Sentimental Sundays - Graduation cards

Anyways - why am I talking so much about STAMPlorations when it's a Crafty Gals Corner challenge? Because STAMPlorations is sponsoring us this week, hooray! Which means YOU all get the chance to win some STAMPlorations goodies! 

The winner will receive

STAMPlorations

Prize: $10 Gift Certificate 

So get to crafting and come play with us!
Thanks for stopping by! Follow my blog or leave me a comment and I'd be happy to come say hi to you, too!

Distressed Embossing Technique + Blog Candy Winner

Big, big news! I got my very first card commissions!! Huzzah! I know I practically have the market cornered out here in North Dakota (yes, that was a population-based joke), but I haven't really tried to break into selling cards just yet. 

Don't get me wrong - I have heaps of cards stored up in my craft room and I PLAN to sell them (probably through some local boutique shops) but there are some other things I should probably do first. Like get a tax id number and packaging and make an online shop. Do you sell your creations? If so, you should tell me all about it in the comments. I'll take any advice I can get.

But anywho, back to the card!

For the commission, I was asked to create a card for a friend who was having some health problems. She wanted something that said "Feel better, Thinking of you, or You're perfect just the way you are". 

Lightbulb! I think she threw that last sentiment choice in there just for funsies, but I actually DID have a sentiment that said just that from the Wendy Vecchi Passion for Art stamp set. 

I began my creation by stamping the vintage lady profile using Vintage Photo Distress Ink

The reason I love Distress Inks so much is because they are water based and you can do all sorts of cool techniques with them. Rather than leaving crisp, clear lines of ink, I used a water brush and painted around the edges to give it that soft quality you often find in vintage photos. 

Next, I wanted to create a vintage frame to go along with the image. Today I'm going to share with you the result of an experiment that actually turned out! I die cut a frame on my Cricut and then I dabbed it with Picket Fence (white) Distress Paint.

 While the paint was still drying, I covered it with Liquid Platinum embossing powder. I used my heat tool to melt it and:

Ta-daaaaa! I'm definitely going to use this technique again because it looks so aged and worn and perfectly distressed! I'm definitely pleased with the result. 

I put the whole card together and added a big ol' flower from Prima Marketing to complete the look.

I LOVE this card! I'm sending this over to the following challenges:

Make Art Challenge - Use Embossing Powders and Wendy Vecchi products
Fashionable Stamping Challenge - Glitz and Glamour
Sketch Saturday - thanks for the awesome sketch! 

 

Oh - and I almost forgot! A blog candy winner is in order! Congratulations to Rebecca Yahrling! There were over 250 entries into the giveaway and your name was randomly selected! Rebecca - I can't seem to find your blog (your profile links to a google plus account that has no additional info on it!) So I hope you see this or someone who knows you sees it and tells you about it! :D

One last final PSsssssst: STAMPlorations is gearing up for their 2nd birthday!! They're going to be doing a blog hop from June 29 - July 3 and giving away over >>>$100<<< worth of prizes. So mark your calendars and go follow the STAMPlorations blog so you can be informed!

Thanks for popping by! Follow my blog or leave me a comment and I would be oh-so-grateful!

Frilly Butterfly Card - STAMPlorations April Sketch Challenge +Winner

Happy Monday everybody! I hope the Easter bunny was kind to you and left you lots of jellybeans and very few bunny pellets. 

Today, I'm going to share a frilly and soft card that I created for the new STAMPlorations sketch challenge. 

When I saw this sketch, I couldn't wait to get started because it was one of those VERY rare instances when all the lightning bugs in my head started flying around at the same time and all managed to go in the same direction. 

I used a die cut from my Cricut that had a great shape and had teensy holes cut into it. What could I do with the holes besides add teensy little pearls to it? And when I was done with that laborious process, I decided to be done with my whole card. 

Just kidding. But the thought did go through my head. 

As you can see, I also added a bunch of Prima flowers that matched the soft pink and sagey/turquoisey tones. I also added a sentiment from the STAMPlorations Trendy Butterflies set.  

Then, as if the pearls weren't enough, I decided to get even more futsy and stamped some of the butterflies (from the same set) using Bundled Sage Distress Ink. I fussy cut around them and used some old gold cord to add little antennae-doo-dads to their bodies. 

I added some great paper from My Mind's Eye and roughed up the edges. Here's the finished look!

Speaking of teensy things, I want to take a teensy moment to tell you about why STAMPlorations is so awesome. I know I'm on the design team, but I'm honestly not saying these things for that reason. I've played in STAMPlorations challenges since I first started blogging. 

But let me just say that there are TONS of prizes and they've made it even easier to win because they have >>>5!!<<< challenges every month that each give away AT LEAST $15 in gift cards to the winner. So that's $75/month in free stamps given away. That's pretty awesome. And - you don't have to have STAMPlorations stamps to play along! (No, this is not one of those stamp companies that says you don't have to use their stamps but only ever chooses winners that do.) 

Here are the challenges if you want to go check them out:

Sketch challenge (these run for 2 weeks, so there's 2 per month)

April challenge - Stamps and Numbers (runs all month long) 

CASEplorations - CASE a DT card

Anything Goes - Ongoing gallery (this is the only one where you have to use STAMPlorations stamps to win)

Ok. I'm done now. In other news, I had a pretty stellar Easter weekend (stellar is one of those words that needs to make a comeback, don't you think?). Naturally, I had three days off. And Friday was AMAZING because I drove down to Fargo to meet the fantastic Betty Keefe from Created by BJK. 

Betty is actually from Nebraska, but her daughter lives in Fargo, ND so she comes here occasionally. It was awesome to meet up with a fellow blogger, whom I admire so much. And Betty was just as awesome as she appears to be online! We met up for coffee and then headed to a local craft shop. 

So the moral of the story is... The next time you're in North Dakota, let me know! (haha... I don't think I'll have many takers on that. 

Speaking of visiting... is anybody in or around Philadelphia? I'm taking a business trip out that-a-way in a couple of weeks and would love to know if you have any suggestions for eating or entertainment. Let me know!

I'm also going to send my card over to the following challenges:
Frilly and Funkie - Put a ribbon on it
Just Add Ink - photo inspiration 
Mod Squad - Tic Tac Toe (Flowers, Die cut, Dimension) 

 



Last but not least, I've got a winner for the STAMPlorations gift card I was giving away on the Light it Up Blue blog hop. Using the very boring random.org (sorry but I didn't have time to dream up a crazy way to do it) I got:

Sarah Gray! Congrats, Sarah! Please send me an email with your info and I'll get the gift card to you, pronto! :) 

Thank you to all the wonderful people who signed up to follow my blog! I'll be making the rounds to follow you all too!