Crazy Amigos Challenge

The challenge today at Crazy Amigos is to incorporate a proverb or saying into a card. I used a saying by Mother Theresa. The stamp is from Stampabilities.
The image is a photo stamp from Stampsmith, stamped on glossy cardstock with Ancient Page ink.

Lots To Do Challenge

It's my first time participating in the Lots To Do Challenge. I liked their challenge of "Black and White." The image I used is a photostamp from Stampsmith. The quote is from an old StampinUp set which I stamped on vellum.

I may have cheated a little bit with the dash of yellow in my daisies:)

Wednesday Stamper

Here is my submission for today's Wednesday Stamper challenge. The theme is "kiss."

I had great results stamping this image from Stampsmith using an ink I don't often use. Instead of my usual Staz-On for stamping on glossy cardstock, I pulled out an Ancient Page inkpad from ClearSnap (in Redwood). I was amazed at the crisp, detailed image I got. So glad I just ordered about ten new colors of this ink yesterday!

Two Challenges in One

I started out making a skinny (3x5) for the Thank God It's Friday Challenge. From there I decided to use the image being offered on Art Creation Fridays.

My background stamp is from Stampsmith.

From there I figured I would turn my skinny into a Christmas card.

Diva

Here is my "Diva" which is the theme for this week's Wednesday Stamper. The stamp is from Stampsmith which I stamped with black Staz-On on glossy cardstock. I added a few pink rhinestones around her neck.

Gothic Arch

One more post for me today before I get busy with all I have to do -- but I really enjoy these Sunday Gothic Arch challenges. This week's theme is dogs. Love that theme because dogs have always been a part of our family (for a smile see end of this post!)

I stamped chalk ink on some glossy cardstock to create my background. The little boy and his dog is a stamp from Stampsmith. As it appears the boy is wearing a nautical outfit I tried to carry that look through the arch with my stamped stars (Rhonna Farrer) in the background as well as the twine along the side of my arch. I'll bet anything that dog is named Skip:)

And now for the smile -- here's a picture I took of my son last summer when he brought his Doberman puppy home. The look of adoration on that dog's face is so telling. I like to call this picture "A Good Watchdog Never Sleeps."

TMTA

Using "photo stamps" is the challenge for Think Monday, Think ATC today. I have found that photo stamps can, indeed, be a challenge. Here are my contributions for the theme and my suggestions for working with photo stamps.

For both of my ATC's I used stamps by Stampsmith. I stamped with brown Staz-On on to glossy cardstock. Glossy cardstock and Staz-On seem to produce the best results for me. The Staz-On dries instantly which I like. I have found when using these photo stamps it helps to stamp onto a mouse pad or soft surface. Also it's important not to use too much ink. If you are stamping multiple images, clean your stamp in between because the stamps gets rather gunked up. I have found sometimes I stamp my first impression on scrap paper and use the second impression so as not to get too much ink on my paper. Seems it takes me more tries to get a good impression with these types of stamps, but I like the results and look of them when I am successful.

Take Ten

I got a complementary issue of the Winter Take Ten in yesterday's mail as I had five cards published in this issue. Here's one of them. I love this card. I just think it's pretty. The image is from Stampsmith. They have amazing photo stamps.

Stampin D'Amour Challenge

If you like shabby chic and vintage looking stuff, you might want to head over to the message board at Stampin D'Amour. One of the things they have started is a weekly challenge. This week I posted the challenge and I chose to do something that incorporates animals. I thought that might be a little different. Anyone can participate, just post your submission to the message board.

My submission uses paper from Crafty Secrets. The image is a stamp from Stampsmith which I stamped onto glossy cardstock with Versafine Onxy Black. The hardware I cut off of some trim I bought at Big Lots. The ribbon is from DejaViews. The punching along the edge is from StampinUp.

Joy

I love this card. I think it's the soft tones of the Basic Grey paper that really appeals to me. I also love this stamp from Stampsmith. I stamped it on glossy cardstock with brown ink. If you are not used to these photo stamps, they take a little practice. But I think the results are amazing. I was still on a button track, so I added these button stickers which I thought added just the right touch. It's pretty light, but I also stamped flourishes from Making Memories on the light blue card stock. The sentiment is from PSX.

Dream and Discover

This card was created for the second June sketch over on Two Peas.

It could be used as a graduation card, although I am going to send it as a congratulations card to a friend who just got her first teaching job teaching five-year olds.

I've used this stamp before, but I just love that little guy. He is from Stampsmith. And as I always do with my photo stamps, I stamped him on glossy cardstock with brown StazOn. I also used StazOn to stamp the D on the metal star.

Delightful

This is kind of a re-do of some cards I had made previously -- copied and mixed a few of the elements.
I like this image a lot from Stampsmith. I stamped that on glossy cardstock with black StazOn.
I also like the vintage papers from Hot off the Press.
Got a new scanner and tried that out -- but it makes the image look a little blurry. Oh, well, there's no daylight yet for a picture, so this will have to do.

Wednesday Stamper Challenge

This week's challenge on Wednesday Stamper was the color turquoise. I used alcohol ink on glossy cardstock to create the background. The image is from Stampsmith.

Since these photo type images are best used on glossy cardstock, it was a good choice of stamp for this background.

Color Challenge

The Color Challenge this week over at Two Peas was Carnelian, Lapis Lazuli, Onyx, and Ivory (gemstones). No problem:0).
I actually have an ink called Lapis Lazuli so I used it to stamp the alphabet onto the Ivory cardstock and to color the chipboard stars and tag. I'm hoping the photo corners and background paper is Carnelian. From my search it looked like a redish/brownish/orangey color. I stamped the young man with a stamp from Stampsmith on glossy cardstock with black StazOn. The black paper brings in my black Onyx.
I think this could be a nice teacher's thank-you or a "well-done" card for a student (in which case I could send it to my son or my nephew).

Every Dog....

I made this card for my college-aged son who plans on getting a dog this summer.

The paper is from the Basic Grey Scarlett series. The alphabet is a little bit of everything, stamps and rub-ons.

The image is a stamp from Stampsmith. They have wonderful images which look like vintage photos. I stamped on glossy cardstock with brown Staz-On ink.

The folks at Stampsmith very generously gave me some free rubber (this stamp was one of them) after one of my cards with their product was published in one of the Stampington publications.

Magical

This card was created using a stamp from Stampsmith. They have some wonderful stamps -- the images look like vintage photos. I stamped on glossy cardstock with brown StazOn. This was really the best combination. I tried just about every other paper/ink combination I could think of. I also found it produced a clearer image when I stamped on a padded background (mousepad).
I used some of the Once Upon a Time paper from Die Cuts with a View as a background. I wanted the embossed corners on the top and bottom to be evenly spaced, so I had to cut the paper and then add a green distressed strip across the middle to hide where I cut it. I cut the ribbon slide from the Cuttlebug set on heavy cardboard and then inked it up with green pigment ink, heat set to dry. Then I stamped "Magical" and embossed that.