Something's Fishy at Sunday Stamps

I'm so glad to be back designing with this great team again - and excited to have a couple new members too! I took about a two-month hiatus and it feels good to be getting all inky again. This week we've got a colour challenge - Pink Pirouette, Old Olive & Marina Mist.

I've been wanting to make this type of card for a while now and since I never inked up my By the Tide stamp set yet, these colours were calling me to do so! My paper was cut down to 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" and I scored at 3-1/2" and 6". Next, I rant my Window Framelits through the Big Shot, making sure to only have my cutting plates over top of where I wanted to cut. Once that was done, I stamped all my images.

Lastly, I ran my card base through again, this time with the Fancy Fan TIEF. I actually ran it through twice because I wanted the texture to be running a certain way. I thought this TIEF looked like fish scales. ;)

To finish things off, I stamped on a separate piece that I cut with the same Window Framelits and then  layered with my various pieces & some twine. The sentiment is from the new And Many More... stamp set. I love the birthday font and the entire set is fast becoming my go-to for sentiments!

Hope you'll play along with us. You've got two weeks to link up, the collection closes on Friday, September 5th. Don't forget to check out the rest of the DT for great inspiration... and welcome the new members too!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph


RECIPE:
Paper: Old Olive, Marina Mist, Whisper White
Ink: Marina Mist, Pink Pirouette
Stamps: By the Tide, And Many More
Tools: Big Shot, Fancy Fan TIEF, Typeset Alpha Bigz Die (retired), Modern Label Punch
Accessories: Twine
Challenge: Sunday Stamps

Feeling Neutral at Sunday Stamps

Love the colour combo we've got going on at Sunday Stamps this time around. It inspired me to create a manly card - those are always hard to do, aren't they?!

The colour combo is Tan, Black & Saffron. I used Sahara Sand & Soft Suede as my "tan", as well as some of that awesome Burlap Ribbon. I used the stamp set Wetlands that I wasn't fond of at first, but grew to love it. Actually, I always loved those tiny birds because they reminded me of the birds my dad always take pictures of on the shorelines in Florida when on holiday. It was the Goose that grew on me. ;)

Hope you'll join us over the next two weeks. We always love seeing your creations! You have until December 27th to submit your entries...

Until next time, stay crafty!

Steph

RECIPE:
Paper: Naturals Ivory, Sahara Sand, So Saffron, Ivory
Ink: Soft Suede, Sahara Sand
Stamps: Wetlands, Sincere Salutations (retired)
Tools: 1" & 1-1/4" Circle Punches
Accessories: Burlap Ribbon

Life lately has been nothing but house hunting! We are desperately trying to find a house that is within our budget and fits our family. We have seen 60+ houses, put in two offers that fell through and are still looking! :(

This card is one I made over a month ago, before all the craziness, to try and use up and showcase retiring products. I mixed some retiring colours with a long retired stamp set (Extreme Elements), Bigz Die (Stars #2) and a new stamp set & punch (Label Love & Artisan Punch).

It's a simple card, but wanted to share so that you know I'm still alive! haha I haven't even had much time to play with my new goodies! Wish me luck on finding a house so that I can relax a little and get back to what I love most!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

It's a Tri-Colour Challenge at Sunday Stamps!

Happy Sunday! This week we've got a fun colour combo for you - Early Espresso, More Mustard & Marina Mist. Feel free to substitute similar colours if you don't have the Stampin' Up! ones. Here's my card:

Paper: Watercolour Paper, Naturals Ivory, Early Espresso
Ink: Marina Mist, More Mustard, Early Espresso, StazOn
Stamps: Serene Silhouettes
Tools: Big Shot, Ovals Framelits, Paper Piercing Template
Accessories: Linen Thread, Naturals Designer Button
Techniques: Watercolouring, Paper Piercing, Distressing

I started with a piece of watercolour paper. I used my clear blocks (A, B, & C) to watercolour my background. I took each block, coloured on it with my Stampin' Write Marker (make sure the block is clean!), spritzed with water and stamped on my paper. If needed, I used my Aqua Painter to blend in a bit more. Once all was stamped and blended, I set it aside to dry. It didn't take long, but you can also use your heat tool to speed things up.

I cut out an oval shape with the NEW Oval Framelits found in the Spring Catalogue and stamped my image from Serene Silhouettes with StazOn ink. I glued the oval on an angle on my card base. On the "scrap" piece, I used one of my Paper Piercing Templates (this one from the Spring Catty) and pierced around my oval. I then threaded Linen Thread through every other hole and finished off with a Naturals Designer Button at the top.

I distressed the edges of my watercolour paper a bit for an added effect and I love, love, LOVE how this card came out. Way better than what I had pictured in my mind.

Hope this card inspires you to play along with us. Please check out what the rest of the Design Team has created for you & play along this week over at Sunday Stamps!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Great Sketch @ Sunday Stamps!

It's Sunday... so that means it's a new challenge over at Sunday Stamps. This week Tara has got a great sketch for you and hope you'll pop on over and play along. This sketch was perfect because I needed a quick and easy birthday card... check it out:

Paper: Night of Navy, Whisper White, Pool Party, So Saffron
Ink: Night of Navy, Pool Party, So Saffron
Stamps: Happy You (Hostess), Merry Minis, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Tools: Simply Scored, Borders Plate

First thing I did was flip the sketch because I wanted to put my sentiment in one of the banners. I randomly stamped my images on a Whisper White piece of cs and then mounted it to a piece of So Saffron. Since I needed a "manly" birthday card, I didn't want to add a lot of embossing or ribbon, so I brought out my Simply Scored Borders Plate. It's new in the Spring Catalogue and I love it! I added a zig zag across the top and then cut it out.

Now head on over to Sunday Stamps to check out what the rest of the design team has created for some inspiration. Hope you'll play along with us!

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Movember

I don't know about the men in your life, but for the last several years, my husband has taken part in Movember. As a "Mo Sista" (a woman who supports a man partaking in Movember), I fully support the cause that Movember stands for, but not such a fan of the prickly stash my "Mo Bros" (a man who partakes in Movember) sports. :)

Anyway, in support, I created a card in MDS that was inspired by the sketch this week over at Sunday Stamps.

I love the flexibility of the program and how quick and simple it is to put a project together. Check it out:

Colours: Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, Sahara Sand
Digital Download: Many Mustaches Stamp Brush Set
Tools: My Digital Studio 2 (MDS2)
Size: 4-1/4" x 5-1/2"

I designed the card front for print (the faint line along two edges is to indicate the edge of the card, and would not be printed). I followed the sketch pretty closely... replacing the ribbon for some manly mustaches though. :)

I created this card for my hubby to use to gain support during his month-long campaign. I "mustache" you a question... will you support me?

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Serene Silhouettes for FMS

Today's card is inspired by both the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, and my upline, Leena Girsa. In fact, my card is pretty much a CASE of Leena's beautiful card (see it here), but with a few twists.

First, here's the sketch:

When Leena designed her card for our monthly team meeting, I just fell in love with it and knew I had to one day recreate it. I just didn't want to completely copy it, so here's my version based on the sketch above:

Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Marina Mist
Ink: So Saffron, Old Olive, More Mustard, Riding Hood Red, Cherry Cobbler, Black
Stamps: Serene Silhouettes
Tools: Big Shot, Woodgrain TIEF, Post-It Notes
Accessories: Naturals Button, Twine

Aside from the tree image from Serene Silhouettes, I sponged the entire image. When I saw the three layers in the sketch, I had the idea to carry the image across all three... kind of like the Triple Time Stamping technique I featured last week (see card here), but with a twist.

I first sponged all three layers with So Saffron and after masking my sun with a 1-3/8" circle, I started adding my layers of colours until I achieved the look I wanted.

I decided to add a tiny black border around all layers - a last minute decision - and I think it works. I glued the initial layer to the card base and then popped up each additional layer. To finish off, I added a button with some twine and I just love how this card turned out!

What do you think?

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

The Son of Man

Most of the time, I enjoy being asked to do custom work because when someone wants something custom, it means they can't find it anywhere else. It also means that I have to sometimes work out of my comfort zone and do something I wouldn't normally create otherwise.

Well, I was asked to create a custom birthday card based on the painting The Son of Man by René Magritte. You might have seen it in a gallery, or in the 1999 film, The Thomas Crown Affair (good movie, by-the-way!). In case you still don't know what I'm talking about, here's my card:

Paper: Well Worn DSP, Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Blush Blossom
Ink/Markers: Sahara Sand, Basic Black, Poppy Parade, Blush Blossom
Stamps: Papaya Collage, Happiest Birthday Wishes
Tools/Techniques: Heat Gun, Gold Embossing Powder, Sponges

Do you recognize the painting now?! :)

When I was deciding what to do, I thought "How cool would it be to use the fancy frame from Papaya Collage and re-create the painting inside of it?!" So, that's what I did! I used gold embossing powder on Chocolate Chip card stock and heated it, then I fussy-cut it all out. I sponged a piece of Whisper White card stock with Bashful Blue and Sahara Sand ink to try and re-create the background of the painting. The man was put together with five separate pieces - the jacket, shirt/tie, face/neck, bowler hat & apple. I hand drew and cut out all the pieces and then used my markers to add shadows and dimension.

I think it turned out pretty cool!

What do you think?

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

The May 31st Blahs

Tomorrow, the new Stampin' Up! catalogue goes LIVE! I for one cannot wait because there are fantastic products coming. So many great new stamp sets, papers & accessories. I know you'll love it too!

Maybe my creative funk lately is because I'm saving all my creative juices until I get my hands on those new products! :) June 1st can't come soon enough...

Speaking of June, the coming month seems to be all about the men. When I think of June, I think of BBQing (not that women can't do that too!), Father's Day and the beginning of Summer. I have also been doing a lot of "manly" cards lately... Maybe the month of June has something to do with that.

Here is a hybrid card I did recently that has deemed to be very popular. The motorcycle is a stamp image I purchased in My Digital Studio (MDS) - big news around MDS in the new catalogue too! - and the sentiment is hand stamped. Simple, but I think it turned out great!

What do you think?

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Double Whammy

I'm back with another Friday Mashup card and a custom card I did for a customer recently. First, I'll briefly chat about The Friday Mashup!

This week's challenge is entitled "Boys Will Be Boys". The "Mashup" Challenge is to either:
1. Make a project for "that special man in your life",
2. Make a project with the "sketch":

3. Or, "Mash it Up" and create a "masculine card using the above sketch".

I decided to "Mash it Up".

I chose to do a simpler card using the Tool Shed stamp from Stampin' Up! It's hard to tell in the picture (sorry about that!), but the first layer is embossed foil - cool, eh?! Then I've popped up each layer after that with dimensionals. Each layer is layered perfectly so that you get the entire image of the stamp, even though the image was stamped 3 separate times. The final layer is also layered on foil. I added a simple sentiment and some wire accented with a "screw" brad.

What do you think?

I recommend checking out The Friday Mashup to see all the other creations from the same sketch and maybe try doing a challenge yourself. They're tons of fun!

Next...

A couple of weeks ago I was commissioned to do a custom card for a barber's 60th birthday. The client wanted something "barber themed" and this is what I came up with:

Again, the background is embossed and I created a barber poll as the focal point. Again, hard to tell from the picture (sorry!), but I popped up a sheet of acetate to give the whole thing a 3D look. I'm really happy with how this turned out, and so is the client... which is what counts!


What do you think?

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

In Memory...

Today is the 2-year anniversary of a loved one's death. I made this card especially for him. He was an AWESOME woodworker and truly was one-of-a-kind. This card not only features stamps that are appropriate to him, but also a technique called emboss-resist and uses some product that will be retiring at the end of this catalogue term (May 31st). So if the retiring products are a "MUST HAVE" on your list, make sure you order before the end of May!

What do you think?

Until next time, stay crafty!
Steph

Supplies
Stamps:
- Have a Seat, #120447 (clear), #116696 (wood) - retiring May 31st
- Tool Shed, #123688
- One of A Kind (retired)

Paper:
- Very Vanilla 81/2 x 11 Card Stock, #101650

Ink:
- Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad, #115657
- Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad, #119667

Accessories:
- Heart to Heart Punch, #119881  retiring punch, available until May 31st or until supplies last!
- Scallop Oval Punch, #119856
- Decorative Label Punch, #120907 - My go-to punch!
- Daffodil Delight Seam-Binding Ribbon, available as part of Summer Smooches Promo (ends April 30th!), and is a sneak-peek from the NEW catalogue.
- Brayer, #102395
- Clear Embossing Powder, #109130
- Heat Tool, #100005
- Big Shot, #113439
- Top Note Die, #113463