BCG - Frosty Winter Spectrum

Ah Friday already! Gosh it seems like I'm always "late" getting my card posted but it's at least up before the end of the day. This idea actually came to me this morning after I browsed a few web site's on ideas for using a Spectrum pad. Yep, that was Week 14's challenge, Using a Spectrum (multicolored) ink pad on our project. I own several of them but don't often use them although I don't know why. I found a great tutorial on SCS done by Beate Johns http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/brayeredbatik.php for Brayered Batik using a spectrum pad and I thought that sounded like something I could do. I started out thinking about using a particular piece of Designer paper that I had but after brayering my card stock I opted to go without the DP and really like what I came up with.

My card base is Whisper White card stock with a layer of Orchid Opulence ( a seldom used color for me) that I distressed with the cutter kit and edged with the spectrum pad (Berry Blaze by Kaleidacolor). I followed Beate's instructions for my snowman image and colored him in with a white watercolor pencil and a wet Q-tip as that seemed to help the water color pencil move around better. I added some Frosted Lace stickles to the snowman's hat. I must say that stuff is cool but seems to take forever to dry. I layered the snowman image( Big on Christmas) to a larger piece of Whisper White also distressed and edges with the spectrum pad.

Then I brayed a piece of the Shimmery White card stock the same way and misted it so the colors would bleed together somewhat. Then I dried it with my Heat tool and ran it through the Cuttlebug with the Snowflake embossing folder (I'm so liking that folder right now) - Which reminds me if you haven't already seen the new upcoming folders that Cuttlebug is coming out with check them out here:http://www.allthatscraps.com/index.php? - I can't wait to get my hands on some of these babies!!! Okay back to the card details...

Next up I added 3 snowflake brads (Making Memories) that I also applied the Frosted Lace stickles to so they would sparkle. I added some ribbon (May Arts) to the corner of my snowman image and raised it up with Foam mounting tape to complete the card.

So that's it for this week - Don't forget to check out the other Bloggers Challenge Group members website listed on my side bar as I know they have some fantastic cards/projects waiting to be "Oh'd & Ah'd" over!!!

BCG - Peace, Love & Joy

Wow time goes by so quickly any more...Here it is Friday already and I hadn't even started on my Challenge card. Yesterday was a BUSY day as I was trying out different bread recipes since I'm going to be in charge of the Continental breakfast for our new church that is starting next month. I had a serious FLOP with the first bread and had to start all over. Then we had a planning session last night at our house so I had no time to stamp at all yesterday.

Today it seemed like our dogs (who love to bark constantly) and Coleen (who wanted attention every 5 minutes) were conspiring against me as I was frantically trying to figure out something for this challenge. I had an idea in mind but it wasn't coming together like I had envisioned - Anyone else ever have that happen?

I persevered though & finally got a card together that I really like. Our challenge this week was to use embossing on our card. It could be Dry Embossing (with stencils or machine embossed such as a Cuttlebug), Wet Embossing (with powders) etc...I had so many different ideas but alas not enough time to come up with more then one card so I hope you like what I ended up with.

My card base is Night of Navy with a layer of Creamy Caramel embossed with the Snowflake Cuttlebug template and distressed (DTP) with a Craft Vanilla Ink Pad. I then layered a piece of this wonderful designer paper, (Which I believe is by Heidi Grace by right now I can't find the paper information) I'll check around and if this is wrong I'll edit in another post. I loved the colors in the paper and the snowflake patterns so I went with that for my color scheme. I embossed the sentiment (All Holidays) with a Close to Cocoa craft spot & clear EP then layered it to a slightly larger piece of Night of Navy card stock.

For my medallion image (which reminds me of a fancy snowflake) I embossed it with Cobalt Tapestry EP (PSX) and then colored the image with Bashful Blue and Bordering Blue Markers, highlight it with Waterfall stickles and added a Tan Brad to the center. Then I layered this onto a piece of Night of Navy card stock punched with a 2 1/8" circle punch (McGill) and pierced with the Crafter's tool kit. It's a very different Christmas color scheme I think but I really like how it turned out.

Be sure to check out the Blogger's Challenge Roll on my side bar & see what everyone else created for this challenge.

Book Cover - Samples that got rejected

As I was trying to recreate the look of the tree on the book cover I tried various techniques and thought you might want to see the ones that got rejected.

The sample on the left uses Versa Mark & Super-Russet Pearl Ex Powder brushed on & sealed.This actually looked shiny like the book cover but wasn't as red as I wanted it to be.

The middle sample used Terra Cotta Tapestry EP (PSX) but I didn't like it at all.

The far right sample was Heat & Stick powder with Red Fun Flock. It was the best match for the red on the book cover but the details of the tree got lost so I rejected it for that reason.

It's amazing how many things you have to try sometimes to get the look & feel you want and it's little wonder my stamp room looks like a tornado went through it after I'm done creating a card!

BCG - Inspired by a book cover

Hallelujah!!! - Yes I have my card posted finally. I was suppose to be cleaning my messy stamp room but as I was picking up a couple of library books to take in to lay by the night stand in our bedroom I suddenly had a "flash of inspiration" to recreate the cover of one of the books I am planning on reading.

The cover of the book reminded me a lot of a "sunset" so that is what I tried to capture on my card. I did add a little to my design that didn't appear on the book cover with the "flourishes" and rhinestone brads but they just added to the over all look I was hoping to achieve.

I started with a card base of Basic Black and then added a layer of Ruby Red that was distressed with the Cutter Kit. Then I took a piece of So Saffron and sponged various colors of ink (More Mustard & Color Box Yellow Citrus to achieve the tones on the upper portion and Ruby Red, Really Rust and Color Box Tangerine for the bottom portion) I stamped the flourishes from (Priceless) with Basic Gray ink in the corners and the saying (Refuge & Strength) as well. Then I added 3 small Fire Rhinestone brads in the lower left corner.

For my tree image (Lovely As A Tree) I embossed the tree with Chinese Red EP on Basic Black Card stock, punched it out with a Mega Circle punch and then layered to a larger circle of Ruby Red also distressed with the cutter kit and mounted it with foam mounting tape to my card.

I really like how this turned out.

Blogger's Challenge Week 12

Sadly I will not be posting for this weeks challenge - I have had such a HECTIC week that I barely had time to breath much less stamp. I will try to do the challenge & post it if I can but it will of course be LATE. However be sure to check out everyone else's blogs for their fantastic creations. This weeks challenge was an Inspiration challenge to create a project from something that inspired you (picture, clothing article, magazine photo, etc...) and post the Inspiration piece and your Inspired creation. This is a lot of fun and teaches you to really look at things in a different manner. The Blogger's Challenge Roll is on my side bar. - Ida

Cattitude Monday - Gone to the Dogs!

What a morning...I was RUDELY awakened by the sound of snapping & snarling dogs (our dogs to be exact) I jumped out of bed and ran out the door to try to get them separated as they were really going at it. I finally managed to get one of them outside and the other one calmed down. After a few minutes I let the other dog back in & sat down to drink a cup of coffee when they started in on each other again. So I ran back out there & grabbed up the first thing I could find to bang on their dog gate to see if that would get their attention. Well needless to say it was our dust pan and it shattered into a bazillion pieces and they were still going at it. Worse yet was that the older dog had started to choke so I had to get the female away from him and try to help him breath. He's been having problems lately where he gets food stuck in his throat and chokes, even to the point of passing out. You have to grab him and shake him around until he starts growling as that seems to clear his air passages enough he stops the choking. He's getting old (almost 16) so I'm thinking we may have to switch to soft dog food before long. Since I'm allergic to both (cats & dogs) and haven't been taking my allergy shots the dogs really bother me so I ended up sneezing & sneezing for about 20 minutes. My morning has completely, GONE TO THE DOGS! My photos are of both dogs & one of the cats. I couldn't get a decent picture of the old white dog (Rebel) so you get a sort of spooky looking picture of him and our large cat, (Nuisance). In case your wondering we have a Chow (Angel) and an American Eskimo. (Rebel)

Music Removal

Okay after much thought I have removed the "Music Playlist" feature on my blog. It seems that people on Dial-Up are unable to view my blog because the music takes forever to load and it kicks them off the blog. So I have created a new blog (Wishes, Dreams and Other Things) that I put my play list on. This blog will be for all kinds of stuff, personal pictures, music reviews, book reviews, chatty stuff, jokes etc...whatever hits me at the moment to post. If you want to visit that blog you can do so here: http://wishesdreamsandotherthings.blogspot.com/
I may include a little stamping from time to time as well.

Ida

Blogger's Challenge Week 11

This week I actually didn't "whine" about the sketch challenge although I did "alter" it a little. For this weeks challenge we were to use the layout from Pg. 12 of the Holiday Mini Catalog (Star Card).

You can view that sketch on Stampin'Up!'s website.

I actually did 2 cards this week!

For Card #1 I wanted to do a Fall/Autumn theme so I chose the Apple Cider designer series paper from the Holiday Mini for the color scheme. I started by tracing a leaf on some chipboard and cutting it out with an X-acto knife then glued on a piece of textured Really Rust card stock that I stamped the Sanded background stamp on. I stamped the 2 small leaves (Great Impressions) with Rust ink on River Rock cardstock & then embossed the word "Hello" from Autumn Leaf Prints (now retired) with a Garden Green stampin spot & embossed with clear EP. I punched that out with a 1" Circle Punch and layered it to a 1 1/4" Circle of Garden Green that I pierced with the Crafter's Tool Kit. I added a piece of Hodgepodge Hardware, a Old Olive Brad and tied on some Pumpkin Pie grosgrain ribbon.

My card base: Really Rust, followed by a layer of Garden Green that I stamped the Sanded Background on in Garden Green ink. Then I layered my 3 pieces of designer paper on slightly larger pieces of River Rock card stock. I ended up tying my bow at the bottom of the card instead of the top because I did an "OOPSIE" at the top and had to cover it up with my leaf so there wasn't room to put the bow at the top of the card. I added 2 small leaf charms on the side to complete the card.

For card #2 I used: Real Red Card stock followed by a layer of River Rock stamped with the Linen BG stamp in Old Olive ink. I used the "Dashing" designer paper mounted on Old Olive and added 2 Real Red brads to one side. For my focal point I punched a Giga Scalloped oval of Real Red dotted with a white gel pen. Then I layered a Mega Oval of Old Olive stamped with the Linen BG stamp on top of that. I bought a bunch of little wooden ornaments from JoAnn fabric last year and never used them so I thought this would be the perfect way to show them off so I used one of the little Santa Images. I tied a bow of Olive Green ribbon (May Arts) at the top this time. I did add the sentiment (Perfect Ending - retired) at the bottom right corner which wasn't part of the sketch but I like how it turned out.

So there you have it for this weeks challenge. Don't forget to check out all the other great blogs to see what everyone else came up with for this challenge. They are listed on the right side of my side bar under Blogger's Challenge Group.

Going Batty

I've been buying all these really cool stamp sets from Papertreyink and then just leaving them sitting around without doing to much with them so when I bought the Spooky Sweets stamp set I decided that I was actually going to do something with it and so far I'm having a wonderful time creating some fun Halloween cards. This set was actually designed to decorate bags, tins, treats etc...but since I love making cards I decided that would be my first usage of this very versatile stamp set.

For this card I started out with a piece of light olive 12x12 Designer Paper (source unknown) and decided that I was going to create my own "custom" designer paper using stamps from the Spooky Sweets stamp set. I first stamped the 2 Bat images several times using Palette Noir Black ink (also found at Papertreyink) then I stamped the Sentiment with Old Olive ink (SU) and distressed the edges and added a few smudges of the olive ink as well on the stamped area. Then I layered this to a 5" square of Only Orange card stock that was stamped with the Sanded BG by Stampin'Up! (I love that background stamp). I layered this to a 5 1/4" Square Card (Old Olive and added 3 Lg. Black Eyelets and the Olive/Orange Stitched ribbon (Autumn Inspirations - JoAnn Fabrics) I added Large Photo corners that were punched with SU Photo corner punch and pierced with the Crafters Tool Kit.

Then I punched out a 2 1/8" Circle (McGill) of Summer Sun card stock that was also stamped with the Sanded BG in SS ink and edged with the ink to give it a little glow around the edges. I had this really COOL puffy bat that someone had sent me on a card that I took off & saved so I added it to my MOON and then glued on some crystals eyes and mounted this to my card with mounting tape. I really like how this turned out & hope you do as well.

Cattitude Monday - The Cats in the Bag

Today's cat entry is a "TRUE" story since it just happened this morning. No photo's were available for this event due to the fact that this particular cat was not in any mood to have her picture taken!

We have this cat named (Blackie) who came to live with us because her former owners couldn't care for her properly and then they moved and couldn't take her so they said we could have her. No mind you when we took her in she was skin & bones and very sick with a nasty parasite in her stomach that caused horrible diarrhea. After a few trips to the Vet & pills being stuffed down her mouth for 2 weeks she begin to heal up & has since been living a very cushy life in one of our upstairs bedrooms. She stays there because she is a huge "Chicken Liver" (basically afraid of every one and anything that moves) and she just HATES our other cats. She occasionally likes to go outside and generally comes in right away when you call her. This morning she was out on the back fence in a stand off with another cat and she jumped off the fence into our back neighbors yard and being de-clawed she wasn't able to climb the fence again. I tried a few times to coax her back and even went to the yard with the cat carrier and tried to lure her over with lunch meat but she wasn't having nothing to do with me and that carrier. I finally called my daughter to come and help me and after a few attempts we managed to get her out from under the car she was hiding under and the my daughter grabbed her & I had a pillow case ready to "bag the cat" and we headed back home with her. Let me tell you it was NOT EASY getting her home but I'm relieved to say she is once again "safe & sound" in her little room and she's not going outside again for a few days since she seems to want to chase off any neighborhood cat that comes within a 100 yards of her!

Spooky Greetings

I played some more today with my new Spooky Sweets stamp set by Papertreyink and came up with this fun card. I wanted to keep the "circular" pattern going on the card and think that I achieved the look I was hoping for.

I started with a card base of Basic Gray (SU's newest "neutrals color) which I just love. Then I embossed a piece of Basic Black card stock with the "Dots & Spots" Cuttlebug embossing folder and light ran it over a Craft White ink pad. I embossed the Circle stamp (which was designed to use on Avery Address Labels) with Bold Black EP on Green Galore, Lovely Lilac & Only Orange card stock and cut them out leaving a slight border around them. Then I stamped the Pumpkin Image with Orangerie Hybrid Palette ink on White Card stock (this is the heavier card stock that Papertrey carries. I stamped the stem with Green Galore ink and punched the pumpkin out using a 2 1/8" circle punch by McGill and distressed the edges with Basic Gray ink. The face of the pumpkin was stamped with Noir Black Hybrid Palette ink and highlight with Icicle stickles which I applied with a tooth pick so I could move it around where I wanted the glitter to go.

I want to make a note here that this set is so cool to work with because Nicole has created separate pieces (pumpkin, stem, face) that you can stamp in whatever colors you chose and know exactly where you are stamping them. If you are "Stamp-a-ma-jig" challenged like I am (never could figure out how to use that thing) then these clear stamps are just the thing you need.

Now back to my card...I punched out a Mega Circle & Giga Scallop (Marvy) using Basic Gray & Green Galore card stock & pierced holes using the SU Cutter kit. I added a Green Galore brad and some Tangerine Grosgrain ribbon and mounted the image with mounting tape.

I stamped the "Spooky" sentiment with Green Galore ink & punched it out with SU's Large Oval punch then added 2 Only Orange eyelets and filled the centers with the Icicle stickles so they look like glowing eyes to complete my spooky creation.