A Different Point of View

This week the Blogger's Challenge group was asked to create 2 different cards with the same stamps but showcase them in different ways to show the versatility of the stamp(s). I had in mind what I wanted to use but just needed to find some time to get my cards made.

My first project for today was completing some of my Christmas cards before I could start on the challenge. I wouldn't have felt right other wise.

The stamp set I chose to use is: Star Studded Season (Holiday Mini) which of course expires today. The image I used was the super large Star. Now you are probably wondering why on earth did I chose that set since it was mainly Sentiments and a very large solid star. I know one would think there isn't much you can do with a huge star but I think after you view my cards you may change your mind.

Card #1 is a Christmas Card: I used last year "In color" Cranberry Crisp for my card base. I distressed the edges with Cranberry Crisp ink & stamped the Sanded BG with Cranberry ink as well. Then I used a layer of Always Artichoke and a layer of Basic Grey Figgy Pudding Designer Paper. I pierced the Artichoke card stock with my paper piercing tool and added some stitched Cranberry ribbon. I stamped the Sentiment from the set on Shimmery White card stock with Cranberry ink and added 3 diamond brads (Vintage brads) and layered this on a piece of Artichoke card stock. I stamped the star in Versamark Ink on Shimmery White cs and then embossed it with Iridescent Ice EP, cut it out and glued it down on some Cool Caribbean card stock (also a retired "in" color from last year) and cut it out again and distressed the edges. I mounted the star with foam dimensional tape.

Card #2 is a Birthday Card: I started with a base layer of Chocolate Chip and then a layer of Brushed Gold. Then I stamped the En Francais Backgroun Stamp in Chocolate Chip ink on Naturals Ivory cs. I then stamped the Large Star & a smaller star (Hero Arts) with Versamark ink and embossed them with Gold Fire Opal EP (Embossing Arts Co. - retired now I believe).

I then stamped the Large Star again in Versamark this time on a piece of Chocolate Chip cs and embossed it with the Gold Fire Opal EP and cut it out. I stamped the birthday sentiment ( All Holidays) in Chocolate Chip ink on the NIvory and added a layer of Chocolate Chip. Then I pierced some holes and added a Star brad (JoAnn's). I mounted the star & sentiment with foam dimensionals and added a sheer Gold bow to complete the card.

I love how both card turned out and hope you do as well. Be sure to check out the other challenge members cards (found on my side bar) to see their projects. This was a super fun challenge.

Shining Star of Inspiration

Gosh I was so stressing myself out today trying to figure out what I could use as an "inspiration" for this weeks challenge. With the Thanksgiving holiday this past week I just didn't find time to be inspired by a single thing. I was just sitting here when I suddenly remembered that last week I created this card for my Stamper's 10 Club to make and it was indeed "inspired" by a card that I had seen in the November issue of Paper Crafts magazine.

The card I was inspired by was done by the fabulously talented Nichole Heady. I'm hoping it's okay to post a picture of it.

For my card I chose the color scheme of Chocolate Chip & River Rock. I stamped the Print Pattern Background stamp with River Rock ink on River Rock card stock. I then traced a line on the backside of the card stock using a bowl as my guide then cut off the portion I didn't need and distressed the edges with the Cutter Kit. I Stamped the Fine Lace Background with Chocolate Chip ink on River Rock card stock & glued a strip to some Chocolate Chip card stock also distressed with the cutter kit. I layered these pieces onto a card base of Chocolate Chip & stamped the sentiment (Star Studded Season) with Chocolate Chip ink.

I stamped the star (also from Star Studded Season) with River Rock ink on River Rock CS and then cut in out and pressed it into a VersaMark pad and covered it with Iridescent Ice EP and embossed it. Then I stamped the small star from (Star Struck) with Chocolate Chip ink and cute it out. I used a brad from the Pretties Kit for the center of the star and mounted this with foam mounting tape onto my card.

It's a very different color combo for Christmas but I really like it & hope you do as well.
Don't forget to check out all the other great projects on the Blogger's Challenge Group.

Warm Winter Wishes

For this week Blogger's Challenge group we had a "color combo" challenge. We had to use:

Brocade Blue, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive & Pumpkin Pie on our card/project. What an interesting & fun combination. I also decided to combine this challenge with another one from another group I'm on using the Cuttlebug.

My card base is Chocolate Chip layered with Old Olive. Then I ran a layer of Brocade Blue through the Cuttlebug using the Snowflake Embossing Folder & highlighted it with Craft White Ink.

For my main image I used: Snowy Snowman by Penny Black & colored the image directly on the rubber with Watercolor Wonder crayons. I spritzed a piece of Whisper White card stock lightly with water along with my colored stamped and stamped the imaged down. Then highlighted some of the snowflakes with Dazzling Diamonds glitter. I layered this to a piece of Pumpkin Pie.

I used a Cuttlebug Die to cut out my tag and stamped the sentiment (Polar Pals - retired) with Chocolate Chip ink & distressed with Old Olive. Then I used a piece of Pumpkin Pie grosgrain ribbon to tie it onto my card. I covered 2 white snowflake brads with glue & dipped them in Nirvana glitter (Art Institute) and added them to the side of my card.

It's a really different color scheme for a winter card but I love the cheery look it seems to have.

Be sure to check out the other Blogger's Challenge group members blogs to see how they interpreted this color challenge. Have a great week.

Turkey Talk

I had so much fun with this card. I found the template for it over on Maria Bell's blog:

http://stampininspirations.blogspot.com/2007/10/rest-of-batty-for-you-halloween-cards.html . I started with a card base of Pumpkin Pie and added a layer to textured rust colored card stock (Bazzill). Then I added a strip of Old Olive & the Polka Dot DP (Bo Bunny-Fall Festival Mini Dots). I added punched circles of More Mustard & Really Rust with a Mustard Brad.

For the focal layerI used a piece of Old Olive then More Mustard that was stamped with the Linen Background stamp in mustard ink & added a strip of this really cool striped ribbon (KI Memories) that I found for $1.00 at JoAnn Fabric. I was so excited when I saw it because it matched the dots in my designer paper just perfectly.

My main image is this adorable little turkey stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms called, (Let's Get Stuffed). I colored the turkey with Prismacolored pencils & blended it with Gamsol & a blending stump. Then I masked the imaged and sponged the oval which I punched out with the small oval punch and used as a template. I also sponged more mustard around the image and rounded the corners with a small corner rounder punch. I layered that to a punched out scallop square of Chocolate chip & mounted it to the card with foam mounting tape.

I really like how this card turned out & hope you do as well.

Just Being Silly

Have you figured out yet what this is suppose to be? - Keep reading & you'll find out. See my husband has this really weird sense of humor at times and so I'm playing along with him. Lately whenever his French Vanilla creamer is out he's been writing little messages on the empty container and leaving it next to the coffee pot to remind me to get more. This morning the container was upside down with the words: "Dead" and "Belly Up" written on it.

So I suddenly had this brain storm to create a new container so of like how (Frankenstein) was created out of body parts (YUCK) but mine is less gross. I pulled off the tab on the old container and hot glued it on for the nose. Then added some eyes, a mouth (which is actually the grin of the Cheshire Cat) and some hair with bows. Coleen thinks my little doll is, "CUTE"...now let's see what hubby thinks!

Okay I know it's silly but that's part of the fun of being married to my husband...we are always doing silly stuff like this with each other. Hope you are amused too. Oh I almost forgot...

I'm calling her a "FRENCH TART!"

BCG - Simplicity

This week for the Blogger's Challenge Group we were challenged to use photos or pictures from magazines on our projects. I knew right away what photo I wanted to use but somehow I couldn't seem to get at making my card until today.

I found this wonderful card by Jenn here:http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/698112?cat=10726 that I really liked the layout so I decided to use that as the basis for my card. The hard part was trying to find papers that matched my photo but I think what I ended up choosing works for this card.

I took this picture a few weeks ago just down the street from us. There are a row of these gorgeous bushes that turn red in the fall and a single leaf from another nearby tree had fallen in the bushes. I really liked the contrast of the colors so I snapped a close up of the bush and the leaf. I printed it out on White Matte card stock and then sized it down to a reasonable size to work with on my card.

Next I matted the photo on Handsome Hunter card stock and distress the edges then added photo corners punched with textured Ruby Red card stock & pierced. I stamped the Sanded BG on Handsome Hunter CS with HH ink and then Embossed the sentiment (Hero Arts) with Detail Black EP. I wanted to add some yellow to match the focal leaf so I chose Barely Banana and added a layer of pattern paper (source unknown) and the I punched out the border using my Fiskars (Sunburst) punch on Certainly Celery card stock & added some cream brads (JoAnn Fabric). I mounted the photo with mounting tape & tied on a piece of Cream Grosgrain ribbon to complete the card.

Fall is one 2nd favorite season so I just couldn't resist sharing this wonderful photo with you.

Please be sure to check out all the other creations from the other group members. They are listed on my sidebar.

BCG - Embellished Snowman

For this week's challenge on the Blogger's Challenge group we had to use Embellishments (Brads, Buttons, Eyelets, etc....) for our projects. Last year I bought these adorable 3-D stickers and saved them to use on Christmas projects. I decided this was the perfect time to get one out and put it to use. Yesterday my new paper from Basic Gray (Figgy Pudding) arrived and this snowman pattern was just to cute to resist using along with my little snowman sticker (Paper Bliss).

I tried to match up as much of the colors on the designer paper as possible. My card base is Cranberry Crisp (retired "in" color from 2006) and distressed the edges with Cranberry Crisp ink. Then I added a layer of Soft Sky a current "in" color that I distressed with my cutter kit. I layered the snowman paper and a strip of the reverse pattern and added some stitched ribbon (retired SU - Prep School). Next I added 3 snowflake brads (Making Memories) that is covered with a glue pen and some Summer Sea (Art Institute) glitter. The brads are normally plain white.

I distressed a square of Cranberry Crisp card stock and added a layer of the Soft Sky that I pierced, faux stitched & ran through my Cuttlebug and added my little snowman embellishment. I lightened the Christmas tree up a little with some white craft ink & mounted the piece to my card with foam mounting tape. The only stamped part on this card is the sentiment (SU Holidays and Wishes) stamped in Cranberry Crisp ink.

Don't forget to check out all the other great cards/projects for this weeks challenge. You can do so by using the Blogger's Challenge Group on my sidebar.

Blog Header Information

Many of you often ask where my pictures come from so I'm going to try and let you know when I post a new header. This photo was taken about a block from where I live. The people have these absolutely stunning trees in their front yard. I stopped and talked to the owner of the house when I took pictures and she explained that these trees are, "Flame Maples." They are so beautiful. The colors were magnificent. There were red, orange, yellow, burgundy and green leaves at the same time on these trees. I wish photo's could show the true beauty but you can get the general idea.

Our little "Princess"

Halloween is over for another year but I couldn't resist sharing this photo of our, "Little Princess" with you all. Coleen could hardly wait for her mommy to get off work last night so she could put on her costume & go "Trick-or-treating" - Of course they had to stop by Grandma & Grandpa's and (Granny's) house. Our camera was really acting up last night but I managed to get couple of photo's of her in her costume and I love how this one turned out.

This month I want to try each day to say one thing that I am thankful for and so for today I am "Thankful" that the Lord gave us such a sweet and wonderful little Granddaughter. I pray that we will always be a special part of her life and that she will always know how much we love her. She is indeed a precious gift from God.