Wishing

Here's my card for this week's sketch challenge at Stamp TV. I used the new Many Wishes stamp set from Gina K Designs. The images have a soft look and feel, so I went with a matching soft blue and gray combination for my card.

I stamped the smallest dandelion image in gray ink on a soft gray panel. I tried white first, but it looked washed out, so I switched to gray (maybe I should have heat embossed the white . . .). The "wishing you peace" sentiment fit nicely along the side of the image. I layered the image panel on a deeper gray panel, almost matching the color of the ink, then on an embossed panel matted on the same deeper gray.

The card base is also the deep gray color. I covered most of the cardfront with a piece of Amy Butler patterned paper. It's a more elegant pattern than I usually use in my cardmaking, but I love how it looks here. I resisted adding any more embellishments (like glittery accents on the dandelion), sticking to just the gray satin ribbon across the embossed panel.

Materials Used:

Many Wishes stamp set (Gina K Designs); Smokey Shadow Palette ink, Soft Stone cardstock (Papertrey Ink); Bashful Blue and Basic Gray cardstock (Stampin' Up!); gray satin ribbon (Target); Swiss Dot embossing folder (Cuttlebug); designer paper (K & Company-Amy Butler Lotus)

Shine, Sparkle, Twinkle

I couldn't resist picking up this Star Sparklers stamp from Stampendous today at Michaels. It was perfect for making one last quick 4th of July card.

I stamped the Star Sparklers image in black ink on white cardstock, then stamped each of the star images on scraps of metallic paper so I could cut them out and paper piece them. I traced the sparkle image with a clear Stardust pen for just a hint of sparkle. A piece of silver ribbon is knotted around the base of the image, then it's layered on a silver panel.

The strip along the bottom of the card base is from a larger piece of patterned paper from a DCWV summer paper pack. I just trimmed along the sections of the paper that I wanted for my card, then cut the 12" strip down to size for my card base. This really helped the card to come together quickly--and eliminated the need for a sentiment panel, too.

And, I couldn't let the holiday pass without sharing a photo of Cosmo the crazy dog in his holiday garb. I got him a brand new star bandanna from Target's dollar spot to wear today. Here he is in all his glory, hanging out in the backyard in the sunshine!

Materials Used:

Star Sparklers stamp (Stampendous); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); Whisper White and Pacific Point cardstock (Stampin' Up!); patterned paper (DCWV's The Summer Glitter Stack); silver, red, and blue metallic paper (Target); silver ribbon (Michaels)

Happy 4th of July!

I'm hosting this week's sketch challenge at Paper Craft Planet. Since it's a holiday weekend, I thought I'd keep things pretty simple since I have a feeling people will be pretty busy with fun events. On my card, I strayed a little from the traditional July 4th images, but kept with the red, white, and blue theme.

I used one of the Glam Girls from C.C. Designs as the focal image on my card. I don’t know what it is about these Girls, but I really like them. She’s colored with Copic markers in shades of red and blue and layered on a navy cardstock panel.

The diagonal striped panel on the cardfront is from a piece of Scenic Route designer paper. Their Liberty line is some of my favorite patriotic paper—great colors and patterns! I tied a piece of navy ribbon around the panel before attaching it to the card base. I also added a trio of white star brads to form a kind of photo corner to frame the image panel. This looked better in my mind than it does on paper—LOL! I set the stamped image in place, then added a circle sentiment panel from the same set.

I hope you'll join us and play along. If you do, upload your project using the tag sk070409 so I can add it to the album for everyone to admire.

Materials Used:
Glam Girls II (C.C. Designs); white Pure Luxury cardstock (Gina K Designs); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); markers, Lipstick Spica glitter pen (Copic); Riding Hood Red Classic ink, Riding Hood Red and Night of Navy cardstock, 1” and 1 ¼” circle punches, Night of Navy grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals (Stampin’ Up!); designer paper (Scenic Route-Liberty line); star brads (Making Memories)

Earth(y) and Stars

Here’s my card for the first Viva la Verve sketch for July. Even though there are a bunch of layers here, I think my card still has a clean and simple look.

I used one of the silhouette images from Verve’s Because of You set as my focal image. It’s stamped in Ripe Avocado ink. I used a sponge and Creamy Caramel ink to ink along the edges of the stamped vanilla panel. I stamped the “you’re on my mind” sentiment from Heartfelt Phrases along the bottom of the panel, then added a trio of copper brads to the upper left corner. I matted the image on a Chocolate Chip panel with distressed edges.

I used both patterns from a piece of Jillibean Soup designer paper for the mats on the kraft card base. I tied a piece of olive poly twill ribbon, embellished with a wooden button, around the card base before attaching the image panel.

Materials Used:
Because of You and Heartfelt Phrases stamp sets (Verve Stamps); Ripe Avocado Palette ink, wooden button, twine (Papertrey Ink); Creamy Caramel and Chocolate Chip Classic inks, Chocolate Chip, Kraft, and Very Vanilla cardstock, Old Olive polytwill, sponge, distressing tool (Stampin’ Up!); designer paper (Jillibean Soup-Minestrone line); copper brads (Making Memories)

Here's my card for this week's sketch. The twist on this one was to use one of two different techniques. I went with popping pastels--so easy to do!

I paired Verve's Stars with the Little Star Plain Jane. I stamped the stars in Versamark, then dotted them with blue and yellow shimmery chalks. I used Memento Dew Drop ink pads to ink the sentiment stamp in two colors, then used a circle punch to punch out the stamped image. I've found it's easier for me to use a punch with this image than my Nestabilities--it seems to center better that way. I added a mat made from a pinking circle die cut underneath the sentiment panel.

To keep with the star theme, I used a strip of star patterned paper from Papertrey Ink across the cardfront. I added a pair of yellow rhinestones as a simple embellishment.

Materials Used:

Seeing Stars stamp set and Little Star Plain Jane (Verve Stamps); Summer Sky and Dandelion inks (Memento); Baja Breeze, Barely Banana, and Whisper White cardstock, dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);Bitty Star Basics designer paper (Papertrey Ink); jewel Shimmer Chalks (Pebbles); circle punch (Marvy Uchida); pinking circle die (Nestabilities); yellow self-adhesive rhinestones (Studio 18)

Blogger Challenge: Week 106

This week's blogger challenge theme is "Wave the Flag," calling for red, white, and blue projects. I have been wanting to try one of the star boxes that's the 3D challenge this week on Paper Craft Planet, so I made a red, white, and blue one that will fit both challenges.

I followed the directions in the tutorial from the Scor-Pal site (download directions here--PDF format). The box was not hard to do, but it helped me to try it out first on a piece of plain copy paper so I was sure of how everything went together without risking ruining my cardstock and designer paper. Sorry the photo's not so great--it's hard for me to photograph tall items with my photo setup . . .

My star box's cardstock base is Not Quite Navy cardstock, a little softer than Night of Navy and a nice match for the other papers on my project. I paired two complementary designer papers from Creative Imaginations to cover my star box--both red, white/cream, and blue, one with stars and one with stripes. I covered the seam between the two papers with a strip of red grosgrain ribbon.

I used my Nestabilities Stars dies to cut out a layered tag to attach to the box. I used images from the Playful Stars and Ready 4 Any Holiday sets from Kitchen Sink Stamps to decorate the tag (love that sentiment!). These are perfect stamp sets for so many occasions. If you want to add them (or any other KSS sets) to your collection, you can use the code LORI10KSS to get a 10% discount on your purchases at the KSS store.

I filled my star box with some sparkly appetizer skewers from the dollar spot at Target. What a fun table centerpiece for the 4th!

For more red, white, and blue project ideas, you can visit the rest of the blogger challenge players. Links to their blogs are in the sidebar on the right.

Materials Used:

Playful Stars and Ready 4 Any Holiday stamp sets (Kitchen Sink Stamps); Riding Hood Red and Not Quite Navy Classic inks, Riding Hood Red, Not Quite Navy, and Whisper White cardstock, silver cord, silver eyelet, dimensionals, Sticky Strip (Stampin' Up!); designer papers (Creative Imaginations); red grosgrain ribbon (Michaels); Stars dies (Nestabilities); Scor-Pal

Bright Bumblebee

Here’s my entry for this month’s Unity Stamp Co. guest designer contest. As soon as I saw the sketch, I knew which images from June’s Kit of the Month I wanted to use on my card.

I’m generally not a big yellow person, but yellow is definitely the dominant color on my card. I came up with a bright, summery card based on the challenge sketch. I paired two different patterned papers from October Afternoon on my cardfront, divided by a strip of Raspberry Fizz cardstock. I layered the panels on a Kiwi Kiss piece, then on a Raspberry Fizz card base.

I added a pair of bright Prima flowers to represent two of the circle elements in the sketch. The bee image is what I used for the third circle. I stamped the bee directly on the yellow dotted paper and again on a scrap of white cardstock. I colored the image on white cardstock and added some glitter to the wings, then cut it out and attached it to the patterned paper.

The sentiment is stamped on half of a round tab punch, then slipped up under the solid paper panel. Bright, fun, and summery!

Materials Used:
June Kit of the Month (Unity Stamp Co.); Snow White Choice Cardstock (Taylored Expressions); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); markers (Copic); Raspberry Fizz Palette ink, Raspberry Fizz cardstock (Papertrey Ink); Kiwi Kiss cardstock, Dazzling Diamonds, round tab punch (Stampin’ Up!); patterned papers (October Afternoon); flowers (Prima); yellow self-adhesive rhinestones (Studio 18); sewing machine

Scenes from the Outdoors

Here’s another pair of cards featuring image from the DoodleFactory Great Outdoors set from Starving Artistamps. Both of these cards have simple scene panels made from a combination of images from the set.

This one's a 4 1/4" square card featuring Yoris the bear. He is adorable, isn't he? I colored him with Copic markers, then dabbed a textured towel dipped in Copic blending solution over the colored image to give it kind of a fuzzy look. I used a sponge and a stipple brush to add in the grass and sky. I stamped the signpost image alongside Yoris and added the "please feed the bear" sentiment in bold red ink.

I matted the image on a brown panel and added some faux stitching along the edges. The panel is set on the cardfront at an angle. I added a pair of silver brads for an embellishment.

Materials Used:

DoodleFactory Great Outdoors stamp set and Outdoor Sentiments set (Starving Artistamps); white Pure Luxury cardstock (Gina K Designs); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); markers (Copic); Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, and Riding Hood Red Classic ink, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, and Close to Cocoa cardstock, mat pack and paper piercing tool, white gel pen, silver brads, stipple brush, sponge (Stampin' Up!)

This scene pairs Sneeq with the set's campfire image. I used Copic markers again to color the images. The campfire has some sparkle from Stickles. It's hard to see in the photo, but the tiny marshmallow was stamped on a scrap of paper, cut out, and added to the scene with a dimensional. For the scene's background, I stamped the tree images from the set a few times, then added a sponged sky and grass.

The rest of the card ties in the colors from the campfire. The scene is matted on a piece of red cardstock, then layered on a Summer Sunrise card base. I stamped the "You're smokin' hot!" sentiment under the scene, accented with a brad. I embossed just the bottom of the card with the Swiss Dot embossing folder.

If you're a DoodleFactory fan like I am, you won't want to miss next week's blog hop to introduce the latest addition to the DoodleFactory line. It's something special, I promise! Be sure to stop back on Wednesday to see the reveal.

Materials Used:

DoodleFactory Great Outdoors stamp set and Outdoor Sentiments set (Starving Artistamps); white Pure Luxury cardstock (Gina K Designs); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); markers (Copic); Summer Sunrise cardstock (Papertrey Ink); Swiss Dot embossing folder (Cuttlebug); Certainly Celery, Kiwi Kiss, and Bashful Blue Classic inks, sponge, silver brad, dimensional (Stampin' Up!); Yellow Stickles (Ranger)