Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

The theme for this month’s Papertrey Ink blog hop is tips. I scan a lot of blogs through my reader every day, making notes in a little notebook of color combinations that catch my eye, layouts I like, and other things I’d like to try in my own crafting. Unfortunately, I’m not always too good at noting where all of that inspiration comes from . . .

So, with that in mind, I can’t share the originator of this little tip, but it’s one I’ve used for a while now to make it easier to make those fun little flag-ended accents for cards. I love to use them for sentiment panels, as I did on the card I’ll share later on in my post.

Here’s the tip: Use your square punch to make a notch in the end of a strip of cardstock. Inserting the strip into the punch at the corner on an angle and pressing down will take out a triangle-shaped piece. Much easier—and more even—than if you did it with scissors.

Here’s my example on a card. I made this sympathy card for my co-workers to sign and give to a colleague who recently suffered a loss in her family. I used soft pastel colors and images from Turning a New Leaf and Beautiful Blooms II to create the floral panel. The center of each flower is dotted with some matching Liquid Pearls for a little shine and dimension. One of the sentiments from Through the Trees is stamped on my sentiment flag and accented with a button that’s tied with a scrap of pink grosgrain ribbon.

Materials Used:
Turning a New Leaf, Beautiful Bloooms II, and Through the Trees stamp sets, Sweet Blush and Ripe Avocado inks, Sweet Blush, Ripe Avocado, and Spring Moss cardstock, button (Papertrey Ink); pink grosgrain ribbon (Stampin’ Up!); square punch (EK Success); Pink Petal Liquid Pearls (Ranger)

Falling for You

Happy Saturday! It's finally cooling off a bit here, so it's starting to feel right to turn to fall colors and images in my projects. I went in that direction for this week's Paper Craft Planet sketch challenge, hosted by Adela.

I envisioned the 4 blocks on the sketch as a window and created a simple fall scene showing through it. The images are from Papertrey Ink's Falling Leaves set. I stamped them in pigment inks to stand out nicely against the blue background. There's a dusting of Autumn Flower Soft on the bottom of the panel for a fun texture.

After the scene was complete, I set a kraft panel with 4 squares punched out over the images, using foam tape to secure it. Here's a tip for getting the squares spaced evenly--use sticky notes. Punch squares from a sticky note or two, position them on the panel, then punch away. I layered the window on a rust panel, then set it on a kraft panel. The sentiment is stamped in orange pigment ink alongside the window. I added a strip of dark brown grosgrain ribbon along the side of the panel and wrapped some baker's twine around the ribbon. After knotting the twine, I threaded a button on to it and tied a simple bow.

If you play along with this week's sketch be sure to upload it to the PCP gallery using the keyword sk091810 so it can be added to the album with the rest of this week's cards.

Materials Used:
Falling Leaves stamp set, Dark Chocolate baker's twine, Terracotta Tile button (Papertrey Ink); Pumpkin Pie and Close to Cocoa Craft inks, Bashful Blue, Dusty Durango, and Crumb Cake cardstock (Stampin' Up!); 1 1/4" square punch (EK Success); brown grosgrain ribbon (Michaels); Autumn Flower Soft; foam tape

Elegant Bleached Melon Flowers

Here's a simple card I made for today's SCS featured stamper challenge. It's based on the floral silhouette card found here.

I used the same stamped image from Gina K's Elegant Flowers stamp set, but instead of stamping the image with white ink, I used bleach instead on a piece of Melon Mambo cardstock. It looks so pretty! I've found that when using this technique, it works well for me to fold up a paper towel and set it in an empty plastic clamshell stamp storage case, then pour some bleach over the towel. That way I have a case to keep the bleach (and bleach fumes) safely away from me and my projects.

I added a trio of pearls to the lower left side and some paper piercing to the top corners of the image panel, then layered it on mats that coordinate with the Razzleberry Lemonade designer paper I used to cover most of the cardfront. The look of the bleached image is a nice match with the sort of distressed look of the patterned paper. I used a strip of ribbon as an embellishment across the cardfront. I added a "cheater" bow (small piece of ribbon knotted around the band set across the card) as a simple embellishment.

Materials Used:

Elegant Flowers stamp set (Gina K Designs); Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, and Rich Razzleberry cardstock, Razzleberry Lemonade designer series paper, mat pack and paper piercing tool (Stampin' Up!); Raspberry Fizz grosgrain ribbon (Papertrey Ink); lavender pearls (Mark Richards); bleach

Cold & Cuddly Thoughts

I made this card for today's SCS sketch challenge using a set from the new SU! Holiday Mini Catalog, Cute & Cuddly. This set is just my style!

The polar bear is stamped using white craft ink. I picked a pale colored background so the bear would show up against the backdrop. I masked the bottom of the bear, then stamped the ice piece for the bear to sit on. A little Dazzling Diamonds is along the edges of the ice for a sparkly, frozen look. I added a small sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes to the panel to complete the scene.

I used a cool blue/purple color scheme for the rest of the card. The Bashful Blue panel on the card base is embossed with a polka dotted Texturz plate. Here's a little hint to get a better impression when you're using these plates--spritz the cardstock lightly with some rubbing alcohol before running the plate through the Big Shot. The alcohol makes the paper just a bit more pliable and evaporates more quickly than water would.

Materials Used (all from Stampin' Up!):

Cute & Cuddly and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets, White Craft ink, Almost Amethyst and Basic Black Classic inks, Bashful Blue, Almost Amethyst, Lovely Lilac, and Brocade Blue cardstock, Brocade Blue Patterns designer series paper, SU! Patterns Texturz PlateBashful Blue grosgrain ribbon, silver brad, Dazzling Diamonds, dimensionals

One Tree Times Two

I haven’t tried one of Mary Jo’s sketch challenges in a while, so I thought I’d give this week’s simple sketch a try. I finished this card in less than 30 minutes using only Stampin’ Up! supplies.

I used the fun Trendy Trees set for the focal image, stamped in Kiwi Kiss and Close to Cocoa. I have a sheet of thick acetate, stamped with the set’s tree trunk images in StazOn, that I keep with the set so that it’s quick and easy to line up the images with my Stamp-a-ma-jig. That’s one of my favorite stamping tips for those sets where I know I’ll want to use the SAMJ to keep things straight.

I love the colors from the Urban Oasis paper pack. I used a strip of paper from this pack along the left side of the card. I placed a strip of Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon to cover where the patterned paper meets the solid card base, then layered the stamped tree image and mats over it.

Materials Used (from Stampin’ Up!):
Trendy Trees stamp set, Kiwi Kiss and Close to Cocoa Classic inks, Close to Cocoa, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, and Very Vanilla cardstock, Urban Oasis designer series paper, 1 3/8” and 1 ¾” circle punches, silver brad, Chocolate Chip 5/8” grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

And, since my Great Swaps Girls new catalog swaps arrived in my mailbox yesterday, I figure it's safe to share my contribution now. Wow, are these ladies talented! The cards are fabulous. Anyway, here's mine using Branch Out.

I stamped the tree image and leaves on a Baja Breeze panel using craft inks. The tire swing image was colored with markers, then stamped on to the image.

I kept the layout simple to keep the focus on the image. I added some Chocolate Chip accents--a photo corner, a knotted piece of ribbon, and a scalloped strip--and a simple sentiment panel using one of the sentiments from Trendy Trees.

Materials Used (all from Stampin' Up!):

Branch Out and Trendy Trees stamp sets, Baja breeze Classic ink, Close to Cocoa, Certainly Celery, and Old Olive Craft inks, Close to Cocoa and Basic Black markers, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, and Very Vanilla cardstock, scallop edge punch, Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, silver brad, photo corner punch

Ghost Hearts A New Way

I hope you're not getting tired of cards featuring these ghost hearts, because I'm definitely not! Today's card has a slightly different take on them.

I used this week's sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You as the basis for my card. The card base is burgundy. It looks so nice with the Candy Stripe paper from the My Mind's Eye Irresistible collection. I added a scalloped strip about half way across the card, embellished with a piece of burgundy faux suede ribbon. I tied a knot in the piece of ribbon for some interest. For a pretty decorative edge that required no effort or fuss, I added a strip of pink velvet ric rac along the bottom of the panel.

Now, the ghost hearts. Did you know that you can heat emboss these pretties? Well, you can. I mushed them in my Versamark pad, then coated them with some sparkly embossing powder, then heated with my heat tool. They will get kind of melty and soft when heated, but don't panic. They do firm up again when they cool down. And, they look fabuous! If you want to give this a try, you can find these embellishments in several different styles at i {heart} papers.

After I arranged the hearts, I stamped the "with love" sentiment from the Hero Arts Heart to Heart stamp set on the patterned paper in burgundy ink. I added a trio of small stamped hearts under the scalloped strip to complete the card.

Materials Used:

from i {heart} papers: Hero Arts Heart to Heart stamp set, My Mind's Eye designer paper, May Arts burgundy faux suede ribbon and light pink velvet ric rac, Heidi Swapp ghost hearts

Other: Bravo Burgundy Classic ink, Bravo Burgundy and Very Vanilla cardstock, mat pack and paper piercing tool, Versamark, Iridescent Ice embossing powder (Stampin' Up!)

Hip Hop Thursday Challenge Times Two

I'm home from work today so I had time to participate in two of the challenges posted in the Unity Stamp Co. forum on SCS.

The first challenge was to use stitching on a card. The base of the card was actually originally intended to be the start of my card for the Wednesday Unity Customer Challenge to make a non-A2 size card, but I ended up putting it aside and going another direction. I went back to it today and finished it for this challenge.

I stamped three of the figures from The “Boo” Crew set on a piece of white cardstock and colored them with Copic markers. I added some small wiggly eyes to the images for fun.

I stitched two different patterned papers on to the black card base using a zig zag stitch. I’m pleased to report that my sewing is definitely getting straighter. I thought that would never happen! I tied a piece of orange ribbon with orangey-yellow dots around the card for a pop of color, then layered the stamped image on the card.

I created a sentiment panel from two die cut ovals. It looked a little plain, so I embellished it with an iridescent black rhinestone.

Materials Used:
The “Boo” Crew (Unity Stamp Co.); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); white cardstock (Xerox); markers (Copic Ciao); patterned paper (My Favorite Things); ribbon (Morex); oval dies (Nestabilities); dimensionals (Stampin’ Up!); self-adhesive rhinestone (Michaels); wiggly eyes; sewing machine

The second challenge was to make a masculine card. I pulled out my Lovin' from the Oven kit and some masculine papers and colors to put this one together.

You're not seeing things here--there are two of the oven mitt images, facing in opposite directions. The kit only includes one mitt image. Here's the trick I used to get the second image--I stamped the image in black ink on a piece of acetate, then placed the rust cardstock over it and rubbed over it with a brayer. This transferred the image to the cardstock in reverse. The black lines weren't as dark as I would have liked, so I traced over them with a black marker for a little more emphasis.

I tried to keep the layout pretty simple and embellishment-free to make it more masculine, but a little ribbon snuck in. It is dark, dark brown, so that's kinda masculine, right? I stamped the Worn Grid background on the Sahara Sand cardfront for a little more masculine detail, too.

Materials Used:

Lovin' from the Oven stamp kit, Worn Grid background (Unity Stamp Co.); Sahara Sand and Really Rust Classic inks, Sahara Sand, Really Rust, More Mustard, and Very Vanilla cardstock, mat pack and paper piercing tool, word window punch, Basic Black marker, dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); brown grosgrain ribbon (Morex); Tuxedo Black ink (Memento); patterned paper (Creative Imaginations)

Bears and Flowers?

I made this simple card for today's featured stamper challenge on SCS. My card is based on this card in Kim's gallery. I changed the color scheme and the stamp set used, along with a few other details. Believe it or not, the stamps I used are from the new Get Well Teddy stamp set from Kitchen Sink Stamps. In addition to the adorable teddy bear image (see it in this post), these great three-step flower images are also part of the set. I am loving the versatility of this set.

I stamped the two-step stem and three-step flower image (they're separate so they're easy to use) at varying heights in the inked blue box I created. The flowers are a combination of Regal Rose and Rose Red Classic inks. I added a trio of Regal Rose brads at the corner of the like Kim did in her card. I omitted the paper piercing because I was kind of in a hurry to complete the card. My best friend from high school was in town this weekend and I needed to get in my car to get to Baltimore's Inner Harbor (an hour away) to meet her and her family for a little birthday celebration for her two-year old. I made cards to go with the gifts I bought for her girls and now that I'm home, I'm kicking myself because I realize that in my rush to leave earlier this afternoon, I forgot to take pictures of the cute cards . . .

The sentiment is stamped in coordinating Rose Red ink. Before tying the ribbon around the image panel, I layered the moss and cream ribbons, then tied them for a different look.

Here's a little helpful tip for you. I used the reverse masking technique to create the inked box on the cardfront. Instead of cutting out and creating a mask, I pulled out something already available in my collection and temporarily "converted" it into a mask--a rectangle Nestabilities die.

I placed just a bit of removable adhesive on the flat side of the die, stuck it where I wanted it on the paper, then sponged in the Bashful Blue ink to create a simple background for my images. When I was done, I lifted away the die and wiped off the ink and adhesive before putting it away. It left a perfect rectangle to work with. Just another way to make use of this great tool . . .

Materials Used:
Get Well Teddy stamp set (Kitchen Sink Stamps); Regal Rose, Rose Red, Bashful Blue, and Always Artichoke Classic inks, Rose Red Classic ink, Spring Moss grosgrain ribbon, Regal Rose brads, sponge (Stampin' Up!); rectangle die (Nestabilities); cream satin ribbon (Target); cream cardstock (Papertrey Ink)

Blogger Challenge: Week 41

It's Friday--yay! Although I've only worked 4 days this week, it's seemed like forever. I guess that's what happens when you go back to work after a break . . . This week's challenge was to use the sketch for the long card on page 65 of the SU! Spring/Summer Collection. I have such a hard time with these long, skinny cards, so this was definitely a challenge for me.

I ended up deciding to use some chipboard as the focal image on my card. I used a large chipboard star from a package of bulk chipboard pieces that SU! offered for demo purchase. It's covered with gold ink to make it shiny.

I altered the layout just a little. I used a piece of Bashful Blue Prints Series paper layered on a piece of Night of Navy cardstock. Instead of using a rounded piece on the left side of the card, I rounded the edges of the panel I used.

The sentiment from the In the Stars stamp set from the current SU! Occasions mini catalog is stamped in Night of Navy ink. I really like this set--it's so versatile. It works for birthdays, graduations, babies, and all sorts of other occasions and is also good for masculine cards (they're so tricky for me!). I'm disappointed that the large star image isn't a perfect match for SU!'s large star punch, though . . .

I really like the monochromatic look of this card along with the pops of gold. I have a little "secret"--the star brads didn't start out gold. I had tons of yellow, blue, red, white, and silver brads in my stash, but no gold. So, I colored a pair of silver star brads with a Copic marker. Worked perfectly! This is a great tip to keep in mind for those markers. You can make your silver (or white) brads match almost anything with a quick brush of the marker tip.

Be sure to check out what the other blogger challenge group players have created with this layout. You can find links to their blogs in the sidebar on the right.

Materials Used:
In the Stars stamp set, Night of Navy Classic ink, Brocade Blue and Night of Navy cardstock, Bashful Blue Prints Series designer paper, corner rounder, chipboard star, glue dot (Stampin' Up!); star brads (Making Memories); marker (Copic Ciao); Galaxy Gold ink (Brilliance); gold ribbon (American Crafts)

Two Ways to Spray

Today's ways to use it challenge on SCS was to use some kind of "spray" technique on your card. I incorporated two different ways here--one neat and clean, and one kind of messy.

I picked my colors for this card based on the DCWV striped paper. Mellow Moss and Bravo Burgundy are colors that I don't use often, so this was a good change of pace for me.

I used a floral silhouette image from Starving Artistamps for the card's focal image. I colored directly on the stamp with Copic markers, then spritzed the stamp with a little rubbing alcohol (just enough to dampen it and to send the dog away, sneezing . . .). I stamped the image on Papertrey's white cardstock because of its heavy weight.

After stamping the image, I spritzed it with some bronze Glimmer Mist. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to use Glimmer Mist. I now realize it needs to be shaken up really well before using it to minimize "blobs" when you spray.

It's also kind of messy, so I've learned to put my stamped image in a plastic container to spray. This minimizes the mess and eliminates the un-glimmered spots that you can get if you hold the image by your fingertips (another lesson learned . . .).

I mentioned using heavy paper for the image and this is important because the heavier paper reduces the amount of curling at the edges as the image dries.

I used the ticket corner punch on the edges of the image and the burgundy mat. I rubbed a little Creamy Caramel ink along the panel edges, too. I layered this on a Mellow Moss panel with distressed edges and added some pearly Dew Drops to the corners. This made an elegant accent for the floral image. I took a closeup photo so you can hopefully see the pretty shimmer from the Glimmer Mist.

Materials Used:

large floral silhouette image (FS-9) and pretty background (Starving Artistamps); Creamy Caramel and Bravo Burgundy Classic inks, Bravo Burgundy and Mellow Moss cardstock, ticket corner punch, distressing tool, Crystal Effects, dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); markers (Copic Ciao); moss satin ribbon (Michaels dollar bin); Dew Drops (Kitchen Sink Stamps); patterned paper (DCWV Fall Mat Stack); bronze Glimmer Mist

Blogger Challenge: Week 32

This week's challenge was another layout challenge. This week's layout is from the cover of the new Sale-a-bration catalog. How appropriate, since today's the official start of SAB. There are five great stamp sets to choose from this year, plus a fun set of rub-ons.

The card on the catalog featured some images set off from the front panel using dimensionals and also extending over the side of the front panel. I didn't want to spend a lot of time cutting out images to place on the panel, so I compromised a little. I stamped the open petal images from Pick a Petal in Groovy Guava and Purely Pomegranate directly on shimmery white cardstock, then watercolored them with reinkers and a watercolor brush. The layered flower center is punched out from cardstock scraps. It is both raised and extended over the side of the panel--much less work than cutting out anything.

I used clear embossing powder to emboss one of the circular flower center images on the pomegranate circle. Since I only have Purely Pomegranate classic ink, I first inked my stamp in Versamark, then in the colored ink before stamping on the paper. This makes the colored ink sticky enough to hold the embossing powder--a great trick for embossing in colors when you don't have colored embossing powders or craft ink pads.

I've realized that my card stash is sorely lacking in the birthday department, so I made this into a birthday card by adding one of the sentiments from Stem Sayings. I like how the curved images in this set go with the curved scallops at the edge of the flower panel.

Be sure to check out what the other members of the bloggers challenge group have come up with for this layout. They are such a talented group! You can find links to their blogs in the sidebar on the right.

Materials Used:
Pick a Petal and Stem Sayings stamp sets, Purely Pomegranate and Groovy Guava Classic inks, Purely Pomegranate, Groovy Guava, Barely Banana, and Shimmery White cardstock, 1 1/4" circle punch, corner rounder, Crystal Clear embossing powder, dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); 1 1/8" circle punch (EK Success); peach organdy ribbon, self adhesive rhinestone (Michaels)

Clear Love

As soon as I looked at the first card in the gallery of today's featured stamper on SCS (see Veronica/I'mVeronica's SCS gallery here), I knew exactly which card I wanted to recreate. I thought that with a little adjustment, Veronica's baby card (find it here) would work perfectly as a Valentine's card. Who needs Valentine's Day stamps to create a valentine when you've got letter stamps handy . . .

I replaced the word "baby" in the original card with the word "love." I used the Playful Alphabet set from Kitchen Sink Stamps and some embellishments (a layered pair of felt hearts from American Crafts and a big button) to create the word.

The great thing about clear stamps is that there's no guesswork involved in the placement of the images. Here's a picture of how I lined up the letter stamps and the embellishments I planned to use on the acrylic block to test for placement and spacing before I stamped the images. Saves a lot of time, frustration, and paper, too!

After I stamped the images and secured the embellishments, I set the stamped panel on a Purely Pomegranate mat and then on a black scalloped rectangle. I changed my panel to a rectangle rather than the square in the original version of the card because I don't have the Nestabilities scalloped square dies (yet!). I found a scrap of dotted Prints series paper in Rose Red for the panel across the cardfront and added Pretty in Pink scraps along the top and bottom of the strip. I tied a wider strip of pink grosgrain ribbon across the patterned paper panel to go with the tiny piece of pink grosgrain tied through the button that serves as the letter o in "love."

I am not a good "doodler," so I hesitated a bit before drawing the panel on the front of the card. I stamped the sentiment (from Never a Loss 4 Words, also from Kitchen Sink Stamps) first, then used a ruler to guide the lines. Not really doodling, but somewhat out of my comfort zone, none the less.

Materials Used:

Playful Alphabet and Never a Loss 4 Words stamp sets (Kitchen Sink Stamps); Pearlescent Poppy pigment ink (Brilliance); Midnight Black chalk ink (Versa Magic); scalloped rectangle die(Nestabilities); wide pink grosgrain (AC Moore); button (Walmart); pink felt hearts (American Crafts); Purely Pomegranate, Pretty in Pink, Basic Black, and Whisper White cardstock, Rose Red Prints Series designer paper, Pretty in Pink grosgrain ribbon, glue dots, dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); black pen (Micron)

Blogger Sketch Challenge Duo

Since my internet connection was restored yesterday, I've been working on catching up on some blogger sketch challenges this week and wanted to share what I've been working on.

This first card is a combination of this week's SCS color challenge (Elegant Eggplant, So Saffron, Wild Wasabi) and a sketch that Lauren shared on her blog on Saturday (I said I was doing some catching up . . .). She's been showing lots of great ways to use smaller stamped images on your cards. This is something that I have such a hard time with, so her sketches are really helpful for me. For this card, I used one of the small flower images from Priceless. I stamped the image 4 times and carefully cut each image out. I glued a pearly Dew Drop to the center of each flower.

Here's the trick I used to create the evenly spaced circles on this panel. I punched out 4 circles from post it notes, being sure to punch through the sticky strip on the post it note. Then, I placed them on the panel. Since they're sticky, they stay where they're placed and I can reposition them until I get them placed just right. Once they're in place, I use the post it note circles as a guide to align the punch (I turn the punch over so I can see where I'm punching) and get the holes where I want them. They're really thin, so they don't catch on the punch and jam it up.

I originally didn't have a sentiment on this card, but it just didn't look finished. I finally decided to add the bold "happy" image from Polka Dots & Paisleys. Now I feel a little better about how the card turned out.

This second card is for Jen's weekly challenge on Stamping Therapy. This week's challenge was a sketch challenge. As soon as I saw the sketch, I knew it would be perfect for one of the newly released Stamping Bella images that arrived in my mailbox earlier this week. I used Ipodabella and a coordinating sentiment for this card. I think she'll make a great image to use when I give iTunes gift cards as presents!

The patterned paper I used on the card is a piece of double sided paper by Fancy Pants. It has a cool textured look to it and really vivid colors. I used the colors to pick the colors for the Bella image. I got some more Copic markers in the mail today (one of the "gifts to self" I mentioned in a post earlier this week), so I pulled them out to color the image. It's nice to have a wider range of shades to work with.


In addition to the Copics, I also used some other fun details on the Bella image. There's some Stickles glitter on the heart on her jeans and on the bow in her hair. I also added some fun flock to her collar and the waist of her sweater.

Materials Used (Flower card):
Priceless and Polka Dots & Paisleys stamp set, So Swirly jumbo wheel and handle, Elegant Eggplant Classic ink, Whisper White craft ink, Elegant Eggplant, So Saffron, Wild Wasabi, and Whisper White cardstock, 1 3/8" circle punch, white taffeta ribbon, dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Dew Drops (Kitchen Sink Stamps)

Materials Used (Ipodabella card):
Ipodabella and sentiment (Stamping Bella); Graphite Black ink (Brilliance); markers and gold glitter marker (Copic); patterned paper (Fancy Pants); Tempting Turquoise and Green Galore cardstock, apple green grosgrain, dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); white fun flock (Stampendous); Fruit Punch Stickles (Ranger); brads (Making Memories); silver gel pen (Sakura)

Blue Birthday Cupcake and a Tip for You, Too

I made this card is for today's featured stamper challenge on SCS. Charlene/LilLuvsStampin is today's stamper. You can find her SCS gallery here.

You can see the card I used for the challenge here. It really doesn't look much like the card I ended up making, but I guess that's the idea of the challenge, isn't it?

As soon as I saw Charlene's cute penguin card, I thought that the design would work really well with the smaller cupcake image from Happy Birthday Cupcake from Kitchen Sink Stamps. I think it was the handwritten sentiment that circled the penguin image on Charlene's card that made me think about the cupcake image.

I ended up changing the orientation of the card and changing the shade of blue I used here. I also omitted one of the layers--the white embossed panel--because I couldn't cut a scalloped square that looked right with my scallop edged scissors. I think the white layer might have added a nice pop to the image . . .

The cupcake image is actually attached to the inside of the card using dimensionals. I used my new set of Nestabilities circles along with my Cuttlebug to cut through the scalloped circle and the cardfront to make the opening. My cut isn't as centered as I would have liked--I think I need a little more practice with these to get the hang of them. I colored the cupcake image with Copic markers and added some glitter to the flame.

I stamped the "make a wish" sentiment from the Happy Birthday Cupcake set on a scrap of ribbon and attached it to a Ruby Red panel along the bottom of the cardfront. The sentiment is a perfect fit for 1/4" grosgrain ribbon! Fun and easy to do. I borrowed this idea from fellow Kitchen Sink Crew member Erika. She did this on a card she shared on her blog at the start of the weekend. You can find her card here.

Here's a tip for figuring out how to place the images so they'll fit and be spaced correctly. I set the ribbon out on a piece of scrap paper, then stamped the images on the scrap paper, just above the ribbon, to check for placement and fit. By using the scrap paper, I can try out placement a few times before putting the ink on the ribbon. When I'm ready to stamp, I just line up the ribbon (or piece of paper) right under the line that I want to use for a guide. Since I know that probably didn't make much sense the way I tried to describe it, I took a photo of my work space ( a small and not messy part of it!) to show you what I mean.

Materials Used:
Happy Birthday Cupcake and Backgrounds & Borders sets (Kitchen Sink Stamps); Blue Bayou Classic ink, Blue Bayou, Ruby Red, and Whisper White cardstock, white gel pen, mat pack and paper piercing tool, corner rounder, white grosgrain ribbon (Stampin' Up!); Graphite Black ink (Brilliance); circle dies (Nestabilities); giga scalloped circle punch (Marvy Uchida); Copic markers; Platinum Stickles (Ranger)

My Take on Tammy

Tammy/stampertammy is the featured stamper for today's challenge on SCS. You can see her SCS gallery here and her blog, Stamp Happy, here. If you liked my card from yesterday's post using stamps from Kitchen Sink Stamps, you'll definitely want to check Tammy's blog and gallery out. She has created quite a few beautiful cards using Kitchen Sink Stamps.

I cased two different cards from Tammy's gallery for the challenge. The first was an elegant black and silver card (see it here). I loved the striking color combination, so I kept that the same. I used a different stamp set for the image on the left of the card. I inked the retired Stars & Swirls wheel with Versamark, then covered the image with silver embossing powder.

I also changed the sentiment, even though I have the set that Tammy used in her original card. I replaced it with a sentiment from the also retired All Year Cheer I set, again heat embossing the image with silver embossing powder--which, for some reason, doesn't show up silvery in the photo.

The second card used an emboss resist technique (see it here). I changed the resist technique used to Versamark resist, and also changed the image, the colors, and the layout just a little bit. I used one of the images from Stem Silhouettes for my main image. I think this just may be my very favorite set from the Winter Mini catalog--it is so versatile.

The image is matted with a scalloped rectangle punch--yes, that's what I meant. Here's my tip for making a really big scallop edged mat using your square or rectangle scalloped punches. I punched out four of the giga rectangles, then layered and pieced them together to make a mat. You'll need to cut off one of the edges of the scalloped squares or rectangles since the "bump" on the corners is bigger and you want all of the scallops along the edge to be a consistent size. Where they overlap and are attached is pretty much hidden by the image, at least as long as you don't look too closely!

Tammy's original card used a swirl stamp for the bottom section of the card. I modified that, using some patterned paper from the retired Petal Patch designer series paper instead.
There is a paper in the Fall Flowers package in the current SU! catalog that has the identical pattern, but is just a little bit darker green.

Tammy used a piece of moulding across the front of her card to cover the transition between the two sections of her card. I replaced that with a piece of brown satin ribbon. I stamped the sentiment from Stem Silhouettes on two lines, instead of straight across--and actually did this by myself without a Stamp-a-ma-jig and got it lined up perfectly on the very first try!

Materials Used (Elegant Silver Holiday Card):
All Year Cheer I stamp set, Stars & Swirls jumbo wheel, Basic Black and Whisper White cardstock, Versamark, silver embossing powder, silver cord, dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); white organdy, black organdy (Joann); textured silver cardstock (DCWV's The Metallic Stack)

Materials Used (Stem Silhouettes Resist Card):
Stem Silhouettes stamp set, Pumpkin Patch spectrum pad, Versamark, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, and Glossy White cardstock, Petal Patch designer series paper, large oval punch, dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); giga scalloped rectangle punch (Marvy Uchida); copper brad (Making Memories); brown satin ribbon (AC Moore)

Boy, Oh, Boy--Again

It seems like everyone I know who has had a baby recently or is expecting a baby soon is having a little boy. So, here's another baby boy card to welcome a recent arrival. I used the sketch from Beate's weekend sketch challenge again for this card.

The main image on the card is from Stampin' Up!'s Event Full hostess set. I stamped the pea pod image, then colored it with Prismacolor pencils. I stamped the image a second time, colored it, then cut out just the little peas. I attached them to the larger image with dimensionals.

The patterned paper is from a DCWV mat pack. I used a lid to trace and cut out a half circle (see my circle cutting tip here), then used the small corner rounder to create a scalloped edge mat for the half circle.

The trio of buttons are attached with glue dots. Here's a time-saving tip for using buttons--if you don't want to pull out thread to tie through a button's holes, use your white gel pen to simply draw a line between the button holes. It will look just like thread and both save you time and help the button to lie flat on your card.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for my weekly bloggers challenge project . . .

Materials Used:

Event Full and Polka Dot background stamp sets, Barely Banana and Basic Black Classic inks, Barely Banana, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, and Whisper White cardstock, corner rounder, mat pack and paper piercing tool, white gel pen, glue dots, dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); patterned paper (DCWV's Spring Mat Pack); buttons (Walmart); ribbon (Michaels); mega oval punch and giga scalloped oval punch (Marvy Uchida)

Yay!

One of my friends shared a piece of good news with me yesterday and I wanted to make a card to help her celebrate. I used Beate's weekend sketch challenge for inspiration for this card.

I hadn't inked up this Pompomabella stamp from Stamping Bella yet and I thought it would be perfect for a celebratory congratulations card. I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils. Then I added some bright pink flocking powder to the pom poms and covered them with some Diamond Stickles, too. I stamped grass at the bottom of the image, but didn't like how it looked. So, I tried to correct that with some layered strips of celery cardstock with tiny snips in in to look like grass.

The patterned paper is from a Memory Box collection pack. The design on it reminded me of pom poms. I was able to use my very low-tech trick for cutting out circles on this card design. I have a collection of round plastic lids from a variety of long since discarded containers. When I need a circle for a project, I look through my collection and find the right size lid for the circle (or in this case, half circle) I need, then trace the lid on to the back side of a piece of paper. I started this collection when I was a kindergarten teacher and often needed to cut out circles for projects. To keep the collection handy, I have punched holes in the lids and attached them together with a large binder ring. I can hang the ring up and easily take the lids on and off the ring when I need to use them.

Materials Used:

Taking Shape, Trees Three, and Dotted background stamp sets, Pixie Pink, Pink Passion, Cool Caribbean, Certainly Celery, and Basic Black Classic inks, Pixie Pink, Pink Passion, Certainly Celery, and Whisper White cardstock, 1" circle punch, dimensionals, sponge (Stampin' Up!); Pompomabella stamp (Stamping Bella); small scalloped circle punch (Martha Stewart from Michaels); Prismacolor pencils; Diamond Stickles (Ranger); pink flocking powder (Stampendous); patterned paper (Sugar Collection from Memory Box); rhinestone brad (Making Memories)