SHOPPING OUR STASH #234 - Something New

Good morning and welcome crafty peeps! This week at SHOPPING OUR STASH, we'd like to see you use something new. With the holidays just barely past, I'm sure you've all were gifted with some crafty goodies, (Be it from someone else, or yourself. *cough*) I was just gifted (by me) this butterfly stencil, so I used it instead of just hoarding it. Yay me! Here's the card I made with it:

 and a simple inside:

This stencil is kind of different, as you have to stencil the negative space around the butterflies, instead of the butterflies themselves. (Negative space. Yep, I may have taken an art class or 6 back in the day.) Challenge accepted, and I'm happy with how this came out. ☺ I used crackle embossing paste and let that dry. Then I used Glimmer Mists to water color my panel, using pink, peach, yellow and aqua colors. IRL this is super shimmery. I've tried taking a close up so you could see it, but A) my photography skillz leave something to be desired, and B) it's a very gloomy rainy day outside and my natural light is not so bright. Perhaps if you embiggen the photo below, you might be able to see some of the shimmer. I won't hold my breath.

So, ready to rip open those new stamps/dies/papers/embellies/paints/etc? Of course you are! Time to get crackalackin and create something with them! Just be sure to link up your project at Shopping Our Stash so we can admire your creative genius! While there, please do check out the amazing samples my teammies have created and leave them some bloggy love. You won't be disappointed! Thanks for visiting. Have a great day!

I'd like to enter this at:
STAMPlorations Anything Goes challenge

Supplies:
Stamps: STAMPlorations - Pets; MFT - More Essential Sentiments
Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black
CS: Canson; Darice
Accessories: GC; Avery Elle - Pierced Rectangle die; STAMPlorations - Shower of Flutters stencil; Dreamweaver - white crackle embossing paste; Tattered Angels - Cherub Pink, Sunkissed Peach, Yellow Daisy, Aquamarine Glimmer Mists; Slice die cutter using Words & Expressions Family cartridge; Darice - sequins; paint brush and pallet
Adhesives: SA by 3L - tape runner; Scotch Scrapbooker's glue & foam tape; Ranger - Glossy Accents

SISTERHOOD OF SNARKY STAMPERS #50 - O is for Old

Hello and welcome snarky peeps! It's a new year and the SISTERHOOD OF SNARKY SISTERS challenge you to make a funny Birthday card! Here's your chance to tell them how you really feel! (But in a loving way. Sorta. Kinda. Hee Hee!) Here's my card:

 ...and the inside:

Sister Lindsey and I had the same idea when thinking of which sentiment stamps to use! LOL! Over last weekend, I tried my hand at the smooshing technique. I made 6 different panels, so you will probably be seeing more of this in my future posts. I found these color charts on the Simon Says Stamp blog, and printed them out. I used combo #10 on my card. I cut a 1/2" section on a diagonal, and adhered using repositional tape, for lining up purposes. Then using my MISTI, I carefully lined up the words, stamped and embossed in white EP. I removed the panels, stamped the happy birthday sentiment then adhered again using foam squares. I used my MISTI on the inside again, only because I needed to stamp the sentiment a few times to get a nice opaque coverage. (See? That's the sentiment Lindsey used. Snarky minds think alike! LOL!)

 I hope you get a chance to play along this fortnight at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers! Please do check out what my Sistahs, and our newest guest designer - Cyndi - have created for your viewing pleasure, and leave them some bloggy love! Thanks for visiting, and I hope to see you in the gallery! Have a great day!

I'd like to enter this at:

Happy Little Stampers January challenge: smooshing

Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes

 

Supplies:

Stamps: Paper Issues - Ahh Real Birthday sentiments, Freaking sentiments, Oh hell no sentiments

Ink: VersaMark; Memento Luxe - Wedding Dress; Memento - Tuxedo Black; Ranger DI - Pine Needles, Iced Spruce, Evergreen Bough, Cracked Pistachio

CS: Bazzill; Darice

Accessories: Avery Elle - Pierced Rectangle die; scrap of acetate; Stampendous - white EP; heat gun; water mister

Adhesives: SA by 3L - 3D foam squares

JUST US GIRLS #325 - Trend Week

Hello friends and welcome to Trend Week at JUST US GIRLS! Sue is your hostess this week and she's wants you to use METALS/METALLICS on your card or project. Do you have foil papers? Embossing powder in silver/gold/copper/pewter colors? Hoarding those charms or brads? Time to break them out and use them! ☺ Here's the card I made:

 ...and the finished inside:

This card came out much better than I thought it would, considering it has a white on white theme to it. All the card stock and papers are slightly different. For example, I started with a card base that has a linen texture to it. The vertical strip is glittered. The banner was cut from card stock that IRL is very shimmery. With my crack photography skillz, you may not see it, but it shimmers! I heat embossed the sentiment in silver, and also the scalloped circle die behind it. See? 

In hindsight, I probably should have used sliver glitter paper, but me being me, I had to do things the hard way. What's really funny to me is that it looks like I cut it out of duct tape. LOL! For some additional metal elements, I glued a few silver bells onto my card. The inside was stamped in silver ink, and I also edged the panel with it.

I hope you get some time to join us at Just Us Girls for our Metals challenge! Please do check out what our two Guest Designers - Deepti and Vicki - have created, along with my talented teammates! If you are picked as Chic of the Week for any of our January challenges, you'll be in the running to be our guest designer for the month of March! Good luck, happy crafting, and thanks for visiting!

I'd like to enter this card at:

The Challenge #55 - sketch

Merry Mondays #186 - White on White

 

Supplies:
Stamps: Hero Arts - Merry Christmas Message
Ink: VersaMark; Brilliance - Starlite Silver
CS: Bazzill, DCWV, Darice
Accessories: GC; SB - Std. Lg Circle & Classic Scalloped Sm. Circle Nesties; Whispers - Metallic Silver EP; heat gun; Creatology by Michael's - foam snowflake stickers & bells; Wilton - doily; DMC - floss; Provo Craft - decorative scissors; Nicole - rhinestones
Adhesives: SA by 3L - tape runner, thin 3D foam squares; Ranger - Glossy Accents; Glue Dots

SHOPPING OUR STASH #233 - Color Me Monochromatic

Good morning and welcome to the first challenge of the new year at SHOPPING OUR STASH! It's  bittersweet as we lost our friend and anchor, Leslie Hanna, this past Christmas. But through many tears and discussions among my teammates, and most importantly with the blessings of her sons, we are continuing on. ☺ 

So, with that said, our first challenge of the year is Color Me Monochromatic, basically use your favorite color predominately on your card or project. Neutrals (white, black, grey, beige, kraft) are also ok to use, In honor of Leslie's dislike of the color (gah!) pink, the rest of the crew and I all chose (gah!) pink as our color of choice:

and the inside:

I can't take any credit for the design of this card, because I, of course, stalked  perused Pinterest and found this card by Kalyn Kepner...and had to CASE it. (Thanks Kalyn!) I just gave it my own personal touches to it. ☺ I still have to practice at my water coloring, as my panel came out looking more tye died than what Kalyn's looked like. Oh well, I still like how it came out. 

I hope that you find some time this week (now that the kids are back in school - woo hoo!) to play along with our Monochromatic challenge at Shopping Our Stash. We'd love to see what you come up with! For more amazing inspiration, please check out what my teammies created to awe and inspire you! Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a great day!

Supplies:

Stamps: Paper Smooches - Happy Birthday, Flap Happy

Ink: Ranger DI - Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick, Festive Berries, Victorian Velvet, Hickory Smoke; Memento - Gray Flannel

CS: Bazzill; Strathmore water color paper

Accessories: GC; Paper Smooches - Butterflies 1 & 2 dies; paint brushes; Nicole - rhinestones; Fiskars - corner rounder

Adhesives: Ranger - Glossy Accents

JUST US GIRLS! #324 - Word Week

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful holiday season! We had a nice quiet time spent at home this year. First time in two years we didn't drive the 12 hour trip back to Illinois. As much as I missed my family, NOT driving cross country, with our dog, on Christmas Day, was a gift in itself! LOL!

So, along with a new year, the JUST US GIRLS blog has a new look! I love the soft aqua color, and the font, and the design! Nancy did a fantabulous job with creating our 'new do'! She also happens to be your hostess this week. Since it's Word Week, she's picked "THANK YOU" to help give you a head start on making those thank you cards you know you'll be needing. ☺ Here's the card I made:

 Here is the inside:

I tried doing a little more water coloring. (I still need a lot of practice!) I colored directly onto the stamps, spritzed with water, and stamped onto my die cut water color paper. I popped it on to a die cut frame before adding it to my card. Added a couple sentiments and I was done. ☺

I hope to see you play along with week at Just Us Girls! We have not one, but two guest designers joining us this month: Vicki Parsons and Deepti Malik. Welcome ladies! Remember, if you win Chic of the Week for any of our January challenges, you'll be in the running to be our Guest Designer for the month of March! Good luck and happy crafting!

I'd like to enter this at Sweet Sunday Sketch #300
It's the last one. Sniff.

Supplies:
Stamps: Mama Elephant - Water Blooms; MFT - Essential & More Essential Sentiments
Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black
DP: American Crafts - Color Crush
CS: Darice; Strathmore water color paper; DCWV
Accessories: Marvy Uchida markers; GC; SB - Sm Standard Circle & Teardrop Circle Nesties; Nicole - rhinestones
Adhesives: SA by 3L - tape runner, Thin 3D foam Squares

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hello crafty peeps! Happy New Year to you all! I hope that your holidays were happy and filled with fun.

I didn't spend too much time in my craft cave, and now I'm feeling itchy to get back to crafting. LOL! That said, I've made a card:

 And the inside:

I severely depleted my Christmas card stash, so it's back to building that up again. ☺ The tree stamp (which I've had for a couple years, and only just now saw ink) is stamped in VersaMark and heat embossed using a glittery green embossing powder. It's hard to see head on, so here's an angled view:

I love how the tree sparkles! All that white space was making me itchy, so I used an embossing folder for some added texture in the corners. Then I colored some rhinestones gold using a marker and adhered them. (more sparkle!) The inside sentiment is stamped using gold ink.

So that's it until tomorrow. JUST US GIRLS has a new challenge starting up, so I hope you'll come and play along with us! Thanks for visiting, and I hope you have a great day!

I'd like to enter this at Case This Sketch #153

Supplies:
Stamps: Inkadinkado - Holiday Words; MFT - Seasonal Sentiments
Ink: VersaMark; Brilliance - Galaxy Gold
CS: Darice, DCWV
Accessories: Whispers - green glitter EP; heat gun; GC; Cuttlebug - EF from the Heritage Set; Nicole - rhinestones; Spectrum Noir GB5 marker
Adhesives: SA by 3L - tape runner

SISTERHOOD OF SNARKY STAMPERS #49 X is for X-mas (Part II)

Hello all! For those of you who celebrate, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas holiday! I'm just popping in to remind you that the SISTERHOOD OF SNARKY STAMPERS still has the current Christmas challenge going on - perfect for those of you who need to make a quick card because you forgot to mail one out. (wink!) Fortunately that didn't happen to me this year.

This card I made for my friends and next door neighbors. They lost both their fur babies earlier this year, two sibling kitties, so I when I saw this image I knew I wanted to use it for their card:

 Here's the inside:

No snark this time, just cuteness. ☺I tried to color the kitties to resemble their fur babies. Not exactly right, but close. After I colored the image with my Spectrum Noir markers, I took a deep breathe and went over the kitties with a black PrismaColor pencil to add 'fur'. Luckily for me, it worked out. Here's a close up:

I hope you find some time to play along at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers for this month long Christmas challenge! Take care, and I hope you have a great day!

Spectrum Noir markers used:

cats: BG2, BG3, BG4; IG3, IG6, IG9

ribbon/berries: CR7, DR4, DR6, DR7

leaves: LG3, LG4, JG5

diamonds: CT4, GB7

ornament: CT4, GB7, TN3, IB1

I'd like to enter this at:

Can You Case It? #100

Spectrum Noir December challenge - CAS

Supplies:

Stamps: The East Wind - Meowy Christmas digi; Simon Says Stamp - Warm Christmas Wishes; Hero Arts - Merry Christmas Message

Ink: VersaMark; Memento - Tuxedo Black; Color Box - Gold

DP: HOTP

CS: Crafter's Companion; Darice

Accessories: Spectrum Noir Markers;  PrismaColor black pencil; Sakura - White Gelly Roll pen; Stampendous - Champagne EP; heat gun

Adhesives: SA by 3L - tape runner, Thin 3D foam squares 

SHOPPING OUR STASH #232 - My Precious

Good morning and welcome! At SHOPPING OUR STASH, it's our last challenge for the year, so this will run for two weeks instead of the normal one week. The girls are taking a break to spend time with family and friends over the Christmas and New Year holidays. ☺ 

So, what do we mean by "My Precious"? We want to you use something in your stash that you had no intention of using. Are you hoarding a special sheet of pretty paper? Do you have ribbon or lace on a spool with the shrink wrap still on it? Is that unopened package of funky embellishments collecting dust on your desk staring you down? Time to break the seals and actually use them!

In my case, I've had a spool of butterfly shaped ribbon I've been hoarding for years. The plastic wrap around it still intact. I finally used it. Well, I used one itty butterfly off of it. Baby steps, people:

 Here is the inside:

For the main panel, I masked a rectangle with post it notes, then sponged three inks inside. Over that I stamped the silhouette stamps before removing my mask, then added Crystal Stickles. Once dry, it still needed something so I added a double row of score lines around all edges. On a scrap piece of card stock, I stamped the sentiment, trimmed one side on an angle, then adhered with foam squares, then I cut ONE of the butterflies from the ribbon and adhered. Again, baby steps.

We hope you find some time in next couple of weeks to play along at Shopping Our Stash! The girls and I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a healthy, Happy New Year!

Supplies:

Stamps: Inkadinkado - Meadows; Hero Arts - Celebrate Everyday; Stampendous - Party Invite

Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black, Dandelion, Tangelo, Rhubarb Stalk

CS: Paper Smooches, Darice

Accessories: Post-It notes for mask; Ranger - Crystal Stickles; Morex - butterfly ribbon; Martha Stewart - scoring tool

Adhesives: SA by 3L - tape runner, 3D foam squares; Glue Dots

SHOPPING OUR STASH #231 - Let It Snow

Hello and good morning crafty peeps. It's a new challenge at SHOPPING OUR STASH. This week it's all about snow: snowmen, snowflakes, snow covered hills. You get my drift. (See what I just did there?) Here's my card:

 Here is the inside:

I've used this snowflake frame only once before. I really need to use it more, as it's gorgeous! I didn't want to cover it up so I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment with a glittery embossing powder onto vellum. It's supposed to lay flat but, with my crack card making skillz, it's kind of wavy. (I've since fixed it, but was too lazy to retake a picture. wink)

Now it's your turn. You know you have snowflake/snowmen stamps and dies. Break those puppies out and create something with them, and then link up at Shopping Our Stash so we can see it! Please do check out what my teammies made and leave them some bloggy love! Thanks for visiting and I hope you have a great day!

Supplies:

Stamps: STAMPlorations - Christmas Bell Medley; Hero Arts - Merry Christmas Message

Ink: VersaMark; Memento - Lady Bug

DP: Basic Grey - Figgy Pudding

CS: Bazzill; Darice

Accessories: GC; Memory Box - Scattered Snowflakes Frame; Whispers - red glitter EP; heat gun; Recollections - vellum; Nicole - rhinestones

Adhesives: SA by 3L - tape runner; Scotch - Scrapbooker's glue, Vellum tape

SISTERHOOD OF SNARKY STAMPERS #49 X is for X-mas

Good morning all! Edna is all decked out in her Christmas finery to get the party started at the SISTERHOOD OF SNARKY STAMPERS! This will be our last challenge for the year as the Sisters want to take some time to spend it with their family and friends. We will be back next year with a new challenge on January 9th. But for now, it's all about getting those last minute Christmas cards or projects done, and that's what your challenge is! Here's the card I made:

 Here is the inside:

Ok, so I swear I was channeling Emily when I made this the other day. I already had the embossed panel and frame glued onto my card base, and when I couldn't decide which alpha stickers to use, I took a break to check out my blog feed. And there it was. Emily's card! Me being me, I just put my own snarky spin on it. LOL! 

My family excels at giving funny cards, so this one has been sent to one of my sisters. ☺ 

So, do you have any last minute cards to make and send? Here's your chance to crank one or 5 out! Just link up at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers so we can see it! While there, please visit the blogs of my Sisters and our new Guest Designer, Ike, and leave them some bloggy love! Thanks for visiting and now go forth and get your craft on!

Merry Christmas!

Supplies:

Stamps: Paper Smooches - Christmas Sampler, Mini Monograms

Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black

CS: Darice

Accessories: GC; Darice - snowflakes EF; Paper Smooches - Frames 2 die; Pressed Petals - chipboard alpha stickers; Recollections - holly leaves; rhinestones from my stash

Adhesives: SA by 3L - tape runner; Ranger - Glossy Accents