Sunday, August 31, 2008

Pink Daisies


Today's featured stamper at SCS is NikiE and I decided to case this card by her for the challenge today. I changed the stamps and colors, added brads and left off the cuttlebug embossing on the horizontal panel.


All images are from the Flowers For Daisy stamp set from Gina K Designs. I colored the flowers using Koh-i-noor pencils and blended with OMS (odorless mineral spirits). Then I cut them out and heat embossed them with clear embossing powder.

The next layer is Very Vanilla sponged with Creamy Caramel, next came a layer of Close to Cocoa, then a layer of Rose Red. The large background is a layer of Very Vanilla dry embossed with the Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder, then sponged with Pretty in Pink ink.

Have a great day!

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Card For Kody

My nephew just turned 18 this week and this is the card I made for him. We are lucky enough to get to visit with him and his parents this weekend, so I was able to give it to him in person last night.

I sponged the background on glossy card stock and then stamped images from Lovely As A Tree, using black Stazon.

The pick-up, from Loads of Love, was colored using watercolor pencils, cut out and then heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

The layer under the sunset is Blue Bayou (retired SU in-color) and the card base is Creamy Caramel.

Thanks for looking. I hope you have a great day!

Friday, August 29, 2008

Hey Chickie

Happy Friday! I made this card yesterday during Hip Hop Thursday at the Unity forums on SCS. Some of the gals there were challenging each other to use buttons on a card, so I played along.

The images are from Hey Chick from Unity. I colored them with Koh-i-noor pencils and blended them with OMS, then heat embossed them with clear embossing powder.

Niki asked me yesterday what OMS is. It stands for Odorless Mineral Spirits. You can find it in most craft stores in the fine arts area. I just dip a blending stump in my OMS and use it the blend the colors into one another.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a great weekend.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Wonderful So & So's

Today's challenge on SCS is colored pencils. You know I can't pass that up. I used So & So Loves from Unity and colored with my Koh-i-noor pencils, blended with OMS.

Today is Hip Hop Thursday at Unity. Check it out. Lots of chances for great prizes and deals.

The layer behind the stamped image is Blue Bayou (retired in color) and the card base is Close to Cocoa sponged with Chocolate Chip ink.

Have a great day!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Summer Harvest

I did this card for the sketch challenge today at SCS. I had it all put together then remembered that there were supposed to be two panels in the background. So I lifted the horizontal panel and added a ribbon.

The stamp set I used is called Summer Harvest from Gina K Designs. It is the free set you get if you purchase three sets. After the next release (Sept 5) it will be available for purchase individually and there will be a new free set.

I stamped the images with black Stazon and colored them with bic markers. For the strawberries and cherries, I first colored them with pink, then went over them with red, leaving a small highlighted area of pink on each berry.

For the tomato, I colored it with orange and then added red. Then I used a prisma colorless blender pen to pull some red off the orange to give it a bit of dimension.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Give Yourself a Big Hug

Handmade card using Gina K Designs stamps - Jumping for JoyToday's color challenge at SCS is Red Rose, Basic Black and Kraft. I don't have SU Kraft paper, but I did have some other kraft colored paper, so I gave this one a try.

This was my first time inking up stamps from Jumping For Joy, a set designed by Melanie Muenchinger for Gina K Designs. I love this bear. He is so sweet. I used my Koh-i-noor pencils to color him and blended with OMS.

Have a great day!

Monday, August 25, 2008

Crimped Envelope Pocket Card Tutorial

This is a fun and easy project. I got the idea for this from a handmade card my grandma bought.

Start with a standard card envelope (A2 I think) and be sure to seal the flap down before starting. Cut off one side at 1 1/4 inches. This will be the top of your card and the larger portion will be the bottom.

Before proceeding, I did some sponging and stamped a few images of foliage for the background.

Now run the bottom piece through your crimper. You want the cut part to be to the side as it goes through the crimper, so that the crimp lines are perpendicular to the cut side.

Here is what it looks like after going through the crimper. (Don't worry, I went back and fixed that part of the left that didn't get crimped. ) The cut side is at the top and has an opening that the card insert can slide into.

Now that the bottom part is crimped, the small piece that you cut off earlier will slide over the bottom part.


Here is the insert I made. The measurements for the bottom layer are 4 inches wide by 4 1/4 inches high. The image and quote are both from Botanical Dreams, a Gina K Designs stamp set.

Here it is after I decorated the bottom and top, with the insert slid partway in.

And here it is, all closed up. All images are from Botanical Dreams and Flowers For Daisy from Gina K Designs.

The flowers were stamped with Stazon and heat set. Then I colored them with Koh-i-noor pencils, blended with odorless mineral spirits. After cutting the images out, I heat embossed them with clear embossing powder.

Have a terrific day!

Sunday, August 24, 2008

So & So Loves

Isn't this a funky stamp? It's called So & So Loves from Unity Stamp Co. I really enjoyed coloring this image. I used my Koh-i-noor pencils and blended with OMS.

The challenge this past Thursday on SCS was to tear paper, so that is why the torn edges. The second layer is Riding Hook Red (new in-color from SU) sponged on Whisper White and dry embossed with my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder.

Below that is a layer of Basic Black and Creamy Caramel card base.

Have a great day!

Friday, August 22, 2008

Cupcake Froggies

Good morning! I was invited to be a guest designer this week for Stamp Something and this is the card I made their challenge theme, which is Birthday Somethings. That is an easy theme, right? And there is blog candy this week, generously donated from Jen at the Coconut Scrapshop. Participate in the challenge and you could win a $15 gift certificate to her amazing online shop!

The cupcake image in this card is from Hero Arts and the frogs are from Penny Black. The images are colored with watercolor pencils and heat embossed with clear. I did some light sponging on all the layers and the light green layer was dry embossed with my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a great day and a super fun weekend.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Another Stamping Links to Love Challenge

Good morning! It is time for another challenge at Stamping Links to Love. This week Zarna is our hostess and her theme for the week is "Bling It On." We are to bling up our cards or projects with glitter, embossing, embellishments, etc.

I embossed this bird from Unity, added three gems and some shimmery ribbon. The sketch for this card is from the sketch challenge at SCS this week.

The bird is colored with water color pencils then heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I sponged Certainly Celery ink around the circle and layered it on Almost Amethyst card stock.

The green triangle was created by inking up my Floral Fantasy embossing folder with Certainly Celery ink and then running it through the cuttlebug. There is a layer of vellum that I sponged with Lavender Lace ink and ran through the cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots folder.

I hope you will play along with this weeks challenge. Have a great day!

Acetate Box with Tutorial

I made this little box for the Try a New Technique challenge at SCS this week. There was a tutorial available for the project that you can find here, but I made some changes to mine and thought I would write up some directions to show how I did it.


Here is a diagram of the pieces you will need. It is hard to see, but you can click on the image to see a larger version. (Please note- this is a cutting diagram and not a template. The lines are not to scale. )

The top piece is your acetate. Cut one of those, 8 1/2 by 3 1/2, scored every two inches, with 1/2 left over to adhere the sides together.

The bottom diagram is the top and bottom of the box, so you will need to cut two of those. The dimensions are 3 by 3, scored 1/2 inch in on each side. There are four cuts to make, shown in red to the top and bottom each.


Here is what the top and bottom should look like after you do the scoring and snips.


Fold in the four tabs you made and bring all four sides up.

Add adhesive to each tab and press against the sides.

Make you score lines on the acetate, every two inches, with 1/2 inch on the end.

Add tacky tape to the 1/2 inch piece and adhere to the opposite side.

Add some tacky tape to the inside to each side on the bottom piece.

Squeeze the sides of the acetate and place inside the bottom piece.

Punch two small holes to two opposite sides of the top piece. Then place the top on the acetate box and use a pen to mark where the holes are. Now remove the top and punch corresponding holes in the acetate.

String a piece of ribbon through the holes in the acetate.

String one end of the ribbon throught one side of the top, inside to outside.

Do the same for the opposite side. Then fill your box and slide the top into place, pulling the ribbon at the same time. Tie a bow, decorate and you're done.


I used two sets from Gina K Designs to decorate my box, Flowers for Daisy and Botanical Dreams. The images are colored with water color pencils and the daisy was embossed with clear embossing powder to make it pop out just a bit.

I hope you find this helpful. Feel free to post any questions you might have.

Have a great day!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Flaunt Your Purse

This card is for the color challenge on Split Coast today. The colors to use were Ruby Red, Close to Cocoa and Blush Blossom and boy was that challenging for me.

I used the purse stamp from Unity Stamp Company's Shopaholic and the sentiment from Hey Chick. The purse was stamped on Ginger Blossom designer paper and cut out.

Have a great day!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Chic Thank You

I made this card using the sunflower from Eco Chic, another Unity set. I cased a card by Jessica (Knightrone), the featured stamped for today's challenge at SCS. The challenge is to change at least two things on your card. I changed the stamp, colors and ribbon. I also wanted to create something summery for the challenge this week at Stamp Something.

The image is stamped, then colored with Koh-i-noor. I embossed the flower and sponged the edges of the cs with Certainly Celery ink. Layered include Basic Black, So Saffron and Le Jardin designer paper. The card base is River Rock.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Hey Chick!

I just had to ink up the other Unity stamp set I got, called Hey Chick. Aren't these little chicks cute! I got my color inspiration from the most recent Inspiration Challenge at SCS.

The birds were colored with Koh-i-noor pencils, blended with OMS and then cut out and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

I sponged the background with Certainly Celery and layered behind it with Basic Black and Bashful Blue card stock. The card base is Purely Pomegranate.

Thanks for stopping by!

Bitty Chirstmas Card

The mailman brought me two new sets from Unity on Thursday and this is the first card I made using Bitty Christmas Tags.

After stamping on Whisper White, I colored the images with Koh-i-noor pencils, blended with OMS. I cut them out and popped them up with dimensionals. I sponged the circles with Ballet Blue ink and backed them with Real Red scallop circles.

The green layer is Wild Wasabi, scalloped using my corner rounder with the guard removed and pierced.

Have a great day!

Friday, August 15, 2008

Loads of Love

I made this card for yesterdays Ways to Use It challenge on SCS. The challenge was to use copics if you have them, which I don't. If you don't have them, you were allowed to use other markers or techniques to mimic them.

I just got some Bic makers that were on sale from Target a few days ago, so that is what I used to color the pickup from Loads of Love (Stampin' Up).

For the background I stamped Lovely as a Tree (Stampin' Up) and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I sponged some color in the background. The panel of the left is a piece of Designer Paper.

The sketch for this card comes from 2 Sketches for You for this week's challenge.

Thanks for looking. Have a great weekend!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Another Pocket Match Book Card

Remember that tutorial I did yesterday? I made another pocket match book card today. This is also my sample for the latest challenge over at Stamping Links to Love.

Monica is our hostess this week and she has chosen Three's Company for the challenge. You need to use three of some item on your project. It can be three brads (like I did), three ribbons, three designer papers or what ever you want.

On this Pocket Match Book card, I used the dress from Retro Boutique from Gina K Designs and a few stamps from Botanical Dreams, also from Gina K, to stamp the inside. I sponged the background and used Bic Markers from Target to color the dress.

I used two brads on the bottom and the third one is holding the ribbon in place. It is hard to see in the picture, but there is a Ghirardelli chocolate square in the pocket on the inside.

Tomorrow I will post the winner, form this past week, of our challenge and the winner of our blog candy at Stamping Links to Love.


Thanks for stopping by. Have a happy day!