Tiger Lily

Good morning. I hope you are all enjoying your weekend. Here is a card I started last week for Cindy's color challenge on stampTV, but I got interrupted by VSN. I just had to play, right? BTW, there is still time to play in Cindy's contest along with several other challenges. And a random winner from each challenge will get to choose a stamp set from Gina K!

So, this morning, when I pulled out all the pieces for this card, it just wasn't looking right to me, so I wound up not following the color challenge after all. The image is from Elegant Flowers, one of the stamp sets from the Floral Frenzy kit. I colored it with Copics and then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.

Then I sponged the background with River Rock, Certainly Celery and Old Olive ink. I used the crackle background stamp from Bold Flowers (the other stamp set in the Floral Frenzy kit) and stamped around the edges with Old Olive ink.

I made the tabs on the side with my word window punch (Stampin' Up) and the corner accents are from one of the new slim line punches from EK Success (purchase at Michaels). The cardbase is River Rock (retired in color from Stampin' Up).

Here is a list of the current challenges going on at stampTV...

Color Challenge by Cindy
Scrapbook Challenge by Erika
Kissing Technique Challenge by Gina
Sketch Challenge by Kurtis
Split Screen Potluck Challenge by Melanie

I will be posting a new color challenge on Monday, so I hope you will check back and play along.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a fun day!



Thanks for visiting.

Inspired Unity

I made this card for the Ways to Use It challenge at SCS yesterday and for a Unity Hip Hop challenge to use light blue. The SCS challenge was to be frugal by re-using something or use an inexpensive item on your project. The lighter panel in the corner was a mistake piece for another project which I re-purposed for this card. There is a hudge smudge on that panel, but it is hidden by the top panel. The sentiment is a stamp I won, so that is frugal, as well.

I sponged both of the panels, with Bashful Blue and Ballet Blue, and then stamped them with the dream tree and swirl stamp from Growing in Unity (Unity Stamp Co.). I used the mirror technique to do the sentiment. That flower is from my Floral Frenzy kit from Gina K and the punched branches are from a Martha Stewart punch.

Thanks for visiting. Have a great Friday!

Banded Birdie

I was so excited to see Jami (sgtStamper at SCS) as the featured stamper for this week. Of course, I had to play along. I chose this card from Jami's gallery for my inspiration. I also incorporated the technique challenge, rubber band stamping, from Monday into my card.

We were to change at least two things on our card from the inspiration card. I changed the colors, stamps and adjusted the layout a bit. The oval background is sponged and the lavender layer uses the rubber band stamping technique.

To do the rubber band technique, I placed several rubber bands on an acrylic block. Then I stamped a piece of cardstock several times, in a random pattern, with Versa Mark.

Used clear embossing powder to heat emboss.

Then I sponged with Almost Amethyst and Lavender Lace inks, going darker at the edges.

My bird, from Home Tweet Home, is colored with Copic markers and cut out. I used So Saffron and Certainly Celery to sponge the oval.

Thanks for looking! I hope you day is fantastic!

My First Kiss

Yesterday, I tried a technique called "kissing" for the first time. Kissing is also the subject of the latest stampTV episode. So get out your solid image stamps and head over to stampTV to watch. Apparently, I should have watch the video first, because my kissing could use some improvement. LOL

All the materials used in this card are from the Floral Frenzy stampTV Kit. For the radiating petals on the background, I pulled out a leaf stamp from Bold Flowers and stamped it with Old Olive ink, in a radiating pattern.

To get the petals to stamp consistently, (I'm too lazy to use a Stamp-a-ma-jig), I placed the stamp diagonally on the acrylic block. Then I put a pencil mark on my cardstock and just lined up the corner of the block every time I stamped.


Here is a close up of the flower, where you can see the faint evidence that I really did "kiss" on my project. I didn't put any ink on my background stamp. Instead I used the dotted background to remove ink from the flower stamp. As you can see, it creates a subtle texture.

I used two sizes of flowers from Bold Flowers and layered them, along with two layers for the center. I sponged the edges of the bottom two layers.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a happy Wednesday!

Window Into My Soul - VSN Challenge

I have, yet another VSN card to show you today. This challenge was to make a window card or an acetate card. I didn't think I could pull off a window card in the time limit, so I just used an acetate card base.

I used Flourishes' Thank You Tulips set. The main image is colored with Copics and cut out. I used the background stamp with Creamy Caramel ink on Pure Luxury White, sponged with So Saffron and Creamy Caramel.

The layers behind that are Chocolate Chip, Real Red and Pure Luxury Ivory. The ivory is punched with Martha Stewart's Lace Edge border punch. The red ribbon is from Gina K's Pure Luxury Holiday Ribbon bundle.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you day is great!

One True Love - VSN Challenge

I have another VSN card to share today. This challenge was to make a monochromatic project. I sponged the background with Sahara Sand ink and then stamped the trees from Tree Silhouettes, also with Sahara Sand.

When I assembled the card, I chose to use a River Rock (retired SU) card base instead of Sahara Sand, since it actually matched better.

The challenges have started at stampTV. Gina posted a thumping challenge on Saturday and today, Cindy has posted a color challenge. A random winner from each challenge will win the stamp set of their choice from Gina K Designs.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you have a great Monday!

For Love of Chocolate - VSN

Good morning and happy Saturday! Did you see stampTV has over 1000 members already? I forgot to tell you yesterday that my user name is Theresa and here is a link to my page there. If you join, I would love for you to add me as a friend, so I will know how to find you. There are so many members, it is getting hard for me to track down my friends, but at least I am making new friends in the process.

The card above is one I did yesterday for VSN (Virtual Stamp Night). I made it in about 30 minutes. You should have seen the scraps flying. I participated in three of the challenges so far, but this is the only blog worthy card. I am going to try to do some more today. It's really fun and a great challenge for me because I tend to spend way too much time on my cards.


I used the iris stamp from Elegant Flowers, which is part of the Floral Frenzy stampTV kit. It is colored with Copic markers and embossed with clear embossing powder. The background is sponged with Certainly Celery, So Saffron and Apricot Appeal. The sentiment is also from Elegant Flowers.

This was a color challenge, so that is how I chose my card stock colors. The colors were Chocolate Chip, Apricot Appeal and Cameo Coral. I thought I had pulled Cameo Coral, but later realized that pinkish layer is Groovy Guava, an old SU in color. Oops.

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

Stamp TV is Here!

I can't believe the big day is finally here. Wow! Gina has really done it. Not only is she a stamping genius, she also knows what stampers need and gives it to them. You can get all the details on her blog here, but I'll sum it up as best I can.

Gina has launched into video production in a big way. It's called StampTV. She brought in professional video recording equipment and is creating high quality stamp instructional videos. You'll be able to learn new techniques and follow easy instructions to create your own fabulous projects just like Gina does. But best of all, you'll be able to get perfectly coordinated StampTV Kits that will contain everything you need to make every project for yourself!

Each kit will be available for two months and will have everything you need to make each project covered in the videos during that time. The first kit is called Floral Frenzy. Here is a card I made using my Floral Frenzy kit...

I love this stamp. It is from Elegant Flowers and is just one of TWO stamp sets that are included in this kit. Gina put a bonus stamp set in this kit! To make the card, I used my own adhesive, ink, and tools. The cardstock, ribbon, designer paper and stamps are all from the kit.

Gina also launched a new site with forums and a gallery to go along with the StampTV videos. You can go there and see all the videos, see projects that use the kits and techniques that go along with the videos, chat, make friends and just have fun. I hope to see you there!

I am so excited about StampTV and the StampTV kits. I think this is a wonderful thing for beginning and experienced stampers alike. The videos are so clear and instructive and are a resource for the entire stamping communtiy. You don't have to be a Gina K customer or buy the kits to use the videos. And if you already know the techniques, the kits are still wonderful, because everything in them is coordinated and so beautiful!

Oh, I almost forgot, Gina now has Ivory Pure Luxury cardstock! It is available in base weight and layering weight. The color is so soft and pure. One thing you should know, is Copics will bleed through on the base weight ivory, unlike the white. The new Floral Frenzy StampTV kit will have several sheets of both colors in both weights, so that is a good way to sample the Pure Luxury card stock if you haven't yet.

If you would like to see more projects using the new StampTV kit, be sure to check out the rest of the design team.

Carolyn King
Cindy Lawrence
Donna Baker
Emily Giovanni
Erika Martin
Gina K.
Jessica Fick
Joanne Basile
Kurtis Amundson
Melanie Muenchinger
Asela Hopkins

Gina and the Design Team will be hosting challenges Monday through Friday, and each challenge will have a chance at a free stamp set!! Our challenges begin on Monday! To get started, hop on over to Gina's blog!

Sorry to write a novel. I am just so thrilled about all this, that I had to share. Have a great day and happy stamping!

Floral Frenzy - Gina K Preview

I get to give you a hint today about the big reveal coming tomorrow! And your hint is... the card above. Materials used to make this project came from a special new product being launched tomorrow at Gina K. Designs! Check out Gina's blog today and enter to win the "What's in the big brown box contest" and stop back tomorrow for the full reveal!

Sorry, that is all I can say for now, but you can see a bunch of great samples from the rest of the design team. I have seen several of their projects and they are awesome!

Carolyn King
Cindy Lawrence
Donna Baker
Emily Giovanni
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick
Joanne Basile
Kurtis Amundson
Melanie Muenchinger

A few details about this card...

This is the stamp I used on my card. As you can see, the flower is pretty much straight. I wanted two flowers with curved stems. To do that, I trimmed the rubber to create a little notch between the bud and the stem.

Then I placed it on my acrylic block, curving the flower to the left just a bit. You can see where trimming the rubber allowed it to bend.

When I inked my image, I only inked down to where the the leaves emerge from the stem. Then I stamped my image.

Next I placed my stamp back on the block, this time, curving the flower to the right.

I inked up the entire stamp this time and matched up the bottom with the bottom of the image I already stamped. I didn't bother with a stamp positioner, figuring I could touch it up with a marker if I didn't get it close enough.

To create the sponged frame around the image, I used post it notes to mask off the center and then sponged the edges with Certainly Celery and Old Olive ink. When I lifted the post its, I was left with a nice little frame.


I hope you are as excited as I am about Friday. I can't wait to share all the news with you!

Have a great day!

Perfectly Polished

Happy Wednesday! Only two more days until the big Gina K reveal. Head over to Gina's blog for another teaser! I am getting so excited. Tomorrow, I will be able to show you something...

This card was for the color challenge on SCS today. The colors were Kiwi Kiss, More Mustard and Rose Red. I don't have Rose Red, so I had to substitute with Ruby Red.


The stamp set I used is called Perfectly Polished, illustrated by Rupa Shevde, for the last Gina K release. Joanne set us a challenge to ink up a Gina K set that we had never inked, but I didn't have any un-inked sets. Since Perfectly Polished is so new, I had only used one image in it, so that is the best I could do to meet the challenge. I used an aqua pen and SU ink to color the images, and then used the aqua pen to go around the image with More Mustard. I added more color around the outside of the oval by sponging.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have a great day!

Morning Glow Butterfly

Good morning! Once again I pulled out the butterfly from Take Flight for this project. I colored it with Copic markers. The background panels were sponged with Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Ruby Red, Bravo Burgundy and Apricot Appeal. The flowers from Tropical Flowers were stamped with Bravo Burgundy.

So, have you heard about the Big Reveal coming up from Gina K Designs this week? Hop on over to Gina's blog for another teaser and another chance to win something fabulous!. I am so excited I can barely contain myself from spilling the beans.

Also, if you get the chance, see this post on Donna's blog about a little boy that needs prayers and cards. She is doing a great blog candy giveaway and asking everyone to send cards or small toys. Thank you!


I hope you have a great day!

A CAS Challenge Card

I made this card for the CAS (clean and simple) challenge at Split Coast Stampers. This is a new weekly challenge and I decided to play along this week, even though this style is so difficult for me.

This week the challenge was to use one button on your project. I used an image from Sledding Fun from Treehouse Stamps.

I colored the image with Copic markers and then added a few highlights with my white Sakura gel pen. I backed that layer with a piece of black cardstock. My card base is Pure Luxury base weight white from Gina K.

I used my Scor-Pal to add some scor lines. Please don't pay attention to the fact that they are crooked. Eek, I almost didn't post this card, there are so many mistakes on it. I love CAS cards when other people do them, but when I do, I am never satisfied with the results.

I want to direct you to Gina K's blog today for a teaser about the exciting new "thing" coming later this week and a chance to win some fantastic blog candy! You don't want to miss this.

Flourished Tulip

Hi there! Today's card is a triple challenge card. I followed the inspiration challenge at SCS, the sketch challenge at PCP and the Timeless Tuesday challenge at Flourishes to use buttons. This is the photo I chose for my inspiration.

I colored my image (Thank You Tulip from Flourishes) with Copic markers, then went over it with my Versa Mark pen and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. Next, I sponged in the background using Blush Blossom, So Saffron, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Ruby Red and Bravo Burgundy.

I added some flourishes using a stamp from Siberian Iris. I inked it up with Bravo Burgundy and stamped it off twice on scrap paper before stamping. I did that several times, then stamped it twice with Ruby Red. Then I added some highlights with my white Sakura pen.

The two background panels are designer paper. The top is Kim Hughes from Cornish Heritage Farms and the bottom is from Making Memories.

I stamped the sentiment (also from Siberian Iris) on Blush Blossom cardstock and punched it out using my word window punch from Stampin' Up. To make a larger layer below it, I cut a strip of black cardstock just slightly narrower than 1/2 inch and used my 1/2 circle punch to round the ends. The card base is Blush Blossom.

Thanks for looking. I hope you are having a great Valentine's Day!

Hey Little Blue Bird

Good morning and happy Friday! I participated in the Limited Supply challenge at SCS today. We were to do two things to "stretch" ourselves. I added designer paper and used my crimper tool (formerly, only used to do crimped envelope cards).

The DP is from Sale-a-bration this year. I have a very difficult time using designer paper and need to challenge myself with it more often.

I used my Copic markers to color the bird image from Home Tweet Home and the branch from Autumn Leaves. I sponged the background with Certainly Celery ink and then stamped a few stems from Botanical Dreams, also with Certainly Celery. Then I crimped the card stock. The scalloped layer is cut using my scallop rectangle nestabilities.

The larger layer is So Saffron, that was sponged with So Saffron ink and the card base is Baja Breeze (in color from SU).


Thanks for coming by. I hope you have a great weekend!

The Best Cookies

Good morning! Thanks for all your kind comments about Rosie. She is doing great and barely limping at all this morning.

I have been wanting to combine Melanie's Have a Cookie set with The Best Things in Life since I first saw that chocolate sentiment. I followed yesterday's sketch challenge at SCS.

I stamped the sentiment on Very Vanilla c/s and then sponged around the edges with Creamy Caramel. Layered Creamy Caramel and Basic Black behind that, using my rectangle scallop nesties to cut the black layer.

The next panel was sponged with Creamy Caramel and Chocolate Chip. The vertical panel is Creamy Caramel, sponged with Creamy Caramel. The largest panel is Chocolate Chip, with some piercing in the corners, followed by a layer of Basic Black, all on a Creamy Caramel card base.


All the images were colored with Copics, on Pure Luxury cardstock. I cut all the images out and added them to the card, popping some up with dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope your day is fantastic!

Te Amo

The color challenge at SCS yesterday was a hard one for me. The colors were Perfect Plum, Pink Pirouette, and Kiwi Kiss and this is what I came up with.

I almost didn't have a card to post today, since this one went MIA for quite a while yesterday. As I was heading down the hall to take the card to the kitchen table to photograph it, I noticed my dog, Rose, head out the doggy door. By the time I got to the kitchen and looked out the window, I saw Rosie had fallen in the pond. She was chasing a squirrel and must have forgotten the pond was there. She is getting older and I could see she couldn't get herself out, so I ran out and fished her out.

She is pretty much ok, but limping around today. After I got her inside and dried off, I went looking for my card and couldn't find it anywhere. I knew it was in my hand when I went to rescue Rosie, but I searched everywhere, even outside and in the pond. I finally found it on top of the television. I must have set it down as I was heading outside to rescue my poor doggy.

I love this cute image from Asela's latest stamp set, Warm and Fuzzy. Of course, in real life, Rosie the dog does not like our cat. I colored the images with Copic markers and cut them out. All the panels are sponged and embossed using the Perfectly Paisley Cuttlebug folder.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a great day!

Inspired Birthday Wishes

This card is for the Flourishes focus challenge this month, to use a peacock feather as inspiration. I used an image from Figs and Pomegranates and colored it with Copic markers, then cut it out.

The background was sponged with So Saffron and Green Gable inks, then embossed with my Perfectly Paisley Cuttlebug folder. The sentiment is from Tag Lines and the ovals are cut using my Nestabilities.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!

Peace

This is the card I made for Gina. As most of you know, her father passed away recently and I wanted to send a card to let her know I am thinking of her. If you would like to send a card to Gina, please mail it to this address...

Gina K Designs
4701 Dale-Curtin Drive
McFarland, WI 53558

I colored the butterfly from Take Flight with Copic markers and cut it out. Then I embossed it with clear EP. The ovals are cut from Spellbinders nestabilities. The top oval is sponged and stamped with images from Tropical Flowers, using Creamy Caramel and So Saffron inks.

The larger background panel is sponged with So Saffron and embossed with my Perfectly Paisley Cuttlebug folder. I punced the swirls from my EK Success flourish punch from Kiwi Kiss and Basic Black cardstock and layered them. The card base is Kiwi Kiss. The sentiment is from Botanical Dreams.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you have a happy day!

Best Things

Here is another card from our last release that I never got around to sharing on my blog. I used Melanie's new set, The Best Things in Life. I also used the butterfly from Take Flight.

I sponged the background using So Saffron, Regal Rose, Ballet Blue and Creamy Caramel. Then I stamped the butterfly in a random pattern using Creamy Caramel. The sentiment was stamped using Black Stazon ink.

For the band on the bottom of the card, I had some leftover scraps from trimming the background I had created. I just used a narrow strip from the scrap pile and backed it with Basic Black.

Thanks for visiting. Have a happy Saturday!