Color Challenge

I actually haven't done any of the Dirty Dare challenges since last week, but did manage to complete today's Color Challenge on Splitcoast. The challenge was to use Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery and Close to Cocoa on a card. It was hard for me to bring in the Certainly Celery, which is actually one of my favorite colors, but it just didn't look right with the other two. However, I do love how the card turned out.

For the base white cardstock, I stamped the flower image from Bud Basics in Versamark ink. Then I dabbed Stampin' Pastels in Close to Cocoa and Bashful Blue chalk in various spots. In the pic it looks like it's just one color of chalk, but IRL you can see the differences between the two colors and how each flower is different. It looks pretty neat! I used Watercolor Wonder Crayons to color the main flower image.

Stampin' Supplies:

Stamps: Bud Basics, Doodle This, Green Thumb by Papertrey

Paper: Whisper White, Close to Cocoa, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery

Ink: Versamark, Black Stazon, Close to Cocoa

Accessories: Stampin' Pastels, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, AquaPainter, Ticket Corner Punch, Soft Subtles Eyelets, Celery Grosgrain, Cream Organdy Ribbon

Beate's Sketch Challenge

I decided to do another one of Beate's sketch challenges on her blog, which she posts each Friday. I really liked this sketch and wanted to use some of the new In Color paper, which I really haven't used yet at all. This was the type of card that I just kept adding things to...and if I hadn't decided that I just HAD to post it now, I probably would have added more and more!!

So, I used three different In Colors: Purely Pomegranate, Groovy Guava, and Wild Wasabi. The patterned paper is Basic Grey. I decided to try a new "technique" that really isn't a technique at all. I used retired Cream Organdy ribbon and ran it over the Pomegranate ink pad to color the ribbon...many tutorials out there talk about how to dye ribbon with a reinker, but I actually don't have the reinkers yet for the new In Colors. So I thought I'd try this and see how it went. Well, it colored it beautifully...but the ink DOES NOT DRY!!!! Seriously, I dyed this ribbon about 35 minutes ago, and I can still touch the ribbon and get ink on my fingers!!! So this is a tutorial I do not recommend...but it sure is purty ribbon!! :-) I love how the card turned out...but I don't think it's one I can give to anyone unless that doggone ribbon ever decides to dry!!

Stampin' Supplies:

Stamps: Happy Harmony (Stampin' Up SAB set from 2007)

Paper: Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi, Groovy Guava, Very Vanilla by Stampin' Up, patterned paper by Basic Grey

Ink: Groovy Guava, Purely Pomegranate, Black Stazon

Accessories: Organdy Ribbon (retired), Silver Brads, Ticket Corner Punch, Paper Piercer and Mat Pack

Two more challenges...

So I haven't done any challenges for Friday, but here are two from Thursday. Friday was spent travelling to IKEA, which is about a 2 hour drive south to Milton Keynes...essentially a northwestern suburb of London. It was an exhausting trip, and when I got home I had a splitting headache. After a nap to try and rid myself of the headache, a few of my neighbors decided to have a Smores party, so we were out toasting marshmallows and generally being disruptive. We then got paranoid and thought there were people breaking in to an abandoned house across from our community...so four of us (one who is almost 9 months pregnant) decide to go investigate, complete with fake "weapons" (a toy light saber and a toy gun...hey, you never know when you may find the need to do battle!!). Seriously: I don't know what we were thinking. And, we were making such a damn racket that there is NO WAY people didn't hear us coming. We were getting giddy, doing "Charlie's Angels" poses, acting like it was "Mission Impossible"...we're just a bunch of freaks. Too much sugar on a Friday night (did I mention there were smores...and also rice krispie treats? Yep, we're all married adults here!!). So all of that is why it's now going on 1AM and I'm still wide awake and lookin' for trouble. Tomorrow night we're all going on base to see "Hairspray", so that should be a unique experience. :-)

Okay, back to my original post. My ADD rears its ugly head as I got completely off track!

One challenge was to do a card with only clear stamps. I submitted the card a few posts below that was for Julee's sketch challenge on her blog, but it didn't use only clear stamps, so I decided to try again. I wanted to play around with a few of my PaperTrey sets that I really don't get a chance to work with, so I pulled out 4 sets (yes, 4!!): Faux Ribbon, Borders & Corners Circles, Borders & Corners Squares, and Green Thumb. I remember seeing a card that Taylor made as one of her design team submissions for the Faux Ribbon set where she essentially made a ribbonesque feature with strips going down the card, so that's what I started with. It's not exactly how I thought it would turn out..but it's cute.

Stampin' Supplies:

Stamps (all PaperTrey): Faux Ribbon, Borders & Corners Circles, Borders & Corners Squares, Green Thumb

Paper: PaperTrey Stamper's Select White, SU's Elegant Eggplant and Rose Red

Ink (All Stampin' Up): Elegant Eggplant, Rose Red, So Saffron, Brocade Blue, Night of Navy

Accessories: Ribbon (no clue who this belongs to...maybe Crate Paper??), Mega punch and Giga scalloped punch by Marvy, lots and lots of acrylic blocks :-)

The next challenge was a sketch challenge, which I love doing. Sometimes I need a sketch to help me think outside the box. I was really feeling like a nice girly card with tons of pink. :-) It also gave me the opportunity to use some of my new Prima Sprites...as well as a TON of retired stuff.

Okay, let's list the retired stuff used on this card:

The stamp set is Edgy Eloquence, which I believe was in last year's summer mini. I am still holding out hope it'll be in the Spring/Summer catalog, as I love this set and would enjoy demoing it again. There is a lot of retired paper and ink, including Cool Caribbean as the base paper, and the ink for the sentiment. I inked the stamp up with Cool Caribbean, then wiped off the two words that I wanted to accent, then colored them in again with a Regal Rose marker. Just a few puffs of hot air and it was moistened and ready for stampin'. The background striped paper is from the Loves Me designer paper in the Winter Mini, and the pink polka-dotted paper is actually the back of the striped paper. The other piece of pink paper with the bigger dots is from the Petals and Paisley paper, which was in the Spring mini and I believe it did make it into the current SU catalog. And of course, my current staple of all cards, the May Arts dotted organdy ribbon.

Stampin' Supplies:

Stamps: Edgy Eloquence

Paper: Cool Caribbean (retired), Loves Me DS (retired), Petals & Paisleys (current??), PaperTrey Stamper's Select White cardstock

Ink: Cool Caribbean (retired), Regal Rose

Accessories: Ribbon, pink brads (not SU, probably Making Memories...but who knows? I just grabbed 'em!), Ticket Corner Punch, Corner Rounder (not the current SU one..they retired last year's one and came out with a new one that's just a tad different, apparently)

Challenge #3

Well, I did manage to complete this yesterday...but I was so tired I went to bed before completing it. So I actually made 4 cards yesterday, which I do think is a record for me this year! I am sooooo glad I'm on summer holiday now so I can actually stamp! :-)

This challenge was to use brads on a card. Now, brads are definitely my embellishment of choice. In fact, if I don't have brads on a project, it's quite shocking. I did this the first time and really hated how it turned out. I thought it would look cool to have the brads all around the puppy image as a frame or border...and in reality it looked like a really weird dog collar. It didn't fit with the whole concept of the card, so I pulled the brads out, trimmed the layer and started again. This one works much better!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Puppy and sentiment by Penny Black
Paper: Soft Sky by Stampin' Up, patterned paper by Crate Paper, White Select Cardstock by PaperTrey
Ink: Black Stazon
Accessories: Silver Brads, Blue Dotted Organdy Ribbon by May Arts, Primsacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Blending Stumps, Stampin' Up Ticket Corner Punch, Black Stampin' Write Marker for doodling

Now I'm a Stampin' Machine!!

Goodness gracious, I've actually completed 3 whole cards today!! Wow, I'm just sitting here staring at them in shock. It's hard for me to make enough time for one card, let alone 3!!! So the first one I showed you in the previous post, so here are the next two:

Splitcoaststampers is having a week of challenges right now for anyone who belongs to their Fan Club. There are 4 challenges per day (starting today), and 8 on Saturday and Sunday. I've completed two challenges so far today, so we'll see if I go for another one or two. You just never know...

The first challenge was to make any card with an animal theme. It could be a card with a animal stamp, a card given to an animal (as if anyone really does that?!?!? Seriously?!??!) or a card about an animal (yep, I'd probably do this one...my puppy is my little baby boy!!). Well, I have a few stamps that I have picked up over the last few months and haven't had an opportunity to ink up. This elephant just makes me giggle every time I see him!!

A goal I've had recently has been to start using up some of my patterned paper. I've accumulated quite a bit of it over the past year...including a big pack that I must have gotten from Michael's a few years ago and just found in the back of a closet. :-) Ironically, this patterned paper is from Stampin' Up, and I think it might be in the current catalog...so it's not helping me to clean up the old stuff. But at least I'm using it!

Stampin' Supplies:

Stamps: Image and sentiment by Penny Black

Paper: Ballet Blue and Petals and Paisleys DS Paper by Stampin' Up, White Select Cardstock by PaperTrey

Ink: Black Stazon

Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Blending Stumps, Stampin' Up Ticket Corner Punch, Silver Brads, Pink Dotted Organdy Ribbon by May Arts

The elephant was inked in Black Stazon ink and then colored with Prismacolor Pencils. This is my 3rd try at Prismacolors, and I'm finally starting to get the hang of them. I see these wonderful artists who can color so brilliantly (go check out two of my favorite blogs to see some fantastic coloring: Prairie Paper & Ink and Confessions of a Naptime Stamper), and I'm so not there yet!! Anyway, I'm starting to understand how to use blending stumps to get shading...so that's why the elephant looks a little "bare" in places. Just me trying to figure out how to shade him! But I love how bright the flowers look, and the colors worked so well with the designer paper. So I of course had to top it off with May Arts dotted organdy ribbon, which is now my "staple of choice" for an embellishment on a card.

The second challenge was a sketch challenge with the following sketch:

I switched it up just a tad because I really wanted to use my Marvy punches. My goal for this card was to use lots of things I haven't used recently. So I pulled out my PaperTrey Little Lady set and the Scalloped Borders set from GinaK Designs...and look! I used more patterned paper!! Woo hoo!!

So here's my take on the sketch.

I seriously get in major color ditches. Could this have more purple?? (seriously, say that in your best Chandler Bing impression!!) But I really like how it turned out. There were a few minor fender benders along the way (I could not get that doggone ladybug stamped the way I wanted her...then I stamped her with the doodle and forgot to punch her out first, then I adhered her to the back of the doodle as opposed to the front...it was an ongoing saga!!). I like how it turned out for the most part, but I wish I had cut the patterned paper a bit shorter on the long side. Oh well, it gets the job done!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Little Lady by PaperTrey, Scalloped Borders by GinaK Designs, Bodacious Jumbo Wheel by Stampin' Up

Paper: Perfect Plum by Stampin' Up, White Select Cardstock by PaperTrey, and I really don't know about the designer paper, although I think the bottom layer that has been cuttlebugged is from Basic Grey

Accessories: Purple Dotted Organdy Ribbon by May Arts, Tag Maker and circle tag by Making Memories, Cuttlebug and Tiny Bubbles Embossing Folder, Giga Scalloped and Mega Punch by Marvy, Cutter Kit by Stampin' Up

Phew! I think it actually takes me longer to type these posts up than it does to actually create the cards!!! Now I'm off to try for another challenge today...goodness, what if I can actually create 4 cards in one day!??!?! That will be a record for 2007!!! :-)

WOOPEEEEEEE!!!!

Ah, the wonder of the summer holiday. I finally had time to stamp!! Not that I don't have a thousand other things I could be doing...but I decided to MAKE stamping a priority. This card was created using the sketch challenge for Julee's birthday, check out her blog at Poetic Artistry, she's really quite an artist!!

I posted some troubles I've had with the PaperTrey Text Boxed stamp set, and after reading some responses, I decided to email the customer service department and ask for some assistance. I got a FANTASTIC email from Ms. Nichole herself listing all the techniques she has employed, different inks and papers, and what her advice is. Talk about phenomenal customer service!!! I was so excited to see the response, and her insightful ideas led me to play around with the set today and finally got some images to stamp completely. All in all, I was successful, so I'm soooooo thankful Nichole emailed me and gave me her ideas.

ETA: Julee asked me if I could share what Nichole said about working with this stamp set. The overall emphasis of her email was to play with the set! She said that she has noticed her favorite image out of the set is working so much better now than it did in the past. She also said to try different things, such as different inks (she said she has success with any of the darker pigmented SU inks, Palette inks and also Versamagic inks...she said that any ink that is light in color has a better chance of not showing up because of the water content in it). She also said that she finds the craft ink pads, such as Whisper White, work well. As for cardstock, she said she has had success with vellum and the PaperTrey white cardstock...and she recommended putting fun foam sheets under the cardstock while stamping. :-) I haven't tried that yet, but it could be a nice alternative!!

This is the condensed version of what she emailed me...what a fantastic email I received!! I have such a high opinion of PaperTrey and how they handle customer service. I recommend their products to EVERYONE!!!!

So the sketch is cute, and gave me some great ideas for using new stuff. I really wanted to use one of my new PaperTrey sets (part of the 5-set Borders & Corners sets). I ordered twice from PaperTrey, and ironically my first order hasn't arrived yet, but I got the second order on Monday. So unfortunately the first order had the punches...so I had to make due with other stuff. My second order had the Circle stamp set and the Tag Maker, so I got to play with that a bit.

Here's my take on Julee's sketch:

I used all Stampin' Up and PaperTrey materials, except the tag which is Making Memories. I actually have not yet made an order from the new Stampin' Up catalog, which was released July 1st. My husband had promised me an order from our car tax refund...and that has just taken FOREVER to be put back into his account!! So August 1st is when I'll order new paper and stuff. But this does have the Blue Bayou paper and ink, plus the Soft Sky DS paper. The white cardstock is the PaperTrey cardstock, which is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. It's just so thick, which makes it wonderful for stamping on. The background image on the first layer is with the Spot On wheel from SU, then the rest of the images are all PaperTrey. "Happy For You" are from the Paper Trey set, then the remaining images are from Text Boxed. I really had fun doing this card, and I have to say it's probably the longest I've taken on one card in quite awhile! I probably spent an hour...I would adhere something, then change my mind and adhere again, then add another layer, then screw up an image and start again...it was an interesting process. But I really enjoyed it, and now I can't wait to get the rest of my PaperTrey goodies and then order from SU on the 1st.

And, how about this!!!! I have NO brads or eyelets on this card!!!!! Brads are a staple of my crafting diet. In fact, one of my Stampin' Up downlines teases me everytime I create a project, because it uses at least 2 brads. She now just KNOWS it will have brads whenever I do something. Well, Andraea, how about THAT!!!! NO BRADS!!! :-)

Stampin' Supplies:

Stamps: Text Boxed, Paper Trey, and Borders & Corners-Circle, all by PaperTreyInk

Ink: Blue Bayou, Not Quite Navy by Stampin' Up

Paper: Blue Bayou, Soft Sky DS Paper by Stampin' Up; White by PaperTreyInk

Accessories: Ribbon by May Arts, Tag and Tag Maker by Making Memories, Cutter Kit by Stampin' Up

Now that I'm off for 6 whole weeks for our summer holiday, I hope to be posting and creating more often. I hope everyone else is enjoying their July!! :-)

I'm sooooooo tired!

It's our last week of school FINALLY and a lot has been due. I had to complete a huge portfolio for my job, which also included 5 full days of training and various meetings/courses throughout the last six months. I thought it was due at the end of July, but received an email last Thursday from the Coordinator stating it was due Monday. WOAH! Totally not prepared for that! It's taken quite a bit of work throughout the last week to get it all sorted, but it's finally complete. I simply cannot wait to give it to my Coordinator so I don't have to deal with it anymore.

I'm also in a very intensive Master's course working on an Action Research Project. It's really in-depth and the course is kicking my butt. Plus, to be frank, I don't like the instructor. I think he's borderline offensive and gets extremely defensive if you say anything. For example, he takes too long to respond to emails, so when I asked about it in a private email, he posted the comment in the main forum for all my classmates to see! How wrong is that?!?! He'll be getting one hell of a review from me at the end of the course!!!

Here's something I worked on last week that I submitted to PaperTrey for their monthly Guest Star Stamper contest. If you go to their website and click on InkPad Gallery, you'll see the winner. Yeah...the minute Sharon posted this on her blog, I knew I had NO CHANCE! I will say I'm a little disappointed with this stamp set. The stamp set is called Text Boxed, and was released in mid-June. The whole point is to have a stamp that looks like a reverse image: so you have a inked box with the image that appears not to be stamped. Well, I cannot get any of the images to stamp completely, no matter what ink I try. I don't know what the deal is, it just doesn't work! I've tried different inks (Stampin' Up classic and craft ink, Palette inks), different paper (SU and PaperTrey), and different acrylic blocks to apply the stamp. There is always a spot where the ink doesn't touch the paper, no matter how I rock the block, push down with all my might, and shimmy around my table. Ironically, I can get my Versamark to do well...but I don't want to have a $24 stamp set where I can only use it to emboss or put PearlEx on it. So it's a very frustrating purchase.

On to the card. Because I couldn't get the main images to work, I had to look outside the box. I originally did a really cool card with Versamark and three different colors of PearlEx to create a Patriotic card, but the PearlEx wasn't exactly how I wanted it, so scrapped it and started again. I decided to do a background type image with lots of different images from the set. I then applied Versamark over the entire image and dumped a ton of Glossy Glaze embossing powder on it so I could do the Cracked Glass technique. I then rubbed a Brilliant Blue ink pad...which didn't turn out as I planned. It's supposed to give it a little bit of a textured and older feel, but it just made it look crappy! :-) All in all, the card turned out pretty cute, and I plan on sending it to my niece who turns 4 this weekend.

Supplies:

Stamp sets: Text Boxed, Little Lady, both by PaperTrey

Paper: Real Red, Brilliant Blue, Whisper White, all by Stampin' Up

Ink: Real Red, Brilliant Blue, So Saffron all by Stampin' Up, Versamark and Black Stazon

Accessories: Silver Brads, Ticket Corner Punch, Glossy Glaze EP by Stampin' Up, Ribbon by May Arts, Cuttlebug