SSC195 Winter Sunset

The card that just didn't want to be made....

Hi Everyone!  Welcome to another Sunday Stamps challenge, for which I'm terribly late.  I have tried several times to make a card with a particular stamp image, and it just wasn't working out for me.

I'm going to stick with this CAS winter sunset.  I did some masking and brayering.  The shadow was added using the mirror technique on my plastic Stamp-a-ma-jig sheet.

This card seems appropriate right now, as we have basically spent our Christmas vacation in the woods, either mountain biking or making new trails... several times until after sundown.

Here's this week's color challenge; use a minimum of 3 colors and a neutral of your choice.

Stamps: Winter Woods; Paper: Dusty Durango, Smoky Slate, Whisper White; Ink: Dusty Durango, More Mustard, Soft Sky, Smoky Slate, Basic Gray; Accessories: 3/4" Circle Punch, Sponges, Brayer, In the Woods Framelits, Big Shot.

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SSC169 Warm Up Your Winter!

Welcome to another Sunday Stamps challenge.  Have you been enjoying your holidays?  Time to break out some New Year's and winter cards!!

I love the Colorful Seasons bundle, as it hits all four seasons.  And I think I've managed to use it for all four as well.  Such a great starter set!

Here's this week's color combination. Use a minimum of 3 colors and a neutral of your choice. I hope you'll join us!

Stamps: Colorful Seasons; Paper: Pistachio Pudding, Soft Sky, Night of Navy, Whisper White; Ink: Regal Rose, Flirty Flamingo, Soft Sky, Night of Navy; Accessories: Rhinestone Jewels, Dazzling Diamonds, Brayer, Watercolor Brush, Sponge, Seasonal Layers Thinlits, Big Shot.

Stampin' Up has discounted some retiring and surplus inventory items, through January 2, and the Holiday Catalog Retiring List is also available.  Don't miss out on your favorites before they retire!!

Retiring Holiday Items

Discounted Items

These items are also listed in downloadable PDF & Excel files.

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Stampin' Up! Graveyard Gate

I've been having some fun with the Graveyard Gate bundle from the Holiday catalog.  This is the perfect set to try out some fun artistic backgrounds.  Here, let me show you.

To create the background, I flicked masking fluid onto my card with a watercolor brush and let dry completely.  Then I brayered with Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Night of Navy, and Basic Black inks.  The moon was created by sponging Crushed Curry onto Very Vanilla card stock, die-cutting, and flicking Crushed Curry ink with a watercolor brush.

The entire gate slides off the card like a sleeve.

Stamps: Graveyard Gate; Paper: Basic Gray, Basic Black, Very Vanilla; Ink: Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Night of Navy, Basic Black; Accessories: Masking Fluid, Brayer, Watercolor Brush, Sponges, Circles Collection Framelits, Detailed Gate Thinlits, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

Speaking of Halloween, I have a retired Decor Elements Halloween bundle for sale.  Contact me if you are interested in a quick and fun way to decorate your home for Halloween.

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Stampin' Up High Tide

Here's a clean-and-simple birthday card I created recently.

I started off with the blues from Sunday Stamps's color challenge but deviated with the lighthouse color.

Stamps: High Tide, Lemon Zest; Paper: Night of Navy, Whisper White; Ink: Cherry Cobber, Bermuda Bay, Pacific Point, Night of Navy; Accessories: Brayer.

Host an online, virtual, or stamping party totaling $300 or more, now through October 31, and receive the Merry Patterns stamp set FREE!  Contact me for more information.

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The Stamp Review Crew: Wonderland

Welcome to another Stamp Crew Review Blog Hop!  We share our take on a selected stamp set every first and third Monday.  This week we are using a wonderful stamp set from the holiday catalog, Wonderland.  If you are following the blog hop order, you have just come from the super fabulous blog of Linda Callahan.  Love her!

The trees in this set, having the same versatile elegance as Lovely as a Tree, really attracted me.  To get the Wonderland party started, I grabbed this set for this week's Friday Mashup.  The color combination was a little bit of a challenge, but I wouldn't be deterred!

My background treatment included brayering with Pool Party and splattering with Smoky Slate and white acrylic paint.

This week's Mashup Challenge:

• Create a project using the colors Mint, Pool, White and Slate 
• Create a project with a Winter theme. 
• or Mash it Up! and create a project using the a Winter theme and the Colors above.

Stamps: Wonderland; Paper: Whisper White, Neutrals Collection DSP; Ink: Pool Party, Mint Macaron, Smoky Slate, Memento Tuxedo Black; Accessories: Metallics Sequin Assortment, Brayer, Watercolor brush, White acrylic paint.

Now make sure you check out the next stop to see what lovelies Rochelle Blok has put together for us with this week's stamp set. 

 

The Stamp Review Crew: Happy Scenes

Welcome to another Stamp Crew Review Blog Hop!  We share our take on a selected stamp set every first and third Monday.  This week we are covering a popular stamp set, Happy Scenes, which can be bundled with the matching Hearth & Home framelits at a 15% discount.  If you are following the blog hop order, you have just come from Yapha Mason's blog.  She always has such fun projects!

I'm combining our featured stamp set with this week's Friday Mashup challenge, using silhouette images and filling your card with background color.

Stamping the silhouette first and then brayering the background created a bit of a dilemma with the snow in the trees.  I pulled out some art masking fluid for the first time, to see how that would work.  I painted the masking fluid on with a brush and let dry completely.  Then I brayered my panel like normal.  The masking fluid can be rubbed away when your artwork is complete.

I added some stars with the stamp from Gorgeous Grunge.  For distant stars, I attempted to get stray embossing powder to stick to my panel by tapping dry powder off a brush.  As you can imagine, it is difficult to get stray powder to stick when you want it to, as most of the powder would just fly away under the heat gun.  :/

Here's your Mashup Challenge:

• Create a project with a Silhouette image.
• Create a project with a Background filled with Color (Watercolor, Sponging, Etc.)
• or Mash it Up! and create a project with a color filled background and a silhouette.

Stamps: Happy Scenes, Jingle All the Way, Gorgeous Grunge; Paper: Night of Navy, Whisper White; Ink: Soft Sky, Pool Party, Marina Mist, Night of Navy, Black Stazon, Versamark; Accessories: White embossing powder, Brayer, Art masking fluid, brush.

In case you missed it, recently I pulled this set out for the first time for a previous Friday Mashup challenge, pumpkins and die-cut frames.  Such fun to watercolor these scenes.

Stamps: Happy Scenes, Something to Celebrate, Hardwood BG; Paper: Hello Honey, Tip Top Taupe, Whisper White, Season of Cheer DSP, Watercolor paper; Ink: Soft Sky, Pool Party, Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey, Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango, Wild Wasabi, Old Olive, Tip Top Taupe, Basic Black archival; Accessories: Aquapainter, Hearth & Home framelits, Big Shot.

Now make sure you check out the next stop to see what lovelies Holly Krautkremer has put together for us with this week's stamp set. 

 

Technique Tuesday: Bouncing Brayer & Weekly Deals

One of the techniques we did at the recent technique class was Bouncing Brayer.  This sample illustrates using the bouncing brayer technique to ink horitzontal lines to create a horizon.

This sample was inspired by Patrice Halliday-Larsen.

As an alternative, you can bounce your brayer in a semi-circle, using one end of the brayer as a rotation point, to create sun ray lines, as seen in this recent card here.

Stamps: Serene Silhouettes, And Many More; Paper: Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla; Ink: Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso; Accessories: Baked Brown Sugar thick baker's twine (retiring), Brayer, 1-1/4" Circle punch, Sponge, Post-It Note, Dimensionals.

Click HERE to check out this week's Weekly Deals!

FM205 Bouncing Tide

Tara is bringing us this week's Friday Mashup challenge, a technique and a sketch.

For my card, I inked up one side of the brayer with Lost Lagoon and the other with Pool Party and bounced the brayer on the card stock.  I filled the white space in with inking the full brayer with Pool Party and bouncing on the card stock.

This week's Mashup! Challenge:

 

• Create a project using "the sketch".
• Create a project using the "Bouncing Brayer Technique (tutorial)". 
• or Mash it Up! and create a project using the Bouncing Brayer Technique and the Sketch".

Stamps: By the Tide, And Many More; Paper: Pool Party, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, DSP cover from Occasions Catalog; Ink: Pool Party, Lost Lagoon, Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke, River Rock, Baked Brown Sugar, Black Stazon; Accessories: 1/2" Natural Trim, Itty Bitty Accents epoxy stickers, 1/2" Circle punch, Brayer, Aquapainter, Tiny Triangles EF, Circles Collection framelits, Big Shot, Sewing machine, Thread.

Stampin' Addicts Sale-a-Bration Blog Hop

Welcome to the Stampin' Addicts Sale-a-bration Blog Hop! We're so excited the Sale-a-bration annual promotion has begun, and we came together to share some ideas with you using the items you can earn for free.  During Sale-a-bration, you can choose a free gift from the SAB catalog with each $50 you spend.  There are four exclusive stamp sets, patterned paper, twine & cork accessories, coordinating punch, embossing folder, card, decor, and packaging kits, and two digital options to choose from.  There is something for everyone. 

If you have been following the blog hop in order, you have just come from Tanya's blog featuring the stamp set Petal Parade.  Tanya always has unique and fun projects!  For my stop on this blog hop, I am highlighting the designer series paper pack Sweet Sorbet.

What can I do, out of the ordinary, with a pack of paper?  I jotted down several card designs that are great to highlight a paper pack, such as a shutter card, the starburst technique, or the joy fold card.  And I ended up making none of them - LOL!  I took a good look at the paper patterns, and built some cards I felt complimented them nicely.

First I wanted to show the floral, leaf, and tree pattern is pretty enough to be the focus of your card.  If you love a pattern, why not headline it as the main event?

Here I framed the paper with a polaroid die-cut and embellished with some other Sale-a-bration goodies.

Stamps: Petal Parade, Hello, Lovely, Just Sayin'; Paper: Summer Starfruit, Crisp Cantaloupe, Whisper White, Sweet Sorbet DSP; Ink: Summer Starfruit, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pool Party, Chocolate Chip; Accessories: Pearl Jewels, Sweet Sorbet Accessory pack, Itty Bitty punch pack, On Film framelits, Word Bubbles framelits, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

The black patterned sheet is really unique, and I thought it reminded me of a fabric pattern.  An internet search revealed a similar print, called an ikat animal print.  With that in mind, I went for a zebra project.

I incorporated Crisp Cantaloupe and Summer Starfruit (and also Pistachio Pudding) into a brayered background, which resulted in quite an interesting mixture, maybe an orangy-mustard.  I used Mojo Monday challenge #330 for a tall, skinny card.

Stamps: Zoo Review, Serene Silhouettes; Paper: Summer Starfruit, Basic Black, Whisper White, Sweet Sorbet DSP; Ink: Crisp Cantaloupe, Summer Starfruit, Pistachio Pudding, Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip, Basic Gray, Black Stazon, Pistachio Pudding marker, Chocolate Chip marker; Accessories: Natural Trim ribbon, Brayer, Aquapainter, Sponges, Sewing machine, Thread, Dimensionals.

I've been going back to Splitcoaststampers Mix-Ability challenges lately for inspiration.  There was a past challenge using bits of patterned paper to create a scene.  I thought it would be a great choice for this pack to create a 5 x 7" framable.

I did say I didn't use the starburst technique, so I fibbed a bit.  Originally I was thinking of using different patterns in the starburst shape to show them off.  So, that's my excuse.  Don't you just love this little scene?  I used My Digital Studio downloads and my e-cutter to put it together.

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Sweet Sorbet DSP; Ink: Pool Party; Accessories: Sweet Sorbet Accessories pack, Very Vintage designer button, 2-1/2 Circle punch, Sponge, Sewing machine, Thread, e-cutter; MDS Elements: Barnyard Buddies, Forever Young, Grass punch.

In total, I hit 7 of 12 patterns in this pack, along with another one on a previous post this week, makes 8.  Not too baaaaad!  That was my sheep talking.  :)

If you aren't yet a member of Stampin' Addicts, you can sign up here. Make sure you check out the next stop to see what Rhonda at The Stampin' Bunny put together using the Sweet Sorbet Accessories Pack. She's made some amazing projects.
 

 

The complete blog hop listing:

1) Tanya (tanya27) -- Petal Parade
2) Heidi (hlw966) -- Sweet Sorbet DSP
3) Rhonda (rhondag) -- Sweet Sorbet Accessories Pack
4) Tina (tina123) -- Decorative Dots Embossing Folder
5) Sara (lilyinkpad) -- Good as Gold
6) Kim (s1itcher46) -- Banner Blast
7) Holly E. (HollyBeary Creations) -- Banner Punch
8) Paula (scrapshappen) -- You're Lovely
9) Twila (tjdstampsalot) -- Twisty Treats
10) Mary (nuhddad) -- Heartfelt
11) Yapha -- See You Later
12) Debra (WebDeb) -- Hooray for Parties Digital Ensemble
13) Betty (kittystamp) -- One Big Sale-a-Bration CD
14) Holly K -- Petal Parade

Thanks for stopping by!