Dark & Dreary Regional Card Swap

At Regionals, I also joined a card swap, organized by fellow SCS 'stampintottin'. Great time to play with a stamp set that I haven't played with yet, Dark & Dreary.

I really love the 'happy halloween 31' image with the gate, so I had to incorporate that into a card. Well, I went looking for inspiration, and ended up CASEing 'odden designs' from SCS. I sponged the edges of everything and the raised areas of the spider web with Basic Black ink to make it more dark and dreary. And the brocade spider flourish from From the Crypt works great as a background.

This card serendipitously satisfies this week's Friday Mashup challenge. Check it out!

Stamps: Dark & Dreary, From the Crypt; Paper: Basic Black, Cajun Craze, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White; Ink: Cajun Craze, Basic Black, Black Stazon; Accessories: Sponge, 1/2" Circle punch, Scissors, Raven lace trim, Brads, Spider Web embossing folder, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!

Countdown To Christmas: A Cute Christmas Never Ending Card

I thought it would be fun to do a Countdown to Christmas every Friday. I'm not quite ready yet, so hopefully this will keep me focused on creating Christmas cards and also inspire you. So it is 11 weeks before Christmas right now... time to start planning out your cards and get your supplies on order.

This is a card we made at stamp club. I was looking for a different card for club, I wanted to highlight a variety of papers from a DSP pack, and I haven't used A Cute Christmas yet. Searching around on Stampin' Connection (a stampin' community for SU demonstrators), I found this never ending card by Carol Seitz. So cute - I just had to try it.

I created 2-1/2 x 5" strips of Real Red cardstock to created this card, which results in a 5x5" card. We won't talk about what it was like to cut the little pieces of paper for the peeps. ;)

Panel 1 -

Panel 2 - I used a Diana Gibbs fork bow.

Panel 3 -

Panel 4 - I left a blank square for writing space.

This card was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle to put together and a big hit.

Stamps: A Cute Christmas, Sincere Salutations; Paper: Real Red, Baja Breeze, Blushing Bride, Whisper White, Candy Cane Christmas DSP; Ink: Basic Black, Real Red, Baja Breeze, Blushing Bride; Accessories: Real Red Striped ribbon (clearance rack), Aquapainter, Glue dots.
Thanks for stopping by!

Faux Postage Stamp

Happy Fall y'all,

I fell in love with a card I saw recently. Sometimes I don't know if it is the stamp or the color combo that really catches my eye. But this color combo is awesome: Crumb Cake, Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler.

This is a CASE of a card by Lynn Pratt. Rather than download the template and run cardstock through the printer (read: lazy), I made my own postage stamp with my paper piercer and Crop-o-dile. After stamping the main image, I went back to color the leaves and flowers with my marker to create some depth and dimension. I used the color spritzer to "age" up the background, and I adjusted the marker a couple times so I would get a variety of spot sizes.

I submitted this to the Friday Mashup challenge, and it won! Woohoo!!

Stamps: Just Believe; Paper: Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Deck the Halls DSP; Ink: Crumb Cake, Always Artichoke marker, Cherry Cobbler marker, Soft Suede marker; Accessories: Sponge, Color Spritzer, Linen Thread, Bitty Buttons, Itty Bitty punch pack, Scallop Edge punch, Paper Piercer, Crop-o-dile, Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!

Fun Halloween Accessories

Embossing folders, waffle paper, lace ribbon, oh my! Fun stuff to play and embellish with! The WICKED demo challenge for September on SCS was to watercolor, and the host was a gal I met at Convention, ReginaBD. I had to play along.

What a fun little image in this set. I embossed Basic Black cardstock with the Spider Web embossing folder (Holiday Mini pg. 6, #120889, $7.95) and inked the raised image, direct-to-paper, with Craft Whisper White ink. I ruffled the Basic Black waffle paper (pg. 8, #120985, $9.95 for two rolls) behind the main image, and topped it off with Raven black lace trim (pg. 8, #120988, $5.95).

I tried my best to copy Ilina Crouse's watercoloring. She is such a pro!

Stamps: Greeting Card Kids; Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black, Watercolor Paper, Wicked Fun Specialty DSP; Ink: Black Stazon, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Soft Suede, Basic Black, Whisper White Craft, Blush Blossom marker; Accessories: Black waffle paper, Raven black lace trim, Coluzzle, Spider Web embossing folder, Scallop Circle die, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!

Faux Mother of Pearl Regional Samples

As I mentioned yesterday, I'll show you the close-ups of the samples I created and shared at Regionals.

The sample I submitted and demostrated is shown here.

Stamps: Dream Gardens, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Crumb Cake, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Greenhouse Gala DSP; Ink: So Saffron, Peach Parfait, Black Stazon; Accessories: Frost White Shimmer Paint, Plastic wrap, Sponges, Scallop Trim border punch, Word Window punch, Modern Label punch, Pearl Jewels, Coluzzle, Backgrounds I Texturz plate, Scallop #2 die, Big Shot.

And here are the other samples I shared at the end of the presentation. This first one was a CASE of 'Kopy Kat' on SCS.

Stamps: Elements of Style; Paper: Rose Red, Very Vanilla; Ink: So Saffron, Peach Parfait, Regal Rose, Old Olive, Black Stazon; Accessories: Frost White Shimmer Paint, Plastic wrap, Sponges, Aquapainter, Circle punches, Very Vanilla satin ribbon, Square Lattice embossing folder, Big Shot.

Stamps: Timeless Treasures; Paper: Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Deck the Halls DSP; Ink: Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake; Accessories: Frost White Shimmer Paint, Plastic wrap, Sponges, Large Oval punch, Scallop Oval punch, Victoria Crochet Trim, Sewing machine, Thread, Sticky Strip, Dimensionals.

Stamps: Dreams Du Jour, Sanded; Paper: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Always Articoke, Cherry Cobbler; Ink: So Saffron, Peach Parfait, Crumb Cake, Riding Hood Red, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Black Stazon; Accessories: Frost White Shimmer Paint, Plastic wrap, Sponges, Scallop Square punch, Victoria Crochet Trim, Shimmer Paint mist spray, Pearl Jewels, Dimensionals.

Stamps: Sense of Time, En Francais; Paper: Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Baja Breeze, Newsprint DSP; Ink: Bashful Blue, Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake, Black Stazon; Accessories: Frost White Shimmer Paint, Plastic wrap, Sponges, Log Cabin Smooch Spritz; Oval punch, Modern Label punch, Crop-o-dile, Victorian Lace Trim, Vintage Trinkets, Cutter Kit, Scallop #2 die, Big Shot.

Finally, here is the 6x6" technique page, which describes the technique. Thanks to Sara Mattson-Blume for suggesting the use of Shimmer Paint!

Thanks for stopping by!

Baltimore Stampin' Up Regional

Hi Everyone! It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks. We had a relaxing time in Southern France along the Mediterranean. The last day we visited Eze and Monaco before flying out of Nice. We flew into JFK, and after some difficulty getting back to long term parking and finding my car, I drove right to Rosemary's house so that we could drive to Baltimore. More difficulty with lots of rain and getting turned around in a bad neighborhood, but we eventually got to our hotel. Jet lag? What jet lag?

Even though the schedule was tight, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to present at a Stampin' Up event. Workshop WOW presenters had to arrive at 7:30am for some instruction. Here is Carrie Cudney and me before the doors opened.

And me sitting at the presenter's table (photographer was Bonnie Thurber, heehee).

A picture of me presenting. My project looks like a big moon on the screen.

And here is what I was presenting, the Faux Mother of Pearl technique using Frost White Shimmer Paint.

Here are my projects on the display board.

It was so much fun! Tomorrow I'll give you the close up of my samples and a run down of the technique.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cote d'Azur Cont'd

In Arles.

The Cafe of Van Gogh, which was his inspiration for the painting Cafe Terrace at Night.

The sea town of Carry le Rouet. We visited an open-air market here.

Medieval city on the hill called Eze.

Along the passageways of the medieval city.

Casino in Monaco.

A few tiny, modest boats.

The Palace in Monaco.

And, along the steep uphill path to the palace, there was a lady selling hand-drawn cards. I bought one from her for 10€. Inexpensive work of art, in my opinion. I wish I had spent more time finding out her story and the story behind the card.

Thanks for stopping by!