sMOOches for Paper Smooches

I took a break from organizing my inks to make some cards.  Today's card was for Paper Smooches.  Here is their sketch for this week . . .

And here is my card . . .

I used pattern papers from Graphic 45 to create my card.  The paper was leftover from a chipboard album kit, but it was perfect for this card.  It made my cow just a little bit more country!

I used watercolor paper for my images and used distress inks to color.  Toughest part was cutting out that sentiment piece with it's tiny little vines.

Heading back to stamp out some ink swatches . . . almost done!

Cheers!

Supplies Used - sMOOches

Cardstock:  Neenah and Strathmore Watercolor

Pattern Paper:  Graphic 45

Stamps:  Best Buds and Chubby Chums from Paper Smooches

Ink:  Versafine, Ranger Clear Embossing Powder and Distress Inks

Ribbon:  Twine from The Stamps of Life

Other:  Liquid Glass from Close To My Heart, Chipboard Tag from Graphic 45, and cork hearts from The Stamps of Life

Holiday Cards Using Stamp of Approval Supplies

I have a two cards to share today, both of them using Stamp of Approval supplies.  If you've not heard of Stamp of Approval, it's an awesome quarterly set of coordinating stamps and dies (and sometimes stencils, sequins, etc.).  The first collection was Friendship.  The second collection was Holiday Magic.  Both are sold out, but the next collection will be coming out in January, so check it out.

My cards today are for two challenges.  The first was CASology.

For this one, I used my very first stamp set from The Ton, which was part of the Stamp of Approval Holiday Magic set.  It had an amazing collection of holly . . . outline and fill stamps for 2-step stamping.  I used two shades of green and two of red for my holly and berries.  I also used some of the flourishes. 

For my second card, I was inspired by the challenge at Christmas Stampin' All Year Long. There challenge this week . . . White & White!  A card in all white.

The sparkle on this one is not showing in the photos.  I used Irridescent Ice embossing powder from Stampin' Up for the embossing on the front panel, as well as for the raised snowflake dies and sentiment. 

It was fun getting back to creating today.  Hoping to split my time this weekend between hockey (I'm a big fan of my local AHL team), crafting, and creating and organizing ink swatches.

Cheers!

Supplies Used - Merry Christmas for CASology

Cardstock:  Neenah and Bazzill

Pattern Paper:   Close To My Heart

Stamps:  Holiday Flourishes from The Ton

Dies:  Cornerstone Seal from Memory Box and Stitched Belly Band Dies from My Creative Time

Ink:  Close To My Heart, Versamark and Ranger Embossing Powder

Other:  Stickles

Supplies Used - Happy Holidays for Christmas Stampin' All Year Long

Cardstock:  Bazzill

Stamps:  Snow Sayings from CAS-ual Fridays*

Dies:  Funky Flakes Dies from CAS-ual Fridays* and Happy Holidays Die from Neat & Tangled*

Ink:  Versamark and Stampin' Up Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder

Other:  Rhinestones from Close To My Heart

*from Stamp of Approval Holiday Magic Collection by Catherine Pooler

Where Have I Gone?

Holy moly!  Where did I disappear to?

Confession . . . I've been on an ink organization vendetta.  I bought some ink pad storage units for my table . . . and then I bought a labeler . . . and then I bought little dots to put next to the labels to show the color.  Holy cow this is a lot of work.  Lots of labeling.  Lots of stamping on little dots. 

Well, I had that nearly finished and then I bought coin holder sheets . . . and I'm about to kill even more time making swatches of my inks.  I swore I'd never do this.  Never say never!

And so in the meantime, a card to share.  This one was  inspired by a sketch at one of my favorite crafty places, StampNation.

This one was created using a kit from The Stamps of Life.  

I'm gearing up for some crafty time this weekend . . . and I'd like to find some time to make those swatches too!  Will try to balance the fun with the inking of the swatches.  Cheers! 

Supplies Used - Hello, Happy Birthday

All supplies from The Stamps of Life April Card Kit except for the ink which was from Close To My Heart

World Card Making Day - Take 5

My final two cards for the StampNation World Card Making day, a virtual event held the first weekend of October, were inspired by fabrics and prints from Germany and Israel. 

For Germany, folk art was the inspiration.  I didn't have any folk art type cards, so i had to create a little something on my own. 

Nothing too flashy, but I did have to add some Stickles for dimension and sparkle. 

For Israel, there were designs with repetitive patterns and there were some metallic elements.  I used a stamp I had from Studio Calico and repeated it down the card.  

And I learned that you can, in fact, emboss on cork.  Good to know!  

I hope you've enjoyed seeing the cards that I posted over the last few days.  If you are interested, I would definitely check out StampNation.  It is a fabulous community of stampers and papercrafters.  We'd love to see you there! 

Supplies Used - Germany

Cardstock:  Bazzill and Neenah

Stamps:  Sending You Sunshine from Studio Calico

Ink:  Close To My Heart

Ribbon:  Stampin' Up

Other:  Stickles

Supplies Used -  Israel

Cardstock:  Bazzill and Neenah

Stamps:  Diamond from Studio Calico

Ink:  Versamark and Ranger Platinum Embossing Powder

Other:  Cork Pinked Circle from Little Yellow Bicycle

World Card Making Day - Take 4

Sharing two more of my creations for StampNation's World Card Making Day event.  These two are for Malaysia and France.

For Malaysia, the inspiration photo included Malaysian Batik, and there was one in particular that caught my eye.  It had bold white lines with flowers and a blue background.

I've entered this card into this month's Virginia' View Challenge - All Things Colored!

I was again watercoloring with distress inks.  I added a touch of gold and black to the design to give it some pop! 

For France, the inspiration was damask in the colors portrayed by my design, and one of the photos had some jars with straws.   I felt inspired to recreate those jars, and I also used a sketch from Fusion Card Challenge.  Here is the sketch . . .

And here is my card . . .

Black and white . . . with a touch of red.  

Will be sharing my final WCMD photos tomorrow. 

Now, go create something!

Supplies Used - Malaysia

Cardstock:  Bazzill Marshmallow and Strathmore Bristol Watercolor Paper

Stamps:  Fancy Thanks and Bohemian Garden from Essentials by Ellen

Dies:  You Rock Designer Die from Essentials by Ellen

Ink:  Ranger Distress, Versamark, White Embossing Powder and Hero Arts

Other:  Gold Glitter Tape from American Crafts, Washi Tape, and Pretty Pink Posh Sequins

Supplies Used - France

Cardstock:  Bazzill

Pattern Paper:  Authentique

Stamps:  Unity Stamp's Coconut Lime Soup

Dies:  Love Ya Die from Casual Fridays for Stamp of Approval Friend Collection

Ink:  Ranger Distress Ink and Hero Arts

Other:  Twine from The Stamps of Life, Pearls from Stampin' Up, flowers from my stash

World Card Making Day Challenge Cards - Take 3

I'm sharing two more cards for the World Card Making Day event that was held at my crafty place, StampNation.  If you're looking for a welcoming community with loads of genuinely kind crafty people, I can't recommend it enough! 

So our 5th and 6th challenges for the WCMD event were Japan and Australia.  For both of my creations, I used watercolor paper and distress inks.  This first one was inspired by a kimono print that was all shades of pink, and the fabric had gold accents. 

Watercolor is so unpredictable.  I embossed with clear powder onto the white watercolor paper.  

When I stamped the sentiment, I have to admit that I heard Rosie Perez in my head saying, "Muriel Lang . . . woman with a heart of gold." from the movie, "It Could Happen to You."  And I heard it over, and over, and over . . .

For Australia, the inspirational photos were of Aboriginal Art with prints made up of dots.  I decided to zoom in on the dots. 

I used about five different blue distress ink colors to create this card, and I have to say I was super pleased with the result.  I wasn't sure how this card would come out in the end.  I embossed the background stamp with black Versafine ink and clear embossing powder.  I then stamped images into all the circles with the different inks, and once done sprayed it down with some water accented with Perfect Pearls.  It has a sheen! 

Four more cards to go . . . stay tuned! 

Supplies Used - Japan

Cardstock:  Neenah and Strathmore Bristol Watercolor Paper

Stamps:  Fancy Thanks and Bohemian Garden from Essentials by Ellen

Dies:  Wild Garden Dies by Essentials by Ellen and Stitched Labels 1 from Pretty Pink Posh

Ink:  Ranger Distress Ink, Versamark, Hero Arts, Ranger Gold and Clear Embossing Powder

Other:  Gold Glitter Tape from American Crafts and Pretty Pink Posh Sequins

Supplies Used - Australia

Cardstock:  The Stamps of Life and Strathmore Bristol Watercolor

Stamps: gum4backgrounds, bubblegum4me, moregum4me, chalksayings2stamp, morechalksayings2stamp, and stamps set from July 2015 card kit, all from the Stamps of Life

Dies:  Banner Dies from The Stamps of Life

Ink:  Versafine Black, Ranger Clear Embossing Powder, Ranger Distress Inks

Ribbon:  The Stamps of Life July 2015 Card Kit

Other:  Gems from The Stamps of Life July 2015 Card Kit and Perfect Pearls

World Card Making Day Challenge Cards - Take 2

Cards #3 and #4 from my StampNation challenges for last weekend's World Card Making Day event.

Here is my card for Switzerland.  I was inspired by a portion of some fabric that had a reindeer.  The actual challenge was more about the Edelweiss (queue Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer), but alas I was at a crop and had limited supplies.  And so I went with deer.

O.K., I went with moose . . . because I didn't have deer.  And then my awesome friend told me that a moose is a type of deer.  I googled it.  She was right!  She's amazing and awesome.
 

The deer were stamped in Versafine black ink and clear embossed.  I then used distress inks to watercolor.  I still need some work on grounding and background . . . working on it.  

And my second card was inspired by plaid.  I looked for a stamp in my stash of supplies at the crop, but could only come up with a piece of plaid pattern paper.  It works! 

 Add a sentiment.  Queue some sequins and ribbon.  No stamping required!  

I will share a few more cards tomorrow!

I hope you find some time to create this weekend.

Supplies Used - A Moosing Holiday

Cardstock:  Bazzill Marshmallow and Strathmore Bristol Watercolor Paper

Stamps:  Reindeer Grab Bag Bundle from Unity Stamp

Ink:  Ranger Distress Ink, Versafine Black Ink and Ranger Clear Embossing Powder

Other: American Crafts Glitter Tape, Pretty Pink Posh Sequins, Wink of Stella Clear

Supplies Used - Tis the Season

Cardstock:  Bazzill Marshmallow

Pattern Paper:  Dear Santa from Photo Play

Dies:  Tis the Season from Penny Black

Ribbon:  Stampin' Up

Other:  Pretty Pink Posh Sequins

World Card Making Day Challenge Cards - Take 1

I have some cards to share that I made for World Card Making Day.  My crafty stamp place, StampNation, had an awesome virtual event to celebrate the day with 10 awesome challenges show fabrics, prints, textiles, etc. from various countries.

The first two challenges were the U.S.A. and Canada.  Here are my cards.

The pattern for U.S.A. that inspired me was a bandanna.  I had to create my own print using supplies I had on hand at a weekend crop.  I sponged the red on using a stencil and then stamped the black background over the sponging.  

For Canada I was inspired by an amazing blanket with primary color stripes - a Hudson Bay Blanket.  Seriously, that blanket looked so comfy and soft.  Wishing it was on my bed (it's getting cold here in Connecticut). 

I carried through the stripes by using some acrylic hearts in matching colors.  

I'll be sharing more cards over the next few days, and next up is Switzerland and Scotland.

Cheers!

Supplies Used - WCMD2015-1

Cardstock:  Bazzill and Neenah

Stamps:  Curtis Background* and Lovely Greetings from CASual Fridays

Dies:  Friend Die* and Friendly Flowers Die*

Ink:  Ranger Distress Ink, Hero Arts, Versafine, Versamark and Ranger Clear Embossing Powder

Other:  Pretty Pink Posh Sequins

*from CAS-ual Fridays for Stamp of Approval Friendship Collection

Supplies Used - WCMD2015-2

Card made using supplies from The Stamps of Life August 2015 Card Kit

Additional supplies:  Versamark and Ranger Clear Embossing Powder

Jewel Colors for Less is More

I'm sharing a card today using Jewel colors, which was the challenge at Less is More this week.  Here is my card . . .

I used supplies from an older Simon Says Stamp kit that was in my collection from last winter, and for this card I stamped the sentiment and the hearts.  The pattern paper has those jewel tone stripes, and the hearts are super jewel tone.  I also used a strip of linen fabric for this card.  Love that look! 

I hope you find some time to create.  Cheers! 

Supplies Used - Thanks So Much

Cardstock:  Simon Says Stamp*

Pattern Paper:  Bo Bunny Altitude Collection*

Stamps:  Hand Lettered Winter Wishes*

Ink:  Simon Says Stamp

Ribbon:  Stampin' Up and Linen Fabric Strip

*from January Simon Says Stamp Card Kit

Wishing . . . for Just Add Ink

I have a card to share today for Just Add Ink . . .

The inspiration photo for the card . . .

I was obviously inspired by the colorful balls and the gray and white stripes. 

Over the next few days I will be sharing cards from my creative weekend creating for World Card Making Day.  Wait for it!

Now, go create something.  And have fun.

Supplies Used -  Wishing You Both the Best

Cardstock:  Bazzill

Stamps:  Wide Stripes and Sending and Wishing both from Simon Says Stamp

Dies:  Script Wishing from Simon Says Stamp

Ink:  Stampin' Up

Other:  Fiskars Circle Punch, Pretty Pink Posh Sequins and Wink of Stella Pen