Kitty Rock - Paper Smooches Challenge

A color challenge . . . I love a color challenge!  So here is Paper Smooches color palette for their challenge this week.  I had a pad of UFO 6 x 6 paper floating around (not sure which company, because there is no cover) and the colors were a match!  

And here is my design . . .

I was going to color the little kitty, but I could not resist the black and white sketch look.  He popped so nicely on that green cardstock in white, and I feared he would be lose if I colored him gray.  So he stayed as is from top to bottom.  

Love that "thanks" die! 

Supplies Used: 

Paper:  Bazzill and Neenah (cardstock)and an unidentified scrap of pattern paper
Stamps:  Paper Smooches Nine Lives, He Said She Said, and Sentiment Sampler
Dies:   Paper Smooches Word Bubbles, Thanks Word, Nine Lives
Ink:  Stampin' Up
Other:  Stampin' Up Pearls, Ribbon from my scrap stash!

Summer Colors . . . Meet the Sketch!

I belong to an on-line stamp group - StampNation - and they are kicking off a week celebrating summer with challenges.  I am really trying to get back into my creative groove after a slump due to work changes . . . so I worked on a challenge last night that incorporated this week's Mojo Monday sketch with StampNation's "colors of summer" challenge.  

Here is the sketch . . .

Here is my design . . .

All supplies used are Stampin' Up (mostly non-current items).

I'm off to create some more crafty things! 

Sweet Mojo Card

I was on a mission to complete a card and participate in a challenge. So Mojo Monday it was, and leftover supplies from a class layout were still on the table.

First, the layout that inspired my card . . .

Second, the sketch from Mojo Monday . . . 

And finally, here is my design . . . 

And inside, a gift card . . . 

Supplies Used:

Paper: Bazzill (cardstock and pattern paper)
Punch: Ticket Border
Stamps: Stamps of Life
Ink: Stazon
Die: , Cricut (Popsicle)
Other: Woodsie small stick

Back in my Groove w/Paper Smooches

Today was the day I chose to get back into challenge participation.   I have been so busy at work, was away for a week on  vacation, and what little time I have had I've devoted to creativity for my LSS, New England Scrapbook Company.  But the challenges keep me interested and keep my creativity flowing.  I am so happy to be challenging myself again!  

And so I picked the Sparks Challenge from Paper Smooches.  Here is this week's inspiration photo. . .

And here is my design . . . 

And a closer view . . . 

I paper-pieced the candles using paper from the 6 x 6 Echo Park pad.  Love those little pads for card making.  I created the drip wax by using Ranger InkEssentials White Enamel. The flames are just marker and Stickles.  

Hoping to hit at least two challenges each week.  Fingers crossed!!

Supplies Used: Bazzill Cardstock, Echo Park 6 x 6 Paper Pad, Paper Smooches Stamps, Stazon Ink, Ranger White Enamel, Stampin' Up Ribbon, Stickles, Stampin' Up Marker

Freshly Made Sketches #82

Played along with Freshly Made Sketches this week.  Made a little get well card using some new items that I picked up recently in honor of my favorite hockey team . . . the Connecticut Whale.  I had to have a whale stamp in my collection, right?  Of course, after purchasing I found out it is possible the team name will be changed.  It figures! 

Here was the sketch this week . . .

And here is my design . . .

All product used here is Stampin' Up, from the ink to the embossing, to the stamping! 

Sparks Challenge - Cool Shades

A little something for the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge, which was a Cool Shades challenge this week . . .

I used some pattern paper that was in my stash, and I think it might be Bo Bunny.  To that, I added the flowers at the bottom using the Bold Blooms stamp set.  My sentiment is from the Salutations set.

Supplies Used: 

Cardstock - Bazzill
Pattern Paper - from stash (possibly Bo Bunny)
Ink - Colorbox
Stamps - Paper Smooches
Ribbon - Stampin' Up

Mojo Monday #289 - Peanuts and Hockey!

In keeping with my hockey theme, I stamped a few more images of those awesome Peanuts characters playing hockey, and this time I used the Mojo Monday sketch challenge this week. 

I love this sketch . . .

I was nervous about my rather large stamped images being not quite right for this sketch, but I think it worked out good in the end.  Here is my design  which I flipped and shifted a bit.  Isn't that the cutest stamp!  If you look close, the hockey players are missing some teeth.  

And since I had the other sides of those triangles cut, I had to make another one.  This one doesn't follow the sketch quite so closely.

Love these stamps from Stampabilities!

Supplies Used:
 Cardstock - Bazzill
Pattern Paper - Basic Grey
Canvas Embellishment - Basic Grey
Stamps - Stampabilities and Clean and Simple
Ink - Stazon
Markers - Copic
Rhinestones - Queen and Co.
Ribbon - Stampin' Up

Designed to Color Challenge

I came across a new challenge blog called Designed to Color which I thought would be just that . . . a challenge . . . since coloring is not one of my stronger skills.  So I decided to play along with the current challenge, which was a sketch.

Here is the design I came up with . . .

 

And just because I needed some coloring practice, I flipped the sketch a bit and went for a second design as well. 

Love Peanuts!  Love hockey!  A great combination.

Supplies Used
Cardstock - Bazzill
Pattern Paper - Basic Grey
Tab Elements - Basic Grey
Ink - Stazon
Markers - Copic
Stamps - Stampabilities and Clean and Simple (sentiment)
Rhinestones - Queen & Company

Freshly Made #80

A weekend retreat gave me the opportunity to finish up some old projects and start some new. On the old list was finishing up a wedding album for a friend and some holiday cards I had started before the holidays (and obviously never finished). On the new list was a layout and a Button Farm mini-album.

For one of my twenty cards, I decided to use this week's Freshly Made Sketch to design . . .

Heart 2 Heart - Going Green

Week 2 for the Heart 2 Heart March challenge was a Go Green challenge. It could be green as in color green, or green as in recycled green! I decided to go for color!

My jar was stamped with Stazon onto acrylic. I cut it out and then popped it behind the label. I stamped all those shamrocks using three different Close To My Heart greens. I actually stamped the jar image in Versamark, which is not noticeable but allowed me to see where to stamp my shamrocks. The jar lid was stamped on to glitter paper.

A great card to wish somebody luck!

Supplies List
Cardstock - Bazzill
Pattern Paper - Doodlebug
Stamps - Close To My Heart
Ink - Close To My Heart, Stazon and Versamark
Twine - Close To My Heart
Punch - Stampin' Up

Wobble Wednesday #46 - Spring

More Echo Park Sweet Girl product, this time for the Action Wobble challenge. The challenge was to create a card or layout using an Easter or Spring image.

I used Sizzix Framelits for this card, and I wobbled the cute little chick. Not having a white pen, I used Ink Essentials Enamel Accents to fill in the letters. It was a little gloppy, but it got the job done.

Supplies Used:
Cardstock - Bazzill
Pattern Paper - Echo Park
Dies - Stamps of Life and Sizzix
Stamps -Stamps of Life and Sizzix
Ribbon - Stampin' Up
Ink - Close To My Heart
Other: Action Wobble, Ink Essential Enamel Accents and Prima Crystal Heart

Daisies!

Love Daisies, because they are the subject of one of my favorite movies, You've Got Mail.  So when I saw this Pure Innocense Crazy for Daisies Stamp, I just had to have it.  And then I decided to use it in this week's My Favorite Thinks sketch challenge. 

Here is the sketch . . .

And here is my design.  I continued my use of Echo Park Sweet Girl and Petaloo flowers.  

For my daisies, I used a small pom pom, which I colored in yellow ink, and then cut into pieces.  I used a liquid glue to adhere.  Love those flower centers.  

Supplies Used

Cardstock - Bazzill Pattern Paper - Echo Park Sweet Girl Stamp: Pure Innocence Crazy for Daisies Ribbon: Stampin' Up Punches: Stampin' Up Ink: Stazon Black and Color Box Markers: Copic Other: Petaloo Flowers and Pom Pom (colored yellow w/Color Box Ink

Freshly Made Sketches #78

Continuing with my theme of using the same product for several challenges, I created this one for Freshly Made Sketches. The product I have been working with is Echo Park Sweet Girl's 6 x 6 paper pad and washi tape, along with some flowers from Petaloo, and this is the second card using that product. 

The sketch . . .

And my design . . .

I just love the little dresses hanging on the line, and I thought it was a great feminine design for a mother's day card.  

I have a few more cards in the works using this same paper pad.  The nice thing about working this way is that I could have a nice set of cards, suitable for gift giving.

Stay tuned for another creation!

Supplies Used
Cardstock - Bazzill
Pattern Paper - Echo Park Sweet Girl
Embellishments - Echo Park Sweet Girl Washi Tape, Petaloo Flowers, American Craft Button
Ink - Color Box
Stamps - Stamps of Life - Stamps4FancyLabel
Die Cut - Sizzix Fancy Label and Chevron Border

Mojo Monday 285 - Smile

This week's Mojo Monday challenge was just that for me, as there was a lot going on.  I wanted to focus on doing several challenges using the same product.  My product was the Echo Park Sweet Girl 6 x 6 paper pad and washi tape, with some added flowers from Petaloo.  I had picked these items up from my local LSS, New England Scrapbook Co., and I really wanted to drive in and put them to use.

The sketch from Mojo . . .

And my very busy design . . .

I thought the sketch was perfect for the washi tape.  Such a fun product to use, and super easy! 

It is a busy card, hence my "smile" sentiment. 

Stay tuned, as I'll be using these product on a few other designs in the coming days.


Product Used

Cardstock - Bazzill
Pattern Paper - Echo Park Sweet Girl
Embellishments - Echo Park Sweet Girl Washi Tape, Flowers from Petaloo
Ink- Color Box
Stamps - Calm2Keep from Stamps of Life
Dies - Majestic Label from Sizzix
Ribbon - Stampin' Up
Other:  Stickles and Enamel Accents (Ink Essentials)

H2H Challenge & The Story of Ugly Duckling Brad

The Heart 2 Heart Challenge for the first week of March was about "springing forward" (and yes, I'm still missing my hour's sleep).  I did manage to play along with the challenge (even through my exhaustion).    The project could be anything that had to do with Daylight Savings Tie or Springing Forward . . . clocks, time, sun, spring, etc.

So I went with a bit of a clock and time theme, and I ended up with a bit of a birthday card.

I created my own clock using two Close To My Heart (CTMH) sets . . . Perfect Fit Frames, which I stamped and then cut into a circle, and then Capture the Date, using the smallest numbers in the set for my clock face. 

And one tip . . . See that brad?  I had one little brad hanging out from some long ago project.  It was a white brad that was scratched up . . . the reject brad.  THE UGLY DUCKLING BRAD.  I grabbed the end with tweezers, I pushed the ball end onto my Versamark pad and then dipped the ball end into gold embossing power.  I heat embossed, then dipped while still hot back into the embossing powder and hit it again with the heat gun.  Ugly duckling brad not so ugly duckling anymore.  Cool, right?  And quick! 



Supplies Used:
Paper:  Colonial White Card Base (CTMH) and Clementine Paper Pack (CTMH)
Ink:  Pacifica and Cashmere Ink (CTMH), Versamark
Stamps:  Intrinsic Background, Doodle Alphabet (used just the lowercase "i" for my clock hands), Limited Edition, Perfect Fit Frames, Capture the Date (all CTMH)
Button: CTMH (not sure which set)
Brad:  See my story above . . . no clue who made the stray brad, and just used random embossing powder from my stash 
 
 

EPCOT - What was all the stress about?

EPCOT is one of my favorite Disney parks, but not the easiest to create layouts for when teaching a class. So when challenged by a friend to use that theme for an upcoming class, there was a struggle.

The problem with creating for classes is that you have to be somewhat generic. You want the layout to appeal to a wide range of Disney scrappers. So I never want to do anything too childlike because they adult Disney enthusiasts may not have pictures.  Anything specific to a country means you would have to have multiple photos from one specific country. 

When I say I struggled for weeks, I am not lying. I picked out paper and returned paper twice before settling on pick number three. That batch sat for about two weeks while my creative mojo was on hiatus. I knew I at least wanted Spaceship Earth, and I had found some SEI paper to represent, but what else?

My mojo returned when my LSS, New England Scrapbook Co. had the Tim Holtz Picture Wheel die.  Have you seen it . . .

Remember the Viewmaster Projector?  Glorious visual fun, much like a picture book, where with a click of the side button, you spun the wheel to the next photo. When I saw that Sizzix die, it all just clicked.

One wheel with the flags representing the eleven countries in the World Showcase, and the other representing some of the many sites in Future World.   The images for both worlds were found on the internet and shrunken down . . . but I think in the future I might think to shrink some photos of my own. 

Twenty kits were made and on class day 19 were spoken for . . . just one remained on the counter after class.

So what was all the stress about?  I have no clue. 

Supplies Used
Cardstock:  Bazzill
Pattern Paper:  SEI

Stamps:  CTMH's A Typeface and Stamps of Life (list2write)
Cricut:  Disney Mickey and Friends and Art Philosophy (CTMH)
Die Cuts:  Tim Holtz Picture Wheel Die
Ink:  Colorbox

Denami Birthday Bonanza

Welcome to Stop #15 on the Denami Design Birthday Bonanza Blog Hop.  And apologies for the late post . . . internet snafu! 

You should have arrived here after a visit with Tenia Nelson at Jazzy Paper Designs.  When linking up my post here today, I really enjoyed perusing some of Tenia's great creations.  

If you would like to start from the beginning of the hop, or if you get lost along the way, you can find the full list of participants on the Denami Design Blog.


O.K., so nothing says "Birthday Bonanza" like a bunch of those cute little chick's having a party, on a piece of paper while gazing out a window, and that's what I created for the hop.  I have seen cards with acetate windows where it looks like the bottom of the card is floating.  I've always wanted to try them out, so this was my opportunity. Keep in mind the chick's are stamped on the inside of the card. 

So here is the closed card.

And below when the card is standing, you can see the window created by the acetate sheet.  The sentiment (which is part of the stamp) is below that bottom card front border, so it doesn't show until the card is opened.     

The Musical Note Washi Tape just sings Happy "Bird" day to you! 

You could actually place items on the window as well . . . which I toyed with, but my chicks made things a little busy, so I'll have to save that for another creation.

I made sure that paper showing from one side of the window had a corresponding piece on the inside of the card, so you don't see any adhesive on the inside of the card.  It gives a nice, finished look. 

I made a second card that had the sentiment showing from the window.  I stamped the image a little higher. 

I left the stripe paper off the bottom border on this one.  A little bit of a different look, but the two cards are very similar.  Loving that Musical Note Washi Tape! 

So, the details on the hop . . .

• When: The blog hop starts on March 10th at 6 AM, PST.However, you have until March 11, 2013, 11:59 pm PST, to leavecomments on all the blogs (to be eligible for a prize).
• Why:To be inspired by fun DeNami Design creations and also the chance to win minishopping sprees on the DeNami Design website!
• Prizes: Weare giving away THREE gift certificates to our website...however, you won'tknow the winning amount until we announce the winners on Tuesday, March 12th!We'll be giving away one gift certificate to a random participant (DT membersnot eligible) and then we'll also be giving away TWO gift certificates to TWOpeople who comment along the hop! Since it's our birthday month, we'll begiving BIGGER gift certificate amounts, so you'll want to be sure to comment oneach stop. 

Your next stop on the hop is the inspiring Pam Wendt at Handwerk by Pamela.

Enjoy the rest of your day and I hope you find some things to inspire you along the way.

Debbie

Supplies Used
Paper:  Bazzill Cardstock and "Happy Days" from Echo Park
Ink:  Stazon, Versamark w/white Embossing Powder from Stampin' Up, Copic Markers
Other:  Acetate Sheet, Satin Sensations Ribbon, Musical Note Washi Tape (WT601)
Punches: Fiskars Circle Punch, Scallop Punch from Stampin' Up, Scallop Border from Stampin' Up
Denami Stamps:  Thoughtful Greetings (PF48), Cupcake Chickie (CL-C90), Happy "Bird" day Chicks (N115)

 

Action Wobble - Create a Background

This weeks' Action Wobble Challenge was Beautiful Backgrounds . . . to create a background that was not pre-made (what? . . . no pattern paper).

I started with a white background and stamped using a couple of colors, but I "stamped off" so I would have a lighter background than I would for the images that I really wanted to stand out on my design.

So here is my card design, the sketch which was made available to me via a challenge on a private board I belong to, StampNation.

Hard to note, but image on left is still and image on right shows wobble in action under flower (as if there was a breeze). 

All product used came from my Stampin' Up stash, except the Wobble which I got at my LSS, New England Scrapbook Co. in Canton, CT.