Encre, papier, ciseaux

Inkspirations #100 - Christmas!

   
 

Can you believe we reached the hundredth mark this week? Holy Molly, that's a lot of projects created over the last couple of years that were inspired by Keesh's challenges! For this week's Inkspirations challenge, we are doing a very simple and a propos theme: Christmas! It's as simple as that. Just come dazzle us with your wonderful Christmas creations!

My creation today is something simple and elegant I put together with the use of my Simply Scored board and the beautiful Serene Snowflakes set. Every year, I have to make at least one sepia snowflakes creation. I can't help, I just like how elegant it looks.

The starting point of this card was the middle square, which I created by inking an acrylic block with Crumb Cake ink and "stamping" it on Very Vanilla cardstock. I then masked the sides with Post-It notes and added snowflakes using Crumb Cake ink. I then took the masks off and added a bigger snowflakes in Soft Suede in the corner and the beautiful Christmas sentiment from the Delightful Dozen set at the top. I love how it almost look like the snowflake and sentiment were stamped with copper ink.

Then, using the Simply Scored tool, I created a frame around the image and added stripes on all four sides of the frame. Using a Soft Suede marker, I inked only one of the small snowflakes and used my Stamp-a-Ma-Jig to add them to the corners. I matted the image, added a pearl on the big snowflake and mounted the cardstock on my card base. Presto! A new beautiful card all done in less than half an hour.

 

 

 

 

 

I know this is a busy month but I hope you'll join in the fun. This is our last week of challenges, so be sure to join us! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations. Be sure to give them some love on their last week!

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 All of my best Holiday wishes to you all!

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Serene Snowflakes, Douce douzaine (Delightful Dozen)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla
Inks: Soft Suede, Crumb Cake
Accessories:  Pearl basic jewels, Stamp-a-Ma-Jig, Soft Suede marker,
Acrylic block, Simply Scored tool

 

Inkspirations #99 - Life's a Circus!

   

 

We have a beautiful sketch to share with you this week. I was very tempted to make a scrapbook page and had even thought of using the Peek-a-Boo frames to mimick the squares at the bottom of the sketch, but when I stumbled upon the ticket paper in my stash and thought it would look perfect paired with the circus bear image, the scrapbook page took a backseat to the idea for this card.

Looking at this card just make me want to smile. I think the cheery colours have a brightening effect on my mood. The circus tent was created with a TCP die and paper pieced to get the various colours and patterns on it. I used a polka dot Texturz plate to add texture to the sky, and I used another TCP die to die-cut clouds out of felt. I am still praying that SU! comes out with felt in our original colours... Last time i was at the fabric store (I'm not much of a seamstress, but I needed fabric for my office Christmas party costume), I looked at the felt sheets there and the colours were not too appealing.

Anyhow, the tickets at the bottom of the cards were handcut from a piece of patterned paper. I used the rest of the patterned paper to make a matching envelope and decorated it with a couple of handcut tickets as well. I finished off the card by tying some baker's twine around it and adding a glittered brad in the center of the bow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know December is always a busy month but I hope you'll join in the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Step Right Up (TCP)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Soft Sky, Bazzill (orange, yellow)
Inks: Basic Black
Patterned papers: My Mind's Eye
Dies: Grass, Clouds, Tent (TCP)
Accessories:  Markers, baker's twine, glittered brad, envelope template,
blue felt, Texturz plate, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Inkspirations #98 - The Gift of Christmas

  

 
  
 
 

I love this sentiment, found in the Contempo Christmas set. It translates to "Christmas is love" and it's also the title of a Christmas song, which I can't help but hum every time I see this set. I thought I'd pair it with the little girl from the Greeting Card Kids for a different look.

I wanted to try something "artsy-fartsy" for the background. I had seen a technique in a past Paper Crafts where they drizzled some reinkers on a piece of paper that had been stamped with Versamark. My first try didn't work as intended, so I decided to add clear embossing to make sure the resist worked. (The background was wheeled with the Music Notes wheel, a really versatile wheel.) I also used watercolor paper to absorb the heavy watering I did on the paper. I left it aside to dry and once it was done, I thought it needed a little touch of glimmer and since my Pearl Ex were still out on the table from a previous project, I dry-brushed some gold Pearl Ex in the background. I also stamped the Ornate Blossom stamp on my wasabi patterned paper with Versamark and added green Pearl Ex to it using a dry brush, the same way you would do the Poppin' Pastels technique.

The little girl was embossed with gold powder on watercolor paper and colored with inks and blending pen. I added Saffron glimmer brads in the upper corner to balance the design out.

 

 

 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Greeting Card Kids, Music Notes wheel, Noël contemporain (Contempo Christmas)
Cardstock: Regal Rose, Wild Wasabi, So Saffron, watercolor paper, Whisper White
Designer papers: Just Eat Cake
Inks: Versamark, Rose Red
Accessories:  Scallop Ribbon punch, Holly Berry Bouquet button, Gold cord, Blending pen,
2-1/2 Circle punch, Gold embossing powder, Clear embossing powder, Pearl Ex,
Subtle glimmer brads

 

Inkspirations #96 - Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!

  
 
  
 
 

I can't help but think of Charlie Brown ever time I look at this bare little tree. Which is exactly what makes the charm of this set! This set has been on my wish list from the moment it came out in the catalogue and I was lucky enough to score it for free during last Sale-a-Bration. (BTW, if you'd like to score some wonderful sets for free yourself, it is not too early to pick a date to host your own workshop after the Holidays! SAB will be starting on January 24th, 2012, so call or e-mail me to pick a date!) 

The ornaments were stamped separately on Whisper White cardstock and handcut, then popped up with Dimensionals. I added Dazzling Details on some of the ornaments. Be warned if you use it directly on the ink that it can change the color. That's what happened on the striped ornament, but I didn't mind it. I did go back and stamp another ornament again because I didn't like how the ink had bled.

The snowflake and sentiment are from the Old St. Nick rub-ons pack, which is available in the Clearance Rack.

 

 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Holiday Happiness
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Designer papers: Basic Grey
Inks: Soft Suede, Real Red, Bashful Blue
Accessories:  Ribbons, Mini jingle bell, white baker's twine, Holly Berry Bouquet button,
Dazzling Details, Washi tape, Snowflake embossing folder

 

Inkspirations #95 - Jolly Snowman

  
 
  
 
 

For today's card, I wanted to use the "Noel" tag from the Holidays mini hostess set and I decided to pair it with the snowman from the Button Buddies set. For my colour combo, I knew I wanted to use Bashful Blue since I had buttons in that colour, so I pulled out my reference list of old cQc colours combo and found one that used this colour.

I kept the card simple because this will be Card #4 for my Button Buddies class (keep a close eye on my class schedule to register for a place if you're interested in making your own sample). To make the sentiment complete, I inked part of a sentiment from the Many Merry Messages set with a marker and added it to a strip of Always Artichoke cardstock.

The Old Olive designer paper comes from the Brights paper pack and the blue cardstock was embossed with the Northern Flurry embossing folder. I embellished the snowman with a deep red brad from the Royals pack and I added two mini silver brads to the button before gluing it on the snowman. I love those mini brads, they are a great size for small detailing on an image! I also added a rhinestone on the L of Noël, and I finished the card off with a white brad and a knot of Olive polka dot scallop ribbon.

 

 

Color Combo: Bashful Blue + Old Olive + Always Artichoke + Bravo Burgundy 
 

 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Button Buddies, Meilleurs voeux (hostess), Nombreux voeux joyeux (Many Merry Messages)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Bravo Burgundy, Bashful Blue, Always Artichoke
Designer papers: Brights Designer pack
Inks: Night of Navy, Bravo Burgundy, Old Olive
Accessories:  Designer button, mini silver brad, Royals brad, 3/16 white brad,
Old Olive polka dot scallop ribbon, Northern Flurry embossing folder,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Rhinestone basic jewels

 

Inkspirations #94 - On Cloud Nine

  
 
  
 
 

This is the final card I have to share from my stamping session with Brandi. This cute stamp set immediately caught my eye. It also had a super cute doodled rainbow that I wish I would have had time to play with, but that'll be for next time, I guess.

There's lots of layering on this one, but the putting together is quite easy to reproduce. I started by die-cutting the oval out of Whisper White cardstock and stamped the clouds in Bashful Blue. I didn't bother with masking since I knew I wanted to paper piece the balloon and could therefore hide the clouds. I stamped the balloon three times: once on my oval die-cut, a second time on the patterned paper and the third time, I only inked the pennants with a Melon Mambo marker and stamped them on a scrap of white cardstock before paper piecing it to the balloon.

The colour combo was really close to the colours used in the hostess paper pack, so that was the starting point of my card. I added some polka dot scallop ribbon and a button held with baker's twine on the bow. The sentiment, from the You're a Gem set, was punched with the smallest oval punch.

 

 

 
 

 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Mon trésor (You're a Gem), Sunny Happy Skies (Unity Stamps Co.)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant, Melon Mambo
Designer papers: Rocaille d'antan (Hostess)
Inks: Bashful Blue, Elegant Eggplant
Big Shot: Scallop Squares die, Ovals die
Accessories:  Markers, Polka dot brads, Button, Baker's Twine, Old Olive polka dot scallop ribbon,
Small Oval punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Pearl Basic Jewels

 

Inkspirations #93 - Spicing It Up

  
 
  
 
 

I have been happily using my Spice Cake Designer paper throughout the fall and the pack is almost depleted. I plan to use every yummy last piece of paper in it, though, so I pulled it out one more time to make today's card. I was inspired to use one of the flowers from the patterned paper as my main image. I handcut it a few times and layered the various parts with Dimensionals. The resulting flower is very cute!

You'll also recognize one of the sentiments from the Hand-Penned Holidays set, embossed with the awesome Pewter powder. Some of the edges were distressed using the Cutting Kit distressing tool, and I added a few pearls for good measure. There's a lot of layers to this card, but it was still fairly quick and easy to put together. I hope you like it!

 

 

 
 

 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Notes manuscrites (Hand-Penned Holidays)
Cardstock: More Mustard, Early Espresso, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Very Vanilla
Designer papers: Spice Cake
Inks: Versamark
Accessories:  Scallop Ribbon punch, Early Espresso baker's twine, Pearl basic jewels,
Ticket Corner punch, brads, Stampin' Dimensionals, Circle punch, Distressing tool (Cutting kit)

 

Inkspirations #92 - Measuring Up!

  
 
 
 
  
 
 

This is the last card I made while visiting Brandi. I think it might have been 1 a.m. when I started this one... (We're both night owls and we stayed up stamping quite late.) I was starting to feel a little sleepy and had trouble deciding where to go with this one. I also wasn't working with a sketch, which is always more of a challenge for me. After stamping the tools from Totally Tools (another set I don't have at home and was happy to borrow) on my card base, wrapping the ribbon around the card and coloring the measuring tape and adding it to the punched circle, I was kind of at a loss. So I started looking through Brandi's stamps and when I found the measuring tape in the Sew Suite set, it got the ball rolling again. I stamped and cut out the tape and paper pieced the end with Cherry Cobbler cardstock, and then added a brad. Then, I used the button card from the same set and inked it with a marker, making sure to omit the "button" wording. I stamped this image twice, on Not Quite Navy and on Sahara Sand cardstock. I handcut the center of the tag on the Sahara Sand cardstock and added some texture using the Canvas stamp (retired). Then, I started looking at the French sentiment sets I had brought along and when I spotted the one that said, "On a scale of one to ten, you're an eleven," I thought, "Bingo!" Seriously - how perfect is this sentiment?! It's from the hostess set Perfect Words.

The card still felt a little bare, so I felt compelled to add faux stitching around the card using a marker, a little punched arrow on the tag and three tabs held in place with brads. Then, at the last minute, I decided to stamp and color the measuring tape again and cut out the casing to pop up on Dimensionals to give the main image more depth. I also added a red brad in the center.

This is a 4-1/4 x 4-1/4 square card and I figured I could have the ribbon hang off of the end if I used a regular-sized envelope (4-1/4 x 5-1/2) since I'd have room at the top of the envelope for it.

This might be my favorite card I've made during my stamping weekend at Brandi's. Aren't those colours just great together?

 

 

  

 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Totally Tools, Canvas, Le mot juste (Perfect Words), Sew Suite
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand, Cherry Cobbler, Not Quite Navy
Inks: Basic Grey, Sahara Sand, Not Quite Navy, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories:  Island Indigo ribbon, linen thread, brads, Word Window punch, marker,
Stampin' Dimensionals, My Way punch, Circle punch, Distressing tool (Cutting kit)

 

Inkspirations #91 - Strong Like My Dad

 
 
 
   
 

Have you seen the new stamps and papers in the catalogue that are circus-themed? SU! was right on the money with this collection because the circus is all the rage in scrapbooking products right now. Under the Big Top is one of the sets that caught my eye right away when I leafed through the catalogue for the first time. When I saw that Brandi had this set, I borrowed it to put on paper an idea that had been going around in my head.

This set has been translated to French and the sentiment that goes with this image reads, "Sois fort (je crois en toi)" but every time I looked at it, the one thing that popped into my head was the expression "le plus fort, c'est mon père", which means "My dad is the strongest." This is one of those silly sentences that kids use to win an argument and it has also been made into a song by a Quebec singer, so I think this card should make people smile.

 

 

 
  
 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Le chapiteau (Under the Big Top), Calendar Alphabet
Cardstock: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight
Designer papers: Under the Big Top
Inks: Basic Black, Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Tempting Turquoise
Punches : Circles, Stars
Accessories:  Mini library clips, Smooch Pearlized Accent, Dimensionals, Markers, 
Brads , Mini silver brads

 

Inkspirations #90 - Life Without Chocolate

 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 

Chocolate is an addiction than runs through my whole family. More than a snack, it's almost a way of life. I love it, my parents love it, my sister tries really hard to resist loving it, and it only took a couple of Christmases to bring my brother-in-law over to the dark {chocolate} side. I remember visiting my grandfather when I was a kid and there was always chocolate stashed somewhere at his house. He had diabetes towards the end and couldn't eat any anymore, which never stopped him from keeping some on hand to offer to people who visited him. The Macaroons from Looney's will forever be associated to him in my mind.

Anyway, with all of the chocolate lovers in my family, you'd think that I would have bought that Chocolatissimo set when it came out in the Occasions mini, wouldn't you? But nope... Had to make a choice between everything on my wish list and sadly, this one ended up staying on the wish list. I was really excited to find it in Brandi's stamp library, though, and thought this week's color combo would look fab paired with it.

I stamped the main tag in Rich Razzleberry and punched it out, then I colored the chocolates with markers and handcut those before popping them up on the tag using Dimensional foam. Doesn't it look adorable?

The piece of patterned paper is from the Pocketful of Posies kit, and I used the Scallop Trim border and corner punches on the edges, then added pearls between the scallops. I needed inspiration for the design, so I went to the Mojo Monday blog and found a sketch to base this card on. I added two ribbons to the card, one piece of white satin ribbon on one side and one piece of Early Espresso narrow taffeta ribbon on the other. Then, I punched a small heart for the corner and decorated it with Dazzling Details.

After my visit to Brandi's house, I visited my folks and I showed my mom the cards I had made that weekend. The one that jumped out at her was this one. She said she really liked the colours, but I think it really was the chocolate theme that drew her in subliminally...

 

 

 
  
 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Chocolatissimo!
Cardstock: Whisper White, Early Espresso, Rich Razzleberry, Pretty in Pink
Designer papers: Pocketful of Posies
Inks: Early Espresso, Rich Razzleberry, Pretty in Pink
Punches: Circle, Decorative Label, Eyelet border, Scallop Trim border and corner, Heart to Heart
Accessories:  Markers, Silver glimmer paper, White satin ribbon, Early Espresso taffeta ribbon,
Pearl Basic Jewels, Brads, Paper piercer, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Inkspirations #89 - Be Mine, Valentine

  
 
  
 
 

This card was the second card I created when I visited Brandi and the one where I felt I started getting my stride. I used the Joie des Fêtes set and decided to ink the Valentine sentiment this time. I flipped the sketch on its side to have the sentiment fit one of the panels. 

I liked the colours from the Berry Blossoms Designer papers and thought they would make an interesting Valentine's Day combo. I used two pieces of paper for the panels, and one on the back of the card. If you look closely at that one in the back, you'll notice I scored the left side and folded it over to show the backside of the paper, then I added a scallop edge made out of white cardstock. The flowery panel was decorated with pearls, my favorite detail on the card.

I colored the sentiment with markers and added touches of Smooch pearlized accent on parts of the image. I hadn't tried that item before and when I saw that Brandi had some, I was curious to give it a try. I like the soft shimmer it has and how easy it is to apply. The tip of the applicator is a thin felt tip (reminds me of liquid eyeliner), so it is very easy to apply in small doses and in tight spots. For the card base , I selected a background stamp I don't have at home, Très chic (now retired).

To mimick the oval in the sketch, I added two overlapped punched hearts and decorated them with a button and a bow. The largest heart was stamped with the heart from the Best Friends Forever set.

 

 

 
 

 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Joie des Fêtes (Festive & Fun), Best Friends Forever, Très Chic
Cardstock: Whisper White, Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral, Whisteria Wonder
Designer papers: Berry Blossoms
Inks: Old Olive, Basic Black
Punches: Full Heart, Heart to Heart, Scallop Edge
Accessories:  Markers, Smooch pearlized accent, Button, Ribbon, Pearl Basic Jewels,
Paper piercer

 

Inkspirations #88 - Bright Bouquet

   
 
 
  
 
 

When I saw this week's colour combo, it reminded me of last year's SAB papers, Ice Cream Parlor, which I decided I would pull out for this project. Then, I remembered we had matching buttons as well, shaped like little flowers, which inspired me to pull out the Button Buddies set and use the vase image, which I hadn't inked yet.

I kept this fairly simple. I drew inspiration for the design from a Page Maps card sketch (September sketches) and mimicked the row of ribbons. I handcut the scallops at the bottom of the patterned paper and then I decided that the top of the card felt a little bare, so I added a strip of silver glimmer paper.

 

 

 

  
 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Button Buddies
Cardstock: Pacific Point, Whisper White
Designer papers: Ice Cream Parlor (SAB)
Accessories:  Markers (Old Olive, Lucky Limeade, Pumpkin Pie), Silver glimmer paper,
Buttons, Circle punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Polka dot brads, Ribbons

 

Inkspirations #87 - Waiting For Santa

 
 
 
 
  
 
 

I still have some uninked stamps from like six months ago, which is a real shame, so I decided to put some mileage on them even though they are Christmas-themed. It's never too early to get started on Christmas production anyway, right?

I went all out and did some extensive paper piecing for this one. I wanted color and texture and in order for the design to look right, you have to paper piece the penguins and add them on top of the other paper even though they are cut out of the same color of cardstock because if you just cut around the chimney, the perspective doesn't look right. This means more work (especially hand cutting and gluing those tiny small feet!) but the result looks much better.

I added a bunch of details, which is why I added a close-up pic so you can see better. I paper pieced the three stockings out of patterned papers and added white velvet flocking to the cuff so that they are fluffy. I also used some Platinum Liquid Pearls for the nails. The top of the chimney was paper pieced out of the wooden sheet (doesn't it look great?) and I created a brick wall texture using a dark red marker on Riding Hood Red cardstock and used it to paper piece the rest of the chimney. It was easier to create the brick pattern first and then stamp the image rather than try to line bricks up on the handcut piece. I used a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock for the inside of the chimney and even though I was planning on paper piecing the penguin hanging upside down inside with white cardstock, I liked how he looked on Chocolate Chip cardstock, like he is in the shade, so I just colored his hat with a dark red marker directly on the brown cardstock.

The sentiment comes from the Contempo Christmas set and it was inked with Baja Breeze and Old Olive markers. The papers are from the retired Holiday Treasure paper pack, which I got this Spring from the Clearance Rack. (I was psyched to see those papers there, because I had always regretted not getting them when they came out.) I added a sparkly metal frame and tied it around the card using Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon (which is back in the cattie - yeah!). Two shimmer brads finish the card up.

 

 

 

 
 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Around the Chimney (TCP), Noël contemporain (SU!)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
Designer papers: Holiday Treasure
Inks: Basic Black
Big Shot: Circle die
Accessories:  Markers, sponge, shimmer brads, glittered frame,
Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon, Velvet flock, Liquid Pearls, Wooden sheets

 

Inkspirations #86 - Bookworm

  
 
 
 
  
 
 

One of the perks from stamping with Brandi (besides stamping with Brandi!!) is that I got to play with stamp sets that I do not own and therefore are new to me. You might recognize this cute school set from a past minicatalogue. I always thought it was beyond adorable, but since it was only available in English, it didn't make it on my purchase list. The red, blue and green combo seemed perfect for a school-themed card and a natural match to this set.

My first idea was to turn the tag into a bookmark but I think through the process, I ended up forgetting about this idea and it ended up being glued on the card. (I blame the wine...) The sentiment is from the Petite Pairs set. The fact that the sentiments come as pairs allowed me to stamp them separately on two of the little notebook sheets and fill in the space.

Don't look too closely as my coloring. I used markers, which I rarely do to color in an image and I think you can tell. I'm thinking of adding a dab of Crystal Effects on the glasses to give them some shine. What do you think?

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Quelques lignes (Petite Pairs), First Day
Cardstock: Whisper White, Marina Mist, Real Red, Old Olive
Inks: Basic Black, Real Red, Old Olive
Big Shot: Two Tags die
Accessories:  Markers, Old Olive polka dot scallop ribbon, handheld punch,
mini silver brads, distressing tool, Smooch Pearlized Accent

 

Inkspirations #85 - Cheerful Cherries

  

  
 

I was looking at my stamps collection to figure out which one I'd use along with this set and decided I would ink up my new Button Buddies set (which I won through the So Shelli creative contest - woo-hoo!). I had every intention of adding buttons to the cherries, but they looked so cute stamped in red with the little light reflection on them that I decided to leave them unembellished. Well, that is, until I decided to add Crystal Effects to them to create a shiny look. I almost regret it a little because I know the Crystal Effects can sometimes change the ink colour underneath and this is what happens here. I had colored the image with markers and the cherries were a nice red shade that matched the papers perfectly, but after adding the Crystal Effects, the colour turned to a slightly more loud pinkish shade! It still works, but...

Notice those lovely papers I used? They're from the Berry Bouquet pack. They are presented in the Holidays mini as a Christmas paper pack, but really, if you use only the stripes, polka dots (which are glittered!!) and flowers, they will work for any occasion. The red button is from the same collection. The two pinked borders are leftover pieces from cutting rickrack out of glimmer paper using the Tasteful Trims die. No wasting of that gorgeous paper! The sentiment is from the new sentiment set Petite Pairs and reads, "Happy Birthday."

One detail that sort of gets lost in the picture is the embossed background. I stamped the Fine Flourish stamp all over the card base and embossed the image with clear powder for a delicate lace look.  

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Button Buddies, Quelques lignes, Fine Flourish
Cardstock: Wild Wasabi, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip
Designer papers: Berry Bouquet
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Versamark
Punches: Scallop Ribbon, Circle, Scallop Circle
Accessories: Berry Bouquet button, Early Espresso taffeta ribbon, pinking shears,
Crystal Effects, Markers, red glimmer paper, Clear embossing powder,
Tasteful Trims die, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Inkspirations #84 - Pressed Leaves

 

  
 

This card all started out with my annual stamp room clean-up. Every year when the catalogue comes to an end, I do a little bit of reorganization in my stash and try to purge a bit. As I was doing so, I found some old metal frames that have been in my stash for quite some time now. Since those frames were a little pricier than other embellishments, I had kept them aside to use in my scrapbook but now I figured that it's better to use them on a card than not use them at all. I put the frame with the little leaves aside to pair with the Autumn Fest set, thinking it'd be a good match.

The Autumn Fest set is one of those sets that retired right after I bought it, back when we had two catalogues a year. I barely had time to make a couple of projects with it before it hit the retiring list, but I held on to it because it is still my favorite leaf set SU! has offered so far. I like the whimsical feel to it and the details on the leaves.  I used the leaves to create my own patterned paper and used Craft ink on Crumb Cake cardstock for a "homespun" look. I stamped all of the leaves (and acorn) on Whisper White first, dried the ink with the heat tool, cleaned the stamps and overstamped the images in colored Craft ink. Isn't the result fun?

(On a side note, since In Colors are not offered in Craft ink, I selected the color closest to Concord Crush, namely Elegant Eggplant instead.)

The frame was initially plain metal. What I did is I painted the whole frame with yellow paint and I used a baby wipe to take the paint off of the surface of the frame, leaving paint only in the indented image. I needed something to add inside the frame and alhough my first idea was to stamp a sentiment and emboss it with the Tango Tangerine embossing powder, this idea just was not working out. I tried it on Concord Crush cardstock and on Daffodil Delight cardstock, but somehow it just looked wrong. Then, as I was looking up trying to find inspiration, a leaf die-cut out of the wooden sheets that had been left on my desk for quite some time caught my eye, so I tried it in the frame and bingo! Much better already! I dragged my Tango Tangerine Craft Stampin' Spot on the wooden die-cut to die it and spritzed it with Smooch Spray to add a glimmery finish to it. Then, I stamped a small sentiment from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set on a piece of cardstock, punched little tags out of scraps and used some linen thread to tie the sentiment tags around the leaf. I added two pieces of ribbons held by brads to the side of the frame.

The back of the card was decorated with patterned paper from the In Colors stack and I added a piece of embossed cardstock behind the Crumb Cake cardstock to make it stand out more. Two linen-threaded buttons were added to the card to finish it off.

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Autumn Fest, Voeux mignons (Teeny Tiny Wishes)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight, Concord Crush, Tango Tangerine
Designer papers: In Colors paper stack (hostess - retired)
Inks: Daffodil Delight, Tango Tangerine, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White, Concord Crush
Punches: Small Tag, Scallop Edge
Accessories:  Buttons, Linen thread, In Colors Glimmer brad, Bright brad,
Crumb Cake envelope, Metal frame, Lattice embossing folder

 

Inkspirations #82 - Travel Log

  
 
 
 
  
 
 

When looking at this upcoming colour combo, all I kept thinking about was that it would look great paired with the Travel Log set, so that was the starting point of my project. Then, I got the idea to turn it into a notebook, which will come in handy since the last time I left for Leadership, I was scrambling around to find a notebook of the just the right size to bring with me to the event (small enough to slip in my purse, big enough to write more than three words on one page).

I used the chipboard sold by SU! and cut it to size with the tabletop cutter. Then, I used recycled printing paper cut to size to create the pages. (It is actually old stationery that the office gave us when they changed name to use for scrap paper. I cut off the header and have nice, heavy-weight white paper for my pages.) Learn from my mistake, though: you should cut the cover pages a bit larger than the pages that will be inserted inside. It will give you a cleaner look once everything is binded.

The cover was decorated using a mix of stamps from the set. I added a spray of Log Cabin Smooch to the Marina Mist cardstock and distressed the edges with the Cutting Kit. I wanted to glue the sign with Dimensionals, but was hesitant to do so because I was afraid the notebook then wouldn't travel well and finally decided to just go with it anyway.

I divided the pages with tabs in matching colors. I could have used the Round Tab punch, but I wanted a different look, so I used the Curly Label punch instead. I wanted the curly part to be facing outwards instead of the fold, so my solution was to punch half of the shape twice and glue those two pieces together, making sure to sandwich the paper in between those two pieces, and then I stamped the circle signs in matching colours and added them to the tabs.

 

 

 

 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Travel Log
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, Cajun Craze
Inks: Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, Cajun Craze, Versamark
Accessories:  Binding machine, Brads, Stampin' DImensionals, Cutting Kit (distressing tool),
Embossing powder, Stamp-a-Ma-Jig, Curly Label punch, Log Cabin Smooch spray

 

Inkspirations #81 - At Bella World

  
 

 

 

I kept looking at this week's sketch and trying to decide from which angle I would approach it. I knew it could work for a card but couldn't decide which set to pair it with and then I thought maybe I could use it as a scrapbook sketch. Once I did, then it all came together very quickly. I remembered I had some pics Keesh had sent me from her visit in Toronto that I wanted to scrap and had a flash about some papers that had been in my stash for a while that would pair up very nicely with the pictures. The rest of the design just flowed very naturally. I wished things would always work out like that... You'll notice that I did a mirror image of the sketch to make sure I was facing the inside of the page on the picture.

The gorgeous flower ribbon is something that I brought back from my trip to Toronto last summer. I had seen it used in LOs published in magazine and thought it was beautiful and I was really excited to find some at a local store in Kingston on the way. I had been hoarding it up until now but thought it matched the style and colours of the papers beautifully. I added some pearls and a hatpin from the Pretties kit to the ribbon as well.

The title was created with some alphabet stickers and a grungeboard shape that was part of a number set. I remember when I first got this set (and also when I bought the Simple Numbers dies from SU!) wondering when I would ever get to use the @ symbol. I guess it just makes more sense if you're creating in English, to replace the word "at." In French, unless you are doing a card with a computer on it, there are not many uses for it. Anyway, when I decided that I wanted my title to be "At Bella World," I jumped at the chance to use that chipboard piece.

The lady between Keesh and I in the top picture is Emily, the store owner. She's just a hoot and she kept keeping a straight face while muttering stuff under her breath that would crack me up, as you can see in the picture. Funny, funny lady.

 

 

 

 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Supplies
Patterned papers: Bo Bunny (Jazmyne)
Accessories:  Alphabet stickers (American Crafts), Buttons (Autumn Leaves),
Ribbons (various sources), Pretties kit (SU!), white gel pen, Die-cuts (Making Memories,
Pink Paisley), Grungeboard (Tim Holtz), Brads (SU!), Fiber (Making Memories),
Rhinestones (SU!), glitter (SU!), Whisper White Craft ink (SU!)

 

Inkspirations #80 - Rockin' Congrats!

 
 
 

 

This card is the second congratulations I created for my colleagues who wanted cards for her niece and nephew's graduations. This one will be going to her nephew, who's a musician. I thought the colors were great for a masculine card and had a fresh look that was perfect for a young graduate.

Even though the card has lots of layers, it came together quite quickly. I just never cease to run out of inspiration when using the Extreme Elements set. I'm bummed that the silhouettes are gone, but I hope this set will stick around for a long time because I love using it and demo'ing it. I used various shapes from the set to create a funky background and then I clear-embossed the guitarist using Elegant Eggplant Craft ink (since Concord Crush is not available in Craft) and embossed it twice with clear powder for a glossy look. The sentiment comes from a retired SAB set and reads, "Congratulations."

I was looking at my dies to find a small tag I could use for my sentiment, but instead stumbled unto the Curves Ahead die (the arrows) and decided that could make a cool accent on the card, so I die-cut the arrows out of Brushed Silver cardstock and used Heat 'N Stick to add fine glitter to the big arrow. I added the three rhinestones at the bottom as a last-minute addition and decided I was pleased with the card.

I hope my colleague's nephew likes it as much as I do!

 

 

 

  
Inspiration: Sketch Mojo Monday #198

 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Extreme Elements, Extreme Guitar, In Stitches wheel, Texture wheel, Félicitations
Cardstock: Peach Parfait, Whisper White, Pear Pizzazz, Brushed Silver
Inks: Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz, Concord Crush, Elegant Eggplant
Big Shot: Curves Ahead die
Punches: Spiral, Stamp, Star, Small Star
Accessories:  Mini library clip, White embossing powder, Build-a-Brad, Cutting Kit (distressing tool), Rhinestones, Clear embossing powder

 

Inskpirations #79 - Your Love Machine

 
 
  
 
 

That stamp and sentiment just cracks me up - "I'm just your love machine." Unless I meet a hot Aussie guy and marries him, I have absolutely no idea who I could possibly give this card to, but it was just too cute not to use. The other inspiration behind the card was the patterned papers, which had some bubbles just like the one in the stamp set and hence was born this card.

The background paper had polka dot that were the same size as one of the heart circles in the stamp set, so I added the hearts around some of the polka dots and filled the center with glitter.

I think my fave detail is the loopy border that was cut out of Brushed Silver and looks just like a metal wire - perfect to go with the little robot! I found some silver mini brads in my stash and added them to loops and they look just like screws.

I hope this card puts a smile in your day!

 

 

 

 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Loving Mew (TCP), Hemlines (Paper Salon)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Opulent Orchid, Night of Navy, Brushed Silver
Inks: Basic Black, Opulent Orchid, Night of Navy
Big Shot: Nestabilities, Icing die (TCP)
Accessories:  Mini silver brads, glitter, brads, mini buttons, snaps, eyelets,
markers, dauber, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Inkspiration #78 - Delicate Doilies

  
 
 

 

I had fun with this one! First of all because the color combo is gorgeous, but also because this whole card came together in a matter of minutes. It was one of those good days when the ideas flows and things turn out just like you had envisioned.

I thought the color combo would look nice paired with the new Delicate Doilies set and since Kraft (Crumb Cake) cardstock was involved, I knew I wanted to use Craft ink to get a rich, saturated look. As Craft inks are pigment inks, they sit on top of the cardstock and produce a look that is different from the one you get with the Classic inks. The key to success when using your Craft inks though is to have your trusty heat gun handy to speed up the drying process. 'Cos if you don't use it, hello smudges!

The initial idea behind the card came from a sketch I had seen online. The two vertical bands on the left side gave me the idea to add a ribbon and then a punched band made with the beautiful new border punch SU! added to the new catalogue. I used Rose Red seam binding for the bow and added a Perfect Plum button on top, tied with a piece of baker's twine. You'll notice that I am using Vanilla cardstock on my card but the baker's twine is only available in white. I was worried at first that the contrast would be really obvious, but gave the twine a try and found out it doesn't clash with the rest of the card, so I kept it.

Looking at the plum doily, I couldn'y help but notice how it looked like our filigrane accents. I hadn't used those in quite a while, so I pulled the pack out and selected a glimmer brad to accent the center. We don't have Perfect Plum glimmer brads, but I selected a Concord Crush one, which goes nicely with the rest of the colors. To create the sentiment, I used the So Many Thanks single stamp (now retired) and inked only two words with markers before punching the sentiment out with our small tag punch and sliding the tag under the filigrane accent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Delicate Doilies, So Many Thanks
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Perfect Plum, Very Vanilla
Inks: Perfect Plum, Rose Red, Very Vanilla
Punches: Lace Border, Small Tag, Corner Rounder
Accessories:  Pearls, Button, Baker's Twine, Filigrane Brads,
Rose Red Seam Binding, Envelope, In Colors Glimmer Brad

 

Inkspirations #77 - Birthday Banner

 
 

 

The card I am sharing with you today features the new set Pennant Parade and its matching punch. With pennants being all the rage, this is one cool punch and stamp set. The set is super versatile and can be used for more than pennants, though (Christmas Trees, for example).

I was planning on using the sketch as is and write "Bonne" with the pennants and "fête" at the bottom in a Hodgepodge Hardware frame, but after punching the pennants out, I realized I could not fit five pennants across, so I decided to flip the sketch around to accomodate my design idea. I looked through my sentiment folder (where I have stamped all of the sentiments from the stamp sets I own) to find the word "bonne" and it turns out I had it in the Sincere Salutations set ("Bonne chance"). The rest of the sentiment was stamped with the Sweet Shoppe Alphabet Lower, a perfect match in size and style to the Pennant set.

The background Designer paper came from the Just Eat Cake paper pack. I liked the number border to match the birthday theme, so I made sure to keep it when I cut the paper out. The ruffled ribbon is an old ribbon that was sold in our Ribbons Originals pack a few years ago. I added some stamped tassles at the bottom of the pennants and added small pearls in the center of the tassles and on each side of the pennants to finish the look. Finally, I used one of our 3/8 brad in the center of a Hodgepodge Hardware piece (the flower ribbon slide) at the bottom of the card and added a butterfly at the bottom of the Hodgepodge frame, complete with two pearls. The card's base was stamped with the now-retired Teahouse background.

 

 

  
Color Combo: So Saffron + Tango Tangerine + Wisteria Wonder

 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Fanions en fête (Pennant Parade), Sweet Shoppe Alphabet Lower,
Sincères salutations, Dot Dot Dot, Teahouse
Cardstock: Wisteria Wonder, Tango Tangerine, So Saffron, Very Vanilla
Designer papers: Just Eat Cake
Inks: Wisteria Wonder, Tango Tangerine, So Saffron, Versamark
Punches: Pennant, Designer Label, Circles
Accessories:  Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware, Embossing powder,
Stampin' Dimensionals, vanilla ribbon, Beautiful Wings Embosslits, Pearls

 

Inkspirations #76 - Calling All New Hostesses!

 

 

Finally - the new catalogue is here! Are you as excited as I am? I can't wait to share the new products with you - starting today!

This card is featuring a new hostess set called Faith in Nature. As soon as I saw it, I thought it would look really nice embossed and watercolored, which is what I did here using gold embossing powder and inks with an Aquapainter brush. I also used the leaf image from the same set to create the card's background

Another new item I used is the latest On Board assortment, from which I took the tag with which I created my sentiment block. I covered the chipboard tag with Baja Breeze Craft ink, dryed the ink with my heat tool and used the Crop-a-Dile to add holes on both sides. I then gold-embossed a sentiment from the Oval All set, punched it out with the oval punch and matted it with a piece of cardstock punched with the Scallop Oval punch. The tag was held in place on the card with a piece of white taffeta ribbon.

The patterned paper I used on the card is from the Just Eat cake paper pack and the white lace at the top was created with a border punch, two new items from the new catalogue. I am happy to report that the three-way punch that was sold in the Summer mini (and staying in the new cattie) is the perfect shape to create a mat and add color behind the punched lace, as you can see here. I also added rhinestones to the center of the flowers. 

I finished the card off with a strip of patterned paper on which I added three shimmer brads in matching colors.

 

 

 
Inspiration: Mojo Monday Sketch #189

 

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' up! Supplies
Stamps: Faith in Nature
Cardstock: Peach Parfait, Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Poppy Parade, watercolor paper
Designer papers: Just Eat Cake
Inks: Versamark, Baja Breeze, Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait, Daffodil Delight
Punches: Large Oval, Scallop Oval, Three-way flower punch, Border punch
Accessories: Gold embossing powder, Rhinestones Basic Jewels,
Stampin' Dimensionals, White taffeta ribbon, White envelope,
Shimmer brads, Aquapainter brush, On Board chipboard

 

Inkspirations #75 - King and Queen of Each Other's Hearts

  
 
 

 
   
This card was inspired both by this week's sketch and by a special request for a 40th anniversary card by a work colleague. She had asked me ahead of time and it took me a little while to find the inspiration, as I wanted to make sure this card was extra special and elegant. Then, as I was looking at the Perfect Pair chipboard pack and saw the crowns, the idea for the card was born.

The big crown was covered with three coats of gold embossing powder and the small crown was covered with Baja Breeze glass glitter using Crystal Effects to make sure the glitter really stayed in place. It was a nice coincidence that the papers I chose also had some numbers on the backside of one of them. There was unfortunately no 40 on it that I could highlight, so I handcut a 4 and a 0 to create the number myself.

I used the new Stamp punch from the Summer mini to create the borders at the bottom, out of Crumb Cake cardstock.

 

Retiring elements featured:

• Perfect Pair On Board chipboard
• Baja Breeze Glass Glitter 

 

 

 
 
  

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' up! Supplies
Stamps: Quelque chose à fêter (Something to Celebrate)
Cardstock: Sage (Bazzill), Crumb Cake (SU!)
Designer papers: My Mind's Eye
Inks: Versamark
Punches: Circles, Bitty (flower), Stamp
Accessories: Gold embossing powder, Baja Breeze glass glitter, pearls,
Circle and Scallop Circle dies, Stampin' Dimensionals, Victoria Lace Trim,
October Afternoon rub-ons (saffron doily), clear rhinestone brad, Crumb Cake envelope

 

Inkspirations #74 - Vole, vole, papillon doux...

 
  
 
 

 
   
I am excited about the card I am sharing today. First of all, because I think this week's colours are fabulous together, but also because the project I am sharing is one of those projects where I started out with a very unclear vision and ended up with a card I love. It's a little different from my usual style (more streamlined, maybe?), which is why I like it.

I had this idea a few weeks ago to try and emboss a transparency with clear powder and then paint shimmer paint on it to create a resist effect and see what happens. Normally, I would have used the SU! transparencies, but I have some leftover from the office because we were out of letter-sized transparencies and I had to cut some legal-sized ones to make covers for my binders. As I looked at the leftover pieces I had just cut, I decided I could surely come up with a way to use them and brought them back home. I used one of those scraps to test out my idea and unfortunately, the transparencies are not heat-resistant and it got slightly warped during the embossing process. I had first thought of using it flat on my card, which was now not going to happen, so I put my sample aside and it was only a few days later that I thought that I could maybe die-cut a flower or something out of my painted transparency to try and salvage it.

And then was born the butterfly you see here. The warping just gives the butterfly shape so I think it works. I added a second butterfly cut out of Melon Mambo cardstock underneath and held the two together in place with white Baker's twine.

Then, I thought I would use the new Melon Mambo embossing powder to add flowers from the Proud Peacock stamp set (Summer minicatalogue) to a piece of Old Olive cardstock. The colored powder creates an opaque look you don't usually get with Craft ink and clear embossing, so it is perfect when used on darker cardstock.

I used the Melon embossing powder on the chipboard piece as well to emboss my sentiment (Swirls & Curls Verses - Summer mini hostess set). I also stamped the border from the Proud Peacock set in Old Olive Craft ink underneath. The whole chipboard piece had previously been covered with Whisper White Craft ink and I had made sure to dry the whole thing with my heat tool and running the Embossing Buddy over the chipboard before doing the embossing part, to get as little stray powder as possible around the sentiment.

The card base was stamped with the argyle stamp from the Grunge Rock set and I added the small birdie from the Proud Peacock set, embossed in white, at the bottom of the card.

To finish it off, I added Basic Grey brads on the chipboard piece and I pushed the prongs of Olive brads in the holes of two Melon Mambo buttons (SAB Ice Cream Parlor kit) and folded them out. Usually, I would have used a pair of scissors to cut the ends of the prongs off, but I think in this case, they actually look like leaves, which totally work with the flower buttons, so I left them alone.

 

Retiring items:

•  Perfect Pair On Board chipboard

 

 

 

 
 
  

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' up! Supplies
Stamps: Proud Peacock, En français, Grunge Rock
Cardstock: Basic Grey, Melon Mambo, Old Olive
Inks: Versamark, Old Olive, Whisper White
Big Shot: Beautiful Wings
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Transparency, Champagne Mist shimmer paint,
White baker's twine, Ice Cream Parlor buttons, Brads, Embossing powders (Melon Mambo,
Clear, White), Perfect Pair On Board chipboard, Envelope template

 

Inkspirations #73 - Three Times Thanks

 
 
 

 
   
I let myself get tempted by a few items from the Clearance Rack last time it got updated. I was pleased to see some paper packs and SS kits I had talked myself out of getting and later regretted. The bright and cheerful Sunny Day SS kit was one of them. I'm glad I was able to swipe a pack for myself - it looks even better in person and I really like the fun die-cuts included in the pack.

So, this is the first project I had time to make with it since receiving the kit. I pulled out my Aviary set, which has been dreadfully neglected since I bought it on my very first order from the new catalogue last July. I'm not sure why I have such a hard time coming up with something using it - I've seen many great cards from other stampers done with it, but I've had a hard time using it myself. Anyway, I gave it a try again this weekend and this is what I came up with. 

The sentiment was created by stamping the Thank You sentiment three times on Whisper White cardstock, switching colours each time. The sentiment block was framed with a piece from the Silver Hodgepodge Hardware kit (retiring from the catalogue at the end of the month) and held in place with matching eyelets.

The main image was matted with a piece of Old Olive die-cut with the Top Note die and I added a tab made with paper punched with the small and large oval punches, on which I added a matching button. I doodled a frame with a pink marker and also doodled a scallop border on the card base using the white gel pen. The three panels at the bottom of the card are Designer papers from the SS kit and the top stripe is a sticky border also from the kit. To finish it off, I added a piece of striped Old Olive grosgrain ribbon.

 

 

 
  

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' up! Supplies
Stamps: Aviary, Fêtes diverses (All Holidays)
Cardstock: Passion Pink
Simply Scrappin' Kit: Sunny Day
Inks: Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise, Passion Pink, Old Olive
Accessories: Silver Hodgepodge Hardware, pink eyelets,  Olive striped grosgrain ribbon,
white gel pen, Small Oval punch, Large Oval punch, Ice Cream Parlor buttons,
Top Note die, Pink Passion marker, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Stampin' Dimensionals

 

Inkspirations #72 - Chain Work

 
   
 

 
I was looking forward to this week's challenge, as the colours are absolutely stunning together. Perfect for a summery, nautical  or a masculine project, I find. I liked it so much I decided I wanted to make a page I could keep in my album using those colours.

I was looking at my stack of pictures and settled on the ones I had taken in Utah during the Riverton tour, which includes a peek at the warerhouse where our orders are packed and shipped from. The colour of the boxes sort of fitted with the Peach Parfait colour, which is how I decided on those pictures. The design was inspired by one of the May Page Maps sketches. Don't you like all those little ribbons on the border? Great way to use scraps and add pizzazz to a page.

I also reached for the Grunge Rock set, which I got in May during the Scrapbooking promotion. I used the argyle stamp to create a background, the "No. 1" in White ink and the "Real" stamp to create a dimensional accent. I was thinking of chain work and thought I could line up characters created with the All in the Family set, which I stamped tone on tone at the bottom of the page. I think it turned out pretty cute! Just a different way of using this set, without using watercoloring. I picked out an arrow from the Perfect Pair On Board chipboard set, covered it with Celery Craft ink, added clear embossing powder and then wrapped the middle part of the arrow with white baker's twine. The big letters were die-cut out of Peach Passion Designer paper (level 1 hostess pack) and covered with Crystal Effects for an epoxy letter look. At the top of the pictures, I added two matching paper ribbons and added some matching fabric brads from the Occasions mini over them.

I used another piece of paper from the same paper pack to create my journaling block. I trimmed it down to size, punched two of the corners with the corner rounder punch and the other side with the Spirals punch. I handwrote my journaling with a marker and added a Designer brad in the top corner. To make the details of the metal brad stand out more, I dipped the head of the brad in Not Quite Navy Craft ink and then wiped the extra ink off with a tissue. I dryed the ink with my embossing tool (be sure to use plyers to hold the brad, as the metal will get very hot!) before adding the brad to the page. I also used the distressing tool from the Cutting Kit to distress the edges of the Pear Pizzazz cardstock.

 

 

 
Inspirations: May Page Maps sketch
 
 
  

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' up! Supplies
Stamps: All in the Family, Grunge Rock, Calendar Alphabet & Numbers
Cardstock: Peach Parfait, Not Quite Navy, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White
Designer papers: In Colour DSP (hostess pack)
Inks: Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White
Punches: Spiral, Corner Rounder, Circles
Accessories: Brads, baker's twine, chipboard (Perfect Pair), clear embossing powder,
white gel pen, Stampin' Dimensionals, Crystal Effects, Designer brad, marker,
distressing tool, paper piercer and mat pack, Timeless Type Alphabet dies

 

Inkspirations #71 - School's Out!

 

 
   
Last year, I got a lot of requests for thank you cards for teachers when school came to an end and I was not prepared for it. I thought I would make up for it this year and make thank you cards ahead of time. This is one of them, as the sentiment (from Teeny Tiny Wishes) reads "School is over."

Isn't that bicycle just the cutest thing you have ever seen? It's from a Bo Bunny rub-on pack. This image just makes me smile and screams summer and makes a great focus point for the card, so I kept the rest very simple. I applied the rub-on to Crumb Cake cardstock, added two yellow buttons on the wheels and the seniment on a small strip of paper held in place with a mini library clip.

I used matching papers to create a background, and pierced holes all around the paper pieces using the mat pack and paper piercer. I added felt rickrack, a yellow button threaded with white baker's thread and two white brads.

 

 

 

  
 
  

 

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' up! Supplies
Stamps: Voeux mignons (Teeny Tiny Wishes)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake (SU!)
Designer papers: Bo Bunny
Inks: Bermuda Bay
Accessories: White brads, Mat pack, Paper piercer, Felt rickrack, Buttons,
White baker's twine, Mini library clip, Crumb Cake envelope

 

Inkspirations #70 - Elegant Note

 
 

 
   
At this time of year, with the end of the catalogue fast approching, I always start feeling this pressure of using all of the papers and embellishments I have bought during the year, as they might be retiring soon. One of those things are the Elegant Notes I bought for a project we made at our team Christmas party. I used half of the pack for the M&Ts and I have made one, maybe two cards with those notes since. Well, when I saw that this week's combo included Vanilla in it, I decided to crack them out again and create something with them. 

I masked the sides of the card using the embossed lines as reference and then I stamped the Fine Flourish stamp in Blushing Bride ink. I used the Curly Cute set to add a sentiment and some matching Perfect Plum designer paper (a scrap from the retired Enchanted pack) underneath the card opening. I then used a dauber to add pink pastel to a Pretties flower, layered cardstock flowers punched with the Boho Blossoms and Bitty punches and added a pearl in the middle. I added four brads to the corners of the square and used a blending pen to add Champagne Mist shimmer paint both to the embossed frame and the brads. Then, I glued the die-cut pieces from the card opening onto the envelope (no waste!) and colored those pieces with shimmer paint as well.  

 

 

 
 

   

 

On a side note, I realized as I was looking through my Inkspirations folder that it's my two-year anniversary on the Design Team this month! I can't believe it's been that long already. And I can't believe out of those two years, I have never missed a single week so far!! Let's see if by posting this, I'll be jixing myself...

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' up! Supplies
Stamps: Jolies pensées (Curly Cute), Fine Flourish
Cardstock: Elegant Notes card, Blushing Bride, Perfect Plum
Designer papers: Enchanted DSP
Inks: Blushing Bride, Perfect Plum
Punches: Boho Blossoms, Bitty
Accessories: Pretties kit, Post-It notes, blending pen,
Champagne Mist shimmer paint, brads

 

Inkspirations #69 - Rain or Shine

 

 
   
Aren't sketch a wonderful way to get started on a project? I'll admit that I'm a little bit of a sketch addict when it comes to cards and scrapbooking. I use them most often than not. It saves me time and aggravation when trying to get started and this week was no exception. Once my papers and stamp were picked, everything came together in a snap.

I decided to forgo the rectangle itself and instead interpret it as the space to add my image, which I handcut, layered and popped up on Dimensionals. Then I was looking at the flowers on the sketch and decided to use buttons and I added them on a circle punched out of a transparent to ground them and also to make it look like a big bubble or raindrop. The buttons were decorate with white Baker's thread (now sold in the Summer mini).

Another new item I broke out: our new colored embossing powder! I know SU! carried those years ago, as I remember seeing some in the first catalogue I received when I was a new customer. I had never bought any, as SU! dwindled its collection down to metallics once I got bit by the embossing bug. Let me tell you, if you are anything like me, you are going to love them! Heat embossing is always a fantastic look onto itself, but the colored powder gives a different look from the colored Craft ink with clear embossing on top. You might recognize the sentiment as one of the sentiments offered during SAB in the Happy for You set.

I'm rather happy with how the card turned out, except for... the paper, which I spritzed with a shimmer spray (not the Smooch, another one I tried) to give the paper a shimmery look like rain and the paper got soaked and started rolling unto itself. After it dried, I figure it would lay flat on my card once I glued it in place, so I went generously on the Snail and glued the paper to the card base. The corners of the paper still kept curling up, so I went back with Mono glue, hoping to fix the problem, but some of the edges are still not staying down and it is driving me crazy!! I would really like this card if it wasn't for this annoying little detail. Oh, well... Maybe you can't tell in the picture and it just looks nice? Here's to hoping...

 

 

 

   

 

On a side note, I realized as I was looking through my Inkspirations folder that it's my two-year anniversary on the Design Team this month! I can't believe it's been that long already. And I can't believe out of those two years, I have never missed a single week so far!! Let's see if by posting this, I'll be jixing myself...

Come join the fun! Here is the LINK to our challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation, and links to the other DT members' creations:

 

Brandi
Carrie
Helen
Ilina
Kirsty
Lee-Anne
Makeesha
Marisa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' up! Supplies
Stamps: Heureuse pour toi (SU!), My Umbrella (MFT)
Cardstock: Seafoam green (Bazzill)
Designer papers: Imaginisce
Inks: Versamark, Black
Punches: Circle
Accessories: Yellow rickrack, buttons, white Baker's thread, Melon mambo
embossing powder, transparent sheet, markers, Stampin' Dimensionals,
epoxy baubles, envelope