Encre, papier, ciseaux

Inkspirations #50 - Let It Snow!

  
 
 
 

The card I am sharing today is one of the projects we made at the Christmas Cards class I've been teaching. The design was inspired by a bag from the Simons store I got last year. There were letters in lieu of falling snow and then a triangular Christmas tree made out of Christmas wishes. I thought it was a spectacular idea and I had done a version last year using the Calendar Alphabet set, but then when I opened the catalogue this year and saw that we had a letter cluster in the Confetti set, I immediately knew I had to make a new version of this idea. The confetti stamp makes it so much simpler to recreate the card!

As you can see, I used other pieces of the Confetti set to stamp the card base and Tempting Turquoise panel, then I tied some Artichoke seam binding in a bow. Even though there's no Artichoke anywhere else on the card, the color still ties in very nicely with the Pear Pizzazz green.

I used our fabulous shimmer brads at the top of the tree, and some of the bitty buttons with the matching punches at the top of the card. Remember that this is a very option to create buttons in any color that you may need for your projects. Simply punch some cardstock or paper and layer underneath the clear buttons. The white scallop border was created with the Chain (name?) punch, which I glued underneath the Tempting Turquoise cardstock so that only the very edge would show. It is definitely smaller than the Scallop Edge punch, so it gives you a nice alternative if you love scallops as much as I do.

Speaking of which, to create the scallops at the right of the main image, I punched a few circles with one of the Bitty punches and lined them up under the Whisper White cardstock to create scallops.

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
   

Here is the LINK to our new 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
Marissa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Tous mes voeux pour Noël
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Tempting Turquoise, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White
Inks: Rich Razzleberry, Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: Bitty buttons, bitty punches, shimmer brads, Chain punch,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Small Star punch, Post-It notes, Always Artichoke seam binding,
Mini glue dots, Ticket Corner punch

  

Witchy Woman

(Okay, now I'm going to have that song in my head all day!)

I needed some English thank you cards and didn't have any on hand, so I put this one together a few weeks ago. I hadn't used the Greeting Card Kids set in a while, so I decided to get the little witch out and pair it with the Hostess In Color Designer paper pack (Concord Crush polka dot paper).

The main image was colored with reinkers on watercolor paper and punched with the 2-1/2 Circle punch. I added a bit of glitter to the sky by stomping the two-way glue pen on the watercolor paper and then pourring Dazzling Diamonds glitter on it. The black cardstock was embossed with the Spiderwebs embossing folder, and the sentiment is a leftover rub-on from a previous catalogue. The sentiment tag was die-cut with a die from the Lots of Tags set, accented with a Concord Crush shimmer brad from the In Colors kit.

 

 

 
Inspiration: Mojo Monday sketch 163

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Greeting Card Kids
Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Basic Black, Brushed Silver, watercolor paper
Designer paper: In Colors Hostess Paper Pack
Inks: Pumpkin Pie, Concord Crush, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Basic Black, More Mustard, Blush Blossom
Big Shot: spiderwebs embossing folder, Lots of Tags die
Accessories: 2-1/2 Circle punch, Olive striped grosgrain ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Concord Crush ribbon, Pumpkin Pie corduroy button, blending pen, white rub-on

 

Let's celebrate 200,000 hits with some blog candy!

Oh, wow, I just noticed that I'm 50 hits away from reaching the 200K mark! That number blows my mind...

To celebrate, I'll be putting together a little blog candy to give away! Leave me a comment on this thread and tell me what is your favorite project I have shared on my blog. I'll draw a name for a winner on Friday November 26th.

Thanks to all the loyal readers, and a special thanks to all of you who have left me sweet and encouraging comments over the years!

Mwaah!

I decided to do a little bit of coloring to unwind yesterday. I still had some uninked rubber (such a shame!), so I picked an image that my Mom had actually selected herself and bought for me this summer.

It always amazes me how time-consuming coloring can be. More so than watercoloring. I ended up spending pretty much the whole evening on this card. I do like how it turned out, though.

The papers are scraps from last year's paper sampler, which I found while emptying my workshop bag. Since the papers are not current anymore, I don't really have any use for the sampler, but instead of throwing it to the recycling bin, I've been trying to find designs that can accomodate small pieces of paper. You might remember that last Spring, I had used some of the squares to make 3x3 Love notes.

The little girl was colored with pencils and Gamsol, then I die-cut the image with a die and used it as a mask to sponge some chalk ink around the image. I looked through my binder of sentiments to find something like "Hugs and Kisses" in French and found the "Gros becs" one in the Mots chaleureux set. I inked each word separately with markers, stamped them on patterned paper, cut the words out, matted them and added them to the image. I added a bit of glitter to the crown and the little girl's outfit, which the camera doesn't seem to have picked up. And I added a pearl button at the neck.

On the original sketch, the ribbon was running over the image, but the little girl looked kind of weird with her feet cut off, so I added an eyelet and wove the ribbon in it instead. The background has been dry-embossed with a Texturz plate and spritzed with the Log Cabin Smooch Spritz.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Little ballerina, Des mots chaleureux (SU!), Stitches
Cardstock: Pale Plum, Rich Razzleberry, Very Vanilla
Inks: Basic Black, Rich Razzleberry
Papers: Mur et maison
Accessories: Moss taffeta ribbon, button, floss, markers, dies,
Stampin' Dimensionals, eyelets, brads, Flower Trio punch, glitter, gel pen,
pencils, Gamsol, Texturz plate, Log Cabin Smooch Spritz

 

November Tour de Freaks

Psst... If you are reading this post on November 19th, please note that we are getting the tour ready and testing the links to make sure everything is working. The official tour begins on the 20th, so if you cannot make the whole round tonight, hang in there with us!

  

 

  

Welcome to our November Tour de Freaks! This tour is brought to you by the Control Freaks Stampers members and if you have been following the tour, you should have gotten to my blog by clicking on the link provided by Janine Tinklenberg on her blog. If you are just starting out, make sure to visit all thirteen blogs that are part of the tour today by following the links provided at the bottom of each post. Our theme this month is Christmas Gifts and Snow! So without further ado, here are the fun projects I would like to share with you this month!

 

 

My first project: Framed with Love

Project info: The idea behind this gift came from a coworker who asked me for advice on how to package a bunch of gift certificates for a friend's baby shower. I suggested making a frame with a bunch of small envelopes and from there, the idea evolved into this project I am showing you here.

I used our Designer paper from the Brights collection to make the envelope. (My tip to you: gently unglue a small envelope to use as a template or use the Scallop envelope die with the Big Shot for faster results.) Since the paper is double-sided, you can just fold the top flap over and you get a beautiful envelope in no time. I decorated each envelope differently, with ribbon and accessories (I basically just flipped through my Caddy to see which embellishments I had that could work).

The frame is simply a canvas I got at the local art store and painted with our White Frost shimmer paint, before adding a bit of red satin ribbon, a Big Designer button from the Holidays mini and glueing the envelope in place with sticky strip. The nice thing about canvas is that they are inexpensive and come in a variety of sizes.

This idea can be adapted in so many ways: Use 24 envelopes to turn the frame into an Advent calendar. Slip love notes in each envelope for a Valentine's gift. Slip comforting notes and offer as a gift to someone who's sick. Write advice to an expecting mom. The possibilities are endless!

  

 

 
  
 

Stamps: Courrier d'hiver (Winter Post)
Designer papers: Brights Designer paper
Inks: Old Olive
Accessories: Red satin ribbon, Big Designer buttons (mini), canvas,White Frost shimmer paint,
mini envelope, brads, buttons, markers, jumbo eyelets

   

 

  

My second project: Card Holder

Project info: This is a card holder, with a page for each month of the year, where you can write the birthdates of your loved ones and insert the cards you want to send them on their birthdays in each pocket for sakefeeping.

You are going to love the dimensions of this, because they are so easy: use a 8½ x 11 page, score at 3 inches at the bottom and fold up. For the back pocket, cut a 8½ x 3½ piece of matching cardstock, score at ½ inch from the bottom, fold and glue to the back of the page using sticky strip. Then, to decorate with patterned paper, use a 8 x 4 piece of paper. Gotta love this measurement - perfect for 12 x 12 paper!

I used the Favorite Things set to stamp the birthday block and month tag. I used a marker to handwrite the month, but if you are stamping in English, you might want to check out the Full Calendar set, which is going to make your job that much easier.

 

  

 

 

 

 

Stamps: Favorite Things, Dot Dot Dot
Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Marina Mist>
Designer Paper: Greenhouse Gala
Early Espresso, Versamark
Big Shot: Tasteful Trims die, Simple Letters Alphabet
Accessories: Satin ribbon, Floewrs, Vintage brads, Stampin' Pastels, Daubers,
Boho Blossoms punch, Border punches (Scallop, Eyelet, Scallop Trim), markers, sticky strip
 
 

 

 

My third project: Traveling Kit

Project info: Doesn't everything look better in a miniature format? This is a traveling kit, but the idea could easily be adapted to any kind of bottle or container you want to offer as a Christmas gift. Packaged nicely, everything just looks like a more expensive gift than it really is, wouldn't you agree?

For this kit, I chose an elegant black and vanilla scheme, which also matched the bottles and accessories I wanted to include in the kit, and selected the map from the Newsprint papers kit to fit the traveling theme.

I want to point out one of the details on the holder. I used my 1-in Circle punch to add the bottles in place and the holes are a little wider than the actual bottle, so the bottles kept toppling over to the sides. To avoid that problem, I punched a Scallop circle out of matching patterned paper, traced the bottom of the bottle in the middle, then cut between each scallop all the way to my pencil line. I folded the "petals" up, and used glue dots to roll a strip of paper all the way around the petals. To glue the holder at the bottom of the kit, I placed it on the bottle, added two glue dots at the bottom of it and slid it in place in the kit, therefore glueing it in place at the bottom. Neat, huh? This stabilizes the bottles in place and makes for a nice finish as well.

    
 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Basic Black
Designer papers: Newspring
Punches: Scallop Oval, 1-in. Circle, Scallop Trim border, Scallop Circle
Accessories: Black lace (mini), stricky strip, mini glue dots

 

And your link back to the next stop on the tour: Lisa Martz!

 

  

Inkspirations 49 - Pearls and Lace

  
 
 

   

I have already used all of my first pearls package and I am down to the pearl rows, so I was thinking I could use them to hang ornaments from. Which was the starting point for this card. The oval was cut out of Brushed Gold cardstock, around which I applied a fine line of Tombow glue and then pourred some Champagne glitter around it.

To colour the ornament, I applied Cherry Cobbler ink with my ink pad all over the image, then used a blending pen to wipe clean the detailing on the ornament, which I then coloured with my Old Olive marker before stamping the ornament on Very Vanilla cardstock and punching the image out with the matching punch.

At the left side, I added a big rickrack strip cut out with the Tasteful Trims die, then I proceeded to rub the cardstock with the edge of the bone folder until it came apart in the middle and I ripped the cardstock in two, exposing the inside of the cardstock and giving a plush look to the rickrack, giving it texture. I used a marker to add faux stitching on both sides and added some shimmer brads in a matching shade.

At the left of the sentiment, which reads "Christmas is love...", I added a small red heart, which is in fact a leftover "hole" from one of the snowflakes from the Northern Frost die. If you look closely, you'll notice the holes on one of the snowflakes look just like small hearts, so I kept those aside and used of here, which I colored with a Cherry Cobbler marker to make it pop. The scallop trim was created with the Chain punch (hmm, am I translating its name right?) and then I added a Vanilla Hodgepodge brad.

I wanted to try something I hadn't done before, which is coloring Crystal Effects with a reinker to color something. Since I was working on a very small surface, I filled the star with Crystal Effects using the tip of my paper piercer to move the Crystal Effects around on the brad and added a drop of reinker to it. Maybe not the wisest move on my part, especially since the brad was already in place on the card. No matter how small you try to make the drop, it is still too much ink for such a small detail, so I had to use the corner of a tissue to absord some of the excess ink and managed to salvage my experiment and make it work. Next time, I'll either mix the Crystal Effects with the ink on a small container and then apply it to my surface using the tip of a paper piercer or I'll add the Hodgepodge piece to the finished card AFTER I've colored it. I was lucky that it worked and didn't ruin the card this time around...

Anyway, with all of that being said, here is the finished piece.

 

 

 
 
 
 
   

  Here is the LINK to our new 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
Marissa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Noël contemporain
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Brushed Gold
Designer papers: Belles vacances
Inks: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive
Accessories: Old Olive marker, pearls, lace trim, shimmer brads, Tasteful Trims die,
Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware, Chain punch, Ovals die, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Champagne glitter, Crystal Effects, Cherry Cobbler reinker, distressing tool, bone folder

  

Decor Elements - Not Just for Walls!

Although we tend to forget the Definitely Decorative brochure, there is plenty of creative possibilities to be found in there. I like to use them to accent plain objects that I have (magnetic board, scraobook album cover, etc.) and my latest use for one was to use it on the front of the acrylic block case! I used the white small bird and the size works just perfectly for it. The bird tail wraps a little bit on the side, but that actually looks pretty cool.

Wanna see?

 

 

 

If you haven't already, I invite you to take a look at the Definitely Decorative brochure online:

Definitely Decorative

 

Five years already?!

As tired as I was coming back from the Direct Sales show I did on Saturday, it was the first evening in a long while I didn't have anything to take care of, and I hadn't scrapbooked in a while, so I fought the urge to go lie down for a nap and made this page instead.

I'm a huge paper hoarder, but I have to say that I went through this paper collection in no time. I'm not usually big on purple, but this Razzleberry shade I'm really fond of. I've gone through all of the rub-ons and journaling blocks as well, so the last few paper scraps went into my scrap bins after I was done with this page.

What can I say about this page? Well, first of all, I didn't use a sketch as my starting point, which is quite unusual for me. I just looked at the pieces I wanted to use and moved them around on my page until I found a pleasing arrangement. The "5", brackets and question mark are grungeboard pieces, which I painted with white acrylic and covered with patterned paper.

The page is about reaching the five-year milestone as a demonstrator and in my journaling, I talk about how I still recall the conversation I had with my aunt a couple of weeks before I signed up and how I was telling her I didn't know what I would get out of my demoship, but that I figured I would remain active as long as it was fun and quit if it ever started to feel like a job or burden. Lo and behold, my five-year pin has arrived and being a demo is still fun!

The picture was taken on stage at the 2008 Convention. It hadn't been five years for me just yet, but the "Celebrate" background feels appropriate for the subject of my page.

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned papers
Rub-ons and journaling blocks
Buttons
Lace trim: Stampin' Up!
Grungeboard
Floss
Rhinestones: SU!
White gel pen
Circle punches: SU!

 

Skating Kitten

This is another card I made during my "personal stamping time" on Sunday. It was inspired by an online challenge to use one of a girl stamp (and apparently, Sprinkles the kitten is a girl), and I also drew inspiration from this week's Sweetest Thing sketch. I pulled out some faboo Christmas papers I had used on a page I have previously shared with you and some stickers I've had in my stash for-ever. I was so excited when I looked through my stash, stumbled upon those and realized the colours and theme were a perfect match to the papers. I had never found any use for those stickers, but paired with the papers, they look great! One of the word stickers said "Skate" - how perfect! The green was a little loud for the card, so I covered it with glitter for some pretty shimmer and to tone down the colour a bit.

The purple snowflake was die-cut with the awesome Northern Frost die and if you look closely, you'll see I stamped the "Fa la la la la" sentiment in Pear Pizzazz ink directly on the striped patterned paper. Makes a great border!

 

 

 
Inspiration : TCP challenge 133 + The Sweetest Thing sketch 93

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Kitty stamp
Inks: Basic Black, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Sky (Stampin' Up1)
Cardstock: Lavendar Lace, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned papers
Accessories: Fabric brad, Northern Frost die (SU!), dies,
Buttons, glitter, stickers, Stampin' Dimensionals (SU!), 
markers, sponge (SU!)

 

Christmas Candy

Have you been wondering when I would get back to posting more than once a week? I have been asking myself that same question for the last month! I was finally done taking care of scheduled events and decided to treat myself to making a card just for the fun of making one. I had a look online at challenges and found a sketch from The Cat's Pajamas, so I grabbed some stamps I hadn't inked yet and some paper scraps and happily stamped all afternoon. It felt nice!

The sentiment panel was created by layering the Decorative Label punch with the 1-3/4 Circle punch and then using the Modern Tag punch to punch both sides of the sentiment strip.

Tip: The trick to punching only the side of a paper strip is to turn the punch upside down and insert the paper strip in the opening of the punch on one side only. This allows you to get a wider strip than if you had inserted the cardstock in the punch the regular way.

 

 

 

 

 

  

Supplies
Stamps: Santa, Cadeaux et douceurs (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Poppy Parade, Very Vanilla (SU!)
Patterned papers
Inks: Basic Black, Concord Crush, River Rock (SU!)
Accessories: Tasteful Trims die (SU!), In Color shimmer brads (SU!), Pear Pizzazz ribbon (SU!),
markers, 1-3/4 Circle punch (SU!), Decorative Label punch (SU!), Modern Label punch (SU!),
rhinestones (SU!), daubers (SU!), Stampin' Dimensionals (SU!)

 

Inkspirations #48 - With an Olive on Top

 
 

  
I was looking forward to sharing my card with you this week! This one has been done for a while now, as I've been trying to work ahead of time whenever possible. Seems like when I'm in a more carefree set of mind, inspiration just flows better, although I have been known to create well under pressure at times...

Anyway, this rubber stamp was a token from my trip to Toronto this summer and it seemed so suited for the color challenge. The reason I was so excited about the result is that this might be my best pencil coloring job yet! I wanted a Holidays picture feel to it and it turned out exactly like I had envisioned. The "Merry Christmas" sentiment was created by combining two stamps together. I wanted a whimsical font to match the image and couldn't find exactly what I was looking for so I used the "noel" word from the Many Merry Messages set and the first word from a sentiment from the Loads of Love set. One of the many reasons why I love my markers the way I do!

The mini pocket at left is a remnant of an ooold die-cut kit, and I oomphed it up with a bit of Victoria lace, a scrap of patterned paper from the Dasher kit, grosgrain ribbon and a clear rhinestone brad. Behind the pocket, I created a star shape with the use of my two star punches, and added a bit of stardust gel pen around the inside of the star for extra sparkle. The small punched star was added at the bottom of my "picture" and adorned with a half-pearl.

Made a matching envelope with patterned paper from the same kit and voilà! This one might be going to my folks, I think my mom would enjoy Stella's whimsical style, and that card would look pretty stylin' on the piano, where she usually displays the cards she receives.

 

 

 
 
 
   

  

 

Here is the LINK to our new 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
Marissa
Renée

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Stella, Des tonnes d'amour (Loads of Love- SU!),
Nombreux voeux joyeux (Many Merry Messages - SU!)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Old Olive
Designer papers: Dasher, Tastes of Textile
Inks: Basic Black
Accessories: Pencils, Gamsol, Always Artichoke marker, gel pen,
Olive grosgrain ribbon, star punches, pearls, rhinestone brad, mini-pocket die-cut,
Stampin' Dimensionals, dies, Victoria lace, red brads, Circle punch, twine

  

Inkspirations #47 - Trimming the Tree with the Family

 
 
 
 

  
Well, we have some pretty exciting news to share this week, as Makeesha is introducing our new DT members and a brand-new challenge blog! Isn't that exciting?! Just wait until you see who has been added to the design team... They are fabulously talented and I am sure you will be looking forward to seeing their latest creations every week - I know I am!!

As for my own creation, this week, I used my latest acquisitions, a.k.a. some Christmas patterned papers and the Welcome Christmas stamp set. I love the shadow images, they are beautiful and unique, and it was one of the sets I knew I was going to buy as soon as I flipped through the new cattie. Here, I stamped the image in Versamark on Cherry Cobbler cardstock and embossed with Iridescent Ice powder. I used the sentiment from the set and inked only the middle part with my Cherry Cobbler marker. The wreath was stamped in Old Olive ink on Pear Pizzazz cardstock and cut out with paper snips. I then added some adhesive pearls on the wreath.

Tip: To make life easier on yourself and avoid using an exacto knife, use a circle punch to punch out the middle of the wreath, then finish trimming the inside of the wreath with your paper snips.

The number border is an adhesive die-cut from the Christmas Cheer SS kit. It just seemed perfect to make a "countdown" to Christmas, so I used two circle punches (the one that matches the Tiny clear buttons and the 1/2-in. Circle punch) to create a ring that I glued around the 24.

 

 

 
 
   

  

 

Here is the link to our new challenge blog, where you can share a link to your creation and see what the DT has created for you this week:

 

Inkspirations blog 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Vive Noël
Cardstock: cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Pear Pizzazz
Designer papers: Belles vacances
Inks: Versamark, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olivge
Accessories: Circle punches, marker, Iridescent Ice embossing powder,
Vanilla seam binding (mini), pearls, brads, Scallop Edge punch, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Border sticky die-cuts from Christmas Cheer Simply Scrappin' kit