Encre, papier, ciseaux

Crocodile Love

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #508 + Simon Says Stamps Monday (Love is in the Air) + Paper Craft Crew #324 (Die-cut + Valentine + Metallic) + ColourQ #213

After some really busy weeks, I finally have a bit of free time to play with my SAB and Occasions catalogue supplies. One of the sets that I immediately loved but fought getting is Hey Love. I wasn't sure if i'd used it enough and it's not translated to French, but boy, is it ever cute! If course, I immediately gravitated towards it when it came time to select a stamp to play with. The Mojo Monday sketch had a big heart in the center, which was perfect for this love set and also for the Foil Sheets offered as a free gift during Sale-A-Bration. The Lovely Lipstick foil sheets are your regular metallic sheets, but the Grapefruit Grove foil sheets have a funky holographic finish on them. It's different from our usual foil sheets and really fun.

The foil sheets were my starting point for the design, so I went looking at past ColourQ combos with some peach shades in it and found what I was looking for in combo #213. As I was looking for current colours to mimick the original combo, I initially felt that the green, purple and orange might be a little Halloween-ish, but the second I switched Gorgeous Grape for Highland Heather, it immediately became a better fit for a love card. I also liked selecting something that was a departure from pinks and reds, so I decided to give it a go. (On a side note, it's funny how often I've pulled out Highland Heather since it came out. I'm not usually big on purple, but this shade goes with everything, it seems. And even though I find Gorgeous Grape just as pretty, I don't think I've used it yet. Even on a couple of occasions where I've played with online colour combos calling for Gorgeous Grape, I discovered after being done with my project that I had grabbed Highland Heather instead by mistake!!)

Since Julee included dimension with her sketch, the card came together really fasr. The background was too bare, so I looked at embossing folders and pulled out Garden Treillis. it looked pretty but on a whim, I decided to pull out my Copper glimmer paint to dab some on the raised surface and suddenly, the card came to life! The copper paint matches the Grapefruit Grove cardstock SO nicely! (By the way, I'm really pleased that Stampin' Up! is keeping the shimmer paint past the Holidays catalogue, but also baffled as to why they didn't keep the Copper one. It's just so pretty and copper/rose gold is still on trend. I'm mourning a little bit...)

I used the Well Written Franelits for my sentiment, and selected the word Love. I didn't buy the matching stamp set - the French sentiments just weren't appealing to me and I thought I wouldn't use it enough, so I went looking for something else to create a full sentiment with. I pulled out the now-discontinued alphabet roller stamp and initially stamped "with all my (love)." I couldn't fit it to my liking as it was bigger than I had anticipated. So I cut the words apart. Didn't like the look either. Kept only "My love" but there was a little smudge on the edge of the word that was really bothering me. I ended up sleeping on it and making a decision only the next day. I restamped "my," but it apart and added it to the heart.

Speaking of hearts, that little heart that the croc is holding is from the Well Written Framelits set. It was so cute and tiny, I decided I could slip it in the croc's paws. Initially, I tried to glue it over the image, but no matter where I positioned it, it didn't look right. So I bit the bullet, got my craft knife out and made tiny cuts around the tiny paws to slip the heart underneath the image. Which made it look much better. The crocodile was colored with Stampin' Blends markers. (Word of caution if you own some: make sure you put the caps back on with care. I've had two nibs dry on me so far because the caps were not replaced carefully. That's disappointing, but now I know I need to be more careful. At least, I can reorder the individual markers to replace the ones that dried.)

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Hey Love, Alphabet Rolling Stamp
Cardstock: Grapefruit Grove, Highland Heather, Whisper White, Basic Grey
Designer Series Paper Stack: 2017-2019 In Color, Subtles
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Basic Grey
Accessories: Garden Treillis Embossing Folder, Copper Glimmer Paint, Grapefruit Grove Foil Sheets (SAB),
Stampin' Blends Markers, Stampin' Dimensionals, Les Bons Mots Framelits, 2016-2018 In Color Enamel Shapes,
Grapefruit Grove 1/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, White Medium Envelope, Triple Banner Punch, Layering Square Framelits

 

Classic Father's Day

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Anything Goes) + Paper Craft Crew #324 (Something new + No hearts + Texture) + Mojo Monday #504

As I've said in previous posts, I was happy to see the Mojo Monday sketches make a comeback and since I only found out about it after a few sketches had been released, I'm catching up on the oes I missed. I was looking at sketch #506 and decided the leaves could be gears instead and that I could break in my Geared Up Garage bundle. I was happy that this one was translated. It's a nice masculine set and the French sentiments are awesome. Here, I picked the "Happy Father's Day" one and embossed it in Silver powder over Silver Foil paper. In order to give the tag dimension and dirty it up a little bit, I used a Q-tip to rub Jet Black StazOn ink over the embossing. It makes the tag a little less shiny and gives it dimension.

The die-cut gears were cut in half so I could spread both ends over the card front. I also got the idea of adding brick texture using texture paste dyed with Cajun Craze reinker. I made sure to spread the paste unevenly, as I didn't want a clean edge and wanted uneven bricks. I used the leftover paste inside the card and also on an envelope (only to realize later that I had used an A2 envelope while the card was square - brain fart moment). The car was colored with Cajun Craze Stampin' Blends markers, and I pulled out older embellishments to finish off the card: Urban Underground embellishments for the screws, Home for Christmas Enamel dots for the Mossy Meadow dots and the Merry Merlot reversible ribbon from the Holidays catalogue.

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: À plein moteur (Geared Up Garage)
Cardstock: Cajun Craze, Mossy Meadow, Lost Lagoon, Merry Merlot, Silver Foil Paper
Designer Series Paper Stack: 2017-2019 In Color
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento, Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: Texture Paste, Cajun Craze Reinker, Stitched Shapes Framelits,
Home For Christmas Enamel Dots, Urban Underground Embellishments, Stampin' Blends Markers,
Garage Gears Thinlits, Merry Merlot & Copper 5/8" Reversible Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Pattern Party Decorative Masks

 

Baking For Your Birthday

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #507 + TGIF #196 + As You See It #192

Julee's Mojo Monday sketches have always been a joy to use and I'm really pleased that they are back. I noticed that she includes the dimensions of each piece on her sketch, which made creating this card even faster and easier. I looked through recently purchased stamps for something that you work with the sketch and settled on Cookie Time. I also have the Take a Number embossing folder that I've been meaning to use on a birthday card, so even though this set is about cookie and includes pieces that can make it a Christmas set, I designed the card with a birthday in mind and selected images accordingly. While looking for a sentiment, I found something perfect in a past SAB set (the one with the hot dog truck) that reads, "Happy birthday - where's the cake?"

This is where I messed up a bit on the design. I eyeballed where the sentiment would go and took the unglued characters out of the way since I was going to be embossing the sentiment. In retrospect, I think I stamped the sentiment a little bit too low. It looked crowded once the characters went in and empty at the top, which is why I went back to stamp and color the cookie sheet to fill in the space. (That wasn't part of the initial plan.)

The As You See It challenge to use metallics inspired me to die-cut the frame out of Champagne glimmer paper, and to make the embossed numbers stand out more on the patterned paper, I rubbed Tarnished Brass Distress Crayon on the raised surfaces. It gives a subtle tone-on-tone shine to the numbers, without taking the focus away from the main image.

That cute organza ribbon is from the current SAB selection. It's Calypso Coral, but it matches the orange shade of the patterned paper very nicely.

The TGIF challenge was a natural one to gravitate towards since I LOVE me some patterned papers! That is my #1 guilty pleasure when shopping for crafting supplies and very often at the heart of my designs. Here, I used the remaining scraps from the Collectable collection from My Mind's Eye.

 

 

 

   

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Cookie Time (Waffle Flower); Resto sur roulettes Tasty Trucks - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Collectable (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: VersaMark; Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Deep Sea Baked Texture Embossing Powder (The Altered Page);
Envelope Punch Board, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Champagne Glimmer Paper,
Organdy Ribbon Combo Pack (Stampin' Up!); Stitched Scalloped Circle Frames Dies,
Dotted Rectangle Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn); Take a Number Embossing Folder (Taylored Expressions);
Tarnished Brass Distress Crayon (Ranger); Markers (Copic); Button (Autumn Leaves);
Cookie Time Dies (Waffle Flower)

 

Guest Designer for Global Design Project - Galoping Horse

Inspiration: Global Design Project #174

I have been really lucky lately and was extended another Guest Designer invitation, this time by the Global Design Project team. They sent me their latest sketch and I went looking through my latest purchases for inspiration. Let It Ride is one of the stamp sets that immediately drew me in when looking at the new Occasions catalogue. Can you believe that after over 15 years as a stamper, this is my first horse set? It's a good one to have, for masculine cards, but also because one of my colleagues who purchases cards from me has a horse herself and likes to give cards to her friends from the stable. I have a feeling she'll be enjoying cards made with this set.

For some reason, the first idea that popped into my head after selecting this set was stamping it on Crumb Cake cardstock and using Distress Oxide inks to watercolor it. I've been collecting Oxide inks since they started coming out, but had not watercolored with them just yet. Because they are hybrid ink, I knew the pigment would look lovely on a kraft-colored cardstock. Because it's not watercolor paper, though, blending the ink is a little trickier and you have to watch your water flow to make sure the cardstock does not buckle. I will say this: halfway through watercoloring the scene, I started assuming the piece would end up a practice piece and would not make it on a finished card. I've learned years ago that it's okay to try out things and discard cardstock - it's not expensive and it's how you grow your skills, so based off of that, I kept going just to practice some more. It was when I watercolored the horse that I changed my mind and decided that this scene had some potential after all!

I wanted to use the new Well Written dies (in its French version), so I pulled those out. Because the horse image was quite large and I didn't want to hide it (I was proud of my watercoloring, I wanted to show it off!), I picked a shorter word and moved the sentiment strip to the left rather than have it centered. The Framelits set includes not only words but images as well, and the image dies became inspiration to embellish the background. I embossed the cardstock with the Subtle 3D Embossing Folder first and then layered die-cut flowers over it. The flowers would have been too short to show up on both edges, so I cut them in the middle and glued the pieces along the top and bottom edge of my embossed cardstock to make then appear longer. The flourish was added to the oval to fill the space a bit, and I used a Gold Foil Paper scrap on my desk to mat the bottom of my sentiment piece to mimick the scallops on the sketch. I found some old Copper cord Stampin' Up! used to carry to wrap around my center piece (embossed with the Basket Weave 3D folder), to go with the orange cardstock nicely.

I drew my colour inspiration from an old ColourQ challenge combo.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Let It Ride (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard, Gold Foil (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Rich Cocoa (Memento); Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso,
Peeled Paint, Shabby Shitters, Antique Linen, Tumbled Glass (Distress Oxide - Ranger)
Big Shot:
Accessories: Basket Weave 3D Embossing Folder, Subtle 3D Embossing Folder, Aqua Painter Brushes,
Les bons mots Framelits, Copper Cord, Neutrals Candy Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
A2 Oak Woodgrain Envelope (envelopes.com); Stitched Oval Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn)

 

With All of my Love

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Have a Heart) + The Paper Players #426

The sketch inspired a very clear idea of which elements I wanted to pair to create a Valentine card. I colored my little Oddball girl on kraft cardstock and she was looking good, but when I die-cut her, I felt the coloring looked a little bland on top of the other elements. That's where I started struggling with the card, trying out other elements, pondering whether not to use the girl at all... In the end, I kept going on the design and finished it off as intended. This is one where I need to sleep on it and see how I feel about it tomorrow. Right now, I'm not just feeling the love for this one.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Saison festive (Sweet Season - Stampin' Up!); Love Potion Oddball (Stamping Bella)
Cardstock: Blushing Bride, Petal Primrose, Petite Pirouette, Crumb Cake
Designer Series Paper: In Color 2014-2016, Neutrals (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Petal Primrose (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Les bons mots Framelits Dies, Pink Rhinestone Embellishments, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals;
Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!); Sweet & Tart Heart Sprinkles (Trinity Stamps); 
Crystal Clear Hearts, Bed of Roses die, Folk Hearts Dies (Essentials by Ellen); Polychromos Pencils (Faber-Castell)

 

Just Us Girls Guest Designer - The One For All the Friends Fans

Inspiration: Just Us Girls #472

This one goes out to all the Friends fans out there!

There's this great stamp company, the Ink Road Stamps, that make stamp sets with iconic sentences from beloved movies and TV shows. It has this awesome stamp set with well-known quotes from Friends. (I have got to get the Bazinga one, based on The Big Bang Theory as well.) One of them is, "You're my lobster." What a great way to make a love card that's unique and different from the usual Valentine card. The stamp set does include a cute little lobster image (which I used to embellish my envelope), but I pulled out the one from the You Are Sublime stamp set (from Lawn Fawn) since I wanted to create a whole little scene. I framed my scene with the Porthole Frames dies, and used a wooden sheet for the die-cut for added texture.

To go with the nautical theme, I used my favorite nautical collection, Ahoy There from Carta Bella. I've used it a number of times already and I always like how my projects made with it turn out. The little banner row was a sticker from the Element Stickers sheet. Because the sentiment I used is made of photopolymer, I was able to curve it on my clear block to follow the line of the flags. I embossed my sentiment in navy powder to make it stand out against the red cardstock.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: The One with All the Stamps (The Ink Road Stamps); You Are Sublime (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Real Red, Whisper White
Patterned Papers and Element Stickers: Ahoy There (Carta Bella)
Ink: VersaMark; Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Midnight Black Gems (Pretty Pink Posh); Markers (Copic);
A2 Jupiter Metallic Envelope (envelopes.com); Deep Blue Embossing Powder (Top Boss);
Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Wooden Sheets (Stampin' Up!); Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brish (Nuvo);
Porthole Frames Dies, You Are Sublime Dies (Lawn Fawn)

 

Beary Good Birthday

Inspiration: MFT Color Challenge #110

I loved the soft colours from the MFT challenge. My initial inspiration was baby card, but when looking at my MFT collection, I couldn't really find anything that worked well for a baby card, so I grabbed a couple of other options and the Polar Bear Pals was the one that spoke to me the most. I then decided I would do a double slider card because the waving bear seemed like a good image to have pop out of the side sliders. (Initially, I wanted to use both waving bears, one on each side, but when I placed the stamps on each side, the dimension just felt off, so I siwtched to the bear doing the split instead.)

The finished card looks relatively simple compared to some of my more embellished creation, but it still took quite a few hours to finish. Tons of ink blending, stenciling, stamping abd coloring, plus de double-slider assembly. (It's only the second I make and the first time I was using the blocker to get shorter panels.) All the way until I was done, I kept wondering if the card was too bare, but I finally convinced myself that adding more might detract from the design rather than improve on it.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Polar Bear Pals, Snowfall Background (My Favorite Things); Weathered (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Smoky Slate, Silver Foil (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Subtles Designer Series Stack (Stampin' Up!); Gotta Have Gingham 6" x 6" (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Spun Sugar, Lovely Lipstick, Shaded Lilac Distress Oxide (Ranger);
Smoky Slate Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Jack Frost Stencil (Echo Park); Sweet & tart Heart Sprinkles (Trinity Stamps);
Double Slider Surprise Dies, Large Dotted Rectangle Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn);
Blender Brushes (Picket Fence Studios); Triple Banner Punch, Wistera Wonder Baker's Twine,
White Medium Envelope, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Markers (Copic);
Glitter Gloss Aqua Painter Brush

 

Boo!

Inspiration: Page Maps May 2018 + Little Red Wagon #479 + Lasting Memory Layout #428

I have no clue how this picture of my father came to be. I'm not even sure I was the one taking it. (We usually switch the camera between a couple of us so that everyone can be in the pictures.) All I know is that I was looking through our Christmas pictures and I burst out laughing when this one came up on the screen! My dad was a little horrified when I showed it to him, but personally, I think it's a great way to chronicle his goofy side, especially since he tends to always look so serious in pictures. The fun Emoji Love line from Simple Stories hits just the right note for this goofy picture and the LOL emoji captures how I feel every time I see this picture.

For the title, I wanted colorful letters with a black outline, so I pulled out the long-retired Jumbo Outline Alphabet stamp set from Stampin' Up! This one came out way before the Big Shot era, so I had to bring back my handcutting skillls. I was able to give it a different look thanks to the Stampin' Blends markers (which were also not around back when I was rocking this stamp set more regularly.) I should definitely keep this one around to pair with my alcohol markers more often - I like the look!

Most of the embellishing was done with a sparkly gel pen and an Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer brush. I added sparkle to the stars, filled in the tears and outline the edge, outline the black letters in the speech bubbles, outlined my journaling block and between each stripe, added dots between the scallops of the left border, filled in the title letters - basically, I just went to town with my glitter tools!

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: In Stitches Wheel, Jumbo Outline Alphabet (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Cardstock: Bazzill
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Emoji Love (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Washi Tape, Urban Secret Embellishments, Stampin' Blends Markers,
Needlepoint Nook Mini Buttons, Stampin' Dimensionals, Journaling Pen (Stampin' Up!);
Sparkly Gel Pen; Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo); Circle Nestabilities Dies (Spellbinders)

 

Bathtime

Inspiration: Just Us Girls #471 (Pastels)

I had put aside a cute picture of my niece taken during bathtime when she was a newborn, that I had always wanted to pair with the Rub-a-Dub-Dub set from Lawn Fawn on a layout. When I saw the Pastels challenge, I figured it would work perfectly for a baby page. The Gotta Have Gingham papers I was planning to use were in 6" x 6" format, so I picked a page protector with four 6" x 6" pockets. This page took deceiptively long to make, considering the final result looks fairly clean and simple. That little scene with the ducks took qwuite a bit of time in itself. Lots of small images to die-cut and color and embellish with Glitter Drops and Glossy Accents. The little framed ducky on the wall came from the Bayou Backdrop die set, and the bat mat is actually the carpet from the Christmas Dreams stamp set.

I had an extra duck (the big one) that didn't quite fit in the main image, so I used him with the picture in the lower left corner, which helped tie the two squares together. I used the Puffy Cloud Borders dies with Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper to make soap bubbles, and I framed my picture with a Wonky Scallop Frame and champagne glitter paper. I used a similar idea for the title: I framed the Quilted Backdrop and glued my title in the center, then topped the frame with a bow to embellish and add colour.

The journaling was added in a heart frame created with the Outside In Stitched Heart Stackables, and I used Iridescent Bubbles from Studio Katia around, keeping with the bath theme.

You have all week to play along with the challenge. Make sure you go to the Just Us Girls website and add a link to your pastel creation!

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Rub-a-Dub=Dub, Christmas Wishes (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Calypso Coral, Going Grey, Silver Foil (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Watercolor Wishes, Gotta Have Gingham, Let's Polka in the Meadow (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Dies: Rub-a-Dub=Dub, Christmas Wishes, Outside In Stitched Heart Stackables, Mini Picture Frames,
Bayou Backdrop, Shadow Box Card Ocean Add-On, Quilted Backdrop, Stitched Scallop Rectangle Frames,
Puffy Cloud Borders (Lawn Fawn); Ref Articles (Kesi'art), Wonky Scalloped Frames (Avery Elle); Upper Mini Alphabet (Recollections)
Accessories: Iridescent Bubbles (Studio Katia); White Satin Ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper, Bow Punch,
Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Markers (Copic); Gold Leaf Glitter Cardstock (Best Creation inc.)

 

January Guest Designer for Just Us Girls - To A Wonderful Woman

Inspiration: Just Us Girls #470 (Emboss-Resist)

I was trying to decide how I would interpret the emboss-resist challenge and I remembered the many packs of Specialty Designer Series Paper with embossed patterns that Stampin' Up! has released over the years and that are sitting in my stash. I figured it would be a good time to revisit them, now that I have new blender brushes that I love and Distress Oxide inks that I enjoy creating backgrounds with. I was looking at patterns and when I spotted the scales, I decided to pull out my Trishell stamp from The Greeting Farm, which I was happy to revisit since it had not seen ink in a while.

I created the background by blending four Oxide inks together with the Picket Fence Studios blender brushes (an amazing tool, by the way, if you have not had the chance to check those out): Dusty Concord, Festive Berries, Picked raspberry and Peacock Feathers. Then I sprayed the whole thing with a glitter spray (that is either Vanilla Smooch Spritz or a concoction I made myself using some White Frost glimmer paint - I'm not sure since the sprayer was unmarked). Because the spray had some white in it, you can really see the splotches on the background and the color changes depending on the angle you are looking at the card from, so I'm happy with the interest it added to the card.

I then added layers in colors matching my background. embossing the poppy cardstock with the Seaside embossing folder, and because I wanted funky scallops, I used my Wonky Scalloped Frames die as a border (a fun way to get more use out of frame dies).

The mermaid was colored with Copic markers and I added Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer to her tail and strands of her hair. I also used Ivory Seashell Crystal Drops on her hairband. The sentiment reads, "To an extraordinary woman."

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Trishell (The Greeting Farm); À tout un chacun (Happy Birthday, Everyone - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White, Poppy Parade, Shimmery White (Stampin' Up!)
Designer Series Paper Stack: 2010-2011 In Color
Specialty Designer Series Paper: Iressistibly Yours (Stampin' Up!); Tropical Tide Glitter Card (Tonic)
Ink: Picked Raspberry, Festive Berries, Peacock Feathers, Dusty Concord (Distress Oxide - Ranger);
Tuxedo Black (Memento); Concord Crush (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Markers (Copic); Button (Autumn Leaves); Blender Brushes (Picket Fence Studios);
Seafoam A2 Envelope (envelopes.com); Ivory Seashell Crystal Drops, Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo);
Wonky Scalloped Frames Dies (Avery Elle); Stampin' Dimensionals, Vanilla Smooch Spritz,
Small Corner Rounder Punch, Seaside Embossing Folder, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Dotted Rectangle Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn)

 

Sweet Cupcake Wishes

Inspiration: MFT Color Challenge #109 + Hand Stamped Sentiments #305

Every year during Sale-A-Bration, there is an item that does not initially grab me but that I then end up using way more than I would initially have thought. The Hello Cupcake might be that element for me this year. I initially thought it was kind of cute, but when the preorder launched and I started seeing samples pop up everywhere, I realized I might like it more than I would have first thought. Point in case, it's the stamp set I inked when I received my preorder.

As you can see, I used the Marbled background stamp for the card front. It looks just like frosting, so it's a perfect match! The French sentiment reads, "Sweet wishes" and inside, I stamped "sprinkled with love." I used a die from the Doily Builder Thinlits to frame my circle, and a bow from the same die set on the side of the patterned paper. Sequins and pearls were added as well.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Bonjour sucré (Hello Cupcake), Marbled
Cardstock: Lemon Lime Twist, Bermuda Bay, Thick Whisper White, Coastal Cabana, Crumb Cake
Designer Series Paper Stacks: 2017-2019 In Color, Subtles
Ink: Soft Suede, VersaMark, Bermuda Bay, Lemon Lime Twist
Accessories: Share What You Love Artisan Pearls, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper,
Basic Adhesive-Backed Sequins, White Stampin' Emboss Powder, Doily Builder Thinlits Dies

 

Some People Are Worth Melting For

Inspiration: Sunday Stamps #195

The second I spotted the Sunday Stamps colors. they instantly reminded me of Winter Wonderland, one of my favorite collection from Simple Stories. Time has been running away from me all week, but I finally had time to make a layout using the papers. I loved them so much that I actually purchased both the 12" x 12" and the 6" x 6" pad as well. This came in handy for this layout, as I had some big die-cuts, but also the same version in a smaller size, which was perfect for my smaller inserts. I also had the sticker elements, which helped with embellishing the page.

A few details to note:

• I placed some snowflake stencils on my brown cardstock and misted it with my Gold Glow Smooch Spray, to give the page a bit more dimension and a nice shine.
• Some of the newly released Stampin' Up! supplies went very nicely with the papers: you can spot the Floral Romance seals (Occasions Catalogue, p. 11) on the orange heart of the left page, and the Needlepoint Nook Mini Buttons (OC, p. 39) on the right edge of my journaling block. Those buttons are named appropriately: they are tiny! But gorgeous - they have a mother-of-pearl shine and are really striking. The ribbon at the bottom of the page is also from the Sale-A-Bration ribbon bundle, and I was pleasantly surprised by how pretty and soft they are (organiza can sometimes be stiff, but those aren't).
• I recently found some adorable clear hearts, so I added a few around one of the sentiment - they look like ice!
• I used some leftover snowflakes from another page. The gold matches my spritzing nicely and ties in with the golden yellow of the paper. I used the same Satin Gold textured paper to die-cut the wonky scalloped square frame as well, and the little bow from the same die set on top.

Because I'm finishing this page super late, the picture of it is pretty horrendous and the light was catching the page protector. I'll try and snap a better-quality picture on Saturday in natural light and update the post to show something better.

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Brown (Bazzill); Lost Lagoon (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Winter Wonderland (Simple Stories); Gold Satin Specialty Paper (Tonic)
Accessories: Project Life Corner Punch, Organdy Ribbon Combo Pack (SAB 2019), Needlepoint Nook
Mini Buttons, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Floral Romance Seals, Gold Glow Smooch Spritz (Stampin' Up!);
Snowflake Lace Paper CutUp (The Cat's Pajamas); Crystal Clear Hearts (Essentials by Ellen);
Sweet & Tart Heart Sprinkles (Trinity Stamps); Winter Crystals Glimmer Screens Stencils (Tattered Angels);
Wonky Scalloped Squares Dies (Avery Elle); Copper Gel Pen

 

Guest Designer for Color Throwdown #525

Inspiration: Color Throwdown #525

This card I made in December was picked by Color Throwdown as a Featured Stamper, so the team kindly offered me to take part in their challenge #525 as a Guest Designer, which I was happy to do. The suggested combo did present a real challenge for me, as I tend to gravitate towards colorful creations, and this one is all about neutrals: white, black and brown. I had to sit on this one a little while before I was ready to work on it. I was inspired by the picture, though: I liked the black and white buffalo plaid, the wooden door, the wreath, the framed sentiment and the sentiment pillows, and they became the starting point of my creation.

I first pulled out the Buffalo Check background stamp from Stampin' Up! and stamped it on white cardstock, in Tuxedo Black Ink. I then picked a piece of patterned paper from the Wood Textures Designer Series Paper stack and die-cut it to size. To add interest, I glued a second strip at an angle from corner to corner, cut the excess off and added metallic brads. Then I went looking through my stamps. My initial idea was stamping a large sentiment and emboss it in white on the wooden paper, or possible frame it in a wreath. As I was looking at stamps and pulling out possible options, I spotted the Tap Tap Tap set, and inspiration took a left turn. I figured the old typewriter could work well with brown and black, so I stamped it on white cardstock and embossed it in Copper embossing powder. It looked really great and crisp and I was wondering whether I should leave it as is or add watercolor. I pulled out my Gansai Tambi watercolors and initially planned on just adding a few black details, but then I fell down the rabbit hole and ended up watercoloring the whole thing and handcutting the image.

The "tap tap tap" stamp was added in the top corner of the wood piece and embossed in copper. I also had the alphabet stamp out and was trying to decide whether to use it or not and if so, where. I ended up embossing the alphabet in copper on another piece of wood paper and adding it to the middle of the card. The typewriter and tap tap images were also added to a woodgrain envelope to match. I was also wondering whether to add a greeting to the sheet in the typewriter. The stamp set includes English greetings and if I added something, I would have gone looking for a French equivalent that would work in font and size, but in the end, I really liked the empty sheet and decided I liked the card being able to be used for any kind of event, so I left it blank.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Tap Tap Tap, Buffalo Check
Cardstock: Thick Whisper White
Designer Series Paper Stack: Wood Textures
Ink: VersaMark. Black Tuxedo Memento
Accessories: Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder, Metallic Brads, Stampin' Dimensionals;
Watercolors (Gansai Tambi); Woodgrain A2 Envelope (envelopes.com);
Dotted Rectangle Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn)

 

Taurus Zodiac Girl

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #506 + ColourQ #205

I was so freakin' happy when I found out today that Julee brought the Mojo Monday sketches back! Those sketches have been a personal favorite of mine and I've used a large number of them to create cards with over the years. I was beyond excited when I spotted a Mojo Monday sketch on a blog this morning and the fact that it was numbered #506 and that I remembered that Julee had finished at sketch 500 told me there might have been a reboot that I had missed. Needless to say, I was eager to draw inspiration from it myself.

I used my last Stamping Bella image leftover from my last coloring session: Taurus. Just like with other cards in my Zodiac serie, I used the Alisha Lowercase Alphabet dies to write the French Zodiac sign and this time around, I die-cut my image! The Zodiac Uptown Girls can be a pricey collection, if you get all 12 stamps and dies. I had initially gotten the stamps during a sale, and when Boxing Day came around, I bit the bullet and got the dies. (A gift certificate won from their monthly challenge helped soften the blow as well.) Because of the Holidays, it took a while for the package to get to me, but it finally reached my mailbox at the end of the week. Having the die opened new design options.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Uptown Zodiac Girl Taurus (Stamping Bella); Polka Dot (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Regal Rose, Island Indigo, Basic Grey, Whisper White
Patterned Paper: Pretty Prints (Sunny Studio)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Basic Grey (Stampin' Up! Classic Ink)
Accessories: ptown Zodiac Girl Taurus Die (Stamping Bella); Polychromos Pencils (Faber-Castell);
Framed Tulips Embossing Folder, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, White Medium Envelope,
Needlepoint Nook Mini Buttons (Stampin' Up!); Alisha Lowercase Alphabet Die (Echo Park);
Grey Satin Ribbon (gifted)

 

Tree Farm Lot

Inspiration: Mojo Monday #501 + Simon Says Stamp Monday (Use Something New) + Global Design Project #171

I had a request for a New Year card, so I was looking at stamp options and I decided to ink my new Tree Farm stamp set from Essentials by Ellen. The hedgehog is holding a little sign and I figured I could probably stamp Happy New Year in it. I lucked out and found a sentiment that was exactly the right width to fit in there. The design is based off of the Mojo Monday sketch #501, but I did a mirror image because the trailer looked better placed on the left, with the hedgehog on the righté The design was feeling a little empty, so I grabbed the Christmas lights from the Light Parade stamp set and added this detail at the top of the panel. I also added washi to embellish a little. Initially, I had placed green washi on both sides of the back panel with the snowflakes, but it looked a little weird, so I gently lifted the bottom one off, tried it on the tree panel, liked the result, and when I layered the two panels, I decided I liked having one piece on the back panel and one piece of washi on the main panel - made the overall card design more dynamic that way.

I put a dab of Glossy Accent on the Christmas lights, and on the nose and eyes of the hedgehog, and added a few red pearls to the card as well.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Et bonne année (Making Spirits Bright - Stampin' Up!); Light Parade, Tree Farm (Essentials by Ellen)
Cardstock: Pistachio Pudding, Very Vanilla
Patterned Papers: Merry & Bright (Simple Stories)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Shaded Spruce, Cherry Cobbler (Stampin' Up! Classic Ink)
Accessories: Dotted Rectangle Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn); Light Parade Dies (Essentials by Ellen);
Markers (Copic); Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Designer Washi Tape. Crumb Cake Medium Envelope (Stampin' Up!);
Glossy Accents (Ranger); Pearls - Glossy Berry Mix (Little Things from Lucy's Cards); Starry Watercolor (Gansai Tambi)

 

Wishes for Every Season

Inspiration: Just Us Girls #469 (Leftovers)

I received a very nice invitation right before the Holidays: to join the Just Us Girls team as Guest Designer in January. I've loved and played with the challenges for a long time, so it's a pleasure to play along with the design team this month. This week's challenge was Leftovers. I had a few ideas floating around in my head on how to interpret this theme, but in the end, it was the wrapping paper scraps I had on my desk that ended up being the starting point of this card. Right before the holidays, I found this awesome bark wrapping paper with gold foil at my local book store (on sale!) and I wrapped my niece's gifts with it. (Here's a picture of the wrapped gifts.) I kept the leftover scraps, knowing I could work them into another project.

So I glued a piece on cardstock and ran it through my Big Shot with the Outside In Stitched Rectangle Stackables die to create a card layer. Then I looked through my stamps to find something to pair with it. It didn't take long: the Colorful Seasons stamp set was sitting on top of my stamp sets and when I spotted the sentiment that reads "May all of your seasons be filled with bliss", I knew I had a winner. I figured I would do a gold-embossed sentiment in the center and add seasonal accents all around it. Keeping with the leftover theme, I used scraps of cardstock and patterned papers for the embellishments (some of them retired colours). My die-cut accents initially felt a little flat, so I glammed them up with a bit of Gansai Tambi metallic watercolor. That also helped the snowflake stand out better against the scalloped border, and the gold touches on the fall leaf and flowers are tying in the the gold of the wrapping paper.

The same seasonal images were repeated on the envelope and embossed in gold to tie everything in.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Saisons colorées (Colorful Seasons - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Basic Grey, Whisper White, So Saffron, Baja Breeze, Smoky Slate (Stampin' Up!)
Wrapping Paper: Bark (unknown source)
Designer Series Paper: So Saffron, Peekaboo Peach
Ink: VersaMark
Accessoires: Seasonal Layers Thinlits, Glitter Enamel Dots, Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder,
1/8" Gold Ribbon, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, So Saffron and Peekaboo Peach Stampin' Write Markers,
AquaPainter Brush (Stampin' Up!); Starry Sky Watercolors (Gansai Tambi);
Outside In Stitched Rectangle Stackables (Lawn Fawn)

 

Pop Up Tart

Inspiration: Lawn Fawnatics #43 (color combo) + Clean&Simple #104

I really wanted to use the new Valentine release from Lawn Fawn, so I drew inspiration from the soft colour combo to make this card. I was also really looking forward to making something with the pull tab. That popping up Pop-Tart is really fun! The whole design is pretty simple. I couldn't really think of a clever French sentiment to go with the toaster, so I stuck with the fun English sentiment from the stamp set. Of all the interactive card designs Lawn Fawn has released, this might be one of the simplest to put together. I'll have to see what I can think of making to use this die with other stamp sets.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Let's Toast (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Grey Granite, Whisper White
Patterned Papers: Watercolor Wishes, Gotta Have Gingham, Really Rainbow
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Basic Grey (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Let's Toast and Let's Toast Pull Tab Add-On Dies (Lawn Fawn); Mirror A2 Envelope (envelopes.com);
Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo); Neutrals Candy Dots, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, White Organza Ribbon (Stampin' Up!);
Dotted Scalloped Rectangles Dies (Elizabeth Crafts); Markers (Copic); Stitched Scallop Basic Edges Die-namics (My Favorite Things)

 

An Apple to Say Thanks

Inspiration: Card Maps January 2019 Sketch + Stamp Ink Paper #180

When I was putting together another card, I spotted the apple-patterned paper in the Celebrate Autumn stack and decided to keep it aside to pair with my apple dies and the Card Maps January 2019 sketch. Since the apple dies are the Outside In Stitched Apple Stackables, I decided to draw inspiration from the patterned paper and use a punched heart to make the apple core. The file folder was created with an old Coluzzle template which I still like to pull out once in a while.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Tous mes remerciements (Thank You Kindly - Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Marigold Morning, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Mossy Meadow, Cherry Cobbler Core'dinations, Very Vanilla
Patterned Papers: Celebrate Autumn (Echo Park)
Ink: Early Espresso
Accessories: Crumb Cake Medium Envelope, Mini Stapler, Ticket Duo Punch, Mossy Meadow Satin Ribbon,
Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Dotted Rectangle Stackables Dies,
Outside In Stitched Apple Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn); Basic Stitch Lines Die-namics (My Favorite Things);
Buttons (Autumn Leaves); Sentiment Labels Dies (Simon Says Stamp)

 

Aries

Inspiration: Little Red Wagon #478 + Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Something New - masking fluid, stamp)

I'm sharing this card even though there's a lot of things that went wrong with it – in the spirit of showing that things do not always pan out the way you want when you craft. It started well enough, with this image being part of my coloring session. I was happy with the result, but found it maybe a bit bare. I had dressed the design up with a touch of Gold Gansai Tambi watercolor on the horns and the belt, but I I wanted to do more with the panel.

I had purchased Nuvo's masking fluid a while ago and decided to use it to mask my girl so that I could add a yellow halo behind her using the awesome blending brushes from Picket Fence Studio. That's when things started going awry. The masking fluid was coming out making bubbles and going all over the place. so it was hard to control keeping it over the image. Still, I let it air dry then used my heat tool to finish drying it completely, before trying to add ink. It was hard to see how it was turning out but when I took off the masking fluid, I had weird empty spots around the legs and bossom, which was not great. So on a whim, I took the Gamsai Tambi watercolors out again and added gold all over the background. Then yellow gems. It was already looking a little better. Then I filled the empty space with Stickles dots, but I think I went overboard - it would have looked better if I had stayed closer to the girl only.

Then I mounted the image on foam tape and when I cut the foam off of the roll, I snipped the end of my image!! So I used my scissors to try and rectify, but it was coming out crooked and when I tried using the paper cutter, it was not working out too well because of the foam tape. I did the best I could and I let it be since I was getting dangerously close to the horns. (I was initially debating whether to glue the panel straight or at an angle, and at an angle won to try and distract from the ragged edge at the top!)

To finish things off, I used die-cut letters to add the Zodiac sign in French. I went from memory and was hesitating between Capricorne and Taureau, but I remembered that I had done Capricorn already, so I went with Taureau. buzzer sound Try again. I was already finished with the card when I spotted the Taurus stamp on my desk and realized I translated wrong. Aries is Bélier! Darn it... Luckily, the letters were glued with adhesive sheet and came off when I lifted them out gently, so I was able to replace the word. (I did wait until the next day, hoping I would be less accident-prone then!) This turned out to be a frustrating stamping session to say the least, though!

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Aries Uptown Zodiac Girl (Stamping Bella); Diagonal Stripes Background, Hot to Dot Wheel (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Ruby Red, Daffodil Delight, Basic Grey, Whisper White
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); So Saffron, Going Grey, Ruby Red (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Yellow Stickles (Ranger); Marigold Gems (Pretty Pink Posh);
Blending Brushes (Picket Fence Studios); Alisha Lowercase Alphabet Dies (Echo Park);
Foam Tape (3M); So Saffron Taffeta Ribbon (Stampin' Up!); White Tall Envelope (envelopes.com);
Polychromos Pencils (Faber-Castell); Starry Colors Watercolor Set (Gansai Tambi)

 

Wedding Cake

Inspiration: Global Design Project #170

I had already used the Global Project Design sketch on another card, but when I looked at a closer image of the sketch, I realized it had some nice elements that I hadn't included in my former version and that I could use the sketch again to make something different. As I was looking at stamps, I decided to pull out Hand Delivered and give the sketch a go again.

The main image was colored with Stampin' Blends markers, in colors inspired by the Petal Promenade Designer Series Paper. The sentiment "Congratulations" was stamped around the image three times, and I created a negative-heart stripe, using a die from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits. I turned three of the hearts around and used the backside of the patterned paper to fill the hearts back in, and added Wink of Stella on them (as well as on the cake's frosting).

A matching envelope was made out of the same paper, and I used one of the die-cuts from the paper for the address block. For someone who's not usually into flowery and pink stuff, I must admit I am really liking what I've made with the Petal Promenade papers so far.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: En main propre (Hand Delivered)
Cardstock: Petal Pink, Grapefruit Grove, Whisper White
Designer Series Paper: Petal Promenade
Ink: Lovely Lipstick, Tuxedo Black Memento
Accessories: Mini Treat Bag Thinlits, Decorative Ribbon Border Punch, Stampin' Blends Markers,
Clear Wink of Stella Brush, Envelope Punch Board, Share What You Love Artisan Pearls