It's a rainy Wednesday here, so it's a perfect time for playing with paper and ink! A few of the Snarky Stampers were discussing various challenge blogs the other day, and Chris reminded us of the Just Us Girls challenge. Every first week of the month is a sketch challenge:
Lots of ways to interpret this classic layout. Here's my take:
These cute trees from an old Stampin' Up set had already been stamped and coloured and were just waiting to be used. The small circle elements in the sketch just weren't working for me, so I offset each tree on its backing layer for a little extra visual interest. While I was thinking this would make a good "missing you" card ("the only thing missing is you" kind of thing), I went with this quote from my favourite author, instead. I'm enough of a Dickens fan to know this quote is actually paraphrased, but I've learned to live with it. ;) The squares are adhered with glue dots for just the slightest hint of definition, while the white panel is popped up with foam tape.
There's just over a day left in this challenge if you're thinking of joining... and another couple of days in our current ribbon challenge at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers! The two challenges could even be combined. ;)
Supplies: white & Stampin' Up bashful blue cardstock, Stampin' Up Holiday Collection & Echo Park Here & Now & A Boy's Life patterned papers, Stampin' Up A Tree for All Seasons & Unity August 2011 Kit of the Month (All You Need) stamps, Memories black & Memento Luxe Danube blue inks, Zing clear embossing powder, Nellie Snellen square dies, watercolour pencils, Twinery denim twine, pop-dot tape
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Happy first Friday in June! While it's getting harder to stay indoors now that the weather is nice, I did take a few moments to make a wine tag yesterday:
Red tag, red sentiment, red striped twine... obviously made with a bottle of red wine in mind. I used the bottom of the wine tag die to shape the ends of the patterned paper panel before stamping that fun Unity sentiment. You can't see in the photo (or, for that matter, all that obviously in real life) but I traced around the oval with my Wink of Stella glitter pen. Tweezers and a little Glossy Accents are the best way I've found to adhere those tiny shiny sequins.
I'll be linking this up to today's Friends with Flair link-up -- and then it's time to head back outside! Enjoy your Friday.
Supplies: Bazzill textured red cardstock, Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm patterned paper, Unity Alcohol and Salads stamp, Simon Says Stamp schoolhouse red ink, Avery Elle Cheers wine tag die, Wink of Stella clear glitter marker, Simon Says Stamp sequins, Twinery maraschino twine
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Okay, that is not exactly what Simon says. ;) The Simon Says Stamp challenge this week is to create a Father's Day or masculine card. While it has been a long time since I have needed a Father's Day card, I do have an anniversary coming up in a few weeks, so used the challenge as motivation to get a card done.
Confession? This card started developing in my mind a couple of weeks ago, when Simon had a travel-themed challenge. It just didn't happen that week. This is one of those cards where the patterned paper really looks after most of the design work; I added a couple of backing layers as well as the die cut star and the arrow with a sentiment. The star is so small I had to roll up the micro glue dot, but that also popped it up a bit more, which was fine. Just for fun, I angled the arrow with dimensional tape at the back and a glue dot at the point. A simple card, but I think it gets the message across.
Supplies: white, orange & Best Creations ocean blue glitter cardstock, Heidi Swapp No Limits patterned paper, (?) sentiment stamp, Hero Arts On the Go arrow die, Mama Elephant confetti die, pop-dot tape
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It's Saturday! Not to mention the very last day of May. And time for a new challenge at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers! We hope you enjoyed the C is for Crap challenge... and who knows, our new one might qualify for that, too!
Ribbon. We all have it (quite possibly lots of it)... but when did you last use it? Here's your chance to break some out for a worthy cause. ;) Needing a condolence card, mine has a distinct lack of snark, but here it is:
This started with the embossed rose image. I had embossed it on the patterned paper a while ago, but had been disappointed at how the white didn't really pop against the pink paper. Coming across it going through my scraps, I decided to see what happened if I sponged it -- and it added just enough definition to make it work. I used a Paper Smooches border die to add some interest to the banner. I used the same rose stamp to make the background panel -- oh look! I made my own patterned paper, so I'm entering this in the current Shopping our Stash challenge. (Pretty much this entire card is made with long-owned stash.) The bright pink ribbon brings out the colour in both the rose and the banner paper.
And I almost forgot to add this to this week's Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes challenge!
And now it's your turn! Check out what the rest of the SoSS design team has created... and wait till you see what our guest designer, Shoni, has crafted! (Thanks a lot, showing up the rest of us...)
Supplies: white & Stampin' Up pink pirouette cardstock, Hey Lizzy lucky charm & Basic Grey Oliver patterned paper, Stampin' Up Fifth Avenue Floral stamp, Versamark & Memento angel pink & rhubarb stalk inks, Paper Smooches borders 1 die, Offray ribbon, glue dots, pop-dot tape
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Today brings a new challenge at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers! We have a really good one for you this week, that I think everyone can enter...
You read it right -- C is for CRAP (Why Did I Buy That?)! I have a feeling that every crafter has those "it seemed like a good idea at the time" items in their craft supply, whether they are stamps, patterned paper, dies... I'm pretty frugal with my crafting dollars, but I had no problem picking what to use for this challenge. In fact, it was easy to make two projects! I started with a Spellbinders die set that I bought soon after I got my Cuttlebug, and had never used satisfactorily. With inspiration from Google, this resulted:
I discovered, thanks to Google, that one of the things I'd been doing wrong was trying to combine different flower sizes, instead of layering several of the same size. And as I created these flowers, I realized I was using not just die crap, but two other crap, why did I buy that items! I was SO disappointed when I bought Stampin' Up's ruby red cardstock -- let's just say, if Dorothy's slippers had been this colour, I believe there would have been a lot less fuss. I sponged the edges of the petals with Hero Arts snow chalk ink, another disappointing purchase for me. A gift bag using this template, a little ribbon and patterned paper... and the crap looks pretty good!
Of course, Google offered more than one idea about using these dies...
This time, I used a crap, why did I buy that embossing folder, too. This patterned paper, though? Love it, not crap at all. :D This card involved a lot of sponging, very much outside my usual creative box. I think it all resulted in a pretty card, if not in my usual style.
Since I used dies as the starting point for both these projects, I'm linking to Simon Says Stamp's current Die Crazy challenge.
Are you starting to feel inspired? Thinking about those neglected, why on earth did I buy these, items? Be sure to check out the rest of my sisters' creations -- we seem to have a remarkable flair for using crap. ;) You have until Friday the 30th to join in the fun!
Supplies: (gift bag) Stampin' Up very vanilla & ruby red cardstock, Amy Tangerine sketchbook patterned paper, Hero Arts snow chalk ink, Spellbinders carnation creations dies, small hole punch, Pebbles Inc. ribbon, May Arts twine; (card) white cardstock, Dear Lizzy lucky charm & Creative Imaginations patterned paper, Memory Box happy birthday stamp, Memento rose bud ink, Crafts-Too embossing folder, Queen & Co. white brads
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Friday! And a long weekend here in Canada... our unofficial start to summer, although the weather doesn't seem to be agreeing quite yet. Friday means Unity Friends with Flair, and I'm back with another card using the set Undeniably You:
Look! I designed a dress that isn't red! A few red triangles barely count. I don't think I'm in a creative rut, this set just happened to be perfect for the card recipient. This is a little bigger (6 1/4" x 4 3/4") than the average A2 card... it will be signed by a group of people, so I wanted to leave room for everyone. ;) I used three different papers from Echo Park's Here & Now paper pad -- such a short-cut when you know everything will coordinate. I used markers to selectively ink the sentiment. Those sequins are so very teeny, but sparkle perfectly. With my die cut frame and sentiment oval, I'm entering this card into Simon Says Stamp's current Die Crazy challenge, as well.
Have a great weekend! Stop back in tomorrow -- the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers has a fun challenge coming up! And a few hours left in the current one, if you're so inclined...
Supplies: white, grey & black cardstock, Echo Park Here & Now patterned papers, Unity Undeniably You stamps, Versafine onyx black ink, Zing clear embossing powder, Stampin' Up gumball green & Ranger black soot distress markers, Spellbinders oval and labels 5 dies, Simon Says Stamp (I think) clear sequins, pop-dot tape
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