Flying!!!

Yes, that's me these days!  So much to do with my Stampin' Up business, at church, with drama group.  I feel like I need about 3 days, just to get organized and focused.  Ah, well, that will come....maybe....sometime soon....
I was hoping to have a video completed for today, and it's still a priority, but, just in case, I thought I would post my entry in the Pals Paper Arts sketch challenge #143:

This card was created for one of the very special people in my life, who just happens to love fall and fall colours, and who was, coincidentally, born in the fall!  I was thinking about needing to use up the Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP, because it is rife with all the gorgeous fall colours, and wouldn't be as appropriate for winter and spring.  This was a perfect opportunity!

Here's the challenge sketch:

 

I just couldn't resist the chance to make a little paper medallion...rosette...lolly?  What is the official term, anyway?  Let me just consult the 2010 Geneva Agreement on Stamping Terms.........................

(Ha!  Had you there, didn't I?  There is no such thing, except in my eccentric imagination!)  Anyway, I made one:

 

I used our Simply Scored Scoring Tool to do this and with this DSP  it turned out really well.  This would be a great topic for another episode of Crafty Clues by Heather, so look for that in a week or so.

The card base is More Mustard card stock with a back panel of Early Espresso.  Then I layered on the Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP (Love that name!  I would like to have a job with Stampin' Up just coming up with product names.  What a hoot!)  The images are from the French Foliage stamp set, which I know you know because I've used them so much recently, and the sentiments are from Loving Thoughts and Teeny Tiny Wishes.  A little splash of colour with some Tangerine Tango Scallop Dots ribbon and two cute "button" brads from Vintage Trinkets, and it's ready to go!



 Oh, and I think you will recognize the Rock and Roll technique on the the main leaf image.  That's where you ink up your stamp with the lighter coloured ink first (More Mustard here) then roll the edges of your stamp all the way around in the darker colour (Tangerine Tango).  That way you get the variegated look to your image.

So if my video is completed, I will post it later today.  Otherwise it will wait until tomorrow.  In the meantime, Happy Stampin'

Stamps:  French Foliage (w120845; c121166); Loving Thoughts (w125843; c125845); Teeny Tiny Wishes (w115370; 127802)
Paper: More Mustard (100946), Early Espresso (119686), Very Vanilla (101650) card stock; Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP (Designer Series Paper)  (126906)
Ink: Classic Stampin' Pads in More Mustard (126964), Tangerine Tango (126946) and Early Espresso (126974)
Accessories: Tangerine Tango Scallop Dots Ribbon (124144); Vintage Trinkets (118764), Jumbo Sticky Rounds (for making the rosette) (127852)
Tools: Simply Scored Scoring Tool (122334)

Baby Take a Bow!

One more day of lying by the pool and then we head back to real life. Not sure I'm ready, but all good things must come to an end.  What a segue!  All good stamp sets must come to an end as well, I guess!  Here are a few more blasts from the past celebrating some of Stampin' Up's retiring stamp sets of 2013:

The first is an old favourite for masculine stamps  - Countryside (w116998; c120495)!  This card was created using a Faux Mosaic technique.  Check out this link for how-to details.

Another well-used set is Just Believe (w116948; c120453) and here is a card made with that set.

It is such a beautiful set and I'm really going to miss it!  But my chief mourning is reserved for the untimely passing of French Foliage (w120845; c121166).

Here are the links for the first card and the second  card made with French Foliage.  All product lists are posted on the links.

Newly sold out Retiring Accessories are:

Jolly Jingles Stampin' Around Jumbo Wheel 

Happy Bday Stampin' Around Builder Wheel 

Take a Sip Stampin' Around Wheel 

Brights Collection Classic Stampin' Ink Refills 

Make sure you order any retiring accessories you want quickly before supplies run out.

Have a great day, and I hope it's sunny and warm where you live, too.

Countryside

French Foliage

Just Believe

Kiss From a Rose

Several years ago, I had a fascination with all things medieval.  My daughter was involved with the SCA - Society for Creative Anachronism - which was a kind of club where they attempted to recreate a medieval society in their leisure hours.  After sewing her a couple of medieval gowns and watching her learn to make chain mail, I was hooked!  It didn't help that I was devouring the mysteries of Ellis Peters, set in medieval England.  Some of the first original plays I wrote were set in the 1200's in England.  They are still among my favourites and I will share them some day soon.  I'm sure, in reality, it was not the romantic world I envisioned, but I enjoyed the fantasy anyway.

About the same time, the song "Kiss from a Rose" by Seal, was released.  It sounded terribly medieval to me and quickly became my favourite.  When I saw the challenge, Making Melody, over at Our Creative Corner, where a song is supposed to be the inspiration for a card, "Kiss from a Rose" was the first song that came to mind.  Here is the card that it inspired:

I have been dying to try making my own paper flowers so I found some great instructions here and it really wasn't that hard.  I also got to use my Bigz Lattice Die which doesn't get used all that often, but I really like it.  My colours are Blushing Bride and Basic Gray and Certainly Celery and I love how they look together.  I used SU's Bliss stamp set and used Stamps Happen, Inc.'s His Symphony to create the "greying tower alone on the sea".

This was the first time I tried a Center Step Fancy Fold card, using the instructions from this video, and it was surprisingly easy as well.

So, there you have it, and now I have to go and clean up the crazy mess I made in my craft room.  My theory is:  The bigger the mess, the more you enjoyed yourself! 

 Again, I am entering this card in:  OCCC  "Making Melody"  - Kiss From a Rose by Seal

           PaperPlay Challenge #9 - Something Old, Something New - old stamps, DSP, new techniques

           Creative Inspirations Challenge #152 - Anything Goes

Well Worn Wishes

Just a brief post today with a card I made for a man in our church who has been sick this week.  I was originally trying to get the card done for the Paper Players Challenge #84, but I just found out about it that morning and couldn't finish the card in time.  Well, I could have, but I was almost finished a novel by Phillipa Gregory and I didn't want to leave it.  Anyway, I really liked the sketch, so went ahead, even though I only had 20 minutes to do it in.

I finished the card about forty minutes later, so didn't make the deadline.  I like the card, but I was rushed and would do some things differently next time.

I would have moved the Island Indigo panel higher so the sentiment wasn't cutting off the bottom circle and I would have backed the sentiment with a Modern Label punched from Island Indigo instead of Calypso Coral.  This is the first time I've used the Well Worn DSP from Stampin' Up and I really like it.  The colours in this piece are muted versions of the brighter colours I used on the panels.  The stamp sets I used were The Open Sea, Plane and Simple, Daring Adventure and Teeny Tiny Wishes.  I stamped the images in StazOn black on Very Vanilla and heat embossed them with clear embossing powder.  The ribbon is 1/8" taffeta in Early Espresso.  I sponged the panels and images with Early Espresso to make them look distressed.

Here's what is so wild.  When the man received his card, he asked how I knew that he used to be a sailor.  I didn't know.... but God did!  God even uses little things like this to bless us!  How cool is that?

Steal Like an Artist

So many people assume that they are not creative.  But I believe that we all have a drive within to create in some way.  Some are just not willing to risk critique, especially their own.  A friend of mine posted this link on Facebook a while back and it was very freeing: Steal Like an Artist!

With that in mind, I'm going to share a couple of cards I CASE'd (Copy And Share Everything) from designs I found on Pinterest - a great way for the artist to be a collector.

This card was designed by Claire Daly and I found it on Splitcoast Stampers site - another great resource.  I modified only a little.  Since my card was larger, I added an extra butterfly.  The stamp sets I used were Creative Elements and Teeny Tiny Wishes, by Stampin' Up.  I downloaded and printed a manuscript to use behind the Pool Party panel in front.  The card base is Early Espresso.  I sponged and distressed the edges of both panels as well as using Crumb Cake ink to stamp some of the images on the manuscript in the top left corner.  The decorative label punch created the window in the front panel and I used an Antique Brad and some Basic Rhinestones from Stampin' Up to give it some bling!  I love the look!

The other card I want to share was CASE'd from a layout by Melanie Holtz, but I used different stamps and paper.

The stamp sets I used were Rue des Fleurs and Oval All from Stampin' Up and the DSP is Beau Chateau, also SU.  It gives the card a very French flavour, non?  I used a bit of SU's Victorian Crochet trim on one edge of two of the panels and some Making Memories antique copper brads to finish it off.  One thing I have been hesitant to try is sewing my cards.  I have a new sewing machine that is, as yet, untried and I don't want to dull the needle.  Do you use a special needle for paper crafting?  I just used a Soft Suede SU marker to create faux stitches.  The real thing would look better!

Sunflowers Lift the Spirits

I'm recovering from having had surgery a week and a half ago, and some good friends dropped by yesterday with some beautiful yellow daisies.  Amazing how a few bright flowers can lift your spirits and bring some sunshine into your world.

Interestingly enough, the day before, I had created a card using stylized sunflowers as its theme, because they felt so sunny and optimistic.  I learned a punch technique from Mary Fish, using the 2 3/8" Scalloped Circle punch and then turning the circle slightly to punch in the middle of the scallops, which created a perfect sunflower look.  Here's the card:

Before I go into the details about how I made the card, I should just tell you that most of my papercrafting supplies are from Stampin' Up, and I learned so much from my demonstrator, Tamara Casorso.

The stamps I used were from Stampin' Up's Punch Bunch and So Happy for You.The card base is More Mustard cardstock and I added a panel of textured Early Espresso and some unknown basket-weave DSP I had on hand.  The sunflowers are punched (see above) from textured Daffodil Delight and the centers are punched from textured Early Espresso with the 1 3/4" circle punch.  I embellished it with Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon, Early Espresso 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, and some 1/8" Daffodil Delight taffeta ribbon. I added a vintage rose from Prima Flowers and an Old Olive designer button.  I wanted to thread the button with some linen thread, but I was out.  I'll have to pick up some more from Tamara tomorrow (that rolls off the tongue doesn't it?) when we get together for Tamara's Technique Night.  I'm so excited to get out of the house!! 

More cards tomorrow!  I've been busy during my recuperation, doing what I love to do - Card Making!