fresh & fun

I made a quick and simple genie bag for today’s inspiration challenge. I took the colors, purse and flower from the inspiration piece. I cut a small 4″ x 8″ brown lunch bag down to a 4″ square and started from there.

For my purse front and bag I took a 4″ x 5 1/2″ piece of Bashful Blue cardstock, marked 3/4″ in on both sides on top and cut from the left bottom corner to the left mark and the same vice versa. I used that as a guide to cut two Main Blueberry Designer Paper the same shape.  I adhered the designer paper to the Bashful blue cardstock.

Scallops were added to a 1 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ piece of Whisper White cardstock with the Scallop Edge Punch . The strip was taped behind the top edge of the Designer Paper layer and cut to match the purse form..  Scallops were also added to a 1 /8″ x 5 1/2″ piece of sponged Chocolate Chip cardstock. It was taped scallops down to the purse front. The top of the Chocolate strip was paper pierced. White Taffeta and Kiwi Satin Ribbon were tied around the strip.

I stamped the small rose from Bella Blossoms three time in Bashful Blue on Whisper White cardstock, cut it out and layered it. The top two layers were added to the main flower with dimensionals. The flower was taped to a sponged and paper pierced 1 3/8″ circle out of So Saffron which was taped on a sponged chocolate scallop circle and a 1 3/4″ Whisper White circle. Dazzling Diamond glitter was added the the rose with Liquid Glue and the center piece was adhered to the purse with dimensionals.

Before adhering the front and back to the bag, I taped 1″ wide Chocolate Chip ribbon pieces as handles between the bag and decorated front and bag with Sticky Strip.

I am still stunned and saddened by Laurie’s bad news. I really urge you to help me to shower her family with cards and prayers.

My sample for today’s sketch is a Happy Halloween card. I didn’t know about Halloween until I moved to the States. Now it’s in Germany as well, but when I grew up we didn’t have that. My kids though, they know and love this holiday. What could be better then dressing up in fun costumes, getting a major load of candy and being allowed to eat as much candy as they can stomach? LOL

I am wishing you a Happy, fun and safe Halloween. May your kids (and you) get lots of their favorite candy and NO stomach ache.

The card base is a 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ piece of Basic Black cardstock folded in half. It is layered with a 4″ x 5 1/4″ piece of distressed (Cutter Kit) Whisper White cardstock followed by a 1/4″ smaller piece of distressed and paper pierced Haiku Designer Paper.

The distressed Kiwi Kiss Pattern Designer Paper measures 2 3/4″ x 4″  and is layered on a 1/4″ bigger piece of Basic Black. I should have made it at least a 1/4 shorter, but I wasn’t thinking about the additional white border I would be adding later. The top and bottom of the layers were punched with the Spiral Punch, the side layers were paper pierced. I sanded over the Designer paper with my sanding block to distress this layer even further.

Next I took two 3″ strips of Whisper White cardstock, held my 1/4″ square punch diagonal to the paper and punched my zigzag border. I just couldn’t see scallop borders there working for a Halloween card. I taped the border on the top and bottom of my Designer paper layers. Now the white was showing through my spiral punch. I didn’t like that so I covered each of those squares with a black brad. So much better! Next I tied Tangerine Grosgrain ribbon around both layers.

I stamped the cat from Halloween Frights in Black Stazon on Whisper White cardstock, punched it out with the        1 3/4″ circle punch and layered it on a black scallop circle cut with the Pennant Die. I paper pierced the edges fo the white layer, threaded Linen thread to the hole on the top and tied it to the ribbon. I also attached it with dimensionals to the front to keep it in place.

I stamped the sentiment in Black Stazon on Whisper White cardstock, punched it out with the large oval punch, taped it to the lower left of the layers and paper pierced underneath the sentiment. I stamped the bat in Black, cut it out and mounted it with dimensionals on the top right of the sentiment.

Here is the inside of my card.

Today’s Tutorials on SCS is on how to make a triangle box. It’s simple, it’s quick and easy changeable to different sizes. For my tutorial sample I started with a 5″ x 10″ piece of textured Baja Breeze Designer Paper.

I stamped the cardstock with the snowflake from the Stampin’ Up! Winter Post stamp set. I stamped the snowflake first in Baja Breeze classic ink, then in Whisper White Craft ink all over the cardstock.

Since we are also running a new product focus page about the new JustRite Harmony stamp ensembles, I decided to use one of the the stamp sets I received for the tutorial as well. The sentiment and the oval frame are both from the Classic Harmony Oval II stamp ensemble. After conditioning the stamps (check out Sharon’s awesome tutorial also published today on SCS) I stamped them in Chocolate Chip ink on Ski Slope Designer Paper. I cut them out with my Oval Nestabilities. The stamps fit great in those die templates.

I layered it on a Whisper White circle and Chocolate Scallop circle, both were cut with Circle Nestabilities. The inside of he oval frame was paper pierced. I added a silver paper clip from the Paper clip assortment from Stampin’ Up! to the top left of the sentiment and tied Pink Taffeta Ribbon around it. On the bottom right I added a Snowflake from the Little Felt Flurries, added a Jumbo Eyelet in it’s center topped with an Fire Circle Rhinestone brad.

I created smaller sample with a 2 1/2″ x 5″ piece of cardstock. I will share that with you tomorrow.

Have a great day! Hugs and smiles

I had no desire to stamp yesterday after getting done with my chores. I made this card early this morning. I have to walk Rebecca to school. I will be right back to the details. Still no mojo here, so I went back to my fall back layout! Thank goodness the BIC was easy. It was screaming for me to use the Urban Garden Paper and Pocket Silhouette stamps.

This time I started with my image and worked my card around it. I stamped the leaf stamp from Pocket Silhouette in Black Stazon on Whisper White, punched it out with the 1 3/4″ circle punch and added a blue shadow with my Blender Pen and Baja Breeze ink pad.

I layered it first on a slightly bigger Old Olive circle that I had cut with circle Nestabilities, then on a black scallop circle cut with the Bigz XL Pennant Die from Stampin’ Up!. I added 9 paper piercing holes on the lower left and the top right. I punched a small flower from Baja Breeze cardstock with Trio Flower Punch, sponged it’s edges with a sponge dauber, added a 1/8″ black circle, adhered it to the image with dimensionals and topped it off with a small Ice Circle Rhinestone Brad.

The card base is a 4 1/4″ x 8 1/2″ piece of Kiwi Kiss cardstock folded in half. A white gel pen dotted border was added 1/8″ in all the way around.  The next layer is a 3 3/4″ square of Basic Black cardstock. Each corner was punched with the ticket corner punch. The 3 1/2″ Whisper White square that is the next layer was first scored every 3/8″ vertically to create the look of the wall of the inspiration piece. I used my Scor-It to create those scores. It creates deep score lines and you can add those score lines anywhere you want. (Click on the image to see the image bigger and the score lines better.)The bottom part was layered with a 1 3/4″ x 3 1/2″ piece of Urban Garden Designer paper piece. Each corner was punched with the ticket corner punch and the edges were paper pierced. I tied ribbon from the retired Jersey Ribbon Originals Pack around the layers. I didn’t even realize until now that it’s the same ribbon that now comes in all six In Colors. I wish we still had a little bit wider black ribbon like that (sigh).

The sentiment was stamped in Black Stazon on white cardstock and punched out with the small oval punch. I cut the right edge off and lined it up with the edge of my designer paper, paper pierced a line underneath the sentiment and paper pierced a line under the sentiment. I punched a flower out of Kiwi Kiss paper with the Trio Flower Punch, sponged the edges and added a 1/8″ black circle before adhering it under the sentiment with a dimensional. Again the flower was topped off with a small Ice Circle Rhinestone Brad.

Last Monday’s Technique challenge was to color an image with watercolor pencils and then blend them with watercolor brush and pink twinkling H2O. I thought that sounded interesting and gave it a whirl. I went a little bit overboard with the Twinkling H2O’s, but it was still fun.

I stamped the image from the Serene Spring hostess set in Black Stazon on  a 2 3/8″ x 3 1/4″ piece of watercolor paper. It was colored with Watercolor Pencils that were blended with my Aqua Painter and Rose Twinkling H2O’s.

The corners were punched with the ticket corner punch and the edges were paper pierced. The watercolor paper was adhered to a 1/4″ bigger piece of Basic Black cardstock. Each four corners were ticket corner punched as well.

The card base is a 4 1/4″ x 8 1/2″ piece of Basic Black cardstock folded in half. It was topped with a 4″ Pink Pirouette cardstock square that had a 2 3/8″ x 4″ layer of the retired Rose Red Prints Designer Paper attached to the bottom. The designer paper was distressed with a sanding block and Striped Bashful Blue grosgrain ribbon was tied around the top. The top right corner of the Pink Pirouette layer was paper pierced.

The sentiment was stamped in two rows, punched out with the small oval punch and layered first on a 1″ pink pirouette circle, then on a Black designer label punchout. A Flower designer brad with an 1/8″ bashful blue cardstock circle in it’s center finish off the sentiment. To tie in the hardware, I added two styled silver brads on the left hand side next to the top and bottom corner of the image.

Sorry I am late with posting! I made a card for the challenge last night. But…I can’t show you until Wednesday. I am such a goober. So this morning I started again. BUT….Lucas woke up with a teary swollen eye (started last night…didn’t get better) and I have to take him to the doctor in five. I am pretty sure it’s allergies. But it was very scary last night. Ask Jenn, I called her at 9:30 p.m. His eye just swelled up. Only one of his eyes. It was red rimmed and the white of the eye was red as well. The redness is gone, but the oozing started. Yuck!

Lucas Update:
We are back from the doctor visit. They think it was allergies as well. He got eye drops he should take to preventing his eyes from swelling and ear drops because he has a bad swimmers ear. Thank goodness no pink eye!
Thank you all for your well wishes.

The card base is a 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ piece of Riding Hood Red cardstock. It was stamped with images from the Winter Post stamp set in Riding Hood Red. The edges were first sponged in Riding Hood Red, then in Chocolate Chip ink.

The white rectangle layer is a 3 1/2″ x 4 1/4″ piece of Shimmery White cardstock. Since most of the cardstock is hidden, I cut the inside out, only leaving 1/2″ frame. It was covered with a 3 1/2″ x 4″ piece of Ski Slope Designer Paper. That was paper pierced. A Riding Hood Red photo corner was punched with the Photo Corner punch, stamped with the snowflake from Winter Post and sponged again with Riding Hood Red and Chocolate Chip classic inks. Three 1/4″ Shimmery White circles were attached to the photo corner with Antique Brass brads in the center.

The brown strip is also from the Ski Slope Designer Paper Pack. It measures 1″ x 4 1/4″. It was taped to a 1 1/2″ x 5″ strip of Shimmer White paper. The bottom of the Shimmery strip was punched with the Scallop Edge Punch. I added a hole with my Crop-a-Dile in each scallop. The bottom of the Designer Paper was paper pierced and then sanded with my sanding block. The strips were adhered to my rectangle layers and Alpine Ribbon was tied around the brown paper strip. Then I adhered all layers to the the card base, lining up the horizontal strips with the edge of the card base.

The reindeer stamp is also from the Winter Post stamp set. It was stamped in Chocolate Chip ink on Shimmery White cardstock and punched out with the 1 3/8″ circle punch. The edges were sponged with Riding Hood Red ink. It was layered on a 1 3/4″ circle out of Old Olive. The olive circle was stamped with the snowflake, sponged and paper pierced before layered on a sponged scallop circle. That circle was cut with my Big Shot and the Pennant Bigz XL Die. The reindeer layers were attached to the card with dimensionals.

I stamped the postage stamp twice in chocolate chip ink, once on Shimmery White and once on Riding Hood Red cardstock. I punched the white center out with a 1/2″ circle punch and punched the entire circle out of the Riding Hood Red with the 1″ circle punch. The edges of the Riding Hood Red circle were first sponged with Riding Hood Red, then with Chocolate Chip. I topped it off with a page pebble from the Build-a-Brad and attached my layered postage stamp to the card base with dimensionals.

Yesterday’s Color Challenge was fun! Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss and Chocolate Chip. What’s not to love? I came up with this card.

The card base is a 4 1/4″ x 11″ piece of Pink Pirouette cardstock folded in half.

I cut a 4″ x 4 1/2″ piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock and punched on of the short edges with my Scallop Edge Punch.

A 3 3/4″ x 4″ piece of Whisper White was stamped with the Bella Toile Background stamp in Pink Pirouette, attached to the chocolate layer and paper pierced. Kiwi Satin ribbon as tied around the right hand side. On the bottom right I adhered three 1/4″ Chocolate Chip circles and topped them with three Styled Silver Brads. The layers were attached to the card base with dimensionals.

Demonstrators can order the Statement of the Heart on a supply order. I love this Statement.  Anyway….I stamped the sentiment in Chocolate Chip on a 2″ x 3 7/8″ piece of Whisper White cardstock and adhered it first to a 1/4″ bigger piece of Kiwi Kiss, then a 2 5/8″ x 4 3/4″ piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock. The bottom edge was punched with the scallop edge punch. The top right corner was paper pierced. The layers were attached to the card with dimensionals.

I stamped the flower from Bella Blossoms in Pink Pirouette four times on Whisper White cardstock. I cut one out completely, the other three always a bit smaller and adhered the pieces on top of each other. I inked up the small leaf of the big flower with Kiwi Kiss and stamped it twice. They were cut out and taped behind the rose. The flower was attached the the sentiment layers and Dazzling Diamond Glitter was added with Liquid Glue (retired).

This BIC wasn’t very easy for me. It took me quite a while to decide what layout I wanted to use. Colors were no problem. I picked: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Whisper White, Tangerine Tango and a touch of Old Olive (plant on top of one shelf). I finally decided to use the shelving as my inspiration for the card.

I had planned to use a background stamp or something on the back panels since they could only be 7/8″ wide. 

But then I decided to use the stamp set Eastern Influences. The colors seem to fit. I changed the layout up a little bit and came up with this card:

The card base is a 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ piece of Basic Black cardstock folded in half.

A 3 3/4″ x 5″ piece of Haiku Designer Paper was layered on a 1/4″ bigger piece of Basic Gray cardstock and the edges were paper pierced.

 5/8″ wide Olive grosgrain ribbon was tied around the lower third of the layers. Three 1/2″ black circles were taped to the bottom right corner. Those were topped with brads from the Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware kit. In the center of each flower brad a small olive circle was adhered and topped with Dazzling Diamond Glitter.

I stamped the flower branch from Eastern Influences in Black Stazon on a 1 7/8″ x 3 3/8″ piece of Shimmery White cardstock. It was colored with Aqua Painter and Classic inks (Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, Close to Cocoa and Going gray) and cut in three 1 1/8″ x 1 7/8″ pieces. Those were adhered to a 2 1/8″ x 3 7/8″ piece of Basic Gray cardstock which was layered on a 1/4″ bigger piece of Basic Black carsdtock. The edges of the Shimmery White cardstock were paper pierced and the image layers were attached with dimensionals to the card front.

For the sentiment layers I inked the bird stamp from the same set in Tangerine Tango, stamped it off once on scrap paper and then stamped in on Shimmery White. I stamped the Beautiful symbol over it in Black Stazon and punched it out with the 1 1/4″ circle punch. That was layered first on a 1 3/8″ Basic Gray circle, then on a black scallop circle. I added paper piercing under the sentiment and then attached it to the card with dimensionals.

Have a wonderful day! Hugs and smiles

I had a little time stamping yesterday. So I decided to participate in the Featured Stamper challenge. I picked this card from Emily. I changed it up just a bit. I made it into a long card and added a few layers on the stars. I also added the sentiment.

The cardbase is a 6″ x 7″ piece of textured Baja Breeze cardstock folded in half.

The Chocolate chip layer measures  2 5/8″ x 4 7/8″. The top corners were punched with the ticket corner punch.

A 1/4″ smaller piece of Ski Slope Designer paper had it’s top corners punched with the ticket corner punch, was adhered to the Chocolate Chip layer, paper pierced and sanded with the sanding block. Both layers were adhered to the card base.

I stamped the round snowflake image from Scandinavian Season three times in Baja Breeze on Baja Breeze and three times in the same color on Whisper White.  The white snowflakes were cut out, the Baja Breeze snowflakes were punched out with the 1″ circle punch.

Three stars were punched out of Riding Hood Red cardstock with the large Star punch, three flowers were punched with the Trio Flower punch out of the same cardstock. I punched three 1/4″ circles out of Chocolate Chip and adhered them to the little flowers. Then I adhered 1″ Baja circle to the Star, topped it first with the cut out snowflake, then with the flower. To finish them off, I added a silver brad in the center, added liquid glue (retired, boohoo) on the white snowflake and added Dazzling Diamond Glitter over it.

The stars were adhered to the Designer Paper layer with dimensionals. 5/8″ wide Chocolate Chip ribbon was tied around the card base. The sentiment is from the stamp set Fundamental Phrases. I stamped both words in Chocolate chip on top of each other and punched them out with the large oval punch. I added a 1/4″ Riding hood Red circle to the bottom right and topped it off with a brad. The sentiment was attached on the bottom right with dimensionals and snail adhesive.

Have a wonderful Monday! I won’t be doing all my Monday chores today. They are bumped back to Tuesday since the kids are home (Teacher Work day). Wohoo! That means sleeping in and hanging with my girl (and my boys if they want to). Hugs and smiles

I had so much fun making the mini pizza box last week, I wanted to try out a bigger one. Mary Fish had already done all the math for me so it was easy peasy. I needed to make a project with coloring for my stamp camp yesterday. So I picked Harvest Home stamp set to decorate the top.

The box is made out of a 6″ x 11″ strip of Kraft cardstock.

The image is stamped with Chocolate Chip craft ink on a 2 5/8″ square of watercolor paper and embossed with clear embossing powder.

It was colored with Aqua Painter and Classic Inks (Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate chip, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze.)

The edges were distressed with the cutter kit. The square was adhered to a 1/4″ bigger piece of Chocolate chip cardstock that was distressed as well. The top right corner was paper pierced.

I took a 3 3/4″ piece of Chocolate Chip, punched the corners with the ticket corner punch and distressed the edges. It was layered with a 1/4″ smaller piece of Old Olive that was ticket corner punch and distressed as well. On top of that is a 2″ x 3 3/4″ piece of Baja Breeze Patterns Designer Paper that was distressed and sanded.

 To make it fit for the Limited Supply Challenge, I added three eyelets on the bottom right. The sentiment was inked with Chocolate chip marker, stamped on Confetti White and punched out with the large oval punch. The edges were distressed, the oval taped to a big scrap of Chocolate chip and cut out. I added another eyelet to the right and adhered it over the main image. The image as well as the bottom layers were attached with dimensionals.

Have a wonderful Sunday! Hugs and smiles