Get Well Soon

I love the sketch at Less is More this week.  You can take it in so many different directions, attested by the wonderful inspiration projects and challenge submissions.  

My card today is for a co-worker recovering from surgery.  I stamped the stems of the flowers in Tip Top Taupe across the bottom of the main panel.  The flowers were stamped in a long retired Stampin' Up color called Blush Blossom.  I added the Hero Arts sentiment in Lost Lagoon and layered the main panel on a bit of Lost Lagoon card stock and then to a white card base. Simple, clean, classic layout.

Happy Stamping,

Dana

Sparkle & Shine

Today I am sharing my submission for the latest throw down challenge at TGIF Challenge!  I absolutely love this challenge as it really gets my creative juices going.  The concept is so clever, there are a list of "basket" items in which you must use at least 4 items as well as "pantry" items which can be used.

As I considered my options I circled around the silver glitter paper and how I could use it.  I thought that it could be really fun to dry emboss it but worried that the embossing would get lost in all the glitter.  I pondered for a while until I had an ahh-haa moment.  What if I used the letterpress technique of adding ink to the embossing folder and then running it through the Big Shot?  I've never embossed glitter paper and wasn't sure if it would take the ink.  Well, you don't know until you try.  I was blown away, it turned out better than I expected. The pictures don't do it justice, I see this technique again in my future...

So I had this element complete.  I carted the embossed piece between our place up north and home a couple of times, not sure where to go from here. Finally, I used Pool Party to create a border for the embossed piece and for the sentiment.  I cut a curved shape for the flagged end as I wanted a softer finish than the normal V flag.  The flower image was stamped with Calypso Coral and fussy cut.  I cut a circular bit from the embossed glitter paper for the flower center.  The leaf was stamped with Pear Pizzazz and fussy cut as well.  I dyed the white bakers twine with Pear Pizzazz and adhered it to the back of the flagged piece along with a bit of doily.  As for the card base, I played around with a few ideas but landed on a simple white base.  I've rambled on long enough, here is my card:

It was a challenge to get a good picture, especially on a rainy day with the Ipad.  Here is a close up of the embossing: 

Happy Stamping,

Dana

Holiday Ornaments

It was a rainy day here so I spend some time making cards.  I love the sketch at Pals Paper Arts, it can be taken in so many directions!  I decided that I'd better get moving on my Christmas cards and decided to use ornaments to represent the 3 vertical panels on the sketch.  The ornaments are mounted to a piece of Pear Pizzazz bordered with Cherry Cobbler.  I drew vertical lines to the ornaments from white bakers twine that I inked up with Cherry Cobbler ink.  A bit more of the dyed bakers twine was knotted into a bow and added to the upper left.  The ornaments and the main panel were added with dimensionals to give the card a little depth.  The sentiment in Mossy Meadow finishes the card off!

Swing by Pals Paper Arts and check out the fantastic cards using this sketch!

Happy Stamping,

Dana

Fall Graphics

I'm up north again this weekend.  It is a bit rainy and cold, strange weather for August.  The chill indicates fall is right around the corner, perfect for the color challenge at Fab Friday!  However, I didn't bring any fall stamps with me.  I love the colors of the challenge and started playing around with flowers.  I wasn't feeling it and have made so many flower cards lately.  Then I spied the Taylored Expressions die out of the corner of my eye and had an ahh-haa moment.  I thought a graphic card would be perfect for the challenge.

Aren't these colors gorgeous together?

I ran all of the challenge colors through the Big Shot with the die and used the Tip Top Taupe as the "frame" piece.  I randomly inserted the cut outs and left a few open to let the white card base show through as I liked the pop of white.  The sentiment was stamped in Old Olive, edged in Tangelo Twist and flagged the end which was layered over a think Blackberry Bliss flag.  Simple and graphic, just what I wanted.  

Stop in at Fab Friday for some terrific inspiration, or play along with these fabulous colors.

Happy Stamping,

Dana

Sweet Pink Flowers

I love the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week!  It can be taken so many different directions, as you can see by the hundreds of wonderful submissions.  This is their 200th challenge and it is definitely a celebration.

I wanted to create an explosion of flowers across the horizontal line of the sketch.  I wanted the colors to be soft and subtle though.  I heat embossed the flowers with Blushing Bride embossing powder on Very Vanilla card stock.  They were punched out and layered randomly across the main panel with a few raised up on dimensionals and some of the petals curled.  The leaves were cut from Mossy Meadow card stock and tucked in here and there.  The sentiment was stamped in brown and the panel was bordered in brown and finally mounted on a Very Vanilla card base.  A few pearls are the finishing touch.

Happy Stamping,

Dana

What a Hoot!

I'm excited to be playing along with City Crafter Challenge today. For one reason or another I haven't been able to for a while and I've been anxious to join in again.  This week's challenge is around the corner with a SUPER cute inspiration photo.

Week 275 ~ Around the Corner

Is that not the cutest kitten you have ever seen?  I am reminded of a cat I had in my 20's.  She was a little black and gold tortie and was the cutest little character.  She would play hide and seek with me.  Yes, you read that right!  She would peek around a corner at me until I would come for her and she would run and hide.  If I didn't find her right away she would come and peek at me again and dart off to a hiding spot until I would find her.  It was hilarious!

On to my card. I used an owl image rather than a kitten as I wanted to have a critter peeking on my card and I thought it would be fun to create a hole in a tree and an owl seemed more appropriate.  but in hindsight, I guess cats also frequent trees.  :)  The main panel was dry embossed with a wood grain embossing folder. I considered sponging it but I liked it clean.  A circle was cut out and another circle in black added to give the hole some dimension.  I stamped the owl image and colored with markers and added some Wink of Stella to reinforce it as the main feature of the card.  I fussy cut it and mounted it in the hole of the tree. A thin border of dark brown was added and then mounted to a green card base.  I stamped the hello on green and cut it out in a leaf shape, it could also pass as a word bubble too.  All in all a pretty simple card but I think it will be a fun card to send someone to let them know I'm thinking of them.

Happy Stamping,

Dana

Flying Birthday Balloon

Today I'm playing along with Seize the Birthday.  This is a fun challenge as they offer an "Anything Goes" Birthday challenge with an option for "Toppings".  This time around, the topping is Anything that Flies.

"Anything that Flies"

I perused the stamps I brought up north with me for things that fly; butterflies, birds, a goose.  They just weren't doing it for me, then I spied the balloons - that was it!  I stamped the balloons on the main panel in black, then embossed most of the panel with clouds. Various dot images were stamped on colored cardstock, the balloons stamped again, fussy cut and layered over the original balloons at various heights.  The birthday sentiment was stamped in navy and fussy cut.  I doubled up the dimensionals to give it extra height.  The main panel was matted with navy and finally mounted to a white card base. This was a super fun card to make and I'm pleased with the results.

Wow, what a difference natural light makes for a photo!  Too bad I usually complete and photograph my cards at night.  I may need to make a point to do more during the day.

Happy Stamping,
Dana

Grandma's Wallpaper

Today I'm playing along with the color challenge at Pals Paper Arts.  I started out by creating a patterned paper using the challenge colors.  Hmm looks a bit like old wallpaper, but I decided to go with it.  I stamped the sentiment in Rich Razzleberry and wanted to use the Tempting Turquoise as the border color.  Well, looks like I grabbed Pacific Point cardstock instead of Tempting Turquoise as I packed to head up north.  In true crafter spirit, I pulled out my ink pad and rubbed it over some white cardstock - done!  To tone down the impact of my homemade wallpaper, I added the circles to draw the eye and provide a graphic element.  This is a fun color combo.

Happy Stamping,

Dana

Yellow Butterfly

I am up north again this weekend and saw the most beautiful butterfly, a very pale creamy yellow.  I tried to capture it in paper and ink, but with my limited supplies my butterfly is a pale comparison.  But I am happy with the resulting card.  I used the sketch from Stamp Ink Paper Challenge.

My card base is Tip Top Taupe with a sweet sentiment stamped in black in the bottom corner.  The butterfly is stamped in a variety of yellows and accented in Tip Top Taupe.  I stamped a pale yellow border (tough to see in this picture) along the left edge of Whisper White.  The circle was cut and then the remaining panel embossed with the Big Shot.  I only had gold bakers twine with me, so I did a little modification.  I removed the gold thread (I'm sure that will show up on another project soon) and ran the twine across a yellow stamp, a wrap around the embossed panel and a quick bow with some tassels. Simple but sweet.

Happy Stamping,

Dana

Thanks to the Playground

A couple of weeks ago I submitted a card to the snippet challenge at Pixie's Crafty Workshop and received the absolutely warmest welcome.  I wanted to say thanks for the generosity to those in the Playground.
This card is filled with overly neglected tools and supplies.  The stamp set is from Stampin' Up's Sale-a-bration and hasn't yet been used even though I just had to have it!  I saw the large thanks in this set and thought it would look wonderful stamped on patterned paper and fussy cut.  I did just that with some scraps I had left over from baby shower invitations.  That baby is now 6, so I'd say these scraps have been neglected. I used Pacific Point paper to highlight the bright yellow, a frequently overlooked color in my craft room.  I used a small flag punch and punched out star with a little bling to embellish the card.

Thanks again to everyone at the Playground!

Happy Stamping,

Dana

Yellow Pansies

I visit a number of blogs daily. Some post daily and others less often, but I always look forward to the page opening to see what they have to share.  I have been MIA the last couple of weeks.  Admittedly I am still getting my blogging legs under me and tend to post in spurts as life allows.  I have so enjoyed playing along with challenges and blogging about my creations.  I hope to become one of those bloggers that posts daily so those that take the time to stop in have something new to see at every visit.  I'll keep working on it as I truly appreciate that folks take the time to stop by and I love the comments!

We spent a long weekend at our place "Up North" (that's Minnesotan for our cabin). I've started to keep a few supplies at the cabin and recently purchased the Stampin' Up kit, Watercolor Wishes so I can keep that up there and have coordinating elements to play with.  I also brought a bag full of other supplies to play with (I may need to invest in another Big Shot to keep up there, that stinker is heavy).  With my limited supplies, I decided to play along with the color challenge at TGIF Challenges.

I used a sentiment from the Watercolor Wishes kit and the Stampin' Up set Birthday Blossoms.  I stamped the small pansy clusters in Pool Party, stamping off for a lighter touch of color.  The leaves and large pansies were stamped in Basic Gray ink and I used a watercolor brush to color them in Basic Gray and Daffodil Delight.  I did use a little Crushed Curry for the flower centers and brushed on a little Wink of Stella.  I fussy cut the leaves and flowers, I do have the pansy punch but neglected to bring it with me.  The sentiment is stamped in Basic Gray and the panel is layered on some Basic Gray card stock.  The whole thing is layered on a Pool Party card base.

This card is pretty straight forward in a classic layout.  I love that I was able to play with paper while up north.

Happy Stamping,

Dana