WHAT??

... kind of challenge is this? LOL! For this week's SCS Limited Supplies Challenge, you get to create a card without using any shades of white or vanilla card stock. Sounds like, well, a CHALLENGE! (That's a GOOD thing.)

I immediately thought to use the brown neutrals, mostly so I could slap some brown satin ribbon on there to offset any otherwise plainness. I used the foliage stamp from Embrace Life and stamped on some old SU Confetti Tan card stock (no longer available, but very nearly the same as Kraft). I watercolored in a combination of Old Olive and True Thyme (retired) with an aqua painter. I apologize for the poor stamping on the sentiment. The stamp comes from the Three for You punch box, and the rubber is VERY squishy so those skinny greetings want to wobble and roll on me every time.

At first, I was thinking "I've probably never made a card without either white or vanilla," but then I realized one of my all-time favorites, one of my Christmas cards this year, also used no white or vanilla. Cool.

Thanks to Jen70 for another great challenge! It really got me thinking.

Stamps: Embrace Life, Three for You, Cheesecloth
Ink: Timber Brown Staz-On, Old Olive, True Thyme
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Confetti Tan, True Thyme
Accessories: aged copper hodgepodge hardware brads, brown satin ribbon, dimensionals, sponge daubers

Two More Sketch Cards

I'm back with two additional cards for Jen del Muro's sketch challenge this week. This first one was inspired by Sharon Johnson (No Time to Stamp) and her awesome samples using the "Fancy Corners" embossing folder for the Cuttlebug. You can see two of her examples here and here.

Supplies:
Stamps: Baroque Motifs
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, and Vellum Card Stock
Accessories: wide black organdy ribbon, sponge daubers, Cuttlebug's Fancy Corners embossing folder, vintage brads, dimensionals, corner rounder, black marker

Let's call this second one an "outtake" from my task this week to create a sample for Jen to post with her sketch today. Cute enough, but not cute enough, if you know what I mean.



Stamps: Sweet Shapes
Ink: Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi, Blue Bayou
Paper: Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi, Blue Bayou designer prints, Whisper White
Accessories: Blue Bayou double-stitched ribbon, ice rhinestone brads, dimensionals

Sketch Challenge

Be sure to head over to i{heart}2stamp.com today. Jen has posted her weekly Sketch for You to Try (SFYTT), which I look forward to every Saturday. As part of the whole guest designer thing, she invited me to provide her a sample for this week's sketch. The sketch is a fantastic one, so my job was easy. Take a look!

I'll be back here later with a couple more projects. One of them became so smudged (think vellum and wet black ink) that even Photoshop can't make it presentable. Yes, I've been known to "remove" a smudge with the bandaid tool, something I'd dearly love to have for real in my craft room, LOL!

Right now, my daughter wants me to play Webkinz ... (and secretly so do I!).

Eight for '08

Back in October, I made a Bible verse tag book on the theory that it would be easier to memorize the verses if they were prettied up a bit. (It didn't work .) But here I go again ... hoping I'll actually keep my New Year's resolutions if I have a pretty little package to keep them in :D

The nine cards that go inside are super simple. I have a title page and eight resolution cards.



My resolutions are mostly the usual ... lose weight, get organized, spend more quality time as a family, blah, blah, blah. The funniest is "Be on time," which is cracking me up since I couldn't even get this posted "on time."

There is one, however, that might seem strange at first glance. Number 7 is Stamp less and spend more time on the computer. And no, I didn't get that reversed. I want to be sure to set aside time for leaving lots of comments on other blogs and in SCS galleries. I feel like I've spent so much time making things that I haven't left comments as much as I would like. That's something I hope to change! So you might see a little less of me here on my blog, but a little more of me on yours ;)



And a quick look at the top and the inside:



Supplies:
Stamps: Euphoria Alphabet & Numbers
Ink: Always Artichoke
Paper: Holiday Harmony designer paper (retired); Always Artichoke, River Rock, Purely Pomegranate and Whisper White card stock
Accessories: 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, 3/4" circle punch, 1/4" circle punch, scallop punch, gold cord, rectangle hand-held punch, Spring Bouquet punch, flat white pearls from pretties kit, bandaid tin (Oriental Trading Company)

Peaceful Snowflakes

My son was sick and missed the last two days of school before the Christmas break, so his teachers are getting their gifts today. Nothing fancy, just gift cards tucked inside this Christmas card. The card is old (I raided some boxed holiday cards leftover from a craft show two years ago), but it's still one of my all-time favorites. I can't say with absolute certainty it is my original design, but I believe it is. If I'm wrong, I'm all too happy to credit the original designer (of course).

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Snowflakes, Wonderful Words
Ink: Encore Silver, Night of Navy, Whisper White craft
Paper: Brocade Blue, Night of Navy, Silver metallic
Accessories: 1 1/4" ad 1 3/8" circle punches, silver cord, silver embossing powder

Exhale

I've been keeping this secret all of December, but I can finally tell you (and I hope I don't sound braggy, because that is SO not my intention!) I am the January guest designer for Jen del Muro at i{heart}2stamp! Woo hoo!!

When Jen PM'd me back at the end of November, I kept thinking I should look over my shoulder to see who she was really talking to. Most of the time, I feel like a big pretender, just a wannabe when it comes to stamping. I really do. I get my best ideas and inspiration from other people and the collective "creative soup."

But Jen really did PM me! And I really did say yes. I was (and am) SO flattered. She is a fantastic artist, a stamping superstar, so for her to take notice of me was just so encouraging.

Take a look at her 1/1 post with the five projects that I made. They're exclusive to her, so I won't be posting them here or in my SCS gallery. Check 'em out and let me know what you think! A word of explanation... one of them kinda took on a life of its own as I was creating it. One after another "I-could-add-THIS!"-es had me laughing at the project (and myself) by the end.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone. I wish you each the best in '08. God Bless!

Today's card is made with a stamp (called Champagne Woman) from American Art Stamp. They have a ton of similar images in this same whimsical style. I like a lot of the ones from their website even better, but this is the one that was at my local stamp store, and she's perfect for today! Gotta love the whimsical style and those long skinny legs!

I stamped her on Shimmery White card stock, then used an aqua painter and ink from the ink pad lid to color in the glass, her body, hair, shoes, and gloves, and the champagne bottle. The dress is colored with VersaMarker, then embossed with a sparkly gold EP.

The scallop was punched out of gold metallic card stock, smooshed onto a VersaMark pad, then embossed with the same sparkly gold EP as her dress. To get the black mat for the scallop, I punched two more scallops from black card stock, then slightly offset them from the gold.

The card background is also shimmery white, which is so hard to capture in a photograph. The dry embossed border comes from a brass template that was a Stampin' Up Level 2 hostess selection many, many catalogs ago. It's long been out of its sleeve, and I can't for the life of me remember the name of it. Sorry!

Supplies:
Stamps: Champagne Woman by American Art Stamps; sentiment by Stampin' Up (one of the All Year Cheer sets)
Ink: Jet Black Staz-On, VersaMark, So Saffron, Summer Sun, Always Artichoke, Baroque Burgundy
Paper: Shimmery White, Gold Metallic, Basic Black
Accessories: VersaMarker, gold sparkly EP (source unknown), 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, black brads, scallop punch, circle cutter, paper piercer, gold metallic grosgrain, gold cord, brass template