You're One of My Nicest Thoughts

The Dare to Get Dirty challenges are in full swing over at Splitcoast. Here's another challenge sample I put together, this time for AndreaEwen's challenge that posted this morning. (The link with challenge details is available only to SCS Fan Club members -- sign up today and join in all the fun!)

I could spend the rest of this post gushing over Andrea and her beautiful work, so I was thrilled (and a little nervous) to make a sample for her! I'm always inspired by the elegance of her cards, her creative embellishing and her punching prowess -- today's card is my tribute to her.

The sentiment, from Verve's Small Phrases, is the BEST! I die-cut it with Verve's Charming Oval die set -- a perfect fit!

The medallion at the top was fun to make -- here's a break-down of the layers:

• In the back is a hand-made doily, punched with the Martha Stewart's Swirling Lace corner punch. I used Becca Feeken's tutorial, beginning with a circle that I die-cut using the second-largest circle die from Spellbinders Small Classic Circles Nestabilities set and punching eight times
• Then comes an accordian-fold rosette -- no dies for this one, just old-fashioned scoring (love my Scor-Pal) and folding. I sanded the edges for some contrast against the Kraft doily
• Next is a layered flower created with Verve's Floral Circles die set and some of the neutral patterns from the Reflections paper pad
• At the very top is a blingy flower center from a Prima pack that I found during my Hobby Lobby shopping trip with Kristin Eberline.

I used the Swirling Lace corner and edger punches do the border around the perimeter of the card. I started with two pieces of 5" x 6.75" Kraft, punched around the page on both, and adhered them together easel-style with a strip of Scor-Tape along the very top, just below the punched border.

Disclaimer: One punch was seriously stressed , but not permanently injured, during the making of this card {grin}. The kraft card stock that I so, so love, by Papertrey, is a little too heavy for this border punch.  Even though I'm not a fan of the Stampin' Up kraft I've had on hand since my demonstrator days (the color seems dull and grayer), it IS slightly lighter and works beautifully with this punch. To warm up the color, I inked the edges with Brushed Corduroy distress ink.

Happy hump day!




Stamps: Small Phrases (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Prima Reflections dp, Papertrey Kraft, Stampin' Up Early Espresso
Ink: Ranger Old Paper, Brushed Corduroy, and Walnut Stain Distress Inks
Accessories: Prima flower center bling, Verve Floral Circles and Charming Ovals dies, Scor-Pal, sanding block, Pizazz Aplenty chocolate pearls, foam adhesive, Martha Stewart punch, corner rounder, Spellbinders border die, Papertrey buttons, MFT Jumbo Scallop border die, burlap string, distressing tool, Scor-Tape
Size: 5" x 6 3/4"

Dare to Get Dirty 2011 - Baby Sock Cupcake

Today, Splitcoast begins its annual Dare To Get Dirty challenge series especially for Fan Club members. It's never too late to join in and participate - Fan Club membership details are right HERE! The challenges continue for an entire week -- can't wait to see what you lovely and talented ladies come up with!

I'll be hosting a challenge later next week and have made or will be making samples for a few other challenges, beginning with this sweet baby sock cupcake today, which is for Debbie Fisher's (aka debbiedee) challenge! Fan Clubbers can find this and all of today's challenges HERE.

Do you know how much cuteness you can create out of ordinary baby items? I have seen diaper cakes before, but a YouTube search turned up loads of other fun things, from baby sock bouquets to washcloth lollipops to diaper wreaths. And cupcakes, too!

Mine is made from three baby socks - pink, white, and fuschia. It took a bit of trial and error to get the overall shape I wanted, but the payoff was so worth it. I think they're just too adorable!! I dressed up the cupcake with an accordian-folded sleeve, some tulle, a button (gotta have those!), a few paper flowers sprinkled onto the "frosting," and a sentiment flag sticking out of the top.

The "sweet baby girl" sentiment, from Verve's new Small Phrases set, fits the theme and is the perfect size! Quite a few of the other sentiments work well, too ... "sweet baby boy," "bundle of joy," "welcome, baby," "happy birthday," "precious little one." I'll be using "you are loved" on a second cupcake (made from the matches of these three socks) and packaging the two cupcakes together for a sweet baby gift. Now I just need a recipient!

So cute, so fun, and practical, too! I combined tips and how-to from these three videos:

Baby Socks Cupcake
Fabulously Artsy -- Hey, Cupcake! 
Sock Cupcake

Have a happy day!




Stamps: Small Phrases (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Crate Paper Emma's Shoppe collection, Papertrey Stamper's Select White card stock
Ink: Versamagic Tea Leaves
Accessories: Scor-Pal, Papertrey button, Webster's Pages tulle, The Twinery baker's twine, Prima paper flowers, Li'l Inker Designs sentiment flag die, paper piercer/needle/thread, Making Memories heart stick pin, Target baby sock 3-pack

Hugs to You

When the coloring mood strikes, I love to reach for the wonderfully detailed Stampavie images. This one, illustrated by Sarah Kay, is called Josephine Cuddling Her Pet Cat Kiki, and is available at Stamper's Dream. The last time I colored this image, I used a much different color palette, and although I liked it okay I guess, personally, I find the earth tones that I used today much more appealing. Just my taste though -- I'm certain Josephine would look darling no matter how she's colored! Today's tones were drawn from one of my favorite paper lines -- Prima's Reflections 6x6 pad. I made this for a friend who could use a big hug right now and was delighted to find the perfect sentiment, Hugs to You, in my JustRite stash.
 

The pretty paper flowers are also from Prima. The trim is by May Arts and the gold string (hemp?) is from my stash. I did a lot of distressing, with both ink and an edge distressing tool. The image is colored with Copics for the most part. I did add some french gray shadowing with Prismacolor pencils.

Before I go, wanted to give you the heads up to tune in to Splitcoaststampers tomorrow morning at 8 am Central, as past and present "dirty girls" (it's been two years, and I still marvel at the honor of having held that title!) host the annual Dare to Get Dirty extravaganza for Fan Club members. It's always such a fun time!! If you're not a member of the Fan Club, whatcha waitin' for? I'll be posting my challenge samples here on my blog, too -- can't wait!

Have a fantastic Friday, friends!

A Great Night For Fright

I sure hope it's not too early to start posting Halloween projects -- I couldn't wait to play with JustRite's new Happy Halloween set! The six centers and borders are too darling! I pulled out some Halloween paper from last year, The Girls' Paperie Toil & Trouble. Coloring is with Copic markers and Prismacolor pencils. The black medallion is die-cut with a Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Doily Accents Shapeabilities die. Oh, and boo-boo alert: I forgot to color the belt buckle! Please tell me I'm not the only one who does that ... forgets to color some aspect of an image? I did actually go back and color the buckle and would have re-taken the photo, but I ended up botching the hat while adding some shading. Seriously ... I haven't colored that far out of the lines since kindergarten! Good thing it's a super quick image to color. I can whip up a new one -- right after my overdue playdate with Barbie and friends :)

Hope you're having a fab day!

Marci Celebrates Summer

I just got back from a week at the beach and let me just say I *wish* I looked as cute as Beach Marci, one of the newer La-La Land Crafts images available at Stamper's Dream! I colored her with Copic markers, trimmed her out, and placed her in a "scene" (I use that term loosely) created with Pink Paislee's Hometown Summer paper collection. It's hard to see in the photo, but the sentiment "Celebrate Summer," from JustRite's Elegant Charms cling set, is stamped onto the smaller cloud to the left. The waves are die-cut with the Catch A Wave Die-namics die from My Favorite Things. The number banner along the bottom is from Pink Paislee's Hometown Summer border sticker collection. The clouds and cork sun are also die-cut with MFT Die-namics dies -- Sunshine and Flat-Bottom Clouds.

The layout is the July Sketch For You To Try, sponsored by My Favorite Things. Check out this post for all the participation details and the linking widget where you hook up your entry -- happy stamping! Remember, those who participate in all twelve sketches for the year will be eligible for a mega grand prize drawing in December. Hard to believe we're more than halfway through the year now!

I'm going to scoot -- lots of catching up from being away last week, including an email backlog. If I owe you a response, you'll be hearing from me shortly. My blog has been a little quiet lately, but it's about to get wild and crazy! The next few weeks are going to be super exciting and busy -- I cannot wait!

Life is Good

There's a new Diva Dare challenge going on over at the Verve blog, and today is my day to answer the dare! Here's how it works ... following each release, Verve posts a theme that we dare you with, and you'll have two weeks to complete the challenge. During those two weeks, the Verve Divas will post their creations and tell you how they answered the dare! This month, the theme is Sentimental About Paper! It's time to dig into all that gorgeous patterned paper you've been hoarding! Showcase a sentiment stamp (no images) to create a new and never-before-seen project! Verve stamps are not required, but if you've got 'em, we love to see 'em! Have you played along yet? If not, there's still plenty of time!

I hope you'll visit me over on the Verve blog today for more card info plus a chance to win some Verve! Life is good!



Stamps: Life is Good Plain Jane
Paper: Webster's Pages Yacht Club, Papertrey Vintage Cream and Kraft card stock
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Versamagic Wheat
Accessories: Wilton lollipop stick, foam adhesive, MFT Flat-Bottom Cloud Die-namics, The Twinery twine, paper, Papertrey button, edge distressing tool, sewing machine
Size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

I'm Not Finished With You Yet

I have loved reading Max Lucado's Hermie: A Common Caterpillar to each of my children throughout the years. As Hermie, a "common" caterpillar with seemingly no noteworthy characteristics, repeatedly asks why God made him so plain, God answers again and again, "Be patient, Hermie, I'm not finished with you yet." By the end of the story, you can guess, Hermie has become a butterfly. Whenever I read Philippians 1:6, I can't help but think of Hermie and his transformation. We're all works in progress, something I would do well to remember every time my perfectionism rears its ugly head!

Philippians 1:6 is the newest Scripture stamp in Verve's Plain Jane collection. I love the font treatment Julee has put together -- it feels so dainty and sweet. I die-cut the sentiment with a Spellbinders Lacey Circle die, sponged the perimeter (with the die in place), and accented with two red mini roses and some foliage (stamped with a leaf image from Bloom & Grow, then die-cut with Verve's Elegant Leaves die). The papers are from Cosmo Cricket's Odd & Ends 6x6 Mini-Deck. I'm just loving the combination of the tiny red flower pattern and the blue polka dot print. The layout is from Chupa's Sketchbook Saturday Challenge #18 from a couple of weeks ago -- great sketch!

The card as I've shown it above is a slightly re-worked version of a card I made for Verve's most recently release. I wasn't all that happy with the original (it just felt like it was missing something), and in the process of doctoring it up, I was reminded of the "Less Is More/More is More" comparisons the SCS Dirty Girls upload to the Fan Club gallery each month. I thought it might be fun to show both!

Here's the original:

Changes I made:
+ switched to a Kraft card base for a little more contrast
+ added a strip of red double-stitched ribbon behind the twine, again for more contrast and "pop"
+ stitched along the embossed ridge on the Lacey Circle

Sentiment detail, before:

Sentiment detail, after:

And after all that, I'm still not sure I like it any better than the first one! Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it, it's just not my favorite card ever :)

Hope your week is off to a great start! I'm pre-posting, so if all has gone as planned, I'm sitting on a beach in North Carolina soaking up some rays. Doctor's orders, too {*grin} -- my Vitamin D levels are extremely low! That'll surely go on my "you know you're stamping too much when ..." Top 10 list -- teehehe!



Stamps: Philippians 1:6 Plain Jane; Bloom & Grow (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey Vintage Cream and Kraft card stock; Cosmo Cricket Odds & Ends dp
Ink: Versafine Onxy Black, Versamagic Wheat and Tea Leaves, Brushed Corduroy Distress
Accessories: Verve Elegant Leaves Die, Recollections mini roses, Spellbinders Lacey Circles Nestabilities and scalloped border die, sewing machine, Papertrey twine, Pizazz Aplenty pearls, Papertrey ribbon, paper piercer/needle/thread
Size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"