Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: Soft Scarf

It's time for a new Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge!

photo source: cottonandflax.wordpress.com

We have a new sponsor, Hero Arts, for this challenge!  A randomly selected participant will receive SIX new clear stamp sets from the Hero Arts, while the LEAD will be invited as a Guest Designer in a future challenge!

I was inspired by the colors and texture of the inspiration photo, and by the scarf (sheep-->wool-->yarn-->scarf). I die-cut three felt hearts, added some stitching detail, then arranged them onto a woodgrain background. The adorable sheep and sentiment are from Hero Arts' MISSING YOU stamp set. The sheep is scolored with Copics and trimmed out, and the sentiment is heat embossed in white onto the background.

Make sure you visit each of the designers' blogs for more inspiration!

Soft Scarf Designers

Guest Designer, Angie Tieman

Amy Kolling
Amy Sheffer
Amy Tsuruta
Gayatri Murali
Kim Singdahlsen
Laurie Willison
Lisa Henke
Marisa Ritzen
Maureen Plut
Monika Davis
Sarah Gough
Sheri Gilson

Stacey Schafer
Tenia Nelson
Tracey McNeely

Follow us!

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge Facebook Page

Curtain Call Pinterest Boards

Stop by the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge for the challenge details and to play along with us!

O Come Let Us Adore Him

Good Sunday morning! It occurred to me recently that I have yet to make a single Christmas card this year. I'd say it's high time I got started! Today's card features a beautiful Christmas set by Hero Arts called Heavens Rejoice, newly re-stocked at i {heart} papers. I was so drawn to the wise man silhouette image, and chose it to ink up first. I stamped in Tim Holtz Pumice Stone ink onto a neutral pattern from the Teresa Collins Christmas Cottage 6x6 pad, then die-cut the image using a Spellbinders Labels Ten die. Accents and embellishments include crinkled and dyed seam binding, buttons tied off with some Creative Imaginations Natural Twine String Thread, self-adhesive Lace Fabric Tape by Love My Tapes, distressing, hand-stitching, and Kaisercraft pearls.

I finished the inside with some more Christmas Cottage papers and another of the sentiments from Heavens Rejoice, leaving plenty of room for a personal note as well. One holiday card down, a bajillion more to go, right? :D

Since it's the tail end of September, this is my last "official" post as guest designer at i {heart] papers. A huge thanks to Kate and the whole friendly team at IHP for taking me in this month! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Real Flowers Birthday

Can I just first say that my mojo is G-O-N-E, gone! I think I left it at the animal shelter last weekend when I finalized kitten adoption paperwork, because ever since we brought sweet Rocki home, I've wanted to do little else but cuddle with her! Good times! Except for this morning at 4 am, when the meowing began in earnest. Thus (in part) the delay in my post today. Just didn't have time get this photographed between oversleeping and rushing off to back-to-back football games. I feel like I'm letting y'all down double today!

Today's card is my sample for Jen's Sketch For You To Try. The flowers are from Hero Arts' Real Flowers set. I stamped them onto Prism Simply Smooth White in various VersaMagic inks. The fun die-cut frame is the Frame Back Ornate #6 by Sizzix. Patterned paper scraps are from Prima's new Fairy Flora 6x6 pad. The tag holds the sentiment "Celebrate Your Day" from Flourishes' Fanciful Flourishes set.

Here's the sketch:

And here's the rest of the gang with more sketch inspiration:

Jen del Muro with guest designer, Tori Wild
Amber Hight
Amy Rohl
Carole Burrage
Jenn Diercks
Jodi Collins
Kelly Lunceford
Leigh O'Brien
Megan Lock
Sonja Christoph
Susan Liles

Another look in different lighting:

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Live. Love. Laugh.

This is my second post today. 

For a Dare To Get Dirty challenge card, scroll down one post.

I love how well this floral image from Hero Arts' Real Flowers goes with the Citrus line by Crate Paper!  I inked the stamp with VersaMagic chalk inks (Thatched Straw, Mango Madness, and Jumbo Java). A lot of my stamping these days is with images that need to be colored or paper pieced. The images in this set are a refreshing change of pace!

The layout is Jen's Sketch For You To Try this week, which is being sponsored by The Wild Flower Patch. This is the same company that did the Tennessee flood relief fundraiser that I participated in a while back. Really cute stamps!! One lucky sketch participant will win five digi images of choice! Due to time constraints, I wasn't able to use their stamps this week, but look for something when I get back from the beach.

Here's the sketch:

Take a peek at what the SFYTT girls have created this week and consider playing along! Upload your creation to Jen's blog and remember to use keyword SFYTT when uploading to gallery sites.

Jen del Muro with guest designer Sandra MacLean
Amber Hight
Amy Rohl
Jenn Diercks
Jodi Collins
Kelly Lunceford
Leigh O'Brien
Megan Lock
Sonja Christoph
Susan Liles

Have a great weekend!

 

DeLovely Speckled Ornaments

It's already the 20th of the month, which means another fun Dirty Dozen/Dirty Dozen Alumni challenge. This month, Bev is hosting our "Cute as a Button" challenge, where the required element is, you guessed it, buttons ;) And get this, our restricted element is ..... black. No black anything, including ink. I can't remember the last time I made something without black, so this was a good challenge for me!

I was itching to break out my new DeLovely Mini Deck from Cosmo Cricket. I have to say these colors aren't especially "me," but I'm loving this collection to pieces (literally)! Things might start looking a lot brighter around here :)

To start, I stamped a flourish image from Hero Arts' awesome Speckled Ornaments set in VersaMark onto one of the DeLovely patterns, then heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I did all kinds of layering on that horizontal strip, including a cork layer cut with MFT's Jumbo Scallops Die-namics and a strip punched with Martha Stewart's Optic Dot border punch. I stamped three hearts (heart image is also from Speckled Ornaments) in Papertrey's Raspberry Fizz and attached them to the flourish strip with dimensionals. A cluster made of white seam binding, a crocheted flower, a button, and two leaf trinket pins breaks up some of the pink up top. At the very top, I added a thin strip of dp and even more buttons. The sentiment is from Fanciful Flourishes by Flourishes.

Many of the supplies used for this card are available at Stamper's Dream.

It's always a treat to see what all the past and current dirty girls do with these monthly challenges. Check out this month's gallery HERE.

Thanks for swinging by today!




Stamps: Speckled Ornaments (Hero Arts), Fanciful Flourishes (Flourishes)
Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White card stock, Cosmo Cricket DeLovely Mini Deck
Ink: Papertrey Raspberry Fizz, VersaMark, Versamagic Tea Leaves
Accessories: white embossing powder, dimensionals, Martha Stewart Optic Dot punch, MFT Jumbo Scallops Die-namics, HugSnug white seam binding, Stampin' Up crochted flower, buttons from stash, Maya Road leaf trinket pins, corner rounder, Spellbinders tag die
Size: 4" wide by 5 1/4" high (slightly smaller than standard A2 ... I thought I'd be layering, then decided not to)

An Occasion to Smile

Happy Saturday, blog friends! I'm enjoying today with my family, grandparents and cousins, who have all gathered to celebrate my youngest son's third birthday. Happy Birthday, Gabriel!

Before I get to today's card details, I have just a couple of things to share. First, Verve's fantastic Beach Party Release was last night - such a fun time at the release party last night, and the best part is that all those gorgeous images and sentiments you saw last week are now available in the store. Save $18 when you purchase the full Beach Party Collection (all five new sets and three Plain Janes) - that's like getting a whole set free! If you stop by the store, you'll also find 40% savings on the April featured set, Bountiful Backgrounds, and 15% savings on select sets for Dads and grads! You'll find all the savings in the "On SALE!" category.

Second, the Sketch For You To Try sisters are at it today, with their amazing artistry. I may have a sketch card to share in the next few days, but for today, I'm sitting out. I hope you'll have a look at the sketch and all the other designers' samples, and then give it a go for yourself!

Jen del Muro with guest designer Makeesha Byl
Amber Hight
Amy Rohl
Jenn Diercks
Kelly Lunceford
Leigh O'Brien
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Susan Liles

To play along, just link your creation to today's slideshow over at Jen's.

Okay, on to today's card. This is one I've been sitting on for a while, so I'll try my best to remember all the details. The sentiment comes from Cuckoo by Hero Arts. The chipboard birdcage and bird are by May Arts. Papers are from Pink Paislee's Queen Bee 6x6 pad. I've also incorporated one of the Queen Bee Flip Notes at the top and some Queen Bee Ribbon Pleats along the bottom. The ecru trim is May Arts oops, I think it's Maya Road, actually. Ribbons are a mixture of Stampin' Up and Offray, and the button is SU. The chipboard bird is covered in dp, sanded, inked with distress inks, and adorned with a Kaiser black pearl for an eye. For the bird cage, I first painted it with gesso, then gave it a coating of Ranger's Picket Fence crackle paint. Here's a closer look at that:



Thanks for stopping by!

Time to Celebrate!

{Second post for today. Scroll down to the previous post or CLICK HERE to see if you're the winner of a $200 JustRite Shopping Spree! I had one of the hidden blog candy giveaways from Tuesday's mega blog hop - FUN}

I've been playing with some delicious new Stamper's Dream goodies and loving every minute. To start with, there's the new Queen Bee line by Pink Paislee, which as my #1 favorite from CHA. Next is the gorgeous Prima Pewter Say It In Crystals & Roses Swirl. GASP! You don't need to do much else when you have one of these! I've used the complete swirl on today's card, but you can also cut it apart into smaller pieces for more mileage. Remember the cuckoo clock card from last weekend? It's hard to believe, but today's card actually uses that very same set - Cuckoo by Hero Arts. The two cards are just crazy different. This time, I was inspired by the awesome sentiments in that set, most of which work well with or without the cuckoo clock imagery. This card uses the smaller clock face image and the sentiment "It's Time to Celebrate."



Thanks to Tosh's enabling, I recently picked up a pair of Martha Stewart Deco Shells corner and border punches at Michael's. Loving this punch! The accordian flower behind the clock was done with the Deco Shells border, as was the standard ivory border along the bottom.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you have a fantastic weekend!



Stamps: Cuckoo (Hero Arts)
Paper: SU Basic Black, PTI Rustic Cream, Pink Paislee Queen Bee 6x6 Pad
Ink: SU Basic Grey, Ranger Antique Linen and Pumice Stone Distress Ink
Accessories: Prima Say It In Crystals & Roses Swirl - Pewter, Spellbinders Blossom and Classic Circle Nestabilities, Martha Stewart Deco Shells border punch, sewing machine, hot glue gun
Size: 5 1/2" square

Here For You

Happy Saturday, friends. Today, the Sketch For You To Try sisters are posting cards for our teammate Susan Liles. Susan has some info on her blog about her husband's recent lymphoma diagnosis and what they may be facing in the months to come. We would all love it if you, too, would use today's sketch to make a card for Susan! Her address is posted HERE on her blog and on Jen's blog today.

Here's the fun one that you'll be working with:



And here are links for your inspiration:

Jen del Muro with guest designer Angie Tieman
Amber Hight
Amy Rohl
Jenn Diercks
Kelly Lunceford
Leigh O'Brien
Megan Lock
Susan Liles

To play along, upload your sketch card to today's slideshow at i{heart}2stamp.

For my card, I pulled out this super fun, whimsical Cuckoo set by Hero Arts. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. It's adorable and different from anything else I own. There are a bunch of really great sentiments, too. The one I used today (on the inside) is perfect for my card to Susan:



Today's card doubles as my entry for this month's Dirty Dozen/Dirty Dozen Alumni challenge. I haven't done one of these in a long time, but only because I always forget. This month, Joanne Basile is hosting, and the theme she chose is "The Birds and the Bees." We're required to use a bird or bee image, and, get this ... the restriction is no border punches. WHAT?! Did you ever hear of such a dastardly deed? Teehehe. Click HERE to see the rest of the DD/DDA challenge entries.

I won't be winning any compliance awards from the sketch police this week, as I added the circle panel behind the cuckoo clock. On the sketch, I think the pink heart is really supposed to be more like an embellishment. The cuckoo clock is stamped with Versafine Onyx Black, clear embossed, and colored with Copic markers, then trimmed out and popped it up. The clock face and two birds are popped up again. I added two small black pearls - one for the flower center and the other at the center of the clock face. The orange dp is from Basic Grey's Green At Heart collection. I used some 12x12 that I scored at CHA, but you can find the smaller 6x6 pads at Stamper's Dream now. The green gingham background dp is from Cosmo Cricket's Material Girl collection.

Thanks for stopping by today!




Stamps: Cuckoo (Hero Arts)
Paper: Prismatics Medium Spring Willow, Dark Suede Brown, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Basic Grey Green at Heart, Cosmo Cricket Material Girl
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, PTI Fresh Snow
Accessories: clear embossing powder, Copic markers, circle Nestabilities, Kaiser black adhesive pearls, white twill, Buttons Galore button, May Arts burlap string, sewing machine

Ornamental Love

Well, I'm back from sunny Southern California. It feels like I've been gone from here forever, and yet the three days at CHA flew by in a blur. How does that work? I'll post some show favorites just as soon as I can get my pictures all together in one place. Good stuff coming!

In the meantime, I have something to share that I put together this afternoon. It sure was good to get back to stamping! Michelle gave me this gorgeous new Hero Arts set, Speckled Ornaments, at CHA, and I couldn't wait to get home and play with it. When I saw Julia's textiles challenge on Splitcoast this morning, I knew this was the perfect set. The images work beautifully on fabric. I used some very inexpensive muslin and stamped with two different colors of VersaMagic ink - Tea Leaves first and then Jumbo Java applied just around the outside. I frayed the edges of the fabric panel and machine-stitched to the paper panel just behind it.

The papers are from my beloved Life Stories Collection I by My Mind's Eye. The "LOVE" sentiment is one of the paper die-cuts included in the Life Stories kit. Embellishments include a Prima flower (love, love, love these!), some woven burlap trim, ivory burlap string, and some Champagne Kaiser pearls. The scallop border was cut with one of the Spellbinders Fancy Scalloped Border Piercabilities, and the card base mats were machine stitched and distressed with Ranger's Frayed Burlap and Walnut Stain Distress inks.

Here's a detail shot of the fabric panel. Perhaps I should have ironed it?? :)




Thanks for stopping by! Hope you're having a great week!

Stamps: Speckled Ornaments (Hero Arts)

Paper: My Mind's Eye Life Stories Collection I, Papertrey Kraft

Ink: VersaMagic Tea Leaves and Jumbo Java, Ranger Frayed Burlap and Walnut Stain Distress Inks

Accessories: muslin fabric, sewing machine, Prima flowers, May Arts woven trim and ivory burlap string, Kaiser Craft pearls, Spellbinders fancy scalloped border piercabilities, foam tape