One of A Kind

A few online/SCS friends and I gave ourselves a challenge. One of the gals picked the color scheme (Buckaroo Blue, Cranberry Crisp, and Close to Cocoa), and we collectively opted for Julee Tilman's Mojo Monday #27 sketch, since at least a couple of us are vying for those Verve Visual stamps Julee is giving away on Monday. The deadline for Julee's sketch challenge is tomorrow evening [that's Sunday, 8 pm] if you want to get in on it!

I watercolored the flowers with reinkers and an aqua painter before adding the white dot accents on the leaves with a white gel pen. The small flowers in the center of the larger flowers have a row of brown dots on each petal. The stamp is designed so that the row of dots will show through to whatever background color you're stamping on, in this case white. I just chose to fill them in with brown instead. I also pulled every other leaf forward for some extra dimension.

[Update: Forgive my bad manners.... If you'd like to play along, please do! The SCS keyword to use is ULAS, for "Up Late and Stamping." I'd love to see you there!]

Stamps: One of a Kind, Stitched (how did I ever live without this?)
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White, Buckaroo Blue, Cranberry Crisp
Ink: Timber Brown Staz-On, Buckaroo Blue, Cranberry Crisp
Accessories: Aged copper hodgepodge hardware, corner rounder, small oval punch, photo corner punch, paper piercer, sponge daubers, cranberry crisp stitched ribbon, dimensionals, 1/4" circle punch, white gel pen, brown marker, dimensionals
All supplies Stampin' Up.

PTO Projects

It's that time of the month ... teacher appreciation time. The teachers and staff will get these little leprechauns next Friday, right before Spring Break. Let me give credit on this one, 'cause it sure didn't come out of my brain ...

The face and hat idea (almost the whole thing is done with punches, by the way) came from Regina Cornelius. The pot part was inspired by a cute little snowman hat project that Toni Ellison made for our upline's group meeting back in the fall. The idea of having the leprechaun holding the pot came from an Oriental Trading Company craft project.

[Update: The pot is holding a green bead necklace (think Mardi Gras-style). Oneof the other committee members found a big black pot of 72 necklaces on sale this week at Party City. Our budget is only about $20/month for 62 staff, so we're always on the lookout for bargains. We may also stick two plastic gold coins in there (the chocolate ones got too costly). It will be something a little different from their usual candy treats. Also, I've tried to match up each punch with the project part in the list below, but if you have other questions or if I missed something, just ask!]

Punches: 1/4" square (belt buckle), word window (hat brim, arms, legs), 1 3/8" circle (face), scallop punch (hair/beard), large tag (hat, body, bottom of pot), three for you (hands), standard office hole punch (nose). The pot is just a loop of black paper, and the hat band just a tiny strip of black paper.

This next project is a quick and super simple gift certificate holder for various staff (custodial, secretaries, nurse) on their "day." I'll give you three guesses what our school colors are ;)



Supplies: red card stock, white card stock, red ink, Seeing Stars stamps by Verve Visual, All Holidays 'thank you' stamp by Stampin' Up, red gingham ribbon, swiss dots cuttlebug folder, 1" circle punch, large star punch

And now a Friday funny ... I sent this note to school with my son today.
first page:


second page:


Tee he he. You have a great weeekend, too!

[Update: It was my turn to exhale this morning, too. A mom does not like to see the school's number on caller ID at 8:00 am! (I've gotten a call from the principal once already this year -- NOT fun.) Fortunately, it was just Cole's teacher, calling to tell me I "got" him, and thanks for the laugh. Whew!]

Line-Dancing Chickies

Don't these little chickies look like they're having so much fun? I was inspired by a ridiculously cute Penny Black chicky stamp that I saw recently on Paula Williamson's blog. My group of dancing chicks was done with a stamp that I found in the dollar bin at Michael's. I stamped the image twice for the front row, then masked those two and stamped again three times for the back row. Voila, a chorus line was born.

Along the way, I got stuck with my color scheme, so I turned to my yellow color drawer for inspiration. (My embellishments are stored by color, Stacy Julian-style -- I LOVE it!) As soon as my eyes landed on this gold mesh-looking stuff, my chorus line turned into a hoedown. Can't you hear the "Achy Breaky" right now? [If you check out that video, I really must ask: "Have you ever seen that much big hair or that many pairs of tight jeans in once place???"]

I'm submitting this card for the My Favorite Things guest designer challenge, which is to make a monochromatic card or project. Wanna play too? Get right on it ... the contest closes tonight at 10 pm EST.

By the way, is anyone else taking Stacy Julian's Library of Memories class? I'm supposed to be auditing it as an alumni, but I haven't yet made it into the classroom. Is it week 2 already?

Stamps: chick stamp from Michael's $$ bin; Canvas & Crosshatch backgrounds from Stampin' Up
Paper: More Mustard, So Saffron, Stamper's Select White (by Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Palette Noir, Summer Sun, Really Rust
Accessories: primas, vintage brads, 1/4" circle punch, distressing tool, sponge daubers, foam mounting tape, aqua painter, sewing machine, mesh "ribbon" (source unknown, you can get this in the floral sections of craft stores, it's often used to make bows for wreaths)

Who's De-Boss?

I mentioned already that this week's debossing challenge on SCS wasn't working very well for me. It wasn't the technique that gave me fits, but the small matter of incorporating it into a card. The technique is actually pretty cool and very easy.

It definitely doesn't show up well in my photo, so let me list my steps. First I colored the stamp with markers, the stem in chocolate and the petals in blush blossom. I stamped on vellum card stock and dried the ink with a heat tool. On the reverse side of the vellum I used a stylus to outline the stems and then to trace over all the lines that make up the flower petals. I colored in the petals with blush blossom. Back on the front side, I added glitter to the flowers with a clear spica glitter pen. I trimmed out the image and adhered it to the scallop circle underneath with a tiny amount of adhesive on the back side of the brown stems. The circle underneath has a layer of vellum overtop the certainly celery circle.

I will say that trimming out the image kind of takes away from the debossing; however, those pale flowers were getting lost on the card, so I need to give them some definition.

If you have any questions, please ask!

For any visual learners: the technique challenge host, Linda Black, has a tutorial with pictures on her blog.

Stamps: Embrace Life, Stitched
Paper: Blush Blossom, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Blush Blossom Chocolate Chip, White craft
Accessories: vintage brads, 1/4" circle punch, chocolate wide satin ribbon, sponge daubers, dimensionals, vellum card stock, stylus, classic and scallop circle nestabilities (by Spellbinders), diamonds in the rough embossing folders (Cuttlebug)
Supplies by Stampin' Up unless otherwise indicated.

Tagged

Since I don't have anything post-worthy yet (I *tried* yesterday's debossing challenge on SCS, but it's just not working for me!), I'll play along with one of the tagging games currently circulating. Chris (cdjkssss on SCS) at Colorful Om tagged me on this one. Thanks Chris!

1. Stamping Style
This one always cracks me up. I have no idea what my style is. Would someone kindly let me know? I once answered "bipolar."** Seriously, I'm equally drawn to the sleek, graphic, clean and simple style as well as a busier style with lots of layers, dimension, texture, and embellishments.

2. Inspiration
Other stampers (SCS and blogs), magazines, catalogs

3. Color
Anything not too, too bright. The bolder colors tend to intimidate me.

4. Work Space
I have a dedicated craft room in my basement. For a basement room, I get some pretty good light from double french doors and a large bay window. (I can also keep an eye on the kids if they're playing outside.) The room is "outfitted" with maple kitchen cabinets for storage and kitchen countertops for a work surface. I love that I can put everything away and have it look like a kitchen, especially since the room is open to the rest of the basement. Mostly, though, when other people come over, I'm offering up some lame apology about how creativity is messy. Anyone relate?

5. Perfect Day
Sleep late, stamp all day, dinner and a night out with close friends.

6. First Job
Gift wrapper at JCPenney during the holidays.

7 Wildest Dream
Summit Mount Everest or complete a triathlon

8 Ink
Stampin' Up!

9. Family
DH, Cole (7), Adrienne (4), and Gabriel (10 months)

10. Beverage
Very strong, dark roast coffee, hot tea, water, a good quality "oakey" white wine

11. Biggest Challenge
Housework! Ick.

** I do not intend in any way to minimize or belittle this very serious mental condition. I have two very close friends who suffer from bipolar disorder. They will find this analogy amusing, and so I feel at liberty to as well :) **

I think instead of tagging specific individuals, I'll just invite anyone who wants to play to consider herself/himself tagged. Let me know if you do play. I think it's fun to see everyone else's answers!

Friendship Blooms over Afternoon Tea

I got to play with a few new products this weekend. First, I successfully used rub-ons! I've used them for scrapbooking many times, but for some reason I've choked when trying to use them on a card. The fact that they were "free" helped take the edge off the anxiety. (But just the edge, lol, it's still a big commitment ... no "do-overs.")

Second, I used some of those dew drop-style clear 'baubles' from Michael's. Have you heard about these? You find them near the floral arranging section, close to the flat, clear marbles that you put down inside your flower vase. I love the dew drop look, so these will be just fine (although I do have some real dew drops coming!).

The flower is in two layers. Each layer is watercolored and raised up on dimensionals. The bottom layer is gently curled downward and the top layer is gently curved upward. It gives the flower lots of dimension. I added dots of clear glitter glue to the centers of each flower and dotted each petal of the larger flower. The two smaller popped up flowers are paper-pieced from the same striped pattern I used on the back horizontal panel.

The layout comes from Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #37. It's a fun one! Be sure to check it out if you like sketches.

Stamps: Friendship Blooms, Stitched
Paper: Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip, Papertrey's white
Ink: Timber Brown Staz-On, Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky
Accessories: clear baubles from Michael's, clear glitter glue, Spica clear glitter pen, dimensionals, Love & Happiness rub-ons, corner rounder, sponge daubers, aqua painter, white gel pen
All supplies Stampin' Up, unless otherwise specified.

Wonderful Bali Breeze Friend

I made this last night for this week's SCS Featured Stamper challenge, which is to CASE a card from Petal Pusher's (Mary Fish's) gallery. I've been stalking her blog for several months. (You may remember she was one of my nominees for the Excellent Blog award.) She is a fantastic stamper, not to mention an entertaining writer. Be sure to check her out.

I didn't make many changes to the fantastic original:
a) change the dp (you KNOW I had some Bali Breeze scraps lying around after this week, lol! I am loving this stuff. And to think I almost didn't order it!)
b) instead of scalloped edges along the bottom of each layer, you can see I distressed the edges.
c) changed a stamped flower to felt flowers
d) added the ticket corners to the sentiment panel
e) popped on three brads in the lower right.

What a fun, fun card, and a great way to use up those scraps!

Stamps: All Holidays
Paper: Old Olive, Purely Pomegranate, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Bali Breeze dp
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Rose Red (all markers)
Accessories: ticket corner punch, dimensionals, sponge daubers, distressing tool, 1/4" circle punch, tempting turquoise brads, felt fusion flowers, purely pomegranate double-stitched ribbon
All supplies by Stampin' Up.