I'm an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator in Wilmington, Delaware. I've been stampin' under the supervision of my cat Onyx since 2008.
Last month I participated in a New Catalog swap that a fellow demonstrator organized for the 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog. The swap I made uses a new Level 2 Hostess Set, Longfellows. It is the cutest collection of animals and phrases.
I loved this turtle and his shell reminded me of 70′s decor so I decided to use that as the inspiration for the color scheme: Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, Rich Razzleberry, Tangerine Tango, Old Olive and Crumb Cake. I hand cut out each of the spots for the shell (wow that was tedious, but looks great!) as well as the bits of paper for the background. All are glued on using Tombow Multi.
Continuing with my obsession with distressing things, I stamped the sentiment on crumb cake, tore the edges, wrinkled it up on my hand and inked it with Crumb Cake ink.
To focus attention on the turtle, I used an Old Olive 1/4″ Grosgrain Ribbon underneath, and dressed it up with a button I made using the Buttons #5 sizzlet and an Old Olive brad.
The bottom of the paper I punched with the Scallop Trim Border Punch and backed it with Daffodil Delight paper.
Recipe:
This is my favorite of the cards that I created for the Artisan Awards. It was inspired by the wall paper in my 1st floor powder room, which looks like overlapping pieces of paper with drawings of plants on them.
I knew that I wanted to use Herbed Expressions for one of my entries, but was struggling for the right idea. Then one day in the powder room it hit me – to recreate the wall paper as a card.
I knew it would have a very natural, earthy feel to it, so I used Naturals Ivory paper. I stamped each image twice and colored using Watercolor Wonder Crayons. I then distressed each piece using Creamy Caramel Classic Ink so that they’d look like aged pieces of paper. I then glued them to the card base, and trimmed the overhanging edges off.
I popped up the sentiment with Stampin’ Dimensionals and put some brads in each corner (the photo makes the brads stand out much more than do in person).
The sentiment wasn’t standing out all that well, so I brought focus to it by wrapping linen thread around the card in a fan-like manner. The thread helps to draw the eye away from the rest of the card and down to the sentiment.
I just adore this card. Boy I miss it. I’m going to have to make a bunch for myself at some point this summer.
Recipe
I loved the baby card from last week so much, I decided to remake it for the Embellish Magazine Baby Theme Color Challenge. The colors for that challenge are Yellow, Cream, Peach, and Green – I used So Saffron, Naturals Ivory, Peach Parfait and Pear Pizazz cardstock.
Same bling as last time…shimmery linen thread, shimmery ducks on the onesie, shimmery label with rhinestones on it.
I made a few additions…the hanger is now all wire, I added a ribbon to step it up a bit more, and I dressed up the inside of the card as well. Here are a side view that shows the dimension to the card and an inside view that shows the sentiment:
Recipe
The inspiration for this card came from a couple different places. The idea of doing a card that was inside a room looking out at the Eiffel Tower had been bouncing around in my head for a while. The original draft of this included the bird cage off to the side. The layout didn’t really work, so I scrapped the bird cage to just focus on the window.
The inspiration for the background came while I was at a panel discussion for my full time job. The hotel room where the event was being held had a brocade-like print wallpaper that had light vertical stripes on it. I quickly jotted down the idea and tried it out that night. I first tried it with white and vanilla craft inks, but the look wasn’t quite right. So then I tried the Champagne Mist shimmer paint and it was perfect!
To make the stripes look nice, I used my Hobby Blade to cut a rectangle into a beat-up presentation cover I “rescued” from work. I then positioned it over the cardstock and applied the paint using a sponge dauber.
The landscape was painted on Watercolor paper using Watercolor Wonder Crayons and the Eiffel tower was stamped on Brushed Silver card stock with StazOn.
The window frame was made from Kraft (now Crumb Cake) cardstock that I stamped with the Woodgrain stamp and then colored using Creamy Caramel Classic Ink applied with a Stamping Sponge. I then cut it off and then attached using dimensionals.
The frame with the sentiment is from the Hodgepodge Hardware in Styled Vanilla. For the insert, I stamped the flourish stamp in Chic Boutique in Versamark and then gold embossed. I then stamped the sentiment in Old Olive.
The frame is attached with Old Olive 5/8″ Satin Ribbon that is tied with some Linen Thread that has had Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint applied to it.
Recipe:
This is the card I made for my Dad for Father’s Day. My dad is a fantastic cook so using the “From the Kitchen of” stamp set was a perfect fit.
I got the color combination of Night of Navy, Pumpkin Pie, and Cherry Cobbler from the new Color Coach, which I totally love. It has individual swatches of each color with suggested color combos on the back of each as well as lots of useful information on color theory.
I’ve become a bit obsessed with distressing lately, and this card uses a lot of it. I used Basic Grey, Cherry Cobbler, and Crumb Cake ink to “age” the card stock. This really gives the card stock a richness of color that brings this card to life. The Cherry Cobbler layer is ripped all around, and the Night of Navy layer is distressed along the edges – this adds texture to the card. I wrapped the Cherry Cobbler layer with linen thread to add a bit more texture and roughness.
As for the sentiment, “For a” was die cut using the Billboard die, and “#1 Dad” was cut using Timeless Type dies. I completely fell in love with Timeless Type when I was working on my Artisan Award entries. If you are considering alphabet dies, I’d reccommend Timeless Type. It is a nice size for both cards and scrapbooking and comes in a great storage case that has extra room to hold other sizzlets.
Recipe:
Welcome to my blog! Here I’m going to focus on my creative endeavors…my inspirations, my successes and my failures. Most posts will be about paper crafts (cards, gifts, scrapbooks, etc) but who knows, if I’m particularly proud of something I’ve photographed or cooked or built…that may show up too.
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