Three New Stamped Cards

I won several packs of stamps from Fresh Squeezed Stamps and wanted to use some of my new goodies. I played around with the stamps and some new techniques and wanted to share three of the cards I made. 

Card 1: Washi Inspired 

My favorite stamp set from my winnings was Breath of Fresh Flair which has numerous small images that fit on a circle stamp to make your own flairs. I thought the designs were so cute that I wanted to start with this set. I chose to break out some wash tape which I've collected but have hardly used, and paired the two together to create this fun card. 

I taped some wash in strips on a piece of cardstock. I stamped the circle outline stamp over the top using permanent ink. I punched out the circles using a circle punch, including some half circles along the edges. This was the forefront of my card. On the background, which is the actual white folded card, I stamped my images and sentiment. I used a cassette tape and bow stamp. To connect the two images, I drew in the squiggle line to represent the cassette tape ribbon being tied into a bow. I chose the "just a note" sentiment to play with the music theme. I popped the washi panel over my card with some foam adhesive. 

Card 2: Making own Background 

I also received a graphic set called Trendy Triangles. Since I normally like to use cute images rather than graphic designs, I challenged myself to use this set. 

I stamped some triangles in a variety of colors in descending and ascending columns. To tone down the colors and patterns, I stitched a layer of vellum over the top. On the vellum I stamped a jar of hearts with my sentiment. I used the same ink colors from the background for my hearts. 

I wrapped the paned with some ribbon and then popped that on top of my folded card with some foam adhesive. It came out very feminine and elegant. 

Card 3: Making own Foreground 

I made this next card for my two year old niece's birthday. Here she is along with my grandmother and my husband who were also celebrating a birthday. They each had their own cake.  

Since she wouldn't really care about the design elements, I kept the card fun and bright. I thought she'd like the colors, the shine and the people with tiny party hats. 

I stamped the front panel of the card with solid circles and stars. The smaller circle is actually the back side of an outline circle stamp, so remember that both sides of a stamp can be used if necessary. I punched out a hole on the front panel and stamped the people on the inside of the card. The hats are little triangles I cut from the leftover circles from my wash card. I added some sequins as a final touch. 

Hey party people, thanks so much for stopping by,

Sweet Stamps: Altered Birthday Frame

This is my last project for Sweet Stamps as a guest designer. I really enjoyed my time with them this month and loved working with all of their gorgeous stamps.

The Project
My grandmother celebrated her 92nd birthday this past weekend and I wanted to make her a gift and card set. I was thinking along the lines of something monochromatic and elegant, and here is the result.

The Process
Vellum is back in popularity right now and I thought it would be the right base for the wings of some butterflies. I used this medium butterfly stamp and stamped it onto vellum using white embossing ink and white embossing powder.

After heating it and cutting it out, I wrapped the butterflies with some wire floral stamen to make the antennae. If you want color on your butterflies, color the reverse side of the vellum with markers before cutting them out. 

I purchased a plain wooden frame from Target to hold a 5 x 7" photo. I chose a very wide frame so I had more room to decorate. Since I wanted more of a monochromatic look, I printed the photo in black and white. I toyed with the idea of painting a light coat of white paint over the frame, but decided the butterflies would stand out more over the dark wood. Instead, I painted some wispy tendrils using white craft paint. To make it more durable, I added Mod Podge over just the tendrils. 

I made a few small ribbon roses and adhered the butterflies and roses onto the frame with come clear craft glue. 

I also added some smaller butterflies I punched from vellum using a Martha Stewart punch that matched the look of my stamp. I finished it off with some adhesive pearls.

I made a matching card using vellum over white cardstock. I drew in the tendrils and wrote the happy birthday sentiment in Chinese with a white pen. I added three of my extra butterflies, a few pearls and some Prima ribbon. I hope my grandmother will like this matching set.

If you have a project with roses on it, please join Sweet Stamps this week in their roses challenge. 

I'm entering the frame in the following challenges:

Altered Eclectics: Anything Goes Altered Items

Ladybug Crafts: September Challenge Anything Goes

I'm entering the card in the following challenges:

A Little Bit Crafty: Clean and Simple

Really Reasonable Ribbon's Ramblings: #80 Shabby Chic and Ribbon

Thanks so much for stoppin' by,

Sweet Stamps Guest Designer: Butterflies

The Challenge
This month I am thrilled to be a guest designer with Sweet Stamps. I love working with their red rubber stamps which gives a much cleaner edge than clear stamps. They have weekly and monthly challenges, so there are 5 challenges a month if you'd like to participate. The challenge theme this week is Butterflies. If you have a project which features butterflies, then link it to this post at Sweet Stamps.

The Layout
For my butterfly project, I wanted to make a layout with butterfly patterned paper. I stamped my own background using just one stamp (Bold Medium Butterfly) in a variety of colors. To keep the emphasis on the colorful butterflies, I faded my photos prior to printing them. For more details on this layout, please visit Sweet Stamps' blog.

The Supplies

Cardstock: Bazzill

Patterned Papers: My Mind’s Eye

Chipboard Stickers: My Mind’s Eye

3-D Stickers: My Mind’s Eye

Alphabet Stickers: Doodlebug Design

Brads: My Mind’s Eye

Wood Shape: Studio Calico

Stamp: Sweet Stamps

Date Stamp: American Crafts

Ink: Prima Marketing, Stampin’ Up

Pens: Copic

Glitter Glue: Ranger Ink

I'm entering this in the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps and More!: Anything Goes

Flutter By Wednesday: #251 Anything Goes with butterflies or fairies

Thanks so much for flutterin' by,

Love to Scrap Challenge #2: Emboss It!

Hello Scrappy friends! It is time for our second challenge at Love to Scrap. We just wrapped up our first challenge, Anything Goes, yesterday and the winner and top three can be seen here.

The Challenge
For our 2nd challenge which begins today, submit any type of project that uses an embossing technique. It can be heat embossing with inks and powders or dry embossing with die cut machines and folders.

I choseheat embossing and made this small Christmas gift. It is a clear pillow box that was leftover packaging from some buttons. I filled it with mini marshmallows to look like snow. I wrapped a belly band around it and decorated it with a wintry theme.

The Details

I stamped the background snowflakes using a clear VersaMark watermark stamp pad. I then added white embossing powder and heated it on watercolor paper. This is thicker and more absorbent that cardstock. 

I stamped some blue and purple Stampin' Up ink pads on my craft sheet. I then sprayed some water onto the stamped ink which made small puddles. I dragged my paper through the puddles and got a subtly blended watercolor effect in the background. I first tried using cardstock but the colors looked dull and muddy so I switched to watercolor paper. 

I wanted a soft muted look for my central snowman image so I used the leftover puddles of ink for my colors and painted it onto the snowman with a water brush. I thought Copics might be too stark as I only wanted a hint of color since the snowman is mostly white. 

The snowman is a digital image called, "Oops Snowman" as he is falling on that little rock next to his skates. It is a digital image from the sponsor for this challenge, The Crafting Boutique.  The rest of my stamps (snowflakes, sentiment, scarf wrapped heart) are from a Clearly Wordsworth set called, "13 Snowman" that I already owned, which matched the digi stamp perfectly.

Supplies

Pillow Box - Clearbags

Watercolor Paper - Simon Says Stamps

Inks - Stampin' Up Classic, Tsukineko

Cardstock - Cutcardstock

Watercolor Brush - Niji

Craft Sheet - Inkssentials

Digi Stamp - The Crafting Boutique

Stamps - Clearly Wordsworth

Embossing Powder - Hero Arts

Glitter Glue - Ranger

Heat Tool - American Crafts

Spray Bottle - Inkssentials

Join the Fun
For more details about the challenge and to see the rest of the design team's projects, please see today's post on Love to Scrap. This challenge is open for two weeks, so get your entries in before Sunday, March 31st at 3 P.M. PST. If you have any projects with embossing on it, just link it to today's post. 

The winner will receive a $10 shopping spree at The Crafting Boutique and that will get you 5 - 10 items as everything is only $1 or $2. So get your crafting on.

I'm entering this in:
Sentimental Sundays - Challenge #146, Anything Goes
Lady Anne's Challenge - #6 Using Stamps
No Matter Which Challenges - #7 Anything Goes
Paper Crafting Journey - Anything but a Card
Love to Create - #57 Anything Goes
My Crafty Spot - #91 Embossing

Thanks so much for stoppin' by,

Fresh Squeezed Stamps: Mardi Gras World

The Stamps

For my second guest designer project with Fresh Squeezed Stamps, I'm working with a feather themed stamp set entitled, "Tickle My Fancy." When I first saw this set, I was reminded of Mardi Gras since feathers are used in a lot of the parade masks and costumes. I just happen to have visited Mardi Gras World in New Orleans a few weeks back, so I knew this set would be perfect on a layout. 

The Reveal

I visited the warehouse where a lot of the styrofoam props for the Mardi Gras floats were made. Artists carve the styrofoam, papier-mâché over it and then paint the sculptures. There were a lot of heads and body parts lying around as the parts are recycled, repainted and reused over the years. 

The photos were so colorful I ended up only using black and white cardstock for my papers. I added a hint of Mardi Gras colors in the alphabet stickers of my title and in a few adhesive bubbles that look like beads. For my main embellishments, I made my own stamped feather transparencies. I toned down the colors of my supplies, so they wouldn't compete for attention with the photos. 

The Details

I decided to stamp the feathers on a sheet of acetate so they would blend better into the layout. Also I wouldn't have to fussy cut around each individual barb on the feather. I used a solvent ink pad, Staz-On metallic silver, so it would create a permanent image that wouldn't smear on the acetate. I stamped all three designs multiple times and cut out the ones with a clear image. 

The silvery outlines shows up well on the black background and give just the right hint of Mardi Gras flavor.

The Fun and Games

Fresh Squeezed Stamps is hosting fun games and contests with free stamps as prizes all month long. This week's game called "Dear Santa" is to write a letter to Santa. If you aren't sure how to start, there is a template you can use here. This game ends at midnight tonight. But don't worry if you can't participate in this one, there is one more new game next Monday on their blog. If you want to keep up with the latest news, check out their Facebook page or Twitter feed. If you are interested in being on their design team, check out their design team call that is going on now through Sunday, December 16. 

I'll be back next Thursday for another new reveal.

Thanks so much for droppin' by,

Paper Made Bakery: A Rainbow of Flavors

Hello scrappy friends, happy Thursday! Here is a sneak peek of my latest creation for Paper Made Bakery. Since my hubby is a physics teacher, I tried to get the refractive index correct with the straw. 

I've really enjoyed working with this month's Sodas in Soho stamp set. I like the shape of the soda bottle in the stamp set so much that I stamped it seven times on one card! Since I had 7 bottles to color, I used a quick and fun technique that I will share in today's tutorial.

To see the whole project with the coloring tutorial, please see today's post on Paper Made Bakery's blog. The card turned out super cute so I hope you go and take a look. 

Thanks so much for poppin' by,