Thursday, September 30, 2010

StampinB Challenge - Color Challenge

Our hostess this week for the Stampin'B's DT challenge was Joanne (a/k/a jojot), and we all know her favorite color combination -- red, black and white! So it was no surprise that these were the colors she chose for the color challenge.



This was a pretty simple card to make -- and I got to play with lots of new toys. I used a new Sizzix embossing folder for the background and the Nestabilities beaded ovals for the frame. After cutting and embossing the beaded ovals, I sponged the openings with SU Whisper White and then embossed with Detail White embossing powder. I added a couple more layers (one white and one red) before I added the top white layer on which I had stamped the image with Versafine Black Onyx and clear embossed. Then I added some red bling.




As this was a color challenge, I had to find a pair of red, black and white salt and pepper shakers. A friend of mine brought these back from London for me.
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Stamps - SU Peaceful Wishes
Paper - Mark's Finest Papers Snow Storm Smooth, Ripened Tomato, Speedy the Cat Black
Ink - Versafine Black Onyx, SU Whisper White
Accessories - Detail White ep, Beaded Oval Nestabilities, Oval Nestabilities, Gemstones, Sizzix embossing folder

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Stampin'B Challenge - Piercing

Vicki Dutcher was this week's hostess for the Stampin'B's DT Blog Challenge. She wanted us to put piercing on our cards. I used one of my Pierceabilities dies to make the border.




After cutting the scallop bottom and piercing the design, I sponged some Tim Holtz Wild Honey and Spiced Marmalade on it. I stamped the ferns in Jardin Moss to match the mat and the sentiment in Wild Honey to match the butterflies, which are punched with two different Martha Stewart punches. I added some pearls for a little elegance to all the butterflies, including the one in the piercing/sponged border. Then I taped another piece of the dark green cardstock under the bottom to show off the scallops. All images and materials are available at Mark's Finest Papers.



These are the only salt & pepper shakers I have with butterflies. Actually, the butterflies are secondary to the designs on the shakers. They are actually Winnie the Pooh shakers. Winnie the Pooh is on one of the other sides.
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Stamps - Mark's Finest Papers - Ferns and Chickadee
Paper - MFP Pensacola Sand, Seeds of Thyme and Orange Duo
Ink - Palette Jardin Moss; Tim Holtz Distressed Wild Honey and Spiced Marmalade
Accessories - Fancy Scalloped Border Pierceabilities, Martha Stewart Punches, Pearls, Sponge Daubers, Paper Piercing Tool

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Stampin'B Challenge #76 - Food

Vicky Gould was this week's hostess for the Stampin'B's DT challenge blog. She wanted us to make a card with food of some kind -- bonus points for picnic food. I thought cupcakes were good for a picnic!



I stamped the smaller cupcake from Mark's Finest Papers' Cupcake Birthday set and then curved the sentiment a little so it wrapped the top of the image. After coloring the cupcake with Copic markers, I put some new (to me) Ultrafine Raspberry Fizz Flower Soft on the icing. Let me just say here -- I love this stuff! The border was created using two Martha Stewart punch-around-the corner punches I found on the clearance rack at Michaels. Gotta love a bargain! The DP is from DCWV's The Sweet Stack.



My salt and pepper shakers today form a cupcake when stacked one on the other, but I wanted to show you that there are actually two pieces.
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Stamps - Mark's Finest Papers Cupcake Birthday
Paper - MFP Ripened Tomato & Snow Storm Smooth; DCWV The Sweet Stack DP
Ink - Palette Noir Black
Accessories - MS punches, Copic markers, Flower Soft

Friday, September 10, 2010

Mark's Finest Papers Blog Day 4

Welcome to the Mark’s Finest Papers September Blog Hop! This month, we’ve added two new DT members and have shortened link lists! While I’m not officially part of the Blog Candy hop today, thanks for stopping by and looking at my projects.

We have 4 New Stamp Sets Released this week: Autumn Fun, Broom Rides, Stinky Situation, and Thankful Mums and Pumpkins. For your convenience, all 4 stamp sets are available for purchase TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, (a set that will be released NEXT month), visit and comment on each of the other design team members' blogs. On Saturday, (September 11, 2010), a winner will be chosen from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for today. (There will be four different winners, one winner for each day of the blog hop. You DO NOT have to comment every day. However, the more days you comment, the more chances you have to win!) If you miss a day, you can go back and comment on each day's blogs, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning!

We end the Blog Hop with Thankful Mums and Pumpkin.



Both of my projects for today are 3-D. The first is a “stamped” candle. Actually, you stamp on a piece of tissue paper and “melt” the image into the candle. For complete directions, here is the tutorial from SCS.



I love pumpkin butter, as do many of my friends. Here is a little gift set you could present to someone for almost any occasion this fall. I made a “thank you” tag using the pumpkin image and tied it with hemp twine around a purchased jar of pumpkin butter. The accompanying note card uses the same image and some DP from Basic Grey’s Eerie paper pad.



I think these “critter” pilgrim salt and pepper shakers are so cute.


Be sure to visit the rest of the team to see what they did with this set and comment on each of the participating members’ blogs. You have one more chance to win one of the stamp sets to be released next month.

Here is today's Blog Hop LINE UP:


Emily
Karen
Patty
Roxie
Vicki

Thursday, September 9, 2010

MFP Blog Hop Day 3 and Stampin'B's Challenge

Welcome to the Mark’s Finest Papers September Blog Hop! This month, we’ve added two new DT members and have shortened link lists! And…LOOK for a NEW LINK LIST TOMORROW!!!

We have 4 New Stamp Sets Released this week: Autumn Fun, Broom Rides, Stinky Situation, and Thankful Mums and Pumpkins. For your convenience, all 4 stamp sets are available for purchase TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, (a set that will be released NEXT month), visit and comment on each of the design team members' blogs. On Saturday, (September 11, 2010), a winner will be chosen from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for today. (There will be four different winners, one winner for each day of the blog hop. You DO NOT have to comment every day. However, the more days you comment, the more chances you have to win!) If you miss a day, you can go back and comment on each day's blogs, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning!

My first project is serving two purposes – the Stampin’B’s challenge for this week and also Day 3 of the Blog Hop.



I was the hostess for this week’s Stampin’B’s challenge – a color challenge (pink, blue, and green). I made this little Post-It note holder using the tutorial on SCS. The papers from Basic Grey’s Euphoria paper pad use the three colors in the challenge. The cute little porcupine from Stinky Situation is stamped in Palette Noir Black and clear embossed. Did you get the connection? Sticky notes . . . porcupine quills. Sorry about that! My late husband always said I had a weird sense of humor!



I love the birch tree image from this set. After stamping the larger of the two skunks in Palette Noir Black (clear embossed), I masked it and stamped the birch trees in Memento Rich Cocoa. One of the leaves from a 4-die Cuttlebug die set looks very much like a birch leaf. It is glued down on just half, with the other half raised up. The brown background (MFP Hazelnut) was embossed using one of the Tim Holtz embossing folders, then stamped with Versamark all over and clear embossed. IRL it almost makes it look like leather.



I have neither porcupine nor skunk salt and pepper shakers, but I thought these armadillos would work with today’s critters.

Don’t forget -- For another chance to win a free stamp set, be sure to visit the blogs of the rest of today’s design team and comment on each.

The Blog Hop line-up is:

Nancyruth
Lois (that’s me)

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Mark's Finest Papers Blog Hop - Day 2

Welcome to the Mark’s Finest Papers September Blog Hop! This month, we’ve added two new DT members and have shortened link lists! And…LOOK for a NEW LINK LIST TOMORROW!!!

We have 4 New Stamp Sets Released this week: Autumn Fun, Broom Rides, Stinky Situation, and Thankful Mums and Pumpkins. For your convenience, all 4 stamp sets are available for purchase TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, (a set that will be released NEXT month), visit and comment on each of the design team members' blogs. On Saturday, (September 11, 2010), a winner will be chosen from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for today. (There will be four different winners, one winner for each day of the blog hop. You DO NOT have to comment every day. However, the more days you comment, the more chances you have to win!) If you miss a day, you can go back and comment on each day's blogs, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning!

Again I have created two projects with today’s set – Broom Rides.



I love these little matchbox treat boxes created with the Sizzix Bigz XL die and the Big Shot. Two of them are decorated with DP and the other two are stamped with images from Broom Rides and “buttons” from Michaels.




My hill on my card was created by cutting a piece of “grassy” DP and stamping the tree at the top. The cute little ghost is popped up on a pop-dot. After coloring the sky with chalks, I stamped this wonderful sentiment in black. Do you want to be the official “tester” of Halloween candy? What a fun job!



These jack-o-lanterns are part of my salt and pepper collection.


Be sure to visit the rest of the team to see what they did with this fun set and comment on each blog. You have a chance to win one of the stamp sets to be released next month.

Here is today’s Blog Hop LINE UP:

Nancyruth
Lois (that’s me)
Vicky
Jeanne
Anne
Debbie
Peggysue
Susan
Judi
Connie
Claudine
Dawn
Joanne T
Nicole
Marilynn
Mark’s Finest Papers

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Mark's Finest Papers Blog Hop - Day 1

Welcome to the Mark’s Finest Papers September Blog Hop! This month, we’ve added two new DT members and have shortened link lists! And…LOOK for a NEW LINK LIST TOMORROW!!!

We have 4 New Stamp Sets Released today: Autumn Fun, Broom Rides, Stinky Situation, and Thankful Mums and Pumpkins. For your convenience, all 4 stamp sets are available for purchase TODAY!

For your chance to win BLOG CANDY, (a set that will be released NEXT month), visit and comment on each of the design team members' blogs. On Saturday, (September 11, 2010), a winner will be chosen from those participants who visited all the blogs listed for today. (There will be four different winners, one winner for each day of the blog hop. You DO NOT have to comment every day. However, the more days you comment, the more chances you have to win!) If you miss a day, you can go back and comment on each day's blogs, as the winners will be chosen Saturday morning!

I’m starting off the Hop with two projects for today’s set – Autumn Fun.




For my card, I created the background by cutting small octagonal shapes from K & Company’s Fall Harvest Mat Pad DP and gluing them down on the green panel. I stamped the squirrel from Autumn Fun onto MFP Corn Husk, which is cut using a larger octagonal Nestabilities die and matted twice. I added some twine and an acorn charm at the top.




My second project is a picture frame. Using several of the smaller stamps from this versatile set, I decorated the mat in various fall colors. The basket of leaves is colored using Copic markers. The cute guy in the photo is my two-year old grandson William.



A set of acorn salt and pepper shakers I got at Ruby Falls/Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, where my late husband and I visited during our 25th anniversary trip to Nashville -- 23 years ago. He was a country music fan; I was/am a country music tolerator!

Be sure to visit the rest of the team to see what they did with this set. And remember, you have a chance to win one of the stamp sets to be released next month.

Here is the Blog Hop LINE UP for today:

Nancyruth
Lois (that’s me)

Monday, September 6, 2010

CAS Challenge

Today's CAS challenge on Splitcoaststampers was a sketch.



My CAS card is located under the sea, using Mark's Finest Papers cute set, Flourished Sea Creatures. Starting with white cardstock, I stamped this little scene and then sponged lightly over everything with some Palette Reflection Blue. After cutting the four squares, I added just a little bit of Mudd Puddles on the bottom two panels, simulating the ocean floor. The circles on the ribbon sort of reminded me of bubbles.



These funky fish are part of my collection of about 125 sets of salt and pepper shakers.
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Stamps - Mark's Finest Papers: Flourished Sea Creatures
Paper - MFP Premium Paper Craft Pack: I've Got the Blues . . . and Greens
Ink - Palette: Reflection Blue, Cognac; Tim Holtz Distressed: Wild Honey, Bundled Sage; Tumbled Glass
Accessories - Mudd Puddles, Ribbon, Sponge

Friday, September 3, 2010

Wedding Shower Cards

Today I was working on a commission from a woman in my office. Her daughter is giving a wedding shower for a friend and asked me to make a card for her. My co-worker bought the black and green papers and some ribbon because her daughter wanted the card to match the decorations for the shower. I had enough paper to make three cards. She can take one or all of them! I must admit that I perused the Wedding gallery at Splitcoaststampers to get my ideas. All three of my cards are CASEd.



The first card is actually CASEd from this baby shower card by mandalee65. The card base is white, so that the inside is white; and I just cut a piece of the green to cover it. The white panel is embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, and the next panel is cut with the Stampin'Up Top Note Die. After stamping the sentiment from one of a two-stamp set with black, I cut it out using a Shapeabilities tag and popping it up over the punched out green circle. The inside is stamped with the other stamp from that set. It says: And they lived happily ever after. The End.



My second card is a CASE of this card by lbenden. Again, the card base is white, the green panel is punched with an EK Success border punch. The sentiment is stamped in silver and then embossed. I like that corner punch -- it provides a mat and some interest at the corners.



My last card I CASEd from this card by scrapgal2. Because the Flourishes white cardstock is so thick, I had to make sure I punched the borders at the right place so that, when the card is folded, the designs match up. I wove the narrow black ribbon into the latticework and then backed it with the green ribbon. The rest is pretty self-explanatory.



I may be stretching it a little with these salt and pepper shakers. I had nothing that even vaguely was related to a wedding shower. So the only set I had that MIGHT work was this set from Jamaica -- the colors on the flag match the colors of my cards.
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Stamps - Hampton Arts Fairy Tale 2-stamp set, Lizzie Anne Designs Say It In Script, SU Sincere Salutations
Paper - Flourishes Classic White, Bazzill Basics Bank Roll, Deja Views Sweet Romance
Ink - Versafine Black Onyx, Tim Holtz distressed Bundled Sage, ColorBox silver
Accessories - SU (Sizzix) Top Note die, Fancy Tags Shapeabilities, Cuttlebug and Swiss Dots folder, Circle punch, Ribbon, Corner punch, EK Success border punch, Martha Stewart Lattice border punch

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Stampin'B Challenge #74

Brenda (Benzi) is the hostess for this week's Stampin'B's DT Blog challenge, and she wanted us to use a charm somewhere on our card this week.



I rarely do one-layer cards, so this week’s card is something different for me. It is also a sneak peek at new set (Autumn Fun) from Mark’s Finest Papers that will be released next week. I stamped the leaf in Palette Burnt Umber, clear-embossed it, and then added the sentiment in orange. Even after I added the ribbon and charm, it looked a little bare, so I pierced around the edges.
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Stamps - Mark's Finest Papers Autumn Fun
Paper - Mark's Finest Papers Corn Husk
Ink - Palette Burnt Umber and Orangerie
Accessories - Ribbon, Gold cord, Charm, Paper piercing tool, Sponge dauber