Inspiration Challenge

As I have mentioned many times before, the Inspiration Challenge on Splitcoast is my favorite of the week. Today's site, Embroidery Everywhere was chock-full of inspiration. I actually did three projects based on the embroidered images on the site.

The first card was inspired by this Tranquility Tree. A fellow-SCSer Mary (a/k/a jandjccc) sent me some window diecuts (while I wait to order and receive the dies) to use. What a great diecut! I stamped the image from a Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company, set called A Trip to Lancaster, coloring it with Copic markers. I embossed the cardbase with a Sizzix bricked embossing folder and then glued on the window scene.



My second card was inspired by this Retro Lemonade image. I used a layout from Page Maps to get started. The lemon was stamped twice -- one of which I cut out and popped up. I used DP from Basic Grey's Nook and Pantry paper pack.



My third project was actually made initially for Speedy's Friends Challenge #88 -- to use a snowflake. Looking for something that would be appropriate for a snowglobe and snowflakes, I found this embroidered snowman. It's hard to see behind all that glitter, but there definitely are snowflakes stamped on the paper. I bought the snowglobe kit from Hobby Lobby and used a retired set from Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company, called Snowman Country. I love that little snowman!



Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Speedy's Friends and Inspiration Challenge

I made two cards for this morning's Inspiration Challenge on Splitcoaststampers. The inspiration was appropriate for the season -- lots of hand-blown glass Christmas ornaments by Christopher Radko. I chose this retired ornament as the inspiration for my first card, which is also for Speedy the Cat's Friends challenge of using your favorite embellishment. I used the icicles, large snowflake and sentiment from a soon-to-be released set from Mark's Finest Papers. a Heinrich Company, called Ice and Snow.



The icicles were stamped in ColorBox Silver pigment ink and embossed with Detail Silver embossing powder. Using Copic Opaque White paint, I colored them in and then added some Icicle Stickles. The sentiment and snowflakes were stamped in Stampin' Up Whisper White and embossed with Winter Wonderland embossing powder, which has some silver sparkles in it. I guess my favorite embellishment would be ribbon, especially when paired with a stickpin or two.

I did wind up making two cards for the inspiration challenge. I chose this little church ornament as the starting point for my second card.



Colored with Copic markers in the same colors as the ornament, this church reminds me so much of the mission church I attended as a child in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. This week's SCS sketch challenge seemed to be a good layout to highlight the church scene. The designer paper is from the Authentique Wonder paper pad.

Card 1
Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers - Ice and Snow, unknown small snowflakes stamp
Paper: MFP Dark Night Navy, Sparkling Silver, Snow Storm Smooth
Ink: ColorBox Silver Pigment, SU Whisper White
Accessories: Copic Opaque White paint, Ribbon, Stickpins, Stickles, Winter Wonderland embossing powder, Detail Silver embossing powder


Card 2
Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers: Christmas in the Country
Paper: MFP Cherry Slush, Snow Storm Smooth
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Distressed Tumbled Glass
Accessories: Square nesties, Copic markers, Stickles

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Inspiration Challenge and Speedy's Friends

The Inspiration Challenge over on Splitcoaststampers introduced us to a very yummy site, The Creative Cake Academy. The cupcakes shown are just amazing! For my inspiration I chose the purple-decorated cupcakes, one of which had daisies on it. My card also qualifies for Speedy the Cat's Challenge this week -- to make a one-layer card.



To give my card a little texture, I first ran it through my Cuttlebug with the Scrollwork embossing folder -- and then brushed the embossing with some Pebbles Pearlescent Chalks. The image is from Mark's Finest Papers set, Greet the Day with Gerber, stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Copic markers.

I actually did two cards for Speedy's Friends' challenge -- this one a Halloween card. I inked up the Sizzix Branch Tree embossing folder with Memento Tuxedo Black and then ran it through my Cuttlebug. To give an eerie look, I sponged around the tree with London Fog. The cute little ghost is from Mark's Finest Papers Halloween set from last year, called Broom Rides, and the witch is actually the watermark from Get Your Broom On, a new set this year. After I finished my little scene, I made a "frame" around it using a black marker.



Thanks for stopping by and looking at my cards.

Inspiration Challenge and Speedy's Friends

True to its name, the Inspiration Challenge chose a very inspirational site this week -- Doodletart Glass. It was a beader's heaven, with beautiful hand made glass beads. I was so inspired that I actually did two cards.

My first card, inspired by this bead, was done in monochromatic blue colors for the Speedy's Friends' challenge over on the MFP blog. I realize that gerber daisies do not naturally come in blue, but asters (which look very similar) do. So maybe this is card should be called Blue Asters instead of Blue Daisies.

I used three different designer papers from Prima's Sweet Fairy collection, piercing the edges. To give a little interest, I did an out-of-the-box cutting of the image panel and added some stickles to the centers.

My second card, which actually was the first one I did, was inspired by a purple bead. I learned a valuable lesson when I made this card. Ultra smooth paper is not a good choice when coloring with Copic markers. The paper doesn't absorb the ink very well. I'll remember that next time! I cut the flourish using a Sizzix die and added some Prima flowers.

Because I donate lots of birthday cards to the assisted living facility where my mom lives, I like to make most of my cards into birthday ones. I used the same sentiment (from MFP Bearded Iris) on both cards.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Blogger has been rather wonky this week; so, if you didn't get a chance to check out the Mark's Finest Papers blog hop of brand-new sets, take the opportunity to go back and look at all the beautiful creations the Design Team put together for this release.

Card #1

Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers - Greet the Day With Daisies

Paper: MFP Premium Heavy White, Bang Up Blue; Prima Sweet Fairy DP
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Palette Beau Arts Blue
Accessories: Paper piercing tool, Stickles


Card #2
Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers - Bearded Iris
Paper: Super Ultra Smooth Vanilla, August Greens; Prima Sweet Fairy DP
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Distressed Milled Lavender
Accessories: Sizzix Flourish #2 die, Copic markers, Petite Ovals Nestabilities, Prima flowers, Brads, Sponge dauber, Pop dot

Inspiration Challenge and Speedy's Friends

Because the SCS Inspiration Challenge is my favorite, I actually did two cards today. The site for today was Henrietta's Handbag, a shop with lots and lots of very creative handbags. As I was looking through the bags, I came across this felted bag, which immediately made me think of the American flag, with its stars and stripes. The bag has dots and stripes, but you get the idea! For my card I used a brand-new set from Mark's Finest Papers called American Made, which will be released on Tuesday. Speedy's Friends challenge was all about paper, ink, and stamps -- no embellishments. So there are no pearls, no Prima flowers, no ribbon on this card.



I actually did two cards for the Inspiration Challenge. This card is a little more fun, inspired by this funky market bag.

I didn't have an image of a lily pad the right size, so I cheated and Googled "lily pad" on the internet and found one that would work. So I printed it and cut it out.



Thanks for stopping by my blog today. I hope you liked what you found.

Card #1
Stamps - Mark's Finest Papers - American Made
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black and Rhubarb Stalk; Tim Holtz Distressed Faded Jeans
Paper - MFP Snow Storm Smooth, Ripened Tomato, Dark Night Navy
Accessories - Cuttlebug and Stars embossing folder, Spellbinders Labels Trio, Sponge dauber, Spica silver glitter pen

Card #2
Stamps - Mark's Finest Papers - Our Side of the Pond and Whispering Winds
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - MFP Snow Storm Smooth, Lime Squeeze
Accessories - Copic markers, Pebbles pearlescent chalks, Labels Four Nestabilities, Pop dots, Computer for lily pad image

Inspiration Challenge - Ruche

It's been a week since I've posted to my Blog -- life does get in the way of fun, you know. Anyway, as I've said before, the Saturday Inspiration Challenge on SCS is my favorite one of the week. You can go in any direction you'd like with your creations.

My first card, a Clean and Simple design, was inspired by this "floating with butterflies ring." I used some brand-new DP for my background -- Prima Fairy Floral -- and matted it with MFP Aqua Light. Using a square nestie, I created the embossed frame around the aqua/DP square.

The butterfly was punched with a Martha Stewart punch and attached at the center with some Scor-tape, allowing the wings to float. The sentiment, from Mark's Finest Papers' Daffodil and Anise set, is stamped with Versafine Deep Lagoon and clear embossed.

Because of all the wonderful inspiration on the Ruche site, I had to make a second card -- using this buttons print as the starting point. All the DPs on my card are from Cosmo Cricket's Material Girl paper pad, matted in MFP Dark Chocolate Bar cardstock.

The SCS sketch challenge this week was quite interesting. I was able to use three different patterns from the Material Girl pad -- making the buttons the most prominent. Speedy's Friends' challenge this week was to use both heat and dry embossing and also to have at least one element popped up. I stamped the mannequin in Versafine Sepia and clear embossed it. Then I stamped it again using Versafine Toffee, clear embossed it, and colored the skirt using Memento markers. After cutting out the skirt, I attached the waist using Scor-tape and popped up the bottom. The sentiment is also popped up. All images are from Mark's Finest Papers' Sew What? set.

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Thanks for stopping by.

Snowmen

The temperatures in Florida over the past several days -- and again what they will be early next week have not had the feeling of the South! I've made a few cards using this cute little snowman set from Mark's Finest Papers called Snowman Country. Now, Florida is not snowman country, but it's definitely been cold.

My first card was made for Speedy's Friends challenge to use paper piecing, which is a fun technique.

I cut a Labels Eleven shape several times -- once in blue and twice in white, ripping the white so that the layers would form snow drifts. I sponged on some Palette Ballet Blue to emphasize the layers of snow. Then I stamped the tree and snowman over the layers. After stamping them again I pieced them over top of the original images. The tree was actually stamped on some fern DP I had in my stash, but the ferns were the right shape for the tree. I stamped the snowman again on a piece of Basic Grey Wassail DP and cut out the hat brim, scarf and gloves -- then pieced them over the white snowman. I added some Polar White Flower Soft for the snow. Because the white Flower Soft works much better over white, I painted a little Copic Opaque white paint on the tree branches. The background DP on the card is from this year's DCWV Winter matstack.

Using the same papers and stamps, I made a card for this morning's Inspiration Challenge, the site for which was Shabby Apple.

When I was at StampFest last year, I found these wonderful little shaker card pouches -- no more foam tape! I used one of the round ones to make my card today, which was inspired by the color of this dress. I'm still making Christmas cards, so this one fits right in! When I stamped the snowman, I inadvertently used ivory cardstock instead of white, so I used some Copic White Opaque paint to add the snow on the ground and on the tree. I added some Flower Soft to "shake" around the snowglobe.
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I thought I would show you these wonderful salt and pepper shakers, which my best friend made about ten years ago, when she was making ceramics. She has since started rubber stamping, and I think the ceramics hobby has gone away.

Thanks for stopping by today.

World Card Making Day 2010

Today is World Card Making Day, and Splitcoaststampers is partnering with M. D. Anderson Cancer Center for a month-long card drive to benefit those affected by breast cancer. Every day there will be a challenge, and then at the end of the month, we're to mail our cards to M.D. Anderson for distribution among the patients. What a worthy cause! My mom is a 25-year breast cancer survivor, and I am more than happy to contribute to this worthy cause.

Each day will be new challenge, but they started off with a bang -- three challenges! The first was to make a holiday card, but use pink rather than traditional colors for that holiday. I'm in the process of making Halloween cards for the residents of the assisted living facility where my mom lives, so this was right in line with what I've been doing lately.

The second challenge was lingerie-inspired -- either with lingerie-type stamps or with lace and ribbon, satin and bows. Having no lingerie-type stamps, I opted for the second choice. I found this lacey ribbon in my stash of goodies.

The last challenge was a color challenge -- brown and pink. Fortunately, this Basic Grey DP is all about brown and pink. I actually combined this challenge with Speedy the Cat's Friends' challenge to make a card with buttons and bows.

My salt and pepper shakers for today had to be relative to all three challenges. I figure the pink dress on the girl and the pink ribbon on the goose would qualify.

Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge #18

This is my last card as Guest Designer for Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge on the Mark's Finest Papers Blog. Geri was the hostess and wanted us to make a Friendship card.

I hope you don't think this card is too "busy" with all the different DPs from the Basic Grey Sugared paper pad. I used one of the sketches from Page Maps, a favorite site of mine for card layouts. The clock, from the MFP Take Time and Father's Day set, is stamped with Versafine Sienna on the pink and then cut out with a scalloped circle Nestabilities die. The rest is pretty self-explanatary.

You'll have to take my word for it that these salt & pepper shakers relate to my card. They are from London, and one of those pictures is of Big Ben.

Stamps - Mark's Finest Papers - Take Time and Father's Day

Paper - Basic Grey Sugared DP (underlying card base is MFP Snow Storm Smooth)

Ink - Versafine Sienna

Accessories - Clear ep, Scalloped Circle Nestabilities, Oval punches

Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge

This is my card for Geri's Harvest Theme challenge on Mark's Finest Papers blog this week. I chose a soon-to-be-released set from MFP called Autumn Fun. Look for it in September.

After stamping the basket of leaves with Memento Tuxedo Black, I colored it with Copic markers in various fall colors. Before removing the circle Nestabilities die, I sponged around the edge with Tim Holtz Distressed Wild Honey. One of my favorite neutrals has become MFP Corn Husk, so that's what I used for my background, matting the circle and some fall patterned paper from K & Company with MFP Hazelnut. How do you like that acorn charm? I thought it was really cute. The sentiment is stamped in Palette Burnt Umber and clear embossed.

A Canadian friend of mine gave me these salt and pepper shakers. She divides her time between Sudbury, Canada and Florida.

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Stamps - Mark's Finest Papers Autumn Fun

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Distressed Wild Honey, Palette Burnt Umber

Paper - MFP Corn Husk, Hazelnut; K & Company Fall Harvest Mat Pad

Accessories - Copic markers, Circle Nestabilities, Twine, Charm, Sponge dauber, Clear ep

Speedy the Cat's Friends

Vicki Dutcher asked me to be a guest designer for the Speedy the Cat's Friends' Challenge on the MFP blog for the month of August. The challenge for my first card of the month was definitely quite a challenge -- make your own embellishments. So, after thinking for quite a while, this is what I came up with.




I stamped the woven pattern from Backgrond Fun onto a small piece of MFP Desert Sand, then cut and shaped it into a basket. I punched lots of greenery, using the Martha Stewart branch punch, from August Greens -- my new favorite green. I made the flowers by cutting the very centers of the camellias from Apples and Camellia, sponged them a little bit, and attached them to some twisted wire with glue dots. After I put the basket together, I added the stickles. I cut the rick rack from some cardstock with the pinking blade on my cutter. The "dew drops" were made by punching out three circles with a small circle punch and adding some Alene's Crystal Glaze. Whew!!!


Stamps - Mark's Finest Papers Background Fun, Apples and Camellia, Flourishes and Frame
Paper - MFP August Greens, Desert Sand, Deepest Mahogany; Basic Grey Cappella DP
Ink - Tim Holtz Distressed - Vintage Photo, Milled Lavender, Wild Honey, Barn Door
Accessories - MS branch punch, Wire, Stickles, Circle punch, Crystle Glaze, Pop dots, Pinking blade

This salt and pepper shaker set is actually two pieces. The salt shaker is the flowers, and the pepper shaker is the basket.

Featured Stamper and Catch-Up

I was totally unfamiliar with today's Featured Stamper (sbs81 a/k/a Stephanie) on SCS so it was a treat to look through her gallery. I actually chose a card that she uploaded just this past week, Crabby. I liked the bright reds and the simple layout, both of which I kept for my card. I eliminated one layer, the brads, and the ribbon; but added a sentiment and some pearls. Instead of stitching, I just pierced around the edge of the white panel. Her card was quite whimsical; mine is a bit more traditional.




Stamps - Mark's Finest Papers - Spring Roses, sentiment from soon-to-be-released Background Fun
Paper - MFP Snow Storm Smooth, Ripened Tomato; Basic Grey Indian Summer DP
Ink - Palette Noir Black
Accessories - Copic markers, Tim Holtz Retro Circles embossing folder, Tag punches, Paper piercing tool, Half pearls



Yesterday's Inspiration Challenge site, Blue Carrot Shop, has a whole bunch of vintage items to purchase. I recognized several of those things as having been in my house at one time or another. I chose this Florida Tray, using the theme and colors for my card. This also qualifies for Speedy's Friends Challenge to use a punch. The sentiment was punched out with the Word Window Punch.


Stamps - Mark's Finest Papers - Tropical Vacation
Paper MFP Clean Oven Gray, Snow Storm Smooth; Basic Grey Ambrosia DP
Ink - Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Weathered Wood,Tumbled Glass, Crushed Olive, Bundled Sage
Accessories - Spellbinders Labels Ten, Word Window Punch, Prima Flowers, Brads, Sponge Daubers, Scalloped Circle Punch for cloud template

As I was looking through yesterday's inspiration site, I came across this set of salt and pepper shakers. Guess what, I have a very similar set in my collection of over 100 S&P shakers.This card also qualifies for the Crazy4Challenges color challenge of red, white, and black.

Stamps - The Greeting Farm Happy Chef

Paper - SU Real Red and Basic Black, GP White

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Lady Bug

Accessories - Copic, Prismacolor, and Memento markers, Pop dots

Speedy the Cat's Friends & Inspiration Challenges

I actually did two cards for this week's Inspiration Challenge on SplitCoastStampers, which was an initially very "challenging" site for me; but as I wandered through it, it got much easier to find something. My first card is actually for two challenges. In addition to the IC, it also was made for Speedy the Cat's Friends challenge. This week the Jr. and Sr. Design Team members for Mark's Finest Papers were the hostesses. We were to use a diecut on our cards.

My inspiration for this card was this apron from the Oompa website. I took the color and shape as a starting point. Oh, and there's a flower on it! I love coloring the roses from MFP's Spring Roses. After stamping with Palette L'Amour Red and clear embossing, I colored them with Copic markers. I cut the ovals from Basic Grey Porcelain DP and MFP Clean Oven Gray (don't you love that name?). The sentiment is from MFP Daffodil and Anise. I added some Faith dots with a white gel pen and hung the fairy charm from the bow.

The inspiration for my second card was this lunch box, with its patchwork of horses. I revisited a technique I haven't done in a long time -- faux postage -- because the lunch box gave the same feel. This is also a sneak peek of a soon-to-be-released set from Mark's Finest Papers called Southwest Cowboy. To get the shading right on my "stamps," I taped them down with some removable tape and then sponged Tim Holtz Tea Dye ink around the edges. When I removed the tape, the lines were straight and clean. I love those big pewter brads; they look so nice on a masculine card with the twine strung between them.

Inspiration Challenge & Speedy's Friends

Once again, Smilin' Stef picked a great site for the Inspiration Challenge over on Splitcoaststampers. The Bicycle Muse has all kinds of accessories for bikes and bike lovers. Too bad I don't own a bicycle. I never learned how to ride a bike as a kid (imagine that); my late husband taught me to ride.

Anyway, I picked one of the colorful bags as my inspiration -- Kitsch Kitchen Pannier - Floral. I thought the bright colors and pattern looked so pretty. This is my result.




In the front yard of a previous house in which I lived was a variegated camellia, which I loved. You must understand that I definitely have no green thumb, and I did absolutely nothing to this plant. But, despite my lack of attention, it bloomed each and every year.

Speedy the Cat's Friends' challenge was to use three flowers on your card. So, after cutting out and using the center piece of the Spellbinders frame, I stamped two camellias, coloring them with Copic markers and sponging the background randomly. I stamped the third one on a piece of scrap paper and cut it out. Then I cut another frame from MFP Spring Leaf cs and taped the flowered piece into the center. The third flower I popped up to give some depth. Those Cuttlebug leaves are probably not camellia leaves, but they looked pretty close.

All the materials on this card are available at Mark's Finest Papers.

Stamps - Mark's Finest Papers - Apples and Camellia
Ink - Palette Moulin Rouge, Jardin Moss, and Raw Sienna
Paper - MFP Snow Storm Smooth, Spring Leaf; Basic Grey Lemonade
Accessories - Spellbinders Classic Frame, Copic markers, Brads, Sponge daubers, Pop dots

Inspiration Challenge & Speedy the Cat's Friends

Today's challenge site for the SCS Inspiration Challenge was LoveArtWorks, an Etsy store of very interesting clay pieces. After looking through the site, I settled on one of artist Kristen Love's black, white and one-color creations as the starting point of my card. I also wanted to incorporate this week's Speedy the Cat's Friends challenge to use embossing.





This is the bowl I chose as my inspiration piece. Her one color (in addition to the black and white) was red -- perfect for the cherries. I stamped the images with Palette Noir Black and clear-embossed them. The background was embossed with a new Tim Holtz crackled embossing folder. There was just enough room on the background piece for that little sentiment.
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Stamps - Mark's Finest Papers - Cupcake Birthday
Ink - Palette Noir Black
Paper - MFP Snow Storm Smooth, Ripened Tomato
Accessories - Copic markers, Circle nestabilities, Tim Holtz crackled embossing folder, Pop dots

Two Spotlight Challenges

Talk about coincidence -- both the Saturday Speedy's Friends challenge and the Friday SCS Free4All challenge wanted cards made with the spotlight technique.

My card for the Speedy's Friends challenge was made with the brand-new Mark's Finest Papers set called Ladybugs and Carnation. I just discovered that yummy Florida Peach cardstock from Mark's Finest Papers -- and had to order two packages!!!




I stamped the carnation with Palette Noir Black on MFP Snow Storm Smooth and colored it with the palest Copic markers of green (G0000) and yellow (Y0000). I stamped it again and colored it with darker shades, then cut it out with nesties, as well as the orange matted piece. After sponging with Palette Orangerie around the edge of the white cardstock, I added the three sparkly brads and the piece of Basic Grey Ambrosia DP, through which I had woven a narrow piece of ribbon. I matted it with gray.
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Stamps - Mark's Finest Papers - Ladybugs and Carnation
Ink - Palette Noir Black and Orangerie
Paper - MFP Florida Peach and Snow Storm Smooth, SU Basic Gray, Basic Grey Ambrosia DP
Accessories - Copic Markers, Circle Nestabililities, MS Border Punch, Brads, Ribbon


When I bought this Thomas Kinkade, I had visions of recreating some beautiful cards I've seen on SCS. WRONG! I could never get the hang of coloring these images. So Friday's Free 4 All gave me an opportunity to use this image on a smaller scale.

I stamped the image onto MFP Snow Storm Smooth with Memento London Fog and trimmed away all the white around the edges. Then I stamped a smaller section and colored it with Copic markers -- sometimes having to guess where the details were. After cutting out the colored portion with a circle Nestabilities die, I matted it with SU River Rock and again with SU Not Quite Navy. I left enough of the card base showing so that I could add the doodles.

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Stamps - Thomas Kinkade Foxglove Cottage and PaperTrey Ink Birthday Basics

Ink - Memento London Fog and Tuxedo Black

Paper - SU Not Quite Navy and River Rock, MFP Snow Storm Smooth

Accessories - Copic Markers, Circle Nestabilities, White Gel Pen, Black Marker