Hand Stamped Sentiments Challenge 164 - Creative Inspiration With a Friend

Pin It Now! I was honored to make this week's challenge with my best crafty friend JoAnn. Although we live 537 miles apart from each other most of the time now, when I come back to visit - I come prepared!!!  She's never done a card challenge before, but after explaining what it's all about, we got to work!  Here's the photo inspiration:

Such a cute photo, right?  Wow!  For my card, I used the stack of books, and the black shoes as inspiration, as well as the strawberry colored skirt hem for the bottom of the black banner.

Jo liked the striped feel of the books, and turned that shape on its side.  She chose Baked Brown Sugar as her card base to match the suitcase she's sitting on, and the crochet trim matches the gravel below.  I love her card, and I love how differently two people can create from an identical start!

It's so relaxing to spend quiet time with someone who shares the same zeal for papercrafting as I do.  I've been blessed lately to meet some new people back home that I'm creating with. But Jo is the friend who always knew when I was crafting because she could see my light on across the yard :) Tonight is just like old times.

What inspiration will you find in this week's photo challenge?  Head on over to Hand Stamped Sentiments. Play along and check out the other designers' projects!  

SUPPLY LIST:

STAMPS:  Happy Day, Six Sided Sampler

INK:  Strawberry Slush, Baked Brown Sugar, White Embossing

PAPER:  Time For Tea, In-color Designer Series Stack, Crisp Cantaloupe, Baked Brown Sugar, Basic Black

EMBELLISHMENTS: Strawberry Slush Stretch Ruffle Trim, Crochet Trim, Basic Rhinestones, Lucky Limeade Baker's Twine, In-Color Boutique Details

Storytime Friends HSS130

Pin It Now! I have to confess, I am on my 3rd week being away (like 500 miles away) from my craft room. My heavenly personal space, my refuge, and 98% of my craft supplies!  This is my 4th card since I left home with a small box of stampin' stash, and it was a bit of a challenge!  The HSS challenge this week is ALL of the new In-Colors, and I found myself really wanting to scrounge through my stuff for support, as I'm not much into super duper color combos.  And since I did this card a few weeks ago already, I had to come up with a fresh multi-colored idea!

So I thought I'd go for minimalist stamping, and these super cute Storybook Friends are purrfect!

The new 7/8" Cotton Ribbon is torn and frayed for a textural layer, and our little friends are tethered together with Hat Pins and little bits of Stitched Satin ribbon to form a little banner.  

Are you feeling colorful this week?  Join the challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments and show what you got!

Another challenge that helped me with my color-full card was Friday Mashup!  They challenge you to use a stick pin / vintage / or combo thereof.  Here's my non-professional screen shot of the challenge post! LOL

Just Ducky {Clean & Simple Summer}

Pin It Now! Hey crafty friend!  I'm in the mood for something bright and cheerful today, how about you?

I have always had a fascination for vintage Mother Goose, and I am going to be using this set, Storybook Friends, a lot!  I Googled a bunch of vintage Mother Goose images to get a feel for the way illustrations were done, and I see a lot of these colorwashed brights, which is easy to duplicate with Stampin' Write Markers and an Aqua Painter.  I also added some graphic lines & dots on the ducky to make it look more like a comic strip character.  Add a little glitter, of course, to bump up the CAS a bit :)

I've been seeing these bows around, too...all paper but a really fabulous shape.  So of course, off we go to the craft room to figure it out.  You can make these with an oval punch, by first punching and then sliding the oval back in to repunch it narrower.  I'll do a tutorial on this on my next post.  

A little dahlia graces the paper bow!  They are just the best.  

This is going into my {Have Stash Will Travel} section, I'm away and using what I could fit in my one SU tote. So many things you can do with just a few supplies!  

I'm also playing along with Connie and Mary for this sketch...

SUPPLIES:

STAMPS:  Storybook Friends

PAPER:  Basic Black, Whisper White, Gumball Green

INK:  Pool Party, Island Indigo, Gumball Green, Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight

DSP:  Polka Dot Parade

EMBELLISHMENTS:  In Color Dahlias, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter

PUNCHES:  Scallop Border Punch, Large Oval, Sizzlits Lg Delicate Doilies

Hand Stamped Sentiments #114 {Black Magic Technique}

Pin It Now! I have to tell you, crafty friends, that this week's HSS Challenge was way, way out of my comfort zone!  Yow!  But that's what a challenge is all about, right?!  Here's the finished product, but the road to get here was a comedy of errors!

The challenge is Black Magic, for which there are plenty of tutorials and samples out there.  I'd never heard of it!

I decided that I would incorporate it into a card I would normally do, to add the Black Magic portion as a step along the way.  Turns out, no matter what you do, this technique takes center stage!  I used layers, frames, die cuts, doilies, ribbon, brads, pleating, sponging, punching.  And yet there it still is!  Haha!

But I digress.  My black magic technique was a little different from many of the samples I looked at.  First, I didn't want to use black, so I used Rich Razzleberry.  Second, I had no colored pencils, as I'm away this week (Have Stash Will Travel), so I used Watercolor Wonder Crayons.  Third, my gel pen is being a brat, so I used Frost White Shimmer Paint and a toothpick.  Here's my process:

 Stamp the image onto dark cardstock with Whisper White Craft Ink.  Set with a hair dryer because you may not have a heat embossing gun :). Color the image with Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Pretty in Pink and Baja Breeze used here.

 Here is where the "magic" occurs.  Apply gel pen or (in this case) Shimmer Paint around edge of stamped and colored image, which makes the image really "pop". I admit, it is a striking technique, and my 2 sons graded it an A Plus.  But they are certainly buttering me up.

Then came the layering, embossing, etc.  Tucked underneath the three layers of Edgelits is a Doily die cut, which I shimmed the wrong way, and none of the die cut pieces completely cut through.  But I loved the way it came out in one piece, so on it went, as the very bottom layer.  You can see it in the second photo, where the card is standing upright.  Then many other layers, listed from bottom to top:

- Edgelits

- Lucky Limeade embossed with Vintage Wallpaper

- Rich Razzleberry punched with Scallop Edge Border punch

- First Edition, cut 12" x 1-1/2", pleated and adhered

- Lucky Limeade 1/8" Organdy ribbon, wrapped 4 times around, and knotted with Lucky Limeade Bakers             Twine and Linen Thread.

- Designer Fabric Brad from Summer Smooches

- Finally, the bird, cut from Rich Razzleberry and Pretty In Pink, embossed, sponged, and layered.  Her eye is a Linen Thread knot.  

So there it is, come what may!  

I hope you will try this technique out for yourself, there are so many ways to use it!  Link up your creations at Hand Stamped Sentiments, and check out all the other samples for inspiration!

SUPPLY LIST:

STAMPS:  Printed Petals, Fabulous Phrases

INK: White Craft Ink

CARDSTOCK: Pretty In Pink, Rich Razzleberry, Lucky Limeade

DSP: First Edition, Summer Smooches

ACCESSORIES:  Edgelits, Edgelits embossing folders, Doily die, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Scallop Edge Border Punch, 1/8" Lucky Limeade Organdy ribbon, Lucky Limeade Bakers Twine, Linen Thread, Elegant Bird Bigz die, Summer Smooches Designer Fabric Brad, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Frost White Shimmer Paint, Basic Rhinestones, Tag punch.

Side Note Memories {Mini Album}

Pin It Now! So, this week's Friday Mashup Challenge #51 is "When Life Throws You Scraps..."  We're encouraged to make a project using a quilted technique, or using something from your stash that's been forgotten about/sitting around.  So I went digging, and found this packet of die cuts that coordinate with the Beau Chateau suite, called Side Notes.  Love the look of them, but only used them once.

I took some artistic license, and mashed em up with Everyday Enchantment DSP.  I cut and pieced and layered (much as i would when making a quilt, right?!!), and turned them into this minibook.



Here's the front.  The 'Memories' die cut wraps from the front to the back cover.



It makes a cute little spot to fill in the occasion for the minibook.



Here's the long lost stash!  Did you buy these?  did you use them?!  They're nice, thick, sturdy & pretty.



The base of the minibook is made up of only one 8.5" x 11" sheet of patterned paper!!!


I got the minibook base tutorial from Sandy's Space.  She lays out the base very nicely.


Here's how it looked with just the one-sheet base, a small scrap of paper to cover the spine, and a piece of ribbon glued into the spine.  It's nice all by itself.

Here are all the insides...











The 'friend' word art and quote were part of a large die cut that I cut up to place in a mini fashion.



Same with the 24/7.  I left the 24 hanging off the side, and colored the exposed  backside with a Stampin' Write Marker in Marina Mist.



I made a little tiny banner with leftover flower punches and butterflies!  More layering with paper, ribbons, and an abandoned Designer Frame window.



The little banner was easy-to-do, just pierced holes into die cuts on a Mat Pack, and strung them together with a needle and Linen Thread.  I'm going to try this on a large scale too!



Here's the finished product. To keep it uniform, I used only green and blue mats, alternating them on every other page, and tried to put a splash of Calypso Coral or Poppy Parade on each page to carry through the theme.  But all in all, this came together with just a few scraps of paper, and the Butterflies Embosslits.

Best of all, this is my second project made with my Travel Stash!  Just a few supplies in a 12x12 box.  You can read about my little traveling supply box here.



Here's the challenge...Friday Mashup has great themes that engage papercrafters, with a great variety!  Go give it a try!



Have a blessed & creative day! Erika.

Don't leave home without it!

Pin It Now! Your scrap supplies, that is!

I'm leaving to fly to Southern Parts Unknown this morning, and normally I drive and bring with me three bins of craft product in my family Suburban. It goes in before food. And the cats (2 of them). But since we're flying commercial air, momma had to pack light. And by light, I mean I didn't even want my husband to know its in the suitcase!



So I came up with this brilliant solution. I grabbed a Priority Mailer from the post office. Covered it with patterned paper to make it pretty. Then packed it with the bare basics to scrap a mini album while I'm gone! I have some fun goodies tucked in, including an entire Simply Scrappin' Tickets & Tags kit, mini album starter from my stash, trimmer, stapler, adhesive, and a clear wood mount case full of embellishments. That should do just fine ;)



Here's a quickie on how to dress up an unattractive repurposed box...



I'll be posting the creation of the mini album on my limited supplies over this coming week. Wish me luck & lots of crafty time!

Have a blessed & creative day! Erika. www.erikaclark.stampinup.net