Caardvarks Christmas Tags and Minis Challenge

Here is a tag that I made for this challenge. A really quick tag as this is the last day for submission. I am such a last minute person sometimes.


THE CHALLENGE
Create a NEW Holiday gift tag or mini card that incorporates stamping! Enter your project via Mr. Linky at the end of this post by the end of the month.

I stuck a sheet of music notes to a card and trimmed to a tag. Then inked up the HA Holly Flourish stamp with versamark ink and stamped onto the tag. Sprinkled with clear embossing powder and heat embossed. Then liberally applied distress ink (Barn Door). The areas that were embossed resists the distress ink. Then machine stitched edges and added ribbon and button to finish tag. Quick and easy:)


Off to complete my husband's birthday card for tomorrow. 

CCG #157

I love the colours in the above challenge and was determined to use them in a layout of my boys. So here it is.

Supplies:
Cardstock - Black and Natural White
Basic Grey  - Basics Scroll/Bas
Natural Button Twine
Autumn Leaves Buttons
White gel pen
Silver Metal alphabets
Silver Metal eyelets
Pink thread
White thread (machine stitching)

CPS 181 and Daring Cardmakers Challenges

The three cards below are for two challenges, CPS and Daring Cardmakers. I have combined the challenges with the sketch specified for the CPS challenge.

The Daring Cardmakers challenge is sponsored by The Ribbon Girl. The challenge is to create a "Thinking of you" card and send it to one (or all!) the children from this website.



Here they are.

In the card below I dabbed the excess moisture on the card after spraying pearlised water to get a more pastel look.

The main flower panel in the cards above employs the same technique used on the layout in this post.

Supplies:
HA Shadow Soft Sand Ink Pad
HA DesignBlock Silhouette Stamp
Ranger Seafoam White Embossing Powder
Ranger Perfect Pearls - Perfect Pearl
Versafine Ink Pad - Onyx Black
Distress Ink Pads - Peeled Paint, Broken China, Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Barn Door
Satin Ribbon - White, Turquoise and Willow Green
Polka Dot Orange Button
Jute Natural Twine
HA Clear Stamp Classic Messages
Inkadinkadoo Letré Stamp
HA Cling Stamp Friends Definition
HA Raindrop Background

How Much Is Too Much - Challenge #143

Here is my take on this challenge from How Much Is Too Much?
The challenge is to create a layout using:
1 photo
7 blue things (can be anything, as long as it is blue)
4 circles
5 pieces of chipboard or grungeboard


I have wanted to make a layout on my sons' births for a little while now. So I took the opportunity to make this layout on the birth of my first son, Aiden. I'll be doing another on my second son soon. I wanted to incorporate all the requirements of the challenge and yet keep it simple-ish.


The blue things are: (1) Dotted Blue Basic Bazzill Cardstock (2) Light Blue & Dark Blue thread (3) Teddy bear button (4) Face button (5) Brad at bottom of journaling (6) Blue ink pad and (7) Blue satin ribbon. So here it is.

For the circles, I machine stitched circles on the page. I know I have more than four circles. Once I got started with the idea of stitching circles, I could not stop and scattered them all over the page - dark blue, light blue and white threads/circles.

For the mat of the photo I used the medium blue dotted Basic Bazzill Cardstock. For the bottom edge of the mat, I used the Fiskars border scallop punch and then the Martha Stewart Multi Pattern Ribbon Threader Edge Paper Punch and looped light blue satin blue ribbon and adhered a white button with blue thread. 

I used chipboard for the word 'happiness'. The original colour was brown that did not quite suit as I initially wanted the alphabets in blue so I used Distress Crackle Paint, Faded Jeans. When it dried I thought the colour did not coordinate with the rest of the layout, so I coloured over it with Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber, Espresso - hence the cracked look. I then used a white gel pen to do faux stitches on the chipboard alphabets.

Supplies:
Base card stock - off white
Medium Blue Dotted Basic Bazzill Cardstock
Light blue satin blue ribbon
Autumn Leaves Clear Stamps - Journaling Stamps by Katie Pertiet
K & Company - Remake Earth Browns Chipboard Alphabet Box
Font - Rough Typewriter
ColorBox Fluid Chalk Ink Pad - French Blue
Novelty Baby Buttons
Distress Crackle Paint, Faded Jeans
Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber, Espresso
Fiskars Border Scallop Punch
Martha Stewart Multi Pattern Ribbon Threader Edge Paper Punch
Uni-ball Signo Gel Pen White Smooth Medium

CCCB Week 19 - I See Stars

This challenge is from City Crafter Challenge and the theme is...
" I See Stars"  your card or project should include stars or a star or in the shape of a star or anything else you can come up with that has a star incorporated in it.

I made this card for my two-year old son, Luke. I used Clear Hero Arts Stamps Galaxy of Stars to stamp stars on the square panels and the Hero Arts Star DesignBlock for the background and added some distress inks to the edge of the card and square panels and added some stitching.


Have a good night.

CCCB Week 18 - Isn't She Lovely?

Today's challenge comes from City Crafters Challenge Blog. The theme is as this post's title and it is to make a project with a girl or lady on it. I chose my lovely niece, Carryn for this layout. She has such a lovely smile.

I learned this distress ink technique from Jennifer McGuire. To make the flower background, do as follows:
1. Stamp the HA Cling Wildflower Garden stamp with Versamark Ink onto watercolour paper. Sprinkle with white embossing powder and heat emboss.
2. Apply TH distress inks - first Tumbled Glass and Broken China at the bottom, then Barn Door at the top, then Wild Honey and Scattered Straw in the middle.
3. Don't bother trying to blend the colours with the applicator, just apply the distress inks quite thickly.
4. Then fill up the Mini Mister spray three quarters full with water, then with the back end of a paint brush or a spatula insert a 2-3 scoops of Perfect Pearls into the mini mister. Close Mini Mister and shake.
5. Then spray liberally onto the watercolour paper. This will make the distress inks blend and give them a shine (see image below). You can see some of the Wild Honey drip into the Tumbled Glass and it dries like that when you dry it with your heat gun. Lovely.
6. Then tear the top of the watercolour paper towards you to reveal the white core of the watercolour paper.

I learned to make this rosette from Tami Hartley. To make the rosette cut a strip of paper measuring 11" long and 3/4" wide or whatever width you want, depending on the size of rosette you want. (Lightweight paper recommended as it easier to fold.) Score the entire strip at 1/4" increments and accordion fold. Bring the ends together to form a pleated circle. Secure ends with glue or tape. Push down to flatten into a circle. Adhere stamped circle (I stamped the circle sentiment with Pumice Stone) on top, using Glossy Accents. Apply pressure until glue is dry. 

Supplies:
The Langton watercolour paper
Autumn Leaves clear stamps - Sentiments Circles by Katie Pertiet
Autumn Leaves clear stamps - Journaling Stamps by Katie Pertiet
Silhouette - beautiful_smile_C00021_23445
Red paper to make rossette
HA Cling Wildflower Garden stamp
TH Distress Inks - Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Barn Door, Wild Honey, Scattered Straw and Pumice Stone.
Versamark Ink
White embossing powder
Rangers Perfect Pearls
Rangers Glossy Accent
Rhinestone gems
Tools: Ranger Mini Mister, Foam applicators, Heat gun

A Spoonful of Sugar challenge #117

Here are three cards for A Spoonful of Sugar Challenge #117. The theme is Christmas. So here are the cards.


Card with Bible verse

Card with single bauble

Card with two baubles

Supplies:
Card with Bible verse
Ivory CS
Ali Edwards Christmas Bible verses
Plaid Winter Casual papers
Ivory and brown thread for machine stitching
Basic Grey button


Card with bauble(s)
Ivory card stock
Silhouette baubles
Sentiment stamp - cannot remember from where!
HA Dot designblock
Versamark ink pad
HA Sand blossom ink pad
Natural twine
various ribbons
Versafine Crimson ink pad
White and red thread for stitching


That's all for today. Moving around a couple of rooms, so in the middle of chaos. I have a layout of a special little girl for another challenge tomorrow. Bye for now.

How Much Is Too Much - Challenge #142

I am back with yet another challenge, this time with HMITM and here are the details.
A. Use favourite "School" themed papers.
B. Incorporate a real pencil on your page as an embellishment (can also be a colouring pencil, etc)
C. 1-3 photos that is school related (college, pics w/ Teachers, graduation, college football, etc.)
D. Use something you would find on a school supply list (paper clips, staples, post-it notes, rulers, etc.).
E. Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic: Include journaling & numbers on your page. 


The layout is about my son's Pre-school graduation in June 2010.

For the school themed paper I used grid paper (you can't see it in the image above, but it is visible in the close-up images below) and ledger paper to slit behind the pic. The ink pads used to stamp the cling ledger stamp are StazOn Azure and Pumpkin ink pads. The numbers is a number border from images in my Silhouette library.

A green post-it is used to document the where and when of the graduation. A fastener to keep the post-it in place. I wanted to use a couple of coloured paper clips, but I just could not find it in my craft space. Further organisation is definitely required:) The grid paper can be seen in the image below.

To fasten the colour pencil to the layout, I pierced a hole on either side of the pencil and tied it in place with ivory DMC thread.

I stamped the large alphabet stamp in pumpkin ANM Plaid Pigment ink pad, sprinkled clear embossing powder over it and heat embossed to get that shiny look - love it. 

Supplies:

Card stock - Orange (dark and light), Blue and Brown

Grid Paper - The Paper Mill Shop

Hero Arts Cling Ledger Stamp

Alphabet Stamp - Weathered Crate Letters by Gel-à-tins

StazOn Ink - Azure and Pumpkin

Silhouette - number_border_C00022_27205

Quickutz Grand Alphabet - Washington

ANM Plaid Pigment ink pad - Pumpkin

Clear embossing powder

Green Post-it

Siver Fastener - Rapesco Supaclip
Font (Aiden's name) - Hannibal Lecter  

Blue thread for machine stitching

Ivory DMC thread

Aiden's colour pencils!

Two Card challenges

In keeping with my resolve to enter as many challenges as possible, here are another two card challenges: (1) 2 Sketches 4 You - Sketch 59; and (2) CPS 180.

2 Sketches 4 You - Sketch 59
http://2sketches4you.blogspot.com/2010/08/kazans-sketch-59.html



Here is my take on the sketch above.

Close up of the sash which I opted to do a ruffled stitched ribbon.

I embellished the frame with rhinestones.

Supplies:
Linen cream base card stock
Basic Grey Lilykate, Wisteria and Celery
Fiskars Apron lace punch
Palest blue fluid silky ribbon 37mm wide
Hero Arts Clear stamp - Whimsical Frames
Clear Expressions Clear Stamps by Hampton Art
Versafine ink pad - Onyx Black
Rhinestones - Pale blue
Ivory thread for machine stitching

Card Positioning Systems (CPS) 180
http://cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com/2010/08/cps-180-part-1.html



And here is my card. I kept it simple.

Supplies:
Pale blue, Pale pink and grey thread for machine stitching
Cloud 9 Design clear stamp, Simple Thoughts - Laughter
Versafine ink pad - Onyx Black
Patterned paper
Dark grey card stock
5" square white base card stock
Spellbinders Label 1
7mm white satin ribbon

Scrap Your Crap Challenge #56

I hardly ever scrapbook nowadays. To get into the flow of it, I decided to enter challenges over the next few weeks. This does two things - firstly it gives me a deadline to work towards and secondly it provides me a guide to start the page. 

Here is a link to this challenge: http://scrapyourcrap.blogspot.com/2010/08/challenge-56-measure-me-up.html

This challenge is about using tape. However, I did not have tape, but I improvised. I stamped part of the title onto card stock and put cellophane tape over it.

The chipboard alphabets had holes in them which I plugged with large snaps which are a cross between eyelets and brads. A special thank you to my sister-in-law, Fiona who gave me those snaps. The chipboard had a shiny surface which I sanded to remove the smoothness so that it would hold the ink.

Here is a close up of the stitching on the page -straight stitches and ziz zag stitches.

Here is a close up of the photo corner which is a quickutz die cut.

Supplies:
Basic Bazzill Cardstock
We R Memory Keepers  - Large round and square snaps in Real Racy colour
Li'l Davis Designs - Love Affair Charming Chipboard alphabet Perfect White
StazOn Solvent Ink - Azure
Kaiser Craft Patterned Paper - Reminiscing P200 Recollect
Colorbox  Fluid Chalk Ink Pad - Chestnut Roan
Brown thread for machine stitching
Quickutz photo corner die
Autumn Leaves clear stamps -Stitched journaling panels by Maryann Wise

Patterned Paper

I find that when I make a card I generally start by looking at my stamps. Getting patterned paper to start a card or lead the way of the design of a card is rare with me. So that's why I decided to make a change and start with patterned paper that I received as a freebie when I used to subscribe to the Papercraft and Cardmaking magazine. These are the cards I created.

I kept the cards generally simple because of the stitching detail, I did not think it needed much else other than a small embellishment and a sentiment. That's my take anyway. What do you think?

Ribbons, ribbons and more ribbons

There is a new online store which sells ribbons - www.ribbongirl.co.uk. I bought some from them just this week and they came so well packaged according to colour range. I also got some twine and polka dot buttons.

They are having a giveaway at their blog, http://ribbongirls.blogspot.com/2010/08/ribbon-giveaway.html. Check it out.

Two Challenges

Here are a couple of cards that I submitted to two different challenges.

First up is the Colour Combo challenge at http://colorcombosgalore.ning.com/forum/topics/color-combo-challenge-155. I stumbled upon this challenge just yesterday and now if time permits I hope to submit a creation for each weekly challenge. This challenge has two prongs to it - the colour combo and the designer's challenge which in this week's challenge is to have a grid on the creation submitted. So here is my take on the challenge.

The colour combo is as follows:
London Mist - I used this as the base card stock.
Brown Luggage - the grid/ window
Tropic Teal - the colour of the stamped and embossed image
Worldly Green - colour of the leaves

Supplies:
Paper salon, tribeca - medallion - base card stock
Hero Art stamp, K5053 Bird on a Branch
Anna Griffin pigment ink, 19ARE Robin's Egg
Color Box Fluid Chalk ink, Dark Brown
Silhouette design, photomat_2043 and phrase_love_0911
Tim Holtz distress inks, shabby shutters and peeled paint
Clear embossing powder
Machine stitched lines between grid

My second submission is to the Hero Arts challenge at http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/august-2010-contest-details/ and the theme is keeping in touch.

I used black card stock and stamped the Hero Arts Outline Flowers design block with Memories white dye ink. The satin ribbon was roughly pleated and machine stitched for a shabby chic look. Added a couple of flowers with gems and stamped the sentiment to complete the card.