Watercolor Poppies

I've really been enjoying Jen Del Muro's Sketch for You to Try challenge. Here's this week's sketch and the same Starving Artistamps Silhouette Poppies stamp that I used on yesterday's card. I also used Cracked Grout Mosaic and Pretty Background stamps for the BG panels. I stamped the backgrounds with Dark Moss and Cadmium Yellow chalk inks onto coordinating card stock. I colored the poppies with watercolor crayons directly onto the rubber and spritzed the stamp with water, and then stamped onto watercolor paper. The rust stripe is embossed with a Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes folder.

Enjoy the rest of your day. It's a rainy one here, but that's OK because we really did need it.

Serendipity

This card kind of just created itself from materials I had lying out on my table. I had been wanting to try the Walnut Resist technique from the latest TJNL, and my new Starving Artistamps Silhouette Poppies stamp seemed like the perfect opportunity. The papers I used for the strips are Basic Grey Urban Couture, and the yellow is a piece of SU Barely Banana that was sitting next to my paper cutter. I had to go looking for the card base, but this piece of periwinkle blue cardstock practically jumped into my hand when I open the drawer. Even my choice of embellishments seemed preordained. I've had those photo turns for at least two years and used them for the first time on this card.

I wish I had this kind of Stamping Karma ALL the time!

A Double Urban Double Challenge

Yup, you heard that right...Doodle Factory Urban stamps from Starving Artistamps, Basic Grey Urban Couture paper, SCS Sketch Challenge SC173, and SCS Ways to Use it Challenge WT163. Those of you who are Doodle Factory afficionados will recognize Yapples driving the taxi. I think he's driving it backwards, but hey, it's a cartoon!

Not much techie stuff to tell about this one other than I stamped the images with Brilliance Graphite Black, heat set them, and then colored them with Prismacolor markers. The rest is just basic cutting, distressing, and gluing.

Let's Get this Party Started!

Looks like I'm the first to post for the Tea Party Challenge this week. Ideally, I would wait for the hostess, but I think she was "iffy" for today, and I might not get another chance to post until much later. So, here goes...

Dina was our hostess this time, and her challenge was to make a round card. I didn't think this would be too difficult, but as it turns out, my brain is hard-wired for rectangular! I had such a hard time thinking in circles and never really had a true moment of inspiration. I was determined to do the challenge, though, and this is what I came up with. It's my first ever round card. Maybe the next one will be easier?

The stamps I used for this are, of course, all from smARTworks. The sets are Blossom Duos Set 1 and Sweet and Simple. I used SU classic inks for the stamping, my trusty Creative Memories Cutting System to cut the circles, and a couple of eyelets and a piece of ribbon to hold everything together.

Be sure to check out what the other "Cookies" did (links are to the right), and don't forget...you are welcome to play along with all of our challenges. Just post a link in a comment so we can all admire your work!

See ya 'round!

Don't Throw Anything Away

The three small squares on this card are part of a nine square tile stamp from Magenta. I stamped it and started coloring it back before Christmas. I never did finish and just threw the unfinished piece into my scrap pile. I was looking for a piece of green cardstock the other day, found the unfinished piece, and decided to make a card with it. So I guess the 50th time I looked at it was the charm!

I colored the tiles with Prismacolor pencils and blended with odorless mineral spirits. The background paper is Basic Grey (Mellow, I think), and that's about all there is to say about this one.

See you tomorrow for the 13th smART Cookie Tea Party. Dina has tossed out an interesting challenge, so be sure to stop by!

And the Winner is...

Helen Reiter! Email me with your address, Helen, and I'll get your candy right out to you.

Freaky Friday

Well, a freaky card anyway. Trust me...this one looked so much better in my imagination! The blue panel is the thing that bugs me the most, but there's not much I can do about it now.

The butterfly and harlequin background stamp (which are in know way responsible for the end result, BTW!) are from Starving Artistamps. The gold panel uses a technique I got from Technique Junkies called Createx Creations (not responsible either).

If this were your card, what would you have done differently? Try to be kind, though. I welcome constructive criticism, but I don't think I could deal with a comment like, "I never would have started." LOL! Leave me a critique and you'll be entered to win some surprise blog candy. I'll pick a winner at random on Sunday morning.

TGIF!

Pssst! Want a Sneak Peek and a Chance to Win Some Blog Candy?

I thought so! Head on over to the Starving Artistamps Blog and check out the cutest Doodle Factory stamps yet...Fairytale. And while you're there, tell Tracey who your favorite Doodle Factory character is and you could win the first set, hot off the presses!

Here's Rupert, one of my favorite Doodle Factory characters. I colored Rupert with Prismacolor Markers. The Vertical Birthday stamp is from Impression Obsession, and the printed paper is Basic Grey Obscure.

Good luck winning that candy!

Color Collage

I've been playing around with a technique from the latest Technique Junkies Newsletter called Color Collage. Very addictive!

I used lots of different stamps for these cards, but they are all available from Starving Artistamps. The inks I used are mostly Stampin' Up Classic and Ranger Distress Ink.

They're Done.

I filed our taxes yesterday, and the way I see it, I'm early. The deadline isn't until TUESDAY. To reward myself for enduring the trauma and high anxiety involved with filling out a Form-1040, I've allowed myself to craft all day today. Ha!

I just made this card, and at the risk of blowing my own horn, I must say that I love the way it turned out. I stamped the sunflower, from Starving Artistamps, with Ranger Peeled Painted Distress Ink and colored it with my Prismacolor markers. The background paper is from the Heidi Grace Day Dream Believer collection. Sing along all you Monkees fans...you know you're out there! Mickey Dolenz was the cute one, IMHO.

Cheers to You

I'm still making Birthday cards. Once I get my stock replenished, I think I'll (GASP!) start on my Christmas cards. Scary thoughts, I know!

I broke out some of my new Stampin' Up stamps for this card: the background is Sanded, and the saying is from the Lots of Thoughts Salebration set. For the embossed panel, I used a technique from the latest Technique Junkies Newsletter called Artsy Dimension. The photo doesn't do it justice; it's shimmery and shiney and looks like a piece of metal IRL. The inks I used for this one are Colorbox Fluid Chalk in Chestnut Roan and Burnt Sienna.

TGIF, people!

Inspiration Tea

It's time for another smARTworks Design Team Tea Party, and Trish is our hostess this time. Trish decided on an inpiration challenge using this beautiful piece of framed artwork.

I just love the loose, casual feel of the blocked background, and when I saw the white flowers, I immediately thought of stamping with bleach.

To create the background for my card, I masked off the sections one at a time. Working in sections I used my SU Classic Ink spots in Brocade Blue, Certainly Celery, and Always Artichoke to ink my rubber brayer. I reinked and brayered until I had a look that I liked. Then, just to add some definition to the edges, I applied more ink with a sponge. I stamped my hydrangea with bleach, let it dry, and added some ribbon (what's a card without ribbon?) and a mat, and there you have it. An pretty easy card to make, but one I really like.

Be sure to check out the inspired creations made by the other cookies (links are over to the right). I believe everyone is playing except for Susan T. who is still trying to recover from a bout with the flu last week.

Hope you're back to your young self again soon, Susan, and thanks for a fun challenge, Trish!

I'm 4 for 4!

Four cards in four days...wow! Today's card features a Technique Junkies technique called Waxy Cuttlebug. Looks like a piece of batik fabric, doesn't it?

The stamp is from Starving Artistamps.

That's all I have time for right now. I need to get home and go for a walk. It's 62 degrees and sunny out there and I don't want to miss it completely.

Later!

Three Days in a Row!

I think this is a first for me...I've posted each day for three days in a row. Not only that, but I have posts ready for tomorrow and Wednesday as well! I wish I could say that I plan to post daily from now on, but I'm sure my life (read that job) will get in the way. Sigh. Why, oh why can't I win the lottery?

OK, now for today's post. Every two months we do a design team challenge at smARTworks, and we just did another. For those of you who aren't familiar with the challenge, Susan sends us all the same stamps with no instruction other than to make "something". This was my entry for the latest challenge using the Trout Duo stamps.

I'm not sure if you can see it (click on the image for a better view), but the fish are very shimmery and have a texture that resembles scales. I used a Technique Junkies technique called Smacked Lumieres. I "smacked" the paint between two pieces of paper and let it dry. I then stamped the fish with Stazon Ink and cut them out...pretty cool if you ask me! The rest of the card is just simple stamping, layering and embossing.

See you tomorrow!

Back to Birthday Cards...

Live your life and forget your age. Don't you just love that sentiment? The sentiment and flower stamp are both from smARTworks.

The flower stamp is just two flowers; I did some basic masking and stacked them up vertically. I colored the flowers with Prismacolor pencils and odorless mineral spirits. With the exception of the dark brown cardstock, all of the papers I used are from my Basic Grey scrap pile. The stitching is faux because I have NO room to set up any of my four sewing machines at the moment. The layout is from this week's sketch challenge at Splitcoast Stampers. I cheated just a little and used two different (but very similar) papers for the top and bottom bands so that I could use up some small scraps.

Enjoy!

Saturday Stamping

I know I'm supposed to be making Birthday cards, but the new Technique Junkies Newsletter arrived last week, and there are so many new things to try! This technique is called Aged Tiles, and it's a keeper for sure. The large daisy stamp is from Starving Artistamps. I stamped the image with Ranger Distress Peeled Paint ink and colored it in with Prismacolor markers. The "tiles" are shaded with Scattered Straw Distress Ink.

Don't forget...you can get 10% off your Starving Artistamps order when you use my discount code: donadis

Ack! I'm Almost out of Birthday Cards!

I just couldn't believe it. I went to grab a Birthday card from my endless supply, and I didn't have much to pick from. What? Better get crackin'!

All of the really cute cupcake cards I've been seeing lately have given me a severe case of Cupcake Envy, so when I spotted these stamps from Hero Arts, they were a Must Have...Now! The "seize the cupcake" stamp is a wood-mounted rubber stamp, but the rest a clear stamps...very nice quality, BTW.

This card went together really quickly. I just did some simple paper piecing with scraps from my pile, broke out the Cuttlebug (of course), and added some glitter and bling because, well, you just gotta. Some of you may recognize the layout -- it's the same Sketch For You To Try layout that I used for the Inchie Flowers card I posted last week.

Hope you like seeing Birthday cards because I have quite a few more to make. Yikes!