It's Not All Black and White

Friday, November 27, 2009

Stamp Simply x 4

I can't believe it's my last week guest designing with Sharon's Stamp Simply team. It's been such a blast, with some really great challenges. Thank you Sharon! And today's challenge may be my favorite of them all. Create a card that is SUPER easy to mass produce. And here's my happy, cheery thank you card (times four).
No coloring, no cutting out little pieces, just punching, gluing, and little bit of stamping. And since the accesories are minimal, it's a pretty cheap card to mass produce too.
If you'd like to recreate this card (maybe using your choice of papers to suit your theme), here are my measurements. I cut everything out first, then quickly assembled.

Blue polka dots: 1.75 x 4.25 inches (x2)
Solid blue: 2 x 4.25 inches
orange strips: .25 x 4.25 inches (x2)
striped strips: 3/8 x 4.25 inches (x2)

This is all layered on a solid white base. I also cut/punched all of my butterflies, flowers and circles at one time as well.

What's In It?
Stamps: Circle Sentiments (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Paper: white, celery (SU), sea salt (Bazzill), Ooh La La (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: turquoise (SU)
Other: classic butterfly punch (Martha Stewart), corner rounder, circle nestie, Cuttlebug flower die, Prima flowers, gold Stickles, dimensional adhesive

Please use keyword ssnotime115 when uploading your challenge card(s) to online galleries. And now check out the fab Stamp Simply team:

Janine
Julie
AJ
Tammy
Deb
Barbara
Jenny
Barb
Jennifer

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Pssst...


Be sure to stop over at Lizzie Anne Designs in the next few days for some GREAT deals!

See you in the morning with a Stamp Simply project. Happy shopping. I hope you're enjoying your day.

Friday, November 20, 2009

All Wrapped Up

It's another Stamp Simply challenge with Sharon Johnson. Today, your challenge is to "Wrap It Up". Wrap anything for any occassion. I chose to do one of these gift card holders (ie., gift card "wrappers") that I have been seeing around. I kept thinking they were so cute. And now I don't know why I waited so long to try it. This was SUCH a quick and easy project. I did a little searching and found this easy-to-follow tutorial.
I used one double-sided piece of patterened paper to speed things along, and topped it with this darling crossroads sign for winter, from Lizzie Anne. I randomly stamped the matching snowflakes on the inside as well. I added May Arts ribbon and a few snowflake crystals from Michael's. Paper is from Basic Grey.

See what the rest of the girls are "wrapping up" this week:

Janine
Julie
AJ
Tammy
Deb
Barbara
Jenny
Barb
Jennifer

I hope you'll play along with us. If you do, please use keyword ssnotime114 when uploading to online galleries. Thanks!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Jbelle Inspiration

I'm running a little late today, but I do have a Jbelle challenge card to share with you. The challenge is to choose one of the darling little girl dresses shown on this website, and use it to inspire your creation. Goodness there were so many cute choices, but I finally settled on this one, because the red trim reminded me of some great May Arts ribbon I have. I also used the seams and snowflake to come up with my layout.
And here's my card:
The ribbon is from May Arts, as I mentioned. The snowflake is a Sizzix die cut, which I dressed up using a Prima Say it in Studs center. I ran my three panels thru my cuttlebug with an embossing folder, finishing off the edges with a gold paint pen. And lots of dimensionals tossed in for good measure.
Here are the links to the rest of the players. Hopefully you'll find time and inspiration to join us. Use keyword JBE080 when uploading.

Carly Robertson
Heather Lee-Reppen
Jill Dunn
Jimmi Mayo
Keri Lee Sereika
Lindsey Botkin
Michelle Philippi
Shemaine Smith
Stephanie Hargis
Tobi Crawford
Trudee Sauer

Friday, November 13, 2009

Matchbook Penguin

I'm excited to be joining Sharon and her team of talented stampers again this week for another Stamp Simply challenge. I love this one. I think non-typical folds are so fun and interesting to work with, and today's challenge is to make a matchbook fold card. That means it has an extra little flap to tuck your card front into, like a matchbook.
I started with a 4-1/4" x 11" piece of white card stock. I punched one edge, which left me with 4-1/4" x 10-3/4". Starting from the punched edge, I scored at 1" and 6-1/8". So when my card is all folded up, it measures 5-1/8" x 4-1/4".
I used some red line tape to adhere my flap at the crease. That way it leaves enough room to tuck in the card front, and also be tight enough to keep the card closed.

I chose some Lizzie Anne Designs paper (Winter Wonderland) to go with my penguin (from the Way Up North set), and accented with a few glittered snowflakes.

I hope you get a chance to play along. If so, use keyword ssnotime113 when uploading to online galleries. And here are links to the talented Stamp Simply team samples:

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Vintage Winter

Hello Stampers! Today's card has some vintage charm. I stamped the skates (from Christmas in the City) in chocolate chip ink on bashful blue card stock. Then I used a water brush and some more ink to color a few parts. The skate blades are colored with a glitter pen. And I added a brad to "hang" the skates on.

I layered some snowflake die cuts and punches for an embellishment and tied on a sentiment tag.

What's In It?

Stamps: Christmas in the City (LAD)
Paper: bashful blue, creamy caramel (SU), vintage cream (PTI), Mistletoe and Co. (Pink Paislee)
Ink: chocolate chip, close to cocoa (SU)
Other: rectangle and scalloped rectangle and tag die cuts (Spellbinders), distress Stickles (Ranger), snowflake dies (Sizzix), snowflake punch (Martha Stewart), snowflake gemstone (Michael's), twine (PTI), dimensionals, vintage brad (SU), water brush, sponge

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Bags, Tags, and Gifts, oh my!

Today's Jbelle Challenge is something for gift giving, like a bag, tag, or the gift itself. I made a bag using a 6 x 12 inch piece of My Mind's Eye paper (from the Ooh La La for Her kit). The finished bag measures 3.25 x 2.5 inches x 4.25 inches tall.

The top half inch of decorative paper is the reverse side of the paper, folded down. Then I added a scalloped border and decorated the front. The flowers and tag (on which you can write the recipient's name) are pieces from the same My Mind's Eye pack. I used a green piece of paper from the kit to freehand some stems and leaves. Some finishing touches include the Me and My Big Ideas gemstones and May Arts ribbon for the handle.

Check out more rock star inspiration:

Carly Robertson
Heather Lee-Reppen
Jill Dunn
Jimmi Mayo
Keri Lee Sereika
Lindsey Botkin
Michelle Philippi
Shemaine Smith
Stephanie Hargis
Tobi Crawford
Trudee Sauer

And then play along with us! Use keyword JBE079 when uploading to online galleries, like SCS or PCP.

Friday, November 6, 2009

I'm Stamping Simply

Yep, this whole month I'll be joining Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply challenges as a guest designer. I am SO excited! Without further ado, here's this week's challenge:

ssnotime112 - "Let's Be Thrifty": Use brown postal wrap or a brown grocery bag in your project.

I chose to do a gift wrapping project. I started with a brown grocery bag, cutting just the front, since I knew that would be plenty of paper to wrap my box. Just for good measure, I ironed it flat on both sides so I'd have a nice stamping surface. I love mixing rougher, natural textures with elegant stamps and finishing touches, so I started randomly stamping three swirl stamps (from Fanciful Flourishes) randomly all over the paper.
Until it was all full. Just keep your swirls pretty closely spaced.
Then I wrapped my box, adding some pink organdy ribbon and a matching tag. The snowflakes are a Sizzix die and a Martha Stewart punch. The pearlized paper gives it a little extra pizzazz.
Now, here are more great samples from the design team:
Janine
Julie
AJ
Tammy
Deb
Barbara
Jenny
Barb

Well, my supplies are all packed up and ready to go to Stamping Around Philly. Now I just have to pack my suitcase. Yippee!!!!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

It's Another Jbelle Tuesday!

And today's challenge is a sketch challenge. I really liked this sketch and my card came together pretty quickly. I started with the Basic Grey June Bug 6 x 6 paper pad and picked out a matching embellishment from the June Bug Pops, the heart. I layered the heart on kiwi kiss card stock and cut a thin border so it would have a little contrast against the patterned papers. The sentiment is from Lizzie Anne's Monthly Mix, There's Something to Crow About. I stamped the "thanks" in multiple colors and cut out the blocks to mix and match. Then I added a few Daisy D rhinestones to dress it up even more.

Thanks for stopping by! I'm off to Stamping Around Philly this Friday and Saturday. I can't wait to meet some new stampers and have a busy couple of stamping days. I'm sure I'll have pictures for you next week. Hopefully I'll be able to pop in with some eye candy for you between now and then, as well.

What's In It?
Stamps: Something to Crow About (Lizzie Anne Monthly Mix)
Paper: real red, kiwi kiss, pirouette pink (SU), June Bug (Basic Grey)
Ink: real red, kiwi kiss (SU), onyx black (VersaFine)
Other: embossed curve punch (EK Success), rhinestones (Daisy D), June Bug pop (BG), ribbon (SU), dimensionals

Check out the rest of the Jbelle Rock Stars for more inspiration:

Carly Robertson
Heather Lee-Reppen
Jill Dunn
Jimmi Mayo
Keri Lee Sereika
Lindsey Botkin
Michelle Philippi
Shemaine Smith
Stephanie Hargis
Tobi Crawford
Trudee Sauer

And then you can play along, here!