Retro Rubber Blog Challenge Lucky #13, Anything Goes--Runathon Layout

It is time for new challenge over at Retro Rubber Challenge Blog.  This time the theme is Anything Goes, which I really took to heart and stamped the embellishments and sub-title on this layout. 

    

I wanted to play along and use this great two-page sketch from Stick it Down to create a layout that chronicles the first Runathon my son participated in after arriving here from Russia. 

For both of my boys I consider their first year home as a baby book of sorts and have been scrapping many fun events for them.

 

Ever the hoarder of scrapbook supplies I stocked up on fun papers when they first came home.  All of the patterned paper in the layout is from My Minds Eye Academy paper stack. With three sheets of each design I can use a lot of paper and still have plenty for future layouts.

Close up

Shopping my stash I found Maya Road Office Shears and Fresh Chipboard (star shapes).  Forever in Time, a bargain brand of chipboard letters that have patterns printed on them are used for the main title.  They are easy to alter to match the layout, see below.  Deluxe Designs Plain Jane Arrows 1 completed the first stage of embellishment choices.  

Second closeup

 The sub-title on the Maya Road Office Shear was stamped with Tsukineko StazOn in Jet Black with Scrappy Cat's Playful Serie.  I have owned these stamps for 2 or 3 years.  Using polymer alphabet stamps make for easy alignment, plus the grid design didn't hurt either!  The journaling was done with a Sharpie Ultra Fine Point black pen; about the only thing that will write on the Office Shears.

Third Closeup

 Next I pulled out my swatch tags to select the color and medium to alter the chipboard.  I have sheets that show all my color choices by color families (see this post); but I knew only certain media would be a good choice for chipboard.  I placed the embellishments in the places on the layout to decide what color to make each embellishment.  I choose Making Memories Scrapbook Colors, (remember those?) in Celery.  I will have to add water before some of them totally dry out; they've been in my stash for at least 10 years!  Ranger Alcohol Inks in Sunset Orange and Stream were applied using the blender tool, giving a very close match to the paper colors on the chipboard.  The first time I spritzed the embellishments with Tattered Angels Sun Sisters Glimmer Mist but there just wasn’t enough coverage.   So I used Memories Scrapbook Colors in Banana and then spritzed them again, thankfully chipboard is a forgiving base. 

Supplies and tools used to customize embellishments

 

 The circle embellishments were distracting when I first layered them on the layout, so I backed them with paper scraps from other sections layout.  The plain embellishments still needed a little something to finish them off, so I dug out a texture stamp by neato stamps dated 1991!  With a little Colorbox Chestnut Roan ink and the small-scattered dots image, the different colored chipboard embellishments and title were customized and looked more cohesive to each other and the layout. 

Rather than add another arrow to the layout under the title to convey the circular path of the Runathon, I went with chevrons punched from a paper scrap from the opposite page.  Paper Shaper’s corner punch makes a great chevron shape! To add a little more balance to the layout I used ribbon from my stash to add a bit more interest to the visual triangle.  Plus with these additions I could play along with Rochelle Spear’s April Tic Tac Toe Challenge.     

Although this layout has been on my craft table for most of the week I had a blast putting it together.  My son even helped out with names by getting out his yearbook from the year!

I would like to enter this layout in the following challenges:

Stick It Down April Double Layout Sketch Challenge

Rochelle Spears Tic Tac Toe (Chevrons, Ribbon, Mist)

Penny’sPaper Crafty Challenge #224 Use Spooled Items-Ribbon

Love to Scrap Anything Goes with Stamping

OWL-Ways thinking about You

This is the second of two cards I created on Sunday afternoon when I needed to just play and relax!  I have purchased some fun new stamps and dies from Hero Arts, and wanted to make a few Operation Write Home cards. 

This sketch is from Just Add Ink, and was super fun to work with.  This paper is from SEI’s En Route paper line, and came from my “card kit” paper scraps from completed scrapbook layouts.  Since they are scraps, not all of the actual names of the individual sheets are known.  I was able to make 2 coordinating cards from the leftover scraps of one layout.  Yeah!

The images are from Hero Arts Missing You and the matching Frame cuts.  The Owl was stamped in Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black and then colored with Chameleon Pens.  I used Bisque NU1, Cool Gray CG8 and Warm Sunset YO3.  I first flicked a few pen lines into the areas to give a sense of feathers.  The sentiment is stamped in Tsukineko Memento Luxe   Rich Cocoa and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  Spellbinders Standard Circles Large is the circle die cut.  The owl image needed a little “grounding”, so I die cut a branch using Quickutz Wildflower die and a creative trimming.  The banner is hand cut.  All the layers were inked with Tsukineko Memento Luxe Rich Cocoa before the card was adhered together.

This card is entered into the following challenges:

Just Add Ink #260 Sketch

Crafts 4 Eternity Anything Goes

Friday Mashup #206 Use Polka Dots

Fairy Tale Challenge Blog Now or Never #116-Brand newstamps, so first time use!

Cuttin’ and Stampin’ #12 Use a Cute Critter
Crafty Catz #276 Things With Wings 
Aud Sentiments #130 Things with Wings 

Moose You So Much

Some days we just need time to create and play.  Sunday afternoon was one of those days.  I have purchased some fun new stamps and dies from Hero Arts, and wanted to make a few Operation Write Home cards.  This is the first of two cards, I will post the second tomorrow. 

First up I started with the sketch from Try Stamping –or not- on Tuesday.  I have a bin full of “card kit” paper scraps from completed scrapbook layouts, and this paper is from SEI’s En Route paper line.  Since they are scraps, not all of the actual names of the individual sheets are known.  I was able to make 2 coordinating cards from the leftover scraps of one layout.  Yeah!

The images are from Hero Arts Missing You and the matching Frame cuts.  The Moose was stamped in Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black and then colored with Chameleon Pens.  I used Bisque NU1, Fawn NU3, Hot Cocoa BR2, and Cool Gray CG8.  A circular coloring technique was used to give a bit of texture to his fur.  The sentiment is stamped in Tsukineko Versa Magic Aloe Vera.  Lawn Fawn Stitched Journaling card die set provided the polka dot panel and mini hearts.  This was fun and quick card to put together!

This card is entered into the following challenges:

Try Stamping –or not- on Tuesday Challenge #215 Sketch

Crafts 4 Eternity Anything Goes

Friday Mashup #206 Use Polka Dots

Cut It Up Make a Funny Card and use a die cut

Fairy Tale Challenge Blog Now or Never #116-Brand newstamps, so first time use!

Cuttin’ and Stampin’ #12 Use a Cute Critter

Hippo Birthday

One the best ways to get out of a crafting slump is to realize that you have several birthdays in the near future.  Such is the case for me this week.  Glad to be at my craft table creating a few little gems to put in the mail.  Today I realized that my nephew has a birthday coming up, and this little Hippo Birthday from Unity Stamp Company was perfect.  The color choices are based on his undying devotion as a fan of the U of O Ducks, so green and yellow it is!

I was inspired to make a quick card using the April sketch challenge at Unity.  The card went together very quickly with all of the design choices in place. 

 

The hippo is stamped in Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black on white card stock and is colored with Chameleon pens.  (Bubble Gum PK3, Grass Green GR3, and Cool Gray CG8)  Using the fine tip I just scribbled in some grass so the hippo is grounded instead of just floating in white space.  He is backed with green card stock from my stash.  Most likely it is from Creative Memories due to the texture of the card stock.  The same card stock is pressure embossed with Cuttlebug’s Honeycomb border.  The border was fussy cut to give to strips of texture to match the sketch.

The background stamp is Unity’s Reversed Punchinella stamped in Colorbox Crafter’s Alpine ink on yellow card stock from my stash.  After adhering the textured green card stock strips and laying the hippo for placement, the “Hippo Birthday” sentiment was stamped in Colorbox Crafter’s Alpine ink.   Pleased with the placement, I adhered the Hippo image. 

This card is entered in the following challenges:

Unity Stamp Company’s April Sketch Challenge

Cuttin and Stamping Challenges #12 Cute Critters (I think the hippo is very cute!)

Shopping Our Stash #198 Texture Me—this may not be my oldest embossing folder, but I’ve had it for several years!

Thanks for stopping by, it is good to be back in the crafting groove after or so off!

Pinwheel Birthday Card for Retro Rubber Blog Challenge #12, Use Brads

For the embellishment challenge over at Retro Rubber Blog Challenge I wanted to use my brads in a functional way. 

  

That led me to think of pinwheels and a couple fun retro stamps by Magenta.  I have owned these stamps since the late 90's and they are still fun to play with, especially with this design.

These stamps have designs inside squares that would be perfect for pinwheels.  I wanted to try several different coloring techniques so I stamped my images on Strathmore Bristol 100- pound paper with Tsukineko StazOn Cactus Green.  The images were trimmed to the size square I planned to use.  Using the Stampendous stamp-a-liner and StazOn ink on acrylic sheets to position the image I stamped the reverse side with the same image.  They are not exact, but once the pinwheel is assembled the designs looked great.

Next I went to town with my Rexel Derwent watercolor pencils.  (Deep Cadmium, Rose Pink, Light Violet, Blue Violet, Dark Violet, Smalt Blue, Grass Green, and Sap Green.) They give a nice watercolor blend and bleed when water is applied with a small paintbrush to the colored areas.  The 100-pound Bristol paper works very nicely for this technique, as it does not curl when wet.  After the images were dry I used my Creative Imaginations Centering Ruler to mark from corner to corner at the same distances.  Then I snipped the shapes and punched a hole in the center and each corner with the Cropidile.  Using small glittered brads from my stash I assembled the pinwheels.  I trained the curves in the paper around a pencil.

Looking around my craft table for candidates to serve as a stick I spied a few cotton swabs with paper handles.  Just as an aside I prefer these over the plastic ones, especially when I do flame tests in Chemistry.  Ok back to the card!  After stripping the cotton off the ends of the swabs I sponged StazOn Cactus Green on the stems and the attached the pinwheels with glue dots.

To create the background I used purple card stock (4 1/2" x 6 1/2") and the Spellbinders Fancy Lattice die.  The edge designs were folded back and Recollections double-sided pink tape adhesive was applied.  I left the liner in place until I was ready to adhere it to the card.

Spellbinders Nested Lacey Pennants provided the thin banner that would fit through the brad slots.  This was die cut from the remnant section of the light green card stock from my stash.  The sentiment by Boxer Scrapbooking was stamped in StazOn Cactus Green.  A strip of dark purple card stock is mounted behind the die cut lattice and the brad prongs are poked through and secured.  The whole lattice layer is adhered to the light green card stock base.  The banner is threaded through the brad and secured with a glue dot to the brad.  The banner is secured with a dimensional foam adhesive dot to the front of the card.  The three pinwheels are secured with strategic glue dots.

This was a fun card to make especially the custom colored pinwheels.  I was able to use two types of brads from my stash and created a whimsical birthday card.  Please come play along with us over at Retro Rubber Challenge Blog and show us what you've got with brads!

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Hiding in my Craftroom #196 Freestyle

A Gem of a Challenge #142 Spring is in the Air

Aud Sentiments #129 Birthday

Creative Moments #66 Spring or Easter 
Artistic Inspirations #129 Anything Goes with a Twist of Spring

Recipe Winner at:
Crafts 4 Eternity #222 Spring

A Very Pnk Birthday Card

My mojo has been lacking the last week . . . busy with the 8 week old German Shepherd puppies that have been going home to their forever families, dealing with nerve pain in my back (probably from puppy wrangling), and working 3 days as a sub!  Whew, glad the weekend showed up and I had a little time to play along with a few challenges and make a fun birthday card!

I started with the sketch from Cardabilities and went from there!

It is a 6-Bar card size, 5” x 6 ½”, so I started with pink and white marbled cardstock from my stash for the card base trimmed to 10” x 6 ½”.  Coordinations Black Magic card stock in pink was die cut on the pink side with Spellbinders Moroccan Accents and Moroccan Motifs for the scalloped edges and center medallion.  I really like that the die cuts coordinate, it was so easy using the set.  The black side of the same card stock was cut to back the scallops and sanded along the edges to bring on the bit of pink.  The black side was pressure embossed with Darice’s Damask Background and then sanded to distress and allow the pink to show through the card stock.  The center medallion is backed with a scrap of Provo Craft patterned paper die cut with Spellbinders Standard Circles Large.  Using both sides of the Coordination card stock is an excellent way to have perfectly coordinating colors to work with in creating a card. 

The sentiment banner is white card stock die cut with Spellbinders Nested Lacey Pennants.  Tsukineko Versa Magic Pixie Dust is sponged on the card stock then the Happy Birthday sentiment by Imaginisce All Kinds of Happy was stamped in Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black.  Polymer stamps are handy when you want the image in a particular place on a die cut!

All the layers are adhered together except the top medallion.  To finish the card I used fibers from my stash in light pink and Boxer silver wire.  The fibers and wire are adhered with glue dots and the medallion is adhered over the top with dimensional foam adhesive.  Ofray light pink ribbon was tied into a triple look bow with my Zutter Bows-It-All V2 and added to the top of the sentiment banner and adhered in place.  A few black pearl gem stickers by Die Cuts With a View are the final touches.

This card was inspired by and entered into the following challenges:

DRS Designs Rubber Stamps Inspired by Color Challenge 

Bugaboo Stamps April Bingo Challenge (Scallop, Texture, and bling row)

Cardabilities Sketch #121

Aud Sentiment Challenge Blog #129 Use a Birthday Sentiment
Scrap It Girl Black & White + one other Color

Retro Rubber Blog Challenge Use Your Brads

It is time for a new challenge over at Retro RubberChallenge blog, pull out those brads and play along!

Make a new creation with your stamps that are in need of inky love, preferably older than a year, and add a few brads to your design.  This challenge will run until April 24^th, so you have time to get creative. 

My card using brads will be revealed next week, so come on back and check in!

Anything But a Card Fools Gold Challenge #46 Glittery Vase

Fools gold is Challenge #46 this month at Anything But a Card.  I really wanted to play with glitter and StazOn inks for this challenge.  What better way to play along than to create a piece of glittery gold home decor?  Starting with a repurposed small glass vase and a Mason Jar Lights find (from Big Lots) I ended up with a golden finished project.

At first I tried staining the entire vase with Tsukineko StazOn Gold ink with a sponge dauber.  But then decided to really go for broke with the glitter.  I created a curved masked line with painters tape around the vase.  Using what I had on hand, I painted the bottom half of the vase with Plaid Mod Podge Matte finish with a foam brush.  Working quickly I then sprinkled DeNami Designs Gold glitter over that bottom of the vase.  I have this great plastic tray with a funnel on one end that I have owned forever, it doesn't have a brand name so I can't remember where I got it.  It is great for glitter and small beads.  I also used an anti static pouf so I can collect the unused glitter.  I let the first coat dry thoroughly and then added a second coat because it was thin in a few spots.   After a dry time I used a Kryon gloss fixative spray to keep the glitter shiny and from falling off the surface.  To protect the glitter area while I worked on the top section I carefully wrapped it with paper.  I didn't want to get glitter everywhere!  

  

By now the creative process was going another direction, so I cleaned off the gold StazOn and sponged on Cactus Green.  Glass can be a forgiving surface to work on!  I used a small stamp to carefully stamp small butterflies around the top section of the vase.  It is tricky to stamp on a curved surface with a wood mounted stamp, but it can be done!  The top section was then sealed with GlazOn.  Even though the vase has been sealed it will be handled with care.

While running errands and making my once a quarter or so stop at Big Lots I found these cool Mason Jar Candle lights that would be a perfect complement to the glittery vase.  Staying simple I used Tsukineko StazOn Gold with a Unity Stamp Company star image from the Splatters & Stars – all boy.  With daffodils from my garden and gold charger plate to stage the golden project I was pleased.  I can see this on my summer outdoor patio table.  Even though it is now in the mid 40’s here right now, I am looking forward to spring and summer!  I guess the daffodils means spring is here.

A few little details

So create your own version of Fools Gold and come join the fun at Anything But a Card! 

I would like to play along with the following challenges:

Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge #75 Anything Goes with a twist Add spring flowers 

(I have the real thing!)

Fantasy Stampers #34 Clean and Simple

Open Minded Crafting Fun Challenge #34 Recyle Something

(Vase is recycled from under my kitchen cabinet)

Addicted To Stamps Challenge #139 CAS

 

Clean and Simple Confirmation Layout

Being confirmed is an important rite of passage in the faith journey of our children.  It is a time to reflect and recognize a personal relationship with God.  For this layout I wanted a clean and simple design with a few elegant details.

I recently received Heidi Swapp's Dreamy collection as a blog challenge prize, (yeah!) and it fit the color scheme perfectly.  After selecting a few papers I used Heartfelt Creations Cut Mat Create Die sets (1A, 1B, 2A, and 2B) to die cut my photos and a few mats.  A journal block and mat were also die cut.  Spellbinders Crosses Two and Fleur de Lis Rectangles were die cut for embellishments.  The cross was pressure embossed and inked with Tsukineko Versa Magic Sea Breeze.  The scripture image is from Heartfelt Creations Trust In The Lord precut set and is stamped in Tsukineko Versa Magic Aegean Blue.  The edged are inked with Tsukineko Versa Magic Sea Breeze.

To add a quick but simple embellishment I found a few transparency scraps that were the perfect color.  The transparency is by Creative Imaginations Karen Russell Narratives line.  The final touch is the title.  I choose Thickers Playroom in felt and the colored them with a Prismacolor pencil in Aquamarine.

This layout and design choices were inspired by Scrap Our Stash April challenge, STAMP.  S= stamp, T= Thickers and transparency, A= alpha, M= mats, and P= pencil.  It was a ton of fun to think of different embellishments that would fit the challenge and got me thinking outside of the norm to shop in my stash!

Challenge 11 | Kinda Sketchy | There is Still Time to Play!

Our challenge this month at Retro Rubber Challenge Blog is a clean and simple sketch.  Come and join us and create a card based on the sketch using your stamps that are older than a year in need of a little inky time!

 

 

There is still time to grab a few of your older images and have a little fun with the sketch.  Feel free to rotate the sketch to fit your theme or stamps.  Come and post your card with us at Retro Rubber Challenge Blog.

Watt’s Up Birthday Card

After a very busy Easter weekend I did get to spend a little time crafting this afternoon.  I have a friend who enjoys punny messages, so this card is perfect for his birthday which is coming up this next week.  Finished in time to get it in the mail tomorrow!

This set by Your Next Stamp is Perfect Chemistry is a fun set to use because I am a Chemistry teacher.  The image is stamped on white card stock with Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black and then was colored with Chameleon pens.  Bubblegum (PK3), Cool Grey (CG8), Seville Orange (OR4), and Summer Sun (YL02).  I also like the YNS line because there are matching dies for these fun images that make it quick to die cut a colored character.  

The speech bubble is from Hero Arts Stamp & Cuts “Yes”.  It is die cut from white card stock, and before removing the shape I used a fine tip Zig black marker to run a thin line around the edge.  The YNS sentiment was masked to be able to stamp the “Watt’s” and “up?” in two lines rather than the way the image is designed in one line.  This allowed the sentiment to fit in the bubble. 

The light yellow card stock and yellow patterned paper are from my scrap paper stash and were trimmed to 4” x 5 ¼” and 3 ¾” x 5”.  The orange card stock banner was adhered across the patterned paper along with the Recollection’s Washi tape.  The A circle was die cut from the center of all the layers using Spellbinders Standard Circles Large.   This layer was adhered with dimensional foam adhesive.  The Light Bulb and sentiment were then adhered.

The YNS sentiment is stamped in the interior of the card with Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black to finish off the perfect birthday card for my friend.

This card was inspired by and entered into the following challenges

Simon Says Happy Birthday Challenge

Crafting by Designs Anything Goes

Polkadoodles Wk 14 Usea Die

Moving Along With the Times Color by Birthday Month,

Mine is November andthe primary color of the card is yellow like the Topaz.
   Amusing Challenges Birthdays

Pleased to announce that this card was selected as a top three pick here!
Sketch Saturday #355

CASE Happy Birthday with a few added twists

I really liked the sketch for the Retro Rubber BlogChallenge this go around so I decided to give it a whirl again with a twist of adding a few other challenges.  I saw this great card done by Francesca Ferrari at un Arcobaleno di CoLoRi, and decided to CASE (Copy and Share Everything) with my own version.

 

It was very simple to put together once I collected the right colors of card stock.  I used 5 colors of purple and violet from the Recollections Purple Passion set.  (In case you can’t tell, purple is one of my favorite colors!)  Martha Stewart’s Double Loop punch is quick and easy to punch several strips that are attached to the base.  The top strip is punched on both edges to give a center card stock area to match the sketch. 

The Happy Birthday sentiment is from Inkadinkado Just Saying, which has been in my stash for several years.  I tried several inks before I found the Tsukineko Encore Ultimate Metallic Pink gave good coverage.  Some times polymer stamps do not ink well.  The sentiment is embossed in white embossing powder.  Spellbinders Labels Eleven die cut the sentiment and the frame.  After adhering all the sections together I added a few little gems to bling up the card a bit.

I was inspired to CASE Francesca Ferrari’s card by 

TimeOut Challenges, CASE with your own Twist

It is also entered in the following challenges:

Creative Knockouts #27 Die Cut / Punch Frenzy

Southern Girls #107 Punching Above Our Weight

and of course over at Retro Rubber Challenge Blog 
with this sketch