Anything Goes for Retro Rubber, Just a few Butterflies!

We have everyone's favorite challenge for the next two weeks at Retro Rubber, Anything Goes!  So have a little fun and share your projects with us.  We have a few simple rules 1) Use at least one stamp that is more than a year old 2) Tell us how old your stamp might be 3) Enter no more than 10 challenges including ours.

I decided to play around with some of my supplies and create a butterfly themed card.

• I placed the Mini Flutterby stencil by Crafter's Workshop over a piece of white cardstock and spritzed it with Fireworks! in Lilac Posies and Lulu Lavender and let it dry.
• The edges are inked with Elderberry Memento Luxe and heat embossed with Iridescent Embossing Powder.
• To create the butterflies I stamped the Layering Butterflies by Hero Arts from 2015 in several Memento colors:  Elderberry, Sweet Plum, Lilac Posies, Angel Pink, Lulu Lavender, Grape Jelly, Bamboo Leaves, and Pear Tart.
• The images are die cut with the matching Frame Cuts.
• The outer edges of the butterflies are inked with the corresponding color to the butterfly body.
• I pounced Versa Mark ink over the images and heat embossed them with Iridescent Embossing Powder.to give the lots of shimmer and shine.
• The butterflies are adhered to the card front with glue dots under the body and dimensional foam adhesive under the wings.
• The sentiment from the same set is stamped in Elderberry Memento Luxe and heat embossed with Iridescent Embossing Powder.
• The card front is adhered to the card base with dimensional foam adhesive.

Thanks so much for stopping by and do come again soon!  Play along with our challenge at Retro Rubber, we love seeing what you create!

Celebrating Baptism and Father's Day

We had a fantastic weekend a few years back and this is the second layout in the series to document the time.  I had another Baptism related embellishment in my stash that I picked up for free several years back.  This title and the many colors in the photos lead my color design choices.

I found a heidi swapp collection in my stash I don't remember purchasing or using on a layout.  A few sheets were gone, so that added to my confusion.  At any rate it was a good starting point. 

·      Several complementary patterns are trimmed from the Dreamy Collection (American Crafts).  The pink is 3/4" on both sides.  The geometric pattern is 3 1/2" on the left and 2 1/2" on the right. The pastel pattern is 6".  I wanted the blue die cut to have contrast verses being on the blue background cardstock.

·      The Baptism die cut is by Laserline.

·      Another pattern is ued to trim the frames for the 4" x 4" photos. I statred with 5 1/8" squares and used the We R memory keepers Frame Punch Board set at 3/4" borders.

·      To finish the title I pulled out a sentiment set I've had since the late 90's, Dream Ink's Words & Phrases 34 pt Dauphin.  Using a stamp positioner I stamped the phrase in Versa Color Smoke Blue around the die cut.

·      I used a scrap to print the journaling so the story would fit in a smaller space.

·      I had a few more patterned strips left so I decided to trim them to 7/8" and span the bottom of both pages to tie the layout together.  This is a duplicate layout set, one for each boys' album, so this was also a factor in my design choices.

·      I didn’t feel like the layout was complete, so I searched high and low for something to finish it off.  Finally I found a embellishments by stamping crosses and die cutting from the Jillibean Soup by Hampton Art. 

·      Looking through my Bible Journaling supplies I also found the Paper Smooches set Have Faith and Religious Words.  All the finishing embellishments were stamped in Versa Color Smoke Blue on coordinating papers from the collection.  The smallest cross is fussy cut.  The Blessed sentiment was perfect because that is how we felt on that day!

·      To add a tiny bit more, sequins by Spiegelmom Scraps collections 50’s Sock Hop, Southern Blue Bells, and Grape Juice were glued into place.  Yippee, now if finally looks “done”!

Initially I was stumped in the design process but stuck to basic design principals to create a layout that I like.   The small amounts of pink from the collection are picked up in the geometric pattern to apply the ounce quart gallon principal. The pink is the ounce, the greens the quart, and the blues the gallon.   Creating a visual triangle with the finishing embellishment added to the impact. 

Thanks for stopping by, your comments are always appreciated!

My Baptism Layout

Here are a few pages that commemorate a special event in our boys lives.  Less than a year after the boys came home from Russia we received news that their God Parents were coming to visit us in Bend over Father's Day weekend.  What a perfect time to plan their Baptism!  We had a full weekend of celebrating both at church, in our home, and out in nature.

A few years back I found some give-away items at a crop and snagged a few sets of of Baptism related stickers made by Karen Foster Design printed in 2005 aptly named Baptism.  The colors turned out to be perfect for the photos, and thus guided my choice of papers.  Two colors of Craft Smith Cardstock were selected along with one pattern from Provo Craft Slab III and one pattern from Hot Off The Press. 

• A strip of blue cardstock 2 1/2" x 11 1/2 was pressure embossed with Darice's Crosses,  which had a narrow slot to move the paper through to get a mostly continuous pattern.  A little secret here, I covered the area that didn't match with a strategically placed sticker!
• The embossed pattern is backed with patterned papers.
• Three crosses are die cut from white cardstock with Spellbinders Crosses Two.  Two are also pressure embossed with the pattern on the dies.
• The right side of the layout has one pattern trimmed to 7" x 8" inches.  I choose to not extend it all the way across the page to allow large die cut cross to shine.
• The blue cardstock is trimmed to 8 1/2" x 12, and patterned paper strips are layers behind the cardstock.
• Another secret, I gutted the one edge of the blue cardstock for the blue journaling blocks.  I had longer story to share, and it best fit by word processing and printing onto the cardstock.
• Brads are added to the baptism stickers.  A few already had holes to be embellished.
• The baptism stickers and crosses are adhered to finish the page.

Know that I appreciate you stopping by and viewing my blog.  I enjoy sharing the creative process with all of you!

Rainbow time!

We've been having an extraordinarily rainy spring here in Central Oregon so this challenge for Retro Rubber is perfect because I've seen a few rainbows recently!

I have a wonderful stamp and die set from The Stamps of Life by Stephanie Bernard that was released in July 2017.  Perfect for this challenge!  Once I had the stamps on my stamp positioner I decided to stamp more than one rainbow and make a series of rainbow themed cards.  The rainbows that are more pastel are the second stamping from one inking.  I like both versions!

• All of the cards have the black outline stamped first.
• Each color of the rainbow is stamped into position.  Memento Lady Bug, Tangelo, Dandelion, Cottage Ivy, Danube Blue, and Grape Jelly were the colors I choose to stamp the rainbow.  
• The clouds are die cut from white cardstock and inked with Versa Cold in Smoke blue with a touch of Delicate Sapphire Blue that was left on the large Ink Dauber from a previous project. 
• The clouds are adhered over the black outline image with dimension foam adhesive.

The following were completed for this card.

• Light blue cardstock was die cut with Sizzix Card, Regal Stand-Ups to create the easel card.  
• Light yellow cardstock was trimmed to fit the inside.
• Gingham ribbon from my stash is adhered, along with a knotted bow.
• Sayings4rainbows set provided the sentiment which is stamped in Memento Danube Blue. 
• A few sequins from Spieglemom Scraps Southern Blue Bells were added to create a little sparkle.

This card is a second stamping for the rainbow colors.

• The card base and front are die cut from white cardstock using the Sizzix Card, Scallop with Banners.
• I sponged in a small amount of Versa Color Baby Blue behind the rainbow.  The edges of the card base were also inked.
• Bakers twine from my stash is threaded through the top lace holes and a bow is added.
• The sentiments are from Penny Black Spiritual Snippets released in 2017, and are stamped in Danube Blue Memento ink.
• The layers are adhered together.

This card is also a second stamping version.

• The card base is die cut from blue cardstock using the Sizzix Card, Scallop with gifts.
• The card front also uses the Sizzix Happy Days Drop Ins Sentiments and is die cut from light yellow cardstock.  
• A few gold sequins by Advantus Corp from the Mixed Sequins set finish the card.

The last card in the rainbow series.

• The card base is the interior of the Sizzix Card, Scallop with Gifts and is die cut from white cardstock.
• The sentiments are the Sayings4Rainbows set and are stamped in Memento Danube Blue.
• A bit of Versa Color Baby Blue is sponged behind the rainbow before it is adhered with dimensional foam adhesive.
• A few dots of Nuvo Crystal Drops and the final touches.

I hope you enjoyed my series of Rainbow cards, they were a blast to create and make each one a little different.  Please let me know what you think, comments are always appreciated!  Remember to create your own Rainbow inspired creation and post it over at Retro Rubber Challenge Blog.  We have a few simple rules:  1)  Use at least one stamp that is older than a year 2) Tell us how long you have had it in your stash 3) Enter up only up to ten challenges including ours.  Thanks!

Climbing On Smith Rock

This is a layout that commemorates a really fun day for my older son.  It was also I day where I took probably 100 photos and decided to narrow it down to just five!  These photos were perfect for the sketch we have for this month at Stick It Down:

I wanted really subtle patterns to allow the photos to shine, so I dug through my old Provo Craft Slabs and found a selection of twelve different papers that coordinated. 

• The papers were trimmed to fit the sketch design in varying diagonals.
• In the photo on the far right, I used two arrow veneers to mark the locations of my son at the top of the pitch and his guide midway up the pitch. 
• The journaling was printed and added as an embellishment. 
• I die cut 4 layers of the state of Oregon using the Quickutz Oregon die.  Gelly Roll White pen by Sakura is used to mark the spot.  
• SEI En Route is used to stamp the compass in Memento Tuxedo Black then is die cut with Spellbinders Standard Circles Small. 
• A slide and rub-ons from my stash create the final embellishment.  

Please come join us over at Stick It Down.  We also have a single page sketch and a card sketch to play along with each month!