Noel

It's Wednesday!!  It's time for another challenge from The House That Stamps Built.  This week we have a sketch for you:

That diamond element made me think of my favorite Fleur De Lis square dies and from there, I just got a bit "fancy".  Wasn't really intending to go that way, but I really like how it turned out.

I embossed the sentiment with gold embossing powder and then colored in the poinsettia with a red sharpie; the fine point tip was perfect!  For the diamond element, I die cut two of the squares and then used a ruler and my craft knife to cut out the center of one of them.  I stamped the music background on to the second die cut square and layered them together to create a frame of sorts.  Head on over to The House blog to see what the rest of the team did with this; they are all sooooo completely different; the variety is awesome.  I hope you get a chance to play with us this week, sketches are always a great way to start a card.

Supplies:

Stamps: Repeat Impressions: "Noel" and "Sheet Music"

Dies: Spellbinders "Fleur Di Lis squares" and "Radiant Rectangles" oval; Darice Damask embossing folder 

Challenges:

Craft Your Passion #335--anything goes

Christmas Card Challenge #46--anything goes

Hiding In My Craft Room #272--any holiday

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #304--use a sentiment

Crafty Catz #343--embossing (I used by heat and dry embossing)

Brown Sugar #221--anything goes

Crimbo Crackers #118--die cuts

Crafty Ribbons #172--ribbon or lace

C.R.A.F.T. #386--Christmas

The East Wind #65--bump in the night (embossing)

Craft-Dee BowZ--anything goes with handmade bow

Divas That Cut--embossing

Creative Craft Cottage #74--use a ribbon

Thinking of you

Happy Friday!!  It's time for another challenge from Jo's Scrap Shack, and this week it is Anything Goes!!

 Our sponsor is Robyn's Fetish and I was given this little cutie to work with:

Pretty cute, huh?  I dug deep into my stash for this one; the only thing that is newer than probably 3 or four years old is the image.  The leaf paper is from one of those big 12x12 printed paper packs that I got on sale at JoAnn's about 15 or so year ago.  You know the ones I mean: about 150 pages for $19.99, but they were half price for $9.99.  And I HAD to have them and have spent the last 15 years thinking I will NEVER be able to use them. : )  This leaf print has been one of my favorites and I think I am down to less than half a sheet now.  The mulberry paper, I have had nearly as long and probably for the same reason: it was a BIG pack for a cheap price.  Anyway, all of those "I'm never going to be able to use these" all added up to a rather fun card.  The rhinestones were also an old stash and I finally used up the pack on this card!  Yeay!!  Hopefully, this will encourage you all to take a look at those old papers, embellies, etc and see how you can use them in a new way.  I hope you'll get a chance to play along with us this week; I can't wait to see what you create.

Supplies:
Stamps: Robyn's Fetish "Bearly a Pumpkin" digi; Verve "Take Note" sentiment
Dies: Spellbinders "A2 Matting Basics A" rectangles

Challenges:
As You Like It--do you prefer new or old stash (of course, I LOVE new stash, who doesn't, but I am trying really hard not to buy any new papers or ribbons right now because I have so many.  As you can see from my description above, I really get a kick out of using up my old stash)
Crafty Ribbons #164--ribbons or lace
DRS #249--inspiration photo: bright halloween colors (I used orange, green, and gold)

Little Miss Muffet #149--anything goes
Inspiration Destination #108--anything goes
Creative Inspiration #260--Halloween/fall
Crafty Addicts #26--Autumn colors
Tuesday Throwdown #316--festive pumpkins
Tuesday Morning Sketches #274--sketch

One Stitch At A Time #273--Halloween colors
A Gem of A Challenge #180--Autumn colors
Word Art Wednesday #252--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
{Pin}spirational Challenge #176--inspiration photo (inspired by the fall colors and theme)

Pattie's Creations #127--halloween or autumn

New Techniques

In September, my mother-in-law and I went to a Stamp & Scrapbook Expo and went to a couple of JustRite Stampers workshops.  One of them was on background techniques, specifically combining background stamps.  We worked on making the background for this card:

The colors come from Gelatos and this is the first time I had given them a try.  I do like the look they give.  And there is even a bit of shimmer, which is fun!  Then we layered a second background stamp over both the background panel and the sentiment panel.  I might have to get me some of those Gelatos, it was pretty fun.

Supplies:

Stamps: JustRite Stampers "Crackle" background stamp, "Honeycomb" background stamp, "Retro Sparkle" background stamp; Verve "Peace On Earth" sentiment

Challenges:

Sweet Stampin'--seeing spots and/or stripes 

C.R.A.F.T. #386--Christmas

Inspiration Destination #108--anything goes

Addicted To Stamps #216--anything goes

Crafter's Cafe--use a new technique (gelato backgrounds)

Snowflakes Promise #31--anything goes

Craft Your Passion #339--anything goes

A Blog Named Hero--geometric (circle background)

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #303--cute or anything goes

Cat's Out of the Bag

Happy Wednesday!!  It's time for another challenge from The House That Stamps Built.  This week we have a fabulous inspiration photo for you:

Don't you just love it???  I'm a total cat lady (I have three) so the kitties jumped out at me right away.  And of course, I love pumpkins, so I had to go with them, too.  But you can be inspired by ANYTHING in the photo: the colors, the pumpkins, spooky tree, whatever catches your eye.  I needed a birthday card, so I used this fun sentiment to go along with my sweet cats.

I stamped my pumpkins and cats on separate pieces of scrap card stock , colored and fussy cut them out.  The cats are solid images, so to make them really dark and solid black, I also colored them with a black sharpie.  And the finishing touch are the yellow rhinestones I added for their eyes!!  They are so fun and really glow as if they were actual eyes.  Thanks for stopping by; now hop on over to The House blog to see how the rest of the team has been inspired by the photo.

Supplies:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Cat Sil. (lg)", "Cat Sitting Sil.", "The Cat's Out . . .", "Tall Pumpkin" and "Wide Pumpkin"
Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle

Challenges:
MFP #42--photo inspiration (inspired by the cats)

Crafty Cardmakers #175--things that go bump in the night
One Stitch At A Time #273--Halloween colors (black and orange)
Word Art Wednesday #252--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Cut It Up #107--pumpkins
Hiding In My Craft Room #271--spooky
Cards Galore--anything goes
Pattie's Creations #127--Halloween or autumn
Tuesday Throwdown #316--festive pumpkins

Cutie Pie Guest Designer

Today, I'm posting as a Guest Designer for The Cutie Pie Challenge.  I was so honored when Lisa from the DT contacted me to ask if I would like to play along with them.  Did I ever!!  

The challenge this month is 5 of a kind (use 5 of one thing).  The sponsor is All Dressed Up Stamps and I was given this adorable image to work with:

 Isn't she so sweet?!  So, my 5 of a kind are dies; I used 5 different dies: the oval, scalloped oval, filigree border, snowflake and ? . . . a stitched rectangle die used on my base layer papers; you can see it the best at the top of the striped paper.  I colored her up with my Spectrum Noir markers and then added some SU! Diamond Dust glitter to the fluffy parts.  Here's a close up of the sparkle:

Thanks for stopping by and thanks, Lisa, for the opportunity to play along.  I hope everyone will head over to the "Little Extra Cuti-ness" inspiration post to see some more adorable cards.

Supplies:
Stamps: All Dressed Up "Little Christmas Girl-03"
Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle; PTI "Filigree Border" and "Fancy Flakes" snowflake; Spellbinders "Classic Ovals, large" and "Standard Scalloped Ovals, large"

Challenges:
Sweet Stampin'--seeing spots and/or stripes
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #303--cute or anything goes
A Bit More Time To Craft #30--anything goes
Crafty Catz #342--all tied up
Cute Card Thursday #447--3 brads/gems, 2 patterned papers, 1 ribbon/washi
Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2--sketch

Christmas at Sweet Stampin'--glitter and sparkle
Fab n funky Challenge #322--shades of gray OR lots of sparkle
Crafting with An Attitude #20--anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
All Dressed Up #62--anything goes with an ADU image

Purple Christmas

Welcome to another challenge from the Love To Scrap Challenge Blog.  This time it is: Anything Goes!  We have three awesome sponsors:

DRS Designs

Doodle Pantry

Lemon Shortbread

I was given this gorgeous image from Lemon Shortbread.  (I have to say that all the images I have used from them have been gorgeous!)  

It's been a long time since I have made a purple card, especially for Christmas, but I do really love it and I love how this one turned out.  It all started because I got some new purple shades of Spectrum Noir markers and really wanted to break them out of the packaging.  And one thing led to another and here is my very purple card.  The best thing is that I have a bunch of odd shades of purple card stock that I have a hard time using but the marker colors all pulled them in together and they worked perfectly.  I hope you will get a chance to play along with us this challenge, and maybe even get a head start on your Christmas cards. : )

Supplies:
Stamps: Lemon Shortbread "Winter Cardigan Shoujo"; Verve "Merry & Bright" snowflakes
Dies: Spellbinders "A2 Matting Basics A" rectangle and "Layered Poinsettias"; MFT "Fancy Flourish"
Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder

Challenges:
Pixie's Crafty Workshop #251--anything goes with snippets (My flowers were all die cut from snippets and the embossed layer was also a scrap)
East Wind #65--bump in the night (embossing)
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #303--cute or anything goes
A Bit More Time To Craft #30--anything goes
Creative Fingers #118--anything goes
Crafty Catz #342--all tied up (ribbon)
Brown Sugar Challenge #220--handmade flowers
Hanna & Friends #259--sketch

Inspiration Destination #107--anything goes
Penny's Challenge #299--anything goes
ABC Christmas--U is for Under the pile (I have the package of mulberry paper for years--probably at least 12--and have just returned to wanting to use it recently)
As You Like It--favorite flowers: die cut or bought (I love the look of purchased flowers and would buy all sorts of them if I could spend that kind of money.  BUT my favorite are definitely die cut flowers as you can make them any color and can make as many as you want and once you have the die the flowers are basically free!)
Divas That Cut--embossing
Scrapper's Delights #60--anything goes
The Paper Nest Dolls #10--anything goes

Christmas Dragons

Here it is mid-October already!  So, it's time for our mid-month inspiration post from Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra.  Here is my inspiration for you:

As soon as MFT released these ADORABLE dragons, I knew I HAD to have them.  Luckily, my sister fell in love with them, too, and she convinced my husband to buy them for my birthday last month (I think she actually ordered them, but that's beside the point).  Of course, I needed to use them as soon as possible, so Christmas Dragons they became.  Red and green are Christmas colors and that makes these cuties Christmas-y right?  I added clear Wink of Stella pen on their wings, because dragons must have sparkly wings.

If you haven't gotten the chance to play along with us yet, you still have a couple weeks.  I really do hope you will join us, I love being inspired by what you create.

Supplies:
Stamps: MFT "Magical Dragons"; Verve "Merry & Bright" sentiment
Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle; Verve "Border Trim Trio" star border
Cuttlebug: Snowflake embossing folder

Challenges:
Inspiration Destination #101--anything goes
Penny's Challenge #299--anything goes
MFT #302--sketch

Crafting By Designs--add a sentiment
Word Art Wednesday #252--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Merry Christmas #2--add a sentiment
Pixie's Crafty Workshop #250--anything goes with snippets (the star border was already die cut and in my bits and pieces stash; the stitched rectangle was cut for another project and I didn't end up using it, and the dragons were stamped on scraps)
Di's Digi Designs--add a sentiment
Craft Your Passion #333--anything goes
Divas That Cut--embossing

Lemons

Happy Wednesday!  Ooo . . . it almost snuck up on me this time!!  It's time for another challenge from The House That Stamps Built.  This week it is a Designer's Choice.  Patti is that designer and her challenge is: Food and/or Drink.  It's pretty fun, don't you think?  And it can be used for so many different occasions.  As soon as I saw the challenge, I knew I wanted to create something with lemonade.

The RI mason jar stamp was the perfect starting point; I stamped it on white card and then again on a piece of vellum that I sponged with some pink ink to create some raspberry lemonade.  I cut the vellum right on the stamped lines, so I could place it over the image stamped on the white card.  I also stamped, colored, and fussy cut 4 lemon slices.  I adhered two "in" the mason jar and then layered the lemonade layer over top.  I also stamped the lemon slices in a light gray on the background to add a bit of interest.
This is a fun challenge and I hope you will get a chance to play along with us.

Supplies:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Jar", "When life . . ." and "Citrus Slice"
Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle

Challenges:
Craft Your Passions #333--anything goes
Hiding In My Craft Room #270--super scraps (my pink paper, vellum, and white card for the fussy cut images are all scraps)
A Bit More Time To Craft #29--anything goes
Brown Sugar #219--think pink
Creative Craft Cottage #73--pink for Breast Cancer Awareness
Creative with Stamps #7--add a sentiment

Unicorn #14--pretty pinks or Halloween

Watercolor flowers

Welcome!  It's my day to post a Project Of The Week for The House That Stamps Built. Today  I'm going to show you how to create a watercolor look (actually a couple different ways) with your RI stamps.  Here are the basic supplies you will need:

 -Watercolor paper
-stamps (I used Flower Power Backgrounds and Borders "Leaf Cluster Outline", "Flower Cluster Outline", "Flower Cluster Detail", Flower Cluster Solid" and "Birthday"
-water based inks and/or markers
-water spritzer
-an aqua blender pen (or a fine water color brush or an aqua painter)

First I made the background.  With the solid stamp, I inked it up and then spritzed it with water before I stamped it on the paper.  You can see that this technique brings more bleeding of the color.  For the outline flowers, I inked it up and stamped like normal, then I used my aqua blender pen to pull the color into the flower petals.  It gives a more colored look.  For the leaves, I achieved the soft water colored look by inking the stamp and stamping it like normal, then I used the aqua blender pen to trace along the stamped lines; it really softened everything out.

 I really like the look of the leaves, so I used that technique for my entire focal image.  I stamped the detail stamp and then used the blender pen to soften out the lines and bring color into the petals.  Then I used my a green marker to draw in the stems and used the blender pen to soften them out as well.  I finished it out by inking up only one of the leaves and stamping it once on each side and then softened with the blender pen.

 And here is the picture of the final result:

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Leaf Cluster Outline", "Flower Cluster Outline", "Flower Cluster Detail", Flower Cluster Solid" and "Birthday"

Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle; PTI "Filigree Border"

Challenges:

Brown Sugar #219--think pink

Cute Card Thursday #446--anything goes

DRS Designs #247--stamp your own background

Crafty Gals #92--Punches/die cuts

Penny's Challenge #298--anything goes

Fab N Funky Challenge #321--include the word happy

Crafter's Cafe #158--use lots of pink

Crafting By Designs--anything goes

Unicorn Challenge #14--pretty pinks or halloween

Craft-Dee BowZ--anything goes with a handmade bow

Crafty Cardmakers #176--birthdays

Aud Sentiments #165--anything goes

YNS #49--sketch

Cut It Up #106--pink or breast cancer awareness

Alphabet Challenge--P if for Pretty in Pink

A little sweeter

Happy Friday!!  It's time for another challenge from Jo's Scrap Shack and this week it's an easy one!  Anything Goes!!

 Our sponsors are Little Blue Button Stamps and Sherri Baldy.  I was given this sweet image from Sherri Baldy to work with.

They look like they are having a great time together, don't they.  Maybe it's a sugar high from all that candy. : )  I hope you will get a chance to play along with us this week, I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Supplies:

Stamps: Sherri Baldy "image 757" digi; MFT "Candy Jar Sentiments"

Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13"

Challenges:

A Bit More Time To Craft #29--anything goes
If You Give A Crafter A Cookie #54--inspiration photo (I was inspired by the colors and the pumpkin cookie)

Cute Card Thursday #446--anything goes
CRAFT #384--inspiration photo (inspired by the colors and the fall theme)

Little Miss Muffet #148--anything goes
Inspiration Destination #106--anything goes
Penny's Challenge #298--anything goes
Addicted to Stamps #214--CAS
Crafting By Designs--anything goes
Creative With Stamps #17--sentiment

Fall thanks

Happy Wednesday and Happy October!!  This means we have a new month of challenges for you on The House That Stamps Built blog.  This week we have a color combo challenge for you:

I think I've mentioned before that color combos are THE most challenging for me!  But if everything was easy, we wouldn't grow, would we?  So, after lots of brainstorming, this is what I came up with:

I created the little tag by masking the sentiment "Let us give thanks" so all I used was the "thanks" and then I added some of the falling leaves and colored them lightly.  I know several of my teammates used the color combo for Halloween cards, but a few also used it for non-autumn creations, so make sure you head over to The House blog to see all of their fabulous creations.

Supplies:

Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Jar", "Flowers", "Let Us . . .", "Prize Pumpkin" and "Falling Leaves"

Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle die

Challenges:
Tuesday Throwdown #314--leaves
Cuttlebug Mania--thank you
Julia Spiri--anything goes with tic tac toe (I used the diagonal: flowers, image, blue)
Come And Get It--welcome autumn
Hiding In My Craft Room #269--halloween colors
Creative Knockouts #161--Fall
Brown Sugar Challenge #218--anything goes

Rain Showers

Well, welcome to October and welcome to the latest challenge from the Love To Scrap Challenge Blog.  This week in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, we are challenging you to "Go Pink".  Yep, it's that easy!!  Our three sponsors are:

Angie's Digi Stamps

The East Wind

Lacy Sunshine Stamps

I had a few images from Lacy Sunshine that I hadn't gotten a chance to use, yet.  So I chose this beautiful girl and got to work:

I don't usually use a lot of pink and I have had both of these papers for a loooong time, so it was time to pull them out.  A bit of this and a bit of that and a fun sentiment treatment and it's done!  I really love how this one turned out and I think it could be used for numerous friend situations from congratulations to encouragement.  I hope you'll get a chance to play along with us this challenge, I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Supplies:
Stamps: Lacy Sunshine Stamps "Emily Rain Showers" digi; Verve "Blue Skies" sentiment; Repeat Impressions Flower Power Separates "Daisy Outline, large" and "Leaf Outline, small"
Dies: MFT "Fancy Flourish"; PTI border die

Challenges:
As You Like It--favorite color combo (for cards my favorite is green and pink, I think it's just such a soft and feminine color combo))
Dis Digi Designs--ribbon, lace, or twine
Craft Your Passion #33--anything goes
Creative Craft Cottage #72--anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #250--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2--sketch

The Paper Shelter #266--Blooming Days
Inspiration Destination--anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--anything goes
Crafty Ribbons #169--ribbon or lace
Aud Sentiments #165--anything goes with a sentiment
In the Pink #104--Flower Power
Brown Sugar #218--anything goes
Cut It Up #106--pink or breast cancer awareness
Alphabet Challenge--P for Pretty In Pink
The East Wind #64--In the Pink
Pixie's Crafty Workshop #249--anything goes with snippets (my pink papers were scraps, all the embellies--border die, flowers, sentiment strips, etc. were made from scraps)