Pick of the Week

It's my turn to share a pick of the week on The House That Stamps Built blog today.  I'm going to share something I haven't done in a really long time: Iris folding.  Do you remember that one?  I don't know what made me think of it, but I'm so glad I did because I had a blast!  So, here's what you need:
-card base or panel
-basic die shape (or something to cut out a basic shape)
-strips of paper (this is a great way to use up some scraps!)
-optional: an iris folding template like this one or there are tons on the internet.  You don't have to print it out; I just used it for a reference

Put a lot of adhesive around the shape on the backside of the panel.  If you don't have a template, place your first strips evenly spaced around the cut shape.  (I actually had to take this out and remove one of the strips of paper so the pattern worked better.)

 This is what it looks like on the backside.  You need a LOT of adhesive.

 Continue adding the strips around the circle until you have filled in the entire shape.  

 I turned the circle into an ornament with the ribbon die and finished it off with a rhinestone and a Merry Christmas sentiment.  Once I finished the card, I just had to keep going, so I created an adorable little tag in the same way.

 This time I used the same ribbon die and added a little ornament topper as well.  I finished it off with a partial sentiment from the Christmas Tree 2-sided swing stamp set,

Supplies:
Card:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Christmas"
Dies: Spellbinders "Standard Circles, large"; Elizabeth Craft Designs "Beautiful Baubles"
Tag:
Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Christmas Tree 2-sided Swing Stamp Set"
Dies: Elizabeth Craft Designs "Beautiful Baubles"; PaperTrey Ink "Tag Sale #8"

Challenges:
Christmas at Sweet Stampin--anything goes with optional twist (I did not use the twist)
Crafty Hazelnut' Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
Love To Craft Challenge Blog #35--anything goes
ABC Christmas--L is for little (little tag)
Merry Little Christmas Challenge #11--anything goes
Winter Wonderland--use red and green
Creative Moments--anything goes
Crimbo-Crackers # 186--anything goes
Cardz TV #91--anything goes
Sweet Stampers #33--anything goes
Creative Fingers #166--anything goes
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #108--anything goes

Infinity Card

So, I've been seeing these cards around on the internet--the infinity or never ending card--and finally took the plunge.  And, oh my goodness!!!  It was so fun and so much easier than I thought it would be!  I decided to make this for a young man in our family that just graduated from High School.  I used this fabulous tutorial (though I am sure there are plenty out there).  It's kind of hard to show how this works in still pictures, but hopefully you can see how it works.  This is the front (or at least what I intended to be the front; it's hard to have a front when it never ends!):

 As it changes to the next panel:

 Panel number two:

 As it opens to the third panel:

 Panel number three:

 As it changes to the final panel:

The final panel with a spot left for writing the greeting:

Oh, and wait!!  It goes back to the front panel!  What??

If you have not tried this kind of card before, you have to give it a try!!  I used papers with bright, celebratory colors and patterns and tried to vary them throughout the card, while keeping the stripes going all through it.  All the caps and diplomas were stamped on scraps of white card stock, colored and fussy cut out before sprinkling them throughout the card.  And the "g" for "grad" was actually in my bits and pieces stash and was the basis for the color combo.

Supplies:

1st Panel:

Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Class of" and "Grad's Cap and Diploma" (both wood mounted sets are on sale right now)

Dies: Papertrey Ink "By the Numbers"

2nd Panel:

Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Grad's Cap and Diploma"

Dies: PaperTrey Ink "congrats" die and "bookprint lowercase alphabet"

3rd Panel:

Stamps: Verve "Shine Bright"; Repeat Impressions "Grad's Cap and Diploma"

Dies: PaperTrey Ink "Sparkle and Shine" die; Verve "Star" dies

4th Panel:

Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Grad's Cap and Diploma"

Dies: PaperTrey Ink "Bookprint lowercase alphabet"; Verve star die

Challenges:

Unicorn Challenge #44--for the men/boys

Crafting with an Attitude--anything goes

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes

Love To Craft Challenge Blog #35--anything goes

Crafty Calendar--masculine

SheepSki Designs #27--for someone special

Creatalicious #165--spots and/or stripes (lots of stripes)

Creative Craft Cottage #119--anything goes

Paper Funday #6--anything goes with optional twist: for the guys

Dare 2B Artzy--shaped cards (I don't know if this qualifies, but it is constantly changing shape and when opened to the 3rd panel, it's definitely shaped.  If this doesn't fit the challenge, please delete my entry)

Crafty Creations #392--anything goes

Creative Fingers #166--anything goes

Lil' Patch of Crafty Friends #108--anything goes

Crafter's Cafe #221--boys/men AND/OR rain/sun

Crafty Sentiments--anything goes

The Paper Shelter--stripes AND/OR dots

Penny's Challenge #435--anything goes

Double D--pick a pattern (I used a LOT of patterns on this; but my favorite is probably the stripes)

Try Stampin' On Tuesday #412--fun fold and/or sketch

Non-traditional Christmas

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

And here is the card I created:

I was inspired by the colors and a bit by the mosaic pattern.  I started by creating a bokeh background with the pink, purple, teal and darker blue.  Then I used a large circle stamp and a sponge dauber to create the light circles.  Then I stamped my two images on ornament die cuts that were on my bits and pieces stash and finished it off with a pine branch that pulls in the flower vine in the upper left corner of the photo.  I placed the panel on a dark purple card base.

Thanks for stopping by!  Make sure you head on over to The House blog to see what the rest of the Design Team has done with this photo.  And if you "need" any of the stamps I used, check out my 10% off your entire order coupon code over in my lift sidebar.

Supplies:

Stamps: Repeat Impressions "2" Circle Sil.", "Stained Glass Round", "Poinsettia", and "Christmas"

Dies: MFT "Blueprints 13" stitched rectangle; Elizabeth Craft Designs "Beautiful Baubles" ornaments and pine branch

Challenges:
Christmas at Sweet Stampin--anything goes with the optional twist: non-traditional colors
Christmas Cards All Year Round--garland/leaves/Christmas flowers
Cards Galore Challenges--anything goes
Crafting with an Attitude--anything goes
Creative Craft Cottage #114--anything goes
Merry Little Christmas #11--anything goes
Crafting By Designs--anything goes
Crimbo Crackers #186--anything goes
Alphabet challenge--F is for Flowers
Pixies Crafty Workshop #354--anything goes with snippets (the baubles were in my bits and pieces stash, the gold tops and pine bough were die cut from scraps)
C.R.A.F.T. #517--Christmas
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #442--anything goes with the optional twist: non-traditional colors
The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #51--anything goes

Dad and Me

It's Saturday!!  That means it's time for another challenge from Di's Digi Designs.

The challenge this time is: Include the Sun (how perfect for this time of year!)
And here is my card for your inspiration:

 Have I got a fun one for you today!!  I've had this idea in my mind for a while just haven't had a reason to use this image.  But when I was looking through Di's images, I thought this one would be perfect for Father's Day, so this was the chance to see if my idea worked.

I colored the image and then used my kraft knife and scissors to cut out the sky portions, so you could look through to a second panel.   To create the second panel, I first colored the sky with the same marker I used to color the sky in the image so they would blend together.  Then I used a cloud stencil to add some clouds for interest.  I added a die cut sun and a strip of grass.  Then I stamped the sentiment allowing the "Father" to be seen from the outside, but hiding the rest behind the hammock.

Since I wanted to have some space to be able to write a message, I made this a tri-panel card and on the third panel, I stamped another sentiment.  And this is also where I will write the message. 

I made this for my husband for Father's Day.  When I showed it to my girls, they remembered that they used to lay in the hammock with their Daddy when they were much smaller, so it seems this was the perfect image to use.

I hope you will get a chance to play along with us; I can't wait to see what you create.  And make sure you hop over to the Di's Digital Designs blog to see what the rest of the team has made for this challenge.

Supplies: 

Stams: Di's Digi Stamps "Sleepy Bear" digi; Verve "World's Greatest" sentiment on second panel; Repeat Impressions "A father is . . . " sentiment on third panel

Dies: MFT "Blueprints 25" stitched rectangle

Challenges:
Scor-Pal #60--warmer days
Unicorn Challenge #44--for the men/boys
Crafty Calendar--masculine
Power Poppy Creative Confetti--Do it for Dad
2 Crafty Critter Crazies--anything goes
The Paper Funday #6--anything goes with the optional twist: for the guys
Stamplorations Mixed Media--anything goes with a stencil

Double Trouble #30--Thing #1: stencil or emboss your background; Thing #2: play along with 2 Crafty Critter Crazies
Shopping Our Stash #377--stencil me this
Cardz 4 Guyz #221--Father's Day
Crafty Gals #193--You're the Man
Word Art Wednesday #341--anything goes with uplifting sentiment
Cuttlebug Mania--tic-tac-toe (I used the top row: sentiment, image, die cut)
Die Cuttin' Divas #424--masculine/Father's Day
Try Stampin' On Tuesdays #412--fun folds

Crafting By Designs--summer fun

Father's Day

Happy Wednesday!!  It's time for another challenge from The House That Stamps Built.  This week we have a fun Tic Tac Toe board for you:

  

Here is what I created for your inspiration:

I used the left hand column: Dads, green and blue, twine.  I actually had something completely different in mind, but as I was flipping through my Repeat Impression stamps, I saw the motorcycle and thought it would be perfect for my dad for Father's Day as he really enjoys riding motorcycles.  I just got a new pad of vintage-y looking travel themed papers from PaperTrey Ink and they were perfect for both the challenge and the theme of the card.  The twine came wrapped around a package I just received from Lawn Fawn; it had the perfect colors to go with my color combo.  I used some green eyelets (remember those?!) and a few enamel dots to finish everything off.  I was very excited to use the tiny, little green dot as it was the very last one left out of a package.  What are you supposed to do with just one?

Thanks for stopping by!  Make sure you head on over to The House blog to see what the rest of the Design Team has done with this photo.  And if you "need" any of the stamps I used, check out my 10% off your entire order coupon code over in my lift sidebar.

Supplies:

Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Harley" and "Father's Day"

Dies: Spellbinders "A2 Matting Basics A" rectangle

Challenges:
Use Your Stuff #362--vintage (these papers have a vintage feel)
Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #320--sketch

Sweet Stampin'--Father's Day
Cute Card Thursday #585--anything goes
Crafty Gals #193--you're the man
Cardz 4 Guyz #221--Father's Day
The Paper Funday #6--anything goes with the optional twist: for the guys
Pile It On #155--transportation
Sheepski Designs #27--for someone special (for my daddy!)
Power Poppy Creative Spark--Do it for Dad
Crafty Calendar--masculine
Through The Purple Haze #157--the guys have it
Unicorn #44--for the men/boys

CAS Christmas

Happy Wednesday!!  It's time for another challenge from The House That Stamps.  This week is a Designer's Choice Challenge and Patti has chosen: Things with wings

And here is the card I created:

I'm quite behind in my Christmas cards for the year, so I decided to pull out this beautiful cardinal stamp and make a Clean and Simple Christmas card.  The cardinal is perfect for perching on different things; here I placed him in the berry branches.  A bonus to this card is that I got to use up some small scraps of a paper pack that is almost gone.  Most of these pieces I only had to trim to the right length.

Thanks for stopping by!  Make sure you head on over to The House blog to see what the rest of the Design Team has done with this photo.  And if you "need" any of the stamps I used, check out my 10% off your entire order coupon code over in my lift sidebar.

Supplies:

Stamps: Repeat Impressions "Christmas" and "Cardinal"

Challenges:
Lil' Patch of  Crafty Friends #107--anything goes
CAS(E) This Sketch #324--sketch (I used a bit of creative license, but the bones are still there)

Creative Fingers #165--anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #440--anything goes with the optional twist: use a bear (I did not use the optional twist)
Christmas at Sweet Stampin'--anything goes with the optional twist: snowflakes (I did not use the optional twist)
Cards Galore #64--anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper--anything goes with patterned paper
2 Crafty Critter Crazies--anything goes
The Merry Little Christmas challenge #11--anything goes
The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #50--anything goes
Crafty Sentiments--strass and/or pearls

Birthday Word Search

It's June (can you believe it!) and that means it's time for a new challenge from the Love To Scrap Challenge Blog.  This month we have a fun challenge: No Rulz (so you can create anything you want!)  Our fabulous sponsor is Bugaboo Stamps:

And here is the card I created:

 I won this really fun image from Bugaboo a little while ago and I decided to print it out and use it.  Part of this image includes the words that you are supposed to look for in the puzzle, but I didn't have enough room to use it all together so I cut it apart and used the main part on the front.  So the recipient can know what to look for, I created a fun little pull tab attached to the large cupcake and when you pull it out, it is attached to the word list.

 I didn't really plan out how I was going to do it, so there was a bit of finagling to get it to work.  But it did turn our pretty fun, I think!

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you will get a chance to play along with us.  Head over to the LTSCB blog for the full details and to see what the rest of the team created.

Supplies:

Stamps: Bugaboo Stamps "Girl Brat Birthday Crossword" digi; PTI "Baker's Dozen" large cupcake; Lawn Fawn "Pull Here" 

Dies: MFT "Stitched Scalloped Trio"

Challenges:

Penny's Challenge #432--anything goes

Make My Monday #97--kinetic

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday--anything goes

Pattie's Creations #158--birthdays