My Deer - Sparks Challenge Round Two

I'm breaking new ground with this post. I'm pretty sure it's the first time I've entered any challenge more than once. Anyway here is another take on the Designer Draft Challenge over at Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge this week. Since I don't expect to be sending another box to OWH before the October 31st Christmas deadline I'm moving on to some love/winter combos and thought this could be a fun one that might work for a male or female. Hey, it's got wood and deer, both masculine right? :)

I actually dug out my very old mirror image stamp. I'm not even sure if that's what you'd call it. Do you have one? Do you ever use it any more? For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about... it's basically just a plain piece of rubber on a wooden block. You can stamp an image onto it and then stamp the image on your paper to get a mirror copy. I think it was one of the first things I bought many, many years ago after seeing the demo at an SU party awed everyone with how it worked. Okay, I admit back then it took less to impress and amaze me but it IS pretty cool. LOL! It takes a few tries and the results aren't always great but if you're coloring the image like I did here you generally don't notice and a fine point sharpie can help you patch up any not so solid lines or spots.

Happy Crafting!



SUPPLIES USED:
STAMPS: Happy Camper (Paper Smooches)
INK: Onyx Black (Versafine)
PAPER: Woodgrain from Happy Camper (Echo Park), Green Snowflake (K&Co.)
COLORING MEDIUM: Spectrum Noir Markers: CR3, TN6, EB2 GB10, DR7
OTHER: Heart Punches (Recollections/Michael's), Gardener's Twine, White Signo Gel Pen

Let's Bond - Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge

The current Paper Smooches Sparks challenge is a Designer Draft. I have a couple of Paper Smooches stamps sets but it took me a while to figure out which one I could make work for this sketch. The 'sprinkled' stars in this design caught my attention and I thought it could be fun to have this cute mad scientist and his potion spilling all over. I also really like the 'Polaroid' style frame element in the sketch and although I don't have the die I was able to mimic the feel by layering a couple of pieces of paper. It makes a nice frame for any focal point and I could definitely see myself using this sketch again. Creating this took me awhile between the paper piecing on his funky lab coat, the marker coloring on the rest of the image and the accessory pieces of his test tube and the flame but it was a lot of fun and something about this guy just makes me smile.

There's still time, until Sunday to enter the challenge and this sketch is really a fun one. If you don't own any PS stamps yet there are even a bunch of Freebies (generously posted by Kim) which you can use. I liked this sketch so much I may even try to get another card done with it before the challenge ends.


Happy Crafting!

SUPPLIES USED:

STAMPS: Great Chemistry (Paper Smooches)

INK: Onyx Black (Versafine), Wild Cherry (MFT)

PAPER: Chevron-Color Vibe 2 (Simple Stories), Blue Pattern- Bargin Bin Michael's (Studio G), Composition Book (my own digital design)

COLORING: Spectrum Noir Markers - DG2, Dg3, Cg4, TN6, IG1, IG4, Ig7, FS3, FS4, FS8, FS9, IB1, CR8, OR1, CT4

OTHER: Sequins (Darice), Glossy Accents

Peace, Love & Happiness

As is always the case whenever there are 5 weeks in a month it's time for an Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge Anything Goes theme. I have a few Paper Smooches stamp sets and I mix and match different sets on a regular basis. On today's card I'm using a somewhat unusual combination. I took the starbursts from the Circle of Honor set and combined it with a holiday sentiment from Pretty Phrases. By stamping it an icy blue green shade, the burst graphic which I tend to think of as fireworks, since it's with a patriotic stamp set looks just like a snowflake. The next time you're making cards try looking at your stamps sets in a new way by taking them out of the context of the set they're sold  in you never know what you'll come up with.

The sentiment is heat embossed in silver to coordinate with the metallic silver mesh ribbon. Metallics are hard to photograph but heat embossing is a great way to add some glitz to your card while staying within OWH guidelines.

Happy Crafting!

SUPPLIES USED: 

STAMPS: Pretty Phrases, Circle of Honor (Paper Smooches)

INKS: Versamark & Silver Embossing Powder

PAPER: Accent Opaque 8o# White Cover, DSP -my scrap box

DIES/PUNCHES: Edge Punch (Martha Stewart - Retired)

OTHER: Metallic Silver Ribbon (Michael's)

BASICS: Click HERE to check out my crafting tool bag.

Dude, It's a Paper Smooches Cool Shades Challenge

The moment I saw the fun and trendy colors in the current Paper Smooches Cool Shades Challenge I thought they'd be great on a card for a teenager and the two sets I used on this card, Teen Routine and Slang Gang, came right to mind. Cards for teens is one of the harder categories for me when it comes to making cards for OWH but I always try to include a few in every box. 

You can't tell in the top photo but when I paper pieced the white area, I gave the 'windows' on these a bit of shine with my glossy packing tape trick. It adds a fun little detail and is much more noticeable in person. The blue inside each window is just marker that is colored onto the white paper before the glossy tape was applied.

I was struggling to choose just one of the sentiments in the set so I decided I'd put a few together into what could probably be considered a complete sentence for many teens. LOL. I hope this card brings a smile to the face of a hero and to the teen who gets it.

Happy Crafting!



SUPPLIES USED:
STAMPS: Teen Routine, Slang Gang (Paper Smooches)
INK: Onyx Black (Versafine)
OTHER: Tiger Embossing Folder (Sizzix),
Glassy Packing Tape, Spectrum Noir Marker

Paper Smooches, You're The Bomb!

Today I have a 'just for fun' card share. What does that mean? It means it wasn't made for a challenge, hop or any reason other than I've had this set for quite a while and it's gone un-inked until now. I think Paper Smooches has some of the cutest stamp designs on the market.

I have a pretty limited crafting budget so I try to stick with stamp sets that I feel I will get a lot of use from but once in awhile I come across a set that is just so cute and even though I have my doubts about how much use I'll give it I can't resist. This might be one of those sets, LOL, but I always smile when I see this mad scientist! Maybe this would be a fun card for a hero to send home to an older boy or girl.

Happy Crafting!

SUPPLIES USED: 

STAMPS: Great Chemistry, Slang Gang (Paper Smooches)

INKS: Onyx Black (Versafine)

PAPER: Recollections & Bazzill Solids  (Michael's)

DIES/PUNCHES: Notebook Edge Punch (EK Success), Fishtail Flag (My Favorite Things)

COLORING MEDIUM: Spectrum Noir Markers 

OTHER: Brads (Michael's), Notebook Embossing Folder (Sizzix)

BASICS: Click HERE to check out my crafting tool bag.

Smooches - Cool Shades 'Sizzle'

The third week of the month is always a Cool Shades Color Challenge at the Paper Smooches CAS Sparks Blog.  I think the intention is a CAS style since it's part of the challenge name but it seems like it's more of an anything goes in terms of what's ultimately done so don't be scared off if CAS isn't your thing. You have until Sunday to join in and a color challenge is easy to join in on no matter which set(s) you have. (Oh and you can even find some freebies at the PS site too!)

This cute dog is from one of my favorite sets called Chubby Chums. I fussy cut him by hand but matching dies for this set were recently added to the product line and they're definitely on my wish list. The banner is a PS die set. I did some scoring and folding to make it fit my small sentiment a bit better and by using some foam tape under the center portion I was able to add some dimension too.

Happy Crafting!

SUPPLIES USED: 

STAMPS: Chubby Chums (Paper Smooches)

INKS: Habenero (Versafine)

PAPER: Recollections Solids (Michael's)

DIES: Streamers (Paper Smooches)

COLORING MEDIUM: 

OTHER: Big Dot Embossing Folder (Sizzix)

BASICS: Click HERE to check out my crafting tool bag.

Trend Watch: Sheer & Clear

My crafting day was not as productive yesterday as I'd hoped but I did manage to get a card done for the current Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge: Sheer & Clear. 

For this card I used some thick vellum by Neenah. It's the UV Ultra II Translucent Vellum 36lb Cover. It's thick enough that it can be die cut easily and it can even be embossed without cracking much. I'm not sure if it's available in small packs online anywhere or only in reams of 250. Working in a print shop professionally gives me the ability to play with a lot of different stocks including this one.

I'm hoping to do some crafting today too and with any luck I'll be back to share something later and I'll manage to get a few pieces done for the challenges I'm hoping to join in on this week too.

Happy Crafting!

SUPPLIES USED: 

STAMPS: Pretty Phrases Paper Smooches)

INKS: Onyx Black (Versafine)

PAPER: Summer Soul (Fancy Pants), UV Ultra II Translucent Vellum 36lb Cover. 

DIES: Blueprints #1 (My Favorite Things)

OTHER: Lime Green Grosgrain Ribbon & Teal Sequins (Michael's)

BASICS: Click HERE to check out my crafting tool bag.

I've Got Your Number

The current CAS-ual Friday Challenge is to use a number or numbers in your design. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to finally ink up the Paper Smooches Digits set that I got as the free TAM (Thanks A Million) set back when I bought some goodies during the OWH Memorial Day Blog Hop weekend.

I don't usually do well with one-layer cards. (Yes, I  know the addition of the black frame layer technically makes this two layers, but I could have drawn the frame in too :) I can actually say that I am truly pleased with this one and I think that's a 'first' for me where my attempts at one layer cards is concerned.

As it turns out this week's Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge is 'Anything Goes' so I'll be linking  this up there too!

Happy Crafting!

SUPPLIES USED: 

STAMPS: Digits (Paper Smooches)

INKS: Wild Cherry, Lemon Drop, Sour Apple, Orange Fizz (My Favorite Things), Majestic Blue, Onyx Black (Versafine)

PAPER: Recollections Solids (Michael's), White 80# Accent (Card Base)

OTHER: Sharpie Fine Marker (WalMart)

BASICS: Click HERE to check out my crafting tool bag.

Paper Smooches Sparks - Designer Draft Challenge

The second week of the month at the Paper Smooches Sparks blog brings a sketch challenge. This one was a little tricky for me as I didn't really have an image in any of the PS sets I own that are tall and narrow so I had to improvise. I've seen Kim's adorable characters 'stacked' in designs before and decided that it was the perfect solution for turning the stamps I had into a card based on the sketch.

These Chubby Chums make a strong focal point and I kept the rest of the card CAS so it wouldn't compete for attention.

Happy Crafting!


SUPPLIES USED: 

STAMPS: Chubby Chums & Simply Said - Sentiment (Paper Smooches)

PAPER: Accent Opaque Smooth 80# White, Recollections Solids (Michael's)

INKS: Onyx Black (Versafine),  

DIES: Dots Embossing Folder (Sizzix)

COLORING MEDIUM: Spectrum Noir & Prismacolor Markers 

BASICS: Click HERE to check out my crafting tool bag.

Oh No You Dit-ten —Paper Smooches Picture Perfect

It's a 'Picture Perfect' Challenge at the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge this week. I've been itching to use the stamps sets I got during the OWH Memorial Day Weekend special, one of which is the set called 'Slang Gang' consisting of many fun sentiment stamps that I thought would be great for making cards for teens. I decided to create a background with them and managed to use almost every stamp. 

This crayon image is the inspiration photo for the challenge and I took my color palette from it. I used a Fiskars stamp press and arranging the stamps took a long time and a few tries. It's a little hard to tell in the photograph but I've actually heat embossing the words in this background in copper and the shimmer gives it a nice effect in person. I'm still trying to figure out if there's a trick to photographing metallic elements. If you know what it is...please share! :) 

The 'Missing You' is from an different set but I thought it would be a good choice. I imagine there is a hero far from home out there who, though they might reprimand their teen for using slang is missing hearing it just a little bit.

Happy Crafting!

SUPPLIES USED: 

STAMPS: Slang Gang & Circle of Honor -Missing You (Paper Smooches)

PAPER: Accent Opaque Smooth 80# White, Recollections Solids (Michaels)DIES: Fishtail Flag Stx (My Favorite Things)

OTHER: Black Mini Brad

BASICS: BASICS: Click HERE to check out my crafting tool bag.

CAS-ual Fridays — CAS106: Over The Edge

The challenge this week over at CAS-ual Fridays is CFC106: Create a Clean And Simple card with an element that goes off the edge of the cardfront. Though this technique adds a lot on interest to a card, it's not one I do that often since almost all of my cards go to OWH and since these cards travel a long way to and back from our heroes, making sure a card is strong and sturdy is an important factor. If you are making cards for OWH and decide you want to give this a try just remember that the finished card has to fit in an A2 envelope so you'll need to make the necessary compensation in your card design.

In this design I've made my card base a bit smaller and the die cut is positioned so the overall design from the top of the die-cut to the base of the card measures 4.25".

Happy Crafting!

SUPPLIES USED: 
STAMPS:Pretty Phrases (Paper Smooches) 
INK: Onyx Black (Versafine)
PAPER: Out of Print (Fancy Pants), Solid Colors - Recollections (Michaels)
DIES: Labels Eight (Spellbinders)
OTHER: Ribbon - Pool Party (Stampin Up)

Paper Smooches Teen Routine

During the OWH Memorial Day Weekend blog hop I treated myself to a couple new Paper Smooches sets including one called Teen Routine, that I've used to make these two cards. It's a fun set full of techie things and coordinated sentiments and I think it's perfect for those teen cards, especially for the boys, that are so hard to create.

The techie background papers are from the same DCWV Generation Tech stack as the cell phones I used on my Ai Blog Hop card this past weekend. I've had that stack for such a long time and knowing that it would be a good match for this stamp set sealed the deal for me when I was deciding what to buy. Well... that and the great discount Kim offered too.

Happy Crafting!



PRODUCTS USED:
STAMPS: Teen Routine (Paper Smooches)
INK: Onyx Black (Versafine)
PAPER: Generation Tech Stack (DCWV)
DIES/DIE CUTS: Chevron Strip (My Favorite Things)
OTHER: Hot Pink/Green Mini Brads, White Signo Pen, Prismacolor Art Markers

Thanks

I have received so many well wishes and so much support over the past week that I thought this would make a good card share today. As most of you know I'm currently a Round 2 contestant in the 2013 PaperCrafts Gallery Idol contest so I'm going to leave my Gallery Idol entry as a sticky post at the top of my blog while the voting is taking place. I hope you won't mind having to scroll down one post in the meanwhile.

MFT DieNamics - Royal Leaves, Layered Rose • Martha Stewart Edge Punch • Spellbinders Labels 18 • Paper Echo Park - This & That Graceful Paper Smooches Sentiment Simply Said

I just love this floral paper and it just shouts 'Summer' to me. It's an absolutely perfect summer day where I am today. Temperatures in the 70s and not a lick of humidity. If only the weather could be so perfect every day! I hope it's a pretty day where you are too.

Happy Crafting!

Circle of Honor by Paper Smooches

I decided I'd stick with a Patriotic Card post today being that it's Memorial Day. Both of these were created with the Paper Smooches OWH Fundraiser set called 'Circle of Honor'. It 's such a fun set to use and just perfect for Any Hero cards too.

I personally never tire of a red, white and blue color combination, but you can definitely use this set with other colors too, like this black, yellow and grey combo.

As part of her participation in the OWH Memorial Day Weekend Blog Hop, Kim at Paper Smooches offered a very generous 15% discount on all purchases and the offer is still good until midnight (MST) tonight. So if you're interested in this set, scoot on over right away and scoop it up!

I hope you're enjoying a happy and safe weekend among family and friends and that you'll take a few minutes to reflect on the real meaning of the day, to honor all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice and laid down their lives in service to our country.

God Bless America!

Paper Smooches Designer Draft for May

The second week of the month over at Paper Smooches Sparks, the official challenge blog of Paper Smooches Stamps, is a sketch challenge and this is the card I've made for it. I actually picked up this stamps set today at the only LSS left in my area. They are moving from the location they've been in for 20+ years because the rent is sky-rocketing. I'm happy they are moving instead of closing down and since I was going to be in the area for other reasons I dropped in to take advantage of their 20% off moving sale.

This uses the Papers Smooches sentiment set called Pretty Phrases

and all the other elements are from my scrap box.

I had intended to get a few hours of crating time in today, that didn't happen but at least I did get this card made and posted. I think this could actually be the first time I've managed to post every single day for an entire week.

Happy Crafting Everyone!



P.S.  I did get another thing off my long term 'to-do list' yesterday. I photographed and posted  a bunch of stamps that I had set aside months ago while doing a re-organization of all my stuff. If you are interested you can see them under the TAG SALE tab at the top of my blog or by clicking here.

Paper Smooches Cool Shades Challenge

Have you seen the  Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge blog yet? There is a new challenge each week.  This week it's a  Cool Shades color challenge and the color scheme is called "Fiesta". 

Well I don't often have time to join challenges but when I saw this one I couldn't resist because the card idea popped into my head immediately.  I pictured the cute characters in the Paper Smooches Chubby Chums set dressed for a Fiesta. I drew this Sombrero and though it took a couple of attempts I think I finally got the proportion about right. Sombreros are such fun that I thought it would be a perfect pairing with these guys.

Papers Smooches - Chubby Chums Set • Chevron Die by My Favorite Things
Striped Paper by K&Co. • Solid Papers by DCWV & Michael's Crafts

This was the most fun that I've had creating a card in a long time. I think that maybe it's a sign that I need to spend more time on the challenge blogs as a means to refresh my creativity.

Happy Crafting Everyone!

Presidents' Day VCMP - Day 1

There is a Virtual Card making Party going on this weekend on the OWH Stars & Stamps blog with challenges hosted by different OWHers every couple of hours. I spent a good deal of time crafting today but decided I'd hold off on taking and uploading pictures until I got packed up for the night, so here are my first four challenges.

Challenge #1 Chevrons

Hosted By Erika at Scrappin Intervention

Chevron Die by My Favorite Things • Paper - DCWVB Generation Tech Stack
Sentiment - My own custom stamp design

Challenge #2 All Creatures Great & Small

Hosted by Misty at Delightful Gifts

Image & Sentiment Stamps for Paper Smooches • Papers from My Stash

Challenge #3 Texture Omit

Hosted by Beth at Bunny Scrap

Embossing Folder - Tim Holtz • Martha Stewart Scoring Board • Hero Art OWH Epic Love Stamp Set

Challenge #4 Thinsg with Wings 

Hosted by Yvonne at PenguinPapers

Stamps by Lawn Fawn • Star Border Die - My Favorite Things

The VCMPs are so much fun and a great way to get your creative juices flowing. If you have some time I hope you'll join in on some of the challenges. I'll be crafting again tomorrow and back to share some more.

Happy Crafting!