Sketch Challenge #10 with Dreamweaver Stencils

 Check out the sketch challenge Kim gave us at Dreamweaver Stencils Dream Scheme Thursday this week! As soon as I saw it, I knew exactly which stencil I wanted to work with...the LJ875 Four Seasons. Probably a little obvious since all four panels on the stencil are in four panels. I used the Glossy White paste to emboss the entire stencil on white cardstock. When dry (takes approximately 45 minutes, unless you lay it on top of a warm toaster oven or pancake griddle), I cut it into the four panels. Each panel was then run through my hot laminator machine with a different color of Dreamweaver Stencils'  foil...gold, green, copper, and blue. No adhesive necessary, the heat enables the foil to adhere to the embossing paste. The end result is gorgeous, professional-looking foiling with a raised emboss. The sketch called for something along the fold edge, so I added a border of black argyle using my new EK edger, and a matted square of the same for that center piece of the sketch. I didn't want to place anything in the center that would detract from the gorgeous seasonal trees. I knew that I would love how these trees would turn out. Now I can hardly wait to create with them again! Want to play along with me and the rest of the Dream Team? Just hop around to see the team posts (listed at right), as well as the Dream It Up! blog, then link your own creation to Mr. Linky.

SCS351 Maple Branch Triptych

 Quickie post featuring this card I did for the this week's Split Coast Stampers sketch challenge (SCS351). I paste-embossed with copper the Maple Branch from Dreamweaver Stencils, and sprinkled with various Stampendous ultra fine glitters. The sentiment is from a Perfectly Clear set from Stampendous as well.

Stampendous Saturday Goes Merry and Bright!

 For Stampendous Saturday this week, I chose to post a card that I created for the July holiday catalog. This features this darling Cling Penguin Star, colored with Copic Sketch Markers, and sprinkled with Multi Ultra-Fine Crystal Glitter. If you don't have any other glitter in your sparkle arsenal, you MUST have the Multi UF Crystal Glitter from Stampendous! Perfect, subtle sparkle that allows the image and color to shine through. For this card, I also added the fun Jumbo Merry Class A' Peel stickers in the red mirror finish. I think red and aqua are now my favorite colors for the holidays this year, and this aqua and red dot and matching plaid paper from Pinecone Press works perfectly. Check out what the rest of the team is showing off this week, as well as the Stampendous Impressions blog. Here's the girls that are playing along this week:

Wendy Jordan

Taylor Usry

Cyndi Bundy

Wendy Price

If you haven't played along yet with the September sketch challenge, you have until September 29th to link your creation to the Stampendous Impressions blog. Remember...the fabulous Jumbo Cling Romantic Border is the prize for the chosen winner! Next Saturday, October 1st will be a new challenge, and trust me...you'll definitely want to play along!

Something New is Brewing

I love this great new image from Gourmet Rubber Stamps (part of the Lizzie Anne Designs line). The frog kicking back in the cauldron, the eyeballs floating around, and the arms and legs...gruesomely cute...if that's possible. I paper-pieced the cauldron with some fun glittery paper, added some webby looking crocheted lace, and placed it all on a spider web infested background. A sprinkling of Stampendous Class A' Peel Dot Sparklers in orange and black complete the "bubbles" of toil and trouble. Visit the new Gourmet Rubber Stamps website, blog, and FB page for more creations featuring the new Diner's Club set, Tart & Spice.

Happy Fall Y'All!

 Hooray! It's FALL! My favorite time of the year. I love the colors. I love the cool crisp air (or as cool and crisp as we can get in the high desert in California!). I may not get to see colorful maple leaves up here, but I can pretend, can't I? I'm sooooo over summer. This card is the perfect fall card. It uses the great warm colors of autumn, including the Copper Mercart Metal panel embossed with the Maple Branch stencil from Dreamweaver Stencils. This was accomplished by running the stencil through my Big Shot with the Mercart metal available through DW. After this first embossing, I used a couple of the Mercart tools to emphasize the design, and add more ooomph (technical term). A Nestabilities frame was layered, and machine embossed with the Leopard Skin stencil for added texture. I love the woodsy patterned paper in the background. The Thinking of You stencil was ink-stenciled with Versamark ink and embossed with Stampendous Chocolate Embossing Powder.
The finished result is an impressive card, but think how easily this metal panel would translate to the lid of a wood or paper mache box, the outside of a frame, with just a portion of the design...a fabulous jewelry piece! You have to get some of these stencils and the Mercart Metals and tools. So easy to create the unique and wonderful. Speaking of unique and wonderful, be sure to hop around to the rest of the Dream Team for more inspiration during this free week. Create something of your own and link on the Dream It Up! blog.

Another Challenge with SCS...in Color!

Another quickie post for today. I had some time to play with another challenge over at Split Coast Stampers, this time with their color challenge of Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin, and Old Olive. I love this patterned paper (WRM "Grandma's Kitchen), so that got distressed around the edges a bit and plopped onto my olive card. The orange panel may not be precisely "pumpkin", but what are they going to do...fire me? I stamped the Stampendous Thankful Leaves on the panel with Olympia Green Versafine ink, as well as two patterned papers of olive gingham (October Afternoon "Fly A Kite") and turquoise dots (Pinecone Press) and cut these out to pop up for more emphasis. Oh, I also ran the panel through the Big Shot (before adding the leaves!) with an Argyle embossing folder as well. A quick twill/button/twine embellishment and I was done. Fun!

Keeping it Clean...and Simple!

A clean and simple post for a clean and simple card (CAS)! Created for this week's CAS136 challenge over at Split Coast Stampers. The Stampendous Dream Text was stamped on the cork paper. The Tree Swing was stamped and embossed to overlap. A touch of red, a ribbon/button/twine embellishment, and an epoxy sticker sentiment. Still struggling with the CAS look. It always takes me longer to do CAS than to do FAF (full and fabulous)! Lol. Not giving up, though...
Hope you have a CAS and a FAF day!

These Boots are Made for Sparkling!

 Quickie post featuring more new images from Gourmet Rubber Stamps, the Lizzie Anne Designs' line. These are also from the new Diner's Club set, Tart & Spice. So much fun autumn themed cuteness! I kept the look simple and just stamped and embossed each set of boots with various mixes of Stampendous glitters with embossing powders...Lettuce EP with Sea Green glitter, Grape EP with Violet glitter, and Chinese Red EP with Tiger Lily glitter. My own way of brewing up some Halloween fun! Have you checked out the new Gourmet Rubber Stamps website yet? How about their new blog and Facebook page? Signed up for the monthly newsletter and Diner's Club? What are you waiting for? Don't make me chase you down in my my sparkly witch boots!

Stampendous Saturday Goes Fun and Freaky

Stampendous Saturday is going freaky this week. My card today features one of the newly released, Fran-tage Halloween images...perfect to go as creepy and freaky as you'd like, or to "cute up" if you'd prefer. I tried to go halfway between the two...freaking cute...so to speak. Lol. The image is the Pumpkin Fence, and I stamped it as an overlay on Thermo Acetate with black StazOn ink. I used this fun double-sided paper from Best Creation to keep it from being too dark and scary, added a bow of webby and crinkle ribbons from Creative Impressions. Black and shiny Class A' Peel Scary Spiders add the finishing touch. Now's your chance to see what the other Stampendous Saturday gals have been up to:

Taylor Usry

Wendy Jordan 
Cyndi Bundy
Wendy Price
Lynn Mercurio

 

Be sure to leave some love at each, and hop on over to the Stampendous Impressions' blog as well. Want this stamp

image? Click HERE for the Stampendous site where you can purchase directly or find a local store for more inspiration. Have you played along with the September Sketch Challenge yet? If not, here's the info...so get to it! You'll have the opportunity to win the new Jumbo Cling Romantic Border! Just attach your link on the Mr. Linky widget on the Stampendous Impressions' blog, or link to it from my blog:

OH HAPPY DAY...WITH A CHERRY ON TOP!

 I am doing a big happy dance today! Remember how sad I was a couple of months ago when Lizzie Anne Designs was closing their proverbial doors? Well, apparently fate stepped in and offered a new opportunity for the super-design-duo of Tricia (Lizzie) and Meredith (Anne) to continue with the wonderful LAD line, as well as add some play time with some other lines...all under the "banner" of Gourmet Rubber Stamps! You can imagine how excited the LAD team was to hear the news and most of us have all jumped on the smorgas-"board". Sorry, hee hee, a really bad pun there, but get used to it...I have a feeling that all of us will be running with the "gourmet" theme. Since I'm feeling so thankful to be able to play with all of these fabulously creative "chefs" once again, my featured card uses the banner thanks image from the inaugural Diner's Club set, "Tart & Spice". And don't you just love the darling owl that I paired up with it? Of course, I had to go a little wild and add punched out flowers from this cute paper on his/her eyes. The banner says it all, and is the perfect image to go to over and over again! You might say that it should be permanently on your "menu"! There are several whimsical images in this set that are perfect for everyday as well as the tart and spicy fall season. Be sure to visit the rest of the team to see what sassy stuff they've been "brewing" (and leave comments...we love comments!)

Taylor

Deb

Joslyn

Jeni

Kendra
Rose Ann

Then, jump over to the brand-new Gourmet Rubber Stamps website. While you're there oohing and aahing over all the darling images, take time to sign up for the monthly newsletter and the monthly "Diner's Club"...ensuring that you will automatically receive the latest releases each month! Check out the GRS blog HERE, and the Facebook page HERE...and LIKE us! You'll really, really LIKE us!

Lime and Gray Colorway and a Bonus

Interesting color combo, wouldn't you say? Our own Dream Team-mate, Lee, challenged us to use this colorway of lime and gray. Great pop of color against the gray. I did throw in a bit of orange because of the bit in the patterned paper (Michael's Recollections line). Going with the leafy theme, I ran the Branch stencil through the Big Shot with this blue-gray cardstock. The embossed square was wrapped with this fabulous hemp cord (True Hemp Crafter's Cord) and layered over a large panel of the Mercart Aluminum, which was machine embossed with the Jungle Leaves stencil and sponged with alcohol inks. Then I added a strip of orange paper ink-stenciled with the Thanks sentiment.

 This second card is another variation on the leafy theme with the same colorway. Since I had all the supplies readily available, I decided to create another card following the sketch challenge at Split Coast Stampers from last week (SCS349). This one is simpler...no metal on this one, and I used the ink transfer technique for the two squares. This is done by inking your stencil a shade or two darker than the original cardstock and running through your embossing machine with the cardstock, transferring the ink only on the background portion of the image. Kind of cool, huh? And sooooo easy! The sentiment was run through the machine with Core-dinations cardstock and then sanded to reveal the word. I really enjoyed this challenge, and I really think you will, too! Visit the rest of the team (listed at right) for more inspiration, and play along with us! Just link to the Dream It Up! blog using the Mr. Linky widget.

Playing Along with Split Coast Stampers CAS135

Quickie post for today featuring a card that I quickly created for the Split Coast Stampers CAS (clean and simple) sketch challenge #135. For info, click HERE. For my version, I stamped the Cling Jumbo Romantic Border from Stampendous...the swirly heart for the focal panel, with the addition of a sentiment from the Perfectly Clear Loopy Blooms set. The side of the card makes use of the border from the previous set. A little lace trims the edge, with a couple of pearl stickers and a candy dot embellishing the focal panel. For me, this is pretty CAS. It's a goal I'm working toward, so playing with the SCS CAS challenges in an effort to work outside the cluttered box! Break out your Stampendous images and come play along! Speaking of playing along...don't forget that you have the opportunity of winning the set that I used in this card, by playing along with the Stampendous September Sketch Challenge and linking your creation to the Stampendous Impressions blog by September 29th! For info on that sketch, click HERE.