I Just Couldn't Resist

As soon as I received this Hero Arts Poppy Background stamp as part of my Fresh Face Winner shopping spree, I knew I couldn't resist trying my hand at the embossed resist technique that I have seen so many designers do.

To create my stamped image, I started with a piece of plain card stock and distressed the edges lightly with Scattered Straw Distress Ink. Next, I inked up my Old Letter Writing stamp with some brown ink and stamped the text background. Since the Background Poppy stamp highlights the negative part of the image, I inked it with Versa Mark ink and then used clear embossing powder. Now came the fun part! I just kept blending the blue and green distress ink onto the card until the flowers were the color I wanted. After wiping the image with a dry tissue to remove the ink from the embossed image, I sprayed the entire image with a mixture of Perfect Pearls and water. This last step gave my image a nice pearlized shine. Here is a closer look:

See how the Perfect Pearls makes the card shimmer!

Jennifer McGuire has a great video tutorial on this technique posted her blog. You can see it here: http://jennifermcguireink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/02/cool-links-for-ya-tonight--lovin-this-first-layout.html.

Supplies

Card Stock: Stampin' Up!

Patterned Paper: K & Company (Brenda Walton)

Stamps: Hero Arts (Poppy Background; Old Letter Writing; Scroll Frames & Messages)

Ink: Ranger Archival Ink (Coffee); Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Broken China, Shabby Shutters, Scattered Straw); Versa Mark

Tools: Stampin' Up! punch (Scapllop)

Embelishments: Cosmo Cricket ribbon (Fleuriste); Making Memories button (Vintage); Recollections Pearls

Misc.: Ranger Perfect Pearls; Stamp 'N Stuff Embossing Powder (Detail Clear)

#1 Fan

As a latecomer to the scrapbooking hobby, I know that I will never be able to scrap all of my pictures. Therefore, I am always looking for ways to combine more than one story on one layout. Recently, I came across a picture from Mark's first baseball game and I immediately thought to juxtapose it with one from a more recent game. Instead of creating a layout about going to two individual games, I decided to tell a story about what these games had in common -- the concession stand. Here's my layout:

The journaling reads: From your very first baseball game in the Summer of 2000 to your first game in the new Yankee Stadium, you have always been a Yankee fan just like Dad. But I think you love the concession stand more than watching the game. In just 9 innings, you can eat a hot dog, pretzel, popcorn, peanuts and ice cream. No matter what the score is at the end of the game, you always come home the winner!

The inspiration for this layout came from a beautiful layout titled "how" which I saw on the talented Stephanie Howell's blog. You can see my inspiration here: http://stephaniehowell.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/01/bakers-dozen.html. When I saw the layout featured again as Studio Calico's Sunday sketch (http://studiocalico.blogspot.com/2010/02/sunday-sketch_28.html), I knew I had to give it a try.

You may notice that I've been using a lot of different patterned papers on my layouts lately. Thanks to my friend Lissette, I've been challenging myself to use as many different patterns on one layout as possible. I love how this transforms the page and uses up some of my stash! In this layout, I used five different patterns from five different manufacturers! Since I wanted to journal right on the page, I used a Cosmo Cricket ledger print for my top layer. Since the original was a little more yellow than I wanted it, I whitewashed it with white ink and finished of the edge with the notebook punch. The chipboard embellishments came from a K & Company set that I got on clearance last summer. The colors were just perfect with that spice-colored background. What a happy accident! I made the inaugural season embellishment by cutting the image from the computer-printed ticket and covering it with Glossy Accents. i used two journaling stickers as accents. The one on top of the store gave me a spot to add a rub-on. The other one grounds the chipboard accent in the title. A little faux stitching around the star and lines drawn around the page were the finishing touches.

Supplies
Card Stock: American Crafts

Patterned Paper: Little Yellow Bicycle Traveler (spice); Basic Grey Boxer (zig zag); Cosmos Cricket The Boyfriend (ledger); and Bo Bunny Back to Basics (navy)

Embellishments: American Crafts Thickers; K & Company (Wild Saffron); October Afternoon jouraling stickers (Cherry Hill); and 7 Gypsies rub-ons (Calais Fortunes)

Tools: Stampin' Up punch (Spiral); EK Success (Corner Rounder); Cricut (George and Basic Shapes); Glossy Accents

Pen: Stampin' Up!

Snow Predictable!

Ever since Melissa was a little girl, the first thing she would do when she went out to play in the snow was slide down the snow-covered slide. Since she is outgrowing the slide, I thought I would capture the moment from the December 2009 snowstorm in a layout. Here it is:

This is my first attempt at a hybrid layout if you don't count the journaling I have done on the computer in the past. I used snapfish.com to create the photo collage. Easy peasy! Well at least that part was. The time I saved on laying out the photos was spent on creating the background paper. I created several snowflakes masks using my Cricut, affixed them to the page with temporary adhesive and then sprayed the page with Glimmer Mist. I let the mist dry before removing them and Voila!... custom background paper. Here's a close-up of the paper:

To add a touch of whimsy to the page I swapped out the "o" in snow for a snowflake. You'll also notice that I took advantage of some of the white space in my pictures to place the title and draw the eye across the page. Three scalloped borders anchor the photo collage.

Supplies:

Card Stock: American Crafts

Patterned Paper: Stampin' Up!

Ink: Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist (Frost)

Die Cuts masks: Cricut (Winter Woodland)

Chipboard Letters: Heidi Swapp

Embelishments: Me and My Big Ideas

Bling: Recollections

PTI Challenge

Two posts in one day...it must be Groundhog's Day! Just so happens that we have another Groundhog's Day birthday to celebrate. Before I show you the card, I want to apologize in advance for the poor picture quality. The card stock is Stampin' Up! Soft Suede and no matter where I took the picture, the card base photographed with a greenish hue instead of the rich brown that it actually is. Anyway, here is the card:

For this card, I downloaded a Papertrey Ink image which was designed by the fabulous Dawn McVey. You can get the image here: http://dawnmcvey.typepad.com/these_are_a_few_of_my_fav/2010/02/birthday-bash-challenge.html. Once I printed the image, I use my Nestabilities to cut out the circle and the flower behind it, and my Cricut to cut out the scroll that I used for the stem. After distressing the flower, I adhered the circle to it using popdots. I embellished the border around the sentiment with brown and white pearls. A border punch and some more gems help ground the image.

This was my first hybrid card and I can't wait to make more. You can check out the rest of the images created by Papertrey Ink's 2010 Design Team at http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/2010/02/day-2-2010-stamp-designers-a-challenge.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2FSWJb+%28%7Bcapture+the+moment%7D%29.

Supplies:

Card Stock: Stampin' Up! (Soft Suede)

Patterned Paper: Sassafras (Sunshine Lollipops Wee Bundle)

Digital Image: Papertrey Ink

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo)

Tools: Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (Distressed Stripes); Cricut Cartridge (Accent Essentials); Spellbinders Nestabilities (Classic Circles, Dahlia); Fiskars Punch (Apron Lace)

Bling: Recollections

One!

One! That's how old my great-nephew Thomas is turning today. And what better way to celebrate his birthday than with a card and a blog post telling you all about it. So, here's the card:

The inspiration for this card came from the striped Cosmo Cricket paper which was part of a 6x6 Mini Deck that I won on Debbie Olsen's blog a few weeks ago. Just so happens that two of the most recent Stampin' Up in colors were a perfect match so I created the truck and car border. (The blue vehicles were stamped with my favorite blue from the previous year's in-colors. ) While I had my inks out, I used Technique Tuesday stamps to create the random circle patterned paper you see behind the diecut.

To create the scalloped edge along the bottom of the card I first punched the border from a strip of paper. Next, I cut 3/4" off the base of the card. I put adhesive on the bottom of the inside front panel. After lining the punched border up with the bottom of the back panel, I closed the card, pressed along the edge where the adhesive was and voila!

You can't see it here but I also stamped a row of cars and trucks on the inside of the card as well.

Happy birthday, Thomas!

Supplies:

Card Stock: Stampin' Up! (Naturals Ivory, Crushed Curry)
Patterned Paper: Cosmo Cricket (The Boyfriend)
Stamps: Inkadinkadoo (Baby Boy for truck and car); Technique Tuesday (Back Rounds Medium)
Ink: Stampin' Up! (Dusty Durango, Crushed Curry, Soft Sky, Soft Suede) Versa Magic (Tea Leaves)
Ribbon: Cosmo Cricket (Cogsmo)
Tools: Cricut (Graphically Speaking) EK Success Slim Edger Punch (Embossed Curve)

Ten Minute Scrap Pile Challenge

Jessica Witty posed a challenge to make a card from your scrap pile in ten minutes. I never seem to throw away my scraps, yet I never go back to use them so I thought this was a great idea! Here's my scrap pile card:

In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that this card actually took me longer than ten minutes. I know that for a fact because Melissa was timing me. (She didn't think I could make anything in ten minutes.) I do however, have an explanation. I couldn't find my polka dot stamp. Now usually my Technique Tuesday stamps are easy to find since I keep them in a binder. However, this one had somehow fallen out and it was lost amidst the piles of scraps from 70+ Christmas cards I made. Once I unearthed it, I did finish the card in ten minutes. Next time, I won't start the timer until I have all my supplies assembled. LOL!

If you want to see some of the great cards Jessica Witty has come up with, check out her blog at: http://jesswitty.blogspot.com/.

Supplies:

Card Stock: Stampin' Up! (Kraft)

Patterned Paper: Sweetwater (Make Life Collection)

Stamps: Technique Tuesday (Swiss Dots; Everyday Words by Ali Edwards)

Ink: Stampin' Up! (Riding Hood Red)

Buttons: Making Memories (Noteworthy)

Misc.: DMC Floss

Inspired By...

Sometimes I know I want to create a layout on certain subject but I need a little inspiration on which direction that layout should take. Thanks to Jennifer McGuire's post featuring her 2009 Christmas card, I found the jumping off point I needed to create a layout about my Christmas tree. (You can see her fabulous card here: http://jennifermcguireink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/12/merry-christmas.html). Here's my layout:

The layout showcases a family picture taken in front of our tree (something that we haven't gotten around to in the last few years) plus pictures of a few of my favorite or newest ornaments. I have 400+ ornaments so it was hard to choose which ornaments to choose, but the few I selected include the antique tree topper I received from my dear friend, Barbara; the newly acquired ball from Sequoia National Forest; the quilted ornament made lovingly by my niece, Jennifer; a bear decked out in headphones which reminds me of how Mark entered and exited a hotel the year he got an i-pod; Melissa's baby shoe which I spray painted gold thanks to a Martha Stewart tip; and the beehive ornament which replaced the honeybee ornament that shattered the year our tree fell. (Melissa's name means honeybee.)

To create the layout, i first cut out paper scraps with various size punches. I used a different pattern for each size punch so that I would know what punch to use when I ultimately swapped out the scrap for the photo. I created the ornaments from patterned paper and embellishments. Once the tree was completed, I filled in some of the paper with bling and rub-on stars.

I grounded the tree with the 2009 tree base that I cut using my Cricut and a line of journaling which reads: Our ornaments and the memories they hold make our tree perfect every year. The irony of this statement was that I didn't like this tree when we first brought it into the house. It really did become the perfect tree once the ornaments were on it!

Just a note for my scrappy friends: Kathy at The Daily Marker has some fabulous blog candy up for grabs. You can check out the offering and her fabulous creations at: http://thedailymarker.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-blog-candy-giveaway.html.

Supplies

Card stock: American Crafts

Patterned Paper and Stickers: Me and My Big Ideas (Noel)

Brad & Rub-ons: K Company (Christmas Cheer)

Bling: (Michael's)

Tools: Punches (Stampin' Up! assorted circles); Nestabilities (Classic Circles Small and Classic Scallop Circles Large); Cricut Cartridge (Graphically Speaking)

Pen: Stampin Up! (Always Artichoke)