Shimmer Stencil with a hint of color

Oh boy are these decor stencils neat! You can find this one, Folk Flowers, on page 18 of the new Occasions Mini Catalog. This is the first time I've ever used one and I decided to dab some of our Platinum Shimmer Paint with a sponge dauber to see how it looks. So what do you think? It is so dramatic on black I could've just quit but I wanted to play around and experiment a little so I added some chalk to add a hint of color. Funny thing is, this paint dries so much more quickly than I anticipated that by the time I decided to add the chalk it was mostly dry. Good thing I was going for a subtle look. In real life the shimmer paint is very... well, shimmery and the various colors of chalk show up at different angles, so it has a neat effect that I can't show real well on camera.

If you haven't tried these Shimmer Paints yet SU has announced they will be available as a write-in to the catalog after the Holiday Mini is no longer available. Speaking of the Holiday Mini, today is the last day to order from it so don't miss out if you've been on the fence on something!

Have a great day!
~Kristin

SUO Supplies
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes

Colors: Basic Black, Melon Mambo, Platinum

Accessories: Folk Flower Decor Stencil, Platinum Shimmer Paint, Modern Label punch, sponge dauber, Stampin' Pastels (chalks)

September: A Wicked Good Month!

Well, it's finally here... the day I can spill my beans about being asked to hostess this month's WICKED challenges on Splitcoast! If you aren't familiar with them, WICKED stands for: Wonderfully Inspiring Challenges Keep Educating Demos! And they asked ME to be the featured demo this week- can you believe it?!?

Anyway, I need to first apologize to those of you visiting if you aren't an SU demo because you won't be able to open the link to these challenges. However, you can still play along with me right here on my blog- I'd love to see how you are inspired by the three challenges I came up with! OR you could sign up to be on my Stampin' Up! team and always be able to access the informative side of Splitcoast for demonstrators only. :)

So here are my challenges and my example for each one. I'll list directions and supplies at the very end by card order if you have any questions.

Color Challenge: Use any combination of Red, White and Blue on your project! Keep an open mind- these don’t have to be the typical patriotic or nautical cards (but those are OK too). Red, White and Blue shades look amazing together for any type of card.

Back to School Challenge: It’s back to school time but this challenge is NOT what you think. This doesn’t have to be a school theme or anything related to school. I’m challenging you to pull out your CHALK, dust it off and use it again! If you’re like me, it’s probably been a while. I’m not talking about chalk ink; I’m talking good-old-fashioned Stampin’ Pastels! There are several techniques out there that you can try like Poppin’ Pastels and the Chalkboard Technique, or make up your own for BONUS points. Can’t wait to see what you do!
Birthday Boy & Birthday Girl: The back-to-school time of year also means an increase in birthday party invitations (we’ve gotten one already)! This time of year I like to stock up on youthful birthday cards to have handy at a moments notice. This challenge goes like this: choose any sketch you like then make a “Birthday Boy” card and a “Birthday Girl” card with that same sketch (you could design birthday party invitations for this challenge as well). Make them as similar or as different as you’d like, but use the same sketch. If you don’t have school age children or would prefer to make more grown-up cards, that’s OK too! Just use the same sketch to make a more masculine and a more feminine birthday card. Using the same sketch to make a variety of cards is an efficient and effective tip that is helpful in designing for workshops and will be useful to our customers.

Card 1: For the background on this card I used the Lattice Die- just layed it on the cardstock and sponged white ink over it, that's all! It is so simple and gives a neat look. The navy and red flower was also made with different parts of a lattice die cut out... nothing goes to waste!

SUO Supplies: Stamps- Define Your Life, Medallion Background; Colors- Ballet Blue, Night of Navy, Whisper White, Real Red; Accessories: Silver brad, Lattice Die, Big Shot, Sponge.

Card 2: This is actually a 6x6 scrapbook page. The title is made by stamping the letters in Versamark then rubbing white chalk from our Stampin' Pastels over them. This is the Poppin' Pastels technique I linked above. I used an old makeup sponge, but you could use a sponge dauber (mine all have ink on them so I couldn't) or maybe even a cue tip. The check marks were done with the Versamarker- you know, that thing you ordered but don't seem to know what to do with! The writing is all done with a white gel pen.

The apple is copied from my pal Mercedes Webber (one of my GSG buddies) who was featured in a recent Stampin' Success magazine that all demonstrators get (yet another perk of being a demo *wink*). It was done with the Round tab punch and some free-hand cutting for seeds and stem. The chalkboard itself is just a piece of creamy caramel cardstock cut to 6x6 then edged with the crimper on all 4 sides. Then I measured the center and cut the black to fit. My little piece of chalk is simply a piece of white cardstock punched with the Word Windo punch then trimmed and sponged slightly with creamy caramel, then rolled over a pencil to add some dimension. It is added with a Stampin' Dimensional, of course.

SUO Supplies: Stamps- Any alphabet will do, but this is an OLDY called Newsprint; Colors- Creamy Caramel, Basic Black, Whisper White, Bermuda Bay, Real Red; Accessories: Stampin' Pastels chalk, Versamarker, Round Tab punch, Crimper, sponge, Library clip, Red gingham ribbon.

Cards 3 & 4: These two are pretty self-explanatory I think.

Card 3 SUO Supplies: Stamps- Good Friend, Wow Flowers (sentiment); Colors- Going Gray, Basic Gray, Cameo Coral, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White; Accessories- Wide Oval punch, Eyelet border punch, Rich Razzleberry dotted grosgrain, Paper Piercing tools.

Card 4 SUO Supplies: Stamps- Choo Choo, It's Your Birthday; Colors- Certainly Celery, Bermuda Bay, Brilliant Blue, Chocolate Chip; Accessories- Right on Track wheel, Spiral punch, Bermuda Bay dotted grosgrain

Thanks for stopping by and hope you enjoy my challenges! See you tomorrow!

~Kristin

Another Diva Day!

Time for an awesome color challenge by the Diva Coffee Break Design Team! This week we combined Chocolate Chip, Rose Red, Regal Rose and Sage Shadow for a spectacular display! Please view the Diva blog to see all the designers' efforts.

Here is my card. I wish I had my daughter's room entirely done to show today because it is in these same colors (well, almost: we used Pretty in Pink instead of Regal Rose)- her carpet is Sage Shadow and the walls are Rose Red, Pretty in Pink and Pink Pirouette too. The chocolate is going to be in the bedding that I haven't ordered yet. The Decor Element butterflies in those colors should be arriving today and she is hoping I'll have them up when she gets home from school... we'll see!

Anyway, back to the card. I was experimenting with chalk when I did this card- hadn't used them in a LONG time! This is the old chalkboard technique where you stamp an image with white craft ink then dab the chalk over the ink. Can you tell I also stamped grass from Inspired by Nature and sponged the Sage Shadow over it??

The top corners of the white panel were rounded to match the eyelet border at the bottom- using the very same punch!! Did you know you could do this? It never occurred to me to try before this.

The sentiment was inked with markers in all four colors to show a gradation- I like this look, but it is tougher with this smaller font. Finished it off with the 1/2 circle punch on top with ribbon and jumbo brad for a topper, and some piercing for the butterfly trail.

Well, thanks for stopping in today! I hope you decide to play along- you can even let them know Kristin sent ya!

~Kristin

SUO Supplies

Stamps: Flight of the Butterfly

Colors: Rose Red, Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Sage Shadow, Whisper White

Accessories: chalk, sponge daubers, eyelet border punch, circle punch, jumbo white brad, chocolate felt ribbon (sorry, this is no longer available but is the only wide chocolate ribbon I've got), Paper Piercing Tools

Can you stand one more?

That is, one more card using this stamp set? I promise tomorrow I will attempt to work with one of my other new sets!

I suppose I should mention up front that this card was made with a variety of Stampin' Up! products that are no longer available. Specifically, the French Script background stamp, Metallic Art Pencils, Happiness Rub-ons (SAB '08) and the wide organdy ribbon.

The good news is they've been paired up with currently available things like the Whisper White craft ink, Night of Navy cardstock, Stampin' Pastels (chalks) and versamark as well as the BRAND NEW Kiwi Kiss In Color paper and this beautiful stamp from Inspired by Nature.

From what I understand, this technique might be called the "Chalkboard" technique. To accomplish this just stamp an image with white craft ink (I suppose any craft ink might do??) then apply chalk to the stamped image. In this case I used cotton balls, but I imagine sponge daubers would work among other things. I used multiple colors to come up with the shades and tones seen here, including (for the first time, possibly?) the white chalk that is included. The white is also on the edges of the navy for a more dreamy appearance.

Next I used the metallic art pencils to add some extra definition and a bit of luster if you turn the card just so. I love how that turned out! Finally, I stamped the French Script background with versamark which actually pulled some of the chalk off leaving the script visible on the flowers- how cool is that?!? And totally unplanned! I guess even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while, at least that's what my dad likes to say.

My kiddos will be heading back to school on Thursday already, and I have tons of projects floating around in my head that I can't wait to try. Hopefully I'll be accomplishing some of those and able to post them soon. In the mean time, happy stamping!