Dad's Distressed Edges

Hello and welcome!  I'm here to share my challenge sample for this week's Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge.  This week we want you to show us your distressed edges.  That was no challenge for me - LOL.  You probably know that I just about can't make anything without distressing the edges - rip, torn, scissor scraped, inked - oh yeah, that definitely makes me happy!  As so I was, working away at this project.  

I decided that rather than make my dad a Father's Day card, I would make him a little wall hanging.  My dad likes old things, especially old things with wheels.  I started with a book cover, which I am finding that I really love using for a project base.  I started with my new Book Covers Tim Holtz stamp, which I stamped on kraft with Brushed Corduroy distress ink.  Then I did my distressing thing with scissors and Vintage Photo distress ink around the edges.  The General Merchandise stamp from the Curiosities set was stamped with black archival ink on plain white paper then distressed with Vintage Photo and Black Soot distress inks.  The same for the car stamp from The Journey stamp set, except that it was stamped onto kraft CS.  The bird from Flights of Fancy was stamped with Tea Dye distress ink and the sentiment from the same set was stamped in black archival ink.  The pocket watch face from Curiosities was gold embossed, inked with Vintage Photo and then Crackle Accents was applied.  I made a watch case with Ten Seconds Studio metal, cut with Spellbinders circle dies and embossed with the Textile Cuttlebug embossing folder.  I applied gold alcohol ink mixative and when dry, hit the hit points with a sanding block.  The metal bits came from a trip to my local hardware store and then I applied Vintage Photo Distress embossing powder to create faux rust.  I also added a bit of Ginger Alcohol Ink to the bottom piece to darken it up a bit.  Oh, and I used my new Kraft Glassine paper to cut the letters for DAD using the Vintage Market die.  

Them's the dets, folks.  Let me know if you have any questions.  It's really a pretty technique-free piece, even though I did manage to use a LOT of Tim Holtz products.  Now it's time for you to scurry on over to Simon Says Stamp and Show to check out how the rest of the team distressed their edges.  Plenty of great inspiration there, I tell you!  And as always, our ever-generous sponsor Simon Says Stamp has a $50 shopping spree just waiting for some lucky random winner, but you can't win if you don't play.  So be sure to show us your distressed edges!

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous week!

This Challenge is Not Too Distressing

Greetings! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and are ready for the week ahead.  I can't believe it is Monday already and time for another Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge.  We have an easy peasy challenge for you this week.  We want you to show us some distressing.  For all the vintage lovers who play with us week after week, that is probably not even a challenge.  I can't think of anything I have made in the last few years that didn't have some sort of distressing on it and I'm sure it's the same with many of you!  So why not join in this week with our challenge.  You might just win a $50 shopping spree from our awesome sponsor Simon Says Stamp!

I guess you want to hear about my sample for this week's challenge.  I've acquired a few Tim Holtz stamp sets recently and they have been floating around lose, looking messy and difficult to grab when I wanted them.  I decided to make a binder for them.  I am so fortunate that I recently got my hands on a couple of new Tim Holtz products - the Kraft Resist Paper Stash and the Papillon stamp set.  I thought that together they would make the perfect distressed project.  And after working with the Kraft Resist paper, I am thrilled to report that it is AWESOME!!  I also got my first bottle of the new Vintage Photo Distress Stain and am very pleased with the results of that product also.  I was hesitant about it.  I really couldn't see what difference it would make from the inks, but it works super and doesn't get a watered down effect that you would get trying to mix the reinkers with water.  I had a wonderful Saturday playing around with all the new goodies and now present to you the outcome.  

I took the plastic sheet that the stamps come on and used it to trace a cover on thin cardboard.  I cut the cardboard and the Kraft Resist paper by hand, just about a quarter inch larger than the stamp sheet.  With my craft knife, I cut four diamonds in the paper, peeled back the edges and distressed them.  I also distressed a page from a vintage music book I purchased recently and glued it behind the openings.  Then I cut small squares with the Spellbinders scalloped square die from Ten Seconds Studio metal  and ran the squares through the Tim Holtz Patchwork texture fade.  The metal was a bit too purple for me so I blunted the color a bit by applying Slate alcohol ink and then affixed them to offset the diamonds.  

I decided to top off my pyramid with a few more diamonds in the form of Fragments.  I went to the vintage music page again, this time preping it with Snow Cap Acrylic Paint Dabber, then stamping the butterflies from the Papillon set with Jet Black Archival Ink.  After sponging the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink, I affixed the Fragments with Glossy Accents.  Next I found some ancient muslin in my sewing box (really, it has probably been there 30 years - am I giving my age away???), ripped some strips and stamped it with Jet Black Archival Ink and the large text stamp from the Papillon set.  After stamping it, I sprayed it with my home made glimmer mist of Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls, 3 drops of Vintage Photo Reinker and water in a Mini Mister.  

The muslin was used for bows and to make the fabric flower.  I cut a flourish out of Grungeboard and  treated with the Distress Stain, then stamped it with the small text stamp from the same set.  That about wrapped it up.  I breathed a happy sigh and cleaned my very inky fingers.  Nothing I like more in crafting than taking something new and making it look old and worn out.  

What are you going to distress this week?  The Simon Says Stamp and Show design team has some great samples to get your mojo started.  We can't wait to see where it will lead you!  And don't forget about that fabulous prize - a $50 shopping spree.  Just think of all the goodies that would get for you!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I always love to read your comments and of course am happy to share any tips with you on how I made what I am showing.  Have a crafty week.

One Tough Challenge!

Good morning and happy Saturday!  So happy to see you back to check out my sample for this week's Our Creative Corner challenge.  So what, you wonder, is this week's challenge?  Our challenge host, Kristin, has created a 1-2-3-4 challenge.  That's one patterned paper, 2 layers, 3 stamped images (sentiment can be one) and 4 embellishments - can be four different or the same.  The full description of the challenge can be found on the challenge blog.  Well, you can imagine the tough time I had with this one!  Really, I almost folded.  Two layers?? Come on, pl-eee-ase!  I had at least three different cards designed before I finally hit one that I thought would work with my style.  But in the end, I really like the outcome.  And that's why tough challenges are so great. They really take us out of our element and allow us to create something we normally wouldn't have.

Here is my two-layer card.   Built on a shell of Bravo Burgundy, I created one layer with the top half of K&Co. designer paper and the bottom half is Kraft run through the Cuttlebug Moraccan Screen embossing folder.  I ink distressed the kraft panel with Aged Mahogany and dabbed my homemade glimmer mist around the edges of both the upper and lower panels.  I used two Tim Holtz stamps in Aged Mahogany on the K&Co. DP - Flights of Fancy and Urban Grunge.  My sentiment is from the Verve Thankful Hearts set.

My four embellishments are 1) Cuttlebug die cut corner, 2) Boss Kut die cut leaf flourish, 3) handmade flower and 4) row of lace.  Mysecond layer is my sentiment was created by stamping with the Verve Thankful Hearts set on a Spellbinders die cut and embossed with the Cuttlebug Organic Flourishes folder.

Okay gang.  Now it is your turn.  Stop by Our Creative Corner to get inspired by the wonderful work of the rest of the OCC design team and then get to work on your recipe card.  Can't wait to see what you'll come up with!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I deeply appreciate your supportive comments!  Have a wonderful weekend.

Dreams and Dressing Up

Good Saturday morning to you all!  Thanks so much for starting your weekend off by dropping by to see my most recent Our Creative Corner card.  Our host, Wendy Jensen, has thought up such a cool challenge for us this week.  It's called Let's Play Dress Up.  She's given us a very basic sketch and is challenging us to dress it up.  Well, you don't have to ask me twice!  I was off and running with this one and here is my dressed up card.  I started with some K&Co. DP and added Always Artichoke which had been embossed with the Cuttlebug Textile folder.  I did a little punching along the border of the green and added some hand dyed lace.  Then came a panel stamped with the lovely filagree note stamp from the SU! Notably Ornate set that was stamped in Frayed Burlap DI and spritzed with my Vintage Photo glimmer mist.


My handmade flower is from several dies including Tim Holtz Tattered Floral die and was made with paper and crinoline, sponged with Antique Linen and Vintage Photo distress inks and the dabbed with some of the gold alcohol ink mixative.  The Tim Holtz clip was also painted with the mixative and I  also applied the mixative to the bead caps which started out life silver toned.  The flourish is from Boss Kut.  The sentiment is from one of my all-time favorite SU! stamp sets - Happy Harmony.  A scrap of crinkled seam binding and natural hemp finished the card off.


Thanks again for visiting this morning.  Hope to see you back again soon.  And thanks, as always, for the lovely comments you leave.  I am trying to visit everyone's blogs once a week or so to repay the favor.  Have a great weekend.

Challenges Entered:

My Partner in Crafting Crime - Something New (first time I've used this SU!  stamp)

Polycraft Monday Challenge - New

4 Crafty Chicks - Show Us Some Metal

Stampin' B's - Use a Die Cut

Sugar Creek Hallow - Fab Fabric (used crinoline in the flower)

Flourishes Bring Back Beauty - The Beauty of Vintage

A Cherry Blossom Birthday

Good morning!  I hope you are all well and surviving any recent snowstorms.  We're looking forward to a sunny weekend here in south Florida with temps in the mid 70's F and nights in the mid-50's - perfect winter weather!

This fortnight at Fairy Fun Friday, our challenge to you is to make a birthday card.  I used the Cherry Blossoms digital image from the Prairie Fairy to enhance my vintage card. It was colored with Copics.   I used the current sketch from the Shabby Tea Room to determine my layout.  The image, I believe, is from the Graphics Fairy.  The Happy Birthday label and the sentiment banner were both printed on my home printer.  They were sponged with Stormy Sky distress ink and dabbed with alcohol ink gold mixative (which I seem to be finding a lot of uses for lately).  The DP is digital and is from Raspberry Road.  The ribbon is (retired) from SU!, trim from Jo-Ann, used the Cuttlebug Script embossing folder and sponged almost everything with Antique Linen distress ink.

I think that's all the details, but feel free to leave me a question if you need further information or clarification.  As always, I appreciate your comments from the bottom of my heart.

Challenges Entered:

Flourishes - The Beauty of Vintage

The Shabby Tea Room - Sketch

The Stamp Man Challenge - Distressing

Today's a Two-fer

Hi friends, I hope your weekend is getting off to a great start.  I appreciate you starting your Saturday off with my Our Creative Corner post.  Today's post is also for Fairy Fun Friday.  But it's not Friday, you say.  And you are right!  I cheated a bit with my DT samples this week and made one card for both challenges.  The theme this fortnight over at Fairy Fun Friday is handmade flowers and this week's Our Creative Corner challenge is the color combo shown below. 

The image I used here is from The Prairie Fairy.  I guess I am the official vintage representative on that design team.  I asked our Fairy Queen Roberta to come up with some fall vintage style images and she drew an entire set which you can find in her store.  It's called Fall  Harvest.  I love it.  Last week's Fairy Fun Friday card was made with the same set.  The image was colored with Copic markers and I made the sentiment on my home computer.  The paper is digital from Little Scrap Garden (Coming Home paper pack, but I don't think that particular paper pack is currently available).  The flower was made from crinoline and cut with the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die.  Spellbinders dies were also used as was the Tim Holtz Collage Texture Fade.  The wonderful gold net ribbon is from Flourshes (as is the white card stock I use.  It works wonderful for coloring with Copics) and the gold half pearls from Michael's.  That's about it.  Oh, and I did sprinkle a bit of UTEE/Heirlook Gold Perfect Pearls on the embossed panel although it doesn't show much.  I think I need to add a bit more Perfect Pearls to the mix. 

Hope you stop by both challenge blogs to see what the other designers have made.  And hope to see you playing along this week too.  Have a great one!

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges Entered:
City Crafter Challenge - Thank You
Shirley's 2 Girls - Thanks with a twist - add a pumpkin
Crafty Catz - Paper Tearing
Frosted Designs - Use Thanks or Thankful on your card
If the Shoe Fits - DYI (use a handmade embellishment on your card)
Stamp Something - November Digi Day
Drunken Stampers - Sewing

An Attitude of Gratitude

Good morning, friends, and thanks for starting your Saturday out with my post for Our Creative Corner.  This month, our host is yours truly and the challenge I have cooked up for you is "An Attitude of Gratitude".  I have to say that ever since I was a young person, I have keenly felt how blessed I have been.  In this season of gratitude, I thought it would be good for us to reflect upon something that we are grateful for and then to make a card that is inspired by that feeling.  This week, my dad celebrated is 85 birthday.  He is blessed to be in good health and is still quite active.  My mom had a stroke 3 years ago and he has been her main caretaker.    We are all blessed to have him in our lives.  His hobby is antique tractors and everything about them.  He buys them and restores them and on weekends, especially at this time of the year, he and my mom travel in their mini-motorhome to tractor shows. A few years ago, I purchased this Tractor Time set from Stampin' Up and have used it several times to make cards for him.  But it has been about two years since I last used it.  So I dusted it off and created this birthday card for him.  

I know you are probably tired of seeing it, but I love the technique I have been using lately of embossing the edge with UTEE mixed with gold Perfect Pearls and sponged with Vintage Photo DI.  I used it here for the bottom layer.  The frame around the main image was made using the Spellbinders Labels 1 die and all the stamps from the Tractor Time set.  I stamped with Walnut Stain distress ink and clear embossed it, then sponged with Vintage Photo distress ink.  The hardware is HodgePodge Hardware from SU and the sentiment was computer generated.  I think the rest is self explanatory.  Let me know if you have any qeustions.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I very much appreciate your comments.  Now hustle on over to Our Creative Corner to see what the rest of the team has made.

Update:  A reader asked what card stock I use for embossing with UTEE.  Other than for coloring with Copics, I use Stampin' Up CS pretty much exclusively.  Their CS is 80# and it does curl and warp a bit when the heat gun is applied for the longer time it takes to melt the UTEE.  However, it seems to relax as it cools and flattens back out.  For this particular card, the bottom corners did want to curl a bit, but that is the first time that has happened and I think that was because I heated it for longer than was necessary.  

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges entered:

Paper Sundaes - One For the Boys

Sentimental Sundays - Birthdays

Crafty Cardmakers - Stitching
Oldie But Goodie - Distressing
Cards for Men - Anything Goes, as long is it is for a male
Papertake Weekly - A Penny for the Guy
Raise the Bar - Let's See Those Curves

Fall Flowers

It's Friday again - where did the week go?  The fairies over at Fairy Fun Friday all got together this week and had a blast making our own flowers.  And that's our challenge to you for this fortnight - make your own flowers.  Wow, there are just SOOOO many way to make your own.  I don't have the time right now, but will try to update this post later this evening and include some of my favorite links for creating handmade flowers. 

So please check back later for all the details for my card and some valuable links too.  Right now, have to fly out the door to work.  Be sure to hop over to Fairy Fun Friday to see what the fairys have for your inspiration this week.  And check out the Prairie Fairy store for this charming new vintage-style image I have used here. 

UPDATE:  Okay, worked a 10 hour day, received 4000 pounds of food from our local Feeding America affiliated food bank, supervised the securing of the food, supervised the packing of food bags and finally, stood a counter for 2 hours and distributed food to local out-of-work, elderly and homeless individuals and families.  Now I'm back home and ready to get into the artistic groove.

I promised to share some of my favorite links for making hand made flowers.  Here are a few:

Creations with Christina - one of my favorites and the way I made these flowers

Vanja's Crafty Den - Torn paper flowers

Sherry Sheever's video tutorial for making handmade flowers - another of my favorites

Another Sherry Cheever tutorial for hand made flowers

Dimensional Flowers from SplitCoast Stampers

Lynne Forsythe - Grunge Paper Roses video tutorial

That's it for tonight.  I have to get some sleep.  I have to be back to work at 8:00 a.m. for another busy day - the story of my life until after the holidays.  Hopefully then things will slow down a bit!

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges entered:
Crafty Cardmakers - Stitching
City Crafter - Get Your Digi On
Tuesday Throwdown - Be Thankful
Creative Cottage - Embossing
Raise the Bar - Let's See Those Curves

OCC Challenge - A Cozy Photo Inspiration

Well friends, another week as come and gone and here I am back again with my weekly sample for Our Creative Corner.  Diane Gilbert has been an awesome host this month and has really inspired me with some wonderful challenges!  For her final week as host, Diane has given us this cozy inspiration photo from everyone's favorite store - Pottery Barn.

I love the soft warm colors and those charming candles.  For my card, I chose to use the colors here and went a bit heavier on the green than in this shot.  I just received this Because I Care hostess set from SU and was itching to use it.  What a wonderful stamp - my hydranga stamped so crisp and clean.  I opted not to color it, but rather stamped the flourish from Baroque Motiffs over it and then clear embossed it.  With the emboss resist technique, I sponged Scattered Straw distress ink over the entire panel.  I also used a couple of random script stamps from the 7 Gypsies Avignon set.  I made a rosette out of Garden Green DP and also a little medallion for the sentiment using a Martha corner punch.  I added a little trim from Jo-Ann's to the bottom of the DP where it is punched with a Martha border punch and SU oval punch. 

Other than the fact that I think the rosette could have been about 1/3 smaller, I really like how the card came out.  Don't you hate it when you get a card finished and photographed and while you are blogging it, you see something you wish you had done differently...that's how I feel looking at the rosette - LOL. Oh welll, tomorrow's another day and probably another card :)

I hope you will stop by Our Creative Corner to see what my stampin' sistas over there are up to...always a beautiful batch of lovelies to look at on the OCC challenge blog. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Please leave any questions in the comments section and check back later for an update to the post to answer your question.

Have a great weekend and a Happy Halloween!!

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges Entered:
The Creative Cottage Challenge - Embossing
Simon Says,,,,Punch 'Em
4 Crafty Chicks - Roll With the Punches
Meljen's - It's a 2-fer
Drunken Stampers - Before Copics

No Buttons or Bows - Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Guest Designer

Several weeks ago I received an email from Betty Wright asking if I would like to be this week's guest host at Flourishes Timeless Tuesday.  Would I....humm, let me see...only in my wildest dreams - LOL!!!  Of course, my fingers were shaking on the keyboard when I typed my acceptance!

And now it is time for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge (FTTC90)!  It is the last Tuesday of the month when they have a guest challenge host.  This month's guest is YOURS TRULY!!!  I am challenging you to Anything Goes But Buttons and Bows.  There are so many wonderful embellishments to use for accents on our paper crafts, but all too often we fall back on our old favorites.  This week, let's stretch ourselves and see how creative we can be embellishing our cards.  We want to see what you can do without using buttons or bows.  Keep in mind that ribbon is still allowed along with lace and twine.  It's the bows and the buttons that are not.  We'd love to see what you create!

Flourishes has so many gorgeous stamps, but I am very partial to their fruit stamps.  I chose to work with the largest bunch of cherries from the Cherries and Peaches set.  In keeping with my autumn mindset, I kept the colors dark, rich earth tones.  And of course, I made it in my signature style - distressed vintage!  My main panel, layered over several pieces of K&Co. DP, is Flourishes Classic White cardstock, which I love for coloring with Copics.  The image was stamped in Memento ink and colored with  Copic markers. Then it was masked and a script stamp was overstamped in Old Paper DI.   I randomly embossed a mixture of UTEE/Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls to give it just a hit of gold tone.  All of my main embellishments were cut with dies from Flourishes Classic Ivory cardstock, sponged with Antique Linen DI and then double embossed with clear UTEE.  I was going for sort of a country enamel look, which I think I achieved.  The flower was handmade and dyed with several colors of inks to try to match the cherries.  The jewely end caps were squashed into a Versamark pad and then gold embossed.   

Inside Panel With Space To Write

The inside panel has also been finished off leaving a blank panel to write a special message.  I stamped the cherries again in Antique Linen and the script very lightly with Old Paper. 

I hope you will stop by the Flourishes blog as well as the other designers personal blogs.  I'm so excited to be working with this elite group of designers this week! 

Dee

Silke

Maki

Betty

Barbara

Cindy

Thanks for stopping by to share my little bit of excitement this morning.  Have a great day!

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges Entered:

Sentimental Sundays - Distressing with a sentiment on the front

Charisma Cards - Vintage

Alphabet Challenge - Z is for Zig Zags

Frosted Designs - Let's See Your Die Cuts

Simon Says Stamp and Show Something Spooky!

Good Monday morning and welcome back to all my blogging buddies!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  Our Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge to you this week is to show us something SPOOKY.  We have some wonderfully spooky projects to show you and we can't wait to see what you show us.  We're looking forward to some spine chilling art work this week!!

As usual, I hemmed and hawed on what to make for the challenge.  I struggled to come up with something suitably spooky and really didn't have much in my stash that was appropriate.  Finally I decided to use some vintage images from The Graphic Fairy and make a luminaria. 

I printed the graphics for the four windows on vellum.  The Graphics Fairy actually has these four images set up as a PDF file on her blog so you can print them very large without losing resolution.  I created the frame out of plain white cardstock, however, after all was said and done, I wished I had glued the cardstock over Grungepaper because the cardstock is rather flimsy.  If I ever make Version 2.0, that's how I will do it.  I printed some spooky vintage images block style on the cardstock and then finished the surface using Tim Holtz's Rusted Enamel technique.  I used that technique for the first time last week and LOVED it.  This week, I used Old Paper distress ink, which I applied direct to paper and then embossed with clear EP.  Vintage Photo DI was then applied with a sponge over all the embossing.  It's sort of splotchy - light and dark - because I went over it pretty quickly with the Old Paper ink, but I like the effect it gives. 

The top edge was cut with the Tim Holtz Scrollwork On The Edge die. The project was embellished with Tim Holtz Grungeboard Mixed Minis painted with Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber in Pitch Black and coated with Ranger Crackle Accents.   Prima Say it With Crystals were also used for a bit of bling.  The black paper flowers were hand made using several dies including Tim Holtz Tattered Florals. 

Don't forget to stop on by the blogs of my teammies to see what they have been up to.  You'll find tons of fun and an immense load of talent on each and every blog listed here!  I am so proud to be in the company of these incredible artists!

♥Linda Elbourne, DT Coordinator - A Crafting Journey

♥ Dan - My Crafty Life

♥ Lynne Forsythe - The Next Best Thing

♥ Lori Hassler - I Been Thinkin'...'Bout Inkin'

♥ Nancy Crissinger - What's Next???

♥ Nancy Wethington - Art From the Heart

♥ Terry Weitsma-Girbes - Terry's Cards & Creativity

♥ Katie Davis - Chantilly Rose

♥ Kim Costello - Paperbabe

I know it's a long post this week and a lot of photos, but I wanted you to be able to see all four sides and the corners of the luminaria.  I loosely followed the tutorial on SplitCoastStampers to make it, but changed the dimensions considerably.  The tutorial was a great starting point for me. 

Thanks for coming by and for hanging in to the end of the post.  I appreciate any comments or questions you care to leave.  Have a great week.

Blessings & hugs,

I Was "Most Wanted"

About a month ago, my card won "Most Wanted" (first place) at Our Partner in Crafting Crime.  Because of that, I was invited to be a guest designer this week.  This week's theme is "Shine On You Dazzling Diamond" so basically all sparkle and shine is good to go for this challenge.  Here is the card that I made for this guest DT opportunity. 

I didn't set out to make a monochromatic card, but it just worked out that way with the More Mustard CS and the K& Co. DP.  Everything I picked up to go on the card just blended so nicely and supported the monochromatic style of this card.  This is a super simple card.  The die cuts are Spellbinders Labels Five and a Waltzing Mouse label stamp makes up the main image, while diamond embossed chipboard provides a medallion to hold the ribbon and flower element.  A bit of ribbon, a tiny handmade canvas flower and few sweet buttons finish off the card. 

A hugh thank you to all the ladies over at My Partner in Crafting Crime for picking my card as "Most Wanted".  So happy to be able to play along with your challenge this fortnight! 

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges Entered:

Tuesday Throwdown - Use chipboard

Stampin' B's - Make a Fall Card

Chrisma Cardz - Autumn Colors

Drunken Stampers - Monochromatic

Four Crafty Chicks - Distressing

Beautiful Fall Colors

Oh, the colors of fall.  Can any other season truly compare?  Such a beautiful time of year and we are celebrating the season this week at Our Creative Corner. It's a new month and we have a new hostess, Diane Gilbert of My Little Stampin' Spot.  She has a beautiful fall color challenge for us.  Use the colors Old Olive, More Mustard, Cajun Craze and Early Expresso or the closest match you have.  For my card, I substituted Really Rust for Cajun Craze and Chocolate Chip for Early Expresso (note to self:  be sure to order the new SU colors!).  While I was noodling ideas for this week's card, I happened to stop by Isabella's Sketchbook and lo and behold, Isabella has some new fall digital images that are splendid!  That made me very happy because I seem to be bored with all my existing fall images.  You gotta love the instant gratification of purchaing digis too.  In all of about 2 minutes I was printing this delight and ready to color it up. 

The image was colored with Copics and UTEE with some Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls mixed in was randomly embossed around the edge then Vintage Photo DI was sponged over it.  The border flourish and sentiment are from the Celebration of Thanks set by Verve.  The leaf is a Cuttlebug die that I had fun dying with Old Olive and Really Rust with a little Perfect Pearls/DI mixture spritzed on for glimmer.  I really love the way this one came out.  I think the image is gorgeous and I was so pleased with the way it colored up. 

So have you already stopped by Our Creative Corner to see what they other designers have for your beautiful fall colors inspiration?  If not, hope you will take time to stroll through their cards and enjoy the crisp fall feeling they provide. 

Products Used:

Stamps:  Apples & Pumpkins by Isabella's Sketchbook, Celebration of Thanks by Verve

Paper:  Really Rust, More Mustard, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, DP is Auturm Thyme Again Add On Pack (currently a freebie) (andI changed the color slightly in PSE to make it more of a mustard color)

Ink:  Walnut Stain and Vintage Photo distress inks, Versamark

Accessories:  Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder from SU, Spellbinders Tag Die and Mega Rectangles, Cuttlebug Leaf Die, Old Olive Ribbon rom SU, Tim Holts mini safety pin, hemp rope, Ultra Thick Embossing Enammel, Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls, Vintage Photo reinker

Thanks so much for stopping by and for all your wonderfully encouraging comments.  Wishing you a wonderful fall weekend!

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges Entered:
Sentimental Sundays - Let's See Some Dimension
Stamptacular Sunday - Seasons Change
Incy Wincy - I Wonder What it Could Be (anything goes)
Ditital Tuesday - Thank You/Give Thanks + a digi
Tuesday Taggers - Here Comes Autumn
For Fun Challenges -  Fall, No Halloween
Simon Says Stamp - It's Autumn
If the Shoe Fits - Orange
Stampin' for the Weekend - Autumn Inspiration
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday - Fall/Harvest theme using the colors of green, brown, orange/russet and cream
Speedy the Cat Friend's Challenge - Buttons & Bows

Maid of the Harvest

It's so great to be back again with another Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge. It's been almost two weeks since our last challenge because of the joint blog hop with our sister site. Now Simon Says Stamp and Show is ready to challange you to show us your best grunge work. That's right, the theme this week is "Your Grunge". How cool is that - grunge any way you like it. Should make a lot of creative hearts happy this week! It sure made me happy...I am never happier than when I am ripping, tearing, inking and generally making something look old and grungy.

Being in an autumnal harvest sort of mood, I went searching for something to fit that frame of mind and found this wonderful vintage image of a girl with a basket of something...veggies, fruit?? Anyway she sort of looked like a harvester. I distressed her up with Vintage Photo ink and a bit of my homemade vintage glimmer mist, mounted her on a tag that I ran through the Tim Holtz Collage Texture Fade and likewise distressed. The DP is from my growing digital paper files (don't remember the source) and mounted on a panel of Always Artichoke. The bottom panel is Very Vanilla stamped with the floral flourish stamp from Flights of Fancy with Vintage Photo ink. I cut the border with Spellbinders Borderabilities Fleur De Lis die and embossed it with Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder in Vintage Photo - love that stuff with its cool rusted color and texture! I typed "Maid of the Harvest" and printed it out, cut it with a Spellbinders tag die and again used the Vintage Photo Distress EP. I don't know what I'm going to do with this little gem, but I really like it and have enjoyed having it displayed in my craft room this week.

I hope you will stop by the blogs of my incredibly talented team mates to see what else they've been up to lately. I promise you it will be time well spent.

♥Linda Elbourne, DT Coordinator - A Crafting Journey
♥ Dan - My Crafty Life
♥ Lynne Forsythe - The Next Best Thing
♥ Lori Hassler - I Been Thinkin'...'Bout Inkin'
♥ Nancy Crissinger - What's Next???
♥ Nancy Wethington - Art From the Heart
♥ Terry Weitsma-Girbes - Terry's Cards & Creativity
♥ Katie Davis - Chantilly Rose
♥ Kim Costello - Paperbabe

Thanks for stopping by today. Can't wait to see Your Grunge over on the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge blog.

Blessings & hugs,

Autumn = Apples

Good morning! I have a de-lic-ious vintage card to share today. Several weeks ago, my card was picked as one of the Top 3 at Raise the Bar, which was an honor in itself. But even better, their prize is a one-week guest designer slot - woohoo!!! How exciting!!!

The challenge theme at Raise the Bar this week is Something Yummy. I am definitely deep in the grip of autumn, even though I live in sunny south Florida and the daytime temps are still hitting the high 80s with lows in the high 70s. I yearn for a cool, brisk breeze. I grew up in upstate New York, in the fruit belt - strawberries, cherries and peaches in the summer and in the fall - apples. Some of the best apples you could ever want to taste! My favorites are Cortlands and MacIntoshes. For years, after we moved to Florida, my mom and dad would take a fall trip in their motorhome and bring back bushels of apples so we didn't have to be apple deprived. Honestly, the kind you buy in the supermarket are no comparison!

Enough reminising! I just wanted to tell you why my "something yummy" isn't ice cream, cookies or cake. Actually, I tried to go that route, but my mojo ran off screaming. It was only when I started leafing through my vintage images that it slinked back. Then when I discovered this cool apple crate label, my mojo stood up to be counted. I am a huge social justice advocate and collect quotes that support equality. I love this Ghandi quote and thought it was perfect for the Fresh Living theme at The Shabby Tea Room which is inspired by nature and/or using something green.

Being in an earthy sort of mood, I chose to use the red weathered wood Doc Holiday sheet from the Cosmo Cricket Wanted DP. Did I tell you I grew up on a farm? So I wanted something barn-like for this rustic piece. Everything is heavily distressed with scissors and Vintage Photo distress ink. I curled up the edges of the vintage label - you know how when you peel a label off something? I wanted that effect.

I'm listing all the products used below. Let me know what you think of my little nostalgic piece. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments and check back for an updated post with your question anwered.

Products Used:
Stamps: Garden Silhouettes by SU stamped on tag
Paper: SU Garden Green, Cosmo Cricket Doc Holiday/Wanted pack, Autumn Thyme Digital DP by Raspberry Roads
Ink: Printer ink, Vintage Photo Distress Ink
Accessories: Spellbinders Tag die, Tim Holtz Chackboard Texture Fade EF, Martha Stewart Scallop Border Punch

Alrighty now, that's the scoop on this card. Hope you will stop back by tomorrow morning to check out my sample for Our Creative Corner. Thanks again for stopping by and for your wonderful comments!

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges entered:

The Shabby Tea Room - Fresh Living

Paper Sundaes - Use at least 3 kinds of embellishments

Kaboodle Doodles - Get Inspired

Fresh Brewed Challenges - DARE (Distressing, Autumn, Ribbons, Embellishments)

Stampin' B's - Use food on a card or project

Frosted Designs - Quote Challenge

Beary Sweet Challenge - Go Vintage

Stampin' for the Weekend - Tag It!

Gingersnap Creations Spicy Supply Challenge - Punches

Artful Inkables - Color Challenge - my choice was red and green

Pixie Cottage - Sketch and/or Mellow Fruitfulness (to go with the autumn season)

A Delicious Color Challenge

Thanks so much for dropping by today! It's time for another challenge at Our Creative Corner. This week we have a delicioius color challenge for you. Summertime makes our hostess, Jennifer Meyer, think of watermelons and inspired her challenge colors - green, red, black and white. I was a bit stumped so I surfed the challenge blogs and decided on the Mojo Mondays #148 sketch which really did jumpstart my mojo! This is the result and honestly I had so much fun developing my sample for this challenge. There was something very satisfying in working with these colors. Maybe because I love watermelon and agree with Jennifer that it can't really be summer until you have had your first watermelon - LOL!

Let's get on to the details:
Sentiment: Raindrop Echo Designs (not sure if this one is available, I picked it up as a freebie on the Sentimental Sundays blog a few weeks ago)
Paper: Designer Digitals - Jessie's New Day Paper Pack and the red print is from Designer Digitals Krafty Elegance but I changed the cream and black to two shades of red with my PhotoShop Elements, Stampin' Up! Basic Black, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White
Spellbinder Dies: Classic Circle and Fleur De Lis Pendants
Other: Martha Stewart border punch, KaiserCraft half pearls, Versamark & clear embossing powder, Creamy Caramel and Frayed Burlap ink for distressing, sewing machine.

Questions? If you have any questions on products or techniques, leave me a question in the Comments section and check back later for my updated post to include that information.

Now it's time to hop on over to Our Creative Corner and check out the rest of the beautiful green, red, black and white creations. And while you are surfing, stop by the blogs of the rest of the OCC design team and leave them an encouraging word.

♥Wendy Jensen♥Dana Grothaus♥Diane Gilbert♥Jennifer Meyer♥Julie LeBlanc♥Sarah Gough♥Lori Rider♥

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges Entered:

Mojo Monday #148 - Sketch

Creative Cottage Challenge - Touchy Feely