That's all we really want

I bought this Anime DJ by KennyK a part of a Japan Disaster Relief fundraiser, but I'm just now coloring her. I thought she'd look good with this "splash" stamp. For the background, I used a Tim Holtz embossing plate to make a "splash".

The embellishment on the top is the same "splash" stamp, on Shrink plastic. The message section is actually a removable tag.

Inspiration:
Mojo Monday #206: Sketch (Square version)
Pile It On #35: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
The Crafty Calendar August Challenge: Hot Colours

Stamps: Anime DJ by KennyK, Make a Splash set from Raisin Boat, the Paper Studio, Guitar Hero set by Studio G
Paper: Recollections, Hammermill, Core'dinations
Tools: Fiskars papercutter & deckle scissors, Martha Stewart scissors, HP printer & ink, Adobe InDesign, hole punch, Marvy heat tool, Shrink plastic, sand paper, Tim Holtz paper distresser & embossing folder, Crop-O-Dile, Sizzix Texture Boutique
Other: StazOn, Martha Stewart, Versamark & Memento inks, ZipDry & Tacky glues, stash eyelet, Datrice ribbon, Stampendous & Recollections embossing powders
Copic markers: C-1, C-5, B00, BG15, BG49, B18, B05, B23, E37, E11, RV23, RV02, RV11, E13, E17, FBG2, FRV1, FYG1, FY1, Y000

Nature Boy

Ever since participating in their Banksy challenge, I'm hooked on Daring Cardmakers! This week's challenge is Krafty: use kraft paper as well as 3 natural items. I also adore Cards for Men, and chose Ground for their "G is for..." challenge. I used the decidedly hip swirl stamps from the Raisin Boat Make a Splash set. The star of this show, of course, is Skate Board Edward from Tellen's Place Designs. Love this guy! He reminds me of summer.

For my "natural items" I grabbed a couple of small leaves from the yard (Hurricane Irene made that easy; I think they're Maple & Mulberry), put them in the freezer for a few hours (to kill bugs), dried them out with my heat tool (with only some burning), then sprayed them with hairspray to set. I made the cork button by slicing up one of my long-hoarded wine corks, adding holes & eyelets with my Crop-O-Dile. I sewed it on with baker's twine, which I'm hoping was made with "natural" cotton and dyes (I'd've used hemp twine if I'd had it)!

Inspiration:
Daring Cardmakers: Feeling Krafty (plus 3 natural items)
Cards for Men Challenge #18: G is for... (Ground)

Stamps: SB Edward 2 by Tellen's Place Designs, Make a Splash set from Raisin Boat
Paper: Recollections, Hammermill
Tools: Fiskars papercutter & deckle scissors, Martha Stewart scissors, HP printer & ink, Adobe InDesign, hole punch, Marvy heat tool & punch, Crop-O-Dile
Other: Versamark & Memento inks, ZipDry & Tacky glues, stash eyelet, stash baker's twine, Recollections embossing powders, Sutter Home cork, stash eyelets, leaves, hairspray
Copic markers: RV11, E13, E33, E11, E31, E35, E47, C-1, C-5, C-7, BG49, BG15, BG10, FYG1

Two for Tuesday Trio

I was so inspired by Tuesday Trio Challenge #81 (Sketch & Paper Distressing theme) that I made two cards! Sadly, I missed the deadline (stupid Internet outage), but I'm happy with the results and am entering the first into the In the Sea Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge.

Inspiration:
Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge: In the Sea
Tuesday Trio Challenge #81: Sketch & Paper Distressing
Stamps: Make a Splash set from Raisin Boat, Inkadinkado, Hero Arts
Paper: Core'dinations, Brazzil, Hammermill
Tools: Fiskars papercutter, Tim Holtz scissors & paper distresser, Marvy Heat tool
Other: Versamark, StazOn & Memento inks, ZipDry & Tacky glues, stash eyelet, stash baker's twine, Shrink plastic, needle & thread

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For my second card, I used paper that I had hand-stamped forever ago for the background. I stamped the "splash" onto white paper, and also heat-embossed it in blue on a blue ribbon. The sentiment is a stamp I bought some time ago but hadn't used...I colored it by sponging ink onto the letters. I like the result, but it was difficult to give myself permission to color outside the lines! The flowers are made with a Stampin' Up! punch & a scrap of yellow paper from Stampin' Dymonz Scrap Shack. The centers are brads.

Inspiration:
Tuesday Trio Challenge #81: Sketch & Paper Distressing
Stamps: Make a Splash set from Raisin Boat, Inkadinkado

Paper: Core'dinations, Brazzil, Hammermill, Recollections
Tools: Fiskars papercutter, Tim Holtz scissors & paper distresser, Marvy Heat tool & punch, sewing machine, Stampin' Up! flower punch
Other: Versamark & Memento inks, ZipDry & Tacky glues, stash brad

Fallin' for Karen's Doodles

I hardly need an excuse to use this cute Fall image from Karen's Doodles, but couldn't resist their current sketch challenge.

I made the charms with Shrink plastic. I stamped the original stamp on the inside of the card, so you can see the size difference.

Inspiration:
Karen's Doodles Challenge: Sketch

Stamps: Fall by Karen's Doodles, Let It Shine set by Verve Stamps
Paper: Hammermill, Core'dinations
Tools: Fiskars papercutter, Martha Stewart scissors, HP printer & ink, Adobe InDesign, SCAL & Cricut, Marvy heat tool, Shrink plastic
Other: ZipDry & Tacky glues, StazOn ink, Michaels & Offray ribbons, Copic markers

Update 9/6/11: I won a random prize for this card at Karen's Doodles!

Hiya

The current challenge at MelJen's Designs is Blast from the Past, where we share the very first card we ever made using one of her images. Her Dandelion Mouse is one of my favorite digis. Here's my first card:

I love this stamp so much that I rented the Lawn King set from Raisin Boat solely for the included dandelion stamp! And I didn't even stamp the whole thing! Here's my new card with Dandelion Mouse, also inspired by the current Deconstructed Sketch:

Inspiration:
Deconstructed Sketch #16

Stamps: Dandelion Mouse by MelJen's Designs (thank you!), Lawn King set by Raisin Boat
Paper: DCWV Blossoms & Butterflies 8x8 pack, Hammermill, Recollections
Tools: Fiskars papercutter, Martha Stewart scissors, HP printer & ink, Adobe InDesign, SCAL & Cricut, Kut-Ups font, Marvy heat tool, Shrink plastic, sewing machine & thread
Other: ZipDry & Tacky glues, Memento ink, American Crafts & Michaels ribbons, Sakura gel pens, stash metal frame
Copic markers: E13, E17, Y13, B23, BG000, G07, YG03, YG67, Y000, RV02, E000

SDSS August Stamp Club inspiration

I spent much of this past Saturday at the Baltimore home of the Stampin' Dymonz Scrap Shack (SDSS), laughing in the face of Hurricane Irene & participating in this month's SDSS Stamp Club.

This was my first such class, and it was super-fun. I know the other participants from the blogosphere, but it was nice to see them in person. The class cost included Stampin' Up!'s Butterfly stamp set but you know I had to buy the punch too! We made 4 projects: an accordion file box, a treat holder, a card & a layout (with a provided sketch).

I had some matching paper at home, so I made one more project to fit into the set: an altered CD, inspired by this week's challenge at Stampin' Dymonz Creative Space.


The flowers are made with a Stampin' Up! punch & a scrap of yellow paper from the Scrap Shack. The centers are brads. I punched the holes with my Crop-O-Dile...so easy!


Speaking of Hurricane Irene (our thoughts with those who were most effected), we mostly had only rain during Saturday afternoon, but by the evening it was windy & wet & messy (but really quite beautiful). There was some tree damage in the area, but we didn't experience any physical damage (well, if you don't count my husband's sore arms from sawing down the giant branch that got suspended on the Cherry tree...thank you Baby!); however, we did lose Internet access for almost 48 hours, which explains why I haven't posted since Friday.

Brand-happy with Cardmaking and Papercraft Magazine

Mom purchased the August 2011 issue of Cardmaking & Papercraft Magazine, then promptly sent it to me so that I could make a few cards for their "Cardmaker of the Year 2011" Contest. Thanks for the complement, Mom! She also knows that she's sent me bunches of products that fall into the contest categories, like Penny Black, FlowerSoft, Lili of the Valley and Stampin' Up (links will take you to my card featuring that product). I wanted each project to really focus on its theme product; when I couldn't use the theme product,I tried to incorporate other products made by the other sponsors of the contest (see items bolded in the supply lists).

I know the competition will be fierce, but I had tons of fun making these cards. I hope some of you will enter as well (especially those of you in the U.K.)  You can get all the contest info and forms on their website.

Update: I didn't get these in the mail for the deadline (who knew the post office was closed Labor Day Saturday?!), so I'll get to share them with friends!

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Penny Black Joy-fold card

Back:

Penny Black stamps: Poppy Fields, Love Graffiti, Spring is Here set

Paper: Echo Park, Core'dinations, Hammermill
Tools: Fiskars papercutter, Martha Stewart scissors, HP printer & ink, Adobe InDesign, Tim Holtz paper distresser
Other: Sakura gel pen, Recollections brads, hinge from stash, ZipDry glue

Copics: BG000, B23, R35, RV23, RV02, E35, E17, E37, E000, E11, YR00, YR01, Y13, Y04, FY1, FYG1, Y17, E47, R37, R35, R59, BG93, G07, YG03, E50, E51, C-5, C-1, 0

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Stampin' Up!
Waterfall Card

Inside:

Stampin' Up! products: Butterfly/flower wood-mount stamp, Bliss rubber-mount set, Stampin' Around tool & Sweet Swirls wheel stamp, Classic inks (Wild Wasabi & Black)

Paper: Hammermill
Tools: Fiskars papercutter
Other: stash eyelets, ZipDry glue, Stampendous! frame stamp & embossing powder, Offray ribbon

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Lili of the Valley
Trifold Card

Lili of the Valley products: Die-cut pre-colored image "Cute Card", Merry Christmas A5 Stamp set

Paper: The Paper Company, Core'dinations, Hammermill
Tools: Fiskars papercutter, MS detail scissors
Other: ZIG glue pen, ZipDry glue, FlowerSoft: Polar White,Raspberry Fizz
Copic markers: RV11, RV02, RV04, BV000, 0, E31, E33, E35

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FlowerSoft
Dimensional Card

Inside:

FlowerSoft products: Die-cut sheet & paper set, brand PVC glue, FlowerSoft: Baby Peach, Pale Green, Bright Pink, Sweet Pea

Tools: Fiskars papercutter, MS detail scissors, Cricut Personal Cutter & Deep Cut mechanism, SCAL 2.0
Other: Recollections cardstock, ZIG glue pen, ZipDry glue, stash chipboard, tulle
Copic markers: E47, G02, RV04, YR04

Happy Travels with Deconstructed Sketches and Karen's Doodles

Inspiration:

Deconstructed Sketch No. 15

Stamps: On the Road Again by Karen's Doodles, Round Sentiments I set by SP & Company, dotted frame set by Fiskars
Paper: Recollections, Hammermill, Core'dinations, stash DP
Tools: Fiskars papercutter, Martha Stewart scissors & border punch, HP printer & ink, Adobe InDesign, Marvy heat tool, Cricut & SCAL, Crop-O-Dile, Tim Holtz paper distresser
Other: ZipDry glue, Versamark & StazOn inks, Stampendous embossing powder, Sakura gen pels, Walk in My Garden Cricut cartridge, stash eyelets & brad
Copics: R35, YG67

Enchilada, Mama?

I'm participating in a recipe swap at Stampin' Dymonz Scrap Shack (SDSS), and had a leftover embellishment that I decided to make a card with. Since I used Enchiladas for my recipe, I had colored this cute Cook digi from Tellen's Place Designs and added some handmade paper enchiladas (adapted from a paper taco I saw in a magazine; see instructions at the bottom of this post). Mom got a real kick out of this idea, so this card's for her.

I was really drawn to this week's photo at Cupcake Inspirations (right), and had lots of fun with it. Yes I know Anne-Marie: more purple! But there's plenty of pink in there too!

I was inspired to make a Sliding Pop Up Card thanks to Croms' great tutorial at SDSS. I made a few earlier in the year, but it was fun to try again.

The paper flowers are from a bunch we bought recently in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. They really hold up well & bounce back from anything!

Inspiration:
Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #124
Stampin' Dymonz Scrap Shack: Sliding Pop Up Card

Stamps: Kiss the Cook by Tellen's Place Designs, sentiment by TLC Creations
Paper: Recollections, Hammermill, stash DP
Tools: Fiskars papercutter, Martha Stewart scissors & corner/border punch, HP printer & ink, Adobe InDesign, Cricut & SCAL, Recollections punch
Other: ZipDry glue, ZIG glue pen, Copic markers, Offray ribbon


How to make tiny paper enchiladas:

1. Tortilla: Cut or punch out a circle, and fold it loosely into thirds. (I used a 3/4 inch punch)
2. Lettuce: Cut out a piece of green paper slightly longer than the circle & about 1/8 inch wide. Use scissors to "fringe" the edges on the short sides.
   
3. Enchilada: Glue lettuce onto middle section of tortilla. Fold up enchilada. Apply a small amount of glue onto bottom flap; fold over top flap and secure with a clip to dry.
   
4. Cheese: Glue a mix of yellow & orange flocking onto top of enchilada. (I used only yellow in this example)

Stampin' an' Holtzin'

It's another great challenge over at Stampin' Dymonz Creative Space: this week we have a sketch & several fun rules:

"This week's challenge is a tag challenge...with a twist. We will be using inspiration from the PageMaps website (www.pagemaps.com) and utilizing [this] Tag Map [on the left]...This week's challenge will have you put your spin on this sketch, including the following elements -- your tag must have a functional folder on the front and the piece of paper inside of the folder must be in the shape of a tag. There should be space on the tag for a small photo and some journaling. This space can be on the inside and/or the outside of the folder and/or the inserted tag...Since this week's challenge is a tag challenge and when I think of tags I think of Tim Holtz, as he's done so much with tags and making them a popular paper crafting project, we will have a bag of Tim Holtz products as the blog candy for this week's challenge." --Stampin' Dymonz

Be sure to check out the DT & Participant projects; they all are unique takes on the challenge & all incorporate scrapliftable ideas.

I decided to make a scrapbook tag about this year's garden (a tradition I've kept up for 3 years so far). I used mostly Tim Holtz products. I certainly have Stampin' Dymonz to thank for getting me into his style! I'm really feeling more comfortable with it, and found myself trying lots of techniques on this project.

All the coloring is done with Distress inks. The pine tree stamp is from a Tim Holtz Christmas set I won from IslandV at Scrap InnoVations (thank you!), and I hand-stamped "garden" and "11" with wood-mounted rubber letter stamps (not from Tim Holtz, but in the spirit). For a little some thing extra, I made ploymer clay buttons from molds I made earlier this year of a whirlybird and a very young walnut. I colored both with Distress ink.

The file folder is cut on manila cardstock, using a super cut file from Heather M (Be sure to check out her link; she uses the folder to organize her embossing folders in the most lovely way.)

I used a Tim Holtz embossing folder for the base tag, and sanded the paper a bit. All the pieces are distressed with the handy Tim Holtz paper distresser.

I color-matched the ribbon and clip with distress inks. I also made empty stitches on the tags with my sewing machine.

I stapled ribbons onto the inside of the folder, and hung the tags off of them.

I used photos from this year's garden, and journaled on the back of each tag with a gel pen. I made lines for the journaling text with a pencil.

Tim Holtz Products: Idea-ology paper stash, Winter Sketchbook stamp set, Distress inks, paper distresser, scissors, embossing folder
Die Cuts: File Folder svg by Heather M (Thank you!), Bread Tags from Walk in My Garden Cricut cartridge
Other Supplies: Wooden letter stamps from stash, Core'dinations & Recollections cardstocks, clip from stash, sandpaper, WetOnes, paper towel, nail file, Elmer's gel pen, Offray ribbon, staples, thread, Sculpey polymer clay, Copic marker G99
Other Tools: Sizzix Texture Boutique, Cricut Personal Cutter, SCAL, stapler, needle, awl, oven, sewing machine

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I made the following project way back in May but never did publish the post. It used part of the same Paper I used for today's project, and the two certainly go together. So here it is, my Plant Tag Booklet:

May 5, 2011
I am seriously feelin' the Spring Fever; On Saturday we picked up some veggies & herbs for our back porch garden and I've already made a yummy pesto with the first cut of the herbs (cilantro, mint, basil, pine nuts, oil, that's it!). I hit my two favorite plant sellers at the famous 32nd Street Market: the $3 specialty varieties and the 75¢ everyday varieties. We've purchased from both before, and gotten great results. At the specialty table they have lots of heirloom varieties, so I treated us to an Abraham Lincoln tomato plant; they also provide nursery tags.

The 75¢ table (where we bought pretty much everything else) does not provide tags, however, so once again this year I found myself back home unable to remember which plant was which. Wishing I had remembered to write down what was what, I decided to craft the heck out of the problem.

I'm pretty sure I've seen this idea before, but I thought that a little notebook with plant tags would be really handy. I cut a bunch bread tags on my Cricut and attached them to a matchbook base. I included a holder for a small pencil. It's small enough to fit into a pocket. Then you can just attach the bread tag to the plant: