OWH Memorial Day Blog Hop

Welcome to my stop on this wonderful Memorial Day Week-end Bloghop! If you are following the hop you should have arrived here from Stephanie's blog, SeaSteph's Creations. If you arrived some other way please feel free to start at the beginning of the hop at the OWH blog!

I have always felt a connection with Memorial Day, probably because my birthday is May 28th. I am also a Veteran, married to a soldier that is deployed overseas this year. I so appreciate those who serve and have served in our Armed Forces to keep our great nation safe and free. My deepest and heartfelt thanks goes out to you.

I also appreciate those families that serve and sacrifice, giving loved ones to our military; providing the stability and strength that our military members require in order to serve wherever our nation sends them. Thank you!


On my card I used Our Daily Bread Designs' God Bless America, using the Pyramid technique that I learned from Sherry Cleever's blog. It may be difficult to see, but the flag is made up of four layers. (You can click on the picture to see it bigger.) I colored the flag using watercolor pencils, baby oil and a blending stump.

The sentiment is from Verve's Heartfelt Phrases. I thought this sentiment appropriate. (I think I'll tuck this card into the box I am readying for my husband!)

For the tag I used one of the Nestabilities Trio Tags. I wanted it to stand out from the flag and after a bit of experimenting used a blender pen on the inside of the Nestability, quickly put my paper in place and ran it through my CB. Once cut, I put it in a fine black embossing powder. After I heated the EP I had to fill in the areas the powder didn't stick and reheat. I eventually got this tag.

I threaded some thin black organdy ribbon through the tag and put it all together. I still needed something and ended up adding some Diamond Stickles to the stars.

I hope you have enjoyed my card, feel free to leave a comment as reading your comments makes it all worthwhile. Now hop over to Dawn's blog, The Chatty Stamper. For some reason Blogger will not allow me to embed the link to Dawn's blog, so here it is: http://thechattystamper.blogspot.com/2010/05/owh-memorial-day-blog-hop-2010-give-way.html Please cut and paste if this still won't link, you don't want to miss Dawn's wonderful artwork!

Pink Blooms

I love working with my Copic markers and love Kimm's color challenges. Well this week's color challenge WAS a challenge for me. We were to use R20, R83 and RVOO. I don't own a single one of those colors. I'm really not a pink kinda gal. I own nearly all the purples, many blues. . . . well, you get the idea. So I had to improvise a bit. I ended up using R22 (close to R20), RV02 (close to RVOO) and R02 (I don't know why, it seemed somewhat similar in a sorta' kinda' way.)

I also wanted to use CPS's cark sketch for this week. And to add to the mix I recently bought some DCWV Brights Mat Stack with the white core so I could do the CB sanding technqiue. :) Well, here is what I came up with:

Those blooms are Sunday International, I bought them from OnyxXpressions. I did lots of sponging on the bloom layer (started on white c/s) since I just love the artwork that Michelle and Theresa create. The sentiment is from SweetandSassy Stamps in the Be Still stamp set.

As you can see I need to practice using my VersaMarker to apply my EP. I started heating my blooms and realized I went beyond the vine. I used a nut cracking tool (that ended up in my craft carasol since it was neglected in the kitchen but holds down c/s being heat embossed wonderfully) to scratch off excess powder before heating.

This card will be going to a girlfriend whose DH left last month for a year away (she's an Air Force wife.) She's had a bit of a rough time the last couple weeks.

Stamps: Spring Blooms (Sunday International), Be Still (SweetandSassy); Ink: So Saffron, Appricot Appeal, Creamy Caramel; Paper: Rose Red, White, green (DCWV), Accessories: Clear embossing powder, pink ribbon (SU), CB and folder, sanding block (SU), Butterfly charm (bought at Wal-Mart), VersaMarker, Copic Markers.

Melanie Made Me Do It. . . . (ISCC13)

Yes, it is true. I wasn't planning on participating in ISC's ISCC13. The challenge was to make 2-4 ATCs using a resist technique. My first ever ATC was for ISC's What Size is Your Art challenge. I did it and it was a challenge, but I'm just not an ATC kinda gal. This is where Melanie from Smartie-Artie comes in. She pushed (challenged) me to do it. *sigh* We've both been answering the call of ISC challenges and admiring each others work. I guess I just needed a little encouragement. Well, here are the results.

I'll start with this one. I did this one today, and it isn't my favorite. Perhaps it is the colors I chose. I do however LOVE this technique, Shimmering Resist. I did it the first time here. I did it another time for a 1-on-1 swap and haven't shown that card yet. This is a technique from the Aug/Sep TJ newsletter. What you can't see very well are the two butterflies under the sentiment. I used Pixie Pink to stamp them but the stamp wasn't very juicy and they faded a bit especially after the shimmer was applied. This purple is Marvelous Magenta that I pulled out from my DS's stash (where I put my unwanted c/s.) This shade seemed to work well with the butterflies since they have Groovy Guava shimmering over them. ;D

Stamps: Marvels of Nature, Artsy Victorian, Friendship (all ISC); Ink: CRAFT White & Pixie Pink, Basic Gray; Paper: Marvelous Magenta, Whisper White; Accessories: CB Vintage Dies, Shimmery Spray.

This next ATC is actually my favorite. Can you tell I had recently visited Michelle's blog? No brayer, but I did sponge all the ATC. The colors were also inspired by Michelle as I would probably never use Sage Shadow without prompting.

I guess this technique is just a plain o' Embossing Resist. I stamped the tree from Marvels of Nature using craft ink and clear embossed it. Then I masked all but the bottom and sponged Handsome Hunter for the grass. I reversed the mask then punched a circle (1 1/4") to act as a mask for the sun and sponged Bashful Blue everywhere. I then used Ballet Blue around the edges, then Brilliant Blue around the edges "careful to not cover all the Ballet Blue" (Did I sound like Michelle? Hehe!) I removed the sun mask and used the reverse mask (post it note with the circle punched out) to sponge on So Saffron and some smudges of More Mustard (you really can't see the MM.) I left it at that last night. (I had already ruined a couple other ATC's trying to figure the best way to get the sentiment over the tree and background.) This moring I had the ephifany I needed! I stamped the sentiment using Staz-On onto acetate and attatched the acetate to the ATC using these mini brads.


Stamps: Marvels of Nature (ISC); Ink: Bashful Blue, Ballet Blue, Brilliant Blue, Handsome Hunter, So Saffron, More Mustard, Black Staz-On, CRAFT: Sage Shadow & Creamy Carmel (tree trunk); Paper: Sage Shadow, Whisper White; Accessories: acetate, post it notes, 1/16" hole punch, mini brads, clear detail embossing powder.

Thank you Betsy from ISC for the blog challenges and thank you Melanie for the push!

Heart to Heart Thanks

I'm pretty sure everyone that is into paper craft blogs as seen Cammie's blog candy. Wow! Truly an amazing blog candy at that, $1,000 worth of crafting goodies! I think what Cammie is doing to honor her grandmother is such an incredible testament to her love for her grandmother.

Ever have one of those cards where you think you are all finished but when you see the card on your screen to upload somewhere you notice just how it isn't quite finished? Well, that was this card for me. Just to show you, here is the first scan.


That long layer is just polished stone technique. I hadn't done it in so long that I thought I'd use it here. Also, this is MJ's Techno Stamper's Sketch #36 for this week. What a great sketch! I just bought that CB folder at Hobby Lobby a week ago and was dying to use it. So as you can see, it is just okay. Nothing jumps out at you about this card.

First I added another layer of Not Quite Navy under the main layer, that helped a good bit. But that Polished layer still needed something. So I started looking through my silhouette stamps and came upon this one from ISC's Nature's Silhouette I. Because of the glossy cardstock I didn't get a perfect image (some of the silver showed through and I didn't like it that way) I used my Copic black marker and colored it in. Without further adu:


Stamps: Nature's Silhouette (ISC) So Many Sayings (SU); Ink: Black Staz-On, Basic Black Marker (sentiment), Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Encoure Silver Refills; Paper: Not Quite Navy, Soft Sky, Glossy; Accessories: Large Oval Punch (SU), Birds & Swirls CB Folder.

Friendship Box with Insert Tutorial

I tried out the box at ISC for their ISCC4 and filled it and gave it to Troy's soccer coach last night. Big rush (no surprise there!) so no picture, but I only used designer paper and stamped some soccer stamps I have from SU. It was simple, but nice! I did have some problems with where to score so I had been pondering this box.

Then late last night I came up with an idea. What if you used acetate for the box, then you could stamp an insert. You could actually make up a couple of these boxes and have the inserts already trimmed to size then just stamp when you needed them! Okay, probably not a new idea, but hey, I was excited! So today I started work on my idea to see if it was feasible.

First I made the acetate Friendship Box. It is acetate, so it is a bit difficult to take a good photo of when it is empty. Also, I am using my new portable lighting studio that I bought a couple of weeks ago from Radio Shack; (it was on sale for $19.99!) I'm still learning how to best use it. :D

I did use mini glue dots (from SU) to adhere the acetate together. I just love those little dots! Now the obvious question is can you see the dots? Yes, but since they are only located on the sides of the box you don't really notice them.

The next thing I did was figure out my size and score lines for the insert. Now I had a bit of a problem with scoring my box and had to cut off 1/2" from the "bottom" (that becomes the front of the box without the lid) so my calculations may differ if your box uses that 1/2". :)

Insert size: 8.5" x 4.75"
Score: ETA: .5" along both long sides then score along short side .5", (move forward) 3.75", (move forward again) .5".
You will not have any insert for the front portion of the flap.

I actually messed this up when I scored this insert and did the last 1/2" at the end of the insert instead of after the front fold so I had to fix it when I figured it out. (So ignore the faint score line at the bottom of the insert here.) ;)

Then I cut the bottom half of the sides since I didn't need it to overlap. Here is my insert (upside down.) I hadn't realized that my last 1/2" score was in the wrong spot yet. The score lines are pretty obvious here. I also trimmed out the extra corners for the lid and cut slits for the bottom. (This was when I finally realized my mistake.)

Now comes the fun; you get to stamp your insert. I tried Michelle Zindorf's technique of embossing stamped images and then brayering over them. My colors came from SCS's SCSCC167 of Sky Blue, Certainly Celery and Night of Navy. TIP: When you are stamping this remember that part of your insert will be upside down so you need to figure this out BEFORE stamping! Fortunately, I realized this before I stamped.

After I finished stamping and embossing I then used my foam brayer (to have a softer Night of Navy) to brayer color on the insert. I gently wiped away the ink from the embossed images.

I folded on the scored lines and placed the insert into my Friendship box!

Oh, I did round the corners of the lid to allow it to insert into the box a bit easier. I think that because I used acetate it was a bit stiffer than cardstock.

Please let me know what you think of my "bright idea"! Thanks!

Stamps: Friendship & Summer Flair (ISC); Ink: VersaMark, Sky Blue, Certainly Celery, Night of Navy; Paper: Whisper White; Accessories: Clear Emboss Powder; heat gun, mini glue dots, brayer with foam attachment, acetate.

Polished Glittery Fairy

When I ordered from Stamp Francisco I ordered two fairies. Here is the second one. This card uses Beate's weekend sketch challenge #44 and some Polished acetate that I (still) had lying around.

I read a technique on Jamie's blog that showed how to add glitter to stamped acetate. I sort of modified her technique because I used acetate that was already polished. In a nutshell this is what I did. (Please check out her blog to see how she did her version, it's really cool!)

1. Stamped on polished acetate.
2. Ran acetate through Xyron.
3. Placed acetate (intact) onto light table.
4. Cut sections of the carrier off from the acetate only where I wanted to place my glitter. (I did this a section at a time adding the color of glitter I wanted in that section.)
5. Trimmed my acetate to the size I wanted my completed piece to be.
6. Removed the remaining carrier from my acetate and placed the acetate on a piece of Whisper White cardstock the same size as my acetate and burnished the acetate to the c/s.
7. Layered this piece onto a layer of Brocade Blue, then added to my card.

Let me talk about the glitter I used here. When I attended the scrapbooking convention two weeks ago in Collinsville, IL I stopped at the P K Glitz booth. I just fell in love with their glitter and Powder Keg Emboss Powder! I just loved how you could coordinate the EP with the glitter and the colors are beautiful! I could only afford to purchase three colors (Eggplant, Azure & China Jade.) I used all three on this card as well as SU's Dazzling Diamonds (on the crown.) The China Jade was used on the jewel in the crown, so I'm not sure if you'll be able to see it. I used Azure on her wings, but blue and yellow make green so it looks like her wings are green. The eggplant was used on her dress. In retrospect, I probably should have used one of my COPIC markers to remove the alcohol ink from the crown area before adding adhesive, but that would have taken way too much forethought! LOL! At the time I didn't even know what colors I was going to use.

As for the rest of the card I used my Swiss Dots CB for the two Very Vanilla sections, then used a sponge dauber to brush Brocade Blue onto the dots. The designer paper is from DCWV Old World mat stack (top right) and Wild Asparagus (lower left). Yes, a simple layout, but with the effort of adding the glitter to the acetate I didn't feel the need to embellish any further. :)

Stamps: Stamp Francisco; Ink: StazOn Black, Brocade Blue, various alcohol inks; Paper: Brocade Blue, Very Vanilla, DCWV & Wild Asparagus Designer paper; Accessories: acetate, CB & Swiss Dots folder, Glitter Glitz, Dazzling Diamonds, light box & exacto knife.

Flourish Fairy

I recently found a stamp company, Stamp Francisco, and NEEDED to purchase a few stamps. I needed a Thank you card and decided to use some of the stamps that arrived today with Technostamper's Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge #13 and used SCS's Color Challenge #162. To add to all that, I used two TJ techniques, Cracked Glass and Aged Tiles. Whew!

I don't think you can see it, but I added a sprinkle of Iridescent Ice EP to the "Cracked Glass" to give some sparkle.

This looks so pink! Ack! The colors are Groovy Guava, Blush Blossom and Basic Gray. Just looking at it now, I think it needs some more embellishments, perhaps some pearly thingies in the lower right???? Maybe??? I'll take a look at it again in the morning, perhaps it will look better to me after a few hours of sleep. :) Hopefully, we won't have another earthquake to wake me up at 4:30 in the morning again!

Stamps: Flourish B/g, Fairy Blowing Kiss (Stamp Francisco) Define Your Life (SU); Ink: Blush Blossom, Groovy Guava, Basic Gray; Paper: Blush Blossom, Groovy Guava, Basic Gray; Accessories: Tag punch, Clear Embossing Powder, (sprinkle of) Iridescent Ice, sponge dauber.

A Day Late and A Dollar Short?

Okay, I started this card Thursday night but didn't finish it until this morning. I used the SCS color challenge #155; Basic Black, River Rock and Whisper White. The colors of the scan are a little off. I used some liberty and used some SU Porcelain Prints DP on a couple of layers, as this particular pattern was River Rock. I love this pattern paper, it is so elegant!

For the life of me I can't remember where I got the sketch from!!! (If you recognize it pretty please let me know so I can give credit!) I thought it was Beate's from last week (Hence the title of my post) but I don't see what is in my head on her blog now.

I used the Cracked Glass technique on the sentiment layer. I know this technique is an oldie but goodie, it was also in the most recent TJ newsletter. I have seen several posts come through the Yahoo group using this technique, which is why it came to mind for this layer. The sentiment layer has some sparkle to it because I didn't realize I had some glitter on my VersaMark pad that transfer to the cardstock while I was adding the VersaMark. Oh well, I think it looks good!

I used my SU Distresser on many of the edges to help give it an aged look. All edges except black are sponged to add to the aged feel of the card.

I'm not sure about this card. I like that the sentiment is the focal point, but the card feels a little barren to me. It especially feels this way when I look at the scan. Perhaps a few small prima flowers would help? Or perhaps I can do some faux stitching around some of the layers?

Stamps: Morning Soft; Ink: CRAFT Basic Black, CLASSIC Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip; Paper: River Rock, Basic Black, Whisper White, Porcelain Prints DP; Accessories: sponges, Distresser tool, Corner Rounder, Glossy Glaze EP & heat gun.

Febuary's Class Projects

I forgot to post the second project for January's class, and since I got sick and had to cancel class I guess I never gave it another thought. Well, now I am recycling the original card. I used crayon resist technique for the main layer. This stamp set is the Priceless that was so popular when the last catalog came out. I bought it but haven't used it much. It is such a pretty set that I thought I'd pull it out to use it. I thought this technique would work so well with this set, and yes, I believe that it does.


Since I had to cancel last month's class none of my customers got to see or do these cards. So why waste perfectly good cards?? I wanted to showcase one of the Sale-A-Bration (SAB) stamp sets, Merci, so I revamped my Priceless card and came up with this version.


The tricky part of using the crayon resist is that if you miss a spot you generally can't tell until it is too late. In looking at this card I can see that I should have added some crayon to the center flower. Now when you see the card IRL it isn't as obvious as the scanner shows so I didn't feel the need to redo that layer. Also, I like to leave little things like this to show my class because I think that a) it shows that I'm not perfect and b) that cards don't have to be perfect in order to be used. It is the handmade that makes these cards so much more special than any Hallmark card!

By using this card I also get to show an alternative way of using the scallop punch! I saw somewhere (either on a blog or on SCS) that if you punch your scallop then repunch it so that the punch notches are on the scallop edges you get this cool looking medallion. I found that it is easier to adjust the scallop if you mount it on wax paper and since you are using wax paper it removes sooo easily! Here is a close up of the medallion so you can see more detail.


Stamps: 1st card uses Priceless; 2nd card uses Merci; Ink: Rose Red, Regal Rose; Paper: Glossy, Rose Red, Accessories: clear crayon (the kind you use to write on Easter eggs before you dye them,) white taffeta ribbon, scallop punch, brayer w/foam attachment.