Anything is Possible

Hey everyone! Today I've got a quick little card I made using the Sketchy Thursday #53 sketch. The other day I was out trolling blogland and ran across this super cute sketch and I liked it so much I had to print it out and give it a go!



As I mentioned the other day, I have new toys to play with, so I had to pull out a few more and test them out. For my stamped panel, I used the Nesting Labels from QuicKutz and stamped the sentiment and a shooting star from the Starstruck set in Rich Razzleberry. I matted with Rich Razzleberry and then layered onto some Lemonade BasicGrey paper, cut with the embossed curves EK Success border punch. The base card is Barely Banana and I embossed the end with one of the Organic Flourishes Cuttlebug embossing borders. Then I just finished with a little Crushed Curry polka dot ribbon and some fun little pearls for accent.

What's In It?
Stamps: Starstruck (Verve)
Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Barely Banana (SU!), Lemonade dp (BasicGrey)
Ink: Rich Razzleberry (SU!)
Accessories: Nesting Labels (QuicKutz), Embossed Curves border punch (EK Success), Organic Flourishes (Cuttlebug), Diamond Stickles, Crushed Curry polka dot ribbon (SU!), pearls (KaiserCraft)

Harvest Cookie Wraps

Hey everyone! Can you believe it's the end of September? I think I've been in denial because it's been so hot, but today it finally cooled off and I'm SO ready for fall! {grin} Today I'm sharing a little gifty idea using the Cookie Wraps template from Kelleigh Ratzlaff. All of her templates are on sale through the end of the month (that's today, 9/30!), so head on over if you'd like to save a little moulah!


I used a plaid digi paper from the Hot, Hot, Hot! Collab by the Digichick Designers. I love this collab because it's not only great for summer, but there's a great color palette for autumn as well. I duplicated the template layer in Photoshop so I could print two of the wraps on one page. Then it was just a print, cut and score away from the fun part.

For the first wrap, I sponged all the edges with Scattered Straw distress ink, then I stamped the sentiment from Harvest Blessings on an oval cut and embossed with Nestabilities. I punched a little hole through the layers to form a tag, then tied a bow around the top and tied the tag to the bow with the same type of ribbon. Then I just wrapped a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie {YUM!} in saran wrap and stuffed in the wrap.



For the second wrap, I sponged the edges in Vintage photo, then used a scallop edge punch for the top scallops. I had intended to just accent each scallop with some chocolate Smooch pearlized paint, but didn't realize the paint took more than 30 minutes to dry. And Murphy's Law, my finger smudged it when I got ready to take the picture, so I covered each scallop with some rhinestones I got in the $1 bin at Michael's. I embossed the sentiment directly on the wrap with Chocolate Chip Craft ink and clear embossing powder then glued on a felt bow accent to finish. I just love the way these fun little treat holders turned out!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope your day is stamptastic!

What's In It?
Stamps: Harvest Blessings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Hot, Hot, Hot! Collab (DigiChick Designers)
Ink: Scattered Straw, Vintage Photo (Ranger Distress), Chocolate Chip Craft (SU!)
Accessories: Classic & Scallop Ovals (Nestabilities), scallop edge punch and Alpine Originals ribbon (SU!), clear embossing powder, rhinestones, polka dot ribbon

Better Late than Never

Hey everyone! I'm finally here with my mojo sample for the week. I've been feeling under the weather for the past several days, so the crafting mojo just didn't strike over the weekend. I did, however, get a bunch of new toys, so I just had to play with a few of them tonight.



Be sure to check out the Mojo blog for this week's sketch. I used new Indian Summer papers from BasicGrey and matted with Bravo Burgundy cardstock. The bird is from the Swan Song set and is stamped on a Nestabilities Fancy Tag (which I trimmed one end off of to fit the sketch) in Bravo Burgundy and colored with a blender pen. The for you sentiment comes from the Chocolate Bunnies set and I framed it with a little square hardware. Then I just finished off with an organdy bow that I heated to curl the ends, then added a little stickles to the bird. Easy peasy!

Okay, I'm headed back to the couch to rest up and get better. I hope you have a great day!

What's In It?
Stamps: Swan Song, Chocolate Bunnies (Verve)
Paper: Indian Summer (BasicGrey), Bravo Burgundy (SU!)
Ink: Bravo Burgundy, Chocolate Chip (SU!)
Accessories: Fancy Tags (Nestabilities), hardware (We R Memory Keepers), Stickles, ribbon from Michael's

Give Thanks in Color

Happy Friday! Oh man, am I glad the weekend is almost here! It's just been a crazy week. I made this set of cards earlier this week for the CAS (clean and simple) challenge over on SCS and this is the first chance I had to photograph them!

Anyhow, like the name of the challenge, these cards are no fuss, clean & simple. I wanted to make a set of notecards, so I used the challenge sketch and just changed the colors and the leaf on each card. Each of the backgrounds is randomly stamped with the leaf and berry stamps from the Harvest Blessings set and I also stamped one lone leaf in each color, cut out and attached to the front of the card. The ribbon is wide striped chocolate ribbon from SU! The verse is the 1 Chronicles 16:34 plain jane and I embossed it with chocolate chip craft ink and clear embossing powder on each of the Nestabilities Classic Rectangles shapes. Then I just added a few mats and a cream card base and all 4 cards were done, lickety-split!

What's In It?
Stamps: Harvest Blessings, 1 Chronicles 16:34 Plain Jane (Verve)
Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Dusty Durango, Rose Red, Chocolate Chip (SU!)
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Dusty Durango, Rose Red, Chocolate Chip (SU!)
Accessories: Classic Rectangles Nestabilities, wide striped ribbon (SU!), clear embossing powder

Distressed Superstar

Hi everyone! Happy Thursday! Today I'm sharing with you a fun little card I made with the new Starstruck set. The color combo popped out at me from the scraps on my desk - a happy accident, because I never would have put these colors together normally.


I don't know what it is about it, but I recently have fallen in love with Dusty Durango. It's sat unused on my shelf since July and now, all the sudden, everything I make has to use this color! Weird how we got through stages like that, huh?

Anyhow, I was inspired to do a little distressing now that my hands are feeling a bit better. I had to smile because when I showed this card to Mark, he said, "That's totally YOU!" Awww, how sweet that he knows me so well! I started by doing some random stamping with the shooting stars and open stars both in Dusty Durango and Sage Shadow. I added some stitching to the durango panel, then sponged the edges of both panels and used my distressing tool to roughen up the edges.

For a cozy feel, I finally decided to stop hoarding the stitched felt ribbon I got from SU! last holiday season and tied it across the card with some hemp twine. The sentiment is stamped onto a diecut from the SU! Lots of Tags set, and I hand cut a small chocolate mat for it.

My FAVORITE part of the card is the star. Doesn't it look cool? I just love the look! I stamped the billowy star from Starstruck on Old Olive then punched out with the Large SU! star punch, then stamped the small open star inside the image and gave a little coating of Copper Stickles. Then I just hand cut a little chocolate border for the star and popped it up on dimensionals.

Okay, that's all on the stamping front for today. Thanks for stopping by!

What's In It?
Stamps: Starstruck (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Dusty Durango, Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Vanilla (SU!)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Dusty Durango, Sage Shadow, Old Olive (SU!)
Accessories: ribbon, twine, air art tool, Lots of Tags die and large star punch (SU!), distressing tool, sponge, sewing machine, copper stickles

It's a Hop!

Hi everyone! Today Kelleigh's Creative Team is doing a fun little blog hop with her fabulous templates. All of her templates are easy to use, print on regular sized 8.5 x 11" paper and come with lines only pdf files for printing on traditional designer paper and cardstock, as well as the standard png and photoshop files for use with digi papers. Plus all of her templates are 30% off this month, so now's the perfect time to test them out! Be sure to read to the bottom of the post to find out the scoop on how to win a gift certificate to Kelleigh's store.


For my project today, I used the lines only PDF of the Pencil Box Template and printed on the back side of some Vine patterned paper by Lasting Impressions. Then it was just a matter of cutting it out, scoring a few lines, and adding a couple strips of adhesive on the inside flaps and the box was done. So easy. One of my favorite little treats is Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, so I'm always looking for a fun way to package them for gifts. Well, this box isn't just for pencils - it perfectly fits 12 little Reese's peanut butter cups! I'm pretty sure this is what I'll be making this year for my holiday treat giving! It was such a quick and fun project!



To give the inside a little pizazz, I added a little tissue paper cut to fit the inside, then punched out six 1" circles to cover the tops of the candies. I used my Cuttlebug Olivia alphabet to die cut the letters to spell for you, but you could easily use a stamped image or leave this step off entirely for mass production. Next I made a simple tag with oval die cuts and a sentiment stamp from the Bountiful Backgrounds set. I tied it around the box as a closure, but it slides off for easy opening.


To finish off, I made a little 3 x 3" matching gift card using scraps from the project, and the same sentiment and ribbon to make it all matchy-matchy!

So would you like to win a $10 Gift Certificate to Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs? If so, go check out all of the Creative Team Member's projects, then head over to Kelleigh's blog and leave a comment. Tell Kelleigh which project you liked the best, or which project you can see yourself doing next.

Want another chance? Twitter about the blog hop and leave another comment on Kelleigh's blog! Facebook it, and leave another comment for another chance! Kelleigh will pick a winner by this Friday evening.

Kelleigh
Tracy
Julee
Julie
Juli
Christy
Dana
Sunghee

Thanks for stopping by! Have a fabulous day!

Happiness

Happy Tuesday! Today I have a little card featuring the new Happiness Found set. To start off, I cut the circles with Classic Nestabilities, then masked off the lower portion of the sentiment and embossed just the Happiness on the circle in Chocolate Chip. Next I placed the nestabilities die back over the circle and used as a stencil, to sponge the inner edges with Vintage Photo distress ink. I added some random stamping with Dusty Durango along the edge with the two sizes of Japanese Maple leaves included in the set, then layered on a Chocolate Chip scallop circle and added some liquid pearls to each scallop and a little Orange Peel stickles to the leaves.


While that was drying, I created the background using a piece of Dusty Durango and randomly stamping the same two leaves and the large swirl leaf from the Harvest Blessings set in Dusty Durango for a tone-on-tone effect. The label shape is cut with my QuicKutz Nesting Labels in both white and vellum, then pieced together. I embossed the other part of the sentiment in the corner in Chocolate Chip and a small leaf above it in Dusty Durango. A little Dusty Durango polka dot ribbon, a chocolate mat and some rounded corners and the card was done!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful day!

What's In It?
Stamps: Happiness Found, Harvest Blessings (Verve)
Paper: Dusty Durango, Chocolate Chip, Vellum Cardstock (SU!)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Dusty Durango (SU!), Vintage Photo (Ranger Distress Ink)
Accessories: Classic & Scallop Circles (Nestabilities), sponge, liquid pearls, Orange Peel Stickles, QuicKutz Nesing Labels, clear embossing powder, durango polka dot ribbon (SU!)

Mojo Rocks

Welcome to another week! Wow, the weekend went by fast! We spent most of it packing orders, but had a date night last night to my all-time favorite restaurant, Barbacoa. It's one of those places that makes you wonder why you would ever eat anywhere else! So delicious. Anyhow, you're not here for that, you're here for the card. There's another mojo sketch posted today on the Mojo Blog and this one has a little layered circles focus that I've been wanting to test out. I used 1-3/8" punched out circles for my card.


I told Mark that this card started out clean & simple and he laughed out loud! But it's true, I was going for a lean, white on white with minimal color look and then got all caught up in the embellishments and extra touches. As y'all know, I'm really not a clean & simple kind of gal, so it's no surprise that this card didn't end up that way!

First I punched out my circles from papers in my scrap pile. The teal paper is from a Cosmo Cricket pad (Sunshine, I think) and I can't remember on the black & white dp. I embossed a white panel with the Diamond in the Rough Cuttlebug folder, then glued my circles down and cut off the excess edges, covering the top layer of circles with some wide black grosgrain. Next I colored the diamonds with my BG11 Copic Marker and gave them a nice coating of Diamond Stickles. The sentiment is from the You Rock set that just released and I stamped it on a white square cut and embossed with Nestabilities and layered on black and white mats. I outlined the swirls with the BG11 Copic, then embossed the fleur de lis star (also from You Rock) twice in black on white cardstock. I cut one out by hand, then layered on a black star punched with the SU! large star punch. I then colored the star with a marker. For the smaller star I took my other embossed star and simply punched out a piece of it using the small SU! star punch. Then I hand cut a tiny black border and layered the two stars together.

At that point, things still looked not quite finished, so I added a chipboard glimmer flourish coming from the star and a bow on the other side to balance things out. It's looking a little wonky in the picture, but I swear the bow is on straight and looks perfectly proportioned in real life! :)

Okay, that's enough rambling for one Monday morning! Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have an awesome day!

What's In It?
Stamps: You Rock (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Cosmo Cricket, unknown dp, Black, White
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), BG11 (Copic)
Accessories: blue glimmer flourish (Making Memories), black grosgrain and organdy ribbons), Stardust Stickles, Large & small star punches, 1-3/8" circle punch (SU!), Diamond in the Rough (Cuttlebug folder)

Autumn Wishes

Happy Saturday, everyone! We had such a fun release party last night. Thanks to everyone who attended, I always have so much fun chatting with y'all.! And the Divas just blew me away with all of their incredible samples for this release, so you'll have to take a peek at the Verve Gallery when you have a second.

All 6 of our new sets, plus a scripture plain jane are available in the Verve store now! There's a $15 savings on the New Release Bundle if you want them all, and we also have a little Autumn Sale going on with 15% off some of our favorite sets. Both of these promotions are good through the end of September, so don't miss out.



My card for today is another take on this week's Mojo Monday sketch. {For a totally AWESOME take on this sketch, you need to take a peek over at Amy Sheffer's blog today!} Okay, on with my card... this was actually my first attempt at this sketch, but it's taken me almost a week to decide I like it. The card features stamps in the new Harvest Blessings Set, and I used some Autumn Splendor dp from Making Memories. The wreath, branch and sentiment are all stamped with Chocolate Chip craft ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. I then colored the berries with Copics and used the Nestabilities dies as a stencil to sponge on some Vintage Photo ink. The top strip is stitched ribbon, and the bottom strip is chocolate chip cardstock that I embossed with the textile folder. Then I just rounded the top corners, added some piercings around three edges, then glitzed it up with some stickles and rhinestones.


What's In It?
Stamps: Harvest Blessings (Verve)
Paper: Autumn Splendor (Making Memories), chocolate chip (SU!)
Ink: Chocolate Chip craft ink (SU!), Vintage Photo Distress Ink (Ranger), Copic markers
Accessories: Wide chocolate stitched ribbon (SU!), Classic Circles (Nestabilities), rhinestones (Studio 18); paper piercer, Lemon Peel, clear embossing powder; Round-it-All (Zutter)

Rootbeer Polka Mess

Hey everyone! Tonight's our release party! Things get started at 9PM Eastern - I hope to "see" ya there! And that means that today is the final day of sneak peeks over on the Verve Blog. Hop on over for some fabulous peeks and a chance to win two of my favorite sets from this release, Happiness Found and Harvest Blessings. But you better hurry, our challenges and giveaways all end at 6PM Eastern tonight (9/18).

My card for today is nothing like the card I started making yesterday afternoon. I needed a break and headed up to my studio giving myself a 1 hour time limit to make something happen. I was working along, with all my pieces embossed, masked, trimmed out and just ready for glue and a few embellishments. But at the 58 minute mark, I went to grab my glue runner, and in the process knocked over a bottle of root beer! It COVERED my entire project, entirely coated four stamp sets, that were laying out open and soaked my Taken with Teal ink pad! ARRRRGH! I was so mad, and I couldn't even blame it on the cat, who was peacefully sleeping in the doorway.

Needless to say, EVERYTHING was ruined! I did immediately rinse all the stamps with warm water, and they seem to be doing okay, although they now have a faint smell of rootbeer! LOL The ink pad has definitely seen better days and the project - well a completely soaked, muddled, runny mess! I just didn't have the heart to attempt all the masking and embossing again, so decided to start fresh with a much simpler card, which is what you are now seeing.

I used Charmaine's color challenge from our Release Week Challenges, although I had to substitute Broken China ink for Taken with Teal due to the rootbeer incident. I stamped the polka dot leaf from Harvest Blessings several times in old olive, rich razzleberry, dusty durango and broken china, then trimmed out quickly. I then stamped a random background on the olive paper with the same leaf and two of the smaller leaves from the Happiness Found set. Next I cut out the circles with Nestabilities, embossed the sentiment from Harvest Blessings and then inked the edges with broken china ink. I finished off with some Cinnamon Stickles on each scallop, some ribbon, rounded corners and a few little chocolate pearls.

What's In It?
Stamps: Harvest Blessings, Happiness Found (Verve)
Paper: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip (SU!)
Ink: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Dusty Durango, Rich Razzleberry (SU!), Broken China Distress Ink (Ranger)
Accessories: Classic & Scallop Circles (Nestabilities), sponge, Cinnamon Stickles, polka dot ribbon, chocolate pearls, clear embossing powder.

Be the Star

Happy Thursday! Today's the 2nd day of previews over on the Verve Blog, and today we're peeking two sets devoted to one of our favorite themes - stardom! Starstruck (a $24 set) and You Rock (a $9 set) will be available following our release party on Friday. Be sure to hop on over the Verve Blog for a chance to win these two super fun sets!


I had so much fun designing this swirly star image, that it HAD to be the first stamp I used when I got the new sets. I am really digging this kind of retro color combo of aqua, soft yellow and black. I think I'll definitely have to use it again. The papers are from a DoubleDecker stack of Cosmo Cricket papers I have. The flourished star is stamped on a Labels 9 die cut, then colored with Copic markers and sponged with Barely Banana ink. I then stamped the star again, then stamped a small open star in the center and cut out to layer with a very thin black mat over the top of the flourished star. The sentiment is one of my new faves - a line from a song by Charlotte Sometimes that was playing on my playlist when I was designing. Not necesarily the most uplifting of songs, but you never know where inspiration will strike!

Once the stamping was done, it was just a matter of beading a pearl-topped quilting pin and adding some ribbon and rhinestones.

What's In It?
Stamps: Starstruck (Verve)
Paper: Everafter, Girl Friday (Cosmo Cricket), Basic Black (SU!)
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), Barely Banana (SU!), Copic markers
Accessories: polka dot ribbon (Creative impressions), quilting pin and beads from craft store, swirl bling from prima, Frosted Lace Stickles, black grosgrain (SU!), Labels 9 (Nestabilities)

Sneaky Wishes

Happy Wednesday! Wow! The week is flying by and it's already time for the first set of sneak previews over on the Verve Blog. Today the girls are showcasing two beautiful new sets called Swan Song and Wishing You which will be available immediately following our release party on Friday night. Be sure to hop on over to the Verve Blog today for a chance to win these two sets.


I used both Swan Song and Wishing You on my card for today. Wishing You is my version of an update on Wonderful Wishes and has several sentiments that pair with the Wishing You phrase. Since they're separate stamps and a goodly size (most are about 1.75" wide), they're perfect for starting on the outside and finishing on the inside, but they also look great stamped together for a sentiment focal piece. The swan from Swan Song can also double as a sassy little peacock by adding some knobbly kneed legs that are included in the set. Oh, and the tail feathers are super fun to layer and paper tole, like I did here on this card.

Thanks for all the well wishes on my tendinitis. I'm still working through the pain, but each day it gets a little better. Sadly, stamping is one of the things that hurts the most, so I haven't been able to do as much of it as I've wanted to over the last week. Ah, well, tomorrow is another day! :)

What's In It?
Stamps: Wishing You, Swan Song (Verve)
Paper: teal, chocolate and cream cardstock
Ink: Black (A Muse), Vintage Photo, Old Paper (Ranger Distress), Copic markers
Accessories: Glitter/Diamond Glaze mixture, dimensionals, chocolate pearls (Kaiser Craft), ribbon from Michael's, Classic Circles (Nestabilities), black tiny rhinestones, Textile embossing folder (Cuttlebug)

Wishing Star

Hey there! Happy Monday! It's the start of release week over at Verve, so be sure to check out the Release Week Challenges over on our forum, for your chance to win some new stamps! It's also time for another mojo sketch, so head on over to the Mojo Monday blog for this week's sketch and eye candy.


My card for the mojo sketch is a sneak preview of a new sentiment set called Wishing You that will be available on Friday, following our release party. I paired it with an old favorite - Seeing Stars - and an aqua and brown color combo. The aqua paper is from the Girl Friday line by Cosmo Cricket and the kraft background is randomly stamped with stars from Seeing Stars. I stamped a couple of the stripey stars from Seeing Stars, inked the edges with Vintage Photo ink and then cut out and matted with chocolate chip cardstock. A little dimension, some pearl accents and a little hemp twine finished it off.

What's In it?
Stamps: Seeing Stars, Wishing You (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Girl Friday (Cosmo Cricket), Kraft, Chocolate Chip (SU!)
Ink: Vintage Photo Distress Ink (Ranger)
Accessories: Classic Circles (Nestabilities), Chocolate pearls (Kaiser Craft), Star punches and hemp twine (SU!)

Chocolate Inspiration

Happy Thursday! It's release day over at The Digichick Boutique again, and there's lots of new goodies. All the new stuff is 20% off today {9/10}, including the kit I used for my project, Inspire Me by Designs by Jomi.


I've recently developed a "thing" for orange. I've never really thought too much about orange before, but suddenly I find myself drawn to any kits and papers that have orange in them. So when I saw this fabulous orange polka dot paper, I just had to go for it. I always keep a few little chocolates in my studio for inspiration, so I thought a little matchbox full of chocolates would be the perfect little project for this kit. Don't you just love those little asterisk looking flowers? So cool!



The matchbox template is by Kelleigh Ratzlaff. I decked out the template with digi papers and elements from the Inspire Me kit, then printed out and assembled. While I was at it, I printed some of the orange polka dot paper onto some Avery labels and wrapped Hershey's Nuggets with the labels to go inside the box. I also printed a few little extras in the margin to make a little scrapling with.

I thought a scrapling (itty bitty card to use up scraps) would be the perfect addition to the inside of the box, so I made one that was just a little smaller than the box with the extra printed paper. I stamped the box and sentiment from the A Cup of Life set, then cut out and added Orangle Peel stickles accents to the dots and frame for some sparkle. Next I just finished off with some orange and brown ribbon in a knotted bow. This project also fits for this week's Viva la Verve! challenge to make a tiny card or scrapling.

What's In It?
Stamps: A Cup of Life (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Inspire Me - the kit (Designs by Jomi)
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip (SU!)
Accessories: button, twine, orange and brown ribbon, Orange Peel Stickles, Hershey's nuggets, Avery address labels
Template: Matchbox Template (Kelleigh Ratzlaff)

Stay Cool

Hey everyone! Just another short post with a card I made a while back, but haven't shared. It uses Beate's Weekend Sketch from a few weeks ago {WSC95}. Images and sentiments are from the By the Sea set from The Cat's Pajamas and the polka dot background is from the Verve Bountiful Backgrounds set. I added a hint of that super fun Summer Glitzy german glass glitter to the dots on his floatie.


What's In It?
Stamps: By the Sea (TCP), Bountiful Backgrounds (Verve)
Paper: Kraft, Old Olive, Soft Sky, Basic Black (SU!)
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), Soft Sky, Whisper White Craft (SU!)
Accessories: Classic & Scallop Circles (Nestabilities), clear embossing powder, Crystal Stickles, Summer Glitzy German Glass Glitter (TCP)

The BEST

Hi everyone! My tendinitis is still going strong, so there hasn't been any new stamping from me. Fortunately I have a few projects I hadn't gotten around to posting yet, so you get some new eye candy!

This one uses digi papers from the 1776 paper pack by Michelle Batton and stamps from the Kindred Spirits set.


What's In It?
Stamps: Kindred Spirits (Verve Stamps)
Paper: 1776 digi paper pack (Michelle Batton), black cardstock
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black & Crimson Red, Copic Spica glitter pen
Accessories: Square and rectangle Nestabilities, polka dot ribbon, Christmas Red and Black Diamond Stickles

Groovy Mojo

Hi everyone! Happy Monday! I'm going to make this short and sweet because I have a pretty bad case of tendinitis in my wrist and am not supposed to be here on the computer. Shhhh! Don't tell that I'm disobeying doctor's orders! ;) Anyhow, the show always goes on and it's the first Monday in September, so it's a contest week for Mojo Monday. Be sure to check out the Mojo blog for the sketch and fabulous samples from the DT.

What's In it?
Stamps: Kindred Spirits, Feeling Groovy (Verve Stamps)
Papers: Cool Caribbean, Chocolate Chip (SU!), Inspire Me digi (Jomi)
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White (SU!)
Accessories: Chocolate Grosgrain (SU!), clear embossing powder, primas, Cookie Cutter Nesting Labels (QuicKutz), Orange Peel Stickles, American Crafts ribbon, Swiss dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug)

Rustic Elegance?

Hey everyone! Happy Friday! I'm definitely looking forward to the long weekend, even though I can't believe how fast the summer has gone. Today's card is another one I made the other day for the Moxie Fab classy & elegant style challenge. Now that I look at it, it looks a little more rustic than elegant. What do you think? Elegant, rustic or rustic elegance? Is there such a thing? If there is, maybe that sums up my style! LOL

I knew I wanted to pair the elegant ornament from Ornamental Christmas with the flocked paper from the La Creme DCWV paper pack, so I embossed the ornament in black on cream paper. Next I did a resist technique by masking off the ornament with a circle die cut, then embossing the scroll background from Bountiful Backgrounds with Versamark and clear embossing powder, and inking with Vintage Photo distress ink and a sponge. Finally, I cut a circle with the Classic Nestabilities out of the patterned paper, then inked with Vintage Photo and popped up on dimensionals.

For the top banner of the card I used an EK Success embossed curve border punch, then inked with Vintage Photo and stamped the have yourself a merry little Christmas sentiment from Ornamental Christmas in the top corner. The snowflake is a Martha Stewart punch that I painted with Cinnamon Stickles and added an amber rhinestone to. I finished off with black mats to tie in the ornament and the sentiment and brown ribbon to tie in the snowflake and sponging. I know, I can almost hear my Mom telling me to never pair brown and black together, but it really does seem to work here.

Joy to the World

Hey everyone! The other day I made this quick little card inspired by the Classy & Elegant style challenge on the Moxie Fab blog. After finishing, I'm not really sure if I achieved the elegance I had envisioned in my head, but I do like the simplicity of the design. I took it up a notch with the ribbon and pearls, but you could easily leave those off for a fast, mass-production design that is flat enough to be mailed for just one postage stamp (a modern marvel these days!)
The start of my design was a gorgeous piece of flocked paper from the La Creme mat stack by DCWV. Next I stamped the small and medium snowflakes from the Winter Wonder set at the end of each design on the paper. Then for some sparkle, I embossed each snowflake by stamping over it with clear VersaMark ink and adding glittery embossing powder. The joy to the world sentiment is also from the Winter Wonder set and is punched out in a circle and layered with a scallop circle punch. I also added just a hint of Antique Linen distress ink sponged around the edges of the creme papers for a little depth.

For the final elements to my design, I tied a bow of black organdy ribbon around the paper, then heated it with my heat gun until the ribbon started to curl. I just love this look. Next I painted the ribbon and bow with a mixture of Diamond Glaze and glitter for added sparkle. To finish off, I added some tiny adhesive pearls to the center of each snowflake.

Make a Splash!

When I saw Mercy's sketch challenge for this week, the first thing I thought of was the adorable new porthole images in the By the Sea set from The Cat's Pajamas. So as soon as I could break away from my computer last night I headed up to my studio for some TCP stamping.



Each of the images is stamped with Versafine Onyx Black and clear embossed, then colored with Copic markers. I used a 3/4" punch and the negative from a 1" circle punch to mask off the images and sponge olive ink around the portholes. Each little screw is studded with a tiny rhinestone. The brocade background is letterpress de-bossed (ink up the inner bottom side of the embossing folder with an ink pad, then add paper and run through your machine upside down) with the D'Vine Swirls cuttlebug folder.

I stamped the Make a Splash sentiment on white cardstock, then hand cut the tails and mat. I added a little wave stamping at the end, then quickly colored in with my Quickie Glue Pen and added some of the new Summer Glitzy German glass glitter from TCP. This stuff is way cool - kind of in between micro beads and glitter. It's so fun! I finished off with some black mats, ribbon and a couple black brads.

What's In It?
Stamps: By the Sea (The Cat's Pajamas)
Paper: olive, brocade, red, black and white cardstock
Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), Copic markers, olive, brocade
Accessories: black grosgrain, black brads, tiny rhinestones, sponge, circle punches, Nestabilities circle dies, Summer Glitzy (TCP)

Where Hope Grows

Hey everyone! Welcome to a new month! I can't believe it's already September - what a whirlwind summer. First off, congrats to the new Verve Divas! If you haven't heard who they are, check out this post!

Next up , a couple new designers just joined The Digichick Boutique and today I'm sharing a project using these gorgeous Splendor Papers by Roben-Marie. I just fell in love when I was checking out all the stuff in her store!

I've been having some photography issues lately, so I'm a little disappointed that these pictures aren't showing the warmth and depth of color like the real-life projects do. I started with Kelleigh's Top-Heavy Box Template (this was in her August Grab Bag which just retired, but this template will be available to purchase individually starting Thursday, Sep. 3). ETA: Kelleigh's having a giveaway this week and you could win this template plus 4 others. {Click here} for details!

The first time I put this template together as I was finishing up I had an idea to turn it into a flowerpot, so when I saw these papers I knew I had to give it a go. I thought it would make the perfect little gift packaging to give some wildflower mix to a gardener friend. The digi papers are clipped to the template and then I printed, cut out and assembled. I knew I wanted some extras to play with, so I printed some squares of the two papers used on the project and cut some 1", 1.5" and 2" flowers using the Basics 2 Cartridge and my Slice. Next I slit a hole in the top of the box with my craft knife and layered the flowers (after sponging all the sides with Vintage Photo ink) with dimensional tape and adding a button to the center. The sentiment from Miracles Blossom was the perfect fit for the flap of the box, and I stamped in Chocolate Chip Craft ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.

Next I started on the card, using the negative image from cutting out a 2" flower on one of the squares of paper. I painted the card base in the area where the paper was going with some Antique Linen Crackle Paint, then allowed to dry before adhering the paper (sponged with Vintage Photo ink) over the top. Next I sewed on a strip of the coordinating red paper, added a few buttons to the bottom to match the button on the box and then worked on my centerpiece. I added another 1.5" flower, then a vellum circle punch with the thanks sentiment from Circular Sayings embossed on it. A few dew drops and some diamond glaze accents and the card was finished.

What's In It?
Stamps: Miracles Blossom, Circular Sayings (Verve Stamps)
Paper: Brown Bag Cardstock (Paper Accents), digi Splendor Papers (Roben-Marie Designs)
Ink: Vintage Photo (Ranger), Chocolate Chip Craft (SU!)
Accessories: Slice and Basics 2 Cartridge (Making Memories), dew drops (Robin's Nest), Diamond Glaze (Judikins), sponge, buttons, twine
Template: Small Top Heavy Box Template (Kelleigh Ratzlaff)