Greeting Card Witch!

This is still my favorite SU! set of all time -- I can't get enough of these Greeting Card Kids!  I really wish that SU! would make another set of them.  This is a second card that I made using this weeks' Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge.  I didn't get it finished in time to post it over at Stamping 411, but that doesn't mean that I don't like it!  I really love the way that the Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions folder works around the circular central image.

Things to know:  The Elegant Eggplant background is colored embossed by putting Elegant Eggplant ink on the flat side of my Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions folder, then running it through the Big Shot.  The frill around the image is made out of pleated black waffle paper, dusted with Champagne glass glitter around the edges.  The scallop circle is embellished with Black Flourish Designer Jewels.

All supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted.

Stamps:  Greeting Card Kids

Paper:  Pear Pizzazz, Basic Black, Elegant Eggplant, Vanilla

Ink:  Black, Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, Peach Parfait, Tangerine Tango, Cajun Craze, Lucky Limeade, Always Artichoke, Daffodil Delight, More Mustard, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Blush Blossom, Pretty in Pink

Accessories:  Big Shot, Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions folder, 3" Circle die, Scallop Circles #2 die, Black Flourish Designer Jewels, Black waffle paper, Champagne glass glitter, Certainly Celery seam binding, Black 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, brads, sponges, Dimensionals, Aquapainter

Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge #222

Many thanks to the Operators at Stamping 411 for featuring my card in this weeks' Stampers Showcase!

This weeks' Saturday Sketch challenge over at Stamping 411 inspired me to work with something that I hadn't yet pulled out of my cache of goodies -- my SU! wood sheets.  I found them a tiny bit difficult to work with, merely because they are tricky to put ink on.  I stamped the image and sentiment on with black StazOn, then lightly watercolored the image with nearly a dry brush -- the wetter your Aquapainter, the more bleed you get.  The good news is that a white gel pen works great for highlighting!  All in all, I do like the wood sheets and will use them again.

This looks a lot better IRL -- trust me!  The glitter "snow" doesn't look so hard and abrupt, but has a much softer appearance.

This weeks' sketch is for a square card 4 -- 1/4" x 4 1/4".  I love working within such small confines, as it concentrates the space and makes the image really pop!

Things to know:  The background is a wood sheet that was color embossed, using Not Quite Navy, in the Petals-a-Plenty Textured Impressions embossing folder.  The wood sheets give a great impression!

As always, unless otherwise noted, all supplies are SU!

Stamps:  Forest Festivities

Paper:  Riding Hood Red, Not Quite Navy

Ink:  Black StazOn, Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Not Quite Navy, Riding Hood Red, Pretty in Pink

Accessories:  Big Shot, Scallop Circles #2 die, 3" Circle die, Petals-a-Plenty Textured Impressions folder, 1/8" circle punch, Pearl Jewels, Cherry Cobbler seam binding, Not Quite Navy 3/8" taffeta ribbon, sponges, Aquapainter, Dazzling Diamonds glitter

Haunted Forest!

I played and played with this stamp, trying to figure out what it needed.  I wanted to bring out the moon, surrounded by the haunted forest, but couldn't get the backdrop behind it right.  Then it occurred to me to stamp the image once on Vanilla, then on a background color -- in this case, More Mustard.  I watercolored the image on the Vanilla, the cut it out -- cutting off the smaller, outside branchlets -- then attached the cut out image over the stamped image on the More Mustard.  I like the look!  Slightly dimensional, without being popped up.

Things to know:  I ran my Early Espresso marker around the cut edges of the image so that I wouldn't have that tacky VCL (Visible Cut Lines).  The moon is sponged using So Saffron, More Mustard and Tangerine Tango.  The eyes of the cat and the owl are picked out with white gel pen to make them pop.  The two leaves are from Gently Falling.  They are stamped on Always Artichoke in Always Artichoke and Chocolate Chip.  The technique with the background is one of my favs,  Peeled Wallpaper.

Fun thing to note:  The Riding Hood Red 3/8" taffeta ribbon perfectly matches Cajun Craze cs!!

All products are SU!, unless otherwise noted.

Stamps:  Haunted Forest, Gently Falling

Paper:  Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, More Mustard, Vanilla, Spice Cake dsp

Ink:  Black, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Early Espresso, Peach Parfait, Tangerine Tango, Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke, Old Olive

Accessories:  Ticket-Corner punch, brads, Riding Hood Red 3/8" taffeta ribbon, Early Espresso 3/8" quilted satin ribbon, sponges, Aquapainter, white gel pen

Understand Blue's Maddie cat!

This, I'm afraid, is my version of CAS!  I mostly worked off the great designs of this Glowing DSP from Authentique.  Maddie the Cat is embossed using black detail ep over Black craft ink.  The sentiments are from Heartwarming Vintage Creative Scraps by Crafty Secrets.

All other supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted.

Stamps:  Maddie (Understand Blue)

Paper:  Riding Hood Red, Black, Glowing DSP (Authentique)

Ink:  Black craft, Basic Gray

Accessories:  Black detail ep, brads, Black 5/8" satin ribbon, Riding Hood Red 3/8" taffeta ribbon, Ticket-Corner punch, Dimensionals, sponges

Miss Witchy!

In case you can't tell, I'm totally into Crafty Secrets' Costume Cuties!  This little witch is just too darling.

Things to know:  The tickets are from Crafty Secrets Creative Scraps, Heartwarming Vintage.  The rose is made using Melanie Schulenberg's fab Paper Roses video tutorial - if you haven't checked out Melanie's site, you definitely should!  For my rose, I used the small flower from the Birds & Blooms Flower Pieces die.

All elements are SU!, unless otherwise noted.

Stamps:  Costume Cuties (Crafty Secrets)

Paper:  Tangerine Tango, Always Artichoke, Black, Vanilla, Glowing dsp (Authentique)

Ink:  Black, Always Artichoke, Blush Blossom, Pretty in Pink, Daffodil Delight, More Mustard, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Early Espresso, Peach Parfait, Tangerine Tango, Cajun Craze, Riding Hood Red, Cherry Cobbler, Bravo Burgundy

Accessories:  Big Shot, Birds & Blooms Flower Pieces die, Heartwarming Vintage Creative Scraps (Crafty Secrets), Ticket-Corner Punch, Black 5/8" satin ribbon, Black lace trim, Only Orange 1/8" taffeta ribbon, brads, Dimensionals, Aquapainter, sponges

Arlequino!

Another gorgeous image from Crafty Secrets' Costume Cuties set!  Putting the elements together on this one was a bit of a challenge, but I finally got it to work.

Things to know:  The tree, bats and dancing figures are all from Costume Cuties -- I just put them together.  The tree is stamped in Black craft ink and clear embossed.  The pennant and the curly/scalloped banners are from Crafty Secrets Artsy Banners.  The bat is done with the SU! small bat punch, then covered with black ultra-fine glitter.

Unless otherwise noted, all products are SU!

Stamps:  Costume Cuties, Arsty Banners (both Crafty Secrets)

Paper:  Black, Peach Parfait, Vanilla, Glowing dsp (Authentique)

Ink:  Black, Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, Peach Parfait, Tangerine Tango, Cajun Craze, So Saffron, Blush Blossom, Pretty in Pink, Daffodil Delight

Accessories:  Rhinestone jewels, Bat punch, sponges, Aquapainter, black ultrafine glitter (Martha Stewart), clear ep, Elegant Eggplant 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, 5/8" Black satin ribbon

Costume Cuties from Crafty Secrets!

Okay, who doesn't love these little monsters from Crafty Secrets' Costume Cuties set?  I love the vintage look of these images!

Stamps:  Costume Cuties, Halloween Fun (Crafty Secrets)

Paper:  Vanilla, Peach Parfait, Black, Pick Your Poison DSP (SU!),  Pick Your Poison Quick Accents

Ink:  Black, Peach Parfait, Tangerine Tango, Cajun Craze, Daffodil Delight, More Mustard, Lucky Limeade, Always Artichoke, Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, Going Gray, Basic Gray

Accessories: 1/8" circle punch, Ticket-Corner punch, Modern Label punch, 5/8" Black satin ribbon, white gel pen, Dimensionals, Aquapainter

Creative Elements

Ever since I saw this dahlia in Creative Elements, it screamed that it needed to be popped up in layers-- the photo doesn't really do the finished product justice!

Helpful hints:  I inked up the frame from Four Frames with Lucky Limeade, then rolled the edges in Always Artichoke to give it a ombre feel.  I ran my Early Espresso marker around all the cut edges of the flower layers, giving them better definition and losing that tacky VCL (Visible Cut Lines).  White gel pen adds highlights and more definition to the petals.  The Cajun Craze card base was embossed with my Square Lattice Textured Impressions folder.

Stamps:  Creative Elements, Four Frames

Paper:  Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke, White, Spice Cake DSP

Ink:  Black, Tangerine Tango, Cajun Craze, Lucky Limeade, Always Artichoke, Daffodil Delight, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Early Espresso

Accessories:  Big Shot, Square Lattice Textured Impressions folder, brads, Dusty Durango polka-dot 1/2" grosgrain ribbon, Always Artichoke 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Decorative Label punch, Ticket-Corner punch, Dimensionals, Aquapainter, white gel pen, sponges

Piece of Poison

This is my first Halloween card of the year!  I'm really liking the new Pick Your Poison dsp from the Holiday mini, as well as the Quick Accents. Because the patterns are so soft, I came up with something shabby without even really trying!

Stamps:  Piece of Poison

Paper:  Vanilla, Peach Parfait, Black, Basic Grey, Pick Your Poison dsp, Pick Your Poison Quick Accents

Ink:  Black, Peach Parfait, Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa

Accessories:  Ticket-Corner punch, Black Lace trim, 1/8" Pumpkin Pie taffeta ribbon, 5/8" Black satin ribbon, brads, Aquapainter, Dimensionals, sponges, white gel pen

What comes to mind when you think of the following images?  A bundle of yellow pencils with sharp lead tips.  The smell of a brand new box of crayons and crisp sheets of loose leaf?    If you guessed back to school then you get an A+.

The September Sampler, "Backpacks and Bookmarks" offers ideas for getting students, teachers and parents in the mood for heading back to school.   Sweet and simple projects are suitable for teachers, students and their classmates.   You'll find:

• Kindergarten Memories book
• Mini spiral coloring book
• Pencil storage packets
• File cabinet/locker magnets
• Desktop notepad with pen
• Sweet spiral locker mirror
• ...and of course, beautiful back to school and Thank You cards for teachers

The "Backpacks and Bookmarks" Sampler is due for release September 10th.
Use the code PCS-LH when you place your order!