Fun in the Sun Using MFT's New Pool Water Stencil

It's time for another Team O TicTacToe Challenge.  This week's board was created by Claire and features a summer theme.  I chose the left hand column - water, blue, pool

We hope you will join us this week!  It's a great challenge to get your creativity flowing and allows you to choose the elements that you'd like to use!

I've had this stamp and the pool die (both by My Favorite Things) for a little while, and as usual not used them.  I think 80-90% of the things in my craft room fall into the "never been used category"!  It often seems there is some specific impetus that gets me to use something.  A lot of times it is a challenge (another great thing about participating in challenges.)  Today it was a new stencil from MFT - Pool Water Stencil.  This stencil is designed to be used four times - you use it once, turn the stencil 90 degrees and ink again, then do this two more times.  In doing so you build up a layer  of color that looks like pool water - super cool!

I tried several colors before I came upon the one I ultimately used - Distress Oxide Tumbled Glass.  I first tried Stampin' Up!'s Pool Party (above right), then Soft Sky (above middle) and Distress Oxide Broken China (above left).  Ironically, the only one I really don't like for pool water is the "Pool" Party.  Although it's one of my favorite colors, I think it's a bit too green.

The rest of the card was colored with Copic markers, even the outline of the pool.  The die embosses a tile pattern on the side so I used my Neutral 0 and Neutral 01 to lightly shade it.  This may be the first time I've used the Medium Broad nib.  It worked great for coloring the pool edge!  The girl's swimsuit is paper pieced and shaded with the neutral Copic markers.

I've also entered this in two other challenges:

I hope you enjoyed my card today.  Please consider joining us at TicTacToe Challenge!

Stamps:  MFT Pure Innocence Fun in the Sum
Dies: MFT Pool,  MFT Tags, Cottage Cutz flowers
Copic Markers: Float - Y13, Y18, Y19; Skin &Hair - E00, E01, E11, E29, E34, E35; Pink R17; Shading on swimsuit and pool edge - N0, N01
Paper: Queen & Co. Bring on Spring

Thanks for visiting today!

Santa After Christmas

What DOES Santa do after Christmas?  My guess is that he goes somewhere warm and has a cocktail! 

This stamp is several years old but I just love it.  I guess growing up in California, I can relate.  I have lived where we had white Christmases but I much prefer the surf to the snow!

I colored my image with a combo of Stampin' Blends and Copic markers.  After embossing the background I used ink and a sponge to distress it for a vintage feel.  Normally I would wrap the ribbon around to the back of the card but the jute was just too thick so it is cut off at the ends.  Three layers of green cardstock are used under the circle for some shading and color, then I popped it up using foam dots between, over and under the jute.

I designed this card using the sketch from this week's CAS Colours & Sketches

the colors from Splitcoaststampers color challenge

and the inspiration photo from The Card Concept.  The style for the Card Concept is a combo of the clean and layered with shabby chic/vintage.  The photo definitely says tropical Christmas!

Stamps: Stampin' Up! So Santa

Markers: Stampin' Blends Magenta Madness, Just Jade and Shaded Spruce Ligh & Dark; Copics E00, E01, E11, N0, N01, E30, E31, E34, B0000

Accessories: 3D Woven EF, Jute ribbon

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Poinsettia Petal Christmas in July

Happy Tuesday!  It's challenge time at CAS Colours & Sketches and also Splitcoaststampers.  CC&S has a sketch challenge this week and SCS a color challenge so I combined them.

The colors this week are Shaded Spruce, Just Jade and Magenta Madness.  The first two colors are definitely traditional Christmas, but the magenta...well it gave me a few headaches. I've used pink before in holiday cards with great success.  But this color pink is BRIGHT!  I mean light up the night bright.

Using the new in August Poinsettia Petals stamps, I watercolored the images by stamping in my Stamparatus, then using an aqua painter to paint by drawing the ink from the lines of the image.  I then re-stamped the images using the stamparatus.  The first pink poinsettia came out pretty bold.  Not at all like the the soft cream/pink poinsettias you see at Christmas.  So I did another image but stamped off one generation before starting my watercolor.  This helped a great deal.  My poinsettia is much softer than before. 

For my leaves, I stamped first in Just Jade and then used Shaded Spruce over that.

I used two ribbons for the lines and heat embossed my sentiment in silver.  I may make this a few more times for holiday cards this year although I will probably use a softer pink for the flower.

If you don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator I would love to help you with your stamping needs. Place an order with me between now and July 31 and I will send you the new Mini Catalog!

And right now is Bonus Days.  For every $50 spent now through August 3, you earn $5 to spend in August 4-31!  Just in time to order your holiday supplies!

Stamps/dies: Poinsettia Petals Bundle
Dies: Stitched Rectangles
Ink: Shaded Spruce, Just Jade, Magenta Madness
Accessories: Just Jade Ribbon, Silver Embossing Powder

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Two Times Reveal Wheel Card

I love Lawn Fawn's reveal wheel dies and the cards that you can make with them.  Unfortunately I get so caught up in making cards for other occasions/challenges/life that I rarely make one.  I know that interactive cards are ones everyone loves to receive.  These really aren't too difficult to make (especially now that you can purchase window templates) but since I wait so long between creating them, it always takes me a bit to remember how its done.

 I call this my "two times" card because I had to do just about each step two times! 

After coloring the typewriter, I got the dreaded Copic splotch when the marker decides to spill out on the paper.  Then I accidentally got a red mark in the upper left of the card.  I covered that up with a flower (a bit misplaced but acceptable) when I got a purple ink spot in the lower right!  So I ended up re-cutting, stamping and coloring the front panel.  And you can see what happened with my first attempt at heat embossing!

Fortunately none of these mishaps took very long to redo.  The Copic coloring was very minimal and simple, and re-stamping the flowers allowed me to get a better flower trail and use a few more colors!

Here is a short video of the card in action:  (thank you Katie for filming)

I made the card for two challenges this week - Splitcoaststampers Ways to Use It WC802 - What's Your Type and CAS(E) this sketch #382.  I flipped the sketch to allow for the reveal wheel.

Stamps: Lawn Fawn Just My Type and Love Poems, Flowers - Lawn Fawn Hello freebie and Hello Baby
Dies: LF Reveal Wheel Basic set and Square Window, LF Wavy Banners
Markers: Copics Warm and Cool Grays 0-6, RV91
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Real Read, Gorgeous Grape, Granny Apple Green
Paper: Lawn Fawn stripes

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Slimline Card with Nothing's Better Than

Slimline cards are EVERYWHERE it seems these days.  I just had to try one and I decided  to use one of my favorite stamp sets from the new Stampin' Up! catalog.  This set features four of my favorite things - Coffee, Cookies, Cocktails and Chocolate.  If I had to choose between the four, I would be hard pressed -it's like choosing your favorite child or pet!

This card is also for the color challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches.  Julie's colors are perfect for the retro feel of this set.

The card measures 8 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches.  In researching slimlines, there are several slightly different sizes but this one is easy to make with a single sheet of letter size cardstock.  Simply cut at the 7 inch mark (along the 11 inch side) so you have a piece 8 1/2 x 7 inches.  Then score and fold at 3 1/2 inches.  If you want a panel for the front you can use the leftover 4 x 8 1/2 inch piece and just cut it to 3 1/2 inches.  Very little waste.

I stamped the coffee cups and then made a mask so I could stamp the rectangles "behind" them.  The "Coffee" word is cut from Calypso Coral with two layers of Early Espresso underneath.

Click here to see the cards I made for Chocolate and Cocktails!

If you don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator I would love to help you with your stamping needs. Place an order with me between now and July 31 and I will send you the new Mini Catalog!

And right now is Bonus Days.  For every $50 spent now through August 3, you earn $5 to spend in August 4-31!

Stamps:  Stampin' Up! Nothing's Better Than bundle, Swirly Frames
Paper: Whisper White Thick, Calypso Coral, Early Espresso
Ink: Calypso Coral, Balmy Blue, Mint Macaron, Early Espresso

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Homage to the Fab Four

Happy Monday!  I have an extra card this week and one I had a lot of fun making!  I am on the Design Team for Cottage Cutz dies and when I saw the octopus in the new release I was working on cards for the last release - gardening.  I immediately thought about putting the Garden Phrases and Octopus dies together.  And I couldn't resist throwing in the Toy Submarine die.

I love music - all kinds of music!  I grew up listening to the Beatles and I listened to them while working on this card.   Lot's of good memories!

The background of this card is a patterned paper that happened to be perfect to set the scene.  For the sign I used the Garden Phrases sign and simply trimmed along one of the wood grain cuts to make it smaller.  The seaweed is from the Tropical Fish die.

I cut everything but the sign various colors of cardstock except the sign which I cut from white.  I used ink to shade the seaweed and octopus and to color the sign.  The octopus was popped up using foam dots.

I hope you enjoyed my card today.  Wouldn't we all like to see an Octopus' Garden from A Yellow Submarine?

Dies: all Cottage Cutz - Octopus, Garden Phrases, Tropical Fish, Toy Submarine
Paper: Stampin' Up! Whale of a Time

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Bloom and Grow Any Occasion Card

Today is a new challenge for Team O at the Tic Tac Toe Challenge. I chose the top row across.

Here is the challenge board:

I used the Bloom and Grow stamp set and matching die from Stampin' Up! This set has become one of my favorites for floral images.  They are easy to color and a nice size.  The set comes with some wonderful sentiments, although I used a sentiment from the new Forever Ferns set here.  I left the inside of this card blank so I can make it into a birthday, thank you, or just thinking of you card when needed.  I like putting sentiments on the front of cards that allow me to do this.

After coloring and die cutting the flowers, I used the die set Forever Flourishing to cut some greenery for behind the floral image.  The washi tape is some old tape I've had for awhile.  I've recently started using it again and that's a good thing because I think I have more washi tape than I could possibly use in my lifetime!

I hope you've enjoyed today's card.  Click here and here for two other cards made with the same stamp set - both are very different and showcase the versatility of this stamp set!

If you don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator I would love to help you with your stamping needs. Place an order with me between now and July 31 and I will send you the new Mini Catalog!

AND - right now is Bonus Days.  For every $50 spent now through August 3, you earn $5 to spend in August 4-31!

Stamps: Stampin' Up! Bloom and Grow, Forever Ferns bundle (save 10%), Forever Ferns (stamps only)
Dies: Budding Blooms, Forever Flourishing (dies only)
Markers (Stampin' Blends and Copics): Highland Heather, Balmy Blue Light & Dark, Mint Macaron Light & Dark, V000, V15, V17
Accessories: Gold Hoops

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New Freezin' Fun Winter Themed Bundle

Happy Tuesday!  Today I am the hostess for a sketch challenge at CAS Colours & Sketches.  My card features new products that are in the new Mini Catalog from Stampin' Up! and available August 4.

This Freezin' Fun stamp and die set features various animals having a fun playing winter sports.  I decided to use the snowboarding penguin.  This card is super easy as it uses some Designer Series Paper for the mountain backdrop.  The snow slope, penguin and snow board are all cut with the dies from the bundle.

I colored the penguin and snowboard with Stampin' Blends, cut them out and used foam dots to pop them up on the card.  Using the largest of the layering circles I cut a circle in an A2 panel and layered the mountain paper behind it.  The snowflakes were cut from the new So many Snowflakes die - part of the gorgeous new Snowflake Splendor suite!

If you don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator I would love to help you with your stamping needs. Place an order with me between now and July 31 and I will send you the new Mini Catalog!
 
And right now is Bonus Days.  For every $50 spent now through August 3, you earn $5 to spend in August 4-31!

Stamp and die bundle: Freezin' Fun Bundle and Snowflake Splendor Suite
Dies: Layering Circles, So Many Snowflakes
Stampin' Blends: Poppy Parade Light & Dark, Pool Party Light & Dark, Misty Moonlight Light & Dark, Smoky Slate Light & Dark, Basic Black Light & Dark, Daffodil Delight Dark
Paper: Whisper White Thick, Trimming the Town DSP

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Blooming Gnome

This Tuesday marks the 800th color challenge at Splitcoaststampers!  WOW!  I've been on the design team for a little over 100 of them.  I remember when I first started we had the 700th challenge.

To celebrate the 800th challenge, each team member picked one of their challenges from the last 100 and we are revisiting those.  So there will be six challenges this week - one for each designer.  My challenge is #752.

The colors are Daffodil Delight, Flirty Flaming and Pacific Point with an embossing folder for dessert.

My original card was this one:

I love this color combination - it says summer to me!

I hope you will join us in the challenge.  Each design team member is offering a prize for their favorite pick in their challenge (mine is the Honey Bee Bloom stamp and die set) and there will be a grand prize chosen from among those who make a card for every challenge!

Stamps: Stamping Bella Gnome Bouquet; Honey Bee Stamps Bloom
Dies: Honey Bee Stamps Bloom; Sizzix Edges
Markers (Stampin' Blends and Copics): Flirty Flamingo Light & Dark, R000; Daffodil Delight Light & Dark, Y11; Pacific Point B00, B12, B16; skin E02, E11; Stems Mossy Meadow Light & Dark
Prismacolor Pencils: Flirty Flamingo 921, 928, 1001; Daffodil Delight 915, 916, 942; Pacific Point 903, 1040; Mossy Meadow 911, 988; Skin 939, 928; Shadows and Beard 1052, 1056, 1060, 1063

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Ocean Deep

Happy Tuesday!  Today is a color challenge at CAS Colors & Sketches and I thought the colors would be perfect for this little mermaid.

 Here are the colors for the challenge:

The "waves" are hot foiled and watercolored with the Pacific Point  and Gorgeous Grape.  I used the challenge colors and neutrals for the mermaid.  Details on creating the card will be on the Cottage Cutz blog on Friday.

Stamps: Stampendous
Dies: Cottage Cutz Mermaid
Hot Foil Plate: Spellbinders Hand Drawn Waves

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Road Trip!

I'm very excited today!  This is my first day on the design team for the Tic Tac Toe challenge AND I am the featured designer.  That means I designed the board.  So depending on whether or not you like the elements this week, you have me to thank or blame.  LOL!

I've mentioned this challenge a few times before.  I find it especially fun because I get to choose the elements I want to include on my card.  Like in Tic Tac Toe you choose a row, column or diagonal and use those items.

My card used the far right column from this board - road trip, stencil, die cut word.

I'm a convertible girl and I've owned two red ones in my life (now and back in college.)  I really wanted to make the car red but I liked the turquoise car better for this card.  Maybe I'll remake it with a red one.

I hope you'll join us for the challenge.  It ends on Tuesday at noon central time.

Dies: Spellbinders Sunday Drive, Stampin' Up! Sweet Silhouette (word), Stamps of Life Scalloped Rectangles

Stencils: Lawn Fawn Hillside, MFT Mini Clouds

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