Shadow Thank You

Every now and than I do a SU stamp camp. My dear friend Carol Sullivan, Creative Memories Consultant extraordinaire, hosts. It's always so much fun to spend time with creative women and make beautiful things. Yesterday, I was looking for some inspiration for the fourth project for my camp. I knew I wanted to use the SU Top Note Bigz die and I also wanted to use shadow stamping. Searching on SCS, I came upon THIS gorgeous card by Dannie Graves - perfect for what I had in my mind. Then I saw THIS card on Laura Fredrickson's blog for this week's color challenge on SCS (#213). I took my inspiration from these two wonderful cards and the challenge colors, and came up with mine. The base of the card is Garden Green, topped with a layer of white, then Pacific Point embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder. I cut three Top Notes in Garden Green, white and Green Tea DSP. I stamped the Upsy Daisy flowers starting about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom of the white layer in Baja Breeze and again with Pacific point for the shadow effect. I covered the bottom 1/3 with Green Tea DSP and tied some Pacific Point striped grosgrain ribbon where the stamped image meets the DSP. The sentiment is from All Holidays stamped in garden Green and cut out with the Small Oval Punch. A piece of Hodgepodge hardware is the finishing touch. Thanks for the inspiration Dannie, Laura and SCS!!! My campers really liked this card!

Coffee & Friends

I have had this wonderful MFT set for a while, and had not used it up to now. I thought it would be perfect for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch by Karen Giron. The base of the card is Soft Sky (SU retired) with a layer of Chocolate Chip then Afternoon Tea DSP (SU retired). I paper pieced the "Who's that Girl" image from MFT's Hot Stuff set and framed it in Wild Wasabi textured cardstock (SU retired). The sentiment is stamped on white with Chocolate Chip ink. I used the Color Spritzing Tool with Close to Cocoa and Creamy Caramel markers to give it a little dimension. I stamped the coffee beans on Afternoon Tea DSP (SU retired), cut them out and used them for corner embellishments. The cup images are stamped with black Stazon and colored with a combination of Copics and SU ink with blender pen. The top ric rac borders are cut with THIS Spellbinders Pierceabilities die. I added some pearls to the bottom and used Groovy Guava Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon to fininsh it off. I like it a latte!

Birthday Bird

I am loving bird images these days - I'm supporting the marketing gurus out there because birds are everywhere - LOL! Looking at my recent posts, I see also that I am stuck on these lucious colors of pinks and greens. I can't stop using this SU Raspberry Tart DSP. Next thing I do has to be purple or something!!!! Anyway, this week's OCC Challenge (I {{{{heart}}}} the OCC) is a sketch. I immediately thought of Verve's Birthday Surprise for this one. Of course, birdy is sporting my favorite colors! Yesterday I stopped at Scrapper's Cove and bought a few new things - I bought this rick rack (notice my favorite colors...) and these wonderful Euphoria Collection Designer Glazed Brads from Basic Grey. I also got a few yards of great ribbon from May Arts, but guess what? It's pink and green. I will hold off on using that for a bit - at least for one card... LOL!

Here is the recipe:
Stamps: Verve~Birthday Birds.
Paper: Black, White, Cameo Coral, Raspberry Tart DSP, Kiwi Kiss.
Ink: Versa Mark, Black Stazon, Cameo Coral, Kiwi Kiss, Real Red.
Accessories: Basic Grey Euphoria Collection Designer Glazed Brads, Cotton Candy Stickles, Markers, Color Spritzer Tool, Hodgepodge Hardware, Black Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Pretties, Sponge, Nestabilities, Dimensionals.

My Strength

Nancy Riley is one of my favorite stampers... today via Nancy's blog, I discovered a wonderful artist - Karen Giron. Karen has just introduced a new weekly challenge called "Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge". I am so happy to participate in Karen's first challenge. I decided to turn Karen's sketch a quarter turn to the right to come up with this. Here is the recipe:

Stamps: Verve~Meditations
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Pink Pirouette, White, Bella Rose DSP
Ink: Brown Stazon.
Accessories: Mat Pack & Piercing Tool, Dimensionals. Spellbinders Piercabilities, Flower Fusion Too, Creative Impressions while brads.

Thanks for stopping by!!

True Friend

OK - this is my second go at this week's OCC Challenge. This time I followed the directions! LOL! The OCC challenge this week is to use Embossing Resist. I love Verve's new Hundred Hearts and Hearts on Fire sets, and they were perfect for this challenge. I decided to use Julee's Mojo Monday sketch for my layout. This new Raspberry Tart DSP from SU is delicious. Everything worked very well together for this project! For the 3 hearts on the bottom, I used Versa Mark and clear embossing powder on white paper and stamped hearts from Verve's Hearts on Fire. I then inked a sponge dauber with Rose Red, rubbed over the heart images and cut them out with heart Nestabilities. For the sentiment and image in the circle, I used clear embossing powder on Rose Red and Pretty in Pink Classic ink. I used 3 shades of pink ink and a sponge for the resist. I embellished with those wonderful little pearls from Michaels. I am not loving the white gel pen effect on the Kiwi Kiss circle, but I am not going to mess with it any more at this point!

Stamps: Verve~Hundred Hearts & Hearts on Fire.
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Rose Red, Kiwi Kiss, White, Raspberry Tart DSP.
Ink: Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Versa Mark.
Accessories: Clear & White Embossing Powder, Nestabilities, Dimensionals, Sponge & Sponge Daubers, Inkessentials White Gel Pen, Pearls.
Techniques: Embossing Resist.

More Today Than Yesterday

This one really gave me a hard time.I think my MoJo was elsewhere. Originally, I intended to combine SC211 over at SCS with this week's OCC challenge which is to use EMBOSSING RESIST. I just this moment realized that I did the embossing part, but not the resist! So today it's back to the drawing board to add the resist to my embossing for the OCCC! LOL! The sketch seemed like it was going to be so easy to implement, but it was far from easy for me this time. I love Verve's new sets, and having grown up in the time where this little lyric was so familiar, I wanted to use it for my main image. I was finally happy with the results. It just cracks me up that I once again, did not really follow the directions! Here is the recipe for my card -

Stamps: Verve~Hundred Hearts
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Raspberry Tart DSP, Cloud9Design Sparkle Card stock, Pink Pirouette.
Ink: Riding Hood Red
Accessories: Dimensionals, Mat Pack &Piercing Tool, Riding Hood Striped 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Buttons, MS Punch, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Embossing Buddy.
Techniques: Embossing

Uplifting & Supportive

This card cracks me up. My 9 year old son said "Moooooooooooooooooom"...

One of my shopping spree purchases yesterday at Scrapper's Cove was the "Support the Girls" acrylic stamp set by Clear Arts Stamps. I could not wait to use it. Every Saturday morning I get up, put on the kettle, and check the OCC blog for the new challenge. Love those OCC girls... This week is a color challenge - to use 2 shades of blue and a neutral. I was having quite a hard time deciding how to implement that, so I decided to visit some of my favorite blogs for a sketch to combine the OCC Challenge with. I chose Julee Tillman's VSLFL4 sketch for layout inspiration. I ended up with a finished product that was sooooooooooooo different from what I started out with, but sometimes that's the fun of it. I can't wait to send this card to my BFF!

Here is the recipe:

Stamps: Clear Art Stamps~Support the Girls
Paper: Shimmery White, Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Urban Garden DSP
Ink: Baja Breeze, Pacific Point.
Accessories: Cuttlebug & With Love EF, Nestabilities, Stardust Stickles, Adhesive-backed Pearls, Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by!

Key 2 My Heart

I LOVE this new stamp set from Hero Arts ~ "So Sweet". My mother gave me a gift certificate for Christmas to a wonderful store nearby called Scrapper's Cove. They carry so many wonderful things. I had a blast shopping there today. Thanks Mom! The OCC Challenge this week was a sketch. I have been trying to get to it all week, and I finally did it this afternoon. I stamped the image in Black Stazon on SU Shimmery White paper and colored it with Copics. I was all ready to post the picture, and then I realized I forgot the embellishment in the lower right hand corner. I found some wonderful ceramic heart buttons in my stash, and it was perfect to finish off my card!

Here is the recipe~

Stamps: Hero Arts ~ So Sweet
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red, White, Shimmery White, Bravo Burgandy, Pink Pirouette, Basic Grey~Bittersweet.
Ink: Backs Stazon
Accessories: Copics, Slit Punch, Dimensionals, Kiwi Kiss Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Sherbet Ribbob Originals (retired), Ceramic Heart Button, MS Lace Punch, Mat Pack & Piercing Tool.

BTW, Scrapper's Cove is hosting a Copic 101 class on February 7th. I was the first on the sign up list. I can't wait to take that class! There is a Copic Certification class here in NJ on February 22 as well. I hope I can get in to that one as well! Then I will really know what I am doing with these fabulous markers. LOL! Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Birthday Travis!

Yesterday was my step son Travis' 25th birthday. Wow! How quickly time flies. He is quite the guitarist, so I wanted to make him a special card that reflected his love of music. I love this Rock Star stamp set from Inkadinkado, and it was the perfect pick for this. There is a new weekly challenge on Fridays at SCS - Viva la Verve! - hosted by AmberDawn. Challenge details are HERE. The challenge is a sketch with a twist. I turned the sketch upwards so I could use my rock star guitar. I am very happy with the way it turned out. Happy birthday Travis, with lots of love from Steph!

Recipe:

Stamps - Inkadinkado~Rock Star
Paper - Black, Ruby Red, Brushed Silver, White, Ghostly Greetings DSP.
Ink - Versa Mark, Black.
Accessories - Black and White Embossing Powder, Tag Corner Punch, Black Brads, Clear Dew Drops, Mini Glue Dots.

Thanks for stopping by!