Sweet Simple Fourth

This card is a combination of three things that came together perfectly. I have had this wonderful set from Papertrey Ink for a while - Vintage Picnic. I just love it. Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply Challenge this week is to focus on using STARS on our projects in any way we choose. I decided to go with fourth of July stars, and then I pondered my layout. Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch #75 brought it all together for me.

I just loved working with the stars, the stamps and the sketch! My card is 5 1/4" square.

Here are my ingredients:

Stamps~Papertrey Ink's Vintage Picnic, Verve's Starstruck (stamped on the inside with River Rock ink).

Ink~Memento Rich Cocoa, Versafine Black Onyx, Ranger Antique Linen Distress ink, River Rock.

Paper~River Rock, Riding hood Red, Ninah Solar White, Soft Sky, Western Sky DSP (SU retired).

Accessories~Nestabilities, Copic markers, white mini brads, Dimensionals, glue dots, natural twine, buttons, SU Modern Label Punch, Sponge, SU striped 1 1/4" grosgrain ribbon.

Thanks for stopping in and happy Fourth of July weekend!

Simply Santa

Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply Challenge this week is to make super simple, easy to mass produce cards for Christmas or any occasion that suits your fancy. I love the simplicity of the Thanksgiving card in my last post, so I decided to turn on its side and try it with a Christmas theme. Well, I would not say that this is super simple, but it will be easy to make many of them. I love the vintage look and I am pleased with this one. Thanks Sharon for inspiring me to get started!!!

Here is the recipe...

Stamps~Clear Art Stamps - Vintage Christmas

Ink~Versa Mark, Riding Hood Red, Ranger Antique Linen.

Paper~Riding Hood Red, Buttercream from Taylored Expressions, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip.

Accessories~Nestabilities, Ribbon from May Arts, Fiskars Border Punch, Dimensionals, SU Gold elastic cord, SU Button Bouquet Button, Scor-Pal, Cuttlebug and Swiss Dots EF.

Totally Witchin'

This is my take on Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply #103 - Overstamped Sentiment Challenge. The image is from Crafty Secrets Halloween Images and Journal Notes. These are so fun to use, and you can purchase them and many others from Sharon's Ribbon Store. I loved this image, but I made the mistake of using an embossing powder on it that I had never used before and it did not cover the way I wanted it to. So I had to cut it down, and use different powder on a different part of the image... even so, I think it's a fun card! Thanks for stopping by today!

Fall Post-Its

I found these cute little Fall themed Post-it note pads in Target's Dollar Bins last Fall. I found them in my stash yesterday along with some coasters. I found this design on someone's blog a long time ago... I am sorry I can't give credit to that person. I don't remember where I found it.

I love this new polka dot ribbon from SU in the new In Colors, so I decided to use this opportunity to play Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply Challenge #101 - Let's Polka! and put all of these things together. The challenge is to get some polka dots in somewhere on your project, and the more, the merrier!!! Perfect!!

I Cut a 4" square piece from SU's (retired) Autumn Vine DSP and used the corner rounder on all corners. I used sticky strip to adhere the Post-It notepad to the coaster, then sanded the edges to give it a distressed look. I covered a binder clip with a strip of SU's Cast-a-Spell DSP and added the SU polka dot grosgrain ribbons to it.

My favorite part of this project is the little oval detail on the left of the clip.
I came across a post on a blog (so sorry again. I have to find out where i saw this and I will post it. I think it was Cindy Lawrence's blog...) about using Copics to color directly on to an image, then spritz it with alcohol and stamp. I tried this using the acorn from SU's (retired) Dotted Autumn set using a variety of browns and greens. I stamped it on Buttercream cardstock from Taylored Expressions, cut it out with Nestabilities and added a scalloped background piece. I LOVE the way that technique worked, and I want to experiment with it more.

Thanks for visiting! See you again soon, I hope...

Simple Halloween

I decided to try this week's Stamp Simply Challenge over at Sharon Johnson's Blog today. Sharon is an amazing artist - I love her work. I recently bought some Cotton Scraps and Ribbons from Sharon's store and I was anxious to use them. This weeks challenge - ssnotime102 - is to leave your Comfort Zone... to leave your stamping style comfort zone and do a card or project in a style TOTALLY unlike what you normally do.

Well, this is very unlike what I normally do. I don't normally use a lot of white, yet I am very attracted to cards with lots of white space. I don't usually make cards with little or no stamping. On this one, just the sentiment is stamped. I love this Cuttlebug embossing folder and I LOVE these ribbons. Sharon's ribbon selection is absolutely YUMMY! I used the Bow Easy to make this beautiful bow. That is a tool to have!! You can also get it at Sharon's store.

Thanks for stopping by!!