Color Challenge Monday

Candice and I decided to use Red, White, and Blue for our challenge this Monday since July 4th is later this week.  I do not know if Candice will get her card done to post as she has been so busy lately.  But I knew you ladies just love to see what we come up with so I slaved over the table and created a fun, sparkly card for you.  Here is what I came up with for the big holiday at the end of the week!

Stamps: Independence Day Paper: Brilliant Blue, Real Red, white Ink: Brilliant Blue, Encore Silver, Real Red Accessories: Classic Stars wheel, wheel handle, large and small star punches, ticket corner punch, 3/4" and 1" square punches, ribbon (Michael's), dimensionals



Let me know if you liked the card (if you didn't you can let me know also).  Thanks for looking (TFL) and have a great day!

Sketch Saturday

There is a technique I ran across several months ago that I have been wanting to try. I decided that this weekend I would give it a shot. It is call Black and White Magic and you can see it on Karen's blog. If you would like to see some of her gorgeous creations go to the beginning of her blog as that is where you will find most of them. Usually the card is done with black carstock, but Karen had also done some with other dark cardstocks. I decided to do mine with Night of Navy.

This technique has you stamp your image with white craft ink and heat set it. Afterwards you use Pure Color pencils (I did read a blog this morning where the lady used Prismacolor pencils dipped in odorless mineral spirits and it worked also) to color the image. After you have the image colored you then use a white gel pen to highlight the image. I had used Heartfelt greetings and only used the solid image and then went around all the leaves and flowers with the pen.

Since I had to do a sketch I went blurffing to find a sketch that I could use to do this technique. Jen at iheart2stamp had one that would work. I do have to say that I had to change the layout a little to make it work. Here is her sketch and my card.

Stamps: Heartfelt Greetings, So Many Sayings Paper: Garden Green, Night of Navy, Pretty in Pink, white Ink: Craft White Accessories: Garden Green Marker, Pure Color Pencils, white gel pen, silver & Night of Navy brads, dimensionals, sticky tape

So, what do you think? Isn't this the prettiest technique? I just love it and plan on using it again on my solid stamps for something different. Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!

Wednesday's Design by Robbie

Julee had a great sketch for her MojoMonday this week. When I started the card I had every intention of making it a standard sized (4 1/4 x 5 1/2). Needless to say once I had finished the center focal piece I had to go to a bigger card and ended up with a 5 x 7.

I wanted the center image to be light and airy. With that in mind I chose the Stem Silhouettes set to use for the card. I had the card pieces completed and sitting on the card base but was not happy with the looks. Needless to say I kept adding and adding until this is what I ended up with. I didn't realize how pink the card turned out. Not what I had imaged in my mind. :)

Stamps: Stem Silhouettes, Easy Elegance, French Script Paper: Regal Rose, Rose Red, So Saffron, white Ink: Regal Rose, Rose Red, So Saffron Accessories: Nestabilities oval and scallop circles, Regal Rose - Rose Red - Handsome Hunter markers, white lace, So Saffron brads, 1/2 in. circle punch, pink satin ribbon, color dusters, sticky tape, sponges, dimensionals

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Our Creative Corner Challenge

The ladies from several of the blogs I read have joined forces to create a new blog where they post weekly challenges. Each week one of the members chooses a color, sketch, accessories, etc. to use to create a card. They then all create a card following the guidelines and post it. They welcome rookies like me to join in the fun. This week you had to use at least 1 button and 1 brad. I thought this would be fun since I recently got some buttons and hadn't used them yet.




I realized I hadn't used my Prismacolor pencils lately and decided to use them to color the image. I have been using the Bold Brights family lately and chose to use those. I am also really liking my Perfect Plaids lately. It just says fun and relaxed to me, 2 good words for summer. I used it again to create my background. I also got some new stamps as I am a little tired of my flowers and decided to use one of them. I love the Fluffles the Cat series by Stampendous and chose this one to use. This card is soooooo cute!

Stamps: Grasshopper Fluffles (Stampendous), Perfect Plaids (retired) Paper: Bordering Blue, Green Galore, Only Orange, white, Yoyo Yellow Ink: Basic Black, Green Galore, Only Orange, Yoyo Yellow Accessories: Green - Orange - Yellow buttons, Green Galore - Only Orange - Yoyo Yellow brads, Prismacolor pencils, gamsol, blending stump, paper piercer, dimensionals

So what do you think? Lots of missed items used to create this card today. Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Color Challenge Monday

Today I wanted to use a color that I hardly ever use. So I pulled out the colors and guess which one I chose. Only Orange! I usually only reach for this color around Halloween or Fall. Needless to say I was a challenge for me to use this color in a card that did not center around the 2 holidays you usually use it for.




I had borrowed some Penny Black hedgehogs from my sister and this image jumped out at me. When I started thinking, it hit me that poppies are usually orange. So I took the idea and ran with it. I knew I would need to use some other colors with it so I went to the color combos website and chose Pink Passion and Green Galore to go with it. I played with the markers to try and get some shading. Still need to play with that to perfect it, but I like how the card turned out. Here is what I came up with.

Stamps: Poppy Fields (Penny Black), Sweet Shapes Paper: Basic Black, Green Galore, Only Orange, Pink Passion, white Ink: Only Orange Accessories: Gable Green - Green Galore - Only Orange - Pumpkin Pie - Pink Passion - Pixie Pink - Going Gray - Basic Black - Blush Blossom - Cameo Coral markers, black brads, ribbon, mini hole punch

So what do you think? Let me know how you think I did. Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Verve Visual Challenge

Each month VerveVisual has a challenge. They present a picture and challenge you to use the picture for inspiration. I have participated in a couple of these challenges as I feel it is a good way to increase your skills. If you feel you need a challenge to kick your cards up a notch I encourage you to find a challenge and give it a try.

Here is the inspiration for this month.

Don't you just love the colors! They just seemed to pop out at me. It was so much fun to work with. Here is the card I made.

Stamps: Perfect Plaids (retired), Petals and Stems and Thankful Blossoms (both from Verve Visual) Paper: Basic Black, Garden Green, Real Red, So Saffron, White Ink: Basic Black, Garden Green, Real Red, So Saffron Accessories: Basic Black marker, Red Grosgrain ribbon, Real Red and So Saffron brad, slot punch, sticky tape, dimensionals

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!

Wednesday's Design by Robbie

I created this Artisitic Trading Card (ATC) for a swap I was in. It was really cute and the hostess liked it so much I was chosen the winner that month (I got some ribbon and brads).

Candice suggested I take the ATC and make a full size card from it. Here is what I came up with.

I really liked the ATC. The card is okay. It needs something to me. Any suggestions? Let me know what you think. As I was posting this I noticed the shark fin was not colored. Need to go back and do that. :)

Stamps: Ahoy, Matey Paper: Brocade Blue, Creamy Caramel, Gold Metalic, Very Vanilla Ink: Brocade Blue, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Glorious Green, StazOn Timber Brown Accessories: liquid gold pen, string of pearls (bridal section of Michael's), 1/4" circle punch, aqua painter, sponge, sticky strip, dimensionals

Hope you liked the remake. Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Another Mojo

Another great sketch! Julee does a great job of coming up with sketches you can use to create cards. If you ever get into a funk where you can't think of anything to stamp, check out all the blogs that have sketches on them and before you know it you will have your card completed.

Here is her sketch for Week 42. I have had this ribbon (it is actually yarn) for a while and even though I have used it several times I still have a ton left. When I spied it all I could think of was a butterfly and I knew that would be my main image. Here is what I came up with. I stamped the butterfly and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I did that twice so I could cut one out and pop up the wings. While the colors are a little different, I really like the look of the card.

Stamps: Thankful Blossoms (Verve Visual), All Year Cheer III (retired) Paper: Certainly Celery, Not Quite Navy, Pink Passion, white Ink: Certainly Celery, Versafine Onyx Black Accessories: Ribbon (knitting ribbon/yarn) - Michael's, Certainly Celery - Not Quite Navy - Pink Passion brads, clear embossing powder, Word Window punch, Layer Ease (discontinued), sticky tape, dimensionals

Hope you liked the card. Stop back later for my Wednesday Design card. Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Color Challenge Monday

Well I did not mess up this week. I double checked my list several times. I had Read Red and I wanted to do something for flag day. We made a card in my workshop last week using the Classic Stars wheel. I decided to use it on this card and change the layout to see what it would look like. I really like the look of Real Read paired with Kraft. What do you think?

Stamps: Indpenedence Day Paper: Kraft, Real Red, white Ink: Real Red Accessories: Classic Stars wheel, wheel handle, Real Red and Kraft brads, 3/4 in. & 1 in. & 1 1/4 in. circle punches, Large and small star punch, dimensionals

What do you think, like the color combo? Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Retired List

Wow.. check it out.. the Retiring Stamp Set list for the Spring/Summer 2008 Stampin' Up! Catalog is here!!

Stampin' UP Website -

CHECK IT OUT HERE!

Which set will YOU miss the most??

Retired List (Alphabetical)

Retired List (Numerical)

Sketch Saturday

While looking at Beate's inspiration challenge yesterday I noticed her sketch challenge and loved the layout. I decided to play along this week. I wanted to use a set I hadn't used recently and came across Embrace Life. I have seen several blogs where they used the the stem and colored in the flowers with a gel pen. I decided to try this and see how it worked for me. Here is the sketch and the card I made.

Stamps: Embrace Life, Sweet Shapes Paper: Chocolate Chip, River Rock DS, Soft Sky, Soft Sky DS Ink: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky Accessories: Spica gel pen, Sakura Stardust gel pen, Sakura white gel pen, Dew drops, Zots, dimensionals

The picture does not do the sparkle justice. There is lots of glisten with this card, but it is hard to capture it in the picture. Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!

Mojo Monday 41

I have noticed lately that I felt I was always using the same colors. Several months ago I read that some ladies keep sketch and color combo notebooks to jot things down in as they run across ideas to use in their stamping. I decided that I would like to do this for color combos just to get some different ideas. I had a small notebook that I had not used so I designated it my Color Combo notebook. It is black and white with a daisy on the front so I have an awesome color combo and my favorite flower all on the cover.

As I was looking through my Better Homes and Gardens magazine I noticed an ad for Carnival Cruises. It was a Chocolate Chip deck, with Tempting Turquoise lounge chairs, and Yoyo Yellow umbrellas. I wrote that combination in my book as I realy liked the look of the ad. When I was ready to make my card, I pulled out the notebook to see what color combo I wanted to try and this one just said "Pick me, pick me!". So that is the combo I used for my card.

As you know each week Julee posts her Mojo Monday sketch for everyone to play along. Once I started her sketches the only time I missed was while I was in Italy. I really like her sketches as I have little difficulty coming up with a card to go with the sketch. While I am a little late this week I still made it in. Here is the sketch and my card for this week. I really like how the card turned out.



Stamps: Petals and Stems, Thankful Blossoms (both sets are from Verve Visuals) Paper: Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise, white, Yoyo Yellow Ink: Basic Black, White Craft Accessories: Martha Stewart punch, yellow and turquoise brads, Yellow stitched ribbon (Michael's), Turquoise ribbon (Ribbons and Bows Oh My), white embossing powder, dimensionals, sticky tape

I layered the 2 ribbons to create the strip down the side. Check back tomorrow for my Saturday sketch. I played with a lot of things on the card but like how it turned out. Thanks for looking and have a great evening!

Inspiration Challenge

Each week Beate posts an inspiration challenge. Earlier this week she posted a black and white pillow as the inspiration. I knew I wanted to give it a try since I love black and white. Here is the inspiration piece

I love this pillow and so many things went through my head. On her blog you can click on the image and make it larger. When I did that I realized there was stitching on the pillow in a wavy design. With that I decided I wanted to do some kind of design on the background of my card to mimic the inspiration piece. I also had a set that I have had for several years and hardly ever used. I love the set but just didn't ever have the chance to use it. I thought it would be perfect for my card. Here is what I came up with. What do you think? I know the background looks blue, but it really is white. The camera does funny things sometimes!

Stamps: Just Vine (retired), Faux Ribbon (Papertrey Ink) Paper: Basic Black, White Ink: White Craft Accessories: Ribbon (Michael's)

Check back later as I am going to work on the Mojo Monday sketch now. Thanks for looking and have a great afternoon!

Wednesday's Design by Robbie

Well I blew it after all. I was supposed to used Sahara Sand on Monday as my color and I had picked Real Red to go with it. Needless to say I focused on the Real Red and forgot the Sahara Sand. To make up for it I used Sahara Sand in today's card.

I had wanted to create a summer scene using flip flops or other summer wear. I needed the Adirondack chair and only had an embossing plate so I embossed it then sponged on some color to make it pop then cut it out. I wanted to use the Sahara Sand as the sand on the beach so I cut a piece and tore the edge. Then I used Itty Bitty Backgrounds to stamp some flecks for dimension. I then needed water so I used Buckaroo Blue and tore the edge as I wanted the horizon to look like the waves on the ocean (I think I need to work on this as it looks like a huge wave getting ready to crash on the beach and wipe out the chair and umbrella :) ). I then wanted to add some foam so it looked like the waves tumbling onshore and white caps so using a spong and white craft ink I played. Not bad, but I have seen others that were better. I then added my sun and sponged in the sky. The scene needed something on the right hand side so I thought about a beach umbrella. Again I did not have a stamp so I went looking at my punches and wondered if I could use the scallop punch to create it. I think it worked out nicely, what do you think? I masked the scallops and used Mellow Moss to sponge it. I then felt I needed some shells on the beach so I used Crab & company to make the starfish and clam shell. I added some birds in the sky and I was done. What do you think? I had fun playing!

Stamps: Crab & Company, Itty Bitty Backgrounds Paper: Barely Banana, Buckaroo Blue (last year's in color), Sahara Sand, white Ink: Barely Banana, Bashful Blue, Buckaroo Blue, Cameo Coral, Creamy Caramel, Mellow Moss, Sahara Sand, Summer Sun, Whisper White Craft Accessories: Summer Sun - Cameo Coral - Basic Black markers, Lasting Impressions Beach Scene embossing template, stylus, white gel pen, sponges, dimensionals.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Kids Summer Stamp Camp

Candice's Crafty Corner - Summer Stamp Camp Schedule

First Event June 23^rd – 26^th 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm

Second Event July 21^st – 24^th 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm

Third Event August 11^th – 15^th 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm

Spark your child’s creative thinking. I will be hosting three Summer Stamp Camps at my home for children ages 8 and above. Drinks and snack will be provided. Parent’s you may drop off your child and go get some time in for yourself, or if you would like you can stay. These 3 events will all have different projects. Each camp is $40 and will be limited to 10 campers.

Each day your Stamp Camper will bring home a hand crafted project that they learned how to make that day. Deadline to sign-up for the first event is Wednesday, June 18^th, July 16^th for the second event, and August 6^th for the third event.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Registration Form

If you have any questions, please email:

Schwartzce@yahoo.com

Or call (301) 862-3265

___June Camp ___July Camp ___August Camp

Campers Name: _______________________________

Campers Age: _________________________________

Parents Name: ________________________________

Contact #'s: __________________________________

e-mail address: ________________________________

Fee is $40 per person and is non-refundable do to the ordering of supplies. In the event that you can't make it you may pass on to a friend or reschedule for a different date if the class is not full. Thank You!

*All classes will require a minimum of 5 campers.

Color Challenge Monday

Did you ever have one of those days where you had an idea and when you finished your idea was nothing like you had planned it? That is what happened with this card.

I had Real Red and any other colors I wanted to use. Since I hadn't used the Loads of Love set in a while I thought it would be good to do the truck. I also missed using my Prismacolor pencils so I decided to color the truck using them.

I saw Amy's sketch on Friday and knew it would be great for my card. Here is her sketch:

I stamped and colored the truck and added the dogs in the back. I was thinking this would be a good Father's Day card. I have played with backgrounds similar to Kittie's. (I love her backgrounds but she has so much more talent than I do.) So I used the card on her blog to create my background. Once the background was completed, I was then ready to put my card together.

Here is where things go awry. If you notice in the sketch there is a green strip that I decided I would make Real Red. It needed some texture so I used the truck and Real Red ink to stamp the truck all over the strip (it is hard for you to see but the truck is overlapped and double stamped all over the strip). I really struggled with how to put this together and include all the elements. I chose the Garden Green to make the piece behind the truck and as I am typing this and referring to the picture I realize I left off another layer with the square. Then I had to get the sentiment on the card. I knew the circle would be too big so I went with the small oval punch. I inked up "wishing" using a Garden Green marker and stamped it on white. I then cleaned the stamp really good and repeated inking up "you". I was then able to punch out the oval. I have stamped "Happy Father's Day" inside.

Well I am going to claim a case of "using the sketch as a starting point for my card". Yeah that sounds good! Here is my card:

Stamps: Loads of Love, Watercolor minis (retired), Scenery Set (retired) Paper: Garden Green, Real Red, White Ink: Always Artichoke, Barely Banana, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Close to Cocoa, Garden Green, Real Red, StazOn Black Accessories: Always Artichoke & Old Olive markers, Prismacolor Pencils, Blending Stump, Odorless Mineral Spirits, sponges, dimensionals

Thanks for looking and Have a great evening!

Wednesday's Design by Robbie

I have missed doing Julee's MojoMondaySketches. This week she had a real challenge for us. It was fun to do but I have to admit I went about it in a different way. I had planned on doing this with Monday's color challenge colors but when I had the Pink Passion on the card it did not look right so I revised it and came up with this card. This was the sketch I used.

Stamps: Wild About You, Scenery Set (retired), Watercolor Minis (retired) Cattail Border (DOTS) Paper: Creamy Caramel, Green Galore, Very Vanilla Ink: Ballet Blue, Green Galore, StazOn Timber Brown Accessories: Basic Black - Creamy Caramel - Close to Cocoa markers, Cuttlebug Tiny Mosaic embossing folder, Fiskars Dragonback decorative scissors, Ticket Corner punch, Raffia, dimensionals, sponge

Thanks for looking and Have a great day!

Be Inspired Challenge #16

Another Great Be Inspired Challenge Piece by Beate. I really enjoyed doing my last one so I thought I would give it another shot. You can check out the link above to see other cards using this piece. This one didn't come as easy as the last one but that is what a challenge is all about. The flowers are what really inspired me to crate my card.

I just love the cool colors in this one. I guess I will not be using green, it seems that I have been gravitating towards the greens lately, and I'm not really sure why. I decided to use Soft Sky, Regal Rose, Blue Bayou, Summer Sun, and Purely Pomegranate for this one. Thanks for stopping by I hope you enjoy what I came up with.

Candice ;-)

Color Challenge Monday - a day late

What a fantastic trip I had. The scenery is absolutely fabulous. I highly recommend if you go to Europe you use the Eurorail to get around. It allows you to enjoy the countryside and really see what the land is like. The girls and I had a great time seeing the sights, doing a lot of walking, and climbing lots of stairs. The churches are gorgeous and the art museums have enough of a variety to appeal to everyone.

Well enough of my babbling. I am a little late with this entry. Had a funeral I had to attend yesterday and was not able to stamp until last night. I had to use Green Galore and Pink Passion. I knew I wanted to use a Cuttlebug embossing folder I had not used before. Here is what I came up with.

Stamps: Heartfelt Thanks Paper: Green Galore, Pink Passion, White Accessories: Green Galore and Pink Passion markers, Cuttlebug Stylized Flowers embossing folder, Chalks, Ticket Corner punch, Crafter's Tool Kit, ribbon, sticky tape

Thanks for looking and Have a great day!

Fresh Cut's Promotion

Promotion details: From June 1-30, Stampin' Up! is providing an advance purchase opportunity for the Fresh Cut stamp set (#111634) and coordinating Fresh-Cut Notes (#111882). These two products will be included in the Fall-Winter 2008 Idea Book & Catalog.

For more info from Stampin' Up! CLICK HERE.

Customers: Purchase the sneak peek Fresh Cut stamp set and add on the coordinating Fresh-Cut Notes for just $5.

Hostesses: Hold a $400 workshop, and receive the Fresh Cut stamp set and coordinating Fresh-Cut Notes FREE.

Things to Remember:

Customers :Customers may purchase these two products the following ways:

• Buy the Fresh Cut stamp set and get the Fresh-Cut Notes for just $5 (limit one Fresh-Cut Notes).
• Buy just the stamp set for: $21.95.
• Buy just the Fresh-Cut Notes for $8.95.
• Orders may be placed on a customer, workshop, or demonstrator order.

Hostesses:

• Place a $400 order (or more) and earn the Fresh Cut stamp set and Fresh-Cut Notes free.
• There is not an additional incentive for workshops of $800 or more. This incentive is for reaching the $400.
• Orders may be placed on a customer, demonstrator, or workshop order.

  Candice ;-)

eScape Bundle

Throughout all of June, we're offering a terrific eScape Bundle with products at 25 percent off, including a few of the essentials to create your own cards!

eScape Bundle (item 113700):

Description	Page Number	Price
Love Notes assortment	p. 167	$8.95
Circle of Friendship stamp set	p. 143	$17.95
Rose Red Classic Stampin' Pad	p. 165	$5.25
Very Vanilla 5/8" grosgrain ribbon	p. 191	$7.95
Total (non-bundled)		$40.10
eScape Bundle price		$30.00

Download the flyer

Promotion dates: June 1-30, 2008

Details: Purchase an eScape Bundle (item 113700) for 25 percent off the regular product prices.

Things to Remember:

• Customer, hostess, and workshop orders all qualify for this promotion.
• There is no limit to the number of eScape Bundles a customer may order.
• Order deadline June 30, 2008
  

Candice ;-)