Thursday, September 26, 2013

Fruits and Colors Inspiration for Friday Mashup

Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a good week. We had our first snowfall of the season at the beginning of the week and that just made my entire week worth it, even if it didnt stick around long. It was a reminder that winter in Alaska is almost here, wooohooo!

However, our Friday Mashup challenge this week is brought to us by Erica and keeps us firmly planted in autumn with a gorgeous color combo and fruit images!

For my card I went with one of my favorite scenes, this stamp of pumpkins in a field. When we lived back east we used to grow our own pumpkins, plus we would take the kids out every year to the pumpkin fields to pick some there. We decorate pretty big for Halloween and while living back east we would have between 40-50 pumpkins in our display, so we needed a lot :) I watercolored the pumpkins with Cherry Cobbler and So Saffron to get an orange-ish colors.

I also used the great sketch over at The Paper Players for this card, I love this sketch!

  1. Create a project with using the colors "Cherry Cobbler, So Saffron & Early Espresso."
  2. Create a project using a "Fruit Image."
  3. Or Mash it Up and create a project using the above "Color Combo & a Fruit Image. "
 
 

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Full of Blessings(retired)
Paper: Early Espresso, So Saffron, Cherry Cobbler, Baked Brown Sugar, Watercolor Paper
Ink: So Saffron, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso
Accessories: Big Shot, Square Lattice EF,  Nestabilities Circles and Lacey Circles, Scallop Edge Border Punch, sponde, dimensionals
 

Monday, September 23, 2013

Happy Snowman for Merry Monday

Today's Merry Monday challenge was perfect for me. It's all about snowmen, and today we had our first snowfall of the season! It stuck to the ground for a little bit, and Anchorage got more than we did at my house but that's ok because I LOVE SNOW and seeing it fall today made my soul sing! I cannot wait for our first big snowfall!

Anyway, I was just telling Lesley last night how I haven't had time to play along for a few weeks but I actually got some time today thanks to a change in my oldest sons schedule, woohooo!

I was initially going to use the adorable snowmen from the Frosty Friends set but I switched to this cute pudgy snowman from the set Snow Much Fun in order to get the image in a circle. I used the Winter Frost Specialty DSP from the holiday catalog. I just love the colors in these papers! I used Whisper White and Pool Party for my card, and sponged the edges of the DSP and Pool Party card stock with Pool Party ink. Both the inside and outside sentiment were also stamped in Pool Party. For an extra touch(and because my daughter tells me glitter belongs on everything) I added some Dazzling Diamonds to the snowman.


It was pointed out to me in the comments that my layout looks just like the current Paper Players Sketch....um, thats because when making this card I played along with the Paper Players but I forgot to include that when I posted this yesterday! Thats what I get for trying to rush through a post before going to work.

The layout is from the great sketch currently over at The Paper Players. Such a great sketch, I know I will be using this one over and over!
 
Thanks for stopping by!

 
 
 After picking my son up from work in Wasilla I went by a local trail to enjoy the snow. Here my son is sitting in the truck while I was having fun. He wasn't as thrilled with the snow as I was :)
So pretty!


Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Snow Much Fun, More Merry Messages(inside sentiment)
Paper: Whisper White, Pool Party, Winter Frost DSP
Ink: Pool Party
Accessories: Big Shot, Nestabilities Circle Dies, Scallop Edge Border Punch, sponge, dimensionals

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Trying a Vintage Christmas

I managed to sneak in a little stamping time today and wanted to play along with both the Jingle Belles challenge and  Freshly Made Sketches.

The current challenge over at Jingle Belles is to make a vintage Christmas project. Now I will be the first to admit that I am not good at vintage, it's just not a look I can pull of on my cards. However, when I think vintage Christmas I think browns and reds and so that's what I used for my card.

I love this image of a large lodge in the woods and what better way to highlight it than with this great sketch from FMS. I used some retired DSP from Deck the Halls to make the banner, and liked the red against the brown. The banner is popped up with dimensionals so it doesn't sit right on top of the other layer.  I also added some glitter along the roof of the house, but I took the picture before it dried so it may be hard to see :)



Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Christmas Lodge, Plaid Pattern(retired)
Paper: Baked Brown Sugar, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Deck the Halls DSP (retired)
Ink: Baked Brown Sugar, Early Espresso
Accessories: Dazzling Details, sponge, dimensionals


Thursday, September 19, 2013

Piecing Together Preserves for Friday Mashup

I'm bringing you this weeks challenge over at The Friday Mashup! It's that time of year to gather food and put it away for the winter. Here in Alaska I've been collecting low bush cranberries, yummy! Are you collecting anything from your neck of the woods? Canning, perhaps making jam? If not that's ok, just do it through paper! Let's see what you can create with a fall harvest theme....pumpkins, apples, berries, jars......anything that says fall harvest. Add some paper piecing to your project and you've got the Friday Mashup for this week!

I used the set Perfectly Preserved, and for my paper piecing I pieced the cover of the jar. I initially stamped the cherries from the set in the jar, to make it look like the cranberries I'm picking but I didnt like how it looked so I changed my direction and put this pretty pear in the jar instead!

  1. Create a project with a "Fall/Harvest Food Theme (Preserves, Apples, Pumpkins etc.)."
  2. Create a project using "Paper Piecing."
  3. Or Mash it Up and create a "Fall Food themed project with some Paper Piecing "
I'm also playing along with the current challenge at Try Stampin' On Tuesday, thats where this great sketch came from!
 
 
 
 

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Perfectly Preserved
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Naturals White, Sweater Weather DSP
Ink: Crushed Curry, Garden Green, Brown StazOn
Accessories: Big Shot, Nestabilities Circles/Lacey Circles, Candy Dots, dimensionals
 

Friday, September 13, 2013

Freshly Made Coffee and Friends

My daughter works at an espresso stand and the other night went in with a coworker and decorated it for their boss, plus left gifts. They wanted a card so it gave me a great excuse to play along with this weeks Freshly Made Sketches challenge.

My daughter wanted the card to have black, white and pink. I substituted vanilla for the white and used retired Pretty in Pink. She also wanted glitter on the card so I used some retired chunky glitter on the coffee cup. The cup is heat embossed with black, and I stamped and embossed the sentiment on another paper and cut it out, then used dimensional to pop it up on the cup. I also turned the sketch around but all the elements are still there :)

I don't drink coffee but just about everyone I know does, so that's why I ended up buying this stamp set. I knew it would come in handy!



Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Perfect Blend
Paper: Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Modern Medley DSP
Ink: Versamark, Black StazOn
Accessories: Black Embossing Powder, Heat Embossing Tool, Big Shot, Modern Mosaic EF, Framed Tulips EF, Pretty in Pink Ribbon(retired), Chunky Glitter(retired), sponge, dimensionals

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Sweet Sympathy for Friday Mashup

Welcome to another Friday Mashup! This week Heidi is our host and she brings us a sad, but important, challenge. October is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. Each year, approximately 870,000 families experience the loss of a baby during pregnancy or shortly after birth. To support these families she would like us to create a thinking of you or condolence card, and if you are inclined, donate the card to a local infant loss charity or support group. You can also send your donation card(s) to  Heidi (contact her at runningwscissors@earthlink.net for mailing address), and she will collect and donate them to her local H.A.N.D.S. charity.

For my card I went with greens and pinks and a tree from the Lovely As a Tree set. This is one of my favorite sets to go too for a sympathy card, as the images are very poignant yet not overwhelming, and IMO nature is a wonderful way to try and soothe the soul in difficult times.

We'd love to see you over at The Friday Mashup!

  1. Create a "Thinking of you or condolence card."
  2. Create a card/cards and "Donate it to a Charity or Organization of your choice."
  3. Or Mash it Up and create a "Thinking of you/Condolence Card and donate it to H.A.N.D.S via Heidi."




 

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Birthday Wishes from the Theatre

Today is my cousin Austin's 19th birthday. He lives in MA and I don't get to see him often but thanks to Facebook we can "see" each other that way. He loves the theatre and living so close to NYC he goes there quite often to watch his favorite Broadway shows. One of his favorites is a little one you might have heard of....Phantom of the Opera.

Now when I make a card I like to personalize it to fit the personality of the person that I'm giving the card too. I decided to go out of my comfort zone and make a card for Austin that fits his interests. I searched online for a picture of the Phantom mask, got one that would work and printed it out. I traced it onto card stock to make a template and then made the mask out of Whisper White. Basic Black was used behind the eyes and to form the nostrils. I used Basic Black DSP for the main layer on the card and incorporated red accents to go with the Phantom theme. I stamped the flower from the Oh, Hello set and popped that up next to the sentiment.

I got the card into the mail late so my cousin will get this a few days after his birthday, I sure hope he likes it!

 
 

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Halloween Happiness for MDS Monday

It's taken all week but I finally got some time to kick back with my laptop and play with the current card sketch over at MDS Monday!

Since we're wrapped in the arms of autumn here in southcentral Alaska I decided to make a Halloween card. I love Halloween, my family goes all out for it, but I don't normally make cards for it. MDS is the perfect way to make a quick card that can be easily printed and given to a lucky recipient.


I used the Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP along with coordinating colors for the background and for the flag banner and circle. I decided to use the scallop border embellishment across the page and changed the color to Basic Gray. I also played with the color tool for the first time, coloring in the images on the stamp I used, Halloween Happiness. I just love this stamp, it's so cute!

Make sure you head over to the MDS Monday blog to play along with them!



Friday, September 6, 2013

Washi Notecards for Friday Mashup

Hello and happy Friday! Today in a good portion of Alaska its going to be very windy and very wet, perfect crafting weather.

To get you crafting we have a great challenge this week at The Friday Mashup, brought to us by our fearless leader Holly. She wants us to create a set of quick 3x3 note cards, and also use Washi Tape on them.


I have to be honest and say I have not jumped on the Washi Tape craze. The tape I used on these note cards are the only ones I own, and that's because I got them during SU's Sale-A-Bration. My husband says I just like being difficult by bucking what everyone else is doing LOL

As you can see on my note cards I didnt use as much Washi Tape as the other DT members. On two of my note cards I just had to add DSP, I couldn't get myself to use the tape alone. Therefore only 1 of my note cards only has strictly Washi Tape on it and nothing else.

Head on over to The Friday Mashup blog and play along with us!

  1. Create a project with "Washi Tape."
  2. Create a "set of 3x3 Quick Note Cards."
  3. Or Mash it Up and create a "Set of 3x3 Note Cards using some Washi Tape".

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Label Love
Paper: Island Indigo, Daffodial Delight, Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Gingham Garden DSP
Ink: Island Indigo, Melon Mambo
Accessories: Artisan Label Punch, Gingham Garden Designer Washi Tape