Monochromatic Baby

Played along with Freshly Made Sketches challenge today.

As I've mentioned many times - I love making monochromatic cards.  I liked the sketch this week too - I love when things are a bit askew.  

I'm trying something new - following in the footsteps of Heather Summers.  At the bottom of the post you'll see today's card itemized and directions given on how to create it.  I may not be able to do this all the time - but I'm going to try!

Hope you're having a great day.

Thanks for stopping by!

Joan

New York Trio

My husband asked me to make three thank you cards for him to give to the people who were responsible for our being able to take a trip to New York.  I was thrilled to be able to use the Soho Subway paper - it worked perfectly.

I went to one of our retired sets to get the little apple, which I embossed with Cherry Cobbler ep.  For the envelopes I inked up a clear block for the "background" for each letter to match the card.

Here are the other two....

Off to school - Hope your week is working well for you.  I'm almost to the point where I can start stamping for myself in a relaxed sort of way!  WoooHooo.

Enjoy the hustle and bustle.  Thanks for stopping by.

Joan

Undefined & Feathers

I'll share the feathers with you first - This is the second technique I will be doing at the September Technique class.....and Inkspired Divas meeting.

I created an ombre pattern on glossy paper using sponge daubers and ink as the basis for the Joseph's Coat technique.  I really love this technique and first learned it when we had the spectrum pads.

I've used the new Pretty Print embossing folder and a trio of feathers from cardstock and DSP.  I learned how to make the feathers at Convention for one of our Make and Takes.

Secondly - Last night I decided to try my hand at "Undefined".  I received a small piece at Convention, but Tracey and I never made it to the area where we could carve our own stamp at convention....I purchased the Undefined kit so I now have the tools....

First I drew out my design with a pencil on a piece of paper - I drew the outline of the size block of rubber I was carving into so I knew my boundaries.

 

This was my inspiration - I painted this on our basement wall going into our "music themed" room - which is where I hold my workshops.

Next, I rubbed my drawing onto the piece of rubber - I took the pencil and "redrew" the areas that didn't transfer clearly.

Using both tools I carved away 

Before I cut the excess rubber away, I tried the stamp out to be sure there were no extra pieces that could accidentally get inked.

I mounted the rubber onto the foam piece and then inked up the rubber to stamp the image on the block.

Finally, I stamped the image on paper......

I haven't created a card with it yet - but that will come.  I have a number of things I still have to cross off my crafting to-do list.  But I'm happy with my first stamp!

Here's Stampin'Up!'s video on the product

If you'd like to get your hands on the kit.....you can get it at my on-line store by clicking the "Shop Now" link on the left sidebar.

Today has been fairly productive so far - Hope you are having successes in your day too.

Thanks for stopping by,

Joan

Merry Monday Bananas

Oh Yeah - back in the swing of Christmas Cards on Monday......It was a fun easy sketch today - I added an extra element, but for the most part I stuck to Lesley's design.  I was glad to use these scraps to create the card - that was an extra bonus!

Allison was glad to see another set of her dance pictures make it to a page today for the 31 pages in 31 days - headed by Lyssa Zwolanek.  Lyssa used the Floral District paper today which was bright and "girlie" - that's what made me go through the dance pictures to see what I could use.  Subsequently, my page isn't quite as bright as Lyssa's sketch (I used the flip side of the paper she chose), but I had tons of fun creating it. 

I delved into my retired paper scraps to use the Glorious Green to go with the costumes, and then I just had to add some chunky glitter to the page.  What's a dance page without glitter!

The Title is done on MDS and then cut with a Framelit die.

Those little bananas are not Stampin'Up! of course...but we had purchased them to go with this page.

I finished my daily challenges, did some chores,  and finally had a wonderful evening visiting with family.  It's been a fabulous day - the beginning of a fabulous week.

Hope things are Fabulous in your little corner of the world.

Thanks for dropping by.

Joan

In-Colour Floral Thanks

I finally got back into my stamping room after being hit with some sort of bug for two days - it hit hard, fast and left...thank goodness!

So - I decided to play with a few of the new In-Colours.  Gumball Green is Great!  Midnight Muse is bordering on Not Quite Navy - but nice and bright.  And Summer Starfruit - well, I'm just going to have to see how that one goes - it's a funny colour on it's own!

The sketch is from this weeks' Freshly Made Sketches challenge.

I also created some bookmarks which I'm going to include with the New Catalogue at my Open House - among other goodies - on June 2.  I was inspired by a set that Brenda Quintana had posted on Stampin'Connection.

Hope you're geared up for a fun weekend.  Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

Joan

Circling Butterflies

After not quite knowing what to do for this challenge, I'm happy with how it turned out - despite it being a bit ....different.

The technique today at Hand Stamped Sentiments was to use the Black Magic Technique.  I haven't done that for awhile - so long in fact, that I had to use my watercolour pencil crayons because I've taken all the regular pencil crayons to school.  I really must bring them back, I guess!

I took the sketch from Splitcoaststampers sketch challenge #380.  I wasn't sure that the circles would work with the little background I created, but I think it all pulls together okay.  I love this Creative Elements stamp set, and am glad it is remaining in the catalogue.  I enjoy colouring in that little background - although it's a bit harder with gel pen than marker.

You don't realize how hard it was for me to not put this whole thing through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder - I held off and I'm glad - but that means there were no dimensionals used.  That is an absolute rarity with me.

Anyway - my daughter and I are heading to the the "Park" for a treat of Marble Slab and then we're going to take in "The Hunger Games" - seems a bit odd after Marble Slab!!!!!  Here's to an enjoyable evening.

Hope you have some enjoyment in your day!  Thanks for stopping by!  Joan

Don't forget the  Retired List is out

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Dino Mashup

I seriously need to acquire more stamps that are good for kids!  I love these little guys - but I feel the need for more options!  Anyway.....

Today's Friday Mashup! was fun!!!!  Though there was a difficult element to it - for me.  Here's the challenge parameters...

1. Make a project using "Your Favorite Muppet Color Combo".
2. Or Make a project " for kids".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a " Project for a Kid using your Favorite Muppet Colors"

The difficult thing for me was deciding who my favourite Muppet was - and whether I was going to go with Sesame Street characters or Muppet Show Characters.  After much self debate,  I went with Animal.

He's in the band, the drummer, crazy and has wild hair.....So I picked Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight and Melon Mambo  as my colour combo.  Pretty wild, but I like the result.  Guess I could have added sun glasses to the dinos - just to help them look that much cooler!

The sketch for the card is f rom Stamping 411.  Instead of ribbon or flowers in the left corner, I just stacked some circles.  Gotta love those dimensionals!

I had fun stamping with a group of women this evening.  Tomorrow I have a bit of a road trip, but am looking forward to it.  These ladies will be making a whole day of crafting; so it should be fun!

Hope you got good times included in your weekend.  Thanks for stopping here for a visit.

Joan

Cherish Mojo

The Paper Players have this awesome colour combo this week - Certainly Celery, Not Quite Navy and Pool Party - LOVE IT!  I was even able to use up some pieces that had already been embossed and set aside from other projects - yippee!!!

The sketch is the Mojo Monday Sketch - quick and easy!

The other project I have for you today, is the card I created yesterday for my daughter's 21st birthday - which is today.  I guess it can go along with the Friday MashUp! too - the fancy fold...but not for anything on the tic tac toe board.

We created a card with this design at our last Extravaganza.  It was one that Tamye got as a swap....I knew when I saw it's unique-ness that I wanted to use it for Allison's card.

For the white section, I used Heat and Stick powder, for the first time in ages, to make the glitter adhere to the stamped image and coloured in the sections with Wisteria Wonder. For the bottom section, I used Irridescent Ice to create the sparkle. The little sections are coloured in with a Versa Mark Pen.  And....because I had the lid of that pen off and on a number of times yesterday, I realized - for the first time- that the Versa Mark Pen has two different ends.  Just like our other markers.  It's so exciting to learn something new!  Duh!!!!!

The card is standard, except for the little accordion fold section on the front which is tied together with ribbon.

That section folds out for 6 available panels.

I coloured the stamp with the two different markers and huffed before stamping.

Two Way Glue and Dazzling Diamonds added the bling to the crown.

For the dress, I added some Crystal Effects to the dress, and then added the glitter on top of it.

I still have a couple containers of this Liquid Applique - I wish we still carried it!  It can be so much fun.  The cherries on top of each cup cake are done with the Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Detail.

It's been a beautiful day here!  Baby Elliot is coming over for a visit again this evening!  WooHoo!

Hope you have something to look forward to too!

Thanks for stopping by

Joan

In the Spotlight

I haven't done the spotlight technique in quite a while....and of course I got carried away with things again yesterday.  Actually, I decided that the card I created for the challenge at The Paper Players (the sketch is from this weeks challenge) and SUO Challenges (creating a birthday card) was a bit too much for my technique class, so I revamped it using last weeks' Freshly Made Sketch to simplify it a bit.

I think these "Packed for..." stamps are perfect for this technique!  I stamped the image three times in a row and then punched out the small circles, to be coloured and backed with the large Not Quite Navy circle to create the spotlight.

Because everything is pretty straight forward of this card, my stampers will be given the option of which "Packed for" image they'd like to use.  The sentiment goes with all of them - Mom, Dad and Birthday.

I'm all packed for my next convention and looking forward to having a fantabulous time with Tamye!

Hope you have something to look forward to this week.  Thanks for stopping by.

Joan

One Last Halloween Card?

 I'm not sure, but this may be the last Halloween Card I create this season.....we'll see.  I've incorporated the Friday Mashup and the Paper Player's Sketch for this card.  The Friday Mashup! was:

1. Make a project featuring "A Belly Band".
2. Or Make a project using "Twine".
3. Or "Mash it Up" and create a project "Using Twine with a "Belly Band"

Below is the card without the belly band so you can see the sketch better.

 

 I had to use those little bats again, and although you can't tell from the photo - I added their eyes with white gel pen and then coloured them yellow.  I was sort of hoping to use rhinestones, but the smallest weren't small enough.

Next are the I and J pages of the anniversary book:

 I did case part of this page from someone on the My Digital Studio website.  She had used some sort of tag and I used the arrows. 

This page just has photos of the Jeffery family from the wedding reception to 2009.  Not every year is represented, but I sure am thankful for my Mother taking pictures of the four of us when she came to visit!

It's been a beautiful Sunday afternoon - hope you are enjoying fabulous fall weather where you are too.  Thanks for stopping by for a visit.
Joan

Birthday Penguins

Today's card is a combination of the Mojo Monday Square Sketch and this week's Our Creative Corner Colours of Real Red, Basic Gray and Basic Black.  As soon as I saw the colour combination I thought of zebras so I pulled out my Zoo Review set.  I decided to use the penguins though because they're just so cute.  I stamped one onto a stickie note, cut it out and used it as a mask to I could have a little group of penguins.

I'm back to work tomorrow - it really is hard to believe that we're starting school again!  Ah well, it's going to be good to see all the kids again!

Hope your week is fairing well - and thanks for stopping by to visit!
Joan

An Afternoon of Scraps....

 

Okay, I didn't use scraps for the card I created for the SUO Challenges today - which was to create an invitation of some sort.  I also used one of the  Stamping 411 sketches for this week.  I stamped the "Celebrate" onto white Taffeta ribbon with Black Staz-On ink.  Oh, and notice how the polka dots are backward....I put the Night of Navy and Bashful Blue pieces through the Big Shot together, and didn't pay attention to how I placed them in the embossing folder - ah well - still works!

Now HERE are the scraps.  This is not the picture that I had in mind when I began this page - so I had to scrounge for something to add.  I sometimes get annoyed with all the different sizes of DSP that I've kept & organized - but not on occasions like this!  I've included retired DSP and the retired clear buttons which I sewed into the corners.  I also added a bit of doodling to the letters, heart and around the white matt.  It took all afternoon, but I'm happy with it.

Now I guess I have to go fix dinner - no rest for the wicked!  Thanks for stopping by for a visit.
Joan

Mojo Way to Go

Way to go today - my friend Joan had her last Bell practice with one of the classes, my husband had his band concert tonight, I got some flower planted and my daughter made a frame for her friend's birthday.

I got the idea for this flower from Sandra at Sandra's Stamping Spot for THIS flower. She has given some instructions, and it was really easy. I just think I need to make a couple more and not flatten the pieces quite so much.
For the scallop along the top and bottom edges I took the new Lace Ribbon Border Punch and cut it in half down the middle. And talking of splitting things - I inked only one set of words on a "triple" stamp from the Happy Greetings stamp set from the Summer Mini
The sketch is a Mojo Monday sketch.


This is the frame that Allison made for her friend. She's also going to be making her one of the photo tins.

Well - hope your Monday was marvelous - thanks for taking time to stop by for a visit.
Joan

Color Dare 103

WoooHooo - It's Color Dare Day! It was great seeing so many people participate last week - I enjoyed visiting your blogs to see what you came up with!

This week, Riley has challenged us with:

Tempting Turquoise
Chocolate Chip
Pear Pizzazz
I'm not sure how I got started on the bugs - but they asked to come out to play and I let them. I don't have any Tempting Turquoise DSP, so made some using the Circle Circus Set. Then I decided that some holes were needed in the end as though the bugs had been eaten through the paper. I have no aversion or fear of insects (unless they are unusually huge - or decide my house is theirs) I enjoy watching their busyness in the garden.

Anyway......I hope you will take the DARE - and then post your project on the Color Dare Challenge Blog. If you post to a public gallery please remember to tag your creation as CD103. Have loads of fun - and check out the rest of the Design Teams blogs to see what wonderful creations they have come up with this week....

Adriana
Joan - Me
Kathryn
Kim P
Kim R
Laurie
Lesley
Lori
Riley

Thanks for stopping by! Have fun with the Dare! Joan