little inklings

Stitched Thanks

Aren't these colors absolutely gorgeous? Kristina Werner posted an amazing color combination for her 7th Color Inspiration Challenge tonight. So when my hubby asked me to just 'take the night off from all the 'carding' .. I tried REALLY REALLY HARD to sit and watch a re-run of House... but he obviously sensed how antsy I was, and dismissed me to go and play..:) My poor sweet husband... I'm so lucky he understands me.

So the challenge was to use: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa,  Soft Sky and Very Vanilla.

BEEUTIFUL! I absolutely love these colors together, so this card came together pretty quickly, relative to most of my other creations (Chuckles, I know you know what I"m talking about ;). Anyway - I promised I wouldn't stay up all night tonight, so I'm just posting the card. Thanks Kristina, for all your inspiration! You are the BEST!

Here's how I made it: The card base is a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of Soft Sky cardstock, folded in half. The next layer is a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Chocolate Chip, and the next layer is a 3 3/4" x 5" piece of Soft Sky as well, but this time, stamped with the Stitched Background stamp in Close to Cocoa ink. Next, I cut a 2" x 3 3/4" strip of Close to Cocoa cardstock - paper pierced along the top and bottom, tied a piece of Chocolate Chip Wide Grosgrain Ribbon around it, securing it with a glue dot, and adhering it to the cardfront. I stamped the five petal flower from the Stitched Exotics set twice on Very Vanilla cardstock - once in Chocolate Chip ink, and once in Soft Sky. I cut out the Chocolate Chip flower, and punched out the Soft Sky flower using the Large Flower Punch. I also stamped 2 of the leaves in Soft Sky and cut those out by hand, and stamped the small circle flower in cocoa, and punched that out using my 3/4" circle punch - all on Very Vanilla cardstock. I assembled the flower, adding a brad thru the centre of the smallest circle, and I adhere all the piece to my cardfront using dimensionals. Last, I added the sentiment at the bottom of the card using Chocolate Chip Craft ink; sprinkled with clear embossing powder and heated to set.

Here's the supplies I used: (All Stampin' Up! unless noted) Stamps: Stitched, Stitched Exotics, Noteworthy (retired) Inks: Close to Cocoa, Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip Classic & Craft Paper: Close to Cocoa, Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip & Very Vanilla Extras: Chocolate Chip Wide Grosgrain, Antique Brads, Dimensionals, Large Flower Punch, 3/4" circle punch, Clear Embossing Powder, Paper Piercer

Can you spell FLATTERED?

Can you spell FLATTERED? 'Cause I'm pretty sure that's what I am. Thank you Beth for the Arte y Pico nomination! Oh - by the way - you can check out all of Beth's gorgeous creations on her blog Stamp Me A Rainbow.

So the scoop on the award...it was originally designed by Eseya at Arte y Pico.

As the nominatee, the mission, should you choose to accept it, is to pick five blogs that, based on their creativity, design, interesting material, and contribution to the blogging community, you think earn the award. You list their names and links to their blogs, on yours, and leave a comment on one of their posts to let them know you've nominated them! Each winner shows the award along with the name of the person who gave them the award with a link to their blog.

The Blogging Stamping Community is full of such amazing artists that I admire and draw inspiration from, but having to pick five, I choose:

Jen T - JenTapler Designs

Kristin M - Sunshine Smiles & Stamps

Michelle W - Michelle's Rubber Room

Nancy R - iStamp

Stephanie H - Steph's Stampin' Stuff

Wonderful Father

This is such a wonderful set for masculine cards, and with birthday's coming up for some very important Dad's in my life, I was motivated to put a few together. Here's another card using the Bronc Buster set, in combination with last weeks Sketch Challenge #173 on Splitcoast.  And you'll be so proud of me - I managed to put this card together without any Chocolate Chip Craft Ink or Paper Piercing! Its a miracle.. :)

Here's How I made it: The card base is a 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of Close to Cocoa cardstock, folded in half. The next layer is a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Sage Shadow, randomly stamped with the Paisley stamp from the Wanted set, in matching ink. The next layer is a 5" x 2 3/4" rectangle of patterned paper, called Outlaw. It's retired, but the patterns in the pack are very similar to the Western Sky DSP in the current catalogue. It's adhered to the Sage Shadow layer, and secured with the Pewter Jumbo Eyelets, then both are adhered to the card base.

The cowboy is stamped on a 3" x 3 1/4" square of Very Vanilla cardstock, using close to Cocoa ink. The edges are distressed, and sponged with Really Rust, then adhered using Dimensionals, but before I stuck the image down, I added the tag. To make that, I stamped the paisley on a scrap piece of Very Vanilla, in Sage Shadow, then stamped the "Dad' sentiment over top, inking it up with my Really Rust marker. I punched it out with a 3/4" circle punch and matted it to a 1" circle of Chocolate Chip. I added the Linen Thread and tied it thru the corner of the image. I also secured it using a dimensional. I finished the card with the Chocolate Chip photo corners.

Here's the supplies I used: (All Stampin' Up! unless noted)
Stamps: Bronc Buster, Wanted, Dad's Day
Paper: Close to Cocoa, Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip & Very Vanilla Cardstock, Outlaw Designer Series Paper
Ink: Sage Shadow, Close to Cocoa, Really Rust
Extras: Pewter Jumbo Eyelets, Photo Corner Punch, 1" & 3/4" circle punch, Linen Thread, Dimensionals

There for You

After a busy week, I always look forward to pulling together a card for Beate Johns weekend sketch challenge #45! Man that's one talented lady! This was a particularly busy week for us, as my husband and I took a break from our day jobs, and did some fun stuff with our boys.
I saw an amazing project idea in the May Stampin' Up! Demonstrator magazine with this color scheme and wanted to give it a try on a card. Hope you like it.

Here's how I made it: The base of the card is a 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of Always Artichoke Textured Cardstock, folded in half. The next layers are Old Olive, then River Rock and are each 1/4" smaller in height and width, then the previous layer, and with corners punched using the Ticket Corner punch. The Old Olive layer is stamped with the branch image in matching ink, the River Rock stamped using the Weathered background stamp, again in the matching ink.

The next layer is a 1 3/4" x 4 3/4" Chocolate Chip cardstock rectangle run thru my cuttlebug using the swirly embossing folder. I adhered it to the River Rock cardstock, and added the antiqued brads. The main image is from the Embrace Life set and is stamped in Chocolate Chip Classic Ink on a 2" x 3 3/8" rectangle piece of Very Vanilla cardstock, then colored in with Blender Pens using Always Artichoke Ink. I distressed the edges using the Distresser tool, then sponged with River Rock to add a bit of an antiqued look. I matted it on a 2 1/8" x 3 1/2" piece of Chocolate Chip Cardstock, and tied the Chocolate Taffeta Ribbon around the bottom, and added it to my card using Dimensionals. Last, I added the sentiment - stamping it on a scrap piece of Old Olive cardstock with Chocolate Chip Craft Ink, sprinkling it with clear Embossing Powder, heating to set then punching it out with the Word Window Punch and added it to my card using dimensionals.

Here's the supplies I used: (All Stampin' Up! unless noted)
Stamps: Embrace Life, Absolutely Fabulous, Weathered Background Stamp
Paper: Always Artichoke Textured Cardstock, Old Olive, River Rock, Chocolate Chip & Very Vanilla Cardstock
Ink: Old Olive, River Rock, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip Classic Inks, Chocolate Chip Craft
Extras: Clear Embossing Powder, Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, Word Window Punch, Ticket Corner Punch, Cuttlebug & Swirly Embossing Folder, Antique Brads, Dimensionals

Horray for Grey (& Guava too!)

Ain't she cute? I love this little hippo from the Pun Fun set.

When I read the post describing the colors for last week's color challenge on Splitcoast, and the moderators description of nice easy one... I thought - that doesn't sound too hard. OK - I was wrong. This is my second attempt at making this color combo work. In the end, I liked the result, and hope you do too.

Here's how I built it: I started by stamping the little hippo on a 2" x 2 1/4" piece of Whisper White Cardstock using Basic Black Craft ink, sprinkled with Clear Embossing Powder and heated to set. (Tip - if you don't want a bunch of extra space on your main image, you can measure the block your image is mounted on, and make the cardstock piece you'll be stamping on the same size). I stamped the hippo image again, on a scrap piece of paper, then colored both images in using my ink pads and blender pens. I cut out the hippos head and adhered it overtop her body with dimensionals, then paper pierced around the edges. I matted her to a 2 1/4" x 2 1/2" square piece of basic grey. I stamped the 'I just heard!' sentiment on a piece of scrap textured Groovy Guava cardstock, and punched it out using the  1 1/4" square punch, and adhered it to the back of the hippo and set this aside.

The next layer is a piece of 3 5/8" square of Blush Blossom cardstock, stamped with the Paisley Background stamp in Groovy Guava ink. I paper pierced around the edge of this layer and adhered the Groovy Guava photo corners, then secured them to the next layer, a 3 3/4" square of basic grey with silver brads. Final step was too add all the combined squares to the card base, a 4" square piece of Textured Groovy Guava Cardstock, folded in half.

Here's the supplies I used: (All Stampin' Up! unless noted)
Stamps: Pun Fun, Absolutely Fabulous, Paisley Background Stamp
Paper: Groovy Guava Textured Cardstock, Basic Grey, Blush Blossom, Whisper White
Ink: Groovy Guava, Basic Grey, Basic Black Craft Ink
Extras: Photo Corners Punch, 1 1/4" Square Punch, Paper Piercer, Silver Brads, Dimensionals

So Thoughtful

Sahara Sand - EEEK!! I'm not sure why I had such a hard time working with this color! Sorry - had to vent. Thanks for listening... :) Ok - on to the challenge..

Kristina Werner posted her 6th color inspiration challenge today on her blog, and being the nerdy keener that I am... I'm up well past my beddie-bye time doing this card.. and to boot, I've sucked in my wonderful SIL into my card challenge addictions, stirring the pot of inspiration.. (Thanks chuckles.. next time, you're card is going up here too!)

The challenge was to build a card using Sahara Sand, Pumpkin Pie, Wild Wasabi and So Saffron - but I could not get this card to come together without adding a little bit of Chocolate Chip - my own personal favorite neutral these days. There's not a hole lot o' stampin going on in this card, but who needs stamps with that pretty paper?

Here's how I made it: I stamped the Stitched Background Stamp on a scrap piece of Sahara Sand with Wild Wasabi ink, and then punched it out as well as three other squares in different Designer Series Papers using my 1 1/4" square punch. I punched matching mattes using my 1 3/8" square punch, and adhered them to the 1 1/4" squares. I added the button with Linen Thread and the Ribbon, and adhered the squares to a 4" square piece of Sahara Sand using Dimensionals, and paper pierced around the squares. I added the sentiment in Chocolate Chip Craft ink, sprinkled clear embossing powder, and heated it to set. (Can you tell I'm stuck on this combo for my sentiments lately? I just love the pop it brings to my cards) and sponged around the edges. I then adhered all the pieces to the card base - a 8 1/2" x 4 1/4" piece of Chocolate Chip folded in half.

Here's the supplies I used: (All Stampin' Up! unless noted)
Stamps: Stitched Background Stamp, Absolutely Fabulous
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip Classic & Craft Inks
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand, Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, So Saffron DSP, Creepy Crawly DSP (retired), Apple Cider DSP (retired)
Extras: Rich Regals Buttons, Linen Thread, Clear Embossing Powder, Chocolate Chip Narrow Grosgrain, Paper Piercer

Got Ribbon?

Ok - Isn't this the most gorgeous technique ever?  Kristina Werner posted a tutorial for Ribbon Weaving last week, and at first, I wasn't sure I liked it.. then I tried it, and I am in LOVE! It looks so pretty, don't cha think?

Here's How I made it: The majority of time on this card was spent on the weaving, the rest is pretty easy peasy. I started with a 3 1/4" square piece of scrap cardstock as the base for my weaving - adhered the bottom 5 strips of Chocolate Chip Ribbon, then the side 5 strips using sticky strip. I folded the ribbon over from the bottom, then weaved each of the side strips through, one strip at a time. I carefully turned over the cardstock, and adhered the ends down using sticky strip, pulling the strips tight,

I then added the Flower Fusion trio, and a Rhinestone brad. and matted the Weaved centre peice on a 3 1/2" square of Old Olive using Sticky Strip.

My card base is a 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of Purely Pomegranate cardstock, folded in half. I stamped the Polka Dot Background stamp in the matching ink, then added the matted main image using Sticky Strip. I added the sentiment in Chocolate Chip Craft using, my Stamp-a-ma-jig for perfect placement inside those polka dots, sprinkled with Clear Embossing Powder and heated to set.

Here's the Supplies I used: (All Stampin' Up! unless noted)
Stamps: Absolutely Fabulous, Polka Dot Background Stamp
Paper: Purely Pomegranante, Old Olive
Ink: Purely Pomegranate, Chocolate Chip Craft
Extras: Chocolate Chip Wide Grosgrain, Flower Fusion, Rhinestone Brads, Clear Embossing Powder, Dimensionals

Dad's Day

As I mentioned in my previous post, Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #44 really inspired me - and drove my dear hubby crazy, since I couldn't seem to 'give it a rest' with the cards this weekend - LOL. He meant it in the nicest way possible.. really, don't they always?? Anyway - I've had this DSP in my stash for a while, and since this layout is so great for just about any DSP.. out it came. I put this card together with Father's Day in mind, but iit would probably work for a Birthday card too.. Hope you like it.

Here's how I made it:
I stamped the Cowboy in the center of a 2 3/4" x 3" piece of Whisper White cardstock with my Stamp-a-ma-Jig (LOOOVE my Stamp-a-ma-Jig!! For silly perfectionists like moi... a must have..) using Chocolate chip craft ink - clear embossing powder and heated to set. I sponged around the Cowboy with Blue Bayou ink for a bit of contrast, then distressed the edges. I matted him to a 3" x 3 1/4" piece of Blue Bayou cardstock, distressed the edges, then matted both pieces to a 3 1/4" x 3 1/2" piece of River Rock cardstock, and, you guessed it, distressed the edges too, and set it aside.

I cut two strips of the Western Sky Designer Series Paper to 3 3/4" x 5" in complimenting patterns, then cut strips on the 5" side, so I had 3" and 2" wide pieces. I adhered them to a 5 1/4" x 4" Blue Bayou matte and paper pierced all around the outer edges of the DSP. I stamped the 'Dad' sentiment using Chocolate Chip Craft, Clear Embossing Powder and heated to set. I added the Chocolate Chip wide ribbon and brads, Photo Corners in Chocolate Chip, then added the matted main image to the cardfront using dimensionals. I adhered all the layers to the base card, a 8 1/2" x 4 1/4" piece of River Rock cardstock folded in half.

Here's the supplies I used: (All Stampin' Up! unless noted)
Stamps: Bronc Buster, Dad's Day
Paper: River Rock, Blue Bayou, Western Sky Designer Series Paper, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Chocolate Chip Craft, Blue Bayou
Extras: Dimensionals, Chocolate Chip wide Grosgrain Ribbon, Hodgepodge Hardware - Pewter, Photo Corner Punch, Clear Embossing Powder

Happy Bird-day

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #44 was a real source of inspiration for me this weekend. I really like this layout, and put a few different cards together. This was my first, and I'll admit, I've used a few retired SU! items on this card... but ain't it cute? I tried something new too, with the linen thread. Kinda fun to practice your basic sewing skills.. not bad for a girl who can't sew on a button! Anyway.. hope you like it...

Here's how I built it : I stamped that adorable little birdy on a 2" x 2 1/4" piece of Very Vanilla Cardstock, in Chocolate Chip Craft - added Clear Embossing Powder and heated to set. I colored the birdy in with my Blender Pens and the colors pulled from the Designer Series Paper.  I paper peered around the border, then adhered it to a 2 1/4" x 2 1/2" piece of Cranberry Crisp cardstock (retired), then adhered both to a 2 1/2" x  2 3/4" matte of Close to Cocoa and set aside.

I cut two strips of the Treehouse Designer Series Paper(retired) to 3 3/4" x 5" in complimenting patterns, then cut those strips so I had 3" and a 2" pieces. I adhered them to a 5 1/4" x 4" Cranberry Crisp matte. I paper pierced the X patter using my mat pack and then sewed Linen Thread through the cardstock on the bottom left and top right corners. I added the Chocolate Chip wide ribbon, then the matted birdy to the cardfront using dimensionals. I then adhered all the layers to the base card, a 8 1/2" x 4 1/4" piece of Close to Cocoa cardstock. folded in half.

Here's the supplies I used: (All Stampin' Up! unless noted)
Stamps: Pun Fun
Paper: Close to Cocoa, Cranberry Crisp (In Color '07 - retired), Treehouse Designer Series Paper (retired), Very Vanilla
Ink: Marigold Morning & Cranberry Crisp (In Color '07 - retired), Basic Grey, Chocolate Chip Craft
Extras: Dimensionals, Linen Thread, Chocolate Chip wide Grosgrain Ribbon

Forever in my Heart

Yeah! Kristina Werner is back with another outstanding challenge - Color Inspiration Challenge #5. And although I've missed her color round- up by a long shot, I still wanted to put a card together - there's just something about her fabulous eye for color that really sparks my creative fire (wow - that was CHEE-ZEE- sorry!). This week, the Inspiration source was a cute pic from Pottery Barn. Love it! Stampin' Up! color translation - Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Bashful Blue and Close to Cocoa.
Hope you like what I came up with!

Here's how I made it:
I started by folding a 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of Close to Cocoa cardstock in half, and set it aside.
I inked up the Stitched background stamp in Certainly Celery, and stamped on a 5 1/4" x 2" strip of matching cardstock, and used the slit punch to create the scalloped edge (my new fav. scalloping source). I ran a narrow 5 1/4" x 1" strip of So Saffron thru my craft store mini sewing machine (the first time I've actually used this thing - fun, but hard to keep that line straight - I soo admire people who can sew! - oh and btw if you don't have a sewing machine of the card or fabric variety, you can easily create the look by Faux Stitching - Leave a comment, if you'd like me to post a tutorial on that, since I can't find any links to offer).
I Then cut a piece 5 1/4" x 3" piece of Bashful Blue Designer Series Paper (DSP) from that fabulous hostess pack, and laid out all the pieces to get a sense of spacing. I stamped the sentiment using my Stamp-a-ma-Jig, with White Craft Ink, added white embossing powder and heated to set.
Using a scrap piece of Bashful Blue - measurements approx. 3 3/4" x 5 1/4", I adhered all the different strips to it, starting with the scallop on the bottom, then the DSP, the So Saffron strip and finally the ribbon. I then added these pieces to the card base using Dimensionals.

The heart was pretty simple - just stamped the image using Bashful Blue ink, cut it out, adhered to a scrap piece of Certainly Celery and cut around the heart image again for a bit of a matte. I tied the thread thru a saffron button, and adhered to the heart using a glue dot, then adhered to my card using Dimensionals.

Supplies I used: (All Stampin' Up! unless noted)
Stamps: Always, Forever In My Heart, Stitched Background Stamp
Paper: Bashful Blue Designer Series Paper (Hostess) So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White
Ink: Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, White Craft
Extras: White Embossing Powder, Slit Punch, Bashful Blue Taffeta Ribbon, Rich Regals Buttons, Hemp Thread, Glue Dots & Dimensionals, Craft Store Mini Sewing Machine.