A Time of Plenty

It's time again for another Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge.  I'm so happy you stopped by to see my design team inspiration piece.  This week our challenge is Distressed and Sanded.  Sounds like great fun, right?  I certainly enjoyed making this wall hanging as a beautiful home decoration for the autumn season.  I covered a piece of cardboard with burlap and then spritzed it with my homemade vintage photo glimmer mixture which darkened it and gave it a bit of shimmer.  The leaves were die cut from plain white card stock and colored with distress inks and water.  The water allowed me to wrinkle them so they looked more realistic.  Once dry, I spritzed them with my glimmer mixture too.  I really love the way they turned out and will probably be making more to enhance my fall creations.  The canvas sunflowers were cut with Szzix and Cuttlebug dies and were also colored with Tim Holtz Distress Inks - this time in Wild Honey  . The clock and calendar were cut from paper in the Lost and Found pack. I embossed several layers of aluminum foil (didn't have any of the embossable metal you can buy) with Cracked Texture Fade and dripped Adirondack Alcohol inks on it. A sheet of card stock was embossed with the Collage Texture Fade, sanded and ink distressed with Vintage Photo. Tim Holtz Game spinners became clock hands and the whole creation was topped off with one of the fabulous Tim Holtz Ornate Plate.

The flourish and the tiny die cut pumpkin next to it were colored using a technique called Drunken Scotch that I found on KAT's blog.   Check out the link for her quick and easy tutorial.  It makes a great grungy look.  The young harvest boy is a stamp from Artistic Outpost, the vintage pumpkin label is from the Graphics Fairy and the cork letters were cut with the Oliva alphabet for the Cuttlebug. 

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today.  I hope you will stop by Simon Says Stamp and Show to play with us this week.  And I hope you will take time to visit the rest of the designers for this challenge.  They all do such amazing work and I'm sure you will be delighted by what you see on their blogs.

♥Linda Elbourne, DT Coordinator - A Crafting Journey

♥ Dan - My Crafty Life

♥ Lynne Forsythe - The Next Best Thing

♥ Lori Hassler - I Been Thinkin'...'Bout Inkin'

♥ Nancy Crissinger - What's Next???

♥ Nancy Wethington - Art From the Heart

♥ Terry Weitsma-Girbes - Terry's Cards & Creativity

♥ Katie Davis - Chantilly Rose

♥ Kim Costello - Paperbabe 

Blessings & hugs,

Ric Rac Attack!

It's time again for another Fairy Fun Friday.  They only come around every other Friday now.  This week we are welcoming two new Fairy Princesses - Lynne Salmon from Stamp Around the Block and Maddy Hall from Mad Imaginations.  Welcome to the design team ladies - can't wait to see what you will do with Roberta's awesome images!

Our challenge this time is Ric Rac Attack - use ric rac somehow on your card.  This fun embellishment comes in several widths.  I went for the jumbo.  We are being sponsored by Cowgirl Up and they are giving five images to the random winner of this challenge.  The design team was given a Cowgirl Up image to work with.  This one is called Little Bit and I have colored her with Copics.  The sunflower is made from canvas cut with a Sizzix and Cuttlebug dies and dyed with Wild Honey distress ink. 

Products Used:

Stamps:  Little Bit by Cowgirl Up Designs

Ink:  Copic, Printer Ink, Vintage Photo, Wild Honey and Creamy Caramel

Paper:  Whisper White, Pacific Point, Barely Banana

Accessories:  SU Daisy Punch, SU Apron border punch, Artsylicious brad, Spellbinders Mega Rectangles and Circles dies, Sizzix Flower Layers #3 die, Cuttlebug Flowers die

Now that you've seen my card, I hope you will bop on over to Fairy Fun Friday to check out the other designer's beautiful work.  Hope to see you joining in the fun with our Ric Rac Attach this week too!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I usually don't make cute cards, so let me know what you think of this departure from the norm. 

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges entered:
Paper Romance - Make Your Own Flowers
Digital Tuesday - It's All About the Girls
If the Shoe Fits - Flowers

Maid of the Harvest

It's so great to be back again with another Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge. It's been almost two weeks since our last challenge because of the joint blog hop with our sister site. Now Simon Says Stamp and Show is ready to challange you to show us your best grunge work. That's right, the theme this week is "Your Grunge". How cool is that - grunge any way you like it. Should make a lot of creative hearts happy this week! It sure made me happy...I am never happier than when I am ripping, tearing, inking and generally making something look old and grungy.

Being in an autumnal harvest sort of mood, I went searching for something to fit that frame of mind and found this wonderful vintage image of a girl with a basket of something...veggies, fruit?? Anyway she sort of looked like a harvester. I distressed her up with Vintage Photo ink and a bit of my homemade vintage glimmer mist, mounted her on a tag that I ran through the Tim Holtz Collage Texture Fade and likewise distressed. The DP is from my growing digital paper files (don't remember the source) and mounted on a panel of Always Artichoke. The bottom panel is Very Vanilla stamped with the floral flourish stamp from Flights of Fancy with Vintage Photo ink. I cut the border with Spellbinders Borderabilities Fleur De Lis die and embossed it with Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder in Vintage Photo - love that stuff with its cool rusted color and texture! I typed "Maid of the Harvest" and printed it out, cut it with a Spellbinders tag die and again used the Vintage Photo Distress EP. I don't know what I'm going to do with this little gem, but I really like it and have enjoyed having it displayed in my craft room this week.

I hope you will stop by the blogs of my incredibly talented team mates to see what else they've been up to lately. I promise you it will be time well spent.

♥Linda Elbourne, DT Coordinator - A Crafting Journey
♥ Dan - My Crafty Life
♥ Lynne Forsythe - The Next Best Thing
♥ Lori Hassler - I Been Thinkin'...'Bout Inkin'
♥ Nancy Crissinger - What's Next???
♥ Nancy Wethington - Art From the Heart
♥ Terry Weitsma-Girbes - Terry's Cards & Creativity
♥ Katie Davis - Chantilly Rose
♥ Kim Costello - Paperbabe

Thanks for stopping by today. Can't wait to see Your Grunge over on the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge blog.

Blessings & hugs,

Autumn = Apples

Good morning! I have a de-lic-ious vintage card to share today. Several weeks ago, my card was picked as one of the Top 3 at Raise the Bar, which was an honor in itself. But even better, their prize is a one-week guest designer slot - woohoo!!! How exciting!!!

The challenge theme at Raise the Bar this week is Something Yummy. I am definitely deep in the grip of autumn, even though I live in sunny south Florida and the daytime temps are still hitting the high 80s with lows in the high 70s. I yearn for a cool, brisk breeze. I grew up in upstate New York, in the fruit belt - strawberries, cherries and peaches in the summer and in the fall - apples. Some of the best apples you could ever want to taste! My favorites are Cortlands and MacIntoshes. For years, after we moved to Florida, my mom and dad would take a fall trip in their motorhome and bring back bushels of apples so we didn't have to be apple deprived. Honestly, the kind you buy in the supermarket are no comparison!

Enough reminising! I just wanted to tell you why my "something yummy" isn't ice cream, cookies or cake. Actually, I tried to go that route, but my mojo ran off screaming. It was only when I started leafing through my vintage images that it slinked back. Then when I discovered this cool apple crate label, my mojo stood up to be counted. I am a huge social justice advocate and collect quotes that support equality. I love this Ghandi quote and thought it was perfect for the Fresh Living theme at The Shabby Tea Room which is inspired by nature and/or using something green.

Being in an earthy sort of mood, I chose to use the red weathered wood Doc Holiday sheet from the Cosmo Cricket Wanted DP. Did I tell you I grew up on a farm? So I wanted something barn-like for this rustic piece. Everything is heavily distressed with scissors and Vintage Photo distress ink. I curled up the edges of the vintage label - you know how when you peel a label off something? I wanted that effect.

I'm listing all the products used below. Let me know what you think of my little nostalgic piece. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments and check back for an updated post with your question anwered.

Products Used:
Stamps: Garden Silhouettes by SU stamped on tag
Paper: SU Garden Green, Cosmo Cricket Doc Holiday/Wanted pack, Autumn Thyme Digital DP by Raspberry Roads
Ink: Printer ink, Vintage Photo Distress Ink
Accessories: Spellbinders Tag die, Tim Holtz Chackboard Texture Fade EF, Martha Stewart Scallop Border Punch

Alrighty now, that's the scoop on this card. Hope you will stop back by tomorrow morning to check out my sample for Our Creative Corner. Thanks again for stopping by and for your wonderful comments!

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges entered:

The Shabby Tea Room - Fresh Living

Paper Sundaes - Use at least 3 kinds of embellishments

Kaboodle Doodles - Get Inspired

Fresh Brewed Challenges - DARE (Distressing, Autumn, Ribbons, Embellishments)

Stampin' B's - Use food on a card or project

Frosted Designs - Quote Challenge

Beary Sweet Challenge - Go Vintage

Stampin' for the Weekend - Tag It!

Gingersnap Creations Spicy Supply Challenge - Punches

Artful Inkables - Color Challenge - my choice was red and green

Pixie Cottage - Sketch and/or Mellow Fruitfulness (to go with the autumn season)

Simon Says Blog Hop Winner

Thanks so much to everyone for taking part in our first joint Simon Says Stamp and Simon Says Stamp and Show blog hop. What a fantastic turnout of entries we had. I'm pleased to announce that the winner of my blog candy for the hop, the Tim Holtz Fragments, is #188 Esme of The Crafty Vet blog. Congratulations Esme. Please email me at thefunkiejunkie@gmail.com with your mailing address details. Your package will be sent to you directly by Simon Says Stamp.

Thanks again everyone for making this hop such a wonderful success!

Blessings & hugs,

Fun With Folds

Good morning and a warm welcome to you! Thanks so much for stopping by to see what I have made for this week's Our Creative Corner challenge. This week, our lovely hostess, Lori Rider, has challenged us to have Fun With Folds - make a card that has some sort of non-traditional fold associated with it. It can be in the card itself, such as the gatefold card that I have made, or your embellishment can be made with special folds. I took a quick peek at the DT samples and it looks like we all used a different sort of fold so there will be lots of inspiration over there this week. I used the tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers to make this card. It's the first one I have ever made and I wasn't quite sure of the dimensions. But it was very easy to make.


Products Used:
Paper: SU Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Peach Parfait and Pear Pizzazz CS, K&Co. DP
Stamps: SU Elements of Style, Sentiment from Raindrop Echo Designs
Ink: Dried Marigold, Peeled Paint, and Vintage Photo Distress Inks
Acessories: Spellbinders Frameabilities Classic Frame die, Tim Holtz Scrollwork Die, Cuttlebg Moraccan Screen embossing Folder, Misted with solution of Vintage Photo Reinker, water and Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls

Thanks so much for stopping by and for your lovey comments. Have a great weekend!

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges Entered:

Project Tuesday - Gate Fold Cards

Frosted Designs - Quote Challenge

Raise the Bar - Color Challenge: Green, Orange, Brown

Allsorts Challenge - The Colors of Autumn

Flourishes Bring Back Beauty - Rustic Beauty

Speedy the Cat Challenge - Use Fall Colors

Harbor Gulls

Isn't this a wonderful image? It's a new digital image from The Prairie Fairy called Harbor Gulls. I was so pleased at how it looked when colored with Copics. I thought the image was striking enough that it didn't need a lot of embellshments so I kept it pretty plain. Our challenge theme this week at Fairy Fun Friday is Embossing. I used both heat and dry embossing on this piece. Heat embossed was the map stamp on the frame and with clear ultra thick embossing powder around the parimeter of the base layer. Everything else is pretty self-explanatory, but if you have any questions, just leave a comment and I will update this post with the response.

Products Used:
Paper: SU Natural and Not Quite Navy CS, Digital DP Coming Home pack from Little Scrap Garden (looks like it is no longer available - couldn't find a link)
Accessories: SU Word Window Punch, Top Note die and brass brads, Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles and Distressed Stripes embossing folders

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Have a great day!

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges entered:

City Crafter Challenge Blog - One for the Boys

Prairie Fairy Blog Hop Winner

Congratulations

to Sandy Ang, the winner of my blog candy for the Prairie Fairy Blog Hop.

Sandy, please email me at thefunkiejunkie@gmail.com with your mailing address so I can send your package on it's way.

Welcome to the Simon Says Stamp Blog Hop

Welcome to the first ever combined Simon Says Stamp and Show and Simon Says Stamp SUPER HOP. If you are lost, please go back to the Simon Says Stamp and Show blog for the complete list of blog stops. Don't forget, you must comment on each blog along the way to be eligible to win prizes in the September 15th drawing.

You are currently on Linda Coughlin's blog. The letter you are picking up from this stop on the hop is S. Your next and final stop will be at the Simon Says Stamp blog. Be sure to leave a comment here before you leave, both to qualify you for the grand prize drawing and also for the blog candy I am giving away here. The ingredient used to make my project that I am giving away is Tim Holtz Fragments Charms. Have you tried these? They are so much fun. Check out Tim's A Compendium of Curiosities, page 30, to learn all the wonderful ways to use them.

Now that we have gotten through all those blog hop instructions, here's my part of the hop. I decided to make a Halloween tryptych. Here it is in all it's final glory.


But I must say, it took me FOREVER to make this. It was a fun project, but so many elements and details, all hand cut and hand distressed. I was so glad that we had an extra couple of days to create our project this week. For the distressing, I sponged the edges of everything with Vintage Photo distress ink, plus some were misted with a solution of Vintage Photo reinker, water and Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls.

Here are some close up shots of my project.

The center panel was dry embossed with a Sizzix embossing folder. Then I brayered Versamark over the high points and applied Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress EP to give it a nice rough texture. Most of the vintage graphics are from The Graphics Fairy, a free on-line source. Three Tim Holtz stamp sets were also used: Halloween Ticket stamp, Urban Grunge, Spooky Stuff. The letters for the banner are from The Graphics Fairy and are mounted on pendants stamped with the floral filagree stamp from Flights of Fancy which was stamped on white CS with Versamark and then clear embossed. After that, it was sponged with black ink so the pattern of the stamp shows in white. The skull from Grungeboard Altered Elements Plain was painted with Picket Fence distress crackle paint.

Both the left and right panels were embossed with the Patchwork Texture Fade and then painted over with Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabber in Snow Cap. The raven and the Happy Halloween stamps are from the Spooky Stuff stamp set. The raven was stamped on white with versamark and Memento Tuxedo Black ink and clear embossed, then trimmed out. Happy Halloween was stamped in Versamark and Dusty Concord, clear embossed and then sponged with Peeled Paint. The filagree frame for The Raven quote is from The Graphics Fairy. I found The Raven text on line, layered it over the frame with PSE and also created another layer in PSE to add "Nevermore."

A vintage photo of a witch was digitally overlaid on a digital playing card, which was printed and mounted on a bingo card. I printed and punched out the letters for WITCH and glued them to the card. The Tim Holtz Fragment Charm was stamped with alcohol inks and then a stamped image of a witch's cauldron was affixed to the back with Glossy Accents. The black cat was stamped with the Spooky Stuff set and black glitter was applied. The flower was made with Grungepaper cut with the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die and the flourish was cut with a Sizzix die. The flower was embossed with the Textile Cuttlebug embossing folder and sponged with Dried Marigold and Dusty Concord distress inks.

There you have it, folks. Best of luck to you in all the drawings for this outrageously generous blog hop! Hope you have a blast looking at all the lovelies we have created for your inspiration. Thanks so much for stopping by today.

Blessings & hugs,

Playing With Canvas

Today's post is just for fun - no design team commitments, but a couple of challenges I wanted to get in on. If you've visited me recently, you have probably noticed that I have been experimenting with canvas. My interest in canvas started when I saw some canvas tags on a blog (don't know whose - sorry). So I purchased some at my local Jo-Ann's and have been playing around with making flowers, but hadn't gotten around to making a tag. This week's challenge over at the Shabby Tea Room is to make a tag which presented me with the right opportunity to use canvas.

I pulled out a tag like Tim Holtz uses and used it as a pattern to cut my canvas. I punched a hole in the top with my Crop-a-Dile and set in a jumbo eyelet. I stamped the plain canvas with a couple of script and text stamps in Vintage Photo and then spritzed it well with plain water to make it run. That wasn't quite grungy enough so I spritzed it again with the mixture of Vintage Photo, Perfect Pearls Heirloom Gold and water that I have been using a lot lately. That gave it a nice vintage feel. Using Archival Brilliance pigment ink in Graphite Black, I stamped a few French label stamps. For the flowers, more canvas was cut with the Sizzix Flowers and Vine #3 die and dyed with SU Pumpkin Pie ink and Butterscotch alcohol ink. The lace at the bottom was also dyed. It started out white and I sprayed it with the Vintage Photo/Perfect Pearls mix until all the white was gone.

I got the idea for the crystals from one of my Simon Says Stamp and Show teammies, Lynne Forsyth. She used them on her latest project for the challenge blog. I was in an antique store last week and they were selling these crystals loose, probably from a damaged chandelier. I got a zip lock bag with about 40 of them for $7. Later I was in another antique store and they were selling them for 50 cents each, so I got a good deal. Plus my baggie has a bunch of the larger teardrop crystals too - very cool! I like that they are real glass - very sparkly when I washed them!

Products Used:
Stamps: Tim Holtz Urban Grunge, 7 Gypsies Avignon Clear Stamps, free vintage image from Night Owl Vintage
Ink: Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Archival Brilliance Graphite Black
Accessories: Sizzix Flowers & Vine #3 die, Spellbinders Deckle Rectangle dies, Tim Holtz Addage Tickets, Tim Holtz Trinket Pin, Stampin' Up brad

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today. I sincerely appreciate all your encouraging comments!

Blessings & hugs,


Challenges Entered
The Shabby Tea Room - Tag, You're It

Flourishes - Use a Ticket
Our Vintage Affair - Vintage Tags

Stampin' for the Weekend - Vintage or Shabby

Creatalicious - Vintage

My Partner in Crafting Crime - Let's Try Vintage

Stamptacular Sunday - Distress It

Pocket Full of Posies - Floral Fantasy

My Time to Craft - Jeweled

ABC Challenge - C is for Charms (I think my crystals count as charms)

All That Scraps - Lace

Crafts & Me Challenge - Sparkle and Gems

Dutch Dare Card Challenge - Vintage Summer

Res-Q-Challenge - Tools of the Trade (scissors used to cut canvas into tag shape)

Love U 4ever

Welcome to my Saturday post for Our Creative Corner. It's a new month of challenges at the OCC and Lori Rider is our hostess. This week Lori has sort of a back-to-school challenge for you - it's use ABCs and 123s on your project. I've done a couple of back-to-school cards and wanted to more on to something fresh. So I incorporated a letter and number into my sentiment and used it with a vintage image. A new type of embellishment for me, I used canvas to stamp on and to create the flower. LOVE was stamped on a scrap of canvas and the flower was cut with the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die, the leaves with a Spellbinders die. The flower and leaves were sprayed with Tim Holtz alcohol inks in Cranberry and Lettuce. I also used the mixture of Vintage Photo Reinker, Water and Perfect Pearls to mist several of the panels.

Products Used:
Stamps: Tim Holtz Urban Grunge , the "ever" was printed on my printer
Paper: River Rock, Always Artichoke, Purely Pomegranate, K& Co. DP, Whisper White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Vintage Photo, Printer Ink
Accessories: Spellbinders Labels 3 and Classic Hearts dies, Sizzix Flourish die, Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die, Cuttlebug Oliva alphabet to cut chipboard U and 4 and Script embossing folder, gold dimensional paint, SU brad, Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks in Lettuce and Cranberry

That's a wrap on another Our Creative Corner sample. Let me know if you have any questions. BTW, I am loving using canvas so you'll be seeing it again. I bought a yard - it goes a LONG way when you use it in bits and pieces.

Thanks so much for stopping by. If you're in the U.S., I wish you a happy and safe Labor Day weekend. Hope you can have a rest from your labors and enjoy the last weekend of the summer.

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges Entered:

Fab 'n' Funky - Living in a Material World

Cute Card Thursday - Material Girl

Vintage School Girl & Another Good Bye

Hello! Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. It's time again for the fortnightly challenge at the Creative Card Crew. This will be my last challenge with this design team. I've been with them for almost a year and I'm stepping down to make more time in my schedule to play in the challenges that I want to play in. While I do love to be on a few design teams, I have decided that I need time to be able to make the cards and projects that I want to make and not be bound by a set of criteria for every single project. At the peak, I was on six teams and was turning out almost a card a day. It takes me 5-6 hours to make one card so I was spending too much time in my craft room and then rest of my free time at my computer making comments. Finally I decided enough was enough.

Our challenge theme at the Creative Card Crew this week is Back to School. I really puzzled over this one for a few days and then I found this vintage school girl in my vintage image files and the design began to come together. I found a sheet of designer paper in the Tim Holtz Lost & Found paper pad that had ABC flash cards on it, but as usual I covered most of it up. I also used one of Tim's new Texture Fades (embossing folders) called Note Paper. I cut a piece of SU Natural CS with the Top Note die and ran it through the Note Paper Texture Fade. I sponged it with Vintage Photo distress ink and also spritzed it with a mixture of Vintage Photo reinker, water and Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls. The flowers were cut using the Old School digital DP from Raspberry Roads Designs. (BTW, Raspberry Road is having a 50% off sale this week. The Old School pack was just $1.) The small flowers were made using Spellbinders Flower Creations 3 dies and the larger, red flower was made using the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die. The tickets were stamped with the Autumn Leaves Ticketed set.

Thanks again for stopping by. Hope you will also stop over to the Creative Card Crew to see what the other designers have for your inspiration.

Challenges Entered:

Pile it On - Farewell to Summer

Die Cut Dreams - Soft Shades of Vintage

Incy Wincy Designs - Back to School

The Shabby Tea Room - Old Meets New (old - SU CS, vintage image, seam binding, new Tim Holtz products)

Artful Inkables - Distressed Out

All That Scraps - Crinkled Ribbon

Little Red Wagon - Back to School

Pixie Cottage - Sketch and/or Back to School

Fussy & Fancy - Back to School

Stamp Something - Back to School

Sugar & Spice, Ribbons & Curls

Well my dears, here it is again, another Monday morning and time for another Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge. At least there is one good thing to look forward to on Monday mornings, right? This week our challenge is Layers, which you can interpret any way that speaks to you. My layers project all started with these charming vintage images of little girls and that yummy row of blue and white lace. I decided to base it on that old rhyme - what are little girls made of? Sugar and spice and everything nice, ribbons and curls because she's a girl. How swee is that?

My first layer is corrugated cardboard that I painted with Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dauber in Snow Cap and then spritzed with Ranger Cranberry alcohol ink. I've had a box of K&Co. Christmas chipboard in my stash forever - never used it because it's not really my style. So I covered it with designer paper on which I had printed the title and rhyme words. Then I ran it through the Idea-ology Cracked Texture Fade and inked up the edges with Vintage Photo. I mounted all of the chipboard on a piece of cardstock DP, added the vintage images and a few pretty brads plus a grunge paper flower and my project was good to go. Sounds quick and easy, right? Well actually I worked on it most of the day Saturday, fiddling with this and that, trying one thing, changing another - my typical style with everthing I create. Let me know what you think of it. I'm never really sure if my art is any good or not.

Products Used: Lots of Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die, Plain Grunge Board and Plain Grunge Paper, Memo Pins, Addage Tickets, Idea-ology Key Hole, Cracked Texture Fade, Ranger Snow Cap Acrylic Paint Dauber, Idea-ology Accoutrements Buttons, Idea-ology Curio Knobs,

I hope that now you're off to check out the blogs of the rest of the design team. They always have fabulous art, week and week out.

♥Linda Elbourne, DT Coordinator - A Crafting Journey
♥ Dan - My Crafty Life
♥ Lynne Forsythe - The Next Best Thing
♥ Lori Hassler - I Been Thinkin'...'Bout Inkin'
♥ Nancy Crissinger - What's Next???
♥ Nancy Wethington - Art From the Heart
♥ Terry Weitsma-Girbes - Terry's Cards & Creativity
♥ Katie Davis - Chantilly Rose
♥ Kim Costello - Paperbabe

Hope to see your entry over at Simon Says Stamp and Show this week. Thanks for stopping by and for any comments you care to leave.

Blessings & hugs,

Our Creative Corner: A Color Challenge

Good morning and Happy Saturday! I'm so happy you stopped by this morning to view my sample for this week's color challenge over at Our Creative Corner. Our hostess, Wendy Jensen, has a wonderful color palette for you to work with this week.

When I first saw this color combo, I was pretty doubtful, but plunged in and I'm really happy with the results. It's nice to work with something out of the mainstream once in awhile and I had a lot of fun making this card. I took a sneek peek at the other designers samples this week and they are all really fabulous.

For my card, I made the bottom panel, which looks very much like gingham, using a crimper. I ran a panel of So Saffron through the crimper. Then I sponged all the high points with Old Olive. Then I ran it through the crimper again in the opposite direction and again hit the high points with Old Olive. I don't have Early Expresso so I stamped the flourish and the text on the panels with Tim Holtz Walnut Stain Distress Ink. The splatters were made by mixing water, one dropperful of Vintage Photo distress ink and a small scoop of Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls, my new fav embellie. Shake and spray. The flowers were made by stamping the flowers from Best Blossoms with So Saffron and Cherry Cobbler, trimming them out and coating hem with Tim Holtz Crackle Accents.

Products Used: SU Script background stamp, Best Blossoms and Elements of Style. The text stamp on the heart was won in a blog candy and has no manufacturer's marking whatsoever. Ink: Tim Holtz Walnut Stain and Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Old Olive

Accessories: Lace from Jo-Ann's, Bead Caps from eBay, Flourish is a BossCuts die

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you will join in the color challenge fun with us this week at Our Creative Corner.

Have a great weekend. Thanks for visiting and for any comments you care to leave.

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges Entered:

For Fun Challenges - Use Lace

Pixie Dust Challenge - Stitching

Lexi's Creations - Emboss It

Prairie Fairy Blog Hop & New Digi Release

WELCOME,
to the PRAIRIE FAIRY BLOG HOP and
DIGITAL RELEASE PARTY!

If you came here from Kelly's Kreative Korner then you are on the right track! If not, please head on over to the PRAIRIE FAIRY BLOG because you don't want to miss out on all the fun offers and prizes and the rules at the beginning of the hop!

What's up for grabs??? Well not only is the Prairie Fairy offering up some yummy candy at her blog, she is going to be giving out digital prize packs to some lucky winners worth $15 each! That's right you could win the newly released images! There are multiple prizes so make sure you start at the Fairy's blog so that you don't miss out on how and what you can win!

If you get lost along the way, here is the hop list:

Carla
Corry
Hege
Kelly
Lori
Margreet
Sue
Suzi
Terry
Tonya
Trisha
Viv
Deonna (guest designer Aug)
Debs R (guest designer this week)

The hop ends at FAIRY FUN FRIDAYS challenge blog where you will hear some new announcements and if you enter a card in the challenge you will get an extra entry into the draws and if you use a Prairie Fairy image on your creation you will get another entry! The challenge this week is to use PEARLS AND LACE on your card. Be sure to visit all the DT's blogs as there are prizes at stake if you do, and we all love comments! Here's what I am giving out for my blog candy. Just leave a comment and I will do a random drawing on Friday, September 10th. (Basic Grey 6x6" Euphoria paper pad, Hero Arts Pearls and Gems, Jolee's tiny flowers, 2 clear mini stamps and a set of Daisy D's embellishments.)

Card Details:

Stamps: The Lighthouse by the Prairie Fairy, shells are stamped from a Flourishes set

Paper: Night of Navy, next level up is SU Natural stamped with an old map stamp in Memento Tuxedo Black and spritzed with my new fav embellie a solution of water, one dropperful of Vintage Photo ink and a craft stick scoop of Heirloon Gold Perfect Pearls. Combine everything together in a Mini Mister and mist away. Next layer up (blue) is a digital paper printed at home and after that a piece of the map paper from the K&Co. Sea Glass pad that I printed other Prairie Fairy nautical images on in black Too bad you can't see them - LOL! Again I spritzed with the Vintage Photo mix.

Accessories: Copic markers, cheese cloth spritzed with the Vintage Photo mix, Crystal Effects, Martha Stewart Pearls, Top Note Die, SU Corner Punch

We are so glad you joined us and hope to see your entry at the challenge blog! From here, just hop on over to Suzi's blog.

Update: A reader asked about a tutorial for the clouds. I used Annika Ryan's tutorial for the clouds. Her colors were a little to turquoise for me so I toned it down a bit with more gray (C1) and blue/gray (BV20 and B60) and then blended in a bit of pink (not sure but I think it was RV000 and V000). Also, while Annika advised to go up and down with her strokes, I went over mine several times with choppy horizontal strokes. Basically, I just played around with it until I got it to look like I thought it should. I also have good luck using an almost dry blender pen (0), picking up color from another maker and then applying with the blender pen. If it gets too dry, I add a couple of drops of clear blender solution to the tip, but I don't fill up the entire marker.

Challenges Entered:

Raise the Bar - The Hut (any kind of dwelling)

Just Add Ink - Just Add Material (mine is cheese cloth)

Sew Sorry

Today kicks off the last challenge for Isabella's Sketchbook. It's being suspended indefinitely as the lovely Isabella deals with a cross-country move and some family health issues. I am so sorry to see this design team end. I have really enjoyed getting to know some fantastic women who are also skilled paper artisans. Even though the challenges are suspended, Isabella's Sketchbook Digital Boutique will remain open - yay!! We'll still have the opportunity to purchase her beautiful digis.

Our challenge this week is to make your own flowers - something that I totally love to do. For my last card, I chose express my regret with Isabella's cute sewing basket digi. I used the sketch from this week's Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge. The papers are a digital download from Raspberry Road and the image was colored with Copics. I made the flower following the Dimensional Flower tutorial on SplitcoastStampers. The sentiment was printed on my computer.

Products Used:
Stamps: Digital Image by Isabella's Sketchbook, sentiment computer generated
Paper: Flourishes CS for image, Bravo Burgundy, Raspberry Road DP
Ink: Creamy Caramel, Copics
Accessories: Spellbinders Circle and Scallop Dies, Tim Holtz Tattered Foral Die, Creative Memories Cutting System for large shape, Martha Stewart border punch, floral trim, ribbon, button

I want to thank Isabella for choosing me for her first design team. It's been awesome working with her fantastic images. I wish her many blessings as she goes through the next few months.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Hugs and blessings to you too!

Challenges Entered:

Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge

Prairie Fairy is having a BLOG HOP!
When you ask? The fun starts this Friday, August 27th!

You don't want to miss this event. The Fairy has been a little quiet for a while but is back and breaking loose with some major blog candy, prizes, and a digital release that will blow you away!

The DT have also created some extra special projects for your viewing pleasures. The fun doesn't end there because all the DT is having their own candy giveaways at their blogs too!

You heard right! There is just too much candy to miss here! The fun all starts at 10:00am when the Fairy Fun Fridays challenge goes live.

soooooo, COME JOIN THE FUN!

It all starts at the Prairie Fairy Blog on Friday Aug. 27th 10:00 a.m. See you then!

Autumn Accordion Tag

It's that time of the week when we have the wonderful unveiling of DT projects for Simon Says Stamp and Show. I hope you are as excited as I am for Monday morning to come around so you can find out what our weekly challenge is and to be inspired by the design team's samples. This week we are challenging you to make a project in your best Tim Holtz style. For many people, Tim Holtz brings tags to mind and you'll see that held true for the design team as well. I chose to make tags too - with a twist. Mine is a home decor project - an accordion style tag celebrating the autumn months. The four panels represent August with a back-to-school theme, September - the true beginning of autumn, October with Halloween and Thanksgiving in November.

Even with no stitching, this was a fairly labor-intensive project, but it was a lot of fun so I didn't mind. Plus I have decided to keep it myself and use it in my fall decorating. Fall is my favorite season and I love to decorate my home with leaves, pumpkins and other autumn icons.

I have quite a few Tim Holtz embellishments, but not many of his stamps. So I relied on other stamps seasonal stamps that had a vintage feel to them and added the TH embellishments. I must say, I was rather nervous again this week when trying to come up with an idea for a project. The bar is very high with the talent on this DT and I didn't want to let my teammies down. Now that the project is finished, photographed and posted, I'm feeling pretty good about the outcome.

Products Used: Tim Holtz products include Salvage Stickers, Game Spinner, Muse Token, Grungeboard Elements, Philosophy Tag, Tattered Florals Die, Distress Inks, Distress Embossing Powder and Crackle Paint.

I hope you'll play along with us this week at Simon Says Stamp and Show. The prizes are always fantastic and you can't win if you don't play! I'm sure you'll want to visit the blogs of the other talented design team members:

♥Linda Elbourne, DT Coordinator - A Crafting Journey
♥ Dan - My Crafty Life
♥ Lynne Forsythe - The Next Best Thing
♥ Lori Hassler - I Been Thinkin'...'Bout Inkin'
♥ Nancy Crissinger - What's Next???
♥ Nancy Wethington - Art From the Heart
♥ Terry Weitsma-Girbes - Terry's Cards & Creativity
♥ Katie Davis - Chantilly Rose
♥ Kim Costello - Paperbabe

Thanks for stopping by. Can't wait to see what you make for the Tim Holtz inspired challenge this week!

Blessings & hugs,

Our Creative Corner Sketch Challenge

Good morning and happy Saturday. Here I am again for Our Creative Corner. This week our hostess, Wendy Jansen has a sketch challenge for you. I have to admit, I fudged it just a bit - I forgot about the ribbon across the main panel until I had the whole thing put together so I combined it with the right top corner element. Hope Wendy will forgive me for messing up her sketch!

I combined this challenge with the colors for this week's Play Date Cafe challenge - light and dark greens and blue. I set out with my normal shabby chic style, sponging and scissor distressing the edges. The frame was embossed with Tim Holtz distress embossing power and I used his Tattered Florals die to cut canvas on which I applied two colors of alcohol inks. I've seen a couple of examples of canvas recently and it looked sweetly shabby so I purchased a small piece this week to play around with.

Products Used
Stamps: Bluebird from Artistic Outpost, music from Stamp Oasis and the Thanks stamp is from Celebration of Thanks by Verve
Paper: SU's Old Olive and (retired) Bermuda Bay, DP from Rasberry Road Designs Moments in Time and Pressed in Time digital paper packs
Ink: Stuart Superior India Ink, Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Versamark
Accessories: Brad from SU, SU Word Window Punch, the flower brad is from Little Yellow Bicycle (old, probably not available any more - been in my stash forever), Tim Holtz Peeled Paint Distress Embossing Powder, Tim Holtz Tattered Floral die, Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks in Stream and Meadow

Hope you'll skip on over to Our Creative Corner to see what the other designers have done with Wendy's sketch. Hope you'll check out their personal blogs too!

♥Wendy Jensen♥Dana Grothaus♥Diane Gilbert♥Jennifer Meyer♥Julie LeBlanc♥Sarah Gough♥Lori Rider♥

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Blessings & hugs,

Challenges and Such Entered:

The Play Date Cafe - Color Challenge: Blue and Shades of Green

Fab 'n' Funky - Flower Power

7 Kids College Fund - Strip it Down (no more than 2 layers of DP)

Charisma Cardz Challenge - Die Cuts

Res-Q-Challenge - Time for Some Therapy (my fav is vintage!)

Artistic Outpost August Referral Program - Used Bluebird stamp set