SCS Inspiration Challenge - Candle Pinterest Board

The Inspiration Challenge on Splitcoaststampers is my favorite one of the week.  For today's inspiration site, Audrie chose her Favorite Candles Pinterest Board.  What wonderful choices we had for inspiration -- so much so that I actually made two projects -- one card and one tag.

For my card, I chose this gorgeous candle which reminded me of hyacinths, so I used my new ODBD Hyacinth set to create a birthday card in the colors on the candle.

I stamped the image twice and cut out the center frame, which I popped up on foam dots.  I am entering this card in the Our Daily Bread Designs Anything Goes challenge.

For my tag, I chose these owl candles and used a new Elizabeth Craft Designs tag die called Tags & More 3 - Leaves.  I cut the tag out twice, once in dark green and once in white.   For the white one, I also used the leaves die at the top.

I love using googlie eyes on my owls.  It makes them look wiser, don't you think?

Card
Stamps:  Our Daily Bread Designs Hyacinth
Ink:  Memento Grape Jelly, Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Recollections Heavyweight White, SU Perfect Plum, MFP Stamp Shop Snow Storm Smooth, DCWV Silver Glitter paper, Paper Pizazz Soft Purple Fern
Accessories:  Copic markers, Labels 26 dies, Foam pop dots

Tag
Stamps:  MFP Stamp Shop Owls, Autumn Splendor
Ink:  Memento Espresso Truffle
Paper:  MFP Stamp Shop Snow Storm Smooth, SU Always Artichoke
Accessories:  Copic markers, Elizabeth Craft Designs Tags & More 3 - Leaves dies, Googlie eyes, Ribbon

Inspiration Challenge

The Inspiration Challenge has always been my favorite on Splitcoaststampers.  It's always such a treat to see how people see something and make it their own.  Today's site is a Flickr gallery of Stampscapes creations.  I have always admired the scenes I have seen that were made using these wonderful stamps.  I have only a couple of them, but I did see a scene that I thought I could recreate. Here is a link to Kevin Nakagawa's beautiful creation. Here is my card:

I tried to get some purple into those clouds using a marker, but it really didn't look like it did in my head.  I might have to practice that a little bit!

Stamps:  Stampscapes Clouds with Moon; MFP Stamp Shop Scenic Selections, PussyWillow; The Artful Stamper Palm Trees
Paper:  MFP Stamp Shop Black Linen, Groovin' Grape, Snow Storm Smooth; Creative Imaginations DP
Ink:  Ranger Distress Chipped Sapphire, Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories:  Sponge applicator, Copic marker V22

Exciting News

I've got some great news to share today.  I've been asked to join the Blog Team for CardMaker magazine for the next six months.  I've looked at CardMaker for many years and on several occasions thought, "Gee, I can do that."  So I started to submit cards for publication.  It took a while, but I finally was published last year, which was very exciting to say the least.  And when they asked me to join their blog team, I was over the moon!  If you don't yet follow the blog, you should.  You can get it delivered to your e-mail just by signing up here.

On another note, I thought I'd share a couple of cards I made for challenges over on Splitcoaststampers this weekend.  Friday's Free 4 All challenge was a true "free for all."  All we had to do was upload a card we were working on at the moment.  I was trying to catch up on a couple of other challenges and made this one, using some new stamps that I had just purchased from Our Daily Bread Designs.

I love stamps and dies that coordinate with each other, and this is a perfect example of that.

My second card uses my new favorite Stampin' Up set, Four Feathers.

This was for the Inspiration Challenge on Saturday.  As it turns out, this card also has stamps and dies that coordinate.  I didn't realize at the time, but the color palettes of both cards are very similar.

Yesterday's Featured Stamper, Torico, has a really fun gallery.  As I was looking through it, I actually found two cards I liked and tried a little experiment to see if I could CASE both of them into one card.  Here are links to her two cards:  Let It Snow and 'Tis the Season.  Here's my card:

Card #1
Stamps:  ODBD Shine On
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Bamboo Leaves, Bahama Blue
Paper:  Recollections Heavyweight White
Accessories:  ODBD Sparkling Stars dies, Enamel Dot stickers, Foam pop dots

Card #2
Stamps:  SU Four Feathers, Sincere Salutations
Ink:  SU Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore; Versafine Deep Lagoon
Paper:  SU Green Galore, retired DSP
Accessories:  Feathers Framelits dies, Brad, clear embossing powder

Card #3
Stamps:  MFP Stamp Shop Crisp Winter
Ink:  Ranger Distress Tumbled Glass, Tattered Rose, Dried Marigold, Scattered Straw; Versafine Onyx Black
Paper:  Recollections Heavyweight White, Black
Accessories:  Heidi Swapp birch trees stencil, Sponge applicators

SCS Inspiration Challenge

It's been a while since I've posted any Splitcoaststampers challenge cards, but I decided I should start doing that.  As the Inspiration Challenge is my favorite one of the week, I started there.  Today's inspiration site is a Pinterest board with all sorts of packaging from all over the world.  I chose this particular photo to use as my inspiration.  

I thought the photos on the juice containers looked just like flowers, and the orange juice one reminded me of a chrysanthemum stamp from MFP Stamp Shop.

Stamps:  MFP Stamp Shop Chrysanthemum, Lots of Words
Ink:  Memento Espresso Truffle, Ranger Distress Tea Dye
Paper:  MFP Old World Gold, Sun, Natuaral
Accessories:  Copic markers, Brads, Sponge applicators

MFP Blog Hop Day 2 - Primitive Farm

Sept. Blog Hop! 

This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

 Featured Sept 10 - Koi Fish

Featured Sept 11 - Primitive Farm 

Featured Sept 12  -What a Scream

Featured Sept 13 - Tailgate Party

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the blogs listed below (don't forget this one), each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be announced on Sept. 14, 2013, on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win and comments on the MFP blog count twice!)  The deadline for commenting is 10 PM EST on Friday, Sept. 13,  2013.

 The special stamp set we have for you this month is:

"Holiday Tag"

 The mini stamp set we have for you this month is:

"Nature's Brushstrokes"
                                                      

Continuing with my theme this month of a different challenge every day, today I chose to do an Inspiration Challenge.  I'm not much into folk art, but I went on-line and found a couple of prints to use as the inspiration for my cards.  The first one is a print by Karen O'Lone-Hahn.

 

Here is my card, using the two cows from today's set as well as one of the images from another MFP, aHC set called Tree Greetings.  I sponged in the clouds using a die-cut as a template.

The first time I saw today's set, I immediately thought of a print that is in one of the examining rooms at my doctor's office.  I couldn't find it on-line anywhere, but I found this one by artist Keith Millison, which is similar.

Here is my card:

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.    Be sure to check out what the rest of the team has created using today's set.  Here's the Design Team:

Patty, Lois (that's me), Jane, Debbie. Pam, Pat, Thrfity Stamper, Marilynn, Karen, Bonnie, Kathy, Angela,
Cathy, Toni, Sue, Janine, An'Jenic, Kate, Shirley, Marks Finest Papers, a Heinrich Co.

MFP Blog Hop Day 3 & CCEE1320 - Space Fun

May Blog Hop! 

This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

 Featured May 14th - Marsh Birds

Featured May 15th - In Tents

Featured May 16th - Space Fun

Featured May 17th - Now Showing

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the blogs listed below (don't forget this one), each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be announced on May 18, 2013 on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day. (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win and comments on the MFP blog count twice!) The deadline for commenting is 11 PM EST on Friday. May 17, 2013.

 The special stamp set we have for you this month is:

"Marsh Silhouettes"

 The mini stamp set we have for you this month is

"Lily of the Valley"
                                                      

Today's set is too fun with its cute little aliens and space images.  Both my cards today are doing double duty.  The first one is also for Shirley's CCEE Stampers challenge -- Let it all hang out or over.  When I first read the theme for this challenge, I didn't have a clue what it meant.  Then I thought -- maybe she meant use the "out of the box" technique.    I stamped the alien and cut the Labels 4 shape, leaving part of his body and legs "hang out."  If you want to "hang out" with the CCEE stampers and play along, check out our blog.

My second card was also made for another challenge -- the Speedy TV Inspiration Challenge.  As I'm the hostess for this challenge, I made sure the theme coincided with today's new set.  This week's challenge is called appropriately enough "Outer Space."  I haven't made a spinner card in a very long time, but that space ship image just screamed "movement."  In case you've never played the Speedy TV Inspiration Challenge, I'd love for you to check it out.  I post three Pinterest photos and ask that you make a card using one of the photos as inspiration.  BTW, all three of my sample cards are different -- only one of them is space-related, even though the theme is "Outer Space."  BTW, by participating in the Inspiration Challenge, you have one more chance to win a free stamp set.

I hope you check out the cards made by the rest of the design team and comment, comment, comment.  Remember, the more you comment, the more chances you have to win a free stamp set.

Patty P.

Lois

Vicky

Jane C 

Debbie 

Pam 

Pat G 

Thrifty Stamper 

MariLynn 

Karen K 

Bonnie 

Kathy B 

Angela B 

Cathy C 

Toni 

Sue W 

Janine B 

An'jenic 

Shirley Q 

Marks Finest Papers, a Heinrich Co 

Card 1
Stamps:  Mark's Finest Papers Space Fun
Paper:  MFP Dark Night Navy, Snow Storm Smooth, Lemon Slice; Paper Pizazz Blue Atom DP
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Tim Holtz Distress Tumbled Glass
Accessories:  Copic markers, Permapaque Copper marker, Labels 4, Copper brads, Copper eyelets, Copper twine

Card 2
Stamps:  Mark's Finest Papers Space Fun
Paper:  MFP Dark Night Navy, Snow Storm Smooth
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories:  Copic markers, Spots and Dots embossing folder, Word Window punch, Pennies, Pop dots

Inspiration Challenge & CCEE Stampers - Things with Wings

It's Thursday again -- time for the Inspiration Challenge on Speedy TV and the CCEE Stampers challenge.  Kathy Bradley is the CCEE challenge hostess for April, and her first challenge was to make a card depicting "things with wings," real or imaginary.  The theme of my Inspiration Challenge on Speedy TV this week is Harry Potter.  All of the inspiration photos were crests from the four Hogwarts houses.  As Ravenclaw's animal is the eagle, I combined the challenges for the Ravenclaw-inspired sample card.  Here is the crest:

And here is my card, inspired by the blue and pewter colors as well as the eagle.

I like making fun-fold cards, and this one is a Joy-Fold card.  I thought the sentiment would be appropriate for a graduation card, so I put the word CONGRATULATIONS on the inside.

If you'd like to check out the rest of the Inspiration Challenge photos and my samples, hop on over to Speedy TV.  Pick one out and make a card.  You could win a free set of Mark's Finest Papers' stamps.  We give one away every week.  And if you'd like to play along with the CCEE stampers, check out our blog.

Stamps:  Mark's Finest Papers - Sour with Eagles mini set
Paper:  Mark's Finest Papers Clean Oven Gray, Snow Storm Smooth; DP from Walmart
Ink:  Tim Holtz Distress Broken China, Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories:  Clear embossing powder, Scallop circle punch for cloud template, Die-Namics Cloud Trio die, Spellbinders Pockets and Swirls die, Pop dots

Speedy TV Inspiration Challenge - Rainbows

My inspiration challenge on Speedy TV this week has photos of rainbows -- real or otherwise.  Here is one of the photos I found on Pinterest.

My card, inspired by this photo, is a Triple Stamping card, which is always fun.

I stamped the script on a piece of vanilla cardstock and cut it out with a Mega Curved Rectangle Spellbinders die, then colored on the rainbow using Copic and Prismacolor markers.  I had tried using the original directions for the Triple Stamping card but had some difficulties.  (There are about three or four tries of this card now residing in my trash can!)  After I colored the rainbow, then I cut the two smaller pieces with two other dies from the set -- and matted them with the black, using the the directions from my tutorial. 

Hop on over to Speedy TV and check out my challenge.  There are two other rainbow photos which may inspire you.

Stamps:  Mark's Finest Papers - Love Script

Paper:  MFP Licorice Whips, Natural Vanilla Bean

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

Accessories:  Spellbinders Mega Curved Rectangle dies, Copic and Prismacolor markers, Ribbon

MFP Blog Hop Day 3 & CCEE1312 - Glad Glads

March Blog Hop! 

This month's New Stamp Set Releases are

 Featured March 19
Garden Bunny

Featured March 20
 Spring Things
 

Featured March 21
 Glad Glads
 

Featured March 22
Seed Packets

Please hop along with us! You have a chance to win one of the above stamp sets! Just comment on the blogs listed below (don't forget this one) each day for more chances to win! (You do NOT have to comment on all the blogs each day! The names are drawn randomly!) All four winners will be announced on March 23, 2013, on the Mark's Finest Papers blog. You can go back and comment if you missed a day.   (HINT: The more you comment, the more chances you have to win. and comments on the MFP blog count twice!)  The deadline for commenting is 11 PM EST on Friday, March 22, 2013.

 The special stamp set we have for you this month is:

"News From The Woods"

 The mini stamp set we have for you this month is

                                                         "Corn Ears"

 My first card today is for both the MFP Blog Hop and the CCEE Stampers Blog challenge, which this week is a color challenge.  I've often seen several different-colored gladiolus stalks in tall vases, and they make such a pretty bouquet.  The CCEE colors are Pink Pirouette, Rose Red, River Rock, Soft Suede, and Very Vanilla.  I chose cardstock and markers as close to those colors as I could.  They're probably not exact, but I think they'll pass in a pinch.

My second card was inspired by one of the photos from today's Speedy TV Inspiration Challenge.  Here is the photo, four garden planters with a very distinctive pattern on them.

Here is my card based on these planters.

(Added for clarification)  Someone commented that I had found the perfect paper to go with inspiration piece.  Actually, those "chevrons" are all squares of white, green, blue, and yellow, which I layered and then cut into the correct size.  I'm nothing if not a glutton for punishment!!!

Be sure to check out all the cards in today's Blog Hop and comment on as many as you can.  Remember the more you comment, the more chances you have to win a free set of stamps.

Patty, Lois  (that's me), Vicky (go here next),  Jane,  Debbie,  Pam, Pat,  Thrifty Stamper, 

MariLynn,  Karen,  Bonnie,  Kathy,  Angela,  Cathy,  Toni,  Sue W,  Janine,  An'jenic,  Kate,  Shirley,  Marks Finest Papers, a Heinrich Co 

Card 1
Stamps:  Mark's Finest Papers Glad Glads
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Mark's Finest Papers Hazelnut Tan, Fresh Cream
Accessories:  Copic markers, Paper piercing tool, Eclipse tape (for masking)

Card 2
Stamps:  Mark's Finest Papers Glad Glads
Ink:  Memento Bamboo Leaves
Paper:  Mark's Finest Papers Fresh Cream, Hazelnut Tan, Special Mint, Snow Storm Smooth, Lemon Slice, Blue Skies
Accessories:  Square Nestabilities, Pop dots

Speedy TV Inspiration Challenge

Today marks the beginning of a new venture for me.  I am hosting the Inspiration Challenge over on Speedy TV.   Each Thursday I will post three somewhat-related photos I have found on Pinterest along with a card inspired by each photo.    All you have to do is make a card inspired by one of the Pinterest photos and link it up to the column.  Each week we will choose one card at random, and the winner will receive a previously-chosen stamp set from Mark's Finest Papers.  The free set for the month of March is the mini-set Adirondack Summer.

As a teaser, here is one of the photos I chose this week.  It is a photo of Central Park, New York.

I used the tree theme and the colors for my card:

We would love to have you join in on the fun over at Speedy TV.

Inspiration Challenge on SCS

Saturday's challenge on Splitcoaststampers is the Inspiration Challenge -- my favorite! Today's inspiration site was Red Envelope -- a site I have visited before. I used the challenge to take the opportunity to show off several stamp sets from the brand-new Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company's new release. My first card was inspired by these floral measuring cups.

As you can, there are four cups in the set, but Oopsy Daisy has only two images -- one single daisy and a bouquet of three. So I used one of my very favorite techniques (MASKING) to create a four-daisy bouquet.

I colored the daisies the same colors as the cups; and to bring in the silver measuring spoons, I used silver cardstock for the base and mat. My background piece is MFP Snow Storm Smooth, embossed with an old but very pretty Cuttlebug Embossing Folder called Floral Fantasy. I thought it worked well with the daisies.

I actually made two cards for today's challenge. I've been playing with a fun technique, the Shaving Cream technique, and I had a background piece made with three shades of blue. So I had to go looking for something that could work as an "inspiration." I think this is actually doing the challenge backwards, but . . . . I found this cute pirate book that had the right colors and theme (water).

My card is made with two of the new sets, Get Reel and Scenic Selections.

The background was made by dropping three different shades of reinkers (in this case SU Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, and Tempting Turquoise) onto a pile of shaving cream and mixing them all together. Glossy cardstock is required for this technique. You smoosh the cardstock down into your shaving cream, pull it out, and wipe it off with paper towels. It's quite messy but makes a great background. I'm probably going to be walking around with blue fingers for a day or two -- but it's so worth it! I created the lake scene by stamping one of the trees from Scenic Selections across the top and brushing pearlescent chalks on. I couldn't resist attaching that cute yellow fish brad. Our little fisherman has to go home with something! 

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look at my cards today. I hope you come back again.

Inspiration Challenge

I recently attended StampFest By the Bay in Clearwater, Florida, with my sister. I love looking at all the new and fun tools at these shows. I found a wonderful lattice die from Cheery Lynn Designs in one of the booths and decided to use it on my Inspiration Challenge card this morning. The site that Stef chose was suggested by a fellow stamper Arleen Yee, a Canadian stamper who goes by the name of Arlybeans. The site shows a wealth of beautiful, handmade Canadian crafts. I chose one of the metal pieces -- the metal butterflies pictured behind my card.

After I cut out the latticework with my Cuttlebug, I removed a section of the frame, glued it onto my white card base, and stamped the butterfly with some kaleidoscope ink. Then I added a bit of "foliage" which was made from a Sizzix "border" die and DCWV border punch strips and punched flowers. Both the butterfly and the sentiment are from a Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company set called Hello Butterflies.

Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers - Hello Butterflies 
Paper: MFP Snow Storm Smooth, Bang-Up Blue, Precious Pink; DCWV border punch strips 
Ink: JoAnn Craft Essentials kaleidoscope pigment ink 
Accessories: Cheery Lynn Designs lattice die, Sizzix Swirly border die, Marvy flower punch, Brads, Clear embossing powder, Circle punches

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Inspiration Challenge

As I have mentioned many times before, the Inspiration Challenge on Splitcoast is my favorite of the week. Today's site, Embroidery Everywhere was chock-full of inspiration. I actually did three projects based on the embroidered images on the site.

The first card was inspired by this Tranquility Tree. A fellow-SCSer Mary (a/k/a jandjccc) sent me some window diecuts (while I wait to order and receive the dies) to use. What a great diecut! I stamped the image from a Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company, set called A Trip to Lancaster, coloring it with Copic markers. I embossed the cardbase with a Sizzix bricked embossing folder and then glued on the window scene.



My second card was inspired by this Retro Lemonade image. I used a layout from Page Maps to get started. The lemon was stamped twice -- one of which I cut out and popped up. I used DP from Basic Grey's Nook and Pantry paper pack.



My third project was actually made initially for Speedy's Friends Challenge #88 -- to use a snowflake. Looking for something that would be appropriate for a snowglobe and snowflakes, I found this embroidered snowman. It's hard to see behind all that glitter, but there definitely are snowflakes stamped on the paper. I bought the snowglobe kit from Hobby Lobby and used a retired set from Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company, called Snowman Country. I love that little snowman!



Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Masculine Cards

I've been trying to add some masculine cards to my stash this week. Here are two of them:

The first one was done for Friday's Free4All challenge on Splitcoast -- to make a tri-fold card. One of my favorite types of tri-fold card is the Joy Fold Card. You can find the directions for this fold in the Resource Section of SCS. I used Green Forest and Hazelnut Tan cardstock from Mark's Finest Papers, a Heinrich Company, for the panel bases, and two different designer papers from Basic Grey's Oxford paper pad. The image, a new favorite, is from MFP's brand-new set New Pines, and stamped onto MFP Fresh Cream.



On the inside I stamped the single pinecone and overstamped the sentiment in Versafine Olympic Green.



My second guy card was made for the Inspiration Challenge on SCS. Pam Stang had suggested Urban Art Loft as the inspiration site this week. Believe me, it is chock full of all kinds of inspiration. I chose this print as my inspiration. I used the barn scene from MFP's A Trip to Lancaster for the main image, coloring it with Copic markers. The paper I used was MFP's Deepest Mahogany, Hazelnut Tan, Desert Tan, and Snow Storm Smooth. I added some trim with a thin strip of the Deepest Mahogany.



So I've got a few more guy cards in my stash now. Several birthdays are coming up, and I will surely use these. Thanks for stopping by my blog and hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

Inspiration Challenge and Speedy's Friends

The Inspiration Challenge over on Splitcoaststampers introduced us to a very yummy site, The Creative Cake Academy. The cupcakes shown are just amazing! For my inspiration I chose the purple-decorated cupcakes, one of which had daisies on it. My card also qualifies for Speedy the Cat's Challenge this week -- to make a one-layer card.



To give my card a little texture, I first ran it through my Cuttlebug with the Scrollwork embossing folder -- and then brushed the embossing with some Pebbles Pearlescent Chalks. The image is from Mark's Finest Papers set, Greet the Day with Gerber, stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Copic markers.

I actually did two cards for Speedy's Friends' challenge -- this one a Halloween card. I inked up the Sizzix Branch Tree embossing folder with Memento Tuxedo Black and then ran it through my Cuttlebug. To give an eerie look, I sponged around the tree with London Fog. The cute little ghost is from Mark's Finest Papers Halloween set from last year, called Broom Rides, and the witch is actually the watermark from Get Your Broom On, a new set this year. After I finished my little scene, I made a "frame" around it using a black marker.



Thanks for stopping by and looking at my cards.

Inspiration Challenge & Dare to Get Dirty

As I've mentioned before, the Inspiration Challenge on Splitcoaststampers is my favorite challenge of the week. And, as the annual Dare to Get Dirty challenges were going on this week, I wanted to incorporate both challenges into one card. (As it was, there were 37 challenges in the DTGD event!) I found this canvas artwork on the Inspiration website and thought I could do something with it.



So, this is the card I came up with -- for both the Inspiration challenge AND also one of the DTGD challenges -- to use piercing, suggested by Bev Gerard. My late husband was a huge train enthusiast, and he had a collection of pewter locomotives. That one pictured with my card is a replica of a Japanese Class C-62 locomotive.



Here are some more of my Dare to Get Dirty cards. This one, suggested by Karen B. Barber, was "Marker Layering," but not with Copic markers, which blend so nicely. Karen used Stampin' Up markers, but I used Memento markers.



Suzanne Dean's challenge was a sketch. I used some PTI stamps and papers to create this card.



Betty Wright gave us an interesting challenge -- create a card with products/colors which begin with the first letter of the letters in your name. This is how I went with this one:

L = Labels 21
O = Olive green
I = Indians
S = Sketch Challenge 148

B = Birthday, Brown
A = Arrow
K = Kaleidacolor ink



Holly McMillen gave also gave us a sketch. I love this little ghost from MFP Broom Rides.



Thanks for stopping by my blog today.