JIT magic slider

I remember when "just-in-time" (JIT) was something new in the automotive world. Now it's pretty much the story of my life when it comes to Christmas shopping. Where would I be without online shopping?

It also applies to today's card. DD asked me to make a magic slider (after I'd made this card) for her girlfriend whose birthday was back early November. Her party is today. I made the card... yesterday. See? JIT. Dang.

Can't say I whipped it up in ten minutes. Cuz my non-spatial-thinking brain still has to wrestle with the slider card concept each time. But it does get easier with practice. I'm happy with the result, it's a slider, although not 100% magic ;)

Found a sketch and some colors for inspiration and then created, stamping (in my case heat embossing) with white cuz I wanted to join the Take It, Make It December Challenge at Craft Stamper too.

DCWV December

CQC 272

I knew I needed a magic slider. The sketch had me at the star. Which led to the PTI Star Gazer Additions stamp set. Which I decided to stamp in white on black. And although you'd normally go with blues for the firmament on the colored portion of the slider, I'm not normal. That didn't feel right to me for DD's friend. These colors did.

The rest was cosmetic. Some stars sponged through a stencil onto the card front. Some star PP. Some gold stars, including one as the pull mechanism for the slider! See the tiny "pull here" up top? That has been my most used stamp of the PTI Movers and Shakers set!

So I'm curious. What percentage of your Christmas shopping did you do online this year?

There's a good deal at STAMPlorations should you still need a quick present for a crafty friend...

not quite leger

The adjective "leger" in German means casual. In fashion, casual and somewhat sloppy. As in, laying around the house in your sweats. Certainly not what Herve Leger had in mind with this:

If you zoom in, there's a golden sheen to the dress which made me grab my shimmer CS from DCWV. I stamped some Inkadinkado mistletoe on it and then added some bling in a nod to the pink and orange on the rest of the dress.

Then I framed the stamped piece with black CS and heat embossed some beaded corners with gold in a nod to the studs running along all the panels of the dress. A WMS sentiment from Festive Foliage finished it off.

I'm also joining the gals at Time Out where #19 is about Embossing with the optional element of sparkle. Got both! Thanks for looking.

STAMPlorations sketch #16

"You" ve got that right. It's time for a new sketch over at STAMPlorations. Here it is.

I went pretty literal this time. But knowing I wanted to use the inlaid die cut technique to get my shape extending outside of the solid strip, hearts came to mind. Here's what I did.

1. Used the SUBWAY ART BUILDERS: Dare and stamped the strip.
2. Die cut the hearts using Simon Says Stamp Large Hearts dies.
3. Removed the hearts and inked them with Shaded Lilac and Dusty Concord.
4. Masked and inked the strip with Tumbled Glass and Peacock Feathers.
5. Splattered the card with Heidi Swapp gold spray ink.
6. Adhered CS panel to inside of card front.
7. Adhered hearts into the negative spaces.
8. Die cut Simon Says Stamp You die from violet glitter CS and adhered.

Hope you likey. A bit late for graduation season, but I think this could make a good card for a gal going off to college or starting a new job.

Have a look at the rest of the DT creations.  And check out what our guest designer Sue V. has for you. Show us what you've got over at Sketch Challenge #16. You could be our next guest designer!

Simon Says Spots and Dots this week over at the Wednesday challenge, so I'm taking my splatters there.

Supplies for you:

Paper:  CS Bringmann, glitter CS DCWV

Stamps: STAMPlorations

Ink : Distress, gold spray

Tools: heart dies and you die Simon Says Stamp

Other: 

simply create too 61 (anything but a card)

No cards allowed this time over at Simply Create Too.  Our theme for challenge #61 is "Anything but a Card". So how about a wine bottle tag?

Do you know this technique?  Apply Versamark or Perfect Medium and then brush on Perfect Pearls?  Learned it from Nichole H. at Papertrey. If you love shimmer, this technique's for you.

Join us for this fun challenge.  So many of you out there create such beautiful paper projects that are not cards.  This is your chance to get some extra attention.

Thanks for visiting.

Supplies for cheers tag:

Paper:  CS DCWV, vellum

Stamps: 

Ink : Versamark

Tools: triangle and you die SSS, tag and alpha dies PTI, 2 die Memory Box, oval die Sizzix

Other: Perfect Pearls

pattern-tastic (CMBC)

Not too long ago I was complaining that challenges were disappearing from blogland and now it seems a plethora of new ones are popping up.  I can't keep up!

If you didn't know Taheerah A. before, you certainly got to know her during the farewell blog hop for Cath of Moxie Fab. That mammoth operation would not have gotten off the ground without Taheerah's efforts. Well, have you seen Taheerah's latest endeavor - Cure for the Monday Blues Challenge? Some of the most gorgeous inspiration photos like this latest one:

Not to mention the killer cards that girl creates for her own challenges and the other design teams she has taken by storm. I'm finally playing along (this is already CMB #3) with a card I made for a submission call.  Species "reject" but I think it fits the bill here perfectly.  And I spent way too many minutes deciding on the arrangement of my focal image which is somehow Taheerah-esque.

Here 'tis:

Used the Simon Says Stamp Diagonal Stripe Stencil, but only in one quarter of the card front, and a sponge dauber to ink the stripes in Chipped Sapphire, Salty Ocean and Broken China. Rotated 90 degrees and repeated. Then I slopped on some modelling paste through a Crafters Workshop chevron stencil. Then I added that funky ikat PP circle (why? no clue but once I'd tried it I couldn't not do it!) before adhering the shadowed gold glimmer Papertrey Hello die cut.

Enough patterns for ya?!?!?  Are your eyes wonky now?!?!?

Thanks for a great new challenge, Taheerah. And the rest of you should play along in the next one. Here's hoping you don't get the Monday blues to begin with ;)))

Cardstock: (cardbase) Buttinette,  (navy) American Crafts, (bronze metallic) DCWV 

Patterned paper: (ikat from Print Shop) Studio Calico 6x6

Dye ink: (chipped Sapphire, Salty Ocean, Broken China Distress Inks)

Dies, embossing folders, brass templates: (Diagonal Stripe stencil) Simon Says Stamp, (Chevron stencil) Crafters Workshop, (hello die) PTI

Tool: (spatula), (circle punch) EKS

Other: (white structure paste)  

hip hip hooray for ric (RIC, SSS, Neat and Tangled)

Ready for a threefer?  I wasn't.  It just happened. (And I didn't even make a card using my first idea!)  Meet the Temperly London dress from Runway Inspired Challenge #53.

Whoa! Definitely going to a party.  Definitely shimmery. Very symmetric, yet organic. That's what I got at least.  Oh, and Antique Linen, Picked Raspberry and Peacock Feathers with black accents (Did you notice that glove???) Even if you don't play along, you must check out the DT cards. Extraordinaire, they are.

Meet hip #1.

I LOVE this.  Pun intended.  I've got this older Kelly Panacci stamp set, Love, and it's got the greatest images.  This one caught my eye for this card.  Back up... Flubidoo caught my eye.  Did you see her gorgeous creation for this challenge - the pink and purple distress inked panels?  Knew I had to do that.  And why not paired with bronze/glitter Zing? Screamed "artsy fartsy" image to me. Which brings us back to the Love set.

So, distress inking (spritzed with bronze Perfect Pearls for the coolest shimmer) plus heat embossed image just wasn't doing it.  My inner Aga thought about a Dymo label. But just the Dymo strip wasn't enough.  Enter the PP strip (discovered as I was searching for a folklore type print) and red heart.  Still wasn't enough, thus the "photo corners" with an organic edge.

Meet hip #2.

To mimic the symmetric but organic blooms outlined with black, I heat embossed with a floral BG stamp on Neenah CS and colored with Distress Inks in abovementioned colors. Die cut the sentiment from CS and backed it with a strip of the BG. The plain CS just wasn't doing it... had to add some inks and Glimmer Mist to make it party-worthy. And some jumbo sequins - why not?

So, ready for the party? Meet hooray.

This card happened cuz as I was looking for my purple sequins for hip #2, I stumbled across these sequins and they screamed "party banner" to me.  Which led to the "celebration" idea which led to the Neat and Tangled Party Dots stamp set.  Some Wink of Stella shimmer on the dots and voila.

OK, I'm done.

Well, hip #1 is also joining the fun at:
Simon Says Monday Challenge - Love Notes
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Have a heart 
Little Tangles - Celebrate Love

Thanks for visiting.

Supplies for LOVE:

Paper:  cardbase The Paper Studio, Neenah CS, black scrap, PP DCWV

Stamps: Kelly Panacci

Ink : Distress inks, Versamark

Tools: heart die Amuse, Dymo

Other: bronze Perfect Pearls, bronze/glitter Zing embossing powder

Supplies for danke:

Paper: black and violet CS Bringmann

Stamps: BG CHF

Ink : Distress inks, Versamark, plum Glimmer Mist

Tools: alpha die MFT

Other: sequins

Supplies for let's celebrate:

Paper: CS Bringmann

Stamps: Neat and Tangled

Ink : Distress inks, Versamark

Tools: label die MFT

Other: sequins, crochet thread

cool. congrats. (SSS, CASology)

I would love to share a page from the February 2014 issue of Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking with you... but I can't figure out how to do it.  (I was so excited to be sharing p. 52 with Asty P., a new pal from WCMD 2013).  So I'll just have to share my card.

I LOVE this card.  Why? It's all about the UNEXPECTED, folks.

Of course when I was creating the front panel I was working with straight lines.  Punched squares, halved them on the diagonal and then glued them down.  But when playing around with the finished piece of paper with the squares/triangles on it (it was larger than the card front) I skewed it a bit and fell in LOVE.  The UNEXPECTED, ya know?!?!? And because I had skewed it,  the design didn't cover the entire card but that was my next eureka moment!  I just trimmed along the CS triangles and love the bit of white card left to peek out.

I hadn't really known exactly where I was going with this card (I seldom do), but when the eurekas were over it became apparent (to me!) that it was an iceberg.  So... enter the sentiment. Which BTW is computer-generated for those of you who don't own a Dymo.  Here's the font.

I'm joining these challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Anything Goes
CASology - #77 Bubbly

Bubbly? you ask.  Here's the deal.  We drink carbonated mineral water in our house.  And refer to it as "bubble water".  Bubbly... bubble... water... iceberg... see?

Check out the mag if you haven't.  In case you're still looking for ideas using hexagons, there's lotsa inspiration.

Appreciate your visit.  Have a fantastic week.

Supplies cool. congrats.:

Paper: cardbase Bringmann, other DCWV+

Stamps:  none

Ink:  

Tools: square punch

Other: free font for sentiment

WCMD

OK, I must admit before drinking too much wine at the Zwitscherstub, I crafted a bit today after puppy play group in the pouring rain, followed by bathe puppy for  the first time and warm own feet back to normal after two hours in rubber boots.   But the crafting was for submissions.

What I do want to share with you is the birth of my card that I shared over at the Paper Crafts Connection blog for Cath's post on the international aspect of World Card Making Day.

Picture me sitting on the floor dogsitting DP, magazine in hand.  I stumble across this photo:

This is what I love about living in Europe.  I am pretty certain a photo with a color combo like this would not show up in an American mag.  But this spoke to me and became...

Take that purple and violet and mustard and chartreuse and do something with it.  OK, speech bubbles (thanks Avery Elle)  are good at the moment.  And some triangles from Mama Elephant Trifecta. And some heat embossing of a sentiment from Klartext.  And of course some gold CS to brighten things up.

Danke, for looking.

Supplies danke:

Paper: cardbase Bringmann, CS Coredinations and DCWV, recycled gold CS

Stamps: Klartext

Ink:  Distress Ink,, Verxamark

Tools: die Avery Elle

Other bling

parade of rejects: silk brights

Another card for a Paper Crafts call created based on a color story from Design Seeds.  Chose to work with this one cuz I thought I could get my "white space" fix using that creme color.

Image Credit

Some die cut chevrons-turned-arrows, even using some metallic CS for a "silky" effect.  Some CASual Fridays stamps and a zebra tone-on-tone BG. Sequins too.  And lightly inked edges.  And Cutter Bee faux stitching.  Quite a lot for me, actually.  I like how this design seems alive.  But rejected.

Hope you are enjoying the heat if you're in the Midwest!  Glad we have a lake to spend the day in.

Supplies yeah baby:

Paper: CS DCWV

Stamps: BG Rubbernecker, sentiment Casual Fridays

Ink: Versamagic, Versamark, Inkadinkado

Tools: circle die and chevron MFT

Other: sequins, Cutter Bee, Zing embossing powder

color-blocked sympathy (PDCC, CFC, SSS)

I can't believe it but I need another sympathy card.  A friend's father died.  He was only 71.  Geez.  Enough already.

This was kinda a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants attempt to squeak in under the Play Date Cafe's challenge deadline.  Haven't played there for a long time.

Luckily one of my DCWV pads had the three colors I needed.  Attached the blocks of color to the base and heat embossed with my delivered-in-today's-blizzard-by-the-dear-mailman Clearly Besotted stamps.  A button and twine and that's it.

Also hooking up to:
CASual Fridays - #93 Color Blocks
Simon Says Stamp - A Bit o' Green

Thanks for looking.

Supplies With Deepest Sympathy:

Paper: CS DCWV

Stamps: Clearly Besotted

Ink : Versamark 

Tools: heat tool

Other:  white embossing powder, button, crochet thread

mod squad (RIC, SCS)

Remember a show called "Mod Squad" back in the (I'm guessin' 70s)?  Not sure why, but this card made me think of it...

A die cut tag.  Some stamping.  Some masking.  A border punch.  Some twine.  A Happy Birthday sentiment on the inside.

My inspiration came from Runway Inspired Challenge #30.

That dress on the right.  Yello and black.  Graphic.  Some splashes of color.  A few flowers.  I put that into effect but chose a chartreuse cardbase instead.  Just felt funkier.  Thought the tag was a nod to fashion, though I'm sure those outfits don't have price tags!

Also playing at SCS Love Fest 2013F where The Cat's Pajama has an inspiration board, also with yellow and black graphic elements.

Thanks for stopping.

Supplies:

Paper: cardbase DCWV, CS Neenah, striped scrap

Stamps: SEI, BG WMS

Ink :Versafine

Tools: die PTI, punch Fiskars

Other: twine

saved by sequins (1) (muse, SCS)

 I played at Muse for the first time.  Marion Vagg is the muse for Challenge #5.  This is her card:

This is my card.  I went with the colors, the washi, die cutting and the message.  The card was actually to use up the die cut flower which was laying on my ironing board.   I actually created the next card first.

I am entering the SCS Lovefest2013B (sponsored by Sweet n Sassy Stamps) with this although I kinda turned the sketch on its side.

I think the dark blue panel is a bit much.  Those three delicate little sequins are doing their best to compensate :)  And I definitely need to keep practicing my die placement to get a striking negative...
I gave it another try and that was this card.

Thanks for looking.

Supplies :

Paper: cardbase Craft UK, PP Basic Grey, CS DCWV

Stamps: Hero Arts

Ink :Hero Arts

Tools: label die PTI, sm. label die and flower die Memory Box

Other: washi Rayher and Bella Blvd., sequins, letter stickers October Afternoon

tag a la Kelly A. (Ellen Hutson, Cupcake Inspirations, YCU)

Take a ride on the good ship lollipop!  Check out Kelly A.'s tag at Ellen Hutson's Classroom on Day 8 and you'll see what I mean.  Wouldn't expect anything else from Lawn Fawn, would you?

Well I combined Kelly's sweet feeling tag with the inspiration photo from Cupcake Inspirations #190 - Frosting the Snowman.  No kidding:

Amazing.  I'll spend 1+ hour creating a tag but can't imagine putting so much work into cupcakes.  DS would devour these - all of them - in under five minutes...

Here's my creation.

Blue polka dot BG and snow.  White heat embossing and watercolors.  Bonbon colors and sweets.  LOVE Kelly's addition of a snowflake on the tag hole - definitely a trick to remember.

Also sneaking in one more entry at Young Crafter's Unite #16 - Happy Holidays.

Happy weekend.

Supplies for Merry Christmas:

Paper: CS DCWV, white linen texture printer paper

Stamps: snowman Alley Way Stamps, BG kars, American Crafts, sentiment Hero Arts

Ink : Versamark, watercolors

Tools: circle punch

Other: Stickles, twine, eyelet, fun foam snowflake sticker

tag a la Jennifer M. (Ellen Hutson, CUYL, SSS, SS)

Give me Peacock Feathers and Broken China Distress Ink and an ink applicator and I'm a happy camper. That's what first came to mind when I saw Simon Says Stamp's challenge to use one of your Favorite Things (tool, product, stamp).  Add a couple of challenges to the mix and I'm a really happy camper.

On Day 4 Jennifer M. created a work of art over at Ellen Hutson's Classroom for the Feminine Twist on 12 Tags.  You should check out those mirrored pieces she used - now there's one thing I don't have in my stash.  I had to go with what I have.

So I took inspiration from Challenge Up Your Life's #84 colors

and Stamping Sensations "Treemendous" challenge and this is what I came up with.

You'll probably never see a reed bird perched on an evergreen bough anywhere but here!  Or lilac snowflakes!  But I've got the distress inked BG under a StazOn stamped piece of acetate (cool effect BTW, Jennifer), a bird, a branch and snowflakes.  Even used a "Joy" sentiment.  And if you look closely you might catch the Stickles on the flakes and birdie's head and the glitter CS for the bough.

And purple, lilac, teal and light blue?  Check.

And a tree?  How 'bout a branch - will that do?

Happy Friday, friends.

Supplies for JOY:

Paper: CS Neenah, glitter CS DCWV, recycled acetate, purple CS Papermania

Stamps: dots BG CHF, text (on bird and fllakes) 7 Gypsies, sentiment Hero Arts

Ink : Distress Inks, Versacolor, StazOn

Tools: dies - bough Marianne Creatables, bird Memory Box, snowflakes Sizzix

Other: pearls, ribbon

post Thanksgiving Thanksgiving post (CAS(E), PC)

You might have heard me say that since Germany doesn't recognize Thanksgiving, we have our own Turkey Day.  Usually on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  Yes, that means today.   And usually inviting either Americans, or Germans who have lived in the US - figure they appreciate the whole celebration a bit more.

Note:  Not to mislead you.  Germans totally appreciate a yummy meal.  Even my godson, who now over 20, still loves to come for Turkey Day.  And especially the sweet potatoes.  This, a kid who when he was little, would not eat anything green  (as in, vegetable).  Once when we were babysitting him he projectiled his baby food spinach across our living room!

This year we are 14 people.  We have an open kitchen/dining area and although dinner is buffet style, I usually make placecards.  (Because I like to pre-arrange the seating but mostly cuz it's an excuse to make something creative!)

So I challenged myself - as if in addition to a turkey and ham and all the other sides given the small ovens we have over here I needed another challenge (breathe, Maria) -  to play some challenges with my placecards.  My XXS placecards, I should say.  Warning:  went a bit non-traditional with my colors this year.

 I did use Thanksgiving inchie stamps!  Just changed up the colors a bit.  Motivated by my choice of table decorations.

This was a "morning of" photo.  If I remember to take a shot of the set table I'll post it later...

Which challenges did I play?
CAS(E) This Sketch #6 although I flipped it and shrinky dinked it.

Paper Crafts Connection - November gallery challenge to use decorative tape.  I'd intended to stamp the strip behind the focal image, but then remembered my red/white striped washi.  And the whole time I was struggling with how I was going to hang them on the wine glasses... Duh!  Use washi tape and stick'em on the water glasses.  There are still a couple under-agers and they don't get wine glasses anyhow.  And it fits my non-traditional take on Turkey Day this year too!

Washi = Love.

Hope you enjoyed your (holiday) weekend.  As you read this I'm likely stuffing myself...

Supplies for placecards

Paper: CS American Crafts, glitter CS DCWV

Stamps: Inkadinkado

Ink : Hero Arts Shadow

Tools: square punch EKS, small circle punch for corners, alpha die PTI

Other: washi