It's Hip to be Square

I was looking for inspiration for a friend's 40th birthday card, I often struggle with male cards, and knew when I saw this challenge from Pals Paper Art, that it was just what I needed. 

Base card is from Crumb Cake with a layer of Night of Navy, the images are from the Extreme Elements, Grung Rock and After Thoughts sets and are stamped on Very Vanilla.  Inks used were Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Night of Navy, and Crumb Cake, with the sentiment embossed in gold.

SS Inspired Part 3

Here is the final installment of my SS inspired items - all have been made from a single A4 sheet of Very Vanilla stamped with the Extreme Elements set.  This one came from a tutorial over at Papertreyink.

I love this sitting on my desk holding some of my frequently used "bling". I find if I have things close on hand I tend to use them more often.  The little bottles at the front (green and purple lids) are what hold my Shimmer Mist (Shimmer Paint added to Isocol Alcohol), I have replaced the TomBow glue with a small squeeze bottle of Crystal Effects mixed with White Shimmer Paint which I have read about but not yet used!  I wrapped some cardstock around my bone folder and adhered this to the inside of the front so that it doesn't wiggle around or fall over.  The other item in here is my newly acquired Paper Piercer which I am loving, so easy to use with its textured handle and tapered point.

I have added a bow of the Victoria Crochet Trim and secured it with one of the Vintage Brads from my SS.  I didn't want the holder to be overly decorated, so haven't added further stamps or embellishments.  I don't want to get too distracted!

SS Inspired Part 2

As promised here is the next in my creations inspired by my SS present.  And I have a new item from the up-coming Summer Mini Catalogue - the Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (boy is that a mouthful!). 

For this one I have put the Soft Suede through he Embossing Folder and then run my Soft Suede Ink Pad over it to highlight the raised parts of the embossed image. I have stamped the guitar in VersaMark and then embossed with gold for a rich finish.  To split the sentiment I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig and a masking technique. 

One more in the series of SS inspired creations, so stay tuned.

SS Inspired Part 1

In my last post I got to show off some of the lovely things my Secret Sister had made for my October present, and mentioned how the colours had inspired me.  I made up a sheet of A4 Very Vanilla stamped with the Extreme Elements stamps and have used that on the project that I will post over the next few days.  I love making my own DSP, that way it matches the project I am doing perfectly both in colours and in content.  I do love the wonderful range from Stampin' Up! also and they can be easily combined with home made DSP as well, SS did it beautifully in her last gift to me! 

 Now onto the card.  On 1st December there is a new Mini Catalogue coming out and as a demonstrator we get a sneak peek and a chance to order some of the sets.  I have used one of them on this project, Grunge Rock.  Its a set of 6 stamps that include the Guitar, Sentiment and the Diamond shapes stamped on the base card.  I have also used the Music Notes wheel to go with the guitar.

 As you can see here the Diamonds have been stamped in Soft Suede onto Soft Suede cardstock, I used a stamping off technique so they were not too dark.  I stamped the sentiment onto Baja Breeze and then spritzed it with White Shimmer Paint (from my SS) mixed with isocol alcohol.  You can just make you the shimmer it gives.  I used some of the Victoria 5/8" Crochet Trim that is also featured in the new Mini Catalogue, this is a great addition to the already wonderful ribbon collection Stampin' Up! have on offer this year.  It adds to the vintage feel of the card I think.  I chose to use it like this as I wanted to frame the sentiment but didn't want to use more cardstock, and this fit perfectly.

This is a close up of the guitar, and you might just be able to see the shimmer paint I added to it to give it a nice subtle sparkel.  I love the swirls on the guitar, not easily seen on this card, but stay tuned, I will post another one soon that I have embossed with gold and you can really see the detail.  Click on the image for a bigger picture and you can see the shimmer more easily.

Great card for a teenage girl I think, I know my teen daughter loves it!

My Lovely Secret Sister

As you might remember from a previous post I have a lovely Secret Sister from over at the ESAD website.  She has created me some truely wonderful gifts and cards over the last three months and it was a pleasure to recieve this last gift from her.  She is still hiding her identity from me but I will be sure to let you all in on the secret when I know who she is.

 This month was the final gift, and my SS made me this lovely set.  I love everything about this, the "look" which I am calling Vintage Grunge.  The colours are so great together, they match the DSP Elegant Soiree, and my SS has used some of this DSP in the gift bag and in the card.  Baja Breeze, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla and Basic Gray. 

 The bag is such a tricky little idea, its a front panel and back panel added to a white bag, done up at the top with some lovely matching ribbon.  I love the flower and suspect its from one of the Big Shot Dies, the buttons in the middle add a nice touch.  I love the layering of the DSP on the card too, I find it so hard to layer like this myself, my brain wants to line everythign up perfectly.  But I so love the look, I am going to have to challenge myself more I think!

Isn't the card cute - the Hodge Podge Hardware really goes with this Vintage Grunge look, and the little strip of DSP is a lovely touch,  great way to add a feature.  This patterned cardstock was made from the Extreme Elements stamp set and I love it to pieces,  I have previously used it with bright bold colours, but this pressie from SS has made me look at it in a new light.

A huge big thank you to my SS for all the time and effort you put into my cards and gifts, it has been really special to get such wonderful happy mail.

Keep a watch on the blog, over the next couple of days I will post up some pictures of things that I have made inspired by this lovely SS present. 

Double the Challenge - Double the Fun

Today I decided to do a double challenge card!  Yep two challenges in the one card, and yes feeling quite proud of myself.  I saw the Sketch Challenge over at Friday Mashup and really liked the look of the Designer Label and the Oval punch together and knew I wanted to try that out.  Then in my browsing I found the Colour Q colour challenge, not my usual colours but I do like the earthy tones and so I gathered my colours on the desk and then decided to do the two challenges together!

I used the level 1 Hostess set "Because I Care" for the main flower, and the "Short and Sweet" for the sentiment, which just seemed to fit with the big flower.  I love the way the Short and Sweet fit so well in the punches Stampin' Up! have on offer, makes life so much easier!!!  Because the colours are all fairly heavy I decided to limit the amount of each on the card,  the scallop trim border and corner punches worked beautifully for this and the touch of Always Artichoke for the leaves and sentiment.

I also used some of the Always Artichoke to colour the crochet ribbon, I love the look of this ribbon and on this card it just seemed to fit with the more natural tones.  I hope you have enjoyed my entries into these two challenges, please come back and visit again.

Lolly Dispencer

Who doesn't like to nibble on the odd bit of chocolate while you craft!  Well I sure do, so when I saw a tutorial for this cute little number I just had to have it.  You can find it and other tutorials at http://www.thedigichick.com/shop/Candy-Dispenser-Template-Set.html

I made this out of the specialty DSP from last IB&C as I had it left over, the ribbon and button are from the new catalogue. I changed the design a little, made it bigger and made a spearate top so it would be sturdy and I could top it up easily (and frequently).

I think these would look nice on a desk - not filled with lollies but with paperclips, or similar, maybe add a post-it note pad to the top and a pen to the side.  Cute male gift.

My Own Challenge

I have been doing a few challenges lately and so decided to set myself a challenge!  The challenge is to reach into my scrap cardstock box and pull out 2-3 pieces and use them on a card!  This time around I pulled out a scrap of More Mustard, Old Olive and Cajun Craze.  I paired the All A Flutter with the sentiment from Butterfly Prints, using the En Francais background stamp and some paper piercing.  I hope you like what I created.

Dasher Christmas

One of the tutorials on the We Stamp For Lara website was for Christmas cards using Dasher stamp, Embossing Folder and Shimmer Paint.  I completed the easy to follow instructions and these are the creations I made.  Dasher is such a great stamp, only $14.95 and so cute! Contact me if you are interested in purchasing this stamp.

 I will be making more of these, they are quick and easy to make.  I used Shimmer Paint as a mist on the Cherry Cobbler before putting through the Big Shot.  I added some bling with the self-adhesive rhinestones. Sentiments are from the Four the Holidays, and Short and Sweet stamp sets.

On this one I went over the raised embossing with a Sponge Dauber dipped in Shimmer Paint to bring out the pattern further.  I really really really love Shimmer Paint.

We Stamp (Cupcakes) For Lara

I have joined up the We Stamp For Lara, a great cause for a great little girl.  Please head over to Madonna Dunn's Blog for more information.

One of the challenges over there is to make a cupcake card because this month its Lara's 2nd birthday.  There was a lovely picture of Lara posted up on the website and I used her dress as the inspiration behind this card.

I hope you enjoy, and consider joining in for the month.  Each day there is a tutorial and challenges and a daily lucky door prize.  At the end of the month all participants will go into the draw for a Big Shot, yep you heard it right, a Big Shot!  All of this for only $25.  If you are interested in joining pop over to Madonna's blog for details, there are some issues with Pay Pal not releasing funds, so Madonna has made other arrangements for payment.  Its a great cause.