Cupcake, anyone?

Here is another card with Party Hearty. I have to admit I like the set more than I thought I would and the cupckae especially is too cute ! I had a feeling it might look good with some yummy chocolate chip paper.

Party Hearty !!

Party Hearty is the name of a new stamp set. This set will be part of the Fall/Winter collection and I was able to earn it for free by attending Regionals and placing a qualifying order. Yay, free rubber !! The UPS man drove up yesterday and I got to play with it last night.

April Club Projects

I am a little late posting club projects from April 8. Diane, we missed you ! Kell, hope you can make the next meeting :) Here is what we made:

Direct on paper with Bloom Beautiful (also using watercoloring with markers)
Faux Tearing with Infinite Goodness (hostess level 2)
Post it Note holder using Afternoon Tea designer paper (occasions mini)

Faux Metal Belt Buckle

I submitted this card for a challenge that called for using a buckle or another piece of hardware. I turned down the idea of using hodgepodge since I figured that will be widely used and made a custom "belt buckle" with the faux metal technique. I have been wanting to try this for a while now. If you are not familiar with faux metal, see directions below. The image I selected (from Bronc Buster stamp set) was a bit hard to work with since it is so large and detailed. When pressed, part of the embossing powder would already start to harden and not take a good impression. It took a few tries to get a half decent image. To tie the silver focal point into the rest of the card I used brushed silver cardstock and embossed small images along the bottom.

Oh, I almost forgot the best part. The challenge was part of Virtual Stamping Night on SCS (I was only able to submit a card to one of the wonderful challenges, soccer is in full swing and our weekend was way too busy for me to get any more stamping done) and my card was selected as one of 5 best submissions - I am an honoree !! I am so tickled, I would not have known but someone mentioned it as a comment in my gallery. I made the card with hubby in mind since I usually shower him with more frilly feminine cards (which is more my style), but I don't think it hit the spot so I will be making him another card for Father's Day with LOTS of pretty flowers, ha !!! Hubby is hard to impress these days.

Faux Metal directions:

Take a piece of scrap cardstock (slightly larger than the image you plan to use) and rub it with versamark to cover the entire piece. Sprinkle with embossing powder of your choice (silver, gold or copper work best for the metal look) and emboss with a heat gun. Rub again with versamark and repeat the process until you have three layers of embossing and the surface is smooth and shiny. After the last heating, have your stamp ready to press onto the cardstock while the powder is still melted and soft. Press down evenly to make a crisp impression. Let sit for a minute and then cut out with scissors or use as is.

Ready for another Paper Tole??

This is probably getting old but I have been on the roll with this technique. So much fun to see it come to life. Only this time I pulled out a Halloween set. I received these cute hedgehogs in a trade and they are almost brand new so I was definitely excited to ink them !! This particular image just screamed to be popped and it was a lot of fun. However, I struggled for half a day to make a card with it, until I decided to go vertical and make a tent topper and then it all came together again. I have seen people use these big beautiful bows and I literally "tied" that into my card here. Overall I am very happy with it, you probably can't make a bad card with these adorable hedgehogs. Made me wish for fall all over again too. Images are colored with markers, all circles free-handed, they are not perfect but what's a girl to do when the coluzzle is missing again??? Have a blessed day.

Christmas in April - Paper Tole Cardinal

I have a few more paper tole cards for you. The technique is great since you really don't need anything but a pair of scissors and some dimensionals . Oh, and plenty of patience, ha ! I went through my retired sets (after I discovered none of my current sets will work) to select some to play with and layer and the Cardinal was definitely on my list. A little challenging with the snow and leaves mingled into the main image but it was worth it. I used a real red marker to color the bird and mellow moss for the leaves. I used Wild Wasabi textured card stock and the same print of Prints designer paper in wasabi and real red. The finished card could be both a holiday greeting or a masculine card for someone born in January or February (or any time 'till May if you live in Maine, ha !). Anyway, so much for a Christmas stamp set in the middle of 70's temps here in Oklahoma.

Another Paper Tole card

I had so much fun with my first paper tole card I had to make another (and I have more planned). I played and played with this card looking for the right contrast color and finally ended up with black. Black always seems to save the day for me. The cake is cut out and layered twice. It really pops out in real life. The designer paper matches the flowers on the cake well, I thought. I hope you like it.

Live Your Dream

My resolution this year is to "break-in" new stamp sets as soon as I get them and attempt a sampler. I am nowhere near having a sampler but I did break in this set and the matching Afternoon Tea designer paper. The colors are so soft and pretty !! The layout is based on a sketch from last week's challenge but I changed it slightly. You cannot see the textured card stock well in the photo but it really adds dimension to the finished card.

Quick and Simple Mouse

Here is a quick card (well, if you don't count the cutting time, ha!) I made for a Technique Lovers' Challenge. The technique was paper tole, you can see from the side view how parts of the image are cut out and layered. There are three layers total of the can and mouse's head. It was a lot of fun and the card looks much better in person with the main image truly "sticking out" ;) The mouse is from a set called Say Something Mice and designer paper from Stampin' Up Prints series in Real Red (available in assorted pack as Level 1 hostess set) .

Pretty Amazing

Pretty Amazing is the name of the stamp set, not a title for my card, ha ! I have to admit I have never even looked twice at this set until Regionals where I received some beautiful swap cards and just had to have that little hummingbird. The card is based on a card by Laura, who was the Featured Stamper on SCS last week. I had hard time choosing a card for my inspiration since there are so many beautiful creations in her gallery. I finally decided to go with this card mainly for the large flower. I thought this would be a good layout to break in my "Pretty Amazing" and layer the flower that comes with it. I must say that even though I don't see myself buying Dare to be Fabulous (set used for Laura's card) I really like all the samples others make with it.

I kept my color scheme monochromatic with a layer of brushed silver for a little sparkle. I still feel the card needs glitter but I am not yet sure where I would put it.