Color Challenge 2-14-12

This Color Challenge was to use Poppy Parade, Real Red, Regal Rose and Always Artichoke.

Again I used the Marker Layering Technique for this card and the Manhattan Flowers set. I used all three Red based colors on the flowers plus Daffodil Delight for the stamens.

The background is simply done by stamping the flower in Always Artichoke ink several times on the card stock. I finished the bottom by punching out the border and layering a piece of poppy parade cs behind it. I added a little bling and added it to a Regal Rose card. This card is a 5x5" card.

Color Challenge 2-7-12

The next color challenge I completed was using Regal Rose, Blushing Bride and Old Olive.

For this card, I used the Manhattan Flowers set. I stamped the rose in Basic Black ink on Watercolor paper. Next, using my markers and blender pen, I colored it in. I used a technique presented on SplitcoastStampers by Karen Barber. The technique is called Marker Layering.

I finished the card by spraying on some Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz.

Also, just a note, I did use Basic Black ink instead of Staz On only because my Staz on pad really needs to be reinked. I was extremely careful to stay away from the lines so they would not run too much when I was blending the colors.

Color Challenge catch up!

Well, my new Year's resolution to post more, is not doing so well. At least this time it has only been a month in between posts.

So, for the next few days I will be posting a few color challenges that I made, but just didn't post. (I am going to set up all of the posts now, so I know they get done each day!)



The first one was for Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla. This is one of my favorite color combos! I love the richness of the colors and the way they work so well together!

For this card, I used the Bouncing brayer technique for the background. Simply load your brayer with ink and then keeping one edge of the brayer in the middle of the card stock, make small movements in a circle all the way around the piece. Reload the brayer with ink as needed until the background is complete. The rest of the card is made using the new hearts framelits and the It's a Wrap - Holidays set from the Holiday Mini.

Color Challenge 1-24-12

I am so excited that have been able to keep up with doing these challenges lately. I actually had to clean off my desk. One of the shelves over my desk was starting to fall. Since I had to take that down and re-organize, I used that as my starting point. Then I also had to re-organize since we are getting new furniture in my family room. I can't tell you how much better I feel stamping when my desk is clean and I have the room to create. I highly recommend it!



This week's colors are Garden Green, Pool Party and Chocolate Chip.


I had seen a card on a friend's blog that used the emboss resist technique. So that was my inspiration for this card. I used a piece of Whisper White and stamped the flowers from the Inspired by Nature stamp set in Chocolate Chip ink. I also used my marker over the image to make it darker. Next, I stamped the grass in Versamark and embossed it with Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder. Finally, I sponged on the Pool Party and Garden Green ink over the entire piece. I also sponged the edges with Chocolate Chip ink.

Also, don't forget especially with dark based cards to add some light card stock on the inside. Take a second to make the inside look pretty too! It really makes the card feel complete.

Color Challenge!

Wow! Twice in one week!!

OK, so here is this week's color challenge. The colors are Blushing Bride, Wisteria Wonder and Sahara Sand.

The card above uses the Sale-a-bration set Elementary Elegance. I also used the Friendly Words Jumbo Wheel. This is one of those straight foward stamps, paper and ink kind of cards. The only extra thing I used was some dimensionals and the curly label punch.

This next card uses Circle Circus and Thank you Kindly stamp sets. I also used some Wisteria Wonder bakers twine, Filigree brads and Ice circle brads. For this card I also used a sketch from my Stampin' Success, Demonstrator magazine. In the sketch there was another strip of paper going down the side. Since I only had 3 colors to work with, I used the small circle stamp to create the extra strip.

I have to say that I had some difficulty sticking with these colors. I really wanted some Whisper White or something. The Sahara was tough for me. However, that is what I love about these color challenges. They really make me go out of my comfort zone.

Over a Year!!!

Oh my goodness! It has been over a year since I posted on this blog! Sometimes life just takes a turn and some priorities need to get rearranged. Well, it is time I re-arrange again! So hopefully, I can get back to posting more often!

For my first post of 2012, I have some color challenge cards for you. The colors were Always Artichoke, Lucky Limeade, Pacific Point and Island Indigo. Once I had the stuff out, I just kept going. SO here are three different cards using these colors.

This first one uses the new Paper doily large sizzlits die, the 3 step flower punch and a Sale-a-bration brad.

This one uses the Sale-a-bration set called "sprinkled expressions". I also ran the top panel through the Big Shot with the polka dot embossing folder.

Finally, this card uses the Sale-a-bration set called Fresh Vintage and the "Hello" is from the Elementary Elegance set. The ribbon is also from Sale-a-bration. I used a sketch from PaperCrafts magazine to get the idea for the layout and design of this card.

I hope you enjoy these cards! Wish me luck in keeping up with this blog this year!!

Play Date Post It Holder!

One of my favorite things to do at the weekend events I go to is the shoebox swap. This is where all of the participants bring a project for the rest of us to complete. This time, I brought this cute little Play Date Post it note holder.
For this project you simply cover a 4x4" coaster or piece of chipboard with some Designer Series Paper, (here I used Play Date DSP). Then add your post it pad and a binder clip. That is really it! To dress it up a bit I did add a strip of DSP to the binder clip and I also stamped a sentiment on the back. My kids are brining these in for their teachers on Friday to Thank them for a great first week... Good idea right? This is what you do when you forget to send them in on the first day! :)
I hope all of the kids out there can "Go confidently in the direction of their dreams" this year! Have a great school year everyone!

I'm Back!

Ok... I cannot believe that it February was the last time I posted anything here! It has been a crazy few months, but still....

So here is a sample from the last event I went to.

This plate was created with the new Decor Elements from the new mini catalog! It took just a few minutes to create! Wouldn't it make a great gift wiht some holiday cookies on it for a friend or neighbor?

Well, I promise now that the kids are going back to school, that I will be updating a lot more often than every 7 months!!!!! In fact, look for new samples from this event in the next couple of days!

Color Challenge 2-2-09

This week's color challenge was getting us thinking about Valentine's day! The colors were Soft Suede, Pretty in Pink and Very Vanilla. My sister in law has been asking me for years now to do another Quick cards class... so I decided to make thisw color challenge a "Quick Card" that will be part of my next stamp a stack.

I have 2 versions to show you. The first is a little more simple. This was the first one I made and I liked it, but felt like it needed something.

So the night that I made this I had a dream about this card... Sometimes that happens to me and the dreams don't come out so well on paper... but this dream translated very well to the card stock!

It is a little hard to see in the pic, but I added some texture with my Big Shot texture plates on the Pretty in Pink layer. I also sponged some Pink ink around the edges and over the texture on this piece.

Finally, I added some stamping to the inside of the card as well!

The edges were punched with the new scallop trim border punch and the hearts on the bottom are the new small heart punch. The heart stamps that I used for this card are from the I {heart} hearts stamp set. Don't forget that when you buy this stamp set before Fevbruary 28th, Stampin' Up! will be donating $2 to the American Red Cross for Haiti! So you get a really great stamp set and get to donate to a great cause!!

Enjoy!

Some Color Challenges!

So, last week I told you that I had completed the color challenge from the first week of the year. I just never got a chance to post it. Well, here is that card.

The colors for the week were Rich Razzleberry and Not Quite Navy. I used the Sale a Bration set called Good Neighbor. I have to say that I had a vision of this card in my head and on my first shot at making it, it didn't quite come out the way I had pictured! So I tweaked and added and took away and changed... and then some - but I finally came out with something that i was happy with!

This week the colors were Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, and Bermuda Bay. I had seen a card made by another demonstrator named Kara Creech, and I fell in love with it. Anyway, I used her card for some inspiration and then made it mine!

I started with a black card base. And then layered on the Razzleberry and Bermuda Bay layers. On the Bermuda, I stamped the Bella Toile Background stamp in Bermuda ink. Then I stamped the Medallion in Black ink off to the side. I added the White satin ribbon. Finally, I used the Circle scissors plus to cut out my circles. On the white circle, I stamped the saying from the Sale a Bration set called Whimsical Words in black and then the flowers from Vintage Vogue.

To make this card even more special, I wanted to add a little something in the middle of the flowers. Have you seen a product called Stickles? You can get it at craft stores. Well, being a Stampin' Up! purist, I wanted to see if I could get the same look of Stickles only using Stampin' Up! stuff. So, I took out my Crystal Effects and my Chunky Glitter. I mixed a little Crystal Effects on a piece of wax paper with a little of the glitter. Then i used a paper clip to pick up some of the mixture and place it in the center of the flowers. It gives a great sparkle and even some dimension! I am really pleased with this card!!!!

I hope you like it to!

Remember, if you would like to purchase any of the products I used today, you can simply go to my website and click on Shop Now!

Enjoy!

Kelly

Relief for Haiti from Stampin' Up!

Stampin' Up! always takes note of people in need. When they heard about the earthquake in Haiti, they knew they needed to do something to help. So, they have decided to donate $2 from the sale of the "I {heart} Hearts" stamp set from now through February 28th.
Product Name
I {Heart} Hearts – clear-mount (block D recommended)
Item # 118571
$18.95
I {Heart} Hearts – wood-mount
Item # 117010
$26.95

Click here and then on Shop Now to order yours today and help make a difference!

A New Year of Color Challenges!

Welcome to 2010! and a new year of Color Challenges. I am catching up a bit, but what else is new?? Oh Well! I got them done on time, just haven't posted them on time!

This first challenge I have here is Real Red, YoYo Yellow, and Bermuda Bay. I used Kraft card stock for the card base and the new stamp set from the Mini catalog called Vintage Vogue. I really like this new set! I have already made several projects with it and have so many more ideas. It is a very versatile set!

This next challenge was Sahara Sand, Rich Razzleberry, and Crushed Curry. I have been seeing some cards made with the scallop square die for the Big shot and wanted to give that a try. I still have some of the Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Series Paper with the Crushed Curry design, so I pulled out the Razzle Dazzle stamp set to match and came up with this...
I even added a little something to the inside of the card.

I hope you like them!! I have one more challenge to catch up on. Hopefully I can get that one posted tomorrow! The colors were Rich Razzleberry and Not Quite Navy.

Nativity Tile

Do you remember a few years back when these tumpled tiles were all the rage in the stamping world? They were everywhere!! Well, with our new Shimmer Paints, they are back! I am sorry that my pictures are just not doing this tile justice! I will work on getting a better picture...

I got the idea for this tile from fellow demo, Andrea Walford. She posted a similar tile made with the Angel stamp. She also posted how she used the shimmer paints mixed with re-inkers to paint it. Well, I knew when I saw that, that I had to do it! So, into my basement I went, to find the tiles, I knew I had!

To make this tile, I wiped the tile with a cloth (a.k.a. my jeans) to get off any dust or residue. Next, I took out a paper plate to use as my paint palette. You DO NOT need a lot of paint to get good coverage. I worked with one drop of Frost White Shimmer Paint (item #116854) for each color that I needed. Then, I mixed in 1 drop of Re-inker to the paint. For the darker colors like Bravo Burgundy, i used 2 drops of Frost White to 1 drop of reinker. Otherwise, it would looked too dark. Then, I simply painted the areas on the tile carefully and used a very little bit of paint. Also, when I finished painting the picture, I used the Champagne Mist (item #116806) to paint around the outside of the picture.

The classic reinker colors I used were: Blush Blossom, Barely Banana, Bashful Blue, Bravo Burgundy, Always Artichoke and Summer Sun. I also used a little of the Platinum Shimmer Paint (item #116807) mixed with Frost White and Bashful Blue for the Baby Jesus' wrap. If you paint something that you do not like, you can wipe it away with a little water. One part of mine came out a little too dark to start so, I just added some water to the brush and lifted some of the paint off. Make sure that you seal these coasters with some clear sealant spray that you can find at one of those big craft stores or a hardware store. You can finish the back by glueing on some felt to protect your table.

I think a set of these coasters would make a great Christmas gift!!

Color Challenge 11-17-09

So I finally had the chance to participate in another color challenge! It felt so good to do this again! It was like seeing an old friend again after being away for awhile. I know corny... but ya know it is the little things in life right!!!

The colors for this week were Blush Blossom, Ruby Red and Close to Cocoa. I find that I never use Blush Blossom unless it is in one of these color challenges and when I do, I actually like the way comes out! Who Knew?!

For this card, I started with a Close to Cocoa card base. Next I added the Ruby Red Layer. For the top layer, I used Blush Blossom. I stamped this piece with the flower from Season of Joy (item #110384) in Blush Blossom ink, followed by Ruby Red, and then Close to Cocoa. I tied the White Satin Ribbon around it. Don't you love that Satin ribbon?? Next, I punched out the Five Petal Flowers - 1 from each color of Card Stock. I layered these together and added 3 silver brads in the center. The flower is attached with Dimensionals. Finally, I stamped "Merry Christmas" in Close to Cocoa on Ruby Red and cut it out. Then layered it on Close to Cocoa and cut it out again.

I hope you like it! I am so glad to be back into doing these color challenges. Hopefully, I will be able to stick with it again!

Also, I have a few more posts that I am setting up right now so check back again soon to see a great gift idea!

New Deal of the Week!

This week's deal is a great one!!!

Week 2 Deals of the Week
Item Description Special Price
115961 Perfect Setting Bigz XL die $25.99
114515 Flower Burst Embosslits die $5.99
116760 Pop-Up Three Tier Cake Bigz XL die $25.49

To take advantage of this week's deal, order online or call me by October 19th at noon.

To place your order online, click here!