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!

This Week's Color Challenge

I know it has been like forever since I posted... I am sorry about that! Sometimes life throws you curve balls and to catch them, other things tend to get dropped as you put your glove up. (yeah, I am a Yankee fan and have been watching a lot of baseball - hence the metaphor...)

Anyway, I am trying to get back in the swing of things and start posting regularly and get some classes planned and all of that good stuff. To get started with that, I participated in this week's color challenge. The colors were chocolate chip and any two of the new in colors. I went with Bermuda Bay and Melon Mambo.

Here is what I came up with:

I started with a Choclate Chip card. I stamped the Upsy Daisy flowers across the bottom of it in Chocolate Chip ink. Next, I scallop punched a scrap of Bermuda Bay and attached it to a piece of Melon Mambo. I ran that through the Big Shot and cut it out with the Top Note Die. I stamped the Upsy Daisy image again on the Mambo cs with Mambo ink. I added the "Birthday Celebrations" with Chocolate Chip ink. I wanted the Top Note piece to "pop" a little more, so, I cut out another top note from Whisper White cs and cut off the ends. I layered those on the edges as shown. Finally, I added the 5/8" Chocolate Chip ribbon.

I also wanted the inside to be special. Since it is a dark colored card stock for the card, I like to add a piece of White cs to make it easier to write in. This time, I cut out another top note from White cs and stamped the tops of the Upsy Daisies in Melon Mambo ink and stuck that inside.!

I hope you like it!

Lots of Color Challenges!!

Hi Everyone!!

I have a few color challenges to share with you today! This first one is from the week of May 19th. The colors were Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, So Saffron, and More Mustard.

I started with a card base of Tangerine Tango. My main panel was Very Vanilla. I started by Brayering the whole sheet with so Saffron. Then, I brayered from the top down, not totally covering the Saffron, with More Mustard and finally with Tangerine Tango. From the bottom, I brayered a bit of Old Olive.

Next, I stamped the flowers and sentiment in Chocolate Chip ink. I finished it with a large grommet and 5/8" chocolate chip grosgrain.





This card is from the week of May 26th. The colors were Almost Amethyst, Basic Gray, So Saffron, and Garden Green.

I used one of the new sets that I earned for FREE from Sale a Bration. (One of those extra perks of being a demo!!) This is the "Friends 24-7" set. I stamped the Almost Amethyst panel with the long flowers in Almost Amethyst craft ink (it is a little hard to see in the photo!) and layered it with Garden Green. I stamped the brocade image in White craft ink and embossed it with white embossing powder on a basic gray panel. This was also layered on Garden Green. The "here for you" was stamped on So Saffron inside the frame from the "Great Friend" set, (which is in the current mini catalog and you might see it after that too...). All pieces were layered on a Basic Gray card and then I added some rhinestone brads.



Ok... up next is the challenge from June 2. These colors were Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore, Apricot Appeal and Gable Green.

This is one of the new sets, that will be in the new and gorgeous catalog, called Circle Circus! I stamped the various circles on White cs in the colors for the week and punched them out with a few different circle punches. I layered them all onto a Whisper White card with some Pink Flamingo DSP, (which you will also be seeing in a new Stampin' Up! publication arriving July 1st). I added the silver jumbo brad. Finally, the "Happy Birthday" comes from the Very Versatile set in the mini - which will not be available after this month... and was punched out with the word window punch!...


Last but not least, is the challenge from this week! The colors were Barely Banana, Garden Green and Bordering Blue. Since we have some new In-Colors, we could swap out the Banana for the new Crushed Curry!! So that is what I did!

I started by embossing my Whisper White cs with the Manhattan flowers embossing folder in my big shot! Then, i turned it over and brayered some crushed curry ink onto the "wrong" side to get the color on the flowers and not on the outline. (I learned this technique from Patty Bennet's blog!)
Next, I cut out around the flowers.

I stamped the grass from the "Inspired by Nature" set and the sentiment in Garden green on my Bordering Blue card. Attached the flowers and that is it!!!!


So now I am all caught up! Phew!!!!

Stay tuned in the next few days for a few more sneak peeks!!! More new in colors and stamp sets!!

Color Challenge 05-12-09

This week's colors were Really Rust, Baja Breeze and Chocolate Chip. These colors go really well together!

I have had this tin sitting on my desk ready to be altered for a long time now! I guess I have been looking for the right inspiration to decorate it. The tin held Mulling spices from Williams-Sonoma. I simply cleaned it out and let it dry thoroughly. I took a piece of Designer Series paper from the Urban Garden pack and stamped it with stampes from Friends 24-7 set in Chocolate Chip and Really Rust ink. Then I used sticky strip to adhere it to the outside of the tin.

For the top, I covered the outside rim with the 5/8" chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon. Next, I used my Big shot to cut out the scallop circle from Baja Breeze textured cs. Next, I cut out a 3.5" diameter circle from Very Vanilla cs using the Circle Scissors plus. The Vanilla piece was stamped with the bird image in Chocolate Chip ink. I used my markers to color it. Next, I colored over the whole thing with my Versamarker and embossed it with clear EP. Then, I stamped the damask image in Baja Breeze around the outside and sponged with both Really Rust and Chocolate Chip. I adhered these layers to the top and folded up the scallops on the top.

I really enjoying covering tins like this! It goes with that whole reduce reuse recycle thing! And, they even look nice too!

Color Challenge 04-28-09!

Well, I am just about caught up now. This color challenge was to use Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango and Kiwi Kiss. I like all of these colors and I even like them toghether... but I am not sure I like them for this card.

I embossed the Tangerine Tango card stock with the Manhattan flowers enbossing folder. Next, I wrapped that piece of CS with the Kiwi Kiss and Very Vanilla satin ribbon (have I told you that I love this ribbon and hole we get it in more colors next year??). Finally I attached this to the Chocolate chip card and added the Scallop oval stamped with a sentiment from the Oval All stamp set!

Birthday Pop Up Card

On April 1st, Stampin' Up! released the new pop-up dies for the Sizzix Big Shot. Best part is they are not available anywhere else yet! Anyway, there is a birthday cake pop up and a ball pop up. Both dies come with great instructions and make amazing cards, scrap pages or decorations.

Here is a card that I made with the Birthday cake pop up. I made for a birthday party my daughter was attending.

The stamps and this paper happen to be retired, but the idea certainly isn't.... The cake was just colored with Stampin' Write markers. I punched the top and bottom of the panel with the Eyelet border punch. The background of the card was stamped tone on tone with the little flower stamp. Finally, I layered the Happy Birthday on a scallop circle and popped it up with a Dimensional.

Now for the inside..................

When you open the card, this beautiful cake pops up to greet you. I decorated the layers with some of the flowers from the 3 flower punch. The candles on the top are from the die. Finally, for the bottom of the card, I added another eyelet border.

I will share another of these cards with you tomorrow. It is the card I made for my friends baby shower.

See you then!

...and even More Swap Cards

This card above was made by Tracy Bakunas. I love this set - Fifth Avenue Florals... It is definitely my favorite!

This one was made by Michelle Zindorf. You should definitely check out her blog. She does just amazing things with a brayer!! You can also find her work on Splitcoaststampers.com

This beauty comes from the very talented Karen Barber!

... and finally this one was made by Brenda Rosenau. I love those little birds! I also really like the way she used the negative space from the Top Note die.


I hope you have enjoying seeing these amazing works of art by some very talented ladies!

New Matchbox Die in the Occassions mini!

As soon as I saw this new Big Shot die, I knew that I had to have it! Not only did I have a million ideas in my head, but then my friend Stasia posted this link to another demos blog, with this amazing project and I just had to copy it!

So here is my take on the treasure chest. I used the new Walk in the Park DSP that will be available on April 1st in the new Occassions mini catalog.

For the drawer pulls, I used the Jumbo Eyelets and Clear Rhinestone brads. The ribbon is the Organza.

For this one, I used the Pink Flamingo DSP and for the drawer pulls, I used the new Small Grommets and some Grosgrain ribbon.

I decided to use this one as my new holder for my Inchies. The box that I had them in was getting a little small.

I hope you enjoy these!

Some More Swap Cards!

Here are a few more of the awesome swap cards I received from the Big Shot and Favorite new set swap.

This one was made by Dawn Byers.

This creation is by Laura Davis.... and finally the last one was made by Tami Carder-Loos.

Aren't they amazing? I love how each of these talented ladies used the Simple Flower embosslit, yet made them look so different.

Swap Cards - Part 2

Ok, Here are a few more of the Big shot and Favorite stamp set swap cards!

This one was made by Tina Rosenkrans. She used the Three Little Words set and the Flowers Decorative Strip Big Shot die.

The next card was made by Beth Riis. She used the Love you Much stamp set and the Scallop Circle #2 Big Shot Die.

Both cards use the Candy Lane DSP and Pink Pirouette card stock.

See you tomorrow for some more cards!

Swap cards!

I recently joined a swap. The swap was to make a card using your favorite new stamp set and the Big Shot. The cards I got back were amazing!! So I thought I would share them with you over the next few days.

This first one is my card. I used the Fifth Avenue Floral set and the Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die for the Big shot. The "Happiness" comes from the Heard from the Heart set. The colors are Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, and Creamy Caramel. I also used some of the new specialty Designer Series Paper called Parisian Breeze! I love this stuff. It is definitely a must have!!!

This next card was made by Jen Peel. She used the Thoughts and Prayers set and the Top Note Die for the Big Shot. The colors used were Chocloate Chip, Bordering Blue and Whisper White. Isn't that a beautiful tree?

Like I said above, check back over the next few days for more of these amazing cards!

Color Challenge 3-03-09 and WSC 70

This week the colors were Old Olive, Real Red, More Mustard and Very Vanilla. I combined this challenge with the Weekend Sketch Challenge (This week, hosted by Lori.) This color combo was a little tough for me.

Anyway, I stated with an Old Olive card. I added the very Vanilla panel. Next, I took two pieces of Designer Series Paper from the Hostess packs. The smaller one is Real red and the Larger is More Mustard. I ran these through my Big Shot with the Texturz plates. I chose the diamond plate. Next, I sanded the 2 pieces a little bit to make the design stand out. This will only work on Designer Series Stampin' Up! papers as these do not have color all the way through like our card stock does. I was really happy with this look.

After I adhered those two panels to the card, I added the Kiwi Kiss ribbon. I needed the embellishment on the left side. So, I took my Simple Flower Embosslit and ran that through my big shot with More Mustard card stock. I didn't think that was quite enough.... It just wasn't doing it for me. So I ran it through again with the Real Red Designer Series Paper. I cut out the separate petals and adhered them to the More Mustard flower using the Tombow Multi Purpose adhesive. Finally, I added the brad from the Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware in the center of the flower and stamped "celebrate" on the bottom of the card in Old Olive ink.

I hope you like it!

This Week's Color Challenge!

This week's color challenge was Basic Grey and Pink Pirouette. I started with a Pink Pirouette card. I layered a piece of Baisc Grey on top. Next, I cut out a piece of Candy Lane DSPusing the Top Note die and my big shot. Then, I stamped the sentiment from the new Sale-a-Bration set in Basic Grey on the bottom of the Top Note.

I wrapped a piece of striped Pink Pirouette ribbon around the Top Note and the Grey layer. Finally, I colored a piece of the So Tweet Chipboard with White Craft ink. Let it dry and then used the Tombow multi purpose adhesive to add the chunky glitter. I finished it off with a new flower brad and put it on the card with Dimensionals. I also did color the center of the flower with a black sharpie marker.

Enjoy!

Kelly

Color Challenge 01-12-09

This week's color challenge is Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, and Not Quite Navy. I have been wanting to make one of these Top Note boxes for awhile and have been putting it off. Why? I don't know.... because I had to take things off of my Big Shot to get at it and I was being lazy. OK - so that is why.

So this was the perfect time to just do it! Clean up and use your stuff, Kel!! SO here is my final product.

I took 2 pices of Kiwi Kiss CS and ran it through the Big Shot with my Top Note Die. Next, I stamped one of them with the Floral vine stamp from the Fresh Cuts stamp set in Kiwi Kiss ink. On a piece of Shimmery White scrap, I stamped the Lovey Dovey heart from the new Hostess set called "A Little Somethin'" in Not Quite Navy ink. I carefully cut this heart out (since I do not have the new Full heart punch just yet). I used the negative image from cutting out the heart to stipple some Baja Breeze ink. I cut this out too! (I can't wait to get that punch!!) THese were put on top with some Dimensionals.

Now for the box part. I took a piece of Kiwi Kiss CS (11"x 2 1/4") and scored it at 4" and 7" on the 11" side and at 1/4" on the 2 1/4" side. Then I took anothe piece (2 1/4" x 3 1/2") and scored it at 1/4" from each side on the 3 1/2" side(this made the flaps for the sticky strip) and 1/4" on the 2 1/4" side. The 1/4" sides are where I put the Sticky strip to adhere it to the bottom Top Note die. I have to say that if I make this again, I will make the side a little bit smaller. So instead of having a 4"x3" box, I would make it 3 3/4"x2 3/4". I think this will make it a little easier for the top and making sure you don't see the sides of the box peeking out from the top.

For the box top, I took an 11"x 1 1/4" strip and scored it at 3 7/8", 6 3/4", and 10 5/8". The 3/8" left on the end of this strip is a flap for sticky strip. It is also scored at 1/4" on the 1 1/4" side. Then another strip (3 1/8" x 1 1/4") scored at 1/4" on the 3 1/8" side and on the 1 1/4" side. Again all of the 1/4" scores are for sticky strip. I know this probably a little confusing, if you take some card stock and see it, it should make sense... This part was adhered together and then to the top of the box. This fits inside the bottom part to secure the cover.

Finally, I added the Baja Breeze Double stitched ribbon and the Kiwi Kiss/Very Vanilla satin ribbon. The Kiwi ribbon is amazing. This is first time I used it and it definitely will not be the last!

I hope you enjoyed this take on the Top Note box. It would make a great hostess gift, Non-traditional Valentine, or just a little somethin' for someone special!

Kelly

Decor Elements and a New Challenge!!

So, if you have been following my blog, you know that I enjoy our weekly color challenges and try to do them as often as I can. (Lately, not so much)... Anyway, the challenges have really helped me to be a more creative stamper. They take me out of my comfort zone sometimes and really make me think out of the box. So, I have now started posting a new challenge for my group called(for now), the Creative Challenge! This challenge will be just about anything goes! This week it is to use Decor Elements on anything but the walls! There are so many uses for these things!! See this post for my Countdown to Christmas board.

Now here is my newest creation! This one was a little more involved! I used the bulk Decor Element vinyl that Stampin' Up! sells along with my Sizzix Big Shot.

The Trifle bowl, I found at Walmart. It was about $8.00 or so. I used the Santa and Sleigh Decor Element in Real Red. This is the small one.

Quick Note: Be careful when putting this on this bowl. Try to work from the middle out to the edges. Otherwise, it may not lay right and may go off the edge.

Next, I cut out some little snowflakes with my Big shot and the Bulk vinyl. Although not hard, I had a little trouble with the Sizzlits cutting all the way through the Vinyl and had to get out my Hobby Blade to help with some of the smaller areas. I will tell you a little more about that in a minute!!

Here is another picture from the back with a little more detail on the snowflakes. Also, I added a piece of Real Red 5/8" grosgrain ribbon on the bottom for a bow and to dress it up a bit!

I also, made another one of these bowls as you will see below with just snowflakes. The larger snowflake is one of the big shot dies. However, this one is a Bigz die and goes through the vinyl much more easily!! The bigz dies are a larger die with deeper blades. I also made sure that when

I made this second one, that I used my Shims. What are Shims, you ask?? Well, these are very thin pieces of plastic that come with the Premium Crease pad. They help to give the dies a little more resistance when going through the machine so you get better cuts. I find this especially helpful with the more detailed dies.

On this bowl, I used some of the striped ribbon from the Holiday Mini to make the bow.

Keep in mind that you can order of the products I used here by going to my website and clicking "Shop Now" in the top right corner.

Enjoy!

Color Challenge 08-26-08

Hi Everyone,

Well, I am sitting here winding down from the first session of my New Catalog Open House and thought I would send you the color challenge card from this week that I made. I also have been busy making some samples with my Big Shot!!! I will share some of those in the next few days. But today's color challenge is one of them.

(Sorry the pic is a little crooked!) Ok so the colors this week are : Brocade Blue, Night of Navy and Bravo Burgundy. I made this very simple card by making the base from the Burgundy. Then, I stamped the Baroque background stamp with Night of Navy ink for the layer. Finally, I used some Brocade Blue CS with my Join in the Cheer Decorative Strip die for the Big Shot. I trimmed the words "Love", "Joy" and the "&" and put them on the front of the card with my Tombow multi purpose adhesive. That tombow stuff is my new favorite thing btw!! It works so well for so many things. You must have it! (110755 $3.95)

I hope you enjoy this card! It really was pretty quick to put together.

Kelly