Car Card

The challenge this week at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is to make masculine cards. That is a good opportunity to this unique car stamp that I have from Club Scrap. It shows the right half of one car and the left half of the other and I'm never quite sure what to do with it. Sketch 231 from Operation Write Home seemed to be a good choice. 

Operation Write Home #231

Sketch: Operation Write Home #231
Paper: Colorbox
Sentiment Stamp: Hero Arts
Image Stamp: Club Scrap

Floating Feathers

I've been watching the "Thinking Inking" serieis from Jennifer McGuire on YouTube. She goes over many differnent ways to use inks, embossing powder, stamps, Perfect Pearls, Liquid Pearls and more. I used two of the distress ink techniques on this card.

First, I rubbed Colorbox Chalk Ink in three different colors on white cardstock. Then I used clear embossing ink to stamp a feather from Club Scrap in a few random spots and heat embossed with clear embossing powder so that some of the chalk ink would show through. The coverage from the chalk ink was really spotty, so I put a layer of distress ink in Broken China over the top, then wiped the feathers clean.

For the sentiment panel I used Broken China to stamp the same feather and "I thought of you today..."  The rest of the sentiment "and smiled" is inside the card. (The sentiment is from There She Goes Stamps).

This was a fun departure from my usual techniques and I'm entering it into the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge -- Use one stamp two or more ways
Mixed Media Monthly -- Birds of a Feather -- the theme made me think of this feather stamp
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge -- Anything Goes

Beat Cancer

This card is to thank a friend who helped me out last year when I was going through cancer treatment. I'm still so weak and so tired that there isn't much I can do for everyone who reached out to me. Sending her a little bundle of handmade cards will at least let her know that I appreciate what she did. 

I used the colors from this weeks Kraftin Kimmie Challenge which are pink, brown and turquoise. The stamp is from a breast cancer awareness set from Club Scrap called "We are Aware." 

The Monday Challenge at Simon Says Stamp is "B is for..." I think that "Beat Cancer" qualifies. 


Stamp: Club Scrap
Ink: Studio G
Embossing Folder: Elizabeth Craft

Cherished Card

I love the look of multi-media cards, distress inks, art journal pages, ATC and other artsy projects. But my own stuff usually ends up pretty structured and stiff. So the most recent challenge at Waffle Flower was a tough one for me. It was a photo inspiration challenge and the photo was a white pillow with some overlapping transparent circles in different colors. 

So I found a stamp from Club Scrap that I had never used before with some overlapping circles on it. I stamped it with clear embossing ink and then embossed with a two-tone light pink embossing power from Lindy's Stamp Gang. 

Then I blended two colors of distress ink over that and cut around the stamped image in a shape that somewhat resembles the pillow. This piece is popped up with foam tape to give it some dimension.

The background paper needed to be subtle so it wouldn't compete with the stamped image. I found this light pink paper from Studio G in my stash. I needed to break up the solid background so a stamped the loopy shape along the left. 

Finally, since the inspiration photo included some smaller circles, I got out the raindrops from Cloud 9 and placed them in sort of a spiral along the card.

This card needed a sentiment, but because the design was so unusual, the usual sentiments didn't seem to fit. It needed a word that expressed a concept or emotion rather than the usual "thank you," or "I love you." I found the word "Cherished" in one of my MFT stamp sets and that worked. 

For all that effort I'm glad this one qualifies for more than one challenge. The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge is "Think Pink." The embossed image may look almost white, but it is a two-tone embossing power and is actually pink, especially if you hold it at the right angle. The background paper is pink, and the word "Cherished" is stamped in pink.

This one will go in the Simon Says Stamp Monday -- "No Rules," and their Wednesday challenge -- "Anything Goes." 


Stamps: Club Scrap, My Favorite Things, Stampology
Inks: Studio G and Tsukineko Brilliance
Distress Inks: Broken China, Iced Spruce
Embossing Powder: Lindy's Stamp Gang

Home is Where My Heart is

The latest challenge from the Mod Squad challenge was really interesting. We were asked to stamp the same image three times, cut them out and then layer them. My first attempt was an epic fail involving watercolor and a flower stamp. It will not be pictured here. 

Sometimes we just need to work with our limitations. I took an easier route and chose a stamp with straight lines. Instead of coloring each layer, I stamped on different colored papers. For color inspiration I used the colors from the latest Your Next Stamp challenge. 

I embossed the bottom layer of paper with a bricks design that would go along with the idea of a house. For the sentiment I used "Home is Where My Heart is." A perfect sentiment for a card going to Operation Write Home. 

Operation Write Home #47

I am also entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge which for this week is "Add a Little Texture. "

Sketch: Operation Write Home #47
Image Stamp: Club Scrap
Sentiment Stamp: My Favorite Things Homespun Birdhouse
Ink: Hero Arts Black
Embossing Folder: Darice Bricks

Celebrate This Day

As a cardmaker, I find that the 12" x 12" papers meant for scrapbookers can sometimes be difficult to work with. Very large patterns can overwhelm a 5 1/2' x 4 1/4" card. One way to tame those large prints is to break up the pattern into smaller pieces. Operation Write Home sketch #91 does exactly that. Cutting the paper into thirds makes the design less imposing.

Operation Write Home Sketch #91

I just discovered a new challenge. This one is from Your Next Stamp. They have a challenge to use either the sketch or the color scheme. My card uses the three hues of green they selected.

Stamp: Club Scrap
Paper: Basic Grey, Lime Rickey
Punch: EK Success
Ink: Studio G

Farmer's Market Cards

This batch of cards was made using Farmers Market paper from Crate Paper. I'm still working my way through all 234 sketches from Operation Write Home . I think it will probably take another year, but that's ok. There is no deadline, its just a fun way to challenge myself.

Sketch #47 is a nice way to use 3" x 3" squares cut from a 6" x 6" paper pad. I inked the edges with chalk ink to add a bit of dimension. The sentiment is from Club Scrap. It says "We never know how strong we are until being strong is the only option." I love it!

Sketch #47

Sketch #153 is really fun to work with. The sentiment is from Riley and Co. I really like how this card turned out.

Sketch #153

Sketch #204 has a lot going on. I think that with this one its important to keep the colors and shapes consistent or it can get too busy.

Sketch #204