Cat's Pajamas 286

I based this card on TCP Sketch 286. I'm not usually that into coloring my stamped images, but this little bear wouldn't stop asking me to color him in. I used my Prismacolor pencils and then used turpenoid to blend the colors. 

Since I (finally) colored an image, I can enter this card in the 30-Day Coloring Challenge over at the Daily Marker. #thedailymarker30day

TCPTUES 286

I'm entering this sketch in the Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday Challenge which is to show what you are stamping. 

Paper: My Mind's Eye Lime Twist
Stamp: The Cat's Pajamas What a Blast
Banner Punch: Stampin' Up

Cards, Crafting and Sisyphus

Are you familiar with the legend of Sisyphus? In Greek mythology he was someone who always lied. As punishment, he had to spend eternity rolling a boulder up a hill, watching it roll back down, and then pushing it back up again. 

What does that have to do with crafting? Well, about a year ago I decided to use each card sketch from Operation Write Home at least once. I have made a lot of progress -- at least 100 sketches complete. But they release two new sketches each month, so sometimes it feels like this task will never be complete! Cardmaking is far more fun than pushing boulders up hills, and no one is forcing me to do this. Still, sometimes I feel just a little tiny bit like Sisyphus. That's how I was feeling when I finally made a card for sketch #250 and then found an e-mail announcing sketch #251. 

So here is the card for #250. The next sketch can wait until my attitude improves. 

OWH Sketch #250

I'm entering this sketch in the Simon Says Stamp Work it Wednesday Challenge which is to show what you are stamping. For this card I stamped the sentiment and also used two different stamps to make my own embellishment. 

Paper: My Mind's Eye Boy Crazy
Sentiment Stamp: Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler
Image Stamps: My Mind's Eye Boy Crazy
Ink: Stampin' Up Soft Suede and Colorbox Scarlet
Chalk Ink: Colorbox Toffee

Best Son Ever Card

This card uses one of the Viva La Verve card sketches for March. Three of their 4 March sketches have circles in them. Circles are tricky for me. I don't have a die-cutting machine and have had my Silhouette for less than a year, so I'm just not used to working with large circle elements.

This card design did not come easily, but I'm happy enough with the result.

This card will go in the Viva La Verve Challenge as well as the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge (Anything Goes).

Paper: My Mind's Eye Boy Crazy
Stamp: Hero Arts You're a Winner
Ink: Colorbox Scarlet

Iridescent Peacock

Last week I bought a set of embossing powders that are meant to coordinate with each other. I hadn't ever tried using more than one embossing powder on a single stamped image. This peacock from Viva Las Vegas Stamps seemed like a good choice for trying out a mixture of colors.

The result was pretty cool. I didn't want the other parts of the card to compete with the peacock so I kept them pretty simple. 

This card will go in the Viva Las Vegas challenge this month.  The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge is "Birds of a Feather," so I thought a peacock would fit well with that. The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is "Anything Goes," so this card is being entered there as well.

Stamp: Viva Las Vegas
Embossing Powder: Stampendous Impressionist
Paper: Recollections Midnight Magic

Count the waves...

This card features an unusual product -- the Castaway ink pad from Jacquard. When you stamp with this pad it leaves a fait image similar to a watermark or clear embossing fluid. After it sits for a few minutes you use a very hot iron to activate the Castaway and it removes some of the color from the paper. Results can vary widely. The first paper I used (Navy Recollections cardstock) didn't work very well. Almost no color was removed. 

For the card below I used the blue paper from the "Lap of Luxury" pack from Core'dinations. This paper worked better than the Recollections paper. 

The stamps are from Gifts from the Sea by Gina K. For the sentiment panel I stamped the shell and sentiment in Soft Suede from Stampin Up. 

I'm entering this card in the following challenges: 

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge -- Use one stamp two or more ways
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge -- Anything Goes
Stamp TV Release Party Challenge -- Make your own background paper using stamps

Butterfly Thanks!

The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge this week is to use the same stamp at least two different ways on the same project. Most of my cards have relied on beautiful designer paper and I just stamp an image or sentiment to match. This challenge is really making me branch out beyond that. 

For this card I used two flower stamps and one butterfly stamp that came together in a set from Inkadinkadoo. I used three colors of chalk ink that came together in a set called "Misty Meadow," to stamp the three images all over a piece of white cardstock. 

Then I used Broken China distress ink to stamp the butterfly and embossed it with Stampendous Tanzanite Pearl. Embossing over distress ink is a cool technique. The ink doesn't hold the embossing powder very well, so some of the ink shows through in places where the powder didn't hold. 

I layered two layers of ribbon in coordinating colors. The sentiment is from the same Inkadinkadoo set. 

I'm entering this card in the following challenges: 

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge -- Use one stamp two or more ways
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge -- Anything Goes

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