Constantly Stamping

Sweather Weather...Seasonal Snapshot PLxSU

It is officially Autumn here in Tennessee. I haven't needed a sweater yet, but I know it is only a matter of time before they will become standard apparel.  This card certainly captures the mood of the weeks ahead with the beautiful colors and falling leaves. Even the wood element (Seasonal Snapshot 2015 Project Life Accessory Pack) conjures up feelings of a cozy evening around the campfire.

Want to know a little secret? This card actually started out as my project for this week's CASE the Designer sketch over at Global Design Project, but I decided on this pillow box instead. Even still, I thought I would go ahead and enter it into the challenge because it was definitely inspired by Louise Sharp's beautiful card. I am curious if anyone else sees the connection? You see, a CASEd project can end up looking entirely different than the original. You just need to draw inspiration from it instead of copying it.

Here are just a few details. I used Farmer's Market DSP for the background on a Early Espresso top folding card base. The leaves are from the Vintage Leaves stamp set (#138802). I stamped them on Very Vanilla cardstock with the same color as each leaf (Hello Honey, Cherry Cobbler,  Old Olive, and Chocolate Chip) and then colored them with sponge daubers. I really wanted the leaves to look realistic, so I fussy cut them instead of using the matching thinlits dies. Of course, you know I couldn't resist adding some distressing around the edges with some Early Espresso ink and a sponge.

I hope you will check out the beautiful projects this week over at Global Design Project. Each week I am amazed at the beautiful projects created by some of the most talented demonstrators in the blog-o-sphere. We would love for you to play along too!

Fall Wreath Box #GDP004

This week over at the Global Design Project challenge blog we are getting our inspiration from this lovely card created by Louise Sharp.

I guess it is pretty easy to see the element that inspired me. I love fall and when I found these adorable mini grapevine wreaths at Hobby Lobby and I just had to have them. I also love sunflowers...so I created a sunflower using Hello Honey cardstock and ink along with the Reason for the Season stamp set and coordinating punch.

I die cut a box with the Pillow Box Thinlits Die out of Kraft cardstock. I assembled the box and stamped it with the Hardwood stamp in Crumb Cake ink.

For the flower I stamped and punched four sets of petals. Then I lightly spritzed them on the backside with water and scrunched them. I set them aside to dry and then I layered them together with hot glue. I tied twine around the wreath and attached it to the box. I secured everything with a little hot glue and added the sentiment (from Remarkable You stamp set).

I hope you will play along over at the Global Design Project challenge blog. Even if you don't, it is worth a trip over there to see the amazing projects our designers have created for you.

Fancy Friday Blog Hop...Fabulous Fall

It's Autumn here in the U.S. and Canada, so this month our theme for this month's blog hop is Fabulous Fall.  Black and kraft have always been one of my favorite color combo and it is perfect for this time of year. For my card I stamped maple leaves from the Vintage Leaves stamp set in Memento Jet Black ink on  Crumb Cake cardstock. I used gold embossing powder to emboss the words from the Project Life Seasonal Snapshot 2015 set onto Basic Black cardstock. I mounted everything on a Basic Black card base and added a strip of gold foil card stock. To give the card a bit of an update, I added a thread nest behind the sentiment with some gold metallic thread.

Now, be sure to head on over to see the "fancy" projects that and the rest of the Fancy Friday team have for you.

Made With Love #GDP003

The theme over at Global Design Project this week is a baby challenge. For most of you that probably doesn't seem like a big deal, but honestly, this was a real challenge for me. I am at the stage where I am too old to have a baby and not quite at that time in my life for grandchildren. That means that I haven't really had anything "baby" on my mind for quite some time. Thankfully the design team members have a bit of an advantage because we get a head start. I was able to order my favorite baby-related stamp set, Made With Love (#138662) just for this particular challenge. I picked this set because it is so cute and versatile. I mean, seriously, the baby animals are so adorable and I can see using them on other types of projects too.

I made this fun little vintage-inspired box with the Baker's Box Thinlits die (#138279) and some Subtles Color Collections DSP in Pink Pirouette. I stamped the fawn with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored it with Copic markers. I highlighted the white spots with a uni-ball Signo Gel Pen. Finally, I used Crumb Cake ink to distress the edges and tied it all up with some Sahara Sand lace trim, linen thread and a Whisper White Neutrals Designer Button.

I hope you will join us for this fun challenge this week over at the Global Design Project Challenge Blog.

Don't be Afraid to Alter Your Stamps

Have you ever thought, "that stamp would be perfect if only..."?  Sometimes there isn't anything you can do about it, but other times all it takes is a little creativity to make it just right. That is exactly what happened when I saw this adorable pencil stamp from the Project Life Seasonal Snapshot 2015 stamp set (#139841). The words are really cute, but how much more versatile would it be if the words were separate? No worries...nothing that a little patience and an exacto knife can't fix! The fact that these are photopolymer stamps makes them much easier to cut. After I removed the words, I stamped the pencil several times down the edge of a Whisper White card panel with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. Then I just placed the words back into the center of the stamp for my greeting. I used Copic markers (non-SU) to color the images and mounted everything on a card covered with a piece of Cherry on Top DSP.

I challenge you to take a second look at some of your stamp sets to see if there is any hidden potential! You never know what you might discover!

Global Design Project Alternate Project

While I was working on my card for Global Design Project this week, I also came up with an alternate card. Its design was a little out of my comfort zone so I wasn't even sure I would share it with you...but I decided to anyway. Here is a little reminder of what the sketch looks like.

I used the Lighthearted Leaves stamp set. I stamped the leaf on whisper white cardstock and colored with sponge daubers using Daffodil Delight and Tangerine Tango ink.

There is still time to play along with us this week over at the Global Design Project Challenge Blog, so please check out what our incredibly talented designers have created.

 

 

 

 

Global Design Project #002

Our new challenge blog, Global Design Project, was a big hit last week. This week we are working from this sketch.

Here is my take on this great sketch...

I decided to take a whimiscal approach to this week's card by using the new Into the Woods Designer Series Paper (#139586) from the new Holiday Catalog. The greeting is from the Thankful Forest Friends (#139723) stamp set.

I borrowed the wooden leaf from the Seasonal Snapshot 2015 Project Life Accessory Pack (#139652).

This is a great sketch, so why don't you play along with us this week over at Global Design Project?

Global Design Project Challenge Blog Launch

A while back I was asked to be a part of the GDP Challenge Blog. I haven't been stamping much lately so it was just the thing I needed to kick start my creativity. Can I just tell you that we have some of the most amazingly talented Stampin' Up! demonstrators from around the globe on our team. Seriously! I have to admit that this first card was definitely a challenge...normally you don't see me using pastels on my cards...especially in this color combo.

I knew if I was going to pull this one off I was going to have to fall back one of my favorite stamp sets, Remarkable You (#139894). I was inspired by this amazing card by Vicki Burdick. I love how she fussy cut the flowers and popped them up with dimensionals, so that is what I did here.

I also wanted to find an easy way to color the images, so I stamped the flowers with Jet Black StazOn ink on Whisper White cardstock and used sponge daubers to apply the ink. I started at the base and worked my way out. This helped give the appearance of depth to the images and it was much easier than a lot of other coloring methods I have used. I thought that if I were going to spend all that time cutting the flowers, I needed to save time on other areas. I also cheated a little by using a pre-designed card base from the Watercolor Wishes Card Kit.

I hope you will visit us over at the Global Design Project Challenge Blog and play along. We will post a new challenge each Monday so be sure to check it out often.