Good morning! I hope everyone had a great weekend! It's time for another challenge over at Paper Therapy! This time it's an Ad Inspired challenge. Make a project based off of the inspiration you’ve gotten from the ad pictured above. Isn't it such a unique and interesting ad?! I sure spent a lot of time just studying it to see how I wanted to use it as inspiration for my card. And here's what I did! I'm pretty happy with it.

I used the brown color of the stockings, the black patent leather of the shoes, and the skin tone of the feet for my main layout. I tried to simulate the lines of the stockings by creating vertical lines with the embossing border (I had to run it through the machine 5 times since it was just a single squiggly line). I wanted to create the same shiny look from the shoes, so I took a piece of black cardstock, and embossed the whole thing with clear embossing powder. There must have been some pieces of white ep mixed in with the clear because you can see the little speckles in it, lol! Oh well....I think it gives it some extra character. I punched out a black scalloped circle and made a cut to the center where each scallop is. Then layered a prima flower, a button from DeNami Design, and finished it off with some black thread. I also added a touch of distress ink to the edges of the creamy caramel and vanilla cardstock. I hope you like my creation! I would love to hear any feedback you may have for me! THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!!!

Supplies:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! - Small Script

Cardstock: Stampin' Up - Creamy Caramel, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Kraft

Ink: Staz-on - Black, Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Tea Dye

Other: Orange Prima Flower, Button - Denami, Black Thread - Magic Scraps, Marvy Uchida Round Scalloped Punch, Rhinestones - Colorbok, Cuttlebug Embossing Borders - Just My Type

Paper Therapy Challenge #5 - Holy Moly! (and SCS CC287)

Good morning! Hope everyone had a great Halloween! This week's Paper Therapy challenge is a fun one! Holy Moly...you must create a project with a hole in it somewhere. How you choose to do it is up to you! I was excited about this challenge because I really haven't made many cards with a 'window' in the front, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try it out. I also used a previous SCS Color Challenge CC287 for the colors on this card. I kept it simple, and this is what I came up with. It's a little difficult to see where the window is, but the edge of the orange trim is where the hole is. The DeNami Design "BIRTHDAY WISHES" sentiment and balloons (which I masked) are stamped on white cs and layered on eggplant cs, then attached to the inside part of the card with dimensionals. To keep with the circular theme, I used another DeNami stamp Medium Double Circle, to create the pattern around the window. I used a Stamp-a-ma-jig to help me out with that one! Luckily, I only had to do it once! At the bottom is a piece of eggplant cs, with thin strips of certainly celery and groovy grava layered on top. I used my Crop-o-dile to punch the small holes. I intended to use this as a male birthday card, but now I'm not sure. Would it be appropriate for a guy? Or do you think it's too girly?! Let me know what you think! Have a great week! :-)

Supplies:

Stamps: DeNami - Birthday Wishes Circle, Party Time Petit Fours Set, Medium Double Circle

Cardstock: SU - Certainly Celery, Elegant Eggplant, Groovy Guava, Whisper White
Ink: SU - Certainly Celery, Elegant Eggplant

Other: Nestabilities Standard Circles Small, Dimensionals, Crop-o-dile, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Paper Therapy Challenge #4 - Scraps

Today kicks off the next challenge over at Paper Therapy! Dig out those cardstock and ribbon scraps and use them to create something beautiful! It can be anything, as long as you use only scraps (the base can be a full piece of cardstock). Check out the design team projects here in the Challenge #4 thread...there are some really great ways to use up your scraps! I encourage you to come participate in this challenge. You have until Saturday, October 30th at 11:59 CST to upload your project to the thread mentioned above. We would love to see what you can create with your scraps! Thanks for stopping in! Hope you visit again!!! :-)

Supplies:

Stamps: Stampendous - Pearl Beadwork

Cardstock: Stampin' Up - Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Elegant Eggplant

Ink: SU - Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry

Dies: SB Nestabilities Classic Ovals Large
Ribbon: SU - Rich Razzleberry dotted grosgrain

Other: Pink Pearls - Kaiser, White Pearl - Recollections

DeNami Design Theme Challenge #4

Happy Sunday! Today I have a card to share for the current DeNami Design Theme Challenge: CHRISTMAS!! I've been busy making Halloween cards lately, and haven't made Christmas cards yet...until now. I just can't even believe November is just around the corner.

 

Here is the card! I used the Curly Garland Border (one of my favorites because it's so versatile), and stamped it twice to form the shape of a Christmas tree. I have to give major credit to my Stamp-a-ma-jig for perfect alignment! ;) I used the little bursts from the Petit Fours Party Time set to be the tree topper...it's kinda hard to see because of the yellow color on the vanilla cardstock. At the bottom, I used the present from the same set. To add some more interest, I used red and green Stickles as ornaments, and gold for the topper and presents. The edge of the red cardstock was punched using my new EK Success edger punch called jewel. More bling was added to the edge with dots of green Stickles!

So what do you all think?! I would love to hear your feedback! I am thinking of doing something a bit different this year for my Christmas cards. I've always just designed one layout and sent everyone the same card. But I would love to play around and make 5 or 6 different ones to keep it interesting. I might even do another variation of this card. I'll be sure to post them all :-) ***SO GLAD YOU STOPPED BY!***

Supplies:

Stamps: DeNami Design - Curly Garland Border, Petit Fours Party Time

Cardstock: SU - Kraft, Real Red, Handsome Hunter, Very Vanilla

Ink: SU - Real Red, Handsome Hunter

Other: EK Success Edger Punch - jewel, Stickles - Xmas Red, Green, & Golden Rod, Metallic Trim, Dimensionals

Paper Therapy Challenge #3 - Color

It's time for another challenge over at Paper Therapy! This week is a color challenge. I love color challenges. I tend to use similar colors over and over again on my cards, so it's nice to be forced to change it up! I immediately thought of Halloween when I saw these colors. I've been having a great time creating Halloween cards the last few weeks.

So this is my card! I am sooooo excited about this one! I LOVE IT! hehe. It's different for me, and that's a good thing. I tried out a new technique I saw when I had watched a few videos about the SB Wizard. It's so easy and I think it has such an awesome look. See how the edge of the die cut shape is white, but there is color on the inside? Well, all you have to do is place the actual die on top of your cut shape, then use a sponge to add some ink to the inside edge of the shape!
The black and white paper in the center is part of a DCWV stack...with glitter! It's a little difficult to see in the pic, but it adds some nice detail. Also, the green cardstock is completely made of glitter! So fun! I finally got a chance to use that sharp black and white ribbon that I've had for probably a year. I love it! Anyway...you must check out the rest of the Paper Therapy design team projects HERE for this challenge! I'm telling you....they are AWESOME! We would LOVE to have you play along with this challenge! It's a perfect way to get a Halloween card done! Thanks for stopping by :-)

Supplies:

Stamps: Stamin' Up - Holiday Best (Trick or Treat), Year after Year (Pumpkin)

Cardstock: Stampin' Up - Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie. DCWV (Latte CS Stack)

Patterned Paper: DCWV (The Glitter Stack)

Ink: Black Staz-on, SU - Only Orange, So Saffron

Dies: SB Nestabilities Labels Eight

Other: Brads - BasicGrey, Ribbon - Michael's, Sponge

Paper Therapy Challenge #2 - My First Stamp

***If you're here for the DeNami Autumn Blog Hop, please scroll down to the previous post.***

Good morning! I hope everyone had a great weekend. It sure was unseasonably warm here in Chicagoland - in the mid '80s and full of sunshine! What a treat for October. I wore shorts and a t-shirt while watching the Bears game, lol! That's a rare sight! ;-)

It's time for the second weekly challenge over at Paper Therapy. Click here to see the challenge post and the design team's cards!  Everyone did such a great job. This week is quite a unique challenge...to use the very first stamp you ever purchased on your project! Well, mine is a Thank You sentiment that I bought probably about 15-20 years ago while shopping with my step-mom! I remember being with her in the store, and I picked out the stamp so I could make my own Thank You cards for birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, etc. I also got one of those Colorbox rainbow ink pads, with like 5 different colors in it! Who knew that years later rubber stamping would be my passion and that I would still have it!!

This is a very simple card. The main Thank You is embossed with black EP, and the diecut is a Nestie. I stamped the black cardstock repeatedly with the sentiment, and embossed it with clear EP. For the red accents, I added the ribbon behind the diecut, and the brads in the corner.
Thanks for stopping by! Like always, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Supplies:

Stamp: Rubber Stampede - "Thank You"

Cardstock: SU - Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: VersaMark

Ribbon: SU - Real Red Grosgrain

Other: Nestabilities Large Labels, Red Brads - unknown, Black EP, Clear EP

DeNami Autumn Blog Hop!

Hello, good morning and Happy Sunday! I am so excited to be a part of the DeNami Autumn Blop Hop today...it's the first blog hop I've ever participated in! Woo Hoo!!  If you've come here from Amy Smidebush's blog, then you're on the right track! If not, then you'll want to make sure you start at the beginning on the DeNami blog here, so you don't miss a thing! Leave a comment on EVERY blog in the hop, and you'll be eligible to win one of two $20 DeNami gift certificates. You have until Monday, October 11, 11:59 PST to leave your comments. Sweet deal, right?!

As the name suggests, this hop is all about Autumn. So I decided to use the ADORABLE Jack 'O Lantern Trio stamp as the main focus for this card. I just love that stamp. I used chalks to color them in...gives it such a nice, soft look. I also used the ZigZag Stitch Border around the edge of the brown cardstock using VersaMark. Lastly, the Flower Vine Swirl was stamped twice at the bottom for a little added detail. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope I have inspired you to go and do some Autumn stamping! Enjoy the rest of the hop. Your next stop is Tina Covington's blog.

Supplies:

Stamps: DeNami Design - Jack 'O Lantern Trio, ZigZag Stitch Border, Flower Vine Swirl

Cardstock: SU - Really Rust, Creamy Caramel, More Mustard, Natural

Ink: SU - Chocolate Chip, VersaMark

Ribbon: BasicGrey

Other: Nestabilities Ovals, SU Eyelets and Button, Stampin' Pastels

Paper Therapy Challenge #1 - Sketch

Hello and Happy Monday everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend and were able to spend some time making cards for World Card Making Day.
Today is an exciting day. It's the first day of the weekly challenges over at Paper Therapy, and I'm proud to be a member of the design team. Yeah! This week happens to be a sketch challenge, and it's such a nice sketch, don't you think?! Kristin did a great job with it. We would LOVE to see what you can come up with for this challenge! There happens to be a prize for this one (the winner of the 1st challenge of every month gets a prize)! You have until this Saturday, Oct 9th at 11:59 pm (CST) to post a picture of your finished project as a reply to this week's challenge post.

Sooooooo...here's the sketch...

 

...and here's what I came up with!

I needed a card for my good friend Sara's baby shower. They don't know the baby's gender, therefore I had to make it neutral, so I used both blue and pink. I think it turned out so cute, what about you?

I would love to hear your feedback and comments, so feel free to do so!

Thanks for stopping by! :-)

Supplies:

Stamps: Stampin' Up -  Year After Year, A to Z Accents

Cardstock: SU - Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Blue Patterned Paper:  Colorbok
Ink: SU - Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue

Ribbon: American Crafts

Other: Nestabilities Standard Circles Small, EK Success Open Scallop Edger Punch, SU Brads, Sponge