You're on my mind

I stumbled across this color combination several months ago: Night of Navy and Cajun Craze. The mellow tones hit me just right.

There are a few people whom I've been thinking about lately, and I hope this simple card will brighten a day this week. The design is really straight forward: just a small rectangular image panel (actual dimensions don't matter too much), with the sentiment stamped directly onto the dark (Night of Navy) card base.

Using the Whisper White craft ink for to stamp "you're on my mind" cleans up the design by eliminating the need to add another panel and mat. The stamp set is the retired Delight in Life. These gentle flower images are some of my favorites. I stamped off the main image many times, and added a lot of sponging for softness.

If you like this card, consider putting on your crafting hat and relaxing with a little stamping this weekend! Thanks for looking.

Dusty Blue Tag

The Dusty Blues VSN Challenge was to use a blue, ivory and brown color combination.



I ran my Naturals Ivory card stock base through the Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder. (I love the deep impression you get with these folders!) To add some depth, I sponged Baja Breeze ink across the top, so that the embossed image is colored, but the debossed portion remains mostly white.

The stamped image is from a retired set I've had for quite a while. I still like the quirky images/sentiments in So Cool for a youthful feel on my cards and scrapbook pages. Here I used Baja Breeze card stock with Early Espresso ink, and cut the tag out freehand with my Paper Snips. The edges are sponged lightly with the Baja Breeze, too.

To attach the tag to the card front, I punched a small hole and threaded the Linen Thread through there before warapping it around the card front and tying off in a bow.

I think the "randomness" of the design is accentuated by the halfback pearls, which also add a needed feminine touch.

Upsy Daisy Card with Stamp-a-ma-jig Tutorial

I stumbled across some retired red Hemp Twine while looking for supplies to complete some challenges for the August 2011 Virtual Stamp Night at Splitcoaststampers.com. I made this very simple card for the challenge to use a cowboy rope.

Here I satmped the flower image from Upsy Daisy in Cajun Craze ink onto Very Vanilla card stock.



To correctly position the sentiment, I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig (samj). It's easy!

1) Align the plastic sheet in the corner of the T-square. Stamp the desired image on the plastic sheet with the stamp block flush along both sides of the T.



2) Position the plastic sheet on top of your card stock, right where you want your stamped image to end up. Place the T-square on the same corner as it was when you stamped onto the plastic.



3) Remove the plastic sheet, but leave the T-square in place. Ink up your stamp, and stamp the image, making sure the sides of the stamp block are flush (just like when you stamped on the plastic sheet).



That's it! My words ofen end up crooked if I try to eyeball this stamp, so I'm glad I have this simple tool to help me out.

I finished my card by layering the image panel onto a piece of Well Worn dsp and a So Saffron card base. The image panel is popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals, and the twine runs around that panel a few times before I tied it in a simple square knot. Of course, I had to add some Early Espresso sponging around the edge the image panel. My fingers got pretty messy today!

Blue Bandana

The second challenge I completed for the August 2011 Virtual Stamp Night at Splitcoaststampers.com was Dusty Trails. We were challenged to use a bandana print technique as well as paper piecing to create a card.

You can check out the gallery for this awesome challenge here. I strayed a bit from the beaten track, and used the theme as my guide, rather than going for a truly authentic bandana look.



Here I stamped the Medallion image with Not Quite Navy Craft ink directly onto this piece of Well Worn dsp, then embossed with clear ep to help the image pop off of the background.

I incorporated paper piecing by using the retired SU! stamp set Polka Dot Punches. This fits in pretty well with the bandana look, I think. I stamped the flower image in Cajun Craze ink onto another piece of the Well Worn dsp, then punched out with the coordinating 5 Petal Flower Punch.

To finish the card, I creased the petals a bit with my Bone Folder and added an Antique Brad to the center of one. I distressed the edges of the Well Worn dsp and sponged Cajun Craze, Soft Suede and a bit of Not Quite Navy inks on the edges and over the Medallion image.

Hope you like what I came up with. Give it a try!

Faux Leather (Masking Tape) Technique

I was inspired by the video tutorial on Splitcoaststampers.com by Beate Johns for the Faux Leather technique using masking tape. This past weekend was another SCS Virtual Stamp Night (VSN) set of challenges. The theme was Rodeo.

I didn't think I would get a chance to play at all, since I had to work on Saturday at the Great Minnesota Get Together. This afternoon, though, I pulled out some of my toys and managed to complete 5 of the challenges! It helps that there is a 45 minute time limit, but I was way under that for almost all of my cards. I think I used the full 45 minutes for this Dragon Skin card, though.



I used my newest stamp set, Dinoroar, which I got for my youngest. I think it is pretty cute! (Even if this image is of a flying reptile, not technically a dinosaur.)
I also took advantage of the current (until Wednesday 8/31) offer from SU! of buy 3, get 1 free on Designer Series Paper. I used the Well Worn dsp on this card and also on several others I made today.

Here's a quick tutorial for this method of Faux Leather.

1) Cover a piece of card stock (doesn't matter what color) with small pieces of masking tape. Try to cover any straight edges with a ripped piece.



2) Add a dark brown (here Early Espresso) ink to the torn edges of tape by rubbing a sponge across the surface.



3) Sponge a lighter shade (here Soft Suede) over the top (don't rub) to add color to the centers of the tape pieces.



4) Cover the sheet with clear embossing powder and heat set. (I noticed that some of my tape pieces curled up during the heating process, but I could easily push them back down when the piece had cooled.)





5) Finish the project! I ran my faux leather piece throught the Big Shot with the Top Note die to make the background for the pteranodon. He's stamped with Cajun Craze ink on Very Vanilla card stock. I used my Paper Snips to cut him out, and sponged the edge with Soft Suede ink.

There is more sponging around the edge of the dsp background (from Well Worn), and the card base is Cajun Craze. On the inside, I stamped the T. rex and a bit of the grass.



I'm planning on featuring this technique at the September meeting of my Techniques Club. Contact me if you are interested in joining. We have room for you!

Sunset on the Farm

Anyone who has stamped with me knows that I love sponging. It is easy, fast and cheap. It also gets your fingers dirty.

These cards use both the Farm Life stamp set from Stampin' Up! and also a John Deere tractor stamp I have from a different manufacturer.

Colors are Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Wild Wasabi and Very Vanilla. I also added Daffodil Delight, So Saffron and Elegant Eggplant inks. Both images are embossed with black ep.

Embrace Life

A tried and true stamp set: Embrace Life. I used it a few weeks ago to make some Get Well type cards for my parents to use. I took the colors from the CreativeCrew Challenge over on Splitcoaststampers.




Here I've used the poppy image with Baja Breeze, So Saffron and Poppy Parade. I ran the card stock mat through my Big Shot with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder. Don't you love the deeply embossed image?

The image is stamped with Basic Black and colored with a Stampin' Write Marker (Poppy Parade) and a Blender Pen (with a So Saffron pad). I used my (retired) Coluzzle to cut the circles. SU! has a neat new tool, the Circle Scissors Plus, that allows you to create a mat of just about any size you want. With my old tool, I'm limited to 1/4 inch.



I went to town on the inside with the stamping and coloring. That was fun! Also, I had to pull out my Stampin' Sponges to soften the edge of my circle.

The sentiment is from With Love & Caring.

This second card used the bamboo image from Embrace Life as well as the sentiment from that set. The Spotlight Technique is a quick way to add some color and dimension.



I used the Square Lattice embossing folder for the texture on the Poppy Parade accent here. I find that the card stock shortens up slightly when using the embossing folders, so I trimmed this piece to match the card front length exactly after running it through the Big Shot.