Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge #137: Lavender Birthday

Hi Blog Friends! Here we are back at Tuesday again, and time for another Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge (TMS#137). This week, Jessica, of There She Goes Stamps, is sponsoring us, and it's also the Judged Challenge, so the added twist is: Monochromatic. 




Check out Melissa's sketch:

And, here's my interpretation:

I stamped the sentiment and cake image with Colorbox ink and set it with my heat gun before coloring with Copics. This card is for my daughter to give to a friend for her birthday, and my DD's one request was that I use a lot of Stickles, so I've used it on the cake and the two little candles in the sentiment to give the card a little sparkle. I wanted to add "pearls," but I think something is wrong with my Violet Pearl Pen. The dark purple dots on the small squares are the Pearl Pen. They wouldn't retain a pearl shape at all--just flattened completely out. I noticed while using it that it was very thin. Guess that one may never work right.

I loaded up the inside with more Stickles, but left most of it clean so my DD can sign it. 

If you'd like to enter two challenges at once, the current TSG challenge is a "Surprise" challenge, which means simply to add a surprising element to your card.  This could be a hidden message or pop up.  If you really stretch your imaginations - this card could really hit that WOW Factor.

Ready to play?  Good!  Because we're ready to see what you do with this.  Have fun and don't forget to go to the Tuesday Morning Sketches blog and link up your creation and leave some love for the team.  Be sure that if you want love left for you to turn off word verification.  And, if you do decide to add the TSG challenge go on over to the TSG blog to link up there, too.

Thanks for stopping by today!

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Topsy Turvy Cakes (Just Rite)
Paper: Watercolor Bouquet (K&Co)
Ink: Colorbox; Distress Ink; Copic Markers
Dies: Classic Ovals Lg, Classic Scalloped Ovals Lg, Fancy Tags Three (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Dots, Circles & Stars embossing folder (Sizzix); Offray ribbon; metal flowers; Stickles; Pearl Pen; foam dots
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

Thanks for visiting my blog!

To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,

subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.

Dream Journal

Hi there, Friends! I've got a cute, simple project to share with you today. It's a blank notebook from Michael's dollar bin that I gussied up with a little country flair. I used the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club #61 sketch, the theme from Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge #158: "Country Comfort," the ingredients and theme of "Take Note" from the Taylored Expressions February Key Ingredients Kit Challenge, and a torn layer for the Tuesday Throwdown #87 Challenge: Paper Tearing.

















This is my first Key Ingredients kit and I wasn't sure what to expect, but I LOVE it! It's so great to have everything already color coordinated. Everything on this project came from the kit except for the dark brown cs, a Pearl Pen, and the metal embellies on the corners.

The stamp is from the Taylored Expressions Vintage Dreamer set (you can find the set on the same page as the Kit Club subscription information. I think you can still get the stamp set right now for half-off if you are a Key Ingredient Kit Club subscriber. I inked the stamp with several colors of Distress Ink, using sponge daubers, the added Pearl Pen dots and Stickles just on the rose image. I also stamped another image from the set (a floral motif) in the lower right corner of the gingham paper. The brown cs behind the image was embossed with a Woodgrain embossing folder and I tore the edges to give it a more rustic feel. I adhered all the pearls and metal embellies with Glossy Accents to make sure they stay on.

This is so much cuter than it was before I covered it, and no more difficult than making a card! :)

Well, time to head out to the car rider line. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today!

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Vintage Dreamer (Taylored Expressions)
Paper: Lost & Found Two (My Mind's Eye); Watermelon CS (Taylored Expressions)
Ink: Distress Ink; Memento
Accessories: Woodgrain embossing folder (Sizzix); pearls (Want 2 Scrap); Flora & Fauna Metal Accents (K&Co); Stickles; Pearl Pen; sewing thread
Size: 5.25" square

Thanks for visiting my blog!

To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,

subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.

You Take My Breath Away

Happy Wednesday, Blog Friends! I hope you've been having a good week. I'm still on a high from the convention this past weekend, so my week has been terrific! :)

With only one week left before Valentine's Day, though, I decided I better get busy with my Valentine cards, so that's what I have to share with you today.

The sketch is from the Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #151, and the Our Craft Lounge Blog challenge #103 is to use images that take us "Up In the Air," which was perfect for me because when I won the Lily Pad Palette Color Challenge about a week ago, OCL was the sponsor and one of the stamps I got was an adorable hot air balloon called "Spilling Over."

I paper pieced the balloon with black and tan dp's and used a dp for the background that is covered in mathematical equations. I used black waxed linen thread between the different pieces of the balloon and to connect the balloon to the basket. The red heart on the balloon was colored with Copics, adhered, then covered with Glossy Accents.

For the basket and spilled hearts, I colored them with Copic markers then added Stickles to the hearts. The entire balloon and basket are popped up with foam dots. I glued the spilled hearts to the card, in lieu of the three embellies on the sketch.

Here's a look at the inside:

My goal was to end up with a masculine Valentine card. I think it works for that.

My friend, Tera, is the Guest Designer for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday this month. Be sure to pop over to her blog and say hi and see her absolutely gorgeous card for this week's challenge. Here's the link for the Timeless Tuesday challenge--you won't want to miss that either!

Thanks for popping in, and have a wonderful day!

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Spilling Over (Our Craft Lounge)
Paper: Oxford, Little Black Dress (Basic Grey)
Ink: Distress Ink; Copic markers; Memento
Dies: Std Circles Lg, Classic Scalloped Circles Lg, Parisian Accents (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Binding Edge edger (EK Success); waxed linen thread; Glossy Accents; Stickles; Enamel Accents; Pearl Pen; Perfect Pearls Mist; sewing thread; foam dots
Size: 4.5" square

Thanks for visiting my blog!

To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,

subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.

Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge #130: Teddy Bear Love

[If you are looking for my Timeless Tuesday #153 post, click here.]

Hi Friends! It's Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge time! Jessica George has given us a fab sketch to follow this week, and our sponsor is Stamp Fairy. They have the most adorable digital stamps. You really should check them out. And, if you've never used digital stamps before, they have some great freebies that you could practice on to get an idea of how it works. :)

I've got a Valentine's card this week, and I'm using the sweetest little digi stamp--Donna & Donny Love. I colored them with Copics and used Distress Ink for the blue background.

The red hearts on their chests were what popped out of the Heart Circles die cut. I glued them on, then coated them with Glossy Accents. The two glittery hearts over Donna's head are part of the digi stamp. I colored them with Copics, then covered them with several thick layers of Stickles. Donna and Donny have Glossy Accents on their noses.

The Love stamp is a dollar bin stamp from Michaels. I stamped it with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink, and colored inside the letters and heart with a red Copic. Then, I used Glossy Accents on the letters and heart, and put Burgundy Stickles in the center of the heart.

There are Stickles dots on the Heart Circle die cut and Pearl Pen dots on the Scalloped Circle.

The inside is stamped with several stamps from the Hero Arts Valentine Sayings set.

So, that's my card for today. Be sure to go to the Tuesday Morning Sketches site and take a peek at what the rest of the Design Team has to inspire you for this week's challenge. Then, link your creation up for a chance to win something fun from Stamp Fairy!

I'm entering this card into the Paper Pretties Monday Challenge--make a Valentine card (PPMC23), and the Paper Pretties Wednesday Challenge--use glitter (PWC189).

Thanks for stopping by my blog, and have a crafty week!

~Hugs,
 

Stamps: Donna & Donny Love-digi stamp (Stampfairy.com); Valentine Sayings (Hero Arts); Love (Michaels)
Paper: Happily Lost (Lily Bee Design); Life's Journey (K&Co); Classic White cs (Flourishes)
Ink: Distress Ink; Copic markers
Dies: Std Circles Lg, Classic Scalloped Circles Lg, Heart Circles (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Seam binding (Hug Snug); lace (Fancy Pants Designs); eyelets; Glossy Accents; Stickles; Enamel Accents; Pearl Pen
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

Thanks for visiting my blog!

To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,

subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday--FTTC150: Life Without Love

Hi Friends! [If you're looking for my Tuesday Morning Sketch challenge #127 post, click here.]

I've been sitting on some exciting news for over two months and I can finally tell you...Flourishes asked me to be their January Timeless Tuesday Guest Designer! I was beyond thrilled when I got the email from Tammy, inviting me to be a temporary member of that fabulous design team! And, you are going to love the challenges they have lined up for this month!

This week, Mona is our hostess, and her challenge is to create a tri-fold card. Well, wouldn't you know it, right off the bat, something I've never done. :) I wasn't even sure what constituted a tri-fold card. If you are in the dark on that, too, there is a fab tutorial on SCS. Once I saw that, it was a piece of cake, and so much fun, too. I decorated four different panels on my card, so I have a lot of photos to show you. I'm not going into too many details on how I made the card, but if you want any other information on it, just leave me a comment and I'll get back to you. Well, here goes...

I used the gorgeous Flourishes stamp set, Berry Sweet, as my main focus on the card, colored the raspberries up with Copics and added some white highlights with an opaque pen. These are the Copic colors I used.

For the front of the card, I stamped, colored, and fussy cut the leaf from the Berry Sweet set, then stamped and colored it again on the sentiment panel. I popped the fussy cut leaf up on the sentiment panel with foam dots. I left the single raspberry uncolored because the sentiment talks about a tree without fruit, and I wanted this card to tell a story.  I hand-cut the shaped edge of the front panel, used an embossing folder for just that panel, then edged it with a gold opaque pen.

When the card is untied and opened, this is what you see:

In keeping with the "story" progression, the raspberries here are colored, although they are each single, not part of a plant. I used the Holly Accents die cut with some Shimmer Spritz and a Pearl Pen to jazz this panel up a little bit and give it more life.

The next panel you see is the main one--the bunch of raspberries on a stem:

I used the out of the box technique for this die cut so I wouldn't lose the edge of the stamped image, and the beautiful dp behind it is from My Mind's Eye. I added lots of gold pearls with a Pearl Pen, as well as lavender Liquid Pearl dots. I wanted this panel to be a big contrast to the front, pale, unadorned panel.

The final panel is the conclusion to the "story." Here, I used stamps from the April Showers set and from the Hearts & Flowers set. "Je t'aime" is French for "I Love You." The French have a lot of ways to say that, depending on the degree of love that is intended to be expressed. I think this particular phrase is for the strongest love--romantic love. The pale lavendar stamp on this panel is the same as the large raspberry stamp--just smaller.

And, here are a few photos, just to give you different views of the card, as a whole.

The sentiments:

The inside, completely open:

The outside and back (I glued the ribbon across the back):

The inside decorated panels:

Well, that's it for my Timeless Tuesday card today. I hope you enjoyed the photos. 

Now, you've got to see the rest of the Timeless Tuesday Design Team's beautiful, inspiring creations. This group of ladies is unbelievably talented:

. 

Beate

Cindy

Heather

Makiko

Mona

Silke

Tammy

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check out the Flourishes Blog for all the deets on this fun challenge and play along with us this week. You just might be starting the year out with a win under your belt and some cash for the Flourishes store! I'm looking forward to seeing what you create!!!

Have a fantastic day!

~Hugs, 

 

Stamps: Berry Sweet, Hearts & Flowers, April Showers (Flourishes)
Paper: A Beautiful Life (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Memento; Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Colorbox; Copic markers; white opaque pen (Inkssentials); gold opaque pen (Marvy)
Dies: Labels Thirteen, Holly Accents, Curved Rectangles, Classic Ovals Lg (Spellbinders)
Accessories: D'Vine Swirls embossing folder (Cuttelbug); seam binding (Hug Snug); Shimmer Spritz (Tsukineko); Pearl Pen; Liquid Pearls; foam dots
Size: 4-Bar (3-1/2" x 4-7/8")

Thanks for visiting my blog!

To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,

subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.



Beauty of Dreams

Hi Friends! If you saw this post an hour ago, you saw a raw, super quick shot of my card, using an on-camera flash instead of a light box and there was very little photo editing. I apologize for that. I was seriously under the wire on the Flourishes Feminine Flair Challenge, and I didn't have time for all that editing then. Here's a much better photo:

That gorgeous paper by Pink Paislee did most of the work on this card. I just layered a wide piece of lace over it, stamped the sentiment onto a white oval, sponged Spun Sugar Distress Ink inside the die and pierced the inside edge, then adhered an Ironwork Motif die cut to the back of the sentiment. The gold pearls on the Ironwork diecut are Pearl Pen pearls, and the little rose is resin. A few pink pearls in the upper corners and this card was done.

For the inside, I sponged Spun Sugar and Victorian Velvet inks on the edges of a white panel, adhered the Ironworks Accent strip along the top, and stamped the sentiment and rose in Stormy Sky, stamping on scrap paper first, to get a lighter blue on the card. I didn't stamp off for the rose well enough, and left some dark spots, but hey, it's handmade, right? :)

I seriously, didn't think I'd be making cards and posting again until after Christmas. I guess I'm just the tiniest bit obsessed. :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Tag Lines, Sweet Nature (Flourishes)
Paper: Sweetness (Pink Paislee)

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink

Dies: Ironwork Motifs, Ironwork Accents, Classic Ovals Lg (Spellbinders)

Accessories: Lace (Fancy Pants Designs; pearls; sewing thread; Pearl Pen; paper piercer; floral embellishment (Recollections)
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

Thanks for visiting my blog!

To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,

subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.

Sparkle & Cheer

Hello Friends! I hope you're having a great week! Tomorrow is the last day of school until January, and I am so looking forward to the break--sleeping late and no homework! I think I said in an earlier post that I had made my last Christmas card. Well, if I did, I was wrong! I got all my cards in the mail this week and found that I was a few short, so I made several duplicate cards.

I normally don't like making more than one of each card, but this one was fun to make--probably because of all the Stickles and the Pearl Pen. I think those little bottles of shiny fun are my favorite craft items. :) This Taylored Expressions Christmas tree stamp is perfect for decorating with glittery dots of joy, don't you think? And, it fits in nicely for the Heart Song Inspirations Challenge #28 to use snowflakes or doilies.

For the inside, I outlined the interior of the die with a green fine-point Sharpie. It turned out okay, but I definitely need some practice with that.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your Friday!

~Hugs, 

 

Stamps: Sparkle & Cheer (Taylored Expressions)
Ink: Copic Markers; Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Memento; Colorbox
Dies: Ironwork Motifs, Foliage, Std Circles Lg, Labels Four (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Dots, Circles & Stars embossing folder (Sizzix); Stickles; Pearl Pen; Shimmer Spritz (Tsukineko)
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

Thanks for visiting my blog!

To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,

subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.

PPRS December 2011 Sketch Challenge: Merry Christmas Poinsettia

Hi Blog Friends! It's the 15th, and that means it's time for another Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps Sketch Challenge. Here's December's sketch. I love the two sections of three stripes. There are so many ways you can go with that.

With Christmas only ten days away, I wanted to make at least one more Christmas card.

Now's your turn! Here are the rules:

**Make a card based on this month's sketch and link it up using the linking tool on the PPRS blog, no later than December 31, 2011.

**We'd love to see you use your PPRS stamps, but there are NO product restrictions--the challenge is open to everyone!

**The prize is a $15 gift certificate to the PPRS web shop! You can use it for Clear Stamps, dies, and best of all Red Rubber Stamps! Anything in the PPRS shop!

**One winner will be chosen by random.org for a $15 gift certificate to the Prickley Pear web shop!

How easy is that? For lots of creative inspiration from the rest of the design team, check out the Prickley Pear Rubber Stamp blog, then create your own interpretation of this sketch. Who knows, you may be starting off the New Year with a $15 gift certificate for PPRS goodies!

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you get to do something crafty and fun this week!!!

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Poinsettia Bunch, Merry Christmas 2 (Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps)
Paper: Susan Winget Glad Tidings (K&Co)
Ink: Copic Markers; Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Memento
Dies: Big Scalloped Ovals Sm, Classic Ric Rac Edgeabilities, Holly Accents (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Polka Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug); Zing embossing powder; Pearl Pen; Stickles; Distress Stickles; Enamel Accents; foam dots
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

Thanks for visiting my blog!

To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,

subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.