Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps: Ornamental Kitty

Hi Friends! Can you believe it's already mid-November? The days really start to run together this time of year. But, being the 15th, it's time for the November Prickley Pear Sketch Challenge! Be sure to read all the way to the end for our NEW challenge rules! :D

Isn't the November sketch fantastic! It's so full of possibilities!

Here's my take on it:

I just love that sweet Ornamental Kitty's face. I colored her with grays and tans, although it's difficult to see in the photo. For the eyes, I used white Liquid Pearls for the highlight and covered both eyes with Glossy Accents. The ornament is paper pieced and I used Stickles to highlight the design. The purple and pink ornaments hanging over Kitty's head are cut from silver duct tape that was adhered to cardstock. I colored both of them with alcohol inks, including the design on top of the pink banner, but decided to cover the round one with Stickles for extra sparkle. The bg is embossed with a Regal Flourishes embossing folder. I swiped Perfect Medium over the raised edges, then brushed Perfect pearls over that for a subtle shimmer.

Now for those NEW CHALLENGE RULES. I think you'll like them! :)

**While we love to see you use your PPRS products, that is no longer a requirement. 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! And, let me tell you, if you haven't use a Prickley Pear red rubber stamp before, you are in for a super treat!

So, all you have to do is make a card based on this month’s sketch, and link it up using the linking tool on the PPRS blog, no later than November 30. Easy peasy.

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

Now, head on over to the Prickley Pear Rubber Stamp blog and be inspired by the rest of the design team's creations. Then, create your own interpretation of this sketch and play along for a chance to win a $15 gift certificate!

Whoo Hoo!!! I can't wait to see what you create!

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have an AMAZINGLY crafty week!

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Ornamental Kitty (Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps)
Paper: 12 Days of Christmas (My Minds Eye); Gingerbread Fun Mini Digi Paper (Designs by Krista)
Ink: Copic markers; Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Adirondack Alcohol Ink; Memento
Dies: Foliage, Nested Lacey Pennants, Classic Scalloped Circles (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Regal Flourishes embossing folder (Sizzix); Paper Lace II embossing folder (Cuttlebug); ribbon (Michaels); rhinestones; duct tape; twine (The Twinery); metal snowflake brad (K&Co); Stickles; Liquid Pearls; Perfect Pearls; Glossy Accents; button; foam dots
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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Blue Willow Anniversary Challenge

Hello Friends! I've been working on a unique challenge the past few days and I'm finally ready to share it with you.

One of my dearest friends is celebrating her ninth anniversary soon. She and her husband always try to incorporate the traditional anniversary gifts into their anniversary somehow and she asked me to do that in an anniversary card for her. The traditional gifts for the 9th year are willow and pottery, with leather as the modern gift. I also discovered that Lapis Lazuli is also a modern jewel for this anniversary. So, I took this as my personal challenge. Honestly, I wasn't sure I could pull it off, but I'm pleased with the finished card.

I tried several different sketches, and settled on the Viva la Verve September 2011 Week 1 sketch for this card. The Blue Willow Inn Restaurant is near here, and I think they are going to go there for an anniversary dinner, and the Blue Willow china pattern is usually blue and white, so blue was a natural color. As it's for a man, I used browns, too. I found the Blue Willow plate stamp at Hanko Designs. I stamped the plate, cut it out, then covered it in Glossy Accents to give it a ceramic look. It is mounted to a Parisian Accent medallion that I sprayed with a Perfect Pearls mist to give it a metallic look. That covered the willow and pottery elements of the challenge. For leather, I used suede cording behind the plate and a leather button on each of the sentiment panels. The buttons were originally very shiny and dark, so I just sanded them until most of that was gone and they were good to go. These were the smallest leather buttons I could find, so I added the bit of twine to them so they wouldn't look like giant blobs just stuck on the card. I used a gold opaque calligraphy pen to edge the white accent panels behind the sentiments. For the Lapis Lazuli I colored two light blue rhinestones with a dark blue Copic and adhered them to the center panel.

I love the bg paper I used on this card. It's a digital image from www.lostandtaken.com, the Vandelay Premier set. I think it's a photo of a cracked and stained road. Nice "man" paper, I think. ;) 

Did you know there is a legend behind the Blue Willow pattern? I didn't. But, it's very romantic, so I typed a shortened version and printed it in blue on white paper and inked the edges, then adhered it to more of that man-paper. When you open the card, it's on the top half.

The bottom half of the inside is a simple sentiment that I created in Word and printed on white paper. The stamp, which came with the plate stamp, is of the doves in the Blue Willow pattern. I inked the edges of this panel heavily, adhered it to another Lost and Taken image from the New Grunge set, then adhered those to navy cardstock. I'm glad she's not going to be mailing this card--all that cardstock made for a heavy card!

This was one of the toughest challenges I've ever worked on, and it really stretched my imagination, but I enjoyed every minute of it.

Jessica and Mike, I'd say something like, "You're the most perfect couple I've ever known," but I wouldn't want to jinx you, or anything *~D , so I'll just say "Happy Anniversary!" You are a fabulous couple!!!

Before you go, check out my new blog badge over in my side bar. Doesn't it look nice sitting over there? I was in the top four for The Beauty of CAS Bring Back Beautiful challenge with my Peas to Meet You card. 

Also, Linda, over at Paper Boutique gave me another shout out in her Fab Five Friday for my Tomato Soup card! Thanks, again, Linda!

And, thank YOU for stopping by today. Have a fantastic week!

 

Stamps: Blue Willow Plate & Doves (Kodomo Inc); Quietfire
Paper: Bazzill Basics; Vandelay Premier & New Grunge (Lost and Taken)

Ink: Colorbox; Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Calligraphy Pen (Marvy); Copic marker

Dies: Parisian Accents, Classic Ovals Lg, Labels Thirteen (Spellbinders); Curvy Bookplate Die (Verve)

Accessories: 1-3/4" circle punch (EK Success); ribbon (Offray); rhinestones; household twine; Glossy Accents; Perfect Pearls; leather buttons (LaMode); suede cording (Darice); foam dots

Size: 3.5" x 6.5"

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Never too late

The card I made for today is for two challenges: the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #129 and Flourishes Shades of Sunset Color Challenge (sunset colors). I love the sketch because it is a long, skinny card--fun--and I bought two of the new dimensional punches from EK Success that make rolled flowers, so a long card was easily big enough to be able to use one of the flowers. For the color challenge, rather than use early evening warm sunset colors, I chose to go with the late evening, cooler colors of purple, blue, and deep pink.

I used a pale blue cardstock for the flower and cut two 12" strips, layered and glued them together, inked them with Distress Inks on both sides, then rolled the flower up. After gluing it together, I curled the outside petals down, and the center petals in. I glued a large dark pink rhinestone down inside the flower to cover the center of it. I really like how this flower looks, hence all the close-up photos at the top of the post ;), but it is over an inch high, so I might not use it on a card that I was going to mail someone. Also, it's not in this post, but the carnation dimensional flower punch would make great trim for a crown for a little prince or princess :~D

For the sentiment panel, I used stamps from the Kids at Play set, distressed the edges, then sponged several Distress Inks on the edges, concentrating warmer colors on the left and cooler on the right behind the tree for a "sunset" look. The tiny clear rhinestones are stars in the sky.  I layered this panel on top of a tilted Labels Small die cut that I first embossed with the Tropical Paisley embossing folder.

The rest is pretty standard, I think. Here's a peek at the inside:

Thanks for stopping in, and have a terrific week!

 

Stamps: Kids at Play (Flourishes); Celebrate (Studio G)
Paper: Abrianna (K&Co); Bazzill Basics Tropical Stack; Recollections; The Paper Studio
Ink: Staz-On; Tim Holtz Distress Inks
Accessories: Dies: Labels Small, Parisian Accents (Spellbinders); Punches: Fleur de Lis Edger, Gerber Daisy Dimensional Punch (EK Success); Tropical Paisley embossing folder (Sizzix); ribbon (Offray); twine (Twinery); rhinestones, distressing tool, Perfect Pearls (mixed with water for a mist)
Size: #10 (3.75" x 9")

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Christmas Cheer

I have a confession to make. Now, before you judge me, keep in mind that I've been making cards less than a year. Okay, here it is:

I don't send out Christmas cards.

Eeeekkkk! The sacrilege! I used to, but over the years, I sent fewer and fewer, until I finally just stopped altogether. I'm not really sure why I gave up on Christmas cards, but it may have something to do with how I choose a card for someone. Back when I actually shopped for mass-produced cards, no matter the occasion, I could spend an hour (or more) reading every single card in the store until I found the "perfect" card for that particular person. Everything had to be right--the sentiment, the font, the design, the kind of paper it was printed on, and sometimes even the envelope. So, buying dozens of the same exact card for everyone I know is a bit of a problem. One size does not fit all! You know what I mean? Well, this year will be different.

I've noticed that a lot of people make Christmas cards throughout the year so that, when Christmas finally arrives, they have a whole stash of cards to send out. I couldn't imagine doing that. I mean, who thinks about Christmas cards in the middle of the summer, right? But, now I get it. I just received my first Christmas stamps from Flourishes yesterday and I've been thinking in red and green ever since!

The My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club Sketch #31 for this week was great for a single, simple stamp like the one I chose. The stamp can be prominent, there is room for a small sentiment, and I could show off some fun paper. Of course, if you've read my previous posts, you know that I don't own any Christmas paper. So, I did something new--I used digital paper. Wow! I'm hooked already. It was the middle of the night when I needed the paper, so I just ordered what I wanted on-line, paid a tiny price for it, and Poof!, it was downloaded and printed in a matter of minutes. Lots of choices, no traffic to fight, inexpensive, and best of all, I don't have to scrimp on it because I can always print more! That's the way to go. Of course, I still need my paper packs because I'm a paper-lover, but digital is definitely a great option.

This is the inside:

 

It's already August, so I'm getting a late start, but I've set a new goal for myself. And, I'm hoping by making my goal public, I'll actually stick to it 8~D ! I'm going to make at least one Christmas card a week, which should give me at least 17 Christmas cards before Thanksgiving. I'll need more than that, but at least it's a start. So, if you notice I'm getting behind, feel free to give me a nudge ;)

Thanks for visiting, and have a fantastic weekend!

 

Stamps: Sweets of the Season, Holiday Greetings (Flourishes)
Paper: Gingerbread Fun (Designs by Krista--digital paper); Coredinations; Recollections; Paper Studio
Ink: Copic markers; Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Memento; Staz-On
Dies: Small Labels, Labels Thirteen, Classic Ovals Lg (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Seam Binding, dyed with re-inkers (Hug Snug); brads, rhinestones, sewing thread, dimensionals, Perfect Pearls (mixed with water & used as a mist)
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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You Rock!

Good morning! I've got a Mojo Monday card to share with you today, but my daughter and I are off to the theater for the final summer series movie in a few minutes, so I'll be brief--or, at least try to ;).

Mojo202 is an interesting sketch and I had no preconceived ideas about how I was going to approach it, so I just started going through my paper to see what tickled my fancy. Almost immediately, I came upon this strange distressed-looking paper with words and arrows all over it. I've seen it before, and never given it a second thought, but this time I decided to see what I could do with it. Honestly, it's not my favorite paper, but I was in the mood to experiment. It's kind of funny how it worked out, because I was positive I wasn't going to like this card when I was finished.

The rectangular layer paper was designed to coordinate with the background paper, so that was a given. The green and peach colors, I just matched to designs within the paper. I love almost all shades of green, but primary green is definitely NOT one of those shades, so I layered it up with lime green and inked the edges with tea dye Distress Ink. I don't own a pennant die yet, so I cut rectangles the width I wanted the pennants to be and twice the length, then cut from corner to corner to get these shapes. Since I used a rectangle die with a wavy edge, I trimmed the pennant edge to match the curvy rectangle. For the circle, I decided to try my hand at a felt flower, so I cut layers with Daisy Heads dies (2 each of the smaller 2 dies), snipped between each petal, and sewed the layers tightly together with thread to make the edges curl up. I threaded orange waxed linen thread through the button, tied a bow, and hot glued it to the flower and scrunched the whole thing up around the button to give it some dimension. I added a couple of brushed gold brads over the ribbons to balance out the rectangle. I used light pink embossing powder for the "You ROCK!" sentiment from Verve, but I sponged walnut distress ink in that area first to make sure the sentiment didn't have to compete too much with the background paper there. Lastly, I used Liquid Pearls in the corners.

When I was finished, I stepped back and checked it out. Wow! I loved it! It's a little bit funky compared to my usual cards, but it's a fun card, and I already have someone in mind to send it to. Here's the inside:

I'll have another card later today for the Flourishes Bring Back Beautiful challenge, but for now, we're off to see Cats and Dogs. Hope you have a great day today!

 

Stamps: Sweet Treats (Verve)

Paper: Best of K&Co; The Paper Company; Bazzill Basics; Recollections

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink

Accessories: Dies: Small Labels, Daisy Heads, Curved Rectangles (Spellbinders); Binding Edge Edger punch (EK Success); Reading & Writing embossing folder (Sizzix); Zing embossing powder; ribbon (Fancy Pants Designs); button; felt; waxed linen thread; brads; sewing thread; Liquid Pearls; Perfect Pearls

Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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Buzzin' By

I just love Flourishes' new bee stamp sets (Bee My Honey and Honeycomb), so I ripped into mine as soon as they arrived. What a fun set! 

 

 

The first stamp I used was the wildflower one. I remembered to stamp with Memento ink so I could color it without smearing the lines, and it was turning out so pretty. Then, out of the blue, one of my Copics attempted a coup! I stopped it, but not before there was some damage. I tried a myriad of strategies to fix it until I finally had an ah-ha moment and realized the problem was fairly close to the edge and I could just cover it up with something without losing the entire stamp. The sentiment tag worked great, but the little bee sitting on it is performing double duty. He's there as an accent, but I also needed him as part of my cover-up ;)  For all the bees, I stamped, heat embossed, and fussy cut them before attaching them to the card. For the background, I used the Honeycomb stamp with clear embossing powder to give it a glossy, wet, honeyish look, and added random drops of yellow Stickles for extra sparkle.

 

This card took me an extraordinarily long time to make. It started out as a challenge card, but I missed the deadline because of all the setbacks (I only mentioned the Copic coup specifically, but that was just one of many design issues I had yesterday). So, this card went from having a dark green fern patterned paper background, no bees, and fuschia-colored accents to this:

Eventually, maybe I'll stop being surprised by how different, and better, my finished cards are from my original visions. 8-D

Almost forgot...my new lightbox and lights came, too! I'll save hours in editing time. Yoo Hoo!

                                 Hope you...

 

Stamps: Bee My Honey & Honeycomb (Flourishes)
Paper: The Paper Co.; Recollections
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Inks; Staz-on; Memento; Clear Embossing Ink; Copics
Accessories: Dies--Parisian Motifs, Std Circles Lg, Fancy Tags (Spellbinders); Punches--Parisian Edger, Scallop Diamond Edger (EK Success); embossing powder (Zing); seam binding (Hug Snug); rhinestones; Stickles; Liquid Pearls; dimensionals
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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It's a pink and yellow day

Hi there, blog friends! Maybe you noticed that I was all about green and orange in my last two posts. I didn't plan it that way, it just happened. Sometimes it's a challenge for me just to stay away from green. So, when I saw that the CR84FN34 Color Challenge 34 was pink and yellow I immediately knew I wanted to play along. 

When I was choosing paper, I wound up with both soft and vibrant color possibilities. I couldn't decide which one to go with, so in the end, I just made two cards for the color challenge. For my soft version, I combined CR84FN34 with the Viva la Verve July 2011 Week 4 sketch challenge, and for the vibrant version I combined CR84FN34 with the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 126.

 

Here's the soft version--

Within Your Heart:

And, here's the vibrant version--
Pink Hello:

I still can't decide which I like better. What do you think???

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a happy weekend :D

 

Soft Version--Within Your Heart (CR84FN34 & VLVJUL2011-Week 4)

Stamps: Blue Skies & Sweet Treats (Verve); Faux Finish (Stampendous); Mark My Heart--interior of card (Recollections) 

Paper: Best of Brenda Walton (K&Co); Bazzill Basics; Recollections 

Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Colorbox; Stampendous; Inkssentials Clear Embossing Ink
Accessories: Dies: Tim Holtz Ornate (Sizzix); Heart Base, Heart Ornamental, & Oval Tag (Sizzix Sizzlets); embossing powder (Zing); paper raffia (Michael's); Flora & Fauna Metal Studs (K&Co); Perfect Pearls; Perfect Pearls Mist; paper mini roses (Recollections); pearls, rhinestones; beads; dimensionals
Size: 4.5" Square

Vibrant Version--Pink Hello (CR84FN34 & SSSC126)
Stamps: Daily Junque (House of Three); Everything Happy (Stampendous)
Paper: Colorbok; Bazzill Basics; Recollections
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Inks; Staz-on
Accessories: Satin ribbon (Michael's); mini round gems (Recollections); Daisy Edger Punch & Double Loops Edger Punch (Martha Stewart); Crop-a-Dile corner chomper; Liquid Pearls; twine (Twinery); sewing; dimensionals
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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Celebrate summer

Hi there, blog friends! We'll be spending a few days visiting The Mouse in Orlando next week, so here's one more post before we go. It takes care of two challenges: the July Sketch for You to Try, over at iheart2stamp; and the Crazy 4 Challenges summer theme challenge. I live in the deep south and summers here can be HOT! I'm a very cold-natured person (80-85 degrees is probably my ideal temperature range), so summer is my favorite time of the year, and normally, I would think of a summer-themed card as one with lots of vibrant colors, maybe a pool or beach scene, kids playing--something along those lines. Well, this weekend I took my daughter to a pool party. It was 102 degrees and I don't swim, so I was outside in that heat for over two hours. It was almost unbearable, even in the shade, even for me. Let me tell you, I wasn't feeling those fun, bright colors...I was feeling hot--white hot! So, when I decided to make the summer-themed card, I thought about the way a blazing, hot sun can make everything look a little washed out. The color is still there and just as beautiful, but muted through the glare. So, here's my idea of summer today.

The card says "Celebrate Summer." It's hard to see it in a photo, so here's a close up. Not sure that's much better, but it shows off the iridescence on the butterfly, too, so I'm going with it anyway ;)

I really enjoyed making this card. I love layers, and this sketch has plenty. The Prima paper was an easy choice. Lots of bright colors, but with the watercolor effect, they weren't too bright. My original intention was to use plain white paper for most of the card, maybe with just a hint of texture. But, it needed a little bit of oomph if it was going to sit right next to that happy Prima paper, so I pulled out my embossing folders. I think it's the first time I've used either of these particular folders and they look so good together. I'm sure I'll be going back to them again soon. Also, I had started out wanting everything but the dp and embellishments to be solid white, but the embossing was so pretty I wanted to show it off so, I sponged Spun Sugar Distress Ink over it.

Buttons were an obvious option for the three circles on the sketch. The flowers caught my eye, and the colors were a match, so I glued them on. It took me a little while to decide what to do on the sentiment panel. I didn't want a big empty space next to the sentiment and I couldn't get ribbon and bows to cooperate, so I punched a butterfly and it fit pretty good. I wanted just a little bit of shine on the card, so an iridescent butterfly and a few pearls seemed to fit the bill, just fine. I have some pots of Perfect Pearls, but the only thing I've ever used them for is to mix with water and reinkers to make my own mists, so I wasn't exactly sure what to do with them. My first attempt to cover the butterfly was to ink Perfect Medium over the butterfly, then brush the Perfect Pearl powder over that. I don't know if I did something wrong, but the powder never would stick. So, I went to the trusty web for guidance. I ended up mixing the powder with a little water and painted it on. It turned out so pretty. The butterfly looks like it was punched from a sheet of pink copper.

Hope that wasn't too much on the process, but I like knowing how other people "figure out" their cards and thought you might, too.

Thanks for stopping by!  I won't be posting for a few days, so have a great week!!!

 

Stamps: Everything Happy (Stampendous)
Paper: Fairy Flora (Prima); Darice; Recollections
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink
Accessories: Diamonds in Diamonds & Tropical Paisley embossing folders (Sizzix); embossing powder (Zing); Monarch Butterfly Lg punch (Martha Stewart); Crop-a-dile Corner Chomper; Perfect Pearls; buttons, pearls, mini roses (Recollections); dimensionals
Size: A-2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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