Bright Hello

I haven't really been feeling like stamping for the last couple of weeks but I just got my brand new Silhouette Cameo the other day so thought I'd put some bits and pieces I'd cut out onto a card.

I used the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and I warn you - this is a major departure from my normal style and I'm pretty ambivalent about the finished card.  So put your sunglasses on and check this out:

These were practice pieces so I chose a piece of cardstock I wouldn't regret destroying (Crushed Curry), not realising I'd actually use the cut pieces on a card!  I cut a pattern that came with the Silhouette and used both the positive and negative pieces on this card.  The "Hello" was the result of playing around with fonts and welding.  There is such a learning curve to this machine that I really need to take a week off work to learn what it can do.  I think that it might even be able to make coffee LOL.

The Hello was adhered to a piece of Basic Black that had been run through the Big Shot with the Fancy Fan EF.

I wasn't sure how to do the smaller panel in the sketch so I decide the designer builder brads mimicked the curved pattern in the background enough to not look too out of place.

Thanks for looking.

Products used:

Cardstock:  Basic Black; Crushed Curry Textured; Neutrals DSP
Accessories:  Silhouette Cameo; Designer Builder Brads; Fancy Fan EF

Creative Crew Jun 2013 Scrapbook Focus

This month's scrapbook focus challenge at Creative Crew over at Splitcoaststampers is on the dads in our lives.

CCREW0613SF - Scrapbook & More Focus:  June is best know for Father's Day (3rd Sunday).  Celebrate Dad with a scrapbook page featuring Dad or dad-like qualities.

And here's my MDS page:

I had to dig deep to find some photos of my DH.  He's not too keen on getting his photo taken, but I did find some photos from Christmas 2005, where Pete is teaching William how to pedal.  William was only 3 back then and Matthew was 8 - how time flies - William is nearly 11 and Matthew is 15 1/2.

Anyway, for this page, I took the blues and greens from the photos and used them for my background.  I kept this page simple as I'm still learning MDS, but thanks to a tip from TrishG on SCS, I managed to color my bicycles to match the background.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (MDS):

Background
     Designer Series Paper\_Designer Kits\Number One - designer series paper\Number One - 7

Embellishments
   Designer Kits\Number One - embellishments\Number One - tape 1 (re-colored)
   Designer Kits\Number One - embellishments\Number One - border 1 (re-colored)
   Staple & Stitching\Chocolate - Simple Stitches line 5 (re-colored)
  Staple & Stitching\Staple

Stamps
    Postage Due\Postage Due - bike & flower     

Cheers
Karren

Dad's Day by the Seashore

I wasn't planning on stamping this weekend - I'd decided to have the weekend off, but then the courier delivered my new catty pre-order this morning and, well, I got the urge to stamp!

This card covers the sketch challenge this week at Freshly Made Sketches and the masculine challenge at Stampin' Royalty.

My card uses the new Baked Brown Sugar color as well as Soho Subway DSP and Epic Day Washi Tape.  The shells were stamped on Shimmery White cardstock and colored using Crumb Cake ink refill and a blender pen.  They were popped up on dimensionals onto the Very Vanilla panel which was stamped with a sentiment from Delightful Dozen. Several flags were cut from the Soho Subway DS and rolled slightly to flick outwards.  

I used some washi tape to cover the line where I had to stamp Netting twice to cover the Baked Brown Sugar layer.  Some Early Espresso twine and a Brushed Bronze button.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  By the Seashore; Delightful Dozen; Netting
Cardstock:  Basic Black; Baked Brown Sugar; Very Vanilla; Soho Subway DSP
Ink:  Crumb Cake; Black Stazon; Baked Brown Sugar
Accessories:  Epic Day Washi Tape; Early Espresso Baker's Twine; Brushed Bronze Button; 

Cheers
Karren

Edited to Add:  This card was chosen as a Top Pick at Stampin' Royalty.

Creative Crew Jun 2013 - Holiday Focus

The Creative Crew challenges really challenged me this month - and this card was no exception.

I very rarely do anything other than the standard rectangle or square card, so when this challenge called for an accordion fold, I had to take a deep breath.

CCREW0613HF - Holiday Focus:  June is National Accordion Awareness Month.  How interesting!  Let's celebrate June by making an accordion project.  It must have at least 3 folds, preferably 5 folds.  Use any colors you wish to use in your accordion fold project, but you must use at least one embellishment.

I went with a tri-shutter card and tried for a collage-look.  The First Edition DSP is over-stamped using many images from Artistic Etchings; Established Elegance and French Foliage.  I used So Saffron; Crumb Cake; Baja Breeze and Soft Suede ink.  The So Saffron flowers were made using two different sized scallop circle punches (the original punch and the 7/8" punch).  I used the faux suede technique to make my flowers all soft and textured.

The leaves were made using Baja Breeze cardstock which had been stamped with the Old World Map then cut out using the Secret Garden Framelits.

Here's a photo of the card closed so you can see how the flowers line up:

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Artistic Etchings; Established Elegance; French Foliage; Old World Map
Cardstock:  Soft Suede; So Saffron; Baja Breeze; First Edition DSP
Ink:  So Saffron; Baja Breeze; Soft Suede; Crumb Cake
Accessories:  Scallop Circle Punch; 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch; silver brads; Secret Garden Framelit

Cheers
Karren

Creative Crew Jun 2013 - Catalog Focus

Here is my second project for this month's Creative Crew challenges at Splitcoaststampers.

The challenge this time is:

CCREW0613CF - Catalog Focus:  Our new catalog is beautifully done with gorgeous, colorful projects, making sure we remember all our color names by naming the color backgrounds.

Name Your Poison Day - June 8th will allow us to practice our colors by using many colors in a color blocking technique card.  Make a card with at least 3 colors.

I love color blocked cards, so once I chose the colors I wanted to use, this card came together fairly easily.

I chose vintage-y colors of Crumb Cake, Always Artichoke and Perfect Plum, then threw in a pop of color with Raspberry Ripple.  Each panel was stamped and sponged before being adhered to the card base which is Crumb Cake.  The soda pop-top embellishment was one I had already prepared and not used on another card.  The sentiment is stamped in vellum.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Stamps:  Established Elegance; Artistic Etchings; French Foliage; Memorable Moments
Cardstock:  Crumb Cake; Perfect Plum; Always Artichoke; Raspberry Ripple; Vellum Cardstock
Ink:  Perfect Plum; Always Artichoke; Raspberry Ripple; Basic Black
Accessories:  Soda Pop Tops; Crystal Effects; Itty Bitty Punch; Basic Pearl

Fabulous Day

Well, it's not such a fabulous day where I am - it's raining!  But I suppose as we're now officially into winter, I shouldn't complain.

This card uses the fabulous sketch at CAS(e) This Sketch.  

I pulled out my distress inks for this card - just to mix things up a bit!  The sentiment is stamped directly onto the card base.  I then cut two panels and ran them through the Needlepoint EF and adhered them onto the card base using dimensionals.  This leaves the sentiment in negative space.  I quite like this effect.  

The banners are stamped and cut using Hearts a Flutter stamps and framelits.  They were also run through the EF so the edge matches the white edge.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted):

Stamps:  Hearts a Flutter; Itty Bitty Bits; Signature Greetings (PTI)
Cardstock:  Whisper White
Ink:  Shabby Shutters; Rusty Hinge; Scattered Straw (Ranger)
Accessories:  Hearts a Flutter Framelits; Itty Bitty Punch; Basic Pearl; Needlepoint EF.

Cheers
Karren

Creative Crew Jun 2013 - Color Focus

My first card I'm showing on my blog for this month's Creative Crew challenge at Splitcoaststampers is the color focus card.

Here's the guidelines from our hostess:

CCREW0613DF - DSP/Color Focus:  To celebrate Candy Month (June), let's concentrate on the new In Colors:  Baked Brown Sugar; Strawberry Slush; Crisp Cantaloupe; Pistachio Pudding and Coastal Cabana.  These colors all look good enough to eat!

Use one or most colors in a happy, sparkly way.

(If the new In Colors are not part of your stash yet, use Soft Suede; Melon Mambo; Wild Wasabi; Marina Mist and Daffodil Delight.)

Any neutral is welcome in the candy store.

As we in New Zealand can't pre-order the new In Colors until now, I worked with the alternate colors.  I was quite pleased that I managed to get all the colors into my card, except Soft Suede.

I used the trendy set Oh Hello for this CAS card.  I stamped the chevron pattern in both Daffodil Delight and Melon Mambo.  The Daffodil Delight piece I cut out with my oval framelits and the Melon Mambo piece I punched out using my Itty Bitty Punch and adhered it to a Designer Builder Brad.  The flowers were colored using markers and then fussy-cut. The white organdy ribbon was dyed using Daffodil Delight ink and then because I'm impatient, it was dried in the microwave!  The "Hello" was stamped using Marina Mist ink.

Thanks for looking.  Head on over to Splitcoaststampers and check out the gallery by using the search term CCREW0613DF.

Thanks for looking.

Products used (all Stampin' Up!):

Stamps:  Oh Hello

Cardstock:  Whisper White

Ink:  Melon Mambo; Daffodil Delight; Marina Mist

Accessories:  Wild Wasabi, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight markers; Designer Builder Brad; oval framelits, white organdy ribbon, Daffodil Delight re-inker

Cheers

Karren