Carol Stamps

Challenge: Bright and Cheerful

7/4/2020

The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge for July 1, 2020 was "Bright and Cheerful".

Now, to me, there is no more cheerful color combination than shades of yellow so I started by color blending a yellow and an orange Distress Oxide on Neena Solar White. I then overstepped a background stamp inked Archival inks:

Next, I stamped wildflower silhouette in Archival "Black Soot":

I trimmed this card base and cut two colors of card stock to double-mat the base. I attached it to a side-folding card fro yet another coordinating color:

Finally, I stamped a sentiment on a scrap of the same yellow and matted the sentiment in the same charcoal:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp “Leaves” (sss101529), “Wildflowers” (sss201998), and “One Cool Pineapple” (sss101827)
Inks: Distress Oxides “Squeezed Lemonade” and “Carved Pumpkin”; Archival “Barn Door” and “Black Soot”
Papers: Neena Solar White; Gina K “Coral Sea”; Ellison cardstock in yellow and charcoal (663007)
Adhesives: ScorTape 1/8”

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Challenge: Take Me for a Ride

7/4/2020

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The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for June 29, 2020 was "Take Me For a Ride".

I know I have a few stamps of vehicles but I could only locate one this afternoon - one I've used before at least four times*. But it fits the challenge so...

For some reason , I was in a "green" mood (perhaps it was from watching an old episode of a David Bromstad home decor program last night which focused on the color green): I color blended "Iced Spruce" and "Bundled Sage" and spritzed with water for texture. I stamped the images in black, fussy cut them and colored the man with Zig Clean Color markers, and attached them to the blended card base with a matted sentiment:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi “Gentleman’s Art” (SCS059)
Iks: Zig Clean Color Markers “Fog Gray” (904), “Pale Pink” (028) and ?Olive Green” (043); GinaK Amalgam “Jet Black”; Distress Oxide “Iced Spruce” and “Bundled Sage”
Papers: GiaK “Lucky Clover”; Neena Solar White”, scraps of cream and medium green
Adhesives: GinaK “Connect” glue; jeje product foal ape (3.3010); Scrapbook Adhesives foam squares (01612)

* If you are at all interested, the four previous uses of this stamp vehicle that I was able to locate were 4/6/2016, 6/19/2017, 3/19/2018, and 7/17/2019. There are probably more as, in the course of looking, I found cards featuring numerous other vehicles of all sorts --- but this is AFTER I finished this card!

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Challenge: Shoot for the Stars

6/26/2020

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The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for June 22, 2020 was "Shoot for the Stars".

I started by making three different stenciled panels: a grey-blue panel stenciled with stars in Versamark and heat embossed, a purple panel stenciled with glitter gel stars, and a white panel with ink blended stripes. I trimmed these three panels by using stacked deckle-edged rectangle dies and arranged them "cattywampus" on an A7 kraft card base to make a "deconstructed" American flag:

sorry for the poor focus...

I heat embossed a stamped sentiment on the striped panel and on a strip of gold card stock:

I added a red mylar border to the gold stripe and scattered blue confetti-stars to complete this card which reflects my (uniquely and perhaps overly optimistic) hopes for the country following pandemic period...

Products used in the making of this card:

Stamps: GinaK “The Best Flowers” (June 2020 card kit)
Dies: Sizzix Thinlits “Stacked Deckle” (662694)
Stencils: Stampers Anonymous Layering Stencils “Falling Stars” (THS115), “Stars” (TS008) and “Stripes” (THS004)
Inks: Versamark; Distress Oxide “Fired Brick”
Embossing Powders: Brutus Monroe “Milky Way” (BRU8159); GinaK “Dark Chocolate” and “Fine Detail Gold”
Other Media: GInaK Glitter Glitz Gel” (White” (18131)
Papers: scraps of purple paper, Bazzill grey-b-blue card, and metallic gold cardstock; Neena Solar White; The Paper Studio “kraft” A7 card base (697201)
Embellishments: Amscan “Stars & Stripes” confetti (36604); metallic mylar tape “red”
Adhesives: ScorTape 1/8”; GinaK “Connect’ glue

I'm also entering this in:

the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, June 24, 2020: "Anything Goes"
the funkie Junkie Boutique Blog Challenge for June 24, 2020: "Cattywampus"

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Challenge: Summer Fun

6/21/2020

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The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge for June 17, 2020 was "Summer Fun".

Now, given that it is now officially summer and ALL of the things we had planned for the summer have been canceled due to COVID-19, I decided to go with what I considered summer fun as a kid.

Every summer, we packed up the car and drove the 800-plus miles for the annual two-week visit with the grandparents in New Jersey. The highlight of that two weeks in New Jersey was, for us kids at least, day trips to "the shore". It might have been Asbury Park (for the carousel and the boardwalk) or Matawan or Manasquan or a beach near Matedeconk. One glorious summer, we kids were even allowed to spend a week at the summer cottage rented by an aunt and uncle at Ocean Beach (that was the summer when I saw a hurricane pass through with the waves running over the dunes and down the street where the cottage was! We kids thought it was cool. Just goes to show how innocent/dumb we were!). I associate those trips with hot hot sand (so hot it nearly burned one's feet), serious sunburns (blisters!), tar balls and orange rinds floating up on shore from the naval ships offshore dumping garbage (yes, dumping garbage), and, always, the smell of the sea. We'd hunt for sea shells, build sand castles, and play in the waves (with the grandparents constantly worrying about rip tides). Before heading home, there would be a seafood meal where Dad would always have steamed clams. And with all of that, there was only one constant worry: keeping one's towel far enough away from the high tide line! Hence the following card!

I blended four colors of ink on a white card base to create sand and water. I then inked a wave stamp (twice) and embossed it with white (discovered it was upside down) and clear (right -side up). I added a pair of footprints in the sand near the wave boundary (where the sand would have been cooler because it was wet) and a sentiment on coordinating card/paper:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: GinaK “Ocean-Minded” (card kit)
Inks: GInaK “Sandy Beach”, “Ocean Mist”, “Turquoise Sea”, “Tranquil Teal”, and Amalgam “Jet Black”; Versamark
Embossing Powders: GinaK “Fine Detail white”; Ink on 3 “Crystal Clear”
Papers: Neena Solar White; Altenew Gradient Cardstock “Sea Shore - Lagoon” (ALT 3235); Memory Box “Kraft” A2 notecard; scrap of white
Adhesives: GinaK “Connect Glue; ScorTape 1/8”

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Challenge: Sprays and Splashes

6/21/2020

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The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for June 15, 2020 was "Sprays and Splashes".

I decide to go with sprays!

I started by spraying an A2-sized card base with three Distress Oxide Spays. I trimmed the base and cut a mat from scrap orange card using the new GinaK Master Layout" dies. I stamped a silhouette and a sentiment on the base in black, matted it and mounted it on a white notecard:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: GinaK “Natural Silhouettes” (card kit)
Dies: GinaK “Master Layouts Die Set”
Inks: Distress Oxide Sprays “Scattered Straw”, “Carved Pumpkin” and “Barn Door”; GinaK Amalgam “Jet Black”
Papers: Neena Solar White; scrap of orange; Tonic Studio “Bright White” A2 notecard (9253E US)
Adhesives: ScorTape 1/8”

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Challenge: Positively Pensive

6/12/2020

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The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog Challenge for June 10, 2020 is called "Positively Pensive":

"[June 10th was] Ballpoint Pen day!

"The challenge [was] to thoughtfully use a ballpoint pen on [our] project. [We] can doodle, journal, sketch or trace an outline using any color ballpoint pen on [our] art. Create a vintage or shabby chic project with some form of ink from a ballpoint pen..."

I decided to use my pen as it was intended --- to mark my card!

I started with a Distress Oxide Ink blended background:

I taped a Tim Holtz floral layering stencil to my panel and used my ball point pen to trace the stencil image. I then blended a fourth color of Distress Oxide through the stencil:

I have to admit this is NOT how I expected the piece to look; the pen was a lot more obvious than I had initially wanted but the stenciled ik blurred some edges and the final result looked more like tree leaves than flowers. So I went with the concept of tree foliage and added a stamped flying bird, about to land:

I trimmed the panel down, matted it on navy cardstock, and added it to a white card base:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous “Flights of Fancy” clear stamps (2011)
Stencils: Stampers Anonymous “Blossom” (THS031)
Inks: Distress Oxides “Cracked Pistachio”, “Tumble Glass”, “Salty Ocean” and “Peacock Feathers”; Archival “Black Soot”; Pilot Bottle 2 pen
Papers: Neena Solar White; scrap of navy; gloss white A2 notecard
Adhesives: ScorTape 1/8”

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Challenge: Something Metallic

6/12/2020

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The Simon says Stamp Wednesday Challenge for June 10, 2020 was "Something Metallic".

I decided to try a variant of paper-piecing that I had seen in a Laura Bassen video, but used gold metallic paper and cardstock scraps instead of rainbow colors.

I started by gluing strips of three different kinds of gold card on a piece of white card formerly part of a notepad. I then trimmed the piece, added some gold mylar tape, and mounted it on a coral-colored scrap.

I stamped a sentiment on a coral-colored stitched circle in versamark and embossed it with fine detail gold embossing powder.

I assembled the panel and the circle on a kraft A2 card:

and, because the card base seems a little "plain", added some gold "faux" stitching with a gold gel pen:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp “word Mix 2” (sss202098)
Dies: Sizzix “Stitched Circles” (662229)
Inks: versamark; Sanford Uniball Gel Pen “gold”
Embossing Powders: GinaK “Fie Detail Gold”
Papers: Memory Box A2 notecard “kraft”; scraps of gold and coral cardstocks
Embellishments: metallic mylar tape “gold”
Adhesives: GinaK “Connect” glue; ScorTape 1/8”

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Challenge: Masculine

6/9/2020

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The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge for June 3, 2020 was to make a masculine card. And it turns out that the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for June 8, 2020 was "It's a Man Thing"!

Now I'm not a great maker of masculine cards but I decided to make one that focused on my husband's "hobby" - music. He has an extensive library of CDs for a range of music genres, and his music system is top of the line. So...

Using a cardboard backing form a notepad, black inks, a baseboard character and some clipping stickers, I set about making a car panel that featured various aspects of recorded music:

Products used in the maker of this card were:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Honey Bee “Good Mix”
Inks: archival “Black Soot”; Distress Oxide “Black Soot”
Papers: cardboard back of used notepad; PaperGarden “Cropppy Block” “black”; white gloss A2 card base
Embellishments: Idea-ology “Clippings Sticker Book” (TH94630) and “Baseboards” (TH93796)
Glues: GInaK “Connect” glue; ScorTape 1/8”; jeje produkt foam tape

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Challenge: Make Your Own Background

6/5/2020

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The Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for June 1, 2020 was to make our own background(s).

Now I'm not quite sure if what I did was making my own background but here goes.

First,I started by using MultiMedium Matte to glue a portion of a patterned paper napkin to a cut of scrap white card (actually, the back of a used-up notepad).I coated the napkin with the medium and let it air dry. When dry, I cut the piece to size and mounted it on a piece of scrap Bazzill blue-grey card, and mounted this panel on pale blue A2 card blank I found in my scrap pile! So this is my background:

A lot of scraps here, but I wasn't finished with my scrap pile! I found a piece of glimmery dark blue cardstock which had been cut from a trimmed card base. I moistened it and ran it through a Sizzix 3D embossing folder and adhered the results to the card base:

Back to the scrap pile to find a piece of HOTP Lapis Lazuli glimmer paper and used that as a mat for another piece of that Bazzill blue-grey card which I had heat-embossed with a sentiment in white.

A few white paper daisies by Petaloo with some Hero Arts baby blue pearl centers completed my card:

Products used in the creation of this card were:

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp “Word Mix #2” (sss112093)
Dies: Sizzix 3-D Impresslit "Lattice Trim" (663292)
Inks: Versamark
Embossing Powders: GinaL "Fine detail White"
Papers: scraps of white notepads back, Bazzill blue-grey card , glimmery blue card, and Hot Off The Press "Lapis Lazuli" glimmer paper (HOTP-10973); recycled pale blue A2 card blank; printed paper napkin
Embellishments: Petaloo Color Me Crazy "Mini Delphiniums" (1508-000); Hero Arts Pearls (light Blue) (CH169)
Adhesives: Ranger Multi Medium Matte (INK41535); ScorTape 1/8"; GInaK "Connect" glue

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Challenge: Tickled Pink!

5/29/2020

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The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog has issued a challenge on May 27, 2020: "Tickled Pink":

"Design a vintage or shabby chic project using the color pink. You may use other colors as accents, but, pink must be predominant. There are many shades of pink ranging from fuschia to soft baby pink so let your pink imagination go wild!"

I started with a peach-colored card base and used a stencil and Distress Oxide inks to create a panel for it:

The trouble with pinks is that there are so many, and I found that my peach started looking more and more orange, but I stuck with it, adding pink paper flowers and pearls along with a in pink on a strip of the peach card

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Stampers Anonyuos “Tiny Text” (CMS394)
Stencils: Stampers Anonymous layering stencil “Stripes” (THS004)
Inks: Distress Oxides “Tattered Rose” and “Worn Lipstick”
Papers: blush card base; Neena Solar White; Paper Garden “Cropping Block - black”Embellishments: Little Birdy Floral Cafe “Printed Vienna Petals Pink” (CR35080); KaiserCraft Pearls “blush” (SB716)
AdhesivesL ScorTape 1/8”; GinaL “Connect” glue

I'm also entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, May 27, 2020: Anything Goes

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Author

Born in New Jersey, I grew up in Southeastern Ohio. Attended university at Bowling Green State University (B.Sci in biological science, 1964), University of Southern California (M. Sci in biological science, 1967) and University of Florida (Ph. D in zoology, 1971).
Worked in environmental consulting for a little more than a decade and then seven years as an instructor in biological science at various community colleges in California and Texas. Moved to London in 1992, then Beijing (1996) and Saudi Arabia (1998), before returning to NW Ohio in 2002. I am currently living in NW Ohio with my husband and three Bombay cats. I love to read (mystery, science fiction, history) and stitch (have done crewel, currently experimenting with free embroidery and needlepoint but blackwork and cross stitch are my main genres); have been known to knit; and now I'm heavily into papercrafting!
Retired upon the return to the US so lots of time for our hobbies...