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Challenge: "God Only Knows" (A Video Inspiration)

9/16/2016

nCreative Carte Blanche provided a BBC video interpretation of the Beach Boys hit "God Only Knows" and issued a challenge to use any element that grabbed us -- from the song to the stage sets to the costumes to the performers -- and create a "work of art that makes us smile".

Well, I'm not at all sure that what I did was "art" and I sure son't know if it made me smile, but ti sure did make me nostalgic for the days when the Beach Boys were "the Thing!". The piece that really stuck with me, days after viewing the video, was the final scene with the feather and the window... and so I set about creating my interpretation of that image on a card. Naturally, I didn't have all the tools I would have liked but I came up with some that I think came pretty close.

First of all, the final image is of the piano player but I didn't have an image of a piano so... I went with a beach scene. After all, it WAS the BEACH boys, right? I stamped and watercolored a beach scene on a scrap of card from a die cut used in another project.

I attached this image to a blue background (sky?) centered on on a white note-card.

I didn't have a window like the one in the video but I did have a dies for a church window ("God" only knows?): the frame and the mullions. I die cut two of the frame and one of the mullions from white card that I had run through my Xyron sticker maker, sandwiched them and then fit them over the watercolored image:

Next step --- the music. Well, no place here for lyrics so I went with a musical note motif, a scrap from a die from another card I had done earlier (it had snowflakes at the ends of the musical stand which I trimmed away). I slipped it under the window mullions so it looked like it was wafting from the beach scene:

Now for the feathers. Real ones were two big for this card (% X 6.5") so I looked high and low for a suitable stamp and found one online to order... and waited around for it to arrive! Once here, I used a soft grey ink (I later "accented" with black fine line pen) on white card for three of the images in the set and fussy cut them. I arranged them "floating" from large to small to create an appearance of movement, going from close to the observer (large one above the window) to further away (into the window frame itself):

The bottom of the card looked very empty and I tried a sentiment there but, as luck would have it, it was crooked so I rebooted, created a banner and stamped a sentiment and another feather...

And there you have my tribute to the Beach Boys...

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Sheen (by Sheena Douglas Designs) "Falling Feathers" (SD-SS-FEA-E2); Inkadinkado Fine Line Classics D-2351
Dies: Poppystamps Inc. "Grand Gothic Window" (845) and "Grand Gothic Luminary" (856); Simon Says Stamps "Jingle Snowflakes"
Inks: Simon Says Stamp Dye Ink "Smoke"; Inktense Pencisl "Madder Brown " (1920), "Sea Blue" (1200), "Sun Yellow" (0200), "Baked Earth" (1800), "Teal Green" (1300), "Poppy Read" (0400); Distress Ikn "Mermaid Lagoon"; Archival "Jet Black"; Pigma Micron 05 "black"
Papers: Stampin' Up! "Shimmering White", Hot Off The Press Scrappers Paper Pizazz (1-56231-992-2)scraps of white and metallic blue
Adhesives: Xyron 500 Sticker Maker; Viva Las Vegas "Miracle Tape"; Ranger Collage Glue Stick
Special tools: Fine and Borad water brushes, Mini-Mister

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Challenge: Things With Wings

9/11/2016

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"Things with Wings" is the theme for the September 7, 2016 challenge from the Frilly & Funkie Challenge Blog. That could feature any number of winged things: angels, birds, insects of various kinds, airplanes... and fairies. I have some fairy stamps but they are either very complex (the flower fairies) or seasonal. But I thought I would try to cover a "Christmas Fairy" into a more generic fairy, using color and layout. So I came up with this card:

The coloring was an issue as the fairy is so small and so very detailed, but I think I avoided the "Christmas" theme at least.

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Christmas Fairy Stamps from Cardmaking Magazine, Origin Publishing 2010; Jenny Ellory 12 Sentiment Stamps from Quick Cards, 2015
Inks: Distress Ink “Black Soot”; Distress Markers “Tumbled Glass”, “Mowed Lawn”, “Spun Sugar”, “Wilted Violet”, Shaded Lilac”, “Antique Linen, “Gathered Twigs”; Snowman Extra Fine Marker “gold”
Papers: Paper Studio Notecard Value Pack “white”; Cream card and Purple paper scraps
Adhesives: Viva Las Vegas “Miracle Tape”

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Challenge: Stamp It!

9/11/2016

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Much like the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for September 5, the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge for September 7 is celebrating STAMPtember® 2016 f=by asking us to use stamps in our challenge project! Since I had already entered one card for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, I decided to attempt another using different stamps.

I chose a Simon Says Stamp/ Altenew Collaboration of layered stamps, some newly purchased Altenew Crisp Dye Inks, and my MISTI to create this card:

I find layering stamps a challenge, especially this set, as it is not at all clear which stamps go with which, which stamps are to be used first, and which stamps should be stamped in lighter or darker colors. I tried several approaches and this one was the closest to what I was hoping for but...... I am not entirely happy with the layout, There was no way I could work out how to mask to get the flowers and leaves together in a more logical arrangement. I guess layering stamps and I simply do not get along!

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp/Altenew Collaboration “Layered Flowers” (SSS101581); Winnie & Walter “Big Bold You” (WW006)
Inks: Altenew Crisp Dye Inks “Desert Night”, “Ocean Waves”, “Sea Glass”; Distress Inks “Mermaid Lagoon”, “Cracked Pistachio”, “Lucky Clover”
Papers: Paper Studio Value Pack white”; Cream car and Provo Craft Aquamarine Solid Dark scraps
Adhesives: Viva Las Vega “Miracle Tape”

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Challenge: September Sketch

9/6/2016

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Over at Seven Hills Crafts, they have provided a sketch as inspiration for their September Challenge:

In addition to using this sketch, the rules of this monthly challenge include using products sold by Seven Hills. I chose to use an Altenew Stamp Set: "Ramadan Greetings" and to make a card for my stash so that, when the next Ramadan rolls around, I will have a card to send to our Suadi friends.

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Altenew "Ramadan Greetings"
Inks: Archival "Jet Balck"
Papers: The Paper Studion Value Pack "ivory"; scraps of three different green papers
Tools: EK Success 1 3/4" circle punch
Adhesives: Ranger Collage Glue

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Challenge: Stamp It

9/5/2016

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In honor of STAMPtember®, the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge for September 5, 2016, is to use a stamp, preferably a Simon Says Stamp product, in the making of a project.

Now I have a few Simon Says Stamp stamps and dies but not many, and I was struggling with how to use them in a card this week. Then I remembered the "Jumbo Stripes" set that I had finally purchased and I thought perhaps a masculine. clean and simple card would work. So I chose three of the stripes and used my FIskars "Easy Stamp Press" (because it is the only stamp block I have large enough to handle the length of these stripes! But also it is gridded so it allowed me to keep my stripes more or less straight and parallel) to stamp on a light tan/cream-colored card.

I inked my stripes using Distress Markers in shades of brown and created a plaid border for the card. I trimmed the image and layered it on a dark brown card scrap. I then stamped a sentiment from the same stamp set using the darkest of the brown colors and attached the resulting panel to a pre-folded note card blank in ivory:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Simon Says Stamp "Jumbo Stripes" (SSS101553)
Inks: Distress Markers "Ground Espresso", "Tea Dye" and "Gathered Twigs"; Distress Ink "Ground Espresso"
Papers: Bazzill light tan and scrap dark brown; Paper Studion Value Pack Note Cards "ivory"
Adhesives: Viva Las Vegas "Miracle Tape"

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Challenge: Craft Room

9/5/2016

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Altenew has provided a photograph and color palette for their September Inspiration Challenge, based on a photograph of one of their design team's crafting space! They are calling the challenge "Craft Room" although it isn't a craft room we are being asked to portray (thank goodness for mine is a Hot Mess!) but what that photograph and/or color palette inspires us to do. The inspiration photo and palette are:

and, as usual, Altenew products are to be used in the making of the project!

I went with the color scheme of the primary reds, blues and yellows and resorted to a mini-collage of paper flowers form Hero Arts attached with brads from Hot Off The Press. For my Altenew elements, I stamped the leaves from the "Spring Daisy" stamp set and the sentiment and bow from the "Bejeweled" Stamp and die sets. The coloring medium was Distress Ink and Markers:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Altenew "Spring Daisy" and "Bejeweled"
Dies: Altenew "Bejeweled"
Inks: Distress Inks "Abandoned Coral" and "Lucky Clover"; Distress Markers "Candied Apple" and "Lucky Clover"; Archival "Jet Black"
Embellishments: Hero Arts Hero Hues Art Flowers "Sunshine Print" (CH206), "Sea Print" (CH208) and "Blush Print" (CH205); Hot Off The Press "Winged Things" (X12417)
Papers Baxxill cream; Paper Studio Value Pack "white"
Adhesives: Viva Las Vegas "Miracle Tape

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Challenge: Stamps

9/2/2016

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In honor of Stamptember, the Simon Says Stamp Work It Wednesday challenge for the month of September, 2016 is to use stamps in the making of our project(s)!

Stamps (and stamp sets) that haven't been used yet are a guilty secret in my stamping area! And I have a lot of new ones that have arrived in the last few weeks. So I decided to go with a set by Dina Wakley called "Scribbly Insects" and make a spring-like card (even though it really feels like autumn around here now - go figure!)

I stamped a scribbly butterfly in Archival "Jet Black" on a scrap of lime green paper and colored it with Distress Markers and a water brush. I then fussy cut the butterfly and set it aside while I worked on the background.

I know there are probably no butterflies in the real world of this color, but I just FELT like blue and green today!)

More Distress Markers and fourwildflower stems from the "Mini-Bouquet" set from Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous... I inked each flower and spritzed it with water before stamping on watercolor paper.

More blues and greens with a little purple thrown in...

I liked the watercolor look but the background needed something more so I used the Distress Marker Spritzer and yet more Distress Markers (after picking the complete set up from the floor where they fell when their storage container took a dive... ARRGH!) to add some color. It was a little too intense so I washed over it with a broad water color brush and some water to smear the ink around...

The next step was to add a sentiment (from the "Scribbly Insects" set), trim the image to fit the card front, and layer it on some lavender metallic and lime green card scraps (the same lime green on which the butterfly was stamped). The entire assemblage was then taped to the front of a pre-folded 5 1/8 x 7 inch white card:

I placed the butterfly, and voila!

Here's wishing "Happy Trails" to that loverly butterfly!

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Dina Wakley Media “Scribbly Insects” (MDR44499); Stampers Anonymous “Mini Bouquet” (CMS269)
Inks: Distress Markers: Mowed Lawn”, “Twisted Citron”, “Salty Ocean”, “Squeezed Lemonade”, Broken China”, “Mermaid Lagoon”, “Shaded Lilac”, “Evergreen Bough”, Tumbled Glass”, “Wilted Violet”, Dusty Concord” and “Seedless Preserves”; Archival “Jet Black”
Papers: The Paper Studio Value Pack “white”; The Paper Company Jewel Metallic “Amethyst Test” (16209-010); Ranger Watercolor Paper; Scrap lime green
Adhesives: Viva Las Vegas “Miracle Tape”; Ranger Collage Glue Stick
Special Tools: Mini Mister, Water Brush 1/2” flat; Water Brush 8mm small; Distress Marker Spritzer

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Challenge: Anything Goes

9/2/2016

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I have to admit that whenever I see a challenge prompt "Anything Goes", like the one from the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge Blog on August 31, I cringe. It isn't much help as a prompt, especially since I rarely just "craft" cards these days, what with challenge deadlines and a stitchery deadline and a computer deciding it hates the latest upgrade from Apple and... And even less help is the spotlight on Avery Elle products, none of which I own (that I know of). So I was tempted to skip this challenge... when the mail arrived with my latest indulgence from an online purveyor: two sets of Spellbinders border dies. I was itching to try them out!

My biggest gripe about my Big Shot (besides the fact some some dies simply do not cut well on it) is that it will not allow me to use substrate with the shorter measurements larger than 5.5 to 6 inches. That pretty much rules out the cards I usually make unless I want to make a layer to glue or paste to tape onto the main card base, and that will not do with border dies!

SO... I had to resort to some Die Cut with A View A2 card stacks which allowed me to cut the longer side before folding the card. And the small size means I can't do a whole lot with the card front. I had to go very clean and simple.

My first task was to cut the borders on the longer measurement of five cards (one being discarded eventually because the die simply did NOT cut all the way through and I was NOT going to try to winkle out those little pieces with a craft knife!). Since the detail in the border cut didn't show on these deeply colored cards, I cut a sheet of cream card into liners for the insides.

Next step was to stamp a sentiment, which I selected from three sets of VAP! "Premium Rubber Stamp Sets". I used Versamark and embossing powder, white on two of the cards and gold on the other two. The white worked with the cream linings but the gold looked off so I cut some border strops from a scrap of gold mirror card to place under the cut (if I had to do it again, I would cut a wider border for a card like the purple one).

I ended up with four small "note card" style cards which could be used as thank you notes, invitations or congratulatory notes.

Details of each card can be seen here:

It's not often I have the right card in my stash for a particular occasion but this solves at least one upcoming event: Now I have the perfect card to enclose with a birth sampler for a new grand nephew!

Products used in making these cards were:

Stamps: VAP! Premium Rubber Stamp Sets “The Basics” (RS4877), “Your’e Invited” and “Birthday Party”
Inks: Versamark
Embossing Powders: Top Boss “gold” and “white”
Dies: Spellbinders “A2 Curved Borders 1” and “Curved Borders 2”
Papers: Die Cut With a View Textured Card Stack “C;aspics”; Cream cad and scrap of Mirror Gold card
Adhesives: Viva Las Vegas “Miracle Tape:

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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...