Rogue Redhead's Rebel Challenge and an Unruly RAQ

Today I have a quick, clean and simple (mostly) card for the new Rogue Redhead Designs Rebel Color Challenge, which this month is Lilac, Navy, and White.  I went with crisp white for the background, embossed with microdots for interest and to coordinate with some of my dotty lilac-hued patterned papers.  I've used Rogue Redhead Designs' banner (bunting) stamp from the Just Sayin' plate and the "Miss You" sentiment (from Relish Reading) stamped in Midnight Blue StazOn.  Done in a flash, and in two of my fave colors!  I hope you can play along... check out the link *here* - there's a very nice prize up for grabs. ;)

Elsewhere in blogland.... Unruly Paper Arts has two Reader Art Quests (RAQs) that are going on through Sept. 25.  Being the gluebook junkie that I am, I couldn't resist RAQ2: Glue Book Pages!  You can click on the link to take you to the challenge.  Here's a few that I did for inspiration - any size, any theme will do!

Link up your artwork, then help vote for your faves!  'Til next time! :)

Beach Vacation Bookmarks at Rogue

Hello - long, long, looooong time not blogging for me!  Life has been extremely busy - ALL GOOD - and blogging has taken a back seat to lots of other activities.  A wonderful beach vacation at the North Carolina shore, lots of sporting activities with the kids, and the design of our new house!  We had been in contract negotiations for several weeks, then in the design phase for a few months, and now things are finally starting to happen, so it's very exciting.  The only downside was that I poured all of my design mojo into the house plans, and not much at all into crafting!  But now hopefully.... it won't be soooo long before my next post, LOL!

I've got a little set of bookmarks featuring Rogue Redhead Designs' Beach Babes set and some of my vacation photos (from this year and last).  A little combo of my fave hobbies, you might say.  You can check out the Rogue Redhead Design blog HERE.

And, I'm thrilled to say, that the recent issue of Stampington's Catch-Up Issue featured a little piece I did with another Rogue Redhead set, Relish Reading....  that's my balloon piece on the right:

I hope you're all having a wonderful summer!  My kids are back in school - both in middle school now - so we are back to our regular routine.  Vacation is so sweet, and always so short.  But perhaps now more time for getting inky. ;)

Go Faux at Gingersnap Creations!

Another fun Random Redhead challenge is revealed today at Gingersnap Creations: GC139 Use A Faux Technique.  Fake it with anything from faux stitching to faux silk, faux brick to faux brads - anything goes.  And if you're stuck for inspiration, you can scroll down to the Tag list in the right-hand margin of the Gingersnap Creations blog - there are a bunch of tutorials on faux techniques linked there.

I used Shelly Hickox's Faux Copper Verdigris technique tutorial from the GC blog.  I must admit that this looked as if it would be a bit time consuming when I first read through it, but once I dug in and started, it really didn't take much time at all.  I won't go into the steps here - just follow the link for Shelly's beautifully detailed tutorial.

And the best part..... one lucky participant in this challenge will win a gift voucher to Rogue Redhead Designs. I've used the Relish Reading plate for this card, and there are lots more wonderful stamps to choose from.

I hope you'll have fun playing along!

Gingersnap Creations Challenge - Words of Wisdom

It's a new month, and that means a new challenge theme over at Gingersnap Creations.  This month, we're "Telling It Like It Is" with lots of fun ideas for you to try.  Today we open with the Chestnut Challenge, which is "Words of Wisdom."  Use your favorite quote or truism for this one.  It can be a stamp or computer generated, letter stickers or paper collaged - however you'd like to get your words across.  And the sponsor this month is one that is near and dear to my heart - Rogue Redhead Designs. :)  For my challenge piece, I used as a base a Stamper's Sampler balloon template from several months ago.  I cut it out of some fun Prima resist chipboard and added some pretty Distress Inks and stamping for the background.  Then I added some circles punched from vintage text in French and German, along with some vintage sheet music.  I cut around the adorable reading children from Relish Reading, and attached them in place of the traditional hot air balloon basket.  The quote is also from the Relish Reading plate: "Let us read and let us dance: two amusements that will never do any harm to the world."  Love that.  We all have something in common, no matter where we're from, and we can all share in some way.

So, how about sharing some artwork?  You'll have lots of time to play along in the challenge, and you could be a lucky winner of some gorgeous stamps.  Pretty cool, huh?  Check it out at Gingersnap Creations. ;)

A Masculine Christmas Card with Rogue Redhead Designs

Making some headway on my Christmas cards, this time with some Rogue Redhead Designs stamps.  You can find all of the details over at the Rogue Redhead Designs blog.  Plus, find out about some really great deals on all of their fabulous stamps over at the shop.  (Just a little enabling for your Black Friday pleasure, LOL!)  Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Is She or Isn't She?

Hello!  If you are looking for the Scrap365 Blog Hop, please click on the link - it will take you to the post below so you can get all the deets, leave a comment, and continue on the hop!

Just wanted to check in today with a little peek of my post for the Rogue Redhead Designs blog.... you can get all the how-to's for my spooky little gal over at the Rogue Blog.

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend.  We have hockey, and volleyball, and hockey again, and volleyball again.... you get the idea.  It's all good! :)  Thanks for visiting, my friends.

Rogue Redhead Rebel Challenge #3

Hello lovelies, I've finally gotten some time to play!  As some of you know, my kids go to a year-round school, and they have been tracked out for the last week..... you'll note, I haven't crafted in a week.  Coincidence?  I think not!  Anyway, I decided to play along with the Rebel Challenge over at Rogue Redhead Designs.  This time, the challenge is to "Think Outside the ATC."  We are to let some feature of our ATC break out of the 2.5 x 3.5 inch boundary. 

For my ATC, I used some Prima paper and the lovely little swinging children from the Relish Reading plate.  Colored them with Copics and let them "swing" from a diecut branch.  My "outside" element is the sun, which is an image from the Floriculture plate, punched out with a Martha Stewart punch that fits it perfectly.

I hope you'll have time to play along with Rebel Challenge #3.  You have until October 9th to link up your creation, you can use any products you'd like (you don't have to use Rogue Redhead stamps, but we'd love it if you have some!), and.... one lucky participant will win a $15.00 US voucher at the RRD Etsy store!  Oh yeah, some of this vintage goodness could be yours. Sounds fun, eh?  :)

(P.S..... special thanks to Linda of My Happy Place... I borrowed the cute little easel she sent me that usually holds her beautiful mini canvas on my desk.... it's perfect for taking photos of ATCs!  Thanks, Linda x!)

Rebel Challenge: Bold-Colored Vintage

How about a little color for your Monday? Rogue Redhead Designs has started a new "Rebel Challenge" - and the very first challenge is Bold-Colored Vintage!  From the RRD site:

Vintage images often are used with soft, sweet colors - so not Rogue! Let's use some of that summer heat and go color wild! Use 2 or more of the bold colors [above right] combined with vintage images in your submission.

You do not have to use Rogue Redhead Designs in your creation (but it would be fabulous if you did!); one lucky participant will win a $15.00 US voucher at the Rogue Redhead Designs Etsy store .

So, for my creation.....The first thing I did was print out the little color graphic of the bold colors for the challenge.  Then I went through my stash of papers, laying them down next to the graphic, and decided which ones to use.  I decided to keep the vivid fuchsia mainly in the image, and not the papers, coordinating it only with the little button that highlights the sentiment.  Then it was just a matter of layering, distressing, and assembling.  The main image is from the Relish Reading plate, available at Stamp Diva.  I colored her with Copics, cut her out, and layered her on the blue panel.  I punched and assembled the rest of my patterned papers around her. Because I used all four of these vivid hues, I wanted to make sure that each color occurred in more than one place on the card, to make them more cohesive and look like a part of the color story.  I added a fuchsia button with blue seam binding to coordinate with the image, and a green "photo corner" that I cut from the same paper as the bottom trim.  The paper along the left side actually has more than one of the challenge colors in it, to pull everything together.  I stitched along the left side for a little shabby vintage flavor.  The sentiment is from RRD's Bits and Pieces set.

I hope you can play along - this is a very fun challenge, and a great way to add some new sparkle to your vintage images!

Less Is More Shades of Blue Challenge

I'm playing along for the first time today over at Less Is More.  The challenge for Week 22:

SHADES of BLUE

You can use a white card base, but they do want to see more than one color of blue, not just one!

I must admit I've been lurking over there for a while - the DT and the folks who participate are extremely talented!!!  I finally just had to take the plunge with this one.

My card uses Rogue Redhead Designs stamps - the "bluebells" are from the Floriculture plate, stamped three times and masked, and colored with Copics.  The background vintage Almanac image is from the Relish Reading plate (from Stamp Diva).  I added some Tim Holtz tissue tape, colored with Copics, to the top and bottom of the image panel to make it look like the image was just haphazardly stuck there.  The background is Glimmer Mists.  Very flat, very mailable, very fun ;).

 

Tomorrow I will finally have my second-ever blog candy.... Bluebird Blog Candy (say that 5 times fast!)... celebrating all of you lovely artists who inspire and encourage me every single day.  Hope all of my US friends have a fabulous and fun July 4th!

Tag Tuesday - The Chair

Yippee, had some time to craft!  I have been wanting to continue playing in the Tag Tuesday Challenge, but haven't had a chance since the big change.  In case you haven't been following in recent weeks, the lovely and talented Louise over at Kard Krazy, who has brought us countless challenges and inspiration, decided that she had too much on her plate to continue the weekly Tag Tuesday play.  So, she has handed over the baton to Rebecca at Blog Challenge Garden.  Thanks so much to Rebecca ("BelleSouth") for taking over!  This week she has set forth a rather challenging challenge.... "The Chair."  The chair has to be the focus, but you can have someone or something in the chair.  I hope this qualifies!!

Yes, I know that it might seem that the girl is the focus.... which is why I decided to paper piece the image and give her a rather over-the-top, girlie, flowered, chintz-covered chair.  Remember when chintz was all the rage in the 80s?  Oh, how I loved it then.  So we have our retro girl in her retro chair, and did you notice..... she has chair wallpaper! Yes indeedily, just in case my chair tag isn't chair-y enough, I added a few more chairs, LOL!  The lovely lady is from Rogue Redhead Designs' Relish Reading Plate, and the teensy chair stamp in the wallpaper is from Pink Paislee's House of Three Parisian Anthology set.  The throw rug is a cardstock sticker from Crate Paper (as is the sentiment), the trim is vintage Little Women, and the brad is GCD studios.  I think that's about it.  Hope you can play along.;)

Dreaming of Paris, Rogue Redhead Style

Hello and happy happy Friday!  I decided to pop in on my poor, neglected little blog.  We are having a very busy spring, to say the least!

I wanted to give you a little lookie at what I have posted over at the Rogue Redhead Designs blog today.  A little lady who is dreaming of taking an exciting tour of old-time Paris.  Count me in! ;)

Have a wonderful weekend.

A Rogue at Play

I had some fun playing with a backgrounder stamp from the Snow Hugs plate by Rogue Redhead Designs.  You can get the deets over on the Rogue Redhead Designs blog.  Happy Weekend everyone!

Valentine Exchange with Mish Mash

Hello and happy Thursday!  I recently had an opportunity to take part in a fun little blogger "exchange."  Some of you may know of Michelle Wooderson, of the blog Mish Mash.  She recently put together a delightful little kit of goodies (10 kits, actually), and put them in her Etsy shop with the idea that whoever bought them would send her a picture of the Valentine project(s) they made with the kit.  She would then post everyone's projects on her blog, in a sort of Valentine's "virtual exchange" of inspirational ideas.  I've been stalking her shop for ages and decided to jump in and make a purchase in order to take part in this fun little project.

The post with everyone's projects is HERE.  Mish has given the participants until February 10th to post.  These little pics at right show the kit ingredients and a picture of how the kit was packaged - in a bag with ribbon and punched paper that are all also very usable!  Although my card is made up of mostly items from the kit, I still had lots of little goodies left.  But first things first....

For the card above, I stamped the adorable kids from the Rogue Redhead Designs Relish Reading plate, colored them with Copics, and cut them out.  I used the heart doily from the kit and laced it through with the seam binding that tied the kit shut.  For the rest of the card, I started with a kraft base, then stitched on blue colored kraft paper from The Paper Temptress.  (This stuff is really neat... it's like paper bag paper, colored on one side, and you can use sandpaper to distress off the color and make it nice and shabby.)  I stamped on a scroll design with Versamark, but it's hard to see in the photo.  I also used the strip of patterned paper provided in the kit.  Embellishments include a fabric yo-yo, tag (which I distressed with Old Paper Distress Ink and stamped with the Love sentiment), button, and baker's twine, all from the kit.

I still had lots of little goodies left.  Here's a little pic of another project I made - a treat bag - using the glassine envelope, the gathered crepe paper, the heart punched paper, the white embossed heart, and the clothespin from the kit.  And I still have some ledger labels, a pink gift sack (that the kit came in), and a patterned paper heart left over for another project. 

This was a fun, affordable way to get a little inspiration from an outside source, without committing to anything big.  Great way to stoke the old mojo!  

Rogue Redhead for the New Mom

A quick little post of a card to accompany a gift of nursery rhymes and children's books for a new mom.  The image is from Rogue Redhead Designs, and you can get the details over at the Rogue Redhead blog.

I also wanted to share the fabulous 4x4's that I received in the most recent Gingersnap Creations swap.  My photography doesn't even begin to show the luscious details on these cards - the embossing, the glitter, the shimmer.  Frosty goodness at its best, I tell ya!  These gorgeous designs are by (clockwise from top left): Ali Manning, Penny Bennington, Krisha Ogle, and Netty Goatley.  These gals are a talented group! Thanks so much, ladies!!!

Relish Ginspiration!

Happy New Year, Everyone!!  Sorry I've been AWOL for so long, but I have had No. Time. To. Craft.  It's been all good - seeing family and friends, going to some exciting events, shopping, etc.  But it's certainly time for me to get back in my craftroom and rejoin the blogging civilization.

For some inspiration, I turned to a favorite stamp set, Relish Reading, and to the latest "Blue Moon" Challenge over at Gingersnap Creations.  If you are like me and trying to recapture your mojo after the holidays, this Gingersnap Challenge is just the ticket.  Several of the DT have each come up with their own challenge - so there are 6 to choose from! You can do just one, or do them all.  I'm going to treat it sort of like Tim's 12 Tags, and try to work my way through each and every one.

Today, I'm joining in Petra's fabulous challenge to Use Your Paper Scraps.  She has a gorgeous example at Gingersnap, and you can catch the details on *Her Blog*.  I particularly loved how Petra used vintage text scraps in her background.  She added many beautiful details that I just didn't have the time for today (but I am sooo going to try after the holidays!!), like weaving and then stitching her patterned papers into a gorgeous flower garden.  For mine, I cut some stray scraps of text, music, and patterned papers into strips, then layered them onto cardstock.  I cut the panel down to size and mounted it onto my card base.  That fine-looking lad and the sentiment are from Rogue Redhead Designs' Relish Reading plate, and the gears are by Tim Holtz.

I hope you'll get a chance to play along.  There are tons of great ideas over at Gingersnap Creations.  Thanks for the Ginspiration, Gingers! 

Visions of Sugarplums at Rogue Redhead Designs

Edited to add:  I've had a few questions regarding this ribbon.  This particular ribbon (crinkled seam binding) is from an Etsy shop, Bluebird Lane (no relation, LOL!).  However, lately I've been getting Hug Snug seam binding from www.zipperstop.com.  I buy some in colors and crinkle it myself, and I also buy the white and dye it by hand.  

Just popping in to say that I have this card posted over at the Rogue Redhead Designs blog - all the details can be found there. :)

Gotta go try to catch up with all things holiday.... why am I always behind this time of year - it isn't like Christmas occurs *unexpectedly* every December 25th - we've got lots of advanced notice, LOL!  Happy Friday, friends!

Relish Reading Christmas Card

Crazy quick post today, with just a little close-up.....  the details of my Booklover's Gift Kit can be found at Rogue Redhead Designs.  Happy Weekend!

A Gift Idea for the Book Lover

I just wanted to pop in quickly and let you know about a post I have up over at the Rogue Redhead Designs blog today.  It's a quick and easy little gift idea for the book lovers in your life.  It's getting to be that time of year.... ;)

Tag Tuesday - Bingo!

Over at Kard Krazy this week, Louise has challenged us to use Bingo cards for Tag Tuesday.  This was a particularly fun one for me because I love how bingo cards are popping up all over, and I have quite a collection - minis, vintage, bingo card albums, etc.... and needed some incentive to stop hoarding them!

I centered my tag around an adorable stamped image from Rogue Redhead Designs and a Jenni Bowlin "Grow" mini bingo card.  Most of the embellies are from Basic Grey's new Curio collection (L-O-V-E it!).  There's also some vintage trim and a tiny bit of glitter here and there.

Thanks for stopping by and have a crafty Monday. :) 

Imagination Journal at Rogue Redhead Designs

Happy Friday, Everyone!  This is a teeny peek at something I have posted today over at the Rogue Redhead Designs blog.  It's a little project-sketch journal I created using their new plate, Relish Reading.  I'd love it if you could go pay a visit and have a little look. ;)