Stretch Your Stamps 2 Day 5 and 6

Day 5 and 6 at  Online Card Classes was about stretching outline stamps.  The stamps used were floral stamps (not my favorite).  I CASEd Jennifer Rasa's card where she debossed her image and then stamped and watercolored it.  I was trying to do an easier way than she did by using Stampin'Up!'s Backyard Basics that come with dies to cut out the images.  If I had it to do over again I would stamp first and then emboss with the die.  It was hard to stamp perfectly in the embossed image.

Stampin'Up! Backyard Basics. Picked Raspberry and Evergreen Bough Distress Markers on Stampin'Up! watercolor paper.  Really Reasonable Ribbon.  Close to My Heart A Flowering Bunch sentiment heat embossed with Zing White EP.  

Happy Crafting!

Donna

OWH Virtual Cardmaking Party Round 6

Still working on the  Virtual Card Making Party this weekend for OWH.  There are ten challenges and the linkys will stay open until Sunday September 8th.  So there is lots of time to play along.  This challenge was hosted by Sybrina K at Scarpping with Purpose.  She challenged us to make a card for a kid using the Tic Tac Toe grid below.  

I went straight down the middle taking a cue from Paula at Handmade by Paula.  She reminded me of this cute "Punny" stamp set that was an OWH fundraiser.  You can still get them at Stamper's Best.

The turtle is paper pieced onto Jillibean Soup Irish Farm House Soup and colored with Distressed Markers.  I used OWH Sketch #68 as my inspiration.  Sentiment is stamped with StampinUp! Old Olive ink.  Still three more challenges to go.  

Happy Crafting!

Donna

OWH Virtual Card Making Party

Updated Monday afternoon - all VCMP Challenges completed!

Scroll down to see the ODBD post (the first challenge in the VCMP).  I'll be adding to this post the rest of the weekend for the challenges at Operation Write Home and the "Rebel" Virtual Cardmaking Party (VCMP) instead of scrapbooking for National Scrapbook Day!  The second post for the VCMP is by Paula asking us to make a kids cards using a sketch.  I used OWH Sketch #170.

Papers and stamps are from Close to My Heart.

The third stop on the VCMP is at Sandy Allnock's blog "I Can't Stop Embellishing" she asked us to make a romantic card using an OWH tutorial.  I remember when Sandy showed us a way to paper piece this darling balloon from the Hero Arts OWH fundraising set.  

This is the last of my opened packet of Creative Memories "Be Mine" addition.  (I have one unopened pack yet to use)  I had to print the sentiment out from my digital edition of the kit so I covered it with glossy accents to make sure it didn't bleed if it got wet.  I used the Cuttlebug Swirl EF to look like the wind.

The fourth stop on the VCMP is at Nancy Keller's blog "Scrap Happens"  she challenged us to use a scrapbook sketch instead of a card sketch to make our card.  Cool idea and I took one of the ones she had posted on her blog and made this.  

from this sketch from Page Maps:

  

The butterfly is from the Potpourri Basket Cricut Cartridge.  The love stamp and punch is from Stampin'Up!

The fifth challenge for the VCMP was the Sunday Sketch #171 over at OWH.  

Cardstock and DSP is from the Buzz and Bumble kit from Close to My Heart (CTMH).  The stamp is from the CTMH "Pun Fun."  I colored the bee with Tim Holtz Distressed Markers in Mustard Seed and Vintage Photo.

Challenge number six was Julie on her blog "Handmade by Julie"  to use a photo you took and make a card to send to one of our Heroes.  

This is a photo I took out the car window on the way up Lookout Mountain here outside of Denver.  There were a lot of deer out grazing that day.  Of course the old song "Home on the Range" came to mind and so I used Creative Memories Storybook Creator 4.0 to make the digi I printed.  I used the Bleeding Cowboy font and an embellishment from the Creative Memories Rugged Outdoors digital kit.  

The last challenge #7 was from JoAnn Ross to make a Summertime card.  

This stamp set was the April Close to My Heart Stamp of the Month.  Very appropriate for summer!  The quote is from Bob Marley -- "The sun is shining.  Weather is sweet.  Make you wanna move your dancing feet."  

Sandy Allnock added one additional "bonus" challenge to make a card using googly eyes.  There are no googly eyes in my crafting supplies so I will pass on that one!  LOL!

Hope you had a great weekend!  Happy Crafting!

Donna

You can visit my Creative Memories website HERE.

Inkspirational Challenge #15

The new challenge over at the Inkspirational blog is a photo challenge.  With the Cherry Blossoms blooming in D.C. this was a perfect photo challenge.  My card:

The stamp and sentiment is a special edition from Simple Pleasures LSS in Colorado Springs, CO.  My SIL lives near the Springs and when I visit I love to take a shopping tour through Simple Pleasures!  Stamped with Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink and embossed with clear EB.  Blossoms are colored with Tim Holtz Distressed Markers in Worn Lipstick and I distressed the edges with Worn Lipstick Distressed Ink.  Background DSP is "Shaffer" Almanac Collection from Prima.  I think I got this paper free at one of my "Scrapfest" crops.  I am also entering this in the Operation Write Home Midweek throwdown challenge, show your favorite color combination.  Black and Pink are such a gorgeous elegant color combo don't you think?

Have a great day!
Happy Crafting!
Donna
You can visit my Creative Memories website HERE.

Holiday Card Workshop Day 6

UPDATED!  Day 6 of the Online Card Classes Holiday Card Workshop is all about inking techniques.

For the dot background I used a Stampin'Up! stamp and wet embossed with opaque white embossing powder.  I cut a mask from heavy acetate using my Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations Snow Flurries.  Then I applied Tim Holtz Peacock Feathers, Seedless Preserves and Salty Ocean inks to the cards.  I applied a coat of Perfect Pearl over the card.  The delicate snowflakes are a Memory Box Die and the larger punched snowflake is from Creative Memories.  Sentiment and label punches are from Stampin'Up!

The second card for the day was a faux stained glass.  I had the perfect stamp for this that I have had for many, many years.

I only cut the top half of my Creative Memories Shimmer White Paper with the Stampin'Up! Apothecary Arts Framelits.  This gave it a steeple look.  I embossed the Shimmer Paper with the Cuttlebug Paper Lace Damask folder.  The stamp was colored in with Tim Holtz Distressed Markers and then painted with Perfect Pearls Gold.

Happy Crafting!
Donna
You can visit my Creative Memories website HERE.

Holiday Card Workshop Day 4

I am trying hard to get caught up with the Online Card Classes Holiday Card Workshop.  With each day showing at least two and maybe three card examples there is a lot to choose from.  This card is an example of coloring with distressed inks.

I started with a piece of 110lb paper but had to switch to Ranger Specialty Stamping paper.  I used Ranger Black Archival Ink and embossed with Ranger super Fine Detail Clear Embossing Powder.  The red is Tim Holtz Festive Berry Distressed ink applied with a watercolor brush.  I used my Distressed Markers in Pine Needles, Antique Linen and Tumbled Glass to color the rest of the image.  The stamp from Great Impressions (c) 2006 the I picked up at http://www.123stitch.com/ in their clearance section.  You can get some good deals there.  I keep making these small 3x3 cards because I will use them for Christmas giving this year.

I also completed another Valentine card for operation write home using the example that Julie Ebersole showed us on Day 3.

I used the Cuttlebug Damask Hearts Embossing folder.  The hears are coated with diamond stickles and then Glossy accents is applied over them (can't take a chance on any glitter getting on our troops)!

Happy Crafting!

Donna

You can visit my Creative Memories Website HERE.

Lawn Fawn Week Bonus Sketch

I couldn't resist this cute little fox and his pine tree for the Lawn Fawn Week Bonus Sketch at OWH.  This also is a card that represents Colorado for the 10th Challenge of the Labor Day Weekend VCMP.  Our state has a tremendous amount of National Forest Land with pine trees.  This year we have experienced many forest fires because of the drought.  Also our fox population has diminished due to mange so we have an over-abundance of rabbits to deal with.  On to the card!

Stamp Set:  Lawn Fawn Critters in the Forest
Craft cardstock
Background DSP:  Hey Birdie by Kaisercraft
Forground DSP:  Happy Camper Tree Hugger by imaginisce
Colored with Tim Holtz distressed markers
Banner Die Cut:  Itty Bitty Banners by Stampin'Up!

OWH Midweek Throwdown Encouragement

The Midweek Throwdown theme at Operation Write Home is Encouragement.  Here is my take on the theme.  I am now trending toward fall since those cards need to be in by August 31.

The DSP papers are from Creative Memories Give Thanks Digital Kit (one of my favorites).  The stamp is a retired Stampin'Up! from the Grand Cornucopia set.  The sentiment is from the Operation Write Home Hero Arts Set.  I used Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distressed Ink and colored with the Distressed Markers.  Card Stock is Creative Memories.

Happy Crafting!
Donna
You can view my Creative Memories Website HERE.

OWH Bonus Sketch Challenge Take 2

Operation Write Home Bonus Sketch is such a fun one I had to do one more card with this sketch.

The stamps are my absolute favorites.  They are from Great Impressions Stamps #G269S and #H157S.  I inked them up with Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink.  I just love this little doggie!  I colored his ears with Prismacolor markers and his pink tounge with Tim Holtz Distressed marker in Worn Lipstick.  Cardstock is from Creative Memories.

Happy Crafting!
Donna
Visit my Creative Memories Website HERE.

Watercolor Effect with Direct to Stamp Inking

AirborneWife's Stamping Spot challenged us to try the watercolor effect with direct to stamp inking.  I have done this before when it took the Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 101 class.  I decided to try it again using some different techniques.

The technique on the left involves coloring direct to the stamp with markers, "huffing" on the stamp to moisten it and stamping the paper (I used Ranger Specialty Stamping Paper here).  I was able to "huff" on the image and stamp 3 times and still got a great image.  I then misted the stamp without re-inking it and stamped 3 more times on the watercolor paper  (140lb cold-pressed) on the right.  The image was way too soft to see any detail.  So after it was dry I re-inked the stamp and stamped 3 more times over the soft watercolor image to give it more definition.  Not totally satisfied with the results on the right.  If I do it again I will color the stamp and mist it and go directly to the watercolor paper.  Thanks for the challenge AirborneWife.

Happy Crafting!
Donna
You can view my Creative Memories website HERE.

Great Impressions Anything Goes Challenge

Great Impression Stamps challenge for this month was "Anything Goes."  I just got these two stamps from them in the mail yesterday and couldn't wait to ink them up.  This card will go to Operation Write Home.  I know many Heroes miss their dogs as well as their families so I thought this would be a cute card for them.

The stamps are G269S and H157S from Great Impressions Stamps.  I used Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink and a black Prismacolor marker. The cardstock is Creative Memories. The spot of red on the dogs tongue is Tim Holtz Worn Lipstick distressed marker.  I used a black Pigma pen for the penwork around the edge of the card.  I hope to see you all on the Operation Write Home Memorial Day Sketch Bloghop on May 26th.

Happy Crafting!
Donna
You can view my Creative Memories website HERE.