ODBD Challenge Entry

This month's Our Daily Bread Designs challenge for OWH is wheels. There are some fantastic cards already submitted, and you can see all the other entries here. I decided to play with two different "wheel" stamps. The first card has all Club Scrap materials (except the brown brads). The papers and ribbon are from the Random Doorways kit (January 2013). The bicycle and tire tread stamps are from Wheel & Sprocket (August 2006), while the "got adventure?" stamp was part of the Great Outdoors collection (October 2007). To add a bit more texture to the card, I embossed the bicycle with the verdigris embossing powder that was included in the WOW Christmas 2012 package. 

When I ordered some OWH stamps from Stamper's Best, I found this really cute vintage pram stamp. These cards were made with various CS papers and Stampin' Up! ribbon and welcome stamp. The cards are simple, but sometimes it's nice just to play with a bit of paper, ink, and ribbon--back to the basics of stamping.

I'm looking forward to seeing what October's Our Daily Bread Designs challenge will be!

My Personal Challenge--September

I love to challenge myself. Whether it is to avoid sweets for a week, keep my desk decluttered, or create a certain number of page or cards, challenging myself gives me an opportunity for personal success. Don't you agree?

Now I have challenged myself to something new for the rest of the year. I'm going to create a Christmas card using each of the September thru December Club Scrap kits. This month's kit, Take Wing, has a bird, feather, swirl theme--not too Christmas-y, I know! But, the colors are navy, red, white, and two shades of green. Jackpot!

I used the twig UM stamp from the Collection sheet of rubber with Moss ink, then I added a touch of glue to each of the little balls on the ends of the branches and sprinkled with red glitter. Voila! They may look more like "Charlie Brown" Christmas trees, but I think they are festive! The "Joy" stamp and the "Joy Cheer" smaller stamp are from the Old World Christmas stamp set from way back in 2008. That one is no longer available through CS, but I have a few in my inventory that I can let go for $12 + shipping. If interested, leave a comment below with your email address, and we can chat. (I'll delete your comment so your email address isn't there any longer.)

Next month's kit is called Lock & Key. I hope I can meet the challenge and come up with a Christmas card design with that one! Stay tuned! And, if you are so inclined, leave a comment below on a way that YOU challenge yourself!

Nesting with Take Wing collage stamp

Earlier this month I posted my first attempt at layering a stamped image using Nestabilities dies. You can see that post here. Last week I purchased the A2 matting dies and found that they are perfect for playing with this technique.

The card features the collage stamp from Club Scrap's Take Wing collection UMs.  Isn't this a great sheet of rubber? So many possibilities! The green paper is from Take Wing, while the beautiful blue and the red ribbon are from Peacock (October 2012).

Stay tuned for my next post where I show how I used one of these stamps on a Christmas card. Hmmm . . . which one will it be?

Take Wing Blog Hop!

 Welcome to my blog and thank you for following the September 2013 Club Scrap Blog Hop featuring the Take Wing collection! The starting point of the hop is Club Scrap Creates. There you will find the list of participating bloggers who are all creating with this cheerful kit!

My creation is a card featuring the collage image from the Borders & Backgrounds unmounted (UM) stamps. The technique came from the creative team at Technique Junkies and is found in their August/September 2013 newsletter. Their newsletters are full of fun and creative techniques, and they have CDs with tutorials, too! You can visit the TJ blog at http://techniquejunkies.blogspot.nl/.

This technique is called the Blocked Backgrounds Tutorial.

The supplies you need to create this card are:
5.5x8.5 White cardstock (folded in half for the card base)
5.25x4 Red Translucent 
5x3.75 White cardstock panel
Printed cardstock for the bird 
Black paper/cardstock (not shown)
White paper/cardstock for the sentiment
Green bird brad

Tools needed:
UM collage stamp and mounting block
Post-It notepad
Club Scrap India Black ink
Clear ruler (I love the Club Scrap 2x8 ruler for this technique!)
Black Sharpie marker (not shown)
Take Wing stencil
Paper piercer 
Scissors
Sentiment stamp

 

Step 1: Use Post-It notes to block off the top left quadrant of the White panel. Ink the collage stamp well with India Black ink, and stamp onto the quadrant. (You want to stamp off the edges of the panel, so be sure to have scratch paper underneath.)

 

Steps 2 & 3: Repeat the same technique in the upper right quadrant, being sure to leave a space between the stamped images. You want an intersection of white, like crossing streets along city blocks. Add a third stamped image in the bottom left quadrant, again leaving a space. (I added a piece of red foam under the panel to make the panel more noticeable in the pictures.)

Step 4: Again, repeat the stamping, this time in the lower right quadrant. Notice that I used the same two Post-It notes in each step. I'm a frugal crafter!

 Here is the stamped panel. I did not measure my spaces between the stamped images. I might try using pieces of low-tack tape (like Washi tape) to separate the quadrants next time. That would ensure even spacing, though my perfectionist tendencies have dissipated as I've gotten older. :-) 

 

Step 5: Using a Sharpie pen and clear ruler, draw lines around each block, like curbs around city blocks. My corners are not perfect (see the previous paragraph). I knew I was covering the intersection with a cut-out, so I wasn't too worried about it. The "Blocked Backgrounds" panel is complete. Not shown: Edge the panel using a black stamp pad.

To add a focal image to the card, I chose the bird from the Take Wing collection stencil. I moved the stencil around on the printed paper (below). Since I was using the Red Translucent paper behind the stamped panel, I chose the section with the red "branches."

Hmmm . . . I didn't want to trace the bird onto the front of the paper, because I wanted a nice, clean image. I discovered that if I used a paper piercer to place a tiny indent at the beak and the tail (not shown), I could flip the paper over, find the raised marks, and line up the reversed stencil the way I wanted it. I traced with a pencil and cut out the bird with scissors. (I left off the bird's feet, as cute as they are.)

The printed bird blended in too much with the background. Adhering it to black paper not only added contrast but also made her just a bit bigger. And adding dimensional tape raised her off the panel. Below: A simple white panel for the greeting doesn't detract from the artwork.

I'm so glad you visited my blog today, and I hope you give this fun background technique a try! Your next stop on the hop is Marya's blog.  Continue hopping along to see more creativity with Take Wing!

Take Wing Blog Hop Tomorrow!

For the first time, I'm participating in Club Scrap's monthly blog hop. I'm excited to show a new technique I've learned using Take Wing UM stamps, papers, and stencil. Hope you stop by!

Scrapping with iClassygirl

Last Wednesday I participated for the first time in iClassygirl's online pajama scrapping party.  Each month, she chooses a layout sketch and creates a page using the current Club Scrap kit. This month she used the fabulous Take Wing kit. Here is the sketch she used. (You can find her completed page on her blog.)

I had just purchased some black fabric flowers on clearance at Michaels (love to look through the clearance areas at craft stores!), and I wanted to use them for the flower cluster in the sketch.  I pulled out a picture I've been wanting  to do something with--my in-laws with my youngest daughter. I hope Classygirl doesn't mind that I used a large photo instead of two smaller ones! 

The blue in the two shirts was a perfect match for Club Scrap's Science kit's blue card stock--and one of my daughter's favorite colors! The black card stock is from the Pure & Simple kit. Silver stickers are from a Dazzles sticker sheet from Paper Wishes, and the alpha stickers are from a Creative Memories alpha set I purchased years ago. Again, the fabric flowers were purchase at Michaels with nailheads from my stash.

So, that is my completed page, and I am very happy with it. Such a special picture deserves a beautiful page!

Playing with "Take Wing"

Club Scrap's kit this month is a fun, colorful one called Take Wing. Here's a picture of the CS kit; the Lite kit ships Monday!

Isn't it fun?! Just love the swirls, feathers, leaves, and birds. It even has some flowers, which endears it even more to me. The colors are a glossy white, two shades of green, a red, and the prettiest navy I've ever seen in a paper. In fact, that navy print in the top right of the picture has a silver print on it--probably my most favorite CS paper of all time!

I decided to play with the kit today. I've been making cards a lot lately. I like being able to try new techniques (new to me, anyway) on a smaller scale. 

These are the materials I picked out: both greens and a navy. All of these came from the HPOPs (half pound-of-paper) that CS offers. I like getting this pack so I don't have to cut into my 8.5x11 or 12x12 papers. It comes with various sizes of the kit papers. I also pulled out the navy ribbon from the kit and the "Thank You" stamp from the Greeting UM (unmounted) stamp set. The embossing folder in the back has a feather design. It's from Paper Wishes. I always label my embossing folders so I can find the one I want quickly.

I only wanted to emboss part of the panel--leaving the top smooth for the greeting. I placed the stamp on the paper and adjusted the paper inside the embossing folder. Ran it through my Wizard, and the beautiful feather design appeared.

After stamping the greeting, I adhered the navy ribbon at the top of the embossing. Sliding a smaller piece under that one, I tied a knot, which makes it look like a bow. Love that tip!

Here is the finished card. I die cut some flowers out of some small papers from the HPOPs bag. I really can't make a project without adding flowers of some sort. The dies are from Paper Wishes. The tiny flower in the center is from Club Scrap's Birds of a Feather collection from a few years ago. The green is a great match with the Take Wing kit.

Horsin' Around

My family has horses, so I love to play with any art supplies that have a horse theme. My latest favorite is Club Scrap's Equestrian kit from November 2012. (There are several items still available from that collection! Check 'em out: http://www.clubscrapshop.com/store/c/112-Equestrian.aspx.)

I like using the pre-printed panels (cutaparts) in the Greetings to Go kits to make cards. They often have a greeting and artwork right on them, so they just need a bit of embellishment.

But sometimes I like to do my own stamping, as I did with this card. The wording is so cute. (Not sure what our girls asked for when we ended up with horses--perhaps giraffes!)

My top card uses embellished panels, and the bottom one a manila tag from my stash. Love the running horses stamp. I used Club Scrap sapphire, moss, and earth inks to get the collage effect.

I had to look if the Greetings to Go pack is still available, and it is! Love these fall colors! All Club Scrap's GTG packs come with card bases, panels, and envelopes to make 15 cards plus cutapart panels and embellishments. It's a great deal, and to have cards made with CS's quality cardstock is such a bonus.

Thanks for taking a look at my entry. Hope you have a blessed week!

Fall Card for (another) OWH Challenge

Earlier this week, my wonderful MIL and I were discussing die cutting machines. Mine is the original Spellbinder's Wizard machine. It's not as sophisticated as some of the newer ones, but it works quite well. I recently purchased the Orchard Harvest Tags and Accents dies from Spellbinders--I just love the leaves!! I was trying to describe (over the phone) how embossed the leaves are, but I think I will just show her!

And this card doubles as the challenge to make a fall card at Marilyn's Cards blog for OWH's Labor Day weekend challenge.

For the leaves, I used the copper paper from Club Scrap's Ornamental kit--one of my favorite papers of all time. The papers are from Apothecary, with the yellow panel spritzed with green ink spray. I really like how this card turned out, and I will be including it in my next shipment of cards to Operation Write Home for the troops!

And Another OWH Challenge

Participating in Annette's challenge for the OWH Labor Day blog hop, I used the sketch she chose to create a love card (well, actually I made two!)

First I made the one on the left, embossing the yellow panel (from Club Scrap's Apothecary collection) with a Spellbinder's embossing plate. After putting it all together, I decided to make another card, this time flipping the embossed panel over and running CS Leaf ink over the design. I think the ink really completes the card!

Studio Re-do Phase 1

Purple and green is my absolute color combination! I like them so much that I updated my blog to reflect that love affair--what do you think? I could share pics of all the purple things I have (especially my bling phone case!), but in keeping with the papercrafting theme of my blog, I'll instead share my recent shelf renovation. In fact, I'm redoing my entire studio, but it's a process.

 This is one area of the studio. I took out some shelving that was inefficient, that's why so much is on the floor! The two unfinished shelves in the back were the focus on this phase of the renovation.

We've had the shelves for years--they used to hold our homeschool books. I've often thought of painting them, and now was definitely the time! All the trim and cabinets in the studio are white, so I opted to paint the shelving white, as well. I had also wondered if stacking them was a good idea.

 And here is the completed shelving. I love the stacked look. The purple bins were purchased at Lowes.com. I was surprised at the variety of bins styles and colors they had. So glad to find purple ones!

I made tags for the bins using manila tags, spraying them with green ink spray. For the labels on the plastic bins, which I've had for many years, I just swiped a green ink pad across the labels.

There was also room on the shelf for three of my favorite machines. Underneath, I have plastic bins holding the supplies for each machine to keep everything together.

And that is the end of phase one of the studio renovation. I think I'll tackle the UM stamp storage area next!