Inkspiration for Stamping and Scrapbooking

Some stuff to show you

I've been starting to scrapbook a little more regularly again and it feels great! I've also been doing a little cardmaking as there have been a few birthdays to celebrate in the extended family. So here's what I've been up to the last couple of months:

  This page commemorates a recent trip to Goderich, and was inspired by a Karan Garber sketch which can be found in the Exile Island Week 3 section of the forum at Two Friends Scrapbooking. I love the icecream paper and brads!

 A birthday card for my brother in law. He turned 30 yesterday. Happy b-day Colin! This uses the classic SU set Lovely as a Tree and a background stamp, Weathered.

Another birthday card - this one for my brother who celebrated earlier in July. The cardstock is SU, the patterned paper is unknown. Cardstock was run through the cuttlebug. The hardware is Tim Holtz. 3 colours of fine glitter dabbed on the wings.

I'm getting dd's competitive dance photos scrapbooked. Here's the photo of just her. This page started with another Karan Garber sketch. I LOVED this line of papers and embellies by Little Yellow Bicycle called Zinnia and find the colours work really well with the costume.

This is the photo of her dance ensemble, minus one dancer who was away on photo day. This sketch comes from PageMaps. Same papers and embellishment line since these pages will be across from each other in my album.

This is another birthday card. Karan had posted a sketch challenge on a recent Friday night online crop. I used the sketch for the 12 x 12 page and scaled it down to make this 5.25 x 5.25 card. The bird is from a SU set, Christmas cardinal, but I watercoloured it in blue, hoping to make it resemble a blue jay. How did I do?

This page will become a double layout - I'm fooling around with the other page now. This page was done in with the Two Scrapbook Friends product challenge. These are fun and if your lss doesn't do something like this, you should suggest it.  Each month, the store offers a package of goodies for a nominal price - this one was $3.50 I think. You take it home and make up a page. You may add things if you need to . Then post it to the gallery at TSF. It's amazing to see all the different pages that come out of using the same ingredients.  I added the flecked background paper and the buttons - everything else came out of the kit and features Cosmo Cricket's Snorkel line. I guess August's kit will be available on Saturday. I love the challenge of using items I might not have purchased myself and I get a page done at a pretty reasonable price.

This layout was done in response to the Exile Island week 1 challenge, a sketch challenge by Karan.

I used some glitter mist on the chipboard bird and the background paper under the stamping. The title was done by inking the chipboard and then sprinkling on irridescent ice embossing powder and heat setting it.Other than the chipboard and glimmer mist, this page is entirely SU products.

This is a layout for my wedding album. It's almost done - my goal is to have it done before the end of August. It's been my 10 year anniversary project. We got married in 1998 and the photos were put into an album. When I started scrapbooking in 2003-4, I knew I wanted to scrapbook our wedding, but not until I knew more. Scrapbooking sort of went on the back burner when I started selling Stampin' Up! because the cardmaking became the focus of my business. You'll see this page doesn't have a title, and that is because it's part of a theme album. There are white rub-ons beside the photos on the left that talk about friends, so in person there's a little bit of description although you don't see it onscreen.

I think that's it for now - I'll try to post here more often, as I finish pages or cards. If you have any questions or encouragements about what you see, leave me a comment!

Christmas Card Classes

If you are attending this Saturday's Christmas cardmaking class at my place, and you want to be surprised i.e. don't want to know what we're making, stop reading now! If you're dying of curiosity, read on!

Attendees will choose 4 of the 5 designs, and then stamp 2 of each to make 8 cards.

  This card is a CASE of one done by Beate Johns, except that I eliminated 1 layer.

It features a new set from the Holiday mini, A Christmas Cardinal, new colour with the Riding Hood Red, new Alpine ribbon from the mini, and new punches, the Scallop edge and the square scallop. The large scalloped square behind the cardinal image is actually 4 punched out squares taped together with SNAIL. The dsp comes from the mini catalogue too!

 

This card is a CASE too from one I saw on Carolin LeBelle's site. I love the poinsettia paper!

The image is coloured in using blender pens and ink. There is dazzling diamonds on the stmaped poinsettias, though it's hard to tell in the photo. Certainly celery, chocolate chip and ruby red make a nice bright Christmas card, don't they?

 

This card was inspired by one I saw on SplitCoast stampers. I copied the colours and sets but changed up the layout just a bit.

This card features the oldy but goldy Lovely as a Tree to create the landscape for the cheery snowmen from Merry & Bright. The snowflakes stamped in Craft white on the lower third of the Baja Breeze cardbase also come from the Merry & Bright set. Love that Riding Hood Red taffetta - so striking with its white edge!

Does the snow glisten enough?

This card is a CASE from Dianne Pappas. The only changes I made were to the ribbon. I LOVE how the felt ribbon looks and feels on this card - it suits the vintage-y theme and the idea of the sleigh riders huddled under their blankets! Colours are Always Artichoke, Kraft, Ruby Red and Vanilla. The image and greeting are both embossed. The set is Sleigh Bells Ring.

 

This last card was inspired by one I saw on SplitCoast but I changed it up quite a bit.

This is Pacific Point set off with white and Brushed Silver.

The white felt flurry has been glitterified thanks to Tombow glue (it dries clear) and the chunky glitter.

If you have any questions, leave a comment. If you would like to attend the class, there's still room for 2 more people. Email me to reserve your spot. Kits are available for $30 + shipping (or pickup) where all pieces are pre-stamped and pre-cut and you just follow the instructions to assemble.

Gift for the Teacher

Oh so frustrating - I had this post done and went to save it and it disappeared, so here we go again!

Last minute Annie here spent the evening making this stationary ensemble as a thank you gift for Sarah's teacher.

This is a box with a pull-out folio, and the genius behind the design is Andrea Walford. She's brilliant when it comes to boxes and packages!

Without a template, I thought I'd give it a go.

I started with Elegant Eggplant cardstock, because Sarah said Miss Jackson loves purple. Do you realize we don't have any designer paper with purple in it? Well, we have one, but I don't own it. Not even in my stash of retired paper. So I went with the paper from Crew Cut Girls because it has a bit of gray in it that I thought would work with the Eggplant, and then the pinks and greens would brighten it up.

The set used is new - like out of the yet to be released new catalogue - new! It's called Fresh Cuts. All colouring was done with a blender pen and the Elegant Eggplant, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink and Wild Wasabi inks.

When you tug on the ribbon handle at the right, this slides out of the box...

... well it's this when you flip it open once.

I thought the greeting was appropriate for a teacher:

May happiness touch your life today as you have so often touched the lives of others.

That sentiment comes from a set in the Occasions mini called For Father. See, it's not just for fathers. :-)

When you flip these pieces out, you get...

... this.

Each pocket holds 2 thank you cards and envelopes.

Unfortunately I don't have photos of the cards - they got lost in uploading. The joys of technology - it's only as good as the operator!

In addition to this boxed set, Sarah made a cardstock basket onto which she wrote all kinds of sentiments and memories of grade 3. She used some eggplant grosgrain to tie in a bag of Steeped Cherry Rose Sencha. We also added some Geronimo Stilton and Magic Treehouse books. I added my Tart & Tangy card using the chalkboard technique - you can see it here. So she's receiving something for herself and something for her classroom - I hope she likes it!

Tart & Tangy class close up

The Tart & Tangy class was a LOT of fun!

I showed you a group picture of the cards earlier, and now you can see each one up close!

This is the faux postage card, which some of you may have seen before, as I posted it way back when I first announced this class.

Faux postage is really just another masking technique and it creates a really fun effect. We used markers to colour the cherries, and then used a sponge dauber to shade in the background.

This is the faux tile card. There are a few faux tile techniques out there; one involves scoring a grid-like pattern on your card, but I've also seen that called a grid card. This technique involves creating a tile like surface by stamping with classic ink, and then smooshing the cardstock in your Versamark pad and clear embossing.

I know there aren't blue apples, but I love this card, and here's why:

  My dining room is adorned with my Delft collection - yes, there's Dutch blood running through my veins and I love the blue hand-painted porcelain that typifies Dutch artwork - I'll never be able to afford a VanGogh or Rembrandt so these hand-painted beauties will do just nicely.

So I used my Delft  trivets as my inkspiration for the faux tile card.

This next card is a close copy of one in a recent Stampin' Success magazine. For those that don't know, Stampin' Success is the monthly magazine that SU! demonstrators receive free full of business and stampin' ideas.

This technique is called the loaded marker. I like the watercolour-y effect it creates. We loaded the side of a light-coloured brushtip marker with darker-coloured ink and coloured with that. The effect is somewhat subtle, but quite pretty.

This card is a very close copy of Sharon Johnston's card found here. She eventually incorporated her card into a kitchen collection gift set - so cute!

You've heard me talk about Sharon before - I love her simple, elegant style. She posts a stamp simply challenge every Friday, and if you want to play along, you'll find the challenges on her blog.

This card incorporates a template, more than a technique, but I loved it so much I included it in the class! There's a little flap on the inside cover that can hold a favourite cherry recipe that you'd like to share, or a gift card or gift certificate.

This card smells so good!

This is a scratch and sniff card. I mixed unsweetened KoolAid with clear and irridescent ice embossing powders and the whole orange slice is the one that produces that sweet happy smell when scratched.

The 3 slices are embossed with irridescent ice ep and look yummy enough to eat, don't you think? They remind me of candies I'd see at my grandparents - those sugary fruit candies. Anyone know what I mean?

This card is inspired by this  one I saw on SCS - only I eliminated the green - we have enough green cards already, and because I wanted the scratched image to be big enough to get lots of enjoyment out of, I went with the whole orange.

So that was our class - if you missed it, I hope you can make it to another class in the future.

Hope these inspire you to get your stamps out and play - there are so many things you can do with a single set. Next week, I'll show you another Tart & Tangy card I'm dreaming up for my team meeting swap card. Sorry, but you have to wait until they get theirs first.

Happy stampin' and blessings,

Ann

Tart & Tangy, comin' up?

Did you say you like your stampin' tart & tangy?

Well, you'll get it just the way you like it at this Wednesday night's class - an evening of nothing but Tart & Tangy ideas!

Here's what we're making! I'll show you pictures of each individual card after the class. The ladies attending get to see it first - that's fair, right?

This is a technique oriented class so we'll be learning these techniques:

• loaded marker
• faux postage
• scratch n sniff
• faux tile
• as well as a really neat cutting trick for the cherry card (which is a very close copy of a card by Sharon Johnston - you've heard me rave about her work before)

The orange card is inspired by one I saw on SCS and I wrote down the name of person who uploaded it, but I can't find it just now; I'll be sure to give credit when I post each card individually on Thursday.

Come back tomorrow when I'll share a little problem and an easy solution for it.

Happy stampin' and blessings! - Ann

Texture Goes Cute

In my last post, I showed you a card that I had made for 2 purposes - to stamp something that meets Sharon's challenge, and to make up something for our stamp club. Well, our club meeting was last night and they loved the card, with its curved corners. And they loved playing with the glitter. The ribbon technique takes some practice, so some got that better than others. That's the way it is with life, isn't it?

This card was a huge hit with them. The texture here is created only with paper. We used the paper piecing technique to create some visual texture on those Unfroggetable frogs. If you haven't tried this technique, you really should - it's very easy and fun!

This technique works really well with line art images. Simply stamp your image twice, once on the cardstock that is your top layer of your card, and once on patterned paper. Trim out the patterned paper piece, cutting just on the stamped line. Adhere the cutouts to the stamped images and voila - cute and easy paper piecing. Try it with such images as funky flowers, animals, shapes, dresses etc. Check your stash, I  bet you have a set this would work with!

The water was created using the Wonderful Watercolour Crayons and the Aquapainter - that's how the dragonfly was coloured in as well. The lily pad and rock are done by punching out the shapes. The Sahara Sand cardstock was crumpled after punching and a little direct to paper with the ink to add some tactile texture and make it appear rock-like. The lily pad was trimmed into with the paper snips and a little additional green was painted on with the Aquapainter and the WWC.

How's this for texture - this one has been sitting on my shelf for about a week now, and every time I look at it, I want to touch that strawberry!

The colours are Real Red and Certainly Celery - the celery changed a little somewhere in the photographing/editing process... I am still learning!

The strawberry comes from the Tart & Tangy set - such a cute, versatile set, isn't it? I stamped the berry in Real Red on to Whisper White and punched it out. Then I used the Tombow multi, fine tip, to spread glue on the hull part. The beads are from the bead duo - so fun! You get big beads and microbeads in matching colours all in one package. So we sprinkled on the bigger tube beads first, and then sprinkled on the microbeads to fill in spots. Then repeated the process with the red duo.

The patterned paper comes from the matching called Summer Picnic and we used the white gel pen to accentuate just a few dots and play up the visual texture a bit.

I hope that gives you some great ideas to try to add texture to your stamped art - now, go get stamping, and leave me a comment to let me know what you think.

Happy stampin' and blessings! - Ann

Enjoy Texture!

This week's stamp club meeting is about texture. I'll show you more of our projects later in the week - wouldn't want to spoil it for them. But I will show you one card we're making.

As well as being a card that speaks to our theme of texture for this week's class, it is also my response to Sharon Johnston's rounded corner challenge of this past Friday. Since I had rounded my corners the usual way on Kristina's colour challenge, I made this card with convex corners, using the ticket corner punch. I used the punch on the layers, and on the So Saffron card base itself.

The Purely Pomegranate layer is wheeled with the Daisy Dash jumbo wheel, which matches the Enjoy Life set so nicely. And you can get the wheel free when you order the set during SU!'s Free Wheelin' promo on until April 30th. The patterned paper comes from the Cutie Pie designer series paper and I stamped it with the "wonderful" greeting from Warm Words.

The focal image, created with stamps from Enjoy Every Moment, is stamped and cut or punched out to build up the layers and I played with the blue cosmo glitter and the dazzling diamonds glitter.

You can see the glitter and the ribbon more closely here:

What do you think of this ribbon treatment? I read about it somewhere, but can't remember where, so apologies to the originator.

Here's a quick how-to:

To ruffle the ribbon like this, you simply start with double stitched ribbon and then gently tug on the white stitching. Anyone whose sewn will know how to do gathering, pulling the thread to create a gathered skirt or apron, for example. This is the same technique. Gently pull those white threads until your ribbon is gathered. Tie the white threads together behind the ribbon and cut the ends. I added a dab of 2 way glue so they would stay behind and adhered the ribbon to the card with glue dots.

Texture? I'd say this card has it: visually with the unexpected corners and glitter, and in a tactile sense, with the ribbon. I'll be back with the other two club cards later this week.

Meantime, leave me a comment to let me know what you think of the card, or to share some of your favourite ways to add texture to a project. 

Til next time,

Happy stampin' and blessings! - Ann

Really Quick and Cute Thank You

My very good friend Christa bailed me out of a childcare crunch yesterday and I wanted to thank her, so I made up this thank you card to express my appreciation to her. She stamps too, so she loved it.

It's a Certainly Celery cardbase with Tempting Turquoise accents. The origami pocket holds an individually wrapped lifesaver. The dotted circle stamp plays on the round lifesaver shape and the dots in the Bali Breeze designer paper and comes from the Enjoy Life set. Thanks comes from Live Your Dream, in the Occasions mini.

The sentiment "You are a Lifesaver" is computer generated and mounted on Tempting Turquoise. I ran the 2 way glue around all 4 sides and glittered it up for a bit of zing. I like how it came together for me so quickly. Really, the more you work your craft, the easier it comes together for you. So go stamp or scrap today and show me what you made! Leave me a comment with a link to what you created. Or email me a photo of your card/scrapbook page/project if you don't upload to a blog/website. Remember that today is the last day to leave me your wedding memories for my blog candy draw - I am hearing some great stories and will share them with you soon! The draw is tonight, so you still have time!

Happy stampin' and blessings, Ann

Blushing from the Garden

Isn't this beautiful in its simplicity? It's the first day of spring on Thursday and I wanted to do something spring-ish.

The set is From the Garden, a level 1 hostess set, and if you love colouring, you will love this stamp.

The colours are Blush Blossom, Groovy Guava, So Saffron and Wild Wasabi - colours from Kristina's colour challenge. I'm about an hour late to submit it because I was working today, but I still wanted to give it a try, since I had so much fun with my first challenge card last week.

I think this card would make a beautiful Thinking of You or Sympathy card, and I'll probably make a few more and pass them on to the church office to use.

I suppose it could make a lovely Easter card, too.

There is some dazzling diamonds on the flower centre for a little visual texture and interest.

Let me know what you think! Your comments really make me smile!

Happy stampin' and blessings, Ann

P.S. Just one day left to get in the blog candy - see this post for details!

Embrace Life

Last week was my Embrace Life class. A LONG time ago, I gave you a sneak peek at the cards. Wouldn't you  like to see them in their entirety? I know when I am teased with a sneak peek, like when SU! sneaks a few new products into our demonstrator-only magazine a month or so before a new catty, I'm always hoping they'll show us more sometime soon.

This was a class designed for intermediate and above stampers and all 5 cards used the Embrace Life set. Here we go!

Rub-ons and the build-a-brad, along with gentle shading all add wow to this card.

The template for this card is found here.

Wouldn't this make a great anniversary or wedding card?

Felt fusion and rhinestone brads add tons of fun and bling to this square card.

Pocket card using new stylized silver Hodgepodge hardware ribbon slide and dyed Pretties flowers.

The insert for the pocket card features a popped up stamped flower. A punch out from the Word Window punch, folded in half forms the pull tab for the insert.

This is the deluxe version of the card I showed you last week, here.

What can I say, it's just plain gorgeous and I wish I had dreamt it up entirely myself, but I didn't. The main idea for this one came from Sophia Landry. 

I promised last week to show you how to do the vellum flowers, so I will be back with a tutorial on that VERY soon, so stay tuned.

The inspiration for these cards have come from a variety of beautiful stampers including Corinne Somerville, Debbie Olson, Sophia Landry, Vivian Swain, and Kristin Moore. A few of the cards I changed up a bit, some were just perfect the way they were, that all I did was CASE them. The ladies who attended last week's class were definitely wow'd by these cards, and the people who will be the recipients of their cards will be too! We felt so grateful for all the talented stampers who so graciously share their talents online!

Til next time, happy stampin' and blessings! - Ann