Stamp-a-Faire: Limited Ingredients Challenge

I've got another card for Stamp-a-Faire over at Papertrey Ink.  This one is for the Limited Ingredients challenge.  Emily decided not to do it since she thought it was "boring", but I found it interesting to create my own design using a set list of supplies.

I started my cutting my 1-inch strip of Soft Stone cardstock, as per the instructions.  After looking at my colors for inspiration, I punched a circle from each color of cardstock and started playing with placement.  I liked how the strip looked on top of the circles.

The white card base was too blank, so I stamped an open polka dot background using Smokey Shadow ink.  Then I took a tiny dot included in the Polka Dot Basics set and randomly used the three colors of ink inside the circles.  Let me tell you, random isn't easy for this gal!  :)

I needed to add my sentiment somehow (and cover a mistake - lol), so I punched three more color circles, cutting them into three wedges and piecing them to create a narrow border behind another white circle.  Then I stamped my sentiment in Smokey Shadow ink on top.

Watching a challenge video from the glitter challenge gave me the idea to add glitter lines to my Soft Stone strip.   I used two widths of Scor-Tape, making it quick and easy.  It adds lots of sparkle.  For a finishing touch, I added glitter to the border around the sentiment as well.

Stamps:  Polka Dot Basics, Tag-Its #10  (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White, Soft Stone, Melon Berry, Aqua Mist, Harvest Gold (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Melon Berry, Aqua Mist, Harvest Gold, Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink)
Misc:  1-3/4" circle punch (EK Success); Crystal fine glitter (Martha Stewart); 1/8" and 1/4" Scor-Tape

Stamp-a-Faire: Scent-sational Cards

Emily couldn't wait to try this one.  We used a strawberry Kool-Aid packet to make our own custom scented embossing powder.  It turned out much darker than we expected so instead of stamping strawberries, we stamped grapes and raspberries.

We chose Scarlet Jewel ink because the color blended well with our embossing powder.  It makes a great, dark rich color for the berries!  These little 3x3 cards were quick and easy to make.  (well, unless you are super picky and try several times to get the placement and masking just right)  lol

I added my sentiment in the corner and then traced lines with a black Pigma pen to frame it out.  Love the result!  Emily had finished her card and gone to bed by then.  When she saw mine this morning, she really liked the lines but decided she didn't want to add them herself.  She's a get-it-done-and-move-on kind of girl!   :)

We also made some Watermelon-scented embossing powder, but discovered that I don't have any bold watermelon stamps.  Shock!  I'll be adding the Fruit Fusion: Melon set to my next order for sure.  lol  This was a fun technique!

Stamps:  Fruitful, Floral Frenzy (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White, Scarlet Jewel (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Scarlet Jewel, Pinefeather (Papertrey Ink); Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Misc:  black Micron Pigma .01 pen, homemade scented embossing powder

PTI Fast Food Blog Hop Challenge

Unbelievable.  I've missed several Papertrey Ink blog hops this year, mainly due to lack of mojo once I got in my studio. (usually at the last minute)  This time, I got it done AHEAD of time.  Almost a week early.  There is hope, folks.

This month's blog hop challenge is a color and sketch combo called Fast Food with six different choices.  I was immediately drawn to this simple sketch and yummy color combo with a gorgeous layer cake.  Who wouldn't love a slice of this?

Doesn't that look divine?  Super easy sketch too!  I knew exactly what I was going to do.  In fact, I ended up making two cards.

I simply took each color, die cut a strip using the Double-Ended Banner die, stacked them on my card like the sketch, and then stamped my sentiment.  I decided it needed a little something extra, so I stamped a large flourish in VersaMark across the strips.  So quick!

Once I finished my first card, I saw the extra banners lying on my desk (the die cuts two sizes) and decided to make another one, but this time off-setting the strips enough to leave the banner edge.  I love how it looks! 

There was a Make-It-Monday video sometime ago on glittered buttons and I've wanted to try it ever since.  This card was the perfect excuse!  I searched through my stash to find similar buttons in each color.  Not an easy task.  I got pretty close though.  I covered the top with liquid glue and then covered them in crystal fine glitter. 

So deliciously blingy!  They are the frosting on the cake.  :)  lol  Letting those dry was the only part that took some time.  I added them to their matching strip of paper in a stack.  (like the cake, naturally)  Then I just stamped my sentiment and called it done.

These cards were quite easy and very fun to make.  Glad I could participate in the blog hop this month.  If you want to see more, check it out here.

Stamps:  Boutique Borders: Birthday, Fancy Flourishes, Boutique Borders: Thanks (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White, Hibisicus Burst, Summer Sunrise, Harvest Gold, Spring Rain, Aqua Mist (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento); VersaMark
Dies: Double-Ended Banners (Papertrey Ink)
Buttons:  Hibiscus Burst, Summer Sunrise, Harvest Gold, Spring Rain, Aqua Mist (Papertrey Ink)
Misc:  Crystal fine glitter (Martha Stewart)

Stamp-a-Faire: Staining Techniques

For the tea staining challenge, there were several staining techniques demonstrated.  (found here)  Emily immediately chose the Kool-Aid technique, of course!  This project took most of the afternoon since the Kool-Aid butterflies and various laces needed to dry.  I also tea-stained some muslin to use later.

We mixed up three Kool-Aid dye baths for our projects - Cherry, Grape, and Peach Mango.   Then we gathered up some various laces from my sewing stash and also diecut some butterflies from watercolor paper.  (which I had to run out and buy - note to self, do not go shopping on the Saturday before school starts - the traffic and crowds were not fun)  We clear-embossed images on the watercolor paper before putting them in the dye.  It made a cool resist effect!

Here's the results of our experimenting.  They look so pretty!

Unfortunately, the wide flat lace didn't take the color very well.  We dyed it in the Peach Mango bath, but the pretty yellow-orange color faded as it dried.  It does have touches of color, but it's difficult to see in the photo.  I love the scallop lace the best.  Such a pretty pink color!

I used three of the pinkish-yellow butterflies on my card, along with some swirly flight trails from the Happy Trails stamp set.  I also added some polka dots by stamping off first so they would be a bit more muted.  In hindsight, I wish I had used black for the sentiment, but either way, I still really like the card.  The colors are so cheerful!

Emily layered some of the lavender and yellow butterflies for her card.  She stamped the grid background using Smokey Shadow ink, as well as her sentiment.  Then she added a piece of dyed lace to finish it off.  Cute!

We definitely had a lot of fun doing the Kool-Aid staining.  We also got our cards made for the scented embossing powder challenge, but won't be able to take pictures of them until tomorrow.  Too dark outside now.  Look for that post in the morning!   :)

Stamps:  Butterfly Kisses, Butterfly Dreams, Happy Trails, Polka Dot Basics (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White, Berry Sorbet (Papertrey Ink); watercolor
Ink:  Berry Sorbet, Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink); VersaMark
Misc:  Butterfly Kisses die (Papertrey Ink); clear embossing powder, Kool-Aid

Stamps:  Butterfly Dreams, Polka Dot Basics (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Lavender Moon, White (Papertrey Ink); watercolor
Ink:  Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink); VersaMark
Misc:  Heart-2-Heart #10 dies (Papertrey Ink); clear embossing powder, lace 

Stamp-a-Faire: Breakfast Bake & Take

Good morning!  Well actually, good afternoon!  It took me most of the morning to come up with this design.  The first challenge for today's Stamp-a-Faire is a color and sketch combination.  Six choices for each.  Pick one color combo and one sketch.  Seems easy enough.  NOT!  Did anyone else find the color combos difficult?  I really struggled getting it to work.  After trying several of them, this is the color combo I finally used.

It has two neutral colors, which gave me a better chance at getting this card done so I can move on to the other challenges.  lol  Must be the perfectionist in me.  I like doing things in order!  I picked a different sketch originally, but then decided on this fun sketch instead.

I love the circles!  Once I figured out what I was doing, it was quick to punch all the circles out.  Playing with the arrangement took the most time.  For the sentiment, I embossed a vellum strip with a fun dot pattern and then stamped the sentiment at the bottom.  I love how it turned out!

What do you think?  It would totally work for a masculine card.

Emily is not nearly as indecisive as me.  She picked her color combo and sketch immediately.  lol  I helped her cut out the pieces, gave her a few suggestions, and then let her do it on her own.

She's been done for quite a while and has been asking for the past hour if we could please start the Kool-Aid dye challenge.  lol  Good thing she has siblings to distract her.   :D

Stamps:  Inside & Out: Thank You (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Ocean Tides, Autumn Rose, Canyon Clay, Smokey Shadow, Soft Stone, vellum (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Misc:  Dot Matrix embossing folder (Sizzix); 1/2" circle punch, 7/8" circle punch (EK Success)

Stamps:  Polka Dot Basics, Spiral Bouquet (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Winter Wisteria, Limeade Ice, Hawaiian Shores, Aqua Mist, Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Winter Wisteria, Aqua Mist, Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink)
Misc:  Beautiful Blooms II #2 (Papertrey Ink)

Stamp-a-Faire: Friday Night Meet & Greet

It's Stamp-a-Faire Eve!  My daughter Emily and I have been looking forward to this for the past month.  Since I don't have many stamping buddies here, we decided to make it a mother-daughter all day date.  We've got our supplies and we're ready to stamp!

We're from beautiful North Carolina.  Beautiful and wet.  It has been the mildest and wettest summer ever.  Hopefully the sun will stay out for Stamp-a-Faire tomorrow so we can take pictures of our projects to share here on my blog.  :)

We are just a tad bit silly too.  It's going to be a fun day.  Rumor has it that Reese's Pieces and dark chocolate M&M's will be involved.  Oh, and Pop-Tarts for breakfast.  I am officially the cool mom.  lol

Be sure to stop by the blog often this weekend.  Our goal is to participate in every single challenge.  Ambitious, that's us!  I also have a post scheduled on Sunday morning for the monthly Papertrey Ink blog hop.

We can't wait to see everyone's projects!  Uh oh.  It just started raining again.  Okay, pouring.  Enter song cue:  "The sun'll come out tomorrow.  Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there'll be sun."  Either way, we'll make our own sunshine.  Bye!!

Time's fun when you're having flies

I'm just popping on to share a card for the ColorQ #203 challenge.  I love the colors and the inspiration picture really jumped out at me.

I immediately thought of two Stampin' Up sets I own, Paradise and Hoppy For You, one for the bold graphic leaves and the other for the frogs.  I first stamped three frogs in Lucky Limeade and then added several leaf images in the other colors.  Then I took circle images from both Simply Circles and Itty Bitty Backgrounds to fill in the blank areas, obviously inspired by the bag in the picture.

I sponged some Early Espresso ink around the edges after rounding two of the corners, and then distressed the left edge to add some texture.  I stamped my sentiment on the Lucky Limeade flag banner, layered it offset on an Early Espresso banner, and added it to my panel.  I stitched along the left edge using indigo blue thread I found in my sewing stash.  Originally, I planned on using dark brown, but couldn't find it.  I really like how the indigo thread looks anyway!

I adhered my stamped panel to a Lucky Limeade card base, again inspired by the picture.  For a last touch, I added Star Dust Stickles to the fly wings.  It gives them a little iridescent sparkle!

If you want to see more inspiration using these colors, check out the ColorQ challenge here.

Stamps:  Paradise, Hoppy For You, Simply Circles, Itty Bitty Backgrounds (Stampin' Up)
Paper:  White (Papertrey Ink); Lucky Limeade, Early Espresso (Stampin' Up)
Ink:  Island Indigo, Pacific Point, Lucky Limeade, Early Espresso (Stampin' Up)
Misc:  Fishtail Flags STAX dies (My Favorite Things); Star Dust Stickles, thread