Simon Says Stamp October 2014 Card Kit: Inspired by Stephanie Klauck

On our camping trip, I started playing with the October Simon Says Stamp Card Kit.  I finally signed up for a subscription after seeing so many cute kits.  I loved the stamp in this kit.  The paper seemed a bit too, well, loud for me, but that wasn't going to stop me from playing.  I started out my making my own take on the card inspiration sheet sent with the kit.  First up:  Stephanie Klauck's super cute card. You can find her original card on her blog here.

I stamped the mug from the stamp set with the kit onto some Neenah card stock with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink so I could use my copics. The cup turned out to be a lot grayer than I planned. I guess I still need a lot more practice with my copics.  Once it was colored, I took the cute veneer glasses and added them on top of the cup, drew in the eyes and then filled them with Glossy Accents for that shine that glasses have.  I cut a couple of strips from the striped paper in the kit, but I didn't have any grey.  So I took the Smoke ink pad from Simon Says Stamps and swiped it onto some white card stock to cut down for a grey strip.  I stamped out the sentiment bubble in Smoke ink and then added the sentiment using Slate ink from Simon Says Stamp.  I then fussy cut the speech bubble (yes, I did fussy cut). Then it was just a matter of layering the panels onto a top folding card base, adding my speech bubble with pop dots, and rounding the corners with my Corner Chomper.  I finished it off with some Pretty Pink Posh sequins I had brought with from my own stash and that is my card.

Got Cupcake? I Do and Lots of Upcoming Birthdays...

For some reason the end of September and beginning of October bring a lot of birthdays to my world.  Not much cake because many of those birthdays are for people too far to celebrate with in person, but then that's probably a good thing.  I certainly don't need cake, okay, well my waistline doesn't need cake.   So on Sunday, I spent some time in my craft room, watching movies and coloring the images from the Simon Says Stamp Birthday Farm Animals set.  (Can I just take a minute to say that Jennifer Lawrence is pretty darn amazing?  I watched American Hustle for the first time and was stunned about how well she played the part which is so different than Hunger Games, which I've watched probably a dozen times this year alone - it's a great background movie for crafting).

Anyhow, so once I had colored all my images, I wasn't sure what to do with them.  I was flipping through my dies and saw the polaroid die from Amy Tan's set and knew exactly what I was going to do.  I pulled out my largest stitched rectangle die from My Favorite Things' Blueprints #13 to cut out the background from the dotted paper from the 6x6 Sunny Side pad from Pebbles for my background.  Then I cut out the polaroid from white paper and made the frame for my goat image.  I stamped the sentiment from the set, added a little pink card stock behind the heart and finished it off with some Glossy Accents on the heart, the flame and the goat's eyes, some Pretty Pink Posh sequins and a little Marvy Liquid Applique on the cupcake (note to self:  put the applique on first and heat set it before the Glossy Accents). 

Thinking of You Inspired by Stretch Your Stamps 2

Since I still had the Hero Arts Antique Flower Background stamp sitting on my desk and I loved how it look embossed in the JudiKins White Diamond embossing powder, I decided to do another card to show off how pretty it is.  Kristina Werner had made a beautiful card on the Onlinecardclasses.com Stretch Your Stamps 2 class using a background stamp and a large die.  I didn't really have the right die to replicate that, but I saw the recent stamp from the Simon Says Stamp card set for July and knew that was perfect for the sentiment.  I couldn't believe how quickly this card came together and all I needed was a few Pretty Pink Post sequins to finish it off. 

Wishing You Were Here Card Three Featuring Newton's Nook

Today is the last card with the images I stamped from the Newton's Summer Vacation set from Newton's Nook.  Because this card has a beach theme, it fits the current challenge over at Newton's Nook to make a beached themed card.  If you haven't played along yet, go check it out on their blog here.  There's still time to play along and, if you've already played along, why not do another?

I kept this card pretty simple because I absolutely loved the sunburst pattern paper from the A Perfect Summer 6x6 pad from Echo Park. After cutting that slightly smaller than my card base, I adhered it to the card.  After coloring my image, I die cut it with the Lawn Fawn Stitched Journaling Card die and added it with some pop dots to the card base.  I added some Doodlebug sequins to the corners.  I brushed the umbrella and towel with Wink of Stella and topped the sun glasses with some Glossy Accents to finish of the card. 

Enjoy Your Day Card Two Featuring Newton's Nook

Today's card is another image from the delightful Newton's Summer Vacation set from Newton's Nook.  I actually fussy cut this image after coloring it with my copics.  I hate fussy cutting, but it was the perfect thing for this card.  I used two sheets of paper from the Echo Park 6x6 pad A Perfect Summer.  I love that paper pad and it seemed the perfect one to go with this stamp set.  I die cut the wave paper using the largest die from the Avery Elle Pinked die set.  I then stamped my sentiment on a scrap piece of white paper and cut it out with the banner die from the Avery Elle set.  I then ran it through again with the large die to pink the other end to match the background.  I cut the polka dot/pie chart paper to cover the entire card base.  I adhered my wave paper and then tied it with some Martha Stewart baker's twine, adhered it my card base and then added a few Doodlebug sequins to finish it off.  It was cute, but still needed something.  So I covered the floatie with some Glossy Accents and called it good.

Thanks Card Using a Watercolor Technique

The other day when I posted the card that I made trying the reverse stamping technique I saw on Catherine Pooler's blog I mentioned that I wasn't really in love with how the panel turned out originally.  So I immediately tried something a little different.  I simply painted on Distress Inks using a watercolor brush and then used my heat tool to move them around while they dried.  I loved how it turned out.  I cut it down to fit on my card with a mat.  I used a piece of black card stock to mat it before taping it to my white card base.  I used my Lawn Fawn Scripty Thanks die to cut several thanks from some extra black card stock, then glued the layers together.  I adhered that to my card front.  I used black Wink of Stella to add some shimmer to the sentiment and some clear sequins to finish off the card.

 

 Here's a close up of the layered and shimmery sentiment:

Thanks Card Inspired by Catherine Pooler

While reading blogs on my iPad, I came across a fun card made by Catherine Pooler using the reverse side of a stamp.  You can find the post and video here.  I thought I would give it a shot.  Since I didn't have the stamp she has, I used the backside of the Dahlia stamp from Crafty Secrets along with the Peacock Feathers, Mustard Seed and Picked Raspberry Distress Inks.  I wasn't sure I really liked how it turned out, so I set it aside and worked on something else, but once it dried, I actually thought it wasn't too bad.   Sometimes things just have to grow on me.  So I cut the panel down to 4 x 5 1/4.  Then I used the Lawn Fawn thanks die to cut my sentiment into the panel.  I then taped the panel down to a card base made from Simon Says Stamp Soft Navy card stock, which is quickly becoming a favorite.  I used some extra of that card stock to cut out another thanks using the die.  I then inlayed the sentiment, which is a very popular technique right now.  I added a few clear sequins to finish it off.

Thank You Inspired by Jennifer McGuire

I was completely enthralled watching Jennifer McGuire use Distress Inks with embossing folders.  You can see her beautiful work and check out her video here.   I immediately knew I had to give it a try. 

For this background, I spread several colors of Distress Ink on the QuicKutz Zig Zag embossing folder, spritzed it with water and then ran it through my Big Kick.  While it dried, I stamped the banner from Lawn Fawn's Bannerific with some Simon Says Stamp Soft Navy ink then cut it out with the matching die.  I stamped the two cute little birdies from the set with some Grey Flannel Memento ink and colored them with my copic markers.  I had to fussy cut those but they are so cute on the card as if they are holding the banner.  I love how they look with some pop dots behind them.  I added a little Wink of Stella to the banner and some simple coloring to shade the banner.  I finished it off with some clear sequins because lately it seems like everything needs sequins. 

Hello - Playing with Gelatos

I've been watching lots of videos of people having fun with gelatos from Faber Castell.  While I bought some a bit ago, I hadn't played with them yet.  So I pulled them down off the shelf and played for a little while.  I didn't do anything fancy, just a few stripes of color, and then I used a little bit of water and a bit of another color of gelato to make a bit of mist.  Once it was all dry, I topped it with a simple frame cut from the Hi Banner die by Technique Tuesday (with the banner cut off) and then a stacked together set of the scripty hello die from Lawn Fawn.  I added a few sequins from Doodlebug Design for a bit of bling to finish it off. 

I Thank My Lucky Stars for You

I started looking through the papers in the July 2014 Simon Says Stamp card kit when I got an idea to use the paper with my Simon Says Stamp Star Parade die and a background embossed with my Darice Stars embossing folder.  It turns out, I didn't use a whole lot of paper from the kit other than card stock, but I like how it turned out.  For the sentiment, I pulled out the Lawn Fawn Lucky Stars stamp and used some white embossing powder to really make it pop. I added some sequins (okay a lot of sequins) to finish it off.

Happy Birthday Inspired by Lauren Bassen and Simon Says Stamp

Today I got to spend the whole day in my craft room (whoo hoo!) and, for once, I actually had some  mojo.  It all started with some big screen time watching videos.  I loved one on the Simon Says Stamp blog with a card created by the talented Lauren Bassen that you can see here (really, go check it out.  It's fabulous.).  

I didn't have the stencil, but I was able to find an image on the Silhouette store (design ID 38579) that worked for my purposes.  I then used a stack of Distress Inks and my mini round blender to ink up some balloons.  Since I still have the fabulous stamp from the July 2014 Simon Says Stamp card kit, I decided to selectively ink the happy from the happy mail stamp then added the birthday from the it's your birthday stamp on the Fiskars All Year Greeting set.  A few sequins finished the cards off.  So much fun I had to make two.

 

Happy Birthday - Inspired by Watercolor for Card Makers

Today's card features a background I made on the first day of class when I was so inspired by what I was learning that I just wanted to play.  There was a fabulous class where the instructor mentioned circles.  If you follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, you saw this picture (love the post-it note list of all the cards I need for coming up occasions in the background):

 

I was just having fun inking up circles in Distress Ink with no idea where the end product would be.  There's something very freeing about just playing with ink.  Well, today, I'm going to share with you where it ended after lots of circles, some water and some more water.  The background was so colorful and really beautiful, it just made me smile so I decided to let it shine.  I just stamped a quick sentiment from the Stampin' Up set I bought during their free shipping/retiring product promotion recently called Perfectly Penned.  I used Versamark and some white embossing powder, then added a black mat on a white card base and a few clear sequins. I just love the result:

Thinking of You - Inspired by Watercolor for Card Makers

The Onlinecardclass.com Watercolor for Card Makers class is winding up.  All the content is over and it's just the last few days to upload cards inspired by the course to the gallery.  There are so many amazing creations in the gallery!

I was doing some cleaning up on my desk when I saw the Bloom Color Box Art Screen I had purchased a few weeks ago.  I just had to get it inky.  I used three colors of Distress Ink: Ripe Persimmon, Spiced Marmalade and Dried Marigold through the stencil, then removed it and used a wide brush to get the color moving.  Once the background was soft and subtle (and dry!), I put the stencil back on to add a little more definition.  I liked it just the way it was, so I added a simple sentiment stamped with some Jet Black Archival ink using a sentiment from the Sophie's Sentiments set from Lawn Fawn.  I pulled a colored card base from my stash, mounted the panel with some foam dots then finished it off with some sequins.  I love how it turned out.

Thinking of You - Inspired by Watercolor for Card Makers

Yes, the watercolors just keep on coming.  It's the big word in my house right now and I'm loving my inky fingers.  For today's card, I used another image from the Crafter's Meow set Potted Garden watercolored with my cheap set from Michaels.  The sentiment is from the same stamp set.  I used a layout similar to yesterday's card but cutting out the image with the Lawn Fawn Stitched Journaling Card dies.  The background paper is from the Lucky Charm 6x6 paper pad and I finished it off with a few sequins in the corners.  Such a fun card to put together.

Masculine Birthday Cards Inspired by Watercolor for Card Makers

I'm starting to actually put together cards from the myriad of playing I've done based upon the lessons from the onlinecardclasses.com class Watercolor for Card Makers.  So far, I'm really liking the background techniques and I love that I found something that will work for masculine cards.  I struggle with those the most.  For today's cards, I broke out a set from Impression Obsession called It's About Time.  I bought it a while back at Runaway Arts and Crafts (too close of a walk from work for my budget's liking, but budget smudget).  I haven't really had the time to play with it (ha!).  But when I ran out of background stamps to play with, I thought about making my own.  So stuck all the big stamps to my Fiskars press and made my own background.  For version one, I just stamped it with Versafine ink but I then heat embossed the second version.  I broke out my cheap watercolors from Michaels and went to town!   Once the background were dry, I cut them down to size and made a couple of banners.  I didn't want the cards to look exactly the same, so I matted one on black paper and then played with that angle look that is so popular right now (by played with I mean I put the paper on the angle and fought my natural instinct to straighten it).  Then it was just some taping it down.  But I still needed a sentiment.  I went with the traditional banner for one but on the angle card, I decided to balance out some of that white space that looked weird to be since it was such an angle.  I added a few sequins to the more traditional card (there can be sequins on a masculine card, right?  Of course!) but the angle card had finally grown on me so I left it alone and called it good.

Thinking of You - Inspired by Watercolor for Card Makers

Today's card is again inspired from the class I'm taking on watercolor for card makers.  I'm a bit behind in putting together cards.  I have a stack of card background done from watching the videos in the class, but I'm just now working through turning those into actual cards.  Good thing too since I have a long list of cards I'm going to need this month and next. 

For this first card, Jennifer McGuire, one of my favorite crafters to watch, showed how to mask a stamp to leave the stamped image uncolored against the watercolored background.  While she demonstrated the true craft product to do that called liquid frisket, she also showed how to use rubber cement.  Do you think I can find rubber cement?  No.  I've been all over town and no one has it.  So this morning when I couldn't sleep, I got up and started playing with my inks.  I thought "I wonder if I can be careful enough to do the technique without a mask?"  Well, you be the judge...

I used one of my favorite background stamps called This is My Favorite.  It's a wood mounted stamp from Hero Arts.  I don't buy wood mount anymore because of the space they take, but for this one, I broke my own rule and it was a great exception.  I use it all the time in Project Life and was happy to break it out for this technique.  I used some Vintage Sepia Versafine ink after learning that it works with watercolors (something I previously didn't know) and then my watercolor set, which is a very inexpensive set I picked up a Michaels long before I ever knew I would be taking this class.  I have a feeling that a better set will find it's way onto my wish list for my birthday or Christmas, but for now, this (less than $5 with a coupon) set is getting the job done.  I finished the card off with a sentiment from Inky Antics' Delivery Benton set also stamped in the Vintage Sepia ink and some Darice sequins that were laying on my craft table.  Then I just couldn't help myself, I had to put Wink of Stella on the butterflies (but you can't really tell that here).