Sketch Contest & Some Delightful Candy!
So far this month we’ve had 4 sketches from Skipping Stones Design. I’ve had loads of fun using them as a springboard to jumpstart my mojo/creativity. I’ve even jumped off the highdive a couple of times and left the comfort of my own little cozy box. Here’s a recap of the sketches and the cards that I’ve created with them thus far. You can click on any of the photos to view larger. Now I want to see what YOU have done with any of the sketches. And I have something fabulous to give away! How does a brand spankin new set of stamps from Skipping Stones Design sound? I have here in my possession a shiny new set of Cupcake Cutie stamps just all sorts of excited to find a new home. I might also have a few other goodies to help you add some bling (hint hint) to your creations that I will add to the package. 🙂 Check out my Cupcake posts during the month of August for some fun inspiration using this delicious set of stamps! Here’s the deal… and you must follow these rules to qualify: * Create any card or piece of artwork that is based on any ONE of these 4 sketches. PLEASE NOTE: You do not need to use SSD stamps, but if you have them, we’d love to see you using them! You DO have to use an SSD sketch to qualify. * Post your card on your blog or other forum. * Copy the URL and post it in a comment on THIS post. * Link back to this post when you post your card. I will draw a winner using a random number generator or will have Brent pick a name out of a hat on WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30th. That’s it, kids! Happy creating and I hope to see you post something here! ~Inky Smiles!
Skipping Stones Design Sketch SSD04: Fishing You…
I’ve been a busy girl this past week. I have a lot of schtuff to upload to share, but the days are getting away from me with all this Christmas prep going on. Can u say CRAZY days? This weekend I played around with my Skipping Stones Design stamps again and created this fun little card with the Tropical Birthday stamp set. I really like this set! I tried a few different things with the images, but ultimately I decided on using the fishies. Here’s this week’s sketch SSD04: Once I started playing with designs I decided that the current position was not working for me, so I flipped the sketch and made it look like this: And then I decided to elongate the card to a full sized 4.25 x 5.5” card. Really, the sketches are “just guidelines anyway” meant for you to use as a jumping off point in your creative adventure to creating your masterpiece, right? Here’s the Tropical Birthday stamp set again: And here’s my card: I have wanted to do a “gel” card for a long time now, but not being a fan of “messy/gloppy” card projects I’ve avoided doing it. However, those little crafty angels that sit on your shoulders were sitting on mine having a heated discussion about whether or not I should do a “messy/gloppy” project. Ultimately the little red angel won and I set out to do my gel card. I rooted under the sink for Brent’s bottle of Dep Sport Endurance Styling Gel – Marathon Hold and went to work. I squirted some of the gel in a little cellophane baggie that I taped up really well with clear packing tape. In the meantime Mr Mess and Ms Glop came to visit because I failed to realize that the baggie I used had a couple of tiny holes on one of the edges, as if the edge hadn’t sealed properly. Yes, the Dep Sport Endurance Styling Gel – Marathon Hold was now all over the section of the workspace in front of me. So for the duration of the project I got to enjoy the wonderful scent of Dep Sport Endurance Styling Gel – Marathon Hold…. gaaagggg. I think if I do this again I will use aloe vera gel or something else… lol! Gloppy Mess behind us… moving on…. I used a circle Nestabilities die to cut through each layer of the card and embossed the top green layer for added texture/interest. The fishies are actually stamped on the white card base. I traced a circle on the white card base and then random stamped the fishies in Ocean ink from CTMH. Originally I tried coloring them with a clear glitter pen, but they just looked kind of muddy. Each layer of the card is stacked up and carefully lined up the holes so that you can’t see the other layers beneath. I love the bubbles in the Messy Gloppy layer. They’re fun to squoosh. The card looked kind of nekkid once I had the focal point and sentiment adhered to the card so I pulled out my ribbon scrap jar and fished (haha, pardon the pun) out that fun raffia-like ribbon that I used on the last card I made with the Tropical Birthday set. I tied the ribbon around the edge and moved the sentiment up over the top to neatly tie everything together. Skipping Stones is having another sale today! Perfect timing for the holidays… Today you can get 25% off your order PLUS free shipping again. WAHOO! Just head on over to Skipping Stones Design and start shopping. Be sure to enter 25off to get your discount! Stay tuned for some upcoming blog candy… oh, like say, maybe tomorrow… OR later TODAY… cuz I just typed it up and it’s a ready to post!!! *grin* Fishing you… a Merry Christmas! Inky Smiles! Supplies: Stamps – Skipping Stones Design’s Tropical Birthday Inks – Ocean (CTMH) Papers – Cosmo Cricket, Gina K Miscellaneous – Dep Sport Endurance Styling Gel – Marathon Hold (Schwarzkoph & Henckel), Misc ribbon, adhesive, Nestabilities Classic Circles,
Skipping Stones Design Sketch SSD03 – Stained Glass Butterfly
I was working on a lot of projects this weekend. I can share two of them with you after Thursday when the recipient gets them. (She reads this blog from time to time so I don’t dare share yet.) Today I actually wrote our Christmas letter and printed it out and created a digital Christmas photo card to go with them. I created one last year, too, but never mailed it.. lol… I thought about reusing it and then remembered I think I posted it here on the blog. LOL! Anyway…. One of my projects was the weekly sketch for Skipping Stones Design’s Tuesday sketches. I just received a bundle of stamps from Heather in the mail and was delighted that the Healing Wings set was in the package. I think this is a lovely set with some beautiful sentiments. I especially love the “stained glass” style butterfly. Here’s the set: Here’s today’s sketch SSD03 from Skipping Stones Design: This sketch threw me for a loop. I looked at it and thought, “what on earth am I going to do with that floating triangle?”. LOL! So I played around with the sketch and then turned the paper I had printed it out on… voila! The light bulb went on and I went to town crafting. And here’s my card: I love the sentiment, “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life” and wanted to highlight it on the card but not have it be the main focal point. (It’s too tiny anyway.) I stamped it on some white cs and inked the edges to take off the sharpness of the white edges. I pulled out Bernie (the Bernina… been trying to think of a nickname for her…) stitched the two rectangular patterned paper pieces to my card base with a basic zig zag stitch for some fun texture. Almost every card needs some added bling and sparkle so I added some gems from Kaisercraft to the “floating triangle”. I think it looks less floating and more anchored now. The sentiment is popped up on the triangle which is popped up off the card and the focal piece with the butterfly using American Craft foam squares. Here’s a photo where you can see all the fun little popped up layers. Here’s a close up of the butterfly. I stamped with Timber Brown Stazon ink and then colored it in with watercolor pencil , blended with OMS and then covered with Liquid Glass for sparkle and to make the colors more rich and vibrant. I stamped the image on a piece of cream cs for some fun shadow detail and then cut a teeeeeny little strip of pop up foam square and mounted the butterfly over the image on the cream cs and bent up the wings a little. I think it looks like a butterfly that has landed for just a second… 🙂 Inky Smiles! Erin Supplies: Stamps – Skipping Stones Design Healing Wings Inks – Stazon Timber Brown Paper – Basic Grey, Archivers Miscellaneous – Kaisercraft rhinestones, CTMH Liquid Glass, watercolor pencils, Odorless Mineral Spirits, thread & sewing machine.
Skipping Stones Design Sketch Tuesday SSD02
When Heather sent me this set several weeks ago I laughed and laughed and laughed. I love the sentiments! I couldn’t wait to play with the set! This weekend was the perfect chance, what with our crazy weather and all. We needed a little warming up around here! SSD Tropical Birthday Here’s Kim Teasdale’s Sketch Tuesday SSD02 for Skipping Stones Design: And here is my take on the sketch. It’s a simple, yet fun card. I have a hard time sticking to the rules.. LOL… so I had to make a bigger “little” circle to fit my image. I also used some brads and a funky ribbon bit to create the “illusion” of the three stripes on the left hand side. The ribbon was this weird straw like ribbon that I snipped apart and created both the thing on the left and the 3D hula skirt.I snipped apart the ribbon and carefully placed it neatly on top of the skirt (which I colored in with watercolor pencils and OMS) and glued it down with that awesome Zig 2 way glue. I held it in place with some pliers until it was nice and stuck to the paper. I stamped a double image of the hula girl on scrap CS and cut out the waistband and glued it on top of the hula skirt. Here’s what the ribbon looks like when it’s whole: {That’s a sneak peek of another project I just finished that I can’t wait to share… 🙂 } I had so much fun playing with sunshiney glitter! The glitter is a custom Erin mix… I mixed red, orange and yellow glitters from Doodlebug until I got just the right sunset-y look. I cut out a circle with my Nestabilities, cut off the bottom part of the circle, and then ran it thru my Xyron machine. I carefully peeled off the Xyron backing tape and then generously sprinkled it with glitter and pressed the glitter down into the adhesive. A few flicks, taps, and general shakes later, I adhered it to the card. The water background is made with the Dots CB Embossing folder and the texture on the top brown CS was made with the Forest Branches CB Embossing folder. (It’s kind of hard to see in the photo, but it looks a little like bamboo…) Every hula girl needs some bling so I added a littler sparkle to the flower in her hair with some Stickles and colored in her skin and make up with some watercolor pencils. (I still haven’t made it on the uber expensive Copic wagon yet.) Supplies: Stamps – SSD Tropical Birthday Inks – Stazon Black Papers – Close To My Heart Accessories – Cuttlebug Machine & Embossing folders (bubbles/dots and forest branches), Doodlebug glitter, Stickles, watercolor pencils, odorless mineral spirits, misc ribbon, adhesives, brads, Nestabilities dies. May your coconuts never hang lower than your grass skirt and may you have warmth in your homes today as we freeze to death in icy cold Utah. Inky Smiles! PS.. Since you’ve made it this far through the post.. and if you’re visiting me today, Tuesday, December 8th, 2009…. here’s a little something special for you! So hurry over and pick out your favorite stamps! There’s no better time than now to get 25% off AND free shipping!
Oh The Weather Outside Is Frightful….
But the snow is so delightful? Uhm… sorta… the jury is still out on that one. After a LOnG and crazy day in Salt Lake doing this with Mrs Georgia White and her daughter Sue …. …. this is what I came home to: Sorry for the blurriness.. it’s difficult to take a decent photo at night while you’re shivering to death. Brrr. I could barely get in my driveway…. I had to back up to the curb across the street from my house and get a good “running start/mad dash” because I was in our little Malibu and B had the Tahoe and loverly 4WD. See the mad dash marks at the top of the photo that Sadie’s in? That was lil’ ol’ me rolling mah wheels to make it up the driveway…. There’s nothing like mad wheel rollin skills and a crazy lady in a Malibu who has to “go” so bad she’s gonna leave the car in the street and run in the house. I bet I was some sort of crazy sight… lol! Thankfully Brent got home a couple of hours later and went to work…again…. so hopefully tomorrow morning we can get out of our driveway…. We’re expecting MORE snow overnight sooo…… ay yi yi. Here’s my man… hard at work: I love fluffy snow. Apparently so does Sadie… for a while. And then she wusses out with me on the porch. I think the UPS man forgot we had a sidewalk… see those footprints? They are going right through my flowerbed. “Tiptoe… thru the tulips…” That’s ok. I can forgive him this time… cuz he delivered my much anticipated box of treasures from Sephora…. Have I told you I heart Sephora yet? Oh, that’s a story for another day! I think I shall head in now where it’s warm and cozy and enjoy a cup of leftover homemade chili and a chunk of hot cornbread! Inky Smiles!
SSD Sketch SSS02 Sneak Peek
I’m headed in to work today to take a client (Georgia White) up to Salt Lake City so she can set up a Christmas Tree at Primary Children’s Medical Center, tie loads of toys and goodies on it, and watch the kids faces light up. It’s a tradition. I‘ve been almost every year for the past 10 years. We woke up to a white wonderland this morning! We’ve got 5” of snow down here at home and about 6+” in Orem and who knows what in Salt Lake City…. and we’re expecting a humdinger of a storm tonight and tomorrow morning. Yikes! So I’m off to Salt Lake City for the day but I thought I would leave you with a sneak peek of the card I will be posting tomorrow for Skipping Stones Design’s Sketch challenge SSS02 tomorrow. Here’s to a little warm thinking! See you tomorrow! Inky Smiles!
Festival of Trees
Every year Primary Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) in Salt Lake City holds a Festival of Trees. The purpose of this festival is to raise money for families who have loved ones at PCMC and need help with their medical bills. From their website: “For 39 years, the Festival of Trees has been a “Gift of Love” to children at Primary Children’s Medical Center. The Festival is organized by a volunteer board of 84 women who enlist time and talents from thousands of individuals, organizations, businesses, and families throughout Utah. Over $24 million has been raised for children in need at Primary Children’s Medical Center through the Festival since 1971, with $1,495,840.74 raised in 2008″ The Grotegut family has a special place in our hearts for PCMC as it is the place where our sweet niece, Kiera Grotegut, passed away as an infant several years ago. This year we were approached by a friend, Andy Monson, (Amaryllis‘ cousin) who was putting together his third tree to donate to the festival in honor of his sister, Angela Marie Monson Heaton, who was killed in a tragic car accident a few years ago on her way home from work. Angi was a nurse and loved children and scrapbooking. Stamper Storage made a donation including a customized and finished (painted, stained, sealed) InkStak-Tall Stak Wide and loooooooads of Bind-It-All supplies and a BIA machine. Here’s a snap shot of Andy with the tree and all the goodies from various businesses: It is exciting to be a part of something so special. Thank you, Andy, for letting us experience a little Christmas Joy with you 🙂 Inky Smiles! PS – this tree has still not yet sold. If you’re interested the price is somewhere around $3900 for the tree and all the delightful goodies. PPS.. If you would like to donate to Andy’s tree next year please shoot me an email and I will pass your information on to Andy so he can contact you next year when they get ready to start collecting donations again. If they do a scrapbooking tree again next year handmade cards and other paper crafting projects would be welcomed as well as new, unused items in packages.
SSD Sketch SS01 – My Card, Better Late Than Never
This is my take on the Skipping Stones Design Sketch SS01. I had a lot of fun with this sketch.. it made me think a little and then it was screaming “CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS” at me so I couldn’t resist. Afterall, it IS that time of year again. Here’s the Christmas Swirls stamp set: I wanted to do something a little out of my box and decided to try a somewhat monochromatic look with metallic shimmer cardstock. I have such a hard time pushing myself to use metallics so I just buckled down and did it anyway. (Metallics are hard to photograph, even without a flash, so bear with me on the pics.) I used the star and ball ornament images from SSD’s Christmas Swirls set and embossed them with gold embossing powder. The stamps are intricately detailed so make sure you wipe your paper with an antistatic powder and use super fine embossing powder. I stamped Peace in gold ink. The cream oval was embossed with my Cuttlebug & Oval Nestabilities and the ornaments and star were hand cut . The bottom ornament and the oval piece and star are all popped out with American Crafts foam squares. After I had it all laid out and nearly all adhered to the card base I decided that it needed a little extra something….. so, being the “crazy jewelry lady” that I have been lately I pulled out my beading supplies and created a little ornament jewelry to add a little more bling to the card. I used some inexpensive pearl beads and two tiny little 2mm clear Swarovski crystals for extra sparkle and dangle. Supplies: Stamps – Skipping Stones Design’s Christmas Swirls Papers – DCWV Metallic & Luxury, Gina K base cs, misc cream cs Inks –Versamark & Colorbox Tools, etc – SU antistatic wiper thingy, misc jewelry tools, misc craft wire, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities Oval Dies, Ribbon, ATG adhesive, heat gun, CTMH Gold embossing powder. Don’t forget to come participate in the sketch and take a chance to win some Skipping Stones Design stamps! See you at SSD! Inky Smiles!
State of The Studio & Sneak Peek
So I’m in my Studio today finishing up some projects that I started on Wednesday, one being a made to order gift for my aunt to give her friend, another being the final touches on the SSD Sketch SS01 and photographs and another being finishing up the tags that I started at Sue Neal’s Christmas tag box class last night. I had hoped to get the final touches on my SSD card last night but the class went longer than planned and I got home super late. (Excuses, excuses… but we were having so much fun in Sue’s class!) Here’s a sneak peek at the SSD Sketch SS01 card: And here’s the current State of the Studio… I’m all about keeping it real here, lol! Gonna go snap some photos of the finished card while I’ve still got some good daylight… see you again in a few! Inky Smiles!
Skipping Stones Design Sketch Tuesday
Hi all! I’m back from the annual trek to Iowa to spend Thanksgiving with my family. It was quite the crazy trip this year as we had 11 adults, 5 kids under the age of 3, and 2 dogs at dinner this year. I’m surprised Mom’s house did not explode with the amount of crazy energy going on inside last week. LOL! Tuesdays are Sketch Tuesday at Skipping Stones Design. My fellow “stamp tramps” (what Heather is calling her DT) and I will be sharing with you a sketch each Tuesday. At least once a month we will each hold a drawing for a free stamp set from Skipping Stones Design from those of you who make a card/layout based on a Skipping Stones Design sketch and preferably/hopefully an SSD stamp set. Today’s sketch is from Kim Teasdale. I just got the information this evening and have been out of town until very late last night, so here’s Angela Thomas’ (I had originally posted that this was Kim’s, my apologies to Angela) sample from the Skipping Stones Design blog. Check back on the Skipping Stones Design blog for Kim Teasdale’s sketch. I will be doing some crafting on Wednesday and will share what I come up with on Wednesday! Please link back in the comments and share what you’ve done with this sketch. Inky Smiles!