Flower Soft Birthday Challenge

My son agrees that this could pass as a birthday card, so pretend it says Happy Birthday inside... Flower Soft's challenge over at SCS this week (FSC02) is to create a birthday card using Flower Soft, and I wanted to play along!
I love it when ideas play out on paper the same way they pop into my head... I designed this kayak stamp for Heart and Soul Rubber Stamp Co., and thought it would be fun to make some sea foam with the Polar White Flower Soft. The scene is watercolored with Adirondack reinkers. The sentiment is from H&S as well. I used a background stamp from Impression Obsession (CAC Scratches) to break up the solid background panel a bit. Here is a close-up on the surf:
Come over and play with us!!

Cover-a-Card stamps and 'kissing'

Kissing refers to a technique in stamping where one stamp is inked in order to ink another stamp. Does that makes sense? Impression Obsession has a fun line of background stamps, and quite a variety of solid shape stamps as well - a great combination for the 'kissing' technique. Here are a couple of cards I've made using the technique!

I found myself in a "clean-and-simple" mood this week, which is really unlike me... not sure what inspired it, but it frightened me a little. Heh... I even used peach - twice - a color that I've shied from for years. I'm thinking there is some lingering trauma from the 80s going on, because neons and teal are also on 'that' list...

Here's a visual of the technique I mentioned - I laid down my background stamp and inked it, then the background stamp became the inkpad for my solid stamp. By the way, these background stamps are 5.75" square, so they can go either way on a standard card.
That oval image (Solid Oval) was stamped first on this card, then I stamped the branch (Silhouette 12) across the card, and the birds (Love Birds), then the sentiment (from Typestacks Family clear set). The birds are shaded with a Prismacolor pencil. The vintage seambinding is from my purchase from Caramelos' etsy store - I love this stuff! It's so different and fun to work with, and the best price I could find for pre-dyed stuff on etsy (60 yards for $13.75). I'm thinking, though, that I will buy a roll of the undyed ribbon from this store and try dyeing it myself, just for fun. It's $7.95 for a 100 yd. roll - that ought to last me!

Card #2 - look, same colors! The image (sm. Cup of Comfort) is colored with Prismacolor pencils. The colors I used are listed below. Can you see the oval frame around the image there? That was done with the same kissing technique, but using the Screen background (which I had to intentionally put away the other day because it was finding its way onto every card I made...).

Hmmm.... I made that bow using my Bow-Easy.... to compare the two here, I like the hand-tied one better, even though it uses more ribbon. Good to know. I made the background panel for this card using watercolor paper... I didn't have an inkpad or paper to match, so I filled a mister bottle with water and a drop or two of Vermillion ink - just a very weak solution. That seemed to do the trick. I stamped the background pattern (Kaleidoscope) with Pink Petunia chalk ink, misting the rubber before stamping the image onto the paper to soften the lines a bit.
Here are the pencils I used to color the cup.......

Hope that info was helpful to you...... look and see what solid and patterned stamps you have that could be used together! It's fun to look at things in a different way.

P.S. Here's a great video I found that shows a number of variations to the technique I showed here, in case you're interested!

other people's news...

Because this stuff is way more interesting than what I did today... thought I'd share some other people's news!

SmARTworks is still in the process of clearing out their individual sets, and making room for the full sheets they are now producing. The remaining sets are now marked down with a discount of 70% off! Some of the sets still available are my designs, for what it's worth.... Also lots of spirit dancers, and a little bit of everything else. The designs will still be available after these individual sets are gone, but you'll have to purchase a full sheet of stamps to get the ones you want. It's a great deal, trust me! This is the link to their news page, which has instructions and a direct link to the sets.

OK, next... Flower Soft, has become a member company at Splitcoast Stampers! There are challenges, prizes, a forum for questions and answers, links, and all kinds of fun info about the company. Click here to read more on the SCS homepage, and check it all out!

Even more exciting, Impression Obsession has just announced that they, along with a couple of other great companies, are hosting the Stamping at Sea Cruise in February 2011! Anybody want to fly me home for that one? Nobody, huh? sigh.... Here's the link for that info.

One more thing to announce, and that is the winner of the Friendly Fruit set from Skipping Stones Design...............

Jayne!

Congratulations, Jayne - send me your address so we can get those stamps out to you! Speaking of Skipping Stones, they have some fun plans to raise money for breast cancer awareness over the next few months - stay tuned!

OK! That's it for today...!

Brocade Background

Did you see my new background stamp over at Our Daily Bread designs? Here she is: The original artwork is based on actual vintage wallpaper - love that. Kelley has some frames that coordinate with the Brocade theme, and dies that coordinate with the frames! You can click on the image above to see the entire collection. Busy month over at ODBD!

Impression Obsession DT Challenge: Halloween Shaker Cards

Our challenge this week is to create a Halloween card using Impression Obsession stamps. Some of us are showing off the Shake-it Shaker pouches... If you love the look of a shaker card, but can't stand trying to make your own leak-proof shaker frames with foam tape and acetate, you will love these little guys. They are self adhesive, and super easy to use. The Shake-It line includes the shaker pouches in a variety of shapes and sizes, precut overlays, and card kits. Here's what the pouches look like:

The card I made is a matchbook card - haven't made one of those for a while! I used a half-sheet of A4 cardstock, scored it 1" from the end, folded it up, punched 2 holes, and tied the ribbon through........ then tucked the other end in as far as it would tuck under the ribbon, and folded the card accordingly. So this is "Party Table" - here's the full image first:


Looks like a fun spread! I colored the image with Neopiko markers and Prismacolor pencils, and used some matching Dew Drops as filler for my shaker.

I stamped Tricks & Treats inside the card - here's what the matchbook card looks like open.

Remember you can enter these challenges too, using your Impression Obsession stamps! See the I.O. blog for all the details - you might even win a $25 gift certificate!! We'd love to have you join us. Be sure to check out the other designers' blogs for inspiration - their links are to the left!

Flower Soft DT Challenge: Favorite Color

Welcome to the Flower Soft DT blog hop! You'll want to start from the Flower Soft Blog to make sure you don't miss a thing... because prizes are involved! If you arrived here from Jeanne's blog, you're on the right track.

Today we're sharing a project that features our favorite color of Flower Soft. If you'd like to join in on the challenge, we'd love to have you join us! We’ll be giving away TWO prize packages! One prize package will be given away on the blog hop and another will be chosen among people who make a card using Flower Soft and post it in the Splitcoast Gallery using the keyword FSC01. Both prize winners will be chosen and announced on the Flower Soft blog on September 8th. The winner of the Splitcoast Gallery challenge will have their card featured on the Flower Soft Blog on September 10th!!!

I picked 2 favorites, the Heather mix and Sage Ultra Fine. In the interest of art, I have sacrificed a perfectly good paperback that found its way into our yardsale pile last month (sorry, Pam...!)... so the silhouette image I used (from smARTworks' 'smARTbucks only' sheet, Happy Silhouettes) is stamped directly on a book page, using Versafine ink.

The only coloring I did on the focal piece was a little pink shading at the horizon line, green pencil under the Sage area, and a bit of white gel ink on the little boy's socks. So simple! I put a black rhinestone on the hub of the wheel just for an accent. My lace edge is the edge of a round paper doily that I cut and tucked along the edge of my panel, straightening it as I went along.

As you make your way through the hop make sure you comment on each and every post! There will be a prize winner chosen randomly among the blogs. The prizes (one set for Splitcoast players and one set for the blog hop!) :

Moments in Time Stamp set, 'Man of the Match'
Ultra Fine Toffee Flower Soft
Ultra Fine Sage Flower Soft
Flower Soft Glue

You'll be hopping on to Vicki's blog, Summerthyme Studio, next. I'm glad you stopped by!

P.S. Want even more inspiration? Do you like video tutorials? Make sure and visit Flower Soft TV!

Skipping Stones Sketch Challenge & Blog Hop!

Time for Skipping Stones' end-of-the-month blog hop - this is my last post as a guest designer, too.... it's been fun, but it's time to step aside and let some new guests and team members play. Huge thanks to Heather and the rest of the team for letting me hang out with you for these last 2 months! Enjoyed it!

If you just happened to be popping in on me today, and have a hankering to hop, you’ll want to go back and start at Skipping Stones Design so you don't miss a thing! If you arrived here from Alice's blog, you're on the right track. This is Maren Benedict's final sketch for Skipping Stones Sketch Tuesday! If you'd like to play along, link up your card over at the SSD blog. Remember to add keyword SSD035 if you are uploading to any online galleries. Here's my card:
These are stamps from the Friendly Fruit set, which came in my stack of packages last week. The set is full of stippled fruit designs and punny sayings to go along with them. I stamped the watermelon image in Rouge chalk ink, masked the first image and stamped again, then colored it in with Neopiko markers and Prismacolor pencils. Here's a closer look.
Want to win this set? You can - just fill in the form below and you'll be entered! I'll pick a random winner Friday at midnight EST (Sept. 3rd). The next stop on the hop is Jen's blog, Just Jingle! Thanks for hopping by!

housekeeping

Just wanted to mention that I replaced the Cbox over to the right... Cbox is a mini chat box where you can ask questions or leave glowing comments, and we can interact a bit. I had taken it off because of some spamming, but just discovered the control panel where those messages can be deleted and evil spam bots blocked.... so it's back. Use it, ok? :)

It's a busy blog week for me.... 3 hops in 3 days! Get ready...

Flower Soft & CPS

Guess I have some news to share.... I've been invited on as a guest designer for Flower Soft! I'm excited to be able to play with some of their products and to hang out with such an awesome team for a few months. Just so happens that Flower Soft is sponsoring this week's Card Positioning Systems challenge (#182)...... here is the sketch: I used a stamp from Art Impressions for my focal image, watercolored with Derwent watercolor pencils and a fillable brush. The sentiment is from Skipping Stones Design, and it has a companion sentiment inside... "From your '110 pound' friend!" Hilarious.
Don't know about you, but I cannot look at this little lady's face without cracking up! She has some fluffy Polar White Flower Soft hair - I actually applied a second layer of the Flower Soft there after the first layer dried for extra foof. This was my first time to use the Polar White and I was surprised at how different the texture is from the other solid colors. Love.
Here's another close-up angle so that you can see the Flower Soft on the birthday boy - his fluffy eyebrows and that little tuft of chest hair! (tee hee!)If you'd like to play along with the sketch challenge for a chance to win a prize from Flower Soft, remember to post a link over at the challenge post at Card Positioning Systems!

Birthday Tag

This was one of my CHA projects featuring newly released stamps from Impression Obsession. Since this was a Fall/Winter release, I imagine the gifts are *supposed* to be Christmas gifts... but I thought it would be fun to show their versatility by making them more birthday-ish. The gifts are colored with Neopiko markers... the tag is stamped and sponged around the edge using Versamagic chalk ink.

I was kind of amused earlier to read a post from someone contemplating the purchase of a tag die, and it was shaped like this... this type of tag is a simple rectangle with the corners cut off. Once you cut one corner off, you can use that triangular corner piece as a guide to cut the other side, lining up right angles. Can't really see how a die would be practical.......... but that's me!

Stamps I used:
Gifted Trio
Solid Tree Leaves Trio
If You are Grateful

I stamped leaves on the wrapping paper of the second gift, masking off one section at a time. This would be a great image for paper piecing as well.

The ribbons are just threaded through the hole, then tied around once to hold them together. That's it! Simple gift tag.

Hope you're having a great week - we've been passing around a stomach virus so that's sort of set the tone of my week, but other than that... heh... it's been a neat week - lots of opportunities for stretching and growth. Good things!