Carbon Copied with Karen

I'm SO excited to be joining Karen Baker at The Bald Dragonfly this week for a new challenge that she features on her blog....Carbon Copied! I have been a fan of Karen's since I first stumbled upon her blog. She is the queen of out-of-the-box cards and you all know how much I love thinking outside the box. :) 

The idea is a cool one! What happens when you have two designers create for the same challenge with the same stamp set?  You get Carbon Copied!

We are working with Practicing Creativity's You're Dandy set and the Vertical Sketch Challenge for Moxie Fab. Here is the sketch that we used and here it is flipped as I used it. As soon as I flipped the sketch I saw trees and I knew that the sunrays in You're Dandy would work perfectly as trees.

 

I inked up the sunray stamp with Distress Inks, spritzed it with water and stamped it on white cardstock. Don't they make cute trees? To create the background, I stamped the asterick image repeatedly in Versamark, embossed with clear embossing powder and inked it up with Distress Inks (Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, Broken China and Faded Jeans). I gave it a spritz with Tsukineko's Sheer Shimmer in Frost to add shimmer. 

Supplies Used:

• Practicing Creativity (You're Dandy)
• Distress Inks (Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Broken China and Faded Jeans)
• Tsukineko Sheer Shimmers (Frost)
• Kreaxions 4 in 1 punch (#905)
• American Craft rubons
• Versamark
• Stampendous embossing powder
• tulle

keeping busy with challenges...

I have one more card for the Practicing Creativity sketch contest. This one uses Courtney's sketch and the You're the Man set. I stamped the tire track image in multiple colors, punched my squares and matted them on black cardstock. The sentiment "Happy Fathers Day" was stamped and embossed in white EP. To create the border trim, I simply stamped the tire image again and cut it in half. Makes a cool border!

Have you had a chance to enter the i{heart}paper and Paper Craft Planet Bling it Up contest? Gems, paper glaze, pearls, glitter....whatever you love. Be sure to tag it "iheartbling" when entering it in the Paper Craft Planet gallery.

I created another card using the set Summer Garden. This time instead of stamping the vase I used a wooden flower pot I had. I'm not sure who makes these little pots because I've had them for years. I actually sliced them in half to use on cards. I gave the flower pot a bit of color and coated it in Crystal Effects. The flowers were colored with Copics and popped up on pop dots. More Crystal Effects were added to the flowers.

Here is a close up of the flowers and the flower pot...

Have a great Wednesday! I'll be back tomorrow with sneak peeks of the new Lizzie Anne Mix!

and still more challenges...

Color Throwdown is celebrating 100 challenges this week. Loved the color combo and once I started using it I couldn't stop. The two cards I have to share today use the color combo. I decided to give Paulina's sketch another try for the Practicing Creativity challenge. This time I stuck a bit more to the sketch, only substituting the oval for ice cream. I have been wanting to make an ice cream card since seeing Susanna's cute ice cream cone card for Spellbinders. Only problem...I didn't have any ice cream stamps. While taking a glance at the You're Dandy set the other day, I realized those clouds could become scoops of ice cream. The cone is simply a triangle of kraft cardstock that I scored.

Next up is a card that I made using this weeks CPS sketch #174. Again its using the colors for this weeks Color Throwdown. That cutie patootie robot is a Paper Works Co stamp that I won as blog candy from Sunghee. Isn't he the cutest thing?! He's alot of fun to color with Copics. I combined it with the Gizmos and Gears Lizzie Anne set.

Here's a closeup of the robot...

Thats it for today, but I'll be back tomorrow for this weeks Stampendous challenge! Later!

and more sketches & challenges..

Promise I won't get in the habit of two posts in one day, lol! But since I'm caught up and actually working ahead on assignment work its been nice to take a break and play. Lots of fun challenges this week to keep me busy. This first card is one I did for this weeks Skipping Stones sketch. I used Healing Wings and Rustic Tiles sets.

And this next card is another one for Courtney's Sketch Challenge using Paulina's sketch. Because I was too lazy to get out the Gypsy and cut an oval, I just added the flowers in its place. The flowers were embossed in white EP on black cardstock. I stamped just the flower top in Versamark on the kraft cardbase.

Off to clean up my stamp area and get ready for Big Brother. shhhh. Its my guilty pleasure. I love reality tv shows, LOL! See you tomorrow with more cards! :)

Practicing Creativity Sketches continued...

For my layout today I used Alice's sketch for the Practicing Creativity Sketch challenge. As soon as I saw the sketch I thought it would make a great design for a layout.

To create the hose, I colored a piece of white twine with my copics. The nozzle was made by wrapping a piece of grey cardstock around it. The droplets of water are from the Just Dandy set.

Here is a closeup of the pattern paper I created for the background. Yep, you guessed it. Its that kite stamp from Just Dandy again! I stamped it in Citrus Adirondack ink and then added a bit of color with Broken China Distress ink.

Well I'm off to go stamp! The heat finally broke enough that I could take the kids out to the park today. They were able to burn off some energy and I was able to get some images colored while there. Happy a happy Thursday!

Practicing Creativity Sketch

Practicing Creativity has a fun contest going right now using a few sketches that Courtney and her design team sketched up. The contest runs until July 15th and the prize is a $50 GC. Yep, I sure could find some yummy stamps and ribbon to spend that on. Here is my first card I created for the contest...

Wait! Don't recognize that heart pattern stamp as one of Courtney's Practicing Creativity stamps?

hmmm, maybe if I flip the image over.

How

about

now...

Its the kite from Just Dandy stamped repeatedly end to end. I realized after stamping it that it created a whimsical heart pattern when flipped over. All that was needed was a bit of color and I had a heart background. I wanted it to have a rough artistic appearance when I colored it, so I scribbled in reds, pinks, whites and a bit of yellow with my colored pencils. Reminds me of an old Wordsworth sheet of pattern paper I have.

time to relax...

Spent a relaxing Mothers Day driving around through the pineys of Jersey, looking for fishing spots, playing referee to two boys fighting in the backseat (ok, that part wasn't so relaxing, LOL!), visiting my not-so local stamp store, chowing down on Chinese food and just doing absolutely nothing! And it was perfect! This time of the year we spend so much time rushing from one activity to the next its nice to just relax and spend time together.

I have two more samples from the newest Practicing Creativity Designs set, You're The Man to share today. On this first card I inked up just part of the tire image and stamped it on either side of the sentiment. Because they're clear stamps, its really easy to see and line up. Super simple one layer design!

This next card uses the starburst from the Just Dandy set along with the sentiment from You're The Man. To create the background on the card, I cut the design out on the cricut and used that paper as a stencil to ink Versamark on the cardfront. In the centers I stamped the starburst. Before you throw away those scraps from your diecuts think about using them as stencils in this way.

Well its back to work and school tomorrow for everyone. Enough relaxing its time to tackle that laundry and get everyone ready for tomorrow. Happy Mothers Day!

You're the Man

Yay! I can begin sharing my samples using the new You're the Man set from Practicing Creativity. I was so excited when Courtney asked if I'd work with the new set because I knew without even seeing it that it would be awesome. Her sets always have these great images in them that are multi-functional. And its a guy set.... I totally needed a set like this!!

You're the Man
Price: $12.99

Shipping and Handling: Flat Rate $4 for continental US; Flat Rate $6 International

Available May 6th. It will go live at midnight on the 5th.

Stamps are made in the US from high-quality photopolymer.
Stamps can be purchased from www.practicingcreativitydesigns.com

You're the Man has these really cool solid and outline tire stamps in the set. I thought they made the coolest pattern though and used them to create the background in this feminine birthday card. I stamped them in alternating patterns to create the background. I embossed the sentiment in white EP on magenta cardstock. A bit of twine and button finish the card off.

For this next card I decided to create a "you're the MAN" card for my hubby. I stamped the bolt in Staz-on ink on shrink plastic and shrank it down. Because the bolt was a long image the shrink plastic wanted to twist and stick to itself when shrinking. I found that holding one end down while shrinking helped some. After it was finished and while it was still hot I pressed an acrylic block down on top of it to cool flatter. It still has a bit of a curve to it, but I figure that adds character, LOL! I stamped a sentiment on cardstock and hung it off the bolt to mimic a sign. The bolt stamped in light grey makes a great background.

I'll be back tomorrow with some more samples. In the meantime, be sure to stop by Courtney's blog and check out more sneak peek samples!

One more thing before I'm off and running for the day. Check out this awesome blog candy Paulina has on her blog... Pretty Pink Posh. Sweet!

Practicing Creativity New Release

Remember I mentioned I've been pretty busy with deadlines, but I didn't mention what the one was, did I? I can finally spill the beans. A few weeks ago Courtney Baker from Practicing Creativity asked me if I'd like to be a Guest Designer for May's new release. Didn't have to give that a seconds thought...YES!! YES!! YES!!

Be sure to stop by her blog and take a guess at what the new set is. She's giving away a set to one lucky commenter! I've had alot of fun playing with this new set!!!

Hope everyone is having a fantastic National Scrapbook Day!!! Almost time for a new Stampendous weekly sketch, so I'm off to my room to stamp. And I'll hopefully be back in a bit with a sample for you. Later gators!

Shoot for the Moon...

Today's tag is another "playing around with techniques" tag. Using You're Dandy from Practicing Creativity, I stamped the sun rays in white Ranger Adirondack paint. I heat set the paint and then started sponging on Adirondack Dye inks starting with the lighter colors and working towards the dark.

For the distressed mesh effect on the corners, I laid down a piece of dry wall tape (or Magic Mesh) and inked over it. When you peel up the tape you're left with this cool grid effect. Using a slightly damp rag, wipe the tag. The white sun rays will reappear because they resist the ink.

The sentiment is from a 97% Complete 7Gypsies quote sticker. I cut it up to fit and inked the edges.

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

winter trees....

Today's card is a winter themed card using those cool rays again from the Practicing Creativity Just Dandy set. Don't they look like pine trees? Did I mention I love that image?! I really will play with the other images, but I'm having so much fun with that ray, LOL!

I inked up the large ray with 2 shades of green pigment ink and embossed them with Stampendous Crystal EP. The papers are from Imaginisce and the ribbon is from American Crafts. And I had to add some stitching for a shabby chic touch.

Don't forget to stop back tomorrow for Skipping Stone Designs Hop(e) for Haiti!

Just Dandy....

TGIF! Although with the kids home from school due to snow, I'm all messed up day-wise. Today I have a layout and a card to share. That's right... a layout. I recently stumbled upon a fairly new stamp company, Practicing Creativity Designs by Courtney Baker. I fell in love with those cool sun rays in the Just Dandy set, so I was ecstatic when found out I won it as blog candy. Now if only some of that luck could find its way to husband's truck which is on its last leg...err wheel.

I stamped the largest sun ray in Versamark on a variety of colored cardstock. Next I embossed it with Stampendous Crystal EP. For the yellow ray, I stamped the image twice, large ends back to back to make the ray big enough for my design.

This month's Paper Craft Planet Design Team theme is Keeping You In Stitches. Using both the large and small rays I stamped the background on the card. I added a bit of silver stitching to the bursts.

Check out this cool tutorial on how you can create the perfect star burst pattern using a star shaped stamp in the set. Super clever!!! I can't wait to see what set Courtney comes up with next!