Wednesday, June 30, 2010

bragging rights

This post comes late in the day, because days are super busy. So, let me share my wonderful news: Auntie Amy had a contest. You submit 3 cards (envelopes included) and you receive 3 cards of the same creative level. When you submit your cards, they are also judged. I won 1st Place! Yahoo!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

magnetic message board



Here is my new favorite thing to make! They are super easy, and you can coordinate them with any decor! They are magnetic message boards! After I decorated the galvanized metal, I framed them. (the edges can be a bit sharp) The top image is one I did for a class this past Saturday! Yeah, we used ALL Stampin' Up! items. Didn't it turn out super! This month, all my classes focused on using retiring supplies, to help folks use up what they have, so they can make room for the new colors! The pebbles are magnetic and so is the photo holder. You can use it for receipts, tickets, photo, or a special place to hold the grocery list. I thought that it came out so quick and easy that I HAD to make one for my granddaughter! So the next two photos are of her magnetic message board. She is a princess and a girly girl! And her all time favorite color is pink! So, how fitting!
Thanks for looking! I am off to make an apron card to enter the JUGS latest challenge Jugs 39 - Template Challenge I'll also stop by Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge #157 to get the info to enter their latest challenge. Have a wonderful weekend!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Bunco/Bunko July

It is my turn to host Bunco in July. I live up in the mountains, 28 miles outside of town. The rest of my Bunco Women live in town. So, I am mailing out reminder cards (along with directions) to let everyone know its at my house in July.
Some of us are a bit obsessed with themes. To the point that we coordinate everything to match our theme: dinner, prizes, they all 'match'. One of my favorite Bunco Ladies hosted this month, and her theme was birds! :) Our dinner was these super cute bird nests made out of oriental noodles, in a bed of salad greens. You could fill the nest with either chicken salad or egg salad. How fitting, huh? The prizes were potted plants with a bird hodge-podged on the pot, with some type of garden item. She even water marked out score sheets with birds, and our tables had birds holding a number. She is so clever, and the whole affair was super cute, super creative, and it made the whole evening super fun! I have a weakness of birds, so I'm glad I didn't start last month with gifts. So, I have chosen my second favorite...girly-girl, with a bit of shabby-chic. I haven't come up with a menu, yet. But I'm pretty sure that I can whip something up. The gifts are always hand-made items. I always make a set of note cards, gift bag, and matching item (magnet, candle, altered frame, etc) that coordinates together. So, this should be fun!
Anyways back to my card. Most of the supplies used to create this card are from Stampin' Up! The card stock is Sahara sand, pretty in pink, and whisper white. I used Friends 24-7, en Francias stamp sets. I used two hand held punches: scallop circle, and 5 petal flower. I ran the 'leaves' through a floral embossing folder and the butterflies were made with their embosslit.
Thanks for looking! Hope you are enjoying whats left of your weekend, and don't forget to tell the men in your life how special they are.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

JUGS #38 - Color Challenge


Can you tell that I have spent my whole Saturday morning in my craft room? :) How fun!
Well, I wanted to use a few new stamps from two different Paris stamp sets that I have purchased these past few months. And, I have enjoyed participating in JUGS (Just Us GirlS) challenges in the past, so I figure to help me get my mojo back, I'll combine the two! Here is a link to the JUGS - 38 - Color Challenge .
The colors for the JUGS color challenge is: light pink, chocolate, and vanilla. Aren't these colors just yummy? So, here is my card. I have quite a bit of stuff going on here, so please bear with me. I added crochet trim instead of my favorite - ribbon. I felt the yarn gave the card a softer look. Ok, for the stamping, lots here. I stamped the Eiffel tower on a scrap piece of basic grey pattern paper. I stamped the crown partially off the same paper. For the card base (another scrap piece of basic grey pattern paper), I did stamp a 'postage stamp' and 'post mark' in a bright pink ink, at the upper right corner and lower right corner. I stamped some french script between the two in a brown ink. I layered two paper flowers together, found a pretty pink button to add to the top. I took a nice length of twine and ran in through the button holes and made a bow. I wanted to add some half pearls to my card, so I added some to a hat pin, and made my own flourishes on two opposite corners. I added some clear rhinestones randomly at each those corners. I sprayed the whole finished card with three different colors of smooch sprays (log cabin, vanilla, and pink)
Thanks for looking! Show some love and post a comment!

Happy Father's Day

For those of you, who know us, we grill. For those who don't, we grill. We grill, alot. We have two large grills. One is gas. One is a smoker. We (ok, my husband) loves to cook outside. So how fitting is this card? A very special, dear friend let me use her stamp set featured in the new Summer Mini catalog (Stampin' Up!).
I wanted to keep the card masculine. Which is 'hard' for me. I'm one of those girly girls, who absolutely loves to add ribbon, buttons, glitter, flowers, etc. So, I kept it simple. I don't think guys really like too much on their cards. But, I did add some hardware (antique brads). I didn't do alot of 'color'ing. I wanted the card to be simple.
All the products used to make this card are from Stampin' Up! here's the recipe:
Card stock: soft suede, bashful blue, not quite navy.
Pattern paper: Sweet Pea DSP (retired)
Stamp set: King of the Grill
Misc: Modern label punch, vintage brads
Thanks for looking. Enjoy the rest of your weekend! And remember, to honor those men in your life who have truly shaped the person you have become.

Friday, June 18, 2010

A little bird told me...

I made this card for a challenge. For this challenge, you need to make 3 cards using stamps from a specific company and mail them in. Their people will select the winners. But, you also receive 3 cards in return of the same level of expertise you send in! I thought "how cool is that?" My first card entry is my granddaughter's birthday invitation (without the printed inside). This is my second card entry. As with card #1, this card (#2) has alot going on (for a detailed list of products, please contact me privately). I stamped the bird scene on Stampin' Up! watercolor paper, and used Stampin' Up! watercolor crayons to 'paint' the image. The 'school paper' paper seemed to be lacking something, so I 2nd generation stamped the bird cages on it. The words, 'a little bird told me...' is from a generic $1 bin stamp. The flowers are my own creation. I saw this bunch of silk flowers at one of those big craft stores in the clearance bin. I took the flowers apart, added some paper flowers and some rhinestone brads. I edged all the card stock with a sponge and some antique ink, just to soften the edges.
Thanks for looking. If you follow, my daughter did like the sample baby shower invite. However, she isn't wild about the teddy bear. So, we are changing it. She has requested a lion. I will post those soon. I want to save tomorrow's post for the father's day card I am making my husband. Take care. If you have a moment, post a comment.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Baby Boy card

So this is the sample of my daughter's Baby Shower invite. She had selected the solid card stock: Ocean Tides & Lemon Tart, and I selected the pattern paper: Sweet Pea Polka Blue & Ornate Blue. She also select the invite style: pocket card. There is quite a bit going on with this invite. So, bear with me.
The 'blue' shade of card stock is muted, so it looks worn, weathered, antique. The 'yellow' shade is bright, cheery. So, I had a bit of a challenge, but I think I pulled it off. I wanted the invite to look 'innocent' in a yester-year way, not a 'hundred-years-old' way. If you are new to my blog: I pretty much add ribbon and a button (or two) to everything. I added a piece of Ocean Tides twill ribbon to the flap. I felt that a knot or bow in the ribbon was too 'feminine'. So, I tied a 'blue' button onto the twill with some hemp twine. I wanted the flap to have a decorative edge, so I used my Eyelet Border punch. The half-pearls were added last. (That's the part that I don't think my daughter will like.) The Live Inspired flourish stamped in the bottom right corner has a 'time-traveled' feel to it. I stamped the flourish in Sahara Sand classic ink. I really didn't want it to be 'seen', just a decorative piece. The Amazing Grace song 'page' I stamped doing the 'finger-tap' technique. I didn't want everything to be legible. I picked that song stamp because it has a kind of innocence to it. The Pedaling Past tricycle was stamped in Chocolate Chip craft ink, and heat embossed with ultra detail embossing powder. After I heat embossed the trike, I felt it needed a bit of pizazz, so I colored parts of the trike with a Bermuda Bay marker. The teddy bear was the funnest! I stamped the bear on a scrap piece of Very Vanilla card stock, using a chocolate brown chalk ink. I wanted the lines to be 'soft'. I then ran the card stock piece through my big shot inside the Square Lattice embossing folder. I thought it made the teddy bear look like it was made out of material. I wanted to add something 'fun' to the bear, so I did! I added Brown Sugar sparkle flock to the bears tummy, inside his ears, and his mussel. I also added a 1mm brown half-pearl to his nose, to help define it. For the pull-out; I matted a piece of Vellum card stock onto a piece of the polka dot pattern paper, onto a piece of the 'blue' card stock. (The invite details will be printed on the vellum.) I edged everything using Close to Cocoa classic ink. I may sponge the edge of a scrap piece of card stock in Bermuda Bay classic ink, or Ocean Tides hybrid ink, so my daughter can see some choices. I want her to be completely happy with this.
Thanks for looking, and if you have a suggestion as to how I can improve on this, please post a comment. I am open for suggestions. Remember, this is a sample piece.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Punch class - card #3 & #4


Here are the last two cards. I finished the top one this morning, but I totally ran out of time to post it. This class uses alot of retiring products as well as showing you other things you can do with your punches.
The top card, uses two different shades of retiring pink cardstock. I also used the Bridal DSP. The stamp set is in the summer mini catalog. The punch? Well the Modern Label punch is the 'hanger' for the circle tag. Clever, huh? I got the idea from a card I saw from Tiffany Bauer.
The bottom card uses retiring DSP, retiring stamp set, and shows you how to turn the wing from the 2-step bird punch into a flower. I got my inspiration from a card that Chris Smith had posted on the SU demonstrators website.
Remember, if you would like a kit, they come with all the cardstock pre-cut and pre-scored. There is a supplies list and directions with color photos included. If you live out of town, there is a $5 shipping charge.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Punch class - card #2

This is the second card we will be making in my 'Punches Class'. This card uses the butterfly punch to make the flowers. The flowers are pansies. I wanted to make a dramatic card, to really show case the flowers, so this is what I came up with.
All supplies are Stampin' Up!. The card uses kraft, basic black, and very vanilla card stock. The polka dot paper is actually from the Guest Book scrappin' kit. I used a scrap piece of real red 1/4" grosgrain ribbon. I stamped the greeting in Basic Black classic ink onto very vanilla card stock and then cut it out with some detail scissors. The 'birthday bliss' stamp is from the Birthday Bliss stamp set that (I received mine, free during Sale-A-Bration). I used textured old olive card stock to create the leaves and curls. The pansies are easy to make, you basically punch the shape out and then 'color' them using the water painting technique. To learn how to make the pansies, please attend my class or purchase a kit. (If you purchase a kit, the kit will come with a supplies list, complete directions, and color photos.) If you need a kit mailed to you, there is a $5 shipping charge.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

punch class - card #1

Have you ever wanted to make a card, but had a difficult time starting. You knew what stamp set you were going to use, what punch, but still struggled? That was me tonight. I figure I should at least get some of these 'Punch Class' cards done, so there are samples, but more importantly, I know what we are doing.
My classes only feature Stampin' Up! supplies. I had my eye on this color combination: close to cocoa, taken with teal, cameo coral, and very vanilla, and I was anxious to put it together.
I used the ornament punch to create the vase. I punched the card stock first, and then put the piece in an embossing folder, so I could line up the swirls. I stamped the floral stem in basic brown classic ink. I used a blender pen to put the color in the blooms. The flowers bend to one side, so with the vase, I couldn't 'center' the stem. This left me with a blank space that needed to be filled. If you know me, you know that I grabbed for ribbon and a button to balance that empty space. But, I couldn't find anything that looked like it belonged. So, I made a quick little tag from the match box big die. So, I looked through my current stamps to find a greeting that would both fit and look appropriate there. The tag looked good, but not 'balanced'. So I grabbed a scrap piece of cameo coral and punched some flowers. I thought the background piece (close to cocoa) looked too plain, too bare. So, I grabbed a background stamp and inked it with close to cocoa classic ink. I wanted to give everything a 'old' look, so I used a sponge and close to cocoa classic ink, and sponged the edges of everything! except the vase. I sponged the vase with taken with teal classic ink and the paper sanding block over the 'face' of the vase. My last contributions were the sparkles. So, I used a tiny blue rhinestone brad for the center of the flower. And lightly squeezed some crystal effects onto the blooms.
I know that I used a lot of different products to create this one card, but isn't it pretty? If you purchase a kit or attend this class, don't fret, all the pieces will be cut and scored. So all you basically have to do is stamp and assemble.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Aloha

I wanted to 'play' with some of the new stuff coming out from Stampin' Up!, so this is what I came up with. The 'blue' card stock, is actually a new color called Marina Mist. I also used Old Olive, So Saffron, and Island Oasis DSP. I used a square punch to punch out various squares of the DSP, and used the Square Lattice embossing folder to create the 'texture' on the squares. I used some stamps from the Tropical Party stamp set, and the 'friends' is from Tiny Tags stamp set. I used the polka dot embossing folder on the Old Olive card stock, and then 'aged' this piece with a sanding block, ink, and a thread cutter. I used blender pens to 'color' the drink umbrella.
Thanks for looking, and thank you for your patience. I have been 'fighting' to get my Mojo back.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

One Person

This is a card that I made for a wonderful girlfriend. She is very special to me, and I wanted to send her a card, to let her know. I used a few (3) different papers from a Graphics 45 pattern paper collection to make this card. I also used stamp set from Verve for the words. I stamped the words in a blue shade to help bring out the blue background on the floral paper. I used a cream/vanilla ribbon to help keep the colors soft. (for a detailed list of products, please contact me privately)
Thank you for looking. And if there is someone special in your life that you don't communicate with as often as you would like, send them a card. You will be surprised how a card (especially hand-made) that arrives by snail mail, will brighten someones day!

Friday, June 4, 2010

SU! Items that are no longer available

The following items are no longer available to order:
Markers: Mellow Moss, Barely Banana, & Almost Amethyst.
Ink refills: Brilliant Blue classic & Gable Green classic.
8 1/2" x 11' cardstock: Lovely Lilac, Sage Shadow, & Only Orange.
12" x 12" cardstock: Sage Shadow & Close to Cocoa.
As, you can see, these 'last chance'/retiring colors go fast. Remember, these items are 'while supplies last'. To ensure you are able to receive the items you desire, please order as soon as possible. You can order on my website to have delivery to your front door @ http://www.inkwithsharon.stampinup.net

Scrapbook Page - June

For Scrapbook Club this month, we will be using the Guest Book scrappin' kit from Stampin' Up! This kit has the most beautiful papers! They are black, grey, cream, and white. This kit also comes with those gorgeous sticker embellishments. I think their scrappin' kits are just wonderful! So, why not spend an evening with some friends and get a page or two done. This 'club' meets 6 times a year. No commitment. You receive everything to complete the two-page layout, and you'll have enough supplies left over to create a card or two. The cost is $18. Just bring your favorite adhesive and detail scissors, light refreshments are always served.
Would love a kit, but can't attend, easy! I can either mail you a kit plus $5 shipping & handling, or you can book a private party with 4 of your friends and pick the date!
I will be posting the 2-page layout soon, so stay tuned!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

One Last Chance

Stampin' Up! is retiring dozens of their stamp sets, home decor items, and accessories. So, from June 01-31, is your 'last chance' to get those desired retiring items before they are gone forever. Remember, their availability is only while supplies last. To make your purchases yourself, please place your order(s) on my website: http://www.inkwithsharon.stampinup.net/ or you can contact me to place your order with me. Either way, don't delay! Have a wonderful day, and if you have any questions, please contact me.