Still dirty

I managed to do a few more dirty dares Saturday in between loads of laundry and other chores. I'm getting ready to head to San Diego to visit friends for a couple of days, so I had a lot to get done before I left. Of course, I still made time for stamping, because I love challenges! The first project is a genie bag, named for Jen Del Muro (her screen name is genie1314 at SCS). The idea is to cover the front and back sides of a cut-down lunch bag to make a pretty package. And that was the challenge by AtomicButterfly - make a pretty container. I used pumpkin pie, chocolate chip, really rust and creamy caramel cardstock and ink, along with some gold ink on the chocolate chip. I stamped leaves from Fantastic Foliage on the bottom, on the chocolate chip piece and on the vanilla for the main image. Ribbon is from Michaels. I also used a bunch of really rust eyelets and one caramel eyelet. Usually these have a handle, but I thought the handle with throw off the layout.
This was BadSherry's challenge, to use wet watercolor and cracked glass. There's a lengthy explanation in my SCS gallery, but the gist is: perfect plum, pale plum, taken with teal, sage shadow and basic brown ink, the same for cardstock, except watercolor paper and no brown cardstock. I misted the paper, stamped the images, let them dry, then added several coats of clear EP, froze and cracked it, then sponged plum ink in the cracks. I finished it with photo corners made from my Marvy Giga square scallop punch, a piece of hodgepodge hardware and a little organdy ribbon.
The final card was a challenge from Jenn Balcer to use bold brights. I used the BB greens and only orange, along with BB eyelets, dots and dashes (retired) patterned paper and some Michael's orange ribbon. This was a fast and fun card.

Dirty, dirty, dirty

I'm having so much fun with the dirty dares. Even though I have a ton of stuff I should be doing today, I think I'll spend a good portion of the day stamping! I managed to make four cards Thursday night and four cards last night. I already have my first one started today, but it needs some drying time, which gives me a few minutes to post these! The first card was for Cambria's challenge to use pink! I love this little piggy; she's stamped in black stazon and colored with pretty in pink ink, then covered in diamond Stickles. I punched her out with my Marvy giga scallop square, then layered her on pretty in pink cardstock and centered that in the middle of a large Prima daisy. The card base is pretty in pink stamped with print pattern inked in white craft. I also wrapped some pink and white striped satin ribbon from Target around the center of the card and finished it off with white eyelets between the diamonds along the bottom.
The second card is for Beate's sketch challenge. I used my Basic Grey Phoebe papers. The card base is bashful blue distressed with basic brown ink. The striped Phoebe paper is backed by a layer of pretty in pink and the blue Phoebe paper is backed by close to cocoa. Stamps are from Michael's $1 spot. I finished it with some brads and a prima. Card measures 4.25" square.
The final card of this set was for Jen Del Muro's sketch challenge. The card base is so saffron. I used scraps of Basic Grey paper, one backed in celery and one in rose red. The ellie from Wild About You is inked in rose red and stamped on whisper white. I also added the flower in lavender lace and certainly celery. The image is mounted on lavender lace. I used the ticket corner punch, some making memories eyelets and a twinkle gem to finish the image off. The sentiment is from Tagger's Dozen, mounted on circles cut using my CM circle cutters. I added two little loops of celery grosgrain ribbon and mounted it on dimensionals. I actually flopped the squares from the sketch so my ellie wouldn't be looking off the card! Okay, back to my dirty dares. I should have more cards later today!

Getting dirty!

Splitcoast is having a "Dare to Get Dirty" celebration in honor of the third anniversary of the Fan Club and SCS Dirty Dozen. The result is a four challenges a day for a week, and you all know how much I love challenges! I got started a little late, so today I made two cards for yesterday's challenges. The first card was for the pet card challenge. The idea was to make a card that could be sent from a pet. I used my Fluffles stamp, since it's a good likeness of my cat, Eliot. She's colored with gray chalk; I used markers for the flowers and grasshopper. The card base is pretty in pink and I used some of my favorite patterned paper from Creative Memories. The sentiment is a $1 Michael's clear stamp. I finished the card with some ribbon and eyelets, and diamond Stickles in the center of the flowers.
The other challenge I tried was to make a toile card. My card base is night of navy, topped with a layer of bordering blue. The white panel is stamped in NON multiple times with the mistletoe image from Peaceful wishes. The layers are repeated for the single image, which is the same stamp. The MSE sentiment is in bordering blue. The single image is popped up on dimensionals. I finished it with a pretty white sparkly organdy ribbon. I hope to have a chance to try some more of the challenges tomorrow!

I'm Rockin!!!

Heather at {WittyTitleHere} nominated me as a Rockin' Girl Blogger! Thanks Heather. I tried to pass the torch along, but a quick perusal of my blogroll indicates all the Rockin Girl bloggers I know have already been tagged! If I think of any to add, I'll update later!

In the meantime, tomorrow is a day from H*** at work, and also the first day of the Dare to Get Dirty challenge week at SCS. That's a bad combo for me, since I probably won't be able to stamp tomorrow and that makes me sad! I hope to stamp some of the challenges Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Sunday-Tuesday I'll be in Capistrano Beach visiting friends who are coming to So. Cal. for a quick vacation. I'm looking forward to the long weekend and a great visit.

Have a great Wednesday - it's Hump Day, woohoo!

Gratuitous pet photo

I emerged from my book coma yesterday and even managed to do a little crafting, but unfortunately, nothing I can share right away. So instead, I'd like to share with you a fun photo of my crafty cat, Eliot. For some reason, she really enjoys helping me photograph my cards. She's always jumping into the photos. When I took this photo a few days ago, she settled in for a nice little lay-down in the midst of my photo session. She finds other ways to help as well; this weekend I purchased a chair pad for the chair I use for crafting. It's now become Eliot's new favorite napping spot. And it's already covered in gray hair! I have a busy week through Wednesday, so I'm not sure when I'll get back to stamping, but the Dare to Get Dirty Challenges start this week on Splitcoast. so I'm sure I'll be over there trying to get some of those in. Have a good week!

At home

That's where I am this weekend. I managed to make one card over the course of Thursday and Friday evenings, and another today that I can't share for a few weeks. Then I went to K-mart to pick up some necessities and lo and behold, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows snuck into my basket. I've been reading all afternoon and I'm page 243. I wasn't planning on reading all weekend, but I started to worry someone might spoil the ending for me - especially since I work in the media. So we'll see how much I can read before Monday! So blog updates may have to wait 'til next week. I hope you all understand ;)
Oh, and thanks to Heather at {Witty Title Here} I've been nominated as a Rockin' Girl Blogger! Thanks Heather. As soon as I finish the book, I will pay it forward to some of my blogging friends, if I can find some who haven't been nominated yet!

Artful gift

Earlier this month, I made these cards in an effort to embrace the white. So a few days ago, I needed to make a gift for a relative, and decided to work from the first four cards and make four more. So I made two each of the above design, again using Artfully Asian and Small Script from SU. The card on the left is cool Caribbean and tempting turquoise and the one on the right is cameo coral and blush blossom. The images are stamped on shimmery white and I watercolored using those inks and artichoke. I also used the ticket corner punch and the corner rounder to add distinctive touches to each card and finished them with ribbon.
This is a set of four of the finished cards. There are two of each design in the gift set, for a total of eight. This little challenge taught me you really can carry a theme through a whole set of cards while still mixing them up so you don't get bored making the same card over and over again. I am not good at mass production! Even when I make Christmas cards I tend to mix them up a little bit, changing colors or something!
I put the finished set of cards with envelopes in this cool paper box I picked up at Borders for $3.95. I didn't really plan it, but the colors in the box pattern are pretty much replicated on the cards inside. I tied the box closed with a piece of sparkly white organdy ribbon. The recipient of the gift was thrilled.

Playing catch-up

Now that the Caardvarks 10-day 10k and Amuseapalooza contests are done, I've taken a couple days' break on stamping! Work has been quite hectic already this week and it's only Tuesday! Anyway, during the challenge-a-thon, I made a couple of other things, but didn't post them here, so I'm getting caught up today! The first card, above, was for Karen's weekly inspiration challenge. The inspiration piece was a Christmas gift box. Karen's trying to get us to jump-start our Christmas cardmaking, I think! Anyway, I stamped the pine boughs (from Peaceful Wishes) on glossy paper using forest green stazon, then applied some highlights using crayon. I stamped the snowflakes (from Snowflurries) in Versamark, then embossed with white EP. I then sponged sage shadow and so saffron ink over the entire image. I finished the image by dusting some Brilliance gold ink over the top with a sponge for a little sparkle. The sentiment is tied with white organdy ribbon in a bow on one side and a pair of gold jingle bells on the other.
Above are a pair of ATCs (artist trading cards, measuring 2.5 by 3.5 inches) I made to fill a RAK request. These were my first ATCs and the theme was Asian, so I used my favorite artfully Asian set. Both are black bases, with pieces of Kimono patterned paper. The white card is the AA cherry blossom branch watercolored with greens, pink and red on shimmery paper. I finished it with some black satin cord. The green card is glorious green with the sentiment and leaf images stamped in versamark and embossed in gold. I painted inside the leaves with my Ranger perfect pearls and an aquapainter and finished the card off with gold cord. I hope the recipient enjoys them. I found ATCs challenging because you are trying to accomplish a "wow" card in a much smaller space. It was fun, though.

A*muse*A*Palooza

With the Caardvarks 10K now over, I decided last night to catch up on some challenges for Amuseapalooza. The first card, above, is for the Keep it Simple challenge. The idea is to make simple, clean cards. I used my A muse small skinny oval stamped in Cameo Coral to make a flower, using my stampamajig to line up, as best I could, all the petals. In the center of the flower is a Prima and a black brad. The sentiment is also from A muse and is stamped in black Stazon. The image panel is stamped on shimmery white cardstock, then layered on black and apricot appeal. I've always wanted to do this with my A muse oval, and I'm glad it turned out so well!

The second challenge was to use brand new stamps! I don't have any of the latest A muse stamps because no one around here carries them. Just by chance, though, I picked up this A muse "You're sweet" sentiment at my local stamp store yesterday. They are going out of business, so everything is on sale - and I love a good sale! But the A muse selection is highly limited. But I found this one, and a cute package of A muse notecards, along with some other goodies to bring home and play with. The card is a quick 3 x 3 out of creamy caramel, with itty bitty backgrounds stamped in caramel on it. The ice cream is a $1 Michael's stamp inked in caramel and colored with retired mint melody and real red. The sentiment is stamped in basic brown. The layers are close to cocoa and mint melody. I finished it with a scrap of brown gingham ribbon. A fun little card!

10-Day 10K finale

The final Caardvarks 10-Day 10k challenge was to Scrao-lift, or CASE (meaning use for inspiration) a card in the Club Scrap gallery by Jen. Club Scrap is the prize sponsor for the event. Here's the card I came up with. I was inspired by the colors, Jen's three image panels, and the embellishments. I started with a basic black card base, added a layer of pink passion ink, then used patterned paper from Doodlebug for two of my three strips. The middle strip is flowers from SU's Delight in Life set inked in pink passion and basic black and stamped on whisper white. The sentiment is from Happy Harmony, inked in basic black with a Delight in life flower in pretty in pink. I cut the sentiment and its layers out with my Creative Memories circle cutter. I finished the card with some matching Doodlebug ribbon, some giant white sequin flowers from Queen & Co. and Bazzill brads in their centers.

This is the finished collection of my Caardvarks 10-day 10k challenge cards. The challenges were a lot of fun and I really ended up with quite a variety of cards to use in the future. My stash is definitely replenished now. I did complete all 10 challenges, too! The only card missing is my Six Shooter card found here. I really did not like the final result on that card, so I took the pieces apart right away in hopes of salvaging them and re-using the pieces on other cards. When I have a remade version, I'll post it here.

Nine time

I'm in the home stretch of the Caardvarks 10-day 10k and I think my stamping mojo disappeared a few days ago! My choices were limited for today's challenge, which calls for a clock on the card front. I only have this one clock stamp - from SU's retired Occasionally set. I keep thinking I'm done with this set and should just get rid of it, then find one reason or another to hang onto it. I even stopped at a local scrap store and Michael's tonight in hopes of finding some clock inspiration, but came up with nothing. So I whipped up this card and the sentiment, from another SU retired set, which goes so well with the clock! Clock is inked in old olive and stamped on vanilla cardstock, then layered on blush blossom and chocolate chip. Sentiment is inked in chocolate chip and stamped on old olive, which is layered on chocolate chip. Card base is blush blossom and patterned paper is Scrapbook walls from Chatterbox. I finished it with a rose colored ribbon and a pair of old olive eyelets. I can't wait to see what the final challenge is. This week has been so much fun, and a great distraction, since I don't have any new SU stuff to play with yet!

Eight is enough...

The week from H*** is finally winding down, and I would celebrate if not for the fact that tomorrow is Friday the 13th! I don't want to jinx myself into any more bad luck! I was so determined to finish out the Caardvarks 10-Day 1oK I paid for overnight shipping on a new A/C adaptor for my computer. I ordered it about 5 p.m. yesterday (PDT) and they shipped it from Ohio to California in time for it to go out for delivery at 10 a.m. (PDT). Of course, they shipped it DHL with signature required, and I wasn't home. Just my luck, right? Well, I got off work early and raced over to the DHL office to pick it up just as they were closing at 5 p.m. and now I am back in business! Woohoo!!!

Today's Caardvarks challenge was to use two ribbons, two circles, two patterned papers and two stamps. This the is card I came up with. Card base is a 4.25-inch square out of pretty in pink. My first stamp was a dot background from the SU Delight in Life set stamped in pink passion ink on the card base. My two patterned papers are from Creative Memories; I cut them in two different sized circles and layered them. The sentiment is my second stamp, a Michael's $1 stamp in pink passion; I used my CM circle cutters to cut it and a layer out. I adhered the two different ribbons with staples, then popped up both circles with dimensionals. I tied the bright pink ribbon (May Arts) in a bow across the top to finish it off. The pinks match much better in real life.

Lucky Seven

Today's Caardvarks challenge is to make good luck cards. I need all the luck I can get right now! My A/C adaptor for my laptop (my only computer) died and I have 20 min. left on battery power - it could be a few days before I can post again. I'm bummed because it may mean not being able to complete all 10 challenges! Waaah!!!!! Anyway, I made this card in about five minutes in hopes of getting it in before tonight's deadline. I'm going to try to recharge my computer at a friend's house if our computers are compatible. They are the same brand, but different model years, so cross your fingers! Card base is real red. Stamps are SU's print pattern and Sincere Salutations and the mini cards are from Jolee's I think. Ribbon is May Arts. Card measures 3 x 3.

Six shooter

This is my sixth card for the Caardvarks challenge. Today's challenge was to make a 6 x 6 card - which is really big! I know this card is kind of hideous - it didn't turn out at all how I'd planned, but my computer is having issues and I might not get a chance to upload and post another one tonight. Since I've completed all the challenges so far, I guess you could say this is my safety card! The colors were inspired by today's color challenge on SCS: green galore, tempting turquoise and real red. The circle stamps are a set called Merry Dots from Hero Arts. I stamped them in various spectrum pads, then clear embossed them. My clear EP is getting dirty, so they have some sparkle to them. The snowflakes are from SU's snowflurries set. I finished the card with some red organdy ribbon and a Making Memories ornament charm. That's all I have for tonight. I hope I'm back tomorrow!

Nine stamps

This week A muse Art Stamps is celebrating A-muse-a-palooza. They had a mini-challenge to day to use nine stamps on a card. That was a real challenge! I can't say this is my best work, but I only own four A muse stamps, and two of them are sentiments, so I had start with the ones I own and work from there. The card base is creamy caramel, and the image is animals from SU's Wild About You stamped on whisper white which is layered on brocade blue and cranberry crisp. The twill is the only embellishment. The nine stamps are: 1) A muse small skinny oval stamped vertically on the card base in creamy caramel (I thought this would look kind of cool, but my image ended up a little big and covered most of it up); 2) linen BG from SU stamped in Basic brown on the card base; 3) elephant stamped in brocade blue, 4) giraffe stamped in more mustard; 5) lion stamped in pumpkin pie; 6) birds stamped in cranberry crisp; 7) A muse large skinny oval in caramel masked as ground for the animals; 8) SU's itty bitty backgrounds stamped in caramel on the ground; 9) sentiment from A muse stamped in basic brown.

Five star

Today's Caardvarks challenge was to use five embellishments on your card. I got home from work late (had to stop at the grocery store), cleaned the kitchen took out the trash, made dinner and finally sat down to work on my card! My inspiration was the little jar of Tres Jolie buttons by My Mind's Eye sitting on my craft desk. So I pulled out a fresh sheet of Tres Jolie paper and some coordinating colors - pale plum, taken with teal and close to cocoa - and got to work. I tried the image one way, didn't like it, then stamped it again to get this one. The flower stamp is from SU's Heartfelt Thanks set, and the sentiment is A muse. I stamped them on shimmery white cardstock for sparkle. The five embellishments are: silver brads, organdy ribbon, silver cord, the MME Tres Jolie buttons, and diamond Stickles (hopefully those count as an embellishment, otherwise I have to go with the white thread I ran through the buttons!). It was a fun challenge and I'm happy with the finished card. Unfortunately, it's already dark outside, so the photo isn't great. But I want to make sure to get the card in by the midnight deadline!

Four Square

Today was the fourth challenge in the Caardvarks 10-Day 10k. The challenge was to use four squares on your card. I made a 5.25-inch square card out of the retired true thyme paper, then adhered four 2.5-inch squares of the retired Holiday Thyme paper to the base. I still had Peaceful Wishes out from yesterday's challenge, so I used it again, with thyme and cranberry ink. The sentiment is MSE. I layered the image on cranberry and thyme cardstock. I finished it off with diamond Stickles on the berries, antique brass brads on the corners and a hodgepodge hardware picture hanger and ribbon on the corner of the image. I got a lot of other stamping done this weekend, as well, but I think I'll save those projects for another day when I'm out of new stuff to share!

Tri This!

Today's Caardvarks challenge was to make a tri-fold card. Beate's weekend challenge on Fresh and Fun was to make a joy-fold card, which is a version of the tri-fold. This week's inspiration challenge on SCS was a blue and green Christmas ornament. That's where this card came from! I made a tri-challenge tri-fold. The card is 5.5 by 4.25, in turquoise, with about two-thirds of the top piece of the card cut off. I put patterned paper from Reminisce on the inside of the card. Then I made a smaller card, I think it measures 3 by 4.25 inches, and adhered the back of that card to the patterned paper. The front of the small card layers over the flap from the card base. The ribbon from American Crafts keeps it closed. The image is the branch from Peaceful Wishes inked in green galore and stamped on shimmery white. The ornaments are the berries from the Peaceful wishes set; I inked them with a marker. The sentiment is from MSE and inked in brilliant blue. The image is layered on green galore before being adhered to the card. I'm having a great time with all these challenges!

Double Take

It's day two of the Caardvarks 10-day 10K. Today's challenge was to make two different cards using the same supplies. I was stuck on this for awhile. I finally pulled out this scrap of Daisy Ds patterned paper and Fluffles and got to work. The card on the left is ballet blue with linen stamped over it. The card on the right is a yoyo yellow base, with the fold at the bottom and the slot punch closure I saw on Jenn Balcer's blog today. Fluffles was stamped in stazon black, and colored with ballet blue, real red, yoyo yellow and glorious green. Each card was finished with the sentiment from Riveting and some gingham and grosgrain ribbon.

Numero Uno

Caardvarks is doing a "10 challenges in 10 days" event, with the first challenge going up today, in celebration of 10,000 visitors to their blog. Today's challenge was to use one stamp on your card, so I pulled out this Hero Arts lighthouse stamp. I originally bought the stamp to make change-of-address cards when I moved to coastal California. It's a lovely stamp, but I don't pull it out very often. The card base is a 5.5 inch square out of cool Caribbean. The patterned paper and the cardstock sticker tab and circles are from Creative Imaginations. The image was stamped on shimmery white cardstock using ultramarine Stazon. I watercolored a bit using bordering blue, vintage violet, night of navy, ballet blue, Caribbean, celery and caramel. I layered the image on ballet blue and celery cardstock. Accessories are shimmery white organdy ribbon and some ballet blue snaps.

Wild About You!

I love this set. I borrowed it from a friend a couple of months ago, and have been using it constantly. I'm hoping if I use it enough, I won't feel the need to buy it myself, but I'm not sure that is working. The first card is for this week's sketch challenge. I used bordering blue, certainly celery and almost amethyst, with designer paper's from SU's Palette of Prints. I'm pretty happy with the card overall, but I'm not in love with the circle sentiment. I think this card will make a great birthday card for a friend whose little girl is turning three in a few weeks.

This group of cards is for the friend who lent me the stamps. I made a card similar to this for VSN a couple of months ago, then sent it to the friend. She really liked it, and asked me to make her a few more. So here they are! I'm going to give them to her when I return the stamps in a couple of weeks. The card base is whisper white and cut to make a 5.5-inch square card. The images are stamped on white, then colorblocked on black. The ink colors are bordering blue, more mustard, pumpkin pie, true thyme and cranberry crisp. I used a sentiment from the retired set Sage Advice - I love that set!

Fall is in the air

Fall is in the air in the Virtual Stamp Night (VSN) forum on Splitcoast. Jumping into fall is the theme for the next big event, scheduled in early September. VSN is one of my favorite stamping events - 45-minute bursts of fast stamping and creativity for two straight days! To keep us VSN junkies happy until September, the coordinators for the next VSN are posting a few advance challenges. The first was to make a card representing your favorite thing about fall. No question, my favorite thing about fall is the leaves changing and the beautiful colors that come out. That's the downside of living in California - no leaf-changing around here! The card base is really rust stamped with flannel plaid inked in really rust. The image panel is glossy white, with the leaves from Artfully Asian in chocolate chip. I did a little crayon resist - drew some highlights with a light colored crayon, then sponged more mustard, pumpkin pie and really rust inks over the entire image. After the ink was good and dry, I buffed off the crayon with a tissue. I layered the image on pumpkin and summer sun cardstock, attached some chocolate chip word window punches with Making Memories brads, added a clip from hodgepodge hardware and tied a couple of ribbons on it. Another Thanksgiving card, all ready to go!

Embracing white

I decided this weekend to embrace the white space on my cards, and not cover or color over the white cardstock too much. Jen del Muro had a challenge on her blog this weekend to use a mostly white card base, but I'm not good at following directions, so instead I used a mostly white main image layered on colored cardstock. I liked the first card so much, I made a set. I may give them as a gift, or use them one at a time, I'm not sure yet. The stamp sets are Artfully Asian and small script; the images are stamped on shimmery white paper with black Stazon ink and watercolored with an aqua painter and ink from the pad lids. I used true thyme, almost amethyst and vintage violet on one, and artichoke, pretty in pink and cranberry crisp on the other. Each white card is layered on black cardstock, then on layers of either pink and cranberry or amethyst and violet. Ribbons are May Arts (black) and SU (cranberry). Sorry about the photo - my camera apparently isn't embracing the white like I am!