Stressing Over Distressing

My friend, Tosha, who happens to be our CCEE Stampers' hostess for the month of February, has given us some fabulous challenges this month.  I must admit that this last one had me stressing a bit.  Tosha challenged us to use distressing in our design.  I love the look of distressing that I have seen in many other talented stampers' designs, but it's not my usual style to incorporate into my card designs.  I guess it's just not something that comes to mind when I am creating.  However, that's why these are called challenges!  To make us stretch and go outside our comfort zones.  Right?  Right.

Well, as is quite typical with me, I probably went overboard with my distressing.  I distressed the edges of each piece of cardstock first with my cutter tool.  I then created creases in the background cardstock and sanded them just a little bit. Then I distressed by applying Distress Inks with my blending tool.  I even added a piece of swirls grungeboard that I distressed with my Distress Inks.  Of course, I had to stamp my Rubbernecker collage image before I started any distressing.  I put so much work into distressing various sized pieces of this beautiful designer paper (sorry, I don't know the name of it as I bought it at a garage sale last summer) and kept changing my course of action that I decided to also make a bookmark to go with the card.  See that designer paper as a back board for my photograph?  That is what the designer paper originally looked like before I started distressing it.

Before I applied the flowers, I sprayed Copper Glimmer Mist over the card and bookmark.

Here is a complete list of the supplies I used in my design:

Stamps:  Music Background (SKU 54350); Time Collage (SKU 1611SO) all by Rubbernecker

Cardstock:  Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, designer paper

Inks:  Memento Black, Vintage Photo and Tea Dye Distress Inks

Accessories:  Swirls Grungeboard, MFT Leaves Die-namics, copper brads and cord, peach flowers, Tim Holtz blending tool, eyelet, Cropadile, cutters' tool, Copper Glimmer mist

Please be sure to swing by the CCEE Stampers' blog and see what wonderful creations Cindy, Frances, Tosh, Shirley, and Joanne have created as well as get the details for playing along with us!



Scoring with the CCEE Stampers

Tosha's challenge to the CCEE Stampers this week is to use scoring in our design.  I scored my oval vanilla sentiment panel, the wavy vanilla panel behind the sentiment panel, as well as vertically scored the designer paper in the background.

I clear embossed the Fall Trilogy image (by Rubbernecker), sponged it with Soft Suede and Marina Mist, wiped off the excess ink, and cut it out.

Here's a list of all the supplies I used:

Stamps:  Fall Trilogy #480 (Rubbernecker)
Cardstock:  Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Stampin' Up dp
Ink:  Soft Suede, Marina Mist
Accessories:   ScorPal,versamark, clear embossing powder, heat tool, pearls, crochet trim, MFT jumbo scallop Die-namics, Winged Embosslit, sponge dauber, oval Nestabilities, wavy

If you'd like to play along with us and/or see the cards my friends Joanne, Tosha, Shirley, Frances, and Cindy made, please visit our CCEE Stampers blog.

Have a great day!

Flower Pots

Willow01, aka Charlene, is the Featured Stamper on Splitcoaststampers today, and girl, oh, girl, does she have a fabulous gallery full of fun and cute creations!!  I saw several of her designs that I'd like to case, but, for now, I chose to case her Remember Today card.  As a part of the challenge, we are required to change two or three things from the originator's creation to make it our own.  I changed:

1.  colors
2.  stamps
3.  added button to ribbon treatment
4.  added pots for my flowers

I used my Rubbernecker Create a Garden sets {Create a Garden Set 1 (#512), Create a Garden Set 2 (#513)}, again.  On Friday, I used these sets to create my background designer paper; today, I'm using the sets as the front and center images.  For the sentiment, I used  the Fall Trilogy set (#480).

Using my Stamp-a-ma-jig for every step, I first stamped the flowers pots, which were colored with Copic markers (E43, E35, E47, E08, W3).  I masked the pots and stamped the stems.  My flower images were also placed via the Stamp-a-ma-jig and stamped with Marina Mist and Baja Breeze (Stampin' Up) and Denim (Adirondack).  The stems and leaves were stamped with Certainly Celery (SU), outlined with Old Olive, and shaded with a blender pen and reinker.  I used Butterscotch (Adirondack) to stamp the dots over the flower images.   I distressed the edges of the cardstock with Tea Dye Distress Ink (Ranger).

For my gingham ribbon treatment, I threaded twine through my chocolate brown button and tied it around the ribbon to gather it.  I adhered my ribbon with X-Press It tape, trimming off the excess to align it with the edge of the cardstock.

Purple Rose

Happy Friday, everyone!

Congratulations to Bev Barton, our new reigning Queen for the Day this week, on Splitcoaststampers! I chose Bev's beautiful Gratitude card to case.

Things I changed:
1. colors
2. stamped my background instead of embossing it
3. stamps

Enjoy your day, sweet Bev, and thank you for all the inspiration in your wonderful gallery!

This is also for Dawn's Free for All challenge on Splitcoaststampers to give our card the Royal Treatment by using reds/golds/purples in our design. Obviously, I went with purple.  I used all Rubbernecker images to create my own designer paper background, as well as the sentiment    [Create a Garden Set 1 (#512), Create a Garden Set 2 (#513),Garden Phrase Set (#508) ].   The beautiful purple rose is by Prima and was given to me by my friend Joanne (thanks JoJo!)

Embossing Folders

Tosha has challenged the CCEE Stampers to use embossing folders in their designs this week!  I used my hearts (white backboard and white flat base) and dotted swiss (on punched hearts--Stampin' Up heart punch) embossing folders in my sliding pop-up card.  Just click on that link to take you to the tutorial on Splitcoaststampers, if you'd like to make one of these.  They are a lot of fun to make!

I used Stampin' Up's Sweetheart (dotted stem leaves), Think Happy Thoughts (sentiment on flat base) and Amazing to Zany (love you on hearts) stamp sets.  I paired Pink Pirouette on two of my hearts with this mostly Cherry Cobbler card, and I like how the Garden Green complements the Cherry Cobbler.

Be sure to stop by our CCEE Stampers blog to see what Shirley, Joanne, Cindy, Tosha, and Frances made, as well as get the details for playing along with us!

I always appreciate your visit to my blog and hearing what you think!  Have a FANTABULOUS day!

Tea for Two

Congratulations to Lori, aka 3Bugs&Me, on being chosen as today's Featured Stamper on Splitcoaststampers! I chose to case her darling Tea Party card.

Things I changed:

1. color
2. used ric rac punch instead of ribbon
3. use Square Lattice embossing folder for pink panel instead of ribbon
4. added sentiment
5. different bottom border shape

I stamped my teapot from Rubbernecker's Teatime set (#424), masked it, and then stamped the tea bag and tea cup from Rubbernecker's Coffee & Tea Inchies set (#457). Watercolored with SU reinkers and watercolor brush/blender pen. Cut out the image and adhered with dimensionals.

With all the snow and cold here, it was refreshing for me to use some Spring colors in my design today. 

Almost Monochrome Friendship Flower

Happy Friday, everyone! 

Wendy's Free for All Challenge on Splitcoaststampers today is called Almost Monochrome.  These were the challenge rules:

1. You may use either white or vanilla cardstock
2. Plus, you may use ONE neutral (gray, brown, black, kraft, etc.) cardstock
3. AND, you may use ONE other color of cardstock
4. ALL stamping must be in the same color – the main image, background image and sentiment must match

Sound easy?  Not for me it wasn't.  I really had to put some thought into how to do the challenge.  First, I chose my colors of Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, and Kraft.  I then chose my main image, Wildflowers by Rubbernecker (#496-10).  I also wanted to use this Spellbinder's Circles Impressabilities template.

After I stamped my flower, I added more Cherry Cobbler onto it with reinker and blender pen on the tips and center of the flower. I then finger walked the Chicken Wire bg stamp (also by Rubbernecker  (#58-01) over that panel.  The bottom panel was made with Circles Impressabilities. After I embossed the kraft panel, I kept the template in place and sponged Cherry Cobbler ink over the raised portions.  I also made my little brads on the right side of my main image panel using my 1/4" and double circle punches. I covered them with 3D Crystal Lacquer for added shine.  The sentiment is from Rubbernecker's Garden Phrase Set (#508).

Double Embossed Hearts

Gina K has a cool video tutorial on double embossing on the Stamp TV blog so I wanted to try that with this heart image. I stamped the Polkadot Punches heart image in versamark and embossed with black embossing powder. I took my Versamark pen, using the small point tip, to apply Versamark to the small sections of the heart and clear embossed those. Punched out with my SU large heart punch. The center heart is popped up on dimensionals. I applied those to the heart embossed black panel. I stamped the little "Love" heart from I {Heart} Hearts onto Pretty in Pink cardstock and punched with one of the trio heart punches. I attached this heart to my gingham ribbon with pink embroidery thread.

Please scroll down to also see the Work Those Punches heart card I made for our CCEE Stampers challenge today, too.

Okay.  I gotta go for a walk now.  I've been sitting at this computer for far too long today.

Work Those Punches!

Tosha is the February hostess for our CCEE challenges and for this first Thursday in February she has challenged us to use a punch or punches (not die cuts) in our design.  I used the following punches for my Valentine card:  heart trio, heart, word window, modern label, and corner dimple.

I stamped the trio hearts images in Regal Rose ink onto Pink Pirouette cardstock.  After I glued my hearts from the heart trio punch on the white background, I ran it through my Big Shot with the dotted swiss embossing folder to make it appear like the hearts are a part of the white cardstock.  I probably should've used the square lattice embossing folder as I think it achieves the effect I wanted better than the dotted swiss embossing folder I used, but I still like it.  I hand cut the "Friend" heart and adhered it to the Rose Red heart that I punched with my large heart punch.

My sentiment was computer generated and punched with the word window punch and adhered to the Rose Red modern label punch cardstock.  I finished off my card with the pink heart brad just above the sentiment.

If you'd like to play along with us and/or see the cards my friends Shirley, Frances, Joanne, Cindy, and Tosha made, please visit our CCEE blog.

42,000 Cherries for Shari

42,000 cherries is what Bertie and I are bringing to the tea party today!!! You know what else comes with cherries, Mudder? Yup. Cherry pits. Bertie challenges you, da Mudder, to a cherry pit spittin' contest and anyone else who wants to play! We can pile them all up and use 'em fer flingin' later. Woo-hoo! Come one, come all. We're meetin' up by the back door under the cherry tree.

Yessirreee, I have 42,000 cherries on this card made for Shari. Shari is undergoing treatment for breast cancer and could use some cheering up.

This cherry image is by DeNami Design and happens to be an image I bought while visiting da Mudder in Colorado a few years ago.  We went to a stamping expo and DeNami Design had a huge booth there.  It was my first time seeing their stamps, and I was overwhelmed by the thousands of stamps they had.   I loved them, too!  Because of that trip and buying the stamp there, it's even more special for me that I can use this particular cherry image for Mudder's niece, Shari.  I colored my cherries with Copic markers, cut them out, and lacquered them. There are even cherries on what looks to be solid black cardstock. They are black embossed on the Rockabilly dp, but they're hard to see in the photo.

If you'd like to see the inspiration teapot, get the full story, and play along with the Teapot Tuesday challenge, you can get all the details by clicking on my link within.