Make Mine Pink and Black

I love pink and black together and was thrilled that Cindy Haffner, our CCEE Stampers challenge hostess for April, chose this combination for our color challenge this week!

(click on the photo for a larger view)

I colored the sundae image (by DeNami Design) with Copic markers.  I then dotted the glass with black fine tip marker and covered with Crystal Effects.  For the ice cream, I added a little Icicle Stickles.  The cherry on top is a small Basic Gray Eva button.

I created my own designer paper using my MFT Die-namics flower.  I cut the flowers out of Pretty in Pink and the leaves out of Certainly Celery.  I added 1/4" circle black dots to the center and then added small white circles from my double circle punch to the very center.  I glued these to black cardstock and added white dotting with a Signo Gel Pen.  I then ran this piece through my Big Shot using the Square Lattice embossing folder.  This technique is referred to as Embedded Embossing.  The Square Lattice embossing folder works exceptionally well for this technique as it presses the flowers into the black cardstock.

Other supplies I used are oval Nestabilities, 1/8" thick dimensionals for my oval panel, pink and white striped ribbon, and pink flirty ribbon.

Why not play along with us by pulling out your pink and black and showing us what you've got?  Check out the details for playing, as well as seeing Joanne's, Tosha's, Cindy's, Shirley's, and Frances's designs, on our CCEE Stampers blog!

Thanks for swinging by!  I love your visits and appreciate your comments!

Altered Items

Happy Saturday to you!  I've been busy in my craft room working on altering a couple items this morning.

First up, is a metal tin I colored with Ranger alcohol inks and blending solution.  I used a cotton ball to get good coverage all over.   These inks cover beautifully and dry fast so you're not waiting for your project to dry to finish it.  My Oval All sentiment was colored with Copic markers and accented with Ranger stickles.  I used my Bow Easy to make my bow.  Doesn't this make for a pretty gift-giving package?

Second, is this chest of drawers that I bought at a garage sale several years ago for 25 cents with the intention of decorating it.  I had no idea how stamping on this would turn out, but thought I'd give it a try.  The chest of drawers were originally dark brown.  This chest stands 17 inches tall so it was a little difficult to photograph; therefore, I took several snapshots.

I started by spray painting it with flat white paint and then stamped my flowers using bits and pieces of stamps from Love Without End, Polkadot Posies, and Heartfelt Thanks in Lavender Lace, Elegant Eggplant, and Sage Shadow.  I sponged Sage Shadow onto the drawer knobs and then added a dot of Lavender Lace with a q-tip.  I adhered eggplant and lavender striped designer papers to the side and top shelf punching the edges with a scallop punch.  My five-petal flower punch flower is layered three times with dimensionals and centered with a 1/2" circle punched out of the pretty striped designer paper.  I sponged Elegant Eggplant to the tops of each drawer and around parts of the top of the chest.  Last, I adhered this button at the top.

Here is a side view of the designer paper.  I didn't do it here, but I'm thinking of typing drawer labels to identify the various extra punched scraps I accumulate when I'm working on a project and adhering the labels with maybe the word window punch on the side.

a top view

and a close up of the stamping on the drawers

Day 3 Sneak Peek of Gina K's New Releases!

I am so excited to show you previews of two stamp sets being released by Gina K. Designs August 27! The first set is called Elegant Verses as designed by Nina Brackett. The sentiments are so lovely and are a perfect companion with Nina's Elegant Posts stamp set also available from Gina K. Designs. For my previews today, however, I've paired Nina's sentiments with another stamp set designed by Gina herself called Tropical Blooms. These are solid floral, leaf, and stem images that you can use in so many ways. I've created three cards with three different techniques to show the versatility. However, I'm only going to show you two of the cards for now and save the third one for the release party Thursday night (more details on the release are below).

For my first card, I used the paper tole technique. I stamped the image in each color three times, hand cut them, and then layered them. You know how some images can be so tedious to cut out? Not these! They were quick to do! And isn't that sentiment so perfect with these images? Serene and lovely, I say!



I also sprinkled glitter in the center of each top-layered flower for some added glitz. I love shades of purple and turquoise together. My photo corners were made with the polished stone technique---a tutorial Gina has available on StampTV. Now, if you haven't discovered StampTV yet, please be sure to do so here. It rocks!!!

You can see the layering better in this photo. I absolutely love the dimension of this technique, and it's not too bulky for mailing purposes!



For my second card, I wanted to show how you can also use these images to create your own designer paper, as well as making it the focal point on your card! As you can see, I stamped the Tropical Bloom in various shades of caribbean, turquoise, and teal and then I stamped another one of Nina's Elegant Verses onto the background as well. I stamped and cut out one more bloom, adding some dazzling diamonds to the embossed heat and stick powder, and put a black brad in the center. The black ribbon I used is a luxurious satin and just adds a flair of elegance. I also sponged the outer edges of the card with a sponge dauber.



Here's a close up of the bloom I sprinkled with dazzling diamonds. It's so beautiful and just sparkles in real life.



To see more inspiration with the stamps previewed today, visit Gina's blog, the illustrator of Tropical Blooms as well as Theresa Momber, the illustrator of Autumn Beauty, and Nina Bracket , the illustrator of Elegant Verses.

For even more projects with tonight's two stamp sets, these Senior Design Team Members are participating in previews today: Asela, Carolyn, Cindy, Donna, Emily, Erika Jessica, Kurtis, Lee, Lynn, and Melanie as well as our CenterStage Spotlight Design Team members:Shelly Wilson and Charlene Merrick

Our Release Party starts Thursday night at 7 pm CST. Please join us for contests questions, challenges, lots of chatter as well as a ton more samples shared by the Senior Design team members and our CenterStage Spotlight team too. See you tomorrow night!