WCMD - Inspiration from around the world at Stamp Nation! Card #1, South Africa

AHH!  They have a whole day set aside for card making?  I had no idea until I joined Stamp Nation.

They're doing world-tour type card making themes over at Stamp Nation this weekend, with inspiration photos from famous places.

My first card is for the inspiration of this photo from South Africa:

While I love the vibrant colors in this, I really wanted something a little more muted- but the high contrast really spoke to me.

I have a seriously limited supply of card-making materials; pretty much just what I've gotten in 4 months of SSS's card making kits, a set of pigment ink cubes, and a rubber stamp I bought for a Mother's Day card for my sister.  I think I've been doing okay with just that, though!

Here's what I made from this inspiration:

I started with a piece of patterned paper (the orange) and used an ink blending tool (the small round one- I love it) to sponge on some Peacock Feathers distress ink at the bottom, hoping it would turn green due to the yellow/orange behind it.  It did!

The horizontal line is a stamp from SSS's "To Thine Own Shelf" stamp set, and the sentiment is from a Hero Arts clear stamp set I picked up at Michael's in the clearance bin. :)

There's clear Wink of Stella on the horizontal bar and the text as well.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, 9/10/14 - Create your own background #5

I wanted to try some second generation stamping for stripes, but I didn't have any long, solid bars.  So, I used the back of the dotted hash stamp that comes in the Happy Mail stamp set from SSS to stamp it in lipstick red.  I love how the line turned out broken and messy looking. :)

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, 9/10/14 - Create your own background #4

This week I'm just not.. loving my creations.  The colors in this one are okay, but I think the green around the butterfly just isn't doing it for me.  You can't tell in the picture, but the butterfly is embossed with clear glitter, and the yellow frame is sparkly too.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, 9/10/14 - Create your own background #3

I wanted this one to be a little more masculine, and I think I did okay.  I love the little enamels on this one.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, 9/10/14 - Create your own background #2

This background happened totally by accident.  I had this (seemingly) great idea to squish my pigment ink pads down on my Moroccan stencil to create this rainbow effect... and it looked terrible.  So, I put the stencil down on a piece of paper to wipe it off.  This happened.  The background is actually the scratch paper I was using to stamp off and do some second generation stamping on the happy mail card (above) .. and it just turn out so neat!  Grey but with rainbow colors.  Perfect.

CP.com Housewarming and Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, 9/10/14 - Create your own background #1

This card is for both SSS Wednesday's Challenge and Catherine Pooler's house warming!

To be honest, I'm not totally in love with this card.  I really wish I'd had some cream colored card stock for the background instead of bright white.  I love the curls, though!

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, card #5

This card is my first use of a stencil with distress ink, and I really like how it came out.  I think if I got a better quality white card stock, it would have turned out even better.

This uses a mounted rubber stamp I got in the clearance bin at Michael's (the flowers), and the sentiment is SSS's Ice Cream Dreams.  This card was created for the Wednesday challenge blog on 9.7.14.

Click here for this week's Wednesday challenge blog!
http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/simon-says-happy-birthday-2/

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, card #4

I like to make bright, happy cards sometimes that are a little over the top in color.  This uses the April 2014 card kit from SSS (the card was created on 9.7.14 for the Wednesday challenge blog), and the stamp set "Watts Up."  I like how it's simple and still eye catching.  The sentiment is white embossed, and though it's hard to tell in the picture, the bulb is clear embossed.

Click here for this week's Wednesday challenge blog!
http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/simon-says-happy-birthday-2/

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, card #3

This card is, I think, my favorite of the ones I made yesterday.  It uses the stamp set "Sending Happy Thoughts," which came with the July 2014 card kit (this card was made on 9.7.14 specifically for the challenge).  I really like how simple this is, and wish the picture came out better.  The silver embossing really likes nice with the blue in person.

This is my 3rd entry for the SSS Wednesday challenge this week.

Click here for this week's Wednesday challenge blog!
http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/simon-says-happy-birthday-2/

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, card #2

This card was created using the SSS July 2014 Card Kit (made on 9.7.14), and the envelopes were cut out of patterned scrapbook paper I got (on sale!) at Joann Fabrics & Crafts.

This is my second entry into the Wednesday Challenge for Simon Says Stamp.

Click here for this week's Wednesday challenge blog!
http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/simon-says-happy-birthday-2/

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, card #1

This card was created with the SSS August 2014 card kit (card created on 9.7.14).  The sentiment is black embossed, and the ice creams are stamped using the "Ice Cream Dreams" stamp set and colored with Crayola crayons!

I just start participating in the Wednesday challenges that Simon posts, so I hope this and the other 4 cards I did are worthy.

Click here for this week's Wednesday challenge blog!
http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge/simon-says-happy-birthday-2/

Birthday card re-do

Wah!

My dog literally ate the last card I made for a birthday, and I'm sort of glad he did.  This one came out much better!

Much, much better.

Here's the old one:

Sympathy card

A client of my company called last week to let us know her dog died (we're in a veterinary-related business, so it was applicable).  I made this card for her, on behalf of the company.

Masculine card (New baby)

This is a "Grats on your new baby!" card... for a guy, that had a boy.  I wanted to make it masculine without using too much black, and I think it ended up looking really nice.

I only used two patterned papers on top of a navy card base, with a simple kraft colored flag for the sentiment.  I really like one layer cards, as much as I love using dimensionals too.

I purposely didn't use my embossing pillow when I did the sentiment.  I wanted it to look a little "dirty." :)

Pigment ink (Birthday card)

I'm new to using pigment inks, and was a little intimidated to try it on patterned paper.  The birthday card I wanted to create started off as "purple, teal, and yellow" in my head.

The result ended up being pretty, I think, even if it's not in my own style.  I really like to create cards for the person I'm going to give them to, to match their personality and style.

I also used a technique here where you use a stamp two or three times before you re-ink it, to get a few different shades from one color.

Suggestions are welcome!

Mother's day card for my friend

I made this card for my friend, who has a very clean and simple style with a little added flair.  Her favorite color is grey, and while I was trying to think of how to make a grey card not boring, I thought... "Hey, I could weave paper, right?" So I did.

I ended up cutting the velum at 1/2", and the patterned paper at 1/4" due to the fact that the end result was going to be a standard 4.25 x 5.5 card.

I covered the four edges of the card base with double-sided tape first, and then used a paper clip to weight down the first strip since I wanted a solid border all around.

Then, I used a small 6" ruler to separate the pieces before I inserted the velum.  This was a lot easier than trying to weave the velum itself, since it's so flimsy.

The end result after weaving.

Then I was faced with the issue of where I was going to put a sentiment, so I made a notched piece of velum that I could sort of weave into the pattern.  I glued the tabs down under the grey paper.

I think the end result turned out pretty cool!  Tell me what you think!

Graduation card

This card, while not my best (done in 24 minutes!), is colorful and cheerful.

If I had more time to complete this project, I would have made the flowers way bigger, and by hand instead of using a punch.

The background was done with an ink blending tool, an ink pad, and a stencil.

 The flowers have a little bit of sparkle, thanks to my Wink of Stella pen.

Mother's day card for my mom

My mother is a very unique person.  She's a hippy at heart, and Wiccan.  She draws peace and strength from the moon, and one of her favorite things are moon flowers.  This card is inspired by those things.

This isn't the best picture because the flash went off, but I love the silver embossing.

Another crappy flash picture, but I handmade these flowers from scratch.  The petals are actually little paper dots that are usually discarded after hole-punching paper.

A better shot of the finished card.  This tree stamp is one of my favorites.

Let me know what you think!

Mother's Day card for my grandmother

My grandmother is affectionately known at "Moner" (muh-ner) within the family, and is a very elegant and extremely southern lady.  I made this card to suit her personality.

I really like the faux-stitching on this one.  I really feel like it's all about the details with cards, and it just looks so nice.

I didn't want a ton of dimension on this one, but I wanted at least a little.  I thought the bow and raised banner were nice little touches of interest.

This ribbon is from American Crafts, and while the ends do need to be sealed with a flame, I love how it looks.  It's the perfect width for cards and comes in a variety of colors.

Tell me what you think!

Hello!

I've had several failed blogs, mostly because I can't be bothered to update them.  I think that might have something to do with the fact that they weren't based on subjects I wanted to write about, but rather I was trying to encourage myself to keep up on those particular parts of my life.

But no more!  I recently got into paper crafting and wanted a space to share my creations.  Not really into scrap booking right now; mostly I'm just creating cards and shadowboxes.  I love this, however, and am really looking forward to getting some advice, suggestions, and helpful comments from other readers!

Please come by and tell me what you think about my latest and greatest creations!

Mother's Day card for my sister

I made this card for my sister.  This year is her first Mother's day!

 This card was made using a variety of techniques, including paper-piecing and stamping (of course!)

I'm not the biggest fan of glitter paper or the chevron pattern, but I really like it as an accent.  This strip matched the flowers so well I just had to use it.

 These little half-sphere beads I got for pretty cheap off of Ebay, and they came from China.  Really cute little accents, and they come in all sizes from 2 to 20mm, and in a rainbow of colors.  I really like them when you want a uniform appearance.

What do you think?  Leave me some feedback!  I'm very open to constructive criticism and suggestions!