Challenges (Variable)

Take time to remember

May 30, 2011 Jentimko 6 Comments

I want to wish you a very happy and safe Memorial Day! One of the best things we can do as card makers is pay forward with our talents and creativity. One of the best places we can pay forward is Operation Write Home!

They have started a challenge to collect cards during the month of June. Our deployed heroes are requesting cards to send home. What better way to say thank you than to send them some of your beautiful cards??!! All of the information is on their website. Just click the logo above to link right to the page.

This is one of the cards I will be sending in to Operation Write Home to help fill the requests. I pulled out my Vintage Vogue set (one of my favorites) to make this. The layout is basic but the pearls and the popped up flowers give it a special feel. The background paper is from the Elegant Soiree DSP pack and is one of my favorite prints! This is one of those cards that just came together quickly…perfect for donating! If you have lots of cards to send, the team at OWH will be very happy but they will be just as happy to get just a few special creations that are made from the heart. Again, you can read about shipping details (envelopes, tucking, no glitter) at the OWH site.

I am entering this in The Paper Players Challenge this week since their theme is Anything Goes.

I hope that your weekend is wonderful. Please be safe and take time to remember our brave heroes!

Stamp: Vintage Vogue; Paper: Elegant Soiree DSP, Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla; Ink: Crumb Cake, Baja Breeze; Accessories: Baja Breeze Seam Binding, Neutrals Buttons, Linen Thread, Basic Pearls, Dimensionals

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Just because…

May 27, 2011 Jentimko 9 Comments

I feel like lately every card I make has had a purpose, either a class or a design team card. Unfortunately, I haven’t had time to stamp “just because” and I really needed it! I had some time this week to search around some of my favorite sites and I found this great layout from Stampin’ Royalty:

In knew it was perfect for just playing around. I needed a change of color palette so I pulled out my Greenhouse Gala DSP and found just the right print.

I love these flowers and they really demand to be the focal point of a card. This layout really highlights the DSP (although a stamped panel would be beautiful too). I took the bow and words off center which seemed to balance the print better. Not sure why, but making this card made me really happy. It came together quickly and I love the pop of Pumpkin Pie.

I hope you get some “just because” stamping time soon! Thanks for stopping in today. I’m looking forward to a busy weekend…soccer, an 8 year old birthday party and my mom in town! Hope your Memorial Day weekend is happy and safe. Don’t forget to remember this weekend! I’m thankful for those who serve and those who have sacrificed.

Stamp: Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Greenhouse Gala DSP, Pear Pizzazz, Early Espresso; Ink: Early Espresso; Accessories: Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Subtles Buttons, White Baker’s Twine, Dimensionals

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SUOC19 – Decorate it with flowers

May 17, 2011 Jentimko 7 Comments

I guess I took the SU Only Challenge pretty literally today! This card is really covered with flowers. I started with my Greenhouse Gala DSP and used pieces containing the same flower. Then I cut out two butterflies from Pear Pizzazz and Whisper White, stamping the same flower on the Whisper White butterfly in Pear Pizzazz and Chocolate Chip ink. I created the butterfly’s body with the new Baker’s Twine from the Summer Mini.

This was a card we made in my Mother/Daughter stamping class last Friday. We took two layouts and made them each two ways – a mom version and a teen version. It was such fun and the girls really showed their creativity!!

Fighting a stomach thing in my house so this is short and sweet! Hope your week is going well!

Stamps: Friends Never Fade, Short & Sweet; Paper: Greenhouse Gala DSP, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White; Ink: Pear Pizzazz, Chocolate Chip; Accessories: Espresso/White Baker’s Twine, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies Die, Dimensionals

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SUOC18 – Butterflies for you

May 3, 2011 Jentimko 7 Comments

For the next two weeks, SU Only Challenges is all about butterflies!

No better time than now to show you the new Strength & Hope set from the Summer Mini! This butterfly image is beautiful!! I inked him up with Pink Pirouette and Early Espresso Stampin’ Write Markers and stamped him on Whisper White card stock. A little pearl from the Basic Pearls adds just the right touch! The sentiment comes from Elements of Style and is inked in the same colors. Of course, a couple more pearls “had” to be added! This layout comes from my Stampin’ Success magazine. Stampin’ Success is a monthly publication that is sent to every demonstrator and is full of ideas, techniques and sneak peeks of new products! One of the many perks of being a demonstrator!

During the month of May, I will be using a version of this layout to make donation cards in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. It is hard to find anyone who hasn’t been touched by this dreadful disease and I’m so proud to be part of a company who is doing so much to erradicate it! Come back tomorrow and I will show you my donation card and give you more information about Stampin’ Up’s campaign.

For today, just enjoy the beautiful butterflies over at the SU Only Challenges site and then go create your own butterfly magic. I can’t wait to see what everyone makes! Thanks for stopping in today!

Stamps: Strength & Hope, Elements of Style; Paper: Pink Pirouette, Early Espresso, Whisper White; Ink: Pink Pirouette, Early Espresso; Accessories: Circle Punches (1 1/4″ and 1 3/8″), Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Basic Pearls

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Mother’s Day Rose

April 25, 2011 Jentimko 11 Comments

Today I am sharing another card from my class for Those Wonderful Women. This was our Mother’s Day card for the class. It is also for Stampin’ Royalty’s “Let’s Get Wet” watercolor challenge.

I had the hardest time getting a picture for some reason and the rose looks a little splotchy here. It is prettier in person. The coloring from the class participants was absolutely gorgeous! Now this is as close as I come to a CASE (Copy and Share Everything) and I used this lovely card from Renee Van Stralen at Stamping for Sanity. Her card is so stunning! I simplified a little by leaving the back layer as one piece and keeping it monochromatic. I scrunched up the Rose Red Seam Binding behind the rose and added the Rose Red frame layers behind each Very Vanilla panel. The sentiment comes from the Teeny Tiny Wishes word set.

My children have Easter Break this week so my stamping may be sporadic! I also have my stamp clubs and I am so excited to meet with them. The weather here in Virginia finally feels like spring and I am putting in the rest of my vegetable garden over the next couple of days…what fun! I hope your week is fantastic and I’ll see you again soon.

Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Rose Red, Very Vanilla; Ink: Rose Red; Accessories: Rose Red Seam Binding, Basic Pearls Blender Pen, Big Shot, Manhattan Flower Embossing Folder, Dimensionals

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SUOC17 – A butterfly for Mom

April 19, 2011 Jentimko 18 Comments

This week at SU Only Challenges we are making Mother’s Day cards! Now if the special mom in your life is anything like my mom, she saves and loves the cards that are sent. You know what that means, of course. You get to really pull out the stops and make a spectacular card knowing it will be truly appreciated!

I told you last week that I had been playing around with versions of the Beautiful Butterflies die combined with the Elements of Style stamp set. This is really a stepped up version of my butterfly from that post. I started with my gorgeous Presto Patterns DSP and ran it through my Big Shot with the Beautiful Butterflies die. Then I stamped on the two butterflies with the flower stamp. I watercolored in some River Rock and Early Espresso on the stamp image and then sponged on some more River Rock to bring out the pattern of the DSP. A little extra sponging on the edges was done in Early Espresso. I love the soft look of River Rock and how it makes for a non-standard palette so I made that the main color of this card. The sentiment was stamped on River Rock textured card stock and comes from the All Holiday set (I just used a marker on the word I wanted). I stamped the flower image again on the large piece of River Rock to create a toile look.

Next came the ribbon. Sadly, there is no River Rock ribbon right now but I have an easy solution. Make it! It is much quicker to do than I would have ever thought. I took Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon and colored it River Rock with a Stampin’ Write Marker. Then I simply spritzed it with water and blended the ink to look uniform. Let it dry and it is ready to use. This is also a great way to get ribbon in a color that you don’t use very often!

I put a piece of Early Espresso Satin Ribbon under the River Rock ribbon to add the right balance and scrunched the River Rock onto the textured card stock layer. All that was left was adding the final details…an Antique Brad and Basic Pearls. I attached the butterfly together with Crystal Effects so that his wings could look like he is ready to fly.

It is fun to make a card that goes a little beyond on effort…especially for mom! You have two weeks to show us your beautiful creations for Mother’s Day. Convieniently enough, that should give you time to get yours made and in the mail too! This fantastic layout comes from Stampin’ 411, by the way, and I am also entering it into Shelli Gardner’s Creative Challenge this month. After all, April showers bring flowers and the flowers bring butterflies!

Thanks for stopping by today. Make sure you go see the other amazing creations by the SU Only Challenges design team. You will love them!

Stamps: Elements of Style, All Holidays; Paper: Early Espresso, River Rock, River Rock Textured, Presto Patterns DSP; Ink: River Rock, Early Espresso; Accessories: Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies Die, Blender Pen, Sponges, Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon, Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Basic Pearls, Antique Brad, Crystal Effects, Sticky Strip, Dimensionals

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Criss Cross Blossom

April 15, 2011 Jentimko 15 Comments

Whew…yesterday was a busy, busy day for stamping at my house! I had two classes making cards for “Those Wonderful Women” in our lives. One of the cards we made was targeted for younger ladies but with the bright, happy colors, it could be for anyone.

I started with my Brights Designer Paper Pack and chose the polka dots paper in Melon Mambo, Pacific Point and Daffodil Delight. The Basic Black really makes those colors pop so that was my base for the card. The finished card is 4 1/4″ x 4 1/4″. Just perfect for tucking in a gift bag or inside a present box!!

I used my Scallop Circle punch to create the flower on this. Simply punch out one Basic Black scallop circle and two of each color. Crumple them up (yes…just do it!) to soften the fibers of the paper a bit then re-stack them in whatever order you like. Punch a hole through the middle using your Paper Piercing Tool and secure the layers with a small brad (I chose a black brad). Using a little Sticky Strip (or a few Mini Glue Dots), attach a black button in the middle and put it on your card.

The inside of the card pulls right out and has so many fun options. My stampers commented that this would be cute as a party invitation or to hold a gift card. They are so right! I used the flowers from the Apple Blossoms Hostess Set since they match the Scallop Circle flower so perfectly. The sentiment comes from Teeny Tiny Wishes…my go to word set these days, it seems.

I am working on the tutorial with all the measurements. If you would like to get that, leave me a note in the comments and I’ll have it out to you as soon as I complete the final details.

The Pals Paper Arts PPA89 fashion inspiration this week is flowers. Well, I think this happy flower card fits perfectly! I hope your week has been great and that you get to have some stamping time this weekend. Thanks so much for stopping in today. See you again soon!

Stamps: Apple Blossoms (Hostess), Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Brights Designer Paper Pack, Basic Black, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight; Ink: Pacific Point, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight; Accessories: Sticky Strip, Paper Piercing Tool, Scallop Circle Punch, Neutrals Buttons, Neutrals Brads, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Thread (Non-SU)

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Stylish Butterfly

April 12, 2011 Jentimko 25 Comments

I finally got to do a little more stamping yesterday…yea!! Some of it was for a class I am having on Thursday called “Those Wonderful Women” – cards for the women in our lives. I’m not going to show you those quite yet but I did get time to make an extra.

This started with a sketch from the Operators over at Stampin’ 411 and it is another great one to use! I also found out that The Friday Mashup has a Butterflies with Dimension challenge this week. Immediately, my new Beautiful Butterflies die had to come out (why it took so long for me to get this one, I have no idea!). I have been experimenting around with Elements of Style combined with this die with some nice results. It seemed natural to put them together for this one. I simply inked the flower image directly with Baja Breeze and Early Espresso markers and stamped it onto my Naturals Ivory butterfly. The stamped butterfly was attached to the Early Espresso butterfly using Crystal Effects. After it dried, I added the Basic Pearls. The Baja Breeze Seam Binding uses the pulled thread technique to get the scrunching and I layered it over a piece of Early Espresso Satin Ribbon. In person, the Satin Ribbon adds another layer of dimension. The sentiment comes from the All Holidays set and I love how it compliments Elements of Style.

Well, I’m off to do some more preparation for my class. I hope you are having a great week so far. With any luck (and some extra stamping time), I’ll be back tomorrow but you will definitely see me Thursday for another ColorLab Challenge. Thanks for stopping in today!

Stamps: Elements of Style, All Holidays; Paper: Early Espresso, Baja Breeze, Naturals Ivory; Ink: Early Espresso, Baja Breeze; Accessories: Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die, Crystal Effects, Basic Pearls, Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Baja Breeze Seam Binding, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Scallop Trim Border Punch

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SUOC16 – Celebrating Pito

April 5, 2011 Jentimko 7 Comments

It is “Raining Cats and Dogs” at SUO Challenges this week! So that means it is time to celebrate our furry friends and in my house that means Pito.

Pito turns 19 years old in about 2 weeks (talk about perfect timing) and is a sweet old friend. He came to own me when I was stationed in Panama while in the Air Force. Since then, he has been generous enough to adopt my husband and two boys. He takes his job very seriously with the boys and moves from one room to the next at night “putting the kittens to bed”. It was great to capture that time in pictures. Pito has been well known as a fat cat during most of his life but lately he has started to seem thinner and more fragile. My Digital Studio makes it so easy to scrapbook these little moments that will be so important in saving memories! The best part…I started with one of the Sunny Day designer templates.

You can see how I kept the layout and simply changed out elements that fit my theme better. The kitty from Cute Cats worked perfectly in place of the bird!! The more I play with My Digital Studio, the more I appreciate all the options. If you already own it, don’t forget that there is a new update available here.

I am so excited to see all you will create with this fun challenge. Remember you have two weeks for this challenge so there is plenty of time to play!

My nephew is staying with our family this week so there won’t be many posts. I’ll be back on Thursday with the ColorLab Challenge, though. Hope you have a great week!

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Zoo Friends

March 25, 2011 Jentimko 13 Comments

The Friday Mashup team was kind enough to choose me as a Mashup Maven last week so I was able to get a preview of this week’s challenge:

It is an inspiration challenge! How fun! Somehow, when I see the animals together I think of Fox & Friends so that was where I started. I also found a new challenge called Try Stampin’ On Tuesday and they have a fun sketch this week. I pulled out the animals in the set to figure out who I wanted to use and kept thinking about some cute wagons and arks I have been seeing with this set. It was also fun to pull out some colors I haven’t used in a while, specifically Tangerine Tango. This orange was really perfect for the giraffe and I love the paper choices with it in the Brights Designer Paper Pack.

I created the wagon out of 1/4″ strips of Early Espresso and added a little piercing to mimic the hardware on a wagon. A piece of Old Olive was cut to fit behind and I snipped it to look like grass. The handle is simply a narrow strip of card stock with a single scallop from the Scallop Trim Border Punch. Buttons for the wheels were the final touch. I added a little more piercing to the Tangerine Tango panel and to the corner of the image for texture. Finally I punched the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes with the 1 3/8″ x 5/8″ Oval Punch and created a layer behind using the same punch.

Hope you get to play along with this fun challenge. Thanks, again, to the design team for choosing me as a Maven!!

This has been a busy week of posting. I love that I have had the opportunity to show you some different styles! Thanks for joining me again today and I hope you have a fantastic weekend!

Stamps: Fox & Friends, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Play Date DSP, Brights Designer Paper Pack, Early Espresso, Whisper White; Ink: Tangerine Tango, Early Espresso, So Saffron; Accessories: Neutrals Designer Buttons, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Piercing Tool, Mat Pack, Paper Snips, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Oval Punch

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