Challenges (Variable)

SUOC9 – A shiny new resolution

December 28, 2010 Jentimko 16 Comments

The challenge from SUO Challenges today…Bring on the Bling! Like many of you, the last week has been a bit time-pressed and the upcoming week promises more of the same. With my children happily playing with the new Legos (that I spent much of the weekend building), I managed to get this card done. Now, technically the challenge wanted us to put on the bling with our New Year’s card. My first thought, though, was that I need to keep working toward my stamping new year’s resolution. Yes, I am committing myself to actually SENDING cards….on time. Oh, I know that is just crazy talk but I really want to make a go of it! *smile* So here is my not-so-New Year’s card complete with bling!

Yes, those cool shimmery flower centers are my In-Color Glimmer Brads! I was lucky enough to get these at the Stampin’ Up Regionals I attended in early October and they were demanding some attention. These are the Peach Parfait brads and they sort of have a coppery feel to them. Love them! I put on my Early Espresso Satin Ribbon to add another layer of shine to the card. It was great to pull out the Vintage Vogue set and to use decidedly un-holiday colors (although I did use a piece of Deck the Halls DSP)! The sketch is courtesy of the Operators over at Stampin’ 411, another fantastic layout to work with!

I will be back on Friday for the Stampin’ Addicts Occasions Mini Blog Hop. I can promise you won’t want to miss all the exciting projects sure to be on this hop! Until then, I hope you have a wonderful week and are enjoying time with family and friends!

Stamp: Vintage Vogue; Paper: Peach Parfait, Early Espresso, Whisper White, Deck the Halls DSP; Ink: Peach Parfait, Early Espresso; Accessories: In Color Glimmer Brads, Espresso Satin Ribon, Neutrals Buttons, Sticky Strip (to bunch ribbon), Dimensionals, Sponge Daubers

SUOC8 – Garnet and Gold

December 14, 2010 Jentimko 9 Comments

Ok, it isn’t really Garnet and Gold but when you went to The Florida State University that is what Bravo Burgandy and More Mustard look like to you!! While it wasn’t an auspicious football year, at least we beat the Gators and that is something to cheer for (Gators, please hold your comments…it has been quite a while since we have won!).

Alright, back on task…the challenge this week for the SUO Challenges is Embossing with a Color Challenge: Bravo Burgandy, More Mustard and Very Vanilla. The easiest way I know of to add dry embossing to a project is to pull out the Big Shot and there is no better way to add dimension to a simple layout than using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder! For any new readers, this had been my favorite embossing folder and I have used it heavily since I bought it. You just can’t go wrong with it! I stamped out some leaves from my Day of Gratitude set and stamped them in Mustard and Burgandy. I cut one out and popped it up on Dimesionals and put on a sentiment from the same set.

I tied on the button from the Regals Collection with some thread. I took the thread and colored it with my Burgandy marker to give it that finished look. Amazing how such a small (and easy) detail can complete the coordination!

I don’t know about you but I get so focused on making all my Christmas cards that I forget about all the thank you cards I’m going to need after the holidays! At least one is done now! Don’t forget to go see all the fantastic projects from the rest of the team at SUO Challenges…you’ll be impressed with the wide variety of styles with this color set! The challenge is open for two weeks so you should have plenty of time to join in. Can’t wait to see what you make!

I’ll be back later this week with a beautiful card that I received Australia (imagine my excitement!)!! Until then, have a great week!

Stamp: Day of Gratitude (Holiday Mini); Paper: Bravo Burgandy, More Mustard, Very Vanilla; Ink: Bravo Burgandy, More Mustard; Accessories: Vanilla Satin Ribbon, Regals Designer Buttons, Thread (non-SU)

All products are Stampin’ Up unless otherwise indicated.

Rejoice!

December 13, 2010 Jentimko 14 Comments

Yesterday was Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent. Gaudete is taken from Phillipians 4:4,5 which says, “Gaudete in Domino semper” or “Rejoice in the Lord always”. The third candle in the Advent Wreath is rose instead of purple to signify this attitude of joy. I thought it appropriate, therefore, to make a card expressing this simple feeling. I will post the card first but please continue on to see another wonderful reason for me to celebrate.

This uses the Mojo Monday 169 sketch. It has been forever since I have done this challenge and the rounded corners really step up the layout! I am also participating in The Paper Players Challenge 28 to use a favorite color combination. I’m not sure how to really choose a favorite but I have to say that Early Espresso and Cherry Cobbler have been my go-to colors as I make my Christmas cards this year. Today I added in Crumb Cake but I also love Soft Suede with them. I should be making “easy to duplicate” cards right now but this is what I was inspired to do this morning. I cut the flowers from the Deck the Halls DSP and used more of it as the layers. The Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding makes another appearance and may have a lot to do with my choosing Cherry Cobbler as a favorite! Finally, I used the Splitcoaststamper TLC303 challenge to sponge. I sponged around the flowers and the DSP layers to add some dimension.

Now for the rest of my reason to rejoice. Last week, my oldest son was busy on something when I asked him what he was up to. He said that he was making an Advent Wreath for his room and to wait until he was finished to look. Candles in a little boy’s room concerned me but I waited. Take a look at what he made:

As you can see, he tucked the “flame” behind the candle so that each one could be lit during the correct week. Now why didn’t I think of that??!! Yesterday morning, he came in to tell my husband and I that we needed to come to the lighting ceremony for the third candle in his room. This is what he wrote for the ceremony: “This week is the week of joy. We want to have joy in our hearts. And if you see someone that is lonely, play with them. Why, because they will have joy.” (Printed with his permission) So you see, in this season where it is easy to lose focus on why we celebrate, my son has given me reason to rejoice!! I celebrate the kindness in his heart!

Thanks for joining me today. I’ll be back tomorrow with my first challenge as a design team member with SUO Challenges! I hope that you, too, have many reasons to rejoice this week!

Card: Stamp: All Holidays; Paper: Deck the Halls DSP, Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White (inside); Ink: Early Espresso; Accessories: Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, Neutrals Buttons, Linen Thread, Dimensionals, Corner Punch, Sponges

Wreath: Non-SU construction paper (yes, now I wish I had given him some of my good paper)

All products are Stampin’ Up unless otherwise indicated.

SUO Challenges Design Team

December 10, 2010 Jentimko 6 Comments

You may notice today that I have a new little blinkie on my sidebar. I was asked to be one of the new members of the SUO Challenges Design Team and I couldn’t be more thrilled!! If you are not familiar with the SUO Challenges site, you really should take a look. They post challenges every other Tuesday demonstrating wonderful ways to showcase the fabulous products offered by Stampin’ Up! It isn’t too late to join in the current challenge, SUO Challenge 7 Clean & Simple Christmas Cards. We all have those in our repetoire and I would love to see them (because I still have to finish mine…she says quite selfishly looking for more ideas).

My sincere thanks to the whole team for choosing me to join their ranks. Go take a look at their blogs and you will see some amazing talent!!

I look forward to my first challenge with them starting next Tuesday. Make sure you drop by the challenge site then to see what everyone has to show you! I hope you have a great Friday!

Shimmer rewash

December 6, 2010 Jentimko 10 Comments

I’m back to work on my Christmas cards this week and there were some challenges to get me on track. The first is the SUO Challenge 7 for Clean & Simple Christmas Cards. Over at Splitcoaststampers there are two challenges today, the first is the CAS challenge to use bows and the other is the Technique Lovers Challenge for emboss resist. Finally, Shelli Gardner over at So Shelli asked for techniques as her challenge this month. I have to say that after all the classes I have been having that my creative level is a little low. I’m sure that will be fixed soon enough but I was happy to have a little help from the challenges.

I saw the technique called “emboss rewash” while I was at the Stampin’ Up Regionals in October. Shannon West did a demo of the technique and I loved it! It is a version of emboss resist using watercolor paper and an Aquapainter. You emboss your image and then, instead of sponging, you “wash” the color around the image with your wet Aquapainter and ink. I tried it on today’s card with the snowflake from Snow Swirled. I stamped it in Versamark ink, embossed it with Clear Stampin’ Emboss Powder then washed over my Night of Navy ink. It looks incredibly cool! To add a touch of holiday feel, I then washed over some Frost White Shimmer Paint too. Finally I stamped the words from All Holidays (one of my favorite sentiments for Christmas cards!) in Night of Navy ink. I kept the layout simple and just added my Vanilla Satin bow and a Basic Pearl. I love how the shimmer paint and ribbon make this feel special but that it is really easy to duplicate for a lot of cards! The hardest part of this was getting a good picture since the shimmer kept reflecting back.

I know this picture is a bit dark but I had to take it in shadows so you could see the image. Here are a couple more pictures where you can really see the pearlized look of the Frost White Shimmer Paint.

You can see all the reflection bouncing back in these two pictures. I must say that this card is so much prettier in person!!

Now that I have this one done, I’m off to complete some more. My Advent countdown calendar says 19 days and I have lots more work to do. I will be back tomorrow with the rest of my tags from my class last week. Hope your day is full of Peace, Love and Joy!

Stamps: Snow Swirled, All Holidays; Paper: Watercolor, Very Vanilla, Night of Navy; Ink: Versamark, Night of Navy; Accessories: Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Heat Tool, Frost White Shimmer Paint, Aquapainter, Vanilla Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals, Basic Pearls

All products are Stampin’ Up!

Hoopla Holiday Tree Tags

December 3, 2010 Jentimko 11 Comments

I have decided that I must use the word ‘hoopla’ more since it seems to perfectly describe the feeling I have during holiday preparation. More tags today! This may be my favorite for this year. I used the tree from the Holiday Hoopla set and colored with my Old Olive and Cherry Cobbler markers. The versatility of this set is just wonderful!! And guess what…the Free for All Challenge over at Splitcoaststampers uses songs from the Nutcracker Suite as inspiration. I chose Act 1: Number 1 The Christmas Tree. I love that music and will now be humming it all day!

The tag base is the Two Tags die for my Big Shot and the paper used is the Jolly Holiday DSP from the main catalog. I like that this is so cute but easy enough to make in quantity.

Now that my tags are pretty much done, you can expect to see some more cards in the upcoming days. It is crunch time and I still have some work to do to get my card list completed.

Have a great weekend and take time to enjoy the hoopla!!

Stamps: Holiday Hoopla, Short & Sweet; Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Jolly Holiday DSP; Ink: Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler; Accessories: Big Shot, Two Tags Die, Dimensionals, 1/8″ Vanilla Tafetta Ribbon

All products are Stampin’ Up!

All wrapped up!

November 9, 2010 Jentimko 12 Comments

My planning for my gifts class next week, that is! At least almost all wrapped up. I am so excited to show you my card that is meant to go with the wreath posted here. My initial inspiration for a wreath card came from Cindy over at Heart’s Delight Cards and her delightful work in the Holiday Mini Blog Hop. Her wreath card is just stunning!! After some playing with the idea, I realized that I needed a card that “matched” my wreath a little better. I saw the SUO Challenge 5 for Punch Art and it got me thinking. Here is the card that resulted:

So where, you ask, are the punches?? I am definitely not a punch art talent like so many you will see over on the SUO Challenge page, but I am pretty excited about this. The wreath “form” is made using punches.

You start with a 1 3/8″ Circle Punch and pop your circle out of Always Artichoke paper. Make sure you leave room for the larger punch to go around the circle. Next, center your circle inside the 1 3/4″ Circle Punch and make your ring.

Cut approximately 12 inches of ribbon. This may have to be adjusted based on the width of your ribbon choice. My ribbon is the Always Artichoke Seam Binding which is 1/2″ wide. Next, you attach one end of your ribbon to the back side of your ring. I used Dotto so that I could reposition the ribbon a bit if necessary. Then you just wrap the ribbon around the ring.

In the interest of space, I kept the pictures small but you can see them bigger simply by clicking on them. Once I got all the way around, I attached the end to the back of the wreath with a Mini Glue Dot and trimmed the excess. I put my bow on top of the beginning/end point to cover the overlap.

The layout was still influenced by Cindy’s beautiful card and I used the Heard from the Heart sentiment. I love the message in that one!! I have to show you the wreath and its accompanying card together, of course, so here they are.

See how special it is to make a Handmade Holiday combination?? Stampin’ Up continues to celebrate the idea of the handmade gift with their Holiday Bundles (see sidebar). On that note, Shelli Gardner from So Shelli (and the CEO of Stampin’ Up!, of course) has posted her Creative Challenge for November…Holiday Hellos. I think this card fits the bill perfectly.

I hope you have a great day! Thanks for stopping by! More from the Christmas Gifts Class coming soon!

Stamp: Heard from the Heart; Paper: Naturals Ivory, Always Artichoke; Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke; Accessories: Seam Binding in Cherry Cobbler and Always Artichoke, Mini Glue Dots, 1 3/8″ and 1 3/4″ Circle Punches

All products are Stampin’ Up!

Friends are like pearls…

November 6, 2010 Jentimko 3 Comments

I was so fortunate to stamp with a dear friend of mine while I created today’s card. It was all the more special because she has been very busy lately and I have missed seeing her! She and I have a tendency to love the same colors and papers and we were both working with Deck the Halls today. This seemed the right card to post for the Our Creative Corner Challenge this week “An Attitude of Gratitude”. I am so lucky to have a friend like her and enjoyed the time stamping tremendously!!

There is another challenge today from Splitcoaststampers, their Inspiration Challenge IC257. It is based on the work of Miyuki Sakai which is stunning (I did have to reduce the size of the page to see everything – bottom right corner of your screen). Here is the picture I loved:

I love the holiday feel of it and the little flowers trailing off reminded me of pearls. Then it hit me that good friends are like pearls. They are beautiful when new but get even more fabulous with time. They are precious and timeless! How lucky I am to have a number of friends like this in my life!!

My card started with cutting out the bells and ribbon from the Deck the Halls DSP. I used last week’s sketch from Stampin’ 411. I didn’t meet their deadline but I still wanted to use the sketch. I put the cut out paper on the flip side word paper and love the effect. I added Basic Pearls to the bells and love the result. After I tied the bow, it was missing something so I added some additional pearls to the center. Here is the final result:

I am just in love with this DSP. You should see the cards my friend made…lovely!! Well, I hope you have a great weekend. I’m off to enjoy the VA fall weather.

Stamp: None outside; Paper: Deck the Halls DSP, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Naturals Ivory (inside); Ink: None outside; Accessories: Basic Pearls, Espresso Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals, Thread (to cinch bow)

All products are Stampin’ Up!

Thinking of Saffron and Suede

November 2, 2010 Jentimko 11 Comments

Oh yes, my friends, So Saffron and Soft Suede are gorgeous together!! I wanted a change of pace from the Christmas card mania I have been living in and needed a “thinking of you” card. Actually, my mom was here visiting and she asked to take some cards home. Hmmm…an excuse to stamp with my mom…awesome!! She did attend my Christmas card class too but this stamping was just for her. I pulled up the inspiration challenge from Our Creative Corner this week and saw this lovely picture:

Beautiful, isn’t it? I also used the Mojo Monday Sketch 163. I haven’t done one of those in forever and this is a great one! My new Deck the Halls paper was calling out to be used for a non-Christmas card and my Elements of Style set seemed perfect for the inspiration picture. Take a look:

I stamped the “toile” image on Very Vanilla and did some light coloring with Saffron and Suede ink. I sponged the DSP and the stamped pieces with Soft Suede and pulled the words from my Silhouette Sentiments Hostess set. The Victoria Crochet Trim was a natural fit for this look and I used an Antique Brad to cinch the bow together. This card is perfect for my mom!

Tomorrow I will post another card that we stamped. Thanks for joining me today. Have a great day!

Stamps: Elements of Style, Silhouette Sentiments; Paper: Deck the Halls DSP, So Saffron, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla; Ink: Soft Suede, So Saffron; Accessories: Victoria Crochet Trim, Antique Brad, Dimensionals, Sponges

All products are Stampin Up!

…Fa, la, la, la, la…

October 21, 2010 Jentimko 13 Comments

My thanks to SUO Challenges and Stampin’ Royalty for choosing this wreath as the SUO Top 3 and a Goddess Pick!! All the projects were stunning and I am thrilled to be chosen!

Sing along with me! Deck the Halls with fabric and ribbon, fa la la la la, la la la la!! Or, just use Deck the Halls fabric and Seam Binding ribbon to make something fabulous! Conveniently enough, there are three challenges this week which want you to use fabric or ribbon. The first is the SUO Challenge #4 which asks you to use Fabric or Waffle Paper on your project. The second is from Stampin’ Royalty with the theme Ribbons, Ribbons, Ribbons. Last is WT293 (Ways to Use It) over at Splitcoaststampers. Ever since seeing the new fabric offering from Stampin’ Up, I have had the idea of a wreath spinning around in my head. You must understand that this is significant since I don’t really sew! My mother is a quilter and makes the most beautiful things but…yes, I don’t really sew. That meant my wreath had to be a no-sew project. I had a pretty good idea of what to do for the wreath itself but when I saw these rosette flowers created by Betty at Kitty Stamp, I knew this was the perfect embellishment. I have to make sure that I give credit to my mom. When I first made this, it only had three flowers. I sent the picture to my mom for an honest critique and she told me to add two more for a better balance. She was right, don’t you think??!! I am in love with the clean lines of this wreath!

Here is a close-up of the flowers:

The best part is that I can actually make two of these out of one package of fabric and still have some of the Cherry/Vanilla fabric left for other uses.

This wreath will be part of a gift class I am offering in November. Please forgive me if I hold onto the specifics until that class is over. I can’t begin to tell you how lovely this fabric is in person. In fact, getting this inspired me to finally give in on the Deck the Halls DSP. I know…it is shocking that I held off as long as I as i did! I hope this starts getting you into the spirit of creating and giving your “Handmade Holiday” gifts this season (don’t forget the Handmade Holiday bundles listed on my sidebar)!!

Fabric: Deck the Halls; Ribbon: Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding; SU Accessories: Sticky Pages, 1 3/4″ Circle Punch, Mini Glue Dots; Non SU items: Wreath form, pins

All products are Stampin’ Up unless otherwise indicated.

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