Challenges (Variable)

Poppies for the Freaks

July 21, 2012 Jentimko 6 Comments

Today is the last day of Convention…how did the time fly by so fast??!! I want to share another swap card with you. This one was for a Control Freaks swap. I know you know the “Freaks” since they are some of the most amazing stampers. I still have to pinch myself when I realize that I get to share cards with them.

I knew that I wanted to use the flowers from Pleasant Poppies again for this swap. In fact, I have wanted to use this direct marker technique on the poppies since I first spied this set in the catalog. I simply love the pop of color against a Crumb Cake background (as evidenced by my pins in Pinterest). I started by stamping the flowers with Versamark and then embossing with White Stampin’ Emboss Powder. Then I colored with a Melon Mambo Stampin’ Write Marker and went back to highlight with a Raspberry Ripple Stampin’ Write Marker. The stems were colored in Lucky Limeade. I just love the Framed Tulips Embossing Folder and how it sets off a focal image so I thought it would be a nice addition to the monochromatic layers. I finished it off with a bow made from Crumb Cake Seam Binding and some little tags made with the Jewelry Tag Punch. The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

This fabulous new set has so many possibilities and I can’t wait to continue trying new ways to color it. Shelli Gardner, the CEO of Stampin’ Up, has her New to You Creative Challenge and I’m going to enter this one there.

So remember yesterday when I said that I felt like a groupie at a rock concert?? Well let me show you why. Take a look at the first picture on this link to Lyssa Zwolanek’s blog, Song of My Heart Stampers. Yes, it is me!! Ok, it is me with Lyssa and Cindy Elam (my roommate here and fellow SUO Challenges team member). Lyssa is one of the most generous stampers and was selected for the prestigious Founder’s Circle this year. So great to see such an amazing stamper rewarded for sharing what she loves with such grace!

What a whirlwind Convention has been. I’ll have lots to tell you over the next couple of weeks and pictures to share too! Thanks for dropping by today. See you again soon!

Stamps: Pleasant Poppies, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Crumb Cake; Ink: Versamark, Melon Mambo, Raspberry Ripple, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White Craft; Accessories: Big Shot, Framed Tulips EF, White Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Heat Tool, Crumb Cake Seam Binding, Jewelry Tag Punch

Freshly Made Sketches #44

July 18, 2012 Jentimko 6 Comments

Today is the day!!!! I am at Convention and today is check-in day!! Yippee! I have been looking so forward to this and I can hardly believe it is finally here. It is also Freshly Made Sketches day and Jen Mitchell has brought us a cool layout! At first I wasn’t so sure I would like it but my card came together so easily. Frankly a miracle given the clutter in my brain leading up to Convention.

First the details on the card, then how I came to this design. I started with a Crumb Cake base and using my Simply Scored Scoring Tool, placed two scored lines 3/4″ apart. I added a little Crumb Cake layer between the two scored lines and wrapped black embroidery thread around the panel. This allows you to have the one layer card look and not see the thread when the card is opened. I punched 8 circles — 4 with my 1-3/4″ Circle Punch and 4 with my 2-1/2″ Circle Punch — out of First Edition DSP. On the larger circles I made sure to find some line art so that it would show in the flower. I took each circle and folded it in quarters then glued them to a 1″ circle base using Crystal Effects as the glue. The Crystal Effects holds really well and I only had to glue the corners that came together. This allows for the quartered circles to raise up a bit and give texture. I added a couple of Cherry Cobbler buttons to the centers. The smaller flower is popped up on a Dimensional to allow it to layer properly. The sentiment comes from my new favorite set from the catalog. I know, I know….really?? Your favorite set is a WORD SET??? Well, a good word set is like a great pair of shoes. It makes everything look better! This is one of those sets that has three always needed sentiments and is just the right size.

Now, I was a little worried about getting this card done last weekend. I am on reserve (on call) with United this month and I got called to go out on a one-day trip Sunday. I had a REALLY early departure out of Baltimore which is a pretty good distance from my house. I flew to Chicago and then had to ride back to Washington Dulles and be taken back to my car in Baltimore. Yes, this is what the schedulers do to make sure those flights go out on time. Well, I was sitting in the back of the plane on the ride back to Dulles and was next to a man in khaki pants reading a newspaper. I had the sketch with me and was trying to come up with a plan so I could make the card right when I got home. The light bulb came on with the newsprint and the khaki pants. I had wanted to make these flowers but then I knew what colors and paper to use. The card came together so fast when I got home. I love it when that happens! So now you know how I spend layover times and “deadhead” (riding in the back) time…planning the next card.

Ok, enough chatter. Make sure you go check out the cool cards from the rest of the team. Works of art as usual!! I’ll be back tomorrow with one of my swap cards from Convention! I am pre-scheduling my posts but will update with current information if I can.

I am entering this in the So Shelli Creative Challenge for this month, the New to You Challenge. She wants us to focus on our new favorite stamp set and I thought this was the perfect card to share why I love Just For You!

Stamp: Just For You; Paper: First Edition DSP, Crumb Cake; Ink: Stazon Black; Accessories: Circle Punches (1″, 1-3/4″, 2-1/2″), Regals Buttons, Simply Scored Scoring Tool, Crystal Effects, Thread

SUOC49 – Special Thank You

July 10, 2012 Jentimko 2 Comments

Well, I am late on my post and that seems to be how everything is going these days! SUO Challenges has a wonderful theme for the next two weeks…a special thank you card! I always need a thank you card so this one was fun to do!

I just got a pack of the new Flower District fabric. Yes, fabric!! I am not a big seamstress but I just could not resist this fabric!! I just cut a strip of the fabric the long way (about 1″ wide) and rolled it onto a circle cut from Sticky Pages. The sketch comes from the Fall-to layout this week (FTL198). What a great sketch to feature this fun flower! Now I will say that this isn’t necessarily something I would just drop in the mail due to the thickness of the flower but how cool to deliver by hand as a thank you! I have just the recipient in mind!

You’ll be seeing more with fabric from me in the near future but for now it is back to swaps and preparing for Convention. So much stamping to do, so little time!! With any luck, I will have everything photographed and ready for you to see next week while I am gone!

Make sure you stop by the SUO Challenges site to see the wow designs from the rest of the team! See you tomorrow for a card using the latest Freshly Made Sketches layout!

Stamp: Made For You; Paper: Floral District DSP, Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry; Ink: Rich Razzleberry; Accessories: Floral District Fabric, Sticky Pages, Bright Buttons, White Baker’s Twine, Brights Brads

SUOC48 – Bird District

June 26, 2012 Jentimko 4 Comments

I am so excited for you to see what Stampin’ Up Only Challenges has for you this week! A fun theme that we can all join in on….For the Birds! I didn’t realize how many cool birds SU has until I started looking at this challenge. You have almost unlimited style choices.

I chose to pull out Betsy’s Blossoms again since I seem to just be obsessed with this stamp set. The bold images combined with the Floral District DSP are so summer-like! For this one, I also pulled out a brand new toy…um, product…from Stampin’ Up! The Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack (p. 181…go take a look) is awesome! True to Stampin’ Up form, they coordinated this tool with a number of different punches and dies to create a super easy way to add another layer of texture to your projects. I got the new Stampin’ Pierce Mat and Paper Piercing Tool too and they work perfectly! I used the biggest circle template to go around the outside of the 2-1/2″ Circle Punch in the card. I also got out my new Made for You stamp set (p. 44). I think you all know by now how much I love Teeny Tiny Wishes but this set just might give it a little competition. Only three sentiments but the ones I use most often. Perfectly sized for the inside or outside of your cards too. You’ll be seeing it a lot!!

We made this card yesterday with my Hostess Club. It was our first meeting of the Stampin’ Up year and I just love this group. Always a great time!!

Along with the busy flying schedule, I am busily working on a bunch of swap cards for Convention. Yes, I said it, Convention!! I get to go to Stampin’ Up’s annual Convention for the very first time this year!! Yea me!! I’ll be a bit quiet as I work on the swap cards but I’ll have lots to show you once Convention starts. I hope I’ll get to meet some of you there! Thanks for stopping by today. Back tomorrow with a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches. Have a great day!

Stamps: Betsy’s Blossoms, Made for You; Paper: Floral District DSP, Razzleberry, Whisper White; Ink: Lucky Limeade, Rich Razzleberry; Accessories: 2-1/2 Circle Punch, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack, Stampin’ Pierce Mat, Paper-Piercing Tool, Stamp-a-ma-jig

French Foliage Birthday

June 18, 2012 Jentimko 5 Comments

Well, this isn’t a post with new products but it is a post, so I’m happy. I can’t say enough about the cool sketch from Freshly Made Sketches this week and I used it again here. I also wanted to celebrate The Paper Players 100th Challenge. They want you to choose any of their past challenges and play along (not anything goes). I chose challenge #62, a theme challenge – birthdays. This one is near and dear to my heart because I was chosen as Headliner with this card. Being chosen by this group of stampers out of that pool of talent was such a big deal to me and I still remember how excited I was to be selected!

I made a masculine birthday card for a friend of our family turning 40. I turned to a go-to set, French Foliage. Always perfect for a masculine card! I still have some of the awesome Well Worn DSP from last year’s catalog and love it with this stamp set. I let the paper be my guide for colors and stamped leaves in Crumb Cake and Cajun Craze. The circle is punched with a 2-1/2″ Circle Punch and stamped with the background words from the stamp set. Some Linen Thread and a Very Vanilla button are the final touches.

Congratulations to the team at The Paper Players on their great success. Thanks for all the inspiration you have provided to so many!

Back on Wednesday with a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches! I appreciate you stopping by!

Stamps: French Foliage, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Well Worn DSP, Crumb Cake, Cajun Craze, Naturals Ivory; Ink: Crumb Cake, Cajun Craze; Accessories: Linen Thread, Neutrals Buttons, 2-1/2″ Circle Punch, Sponges, Dimensionals

SUOC 47 – Creative Frills

June 12, 2012 Jentimko 3 Comments

Over at SUO Challenges this week we are all about Fancy Frills. Show us you lace, your ribbons and your doilies. Anything frilly and we want to see it!

There must be something about this summer weather that has me working in a “less is more” attitude. I seem to be taking off layers and keeping things a bit simpler. Not always my style but I guess I just have to go with it. Even with this theme I couldn’t seem to get all layered up. Instead I pulled out this beautiful Victoria Crochet Trim and that was my starting point. I also wanted to use this new In Color, Midnight Muse. I am a big fan of Not Quite Navy and Midnight Muse just seems to be a richer, deeper version. I LOVE IT! I also am falling in love with the new ink pad style. There is a learning curve but the coverage when stamping is beautiful. I inked up the butterfly from Creative Elements and stamped it on Naturals Ivory paper, then fussy cut it. The frame from Creative Elements and the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes seem made for each other and I love the proportions. I finished with a Night of Navy button and some Linen Thread. The button isn’t a match but it seems to go.

This is an anniversary card for my husband. We will be celebrating our 11th on Saturday. I hope this isn’t too frilly but he is always a good sport about my cards. Never fear, his gift isn’t the least bit girly! Pretty sure he never reads this but just in case, I’ll hold the details.

A little late on my post today. We are still getting into the summer schedule…aren’t things supposed to calm down??!! The boys are on swim team with practices every morning and this week they have Vacation Bible School. Such fun!

I hope your week is going well. I’ll see you tomorrow with a new card for Freshly Made Sketches! Thanks so much for dropping by!

Stamps: Creative Elements, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Crumb Cake, Naturals Ivory; Ink: Midnight Muse; Accessories: Victoria Crochet Lace, Sticky Strip, Regals Buttons, Linen Thread, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Dimensionals

For Rita – A Surprise Blog Hop!

May 30, 2012 Jentimko 22 Comments

It is Wednesday and that means Freshly Made Sketches has a new challenge for you but we also have a surprise cooked up for our dear friend Rita Wright! Yep, a surprise blog hop in her honor. Conveniently enough the sketch this week is hers (we just turned it into this lovely hop badge).

For those of you who don’t know, Rita is pregnant and getting ready to take a leave of absence from our design team. She is a wonderful stamper but an even more wonderful person! The teams of Freshly Made Sketches and The Paper Players have joined together for this hop. You are sure to be wowed and we hope that Rita sees how much we love and respect her for all she does.

For my card I took inspiration from this post from Rita. The fabrics for little Laila’s quilt are so pretty and I thought this paper from Twitterpated DSP and the images from Joie (SAB ’11, French version) were perfect. Rita, I wish you all the joy that you and your family so richly deserve. Hugs to you, my friend!

If you have been hopping around already, you probably came over from Jen Mitchell at I Create. The next blog on the list is Kathy Tanner at Stamping Still. Here are all the participants:

We have a team blog where we post our pictures and we had to keep the secret so the Freshly Made Sketches team also designed “decoy” cards so that Rita wouldn’t get suspicious. We have all been so excited about the big day on this! Here is my other version of the sketch:

I am so thrilled to be a part of this little party in Rita’s honor. Make sure you drop by Rita’s Creations and leave her a note. You can be a part of the fun too!

Rita’s Card — Stamp: Joie (SAB ’11); Paper: Twitterpated DSP, Daffodil Delight, Basic Gray; Ink: Daffodil Delight, Basic Gray; Accessories: Perfect Pennants Die, Big Shot, 1-3/4″ Circle Punch, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Basic Pearls, Dimensionals

Card 2 — Stamps: Bright Blossoms, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Summer Smooches, Whisper White; Ink: Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo; Accessories: Big Shot, Adorning Accents Edgelits, 1-3/4″ Circle Punch, Neutrals Buttons, White Baker’s Twine

Happy Birthday

May 29, 2012 Jentimko 9 Comments

Nine years ago this morning, I was blessed to become a mom for the first time. How can it be that so many years have passed so quickly??

And now look at him:

Yesterday we celebrated his birthday with his friends and he had a great time. He also had a soccer tournament on Saturday and Sunday. They played 5 games in 2 days and his team won the tournament for the U10 age bracket. Wow, what a weekend! And wow, what tired kids I have.

Here is the card I made him for his birthday. I turned to the Summer Smooches again for the fun colors and patterns. I love how this print goes perfectly with the balloons from Patterned Party! I cut out two of the balloons and popped them up on Dimensionals. The sentiment comes from Up, Up and Away. The font on it is so perfect for kid cards! The sketch on this card is from the oh so talented Margaret Moody and is for the Pals Paper Arts 135 Challenge. Cool sketch, huh??!! I chose the colors from the DSP for the balloon colors. Great DSP really simplifies my stamping, I must say!

Thank you for humoring a proud mom today. I’ll be back in just a bit with a bonus project from Craft Project Central and tomorrow with the latest from Freshly Made Sketches. It is a sketch you won’t want to miss! Thanks for stopping by today!

Stamps: Patterned Party, Up, Up and Away; Paper: Summer Smooches (available Jun 1st), Real Red, Island Indigo, Whisper White; Ink: Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Gray; Accessories: Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Stamp-a-ma-jig

SCIC#54 – Inlaid circles

May 24, 2012 Jentimko 14 Comments

Stampin’ Celebration is back with a new challenge for May. What a fun set of inspiration pictures, don’t you think? I just love all the bright happy colors!

I thought it would be fun to incorporate all the colors into a card using my circle punches and this cool technique. I have seen it called both embedded embossing and inlaid embossing, either seems appropriate. I used every circle punch I have to make this one and just randomly punched the awesome Summer Smooches DSP (available again on June 1st), then played around with the pattern. Once I attached them to a Whisper White layer they were run through my Big Shot using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. I let the one big circle hang over the edge for extra dimension. Then I attached the embossed layer to another Whisper White layer and tied it up with Cherry Cobbler Baker’s Twine. The twine goes really well with the Real Red in the DSP (and also with Cherry Cobbler, of course). I added some little tags using just part of a sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes and the Jewelry Tag Punch. I popped the layer up on Dimensionals and it was done! I liked it so much that we made these at my Customer Appreciation Class last week. They loved it too. Perfect for kids and grown-ups alike!

I was so happy to see Stampin’ Celebration back from their break. Make sure you go visit and give this one a try. You have all month so there is no excuse!!

Thanks for stopping in today. I hope your day is fantastic! See you again soon!!

Stamp: Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Summer Smooches DSP, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive; Ink: Real Red; Accessories: Big Shot, Square Lattice EF, Circle Punches (1-3/4″, 1-3/8″, 1-1/4″, 1″, 1/2″), Jewelry Tag Punch, Cherry Cobbler Baker’s Twine, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals

SUOC45 – Flowers

May 15, 2012 Jentimko 13 Comments

It is May and it is time for flowers! My flowers are blooming in the garden and on my cards too. At SUO Challenges our focus for this challenge is 3-D flowers and you will be amazed by the variety from the design team this week! It will be a little late posting but it will be there.

I just love flowers with dimension on a card and I’m sure you know that I experiment with them all the time. Especially with those made from ribbon!! I found this tutorial on ribbon carnations from Sandra Azzopardi and had to give them a try. My Baja Breeze Seam Binding flower is made exactly like her tutorial and the Crumb Cake Seam Binding flowers are made with about 7 inches of ribbon. Yes…I actually pulled out a needle and thread to make them. If I can make these, you can too! I am in “retired” mode and trying to use up some of the pretty retiring (or retired) papers in my stash. This comes from one of last year’s sets. Originally I had planned to use some Beau Chateau DSP but realized that mine is pretty much gone. If you have some, it would be lovely here! The Ovals Die (retiring) was paired with the Designer Frames Embossing Folder and then I used the Extra-Large Oval Punch to create a raised sentiment. The best part of the flowers is that the rest of the card can be really clean. The flowers do all the work!

I can’t wait to see what you bring to the challenge this week! Make sure you visit the challenge site to ooh and ash over the design team’s work! Back tomorrow with a new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches…it is mine! Thanks for dropping in today!

Stamp: Always Thankful (Holiday ’11); Paper: Soft Suede, Elegant Soiree DSP(retired), Very Vanilla; Ink: Soft Suede; Accessories: Extra-Large Oval Punch, Ovals Die, Big Shot, Designer Frames EF, Baja Breeze and Crumb Cake Seam Binding, Basic Pearls, Needle and Thread

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