PPA Challenges

All dressed up

August 20, 2010 Jentimko No Comments

The wonderful team over at Pals Paper Arts have redesigned their website and it looks fantastic. Their challenge this week is “Day into Evening”. First you make a basic card and then you dress it up. Fun! My idea for the dress up was to add a little something to the card…a corner bookmark. For the basic card, I found a cool layout over at Unscripted Sketches (their sketch #67). I missed the deadline but I thought this was worth trying. I pulled out my Friends Never Fade set again and the coordinating Greehouse Gala DSP. Here is the result:

The card itself is pretty basic and would be lovely to send all by itself. But to “dress it up” a bit, I created a surprise when you open it. I found a tutorial over at Splitcoaststampers a while ago for these corner bookmarks and knew that I wanted to try them for my club. I found that the 4″x4″ bookmark they show was a bit too big, so I modified it to 3″ square. After playing with the decoration of the bookmark, my square turned into a 3″x2 5/8″ rectangle. The Espresso piece is 2 7/8″ long which allowed for the perfect scallop with my Scallop Trim Border Punch and the Espresso square (diamond) is 1 1/2″ square. I secured everything on the bookmark with Sticky Strip to make really sure that it stays together. Here is the dressed up inside of the card:

I used this wonderful 1/8″ Taffeta again and it is just the right size for a little addition like this. I’m not sure who will get this card yet but it is nice to have a card with a little present, all in one! In keeping with my Operation Write Home Challenge, I made a second card for my ever growing box of cards to send to our heroes overseas. Thanks for stopping in today. Hope you have a great weekend!

Stamps: Friends Never Fade, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper: Daffodil Delight, Baja Breeze, Early Espresso, Greenhouse Gala DSP, Whisper White; Ink: Daffodil Delight, Baja Breeze, Pear Pizzazz, Early Espresso; Accessories: Scallop Trim Border Punch, 1/8″ Daffodil Taffeta, Sticky Strip, Mini Glue Dots, Dimensionals

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Concord Toile

July 29, 2010 Jentimko 20 Comments

Thanks to the team over at Pals Paper Arts for making my card an Artist Pick this week! I am so thrilled!

I have to admit that the mojo went missing this morning. Maybe it has to do with the fact that my kids were running around and asking all kinds of questions but, hey…that’s what they are supposed to do, right? I tried watercoloring my Elements of Style, embossing the watercolored images, re-watercoloring, sponging…you get the picture. Suffice it to say, there was no image worth saving. That is when I simplified. If watercoloring wasn’t going to work today, it was time to skip it! The big flower stem in the set looks like toile to me and then it hit me. Pals Paper Arts has a monochromatic challenge and the color is PURPLE. Ummm, ok. Well, I have to admit that purple is not a go to color for me. The toile idea and the purple did seem to work though. With all my reservations about purple, the new Concord Crush really is an appealing color. It is so rich and almost dark enough to have a neutrals feel. The OCC Sketch Blog has a great new layout this morning, too:

After the first failures, I was ready to try it again! As soon as I stamped that flower in the Concord Crush, I knew this was going to work! I stamped it on the Concord paper with Craft White and then popped out some butterflies with my Beautiful Wings embosslit. Seems my Big Shot has been getting more of a workout lately!

With the elegance of the toile look, I added some White Organza ribbon. Finally, I wanted to dress up the butterfly so I got the new Basic Pearl Jewels out. These little things are so very cool! Pull them off, stick them on, instant elegance!! Here is the final result:

And here is a close-up of the butterfly:

Details on the butterfly: I attached the Concord little butterfly to the toile big one with a little Dotto along the midde. I cinched the ribbon with some thread and then tied the butterfly onto the ribbon. My original intention was to leave thread antennae so I had a knot at the top of the butterfly. Once I started putting on the pearls, I realized that the thread wasn’t right and trimmed it down. I simply attached the big pearl to the knot…makes it look like I planned it but lucky is better than good sometimes!

The best part about this card is that I have a dear friend who loves purple and has a “significant” birthday coming up. Shhh, don’t tell her that this is her card!! Thanks so much for stopping in today!

Stamp: Elements of Style; Paper: Concord Crush, Whisper White; Ink: Concord Crush, White Craft; Accessories: Big Shot, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, White Organza Ribbon, Basic Pearl Jewels

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Busy, busy, busy…

June 25, 2010 Jentimko 3 Comments

It is official…I have survived the first week of summer break and I’m still able to be awake after the kids go to bed. We have had a lot going on and I have been sadly lacking in my posts. I’m definitely having to adjust to the new schedule!! That said, I have been busily creating but I can’t post it quite yet. I can tell you that I was working with some friends on a special gift for a special someone who is having a baby shower this weekend. I don’t want to spoil any surprises so I will say no more!

Because I was doing the “other” project, I just got around to cards yesterday. Now, this shower is for twins…how fun is that??!! Well, maybe not for Mommy late in the pregnancy but fun for the rest of us!! I did, however, come to the rapid conclusion that most baby stamps use the words “one”, “baby” and other singleton things like that. Not only that, I have virtually no baby stamps (a situation that will be fixed soon after July 1st!). I went to one of my Stampin’ friends and raided her stamp stash. Once home, Margaret Moody and the Pals Paper Arts team saved me once again. They have a sketch challenge this week (PPA48), thank heavens!! As usual, I can’t seem to load their sketch so you’ll have to drop on by and see it for yourself (and give it a try)!! Now that I have my new catalog, I have doubled my efforts to use up old papers. Because the twins are a boy and a girl, this left me room to use pink and blue (I know, pretty traditional but it works). I saw the onesie in A Little Love and knew what I wanted to do! The idea is in no way original but I have never used it and I’m so happy with this card!

I used retired DSP (Bella Birds) with the Bordering Blue and So Saffron strips. The onesies were paper pieced to add a little interest after I colored them with Pink Pirouette – my brand new marker – and Bordering Blue (popped up on Dimensionals). I used the “Welcome” part of “Welcome Baby” from the Short & Sweet set. Finally, I dyed some thread with my Chocolate Chip marker for the clothesline. I must say that this card makes me smile!!

I needed another card for the same shower and turned to the So Many Scallops set (ret, SAB). I love the little baby set in it other than it says “Sweet One”. I used my Pretty in Pink and Bordering Blue markers to fill in everything but the words on the stamp and stamped it first. I cleaned the stamp thoroughly and then inked up the “Sweet” word only. Using my handy-dandy Stamp-a-ma-jig, I put the word right where it belongs. I must say, I’m feeling pretty clever about these modifications (and very sympathetic to parents/friends of multiples when it comes to stamping)! I used last week’s Stamping 411 sketch, SSC156. Take a look at Lee Conrey’s card here and you’ll see my ribbon inspiration for this sketch.

The DSP on this one is from the Sweet Pea paper pack (ret). I used the beautiful White Organdy ribbon and cinched the bow together with a 5/16″ White Jumbo Brad.

Well, these are the cards and I can’t wait to share some of the gift pictures with you! Thanks for stopping in. I hope you have a great weekend!

Card 1:

Stamps: A Little Love (ret), Short & Sweet; Paper: Bella Birds DSP (ret), Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White; Ink: Pink Pirouette, Bordering Blue, Chocolate Chip; Accessories: Stamp-a-ma-jig, Dimensionals, thread

Card 2:

Stamp: So Many Scallops (ret); Paper: Bordering Blue, Whisper White, Sweet Pea DSP (ret); Ink: Pretty in Pink, Bordering Blue; Accessories: Stamp-a-ma-jig, White Organdy ribbon, Jumbo brad, Dimensionals

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Remembering…

May 27, 2010 Jentimko No Comments

As we approach this Memorial Day weekend, my title has two meanings. First and most important, I want to thank those who serve and those who have served our country in the Armed Forces. For the families who have made the ultimate sacrifice, there are no words of gratitude to express my family’s appreciation. While I’m a big fan of cooking out and getting together with family (doing both this weekend), my heart is sad for those whose loved ones are deployed and whose parties will be missing that special somone this year. My own husband is away this weekend but I am so lucky to have him home every couple of weeks or so. I know that he is particularly happy to be able to bring needed supplies to the frontline troops who need them!!

My title, for the second part, is about saving special memories. As we approach the end of Stampin’ Up’s celebration of National Scrapbooking Month, it seemed fitting to post a scrapbook page. This one was created using My Digital Studio. Talk to your demo about it because it is a super program with new “papers”, “stamps”, and “punches” becoming available all the time. I have been working on a scrapbook project (traditional) and have been using some of the designer layouts from MDS as a springboard. Such a time saver!!

The layout today comes from Margaret Moody over at Pals Paper Arts, their challenge PPA44. Go take a look at their wonderful projects using another super-usable sketch! I also used the colors from Diva Coffee Break Designs, DCBD 178. The patriotic colors matched my patriotic sentiment this morning!!

The pictures were taken in the cargo compartment of a C-5 at last year’s Andrews AFB airshow. Jacob just loves that big airplane!!

Thank you for stopping by. Wishing you a safe and happy Memorial Day holiday!!

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A new challenge and an old favorite

May 10, 2010 Jentimko No Comments

I was looking for inspiration for a thank you card today and I found it…times two!! First of all, I found a brand spankin’ new challenge from Stampin’ Celebration! You’ll recognize some of the names and faces, and you’ll be inspired by the fun colors. Just look at this picture:

Conveniently enough, there is a compatible challenge over at Pals Paper Arts (PPA41). For some reason I can’t link the picture so go take a look! I used the colors from Stampin’ Celebration and the cool birds from the Pals to get my card moving along. After I decided on the birds from Of the Earth, I played around with variations of using those squares. As I started putting the card together, I realized that I had settled on a version of the Pals sketch from a few weeks ago (PPA38). Well, a good sketch is one you can come back to over and over!! I used the Melon Mambo DSP from the level 3 hostess set Lovely Flowers. Can I tell you how happy I am that Melon Mambo is staying on as a new core color??!! I’m not much of a pink girl but this pink really works for me!

I’m using this as a thank you card for a friend. I hope she like the happy colors, too! Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you again soon!

Stamp: Of the Earth (hostess); Paper: Lovely Flowers DSP (hostess), Taken with Teal, Melon Mambo, Whisper White; Ink: Melon Mambo, Taken with Teal, Pumkin Pie; Accessories: White Organza ribbon, Playground buttons, thread

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Vogue, in a Cameo performance

April 17, 2010 Jentimko 12 Comments

The wonderful team at Diva Coffee Break Designs chose me as their Featured Artist for this challenge. Thank you so much for the complement!!

Happy weekend, everyone! I hope you are enjoying spring as much as I am. My boys are playing soccer and today is going to be a perfect day to be a soccer mom. Before I’m off to the excitement, I wanted to post this card I made yesterday. Margaret Moody over at Pals Paper Arts has come up with yet another fantastic layout.

I knew this would be the perfect place to pull out my new Presto Patterns DSP and give you a sneak peek. This paper is white with embossed patterns. You get to customize it for whatever colors you want!! How much do you love that??!! The team over at Diva Coffee Break Designs came up with a beautiful color challenge this week and I wanted to give it a try.

Cameo Coral is one of the retiring colors in this year’s Color Renovation so I’m working on using up my extra paper. I started with a base of the Presto Pattern DSP and sponged it with So Saffron. I then sponged the edges in Chocolate Chip and, as a final touch, sprayed on a bit of the Log Cabin Smooch Spritz (also new to the Summer Mini). I thought that Rock-n-Roll would be the perfect technique to use on the Vintage Vogue flowers. First I inked up the flower in So Saffron, then I did a “heavy” roll in the Cameo Coral and finally a “light” roll in the Chocolate Chip. I stamped all three flowers and Spritzed them, too. I cut them out and stitched on the buttons from Button Latte. After a bit more sponging on the flowers and the Cameo Coral squares, I put on the Chocolate Satin Ribbon. These colors are really pretty together and I love the effect of the Spritz.

I can’t wait to hear what you think about the new products! Hope you have a great weekend!

Stamp: Vintage Vogue (Occasions Mini); Paper: Presto Patterns DSP, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Cameo Coral; Ink: So Saffron, Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip; Accessories: Button Latte, Log Cabin Smooch Spritz, Chocolate Satin Ribbon, Sponges, Thread, Dimensional

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The return of River Rock

April 8, 2010 Jentimko No Comments

Well, if you haven’t heard by now, let me be the one to share the great news!! Stampin’ Up is having a Color Revolution and there is quite a shake-up going on. Some of my favorite old In Colors are returning, namely RIVER ROCK!!! Sorry to yell, but I am really, really, really happy about that! I have resisted using River Rock with my Soft Suede (even though they are amazing together) because I had to hoard my River Rock. Well, no more! I can use it with reckless abandon knowing I can get more. Yea! I just received my pre-order for the upcoming Summer Mini (be on the lookout, it starts on May 1st). The first set that simply had to be ordered was Elements of Style. I love it!! There were a couple of challenges that I wanted to try today and the first is the Pals Paper Arts challenge 37, Flowers. Well, Elements of Style is all about flowers so that was easy enough! Now to the layout. I headed on over to the Our Creative Corner Sketch blog for their OCCSC10.

This seemed to have plenty of room for the big flower stamp! I (sadly) don’t have any River Rock ribbon left, so I just did a little piercing in place of the ribbon. I stamped the image with Soft Suede ink on Whisper White and colored in the flowers (using a blender pen) with So Saffron, Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Night of Navy, and River Rock. These are all part of the core colors that are remaining. I distressed the paper and sponged with Soft Suede. The small rectangle was created with the swirl and sponging with Soft Suede. I popped the image panel up on dimensionals then created a matching inside. I did find that flipping the layout worked better for me (it didn’t start that way though!).

I hope you like this as much as I do. Thanks for stopping by!

Stamp: Elements of Style (Summer Mini); Paper: Soft Suede, River Rock, Whisper White; Ink: Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, Rose Red, Night of Navy, River Rock, Soft Suede; Accessories: Piercing tool, Mat Pack, Dimensionals

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Easter lilies

March 23, 2010 Jentimko 4 Comments

I was quite a slacker last week when it comes to posting. Sorry about that! I was madly finishing cards for a Thank You card swap with Stampin’ Addicts. I’ll post that a little later so that I don’t release too much of a spoiler. In my last post I was ready to head out to the garden and that is what I did. My peas and sugar snap peas are planted, along with spinach and some early flowers. Can’t tell you how happy I am about that! Now I am prowling about the garden looking for little green sprouts (that aren’t weeds…ugh!). Such fun! My boys helped me plant some Italian parsley and basil inside so, of course, they are on sprout patrol too. I love this time of year!

My garden lilies are starting to show signs of life and they were part of the inspiration for this card. I used the Pals Paper Arts sketch challenge for the week and turned it. I also wanted to do another Easter card for the Our Creative Corner challenge to create an Easter/spring card. I have been really using this Lovely Flowers (hostess) paper a lot lately. The Rich Razzleberry really is a great Easter purple!! This uses the Fifth Avenue Floral set which will be 20% off in April as part of the Two-Step into Spring promotion.

I watercolored these lilies with Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo and Crushed Curry on the watercolor paper. Don’t forget that you can see the picture larger by clicking on it. Thanks so much for dropping by!!

Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral, Well Scripted (Occasions mini); Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Lovely Flowers (hostess), Watercolor, Very Vanilla; Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Old Olive; Accessories: Vanilla satin ribbon, dimensionals, blender pen

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A great day!

March 12, 2010 Jentimko 13 Comments

My thanks to the OCC Stampers for choosing me as their Featured Designer! Thanks for visiting!

“We shall not forget the accomplishments of our women fliers and their contributions to the fulfillment of our mission. And we shall always keep and remember
the brave heritage of the women who gave their lives.
It is the heritage of faith in victory and faith in the ultimate freedom of humanity.” General Barton Yount, Commanding General, Training Command, Army Air Force, 1944

Yep, in 1944 they were told that their contributions would not be forgotton. But forgotten they were. Now, over 65 years after the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) were disbanded, they were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal!! Finally! It is not because they looked for glory but because they answered their country’s call. They paid their way to training and, after selfless service, paid their own way home when they were done. They passed around a hat when one of their sisters died to ensure a proper burial. They were (and are) proud, brave pioneers that paved the way for many who have followed in their footsteps.

On March 10th, my son and I were there at Emancipation Hall in the Visitors Center of the Capitol Building. The crowd was standing room only and the pride in the Hall was touchable. Our country’s Congressional leadership stood up and told the story of service, professionalism and heroism. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson talked about this being one of the final steps of recognition, likening the WASP to the Tuskegee Airmen and the Code Talkers. Others talked about this being long overdue. Almost too long overdue since only about 300 of the 1,074 are still alive. But the day was not about regret. Instead it was a day of thanks and tribute…beautifully done. I was privileged to be there. The medal itself is fantastic and I am so proud of my Aunt Frances for earning it!!

Frances Rohrer Sargent was in WASP class 43-W-4. After training, she was assigned to Camp Davis Army Air Field, Holly Ridge, NC. She mostly flew tow target missions. An enlisted man would reel out a long sock of muslin on a cable as a target for antiaircraft gunnery practice. She was checked out in 10 different kinds of aircraft. She also did searchlight practice missions which were very disorienting for the pilots. More on this is available in the book Women in the Wild Blue in her own words. This is her WASP graduation photo. Records are kept on the WASP, including oral histories, by Texas Woman’s University.

I owe at great deal of thanks to my cousins for helping my son and I attend. Here is one of the cards I made for them. I started with the Pals Paper Arts challenge 33 using the colors Garden Green, Certainly Celery and Kraft. Using these colors means that it also meets the Stampin’ Royalty “Green” challenge criteria. I used the OCC Weekly Sketch number 6. This uses some retired items but I still love the set Branch Out and it will stay with me as a favorite for a long time! We have a cloudy day so the colors are not quite true. The leaves are Celery and Garden Green.

Now for some pictures from the ceremony…

First, the medal itself.

Next, my son and I with my cousin and the medal!

I hope you can, in some way, share in my excitement over this great event. Thanks for stopping by!!

Stamps: Branch Out (ret), Short & Sweet; Paper: Kraft DSP (Hostess, ret), Garden Green, Kraft; Ink: Garden Green, Certainly Celery, Sahara Sand; Accessories: Twine, Sponges

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Inspiration challenges and a wonderful sketch…

March 4, 2010 Jentimko No Comments

That is what I used today to make a card for the daughter of a dear friend! I started with Marie McClellan’s Inspiration Challenge #5 over at From Combat Boots to Rubber Stamps. Check out the cool color choices in this picture:

I was also thrilled to see that the Pals Paper Arts Challenge this week was a theme challenge. Spring!!! Yep, my last few posts have been borderline obsessive about spring so it is nice to know some others are celebrating it too! The birthday girl is turning three so I went back to the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #58 with the three little squares. My first card with this sketch made me so happy that I wanted to try another. The end result doesn’t look too much like a card for a 3 yo, I’m afraid, but I know her mom will appreciate it (she is one of my loyal group of stampers!). I turned to the Lovely Flowers stamp and DSP again since Marie’s picture had the colors from that paper. And yes, I have made two Rich Razzleberry cards in a row. My color palette must have officially switched to spring!

For some reason, the watercoloring looks washed out in the picture but I can’t seem to get better lighting today. Thanks for dropping by…hope you have a great day!

Stamp: Lovely Flowers

Paper: Lovely Flowers DSP, Basic Gray, Melon Mambo, Whisper White

Ink: Basic Gray, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Going Gray

Accessories: Gray Taffeta Ribbon, Gray Corduroy Buttons, Blender Pen

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