Blogger's Challenge: Red White and Blue

Today's Blogger's challenge was to create something Red, White and Blue. Unfortunately, I am at the bottom of an inspiration hole. I have a deadline Monday for submitting to a magazine I write for and I need to make one more sample for them...and everything I made yesterday hit the trash. Today I woke up thinking I was inspired -- I thought using the sparkle flower from SU's Good Friend set would make a great firework explosion. Alas, I am rushed -- DH wants to paint the kitchen today and I need to go pick out paint colors.

I do have to say, in my defense, that the sparkle thingy does look like fireworks. And the red paper in the background, from The Paper Temptress, looks great. I originally intended to make this a Beaded Window card, too (December 2005 issue of the Technique Junkie Newsletter). I couldn't find any white floss (again, hurried) so I strung my beads on tan -- and when I laid them down, they just looked plain ol' cruddy. Then I dropped the string of beads all over my floor... I also wanted to put a more current "Celebrate" word in there, from SU, but all I could find was this old retired one....I think that threw me off further. The "Happy 4th of July" saying is from Artistic Outpost.

So my card became a drywall-stitched card (April 2009 issue of TJNL). And don't look too close, because it is not a great one at that!

C'est la vie. It is only a card!!! Happy 4th of July to you!

A Shopping Spree for YOU!

Who doesn't love a shopping spree? I know I do! And today's giveaway is for a $20.00 gift certificate from The Paper Temptress!Our card today was made using the Twinkled Stencils Technique (from the June 2009 Technique Junkie Newsletter). The Mermaid and Flora (from Rubber Stamp Plantation) were colored with Copics, and I added little sticker and crystal details to her hair, armband, and ring. I popped this on a piece of Gold Metallic Paper (from The Paper Temptress, of course!). The Twinkled Stencil background is also layered on this luxurious paper! I took a closer picture from the side so that you can see the paper and details better.

One Lucky winner today will be awarded a $20.00 gift certificate (along with the card above) to spend at will from the Paper Temptress website. There are so many wonderful papers to choose from!
To enter this giveaway, leave me a comment and let me know which paper from The Paper Temptress site is your favorite, or which you would like to try. Comments should be left on this blog by midnight Sunday July 5th. Make sure that you leave enough information so that I can contact you to let you know you won. Just a reminder that Blogger does NOT leave me your email address. A great way to do this is to leave your email address in a spelled-out way, such as "p huntoon at optonline dot net." I will use my handy random number generator to pick the winning entry. You do NOT need to be a TJ subscriber to win. Good Luck!

Always Bargello

You know that Rice Krispies Treat commercial where the woman serves the Rice Krispies Treats to her family, but takes a moment to douse her cheeks with flour before leaving the kitchen to signify how hard she slaved to make them?

That is what this technique is like. Bargello. The sweetest little secret anywhere. It is sinfully easy, and can be made from scraps. And it is in the June 2009 Technique Junkie Newsletter. Let me let you in on a secret -- this is one of the easiest -- yet most impactful -- techniques of the issue. You HAVE to try it!

All stamps used are from the Always stamp set ©Stampin' Up.

So come on, Junkies! What are you waiting for? Let's see your BARGELLO!

Weekly Giveaway - Clear Artistic Stamps!

Give me Liberty or Give me death!
I love the 4th of July -- it always fills me with pride to be part of this great nation. Not only that, but I am a sucker for fireworks and barbeque's! Burgers, Beer and Big Booms. Yes!

As we approach the American day of pride in our Independence, it is fitting that we give away stamps to commemorate the occasion! Today's giveaway sponsor is Clear Artistic Stamps.

I combined 3 of the stamps from the sheet of 12 that we are giving away with some Faux Iris Folding stars (June 2009 edition of the Technique Junkie Newsletter). I also used the Drywall Stitching Technique from the April issue of the Newsletter on the card. Here are the stamps for the giveaway:

Remember that there is a 15% discount offered to Technique Junkie Subscribers by Clear Artistic Stamps (just email your order to info@belindalandtroop.com and tell her that you are a TJ member) Also this week Clear Artistic Stamps is having a pre-4th of July Sale and the Holiday Celebration is included at a great price. Just $7.49 for 12 stamps, making them only 63 cents each! How’s that for a Hot Summer Deal? In addition, the Midsummer Mist Paper Collection has wonderful colors for the July 4th Celebration.

When you leave your comment to win this sheet, let me know which of the holidays on the sheet is YOUR favorite and why (I love reading your comments, can you tell?) if you are so inclined.

Whether or not you leave me a holiday message, you can win these stamps and the card by leaving a comment on this post by Sunday, June 28th by midnight EST. Make sure that you leave enough information so that I can contact you to let you know you won. Just a reminder that Blogger does NOT leave me your email address. A great way to do this is to leave your email address in a spelled-out way, such as "p huntoon at optonline dot net." I will use my handy random number generator to pick the winning entry. You do NOT need to be a TJ subscriber to win. Good Luck!

Congratulations to Mary Strauser, the winner of these stamps!

A Dolphin Pyramid!

Some cards take a long time to finish. This was one of those, and not for the reasons you think!

See, I am reorganizing some of my unmounted stamps (it is VERY slow going, since I am trying to fit it in with all the other aspects of my working day and busy home life). I came across this AWESOME image of the frolicking dolphins from Lasting Impressions with Panache and knew that I wanted to color it with Copic Markers.

As I was coloring, I realized that the dolphins would make a great Pyramid card (from teh June 2009 issue of the Technique Junkie Newsletter), so I made three more layers (okay, I cheated a little on the coloring, since I did NOT color the two bottom layers all the way. I only colored them a 1/2" further in than what you could see, but don't tell anyone!). I then carefully cut the dolphins out of the bottom layer (a timesaving cheat!) an made that my top layer.

Believe it or not, this was NOT the time thief! Here was my problem....This image is so full of movement that I just could not find a background to suit it. I spent a HUGE amount of time (time, I might say, that I could have been reorganizing those stamps, LOL) trying to mount this on a background.

I finally settled on a piece of Cuttlebug Highlights (technique from the October 2008 issue of the Technique Junkie Newsletter) because I thought it looked bubbly. It was too much, so I popped on a black panel to make the dolphins the focus. This card is really great in person!

I just had it in my head that the circular part would have made a great top to a jar or altered can or circular tin...I just don't have the time to make one!

Thanks for looking, and for, of course, reading this epic!

Um...Are those roses DEAD?

Yup. Those sure look like dead roses. They started out as sweet as the Yellow Rose of Texas. Call this an experiment gone horribly wrong...

This leads me to my favorite tip of all time: "Never be afraid to experiment. It is only PAPER!" As you can probably imagine, I could paper the walls of a castle in Scotland with my experiments turned bad. Instead, I turned this one into a card. Aren't you lucky that I'm sharing it with you?

So how could this happen, anyway? It all started out pretty innocent. I embossed the flower (embossing folder and stamps by Stampin' Up!) on banana cardstock and cut it out. I wanted to add dimension to the flower, so I outlined it in...brown water-based marker. Uh-oh. Not pretty! So let's spritz it with water and see if we can transfer the color to other parts of the paper...um...not working. Okay, let's just sponge on some brown ink. Finally, Success -- for creating dead roses, that is.

Now some of you are probably wondering WHY in the world I finished the card. Why not just toss the brown abomination and move on? Well...because many times I can transform disasters like this into something acceptable or even better. Not this time! Even with the Torn Frame (February 2009) layered sentiment, stamping in the background, and all the lovely paper piecing, it still looks like....dead roses. You know, the only thing wrong with this whole card is the color choice. The basic layout is fine. so let's try it again, shall we?

Ah. Much better. Pretty in pink. Same layout. This time I used the Vanilla Double Technique on the background from the October 2005 TJ Newsletter, which is on CD4 (Did you know that This CD, which has over 75 techniques on it, is only $11.56 including shipping, for US subscribers?). The same Torn Frames sentiment. I added another layer of cardstock behind the roses, but that was about the only other change. Much better in pink, don't you think?

Ah still, nothing says "I love you" like dead roses.

So, what can I use the brown card for? Should I save it for someone who makes a really bad life choice? Anyone want it?

Thanks for reading today's tome!

About the sweatshirt card..

In response to so many of you who asked, the sweatshirt stamp that I used HERE was from Toomuchfun Rubber Stamps. I picked it up at the Springfield MA stamp show. I just went to their website to pull that link for you -- they have a TON of different stamps like the one I used. It looks like they are changing their shopping cart, so buying from them might be a chore -- I think you might have to contact them directly. Sorry, they are not one of my vendors or advertisers, so I can't help with this... good luck, and I would love to see what you create if you are successful in buying them!