Wonderful Wednesday Giveaway - Innovative Stamp Creations

I confess. I love these give aways every week. I have become addicted to them. It is pure joy to work with these wonderful stamp companies and even more joyful to read your comments when you enter. I just love it! I hope you do, too.

Some stamp companies are just outstanding. They provide beautiful images to work with and offer great customer service. Our sponsor this week, Innovative Stamp Creations, is one of those companies. I hope you will join the fun this week and put in an entry for the stamps on the right. There are more than 24 deeply etched images on this sheet! I am sorry for the bad picture -- you can see it better here.

The winner of today's give away will receive the stamp sheet shown plus the card above. This card was made with ISC stamps using the Opalite Color Infusion technique from the February 2008 issue of the Technique Junkie Newsletter. I LOVE this technique! The shimmer is incredible (I am having a hard time letting this card go!).

Here is how you can enter the give away for the card and the stamps:

ANYONE can enter this give away. One entry per person, per give away, please. To enter the give away for today, simply leave a comment on this blog entry telling me that you would like to enter by 11:59pm EST on Friday February 8th. No other entry methods will be included in the give away. If you email me to enter, your entry will NOT be considered a valid entry. When you leave the comment, make sure to put your NAME in the comment -- if you enter your comment as "Anonymous", I cannot give you the prize! Blogger does NOT record your email address for me, so you will need to check back to find out if you have won or include your email address in your comment so that I can notify you. A good way to do this is like so: phuntoon at optonline dot net -- it will help protect your privacy! I will have a random number generator pick one number from the comments to select one winner. Each give-away is separate, so to be eligible for a specific item you must enter that day's contest on the post where it is listed. Enter today -- good luck!I have blog give aways every week -- come play!

OH! One last thing!

ISC has some new stamp images out, too. Here are direct links:
-Estampina
-Textured Backgrounds/Sentiments
-Friendship
**Limited time only ~ SPECIAL offer ~ Mini ScorIt board

From the Garden -- Penciled Twinks...

Didya' ever create a piece and think "NOW WHAT?" Three or four weeks ago, I created the flower with the masked crackle on the piece above using the Penciled Twinks technique from the February 2008 issue of the Technique Junkie Newsletter. It sat there, hovering near - but not quite on - my work area. Kind of in my periphrial vision. The piece was much larger than it is now and I just didn't like all the Ivory crackling.

Today while I was task avoiding another project, I picked this up and started to cut. I decided to trim off the excess ivory using the Out of the Box Technique from the October 2004 issue of the Newsletter. I just paired it with some layers and some Designer paper, and viola! I think it just POPS! And it is even MORE shimmery in person.

Now, to get back to the project I was SUPPOSED to be doing!

Ingredients:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! From the Garden, Crackle BG

Paper: Apple Cider DSP, Gable Green, Basic Black, Vanilla, Natural White

Ink: StazOn Black

Other: Oh wait! I can't tell you that! You can find out if you subscribe!! (I know, how mean is that? I just want to see if anyone actually reads through these ingredient lists!)

Technostamper Sketch 3 - Cracked Glass & Vanilla Double

Happy Monday! Mondays are saved for the Technostamper Sketch Challenge -- this is week #3. I like Mary Jo Price-Williams' sketch so much today that I created TWO!

Today's sketch, shown at the bottom of the post, uses circles as the focal point of the design. In my versions, I used the same Designer Paper (SU Outlaw DSP, retired) and stamp set (SU True Friend) in both designs. I am amazed at how different these two cards look using the same materials!

The circles on the card on the right features Cracked Glass from the February 2007 issue of the Technique Junkie Newsletter. In addition, the sage background is double-stamped using the Vanilla Double technique from the October 2005 issue of the Newsletter. It is subtle in my scan, but it is there.

I apologize to you for the scans rather than pictures. I would have been able to catch more of the cracked glass had I been able to photograph them -- but it is gloomy here again and the low-light and flash were just not cutting it : )

The card on the left uses the Vanilla Double technique for the cocoa brown bottom portion. I think the technique shows up a bit better on the scan with the darker color.

Would you like to play along? Here is the sketch -- have fun!

Ingredients:

Stamps: ©Stampin' Up! True Friend

Ink: Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Vanilla, Sage Shadow

Paper: Outlaw DSP, Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa

Markers: Sage Shadow, Really Rust, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip

Other: Ribbon, Paper Piercer, Brads, Metal Placque (unknown), Circle punches, Label Punch, Decorative Scissors

PS: My spellchecker still does not work!!!! Please excuse my typos...or let me know and I will fix them!

LOOK at what the Technique Junkies did!

The Technique Junkies participated in last week's Technostamper Sketch Challenge #2 -- here is their work!! Today's sketch challenge will be posted shortly...

For Baby...

One of my stamping friends had a baby a few weeks ago, and I haven't mailed her card yet! I am mailing this to her today. This is a stamp from the Sale-a-bration sets that Stampin' Up! is giving away with purchases. I am not a demo, of course, but my wonderful demo (thanks, Dee!!!) sent this stamp along for me to tide me over until I get my order!

Just a little eye candy for a Saturday : )

Ingredients:

Cuttlebug Swirly Embossing Folder

The rest of the ingredients happen to be from Stampin' Up!:

Stamps: So many Scallops, Canvas, BoHo Backgrounds

Ink: Soft Sky, Brilliant Blue

Paper: So Saffron, Brilliant Blue, Soft Sky

Other: Double-stitched Soft Sky Ribbon, Brilliant Blue Marker, Star, Scallop and Circle Punches

The winner of the Flourishes Give Away is...

Anita Van Hal! Congrats, Anita! Your new stamp set and card will be mailed to you on Monday. Have fun with your new Flourishes Stamps!

Blogger's Challenge 32 - Reinker Splash

This week's challenge was to use the Happy Birthday card on the front page of the Stampin' Up! Sale-a-bration catalog for inspiration (shown on the right - click on the image if you would like to see it a bit larger).

I chose to make my card using a Reinker Splash Background from the current February 2008 issue of the Technique Junkie Newsletter. This card is actually very dimensional. Unfortunately, it is very gloomy here today and I had to use a flash, making it hard to get the full dimension that natural light affords.

I made a bunch of these backgrounds -- I am sure you will see them all in the next few weeks : ) I used unconventional colors on these, too -- teal, lavender and burgundy with a hint of Gold.

Make sure to check out the other Blogger's Challenge cards from the artists listed on the left. There are more variations to this layout than most we have done and it is fun to check it out!

Recipe (all items for this card are from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: Always Set

Ink & Reinkers: Bravo Burgundy, Lavender lace, Taken with Teal, Encore Gold

Paper: Glossy White, natural White, Taken with Teal, Bravo Burgundy, Lavender Lace

Other: Brad, Burgundy Grosgrain Ribbon

P.S. The spellchecker is not working, so please forgive me for any typos!