TSSC5 & Making a Rub-On Border

This is my challenge card for Mary Jo Price William's Technostamper Sketch Challenge #5. When I first saw the sketch, I just knew I wanted to incorporate rub-ons -- and the long rub-on from Stampin' Up!'s Sale-a-bration packet seemed like a perfect match.



Here is how I created the rub-on border:

First, I stamped the background in the design I wanted, making sure to decorate a much larger area than I actually needed for the border. Then I carefully cut out the rub-on border WITH the non-stick background. When placing the border and rubbing it on, I left a 1/8" border of paper along the widest part of the rub-on to ensure that the entire rub-on piece would have paper behind it. Better to cut it off then not have enough!

To finish the border, I used scissors to cut carefully along the edges, then adhered it to the second piece of cardstock and cut off the excess.

Here is the original sketch if you would like to play along -- Note that the butterfly is NOT part of the sketch! Check out Mary Jo's blog to see the other sketch players and their versions of the sketch. It always astounds me to see so many variations!

Ingredients (all Stampin' Up!):

Sale-s-Bration Rub-Ons, Enjoy Stamp Set, Sanded Background, Barely Banana Ink and Paper, Pretty in Pink Ink and Paper, Chocolate Chip paper, Crystal Flowers from unknown source.

Technostamper Sketch 4 - The Technique Junkies

These cards are from the Technique Junkies as they play along with Technostamper's sketch 4 from earlier this week. Enjoy!

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The winner is...

The winner of the Artistic Outpost Give Away is....Vicki Hawhee! Congratulations Vicki! Your stamps, the card and the Shimmer Sheetz will be mailed on Tuesday.

Blogger's Challenge 34 - Happiness tip

Today's Blogger's challenge was to use the layout on Page 42 of the Stampin' Up! idea book (the HB card) for inspiration. The layout is rather, well, simple, so that left quite a bit for interpretation. My creation uses several of the stamps from the new 9 block Happiness set (formerly one block, see the post below about The Block Guy) .

I was thrilled to find out that the flowers from the Happiness set make a perfect scalloped border when using the round slit punch (shown right). That made me feel even better about breaking up that Happiness block!

The layout for the challenge is below the card ingredients. Make sure to check out the other Blogger's Challenge cards -- the list of players is on my sidebar.

Don't forget to enter the GiveAway for the Artistic Outpost stamps, either! You have until Midnight tonight to enter (Friday, Feb 15th). The details are two posts below this one.

Ingredients:

Stamps: Stampin' Up! Happiness, Noteworthy, Whimsy Wheel

Paper: Pure Pomegranate, Chocolate Chip, Berry Bliss DSP, White

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pure Pomegranate

Other: Pink Grosgrain Ribbon, Brown Prima, Pearl from SU Pretties Kit, Slit Punch, White Gel Pen, Paper Piercer

Happiness and how 1 equals 9

Today's artwork features the Oil Pastel Gesso Technique from the February 2008 issue of the Technique Junkie Newsletter. The stamps used are from the Happiness
Stampin' Up! stamp.

I had been eyeing this stamp for a long time. I knew I wanted to split it up, though, because a stamp like that -- with so much solid space -- is almost impossible to ink properly. I am a big proponent of proper stamp conditioning to get stamps to hold ink and stamp the right way. It is a peeve of mine when there is white where there should be color. Especially on my OWN work.

In order for me to use the stamp unmounted, I would have to peel off the mounting cushion, and I hate doing that. I also know that unmounted straight-line stamps are very hard to use. So what to do?

One day I visited Patty Bennett's blog and she mentioned that she had a resource for wood blocks for this set. I was all over that like butter on toast! So I went to the blog of Mitch Kemp: The Block Guy -- and ordered my own set. I mounted them today and viola! A perfectly inked, perfectly straight stamp! And guess what ladies! He has them on sale now, too. I am not affilitiated in ANY way -- just thrilled with his service. If you have been thinking about doing this at all, I encourage you to email him!

When the set of 9 blocks came in the mail (very fast service!), I immediately went to seperate the stamps. Because some of the images are close to each other, I used a ruler and craft knife first to create guide lines before I used my Kai scissors to cut the rubber.

When done, I carefully used scissors to cut apart the index and adhered them to the blocks (very smooth -- very professional).

Now I have a set of NINE (9) stamps that I will use 9 times as much as the one big honkin' stamp!

The cool thing is that The Block Guy has wood for other sets too -- my next one to mount is the Lots of Thoughts set.

If you order, tell Mitch I sent you!

Giving credit where due...

A few days ago I posted about the Glittery Cuttlebug Technique and couldn't remember where I saw it. I am happy to let you know that the techniques came from Sarah Bevard's delicious blog Craftaholics Anonymous. Thank you for the inspiration, Sarah!

Our techniques are just slightly different -- hers is easier than mine, so try them both out!

Wonderful Wednesday Give away - Artistic Outpost

I am so pleased with the give away today! Our sponsor today is Artistic Outpost -- and the lucky winner will receive the Polaroid Cutie sheet that this card was made from. In addition to that, I will mail the winner one of the pink Shimmer Sheetz that this was made from, along with the card itself.

The technique used on this card was Aged Metal from the February 2008 issue of the Technique Junkie Newsletter. Something about the vintage feel of these stamps just SCREAMED Aged Metal.

Know the best part about this? Artistic Outpost has this sheet of stamps on SALE, too. I just LOVE AO stamps -- they are so unique, deeply etched -- just a joy to stamp with. And Robyn is a Technique Junkie. Life is good : )

Here is how you can enter the give away for the card, the Shimmer Sheetz piece 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 15th. 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!