A Technique Smorgasbord...

I think I may have gone overboard.

This card has 4 Techniques on it! The Flower is colored using the Penciled Twinks technique from the February 2008 issue of the Technique Junkie Newsletter. That is layered over a Poppin' Rub-ons saying (02-04 issue), which is layered over a Scor-It Faux Grid (8-06), which is layered over the Tres Chic background that was done with the Opalite Direct technique 2-08).

I think I went off the deep end with it. Do you think so?

Stamps: Stampin' Up!

Wonderful Wednesday Giveaway - Flourishes

Everyone loves a Giveaway! This week we are fortunate to give away a beautiful Love Nest stamp set from Flourishes -- just in time for Valentine's Day! This cute set has 24 Acrylic images that are great for Valentine's Day, sending congratulations on a new home, announcing a new address, or anything else celebrating Love.

Along with the set pictured on the left, the lucky winner of this give away will receive the card above. The card uses the perch and birds colored with markers, then layered on a green and gold diamond. The green and gold diamond uses a technique called POUNCING from the brand-stampin' new edition of the Technique Junkie Newsletter that I just took to the post office this morning (subscribers, go take a look! The link is live!).

Good luck to you all! It is a great set and I am thrilled to give it away. Flourishes has great stamps -- go take a look when you have a minute!

Here are the details on how to enter this Give Away:
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 1st. 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!

The winner of this giveaway was Anita Van Hal! Congratulations, Anita!

Technostamper Sketch 2 - Dry Embossed Wash, Faux Denim

Sketch 2 of the Technostamper Challenge by Mary Jo Williams was fun -- a bit more challenging than last week, but I thought the layout was more interesting. My rendition of the sketch uses the Dry Embossed Wash technique on the semi-circle, and Faux Denim on the background of the top layer. Both of these techniques are from the December 2007 issue of the Technique Junkie Newsletter. I also VersaMarked the edge of the blue circle to add glittery translucent embossing powder. Mary Jo's sketch is below -- make sure to check out her blog for the other players!

Stamps: Stampin' Up! Kind Thoughts, Enjoy Every Moment

Paper: SU! Blue Bayou, Natural White, Soft Sky

Ink: Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, VersaMark, White, Night of Navy, Ballet Blue

Other: Water Color Crayons, Gesso, Twill Ribbon, Brads, Kaleidacolor Embossing Powder, Signo White Gel Pen

The Technique Junkies Play along!

Mary Jo Price Williams started a new sketch challenge for Mondays -- and when I posted my card to the Technique Junkie e-group last week, the Junkies decided to play along. These cards are their creations based on last week's sketch. The new sketch for this week will be posted shortly!

Congratulations, Julie Glasgow!

Julie is the lucky winner of the beautiful I Brake for Stamps stamp sheet! Congratulatons, Julie!

Blogger's Challenge, Faux Fabric & a Flower

Blogger's Challenge #31 was to use the Baby card at the bottom of Page 141 in the Stampin' Up! catalog for sketch inspiration. This is my rendition!

The top layer is done using the Faux Fabric Technique from the 12-05 issue of the Technique Junkie Newsletter -- unfortunately it was pretty sunny when I took this photo, so the detail of the Faux Fabric is a little lost.

The flower is from SU's pretty set, and this is how I colored it: I rubbed a Ruby Red ink pad all over it - front and back -- then I used my Aquapainter to move the color around more. After that I placed several dots of Cameo Coral Dye Reinker in the center, and moved that around with the Aqua Painter, too. I zapped it with my heat tool to dry -- and Viola!

I am determined to use up all of the Ginger Blossom Designer Paper. I love the stuff -- and I have a bad habit of not using paper if I love it too much. I decided that every scrap of this was going to be used! I have lots more to go, so I hope you don't get sick of it.

Make sure to check out the other Blogger's Challenge Players cards when you have a chance. Their blogs are listed on my sidebar. What a creative bunch! It is amazing how many variations can come from one layout.

Here are the ingredients for the card, all of which happen to be from Stampin' Up! this time around:
Paper: Ginger Blossom Designer Paper, Ruby Red, Basic Black
Stamps: Artfully Asian, Enjoy Every Moment, Linen BG
Ink: VersaMark, Basic Black
Marker: Cameo Coral, basic Black
Other: Pretties Flower, Black Glitter, Black Grosgrain Ribbon, Paper Piercer, Detail Black Embossing Powder, Sandpaper, Crystal Effects

From the Garden -- Water Color Pencils

I was inspired lately to bring out my water color pencils -- and now I remember just why I love them so much! They are so east to work with -- forgiving, really.

I think this new flower from the Stampin' up! Catalog is just beautiful. It really works well with the technique I posted yesterday -- I have some cards made with it that I will post next week.

This 4" x 8" card opens at the scallop, as you can see from the picture on the right, and the card itself is pieced all the way around it. I really like this card, and the color combination of Artichoke, Rose Red, and River Rock.

Hmmmm I think I have gone a little distress-tool mad...you will have to tolerate me until I get it out of my system!!!

Don't forget to enter yesterday's give away -- you still have until the stroke of midnight tomorrow night to enter.

Wonderful Wednesday Giveaway - I Brake For Stamps!

I am so excited about today's give away - not only because the stamp set is so nice, but because the sample uses one of the new Technique Junkie Newsletter techniques from the not-yet-mailed February 2008 issue of the Newsletter.

Today's giveaway is the pretty rubber stamp sheet below from the Time to Stamp collection from I Brake For Stamps. The sheet has 5 versatile, deeply etched images. The lucky blog winner today will receive the stamp sheet and the card shown.

The card was make using a brand new technique called Penciled Twinks. This technique will debut in the February issue of the newsletter, which will be mailed early next week. Subscribers will have a sneak preview on the website MONDAY!

I can't tell you the details of the technique, but I CAN tell you that this image is shimmery-beautiful in person. My camera just didn't -- couldn't -- catch the reflective glow of this image. I think you get the idea a little on the leaves, but trust me, this is so pretty in real-life! And, of course, since it is a twink technique, it came from the Queen-of-all-that-Shimmers, TJ Designer Kimm Bennington-Thompson. You just KNOW it has to be good!

Okay, here is the stamp set:

And here are the details on how to enter this Give Away:

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 January 25th. 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!

Two more cards to share!

I just can't seem to go to my studio to work on the newsletter these days without getting side-tracked by all the new stamp sets I have down there. I have made a dozen cards in the last few days! I'm having a blast. I have new stamps from Stampin' Up!, I Brake for Stamps, Artistic Outpost, Flourishes, Innovative Stamp Creations, Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, and Club Scrap. Let's just say I am reveling in rubber!

I am sharing two creations today, both using techniques from the most recent Technique Junkie Newsletter issue. The first card uses Stampin' Up!'s Always set on a Faux Denim background. Faux Denim is a December 2007 newsletter technique that was contributed by Ellen Kemper. The heart was stamped on a Simple Sumi (TJNL 10-05 issue) leftover piece I had in my stash, and is really pretty in person!

The second card today is uses the Colorwash Coloring Technique, also from the December 2007 issue of the newsletter. I added Crystal effects to the shell for dimension. The shell stamps are from Stampin' Up!'s new Seaside set. I have a "thing" for shell stamps, and these are some of my favorites, ever!
The Saying is from the Time to Stamp collection from I Brake for Stamps. The shells in that collection are also beautiful.

Okay, that is it for Show and Tell today -- come back tomorrow for the Wonderful Wednesday Giveaway -- and a preview of a technique from the upcoming February 2007 issue of the newsletter.

A new sketch challenge - A Beautiful Thing

My friend Mary Jo Price Williams -- AKA Technostamper -- just started a brand new blogger's sketch challenge, and I am proud to be part of it. I haven't really done many sketch challenges, so this was interesting for me. Watch my blog each Monday for the "Technostamper's Monday Lunchtime Sketch." I hope to participate on as many Mondays as possible. Take a look at Mary Jo's Blog to see who else is participating -- she will have a list posted at noon EST.

Here is the sketch we used for our creations:

I chose to use Stampin' Up!'s stamp set " A Beautiful Thing", along with some of the papers from SU!'s Ginger Blossom Designer Series Paper. I have to say, I just love these papers and the colors...I think they are my all-time favorite SU papers. I distressed the heck out of the papers, added a few layers, and viola!

Thanks for stopping by today! I have lots of stuff to show you tomorrow, too!

And the winner is....

The winner of the Pirate Sweet 'n Sassy Stamp set is Debbie Funnell! Congratulations, Debbie, it will be mailed to you tomorrow!

Blogger's Challenge #31 (and WWFD?)

This week's Blogger's Challenge was to use Real Red, River Rock and Blue Bayou paper to create a card. When I first heard this, I thought: "YUCK!" But I really ended up loving the combination. And when you see the cards from the other players, you will, too!
I started this card early this week and I had it almost complete (everything except the butterfly) by Thursday morning. I wasn't happy with it, though -- it was just missing something. I was thinking about it alot and just couldn't come up with the special something that takes a card to its ultimate appeal factor.
It just so happens that an amazing artist -- Faith Hofrichter -- contacted me this week and offered some of her unbelievable work for my http://www.patstamps.com/ Stampin' Up! gallery. As I was saving her work for the gallery, I kept asking myself: "What Would Faith Do to make this better?" (WWFD) The butterfly was certainly inspired by her gorgeous work. Thank you, Faith! If you get a chance, go to her fabulous blog -- I plan on spending hours there to study her work!

Check out the other Blogger's Challenge Players, too -- you will be amazed at what they have come up with for this color combination. The links are in my sidebar.

All of the items used on this card just happen to be from Stampin' Up!:
Stamps: One of a Kind, Touch of Nature and It's Beautiful Jumbo Wheel;
Boho Blossoms Punch; Real Red, River Rock and Blue Bayou Paper & Ink; Blender Pen; Water Color Pencils; Crystal Effects; River Rock Ribbons

Kind thinking...

I played again yesterday and today with some new sets that I just received from Stampin' Up!. While I was mounting them, I realized that all of the sets I bought are fairly similar -- I guess I really like this style! I am only sharing two today because I am still thinking about using one or two of the best cards I made for a swap I am in later this month. I have to make my mind up soon though, so you will be seeing the one I didn't choose on this blog in a few days. I just can't decide which to use!

The "for you" card above uses Stampin' Up!'s Kind thoughts and One of a Kind sets with SU's new Ginger Blossom Paper.

The Thank You card on the right uses SU's new One of a Kind set, with Berry Bliss paper. I did a little reverse under the circle area, did you notice?

Hmmm...Did you also notice that they are not quite so much of my usual blocky-style? Trying to think outside of the box a little : )

Tomorrow is Blogger's Challenge -- I am putting the finishing touches on my card tonight. Don't forget to sign up for the Giveaway from yesterday's post!

Wonderful Wednesday Giveaway - Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps!

Purses and shoes and flowers, oh my! I love this set from Sweet 'n Sassy stamps! This set -- Trendy Girl #1009 -- comes with 14 stamps -- 5 of them are used on this card.

Can you say CUTE? I think Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps are adorable. It all started when the talented Korin Sutherland was looking for a knight stamp for some invitations she was making and couldn't find what she needed. She decided to draw her own! When she showed other people, she was thrilled to find that other stampers were excited by her designs, and she decided to start her own stamp line called Sweet 'n Sassy stamps.

I am proud to have one of Korin's sets -- A Pirate's Life -- as my first (note, that does say FIRST) giveaway of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. This cute collection, similar to what is shown above, is an acrylic stamp set that comes shipped to you in it's own flexible CD-style storage case. You are ready to ink, matey, when your stamps come in!

The winner of the giveaway will receive the stamp set and card shown at right. Just follow the directions below to win!

ANYONE can enter this giveaway. 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 January 18th. 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 giveaways every week -- come play!

How do you evolve?

I don't know about you, but I am always in a quest to become a better stamper. Like you, I visit blogs, watch artwork in e-groups, and go to a few online galleries when I have time (maybe that is the problem -- I never have time!).

When I first started stamping, I would study the cards that appealed to me -- usually they were from one or two artists -- to figure out what I liked. I would adapt the elements that I liked into my own stamping until my own style developed. A style overhaul is overdue for me -- I am in a design rut!

I have a blocky, sparse style. Too sparse. Too blocky. I have been watching the trends lately, and it seems to be leaning toward a style that is very do-dad-esque. I am not very good at random embellishment placement. Since I received a shipment of stamps, I thought I would give the highly-embellished style ("do-dad style") a whirl.



Well, this is my result (it is much more dimensional in real life). I do like how it came out, but it took me a long time to go from start to finish, and frankly, I just don't have the luxury of that much time usually (I didn't have it today, either, but sometimes you need to throw the clock out of the window and just go with the flow).

I think what I like best about this card is the background. It is a simple random VersaMark resist background. To make it, I randomly stamped the large flower image onto glossy cardstock with VersaMark, then brayered Stampin' Up!'s Pomegranate and Chocolate chip inks over it. To smooth and blend the inks, I brayered over that whole thing with pink ink. After it dried a bit, I swiped over that with a paper towel to remove the ink from the flower (hence, the resist : ). The background was the quickest part!

I lowered the resolution so much on this that some of the details were lost, like the painstaking paper piercing on the edges of the pomegranate and the distressed edges on most of the card. The "one of a kind" saying is also popped.

So what do you think? Was it worth the time I put into it? Should I continue on this quest to upgrade my style or should I just stay the course?

More layouts...

Yes, I scrapped again this weekend, on Friday. More laughter, and more fun! I did finish 8 pages -- and the entire November 2007 Club Scrap kit (Serengeti). I thought I would just post these layouts rather than doing a slide show ( you can click on any of the images to make them larger):

More RAKs...

I hope you enjoy looking at these RAKs as much as I have enjoyed Receiveing them! Thank you to everyone who took the time to make and send me a card:
Lila Holgate
Lisa Somerville
Judi Hays
Anita Faull
Joan Hajek
Manna Caffrey
Kat Merryman
Shelly Banghart
Vicki Allgaier
Mary Garvey
Sharon Bertram
Pam Tiedke
Terri Capobianco

I feel so special to receive such outstanding artwork.

Blogger's Challenge #29 - Two ways

This week's Blogger's Challenge was to use the layout on page 37 from the new Stampin' Up! catalog to create a piece. Personally, I didn't care for the layout...I mean, it looked nice in the catty, but for some reason, I had a hard time with it. I am okay with what I made, although, not over-the-moon!

The first card I made, on the right, uses Stampin' Up!'s "Moose You." (I only thought it right to use SU stuff for the SU challenge). I hated the card at first, but really, as it sits on my desktop, it is growing on me. Well, I couldn't stop there, so I made a second:

So, I cheated on this one...I matted it. The original is not matted, and I think that is what bothers me so much -- it needs a mat! Don't you think the moose card would look better with a chocolate chip border? I do!

In any case, it is good to be back in the Blogger's Challenge this week. Although I had a great holiday season, I do not miss the frenzy at all!

Congratulations, Trina Chinn!

Trina Chinn was the lucky winner of the Artistic Outpost Stamp sheet. Congrats, Trina!

I have new stamps for next week -- and a new company to introduce you to, also!

Hey, how about another giveaway?

I just love Artistic Outpost! Not only are the stamps fun, funky and yet still elegant, they work really well with a variety of techniques. The card above uses a stamp from the Thai Buddha sheet, and is on a Brayered Spots background from the December 2007 Technique Junkie Newsletter. I really like this sheet -- it has images on it that are unique and unlike anything I have in my personal (read: vast) collection. Although the giveaway today is NOT that sheet (it is a different sheet, see below), Artistic Outpost has the Thai Buddha sheet and the Chinese proverb sheet on sale through January 31 for 20% off. I think they are sinfully inexpensive!

Okay, now for the giveaway...
The sheet below will be mailed to the winner of the giveaway...

For today's giveaway, you will receive the gorgeous unmounted stamp set above, plus the card above. The stamps are deeply etched and gorgeous -- all of Artistic Outpost's stamps are! Go take a look at the site when you are done entering the giveaway and take advantage of the sale! Tell Robyn I said "HI!"

ANYONE can enter this giveaway. 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 Thursday January 10th. 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. 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!

My Weekend Scrapfest!

This past Saturday my husband went away for the weekend with my youngest son, and I had a 10 hour scrapfest with my friends. There is nothing like a few good friends, a creative hobby, and alot of laughter to recharge a girl's batteries. It was a productive day, too. The holiday months have been crazy for me and I haven't had any time to scrap for many weeks. As a result, my October, November and December Club Scrap kits have been woefully neglected... I had looked through all of them, but I hadn't done much more.

On Saturday, I dug into the December kit -- rich browns, shimmery blues, coppery-browns, and pure white luscious textured papers. I always find it best to dig into the kit and match up pictures until the papers are depleted (see, that way I don't need to try to find space in my already jammed 12"x12" paper file drawers!).

I used the whole kit on Saturday -- I not only made 8 pages and an 8" x 8" Paris book for my coffee table, I dug into the November kit, and finished three more layouts, too!
I finished 11 scrap pages and made a mini book about Paris for my coffee table. I hope you enjoy them!