Well, didn't think I'd see this stamp set again until December!

Hello!

I really wanted to play along with the Paper Smooches sketch challenge this week, but I struggled big time with it!  Though I really wanted to do something a little outside the box (did you see Savannah's DT card?!! - so cool!), I ended up going pretty simple and basic.  The divided circle reminded me of the ground and the sky.  I decided to make the ground a snowy one and create a little Christmas card scene.  Now, I'm not normally one to make my Christmas cards throughout the year.  Typically I leave it to the last minute and cram everything into December.  But maybe now that I've got one in the stash, I will keep making them throughout the year and actually be prepared for once...maybe!!  If I have any chance at all of keeping up with this, I think the Merry Monday challenge is the place I need to be! 

Here's the card:

I used embossing paste to create the snow, but should have only filled it in a quarter way up the circle (just like the sketch told me to!) - and maybe should have smoothed it out a bit more too (it looks more like icing!).  The top of the circle is vellum, and there is a light blue piece of cardstock behind it to give the look of a blue sky.  For the heart border, I snipped the die to extend it a little further (ie there are no hearts directly behind the snowman).  I used my Wink of Stella pen for the first time to shimmer up these hearts.  Again, very simple.  Just happy that I got a chance to play and that I have my very first 2014 Christmas card made already!

Here's the sketch:

That's it from me!  Hope you are having a good weekend, and getting a chance to be crafty!
Shannon

Purple???

Hello!

"Purple???!!!  What am I going to do with purple??!!!"  That was my reaction when I saw the Casology Challenge for this week.  I just can't seem to work with purple, and I know a lot of you feel the same.  But then I saw Kimberly's card!  You know Kimberly, right?!!  From Wienerhoneymooners?!!  Another awesome blog you NEED to check out!  It is full of inspiration.  She is crazy talented, and crazy artistic with her designs.  So when I saw her card, done in the most beautiful shade of purple ever, I changed my judgy ways!  Purple can be beautiful and fun to work with! 

Here's what I came up with:

It's design that I'm sure you've seen a million times, but hope you like it anyway!  The purple I used: Momento Luxe Lilac Posies.  I really love this shade, almost as much as the shade that Kimberly used - almost!  The stamps are Savvy (wood mount), and the leaves are from a Wplus9 die (how did I go so long without dies?!!).  The background behind the open circle is a PS polka dots stamp, which I repeated a few times and then white embossed.  I did splatter a tiny little bit of the purple onto the polka dots, but it's barely noticeable.  The sentiment is PS - one of their TAM sets from a while ago.

And that's it...it actually came together *relatively* quickly!  Thanks Kimberly and Casology for helping me change my perspective on purple ;) !!

Hope you're having a good day!
Thank you SO much, as always for stopping by to see me!
Shannon

Trying out some water colouring

Hello!

Playing around with backgrounds again, still totally inspired by Joni!  This time I went a little more classy and elegant than my regular style.  I will get straight to it:

Joni posted a video last week showing how she created her own flowers with water colours.  They turned out beautifully.  My attempt, not so much.  But I figured I might have better luck using an image that I could colour in.  So I pulled out one of my favourite old Stampin' Up! images - a somewhat large scale flower, and went to work. 

What you're seeing is my second crack at it.  The first went straight to the recycling bin, with no dinner!  Once I had the water colouring done, I sprayed it with Perfect Pearls to give it a really nice shimmer (although you can't see it at all in the photo).  Next I used one of my Wplus9 heart background stamps and stamped it repeatedly in versamark ink until it filled the panel, then I white embossed it.  I added some splatters with my gold distress paint and finished it off with some vellum die cut leaves (Wplus9) and gold hearts (PS).  The sentiment is Wplus9 as well.

And that's it for me today!
Hope you are having a fabulous day!
Thanks for stopping by - I always appreciate it!
Shannon

I gotta 'nother wanna!

Hello!

I made another card for the Wanna Sketch challenge!  I couldn't resist!

Here it is:

I'm totally into making my own backgrounds right now.  (Although I *should* instead be using papers from the million 6x6 pads I bought - oh well!).  My inspiration: Joni Andaya.   I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again: if you haven't checked out her blog, you NEED to!   My backgrounds don't hold a flame to hers, but I am bursting with inspiration from what she does.   I guarantee she will leave you inspired too.  For this card, I splattered some pink (there I go again with the pink!), yellow and a bit of blue on a white panel.  Then I used Paper Smooches Spring Fling and Calico to stamp the flowers.  Used some yellow distress ink to frame the edges in yellow.  The little chick is also from Spring Fling, and the heart balloon and "celebrate" are from PS Hullabaloo.  The "happy birthday" is from an old Papertrey Ink set I have.

And here, again, is the sketch:

Short and sweet today!!  Hope you are having an awesome day!
Thanks for the visit!
Shannon

Wanna Sketch is back!!

Hello!

So, I've said a few times that I don't really like pink.  And I don't.  So why do I keep making pink cards?!!  Got another one for you today.  This totally pink card is for the Lisa Arana's Wanna Sketch challenge.  After a little break, it's back!!  Yeah baby!!  It's one of my fave challenges, so I had to play along.  I actually started this card last night, with the intention of squeaking it in to the Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes challenge as well, but with the deadline looming, and my droopy eyes getting the better of me, I left the card to finish today, post Sparks deadline.  Oh well, I will try for Sparks this week :)

Here's what I came up with:

I think I got a little carried away with the hearts - there aren't nearly as many in the sketch!  Pretty simple card though and almost all PS, with the exception of the hearts, which are Lawn Fawn.  That little bunny is from PS Spring Fling, and the original image has her holding a sweet little carrot (it's a spring/Easter themed set).  But I wanted to make it a birthday card, so I cut off the carrot and replaced it with a cupcake from the Hullabaloo set.  I ordered this set after I saw Savannah O'Gwynn use this cupcake on the card she made for Carol's birthday in December - ADORABLE!  I also wanted to use embossing paste, tinted in pink, to give the look of *real* icing.  Added a little glossy accents to the cherry, and framed it with the Mama Elephant border die, and that was it.

And here's the sketch:

Come play along with me!  You will love this challenge!  Lisa's sketches are awesome.  They're not intimidating at all (they won't leave you tearing your hair out *trying* to make it work!) and they are a ton of fun to play with.  Here's the link again...promise, you won't be disappointed :)

Thanks so much for visiting me!!
Have a good rest of the day!!
Shannon

I am loving gold!

Hello!

So, I am loving the gold trend.  You can see it in my jewellery (of the *very* expensive costume type) and now you can see it in my card making.  I am loving my gold distress paint, my gold stickles and I just received some gold embossing powder, which I am in love with as well.  And a big reason for this fairly new found love, is Donna Mikasa.  She uses gold in a way that makes your heart skip a beat.  Did you know that Donna is the muse over at Case Study this month?!  It is an absolute treat to CASE her!  I was so disappointed that I didn't get a chance to play along last week, so this week it was a MUST!  The card for this week is an example of the most amazing - and I mean AMAZING - gold embossing I have ever seen.  Pure perfection.  Blended with yellows and pinks...it's a jaw dropper for sure!

Here's my take on it:

I ended up focussing on the colours more than the design.  I used one of my hearts background stamps from Wplus9, and stamped it continuously in light pink distress ink to create the background.  Then I spritzed it with water to get the distress inks running a bit.  After it was dry, I splattered on some yellow distress ink by smearing some ink on a plastic surface, adding water and then using a paint brush to flick it onto the panel.  It is a darker yellow, and almost looks gold itself, but that's okay.  Then I used my gold distress ink to frame it all up.  The angel is from Mama Elephant - she's coloured in Copics.  I LOVE this stamp set, but I wish it came with a "you are my/an angel" sentiment.  Easy fix though...just brought out my Lawn Fawn Milo's ABCs and created my own!  To finish it up, I created a banner, and smeared more gold distress ink over it, then added the PS "thank you".  I really liked the look of the banner - it actually looks like wood veneer!  Weird, huh?!!

And here's Donna's beauty:

I had originally wanted to make it more bold, just like Donna's card.  And I wanted to use my gold embossing powder to do that.  But, I did not realize just how different my golds were!  Um, VERY!  They don't go together, at all!  So after I used the distress paint to frame the base of the card, I was committed to just that gold.  Bringing in the embossing powder, or the stickles was not going to be an option.  But that's okay, I will save them for another card! 

And that's a wrap for today :)  Thank you so much for dropping by!!   It means a lot to me!!!
Shannon

Now that's a little closer to the sketch!

Hello!

You might remember a few days ago I posted a card that looked absolutely nothing like the Unscripted Sketch for this week that I had intended to follow!  I really wanted to try this sketch again, and make something that actually resembled it this time around!  The light bulb went off yesterday, when the new Card Concepts challenge came out.  The challenge was to use texture, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do, using texture to make the Unscripted Sketch work.

Here's what I came up with:

I used my embossing paste, and tinted it with my new Soft Pool Ink (I have been waiting to get this for so long!).  I used the same process to tint the paste as I did when I made this card (third card down in the post).  I noticed that Shari Carroll used the exact same process in a video she did a few days ago for Simon Says Stamp.  If you are interested in seeing how it's done, have a peek at the video.  It is so easy peasy!!  For the circle, I just gathered some twine into a circle and tied a bow at the top.  I've seen this done a few times now, and really love the look.  Especially when you don't want to cover something up, like the embossing in this case.  Then I just added the sweet Mama Elephant image and sentiment, and the card was done!

Here's the Unscripted Sketch (I think you'll agree that the card looks much more like the sketch now!):

And here's the Card Concepts challenge image:

Thanks so much, as always for coming to see me!! 
Have a good day!!
Shannon

The Misfits find a home...!

Hello!

Just a really quick post today...promise!  I'll get right down to business!

Here's my very simple card for today:

I had most of the bits and pieces on my desk already (rejects from other projects!) and I just kind of put it together :)  But there is one new technique here that I tried (and loved!).  I couldn't find the *perfect* paper for my background.  Then I remembered a video I had seen not long ago on Laurel Beard's blog on using markers to create a background (I used my Copics, she used Spectrum Noir markers).  Unfortunately because the colour I chose was so light, the dots I added with my colourless blender didn't show up, but that's ok).  Check it out - it's so easy and I love the look!  Stamps used are Lawn Fawn (deer and hello), PS (butterfly) and Mama Elephant (border).  I might go back and add a flight line behind the butterfly...hmmm, thinking about it!!

And that's it for me today!  Promise kept: short and sweet!  Hope to "see" you again soon!
Shannon

Veering WAY off course!

Hello!

I've read on a lot of your blogs how you start out making a card, with a pretty clear picture in your head of what it is going to look like, and the result is anything but!!  This happens to me A LOT!  For my card today, I didn't actually have so much an idea - it was actually a challenge sketch that was swimming around in my head.  Naturally, the end result should at least have some, even minor, resemblance to the sketch...right?!  NOPE!  I tried so hard to make this particular sketch work - "try this, try that, maybe this image, maybe that one?"  Nope, nope and nope!  "Ohhhh..., but maybe this would look okay with this, and ohhhh, maybe that could go there"...and so it began.  By the time I was done, I had veered WAY off course, and the card looked NOTHING like the sketch!  And a wedding card - yeah, there was NO intention to make one of those when I first started either!

Here's how it all turned out:

I ended up trying out my Rock Candy glitter (another free gift from Ellen Hutson in my Black Friday order!) and sprinkled it on a diagonal pattern I created with my double sided tape.  I was really impressed with the glitter - it stuck to where it was supposed to, and it didn't end up everywhere it wasn't (you know, like in my hair, in my shoes, in the carpet...you get the idea!).  I kept adding more and more of the WPlus9 flowers until I was happy with the cluster, then used my new 'forever and always' dies from PS.  I added the congrats sentiment (Mama Elephant) at the bottom to ground the scene.

For a chuckle, here's a peek at the Unscripted Sketch that it was "supposed" to look like!  (see what I mean?!!  not.even.close!!!)  I'm still going to take another shot at it though and hopefully I will be able to come up with something a little closer next time around!!!

That's all for me today!!
Thanks for the visit :)
Shannon

One Card, Two Challenges

Hello!

I'll try to make this a quick post (although every time I say that, it becomes more than "quick"!!).  I've been busy, busy working on some retirement cards for an amazing lady I previously worked for.  I haven't "reported" to her for years but she has always remained an incredible friend.  She has done so much for me, and my family too, and it's important to me to make these as close to perfect as I can get!  So that's what's been taking up most of my time in the last week, but I did want to take a little time away from that to play along with two challenges this week.  First, I HAD to play with Case Study.  The AH-MAZING Donna Mikasa is the muse - she is such an inspiration to me - how could I resist?!!  I also wanted to try my hand at the new Card Concept challenge.  I did my best to combine the two challenges, so that I could get back to the retirement cards.  Card Concepts: please forgive me?  I used three shades of pink, instead of just one, and combined "kraft and vanilla" in my copic colouring.  Hope that's ok!

Here's the card:

I think my card definitely falls into the classy and elegant category.  No?  okay, maybe not!  Clean and Simple, maybe!  Funny, I really have no idea what my style is!!  That sweet little monkey is from Mama Elephant and the flowers are from the PS Calico set.  I added the little white dots to the flower centres.  The sentiment is also PS.

Here are the two challenges:

Case Study:
(this card is brilliant!)

Card Concept:

Okay, back to the retirement cards!  Thank you SO much for coming to visit!
Shannon