Life is Sweet! Dynamic Duos #91

 Good morning crafty friends! If you're like our family, Olympic-viewing has been dominating your life for the past couple of weeks. Those winter sports are so appealing--go Canada!

However, this week's colour challenge at the Dynamic Duos had me thinking sweet SUMMER!

Even the names of these colours are delicious.

 A very simple card this week: I used a cute stamp-n-die set from There She Goes Clear Stamps (sadly no longer in existence), along with a sentiment set from The Stamps of Life.

The ice cream scoops are simply stamped in the challenge colours. I cut the cones from kraft paper, then ran them through my chevron embossing folder, for some realistic texture. Some jute twine in green (I LOVE that hairy stuff!), a few candy dots, and DONE! Now I'm wishing I'd added some mats in the challenge colours as well...

yup, definitely like it better this way!

The design team gals have really knocked it out of the park this week! Go check them out at the Dynamic Duos, then break out your inks and show us your stuff!

Anne Marie Hile

Annette Elliott

Angel Johns

Cindy Brumbaugh

Holly Endress

JoAnn Burnham

Julie Gearinger

Michelle Bala

Sarah Fleming 

Tenia Nelson

Have a great (and crafty) week,

Caroline

Supplies:
Cardstock: White Daisy, Lollydoodle DP, kraft--Close to My Heart
Ink: Pear, Sorbet (how perfect is THAT?), Cotton Candy, Desert Sand
Stamp sets: "Enjoy Life" There She Goes Clear Stamps; "youare2kind" The Stamps of Life
Embossing folder: Lifestyle Crafts
Twine: Michael's
Candy dots: Close to My Heart (Flamingo dots Z1934) 

 

Happy Bowf-day, Anne Marie!

{Chorus of canine welcoming!}

Today I am posting to join in the fun, wishing Anne Marie Hile a most happy birthday!
Lesley Croghan has set up a Linky Party HERE; feel free to add your card1.

I have known Anne Marie only a short while; she is the gracious blog manager of the fabulous Dynamic Duos color challenge, of which I am a grateful member. One of the things I have learned about her is that she fosters dogs and cats, until a permanent "forever home" can be found for them. A big heart, eh?

Also, that she LOVES pink.

Here's my card to wish her a happy day:

I used the Woofer and Tweeters stamps and dies from Paper Smooches to create a little scene of dogs behaving badly...

The sentiment and cake image are from There She Goes Clear stamps. 

Embossing folder I bought this summer--can't recall the company!

Inside, more Paper Smooches stamps. The border was made with The Stamps of Life border dies.

Know you are MOST appreciated, Anne Marie! Hope you get some spoiling and some canine kisses today.

Happy Birthday!

Caroline

xoxo 

Other supplies:

Cardstock in White Daisy, Champagne, Blush, Saddle, Slate & Black (CTMH)

Ink: Hollyhock, Saddle, Black & Slate (CTMH)

Washi tape in Slate (CTMH)

Copic markers

Signo White gel pen

Zig Millennium black pen (05)

What's the Scoop? Color My Heart # 48 with Smoothie and Topiary

Blog alert! Photo-heavy post today...

This week's challenge colours at Color My Heart are
SMOOTHIE a juicy pink and
TOPIARY an intense green.
I believe these are complementary colours, so perhaps that is why they look so vivid together.
I used shades of brown (Chocolate--of course! Desert Sand, Champagne & White Daisy) so as not to compete with the focus colours.

I am still trying to get caught up on last year's summer photos, and these colours fit right in with the following image:

This poster was prominently displayed at our favorite ice-cream store, COWS, in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Bad flash on my part, the glared-out words are "can buy."  Notice the pink and green lettering, the different sized fonts and the little row of ice-cream cones at the bottom...

I started with a sketch by Cheryl Even. She used to provide regular sketch inspiration for the Heart 2 Heart challenge blog, which is where I "met" her.

She still posts sketches on her own blog,   Even More Scrapping!, which are great because they include the paper-cutting dimensions, and usually include room for several photos. This is her lay-out for June.

I'm going to focus on a couple of design features and then show you the whole dang lay-out.

First up, those little ice-cream cones. The stamp and die set for this come from There She Goes Clear Stamps. You can find the link for them HERE and HERE.  I had fun stamping the cones with a waffle pattern and creating different "flavours" of ice-cream for a couple of border strips.

The Title. I just finished an online course from Big Picture Classes called "Textuality" with TONS of great ideas for using text on your layouts. Titles, fonts, journalling, etc.  So I knew I wanted to use a mixture of colours and fonts for my title expression.  The skinny letters are a Sizzix font called Cherish.   The hazy letters are another Sizzix font, Round Table, this time cut from vellum, to look, well...hazy.

The "crazy" letters are CTMH Irresistibles, which I inked with Smoothie pigment ink. The white embossed areas resist the colour, adding some interest and texture.

For "summer," my first idea was to do more die-cutting using the CTMH burlap ribbon, but that idea was short-lived. I tried backing the ribbon with adhesive tape before cutting, to create letter stickers, but the dies wouldn't cut through the plastic backing--too thick. So I decided to stamp my letters to mimic fabric texture. I used the Artiste Cricut cartridge for the font and CTMH's Distressed Backgrounds stamp, for a linen-look.

Here are the rejects:  just inking the edges of the letters wasn't interesting enough.

Here's a bigger look at the stamp set.

Another lesson from the Textuality course was to have the subjects of the photos contribute to the journalling. So one of my journaling blocks includes everyone's favorite flavour of last summer, recorded for posterity.  You can see this close up in the first photo.

Notice I used no patterned paper here? Some repeated stamped images, some texture and the photos themselves add enough visual interest.

Here's the left-side of the lay-out.

Here's the right-side. Notice how none of my family smiles for the camera any more...

Here's the whole thing:  sorry for the hazy shot--when I crop the picture in iPhoto it loses definition...need to work on that.

So! What do pink and green make you think of??? Check out some more inspiring creations from the Design Team at Color My Heart. Then link up your creation for a chance to be our Color Dare Diamond! You have until Thursday, June 27th to get inky.

Happy crafting,

Caroline

One more photo of my cutie HB, enjoying his ice-cream cone!

CTMH Supplies Used:

Card stock in Champagne, White Daisy, Kraft, Smoothie and Topiary.

Vellum

Inks in Smoothie, Desert Sand, Champagne, Chocolate

Stamp: Distressed Backgrounds D1544

Irresistibles Eclectic Alphabet chipboard shapes

Cricut Artiste cartridge for "summer" font, word-bubble shape.

Other supplies:

Sizzix chevron embossing folder

Sizzix Sizzlets alphabet dies:  Round Table, Cherish

There She Goes Clear Stamps set: Enjoy Life

There She Goes Clear Stamps die set: Enjoy Life

The Twinery's baker's twine in Strawberry.

Signo Uniball White pen

Slick Writer in brown.

Loving the LOBSTER...TSG173

For the past three months, I have been the very lucky recipient of the new-release stamp sets from There She Goes Clear Stamps (I was the big prize winner at this year's "Mother of All Blog-Hops"). It is a package to drool over every month--so many fun images, clever sentiments and even coordinating dies last month. Jessica Knutsen is a generous lady!  So far, I have definitely NOT done justice to those stamps on my blog. I had the opportunity recently to start to fix THAT situation.

We enjoyed another wonderful family vacation on Prince Edward Island this past August. I brought back gifts of goats-milk soap to my co-workers (it is wonderful stuff--feels so good on your ski--and smells delicious). Lobsters are a big thing on PEI, so I used the smaller lobster image from the Beach Bums stamp set to create gift tags for the bars of soap.
I stamped the little guy in Archival Black ink (CTMH) and used Spectrum Noir and Copic markers to colour in the image. The "for you from" sentiment is from The Stamps of Life penguins4Christmas set. I stamped "PEI" with the small Friendship alphabet from Close to My Heart. The tag was made with an older Sizzix die, "Bread Tags."
Here's a look at the soap all packaged up:

 I just wrapped the bars in tissue paper then secured with some maraschino twine from The Twinery, clipping the bread tag onto the twine.

The whole bunch!

Such a fun little evening's work, and definitely cuter thanks to There She Goes Clear Stamps!

I am entering the gift tags to this week's TSG challenge #173, making a project with a present/gift-giving theme. Perfect, don't you think?

Happy crafting,
Caroline

More "Pun" with Paper...SSS#162 and TSG164

"Scent-sational" stamp set from There She Goes

Thank you, Morag (dear sister), for dubbing my last TEXT posting... Perfect title for this one, too!

This past May I was a participant in, and lucky winner of, the "Mother of All Blog Hops" sponsored by There She Goes Clear Stamps. 

The grand prize was 6-months' worth of new release stamps. The first package just arrived yesterday, and included THIS SET designed by Melyssa Connelly.

It is full of stinkin' cute skunk images and perfectly punny sentiments. 

I decided there was still time to send one more entry to this months' Sweet Sunday Sketch #162. And to join in the weekly challenge (TSG164) at There She Goes, which is to use stitching on your project.

I used some machine sewing, but also "stitched" a scallop ribbon border with this tool, from 

We R Memory Keepers:

It was simple to use and there are other designs available. I bought mine at Archiver's.

The featured Trendsetter this week is the wonderfully artistic Wendy Ramlakhan. She posted a video tutorial on how to create a cloudy background for your stamped image (use link above to go to Wendy's blog). So I tried that out, too. Here's my attempt:

A little too subtle, perhaps, I may try another colour next time, but it gives a great effect!

So thanks for bearing with another post this week...

Enjoy the weekend! Outside, no crafting allowed!

Heard it on the Grape Vine...

Number 3 in the countdown of top 10 Classic Rock-inspired cards... Don't think I'll actually get to TEN but I've been having fun!  You can see card #1 HERE and card #2 HERE.

I was inspired this week by the challenges at:

• CAS-ual Fridays CFC56 "Sweet Spot", where the challenge is to use polka dots;
• There She Goes Clear Stamps TSG160-Circles, where Debby Hughes has specified the use of circles; and 
• Paper Smooches July Guest Designer search, where you have to use Paper Smooches stamps.

I made two versions of this card: on both, the grape vine leaves were cut from CTMH "Dotty for You" polka-dot paper, with a leaf die from Sizzix.  The grape vine itself is made with "honeydew" twine from The Twinery.  I used circles punched from textured cardstock arranged in a cluster of "grapes," but wasn't too happy with them--they looked a little flat.

So I made a second attempt using a Paper Smooches free digi-stamp ("I love you BERRY much"), which I printed out and coloured with markers. Better.

The head-phones for the groovin' grape were made using a shape punched from silver metallic paper and a length of black "Memory Thread."  The face was created with one of the stamps from There She Goes Clear Stamps' "Perk Up" set .

The sentiment was stamped in Garden Green and Smokey Plum inks (pretty fruity!) from CTMH, using a discontinued font called "Doodle Alphabet." I've been paring the edges off my polymer alphabet stamps (what? cut your stamps?--thanks to Emily Leiphart for that great idea) to allow closer spacing on the block.

Off to listen to XM Radio's classic rock station, for more inspiration...

MOABH 2012: Uh oh...Nursebot!

Happy Mother's Day!

And welcome to the 3rd annual Mother of All Blog Hops sponsored by There She Goes Clears Stamps!   I am thrilled to be amongst the customers and Trendsetters who get to showcase some of their favorite There She Goes Clear Stamp sets. Get ready to be inspired! Not only will you get some great ideas, you have a chance to win some FABULOUS prizes!

To find out how, please go to the There She Goes’ blog and read the simple instructions.

Laughter is the best medicine...and "Nursebot" is sure to make you chuckle! 

This set by Torico has several cute images, fun accessories and a variety of sentiments, which lend themselves to many different themes--get well, buck up, get over it...

Patterned paper: Dotty for You by CTMH

Die: Nestabilities "Label #2"

I used the little pill stamp to create the patterned paper on the front of this card, stamped a  sentiment on the inside, and created a border  of  pill bottles.
The adorable Nursebot is featured on the flip section of the card, coloured with markers, and popped up with foam tape.

You will want to see the rest of today's outstanding cards; don't forget to comment as you hop, for your chance to win one of the very generous prizes.

Please click on the InLinkz below and follow it to the next blog!

If you have a few spare moments, I've included instructions on how to make the flip-card.

Flip-card Tutorial

Flip cards are all the rage just now, and you don't need a special die to make them. You can use any framelit-style or nestability/dienamic die. The key is to cut only part of the die at a time. 

Step 1: Centre your die/cutting mat on the 1st score line

For my A2 card, I cut a piece of cardstock at 5-1/2" by 6-1/4"and scored it vertically at half the width of the finished card (in this case, at 2-1/8" for a 4-1/4" card), and again at 3-1/8"(1" away from the first score line). 

Then I placed my die centred on the first score line, and lined up the edge of the cutting pad at that line.

I actually measured and marked the centre of the die for accuracy, after wasting some paper just eye-balling it...

Step 2: Cutting mat lined up with 2nd score line

After running that through the machine, I carefully turned the cardstock 180 degrees without disturbing the paper & die (sticky notes can be useful to keep everything in place); the second cut is made with the cutting pad lined up with the second score line.

In these photos, ignore the shadow of the cutting pad--the edge really is lined up with the score line.

Step 3: fold on 2nd score line

Next, fold the card forward on the 3-1/8" score-line, being careful not to fold the die cut section.

Step 4: fold front back on 1st score line

Finally, flip back the front section of the card, folding on the 2-1/8" score line, again leaving the die-cut shape intact. You will want to cover the die-cut shape with another layer to hide the score lines. Pull the two sides of the card apart, and your die-cut shape flips over, revealing a message or image on the inside!

Have fun creating!

Bon Appetit...C4C133 and TSG152

While browsing through my blogger Dashboard today, I came across this posting by Sharon, the Island Stamp Queen.

Sharon's card

She made an adorable pop-up card, and included the link to the site where she found the video tutorial, by Dawn. Dawn's card is included below.

Dawn's card

Now, I was thinking about creating something for this week's There She Goes Challenge, which was to make something for your Dad; I also saw that TSG is sponsoring a challenge by Crazy4Challenges this weekend. The challenge there involves adding black cardstock to make your creation POP.  So one thought led to another and I decided to create a pop-up card and some wine labels for my Dad.

This requires a little back-story: my Dad is Scottish, and as such, loves a bargain, so in retirement he has started making his own wine, from one of those WineKitz-type stores. The other thing about him is that he was a Chemistry professor, and well, he just can't help tweeking those recipes a bit... The result is many bottles of wine that are just...okay. But he loves giving them to his children!  I decided to make some stamped labels for his wine, using the Bon Appetit stamp set from TSG.  Besides the chubby little chef, there are ALL KINDS of goodies in this set, for cooking, setting the table, putting items on his tray, you get the idea.

I used my printer for producing the "Castle Macdonald"labelling in Gothic font (Celtic "Chateau Rotheschild?") along with the wine variety. Then I cut them out with Nestabilities "Label 2", stippled around the edges, and stamped the wine glasses and bottle from the TSG set. I mounted them on plaid papers (more Scottish tie-ins!).

The pop-up card is an invitation to a wine-tasting! It actually folds flat, and can be put into an envelope for mailing. I assembled the card according to the tutorial directions (see link above).

I stamped the chef with archival ink, then coloured him with markers, paper-piecing his pants and kerchief. I added the wine bottle and a couple of glasses to his tray. I added the "Bon Appetit" sentiment to the front edge along with a paper flag, button and twine bow. Specifics for the wine-tasting party could be printed on the back of the standing part of the card.





So I hope that pleases the folks at TSG and Crazy4Challenges. I'll send the wine labels to my Dad, but I'm not sure we'll do the wine-tasting party with the "Castle Macdonald" vintages...

TSG149--Sketch It Up!

The challenge on this week's "There She Goes" blog was to use this sketch (below) to create an item:

I took the opportunity to do my "homework for the "My Creative Classroom" on-line course I am presently following, called Everything Embossed-II.  Deena Zeigler shares LOTS of great ideas and techniques in this course--well worth the $$.

The technique I tried out involves stamping an image directly onto an embossing folder then adding card-stock and running it through your Cuttlebug or Sizzix machine. I used a Universal Backgrounds (D1477) stamp from Close to My Heart, and a music note folder by Cuttlebug. The result is pretty impressive--the stamping ends up appearing as background to the raised, embossed areas, which remain ink-free.

I had to do a bit of experimenting as regular dye-based ink did not show up well, and just smeared onto the cardstock. CTMH's Archival ink produced a cleaner, clearer image, but I ended up using a third version, done with a Color-Box Chalk ink-pad in Toffee for a more subtle look, on the eventual card.

This image shows the first, smeary version, then the second Archival Black ink version. I rubbed the embossed sections directly with a light-coloured ink-pad to emphasize them.

My card uses some discontinued card-making papers from CTMH called "Silhouette." One of my goals for Lent has been to complete un-finished projects, so I figure using up old material counts! The black button brads are also CTMH supplies. I used tan twill with a melody-print from Paper Wishes.  The sentiment is from the Perk Up! stamp set by There She Goes Clear Stamps. I love that sentiment...calms me down just looking at it...

This challenge runs through midnight, Sunday April 1st, if you have any crafty time over the weekend. See the link at the top of this posting.