Sketch Challenge x 2

For this week’s sketch challenge, I did a couple of different cards. The first is for my niece’s birthday next month. The branch and leaves are from Papertrey’s Out On a Limb set. Otherwise, I think the card is pretty straightforward. The scallops were done with my corner rounder, but I’m looking forward to getting my new scallop edge punch soon!

Recipe:
Stamps: Wild About You, It’s Your Birthday, Short Order Numbers, Out On a Limb (Papertrey)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon
Tools: Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Corner Rounder, Rectangle Punch, 1" & 1 1/4" Circle Punches

The second card is similar to one I did with the Sketch For You to Try from a few weeks ago. I used the True Friend set again with the Rough Texture jumbo wheel. The ribbon is Old Olive twill from the Occasions Mini. I'd love to see more of that ribbon in the new catty. It's so easy to work with! The only non-Stampin' Up! item on this card is the button in the center of the flower. It is another one from Basic Grey's Infuse collection.

Recipe:
Stamps: True Friend, Hugs & Wishes, Rough Texture Jumbo Wheel
Cardstock: Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Ink: Groovy Guava, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Old Olive Poly-Twill Ribbon, Basic Grey Button

True Friend

My True Friend set hasn't seen ink in quite awhile, so I decided to use it with Jen del Muro's Sketch For You To Try for this week. I started out with a piece of Groovy Guava DSP from Ginger Blossom as my background, but I decided it was a little busy for what I wanted on the card. Instead, I decided to go with Groovy Guava cardstock wheeled with the Rough Texture wheel and layered on Chocolate Chip. The Very Vanilla squares on the right were stamped with Groovy Guava, River Rock and Chocolate Chip and then wheeled with Rough Texture in River Rock. The focal image and sentiment were also wheeled with River Rock. The rest of the card is pretty straightforward. I distressed and sponged a few of the edges and added some Vintage brads.

Thanks for looking!

Recipe: (All Supplies Stampin' Up!)
Stamps: True Friend, Rough Texture Jumbo Wheel
Cardstock: River Rock, Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava, Very Vanilla
Ink: River Rock, Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava
Accessories: Vintage Brads

Coaster Gift Set

This is one of the gifts I gave my secret sister from SCS. I've been waiting to share it with you until I knew she had received it. I got the photo coaster set at Hobby Lobby. It was a lot of fun to make the inserts for each, but it was also a little challenging - the inserts had to be fairly flat to fit in the opening, so I couldn't do much embellishing.

For the main set, I used the It's All Good stamp set and Cutie Pie DSP. I also gave her a second set of inserts in case she wanted some variety (shown in the second picture). For that set, I used the True Friend stamp set (also the Cherish from Baroque Motifs) and Apple Cider DSP.

Recipe:
Stamps: It's All Good, True Friend, Baroque Motifs, Rough Texture Jumbo Wheel
CS: Purely Pomegranate, Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Very Vanilla, Really Rust, River Rock
DSP: Cutie Pie, Apple Cider
Ink: Purely Pomegranate, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Really Rust, River Rock, Chocolate Chip, Garden Green (marker)
Accessories: Purely Pomegrante Double-Stitched Ribbon, Whisper White Taffeta

Combination Challenge

I didn't get a chance to do the color challenge last week since I didn't have one of the colors (or a close substitute), so I was happy to see a color challenge this week that I could play with. The colors for this week are Really Rust, River Rock, and Chocolate Chip. I've been using these colors A LOT lately with all of the cards I've made using the Apple Cider DSP and True Friend set, so the challenge for me was to come up with something a little different than I'd already done.

I decided to combine this challenge with the weekend sketch challenge Beate had on her blog Fresh & Fun. I started with a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch card base of Chocolate Chip. I wheeled my base with the Rough Texture Jumbo Wheel and sponged the edges in Chocolate Chip. My focal image is the flower from True Friend, inked in River Rock and Really Rust, and stamped on Very Vanilla. Part of the flower edge was also inked with a Chocolate Chip marker. I stamped a second flower, cut out part of it, added a Vintage brad in the center, and popped it up on a dimensional. This piece was also wheeled with Rough Texture in River Rock and layered on a Chocolate Chip mat.

My focal image was then layered on a Really Rust piece that was also wheeled with Rough Texture. I added the swirl from Baroque Motifs to the corner and added the sentiment from Hugs & Wishes. For the bottom strip, I randomly stamped images from True Friend in Really Rust, Chocolate Chip and River Rock, and again - wheeled it with Rough Texture.

The edges of all the layers were also distressed and sponged. The final piece of the card was the circle medallion. It was stamped first in Chocolate Chip on Very Vanilla. I then stamped it in Really Rust and cut out part to adhere to the Chocolate Chip piece.

Recipe:
Stamps: True Friend, Baroque Motifs, Hugs & Wishes
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, River Rock, Very Vanilla
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, River Rock
Other: Vintage Brad

Emboss Resist Thank U

I can't seem to put down the True Friend set. I just love it! I know it will be one that I keep after the mini catalog ends. Wouldn't it be great if it's one of the few mini sets that makes it to a big catalog - a girl can dream! Anyway, back to the card.

I stamped the large image from True Friend in Versamark on Glossy White cardstock and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I then inked up my brayer with River Rock and covered the cardstock. After letting it dry just a little bit, I added the other images in Really Rust and Chocolate Chip. After adding the focal piece to a Really Rust base, I added a strip of Chocolate Chip that I had wheeled with the Rough Texture Jumbo Wheel (I think that wheel works so well with this set). The Thank U stamp was stamped in Really Rust on Whisper White. I added the texture wheel and sponging to this piece, as well as a small piece of Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, before adding it to the card.

Recipe:
Stamps: True Friend, Rough Texture Jumbo Wheel
Cardstock: Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Glossy White, Whisper White
Ink: River Rock, Really Rust, Chocolate Chip
Other: Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, Vintage Brad
Technique: Emboss Resist

Hostess Gift

My first workshop is next week, so I worked on my hostess gift over the weekend. I found this little bucket in Target's $1 spot. They had this green, red, yellow, and I believe a blue. I thought this green coordinated nicely with the Apple Cider DSP.

I filled the bucket with a set of 4 cards and envelopes, a jar filled with goodies, a jumbo paperclip bookmark, a bag of catalog tabs, and a gift certificate for a free classic ink pad.

The chipboard tag and card set were all created with the Apple Cider DSP and the True Friend stamp set. Individual cards (with recipes) are included below.

I had a lot of fun creating this set. I hope my hostess likes it!



Recipe #1 (Happy Birthday Card):
Stamps: True Friend, It's Your Birthday
Cardstock: River Rock, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Apple Cider DSP
Ink: Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, River Rock
Other: Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon








Recipe #2 (Thank U Card):
Stamps: True Friend, Rough Texture Jumbo Wheel
Cardstock: Really Rust, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, River Rock
Other: Vintage Brad







Recipe #3 (Warmest Wishes Card):
Stamps: True Friend, Baroque Motifs, Hugs & Wishes
Cardstock: River Rock, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Apple Cider DSP
Ink: River Rock, Really Rust
Other: Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon






Recipe #4 (from me to you card):
Stamps: True Friend, So Many Sayings
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, River Rock, Apple Cider DSP
Ink: Really Rust, River Rock, Chocolate Chip
Markers: Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Garden Green
Other: Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, Vintage Brads, Ticket Corner Punch
Technique: Out of the Box Cutting

Groovy Color Challenge

Today's color challenge on splitcoaststampers was to use Groovy Guava and Always Artichoke. I wasn't sure what I thought of those 2 colors together, but since I had both of them, I thought I'd give it a try.

The patterned section of the card was created by randomly stamping 3 of the stamps from True Friend in Groovy Guava, 2nd generation Groovy Guava and Always Artichoke. I then wheeled the entire piece with the Rough Texture Jumbo Wheel. I really like the look the wheel gives, but I sometimes forget I have it. I need to get it out more often! This piece was added to an Artichoke card base (wheeled in Artichoke with Rough Texture - not sure if that shows up in the picture or not). I then added a thin strip of Chocolate Chip, a strip of Guava, and gingham ribbon. (I may be breaking the color challenge "rules" by adding the Chocolate Chip, but I thought it would be a good neutral to add to the card. And, if you look through my card stash, it would be very hard to find a card where I didn't use either Chocolate Chip or Basic Black.)

The focal image was created with the flower from True Friend. I stamped it in Groovy Guava, wiped off the ink from the stem and leaves, and then used my marker to add the Artichoke. This piece was also wheeled with Rough Texture, layered on Chocolate Chip and Guava. The sentiment is from the level 1 hostess set, So Many Sayings.

I am really enjoying these challenges. Hopefully I will be able to keep participating on a regular basis! I made several cards yesterday with the same color combination (Really Rust, Chocolate Chip and River Rock), so it was good for me to break out of that mindset. I'll share those cards when I get a chance later.

Recipe:
Stamps: True Friend, So Many Sayings
Cardstock: Groovy Guava, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Groovy Guava, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip
Other: Gingham Ribbon

Crayon Resist

I've been wanting to try the Crayon Resist technique for awhile but hadn't had a chance yet. Can you believe I didn't own any crayons - at least not until yesterday. I finally remembered to pick some up on my weekly trip to Wal-Mart.

Here's my first attempt at the technique. I really love how the background on this card turned out. It reminds me of a bandana.

In case you've never tried Crayon Resist before, there's a great tutorial on splitcoaststampers. For this card, I stamped the two images from True Friend with Basic Black ink on glossy cardstock. I used a white crayon to add some highlights to my images and then used a brayer to add the Really Rust ink. After removing the excess ink from the highlights, I layered the background on Basic Black cardstock and added it to a Really Rust card base.

The True Friend sentiment was stamped with Whisper White craft ink on Basic Black cardstock and layered on Whisper White that had been sponged with Really Rust. I added a couple of Vintage brads to complete the card.

This card doesn't have as many layers, images, etc. as the cards I normally create, but I really wanted the background to be the focal point. I wasn't sure if I liked the final result at first, but I've really grown to like it and can't wait to try out some additional ideas with this technique!

Recipe:
Stamps: True Friend
Cardstock: Really Rust, Basic Black, Whisper White, Glossy White
Ink: Really Rust, Basic Black, Whisper White
Other: White Crayon, Vintage Brads

True Friend Sketch Challenge

I don't get to do the challenges on splitcoaststampers very often, but this week I've managed to do 2! Every Wednesday, a new sketch is posted, and the challenge is to create a card using that layout. I decided to use True Friend again for this challenge.

Here is the original sketch and my interpretation.

My card base is Really Rust cardstock. The striped designer paper is from the new Apple Cider series available in the Holiday mini. I went back and forth on this paper so many times before I preordered it, but I'm so glad I did. It is great with the True Friend set and sets a fall mood so well.

For the middle layer, I stamped the small flower from True Friend in River Rock on River Rock cardstock and added a piece of Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon. As I've heard from several others, the Chocolate Chip Taffeta isn't as dark as what I might have expected, but I really like the way it looks and the texture it gives the card (versus grosgrain).

For the focal image, I inked the larger flower stamp with Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, and Garden Green markers. The sentiment is from Happy Harmony, one of the 2007 Sell-A-Bration sets. The whole piece was then wheeled with the Rough Texture Jumbo Wheel in River Rock and sponged with River Rock and Really Rust. The final piece is the Everything definition from Define Your Life along with a couple of Vintage brads. All of the pieces are layered on Chocolate Chip cardstock.

I really like the way this turned out, so I think it might be the winner for my Thanksgiving cards this year. We'll see!

Recipe:
Stamps: True Friend, Define Your Life, Happy Harmony
Cardstock: Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Whisper White & Apple Cider Designer Series Paper
Ink: Chocolate Chip, River Rock
Markers: Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Garden Green
Other: Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, Vintage Brads

True Friend Color Challenge

I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I've had anything new to post. I'm not sure where the time went! It's hard to believe my DH has been back at school for almost 2 weeks now, Nebraska football starts on Saturday, and the beginning of September is just around the corner. Christmas will be here before we know it - I'm not sure I'm ready for that! I am starting to plan though. I finally decided on my Christmas card designs and ordered the supplies for them. My order came yesterday, and one of the other items in my order was the new True Friend set from the Holiday mini. I always have to try out my new sets the first day I get them, so having a die-cut set made it so easy. I was ready to go in minutes!


For my first card, I decided to use today's Color Challenge from Splitcoast. This weeks's challenge was to use Purely Pomegranate, Pretty in Pink, and Old Olive. I stamped the small flower in Old Olive for my background and added a strip of Pretty in Pink, layered with Basic Black, and Purely Pomegranate ribbon. For the main image, I used markers to add Old Olive and Pretty in Pink to the same flower used for the background. I then sponged Purely Pomegrante around the edges of the flower. With the exception of the flower in the middle, all of the others are stamped off once. My final addition was the sentiment in Basic Black.

Recipe:
Stamps: True Friend
Cardstock: Old Olive, Purely Pomegranate, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Purely Pomegranate, Basic Black
Other: Purely Pomegranate Double-Stitched Ribbon