Fall is in the air

I really wanted to make one more card for the Taylored Expressions ninth birthday sketch challenge, so I took some crafty time to play after work, and now I'm whipping through my blog post so I can get in just before the deadline.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Paper: Soft Sky, Early Espresso card stock; watercolor paper (Strathmore); 6" x 6" Wood designer cardstock paper (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Color Burst: Cadmium Scarlet, Gamboge, Burnt Umber (Ken Oliver)
Accessories: Stitched Shapes Framelits dies, Build-A-Scene - Trees dies (Taylored Expressions), Leaves die (Taylored Expressions), Softly Falling embossing folder, burlap trim, Tiny Attacher (Tim Holtz), Aqua Painter, Dimensionals, Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter)

There was a touch of fall in the air today, and since autumn is my favorite season, I decided to make a card featuring some fun fall trees. (In my first entry for the sketch challenge, I used these same tree dies to make some Muppet-like characters.) To make the foliage, I wet a piece of watercolor paper and then gently tapped on a tiny bit of three different Color Burst powders (the pigment is concentrated, so a little goes a long way). I used an Aqua Painter to spread and blend the colors, and when the paper was dry, I die cut the tiny leaves and tree tops. I cut the tree trunks out of dark woodgrain patterned paper, glued the pieces together and adhered them to a Soft Sky circle.

For the background I stapled a piece of burlap trim to a piece of embossed Early Espresso card stock and then adhered the panel on a Soft Sky card base. I used Dimensionals to attach the circle with the trees and scattered a few tiny leaves along the bottom of the card.

I've had a lot of fun playing along with this sketch challenge. This time I decided to rotate the sketch (on the right) to create a landscape card. I made the middle layer larger (almost as big as the card base) and used ribbon for the accent strip. The leaves were perfect for the confetti. If you would like to see my other cards for the Taylored Expressions sketch challenge, check out these posts: "Happy ninth birthday," "A few birthday candles," "Simply Sitting Pretty," and "Stamping friends are the best!"

Thanks for stopping by! Happy birthday, Taylored Expressions!

Stamping friends are the best!

I'm back tonight to share my last card for the Taylored Expressions birthday sketch challenge. (Well, I think it will be my last one. I suppose last-minute inspiration could still strike tomorrow or Tuesday!)

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Wanda (Taylored Expressions)
Paper: Whisper White, thick Whisper White, Bermuda Bay, Berry Burst card stock; Wood 6" x 6" designer cardstock paper (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Blush Blossom, Smokey Slate, Powder Pink, Berry Burst, Bermuda Bay, Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip, Dapper Denim
Accessories: Layering Ovals Framelits dies, paper piercer, Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack, mini pinking scissors (Fiskars), 4mm and 6mm sparkling clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter), Dimensionals, Glue Dots

This card will be headed to a great friend and stamping buddy, and I hope it makes her smile. I chose these colors because she really likes rich jewel tones, and this image is very appropriate for all the crafting fun we have. I may just need to invest in a crafty tool belt...

I think everything about this card is pretty self-explanatory, but I'll do a quick rundown. I stamped and colored the focal image and then die cut it with an oval die. I stamped the sentiment on a strip of white card stock, trimmed it into pennant ends and adhered it to the oval. I wanted to give it some dimension, so I attached two Dimensionals on top of each other and placed them behind the middle of the banner. Then I attached the two ends with Glue Dots.

For the card base I used thick Whisper White card stock and added a layer of woodgrain patterned paper matted with Bermuda Bay card stock. I wanted a little more detail on the base, so I pierced a border all around the edge of the card. Slightly above the middle of the panel I adhered a strip of Berry Burst card stock stamped with the two small images from the Wanda set and trimmed with a mini pinking scissors for an extra detail. I used Dimensionals to attach the focal image onto the card base and then added several clear sequins. Inside the card I stamped the sentiment "Stamping friends are the best!"

If you would like to see my other cards for the Taylored Expressions sketch challenge (see the sketch to the right), check out these posts: "Happy ninth birthday," "A few birthday candles," and "Simply Sitting Pretty." Thanks for stopping by!

Simply Sitting Pretty

I've been having a great time making cards for the birthday sketch challenge at Taylored Expressions. So far I've made two birthday cards (a colorful kids card and a simpler, shimmery card), and now I have an all-occasion card to share:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Hardwood
Paper: Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, vellum card stock; Wood 6" x 6" Designer Cardstock Paper (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Frost White shimmer paint
Accessories: Sitting Pretty and Sitting Pretty Accessories dies (Taylored Expressions), Stitched Shapes Framelits dies, Shine and Sparkle sequins (Hazel and Ruby), sponge dauber, Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter), Dimensionals

I have a confession to make: Sometimes the products that I am most excited to buy are the very ones that I have the hardest time using. I think it's because I get intimidated and worry that my finished projects won't live up to the amazing-ness of the products themselves. The dies I used on this card were some of those products.

When I went to the stamp show in July, the Taylored Expressions booth was on the top of my must-see list, and I fought through the crowds to make sure I got the Sitting Pretty, Sitting Pretty Accessories, and Sitting Pretty Nautical Accessories dies. But then they sat in their packaging ... until today.

I decided to use the shelf as the horizontal element in the sketch (see below) with a couple of accessories in front of a vellum circle, sort of like a spotlight. I wasn't sure if it would work, but in the end, I really, really like how this card turned out. It's clean and simple (my favorite) but still has fun details, like the wood-patterned shelf and frame, the stitched border on the vellum circle, and the woodgrain "texture" of the white background panel.

I played around with a couple of different ideas for that background panel. I wanted something subtle, so it didn't detract from the focal image, but I also wanted it to look like a wall or wallpaper to fit in with the shelf and accessories. In the end I decided to stamp the Hardwood background stamp on white card stock using Frost White shimmer paint. It's distinct but not overpowering, and it has a beautiful shine when it catches the light.

The sketch for Taylored Expressions's
birthday challenge

 My friend Lisa was crafting with me today, and I have to credit her with the idea to use vellum for the die-cut circle. I love how it mutes the background stamp enough to let the shelf accessories stand out, but it doesn't take over the card.

The trickiest part of using vellum is finding a way to adhere it without seeing the glue or tape. I used clear-drying glue to adhere the shelf, frame and vase to the vellum circle. Then I applied glue to the back of the vellum so it was hidden behind the die cuts and attached the vellum to the stamped background panel. (The edges of the circle aren't completely flat against the card stock, but I'm okay with that.) I attached the panel to the card base with Dimensionals and added a few simple sequins.

I think I'm all blogged out for today (and I'm fighting a nagging toothache), so I'll post my last challenge card tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!

A few birthday candles

In my last post I mentioned that Taylored Expressions is hosting a sketch challenge to celebrate its ninth birthday (see the sketch at the bottom of this post), and I shared my first entry for the challenge. Today I made three more cards (yippee!), and here is the next one:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Make A Wish stamp and die combo (Taylored Expressions)
Paper: Shimmery White, Daffodil Delight, Bermuda Bay, Lemon Lime Twist, Real Red card stock
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Bermuda Bay, Lemon Lime Twist, Real Red
Accessories: Stitched Shapes Framelits dies, Streamers embossing folder (Taylored Expressions), clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen, large iridescent sequins (unknown), Metallics Sequin Assortment, Art Glitter Glue (Art Institue Glitter), Dimensionals

I created another birthday card for the challenge because I have a slew of family and friends celebrating birthdays in the next few months. I need to stock up on the birthday cards!

This card is more subtle and sophisticated than yesterday's, but think it's just as festive. I really wanted the bright, bold colors of the candle to pop, so I used white card stock for the card base and the middle panel. To add some texture and visual interest I embossed the middle panel with the Streamers embossing folder.

One thing that is hard to capture in a photo is the sparkle on this card. The white paper is shimmery card stock, and I used my Wink of Stella brush pen to add glitter to the candle flames, the yellow banner behind the focal layer and some of the embossed streamers on the background.

The last sparkly detail is a scattering of white iridescent sequins. I did stray from the sketch a bit with the sequins because I really wanted to add a few in the upper left corner instead of placing them all along the right side of the card.

The last detail I want to point out is about the die-cut candles. Once I had the three candles adhered to the circle, the red and blue candles looked too long. I fixed the problem by just trimming about 1/4" off the bottom of each candle. The way the candle stamps were designed, you can't tell at all that I altered them a bit.







 I'm halfway through posting my cards for the Taylored Expressions ninth birthday sketch challenge. Stay tuned for the last two. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy ninth birthday!

Happy September! I can't believe it's already back-to-school season and Labor Day weekend. Where did the summer go? But I love autumn, so I'm ready for it.

This month, Taylored Expressions is celebrating its ninth birthday (woohoo!) and, as part of the festivities, is hosting a birthday sketch challenge. Nine participants will win a prize pack of Taylored Expressions products, and one person will be chosen to be a guest designer with the Creative Team for the October Release. How awesome is that?! I had other crafty projects I wanted to finish this weekend, but this challenge moved to the top of the to-do list. So far I've created one card, but I'd like to finish at least two more. I'll share them in separate posts, so here's the first one:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Make a Wish (Taylored Expressions), Geo-Graphic (Paper Smooches)
Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Tempting Turquoise, Hello Honey, Basic Black, Baked Brown Sugar, Flirty Flamingo, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White card stock; Brights Collection Designer Series Paper (DSP) Patterns Stack
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Build-A-Scene - Trees dies (Taylored Expressions), Stitched Shapes Framelits dies, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, 1/4" hole punch, Streamers embossing folder (Taylored Expressions), iridescent sequins (unkown), Brights enamel shapes, google eyes (Inkadinkadoo), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter), Dimensionals

This is definitely a bright, busy card -- not quite my usual style -- but I think I can get away with it since this is a kid's birthday card.

My favorite part of this card is the focal layer with the three Muppet-like characters. I made those little guys ages ago and put them on a card, but I decided I didn't like that card, so I pulled them off to save for later. This was the perfect opportunity to let them shine.

The sketch for Taylored Expressions's
birthday challenge

Here's a little secret about those characters: They're made with a set of tree dies (Build-A-Scene - Trees) and a couple of circle punches! Crazy, right? I kept looking at the dies for the treetops and seeing heads and hair for Muppet-style characters. So I went with it and created these three fun guys, using a couple of small circle punches to make their mouths, enamel dots for the noses, and of course googly eyes.

The rest of the card is pretty self-explanatory. I stamped a background on the Rich Razzleberry card base, embossed a festive pattern on the middle layer, and used a strip of tone-on-tone polka dot DSP to make the banner piece. To finish off the card, I added a few iridescent sequins and enamel stars in Daffodil Delight and Tempting Turquoise.

I'm not sure yet who will be the recipient of this card, but I hope it make him/her smile! I'll be back this weekend with more cards for the challenge. Until then, thanks for stopping by!