I was busy this weekend, see previous post, so I didn't get a chance to do all the VSN Crush Challenges, but since I'm one of the hostesses for the February 20-21 Challenges, we got a sneak peek, so I was able to make some of the cards ... These are the ones I was able to finish and upload.

This was my "Save the Date" card.

I made it rather generic since I didn't have anything particular in mind that I wanted to use it
for. (Okay, now I can think of a ga-zillion, lol). I really liked the way the colors look together - the saffron sponged with burgundy, on the burgundy mats just looked perfect with the flowers I picked.

The next challenge was a technique challenge: Burned Batik. I embossed in clear EP on white cardstock the floral image you see as the main image. I heat embossed it just a smidge past "done". (This was take-4 ... initially instructions were to heat it until it soaked through the cardstock, but I found that by heating it that long, the embossing powder nearly dissolved so the effect was lost.) ANYway ... after embossing, I misted the cardstock fairly well and then took some pink pirouette on a sponge, dabbing it here & there. Did the same for riding hood red until I got this batik effect. WONDERFUL technique - I love love love it. I received the ribbon through the SCS Wish trade. I may have to break down and buy my own supply, lol.

This next challenge was "Love me Tender" - use something soft on the card. My immediate thought was flocking - well, I only have this purple flocking, so the card was built around the flocking. Once colored, I added the flocking on top of 2-way glue & let it dry. On top of the image panel is an oval framed I cut and then CB'd with the swirl embossing folder, then matted up on dimensionals to give it a shadow box feel.

The next challenge was to make a Hope Chest-type of box. I had just finished this origami box last week on SCS's TLC challenge and wanted to 'perfect it'. I just loved the idea of using the Bella Rose DP from Stampin' Up. This pairing reminded me of chocolate covered cherries.

I just LOVE the way it turned out. I was trying to make the box the other day from memory, at cheerleading practice and one of the coaches daughters fell in love with it (crude and rudimentary, tho it was) ... so I told her I could do WAY better than that (no paper cutter to make sure it was square, no pampered chef scraper to crease the folds, no design on top) ... So this is for Haley's Treasures.

This was the 5th challenge:

Something OLD

Something NEW

Something BORROWED (or gifted)

Something BLUE

One of my stamping buddies has another buddy (7 degrees of stamping) ... Anyway, this technique used Teykol. I had to order some all the way from Europe. It's a white liquid paste type of product that acts much the same way as embossing resist or white crayon resist. I poured a little bit of my NEW Teykol on a small paper plate and stamped an OLD butterfly image in the Teykol liquid then stamped over a glossy cardstock that was also recommended that I got from the same company. It's similar to the SU glossy white, only super thick and glossy on both sides. I set the images aside to let dry and came back to sponge some pink, blue and light green across the surface. My BORROWED was the flowers - they were gifted to me by my Secret Santa last month. And as for the BLUE - well, that's an easy one, right?

If you're interested in checking out this technique, this is the website I ordered from, but it's not in English. I'm not sure if it's Germany or Norway or where, but if you're good at visuals, they have a tutorial on how to use this products 3 different ways here: http://www.art-journey.nl/shop/ - click on "Techneiken", then "Techneikenrubriek 2" then scroll down to Teykol. VERY cool. Thanks again to Kim (SCS: Luvs Flowers) and Christiana for the ideas.

This last one involved weaving ... I had just grand ideas in mind for this, but since I was taping as I went along, I ended up with a stripe of kraft and a stripe of not quite navy that I couldn't take out and re-weave.

The entire DP is woven DP's from a paper pack - I think the colors are not quite navy and kraft, but they weren't marked. I think next time I try this, it'll be with re-positionable tape so I can get a good pattern going.

This 'card' was from Friday night, a Scrapling, for the flirtation challenge over on VSN at SCS. Apparently, some people, when asked to make a square card, cut off the strip at the end of a regular sized card and have this wasted piece left over (ME? I just bump it up to a 5.5x5.5 card) ... SO ... I had to make my own wasted piece, lol.

Thanks again, for stopping by ... Appreciate any comments.

After 2 days of competition - The girls took first place ... Great job girls - Wonderful work. That's my munchkin up top. Super proud of all of you, especially my little gem, of course, right?
Well, we're finally starting to warm up ... it was a balmy 14 degrees on our way home tonight. Sure beats the -25 from a couple of nights ago.
After having what seemed like no weekend, I'm so glad we have tomorrow off.
Take care & stay warm !

I've never tried this before, but today's SCS challenge for Trying a New Technique was to create an origami box ... and here's the results. The lid is just a flap that runs from underneath, up the back and rests on the top. Ribbons on my box are entirely decorative ... Some of the ladies in the gallery used ribbons to tie the box closed - I even saw one of them that fashioned a strap with a magnetic closure. I can't wait to run to the store tomorrow to buy some Fanny Mae chocolates to make a 2-decker candy box for someone special ... now who deserves this?

Thanks for sneaking a peek.

Worked on a couple of cards this morning, following MojoMonday sketches 68 and 69 that can be found here: http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/
For #68, I used my Unity So and So Loves image that I colored with my prisma colored pencils and gamsol. Just the right amount of hearts on it, lol.

MOJO 68

The second card, for 69, I stamped a Sugar Nellie called Daisy, designed by Elisabeth Bell. She is one amazing artist, that's for sure. I think I love every image I've seen. Make sure you check out the Whiff of Joy website ... they're offering a pre-order Spring Stamp Kit of 10 stamps all designed by Elisabeth Bell - 'nuff said for me ... I'm all over that!

MOJO 69

Don't forget to slide on over to Whiff of Joy .... http://www.shop.whiffofjoy.com/index.php?cat=c12_Stamp-kit.html

Thanks for stopping by ...

Whiff of Joy Challenge #13:

Here's the card I made ... After taking the picture, I realize I missed the boat on the corner embellishments. Even without, I like how this card turned out.

Thanks for taking a peek at my late night creating.

Few more cards made today ...



For the SCS challenges, I completed quite a few cards for the Inspiration challenge, the Japanese Tenugui calendars found here: http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.grap.co.jp%2Fnugoo%2Fcalendar.html&sl=ja&tl=en&history_state0=



These are the 2 cards I posted in the SCS gallery, as well as a bunch extra I made to finish off the paper:

I have a pad of paper "Magic Core" that is colored at the core and back side, but the front is black. I ran these sheets through my Cuttlebug embossing folders (varied) and then sanded the surface of the black side down, revealing the core color. I mixed ethnicities, and I hope no one minds ... While I was inspired by the Japanese Tenugui artwork, the sentiment I used is actually the Chinese "Love" symbol. Simple cards, but I like the way they turned out.

The next two cards were for the Featured Challenge. Judy (SCS: jaydekay) had such a wonderful gallery, but these are my takes on a couple of her cards.

For this first one, I immediately thought of my old Stampin Up's Definitely Decorative Daisy ... Popped the main flower and leaves up on dimensionals, adding the sentiment on dimensionals as well.
Now, this next one ...

My friend, Kim, introduced me to this technique using Teykol (a white masking-type paste that I got from the Netherlands - not sure what is comparable here in the US, but it's a liquid). (Kim got the technique from her friend over in Germany, Christiana.) I stamped the image on a special glossy paper I also got from Netherlands, using Stazon black. Then I painted the white areas and let it dry completely. Afterwards, I sponged & rubbed blue inks over entire surface to bring out the resist. I love the look of this bright blue, silver and white together ...
I'm going to be trying another technique using this Teykol, so stay tuned ...
Thanks for stopping by ...

Blog Candy Alert - over at Sally's Creative Corner: http://sallyscreativecorner.blogspot.com/

Hi again ... Bear with me ... I haven't put alot up since New Years. While I've made some, I've been feeling pretty lousy last few days, but since I'm feeling a little better, here goes.

I was wandering the SCS threads the other day and got into some blogs and got lost, lol ... Okay, I'm fairly computer savvy, but all these people making all these different cards from all these different companies from all these different challenges ... can you see where I'm going? Anyway ... I ended up finding a color challenge (VSLFL1) to combine Riding Hood Red, Kraft and pink pirouette ... what a pretty combination ... somewhere NEAR that challenge, I saw a sketch that I really liked, so I followed it, too ... I need to make sure there's a pad of paper near the computer at all times, cuz you think I could find that again? Not, lol.
This card is actually 3x6. I like the different sized cards as long as they're not too funky or costly to send out (Costly?!, I crack myself UP! - They should just have a stamp at the P.O. made especially for card stampers! Instead of guessing "how much do these brads cost to mail ... is this ribbon too thick?" They should just round it off to a number for all of 'em.)

This next card was for SCS's Technique lovers ... Not sure if you know it or not, but Glitter is the bane of my existence. I made this card a few days ago and I'm STILL finding pieces of that stuff all over the place. I used tacky strips and angled them onto the cardstock. In the jar, the glitters looked white and the other was pink. Not so different on the card, in fact, from the pic, looks a little yellowy, but, that's how it goes. I DO like the way it turned out ... but NO, I won't be searching for any more ways to use glitter just yet, lol.

These two cards followed the color combination of Brilliant blue, Pumpkin and Garden Green. I'm pretty close to using up the very last of this original SU DP (blue swirl behind Oakley). I immedately thought of it when I saw the bubbles in his bath. I'm fast becoming a huge fan of the Whiff of Joy/Elisabeth Bell's images as well as the Sugar Nellies. They remind me of the Precious Moments figurines that I have in my curio cabinet, only grown up.

This next card was a sketch challenge at SCS (210). I very nearly ran out of room ... was going to try it again in a 5x7 version, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I used the Close as a Memory set - image on the left and their sentiment on the right. One of the first times I've done the butterflies, but I think it turned out by punching them from the same DP (Basic Grey- one of my favorite prints).

This actually started off being just some blue cardstock to stiffen my 4x6 postits ... well .. we can't EVER do anything simple, can we? I ended up adding a couple of layers with some designer paper ... Oh, and we can't leave it without an image, right? ... And you can't put an image up without SOME kind of embellishment, right? Ribbons, Stickles later, this is the result. Keep in mind, this is for the post its that I write notes on when I send out birthday cards to all of the wonderful stampers in Splitcoast's BRAK and Wish Rak birthday clubs, so they needed a special house til they 'left the building'.

I'm not thrilled with this little lady's colors, but I started off wrong. I had 2 Copics in lavender shades, so colored her in ... Couldn't find cardstock or designer paper to go with the flow, so I came close with the Parisian dp from SU ... I didn't sent my last secret sister a Christmas card (okay, who's kidding who - VERY few people got cards this season) ... so I wanted to send her a Valentine's card ... She's got 2 boys, so short on the girly stuff, so I wanted to make it a little fru-fru for her.

New Years Eve Wish RAK challenges:

These were the cards I made for the New Years Eve Wish Rak 'party' where all cards are made from WRAK (wishes sent to you) items and then are sent to the troops so they can send home to their loved ones ... Funny thing, there's no Hallmark's over in Iraq, go figure.

First up was to case SCS's Cork1035's gallery, found here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=447. I picked her Tableau of Terror because I loved the circle sunset she used in the back of her images. I had a tough time figuring out which wrak to use, but when I saw this ship, it called out to me ...

Second up was a Thinking of you card ... I love this image - this is where I want to retire if that ever happens:

Third was a Happy Birthday card suitable to send to anyone ...

Next, a birthday card for a boy from age 1 to 21 ... I love these Magnolia's ... can't believe I haven't seen them around until recently. I received this image from my Secret Santa, saxontoy, and absolutely have to get the background bench stamp, too ... I'm starting to get a little brave with the couple of Copics and Prisma markers - the Bic Markits are okay, but they're just not quite the same. Adds a little more when I fine tune them with the prisma colored pencils and gamsol, too. Just wait, I'll get me some more Copics, lol.

Next was to make an Easter card to send home to the kids, so I picked this cute bunny.

I had just received this image for the next challenge: a Spouse's anniversary card. I confess - I used a computer generated sentiment. I always forget to get the stamps w/words on them.

Next was a Birthday card for the wife. Stacy (SCS's jbgreendawn) sent me this image via the PIF thread, but I figured, it's just as good, right? I absolute love her collection of vintage stamps, to die for! The one on the left is the one I submitted. I liked it so much, I made a second one with different colors. The one on the left has a stamped sentiment. The one on the right is actually a clear rub-on, on top of vanilla card stock.

The next card we were given carte blanche - but we had to describe the technique we used (Faux Silk in my case). I stamped the Penny Black Fantasy Tree on a soft watercolored looking designer paper in black Stazon. I then crumpled up a piece of white tissue paper and then smoothed it out a bit. After applying glue stick to the entire top of the designer paper, I patted the tissue paper over the image (so as not to smooth it out too much - you want the wrinkles to show in the faux silk technique to make it look real). This just makes the cards look stunning, in my opinion.

Next challenge was a general Miss You or Thinking About You card. I used Matthew Lying Down from Whiff of Joy's collection.

Happy Birthday to Mom came next ... I've had this bunny I received in a collection a few months ago, but just now used. (I have since purchased the stamp when HL had their 50% sale - it's perfect for anyone.)

Love and Romance came next ... trick was we had to use a Heart in the card, as well as any Green, Pink and Brown color combo. This was a Unity heart stamped in coral, which is close to pink, so I went that route. A different color combo, I'll grant you ... but it seems to work. I cut out the heart image and sewed it onto garden green layer then cut that out freehand before matting on the coral that I ran through CB's swiss dots folder. Didn't have any designer paper to go with the green, so I made my own with one of the itty bitty's from SU with hearts in it.

The next challenge was pretty cool - to make a Patriotic Thank You card, but we were given the flags of the different countries - told to pick a sketch and a color combo we liked. I kept going back to the red and white flags from Iceland, Norway, Denmark and Finland - but I liked the Swiss layout ... kind of like a cross laid sideways. This cutie was also sent to me from my Secret Santa, saxontoy from SCS. I tried to keep it simple as the layout is fairly straightforward ... Not a lot of heavy matting, but I think it works.

Okay ... now this next one was to be a humorous card for a guy ... I don't really have a lot of funny stamps, so I had to go back to my Henrietta and her chicken butt, lol.

Thanks so much for stopping by ... I appreciate any comments you might like to leave. Have a great day.

These cards were part of the Holiday Extravagana leading up to New Years Eve, 2008-2009. This first one was to make a single layer card. Oh My! How long has it been? I think more thought went into this one than most because I had to be particular where everything was placed to make the most of the space. I do like the end result.

This second one, we were given a photograph here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=127285&d=1230364569
While my card isn't a perfect match, I do like the way the birds are sparkly against the white cuttlebugged layer.
This next one was to make scraplings ... yes, s - c - r - a - p - l - i - n - g - s. It's the end of a card that you cut off if you want to make a square card out of the standard sized ones. These little scraps are then made into cards. I have to say, tho, that they ARE a perfect size for a bookmark.


This next card coming up is a new image stamped on caramel with a sentiment. I love the vintage cards!

This one was super pretty. I stamped the image (a flourish) 2 times in black and then stippled the edges in ballet blue ink. I love the way the silver and white look with the shades of blue paper. I love the scalloped edge on this card, also.

Well, I'll be back later this morning to post some of the Wish RAK challenge cards I made.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.