Another Asian Inspired Card

I'm not typically into the whole Asian theme, but I picked up an awesome stamp from Hero Arts at Joanns Friday night. So as soon as I got home, I had to make something.
I'm not sure I can explain how I did this, since I just sat down and started creating. I sort of became absorbed in the process, so I'm going to list the products I used and if you have questions about how a did a specific portion of this card, leave a comment and I will respond.

Materials

Paper: Stampin' Up

Stamps: Hero Arts, Martha Stewart, Inkadinkado

Ink: Stampin' Up, Versamark

Embossing Powder in Clear, Gold, and Black

Tools: Heat tool, Water color pen, Sponge

Ribbon: Walmart

Thanks for stopping by,

Dana Desmond

Peach Keen Stamps Sketch Challenge #44

First I have to apologize for being MIA for the last couple of days. The snow here put me a little behind, so I wasn't able to do much crafting. Last night I went to my Stampin' Up club meet and felt so inspired, I came home and made several projects. I will post those over the next few days, as well as the projects we made at my club meet.

But first I have to post a card I made for the Peachy Keen Stamps Sketch Challenge. I made this Thursday night, but this is the first chance I've gotten to post it. Click here to see the criteria for this challenge. I'm going to list materials first. Hopefully, this will make the directions a little shorter.

Materials:

• Papers: Stampin' Up cardstock, DCWV
• Ink: Stampin' Up, Gelly Roll Pen
• Tools: Cricut, Gypsy, Cuttlebug,
  Swirls Folder
• Cartridge:
  Mini Monsters
• Stamps: Papertrey Ink, Peachy Keen Stamps,
• Die: Papertrey Ink
• Embellishements: Stickles, Ribbon from Walmart

I started with a A2 size card (4 1/4 x 5 1/2) base in white. I cut a piece of pink paper at 4 x 5 1/4 and ran it through my Cuttlebug using the Swirls folder. I inked the edges using red ink. I adhered this to the front of the cardstock. I cut a piece of patterned paper at 2 1/2 x 3. I attached this to the middle right of the card. I added a strip of black cardstock cut at 1 1/2 x 4. On top of that I added a strip of red cardstock measuring 1 1/4 x 4. I added a white ribbon to this and a bow.

I cut my mini monster at 3" using the Mini Monsters cartridge. I stamped the face using the Critter Faces from Peachy Keen Stamps. I love the lashes. I'm going to have to invest in the Lashes faces. I popped the mini monster up on the upper right of the card.

I cut the tickets with with the Papertrey Ink tickets die. I used the coordinating, Just the Ticket, stamp set and added the images to the front of the die cut piece. Tickets are so hot right now and this set comes with 3 border styles, several greetings, and coordinating images. You could actually use this die with any stamp set in your stash. You can expect to see this in quite a few of my projects.

I inked the edges of the tickets using red ink and added it to the front of the card as my sentiment. When I finished with the card, the red strip didn't look quite right. I realized it needed hearts to tie in the patterned paper, but I don't have a heart stamp small enough, so I used my Gelly Roll pen and free handed them. Last I added Christmas Red Stickles to the heart.

I love how the mini monster looks like he's asking for a huge hug. Who would have thought a Halloween cartridge could work for Valentine's Day.

Leave me comments, letting me know you stopped by. Thanks!
Dana Desmond

Peachy Keen Stamps LFIF - XOXO

This week's Let's Face It Friday challenge at http://peachykeenstampschallenge.blogspot.com/ is to create a project using any of the Peachy Keen Stamps faces. The we must include "XOXO" somewhere on the project. I decided to make my project out of "XOXO."

Using my Gypsy, I made the card base by welding together the shadow image for the XOXO from the Sentimentals cartridge to the base image for the raccoon from the Create-a-Critter cartridge . Then I copied this welded image, flipped it and welded it to the front to make the back of the card so that when it folded it would be a shaped card. I cut the card base using black cardstock from Stampin' Up. 

I cut the red layer for the XOXO using Real Red Stampin' Up cardstock, added it to the card base and added the stitch lines. My arthritis is acting up this week, so I had a little trouble with the stitched lines, but they aren't too bad.

I cut all of the layers for the raccoon and adhered them to the base. I stamped the raccoon face using the medium Critter Faces from Peachy Keen Stamps. I love this stamps set so much, I'm going to order the large critter faces. I colored in the eyes with my Gelly Roll pen and pink Copic Marker.

You can't see it very well, but I used my new 40:31 Creations Love stamps to emboss the "Happy Valentine's Day" on the inside of the card. If I'd had white ink, I would have used that instead.

Right now I don't have any other projects ready to post. I'm hoping I will get some of my Valentine's cards started. Last Friday I received my Martha Stewart scoring board and I didn't even take it out of the box. There's a few techniques I want to try using the score board.

I'll try to post at least something tomorrow. Until then...

Thanks for stopping by,

Dana Desmond

40:31 Creations - Always and Forever

I as I promised last night, here's my next project using my 40:31 Creations Love stamp set. I decided to use the "always and forever" stamp as my inspiration for this card. 

All papers are Stampin' Up unless I indicate otherwise. I used a 4 1/4 x 5 inch card base in Basic Black. I layered a piece of pattered paper from Me and My Big Ideas, leaving about 1/2" on the left side of the card. I stamped my image in Momento Tuxedo Black ink. Usually when I get a new set of clear stamps I have to prep the surface before it will ink properly. That wasn't the case with these stamps. Believe it or not, I didn't even do a test image (brave or crazy, I can't decide), this is my first impression with this stamp. I looks great. I love the quality.

I added a piece of scalloped card stock along this edge. This card does not actually have any ribbon. The lines on the left of the card were drawn on using my Gelly Roll pen. 

I used my Gypsy to cut the heart image from the Create-a-Critter Cricut cartridge. I believe the love image is from Sentimentals. Added black stitching around the hearts using my Zig marker. I added the pink hearts to the card front and popped up the red heart and "love" on the card. I used 3 Prima flowers and a glitter brad and attached that to the card.

I've been in such a crafting glum the last few days. I had no desire to make anything new. Who would have thought a stamp set could get me motivated? I cannot wait to start my Valentine's cards for my coworkers. I have a couple of challenges I want to work on first, then its Valentine's madness. I already have 24 different designs waiting on my Gypsy to be cut. I was just waiting on this stamp set so I could finish them. Thanks Lauren, you did a great job. I'm more that pleased with these stamps.

Thanks for stopping by,

Dana Desmond

40:31 Creation Stamps are In The House, Just in Time for Throwback Thursday!

I had finally given up hope of posting a project today. I just couldn't seem to make myself go down the to craft room...that is until I checked the mail. I received my first set of 40:31 Creations Love Stamps by Lauren at laurenscraps.blogspot.com. If you haven't checked out her new stamp line, head over there. She has several unique sets. I've been waiting, not so patiently, for these. I went straight to the basement and started working on a card for My Creative Time with Emma's Throwback Thursday.

The rules for the Throwback Thursday are to use the Paperdolls cartridge, if you have it, and make a project using some type of embossing. If you don't have that cartridge, you can use anything, as long at it has embossing on it.

(Like the inky fingers?)

For some reason my favorite stamp in this set is "how you doin'" This is one of my most favorite lines from Friends. So this is the stamp I chose to use.

I wanted a character that would fit the stamp. I decided the seal from the Create-a-Critter Cricut cartridge was perfect. He's kind of lounging back and I picture his head bobbing like Joey's, as he winks and says, "how you doin'?" Cheesy, I know.

All cardstock is from Stampin' Up and the patterened paper and ribbon is from Papertrey Ink.

I cut the seal at 2 1/2" and the platform at 3". I used my Gypsy to hide the facial features on the cuts. I used my Critter Faces from Peachy Keen Stamps to stamp the face. Using the Spots and Dots folder, I embossed the top portion of my card with my Cuttlebug. I added the ribbon and attached the background to the card base.

I freehand cut the heart and stamped it with the XOXO stamp from 40:31 Creations. Using my Gelly Roll pen, I filled in the image. and added stitch lines. I popped up the focal image on the background.

As soon as I get the funds, I'm going to buy a couple more sets from 40:31 Creations.

I started on a couple of other projects using this stamp set. I can't wait to show you the results. The next stamped I used was "always and forever." Check back tomorrow to see what came up with.

Thanks for stopping by,

Dana Desmond

Stamp TV Sketch Challenge-STVSKSP9

Another sketch challenge submission for StampTV.  Click here to see this week's sketch.

I started with patterned paper from Me and My Big Ideas. I chose coordinating cardstock from Papertrey Ink in Spring Rain and Sweet Blush. I used the Swiss Dots and my Cuttlebug to emboss a 4 x 5 1/4 piece of Sweet Blush cardstock. I attached this to the 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card base. I added the corner piece of patterned paper.

I cut the focal image using the Storybook Cricut cartridge at 3". The image is from the Greeting Cards Kid set from Stampin' Up. I colored this using my small collection of Copic Sketch Markers. I layered the focal image together and using Stampin' Up Dimensionals I added this to the top center portion of the card.

I use my Decorative Labels Spellbinders dies to cut the greeting tag out of Spring Rain cardstock. I added stamped my sentiment in Basic Black ink from Stampin' Up using the Fiskars Sentiments stamp set. I added a couple of silver brads and popped it up on the front of the card.

Thanks for stopping by,
Dana Desmond

Valentine's Wall Hanging

This post is a little late today. Normally, I post by 6:00 a.m., but today I couldn't seem to get myself to go down in the cold basement and craft. It wasn't the crafting part that kept me from going downstairs, it was the cold part. My craft area is right next to the outside basement door and it was so cold. So, instead I stayed upstairs and planned a bunch of projects on my Gypsy.

One of those is my Valentine's wall hanging that will go in the corkboard next to my front door. A few weeks ago I hinted that I might not go with the traditional red and pink, but when I got started it looked more like a birthday sign than a Valentine's sign, so here's what I came up with.

I started with a 12x12 red patterned paper from DCWV Autumn stack. All images were cut from the Potpourri Basket Cricut cartridge.  I cut the fame out of white cardstock. I layered that on the background paper. 

I layered together squares of black, white, and red cardstock. I attached this to the background paper as well. I cut the heart from pink cardstock and DCWV Glitter paper. I layered the heart and popped it up in the middle of the frame.

 I cut the work "love" using white for the shadow and DCWV pink glitter paper for the top layer. I added it to the wall hanging. I added pearls and black stitching for a finishing touch.

I'm hoping to have tomorrow's project posted early tomorrow morning, but it depends on how cold it is in the basement tomorrow.

Asian Vibe Birthday Card

Lots of snow in Missouri on Wednesday, but I still made it to work thanks to my country boy husband and his 4-wheel drive. Not sure if I appreciate the 4-wheel drive, since with 6" of snow, I could have stayed home otherwise. Oh well, I'll I made it and saved my vacation time.

If you haven't noticed, I don't really have a specific style of crafting. I'm pretty much all over the board. With  today's project I tried something new once again. Turned out better than I thought.

One of my coworkers is severely into the whole Japanese culture. Thursday was her birthday, so I thought I would make a Japanese inspired card.

OK, I know this doesn't have any Asian characters or symbols on it, but the colors just reminded me of some of the Japanese items my Japanese aunt has in her home. I do know enough about this culture to understand there's a big difference between Japanese and Chinese characters and symbols, I just don't know enough not to get it wrong. So, I just went with the color theme.

I started with 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 Papertrey Ink True Black Cardstock, folded to 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 for an A2 card base. I cut a piece of DCWV red patterned paper from the Autumn Stack and embossed the edges with Gold embossing powder from Stampendous. I attached that to the card base. Then, using my Gypsy I welded shadow images from Blackletter and Storybook and cut this out of True Black Card stock.

I cut the Birthday Girl base image in Stamper's Delight White Cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I used Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo to ink the outer border of the white piece.

I cut the layer out of Pure Poppy Cardstock from Papertrey Ink and glued it in place. then using my Versamark marker, I embossed the edges of the black leaves.

I didn't have any gold brads, so I dipped silver brads in Versamark ink and then in gold embossing powder. I heated the brads. Then, while they were still hot, I dipped them into the powder again and heated them one last time. I attached the brads to the layered image and added it to the card front.

I really wanted an Asian inspired sentiment, but I don't have one. I found this quote from Abraham Lincoln in my Fiskar, Making a Wish Sayings stamp set. I stamped it on Papertrey Ink Stamper's Delight White Cardstock using Stampin' Up Real Red Classic Ink. I embossed the edges using Stampendous gold embossing powder. I attached this to the inside of the card

I really like how this turned out. My favorite part is the distressed gold around the edge of the cardstock. The only thing I thing I would have done differently is added a little gold embossing to the red letters on the front. I think they needed a little distressing.

Thanks for stopping by,
Dana Desmond

Cowboy Code of the West

One of my friends at work asked if I would make a shadow box as a gift for another coworker as a thank you for being such a good mentor. Our friend is really into the western culture and tries her best to live by the Cowboy Code. So what better theme for the shadow box. I was very lucky to find this 5 x 7 shadow box frame  at Hobby Lobby. It looks like old weather wood. I didn't have to do anything to it. It's perfect for this project. 

I printed the poem off of the web on a piece of  4 x 6 cardstock, to which I inked the edges using Crumb Cake ink. I backed the poem cardstock with 4 1/4 x 6 1/4 piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock. I attached the poem to a 5 x 7 piece of DCWV patterned paper.

I used a piece of natural jute to mimic rope and I looped it around the poem, curling it to resemble a loose rope. I layered Prima flowers using brads to attach them together. I added these along the jute using a hot glue gun. I finally I added the boot charms using mini glue dots.

I planned to take a picture of this project without the glass, but due to the way the box was made it wouldn't allow it. Hopefully, there isn't too much of a glare.


I'm hoping to have a project up tomorrow morning, but this is the only project I was able to work on today. I plan to do some valentine's cards for my coworkers tomorrow. If everything goes OK, I'll post them.

Thanks for stopping by,
Dana D.

Stamp TV Color Challenge

I decided to participate in my first color challenge. StampTV.com is hosting one with the colors Red, Yellow, and Turquoise.

For a change up, I embossed the Martha Steward butterflies in black on watercolor paper. Then I used Tim Holtz Distress Ink and yellow water color to add color to each of the butterflies. Then I cut them out.

I used Forever Young Cricut cartridge to cut the layers of the flower. I attached it together using a glimmer brad. I cut a piece of red cardstock at 5 1/4 x 4 and a turquoise piece at 5 x 3 3/4. I used my Cuttlebug and the D'vine Swirls folder on the turquoise cardstock and I layered this on the red cardstock. I added ribbon around this piece and attached it to a 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 card base.

I attached the butterflies and flower using glue dots. With my Sakura Gelly Roll Medium White Pen I added stitching to the flower and around the entire card.I added red Stickles to the small butterfly to bring the red into the butterfly.

Thanks for stopping by,

Dana Desmond

Our Creative Corner Challenge

Another challenge card. This one is a sketch challenge. Visit http://www.ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.com/ to see the sketch.

This is my first attempt at paper piecing. This turned out so well, I think I'll do it again on another project. I used patterned paper from the DCWV, Sweet Shoppe stock. My local Joanne's had all of their stacks on sale and a few of the 8x8's were $5. I snagged a few of them.

Materials

Tools: Cricut, Gypsy, Stampin' Up Punch
Cartridge: Gypsy Wandering
Papers: DCWV, Stampin' Up
Stamps: Fiskars, Cupcakes and More
Pen: Gelly Roll
Ribbon and Gems: From my stash

Thanks for stopping by,
Dana Desmond