If not for....

this adorable little image, I would never have made it onto the wonderful

Design Team at

Crafter's Companion!

 

We were asked to pick one of our favorite projects,

and this one immediately came to mind.

 

This 6 x 6 card was made using

In Trouble Again,

one of the many sweet images in the "Paintbox Poppets" collection!

 

 

It is also one of my very favorite projects from the past year!

 

 

If you would like to read the details of how I created this card,

just look here!

 

I hope to eventually get back to creating as I was at that time.

I have been in a bit of a funk since my father's funeral in November and have been addressing some of my own medical issues.

But with the New Year comes new beginnings!

 

I love all of the Paintbox Poppets and look forward to taking marker to paper and designing more of these darlings!

If you would like to win your own "In Trouble Again" stamp, simply leave a comment on this blog post and one lucky winner will receive it!

 

Visit the Crafter's Companion blog to see more projects and go to all of the team's blogs to enter and win more stamps!

 

Thanks, again, for visiting my blog,

and a Very Merry Christmas to all of you!

~Jan~

 

 

 

 

Christmas Wishes from Stampendous!

I love to emboss!

And when I find stamps that lend themselves well to heat embossing, I go nuts!

The Stampendous stamps are SO clear and detailed that they stamp and the image holds the powder perfectly every time! And the "Detail Clear" Embossing Powder seeks out every tiny little detail and provides a clear, sharp image!

Don't you love new stamps?  I know I do!

For this card, I kept it simple by stamping and clear embossing the

     Jumbo "Pinecone Boughs" several times off the left edge of my paper.

I then stamped the Cling "Poinsettia Background" in dark red onto white cardstock, and punched out several sized "ornaments".  (1", 1 1/2", and 2" in this case)
The gorgeous sentiment is from the clear set, "Tis the Season".

Notice that the sentiment mat is wrapped with ribbon like a gift, and finished off with a cute little bow on top!

With a bit of inking on all of the edges, popping up the ornaments, and dangling them from the silver bling, I've made a fairly simple,

but pretty, holiday greeting!

I love to make a few simple cards every year that I can later make in multiples should I decide to send out duplicate cards to family or friends.

Time to start making those Christmas cards!

More delicious embossing....

On my card today, I used the adorable image from

Crafter's Companion's

Christine Haworth

called

"In Trouble Again"

 

I think you'll agree that this little guy is just too cute for words.

 

The challenge at Crafter's Companion this month is

Stripes and/or Dots,

so this is how I put a vintage twist on my entry.

 

 

I loved the background on the image enough that I grabbed a piece of the tan cardstock that I used as a card base, and altered it to serve as a

background "brick mat" on my card.

If you want to see how this was done, I will be Guest Designing this month  at

Crafter's Companion (yippee!) and they, and I, will be posting another card and tutorial on this technique on September 17th!

 

 

 

 

Here you can see the shimmer on the "wall" and the way it entirely changes

the look of the plain cardstock paper.

It also gives it the feel of vinyl.  Cool, eh?

 

 

And with an image that adorable,

I needed an extra special sentiment for the inside.



DYSU Challenge #78 - Clouds!

Our sponsors this week:
Crafty Sentiments - http://craftysentimentsdesigns.co.uk/
* Winner's Choice of 4 Images



The Paper Shelter - http://www.thepapershelter.com/
* $20 Gift Certificate



Gecko Galz - http://www.geckogalz.com/
* Entire July Collection (The Digital Paper Pack "Great Adventures", 6 different collage sets including Vintage Travels & Wild West dominos, and a digital stamp set "Mermaids Garden" a prize pack worth $30)


     This was a tough one because I was so excited choosing my "Gecko Galz" image,

that I totally blocked out the fact that our challenge was to, in some way, incorporate "blue skies" or clouds!  There have been a few times I have gotten a card started and realized that, in the excitement of using an image, paper or color,
 I've forgotten to consider the challenge requirement.
At that point, you just have to laugh and start over! 

Thankfully, nothing was glued down when I decided to go with the
heat embossed clouds.

This card was made to commemorate the U.S.'s fight for freedom

and why we celebrate July 4th.

I usually like to stay away from the typical bright red, white, and blue, but these muted papers and the subtle, vintage image won me over!

These Gecko Galz sheets are so beautiful, I want them all!

And if you want to know how the little banner was made, I printed the image a second time much larger, and cut the banner flags from a section of the printed image!

I had, only yesterday, received these little flowers from Wendy Robinson in a prize box from a Zva blog hop! Perfect timing, Wendy! I tinted them with my Copics to coordinate with  the print and quickly had a sweet embellishment!

Have a wonderful weekend and, for those of you stateside,
have a fun and safe upcoming
Fourth of July 
celebration!

DYSU Challenge...Circles!

 

  Crafty Sentiments - Winner's Choice of 4 Images

 

Folded Paper - Winner's Choice of 3 Digital Stamps 

This week I am posting a card I made a while back and didn't post. 

The papers are entirely Graphic 45 and the dies are Tim Holtz. 

After assembling and shaping, the layered flower was lightly spritzed with
Tsukineko, Goosebumps.

Thanks for looking!

Go check out the rest of the Design Team and enter to win!

This card is entered at the challenge at:
By the Cute and Girly (Spring is All Around)

Creative Craft Challenges2 (Anything Goes)

DYSU Challenge #60- Distress It!*

Winner's Choice of 7 Digital Images

£10 voucher

Winner's Choice of 5 Digital Images

Also, all participants will receive a Digi Darla code for a free stamp set just for participating in the challenge this week!

I was fortunate enough to recieve this wonderfully hilarious image from Bugaboo Stamps!

Aren't they adorable?

The big craze is interactive cards, so I made mine in an old-school interactive fashion...

But I couldn't bring myself to use the second phrase that comes with the image...

(and wives need mute buttons)

This card will go to a friend when they most need a pick-me-up. 

I just have to sit back and wait, and some hubby/boyfriend will mess up and I'll send this to make the wife/girlfriend feel much better!  :)

Inside of card:

See? Guaranteed to bring a smile to your face!

Another close-up of the front flap....

Have a good day, and check out the rest of the
Do You Stack Up
Design Team's projects!
Make your own card and win some great digi's!

This card is also entered in the challenges at:
The Sisterhood of Crafters (Digital image)
Creative Card Crew (Masculine)
Sassy Cheryl's Digi Stamps (No Embossing)

DYSU Challenge 57 - You name it!

For this week we have three
great sponsors:

Crafty  Individuals

 Stamp Fairy

Stamp &Create

Stamp and Create is an
online store based in the USA with worldwide shipping. We carry many stamp
designs including Magnolia, Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps, The Greeting Farm, Wags 'n
Whiskers Rubber Stamps, Whiff of Joy, CC Designs, Whimsy Stamps, and more. We
have a Product Spotlight sale each week with one select stamp company or
category are on sale up to 25% off. We also have a Monthly Challenge and Weekly
Candy on our blog.

Yep, this week the challenge at

DO YOU STACK UP

is ANYTHING GOES!

Father's Day will sneak up on me before I know it,

so I decided to get my Dad's card done now!

The photo was cut from DCWV paper and looks soooo much like me when I was young!

Dad loves the vintage cars and all things old-timey!

This Crafty Individuals stamp was perfect!

I paired it up with the papers from DCWV, "Vintage Stack" and "Tattered Time Matstack" and some die-cut gears and sprockets from Tim Holtz!

It's hard to tell, but the black trim piece is actually a metal corner reinforcer from an old office supply box! I got my hands on several and tore them down and flattened them to make these accents.

The book plate is JoAnn's Essentials.

With the challenge being "Anything Goes" , there will be no shortage of entries!  The DT will be busy this week! 
Go get your card finished and enter now at DYSU!

This card was IDEAL for the challenge at:
 Cupcake Craft Challenges (Recycled item, the metal trim, of course!)
Colour Create Challenge (Browns and Creams)

I want Paris in the Spring!

I have always had a dream of visiting Paris and Rome, and Sydney, and well, you get the idea.  I would love to travel constantly! 

The "Greetings from Paris" stamps from Just Rite transport you there without ever leaving your scrapbook room!

 I love this set! And the color challenge at

Just Rite Inspiration 

allowed me to expres myself and maybe win some more great stamps!  Yum!

Colors are:  Light Blue, Dark Blue, Brown, and Pale Pink.

The image of the Eiffel Tower was a Clipart one I found online, ran it through Photoshop and changed it to blue with reduced opacity.  Makes for a nice postcard background.  Inked everything up for that sweet vintage look.

Supplies:
Paper:  DCWV, Tattered Time; Bazzill
Stamps: Just Rite, "Greetings from Paris"
Embossing die: Cuttlebug, "Fleur de Lis"
Die cut: Spellbinders, Nestie Labels Four
Ribbons:  Michael's
Resin flower: online purchase
Ink: T Holtz, Tea Dye Distress Ink;  Colorbox, Cyan

This card also qualifies for the challenge at:
PaperPlay Challenges

Have a great weekend! Stay warm!

DYSU Challenge #50 WINTER!

 Welcome back for a new challenge here at Do You Stack Up?!

As the chilly weather moves in, we want you to show us your

Winter projects!

This week's Sponsors:

Crafty Emma £10 Gift Voucher (exc p&p)

Digi Darla Digital Stamp Club One Month’s Membership

Inky Impressions
$10 Gift Certificate

I chose to go with a decorated jar to hold candy canes...seems everyone enjoys an occasional sweet treat around the holidays!

With the adorable image, "Reindeer Rides"  from Inky Impressions, it was so easy!
Here's "Rudolf, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" for the
challenge at "Scrap It With A song" (a Christmas carol).

I didn't want to loose the image by wrapping it tight around the jar, and didn't have a larger jar, so I made little "wings" with tri-folded cardstock, and attached them to the backside of the cut out image.  I may transfer this whole image to a different jar or box later. But for now, the candy canes show through the window and look so yummy!

  I added homemade "flower fluff" to his antlers and to the ones on the building.  And of course, he had to have a shiny, red, blingy nose!

And wanting to make it more vintage, I inked the edge of the image with Distress Ink.  It still needed an old-timey look, so I glued some DCWV holiday paper added to the lid, along with the traditional red bow!

The tickets are Tim Holtz with an Inkadinkado Christmas sentiment stamp.

Check out the rest of the team's goodies, and join in the fun this week at

DYSU!

Also, this project was entered in the challenge at

Simon Says Stamp and Show (Through the looking glass)

Challenges Galore!

This month HAS to be the most inspiring of the year! So many challenges to help you get your Christmas/Holiday cards finished!

"Capture the Moment", has a "ruffle" challenge! I love ruffles, whether handmade out of ribbon or paper, or store bought.  I chose to make mine out of my Hug Snug ribbon to keep a soft, cream color to my card.

The sketch I used was from Card Patterns blog, flipped, of course! 

Supplies:
Stamps; Papertrey Ink, "Button Boutique"
Ribbon; Hug Snug (internet purchase)
Ink; Tim Holtz, Distress Ink, "Vintage Photo", and Quick Quotes, "Banana Bliss"

Enjoy the season, and take advantage of all the great ideas and inspiration out there!

Enjoy!

I will make this brief. I had a crown pop off my molar this weekend and had to go get it temporarily "glued" back in this morning.... my jaw is a bit sore.  I go back Thursday for my new bridgework...fun.
This is the sketch from Skipping Stones that prompted this card:

And my take, including the NEWSPAPER and COLOR challenges below:

I love the way the thick, textured yarn and the BOLD, heat embossed Tim Holtz sentiment looks against the delicate Skipping Stones butterfly stamps!

Ok, 'nuff said...my tummy's not feeling the best!  Better try and eat something.

Supplies:
Paper: Scenic Route; Stamps, Skipping Stones and Tim Holtz; Stock yarns and ribbon; Helmar 450 adhesive.

Challenges:
Skipping Stones Design (Sketch #65)
Embellish! (Color)
Simon Says Stamps (Newpaper pattern)

Thanks for looking and have a great week!