Blogger's Challenge #103 - Sketch Challenge

Happy Friday everyone! I feel like I'm finally back in the swing of things in the studio and I actually got my challenge card completed last night before my Big Shots Class started! I've had an up and down and very busy 2 weeks around here with just lots of family and personal stuff, so it's been "stamp when I can", kwim? I'm hoping that once school is out next Wednesday, things will relax a bit and for a nice while. A girl can dream, right? LOL!



Today's challenge was to interpret the sketch shown here that our challenge Mom, Lisa sent us. I have to say, when I first looked at it, I thought I was going to have a tough time with it, because it just didn't speak to me. But, the best way to finish anything is just to start it, so I did and pulled out one of my favorite stamp sets - Seaside - as my jumping off point. Seaside is actually retiring at the end of June too, so if you don't already own this beautiful collection of shells, I highly recommend it.



To find my color scheme, I turned once again to some Designer Series Paper, this time using "To the Nines" which has been extremely popular. If you love it, you will be happy to know that it IS in the NEW catalog!



My card base is Creamy Caramel cardstock which I've spritzed with my Close to Cocoa Stampin' Write Marker and my Color Spritzing tool. I then layered on two pieces of the DSP in the paisley and houndstooth prints.



The horizontal layer is Close to Cocoa cardstock which I've distressed top and bottom with my Bone Folder then wrapped with a piece of Twill Tape. I liked the texture better than the Kraft Taffeta ribbon that I started out with. For a bit of emphasis, I've added a Pewter slide from the now retired Hodgepodge Hardware set. I've been hoarding these!


The nautilus shell image was stamped with Basic Brown ink onto Naturals White Cardstock and I added some Sage Shadow ink with my Aqua Painter. The edges of this piece were also distressed with my Bone Folder and I then colored the edges with the Close to Cocoa Marker before spritzing it as well. This piece is popped up on Stampin' Dimensionals to add depth.



Lastly, I stamped the "for you" greeting from the All Holidays stamp set on a scrap of Naturals White. It's punched out with my 1" Circle Punch, then edged it with Basic Brown ink. It's layered onto a piece of Sage Shadow cardstock punched out with the 1 1/4" Circle Punch. It's also edged with Basic Brown ink then layered under the greeting. I've popped the whole thing up on two stacked dimensionals to raise it above the shell image.



All in all, I'm pretty happy with this card, in fact, I think it will make a great Father's Day card, don't you? I hope my Father-in-Law thinks so anyway!



Thanks for stopping by today to visit - I hope you'll leave a comment to let me know you've been here! Be sure to check out all the other Blogger's Challenge Players by clicking on the link in my sidebar. They will have tons of ideas with this sketch to inspire you!



And if you like sketches, come back tomorrow for week #3 of www.stamping411.blogspot.com Sketchy Saturday! My creation will be posted here with measurements and instructions, then you can go to the Stamping 411 blog and view the other Design Operators creations as well. If you play along and upload your creation to the Stamping 411 blog, you might just be picked as one of our Fab Five next week for Stampers Showcase on the blog!



Have a great weekend everyone!

~~Robin



Shop 24/7 on my website: http://www.robinstamps4u.stampinup.net/

Father's Day is on it's Way!

And for once, I have a head start on my cards! LOL!

Hi everyone, I know it's been since Saturday since I posted, but we had an extremely busy weekend and then my hubby was off yesterday, so we were working around the house. Had to take advantage of him being home, kwim?

This card actually started as my piece for the Stamping 411 sketch on Saturday, but when I couldn't get my words to fit the way I wanted it too, I just went with it and made this instead. I started with a card base of Baja Breeze that is cut at 4 1/4" x 11" long. It's scored in half at 5 1/2" then I ran it through my Big Shot with one of the Texturz Plates #4 to create the rugged background.

Across the top is a piece of Riding Hood Red cardstock overlaid with a piece of Twill Tape. I frayed the ends a bit then attached it to the card with the Jumbo Pewter Eyelets and my Crop-a-Dile.

For my focal point, I used two of my favorite alphabet stamp sets - both are RETIRING! - Short Order Alphabet and Big Deal Alphabet. You have to know that these two sets were among my all time favorites! When you see how "colorful" the wood blocks are from ink stains, you know they were well loved and much used! I will miss them a LOT! Anyway, thanks for letting me rant a bit about that!

On Very Vanilla cardstock, I stamped the "hey" with Close to Cocoa ink using Short Order Alpha and I stamped the "Dad!" with Riding Hood Red ink using Big Deal Alpha. The trick I use to determine what size cardstock to cut for making titles is to first stamp the greeting or title onto my Grid Paper. I then measure how much space it takes up and cut my cardstock accordingly. Then when I stamp on the cardstock, I place it beneath the stamped image on the Grid Paper to help me line it up again. Pretty simple technique that works like a charm!

Once I layered the focal image onto Close to Cocoa cardstock, I stamped the rest of the greeting with Close to Cocoa ink onto Very Vanilla cardstock, punching it out with my Large Oval Punch. I used the Really Retro stamp set for the greeting. This is a fairly new stamp set that is quickly becoming one of my favorites so I'm really glad that it is NOT retiring! I edged this stamped oval with a bit of Close to Cocoa ink and then adhered it to the card front with two Stampin' Dimensionals. The little Library Clip was added for emphasis and I think it finished the card off nicely!

Thanks for stopping by today! Leave me a comment so I know you were here, ok?

Oh, did I mention that I have the new catalog in my hot little hands?! Yes, I even have the new In Colors - with Markers! WooHoo! If you are registered for stamp camps/classes this month, you just might be able to get a little sneaky peeky! Maybe even a project to whet your appetite! But you have to be registered now, don't you! Go to my website at www.robinstamps4u.stampinup.net to check out my Events calendar and call or e-mail me to RSVP! There are lots of opportunities for you to come stamp with me this month!

All the Best!

~~Robin

Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge #2

Wow! What a wonderful opening week for the new teaching blog, http://www.stamping411.blogspot.com/ As a member of the design team, I am so thankful for all of you who not only stopped by to visit, but actually played along last week with the sketch. I hope you'll be inspired again and join us this week too!

Here is my interpretation of this week's sketch. I turned to several items that are soon to be retired from Stampin' Up! - two of my favorites like the stamp set "Just B" and the Rockabilly Designer Series Paper.

As you can see this sketch is in the 'portrait' orientation and I went with it as is. Sometimes I will turn a sketch depending on the stamps and embellishments used, but this week I kept it simple.

My card base is made with Baja Breeze cardstock. I cut an entire 8 1/2" x 11" sheet in half lengthwise to obtain a piece that is 4 1/4" x 11" long. I then scored the piece in the middle at 5 1/2" with the scoring blade on my paper cutter. Sometimes when cardstock is cut against the grain, it can be hard to obtain a nice fold without scoring it first. The way to tell if cardstock is "with the grain" is to bend the whole sheet gently one way, then the other. The side that bends easiest is the one that is optimum for an unscored fold.

Next, I cut two pieces of the Rockabilly Designer Series Paper. The top piece is cut at 4" x 1" and the bottom piece is 4" x 4 1/4". I used SNAIL adhesive to attach them to the folded card base.

The seam of the two papers is covered with a piece of Sticky Strip Adhesive. I then took my Chunky Black Glitter and poured it out on top of the exposed Sticky Strip. Using my finger, I mashed the glitter into the adhesive, making sure to cover the entire piece well. I then brushed off any excess with the brush that came with my Powder Pals trays.

I then went to work on my focal point image. Using Whisper White cardstock, I cut the top piece at 2 1/2" x 3". The layers are measured as follows: Basic Black - 2 5/8" x 3 1/8"; Baja Breeze - 2 3/4" x 3 1/4"; Riding Hood Red - 3" x 3 1/2". Most of the time, I just cut larger pieces at 1/4" intervals allowing for a 1/8" mat under each, but for this design it looked nicer with just the 1/16" mat for the middle two pieces.

To stamp the focal point, I inked up the large "B" stamp with Riding Hood Red ink. It is stamped a bit to the right of the cardstock, allowing the "way to" stamp to be placed nicely to the left of the "B". I stamped that in Baja Breeze ink. After adhering all my layers together with SNAIL adhesive, I used my 1/8" hole punch and placed the hole for the Rhinestone Fire Circle Brad. I punched through all the layers because when the brad prongs are folded down, they wouldn't mar the front of the top layer.

Lastly, I took my Scalloped Oval Punch and punched out a scrap piece of Baja Breeze cardstock. Then I inked up the "fabulous" stamp with Riding Hood Red ink and stamped it onto a scrap of Whisper White cardstock. Then, I punched it out with my Large Oval Punch. (Here is the trick to getting evenly stamped punches - stamp the image first onto scrap cardstock then, holding your punch upside down so the "window" is facing up, insert your stamped scrap piece into the punch, line it up and punch! It really is that easy and saves you lots of frustration - ask me how I know!)

Once I had the piece punched out, I took my Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker and gently edged the oval with the brush tip, creating a subtle border. This piece was then adhered to the punched scallop with more SNAIL. To attach it to the card, I placed Stampin' Dimensionals on the back and mounted it in place.

I hope you like my creation today and if you do, leave me some love with a comment, ok? I love hearing from my readers! Be sure to go over to the Stamping 411 blog and view the other design team members cards as well. Detailed instructions for their projects will be found on their individual blogs. And, YOU can play along with us too! Take the sketch challenge and run with it. We'd love to see how YOU interpret this fun design with YOUR creativity!

You can post a link to your card to http://www.stamping411.blogspot.com/ by using the Mr. Linky Widget provided. Be sure to use the sketch # in your link - it's SSC102.

Happy Stamping everyone!

~~Robin

Blogger's Challenge #102 - Summer Theme!

Happy Friday stampers!

For today's post, I created something, fun, fresh and simple! And isn't that what Summer is really all about? Now, I have to say that the Dr. Pepper Jelly Beans came from the store like that - I didn't alter them in any way, but I created this little gift ensemble for friend who recently did something very special for me and she reads my blog all the time. She happens to love Dr. Pepper and I had to include this little treat in her gift!

To create my gift ensemble, I started with some of my favorite Designer Series Paper, Rockabilly (retiring this month!). It is so cool with shiny accents and designs built into the paper. The cherries on these pieces are the shiny parts, so fun! The large candy bar in the front right was simply wrapped with a piece of the DSP and tied up with a piece of the So Saffron Twill Ribbon (also retiring this month!) I added a little tag by stamping the greeting from the A Little Somethin' hostess Stamp set in Basic Black onto Whisper White cardstock. I then used the cherries stamp from the Tart and Tangy stamp set to make the background. Using my Stampin' Write markers, I colored directly on the stamp with Real Red and Old Olive, then stamped off on scrap paper to lighten the intensity of the color. Then I stamped it over the greeting, creating a muted cherry background. I used my Small Tag Punch to punch it out and the punched a piece of the cherry paper which is black with white polka dots on the reverse, with my Large Tag Punch and layered them. I used my Crop-A-Dile to set a Real Red Eyelet in the top and tied the tag to the candy with a piece of Linen Thread.

The little Matchbox to the left was also created with the same paper. I used my super cool new Matchbox Die and my Big Shot to make this adorable box, added a sweet treat to the inside and tied it up with some of that luscious Kiwi Kiss Satin Ribbon! (Yep, it's retiring this month too, sigh!) The tag for this one was made with my Scallop Circle #2 Die and the Big Shot using Basic Black cardstock. I then stamped the cherries again on Whisper White cardstock and added the "friend" from the Really Retro Stamp Set. My White Gel Pen created the little polka dots in the scallops and a piece of Linen Thread was used to tie it on to the ribbon. I really love how easy my Big Shot makes creating fun and cute little gifts like this!

Lastly, the notebook actually came from the store with the cute cherry print on the plastic cover. So, I just added a piece of So Saffron Twill Ribbon wrapped around the cover and secured it with Sticky Strip under the stamped medallion. To create that piece, I again went to my Scallop Circle #2 Die and my Big Shot, rolling out the larger scallop circle in Basic Black Cardstock. More Gel Pen dots in the scallops and then I used my Circles #2 Die to cut out the White cardstock circle. It's stamped as well with the Cherries from Tart and Tangy and I again added the greeting from the Really Retro stamp set.

I had so much fun creating this gift ensemble and I hope my special friend will love it! The cherries just felt so fresh and summery and I thought it would be the perfect idea to share with you all for today's challenge. Be sure to pop by the other Blogger's Challenge players and let their Summer ideas inspire you as well. The links to their blogs are found by clicking on the button in my sidebar.

Tomorrow, be sure to stop back by here and see my 2nd Design Team creation for the new teaching blog, www.stamping411.blogspot.com . I'll have the measurements and instructions posted here for my creation along with the sketch so you can play along too! The be sure to go over to Stamping 411 and see all the other design team members creations as well!

Enjoy your day, everyone!

~~Robin

Jackets Can be Inspiring!

A few weeks ago, I received an e-mail from one of my favorite stores, Coldwater Creek. (Hi Patty!) There was a jacket advertised which had a pattern that just screamed "make me into a card". You can see the original jacket here.

So, I finally got around to making my card last night and this is the result. I'm most excited about the gathered ribbon around the greeting, because I figured it out all by myself. It was very easy once I put enough adhesive on the back to hold it! LOL!

I started with a card base of Creamy Caramel cut at 4 1/4" x 11", folded in half lengthwise. It's layered with a piece of Basic Black, 4" x 5 1/4" and the stamping was done on a piece of Whisper White cardstock cut at 3 3/4" x 5".

I first ran the White cardstock through my Big Shot with the Texturz plates as it mimics the texture in the jackets' fabric. Then I took out on of my favorite stamp sets, Stitched Exotics (which is RETIRING this month!) to attempt to mimic the jackets' pattern. I stamped my images in Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise and Creamy Caramel. I love how the texture shows though the stamping especially in the large flower.

To create the medallion, I stamped the Thank You individual stamp using my Stampin' Write Markers in Tempting Turquoise and Basic Black. It is punched out with the Scalloped Square Punch. Then I covered the back in SNAIL adhesive and taking my Kraft Taffeta Ribbon, began to gather it in small increments all around the perimeter of the square, sticking it down as I moved around.

Then, to finish it, I ran the Swirls Scribbles Sizzlits Die through my Big Shot with Basic Black Cardstock and added two of the swirls to the edges of the medallion with more SNAIL. Lastly, I punched out a 1 1/4" Square of white cardstock and adhered it to the back to secure everything. It is mounted on two Stampin' Dimensionals to give it height.

To be honest, I'm not completely in love with this card, but my husband and daughter both had the right answer when I asked their opinion! Hahaha! They said it was beautiful and a great interpretation of the photo.

So, what do YOU think? Let me know by leaving a comment, I'd love to hear your feedback or if you have another way to interpret the photo, please take a picture and link it back to this post. Everyone sees things with a different set of eyes. That's one of the things I love about stamping!

Back tomorrow with my Blogger's Challenge project for this week and again on Saturday with my card and tutorial post for the new teaching blog, http://www.stamping411.blogspot.com/

If you haven't checked it out yet, you should! We on the design team have a different sketch challenge each week and would love for you to play along with us!

Stamp happy!

~~Robin

Hand-Stamped Birthday Cards are the Best!

Yes, they certainly are and I got some real beauties for my birthday last month. I just had to share them with you!

These first pretty in pink beauties were made by my upline and friend, Christina Crawford and by my downline and friend, Nancy Clark. So, so beautiful - I love them and you!




This stunner was created by none other than my dear daughter Emma! Yes, the doors actually are cut and hinged! She hand drew the floor, too. I was amazed - I mean hey, she's only 11!



These next two came from two of my UDI sisters, Tammy Fite and Janice Rosenthal Rock.

Gorgeous ladies and thank you so much!












These two fun cards are by my newest team member, Stacy Stec and the other is from my dear
friend Lissa. Super cute!


Another of my downline, Jen Brown made this adorable birdy card - she even sewed on it! The


cute chef with my birthday cake came from Lori Watson, another of my UDI sisters.






These next two lovely cards are from my downline, Paula Rabkin another UDI sister, Jennifer

Guy Eby. So stinkin' cute, guys!

Last, but not least are these two cuties from my friend and downline, Lauren McCray and my client and friend, Andrea Mutterer. You guys are

the best!

Thanks so much everyone for making my birthday a very special day indeed!

Sending lots of hugs and kisses your way! MWAH!

~~Robin

I Got Happy Mail!

Wow! Lookie at what came in the mail for me today! This gorgeous card from a very dear friend - if you are reading this, you KNOW you are! MWAH!

It was so pretty, I just had to share - I hope you like it too!

I've been stamping quite a few things since Saturday, but they won't be ready until Thursday, so tomorrow, check back and I'll show you some of the wonderful Birthday Cards I got from friends all across the country!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

~~Robin

Card details: All SU! products (of course!) Stamps - Sincere Salutations; Inks - Chocolate Chip; Paper - Baja Breeze, Parisian Breeze DSP; Accessories - Manhattan Flower Textured Impressions for the Big Shot, Baja Breeze Double Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Paper Snips