Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge - SSC138

Hi there! I'm so happy you stopped by today! We Stamping 411 operators were given a marvelous sketch to work with this week and I can't wait for you to see my card! I loved the layout so much that I also used it yesterday for my daughter's valentine card. You can see that post here.

For today's card, I turned the sketch on it's side - here is the original way:

And here is my card:

I got a little carried away with all the details on this one, but it was so fun to make and I just love how it turned out! It's funny, I don't know if I have a particular 'stamping style' - I seem to go from super vintage to very clean and simple, but most of the time, I really love what I make and I hope you do too!

Here are the details on this one, ok?
Kraft cardstock base, cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", folded to make an A2 card (4 1/4" x 5 1/2")
*Layer 1 - Naturals White cardstock - 1 3/4" x 5 1/4", torn and sponged with Close to Cocoa ink
*Layer 2 - Shades of Spring DSP - 1 3/4" x 5 1/4", edged with the Spiral Notebook punch, crumpled and sponged with Close to Cocoa ink
*2 pieces of Kraft Taffeta Ribbon, wrapped around the card front and secured under the focal point layer
*Kraft cardstock - 2 1/4" x 2 1/2"
*Certainly Celery cardstock - 2" x 2 1/4"
*Naturals White cardstock - 1 3/4" x 2"
*"F" letter is on Naturals White cardstock - details below

I used my Vintage Vogue stamp set for this card and started by stamping the vine randomly on the folded Kraft card base with Whisper White Craft ink. It was heat embossed with White Embossing Powder and my Heat Tool. I then lightly sponged Close to Cocoa ink all over.

For my focal image, I stamped the 'F' with Certainly Celery ink onto the Naturals White cardstock, then sponged and distressed that piece and the layers. Then I stamped it again using Whisper White Craft on Naturals White and heat embossed it with more White EP. I then brayered over it with Certainly Celery ink for an emboss resist effect, trimmed it out with my Paper Snips and sponged on a bit of Close to Cocoa before mounting it with Stampin' Dimensionals.

Next came the ribbon bow....

I've wanted to try this technique for ages and I finally got around to it here. I made my bow first then frayed the ends enough to find a string in the middle and pulled gently, creating the ruffle. When I first saw Shelli demo this from stage at convention, I thought "No way I'm going to ever do that!" but the more I saw it on other projects, the more I liked it and I think it's perfect for this particular card. Very frilly and feminine.
After I got the ruffle done, I just trimmed the ragged ends and attached the bow with Mini Glue Dots to the card.
For my final touch, I used my Color Spritzer and the Close to Cocoa marker to add speckles to the whole thing, ribbon and all. It may be a little over the top, but sometimes that's a good thing - like chocolate! :)

We at Stamping 411 would love it if you played along with us this week! The sketch is super accomodating for many different styles and images - so give it a try! Be sure to upload your project using the Mr. Linky widget provided on the Stamping 411 blog so we can see your artwork. We have a Stampers Showcase each Friday and you never know if you might be chosen for it - now wouldn't that be exciting?

Have a wonderful Valentine's weekend with your loved ones - be sure and tell them how much you love them and love having them in your life.
And don't forget the greatest love of all time - the love that Christ showed for us all when He gave himself as a sacrifice so that we might have eternal life. That is true love my friends - He loves you and so do I!

Blessings,
~~Robin

We Have a Winnah!

Hi there stampers!

Just popping in to announce winner of my blog candy from Tuesday! Remember the card in this post HERE? Well, I said I would give it away to one lucky commenter on my blog, so I had my daughter Emma pick a number from 1 - 30 and she chose #19!

Here is the comment left:

Robin,
I guess layering is the key... my cards sometimes seem unfinished so more layers it is!! Thanks for your wonderful designs!
Dawn

Now, this Dawn is anonymous on my blog, so I have no e-mail address to notify her! If this is you, please e-mail me or leave a comment here so I can send you your card!

Have a great evening everyone!
~~Robin

Blogger's Challenge - Valentine's Day!

Hey there all my stampin' friends! Today on my blog is officially Emma day!
Our Blogger's Challenge theme this week is appropriately enough, Valentine's Day, and I'm showing you the card I made for her this year. We will be celebrating early because this Sunday, she and her skating team will be skating in a competition in Hershey, PA. So today, I'm taking her to see the new movie "Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Lightning Thief". She and her bff, Bethany made orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirts and clay bead necklaces to wear to the show - to say they are superfans of the book series is an understatement! I'll try and get some pictures and share them with you later on.

Now, for her card. You may see an unfamiliar image as my focal point - it's actually from a very long retired stamp set called From the Heart. I just {heart} this little girl image and since my girl is growing up so fast, I thought I'd better use it while she will still appreciate it!

I used Barely Banana for my card base and stamped it all over with the polka dot heart from the I {heart} Hearts stamp set in the same color. The sweet little paper ruffles were made with the Tea Party Designer Series Paper. I used part of a technique that my good friend Jan McClurg taught us at the Phoenix Regional last month. I cut a strip of paper 1 1/4" x 12" and punched all along one edge with the Eyelet Border punch. Then I ran it through my Crimper several times to scrunch it all up. To make the ruffles here, I ran a piece of Sticky Strip along the card front and just pleated it across the adhesive until I got to the end. I trimmed the excess off with my Paper Snips. I used another piece of Sticky Strip for the top layer and then added the piece of Chocolate Chip Double Stitched ribbon to cover the edges and make it look finished.

The focal image was stamped in Black Staz On ink on Very Vanilla cardstock and colored in with Stampin' Write Markers. It was then layered on both Pretty in Pink and Barely Banana. All the layers were sponged lightly with Close to Cocoa ink as was the card base and paper ruffles. I used Stampin' Dimensionals to pop it up over the ruffles.

My greeting comes from the stamp set Three Little Words - which you can get Free during Sale-A-Bration! I stamped it in Close to Cocoa on Very Vanilla. It's punched out with the Small Oval punch and layered on a piece of Pretty in Pink punched out with the Large Oval punch. It's sponged as well and attached with another dimensional.

Now here is where I would say that I hope she likes her card, but I know she will like it because someone (me) left it laying out on my studio counter and she already saw it! Oh well, she said she'd be surprised when she opens it! Love that girl!

I love it especially when she spends time with me in the studio. I was working on my card for Saturday's Stamping 411 Sketch and she came in to stamp with me. She used the Sale-A-Bration stamp set Good Neighbors to make this lovely creation!

She hand drew the sun, grass and flowers; mounted it on the Chocolate Chip card backer and added the ribbon hanger herself - so cute! I think Grandma is going to be the recipient of this particular piece of art! And we know she will love it!

I'm glad you stopped by today to visit and I hope you like the card! Be sure to stop by the other Blogger's Challenge players blogs and see their creations as well. You'll be in the Valentine's spirit in no time! Have a great day and come back tomorrow to see the card I was working on for Stamping 411!
~~Robin

UDI Inspiration Challenge #82 - A Rose for You

Welcome back stampin' peeps! It's Thursday and that can mean only one thing at this blog - I have a new inspiration project to show you! This challenge team I'm on is so much fun - I love being given a starting point for a project that allows me to just create from what I see, no restrictions, all creativity! This week, as soon as I saw the photo that Maria sent us to work with, I knew immediately what stamp I wanted to use. In fact, I'd been thinking about it the other day because it is so beautiful and I've not pulled it off the shelf in months!

Here is our inspiration piece:

And here is my card:

I've never done an all white cardstock card before, but after seeing the end result of this one, I'll probably be doing it again. I just love, love how this turned out, even better than I'd envisioned. Isn't it great when a plan comes together? :)

The rose image is from the Bloomin' Beautiful stamp set, which I originally purchased because of the gorgeous hydrangea stamp in the set. I have found however, that I turn to this image most often though. It just speaks to me in it's simplicity.
Now, you have to know that I'm not much of a watercolor person, in fact, I avoid it when possible because I'm just not confident that my skills there are the best - my Mom was an incredible oil artist before she gave it up and it's always intimidated me a bit. But, for YOU, I'll try again, ok? :)

I simply used my Aqua Painter and my re-inkers and colored in the image with Real Red by putting the most intense color on the shaded areas of the image (I'd stamped it first in Black Staz-On) and then moving the color outwards toward the edge of the petals. Not a ton of shading, but it IS a red rose, they seem pretty solid to me.

I used Always Artichoke for the stem.
There are 4 layers of Whisper White cardstock on this card, I mounted the focal image to a larger piece of white so it would have a subtle frame. This is popped up over the dry embossed piece with Stampin' Dimensionals.
I used my Big Shot and my Finial Press Embossing Folder to create this layer and it's simply mounted on a standard Whisper White card base. I did add an additional Whisper White insert to it to provide some additional stability to the card.

My favorite part is the bow:

I used the new stamp set Tiny Tags and the new Medium Jewelry Tag Punch to make the little tags and tied them around the Red Satin ribbon bow with some Linen Thread. A few Mini Glue Dots later and voila - it was done!

Please take a minute and stop by the UDI Blog to see what the other design team members have created this week - I know they will inspire you! I'm glad you came by to visit me today - I'd love to hear what you think about the card if you have time to leave a comment. It makes my heart happy to know you enjoy coming by here!
Have a great day everyone, stay warm and dry and come back tomorrow - it's Blogger's Challenge day and the theme is.....yeah, you guessed it, Valentine's Day!

Blessings,
~~Robin

A Place for Memories

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you probably know that my life basically revolves around 4 things - my faith, my family, stamping and skating. My daughter Emma has been ice skating since she was 4 years old, she's 12 now, and has been competing both in singles and with the National Blades Synchronized Skating teams for the past 4 years. So, each week, 3 to 4 days a week, all year long, we make the 1/2 hour trek to our local rink, Prince William Ice Center. It's a pretty easy assumption to say that a good part of our lives revolves around available freestyle sessions and team practice ice.

The photo below shows our home rink on what appears to be a beautiful Summer day. It's one of the most familiar sights to our family and I can't begin to count the number of times we've been in and out of those front doors.

This is the front entrance to our rink as it stands today.

I have no words for this.

Usually I can be counted on to find something appropriate to say in whatever situation, whether witty or comforting, but today, I am just beyond sad.

It is a fortunate thing, I think, that in my life, I've been blessed to have never experienced the devastating loss of home or property to the extent that so many countless others have when disaster strikes. My heart always goes out to them, but somehow that always seems so far removed from me too.
Today, I think I understand a little bit better.

Our record setting snows this past week were just too much for the roof to handle and it collapsed under the weight of it all. No one, fortunately, was inside when it gave way, but what remained was the intangible feeling of home.
While this building didn't 'belong' to me and my family, we feel as if we've lost, at least temporarily, our home. To see it this way, so broken, just tears at my heart.

This ice rink was more than just a building, it was home to our community of families and friends brought together because of our collective love of skating and hockey.
Some of our dearest friends were made there. We shared joys and heartbreak, injuries and illnesses, births and deaths. You knew that when you were there on a Monday, you'd get to visit with one set of friends and on Wednesday, another group.
I have so many memories from this place - Emma's first skating lesson, holding the hands of her instructor, Marina; her first ice show performance in her blue velvet skating dress that made her feel like a princess; her first synchro team practice/try out where she left the ice crying because it was so hard - and the little girl who convinced her to come back and try it again.
Emma earned her first singles Gold Medal at this rink, and I got to put it around her neck.
Our ice rink was a constant in our lives, a place of wonderful memories and those yet to be made, a place where friends and families met - laughed together, cried together and stuck together.

And we will stick together.
The rink owners have said they are committed to rebuilding - and quickly. That makes my heart happy.
So, over the next many months, our 'family' will be scattered to whatever rink we can get to for ice time and coaching, but we have the knowledge that we will all be together again. Under a new roof, assuredly, but the spirit will be the same. Home.
To quote Emma's synchro coach, "Tough times don't last, tough people do."

~~Robin

Valentine - or Not?

Howdy to all my stamping friends! I'm finally home waiting for my personal chef, the fabulous Mark, to put our yummy pot roast on the table. It's been in the crock pot all day long and it smells so, so good. It's making my mouth water! We've had a crazy couple of days here - I'll be sharing what happened to our skating rink in another post, but suffice it to say that it's been interesting at best trying to get Emma to another rink to practice on.
As I write this post, it's snowing like crazy again outside and the weather folks are telling us we are going to get between 10 and 20 more inches before it's all through tomorrow evening. Yeah, really.....

So, this morning, I forced myself to go into the studio and CREATE something before we headed out for the day. Considering that I'd only had one cup of coffee, I'm not sure its a FABULOUS card, but it's cute in it's own way and I thought, what the hay, I'll share it with you anyways. You'll have to let me know what you think, ok? And if you read all the way to the end of this post, you can find out how you might just get it in the mail yourself!

I actually started with a piece of that fab DSP called Sending Love. Each piece has glitter on one side of it - stunning! I had a scrap from something and decided to play off the pink in it first, so I layered it on a piece of Pretty in Pink cardstock. I thought it needed 'grounding' so I then added Basic Black cardstock. That led me to use Basic Black for the card base (I put a piece of Very Vanilla inside to write on.) This was layered with more Pretty in Pink and then a piece of Very Vanilla that was embossed with my Big Shot and the Perfect Polka Dots folder.

Now, what to do for a greeting and embellishment? Hmmm...

I had a tough time getting my mojo going further, maybe my coffee hadn't kicked in yet, but whatever, I plowed onward. I had a Real Red piece of cardstock that was leftover from a card I'd done with the Movers and Shapers Die and my Big Shot, so I decided to get out my Vintage Label SAB stamp set and stamp a label frame in Real Red on Very Vanilla cardstock. This was punched out with the Curly Label punch which is just a wee bit smaller than my red piece - perfect layer! The greeting was added with Basic Black ink and I added a flower from With All My Heart stamp set, in Real Red ink stamped off twice.
After adhering it to the dsp layers, I mounted it to the embossed vanilla piece and added the Real Red Epoxy Brad below it. I actually punched the brad hole through both the vanilla and the pink layers so it wouldn't show through from the back. This was then all added to the Basic Black card base.

It still needed 'something' though, so I pulled out my amazing Real Red Satin ribbon and tied the double knot around the dsp layers. It seemed to be just enough to finish the card and I like the tailored, but whimsical look of the whole thing. I think someone will like it, so who should I send it to? Should I send it to you? Let me know by leaving a comment on this post and I'll draw someone from the list on Friday morning to mail it to!
Have a great evening everyone - stay warm and dry!
~~Robin

I Have a Card Made!

I promise! I just finished getting my mojo going this morning with sorta quick card, and then realized what time it was! Yikes! No time to take a picture and post it now, I have to have Emma to a skating practice which is an hour away from here. Our home rink was destroyed with a collapsed roof this past Saturday - that's a story for another post - and since the team has a competition this Sunday in Hershey, PA, we had to find ice time at whatever rink could accomodate us. It helps that school is closed yet again so we can go during the day.

Anyway, I'll be back late this afternoon with my card for you - come back and see, ok?
~~Robin