Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge - More Vintage!

Hi again stamping friends! It's time for the Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch challenge and no surprise, I've gone back to my vintage leanings for this one! I'm just lovin' this style these days and this time I wanted to use a color that I've been neglecting for a long time - Mellow Moss. It's one of my friend Martha Armstrong's favorite colors and I thought of her when I was making this card. (Hi Martha!)

Here is the sketch for this week (you may recognize it from my Thursday post here):

And here is today's card:

I'll put the supply list along with measurements at the bottom of this post so it's all in one place for you, okey-dokey? :) I used the Mellow Moss for my card base and after I folded it, I stamped the vine from Vintage Vogue in Mellow Moss ink for a tone on tone effect. I trimmed off 1 3/4" of the card front and added the piece of punched Naturals White. It's attached to the inside flap with a line of Tombow Adhesive. The edge was punched with Eyelet Border punch and then sponged with Chocolate Chip ink (as are all the cardstock pieces on this one).
I wrapped a piece of Chocolate Chip Taffeta ribbon around the entire card front and secured the ends under the focal image pieces. That ribbon hides the cardstock seam quite nicely. I don't like leaving something that looks unfinished - just a quirk of mine!
The focal image was stamped in Pale Plum ink and I wiped the 'friend' word clean before stamping. Then I cleaned my stamp and used my Rich Razzleberry Stampin' Write Marker to ink up just the word and added to the bottom center of the piece.

On my card, I replaced the small square element with the hand cut flowers. One is stamped in Rich Razzleberry ink and the other is in Pale Plum. They were curled with the Bone Folder and stacked with Mini-Glue Dots. I added a tiny Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon bow to the center with another glue dot. I did tie it using my Bow Tying method in this video here, but used only 8" of ribbon - more difficult, but do-able!
I also added two Vintage Brads to the bottom left of the focal image to give it some balance.

Two more little hand cut flowers for the lower right corner of the focal image, both with Vintage Brad centers and that part was finished. They were also attached with Mini Glue Dots.
On this card, I needed to do an inside piece as well:

It's simply a piece of Naturals White with some Mellow Moss vine stamped in the corner.
Easy peasy card and a different way to use the sketch too!
Be sure to check out the other operators projects by visiting the Stamping 411 blog - and why not play along with us this week? We love to see your creations!

Happy Stamping everyone!
~~Robin

Supply List:
Stamps: Vintage Vogue
Cardstock: Mellow Moss, Naturals White, Pale Plum

Inks: Mellow Moss, Chocolate Chip, Pale Plum, Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Taffeta ribbon, Eyelet Border Punch, Vintage Brads, Mini Glue Dots, Stamping Sponges

By His Wounds (Blogger's challenge - Easter theme)

Hello stamping friends -
Today is Good Friday and for many of us it is one of THE most important days in regards to our faith. This is the anniversary of the day that Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price for the sins of the world - all because of His great, unfathomable love for us.
It rocks my world to know that the spotless Lamb of God would be willing to suffer and die in order that I (and you) might be saved.

So today, I once again share artwork from my heart with you - in order to honor the Lord and Saviour that I love so very much. It is my prayer that you will be blessed by what you read and see here today - I mean no offense to anyone - this is truly from my heart and the best part of all is that today isn't the end of the story of Easter. If you visit me again here on Sunday I will be sharing His Resurrection with you and celebrating the great hope we have in Christ!

There is a beautiful song by Third Day called "By His Wounds" and I am sharing some of the lyrics from that song (one of my favorites) with you today. At the bottom of my post is a beautiful video set to this amazing song that I know will touch your heart.
May God bless you all richly today and always.

"He was pierced for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our sins.
The punishment that brought us peace
was upon Him.
By His wounds, by His wounds
we are healed."

"We are healed by Your sacrifice
and the life that You gave.
We are healed for You paid the price,
By Your grace we are saved,
We are saved."

"What can wash a way my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
By His wounds,
by His wounds we are healed."

Thank you so much for being my guest here today and I hope you were blessed.
I've included the information for my project here for you as well if you would like it. If you have questions on it's construction or technique, please feel free to contact me.

Stamped blessings,
~~Robin

Stamps: Refuge and Strength, Things I Love, Sanded background, Crown of Thorns (non-SU!)
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Real Red
Cardstock: Naturals Ivory, Elegant Eggplant
Accessories: Crystal Effects, Real Red Re-inker, Stamping Sponge, Stampin' Dimensionals, Bone Folder

UDI Inspiration Challenge - One Cute Chick!

Ok, take just one look at this picture.........

Now, all together now.........AWWWW, that's SO CUTE!
That was exactly my reaction when I viewed this week's UDI Inspiration Challenge photo - what an adorable image! Our Challenge Mom, Maria chooses some wonderful inspiration pieces and as soon as I saw this one, I knew which stamp set I'd use - the hostess set Country Morning.
Mine had yet to see ink and I was happy to have a reason to take it out and mount it!
So here is my card:

I used the upcoming sketch for this week's Stamping 411 sketch challenge - so I guess you are getting a sneak peek at that - and my colors were dictated by the inspiration photo, as were the images.
My folded card base is Garden Green and I layered it with a piece of Barely Banana which I ran through my Big Shot using the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. This layer was then sponged with Barely Banana ink to make the embossing stand out and give it depth.
I used Garden Green for the mats under the stamped images which were stamped on Naturals White cardstock.

The daffodils are from the Abundant Hope stamp set and the greeting is from Teeny Tiny Wishes - probably my most used stamp set - and I punched it out with the Modern Label punch.
Everything was colored in with ink pads and Aqua Painters. I used Barely Banana and a little Crushed Curry to give the yellows two tones. The green is more Garden Green and the beak and feet of the little chick were colored in with the Dusty Durango Stampin' Write Marker. All images were stamped with Black Staz-On ink before coloring in.
I sponged all the edges of the Naturals White cardstock with Barely Banana ink to make them stand out a bit.

The ribbon wrapped around the Banana cardstock layer is a small piece of Twill Tape and then I added the little bow with a piece of Linen Thread that is threaded through two small punched holes on the daffodil layers. I simply frayed the ends a bit once it was tied to make it look more rustic.
It's kind of hard to see in the photo, but if you look real close at the eggshell, I painted a small bit of Crystal Effects on the inside of the shell to make it look shiny in contrast to the matte outside of the shell. A small touch, but I think it's the little things that make something extra special!
Speaking of little things, check out this view of the card:

I was trying to capture how much dimension it has in real life. I used 9 Stampin' Dimensionals on this baby; 5 behind the Banana layer and 4 behind the large Garden Green layer. The little chick is adhered with SNAIL. Oh, yes, almost forgot, I punched him out with the 1 1/4" Square punch and punched the layer with the 1 3/8" Square punch.

So there you go - that's pretty much it for this one - I did add a panel inside of Naturals White cardstock sponged with more Barely Banana ink for writing a message on, but I try and do that whenever the cardstock base is a darker color.
Be sure to check out all the other design team members by clicking over to the UDI Blog. You'll find their links on today's post and I know they will have such cute things to share!
Have a wonderful day today - we will be going into DC for a family day and enjoying the Cherry Blossoms before they are gone for this year!
Stamped blessings,
~~Robin

Bow Tying 101 - My First Video Tutorial! (heehee)

Good morning stampers!
Today, I'm trying something new here on the ol' blog! I've filmed my first ever tutorial video with the help of my amazing husband, cameraman and editor, Mark. So, for all of you who have asked me questions about tying the bows I use on cards, etc. and for all of you who have done this in my classes - you now have a resource for whenever you need to practice! Just try to not to laugh too hard! I already have some improvements in mind for the next one! :)




Thanks for stopping by and I hope the video was helpful (and amusing!). Remember, it was only my first try so I'll hopefully get better as we go along! :)

Have a great day everyone!
~~Robin

Subtle Sympathy Card

Well, hi there everyone! Yesterday was the first day of Spring Break here and my plan was to spend all day in the studio stamping ahead of schedule for later this week, but did that happen? NOOO, I spent most of the day cleaning up after my sick doggie and fighting with Blogger trying to post this card I did manage to make. Apparently Blogger was having trouble yesterday which would explain why I couldn't comment on my fellow Blogger's Challenge girls cards from last Friday. We also had to go to Costco (never a fun trip) to get Emma's passport photo taken so we can go stand in line for 3 hours tomorrow in DC at the passport office - or she doesn't go on the cruise with us. And, at 10 pm last night, Mark was trying to help me film my first video tutorial for the ol' blog here. All I can say is that we should have started earlier! hahaha!
Ah well, one really good thing did happen yesterday - Mark ordered our new gazebo for the deck and it's going to be delivered on Monday! Doin' the happy dance! :)

More good news too, my Dad came home from the hospital Sunday night! He still needs the surgery, but they are waiting up to 8 weeks to do it so his heart will get stronger, but since he had started taking food by mouth on Saturday, they thought he would rest better at home! Definitely a Praise God kind of Day! Thanks again for all the prayers sent our way!

Today's card was inspired by three things - the Saturday Sketch Challenge at Stamping 411, the Color Combination Challenge at Just Add Ink and the Late Night Stampers Sympathy card challenge. Here is my card that meets all three challenges:

I saw this color combo on another blog I visit and was intrigued by it since these are colors I rarely work with together - especially the Cameo Coral. But I was really happy with how the final project came together, soft, earthy and subtle.

Here is a close up of the masked focal point image:

I stamped the cross from Refuge and Strength first, then masked it with a post it note mask, stamping over it with the daffodil from Abundant Hope in Blush Blossom ink.
The cardstock layers are Very Vanilla, Blush Blossom, Vellum Cardstock, Cameo Coral, Close to Cocoa and Kraft.
Here's a close up of the greeting:

I used Cameo Coral to stamp the greeting from Teeny Tiny wishes, adding a piece of daffodil to the left side of the greeting stamped in more Blush Blossom. All the cardstock layers including the greeting were sponged with Blush Blossom ink for a subtle shading effect. I used Kraft Taffeta ribbon for that element and the greeting is popped up on Stampin' Dimensionals. After I finished the card, it still needed something and bling just didn't belong on a sympathy card, so I used my Color Spritzer tool with the Close to Cocoa marker and added the speckles - all better!

So hey, about that video tutorial - ya'll have been asking me about tying those bows I've been doing lately, so THAT is what the video is about. We are going to try and post it tomorrow - it needs editing, trust me! And just go easy on me, ok? It's my first one!

Have a great day everyone and I'll see you tomorrow!
~~Robin

Blogger's Challenge - Another Sketch!

Hey stampers - I know that I usually post my Blogger's Challenge on Fridays, but it's hard to post a card when it's not MADE yet! LOL! :) But I was able to sneak in some time in the studio today and finally create with paper what had been in my head.
This week our challenge Mom, Lisa, gave us a cool sketch to work with:

And here is what I came up with -

Yes, my friends - yet ANOTHER card with Orchid Opulence in it! I am not kidding when I tell you that I am lovin' this color this season! It's almost like I have a new In Color to work with! Which pretty much means that I'll get over it soon and move on to something else! hahaha!
I'll add my supply list at the bottom of this post, but for now, here's just a few details:
I sponged all the exposed edges with Creamy Caramel ink, including the Orchid cardbase. Creamy Caramel was also rubbed all over the Kraft cardstock layer to bring out the dry embossing I did with my Big Shot and Texturz plate.

The butterfly started out as Whisper White cardstock, but I sponged a combo of Creamy Caramel and Orchid Opulence all over that then added bling with some Dazzling Diamonds glitter. The body and antennae are done with Linen thread wrapped around several times and tied off in a double knot. It's attached with a Stampin' Dimensional.
The flower was made with Shades of Spring DSP and my Flower Trio Punch, I just punched out 4 mid size flowers and one small one then crumpled them up, flattened them out, punched a hole in the middle and threaded them onto an Old Olive brad. It was fluffed up and then sponged with a little Creamy Caramel ink too. It's attached with a Stampin' Dimensional as well.

The stamped swirl background is a SNEAK PEEK of a new Summer Mini Stamp Set called Elements of Style - you will love this set! I cut my Whisper White circle first with the Big Shot, stamped the image, layered it onto the Big Shot cut scalloped circle of Orchid Opulence and used SNAIL to attach it to the dry embossed Kraft cardstock.

For the greeting, I used Teeny Tiny Wishes and punched it out with the Small Oval punch. It was overstamped with a shadow of the swirl - 4th generation ink from the original impression. That is popped up on dimensonals too.

And I didn't want to leave a naked inside, so I stamped the swirl again in the lower left corner of a piece of Whisper White cardstock and sponged it as well, then adhering it to the inside of the card.

So that's it folks! Taken step by step, it's a really easy card to put together and pretty too! Be sure to check out all the other Blogger's Challenge players and their take on the sketch by clicking on the link in my sidebar. There's sure to be some great ideas with those gals!

Have a wonderful Palm Sunday weekend everyone!
Hosanna to the King!
~~Robin

Supplies Used (all SU!):
Stamps: Elements of Style (sneak peek!), Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Orchid Opulence, Kraft, Whisper White
Inks: Orchid Opulence, Creamy Caramel
Accessories: Big Shot with Circles #2 Die, Scalloped Circles #2 Die, Texturz Plates, Beautiful Wings Embosslit; Flower Trio Punch, Small Oval Punch; Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, 2 Way Glue Pen; Chocolate Chip Double Stitched Grosgrain ribbon; Shades of Spring DSP; Earth Elements brads; Stampin' Dimensionals, Stampin' Sponges

Shimmer Spray

Hi again! I'm just popping by because I've gotten a few questions about the Hand Sanitizer Shimmer Spray I used on my Stamping 411 card today. And since it's easier to post a photo and show you as opposed to responding to all the questions separately - that's what I decided to do.

Here is the photo of the two supplies you need:
Spray Hand-Sanitizer and a jar of Shimmer Paint (any color will do, but I used Champagne Mist)

The hand sanitizer I used was available at Memento Mall during Leadership and I'll never forget how after Shannon West showed us how to make this spray from Main Stage - there was a hasty exit by MANY demos rushing to get downstairs to buy them up! I passed a friend of mine on the escalator who was joyfully holding a bag over her head saying "I got some of the last ones!".
The bridal gown run at Filene's Basement has nothin' on determined SU! Demos.
Fortunately, I'd purchased a few of these babies the day before - granted, it was for the traditional use, but hey, at least I had some!

Anyway, you can use any spray hand sanitizer and they are readily available at most drugstore chains. All you have to do is unscrew the spray top and drain out just a little of the sanitizer. Then slowly pour in a little of the Shimmer Paint. The paint will sink to the bottom, so just drain off sanitizer and add paint until you have the mix you want. I probably added too much, but then again, you can never have too much bling, right?

When you are ready to spray, just shake up the container, hold it back a little bit from your project ( I recommend testing the spray power first, some will spray more forcefully than others) and spritz until you get the blinginess you are looking for! It helps keep your work area bling free if you use a piece of Grid Paper to catch the overspray. And if you happen to get some on your hands, well then, they are clean and shimmery!
Since the sanitizer sprays are alcohol based, they dry almost instantly - awesome!

Have fun with your Shimmer Spray and be sure to share your creations with me and the other Operators at Stamping 411!