Textiles

The wonderful people at Technique Tuesday had a challenge... and were even willing to supply the materials to complete it. I {heart} this company.

A big thank you to Karen, who reminded me that it is the 11th hour! The entries are due, yup, TODAY!

The Textiles are the scallops you see in the photo. I layered them to create flowers. I used the faux shaving cream technique to create the shading on them... it looks just like fabric from a pillow to me. They took ink beautifully, and were also really easy to hole punch (no horrific fraying!). I tried adding interest and unity to my entry by framing with dots and lines that tied the letters with the framing.

Size: 8 x 8 inches

Paper: SU! Old Olive, SU! Baroque Burgundy

Ink: SU! Old Olive, SU! Baroque Burgundy

Embellishments: Technique Tuesday Textiles, SU! Antique Brass Jumbo Eyelets

Stamps: Technique Tuesday Boulder Skyline

An Early Bird

I cannot believe it, but it's just barely Thursday and I have Friday's challenge complete. Crazy, I know. It just seems like today that I uploaded Thursday's challenge... oh, wait...

This challenge, Limited Supplies, is one that I love because we are encouraged to keep it simple. We were to use one flower stamp... and not much else. See the challenge for all the rules.

I had the bottom completely finished, but felt the top needed a little something. Usually when that occurs, I end up messing the whole thing up because I add an unnecessary element. Well, I kind of like the paper piercing on this. I took some extra stamped images from when I was experimenting and used them as my template for piercing. Cool, eh?

Size: 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches
Paper: SU! Baroque Burgundy, Going Gray, and Mellow Moss
Ink: SU! Baroque Burgundy
Stamps: SU! Big Pieces and Amazing to Zany
Ribbon: Offray Sheerly Yours
Eyelet: 3/16 Round Copper Eyelets (Scrap Arts)

Awwwwww!

Tonight, I was able to witness something so precious! Max, who is a toddler of few words, went to his big brother Ignatius and said, "Ignatius hold you." (code for "pick me up!") First time. :) Then, he was glued to his big bro most of the night. He insisted on sitting on his lap while he ate. I just couldn't pass up a photo op, even though both of their faces are messy and you get to witness some of the highly non-nutritious foods my kids sometimes ingest. But the meatball sandwich was delish!

Gonna Tell Everyone to Lighten Up

I loved today's SCS Ways to Use It challenge. We were asked to use some facet of music as inspiration. Since I am a self-diagnosed victim of Seasonal Affective Disorder, I decided on "Soak Up the Sun" by Cheryl Crow. I had purchased way more summer stuff than I needed for some projects this summer, so I busted out some stickers and went to town. The top and bottom embellishment consist of 1/2 inch circles in SU! Gable Green under some sheer white ribbon. I love the effect! I also love how the torn paper gives a bit of a beach feel.

So, there is my burst of the hope of warmer weather!

Size: 6 x 6 inches
Paper: Scrapbook paper (blue base... from my pile so I am not sure of manufacturer), SU! Summer Sun, Almost Amethyst, Gable Green, and Only Orange
Embellishments: Paper Bliss (Flip Flops), Sticko (sentiment), Sheer Creations (ribbon)

Color and Sketch Challenge Combo

Since I was at Stamp-A-Stack last night making lots of lovely cards, I combined yesterday's and today's SCS challenges. The color challenge was to use black, River Rock, and white... no problem here! Love the combo. The sketch challenge is shown with this post, a requirement being that the focus be a cut-out of some sort.

I felt like using my crimper, a sorely-neglected, yet easy way to add texture. My River Rock cardstock is crimped, including the matting for the flower. This stamp was one of the first I ever purchased. It's seen me make my share of mistakes! I couldn't decide on one color for the ribbon, so I used three. I felt one last element was needed, so I added some white pin stripes.

Size: 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches

Paper: SU! Basic Black, River Rock, Ultrasmooth White; Classic Black Fresh Cut Grass (Luxe Designs)

Ribbon: Neutral Scrap Pack (Paper Studio)

Stamp: Hobby Lobby

Coloring Media: uniball Signo white gel pen, SU! River Rock, SU! Basic Black

Cherish

I really like the simplicity of this card. I tried it to satisfy the SCS Try a New Technique challenge and Beate's Weekend Sketch challenge. It's amazing how dark Night of Navy looks in "person" compared to how much blue it picks up with a flash. I also liked being able to have a faux crackled appearance without worrying about that as a technique.

I went back to work today after three months out to coordinate care for my autistic son and de-stress myself. I made cards for challenges almost every day. I told myself that this had to continue to be part of my life... my therapy if you will. I am so happy that I wasn't to exhausted to play!

Size: 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches
Paper: SU! Night of Navy and Provo Craft Tuscany
Stamp: SU! Baroque Motifs
Embellishments: Sheer brown wide ribbon and Pewter Mini Brads (American Crafts)
Technique: Distressing side of cardstock

Funeral For a Friend

Well, alas, another friend has succumbed to cancer. Isn't it amazing how many "technological innovations" we have... we can carry a computer in the palm of our hands, a laptop can fit in a manila envelope, I can get a phone call pretty much anywhere in the US... You really want me to be impressed? Figure out how to stop cancer. Then I will oooh and ahhh.

Anyway, there are several people with whom I work who were VERY close friends of the teacher who died. I decided to CASE the Featured Stamper for this week, whose gallery is wonderful. Here is a link to her card that I am imitating for this sympathy card. I love how she used the velvet ribbon on her bow, and I am envious at how much cuter her bow is than mine. I tried. :) This is called a joy fold card, and a tutorial by Beate is fairly clear on the sizes and scoring. Below I have listed the specs for colors and such.

I found a very helpful link from "The Stamping Chick." I had bought the SU! Theater ribbon assortment, but it doesn't tell you on the package or the catalog which colors coordinate with which ribbon. Trust me, with the varying textures, it is NOT that obvious. I thought others might find it helpful if they bought the ribbon assortments.

Size when finished: 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches
Paper: SU! Close to Cocoa, Always Artichoke (I think), and LeJardin DSP
Ribbon: SU! Close to Cocoa velvet and Chocoalte Chip satin with border
Stamps: SU! Baroque Motifs and MFT Essential Sentiments