LNS Color Challenge

This week we are challenging you to find your 'inner-child' and grab those blender pens, markers pens and aqua painters and start coloring. There are so many fabulous ways to add that extra bit of hand coloring to your creations so share your talents with us this week.

Watercoloring is one of my favorite techniques and below is the card that I created for this challenge:

Stamp Set: Morning Cup

Inks: Cajun Craze, Midnight Muse, Soft Suede, StazOn IP

Papers: Very Vanilla, Midnight Muse, Cajun Craze, Comfort Cafe DP

Accessories: Big Shot, Apothecary Accents Framelits, Labels Collection Framelits, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Cajun Craze Brads, Blender Pen, Paper Piercing Tool, Dimensionals, Sponge

LNS Challenge

This week's LNS challenge was to create something with those items that you haven't used for awhile or are "saving" (which in my case, "horde) for that special projects.  Well I dusted off my Fancy Favor Bigz XL Die and created this little box using the Scentsational Season Bundle kit from the Holiday Mini.  Here's the details:

Stamps: Scentsational Season
Inks: Gumball Green, Daffodil Delight
Paper:  Whisper White, Soft Suede
Accessories:  Big Shot, Scentsational Season Die, Glitter Brad, Window Punch, Gumball Green Ribbon, Dimensionals, Brads/CAD, Fancy Favor Bigz XL Die

Control Freaks Sketch

I made the following card based on this month's Control Freak sketch (sketch is turned sideways):

And this is what I came up with:

I embossed the flower image from the set, Blooming with Kindness, using Ivory EP and then sponged Pink Pirouette and Soft Suede over the embossed image.  I added a bow at the base of the flower using Whisper White Organza Ribbon and then some pearls.  Pretty simple and easy card.  Here's the details:

Stamps: Blooming with Kindness
Papers: Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Soft Suede
Inks: Pink Pirouette, Soft Suede
Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dot EF, Scallop Trim Border Punch Ivory EF, Heat Gun, Pearls, Whisper White Organza Ribbon, Sponge, Dimensionals, Scissors

LNS "Fur Baby" Challenge

I love my 2 cats, Misty and Muffin, and made a scrapbook page using Stampin' Up!'s awesome MDS for this week's LNS challenge - Animals!  Hope you can play along this week!  Here's my page:

And speaking of MDS, did you know you can try MDS2 for free!  Give it a try; click HERE

Cork Boards

I found some cork boards on clearance at Kohl's and decided to turn them into magnetic boards to hold my framelits.  First I nailed the boards to the wall, then I covered the cork with DSP using sticky strip tape.  Next I cut a magnetic sheet (found them at Staples) to the size that I wanted and covered it with DSP.  I then attached the magnetic sheet/DSP to the covered cork board using sticky strip tape.

Display Board Case

This week's LNS challenge was to case a card from one of the display boards at convention.  Since I wasn't there, I was able to find a great blog that has tons of pictures on it.  Amy Celona took hundreds of pictures and shared them on her blog: Ustamp4fun.com.

This is the card that I cased.  Since it doesn't have a watermark on it, I have no idea who's beautiful card this is.  If it's yours, please let me know so I can give you credit!

And this is the card that I made:

Stamps: Field Flowers, Just Believe (saying), Itty Bitty Background
Inks: Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Crumb Cake
Papers: Very Vanilla, Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Very Vanilla Brads, Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon, Paper Piercing Tool, Sponge, Scissors, Dimensionals

Christmas in July LNS Challenge

This week's LNS challenge is to make any type of Christmas project.  For my first project, I embossed the lodge from the set, Christmas Lodge, on to a piece of Very Vanilla using Vanilla EP, a VersaMark IP and a heat gun.  I then used a sponge and rubbed Cherry Cobbler ink over the embossed image.  I wanted to use a shape other than a square for the main focal point, and decided to cut out the lodge image using one of the framelits from the Labels Collection Framelits.  I used the same framelit to cut out a piece of Cherry Cobbler c/s, and cut off the ends and layered them behind the image.  I used the new awesome SU! Paper-Piercing Pack to paper pierce just the ends.

The background image on the large piece of Very Vanilla c/s was made using the Northern Flurry Folder and I used the new Fancy Fan EF on the Cherry Cobbler strips.  Did you know that the 1" square punch is perfect to use to make the indentations on 1" strips, and the same goes for using the 1-1/4" square punch on the same size strips?  Here's the list of what I used:

Stamps: Christmas Lodge
Inks: Cherry Cobbler, VersaMark
Papers: Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: Big Shot, Northern Flurry EF, Fancy Fold EF, Labels Collection Framelit, 1-1/4" Square Punch, Paper-Piercing Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Vintage Faceted Designer Button, Gumball Green Satin Ribbon, Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Vanilla EP, Heat Gun, Sponge, Dimensionals, Glue Dots, Scissors, Stampin' Pierce Mat

Non-Traditional Fold Card:

I choose to do a Stair Step Fold Card and you can find the tutorial HERE on SCS.  I think this would make such a fun stamp camp project and there are so many ways you can "dress up" the folds.  For the first front fold I embossed it using the new Delicate Designs Folders, and then added a Gumball Green bow and Merry Christmas saying.  For the second fold I punched a strip of Very Vanilla c/s using the Lace Ribbon Border Punch, and then layered a piece of Gumball Green Satin Ribbon over the middle.  For the back fold I embossed a scrap piece of Very Vanilla c/s using the Delicate Designs Folder and then cut it out.  I added some Cherry Cobbler brads to add some contrast.  For the focal point of the card, I started by cutting out circle using Cherry Cobbler c/s and the 3-1/2" Circle Die.  I layered on 3" Very Vanilla circle.  I stamped 2 ornaments - one in Cherry Cobbler and the other in Gumball Green.  They were punched out using the ornament punch and the leaves that they are "hooked" on were made using the Bird Builder Punch.  Here's the rest of the details:

Front view of the card

Side views

Stamps: Delightful Decorations

Inks: Gumball Green, Cherry Cobbler

Papers: Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green

Accessories:  Big Shot, Delicate Designs Folders, 3-1/2" Circle Die, 3" Circle Die,  Lace Ribbon Border Punch, Ornament Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, Bird Builder Punch, Cherry Cobbler Brads, Very Vanilla Brad, Gumball Green Stitched Satin Ribbon, Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, White Baker's Twine, Dimensionals, Scissors

Holiday Focus - Masculine Christmas Card

Manly Christmas cards are hard to come by, and this is a great challenge that will offer up some great ideas!  For my card I used the trusty Lovely as Tree set, and like how this card turned out.  I embossed the tree onto a piece of First Edition Specialty DSP using Vanilla embossing powder, and the rubbed some Gumball Green and Cherry Cobbler ink around the image.  I took a scrap piece of Very Vanilla c/s and ran it through my Big Shot using the Square Lattice EF, and then folded it and tore the edges.  It's hard to see, but when I was finished I spritzed on some Vanilla Shimmer Smooch and love how it really gives the card a nice shimmer!

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree

Inks: Gumball Green, Cherry Cobbler

Papers: Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green, First Edition Specialty DSP

Accessories:  Big Shot, Square Lattice EF, Houndstooth EF, Vanilla EP, Heat Gun, Cherry Cobbler Button and Baker's Twine, Very Vanilla Brads, Paper Distressing Tool, Vanilla Shimmer Smooch, Sticky Strip Tape, Dimensionals, Scissors, Sponge

Embedded Embossing Technique

This week's LNS technique is to make a project using the embedded embossing technique.  This is a very simple and fun technique - you stamp your image of choice on cardstock, and then emboss it using an embossing folder.  Simple and fun!

I started by stamping the different leaves from the set, French Foliage, using Midnight Muse, Gumball Green and Soft Suede on a 5-1/4" x 4" piece of Whisper White c/s.  Next I ran that piece through the Big Shot using the Houndstooth EF.  Added some neutral brads, a button, Midnight Muse Ribbon (which I love), and a sentiment!

Stamps: French Foliage, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: Midnight Muse, Gumball Green, Soft Suede
Papers: Whisper White, Soft Suede, Midnight Muse
Accessories: Big Shot, Houndstooth EF, Midnight Muse Satin Ribbon, Word Window Punch, Natural Designer Button, Neutral Brad, Early Espresso Baker's Twine, Paper Piercing Tool, Dimensionals, Glue Dots, Scissors

Layers and more layers......

This week's LNS challenge is..........you guessed it - layers!  I think that adding dimension to your project, whether it's by adding a button, a butterfly, flower, etc., adds so much to a project and takes stamping to another level of creativity!  Using our embossing folders also adds an added "wow" dimension as well.

The following is what I came up with.  I almost didn't get it done yesterday as my husband, Richard, threw out his back and I ended up taking him to the ER.  We are still waiting for the pain meds to kick in and he can hardly move.  Makes me thankful that I can walk after seeing how much pain he is in just walking from one room to the next.

Not back to my card, for my base I layered Whisper White, Midnight Muse and then Whisper White.  I ran the top layer through my BS and used the new Fancy Fan EF.  I colored in the flower image from the set, Serene Silhouettes using Midnight Muse and Gumball Green markers.  The image was then cut out using the BS and the Label Collections Framelits.  I added some butterflies and rhinestones for added bling.

Thank for stopping by; have a great day - I am off to pick up another RX for the hubbie.......

Stamps: Serene Silhouettes, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: Midnight Muse, Gumball Green
Papers:  Whisper White, Midnight Muse
Accessories: Big Shot, Fancy Fan EF, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Label Collections Framelits, Bitty Banners Framelits, Gumball Green Stitched Satin Ribbon, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Mini-Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Scissors

Recycle - LNS Challenge

This week's LNS challenge was to use a recycled item in our project, and I used a pistachio jar for mine.  I almost didn't get this challenge done as this was a very, very hard and difficult week for my son's football team.  One of his teammates died in a car accident this past weekend, and I just didn't have the time or energy to stamp.  So I went for an easy project - I used sticky strip tape to secure the c/s strip to the jar, and then layered different image that I had stamped using the set, Betsy's Blossom.  Here's the rest of the details:

The empty jar with the twine inside; as you can see,

I wrap my twine around empty spools

Stamps: Betsy's Blossoms

Inks: Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Gumball Green

Papers: Whisper White, Summer Smooches DSP

Accessories: Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Gumball Green Stitched Satin Ribbon, Scissors, Dimensionals, Baker's Twine, Plastic Jar, Sticky Strip Tape

One last add on.....I used the little itty bitty hangers from the packaging of a shower curtain and liner to hold my Stampin' Up! fabric:

Paper Piercing LNS Challenge

Paper Piercing - what a great technique that is so simply to do, yet adds so much to a project!   Stampin' Up! has come out with some awesome paper piercing packs that totally rock, and I love the fact they coordinate with some of our stamps sets and punches.

For my cards this week I decided to go CAS (clean and simple).  I stamped the background image on the main card front first using the new In-Color, Summer Starfruit.  I then punched a circle on the front panel using the 2-1/2" Circle Punch so the background image was underneath. and paper pierced around the outside of the circle using the Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack (on page 181).  I used my Big Shot and one of the Delicate Designs EF to create an edge along the left-hand side.  I stamped the bird twice using the new In-Color Raspberry Ripple, and cut out the bird from one image and just the wing from another.  I used the Bird Builder Punch for the 2 leaves and used Gumball Green c/s.  Very simple, clean and easy!  Here's the details:

Stamps: Betsy's Blossoms, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: Raspberry Ripple, Summer Starfruit
Papers: Whisper White, Gumball Green
Accessories: Big Shot, Delicate Designs EF, 2-1/2" Circle Punch, Word Window Punch, Bird Builder Punch, Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, Pearls, Dimensionals, Mini-Glue Dots, Scissors

LNS Challenge - Insects!!

This week's LNS challenge is to add an insect to your project.  It's been hot, hot, hot here this week (mid 90's), and it's actually been nice not to have to fight the bugs!  But I have to admit I am looking forward to the temps being cooler next week

I don't really have any "insect" sets, so I hope my little butterflies will do!  I used the new set, Serene Silhouettes, for my projects this week.  When I saw this baby in the new catty, I knew it would be quickly become one of my favorite sets!  I colored in the flower image using Primrose Petals, Certainly Celery and Soft Suede markers, and then spritzed the image with water to soften the look.  I used the new embossing folder, Fancy Fan, for my background, and I used the back of the embossed cardstock instead of the front.  I punched a 1-1/4" square in a post-it-note and sponged around the edges and on the flowers using Soft Suede ink and a sponge.  Below is a more detailed list of what I used:

Stamps: Serene Silhouettes, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: Primrose Petals, Certainly Celery, Soft Suede
Papers: Whisper White, Soft Suede, Primrose Petals
Accessories: Big Shot, Fancy Fan EF, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Primrose Petals Satin Ribbon, Pearls, 1-1/4" Square Punch, Post-it-Note, Dimensionals, Mini-Glue Dots, Scissors

My second project is actually one that I created for last week's VCRocks blog hop, and dressed it up by adding some butterflies.

Stamps: Serene Silhouettes, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Inks: Raspberry Ripple, Gumball Green

Papers: Whisper White, Raspberry Ripple

Accessories: Big Shot, Delicate Designs Embossing Folder, Finishing Touches Edgelit, Bitty Banners Framelits, Simply Scored Scoring Tool, Raspberry Ripple 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon, White Baker's Twine, Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons. Scissors, Dimensionals, Mini-Glue Dots, Distressing Tool

VCR Blog Hop!

Welcome to my blog and this month's Any Size Card VC Rocks Hop!  You have just arrived from the very talented Stace Coombs' blog.  If you need to revisit Stace's blog to see her beautiful works art again, you can click HERE.  What to take a look at the complete list of all the outstanding bloggers participating in today's hop?  Then you can click HERE for the complete list!

Hope you like what I have made - and here they are:

First Up - Serene Silhouettes Birthday Card!

I think this is such a cool set and am so glad that I ordered it!  I love the soft look of the flowers and the  versatility of this great set.  I colored in the flowers and leaves on the stamp using a Raspberry Ripple and Gumball Green markers.  I spritzed on a little bit of water and stamped the image on a piece of Whisper White cardstock.  I distressed and ripped the left-hand side edge and layered it with a coordinating piece of Raspberry Ripple c/s.  I thought I would try combining the Finishing Touches Edgelit and the Delicate Designs Embossing Folder on each side of a a 4" x 5-1/4" piece of Whisper White cardstock.  I then used the Simply Scored Scoring Tool to score some random lines.  Here's a list of what I used:

Stamps: Serene Silhouettes, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Inks: Raspberry Ripple, Gumball Green

Papers: Whisper White, Raspberry Ripple

Accessories: Big Shot, Delicate Designs Embossing Folder, Finishing Touches Edgelit, Bitty Banners Framelits, Simply Scored Scoring Tool, Raspberry Ripple 3/8" Stitched Satin Ribbon, White Baker's Twine, Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons. Scissors, Dimensionals, Mini-Glue Dots, Distressing Tool

Morning Cup Coffee Holder

I actually made the following coffee mug for this week's LNS ABC (anything but a card) challenge.

I embossed the front of the holder and the handle with the new (and very cool) Fancy Fan EF.  I watercolored in the coffee cups using the colors Summer Starfruit, Tangerine Tango and Soft Suede, and then cut them out.  They were layered over Soft Suede and Summer Starfruit using the Labels Collection and Apothecary Accents Framelits.  Here's the rest of the details:

Stamps: Morning Cup

Inks: Basic Black,  Summer Starfruit, Tangerine Tango, Soft Suede

Papers: Whisper White, Summer Starfruit, Soft Suede

Accessories: Big Shot, Labels Collection and Apothecary Accents Framelits, Fancy Fan EF, 1-1/4" Square Punch, Modern Label Punch, 3/16" Corner Punch, Pumpkin Pie Brads, Blender Pen, Paper Piercing Tool,  Scissors, Dimensionals, Starbucks Coffee Packet

Field Flowers Happy Birthday Card

I made the following card for one of the teacher's at work, and it was actually quite simple to make.  I stamped the flower image using Rich Razzleberry ink on a scrap piece of Whisper White c/s, and then cut it out.  I faintly inked up the scrip background stamp using Old Olive and gently stamped it on the 4" x 5-1/4" piece of Whisper White c/s.  I distressed the edges, added a little bit of color using my all time fav background stamp, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, using Rich Razzleberry ink.  Added a bow, Antique brad and ribbon, and there it is!

Stamps: Field Flowers, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Script Background Stamp, Itty Bitty Backgrounds
Inks: Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive
Papers: Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Big Shot, Bitty Banners Framelits, Old Olive Satin Ribbon, Rich Razzleberry Ribbon, Antique Brad, Distressing Tool, Dimensionals, Mini-Glue Dots

And last but not least, a Pocket Fun friendship card!

This set, Pocket Fun, is one of those sets I will probably always keep.  I have always loved the flowers the pocket and the other images with this set, and love the fun cards you can make!  This card was a little more time consuming since I had to cut out the 5 flowers and leaves for this card.  I stamped the flowers and leaves on a scrap piece of Whisper White c/s (I am paper hoarder and have tons of scrap pieces!), watercolored them in, and then cut them out.  I used some SU retired silver eyelets on the top corners of the pockets to give it more of a real feel.  The list of what I used is below:

Stamps Pocket Fun
Inks: Basic Black, Poppy Parade, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip
Papers: Whisper White, Poppy Parade DSP, So Saffron, Retired DSP (sorry, having a senior moment and I can't remember the name of this DSP)
Accessories: Silver Eyelets, CAD, Poppy Parade Ribbon, So Saffron Brads, Paper Piercing Tool, Oval Punch, Watercolor Brush, Dimensionals, Mini-Glue Dots

Thanks again for stopping by, I hope you liked my projects!  Your next stop on this fab hop is the very talented and incredible stamper, Barb Furlong, and you can click HERE to continue on to her blog.

Have a great day everyone - and Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there!

LNS ABC (Anything but a Card) Challenge

Fun challenge this week for our LNS Challenge- ABC - create anything but a card is the name of the game this week!  I just got the set, Morning Cup, and thought it would work great with the mug coffee holder that I made.

It's pretty simple to make - you score a 4-1/4" x 9" piece of white cardstock at 4-1/2".  I then cut a along the edge of the top piece to form an indented edge as you can see in the picture below:

I formed the handle by inserting the 1-1/4" Square Punch into the middle of a 2-1/2" x 2-1/2" piece of white cardstock:

I embossed the front of the holder and the handle with the new (and very cool) Fancy Fan EF.  I watercolored in the coffee cups using the colors Summer Starfruit, Tangerine Tango and Soft Suede, and then cut them out.  They were layered over Soft Suede and Summer Starfruit using the Labels Collection and Apothecary Accents Framelits.  Here's the rest of the details:

Stamps: Morning Cup
Inks: Basic Black,  Summer Starfruit, Tangerine Tango, Soft Suede
Papers: Whisper White, Summer Starfruit, Soft Suede
Accessories: Big Shot, Labels Collection and Apothecary Accents Framelits, Fancy Fan EF, 1-1/4" Square Punch, Modern Label Punch, 3/16" Corner Punch, Pumpkin Pie Brads, Blender Pen, Paper Piercing Tool,  Scissors, Dimensionals, Starbucks Coffee Packet
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Another Color Challenge Post

I thought I would make another card using this week's color challenge (Wild Wasabi, Melon Mambo and Daffodil Delight).  I thought it was too plain (first pic), and decided to add a flower and leaves at the top (second pic) - which on do you like?  Here's the details:

Stamps: Betsy's Blossoms, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks: Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight
Papers: Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi, Daffodil Delight, Floral District DSP
Accessories: Big Shot, Bitty Banners Framelits, Daffodil Delight Ribbon, Bird Builder Punch, White and Daffodil Delight Brads, Paper Piercing Tool, Dimensionals, Mini-Glue Dots, Scissors