Belle's 1st Halloween / SMDS 5 Minute Challenge

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Hey y'all. Happy Wednesday! I hope you're having an Awesome day and an equally Awesome week! I'm so excited to show you today's project. I was checking out Simply My Digital Studio's FB Page and the challenge for this week is to use a MDS Page/Designer Template and create a page in under 5 minutes. Well, I had the best of intentions and used the page but it took me a little more than 5 minutes. I think it's so worth it! Hope you enjoy it-

How Cute is she!?! And that costume! Do you see the Candy Corns in her little Skelly-Belly? Ooooohhhhh!

I used the Toxic Treats Designer Page and tried just dropping the picture in, but the background was grey and the page just didn't pop enough. I decided to change the background color and it made all the difference.

Since it was a pre-populated page I couldn't change the color. Easy enough fix with MDS. I just added a 12x12 punch, filled it with the same paper and then re-colored that. I changed the splatter color and the color of the words in the upper right corner.

Because the Candy Corn was such a cute part of her costume I wanted to try and incorporate some into the layout. Too Easy! I just added them as little photo corners/tacks. So even though it took a little more than 5 minutes, I stuck with the basic premise.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you enjoyed today's project as much as I enjoyed creating and sharing it. If you have questions about today's project or any of my others, be sure to leave me a comment below so I can get back to you.

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! Till Next Time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe-
Shan Pin It

Witches, Goblins and Spooks...Oh My / The Great Pumpkin Blog Hop Week #10

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Hey y'all. Happy Humpday! I hope you're week is great so far. The day started out pretty yucky here in the DMV but it's supposed to get up to 80 today so you know I'm a happy girl! I hope it's fabulous wherever you might be.

Wanna know why Wednesday's are now one of my favorite days? It's The Great Pumpkin Blog Hop Day. Woo-Hoo! Terry over at Goin' Over The Edge is hosting this fun event , but only for 3 more weeks. Have you played along with us yet? If you haven't, come on! It's a fun way to see lots of creative ideas and if that's not enough incentive, Terry is drawing someone's name at the end of the 13 weeks and that lucky person will get  $50.00 worth of Stampin' Up supplies! How fabulous is that!?! Fun, Ideas, And Supplies...Oh My! Thanks Terry!!! Don't forget to read all the way to the end of today's post. The link will be at the bottom below my name. You can see all the blogs from there and you can even link up your creation there too.

Here's my card for this weeks hop-

Halloween Card featuring
Toxic Treats and Howlstooth & Scaringbone DSP

There's lots of layers here but it's still a pretty simple card. I started with a base of Basic Gray c/s. My sentiment was stamped and embossed in Tangerine Tango on a scrap on Very Vanilla c/s. This was then layered onto 2 different pieces of DSP from the Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP Collection. I used the Corner Rounder Punch and Scalloped Border Punch to add a little interest to these layers. All three layers were lightly sponged with Basic Gray with the top and bottom layers being adhered with Dimensionals.

My next layer  is Basic Gray c/s that I ran through my Chevron Embossing Folder. You can see it a little better in the next photo, but the black color is sooooo sparkly. You've probably seen this all over bloglandia but it's my first time to show it to you. I inked up my e.f. (on the side with the SU logo)  with my Brayer and Versamark ink and then ran it through the Big Shot. Once it came out the debossed area's had Versamark on them and were ready for some shine. I mixed my own Embossing Powder by mixing SU Black E.P. and Iridescent Ice in an empty Embossing Powder container. It didn't look pretty, (a salt and peppery gray), but I had faith...This was added to my embossed card layer and set with my heat tool. WOW! What an Amazing effect. I topped this with a piece of our new Twill Ribbon. It's stamped with the "Trick or Treat" sentiment from the Toxic Treats set in Black Staz-On. I cut two strips one about 5" and one about 3 1/2. The longer piece is secured on the back of the layer with Snail. The smaller piece was tied in a knot after stamping it as well. Some Linen Thread was used to cinch in the middle of the ribbon and to secure the knot. I also used one Mini-Glue Dot to help secure the knot. This layer was then adhered with Dimensionals.

Here's a closer look at that-

Here's a few tips for doing this technique-
1- Use your embossing buddy! I forgot about it the first time, so needless to say there was a second time.
2- Rub the embossing buddy over your fingers too. This will help to prevent fingerprint marks.
3- This embossing folder causes deep impressions and will alter the size of your c/s. How do I know. Well, this layer wasn't supposed to be a layer. I originally ran just the card front through but it changed the dimensions of the front enough that I couldn't use it unless I went back and trimmed the sides down.   Make your layer a little bigger than needed, if it's still too big you can just trim it to your needs.

Here's the inside-

Inside of Halloween Card featuring
Toxic Treats Stamp Set

I kept it really simple here and just stamped both images in Basic Gray. Because I felt the card could be used as a "masculine" card I didn't add any shimmer or shine and to be honest, I still think it looks nice.

That's all I have for you today. I hope you liked it and I hope you join us on The Great Pumpkin Blog Hop, just below. If you liked today's card or have questions, I hope you'll take just a moment to leave me a message below. I read all of your comments and they really do make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's card, I've put those buttons on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

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Just Because You're Toxic Doesn't Mean You Can't Be Cute...

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Hey y'all. Happy Friday to you! I hope you're having a great day and that your week to this point has been fabulous. :) It's stormy and gloomy here in the DMV which kinda fits my mood. My grandmother died yesterday and though we hadn't been close in the past few years, she gave me lifetime of wonderful memories to remember her by. If you get a chance today, I hope you'll take the time to tell those you love just how precious they are to you. We never know if we'll get the chance to tell them later.

So let's have something a little more fun now. I'm loving the Toxic Treats Stamp Set and the Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP. In fact I've made 3 cards with it just this week. So nothing really over-the-top with today's card but I think it's still cute and could be used for anyone. It's actually a C&S design but could I just leave it at that? You know I couldn't. Lol!

Here's today's card-

Halloween Card featuring
Toxic Treats Stamp Set and Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP

You're in shock right!?! Pretty simple by my standards, huh. What can I say it happens sometimes. I started with a base of Basic Black square of 4 1/4. I'll give the dimensions for the entire card at the end of this post for those of you who are measurement challenged like myself. For my Very Vanilla layer I sponged the edges with Basic Gray. I wanted a shadow and to give the illusion of depth without using Dimensionals. This layer was Tombowed to the base. I love this fun Tangerine Tango (or maybe it's Pumpkin Pie not really sure but it sure is cute!) & Very Vanilla Polka Dot DSP. I adhered it to the B.B. mat with, you guessed it, Tombow and then adhered that panel with Dimensionals. Before I adhered it though I added a piece of Lucky Limeade Ruffled Ribbon and just stuck the ends under the B.B. mat with some SNAIL. Remember, I do like SNAIL for adhering ribbon. Works great! I cut another length and made my little ruffled bow and adhered that with a Mini-Glue Dot. 

For my focal point, I colored the stamp with my Basic Gray Stampin Write Marker so I could get just the image and not the writing and stamped it onto a scrap of V.V. c/s. I used my 2nd smallest Labels Framelet to cut it out. A little sponging with some more Basic Grey (Hmmmm, I think that's the only color that both words don't start with the same letter. You know Raspberry Ripple, Elegant Eggplant, Tempting Turquoise etc. and then Basic Gray. I guess it sounds better than Garden Variety Gray or Grim Grey. hahaha just a small laugh, but I still made myself laugh. It's ok you can laugh along with me. I prefer that thought than you laughing at me. (:  ) I made a B.B. mat by cutting out two more labels of the same size and cutting them to form the mat. The three labels were all adhered to each other with Tombow and then adhered with Dimensionals. I stacked two Dimensionals at the bottom because of the added height.

This was actually Round 2 for this card. I tried to make it really C&S and it initially didn't have the labels mat-

Although I sponged the edges to add that illusion of depth it just wasn't doing it for me. It was ok, but I just wasn't happy with it. Recently I posted about how I sometimes add a lot of layers/elements and then have to pull a Coco Channel and remove something. Well, this time I definitely needed to add something. I think the small mat made all the difference in the world. Would love to hear what you think.

Here's the sketch I used. I should have posted this yesterday so I could enter it in the challenge but totally forgot. *Fail*-

I think I did the sketch justice, don't you?

Here's the inside-

Inside of Halloween Card featuring
Toxic Treats Stamp Set

Sorry about how dim the pictures are today. Not sure what happened. It couldn't possible be my Cruddy B.B. :) The image and sentiment are from the same stamp set.

Because you know I had to have something pretty for the inside too-

I inked the Cauldron in Basic Grey and the bubbles in Lucky Limeade and let Tink have just a wee-bit of fun. See ...Toxic but Cute.

Here's the measurements for today's card-
Basic Black- 4 1/4 x 8 1/2 scored at 4 1/4
Very Vanilla- 4 1/8 x 4 1/8
Basic Black- 3 1/2 x 2 1/4
DSP- 3 3/8 x 2 1/8

That's all I have for you today. I hope you liked it! I love hearing from you, so if you have thoughts or questions about today's card I hope you'll take just a minute and leave me a comment. I read all of them and they really make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's card, I've put the buttons on  my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Oh and before I go, can I just say I'm so glad it's Football Season again! Woot!!!! Way to go New England on your win last night over the Saints.

I wish you an Amazing weekend filled with lots of time for Family, Friends and of course for creativity. I hope to see you back real soon for all new cards and projects.

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated. Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

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End of the Week Technique #42- Creating Backgrounds With Sponges ?NAC #6

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Hey y'all. Happy Thursday! Just one more day until the weekend! Woo-Hoo! I can hardly wait. The weekend is my time to stamp and I love having that un-interrupted time.

I don't know about you, but sometimes I find that in the search for bigger and better and more impressive, I forget about the basic, simple, easy things that can often have just as big of an impact if not more. That's how today's card and technique came about. I was working on a card for Nacho Average Challenge's Color Challenge and thought I would brayer the background. Have I mentioned lately how much I dislike color challenges? Oh, that's right, I haven't done one for two weeks since NAC's last color challenge. Lol! Any-whoo the brayering was not working for me so I decided to go low-tech and sponge the colors on. Score!!! While, I'm not happy with the front of the card overall, I'm very happy with how the technique portion turned out. I'm trying to figure out how to change the front, so there may be an updated post soon. But, you know how I roll- I give you the good with bad. Luckily, I don't think there's too much of the "bad" hanging around on my site.

Here's today's card-

Halloween Card featuring
Toxic Treats Stamp Set and Sponged Background

I'm not sure what, exactly, it is that I'm unhappy with here on the front. I sponged the outside of my focal piece after the DSP layer was already adhered, so maybe the DSP just needed some sponging too. Maybe it's the Night of Navy as the base, although I really like it on the inside. I think I'm going to try this again with Rich Razzleberry for the base. I'll have to figure something out, because I actually like the color combo, just not what I did with it. :(

What I am happy about is my sponged and stamped area, although even that I have plans to improve. Sometimes that darn OCD is soooo annoying! Here's a close-up-

After the brayering debacle, I decided I would try sponging on the colors I wanted and see if I could create a cool background that way. What do you think? I think it's pretty cool....(Read in a Boris Karloff kind of Creepy voice) Darkness descends, and a crow sits in inky shadows on the wrought iron fence......Bwah-ha-ha.... BOO! : D HAHAHAHAHA! Don't you just want to know what's waiting behind that fence?

Just in case you haven't figured out exactly what the color challenge was this week, here's the answer-

I sponged layers of these three colors onto a piece of Whisper White c/s and then stamped my image over that in Night of Navy. I then cut it out with my second smallest framelet and then sponged the edges in Night of Navy and adhered it to my base with Dimensionals.

I think when I re-do this I will add a little VersaMark and Clear Embossing Powder to my stamped image so it stands out even more. I wasn't sure how this technique was going to turn out but in the end I think it really adds something nice to my card.

Here's the inside-

Inside of Halloween Card featuring
Toxic Treats Stamp Set

I stamped the sentiment in Night of Navy and sponged all around the edges with the same color. Then I stamped my sweet little froggy-

I just couldn't do an Ugly Frog... you never know, he could be a Handsome Prince, under a Wicked Witch's Evil Spell. What?!? It could happen. Ok, he's probably not a Handsome Prince but that doesn't mean he can't be a Handsome Frog. I stamped him in Lucky Limeade and let Tink work her magic and Abra-Cadabra. Ooooohhhhh-Aaaaahhhhh! That's right, I'm magical like that!

Ok- So here's what you need for this technique- Sponges, Ink pads in the colors of your choice, Cardstock and a Stamp Set.

Here's what you do-

1- Apply your color. I started at the bottom and worked my way up but you could also probably start in the middle. You just want to make sure you blend your colors in so you don't have any sharp lines.
2- After inking my sponges up, I dabbed them lightly on my grid paper so I would  have even coverage. I chose to pounce lightly first and then swipe and swirl the sponge over each area to blend. Alternatively you could just swirl your color starting off the c/s and moving on to it. This will avoid any "harsh" lines where you first start.
3- Layer your colors and continue to blend until you have the desired shading.
4- Stamp your image

Alternatively you could stamp with your chosen color and VersaMark and then apply Embossing Powder and then Heat Set your image. After doing this you could then add your colors as if you were doing an Emboss Resist and wipe any excess color off the top of your stamped image.

5- Add your piece to your card/project and smile when you see what you've created. As always, smile even more when you think about the joy that receiving this little piece of handmade love will bring to someone.

That's all I have for you today. I hope you liked it and I hope it inspires you to try something new today whether it's a technique or a challenge or even something non stamping/creatively related. I hear there are those kinds of things out there. :) As always if you create something using this technique I'd love to see what you make!

I love hearing from you, so if you have comments or questions about today's card or technique be sure to leave me a comment. I read all of them and they really do make my day. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Thanks so much for taking the time out of your busy day and stopping by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Leaning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe-
Shan

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