Double Embossed Evergreen Center Step Card (Wow, That's A Mouthfull) / NAC#9

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Hey y'all. Happy Friday! I hope you're getting ready to enjoy the long Holiday weekend. I plan on kicking back and relaxing as much as possible and hopefully my stooopid arches will continue to heal and I'll be able to run again or at least walk reasonably well. I am going to Jimmy Buffet Saturday night, but other than that my weekends wide open. Wanna come stamp and play!?!

I've been trying to figure out for the last few days what I wanted to do with the sketch over at Nacho Average Challenge's site this week. I've done all of their challenges so I wanted to make sure to get this one done too. It seemed like a pretty C&S sketch, but you know how I am with C&S! HAHAHA!!! Well I kept batting around ideas and had finally decided on the set I thought I wanted to use, I just had to figure out the rest of it.

Well, then inspiration struck! I won't tell you where I was and what I was doing when it struck, but it struck and I was so excited to get to the studio and get started. I got downstairs and discovered it was going to work. Woo-Hoo! *Happy Dance* Then all I had to do was figure out just  how I was going to do it. It's almost never just Clean & Simple or even Easy with me, but then you most likely already knew that. :)

Here's today's card- Sorry for the Ginormous Picture, I had to get it this big so you could see all the details.

Merry Christmas Center Step Card featuring
Evergreen Stamp set 

AUGH!!! I really wish you could see this in person. It's definitely one of those that when you finish it you say, "Wow! I made that!!!" You can't see the Gold Embossed lettering in that picture so here's another view (a little smaller) but this time you can't see the dry embossing. UGH!

Merry Christmas Center Step Card featuring
Evergreen Stamp set 

Here's the sketch I was using from NAC

I was thinking about a card I wanted to make for my baby brothers with the monster set and how I had been thinking of a step card and it hit me that a "center step card" would leave a middle section that was set apart from the sides and it reminded me of the sketch.

Oooohhhh, I was ready to get cracking. Just one problem, I had never made a center-step card. Yep, over a year of blogging, 246 posts and not one center step card. Well off to You-Tube for a little tutorial help. I got the measurements, went to the studio and got started. Luckily, I've learned to practice on old colored cardstock that I won't miss. I got it right on the first try. However, it wasn't going to fit in a regular envelope. Now I don't mind making envelopes, in theory, but I want a card I can mail or that someone else can mail with out any hassles. Time to try again. Now, I've told you guys this before. There's two kinds of math I can do easily. Tip Math and Medic/Nurse Math. I can't even keep my checkbook balanced without the app. *SMH* Let me just reassure you, this was not one either one of those kinds of math. I persevered though and after 2 more attempts had a center step card that would fit in a standard envelope. *Yea!*

Could I just be happy and leave it at that? Of course not! I didn't want to add DSP to the side panels because I really wanted my center panel to be the star. I couldn't however just leave the sides blank. I decided to try and Dry Emboss them. Now I'm sure someone, somewhere has done this before. I'm sure I can't be the first one to do it (although that would be really Super Cool!) but I've never seen it done before. It took me two more sample cards and multiple attempts on the first  three pieces too before I was able to get it right. I even took pictures, but of course I didn't remember to take them until after I had perfected it, but still you'll get the idea.

First off , the measurements for this card so it will fit a standard envelope and the Embossing Folders- I will make a Center Step Card a EWT and take step by step pictures next time.

1- Cut your c/s (I used Night of Navy) - 4 1/4" x 11"
2- Measure in 1" from both long sides and cut from 1" (up from the bottom ) to 6 1/2". This will give you the cuts that will become your center panel.
3- Score your outer scores. On the long sides score (from the outside edge to your cut lines) at 1", 2" and 6 1/2" (I used my Simply Scored for this)
4- Score your inner score. On the long edge score the center  at 5 1/2" from one cut line to the next.
5- The easiest way to fold is this. Lift your center panel up slightly and "Mountain Fold" on your 5 1/2" score line. "Mountain Fold" at both of your 6 1/2" score lines. "Valley Fold" at both 2" score lines and finish off with "Mountain Folds" on both of your 1" lines.

Now your card is folded. Take your first Embossing Folder, I used Petals-a-Plenty and place it so it's under your center panel and sandwiched over your two side pieces. Make your regular "sandwich" and run it through your Big Shot. I had mine with no tabs just the platform. Here's what it will look like-

Disregard the Embossed Center Panel. Like I said I went back and took pictures
 after I knew it had worked, but didn't want to run another piece of c/s through at that point.

You will have beautifully embossed side panels. I guess you could leave it with just the side panels done, but I wanted just a little something more. I know what you're thinking, "Shan trying to do something "More"? No way!?!" Yes-WAY!!!

Take your second Embossing Folder, I used Perfect Polka Dots, and place your center panel inside of it extending it fully across both side panels. Yes, this will flattened the embossing on your side panels a little but trust me when I say it makes for a very nice "subtle" embossed pattern and it also allows for your center panel to really be your focal point. You're going to need to add some shims to the bottom portion of your card. Ok, technically you don't but I found if when I didn't, and the card was "standing open" you could see the embossing was "bolder" in the very bottom of the side panels. It was just enough to bother me. If it doesn't bother you,  no worries, if it does this is how I fixed it.

See my samples. I told you old c/s. One is Pixie Pink and I'm not sure what the other is  Gable Green maybe.

I took the bottom one inch off a previous sample and slid it in from the bottom of the card behind the front bottom panel. I then took the green sample card (I forgot to stop cutting at 1" and cut all the way to the end of the c/s. This is another reason why you practice on old c/s.) and used it as a shim. When the card is "closed you will have 4 layers of c/s. Place this over the top of your bottom 1" section of c/s. As you can see that brings it up to the same height as the Embossing Folder. Build your sandwich as you normally would (for me No tabs, cutting plate under and over c/s and embossing folder) and run it through your Big Shot. This will allow you to emboss your center panel and get that inner lower portion of the side panels pretty close to the appearance on the top. If it's still a little too embossed for your tastes, you can also take your bone folder and carefully burnish just a little.

Look at the pretty Polka Dot Embossing on the center panel and the soft lightly embossed appearance on the side panel.

For my focal point I used my Crumb Cake Classic Ink Pad. I inked up my stamp and stamped off once before stamping the image onto my Naturals White Cardstock. I then inked up the words with my VersaMark pad and using my SAMJ (of course) stamped my second image. Gold Embossing Powder was added and set with my Heat Tool. The N.W. panel was adhered to an Always Artichoke panel with Dimensionals and then this whole panel was adhered to the center panel with more Dimensionals. Here are the Measurements for the center panel. Always Artichoke 3 3/8" x 3 7/8". Naturals White 3 3/4 x 3 1/4.

I had to move the "banner" portion of the sketch down so you could read all the words but otherwise I think I captured the sketch in a fun, unique way. I embossed the greeting Merry Christmas,  from Greeting of the Season, and adhered it in the same manner to the bottom front panel. The measurements for that piece are A.A. 7/8" x 1 3/8 and N.W. 3/4" x 3 1/5". Oh I also sponged the edges of the A.A. and N.W. pieces of c/s. I used Crumb Cake on the N.W. and it almost has a golden hue to it like the heat embossed areas. :)

I didn't even think of putting anything inside to write on. Hope you'll forgive me for that. After two hours of working on this card I honestly thought it was through. I think though that I will probably just add a piece of c/s to the back for a holiday note. I really wish you could see this card in person. It's just Wow!

Well, that's all I have for you today, but I guess since it was packed full with pictures and info, maybe you won't mind that I forgot something. I hope you liked it and I hope it inspires you to try something new, maybe a new card style or a challenge or better yet, do both! There's still time to play along with this challenge. If you have questions or comments about today's card, I  hope you'll take a moment to leave me a message. I love hearing from you, read them all and they really do make my day. 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! I hope you have a safe and happy holiday weekend, filled with lots of time for Family, Friends and of course Creativity. Hope to see you back here soon. 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 #45 - Water-Coloring with Markers

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Hey y'all. Happy Thursday! Just one more day until the holiday weekend. Woo-Hoo!

Know what else is just a day away? The end of our Spooktacular Savings Promotion. If you join my team before close of business tomorrow  now extended through September 16th, you get a FREE kit including the Googly Ghouls stamp set, a custom letterpress tray and all the materials needed to create your own special Halloween Home Decor. Want to know what's even better than that? You can then customize it for use throughout the year. It's the gift that keeps on creatively giving. Picture to follow later in this post. So for $99.00 you can get $125.00 worth of Traditional Stamping items or over $545.00 worth of Digital items (MDS2+ & $45.00 worth of digital downloads) or $500.00 worth of Digital and $45.00 worth of Traditional items. It's totally customizable to how you enjoy crafting. In addition to this when you place an order in your first 45 days you get 30% off the total price and 20% off any additional orders. Though there is Absolutely NO Commitment to ever ordering anything else again. Win-Win and Absolutely No Obligation, pretty nice!

Well, I got to thinking of when I first started and how I would have used that money to it's best potential. I wasn't doing any digital designing back then, so I would have definitely gone for traditional product. I already had a little cardstock and a few stamps, what I didn't have was ink. Now as you can imagine, it's hard to stamp without ink! I only had a few colors so I was really limited in what I could create. That's where the idea of the markers and this week's EWT came in. I had heard that you could use wax paper and our SU Markers to "watercolor" designs and new I wanted to try. So I sat down and created this card-

Thinking of you Card featuring
Wonderful Winterland Stamp Set and
Storytime DSP

Do you Love it? I do and you won't believe just how easy it was to create! I love getting the most bang for my buck and I love stamp sets that have multiple images and can be used for more than just one occasion. This Wonderful Winterland set can be used from the time it starts getting cool all the way through till spring. In fact if you inked this particular stamp up with a pen instead of the pad you could omit the scarf and make it a Spring/Summer stamp and literally use it all year long.

How sweet is that image!?! It actually only has the Momma duck and one little duckling but I wanted an extra sweet baby so I used my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig and added the third one in. So easy! I stamped them in Black Staz-On so I could water-color them and not have the inked outline bleed into my colors.

This is a very Clean and Simple layout, can you believe it, two in one week! I chose my color palate from the Storytime DSP that I used to cut my flag.  I think it's 3/4" wide. I attached this to my Wild Wasabi base with a little Tombow and left just the ends free so I could give them a little curl for dimension and the appearance of motion. I stamped my ducks in Black Staz-on, everything was inked/colored with my SU Markers. After stamping my sweet little family I used my Apothecary Accents Framelet to cut them out. I colored them in (Tutorial to follow) added the snowflakes, from the same set and the snow to the ground. This panel was then adhered with Dimensionals. Two buttons from the Brights pack, which I got for Free, were adhered with Mini-Glue Dots. Faux thread was added by coloring between the button holes with my White Gel Pen. My sentiment is from Easy Events. It says "hello baby" but I only inked the word hello with my Wild Wasabi marker. I stamped it on a piece of Whisper White c/s and punched it out with my Oval Punch. The edges were sponged before attaching it to a piece of So Saffron c/s that I punched out with my Scalloped Oval Punch. This was then adhered with Dimensionals and my card front was completed.

Here's the inside-

Thinking of You Card featuring
Winter Wonderland and Teeny Tiny Messages

Another C&S style inside. The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes and is stamped in Wild Wasabi on a Whisper White background. The edges of the c/s are sponged as well. I stamped one sweet little duckling in the corner to continue the theme from the front. A little watercoloring and Dazzling Diamonds and this card was d.o.n.e!

Don't you just want to pick him up and put him your pocket? Ok maybe your pocket's too small but I bet your purse isn't! :)

Here's a closer look at the focal point-

I've talked about watercoloring with the Blender Pens before but always with our Classic Ink Pads, using the ink in the lid method. As much as I love that Technique, it can be a little expensive to get all the pads at one time. In fact I got the Many Marvelous Markers before I got most of my pads for that very reason. I just wish I had know about this months ago, I might have waited a little longer to get all my pads and bought more stamps and paper first.

Here's a few numbers for you. We have 38 core colors. Each pad is $5.95. If you buy the pads individually (a little at a time) you would pay $226.10 for them all.  If you buy them all by color family they are $49.95 a piece for the colors and $39.95 for the Neutrals because there are only 8 of those. That's a total of $189.80 for all 38 core colors. However if you order the Many Marvelous Colors pack, you get all 38 core colors in a handy dandy tote that not only closes securely but has extra slots for your 10 In-Color Markers as well. How much for all this inky fun? You pay just $109.95. That's a 42% savings over the individual sets and a 53% savings over buying them individually! WOW!!! Yes! You read that correctly! By purchasing the Marker Set you save between 42 and 53% over purchasing the pads.

What can you do with the markers? I'm glad you asked. They are dual-end markers so you can use the brush tip to color images (direct to paper), and you can use the fine tip to either color in smaller images or for journaling. You can also use the markers to apply color directly to your stamps, it works equally well for solid or line images. And now I'm happy to show you that you can also watercolor with your markers. So while it may take you just a little longer to ink up your stamps with markers than the Clasic Ink Pads it's a Great option especially when you're just starting out or a little strapped for cash, and let's face it these days, that's a lot of us. Isn't it nice to know you can come here and find out something other than just the newest thing about me that makes you Lol?  You live and you learn and maybe just maybe you come around here every-once-in-a-while and stumble upon something new and fun.

Here's what you need for this week's EWT- Black Staz-On ink pad, Marker/s in the colors of your choice (I used SU obviously so I can only attest to how well they work with this technique), Stamp set and card stock in your preferred color and here's where the magic happens...Wax Paper, Yep, you read that right, good old fashion Wax Paper. I bet you've got some in your kitchen cabinets right now. Tear off a piece, get your other supplies and get ready to have some watercoloring F.U.N.!

Here's what you do ( I wish I had more pictures but it's kinda hard to color with your right hand and take pictures with your left at the same time)
1- Stamp your image in Black Staz-On. Trust me on this...you can't use regular ink from a pad or marker for this. Well, I guess technically you could but all of your colors are going to come out wonky as soon as they hit the outline because they're going to mix with the black. Ask me how I know. Yep I forgot to stamp in Staz-On one day and couldn't figure out why my Marina Mist was all of a sudden a violet color. *SMH*
2- Chose your color palate. You can only prep one color at a time, so decide which color you want to start with. Take the "brush-tip" end and color a small circle onto your wax paper. You will have a small pool of color, like the color in the lid technique, it will just be a little less wet.

 I put all the colors in this picture with the corresponding markers so you could see, but I took this picture after I was done with my project.

Using Wax Paper  & SU Markers to Watercolor

For my card I used Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Sahara Sand, Baja Breeze and Bashful Blue. I used the Sahara Sand to give a little depth to the ducks. Look on the bellies and heads and you can see a little bit of shadowing. The Bashful Blue was colored lightly, just a wash of color really, for the snowflakes and the snow on the ground. I then used a little Two-Way Glue Pen and Dazzling Diamonds to maximize the effect.

3- Using your Blender Pen, dip your tip into the pool of color on your wax paper and then color in your project. You may want to test the depth of color on your grid paper first. I usually dab off a small amount before applying the color to my image because I like to be able to layer my colors to get the depth of color that I want. Remember- you can always add color but you can't take it away. How easy is that!?!
4- Re-apply the color to the wax paper as needed to complete your coloring.
5- Smile when you see what you've created and smile even more when you think about the joy and the smiles it will bring to its recipient!

This is really an Amazing use of these pens that I loved so much to start with. I love my Classic Ink Pads, don't get me wrong, but if I had known about this technique last year I would have $189.80 in more stamps & extras and I would be getting the new improved pads to boot. If you are looking to maximize your crafting dollars this is one way I highly recommend. If you sign up as a demonstrator you can get all these colors plus a pack of 3 Blender Pens and still have just over $5.00 to spend on accessories like some Dazzling Diamonds Glitter or 2 packs of Dazzling Details Glitter Adhesive, a $125.00 value for just $99. Oh and remember that Spooktacular Offer I told you about?

Here's what you get-

You get everything you see here, Stamp Set, Frame, Stickers, Rhinestone Jewels, Bakers Twine and Ribbon. Ok, if you choose Clear Mount Stamps instead of Wood Mount the Mounting Block doesn't come in your kit, but I'll throw that in as my gift to you. Then you're ready to get creating. You'll even be invited to my House for an Exclusive Party where we'll design our kits together. Not a Halloween person? You can simply paint the frame a neutral color and design other layouts that you can change up for each season/holiday.

That's all I have for you today. I hope you liked today's card/technique and I hope it inspires you to try something new. Get out your wax paper and markers and have some fun. If you have comments or questions about today's technique I hope you'll leave me a message below. If you need supplies you can hop on over to my Online Store and get them delivered right to your door or better yet click on "Join the Fun" and get started saving on all of your crafting supplies.

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! If you liked today's card and want to leave me a little blog love below, your comments make my day every time. I read them all. Thanks so much for the support and encouragement! If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's card the buttons are here on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! 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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Not So Ghoulish Ghouls / SSC #270 My Challenge #36

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Hey y'all. Happy Humpday! Hope you're having a good week so far. It's a crisp, sunny August day here in the DMV with no rain in sight until the weekend. Thank Goodness! I've got a door and shutters to get painted before my HOA has a fit. How is it though that the neighbors right next to me whose door and shutters look just like mine didn't get a notice? Things that make you go Hmmmmm? I've also got little "post-cap thingies" I have to put on my back fence. Seriously, You're going to send me a notice about little plastic post caps. *SMH* I can't wait to sell my house and buy a condo with a little balcony and no yard to care for and little maintenance. Please, housing market take an upswing in the DMV. Please, I beg you. Just a nice little 2-3 bedroom condo, one room for me, one for the studio and one for guests...I don't think that's too much to ask for. Heck, I'm ok with 2 rooms, I've got an aero-bed for guests. Lol! No seriously, I need to move!!! But I digress, sorry.

I just want to say I'm sending prayers and well wishes to all those battling Isaac. May god keep you safe. I miss the south so much I even miss Hurricaine season. Much better to risk an occasional storm than all this cold and snow...Brrr...

The cooler weather this morning did however put me in a fall frame of mind. Perfect for today's card. One of my favorite things about Fall/Autumn is Pumpkins and Halloween. Love those yummy little round balls of goodness and any chance to do some fun (not mean and scary) decorating is always a bonus. I'm so excited to be a part of The Great Pumpkin Blog Hop, (How cute is that name? Makes me want to put on old Chuck and Snoopy) and this is Week 5. You can check out all of the participants in the hop from the bottom of this post. Thanks Terry, for making this happen! Why don't you come along and play with us....just after you finish here though. Terry's even offering blog candy to someone at the end of the entire Hop. WOW! Fun, Cute designs and Candy that I don't have to count....*SCORE!!!*

Here's this week's card for the hop-

Halloween Card featuring
Ghoulish Ghouls and Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP

How cute are my sweet little friends!?! I don't think they're "Ghoulish" at all. I actually looked up "Ghoul" Ooohhhh, not a very nice description, not at all like my  fellas here. My little friends they just want to play. My little Mummy is running to you so fast his wrapping's coming undone....lol! And my sweet little 8-legged friend, why he's just dropping in to say Hi!

I stamped both of them, on Very Vanilla c/s, in Black Staz-On so they'd be nice and crisp even after coloring in my little fiends friends wrapping. I used Basic Grey Classic Ink and Sahara Sand Classic Ink both thinned out and applied with my blender pen. A little Crumb Cake sponging added a little bit of an older/dirtier feel to the edges. The fun, sweet little Googlie for their eyes were the finishing touches.

Here's a closer look-

So Sweet! Don't you just want to "Hang around" and play? LOL! My mummy is mounted on a piece of Basic Black c/s with Dimensionals. This panel was adhered with Tombow. My little arachnid friend is popped up with a Dimensional on a base of Basic Black and More Mustard c/s that were adhered together with Tombow. They were then adhered with more Dimensionals to add some elevation. I used two different DSP's from the Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP. Two! Can you believe it? Me mixing and matching patterns. :) Ok, so it took me 30 minutes to figure out which ones I wanted to use but still... Have you seen all the cute patterns? They're just yummy and will be great for Masculine cards as well as Halloween ones. For my ribbon I used the Dotted Scalloped Black Ribbon. I wrapped a small (4 3/4) piece around the card and then made a bow with a 10" piece that I adhered with a Mini Glue Dot. It's hard to tell in the picture, but if you know this ribbon you know the "dots" are a bright white. I used my SU Markers to color them in. It doesn't show very well, but they are a creamy, just slightly orange tinted color IRL. I experimented with More Mustard, Tangerine Tango and Pumpkin Pie and finally settled on the Pumpking Pie. They were a little darker before they dried but at least they are not so white now and the ribbon blends in better. I used SNAIL to adhere it to the DSP and then secured the whole panel with Tombow to a base of Tangerine Tango.

I also used a sketch form Stamping 411 for my jumping off point. You can get all the measurements for the card on their site. I hope you'll check them out too. Those are some great ladies and I look forward to their new sketches each week.

Here's a look at the inside-

Inside of Halloween Card featuring
Ghoulish Ghouls Stamp Set

Can you believe no bling? I left it off thinking this might make a nice Masculine card. The sentiment is from the same Googly Ghouls set as the images.

That's all I have for you today. I hope you enjoyed my little card and it inspires you to do something fun, like a challenge or joining along on our fun little Hop. I love hearing from you, so if you have comments or questions about today's project I hope you'll leave me a comment. I read all of them 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!

Don't forget to check out all the fun cards in the Hop, just below my name-

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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Frosty Friends, C&S, Kinda

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Hey y'all. Happy Tuesday! It's a gloomy, rainy kind of day here in the DMV. I hope it's sunny wherever you might be. First off let me say my thoughts and prayers are coming to everyone in the path of Isaac. May God keep you all safe!

Do you ever sit down with the plan of doing a card or project one way and then having to re-adjust that mid design? This happened to me yesterday. I had a sketch all planned out around the focal element. I just needed to figure out the measurements and color scheme and I would be set. Well, I figured out my color scheme, decided on all my measurements (you know how hard that is), got started, re-adjusted my measurements and then at the last minute realized that 2 elements on the sketch just wouldn't go with my card. They just wouldn't fit with the measurements I had and I couldn't really adjust the measurements or my focal point wouldn't fit. I ended up spending over an hour start to finish on a card that I thought would be so easy, and it turned out differently than I had anticipated. Not that I'm unhappy with the card, just that I wasn't able to do what I wanted. You know how I get with that kind of thing. Afterwards I got to thinking that maybe I could adjust the sizes up, and maybe rotate the sketch so maybe I'll try again.

Here's what I came up with-

C&S Holiday Card featuring
Frost Friends, Greetings of the Season and Festival of Prints DSP

Although the layout is very C&S the card took a little time because of the watercoloring. These are pretty non-traditional colors, but I love how they ended up working. I wanted Island Indigo and a softer blue and when I found these two patterns in the Festival of Prints pack I knew they would be just what I needed. Have you purchased your Festival of Prints DSP yet. It's a Must-Have from the Holiday catalog. 40 sheets of Double-sided DSP for $6.95. Not only is the price Amazing but these are colors and patterns that you can use throughout the year. *Bonus!* I used Island Indigo, Cherry Cobbler, Bashful Blue, and Very Vanilla. Have to say, I'm really, really liking this color combo!

Here's a close-up of my stamped image-

I stamped my Frosty Friends in Black Staz-On so the color wouldn't bleed. I used Cherry Cobbler, Real Red, Pacific Point, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Grey and Garden Green Classic Ink pads to color my sweet little friends and Bashful Blue Classic Ink Pad to color in the snow-flakes and snowy ground cover. I used my Blender Pens to do the watercoloring. I also used my White Gel Pen for the ear-muffs and trim on the Real Red cap. A little Two-Way Glue Pen and some Dazzling Diamonds turned a wet afternoon into a Sparkling, Winter Wonderland. All 3 layers are Adhered to each other with Tombow and then mounted over my 3 DSP flags with Dimensionals. All c/s including the DSP were sponged around the edges to add depth and dimension. The 3 flags were secured with Tombow as well.

Here's a look at the inside-

Inside of Holiday Card featuring
 Greetings of the Season and Frost Friends Stamp Sets

I stamped my sentiment on a Very Vanilla layer in Island Indigo. I stamped just one of my sweet little friends in Black Staz-On and then colored him in. A little sparkle and he's ready to play.

Isn't he sweet? And just the tiniest bit mischievous too! Love him!!!

For those of you that want measurements, here they are-

Island Indigo - 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 scored and folded at 4 1/4
Very Vanilla - 2 1/2 x 3 1/2
Bashful Blue - 2 5/8 x 3 5/8
Cherry Cobbler - 2 3/4 x 3 3/4
DSP - 1/2 x 3

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you enjoyed today's card and I hope it inspires you to try and have a little fun and to not give up when it looks like something is just not going to turn out the way you had expected. You might just end up happy with the results anyways. :)

I love hearing from you, so if you have comments or questions about today's card, I hope you'll leave me a comment. I read them all and they really do make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's card, I've put the buttons on my post for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too!

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by and check out my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! I hope you'll come back soon and see all of the cool things I have in store for you. 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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MDS Monday - A State of Grace

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Hey y'all. Happy Monday! I hope you had a great weekend. :) I pretty much vegged out all weekend. I can't believe it but I didn't even get into the studio and stamp once. :( That makes me so sad. I did spend most of Friday evening playing around in MDS, but I had such high hopes for getting a lot of stamping done and it just didn't happen. I pretty much sat with my feet up the entire weekend. I am nursing an injury, so I don't feel quite sooo bad and I was able to get a little caught up on my DVR so that's good, what with the upcoming fall season and all, and spent plenty of time on Pinterest, lol, but still not I was I hoping for.

Last week's MDS was about finding beauty not in perfection but in imperfections. This week's MDS project is along similar lines. Earlier this year, as I was going through my reader feeds I saw a piece of framed artwork on one of the sites that spoke to me. I put it as my screen saver so I would see it everyday and be reminded of it's message. It seemed very simple and I thought I could probably do something similar on my own. Here's what I came up with-

What a great thought, don't you think? I don't remember the name of the stamp set in MDS2+, if you're interested let me know. I totally forgot about the whole project list feature or I would have added it. :( It's from one of the wedding ensembles. The image is actually wreath. I used the new crop feature to split it in two. I actually cropped the top half, copied it and flipped it. Pretty easy. Getting the words just right was the hardest part of the whole process. The new text features allowing you to alter the spacing and height of letters made all of the difference.

Here's the original-

What do you think? I think it's pretty close to the original. Maybe I'll add some of the little pearls to the inside of mine for a little extra something. I'm going to try some other backgrounds too. I'm thinking the Medallion split in two would be pretty like this as well.

For me the most important part is the sentiment. It just speaks to me. If you've been around here for any length of time you know how hard it is for me to let go of that idea of perfection. One of the nicest things about MDS is the creative freedom it allows you, to not just create cards and scrapbook items, but items you can actually frame and use as art. Love that!

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked it and I hope it inspires you to play around in MDS and make something special for yourself too. I love hearing from you, so if you have comments or questions about today's project, I hope you have just a moment to leave a comment. I read them all and they really do make my day. If you'd like to +1 or Pin it, I've put the 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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A Confetti Card, A 3-D Project and A Challenge / NAC #8

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Hey y'all! Happy Friday! Woo-Hoo!!! I've got lots to do this weekend so I can hardly wait. I hope you have lots of fun planned too.

Do you Pin? I do. (You can check out my boards by searching for me ShanAngel or by clicking on the Follow Me button on my sidebar) I love wasting  spending valuable research time getting inspired or finding things that I love and would like to share with others. And just in case you're wondering before you click on over, Yes the boards are a little OCD just like me. : D HAHAHAHA! Any-who, I've been meaning to actually do something with the things that I pin and have been trying to do that a little more. In fact just last week I made cupcakes that I found that were Ah-Mazing (and low cal/points too!) and I'm finally taking inspiration from a card I saw and putting it to use. I'm pretty happy with how my card turned out. The original card was so unique I didn't even look it up when I made my card. I looked it up just prior to starting this post and it turns out I even used one of the same sentiments, just in a different way. Great Minds and all that. Swing on by my boards when you get a chance (but finish here first, kay) and see what you can find. If you Pin too, leave me a comment with your Pin name. I'd love to swing by and check out the Fabulous things I know you've got pinned too.

Here's today's card-

Confetti Card featuring
Friendly Phrases

How fun is this? Well, I think it's fun. :) I was really stumped trying to think up something to make with this week's challenge Over at Nacho Average Challenge. It's a color challenge and y'all know how much I absolutely adore those! NOT!!! I was actually afraid I wasn't going to be able to enter for the first time. :( Since I was limited to 3 colors this doesn't have quite the same impact as the card I took my inspiration from, but I think it's still easy to gather that it's confetti. It is easy to see that, right? Oh, please say yes!!!

In case you can't tell the colors-

I was hoping for a one layer C&S card with this, but no-go. I started with a base of Whisper White and using a pencil eraser made the "confetti" by inking up the eraser and "stamping" it onto my c/s. The colors, unfortunately, were visible on the other side of the c/s. So I cut my W.W. card into two pieces and layered them onto a Tempting Turquoise base and problem solved. My sentiment is from the set Friendly Phrases and I simply inked up the word WOW with my SU Marker instead of inking up the whole sentiment. I love that this set lends itself to this kind of separation, because it really increases the set's versatility.

Here's the inside-

Inside of Confetti Card featuring
Friendly Phrases.

I'm really happy with how it turned out. It's just so bright and happy.

Because I wasn't sure how "kosher" it would be to case someonelse's work for a challenge even though I changed it up I decided to add something else for the challenge. It's been a hot-minute since I had a 3-D item on here so I decided to add one as a bonus to this challenge. I've been thinking about adding this type project to my upcoming Christmas Class, so I just changed it up a little.

3-D Treat Holder featuring
Two-Tags Die, Boho Blossoms Punch and
Bitty Banners Framelets and Matching Stamp Set 

I love this idea. I know it's out there everywhere, but it's cute and quick and makes an impression on it's recipients and your class participants. I simply cut out two of the larger tags in T.T., creased them on the score line, added a little Tombow to the bottom to secure them and then decorated. See, Easy! I closed the treat holder with a small piece of Pumpkin Pie Ribbon tied in a simple bow. Multiple flowers were punched out from each of the colors plus W.W. and then sponged the edges and set about assembling them. The layers were all adhered with Tombow and the flowers were then secured with Mini Glue Dots. Once I had them all secured, they seemed to still be needing "just a little something extra" so I got out my White Gel Pen and added a little extra detail and I think that's just what they needed. I stamped the sentiment and then cut it with my Bitty Banners Framelet. Using my Bone Folder I curved it to give it some movement and then secured it as well with Mini Glue Dots. This will hold 3-4 Mini Reeces' Cups, Nuggets, Kisses (or similar sized item) or a snack sized candy.

So what do you think of my projects? I hope you liked them and I  hope the ladies over at NAC like them too. Like I said I went back this morning and looked for the original Pin and found it. Turns out the Pinner lives in my town. I'm sending her a message to let her know I CASE'd her and who knows maybe one day we'll get to meet. Always fun to meet other SU peeps. Don't you think? :) Here's the Original Pin and the link to her blog post-

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope it inspires you to try something new, a challenge or maybe just actually doing something with one of the things you Pinned. I love hearing from you so if you have comments or questions about today's card &/or project, please feel free to leave me a comment. I read all of my messages and they really do make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin either, I've put the 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! I hope you have a great rest of the day and that you have a Fabulous weekend filled with lots of time for Family, Friends and of course Creativity! 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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Christmas Sweet-Hearts / SSC #269

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*Don't forget to check out this post for my Blog-Versary - Give-Away. It will be open until Midnight August 23, 2012.* 

Hey y'all. Happy Thursday! I hope you're having a great week. The best part? The weekend is just a day away. Gee, I really love having a Monday-Friday job and being able to say that and having every weekend off. The best part, no off hours or weekend shifts. Woo-Hoo. Next best part, my evenings and weekends are usually free to stamp and play. :)

I've been trying to get to today's card all week, but just haven't been able too. Other creative things kept getting done instead. How does that happen!?! Anyways, I finally got it done and am so excited to show it to you. Here it is-

Holiday Card featuring
Scentsational Season and Be of Good Cheer DSP

For today's card I started with a base of Very Vanilla c/s. For the next layer I ran a piece of W.W. c/s through my Big Shot with the new Chevron E.F. I attached this and a piece of Be of Good Cheer DSP to some Cherry Cobbler c/s. A piece of Gumball Green ribbon was added to cover the seam between the two top layers and was secured with SNAIL. This whole panel was attached to the base with Dimensionals. I used two pieces of Rose Red c/s, that matched the snowflakes on the DSP, as mats. My two sweet Gingies are stamped on scraps of V.V. c/s with Soft Suede Classic Ink and attached them with Tombow. These two panels were mounted with Dimensionals. Don't you hate when you have a plan and then forget to do it? I had planned on embossing my sweetie's with the Sugar and Spice Embossing Powder and remembered it as I was gluing the inside pieces to card base. AUGH!!!!

Here's a closer look-

I used my Owl-Builder Punch to punch hearts out of C.C. c/s. I used them to make a sweet little Bow-Tie and a cute little Hair-Bow. Both were secured with Tombow and a small pearl. A little Dazzling Diamonds made the bow extra pretty and look like a little dusting of sugar on their arms and legs. I used more Gumball Green Ribbon as an accent since the Stamping 411 Sketch Challenge had an element there. It's kinda cute though, don't you think? The sentiment is from Petite Pairs, love that set.

Here's the sketch I was working with from Stamping 411. Make sure to check them out. They always have great challenges and give measurements to get you started. That's worth the price of admission for sure! :)

Here's the inside-

Inside of Holiday Card featuring
Scentsational Seasons Stamp Set and Petite Pairs

I've got an extra layer of c/s here since I hate to just stamp on the inside of the card. Plus it gives a little more color. I meant to stamp off once on these two sweeties and forgot. :( For some reason they came out looking darker than the ones on the front. I'm afraid they looked a little crispy. I love a little dusting of sugar on my Ginger-Bread cookies so I sugared them to make them look a little yummier.

Don't you just want to take a bite out of him? YUM!!!

That's all I have for you today. I hope you like my little Sweet-Hearts. Don't forget to check out Stamping 411. They'll have a new sketch for us on Saturday. I love hearing from you so if you have any questions or comments about today's card, I hope you'll leave me a comment. I read all of my comments and they really do 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! :)

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! Don't forget to come back tomorrow for a cute card and 3-D set. Also, today's the last day for you to stop by my Blog-Versary page and leave me a comment to be entered in my free give-away. 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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Flying Into The Night / End of the Week Technique #44 - Brayering / The Great Pumpkin Blog Hop

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*Don't forget to check out this post for my Blog-Versary - Give-Away. It will be open until Midnight August 23, 2012.* 

Hey y'all. Happy Humpday. :) That always makes me giggle. It always makes me think of how we learned to spell Mississippi. ( You know I just spelled it that way in my head to spell it correctly, Right?) I know, I'm such a kid. Anyways, my work-week is half-way done, I hope yours is too.

I know it's a little earlier than normal for my EWT, but I've got another Halloween card for you today that I want to put on The Great Pumpkin Blog Hop so I figured "Why wait". I made this a few weeks back and just haven't gotten around to posting it yet. I'm trying to only do one Halloween and Christmas/Holiday type card each per week. Of course that's in addition to my Challenge Cards and EWT's, and C&S, and Masculine, oh and let's not forget MDS...There's just not enough days in the week!!! Lol! Here's today's card-

Clean & Simple Halloween Card featuring
Toxic Treats, Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP

What do you think? I'm so happy with how it turned out. It's actually a pretty C&S card, at least as far as layout goes. As far as details and time involved...not so much.

I started with a base of Wisteria Wonder. It's hard to tell in the picture, but there are some areas on this DSP  where the grey plaid appears a little purple, like Wisteria Wonder, so I thought I'd use it.  I layered it with a piece of Very Vanilla that I sponged with W.W. and adhered with Tombow. For the central panel I used another layer of W.W. and topped it with some Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP. I sponged both pieces and then I adhered them with Tombow. I took my White Organza Ribbon (2 pieces) and sponged it with W.W. until I got the color I liked, a soft purpley-grey. I wrapped one piece over the top of  both layers and secured it beneath with SNAIL. I then made a bow with the second piece and adhered it with a Mini-Glue Dot. This whole panel was then secured with Dimensionals.

My focal point took a little more time. 

I wanted my figures to being flying off into a night sky so I needed to try and get some colored layers going on. I sponged a sky recently, but wanted to try something different. I brayered Wisteria Wonder and Perfect Plum to get the color you see. (Tutorial to follow.) Once I felt happy with the coloring I let it dry. Your colors will lighten up and appear more blended once they dry.  Since I didn't want the words from this particular stamp, just the image I had to ink this up with my SU markers. However, I wanted to emboss it so it would stand out a little more so, using my SAMJ, I inked up and stamped first in Classic Black, then again with my VersaMarker. I added clear embossing powder since I was out of black and using my heat tool set it. It's so pretty and glossy in person. I used my Labels Framelets (2nd smallest) and my Big Shot to cut out the image. This was then also adhered with Dimensionals. 

Here's the inside-

I decided to have it open up, book-style for a little change.

Inside of Halloween Card featuring
Toxic Treats Stamp Set

I stamped the sentiment from the same set in Elegant Eggplant. I used my SU markers to ink the cauldron and bubbles using E.E. and Lucky Limeade. A little Dazzling Diamonds makes the perfect accent for the bubbles rising from the top, don't you think?

Now for your EWT- Here's what you'll need-
A Brayer, Ink Pads (I used Stampin Up), Card Stock and Grid paper or other paper to cover your surface as you brayer.

Disclaimer- This is a technique that takes time to master and I have definitely not mastered it completely. I recommend you do a You-Tube or Google search to view some videos on it. Michelle Zindorf is Amazing and France Martin also does some nice brayering including videos. My instruction if of the most basic type on this particular technique. I've include two videos at the the end of this to help get you started.

Here's what you'll do-
1- Ink your brayer well by rolling it across your ink pad. Make sure you roll it firmly in One Direction Only. If you roll it back and forth you will only get one portion of your brayer sufficiently inked.
2- Once your brayer is inked completely, roll just the very edge, both of them, (at an angle) on your grid/scrap paper. This will help you to avoid getting harsh lines of color from the edges on your project.
3- Roll your color on. Different people do this different ways and I think it kind of depends on the look you are going for. Some people start in the center and roll to the edges from there, leaving a more concentrated color in the center. Some start off the paper and roll across. This is the technique I used. I found I had a more even coverage this way.
4- Layer your colors, lightest to darkest and always remember to you can always add color to make your project darker, but you can't take it away once it's there.
5- Once you feel you have the colors and shading that you want, let it dry so you can see the final coloring. It will appear different once everything has dried. It won't take long at all to dry. The colors will soften up, so if you have any areas you are afraid are too harsh, go on to another part of your project, let it dry and then check it out before tossing it. :)
6- Stamp or embellish as desired for your finished project.
7- Smile when you see your completed project and smile even more when you think about the smile it will bring to someones face. :) (I always love that part the most!)

Here's a few videos I found for you-

That's all I have for you today. The Great Pumpkin Blog-Hop is at the bottom of this post. Don't forget to check it out and play along. You can see all the entries from my site. Don't forget to check out my Blog-Versary page and leave me a comment to be entered in to my Free Give-Away.

I hope you liked today's card/technique and I hope it inspires you to try something new today. As always if you try this technique I'd love to see what you come up with. Let me know and I will be glad to feature it here. I love hearing from you, so if you have comments or questions about today's card/technique I hope you'll leave me a message. I read all of my comments and they really do make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's card I've put the buttons here 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! I hope you'll come back soon. I've got a card & matching 3-D project still to come this week.
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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A Watercolor Winter Swap

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*Don't forget to check out this post for my Blog-Versary - Give-Away. It will be open until Midnight August 23, 2012.* 

Hey y'all. Happy Tuesday! I hope you're having a great week so far. :) Believe it or not we had a little cold-front push some rain through the DMV last night and it was actually a little chilly as I stood in the slug line this morning waiting for a ride into work. It makes me feel a little less bad about subjecting you to Winter Cards already. But only a little bit.

Wanna know what it really makes me think about? Football!!!! I'm so excited it's that time of the year again. Although my Patriots lost last night and the Cowboys lost this weekend, I'm happy to say the Deadskins did too! Anyways it's just the pre-season so, I don't worry too much about the scores, I just enjoy that it's back. Wanna know who's not excited that it's football season? Bitty Kitty. She was not happy about all the screaming and cheering that went on with the Olympics but she really hates football season. It's pretty funny, impressive really, how sweet, little, 12lb Bitty Kitty doesn't think twice about cursing me out and then leaving me to watch the game without her. Lol! Ummm, I mean so sad. :)

Today's card is one I did for a recent team swap. The layout was inspired by a card I made at one of my upline's, Robin Merriman's, Stampin at the Firehouse classes. I think it worked out perfectly for this set. Here's today's card-

Christmas Card featuring
Watercolor Winter Stamp Set, Lacey Brocade Embossing Folder
and Crumb Cake Tulle 

Ok, so this is a 2-step stamp set. For those of you that haven't been around here for a while, I don't like 2-step stamping. So tell me why I ordered not 1 but 2 of them from the Holiday Catalog!?! Don't get me wrong, I love how it looks when others do it, it always looks so pretty. However when I try it the OCD in me gets all hyper and I want to get my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig out and make sure everything is perfectly lined up even though I know that's not the look I should be going for. I realize in theory it's not supposed to be perfect, but there's only so much "not perfectly lined up" I can take before I can't handle the process. If the line image is too far off the solid image I just can't stand it. Oh, why do I do this to myself?!? Luckily most of these came out ok the first time.

Here's a little closer look-

I started with a base of Crumb Cake c/s. Next came a piece of Naturals Ivory c/s with the edges sponged in Crumb Cake. I layered a piece of Cherry Cobbler, that I ran through my Big Shot with my new Lacey Brocade E.F. (love that folder), on top of that with Tombow. For my 2-step stamped images I stamped off once with the solid images and stamped full-strength for the line images. I used Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke and Soft Suede S.U. Markers to ink my images that took 2 colors and S.U. Classic ink pads for those that only required one. I stamped all of my images first and then taking my Decorative Label Punch, went back and punched them all out. I then sponged the edges in C.C. and mounted them using Dimensionals. I wrapped a length of Crumb Cake Tulle, approximately 15", around this layer, tied it in a knot and fluffed the ends. This entire panel was then secured to the card base using Dimensionals. Can you believe I didn't use any Dazzling Diamonds or Dazzling Details? What was I thinking? Lol! Although I think it would be pretty with either of those, I felt there was enough going on as it was so I left it off. Coco would be so proud of me.

Here's the inside-

Inside of Christmas Card featuring
Greetings of the Season and Watercolor Winter Stamp Sets

I couldn't leave the inside plain too though. After all, it's not a "masculine" card, so I dressed it up just a wee-bit. :) For the inside, I used another piece of Naturals Ivory c/s. The sentiment is from Greetings of the Season and is stamped in Cherry Cobbler. I used the same color scheme and technique that I did for the front. I actually did stamp it with the intent of leaving the holly plain...

...but I just couldn't do it! (See how far off those berries are on the left? You have no idea how close this came to getting flipped over to start again on the other side.)

However, I stuck with it...

...added a little sparkle and it didn't seem quite so bad. My friend April swears she's going to break me of my SAMJ habit. If you're a gambling person, I'd stick with me on this one. Hahaha. No, seriously, only bet on April if you have money to throw away, and if that's the case, throw it my way!!!

That's all I have for you today. I hope you liked it and if nothing else at least got a smile or a little laugh at me over the whole 2 step stamping drama. I love hearing from you so if you have thoughts or comments about today's card, I hope you'll take just a moment and leave me a message. I read all of them and they really do make my day! I'll be offering this card at an upcoming card class. If you liked it and are local, I'd love to have you join us. :) If you would like to +1 or Pin today's card, I've put the buttons here on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too. Don't forget to check out my blog-versary give-away. You still have time.

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! I hope you'll come back soon to see what I'm working on for you. 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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