Inspiration Challenge for the Divas

Good morning Divas! It's time for an inspiration challenge!

Since it's Thanksgiving in the US, our inspiration piece is appropriately a cornucopia:

I knew JUST what I wanted to do when I saw it, so I took out my Cherish Friendship set and stamped this:

I stamped the image in Basic Grey and then coloured the images using my blender pen. I had fun designing what I *thought* was a farm style table, but my hubby says it looks like a floor. Oh well! LOL!

Busy day today, so this is a short post, but please let me know what you think!

STAMPS: Cherish Friendship, Confetti (background)
INK: Crumb Cake, Basic Grey, Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke
PAPERS: Whisper White, Soft Suede, Crumbcake
ACCESSORIES: Blender Pens

Happy Stampin'!

Steppin' it UP! for the Creative Crew! And the Divas Too!

This month's theme for the Creative Crew is "step it up!" Start with a simple card and show ways in which it can be "stepped up". This is a great technique for demonstrators as it allows us to show a simple card at our workshops and then show how to "step it up" for a little bit of WOW!

New stampers will love the simple version because it means they can get stamping right away and not be overwhelmed and experienced stampers will be able to add the extra details of the stepped up version making it their own.

Here's the simple version and stepped up version side by side:

I used my Lovely as a Tree set (after all, it is a classic!) and used the direct to rubber technique. I used my More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Lucky Limeade and Early Espresso markers to colour the tree and stamped it directly on my Crumb Cake base. Since I don't send many "Happy Thanksgiving" cards, I opted for the "thank you" from Teeny Tiny Wishes. It was stamped in Early Espresso.

The detail on the stepped up version:

I started off by colouring my tree using the same technique as above and stamping it onto a piece of Crumb Cake cardstock. I then matted it on Early Espresso.

I cut a piece of Orchard Harvest Designer Series Paper and used my piercing template to poke little holes in the corners. If you DON'T have this yet, it's a must have in my opinion. You can a lot of detail with very little effort! There are TWO paper piercing packs currently available: The Essentials Pack and The Festive Pack. The Festive pack is a great addition to your holiday stamps and is available only until January 3rd, 2013. The Essentials pack is a great addition to your everyday stamping.

In order to dress up the background, I used the leaves from my Confetti set and my Versamark ink. I stamped the image in a random pattern over the whole base.

My sentiment was stamped in Early Espresso on a piece of Very Vanilla and punched out using the Decorative Label punch.

My stepping it up continues on the inside of my card too!

I stamped the base using my versarmark ink again, added a layer of Orchard Harvest DSP and a layer of Very Vanilla stamped with Early Espresso.

What do you think?

STAMPS: Lovely as a Tree, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Confetti
INK: Early Espresso
PAPERS: Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake and Early Espresso Cardstock; Orchard Harvest DSP
ACCESSORIES: Markers, Paper Piercing Mat/Pack/Tool, Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

Happy Stampin'!

Two By Two

When I first saw this ADORABLE stamp in the new 2012-2013 catalogue, I just KNEW I had to have it! Of course, it took a couple of months for to actually see ink, but today is the day! It's so completely cute! Check this out:

Adorable, right? I took out my watercolour crayons (which also haven't seen the light in a few months!) and coloured in the image using them and my aqua painters. I then decided on Bashful Blue and Marina Mist for the card itself. Since baby boys won't care so much about ribbon, I decided to add a piece of Whisper White Taffeta and secure it with a Marina Mist button (I stopped short of using a flower - LOL!)

On the inside of the card, I used the Confetti stamp set. I think a lot of people discount this stamp set, but it can be used for SO many things...like this:

I stamped around the edge of the Whisper White layer first in Bashful Blue and then in Marina Mist.

You could also use this set to make a tone on tone background for your card, using Versamark Ink.

What do you think?

STAMPS: Two by Two, Confetti
INK: Staz-ON, Bashful Blue, Marina Mist
PAPERS: Whisper White, Bashful Blue and Marina Mist Cardstock; Watercolour Paper
ACCESSORIES: Watercolour Crayons, Aqua Painters, Marina Mist Marker, Ribbon, Button, Baker's Twine

Happy Stampin'!