Stampin' Ceebration Sketch - Stars and Stripes

I was excited to make a card for this month's Stampin' Celebration sketch challenge!

I decided to turn the circles into stars and celebrate Independence Day!

I bought the new bruskstrokes background stamp from the 2015-2016 Stampin' Up! catalog and thought it would be perfect for this patriotic card!

I decided to make the focal star a shaker window little stars inside punched from the confetti star punch!  It's a fun card for the holiday, now to find the right person to send it to!

I look forward to see what you can create with this sketch!

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Awesome Friend

A quick post to show you another card I made for stamp class at the end of the month.  This card uses a new stamp set from Stampin' Up! called Awesomely Artistic.  The stamp set has some beautiful natural elements.  I love the dragonfly!

I also used the new metallic thread in gold on this card.  So much easier than dethreading the ribbon ;0)!  Very happy to have this in the new catalog!

I used markers to color in the dragonfly, chocolate chip, bermuda bay and island indigo.  I stamped the wings on very vanilla cardstock and fussy cut them. Then I stamped the body in chocolate chip directly on the Delightful Dijon cardstock and glued the wings to the cardstock.  This way I could give the wings a little dimension as well by curling the ends a little.

The card was inspired by Freshly Made Sketches #190.

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Getting ready for Stamp Class!

I finally had a chance to spend some quality time in my stamp room and decided to make a few cards for an upcoming stamp class I decided to have at the end of the month.  I used to have stamp events almost monthly, but with the day job being busy and a few projects I have decided to push forward at home, it has been a little busy.  In any case, I am glad I was able to catch up a little and find time to create.  It does help ease stress.

I really liked this sketch from retrosketches.

The first card I made following this sketch wasn't what I thought it would be so I decided to eliminate a few of the elements in the sketch and go a little simpler for my card.

I love the way this card turned out and the color combination is really pretty.  I didn't post my card on the retrosketches site since I didn't follow the sketch exactly.  Still fun to play along and get inspiration where you can!

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Stampin' Celebration! Burlap and Flowers Inspiration

Time for a new Stampin' Celebration Sketch Challenge (SC106)!

I love the colors in this challenge with so many options for inspiration.  I decided to focus on the burlap with the polka dots.  I love this effect!  I also love the orange flowers.

I used Whisper White craft ink and a sponge dauber to add polka dots to burlap ribbon.  The white didn't show up as bright as I wanted so I added some white embossing powder and heat set the powder.  The polka dots were much brighter this way.

Then I made some orange flowers using the petite petal punch.  I punched out 4 flowers and then sprayed the front and back with water.  Then I scrunched the flowers up and stacked them, adding a candy dots brad base to the middle to make the flower.  I added So Saffron candy dots to the center of the brad to help add a little more color. 

I love the stamped burlap.  Will have to see what else I can do with the burlap!

The design team made some beautiful projects.  Hope you find inspiration and play along with us.  

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Silver-lining on a Cloudy Day

I spent some time this weekend in my stamp room.  It was cold and dreary so when I saw this weeks RetroSketches. 

I decided to match the weather and create a card using a new Stamp Set I got from Stampin' Up, Sprinkles of Life from the new 2015-2016 Catalog which went live yesterday!  The Sprinkles of Life stamp set is this years Ronald McDonald Stamp Set where Stampin' Up! donates $3 for each stamp set sold to Ronald McDonald charities.

What is great about this stamp set is that there is a matching punch, the Tree Builder punch, which coordinates with his stamp set making punching out the images such as the clouds very easy!

The color scheme is Tip Top Taupe and Pool Party.  I used silver glitter paper to help with the silver lining and the greeting is stamped in Chocolate Chip ink.

Hoping the weather warms up and brightens up soon!  Although I am glad I was able to make some time in my stamp room without feeling guilty about not being outside enjoying the weather.

Happy stamping!

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Balloon Bash in a watercolor background

It's a dreary weekend in Chicagoland!  Cold and rainy for an end of May weekend.  Perfect weekend to spend some time in my stamp room.  I feel like I haven't been able to make time to stamp so I decided it was time to carve out some of my own time today.

A little inspiration always helps...  Today I decided to try to play along with The Friday Mashup.

This week's Mashup! Challenge is:

• Create a project with "Watercoloring".
• Create a project using "the Sketch".
• or Mash it Up! and create a "Watercolored Project using the Sketch".

I wanted to use the new 2015-2017 Stampin Up in-colors.  I love the richness of these colors and I couldn't wait to use them!

For this card I used the Work of Art stamp set and played with my own version of a watercolor effect. I stamped the smaller watercolor swoosh in Mint Macaron, stamped off then sprayed the stamp with some water before stamping.  The water helped move the color around on the stamp.  The rest of the card was stamped and fussy cur with coordinating cardstock and stamp pads using the other 3 2015-2017 In Colors from Stampin' Up!  I can't wait until Tuesday when the new catalog goes live! Always good to refresh my stamp collection.

Have a great one!

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Stampin' Celebration Sketch Challenge - So Sweet

Happy Memorial Day for those in the US!  Can't believe summer is finally here! Time for a new sketch challenge from Stampin' Celebration!

I was very excited when the project for this design came together in my head!  I have to show you the additional inspiration!  This wall art from GrandinRoad caught my eye and I just had to recreate the effect with paper!!

Here is my take on the sketch and the flower!  For the flower I used Pink Pirouette, Crisp Cantaloupe, Calypso Coral, Tangelo Twist, and Cajun Craze (a color combination posted by Peonies and Paper Chains last year).  I die cut petals using the Bouquet Bigz L Die from the 2015 Occasions Catalog and pieced them together on a 2-1/2" circle.

I thought the flower needed a background so I used the Dictionary background stamp (retiring Stampin' Up! project).

I like the way the flower turned out!

Can't wait to see what you create using the sketch from Stampin' Celebration!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog