Thriving Art

OMG my son's B-day is coming up and I can't believe he is going to be 36 on Aug. 4!!  Trying to stay ahead of the game I used the # 67 sketch challenge :http://mytimemadeeasy.com/blog/ to work up this layout.  Using a TH stamp and some embossing powder I got the image stamped on some hand made paper, then mounted onto a brown cs..  My embossing powers are old, but now they give off a great antique look. Four copper colored brads were added to the corners. I used the same handmade paper for his name. I found an old key in my stash that finished it off.  Brian is into all kinds of cars and has a sand buggy that we are taking to the beach next weekend, so this week I have to trailer-up and get ready to go.  Here is the layout I used for this card. 

freshlymadesketches.blogspot.com/  has a Layout challenge for this week that really drew me in.  Unlike CAS cards Freshly Made does more layering and embellishments.( Now that is right up my alley LOL ) I've been trying to use stamps from sets I bought and never used, or bought and only used part of them.  Love black and yellow together, it always makes me happy ?????? ( no explanation here ) As you can see I used graduating die cuts in all three colors.  I used the flower to crate a balance of texture and color.  A simple black button sits in the center of the single flower.  It all sits on a plain white card, the black boarder just happened in the scanning process, but makes me wonder if I should pull it apart, trim down the white, add a black mat then place it back onto a white card.  What are your ideas on this situation?  Love to hear them.  This may end up being a re-make card.

My Time Made Easy is an other new blog I found, while wondering through blogdom.  They have palette challenges and layout challenges.......sound fun?  I thought the color palette # 66 had some interesting colors.  I chose purple, pink and green, scan came out blue, but it really is purple!  I decided that I needed to use some stamps that I had bought and never had used ( wonder how that happens?) The curve in this flower just lent itself to the round die cut and the rest was history ( or a great card LOL )  I want to do some of their layout challenges also.  You can check them out here: http://mytimemadeeasy.com/blog/?p=3907

Normally I don't do a lot of ATCs, but over at Wicked Wednesday, an ATC challenge group they are doing "Famous Monsters" this week. Needing something different ( other than a card ) I wanted to play in this challenge.  My only problem is I really don't have any monster stamps, then I remembered these little guys I bought last Halloween, they are the perfect size for an ATC, don't ya think? I kept everything in black and white, just adding some googly eyes, since these little monsters are not very scary  to begin with. LOL.  Behind the mummy is a dryer fabric softener sheet that I took the embossing gun to and melted holes in it.  This was a fun challenge and glad I stumbled onto their blog, even joined the group.  If  ATCs are something you like to do then check out their blog  http://wickedwednesdayatc.blogspot.com/   Thanks for coming by for a look, hope your day is a great one!

The other day I was needing a shape cut from my  Cricut and my ADD kicked in ( happens so often in this room ) and I got side tracked by this cartridge.  I had never used the CC for doing a cut out card, so I started playing around with the sizes and this is what I ended up with.  A card and a tag.  The card is really a tan, but the scan turned it pinkish beige, ( kinda like the auto spell on the cell phones LOL ) or perhaps a black background might have helped, oh well. The cup is cut into the front of the card, hard to tell since I put a patterned paper behind it.  Using ink and a pom pom I added the soft colors to the cup, after masking the edges of the cut out window.  Using the same plaid paper I stamped "coffee time" and framed it all.  The tag has the plaid paper sandwiched between the tan and a dark brown cs.  This style is not my cup of tea :o  or should I say coffee LOL, but I might give it an other go and try a few other images just to see what turns out. Short s

Victorian Original Stamps challenge #38 is about ribbons and buttons.  This is my second entry.  My fair lady was stamped on cream paper and then aged with ink around he edges. She is mounted on a pink print oval, cut with a die cut.  The sheer pink ribbon is trimmed with a metallic gold.  I added the brown buttons and antique colored pearls.

Boy, would I like some of those Christmas temperatures!  Here is my part of sunny California the temps have hit 100' and above for the past week, plus the past couple of days we have had clouds ( yea that sounds funny ) and that means some mean humidity too! I am still working on getting the garage cleaned up, but can only work until about noon, then it is shower time and rest, relax and stamp!!  I did some paper piecing with this snowman stamp, then mounted him on an embossed scrap I found in my stash, then onto two other background papers, added some snowflake ribbon and snowflake buttons.  Cricut the sentiment snowflake.  This card actually qualifies for three challenges: The first two are Christmas in July challenges; http://amusestudiochallengeblog.blogspot.com/ http://crazychallenge.blogspot.com/ This one is Buttons and ribbon challenge; http://vostamps.blogspot.com/ Please check out the challenges, there is some really great inspiration on each blog.  I am posting

So, I've been cleaning and organising a lot of stamp and scrap book stuff, and came across some Stamp and Scratch paper :)  Of course I immediately stopped cleaning and organising, grabbed a stamp and embossing powder and began to play.....LOL.  So it was stamped and embossed with gold then I set about scratching off the areas I wanted the color to show through, ( now this takes some time ). Then the black looked so flat I scratched a grid pattern. Since this has a plastic backing it tends to warp when you heat it with the embossing gun (bummer)  Okay, so now I have this thing all scratched off and wasn't really sure what I was going to do with it, it would not lay flat. A HA! I used some foam spacers and put it on a card.  Well, then card looked flat and boring.  I didn't want to use any background paper 'cause it would show through the scratched areas, yes it is transparent.  So I grabbed a felt pen and continued the grid through the card( got a little off is a c

I finally have figured out why my posting gets so far behind!  By the time I go through the blogs I follow and the groups I belong to, looking for inspiration I run out of time! LOL Plus I've been in a reading mood and conquered 4 books in the past two weeks! So this weekend ( ya 3 days ago ) I was going through some challenges and jotted them down.  I was putting stamps away and doing a general clean up and this stamp was begging to be used. ( yes my stamps do talk to me on occasion, and no wine involved!) I stamped the image on water color paper that had already been cut into a tag.( I keep a zip lock bag of pre-cut shapes handy ) I used some yellow inks to shade the edges to match the background paper, then used water color paint to color the image. Some gingham check ribbon and a dragon fly finished off the card.  Some times a card comes together so quickly it scares me.......and this is one of them. This card will be entered in the following challenges: http://allsorts