GCA #22 - It's not always about the layers!

Hello everyone!!! Sorry for the late posting, but had some Internet issues today! We had some strong winds come through last night and actually lost power during the night! But, I'm back up and running now, so here is the GCA for this week!!

My first sample uses Pretty in Pink cardstock which I used my new CB embossing borders on. On the scalloped edge I cut away the "extra" to leave the final look. I also used Opal liquid pearls in the flower centers, but they don't show up to well. The sentiment was stamped in brown staz on and the tulips were colored with Rose Red and Always Artichoke markers. Both of these stamps are now available at Treehouse Stamps.

The second sample is a sneak peek of a January release from Treehouse Stamps!! Isn't this angel just gorgeous?? And she was so fun to paper piece with Bella Rose dsp. The base card is shimmery white and I used black staz on ink for the angel and Riding Hood Red for the sentiment. This card is going out to a very dear friend who did an awesome thing for me this Christmas. I used red liquid pearls on the dots next to the heart.

This week's challenge is to make a ONE layer card! I can hear the moaning and groaning already, but isn't the idea of my challenges to take you outside the box? Some crafters make awesome one layer cards, and I struggle with them!! Frankly I struggle at making simple cards! I think I have to pile on the layers and embellies until the card looks "just right!!" But over on SCS, they are having an Holiday Extravaganza Challenge and one of the challenges is to make a one layer card. As I was working on mine I thought this would be an awesome challenge for the GCA! I still need to take a picture of my card, but I wanted to get this posted!

The "rules" are:

* One layer only!! This means the card base is your one layer!!
* You can use any kind of embellies or decorations you want, but just do not add any cardstock layers!!
* Your card can be any theme, EXCEPT Christmas related!! Think Spring/Valentines Day!!
* If your have the CB or Big Shot, or any embossing type of machine, these help to add depth and dimension to your one layered card.

To be entered in the challenge drawing, make a ONE LAYER card, upload it either to your blog, or to an online gallery and post a link to your card to this blog entry as a comment by January 2, 2009 at 12 midnight. I will choose the winner through a random number generator and post the next day.


Even if you can't make the drawing deadline, PLEASE feel free to participate in the challenge and upload your creations at any time. I would love to see it!If you upload your card on SCS, or Paper Craft Planet, please put GCA22(NO SPACE IN BETWEEN GCA AND 22) in the keyword section. That way everyone can look at all of the creations at once! If you've been waiting to join in the fun, jump on in and have some fun!!

Happy Stamping!!


~~~Ann~~~

And to my ladies who are patiently waiting for stampin' goodies, they are on the way!!! Enjoy!!!

GCA #21 Winner is....

....KARA!!! Thanks so much for playing along this week everyone, and here is the link to Kara's winning creation!! Isn't it just so creative with the use of the matches on here??? Kara please sent me an email at pinkstamper06@yahoo.com with your address so I can send some stampin' goodies your way!!

Thank you to everyone who played along!! Up next, GCA #22, now that my Internet is cooperating!!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Oliver and Olivia are ready for Valentine's Day!

Hello all!!! I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas Day yesterday!!! Mine was spent very quietly and peacefully. I got some more unpacking done and actually got things hung on the walls!! And yes, I even got some stamping done! (What gave that away?)

The color challenge on SCS this week was to use Orchid Opulence, So Saffron and Cameo Coral. These are definitely colors I would not have put together on my own!! I don't use Orchid Opulence a lot anyway!

My card also uses the Dirty Dozen's sketch challenge for December! Jesse chose this sketch and I really like it! My card here is a 5 1/4" x 5 1/4" square, but I want to try this out on a regular sized card.

I used the new Owlentine set from Treehouse Stamps (I know, again!), but this time as an actual Valentine card!! I thought the colors from the CC were perfect for making a Valentine card.

I used two CB folders on here, but they got covered up quite a bit! The leafy branch is on the large shimmery white panel and floral fantasy is used on the cameo coral piece.

I received the tiny heart stick on rhinestones from my secret Goofy Gobbler last month. She (Carol) sent me a package with all sorts of different rhinestones. Not sure how well you can see, but I also put one on the heart inside the "O" of the sentiment!!

I used my watercolor wonder crayons to color the owls and for shading. I love to use my WWC on Shimmery white, as they color so smoothly.

If you get a chance check out the SCS Dirty Dozen this month! It's open to everyone for the month of December.

Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Hello all!! I hope today finds you enjoying fun family time and receiving all the gifts the season is made for!! Remember, this is the day that Jesus was born and brought to earth to wash away all of our sins!

My card for you today is my Christmas card for everyone! I used a new set from Treehouse Stamps, now available, called Owletine. This set showcases Oliver and Olivia together, along with 2 Valentine sentiments and 3 misc. Valentine sayings.

To see all of the newest sets from Treehouse Stamps, check out the new & improved website here. Ashley has also added a ton of new products, new stamps from different companies and many wonderful embellies for your creations!!!

And ***PLACE AN ORDER BETWEEN NOW AND JANUARY 1ST TO BE ENTERED TO WIN A $30.00 TREEHOUSE GIFT CERTIFICATE!*** How cool is that??? I know many of you will be having some Christmas $$$ just dying to be spent on wonderful stamping goodies!!

Even though this new set is for Valentine's Day, I altered it some to make a Christmas card! I thought Oliver and Olivia were the perfect pair to wish all my friends and stamping buddies a Very Merry Christmas!!!

Happy Stamping!!!!

~~~Ann~~~

GCA# 21 - Think Valentine's!!

Hello all!! Sorry for skipping out on the GCA last week, but with moving and going out of town last week, it just wasn't happening!!! But this week we are back into the swing of things!

How is your Christmas shopping, decorating and baking coming along? On my end, very slooow!! And I know that Christmas is just a few days away, so let's focus on Valentine's Day!!

The challenge for this week is to create a card, scrapbook page or project that has a Valentine's Day theme AND incorporates the colors of pink and/or red! You may use other colors as well, but pink and/or red should be the dominate colors. There is no limit on neutrals.

On two of my samples I used the Happy Heart Day set from SU!. I just love to use this mouse and do paper piecing with him!! He is so much fun!! On my third sample I used the Merci SAB set from this year and the sentiment is from Holidays and Wishes by SU!.

To be entered in the challenge drawing, make a card using the Valentine's Day theme and colors, for your card/project , upload it either to your blog, or to an online gallery and post a link to your card to this blog entry as a comment by December 26, 2008 at 12 midnight. I will choose the winner through a random number generator and post the next day.

Even if you can't make the drawing deadline, PLEASE feel free to participate in the challenge and upload your creations at any time. I would love to see it!If you upload your card on SCS, or Paper Craft Planet, please put GCA21(NO SPACE IN BETWEEN GCA AND 21) in the keyword section. That way everyone can look at all of the creations at once! If you've been waiting to join in the fun, jump on in and have some fun!!

Happy Stamping!!!!

~~~Ann~~~

GCA #20 Winner is....

....Cathy!!! Congrats to you Cathy and thank you for playing along again this week!

I spent all weekend moving into my new apartment and I am beat! Every muscle in my body hurts and I had to wait until Sunday for the cable/Internet guy to hook me up to the outside world!

I am skipping the Getting Creative with Ann challenge this week, but I will be back next Sunday with another great challenge!! Put your thinking caps on for Valentine's Day!!!

Happy Stamping!!!

Ann

GCA #20 - It's a Wonderful Gift!!

In keeping with the gift giving theme from last week, and knowing that many of us out there are making every effort to find cost effective ways to provide Christmas gifts, this week's GCA focuses on an cute card portfolio, perfect for any occasion!! And my third tutorial!!

I first saw this card portfolio by someone on SCS at least 3 years ago. I made some then and gave away as gifts and even had my Stampers Club make them one month. They were a hit, but then I found other new creations to try and forgot about this set. At my upline's most recent meeting, I volunteered to demo something and thought this would be perfect for the time of year it is!

These card portfolio's are quick and easy to make, and the perfect gift for someone on your list!!

Supplies you will need:

* One sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock. This is the portfolio itself.

* One piece of ribbon approx. 25" long.

* Scoring tool

* Hortizonal slot punch

* Sticky strip

* Scissors

* Stamp set of your choice

* Cardstock colors for cards of your choice

Step 1:

Score the 8 1/2 x 11 piece at 5 1/2" (along the 11" side). Turn your cardstock 90* and score at 2 1/4". Now you need to make an upside down "V". This will make folding of the portfolio easier. Starting at the 2 1/4" score mark, go down to the outside edge on each side in a "V" shape. The easiest way I have found to do this is make a template of the entire portfolio, and then I can just put that over where I need my "V" to be.

Step 2:

Using your bone folder, fold over the score lines and create nice crisp, clean folds. On the inside pocket edges, place on strip of Sticky Strip on each pocket. Regular adhesive is not strong enough for this project.

Step 3:

Using the hortizonal slot punch, or whatever you have, punch 2 holes on the outside "short" edges, keeping them in the middle of the portfolio and straight. These are your slots for the ribbon which will hold the portfolio shut.

Step 4:

This is the really fun part of creating your portfolio design and the cards to go with it!! Depending on the the type of embellishments you put on your cards, you easily put 5 cards on one side and the envelopes on the other.

Step 5:

Close it up and tie it shut with your ribbon! You're done!

To be entered in the challenge drawing, make a card using the different dimensions, and limitations, for your card , upload it either to your blog, or to an online gallery and post a link to your card to this blog entry as a comment by December 12, 2008 at 12 midnight. I will choose the winner through a random number generator and post the next day.

Even if you can't make the drawing deadline, PLEASE feel free to participate in the challenge and upload your creations at any time. I would love to see it!If you upload your card on SCS, or Paper Craft Planet, please put GCA20(NO SPACE IN BETWEEN GCA AND 20) in the keyword section. That way everyone can look at all of the creations at once! If you've been waiting to join in the fun, jump on in and have some fun!!

Now remember, your card portfolio DOES not have to be Christmas theme related. Mine is a set of 2 Thank you cards. And don't forget to decorate the envelopes too!!

Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

GCA #19 Winner is....

....Brandy!!! You can see her fabulous gift card holder on her blog, Brandy's Stamp and Share. Isn't that snowman just too cute???

You can see the other entries for GCA#19 here. Thank you to all who played along again this week with me!!

Up next is GCA#20 - another great gift idea for Christmas!!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~