Sunday, January 25, 2009

GCA #26 - Say it with Stamps!!!


Hello everyone!! This week for the GCA the only stamping allowed is with the use of sentiment stamps!! NO flowers, hearts, birds stamps, etc. can be used! Only your sentiments! If you look around your stamp room I'm sure you'll find plenty of items/ways to create your card! You CAN use die cuts of flowers, birds etc on your creation, but the only actual stamping is with your sentiment stamp!

I'm finishing up my sample for you right now and will post a pic shortly! I was out too long yesterday enjoying the the beautiful sunshine and doing some shopping, which I haven't done in awhile!!! Found alot of great deals! ETA: Now my samples are done!! I have 2 for you!

My first sample I started on Tuesday for CC202: Bravo Burgundy, Regal Rose and Kiwi Kiss. Then WT202 was posted for finding ways to may your current dsp into "fancy" dsp! So I took my quickie glue pen and outlined all the tulips on my dsp, on the two cut out tulips and then decided to try TLC202: Tacky Glitter! You can click on the two challenges to find out more info on them. Lets say I have more glitter all over me and the room, than what is on my card!!! LOL! My sentiment I chose to use here is one of the newest stamps from Treehouse Stamps. I really like this sentiment as it really focuses one to what life is all about!


My second sample was designed my a sideline demo, Laura Miller, which we created during our recent Snowflake Social with our upline, Joyce Feraco. I just love how simple and easy this card was to make! NO stamping at all!!!! Sometimes we need to have quick and easy! The strip of dsp is the new Raspberry Tart, which is luscious!! The felt heart was cut out with one of the heart dies for our Big Shot. My sentiment on here is a rub on from the Eastern Blooms set, now retired.

I hope these samples give you some inspiration for creating a fantastic card with stamping only your sentiment!!!

To be entered in the challenge drawing, make a card using only sentiment stamps for your actual stamping, 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 30, 2009 at 12 midnight. I will choose the winner through a random number generator and post the next Saturday or Sunday.

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 GCA26(NO SPACE IN BETWEEN GCA AND 26) 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 #25 Winner is....

.....Cathy!!! You lucky girl!! Sorry I didn't post yesterday, but I was out enjoying the beautiful sunshine we see so rarely here in MI in the winter!!!

You can see Cathy's wonderful creations here. Love the birthday candle and how you turned your scrapling horizontal!!! Thanks for playing!! And as promised for the 25th GCA I have a special package for you!! (Do you have the Bird Call eb folder for the CB?)

Up next is this week's GCA!!! Here's a hint: you will only need your sentiment stamps for this week!!

Happy Stamping!!

~~~Ann~~~

Sunday, January 18, 2009

GCA #25 - Ever Heard of Scraplings??


Hello everyone!!! This week for the GCA we are focusing on using scraps to create our cards! Specifically we are making scraplings!!! What are scraplings you ask? Well, here is an explanation of what these cute little creations are!!

Scraplings are normally 1.25” x 4.25” because they are often made from the off cuts we get when we make a square card (4.25” square) from a piece of card that is 4.25” x 5.5”. However, your scraplings may be a little wider depending on what you were working on at the time.

SCS just hosted Virtual Stamp Night this past weekend, and one of the challenges was to create scraplings! To see tons of samples to get your creative juices flowing, check out this gallery.

The key to making scraplings is to use as many scraps from your stash as possible!! All of my samples were made with scraps either on my craft table, or out of my scrap stash.


On the two shorter scraplings I used an extra piece of Confetti Cream for the base, Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss and a piece of Choc. Chip textured embossed with the embossing folder "Bird Call". The sample with the bird on it was made by using a scrap of Haiku dsp through the CB and then cutting out the bird and overlaying on the panel. The second sample uses scraps of Haiku dsp with my MS butterfly and branch punches. Both of these measure 2" x 4 1/4".

My third sample uses a strip left over from Riding Hood Red textured 12 x 12 cardstock. This scrapling measures 1 1/2" x 5 1/2". I then used scraps of Pink Pirouette textured and Shimmery White for the front. The hearts are stamped on RHR, Pink Pirouette and Choc. Chip textured scraps and punched out with the new 3 hearts punch from SU! This punch is part of the Love You Much bundle as well as the heart stamps. These are actually leftover from a shoebox swap I was in on Friday night!! Some are popped up with dimensionals and I added three crystal rhinestones for some bling!

To be entered in the challenge drawing, make a scrapling card using as many scraps from your stash as possible, 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 23, 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 GCA25(NO SPACE IN BETWEEN GCA AND 25) 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!!

And now for the REALLY fun part!!! To celebrate the 25th GCA, I will be giving away a slightly bigger stampin goodie package than normal!!! As soon as I have it put together, I'll post a pic!!


Happy Stamping!!!


~~~Ann~~~

GCA #24 winner is....

....NEVA!!! Congrats to you Neva on winning this week's challenge!!! Some stampin' goodies will be on their way to you shortly!! I'm so glad you could play along!!

Up next - GCA #25!! Get out those scraps and create a beautiful card!

Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

Sunday, January 11, 2009

GCA #24 - Anything New Goes!!!


Hello everyone!! For this weeks GCA we are focusing on anything NEW!!! Christmas is behind us and I know a lot of us received some Christmas $$ we just couldn't wait to spend on new stampin' goodies!!! I sure couldn't! LOL!

The challenge this week is to use at least 2 new products (stamps, cardstock, patterned paper, embellies, etc) on your creation!! And make sure you point out what those new products are!

On my sample here I used one of the new Level 2 hostess sets coming in the Spring/Summer IBC - Dream A Little, new dsp - Raspberry Tart, and the new Flower Fusion too set!!! (I've had these flowers for awhile, but I haven't used them!). I just love this new Raspberry Tart dsp, it is so luscious and yummy!!!

And this stamp set is wonderful!! The minute I saw the hummingbird I was hooked!! My card here also is for today's FS101 on SCS.

Here's what I changed:

* Stamp set, colors and orientation

* I added a layer of Raspberry Tart dsp, and while I kept the CB panel, I used a different folder and cut with my Top Note die.

* Used silver cord and placed it in a different position.

* Embossed my flower outline with silver ep.

To be entered in the challenge drawing, make a card using at least 2 new products, 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 16, 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 GCA24(NO SPACE IN BETWEEN GCA AND 24) 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~~~

Please excuse the changes in my template, but I am trying to put another new one up!

Saturday, January 10, 2009

GCA #23 winner is....

..... CATHY!!!! Congrats to you Cathy as you played along with me once again!!! Check out her awesome non-traditional Valentine's color creation here.

Check back tomorrow for another wonderful challenge!!!

Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

Sunday, January 4, 2009

GCA #23 - Non-Traditional Valentine's colors!!


Hello everyone!!! Just as much as I love non-traditional colors at Christmas time, I thought I'd try this out on Valentine's day card!! I had these pieces of cardstock on my craft table from another project and thought they would make great colors for a Valentine's card. My colors are: Confetti Cream, Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss and Very Vanilla. This card is also for FS100 on SCS! This week the FS is JulieHRR, AKA Julie Ebersole! Julie has an amazing style and one that I find very hard to do on my own. She makes awesome one layer and minimal layered cards. She is NOT afraid of negative white space on a card!!! Here is the card I CASE'd: Felted Flowers Mothers Day.

My changes include:

* Colors of cardstock/ink/dsp
* Theme
* I used the Top Note die as my focal point
* I used the same felt flowers but only 2 and a small filigree brad for the center.
* I paper pieced the elephant (I LOVE doing this!!)
* I turned my card to be a vertical top folding card

I tried to keep it simple like Julie, but I may have gone just a little over!!

Now for this week's challenge!!

You are to create a card/project with a Valentine's Day theme, BUT using non-traditional colors!! That means NO use of pinks, reds, silvers, grays or golds. I know you can do it!! Your card can be elaborate or simple, that is up to you! Have fun!!
And don't foget the inside!!! (Not a requirement for the GCA!)

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 9, 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 GCA23(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~~~

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Some of my favorite things are...


.... COFFEE and SWEETS!!!!

This week for the Limited Supplies Challenge on SCS, Judy took inspiration from lyrics from the Sound of Music! When creating your card you are to use some of favorite things, but on a limited basis!!! She even gave us a list, which I too kept checking to make I stayed within the "rules"!!

Limit: Your creation should have your favorite things!

Stamps: no specific theme, but should be one of your favorite companies, or your favorite set or images

Cardstock and ink:Your favorite color combination using three colors (neutrals can be added in addition to the three, if desired). Designer paper is fine, as long as it is mainly the three colors (or less) you have chosen.

Embellishments and tools:TWO or THREE of your favorites from this list:1)brads/eyelets/hardware (so if you use both brads and a metal frame, that still only counts as one since they are listed together); 2)punches; 3)ribbon/trim/cord/twine; 4)Nestabilities/Big Shot/Sizzix/Slice/Cricut/Cuttlebug; 5)flowers (paper or otherwise); 6)chipboard/grungeboard; 7)piercing/faux stitching/stitching ; 8 ) glitter/embossing powder

Technique: No limit here, but if you want to use a favorite technique too, that would be great!

So for my card here I used:

* Stamps: Thanks a Latte by Treehouse Stamps. This is my favorite of Ashley's stamps, and I LOVE coffee and sweets!! I could drink coffee all day long and if sweets were a food group, I'd be in heaven!!

* Cardstock: My favorite color combo is pink/brown, but I also really like Pumpkin Pie!!! So pairing these three colors together was a no brainer with the new Sweet Always dsp I just received!!!

* Embellies/Tools: Well, I LOVE my punches!! So I went punch crazy here using my MS scallop border, ticket corner, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches. I used buttons as my embellies, but now I see they aren't on the list!! Oh, well!

* I did paper piecing on the coffee cup with the Sweet Always dsp and popped up the cup portion with dimensionals. That is one of my favorite techniques, as well as sponging my cardstock. I really like to add sponging to any white cardstock, as I feel it takes some of the glare from the white away!! I also used Crystal Effects on the coffee, steam & cherries to make them more "real"!

As you can see on the inside of my card I added more of the dsp using my MS scallop border punch and used the "leftover" strips as added dimension. Some stamping with the cupcakes and coffee bean, and wa la!!

Take a minute and check out LSC201 and make a creation with some of your favorite things!!


Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

GCA #22 Winner is....

.....BRANDY!!!! She made a delightful one layer card you can see here: Brandy's Stamp & Share. Thanks for playing along again this week Brandy!

To see the other entries check out the GCA #22 gallery. Thanks to everyone who played along or stopped by!

More Valentine's inspiration coming in tomorrow's GCA!!!

Happy Stamping!!!

~~~Ann~~~

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Happy New Year!!!!!!


Hello all!! I hope everyone had a joyful, and safe, New Years 2009!!! I had BIG plans for stamping yesterday and today, but life got in the way and I only managed to create this one card!! But, it incorporates 3 SCS challenges into one card! Don't do that very often.

I love this sentiment, now available from Treehouse Stamps, and think it is the perfect one for sending out a New Years hello!

Challenge #1 is CC199: Bravo Burgundy, Handsome Hunter and So Saffron. I like it when challenges make me use Bravo Burgundy, because I don't reach for it too often. I wish it had a little less brown in it and a little more red. But I do like it paired with the So Saffron and Handsome Hunter.

Challenge #2 is SC209. I adjusted my panels slightly to accommodate the sentiment. It's not often I make the sentiment the focus of the card, but this one deserves it! On the first BG panel I used Handsome Hunter layered with WW, which I stamped the tulip and small heart on. I then ran it through my CB with the Swiss Dots folder, distressed the edges and inked over with H. Hunter ink.

The large WW BG panel was put through the CB with the Houndstooth folder, edge distressed and inked with B. Burgundy. The narrow strip in the middle is So Saffron with SS dsp. I used a piece of new felt ribbon I picked up at Hobby Lobby on the clearance table! It matches HH almost perfectly!

The sentiment panel is B. Burgundy embossed with the Textile folder. I wanted some of the BB panel to show, so I made it larger than the actual sentiment panel and S. Saffron dsp piece. The main WW panel is also edge distressed and inked with H. Hunter ink. I also used my color spritzer on here.

Challenge #3 is WT199. This was to use silver on your card in some way!! Either with cardstock, dsp, stickles or whatever! Just as long as you used silver. I used three different mediums of silver. One, I used silver stickles on the four corners of the main image panel and on the bodies of the butterflies. Two, I used silver cord tied around the HH felt. And third, I used silver cardstock for one of my butterflies! The butterflies are punched with a MS punch. The tulip I colored with my markers, stamped onto WW and cut out.

As you can see with the inside photo, I stamped the tulip twice and placed a butterfly punched from embossed Bravo Burgundy above. The edges were inked with So Saffron. I like how this carries the colors and such into the inside of the card and it doesn't look so "naked"! So don't forget to stamp inside your card!


Happy Stamping!!!!


~~~Ann~~~