SOS #229: No Stamping

It's Tuesday, and time for a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash. For this challenge, we'd like you to use No Stamping. That's right: no stamps. This includes anything digital. You can use stickers, paper, dies, rub-ons, etc, but no stamps. Take this opportunity to go into your stash and re-discover some of your loot. That's what I did.

Note: This is a TWO-WEEK challenge so our gals in the US can have some time off to spend Thanksgiving with their families.

Here is my No Stamping card:

Yeah, the sticker is crooked.

This all started when I thought I'd use that Let It Snow sticker. Man, that must be at least 15 years old. It's also really stuck, and I can't move it to straighten it without tearing the paper. :(

I wanted to have snow hills, so I cut three, with the top layer a pale blue so you could see the white sticker.  I sponged the clouds with what I think is the same blue.

It needed a vertical element, so I pulled out my Savvy Dies Birch Trees and cut them out of SSS Fog card stock. I tucked the ends under the top hill.

By tucking the ends under the hill, I created a visible bump, so I dug out my Memory Box Deer Trio, cut it out of a Kraft remnant, cut the legs off of the base, and put the mama and baby deer on the hill to cover the tree bump.

I thought it still needed something, so I pulled out my Memory Box Resting Birds because they are so tiny. I was going to cut a red one, but lo and behold, one of my habits is paying off! I tend to keep left-over die-cuts in the envelope with the dies. You just never know when they might come in handy. As I reached into the envelope to retrieve the die, I spied a cache of already-cut red birds! Yay! So I used one.

I layered everything onto a blue panel and put it on a white card base.

For my last act, I added clear Wink of Stella to the tops of the hills.

I was going to add some snow with a stencil and embossing paste, but I thought that might be a bit much. It's not snowing here, yet, but one of my pals is praying for it.

So, got stash you've forgotten about? I think you need to go rummage and play along with our No Stamping challenge. Go on, make something, then link us up over at SOS. Remember, you have TWO WEEKS.

Thanks for stopping by!

Some of the stuff I used: Stampendous Class A'Peel stickers, and the following:

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Joy

In my last post, I mentioned my new Reverse Confetti die set has two sizes of wreaths. I challenged myself to use the larger one. This was mostly because when I went to the RC site to get the link for the dies, I spied a sample card that perfectly explains why I needed this set. So I CASEd it.

Here's my card, then I'll explain:

Ack, it really needs a red bow.  Be right back... ... ...

Okay, fixed it:

The wreath isn't as large as I thought it was, and it actually fits the card front quite nicely. The only thing I had for embellishments (aside from bling) was a set of star dies, so I cut some from a remnant of SU Poppy Parade and stuck them on.

The joy is a Lil Inker Designs die, and it's a perfect fit for the center of the wreath. I cut it thrice from some SU Brushed Silver card stock, but it wasn't shiny enough for me, so I went over it with clear Wink of Stella.

Because I'm in multiples mode, I made a second card. The only difference is I used some enamel star stickers instead of die-cutting them:

and version two, with the red bow:

I chose poorly with the original placement of the stars and wasn't sure where to add a bow. I ended up moving the top star a little to the left, and put the bow in its place.

And I'm down to about 5" of ribbon left on that roll. It only took me 10+ years to use it all. ;/

I think I can live with this. Also, the "leaves" in the wreath are hearts, so this wreath could be used for a love card, too. Bonus!

Thanks for stopping by!

Some of the stuff I used: ancient ribbon from Mike's, Wreaths Confetti Cuts from Reverse Confetti, Lil Inker Designs Joy Word Die, Memory Box Cosmic Star dies, Bazzill Sea Glass card stock, SU Poppy Parade card stock, linen card stock from the UK for the base, SU Brushed Sliver card stock (I still have 2 1/2 packs left - sigh), and the following:

InLinkz.com

Happy Birthday Frame

When I first saw the new Happy Birthday frame at Simon Says Stamp, I knew I'd probably never use the Boy or Girl die-cuts. I thought maybe I could stamp or die-cut the word happy inside the frame and make it work. So I bought the dies.

Here is a card I made with it last weekend:

I used some more of the SU DSP I used here, which was a bonus. My challenge was finding a happy die that would work. It needed to be small and not scripty. I finally settled on this one from my now-opened Sizzix set of word dies. They are very strange, and not meant to be stand-alone words (or I'm missing something), so much trimming and GAHing occurred. Because of that, there is only one layer of the happy.

I honestly don't recall where the little flower bits came from (from whence they came), but there they were, so I colored them with my gold Wink of Stella. The balloon was colored with Copics, popped up on foam tape, and I added a piece of twine which is strategically glued down on the black part of the frame. Gotta love that Matte Medium - the parts of the glue that squished out don't show.

My next task is to find a different happy that won't make me crazy to use.

Thanks for stopping by!

Some of the stuff I used: SSS Birthday Frame die, Sizzix Thinlits by Stephanie Barnard, Avery Elle Balloon dies, Gold Wink of Stella, and SU DSP.

Birthday cards, Redux

When I posted these two birthday cards the other day, one of my faithful readers (hi, Cat!) wondered what they'd look like with colored card stock fronts instead of white. Today I made two. Here's the first one:

I do think I like it better than all that white. The sentiment got lost in the background, so I added an off-set layer of black for contrast.

Note: The Quickie Glue pen isn't the best adhesive for these die-cuts. It's easy to apply, but the stick isn't as good while you're working with it.

The card seemed boring, so I added clear Wink of Stella to the word and then drowned it in Glossy Accents:

That was SU Bermuda Bay, and this one is SU Poppy Parade (I think - it's feral card stock in my drawer):

and the detail:

Sorry about the blinding gold balloon.

I'm not sure which I like better:

I think they both have their merits, but now I'm leaning towards the colored panel..

Thanks, Cat, for the suggestion. I've used a few more inches of that SU DSP. :D

Thanks for stopping by!

Two Happy Birthdays

One of my goals during last weekend's crafty time was to use stuff I have that I've never touched. One of those things was a 12x12 pack of SU DSP. I broke it open and made two cards. Here's the first one:

I die-cut a circle out of the front panel, and stuck a piece of the pretty paper behind it. The sentiment and strips down the sides were cut from a piece of DCWV shiny paper. Maybe you can see some of that (and the shiny gold in the DSP) here:

Or not.

Here's the other card:

It's exactly the same except for the paper. There are shiny balloons:

Now that this paper is open, we'll see if I use more of it. Could happen.

I have a few more cards I made last weekend, and I'll share them soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stuff I used: SU DSP, Paper Smooches die-cut Happy Birthday, SSS Stitched Circles, DCWV Citrus card stock mat stack (blue foil).

SOS #221: Wooden It Be Nice

It's Tuesday, and time for a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash. This week's theme is Wooden It Be Nice, and we'd like you to use wood somewhere on your project. Think: buttons, veneer shapes, wooden paper sheets -- all sorts of options.

I might have over-done it. Here's my card, then I'll explain:

This all started when I looked out my window at my tiny tree whose leaves are turning:

and now for the leaves:

The wheels started turning in my brain. I have wood veneer leaves. I could work with this.

Here's the card again since I've blathered and posted tree pictures:

So I colored some wood veneer leaves with Copics in Red/Orange/Yellow and two greens. I used a piece of wood-ish washi tape behind the leaves to anchor them. I used a piece of A Muse wood-grain card stock in a blue-ish grey. I also discovered a wood veneer sunshine. I also re-discovered some wood-looking Scrabble letter stickers to spell FALL. ALL WOOD, PEOPLE! *puffs out feathers*

I barely remembered I had most of this stuff, so this was a great challenge for me.  Hopefully it will be for you, too! Why not pay along with us at SOS?

Thanks for stopping by!

Stuff I used: A Muse wood grain patterned card stock, washi tape, American Craft Thickers - Mosaic, Copics (YG23, G99, Y18, YR16, R05), wood veneer leaves (I can't find them anywhere online - they're really old), wood veneer sunshine (same deal - really old), Neenah linen card base.

Washi CASE

When I find myself low on mojo, which has been the case for the past few weeks, I look at challenges and troll the blogs in my reader to look for some inspiration.

Today I saw this card on the Love My Tapes blog:

and I got a clue! Heaven knows I have enough washi tape, and I even have THAT washi tape.

I started playing, and then I realized the full-card dies I have are ... um ... full card, which means they are 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". I normally work on 4" panels so of course all my taped panels were too small to fit behind the die-cut pieces. Drat.

Once I figured that out, though, I was better. Here are the two cards I made ...

First, one using the same tape used on the Love My Tapes blog card:

and next, one that uses some MME tape in my favorite colors:

I thought I wanted to go back and fill in a happy and a birthday in a darker color, but in the end, I just decided to leave them alone.

I may have found a way to disappear a lot of washi tape! Oh, the possibilities!

And a bonus for me: This is the first time I've used this background die, even though I needed to own it when I first saw it, at least a year ago. It was still in its original packaging. This qualifies me to enter my cards in the current NBUS challenge over at Darnell's blog:

Wow, I've made two cards this weekend. See what I mean? No mojo. I sure hope I snap out of this soon, as I've got a crafty weekend coming up. Maybe the other ladies' mojo will be contagious. I sure hope so!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stuff I used: Washi tape from Recollections, and the following:

InLinkz.com