Oh well! If at first you don't succeed...

I submitted this card to PaperCrafts using one of their two sketches. It wasn't picked up, but it's all good because I like it and because Thank You notes are always useful.

I used an image from the Butterfly Queen set from Bombshell stamps that I received from Kelli in an image swap that we did over at the Bombshell forum at Paper Craft Planet.

The butterfly was colored with Prismacolor markers. The patterned papers are Aerial by Memory Box, the border punch is Lattice by Martha Stewart/EK Success, the flowers are Primas that were colored with the same orange markers as the buttterfly, the flower center is a RainDot by Fiskar's, and the sentiment is a rub-on by Deja Views. I used Distress ink to all edges as a common element to tie the layers together.

Thanks for visiting today!

Another TCP Tuesday Two-Fer!

I've decided to get all my uninked or underinked stamps inky and build a stockpile of cards from them and my humongo stash of patterned paper. What better way to do that than with challenges!

This week's TCP Tuesday challenge is a sketch challenge hosted by Carole. I liked the sketch so much that I created two cards!

Cheers!


I flipped the sketch and used The Cat's Pajamas Relaxing stamp and "Cheers" from Odd Bird Planet with fun cocktail paper from Flair Designs and old Junkitz paper (distressed green)! The image panel was colored with Copic markers. I might go back and add some gemstones.

Reach for the Stars

This one uses a TCP Rocket ship that was stamped, colored with Copics, and then made sparkly with Twinkling H2Os. The scan shows the sparkliness (new word) of the Twinklings as streaks. Bummer! IRL, the space ship looks metallic and shiny/sparkly.

The sentiment was created (poorly) with rub-ons. I'm clearly rub-on impaired. The papers are from the now-defunct Inque Boutique. It's sad because it's a super-cute pad of spaceships, robots, stars, and aliens. Oh well. The cardstock is old Club Scrap cardstock that is a lovely grayish blue with glittery silver sparkly bits embedded in it, so it's perfect for a starry sky!

Thanks for visiting today!

Song Lyric Challenge!

Hey! There's a Song Lyric Challenge going on over at the Bombshell Stamps forum at Paper Crafts Planet. It's hosted by me. Basically, the challenge is to use song lyrics and Bombshell Stamps to create a project. There's no prize (yet) other than the joy of creating a wonderful card and sharing with your pals.

There's also a Nautical and/or Tropical Themed project challenge going on over there. That challenge is way better since there's a great prize involved! You can win some great Bombshell Stamps and a nice kit of cool stuff from Gauche Alchemy! You only have until August 15th to enter, so you'd better get busy creating!

Anyways, here's my card for the Song Lyric Challenge!



The first time I saw the caddy in the great new Speed Shop set from Bombshell Stamps, the song Pink Cadillac by the Boss immediately popped into my head. I found the song lyrics online, copied 'em to a PSE document, and layered the Pink Cadillac title over the lyrics. Then I added the caddy from the Speed Shop set, colored it with my Copics and a Krylon marker. The card still needed "something", so I added some swooshes from the Painted by Me Bombshell set and a smaller matching swoosh from the Lady Luck set in silver Brilliance ink. I wish I had embossed them to make 'em stand out a bit more, though I did add some twinkly pink stickers that don't show on the scan. Oh well, 20/20 hindsight and all of that. :D

Thanks for visiting today!

Yikes! Two blog posts in one day! SHOCKING!

This is my second two-fer -- I got motivated in the early hours this morning. Sometimes insomnia is a good thing... or maybe it was the coffee I had at 10:00 p.m.? Hmmm.

I used the same sketch from SplitCoast Stampers to create a second card for this week's TCP Tuesdays Challenge, "Let Them Eat Cake", hosted this week by Susan!

Since I had the set out, I used The Cats' Pajamas Smells Like Cake set to create this card too. The image was colored with Copics and accented with Spica glitter pens because I gotta have some bling on all projects to appease my inner glittery girl. I used patterned papers from Basic Grey's 6x6 Cupcake pad and then edged 'em with some distress ink. It ended up looking a bit busy, so I'm not sure I love it.

Thanks for visiting twice in one day!

Another Day, Another Challenge!

This is a two-fer -- such fun being efficient. I used a (flipped) sketch from SplitCoast Stampers to create a card for this week's TCP Tuesdays Challenge, "Let Them Eat Cake", hosted this week by Susan!

I used The Cats' Pajamas Smells Like Cake set to create this card. The image was colored with Copics. I used Liquid Pearls on the cupcake's frosting and Spica glitter pens to add a bit of bling to the star, the presents, and the party hats. The patterned papers are from Doodlebug!

Thanks for visiting today!

Challenges!

This card fits several challenges, but I actually created it because I wanted to use the skull from the wonderful new Bombshell Stamps' Speed Shop set to make a background that looked like a checkered flag. I used my computer to generate a 1" grid, cut it to size, stamped the skulls in different orientations, and then colored them.

I colored the Hot Rod from that set with Copic Markers and Krylon pen (chrome), cut it out, and added flames cut from a scrap of Junkitz paper from a previous card. That's the only bit of patterned paper that I used! Shocking! BTW, the yellow cardstock is Bazzill Bling and shimmery, though my scan doesn't show that. :(

This card fits several challenges, which makes me feel ultra-efficient! The challenges are a "Create a background" at Bombshell's forum at PCP, a "Charm" challenge at SCS, a "Get Your Motor Running" challenge at SCS, and a "Take a Ride" challenge at Wednesday Stamper!

Thanks for visiting.

Matchbook Card Tutorial -- 21st Birthday!

Here's a Matchbook Card Tutorial based on a card that I demoed for FiberMark at CHA 2007. I figure if I can't case myself, who can I case? I'll try to make this brief!

Outside:

Inside:

Supplies:
Stamps
Man's Ruin set by Bombshell Stamps

Paper:
Party Candles from the Carnival Ride Collection by G•C•D Studios
Raven Black Cardstock by Bazzill Basics
Solar White Cardstock by Neenah
strip of very old red patterned paper from Making Memories

Ink:
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink by Tsukineko

Colorants:
Copic Markers
Spica Glitter Pens

Other:
Stickles Glitter Glue
Brick Red Distressed Embossing Powder by Ranger Industries
Computer Generated "Match Sticks"
Staples
Perfect Medium Pen

Punches/Dies:
Circle Punch by Creative Memories
Belt Buckle Die by QuicKutz

1. Cut black cardstock to 4.25" w x 12" long. Score at 5.75" down from top and .5" up from bottom. Fold.

2. Cut patterned paper to 4" x 5 5/8". Mount on card's front so that there is 1/8" border at the top and each side. The patterned paper should be flush with the edge of the bottom of the flap of the card.

3. Stamp your image and color as desired. Trim to 3 1/8" w x 4.25" long. Mount on card front.

4. Punch a circle from black cardstock, add stickers for 21, mount so that the Pin-Up's finger is pointing to the circle, and trim to make a semi circle.

5. Computer generate your sentiments. Mine are: "Happy 21st Birthday!", "You're legal!", "Celebrate", "You're an *Adult* now!", and "Drink Up". Cut the sentiments into matchsticks that are 3/8" wide x 4.5". Use a chalk pencil and mark 1/2" down from the top of each matchstick. Color the 1/2" area with a Perfect Medium or VersaMark pen, add Brick Red Distress Embossing Powder, shake off excess, heat til the powder melts, let it cool, and rub. Cool!

6. Position and adhere the matchsticks to the bottom of the fold taking care to only use adhesive on the base of the card. Fold up the flap and staple to form the bottom flap of the matchbook. Cover the staples with ribbon or a strip of paper if you choose.

7. Tuck the matchbook card's front bottom edge into the flap. *Note: You will probably need to trim a little off the bottom edge to make it fit flush. Go for it.

Voila! A fun matchbook card and my shortest tutorial to date. :D