Kissed by Nature

Here is another 'Kissing' card from tonight's Technique Tuesday class ... we used the Inspired by Nature stamp set in Pink Pirouette which was kissed with the En Francis in Early Espresso and featuring a 'framed' Labels collection ... and a little Framed Tulips and the Tasteful Trim in Baja Breeze.

I used my Color Coach for the palette and the layout was inspired from over at 'Just Us Girls' which was a nice simple but elegant layout. 

If you have a moment hop on over and check them out ...

 Just a reminder that this month Stampin' Up is offering paper crafters a chance to try out the My Digital Studio Express for FREE for 30 days so that you too can fall in love with everything it has to offer ... check it out here!

Happy Stampin'
Margaret

Superbowl 'Kissing' Distrations

I took advantage of the men being distracted by the big screen, cold beer and munchies today to spend much of the afternoon hiding in the 'women cave' aka my Crafting Corner ... who knew I would grow up craving to be sent to the corner for the afternoon???

So with my free time I spent this afternoon coming up with this wonderful offering of 'love' for my Technique Tuesday class this coming week .... with February being the Month of Love I thought we would revisit our KISSING techniques ;)

 The butterflies were 'kissed' in numerous ways from the stamped off kiss, uninked kiss and finally two toned kissing ... you cannot see it too well in the photo but the Upsy Daisy was kissed with some En Francis two toned kisses .... seriously who doesn't like some kissing such a cute and fun little technique?

My creation this week was inspired by the wonderful Sketch challenge over at 1{heart}2stamp .... hop on by and check out the wonderful inspirations from the Design Team and other bloggers!

 The color combo of Basic Black, Real Red, Regal Rose and Whisper White from over at ColourQ ... some wonderful inspirations go check them up too.

Happy Stampin'
Margaret

Another 'kissed' card ...

Had a lot of fun trying to 'master' this 'kissed' technique ... this is one I tried the Upsy Daisy stamp set with the En Francis stamped with a Chocolate Chip ink for the background and white emboss powder over top!

I will admit that I almost threw it out cause it did not turn out 'perfect' however as being told 'it looked cool' from a family member I decided to give it a try as the more I looked at it I thought while it was not 'perfect' it had a sort of 'vintage faded look' so I distressed the edges of the paper and rolled with it and now I love how the card ended up coming together - sometimes we are our own worst critics when 'creating' something.

Happy Stampin' 
Margaret

Just Add Ink meets the Color Q

Well this week over at the Just Add Ink blog the challenge was to CASE (copy and share everywhere) something from the wonderful and amazingly talented Tania Gould ... just peruse her inspiring blog to see how easy a feat this will be for card bloggers to rise to this challenge! 

Her work is breath taking! I was particularly inspired by this card ... one of my favorite stamp sets combined with a Vintage look and bling - what more is there too love?

So after being inspired by some of her amazing designs and 3D flowers I decided I needed a color palette inspiration to avoid being tempted from just totally 'casing' her card colors and all ... so I headed over to another of my favorite blogs the Color Q , for some inspiration! 

Found this weeks color scheme of Night of Navy, Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, Sahara Sand and White and thought THAT IS JUST PERFECT!

So down to the craft room I went to create the following offering ... I created the distressed background paper by sponging with Night of Navy, Marina Mist and Bashful Blue and than stamping with the En Francis background - applying the Foxy Oxi technique and crumpling the paper while it was  still damp - always makes one cringe a little to crumple their hard work!

Once it was dry I distressed the edges and sponged with Night of Navy to darken them up again cause the Foxy Oxi removed quiet a bit of color on me. I than stamped the Cherish sentiment and the Baroque Motif image in Night of Navy and created a matching envelope so it does not arrive 'naked' to whomever gets this treasure.

I created the accent piece with my 2 1/2 inch scallop circle punch. I first stamped a piece of Sahara Sand cardstock with the En Francis stamp in Night of Navy and than punched out 6 scallop circles, sponged the edges with Night of Navy and spritzed with water and crumpled them to distress them. Opened the scallops and layered them on top of each other to create my flower and adhered them together with a vintage brad and spritzed the flower with Vanilla Shimmer mist.

 The leave accents are from the Bird Builder punch which were covered with Tombow and fine galaxy glitter in the Champagne color - this card really is stunning in real life with the dimension and shimmer and glitter ... very fun to make!

A huge thank you to the wonderful challenge blog creators out there who help to get my creative juices flowing - your hard work and inspiration truly is appreciated :)

Happy Stampin'

Margaret

Cracked Frame

Card design number two from our Cracked Glass technique class.


This one used the En Francis Stamp set on the Certainly Celery background stamped with Versamark and Embossed with clear to add texture and distressed the edges with the Cutter tool.

Than using the Large Oval Bigz die we cut out the Watercolor paper and stamped the Because I care image with Staz On and than used our Watercolor Wonder Crayons to color in the Hydrangea and sponged around the edge using Soft Suede for a antique look.

Than we covered with Versamark and the Glassy Glaze emboss powder - now when I did it I only needed 3 coats - however the ladies in the class seemed to need 4 coats to get the 'cracking effect' so it must depend on how thick you can get your powder to stick to the Versamark and how much blows off?

To finish up the card we sponged Cherry Cobbler on the outer portion of the frame and adorned half back pearls to the frame portion and than added the Thank you sentiment with a few more coordinating pearls .... it really turned out to be a striking card and this technique was a huge hit with the group!

If you are looking for a fun night out - the Totallyawake4 Technique Tuesdays are a blast with some great company around the stampin table and lots of new and unique ways to use Stampin' products!

So come on out and join the fun - we would love to add another chair to the group ;)

Mojo Monday 172 Challenge

Well so far sticking to my New Years Resolution to engage in more challenges and get myself thinking outside my comfort zone!

This card is inspired from the Mojo Monday Challenge ... with my Occasions Mini Open house coming this weekend I was also inspired to use my new Heart Pressed Letter Plate plate as well as the Glimmer paper and well I also snuck in a little bit of the Filled With Love promotional items as well ... multitasking where possible is another New Years Resolution :)

I love the treat cups for Valentines as well - this one I filled with some sequence X and O's!

Marvelous Magnets

Here are some more 'think pink for the Cure' themed offerings for the Run the Gibraltar Fair this weekend!

Using the Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Doe as well as the Big Heart Punch I created some pretty funky fridge magnets and pins for interested customers!

The Butterflies are stamped with a number of different images and have some Dazzling diamond and Pearl accents to give them some awesome flair and all are sponged around the edges with Melon Mambo for that think pink touch! The backs have the 'Hope Ribbon' stamped on so people getting them as a gift know they are a Breast Cancer support pin.

So here is the display board for them ...

Here is the Heart to Heart magnet the back layer is covered with Dazzling Diamonds and the front is stamped with the Heart from the Hostess Set Punch Potpourri and some jazzy Rhinestone gems for bling factor.

Butterfly magnet number one is stamped with the swirls from the Priceless stamp set and adorned with some pearls and sponged on the edge with Melon Mambo and her wings are trimmed with Dazzling Diamonds!

Butterfly number two is stamped with the Elements of Style, sponged with Melon Mambo and covered in glitter and some pearls to accent her!

Butterfly number three is stamped in Certainly Celery with the floral vines from Vintage Vogue and has her wings sponged with Melon Mambo just a tiny bit of glitter and some pearls.

Butterfly number four is stamped with the Priceless vines centered around the 'Hope Ribbon' for those wanting to make a tribute to the Breast Cancer fight ... two little pearls accentuate her wings!

And or fifth butterfly is stamped with the En Fracias background stamp, sponged with Melon Mambo and edged with Dazzling Diamonds glitter and some mini pearls to accent her!

All of the pieces were then covered in Chrystal Effects medium to give them both the shine factor and the sturdiness to hold up as a pin or magnet.

If you are interested in purchasing a pin to help raise funds for Breast Cancer research come on out to the Gibraltar Market this weekend!