Chocolate Dreams

When you play like a teenager you might get hurt… During my fun weekend I flipped a 4-wheeler over on ME… Thankfully just a little bruising and swelling and I am almost back to normal (as if I was ever normal???) Did ya miss me?

Today’s card is for this week’s Innovative Stamp Creations (ICS) sketch challenge (ISCC3). Play along and be entered to win a free stamp sheet. Be sure to post a comment with a link to your ISC card HERE. Entries using ISC stamps will be put in a drawing for a free stamp sheet. A random name will be chosen Sunday June 8, 2008.

Chocolate Dreams:

The focal image was stamped on CS Vellum and embossed using Choc Chip Craft ink. The Vellum was distressed and layered over Basic Grey Pheobe paper. Sewing, distressing, frayed ribbon, eyelets and some Cuttlebug Embossing finished this card.

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend and thanks for stopping in!
KAT

Other Info:
Stamps - (all Innovative Stamp Creations) Nature Silhouettes I, Assemblage
Ink - (All SU) Choc Chip Craft, Choc Chip
Paper - Pheobe (Basic Grey), Certainly Celery, Choc Chip, CS Vellum
Other - Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Distressor (Heidi Swap)

Spring Is In Bloom

A quick post… This card is for a very close friend’s birthday…. Hope you had a great birthday Cathy (I know she can’t spell her name correctly!)!

Spring is in Bloom:

The stamping on this card is very simple - VersaMark and Pearl Ex - what a beautiful effect on the black cardstock!

Well - to manage your expectations up front… There will be little to no action on this blog site this week… My DH and I are going away for the weekend, but I have 40ish people coming over on Monday for a picnic… Lots to get done before I leave!

Have a great week!
KAT

Other info:
Stamps - Silhouette (Starving Artistamps), French Script (SU)
Ink - VersaMark, Brilliance Dew Drops, Black
Paper - Amethyst Cool Metallics, Fanciful Green (Paper Hearts)
Other - Nestabilities, Organza Ribbon, Organza Ribbon, misc hardware

Flutter Friend

Today’s project is a book and tags made for the Innovative Stamp Creations tag challenge. If you want details on the tag challenge read here: http://innovativestampcreations.blogspot.com/2008/05/isc-challenge-iscc1-tag-art.html

Flutter Friends:

I named this Flutter Friends because each tag has butterflies (Flutter) and there are friendship sentiments on each tag.

This is the book and one of the tags. The butterfly on this page was made with a splash and smoosh technique on glossy card stock (CS). The finished size of this book is 5.5 x 4.25 inches. The pocket inside the book is 2 inches.

Here is an inside picture with two of the tags tucked into their pockets:

Next a picture of each tag with a description:

Tag 1 - Gesso Background/Tag 2 - Emboss Resist:

(tag 1)The office tag was covered with Gesso (the gesso allows the inks to keep their true colors on the manila background). I used an old plastic room key to put the gesso on the tag and I left swirls/ridges to give the tag some dimension. The inks were added by sponging across the dried tag. The butterflies were embossed on designer paper (Basic Grey’s Lilly Kate).

(tag 2)This image is an opposite negative (the background is solid and the flowers are open). The image was stamped on DP and clear embossed. The brown was sponged on to make the flowers pop. The sentiment is stamped on CS Vellum. Flutter is polished stone.

Tag 3 - Chalkboard/ Tag 4 - Polished Stone/Embossing:

(tag 3) Ever wonder what would happen if you did the chalkboard technique on a light background? Well it shows up beautifully - see the flowers on this tag. The butterfly is also the Chalkboard technique. Here is a tutorial on SCS for this technique: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ee/index.php/resources/tutorials/chalkboard_technique/

(tag 4)Flutter is polished stone and embossed brown. The flowers are sponged ink on White CS and then embossed brown. I sponged the paper instead of using colored CS to give the flowers a softer look. The swirl behind the flower is embossed. The pink glitter stripe is made using red line tape. You can find a tutorial on how to do the polished stone on SCS here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/polished_stone/ note - I did not use the metallic re-inker.

If you would like more information on the base of the book let me know.

Thanks for Visiting!
KAT

Other info:
Stamps (all Innovative Stamp Creations) Nature Silhouette I, Art 4 Frames II, Friendships, Rustic Artsy Swirl
Paper - Lilly Kate (Basic Grey), Choc Chip (SU), White, Office Tag
Ink - Timber Brown Stazon, VersaMark, (rest SU) Whisper White Craft, Choc Chip Craft, Choc Chip, Pretty in Pink, Soft Sky, Bashful Blue
Other - Pearlescent Chalks (Peebles), misc ribbon & fibers, Bind-it-all, Memory Makers tag maker, SU photo corner and circle punch, beads, pop can tab

Tag You're It...

...are you up for the Challenge??? Innovative Stamp Creations has launched a challenge to you…

_______________________________________________________________

Want to WIN a FREE Innovative Stamp Creations (ISC) stamp sheet?

The challenge is to use at least 1 tag in what you create!! It can be a tag, tag book, card with a tag, double pocket card with tags…Think of the possibilities - the only limit is your imagination, oh, and you have to use only ISC images.

A random submission will be chosen and that person will win a FREE ISC Stamp Sheet of their choice! It could be YOU!!!

Important: to qualify for the FREE stamp sheet of your CHOICE, you must use ISC images only and please post your link on the ISC blog only!

We hope you'll play along!

Make sure to post your link with the ISCC1 Tag Art design below!

Challenge ends Saturday May 25th!
_________________________________________________________________

Tags - I love using them. If you look back at my posts from February you will see the 14 Tags of Valentines that I created for my SIL… Here is my tag for today‘s challenge:

Tranquil Dream:

A close up of the emboss resist:

I really like this color combinations of orange, yellow and blue - it reminds me of my sister - she is such an orange girl.

The techniques used for this tag include: emboss resist, misting, distressing and polished stone for the butterflies. All the images are from Innovative Stamp Creations and can be found at http://www.innovativestampcreations.com/ .

Mists are really fun to work with. If you haven’t given them a try and have questions on how to use them leave me a comment and I will get back with you!

Thanks for Visiting!
KAT

Other info:
Stamps - (all Innovative Stamp Creations) Art 4 Frames II, Nature Silhouettes I, Assemblage
Ink - Timber Brown Stazon, VersaMark, (rest SU) Close to Cocoa, Cool Caribbean, (re-inkers) Cool Caribbean, Almost Amethyst
Paper - Office Tag
Other - Martina & Lemondade (Memory Mist), Walnut & Willow (Tsukinek Mist) Fire Opal (Zia Mist), Brown Irish Waxed Linen, Misc. beads, clear EB, Pop Can Tab

Flutter Suncatcher

The Inspiration Challenge on SCS today is beautiful!!! Check it out here http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=346832 . I looked at this last night after I finished yesterday’s Chalkboard technique card and I thought… well… that’s what the butterfly in the inspiration needs…

Flutter Suncatcher:
This card is for a friend of mine who is definitely a girlie girl! She was in an accident with a Semi last week on her way home from work. Luckily she is fine and will be back on her feet in a few weeks. It’s a good thing that she drives an SUV or things may have turned out very differently!

Okay some card info:

The black butterfly is actually stamped on the back side to that I could cut out the butterfly silhouette. I stamped the small flowers and fern in White Craft ink and applied Pearlescent chalks. The black photo corners followed the same process.

The flower oval has a base of Very Vanilla CS, stamped flowers in VersaMark, added chalks to the enter and then clear embossed. The embossing did not pick up as well in the chalked area so I sponged on some VersaMark and re-embossed the flower centers. The last step was sponging on the green.

The background was sponged to give it a cloud effect using a paper stencil.

The hardware details were filled in with a mix of Crystal Effects and Pretty in Pink re-inker.

Thanks for visiting today!
KAT

Other Info:
Stamps - Cone Flower (Paper Inspirations), Fern & small flowers (rubber stamp tapestry), Butterfly (innovative stamp creations), fancy flexible phrases (SU)
Paper - (all SU) Very Vanilla, Pretty in Pink, Black, Certainly Celery,
Ink - VersaMark, (rest all SU) Whisper White Craft , Soft Sky, Bashful Blue, Pretty in Pink, Pretty in Pink re-inkers
Other - Nestabilities, Stylized Silver HW (SU), Crystal Effects, Pearlescent Chalks (Peebles)

Pearl Silhouette

I am not sure what possessed me to make this card in purple… I’m not a purple girl… but there is a very pretty green in the background paper so I think that’s why I like it (I’m a GREEN girl).

Pearl Silhouette:

This card was made using the chalkboard technique with Pearlescent Chalks… this shimmers IRL. The technique is very easy. Stamp your image with White Craft Ink and add your chalks - no need to wait for the ink to dry. It’s a great way to get chalks to show up on dark backgrounds. If you try this technique don’t feel like you need to limit yourself to black CS… Try dark brown, blue or - can‘t believe I am writing this - purple.

The background paper swirl was stamped in Brilliance Ink and heavily sponged with the same ink.

The silhouette flower, sentiment and swirl are from a great new stamp set from Innovative Stamp Creations http://www.innovativestampcreations.com/ - stop over and check it out!

Have a great weekend and thanks for visiting!
KAT

Other info:
Stamps - Nature Silhouettes (Innovative Stamp Creations)
Paper - Fanciful Green Filigree ( paper adventures), black, amethyst metallic (the paper company)
Ink - Whisper White Craft (SU), Purple (Brilliance)
Other - Nestabilities, Glass Butterfly, Pearlescent Chalks (Peebles)

Grungeboard Daisy

I LOVE Grungeboard and I look for different ways to use it. Recently at a Stamping Convention there was a booth (sorry I can’t remember the name/company) that had all of Tim Holtz’s products and they had a different way to use Grungeboard! You can actually form/mold grungeboard into a shape. Look at today’s card:

Grungeboard Daisy:

See how the petals and center of the flower is kinda bent like a petal… Here is the process that I used to achieve this effect:

Stamped image with Stazon and allow to dry
Cut image
Mist both sides with water and form by hand until you get the desired shape
Allow to dry
Sponged with ink

I think this card turned out Okay for my first try. One of the things with Grungeboard that I struggle with is that your ink color changes… I guess I just need to keeping playing with it :0) …

Have a fab day!
KAT

Other Info:
Stamps - All www.innovativestampcreations.com Summer Elements, Assemblage
Paper - (All SU)Mellow Moss, Summer Sun, Close to Cocoa, Ginger Blossom DSP
Ink - Black Stazon, (rest SU) Summer Sun, Apricot Appeal, Close to Cocoa, Choc Chip
Other - Aged Copper Hodge Podge (SU), Water Mister, Grungeboard - also available at Innovative Stamp Creations

Bird in My Garden

Okay my 3rd bird card today *snort*… the next card will not be a bird - promise.

Bird in My Garden:

This card is special - it’s for my Mother-In-Law for Mother’s Day. Unlike some people, I actually like my MIL - she’s always been nice to me, loves her son and doesn’t get too involved in our lives (translation - she not nosy or pushy). She loves birds and has bird feeders off her back porch so that she can watch them. I am amazed at the number of birds that she can identify from just seeing them fly by.

This card uses today’s Sketch Challenge on SCS - you can read the challenge here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=346067. I really like the split circle on this card.

The bird, leaves and flowers were all embossed on polished stone paper. The polished stone was made with Groovy Guava and River Rock re-inkers. There is a lot of cutting on this card - good thing I enjoy cutting I find it relaxing!

Off to do some surfing on the net!

Good Night!
KAT

Other info:
Stamps - Bird Galore (Inkadinkado), Simply Stated (Fancy Pants)
Paper - (All SU) Groovey Guava, River Rock, Choc Chip, Glossy White
Ink - Choc Chip Craft (SU)

Nesting Bird

This morning’s bird was trying to hide because she was a little shy. This one thinks her new digs are hot stuff and she wants to show them off!

Nesting Bird:

The nest is made in three parts: black embossed swirls on the copper oval, black embossed swirls on black CS that are then cut out and Grungeboard covered in black ink with copper rubbed on top.

The stripe background is a Very Vanilla base with Brushed Copper and Black CS stripes. The stitching on the black is copper thread - very pretty IRL!

The bird is black embossed with some copper ink sponged on the bottom.

All stamps from Innovative Stamp Creations http://www.innovativestampcreations.com/

Have a great one!
KAT

Other info:
Stamps - (Innovative Stamp Creations) Art 4 Frames II, Nature Silhouettes I
Ink - VersaMark, Black (SU), Cosmic Copper (Brilliance)
Paper - (all SU) Brushed Copper, Black, Very Vanilla
Other - Aged Copper Hodge Podge HW (SU), Copper thread, black EB, Grungeboard, half pearls, Nestabilities

Peeking Birdie

Hello - meet Peeking Birdie:

She thinks she is camouflaged in her Polished Stone palace… She is a very girlie girl!

This card is made from the Art 4 Frames II set from Innovative Stamp Creations http://www.innovativestampcreations.com/ .

The primary elements on the card are made using the polished stone technique using Pretty in Pink and Close to Cocoa re-inkers (this is pinker IRL). The swirl on the main panel is embossed using Choc Chip Craft ink and clear embossing powder.

Have a GREAT spring day - maybe you‘ll see a bird peeking at you today!

KAT

Other Info:
Stamps - Art 4 Frames II
Paper - Glossy White, Pretty in Pink, Choc Chip (all SU)
Ink - Choc Chip, Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink (all SU)

Timeless

Another card made with a brand spankin new stamp set from Innovative Stamp Creations http://www.innovativestampcreations.com/.

Timeless:

I love clock images and when I seen this pocket watch with the separate watch closure I had to put rubber to ink! The watch is crayon resist, the oval swirly (is that a word?) piece is cut from Periphery paper. The face was added to the closure - kinda like Watchin Time, Clock Ticks for No One, Time Ages Us… Okay I better stop myself or I’ll be Googling all kinds of Time/Clock phrases…The swirls behind the watch pieces are also part of the stamp set. I added lots of hardware to this card. I LOVE hardware but I noticed a number of my cards recently have had little to no hardware… hmmm, interesting - I must have been in a hardware slump….

Close up of Watch:

It’s a beautiful day here so I am going to take my Yorkies for a walk..

Hope you are having a terrific day!

KAT

Other Info:
Stamps - (all Innovative Stamp Creations) Art 4 Frames II, Art 4 Frames
Paper - Periphery (Basic Grey), Not Quite Navy (SU)
Ink - Not Quite Navy, Old Olive, Close to Cocoa (SU), India Ink Black
Other - Pewter Hodge Podge Hardware (SU)

Silhouettes Birthday

Wow - two uploads in one day… I must be on a roll!

I wanted to do another card using the Nature Silhouette I stamp set from Innovative Stamp Creations found at http://www.innovativestampcreations.com/. This card has a completely different look than the one that I posted earlier today.

Silhouette Birthday:

The flower panel is white CS that was clear embossed with the flower image and then sponged with Soft Sky. The swirl was stamped in blue and then outlined with Inkssentials Opaque white and Micron pens. The H on the sentiment was also outlined.

Hope you are having a great Monday!
KAT

Other info:
Stamps - Nature Silhouette I
Ink - VersaMark, Not Quite Navy
Paper - Black, White, Soft Sky Not Quite Navy

Silhouettes Thanks

New Stamps, New Stamps, New Stamps… How new? Brand Spankin new TODAY!

Silhouette Thanks:

This Diorama card was made from the new Nature Silhouettes I stamp set from Innovative Stamp Creations at www.innovativestampcreations.blogspot.com . Today is the first day that it is available so hop over and check it out!!!

The Diorama card turns out to be almost like a frame box around your image.
Here is a side view:

The base card directions are from today’s SCS Technique Challenge found www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=345524 .

The techniques that I used on this card include: polished stone, inking Cuttlebug embossing folder, embossing. I adjusted the measurements to create a completed card that is 5.25 x 5.25.

Thanks for dropping in!
KAT

Add’l Info:
Stamps - (all Innovative Stamp Creations) Nature Silhouettes I
Inks - Black, Antique Linen (including reinkers)
Papers - Glossy White, Black, Very Vanilla
Other - rubbing alcohol, cotton balls, Nestabilities, Cuttlebug folder, photo corner SU punch

Clearly Loved

I’ll start this post with one thing: I am not a scrapbooker. The only type of scrapbooking that I have done are mini albums and they have all been gifts. This acrylic album is no exception - this is for my Mom for Mother’s Day.

A little background about the album - it’s a Generations themed album. From my Mom’s perspective this album includes her Mom, herself, two daughters, granddaughter and great granddaughter. All the pictures of the adult women were taken around that same age - thought it would be fun to see what we all looked like at the same points in our lives.

The album is a Zutter 4x4 acrylic cover with various inside pages. For those of us who make cards this small album is perfect to create with - you don’t have to fill up all that extra space!

Album inside the case:

What’s the case you ask? If you ever buy those bulk buttons that come in the plastic tote - keep it… this album fits perfectly inside.

Album with Case behind: Cover:

The swirls were stamped: pink - acrylic paint mixed 50/50 with crystal effects (this helps to bind the paint to the acrylic), black - Stazon. The rose has 7 layers to add a little dimension to the cover.

1st Pair:

Added one layer of the rose to cover the one on the cover (so you don’t see the white). 5 represents the 5 generations of women in this album - it’s Grungeboard from the new mini elements set.

Pair 2:

My Grandmother’s Wedding photo. The verse was computer generated - see the beautiful face stamp behind the saying - it goes beautifully with the verse. The verse is tucked inside a photo sleeve - like the ones that you can buy anywhere. I just cut out the size of the pocket I wanted.

Pair 3:

Made the pocket that my Mom’s Tag is in. It’s a transparency that was stamped with the swirl using Stazon. The outside edge was sewn together.

The Tag:

Isn’t my Mom beautiful! Mother is stamped on a piece of acrylic.

Pair 4:

My sister on the other side of the tag. The other one is ME - on your right (HS graduation). This page is made with a Hambly screen print. The cute pink swirl is Grungeboard.

Pair 5:

My niece - happy as can be! The opposite page was stamped with Stazon. The pink is again the 50/50 mix of acrylic paint and crystal effects. When you see the next pair of pages you’ll understand the paint. The heart and key are attached using a Heidi Swap Slide Clip.

Pair 6:

The other side of the clear page… The paint allowed me to stamp the words again… The opposite page is a 3x3 envelope.

Inside the envelope:

My great niece!

Pair 7:

Verse is computer generated. The back cover is stamped with the “cracked” image and on the other side is a mix of crystal effects and dye reinkers - just to give the back cover a little color. Again the crystal effects binds the dye… you only need a few drops of the reinkers.

Well if you read this far I hope you liked the album! Let me know what you think and if you have any questions!

KAT

Add’l Info:
Stamps - (All stamps from Innovative Stamp Creations) Fansy Designs, Women around the world, summer elements, about me, oriental - nature elements, flair of summer, scrapbook LO - word I, alterable words (you can also purchase the Zutter acrylic cover from ISC - stop over Betsy is wonderful!)
Papers - Black, Pretty in Pink, Narratives (Creative Imaginations), Trendy (Crate Paper), Halloween foiling (Making Memories), ¾ Graph Screen Prints (Hambly)
Inks - Black Stazon, Black, Pretty in Pink
Other - Crystal effects, acrylic paint, stickles, grungeboard (available at ISC), Nestabilities, Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, primas, slide clip (Heidi Swap), Zutter 4x4 cover, bind-it-all, bling, 3x3 envelope, chipboard