TST #129

Time once again for Try Stampin on Tuesday.  Today we have a sketch for you that offers a lot of suggestions.  

When I first saw this sketch I thought iphone.  You could certainly make a great tween card using the icons for the iphones.  However I needed a card for my daughter to give to her boyfriend. Since her recent surgery on her hand she has been unable to do much on her own because it is her right hand.  So now we have a Sergeant in the army not only preparing all the meals and cleaning the house he is now in charge of hair duty.  Trust me she says he does a much better job defending our country than simple pony tail duty.  We love him anyway!

Using a black grey and white theme I started by cutting out the grey centre piece and running it through the Diamond Plate embossing folder.  Then with simple DSP I ran that through the Gadget Gears die.  I had a piece of DSP from the Dollar Store that had a chevron and the hand on the same piece so I cut those out.  I stamped the white CS using the Clockworks stamp and then using my spritzing tool I spritzed the entire card.

The cut outs were layered onto the card using dimensionals and then stamped out the sentiment and used the Round Tab punch to cut it out.  I reinserted this cut out one again and made a second punch to make the tab a little smaller.  Then I stamped out the "11" on a separate piece of CS.

I added three smaller cogs in the upper right corner along with a flag - kind of a "I surrender" touch just for my daughter.  She thinks that she can do it all but has quickly found out that through all of this she needs her family around her to help her get through it.  

I am also happy to report that her Teachers at College have gone to bat for her (bad choice of words since she broke her thumb playing baseball) and the Dean will allow her to continue so that she will be able to complete her Dental Hygiene studies on time.  Dedication and good work ethics have certainly paid off for her and her Teachers have taken this into consideration when fighting for her.  Very proud of her. 

So what to you see when you look at the sketch?  Need more inspiration?  Hop on over to the Try Stampin site and see what the other great designers have in store for you.  You will not be disappointed.  Don't forget to post your creation for all of us to see.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one.

HOC C&S Inspiration Photo "may all your WISHES come true!

House of Cards this week has an Inspiration Challenge.

When I look at this picture I not only see the colours I can almost picture the special occasion going on at the table.  Would it be a Birthday Celebration? a Romantic Dinner for 2? or a Special question being asked?  That was my inspiration for the card.

I started with my trusty Post-it notes and created a mask to run my Very Vintage wheel through. Then I sponged the background before removing the mask. 

Next my trusty Stamp-a-ma-jig to the rescue and I stamped the "wishes" through the sponged area. Again with my jig I reinked only the smaller sayings and aligned them at the top and bottom of the sponges area. Then just in case that Special question was asked I added a little touch of bling!

What do you see when you look at the inspiration photo.  Colours or .....  Show us what has inspired you about this photo.  Then make sure that you share it with us over at House of Cards.  Can't wait to see what you come up with.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one.

TST #128

So this week I made sure that I had my card done on time for the Try Stampin on Tuesday challenge.

This past month has been crazy for me.  We are trying to clean up my Dad's home, since we now have him in a safe environment and we know that all of his needs are being looked after.  Just when I thought things would get back to normal (if there is such a thing!) my daughter sustained an avulsion fracture of her right thumb along with a ligament tear.  She was scheduled for surgery last Monday, but during the examination when the plastic surgeon saw her she manipulated the thumb and more damage was done. Her surgery had to be put off until later in the week.  This probably wouldn't be so bad but she is in the final stages of her Dental Hygiene Program at college and she will now be in a cast for up to eight weeks and unable to complete some of her clinical studies.  Lucky for her that she has a great faculty team to work with.  She will have to go before the Dean to plead a case so that she will not lose her final year, but her instructors are going to bat for her because she has completed more work than a lot of the other students along with more complicated cases.  Having Dean's list marks since she started college helps as well. Fingers Crossed! just don't use the broken one!!!

On to this weeks challenge.  When I first saw the sketch for this week I thought Christmas card. Mainly because it has been so hot out and the little accents in the bottom left corner looked like snowflakes.  But I decided to go French Foliage all the way.

I went with a more non conventional colour using Marina Mist for my card base. Then with a pale grey CS I stamped the splash marks from French Foliage all over it. I had ribbon from the Dollar Store that matched the colours perfectly.

Then with the Apothecary Accents die I cut out the shape and stamped it using the words and the postage mark from French Foliage.  With Soft Suede and Marina Mist I used the rock and roll method and stamped out 3 leaves and then individually cut them out.  The sentiment was accented with more of the same ribbon and then the whole card was finished off with a little Bling!

I hope you like what I have come up with.  Now it's your turn.  Need more inspiration, then hop on over to the Try Stampin Site and see what the other great designers have in store for you.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one!

Clean & Simple to Shabby & Vintage

I have a bit of a twist for you today.  Over at House of Cards this week we are sporting our Shabby and Vintage Cards.  As you may have seen House of Cards is a month long challenge site that offers different styles of card making each week.  I am offering cards in the Clean and Simple Style which falls on the second week of each month.  This month our challenge was a colour one.

Use at least 3 colours from the above selection

This was the card that I made for the challenge.

Clean and simple allows you to leave lots of white space with basically just stamping and little to no embellishments.

Shabby and Vintage takes it to a whole new level.  This is what I have come up with for this weeks challenge. The difference is very obvious.

My version is very 3D but followed the same basic outline used for my Clean and Simple card.

By stamping out the flower from the Blooming with Kindness set four times using Red Riding Hood and Cherry Cobbler in a rock and roll method I then cut out the pieces.  After sponging the edges of the cut out pieces I started with a base and then worked on both sides of it to build up the flower.  I used two of the cut outs and cut them into quarters and layered one of them on the underside of the base flower, just outside the edge of the flower and then the other on the top of the base flower, just on the inside of the base flower.  The smallest piece I cut the centre section of the flower out and adhered it.  A simple button finished off the centre of the flower. You can see the different layers in each of the pictures.  Then simple butchers twine was added for an additional embellishment.  The card base itself was Very Vanilla.

I love this style of card as well as the Clean and Simple cards.

So as you can see it is easier than you think to take a card and CASE it to a different style.

Hope you like what I have come up with.  Drop by the House of Cards to see what the Shabby and Vintage girls have in store for you.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one.

TST #126 Waiting Room Inspiration

So last week I missed out on Try Stampin because I was under the weather.  As part of my week away from stamping I had to undergo some tests.  While I was sitting in the waiting room of the x-ray office I was checking out the art work on the walls.  You just never know where you will get the inspiration for a card.

There was a series of pictures on the wall that blended together and each picture had different coloured inserts.  That was my inspiration for this weeks Try Stampin on Tuesday.

This was the sketch that we had to work with, so I decided to make a raised card with a window cut out and then frame that with the black border.

The black border was created using the largest and the second largest dies from the Spellbinders Labels 13 die.  The insert was created by placing three (3) pieces of scrap CS onto a piece of plain paper.  Then I stamped the images using the stamps from French Foliage (my go to favourite stamp set).  The colours from the frame and the inset were much like the colours in the waiting room pictures. 

Then to add an embellishment I happened to have a skewer on my desk and I broke that up into two smaller pieces and using twine I tied a button to the skewers and adhered this to the card front with glue dots.  The same colour button, just in a smaller size was added to the opposite corner.

Although I don't have quite the energy just yet I did enjoy putting this card together.  Now it's time to see what you can come up with.  Where do you get your inspirations from?  Need more inspiration, hop on over to the Try Stampin site and see what the other great designers have in store for you this week.  Don't forget to post you card for us to see.  Good luck!

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one.

A New Beginning...House of Cards

Over the past year or so I have acquired a dear friend through card making.  This person is Mynnette Kitchen.  Mynnette and I have been on other design teams together along with pay-per-use sites.  About a month or so ago Mynnette opened a new challenge to all us card makers to enter into her new venture House of Cards.  House of Cards runs on a four week (sometimes five) rotation and allows different kinds of card styles to be featured. The challenge although over a four or five week span is the same every week.  It will either be a colour challenge or a sketch challenge.  You can enter for one week or all of the weeks. 

Week 1: Fun & Cute

Week 2: Clean & Simple
Week 3: Classic & Elegant
Week 4: Shabby & Vintage
Week 5: Your Fave + Photo

I entered into the Clean & Simple style and to my surprise I was one of the lucky ones to be chosen to join the Design Team.  I do, as you can see from my blog, enjoy making other styles of cards, but I always love when I see a Clean & Simple card.  Now on to this weeks challenge and card...

Use at least 3 colours from the above colour palette

Using the rock and roll method I stamped the flower.  Then masking off the flower I added a stamped the French Foliage over it masking the areas that I did not want the letter to appear.

My three colours of choice were Bravo Burdundy, Red Riding Hood and Pacific Point.

 

Now it's your turn.  Lets see your Clean & Simple card.  Not a Clean & Simple card maker, then check out the other styles that are running this month at House of Cards.  I'm sure there is at least one style that you enjoy making and we would all love to see your card in it.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one.