October’s Waltz theme is thanksgiving. That is my favorite holiday. It has also been a long time since we all got together – but it is happening this year…I’m so looking forward to it!!

I knew right away which stamp set I would use – Teeny Trees. I love that set but it doesn’t see enough ink! The font combination for the sentiments is great. And hey, there’s even a thanksgiving sentiment in the set, so it was meant to be!

I knew I wanted a plaid pattern at the top so I dug through my paper and found some old StampinUp paper. Even though the paper is green and blue I wanted the trees to have fall foliage. I think the brown flourish helps tie the card together.

The layout uses Iwona’s sketch (ssc33). And with the touch of burlap behind the corduroy button, the card also has Moxie Texture.

Thanks for stopping by!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. SCS is hosting a month long event called Hope You Can Cling To (HYCCT) which benefits those affected by breast cancer.

My friend Patricia is hosting a challenge during the HYCCT event. She asked me to make a sample card for her challenge – Think PINK.

And what a fun challenge it is! The idea is that you chose a word for each letter in PINK – the word can be a stamp image, a technique, a color, etc – and you use those items on a card.

Here is my PINK:
P = Paper Piecing
I = Ice Cream
N = Numbers
K = Kraft

I admit coming up with “I” words was harder than I thought, but once I hit ice cream, it was a done deal! The rest fell right into place.

The number paper is actually done using ink on an Impression Plate (generally referred to as the letterpress technique). Mine turned out a little messy – with ink hitting where it shouldn’t, but I found a tip to roll off some ink onto a non-stick sheet. I’ll definitely try that next time.

I think the rest of the card is pretty straight forward. The ice cream scoop is paper pieced. Also, I added a little shading to the ice cream cone using a Versamarker.

Thanks for taking a peek!

It is the 25th of the month – which means a PTI Blog Hop! I love this inspiration photo – which should be obvious seeing as I haven’t managed to stamp for a blog hop in months…but this one I couldn’t pass up!

I started by deciding how I would lay out the lines. I liked the intersecting lines in the photo, so I decided I would use 4 colors and stamp them in the corners offset from the center point. Next, when I chose the colors, I started with a PTI color combo I liked and then tried to find some ink that would match as best as I could.

Finally I needed to add a sentiment. I knew I would be covering up the center point so I wanted something that could ‘compete’ with all the lines. I think I read once that, in design, lines love curves, so I thought this Fillable Frame would be a great compliment to the linear feel of the base. I chose a melon color for the die cut, again to stand out.

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday night there was a mini-VSN at SCS. The theme of the VSN is rodeo. Only 6 challenges – and I managed to do them all!

The first challenge was called “the grand opening” and we needed to use banners.

My daughter’s friend will be turning 11 in a week so I thought that would be a perfect card for a banner.

Supplies:
Stamps: Big Birthday Wishes (PTI);
Colors: Rose Red, DSP (SU);
Extras: Banner die (MFTStamps); Number die (PTI); Baker’s Twine (SU);

The next challenge was called “the queen’s wave”. We could interpret “wave” any way we wanted.

I did it 3 ways: my scene is a HEAT WAVE at the beach (with waves in the background) and the card uses the Wiper Technique to create a little waving sun pop-up.

Supplies:
Stamps: Shore Thing (SU); alphabet ($bin); Birds – Light the Path (TAC);
Colors: Peach Parfait, Daffodil Delight, Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake (SU); Brown (Palette);
Extras: Daffodil ribbon (SU); deco scissors; Jar Label die (PTI);

 
The third challenge was called “bring in the clowns” and we needed to use 4 bold/bright colors and have something pop-up.

Thankfully the pop-up could be completed with a simple dimensional, and that is the route I took – the bee is popped-up. The bright colors made me thing rainbows, so I chose a flower bunch to color.

Supplies:
Stamps: All About You (PTI);
Colors: Hibiscus (PTI); Gable Green (SU); Copics;
Extras: green ribbon (?); dimensionals; stickles (on bee);

 
The fourth challenge, “all that glitters”, required that we use sequins.

Oh my. I don’t have many sequins. The ones I do have are bright colors. I decided to make shaker balloons. I really don’t have a use for such a “young” card. I need to find some place to donate cards – any suggestions?

Supplies:
Stamps: Say it With Style (PTI);
Colors: Real Red, Brilliant blue (SU);
Extras: circle dies (Spellbinders); Black/White Baker’s Twine (?); Label die (MFT Stamps); sequins; acetate (SU);

 
The fifth challenge, “sunset on the plains”, required a brayered or sponged sunset.

I was a little stymied at first, so I had my hubby help – he decided the sunset should be orange and set in the African plains. I chose to do a giraffe because he likes them and with the “miss you” sentiment I can pop it in his suitcase for his next business trip.

Supplies:
Stamps: Wild Things (SU); Paper Tray (PTI);
Colors: Tangerine, Glossy, Black, Daffodil, Pacific Point, Night of Navy (SU);
Extras: white EP;

 
The final challenge was to be inspired by the lyrics of an 80′s song (Wild Wild West).

I don’t have any western stamps, but these mustaches paired with twine and a wood-grain paper make me think “cowboy”! And I’m getting double-duty out of this card – I took a picture before I adhered the sentiment and I can upload it as the index for the Many Mustaches gallery category, yee-haw

Oh, and speaking of the sentiment – those letters are cut from different sentiments from the same PTI stamp set – Say it With Style. I’m feeling smart!

Supplies:
Stamps: Many Mustaches (SU); Say it With Style (PTI);
Colors: Early Espresso, Vanilla, Wood DSP (OLD! SU);
Extras: Twill, Twine, Brads (SU);

It is the 17th of the month, which means it is time for a Waltzingmouse Blog Waltz (much more dignified than hopping, eh? ). The theme for this waltz is “birthday”.

My mother-in-law has a birthday coming up in August, so this is a perfect opportunity to make her card! I love the Asian Garden stamp set, so that was an easy choice. I wasn’t sure what I would do, but as I was doing my inspiration search, I found a past WMS sketch challenge (wmsc49). Since I wasn’t able to play the sketch challenge at the time, I thought it was a perfect time to do so!

Thanks for stopping by!

This month’s blog hop is all about flowers. I recently found a pinterest post for ric-rac flowers (original post). I had to make them immediately. I never do that – make something as soon as it inspires me.

These flowers were actually pretty simple to make – all 3 took 15 minutes and they are the first three I’ve ever made! I used PTI’s small Ric-Rac die and Melon felt.

I also broke out my Sending You set and die for the first time.

Thanks for stopping by!

So this weekend was VSN at Splitcoast. The theme was pirates – hence my post title (swabbie because I only managed 5 challenges, so definitely not “captain” material and I figured “VSN wench” wouldn’t go over well with my family )

I wasn’t actually going to participate – I have stamping chores to do (and they don’t really work well with challenges). But I got a couple chore cards done earlier today and then I saw a post by Carly (here) and was completely inspired by her cards and figured I had to give it a shot.

First up was a color challenge – aqua, light green, and kraft. I snuck in the craft as the color for the sentiment. The card stock is Aqua Mist and Spring Moss from PTI.

Since the stamps I chose to work with were small, I made a small square card. I really like this card and I can use it to fill one of my stamping chores – bonus!
 
 
 
 

Next up, a challenge to use colorful birds. Of course, there was another part to the challenge which I neglected – making a square card. So this card is already walking the plank!

At least I can use it as one of my stamping chore cards!
 
 
 
 
 

Moving on, another challenge was to use bling. That should be an easy task, you can add a rhinestone just about anywhere! I got the idea to use this dragonfly image because the wings have little open spots on them – perfect for placing rhinestones. The dragonfly has smooch spritz on it too, though the photo doesn’t show that bit very well.

I used die cuts to create the flowers/leaves. I added a bit of sponging to the flower centers before adding the bling. Before I glued it all down, I wasn’t sure whether to leave it on a white card base or not. I tried a few light colors but none of it looked quite right. I need something to anchor the images, so I pulled out a large label stamp. I am quite happy with how that turned out!

I had to do the next challenge because it was hosted by my friend Patty! It was an awesome challenge – and I actually tackled it first because I got an idea immediately.

I’ll be giving my hubby this card on father’s day (if I remember to take it with us on vacation, lol).

Oh, I have to tell you how I did the label – I’m feeling a bit genius about it (not an ounce of humility in me, lol). I don’t own PTI angled labels (yet), but I do have Fillable Frames #9 – which is a cool tag shape. Well, if you cut the tag, then turn the die cut around and put it back in the die, you can trim both ends with the tag shape!! As you can see lining up the stamp image is a bit trickier, but a stamp-a-ma-jig would make it much easier.

This is the last card I did tonight. You can tell my mojo was wanning. One day I *will* find a black ink that stamps perfectly. Until then, I’ll just deal with my meager results.

This challenge was to use sponging. I was going to do a “ray” type sponging, but was just too lazy to cut the masks I would need. I am definitely in awe of Theresa Momber who can work a sponge so amazingly!

Thanks for taking a peek!

Not THAT mouse – a better one: Waltzingmouse Stamps

I so want that little guy from the logo as a stamp!

This month’s theme is masculine. This is always a tough category for me. Thankfully I have the Free Spirit Boy stamp set. There are a ton of images in this set.
 

The medallion was created using Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel. I’ve used this stuff before and even done this technique before, but it has been years…and boy it showed. I’m pretty certain I will be finding granules of this powder on my desk for months to come! The idea is to start with a card stock shape and ink it with Versamark. Then you add UTEE and heat it, once it melts, add more powder, and so on until you have a few layers. Then you take a Versamark-inked stamp and press into the goo; wait a minute a pull it out.

Since the medallion is so shiny and I opted for a busy pattern for the “tails” (they started as tails, as you see, they migrated up and out), I kept the rest of the card very simple.

Thanks for stopping by!

As my previous post stated, there was a mini-VSN at SCS. I wanted to do a few more challenges, so on Sunday I stamped, stamped, stamped. Upload deadline is today, so I’m posting them all at once.

First up is my card for the third challenge which was an inspiration challenge (may11vsnmini3). The photo was a beach scene – very calming. I wanted to keep the relaxing feel, so I went with subdued colors and a “relax” sentiment.

Next up is the fourth challenge (may11vsnmini4) – a color challenge . I always have a hard time with color challenges, so my normal attack method is to find pattern paper that has the required colors and then let the paper determine the “theme” of the card. This paper screamed fun to me, so I went with a cupcake and sprinkles. I even broke into my stash of baker’s twine finally!

The fifth and final challenge (may11vsnmini5) was to use wood on a card – either as an image or a material. I wasn’t sure what I’d do, so I looked through my stamp index and saw the ruler image. Perfect – this week is Teacher Appreciation week. The ruler is stamped on a thin wood.

Thanks for stopping by!

On Friday, SCS hosted a mini virtual stamp night. There were 5 challenges; sadly I only managed one. The challenge was to use fabric on a card (may11vsnmini1).

It took me a bit of time to figure out how to use fabric, mostly because my fabric selection is pretty lame. I decided to use the white & off-white fabric I had to make butterflies. Of course that meant I needed a dark base for them. That had me scratching my head (I have a hard time actually using pattern paper, so I don’t turn to it often). Thankfully I remembered a technique that I don’t use often – sanding embossed paper that has a white-core.

Since I only have a couple different colors of white-core paper, I opted to use Razzleberry and make an “elegant/classic” style. I do like how it ended up.