Weekly Challenge #12 - Paper Piecing

This week, our team is showcasing paper and embellishments from the My Mind's Eye Now & Then Izzy line, which is now available at the Cuttin' and Stampin' Scrappy Supply Store.

    

My project got underway when I saw the bow-tie paper and thought about how it could be used to make a really cute patterned cat.  So the kitty is grey and white, and I paper-pieced his mouth too.  Then, of course, I had to add the mustache enamel shape.  The blue cardstock for the card is actually the darker blue jeans Bazzill cardstock -- and it looks like it was custom-made to match the mustache.

    

     

I chose "thrilled for you" as the sentiment because of the happy & excited look on kitty's face.  I punched out photo corners from another of the patterned papers and then cut out the "smile" and floral pennant shapes from one of the cards from the 3"x4" pack.  Paper Smooches stamp sets used:  Nine Lives & Simply Said.

   

Now it's your turn!  Please join us and submit your paper-pieced creations.  Click HERE to add your project(s).

   

Happy Stamping!

   

Weekly Challenge #10 - St. Patrick's Day

We're celebrating St. Patrick's Day!  Each member of the team created cards using the new A Charmed Life product line by Simple Stories, which is available in the Cuttin' and Stampin' Scrappy Supply Store.  As you'll see, this product line has beautiful, bright colors and is not specific to St. Patrick's Day.  It's great for any time of year.

     

           
My card features quite a few items from the A Charmed Life product line:  The big green "LUCKY" was cut from one of the SN@P Cuts, the "so very lucky" heart strip is from the Border & Title Strip Elements, "#LOVE" ticket and the little blue flower behind the brad is from the Fundamental Cardstock Stickers, the round "Lucky ME" is from the Bits & Pieces pack, and the brad came from the accompanying brad pack.  As you can see, for a change, nothing was stamped.
    
I hope you'll join us and make a St. Patrick's Day-inspired project of your own!  You can enter your project HERE by March 17.
    
Happy Stamping!

FWF - Nobody Sweeter

I fell in love with a recent Unity "Kit of the Month".   Each kit has such a variety of stamps, and they're a great deal!
  
This kit featured a cupcake and a couple of cupcake sentiments.  I'm not lacking on either front, but these were so cute, I couldn't resist.   Here's what I mean:
  

    
These patterned papers are from Doodlebug -- this year's and last year's Valentine's Day lines.  They do say "love" and things like that, but nothing absolutely specific to the holiday... so I use them all year. 
  
Happy Stamping & Happy Friday!
  

Weekly Challenge #8 - All Boy

This week is all about the boys, and this should be easy for me because I'm surrounded by boys -- hubby, dad... even the cat!   I'm in a sea of testosterone at my house, but I have to admit that I still find girly cards much easier to create.    
I found an adorable paper pad from WeRMK called "For the Record".   It had nice, youthful masculine patterns and color palette.   And the "hey buddy" sentiment from Paper Smooches' "Simply Said" stamp set said "boy" to me.
    

         
Thanks so much for checking out my card!  Now it's time to head over to the Cuttin' and Stampin' blog to see the rest of the Design Team's inspiration projects and to learn how to enter your very own creation.
 
Happy Stamping!

Weekly Challenge #6 - Writing Instrument

I took a pretty loose interpretation of a writing instrument for this project...  I was thinking of writers like Hemingway and Tolkien writing their manuscripts -- long before the invention of the IBM Selectric II that we had at home growing up.

    

   

For my project today, I stamped the typewriter on cream cardstock.  I stamped the paper on white cardstock and cut it out.  Then I cut a slit in the typewriter to allow me to slide the paper down into it, making it look like it was coming out of the typewriter.  The typewriter font sentiments in the set were perfect for this!  The "for you" sentiment is from the Paper Smooches "Falling for You" stamp set.

    

Because the typewriter is a solid stamp, you may not get your desired result when stamping it with dye ink.  Because of its water base, dye ink tends to bead up on clear stamps causing either an incomplete image or an unbalanced image.  For the typewriter stamp, I got a perfect image using a pigment ink.  It was VersaFine Onyx black.  It takes a long time to dry, so I highly recommend heat setting it.
   
The ribbon started out as a cream-colored 1/4" silk ribbon from May Arts.  It was too light to match the cream cardstock and I really wanted an embellishment to carry the turquoise color through.  I colored the ribbon with the BG13 Copic Sketch marker, but then it was a bit too bright for the antiqued turquoise pattern.  The next step was to tone the color down and "age" it a bit by dabbing it on the Chestnut Roan chalk ink from ClearSnap.  Perfect!

   

I hope you'll join us for the challenge and submit your project(s) featuring a writing instrument.  Also, check out the main challenge page where the other fabulous group of DT members have created their own creative interpretations. 

   

Happy Stamping!!