Amy posted a sketch challenge for the All That Scraps Design Team.  Since you all know I love sketch challenges I of course had to do it right away.  I have a bag of designer series paper that I forgot was sitting next to my table, so I pulled out a piece of Cosmo Cricket Dutch Girl and pulled the rest of my colors for this card from there.  I used a lot of layers on this one.  The base of my card is a piece of Real Red card stock.  Onto that I layered Cosmo Cricket Dutch Girl paper.  Both pattern papers on this card are from the same sheet, but I used both sides.  I also used River Rock, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou and Whisper White.  My bunny is from C.C. Designs Love Ya Much.  He is stamped in JetBlack Stazon and is colored in with a Close to Cocoa Watercolor Wonder Crayon and an AquaPainter.  He is outlined in Going Gray ink..  For the sentiment I stamped it onto Whisper White card stock in JetBlack Stazon and then punched it out with my 1 3/8″ circle punch, added some paper piercing and set it on dimensionals on a Real Red Scallop Punch.  My scallop is also set up on dimensionals.  I added a piece of Soft Sky double stitched ribbon to pull it all together.  Even though this card has a lot of layers it still came together quickly. 

 This second card is also made using C.C. Designs stamps.  I used the Love Ya Lots set and the Plaid Background stamp.  There were songs swimming in and out of my head yesterday as I completed the Ways to Use It challenge.  It was so much fun to see what songs inspired people and what stamp sets they pulled out to use with it.  I’ve had “In the jungle, the quiet jungle, the lion sleeps tonight” on repeat in my head for hours now.  I’ll probably still be singing it when I wake up in the morning as well. 

My base is a piece of Cool Caribbean card stock from last year’s In Colors.  I held onto a few sheets and just remembered a few weeks ago that I still had them.  So much for missing it when it was gone.  I’ve moved onto this years In Colors with no problem.  I paired it with Pretty in Pink, Purely Pomegranate, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa and Basic Grey Blush designer series paper.  I stamped my lion in JetBlack Stazon on Whisper White card stock and colored him in with Watercolor Wonder Crayons and an AquaPainter.  I added the grass and sky with a sponge and Soft Sky and Certainly Celery ink.  I also added faux stitching with my white gel pen and a Pretty in Pink ribbon. 

Happy February 29th!  I now have to wait an extra day to get my birthday presents thanks to the extra day. 

Jenn

 Just a quick post today with a really quick card.  I’ve been running errands all morning, took a few minutes to stamp and now have to go shopping for a new winter coat for Colin.  He cracked his zipper pull in half and we are expecting more snow tonight.  I wanted this coat to last through next winter, but I have learned that boys are really tough on clothes.  I thought it would at least make it through the winter. 

Today the challenge was to use Music to inspire your card.  You could use a musical note stamp or be inspired by a song.  I chose the latter.  When I stamped the sentiment in Whisper White ink I wasn’t happy with how dark it was, but I had to stop to help Evan not get in trouble.  I hesitated too long to emboss with white embossing powder so I traced over it with my white gel pen instead.

Have a great day and stay warm!  Wish me luck coat shopping with two boys.

Jenn

Stamps- In The Stars

Card stock – Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Berry Bliss dsp, Whisper White

Ink – Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White

Accessories – dimensionals, chocolate chip taffeta ribbon, white gel pen 

 Why is it that some cards just fall together and others I can struggle with all day long?  This is one of the easy ones. 

When I saw the Sketch Challenge for today I knew I had to use In the Stars.  The sketch did have a star in it!  I pulled my colors directly from the Afternoon Tea designer series paper, that will be available starting on March 1st.  I used Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava and Whisper White. 

To make my star, I inked up the largest star image in the set with Soft Sky.  I then rocked and rolled it in Blue Bayou ink.  It reminds me of a nice, well worn and very comfortable pair of blue jeans.  I then cut the star out, mounted it on Groovy Guava, cut it out again and repeated the process with Chocolate Chip card stock.  I then mounted it up on dimensionals. 

Today I have to figure out exactly what I plan to do at my classes next month.  I am usually done weeks in advance, but this month the cards have me stumped.  I’m hoping that just playing around will help me along those lines. 

Have a great day!

Jenn

Stamps – In the Stars

Card stock -Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava, Whisper White, Afternoon Tea dsp

Ink – Groovy Guava, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip

Accessories – dimensionals, mat pack, chocolate chip twill ribbon, Silver ribbon slide from Silver HPH, sponge

Technique – Rock and Roll

 I would love to continue to stay inside and stamp, but of course the boys want to head back out into the snow once again.  I have already had to shovel the driveway twice because of blowing snow and it is very heavy and wet.  When will winter weather be over?  I’ve heard rumors of another storm on Thursday and I am not looking forward to it. 

Here is a quick card I made with today’s color combination – Basic Black, River Rock and Whisper White.  I think it is very elegant looking.  I had intended for my butterfly to be more black than white, but I still like the effect.  I stamped it on Basic Black paper with Whisper White craft ink and then embossed it. 

Well here is round 3 of playing in the snow.  Stay warm!

Jenn

Stamps – Pretty Petals, Kind Thoughts

Cardstock – Basic Black, River Rock, Whisper White

Ink- Basic Black, Whisper White Craft ink

Accessories – ticket corner punch, basic black 1/4″ grosgrain, River rock double stitched ribbon, white ep, heat gun, dimensionals, 1/16″ hole punch, vintage brads

 I made this card for the Try a New Technique Challenge yesterday.  I think it was after dinner that I first got down to my stamping space.  I have been so inspired by the card that Beate sent to me in the mail that I pulled the layout and some of the colors directly from it.  I did change it up a bit though too. 

I think my favorite thing about this card is the lacy strip.  It is so easy to make, but yet it looks elegant.  It reminds me of a nice lace table cloth.  One you might put out for a Easter brunch.  I think that is fitting since this is an Easter themed card.  To make it I took my strip of Whisper White card stock and I used my 3/16″ corner rounder with the guard removed to add the scalloped edge.  I then punched each scallop with the 1/8″ hole punch and then added the 2 holes on top of it with the 1/16″ hole punch.  I then repeated my 1/8″ holes and I was done. 

The main image is stamped with Basic Gray ink on Shimmery White card stock and then watercolored in with my AquaPainter and Watercolor Wonder Crayons in So Saffron and Pumpkin Pie.  I then sponged around the chick with Soft Sky and Certainly Celery ink.  The sign for the sentiment was made by stamping Happy Easter in Chocolate Chip ink on Shimmery White card stock and punching it out with the Word Window Punch,  I then layered it on top of a Designer Label punch in Chocolate Chip and trimmed around the bottom of my Word Window layer. 

I think the rest is fairly simple to figure out. 

Jenn

Stamps – A Good Egg

Card stock – Taken with Teal, Chocolate Chip, Bali Breeze dsp, Whisper White, Shimmery White

Ink – Basic Gray, WWC in So Saffron and Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery and Soft Sky

Accessories -  Sponge, 3/16″ corner rounder, dimensionals, 1/8 and 1/16″ hold punches, chocolate chip taffeta ribbon, word window punch, designer label punch, earth elements buttons, mini glue dots, AquaPainter

 I find that when all else fails it helps to start back with nice and simple cards with clean layers.  I used Beate’s Weekend Sketch Challenge #36 for this card.  I love sketch challenges, as the hardest part is done for you.  I started with a Bashful Blue base and stamped the filler image from A Good Egg in Bashful Blue ink.  I then colored in the centers of the flowers with a Versamarker and then dotted them with a white gel pen.  I rounded all of the corners on my layers.  I then layered a piece of Real Red with Summer Picnic designer series paper.  My chick is stamped in Basic Gray ink and colored in with an AquaPainter and Barely Banana and Pumpkin Pie Watercolor Wonder Crayons.  I then stamped the chick again on a piece of Cutie Pie designer series paper and paper pieced the shell.  On one side of the main image I punched out a horizontal slot punch and put this layer up on dimensionals.  I wove Bashful Blue taffeta ribbon behind this layer and around the front of my card.  The sentiment was added onto a Pumpkin Pie arrow that I punched with the My Way punch.  It says “you crack me up”.  The arrow is also up on dimensionals. 

Today starts Day 1 of the SELF Challenge.  I am off to the grocery store after I drop Colin off at preschool to pick up more healthy food.  I love doing the SELF challenge because I always feel so healthy when the 3 months are up.  Why I’m not good at it the other 9 months of the year is beyond me.  Hopefully I’ll stick with it longer than the 3 month time frame.  If anyone wants to join me just let me know.  I need all of the support buddies I can get. 

Jenn

Stamps – A Good Egg

Card stock – Bashful Blue, Real Red, Summer Picnic dsp, Old Olive, Whisper White, Cutie Pie dsp

Ink – Basic Gray, WWC (Barely Banana, Pumpkin Pie), Bashful Blue, Versamarker, White Gel Pen,

Accessories – dimensionals, AquaPainter, WWC, Horizontal Slot punch, bashful blue taffeta ribbon, My Way punch

It’s that time of the year again!  Every year I start the SELF Challenge with the goal to finish it in mind.  It is a 3 month program that focuses on eating healthy and exercising.  It is completely free.  If anyone is interested in joining and supporting each other let me know.  The link to the challenge is here.   It kicks off tomorrow, but you can join at anytime.

Jenn

 I am having one of those days where I have plenty of ideas in my head, but nothing seems to be working the way I want them to.  I even thought about not posting these cards here. 

The first card I like, but it needs a little something to help it step up to the next level.  I wanted a nice relaxed comfortable card.  My colors achieve that, but it feels lack luster to me.  I used River Rock, Mellow Moss, Bordering Blue, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla and Blue Bayou Designer Prints paper.  I do love the color scheme.  The sketch is from a Sketch For You To Try, and you can find it here.  I used my mat pack, paper piercer and Basic Black Stampin’ Write marker to add faux stitching on the blue layers. 

 This second card came from an idea after browsing through 10-Minute Cards to Give and Share edited by Tanya Fox.  The card is very cute in the book, but my version just seems washed out and isn’t doing anything for me.  I do like the concept and I think if I play around with it a bit more I can fix it to where I will be pleased with it. 

During the last week I have been asked by several people why I switched to Typepad and what I like about it compared to Blogspot.  My biggest complaint with Blogspot was all of the functions not working on any particular day.  I love to spell check my posts, but that feature stopped working for about a month on Blogger.  I also had a very hard time getting photos to upload on certain days.  I’d get an annoying error message and would have to start over again.  I’m not saying that Blogger isn’t good, it just wasn’t working for me anymore. 

With that being said I still am fixing things here and there on Typepad.  My husband is going to help me back everything up because I didn’t realize I had to change my folder name to have it appear with Stamp Your Heart Out instead of saying My Weblog in Google Reader.  I am working on fixing that.  I just haven’t had a chance to sit down and do it yet.  If I just switch the name then the links to my photos are broken and they won’t appear in my posts.  I also plan on making a new banner because the sizing for the one I have here as well as on Blogger is a bit different and my banner tends to favor the left hand side of the page.  I usually debate on fixing my errors or stamping.  Stamping normally wins out. 

Well I hope you are all having a relaxing Sunday.  I’m going to go see if my children want to get out since it’s about 40 degrees outside.  We are all feeling cooped up right now.  Have a great day!

Jenn

Remember last week when I was complaining about not having enough Christmas Designer Series paper to carry me through making 10 Christmas cards a month?  Well I don’t have to fret anymore.  Thank you Beate!  You are too generous!  Along with the Designer Series Paper was this card.  If you think Beate’s cards are gorgeous on her blog, they are even 10 times prettier in real life, if you can imagine that.  My photographing skill probably don’t do this card justice. 

If you want to see the details on this card you can find them on Beate’s Blog by clicking here.  ETA: This card uses the Poppin’ Pastel Technique instead of Faux Shaving Cream, but the rest of the details are similar. 

This morning I woke up with the urge to clean out our front hall closet.  Maybe it was due to the fact that every morning it is a struggle to find the boys hats and gloves, or maybe it had something to do with the cascade of children’s DVD’s that poured out every time I opened the door, or the fact that the pile of junk on the floor was almost knee deep.  I’m hoping that it’s more along the lines of Spring actually being around the corner.  The boys even pitched in and helped!  Afterward I went to Target to get a 3 Drawer system and now I have a drawer set aside for gloves, hats and scarves.  I can even see the closet floor! 

I actually have 2 cards to share with you today.  I am working on classes for next month.  Most of my classes fall before St. Patrick’s Day and Easter, so I’m planning on using Pinch Proof and A Good Egg.  I still haven’t decided on projects and I am still in the playing around to see what I like stage.  I am also not a fan of the traditional green and black cards.  Therefore you will see that both of these cards use very non-traditional St. Patrick’s Day colors. 

This first card is my Kraft Leprechaun card.  I used Kraft card stock as a base, Real Red as an accent and the Pinch Me wheel was inked up in Old Olive ink before being rolled onto Very Vanilla card stock.  I used my wheel guide to line it up perfectly with my paper.  I then stamped my leprechaun in Garden Green and heat embossed him with Crystal Clear embossing powder.  I repeated the process 3 times and in real life he is nice and shiny and smooth looking.  The photo does him no justice.  I then finished it off with some Chocolate Chip satin ribbon from Theater Originals and stamped the sentiment in Close to Cocoa ink. 

 My second card I want to call Pot O’ Gold and was inspired by colors that might be found at the end of the rainbow.  The base of the card is So Saffron.  The top portion is More Mustard and was again wheeled with the Pinch Me Jumbo Wheel that I inked up in More Mustard ink.  The edges were then sponged with More Mustard ink.  The bottom portion is River Rock card stock and I stamped Itty Bitty Backgrounds on it with the same color ink.  Again I sponged the edges of the card stock with River Rock ink.  I added 2 Vintage brads before adhering this layer onto my card front.  I then hid the seams between both layers with a piece of Chocolate Chip card stock and tied a piece of Kraft taffeta ribbon around the layer.  My image main panel is made of Old Olive and Very Vanilla card stock.  I stamped the four leaf clover in Old Olive ink and then set the panel up on dimensionals.  Finally I stamped my sentiment in Close to Cocoa ink. 

I am not Irish myself, but as a child I grew up in a very Irish neighborhood in the city of Chicago.  I can’t wait to eat the traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage meal on St. Patrick’s Day.  I have already picked up a Corned Beef from our last Costco trip and I’m sure that one will get cooked before St. Patrick’s Day.  I just need to get to the store and get some Irish Soda bread and mini red potatoes to finish the meal off.  I’m getting hungry already just thinking about it.

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!  We have nothing on our plates for once and are planning on spending a nice relaxing weekend at home, that is until the next Spring Cleaning urge hits.

Jenn