IO- Hostess Gift Challenge

Time for something other than a card. The theme this IO challenge is to make a hostess gift. Instead of making a gift, I decorated my gift of wine with a tag. Wine makes such a great gift! Of course, I didn't realize that I was out of tissue paper until I was ready to take the photo. I think it would look much better wrapped with the tag on top. I also wouldn't give the hostess an already opened bottle of wine. :)

For my tag, I stamped a saying from the CL41 Thanks Sentiments clear set and then stamped the grapes (A2112) all around the saying. I colored the grapes with watercolor pencils, blended them with a Dove Blender pen, and sponged purple ink around the edges. I then stamped the wine bottle (D2113) onto scrap paper, colored it with watercolor pencils, sponged around the edges, cut it out, and popped it up onto the tag with foam tape. To finish the project, I colored my natural raffia with a purple Copic marker to match the tag.

Want more hostess gift ideas? Check out what Daniela, Deborah, Dina, Jeanne, Julie, and Kathy, created.

Want to play along? You can find all of the information here, and you could even win a $25 Impression Obsession gift certificate!

Christmas Window

I had the urge to play with new Impression Obsession Starry Window (H8637) today. It is kind of a funny thing because I had one color scheme in mind before I started, and in the end, I used completely different colors. Sometimes I guess you just have to go wherever the creative juices take you!

I colored the window with an assortment of watercolor pencils and then softened the colors with a Dove Blender pen. I then stamped the Cover a Card Wood Grain (CC034) in dark brown ink onto brown cardstock to create a tone-on-tone background. To finish the card, and to add a little pizazz, I added yellow jewels to the centers of the stars and added stickles to the "snow" to make it shimmer.

IO Challenge- Orange

Today, the IO team will be doing an Orange challenge. Normally, I would take that as an opportunity to make a pumpkin card. After all, pumpkins are my favorite things to stamp/color. However, today is my mom's birthday (oh, and the president's too), so I thought it would be better to make a birthday card. A good rule of thumb to live by is "moms always trump pumpkins."

One of the nice things about doing a color challenge is breaking out of your comfort zone. I know I have never made an orange birthday card before!

I know it might not look like it, but I used only one color of orange ink for each of the layers (Versafine Habanero). The color of the paper really affected the color of the ink. Choosing a birthday theme also allowed me to play with the new "Let them Eat Cake" clear set (CL329) by Kalani Allred. The background pattern is the Floral Lines Cover a Card background (CC089).

Need more orange inspiration? Check out what Daniela, Dina, Jeanne, Jenny, Julie, and Kathy created. Be sure to visit the various blogs since many of us chose to use some of the new stamps.

Want to play along? You can find all of the information here, and you could even win a $25 Impression Obsession gift certificate! Please note that the challenge requirements have changed a bit. Now all entries must only use Impression Obsession stamps. Good luck.

Happy Birthday mom!

Upcoming Class

Hello all. Is anyone thinking about fall and Halloween yet? I hope you can join me for my Memory Box Halloween class this Sunday, July 31st from 12:30-2:30pm. We will be making five cards using the latest Memory Box "What's in the Box" release. There are new papers, dies, and of course...stamps. Hope to see you there!

Day 7- IO Sneak Peeks

Well, today is the last day of the sneak peeks, and I wanted to show you perhaps the easiest of the cards to make. I often forget about making one-layer cards, but I really like them. They are definitely a great idea if you have to crank out a lot of Christmas cards!

For my card, I stamped the Hannah Davies Angel (H10014) onto a kraft notecard and embossed it with detail black embossing powder. I then colored the image with some Faber-Castell markers. They don't blend as well as my Copic markers, but they also don't bleed to the inside of the card. To finish, I added some pink pearls and a saying from the All I want for Christmas (CL304) clear set.

Want to see more new IO samples? Check out what Deborah, Dina, Julie, and Jeanne, created. Be sure to visit the various blogs since leaving comments on the design team blogs could win you a $25 Impression Obsession gift certificate.

Thanks everyone for spending time on my blog this week and for leaving all the wonderful comments. I hope you had a good time seeing all the new stuff!

Day 6-IO Sneak Peeks

Well, it is almost the end of my week posting Impression Obsession sneak peeks. I hope you have enjoyed it!

For today's card, I used the new Gail Green Martini (D7618) stamp. I love how the olive takes center stage. Personally, I can't get enough olives. Of course, I had to add green and red circles to look like an even bigger olive. To color the martini image, I used watercolor pencils and a blender pen. There is just a slight tint of red to the edges of the martini to make it look festive and to add a bit of color to the glass. To finish the card, I added the Reverse Damask Cover a Card background (CC082) and Cheers (A5500) saying.

Want to see more new IO samples? Check out what Deborah, Dina, Julie, Jeanne, and Jenny created. Be sure to visit the various blogs since leaving comments on the design team blogs could win you a $25 Impression Obsession gift certificate.

Cheers!

Day 5- IO Sneak Peeks

Time to take a break from Christmas cards and show you a little something for Halloween. The cat in the pumpkin stamp is a design by Gary Robertson and is called Cat in the Jack (E1842). I colored the pumpkin with some Faber-Castell markers, cut out the cat/pumpkin, and layered it on top of a circle I cut from cream paper. I edged the circle with a little Scattered Straw Distress Ink just to give it a little dimension. For the background, I stamped the Clouds Cover a card background with black Versafine ink onto grey cardstock to create a night scene. To create the ground, I just added a piece of plain grey paper that I edged with some Pumice Stone Distress Ink. Finally, I added the Purr-fectly Frightful saying (B5479).

Want to see more new IO samples? Check out what Daniela, Deborah, Dina, Jeanne, and Jenny created. Be sure to visit the various blogs since leaving comments on the design team blogs could win you a $25 Impression Obsession gift certificate.

Also, you have a chance to submit your own work for a chance to win another $25 IO gift certificate. Shirley posted all the contest information on the Impression Obsession blog. Good luck!

IO Day 4 and Color Challenge

I thought I would combine a couple of things into one card. First, I wanted to show you more of the new Impression Obsession stamps. Second, I wanted to use this week's color challenge to inspire the color palette of my card. Here are the colors I was supposed to use:

To make the card, I first inked my Cover a Card Swirl Lace stamp (CC086) with the Kaleidacolor Caribbean Sea ink pad. The colors of that pad match the color challenge perfectly! I then spritzed the stamp with some Sparkle Shimmer Spritz and stamped it onto white paper. I then stamped the Snowflake Tree (F8641) onto white paper with black Memento ink and colored it with copic markers. I tried to use both green and blue markers on the tree to make it look like a blue spruce, but the green overpowered the blue. Finally, I added a saying from the All I want for Christmas clear set (CL304). Here is a side view of the card held up to the light so that you can see the Shimmer Sprtiz, the Stickles on the branches, and the rhinestone on the snowflake ornament:

Are you too anxious to see more? How about a link to the new Impression Obsession catalog with all the new images? You can find it here.

Want to see more new IO samples? Check out what Deborah, Dina, Jeanne, Jenny, Julie, and Kathy created. Be sure to visit the various blogs since leaving comments on the design team blogs could win you a $25 Impression Obsession gift certificate.

Also, you have a chance to submit your own work for a chance to win another $25 IO gift certificate. Shirley posted all the contest information on the Impression Obsession blog. Good luck!

Day 3- IO Sneak Peeks

Today I want to show you one of the new Gail Green images. Gail often makes really detailed stamps, so I find that they stamp best with Versafine ink. Also, because there is so much detail, you can add just a smidge of color with Prismacolor pencils or watercolor pencils, and it looks like you did more work than you actually did. Therefore, her images are perfect if you need to crank out a lot of cards in a short amount of time!

For my card today, I used the Snowman with Treats stamp (G7636) along with the Merry Christmas saying (B10011). I colored the image with watercolor pencils and then softened the color with a Dove blender pen. I then layered everything onto some Memory Box dot paper.

Are you too anxious to see more? How about a link to the new Impression Obsession catalog with all the new images? You can find it here.

Want to see more design team samples? Check out what Need some purple inspiration? Check out what Daniela, Deborah, Dina, Jeanne, and Julie created. Be sure to visit the various blogs since leaving comments will enter you to win a $25 IO gift certificate. You can find more information about that on the Impression Obsession blog.

Want to play along? You can find all of the information Impression Obsession blog.

Also, you have a chance to submit your own work for a chance to win another $25 IO gift certificate. On July 21st, Shirley will be posting contest information on the Impression Obsession blog. As a heads up, the theme will be to make a card using only Impression Obsession stamps (in case you want to get started now).

Day 2- IO Sneak Peeks

Welcome to day two of the Impression Obsession sneak peeks. I am not sure that my picture shows some of the sparkle I added to the card, so I added a close-up picture:

Instead of using plain white embossing powder, I mixed some white ep (which really makes the snowflakes pop) with some Iridescent Sparkle ep (which makes the snowflakes sparkle). I also added a ton of rhinestones to the flakes as extra bling.

The snowflake (C10003) is another design by Hannah Davies, and the saying is once again from the All I Want for Christmas clear set (CL304). Isn't that a practical set?

Are you too anxious to see more? How about a link to the new Impression Obsession catalog with all the new images? You can find it here.

Want to see more design team samples? Check out what Need some purple inspiration? Check out what Deborah, Dina, Jeanne, Jenny, and Julie created. Be sure to visit the various blogs since leaving comments will enter you to win a $25 IO gift certificate. You can find more information about that on the Impression Obsession blog.

Want to play along? You can find all of the information Impression Obsession blog.

Also, you have a chance to submit your own work for a chance to win another $25 IO gift certificate. On July 21st, Shirley will be posting contest information on the Impression Obsession blog. As a heads up, the theme will be to make a card using only Impression Obsession stamps (in case you want to get started now).