Pack You Bags Challenge

Today's challenge is all about travel or vacation cards. I went the travel route and used some images by Dina Kowal.  I stamped the Airplane Corner (F13014) multiple times onto a kraft card to create a background.  I added the Travel Hopefully saying (C13005) and popped up the Par Avion (E13020) image that I had stamped and cut out of kraft paper.  To add a little interest, I added a bit of white colored pencil here and there.

Feel like doing more "packed bag" ideas?  Check out the cards from my fellow designers:

• IO Blog
• Daniela Dobson
• Dina Kowal
• Ellen Taylor
• Jeanne Streiff
• Jenny Gropp
• Kittie Caracciolo
• Laura Fulcher (you are here)
• Vicki Garrett

Thanks for stopping by!

 

New Memory Box

Memory Box has been having a blog blitz release party to showcase some of the new dies and stamps.  Today is my day to share.  If you want a chance to win the die I used, head on over to the Outside the Box blog and leave a comment there.  You have until Sunday, July 14th to leave a comment there, and one person at random will be chosen to win the die.  Woohoo!

For my card, I used the Mountain Village Frame die (98684).  When you cut it out, it looks like this:

After I cut out the scene in white, I repeated the process again with kraft and blue paper so that I would have a sky and mountain range that I could piece into the frame.  These are the pieces I used for my card:

Whenever I make Christmas cards, I think long and hard about how many cards I am going to make.  I design cards very differently if I am making one, five, twenty, or a hundred cards.  I thought that if I were making a huge number of cards or wanted quick thank you cards, I would just layer the white mountain scene onto a sapphire blue notecard and add a bit of glitter glue to the mountain caps and the horizon:



For a mid-range number of Christmas cards, I cut out the white frame and pieced together the sky and mountains with colored papers (and added glitter glue):



For the most elaborate card, I sponged some color onto the mountains and sky, added some color to the trees with chalk, and pieced together the houses and road.  (For the house bases I used leftover kraft pieces I had previously cut and for the roofs, I used leftover white pieces and colored them with a red marker).  To finish it, I added more glitter glue (of course):

What's Shakin?

Today's Impression Obsession challenge is all about shaker cards. Because today is the 4th of July, and I really wish I was celebrating the holiday with my family in VA Beach, I decided to make a beach-themed shaker.

To make the card, I stamped the beach image (Beach Chair F2337) onto white cardstock and then colored it with Copic markers. For the sky, I sponged Tumbled Glass distress ink. I then added some sand on top of the scene and placed a rectangle shaker pouch on top of it. For the border, I used a rectangle layer from the Paper Cut that exactly fits the large shaker pouch and stamped it with the Shells Cover a Card background (CC122). To finish the card, I added a starfish charm in the corner.

Feel like doing more "shakin'?"  Check out the cards from my fellow designers:

• IO Blog
• Daniela Dobson
• Dina Kowal
• Ellen Taylor
• Jeanne Streiff
• Jenny Gropp
• Kittie Caracciolo
• Laura Fulcher (you are here)
• Vicki Garrett

Have a very safe and happy holiday!

 

IO/Flower Soft Blog Hop

We’re having fun being Patriotic today with Impression Obsession stamps and Flower Soft. You’ll be inspired by creative projects as you hop along the Designer’s blogs. 

PRIZES

One random comment author will be chosen by Impression Obsession to receive a $25.00 Impression Obsession Gift Certificate.

One random comment author will be chosen by Flower Soft to receive a $25.00 Flower Soft Gift Certificate.

Leave a comment on of the blog hop posts to be eligible to win. The more you comment the more chances you have to win!

WINNERS

Winners will be announced on June 30^th at the Impression Obsession and Flower Soft Blogs.

For my card, I knew immediately that I wanted to combine my Impression Obsession Stars with the Flower Soft "The Patriot" mix. I really like the red/white/blue Flower Soft combination and used it in conjunction with some 1/8" Redline tape to make a border around my stars. I thought it gave the finished card nice texture and dimension.

For the images, I stamped the IO Stars (K2189) and as well as the Let Freedom Ring saying (B3790) and then colored the stars with colored pencils. It is hard to tell from the picture, but I popped up the top left-hand star to add a bit more dimension. To finish the card, I added some clear gems and traced around each of the stars with a grey Copic marker.

Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to check out the other blogs for inspiration and more chances to win!

Hop list:

Flower Soft Blog

Impression Obsession Blog 

Jeanne Streiff 

Dina Kowal

Cibele Glazer

Lorie Southe

Jenny Gropp

Dawn Lusk

Vickie Harper

Linda Beeson

Daniela Dobson

Kittie Caracciolo

Deb Felts

Laura Fulcher (you are here)

.

IO Challenge- Summer Colors

Today's IO Challenge is all about using Summer Colors. I chose blue and green as my colors.  I was really torn between those colors or yellow/orange.  I guess summer really incorporates a lot of bright colors in my mind.

For today's card, I used some of Dina Kowal's new images...  Rock Silhouette (E13130), You Rock (C13140), Splatter 2 (E13126), and Sketchy Chevron Border (D13123) as well as the Party On saying (A3726).  I have really enjoyed playing with all of her new images, so I stuck with the summer colors, but not a summer theme.

Need more summer color inspiration? Check out what Daniela, Dina, Jeanne, Jenny, Julie, Kittie, and Vicki created. Want to play along? You can find all the information here, and you could even win a $25 IO gift certificate!

Take Me to Your Cake

I love this saying from Impression Obsession (CL329 Let Them Eat Cake clear set), but I never found the chance to use it.  I thought it paired really well with the Space Cadet stamp set from Paper Smooches.  I colored the images with Copic markers and then paired it with some old Basic Grey paper I had stashed away.  I tell you, there is nothing quite like using up some of your old paper!

 

Bloom Where You are Planted Challenge

Today I made a one-layer flower card for the Bloom Where You are Planted challenge.  I started out going through all my coloring tools and thought about using watercolor pencils or Copic markers to color the flowers.  Then I completely changed my mind and decided to color everything but the flowers.  My first idea was to mask the flowers and then color the rest of the card with Distress Inks.  I modified that plan a bit and masked an extra frame in the center of the card. 

To make the card, I stamped the Poppy Pair (J8956) onto a white card with black Versafine ink.  I then masked the flowers and masked a center frame using Eclipse tape.  I then added some Tumbled Glass, Broken China, and Salty Ocean Distress Inks to the areas that weren't masked and sponged some purple ink underneath the flowers for shading.  To finish the card, I spritzed it with water to blend the inks and add some splotches of color.


Need more floral inspiration? Check out what Daniela, Dina, Jeanne, Jenny, Julie, Kittie, and Vicki created. Want to play along? You can find all the information here, and you could even win a $25 IO gift certificate!

 

Good Form

I love the new sewing-themed images Dina Kowal designed for Impression Obsession, and I especially love the dress form with the dogwoods. It is just so feminine and "springy."

  

Stamps:

Impression Obsession Good Form A13104

Impression Obsession Dogwood Dress Form E13084

Inks:

Versafine Black

Colorbox Chalk Creamy Brown

Other Materials:

1 ½” circle punch

1 ¾” circle punch

waterbrush

finger dauber

foam tape

Instructions:

• Stamp dress form onto cream paper with black ink (use an inkpad that works well for watercoloring such as Versafine)
• Punch out cream and green circles
• Stamp saying onto cream circle using black ink
• Paint the dress form with grey/green and pink watercolor paint. Hint…this isn’t watercolor paper, so don’t go crazy adding watercolor over and over to the paper.  If you add too much water, you will tear the paper.
• Edge the two cream pieces with brown ink and a dauber
• Layer the pieces of the card
• Pop up the circles with foam tape 

 

In the Air Challenge

Today the Impression Obsession challenge is "In the Air."  I chose my favorite "air" stamping topic...butterflies.

to make my card, I sprayed some Dylusion sprays onto white cardstock and then covered the piece with a circle stencil and sprayed it with water.  I waited a minute and then removed the stencil.  The water reacted with the sprays and added a circle design to the background.  To finish the card, I stamped some solid butterflies (silhouette 15 D5565)

Need more "airy" inspiration? Check out what Daniela, Dina, Jeanne, Jenny, Julie, Kittie, and Vicki created. Want to play along? You can find all the information here, and you could even win a $25 IO gift certificate!

I'm Thankful For Challenge

Today, the Impression Obsession Challenge is "I'm Thankful For...."  Personally, I am thankful for so many things.  I am thankful that a family member's medical prognosis is better than expected.  I am thankful I will get to visit my mom for Mother's Day.  I am thankful for incredible friends and the crafting community.  I am also thankful the Washington Nationals finally won a game against the Atlanta Braves.

For today's challenge, I wanted to say I am so thankful for Spring flowers and warmer weather.  Our yard is in full bloom and so beautiful.  It makes my heart so happy just to look at it.

There are dogwoods:

And azaleas:

And assorted flowers:

Beautiful!

For my card, I used the Dogwood stamp (E12002) and tried to color it like the dogwoods in our yard.  They are mostly white with a little pink at the edges and yellow centers.  I used watercolor pencils for the edges and some yellow Flower Soft for the center.

For my background, I combined the Cover a Card Rolling Waves (CC123) and Cover a Card Circle Fusion 2 (CC110).  I layered blue Colorbox Chalk inks to represent the blue sky we had today, but when I find a combination of backgrounds I like, I often stamp more in other colors.  I stamped an extra background in browns to use at a later date:

Need more IO inspiration? Check out what Dina, Jeanne, Jenny, Julie, Kittie, and Vicki created. Want to play along? You can find all the information here, and you could even win a $25 IO gift certificate!