World Card Making Day with Joy Clair: Background Bonanza!

To get all the information about Joy Clair  WCMD 2017 CLICK HERE.

Hello there Joy Clair friends!  It's Kerry here!  How are you enjoying WCMD so far?  I am loving all the events, challenges and The Big Hop of the Design Team and Special Guest that we organized for you!  

When picking a challenge this year I went with an old favorite: background building.  I'm thrilled to share a fun project I created using the new Little Monster Set.  This is such a fun and POWERFUL stamp set and I wanted to incorporate as many sentiments as I could.  

I don't know about you, but I really have a problem cutting up my beautiful decorative printed paper.  I just can't seem to cut it up.  Sooo...because I'm a hoarder, I tend to resort to creating my own backgrounds instead.  That's just what I did with this stamp set!

I love the power of these sentiments in this set and thought it would be neat to create a wall...You know, the wall we sometimes build around ourselves that inevitably hinders our ability to be the best person HE created us to be?  You know, the person who needs that wall broken? 

I decided to focus on the sentiments by stacking them one by one (such a heavy load) on paper then did a bit of distressing.  The monsters arrived soon after to destroy everything.  The monsters...Yeah, they look cute but they're up to something more sinister!

I mean really, look at those innocent smiles and those sparkly eyes?  They'll get you if you're not careful!  So please, check yourself and be on guard!  They're always ready to pounce!

I hope something I made will inspire you to make some backgrounds of your own with stamps, stencils, dies, paint, or anything that makes you happy!  I can't wait to see your creative backgrounds take center stage on your lovely cards.  Make sure to add a link-up for your chance to win a stamp set from JC!!!  

Prize: One randomly chosen project that is linked up will win a stamp set from Joy Clair Store. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Use what you have...

In an effort to de-clutter my stampspace and use up long-loved stamper's merchandise, I'm once again resorting to challenging myself (and seeking other challenges) to use what I already have.  I have SO much and it'll take me to the far reaches of eternity to use up all this stuff sooo...this is one small dent, albeit miniscule.

I noticed a card posted on fb the other day with a challenge attached- the Sweet Stamp Shop Challenge #9 to "USE WHAT YOU HAVE"...ok...got it...so here it is:

So here's what I did:

1.  Take a picture of the stash...Um...That's embarrassing so I'll tighten up that photo a bit...

2.  Use the items in the stash to create a project.***Narrow it down to a few items that inspire a creation...or two...
*** Insert personal rule here...DONT GET DISTRACTED BY SHINY THINGS AND DIVERGE FROM THE TASK!!!
3.  Take pictures of said creations and blog about the adventure.

4.  Post a link to the creation on the SSS blog post.

So here goes:  

Stash Picture:

Narrow it down:

Hmmm...wonder if that means anything..Things are looking UP!  hee hee hee!
Finished products:

Started out with 12 little bag envies...I needed to get rid of those bags...I've had them for more than 5 years!!!  (Stamp set is Baby Love from Sweet Stamp Shop)

Now if I'm really going to get rid of stuff, I have to give (or sell) them away right?  Well, I needed a card for that so I made a coordinating card to go with it...

 Oh YES!  I'm SOOO PROUD of myself...1 project down..don't see the dent in my stash yet...

Link is set!

Now...Ready, Set, Go...I challenge you to do the same!!!

Roll the Die...Challenge

Hey stampers!

I spent some time this Sunday and Monday surfing blogs and looking at challenges (I wanna be at CHA!  WAHHHHH!!!!) and came across a challenge on the PaperTrey Ink blog.  One of the designers posted a video of a fun challenge for MAKE IT MONDAY Challenge #75called "Roll The Die" and it was quite interesting so I decided to give it a go... I did have to do a few modifications so I'll share them below.

First off, I downloaded the free worksheet to play in the challenge.  Thanks for the download...My ink cartridge pooped out right after the card sketches! LOL!!!

Next, I filled out the bottom portion of the worksheet using my computer.  Since I don't have any PTI products (WHY???  That's beyond me because I thought I had products from just about everyone!) I just made generic lists so I could pull from my massive collection of STUFF!!!

I didn't have a die so I used www.randomnumbergenerator to get my numbers.  I just selected the six-sided die option and started "rolling".

I also used the color inspiration seeds (www.design-seeds.com) for yesterday and today for my color selections.  

Finally I listed some generic embellishment combinations:

So What did I roll???

Orientation:  #6 VERTICAL CARD IT IS!
Sketch:  #6 so I'm making this sketch:

This is the color combo inspiration selected from www.designseeds.com (July 16):

SOOOO...After about an hour in my craft room, here's what I came up with...It was harder than I thought to color match these colors!!!  

Everything I used has been in my craft room forever!  I've been hoarding the cardstock on the base forever because I love the texture (it's actually Japanese paper from Hanko Designs).  The other papers are Bazzill and DCWV.  I also used a Cuttlebug embossing folder and decided to use it like letterpress paper.  I used my Scor-pal to emboss the edge of the banner too.  Rubbing a bit of white ink over the embossing really brought out the dimension on the CB'd background don't you think?  The butterfly stamp is from a TAC set (It might be available again through Red Rubber Designs).  The sentiment is from a Studio G dollar set from my collection.

It was really fun to do this challenge and I hope to try it again soon.  

Oh The Places You'll Go...

THIS CARD IS LISTED IN MY ETSY SHOP HERE!

Hey stamping friends!  Happy Saturday!!! I wanted to take a little time to wish Sparkle Smith, Aki Fukuoka and all those associated with Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps a happy 2nd Anniversary!!!  Over the past two years, you've inspired my creative spirit with your adorable stamps and artwork.  I have so enjoyed seeing all the NEW stamp designs come to life and can't wait for more fabulous inspiration in the future!!!  Congrats and many inky good wishes!!!  


After hopping along on your amazing Anniversary hop, I was inspired to create a card to say...HEY WAIT FOR ME!!! I WANNA CELEBRATE TOO!!!  So Cheers! Here's to you, and I'll be there in a few! I'm also contributing this to the "Throwback Challenge SCRSC83" that ends tomorrow.  I originally purchased this stamp because it reminded me of a student (also named Chloe) I had for two years.  She moved with her Navy family to Japan this year.

Added a little Diamond Stickles to her helmet and some Glossy Accents on the heart images too.  

Products Used:
Memento Tuxedo Black
Copic Markers
Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps "Scooter Chloe"
Copic Xpress It Card
Kraft card base (The Paper Company)
White machine thread
Recollections patterned paper
Wrinkle ribbon
Spellbinders Die
Diamond Stickles
Glossy Accents
Glue Dots

CONGRATS!!!  MANY MORE TO COME!!!
Ker

Unity Stamp of the week "Happy Couple"...

Hey stamping friends,

I'm here today to share a little card I made this weekend with my new UNITY Stamp of the Week set that came in the mail on Friday.  I know there will be LOTS more posted in the future with this fabulous "Happy Couple"  Set (set #2 in the Stamp of the Week collection).

When the announcement for the special UNITY Stamp of the Week promotion began, I jumped at the opportunity to get such an inexpensive treat in my mailbox each week.  A few weeks ago, my first installment arrived (FIRST EVER UNITY PURCHASE/STAMPS) and I was WOWED by the quality...and the PERKS!

SO today, I hope you enjoy this little treat I created.  Stop by in a few days for more of my UNITY creations.

Pin It

This card was created with my BASICS.   Yep, black and kraft cardstock, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain ink, cranberry cardstock, yummy ribbon and some "Lovey Dovey" embellishments...

Other materials added -but difficult to see in photos are Copper Shimmer Spritz and Tuxedo Black Fireworks Spray.  

Photo Overlay credit is given: (Squared Ink by adamned.age-H.adam on flickr)

Shack Survivor...How long will I LAST?

Hey stampers!  Today I'm sharing a card I made for a contest that will begin soon on THE STAMP SHACK.  It's been a long time coming, but Shack contests and challenges are BACK and I'm excited about it!  I'm sharing a card created for SURVIVOR...An elimination game where participants post a card in hopes that their card does not get eliminated...

I bet mine will get elimintated real soon in the competition because it has some traditional items that are usually on the top of the chopping block.  SO here are the "popular items"

stamped flowers, ribbon, kraft cardstock, twine

Here are some things I hope keep me in the mix...they're not so common: 

graph paper, mosaic, coloring with chalk/glycerin and doodling

We'll see...

Stamps used:  WoodwareUSA Fun Flowers, I Love My Garden

Patterned Paper:  None

Cardstock:  The Paper Company (Kraft), Bazzill (green), Club Scrap? (Teal)

Graph Paper

Ribbon/Twine:  Michael's

Colored chalk

Glycerin

Versafine Onyx ink

Copic Mulitliner Black pen .35

Harvest Love...

Hello stampers,
I'm back today to share my project for this week's "Anything Goes" challenge at Woodware USA.   I just got some new sets and wanted to play around with them this weekend.

Here are the deets:

Woodware USA Stamp Sets Used: 

I Love My Garden

Leafy Accents

Ink:  Ranger Clear Resist Ink (background)

Memento Tuxedo Black (sentiment and colorable images)

Copics: 

Sky:  BG0000, B0000, B00

Pot: YR31, YR14, YR24, E37

Leaves and Grass:  G24, YG45, G07

Dirt: E57, E71, E37, YR14 

FlowersY19, E93 

Ladybug:  R27

Glossy Accents (for ladybug)

Red Button:  from a craft show unkn mfg.

MS green twine

Black Thread (machine stitching)

Card Base:  Ribbed white cardstock from The Paper Company

Parakeet Green Cardstock, Bazzill (flipped to the non-textured side)

Red Brad:  Making Memories

Hope you have some time this week to join the fun! Post your creation on the inlinks section on the Woodware USA blog (and also here) and you'll be in the drawing for a free stamp set!!! It's that easy!

Spring Greetings...

It's not quite Spring yet but it sure does look like it around here!  The flowers are sprouting, the trees are budding and the robins are a huntin'!  It's time to get into the cheerful mood and celebrate NEW LIFE and GREEN, GREEN, GREEN!!! 

This week at the Woodware USA blog, we're celebrating SPRING a bit early.  Our weekly challenge is SPRING...so to get you (and a few STAMP SHACK friends) into the spirit, I'm sharing these cards with you!  I hope you consider joining in on the Spring Fest by posting your creation in our inlinkz on the WoodwareUSA challenge blog or at the end of my post. 

I created these cards with some of my most favorite things:  embossing, Diamond Stickles, ribbon, twine, buttons...and doodling! 

 I really love this new set to Woodware USA called "Ornamental Flourishes" and knew the first thing I was going to do with it was emboss in WHITE.  It's such a perfect set for backgrounds and I know it'll be really fun to do the chalk technique with too.   The sentiment comes from the set called "Garden Greetings". 

If you haven't already done so, make sure to head over to the Woodware USA blog to check out all the projects the design team has created this week.  We hope to continue to inspire your stamping spirit and encourage you to join in on the fun...You just may be this month's PRIZE winner!!!

See ya Wednesday as I have some deelish Heartfelt Creations projects to share!
Ker



get the InLinkz code

Winter Wishes...And a Challenge...

This week's challenge at the WoodwareUSA blog is to create a wintery card...Oh THAT'S not a problem for me!  I love ALL things Winter (except for accidents). 

If you were on the WoodwareUSA blog, you are probably still wiping the drool off your chin.  Didn't you just LOVE the adorable cards created this week?   I think now that I've seen so many fabulous creations using the Winter Tots set, that's the next set on my list for sure!!!  It's so cute and I feel sorry for that little Winter Tot Boy who isn't getting any inky time!  LOL...

Today I'm sharing a card I created using the new set called "What Is It?".  And Really, What is that little bowling pin shaped thing supposed to be?  Take a look and try to guess...

Perhaps it might be a chicken, or how about a turkey or an owl?  Maybe it's a penguin or any bird for that matter...Or maybe, just maybe...If you REALLY Believe...It could be a....

Yeah, I gave this little snowy creature some antlers (Could Rudolph be hiding under there?), and some wings to fly away... So I call him a "SnowDeerAngel"...Yeah, That's a stretch, right?  He's cute though!

This is such a playful set and I'm envisioning using it for every holiday, you just wait and see!  Hmmm New Years?  Cheers!  Valentine's day "Cupid?"  Hmmmm....

HIDDEN CHALLENGE:  Even though the WoodwareUSA is hosting a challenge that delivers one MONTHLY prize, I'm offering up another prize, just this week!  So If you want a chance at winning THIS stamp set, just add a TWIST to a snowman (any stamp company), post your creation in my inlinkz below and you could win it!  Oh, make sure that I have a way to contact you.   The last winner of one of my challenges lost out on a fab. stamp set because I had no email contact through blogger, she didn't post their email, didn't have a blog post address, and didn't reply to my WINNER post...SO MAKE SURE I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN! 

You have until NEXT Monday to participate!  Please, only one original entry per person.  I will announce the winner on Tuesday evening.  Now I'm off to pray for a little snow!

Kerry

Off Season...

Yes, I know it's not Springtime in Virginia and we're getting ready for my favorite snowy time of year, but I think I need a little sunshiney sparkle to pep me up a bit.  I don't know about you, but I get happy when I see flowers!  So today, I'm sharing a card I created especially for the WoodwareUSA Challenge of the week:  Birthday Greetings.  Maybe I can send it to a friend in a sunny climate right now.  

I created this card using the ever-so-versatile set called Garden Greetings .  I love that many of the sentiment sets by Woodware include tiny images that coordinate with everything.  I seem to use these tiny images in a lot of my cards because they work so well in clusters, as added details to tags and fun focal images on tiny cards.  As you can see above, I stamped the cluster of flowers several times on the plain cardstock backing then stamped some additional ones to pop up off the page and give a FULL floral effect. 

Since I hadn't used any of the pink card packs I picked up at Joanne's a few months ago (a STEAL of a deal at $2.00 a pack of 8 cards and envies DCWV 5 1/2 x 5 1/2), I knew this was the perfect card to make with one of them.   

I really did want this card to be CAS...but I just can't seem to hold back...thus, CAS this is not.  It does have a lot of WHITE space, so perhaps that is as close as I'm going to get!  LOL...

I doodled a bit too.  I wanted to have some heart flowers included in the floral cluster since there was a cute little heart on the watering can.  Hope you enjoy! 

Remember, if you want a chance to win a fabulous Woodware stamp set, make sure to stop over at the WoodwareUSA blog to post your entry! 

YNS...The Borrowers...

I'm having a BALL being the GUEST DESIGNER for November at YNS and today I'm sharing my final post.  Thank you to all my stamping friends who have checked out my projects and have commented too!  Extra special thanks to Karen for supplying the FABULOUS stamps and opportunity to design for her, and to Sem for beautifully organizing such fun HOPS and events!!!   

Every stamper loves a good challenge right? The final November challenge is a DOOSIE for me!  This challenge is called The Borrowers (YNSC30). That means challenge participants should CASE a Design Team Member's card creation...That's a hard one...

Who was I going to CASE and which card would it be???

Would it be Linda C for the simple layouts, use of twine and deelish coloring???

Would it be Jenny for her use of plain cardstock to highlight an awesome image???

Would it be Crystal for her use of stick pins, pouffy bows and deelish color combos?

Would it be Sylvia for her stitching, awesome layouts and rich colors???

Would it be Maureen for her cheery mix of patterned papers???

Would it be Beth for her love of bright pink and lime green???

Would it be Simonne for her awesome layouts and coloring? 

Would it be Kerri for her use of circles and that little banner to display sentiments???

Would it be Wendy for her adorable Have an Ice Day project tutorial???

Would it be Chris for her round layouts?

Hmmmm....lemme see....

I think I'll CASE KERRI today!  Yeah, since we share the same first name, why not choose her, it's only fair!

Now, whenever I CASE someone's work, I always draw up a little sketch and put it in my sketch book.  That way, the inspiration can stay with me forever, and I'll remember where the original *spark* came from.  So here's the little sketch:

And here's my creation: 

Stamps Used:  Your Next Stamp:  Merry Kiss-Mas

Ink:  Versafine Onyx (Clear Embossed), Versacolor Oasis Green, Distress Ink:  Weathered Wood

Diamond SticklesCopic Markers: 

Gold Liquid Pearls

Fiskars Threading Water Punch

Nestabilities Circle/Scalloped circle dies

Plastic Snowflake, DMC thread and BLING from my stash

Body:  E33, E43, E50, E53, E93

Hair/Pants/Shoes:  E33, E35, E37, E53, YR14, E77

Dress/Shirt:  Y21, B32, B95, C1

Anyway, I used patterned paper from The PaperLoft collection called Old Town Tavern and the paper is called "Franklin"...LOVE PAPERLOFT!!!

Hope you find a YNS designer you would like to CASE today! Make sure to post your creation on the YNS challenge blog for your chance to win a special something from Karen!

A Sprinkle of Sunshine...

I made this little (and I mean little) water bucket today for Challenge #20 on YNS Challenge Blog...The challenge was Flower Power! and I thought there was nothing better than a bucket of blossoms...

I got the little water bucket from Michael's a LONG time ago because I thought it was so cute but hadn't done anything with it. Today I painted it white, added some excelsior grass and then painted some little sticks to act as flower stems. Then I stamped some flowers using two sets (Flower Pots and Kite Flying Fhiona)from YNS. I punched several Fiskars punches to make additional flowers in the "arrangement". After coloring, cutting out and punching all the flowers and the sun, I applied them to the sticks then arranged them in the water bucket. The finishing touches were some dotty ribbon, a bit of stickles and some pearl Liquid Pearls...And VOILA...A cute little bit of sunshine right for my craft room!

Hey, why not upload a card to the challenge blog. The only stipulation is that it should have stamping and FLOWERS...Heck, with a random number generator, everyone has a fair chance of winning some fun prizes from YNS right???

Share more later...

Ker

Secret Revealed...

Hey stampers! So, did you want to wring my neck for that little tease? Well, sorry about that (not really ")) but I have some exciting news to share with you today. I haven't tried out for a design team position in a long time and thought after reading the DT call for Your Next Stamp on Splitcoaststampers that I would try out again. I tried my hand at Karen's call when she first launched her stamp company and did not make the cut, so why not try again right???

This summer was the perfect time to find a company that fit me to a "T". One that had stamps that were just fun, and YUMMY, DELICIOUS, QUALITY unmounted purple rubber!!! So, I hurried over to YNS and read the details. I bought some new stamps specifically for the call and they arrived yesterday. I tore into the envelope, and ran right up to my room to play!


So you know that image on my sneak? Well, below you'll find the full card. In the next few days, I'll post close-up shots of all my work for this DT call, but for now, I'll just post full project shots.



If you know me, you know that I LOVE ribbon, stickles, patterned paper, and of course my COPICS! You can see I HAD to use those items here. This was the first card I created for the call and I wanted it to be a bit different than what you usually see with this set. I picked out the patterned paper first then went on to coloring FLOWER POTS. I cut those out and then stamped the petal again. SHHHH...I'm sure some may think it's a sin, but I did cut the stamp apart...Now I have a stem and a flower bud... I know I could have masked, but it's much easier just pulling the stamp you want out. Yeah, sure I love bright cheerful colors, but I think this image works so well with the more natural colors too.

After creating this card, I moved on to a more playful stamp set. This set made me smile so I thought I needed to select a happy patterned paper... After selecting the paper, I set off to coloring the image in coordinating colors. I stamped BIG TALL GRASS onto some white cardstock then stamped Kite Flying Fhiona . Of course Fhiona needed her little pooch tagging along, so I added him too. I think he looks like a Schnauser I knew as a kid so I colored him different grays.

My last submission was a little project I made for one of my nephews. It's always hard to find great boy stamp sets but this set (Fhiona's Tent) screamed his name. He's an avid camper and LOVES to rough it in the woods with his Boy Scout brothers. Now I don't think he'll carry it along with him because his pack is the perfect weight, but it will be a yummy gift to enjoy before he heads out on his next adventure.

Yes! you can see it's a canvas bag full of goodies to make SMORES! No camping trip is complete without them right???LOL

So that's my submission for the Your Next Stamp design team call. I had tons of fun making these three projects specifically for the call and am excited to make more. Now that my new stamps are here, I'll be stamping away to make MORE creations.

Stay tuned to my blog within the next few days. As mentioned before, I'll post close-ups of each card/project.

Happy Stamping!

Thinking Inking

I'm participating in the Retake on Thinking Inking challenge over at 2peas and have enjoyed rewatching the videos each week and creating tags using what I learned. Wow...What fun it is to get to stamp and use products that haven't been used in quite a while in my craft room! You know when my Copic bug hit, I think I dropped everything just to try to become adept at using them...Well, I can say now that I really need to do different things and practice letting my muse have a little bit more freedom...I have learned she's been confined to coloring for too long and needs to be able to get out more (Yeah, I'm sure my older sister is saying the same thing about ME right now! LOL). Anyway, I thought I would post the tags I've been creating for the past few weeks.

Week 1 was all about using distress inks. After watching the videos, I was reminded that I can spritz them with water to create awesome splotchy effects and I can also water stamp on them. Yes, I already knew all about this but time and COPICS took over and well, everything else took the back seat.

So here are the two tags I created:

I pulled out some stamps that I've had for years and haven't been using lately. What fun it is to not go out to buy more stuff but to use the stuff I have...That's another thing I'm challenging myself to do for the Thinking Inking challenges...I'm not buying anything and am using what I have!!!

I didn't follow the "swap" directions very well in week one (the size was not right and they were not identical) and I loved both tags a lot so I decided not to swap the first week.

This week I planned on making two very similar tags at the correct specified measurement and swap with another participant in the challenge.

This week is week 2 and the videos reminded me of things I could do with my embossing powders. Yes, as you read, you can see that these videos have been reminders for me. I don't think I've learned anything new yet, just have been reminded of things I have not done in so long. It's nice to get back to doing some things that got me hooked on stamping in the first place.

So here are the two tags I created for week 2. You can see that the tags are almost identical except for the placement of the flowers and the little gold dots on the brads. I added those first and then decided I shouldn't go overboard and try to stick with the techniques in the videos...You know me...Ms OVERBOARD, OVER DO IT and REINVENT IT! Hee hee...

I'm loving how the embossing powder on the brads looked after they were heat set. They are kinda metallic teal looking. It only happened when I embossed with one layer. After adding two layers of the cobalt powder, the embossing powder had almost a black color.

I'm awaiting a special shipment from Canada any day now and once it arrives, I'll be posting some new things and announcing something exciting...Keep your eyes peeled!

Kerry