Joy Clair June Challenge...Americana...

From the Starfish, to the whitewashed bricks on the lighthouse to the sparkle of the fireworks, this card takes a bow to Americana!  I was so inspired by this photo collage that I just HAD to play along!  I incorporated as much as I could from the photo...including the little photo's themselves...ready for YOU to add some amazing smiles!  

Hey there, It's Kerry here and I'm excited to be joining my fellow Joy Clair designers as we usher in the beginning of the summer months...and all the FUN that is to be had.  We're inspired to create projects with a jumping off point in the photo above.  What part of the photo inspires YOU?  Please share in the comments! 

PS...Don't forget the challenge comes with a fabulous prize!  Playing with us is very simple!  You only need to create a project using "Anything Goes" as theme then post your project on your personal blog or in an online gallery.  Link your post to our inlinkz on the JC Blog. You can use any brand of stamps!!!

• MUST directly link to the Joy Clair blog in your post. (Or entry will not count)
• Projects must be NEW, no back linking, please.
• Number of entries is unlimited.
• Add a direct link to your project using the InLinkz below.
• If you use a Joy Clair stamp set or sets, you will have a double of opportunities to win!

The stamps used to create this card include:  Broken Brick Background (NEW), God's Focus (Bible Journaling), Seas the Day and Let's Celebrate

After stamping the brick background onto my card base (I used Hero Arts White Pigment "Unicorn" ink), I diecut a star (I used an old QuickKutz Squeeze die in my FSJ Platinum Machine) and then added the sparkle tape.  Next, I stamped the photos onto white cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and the starfish onto white cardstock with red and blue ink (Fun Stampers Journey Denim and Cranberry Bliss).  I added a bit of dimension to the starfish by burnishing the underside with a burnishing tool.  I also added some gloss to give them additional dimension and shine.

To give the kraft paper a bit more of a rustic vibe, I rubbed a bit of Memento TerraCotta ink onto it with my paper.  The final touch was to fussy cut and assemble the "collage" and then attach some jute.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope my project inspired you to create something Americana!  To view other inspiration from my teamies, please visit the Joy Clair Blog for a complete listing of the projects (and links to each one).

Pop it UP!!! Joy Clair Challenge

Hey there!  It's time for another fun Joy Clair challenge!  This time our challenge will run for TWO MONTHS so you'll have plenty of time to participate!  I hope you do find some time to play along with us as we have an awesome $25.00 gift card up for grabs for two lucky participants.  Just play along and post your card creation HERE for your chance to win!  

This month our theme is POP IT UP...Anything Goes!  While we do have some color inspiration (as seen above), you can S.T.R.E.T.C.H your creativity as long as you POP IT UP!  WOOP WOOP!  

I chose to create a card for a fellow teacher who is getting married.  Her bridal shower is being held this week and I went out shopping for the perfect gift.  Well, I got that but discovered the wrapping paper is pretty much focused on Christmas right now so I had to dig deeeeeep to find something that would work for her gift.  I went with a simple blue and white stripe holiday paper then headed to Michaels for a pop of color ribbon.  Yeah, it kinda reminded me of a nautical theme so I went with that for my card.  

While I didn't use ALL of the colors in the inspiration photo, I did use MOST of them...I used the reds, the cream and changed the green to blue...and voila!  Take a peek at my coordinating card!

I used the stamp set Seas the Day and the Wood background stamp to create my fun card.  I stamped the water (to mimic the stripes in the paper) with some blue ink from Memento and the woodgrain with that same blue ink.  To get a nice crisp and rich image, I used my Misti and stamped over it four times.  After that, I used the Ladybug Red ink from Memento to stamp the sentiment and the hearts.  I stamped the starfish (big guy for the groom and the little lady for the bride...He's tall and she's short) with some taupe ink from Memento.  I cut out the starfish and formed them a bit with a ball stylus and then popped them up on the card. 

I added some microfine glitter to the starfish and the hearts and then tucked some red satin ribbon under the "pennant" to finish the card off. 

Here you can see a hint of the woodgrain.  I love this background stamp because it can just lift up the blah from a plain piece of cardstock!  Love it!! I tied the ribbon with a little bit of fake rope too.