Inspiration Time at Beautiful Blossoms Challenge

Welcome, Blogging Friends! I'm so happy you are here! It was ALMOST more fun WRITING today's post, than it was to make the card - but I really laughed a lot through the makings of this project, and I hope you will laugh through the post.  YOU WILL UNDERSTAND WHY MY BLOG IS CALLED CREATIVE SMILES.

First things first: let me tell you about our new challenge blog:

 Last month we kicked off a Brand New Challenge called Beautiful Blossoms . 

It is a fun "mood-board-inspired" monthly challenge which features Flowers as the main focus. 

The Mood Board is a starting point, and your artwork is where your imagination takes you! You do not have to follow the theme of the Mood Board, but you do need to use it as inspiration.

Details are on the blog. Hope to see you there! 

I was inspired by the petals, pinks, and blue background in this mood board.

Have you ever had one of those projects where not one single thing works out as anticipated, yet STILL, you plug along, expecting the next step to cover up the problem, but then THE NEXT STEP becomes a problem, too? Until your whole project is one blunder after another?

Well, THAT is this card. NOTHING happened the way it was supposed to, AND that was after throwing away two-partially-colored and/or cut out items for this card! SIGH - and yet, I really did have fun making a  mess and playing with just about everything in my craft room. (What a mess to clean up afterward!)

I couldn't even take photos as I went along because it was one boo-boo after another, including:

1.  throwing away two backgrounds
2.  ruining the embossing powder, 
3.  refilling the Copic marker with the incorrect color reinker, 
4. restarting from scratch, 
5. NOT ruining the EP the 2nd time, 
6. NOT using Copics the 2nd time, 
7. dropping the markers repeatedly on the card front, 
8. warping my cardstock by spilling water on it (the SAME water I was using for cleaning my brush, so it WASN'T EVEN CLEAN WATER), 
9. dropping the card several times and TWICE rolling over the card front with my chair, 
10. having the super-duper adhesive stick my card front to the guillotine cutter because I had forgotten that I die cut a small hole in the back..
11. and WHY would I do that? Because I had run out of pink cardstock for the sentiment.
12. Picking a brad that would cover a mistake. Using a Copic on said brad to change the color, only to have my hand spasm and the color ended up on the sentiment. Went to look for a larger brad, and found one - it gaudies up my sentiment satisfactorily. LOL

DARE I GO ON? 

Speaking of boo-boo's:

OKAY, OKAY -- Those are a few of my boo-boo's. I figured, at this point, no matter what I tried to do, blunders were GOING to occur, so I pressed on... 

Jack came in and asked, "Is there anything I can do?" All I could do was laugh at that point, because he could see all the little piles in my room where I had each small boo-boo isolated to fix the mistakes. 

At the VERY END, I almost glued the completed topper onto the card UPSIDE DOWN.

BUT I PERSEVERED AND WON!

sorta...

               kinda...

After ALL THAT, 

wanna see what I made?  (giggle)

Products used: Beccy's Place Cherry Blossoms clear stamp set, Sue Wilson Lattice Arched Adornment die, Tutti-680 Stitched Rectangles, Spellbinders Decorative Labels Eight, assorted distress inks, Zig markers, Tombow markers, pink EP.

Challenges I would like to play in please:

1. Ally's Angels #67 AG 3/9 (1 of 3)
2. Beccy's Challenges (February) Beccy, I hope I followed your directions - please forgive me if I misunderstood. 3/1
3. Creations in Pink #54 AG in Mainly Pink
4. Colorful Options (Feb 2) Celebrate Pink 2/28 (sep post)
5. A Perfect Time to Craft Open Challenge #2 AG 3/1 (winners on 3-28)
6. Worldwide Crafters and Colorists Challenge #2 AG 3/12 (1 of 3)
7. Pammie's Inky Pinkies #2306 AG 2/20
8. The Paper Funday Challenge #50 AG with lots of layers 3/1

Thanks for popping by today!

Playing in CAS mix-up with alcohol ink and vellum

 Greetings, friends! I've always wanted to play in the CAS MIXUP Challenge Blog, but shy away from CAS cards because I just have trouble making them. So I took the time to make a card specifically using their displayed techniques. It's a great challenge because new technique tutorials are shared with links to an assortment of ways to play along. 

AND the design team shares absolutely fantastic samples!

This time the technique is alcohol inks on vellum. My AIs are a good 15-20 years old. I learned the hard way that even solvent products which have been carefully stored, may not have THAT long a self life! Still, where there is a will, there is a way.

CAS MIXUP Challenge Blog suggested Video Tutorials:

Alcohol Inks on Vellum using hair dryer (Dearly Dee - 13:35)

Alcohol Inks on Vellum using straws (Emelie Hessler - 6:34)

Alcohol Markers on Vellum (Melanie Muenchinger - 12:19)

Copic Coloring on Vellum (Jessica Frost-Ballas - 5:27)

To make my wonky frame out of glossy cardstock, I used two dies from Sue Wilson's Pierced Noble collection:

Then I used AIs (listed below) on PRINTED VELLUM (see the tiny white flowers showing through the alcohol inks?)

The die cut and frame are both from glossy white cardstock for a polished look. I hope this is considered CAS. It certainly is for me! (giggle)

The "Resting Butterfly" die is years old, but never used. So glad to play with it!

Products Used: Ranger AI: Sail Boat Blue, Citrus, Stream, Wild Plum, and Blender Solution - Dies: Die-namites "Resting Butterfly", Sue Wilson Noble Dies (Double Pierced Squares A & B - Stamps: Beccy's Place Cherry Blossom sentiment stamped with Warm Breeze VersaFine Clair with Clear EP - Paper: White Glossy Chromecoat, Pale off turquoise, Vellum

Challenges I would like to play in please:

1. CAS Mix-Up Challenge (July) Alcohol Ink on Vellum 8/1 (sep post)
2. Crafting Happiness #105 AG 7/26
3. Pammie's Pinky Pinkies #2129 AG 7/26
4. Paper Funday Challenges #31 AG 8/4
5. NBUS #28 AG with virginal product (Die-namites "Resting Butterfly") 8/1
6. Dies R Us Challenge #173 AG w/dies DRU sells (Die-namites "Resting Butterfly", Sue Wilson Noble Dies (Double Pierced Squares A & B) 8/1 (sep posts)

Stamping Hugs,

2 Crafty Critter Crazies and Beccy's Place

Hi, Blogging Friends!
Did you know you are un-FROG-etable?!
and it makes me HOPPY
just knowing you?!

(giggle)
A little freebie gift at the bottom today.

It's time for a new Challenge at Two Crafty Critter Crazies 
where we love to celebrate any project with a critter on it! Critters include mythical creatures, animal toys and everything alive (except humans and flora)!


Our very generous sponsor this month is:
Beccy Muir of Beccy's Place.
She has such a whimsical style and wonderful characters.
My card features the delightful "Frog and Oleander" stamp with a few fun sentiments.

HOW THE DIGITAL WAS MANIPULATED:

For my project, I flipped the scene horizontally so it is facing the opposite direction. The image was duplicated, and saved as "flower". Then I cropped the flower off the scene and saved it separately.
It was added two more times to the oleander bush, once behind the frog and once in the lower corner, positioning each so they did not face exactly the same directions. Now this froggy is ready to bring a smile to anyone facing a bit of hardship, needing encouragement, or even an all occasion thinking-of-you card!



To make the dimensional flowers I cut out two additional flowers the same size as in the scene and popped them up:


The petals were cut separately and popped up separately:



The square in the background is also done digitally using the SHAPES feature of my word processor. Dimensional Glue was squeezed around the square and coated with clear glitter, as were the flower centers:



Finished creation:



Card Interior for Any Occasion:

I have made a silly freebie digital sentiment for you in a sweet font for either frogs or toads. NOT for commercial use, please. Use it on any of your projects, and you may use it on projects involving any design teams you might be on.

Click on the image to bring it to full size, then right click and do a SAVE.

Enjoy!

Products Used:

• Images: Frog and Oleander by Beccy Muir, Freebie sentiment above.
• Pine Needles Distress Ink, Caran d'Ache Luminance 6901 Color Pencils and Gamsol, Dimensional Glue, Clear Glitter
• Dies: SB Scalloped Labels One, Labels One, Grand Labels One

Challenges I'd like to Play in Please:

1. Beccy's Challenges (Oct) Anything Goes using a Beccy's Image 11/1 (sep post)
2. Crafty Cardmakers #242 Add a Critter 10/14 (sep post)
3. Morgan's ArtWorld #10 Anything Goes 11/1 (sep post)
4. Tuesday Throwdown #441 Anything Goes 10/4
5. C.R.A.F.T. Challenge #529 Animals 10/2 (sep post) My froggy animal is enjoying his flowers 

Froggy Hugs!

Snowflakes - Christmas at Sweet Stampin'

Waving hello to all my blogging friends, and wishing you all the best!

We had a tornado hop-scotch across the county. Fortunately, we only have a downed tree, but our experimental tomatoes were also tossed around.

Not sure if they will survive, or if the trauma was too much for them.

I'll let you know!

In the meantime...

I've got a CAS Christmas card today.

Today begins a new challenge at 

Christmas at Sweet Stampin'!

My brilliant teammates have fantastic samples to share! We hope to see your imaginative artwork each month in our "Anything Goes Christmas" Challenges. The challenge is for ANY Christmas theme craft project. May's Challenge is open until June 8 and has an optional challenge is snowflakes.

Today's card uses a background from my stash - it's a magenta colored piece of mirror cardstock that had some imperfections in it. Pearlescent acrylic paints were smooshed on it to create interesting "crystals".

When distressing the dry embossed panel, I dropped the finger dauber twice onto the stamped sentiment, so I tried distressing the entire sentiment to cover up my blunder. That made it worse, of course, so I used a glue pen and covered with glitter. Ahhh, glitter is a girl's best friend. Or shall I say, "Glitter is a Fumble Finger's BFF." (giggle)

Finished card:

Products Used: Beccy Muir sentiment "Milton Chasing Snowflakes", Tutti Snowflake Corner, Spellbinders Curved Borders One, Monarch Purple VersaFine Clair ink, Craftwell Delicate Dots EF.

Challenges I'd like to play in please:

1. Merry Little Christmas Challenge #10 Anything Christmas Goes 6/1 (sep post)
2. Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #49 Anything Christmas Goes 5/18 (sep post)
3. World Wide Open DT Challenge #4 AG DT 5/15 
4. Corrosive Challenges #5 Anything Goes 6/3
5. Beccy's Challenges (May) AG with Beccy Muir image (sentiment is from "Milton Chasing Snowflakes" set) 6/1
6. Crafty Creations #390 Anything Goes 5/21
7. Creative Moments #168 Anything Goes 5/22
8. Scrapy Land #113 AG SL die (Tutti, SB) 5/15

Stamping hugs,

Beautiful Pear by Beccy Muir

Waving HELLO to all my friends
and grateful you can stop by today.

I was inspired by Beccy's Coloring Tutorial paired with her March freebie Beautiful Pear to create my fruity cards. Both pear clusters are colored similarly with Copic Markers and Prismacolor Markers, but different techniques were employed:

Steps:

1. I downloaded Beccy's Beautiful Pear image in black and white, converting it to  PNG with transparent background.
2. I placed three pears on my word processor and arranged to my liking before printing.
3. The pears were then colored with Copic and PC markers.

Here are the results:



For texture, a burlap strip was added with partial black die cut on the left. The sentiment was stamped with Nocturne VF Clair and heat set with a black detail EP that contains glitter, so the sentiment sparkles and shines:

Also colored with Copic and PC markers, my next card, partially embraces the pointillism technique found here:

The sentiment (from my new floral rubber stamp set which will debut on April 1) has been heat set with white detail embossing powder. The crinkled ribbon is seam binding with different color inks:

Some Products:

Stamps: Beccy's Beautiful Pear digital image, SNS Sentiment from my personal stamp set #938 Botanical Ruffled Peony, Hero Arts Sentiment Clear Stamps CL582, Dies: SB Grommet Tags, Spellbinders Grand Ovals, SB Floral Ovals, Sue Wilson Indian Ocean Tag Duo, SB Grand Decorative Labels One, Surprise Creations Double Stitched die set,  Ribbons: Lace and hand-dyed ribbon from my stash, and from Really Reasonable Ribbon Leaves (green) and loose-weave burlap (looks like it's retired)

Challenges I'd like to play in, please:

1. Beccy's Challenges (new blog location) AG using a Beccy Muir image 4/1
2. Crafting with Friends #1 Anything Goes 3/30
3. Aud Sentiments #223 Any Sentiment except HB 4/4 (sep post)
4. Scrapy Land Challenges #110 AG SL dies (SB Grommet Tags, Spellbinders Grand Ovals, SB Floral Ovals, Sue Wilson Indian Ocean Tag Duo, SB Grand Decorative Labels One) 4/2 (sep post)
5. A Bit More Time to Craft #88 Anything Goes 4/1 (sep post)
6. Crafty Friends Challenge #106 "Spring Colors" 4/6

On a Personal Note - 
Last week our Chinese Fringe Plants were blooming. This one is on the side in the back. They will stop blooming in a week, and I'll drastically prune it. The new foliage will come out a pretty burgundy color for the next 6 months.

Exterior View

Interior View

Close up - taken from a nursery

Smiles,

It's Halloween at The Crazy Challenge! {Sparkle N Sprinkle}

Hello, scrapping friends! Wishing you all some special joys and delightful surprises - you know, those wonderfully beautiful moments we each have during the day, and all too often take for granted. With Gratitude, I find them exceedingly endearing.

Today I am guest designing for a fun challenge blog calledTHE CRAZY CHALLENGE. (thank you for giving me this opportunity, Crazies!)

This fortnight's challenge is HALLOWEEN #259.
So get your creepiest stuff together and join in the fun!

All three cards are flat for mailing

and were inspired by  Sketch-Tanten, Card Mania, House of Cards:

Using the Sparkle N Sprinkle "Cackle On" rubber stamp set  and "Witching Hour" digital set, I opted to try inking my background, something I've never done before! (hanging head in embarrassment).

There are three card samples because I was making three duplicate cards. Then I couldn't contain myself and tried some different designs on each one. I like them all and don't know which looks best!

The first card has a plain orange "vest" which has been distressed with Memento Black Tuxedo ink:

The sentiment cracks me up - or should I say "cackles me up"?

The Ink Colors:

The second is the same card, but without a vest. I think it might be my favorite:
distressed with DI's Chipped Sapphire, Stormy Sky, Blue Print, Sea Wood and Memento Paris Dusk and Tuxedo Black. The stencil was done with Sea Wood DI.

Ms. Witchie-Poo was stamped in black VersaFine ink and for some reason the clear EP, did not take very well on the witch, so I colored her with a VersaMarker and reheat it. I should have put her back in my Tonic Stamp Positioner, and just restamped her VersaMark, but apparently my brain was not functioning at that moment. Of course the light catches all the blemishes (giggling). The sentiment embossed just fine.

The wonky frame is something I can't help myself with - I love them!

Don't forget to join in the Halloweenie fun at THE CRAZY CHALLENGE!

Even the simple interior would make a cute Halloweenie Card:

Don't forget to upload your Halloweenie creations to THE CRAZY CHALLENGE!

A little tidbit about the Tonic Stamp Platform:

Are you new to stamping, or sometimes a little clumsy, like me with my FUMBLE FINGERS, or just need a helping hand sometimes? This product may be just what you want. I am very much enjoying it. For more details and videos, please click here.

Products Used:

• Images: Sparkle N Sprinkle "Cackle On" and "Witching Hour" rubber stamp sets.
• Dies: Die-Versions "Fall Friends" border, SB Circles, Sue Wilson Double Pierced Circles, MS Spider Web border punch.
• Papers: black glitter paper, black, white, slime green, pumpkin orange
• Assorted Dye Base Inks, VersaMarker, VersaMark, clear embossing powder, stencil

Challenges I'd like to play in please:

• House of Cards (Oct 1) CAS Halloween and/or colors 11/1 (check tab month after?)
• Aud Sentiments #190 Usse a Die Cut Plus a Sentiment 10/17 sep post 10/18
• The Crafter's Cafe #182 "Use Die Cuts and/or Punches 10/14 (Die-Versions "Fall Friends" border, SB Circles, Sue Wilson Double Pierced Circles, MS Spider Web border punch)
• If you give a crafter a cookie #79 Inspiration Panel 10/18 (bottom of post)

• Delicious Doodles (Oct 1) "Halloween - Scary or Cute" 11/1
• Crafty Calendar Challenge (Oct 7) Halloween 11/4 (sep post day before)
• Dragonfly Dreams "Fully Loaded - Busy" (my third card) 11/5
• Sketch-Tanten Sept 15 #36 Sketch SHOWN IN POST 11/15 (sep post day after)

• Scrapy Land #75 Anything Goes Using SL Die (3rd card uses Die-Versions "Fall Friends" border, SB Circles, Sue Wilson Double Pierced Circles) 10/16 sep post
• Craftaholics R Us #39 "Halloween" 10/11
• Crafty Gals Corner #143 "Add a Bat" 10/11 (bat in sky and in border)
• Card Mania Challenge #97 Color Combo 11/1 (sep post 10/30)

On A Personal Note:

Please forgive my absence in commenting on Facebook and Blogs.

A rather difficult exacerbation and unexpected eye problem have flared up.

This, too, shall pass - just wanted to let you know I care, and will resume my visits as soon as possible.

My gift to us all today is:

Stamping Hugs,