Ai Tennis Love!

Yeah for Thursday and a new challenge from Ai! I am playing along in their Humor and Puns Challenge 147. Be sure to check out all the brand new Ai People from Art Impressions.  

I was so excited when I saw this stamp set called, Birthday Love!! I don't play tennis, but I have many girlfriends that do! She is just perfect and will be seeing  a lot of ink!

Several layers going on here. The racquet was stamped twice and foam tape was used to lift up one side of it. Two of the tennis balls were also popped up!

Love the argyle patter paper, Chill from LF and thought it was a great match for this gal.

Copics: E47,44,43,41,11, 000,00  R17, 08,05,02  YR23,21,21  G03,02,00,0000  W3,1,00  YG00

Thanks for looking!

• Stamps: Ai-Birthday Love Set 4529
• Paper- Neenah 110, Bazzill, Lawn Fawn Sweater Weather-Chill, Crisp, Cool
• Other: Copics, Perfect Mini Layers, Nellies-Oval Dies, Viva Gloss Gel, Memento -Dual marker, Corner Chomper, Bow Easy, foam tape, seam binding

IMPRESSION OBSESSION~ COLORS OF FALL!

The leaves are staring to change their colors and you can feel the crispness in the air! Show us your fall colors and enter Impression Obsession's challenge. Play along with your creation for a chance at winning a $25 Gift Certificate. Anyone can join in and play! For all the guidelines go here to the IO Blog. 

Take a look at all the fall colors!

Daniela Dobson

Anna Wight

Dina Kowal

Ellen Taylor

Jeanne Streiff

Jenny Gropp

Karen Amidon...that's me!

Kittie Caracciolo

I started playing with the Small Leaf die set with no plan in mind! As you can see, it turned into a fall wreath!

I cut the leaf die set four times using four different shades of a heavy weigh paper.  Flower tools were used to curve and shape the leaves. The solid color paper seemed a little drab so I rubbed on some Inka Gold!

Next, a simple base was laid out by overlapping the maple leaves onto a circle die cut. Before glueing anything down, I went back and tucked in the rest of the other shaped  leaves. Some of the leaves were glued and some raised with foam tape. I then tucked in the brown twigs that were made from the Bare Branch Set. I love how the  Pine Sprig soften the wreath. A few metal studs were added for texture. The bow and hello finish my wreath.

I made this card for CHA and, although it says "Happy Thanksgiving", I love the image of the Leaf Collage. For the background I used one of my "go to" stamps. The Small Gingham is a favorite. The pretty brown trim is made using Die Border Duo 1. The Button Set that I used here is great for making any color buttons that you might need to match your papers! There are six different sizes.

Thanks for looking and hope that you will join in with your fall colors!

• Stamps: IO-CS372 Cissy
• Dies: DIE097-M Pine Sprig Cluster, DIE095-D Small Leaf Set, DIE022-U Bare Branch Set
• Ink: Memento Luxe- Rich Cocoa
• Papers: Neenah- ivory, Bazzill
• Other: Inka Gold- Gold, Gold Brown, Bow Easy, Susan's Garden Tools, Copics- E42 (to color ribbon) foam tape, Metal studs

2nd Card

• Stamps: IO- F13243DK Leaf Collage, D9401 Happy Thanksgiving, J9400 small gingham Background
• Dies: IO- DIE017-V Border Duo 1, DIE067-C Button Set
• Papers: Neenah, Bazzill
• Inks: Versafine, Memento-Peanut Brittle
• Other: Copics, watercolors, foam tape, muslin, twine, pearls 

SSCB #36 FALL

Time for the second half of Serendipity's October Fall Challenge. We would love for you to play along. Create something new with a fall theme using Serendipity stamps or dies. You don't have to have a blog to join in. There is a $20 Gift Certificate up for grabs and one entry will be chosen randomly to win. All the details on playing can be found on the SSCB.

Serendipity is having a sale this week
BUY 3, GET THE 4TH FREE
Just in time to stock up on those items you have on your wish list!
Good through Oct 22nd  

Let's see what the girls have made!
Julia Stainton...October guestie!
Vickie Zimmer
Jeanne Jachna
Jenny Gropp 
Julie Warner
Karen Amidon ...you are here!
Marybeth Lopez
Miriam Napier
Too Cute to Spook!

 The faces on this Pumpkin Tower make me laugh, I love those smiles! This has been colored with Copics and Wink of Stella was used on the pumpkins. I stamped the bottom part of the image again. After coloring just the two leaves, they were fussy cut and popped up. I cut a few of the black leaves off the ribbon and tucked them in under the paper leaves.

I think we all have had fun using this new BOO die! I've placed the black die cut into the negative space from the orange cut. There is a piece of paper behind the letters that I have colored with Copics.

Thanks for looking and Happy Halloween!

• Stamps: Serendipity-927H Pumpkin Tower
• Dies: Serendipity-036DD BOO!
• Papers: Neenah, Pebbles-Tricks and Treats, Bazzill
• Other: Copics: Mini Perfect Layers, Bow Easy, MFT- Vertical Stitched Stax, Wink of Stella, Viva Pearl Pen, Lawn Fawn- sequins, leaf ribbon, silk ribbon, foam tape

GINGERBREAD HOUSE

Lawn Fawn "Sweet Christmas"

Remember Candy Land? I would play it for hours and then dream of sweet treats!

This wonderful new set from Lawn Fawn is called, "Sweet Christmas".

When working on this box it brought back wonderful memories!

I decided to try a different size and shape for my pop-up-box. The finished card is 5 1/2 x 5 1/2. When open it forms a rectangle box. In order to balance the weight on the bottom, I ended up making the box this size so I could use the full image of the stamped house on the top.

Here is a view looking down into the box. I have attached all my die cuts directly onto the box dividers. There are not acetate wiggleys on this one, Lol!

Copics and Cryogen paper were used. I love how the color blends on this paper and it's perfect to used for holidays with its subtle sparkle. For the gingerbread house background I used a snowflake ef with two types of paper. The blue in back is a metallic paper with a heavy weight vellum on top of it. 

Rock Candy was used on the orange slice and gumdrops to look like sugar. Viva Gloss Gel was applied to the peppermints and lollypops. The snow icing along the roof was made with a Snow Marker. Of course, Wink of Stella has been used too!

Thanks for looking have a great week end!

• Stamps: Lawn Fawn- Sweet Christmas
• Dies: Lawn Fawn-Sweet Christmas-lawn cuts
• Papers: Cryogen, Bo Bunny- double-dot Gingerbread, kraft, metallic, heavy weight vellum
• Other: MFT- Pierced Oval Stax, Darice- Snowflakes embossing folder, Stickles- Rock Candy, Viva Gloss Gel, Copics, Marvy- Snow Marker, iridescent twine, bakers twine

SERENDIPITY STAMPS OCTOBER BLOG HOP!

Serendipity is celebrating their monthly Blog Hop with new October releases. Check out ALL the blogs to see what the designers have created and leave a comment. There is a $20 Gift Certificate up for grabs and the winner will be chosen randomly from one of the blogs. You will have until Monday 10/13 to leave your comments. The winner will be posted on Mary's Blog Tuesday 10/14.

For a SECOND chance to win a $20 Gift Certificate

LIKE Serendipity Stamps and SHARE here on Facebook

You should be arriving here from JULIE WARNER'S BLOG!

Dashing Through The Snow!

It's never too early to get a head start on making those winter holiday cards! 

 Wheee! Look at this little Sledding Snowman cutie, I love the expression on his face! He has been inked up in Memento's Gray Flannel and colored with Copics. Clear Wink of Stella was brushed on his face for that icy glistening. I have heat embossed the new Snowflake Set onto a heavy weight vellum for the background. I also added dots on the snowflakes with a Pearl Pen in light green. The fun small snowflake die cuts are actually from the "o" in the "Snow" die!

I thought Bo Bunny's,"Candy Cane Lane" paper paired nicely with, "Dashing through the Snow" for the inside of my card. The three large stamped snowflakes are from the Snowflake Set.

Thanks for looking!

To continue on with the hop, your next stop will be

Marybeth Lopez

Here are the Blog Hop Links

Mary's Blog

Julie Warner

Karen Amidon...here!

Marybeth Lopez

Miriam Napier

Vickie Zimmer

Jeanne Jachna

Jenny Gropp 

• Stamps: Serendipity- 1326G Sledding Snowman, 1335G Snowflake Set, 1328D Dashing through the Snow
• Dies: 039DD Snow Die
• Ink: Memento- Gray Flannel, VersaMark
• Papers: Neenah- ivory, Bazzill, Bo Bunny- Candy Cane Lane, heavy weight vellum
• Other: Copics, Wink of Stella, Gel Pearl Pen, Viva Gel Pen- transparent, el-detail white, Bow Easy, Spellbinders- A2 Curved Borders One, Large Circles, Nellie's Circles, MFT Stitched Circles 

IO~GHOULISGH GREETING~ CHALLENGE

I hope that you enjoyed the blog hop, there were so many wonderful ideas to be inspired by!

And now...it's Thursday which means more good stuff from the Impression Obsession DT! 

October is the month for fall and Halloween. GHOULISH GREETINGS is the theme for the IO challenge! 

To play along just use all IO stamps or dies and get creative. You don't have to have a blog to play and all levels are welcome. We love seeing your designs. As always, there is a $25 Gift Certificate up for grabs for a lucky winner that will be chosen randomly. To find all the guidelines you can go to the IO BLOG.

Let's take a look at all the Ghoulish Greetings!

Daniela Dobson

Anna Wight

Dina Kowal

Ellen Taylor

Jeanne Streiff

Jenny Gropp

Karen Amidon...that's me!

Kittie Caracciolo

Laura Fulcher

A SWEET GHOULISH GREETING!

I adore the silhouette dies of these darling three Trick or Treaters! Black Wink of Stella was added for sparkle. The stars are from the Peter Pan Collection and were stamped onto lavender metallic paper. I have framed them with my new favorite...the Rectangle 6 in 1 Frames, these are so cool! I thought the Boo to You was just right for this Halloween

ghoulish greeting.

Halloween Witches was stamped on the inside of my card. Both of these sayings are from the cling set, "Is the Moon Out Tonight?"

HALLOWEEN WITCHES!

I made another card using the same saying, "Halloween Witches". This stamp can be purchased by itself or in the cling set, "Is the Moon Out Tonight?"  The Witches Chant has been stamped onto Neenah white paper. The edges of the paper were then torn and edged with Blackbird chalk. The Spider Web Die was cut several times and placed behind the Witches Chant. I embellished the tulle and spider with a few sparkley diamonds. The card was finished off with a leaf ribbon and a bow.

Hope that you will play along and share you Ghoulish Greetings!

Thanks for looking!

Card One

• Stamps: Impression Obsession- CL546 Peter Pan Collection, CL553 Is the Moon Out Tonight?
• Dies: Impression Obsession-DIE242-YY Rectangle 6 in 1 Frames, DIE231-O Trick or Treaters
• Papers: Neenah, Bazzill, Carta Bella- Spooky Spider Dance, metallic cardstock
• Other: Versafine Ink- Onyx Black, Wink of Stella, Bow Easy, foam tape, jewels, silk ribbon, twine

Card Two

• Stamps: Impression Obsession-C14306 Halloween Witches, L14331 Witches Chant
• Dies: Impression Obsession-DIE115-J Spider Web
• Ink: Versafine- Onyx Black
• Papers: Neenah, Bazzill
• Other: Bow Easy, ColorBox Chalk- Blackbird, foam tape, Tulle, leaf ribbon, silk ribbon, jewels  

IO FALL RELEASE DIE HOP~DAY 3

It's all about the dies and the Impression Obsession Blog Hop!
It's day three and more dies to share. It's not too late to join in on the hop.
The more blogs you visit and leave a comment the better chance you will have to win a $25 Impression Obsession Gift Certificate!

Since today is the last day of the hop, two prizes will be awarded. One will be for todays comments and another will be chosen from all the comments left throughout the hop.
Both Wednesday winners will be announced on the IO Blog Friday.

All the dies that you are seeing, plus so many more, are available now!
www.iostamps.com

Today's hop links

Daniela Dobson

Dina Kowal

Ellen Taylor

Jeanne Steiff

Jenny Gropp
Karen Amidon...that's me!
Kittie Caracciolo
Laura Fulcher
Vicki Garrett

RETRO MASCULINE

 I love the Retro Masculine Die Set . Remember Mr. Potato Head?!! 

 I ran the dies a few times so I would have extra to play with. If you look closely at the design around the white circle you will see that it's two of the mustache styles alternating!

 The embellishments at the ends of the, "you're the best!" banner were made by using the bow tie and a mustache! 

I doubled up on the dies and popped them up for dimension. 

To get the look that I got using the embossing folder is really easy! 

I used a metallic adhesive sheet by Ranger and adhered it to a heavy weight paper. Very lightly I brushed over my embossed piece with black acrylic paint, angling my strokes. Next I used alcohol inks and blotted the color randomly over the embossed pieced. Lastly, I rubbed a little Inka Gold over it.

For the inside of my card I used some different combinations from the Retro Masculine set. There are endless possibilities for the creations you can make with these! I have finished my card off by using, "You Are {seriously} Wonderful" which is part of the You Made My Day set.

Thanks for Looking and have fun creating your own Retro Man or Mr. Potato Head!

Good luck and don't forget to share some blog love!

• Stamps: Impression Obsession- CL307 All Occasion II, CL545 You Made My Day
• Dies- Impression Obsession- DIE224-O Retro Masculine
• Papers: Neenah- ivory, Bo Bunny-Somewhere in Time, Bazzill, Kaiser-Craft-Latte
• Inks: Alcohol Inks-Cantaloupe
• Other: Darice Embossing Folder-Mustaches, Ranger-Foil Tape Sheets, Inka Gold- Brown Gold, Krylon -18kt Leafing Pen, acrylic paint, black foam tape, gingham ribbon

SSCB #36 FALL CHALLENGE!

Is fall really here? It is at Serendipity!
Time to start another monthly challenge and, of course, the theme is, "Fall". We want to see anything new that you have created using Serendipity stamps or dies along with the fall theme. The holidays are coming and a $20 Gift Certificate to the Serendipity Store could come in handy! Play along for the chance to win. All details can be found on the SSCB.

~This week's sale is a 40% OFF Coupon~
Enter "40fromhigh1014" during checkout and get 40% off the highest item in the cart.
Good through 10/8
Shop now at the Serendipity Store

A big welcome to our October guest designer, Julia Stainton. If you have time check out her blog, Bella Papier, it's wonderful and full of fun!

Here are your links to see what the DT came up with!

Vickie Zimmer
Jeanne Jachna
Jenny Gropp 
Julie Warner
Karen Amidon...here!
Marybeth Lopez
Miriam Napier
Julia Stainton

The challenge given to the DT was to use glue along with the fall theme, yep, glue! To see where we were inspired for our ideas on this challenge you can find the technique here on Splitcoast Stampers. Birgit is amazing and each piece is truly a work of art!
      

After playing with glue for way too long, I decided to draw lines on the canvas and play it safe, no imagination here! 

I've  heat embossed with gold ep the quote, "All Those Golden", onto the die cut from the  Solid Owl Die.

I took the canvas and glued it onto a heavy weight paper. I have used the Oak Leaf Outline & Acorn Die set along with the leaf from the Flower Pop dies. 

The glue was used to create the veins in the leaves. Distress Inks and water were used to color the leaves. While the leaves were still wet, I molded and curved them to get dimension. After drying, I pulled the glue off which left the veins in the canvas the natural color. 

The colors in the photo is a little hard on the eyes...thank goodness that the orange is much tamer IRL! I found some small Dogwood twigs and rubbed Inka Gold on them. 

The paper rose was also colored with Distress inks.

Thanks for stopping by!

Looking forward to seeing your fall ideas.

• Stamps: Serendipity- 306D All Those Golden
• Dies: 034ED Oak Leaf Outline & Acorn, 033MD Flower Pop Dies, 016GD Owl Die
• Inks: VersaMark, Distress Inks
• Papers- Neenah-Ivory, Bazzill, Bo Bunny-double dot, Autumn Song Collection
• Other: Canvas, Gold ep, Krylon- 18kt Gold Leafing Pen, Spellbinders- A2 matting Basics, Circles, MFT-Blueprints 2, Bow Easy, seam binding, twine