InStyle Stamps Welcomes New Designers!

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I was hoping to get this post out earlier today and time has just gotten the best of me. So sorry to these fine ladies for not getting this welcome out on my blog sooner. They deserve to be announced! Without further ado,

You are going to love the designs that are coming from these ladies! Some of these names you may recognize - a few new designers have actually come to this team from our Promotional Team and they are ready to wow you with creations using the fabulous InStyle Stamps images. Please welcome and go send them some Comment love;

Kimme Leach, from The Life of a Princess
Dawn Knight, from Dawn's Rubber Room
Patti Stigsell, from Design U
Simome Pursiful, from Fashionable Cards

REMEMBER, the Design Team Call is still open. If you're interested, or just curious about design team work be sure to check out the details on the InStyle Stamps blog "Design Team Call".

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And the game goes on...

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Hello fellow bloggers,
Today is the completion of all the events of June for my family. It's a hyped up month full of birthday's, vacation, Father's Day and the beginning of our summer tradition to attend Shakespeare Festival plays. I big *sigh*.

My fellow Design Team members, Robin and Angela, commented about the month of June just being crazy and how fast it's gone by, I do agree with them. It's amazing that I was able to accomplish my To-Do list.

Enough about how the time fly's by and more about the adorable Nicole from InStyle Stamps! I need to admit that blog hops always stress me out, so when they are over I have a surge of free creativity and whether it's noticeable to you, I do tend to give my self some freedom in the next project.

Nicole is kickin' it up for the team and getting them all jazzed for the season ahead. She's colored with Prismacolor markers and to give her a base I just drew a curved line for a horizon with my PITT India Ink Pen. I played up the sports round ball with a few circles punched from Close to Cocoa CS and felt a little artsy when I saw laying in from of me the leftover section of Chocolate CS that had a perfect sized circle cut away from it. It worked so well it made this card come together in a pinch.

I stamped the sentiment "Let's GO!" from a Clings set I grabbed from a clearance bin at my LSS, then outlined the word Let's for affect. I wanted a ticket shape that was loose looking so I penciled what I thought would be a ticket shape and went back over it with my PITT pen, erasing the pencil marks after the ink dried a bit. You'll see multiple lines because, well, I make mistakes and to hide a mistake is to make more of them! I only do this in my crafting projects....

The red and white squiggling embellishment is my new jumbo ricrac die at work again from My Favorite Things. I finished off the piece with some inked stitching and a few more punches in stars and circle shape. The last thing I did was add a Martha Stewart punched photo corner to the bottom right of Nicole's layer to polish it off nicely.

I do hope that you are having a fantastic day and that you take the time to smile and enjoy something or some part of life today. ENJOY!

Details:
Card Size: 4 1/4 x 5 1/2
Stamps: Instyle Stamps Nicole, American Crafts Sports Collection Cling Stamps
Paper: Neenah Crest Smooth White, Wausau Chocolate, SU! Close to Cocoa, Real Red, LSS light green
Ink: Prismacolor Markers, LaserJet
Accessories: MFT Jumbo RicRac Die and Grosgrain Texture plate, Lots of circle punches and a star punch

Prismacolor Details: Hair - Cinnamon Toast, Sand, Walnut; Skin - Pale Peach, Brick Beige; Eyes - Muted Turquoise, Cerulean Blue; Jersey and Socks - Sky Blue Light, Muted Turquoise; Shorts and Sweatband - Scarlet Lake, Crimson Red, Mahogany Red; Shoes - Cool Grey 50%, 90%; Grass - Apple Green, Leaf Green

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Lovin' the Outdoors and Patriotism is in the air

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We are going on a fabulous blog hop today with the InStyle Stamps Design Team. The theme is going to be a bit outdoors and patriotic. Doesn't that sound fun?

If you haven't started the hop from the beginning just go back TWO hops to the InStyle Stamps blog and then to Robin's awesome creation (after that you'll be right back here to hop on to the next stop at Cyndi's).

I've used an awesome image called Flag on a Stair Step card. I used the image twice omitting the flag on one of them. (If you are wondering how I got the flag to disappear on the back step of the card go to this Digital Masking tutorial).

I colored with Prismacolor markers and stamped Hero Arts Friend Definition background to the bottom left of the back image for a collage effect, then added some matching Stickles to each fireworks. The star firework was asking for some standout attention so I used the leftover star from the flag printout and adhered it with a pop dot adhesive. On the flag I needed some support so I added a thin gauge wire to the back of the flag pole with Glossy Effects. I started out with the images single hill but needed more of it to get to the other side of the card, so I just traced the hill onto another piece of white paper, adding another hill for dimension. The original hill is the securing piece to the new hill layer. (I think next time I will not be so eager to cut the paper so I won't have to cut and paste like I did) It was a little bit of work, but I think it looks okay. I stamped the text background on the hill but it's not visible from the first stair step of the card.

For the front of the card I used a few new items that I bought myself for an early birthday present. Tim Holtz edge die cut for the kraft paper, a die * namics (TM) jumbo rick rack die for the blue paper, and a couple of stamp sets from Verve for the star and sentiment. I pulled out my homemade star embossing folder to give some texture to the kraft paper.

I framed the middle and back step images with more kraft paper to help all three layers look framed together! Thanks for staying here to find out how I made this fun card.

Here is a list of the Design Team Blog Hoppers just in case you need to know where you are going. Cyndi is your next stop.

Robin
Janelle - you're here!
Cyndi
Jan
Genevieve
Taylor
Angelique
Angela
Kimme
Tina
Jodi
Kerry
Raquel

Details:
Card Size:  5 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches
Stamps: ISS Flag, Verve Seeing Stars and Bountiful Backgrounds, Hero Arts Friend Definition
Ink: LaserJet, Prismacolor Markers, Versamark, SU! Brilliant Blue, Graphite Black
Paper: Neenah Smooth White, LSS Navy CS, Wausau Royal Fiber Kraft, Blue and Red CS from scraps
Accessories: Tim Holtz Alterations Brackets Bigz Die, MFT Die*namics Jumbo Rick Rack die, SU! tag punch, Stickles Glitter glue Yellow, Cotton Candy, Lime Green, craft wire

Prismacolor Details: Back Step - Indigo Blue, Periwinkle, Cloud Blue, Cream, Canary Yellow, Chartreuse, Spring Green, Deco Pink, Carmine Red; Middle Step - Dark Green, Light Olive Green, Indigo Blue, Cerulean Blue, Crimson Red, Carmine Red, Mahogany Red, Cool Grey 40% and 80%.

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Basketball Season is Over...Now what?

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Happy Monday everyone!

I'm posting this card a day late and yet it doesn't even really seem like a Father's Day card, but I gave it to my sweet hubby for it anyway! LOL

I used an image from DigiStamp Boutique called Snoozing Chap. The neatest thing about this image is you can get him just snoozing or snoozing with a cold frothy mug next to him. It's perfect! I could even see using both of these images on one card, side by side, the last one being without the mug and the caption saying, "Something's missing from this picture...", for a birthday card maybe. Hmmmmm....

Okay on to my card for today!

I wrapped the sentiment on the top and bottom of the image before I printed it out, but didn't think about framing it. So I got out my circle template (it's an old, old one that might still be used for engineer drawings) and penciled around the edges then went back over it with my PITT India Ink pen.

My sentiment is geared toward my hubby's love of sports. After NCAA Men's then Men's NBA playoff and championship tournaments there is a quietness about our house that I can't explain. It seems like busy season is over and it's time to just relax. So I wrote the sentiment in jest about there now being time to do things around the house...like sleep. LOL

I photocopied and reduced the size of our Sunday newspaper sports section and then sliced it into strips for texture on the background. I cut a couple pieces of cork as "tails" of ribbon. They didn't show up well so I colored them with my Sienna Brown Prismacolor Marker and now they stand out just fine.

Have a marvelous Monday. It's my son's birthday today and I have tons to try and pull together for birthday-ish things to do.

Details:
Card Size: 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches
Stamps: Snoozing Chap
Paper: Neenah Smooth White, Kraft, Dark blue from scraps
Ink: LaserJet, Prismacolor Markers, PITT Black India Ink Pen
Accessories: Photocopier, Cork, Sunday Newspaper

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Are you interested in being in a design team environment?

InStyle Stamps is having a DT Call. This call will be open until July 16, 2010 at 11:59 PM PST.

InStyle Stamps owner, Virginia, is a wonderful person to work with and InStyle Stamps DT Coordinator, Taylor, is just super to work with on projects. If that is not enough there are SO many wonderful images from this company to use, it's just a win/win opportunity.

Take this --> link <-- and find out all the details.

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Dinner at my House!

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If I wasn't such a messy I'd have more dinner parties. I think I have a super home for it, but I tend to have what FlyLady calls HOTSPOTS...and lots of them. So I plan very carefully when I do parties and clean like the cartoon Taz, the Tasmanian Devil. Who knows where I'll find anything, but at least it's not laying around for all to see.

Oh dear was that too much detail???? LOL

I'm going to have one family over for a dinner party sometime in the near future and here's an invitation card to send out. I'm pretty sure they won't see this post...gulp.

I entered this card in the Stamp Something "Summer" Challenge.

Details:
Card Size: 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches
Stamps: InStyle Stamps Grill
Paper: Astrobright Blue CS, red and black CS from scraps, Neenah Smooth White
Ink: LaserJet, Prismacolor Markers
Accessories: Stampin' Up Spiral punch, EK Success Dots edge punch

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Viva La Football!

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DigiStamp Boutique has all football (soccer) images at a discount for the World Cup occassion. I think I'll snag up Football Josh for a fun coloring, but Maxwell on top of a football is fantastic too! It's hard to choose.

PLUS there are three new sets of images out since the Offer of the Month. Ocean Pals (3 images), Lilly Summer Fun (3 images) and Alfie Summer Fun (3 images). You can buy the images separately too.

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Graduation Day at InStyle Stamps Blog

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It's Over-the-Hump-Day-Blog-Candy-Giveaway! A month has already gone by since the last OHDBCGA and now it's all about Graduation at the InStyle Stamps blog.

My card today is for my nephew who graduated from high school this spring. I decided to use a bit of humor for the card and combined that moment when someone looks at you and can't figure out what has changed (think hair color, weight loss, etc.) with the moment during graduation when everyone changes their tassel from one side of their cap to the other side. Here is my card for today using  Johnny.

Do you remember which side of your cap did you move your tassel? I don't remember mine, but what's worse is my nephew's graduation was only two weeks ago and I couldn't remember what he did! LOL. I had to go look at some video footage to find out.

I hope you'll join me and the design team for some graduation themed projects. Bring a friend into the challenge too. We love a big challenge party!

Thanks for stopping by!

Details:
Card Size: 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches
Stamps: Johnny
Paper: Basic Black, American Craft dp, LSS yellow, Neenah Smooth White
Ink: LaserJet, Prismacolor markers*
Accessories: Stickles Black Diamond, Quickutz tiny tags, DMC Floss, Dental Floss

Prismacolor Details: Cap and Gown - Raspberry, Mahogany Red; Skin - Pale Peach, Brick Beige, Cinnamon Toast; Eyes - Colorless Blender, Cinnamon Toast, Sienna Brown; Hair - Mineral Orange, Pumpkin Orange, Sienna Orange)

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Orange Paper Practice Cone Tutorial

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I'm back with a follow-up post on how I made my magnetic game practice cones. I'm sure with some practice one could use larger circle's and make these to use as party favors or as decorations for a Bob the Builder Birthday party!

Supplies 1 3/8 inch circle punch 1/2 inch circle punch 7/8 inch circle punch cardstock of choice Gum Paste Glue (BookBinding type glue) Quick Drying White glue (not shown)
Step 1: Punch a 1/2 inch circle in your paper. Using the back side of your 1 3/8 inch punch as a window, center the 1/2 inch hole in the center and punch out. Punch a 7/8 inch circle and set aside.
Step 2: Cut a small piece out of the ring.
Step 3: Using the blunt edge of scissors gently curl the ring.
Step 4: Pinch one of the cut edge of the ring and twist it into a tight spiral. When you release it the twist will become more loose.
Step 5: Apply white glue to the outer cut edge and then tighten the spiral as you adhere the outer edge. TIP: Use the 7/8-inch circle as a guide to the size of the spiral's base.
Step 6: Apply white glue from the inside of the spiral's base to the outer edge careful not to get too much around the outside.
Step 7: Press the spiral base down on the 7/8 inch circle and tap to start gravity's work on the glue. Set aside and repeat these steps until you have the amount of practice cones you need.

Practice drill is all set up and ready to go!

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Delectable Color Challenge - Nathan's go to the goOAAALLLLL!

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As always our Taylor has brought to the June InStyle Stamp Color Challenge table a delectable palette and something to satisfy our tastes! Really now, didn't she just bring the best colors, YUM!

It is amazing that I picked out my image without any thought into what day it is in the world soccer arena. Today, the USA and England stepped on to the pitch for FIFA World Cup 2010. However, I did figure out the coincidence early enough to color Nathan in one of Team USA's uniform colors.

My project today is for my two children who are always investigating and trying new ways to play with old things. In fact on the second day into summer my two sweeties dumped two shelves worth of DVD's onto the floor, made a luggage train from the closet to the bathroom where they decided to clean the bathtub with a bar of soap in their pajamas (my son also decided he would prepare his hair for bath later that night by rubbing the bar on his head. He'll just add water later...LOL), and then later stuck a magnet into the USB port of my computer! So here, hopefully, is a game that will keep them going in the brain developmental.

It's a magnet game of soccer. I've placed Nathan on a strong round magnet and then another one underneath the playing field. The practice cones are moveable so my sweeties can set up any practice drill and then try and get Nathan through it. All they need to do is move the magnet underneath and Nathan just goes to the GOALLLLLLL!

Watch soccer Nathan cut right, cut left, volley and celebrate making the goal:



Have a great day!

Details:
Stamps: ISS Nathan
Paper: Neenah Smooth White, thin chipboard
Ink: LaserJet, Prismacolor Markers and Pencils*
Accessories: Three different circle punches for practice cones, super strength magnets, Nestabilities Standard Large circle die, soccer pitch clipart, Yes! Paste, Hot glue gun, Xacto Knife

*Prismacolor Markers (Pencils): Nathan Hair - Deco Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Goldenrod; Eyes - Colorless Blender, Deco Blue, True Blue: Skin - Pale Peach, Brick Beige, Cinnamon Toast (Beige Sienna); Mouth - Deco Pink, Clay Rose; Uniform - Scarlet Lake, Crimson Red, Mahogany Red, Colorless Blender, Cool Grey 10%, 20% (Blush Pink, Carmine Red, Crimson Red, Dark Purple, French Grey 50%); Socks - (Crimson Red, French Grey 20%, 50%); Cleats - Cool Grey 40%, 70%, 80%, Crimson Red, (Black, Crimson Red); Soccerball - Cool Grey 20%, Colorless Blender

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Happy Anniversary Sweet Sketch Wednesday!

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Today is the one-year anniversary for Arlana and the design team at Sweet Sketch Wednesday. Go and celebrate with them and find out more on the blog hop.

My card today is with Oliver. He's taking a nap, and for an owl I'm assuming that would be in the middle of the night to near dawn, right? {grin}

I stayed with the sketch pretty closely, but since I had already printed out Oliver with a sentiment I just exchanged the sketch sentiment area with a few mini tags for accent.

I hope Sweet Sketch Wednesday has another wonderful year to inspire and improve our creativity. Best wishes ladies!

Have a great Wednesday!

Details:
Card Size: 5 1/2 inch square
Stamps: DSB Oliver, Sentiment done digitally
Paper: DCWV Flower Shack Paper Pack, Basic Black, Vellum, LSS green
Ink: Prismacolor Pencils: Background - Indigo Blue , Oliver - French Grey 20%, Cool Grey 20%, 70%, Terra Cotta, Sepia; Branch - Light Umber, Dark Umber; Leaves - Apple Green, Grass Green, Peacock Green 
Accessories: Joann's white rickrack, Offray Satin orange ribbon, brass brads, Black embossing powder, Nestabilites Standard Circle Large, Quikutz tiny tags die, Sissix Leaves die, Black Button thread, PITT India Black Ink Pen, OMS (Odorless Mineral Spirits) and stomps

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JasperDance! Doo-Doo-doo!

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As I promised, here is a DigiStamp Boutique image from the Woodland Pals Offer this month. His name is Jasper and he is most certainly doing a happy dance!

I colored him with Prismacolors and then on the lettering I went back over with a Violet colored pencil. For the first time I used a Prismacolor blender pencil and it worked just as I expected, blending the Violet pencil just as a marker would have done. The pencils approach helped get into the small channels of the letters that markers are just unable to get into for shading.

Have an UP kind of day!

Details:
Card Size: 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches
Stamps: DSB Jasper, Digital Font for sentiment
Paper: Neenah Smooth White, LSS green
Ink: LaserJet printer, Prismacolor markers and Pencil*
Accessories: AC Rhinestones, Offray Orange Sherbet Satin Ribbon

*Marker and Pencil Detail: Background - Light Aqua; Jasper - Cool Grey 10%, 30%, 60%, 70%; Nose - Deco Pink, Clay Rose; Flower - Mineral Orange, Terra Cotta; Leaves - True Green, Parrot Green; Grass - Chartreuse, Leaf Green; Sentiment - Violet Mist (Pencil Violet, Colorless Blender)

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I'm Hosting Method Monday at InStyle Stamps

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Stop on over at the InStyle Stamps blog for Method Monday to see the way to use illustrator markers and colored pencils together to make a colorful gradient background.

See ya there!

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Friendly Hedgehog "Spike"

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I made up a card for someone who adores hedgehogs using a DigiStamp Boutique digital stamp from last month's release.  Spike and Flower... sure is a friendly chap. Hope she likes it as much as I do.

Have a great weekend!

Details:
Card Size: 5 1/2 inches Square
Stamps: DSB Spike and Flower, Stampin Up Whimsy Words
Paper: DCWV slab pack, purple and yellow scraps
Ink: Laserjet, Prismacolor Markers and Pencil*, Basic Black
Accesories: Crushed Curry Ribbon, Martha Stewart Loops Edge Punch and Photo Corner Punch, Circle Punch, Nestabilities Bloom die

Prismacolor Details: Spike Fur - Cocoa Bean, Walnut; Skin - Cinnamon Toast, Sand; Background - Sky Blue Light; Butterfly - Grayed Lavender, Violet, Parma Violet; Flower - Deco Yellow, Canary Yellow, Leaf - Chartreuse, Leaf Green; Grass - Leaf Green; Pencils: White

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DigiStamp Boutique June Offer

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Hi all!

I've been super busy with what seems to be my first at the last days of school and beginning of summer frenzy that so many of you moms have been talking about. In all that frenzy, I haven't had the chance to let you all know Sally-Ann has invited me to continue on through July with the three-month Guest Design Team. Woo-hoo! I'm just too excited to still play and craft with these little DigiStamp Boutique gems.

So what is the Offer of the Month from DigiStamp Boutique?

5 cute and happy Woodland Pals.

Go check them out at DigiStamp Boutique!

Relax...

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Today is the second day of the month and that means it's time to take on the InStyle Stamps sketch challenge.

This sketch is SO dependable! I could see myself using this as a staple, go-to-in-a-pinch layout. Not only is it dependable but it packs a PUNCH! A prize punch, as InStyle Stamps always provides for their sketch challenge. Why don't you use it for the next card you're making and then submit it. Right here.

My card today is with a playful little InStyle Stamps image called...sand bucket. I really couldn't resist giving this the classic look with a red bucket and yellow shovel. It just wouldn't be the same to me.

I did a second bucket and popped it up for dimension and then just started embellishing. For my three mat background layer I pulled out the classic Stampin Up set, you know the Itty Bitty Backgrounds? It's been forever since I used this set, but I think is perfect for creating some sand-like pattern paper.

I stamped the splatter style dots with Versamark all over, then Creamy Caramel and finally with an opaque white ink. I pulled out the thicker dot stamp and used Close to Cocoa for those random pebbles in the sand. I wanted the layered kraft paper to gradually get darker so I pulled out my Cinnamon Toast and Sand marker and just colored them.

 I saw my hemp twine nearby so I just started playing with that on the card and ended up cutting small strips to go on either side of the image. It looked a lot lighter than wrapping it around the top mat. I also decided to get out a rarity these days, my medium eyelet stash. Those little embellies worked well for a bottom border mat and then I just needed to find a space for the sentiment.

Remember any time you stop over at InStyle Stamps and shop, use the link provided in my sidebar for 5% off in my name. AND a different special was posted on the InStyle Stamps blog about a special deal with the store exclusive line of rubbah stamps. PLEASE go check it out. It is a super deal for such great images but it is limited so they offer will go when the supply goes. GO HERE!

Details:
Card Size: 4 1/2 x 6 1/4 inches
Stamps: Sand Bucket
Paper: Neenah Solar White, Basic Black, Blue pattern paper, Kraft
Ink: Laserjet, Prismacolor Markers ( Mahogany Red, Crimson Red, Ballet Pink, Deco Yellow, Canary Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Goldenrod, Sky Blue Light, Light Cerulean Blue, Cinnamon Toast, Sand, Light Tan), Opeque White, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Versamark
Accessories: Blue Medium Eyelets, Hemp Twine, Circle punch

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