SCS March 2016 Virtual Stamp Night Event "Brighten The Grey" Challenge MAR16VSNH #StampinUp #Upsydaisy

Plugging away at those challenges over at SCS's current "Here Comes the Sun" Virtual Stamp Night Event. Hostess Sabrina (cook22) is calling for cards to "Brighten The Grey." The rule for all the challenges is to complete the card in 1 hour or less - eek! 

Here's my entry for Sabrina's MAR16VSNH Challenge:

I've just recently received Upsy Daisy.  It's one of those classic SU sets in my mind which I didn't purchase at the time it was out, but glad I have my hands on it now.

Double stamped it for a quick clean silhouette of flowers in Going Grey and Yo Yo Yellow using my trusty ole' Stamp-a-ma-jig from SU - yep, I'm probably one of the last Misti holdouts!  The card is much brighter and cleaner in real life, my photo dulls it for some reason.

But this card came together quickly with simple matting and a few quick gems/ribbon for accents.

Challenge #3 out of 14 Done!

Thanks for visiting!


 


"You're On My Mind" Card
Paper: Bo Bunny; Misc Handmade Paper; Yellow CS
Stamps: SU Upsy Daisy
Ink: SU Yo Yo Yellow; SU Going Gray
Embellishments: SU Stamp-a-ma-jig; MFT Die-namics Fishtail Flags STAX ; Kaiser Rhinestones; May Arts Ribbon 
Size: 4.25" x 6.5" rectangular 

SCS March 2016 Virtual Stamp Night Event "Round and Round" Challenge MAR16VSNH #StampinUp #FifthAvenueFlorals

It's that time again for another 2 day Virtual Stamp Night Event at SCS this past weekend. There are a whopping total of 14 challenges with the ongoing theme of "Here Comes The Sun." Hmm, the hostesses and event planners must not live in So Cal?  It's been sunny and actually hot this past week. This one is for Hostess Melody's (lacyquilter) "Round and Round" Challenge.

I pulled out the already completed circle cut and matted Basic Grey Sultry pp card base from years ago when I was working on this DT project in 2008.  Yes, I'm a hoarder and save everything since I might need it or could use it one day, right?  I had tossed it to the side because my hand cut scallops along the outside circle border didn't neatly match up at the end with the beginning.  So I salvaged the base, because I still so love Basic Grey, by adhering various watercolored blooms from the SU Fifth Avenue Florals set to hide my oopsie.

I so enjoy SCS's VSN events because it really forces me to dig into my stash and crack up supplies that have never seen the light of day.  This Fifth Avenue Florals just screams so New York and Kate Spade to me, and it was one that I had coveted for so long, so I was so happy to finally own it even after it was long retired.  This is one of those sets I'm going to resolve to use at least 5 times because I've had it for like a year already!  So, four more projects to come.

2 Challenges out of 14 Done!



 


"You Only Live Once" Card
Paper: Canson 140lb Watercolor Paper; Basic Grey Sultry
Stamps: SU Fifth Avenue Florals
Ink: Canson Angora Water Colors; Stampendous White Opaque EP; Clearsnap Vivid Sienna 
Embellishments: Michaels $1 Bin Heart Shaped Color Dot; Niji Water Barrel Brush; Martha Stewart Circle Cutter; Scalloped Decorative Scissors
Size: 6" x 6" Round 

SCS Mystery Image Swap - February 2016 Two Paper Divas & Reverse Confetti "Hello Good Friends"

With the other half away, I took advantage and spread out all my supplies to get some play time in.  How wonderful this is going to be that I don't have to clean up my table surface or piles for another month!

Here's my February submission for my group of a dozen other ladies from SCS.  This month, Tracie (taclary) sent us this cheerful watering can image full of flowers from Two Paper Divas.

Tracie states "this image is in honor of the friendships that I have made through SCS.  I am lucky to have each and every one of you as a friend. So February's challenge is in honor of the friendships that we have made through SCS."

I can't wait for her to see what I came up with and I hope that Dea, who's the next in our rotating recipient list, will like my card in person!

I really wanted to play with my copics since I never was an expert coloring gal.  There are lots of mistakes here and I managed to salvage it by using the pebbled dot texturizing technique on my watering can.  I have no idea if that's what the technique is called, but from looking at my coloring, I think you get the idea.

Since I decided to use the image without the perfectly stamped coordinating sentiment Tracie provided, I added some die cuts from Reverse Confetti to add to the Spring Friendship theme.

One last thing, I'm dying because my card suffered an accident at the very last minute when I was stamping an alternative friendship themed sentiment on the inside of my card.  The front of the cover made contact with my just reinker refreshed ink pad that was sitting right next to it!   Grr...I'm working on a desk that's about 3 feet wide and about 1.5 feet deep. I'm practically working on top of myself.  I need to clean up after myself much better to avoid this.  Unfortunately, adding color dots or sequins to mask my oopsie just crowds this card design so I've decided to just leave it as is.

I still think this card came out pretty cute!  Just for fun, I entered this card in the CASology challenge for their Week 185:Egg.

Thanks for visiting!







"Hello Friendship" Card
Paper: My Mind's Eye Now and Then Milo PP
Stamps: Two Paper Divas Bloom Wildly; Reverse Cnofetti Hippity Hoppity; SU Feel Goods
Ink: Copics Various;  SU Brocade Blue;  Wink of Stella Glitter  Yellow
Tools: Reverse Confetti Hippity Hoppity & Hello Dies; MFT Grass Border Die
Size: 4.25" x 5.5" rectangular 

#TBT #ThrowbackThursday #StampinUp - Sharing my older SU Demo Cards - SU Lace Snowflakes & SU Love Always

Today is my birthday! And I'm still trying to find my mojo, so I'm throwing it back with a look through some older cards I made back in the day when I was a SU Demo.


1) This one was made by brayering the background with some snowflakes stamped in versamark for a resist, and then I added more snowflakes as I embossed each in different colors.

"Peace Joy Love Snowflakes" Card
Paper: SU Ballet Blue; SU Glossy Paper
Stamps: SU Lace Snowflakes; SU Peace Joy Love
Ink: SU Night of Navy; 
Embellishments: MM Metal Rimmed Tag; Fibres; SU White EP; SU Silver EP
Tools: Sizzix Tag Die
Size: 5.5" x 4.25" rectangular 

"Love, Be My Valentine" Card
Paper: SU Rose Red, SU Rose Romance; SU Pretty In Pink
Stamps: SU Love Always; SU Soft Swirl 
Ink: SU Rose Red; Versamark; SU Poppin' Pastels Chalk 
Embellishments: SU White EP; White Organza Ribbon 
Tools: Hole Punch; Decorative Edge Scissors 
Size: 4.25" x 5.25" rectangular 

#TBT #ThrowbackThursday #StampinUp - Sharing my older SU Demo Cards - SU Marvelous Morning Glory & SU DD Daisy

Back again trying to find my mojo thru my series of #tbt #throwbackthursday posts of newly found older SU Demo Cards I made back in the day.

1) I don't think I ever owned SU Definitely Decorative Morning Glory and borrowed this set from my friend Maylene at the time who is the one at fault for turning me onto SU in the first place.  

Here again, I had very few supplies so made do with what I had.  

I remember being so happy with myself because I successfully two stepped stamped using only Only Orange and pop dotted one of the flowers. I was on my way!  Even through in incorporating a wheel! In retrospect, I don't think I would have ever used or bought any of the wheels if one along with the handle wasn't already included in my Demo Start Up Kit.  

2) This next one I remembered just learning about the Shaving Cream method and I remember bringing an aluminum pan with me to hostess parties in people's homes to demo this technique.  This isn't the best looking card, but oh well. Sold a lot of bottles of reinkers at the time with this card and my previous Under the Water Sea Horse card. 

3) This next one was for a swap probably on 2 Peas in a Bucket. I loved these vintage papers (I cant' think of the manufacturer right now) and this first stamp from Anna Griffin that started appearing at Michaels.  What a hey day it was with using those coupons every week to amass my collection of Anna Griffin stamps.  The cards I sent out had a much lower scalloped edge border to show off more of the tulip flower.  This one I had held back because I had deemed it a reject for various reasons. Brings back good memories. 

Thanks for reminiscing with me!






"Marvelous Morning Glories Bouquet" Card
Paper: SU Mellow Moss; SU Only Orange; SU Craft CS 
Stamps: SU DD Morning Glory; SU Stampin' Around Checkered Wheel
Ink: SU Only Orange; SU Mellow Moss; SU Old Olive
Embellishments: Colored Raffia; 
Tools: Hold Punch; SU Stampin' Around Handle
Size: 5.5" x 4.25" rectangular 

"Hello, Hello, Hello" Card
Paper: SU Basic Black, SU Yo Yo Yellow; SU Smooth White CS
Stamps: SU DD Daisy; SU Vivid Greetings
Ink: SU Basic Black; SU Going Gray Reinker
Embellishments: SU Scalloped Corner Punch
Tools: Shaving Cream 
Size: 4.25" x 5.25" rectangular 

"Thank You ... with Gratitude" Card
Paper: Misc PP; Vellum
Stamps: Anna Griffin Tulip & Sentiment 
Ink: SU Basic Black; SU Poppin Pastels Chalk 
Embellishments: Grosgrain Ribbon
Tools: Decorative Scissor
Size: 4.25" x 5.25" rectangular 

#TBT #ThrowbackThursday #StampinUp - Sharing my older SU Demo Cards - SU Fantastic Foliage & SU Penguin Pals

I haven't been feeling crafty lately so therefore haven't been productive in creating anything new. But having just sorted through what I truly hope is the last bag of old SU Demo Only Swap card fronts recently, I did find a few of my older cards that I had made for either stamping hostess parties (gosh I remember doing 1-2 every weekend in my heyday) or swaps.

So that means I'm going to revisit my series of #tbt #throwbackthursday posts again to hopefully get myself into the mood again and find my mojo.

1) First up is a very early card I made for a swap using Fantastic Foliage.  Unbelievably, I still have this set.  

I had very little supplies at the time, so I brayered a piece of Ultra SmoothWhite Cardstock with my SU Really Rust ink pad to create something matching to mat this card with.  From looking at this card, I believe I did the same with More Mustard for the focal piece before I scatted my leaf stamps all over. 

I was hanging out with my friend Maylene who ran an informal monthly stamp club at the time with some heavyweights: Ming who at the time was a major instructor for Denami Designs and Alma who would later own The Cat's Pajamas.  The gold cording was probably an influence of whatever the group was doing at the time.  

Haha, here's a shot of the Card Recipe I had gotten used to adhering to the back of all my cards I sent for swaps.  Yes, I used Avery Mailing Address Labels.  Those were so easy to just print en masse and slap on. 

2)  These Penguin Pals...ah I miss this set.  I distinctly remember demoing this ALOT and everyone ohhed and ahhed over a) paper tearing for the snow banks and b) learning how to make their tummy's fuzzy with Flocking Powder.  I sold a lot of these Penguin Pals sets along with 2 Way Glue Pen and the flocking powder.   And sadly, I distinctly remember selling this set off because I was so sick of it at the time.  I remember hesitating on that sale because I really do love these guys.  I definitely regret selling this set. 

Here's a close up of their fuzzy bellies. 

Here's a shot of the card recipe from the back before I adhered to a full card base.

I had to cut down the Bliss Blue Card Stock around all the edges, else it was definitely MUCH MORE BLUE, in order to adhere the card front onto a fully folding card to include in my recent Ronald McDonald House donation drop off.  

I loved this set. Maybe I'll look for it on ebay to rebuy, lol. 

Thanks for reminiscing with me.






"Blank Fantastic Foliage" Card
Paper: SU Ultra White CS
Stamps: SU Fantastic Foliage
Ink: SU More Mustard, SU Chocolate Chip, SU Really Rust; Encore Gold; Kaleidacolor Cappuccino Delight
Embellishments: Metallic Gold Embroidery Thread
Tools: Rubber Brayer, Pop Dots; Family Treasures Leaf Punch 
Size: 5.5" x 4.25" rectangular 

"Happy Holidays" Card
Paper: SU Ultra White CS; SU Bliss Blue CS
Stamps: SU Penguin Pals
Ink: SU Bliss Blue, SU Brocade Blue; Versamark; SU Marvelous Markers: Real Red & Only Orange
Embellishments: SU Black EP; SU Stampin' Pastels; SU Whisper White Stampin' Flock Powder
Tools: Heat Gun, SU Blending Pens; 2 Way Glue Pen
Size: 4.25" x 5.5" rectangular 

Amazing Grace Will Bring Us Through #StampinUp #TravelsAbroad #Verve #AmazingGrace #PlainJane

Had a bit of time to play this morning so whipped this one up using my long coveted SU set, Travels Abroad. Yes, it came out in 2003, and this is just the 2nd time I've used it.  The first time was on my Shenpa card made a month or two ago?  Lol, so yes, I'm still coveting this set since 2003!

I loved this alternating ink color in today's new Muse inspiration, so decided to replicate my repetitive stamped image design of the previous Shenpa card with the Venus de Milo image.

I decided to stay with just SU Real Red and Brilliant Blue to keep with the Viva La France theme of the Venus de Milo; My image only allowed a row of 3 images instead of the 5 in the original inspiration card.  I was playing around with my brand new bottle of Heidi Swapp Gold Color Shine spritzer and decided to use that piece of "scrap" to play as background to my trio of Venus de Milo's.

Here is today's Muse Challenge #131 Inspiration by Carol Mane:

I wish I had feather stamps; That's one trend I missed out on during my 4 year hiatus.  I loved the colors she used...it's very reminiscent of Basic Grey colors.

P.S. If my Baker's Dozen Partner is reading this: Dawn, I used Glossy Accents this time to secure the sequins.  Keeping my fingers crossed that the sequins are truly secure! 





"Amazing Grace" Card
Paper: Recollections CS; SU Brilliant Blue CS
Stamps: SU Travels Abroad; Verve Plain Jane "Amazing Grace" 
Ink: SU Brilliant Blue; SU Real Red
Embellishments: Heidi Swapp Gold Color Shine; Darice Sequins
Size: 4.25" x 5.5" rectangular 

Chirp Up! Card for SCS Baker's Dozen Swap - Week 3

I'm really enjoying the Baker's Dozen swap on SCS in which we are partnered up with another crafter and are to send a handmade card every Monday for 13 consecutive weeks.  Get it? Baker's Dozen?  I think it's adorable and it's been super fun so far.

Just wanted to share the lovely cards I've been getting from partner Dawn Mercedes who's been just wonderful sending loads of sunshine my way.

The first card on the left, you've seen before as I've shared that in a previous post.  The middle and right cards are the most recent cards I've received from Dawn.

I can't tell you what a difference it makes to come home after a long day at work to find these cheerful cards from Dawn. Her style is so different than mine so I'm learning a lot from her.

I was in a hurry when I was mailing my third card to Dawn so I was only able to get an iphone snap shot of my card just I was at the post office.

This one was using up mini pinked circle punch outs from my previous bee themed Bzzz...You're one in a Buzzillion card.  It came together pretty quickly and I was tickled pink when I received Dawn's third card.  She also embossed and used yellow with her sunshine theme.  Looks like we were in synchronicity eh? 

Thanks for visiting!

"Chirp Up!" Card
Paper: SU Whisper White; Misc Yellow CS
Stamps: SU Very Punny
Ink: Memento Black; Zig Writer Brush Pens
Embellishments: Spellbinders Large Pinking Circle Nestabilities; Lifestyle Crafts QK Tide EF
Size: 4.25" x 5.5" rectangular 

A Rainbow of Sweet Treats Birthday

7th SCS VSN Challenge done!

This one took me just 10 minutes as I had a long day of meetings and commuting today.  This is all the brain cells I have today.

I originally wanted to color in the birthday cake with copics and then mat it on coordinating solid cardstock and patterned paper, but I'm pooped.

So it's the grungy element from my new Reverse Confetti stamp to the rescue.  I just shopped through my box of scraps to match up with the stamped background pop a bit more.  The stamped elements easily came together as I just went down my row of SU Rich Regals ink pads.

So I call uncle and am heading to bed on a VERY early Friday night.

Challenge Title: Bake Up Some Happiness
Hostess: annsforte3 (Ann)
Keyword: JUN15VSNH

In retrospect, I probably should have matted the color in larger rectangles so that all four sides of the stamped image has a colored border.

G'night! Thanks for visiting!





"Rainbow of Sweet Treats Birthday" Card
Paper: SU Whisper White; Bazzil CS
Stamps: SU Sweet Treats; From the Herd (sentiment); Reverse Confetti Color Me Happy 
Ink: Memento Black; SU Pink Passion; SU Only Orange; SU YoYo Yellow; SU Gable Green; SU Tempting Turquoise; SU Brilliant Blue
Size: 4.25" x 5.5" rectangular 

Be Mindful of Your Shenpa...and Choose Your Daily Happiness - SU Travels Abroad

Poking through more boxes, I found a few more large ziplock bags of left over scrapbook layout materials.  I tend to like to keep all coordinated items together because it's just that much easier to dive right in and continue using it up.

These patterned paper from Glitz were left over from a layout I made in May 2009 for my Book of Me (BOM) projects to address my feelings of low self esteem.  I still love these patterned papers and wish I had bought more of it at the time, but I guess I have tons more of others to keep me occupied for a lifetime.

I started off with making some quick candles by trimming some mustard colored cardstock scraps down and distressing them with SU Only Orange.  (Sigh, my TH Distress Ink pads are in storage and so are my sponges.)  The flames were just free hand cut and I was originally going to pop dot them on top of each other for a dimensional look.

But rediscovering these scraps made me go back to my shabby chic / collagey style preference so I decided to pull out the Buddha image from the SU Travels Abroad set to make a birthday card for one of my best friends.  He and I chat a lot about Buddhist and New Age philosophies for self help/development purposes as we often try to support each other through life's many trials. 

Lately, I'm on a kick with the Buddhist nun, Pema Chodron, and her video speeches on the concept of Shenpa.  Basically, (in my own attempt to understand this) how we get in our own way by subconsciously falling into repeated patterns of either self sabotage/self soothing.

Shenpa is the urge, the hook, that triggers our habitual tendency to close down. We get hooked in that moment of tightening when we reach for relief. To get unhooked we begin by recognizing that moment of unease and learn to relax in that moment.

If you'd like to read more about the concept of Shenpa, click here.

So I made a Birthday card for my good friend to always be mindful of his own Shenpa tendencies and to avoid his own self manufactured habitual traps that only serve to bring him down.

I wish I had my sponges, and my matte gold liquid pearls to create a faux Mala Bead look around the edges of the purple decorative label edges to further the theme.

The card above ended up being a shaker card per this SCS Happy VSN Event Challenge:

Challenge Title:Choose Happiness DailyHostess: Sassy (Joan7356)Keyword: JUN15VSNF

"I am in charge of how I feel and today I choose happiness." ~ unknown

"I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it." ~ Groucho Marx

"Deep down inside she knew that the choice was hers - so she chose happiness" ~Queenisms

My challenge for you today:

So often when happy events occur you see confetti, streamers, balloons. For this challenge you will make a shaker card with the theme of "Choose Happiness Daily".

Something that when you or anyone else looks at it a smile and sense of happiness comes over them. Fill that shaker with confetti, sequins, etc. A "Happy" sentiment should be included.

So my card says "Shenpa" on the outside, and on the inside, I printed out through my printer to say "Be mindful of your shenpa so you can prioritize choosing your daily happiness because you deserve it.  Happy Birthday my friend." 

This should be interesting to post in the mail to him. Lol, hope the beads don't explode during transit when I mail this. 

Thanks for visiting!





"Be Mindful of Your Shenpa...and Choose Your Daily Happiness" 
Paper: Glitz "Sparrow" PP; Bazzil CS; Michael's Metallic Gold CS
Stamps: SU Travels Aboard
Ink: Memories Artprint Brown; TH Distress Inks Old Paper & Worn Lipstick; SU Only Orange
Embellishments: Misc Seed Beads (from a swap return); 
Accessories: QK Lemonade Alpha Dies; MFT Bracket Tab Die; Dimensional Foam Tape
Size: 4.25" x 5.5" rectangular

If You're HOPPY and You Know It, Clap Your Hands

For hostess Kim aka berlycee's "Clap Along" challenge (JUN15VSNB) at SCS to use hands for the ongoing Virtual Stamp Night event, I've had to really think outside the box because I don't have hand stamps or many animals/figures with their hands.  Then I saw the current Muse #122 inspiration featuring a trio of balloons and a sentiment.

This is what I whipped up this morning featuring this little frog from the Very Punny set from Stampin' Up! Another set I never was in love with all these years and almost sold last month.  But, as the trend is now for simple clean cute images, I decided to hold on to the set.

Thanks Kim for incentivising me to finally use it!

So you see 3 pairs of froggy hands, too, right?  Waving them up in the air, like they just don't care!

The sentiment is a verse from the popular nursery rhyme that's been a favorite of mine due to an adorable memory of my now 6 year old niece from back when she was just learning how to walk as a toddler.  She would nod her head, clap her hands, and actually get up on her feet and wobbly turn around in a circle whenever we'd stream this song on youtube for her IPad.  I swear, this was just like yesterday? And now, she's SIX!!

I printed the sentiment on my computer since I have no such stamp and just made space in between the lines to adhere the die cut word "hoppy" made out of green paper scraps.  Thanks to the CASology #151 Challenge for the push to use a nursery rhyme for a kid themed card. 

My trio of "hoppy" froggies was inspired by this week's Muse Challenge #122 card cue as aforementioned. 3 balloons translated to 3 froggies and then I just drew in the dashes by hand for their springy hopping pattern. 

Thanks for visiting!

"If You're Hoppy and You Know it, Clap Your Hands" Card
Paper: SU Whisper White; SU Gable Green; Making Memories PP
Stamps: SU Very Punny
Ink: Memento Black; Zig Writer Fine Tip Pen
Embellishments: QK Lemonade Alpha Dies; Spellbinders Label 8 Mega Nestabilities; SU 2013-2015 In Color Sequins
Size: 4.25" x 5.5" rectangular 

Bzzzz...You're One in a Bazzillion! SCS June 2015 Virtual Stamp Night Event "Bee Happy" Challenge JUN15VSNE & CAS328

Ever since I saw this card using Spellbinders stacked on top of each other in an ombre formation by Kalyn Kepner on the Paper Smooches site, I've been dying to CASE the idea. 

I didn't want to copy it outright but was inspired to create my own version to satisfy two recent SCS challenges.  

1) Challenge Title: Let the Sunshine In   
    Hostess: Paula (mrslaird)    
    Keyword: CAS328    
    Date: Week of 6-8-15

2) June 2015 VSN Challenge Title: Bee Happy! (Include a bee somewhere in your project.)
    Hostess: Misti (aka Scraperwannabe)    
    Keyword: JUN15VSNE    
    Date: Saturday, June 13, 12 P.M. EST

I missed out on completing the CAS Sunshine challenge last week, so I'm rolling it into the Bee Happy VSN challenge.

I die cut out an opening on the front of the card so that my little bee could peek out from the inside of the card. 

I'm not thrilled at the final stacking placement of all my shades of yellow, but since I had to get this done under an hour, I decided to put some time into giving the little bee a bit more oomph!

His little body was stamped on some yellow cardstock and pop dotted on top of a layer of velum wings.

I also pop dotted each of the yellow layers.

This CAS style is pretty new to me since I used to enjoy a much busier and layered look in my card creations from many years ago.  But I'm learning to walk away and keep it simple.  This one hour max rule has been a good thing.

Funny, I never liked this SU Fine Print SAB set and was about to list it a few months ago in my latest purge. But darn it, I loved this bee stamp so I decided to hold on to it. So happy I got to use it!

2 done, 8 more challenges to go for the Virtual Stamping Event!

Finally, I knocked off another item on my 2015 Let the Year End with Beauty:

16. Stacked nesting dies. 

Thanks for visiting!


 


"You're One in a Bazzillion"  Card 
Paper: SU Smooth White; Misc Yellow,  Metallic Gold & Vellum CS Scraps
Stamps: SU Fine Print
Ink: Momento Black
Embellishments: Spellbinders Large Pinking Circle Nestabilities; Foam Pop Dots
Size: 4.25  x 5.5" rectangular 

CASE Time for a "From the Herd" Stamp Set - It's Pasture Birthday Etch-A-Sketch Card

CASE-ing, Copy And Share Everything, is a fabulous way to get the creative mojo going, so I'll be doing this regularly the rest of this calendar year as per my  2015 Let the Year End with Beauty Resolution.

I've seen this adorable Etch-A-Sketch card design all over SCS and Pinterest, so I just had to CASE it as soon as I got my From the Herd set a few weeks ago during the Retirement sale.  I've seen so many adorable cards with this set that I just had to have it.

This is just such a fun and nostalgic design for those of us that still remember what an Etch-A-Sketch is.

CASE Credit:

SU Demo Tami White - who features an Etch a Sketch card design using the SU Sketch a Birthday Set back in August 2014, which is the earliest date I could find.  {Thank You Tami!} 

I unfortunately don't know who it was that created the first Etch-A-Sketch card using this From The Herd set, or I'd for sure give credit here. 

Thank you to whoever it was that came up with this.  Here are my versions.

Attempt #1:  

• I eyeballed and trimmed out the inner rectangle from the front Real Red cardstock panel. But I just don't like it. 
• I also used Going Grey ink on generic gray cardstock scraps I had, and the imprint was really faint. Don't like it. 

Sigh! So I broke down and bought a die set while I was at Michael's today using a 50% off coupon. So this Becky Higgin's Project Life Die set came out to just $9.99.

PRODUCT REVIEW: I almost had a heart attack when I opened the package.  

• They're taped extremely well like the old Spellbinder dies, but the dies themselves are soooooooo thin and flimsy!! I thought I had bent and/or broke them just trying to get them out of the packaging. I should have just forked over $24.95 and gotten the framelits set from SU, but I gave in to both price and instant gratification.  

• They also didn't yield a clean cut as I had random stray shavings along the cut edges.

• These don't leave an embossed edge either.

• I'm not very confident that these will cut through thicker cardstock or specialty paper due to how flimsy they are. I may just return these and get the SU ones instead.  

• For my purposes below, they performed adequately, but I'd rate it a B-. Nothing for anyone to rush and buy immediately.

Attempt #2:

With the 3" x 4" sized inner rounded rectangular die in hand from the BH Project Life set from American Crafts, I was excited to make another version of the Etch-A-Sketch card that I just knew I'd be much happier with!

If you've ever wanted to know what 15 year old embossing power looks like, zoom in on my photo below.  I cried because the embossed greetings just did come out crisp like I remember it used to.  I did make sure to reink my Versamark pad generously and not to press too hard onto my cardstock with the inked up polymer stamp to achieve as crisp of an image as possible.

I'll have to crush and sift all of my EP's to make sure they're not all clumped together. I'm pretty intent on using my stash rather than tossing it to buy brand new. Ain't no one got that kinda money to throw around!

For the sentiment, I didn't like the SU Gold metallic because this particular one from SU looks dirty to me.  I was hoping for a brighter gold, so I switched to an opaque white so that the sentiment would pop more.

But I definitely liked the image when stamped in Momento Black ink on this Recollections metallic silver cardstock. The cardstock was slick, so the Momento was perfect for rich permanent color that dried pretty fast.

Finished them off by die cutting some 1" sized circles with one of my Spellbinders nested circle sets. I didn't realize that it would leave a nice embossed edge. Yup, first time using these dies since my punches are in storage. The white circular die cuts were pop dotted on the bottom inner corners for the Etch-A-Sketch dials.  Finally I whipped out my trusty old Creative Memories corner rounder on all 4 corners for the finishing touch.

Since these were so easy, I went ahead and made a handful of them for upcoming monthly Ronald McDonald House card donations to other hostesses located throughout the US.

I've committed to sending a minimum of 10 cards to each of the monthly hostesses so that each RMH location can be featured on a rotating basis.

CASEing is a great way of completing a handful of super cute cards for the cause.  If you'd like to donate some of your handmade cards to this cause, I am collecting throughout the rest of 2015 to donate to the Pasadena, CA location.  Click here for more information.


Thanks for visiting.



 


"It's Pasture Birthday Etch-A-Sketch"  Card CASE
Paper: SU Real Red; Misc Red CS; Recollections Metallic Silver CS
Stamps: SU From the Herd
Ink: Momento Black; Versamark
Embellishments: American Crafts Becky Higgins Project Life Die; SU Metallic Gold EP; Stampendous Opaque White EP; Spellbinders Standard Circles Large (smallest die); CM Corner Rounder; Pop Dots Dimensional Foam
Size: 5.5 x 4.25" rectangular