Scrapjazz Kit Club Goes Live!

Happy Hump Day!! I am posting today to say that my long awaited journey to be a member of a kit blog is over. I have been a member of Scrapjazz.com for years and six of us decided to try it. It was modeled after the Kits of Occasion Blog that I drool over every month.

We are not doing it a monthly but more of on a bi-monthly basis. Some of the girls are novice card makers, as well as photographers but each one did a fabulous job. So please visit the Scrapjazz Kit Club blog to see what everyone created!!!

I was in charge of the kit for this month and here is what I sent out in August.

I sent out a lot of images that needed to be colored and I think this was a challenge for most of the girls. However, that is what it is all about, right?

I actually had a rough time making projects for this reveal. First, I did not have enough of some things for me to use myself. Next time I will be better at including me in the count. Second, well, I don't use patterned papers that much on my cards. I will make them myself or use embossing rather then patterned papers. I decided I need to make a point of using this type of paper on my cards, though, because I have TOO MUCH IN MY STASH not to. Just FYI-this post is very heavy on the images.

My first two cards used the penguins from the My Favorite Things stamp set "Penguins in Paradise."

I colored the tree and the penguin in with Copic markers and then cut it out. I placed it inside an oval frame that contained a patterned paper background. I made sure a piece of the tree overlapped the frame, though.

I cut the "cheers" sentiment out and made it into a banner. Instead of leaving it white, I inked it up with blue ink to match the background.

The second penguin card I used a sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch blog. It was one from a couple weeks ago.

I had fun coloring the bathing suit on this penguin. I colored it with green Copic markers and then added some blue polka dots. I thought it need a bit more pop so I used a white gel pen to then draw around the polka dots.

I used an My Favorite Things "In and Out Stitched Square" die to cut the penguin out. I layered it over an A2 top folding card that I had covered in patterned paper, a banner and some blue circles. I then added some sequins that were in the kit.

For the third card that I utilized only patterned paper and card stock.

I die cut the bottom of two pieces of the patterned paper with the "A2 Card Curved Edge" die from Simon Says Stamp! I layered it over a piece of card stock that I had embossed. I then adhered a sentiment banner and a heart. Next I wrapped some thread around the front three times and added two pins. The pins were my "mystery" item that I put in the package. Only one other person wound up using them on a card!!

My next card was another simple card.

I layered one of the piece of patterned papers over a white top folding A2 card base. I then adhered the Paper Trey Ink "hugs" sentiment that was in the kit. I kind of cheated for the balloon because all the other girls, if they used it, had to fussy cut it. I had the die so I die cut it out. (It was from WPlus9's "Party Animal" set.) I then used Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick Distress Ink, blended it onto the balloon and then adhered the balloon to the card front.

Next I used foam adhesive to adhere the Mama Elephant panda from "Pandamonium." I die cut a balloon string using Lawn Fawn "Party Balloon" dies. I cut it apart to make it work for the front and adhered it so it looked like the panda was holding onto it.

The last card was the one that I spent the most time putting together.

I colored in the elephant, bunny, and tooth brush with Copic markers. I set them aside and created the background scene using Distress ink and water color paper. (Mowed Lawn and Twisted Citron for the grass and Tumbled Glass for the sky.) I used the "smooshing" technique with a piece of acetate, the distress ink and a mister filled with water. I dried this with my heat gun and adhered it onto the front of a white, top folding A2 card base.

I then cut a circle slightly smaller then the background scene in my orange patterned paper and adhered that to the card front. I then adhered the critters onto the scene, adding some sequins to complete it.

I cheated here a bit too. I stamped the sentiment onto the card front instead of using one from the kit. Under it a I placed a piece of green card stock from the kit. I added some Wink of Stella over it and the handle of the tooth brush.

Have you made it to the end? I hope so!! I do not usually post this many cards in one post so please forgive me. I just got a kit in the mail to play with that will be posted in October. Please, please, check out the Scrapjazz Kit Club to see all the fun cards that everyone else made!!!

Have a great day!!

CYCI#88 Challenge-Anything Goes

Happy Sunday!! It is a beautiful, fall day here in New England. What I would view as a "perfect" day, though I know others like the warmer weather. I like it crisp enough to have to wear a sweater and some socks!!

Today I am sharing a card that I created using scraps from the mess on my desk. I created this card for a challenge. I had made paper and then die cut leaves. I had the paper left and thought, why should I throw it out? Instead, I decided to use it to make a card.

The first thing I did to create this was to die cut two leaves from patterned paper scraps using Paper Trey Ink's "Leaf Silhouette" dies. I then die cut a mask and inked the leaves using Distress Ink.

I used an A2 sized "Soft Stone" card base and used a stencil with some soft stone ink on the background. I then stamped the sentiment.

I adhered some orange stripe pattered paper scrap onto the card front and the inked strip over it that. Next I used some foam adhesive to adhere the leaves. I then put a bit of sparkle with Wink of Stella over the leaves. My last step was to adhere some clear sequins to the card front.

I LOVE how this card turned out. It was one of the easiest I have ever made. I challenge you to use some scraps from your stash to make a card. I am entering this into CYCI#88-Anything Goes Challenge.

I want to apologize for my being behind on commenting. I have had a lot of stuff going on and it has impacted my computer time. I so hate that!! I know I won't be able to catch up but hopefully I will be able to stay on top of this weeks creations.

I hope you enjoy the rest of our day!

Supplies:
Paper-Soft Stone and White Card stock-Paper Trey Ink, Patterned Paper-scraps from my stash
Ink-Shaded Lilac, Dusty Concord, Squeezed Lemonade Distress Ink, Burned Orange and Blue Violent ink from Simon Says Stamp, Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Stamp and Dies-Simon Says Stamp
Sequins-Darice
Other-Ranger Matte Adhesive, Foam Adhesive, 

CAS(E) This Sketch #141 and the Fusion Card Challenge

Happy Wednesday!! I hope everyone had a great day.

I had the day off due to our school being off for the Jewish Holiday. I did fun things like give the dog a bath, clean the bathroom, taking Charlotte to an eye appointment, shopping, and then folding my MOUNTAIN of laundry. I am great at washing but the folding I always leave until I am out of laundry baskets. (I have 6-yes I am lazy!!) I do hang a lot to dry, which does help.

I also binged watched a show that I meant to watch when it was on this summer but never got the chance. "Mr. Robot" is the name and it is on the USA Network. The main character is just fascinating to me. Socially awkward to the extreme but is SOOO smart. He works for a computer security firm by day but is a hacker by night. He hacks EVERYONE he knows!! The plot is bigger then that but too complicated to explain. Anyway, check it out because it is really good.

Today I am sharing two cards that I made this weekend for two challenges.

The first I created for CAS(E) this Sketch #141. I am actually getting this one in under the wire!! Here is my card:

I received a large order from Scrapbook.com last week and used a lot of products that I had bought on this card. First I stamped the Hero Arts "Graphic Leaves" background onto white card stock with Versamark ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder. I then used distress ink in various yellows and oranges to blend over the background. I LOVE these fall colors and how the white embossing resisted the ink.

I then die cut the panel and adhered it to a brown A2 card. I die cut a kraft banner and inked it with Vintage Photo ink and adhered it to the card front. I then made three loops of yellow twine and adhered that over the banner.

Next I used a sentiment that I cut from my new Pebbles 6" by 6" paper pad and rounded the corners. I adhered it over the banner and the looped twine. My last step was to adhere the sequins like they were on the sketch.

I love that the sketch had the sequin placement on it. I always have such a tough time figuring out where they go.

My second card I created for the Fusion Card Challenge. If yo have not played along before, this is where you can either use the theme, the sketch or both to create a card. Here is the inspiration piece:

I actually chose the blue's and the gold from the peacock plates as my inspiration and did not use the sketch to make my card.

Instead of stamping first, I used Distress ink in different blues to blend over a white piece of card stock. I misted the card with water when I was done to give it a splotchy look. I then used my Hero Arts "Graphic Leaves" background stamp again with Versamark ink and then embossed it with gold embossing powder. I then die cut panel and adhered it to a black A2 card front.

I die cut some banners out of card stock scraps. I embossed a sentiment on one and layered them over each other on the card front. I then made a "nest" of gold thread and adhered that over the banners. I  die cut a leaf out of gold glitter paper and adhered that over the banners and the thread. I then took  some sequins and randomly adhered them to the card.

I have to say that I LOVE this card. Blue is one of my favorite colors and being able to use all my Distress inks was SO FUN. My fingers were covered in blue when I was done. In my book, that is a success!!

I want to thank you for taking the time to stop by my blog today. I hope you have a great night!!

Supplies:

Orange Card

Blue Card

Freshly Made Sketches #204, The Paper Players Challenge PP263, Zig Clean Markers and Lawn Fawn's "Happy Harvest" Set

What a beautiful day this Sunday is. The sky is so blue and the weather has just a touch of coolness to it. A perfect day to apple pick!! (I caution you-this post is a little heavy on the photos. I apologize but I just had to do it!!)

Chris, Charlotte and I took a drive to Lyman Orchards and picked Macoun apples, which are my favorite. We have numerous orchards in our town but I had heard good things about the shop Lyman has on their property and the rumors were true. We bought some pot pies for dinner tomorrow and some FRESH cider donuts. 

Here are a few photos that Charlotte and I took at the orchards. I took the first and the last, Charlotte took the middle three.

Charlotte is taking a photography class in school and her subject this week was either to photograph a toy or leaves. She is not happy about either assignment but has chosen leaves. However, the leaves have not turned here yet. I suggested this photo because of the red and green against the blue.

Charlotte was trying to get the birds in flight in this photo!!

Here is where her camera broke so she had to borrow mine for the rest of the visit. She has my old DSLR and it really needs to be replaced. She does not like my lens, though!!

So today I am going to show you two cards I created using Lawn Fawn's "Happy Harvest" set.

I received a HUGE order from Scrapbook.com this week and this stamp/die set was just one of my many purchases. Shhh-do not tell Chris!!

I did something that I have not done before when making a card. I stamped the SAME image on two pieces of card stock and used my Zig Clean Clean Color Real Brush Markers to color them in. However, I did two different techniques using these markers.

For my first card, I am playing along with the Freshly Made Sketches Blog and using Sketch #204. I am kind of obsessed with sketches as of late. I can use my own supplies but the layout often jump starts my creative juices. 

Here is the fun sketch I played with:

I am also entering my card into The Paper Players Clean and Simple Challenge-Create a Fall Scene. I think my card is perfect for this!!

 Here is my card that I created:

For this card, I stamped the the pumpkins and the wagon using a lot of masking. I then colored them in with my Zig Clean Clean Color Real Brush Markers. I have been watching different ways to use the and one way is to color with them like a Copic. This is what I decided to do on this image. 

After coloring, I masked off the stamped images and created a background with distress inks. I then stamped the corn stalks and the sentiment. Next I die cut the stamped scene and adhered it over a card base and a piece of patterned paper.

My last step was to stamp, die cut and adhere some leaves from the same stamp set. 

On my second card, the scene is pretty similar. I did not use the sketch, though, but decided to layer my scene over some patterned paper rectangles.

I did all the same things with the masking and distress ink background BUT I used my Zig Clean Clean Color Real Brush Markers with water. I would color a bit of two colors on whatever I was painting and then blend it together. I think this gives the image a bit more dimension but painting takes longer then coloring!!!

I added a banner rather then stamping the sentiment directly on the scene and added a few more stamped leaves. I am not sure if you can see it or not but I also added some clear Wink of Stella onto the wagon to make it "shiny" like metal. Okay, it really IS NOT shiny like metal but that is what I was going for.

What I learned:

• I like coloring better then using water with these markers. HOWEVER, I think that I would use them up really fast if I colored in images with them and you cannot refill these.
• I think using the markers with water gives the image a bit more dimension then blending the colors without water. 
• It is VERY EASY to reactivate the colors when using water with the distress ink background!!! I did figure this but was not careful and had to "fix" some mistakes with more painting.

Okay-I am at the end!! If you made it to this point, thank you!! I appreciate you taking the time to stop by!!

Have a wonderful night!!

Supplies:

Card #1

Card #2

Zig colors I used:

Pumpkins-052, 070

Wagon-020, 022

Wheels and Handle-091, 094

Stems-041, 044

MUSE Challenge #133 and I want to be a Card Design Superstar!

Hello everyone!! I hope you all had as good a day as I have had. Nothing special happened but it was just a great day. The weather was perfect, work went well and one of my students told me I "always wear pretty clothes" and I had a fabulous kick butt work out at the gym!! It cannot get much better then that on a workday, let me tell you.

Today I am posting a card I created for the MUSE Challenge #133. The MUSE card was by Michele Ferguson, a designer I ADORE!! She makes the greatest cards and is the sweetest person to boot!!  Here is her card that was the inspiration piece.

Isn't is so pretty and romantic? I LOVED that patterned paper in the background and so I "attempted" to make something similar. Below is what I came up with.

I started off by stamping all my flowers in white and then used various pigment inks in different colors over them. It did not turn out as bright as I wanted but the effect was there. Then I did a bad thing. I got out my mist sprays in white, gold and green. I flicked the opposite end of the sprayer with the white and the green but not the gold. I sprayed a bit too much gold on it but because it took me so long to make, I decided to try to cover up my mistake and use it anyway. When you get lemons, you make lemonade!!

I put that aside to dry and then created my butterfly. I first stamped the butterfly and fussy cut it out. I then used my Zig Clean watercolor markers and watercolored the background in pale colors. I then used a bit of gold paint to give it some shine. I then layered a die cut vellum butterfly over it and wrapped the center with gold thread. All of these elements were thought out carefully because they were on Michelle's card.

I put the butterfly aside and started to assemble the card. First I adhered a piece of gold vellum over the card panel I stamped. Then I wrapped gold thread the vellum and adhered the decorated card front to an A2 top folding black card.

I then adhered the die cut sentiment and covered it in Wink of Stella. The last step was to adhere the butterfly. 

This was a really different card for me to make and challenged me to the nth degree. It was fun to try to figure out how to do the background and though I didn't get everything "perfect," I think it came out pretty cool.

I am entering this card into the MUSE Challenge #133 and in My Favorite Things "You could be a Design Superstar!" contest. Most of stamps I used are from My Favorite Things, one of my favorite places to shop!!

I want to thank you for stopping by tonight. I hope you all have a  great day tomorrow!

Supplies:

InLinkz.com