Grunge Anniversary

Wednesday, August 31, 2011


Good morning to you! Today's layout is from iheart2stamp's August Sketch For You To Try.

As you can tell from the post title, this is another anniversary card. My husband and I celebrate our 12th anniversary this coming Saturday and I've been trying to decide what kind of card I want to give him. I'm running out of time, so maybe you can help me at the end of the post. :D

I did some heavy distressing on today's card. The dark teal background paper was already a distressed pattern, then I embossed it, sanded it to expose the white paper, then used a couple of "dirty" inks on the sanded areas and edges. The next layer, with the music notes at the top, started out as a pale green, yellow, and cream paper. I stamped the swirl design along the left side in brown, then used Tea Dye ink on the edges, and a good bit into the paper. The next small horizontal piece only needed black ink on the edges, because the paper is a digital image of vintage wallpaper that was already so distressed it didn't need anything else.


The text layer is a page torn from an old Virginia Woolf novel I had from college. I never could get into her writing, so ripping the book up wasn't too hard for me. ;) I tore all the edges, used several of those dirty inks on it, then glued it to a piece of cardstock to give it some stability. The green stamp is a clock with wings, and the dark teal stamp is of two doves. It still looked too clean when I was done, so I crinkled the whole thing up and went over it again with ink to catch the creases. Then I sprayed Perfect Pearls Mist over it. I hadn't planned on the stamped image of the clock smearing, but after looking at it a little bit, I liked the effect. However, it was just too shiny for a grunge card, so I sanded it in several places, until it looked grungy enough for my taste.


Finally, I cut a fancy tag out of light blue cardstock, distressed the edges of it with ink, and stamped the sentiment on it. I sprayed it with a mist of Perfect Pearls and water, which made the sentiment ink smear, but this time I knew it would happen and was pleased. The little silvery dots on the ends are Liquid Pearls.

The inside of the card is just lightly distressed, with a simple Quietfire sentiment. I love that elegant font.


Now, my only problem is to decide which card I want to give him. I'm leaning toward today's grunge card, because I LOVE that style, but the leafy card seems a little more masculine, maybe, and classy. I like the brown digi paper card, but those big brown polka dots kind of turned it into a girly card, I think. What about you? Which card would you go with?  
Grunge card

Leaf card
  
Brown Digi Paper card
Thanks for stopping by and for your help. *~D  Have a fantastic day!
 
Stamps: Daily Junque (Pink Paislee); Quietfire; Everyday Sayings (Hero Arts); Wedded Bliss (Creative Imagination)
Paper: Spontaneous Delight (Shabby Princess, digital); Best of K&Co; Vintage Wallpaper (Lost and Taken, digital); Faith paper pack (The Paper Studio); Bazzill Basics; old book page
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Colorbox
Dies: Fancy Tags & Curved Rectangles (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Love is in the Air embossing folder (Cuttlebug); Mini Round Gems (Recollections); Perfect Pearls; Perfect Pearls Mist; Liquid Pearls
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")
Thanks for visiting my blog!
To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,
subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.

Peace Hope Love

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

  
Hello Blog Friends! Notice anything different on my blog? I've got my new Terrific Top 3 badge from CR84FN Color Challenge over there on my sidebar! Isn't it the cutest! Thanks again to the DT at CR84FN for choosing my card as a Top 3!

The August Viva la Verve sketch challenge is almost over for this month, and I was thinking I might not get all five cards made, but I did it! This is the last one. The theme for this week's Shabby Tea Room challenge is "Birthstones," so I incorporated it into this card, also. And, since my birthday is in November, I was "inspired" by the Topaz.

This card began as a blue and gold card--gold for Topaz and blue for Blue Topaz. The Blue Topaz is actually sometimes used for a December birthstone, but since I used to dislike the color of my birthstone (has anyone ever actually liked having the Topaz as their birthstone as a child?), I always used the Blue Topaz, figuring a topaz is a topaz. Anyway, by the time I got around to actually putting this card together, I ended up with a completely different color scheme of brown, gold and red and turned it into a Christmas card. A few weeks ago, I set myself a goal of at least one Christmas card a week, which I am already behind on, so maybe this was my subconscious mind getting me back on track. ;)


(For all the paper edges in this card, including the inside, I sponged either Tea Dye, Walnut Stain, or Black Soot Distress Ink before gluing them down.) 

I started by stamping floral motifs, from Verve's Sunny Days set, in gold pigment ink onto the brown cardstock. You can see them in the photo, but in person, they sparkle and shine. Then, I glued the patterned paper rectangles to dark red cardstock, leaving just a teeny little red edge showing. I zig zagged the edges with gold thread and was careful not to go over the red edges. For the tag, I used a tag stamp from Verve's Sweet Treats set and heat embossed with gold glitter embossing powder, then cut it with the Sweet Scallop die. I put a large eyelet in the top of the tab so I could add the glitter ribbon. That is some seriously stiff (and flaky) ribbon. I had brown glitter everywhere by the time I had it tied to the tag. It was in the Halloween dollar bin at Joann's. I bought four different colors, but once it's used up, I probably won't buy any more. The sentiment is from Flourishes Holiday Greetings set.

On the sketch, there is a circle added to the tag, but I didn't want to cover up this one, so I used two of the circle Spellbinders dies to cut a circular frame out of red cardstock. I made glitter glue with Mod Podge and red glitter and painted it on the frame. After it dried, I added it to the tag. I love the way it turned out. Finally, I tied a yellow ribbon on and added a large gem brad in "topaz" gold.

For the inside, I used another stamp from the same Flourishes set, punched the corners of the white cardstock with a Fleur de Lis edger, and layered up the brown, red, and gingham papers as a frame. I just love how having just a sliver of red showing creates a piping cord effect.  

Thanks for stopping by! Have yourself a terrific Tuesday!
 
Stamps: Sunny Days & Sweet Treats (Verve); Holiday Greetings (Flourishes)
Paper: Gingerbread Fun (Designs by Krista-digital paper); The Breathe Paper Collection (Prima); Bazzill Basics; Coredinations; The Paper Studio
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Stampabilities; Colorbox; Staz-On
Dies: Sweet Scallop Tag Die (Verve); Standard Circles Lg (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Fleur de Lis Edger (EK Success); Gold Glitter Embossing Powder (Zing); Red Glitter (Martha Stewart); glitter ribbon (Joann); satin ribbon (Michael's); gem brad (Recollections); eyelet (We R Memory Keepers); Mod Podge; foam dots
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")
Thanks for visiting my blog!
To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,
subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.


Carpe diem!

Monday, August 29, 2011

Hello there! It's a new week, and I hope yours has started off well. I had a nice surprise this morning, when I learned that my Friendship card was chosen as one of the Terrific Top 3 in the CR84FN36 color challenge! It will be so exciting to have the TT3 badge in my sidebar! All the cards in that challenge were beautiful--you should go check them out. While you're at it, you might want to head over to the CR84FN37 challenge. The blues for this one are so pretty. I love color challenges. I get to use color combinations that I might not otherwise try.

Okay, now on to my card for today. It's for the Viva la Verve August sketch challenge-Week 3 (I turned it 90 degrees counterclockwise) and also for the Crazy 4 Challenges theme #102--a "male card." 

What a great sketch this was to work with! Look at all the different layers. I am crazy about layers! (Some say I'm plain crazy, but that's just not true, I tell ya) *~D



For this card, I used yet more digital paper. This time I used Dinner Party, from the Shabby Princess website--FREE! I love FREE! First, I glued some red hemp cord around the perimeter of the large circle die cut with Glossy Accents (it dries a lot faster than white glue). Then I put all the rectangular layers on with foam dots. When I was finished with that, it still needed something, so I tried putting a bead of white Liquid Pearls around the hemp, but that was a near disaster! You need a steady hand for that kind of thing, and I don't possess one of those. :) To try to remedy that, I used more Liquid Pearls, in yellow, and put dots around the circle. Much better. I've still got a long way to go with learning how to use Liquid Pearls, but I am liking it more and more.



Since I wanted this to be a masculine card for the Crazy 4 Challenges male theme, I decided to use the manly "carpe diem" sentiment from Verve's new Words of Wisdom set. I did have a little chuckle when I looked up the phrase to make sure I knew what it meant. According to Merriam-Webster, the Latin origin literally means "pluck the day." I'm good about ignoring things I don't care for, so I'm going with the translation of "seize the day" instead. (I know it doesn't really matter what I think it means, just what the recipient thinks, but I'm funny about knowing stuff like that). Anyway, I think if I told a man, "pluck the day," he might be insulted (or think I'm a nutcase), and I wouldn't want either of those things to happen. For my embellie, I just used 3 black rhinestones.

On the inside, I used the same papers as on the front of the card, except the black and white paper has the colors reversed.  

All in all, I think it's a fairly manly card. I'll have to get my husband's opinion on that later. I just won't tell him about that "pluck the day" thing. *~D

Hope you have a great day today! Thanks for visiting!!!
 
Stamps: Words of Wisdom (Verve)
Paper: Dinner Party-digital (Shabby Princess); The Paper Studio 
Ink: Staz-on; Tim Holtz Distress Ink
Accessories: Standard Circles Lg die (Spellbinders); Hemp Jewelry Cord (Hobby Lobby); rhinestones; Liquid Pearls
Size: 4.25" x 4.25"
Thanks for visiting my blog!
To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,
subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.

Under the wire

Sunday, August 28, 2011

I'm coming in under the wire on the Mojo Monday challenge, so this will be super quick. Actually, I made this card for Mojo Monday 205, the CR84FN37 color challenge (light blue, turquoise, and neutral), and Verve's August Diva Dare-Sending Some Sunshine.



This card came together fairly quickly except for choosing the paper I wanted to use. I used digital again (Sundance by My Mind's Eye), but while I was searching for what I wanted, I came across a bunch of digital papers I hadn't seen and before you know it an hour had passed. But, finally, here it is.







And, here's the inside:

Thanks for stopping by and have a good night!


 
Stamps: Sweet Treats (Verve); Distressing (Glitz)
Paper: Sundance (My Mind's Eye-digital); Darice; Paper Studio
Ink: Staz-on; Tim Holtz Distress Ink
Dies: Parisian Accents & Standard Circles Lg (Spellbinders); Ornate (Tim Holtz Alterations-Sizzix);
Accessories: Arch Lattice edge punch (Martha Stewart); ribbon (Pebbles); antique copper brad (Making Memories); household twine; foam dots
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")
Thanks for visiting my blog!
To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,
subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.

Never too old

Saturday, August 27, 2011


Mark Twain is one of my favorite authors and there are a lot of great quotes out there from him. This is one of his best.

Happy Saturday to you! This card is one I made from some pieces I've had lying on my worktable for several weeks. Almost every time I've started a card, I've picked up these papers and tried to use them, but they never seemed right, even though I love the colors and pattern. This time, it finally clicked.


I used the Viva la Verve August 2011 Week 4 sketch for my layout, adding an organza/satin ribbon down the center and a button embellishment in the upper right corner. The meandering stitching around the patterned layer is new for me. Why I ever thought it would be difficult is beyond me. 8~)




Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful weekend!
 
Stamps: Words of Wisdom & Sunny Days (Verve); Essential Messages (Hero Arts)
Paper: Pocket Full of Posies Stack (DCWV); Coredinations
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Colorbox
Dies: Floral Doily Accents; Curved Rectangles
Accessories: Seeing Spots embossing folder (Cuttlebug); ribbon (Michael's); waxed linen thread (Books by Hand); Liquid Pearls; buttons; sewing thread
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")
Thanks for visiting my blog!
To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,
subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.

SSSC131

Friday, August 26, 2011

I've got a Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge card to share with you today. This is a great sketch for a masculine card because there aren't any ribbons or bows, and few embellishments.


I left the scalloped edging off the right side, and opted, instead, to put the bracket on the left of the main panel with the Happy Anniversary sentiment on it.

I used the emboss resist technique for the leaves, embossing them with white embossing powder, then sponging several colors of distress ink over them.

Just as a reminder, if you haven't participated in Flourishes Birthday Blog Hop, head over there and check it out. Lots of great goodies up for grabs!

And, that's it for me tonight. Thanks for stopping by!
 
Stamps: Leaves (Cloud 9 Designs); Everyday Sayings (Hero Arts)
Paper: Origins (Basic Grey); Life's Journey (K&Co); Recollections; The Paper Studio
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Staz-on; clear embossing powder
Dies: Brackets (Tim Holtz Alterations--Sizzix)
Accessories: Binding Edge Edger (EK Success); embossing powder (Ranger); Gridlock embossing folder (Sizzix); Flora & Fauna Stud Metal Art (K&Co); foam dots
Size: 5" x 5"
Thanks for visiting my blog!
To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,
subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.

Isn't it fun!

Thursday, August 25, 2011


Hi there! Quick post here today. My great-niece is having her first birthday soon, and I made this card for her. I used this week's My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club sketch #34.



This sketch actually has two long skinny panels on it, but since the balloon stamp was so large, I opted to use a medallion for the second panel to keep from covering up the entire front of the card. I really like all that orange and pink. 8~D

The balloons are covered in glitter glue and paper pieced, and the number "1" on the front of the card is covered in Glossy Accents to give it some shine and dimension.

This is the inside, but it could just as easily have been the front, I think.
  

Hope you all had a great day today. Thanks for visiting!
 
Stamps: Party Balloons & Everything Happy (Stampendous)
Paper: Bright Blossom (S.E.I.); Bright Pattern Pack (Colorbok); Basics Pack & Textured Cardstock stack (The Paper Studio)
Ink: Memento; Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Copic markers
Dies: Nested Lacey Pendants, Floral Doily Accent (Spellbinders); Curlz Alphabet (Sizzix)
Accessories: Pompom ribbon (Fancy Pants Designs); button; twine (The Twinery); glitter; Stickles; Glossy Accents; foam dots
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")
Thanks for visiting my blog!
To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,
subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.


Shabby chic for you

Wednesday, August 24, 2011


Good morning! First of all, if you are looking for my Flourishes Customer Appreciation Blog Hop post, go here. There is some great blog candy to be had, so don't miss it. You have until September 1st to enter. If you've already entered the hop, Good Luck! That's an awesome prize!

Now, on to this week's Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #144. Pastels are not my "thing," but I love how this card turned out. I stamped the bicycle onto lavender cardstock with Teal Colorbox ink, then using cotton swabs, I dabbed distress ink on the gifts, flowers, and seat. With sponge daubers, I streaked Wild Honey, Worn Lipstick, and Concord Grape distress ink diagonally across the entire rectangle. I did try to avoid going over the places I'd already colored, but I didn't worry too much about it. I inked the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink.


For the sentiment, I used a Verve stamp from the Sweet Treats set. I cut it out with a Blossom Spellbinders die, distressed the edges, and used a stylus and foam pad to soften and curl the edges a bit. I cut another blossom, one size larger than the sentiment, and snipped about half an inch into it between each petal, then softened and curled it like I did the first one, but it turned out to be too big for this card, so I trimmed about 3/8" from the edges and it fit fine. Before I inked the edges of both blossoms with distress ink, I misted them lightly with water, crumpled them up, and dried them with a heat tool. After I glued them together, I added Crystal Stickles to the edges of the sentiment blossom. I think every card needs a little sparkle somewhere on it, don't you? ;)



 
On the inside, I messed up when I picked up the wrong sponge dauber. I intended to use Antique Linen inside the edges of the Labels Sixteen die, but I had already used the dauber in the Broken China ink. Oops! I went ahead with it, even though the blue was causing the Antique Linen to look sort of green. Turns out I liked it after all. Hope you do, too.

Thanks for stopping by. I so appreciate all my visitors!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!
 
Stamps: Bicycle (Heidi Grace Designs); Sweet Treats (Verve)
Paper: Watercolor Bouquet (K&Co); Life's Journey (K&Co); Best of K&Co; DCWV Neutral Stack Textured; Plentiful (Digital paper-Shabby Princess); Recollections
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Colorbox
Dies: Labels Large, Labels Small, Blossom, Labels Sixteen (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Scallop Dot Edge Punch & Classic Butterfly Punch (Martha Stewart); Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper; Liquid Pearls; half-pearls; twine (The Twinery); Stickles; foam dots
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")
Thanks for visiting my blog!
To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,
subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.

Happy Birthday, Flourishes!


Flourishes is lighting the candles and getting ready to sing to honor their fourth birthday! And, as a way to celebrate, I’m happy to say I was hand-picked to help them have a bit of a party as a designer for their customer appreciation hop! The only challenge here was to create a card or project using my favorite Flourishes stamp set. Read on – I’ll tell you how you can win some Flourishes goodies too!

All of Flourishes' stamp sets are fabulous. With the beautifully drawn images and sentiments, I love them all, and choosing one as a favorite was a little difficult for me. But, I finally decided to focus on Flourishes' From the Desk of stamp set.


The floral, letter-writing, and book images in this set are classic. It lets me combine my love of cardmaking, writing, and books all at the same time, and the elegantly scripted sentiments in it are perfect for just about any occasion. And, since we're celebrating Flourishes 4th birthday, I chose to use another favorite stamp set, Kids Play, for the "Happy Birthday" sentiment on this card.

I love all the crisp detail in Flourishes' stamps.


Now, back to the hop.... 

What can you win? Take a peek at this fun and festive blog candy! Isn't it yummy!


If you’d like to learn more about how you can win all of these stamp sets, just click HERE to read up on today’s hop and challenge!

If you arrived here by way of Debbie Marcinkiewicz, then you are on the right path! If I was your first stop, you’ll want to go back to the Flourishes Blog and start this hop from the very beginning! You have until September 1st at 5PM CST to enter!

Be sure to leave a comment on each of the designers' posts participating in today’s hop for an extra chance to win!  Next up on the hop…Linda Carson.

Thanks so much for visiting, and have a wonderful day!
 
Stamps: From the Desk of, Kids Play (Flourishes)
Paper: Floriade 2 DigiKit (Design by Anita, Two Peas in a Bucket); Best of Brenda Walton (K&Co); Life's Journey (K&Co); The Paper Studio; Recollections
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Memento; Copic markers
Dies: Small Labels, Large Labels (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Textile Texture embossing folder (Cuttlebug); seam binding (Hug Snug); lace (dyed with Distress Ink)
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")
Thanks for visiting my blog!
To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,
subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.


A Digital Anniversary

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Good Tuesday morning! I have a challenge card to share with you today, but first I wanted to tell you about a website I found that has some unique, free digital papers. It's called Lost and Taken, and it's chock full of high-resolution texture photos that you can download and use in papercrafting. I really like the vintage wallpaper images, but there are also grunge, colored papers (which are beautiful), film textures, nature, and others. I used one of the vintage wallpaper images on my card today. Actually, all the paper on this card is digital except for the solid colors.

The My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club sketch #33 for this week was perfect for digital paper since it had so many different small layers. I was able to print everything I needed on one sheet of cardstock and there was very little waste. For the sentiment on the front of the card, I added the text to the digi paper in my photo program and when I printed the paper, the text was already printed right on it. I still prefer the look of a stamped sentiment, but when I don't have the stamp I need, the computer sure does come in handy.

I may have another card for you this afternoon, as I still have several challenge cards to make, but for now I'm off to go wedding shower shopping.

Thanks so much for visiting, and have a marvelous day!
 
Stamps: Sunny Days (Verve); Everyday Savings (Hero Arts)
Paper: Vintage Wallpaper-digital (http://www.lostandtaken.com/); Harvest Spice digital paper (Shabby Princess); Best Things digital paper (A. Richards, Two Peas in a Bucket); Recollections
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Stampabilities
Dies: Leafy Sprigs (Verve); Labels Large (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Arch Lattice Edge Punch (Martha Stewart); household twine; Liquid Pearls; button; Memory Thread (DMC); foam dots; main sentiment created on computer in photo program
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")


Thanks for visiting my blog!
To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,
subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.

You remind me

Monday, August 22, 2011

Hello! I hope your week has gotten off to a good start. I'm starting mine off with a card for the Viva la Verve Week 2 challenge. Thank goodness this is a simple sketch because I'm behind on my challenges!


You can't see it in the photo, but the black strip is dry embossed. The scalloped edging is covered in a glitter paste that I made after seeing a video tutorial on Linda's Paper Boutique blog. I used Mod Podge instead of Glossy Accents and it worked great. I haven't used a lot of glitter in the past because of the mess, but this was so easy and clean, you'll probably be seeing it a lot more from me in the future. I love how it looks and the best part...it stays put! Note to self: I must get lots of new glitter colors!




Here's a peek at the inside:

That's it for me today. Thanks for stopping by.
 
 
Stamps: Words of Wisdom (Verve)
Paper: Best of K&Co; Recollections; The Paper Studio
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Staz-On
Dies: Big Scalloped Ovals Sm, Parisian Motifs, Labels Lg (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Mesh Texture embossing folder (Cuttlebug); Dot Matrix embossing folder (Sizzix); Scallop Diamond Edger (EK Success); Mod Podge Glossy; Glitter; Liquid Pearls; foam dots
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")
Thanks for visiting my blog!
To have Ink Up delivered to your inbox,
subscribe in the box at the top right of the page.