Paper Smooches Guest Designer - Go Fish...

Had so much fun playing with Paper Smooches stamps and dies with a sketch from Let's Get Sketchy!

Created the watercolour background behind the photo using teal Glimmermist and green Twinkling H2O, overstamped with Paper Smooches Happy Travels sentiment. Die cut Large Wood Sign, stamped with Happy Travels sentiment and die cut Happy Camper bear, also overstamped and fussy cut. Papers are a combination of Echo Park and Simple Stories, with American Crafts and Scenic Route chipboard alphabets for the title. 

Playing along with Shopping Our Stash "Anything but a Card" challenge too 
- although the stamps and dies are brand spanking new, the Scenic Route letters are so old the company is out of business!!
Playing along with Hanna and Friends "Everything Except the Card" too, as this Paper Smooches bear has to be one of the cutest bears I know!

Mixed Media Card Challenge... Autumn Colours, with Metal or Leaves

Mixed Media Card Challenge, September Challenge Autumn Colours with Metal or Leaves is sponsored by Add A Little Dazzle, who generously supplied us with some amazing metal sheets to play with - and I'm in LOVE!  If you happen to be stumped for inspiration, there are some fabulous videos over at Add A Little Dazzle.

My embossing folders have been feeling a little unloved of late, so this was the perfect excuse to dig them out and dust them off! I embossed a small sheet of Add A Little Dazzle Dark Chocolate, and used a combination of sanding and acetate to remove the layer of colour from the raised embossed leaves. I've discovered that the sanding creates a more vintage, weathered result, where the acetate on a cotton bud creates a more modern, shiny feel, and you have to be careful not to drip the acetate onto the parts you don't want the colour removed!

The leaves were coloured using a variety of Liquid Pearl colours. A cardstock sheet was cut to the size of the embossed panel and the edges of the metal sheet wrapped around it. The vellum die-cut flag had this gorgeous Walter and Winnie sentiment heat embossed in Copper. Lastly the vellum flag was wrapped around the front panel and secured with a couple of spots of Dimensional Magic, and the panel adhered to the card front.

I hope you take the opportunity to have a play with Mixed Media, I'd LOVE to see your creations!  In case you're wondering what qualifies as a Mixed Media Card, I have posted details here, and they can be found on The Mixed Media Card Challenge blog.

While you are there, grab some more fabulous inspiration 

from the amazing Design Team!

Julia Aston - Shirley Bampton - Charlene Cundy

Maria Fischer - Jan Jenitis - Kripa Koushik

Maria Levine - Sanna Lippert - Deepti Malik

Jenny Martin - Shery Russ - Elina Stromberg - Loll Thompson

HOW TO PLAY

1. Create a mixed media CARD based on the theme, with or without the optional element.

2. Display the challenge graphic on your blog post and link back to this challenge post.

3. You may enter as many times as you want, as long as each entry is different.

4. You may combine a maximum of 7 challenges (6 other challenges plus ours).

5. Submit your projects by September 25, 11:55pm PDT (GMT 6:55am).

6. We’ll announce the winner and favorites on September 30.

Shopping Our Stash ABC Challenge A=Autumn, B=Branches, C=Colours,
 Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes, and Cutain Call Lovely Leaves.

Shades of CASual Watercolour...

Inspired by CASual Fridays Shades of Gray, Virginia's View Watercolour Challenge
and Shopping Our Stash Sentiments Only.

The watercolour background was created using Faber-Castell Gelatos in Black and Silver, then once dry, flicked with Glimmermist Black Magic and Heidi Swapp Tinsel. The Memory Box Countryside die cut is highlighted with a yellow watercolour panel behind to create the lit window, and stamped with this cute Verve sentiment in Hero Arts Neon Sunshine and Soft Graphite. The watercolour background and sentiment panels were adhered together then die cut with Lil Inkers Stitched Rectangle.

A FUSION of Inspiration...

 

Sadly you may have read that for now, FUSION is no more! It was an AMAZING team and Challenge to have had the privilege of being part of, and I will miss the Challenge and the FABULOUS Design Team!!! 

So today I created a mini FUSION of my own, with photo inspiration originally for the Lawnscaping Pinterest Inspired Challenge - but my camera wasn't playing nice LOL! - and this fabulous Retro Sketches sketch.  Papers are a mix of Basic Grey (Fusion range - about 8 years old!!), Crate Paper and American Crafts, with Lawn Fawn stamps, Prima wooden frame and Lil Inkers Stitched Rectangles die cut, perfect for playing along with this fortnights Shopping Our Stash Stitching Challenge. Thought I'd play along with Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes too!

It's All White (Almost)...

Just Keeping It Simple today, all white! A super quick Christmas card (can't believe it's only 10 weeks away - EEK!) featuring Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder (haven't reached for this in a while!), Memory Box Landscape die and Annabelle Stamps sentiment in embossed Gold Mirror.  Playing along with Shopping Our Stash Embossing Times 2 Challenge (hot and dry).

Playing along with Simon Says Stamp Use a Clear or Rubber Stamp too!

A BIG FUSION...

A very literal FUSION from me this week!  Will you be inspired by the shapes (rectangles, circles, car, bows...), colours (pink, monochromatic, black & white with a pop of colour...), textures (paper, cloth, brick, glass, metal...) or theme (cars, gifts, industrial, fashion...) from this weeks cool FUSION graphic, or this funky FUSION sketch - or both?!?

I had such fun this week pairing my favourite The Alley Way Stamps car and gift with the BIG sentiment from My Favorite Things.  Stamped in Hero Arts Bubble Gum - originally stamped in black ink, but it just looked too harsh with all that pink!  Papers are from Echo Park, Authentique and Doodlebug (all at least three years old!), with die cuts from Lil Inkers Stitched Rectangles and Paper Smooches Fishtail Flags.

Hope to see you at the FUSION Challenge Blog soon, in the meantime, here's some more FABULOUS inspiration from the Design Team...

Amy Tsuruta

Geri Freeman

Kelly Griglione

Lynn Mangan

Stacey Schafer

I thought this was a perfect opportunity to Link Up for Pink

and Shopping Our Stash Pink or Cancer Awareness Challenge too!

This made me smile...

It's Black & White and Read all Over...

It was back when I went to school anyway!!!

In creating a card for Little Tangles Back to the Blackboard Challenge I've come to the conclusion that the most effective blackboard cards are those in which the blackboard forms only on part of the card, and/or is used with solid white or bright colours for contrast, that too much black on a card is difficult to photograph, and the messy nature of the chalkboard technique makes it difficult to use on more formal cards. So with this in mind I created a mini blackboard on my card - and used the technique in conjunction with bright red to help it pop. The blackboard technique was achieved by stamping Neat & Tangled My Heart Sings in Versamark Watermark ink and heat embossing with Zing White, then highlighting the edges of the blackboard section using Hero Arts White dye ink, and taking small amounts of this ink on my fingertip and smudging it across the black, to mimic chalky residue. This technique was also used to create the bird and heart.

Created with a combination of patterned papers from Crate Paper DIY Shop, Cosmo Cricket Little Boys (from back in 2007!!!) and blackboard paper from MME, together with WPlus 9 Label Layers 5 and Lil Inkers Stitched Rectangles die cuts.

Playing along with Simon Says Stamp Emboss It Challenge,
 Shopping Our Stash Favourite Stamp Technique, and
CASual Fridays Back to School

Retro Red Merry Christmas...

 

ETA. Playing along with the Moxie Fabulous Holiday Cards & More - Holiday Card Challenge

You have until September 2 to join in the fun!

I thought that it was high time to get a head start on Christmas cards, especially since I was fortunate enough to recently win this gorgeous Poinsettia stamp set from Uniko Studio (who are having their very first Challenge over here, so if you get a chance, pop by and say Hello before August 14th). I stamped the poinsettia several times onto Basic Grey paper and fussy cut, mounting the five layers with foam tape, and then added Annabelle Stamps Blackcurrant Sprinkles as the buds on the poinsettia and to decorate the border. To play along with Shopping Our Stash Use Your Oldest Punch, I created the border using my oldest punch, a Fiskars Scalloped Border punch.  The weathered wood paper is from Simple Stories.

Believe it or not, this card started off using this gorgeous Retro Sketch as it's springboard, and dived off into a whole other pool!!!

I do have a couple more ideas in mind for this sketch, which you may or may not see this week LOL!  

Playing along with Merry Monday Anything Goes Challenge, 

Little Red Wagon Christmas in July Challenge and
Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes too!

This made me smile

In CASE of Travel...

After having so much fun with my CASual Fridays Mapquest Challenge LIFE Map card yesterday, I thought I'd have a play and do another using the same October Afternoon Thrift Shop paper.  This time I combined it with a dollop of inspiration from Lisa Spangler's gorgeous CASE Study card, using plenty of hexagons for the Less is More Hexagons Challenge and Shopping Our Stash Geometric Shapes Challenge. Cut the map hexagons using Cheery Lynn Honeycomb Frame die, and enlarged the shape to create a template for my cork hexagon. The gorgeous wood veneer plane is from Studio Calico.  The fab world map is from Paper Smooches Space Cadet.  The sentiment is a cardstock sticker from My Mind's Eye, wrapped in The Twinery Solid Natural twine and pop dotted - 'cause you know I need to LOL!

Lisa Spangler's gorgeous CASE Study card

Also playing along with Catered Crop For the Boys Challenge 

The Twinery Anything Goes Challenge, Online Card Classes Summer Card Camp 2,

Simon Says Stamp Transport Challenge and Let's Get Trendy Now! 3 Textured Layers.

LIFE... Enjoy the Journey

Love this piece of October Afternoon Thriftshop Map of London paper I had been hoarding saving for a special occasion, and thought it would be perfect for this weeks CASual Fridays Mapquest Challenge.  I printed LIFE in 190pt Showcard Gothic, onto a sheet of white cardstock, then hand cut the letters (I hope this counts for this fortnights Keep It Simple Negative Diecutting Challenge!)  I brought this stamp way back when I was only doing scrapbooking, as part of my travel stash - it has long since lost its packaging, so I don't even know what brand it was, but it's easily the stamp I've had the longest, for the Shopping Our Stash Oldest Stamp Challenge, and I thought I'd play along with the Sweet Stamp Shop: Use What You Have Challenge too.  Added a Studio Calico wood veneer bike to make the journey more enjoyable, and for playing along with Simon Says Stamp Transport Challenge!

Hey!... You're Cute as a Bug

 

First up toady is a card combining this rather literal interpretation of this cool CAS(E) this Sketch with the gorgeous colours in this weeks Color Q (some of my favourites!)  I had started off using a peacock feather, but I just couldn't get it to work, so I broke out my feather dies from My Favorite Things, combined these with a range of chevron papers from Echo Park and My Minds Eye and this cute wooden speech bubble from Basic Grey, together with this fab stitched rectangle mat from Lil Inkers.

 

Next up I dug deep into my stash of chipboard to find inspiration from this tag, flourish and three leaves to play along with this weeks Use What You Have over at the Sweet Stamp Shop (photo of my stash below).  I glued the chipboard pieces together before covering them all with Gesso.  Once the Gesso had dried, I oversprayed with Dylusions Vibrant Turquoise and Fresh Lime.  I stamped the Sweet Stamp Shops You're Cute as a Bug! then decided it needed some extra shimmer so I oversprayed with Heuys Calico Shine.  (Note to self - stamp last as the added liquid tends to make the sentiment run LOL).  I went a bit overboard with the Calico Shine, so once it had dried off I grabbed my Distressed Ink Mowed Grass, and highlighted my flourish branch and leaves, before adding extra shine with Dimensional Magic.  The cute as a bug Sweet Stamp Shops ladybird was stamped in black over red cardstock before adding Dimensional Magic to its wings.  I attached my tag to some black cardstock to make the colours pop - and to play along with this weeks Keep It Simple Black Background Challenge, and Shopping Our Stash No Patterned Paper too!

Chipboard Stash

Another Awesome FUSION...

Another FABulous week of inspiration in the FUSION gallery and 

a huge THANK YOU to everyone who is playing along! 

I hope you are having as much fun as we are!!!

I can't wait to see what this weeks FUSION Hypothesis brings - will you be inspired by this FAB sketch, or this gorgeous photo - or BOTH?!?   Be inspired by the gorgeous textures or fibers, the neutral colours with a POP of bright, the twigs or flowers, the tag or fabric...

This week I was drawn by the gorgeous white painted wood background - I've been hording a scrap piece of this paper for a special occasion!!!  Luckily I was able to stretch my scraps by cutting my piece in two and adding a pop-dotted strip of this neutral spotted paper (another horded scrap!) to fill the space in between.  The kraft die-cut branch was left over from this earlier card-making effort.  I created my butterfly by swiping a scrap of watercolour paper with Wild Honey Distress Ink, before spritzing with Glimmermist Gold, heat setting and then die cutting my butterfly, and adding a few Kaisercraft gems.  The sentiment is created using a combination of Ali Edwards Technique Tuesday "You are", Basic Grey wood veneer "awesome" and WPlus9 "today and always".

Drop by FUSION to check out the Gallery 

and some more FANTASTIC inspiration from the Design Team

Allyson

Amy

Deanna

Kelly

Stacey

I can't wait to see what you create!

Stamping on patterned paper to join in the fun with CASual Fridays Stamp on DP
I thought I'd set myself an EXTRA Challenge and create my card from scraps, 
perfect for playing along with Shopping Our Stash Scrap Attack!
Having fun with Southern Girls Challenge Spotty Dots

This made me smile...

Flower Power Easter...

Can you tell it's Easter soon!!!  I thought this Purple Onion Designs Faith the Chicken was a perfect go-to for a flower filled Easter card, and perfect for this fortnights Catered Crop Flower Power Recipe Swap.  Playing along with Day 1 Challenge from Pattered Play Class too - a bit slow off the mark this week! Papers are a mix of Crate Paper, Kaisercraft and MME, with a cute Paper Smooches sentiment.

Also joining in the fun at:
Simon Says Stamp Easter / Spring Challenge
The Pink Elephant Easter Challenge
Shopping Our Stash Easter or Spring Challenge

Hope you're heading towards a joyous Easter too...