Squeeze the Day

When I was looking at the options for this month's Idea Deck Challenge I was really hesitant about all those squares and stripes from the Card Idea Deck Vol. I. When other members started posting their versions, I knew I had to give it a try.  Now to be honest, it did take me a few minutes to figure out the sketches for the smaller cards. I ended up with extra pieces so I might not have gotten it right ;-)

 

To add some variety and interest to the plain cardstock pieces I  stamped the script stamp and speckle stamps from Orchard's Art Nouveau collection. I used Greetings to Go cut-apart squares in place of stamping for others.

I stamped different fruits, colored with Copics and fussy cut. These make great embellishments. If you look close you'll see the wood grain stenciling on the white panel.

 

Orchard Blog Hop

Welcome to the Orchard Blog Hop brought to you by Club Scrap.  Each month the talented Club Scrap owner, employees and members present a project, card or layout using the monthly featured collection. The  purpose of the blog hop is to demonstrate the beauty of paper and digital crafts.

 

If you just happened on the blog hop today because you're a regular reader of my blog, and you'd like to view the entire hop, you can  start back at Club Scrap. If you're already hopping and linked to me from the talented Kelly, you're in the right spot. 

 

The Orchard collection uses my favorite color combinations. It has vivid, fall colors and incorporates gorgeous images designed by watercolor artist Swarup Murthy.  The beauty of this collection is that you don't need outdoorsy, garden type photos to use it.  I'm in the middle of scrapbooking my July trip to the East Coast and came across these photo from Amish Country that work perfectly with the browns and yellows of this collection.

 

These photos AND embellishments bring constant reminders of this day trip. The four of us were so fascinated by the Amish way of life that we have hundreds of photos of buggies and laundry.  Yep...laundry. The little clothes pins included in the Orchard collection couldn't have been a more perfect embellishment.

Club Scrap layout sketch, papers, tags, labels and stamps and ribbons. Cricut title. Souvenirs added.  

As you can see from the photos, we ate our way through Amish County.  We tried everything from Whoopie pies to Shoofly pie. We even sampled some scrapple and pork roll. FYI...do NOT read the ingredients of those last two. :)

Added these cute little clothing tags from Dungarees.



Use the splatter stamp to the tag and title to add distressing.

 

Thanks for hopping with us today. Please continue on to see what fabulous project Tina has created for you.

 

Bumper Lane

Since I had the Picnic collection out on my desk for the Past & Present challenge I thought I'd use the last of the papers for my bowling layout.  To complete the Idea Deck challenge I used the 8 of spades from Idea Deck II for the design.

 

I'm not sure that serving wine at a bowling alley is a good idea. I can barely score a 100 on a good day. With wine...gutter bumpers are a must! :) We sure did have a great time celebrating Gia's 40 something birthday.

Club Scrap papers and stamps. Creative Memories circle punch. Unknown wooden arrows. Sizzix alphabet dies.

 

Stop by tomorrow for the Orchard Blog Hop.

 

 

 



September's Past and Present

I'm jumping around here a bit.  I've been creating mostly fallish cards lately but had to pull out the summer-like papers of Picnic.  Plus this gave me an excuse to use up the last of my wooden butterflies. September's Past & Present challenge is to use papers from Fruit & Vine (2001 and all used up), Farmer's Market (2006 with only stickers and stamps left) and Picnic (2004 tons of papers left). You've seen the last of the Farmer's Market the other day. So here's a few bright cards to complete this challenge.

Club Scrap papers, tag and twist tie. Recollections banner. Martha Stewart punch. Paper Smooches stamp. Unknown wooden butterfly.  

Club Scrap papers. Martha Stewart punches. Unknown wooden butterfly.  

Club Scrap papers and enamel dots. Paper Smooches stamp. Unknown wooden butterfly. American Craft twine.  

Freakin' Great

Paper Smooches is challenging paper crafters to include animals in their projects.  My latest favorite stamps are these adorable cat stamps from their Feline Friends collection. With the addition of these adorable googly eyes these little kitties make me giggle every time!

 Paper Smooches stamps and dies. Tim Holtz label die. Club Scrap paper and ribbon. Cuttlebug embossing folder.

This card includes black doilies that I purchased on clearance but found their way to the bottom of my tag drawer. They're a perfect embellishment the Snarky Stampers Lost & Found challenge.  

Paper Smooches stamps and die. Impression Obsession background stamp. Elizabeth Craft Designs square die. Recollections doily. Nuvo drops. Club Scrap paper. 

September Paper Smooches Challenge

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers

Lost & Found Challenge

Word Finders and Stickers

Have you ever played Words with Friends? Did you cheat? Did you use an on-line resource to help you find words with your letter combinations?  I do use these sites to help me create words with my left over alphabet sticker sheets.  Look at all these words I got from one incomplete sheet.  Most of these would eventually be for cards but a few I can save for fall layouts.

 Club Scrap Farmer's Market alphabet stickers.

 

Club Scrap paper, felt leaves and stickers. Darice embossing folder. 

Club Scrap papers, stickers, stamp and acrylic dots. Sizzix embossing folder. Fiskars leaf punch. Impression Obsession stamp.

Club Scrap papers and stickers. Tim Holtz Oxide inks. Fiskars leaf punch. Elizabeth Craft Design circle die. Queen & Co. pearls.

 

Here's a few word finder sites:

Word Find

Word with Friends Word Finder

Word Plays

 



Orchard Watercolor

Welcome to September's Artist Team Blog Hop brought to you by Club Scrap. This month we've been challenged to incorporate watercolor techniques with our projects. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to dust off those Faber-Castell Gelatos. 

If you just happened on the blog hop today because you're a regular reader of my blog, and you'd like to view the entire hop, you can start back at Club Scrap. If you're already hopping and linked to me from Tina's Blog, you're in the right spot.

Gelatos are acid-free pigment ink sticks that can be used with or without water.  I love the bright colors and creamy texture of the Gelatos.  The fact they look like lipstick tubes is kinda cute too.

1. Directly color the stamp with your gelatos. I usually start with the lightest color first and work to the darkest.

2. Mist water directly on to the stamp.

3. Stamp image onto paper.  I used all sorts of papers: cardstock, watercolor and mixed media papers. I didn't find one worked better than another.

You don't need a Misti, I was making a ton of panels.

4. Repeat the process.  I usually got two good clear images without misting more water onto the stamp.  After two imprints, I would re-mist without recoloring.  It just changes the boldness of the image.  I like all the different varieties you can get.

I could have easily created other images with the gelatos but I wanted to challenge myself and use the same image in different ways. Let's start with the simple designs first. Simply mat the collage image and add a greeting.

Club Scrap papers and stamp. Gelatos. Darice embossing folder. Spellbinders die. Pretty Pink Posh sequins. 

Club Scrap papers, stamp, ribbon and tag. Nuvo drops. Gelatos.

Trim panels and triple mat images. Stack images.

 Club Scrap papers, stamp, ribbon, bottle cap and tag. Sizzix embossing folder. Gelatos.

Trim collage image into quadrants and mat. Stamp sentiment. Color images with Copic markers and fussy cut. Slice a opening into the basket to tuck in peaches. Stamp background multiple times and apply splatters.

Club Scrap papers, ribbon and stamps. Copic markers. Gelatos. Martha Stewart punch.

Here's my favorite of the group! Stamp words on dark background with oxide ink. Ink edges and spray with water. Let dry.  Take gelato panel and distress edges. Stamp images and color with copic markers. Fussy cut images. Die cut a sign out of wood paper and stamp sentiment. Attach sentiment to a wood stake. Slice a opening in the basket and tuck in sign and fruit.

 Club Scrap papers, stamps. Gelatos. Tim Holtz label die and oxide inks. Copic markers.

Thanks for hoping with us today.  Hope you gained inspiration to create watercolor images. Please continue on to see what fabulous creations Wendy has for you.

Other Gelato ideas:

Just Dandy Stencil

Acrylic Block Stamping

Gelatos on Dark Backgrounds

Faith Love Hope