Viva La Verve September Week 2

So my proverbial finger is stuck in the creative dike. You know those Chinese finger torture games where you stick a finger into each end of the tube and try to pull your fingers out, but the harder you try the more stuck they become? Well that's what my finger's doing in the dike. I sat in my craft room all day today waiting for inspiration to strike but alas, it is eluding me. I did manage to put this card together, but if they're all going to take me 8 hours I'm in big trouble:

Here is the sketch that I followed for September's second Viva La Verve Challenge:

And this is my color inspiration from Anthropologie home decor:

Yeah, it's a rug. I actually made my card first and then looked for the color inspiration. I know, backwards, but I have to do something to get me out of this slump. Maybe if I can get all my fingers to work together at the same time on the same project instead of stuck in all these torture devices, the creativity will start to flow. I'll keep you updated.




Stamps: Fairy Tales (Verve)
Paper: Cappella (Basic Grey), Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Ink: Ranger Walnut Stain distress ink, Baja Breeze
Accessories: Nestabilities Fancy Tags, K & Co. pearls, Martha Stewart Deco Fan border punch, Scallop Trim corner & border punches (SU), dimensionals, dauber, Offray satin ribbon
Size: 4 1/4" X 5 1/2"

Mojo Friday 154

What can I say? I needed a few days to find my Mojo, still unsure if it's around here somewhere. Anyway, I've been blog hopping and seeing a lot of Christmas cards so I thought I would join in on the fun! Here's my Mojo sample for this week with a festive Christmas theme:

I punched out 2 Martha Stewart Deco Fan corners to add to the sentiment panel to dress it up a little:

And here's a close up of the poinsettia in all it's glittery goodness:

I started on this card on Tuesday and just wasn't feeling it. So I tried again, Wednesday, Thursday and today.  Sometimes you can't steer the river, right Jo-Ann? (My mom--she says this all the time.) I'm just hoping to go with the flow...

Have a great night!


Stamps: Christmas Tag Wishes (Inkadinkado) 
Paper:  Belle Collection (Kaisercraft), Colonial White, Always Artichoke
Ink:  Always Artichoke, Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories:  Labels One & Ten Nestabilities, Prima flowers, Martha Stewart Deco Fan corner punch, Ranger White Opal liquid pearls, EK Success gems, Cuttlebug Vintage corner die, Victoria Lace (SU), daubers, dimensionals, sewing machine
Size: 5 1/2" square

Play Date Cafe...Here We Go!!

**For CASE Study Challenge...see post below this one**

And so begins my new venture at the Play Date Cafe!  I have been graciously asked by the Design Team to be their 'Private Blend Designer' and contribute to the already immensely talented gals on staff. I have been intrigued by the color challenges at the Cafe because they are not the normal "throw 3 colors at you and see what you can do with them" variety.  Every color scheme has a story behind it and these colors are not the typical rainbow palette. The Senior Design Team composed of Julie and Sarah take turns adding a little commentary about how they chose these colors and the meaning behind their choices.  I have so enjoyed participating and  I hope that you will too!  Enough of my own commentary, here are the inspirational hues:

And here's the little gem I've come up with based on these fabulous colors:

I've had these Prima flowers for a while, but they're so big I haven't been able to use them on a card...until now. Problem is keeping it on there, it keeps falling off because it IS too heavy to be on a card.  Just long enough for a photograph is all I ask :)
So now it's time for you to get those thinking caps on and head over to the Play Date Cafe to link up your card or  project using these colors. Make sure that it is a direct link to your creation and not the general blog address so that we may easily come visit and leave some blog love!
You have until Tuesday evening to link up for a chance to be either the Cream in our Coffee, Fab Four or Cup of the Week!  And if you're chosen as 'Cup of the Week' you have a chance at being a guest designer in the Cafe!
Ooh, and as a bonus we have the super talented Sankari Wegman playing along with us also this week.  I know I CAN'T wait to see what gorgeousness she's come up with using these colors!  See you over in the Cafe!



Stamps: Blue Skies (Verve)
Paper: Que Sera Sera dp (K & Co.), Very Vanilla (SU), Kraft (PTI)
Ink: Rich Razzleberry (SU), Versafine Onyx Black, Ranger Frayed Burlap distress ink
Accessories: Prima Flower, Martha Stewart Deco Fan corner & border punch, Mustard ribbon (Michael's $1 clearance bin), icons pink gems, StarDust Stickles, dimensionals, dauber, sewing machine
Size: 5 1/2" square

CASE Study...Live, Laugh, Love

And so wraps up our first month (already!) at CASE Study!  Thank you to all of our players who joined in on the fun of CASing our first MUSE Makiko Jones! And a very special thanks to Maki for being our 1st "test" guest and allowing us to derive creativity from her fabulous chi (vocab junkies = life force energy). Before we give Maki a cyber farewell, we have one last gem of a card that we're drawing inspiration from:

I adore all of the wonderful accents and techniques that Maki uses on her cards. For my card I chose to replicate her two-step stamping design:

It's rather hard to tell from the picture, but I adorned the flower with some liquid pearls which you can see here:

For the flowers, I first stamped the whole image in Bashful Blue. Then I rolled the outer edge of the same stamp in Night of Navy and stamped over the first image. In order to not get over-stamp, I stamped the same image on a piece of computer paper and cut it out following all the intricate edges.  I then masked the previous stamped image and overlapped the next flower.  I did that twice so that my flowers gave the appearance of being behind each other. I then stamped the sentiment over the top of each flower and lastly dabbed each flower with some liquid pearls.

I'm sure that you'll be amazed at what the other CASE Study gals have come up with as well so go check out their galleries here:

 Chupa
Amy Wanford
Carole Kisch
Cindy Lee
Lenet Mos
Sue Kohler
Teneale Williams


Remember to link up your creations by midnight on Tuesday and winners will be announced on Wednesday. And there will also be a random drawing to win a prize offered by our sponsor.  So what do you have to lose?  Show us your "Maki-inspired" creativity!

Have fun and happy stamping!


Stamps: Dream Big (Verve)
Paper: Blueberry Crisp DSP, Night of Navy, Very Vanilla (SU), Kraft (PTI)
Ink: Night of Navy, Bashful Blue (SU), Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: Small Scalloped & Rectangle Nestabilities, Martha Stewart Layered Arches border & corner punch, Ranger Baby Blue liquid pearls, dimensionals, sewing machine
Size: 5 1/2" square

Beautiful You

This week at Heart 2 Heart Challenges we're incorporating some fancy folds into our cards.  I've made this wonderful fan medallion with my Martha Stewart Modern Arches corner punch. I'm really diggin' how this turned out and I can see in my future that you're going to be seeing more of these. I plan on experimenting with all of the punches I have to see which ones come out with the most appealing styles.  Anyway, here is my sample for the challenge:

Here's a close-up of the folding technique:

And a zoom in of that cute little hemp bow on my favorite MS seam binding:

Now check out what the other Heart 2 Heart Challenge Design Team members have come up with their "fancy folds" and I'm sure you'll find some more drool-worthy artwork with these gals:

Mary
Deneen
Jamia
Jessica
Kelly
Mandy

Remember to link up your creation by 10pm Sunday to be eligible for the Friday Five distinction and a chance to be a Guest Designer!
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!


Stamps:  You Are Beautiful (CTMH)
Paper: Unforgettable (CTMH) 
Ink: Baby Pink, Chocolate, Cranberry, Juniper (CTMH)
Accessories: Martha Stewart Modern Garland corner punch, Camelia Pink craft binding seam & pearl, Vintage brown button (PTI), Scoring blade, Oval Nestability, dauber
Size: 4 1/4" X 5 1/2"

September on My Mind

And so with a new round of Verve Friday Sketches comes September. Frankly, I love my kids dearly, but I can't wait for them to go back to school. Good ole routine and no more "I'm bored, I'm hungry". I got tired of saying "Hi Hungry, I'm Mom, nice to meet you". That got old after say, July? But I am super excited about using my new Verve stamps that I've received and diving head first into the sketch challenge. Here is my card for September's first challenge:

I took the top picture outside, however, not in my usual spot so I wasn't sure if I liked it. But look at the difference between outside and inside which I've posted here:

                         
 I'd say that the truest form of the coloring is somewhere in the middle.
 And the color inspiration comes from this photo:

And the sketch that I followed:

I had to mask the stamp to get my sentiment to fit on this panel.  Originally when I had stamped the image the panel became too wide.
So now, I'm off to get "Bored" and "Hungry" off the couch to help me with some chores around the house. That'll give them something to do! 
Have a great weekend!



Stamps: Dream Big (Verve)
Paper: Linen Closet (DCWV), Colonial White, Chocolate (CTMH)
Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia, Taken with Teal, Mellow Moss (SU)
Accessories: Martha Stewart Iron Gate corner & border punch, Basic Grey flower centers, K & Co. gems, SU silver cord, dimensionals
Size: 4 1/4" X 5 1/2"

Accordion Medallion Tutorial

I'm really not sure if anyone has done this before, I've seen many accordion style medallions but none so for with the decorative edges like I use with my Martha Stewart punches. I love the look of an accordion medallion, and although not easily mailable, quite an expression of elegance for the receiver. This method is easy, yet a little time consuming. So for all of you insomniacs out there, let's get to it.

The first thing is to cut two strips of paper 2" wide by either 11.5 or 12 depending on the size of your paper. You can lessen the width for a smaller medallion, however, I have found that the 2" size fits well on a 4.25 X 5.5" card:

The next step is to take your corner punch and punch down the length of the paper. If you notice in the photograph I aligned the top edge of the punch with the paper, I didn't use the guides or push the paper in all the way. This way you can see exactly where you're punching and it will be easier aligning the subsequent punches:

With the second punch, I slightly overlapped the previous punch so that I could squeeze more punches along the top. Remember to align the top edge of the paper with the top edge of the punch, that way your row of punches will be straight:

When you've punched out both strips this is what they should look like:

At this point, I traded out my cutting blade for my scoring blade on my straight trimmer. (You will know if you forget this step :D). The first score I make is through the top of the punched out area:

The next score line is in between the punches. Repeat these two steps until you've scored on and between each punch to the end:

Now it should be easy to fold the strip like an accordion:

This is what the two strips should look like when you've finished folding them:

At this point, we need to make a continuous line so I use a STRONG adhesive to connect the two pieces. I try to match the punch marks more so than the design on the dp being that the dps I use are usually pretty busy and you won't notice if the pattern is off. Make sure that you attach both ends to make a circle:

This is the tricky part. Once I've pulled the center in towards itself, the outer edges will fan out. I use a 3-D Zot on a piece of heavy weight card stock to keep the middle together, but it doesn't always stay stuck. So usually when I make one of these, I incorporate another decorative panel to cover a second Zot that I place on the top to keep the medallion together:

Here is the finished product. The heavier the card stock you use, the more difficult it's going to be to keep it put. I'm going to experiment with some other punches for some different effects:

Thanks for hanging out for such a long post, hope you can draw some creative inspiration from this tutorial!
Have a great day!