SCRSC58: Anything But a Card

Happy Tuesday everyone!

This week at Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps challenge we are challenging you to make Anything But a Card.

For those who are interested, I went to see my optician last week, who carried out an eye exam and various other tests.  My prescription hasn't changed and it's not my glasses that are the cause of my problems.  She was very concerned that I am getting pain in my left eye and migraines that are increasing in frequency and intensity.  Unfortunately she told me that the inward turning squint that I had in my left eye when I was child is back! Urgh! (I was 99.9% sure of this before I went to see her, as I have started to experience double vision again.) So, she has written to my GP recommending that I see a specialist at the eye hospital, and that brings me to today ... waiting for that appointment!

Soooo, now I've had a little break from crafting to rest my eyes I'm back! Although I'm trying to avoid colouring images as much as I can until I see a specialist so I can keep those headaches and blurred vision at bay.  I hope I don't forget how to colour, LOL!

For my creation I slightly tweaked the measurements of the Coffee Cup template (which you can find over at the Scor-Pal website) to make a hot chocolate gift mug filled with yummy mini marshmallows!  It was super easy to make, but I did make mine a bit bigger and taller than the original template so it would match the size of the tag.  To make the tag, all I did was stamp Street Corner Josh in Vintage Photo distress ink and cut him out and matt and layer using my circle nesties!  I attached the tag to the gift mug using some Chocolate Brown Button Twine from http://www.sewsweet.co.uk/ and also added the same twine around the bottom of the mug for a bit of decoration.  A few Prima and punched flowers, together with a teeny tiny button from the Olive Mixed Button Bag to finish, and it was done!

Sorry the photograph is not very good - I must invest in a daylight lamp for both my eyes and my photographs! :)

Here is a list of supplies I used:

Supplies

SCRS Street Corner Josh rubber stamp
MME Quite Contrary Little Boy Blue 12x12 paper - Curious, Smarty Pants #QC1014
Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink (from MMSC)
Chocolate Brown Button Twine (from Sew Sweet)
 Olive Mixed Button Bag (from Sew Sweet) 

Spellbinders Circle & Scalloped Circles Nestabilities (from MMSC)
Prima flowers and brown ribbon

Our challenge is open to all players. Each week a random winner will be chosen to win an adorable SCRS rubber stamp. In order to qualify for a prize, you must use a Sparkle Creations image on your creation.

Do hop on over to the SCRS blog to see the gorgeous creations from the rest of the DT.

Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday!

Hugs,

Winner of my Whimsy Stamps August Blog Hop Mini Candy

Hi everyone!

Before I announce the winner of my Whimsy Stamps August Blog Hop Mini Candy draw, I just want to apologise for my lack of blogging over the past week and a half.  Real life and health is getting in the way at the moment, and to top it all off, when I have sat down to try to make something I've found that my mojo is non-existent!  I'm hoping things will get back to normal (whatever that is, lol!) when hubby and daughter go back to school in just over a week's time!

Okay, so I plugged the numbers into random.org and it came out with...

Which means it's ...Sharron from Sharrahug's Sweet Blessings

Congratulations Sharron! You have won the Vintage Seed Packets rubber stamp set.

Please email me with your full details I will pass these onto Denise so that she can mail out your prize!

Thank you to everyone who hopped along with us!

Hugs,

Whimsy Stamps August Release BLOG HOP

Hello and welcome to the Whimsy Stamps August new rubber and die release BLOG HOP!

On August 10th, Whimsy Stamps released their August rubber designs and new dies. Today we are hosting a blog hop to celebrate this release and to share creations made using these 15 fabulous new Rubber Stamps and 3 wonderful new Shapeology Dies. These new goodies are available to buy right now from the Whimsy Stamps store along with all your Whimsy favourites. We also have our wonderful special guests joining us for this hop - Elaine Hughes, Zoe McGrath, Alberto Gava and Iwona "Chupa" Palamountain.

The Whimsy Stamps DT have been showcasing these fabulous stamps for the past 6 days, so if you missed them be sure to hop on over to the Whimsy Inspirations Blog for some more inspiration!

Here is a full list of the wonderful new August release rubber stamps and dies:

3 stamps from Crissy Armstrong
Bart Goes Golfing ~ Butterfly Sympathy ~ Hang In There

4 stamps from Meljen's Designs
Cupcake Treat Trio ~ Monkey Toes ~ Pen Pal Mouse ~ Topsy Turvy Cake

4 stamps from Kenny K
Bathing Beauty ~ Buggin Drummer ~ Wanda Wicked ~ Wedding Garter

4 stamp sets from Raindrop Echo Designs
Bottle Cap Sentiments ~ Film Markers ~ Schoolyard Fun ~ Vintage Seed Packets

3 dies/sets from Raindrop Echo Designs
Elegant Butterflies Die Set ~ Bottle Cap Die (coordinates with Bottle Cap Sentiments stamp set) ~ Film Marker Die (coordinates with Film Markers stamp set)

Today is also the release of the second edition of the Whimsy Stamps Inspirations Magazine! The magazine features never before seen samples and tutorials from our DT members as well as some creations from our customers and fans too! This issue is crammed full of crafty goodness and best of all it's FREE! Just click the link below and you will be taken to the magazine where you can read it online or download it and save to your computer.

CLICK HERE to view the Whimsy Stamps Inspirations Magazine Issue 2

Here is a little snippet of the card I created for the magazine using one of the *new* release stamps Kenny K Bathing Beauty:

If you would like to hop along with us today and you didn’t arrive from Minna’s blog, please CLICK HERE to return to the beginning of the hop at Zoe’s blog.

The hop starts today (Wednesday August 17th at noon EST) and ends on Wednesday August 24th at noon EST.

For this hop we have 7 different prize draws! We have not one but TWO grand prize draws, so two lucky hoppers will win a large selection of new release stamps. Grand Prize 1 will be for those who help us advertise the hop, and Grand Prize 2 will be for those who hop along with us. We also have 5 mini candy stops throughout the hop where you can enter to win a new release stamp ... and I'm one of the mini candy stops!!!

For my blog creation I used Anne's beautiful Vintage Seed Packets stamps and ...  If you would like to be entered into the draw to win your very own Vintage Seed Packets stamp set, please leave your details in the linky widget at the end of this post.

As soon as I saw the grape one, I just knew I had to make a Hanging Treat Box (tutorial here at SCS).  They are so easy to make, but I think they have a wonderful visual appeal and dress up a bottle of wine in a beautiful way! :)

I didn't want to make a coloured image card for today's blog hop as I'm having a lot of trouble with migraines at the moment, and I'm am 99.9% sure that they are being caused by eye problems. I won't bore you with all the details, but I had an esotropia strabismus (inward turning squint) in my left eye when I was very young. It was corrected by wearing a patch rather than surgery, but I have always suffered from very slight double vision when my eyes are tired. (It also means I can't see 3D, which is pants!). It's not a huge deal, but whilst I'm waiting to see my GP I'm trying to give my eyes a rest and not spend so much time on concentrated detailed colouring! :)

Here is a list of the supplies I used:

Whimsy Stamps Vintage Seed Packets rubber stamps (image and sentiment)

Kraft cardsstock;  Coredinations 12x12 Colorcore card - DR040 Burgundy

MME 6x6 paper pad - Beautiful Life (available from MMSC)

Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Dstress ink pad (available from MMSC)

Seam Binding (available from Sew Sweet)

Kraft button twine (available from Sew Sweet)

And I would also like to share the card I posted a few days ago using the *new* Whimsy Stamps Penpal Mouse rubber stamp from this release, just in case you didn't see it! :)  Click here to read my full post.

So now it’s time for you to continue the hop by hopping over to Alberto’s blog.  But before you whisk yourself away, be sure to pop your name into InLinkz below to be entered into the draw to win your very own VINTAGE SEED PACKETS rubber stamp set!

Thank you so much for hopping with us today and I hope you enjoy the new release!

Hugs,

SCRSC56: Birthday Josh

Happy Tuesday everyone!

This week at Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps challenge we have a fabulous sketch by Kim for you to follow:

Before I show you my card I'd like to let you know that SCRS will be sponsoring a Paper Craft's giveaway on Facebook tomorrow! Be sure to check it out for a chance to win Karber Reading Millie, Karber Breakfast Leslie, Cafe Lucy and Bookworm Ruby! Here's a link to the Paper Craft's fan page http://www.facebook.com/papercraftsmagazine.

For this week's challenge I pulled out Birthday Josh and paired him with some Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride papers!  I'm having a little trouble at the moment with headaches/migraines (hence why my post is a little late) and I think it's got something to do with my eyes.  After spending a bit of time crafting I'm finding that I can't focus too well for a good 10 minutes after stopping.  I have made an appointment with my optician, plus I am going to invest in a good craft light complete with a large magnifying glass to see if that helps.  I do wear my glasses when I craft, but I just want to rule that out before looking into other avenues! :)

Here is a list of supplies I used:

Supplies

SCRS Birthday Josh rubber stamp

Sentiment: Paper Makeup Stamps

Cosmo Cricket 'Joy Ride' 6x6 paper pad

Coredinations 12x12 Colorcore cardstock - DR040 Burgundy

Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad (from MMSC)

Copic Ciaos (from MMSC)

Seam Binding (from Sew Sweet)

Spellbinders Nestabilities

Our challenge is open to all players. Each week a random winner will be chosen, and this week's winner will receive the adorable Valentine Oliver rubber stamp. In order to qualify for a prize, you must use a Sparkle Creations image on your creation.

Do hop on over to the SCRS blog to see the gorgeous creations from the rest of the DT.

Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday!

Hugs,

SS168 and Whimsy Stamps PenPal Mouse

Hi everyone! Hope you had a great weekend.

As you may or may not know, Whimsy Stamps released their August Rubber Designs and new dies on 10 August, and from then until 16 August the Whimsy Stamps DT are showcasing these 15 fabulous new stamps and 3 new Shapeology dies in the lead up to our new release blog hop on Wednesday (17 August).

Today I would like to share a card that I have made to say good luck going back to school using the new and adorable Meljen's Designs Penpal Mouse rubber stamp.  This is also my Sketch Saturday #168 DT card (sorry for being a few days late - real life got in the way!).  Over at SS we have a wonderful sketch by Jo and this week we are being sponsored by Simon Says Stamp who are offering a whopping $25 gift certificate for one lucky entrant! How awesome is that?

Here is a full list of supplies, should you wish to go shopping:

Whimsy Stamps Meljen's Designs Penpal Mouse rubber stamp
Whimsy Stamps Everyday Mini Postage stamps (available from Whimsy Stamps and MMSC)
Whimsy Stamps Mini Postage Stamp die (available from Whimsy Stamps and MMSC)
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad (from MMSC)
Martha Stewart Edger Punch - Embossing Zigzag (from MMSC)
Copic Ciaos (from MMSC)
October Afternoon Schoolhouse 8x8 paper pad
Junkitz Back to School 6x6 paper pad (black graph paper)
Red Ric Rac Ribbon (from Sew Sweet)
50g Olive Mixed Button Bag (from Sew Sweet)
50g Strawberries & Cream Mixed Button Bag (from Sew Sweet)

To take a peek at today's other fabulous new release creations by the Whimsy Stamps DT, please click on the links below...

Debbie
Minna
Stephanne

Thanks for dropping by!

Hugs,

Sparkle Creations Release Day: Introducing... Cheerleading Emily

Hello everyone and welcome to Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps RELEASE DAY! Woo-hoo!

Yesterday the Karber team previewed the adorable "Soda Jenny".  Today it's the SCRS DT's turn to showcase the last of the brand new SCRS stamps that are available to buy right now from the SCRS store! So without further ado, I am pleased to introduce CHEERLEADING EMILY (who comes with two darling sentiment stamps):

Supplies

SCRS Cheerleading Emily rubber stamp

SU Real Red, SU Tempting Turquoise, SU Whisper White card

Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad

Copics and Promarker Poppy

Personally designed GLEE templates, scissors, glue, foam pads

If you popped by yesterday you would have seen my first glee-themed card where I transformed Football Josh into Finn from Glee.  Well, today I thought I'd continue the glee theme and transform Cheerleading Emily into one of the WMHS cheerleaders!  I've coloured her hair blonde, so she could be Brittany or Quinn! :)  The cheerleading outfit was plain to start with, and I added all the WMHS detail! :)

I know it's a very CAS card, but it did take me an absolute AGE to 'design' and cut out those GLEE letters.  Yep, that's right, they are all hand cut and made of card (no printing!!).  The only crafting machine I own is a Cuttlebug and so I had to use my graphics programme and MS Word to design the templates, print them onto white and red card and then cut them out! If I had something like a Cricut or another electronic cutting machine, the card would have taken a matter of minutes, LOL!  But I have the templates now, so if I ever need to make another card it will be a lot easier! :)  Here are my templates. I printed them flipped so that the black printing lines would be on the reverse of the card so I wouldn't have to be too fussy when cutting them out as they would not show when stuck down:

(I didn't cut out the detail of the lettering in the white card so that it would be more true to the glee logo)

I'm really pleased with how this card turned out, even though it took a few hours to complete, LOL!

Be sure to visit all the rest of the SCRS designers for more peeks of Cheerleading Emily. Sparkle will be giving away Cheerleading Emily to one lucky person! For a chance to WIN, you need to visit and comment on all of the designer's Cheerleading Emily blog posts (links listed below). Then head on over to the SCRS blog and comment on the Cheerleading Emily post there. You have until midnight EST tonight to comment, and the lucky winner will be announced tomorrow!

Alice Wertz
Kim Yu
Shaela Odd
Silvia Rodriguez {August Guest Designer}
YOU ARE HERE ---> Simonne Clay <--- YOU ARE HERE
Sparkle Smith
Stephanie Kraft
Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps Blog

Thanks for dropping by and I hope you enjoy our new release!

Hugs,

SCRS preview: Football Josh meets GLEE Finn

Happy Thursday and welcome to the 2nd day of our Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps new release sneak peeks!

If you joined us yesterday, you would have been treated to a preview of the first of 2 Karber rubber stamps that are being released this Saturday.

Today, it's the SCRS DT's turn to showcase the first of 2 brand new SCRS rubber stamps from our upcoming release! So without further ado I am pleased to introduce you to FOOTBALL JOSH (who comes with 2 awesome sentiment stamps).  ...

[I have added a full supply list (complete with shop links) at the foot of this post.]

Living in the UK, I'm not really exposed to American Football, and so I was kind of stumped at first as to what to do with this image.  I am, however, a HUGE Glee fan and so I had a bit of a lightbulb moment and decided to turn Josh into Finn and make a Glee card! :) I even drew in Finn's #5 on his shirt!! Hee hee!  I don't know about you, but my red copics are really juicy, and so I'm always a little bit wary when I use them as I often make mistakes with them.  So for this card I dug out my Poppy Promarker and simply used Copic R59 for the shadowing.

I made the banner completely from scratch, and this took WAY longer than colouring and making the card, LOL! I found a free font that I liked, installed it, then used my graphics programme to separate the 'middle' part from the outline so that I could keep the outline black and make the middle part of each letter red. I then mocked up the card to scale in MS Word so I could make the triangular banner panels the correct size and then scale each letter accordingly! Phew! :)

Be sure to visit all the rest of the SCRS designers for more peeks of Football Josh. Sparkle will be giving away Football Josh to one lucky person! For a chance to WIN, you need to visit and comment on all of the designer's Football Josh blog posts (links listed below). Then head on over to the SCRS blog and comment on the Football Josh post there. You have until midnight EST tonight to comment, and the lucky winner will be announced tomorrow!

Alice Wertz
Kim Yu
Shaela Odd
Silvia Rodriguez {August Guest Designer}
YOU ARE HERE ---> Simonne Clay <--- YOU ARE HERE
Sparkle Smith
Stephanie Kraft
Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps Blog

Tomorrow the Karber DT will be previewing the 2nd of their new release stamps for August and I will be back on Saturday with the final SCRS image, so I hope so see you again then!

Thanks, as always, for popping by!

Hugs


Supplies
STAMP: Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps 'Football Josh' (released 13 August 2011)
INK: Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad
COPICS: Skin E000 E00 E11 R20; Hair E59; Shoes W9; Outfit (Promarker- Poppy) R59 W3 W2 C5 C3 C1 0; Ball E15 E18
PAPER: October Afternoon 12x12 Night Light PP034 'Jack'
CARD: Black, white, red
EMBELLIES: Sew Sweet Divine Twine Black Licorice
TOOLS: Martha Stewart Edger Punch - Grass

SCRSC55: Charlotte with a Rose

Happy Tuesday everyone!

This week at Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamps challenge we have a wonderful photo that we would like you to take inspiration from when making your challenge creations:

I wanted to use the green of the grass, the blue of the water, the white and lattice shape of the seating and the neutral colour of the stone tiles as my inspiration from this photo.  Whilst I was rooting around for some suitable paper, I rediscovered the gorgeous Memory Box 'Frond' 6x6 paper (which I see is no longer being made ... *sob*!) and as soon as I saw this sheet it reminded me of tree branches!  So I went with this, adding in a fence and some grass.  And of course I just had to use the darling Charlotte with a Rose sitting under the branches of the tree:

I also wanted to add in the white paper lanterns from the photo, and so created them by simply running some white paper through my paper crimper, punching a hole in the top, threading some twine through and voila! 

Here is a list of supplies, complete with links, should you wish to do a little retail therapy:

Supplies

SCRS Charlotte with a Rose rubber stamp

Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad (available from MMSC)

Copic markers: E00 E000 R20 E11; E55 E51; BG01 BG72; YG11 YG67; W1 W3 0 (available from MMSC)
Memory Box 'Frond' 6x6 paper pad
Kraft cardstock (available from Quixotic Paperie)
Kraft Twine (available from Sew Sweet)
Back2Basics Straight Edge Square 148mm White card base (available from MMSC)
Martha Stewart edger punch - Grass (available from MMSC)
Martha Stewart deep edger punch - Garden Trellis

Wishing you have a wonderful Tuesday!

Hugs,