Sensational Sunday Inspirations

Good Morning Stampers!

Welcome to the Loves Rubberstamps weekly Sensational Sunday Blog Hop! The Design Team has created some gorgeous projects for your Inspiration. Check out each link and leave a comment. If you get lost along the way, each stop will have a full list of links. One of the Design Team posts is the hop's Sensational Sunday Sweet Spot and a name will be drawn from that list of comments to be in a monthly drawing for a $20 Loves Rubberstamps Gift Voucher! We will draw the winner of the Voucher the 1st Sunday of each month from all the comments left on the design team blogs! Remember, you have until 8:00 pm CST Saturday to leave your comments!

How is your weekend going? My Friday was spent doing the business taxes for both my business and my husbands. Talk about a not fun day that was! LOL! I think I put off doing them longer and longer every year :( 

So after my mentally exhausting day I actually took a mini me break, spent some time in my craft studio and made a project to share with you today! I know....it has been a looooonnnng while!

I have been intrigued by a project I came across called the Documented Life Project. This is where you combine an art journal with a planner. Each week they give you a prompt and you are supposed to use it as inspiration for your page. Well I didn't get to start at the beginning of the year so I have been more of a lurker and following how others interpret the prompts and what they create. It is really interesting. 

I have been fascinated by art journals for a long time, I spend many (way too many!) hours on youtube watching tutorials on art journal pages. Trying to learn tips, tricks and must have products to try and make myself feel comfortable to try it out. It is intimidating but today I decided to just jump in! 

I didn't have a particular prompt from The Documented Life in mind when I made this but I knew for sure I wanted to use the planner/art journal style for my page. They did feature a prompt of 5 Layers which this would fit under - Tissues Paper, Gesso, Distress Stain & Ink, Patterned Paper & Stamped Images. Now that I have started hopefully I will be able to do a page a week to stay up on this project! So here is what my page turned out like....

Now I LOVE how this turned out in the end but I have to say when I just had the background and hadn't got very far I didn't really like how it was looking and felt like I ruined my brand new journal by making a disaster. LOL! But I kept at it adding layers and colors and it really came together. Now I can't stop looking at it and can't believe that I made it - LOL!

I really love watching Vicky Papaioannou on You-Tube (She is AMAZING) and she does a great job with her tutorial videos. On one of her videos I watched she said that if you are not sure where to start, cover your pages with tissue paper and it becomes less intimidating. So that is what I did to get myself started. I used Tim Holtz's Melange Tissue and glued it down with Gel Medium. Then I put Faber-Castell Gesso on top and then used distress stains in the colors, Tumbled Glass, Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade. I sponged Walnut Stain and Black Soot around the edges.

The large tree branch is actually a winter tree from an old Tattered Angels set that I just used like a branch. I stamped it in Archival Ink and then filled it in with my Black Big Brush Pen. Then I used a Turquoise color Big Brush Pen to outline the branches. (LOVE LOVE LOVE these pens!)

That stunning bird is from the DoveArt Studio collection. I think it is so beautiful! I colored it with copics and then cut it out, popping it up on dimensionals. I added some little pink flower punchies from a Stampin' Up punch to the tree branches to try and tie in with the flowers in the bird stamp. 

The believe stamp is from a Katy Sue Designs Wishes & Vines set from Flower Soft. I created the sentiment from the computer. One thing I learned is that if you create a sentiment with your computer...don't attempt gel medium on the top...it will be smeary (can you see on the A BIRD part) That is how you learn I guess! 

The stamp image on my border is from the Tattered Angels Architectural Trims set. I also added some whipped spackle through a Crafter's Workshop Stencil called Well Rounded. It has a variety of texture style patterns on it. I did notice that the whipped spackle almost soaked up some of the ink from my page and kind of colored itself. I am not sure if it is supposed to do that or if I should have sealed something or what ...but I like how it turned out so it is all good :)

I should say that the journal I am using is the small 5"x8" Dylusions Creative Journal. It is a great size I think for this style of art journal/planner and since I plan on using a lot of stamped images it seems like a great size for that. Plus it is WAY less intimidating then the large one since I am a beginner! LOL! 

Here is a close up of that gorgeous bird on a branch image...

Also... I wanted to share a few pictures I snapped of a Male House Finch who was singing his little heart out in our tree the other day :) I have waited all Winter to see some birds so I could try my new camera on some bird shots - LOL! 

Now let's hop along and see what the Design Team ladies have in store for you...

Laura - Loves Rubberstamps Blog - You are here...

Dangina

Nina

Blankina
Denice
Rebecca

Thanks for stopping by!

Laura!

Other Supplies Used on My Project:
Tattered Angels - Chillin'
Katy Sue Designs Silhouette Stamps - Wishes & Vines
Tim Holtz Distress Stain - Tumbled Glass, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade (will be in the store soon!)
Crafter's Workshop 6"x6" Stencil  - Well Rounded (will be in the store soon)
Big Brush Pens - Used the Black, Brown & Turquoise Colors
Tim Holtz Melange Tissue (will be in the store soon)
Stampin Up Flower Trio Punch


I will be entering this in the following challenges:
Sassy Studio Designs - Anything Goes
Scrap & Craft - Flowers
Addicted to Stamps & More - Anything Goes
Scrapper's Delights - Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday - Anything Goes
Deep Ocean Challenge - Vintage
Shopping Our Stash - I Made This
Crafting From the Heart - Anything Goes #51
Love To Scrap - Anything Goes
Brown Sugar Challenge - Anything Goes

Bird On a Branch	Architectural Trims	Ranger INKSSENTIALS RE-USABLE NON STICK CRAFT SHEET	Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Walnut Stain
Walnut Stain Distress Ink	Mini Ink Blending Tool	Memento Ink Pad Rich Cocoa	Copic Markers
Copic X-Press It Blending Card	Big Brush Pen Gift Set Faber-Castell	Gesso Jar 100ml Faber-Castell	Gel Medium 100ml Faber-Castell
Whipped Spackle Jar 100ml Faber-Castell

InLinkz.com

Sassy or Sweet?

Hi Stampers!

Today is Tuesday which means we have a new Loves Rubberstamps Challenge! This week is easy, peasy... ANYTHING GOES! So as long as you make SOMETHING...it will count so be sure to link it up in the challenge blog!

This week we are being sponsored by Shape EZ by TLC which are some really fun shaped files and templates for you to make 3D projects or some pretty sweet looking cards! They are designed by the super talented Tammy Louise Cunliffe. Her products are found on the Whimsy site. She even joined our design team this week and shared a gorgeous project featuring one of her templates :)

For my Inspiration Project I also used one of Tammy Louise's Shape Ez Files called Roll Bag. This makes a super cute little mini gift bag that is perfect for some chocolates, or other small gifts. Take a look...

I used the Sassy Emma from the Sugarplums collection from C.C. Designs. I think she is so sweet and can be used for so many occasions. I colored her using my spectrum noir alcohol markers, all except her hair which is done with copics. I only own 3 colors so far so be prepared to see LOTS of brunettes until I get some more colors - LOL!

That gorgeous tree is the Heart Tree Die from La La Land. I have to admit that I don't have a big shot, only a cuttlebug and the first two times I tried cutting this, the middle of the tree didn't want to cut very well. I ended up shimming my sandwich with two pieces of cardstock, and then it cut perfectly! I just punched out all those inserts and stuck them in a little baggie because you never know when  you may need an itty bitty flourish for a project ;)

My sentiment is from the Tattered Angels Vintage Seasons Timeless Romance set. Love this one! Here is a closer look at my Sassy Emma.

I still need LOTS of practice with my hair, but eventually I will get the hang of it :) See now I think she looks too sweet to be Sassy! What do you think?

I hope you get to play along in our Anything Goes Challenge this week! Thanks for stopping by!
Happy Stampin!
Laura

Here is a full list of products I used on my project:

C.C. Designs - Swiss Pixie Sassy Emma
La La Land - Heart Tree Die
Tattered Angels - Vintage Seasons Timeless Romance
Spectrum Noir Alcohol Ink Markers
Crafters Companion Ultra Smooth White Cardstock
Memento Tuxedo Black
Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Walnut Stain
Best Glue Ever!
Stampin Up - Beautiful Wings Embosslit

I will be entering this in the following challenges:

All That Scraps - Valentine Treats
Bearly Mine Challenges - #72 - Anything Goes
The Ribbon Carousel - Love Is In The Air
Bunny Zoe - Anything Goes
Fashionista Challenge - #12 Valentines

Ready for Spring!

Hi Stampers!

We are having quite the windy, snowy, blowy, yucky day here in Iowa! I had to work the overnight shift and this is how my drive home looked at 7:30 this morning....

We had white out conditions and you could only see one line ahead of your car. Luckily, once you were out in the open country it was blowing so hard it wasn't really sticking to the roads so the pavement was mostly clear. There were a few nasty spots still. In town and the east/west roads were awful...totally snow, tire ruts, ice and slush covered! Your car would get pulled and slid everywhere when you were trying to drive. That part wasn't fun! And before you ask...I was stopped when I took this picture with my phone :)

The winds are supposed to stay blowing around 40 mph all day whipping this snow around! Yuck! Good thing it is my bedtime so I don't have to be out in it... at least until I tredge to work tonight - LOL!

Anyway...my card today is much prettier to look at and reminds of a beautiful Spring or Summer day which I am totally ready for - LOL!

This week at The Cutting Cafe we could choose from  four different files - Onesie Shaped Card, Overalls Shaped Card, Assorted Crown Shaped Cards or The Butterfly Shaped Card. It was a tough decision this week because these are all such adorable files! I decided to use the Butterfly shaped card and made my Grandma's Birthday card. She was 75 Monday! She is currently battling breast cancer for the second time and will be having to have a masectomy. So I wanted to make her something a little extra special.

Here is my card closed...

I used the Butterfly Shaped Card for my base and then I used the Butterfly - Beautiful Wings Die from Stampin Up! to create a smaller set of wings so I could have a 3D layered butterfly. I did two layers for each size, one in pink pirouette and the other in vellum which I embossed in white with the Take Flight stamp set from Tim Holtz. I will be adding some Tim Holtz stamps to my store this week, including this stamp set :)

The extra special thing about this card is that I created it into an Easel card so Grandma could keep it on display and easily see that beautiful butterfly...

The inside roses hold the butterfly up so it makes it's own stand. I also added a corrugated heart and the banner and sentiment from the Tattered Angels Vintage Seasons Timeless Romance set. My flourish is the My Favorite Things Fancy Flourish Die-Namics. Grandma really loved it :)

I hope you enjoyed it also! Be sure to stop by The Cutting Cafe blog this afternoon and see what my fellow design team members have created! I am sure that as adorable as these files are...there will be a lot of amazing projects!

Thanks for stopping by!
Laura

I will be entering this into the following challenges:

A Cup of Cozy Wishes

Hi Stampers!

I have a bonus post for you today :) I had a chance to escape to my stampin studio while my husband was playing Black Ops 2 and switching between that and football. I decided to play along in this week's Kraftin Kimmie Challenge because it has been a little while since I had the opportunity to play in one. This week they had a fun sketch challenge. I love sketch challenges because I can never come up with good ones on my own - LOL!

Here is the sketch:

And here is my card:

I still need to get some Christmas cards made before my last resort of... ugh ... store bought! Shame on me I know! I love this cute snowman from Kraftin Kimmie Stamps called A Cup of Cozy Wishes. I used papers from the Winter Wishes paper pack from Echo Park, which will be loaded in our store very soon :)

The snowflakes are made with glitter paper and the Snowflake Wonder Spellbinders dies. I added some sparkly gems to dress them up a bit too. The embossed snowflake in my background is from the Tattered Angels set called Chillin'.

I colored the snowman using spectrum noir alcohol markers and added dazzling diamonds to her snowbody. Here is a closer look at her:

I hope you enjoyed my card today :) Be sure to check back later this morning for your Happy Holly-Day Inspirational post!

Thanks for stopping by!
Laura

Supplies Used on this card:

Stampin Up - Baja Breeze & Perfect Plum cardstock
Echo Park Winter Wishes 6x6 Paper pack
Kraftin Kimmie Stamps - A Cup Of Cozy Wishes
Close to My heart - In Stitches
Tattered Angels - Chillin'
Paper Piercer Tool
Dazzling Diamonds
Liquid Applique
Heat Gun
ScrapPerfect The Best Glue Ever!
Spectrum Noir Alcohol Ink Markers
Crafter's Companion Ultra Smooth White Cardstock
White Gel Pen
Dimensionals
Spellbinders Snowflake Wonder Dies & Scallop Circle Dies
Colluzzle
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Stampin Up! Soft Sky Ink (retired)
Versamark
Clear Embossing Powder

Challenges I will be entering this card into:

Kraftin Kimmie stamps - Sketch Challenge #158
Christmas at Sweet Stampin - Challenge #1 - Anything Goes Holiday Related
Penny's Paper Crafty - #106 Something New (my winter wishes paper pack - ♥)
Simon Says Stamp - What's your favorite? (SNOWMAN STAMPS!)
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Christmas with Background Twist
Stampavie and More - #183 Christmas
Bearly Mine Challenges - #65 Anything Goes
A & T Emerald Fairies Challenge - #38 Christmas
City Crafter Challenge - Week 139 Snowman Fun + Non-Traditional Colors
Crafty Sentiments Designs - Snowflakes!
Deep Ocean Challenge - #40 So This is Christmas
Twisted Tuesdays - Multiples of Something with Stitching (GEMS!)
Craft Your Passion Challenges - #140 - Stitching
Fashionista Challenges - #10 - Winter
Forever Friends - Challenge 51 - Christmas Cards
Incy Wincy Designs - Christmas With Snowflakes
Addicted to Stamps - Challenge 45 Bingo - Glitter, Embossed & Snowflakes
Dream Valley Challenges - Challenge 47 - Christmas
Pile it On - Challenge 49 Embellishments
2 Sisters - Challenge 121 Snowflakes
One Stop Craft Challenge - Challenge 208 Christmas Friends

Bling Baby .... Yeah!

Hi Stampers!

Wanna giggle? Picture Austin Powers saying my title... We got BLING BABY...YEAH!! ...LOL! That is totally what I do when I say it to myself - LOL! Today is a new Loves Rubberstamps Blog Challenge! This week the theme is... BLING BABY! All you need to do is create a project with some bling on it! Who doesn't love sparkles, glitter, gems...all those fun things...NO ONE! So come play along!

Here is my card that I created for inspiration...

For this card I used the Winter Fairy from the Wee Stamps Collection from Whimsy Stamps. After coloring her with my Spectrum Noir Alcohol Ink Markers I used pink glitter glue over her clothes. I also added Liquid Applique on her clothing trim and sprinkled dazzling diamonds on it before heating. There are some dazzling diamonds on the snowflakes in the sky. My other little snowballs are tiny pearls.To create her wings I used irridescent ice on vellum. I am not too sure about my little bird LOL! I had him all colored red and then after I had the rest of my panel done, decided to try and make him look like a baby cardinal.  I added a little black to his face and now it looks like his little face is just dirty instead of like a little cardinal - LOL! Oh well...live and learn... and give your OOP's cards to your Mom! The snowflakes and the sentiment are from the Chillin' stamp set from Tattered Angels.

I also used for the first time mica flakes for the snow. These I think are a bugger to use! I had them stuck all over my fingers - LOL! But they do make a nice chunky, sparkly snow!

Here is a close up of my little fairy so you can see the sparkles...

See my little dirty bird face? LOL! This card is super sparkly and glittery so at least that distracts you a little from the little dirty bird! At least he is cute though :)

For my layout I used this week's Sketch Saturday Layout #228.

I hope you get a chance to show us your blinged out projects and play along in our challenge this week!

While you are here leave a comment on our Sensational Sunday Post and you could win a gift certificate to our store... Loves Rubberstamps! This is a new Sunday feature!

Also be sure to check back here tomorrow because I will have not only my Design Team Project for The Cutting Cafe... but I was also selected as the GUEST DESIGNER for this week's WHIMSY STAMPS CHALLENGE! Super excited about that! So you can see my project that I created for that too!

Happy Stampin All!
Laura



I will be entering this card into the following challenges:

Sketch Saturday - Week #228 Sketch
Craft Your Passion Challenges - #131 Hip to be Square
Stamp and Create - October Challenge - Winter Wonderland
Bunny Zoe's Crafts - Pink, Pearls & Lace
Incy Wincy Designs - Anything Goes
Jingle Belles - Pink Christmas...For the Cure
Simon Says Stamp - Glitter & Sparkles
Charisma Cardz Challenge - #39 Badda Bing! Bling
Delightful Challenges - Winter Holiday
Paper Play Challenges - Shine on

Kraftin Kimmie Anniversary Challenge - #3

Here is my third project for the Kraftin Kimmie Anniversary Challenges! This is Challenge #3 - Witches and  Zombies and Pumpkins!

I used the super cute Witchy Poo colored with spectrum noir markers. She is cut out using the out of the box technique. I sponged some white spooky clouds and hand drew the ghost. Some bats and a spooky tree complete the scene! That tree is from the Tattered Angels set - Chillin. My sentiment is from the Kraftin Kimmie Halloween Sentiments set!

I used this sketch from Sunday Sketch & Stamp:

I will be back in just a few minutes with project #4!!

I am entering this in the following challenges:

Kraftin Kimmie Stamps - Anniversary Challenges #3 - Witches, Zombies & Pumpkins
Sunday Sketch & Stamp - Sketch Challenge #127
Craft Your Passion - #131 - Hip to be Square
Eureka Stamps Challenges - Trick or Treat
Paper Playtime - Trick or Treat + a Die Cut or Punch
Catered Crop - Halloween Screams
No Matter Which Challenges - Halloween
Moving Along With The Times - In The Dark
Kraftin Kimmie Stamps - Challenge #149 - It's Skull-Tastic

Pretty Pink Snowflake?!?!

Hi Stampers -

Just a quick reminder that we are having a DESIGN TEAM CALL for Loves Rubberstamps! Don't miss it :) 

Ok... on to today's card .... I am not sure if I really like this yet or not - LOL! Do you ever do that? It seemed a lot prettier in my mind! I think it is ok...but definately not one of my favorites...but I worked on it forever so I am gonna show it anyway - LOL...

I wanted to play in a splitcoast challenge this week because it has been awhile. I decided to REALLY challenge myself with the color challenge this week! You were to use Primrose Petals, Pink Pirouette, & Lucky Limemade...YIKES! This is a perfect color combo for flowers...but the dessert was a Christmas card...and I like dessert just ask my waistline - LOL!

This frame illusion technique is the master mind of Michelle Zindorf, who is awesome! Basically the whole main panel is a one layer card. I started off by stamping the dark pink snowflake by inking with versamark, then primrose petals. I then embossed it with the irridescent ice. Then I stamped the snowflake flourish all around in just versamark and clear embossed it. I sponged pink pirouette to create my "canvas", taped the center off with post it notes, then sponged crumb cake, soft suede, and early espresso to create the wood frame. I removed the post its and responged crumb cake at the edges to soften. Then went very lightly with a sponge and primrose around the very edge of the faux canvas and the center of the snowflake to create some depth. I created the shadow with a close to cocoa marker.

I used the Lucky Limeade for my sentiment.

I have to apologize because my picture isn't the greatest! These colors do not photograph well with my el-cheapo camera. I promise it does look a little better in real life because it does have irridescent ice on the primrose petals snowflake so it shimmers...LOL

The images are all from the CHILLIN stamp set from Tattered Angels. I LOVE this set but haven't used it much because it is HUGE 12" x 12" and so are the images! This would be an AWESOME set for art journals or scrapbook pages, not so much card fronts.

I also wanted to create an inspiration piece for this week's Loves Rubberstamps Challenge which is to create your own background. I used my favorite technique of sponging scenes. Come play with us and show us your favorite technique to use to create a background :)

Anyway... I think I will give this card to my Mom for Christmas since I am not sure about it...LOL...she will love it and if she doesn't she will tell me that she does - LOL!

Happy Stampin All!
Laura

I am entering this in the following challenges:

In The Pink - Lots of Pink plus Embossing
Nutcrafters - #27 - Glitter & Gems
Simon Says Stamp - Embossing
Dawn's Crafting - Think Pink or Breast Cancer Awareness
Going Grey With Scrap-Creations - Embossing
Shopping Our Stash - Embossing 
Amusing Challenges - Pink, Green & Brown
Gingerloft Challenge - GL48 - Embossing
Scrapper's Delight - Make your own Backing Paper