Inspirational #221 ~ Red Rubber Designs DT

     It's time to shape up, with Inspirational #221, at Red Rubber Inspirationals! I'm hosting this week and would love to see any type of stamped shape. I used circles for both of my examples, starting with this card that I made for a few other challenges as well.

     This sketch at Viva La Verve was perfect to try the Bokeh effect for the first time for the May challenge at House of Cards!

     I started with some white cardstock, and inked the background with yellow, black, and grey Distress Inks. Then I used a circle stencil with some white ink, and stamped the smaller circles using the Background Soup stamp. I used Circles of Love to emboss the silver dots, and for the buttons, which I popped up and added some brads to. The circles overlapping the image in the middle are cut from white and silver vellum. I used some grey ink to create the road, and stamped Tree Silhouettes along the sides, taking inspiration from this photo used for the May Stamping Challenge @ Scrapbook. com. 

     For my next card I also used the Background Soup stamp, but with yellow paint, to create the small circles. All of the papers are from an older Bo Bunny (Flower Child) collection. I used Butterfly Flourish to stamp the butterfly and flourish. The butterfly was colored with Distress Inks and a coat of Yellow Stickles, which gave the wings a natural curl. Unfortunately, my sentiment got a little smudged, but it kinda goes with the distressed, shabby look I was going for, so I just left it alone. I stamped "Happy" using Sophisticated Sentiments, and "Mother's Day" using Contemporary Greetings. 

      I finished it up with some more Stickles to the flower stickers, and flowers on the stamped flourish. 

Thanks for your visit, and have a great day!

Inspirational #216 ~ Make a Fuss

     I'm hosting Inspirational #216 this week at Red Rubber Inspirationals! Come join us and make a fuss, by fussy cutting your stamping! I fussy cut all of the butterflies on this card that I made from plain cardstock.

     I used a blending tool and Distress Inks on some white cardstock, and then flicked it with some water drops. The butterflies were stamped with black ink using Beautiful Butterflies , fussy cut out, and colored with markers. I curled the wings a little, and then applied Glossy Accents to them for some shine. Then I used the Fern Frond stamp. The stitching on top was stamped using Running Stitches, and for the sentiment below, I used Darling, all from Red Rubber Designs.

     Finally, I added some flowers and bling, coloring the little orange flowers with some mists. Thanks for stopping by!

Inspirational #213 ~ Have a Seat

      It's time for some new inspiration with Inspirational #213 (Have a Seat), hosted by Melissa, my newest team member at Red Rubber Inspirationals! Since I didn't have a chair stamp, I decided to stamp on a chair that I made with my Cricut Expression using the Summer in Paris cartridge.

     

     The chair and cushions were made from cream, textured, cardstock and colored with several sprays. Then I embossed the gold back, using magenta embossing powder and the Victorian Embellishments stamp for the pattern on the cushions.  To make the mirror, I used  Fabulous Frames with some more gold embossing powder, and cut out the rectangle in the middle. I used a few layers of inks around the gold and backed it with a pink, metallic, specialty paper. I did some punching and distressing, stamping the stitching with Running Stitches. To the pink background I did some more spraying and inking,  stamping the Victorian Vines Background on top with Violete Palette Ink, all from Red Rubber Designs. Behind the chair I used a couple of sheer ribbons, and clustered the embellies to the right. I added some beads to the centers of the flowers, and for a true vintage feel, some old buttons that I inherited from my grandma.

I hope you'll join in all the fun this week, and can't wait to see your creations!

Inspirational #212 ~ Green With Envy

     Come and join me this week @ Red Rubber Inspirationals, where I'm hosting this week's stamping challenge with Inspirational #212! Green with envy is the theme, so make any creation with green as the main color, and upload by March 25th. Here's the birthday card that I made for my dad, and my example for this challenge.

     I started by stamping the large image (Charming Forest) onto some cream cardstock with a linen texture, and then colored it with watercolors. It's been YEARS since I've used watercolors, and it was so much fun! I'll definitely be using them again soon, as I also used them to color the moose and deer, using the Majestic Mountain stamp set, and for the trees, using the Mountain Scenery stamp set, from Red Rubber Designs. The grass was embossed, and then I machine-stitched under it, along with the border of the large image. All of the edges of my stamping are distressed, which is the twist for the other stamping challenge that I host here.  To the background I applied some gesso, mists, and cheesecloth, finishing off my card with the wood button, that once belonged to my late great grandmother.

Thanks for your visit! Have a wonderful day!

Inspirational #206 ~ Love is in the air

     Love is in the air this week, with Inspirational #206, hosted by Lynda, for Red Rubber Inspirationals! The challenge is to stamp a heart, so I created this card for my dear husband!

     I started by stamping the Script Background onto white and black cardstock. Then I stamped the hearts using the I Heart You set, and cut around them with some scallop scissors. I folded them in half and machine stitched them down the middle, adding the silver embossed buttons from the Sew Thoughtful set, in between. I also used silver embossing powder for "I" and "YOU", which is also from the I Heart You set, and can be found at Red Rubber Designs.

Thanks for your visit! I hope you'll join us at Red Rubber Inspirationals!

Inspirational # 203 ~ Birthday Bash

     Come join in my first Inspirational of the year at Red Rubber Inspirationals! We're celebrating our first year of Inspirationals with a birthday bash, using any kind of birthday stamp, like the ones I used here on a birthday card for my aunt, whose birthday is today. Happy Birthday Aunt Nana!!

     I used lots of stamping with red and black embossing powders onto white cardstock. The heart border was done with the I heart You stamp set, and the gifts and confetti with the Gift For You set. I did the sentiment with the  Darling stamp set, all from Red Rubber Designs. I used some bling for January's birthstone of garnet, with some red Stickles on the red card and gifts.  I finished it up with some machine stitching, and the large beaded heart that originally had green ribbon coming out from the rose. I cut it out and added the black trim instead.

Thanks for looking, and have a great day!

Victory ~ Inspirational # 201

     Happy 2015!! Our first Inspirational this year at Red Rubber Inspirationals is all about using a new stamp, so I decided to use my new Chicken Wire stamp for my husband's baseball album, which I only work on occasionally, and here's the result.

     Since I'm not really into sports I always struggle with these kinds of photos, and can never find the right papers for them, so I played around with some inking, stamping, misting, and embossing on plain cardstock to come up with this 2 pager. The strip across the middle was stamped with Running Stitches. and for the background I used Background Dots, Speckle Background, and Build-A-Background, which I used to emboss the little white stars. Then I took my new chicken wire stamp across the top half of both pages using silver embossing powder. I just LOVE this stamp!!

Thanks for looking, and be sure to visit Red Rubber Designs to get your new stamps!

Inspirational #151 ~ Merry Christmas Card

    Even though Christmas is right around the corner, there's still time to make some last minute cards, like the one I made here for Inspirational #151. I'm hosting this week at Red Rubber Inspirationals with the stamping theme "Christmas Cheer", and would love to see your projects!

     I started this card by blending some Distress Inks (Broken China, Tumbled Glass, and Shaded Lilac) onto some white cardstock, flicking an old toothbrush with water onto it. Then I used some white embossing powder to create snow with the Speckle Background stamp. After cutting 2" strips I embossed the edges to look like snowy windows. The trees were stamped with Palette Inks (Jardin Moss and Burnt Umber) using the Oh Christmas Tree stamp, and then embossed with white again, to create snowy trees. I also used white embossing powder to the hills, which I hand cut, along with the sentiment and snowflakes using Vintage Christmas, all from Red Rubber Designs, which carries a wonderful selection of Christmas stamps at great prices.

      This is my entry for Sketch #5 used in the December Card Sketch Challenge @ Scrapbook.com.

     Thanks for your visit, and have a wonderful holiday!!

Merry Christmas Card ~ Inspirational # 150

     Happy Holidays! Inspirational #150, hosted by Lynda this week, is all about your sparkly holiday greetings, for which I made this Christmas card.

     The Amelia patterned paper from Red Rubber Designs was the perfect choice for sketch #1 used for the December Card Sketch Challenge @ Scrapbook.com.

     I started by stamping and embossing the gold script on the red background using Vintage Script, and covering it with some red Stickles. Then I created a banner out of the tags from the paper pack, stringing them through some red tinsel. The green tag was stamped using Holly Swirls. Then I used my gold embossing powder again to stamp Merry Christmas over the tags, and to stamp the zigzag stitching with Running Stitches. I finished it off with more Stickles over the poinsettia and leaf, adding some bling in the middle. We'd love to see your sparkly holiday creations at Red Rubber Inspirationals! Enjoy the season!

     

Happy Birthday Hon! ~ Red Rubber Designs DT

     Happy Birthday to my handsome husband, and love of my life!! Here's the card that I made for him, using stamps from Red Rubber Designs.

     I got my inspiration from sketch #3  used for the December Card Sketch Challenge @ Scrapbook.com.

     I was also inspired by last weeks Inspirational # 148: Frame It! I stamped Designer Diamonds onto white cardstock with black ink, and cut the middle part out to create a frame. On the inner corners I stamped and embossed Corner Cuts, using Lindy's Stamp Gang embossing powder (Midnight Pewter Obsidian), which I also used for the birthday sentiment using Sophisticated Sentiments. The background strips were stamped using Well Defined Backgrounds. I finished it off by spraying some mists onto the white background. 

Thanks for looking, and have a great day!

Inspirational #147 ~ Repeat Yourself

     This old photo of my grandparents is really special to me, so I made this page for my Aunt, who has sacrificed so much of her time and money to care for my sick grandfather in her home. My grandma passed away when I was twelve, and I know she's just been waiting for him. My Aunt looks so much like my grandma in this photo! This is my example for Inpsirational #147, which  I'm hosting this week, and want to see any stamped image at least three times.

     I started this page with some kraft cardstock, which I misted in various colors. Then I stamped Aged Ornaments  onto different colors of tissue paper, and fussy cut them all out. The black scroll reminds me of the black iron gate they had around their house, so I used it eight times,even though I covered one of them up with my flowers. Then I decoupaged them along the right, using the zigzag stitch from Running Stitches in between the scroll work, which I embossed in black.

     To make the sheet music, I used the Vintage Background stamp six times on each sheet of white cardstock, which I inked with Distress Inks to give it an aged look. The only stamp that I used once, is the sentiment on the top left, using Fanciful Vintage. You can get all of these awesome stamps for a great deal at Red Rubber Designs. 

     Most of my inspiration came from this beautiful mood board, used for this month's challenge @ Scrap Around the World.

     The colors remind me of my grandma's garden, as she loved working in her garden, and always had flowers in bloom. Obviously I used the sheet music, and the lace, which I misted with some Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays. I was also inspired by the window, which is in my photo, and the base of my design with the stamp work. My grandma made the doily behind the large pink flower, so I had to include it, along with the pink button that once belonged to her.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Lake Mist Flower Tutorial for Inspirational #146

     Happy Thursday! This week Lynda's hosting at Red Rubber Inspirationals with Inspirational #146 ~ Stitch me up. Here's the example that I made using stamps from Red Rubber Designs.

     I was instantly inspired by this month's beautiful sketch #38 @ Scrap Africa! I was so happy to discover them last month, even though I was too late to enter their sketch challenge.

     Bo Bunny's (Trail Mix) paper was the perfect background to cut into squares, and goes so well with this photo of my son! I stamped Running Stitches around the squares and to create journaling lines.

     The title was stamped with the Alpha Grunge set onto some light blue cardstock. Then I inked the bottoms of the letters with a darker blue, and applied Stickles over them in two shades of blue (Waterfall and Distress Faded Jeans). I also used the Distress Faded Jeans Stickles over the flourish that I cut with my Cricut Expression (Home Decor cartridge), and over the dark blue flower that I made using my Seashell Cheesecloth Flower Tutorial. 

     The other flowers were made using the George and Basic Shapes cartridge for the Cricut Expression. For this example I made the flower on the right using kraft cardstock, cutting two flowers (using the shift lock button) each at 2", 1 1/2", and 1".

     Then I lightly misted some Glimmer Mists (Jack Frost and Slate) onto some wax paper, and dipped my flowers onto the mists. I scrunched them a little from the middle and opened them up, except for one of the smaller flowers, which I left closed for the center bud, opening just two of the petals. 

     The holes in the center make it easy to layer and glue starting with the larger flowers on the bottom and finishing with the center bud. The lighter blue flower was made with the same mists, but cut from white cardstock. 

     These flowers were really fun and easy to make! I hope you give them a try! 

Inspirational #144: Fall Foliage

     I just LOVE fall, and since my parents 43rd anniversary was a couple of weeks ago, I decided to make them a fall themed card for Inspirational #144, to use fall foliage.

     I took my inspiration from bonus sketch #6 used for the October Card Sketch Challenge @ Scrapbook.com. 

       All of the papers are an older line, Beautiful Life, from Bo Bunny and is still one of my favorites! I started out by making the wreath from a ring of paper, which I wrapped and glued with rafia, adding orange fiber around the outside.  Then I stamped and embossed the leaves using the Filled With Blessings stamp set from Red Rubber Designs.  Inside of the wreath and the swirly background were stamped with Autumn Swirls. The anniversary sentiment was done using Contemporary Greetings, and I added the label plate over Anniversary, which I got as a RAK from my scrappy friend Lisa. So thank you Lisa! 

    And THANK YOU for visiting my blog!