Grow Love--Plant a Tree

I love this new My Favorite Things set--Grow Love. LOVE those trees!!! And, I can't wait for Fall to get here. So when I saw the OCC challenge for this week, this set immediately came to mind. The challenge is an inspiration challenge and you can see it here. I pulled out last year's fall paper pad from K & Co. (which I love so much I bought several pads) and went to work. I was inspired by the colors and the roll of the landscape--here's what I came up with.

My base card is So Saffron with a layer of Chocolate Chip, then strips of DP. The trees were stamped on DP with Memento Rich Cocoa and cut out, and I used Chocolate Chip for the trunks. I wrapped some hemp around--kinda looks like a fence, don't you think? I added brads to the corners and buttons (Vintage collection from PTI) to the tree, tied on with linen thread from SU! I guess that's about it. Actually pretty simple but I really, really like how it turned out! Oh, the sentiment and the far left tree are popped up on 3M foam squares.

Thanks for dropping by today!

~Recipe~
Stamps: Grow Love (MFT)
Paper: So Saffron, Chocolate Chip (SU!); Fall Harvest (K & Co.)
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa
Accessories: 3M foam squares, hemp, brads (craft store); Vintage Buttons (PTI); linen thread (SU!)

A Basket Of Apples

I've had this set called Vintage Picnic by Papertrey Ink for a while but this is the first time I've inked it up. So many stamps, so little time ;-) So, when I saw that my friend Tammy was hosting the sketch challenge at Paper Craft Planet I knew it was time to break it out.

I stamped the image on Gina K Pure Luxury Ivory card stock with Memento Rich Cocoa ink, colored it with Copic markers, cut/embossed it with a circle Nestabilities die, and sponged a little Distress Ink in Tea Stain around the edges. My patterned paper is from Cosmo Cricket's Mr. Campy collection and my card stock is Always Artichoke and More Mustard. The off white ribbon has a twill-like texture and the dark green is also twill. Buttons are all from PTI's Vintage Buttons collection and are all tied on with linen thread from SU!

I'm totally CASEing Debbie Olson's style, which I admire so much, for this card.

I'm so glad you dropped in today!

~Recipe~
Stamps: Vintage Picnic (PTI)
Paper: Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke, More Mustard (SU!); Mr. Campy (Cosmo Cricket); Pure Luxury Ivory (Gina K.)
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa; Tea Stain Distress Ink (Ranger)
Accessories: Cuttlebug/Nestabilities dies; ribbon, twill, 3M foam squares (craft store); Vintage Buttons (PTI); Copic markers

A triple hitter!

It's been a while since I've been able to get some challenges done, but I finally got the time! This card is for Flourishes' Timeless Tuesday #27 (use hardware), Mercy's Sketch Challenge #33 (the layout), and The Stampin' B's Challenge #18 (make a masculine card). I love it when that happens, LOL!

OK, the first thing was to decide on a masculine theme. I'd never used this To the Nines Specialty paper but I got it expressly for masculine cards, so that took care of the paper. I love Flourishes' DIY Topiary set--it can go masculine or feminine--so that took care of the focal image. I stamped it on Sahara Sand--three times for the container and twice for the tree, colored with SU! markers, and layered it up on 3M foam squares

On to the sketch. Since I couldn't use a flower for that large embellishment, I used a large brown button from PTI's Dark Chocolate Vintage Button collection and added a dull green one for the center from my stash, then tied them on with some natural hemp.

For the hardware, some antique copper brads finished it off. I'm liking it. I need a couple masculine birthday cards this month so here's one of them all done!

I'm so glad you dropped by today!

~Recipe~
Stamps: DIY Topiary (Flourishes)
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand, Always Artichoke, To the Nines Specialty Paper (SU!)
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa
Accessories: 3M foam squares, brads, hemp (craft store); Vintage buttons; SU! markers; button from stash

Hot pink glitz!

Remember the Red Hat set I did for the Puttin' On the Glitz release blog hop? Didn't think so, LOL, so here it is. A friend of mine saw it and wanted one "exactly like it" only in different colors ;-) Seems her sister-in-law is sorta glitzy and she wanted one to give to her for her birthday. So, we came up with black/white/hot pink for the color scheme and I love how it turned out! She did too :)

It's pretty much exactly like the Red Hat version, just different paper, etc., so you can get all the deets over there if you're interested.

I'm so glad you stopped by today!

~Recipe~
Stamps: Puttin' On the Glitz (MFT)
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Pink Passion (SU!); Perfect Paper Panels; Black Tie (Making Memories)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Cuttlebug/Nestabilities/Spellbinders Flourish die; 3M foam squares, ribbon, jewels, jewel brads (craft store); Copic markers; Prima flowers; leaf punch (Martha Stewart); 1 3/8" circle punch (E K Success)

Stamp Simply #99--Friend

Here we are at Stamp Simply Challenge #99!!! WOW!!! Sharon's got a sweet challenge for us today--friends. Here's what she says:

August 7 - ssnotime99 - That's What Friends Are For -- Today's challenge is simple -- make a card for a friend, for ANY occasion, just make sure the word *friend* appears somewhere on the card front. There are so many fun friend sentiments out there -- these will be fun cards to check out! If you don't happen to have any friend sentiments, you could even hand write friend on a little tag to hang -- whatever works -- let's just get very *friendly* today --LOL!!! Have fun with this!

I'm straying out of my comfort zone again--to CAS. Whoa!!! You know I love me some layers but I held myself back today to only two, LOL!

My base card is Basic Black and the focal image layer is Whisper White. I'd been wanting to use this image from Boho Blossoms for a while and just never got around to it. MFT My Favorite Challenge for this week is to use only black and white, so I'm nailing that with this card, too :) I stamped the focal image with Versamark and heat embossed with black embossing powder, stamped the sentiment in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, tied a gingham ribbon on, added some black jewels and called it done! Stamped simply, for sure! Oh, and I did a little scoring with my ScorPal--it's hard to see, but it's there.

So, now it's your turn. Come along and play with us and take the challenge--we'd love to see what you come up with. If you do, be sure to leave a comment on Sharon's blog telling her where you uploaded. Please use the keyword ssnotime99 if you upload to a public forum. Check out Sharon's fabulous sample and also the great designs from the Stamp Simply team, with a very warm welcome to our August Guest Designer:

Pat Adam - August Guest Designer

Julie Koerber

Jennifer Buck

Janine Orchard

A J Otto

Tammy Hershberger

Deb Saarenen

Jenny Gropp

AND, if all that gorgeousness is not enough, I need to tell you that next week's Stamp Simply challenge is going to be very special. It's #100 and we're celebrating with a birthday party! Be sure to check back next week to see what we have in store for you!

I'm so glad you stopped by today!

~Recipe~
Stamps: Boho Blossoms (MFT)
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White (SU!)
Ink: Versamark, Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: ribbon, jewels (craft store); black embossing powder; heat gun; Embossing Buddy (SU!); ScorPal