Celebrate Your Inner Elf

I'm a week away from being done my latest grad course. I have a 50% paper due in 6 days and to blow off some steam and relax a little, I picked up my copics and some Christmas papers. Everything I've used here are oldies and, in my opinion, goodies. This sentiment is a favourite of mine and it is by the digital brilliance and wordsmith, Paulette at TLC Creations. No, I'm not on Paulette's design team, or any other design team during this season of my life, but I still want to link up when I can...

I really love this image. It's from an older Stampin' Up! set, Big Celebrations, that wasn't available very long. I coloured it by laying down a solid layer of colour on the tree and shading it using Prisma colour pencils, using Gamsol to blend it in. I tell you it felt so good to colour for awhile! I wanted the ornaments to look like glass balls, so I applied a coat of Glossy accents thickly, and the light is picking up the shine it makes! Delightful!!

I am trying to give more attention to the insides of my cards these days, so I used some Eskimo Kisses designer paper to coordinate the inside with the outside. I'm not convinced I made a good choice using the stamps I did on the inside because it has a very vintage feel, unlike the card front. Oh well! It's too late now...

Thanks for popping by and sticking with me during my long absences. I sincerely appreciate it!!

stamps; big celebrations (SU!), sentiment (tlc creations)
paper; eskimo kisses (basic grey), white canvas, coconut swirl, kraft (bazzill)
ink; Tuxedo Black (memento), antique linen, tea dye, vintage photo distress ink (ranger)
accessories; sm rectangle, lg long rectangles (spellbinders), pink brads (Q&Co), green rhinestones (kaiser), ribbon (SU!)

OCC Challenge - Which anniversary is it?!!

With spring, wedding season has begun. This means that ANNIVERSARY season has begun as well! From our May hostess, *Me*, our is challenge is to make an Anniversary card with the recipient's specific year in mind. We all know the 25th anniversary is silver and the 50th is golden, but what about the twelfth anniversary or the seventh? Feel free to use this link for happy-anniversary.com and make a card based on either your anniversary or the anniversary year of the recipient. Or just pick your favourite anniversary gifts by year to inspire your card!

To play along, upload your creation to your blog or gallery, then link it on the OCC blog with the direct link with our NEW linky system. If you upload to SCS, remember to use keyword: OCCC


It's my 19th wedding anniversary this coming week, so I decided to mostly go with the Anniversary gifts for us this year which are bronze and aquamarine (my birthstone as well!). I'm not sure how well I did recreating bronze because my brown is far too dark, but I really like the idea of the aquamarine/brown colour combination.


I had intended to use alcohol ink to give my chipboard heart a crackled bronze look, but when I was laying out all my elements, I loved the way the brushed pewter of the crackle paint picked up and accented the grey in the pussy willows.


It looked too lovely to change, so I went with pewter brads as well, rather than the bronze-ish ones I had ready to go. I used no bling besides the sheen from the metallic bits since this card is for my husband. I don't think he'll mind the bow or the scallop border.

I hope you will have a little R&R time this weekend and Happy Mother's Day! Go ahead and grab your favourite cuppa something hot and sweet and check out the rest of the magnificent creations by the OCC design team.

Sarah
Julie
Jocelyn
Jennifer
Dana
Linda
Lori
Diane
Wendy

stamps; with all my heart (SU!)
ink; espresso adirondack (ranger)
paper; blossom wood (K&Co), brown, coconut swirl (bazzill)
accessories; word window, modern label punches, ribbon (SU!), mini scallop border punch (ek success), chipboard basic elements ( basic grey), brushed pewter crackle paint (ranger)

OCC Happy Fall Y'all!

It's Saturday, which means it's time for the OCC Challenge brought to you this month by Dana Grothaus!


Since Labor Day marked the end of summer, we thought we would challenge you to make a Fall/Autumn card this week. You can interpret this any way you like, but some ideas are to use fall colors like browns, oranges, and reds. You could incorporate pumpkins, leaves, acorns, etc.

Well, I went through my stuff and I seem to have a serious disconnect between summer and Christmas. I have next to no fall or Halloween stamps, and I had no idea! My craft stash shows nothing happens after florals and before snowflakes! After searching high and low, I realized I had a multi season set I just got that should do the trick;


For the inspiration challenge today, Steph has found a website that carries darling children's clothes for our perusal called CWDKids. I found this adorable girl's coat, and used it for my inspiration.

Check out the stunning creations by the rest of the OCC design team using the links on my sidebar.

Have a marvelous weekend.

stamps; wandering words (SU!)
paper; sonoma collection (scenic route), brown (bazzill), vintage core'dinations
ink; coffee bean pigment (tsukineko)
accessories; striped ribbon (SU!), aged copper brads (making memories), aged copper corner detail (tim holtz ), molasses smooch (clearsnap)

Hostess Club finale

Well, one of my hostess clubs is done for this catalogue year. It's always a bittersweet time saying good bye to ladies who can't continue for a myriad of reasons yet sharing the excitement of a new Stampin' Up! catalogue release mere weeks away.

This card was their final project, and I think it was their favourite for the year. I'll upload a few of their other favourites over the course of the next week. I laughed when several of my ladies said they had never even heard of sage shadow. I must be a very bad demo! It's one of the favourite colours in my house. I use it a lot and my oldest DD's are painting their collective rooms this colour, just with different accent colours.

They used Boho Blossom to create their own dp (a review technique from last year) and highlighted with a white gel pen. I taught them emboss resist with the watercoloured bloom and they made this card as a hinge card - they loved that, I think!

I end with a sentimental *sigh* looking forward to the new catty year ahead!

stamps; boho blossom, dream a little (SU!)
ink; versamark, sage shadow, tangerine tango, ridinghood red (SU!)
paper; basic gray, whisper white, sage shadow, watercolour paper (SU!)
accessories; white satin ribbon, sizzix circle scallop die, circle die, 1 3/4" circle punch, pretties kit, clear detail ep, white gel pen (SU!)

OCCC Parisian Friendship SUO

We'd like to introduce and welcome Jessica Knutsen as our guest designer for this week. Jessica is also the owner of *There She Goes* and she generously is giving away one of her newest released stamp set *Tweeterpated* for this challenge!!!

In order to win this set, please have your card uploaded to Mr. Linky on Our Creative Corner by 12 pm central time on Friday, April 17th. If you upload to Splitcoast, please include OCCC in the keywords. The winner will be announced next Saturday, April 18th.Silke, our April hostess, is continuing to inspire and challenge us at Our Creative Corner, and this sketch is her latest stroke of brilliance.

I used Simple Friendship for this card and used one of my new favourite Stampin' Up! paper packs, Parisian Breeze. I distressed and grunged this card all over the place. I think it needs a little glitz ;) but that may just be me!I love this butterfly image. I tried embossing it with irridescent ice, but all the wonderful flourish and script detail vanished. It is such a bummer that I discovered with this butterfly that my clear detail ep is contaminated with white emboss powder... grrrrrrr... Overall, this really is a simple card, but those antennae are a real buggaboo to cut out!

Make sure you stop by Our Creative Corner to see what amazing things the other design team members have done with this sketch, and then mosey on over to their blogs for detailed information! We invite you to join us with this challenge and be entered in the draw for this adorable stamp set by There She Goes!

stamps; simple friendship (SU!)
paper; chocolate chip, kraft, parisian breeze (SU!)
ink; creamy caramel, close to cocoa, chocolate chip, baja breeze, versamark (SU!)
accessories; latte buttons, linen thread, circle scissor, corner rounder, clear detail ep, chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon (SU!)

SUO - almost!

I didn't notice what a dark picture this is until I uploaded. Sorry about that!

This card was SUO until I added the dew drops - what was I thinking?!!! This is for a workshop (sans the dew drops) and I suddenly realized I haven't taught my club about 2-step stamping! Again, what was I thinking?!!! I used the outline image from Wonderful Watercolors and coloured it in with chalk. I'll be using the 2 step for the workshop, and I might just throw in some acetate somewhere.

I don't often post SUO because when I am stamping for me and DT's I don't think of my SU! supplies. A legitimate thing for my design team work, but I feel like my SU! supplies are my 'work' supplies to be used with my clubs and workshops only. I have got to get over that!!! I own it all and it's mine first and foremost. I need to play with those sets more and really use them to get my full value out of them. Gotta remember I stamp for me first and every other project happens as natural growth from my personal stamp time.

I need a hot bath! I'm cerebralizing stamping here, and I have a hole in the garage to repair...

stamps; wonderful watercolors (SU!)
paper; chocolate chip, whisper white, to the nines (SU!)
ink; chocolate chip, sahara sand (SU!)
accessories; chocolate chip grosgrain, eyelet border punch, corner rounder, pastels, crystal effects (SU!), mens dew drops (the robin's nest)

LSC212 Spring Garden

I had exactly one hour to spare for the challenge today. I spent a fair bit of time discovering I have no spring flower stamps *snort*! I guess any excuse to buy more stamps is a good excuse. Then I stumbled on these pussy willows and figured they might be about perfect. Pussy willows are about the very first thing to come out around here. They arrive almost a month before tulips and daffodils.
I love the hope spring brings. I haven't seen any robins yet, but it doesn't mean they aren't here. I bet if I look around, I'll find some.

Late March and early April are our snowiest time of year, so this really is a good vignette of my muddy, barren garden...

Bring on the sun!!

stamps; scene in a garden (SU!)
paper; ever after (cosmo cricket), mud puddle, rope dotted swiss, coconut swirl (bazzill), cold press watercolour paper
ink; timber brown stazon (tsukineko), willow, juniper, latte, rust, hazelnut, lemonade reinkers (adirondack by ranger)
accessories; doily edge punch (martha stewart), clear skittles (the robin's nest), white twill (may arts), white satin ribbon (offray), hope charm (tokens by blue moon beads), hemp twine

LSC207 I'm SO stretching!!!

Today's challenge; stretch yourself. Use a technique or do something that isn't your norm. So I made a circle card. I cased Celebrate In Style by Flaxychick. I'm often not happy with how my circle cards turn out. This one is okay, and it's for a workshop, so it's simpler than I usually do. I'm not good at using white on a card, but I always think it looks lovely. I tried to use more white here than I usually do. I paper pieced as well - not a technique I use often. I doodled a little and used polka dots. I know polka dots are hot, but they just aren't what I gravitate to. Finally, I used black. Um, yah. Nuff said!

stamps; humor in high heels (SU!)
paper; whisper white, bashful blue, kraft, afternoon tea (SU!)
ink; bacic black (SU!)
accessories; white gel pen, basic black marker, sizzix large and small circle dies, mini brads, dew drops (those will come off for the workshop)

WT200 Wanna be a Rock Star

I think this card was created by my alter-ego. So much black!!! Oy!

This challenge is about using stars. As soon as I saw that, I knew I wanted to use this hostess set, one of the preview sets - A little somethin' - from the upcoming spring-summer catty. 'Rock Star' stamp - hmmmm - calls for black, and it occurs to me pink would have been good here too, but I stumbled on this Kaiser paper that's been in my stash for awhile called Grunge. I pulled all the colours from there. There is this paper Bazzill brought out in their destinations line called Berlin. It's really funky - it's black with a greenish brownish tint too it. It's one of those colours that I'm just never sure I'll find the right place to use, but wow it has impact.

I used Labels Two and Ribbon Tag Trio Nestabilities available from i {heart} papers. I'll admit it - I'm a nesties-oholic. Love the things. Use them prolifically! Bless the day Nestabilities were conceived and produced (bless Ellen Hutson!!!!!!!!!). And the new ones Spellbinders has coming out are outrageously fabulous! Oh mercy, I'm in trouble.

I just got the Verve set I used for the sentiment called All About You. I love the clean graphics Julee uses. I thought this sentiment was appropriate, and if nothing else, rock and sock(s) rhymes. I KNOW! I have seriously flawed logic, but what the heck - it's all good.

stamps; a little somthin' (SU!), all about you (verve)
paper; onyx black (paper accents), berlin, brown, string of pearls (bazzill), grunge (kaiser)
ink; tea dye, vintage photo, walnut stain (distress inks by ranger)
accessories; labels two, ribbon tag trio nestabilities (spellbinders), black satin ribbon (offray), mini screw brads (karen foster), star rhinestones (Q&Co), border punch (martha stewart), star punch (SU!), diamond stickles (ranger)