Scratch & Sniff

Hi everyone, I'm popping in today to share a card I had over on the Hero Arts blog yesterday.

See all that yummy chocolate frosting with a sweet cherry on top? Well they actually SMELL like chocolate & cherry! That's right, a scratch & sniff card. If you pop on over to the Hero Arts blog, you'll find the video I put together for this fun technique.

I mentioned in the video that the technique is "kid test and mother approved" - here's my kid testing it. :-)

Love the big smile after he smelled that yummy cherry!

Thanks for stopping by,

SDC63: A Color Challenge!

There's a new Stampotique Designer's Challenge today, and it's a color challenge. That's one of my very favorite kinds of challenges. And it's inspired by the colors of an EGGPLANT! Oh yes, this purple-loving gal was happy to see that!

I thought the eggplant colors were a perfect reason to pull out this ADORABLE Lilac stamp! Lilacs for hair? Oh I wish I were that lucky. ;-) The Happy Birthday message was cut in half so I could fit it on my card. I've never done that with red rubber stamps before. I kind of broke out into a bit of a sweat when I pulled out the scissors. But I'm happy to report I survived in the end.

Here's the inspiration photo which Sarinda shared with us. I went slightly brighter. :-)

I hope you'll play along with us at the Stampotique Designer's Challenge this week! I'd love to see your purpley creations!

Thanks for stopping by,

Flowers in a Mason Jar

Here's a little Texas Tuesday beauty for you today...

This is the Jam'n Mason Jar from Texana Designs, filled with Jam'n Verbena. I added a little Glossy Accents to the jar to make it look like it's filled with water.

The background was created with Distress Inks (Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Tea Dye) on Specialty Stamping Paper, and lots of spritzing with water. I chose this "distressed" background to play along with this week's Catered Crop Recipe Swap - No Stress to Distress!

Join us over at the Recipe Swap - there's still a few days left!!

Thanks for stopping by,

A Splash of Green!

I stamped! Woohoo! Today I have a couple of cards I created using this week's Play Date Cafe colors. First up, one using my adorable little frog from Stampotique.

The background was created by spritzing a few different ink sprays (Adirondack Lettuce, Mister Huey's Estate Green, Fireworks! Pear Tart) onto Specialty Stamping Paper. I just love this Old Timey Frog. He makes me giggle. I thought the splotches from the spray ink were a bit like frog skin. :-)

For the next card, I used the same inks but sprayed them onto regular cardstock, which allowed them to soak in a bit more. This one made me think of pollen coming out of that gorgeous Hero Arts flower!

The Play Date Cafe colors, as you may have guessed, were a color splash - black & white with a splash of green. I was inspired by the photo on the PDCC inspiration badge, too - polka dots, and I picked a "feathery" flower to stamp!

Thanks for stopping by today,

Stampotique Designers Challenge - Alter It

Hi everyone! Today I'm making my debut over at the Stampotique Designer's Challenge! Yay!! Polly is hosting this week, and she asked us to do something I'm not very comfortable with - "Alter It"! So yes, this one really was a challenge, LOL!

I happened to have a plain kraft notebook that would be perfect to work with. I busted out my beloved Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paints and got to work. (Did I mention I love these paints?) :-) I added Daniel's Hearts in black Archival ink over my base of paint, and Bla bla bla in more paint. More words were added to some die cut clouds. The little circles were added here and there using the cap of a pen to paint (fun!). I painted in a few random hearts for a little extra pop.

Here's a closer look.

And the boring notebook I started with! :-)

Altering isn't necessarily my thing but I do like how this turned out. I hope you'll give it a go, too! There are lots of cool ideas over on the Stampotique Designer's Challenge blog. You have until next Tuesday, August 21 to play along!

Thanks for stopping by,

InLinkz.com

PDCC plus a little TLC!

With one kid back in school, the other kid returning soon and the Georgia weather finally going from Southeast Asia hot & humid to somewhat bearable, I am daydreaming about getting back out on my bike...

I want to go there. The trail. On my bike. It makes me happy. :-) What else makes me happy? Going absolutely polkadotical all over a card. Yes, that's a new word I just created. Feel free to use it! Hee hee!

The color inspiration was this week's fun & fabulous Play Date Cafe Challenge. Love!

And I tried the super cool Water Stamping Technique, which was this week's Technique Lover's Challenge on Splitcoaststampers. See the white "waves" in the background? Those were stamped with water using my Hero Arts + Basic Grey Lacey Background. So much fun!

Thanks for stopping by,

InLinkz.com

Note: I used Picked Raspberry & Squeezed Lemonade ink pads, not refills. :-)

White Pages Recipe Swap!

Hi everyone! It's an exciting day in our house - one of my kids got on the bus this morning to head back to school. Carter is in first grade this year. He is growing up so fast!! Courtney doesn't start pre-K until next week, so I still don't have quite as much time as I'd like to craft. But soon...  :-)

With all of the back to school prep, I completely spaced on getting a card done for Linda's Catered Crop Recipe Swap this past weekend! Doh! And Linda didn't even yell at me to remind me! Linda isn't the yelly type, to be honest. But I'm the I-need-a-kick-in-the-behind type, so her niceness can be a problem. HA!! I love Linda, she's top notch. Anyway, all that to say - TODAY I have my card, a day late & a dollar short. Here it is!

Linda challenged us to use WHITE this week! All you really need to do is just use white somewhere on your card, but I went ahead and tried to make my card as purely white as possible. To make the white on white hearts "show up", I used a glossier paper for them, and embossed them with my favorite Hero Arts Cling Dots. They are die cut with a Hero Arts Frame Cuts heart. Popping them up on dimensional tape also gives added contrast so they show up better!

Linda created another gorgeous inspiration board on Pinterest...

You still have plenty of time to play along, the challenge ends at 8pm EST on Saturday, August 18! I hope you'll join us!

InLinkz.com