Stamp Act

Where oh where has my Mojo gone, where oh where can it be????

I hate when this happens.  I was on a roll and feeling oh so very creative and then......... nothing!!!  Can't come up with a darn thing!   

It may have to do with the fact that there is so much going on right now or maybe I need to replenish the creative juices ~ hmmmm.....  It's only 10 a.m. right now so that is too early to start replenishing!!! LOL!!! 

Here is a card I did for Tuesday's color challenge which was to use Basic Gray, Purely Pomegranate and either Bashful Blue or Soft Sky.  I opted for Bashful Blue.  The layout is from Lauren's AKA:  My Time's Saturday Sketch. I used my favorite deer from Flourishes.   I wish I would have rounded the edges or something on the deer piece but of course, I thought of that AFTER I taped it all down!!!  Oh well......  here it is:

The card base is 5 1/4" square and is Purely Pomegranate cardstock.  The next layer is from the SU! designer paper pack, Holiday Harmony.  I really wanted a background stamp to stamp on the decorative paper but none of mine really worked so I used the beautiful saying from the Flourished Christmas set that says "May your Christmas Flourish With peace and good will."  It is a done with beautiful cursive script lettering as well.  I stamped this using Purely Pomegranate ink.  Now, most people who use SEE THROUGH acrylic stamps would be able to make these words straight.  NOT ME!  I am so disabled but luckily, the parts that are seen more, are more straight than what is under the deer and ribbon piece! 

The deer was stamped using Basic Gray ink on Whisper White cardstock.  The mat is Bashful Blue.  I lightly outlined the antlers using a blender pen and Bashful Blue watercolor crayon.  I colored the inside of the deer with my Basic Gray watercolor crayon and blender pen.  I highlighted the nose and antlers with my Stardust clear gel pen.  The clip on the side is silver and is from SU!'s library clips.  I tied a bow with Basic Gray taffeta ribbon.  The clear star is from Heidi Swapp and I colored it with the Stardust clear gel pen and then used a pink crystal in the center (this crystal is also hiding the glue dot that I used to adhere the star!  How the heck else are you supposed to glue those things down?). 

The strip across the center is a mat of Purely Pomegranate and the lighter Pomegranate piece is a decorative piece from the Holiday Harmony pack.  I highlighted the flourish with the gel pen as well as other areas around the card (corners & side of strip).  The ribbon is SU! and is Pomegranate as well. 

I better get going and start working on my creative~ness (is that a word)?  Thanks for looking and have a great day!

~Lynda

Flourishes ~ Strut Your Stuff Challenge...

Today, Flourishes, LLC, is sponsoring a special event on SCS.  Flourishes is a fairly new company and has some BEAUTIFUL stamp sets.  For 24 hours they are asking for those of us lucky enough to own some of their stamps, to upload our creations to a special gallery on SCS and maybe win some prizes!  The gallery is located HERE.   Check it out as there are already some beautiful cards there. 

I had wanted the Flourishes Christmas for quite some time so for once I was ahead of the game and had ordered the set BEFORE I new there was an upcoming challenge!!!!   It was all Julia and Sharon's fault because they both made some beautiful cards using this set!!!  Anyway, I made 3 cards and will include them all in this one post.  The first card I used Basic Black for the base with a mat of a Rusty Red Bazzill color that coordinates with the Daisy D's decorative paper (which is the next layer!).

This was a really simple card as the main focal image was stamped on Kraft cardstock using my Versamark.  Now, these stamps are clear acrylic and MOST people would be able to easily stamp the sentiment straight across the center...  Not me!!!  I had to make a pencil line to make sure I stamped it straight!!!  How lame is that????  The sentiment was stamped using Basic Black ink.  I then layered it on top of Basic Black cardstock.  BTW, I used my distressing tool on all edges! 

The ribbon is first SU! Kraft taffeta and then the black is some beautiful ribbon I bought from Lindsey ~ Jacksonbelle Embellishments.   So, is the velvet flower just beautiful or what???  I LOVE this flower!  I just bought them Sunday and could not wait to use them!  They come in a package of 6 and are by Imaginesce.  I must say that it is perfect with this stamp set!!!

My next card started as a Christmas card but then as I was putting it together, looked too much like a Wedding or Anniversary card.  That's alright though because now you can see how versatile this set is (we must think positive!).    The layout is October's Dirty Dozen Sketch Challenge.   You will only be able to access this page if you are a SCS Fan Club Member.

My picture is not really great but I wanted to make sure to show you how cool the background looks!  When I was in my LSS on Sunday, I saw some black matte paper that had black embossed detail on it and I thought, I can do that!  Well that is just what I did!!!  My card base is Poison Ivory Shimmer Cardstock that I bought from CutCardstock.com.  The card is 5" square.  The next layer is Basic Black cardstock which I stamped using my Versamark and then heat embossing using Clear Detail Embossing Powder.  It looks so cool and actually looks better in real life!  The French Script strip on the right was stamped on Poison Ivory using Basic Black ink and then matted on Basic Black cardstock.  The top image piece was stamped using my Versamark again and then embossing with Silver embossing powder.  I also used the top of one of the deer antlers (this is included in the stamp set) along the bottom under best wishes.  I did this using my Versamark again and Silver embossing powder.  The sentiment is from Short & Sweet stamped using Basic Black ink.

The bottom ribbon is SU! Vanilla wide organdy ribbon and the top black ribbon is the same I used above which I purchased from Lindsey.  Yes, the velvet flower is also the same.  Have I mentioned that I LOVE those flowers???? 

Here is my 3rd card.  I feel like they all kind of look the same but I loved the images with the heat embossing and black!!!  I will try to venture off in another direction but it will be hard.....  I want to use the deer and color him.  I could not see coloring him on the following card but Sharon and Julia both have some great ones that I can copy!!!  The base of this card is Cryogen Shimmer White that I also got from CutCardstock.com.  The size is 5 x 5. 

The next layer is Basic Black cardstock.  Again, I heat embossed along the edge on the left as well as the corner on the right.  I used the top of the flourish image stamp, inked it up with my Versamark, stamped along the edge of the Black cardstock and then heat embossed with clear detail embossing powder.  To do the photo corner, I stamped the flourish image on a scrap piece of Basic Black cardstock using my Versamark again and heat embossing with clear detail embossing powder and then used my SU! corner punch to punch it out!  The ribbon is the same black I used on the other cards and the red is another ribbon I bought from Lindsey.  The Joy was stamped on the decorative Daisy D's paper using my Versamark and then I heat embossed using Black detail embossing powder and then punched it out using my 1 1/4" circle punch.  The beaded ring is a wire earring that I put white SU! beads on, glued the sentiment to the back and then tied it on the card using silver cord and black organdy.

My BEAUTIFUL deer was stamped using Versamark and heat embossed using Black detail embossing powder.  The paper is the Cryogen White Shimmer cardstock from CutCardstock.  I then mounted it on Basic Black cardstock.

Thank you so much for looking!  If you have time, check out the other sets Flourishes has to offer as well!

~Lynda