Stamp Act

ULAS Mojo Challenge.....

Good Morning!
We are now going on 2 days of rain ~ yuck!  On the bright side, it is a perfect day to stamp!  A group of SCS friends and I started a group called Up Late & Stamping last year.  We haven't had any challenges lately because we have all been so darn busy!  Last week some of the girls came up with a challenge that included using Julee Tilman's Mojo Monday Sketch and Buckaroo Blue, Cranberry Crisp and Close to Cocoa cardstock.  This challenge was REALLY hard for me and like Cindy said, that is why it is called a challenge!!! LOL!!!  If you would like to join in, please do and upload your creation to our gallery by adding ULAS to the keywords section in the SCS upload form.  Stop by the gallery to see what the other girls came up with HERE.   Anyway, here is my card ~

The base of my card is Cranberry Crisp with a thin mat of Whisper White and then Close to Cocoa which I stamped using my Cornish Heritage Farms backgrounder, Close to Cocoa Craft ink and heat embossing with clear embossing powder.  The small Cranberry piece on the top left was stamped using my Linen background stamp and Cranberry ink.  The sentiment on the bottom right is from my Short & Sweet set and was stamped on Whisper White using Buckaroo Blue ink and then mounted on Cranberry cardstock.

The focal image is my FAVORITE Serendipity horse stamp which can be found HERE!   I stamped the horse on Whisper White cardstock using my Chocolate Chip ink.  I colored using my Prismacolor pencils and Mineral Spirits.  I added the Cranberry ribbon and ran the Heidi Swapp ghost stars through my Xyron and added Martha Stewart Bronze glitter.  The upper left corner of the focal image was first punched using my ticket corner punch and then I added a brad that I colored using the bronze glitter.  I LOVE this technique so if you haven't tried it, you should!  You don't need to buy the expensive glitter brads, you can make your own!  This is how ~

You will need a brad, needle nose pliers, Heat & Stick powder, heat tool and glitter.

Hold your brad by the prongs and heat the head using your heat tool.  When you think you have heated it enough, dip the head into the Heat & Stick powder, heat again to melt it (if the Heat & Stick powder does not stick to the brad, it means you didn't heat  your brad long enough).  As soon as the Heat & Stick powder melts, dip your brad into your glitter and heat again.  That's it!  Really easy huh?!?!?

Stamps ~  Linen Background, Short & Sweet, Cornish Heritage Farms Backgrounder, Serendipity Horse Stamp;    Paper ~ Close to Cocoa, Whisper White, Cranberry Crisp, Buckaroo Blue;   Ink ~             Close to Cocoa ~ Craft, Buckaroo Blue, Chocolate Chip and Cranberry Crisp Classic;  Other ~ Bronze glitter ~ Martha Stewart, brad, Heat & Stick powder, heat tool, Cranberry ribbon, dimensionals, ticket corner punch, Clear embossing powder, Heidi Swapp star ghost shapes, Xyron

Have a great day!

~Lynda

Elzybells ~ Up Late and Stamping challenge.....

Good Morning!!!  (ok, so it maybe isn't morning for some of you when you read this but it is morning when I am posting!)

I took my kids (and Joey's friend Warner who is like our 3rd kid!) to see Alvin yesterday.  Oh my gosh, it was so cute.  The kids loved it and I enjoyed it too!  I got NO stamping done yesterday but did get cleaning, laundry, in-laws Christmas gifts on their way and was so pooped last night, I went to bed at 8!!!   Today we have another busy day planned so luckily I have a few cards I had finished a few days ago, to post!  I am now working on my Christmas thank you notes and the Elzybells work perfectly!  My friend Jennifer sent me some Elzybells images and I was so excited to use them so here is my card!

Oh and Jennifer gave me the decorative paper too!  Isn't it great!!  The base of my card is Celery with a  mat of Real Red.  The upper cardstock of the top mat is Whisper White and then the striped decorative paper which I don't know who it is by.  I stamped the Whisper White using Bashful Blue ink and the Season of Joy swirl.  I added some snowflakes I punched, ran through my Xyron, smashed them in Dazzling Diamonds glitter and adhered using Bashful Blue brads.  The beautiful blue ribbon is from Flourishes.   The thank you beads are really old and are actually on an earring hoop.  I adhered it on the ribbon using silver cord.

The Elzy's were stamped using Basic Black ink on Whisper White cardstock.  I colored the Elzybells with a blender pen and Bashful Blue, Real Red, Wild Wasabi and Close to Cocoa ink pads.  I added Stardust Stickles to the girls outfits and my favorite Martha Stewart white glitter for the snow on the ground.  I used my ticket corner punch on the focal image, matted on the decorative paper and then punched Celery cardstock using my Marvy scalloped punch.  I added Real Red brads in all four corners and mounted it on the top of my card using dimensionals.

I hope you all have a great day!  Happy Stamping!!!

~Lynda

ULAS & Lauren's Weekend Sketch Challenge

Good Morning!!!
The challenge this week for my Up Late and Stamping friends was to make a card using White, Pomegranate and Soft Sky colors.  These are some fantastic colors so feel free to play along and if you do, upload your creations in to the ULAS gallery located HERE.   The card is also based on Lauren ~ AKA:  Mytime's, weekend sketch.  Be sure to check her card out as it is so awesome!  Anyway, my card base is Cryogen White shimmer cardstock from Cutcardstock.com.   

The sentiment is from Flourishes ~ Flourished Christmas  and was stamped using Pomegranate ink.  I added a Swarovski Crystal on top of the I.  These are the same crystals I used on the ornament as well as the 3 down the left side and the 3 in the bottom right corner.  The bottom layer of Soft Sky diamond paper is from the SU! and is the designer series paper pack.  I matted this on Soft Sky cardstock.  The next Pomegranate layer is from the Holiday Harmony pack and is matted on Pomegranate cardstock.  The ribbon is the Pomegranate ribbon from the current holiday mini catalog. 

To do the ornament (Inkadinkado) I first embossed using my Versamark and Silver embossing powder on Cryogen White cardstock.  I then cut it out, colored it using a blender pen and Soft Sky & Pomegranate ink pads and then mounted it using dimensionals on a piece of Cryogen White cardstock.  I made a hole using my paper piercer right under the top bow and then strung silver cord through and then used Scotch tape to adhere it on the back.  I then mounted this on top of Soft Sky cardstock. 

Be sure to check out my friends galleries & blogs to see their fantastic creations ~

Jennifer

Cindy

Loretta

and

Diane

They may not have them uploaded yet but I am sure there are many other things they have that will inspire you!

Thanks for looking!

~Lynda

My Altered Project for Diane's Up Late and Stamping Challenge!

My new blogging friend, Diane ~ My Little Stampin' Spot, was the hostess with the mostess on Friday (last Friday) for our weekly ULAS, Up Late and Stamping challenge.  She tasked us with altering something.  My family was hoping I would alter my personality and I would like to alter my "maid" duties but instead, I went ahead and altered this frame!  One of the Mom's at our school had her second baby girl this week so I wanted to make a little something for her.  Her and her husband are the nicest people and last year at this time suffered an awful loss so I am SO happy for them that everything went fine and the baby is GREAT!

The first thing I did with this frame was paint, just the edges White (Making Memories).  I don't usually paint the edges or the back (I didn't do the back on this one) but I wanted it to be white and not the tan.

My picture stinks because I had to take it inside and it has been raining ALL day again so I couldn't get good lighting.  Anyway, the frame is from Michael's.  They are those pressed wood ones that cost around $2.99.  The paper is from Melissa Frances and is a beautiful Lavender color with white.  I glued it on to the frame by covering the entire frame with Mod Podge and then laid the paper on top and just kept rubbing it all over to make sure no air bubbles formed.  After it dried, I used my hobby blade to trim the edges and cut the photo rectangle out.  I then used my sanding block on all edges.  The strip toward the bottom is some coordinating paper that I cut a decorative strip from.  I used just regular adhesive to tape this down and then glued (Elmers) my beautiful white ruffle ribbon (purchased from Lindsey ~ Jacksonbelle Embellishments).   After the glue dried I trimmed the ribbon right up to the edge of the frame.

I had this empty space up on the top left and god forbid that you leave an empty spot so I used the same White, Making Memories paint and used it to stamp.  I used my Baroque Motifs swirly stamp and used a foam brush to paint it directly on the stamp and then stamped.  It worked perfectly ~ except.... The white really isn't white enough but too late!!!  I highlighted it with my Sakura Clear glitter pen.  The flower is an old one I had from Oriental Trading.  I added a Pewter Making Memories decorative brad in the center and stuck it on the frame using a pop-up glue dot.  The last step was the Pewter Hodgepodge oval frame.  I stamped So Blessed (Fancy Flexible Phrases) using Lavender Lace ink on Whisper White cardstock.  I then punched it out with the small oval punch.  Used my 2-way glue pen to add some glue to the inside and then stuck the sentiment in there.  I added a couple of hearts ~ just because!  I stuck this down with dimensionals (put a dot of Elmer's glue on the back of each dimensional just to make sure it stuck).

Here is a close up in case you are interested!!!

That was it!  Now I have my gift all done!  Thanks Diane!

This week's hostess is Jennifer ~ Jennifer's Sweet Designs, and she has issued an inspiration challenge.  She has a picture of the cutest blanket so now I must get started! 

Have a great night!

~Lynda

The FIRST Weekly "UP LATE & STAMPING" Challenge!!!

Here is my Chipboard Challenge entry!  See my previous post for the details on this challenge.  Don't forget to upload your entries HERE.   The snowflake is from the Snowflake Chipboard set currently included in SU!'s Holiday Mini catalog.  The stamp set I used is from Flaky Friends.  I have to go to get my kids right now so I will add the details on what I used and how I did it when I get back! 

I do want to thank Cindy, Jen, Loretta and Diane for including me and letting me be the first hostess or is it Guinea Pig?!?!?! LOL!!!!  Anyway, I truly enjoyed it and can't wait to see what everyone else has done!!!  Sorry it is late but as usual, it took me longer than I anticipated!!!!

Don't forget that this challenge is for EVERYONE so please take part because we are so excited about it and would love for you to join in the fun!!!

I will be back shortly with instructions and I will also take a close up of the snowmen so if you are interested, you can see the details more clearly!

Thanks for looking!

~Lynda

EDITED to add Instructions ~ Sorry for the delay!  Here are the materials and instructions:

The top of the ornament I painted using Making Memories Sky Blue scrapbook paint.  The snowflakes were made using my white gel pen and then I randomly put dots of Stardust Stickles on top of some of them.  Before I painted anything, I stamped the snowmen using Black Stazon directly on to the chipboard.  I stamped another set of snowmen on scrap paper, cut it out and then masked them when it came time to paint the top and bottom.  I sponged the sky blue on the top of the snowflake and then the bottom was sponged using White Craft ink.  I sponged a couple coats of the White Craft to make it cover completely.  I painted the snowmen with the White Craft ink but didn't do it really thick so it wouldn't look like the snow on the bottom.  I may still add a little glitter on the snowmen, we'll see.

I used Pumpkin Pie ink and  a paint brush to paint the noses.  The pink, purple, green, gray, baby blue and yellow are also Making Memories paint.  I used a small SU! paint brush to paint it on.  I added lots of different color stickles to add some glitz.  On the bottom of the snowmen and the top of the snow I added a line of white Puffy Paint.  I also added the puffy paint to the snowman with the Santa hat on the left.  This ornament was really easy but a bit time consuming.  I am not sure what ribbon I am going to use yet so I didn't add any yet! 

Thanks again for looking and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

~Lynda