Sweet Treats...

Made this card as a birthday treat for a friend.   It's part of the Make-Live-Share project I created this week.  The second part will be shared tomorrow so watch for it!  

I just love the sketchedy cupcake image in Birthday Sketch and the pennant dies! I paired the image with some of my old My Minds Eye patterned paper.  I have sooo many 6x6 packs lined up on my crafting table, it's about time to get using it!  

Pure yummy goodness in the little cherry on the top!  Added a bit of Journey Glaze on top to make it shine!

I colored the pearls with a Copic to match the paper (I'll post the colors later). Every bit of paper was distressed with Oatmeal Cookie ink.  MMMMM...Oatmeal cookies and cupcakes.  I'm getting hungry now.  :)

Tie the pennant off with a little Journey Twine and call this card DONE...oh wait, stamp the sentiment on the inside of the card and...now it's done!

FSJCC1 Color Challenge DONE!

Hello Journey Friends!  The other day I got my box of goodies specifically ordered for this month's color challenge at www.creativebloomsjourney.blogspot.com.  When I selected the colors for the color challenge this month, I did it without realizing I had none of the colors in my collection.  I guess that was a good thing, because it allowed me to go shopping.  I ordered inks and papers in the color selection as well as added some extra treats from my wish list-like dies and elements!

So today I had a fun little Snow Day to play around at my stamping station and came up with this treat that I'll be sending off to a friend soon.

First I started by coloring the Black and White patterned paper with some Lemon Drop and Lemon Grass ink using a sponge dauber.  Then I cut out the Scalloped Pocket die from some Black Licorice paper. After that, applied the inked patterned paper to the diecut and cut it to fit.  I applied some lime green ribbon from and some Black Journey Twine, then added a little Wood Accent button to incorporate the Oatmeal Cookie color in the color challenge.  When the pocket was complete I set it aside and started on the Huckleberry base. 

I stamped the Huckleberry base cardstock with Pineapple Smoothie Ink and the Postage Stamp ATS. 

I wanted to include a little treat in the pocket.  It had to be small enough to fit in the pocket but not too big as to cover up the patterned paper.  I had some extra watercolor paper scraps so I decided to make an ATC that incorporated a little bit more of the blue color.  The Huckleberry Fusion ink was the perfect fit with the Rose Garden ATS.  

To finish off the card and the ATC, I added some black scraps from the diecut, gold ribbon, Sparkle Drops (that I sponged with the Lemon ink) some Sparkle Dust/Journey Glaze and a Photo Pin Element that holds the "Journey" sentiment from the Bezel Blocks ATS.  

Hope you enjoy!  

Shine On...

Hello Journey friends,

Here's another version of the card from yesterday.  LOVE the American Sun stamp and it goes soooo well with the star from the January Kit of the Month!  

I added a little bit of black velvet ribbon and some black eyelash yarn from my much-neglected stash. 

This card will be out the door soon...Some Sunshine coming to a mailbox soon!!!

Shine...

Hello Journey friends,

Today I'm sharing a card that I was thinking about all the while I was making my President's Day card.  I wanted to use the beautiful flag image as sun rays- or a spotlight and was planning the design in my head the whole time I was making the other card.  

It's funny how my mind works- I can't do two things at once (chew gum and walk, drive and talk, type and listen) but somehow I can be planning a new card design while I'm making another card. I'm not really sure what that means about my creative connections in my brain I just know that I'm constantly making connections and thinking, thinking, thinking...

I used the Direct-To-Stamp inking method to ink just the stripes on the AMERICAN SUN stamp with Lemon Drop ink. I stamped it smack dab in the middle of some Whip Cream cardstock.  After that, I stamped the sentiment from the January Kit of the Month (not available in the catalog for a few more months) over those rays.    

After finishing the stamped panel, I trimmed it up and mounted it on Black Licorice cardstock.  Then mounted that panel onto Lemon Drop cardstock.  

Stamping the Star from the January Kit of the Month was next.  I used Whip Cream cardstock and Black Licorice ink again.  I cut out the star image (I would have used the star dies but I don't have them yet!) and added some Journey Glaze onto the black sripes.  While that dried, I added some black Journey Twine onto the card panel before mounting it to the Black Licorice card base.  

To finish off the card I added some Journey Sparkle Dust to the sun rays, opalescent sequins (from the Journey Sequins Blue Skies set) with some Orange Stickles.

I hope you enjoyed this project.  Tomorrow I'll be back to share another card i created using this same theme.

Irish Dancer Part 3...

Hello Journey friends,

Here's the final card in my Irish Dancer collection.  Quite a simple card really. 

I decided to focus on the sentiment this time.  As all of the sentiments tug at my heartstrings, I think this one is just so inspiring and encouraging.  I added a little scalloped banner (cut from the Banner dies and Whipped Cream cardstock).  

I love the look of tone-on-tone so I used the Pineapple Splash ink to stamp the ballerina repeatedly on a piece of Oatmeal Cookie cardstock.  As I was stamping, I couldn't help but remember the tessellated designs I made in Fabric Design class in college- The image fits so nicely in a repeated/staggered pattern on paper- and there's just a hint of color created with the inking.

Adding some Journey Glaze and Journey sparkles to the banner die was almost the finishing touch...It needed some gold.  I added a little piece of gold ribbon along the edge of the banner, then applied two little bows on each edge.  

If you're collecting Inspiration pages for this set, here's another inspiration page I created for this card.  I've included a list of everything you need to complete this card (minus the acrylic blocks and the paper cutter!)

Tutu Fest Part 4

This is the final card from the February Kit of the Month.

I'm patting myself on the back for sticking with the inspiration design.  I only tweaked the layout of by turning the tutu...:)

I think this card would make a FABULOUS thank you card for attending a little tikes dance recital or a simple little "Send a Smile" card.

Here's a closer shot of the tutu.  I tried to add a little bit of "tulle" effect on the coloring.  I also added a light sprinkling of Journey sparkle.  SOOO adorable!

This is just the cutest tutu ever!!!  I distressed the cream panel to bring the adorable tutu to the forefront.  Notice the little yellow circle?  Looks like a spotlight to me!  

Irish Dancer 2...

Hello Journey friends, I'm back to share another unique Irish Dancer using the Twinkle Toes set. There are only a few more days remaining before the kit will be GONE...and won't return for three months...If you like it as much as I do, you'll want to grab it now...It's sooo versatile with a little doodle here and there.  :)

Isn't she LOVELY?   Every time I look at this little lady, I smile a BIG BIG smile.  She makes me happy!!!

After finishing up the coloring and fussy cutting her out, this card whipped together in NO TIME at all!!!

I think the layout lends itself well to an invitation, birthday or thank you card.  The Label turned sideways creates the perfect "writing board" for a greeting.

Whoever designed this ballerina image gets a big HUG and HIGH FIVE from me!  I just love her whispy curls and the little pearls on her wrist (Not to mention her fluffy-fabulous tutu!)  

Popping the image up with pop dots gives the dimension this card needs to take flight...errrmmm dance across the page.  She fits perfectly against the small/tight green and black floating panel.  And of course, no proper Irish girl would be complete without a little golden sparkle!  

So, don't you just LOVE this little lady?  I've got SO MANY more ideas for her.  Just wait, you'll see...

Feel free to grab a copy of the inspiration sheet I created for this card.  It's perfect to keep in a nice little binder full of FUN projects OR to share with friends (or if you're a coach-share with your customers!).  

Tutu Fest Part 3

Here's card #3 in the series- Not much tweaking here- other than distressing and adding some sparkle here and there.  I can't tell you how much I LOVE this set.  Seriously...It's soooooo cute!  

When I got the kit, I put the rectangle and star dies on my wish list.  I love that most of the dies have the sitching holes along the edges.  As many of you know, I love quilting, so you'll see some sewing and some quilty goodness on some cards to come.

Pretty pink satin ribbon just finishes the card off- I don't think a single card I make is missing a bit of ribbon!  LOL

So I'll be back tomorrow to share another Irish Dancer card and inspiration sheet featuring this set. Stay tuned!

Irish Twinkle Toes!

Hello Journey friends!

I'm back to share an extra FUN card I dreamed up before receiving my Feb. Kit of the Month.  This kit is only available until the last day of the month and the set won't be available for another three months...If you want the set, there's no better time than NOW to order it so you can play away!

Now, on to my creation... Can you just hear Celtic music flowing???  Hee hee hee.

...and her lovely red locks tied up so perfectly...

...yes, YOU are AWESOME!!!

Ok...So there you have it...Don't be too shy to add extra doodling to your images...You just might discover you can create a whole new world of FUN!

And in the power of the MAKE-LIVE-SHARE movement by Richard Garay, I'm sharing this project with YOU (and any other person that would LOVE to take an Irish dancer journey with their pen.)  Please feel free to grab a copy of my Inspiration Sheet for this card.  All supplies, materials used- including step-out photos and step-by-step directions are listed for your convenience.   Enjoy!

***PS....I'll be back tomorrow to share another card I finished from the kit.  On Monday, I'll return to share another Irish Dancer card and inspiration sheet.  See you then!

Tutu Fest Part 2

Alrighty friends...This card design needed no other tweaking other than the arrangement of the pearls. I didn't have room for all three over at the side, so I sprinkled them all over the bottom.  I opted NOT to add distressing ink on this piece- and just trimmed the rectangle panel just a tiny bit all the way around.   I loved the added piece of ribbon that was included- I hardly ever add two pieces to my bows.  

I just love the ballerinas dancing along the top of the card!  Soooo cute.  It reminds me of sitting in the audience for hours and hours and hours and hours as I watched my niece perform in her dance recitals.  HA HA...I especially LOVED watching the tiny tots perform.

As promised, tomorrow I will be posting a special project I created using this adorable set.   You'll want to stop back because I'll have a FREE Inspiration Sheet on my sidebar that will provide the materials, directions and step out photos of my project.

Tutu Fest...

A couple days ago I found my Kit of The Month for February in my mailbox and yesterday, I had a fabulous snow day of crafting!  I made all of the cards (with slight modifications) and am excited to now have this set to play with FOREVER!

For the rest of February, I will be posting pictures of the cards I made as well as new projects using this adorable set.  As a treat to all my stamping friends, I'll also be including some fun FREE tutorial pages you might want to keep for inspiration.  You'll be able to print them and include them in your inspiration binder.

So here's the first of the four cards from the kit.

I used Copics to color the ballerina.  Since most people in my family have brown hair, I chose to color her hair with a mix of taupes and tans.  Her dress was colored with just a few pinks- and a pale purple (which is actually pink).  When colored and cut out, I added pop dots and some Stardust Stickles over the curls in her hair and on her tutu.  I opted to use this instead of my Journey Sparkle dust because I wanted a hint of sparkle and I could control it with the pen tip.  

I wanted to create a bit more variety in the paper designs for the top layout so I stamped Damask Print on one layer using Versamagic Pixie Dust ink then added more distressing to soften the card.  

The final touch was the little clothes pin and twine included in the kit.  I added one opalescent sequin and a bit-o-bling.  

If you're interested in joining the Kit of the Month Club, check out the flyer on the sidebar over there ---->. The kit includes Instructions to make four cards, all the materials you need to create this card (minus the inks, copics and sequins/bling) and three other cards that I will be sharing with you in the coming days.  All papers and dies are precut for you and packaged nicely in a zip-closure bag.  Envies included!  

***Please note, this stamp set is not available for stand-alone purchase in the catalog until three months.  So to get it before it hits the catalog, order your kit before March 1!

Non FSJ Products used: 

Opalescent Sequin/Bling

Stardust Stickles

Tsukeniko Pixie Pink Chalk ink,

Copic Markers:  Pale Purple RV000,Sugared Almond Pink RV02, Pale Cherry Pink R11, Rose Pink R85; Skin White E00, Barely Beige E11, Baby Skin Pink E21, Sand E33, Fig E87; Yellowish Shade YR20

FSJ Shopping List:

February Kit of the Month KO-001 $24.95 (six month auto-ship commitment) 

To Make MORE than ONE of each card here is a list of items to consider:  

• Black Licorice Ink (IP-0041)
• Whip Cream Cardstock (CS-0040)
• Butter Cream Cardstock (CS-0006)
• Bubble Gum Cardstock (CS-0099)
• Sweet Berry Cardstock (CS-0034)
• Pretty Amethyst Cardstock (CS-0056)
• River Stone Cardstock (CS-0094)
• New Day Patterned Paper (PP-0004)
• Whip Cream Envelopes (AC-0118)
• Mini Wooden Clothespins (AC-0029)
• Pearls (AC-0024)
• Star-Dom Star Dies (DI-0052)
• Journey Circles (DI-0039)
• Journey Rectangles (DI-0041)
• Foam Squares Sm (AC-0085) Med (AC-0084)
• Journey Craft Glue (AC-0111)
• Natural Journey Twine (AC-0005)
• Easy Glide (AC-0081)

President's Day Greetings...

Hello stamping friends and Happy President's day!  I'm headed to George Washington's house at Mt. Vernon today to have a little chat with the Prez.  Yep, for real!  I read they are doing some fun laser archaeology to document every little piece of the house- trying to determine what exactly is ORIGINAL!  It might be interesting seeing some folks crawling on hands and knees over there tomorrow...Looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack!

Anyway, while I'm over sipping tea and schmoozing with the President and Mrs. Martha, I'll leave you with another little treat.  I'm hosting a few new challenges over at my JOURNEY CHALLENGE BLOG and thought I'd be the first to post a linkup...

Now, as you already know, My FSJ supplies are limited right now...I'll get more soon, but for now, I have to use what I have.  Just squint really tightly and you'll see those stars are Richard Garay's Star diecuts (wink, wink).

I stamped the big stars on the Cranberry Bliss cardstock using Versamark ink.   I used distress ink and FSJ Black Licorice ink on the white panel and added the stars from the January Kit Of The Month and the itsy bitsy star from the Banner Party set. The sentiment came from the Thank You ATS stamp set.

Here's a close-up of the distressing/aging I did to the American Sun image.  I love that image and it's PERFECT for this special President's Day holiday.

The little flag on a stick was an after-thought.  I thought the brightness of the flag offset the distressed colors in the card and helped create the collage effect I was going for.  Adding the little beads to the Journey twine finished the embellishing off.

FSJ Shopping List:  

SS-0009 Banner Party Set

AT-0121 American Sun

AT-0084 Thank You

IP-0041 Black Licorice Ink

CS-0090 Cranberry Bliss Cardstock

CS-0023 Oatmeal Cookie Cardstock

CS-0040 Whip Cream Cardstock

AC-0004 Black Journey Twine

AC-0085 Journey Foam Squares (Regular)

AC-0063 Details Pro Shears

I hope you enjoyed this card.  Please join me (and other Journey Fans) in particpating in the Sketch challenge- It's fun, FREE and you just might win some FSJ goodies!!!

Check it out HERE

Sweet Treats...

Hello stamping friends!  I spent my Valentine's Day bundled up inside as the wind was really whipping!  I headed to my stamping room after making some yummy chocolate covered strawberries. They were yummy!

My goal today was to create a little treat box for Make-Live-Share.  Not that I have any room in my townhouse to invite 15 people and Richard Garay over for some stampy fun, but I thought it would be fun to participate anyway.  

Since I'm a new FSJ Coach, I don't have many personal FSJ supplies to create with YET but I used what I had, and I think my projects turned out well.  I also had a little time left this evening to create a coordinating card that will accompany the cookie bag.  

As many of you know, I LOVE sparkle, so being able to add Journey Sparkles to my projects is a DREAM!!! 

And because I LOVE little doilies...I attached/offset a paper doily onto the base of the box so I could add a bloom with sparkles!  

The card was created using the same theme and elements.  I incorporated a bit more black on the card as I wanted to pull in some more oatmeal cardstock in the base.  I love the combination of colors- and the black sets the front panel apart from the card base itself.  

A really tight shot of the card shows more of the dreamy glittery effect of the sparkles- applied with Journey Glaze.  

And the cutest little posies in Blue Lagoon just make the whole card pop!  

Shopping List:  

I used the following Fun Stampers Journey products for these projects:

Stamps:  

AT-0081 Damask Print, AT-0107 Bezel Block

Cardstock:  

CS-0023 Oatmeal Cookie, CS-0044 Black Licorice, CS-0004 Blue Lagoon

Ink:  

IP-0014 Pineapple Smoothie, IP-0041 Black Licorice

Dies:  

DI-0013 Flower Party,  DI-0008 Spring Bloom Mini, DI-0004 Pennants

Embellishing:  

AD-0002 Journey Glaze, AC-0004 Black Journey Twine, AC-0013 Journey Sparkle Dust

Tools:  

JG-0001 Journey Grand Die cutting Machine, AC-0063 Details Pro Shears, AC-0040 Crease Tool

PANTONE Spring 2015 Color Trends...

Long weekend here and I've started my stamping adventure this evening!  Started by checking out the Pantone Spring 2015 Color trends...I'm loving many of the colors and am looking forward to translating these colors into FSJ friendly crafty items!

This weekend I'll start researching and mixing and color matching...be on the lookout in the next week or so for some of my really scientific color study research posted RIGHT HERE!!!

Spring 2015 Trendy Colors:  

PANTONE 14-4313 Aquamarine

PANTONE 16-4725 Scuba Blue

PANTONE 14-5714 Lucite Green

PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue

PANTONE 14-1213 Toasted Almond

PANTONE 15-1247 Tangerine

PANTONE 16-1720 Strawberry Ice

PANTONE 13-0720 Custard

PANTONE 18-1438 Marsala

PANTONE 14-4102 Glacier Gray

PANTONE 16-4120 Dusk Blue

PANTONE 18-0135 Treetop

PANTONE 18-0538 Woodbine

PANTONE 16-1328 Sandstone

PANTONE 17-4014 Titanium

PANTONE 16-3310 Lavender Herb

Pantone SPRING 2015 TRENDS

**Color swatches are from the PANTONE PAGE.