A thank you, and an explanation

Hey there!  A few things are in order this evening:

(I hope you can see the "thanks" imprinted in the card above- it looks awesome in real life, but was very hard to photograph!)

I wanted to thank everyone for your support during Gallery Idol.  I was thrilled to make it to the top 10, and it was so much fun to challenge myself each week!  I am now curious like the rest of you to see who is going to win tomorrow....I know I have my favorite :)

I also wanted to explain my absence as of late.  Now, some of you might not have even noticed a difference, but a few of you have emailed or messaged me asking why I have been posting less.  The reason is, I have been really busy! I know I have probably mentioned some of this already, but I figured I'd put it all here in one spot in case you were curious.

1. The end of the school year is always crazy- tying up loose ends, performances, scheduling for next year, cleaning up, etc.  
2. Although school ended last Thursday, and technically I am on summer vacation, I am still just as busy (if not busier!) than before.  I am taking classes towards my masters, and the program that I am in takes place over 3 summers- this will be my 2nd.  Coursework started online in the beginning of June, and next week I will be on campus full time....and all this week I have been catching up on homework!
3. I have been working on some secret card crafty stuff :)
4. I am illustrating a book!  I'm not sure how much I am at liberty to discuss, but a lot of my time has been spent drawing and painting, making edits to my work, checking in with the publisher, etc.  

You'll still see me posting for my DTs (Clear and Simple Stamps, My Thoughts Exactly, Young Crafters Unite), and of course for my challenge, the Runway Inspired Challenge.

I also need to let you know that I will be doing less commenting on blogs, and will be slower at answering emails for the above reasons....sorry!

Below are the products I used on my card, from Clear and Simple Stamps.  (patterned cardstock from SEI) Goodnight, everyone!

CSS Cardstock- A Blanc Check

CSS Cardstock - Perfect Little Black Dress

CSS Butterflies 1 Die

CSS Lowercase Die

InLinkz.com

PTI June Blog Hop

I'm here to share a card for the June blog hop over at Papertrey Ink!  Check out this gorgeous inspiration:

The mustard yellow and teal-y green are an unexpected, yet fun color combo!  I chose to use that as a jumping off point for my card:

Sorry that the last card I made also had a vellum strip- there was a scrap of it still on my table, so I figured it would be easier to use it than to put it away...I can be lazy like that ;)

(...and yea- I am SO cool that I purchased a set from the newest release. The cloud dies were also in that wondrous box that arrived today, along with a few other goodies that I hope to use soon!)

YCU Challenge #11

Welcome to this month's Young Crafters Unite challenge!  The theme this time is "many layers."  My cards usually consist of 2 layers, so anything more than that certainly is a challenge!  If you count the card base, propped up panel, 2 layers of washi tape, letters, and vellum, I've got 6 layers!

I would love for you to play along, for the chance to win a gift card to Simon Says Stamp!

ric#14

------ If you'd like, you can check out my Gallery Idol entry in the sidebar! ------

Today I have a new Runway Inspired Challenge for you!

source: fashionologie.com

I'm a total shoe girl...and I would wear these in A SECOND!  I love the odd mix of colors, and that amazing shine.  I thought it would be fun for us to use a shoe inspiration this time around- if it goes well, I can have another shoe challenge in the future!

I loved the color combo, as well as the fastener at the top, so I included those on my card.  The background was assembled from strips of paper (the green came from a paint swatch!)

I would love it if you would stop by the DT to see their awesome cards, and play along for your chance to win a prize from the Ribbon Carousel!

Aga

Cristina

Laura

Sarah

Angeline

Gallery Idol, Round 4

Good afternoon! Today I am sharing my card for the 4th round of Paper Craft's Gallery Idol.  I am soooo excited to still be competing!  A big thanks to anyone who might have voted for me in round 3 :)

The theme for this round is "household items."  I have to be honest that this round has been the trickiest thus far.  I had considered using a sponge (cut up into millions of teeny tiny pieces and glued onto the card), a paintbrush (bristles cut off and re-used somehow), and more.  After much debate, I finally settled on a few items:  shelf liner, plastic bags, and a Q-tip.  Let me show you the finished card first, then give you a step-by-step.

The black part is the rubbery shelf liner:

(from the dollar store...I'm cheap, what can I say?!?)

The feather was a bit more complicated.  I started off by taking a plastic shopping bag (I used the bag I got when I purchased the shelf liner!) and I cut it up into strips.  I'd say they were about 6 inches long by a half inch wide- but it really doesn't matter.  Mine were inconsistent, and they worked fine:

Next, I prepped the Q-tip by taking off the cotton from either end:

Once you have stripped your Q-tip, start to tie on the plastic strips:

Again, I'm not going for perfection here- I just double-knotted each one, making sure it was tightly secured.

Here's what it looks like with about half tied on:

(lovely, huh?!)

Once you have bag strips tied on almost to the bottom, you'll want to start gluing.  Since I was making this up as I went along, I have no advice other than to glob it on, then smooth it out.  You want all of the bag pieces to stick together:

(augh...look at my fingernails. I always wish I could have long perfectly manicured nails, but alas, what you see above are viola-playing fingers. Stumpy nails and calluses!)

After the glue has dried, you can go back and trim with scissors to make a nice feather shape.  I intentionally made mine a bit imperfect by cutting out a few notches from the side, and separating the bag pieces.  I also bent the Q-tip a bit into a more natural shape:

Here's another look at the finished card:

We're getting closer to the end of the competition, so it is even more important that you take the time to vote!  Contest information can be found here, and if you think you want to vote for my card you can get a direct link to my entry HERE or in my sidebar.

So glad you could stop by!

App project and a Thank You!

Hey everyone-

Just popping in to share a sneak peek of a card I have on the CSS App today:

.....and one more order of business.   I wanted to take a moment to thank anyone who has been supporting me throughout Gallery Idol!  I was thrilled to find out yesterday that I made it into the top 10, and I know I wouldn't be there without you!  Even if you didn't vote for me, your sweet comments have been so encouraging.  Thanks again :)

CSS Group Project

Today is Group Project Day for Clear and Simple Stamps!  Here's what they have to say:

"June 12th is National Red Roses Day! We couldn't let a fun day for celebrating flowers go by with all the new floral sets that have been released in Collection 3.  So this month's challenge is to create a project using red flowers as your focal point..."

I used one of the stamps from the new Flower Buds set...I love the filled in image!

Thanks for stopping by, and I can't wait for you to see what the DT has come up with!
Dana
Denise
Jaclyn
Kim
Laura
Laurie
Lori
Tracy
Clear and Simple Stamps

ps.  Would you please check out my Gallery Idol cards?

Gallery Idol, round 3

Thanks to your sweet votes, I am still in the running for Gallery Idol!

The challenge this week is to use the same product to make both a masculine and a feminine card.  I went with a material that I have used once before- popsicle sticks!  Woodgrain is SO popular right now, and popsicle sticks are a cheap and easy way to bring in a lot of texture and interest.

Here's my pair of cards:

...and here's how I did it......start out with plain old craft/popsicle sticks- I chose the thicker ones:

This step might not be necessary, but I did it anyway- score the end of the stick with a craft knife:

....and cut along the score line.  I used an old pair of scissors, because this would likely ruin nice scissors:

A nice clean cut:

I assembled the different pieces on my card base, and held them together with some tape, so I knew I would have a perfect fit when it came time to glue 'em down:

Here's the close-up on the masculine card:

For the feminine card, I took one of the sticks and "whitewashed" it with white ink.  Sadly, the white tint is not really showing up in the photo:

I would love it if you took the time to vote.  You can get all of the contest info here, and you can check out a direct link to my entry HERE or in my sidebar :)

Thanks for visiting!

Fond Farewell Blog Hop

By now you probably know that Hambly Screen Prints is closing.  It is a shame too, since I believe that Hambly products are unique, trendy, and fun to work with....I don't know of any other company that can fill the void they will create upon their absence.  

To give Hambly a last hurrah, the DT is getting together to post some of their favorite projects using Hambly Screen Prints.  Here are mine, from the time I served on the DT:

Being on the Hambly DT has certainly helped me push myself to use more colors and patterns (how could you NOT be inspired by their amazing designs!), and I know I'm going to keep digging into my stash until it runs out!  Thanks Allison, and good luck to you and the rest of the design team as we all move forward :)

Your next stop is Leah