Touch Twin Thursday

Hello all.

I've been colouring up a storm with my Touch Twins. I find colouring very relaxing, particularly at the end of a difficult day. That means I've got lots of completed images ready to be turned into cards.

Here's the first: Dressy Mae (digi) by Some Odd Girl

I started with a sketch I found on Splitcoast Stampers - Sketch Challenge 466. The patterned papers are from MME So Sophie and Authentique Delightful. A sentiment from PTI Little Labels was stamped on a die cut from MFT Mix & Match Banner. Dressy Mae was coloured on Crafter's Companion White and cut out using my new MFT Pierced Ovals. Since I like to keep things fairly simple, I don't use multiple layers often, so all my papers and die cuts were edged in black using the Touch Twin 120 marker.

For all you Touch Twin lovers, here are the colours I used on Dressy Mae:

Supplies Used
stamps: SOG Dressy Mae (digi), PTI Little Labels
cardstock: Crafter's Companion White, PTI Select White, MME So Sophie Graceful, Authentique Delightful
ink: Versafine Onyx Black, ShinHan Art Touch Twin Brush
other: MFT Mix & Match Banners, MFT Pierced Ovals, a|s clear twinkles, SC466

Until next time...
Hugs and Kisses

Taste the Rainbow

I'm back with another DT post for the A Muse Studio Consultants Challenge blog.

This week I decided to try my hand at the rainbow colour trend. Here's my first attempt:

I started by creating my background using Lots of Dots and lots of ink. Then I added a slate mat before adhering everything to a sugar card base. The sentiment is from a recent hostess set called Eat Cake.

Come back tomorrow for a look at my second card...

supplies used
stamps: eat cake, lots of dots
cardstock: sugar, slate
ink: bermuda, buttercup, cherry, grape, orange, navy, sage, slate

Hugs and Kisses...

Beautiful Blooms

Hey there. This week on the a|s challenge blog we're asking you to share some beautiful blooms with us.

Here in Florida, it's hurricane season which means lots of rain and, yes, lots and lots of those beautiful blooms. Every day is a riot of colour as the warm sunshine and midday showers bring more and more blooms to life.

I've been obsessed with He is Risen since the 2013 A Muse Studio catalogue came out, so I chose to ink up and colour that gorgeous flower today. And here it is:

This beautiful bloom was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black on Sugar Cardstock and coloured with Tombow Markers (apricot, papaya, grass, lime, sky). The stamped panel was then sponged with Latte Ink and adhered to a Vanilla card base. The sentiment is from Letterpress Greetings - a stamp set that ships with a set of sugar notecards ready for stamping.

So, what are you waiting for? Go get floral...

Hugs and Kisses.
TraceyJ

supplies used
stamps: he is risen, letterpress greetings
cardstock: sugar, vanilla
ink: memento tuxedo black; latte
other: tombow markers, sponge dauber

Colourful Inspiration

There are only two days left to enter the latest a|s challenge.

Here's my creation this week:

This time around I chose buttercup, bubblegum, blush, and lemon whip.  The largest butterfly from the Papillon set was stamped on 1.75" squares and heat embossed, then sponged with all 4 colours and adhered to a bubblegum card front, and attached to a pebble card base. A sentiment from Hand Scripted was stamped on a piece of lemon whip cardstock.

Here's a reminder of our inspiration pallette:

You have until 11:59pm on Saturday, May 4 to link up your projects. I can't wait to see what you create...

Hugs and kisses.
TraceyJ

Supplies Used
stamps: hand scripted, papillon
cardstock: lemon whip, bubblegum, pebble, sugar
ink: buttercup, bubblegum, blush, lemon whip, versafine onyx black, versamark
other: heat gun, clear embossing powder

Black or White with a Pop

The challenge on the A Muse Studio Challenge Blog this week is black/white with a pop of colour.

Here's my take:

Now for the details. I've had this particular card in my head for a while and was so ecstatic that it fit this week's challenge that I forgot to commit all the requirements to memory. Silly me. The challenge actually requires you to create a one layer card using either black or white with one other colour for a little pop. So it's back to the drawing board to rethink this one. Maybe I'll be back later with a new and improved version that  accurately reflects the challenge. We'll see.

In the meantime, my "masterpiece" was created with a sugar card base, with images from Family Icons stamped in versamark and embossed in onyx, mounted on an onyx mat, and wrapped with onyx satin ribbon. I thought the ribbon looked a little plain, so I found some black crochet thread from an old project and tied the ends to give it a little flair. The heart was die cut from cherry woodgrain cardstock and covered in crystal clear glaze.

Hope you like it. And make sure to enter the A Muse Studio Challenge for a chance to win some fun prizes.

Hugs and kisses,
TraceyJ

Supplies Used:
Stamps: family icons
Cardstock: sugar, onyx, cherry woodgrain
Ink: versamark
Other: onyx satin ribbon, onyx embossing powder, crystal clear glaze

Hello Summer

This week's A Muse Studio Challenge is all about celebrating Summer.

I love the heat and the feeling of the sun on my skin, so I try to get as much daylight as I can. Unfortunately for me Summer in Florida means hurricane season so we've been getting lots of rain lately. I decided to make a brightly coloured card to shine through the rain and bring on the sun:

I used every single stamp in the Chevrons set on this card; eyeballed every single one. It was a lot easier to line up the stamps than I thought it would be. The sentiment panel was created using the Vintage Labels 2 set which is one of the spotlight sets this month. Love the matching dies which come in three sizes. Fun!

I hope you'll join us at the A Muse Studio Challenge Blog to Celebrate Summer.

Hugs and Kisses,
TraceyJ

Supplies used (all A Muse Studio):
Cardstock - Apricot, Sugar
Stamps - Beautiful Botanicals 2, Chevrons, Rock Star, Vintage Labels 2
Ink - Apricot, Bellini, Papaya, Orange, Cherry
Other - clear Twinkles, Copic Y38, Vintage Labels 2 dies

Colour Your World

Sadly, I was a little late in posting my project with my fellow DT on the A Muse Studio Challenge Blog.  Lucky for you there's still a whole 2 weeks for you to enter. So head on over to the Challenge Blog and submit your entry today. The rules for this challenge are as follows: colour, colour, colour. Use your chalks, markers, watercolours, inks, whatever you like to colour in some portion of your project. You're allowed to use whatever supplies you own, however if your project includes A Muse Studio products it will count as two entries.

Now on to my little project. This little beauty was made using one of the May spotlight stamp sets - Papillon - available at a 10% discount this month only. My gorgeous butterfly was stamped in Titian ink and coloured with Papaya and Orange Tombow markers. I masked off the butterfly on the Vanilla panel and second generation stamped the Extraordinary background in Titian, sponging the edges in Papaya ink. The panel was then added to a Titian mat and the butterfly coloured again using a Copic Spica glitter pen in clear. Polka Dot Patterns was stamped to a Vanilla card base using Papaya ink and a length of Titian ribbon wrapped around the card before the image panel was added. The sentiment was created with the Woodgrain background in Papaya, Say It With Style in Titian and die cut using the Cupcake Toppers dies and mounted with foam tape. Nice and flat for mailing.

May is definitely the month to "Colour Your World" with all A Muse Studio branded inks on sale at 20% off. It's a great time to stock up or try out our beautiful inks.

Supplies Used:
Stamps- Extraordinary Background, Papillon, Polka Dot Patterns, Say It With Style, Woodgrain Background
Cardstock- Titian, Vanilla
Inks- Papaya, Titian
Other- Tombow Markers, Copic Spica Marker, a|s Cupcake Toppers dies, Titian ribbon

Until we meet again,
Hugs and Kisses,
Tracey Jean H

CAS Cardmaking Class Day 1

I've been taking an online cardmaking class presented by Kristina Werner, Jen McGuire, and Julie Ebersole which has taken me out of my lethargy and encouraged me to start creating again. I think I'll be using what I've learned the last two weeks to make a dent in my stash and finally send some cards to OWH for our heroes to send home. (Only the good ones will make it in the box of course) but I'll be sharing some of what I've made here on ye olde blog which has been sorely neglected the last couple of months while the mojo has been non-existent. My projects will probably not exactly follow the order of the class but I'm hoping to put each and every lesson to use.
First up is a little something based on a sketch shared in class. Since I'm trying to be methodical about using up my stash, I've started with one of the oldest paper packs I own - Tickled Pink by CTMH - which was released and retired a few years ago. My first attempt at a card was horrific. So I just decided to place each element as portrayed in the sketch. A little better, but still not all the way there. I know that once I do a few more cards my work will improve. Until then, here is the second attempt.

I love all the clean white space I see everyone creating with, but I can't seem to do it myself, so I inked up HA Small Stitched Flowers background stamp with some PTI Smokey Shadow I bought a few years back, took off some of the ink with a paper towel and stamped a plain white notecard. The blue scalloped cardstock was part of a scrapbook kit I bought when I was learning. It came in 8 colours and about 10 different shapes, so you'll be seeing them a lot in the next few weeks. The sentiment is from PTI Fillable Frames #1, stamped in Versamark, and heat embossed using black Zing. Butterflies are the smallest of the A Muse Studio Butterfly Trio dies.

The card qualifies for two challenges: Flutterby Wednesdays-Open, and Lollipop Crafts Wing It. Not too shabby if I do say so myself... and I am.

It was good to pull out my heat gun and get ink on my cheek again. Gotta do it more often...

Hugs and Kisses.
TraceyJ

InLinkz.com

My first month as a Creative Team member

I've been on the Creative Team at All You Can Scrap for almost a whole month, so I thought I'd share a few of the layouts I've done so far.

The first was done for the Music Quotes Challenge using the Roses and Hearts kit by Helron Designs. You can find it in the shop.
This a photo of my beautiful niece holding her new baby brother. He's only about a week or two old here, so he was still at the point of being new and exciting for her. She's pretty happy about it. Music quote: You have stolen my heart by Dashboard Confessional from the song Stolen.

The next was done for the Numbers Challenge. Again I used the Roses and Hearts kit from Helron Designs at All You Can Scrap. The challenge was 1 bow, 2 photos, 3 papers, 4 buttons or brads.
Photos are from a 2007 New Year's Eve Parade in Jacksonville. The Jamaica girls joined the Florida queens on a parade float. We met tons of great people from all over the state. It was extremely cold, but also a lot of fun, particularly when the younger girls got to meet Ronald McDonald. They were so excited.

For the January '09 Color Challenge, I used the colour pallette to create this layout. I'm a purple girl and my cousin likes pink, so I thought a photo of us together would be perfect with the colours chosen this month.I used a template created by Gloria Val Verde that I got from the Manic Monday freebies on Moo Two Designs. For the papers, I used an overlay by Cindi Rios Lobo.

So for the Baby Faces Challenge, I had to scrap a surprised little one. I chose this photo of my girlfriend's son on his first visit to the office. After weeks of hanging with mom, dad, and big brother, he was surrounded by all these ladies excited to meet him for the first time. It must have been pretty overwhelming, but he took it all in stride. For this layout I used the Dino kit by Helron Designs, perfect for a little boy. The digikit is available in the shop.

This last layout is for the monthly Theme Challenge, which was flowers and pearls. Isn't my niece just adorable? I thought this photo would be perfect for the theme, and boy was I right. She is just the prettiest flower in the garden.

So that's it for now. You'll be hearing more from me in the months to come. Hope you can join me on this crazy ride into the world of digital scrapbooking.