Monday, July 29, 2019

CAS(E) This Sketch


I'm going with a nautical theme this week in honor of The Discovery Channel's Annual Shark Week.  Did you know that the first shark week aired in the summer of 1988?  Wowzers.


I created today's card using the new sketch on the CAS(E) This Sketch blog.  Here is the sketch....








I knew I wanted to use a "new to me" set from the Essentials By Ellen line from Ellen Hutson so I needed to do some creative flipping of the sketch.  I rotated it 90 degrees to the right and came up with this.









The stamp set is called Stay Salty designed by Julie Ebersole.  (I adore everything she designs and creates!  Her name isn't half bad either.  LOL!)   I framed in the ship with this porthole die from MFTstamps.  The navy and white strip is from a very old and discontinued patterned paper pack.  

I am leaving this set out on my desk for awhile so don't be surprised if you see more of it on my blog soon.



Hope to see you on the Crafty Side but until then, Stay Salty my friends!


Jules

Sunday, July 28, 2019

SOSS - A New-to-Me Challenge


I've known about this blog challenge for quite some time but have not yet participated (so many challenges, not enough play time) but when I saw the prompt I knew I had to play along. 

Today is the start of Shark Week on The Discovery Channel.  My four and a half year old grandson is in the obligatory shark phase for all little boys so I have plenty of shark and aquatic related stamps.  I'm hoping to get a lot of use out of my nautical stash this week.

So just what is SOSS?  Well, it stands for the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers where their motto is to Out Stamp.  Out Sass.  Out Snark.  Oh yeah, I can totally do this.  LOL!



Here is this week's prompt ,,,







I was playing around with the Stay Salty stamp set yesterday for another challenge blog (post to follow) when I an idea came to me for this challenge.  Using only stamp and die products from the Essentials by Ellen line from Ellen Hutson I created this little scene.







If you look closely at the stamp set you will see the anchor image to the left.  Sure looks like the start of a shark fin to me.  :-)  The background was created using her Pattern Dies.  They are a bit on the pricier side but I have been reaching for them very frequently so it was a great purchase in my opinion.  Plus I took advantage of a great sale. *wink*  And that sentiment?  LOVE!  And definitely a bit on the snarkier side.  

So what do you think?  Are you tuning in to watch Shark Week?  I plan to record them and watch them with my little guy.  By the way, his name is Fin, short for Finley.  Shark.  Fin.  LOVE IT!  


Hope to see you on the crafty side!


Jules

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Rainbows with Seize the Birthday

It makes me very happy that my birthday card stash has grown considerably since I started playing along with the crafters at the Seize the Birthday challenge blog.  Birthday cards are definitely the ones I need and use the most. 

The current toppings challenge is Rainbow.






I went out of my comfort zone and made a pastel rainbow.  I am not a pastel kinda gal and have to be honest, this is not one of my favorite cards.  I do know however that it will make someone else very happy.  Here's my card.






In the background you can see the colors of Distress Oxide inks that I used to blend the background.  I was happy to discover that I had a Tonic Nuvo Jewel Drop in all six of my color choices.  (It helps to have a Hearty Stash!) 

I heat embossed the two greeting stamps from the Altenew Mega Greetings 2 set and then gave the entire background a spritz of shine.  I think I'd personally like this more if I'd used regular Distress inks in bolder colors but like I said, someone will love it. 

Thanks and Happy Crafting!

Jules

Friday, July 26, 2019

Guest Designer for the Tag You're It Challenge


This is my second post for today so if you haven't seen the first one, please scroll down.


I've created a second tag based on the current Christmas in July theme over at the Tag You're It Challenge Blog.  If you remember, the inspiration photo is this...






For my second tag I chose the gingham as my primary inspiration and substituted burlap for the straw used in the basket.  Here's my design....





The paper is from a very old paper pack from American Crafts.  I die cut the burlap from a wide ribbon found deep in my Christmas stash.  The holly and berries are from Poppystamps and the gingham tag was cut from a die set made by Memory Box.  Finally the tag stamp and die set is from MFT Stamps, the greenery ribbon is a Tim Holtz designed product and the twine came from my stash.  Oh!  I added a drop of glossy accents to the berries to give them their shine.

I had a lot of fun creating these tags.  I do wish we had some of our mild December weather here in Florida right now.  It's so danged hot! 

Thanks again to the Tag You're It Challenge Blog Team for letting me play along with them.  xoxoxox


Thanks!

Jules

The Library Challenge


I've been playing along with The Library Craft Challenge for several weeks now and even though I'm a huge reader I have yet to actually read one of their featured books.  That may change with this one.


This week's featured book is Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.  After reading The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin, I have a huge amount of respect for this lady.

The cover is beautiful.







Using the shell as my inspiration, this is my card.  







I used the Spring Wreath die from WPlus9 and a conch shell stamp from a really, really old set made by Kaisercraft.  The sentiment is from MFT Stamps.  


I'm off to decide just which challenge I want to tackle next.  

Thanks!

Jules

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

A New Inspired By...


I am literally finishing this in the nick of time.  (Well, I do have six hours to go but it's 9:00 PM here and I don't plan to be awake much longer.)

This week's Inspired by Laurel Challenge is Let's Have S'mores!  Here is her inspiration piece...




I am not personally a big fan of s'mores (I know, I know) so I started out with hunting down some red and white gingham paper.  After some digging I found the perfect pattern paper in my PaperTrey Ink stash.  

I then put on my thinking cap and went through my food stamp stash.  When I came across the Oh Frappe set by Ellen Hutson/Julie Ebersole I knew what I'd do...


Make a S'mores Frappucino, of course!






Adding this to my stash of Darn! I Forgot Your Birthday card stash.  :-)


Thanks!


Jules

Friday, July 19, 2019

Guest Designer - Tag You're It Challenge


I am so excited to have been chosen as this week's guest designer for the Tag You're It Challenge Blog.  The theme this time around is Christmas in July.

If you follow Tracey McNeely's blog at In My Creative Opinion you are familiar with her 25 Days of Christmas Tag series.  I have participated in her challenge the last two years so creating holiday tags is most definitely something I enjoy.


Here is the inspiration photo for Challenge #92....




So many wonderful options in this photo.  Colors, florals, pines, holly, gingham, wicker, etc.  After an extensive search of my holiday stamps (extensive, meaning I have a LOT   *blush* ) I decided to use a combination of two older stamp sets from Papertrey Ink.


Here is my tag....










As you can see, I took my inspiration from the colors and the florals.  I used a wood plank pattern paper to give it a rustic/home feel and jazzed it up a bit with some twine and ribbon. 



And a closer look at the details....









My supply list ...

Papertrey Ink Holiday Tag a Long stamp set
Papertrey Ink Holiday Greens stamp set
Penny Black Gift Tag die
My Mind's Eye wood paper from their Necessities line
Neenah Desert Storm 110 lb cardstock
Catherine Pooler inks for the stamping as well as the tag reinforcer
Spectrum Noir clear sparkle pen (on the buds)
Misc brown/white twine and sheer red ribbon


I hope you all love it as much as I do!  Many thanks to the Tag You're It Challenge Blog team and thank you all for stopping by.  Please visit again later in the challenge when I'll be sharing a totally different tag using the same inspiration photo.


Jules



Wednesday, July 17, 2019

Thanks So Mush!


I am headed to Nashville tomorrow on a girl's trip and am so excited!  My bag is packed and I am ready to go. 

Before I leave I thought I'd pop in really quick to share a cute little thank you card I created last week using supplies from Julie Ebersole's line at Ellen Hutson.  I just love this darling mushroom!








I did a simple rock and roll technique with my Distress Oxides to create the shadowing.  Easy but cute and once again, perfect for a gal or guy. 






If all goes according to plan I have a post scheduled for this Friday.  I'm a bit rusty in the blogger world so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  If I am unsuccessful, please go check out my tag at Tag You're It Challenge Blog at 9:00 AM on Friday.  

I will see you back here next week with some more challenge cards.


Thanks So Mush!


Jules

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Simon Wednesday Challenge


Today I'm playing along with the current simonsaysstamp.com Wednesday challenge which is to Add a Number.  The sponsor is Your Next Stamp.

I decided to pull out one of my favorite YNS sets.  With a four year old grandson, this Keep On Truckin' stamp set has seen lots of use and the dump truck was calling my name.  Wanting to keep in "age-generic" I was a bit stumped on how to incorporate a number but once I pulled out my CZ Design Archie Number stamp set from Simon, I knew exactly what to do.  Use Them All!  :-)







I heat embossed the card panel with Versamark clear embossing ink and heat set it with white embossing powder.  I colored in the truck with Copics and stamped the sentiment in orange.  It's perfect for a little boy's birthday, no matter the age.


Until the next challenge....


Thanks!

Jules

Monday, July 15, 2019

CAS(E) This Sketch #330


I am back with another CAS(E) this sketch entry.  I am thrilled to have my last submission (the black and white thank you card) included in their Top Favorites for sketch #329! 


I earned myself a cute little badge for the week.  :-)







The current sketch #330 is this.....




How I do love clean and simple designs!



I created a beach themed card using the sketch design.  




I used supplies from Reverse Confetti (sand dollar and sentiment) as well as a rectangle die from Avery Elle.  I sponged a bit of Gather Twigs Distress Oxide to "rustic it up" a bit and finished it off with a couple of clear droplets.  


Thanks for stopping by!


Jules

Sunday, July 14, 2019

It's Time for Another Library Challenge


The inspiration for Challenge #37 at the Library Craft Challenge Blog is Five Weeks in A Balloon by Jules Verne.  (Hey...I love his name.  *wink*)



The book cover ....

five weeks in a balloon book - Google Search



My card.....








I take every opportunity to create either 1) birthday cards or 2) thank you cards as these seem to be the ones I send out most often.  

For this card I used supplies from Spellbinders (the balloon), Altenew (the sentiment), KatScrappiness (the cloud background die) and MFT Stamps (the striped pattern paper).  To create the sky I used a mix of Distress Oxides and water droplets.


Thanks so much for stopping by!


Jules

Friday, July 12, 2019

Seize The Birthday


Sunshine is the prompt for the current Seize the Birthday challenge.






So, enter the mind of JulieWorld for a moment.  Sunshine means yellow.  Yellow means lemon.  Lemon means.... Lemon Drop Martini, what else?  :-)






A closer look at the shaker element....







The sentiment stamp, martini shaker/die and sunshine stencil are all from MFT Stamps



Sooooo....it's 6:00 PM on a Friday night.  Whose with me????



Oh...before I go.  I was chosen to be the next Guest Designer at the Tag You're It Challenge Blog so watch for that next week.  :-)


Jules



Inspired By Laurel - Beach Day


Today's card was created using this week's Inspired By Challenge.  The theme is beach day and this is Laurel's current inspiration board.









I love all of the different shades of blue and of course, the nautical stripes.  Using those as my springboard I came up with this....







I turned to my Simon Says Stamp horizontal stripe background stamp and used my favorite Distress Ink swiping technique to create the worn look to the stripes.  The anchor die and sentiment stamp/dies are from Taylored Expressions.


A very simple design but I'm happy to add it to my very tiny stash of masculine birthday cards.  



Thanks all!


Jules

Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Tag You're It Challenge


Today I'm playing along with the current Tag You're It Challenge where the theme is Summer Fruit.


Here is the inspiration photo....










I couldn't resist adding my fruit to a tropical adult beverage so here is my take on the challenge...






Always fun to play along!  Catch ya all next time.



Jules

Monday, July 8, 2019

CAS(E) This Sketch


I used products from The Stamp Market to create my card based on this week's CAS(E) This Sketch Challenge. 


Here is the sketch ....






And here is my thank you card ...




I used three different patterns from a The Stamp Market paper pad along with one of their sentiment stamps.  I stamped it in Versamark ink and used a fine white embossing powder to create the banner.  

Another simple and (what I think is a) striking card.




Thanks !


Jules

Saturday, July 6, 2019

Inspired By Challenge



Well, did you guess that the Inspired By Laurel weekly challenge was up next?  Laurel's inspiration boards are my favorite at the moment.

This week's inspiration piece is Decadent Strawberries.







Would you believe that I do NOT own a single strawberry stamp???  I know, it's unfathomable!  LOL!  

So, I took the red/pink/gold color scheme, put on my thinking cap, and came up with this...
.



I still had my latest Spellbinders Die of the Month set on my desk from the previous card so I chose a few different dies and cut them out in pink and gold.  The sentiments are from The Stamp Market and the bling is from Studio Katia.  I really have no idea where the shimmery pink cardstock is from but it worked perfectly for this challenge.  


As always, thanks for stopping by!


Jules

Color Throwdown Challenge


Yes, you may call me a Challenge 'Ho.  I don't mind.  😊  Today my sights were set on the Color Throwdown Challenge Blog

I knew I wanted to use my new die set from Spellbinders.  I currently subscribe to both their small die and large die of the month clubs and have enjoyed both immensely.  So I took the colors from the current Color Throwdown Challenge....








and created this card....








I finished off the card with a birthday greeting from Altenew and called it done.  


Sooooo...any guesses as to which challenge Jules will be playing next????



Thanks all!

Jules



Thursday, July 4, 2019

Cupcake Inspiration Challenge


Today's card was inspired by the current Cupcake Inspiration challenge blog.  Here is the lemony yellow inspiration photo...










And here is my take on the challenge....






The background die is from Altenew while the remainder of the stamps/dies are from HoneyBee Stamps



I really wish I had one of those lemon cupcakes right now.  *sigh*  They look delicious.



Thanks!

Jules


Wednesday, July 3, 2019

MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge


Yep.  Another challenge card.  This time I'm playing along with the Wednesday sketch challenge hosted every week by MFT Stamps.  This is the sketch....




And this is what I came up with using the sketch as my springboard.





I used a rainbow die as my large focal point and added the sentiment strip to the base rather than across the center as in the sketch.

I die cut the rainbow from Copic friendly white cardstock and then used three shades of Copic markers to color in each of the stripes, making the edges of the rainbow slightly darker than the peak. To finish it off I adhered some colored gems from my stash and called it good.  My favorite cards are those with lots of white space.

Here's a closer look at the rainbow.  



Supplies:  

Misc jewel crystals
Black ink


Till next time!  

Jules

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Today's Challenge - Birthday Tag


Tags are a great way to spur your creativity on a much smaller scale than a traditional card.  I love to have them on hand for my teenage daughter who often goes through my stash in search of just a little something to add to a friend's gift.  I've recently come across a challenge that helps keep my tag stash full.  You can find it at the  Tag You're It Challenge Blog.

The current challenge is to create an interactive tag.  It's always fun to see what ideas other makers come up with.  I chose to add a very simple spinner element to a birthday tag.






To create the tag you will need to cut out two tags as well as stamp, cut and color two pieces of the cake.  The two pieces serve as front and backs.  Sandwich a short piece of thread in between the tag layers before gluing them together and add the cake die cut to the front and back of the string.  Easy-Peasy!



Supplies:

misc cardstock and twine
Copic Markers


Thanks!!!


Jules






Monday, July 1, 2019

June Challenge at Taylored Expressions


If you haven't figure out by now, you soon will.  I am an Equal Opportunity Shopper.  I love all brands and shop at a variety of online stores.  My two most frequented online retailers are Simon Says Stamp and Ellen Hutson.  They are both great places for one stop shopping.  Individual retailers are also a great place to shop, especially when they're having sales.  One such retailer is Taylored Expressions.  I have shopped with them for years but more so recently because of their unique products.  (The Simple Sentiment stamp and die set is one such example.)

Taylor has recently started a monthly challenge on her private FB group.  This month the theme is wedding/anniversary/love.  I squeaked out this card just in time.




I need to apologize up front.  Most of the products I used are older and therefore, discontinued.  I am so sorry but I'm sure there are many products that could be substituted for a similar design.

To create my card I cut a piece of white cardstock to 4" x 5.25" to use as the cover panel.  I taped off the cardstock so that I could add a wide strip of Black Soot Distess Oxide to use as a focal point.  I then cut out the xoxoxo using one of their older dies, being careful to keep those teeny inner portions of the Os for reinsertion.  I die cut a strip of Potty People from gold foil cardstock and then carefully cut it down so I would have the happy couple.  The Happy Anniversary was stamped, heat embossed in gold and then cut from black cardstock using their Simple Sentiment Strip set.  The heart embellishments were also cut using one of their older dies.  It's hard to see but I adhered the panel to a cream card base for the perfect anniversary card.


As you can see in this closeup, I ran the Potty People through my die cutter once again with pink foil cardstock so I could add the hearts onto their chests.

I love this Potty People die and really enjoy stretching it's potential.  For kicks, I'm including a photo of another card I created using this same die.







If you're interested in participating in Taylor's challenges, send a FB request to Fans of Taylored Expressions Facebook page.  Hope to see you there!


Supplies still available at Taylored Expressions - Simple Sentiments Stamp and Die set.  These are a MUST HAVE in my opinion.




Thanks so much!  Stay tuned for what's next in my challenge box.  *wink*


Jules