Hand Stamped Sentiments Inspiration Challenge #308: Geared Up Garage

Good morning! 

We have just a couple more days before Valentine's day so you still have time to get those last minute gifts finished.  Not all valentine's need to be full of pink and hearts, we all have guys in our lives and they deserve a cool "dude" card so I decided to use this weeks Hand Stamped Sentiments sketch challenge to make the perfect, out of the box card using the Geared Up Garage stamp set.

I started with Smoky Slate cardstock and then added a Tranquil Tide cardfront that was embossed with the Big Shot and Maps Etc. Embossing Folder.  Next I took a piece of Copper Foil and cut a large oval using the Big Shot and Stitched Shapes Framelits and then embossed it with the Garage Gears Thinlits (I used the Embossing Mats instead of the regular plates so I got an embossed image instead of cut out, awesome!!) and then lightly sanded the foil for a distressed look.



Next I added a piece of Classic Garage Designer Series Paper along the left side as well as a few Faceted Dots as accents on the cardfront.  The greeting is from the Geared up Garage stamp set and after stamping on Smoky Slate cardstock using Tranquil Tide ink I cut it out with the Big Shot and Stitched Shapes Framelits and attached it with dimensionals.  The final touch is a bow that was made with Whisper White 1/8" Sheer Ribbon that I colored with a Smoky Slate Dark Stampin' Blends Marker.

I love the mix of metallic and neutral colors for a card perfect for the guy in your life that doesn't like the traditional valentine's routine.  Make sure to check out the other cards the design team is sharing for inspiration and we would love for you to play along with us and share what you create using this sketch.


Below are easy ordering links for the products used on today's card:

Product List

Geared Up Garage Cling Bundle [150610]	Big Shot [143263]	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies [145372]	Maps Etc. Textured Impressions Embossing Folder [146822]	Copper Foil Sheets [142020]
Classic Garage 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper [148482]	Whisper White 1/8" Sheer Ribbon [144172]	Smoky Slate Dark Stampin' Blends Marker [145055]	Faceted Dots [146910]	Stampin' Dimensionals [104430]
Smoky Slate 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131202]	Tranquil Tide 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [144246]

Enjoy,

Diana

Fresh Vintage Distressing Page

Good morning friends.  I hope you all had an enjoyable weekend, Chris and Aidan really made my Mother's Day special and I loved spending quality time with them all day.  We were so busy this weekend that I never even made it the studio.  So today I thought I would share the last project from the distressing class last month.  This was a decor page which fit in an 8 x 10 frame.  So we started with a piece of Soft Suede cardstock and stamped the floral image from the Fresh Vintage stamp set in Soft Suede ink and then used the sanding block to distress all over the page.  Next we took a piece of Attic Boutique DSP and tore along one of the edges and sponged along the edge with Tea Stain ink from the Distressing Essentials kit then we added a strip of Pool Party Cardstock and Poppy Parade that was punched with the Scallop Edge Trim border punch.  For the picture of Aidan I picked a picture from his Kindergarden graduation last year and printed it in Sepia so it looked aged.  The picture was matted on a piece of Poppy Parade and Pool Party cardstock that was distressed on the edge with the cutter kit and then sponged Soft Suede ink around the orders.

The piece layered in front of the picture is Very Vanilla cardstock that I stamped with the En Francis stamp set with Crumb Cake ink.  Next we crumpled up the paper, spritzed it with water, distressed the edges with the round standing tool, and sponged the edges and all over the page with the Tea Stain ink.  We spent a lot of time on this element just making it have lots of texture and detail, we even added three large pearls to the top left corner.

We also added a fun label in front.  We took a piece of Soft Suede taffeta ribbon and ruffled it up with sticky strip.  Then we embossed the oval with the Designer Frames embossing folder and tore around the edges and once again sponged the edges with Tea Stain ink.  The blue piece is DSP  was also from the Attic Boutique package that was punched out with the large oval punch and then sponged with Tea Stain ink to help tone it down.  The words are from the Loving Thoughts stamp set and was stamped in Soft Suede ink and a small pear was added to make the dot on the "I".

The final touch was the bow.  It was made with Pool Party seam binding ribbon.  We first tied the bow and then we sprayed the ribbon with water and spritzed it with water until it was wet and then crumbled it up and unfolded it part of the way and let it dry so it still add some of the wrinkles.  We used glue dots to adhere the ribbon to the page and formed the bow with the dots. 

Finally, I have to tell you a bit about the frame.  I got this frame at Ikea and it was a bargin but it was also bright white.  So I used a sponge and Soft Suede classic ink and rubbed it all over the frame including all the little nooks and cranies.  I did this several times and was rubbing the frame to work to get the color to set, I even used a heat gun.  It was a long process but I love how it turned out and it really works well with the picture.

This page turned out so awesome, it's beautiful  I made a second page during the class and that one I added to a 12 x 12 scrapbook page.  We had so much fun and the ladies loved learning how to use the kit and some great techniques that they can use in the future.

Take care and have a great week!

Diana

The Open Sea, With a Vintage Twist!

Good morning!  I don't know about you but I'm so happy it's Friday, I'm definately doing the "happy dance."  Today I wanted to share the second project we made at last weeks Vintage Technique class.  I wanted to have a card that was more masculine and The Open Sea stamp set was perfect!  We started with a piece of Crumb Cake cardstock that we ran through the Big Shot with the striped embossing folder to create the horizontal lines.  Next we took the solid stamp from the Distressing Essentials kit and the tea stain ink spot and swiped it across the stripes. 

Next we stamped the ledger image repeatedly with Soft Suede ink on Very Vanilla cardstock.  Then we crumpled the paper in a ball and smoothed it out so it's all wrinkled.  The next step was to use the same solid stamp with the blue ink spot and rubbed it over the top so the blue only got on the "high points" of the cardstock.  Next we spritzed the cardstock with water and  crumbled it back up again.  The next step was to use a stamping sponge with the tea stain ink and rubbed the cardstock in circles so it got all smudged.  We used the cutter kit to distress the edges of the cardstock and then used circle file also in the distressing kit to create tears randomly in the paper, including seperating the cardstock in one of the corners and curled the top layer around the file for added dimension. 

After adhering the pieces of cardstock together we wrapped a piece of blue 3/8" denim ribbon around the paper and then used another piece of ribbon and a metallic brad to create the little flags.  The edges of the ribbon were really easy to distress just using my finger and rubbing it along the edge. 

The accent piece was created by stamping the globe image with Crumb Cake ink on Very Vanilla and then stamped the boat in Not Quite Navy ink before punching it out with a 2 1/2" circle punch.  We once again used the cutter kit to distress around the edge of the circle, crumpled it up and then used a sponge and Crumb Cake ink to swirl ink on the image.  We also punched out a piece of Soft Suede cardstock with the decorative label punch, distressed the edges with the cutter kit and cut it in half so we could add a piece to each side of the circle.  We used dimensionals to adhere the circle to the card so it really "popped."

This card was a big hit with the ladies and lots of fun to make.  We didn't add a greeting but at this point I'm thinking this will be a perfect father's day card, love it!

Happy stamping,

Diana

Just Believe - Vintage Style

Good morning.  This week I wanted to show you the projects we made in last weeks Vintage Technique class.  This was the first project we made and was inspired by a video I saw by Tami White, she her video HERE, and uses the distressing essentials kit, and Just Believe stamp set.  We started with a piece of watercolor paper and we inked the flower image with Stampin' Write markers.  Before stamping we spritzed the stamp several times to get it nice and wet and then stamped which resulted in a unique watercolor effect that was different for each person.  After letting it dry we took the script stamp from the French Foliage stamp set and randomly stamped on the paper with Early Espresso classic ink.  Next we took the solid stamp from the distressing kit and inked it with the Tea Stain ink spot and drug it across the paper, since the watercolor paper is textured you just get ink on part of the paper which creates a really cool look.  Next we matted that piece of a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock as a frame and wrapped Island Indigo Baker's twine around the paper before tying a bow.

The next layer was made with a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock that was run through the Big Shot with the Lattice embossing folder.  The edges of the paper were torn and offset so you just see part of the paper.  The designer series paper layer is from the Twitterpated DSP and the edges were distressed with the cutter kit and then sponged with the Tea Stain ink spot.  The final touch was adhering all the layers to the cardbase which was made from Crumb Cake.  I purposely left a greeting off so each person could tailor their card to their needs, or leave it as it is for just general correspondence (it's always fun to get actual cards and letters in the mail and it doesn't happen enough these days!)

This card was a big hit and we all liked how we were able to create beautiful watercolor images which any formal training.  Hope you enjoy and stay tuned for the next projects.

Happy stamping,

Diana

Fresh Vintage - Sketch Challenge

Good evening.   We had a great weekend, not only did we have fabulous weather and spent a lot of time outside and in shorts no less, but I had a fun class on Saturday morning, saw The Lorax last night with the boys, and spent the day relaxing outside celebrating a friends birthday.  For this weeks Stamping 411 challenge I wanted to create a card that was bright and cheery and since sale-a-bration will be ending soon the Fresh Vintage stamp set and matching DSP and brad would be perfect.  The cardbase is Crumb Cake and I matted a piece of Everyday Enchantment DSP on Poppy Parade.  I distressed the edges of all the layers with the cutter kit and then sponged them with Crumb Cake ink.   The main stamped image is on Very Vanilla cardstock and the floral image from the Fresh Vintage stamp set was inked with Pool Party, Peach Parfait, Poppy Parade, and Lucky Limeade Stampin' Write markers.   The geometric image is from the same stamp set and was stamped in Crumb Cake ink.  The greeting is in Soft Suede and is from the Happiest Birthday Wishes stamp set. 

The decorate accent in the bottom right of the card was so easy.  I used the Oval Punch to cut a piece of Lucky Limeade cardstock and the Modern Label Punch with Peach Parfait cardstock.  Both of these pieces were sponged with Soft Suede ink before being layered and folded over the edge of the card.  The final touch was a brad from the Everyday Enchantment brad pack.  This card turned out so elegant and pretty and it's even better that most of the items I earned FREE during sale-a-bration. 

I hope you enjoyed this card and the weekend as well.

Take care and happy stamping,

Diana