Papers & Plums

Acrylic Paint and Emboss Resist fit a Challenge

It's been a week of inspiration and challenges over at Papertrey Ink as they celebrate their third anniversary and its not even over yet. I've been playing around with the Emboss Resist technique quite a bit this week. Through trial and error I discovered which of my stamps yielded the best result. Suffice it to say there is a handful of images that will not be gracing my blog! However, I am quite pleased with the outcome of this card.

 

After stamping and heat embossing an image from Heart Prints, I decided to try the technique used by Nichole in this post. She diluted regular acrylic paint and dripped it over the embossed image, creating a very fun result. I think the card she made is one of my favorites from her blog. I diluted red acrylic paint with water and ended up with a pink color! So instead of red card stock I used Raspberry Fizz which was a better fit.

I was also able to play along with PTI and the CPS blog, using their sketch # 153 for my card. This is my take on it. Have you been playing along this week too? It's been a lot of fun so far.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sara

Card Details: {Stamps}: Heart Prints from PTI, {Ink}: Versamark, PTI Dark Chocolate {Paper}: PTI stampers select white, Raspberry Fizz, Dark Chocolate and In Bloom Patterned Paper.{Other}: Clear EP, Red Acrylic Paint

 

A Challenge is a Challenge - A Chance to Learn Something New

Do you use sketches to create your cards? I rarely do, but on occasion they can be really helpful. Half your work is already done. This weeks challenge from Stampingbella was just that - a sketch. And boy did I have a hard time making something work with this sketch. I just don't make cards with this many layers that often so I was really challenged. But that was the point.

After completing my card I was surprised to find that I really liked the result! That made me happy that I chose to participate even though, at a first glance, I didn't think it was for me.

 

This is also why I like the blogging community so much. It has caused me to think outside of the box more than once. And that leads to growth as a crafter.

And, by participating I ended up with one more birthday card for my stash. It's a win-win situation my friends.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sara

Card Details: {Stamps}: Kilo Watt by StampingBella, Sentiment from Everyday Button Bits by PTI {Ink}: Versamagic Black Chalk Ink {Paper}:PTI Stamper's Select White, Pure Poppy {Other}: Marvy Oval punch and circle punch, Prisma Pencils + OMS, Two-way Glue Pen + Glitter.

CPS 102

I decided to participate in another challenge this week. This one is from the Card Positioning System blog. The sketch was for the card only, but since it's Valentine's Day tomorrow, I thought I would make a little box o' chocolates to match for my sweet husband. =) He already got it (since he reads my blog I couldn't keep it a secret) and I can report that he likes it.

I find that I like using card sketches quite a bit. It really gets you started. However, I have to admit that I was not crazy about this particular one...but that is why it's called a challenge I guess. =) But once I started stamping it sort of grew on me. I had fun, and that is the main reason I do this so the sketch worked!!

For the card I used PTI Stamper's select white for the Card Base, SU! Close to Cocoa for the panel and a small piece of PTI Pure Poppy to add another row of scallops. I used Polka Dot Basics to create the background and Heart Prints for the Hearts (as the name of the set so aptly suggests. =)

And here's the nugget tin that I got from PTI. Love their stuff. So much fun to play with. I stamped the labels using Holiday Treats and a variety of words from Heart Prints and Mixed Messages. The ribbon was a gift from my sister. I don't know where she got it but it matches the Pure Poppy color really well.

Ok, that is it for tonight. Thanks for stopping by once more,

Sara

Bitty Dot Sketch Challenge

A quick post tonight, I have a lot of things to do but I wanted to squeeze in the time to participate in PTI's challenge for today. Here's the card I made using the sketch from the "connect the dots puzzler".

I really enjoyed using the color combo from yesterday's challenge, so I decided to go ahead and use them again. Not so sure if that was a good choice or not. That is a craaaazy amount of color!! =) But I had fun making it + I now have one more card for my Birthday stash. Now I just hope to win all that fun ribbon that's at stake.  he he

Thanks for popping by today,

Sara

Birthday Girl WSC55

One of my best friends is turning 30 this week (Yay Kelly!!). What better opportunity to make another card. =) It certainly did not hurt that my order from PTI arrived today either!! That'll get your mojo going. I got me some Kraft card stock to play with and two new stamp sets. To kill two birds with one stone I decided to take the plunge and participate in Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge with my birthday card. This is the sketch I had to follow:

Pretty straight forward. I like that it is not a standard size card. Much more fun to work with. So hold on to your hats 'cause here's what I came up with.

I started out with Kraft card stock as my base so that I too could join the bandwagon of stampers in love with this fun color. ;) I then broke out my brand spankin' new Beautiful Blooms set and inked it up for the first time. Oh what fun!! I love how its possible to "build" your own flowers with it. Being able to use all the different colors of ink I wanted was really great. To add some interest to the base I used versamark ink to create a watermark with the leaf stamp. I kept it simple, adding only brown gross grain ribbon for embellishment. All in all I am really happy with it. =) Yes, I love Kraft now too.

Ingredients: {Stamps}: PTI Beautiful Blooms {Paper}: PTI Kraft, SU! Chocolat Chip, Ruby Red, Whisper White {Ink}: Versamark, SU! Ruby Red, Really Rust, More Mustard, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip. {Other}: Ribbon from Michaels.

See ya soon. I'll be posting another challenge card later this weekend.

Sara

 

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #29

Well...its been an entire week since my last (and first) post. Hopefully that will change as soon as I get the hang of this whole blogging deal. I am glad that this week's cupcake challenge gave me a good reason to try it again.
The sketch for this week was really fun to play with (thank you Taylor). I chose to use this cute little birdie from Memory Box that my friend Psalms gave me. For the colors I picked something with an autumn feel. It is 100F here today so I could go for fall right about now. I squeezed in a little bit of paper piercing as well to try out my new little tool from EK Sucess. And for a bit of dimension I popped all the birdies and the sentiment up with a bit of foam tape. I love the way this turned out - and I'm not afraid to say it!! =) 

Ingredients Stamps - Memory Box,  All Night Media, Impress, SU! Priceless. Paper - SU! Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Barely Banana. Ink - Versamark, Really Rust, So Saffron, Basic Brown. Other - Steadtler Aquarelle pencils, sponging.
Next time you pop in I hope to have the "about" section finished along with a beauuuutiful picture of moi! Have a great day!
Sara

An Introduction and Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge # 28

So...for the past year my morning routine has been to eat my breakfast while reading my favorite stamp blogs. Such a fun way to start the day. I have found so much inspiration and great ideas for my own stamping this way but never thought that I would have my own blog one day. But here I am! Blogging away. ha ha

I am originally from Sweden where I was born and raised. I only ended up here in the US because of my sweet husband of 9 years. It was his mom that introduced me to the world of stamping during my first visit to the US. I had never heard of it before as it was not a very common thing in Sweden back then (though I am happy to say it is a growing hobby now.)I instantly fell in love and have been a happy stamper ever since.

So, I think it is time to finally start participating in all the fun sketch challenges I have been following. I don't know what has taken me so long. I decided to take the plunge with Taylor's cupcake challenge # 28. Her sketches are really fun and I have seen so many great cards made by other stampers that come to her blog. So without further ado, here is my entry. Tada!

Ingredients: Cardstock: Barely Banana,Rose Red, Brown. Stamps are from Hero Arts. DP from fancypants design and WeR. Stickles.

Hope you enjoy!

Sara