Spotlighting

The tutorial on SCS this week was for spotlighting. This is where you stamp an image in black (or, in this case, gray) and then spotlight one part of the image with color. I combined it with Beate's weekend sketch challenge. She also wrote the tutorial.
I decided to use Basic Gray because it's so pretty and not as harsh as black. It also gave me the opportunity to use my Charbon designer paper. I used a blender pen to randomly color some of the dots with Pomegranate and Wasabi. I chose textured cardstock for the card base so there would be a subtle pattern but it wouldn't distract from the main image. I am loving Stem Silhouettes! You could probably tell that by the fact that I've been using it a lot lately... lol.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Stem Silhouettes; Paper: Shimmery White, Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi, Basic Gray textured, Charbon designer paper; Ink: Basic Gray, Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi; Accessories: 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" circle punches, Aged Copper Hodgepodge Hardware, Wild Wasabi double-stitched ribbon

Wanted Again!

I originally saw this card at my up-up-upline Sandi's house. I don't think the colors were the same, but I definitely remembered the focal image. It was so stinkin' cute! I love how the hemp twine through the eyelet looks like a coil of rope. I chose the colors because they seemed like cowboy colors. When I saw this card, I wanted this set for the first time! Thanks again to Rhonda for letting me borrow hers.

Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Wanted, It's Your Birthday; Paper: Whisper White, More Mustard, Brocade Blue, Real Red; Ink: More Mustard, Brocade Blue, Real Red; Accessories: pewter jumbo eyelet, CropADile, natural hemp twine

Emboss Resist in Blues

When the new In Colors came out in July, I didn't care for Blue Bayou, but it has really grown on me. It's especially great paired with Soft Sky. This card was for Sketch Challenge 145 on SCS last week. Although it's hard to see in the photo, a portion of the card front is cut off of the right side, allowing the inside of the card to be seen. I stamped the same image in Soft Sky along the inside of the card. Emboss resist is a fun technique, and I got the idea for sponging 2 different colors over the image from reneejul1's blog.

Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Stem Silhouettes; Paper: Glossy White, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Soft Sky Prints designer paper; Ink: Versamark, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou; Accessories: Crystal Clear embossing powder, Soft Sky double-stitched ribbon, ticket corner punch, sponges

Something A Little Different

This is a gift bag made out of a sheet of designer paper. This is all the rage on SCS, and it was a 3D Demo challenge a couple of weeks ago. I was all excited, thinking it sounded really cool. Now that I've made the bag, I'm wondering what the heck I would use it for. The bag is 5" across by 4" tall. A CD won't even fit into it. Plus, it's actually a tube folded in half so there's 2 sides to the bag. It seems a little weird to me. What would you put in it? I would love your suggestions! I think I'm going to try to modify the directions to make it bigger. I'll keep you posted!

Wanted: Happy Birthday

Stampin' Up puts out this awesome demonstrator planner that is like a regular DayTimer but has extra stuff to help demonstrators. For each month, they have 2 sketches and 3 color combos. The color combo I chose was Confetti White, Kraft and Really Rust. I cheated a little by using Creamy Caramel ink because there is no Kraft ink. My friend, Rhonda, was kind enough to let me borrow her Wanted set to make 2 cards. Thanks again, Rhonda! I've used this set 3 times now, and I'm starting to think I HAVE to have it. (The medallion fits into the scallop circle punch! And there's a punch for the star!)
I got a few things made last night, so I will definitely have stuff to post this week.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Wanted, It's Your Birthday; Paper: Confetti White, Kraft, Really Rust; Ink: Creamy Caramel, Really Rust; Accessories: Cutter Kit, natural hemp twine

Stampin' Up! November Special

Wow! I just found out today that SU will be having a special in November: Buy 3 packs of Double Sided Designer Paper, Get 1 Free! What an awesome deal! You've got plenty of time to spend poring over the catalog to decide which ones to get. I highly recommend Cutie Pie and Dashing. I already have those, so I've got some decisions to make myself!
I have craft night at church tomorrow night, so I'll have some new projects to post after that.

Joseph's Coat for Autumn

Let me start off by saying that I got the idea for this card from someone's blog. I have no idea whose it was. If it was you, please e-mail me so I can give you credit.
I've done the Joseph's Coat technique before, but I didn't really like it because you use black as the top color. When I saw a card using brown instead, I decided to give it another try!

Start by applying multiple colors of ink to glossy cardstock. Here, I've used the Pumpkin Patch Spectrum pad and a brayer. Next, stamp your images with Versamark.

Apply clear embossing powder. (You can see what that looks like in this photo.) Heat just until melted. Don't overheat or it will vanish!

This photo shows what you'll see after the EP is melted. Next, brayer over the entire piece with a dark color. In this example, I used Basic Brown. Allow the ink some time to dry, and then buff the embossed images with a paper towel to remove excess ink.

This is the finished piece.

I really love how this turned out, although I'm not totally happy with the card. It looked better in my head!

Supplies (all SU): Stamps: With Gratitude, Canvas bg, So Many Sayings; Paper: glossy white, More Mustard, Old Olive; Ink: Versamark, Pumpkin Patch Spectrum, Basic Brown, Old Olive; Accessories: brayer, Crystal Clear EP, ticket corner punch, word window punch, More Mustard narrow grosgrain ribbon