I am excited to bring you this week's iSpy challenge because I wasn't able to play last week!! I had a really gross, LONG stomach flu and I no energy/mojo to create as the week came to a close.. Thank goodness I'm feeling better because I have a busy, craft-filled weekend ahead!!

On with the challenge.... This week's sketch is from Brenda Orso (fuzzymaddy@ SCS) and is based on this card.  Here's the sketch:








I saw some truly gorgeous cards made with this Memory Box butterfly die and I knew I had to have it for my own... I cut it out twice, once with card stock and once with vellum and I layered the latter on top like so:






I finished it off with a pair of sentiments from the Technique Tuesday set called Swanky Sentiments... (I have a bunch of mother's day cards to make for the flower shop.... So beware! More Mom`s day to come...)

This week our challenge is brought to us by our Trendsetter of the week, Laurel! She is challenging us to make a card or project using May flowers!! Since April is over, and we all know how the saying goes, it is time for May flowers, so be sure to use SOMETHING floral on your card, whether it be paper, stamps, or embellishments.
It was time for me to decorate the next month in my DT calendar so I thought I would make it to fit with this challenge and share with you how I try to stay organized with my design team duties.. Here’s the “picture” part of the calendar:



I used a new There She Goes stamp set called Oh Snap! It’s a cute set with cameras and film and some great sentiments to match! I am attempting to only use one pad of 6x6 paper to decorate my calendar because well… I HAVE TOO MANY 6X6 PADS! There, I said it.. Some of my older pads are gathering dust – literally – so this is one way to use one up.. The colour scheme is quite BRIGHT but it makes me happy to have everything match.. I’ve toned down the papers slightly by rubbing some white paint with a dabber along the edges of the papers. I also added paint to the flowers to unite all of the different patterns going on..
Here’s the inside of the calendar:

YIKES! Yah.. that’s why I am only on 3 (sometimes 4) design teams.. I don’t know how people can manage doing more.. Well, I suppose not everyone works 60+ hours a week at two jobs, but still… This is all I can manage!! I’ve got my design team duties on here (colour-coded) as well as my teaching and work schedule at my second job: Clipper Street Scrapbooking Company. So there you have it… My attempt at organization!
Supplies: Stamp set: Oh Snap; Patterned Papers: BasicGrey; Cardstock: Bazzill and Copic Xpress; Embellishments: Flowers by Graphic 45, Glittered frame by Crate Paper. brads by Kaiser, Paint Dabber by Ranger, 6X6 calendar by SRM Stickers.

To be eligible for the giveaway, create a card or project using May flowers, and then come back to the TSG Blog to add your name and a link to your project in the InLinkz that is located at the bottom of this challenge post. This challenge is open until the winner has been announced on the following Monday (April 30th). The winner will get a $5 gift certificate to use in the TSG Web store!! Awesome!

Hi again! I’ve recently added a new button on the top of my blog with some information on how you could, if you desire, purchase any card that I show here on the blog! I have had some inquiries pop up lately and I thought I would share this info with you! I bring all of my cards to a local flower shop but I would gladly send them to one of you! So click on the tab if you’re ever interested in purchasing one of my creations and I will get back to you!

Take care!

Hi there! I’m here with my gals from the Technique Tuesday design team sharing some SPRING inspired cards. Spring… what does Spring mean to me? Well, here in the Pacific Northwest spring means rain and LOTS of it!! But with rain comes new life and that means flowers… I personally do not love Spring (did you read that part about the rain??) but there’s nothing like the smell in the air after the rains have ceased and the flowers release their scent in the air.. DELICIOUS!!
Here is my spring-inspired card featuring the image and a sentiment from Wishes.




I stamped the dandelion image multiple times onto Ranger “Specialty Stamping Paper” with Jet Black Archival ink and dried it with a heat tool. I then sponged various orange Distress Inks with an ink tool. After the inks dried I misted the paper with some “Gold” tattered angels mist (only because I couldn’t find my mini mister with only water in it.. lol) and this is what happened:


Distress Inks react with water and the end result is this pretty speckled look. After the mist dried I added a little more ink on top to create some more depth and dimension… It worked out well!

Please visit my friends the Stamp Tech’s blogs for some beautiful springtime inspiration:

• Tobi (that's me!!! lol)
• Ashley
• Charlene
• Linda
• Sharyn
• Teri 
• Tanis
• Daniela
• Kris
• Laura
• Jaclyn

 
Prize:
We will pick one person from all the comments received during the hop to win the Fly stamp set.

The winner will be announced on the Technique Tuesday blog on May 3^rd.
 
Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful day.

Tonight is our fourth and final night of new release peeks from There She Goes Stamps, and we are finishing up with a set that is sure to appeal to all the cardmaking, scrapbooking, camera wielding stampers out there!! Torico’s final set this month is SURE to impress the camera hound in us all! Photography is a part of everyday life, and a growing hobby for many, and how much more FUN would it be if you had a camera like one of THESE??!! A picture truly is worth a 1000 words, and with summer vacations, graduations, and well, EVERYTHING, coming up, what a PERFECT set for the photographer in us all. Full of cute sayings, and TONS of images to create the PERFECT card/scrapbook page/project, you really can’t go wrong!!


Like the other releases this month it was so much fun to colour up this image! I let the camera do the talking with a really CAS design. The die cut was done with my Silhouette and I had it in my spare die-cut box, thank goodness I kept it because I think it complements the camera perfectly!



Would you like to win the new Oh Snap stamp set? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in each of the blog hop challenges and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs (from each hop day) will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Blog Hop Challenge post.
You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 PM Eastern Time Saturday, April 28th, with the winner being announced during the release party chat.

I spend a while playing around with this design and it had many permutations, and this is the end result! I really love the shabbiness and the texture I achieved by trial and error… Here’s the process:

1. stamped image with Archival ink on Copic X-press blending CS
2. ink paper with Ranger blending tool and distress inks (broken china, peeled paint, bundled sage)
3. with distress MARKERS, colour the flowers in with coordinating colours and blend with water pen
4. sprinkle shabby white embossing powder randomly around image and heat from underneath with heat tool
5. sand the image in random locations and scrape edges

Not too many steps, but like I said, this was a trial-and-error thing so it will be much quicker the second time around! Man, I do love those markers!!
Here’s another look at the stamp set:

There’s a give-away!!! To Enter:
To enter this giveaway, just answer the following question in the comments section of this blog post.
Which of the Greenhouse Society stamp sets do you like the best?
Leave a comment at the Technique Tuesday Blog by midnight on April 26th. (One entry per person, please.) We will pick a winner the next day!

Hey everyone!! Today is day two of this month's Blog Hop Challenges, and we have a SUPER adorable set from Torico for you today!! I had a lot of fun colouring this one up… I hope you enjoy!


I have no idea why I went wild with the colours, I just looked at the cake and decided that there was no normal way to colour it!! I grabbed some funky patterned papers (BasicGrey) and went to town!



Would you like to win the new A Little Treat stamp set? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in each of the blog hop challenges below and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs (from each hop day) will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Blog Hop Challenge post.
You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 PM Eastern Time Saturday, April 28^th, with the winner being announced during the release party chat.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Yeah!!! I'm so looking forward to this week!! We're highlighting Melyssa Connoly (croppixie @ SCS). Melyssa is the brains behind Whimsie Doodles (a fantastic site for the cutest digis around) and many of us girls at There She Goes are lucky enough to work with her illustrations with her line of stamps there as well.
Because we’re featuring Melyssa I HAD to use one of my Whimsie Doodle images from the people section of the website.. (If you love gnomes she has lots of cute ones!!)

Here’s my card:


Isn’t he adorable??!! I am not a gnome person around the home, but I sure love to colour them! I paired him with some My Mind’s Eye papers and a couple die cuts (large circle is a Spellbinders and the smaller one is Memory Box) and the button in the center is Basic Grey. I also made this work with today's Free For All Challenge: use two or more patterned papers.. Check it out here.

Here’s the sketch:



Here is how to play:

• Create a paper crafting project (card, scrap book page or 3D item), based on the sketch provided.Post your creation on your blog or an online gallery (using a code ISSC12), and link it here with the inlinkz widget.
• Please provide a direct link to your post - not the generic link to your blog.
• A new challenge will be posted every Friday at 12:01 AM EST, and you have until noon on Wednesday EST to submit your entry.
• You may enter as many times as you like, but please provide a newly designed project with a new link for each additional project.
• We will choose the top 2 creations to be featured in our "Top 2 Thursday" post where we will announce who we have picked :) The winners will receive their very own iSpy Sketches blog badge!
• Don't forget that you may combine our challenges with others and use supplies from any company that you wish :)
• Have fun and we look forward to "spying" your creations!

Just a quick post tonight to share with you a card I made for today’s sketch challenge at SCS. I started out this card wanting to use some cloud die cuts but they never made it on the card… Does that happen to anyone else? Anyway… Here’s my card:


A little rough around the edges and some imperfect sewing is just the right amount of shabby for this clean-and-simple design. I used a sweet little set from There She Goes called Flying By. I cut out the pennant by hand and backed it with some vellum.
Thanks for stopping by!

I played along with two challenges tonight - the Clean and Simple challenge at SCS and TSG152 - make a card for your Dad..

This stamp set might not be an obvious choice for a dad, but my Dad is a character and you certainly need to know him to love him!! Here's my card:







The card was inspired by the Clean and Simple challenge... The layout is awesome and it was the perfect opportunity to use my new Memory Box grass die...

The stamp set is from There She Goes and it's called My Little Friend. it's an adorable set and everyone loves it!

Thanks for popping by!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Today Technique Tuesday is announcing their latest endeavour.. They have decided to design a new collection called the Greenhouse Society. Each month this year, we will release a new Greenhouse Society stamp set featuring the best botanicals of the season plus classic sentiments. The images and sentiments from each of the different sets are sized to work well with all the other Greenhouse Society stamps. If you get them all, you will have a collection of botanical images and sentiments that you can mix and match on your cards and scrapbook pages.
I made a card to mark the occasion!





I stamped the image on Ranger’s new “Stamping Paper.” It kind of reminds me of glossy cardstock – without the gloss.. It’s a very nice surface to stamp on! I coloured the flowers with Distress Markers and a water pen. On this paper the water pen left watermarks in the colour – kind of like coffee stains – that ended up being a detail I really enjoyed!! Once the ink dried I spread Rock Candy Distress Stickles on the flowers with my fingertips to give them that crunchy sparkle.

Here’s a look at the stamp set:




All of the Greenhouse stamps have lovely, USEFUL sentiments included with every floral image… I love that I have a whole bunch of new fonts and sentiments to add to my stash!
Each month, we release a new Greenhouse Society stamp set featuring the best botanicals of the season. We only make a limited number of these sets - enough for the people who are members of the Greenhouse Society plus a few extras. If you would like to learn more about the benefits of joining the Greenhouse Society, read the membership agreement and FAQ.

Hi there and welcome to week 11 of iSpy Sketches! Have you had a chance to play along yet? If not, you should give it a try.. Kim finds inspiration from fellow card-makers and creates an easy-to-follow template to be interpreted any way you like!! I never look at the inspiration card until after I'm done my card - that way I don't copy the original closely and it becomes my own creation! Here's my card:

This week's Sketch Challenge is from Julia Stainton (Julia S @ SCS). This is the card that it's based on, and here's the sketch: 

It's Easter already, can you believe it?!? I've made a few cards to give to family members (and for the flower shop) and I can't wait to show you!!

First, a card with some new Mint Motif stamps ( Beyond Borders, Too and Simply Sentiments) - I used them to create the background papers...









I stamped the sentiment on a die cut spellbinder called Fancy Tags Three with a few words from the Simply Sentiments set a "Easter" from a Kim Hughes set... Cool, eh?

Here are some other cards I've created... Have a wonderful Easter!















































The splatter card was misted with "Dylusion" mists by Ranger... Aren't they fantastic?? 

I was thrilled to hear that There She Goes is sponsoring Jen del Muro'smonthly "Sketch For You to Try." I love her sketches, they're always simple, easy-to-follow and very versatile... Here's this month's sketch.






And here's what I did with it:






I used a very popular TSG set called Buckets of Love and colored it up with copics. I used some lovely Simple Stories patterned papers and they were my color inspiration... very Easter-ish!

So head over to Jen's blog to see everyone's creations! I can't wait!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Hi there! I am back after taking a little blog break for a week. Last week was one of those weeks where I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and cried at the drop of a hat and probably added a few more grey hairs to my collection. You know what I'm talking about, right?? Can you believe it is April already?? WOW ! This year is flying by and the iSpy crew is in our third month of challenges already. We have been loving your creations and you've been inspiring us as well!!!

This week's sketch is from Debbie Olson ( Debbiedesigns@ SCS).






I loved this sketch and definitely had to be festive with this creation...





I used a new stamp set from There She Goes called EGG-stra Special. Cute, isn't it? And don't you love my Maya Road ruffled denim trim?? Yummy!



Here's how to play:

-Create a paper crafting project (card, scrap book page or 3D item), based on the sketch provided.
-Post your creation on your blog or an online gallery (using a code ISSC10),
and link it here with the inlinkz widget on on this blog post. Please provide a direct link to your post - not the generic link to your blog.
-A new challenge will be posted every Friday at 12:01 AM EST, and you have until noon on Wednesday EST to submit your entry.
-You may enter as many times as you like, but please provide a newly designed project with a new link for each additional project.
-We will choose the top 2 creations to be featured in our "Top 2 Thursday" post where we will announce who we have picked :) The winners will receive their very own iSpy Sketches blog badge!
-Don't forget that you may combine our challenges with others and use supplies from any company that you wish :)
Have fun and we look forward to "spying" your creations!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Hello again! This week ISSC09 is from Emily Keaton (ekeaton @ SCS) and is based on this card. This is the sketch:



I altered the angle of the panels slightly from the sketch. I don’t know if there was a quick mathematician way of figuring out the angles, but I did it the slow way: 1)cut the pieces of paper so they are all the same width, 2)cut the top piece at an angle 3) hold the top piece over the second piece and trim with paper trimmer and repeat… lol..

Here’s my card:


After cutting all of the layers I adhered them to my work surface with temporary adhesive so I could stamp all of the papers at the same time. Once the ink dried I adhered all the layers to the black CS with foam dots. Pretty snazzy eh??

Design Details:

• Stamps used are Beyond Borders, Too and Simply Sentiments from Mint Motif (sold exclusively at i {heart} papers)
• Sentiment was cut out with a Spellbinders die. It has only one banner end so I die cut the sentiment once then turned the die around to cut the other end fancy! (I will do a quick video on that if you want!! I know it’s sometimes hard to visualize these things…)
• Ink.. I get asked all the time what kind of white ink I use to get nice, opaque coverage on coloured cardstock… I use a couple of inkpads I got as an Elzybells DT member that were manufactured by Palette. I don’t know what I’m going to do when they run out. I also have an inkpad by VersaMark in Cloud White. It’s pretty good – especially because I have the re-inker and I keep it juicy – but my fall-back is always that Elzybells pad… Sorry!

Here's how to play:

• Create a paper crafting project (card, scrap book page or 3D item), based on the sketch provided.

• Post your creation on your blog or an online gallery (using a code ISSC09), and link it here with the inlinkz widget below. Please provide a direct link to your post - not the generic link to your blog.

• A new challenge will be posted every Friday at 12.01 AM EST, and you have until noon on Wednesday EST to submit your entry.

• You may enter as many times as you like, but please provide a newly designed project with a new link for each additional project.

• We will choose the top 2 creations to be featured in our "Top 2 Thursday" post where we will announce who we have picked :) The winners will receive their very own iSpy Sketches blog badge!

• Don't forget that you may combine our challenges with others and use supplies from any company that you wish :)

• Have fun and we look forward to "spying" your creations!