DTGD: Final Phase!

I finished my last DTGD card on Sunday, and am now anxiously awaiting the reveal of the prize winners--I read they picked up quite a few items at CHA.  Yippee!

Little known fact: I was in FFA all four years of high school and raised pigs to show.  Yeah, I know, you never would have guessed, would you?  So when I saw Darlene's fan club card, I knew I had to CASE it!  I've had this Cuttlekids pig die (named Ian!) since about the first month I started stamping, but have never used it on a card.  I cut the body out of October Afternoon paper, and although the die has a separate snout, I liked Darlene's use of the button.  The wings are the big butterfly from the SU Embosslet, cut in half and bent back a little.  I used dimensionals three-deep to accommodate the wings. The sentiment is from PTI Enjoy The Ride and I added sewing around the Sage Shadow embossed layer and the cute striped OA layer. Get ready for some extreme cuteness:

I'm not sure I'm going to be able to give this one away.  This next one, however, I made just for my MIL, so I did give it away to her.

She does a lot of work with the Leatherback Trust and when I saw this $1 turtle stamp, I had to pick it up.  I really would have preferred that she had picked a prettier turtle to love, but I knew she would like the fact it was personalized for her.  The shell was colored with copics and the body with prismacolor pencils, then I used a white gel pen for the dots.  I used an old SCS layout and some Maine Blueberry dp, and of course some Soft Suede because I have addiction issues.

We went to lunch and a movie today since it's the last day that DH & I are both off before school starts on Monday.  Since we finished lunch early, I suggested popping into the Hallmark store.  And yes, now we will have Boba Fett and Han Solo (in carbonite) on our tree.  I also think I could buy the entire line of Fresh Ink cards.  In fact, you may be seeing some "inspired by" cards here pretty soon.  Does anyone else miss buying store-bought cards?

DTGD: Phase Seven + OLW14

In case you placed bets yesterday, I lasted about 6 hours before I gave DH his suitcase scrapbook!  He LOVED it (of course).  He immediately recognized it was supposed to be a suitcase and that the stickers were all from places we've been. I got super-bonus points for one of the pin-up girl pictures being on his favorite airplane (which was just luck on my part that it came up in the first couple pages of searching). And of course he loved all the photos (and the cross-processing). He was also excited to see his own plane on one of the stickers, made from a photo that he took (I used postercize in Picnik, then added some text).

Yesterday we also went to a free Gofobo preview of Dinner for Schmucks last night.  First of all, let me say, this is the way to see a movie at the theater.  We usually wait for the DVD because of all the movie theatre obnoxiousness, but this was a full house of nice, normal, well-behaved people, threatened with ejection if they used their cell phone (including texting) AND they made the lady with the screaming baby leave AND there were no previews or commercials before the movie (AND did I mention it was free?).  Second of all, it was a darn funny movie!!  You know how most comedies nowadays are really funny for the first 10 minutes, kinda funny for about 30 minutes, then it's just a long, unfunny hour until the end?  Well, this had us laughing the entire two hours-I would definitely recommend it if you're looking for a stupid-in-a-good-way comedy.       

Anyway, onto the cards!  Here's another Dare to Get Dirty card that I made last week:

The image paper and the background paper are from an SEI Valentine's pack I bought two Valentine's ago--it ended up being a bit glittery for my taste, but it does have some beautiful shimmery paper.  I stamped the hydrangea in Soft Suede and clear embossed.  The background paper is embossed with SU Vintage Wallpaper folder, then layered onto the kraft base.  The sentiment is from PTI Delightful Dahlia, stamped in Soft Suede & clear embossed on PTI Ocean Tides, matted with Gina K Pure Luxury Ivory.  The butterflies are cut from the shimmery paper, too.  Then I went crazy with the distress inking to give it a real shabby chic look--I wish you could see it in person because the inking + the shimmer is just yummy!

This is a quick one-layer card for Susan's One-Layer Wonder Challenge to use outline stamps on a square card.  It is also in honor of Susan's new puppy because PUPPY!!  This is an Eat Cake Graphics stamp aptly titled "Rowley Jumps Yippee!" and the sentiment is from a Hot off the Press Hobby Lobby set.  I cut a 3/8 inch mat from a piece of copy paper and taped it down over my 4 1/4 inch So Saffron cardbase, then stamped Rowley all over in Memento Rich Cocoa.  After I took the mat off, I markered in a border using a ruler. 

Well, I think this post is long enough for now, doncha think?  I better get back to finishing those last few DTGD challenges--I heard they're picking up some prizes at CHA!

DTGD: Phase Six

Finally! I started this altoid tin on Saturday for one of the DTGD challenges and it just keep being interrupted and/or growing. But now I'm ready to call it "done!" I was completely inspired by this adorable altoid suitcase by Michele Force-isn't it the most charming thing ever? I decided to make one for my hubby for when he goes to his training in the fall--but I'm not sure if I can wait that long to give it to him!

It started out as an Altoids tin. I covered it with SU Maine Blueberry (I think that's the name? It's before my SU time-I nabbed it on ebay a while back), adding some white ribbon and an Old Olive "handle" with self-adhesive metal nailheads. Then for some reason, I thought it didn't look "suitcase-y" enough, so I thought, "hey, I should add some vintage luggage stickers to it! Yeah, of places we've been to!" Cue at least an hour of searching the internet for vintage tourism posters/postcards/airline logos (and resisting the temptation of buying said vintage posters), then copying and pasting the image into word and reducing the size. Then I printed them all out onto adhesive labels, cut out, and stuck down. For the final touch on the outside, I added a tag printed with "crew" on one side with a heart on the other.

Here is the other side (feel free to click the pic to see it bigger):

For the inside, I picked out six "couple" pictures and five Addison pictures, sized them down to 4x6 (which is the same ratio as 2x3) in Picasa, added 1960s and cross-process effects in Picnik (I may have cross-processing addiction issues), then inserted them into a word document where I made them 2x3 inches big, and printed them on photo paper. I cut a strip of Not Quite Navy 3 3/8 inches wide, then scored it every 2 1/8 inches (which leaves a nice small little flap to glue to the bottom of the tin, which I then covered with DP and another picture). I also lined the inside top and added a little pocket for a love note. As I was taking pictures of it, it seemed a little blah on the inside so I went back and printed out the stickers again and pasted them on the appropriate photo. I even found some cute airplane/travel vintage pin up girl posters to adhere to the inside top.

I give myself two, maybe two and a half hours before I cave and show it to him! :)

My shopping trip to Ann Taylor Outlet yesterday was not as productive as I would have liked, but I still got a few new items. When we were checking out, I asked the salesgirl if they had an outlet coupon book (they do at the outlet we normally go to, and it's usually 15% off total purchase at Ann) and she said they did. DH immediately asked me if I wanted him to go get one and asked the salesgirl where to get it. The salesgirl said it was so cute of him to offer to get she'd just give us the discount without the coupon! How awesome is that?!?

Right now I'm off to dinner and then a free sneak preview of Dinner With Shmucks starring Paul Rudd and Steve Carrell. Be prepared for the full review tomorrow. ;)

DTGD: Phase Four

I did have good intentions of posting my Dare to Get Dirty challenge cards every day this week, but then someone took the camera to work and left it there until yesterday.  So now I have a back log of cards to post, but I'll try spreading them out over the next couple days.  This one is my most recent favorite of the bunch:

These are two stamps from Eat Cake Graphics, that can be used either separately or together to form a big tree in the middle.  I first made a house template in Word and cut it out of Soft Suede (I told you I'm addicted to that color now--and I only have 2 sheets left!  Eek!)  The fold is on the left side of the house; the roof is a separate piece. The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye Christmas pack from last year--it's a little bit glittery, but not over the top (have you ever noticed that every paper pack at Michael's now has massive amounts of glitter?).  I then had the "great" idea of using another paper from the same pack at the "wallpaper" for the background of the card.  Which meant stamping and cutting out:
1) The wallpaper layer
2) The tree, pet, and person layer (after coloring with prismacolor pencils & baby oil)
3) An acetate square (hard to see but looks so cute in real life!)
4) The window frame & snow
all times two windows. I'm definitely buying one of those pencil-grip thingies for my craft knife ASAP.  I also cut out the chimney from Cherry Cobbler, adding some score marks 1/4 inch apart for bricks.  On the windows, I colored everything snowy with a white pencil first (I forgot on the roof & chimney), then added some snow using a "Snow Writer" from Hobby Lobby (which I would soooo not recommend), and finally some Frosted Lace Stickles. Extreme close-up!

To keep with the cooler weather mode, I also made this card for Thanksgiving.

 These leaves and sentiment are from the Inkadinkado 5-set package that was sold at Costco about 2 years ago.  Such an awesome deal; it had something like 150 stamps for $20, plus an acrylic block. I picked up all three packages (flowers, holidays, and occasions) and they come in handy all the time, in fact, I should probably start using them more-I just tried some SU classic ink with them today and they stamped wonderfully.  Anyway, I stamped the leaves onto a paper lunch bag to get a nice "leafy" look, then cut out and glued to a one-inch cream square, matted with a 1 1/4 inch Really Rust square. The sentiment is stamped with Really Rust, then I drew the double-line border using the Really Rust marker.

So what is your Best Stamping Deal Ever?

DTGD Day Four: You're Never Too Old for Space Camp!

Does anyone recognize that movie line?  It's from one of our favorite movies, Stranger Than Fiction. I have no idea why we are one of only 17 people that liked this movie^[1]; I think it's one of Will Ferrell's best.  So I got it in my head to make a space shuttle for DH, with The Greeting Farm's Space Ian as the star.  This would have been about 4 bajillion times easier if I'd had any sort of skinny canister around the house, but as it was, I ended up making my own cylinder with an inside layer of black and outside layer of white.  I also made the cone by hand, and the wings, tail (with moving rudder), and engines.  The easy part was coloring Space Ian with copics, adding some metal nailheads to his suit and glossy accents on his helmet.  I stamped another image, cut it out, and poked the wire through the back.  Then I adhered the two images together with scor-tape, sandwiching the wire between.  I also put a paperclip between the two at the bottom, in order to offset the weight of the glossy accents so he'd stand up float in space straight. 

I would have loved to fill it with Milky Ways, but that would involved buying some and that would lead to eating them.  I went with a Cookies and Cream bar, which DH likes and I don't. 

Close up on Space Ian adorableness:

I made another card yesterday before my engineering project, playing with some new paper, tools, and stamps. 

This is mostly Stamping Up! except for the button, thread, large polka dot paper (October Afternoon) and ribbon (PTI Scarlet Jewel).  I stamped and embossed the flower from Growing Green twice, cut out, and layered.  I ran some Cherry Cobbler through the Square Lattice embossing folder and distressed, added the Love Letters patterned paper, ribbon, and twine.  The sentiment is from Tiny Tags, punched with the jewelry tag punch.

Now off to get started on today's challenges!!  Wheeeeee!!!!
 
^[1]Shout out to Angela for being one of 23 people who liked Away We Go--I loved that movie!

DTGD Day Three

Whew!  What a fun cardmaking day I had yesterday!  I'm so glad SCS kept Dare to Get Dirty in July so I can play along!  I ended up making 3 cards yesterday, with a fourth one planned to finish up this morning.

This card also uses Dawn's Color Cue Challenge 6: vanilla, coral (Berry Sorbert here), kraft, and brown.  Oh, how I love a Neapolitan color combo.  Funny story: my wedding was a Neapolitan wedding and my wedding cake was white with pink & brown stripes.  6 months later, I give my parents their album, and my dad shows it off to his friends.  He calls me up and says, "Did you know that your cake matched the bridesmaid's dresses?  I didn't until a lady pointed it out to me!"  Ah, men and their lack of recognizing a theme.

One more item before I start explaining this card: I must give props to Dawn of Wplus9.  I was stamping my stamping index when I noticed there was a manufacturing defect on one of the stamps (there was an extra dollop of plastic so it wouldn't stamp right).  I emailed her, ready to provide pictures and/or send the set back.  Instead she replied that she would be sending along a replacement straightaway, and when I get the package, she had sent an entire replacement set!  So I will be taking the perfect stamp out and sending the rest to my sister in my attempts to get her to come to the dark side.  Yea for fantastic customer service!

Whew, now onto the card making deets: I stamped my now-perfect big leaf image from Wplus9 Woodgrain Silhouette Additions on PTI Berry Sorbet with PTI Vintage Cream for the background, and stamped the flowers from Woodgrain Silhouettes.  The brown paper is another flocked piece from My Mind's Eye Lush collection.  I used my new SU Butterfly embosslet to make the butterfly from October Afternoon paper, adding three self-adhesive pearls.  The sentiment is from PTI Delightful Dahlia, stamped with Rich Cocoa onto PTI Cream, notched with a square punch.  A cute little bow from some generic kraft colored ribbon finished it off!

It's official: I do not have a "card style."  You can almost hear the record scratch as you scroll from the nice, elegant pink card to this craziness!  This was supposed to be for the CAS sketch challenge, but it was one of those project that just kept growing..."I'll use this fruit paper...no, wait, I'll make a patchwork with it...and sew it...and emboss it with basket weave!" :) The image is from Unity Hodge Podge of Happiness, stamped on PTI Rustic White using SU Markers, then colored with copics. The sentiment was stamped with Memento Rhubarb and I colored in the letters for "apple."

 And then it's back to cute for this girlie!! I stamped Sugar Nellie's "Catch a Falling Star" on PTI Rustic White, colored with copics, and cut out. I also paper pieced her skirt and the star from October Afternoon paper. The wire is from an old Christmas ornament project-I applied a little adhesive behind her hands to hold it, as well as just a smidge on the end to hold it in the same place it was drawn on her skirt.  I added an eyelet to the star, then threaded the jute twine through.  I added a drop of Crystal Accents on the back of the star where the twine was so the star wouldn't lean forward.

 The other paper is also from October Afternoon, and the sentiment is from MFT; I wish it would have stamped darker!  The ribbon is I think American Crafts.

I'm seeing quite a few familiar faces over on the DTGD challenges--aren't they fun and inspiring?  If you're a fan club member, be sure to check 'em out!

DTGD Day Two

The good news: I can use this card for all four Dare to Get Challenges posted yesterday.  Bad news: it took me all afternoon to make it!  Good news: I enjoyed every minute of it!!  Sometimes you just gotta pull out all the stops and cut up some fancy paper.

My Sugar Nellies have been neglected recently as I've gone on a CAS kick and this Wish angel just called out to me.  I stamped her onto PTI Rustic White, and then on some My Minds Eye Lush, SU Cameo Coral, and Kiwi Kiss patterned paper.  I colored her hair and added some blush, eyeshadow, and lipstick with prismacolor pencils and baby oil, and then paper pieced her outfit.  I colored her wing spots and the letters with a pink pencil, then went over it with a Jelly Roll Star Dust pen.  This (flocked!) Lush paper happens to go wonderfully with SU Sage Shadow, so I cut a Nestability Big Scallop square out of it, used a square nestie to cut the window, and then added the hearts that were punched from the border using a Xyron adhesive machine.  I just throw a few in there at a time, pull the tape a little, throw some more, and usually the odds work out that I have enough that landed right side up to use.  Much less frustrating than trying to get them all in there face-up.

I had some Martha ribbon that matched, so I used that over a strip of paper border punched from DCWV Luxury Stack.  I really like how the Kiwi Kiss makes the whole thing pop; I just happened to have a scrap on my desk and decided to try it.  I also used PTI Text Styles in Old Olive at the top and bottom.  After cutting out and adhering the letters, I poked a hole and threaded some PTI twine through.  I cut it to a point and it gets a little fuzzy build-up when I started pulling it, but I just kept pulling and the fuzzies came through, so I didn't have to do too much haircutting (my orderly math side: cannot handle too much fuzziness on my twine or any extra-long fuzzies!). I colored a rhinestone with a pink copic and added it to the bottom of the "S."  The card is 5 1/2 by 5, there was just too much yumminess to be restricted to 4 1/4 (but not enough for 5 1/2 square).

I'm so glad I found some fellow Mad Men fans!  Did y'all see Jon (we're on a first name basis) on 30 Rock?  I'd bring him a Diet Raspberry Fanta any time!  Thanks for all the warm-fuzzy* comments!
*these are the type of fuzzies you want to have, not like those evil twine fuzzies.

DTGD Day One

Yesterday started the Dare to Get Dirty challenges on Splitcoast, which are only open to Fan Club members. Last year I decided to buy a 6-month subscription to the Fan Club for the summer so I could have instant uploads for the challenges. I played DTGD (and loved it!), completed all the challenges, and won a year's subscription to the Fan Club. Then this past spring, I entered a Unity challenge and won a 6-month subscription. So I think I've gotten my money's worth out of that first 6-month subscription I bought! I've completed four of the challenges already with these two cards.

I ended up working on this card for most of the afternoon yesterday, nothing was cooperating with me! I think it took 5 tries to stamp the hummingbird, 4 tries for the sentiment, 3 watercolored images, and 3 attempts at the "ribbon." And by "ribbon" I mean cherry cobbler cardstock, border punched, then crumpled until I could peel it apart. I ran it through the cuttlebug with just an embossing mat and shims to flatten it out, then put down a row of scor-tape and started pleating, then sewed it down. And check it out, those are faux brads on the ends! (ETA: I used regular ol' Elmer's to glue them. )

Other supplies: SU Elements of Style; Old Olive, Ruby Red, and Baja Breeze markers/inks for watercoloring; Soft Suede (I know! Like a good romantic comedy, my initial dislike has turned to love), Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, and Gina K Ivory cardstock; Soft Suede and Memento Rhubarb Stalk ink.

First of all, please excuse the cigarette and smoking reference. I am staunchly anti-cigarette and yes, I do judge you (sidenote: I've also started judging people who don't use reusable grocery bags or water bottles), but it's part of the whole Mad Men scene, so I had to keep it in there. Anyway, Mad Men is starting again next Sunday, so I decided to do a birthday card based on the opening credits and my favorite SNL skit (which I've already linked before). I copied the image of the opening credits and pasted it into a word document, then resized it to 5.5 inches, printed it, taped it to a piece of black cardstock, and cut out the silhouette. I cut the shirt collar, cuff, and cigarette from white paper and glue them on, then glued the whole thing to a PTI Soft Stone base, printed with Moderne font. The inside is pretty much a transcript of the SNL skit:

which, if you watch Mad Men, you'll know is completely spot-on.

Chuy's update: We went there for a late lunch yesterday (and we were told the wait for dinner the night before was 3 hours! That's insane.) and, ok, so none of the other frames were decorated as much as mine, but my frame would definitely fit in with the whole decor. And someone did not think I was a dork when he was eating up some yummy free queso. ;)