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This weeks Sunday Stamps Sketch is perfect for diving into my stash of Project Life Cards that I purchased for card making.
All I had to do was add a stamped sentiment (vintage Stampin' Up) to put this quick birthday card together.
Designer paper is Basic Grey Barista.
Does a glittery spider with googlie eyes and a top hat count as a Monster (for Challenge Up Your Life)? ... if it was alive and this large, it certainly would in my world.
He is joining all of his monster friends on the Doodlebug October 31st background paper.
The layout is from Crazy For Challenges.
I wanted to have a little Halloween fun with the current Lawnscaping Challenge.
I broke out my Monster Mash stamps and Die Cuts using the colors from the colourQ Challenge.
I liked the line-drawing like feel in the pillow, so I didn't color my Monsters ... I just added a tangerine bow tie.
The Layout is the current Mojo Monday Sketch.
Daring Cardmakers theme is Thank You for Music. This card was made using a musical stencil with Color Burst Watercolor Powders.
I finished with some SRM Stickers for the Birthday Sentiments.
I'm also joining Seize the Birthday where the topping theme is Splatters ... I love how easy it is to create splatters with Color Burst Powders.
There's still time to get a few more Halloween cards in the mail. This one is inspired by the photo at the TIME OUT Challenge.
I also used the layout from Match the Sketch.
Papers are from the Mischievous Collection from My Mind's Eye ... and I love the black holographic sequins from Waltzing Mouse ... sentiment sticker is Small Talk Occasions from Tim Holtz.
I'm also joining the Halloween Challenge from the Order of the Opus Gluei.
This month's Essentials by Ellen Pin-Sights Challenge is filled with Autumn Inspiration.
I pulled in the gorgeous fall colors into my design. I stamped the Mondo Magnolia three times on two different golden designer papers and attached the die cut layers with foam tape. The sentiment is from the Mondo Magnolia stamp set.
The rust metallic background was embossed with the Gemstone Embossing Folder from American Crafts We R Memory Keepers.
The layout is this week's Retro Sketch.
As I mentioned in my road trip yesterday, the highlight of the trip was getting to use a printing press with some Maple Leaves at The Calico Press.
Here is a close-up of the first card I made ... when I got home, I added a Tim Holtz Small Talk sticker sentiment.
I love how all of the veiny detail of the leaves appeared when they were pressed into the kraft cardstock.
These cards are perfect for the Clean & Simple Leaf Challenge at The Paper Players.
For the second card, I re-inked the same leaves (using brayers and a variety of ink colors) and printed it on Ivory Cardstock. I love the contrast of the autumn colors.
I tried the same technique at home using my Cuttlebug (which doesn't work nearly as well for the larger leaves due to size restrictions). I used chalk ink, but couldn't get quite the same veiny effect. I'm going to keep playing with other materials to see if I can get closer tp the gorgeous look of the Press.
Today we decided to take a little Road Trip adventure and explore some of the sites on the Southeast Iowa Artists' Studio Tour.
On our way to our first stop, we took a little detour to explore the Swedish American Museum and Historical Society in Swedesberg, Iowa. They had a diverse selection of products for purchase, as well as videos and exhibits. The docents were very friendly and helpful. We even posed with the Dala Horse in the parking lot.
We stopped at lots of little towns along the Des Moines River ... such beautiful views. We loved the bridge at Bentonsport.
I also loved watching Marybeth Heikes create one of her amazing mixed-media collages. We added a print of BNSF Seven to our art collection.
We also enjoyed learning about the pottery history of Iowa at Bonaparte Pottery ... the only remaining pottery manufacturing site remaining in Iowa. Along the back of the table are original slip molds that were excavated from the property and are still used today.
My favorite stop was our last one at Calico Press where I got to make some cards by inking leaves and running them through the printing press. I would have loved to have moved in with Melinda and played with her awesome toys all weekend. I can't wait to see what I can create using the supplies in my own studio.
While the leaves weren't quite as vibrant as we'd hoped, there were some gorgeous pockets of color along our drive.
We're celebrating a Pink Christmas at Jingle Belles ... the time of year that Lauren & I each donate $2 to Breast Cancer Research for every pink card that links-up.
This year we'll be donating to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, which focuses strongly on the research aspect of the disease and has earned very high marks from charity evaluation sites such as Charity Navigator.
I dug into the archives and pulled out some vintage Cosmo Cricket Jolly Days collection.
I cut out three little Christmas Critters that were backed in pink paper and combined it with some other retro hues. I finished with a sticker sentiment above the holiday elf.
We're celebrating Halloween at the Fusion Card Challenge ... but if you don't like to get spooky, you can always use the awesome sketch for any other theme.
I decided to go with a Fusion Design featuring lots of fun Halloween stickers in my stash.
I love the little mummy trying to sneak into the shot. The sentiment is an oldie from the Michael's $1 bin. The pumpkins never stamp that well, but I can't resist the sentiment.
Papers are Mischievous from My Mind's Eye.
