Cards And Things Challenge ~ color

Some Guest Artist I am!!

This morning when I realized that I had completely dropped the ball for the cards and things challenge I sprung out of bed (grabbed the nearest coffee) and instantly went out to my craft room.. I have to go to the other side of the garage to turn on the lights to the room.. I remembered that the challenge was red, wasabi and crumb cake... I looked out the window, and look what I saw! Gasp!! The first signs of fall..

Instantly, I thought "where did the summer go." My little one will only be five years old once, and I feel like I worked a little too much this summer. :( The changing of the leaves also signifies the season change and although I'm not a big fan of winter, I feel the change coming.

Many people make resolutions at new years, but I think it's time for me to make one to search for a better balance. To take a tiny amount of time for myself in the big hurricane that life seems to throw at all of us! I have a crazy week and a bunch of busy stampers coming at 6pm. Speaking of hurricanes, it looks like one hit my stamp room so I better move on! :)

In the middle of all of that, here is my clean and simple santa card using all of those thought and feeling and elements. I'm looking to simplify life, and it's funny how what I'm feeling comes out in my artwork... I LOVE how the eyelet border punch is sitting on top of that gorgeous satin ribbon! It shines through perfectly!!!


There's a few things about this card that you may not see in the first photo, so I have a few smaller shots here... First... Santa is sparkly! Now, he is not as sparkly in real life as I'm showing here, but this is the pearlized smooch top coat. His belt is sporting the silver version of the same thing...

Since I brought in a silver accent and always have to coordinate. :) I also added a silver accent to my bow. First, I slid my silver cord (which is on the SU clearance rack for $2.99 today) under the red strip of ribbon I had going across.


Instead of tying a bow, I just flopped the ribbon over onto itself to make a "faux bow". Then I slipped a button over the silver stretchy cord. I slipped my faux bow through the hole behind the button, then tied it. So simple, and so pretty!


I really love this effect. I have several club members after seeing this technique that say they will NEVER tie another bow! :) It does make a very pretty presentation. Well, Santa is done, and I have packets to stuff and a stamp room to clean (for starters). I hope you're all having a wonderful week. I'll try to keep it together when I send my sweet girl off to kindergarten next Tuesday... Mom needs a pedicure really bad, so perhaps that'll be the day!

Another Card For my sweet girl

Good Morning Friends!

I'm very excited to be a guest on the Cards and Things blog this month. This week is a sketch challenge! I just love sketch challenges, but you knew that! :D

I'm still with this cute little bus image, and when I saw the sketch, I thought of using this adorable paper and the adhesive backed elements to match from stampin up! Simple to the core, I figure I'll be able to slip this into my little one's lunch so she knows I'm thinking of her while at kindergarten (in just two weeks). I made the real red double taffeta bow with Lee Conrey's fantastic bow maker.

Rubbah hugs and Happy Tuesday!

Cards And Things Challenge ~ A Sketch!

Good Morning Friends!

I'm so VERY excited about this sketch challenge from my GF Krista today over on the cards and things challenge blog... I'm the guest designer this month, and that job is really easy with such a great sketch artist at the helm.

I can see this as a sketch I'll return to over and over again. Clean simple, and gorgeous... this went together in a matter of minutes.

This card is for a really wonderful long distance friend that I'm so grateful for... Of course I have lots of long distance friends. This one happens to be in my down line and she's been going through some stuff.. I hope this brightens her day.

Well I'm sure you're wondering what that paper is from... Well, it's a sneak peek from the new holiday mini catalog!! Isn't it gorgeous? Well, it's textured and feels like heavy duty card stock, it's not your standard designer paper.

The "Grateful" stamp is stamped in pear pizazz, on so saffron paper, then sponged all the way around with pear again.

I popped that entire 2 1/2" layer up on dimensionals and added a double bow with glue dots. I stamped the "for you" from the same stamp set... it was a long phrase, that I just omitted and used the "for you" by inking with markers. Then I punched the mini tag and attached it with a glue dot..

Easy peasy, rice and cheesy! :) (boy, I'm in a good mood!)....

I decorated the inside by adding an eyelet border punch across the top. I hope you're having a wonderful week!

Selene Kempton~

Cards And Things Challenge

My friend Krista over at Cards & Things asked me to be the guest designer for August. This week's challenge is a color challenge. Night of Navy, Baja Breeze and Basic Grey are the colors.

One of my BFF's lost her sister this week and I really wanted to make a card for her to show support. I think that this color scheme really lends itself to a sympathy card, and here's the one for miss Diane.

Please pop over to the cards and things blog and let them know I sent you!

Have a great day!
Rubbah hugs,
Selene

Cards and Things Challenges

Good Morning Friends!

I was surprised and honored when a stamper I admire, asked me to be the guest designer for her Cards and Things challenges for the month of August. Krista Driessen is one talented lady from the Netherlands. She has a challenge blog called Cards and Things.

I have to admit, when I saw this week's color challenge, I felt REALLY challenged! :) I'm pretty happy with the result of my card. The color challenge is not quite navy, rose red, crumb cake and bashful blue.... All on ONE CARD! Here is what I came up with. I showed the 4 markers together in the picture, because that's how I started in my creative process. I stamped my cupcake on watercolor paper using stazon black, and then began to watercolor, using an aqua painter I layered bashful blue on top of rose red cardstock and ran them both through the big shot at the same time. I find on designs that have a lot of detail, sometimes my cardstock shrinks, then it looks like my cardstock is not cut right. By running both layers at once, you can avoid all of that. :D

So ~ then I pulled out my kraft colored ribbon. I know that it's retired, but I purchased 3 rolls when I knew it was going out. I love the taffeta ribbon in kraft/crumb cake. It's so darn pretty. Finally, I took a 1/2" scrap of vanilla cardstock and stamped my sentiment. I trimmed the edges by hand to make my faux tag and stuck it under the ribbon with some glue dots.

Finally I added some smooch top coat in gold and clear illuminate top coat to add some bling. I'm not sure if the photo does it justice here, but it's a cool accent ink ~ not really meant for coloring images in.. It's only meant to add a dash off color to accentuate the positive. :)

This one is pretty simple, but there were a lot of colors for me, so I kept the layout pretty clean. Let me know what you think and please pop over to the cards and things blog and let them know I sent you!

Inspired!

Can I just say how PROUD I am to work for a company that genuinely cares for all people?

On January 12, 2010 a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti, leaving in its wake devastation so overwhelming that the Haitian people and their leaders can only look for help from the outside to cope.

In the past, when terrorists attacked the Twin Towers, when a tsunami struck Indonesia, when a hurricane destroyed New Orleans, and when wildfires ravaged Australia, Stampin' Up! demonstrators have stepped forward and showed their commitment to making a difference in the lives of others. This time is no different.

This morning Stampin' Up released a note to demonstrators that for every I (heart) stamp set sold, they will donate $2 to the Haitian Disaster Relief fund by way of the American Red Cross! The Red Cross is already well-established in Haiti, and this money will be used to provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need. In addition to donating a portion of sales, Stampin Up bought supplies for 5,000 hygiene kits to be sent.

As a demonstrator, I received the wood mounted set for free after a regional seminar in Maine, and because it was a traditional wood set, I haven't been playing with it (i am just in love with our new clear mounted stamps).

Well ~ I have a Big Shot Themed workshop tonight, and at the last minute I'm changing my projects to feature this set! I certainly do not have a lot, but I do have a little and I will share what I have. I encourage you to call your demonstrator today and order this set (woo hoo if that's me). Also, if you want to switch to clear mount, the "d" sized block is only $8.50, and you only have to purchase your clear blocks once. If you notice the difference in price, it's a huge big deal! Think about saving 1/3rd the cost of a set EVERY time you buy a stamp set! :) Here are the numbers if you need them and Click here for the flier.

I {Heart} Hearts – clear-mount (block D recommended)	118571	$18.95
I {Heart} Hearts – wood-mount	117010	$26.95

So, what happened in my "inspired mood"? Well, this morning my friend Robin won the late night stampers challenge #53 with this awesome card that she created also for the stamping 411 challenge this week. I was loving her creation so much, I copied some of the "feel" of her card. (go leave her some love with a comment on this one, for me??).

I also went to a few of my favorite challenge blogs this morning... So First ~ my friend Mary Jo's technostamper sketch challenge and I came up with the first card at the top.

Then, I went to Cards and things and did their awesome sketch challenge for this week. (That's the card on the left).

Finally, I decided on my workshop card for tonight. It's a little less difficult. I only have 1 hour to present the big shot and I want them to understand and have time to make their own card (and mini milk carton box). If I make a project too difficult, someone who isn't into crafts yet might feel like they can't do it, don't want to do it, or might be just intimidated. Once they make the simple things, then they can take the ball and be inspired to do more on their own! Sometimes the KISS (keep it simple, silly) method is the way to go! I will still bring my "stepped up" versions for show (of course). :)

I hope this leaves you as inspired as I feel today. Life is good.
(((hugs)))
Selene