Gallery Idol Top 10–You’re Sweet!

Well hello, friends!!




By some amazing set of circumstances, and your extraordinary support in voting for me, I’ve miraculously managed to make it to the Gallery Idol Top 10!!  OH EM GEE!!  Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I’d make it to the Top 20, let alone to the Top 10.  So thank you, from the absolute bottom of my heart, for your kind words, encouragement and votes.  You’re all the best bloggie friends a girl could ever ask for!

So the next round’s challenge was to create a card using EXACTLY 10 embellishments!!  Are you kidding me?!!  I have a hard time using just a few gems on my projects, let alone 10 of something!!  But I persevered and came up with a concept.  I love shaped cards, and I’m a very literal person.  I remembered that I had just picked up some of those sweet enamel dots that are all the rage with crafters.  They look like gumballs to me – BINGO!  So I made a gumball machine and used the enamel dots to represent the gumballs.  In fact, I decided it’d be fun to make it a shaker card – so some of the gumballs are adhered, and others of them rattle around when you shake the card.  I wish I was technologically smart enough to upload a video of the fun movement that those enamel dots make when you shake the card.  But, alas, I am not.  You’ll just have to take my word for it!  LOL

So there you have it – my entry for Round 4 of the Gallery Idol contest!  I’d so appreciate your continued support in voting for me.  If you haven’t registered to vote yet, now’s the time as the votes are really going to make the difference between moving on to the Top 5 and not.  I’m in the company of some incredibly talented ladies who no doubt have come up with outstanding projects for this round’s challenge!  So, if you’re inclined and you like their projects better, by all means vote for them – JUST PLEASE VOTE!!  You can register and vote HERE (if you’ve already registered, you don’t need to register again.)

As always, I so appreciate you stopping by my little blog world here.  I have a happy day in my craft room planned, so I’d better get moving!  Hopefully you have some lovely plans for your day, too!  Thanks in advance for your support!  MWAH!!


PRODUCTS USED:
PAPER:  White OP and Blackbird CS (Bazzill Basics Paper), Taffy CS and Silver Foil CS (American Crafts), Basic Gray CS (Stampin’ Up!), Acetate CS (repurposed from my scraps), Solar White CS #120 (Neenah Classic Crest)
OTHER:  Gumball Machine Cutting File (MissKateCuttables.com), Silhouette Cameo Electronic Die Cutting Machine and Studio Designer Edition Software (Silhouette America), Enamel Dots (My Mind’s Eye)

Gallery Idol Round 3–Thank You!

Hello my lovelies!

 

Well, thanks to all of my awesome friends and family, I made it to the next round of the Gallery Idol contest!!  My heart is beaming from all of the love and support you all have shown me . . . thank you so much!  So let’s get on with Round 3, shall we?

 

 

Okay, so this round’s challenge was to create a stamped background.  Easy peasy, right?!  The truth is, I knew from the get go what I wanted to do.  The Velveteen Stamping technique is perfect for creating a cool background!  I learned about this technique from Shari Carroll – you can see her video on how to do it HERE.  The Velveteen Stamping technique is an awesome way to add that extra WOW factor to one layer stamping.

 

 

Here’s a close-up of how this looks when finished.  Basically, I stamped a houndstooth background onto a white panel using white pigment ink.  Then I selected a variety of floral and leafy silhouette images, inked them up with various dye inks, and stamped them over the top of the pigment stamped background.  As you stamp each image, blot with a clean paper towel or rag to remove the dye from the pigment ink.  As you can see, the dye ink is “resisted” by the pigment ink, allowing the houndstooth pattern to pop through the solid silhouettes.

 

VELVETEEN STAMPING WITH A TWIST - I noticed when I was stamping that the dye ink was “pooling” on my clear stamps.  It looked blotchy when I would stamp it.  It was bugging me (don’t ask me how many versions of my final project I made – suffice it to say, I’m going to need to restock my cardstock supply!  LOL)  So I “swiped” the stamp pads across the silhouette images, creating a subtle “striation” pattern on the stamp, and evening out the ink.  The striation pattern was transferred to the panel when stamped.  I feel like that added a little extra “oomph” to the texture and design.  I think I really like it!

 

So there ya go!  That’s my entry for Round 3.  I would be ever so grateful if you’d take a moment to vote – whether it’s for me or one of the other amazing designers that made it to the Top 15.  All you have to do is register for an account  HERE (it only takes a few seconds) and then vote (if you already registered last round, then all you have to do is vote!)  That’s it!  Thank you in advance – I am forever indebted to you all!

 

Have a great day.  I’m off to hang out with my grandson, who is having a sleepover with Grandma and Grandpa tonight!  Fun!  Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

PRODUCTS USED:

STAMPS:  Petals & Stems and Oh Happy Day (Avery Elle), Reflections (Paper Smooches), Dash Pattern Cling Stamp (Hero Arts/Basic Grey)
INK:  Unicorn Pigment Ink, Pale Tomato, Soft Pool, Wet Cement and Cup O’ Joe Dye Ink (Hero Arts), Chocolate and Strawberry Pigment Ink (Fresh Ink)
PAPER:  Sno Cone CS (French Poptone), Solar White CS (Neenah Classic Crest)
OTHER:  Self-adhesive Pearls (Stampin’ Up!)

Gallery Idol 2013–Round 2!

Hello Sweet Friends!



Well, I am utterly humbled and thrilled to announce that I made it into the Top 20 of Paper Crafts Magazine’s Gallery Idol competition for 2013.  AACCKKKKK!!  I’ve been pinching myself all weekend long to make sure that I’m not dreaming!  The other fabulous women in the Top 20 are beyond phenomenal and brilliant – many are my crafting crushes!  LOL  I am certainly not worthy.  But I’m going to give it my best shot.  Let the competition begin!

For our Round 2 prompt, we were asked to create a card that “Defines Dad.”  Well, I love a man with a sense of humor.  I especially love a man that can make me laugh.  There’s nothing more endearing to me than watching my girls laugh at my husband’s corny jokes.

When I came across this “Groucho Marx disguise” cutting file (from the Slap Happy Collection at Lettering Delights), it made me laugh out loud!  Perfect - right?!  I cut it out using my Silhouette Cameo.  The sentiment was computer generated using two “old movie” fonts that I found on dafont.com.  I thought that the diagonal stripes added another element of playfulness and humor – almost clown-like.

Well, friends that’s my entry. I’d be EVER so grateful if you’d take the time to vote for me.  It’s all about the votes in this competition, so if you like my project, it would mean the world to me if you’d vote for it.  You can register and vote HERE. 
 
Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you have an amazing day, and am so grateful for the time you spend here!  Thank you in advance for voting for me!

PRODUCTS USED:
PAPER:  White OP CS and Beetle Black CS (Bazzill Basics Paper), Snap! DP (Simple Stories)
OTHER:  Groucho Marx Disguise Cutting File (Slappy Collection – Lettering Delights), Silhouette Cameo Electronic Die Cutting Machine and Studio Designer Edition Software (Silhouette America)
FONTS:  Speedball No. 3 and Herald Square (dafont.com)

Wishing You, Like, Happy Birthday

It’s me again!

How’s your holiday weekend going?  I’ve been trying to get some crafting done before I have to pack up my crafting supplies to transition from our AZ house to our WA house.  We’ll get on the road on Tuesday, so today is packing day!  But before I go, I wanted to create one more project for the Paper Crafts Magazine Gallery Idol contest.

I would LOVE to have a pair of Chuck’s with a turquoise chevron pattern, wouldn’t you?!  I mean, how fun would these be in real life?!  I downloaded a sneaker cutting file from the Silhouette online store and went to town jazzing it up a bit.  The sentiment is from a super fun stamp set from My Stamp Box called Whatever.  That word “whatever” was heard around my house OFTEN when my girls were teenagers.  So I thought this sentiment was perfect for this card.  I’ll list the other products I used below my signature.

Well, the audition deadline for the Gallery Idol contest is up tonight.  Still crossing my fingers that I make the Top 20, but even if I don’t, I had a lot of fun playing along!

I’m off to start packing!  Thanks so much for stopping by again today!  I appreciate it more than you know.  Have a great week – I’ll be back on Thursday with the next CAS(E) This Sketch challenge!




STAMPS:  Whatever (My Stamp Box)
INK:  VersaMark (Tsukineko)
PAPER:  White OP CS and Bazzill Yellow (Bazzill Basics Paper), Turquoise Chevron DP (Snap! Collection – Simple Stories)
OTHER:  Mustard Embossing Powder (American Crafts/Zing), Sew Mini Sewing Machine (Janome), Sneaker Cutting File (Silhouette Online Store – Design #23338), Silhouette Cameo Electronic Die Cutting Machine (Silhouette America)

Gallery Idol 2013–HPY 16BD

Hola Chicas!

I had a super busy crafting weekend, and it felt soooo good!  Got some DT stuff done, got some pub call stuff done, and I got my entry for the 2013 Gallery Idol competition done.  Eeeekk!!  I’m not gonna lie – I’m a little nervous about entering into this competition.  But, I ultimately decided that it’s a challenge that I’ve always been intrigued with, and the worst that can happen is that I don’t make it to the Top 20 – I think I can live with that.  Right?  You can’t win if you don’t play – that’s my motto!  So the first challenge is to create a birthday card for a teen or a kid.  Here’s my answer to the challenge:

What’cha think?  I created the cut file for this sports car shaped card and license plate, and cut them with my Cameo.  If I were turning 16, I’d definitely get a kick out of receiving a sporty little card like this.  The car would be nice, too!  LOL  If you’d like the cut file to make your own sports car shaped card, just drop me an email – I’m happy to share!  If you’re interested in throwing your hat in the Gallery Idol ring, you still have time – the deadline is Monday, May 27th.  You can get all of the details HERE.

Well, kids, please cross your fingers for me.  I’d love your support if I make it!  Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I’m off to have lunch with my girlie and try on some dresses for my daughter’s wedding.  I gained a few pounds in Mexico, so I’m not sure how that little adventure will go.  I guess we’ll see!  LOL  Have a lovely rest of your weekend!




PRODUCTS USED:
PAPER:  White OP CS, Candy Apple CS, Beetle Black CS (Bazzill Basics Paper), POW Silver Glitter CS and Silver Foil CS (American Crafts)
OTHER:  Yellow Wink of Stella Glitter Pen (Zig), Sports Car and License Plate Birthday Card Cutting File (created and designed by me), Silhouette Cameo Electronic Die Cutting Machine (Silhouette America), Font:  License Plate USA (dafont.com)