PAPER-PIECED SILLY SCAPE

Simon Says Stamp!'s current challenge is Paper-Piecing. I love using patterned paper, and piecing it together can be a lot of fun - and at times very challenging and time consuming! This particular card wasn't too bad. Here it is:

This card is a little out of the ordinary for me, but I had fun making it! I stamped the HA "Silly Scape" stamp on several different pieces of patterned paper and heat embossed it with black embossing powder. I also stamped and embossed the image on my background piece. I then fussy-cut each stamped image in random pieces to create a "layered look" and assembled them on my background - using my background stamped image as my guide. The completed piece was then adhered to my white cardstock base with foam tape.

Then I die cut my clouds on white cardstock with this die, and used distress ink to accent the edges of the clouds. I stuck them to the background with foam squares.

The sentiment was stamped with black ink on white cardstock, cut into a banner shape and adhered to the card.

And here's most of my supplies:

Echo Park "Everyday Eclectic" 6x6 paper pad	*Hero Arts Rubber Stamp SILLY SCAPE H5425	Versamark	Marvy Uchida Heat Gun	Cutter Bee Scissors
Double-sided foam tape	Neenah Solar White Cardstock	Broken China Distress Ink	Ink Blending Tool	3D Foam Squares
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

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TOUR OF ITALY

I've had this Hero Arts Italy Background stamp for so long, but I've struggled with how to use it. I've always had trouble with collage-type stamps because my creative ideas with them are VERY limited. Then, I saw this card by Suzzanne. I loved the way she colored it using watercolors. When I went to her blog to check it out, I fell in love with the picture she uses as a header on her blog, and THAT was my inspiration for my cards. Here's her header:

And here is my first of 2 cards with this stamp:

My dad is a full-blooded Italian (Sicilian, actually). He recently made a trip back to his birthplace and was awed by his Italian heritage. He's got some VERY interesting stories about his family history! Anyway, I bought the stamp with him in mind. Since the card is all about Italy, I wanted some kind of greeting in Italian. I don't speak a lick of Italian - and neither does my dad, really - so I went to Google translate to find out how to say "Happy Birthday". Hence, the sentiment is "Happy Birthday" in Italian.

To make this card, I stamped the image onto watercolor paper. Once the ink was dry, I swiped various Distress Stains over the image and "smoothed and blended" the colors with a wet paintbrush. Once I was satisfied with the colors, I let it dry and distressed the edges. For the sentiment, I printed the words onto a piece of white cardstock. I then stamped it with a newsprint background, then swiped Distress Inks over it to get it to match the original stamped image.

Here's card #2:

I basically made this one the same way I did the first one, using the same colors of ink, etc. Again, I went to Google translate for an Italian sentiment. I wanted a "neutral" greeting, like "Hello"...but then I found out that the same Italian word for "hello" (ciao) is also used for "goodbye". To avoid confusion, I decided to use the word "Saluti", which simply means "Greetings".

I certainly haven't mastered Suzzane's art of coloring, but I'm having a whole lot of fun trying!!!

And my supplies:

*Hero Arts Cling Stamp ITALY BACKGROUND 2012 Rubber Unmounted CG425	Memento Tuxedo Black Ink	Antique Linen Distress Stain	Old Paper Distress Stain	*Tim Holtz DISTRESS Ink STAIN BROKEN CHINA Ranger
*Tim Holtz DISTRESS Ink STAIN FADED JEANS Ranger	*Tim Holtz DISTRESS Ink STAIN PEELED PAINT Ranger	Frayed Burlap Distress Stain	Walnut Stain Distress Stain	Tim Holtz Paper Distresser
*Tim Holtz Distress Ink PAD VINTAGE PHOTO Brown Ranger	Neenah Solar White Cardstock	*Hero Arts NEWSPAPER BACKGROUND 2012 Rubber Stamp S5601 Designblock	Ink Blending Tool	Old Paper Distress Ink
Distress Ink "Frayed Burlap"	Faded Jeans Distress Ink	*Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD PEELED PAINT Green Ranger	Hero Arts Kraft cardstock	Scotch ATG (tape glider)
Mementos "Dedication" Embellishments

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Thanks for visiting!! Ciao!

GOLDEN OLDIE

The current challenge over at A Blog Named Hero is to make a card with your oldest stamp. Interestingly enough, the stamps I chose are from 2006...before I even started making cards. Believe it or not, these are my oldest stamps, BUT, I've NEVER used them!! What??!!!! I know...crazy, eh?! So, this challenge inspired me to dig them out! Here's my card:

I started out wanting to try the new "chalkboard" technique, but then I chickened out. I was afraid I'd ruin what I had done! Here's how I made the card:

I inked my stamps with Versamark and stamped onto black cardstock, then heat embossed with white embossing powder. The flowers were colored in with colored pencils. Then, I dry embossed a strip of white cardstock to accent the right side of the card, without taking the focus away from the flowers. Added the sentiment, a little black bow, and a single black adhesive pearl to dot my "i".

Here's my supplies: (I apologize that I didn't link the stamps. I guess they're so old, I couldn't even find a link to link them to!!!! They are all Hero Arts stamps. The numbers are E3755, E3756 and E3757.)

Versamark	Marvy Uchida Heat Gun	Prismacolor Colored Pencils	Neenah Solar White Cardstock	Darice "Damask" 5x7" embossing folder
Cuttlebug Machine	Memento Tuxedo Black Ink	Find Joy	Glue Dots	Scotch ATG (tape glider)

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Thanks so much for looking!! It means a lot to me!