Snappy Crab Convention Swap

Posted on July 31, 2015 by amyoneillblog

One of the things that I most love about attending Stampin’ Up’s annual convention is seeing friends that I usually only get to see electronically during the rest of the year. Our group does a swap and dinner each year and I always look forward to it. It’s such a great group of women, and they happen to be talented stampers as well.

This is the card I made for our swap using the You’re Sublime stamp set.

I used the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set for the background, and I watercolored Mr. Crab with Real Red and So Saffron ink. I added some gold metallic thread (because I am completely addicted to this stuff) and some punched Gold Foil stars from the Confetti Stars Border Punch and a gold star sequin. The dsp is from Everyday Chic.

This crab makes me smile, so it wasn’t too hard to make 30 of these cards. Even after coloring him that many times I still think he’s cute.

Enjoy your Friday! Thanks for stopping by!

Teen Thanks

Posted on January 24, 2015 by amyoneillblog

My thirteen year-old daughter needed a thank you card for a friend. I pulled my #hello set off the shelf and decided to use a favorite color scheme of hers — Crushed Curry, Tangerine Tango, and Bermuda Bay.

I used Gorgeous Grunge and Smoky Slate to make the background splatters. I also added a little button and bow to make it a little “girly”. The dsp is from the Sale-a-Bration catalog and is called Best Year Ever.

Enjoy your Saturday! Thanks for stopping by!

Circle of Thanks — FMS153

Posted on September 10, 2014 by amyoneillblog

Hooray for Wednesday! Wednesdays bring us a new challenge over at the Freshly Made Sketches site, and this week the oh-so-kind and lovely Jen Brum is our hostess. She is so talented with her CAS style, and she has a great sketch for us this week.

This is a nice, simple sketch which offers so many possibilities. But for some reason, I really spun my wheels with it. It took me forever to settle on a stamp set, then it took a long time to pick colors, and then I just couldn’t get happy with my layout. But I had a deadline and after wasting lots of time, it’s amazing how much I can get done with just fifteen minutes left on the clock when I have to. 🙂

I ended up using the #hello stamp set and a color combo of Tempting Turquoise and Rich Razzleberry with a little gold thrown in there. These are two colors I really like but rarely use anymore, so it was nice to dust those ink pads off a little.

The splatters are from the Gorgeous Grunge set (does it even need to be introduced anymore?), which I embossed with gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder.

We would love for you to join us and make your own card for this challenge. We love looking at all of the cards in the gallery each week. Meanwhile, head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches site to see what the design team made this week.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Hooray for Embossing Paste

Posted on August 26, 2014 by amyoneillblog

I have a card for you today using the A Happy Hooray stamp set and Gorgeous Grunge. I recently got some embossing paste. I’ve used texture paste a few times with stencils, and while I love that look, sometimes I want something that dries a bit smoother and whiter.

Since I wanted to play with the embossing paste, and I wanted to use the chevron punch, I decided to use both. I made my own little stencil with the punch using a scrap of card stock. I used some washi tape to temporarily adhere it to the card base and then applied the embossing paste over the stencil, smoothing it out with a popsicle stick. Here’s a pic of the stencil after I used it. I should have photographed it while I was actually making the card, but I never think about those things while I’m in the creative mode. This will at least give you an idea of how I did it I hope.

I stamped the two feathers and sentiment with Crisp Cantaloupe, Strawberry Slush, and Island Indigo inks. I added some splatter and some messy lines with the Gorgeous Grunge set.

Be sure to come back tomorrow as we have another challenge for you at Freshly Made Sketches, and the fabulously talented Kim Singdahlsen, our guest stamper this month, is our hostess. She has a really fun sketch for us too!

Enjoy your Tuesday! Thanks for stopping by!

A Glammed Up Birthday Card

Posted on August 5, 2014 by amyoneillblog

Here’s another convention display board card for you using the Amazing Birthday stamp set. I tried to glam it up a bit with touches of gold and black.

I also used the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set for the black splatters. The punched hearts were strung together by sewing them with my sewing machine. The butterflies were punched from vellum card stock.

This isn’t my normal style, but every once in a while it’s kinda fun to get “messy.” ha!

All of the convention display stampers are posting their projects to a special Pinterest board so you can see all of the display projects in one convenient place. Just click on the button below to see it.

Enjoy your Tuesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Peaceful Blendabilities

Posted on May 11, 2014 by amyoneillblog

Happy Mother’s Day! We have another Monday Montage blog hop for you this evening. There are ten of us participating, so just click on the tabs at the bottom of each post to navigate your way through all of the blogs.

I decided to play with the new Blendabilities markers that Stampin’ Up! will soon be selling (demonstrators were able to order them a month early). Blendabilities are alcohol-based markers that come in sets of three shades (light, medium, and dark) of the same Stampin’ Up! color. Now, I am definitely still quite a novice at using these, but I thought I’d share my first card using them.

I started by cutting a card base of Daffodil Delight card stock. I then cut a piece of Modern Medley dsp and stamped some splatters using the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set. Then I cut a piece of Very Vanilla card stock and stamped the Positively Chevron background stamp with Daffodil Delight ink. I brushed some Gesso over it with a paint brush just to tone that down a bit and add some texture.

Then I had some fun with the markers. I love how easily the colors blend! I stamped the flowers and leaves from the Peaceful Petals stamp set using Memento Black ink. Then I used the Cherry Cobbler package and the Daffodil Delight package for the flowers, and the Old Olive package for the leaves. I also used a Cherry Cobbler marker to color the rhinestones.

Well, you’re ready to hop on over to Breelin Renwick’s blog to check out her amazing post. If you prefer to work your way backwards, you can go visit Wendy Weixler’s awesome blog. Either way, be sure to work your way through all ten posts.

Enjoy your Sunday! Thanks for stopping by!

Farewell Fancy Flower

Posted on May 10, 2014 by amyoneillblog

Of all of the dsp packs that are retiring at the end of this month, I think I will miss the Epic Day This and That package the most. I think I have loved every single sheet in this set.

To make the flower, I used three different flower punches — the bottom layer is the Blossom punch, the two middle layers are made with the Fancy Flower punch (retiring), and the top layer uses the Pansy punch. I crumpled up all of the layers and then smoothed them back out. I added a 3/4″ circle of Daffodil Delight card stock and one of the In Color Dahlias (retiring) on top.

Do you have big plans for Mother’s Day weekend? We don’t, and that’s just the way I like it. It should be a nice relaxing weekend at our house. Enjoy your Saturday! Thanks for stopping by!

Love You Grunge

Posted on March 22, 2014 by amyoneillblog

I’ve got a “messy” card for you today. At least, that’s what my youngest daughter calls it. 🙂 I am definitely drawn to clean lines when stamping, so a “messy” look is not exactly my style. But the Gorgeous Grunge set just speaks to me, and I like it. I find that I try to combine my clean-lines style with it though.

I used gold embossing powder for the word bubble and some little scraps of Sweet Sorbet dsp and Kaleidoscope dsp. I’ll miss that dsp when Sale-a-Bration is over next week. And of course, I had to add some sequins!

I also used some little scraps of ribbon at the top, as well as a small heart that I punched out of a Gold Foil sheet. I basically just used lots of my favorite things!

Enjoy your Saturday! Thanks for stopping by!

An Epic Day Happy Banner — FMS127

Posted on March 12, 2014 by amyoneillblog

It’s Wednesday, and Spring Break is going by way too fast! I think I enjoy Spring Break just as much, if not more, than the kids do. It’s time for a new sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, and Jennifer Timko has a very fresh and clean sketch for us.

I used some of the Epic Day This and That suite of products — dsp and washi tape. I still love this suite! I also pulled out Gorgeous Grunge and Clockworks, two stamp sets I haven’t used in a while. I stamped off these images first on scratch paper before stamping the background on the card, as I wanted a subtle look.

You can check out what the other designers made with the sketch at the Freshly Made Sketches site. Then, we hope you’ll make your own card and post it to the gallery so we can admire your creation.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Clockworks, Gorgeous Grunge, Perfect Pennants
Ink: Calypso Coral, Basic Gray
Paper: Basic Gray, Gumball Green, Very Vanilla, Epic Day This and That dsp
Embellishments: Brights Candy Dots, Regals Designer Buttons, Calypso Coral Baker’s Twine, Epic Day This and That Designer Washi Tape, Banners Framelits Dies

Make a Wish upon a Star — FMS121

Posted on January 29, 2014 by amyoneillblog

It’s Wednesday, which is also known as new sketch day over at Freshly Made Sketches. This week the super fab Linda Callahan is our hostess, and she has a fun sketch for us:

I have to say that I was stumped for a while with this one. I pulled out quite a few stamp sets before I finally decided what I wanted to do with this sketch. I ended up using an old favorite, Gorgeous Grunge, and another great set, Simply Stars.

My color scheme is Crushed Curry, Bermuda Bay and Pumpkin Pie. I think this card would work great for a guy or girl, and would even work well for a kid.

I hope you can join us in this challenge and post your card in the gallery. I think we’ll have a great variety this week. This is definitely a sketch where you can let your creativity loose! If you need a little inspiration, head on over to the Freshly Made Sketches site, where the design team has some fabulous samples.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!