Sparkly Grunge

Posted on August 1, 2013 by amyoneillblog

When I was making my display board samples for convention, I tried to think of some creative ways to use the stamps. When I was looking through my box of embossing powders I came across my jar of Iridescent Ice Stampin’ Emboss Powder, and I knew that I wanted to use it with the Gorgeous Grunge set. I haven’t used this embossing powder in a long time and I’m not sure why that is. I’ll definitely be using it again soon.

I stamped the white base with Versamark ink using the “skid-mark” stamp in the set, and then embossed it with the Iridescent Ice embossing powder. It is hard to photograph sparkle, but it really does provide a sparkly, cool effect in real life. The effect really isn’t grungey at all — I think it is pretty and glittery.

Enjoy your Thursday and be sure to come back tomorrow for another Gorgeous Grunge project. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Make a Wish
Ink: Coastal Cabana, Pumpkin Pie
Paper: Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, In Color dsp stack
Embellishments: Iridescent Ice Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons, White Baker’s Twine, Apothecary Accents framelits

Grunge and Hexagons — FMS97

Posted on July 31, 2013 by amyoneillblog

It’s Wednesday and that means it’s time for another sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches, and the super talented, Artisan Award Winning, Jennifer Timko has a fun sketch for us.

In keeping with the Gorgeous Grunge theme this week, I used that stamp set and the Six-Sided Sampler set (the hexagon set). I was slow in getting this set, but now that I have it, I’m having a hard time not using it all of the time.

I’m not sure why, but I’ve had a hard time using the Modern Medley dsp. At convention, it seemed like all of the stamping demonstrations included this dsp — everyone raved about it. So I’m determined to give it a fair shake and use it. And I must say, that I like it on this card. I like it with the softer colors.

I hope you’ll join us in this sketch challenge at Freshly Made Sketches. You can see what the other designers made here. Come back tomorrow and I’ll have another Gorgeous Grunge project for you.

Enjoy your Wednesday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Six-Sided Sampler
Ink: So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz, Coastal Cabana, Calypso Coral, Basic Black
Paper: So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz, Coastal Cabana, Crisp Cantaloupe, Very Vanilla, Modern Medley dsp
Embellishments: Honeycomb embossing folder, Hexagon punch, Basic Rhinestone Jewels (colored with a black Sharpie), staple

A Gorgeous Grunge Scrapbook Page

Posted on July 30, 2013 by amyoneillblog

I don’t show scrapbook pages very often (mainly because I don’t make them very often anymore :)). I made this page for the Convention display boards, and used the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set and a couple of others. I used the This and That Epic Day dsp, which is a perfect dsp to use with the Gorgeous Grunge set — it looks like they were made for each other.

I also used the That’s the Ticket stamp set and coordinating punch for an accent. The large glimmer paper letters are from the Typeset Alphabet Bigz dies, and the alphabet which runs down the side is from the Designer Typeset Photopolymer stamp set.

Here’s a closer look at the Gorgeous Grunge set in action in the bottom corner. It also shows the very fun Remember This and That Rotary Stamp, which I think is a must-have for any scrapbooker.

I have been very touched by all of the kind comments I received yesterday. Thank you! If you missed it, I am giving away some blog candy to celebrate my first year anniversary of blogging. See yesterday’s post for a chance to win.

Enjoy your Tuesday! Come back tomorrow and I’ll have another Gorgeous Grunge card for the new Freshly Made Sketches challenge. Thanks for stopping by!

One Year Anniversary and Blog Candy

Posted on July 29, 2013 by amyoneillblog

Today marks the one year anniversary of this blog. I don’t know why it took me so long to start one, but it’s hard to believe a whole year has gone by. One of the reasons I drug my feet a little was that I thought no one would come visit my blog. There are so many talented stampers out there that have been blogging for a long time and I didn’t think anybody really needed one more. Well, boy have I been surprised!

Since I’m a numbers person (I was a CPA before kids), I thought I’d share some numbers with you:

325 posts
278,00 views
626 blog subscribers

What I can’t count are the number of supportive, encouraging, and kind comments I’ve received over the past year. I have truly been amazed and honored to receive all of them.

I thought that a first anniversary deserves some blog candy, don’t you? If you are a U.S. resident, please leave a comment at the end of this post and I’ll randomly select a winner to post on Saturday. You must comment on THIS post, and it must be left by Saturday, August 3rd at 6 p.m. CST to be eligible to win. Here is what will be included in the blog candy:

The blog candy includes two rolls of Gingham Garden washi tape, a packet of Bakers’ Twine, Hung Up Cute Clips, a packet of Rhinestone Basic Jewels, and a Print Poetry dsp stack. Come back on Sunday to see if you’ve won. The winner will need to send me her/his address so I can mail the blog candy.

Well, if you’re still with me, I do have another Gorgeous Grunge card to share today. As I mentioned yesterday, I’ll be featuring this stamp set all week.

I added a strip of Island Indigo card stock, which was embossed with the chevron embossing folder to the side. I embossed the sentiment from Sweet Essentials with Pewter Stampin’ Emboss powder, and added some Rhinestone Basic Jewels to a couple of Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons.

I’ll be back tomorrow with another Gorgeous Grunge project. Enjoy your Monday! Thanks for stopping by!

Gorgeous Grunge Week

Posted on July 28, 2013 by amyoneillblog

I thought it might be fun to feature one stamp set for the whole week, showing different projects made with this stamp set. I’m hoping this will show how versatile some stamp sets truly are. I thought I’d start with the Gorgeous Grunge set.

This is a card I made for the Convention display boards. I used the Designer Typeset Photopolymer set for the speech bubble and sentiment. The multi-colored stripes were stamped twice with the stripes stamp in the Gorgeous Grunge set and were colored with markers. I used my 2-Way Glue Pen and some Dazzling Diamonds to add a little sparkle to the splatters.

One of the things that I love about this stamp set is that you can’t really mess up. If you don’t stamp something straight, it doesn’t matter. Another thing I love about this set is that there is a great assortment of splatters and messy stripes.

Gorgeous Grunge

Item # 130517 (clear) $17.95
Item # 130514 (wood) $24.95

Come back tomorrow for a chance to win some blog candy as I mark my first anniversary of blogging. I’ll have another Gorgeous Grunge project to share as well.

Enjoy your Sunday! Thanks for stopping by!

Convention Make & Takes — Part 1

Posted on July 25, 2013 by amyoneillblog

One of the things I love about Convention is that we are given some great Make & Take packets. In the past, I have made the projects at Convention and brought them home. But this year, we decided to call them Take & Makes, and we didn’t make them at Convention, but brought the packets home and made them at home. I’ll share three of them with you today.

This first project is a cute little Tag a Bag Gift Bag that was made into a gusseted sack and decorated with the Tag a Bag Accessory Kit and the Tag It stamp set. I love the little clothes pins that come in the accessory kit.

This second project is a fun card decorated with the Gorgeous Grunge Stamp Set and the Hello, Lovely stamp set. I love the little bit of glimmer paper on it.

This last project that I’m sharing today is one of the Tag a Bag Gift Boxes. It is decorated with the Hello, Lovely stamp set and some handmade feathers. Very fun!

I’ll share the fourth project with you in another post later. It requires a few pictures and I didn’t want to make this post too long.

Enjoy your Thursday! Thanks for stopping by!

A Convention Group Swap

Posted on July 18, 2013 by amyoneillblog

Well, here I am in Salt Lake city, and I can’t wait for Convention to start this evening. One of the things that I love most about Convention is getting to see stamping friends that I don’t get to see very often. I am blessed to belong to a really fun and talented group, and we always plan a card swap for convention. We had our swap last night, and this is what I made for the swap this year.

Enjoy your Thursday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Chalk Talk
Ink: Crushed Curry, Gumball Green, Calypso Coral, Pool Party
Paper: Pool Party, Gumball Green, Very Vanilla, I am Me dsp
Embellishments: Chalk Talk framelits, Extra-Large Oval punch, Very Vintage Designer Buttons, Calypso Coral Baker’s Twine, Epic Day This and That Designer Washi Tape

Grungey Thanks

Posted on July 13, 2013 by amyoneillblog

I tell ya, this Gorgeous Grunge set is one fun set with which to play! I may have gotten a little carried away with it on this card, but it was so fun I couldn’t stop. This is my favorite color combo right now — Strawberry Slush, Coastal Cabana, So Saffron, and Basic Gray.

Enjoy your Saturday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Chalk Talk
Ink: Strawberry Slush, Coastal Cabana, So Saffron, and Basic Gray
Paper: Whisper White
Embellishments: Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Chalk Talk framelits, Strawberry Slush 3/8″ Ruffle Stretch Trim, White Baker’s Twine

A Multi-layered Flower

Posted on June 30, 2013 by amyoneillblog

It’s so quick to make multi-layered flowers like this one when you have punches to help you out. I used a watercolor brush and Crisp Cantaloupe ink to color some watercolor paper, which I punched out with the Pansy punch. I also used the new Dictionary background stamp to stamp Baked Brown Sugar ink on the Baked Brown Sugar card stock. The splatters come from the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set. This is a note-card sized card — 3-1/2″ x 5″.

Last week was my last as a guest designer for the Paper Players. I don’t really have to worry about withdrawal too much though, as I still plan on participating in many of their challenges as a participant. You just won’t see my cards for that posted here on Sundays anymore. You can go check out what the challenge for this week is here.

Enjoy your Sunday! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Dictionary, Gorgeous Grunge, Banner Greetings
Ink: Baked Brown Sugar, Crisp Cantaloupe
Paper: Pistachio Pudding, Crisp Cantaloupe, Baked Brown Sugar, Very Vanilla, Venetian Romance dsp, Watercolor paper
Embellishments: Secret Garden framelits, Pansy punch, Boho Blossoms punch, Blossom punch, In Color Boutique Details

It’s a Dahlia Day

Posted on June 8, 2013 by amyoneillblog

I got my order of new catalog items and had a little time to play with it today. One of the stamp sets at the top of my wish list was the Regarding Dahlias set. Not only do I love the floral image (I’m such a sucker for floral images), but I love the sentiments as well. They will be well used I’m sure.

I stamped the dahlia on watercolor paper with Calypso Coral ink, and then took my watercolor brush and Crisp Cantaloupe ink and colored in the petals. I then just used some water in my brush to dilute the colors a bit and blur the image slightly. I then applied Dazzling Diamonds on top. I used another stamp set, Gorgeous Grunge, to make the splatters.

Enjoy your Saturday! I am one project away from being finished with my convention display samples (23 down, and just one to go). Then I need to take pictures of them all so I can share them with you after convention next month. Whew! It will be such a relief to box them all up and ship them to Utah.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Regarding Dahlias, Gorgeous Grunge
Ink: Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, Smoky Slate, Basic Black
Paper: Smoky Slate, Pool Party, Whisper White, Watercolor paper, I Am Me dsp
Embellishments: Tea Lace Paper Doilies, Dazzling Diamonds Stampin’ Glitter, Calypso Coral Baker’s Twine, Smoky Slate 3/4″ Chevron Ribbon, Subtles Designer Buttons, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack