ATB - Artist Trading Block - Swap

Hiya folks! I recently participated in ATB (artist trading block) swap over at Craftster. The block had to be the same height and width as an ATC, with the added depth of 1.5". The Husband whipped out the power tools and made me a bunch, plus cut a hole right through this one!

Nurture. The wooden letters were colored with an olive Copic.

The eggs were made using paper clay. I painted them bone and the speckled with browns.

Thanks for visiting today!

Cheers,

Susan

Painted Ladies

Hello crafty friends! Hope you're having a wonderful weekend. I spent the last few days tooling around with my sister in Washington, DC. It was crazy warm - perfect to walk around in (I won't tell you about the wind, though). We found a few old treasures, but the best part was getting together - it's been a year and a half!

Today I want to share a card featuring painted chipboard butterflies. I used Jacquard Lumiere acrylic paints, and Ranger's Liquid Pearls and Stickles. The antennae are made from craft wire.

And here's a detail from the inside:

I really love the rich colors of Prima's "Fairy Flora" paper line! The vine is from a Cheery Lynn metal die, called "Fanciful Flourish".

Thanks for visiting today!

Cheers,
Susan

TBS DT: Closet Inspiration

Happy Monday to all my crafty friends! This week the Beary Scrap design team is showing you new inspiration for our current "Find Inspiration In Your Closet" challenge. When I stood in my closet I was struck by how... er ... boring my wardrobe is these days. I wear a lot of black and khaki and don't go in for the fun and funky detailing you see on a lot of fashion these days. (Oh boy do I sound old!) In lieu of the fancy stuff and avoiding the flowery knickers in my girly drawer (for your sake, really), I decided to love all over my purple and green plaid linen bathrobe. Hey! It's not as dorky as it sounds!

Click for a bigger view!

I adore Prima floral papers and was happy to find a few that coordinate with the ol' cover-up. :) The bird and cage were made using a Tim Holtz/Sizzix die. The bird from a scrap of Prima paper and the cage from really thin cherry wood paper.

Card Recipe

• Paper: Prima 6x6 paper stack - Fairy Flora; Bazzill Basics; cherry wood paper for the cage
• Medium: Ranger Distress Ink in Victorian Velvet, Vintage Photo, Bundled Sage; Stickles in Picket Fence and Star Dust
• Embellishments: White Mulberry Paper Roses colored with Distress Inks; Seam Binding; die cut branches; crochet lace from stash
• Adhesives: Fabri-Tac; 3D Glue Dots in 1/8" and 1/16"

Thanks for visiting today! Please join our current challenge - you could win a $20 gift voucher from The Beary Scrap!

Cheers,
Susan

TBS DT: Travelin' Teddy

Hi there crafty friends! Happy Monday to you. Before I chat up this week's project, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to Guest Designer Brenda, who posted her last project this past Saturday. Sweetie, thank you so much for bringing such fun projects to our challenges. You and I have very different styles yet I learned something new from you almost every week over the last 3 months. It's been amazing to see what you design, and I am completely honest when I say you've taught me to think differently. Thanks Brenda!

This week the design team is continuing with our DIY embellishments to go along with our Do It Yourself Embellishment challenge. Seeing all the different embellishments by the design team last week was very inspiring to me!

For today's project I decided to make a mulberry paper "Tear Bear" as my DIY. It's been a looong time for me - at least a year! You may not know this, but Tear Bears are what brought me to The Beary Scrap in the first place. I was a novice bear maker and our very own Kimm was incredibly patient while I learned. I peppered her with a million questions and she answered every one of them with kindness. These days the Beary Sweet Designs acrylic patterns make it *so easy* to whip up a Tear Bear, and the written instructions HERE are brilliant.

I used the Tattered Teddy pattern on this card. Since Tattered Teddy came out, I've been playing around with the idea of making him slouch against a dress form die cut on a very shabby chic styled card. It turned out that my dress form die is too small for Teddy, so I went in a different direction with this project. (One day I will do it, but with the Baby Bear pattern instead.)

Here's Travelin' Teddy, working his way around the globe!

Card Recipe

• Paper: Prima 6x6 pad - Botanical; Mulberry paper in "Caramel" and "White"; Bazzill Basics; suitcase printed on textured Canson Mi-Tiente paper
• Medium: Ranger Distress Ink in Vintage Photo
• Embellishments: Beary Sweet Designs Tattered Teddy acrylic pattern; Mulberry Paper 16mm white roses and rose buds; Tim Holtz Filmstrip Ribbon; Kaisercraft pearls; lace, pink flower, charms, ribbon from stash
• Tools: Complete Tear Bear Making Kit; Honey Bee scissors; Scor-Pal; sewing machine
• Adhesives: 1/4" Scor-Tape; Fabri-Tac; 1/8" and 1/16" 3D Dots

Thanks for visiting today! Our DIY Embellishment challenge goes on through Thursday night - come play with us! You could win a $20 gift voucher to The Beary Scrap! Thursday is also the last day for Guest Designer Debbie. *sob* It's been a thrill to have both Debbie and Brenda with us for the last 3 months. I can't believe it's almost over. Ladies, thanks for all your wonderfully inspiring projects!

Cheers,
Susan

TBS DT: Nature Challenge

Hello hello! I hope you had a great weekend. Rain threatened but the skies never opened up here, and Sunday afternoon ended up gorgeous. I love spring!

Yesterday we launched our newest Beary Sweet Challenge with a theme of "Nature". I've pulled a few flowers and the butterfly came along - how much more nature can one get? The embossed area in the center is for a photo that slides right in the top.This is for a friend to give as a gift - how nice!

This is part of a set for a friend to give to a bride and her mother. You can see the first "card frame" on last week's post HERE. By the way, if you saw it last week in it's not-quite-finished stage, check it out now. It's finished and so much better! *grin*

Card Recipe

• Paper - Prima 6x6 pack - Fairy Flora
• Medium - Ranger Distress Ink in Walnut Stain; Stickles Star Dust
• Embellishments - 10mm white mulberry rose and other mulberry flowers from my stash; The butterfly is cut from a Prima Vine; Kaisercraft Pearls; lace from stash
• Adhesives - Scor-Tape in 1/4" and 1/8"; 3D Dots in 1/16" and 1/8"
• Tools - Scor-Pal; Ranger Ink Blending Tool

Thanks for stopping in today. There are 2 weeks to enter your Nature-inspired project in our challenge - you could win a $20 gift voucher from The Beary Scrap! See you there!

Cheers,
Susan

TBS DT: May Sketch - Framed

Hello hello and happy Monday to you! We're smack dab in the middle of our May sketch challenge and the design team is bringing more samples to tickle your fancy and get your creative juices flowing. This week we're adding a little extra design team challenge - embossing.

My project is sorta kinda still in the works. We had house guests this weekend and they were way too much fun to steal away for a little crafty time. *wink* Sooo, here's the front of a future easel card. A friend wants a set of frame cards as gifts for a wedding shower. One for the bride and one for the bride's mom. How nice!

The wedding colors include a teal-ish blue, so I went with the deliciously muted tones of papers from the Prima Botanical 6x6 stack. The lace-covered frame has an opening at the top for the photo.

My embossing was done with folders - the dots give the blank "pre-photo" area a little interest, and the embossed swirl above the flower mirror the pearly swirls.

It's hard to see in this photo, but the easel panel on the bottom has the same swirl embossing as the front.

Card Recipe

Paper: Prima Botanical 6x6 stack; Bazzill Basics Truffle and Avalanche
Medium: Distress Ink in Vintage Photo; Distress Stickles in Star Dust
Embellishments: (3)Kaisercraft Pearls in Snow; Flower, lace, pearl swirls from stash
Adhesive: Scor-tape; EK Success 3D Foam Dots in 1/8" and 1/16"

Thanks for visiting - check back all week for great samples from our design team! There's still time to enter your project using our Beary Sweet sketch - you could win a $20 gift voucher to The Beary Scrap!

Cheers,
Susan

CLP #27: July Sketch Challenge!

Hello friends! Here we are at another month - can you believe it? No one ever pressed that big "pause" button for me last month... in fact, I think June flew by faster than May! (Or is it just me getting older? *grin*)

This month the CLP Sketch Challenge #27 is sponsored by Sassy Studio Designs - check out all the sassiness here. This month's winner will have their choice of 4 Sassy Studio digital stamps!

Welp, Chelsea didn't disappoint on the July sketch (has she ever?!). This is another fabulous one! Way back, many moons ago our lovely Chels offered up a sketch with a similar curve to it. I was intimidated by the curve and hemmed and hawed over even trying it. I finally jumped in and gave it a whirl and boy was I pleased with myself! Not only did I conquer a fear, I did with a little bit 'o flair, too.  ::pause while I pat myself on the back:: *ahem*

Anyway, when I saw this sketch I *knew* I could ride that wave, so to speak.

... and the beautiful sketch:

I stayed pretty true to it, with the exception of the detail in the top left corner. That's always been my pleasure with sketches - staying close to the original design. Sometimes it's a challenge, and sometimes it just falls right into place. This card definitely fell into place easily!

I used Prima papers won as part of a CLP challenge in January... yes, I've been hoarding them! It's sort of poetic that they end up on a CLP DT card many months later, no? I definitely have embossing on the brain, and it spilled out onto this card. Three of the four visible layers were embossed on the Wizard with Cuttlebug folders. I can't believe I don't reach for these more often - I just love the textures!

I've set aside my Prismacolor pencils and experimented with distress inks once again. I'm really happy with this effort and will definitely continue as I build up my collection. I'm turning into a Tim Holtz junkie and now have a spreadsheet I can access on my phone with all the colors and types. This way I'll always know which pad/refill/stickles/crackle I have and can buy on the fly without repeats... It's a sickness, I tell ya!

Anyway, I've use a Dusty Attic music note die cut, painted white and then Stickle'd with Icicle. If you haven't discovered DA yet, go RIGHT AFTER you comment here and check 'em out. *grin*

Here's the full inside - I love the easel style card by don't really love the signature panel, so I tucked it behind the easel this time.

Now that I've loaded you up on photos, I'll bid adieu and wish each and every one of you a happy weekend. Here in the States it's Independence Day on the 4th. We're spending a long weekend with the in-laws in another state and will be on a boat in a lake watching fireworks. I'm excited! Safe travels to you all!

The CLP July Sketch Challenge runs from July 1 - July 31, and you can get all the wonderful details and enter your project here! Good luck, and can't wait to see your beauties!

Challenges

• Stampavie #101 (7/14)  - Sparkling (wings are covered in sparkly shiny Stickles Star Dust)
• Pile It On #25 (7/3) - Paper: Fold it, bake it, do something to it (I've embossed the heck out of it!)

Cheers,
Susan