TBS DT: Christmas In July! *tweet tweet*

Hello hello! It's the end of July and -for many of us- the hottest time of the year. While out and about today the car thermostat read 102°! [I am most definitely jealous of all our readers in the Southern Hemisphere right now!] Sooo, what better time than to think Christmas (and cold weather for me)?

This week The Beary Scrap Design Team will celebrate Christmas in July *and* sponsor a Christmas-themed challenge over at ABC Christmas Challenges (starting Wednesday 7/28). Come join us!

This just in: The Beary Scrap is extending the Christmas in July 25% Everything sale through Tuesday! Use discount code JULY25 at checkout to get the sale price on everything you buy - even clearance stuff! Oh, *and* you'll receive a 15% off coupon/code for your next purchase before September 30th. Click HERE now!

I had fun with this card! I LOVE the "Snowed In" line from My Mind's Eye and couldn't wait for this challenge. Here's a bonus for you: It's on sale right now!  

I cut out the bird on the "Merry Christmas" paper and outlined his body and random feathers with Stickles Star Dust. I used a second bird for a popped-up wing - I have to have my 3D! The tree is from the Snowed In Accessory Sheet, which includes loads of other great die-cuts, too. I colored the ornaments with Stickles Star Dust and Diamond. You know Star Dust is my favorite Stickles, and Diamond runs a close second with it's gold tint.

I stamped Merry & Bright with black pigment ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. I love the effect next to the Dew Drops! I crumpled up the tag before stamping, and inked the edges after embossing. In this photo you can also see my Stickles randomness on the birdie.

Ok, one more photo - I trimmed off a bit of the Prima border pack rhinestones to create the bird's Christmas song. Corny... but neat, no? (I have to get this off my chest: in "real life" the birdies tootsies are on top of the tag instead of under it... *sigh*)

Challenges

• Oh, Alice! Chapter 23 (no time limit): Ravens and Writing Desks; or, use a bird :)
• Drunken Stampers #26 (7/30): Christmas in July

Card Recipe

• Paper: Bazzill Basics Truffle; My Mind's Eye Snowed In
• Medium: Stickles Star Dust and Diamond; Color Box Fluid Chalk in Chestnut Roan; Stampendous Clear Detail Embossing Powder and black pigment ink
• Embellishments: MME Snowed In Accessory Sheet; Robins Nest Dew Drops Flame; Prima "Say It In Crystals" Borders in Topaz & Red; Mulberry Paper Roses; MS punch; lace from stash
•  Adhesive: Scor-tape

Thanks so much for visiting today. I don't know about you, but I can't wait to see what the rest of the team comes up with for this theme - love it! If you're in the Christmas mode, too, you can participate in the challenge at ABC Christmas Challenge (starts Wednesday, July 28) and possibly win a $20 gift voucher from The Beary Scrap! Whoo hoo!

And definitely don't forget our sketch for the Beary Sweet Challenge #6 going on right now - click HERE for all the details!

Cheers,

Susan

TBS DT: Yellow, Pink and Brown

Hello hello! Here we are at another Monday, which means another challenge for The Beary Scrap design team. This week we're getting creative with Jamie's color pick:

Yellow, Pink and Brown

I have to admit I was shakin' in my shoes at this combination... until I took a closer look at Basic Grey's Capella line. It's perfect! I paired it with the absolute perfect stamp for this challege - Kraftin' Kimmie's Angry Ballerina. She's in a pig costume - could it get any better?

Challenges

• Midnight Madness #62 (7/19) - Sketch - It's a blend of both sketches

Card Recipe

• Stamp: Kraftin' Kimmie's Angry Ballerina with bonus sentiment
• Paper: Bazzill Basics Truffle; Pink Paislee 365 - yellow layer is from the 6x6 pad; Basic Grey Capella - 12x12 Dolce (large pattern) and 6x6 Crescendo (from the 6x6 pad)
• Medium: Stickles Star Dust; Prismacolor pencils
• Embellishments: Mulberry paper roses; ribbon from flowers my husband sent a while ago... :)

While the design team is challenged with colors this week, *you* can still enter our Beary Sweet Challenge #6: It's Sketch Time! We'd love to see your projects. :)

Thanks for stopping in today - have a great week!

Cheers,
Susan

TBS DT: Emboss It!

Hello hello hello! Thanks so much for visiting me today. Over at The Beary Scrap Design Team blog we're serving up our samples for Beary Sweet Challenge #5 - Emboss It! 


For my project I've chosen the absolutely adorable Penny Johnson bear from Stampavie. This little guy has the sweetest little bear face!

I've embossed the lighter layer with a Cuttlebug embossing folder and the bear with embossing powder. Wanna know what I learned on *this* project? (Ha ha, I make the mistakes so you don't have to!) You CAN emboss two layers of paper that have already been sewn together because you forgot to emboss them before hand...

I use the Spellbinder Wizard and use a sandwich for Cuttlebug folders that includes one thick pad, the tan and magnetic mats, the thin white plastic mat and a piece of cardboard. I was worried that the extra paper layer would either punch holes through everything or make it too difficult to even work through the machine, but no. Yay! Did I mention I already added my Scor-Tape strips to the back, too? (Phew, I was lucky it all worked out OK!)

I used embossing powder on the bear - I've always wanted to try this technique. I used Versafine black pigment ink because I like the fine-ness of it and pigment inks dry slower than dye. This gives enough time to add the embossing powder. Plus, I only have clear embossing powder and needed the black outline. *grin* Anyway... I think he turned out really well, and it adds another layer of dimension to this card.

Oh, and here's an embossing tip: You know those little sacks of somethin' you can buy at craft stores that keep stray embossing powders off you paper? You know, that little magic thing that you rub over your bare paper before stamping that costs a whopping $6? It's just corn starch. Get a scrap of your husband's white t-shirt (he won't even notice), pour cornstarch in it and close it up with a rubber band. Keep that with your embossing supplies and rub it lightly on your blank paper before stamping so those little stray bits just fall off. If you have stubborn ones, keep a teeny tiny paint brush handy to carefully flick them away before applying heat to emboss. Now, go spend that $$ on a Stampavie cutie here! *grin*

As luck would have it, this stamp is sold out right now, but check out his brother bear hanging out with the birds. How can you resist that face?

... Or even the adorable Popcorn the Bear stamps here. Lovin' the bears!

Challenges

• Beary Sweet Challenge #5 (7/14): Emboss It! 
• Midnight Madness #60 (7/5): Sketch
• Magical Crafts #18 (7/10): Flower Power
• Basic Grey #23 (7/9): Photo Inspiration - Greens and cream
• Papertake (7/5): In Stitches
• Craftalicious #3 (7/15): Cute
• Pile It On #26 (7/10): My Favorite Things - my hands-down all-time favorite embellishment is crocheted lace

Card Recipe

• Stamp - Stampavie/Penny Johnson's Bear and Butterfly
• Paper - Bazzill Basics Mocha Divine and Petunia; Basic Grey Capella Timpani, with Dolce from the 6x6 pad; Neenah for the stamp
• Medium - Stampendous Detail Embossing Power in clear; Stickles Star Dust on the butterfly; Glimmer Mist Pearl on the branch; Colorbox Fluid Chalk in Chestnut Roan; Prismacolor pencils with OMS.
• Embellishments - Mulberry roses; Pearls; crochet lace and ribbon bits from the bottom of my closet... really!
• Tools - MS punch; Cuttlebug embossing folder; sewing machine
• Adhesive - 1/4" Scor Tape; Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue for the roses

So that's it for me. Please visit us all week for embossing samples from our wonderful design team. I hope you can find inspiration with us and enter our challenge by the end of the day on July 14th.

BCS #5: Emboss It! 

Thanks for stopping by!

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

TBS DT: A Patriotic Photo Inspiration Week

Hello hello! Here we are on the cusp of Independence Day celebrations with a photo inspiration for our design team challenge.

Isn't this a yummy one? I'm so tickled with this photo - as inspiration it could be used as a sketch, colors, food... I'm excited to see where the design team girls go with this one!

I have to admit that I was going to do food. I've never done a food-related project and thought this would be a good time to try it. I have a bunch of Basic Grey's Nook & Pantry papers and started planning it out in my noggin... *then* I got a sneak peek at Jamie's project (she's vacationing so did hers early) and had a palm-hitting-the-forehead moment!

"Duh!" I said to myself. "I can make something to put on that red magnetic frame thingy I got at a craft fair months ago!" I intended to use it seasonally anyway, and I've only gotten as far as Halloween and Christmas magnets. Of course, this meant I had to take Santa off... *sigh*

Card Recipe

• Image: vintage postcard from an unknown source
• Papers: Bazzill Basics; Pink Paislee 365 Degrees 6x6 pad - Dream Big (front and back designs) and Daydream (back)
• Medium: Glimmer Mist Diamond on the star; Stickles Icicle on the star; Distress Stickles Red Brick on the postcard edges; Colorbox Fluid Chalk in Chestnut Roan on the edges; Distress Crackle Paint in Clear on the postcard top layer
• Embellishments: Robin's Nest Dew Drops; Bazzill Tulle in French Vanilla; and although the red ribbon is hand done, it was absolutely inspired by Pink Paislee 365 Degrees Ribbon Pleats - believe me... if I had those I would have used them instead! Oh, and the rosette is handmade, too.
• Tools and Adhesive: Martha Stewart border punch; Scor-Pal 1/4" adhesive

Here's a photo of it on the wall. My kitchen is black and white with touches of red - the chair back is an extra barstool that hangs out there until we need it. Thanks for the inspiration, Jamie!

Thank *you* for visiting me today. Don't forget The Beary Scrap Design Team still has an open challenge to make a project using Navy, Turquoise and Lime. Get all the details HERE, but hurry! It ends on June 30th. See you there!


Cheers,
Susan

TBS DT: Summer Fun in Paris

Hello friends! I hope you've had a great weekend! Husband and I went to an Antique Boat Show where we saw loads of beautiful wooden boats. While we are die-hard sailors, we fell in love with vintage Chris Craft runabouts from the '30s and '40s. How much fun would those be to cruise around in?

Speaking of fun, the Beary Scrap design team is celebrating all kinds of it this week with our Summer Fun theme!

For Husband and I, this time of year means day trips and long weekends. We go to summer festivals and visit out-of-state family. For others, summer means grander vacations taken while the kidlets are out of school. I don't know if any of you go to exotic locales like Paris, but it looks like my little friend Emilia is on her way!

I have so much to tell you about this card! If you haven't seen the full line of Basic Grey Capella, you are missing out big time. It is truly stunning paper. Here, I've used the 6x6 pad version of Dolce for a smaller pattern. This whole line is full of scrumminess that you'll see a lot of it from me!

See the Paris postage cancellation do-dad? And the little corner dohickey in the bottom right? They are from an Australian company called Dusty Attic. They are paintable die cuts that come in an incredible assortment of beautiful shapes. 

So, this is my first attempt at coloring with Distress inks. It was an interesting experiment, to say the least. Let's just say there's a lot more practice in my future! I tried to do a little correction on her chin and now she looks like she has a 5 o'clock shadow... *grin* When I get an extra hour or so I'll replace her with a clean-shaven version. :)

This card is also my first one made to fit a handful of challenges rather than finding challenges to fit a finished card. I didn't do so well with the monochromatic challenge (harder than I thought!) but did manage to use up a bit of old stash *and* CASE a card made by someone I really admire. I used this beautiful card made by Linda Coughlin, The Funkie Junkie. We were tasked to change at least 2 things - my changes are a different color scheme and relocating the bottom ribbon to the top. Thanks Linda for always being an inspiration to me!

Oh! and speaking of "firsts" this is the first card I've made without my usual white base. This one is Bazzill Mud Pie, one of my go-to colors. I like it... but I miss my white borders, too. The jury is still out. :)

Challenges

• The Beary Scrap - Summer Fun
• Our Creative Corner (6/25) - CASE an OCC Girl
• PaperPlay #24 (6/23) - Something Old (round ring and brown checked ribbon)
• Fussy & Fancy #13 (7/1) - Monochromatic with wings (I reallyreallyreally tried to stay monochromatic - do I get an "A" for effort? *grin*)
• The Shabby Tea Room #15 (6/27) - Cottage Comfort/Photo Inspiration
• Really Reasonable Ribbon #2 (6/30) - Use ribbon as a border

Card Recipe

• Stamp: Kraftin' Kimmie - Emilia with bonus airplane; Vintage postcard from The Vintage Moth
• Paper: Bazzill Basics in Mud Pie; Basic Grey Capella - Dolce from the fabby 6x6 pad and the back side of a 12x12 Mezzo; watercolor for Emilia; Neenah for the plane
• Medium: Tim Holtz Distress Inks; Stickles - Diamond on scarf; Distress Stickles - Scattered Straw on belt, Walnut Stain on the corner do-dad; Colorbox Fluid Chalk; Prismacolor pencils on the airplane
• Embellishments: Lace and ribbon from stash; Tim Holtz filmstrip ribbon; K & Co metal frame; Dusty Attic corner piece and Paris die cut.
• Adhesive: 1/4" Scor-Tape; Fabri-Tac

That's it for me. I'm off to have some Summer Fun of my own. :)

Don't forget - you still have time to enter your project in the color challenge at The Beary Scrap! It's all about navy, turquoise and lime - a yummy color combination! Go here for all the fabby details!

Thanks so much for stopping in today. I appreciate your company and conversation!

Cheers,

Susan

TBS DT: Pear Soap, (The Details)

Yay! Thanks so much to the Allsorts girls for picking my card as one of their Top 5!

Hey hey hey! This fun card was featured over at Little Paper Wagon, too. Thanks ladies!

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Hello hello! I hope everyone is having a great week so far. I've recovered from my whirlwind visit to the Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee. I took a few classes and shopped my wallet bare at the marketplace. It was a blast and I left with a bunch of new skills and ideas. Since being home I've sorted out the laundry and general house stuff... or at least made a "to do" list... *grin* I've also finished this card, with which I am in love and sad to see it go off in the mail yesterday.

This card is a special birthday card for a 78 year old woman who has experienced a very stressful year. Her friends decided to have a "pamper yourself" theme to her birthday gathering and are showering her with pedicures, manicures, massages and facials. Ooh... ahh... Such a delightful group of ladies!

Over at The Beary Scrap Design Team blog we have our BSC #4 new challenge for you: It's the color combination of Navy, Turquoise and Lime. I found this delightful vintage Pears Soap ad in the perfect colors and was tickled that I could use it for my challenge card, too. 

Here's a view of the full easel card:

As you can see, I've layered and Stickle'd the heck out of the Pears ad. Ahhh! I love this image! I'm already itching to use it again. The antennae are homemade with wire, glue, paint and a whole lot of patience. I'm sure there's an easier way, but that goes against my "let's reinvent the wheel!" sensibility. *grin*

While I was browsing the aisles at the Bead and Button show I spied a neat ribbon "necklace". The vendor sewed beads on the top and bottom of a satin ribbon to create a shirred look. You know I had to put my own spin on it!  Lemme tell you it was a handful (but worth it). I think it adds a nice bit of texture and depth. The top pearls are glass and the smaller ones beneath the crocheted ribbon are pearl-lite (read:plastic). The glass ones added quite a bit of heft to the card top - I had to reinforce the small easel part that I've usually left blank. Hmm... I kind of like that effect, too.

(I also like how some card makers use colored card stock as the easel card base, but I'm so wedded to my crisp white edges that I don't think I could try it.) But I digress...

Challenges

• Midnight Madness #58 (6/21) - Sketch (the detail on the bottom of the sketch is represented with the crocheted lace in the "open" position - that's me trying to be clever *grin*) Oh, and I reallyreally want to win the GC to Gurlee Girl... I'm just sayin'...
• Little Red Wagon #33 (6/22) - Beads (the pearls are beads, right?)
• Crafty Creations #72 (6/22) - It's a Stitch-Up! 
• Charisma Cardz #24 (6/23) - All About Bling!
• Stamp Something (6/17) - Happy Something
• Allsorts #56 (6/19) - Lace and/or Buttons
• Our Creative Corner (6/18) - Gotcha Cornered
• Creative Prompts #19 (6/30) - Be Green; The Pears Soap ad was printed on the back of a Strathmore Bristol Board pad cover - the texture is great!

Card Recipe

• Image: The Graphics Fairy
• Paper: Basic Grey Nook and Pantry - Bundt Pan and Pear Tart (on sale now!); SEI Oasis Collection - Caspia and Oasis (also on sale - yay!); printed image and signature panel are recycled from the inside cover of a bristol paper pad - great texture!
• Medium: Colorbox Fluid Chalk - creamy brown and chestnut roam; Stickles Star Dust and Frosted Lace; Glimmer Mist - Pearl
• Embellishments: Mulberry Paper Roses; Basic Grey Capella Ribbon Doilies; miscellaneous from my ever-growing stash o' stuff
• Tools and Adhesives: Scor Tape; Scor Pal; sewing machine

Thanks so much for popping in today!

Cheers,

Susan