Olympic Fever

Well the Olympics started and I'm slightly infatuated with most prime time events. I've been trying to stay off the sites that leave spoiler alerts about who won or did well or didn't do well, but I just couldn't stop the one time my husband came home from work and told me about what he heard on the radio, in a long about way he finished with the results of the event I was watching.

Skipping Stones Design is featuring Cupcake Cutie this month, the absolutely adorable set that allows you to "build" your own cupcake and has the most fun sentiments. Although this card isn't a re-make or re-do of the last card I posted, I do like it much better! Thank you to those that offered advice! Skipping Stones Design has another inspiration picture up for their weekly challenge, you can check out all the details on the Skipping Stones Design Blog! Please stop by to see the amazing samples from the design team, too! I was mainly inspired by the block of colors and fun elements, how will you be inspired?

Sweet on the Inside

I've talked about this before, I think, right here on The Bald Dragonfly. I know others have mentioned it too. We all go through a lull at times, I do believe! Sometimes you just gotta roll with it. Sometimes you end up with something you just aren't fond of (but don't want to chuck because you've already spent a lot of time on it!) Such is the feeling with this card. Perhaps there is too much going on, perhaps the background is fighting with the focal image, perhaps the color ratio is off. Really not sure, but I'd love some critique.

I'm featuring Cupcake Cutie from Skipping Stones Design-a super cute stamp set that lets you build your perfect cupcake and there are some really great mix and match sentiments too. Also playing along with Embellish's Dry Embossing Color Challenge. All but the card base and sentiment panel are embossed.

Variety is the Spice of Life

Variety is the spice of life, and so are challenges, right?! I have a few cards showcased over on the Artful Delight Blog featuring products from July's Card Kit. The July Artful Delight Card Kit goodies contains products with such a soft color palette, and I put that to work here. I honestly love these kits because of the variety of products they offer which allows me to play in challenges that I might have otherwise missed out on. For instance, the lovely Authentique papers from the Delightful Collection included in the kit influenced a card with Authentique's July Sketch Challenge in mind.

Next up, a more simple card that features the stamp set included in the kit as well as the mist and solid cardstock!

Papers from Basic Grey's What's Up Collection included in the kit gave me the opportunity to participate in the Basic Grey Challenge: Things with Wings.

I'll be entering both these cards in the Simon Says Anything Goes Challenge!  There are a few July Artful Delight Card Kits left, you can check them out here!

Thank you so much to those of you that took time out of your day to send me wishes on this post. Have you seen the Rock Your Kit giveaway? Check it out here!

Woosh, I think that is enough variety for one post. I hope you have an excellent day!

Rock Your Kit: Giveaway

The extremely talented Els Brige from be stamped is offering her very first online class and I'm lucky to be able to give away a spot in the class today!

Here's a little bit more about this fabulous class from Els: Rock Your Kit

'Rock Your Kit - the Clippings Edition' is an interactive online class running over 4 weeks. It is a "stretch your kit" kind of class, working with Basic Grey's Clippings 6x6 paper pad, the Clippings Snippets and Chipboard Elements. We will take this kit as far as we can and make layouts, cards, a mini-album and more. After registration, students will receive access to the class blog, on which there will be two new entries a week. Projects will be explained in great detail with videos, downloadable step-by-step instructions and pictures. Class kits are limited, so don't wait too long get yours. The class starts August 15th and ends on September 8th, but can also be followed at your own pace. Content will stay up on the class blog, even after the class is no longer running, and will be accessible at all times.

Basic Grey's Clippings collection is a gorgeous line filled with warm colors, vintage flair, layers, grid patterns, and stitching accents. It is a versatile collection, which fits both male and female. In our class we will stretch this collection as far as possible. Be ready to get inspired and have fun creating!
For more information and registrations: http://bestamped.wordpress.com/online-classes/. (Check out Els' introduction video here.)

Sounds and looks super cool and fun, right? To win a spot in this class, please leave a comment on this post and I will draw one lucky random winner from all comments. (If you've already registered and purchased a kit and win, you will be refunded.) The giveaway will be open for one week and the winner will be announced on August 1st!

The Art of Racing in the Rain

Dear Blog,
It has taken me a week to write this post. There's no craftiness here today-it was absent all week.

I don't understand Cancer. Why does IT make precious beings in our lives suffer, why does IT have to take things from you, without a care in the world? Why is IT the cause of countless questions from two boys whose parents really don't have logical answers? Cancer is bad and I don't like IT.

Don't be mistaken, Dear Blog, I understand that Cancer affects more than just dogs, and IT makes life difficult for so many family members when IT invades their loved ones. But Tulley, well, Tulley wasn't just a dog. He was our wedding gift to each other. He was our first child. (Our practice one before the two legged version came just two short years later.)

Although Cancer took our dog from us long before we were ready, IT can never take the memories away (glow and the dark skeleton shirts on little boys in the dark can me mistaken for predators) and IT can never steal life lessons already learned (you really can eat all your Easter candy in one sitting and not get sick!) and lessons to be learned (loyalty cannot be taken for granted).

There is a phenomenal book called The Art of Racing in the Rain and all I can say is, Dear Blog, that I'm looking forward to shaking Tulley's hand some day.
 
Signed,
Heartbroken

Tulsa Highwater Raleigh a.k.a Tulley
11/03/01 - 07/16/12

an•tic•i•pa•tion

an•tic•i•pa•tion
[an-tis-uh-pey-shuhn] noun
1. expectation or hope

(You should have arrived from Julie Ranae's Blog if you are following the hop!)

I've been waiting to show you Hope Blooms, the stamp set I designed for The Craft's Meow July release, in its entirety, and today's the day!
{My card today is my favorite that I've created for this release too.}

I stamped the blooms in a green ink onto shimmer paper and fussy cut them, after shading with some very light markers. A bit of selective "hiding" of cut marks allowed me to create a longer stem for one of the blooms.
I love the combination of this set with Love Dwells Here, another featured set from this month. There are a lot of tiny tag sentiments that would be perfect. Go check it out!

Today is our blog hop day! It all starts over on The Craft's Meow Blog. Stop by and leave a comment on the designer's blog for the chance to win all six sets from this month's release.  A couple of things to remember for this release: Summertime with Fibi and Lilly is July's Gift with a $50 purchase. You have until 9:00pm PDT, Sunday, June 22nd, to comment on all the stops.
Your next stop is Lindsay Amrhein!

Sneezing on Miss Muffet

**For my The Craft's Meow release post, please scroll down or click here!**

Little Boy Blue, please cover your nose! You sneezed on Miss Muffet and ruined her clothes. You sprayed Mother Hubbard, and now she is sick. You put out the fire on Jack’s candlestick. Your sneeze is the reason why Humpty fell down. You drenched Yankee Doodle when he came to town. The blind mice are angry! The sheep are upset! From now on use tissues so no one gets wet! ~Darren Sardelli

It's Friday! Woo-hoo! The July Artful Delight Kit had the most amazing patterned papers and fun canvas embellishments, to name only a few of the items included! The patterns, colors and overall designs were just perfect for the inspiration photo challenge at Lawnscaping.

I inked up the canvas butterfly with distress inks, and then sprayed it with mist and allowed it to dry. The stamped butterfly comes from another Lawn Fawn set called Flutter By, not the kit from this month (although the set included, Sunny Skies, would have been a fun fit for this card too)! All the paper is from this months kit. I really like the dimension on this card. The wings of the canvas butterfly and paper butterfly, along with the white banner, are curled up a bit.

Leeanne announced the contents of Artful Delight's August Kits yesterday (see the full post here!) and it is another fabulous kit-I can't wait to get it in my hands. Also, there are just a few days left to join in on either the scrapbook or card sketch at Artful Delight (details on Artful Delight's sidebar)!

Cool Summer?

It's been hot, hot, hot! here in Wisconsin this summer. I can't really recall a summer this hot and humid. Our air conditioning went out over the fourth of July and it was most miserable, luckily, a few changes in the settings on the thermostat brought things back to livable conditions.

Mabelle R-O has another stamp debuting this month for The Craft's Meow, Summertime with Fibi & Lilly, which also happens to be July's Gift with a  $50 purchase! I decided to make a nice addition to a plain ol' water bottle by inking up a kraft envelope with to ink up the cute little sand castle included in the set with some fun kitten images, and colored it lightly with pencils. I attached the envelope to the water bottle with some twine, and tucked in a juice packet. Wouldn't these be fun for a children's summertime party or to take along on a family picnic?

Once again, there are some amazing creations over on The Craft's Meow Blog created by the wonderful designers and illustrators, along with our guest designer Naomi that showcase Summertime with Fibi & Lilly. Please be sure to stop by The Craft's Meow Blog for your chance to win this cute set featured today!

Love Dwells Here

Fantastic name for a fantastic stamp set, I do say!  Are you enjoying this month's release from The Craft's Meow? Love Dwells Here is Nina's contribution to The Craft's Meow July Release and it is chock full of fun, trendy mix and match images and patterns.

I drew some inspiration from the current picture up at Runway Inspired Challenge (the geometric pattern and colors (especially the pop of  pink!)).

The card construction goes something like this: I stamped and fussy cut the roof, house and heart from patterned paper and adhered them to a card base that has a slight polka dot impression.  A punched strip of "grass" was added to ground the house and then a sentiment was stamped onto a white panel and adhered to the card base as well. I think this is also a fun take on Moxie Fab Worlds Stamp It! Cards Week Thank You Challenge.

There are some amazing creations over on The Craft's Meow Blog created by the wonderful designers and illustrators, along with our guest designer Naomi that showcase Love Dwells Here. Please be sure to stop by The Craft's Meow Blog for your chance to win this set featured today!

Ellie

My cousin has a little girl that is full of just plain cuteness. She's petite and has these big brown eyes. She's shy but once opens up has s spunk that can never be forgotten. I just love it when I see a stamp for the first time and an image pops into my head that I can relate too!

Mabelle R-O is making her debut with The Craft's Meow with two sets this month, the first being called Sweet Taste of Summer.  Striving for a coloring book style, I inked up the little girl, whom I'm calling Ellie today, in black ink onto white paper and fussy cut her out and placed her onto strips of patterned paper, some of which were die cut with various banner shapes. I added a bit of interest by paper piecing a few choice pieces in her ensemble. (I'm linking this card up to the current CAS-ual Fridays Challenge-Let's Strip and Moxie Fab World's Stamp It! Cards Week: The Birthday Card Challenge.)

Amy Wanford has a really cute set this month too for The Craft's Meow July release, One Scoop or Two. For this card I did some selective paper piecing for the ice cream cone and added the cone to a vellum envelope that had been attached to a patterned paper and card stock base. The sentiment from this set is stuck inside the banner from Vintage Rides, a previously released The Craft's Meow set. (Love how these sets work so well together!) I think it makes for a cute gift card or money holder, and unexpected twist to an everyday thank you card. (I'm entering this is Moxie Fab World's Stamp It!: Thank You Challenge.)

Thank you for all your lovely comments about Hope Blooms, featured in sneak peeks yesterday! There are some amazing creations over on The Craft's Meow Blog created by the wonderful designers and illustrators, along with our guest designer Naomi that showcase Sweet Taste of Summer and One Scoop or Two. Please be sure to stop by The Craft's Meow Blog for your chance to win these sets featured today!

Hope Blooms

**Please scroll down for my Skipping Stones Design post**

When I set out to create the Hope Blooms set for The Craft's Meow July release, I did so with two things in mind: 1. I wanted a photopolymer option of the blooms that were offered as a free digi during The Craft's Meow Birthday Celebration this past year and 2. I wanted a set with some beautiful, deep and thoughtful sentiments-some that we necessarily don't like to use but need to use and then some that might be missing from our regular stash.





I tried a new technique with the blooms on the above card. I first laid down a base of light Copic marker and then shaded with chalk. I really like the effect this creates!

I also really like how the flowers in Hope Blooms have a delicate enough line to them that they are perfect for coloring, yet still bold enough for paper piecing. The stems are also re-positionable as well, and each bloom is a separate stamps, providing endless options! Here's another of the same card but in a different color scheme.

Elizabeta Kushner has a delicate set releasing this month for The Craft's Meow called Ladies & Gents.

I chose to work with the beautiful vintage umbrella, first stamping and heat embossing in white on vellum, inking the backside slightly, fussy cutting, and then adhering it onto a distress inked background that has slightly been misted with Perfect Pearls.

I hope you like what you see of Hope Blooms and Ladies & Gents from the samples today on The Craft's Meow Blog created by the wonderful designers and illustrators, along with our guest designer Naomi, and then when the full sets will be revealed later this week. Be sure to stop by The Craft's Meow Blog for your chance to win these sets featured today!

The Map Quest

Ever been on a search for that particular patterned paper that you knew would be perfect for your challenge? You remember seeing it...somewhere, sometime, but gosh, where is it now? You make even a bigger mess searching for it. Perhaps you are successful, in finding what you were searching for or better yet, discovering something long lost or something that inspires you! Sometimes, you breathe a heavy sigh and succumb to the fact that the paper fairies carried it off never to be seen again.

Skipping Stones Design is offering another fabulous inspiration photo for this week's challenge. Look up the details on the challenge and see great samples from the design team here! I was inspired by the colors and image. I pulled out the fun grungy frame from Grunge 2, a sentiment from Pumpkin Seeds and then the text image from Garden Kiss.

(P.S. I did find what I was searching for, the lovely map paper from Bazzill's Wayfarer Collection!)

Free Ribbon?

The finalists are up on the May Arts Blog and I just read that there is a giveaway going on to let the Ribbon Lady know who your favorites are! The talent and projects on just this one post is amazing! I loved being on this team and sure would like to continue! Leave a comment on the May Arts Blog for your chance to win three free spools of your choice from the summer release!

For the Love of Science

This past school year, I had a difficult time getting my oldest to understand the importance of homework, especially in regards to practicing his weekly spelling words or doing the arithmetic flashcards. I still don't think I suceeded! But, when it came to signing up for summer school classes, he was ever so excited about anything science! I imagine he will be a hands-on learner rather than a book learner.

Today's card, made in mind with the May Layers Challenge over at Young Crafter's Unite...reminds me of the specimen boards I was required to put together in late middle school, although I think this was is much more beautiful! I was intrigued by this challenge because I still wanted to create something clean and crisp, yet meet the requirements of many layers. I've got seven on this card!
1. The base, stamped with the sentiment.
2. The wood grain border.
3. The patterned paper panel.
4. The tag, and custom push pin.
5. The cork label.
6 and 7. The butterfly! (It was stamped and fussy cut twice for added dimension.)

What do you think, did I still manage a clean and simple card?

It's going to be a busy week! I've got a fun Skipping Stones Design post on Tuesday, as well as the start of the The Craft's Meow July Release! My newest set will be debuted on this day! Then, the rest of the week is more fun The Craft's Meow releases, Friday I have a fun project for Artful Delight, and I just might throw in a fun announcement as well! Our family dog is not doing well, so I'm trying to pre-schedule as much as I can predicting that I won't have the time, or heart, to craft.

Itty Bitty

Ever wonder what to do with those itty bitty stamps included in sets? Try reaching outside the box and use them by themselves to create cool and funky backgrounds through multiple stamping!

Over on the Artful Delight Blog I have a quick tutorial to show you two ways on how to do this, both creating a huge impact! Both cards feature the stamps from Lawn Fawn's Sunny Skies, the really fun and versatile set included in this month's Artful Delight card kit! I'm playing along with CASology's first ever challenge too, to incorporate a sun into your CAS project.

 Here's my second card, please stop on over at the Artful Delight Blog for an explanation of what I did!

There's still a lot of time to play along with the two sketches posted on Artful Delight for your chance to win next month's kit! Details are here, I hope you find some time to make a project (or two!)!

Round Two

A favorite photo of your children. Your first published card. A thoughtful note from a friend. A business card that could land you a big promotion. All treasured items not to get lost and should be visible every day! Re-purposed and inexpensive items that you might already have on hand plus some beautiful May Arts Ribbon are all you need to create custom, colorful bulletin board from scratch! This project is for my round two submission for the May Arts Design Team! I really would love to make this team for a second term!

 

First, gather your supplies. I picked up a frame without a backing or glass from my local salvage store for only $.75! (I spray painted it with my color of choice (a pretty blue to match this frame here!) and allowed time for it to thoroughly dry.) To cover the interior of my frame size of 14 x 12 inches, I needed almost a full roll of May Arts ribbon. My choice was woven burlap in natural (I couldn't pass up using this particular ribbon, even though May Arts currently doesn't have it in stock, it matched my decor perfectly! Some other fantastic options include their large wired burlap ribbon here, their 1/2" woven burlap here,  their 1.5" natural burlap striped edge wire here or any of the 5/8" twill here-offered in so many color options!!) The ribbon needs will vary depending on the size of the frame. A piece of foam core, some packing tape and spray paint are the only other supplies needed.

 

Start by cutting your foam core to fit the interior of your frame and cut ribbon that extends 1-2 inches beyond the length and width of the foam core. Cut enough ribbon that when placed side by side, it covers the whole length and width of two sides of your foam core. Keep the ribbon in place by shipping tape on the back side of the foam core.

Weave the ribbon loosely, until the majority of your foam core is covered. Tighten one corner of the weaving, and spray adhesive onto the foam core and press the woven ribbon in place. Continue with one side, the middle and finish at the opposite corner of where you started, being sure to pull tight the weaving as you go! (My mom helped me with this portion, as four hands are better than two!)

Complete the board by securing the loose ribbon with shipping tape on the back side and tuck securely into your new trendy looking frame!  I covered the backside with a roll of brown kraft paper, but you can skip this step if you needed and then also attached a hanging mechanism.

I also created a few, fun custom push pins to my board. This rolled ribbon flower push pin was created by coloring white 1/2" solid/wrinkled ribbon (EA01) with marker, folding the ribbon onto itself lengthwise, snipping the top portion and rolling onto an adhesive backed punched piece of paper, which was then adhered to a trimmed stick pin.

This next cute little flag pin was created by snipping a piece of orange chevron twill (382-34-28) into a banner shape and gluing it onto a stick pin!

Well,  I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial featuring May Arts Ribbon and perhaps even make a bulletin board for your office or craft room! Can't beat trendy, custom, function and thrify decorating! I'd really like to hear your thoughts on my tutorial, so if you have time, please leave a comment!