Carbon Copied is Here!

The talented Lynn, from The Mango Boys and Me, and I are playing along with Jay Gee's Nook Challenge #10! Isn't the inspiration collage beautiful?

I'm so excited!

Today marks the first day of a new feature over here on The Bald Dragonfly!

Please let me introduce...

A way for me to get to know you better.

A way for bloggers to get to know each other better and a way for challenges to be recognized! 

An outlet to see the creative possibilities of one stamp set!

Simple, honest to goodness fun!

Here's basically how it works: Same stamp set. Same challenge. Same post date. Same post time.

Lynn and I chose a new stamp set, Iconic Images from Papertrey Ink to feature and one of our favorite challenges, Jay Gee's Nook. If you haven't had the chance to view Lynn's work yet, you are in for a major treat. Her style is classy, her execution top notch, plus, she has four handsome boys! Hop on over to Lynn's blog to see her amazing piece of artwork! Likewise, Judith from Jay Gee's Nook is an exceptional crafter as well and offers up really beautiful inspiration collage challenges, please hop on over and participate!

My version of Carbon Copied features one of the images from the set stamped in some watered down distress ink onto a card panel and then the panel was soaked in the remaining ink. Both the image panel and card base were impressed with a texture for added interest. A simple button and floss completed the look, which was inspired by Maile Belles.

**WINNER**

*There were four guesses of starting my own challenge site from this post. Even though Carbon Copied isn't a challenge just yet, the four gals were the closest! Based on the "Eenie Meanie Minie Moe" factor from my oldest, Andrea M. you are the winner of some goodies! Please email me with your snail mail!*
(Thanks Erin, for helping me develop this idea!)

Are you interested in playing along in Carbon Copied with The Bald Dragonfly? 

I sure would like for you to add your name and blog address in the link tool below  so I can coordinate a future Carbon Copy post with you!

Wings of a Butterfly

"May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun
And find your shoulder to light on,
To bring you luck, happiness and riches
Today, tomorrow and beyond."

Skipping Stones Design is offering up another great sketch (#88) designed by the terrific  Teri Anderson for this week's challenge! To find out all the challenge details, discover what your cool prize could be and for awesome inspiration samples, head on over to the Skipping Stones Design Blog! 

Today's card once again features misting and the gorgeous butterfly from Victorian Summer. I sprayed an entire sheet of white cardstock with various inks and trimmed out an interesting portion for use as a base for the stamped butterflies. A separate banner was fashioned from a plain piece of cardstock and a stamped phrase from Dandelion Dreams and tucked behind the image panel to complete the card.

***ALSO***

Each day this week, May Arts will be introducing the new May Arts Designers....or otherwise known as 'The Ribbonistas'! You have a chance to win 3 spools of your choice of May Arts Ribbon by leaving a comment to welcome the new designers!

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: (White) Office Max

Stamps: (Victorian Summer, Dandelion Dreams) Skipping Stones Design

Ink: (Tuxedo Black) Momento

Other: (Mr. Huey Mists) Studio Calico

Three Cheers

Sweet. 

Fun. 

Ultra talented.

 

Today is a special day! It's Amy's birthday. Three cheers for Amy!

Happy Birthday Amy!

Channeling Amy's awesome use of patterns, I pulled out some patterned washi tape and created a few flags flying in a breeze of numbers. The poles were fashioned by threading twine through a punched hole and adhering to the back. A sentiment from Lawn Fawn's Sophie's Sentiments was stamped in the true color of distress ink. I created a washi tape border on the card base as well, and adhered the flag panel with dimensional adhesive. Did you hear that the Lawnscaping Challenge is all about distressing this week? I {heart} this challenge as much as I {heart} Amy as a blogging pal!

Only after I was done with the distressing and flags, I realized I could have,

and should have,

used a lot more bright colors for the dear sweet Amy!

It's the thought that counts, right? Please help me celebrate Amy and stop by

her blog and wish her a happy birthday!

Supplies Used:
Paper: (Kraft) PTI
Stamps: (Another Year) Practicing Creativity, (Sophie's Sentiments) LawnFawn
Ink: (Vintage Photo) Ranger
Other: (Twine), (Washi Tape)

Bird on a Wire

My thirty minute ride to work is my quiet, contemplation time and I often enjoy seeing the birds on the wire. Especially the morning dove couples, it makes me have a happy heard when I see two together. On the other hand, I find myself wondering what happened to the mate when I see the solitary dove on a wire and feel a tiny bit saddened at its loneliness.

Today marks the first day of Tiffany Doodle's 7 on the 7th Challenge for August-use kraft paper! I was so inspired by this card I had to try out a version of my own. I printed the Common Yellowthroat Bird Image onto white paper, masked an area and misted his belly, then fussy cut him and adhered him to a kraft panel. The kraft was stamped with a sentiment and then used black floss to resemble a wire.

Today also marks my last day as a Tiffany Doodle's design team member. Tiffany's images are spectacular, and so easy to work with to acheive a variety of styles or with techniques. Thank you Tiffany, for being a great leader and offering up such fantastic images for card makers! I truly had a blast being on your team!

Glitzed Berries

Glitz and glam. Ooh laa laa!

I'm really not that type of girl but every now and then it is fun to pull out some glitter! I'll be honest, the best thing I like about glitter is its ability to show up on my husband's face after he comes in all greasy from changing the oil. I think we'll be seeing a lot of pink specs show up around my house...

 

Get glitzy with glue dots for the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge! Use glue dots to create a background, pattern, embellishment, etc. for your clean and simple project! Challenge details, rules and Girl Friday inspiration can be found on the CAS-ual Fridays Blog. This week's sponsor, you guessed it, is Glue Dots! Can't wait to see your projects and hear about your working relationship with glitter!

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: (Hot Pink) The Paper Company, (Black) Bazzill, (White) Office Max
Ink: (Basic Black Pigment) SU
Stamps: (Woodgrain Silhouette Additions) WPlus9
Embellishments: (Glitter) Martha Stewart, (Sticker Sentiment) SRM Press, (Silver Cord) SU, (Black Enamel Accents) Ranger
Tools: (Adhesive Dots) Glue Dots, (Labesl 4 Nestabilities) Spellbinders

Peek-A-Boo

Something really exciting is coming soon to The Bald Dragonfly!

Look for it to make its debut on Wednesday, August 10th!

Any guesses?*

*Goodies are involved for any comment that is remotely close!

Aluminum Thanks...& a Giveaway!

The desire to create lies deep within her as she pulls out this and that. Her goal this time is to re-create a texture. A bit of stamping here, some more overstamping. Add a touch of distressing. Hmm, something is missing. She searches and searches and then has an ah-ha moment! Yes, some mist, mist will give it the shininess and at the same time, weathered look the panel needs.

I'm so delighted to be invited back as a Guest Designer for Skipping Stones Design! The talented ladies Kryssi, Maureen and Stephanie are also guest designing this month too. Fabulous and cool Teri Anderson has provided some fun sketches to work with. Check out this week's sketch! All the details for the challenge on the Skipping Stones Blog. And did I mention the best part?? You could win a free stamp set!

I wanted to showcase the versatility Grunge this week, one of my absolute favorite Skipping Stones Design stamp sets. Grunge is thee perfect masculine set, but it can be sophisticated and elegant too! So versatile!

I just so happen to have a brand spankin' new Skipping Stones Design Grunge Stamp Set to give away this month! A random winner will be drawn from all comments on each of my Skipping Stones Design Sketch Challenges posts (there will be a total of five in August!)

Looking forward to seeing your creations with this week's sketch!

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: (Soft Stone) PTI
Stamps: (Grunge) Skipping Stones Design
Ink: (Basic Gray Pigment) SU, (Onyx Black Versafine)
Fiber: (Pleated White, Red Burlap String) May Arts
Other: (Black Mist) Shimmerz

Smores

Campfires and smores go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly.

As do smores and sticky fingers...

For a tutorial on making a convenient and cute hand-made package for a no-mess version of smores, head on over to the May Arts Blog!

May Arts has teamed up with October Afternoon and there's a chance to win some paper crafting goodies for visiting!

Bloomers

I heard a knock on the window about this time last year and there were my two boys, standing in the grass looking sweet and innocent, both grinning from ear to ear. There hands held the green stalks of almost ready to bloom pink camellias.

"Look Mama, we pulled some weeds for you!"

Playing along with The Paper Variety this week, I used their tic-tac-toe of Make a Card, Use Pink, and Add Stitching. After coloring the bloom and fussy cutting it out, I adhered it to the card base in just the center. The card base was stamped with the leaves and sentiment, and stitched. A clear rhinestone was colored with the marker to bring the color to the opposite side of the card.

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: (White) Office Max

Stamps: (In Bloom) PTI

Ink: (Tuxedo Black) Momento

Other: (Copic Marker, Thread, Clear Rhinestone)

Long and Short

 
Okay, I'll be the first to admit that the "bosses" through a big project our way for this week's CAS-ual Fridays Challenge and I was skeered! Create a 4x9 card and embrace the white space! Woah Nellie, create a card that isn't standard? Woah, What? Not fill it up with stuff? But never being one to back down I stared down this challenge and came up with the following card.

This size is the perfect size to take to the office and get the tons of swoopy girly signatures for a co-worker during her time of distress. Find out more details about the challenge, read the challenge rules and find tons of Long and Short inspiration from the Girl Fridays at the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog.

Oh, and did I mention that this week's sponsor is Lawn Fawn? Um, yeah, you really need to make a long card now!

Supplies Used:
Cardstock: (White) Office Max, (Very Vanilla, Bashful Blue) SU
Stamps: (Critters in the Sea, Sophie's Sentiments) Lawn Fawn
Ink: (Tuxedo Black) Momento
Other: (Markers) Copic
Tools: (Impression Plate) PTI, (Scallop Border Punch, Hole Punch) Fiskars