Happy Halloween Surprise!

I don't often have a reason to make anything besides cards, but I really wanted to do something nice for both my home health aide and nurse to let them know I appreciate how much they spoil me. Since it's Halloween time and I have both tins and Hershey's nuggets, I decided to put them all together and make a small box of chocolates for each of them.

Close-up of the tag:

I had such fun coloring the jars and pumpkins with my Spectrum Noir pens, which I don't use nearly enough. I found the designer series paper around the nuggets and on the belly bands behind the main images in my stash. Really, there's not much more to say, it's such an easy project! The hardest part was staying under my aide's radar since she's everywhere and notices everything. Oh, and not saying "neener neener, I have a secret" to either of them, as that would only have ended in me spoiling the surprise.

At any rate, they both loved their gifts and were duly surprised. Since they both have kids, the hard part for them will be to enjoy the chocolate for themselves!

To those of you who enjoy the holiday, Happy Halloween!

Spooky smiles,
Joyce Spear a.k.a. StamperJoyce
              

World Card Making Day 2016, Part 3

I started this post last week and then promptly forgot about it. Please tell me I'm not losing my mind.

Anyway, these are the last four cards I made to celebrate WCMD with StampNation this year. 

Card 1
The theme for this challenge was Globes, and while there was an inspiration board to gather ideas from, I chose to keep it simple and straightforward. A friend cut some shapes on her Silhouette for me last month, and this was a full card idea in the Silhouette store. I took the cut white pieces of cardstock and sponged ink on them to bring them to life. I computer-generated the sentiments both on the front and inside.

Inside:

Stamps: None

Ink: Real Red, Marina Mist, Gumball Green, Daffodil Delight (SU)

Paper: White (Recollections, Staples)

Accessories: Silhouette, Sparkle pen (Spectrum Noir), Stampin’ Dimensionals (SU)

Card 2

I made this card to meet the first challenge theme given on Friday morning, which was "Where in the world...?" The idea was to showcase our home countries by featuring some element that reminds us of them. Being from the USA, I wanted to do a 4th of July themed card, and was excited to pull out my Pyrotechnics stamp set from The Ton. I'm really pleased with how this turned out. I used glittery embossing powders for the fireworks, and they shimmer a LOT when the light hits them. Before I embossed, though, I used distress inks to color the background. The city skyline is one of the things my friend cut for me on her Silhouette. (I think I might have to get one of those things or something similar!) I love the sentiment, which came with fireworks stamp set.

Inside:

Stamps: Pyrotechnics (The Ton)

Ink: Squeezed Lemonade, Fossilized Amber, Spun Sugar, Victorian Velvet, Tumbled Glass, Blueprint Sketch, Chipped Sapphire, Wilted Violet (Ranger Distress Inks), VersaMark (Tsukineko)

Paper: Distress Watercolor (Ranger), Basic Black (SU)

Accessories: Citiscape Border (Silhouette store), Blue, Red, Copper, and Silver Fire Opal Double Delight embossing powder (Embossing Arts), Glimmering Gold embossing powder (SU), Detail Gold embossing powder (Stampendous)

Card 3

The challenge theme for this card was Maps, and I was baffled when I first saw it... until an outdated map of my old stomping grounds when I lived in Wisconsin fell into my lap while I was going through some old papers. I noticed there was lots of orange, yellow, and green on the map; and then it occurred to me to make an Autumn-y leaf collage. I mixed the leaves I cut from the map with ones I stamped from the Stampin' Up set Lighthearted Leaves. I created my collage on a background of Brutus Monroe watercolored paper, sponged some of the leaves, and then used two of the stamps from The Ton's Pyrotechnics set (which I hadn't yet put away after making the previous card) to gold emboss some areas of texture on top of everything. I then cut a hole in the panel and gold embossed 'For You' in that space. The last step was to adhere the panel to the card base with Stampin' Dimensionals. The card turned out better than I expected!

The inside is simply a strip, leftover from when I cut the panel down to size, along one side of a stitched layer of Whisper White.

Stamps: Lighthearted Leaves, Thoughtful Branches (SU), Pyrotechnics (The Ton)

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Soft Suede, Cajun Craze, Tangerine Tango, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Garden Green, Crushed Curry, Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant (SU), VersaMark (Tsukineko)

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White (SU), Watercolor Elements Paper Pad (Brutus Monroe), Old map of Waukesha, WI

Accessories: Leaves dies (SU), Detail Gold embossing powder (Stampendous), Stampin’ Dimensionals

Card 4

I had planned for the previous card to be the last of my WCMD creations, but then a friend from StampNation requested that we create and send cards for his neighbor's mother who is turning 100 on November 2. (I can't even imagine being alive that long. Wow!) It immediately occurred to me to use bright primary colors since she'll probably already be getting a lot of sweet pastel colored floral cards for her birthday. Not long after that I remembered that a lot of countries use the primary colors for their flags - and then I realized my card would fit perfectly for the Flag challenge!

Inside:

Yep, I had to use the Pyrotechnics stamp set just one more time before putting it away. I couldn't get the fireworks to shimmer for the photo, but they will definitely flash when she opens the card. I wrote a personal note to the birthday girl and sent it off to my friend with hopes that it will bring a smile when it reaches the centenarian.

Stamps: Number of Years (SU), Pyrotechnics (The Ton)

Ink: Real Red (SU)

Paper: Real Red, Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White (SU)

Accessories: Sunburst thinlits, Large Numbers framelits (SU), Celebration Words: Script (Sizzix), Stitched Rectangles die (SSS), Stitched Circles dies (SSS); Blue, Red, and Silver Fire Opal Double Delight embossing powder (Embossing Arts), Glimmering Gold embossing powder (SU), Stampin’ Dimensionals

* * * * * * * * * * * *
This wraps up almost a month's worth of World Card Making Day projects. I did nine out of twelve challenges, which I think is pretty respectable, although I would have loved to do all twelve. I may come back to the remaining three challenges at some point and finish them up just to be able to say I did.

What's coming next? you ask. Tomorrow I will be posting a couple of small gifts I made to give to my nurse and home health aide, and then I need to make a few cards for birthdays or 'Thinking of You.' And then the fun begins... time to get started making holiday cards! I'm really looking forward to putting on the Christmas music, making some hot chocolate, and rolling up my sleeves to get busy!

Thanks for sticking with me! I know this was a long post, but I do appreciate that you took the time to look.

Big Smiles,
Joyce Spear a.k.a. StamperJoyce
         

Hello, Fabulous!

Here's a card I made last night in answer to My Favorite Things' Weekly Sketch Challenge (#MFTWSC302) - with a sketch too simple to pass up:

The sketch itself looks like this:

Could it be any easier? I told myself that since the sketch is so uncomplicated, this would be the perfect opportunity to give myself some practice with CAS (Clean and Simple) - a style which does not come naturally to me, creatively or practically. (Some days I think I can make just the simple act of *breathing* challenging, lol!) 

I kept the colors to simply black and white with some silver bling. The designer series paper I used is from Stampin' Up, as are the silver glimmer paper and the silver enamel elements. The "hello" is from the Hello World stamp set just released by Catherine Pooler Designs. The fabulous "fabulous" was cut from a die by Brutus Monroe.

Even as I write this I'm resisting the urge to add some clear Wink of Stella or Real Red or Flirty Flamingo marker to the background hearts... but I won't. ;)

* * * * * * * * * * * *
I have three more World Card Making Day 2016 cards to show you, so that will be an upcoming post, as will Splitcoast-stampers' SCS615 tomorrow. StampNation offered a total of twelve challenges for WCMD. I've finished eight so far, and I still have hopes that I can complete the remaining four... but we shall see. If anyone has extra hours in their days, could they please send them to me?

Fabulous smiles,
Joyce Spear a.k.a. StamperJoyce
                    

World Card Making Day 2016, Part 2

I made two cards during WCMD weekend, both pretty simple.

Card 1

This was for the 4:00 challenge on Friday, and the theme was Land - in other words, greenery found on the land, images of the countryside, etc. I decided to focus on trees and use the Stampin' Up! set Totally Trees.

Stamps: Totally Trees; Live, Love, Grow (SU)

Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Crushed Curry, Gumball Green, Rich Razzleberry, Tempting Turquoise, Real Red (SU)

Paper: Gumball Green, Whisper White (SU)

Accessories: Decorative Dots embossing folder (SU), Brights and Regals Enamel Shapes (SU), Stampin’ Dimensionals (SU)

Card 2

I made my final card for the weekend for the final challenge over at StampNation, which was All About the Weather. Predictably, I chose to work with a rainbow.

Stamps: Hello Sunshine (Pink Paislee), Strokes of Wisdom (Raisin Boat), Collectable (My Mind’s Eye)

Ink: Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Cucumber Crisp, Pacific Point, Soft Sky, Wisteria Wonder (SU), Lavender Fields (Altenew)

Paper: Cucumber Crisp, Whisper White (SU)

Accessories: Scallop Circle punches (SU), Stitched Circle die (SSS), Brights Enamel Shapes (SU), Crystal Clear sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)

* * * * * * * * * * * *

I've done five of the twelve challenges so far, and hope to do a few more yet. In order to be eligible for prizes at StampNation from our generous sponsors, our cards must be submitted by October 22nd. I'm hoping things will be pretty quiet around here so I can focus my efforts.

So how did you celebrate World Card Making Day? Did you do anything special? I'd love to hear from you in the comments!

Big Smiles,

Joyce Spear a.k.a. StamperJoyce

                    

World Card Making Day 2016, Part 1

This year WCMD weekend turned out to be a blast for me! I had fun being a Guest Designer on StampNation and making a couple inspiration cards in advance for the event, and then I even was able to make a couple of cards during this weekend. I probably could have made more than I did, but I spent a lot of time looking at the cards everyone else posted - and WOW! The creativity blew me away! The quality of the cards is top-notch, and the quantity is unbelievable! One of the StampNation Sistahs counted 208 cards before the last challenges were even announced. Can you believe it?

Anyway, today I'm sharing the three cards that I submitted as a Guest Designer, along with some "almost" cards that didn't quite make the cut.

Card 1
This card was made for the "Take Flight!" challenge which went live at 8:00 on Saturday morning.  I made two versions of this card - the original and a do-over. On the original I brought out my Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors to color die cuts of the hummingbird and flowers:

I wasn't feeling very confident about how they turned out, so I did the card over again using colored cardstock.

I decided to make the second card more interesting by spattering some metallic copper watercolor paint across the card front. You can see this better in a close-up":

Stamps: Strictly Sentiments 2 (WPlus9)

Ink: Pool Party (SU), Onyx Black (VersaFine)

Paper: Gumball Green, Real Red, Whisper White (SU)

Accessories: Hummingbird die (Cheery Lynn Designs), Flourish Thinlit dies (SU), Stitched Rectangles die (SSS), Circle Scallop punches (SU), Meteor Copper (Stargazers Watercolor Palette), Clear Gloss Super Fine embossing powder (WOW!), Brights Enamel Shapes (SU)

Card 2

The second challenge I chose to play with was for 8:00 on Sunday morning, and the theme was "Galaxy Technique." I made several of these cards at once since I wasn't sure I'd nail it on the first try.

This one's not bad, but I do have a splash mark just above the sentiment.

This one also isn't bad, but I had problems with the toothbrush I was using to spatter dripping in all the wrong places.

Here's a close-up of the second card. Pretty groovy, eh?

And finally, here is the card I decided to use for the challenge:

Stamps: Uplifting Thoughts (SSS)

Ink: Mustard Seed, Spun Sugar, Picked Raspberry, Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Wilted Violet, Seedless Preserves, Dusty Concord, Chipped Sapphire, Black Soot (Ranger Distress), Onyx Black (VersaFine), VersaMark

Paper: Distress Watercolor paper (Ranger), Basic Black (SU)

Accessories: White gesso (American Journey), Detail White embossing powder (Stampendous), Stampin’ Dimensionals (SU)

The following card was actually my first attempt at creating a galaxy look, before I went on YouTube and found several instructional videos that resulted in the three cards above. Not too bad for winging it, is it?

Would you believe the moon is not really a stamped image of a moon per se? My genius friend Carey showed me how I could create a moon using Stampin' Up!'s Gorgeous Grunge set and a circle punch! She is so brilliant!

Card 3

The theme for Sunday's noon challenge is Citiscapes. Pretty easy, especially if you have a friend with a Silhouette cutter who volunteers to mail a city skyline die cut to you. (Thanks, Carey!) She sent me several cuts of the skyline, so I layered two together to create some depth. I faded the back one with a bit of Picket Fence (white) distress ink, and glittered the front one with a Spectrum Noir clear sparkle brush marker. It looks much better in person than it does in the photo.

I used a bunch of distress ink colors to create the sky, and I think it turned out rather well. I couldn't resist adding the music notes once I picked out the sentiment.

Stamps: Happy Hello (Whimsy), Uplifting Thoughts (SSS)

Ink: Mustard Seed, Fossilized Amber, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Carved Pumpkin, Ripe Persimmon, Abandoned Coral, Picket Fence (Ranger Distress), Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Paper: Distress Watercolor paper (Ranger), Heavy Whisper White (SU)

Accessories: Cityscape Border die cut (Silhouette), Tuxedo Black marker (Memento), Clear Sparkle pen (Spectrum Noir), Post-it tape (3M), Stampin’ Dimensionals (SU)

* * * * * * * * * * * *
Tomorrow I'll have at least two more cards to show you, and I think you'll like them. :)

Big smiles,
Joyce Spear a.k.a. StamperJoyce