January Creative Crew!

I am so excited to be a part of the Creative Crew over at Splitcoaststampers for the months of January thru April!  There are four challenges each month, and you can play along too!  Just make sure you upload your cards under the January Creative Crew and tag it with the tags listed under each challenge so they show up in the right galleries. Here are the challenges this month and my interpretation of each challenge:

CCREW0113DF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM -- DSP/Color Focus: We have an embarrassment of riches in the Spring Catalog and Sale-a-bration catalog. Choose YOUR favorite DSP from either catalog, and convince the rest of us to love it too!

I did not have any of the new DSP, so I went with the color combination from Parker's Patterns DSP from the new Spring Catalog.  I am in love with this DSP and can't wait to get my hands on it!  It just looks so versatile.  The colors are so rich!  I decided to use the colors for a masculine birthday card.

I wanted to mimic the chevron design in the DSP, so this background took some work!  I cut strips of each color of cardstock, ran them through the Chevron Embossing Folder, glued them together (carefully lining up the chevrons each time!), then trimmed it to fit my card.  It was worth the work though because I love the results!  I stamped the dump truck twice, once in Daffodil Delight on Daffodil Delight cardstock and once in Early Espresso on Crumb Cake cardstock. I then punched out the wheels, punched a hole in the center and added gold glimmer brads to the centers.  The dirt in the dump truck and the Crumb Cake card base are both spritzed with Early Espresso ink.

 

Stamp Set: I Dig You

Cardstock: Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso, Marina Mist, Not Quite Navy

Ink: Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso

Tools: Color Spritzer, Chevron Embossing Folder, 1" Circle Punch, Handheld Circle Punch, Bitty Banners Framelits

Accessories: Basics Glimmer Brads



CCREW0113CF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM -- Do you remember what it's like to be a beginning stamper and wondering how in the world to create a card with just the basics? Create a card using just stamps, inks and paper that will win over beginner and advanced stampers alike!

For some reason, this one was the hardest challenge for me!  I have been so spoiled by all of the embellishments, punches and Big Shot dies and embossing folders that we now have, I find it almost IMPOSSIBLE to not include at least one of those things on a card!  I decided to make a simple card that could be stepped up with embellishments, etc.

I love the triple-stamped cards I have been seeing, but sometimes it is almost too much and difficult to include a sentiment. I decided to do a similar one-layer stamped card with my favorite stamp set from the current catalog, Everything Eleanor.  This allowed me a nice white space in the middle for my sentiment.  This is a simple card but it could easily be stepped up with some pearls, rhinestones or Dazzling Details on some of those flowers!  If I was stepping it up, I would also include some ribbon and cut-out flowers popped up on Dimensionals. I might just have to add to it and see what you think!

Stamp Sets: Everything Eleanor, Word Play
Cardstock: Raspberry Ripple, Whisper White
Ink: Certainly Celery, Raspberry Ripple, Summer Starfruit
Accessories: Dimensional

CCREW0113HF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM -- Holiday focus: Since it's Stampin' Up's 25th anniversary, make an anniversary card using this sketch.

As soon as I saw this sketch I knew I wanted to use Clockworks. It has all of those random images that are great for layering!



I don't do shaped cards very often but thought this one would be cool with the Window Frames Framelits.  I love how it turned out!  And doesn't the clock go perfectly with the anniversary theme?!  I stamped the Distressed Dots background stamp in Crumb Cake ink on the background to take away some of the stark white space and then stamped the images from Clockworks.  I love random stamping like this because there is no possible way to mess it up! :)

Stamp Sets: Clockworks, Distressed Dots Background, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Island Indigo, Summer Starfruit, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White
Ink: Crumb Cake, Island Indigo, Summer Starfruit, Tangerine Tango
Tools: Window Frames Framelits, Bitty Banners Framelits, Argyle Embossing Folder
Accessories: Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Island Indigo Ruffled Ribbon, Dimensional


CCREW0113SF, CreativeCrew, SUO or SUM -- Scrapbook focus: Create a scrapbook page about your stamping. What inspires you? What does your stamping space look like?

Scrapbooking is where I first started with Stampin' Up! but I have kinda gotten away from it recently. I am really good at making pages for my Scrap Camps and then leaving them blank, without pictures or journaling!  Oops!  My resolution for the new year is to COMPLETE my scrapbook pages that I have started! LOL!

 

 

At some point I hope to learn how to take better pictures of my scrapbook pages too! :)  Sorry for the glare on the pictures. :( A lot of my inspiration comes from the beautiful land that God has created around us.  These pictures were taken on one of our mission trips to the Dominican Republic. Brett and I got up REALLY early one morning after a LOOOOONG night to see the sunrise and I took about 50 pictures of it rising. :)  It was so peaceful and beautiful and really reminded me of the amazing work that God is capable of!  I wanted to keep my layout somewhat simple to focus on the pictures.  The Bashful Blue background is sponged with Whisper White craft ink for the clouds and the bottom is sponged lightly with Marina Mist ink to mimic the ocean.  The letters are embossed with the Fancy Fan Embossing Folder and the big Calypso Coral circles are sponged with ink and then outlined with pierced holes using the Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack.

Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Calypso Coral, Night of Navy, So Saffron
Ink: Calypso Coral, Marina Mist, Whisper White Craft
Tools: Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack, Paper-Piercing Tool and Mat, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, Typeset Bigz Alphabet, sponges, Scallop Circle Punches