Its all about the chemistry

Yep, this all over stamping seems to be quite the rage right now. Just Us Girls sure were on point this week with their trend challenge. They want us to stamp all over.

I was pulling out various stamp sets trying to figure out what I would want and this Lawn Fawn set jumped into my hands. Literally, I was going for another set and this one fell off and I had to grab it!!! Coincidence?? I think not. This set wanted to be used and it made that clear!!!

I stamped the beakers all over and added the sentiment and those adorkable chicks. I think Mr. George is gonna love this happy and colorful Valentine card.

Here is a close up of some of the detail. I added a shadow around the beakers to add some demension to an essentially flat card. I added some "bubbles" with a white pen to each beaker. The chick's glasses have glossy accents to make them more realistic.

This was a fun challenge. Check out how the JUGs were inspired and play along.

The House of Cards- bokeh effect

The bokeh effect is the hottest trend these days in crafting. It looks like our vendors are jumping on board also. This month at Simon Says Stamp they are featuring bokeh stencils.  For most of us we have made our own bokeh stencils. 

This month at House of Cards we are challenging you to bokeh! Check out what the DT has come up with for inspiration.

I have tried a few different techniques and for todays card, I combined several techniques. It might not be the more "traditional" bokeh technique, like this one I did a few months back.

Life is all about diversity and there are no two ways to do things. So, While the blue card might be the more standard bokeh, the green bokeh card makes me happy. I like the texture of the clear and white embossed circles. Hey, that's why there is chocolate and vanilla!

Come play along with us at the House of Cards and show us how you bokeh!!

Shake it, shake it up

Shaker cards-wow they are the hottest thing around! Do you think is is a coincidence that Taylor Swift has switched to pop music (not that she wasn't always popular) just when shaker cards were being reinvented. I think not- I mean her new song is "Shake it Off". It is pretty darn close dontcha think? Talk about reinventions.

So when Just Us Girls decided to make shaker cards as part of the trend challenge this week, I put Taylor's Shake it Off on and went to work!

I used a butterfly die from Memory Box and had some fun. I love the flower confetti in the butterfly bellies.

Be sure to check out what the Just Us Girls DT created. I know it will give you inspiration and if that doesn't work, put Taylor on!

Candy cane ombre

It's looking a lot like Christmas! Wait!! I haven't even started my Halloween cards!! Yikes!

This week I am hosting the trend challenge at Just Us Girls. The trend is one of my favs- ombre.
You see it everywhere from fashion to hair color to furniture. No surprise it is everywhere in paper crafting too.

I had such fun! I created a series of candy cane ombre cards using Papertrey Ink's "ombre builder" stamp set. The ink pads I used were  Memento- angel pink, Distress ink- worn lipstick, Hero Arts- mid-tone pale tomato and Impress ink- poppy red. Remember it's not rocket science, take what ever inks you have and play with them until you get the graded tones you like.

Now on a sad note and with a heavy heart, I have stepped down as a designer for JUGs. As the saying goes "life just got in the way", what with a new FT nurse coordinator job and graduated school. I will be checking out what our designers are creating and hope to play along myself when time permits. It has been a great year and the JUG girls are an awesome group to work with!

It's positively washi!

Yesterday at Just Us Girls, I hosted the challenge. It was "trend" week and I chose washi tape. If you saw my blog, you will see how I used the washi tape to make a  negative "hello". What was I going to use all those positives for?

The past two weeks I have "just saying hello" cards from friends. I returned the thought and sent them each "hello" cards from me. Here is where the positives come in. They each received a card in their fav colors. I added  a sweet girl from the Mama Elephant set, In my Heart.

Hope you enjoyed seeing my twofer with washi tape. Be sure to check out Just Us Girls and join in the challenge!

Wishi Washi

There is nothing wishi washi about this week's challenge at Just Us Girls. It is trend week, my favorite challenge! This week we are challenging you to use washi tape! Washi tape has be trending for awhile now. 

Since I have tons of it and can never seem to put my mind to use it, I thought this would be a perfect challenge to host.

My card uses the negative space on a die cut. This card was so much fun and so easy that I created 5 to make a set for a gift for someone special.

 

I usually post pics of Miss Pinkie, but Zephry decided she wanted to see what all the fuss about washi tape is. She wasn't impress and quickly climbed over a pile of crafting supplies to take in the fresh air.

Now I am sure you are asking what I did with the positives. Well you just have to come back tomorrow to see.

Meanwhile, show us your best washi tape creation at Just Us Girls!

Trends

 

This week we continue with one of our new challenges at Just Us Girls. This is trend week, where we challenge you with the latest paper crafting trends. I just love this idea and today we have a great trend for you- woodgrain. This is so popular from woodgrain stamps, embossing folders to actual wood paper.

I took this challenge and grabbed a piece of balsa wood that I had been hoarding. I grabbed an oldie but goodie from Hero Arts. I embossed in white and colored the image with Momento markers.

We had a steller response to last week's "bird" challenge. Let's keep the memento going and please join us this week at Just Us Girls.