InkspiredTreasures.com

Create with Connie and Mary Inspiration Challenge

I always think these inspiration challenges are fun…THIS one was a little more challenging for me!  My stars didn't want to line up correctly (hmmm, wonder if that is an omen?)  LOL!  Anyway, here is my interpretation of the Create with Connie and Mary Thursday Challenge…an inspiration theme with a FUN cake!  Make sure to check out the rest of the ideas from the Challenge Team over on Create with Connie and Mary.  Then create your OWN fun card and post it to InLinkz over there!  We love to see what you do!

And my card:

My card started with a base of Poppy Parade card stock.  I layered on Whisper White that I ran thru the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder.  I added a Daffodil Delight piece in the center, then cut two lengths of Marina Mist card stock with my Dotted Ribbon Punch and lined them up across the bottom.  I placed a Red Designer Button, tied with Linen Thread thru the middle.

I used another Summer Mini stamp set, Stampin' Up!'s July Fourth, to show you that it is more than just a set for red/white/blue!  It makes a good birthday card, or Thank You card like I used it.  I stamped the large star three times, Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight and Marina Mist, then punched them out with the Large Star Punch.  I miss the Small Star Punch, but substituted the Stars Die…the smallest star is just a little bigger than the punch used to be!  The greeting is from A Word For You, and stamped on Marina Mist.  I used the NEW Decorative Label Punch to punch it out…hiding the bottom part of the greeting.

I think I came pretty close to the inspiration cake…what do you think?  Again, check out the rest of the Create with Connie and Mary Challenge Team!  I'm sure their ideas are fabulous!

Bloggers Challenge – Patriotic

I missed out on doing the Bloggers Challenge last week…I was a little busy working on earning the Cruise!  But, I wanted to make sure I did play along this week!  The theme is Patriotic cards in celebration of Independence Day, of course!

I knew I wanted to use July Fourth again, too.  Although I'll probably use it again a few times before I put it away…the firecrackers could be birthday candles and the stars can be used at ANY time!  It really is a versatile little set!

I started again by using Pacific Point as the base of my card and layered on Poppy Parade…my two new favorites for patriotic colors!  I added another layer of Whisper White that I ran thru the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder.  I made my own "designer paper" by stamping the fireworks in Pacific Point and Poppy Parade on Whisper White, then layered it on Pacific Point and wrapped the Real Red Satin Ribbon around to adhere to the back (I can't WAIT to get all the new ribbons I ordered!!)  I punched a Pacific Point 1 3/4 Circle, then added the Poppy Parade Large punched Star.  And, finally, a little heart Bitty Button.  Did you know that the smallest heart in the Heart to Heart punch fits it PERFECTLY???  Thanks to Mary Brown for that little tip!

OK…hope you all enjoy the holiday weekend!  Be safe!

Create with Connie and Mary Challenge

It's Thursday and time for another Create with Connie and Mary Thursday Challenge!  This week's theme was 4th of July!  A great reason to celebrate!  (Although I certainly don't know where JUNE went!)

We want to celebrate the addition of our Challenge Design Team, too!  We have four FABULOUS women joining us…their talent amazes me!  WELCOME!

Carrie Gaskin — Artistic Avenger

Deb Currier — ARTfelt Impressions

Lisa Martz — Get Your Stamp On!

Stacey Schafer — Stacey's Stamping Stage

And now for my Fourth of July submission.  I've done several cards, so I decided to do a little favor you could have on hand at your picnic!  Fill it with candy or some small "snaps" fireworks for the kids!

I used one of the returning colors, Pacific Point for the Pillow Box, cut with the Bigz Die in my Big Shot.  Before I folded it on the score lines, I adhered a strip of Whisper White that I stamped with Stampin' Up!'s July Fourth fireworks in Pacific Point and Poppy Parade, one of the NEW In Colors coming TOMORROW!  After folding it, I used the 5/8 Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon to hold it closed and tied a knot at the top.  I stamped two large stars from July Fourth in Poppy Parade and Pacific Point, then punched with the Large Star Punch.  Finally, I inked up the greeting with my Stampin' Write markers in those same colors and stamped on scrap Whisper White, punched with the 1 1/4 Circle, then layered on a Poppy Parade 1 3/8 circle.

These would be pretty easy to make up a bunch of them…the Big Shot does the hard part!

Make sure to check out what the rest of the Challenge Team did this week over on Create with Connie and Mary!

Bloggers Challenge – Red/White/Blue

Our Bloggers Challenge today is the color combination of Red/White/Blue in honor of Memorial Day.  I want to thank the men and women who honor us by their service to our country.  May God Bless them!

Pretty simple card today…I wanted an understated look.  I started with the card size of 3 x 6 in Brilliant Blue cardstock.  I pierced a row of holes along the top of a strip of Real Red cardstock and layered it on the base.  Then I added a strip of slightly wider Whisper White over the bottom edge of the Whisper White.  I stamped the star from Stampin' Up!'s July Fourth stamp set in Brilliant Blue and Real Red on Whisper White, then punched with the Large Star punch.  I popped them up on the front of the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.  I added the word Remember from In A Word, a stamp set in the Summer Mini in Basic Black in the lower right corner.  Finally, I used the Itty Bitty circle punch with Brilliant Blue cardstock, and added a Bitty Button Circle on top and placed it with a Mini Glue Dot.

I'm off today to work over at Mary's house (of Create with Connie and Mary!) on my wedding favors.  Hope to get a good chunk of them done.  The final assembly will be made onsite in Cancun.  I'm sure we will also be discussing the NEXT session of Create!  Have a great weekend!

July Fourth Again…

Since I had Stampin' Up!'s July Fourth set out on my desk already, I decided to use it again for the Stampin' Connection Sketch Challenge (SCCSC18) this week.  Stampin' Connection is an online resource similar to Splitcoaststampers, but it is JUST for demos!  LOTS of creative ideas there!  This was a fun sketch…a square card!

I started with a base of Real Red cardstock and wrapped my Real Red Striped Ribbon across the bottom third of it.  I cut a square of Brilliant Blue cardstock and stamped the small trio of stars randomly on it with Brilliant Blue Classic Ink.  I then ran it thru the Big Shot with the Square Lattice Impressions Folder.  It was layered on Whisper White.  Then I inked the Happy 4th of July greeting with my Real Red and Brilliant Blue Stampin' Write Markers and stamped in the lower left corner of the Whisper White panel.  I stamped the large star image in Real Red and Brilliant Blue, then punched with the Large Star Punch.  I popped them up on the Whisper White with Stampin' Dimensionals and layered it on Brilliant Blue. 

Finally, I used the Itty Bitty Round Punch and Bitty Round Buttons in the upper left corner of the card.  Fun card and a fun sketch!

We are starting on our last week over on the Create with Connie and Mary subscribers site, but remember the site stays up long after the session is done, so you can refer back to all the projects.  We have been featuring the Summer Mini stamp sets and products.  There is a new project posted every day and several fabulous tutorials each and every week. You are welcome to use our ideas and projects in your classes and camps, we just ask that you do not submit our ideas to magazines, publications or contests, including Stampin' Up!'s challenges and So Shelli creative challenge.  For more information and to see a few samples, check out our Preview Week projects at Create with Connie and Mary!

Remember…

Good morning!  Hope you had a wonderful weekend.  Mine was nice and relaxing…just how I like it!  I actually was able to spend some time sorting thru my HUGE pile of cardstock scraps and get them organized by color.  Now, just need to put them in the sleeves of my binder and I'll be good to go!  Such a big job, and one I always put off.  You'd think I'd learn just to sort them as soon as I finish the project!  lol!

Pals Paper Arts has a Memorial Week theme challenge (PPA43) going on and I finally got a minute to make up a card to thank those men and women who serve or have served our country.  I also combined their challenge with Technostampers Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge (TSSC123)…loved her sketch!

Over on Create with Connie and Mary this week we are featuring the Stampin' Up! Summer Mini stamp sets July Fourth, King of the Grill and Sweet Scoops.  I purchased July Fourth because I felt it would be good for all the patriotic holidays that occur during the summer and service projects for the troops.

For this card, I used the large star image in July Fourth and stamped it in Real Red Classic Ink and Brilliant Blue Classic Ink.  I punched them out with the Large Star Punch, along with a Whisper White star.  (Isn't it great that the star fits perfectly in the Large Star Punch?)  I adhered the stars with Stampin' Dimensionals on a 2 1/2 Circle made with the Circle Scissors Tool and Sahara Sand Cardstock.  I ran the Whisper White layer thru the Big Shot with the Square Lattice Impressions Folder and scalloped the bottom edge.  I placed the rectangles of Real Red and Brilliant Blue Cardstock over the Whisper White.  I wrapped the Real Red 1/4 Grosgrain Ribbon around to the back to secure, then added a bow on the front, adhered with a Mini Glue Dot.  I adhered the Whisper White to the Brilliant Blue layer, then to the base card of Real Red.  FInally, I stamped Remember from Stampin' Up!'s In A Word stamp set in Basic Black in the lower right corner.  I added a Real Red circle punched with the Itty Bitt Shape circle punch and a circle Bitty Button to the Whisper White star.

We are starting on our last week over on the Create with Connie and Mary subscribers site, but remember the site stays up long after the session is done, so you can refer back to all the projects.  We have been featuring the Summer Mini stamp sets and products.  There is a new project posted every day and several fabulous tutorials each and every week. You are welcome to use our ideas and projects in your classes and camps, we just ask that you do not submit our ideas to magazines, publications or contests, including Stampin' Up!'s challenges and So Shelli creative challenge.  For more information and to see a few samples, check out our Preview Week projects at Create with Connie and Mary!

July Fourth – TSSC118

Good morning!  Another cool, but sunny day here in Ohio!  Hope you had a wonderful weekend.  I had an excellent day yesterday at a downline meeting.  We always have fun with the M&Ts and seeing friends.  Mary (from Create with Connie and Mary) and I got to brainstorm a little bit about some ideas we have coming up for the next session!  Lots of GOOD things you DON'T want to miss!

Today's Mary Jo Technostamper's sketch challenge was SO tempting, I just had to try it out!  I wanted to give you another sneak peek of a set in the Summer Mini, too!  It really came together very quickly!  It really took me longer to figure out the stamp set, than it did to put it together.   As you can tell, I changed the orientation so my stamp images would fit better.

I stamped three of the fireworks images in Stampin' Up!'s new July Fourth (available May 1) in Real Red Classic Ink.  I stamped two of the other fireworks images in Brilliant Blue and the July 4th greeting in Brilliant Blue, all on Whisper White.  I punched them with the 1 1/4 circle punch and lined them up on the Brilliant Blue layer in the lower right corner.  I added Brilliant Blue and Real Red Mini Brads to the centers of the fireworks and colored in the 4th with a Real Red Stampin' Write Marker. 

I wrapped some Real Red Polka Dot Ribbon around the Brilliant Blue and tied with a knot.  Everything was placed on the base card of Real Red cardstock.  Like I said, pretty simple, huh?

 GET READY!  Tomorrow is Control Freaks Blog Hop!  Our theme is FLOWERS this month, so you won't want to miss out on some fantastic ideas that I'm sure the girls will have!  Hmmm, better get mine finished, huh???  lol!

Early Bird Subscription savings going on now!  Save $5 off the normal $24.95 price only until SUNDAY!  Check out the preview projects on Create with Connie and Mary!  Demonstrators and customers are welcome to join!  You'll get lots of ideas using the upcoming Summer Mini Catalog stamps and accessories!