Happy Saturday!  The Rubbernecker release and Blog Stroll was so much fun and very exciting.  Thanks to all who participated and congratulations to all the winners!

Now that the dust from the past couple of days have settled, I thought it would be fun to check in on the Saturday Inspiration Challenge on Splitcoaststampers.  Today’s inspiration comes from the Grandin Road online store.  I looked at the samples shown in the thread but ended up going online and finding this one:

The minute I saw this piece of wall art I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  Here’s my take:

The first thing I did was make the background the inchies are mounted on.  I stamped and embossed the new Abstract Floral Background from Rubbernecker and then sponged the entire panel with Antique Linen Distress Ink.  I then stamped the image panel, cut the panel into 1” squares and mounted the squares on 1” squares made from Chipboard Coasters.  The background behind all this, is the Abstract Floral Background stamped in Antique Linen on white.  At the last minute I decided to distress the edges of the backgrounds and sponge everything with Antique Linen.  To finish off the card and even though you can’t see it very well in the photo, I tied an old button from my stash onto melted ribbon.

• Stamps:  New Stamp Releases:  Backgrounds - Abstract Floral Background SKU:450 and Florals - Floral Silhouettes Set SKU:467 from Rubbernecker Stamps
• Paper:  Prism Simply Smooth White, Black and Tawny Medium
• Ink: Ranger Black Soot, Weathered Wook, Aged Mahogany, Antique Linen and Embossing Distress
  
• Accessories:  Ranger Super Fine Detail Clear Embossing Powder and Glossy Accents; Tonic Tim Holtz Scissors; Tsukineko Sponge Dauber; Venture Foam Tape; May Arts Ribbon; Chipboard Coaster; Vintage Button; Brads

Thanks for stopping in today and

With all the hustle and bustle recently I haven’t stayed on top of what’s going on around me. I know I’m a few days late, but there are some exciting challenges going on over a Splitcoaststampers. It’s Dare to Get Dirty 2008! Dirty Dozen Designers, both past and present, have some exciting challenges planned this week for all the Fan Club Members. You can find more deets here!

Because of my travel schedule, I didn’t host or make samples for any of the challenges, however I am getting to play along. Today’s challenges are hosted by Lauren Meader and Jenn Balcer.

This is the card I made for Lauren’s challenge.

I started with Neenah Classic Crest Solar White paper and misted different colors of Shimmer Mist containing Gold Perfect Pearls on the paper. The cornucopia and sentiment were stamped in Vintage Photo Distress Ink and then embossed with Queen’s Gold Embossing Powder. The image panel was then cut out with Spellbinders Oval Nestabilities and layered on one cut with the scalloped edge.

• Stamps: Give Thanks from Our Daily Bread Designs
• Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White; Prism Bronze and Bronze Ore Metallic Paper
• Ink: Ranger Tim Holtz Vintage Photo, Scattered Straw, Dried Marigold and Embossing Distress
• Accessories: Ranger Mini Mister, Gold Perfect Pearls, and Queen’s Gold Embossing Power; Tsukineko Sponge Dauber; Ribbon

My second card today is for Jenn’s challenge.

I used the emboss resist technique in making the background for this card. The flourishes were stamped in Snow Cap pigment ink and then embossed with UTEE. After the images where dry, I used an ink blending tool and worked Black Soot Distress Ink over the paper. Once I had the desired black, I wiped the excess ink from the embossed images. Oh I should say that this is the new Tim Holtz set that we received during our Ranger class at CHA!

• Stamps: Tim Holtz Nature’s Discovery from Stampers Anonymous
• Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White and SU Basic Black
• Ink: Ranger Snow Cap Pigment, Archival Jet Black and Tim Holtz Black Soot Distress
• Accessories: Ranger Clear UTEE and Ink Blending Tool; Ribbon; Mounting Tape

I guess that’s it for me today. I’m still somewhat tired from the trip and I so feel a nap coming on!

I’m tellin’ ya. This week has just been a blur for me. Once again the pups woke me up at 6:30, and I wasn’t ready to get up. Here’s the thing. They are crated at night in the family room. Lance gets up early, really early – like 5:00 a.m., and takes the dogs out in the morning. After they’ve come in from their morning walk, they get a treat, and then they come barreling into my bedroom and jump up on the bed. My bedroom door doesn’t latch tight, and all they have to do is nudge the door and in they come. It would be nice if they could just lay there, but NO – they have to lick my face, my ears, walk all over me and whine a little. The last two mornings there was nothing I could do but get up with them. Of course, I’m still so tired that I’ve sacked out on the couch and taken a nap within an hour of getting up. Of course, if I could make myself go to bed at a decent hour every night, that might help. Don’t ya think? I think I need to work on adjusting my internal clock!

Last night I was up working on projects for my Saturday morning Stamp Club Meeting. I’ve been torn on what projects to give the girls to do, and still haven’t worked them all up yet. I like to give them four, one being an altered item, but this month I’m really at a loss. I’ve pulled some Stampin’ UP! Sets out that I think might be fun, but nothing is coming to mind for them.

One idea I got last night, was to make a tag with them, one that I would demo at a show, only using SU images. This was my second attempt, the first being tossed into the garbage because it was too dark.

From the Garden was painted with a Copper Acrylic Paint Dabber, and stamped directly onto the tag. After it had dried, and using pad to paper, the remaining tag was colored with Soft Sky, River Rock and Groovy Guava. Because the acrylic paint works as a resist, the ink comes right off leaving color onto the tag only. The background Tres Chic was stamped in Walnut Stain Distress Ink and then the butterflies and flairs were stamped in Ruby Red. A Shimmer Mist of River Rock and Copper Perfect Pearls was misted over the tag and then the edges were distressed and sponged in Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I inked the Grunge Board heart with Ruby Red and the Grunge Board Wings were painted with Old Paper Crackle Paint and glued them together using Ranger Glossy Accents. Before placing them on the tag, I misted the heart and wings with the Shimmer Mist. For added embellishment, I found this old earing in my jewelry stash, removed the post end and tied it on the tag with the ribbon.

Stamps: Tres Chic, From the Garden and Priceless from Stampin’ UP!

 Paper: Manilla Shipping Tag

 Ink: Stampin’ UP! Ruby Red, Soft Sky, River Rock and Groovy Guava; Ranger Tim Holtz Walnut Stain and Vintage Photo Distress Inks

Accessories: Ranger Adirondack Copper Acrylic Paint Dabber, Glossy Accents, Copper Perfect Pearls, Mini Mister and Old Paper Distress Crackle Paint; Stampin’ UP River Rock Reinker; Tsukineko Sponge Daubers; Tim Holtz Idea-ology Grunge Board Elements; Ribbon; Old Earring

Have a great day everyone and hopefully I’ll have some other Stamp Club Projects to show you later.

Good morning ya’ll! Yesterday I told you that I would be announcing the next two Guest Designers for Rubbernecker. First, Shelly Kuck that Queen of Collage, has agreed to join us as a permanent Design Team Member.

Our two new Guest Designers who have agreed to spend the next couple of months with the Rubbernecker Design Team are Linda Duke and Leslie Miller. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be working with these marvelous designers. I had the opportunity to finally meet Linda while we were at CHA! Not only is she a fabulous designer, but has a great sense of humor. I have been a fan of Leslie’s for a long time, and have always been inspired and awed by her marvelous creations. I can’t wait to work with these ladies over the next couple of months and see what they have in store for us! I am so elated that both of them agreed to work with us.

As well as being Treasure Hunt Tuesday, Rubbernecker is also having a March Madness Sale. There are stamps in both the Rubbernecker and Stamp Oasis collections on sale for $2.95 or less. So while you are hunting for those clues to the Treasure, be sure to check out all the stamps on sale. You will have to make a small purchase to claim the treasure and those sale stamps are too good to pass up! Your treasure must be claimed between 4:00 a.m. PST until 9:00 p.m. PST today (7:00 a.m. EST - 12:00 a.m. EST), and don‘t forget that for every $50 in stamps purchased, you will receive one FREE stamp. You can check out more information on the Rubbernecker Home Page.

Your first clue in the Treasure Hunt can be found at Jeanne’s blog, Inky Paws, today! She also has some Blog Candy today to give away.

Hey wait, I also have Blog Candy today, and so does Shelly. Three opportunities to win today.

Wanna win these Rubbernecker Bucks?

Well, since we are heading into March Madness, and the NCAA Tourney is getting ready to tip off, leave a comment on this post telling me who your pick is for National Champion. My pick, Indiana University of course! A few months ago I would have been jumping up and down — today, I’ll still pick them, but more out of loyalty than anything else!

The lucky winner will be picked by random sequence and will be announced tomorrow.

I’ll be back a little later with my Color Challenge card!

As promised earlier, here’s my Color Challenge card. When I checked in on the Splitcoast Color Challenge this morning, I have to admit – I almost didn’t do it. The colors, Sage Shadow, Orchid Opulence and Kraft, made me cringe. Not just cringe, shudder and shake. Well, after thinking about it for a few hours, and getting some other chores done, I had a brain storm – and before you say anything, YES, it hurt!

I got stampy with this card, something I don’t do enough of these days, and after the second attempt arrived exactly where I wanted.

I used a digital multimedia matte paper for the stamped panels. It’s a coated paper, works well to print photos on, however, because it is matte, doesn’t have the high gloss finish. It’s also a cover weight, which means it’s heavier than most photo paper. For the background panel I used the embossing resist technique. Before I stamped any images, I gave the paper some color, using a sea sponge, and sponged on variations of Old Paper Distress Ink and Sage Shadow. Once I had the color I wanted, I stamped the hummingbird randomly in VersaMark and used a heat gun to set it. The next step was to stamp the hummingbird again, but this time embossed with Ranger UTEE. You can see the marbled effect under the embossing.

For the image panel, I stamped the hummingbirds in VersaMark, heat set them, and using the sea sponge added the same colors as before to the panel. Before the ink dried completely, but while it was still wet, I used a sponge dauber and wiped off any excess to highlight the stamped images. I then stamped the flower image twice in Old Paper Distress Ink. For the middle flower image, I colored the image with Orchid Opulence and Sage Shadow Stampin’ Write markers, misted very lightly with water, and then stamped the image. The sentiment was stamped then stamped with Black Soot Distress Ink. For an added neutral color I chose black, to give the card some needed weight.

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection Nature’s Moment and Stamp Oasis Petite Word Sentiment Collection SKU 2000-10 Petite Wind & Sea from Rubbernecker Stamp Company

Paper: Sterling Ultra Digital Matte, Kraft and Basic Black

Ink: Ranger Tim Holtz Old Paper and Black Soot Distress Ink; VersaMark; and SU Sage Shadow

Accessories: SU Stampin’ Write Orchid Opulence and Sage Shadow Markers; Ranger UTEE and Mini Mister; Tsukineko Dauber; Ticket Corner Punch; Brads; Ribbon; Sea Sponge; Mounting Tape

Happy Monday! I’m a little late with my post today, but Mallory called home this morning and it was so much to chat with her. She’s adjusting well to college life and has finally met some girls on her floor to run with. I laughed cause she did laundry yesterday, but promised me that she would bring home the clothes she wears this week. Kate is going up for a concert on Friday and will be bringing her home on Saturday morning for the holiday weekend. The only thing Mallory has asked for is her grandmother’s beef stew – and oh she does make mmmmmmmm mmmmmmmm good beef stew.

If you haven’t checked out the new releases at Lizzie Anne Designs, you can find them here. There will be 8 new Little Bits™ stamp sets and 8 new Simply Singles™ released on September 10th.

I’ve been playing around with the Daisy Dots set from Lizzie Anne all weekend, and when I saw the Splitcoast Challenge this morning I knew it would be perfect. It was also still sitting on my counter. Today’s Try a New Technique Challenge is a repeat of an older one, emboss and/or versamark resist. I combined both on my card – just for the heck of it.

The solid flower image was stamped in Versamark and the flower outline was embossed with Ranger UTEE. I sponged the inks on using a damp sea sponge which also kept the embossing clear so that I didn’t have to wipe it off later. The bottom panel is a scrap of Apricot Appeal where I stamped the solid image in Versamark, the outline in the lightest ink and the sentiment in the darker ink. The card measures 4 x 7 ½.

Stamps: Daisy Dots and Sketched Sentiments by Lizzie Anne Designs

Ink: Tim Holtz Ranger Spiced Marmalade and Dried Marigold Distress Inks, VersaMark Watermark

Paper: SU Apricot Appeal and Basic Black, Kromekote Laser High Gloss, Craft Secrets Radiant Heartwarming Vintage Collection

Accessories: Ranger UTEE, Sea Sponge, May Arts Ribbon, Brads

Hope everyone has a great day and if nothing bigger than a shoe string breaks, I’ll see you tomorrow!