Stamp Simply-- No Comfort Zone Here!

Hi all! It's almost the weekend, which means, it's time for one of my favorite challenges -- the Stamp Simply Challenge (ssnotime102) courtesy of the fabulous Sharon Johnson!

This one is all about getting uncomfortable! :-) Well, not really. Here's the scoop. We all have our stamping "comfort zones." We might not even realize it -- but we do! So, today Sharon is challenging us to get away from it - use something that you've never used. Do something that is not characteristic of what you do on your cards!

And, my card, has no stamping on it whatsoever!

I decided to get "scrappy!" I took beautiful Basic Grey papers, some fun ribbon (Hobby Lobby), a button (the Paper Studio), a Martha Stewart border punch and some stickers and I went to town. The papers and stickers are all from the Basic Grey Lemonade collection. I mean to tell you -- this card was so hard. I have to admit - I am really bad at getting out of my comfort zone! I think this card turned out OK. Something looks a little out of balance. And, stickers? Hhhhmm. I don't really use them much. Then, I don't really do "cutesy" well either. So, there you have it. I got out of my comfort zone but I'm not really comfortable with the results! LOL!

I do think the little bee is darling though! I added some sparkle to his little wings! See?
So, if you stop by and want to say "hi" but don't really dig the card -- don't worry! I won't be offended! Just say -- Hope all is well! And, I'll get your drift!! LOL!

If you want to see how the rest of the team got out of their comfort zone, be sure to stop by and visit the rest of the gals! Be sure to wish my mom Pat a fond farewell! This is her last week with us as the guest designer! Sniffle. Sniffle! It was so much fun to have her around and have her with us for these challenges!! I still think she should be the team cheerleader! ;-)

Pat Adam, August Guest Designer -- My mom... YEAH!!
Janine
Jennifer
AJ
Tammy
Deb
Barbara
Jenny

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you can get out of your creative zone and join us this week! :-)

A fun and friendly challenge!

Hi all! Happy Monday! I have a fun little bit to show you this morning. Last weekend while I was with some of my stamping buds off for a little R & R, we were purusing some of the local stamping/scrapping offerings. That's when I hatched a plan to do a brown bag challenge. What's that you ask? Well, you take some paper scraps, some ribbon, maybe a few embellishments, rub-ons or stickers. Basically, you stuff some goodies in the bag and the challenge is to make a card with it all!

I have to be honest, I was going to make my challenge a bit of a "white elephant" card challenge just to see how much fun we could have making a card out of less than desirable objects but - when we got to the Scrapyard (that was the store), I fell in love with one of the new Brenda Walton lines from K & Company. I picked up some pearls, some rhinestones, ribbon, rub-ons and paper and then shoved it all in the bag - mixed them up and doled them out! It was a fun one!

Here's what the ladies - Darlene, Tammy, Joan, Sharon, Janine and my mom- came up with!

And here's a peek one of my cards!

I just love these K & Company stickers! They even had some razzle dazzle on them with a bit of glitter!

And, here was a second card...

I loved the fact that these were so quick and easy. It just goes to show that when you need a card in a hurry, it's not a bad idea to have some color coordinated items like this on hand!

Thanks for stopping by! With CHA starting this week, I'll have some more sneaky peeks to share from Impression Obsession... so stay tuned!

Make It Stick!

Hi all! I bought these stickers a while back and thought they were so cute. Mix them up with some matching textured card stock, ribbon and rhinestones and you can make a fun little girlfriend gift in less than an hour!

These cards pretty much all follow the same "formula" I took a 2" square punch and punched out a window in all of them at the top of my mat and then made a second square a bit smaller so that I could "pop" it out of that punched window with some foam tape. Then, each one was embellished a bit differently. As you can see with this card below, I used a rectangle punch to add some ribbon threaded through with a slip knot. I also added bling to the centers of the sticker flowers.


This card below was embellished with a matching sticker flower that is kind of three dimensional. The window was accented with some matching patterned paper behind and a polka dot grosgrain ribbon accented with a ribbon slide.
This last card was done by adding some rhinestones, and some brown grosgrain ribbon in a knot adhered to the back of my card mat.
Easy peasy! I thought it was fun to take a break from stamping to create some cute and quick cards! Sometimes you just need quick and easy!!

Today my daughter has a singing program at her preschool. I'm sure I will be choking back the laughter. Those spunky little kids just make my heart light! Hope you have a bright spot waiting for you in your day! Happy Thursday!

~Julie

Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not.~ George Bernard Shaw

Stick It To 'Em

Close to two years ago, Phyllis, a stamping friend introduced me to the world of stickers with some fun Christmas creations using Penny Black stickers. I guess before that, I was kind of a snob. Stickers? No. I am a rubber stamper. I don't need to use stickers. Well, she showed me how elegant it could be. I made 40 that year for Christmas cards and haven't stopped making cards here and there since! This set was from one of the more recent Penny Black sets.

This is how the sticker sheet came.... and below are all the cards I got out of that one sheet!


The stickers & cards...