Lots of Quotes ... at Gingersnap Creations

It's Wednesday, so that means another inspiring and creativity-invoking challenge at Gingersnap Creations!  This week the challenge is to use a Quote on your project (you can click on the photo above to make it bigger, and easier to read the quote).  What a great excuse to get out all those fun phrase stamps.  My quote comes from the Life Scrapblock from Cornish Heritage Farms (you don't realize these little gems are tucked into this stamp at first, but if you start thinking about inking only one phrase, the stamp becomes even more versatile.)  I paired it with a photo of some dudes hanging out at the Paris Exposition.... certainly a marvel of what imagination and creativity were within the great minds of the time. :)  The image is from Artistic Outpost's Paris Exposition plate.  For the background, I got out the ol' box-o-scraps again, and punched a bunch of inchies from patterned paper and cast-off stamped images.  I distressed-inked them all and played with them until I liked the arrangement.

Now, here's a little jewel of a tool for aligning said inchies on a card.... it's a quilting rule, found in any fabric shop or some of the big box crafting-and-fabric stores.  Anything you need to line up... this little tool can make it easier (see below).  Just make sure your card or project is lying perfectly straight along the left and top ruler lines, and you can easily see the one-eighth-inch markings to guide your way.

Hope you can find time to play along with us.... with all of the graduations and weddings going on at this time of year, you can pass along a little wisdom (or perhaps humor!) using your favorite quote on a card or gift.  Have a great and crafty Wednesday!

A New Backgrounder

Tomorrow, Cornish Heritage Farms is releasing a new backgrounder called Fuchsia Tiles.  This line of stamps is great for creating your own patterned paper, in any color combination you wish.  For both of my cards today, I've chosen to emboss the backgrounder panel for a bit of texture, and to enable me to get a light-colored pattern on a darker cardstock.  For the card above, I embossed in white on a fuchsia pink cardstock.  I accented the pattern with a few pearls, tied it up with some silk ribbon, and added a sentiment from the Domestic Love set.  This makes a great, quick and easy wedding card, done up in the couples' wedding colors.

For my second card, I've embossed in pale blue on black cardstock.  I stamped the Freesia image in black, along with a sentiment from the Ornamental Beauty set.  A little velvet ribbon is the only accent.  I've kept the color palette very limited, for a more elegant look. 

You'll be able to see lots of great samples using this backgrounder in the gallery tomorrow.  Hope you're having a great Monday!

Tag Tuesday - A Perfect Excuse

...to use a stamp I have never inked up before!  The challenge this week at Tag Tuesday is to use a piece from your home as your inspiration.  I bought this stamp some time ago, intending to use it in a scrapbook of one of our vacations to Greece.  Hmmmm... do you know how much scrapbooking I've been doing lately?  Nada, zip, zilch, and nuthin'.  Pitiful.  But, I decided to use a painting we got on one of our trips to Santorini as my inspiration piece.  There is absolutely nothing fancy about this tag..... I inked up the stamp (by Auntie Amy's), colored the image with Copics, distress inked a little, punched a Greek key border, and added some Greek key paper clips (from Stampin' Up!).  That's it.  But at least I had an excuse to get out this lovely stamp and dream of returning to the land of the sapphire blue Aegean.  Aaaah.... someday. :)

Hope you're having a great Saturday!

Thomas Kinkade Expressions at CHF

The new Thomas Kinkade Expressions sentiment set releases today at Cornish Heritage Farms.  Now, I don't actually have any Thomas Kinkade stamps, but I just had to get this set anyway, since it's got some great sentiments that go with lots of other stamps I own.  Here I've used the "East or West..." sentiment with the 1938 Suburban single from the General Motors line to make a fun masculine card.  The map paper is from Graphic 45, and the postage is vintage.  The photo strip die cut is from Tim's Alterations line. (BTW, these go through the Cuttlebug beautifully - I purchased the Sizzix 12" cutting base and the smaller 12" cutting platforms, and they went through just fine.)

Here's another card I made where the sentiment is the feature.

For this card I used some flourishes from the Ornamental Beauty set.  The paper is K and Co.'s Blue Awning, accented with my favorite Prima flower petal trim.  You can view the DT's artwork in the gallery HERE.

Yippee, it's Friday!  Hope you all have a great weekend.  We're gonna have some grandmother-mother-daughter time this weekend, so it should be fun.  I'm hoping it includes some crafting.... ;)

Play Date Cafe Challenge #28

Squeaking in just under the wire, with a Play Date Cafe Color Challenge #28 entry.  I always space, and think that the deadline is Wednesday, when it's really Tuesday.  Anyway, it's so good to be back playing again at this wonderful challenge.  Take a look at this gorgeous inspiration photo!  I simply couldn't resist. 

For my card, I've used lots of images from Oxford Impressions' The Fairest Flower plate.  I was recently blessed with blog candy *and* a discount from Suzanne Melvin, founding femme of Oxford Impressions, and believe me I took full advantage, LOL!! Thanks so much, Suzanne!  I know this will be one of my all-time favorites.  I also used the Vintage Chintz backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms, and an old music image from Anna Griffin for All Night Media.  And of course, I had to add some crinkly ribbon from Bluebird Lane etsy shop (the perfect vintage pink).

Sorry for the double post today (after spacing for a bit last week, LOL!).  We have a slight lull in our schedule, so I'm hoping to do lots of crafting this week, since next week isn't looking so good, time-wise. :(  Have a great evening.