Guest Designer: Tori -- UWYH#19

Hello Happy Sweeties!

Nicole here today with another fun double duty post... we're excited to show off one of our guest designers... and of course, the new challenge.... let's just dig right in...


Meet Tori...

Hi! My name is Tori Holman and I live in sunny San Diego. I love making any kind of craft but my forte is card making. I also love painting, sewing, and reading  I was married to my best friend, Jeremy in 2010 and we now have a 1 year old daughter named Ava. I find her in my craft stuff all the time, making the saying true, like mother like daughter. I am so excited to be sharing my projects with all you sweet peeps and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

We're so happy to welcome her to the guest designing sweet family! Check out the card she made...

SO creative - right?! Can you guess which she used?! CITY SCAPE! WOWIE!

City Scape

Ok - moving right along...

We're back with #19! And, we're happy that you're loving these challenges as much as we are... would you like to hear the winner from last week?!

We just love this card from Samantha Mann...

It's just so darn CUTE - head over to her blog to peek at the entire card - HERE 

Samantha - email us your address and we'll get something right out to you! 

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Let's just take a moment to go over the rules...

Read through the directions carefully - we've changed just a couple things... (well, not really changed - just made more clear) 

You'll have until next Tuesday to add your link below - your link needs to be to the direct post not to your general blog - and it needs to include -

1. A link back to our challenge (and optional - our challenge badge - see above)

2. A picture of your stash

3. A picture of your project

Some Extra Details -

1. You do not *have to* use SSS in your card or project - although, we'd love it! (and we can't feature your project in our marketing without you using SWEET! - so keep that in mind!)

2. You have until Tuesday at 10pm pst to add your link below

3. There will be ONE winner based upon most creative use of 'old stuff' .... and ONE winner drawn from all the participants. Winners will be announced the day of the new challenge - so, in this case... next Wednesday. Prize will be something sweet - lol. REMINDER - NEW RULE - In order for us to have TWO winners we must have AT LEAST 15 entries (by 15 different people - multiple entries don't count towards the 15) in the challenge! If not, then we'll just award the one person who used their stash the best. SO, SHARE the challenge and get your friends on board! 

4. Entries limited to 3 per person. Thanks! 

MOST IMPORTANT!!! Create whatever strikes your fancy - scrapbook page, project life - cards - altered art - home decor.... anything! Just be sure to use that old stuff in it!

INTERNATIONAL participation is welcome - but, prizes will be shipped at the expense of the participant.  

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Typically we have an inspirational board - but, this week I decided to play along with another one of my favorite challenges - and do a 'double duty' card! 

(What's a double duty card? --- It's when you make one card that works for several challenges) And, today my cards fit quite nicely with the '10 minute Craft Dash' 

I loved those colors and I wanted to challenge myself to make a card that *wasn't* halloween or fall themed.... so I came up with...

Isn't that fun?! I was able to just come under the 10 minute requirement... the stop watch was at 9 something. (I forgot to make a note - lol) You know what helped? Having a simple card in mind.. not too many different techniques - and just 'creating'!

I made sure to use some of my HUGE ribbon stash... sorry for the dark grainy picture - I kinda don't want to clearly own up to my whole collection :) --- Isn't that a lovely ribbon rack my Dad built me!!?

I used three different sets...

Admit One 

Spin Me 

Dots Background

Ok - now it's your turn - go out and search for a couple challenges that fit your fancy... be sure to USE WHAT YOU HAVE! --- and link it up here!!

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Sweet Tutorial Tuesdays

Welcome to another SWEET Tutorial Tuesday! I know that we stampers know how to use our stamps the traditional way. But have you ever thought about using the back sides of the stamps? Don't know what I am talking about? Continue to read more! I have fallen in love with this technique!

It is SUPER simple! First, ink up the back of the stamp and stamp onto the paper.

Next, turn the stamp back to original side and ink, stamp, done...

If you are not great at coloring (like myself), this gives an easy way to color an image to match paper, etc. This technique leaves a smudgy ink look...not sure the correct way to describe it, so I hope you talk my language ;)

So I made a few of this tickets to complete my card. As you can see below, I stamped a design on the side tickets, using the stamp color ink. I love how it stands out!

I would love to hear some ideas of tutorials that you would like to see in the future! I love to learn new and fun ways to use Sweet Stamp Shop's stamp! Please leave a comment with your AWESOME ideas!

The fun Admit One and Chalkboard Sign stamp sets was used in today's card:

                                             

Admit One 

Chalkboard Sign

Have a wonderful day!

Jessi

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Just Add Ink: A Little Art

Happy Monday! It's Tyra and I'm here to kick off a new series, Just Add Ink, where I explore creative stamping techniques.  Today I am sharing two small scale art pieces.  Here is the first:

The first project is a framed art piece created using watercolor pencils and paper, water and a paint brush.

Simply use watercolor pencils to create shaded sections and paint with water.  Use a flat wide brush to create wide strokes.  Allow the paint to dry and stamp the sentiment.  I used the sentiment from Color Wheel:

The Oscar Wilde quote served as the inspiration behind creating simple strokes of color.  There are several Sweet Stamp Shop collections that would work well using this technique including, Fall Gratitude, Austen Obsessed and Chalkboard Sign. 

The second piece is mini mixed media art:

The "shades of love" sentiment from the Color Wheel set is perfect for this mini art piece. 

• Color the canvas with a gelato and blend.

• Place stencil on top of the canvas. Spread modeling paste over the stencil (similar to icing a cake) with a palette knife (or use an old credit card or hotel key).  

• Be careful to lift the stencil from the canvas. Allow the paste to dry. Drying time depends on how thick the paste is applied.  

• Stamp sentiment! Voila! You have created your own mini masterpiece! 

Stamp sets perfect for this technique include Admit One (create artwork for a child's room) and Zombies (create an art piece for a halloween candy table display)

Which technique will you try first? Please share your creations on our Flickr Page!!  There is still time to play along with the latest Use What You Have Challenge.

 Join the Sweet Stamp Stop Community on Facebook and Pinterest! Stay up to date on the new products releases, (Did you see the September Release?) and sales. Take care and thanks for stopping by!!

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Get Bloggin' - Photos

Hello Sweet Stamp Shop fans!!! It's Dana here and for the next few months i'm going to be talking about blogging!! Today i'm going to start with Photos!! Having good photos is a must, but it doesn't have to cost a lot and can be fairly easy!

I'm going to show you how i take my pictures in the summer. I have a different set up in the winter because i live in Michigan and no matter how sunny it is outside, i'm not going out there when it's below freezing!! (plus my butt would get wet sitting in the snow! LOL) By covering photos first i hope it will give YOU a chance to go outside and give it a try!!

Okay here is my supply list:

• Camera - A DSLR camera is NOT required!!! If you want to spend the money and take the time to learn it, go for it! However having a basic point and shoot works too!! The camera i use is a Sony DSC-HX20V and i love it!
• White Poster Board - Yes a poster board!! Costs less then a dollar!! Fold it in half!
• 2 Cloths Pins - This holds your poster board closed when not in use AND you can pin the poster board down on windy days!
• Your wonderfully handmade card (you are using Sweet Stamp Shop stamps, right!!LOL)
• The SUN - Yes it needs to be a sunny day! I find the best time is about 2pm. My morning and evening photos just don't turn out as good (even if it's sunny)

Now on to taking some awesome photos!! Below is my set up. I place my poster board in the chair, pin the top if needed, sit in front and take my pics! Easy Peasy!!

Being at the same level as your cards allows you to get really close to your card. Make sure you take lots of photos! (i usually take about 15-20 of each card, which seams like a lot but a couple don't usually make it to photo editing!)  Take photos head on, to the right, to the left, from the top (and multiples of them). AND don;t forget to zoom in and get some detail shots!!

Now that you have taken your photos, its time to edit them!!

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I use GIMP, it is a free program that you download to your computer. A couple other free photo editing sites are PicMonkey and Picadilo.

GIMP can be intimidating, but i found that my local library at the time had the b GIMP Handbook! I'm going to go step by step for editing one photo. You just repeat these steps for all the photo's you have taken.

First i move all my photos from my camera to my my computer. Then i open all the photos for one card with GIMP, this creates multiple windows on your computer. Just choose one window to start!

It should look like this:

Step 1 - Click on 'Colors' then click on 'Levels.' A Levels Window will appear.

Step 2 - In the Levels Window, click on the last dropper icon/button

Step 3 - Note that your cursor has changed to the dropper. Click on your picture, anywhere there is a white spot; the background or a white place on your card. See how it changes the lighting? From the picture above?

Continue clicking in different areas to get the best exposure. When you have it the way you want, click OK on the Level Window.

Step 4 - Close the Level Window, then on the Tool Box Window click knife (or crop) button.

Step 5 - Click on your photo, then drag the box around your card to crop the extra space. When your box is ready, click in one of the 4 corners of the box, now your photo has been cropped!

Step 6 - Your photo should look similar to mine below. Now SAVE!!!! Click on File and then Save As.

See wasn't that easy!?!?!

Repeat these steps for each photo!!

I save them all in one folder and give them a name and a number. For my card i used Heart 1, Heart 2, Heart 3 etc. When i am done editing all the photos i go into my folder and view them with Window's Photo Viewer. I go threw them all, deleting any right off that are blurry or out of focus!

Then i move them around, matching up photos that are similar, full shots to the right, full shots to the left, close ups, etc. Then i can click between them and delete the one(s) i don;t like.

I always weed it down to 3-5 photos per card. I make sure to included a couple full size (full card shots) along with a couple close ups.

To see the other photos i edited for this card and the card details, check out my blog Kraft Paper Stamps!

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So what do you think? Easy right!! LOL! Just remember practice makes perfect!  I'd love for you to try it out!! Leave a link in the comments to your blog, Flickr (or wherever) using these tips! AND if you have any questions please let me know!!! I'll be glad to help you! Just leave a comment!!

 Now that you have good pictures, you need a place to post them!! The next Get Bloggin' post will be about Blog Design!!

Sweet Stamps used on my card:

Admit One

                       

Perfect Match

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Don't forget there is a new Use What You Have Challenge #16!!! You have until Tuesday, September 17th to enter, so hop to it!!!! LOL

ANNNNNDDD we had an awesome September Release a few days ago click here to go see 3 new SWEET stamp sets!!!

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One last thing! (i promise) I have a little favor of you Sweet stamps fans!!! I'm taking a college course Technical Writing II and we have to do a semester long project. For my project i have writing a Card Making Manual and as a part of the project i have to survey my intended audience! That's YOU!!! So i've created a special page on my blog just for the survey!! (Its not long) And as a Thank You for taking it i'm doing a give-a-way!! Click HERE for the survey and give-a-way details! Thanks so much!!!

Stay Sweet and see you next time!!!

Dana Pin It

Challenge Me Friday - Curtain Call Challenge

Hello Sweet Friends!

It's Tracy here with your final Challenge Me Friday post!

Today I am participating in the Curtain Call Challenge....Carnival Craze!  This is a new challenge to me, so I thought I would give it a try!  The Admit One stamp set is perfect for this challenge.  I decided to keep the colors soft and watercolor the background.  To achieve this look, I used my Distress Markers and a water brush.  I first heat embossed the stars from Admit One on the background paper.

I heat embossed the circus tent onto a piece of vellum with Zing Metallic Silver embossing powder.  I love the look of this powder, it looks to smooth!

I stamped the sentiment from the Zombies stamp set.  See, it doesn't only have to be used for a scary or Halloween card ; )

I stamped the inside of the card with the elephant stamp from Admit One and Hero Arts Tide Pool ink.

Admit One

Zombies

Don't forget to submit your card into our very own Use What You Have Challenge!  You can find all of the details here!

Thanks for stopping by and joining me for all of my Challenge Me Fridays!

~Tracy

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Challenge Me Friday - 10 Minute Craft Dash

Good Morning!

It's Tracy back with another Challenge Me Friday!  After entering several challenges the past weeks, you may be asking yourself....Where does she find all of these challenges?  Good question!  Most of the challenges I enter, I have found through other blogs that I follow.  Either those people are also entering the challenges or they are on the challenge design team.  There are also a few helpful websites that list all of the challenges every week.

One of those websites is Paper Playful, which is an awesome website that lists all of the challenges that are starting on a particular day.  So, if you go there today, it will list all of the challenges that start today.  It also lists all of the winners that were listed for that day.

This week I made a card for the 10 Minute Craft Dash feature Stars Challenge.

I like this challenge because sometimes we want to create something, but don't feel like we have the time to do it.  This challenge forces you to create a card within 10 minutes.  It is amazing how fast that time goes by!  The key is to make your card simple and have it planned out well in advance.  There is not a lot of time to second guess yourself...you just have to go with your first instinct!

Admit One

Chemistry

I made a video of myself making this card that you can see on my blog if you are interested.  You can see how somethings don't go as planned, such as a clogged Glossy Accents bottle ; )

Don't forget to stay connected with Sweet Stamp Shop on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and Pinterest!

Have a great weekend!

~Tracy

Two quick reminders - 

1. Join us with our very own challenge 'Use What You Have' - check out the rules and how easy it is to play along HERE.

2. Our July release is coming around the corner - you'll wanna join us in the facebook event page for all the latest sneak peeks and to keep your eye out for our give-a-way! HERE

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