I've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'...

Do you ever struggle for inspiration even when you have a sketch or something to guide you?  That was my problem this week.  My crafty mojo was no where to be found even though I was working with an awesome CAS(E) this Sketch challenge.  What's a girl to do?  Well, I decided to take a page out of Dannielle's book and do a little Fusion.  ;)  Before we get ahead of ourselves, let me show you the sketch.

For my first card, I used the adorable Yummy Love set to make the perfect valentine for my honey.

I used a couple bits and pieces of patterned paper that I had leftover for the background and the heart shape.  To get that cute "Hello" banner, I cut up a journaling card from a pocket scrapbooking company.  I had some white letters laying around but I needed a little bit more color so, I colored them with my copics to match the heart.  Love how that turned out!  A little fun coloring on my honey pot and some Glossy Accents to make some honey on the dipper and you have a pretty cute card.  Love it and I hope you will too!

For my 2nd take, I got totally stumped.  I tried a TON of different card ideas and I just wasn't cranking out anything I liked.  Then my Facebook feed gave me an idea.  I'd use the Fusion challenge blog as my inspiration and pull in a picture that inspires me to use along with my sketch.  That's all it took.  I had a card done and I loved it in less than 10 mins...I swear!  So, here's the inspiration photo I used in conjunction with my sketch for my second card:

Pretty, isn't it.  I knew that this was just screaming for a little ELEGANT combo so I broke out Elegant Flowers and Elegant Sentiments.  You can't beat that 1, 2 punch!

I stamped my flower with a lovely turquoise ink and then stamped the outline with gold to emulate the inspiration photo.  The sentiment was stamped with the same gold and then I added some enamel dots and bling to represent the berries from the inspiration.  I thought it needed a little something more so I cut the card front down to layer on a striped card base for the perfect extra pop of color.

Nothing terribly techniquey this week but I wanted you to see how a sketch can just be a springboard to even more inspiration.  Thanks to the Fusion blog for all their great and inspiring combos.  I hope you will visit their challenge and CAS(E) this Sketch for some fun and energizing sketch action.  Don't forget to check out our Sweet Stamp Shop Facebook page.  We'd love to hear about your ways of getting your craft mojo back.  We all need a little help sometimes!  Also, don't forget to check out the SSS YouTube channel.  Nicole has totally revamped it and you won't want to miss out on the fun she has in store, so make sure you subscribe now!  I hope you enjoyed today's Sketches 2 Ways and I can't wait to see you back here soon.  Have a great Monday.

-Chrissy Pin It

Coloring On Vellum How To!

Happy New Year Sweet Friends!  It's Charlene here with you today. When I was on an excursion at Michaels recently, I saw these massive beautiful flowers made out of fabric.  Swoon...they were gorgeous!  Being a crafter on a budget, I went to my stash and see if I could re-create it....

Coloring on vellum is one of the techniques that I learned a while back. The finished product looks amazing and has that airy look to it.  AND it's super easy to do!

1. Can I just say that the Elegant Flowers stamp set is beyond amazing? Yep, love this set! I stamped multiple images onto vellum using Versamark ink then heat embossed with white powder.  
2. Now it's time to color.  Ready?  All you need are inks of your choice and q-tips.  Start at the base of the flower and color upwards.  Add more color until you are happy with the shading. Fussy cut the flowers and assemble.  That's pretty much it!

Here's the finish product:

I assembled the flowers to make a giant focal point.  The layers add so much dimension.  I'm happy with how this turned out, it looks like the flower that I saw at the store, but in vellum. :)

Here's the rest of the card:

I added a sentiment from Yummy Love stamp set to finish off the card.  That's another amazing set!

We would love for you to share your creations using SSS stamps.  You can head on over to Flicker or to FB.  

You can visit me on my blog, HERE.

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Have an awesome day!

Charlene 

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Painless Tattoo!

Hi everyone!  Hope you are having a wonderful Monday morning and are ready for a bit of sketchy inspiration!  This week you are getting a sneak peak of the upcoming sketch over at CAS(E) this Sketch (shhh...don't tell anyone).  I must admit that this one had me stumped for a bit but I'm really loving what came out of my crazy mind when I finally figured it all out!  Here's the sketch:

 I was stuck in the feather zone for awhile with the sketch and just couldn't get past them.  Finally, I thought of balloons and that started the creative juices flowing.  I turned to Fall Gratitude for my balloon shapes.  Seriously, would these not be the coolest balloons ever with those patterns?  I also had to use Elegant Sentiments...how could you resist that script?  It's gorgeous! 

I found some splattered/bleached paper in my stash which made a perfect background for my balloons.  I stamped each balloon on other papers in my scrap stash and to give them a little fun twist, I used Glossy Accents for dimension and shine.  I embossed "happy" to make sure it stood out against the background and it turned out perfectly.  I connected my balloons to the sentiment with some hand drawn strings.  I love how it all came together and was thrilled that I pulled it off without feathers!  ;)

For my 2nd take on the sketch I layered the rose image from Elegant Flowers on top of the heart from Cookie Sprinkles.  These two images worked perfectly with a sentiment from Chalkboard Sign.  I did a little tweaking to the images that I'll show you in a second.

 

For some reason, when I layered the flower bud and the heart on my colored paper, my mind went straight to a tattoo.  So, I decided to look up different means of making an image look like a tattoo.  By adding some simple lines, some shading with copics, and a little reflection triangle on the heart, I think I got a pretty good looking tattoo for my card.  A simple technique but I think it's a fun one to try out!  Check it out:

To complete the card, I did a cheat chalkboard background using some patterned paper I had lying around that already had the chalkboard look.  I went with the Chalkboard Sign sentiment, "I Love You" because I thought it worked well with a tattoo image and I embossed it to make it pop.  Here's the completed card.  What do you think?

    

I hope you enjoyed my two takes on the sketch coming up this week at CAS(E) this Sketch and got a new technique to try with your Sweet Stamp Shop stamps.  Have fun with the sketch and share your creations on our Flickr group.  Don't forget to check out the Sweet Stamp Shop Facebook page for up-to-date info and offers.  Plus, a new release is right around the corner and believe me, you won't want to miss it!  Have a great week!

-Chrissy Pin It

Inspired By Advertisements

Hey sweet friends!

Lindsay here, and I am back today with another Inspiration 101 post.  We all have magazine, or subscribe to them.  I have oodles of them sitting around, so I decided to go on a mission, looking for anything that sparked my interest.  Well, I found an ad for the beauty store, Ulta, and a bottle of perfume.

As you can see, there was pink, black and outlined flowers in this little picture, and I used them all for my card here.

Taking the outline flowers from the Elegant Flowers set, I heat embossed them randomly onto a pink panel.  I then took a black card base, and adhered that panel with foam.

To finish it, I stamped a sentiment from Elegant Sentiments in white, and adhered it in the middle, again, taking inspiration from the ad.

Thank you for joining me today!  I hope you find inspiration in the magazines, and advertisements you have.

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Get The Look Of Color Embossing Powders- How To!

Happy Monday Sweet Friends!  It's Charlene here with you today.  I love the look of heat embossed images especially in different colors.  Well, it would be nice to own embossing powders in different colors, but in reality, that's just wishful thinking.  So, being a crafter on a tight budget, I'm always on the look out for techniques that mimic the look.  

With a little bit of ink and clear embossing powder - we're set to go!

For this technique, I am using the gorgeous flower from Elegant Flowers and the sentiment from Cookie Sprinkles.

Elegant Flowers

Cookie Sprinkles

Shall we get started?  

1. I picked out a stamp set that has a solid image and also die cut a few pieces of card stock.   
2. To stamp the image, make sure to stamp onto Versamark ink first!  It's important to keep the    Versamark ink pad as clean as possible in order to avoid cross contamination.  I usually stamp the outline image first.
3. Repeat step 2 for the solid image.  Clean your stamp with baby wipe in between stamping different colors.  
4. Cover with clear embossing powder and heat set.  

I made 5 mini "Thank You" cards in no time at all, but they look like they took a lot of time.  I added the sentiment before adhering the squares onto the embossed cards.  Last, I added a black and white twine to tie it all together (no pun intended).  :)

We would love for you to share your creations using SSS stamps.  You can head on over to Flicker or to FB.  

I hope you like this super easy technique.  You can leave me a comment below and let me know what you think and if there's an "inky" technique that you would like me to cover in the future.  I'm not an expert, but I'm always willing to learn.  

You can visit me on my blog, HERE.

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Have a Wonderful Holiday!

Charlene

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Amp It Up With Embossing Paste!

Oh boy, do I ever have some fun for you today.  I finally decided to try out a fun technique that people are just going crazy for and I can't wait until you see the final results.  I think you will love it but first our sketch for today is the current sketch over at CAS(E) this Sketch which I totally adore.  Can't you just see it oozing inspiration?   

For my straightforward, by the book (er...sketch) card, I'm using the super fun Baking Love set.  This set is a total must have.  I have no idea how I have lived so long without it.  ;)

I knew I wanted to have the piping bag pipe out my sentiment and I played with a couple different options.  I settled for embossing the "hello" and then using a Versamark pen to extend the sentiment with a little squiggly line to the card's edge.  I stamped the piping bag on some patterned paper with splashes of pink to bring another color into the card.  A little cutting and I had a super cute popped up piping bag decorating my card for me.  Finish it off with a few glitter tape hearts and you have a great little take on this week's sketch.

For my ampped up take on the sketch, I'm going to use the Elegant Flowers stamps set.  I swear I have been turning to this set time and time again.  It's good for SO many occasions and who doesn't need a stamp set like that? 

I used a similar technique to last week's card in order to create a stencil with my Silhouette Cameo using the flower image from Elegant Flowers.  You can check out a step-by-step video on how I made this card on my YouTube channel.  Once I created the stencil for my background, I smeared the silver embossing paste over the top, pulled off the stencil, and let the image dry.  I loved the look of the silver embossing paste on the silver paper.  SO pretty.  I finished the card off by stamping the flower image on a piece of silver cardstock, cutting it out, and adding the image along with a die cut "thanks" to the card front.  A little bling and you have a much more involved version of our sketch. 

What do you think of the embossing paste trend?  Come share you thoughts with us on our Sweet Stamp Shop Facebook page.  We'd also love to have you share some of your own techniques/cards using embossing paste on our Flickr group and don't forget to share your take on the sketch over at CAS(E) this Sketch.  I hope you enjoyed my double take and will come up with your own interesting interpretations whether they are simple or complex.  Can't wait to see your amazing creations. 

-Chrissy

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The Best Lighting for Photographing Your Cards

 

Hi, Sweet Things!  It's Melissa here again and I'm back to share another tidbit about product photography with you!

When it comes to getting a good photo of one of your cards, lighting is one of the most important elements!  Personally, I prefer natural lighting! Good ole daylight itself with no help from light bulbs, including the flash on my camera.  That said, there are certain times of day that contain better light than others!  Take a look at the photos below:

Photo #1 was taken mid-afternoon when the light still had a nice, warm tone to it.
Photo #2 was taken about an hour later.  You can see a little greyish blue appearing in the photo.
Photo #3 was taken in the late afternoon.  You can definitely see a bluish tint in the photo now.
Photo #4 was taken in the late afternoon with flash.  Lighting from a flash tends to be a bit harsh for my liking.

As you can see, the time of day in which you snap those photos makes a big difference in the type of light you will have to work with.  If you don't have access to good natural daylight due to the time of day you need to take your photos, a light box (purchased or handmade) is another alternative as long as you use daylight bulbs as your lighting.  Even with the light box, you will want to turn off your flash!

Don't worry if your photo isn't absolutely perfect!  There are ways to edit them and I'll discuss that in a future post.  For now, go ahead and work on finding a good natural light source (indoor or outdoor) and practice taking some photos, paying attention to how your photos look at different times of day.  I took the photos above in the exact same location each time and just look at the difference in appearance!

Below is Photo #1 edited and ready for blog posting!  The color of the lighting was good, but I did brighten it up just a little.

I used the newly released Elegant Flowers for my card this week as well as the Distressed Chevron for filling in the flower image and the wonderfully flexible Monogram Alpha to create the sentiment!

I hope this helps you to begin to understand a little bit about why a good lighting source is so important!  Without good lighting, you'll find yourself frustrated with the color and sharpness of your images.

Be sure to stop back two weeks from today as I share some tips on actually taking your photos!  You won't want to miss these!  In the meantime, be sure and come visit my blog today for more Sweet Stamp Shop goodness!

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Introducing a New Series: Ink it Forward

My name is Annette and I have a dirty little secret. I am a card maker who never ever sends cards! How silly is that! I'm a walking irony.

As a result, I have this huuuuuge stash of cards just collecting dust. Sure, every once in awhile, I'll pull one out and give it to someone. Sometimes, I end up giving blank cards to my friends and family when they come over. I shove the box in their face and practically beg them to take some cards from my stash. For some reason, people feel guilty about accepting handmade cards and gifts, and end up only taking two or three. Thus, I still have a big stash just sitting in a box. I have decided it's time to do something constructive with my hobby. Rather than let my stuff pile up and collect dust, I am going to start sending them to charitable organizations that accept cards or other handmade projects like bookmarks or tags.

Crafty friends, do you have extra projects just lying around? Do you want to put them to good use? Why don't you journey with me as I delve into different organizations that could really benefit from something made with our loving hands? I will be looking into different organizations that accept handmade cards (like Operation Write Home), share how you can get involved in these organizations and I'll offer any tips or advice that may be helpful in determining what types of projects to send. Look for my new series called Ink it Forward! We can all do this together! C'mon, it'll be fun! In fact, I'll host a linky party on my blog where you can share pics of projects you donated. We can all be in this together!!

And now for a card I made with the the new Elegant Flowers and Elegant Sentiments releases combined with Monogram It. I love how well they all work together!

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