Spotlight#2!

Hi everyone! 

I'm giddy with delight because I was spotlight#2 on Crafting by Design's exotic Asia challenge! I know that there were only 7 qualified entries (the other ones didn't have anything Asian on them), but it is still the first time I've been selected/highlighted/spotlighted for my crafting! Two years ago, I was still having trouble figuring out how to ink up a stamp properly! I've definitely come a long way, and I am so happy that I stumbled upon Nichol Magourick's YouTube channel featuring using a Lawn Fawn stamp to make a birthday card: Otherwise, I would never have gotten into stamping at all! 

Here is the entry that talked about my card: http://craftingbydesigns.blogspot.com/2014/04/saturday-spotlight-39.html

Granted, I only get bragging rights, but still, I'm just happy and surprised that I was selected as a spotlight at all. I still have a really long way to go before I am good enough to win challenges with prizes or anything like that, and I probably would never have the time/talent to be on a design team. But for today, I'm walking on clouds! :) 

Happy last day of April,

~Z

SSS June 2013 Card Kit: Card

Hi Everyone, 

I have a card that I made with a slightly older card kit, the June 2013 kit: 

Here is what I used:  SSS June 2013 card kit sentiment (Kelly Purkey exclusive), Sunflower stamp from Michaels (embossed with Ranger white, and then colored with distress inks), Leaves using WeRMemoryKeepers Team/MVP Stamp set, stamped using Jenni Bowlin Stick Candy ink. My main purpose was to try out the Michaels stamps and see if they would be good for anything. Too often in the past, I've bought discount stamps and then end up realizing that I wasted money (Those dollar bin purchases add up in the long run!) because I'd bought stamps that I end up not using, or they are of such poor quality/poor design that I literally can't use them. I am surprisingly satisfied with the quality of this Michaels dollar bin stamp, and I will definitely be using it on future projects.

Best,
~Z

Altenew: New Stamp company review and cards!

Hi Everyone,

Today I have some cards featuring a new stamp company I saw featured on Jennifer McGuire's blog, Altenew. It's a brand spanking new stamp company, from long time stampers Tasnim Ahmed and Jennifer Rzasa, and the images that they have are so unique and fun! I bought three stamp sets from their collections, the Sketchy Cities, Ori Kami, and Figure Effects. I am savoring these new stamps, since I am on a spending freeze for a while, and this was one of my last purchases before the freeze. Here are the cards using Sketchy Cities: 

I LOVE the quality of the stamps: they are really high quality photopolymer, on par with the best of Simon Says Stamp and Lawn Fawn, and even better quality than some of the Simon Says Stamp ones! (Most of SSS is awesome, but there are a few sets where the stamps are a little lacking). I will try to do an in depth review soon, but for now, know that these stamps are awesome. I hope you will check them out!

Best,
~Z

Earth Day recycling card, and Mama Elephant Stamp

Hi All, 

Happy Earth Day! I didn't get this post up in time per se due to scheduling issues, but here is my card for today: 

I recently bought the Stila mini-smudge liner makeup at Sephora, and it had this little plastic piece inside the set that I felt bad about throwing away, but couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with it. I finally wove some cardstock I had laying around (from a discount cardstock scraps bag) and then glued that on top of a cardstock square that I'd layered with some washi tape, then glued that entire thing on top of some yellow cardstock, before popping it all on some foam adhesives. I finally added a little cardstock piece that I heat embossed with a sentiment stamp from Mama Elephant. All I can say is that I LOVE LOVE LOVE Glossy Accents. I swear, that stuff can practically glue anything! :)

Hope everyone had a Happy Earth Day, and lived a little greener today! :)

Best, ~Z

SSS April Card Kit: Card 3

Hi All,
Here is my third card using the April 2014 Simon Says Stamp Card kit! I've been loving this kit so far, and I haven't even started using the papers yet!

 I had some strips of blue paper left over from my first April card, so I got the idea to have them coming out from behind the card. I stamped the heart image from the stamp set on Neenah Desert Storm using Clearsnap Pigment Frost White, and the sentiment was from Mama Elephant, which I embossed on vellum from the kit. I also added the enamel dots from the kit to hide where the adhesive was going. The vellum does bend a little in the middle because I was trying to add Glossy Accents behind the O of Hello, but there wasn't enough on there. In hindsight, I think I would have added two or three layers, let it dry, and then adhered everything. Or start investing in Kooltak adhesive, which is clear (but since I'm on a spending freeze, I guess I'll just have to be patient with the Glossy Accents!) 

I hope you enjoy (or learn from my mistakes!), 

~Z

Lawn Fawn: Just Waving hello

Hi All!

Just wanted to share a card I made using the Lawn Fawn Critters in the Sea stamp set: I have been wanting to use this set for a while, and I was trying to find the perfect way to use as many of the images as possible. I had a Fiskars punch that I recently got in the waves image, and it hit me that these two things would be perfect together. So here is the card I made: 

I've been getting more into paper-piecing recently, and so I paper pieced everything on the card (all the papers were from a discounted "scrap bag" of cardstock, which was $2!), and then added glossy acents to the octopus, the hermit crab, and the seaweed. The sentiment was stamped using Memento Tuxedo Black ink, and the cloud was stamped using Jenni Bowlin Spice Tin ink.

Hope you like it!
Best,
~Z

Challenges: I am adding this to the SSS Wednesday Challenge, Animal Antics!

My Cute Stamps: Owlways be friends

Hi Everyone, 

I was digging up some old stamp sets that I hadn't used, and I decided to use this one. I had some fun with misting the background and then adding a water brush to blend it all together. I then just drew in the grass with a green American Crafts stamp marker. 

This stamp set is from My Cute Stamps, the Owlways and Forever Friends set. I'm entering this in the SSS Wednesday challenge, Animal Antics

Enjoy!
~Z