Silke *Day 4*

Today is our last day of inspiration with Silke :( but I saved one of my all-time favorite cards of hers to share today:

Silke's original post available HERE.

This card just oozes that lovely "Silke style" we all love- beautiful textures, colors, layers, ribbon... again, I could go on and on!  Here's my take.  I was especially inspired by her layout, although when I made my card I used orange where hers had white and vice versa.

The background was created by inking Tiara White cardstock which was embossed with Sizzix Gridlock embossing folder with Spiced Marmalade and Wild Honey Distress Ink.  The flower panel (Penny Black) was stamped onto Copic Express It cardstock and colored with Copic Markers.  I also stamped the background with Penny Black Letter Background using Black Soot Distress Ink, removing some ink with a baby wipe before stamping.  The leaves were die cut using a Sizzix die and then inked with Peeled Paint Distress Ink.  Sentiment is an SRM sticker layered onto cardstock which was lightly inked with Wild Honey Distress Ink.  Border punch by Martha Stewart, inked with Peeled Paint Distress Ink.  Butterfly punches by Fiskars and Martha Stewart.

Thanks again to Silke for her awesome inspiration this week!

SALE!!!!

Today is the last day to take advantage of Memento's September Sale- 20% off your entire order (additional details available HERE).  Just enter promo code "SOS" when checking out. 

Penny Black Letter Background	Neenah Tiara White Cardstock	Distress Inks	Inkssentials Blending Foam Tool	Pop Dots
Sizzix Gridlock/Dot Matrix Embossing Folders	Copic X-Press Paper	Copic Sketch Markers	Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

InLinkz.com

Silke *Day 3*

Quick post today, my friends, but I just couldn't resist sharing this stunner by Silke:

Silke's original post available HERE

And here's my take:

Butterfly stamp by Penny Black.  Sentiment by SRM stickers.

Oh, and if you get a chance, you might want to head on over to the Mementos blog.  I've got a fall card using one of my favorite new Penny Black Christmas stamps.  Wanna peek?

http://www.ilovemementos.blogspot.com/

See ya tomorrow with another FAB card by Silke!

Silke *Day 2*

Here's our next STUNNING card by Silke.  I love how she embellishes all of her cards- always so perfectly balanced and pretty!

Silke's original post available HERE

And here's my take:

I began by inking the background, embossed using the Sizzix Gridlock embossing folder, with Peeled Paint Distress Ink. The bottom portion of the card was also inked with Peeled Paint Distress Ink and also with Forest Moss Distress Ink.  The circle (behind sentiment) and leaves were inked with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.  The butterfly and flower were created using patterned paper.  To create the flower, just trim patterned paper, score, accordian fold, glue the ends together, and fold down onto a circle covered with glue dots.  The sentiment panel was created by inking cardstock with Antique Linen and Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink.  This was then stamped with Penny Black 3859H Corner Piece using Antique Linen Distress Ink.  Sentiment by SRM stickers.

Oh, and here's a peek at what's happening on the Mementos blog today:

http://www.ilovemementos.blogspot.com/

Neenah Tiara White Cardstock	Distress Inks	Inkssentials Blending Foam Tool	Pop Dots	Glue Dots	Score Pal
Hemp Cord/Twine	Sizzix Gridlock/Dot Matrix Embossing Folders

InLinkz.com

Inspired by...Silke Ledlow

I'm beyond thrilled to announce that this week's featured artist is none other than the talented Silke Ledlow.  I've admired Silke's work for years now and can't believe I get to share a taste of it here on "Inspired By..."  Here's our first inspiration card by Silke:

Silke's original post available HERE

And here's my take:

I kept Silke's original sketch but went with a different color scheme on my card, completely inspired by the patterned paper on the left-hand side of my card.  The flowers, Penny Black 3868J Portraits, were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink onto Copic X-Press It cardstock and colored with Copic Markers.  I wanted an artsy feel to the flowers so I did not go back and do additional blending with the lighter marker- just feathered in a darker shade and moved on.  I then outlined each flower with Copic Marker W1 and distressed the entire piece using Old Paper Distress Ink.  Sentiment is an SRM sticker.  The background papers were inked with White Picket Fence Distress Stain to tone down the colors so they didn't distract from the main stamped image.  SOOO easy to do with the new white stain.

Thanks so much for popping by!  See ya tomorrow with another incredible card by Silke!

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink	Copic X-Press Paper	Copic Sketch Markers	Distress Inks	Inkssentials Blending Foam Tool
Distress Stains	Pop Dots

InLinkz.com

PB&J Video Tutorial

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for all of your visits last week while I was visiting South Dakota to see family and friends.  I had an AWESOME trip and feel so blessed to have been able to take some time, sit back, and enjoy those I love.  Also- HUGE thanks for the "takeover girls" who's beautiful cards totally blew me away!

Today I'm here with a look at a new PB&J card featured over on the Penny Black blog.

Be sure to pop over to the Penny Black BLOG to watch a video tutorial showing the creation of this card from start to finish.  See you tomorrow with our next featured artist! :)

Blog Takeover: Deborah

Deborah Nolan here of Lily Pad Cards and the Society of Stamp- & Scrap-aholics!

You hear a lot about 12-step programs but they never sound like very much fun. Today, I created a 12-step program to share while I'm guest-hosting Jill's blog, and I'm hoping you'll have fun with it! My mission was to create a card inspired by one of Jill's cards. 

Like that's easy.

Only ONE?!

Seriously, I thought I'd have better luck if I tried to find one that didn't inspire me, but despite a very thorough search, I found no clinkers in Jill's gallery, so I ended up spending a lot of time mulling over her entire collection. I picked so many different favorites it got kinda ridiculous. Jill's cards are all inspiring, but it was this one here that captured my attention most.

(Actually, there were about five of them that were all screaming my name, and I ended up having to draw lots!) I've been on a real resist-Perfect-Pearls kick ever since CHA, so I took this opportunity to play around with it yet again. Jill does a lot of resist techniques, so I'm hoping my card will appeal to all the other resist nuts out there, too!

And I did it in just 12 Steps! Check it out:

1. On Strathmore watercolor paper, stamp Hero Arts S5264 using Ranger Distress embossing ink and emboss with Ranger's Seafoam White detail embossing powder.
2. Apply Ranger Distress Victorian Velvet and Concord Grape inks using foam ink applicators. You will get the best results if you do this on a Ranger craft mat and work in a gentle, circular motion.
3. Once you're satisfied, use a Ranger water mister to generously spritz Perfect Pearls solution (Perfectly Pearl and water) onto your watercolor panel. Set panel aside to dry.
4. Cut a circle using a Nestability die but don't remove the paper from the die. Using the die as a mask, apply Victorian Velvet ink with a foam ink applicator. When satisfied, remove the die. (Now you have a circle of color with a white edge.)
5. Stamp leaves (from Hero Arts CG286 set) on Giant Dwarf felt with Hero Hues black ink. Heat set and cut out.
6. Using Sizzix die (Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers) cut two flowers from Giant Dwarf felts.
7. Once watercolor panel is dry, cut panel to desired size and mat on purple card stock, then adhere mat to card base.
8. Adhere paper circle to card.
9. Adhere leaves and flowers to card.
10. Thread button with twine, and glue to flower. 
11. Stamp sentiment (from Hero Arts CL371 set) with Hero Hues black ink.
12. Attach gems (Mark Richards).

Thank you, Jill, for inviting me to post on your blog - it's been a great honor and a delight!

Thank u, Deborah, for always amazing me with your art AND always making me SMILE! :) 

HUGE thanks to Elizabeth, Lin, Vicky, Alice, Britta, and Deborah for their beautiful cards, kind words, and fun posts this week.  AND big thanks to all of you for your visits and wonderful comments.  I'll see ya next week with lots of NEW stuff--- a new PB&J video and card AND a new featured artist. 

Blog Takeover: Britta

Hello there! Britta Swiderski here, and I'm so delighted that Jill asked me to be part of this fabulous week. Jill has actually done an Inspired By... week about me, and I can still remember the squeals of joy when she asked me if she could feature me. Jill is amazingly talented, and I'm so grateful to know her and hopefully soak up some of her talent. ;) Here's the card I've picked to be inspired by today from Jill:

I picked this one because of the fabulous colors and vertical movement in the card. I love these colors together and I don't know if I would've come up with that color combination by myself. Keeping in mind the color scheme, vertical feeling of the card and aiming to incorporate some of the same techniques that Jill used into my own card, I came up with my card:

I added a bit of my own flair with the navy ink (and coloring done with copics - no blending necessary on this one!), the hand stitching and the scalloped edge but made sure to hold onto the elements that really make Jill's card shine. I hope you enjoy my creation and give yourself a chance to be inspired by this fab card from Jill as well today! Thanks very much to Jill for letting me take over her blog for the day. This has been so much fun I might have to steal it for a day again in the future. ;)

Jill here! Britta- your card is as cute and sweet as YOU! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!  And everyone, be sure to pop back tomorrow- there is one more taker-over-er (LOL) known for her awesome cards and fun writing style!
Oh, and here's a peek at today's new card on the Mementos blog-

www.ilovemementos.blogspot.com

Blog Takeover: Alice

Hello, every one! Alice Wertz here. I am thrilled and honored to take over Jill's blog for a day. Thank you so much for inviting me, Jill! You are amazing and I hope I can do your blog justice. =) Here is the card that I drew my inspiration from.

Here is my card:

I used the adorable Garden Visit from Penny Black for my card and used Jill's design for the layout. 

I colored the image with Copic markers and cut it out with a Nestibility die. The sky and grass are colored when the paper was still in the die to give the image a frame.

For the background, I inked a piece of white cardstock with Barn door and Wild Honey distress inks. Hero Arts Flower Dot Pattern is then stamped with both Barn Door and Wild Honey relatively to the inking. I then flicked some water on the piece to get the splotchy look. The sentiment is also from Hero Arts.

That's all I have. Hope I didn't disappoint you. =) Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a lovely day!

hugs,

alice

It's Jill again- I just had to pop in to say, "WOW!" Alice- your card and coloring is amazing and oh-so-cute!  I'm so honored to have it here.  Oh, and if any of you are looking for more Christmas card inspiration, new Holly Jolly Stampin' Party cards continue today on the Mementos blog.  Here's a peek:

www.ilovemementos.blogspot.com

Blog Takeover: Vicky

Hey psssst…. It’s  Vicky here, taking over Jill’s blog for a day!

Being a big fun of Jill’s cards, I was so excited when she invited me to make a card inspired by her! And I am telling you, this was not an easy task! Her Flickr gallery has TONS of amazing cards. Choose just one to be inspired was the hardest!

After hours of drooling over her gallery, I have finally decided to CASE the following card, because I love the look of tags on a card and those flowers on the script background are lovely.

And here is my version:

And a closer look:

While I was making this card I took some photos of the process, to walk you through the different steps.

First I stamped the image on the tag and then used distress inks to color it. Don’t worry about the flower at this stage. I used “broken china”, “tumbled glass”, “walnut stain” and “tea dye” distress inks.

Then I stamped the flower again on white cardstock and used my copic markers to color it quickly. Check out the photos for the colors I used.

And used my white gel pen to add little dots:

Then I cut out the flower and used adhesive to stick it on the distressed tag.

To make the blue background of the card, I distressed a piece of white cardstock.

And then I sprayed water with my mini mister on this gorgeous background stamp.

Here is the result when I stamped on the distressed piece of paper , just with water:

Hope you had fun with me today. I am sure Jill is also having a great time as we speak, relaxing with her family!

Thanks Jill for doing me the honor to post on your blog! You know I love your cards and videos and I wish you all the success in the world!

Hugs,

Vicky Papaioannou

http://www.clips-n-cuts.com/


Hi, Jill here, popping in to say thanks to Vicky, Elizabeth, and Lin for taking over so far this week.  Your creations are sooo gorgeous!!!  I also wanted to let y'all know that I have a new Holly Jolly Stampin' Party video up on the Mementos blog today.  Here's a peek:

http://www.ilovemementos.blogspot.com/

And be sure to pop back tomorrow- another uber talented gal has taken over "Inspired By..."  I've had a peek at her card and I know you're going to LOVE it!