OCC: Bakin' Beauties

I just can't believe it's the day before July and the summer Olympics are just a few weeks away! I'm not particularly glued to the tv during the games but I do love to hear the stories, see the perseverance and root good ol' America on! Go Team USA!

This week, Kristen is following up her anniversary challenge with another fun one she's called "Bakin' Beauties". (Makes ya smile, doesn't it?). The theme this week is to use something from your baking cabinet in your project - food coloring, baking papers, foil, sprinkles, even flour or sugar! I tried the food coloring but here's something I learned. Red food coloring on white card stock looks like someone cut their finger and bled all over your card. Not good. So I swiftly ditched that idea and moved to my little mini cupcake papers from Martha Stewart. I just love these dainty little pink and dark pink scalloped cuties.

The funny thing about these papers - I bought them just for paper crafting. They haven't seen my kitchen! (They're just too cute!) I decided on a tag this week. This paper from BoBunny is so fun and summery and goes well with the colors of my paper flowers made from the cupcake liners.

After I cut the bottom off the papers, I cut in at each scallop so the flower "petals" could spread out a bit. The fun thing about these kind of flowers, the more you smoosh them, the better. I ended up making a smaller flower from the light pink and just glued it into the center of the larger one.

 For a little asymmetry, I added a little shoot of some white tulle ribbon. I think its a phase. I've been adding it to everything lately.

So take a peak in your kitchen, find something to test your paper making skills with this challenge. To get your mind baking with ideas, take a look at what the other DT members have constructed:

Linda Coughlin The Funkie Junkie

Vicki Burdick It's a Stamp Thing

Sue Butler Scrumplescrunch

Anita Houston The Artful Maven Haven

Anne Marie Hile Stampin' Anne

Wendy Janson It's All About Stamping

Marcy Kaminski En Papillote Arts

Irena Kowalczyk (aka Rudlis) Love, Life and Crafts

Meihsia Liu Simply Paper Crafts

Tui Nathan Stampin Time

Lori Rider The Diva Stamper

Kristin Tierney Lilly Beth Boutique

Sharon Wheet Designs by Sharon 

And while you're getting crafty, don't forget to catch some of the Olympics. Maybe there will be some inspiration there for you too!

Holly

OCC: Butterflies

Happy Saturday!


I trust you had a good week and are ready to enjoy a fun or relaxing or happily busy weekend. I know I am!


This week on Our Creative Corner, we're all about butterflies. Our host Irena "Rudlis" Kowalczyk, of Love Life and Crafts is challenging us all to use this butterfly image in a card, tag or other paper project.

Have you ever visited a butterfly garden? I've been in a few but my favorite one was at the Seattle Science Center. When you stand inside, its amazing to see them up close, see their detail, vivid color and subtle strength. Butterflies are just so colorful and ethereal - light, airy and delicate. They make me feel free and worry-free.

And this is my contribution to the challenge this week with that color inspiration in mind:

I am just in love with this embossing technique (can ya tell?) and in combination with PTI's butterfly dies, I just love this tag. This works best with Tim Holtz Distress Ink and this time, I used Fired Brick, Scattered Straw and Wild Honey. The papers I used came from one of my favorites - My Mind's Eye. And this small paper pad is one of my absolute favorites the Lost and Found 2 Rosy. As you can see, I added a little bit of tulle ribbon for a fun wispy type addition. 


To learn more about the embossing technique I used here, there's no one better than Jennifer McGuire. She's a great teacher so watch this YouTube video to get all the steps.


So fly away with us and make a butterfly-inspired paper craft. To get your creative juices flowing, see what the other OCC designers have put together:

Linda Coughlin The Funkie Junkie
Vicki Burdick It's a Stamp Thing
Sue Butler Scrumplescrunch
Anita Houston The Artful Maven Haven
Anne Marie Hile Stampin' Anne
Wendy Janson It's All About Stamping
Marcy Kaminski En Papillote Arts
Irena Kowalczyk (aka Rudlis) Love, Life and Crafts
Meihsia Liu Simply Paper Crafts
Tui Nathan Stampin Time
Lori Rider The Diva Stamper
Kristin Tierney Lilly Beth Boutique
Sharon Wheet Designs by Sharon 

I can't wait to see your contributions!
Holly

OCC: Photo Inspiration Challenge

Happy Saturday!

I am hosting the challenge this week at Our Creative Corner. With the Thanksgiving holiday approaching this week, I thought it'd be fun to have a photo inspiration challenge using a photo that's a little different than what our table looks like for Thanksgiving. Don't get me wrong, Thanksgiving is always nice, always fun, always great company and food but never fancy. I'd love to go "all out" like this but its beyond me. But I can still admire it, right?

So this week I made a little tag to hang on a wine bottle or sparkling cider bottle. I was inspired by the pattern on the tablecloth and the blue and orangey-gold colors. 

I used a bookmark blank that I got from JoAnn and punched a circle in the top near the flat side. The punch is about 1.25" in diameter and fits nicely on the neck of the bottle. Then I embossed the  "front" with an impression plate from Papertrey Ink that I simply adore. When I saw this photo I instantly thought about this embossing plate.

The orangey-gold ribbon is one of my favorites. Its a bit if an odd color and has a bit of shimmer so I don't get to use it a lot but it makes a wonderful bow. I used two Papertrey Ink dies for the blue behind the bow (sorta hard to see) and the doily cut out. I stamped my sentiment on another piece of plain white cardstock and used some distress ink to add some color. I topped it all off with a gold button.

So get inspired by our photo and bake up something fun for your Thanksgiving table, Holiday or New Year. It could be a card, a small gift, a wine tag or anything else paper! While you're at it, take a look at what our other designers have put together this week!

Linda Coughlin

Lori Rider

Wendy Janson

Vicki Burdick

Sharon Wheet

Jen Rzasa

Kristen Tierney

Anne Marie Hile

Marjie Kemper

Tui Nathan

Have a great Thanksgiving holiday - enjoy some turkey, pumpkin pie and your loved ones

Holly

OCC: World Card Making Day

Hiya!

If you're a paper crafter, you probably know that today is World Card Making Day! This week at Our Creative Corner, we're celebrating with a challenge that emphasizes the world part of the festivities. 

This week, we want you to get inspired by a country (other than your own) for your paper craft.

My inspiration this week? I've used the flag of Japan as an jumping point for my hand-made holiday Christmas card. I just couldn't get the image out of my head. 

I really love this little red brad berries/green holly leaves combo from Making Memories. They go together so well and I love how they finish off the top of the "ornament" (its actually a tag die from Papertrey Ink that works beautifully as an ornament).

Join us this week. Find some inspiration in another country and submit your paper craft project. And to get you started, check out what the other designers have put together this week in a trip around the world!

Linda Coughlin
Lori Rider
Wendy Janson
Vicki Burdick
Sharon Wheet
Jen Rzasa
Kristen Tierney
Anne Marie Hile
Marjie Kemper
Tui Nathan

OCC: Numbers

Happy Saturday!


This week on Our Creative Corner, Sharon is challenging us to use numbers in our design. A few weeks ago, I made this card  for a Paper Craft Magazine. When I cut out the 4 on the card, I had this cut out that I held onto with the thought that I could use it again. So this week, I am incorporating it into this week's challenge.


I opted to make a tag this time - something I am totally into right now thanks to all the handmade Christmas cards and tags I'm working on right now!

I love this way to incorporate a button and twine to secure the ribbon at the top. 

Here's a tip for you, when I stitch on a card, I put a little dab of Glossy Accents on the back before I trim off the excess to keep my stitches in place.

Play along with us this week on Our Creative Corner. Make a paper craft incorporating a number somehow into your design and to get some inspiration, check out what the other OCC designers have put together this week!

Linda Coughlin
Lori Rider
Wendy Janson
Vicki Burdick
Sharon Wheet
Jen Rzasa
Kristen Tierney
Anne Marie Hile
Marjie Kemper
Tui Nathan

Technique Practice: Resist

So I'm taking Jennifer McGuire's Inspiration Showcase class and haven't had the time throughout the week to really watch the videos so I caught up on Friday night and have really become quite inspired!

Here's my tag which incorporates some of her ideas and techniques.

I started by stamping the Old Letter Writing text on a piece of white card stock. I then inked up a large background stamp with embossing ink, stamped over the top of the writing and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I did have to do it a few times because the embossed pattern didn't turn out very well  the first few times.

I then started rubbing Tim Holtz Distress Ink with my distress tool. I wanted to do a rainbow effect so I added color in small strips - blending and incorporating color to fade from one to another. I then cut it into a tag shape. I used some Walnut Stain Distress Ink on the edges.

I then embossed a piece of vellum with an embossing folder and had originally intended to stamp the sentiment on that behind the butterflies but the pattern of the tag made it hard to see the sentiment. So I trimmed another banner in the same size and put the dotted vellum piece behind the smooth one. Love it!

I diecut the butterflies, folded them a bit for some more dimension and then used a little bit of Glossy Accents in the center to mount them together. I used two very small bits of foam dots to adhere the pink butterfly to the vellum sentiment banner.

I finished it off with a silver eyelet and some white satin ribbon.

The resist technique here is really great for creating layers and dimension with stamping. I will continue to work it into my projects going forward. It does add time and steps to a project but it is SO worth the effort.

Hope you have a great week ahead!
Holly