FUSSY FABULOUS FLORETS

As promised, I will now set forth the parameters for our first Build Your Own Challenge. I got votes from only a handful of readers, so the ballot was very limited. But, based on the votes I received, here is your challenge:

Colors: SO SAFFRON, WILD WASABI, ISLAND INDIGO
Theme: FRIENDS

Now, get to work on your submission for the challenge. You have until midnight on Tuesday, August 13. When I wake up Wednesday morning, the 14th, all submissions should have arrived at their destination.

I have set up a new group on Flickr, http://www.flickr.com/groups/paperseedlings/ Simply click on this link, then click on Join Group. Once you're part of the group, you can upload images for the rest of the group to see. Upload the image of the card you have created for the challenge, and don't forget to add your name.

Two weeks from now, once all the entries have been submitted to my Flickr gallery, the winner will be chosen, announced and featured on my blog. The winning entry will also get a prize from me.

So, go to your creation stations, and get creating!

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At a recent Stamp-In workshop, attendees made a card using Fabulous Florets:

I had wanted to feature some of the new (hungry-making) In Colors, so I chose Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding and Crisp Cantaloupe. Mmmmm. Aren't you hungry now?

The solid flower from the set is perfect for -- you guessed it! -- fussy cutting! Yayyy! These flowers are much easier to cut out though because the solid white line throughout the image sets the boundaries for your cut edges. Even if you waver in the thickness of your white line, it will still look great.

Anyway, would you like to make your own Fussy Fabulous Florets card? Here you go:

Supplies:

Fabulous Florets stamp set

Flower Fest stamp set (retired) or any set with general swirly outlines of choice

Whisper White cardstock

Daffodil Delight cardstock

Strawberry Slush cardstock

Strawberry Slush ink

Pistachio Pudding ink

Daffodil Delight ink

Crisp Cantaloupe ink

Daffodil Delight 1/4" Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon

Paper Snips

Stampin' Dimensionals

Big Shot

Tasteful Trim Die

Mini Glue Dots

Instructions:

Fold a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of Whisper White cardstock in half, creasing well with a bone folder.

Adhere a 5 1/4" x 4" piece of Daffodil Delight cardstock to the card front.

On a 4 1/2" x 2 7/8" piece of Whisper White cardstock, stamp open flowers randomly in Daffodil Delight. Cut this piece into four 1 1/8" x 2 7/8" strips. Adhere these evenly on the yellow. Hint: Adhere the top and the bottom pieces in place first. Then it is easier to get the two center pieces where they need to be.

On a scrap of Whisper White cardstock, stamp: one flower in Crisp Cantaloupe, one flower in Strawberry Slush, and the stem and leaves in Pistachio Pudding.

Cut these pieces out, leaving a white margin around all of them. Adhere the pieces together as desired, overlapping and rotating the flowers as desired to make it look more realistic. Mount to card front with a few Stampin' Dimensionals,

Tie a knot in a small piece of the Daffodil Delight Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon. Attach this to the stems with a Mini Glue Dot.

At the Big Shot, use the Tasteful Trim die to cut a scallop border from Whisper White and one from Strawberry Slush. Trim off about 3/8" on the straight edge of the white piece. 

Adhere first the Strawberry Slush piece onto the black Daffodil Delight portion, adding he white strip over that.

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One more thing: The new Stampin' Up! "mini", entitled Your Guide to Holiday Happiness, goes live Thursday, August 1!! 

If you would like a hard copy of this nifty catalog, let me know, and I'll send one out to you!

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Now, don't you think it's time you got to work on your challenge card??!! Don't forget to add your fabulous creation to my Flickr gallery!! 

Smiles.

NEW WORD ON THE BOOK

Last weekend, when my husband and I were Skyping with Stella and family, her mom, Emily, announced that Stella had recently coined a new word. And I must tell you, I absolutely love it and think Webster should include it in the next edition of the dictionary.

WHOBODY. As in: Whobody wants some ice cream? 

I couldn't get this precious word out of my thoughts. Whobody. Whobody. I absolutely needed to commemorate this special milestone of our granddaughter coining a brand new word. What better way than  through MDS?

The last time we saw Stella and the fam in person was early June. I had taken this photo of her that weekend, and thought it was perfect to personify "whobody". Doesn't she look absolutely forlorn?

Whobody knows how to get a new word added to the dictionary?

Smiles.

POINSETTIA PERFECTION

Hey -- it's STILL July! I think I'm on a Christmas in July kick.

The new and upcoming Stampin' Up! seasonal catalog, Your Guide to Holiday Happiness, which goes live August 1, is a delight to the eyes. You see, Stampin' Up! has revamped their seasonal catalog. The first 17 pages of the 39-page catalog feature projects and samples, and more projects and samples, and more . . . using the goodies that you can purchase throughout the rest of the catalog. Mind boggling, I tell you. The ideas.

About the format of this catalog, I'm not sure I like it. I would love to hear your opinion of this new layout. Samples first, then goodies to buy. Let me know what you think.

Anyway, page 27 holds a great new set, Joyful Christmas. The reason I was drawn to it IMMEDIATELY was the layers! The possibility for paper piecing! And who doesn't love poinsettias??!? As a demonstrator, I was allowed to preorder products from this catalog. This was the only thing I could not wait to get my hands on, so I ordered it as soon as I could.

When the Paper Players introduced their challenge for the week, I had initially intended to head for Blooming With Kindness on page 65 for my take on the challenge. However, on my way to the shelf, Joyful Christmas caught my eye, and shouted, "Pick me! Pick me!" So I did.

Quite a long time later, here is what I had accomplished:

I was in papercrafting heaven! On the same project, I got to do two of my favorite things: paper piecing and cutting, lots of cutting, to create many layers. Ahhh!

The old DSP I chose to use for my flower turned out to be even more perfect than I had originally thought. Once the flower came together, I was astounded to discover that it looked so much like those splotchy pinky-red poinsettias you see at Christmastime. How cool! 

Using black embossing powder made it really easy to cut out the various layers and added a little more dimension and elegance, as embossing always does. Pieces of Stampin' Dimensionals made the layering process easy to accomplish.

This is the sketch from the Paper Players upon which I based my poinsettia card:

http://thepaperplayers.blogspot.com/2013/07/paper-players-155-jaydees-cas-sketch.html

I actually wish I had more of this retired DSP to make more of these little beauties.

Ah

Smiles.

CHRISTMAS IN JULY

It's still July -- so let's have us some CHRISTMAS IN JULY!

A few weeks ago, I tried my hand at a new type of Christmas ornament. Of course, it HAD to be made from sheets of music, right? After all, what is Christmas without music?

I think that, if I ever make another one from music, it is going to be music that is smaller and closer together, much more condensed. That would definitely be more effective. But, experience is the best teacher, so they say.

Stampin' Up! Designer Series Paper, being so luscious, it promises to make for a gorgeous ornament. I don't have any of the current holiday paper yet, so I dug out a piece from last year's model. It made for a much crisper-looking ornament than the thinner music:

I hadn't put anything on the reverse side of the music ornament. But, to give my DSP ornament a more finished look on the back, I added this:

Working with a paper that has obvious stripes presents various problems, as you can especially see on the reverse side. My next ornament will be crafted from an all-over design. 

The center of the ornament is created with our new Simply Pressed Clay inside the largest flower from the Buttons & Blossoms Simply Pressed Clay Mold (page 167 of the big new catalog). I then used a sponge dauber to add color to the raised surfaces of the flower. 

As shown here, I sponged deeper on the music ornament than I did on the one created from DSP:

It just depends on the look you prefer. 

How are you doing on YOUR Christmas preparations?

Merry

Smiles.

BUILD YOUR OWN CHALLENGE 1

I decided it would be fun to get you all more involved in my blog by having the first (of hopefully many!) Build Your Own Challenge.

These challenges will be a little different from those you have seen elsewhere. At least, I THINK they will be different. There could be something similar out there that I'm simply not aware of.

The reason my challenges will be different is found in the title -- build your own. I will provide a variety of suggestions for the components of each challenge. And you, through your votes, will come up with all the various parameters for creating a card.

For each challenge, I will offer suggestions for: Stampin' Up! color combination and topic/occasion.There will then be two weeks (well, one day less) during which you will be able to cast your votes for each category, and the "winner" with the most votes in each of the categories will set the expectations for the challenge.

Once all the votes have been tallied, and the challenge is set, you will create your own version and upload your entry to a special spot on my Flickr account. That way, you can all keep track as the entries come in. I will give you two weeks in which to develop your own card.

By the end of the two weeks, I will have received all your takes on the challenge, and one card will be chosen based on: creativity, challenge met, and overall success of the design. The "winner" of the challenge will then receive a prize and be featured on my blog for her (his?) efforts.

If this idea meets with success, I will try to continue to do a new challenge each month. That's my intent anyway.

With that said, I would like to put forth a few basics that will stand for all the challenges:

Use only Stampin' Up! stamp sets

Can be created in MDS (My Digital Studio) if you wish

Any neutral colors always allowed

Use any embellishments you choose

Now, to announce the first ever candidates for the voting ballots:

Choose THREE colors from this list:

Rich Razzleberry

Bermuda Bay

Melon Mambo

Pear Pizzazz

So Saffron

Blushing Bride

Cajun Craze

Crushed Curry

Rose Red

Island Indigo

Cherry Cobbler

Wild Wasabi

Choose ONE topic/occasion from this list:

Summertime

Sun

Birthday

Good Times

Friends

Flowers

As a result of the voting, the top THREE vote getters in the color category and the top vote getter in the topic/occasion list will set the challenge. Keep in mind that the three colors we come up with may be sort of a crazy color combination -- in your mind anyway. But, then isn't that what a CHALLENGE is all about?? To get yourself to work a little bit outside your comfort zone? To help plant those "creative seedings"? To allow yourself to grow creatively? To have FUN?

To cast your vote (even if you don't end up playing along with the challenge), note your choices of THREE COLORS and ONE TOPIC/OCCASION in the comments section for this post. 

Let's have lots of fun with this and make it a success! Remember the winner of the challenge will receive a prize and be a star feature on my blog!

created in MDS

PLEASE CAST YOUR VOTES VIA COMMENT NO LATER THAN MIDNIGHT, TUESDAY, JULY 30. 

The challenge will be announced the next day, Wednesday, July 31.

Challenging

Smiles.