Creation Station November Hop--Girl Power!

Welcome to the November Creation Station Blog Hop!  Our theme this month is Girl Power and we are creating thank you notes with spunk, sass, funk and flash for you.  Not sure my thank you notes today fall under any of those categories, but they are the result of stepping a bit out of my comfort zone. Hmmmm, maybe that's Spunk!

Layering stamped images to create a background is something that I have been wanting to try, but was a little afraid to just go for it.  So, I summoned my girl power courage for this hop and went for it!  I finished my backgrounds and then found the perfect "Girl Power" sentiment to finish off my cards.

This was my first card with Whisper White card stock as my background base.   I started my layering with the Crackle Paint background stamp, stamping it on the Whisper White base in Smoky Slate ink.  Over the crackle paint image,  I stamped the grateful definition image from the Praiseworthy Prose stamp sets several times in  Rococo Rose.  Next I sponged on Rococo Rose ink, followed by Merry Merlot ink.  My third stamped image was the floral cluster image from Tasteful Textures.  I stamped it diagonally across the card with Merry Merlot, using both first and second generation stamping.   My white embossing paste layer was created using a mask I made with the coordinating Tasteful Backgrounds die.

The greeting is from the Tasteful Textures stamp set.  It was stamped in Basic Gray ink and die cut using a Stitched Nested Labels die.  I layered it over the white baker's twine.  I wrapped two strands of the twine around the card three times and tied it in a bow.  I layered the stamped piece on Merry Merlot card stock and then on a Whisper White Thick card base. 

After I did the card on Whisper White, I decided to make the same card using Crumb Cake card stock: 

I used the same steps to make this card, substituting Crumb Cake ink to stamp the Crackle Paint image and Soft Suede ink to stamp the greeting.  I tinted the white embossing paste with a few drops of Crumb Cake ink before applying it to the card.   Linen Thread was substituted for the baker's twine.

Here's a close up of the Crumb Cake card.  Do you see the layers?

Now it's time to head over to see what the other Sara on the design team has created using her own special kind of Girl Power:

To Sara Levin's blog . . .

Which card do you like the best:  Whisper White or Crumb Cake?  Let me know what you think in the comments.  Thanks for stopping by today!

--Sara Nell

Monster Ghost in the Woods--#tgifc234

The inspiration for this week's TGIF Challenge is Halloween.  I don't quite know what it is, but the Boo to You stamp set just brings out my silly side--maybe it's the coordinating googly eyes.  Anyway, I hope you leave my blog today with a smile on your face.  I've created a monster ghost in the woods for you:

To make the card, I started with a piece of Whisper White card stock and stamped the monster from Boo to You stamp set in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink.  Then I started sponging with Rich Razzleberry ink, then Blackberry Bliss and finally with Night of Navy.  The monster was then painted with Frost White Shimmer Paint to create the ghost.  The woods were created with embossing paste and the tree pattern from the Basic Pattern Decorative Masks in the Holiday Catalog.  The embossing paste was tinted with Night of Navy ink for that eerie woods effect.

The greeting was stamped in VersaMark ink on Rich Razzleberry card stock and heat embossed in with White Stampin' Emboss Powder.  It was die cut with the smallest Layering Circle die and then sponged with Blackberry Bliss ink.  The piece was layered on Rich Razzleberry card stock and then on a Night of Navy card base.  Oh, and don't forget the googly eyes!

See some fun Halloween cards over at the TGIF Challenges Blog here.

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Happy Halloween!

--Sara Nell

Pressed Petals Best Wishes--#tgifc216

The Pressed Petals Suite in the new Annual Catalog is one of my favorites.  I've always loved the vintage look of pressed flowers, and this suite carries that vintage look throughout each of the products in the suite.  I decided it was the perfect suite of products to pull out for this week's TGIF Challenges sketch challenge.

I started with a Crumb Cake card base and added a layer of Rococo Rose card stock that I embossed with the Scripty 3D embossing folder.  I added a strip of one of the wood grain patterns in the Pressed Petals specialty designer series paper pack. I sponged around the card base and the wood grain strip with Soft Suede ink and around the Rococo Rose layer with Rococo Rose ink.  I added a piece of the Rococo Rose gathered ribbon down the center of the wood grain strip. 

Next I added a floral piece which I fussy cut from another pattern in the Pressed Petals paper pack.  I sponged around the edges of this piece with Mossy Meadow ink.  Sponging the edges of fussy cut paper like this not only gives the piece a bit of dimension, but it also hides small errors in your fussy cutting.

I stamped the greeting from the Path of Petals stamp set, die cut it out with the smallest oval die in the Petal Labels dies, and then adhered it to the center of a frame die cut with another die from this set.  I sponged the edge of the petals on the frame with Soft Suede ink and then sponged the petals with Champagne Mist shimmer paint.  I wanted to recreate the shimmer from the gold metallic center of the ribbon.

There are some beautiful projects using this sketch over at the TGIF Challenges Blog here.

Thanks for stopping by!--Sara Nell