Seeing Stars

I absolutely love the intriguing stamping opportunity called "Twofer Card Challenge." The goal of this fun challenge is to use the exact same stamp or die to make two cards with distinctly different designs for two different occasions. The current theme is "Stars" so I dug into my rubber and clear stamps for inspiration. It didn't surprise me that I was drawn to a favorite Denami Stamps wood mount. [I stripped this star banner image from the wood a few years ago to be able to use it with my MISTI. I don't use this stamp very often, but when I do it is usually for Christmas and Graduation cards. Hence, the cards for my Twofer entries.]

 

For the first card I paired the stars with an angel image from a Stampendous set. Both were embossed in gold, the stars on some pretty brushed metallic card stock and the angel on vellum.  Colored the vellum on the underside of the image with Spectrum Noir markers, tapping the light blue marker to obtain some additional texture.  The inside sentiment and small star stamps are also from the Stampendous set, once again stamped on vellum. I used paper scraps to make the "frame" for the sentiment and add a few stars. The final touch was to add some bling to the front of the card with mini-rhinestones.

For the second card, I stamped the star border on a strip of black paper and gold embossed it. Used three additional wood mount stamps on this card- Eureka Stamps "Lg. Boy Graduate" and "Congratulations" and a Stampin' Up's "Hooray" [from a retired greeting set.]  Made this card for a friends son who will graduate in the Spring from my alma mater in South Dakota. The school colors are purple and gold. Forty-three years ago it really bugged my friends and me that the guys got to wear graduation gowns and caps in a rich regal purple color, while the girls were stuck wearing an ugly flat gold color. [The fact that we referred to the particular shade of gold as "baby-poop yellow" shows our disdain for the color. No one and I mean NO ONE, looked good in that color. Today when I look at photos, they make me laugh remembering our complaints. Although, I do still think that the color makes me look kinda zombie-ish, as my skin took on a greenish tone. So funny.]

I'd like to provide a bit more info about the Stamps used in my cards.

Denami Stamps-  Twenty years ago when a friend and I owned a stamp store in South Dakota, Denami Stamps was one of our most popular lines. They were high quality stamps and the owners, Gary and Nami Nakamura, were such nice people. I'm sure that they are still nice people selling good quality products because they are still in business. Stop by their website to check out their images. Bet you'll find something that you like. 

Eureka Stamps- This line was also very popular in our store. And the owner was also very kind and generous. I was thrilled to learn that Eureka images are still available [in rubber/clear stamps and digi images] at Stamponit.  I am on the Design Team for QKR Stampede, whose wonderful images are also available via Stamponit.  [Stop by their blog to see my latest card that features another Eureka image that cat lovers will love.]  

Entered into: 
Star [Christmas]

Twofer Card Challenge- #13 Stars  (logo)                   (twofercardchallenge.blogspot.com)

Crafty Hazelnut’s Christmas Challenge- #426           (craftyhazelnutschristmaschallenge.blogspot.co.uk) 

Jingle Belles- All That Glitters                                       (jinglebellesrock.blogspot.com)

Star [Graduation]

Polkadoodles Challenge- Anything Goes Week 8      (polkadoodle.blogspot.com)

Outlawz Challenge- Festive Fridays                              (Outlawzchallenges.ning.com)

Mod Squad Challenge- Clear or Rubber Stamps        (modsquadchallenge.com)

As I post this cute Spring card, I am looking out my window as yet another blizzard rages. This is our fourth in a little over two weeks, and this time we got 7 inches of snow, dumped atop the 6 inches that remain from the big storm a few days ago. Sitting in my recliner, with my laptop perched on my lap, I can't see out of the window because a 4½ foot high snowdrift blocks my view.

So, this Easter card provides assurance that Spring WILL arrive sometime in the coming months. It features a sweet image from Di's Digis named "Bunny Treats." I'm entering this card into a few challenges that are reflected in the card.

The first one, Power Poppy included the following requires that we "pick up a coloring medium that you haven't used for a while and play!" I like the look of watercolors but even after taking art classes in college have never mastered them. So… used watercolor pencils on this image and had to do a lot of work with a white gel pen to "fix" the muddy colors that resulted. [Even had to cut out the front two eggs, which were no longer pastel when I was finished with my brush, and paper piece replacements with pretty patterned paper. The ribbons on the eggs were also a muddy mess, so I sketched them onto colored vellum, fussy cut and then paper pieced the vellum replacements onto the muddy messes.] In truth, it took me longer to fix the colored image than it would have taken me to color it with my Spectrum Noir markers. So… 'twas a good reminder that I can't be good at everything!

The second, Butterfly Challenge, invites us to create a card that includes specified colors and themes. This card includes all of the required items… which is often a stretch to do.  All three of the color options- Amber, Almond and Apple Green- are included [in the butterfly wings and a few of them are in the water-colored image]. All three themes are also included- Aperture and Acetate [in the oval "window"], Anything goes [I chose tri-fold card] and, of course the card must feature a butterfly [my card has three! Two are printed, in color, on vellum. All I needed to do was to add the little body and antennae and love how they add a bit of realism to a card. You can find the freebie to download HERE.  

The "Rejoice" sentiment on the first flap is from a company that is no longer in business named The Crafts Meow, and the inside sentiment is computer generated.  

 

 

Entered into: 

Di’s Digi Stamps- Include an Animal                         (disdigidesignschallenge.blogspot.co.uk)

Butterfly Challenge- #117 Letter A                              (butterflyspotchallenge.blogspot.co.uk)

Outlawz Challenges- Tuesday-Photo Inspiration      (Outlawzchallenges.ning.com)

Power Poppy- Creative Confetti- Color It Up           (powerpoppy.blogspot.com/2019/02/creative-confetti-color-it-up.html)

Compared to the other cards on this post, my final one was super easy to create. Since I was making it for the current Simon Says Wednesday challenge that allows no use of stamps or digis, I used a "Love" diecut from Stampin' Up [or I should say I used the scraps from using the Love die, including the little bits that fill in the letters] and a computer generated "you" to create the sentiment. The card base is made from paper scraps, including the glossy red fake leather paper [upcycled from the front cover of an OLD scrapbook that I picked up at a rummage sale for a quarter] and wonderful black and white patterned paper [upcycled from the inside of an envelope.] Easy peasy. Am entering this card into two other challenges including Bugaboo Stamps photo inspiration [I based my card on the color scheme, red, white and shades of grey.]

Entered into: 

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge- No Stamps Allowed         (simonsaysstampblog.com/wednesdaychallenge)

Bugaboo Stamps- Photo Inspirations                                          (catchthebugblog.blogspot.com)

Word Art Wed Challenge- #374-#375 Anything Goes             (wordartwednesday.blogspot.com)