October Inspiration Station Blog Hop Challenge

This month's inspiration photo

 

My project inspired by this month's inspiration photo (above)

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I was so inspired by the colors from this month's inspiration photo!  I don't have a cornucopia, but thanks to my amazing crafty friends, I recently received the Altenew Radiant Blossoms Build A Garden Set and it has the cutest basket! It's a good size too, I can't wait to use this element with other sets and creations!!  So, I wasn't sure when I started this project exactly where it would go, so I started with the basket (which, as you can see from my finished photo, YOU CAN'T SEE IT ANYWAYS because I got carried away with the flowers and pumpkins lol). Oh well, it was fun to do.  Below are the steps I used to make the basket look as realistic as I could.

 I stamped the image in Toasted Mauve ink on craft cardstock to start with a good base.  Pro tip: stamping on colored cardstock gives a great base to inking if you are inking something in similar colors.

I used the Pink Sand ink pad to rub across the basket, to give it a little "wicker" texture. The Pink Sand ink is just a bit darker than the craft cardstock.

The set comes with stencils, so, for the basket stencil I used Toasted Mauve again and a mini blending brush to add shadows around the basket.

I added depth to the shadows by lightly applying Redwood ink around the shadows.

I added Redwood ink shadows on the inside of the basket as well- The stencil is amazing to allow you to add these details!!

I edged the basked using Altenew Artist Marker in Espresso

Then I finished the rim using Altenew Artist Marker in Sunkissed.

 

Came out super cute!!

Next was the flower cluster that comes in the set.  Since I don't have a lot of fruits and things as elements, I decided to fill the basket up first with the large flower cluster.  This I also stamped on colored cardstock.

Pro Tip:  When stamping and ink blending on colored cardstock, you definitely need to do some test blending with your chosen colors to see how they will come out.  I was going for a vintage tone for the flower cluster.

Pro Tip:  I used a mustard color cardstock as the base of this flower cluster. Instead of choosing green inks for the leaves, I used tones of blues because blue and yellow make green.  Yes, you can use greens, but working with the colored cardstock to blend a completely new tone of "green" with the blue inks kept the depth of the leaves in that toned-down vintage look.

Now I had a sense of the tone this project was going, so I used a muted light green cardstock as a 5 x 7 card base.  From there I antiqued it in vintage tones and gold.

Using the big blending brush I edged the card base face in Mocha ink. This large brush smooths out edge blending like a dream! No brush marks!

I used the Regal Beauty mask and stencil set from Altenew and a mini blending brush with the Mocha ink to add tone on tone details. Pro Tip: varying pressure with the brush gives the depth to the stenciling.

For some true vintage style I dabbed Altenew Enchanted Gold Pigment Ink. I used a micro mini blending brush to keep the gold on the stenciled areas. I also rad the gold ink pad around the edge of the card face.

(Whew!!  Yes, lol, this card took a while to put together...lots of juicy steps, lots of different techniques.... but it was so much fun to get lost in the process of building this card!)

Next comes to fun part!!  (I know, it's all the fun part lol) THE FILLER ELEMENTS!!!
 

I used pumpkin stamps and dies from an old, retired set from my stash. To keep with the vintage, washed out tone of the rest of the card, I stamped the pumpkins in coordinating ink on colored cardstock. 

I colored them with Prismacolor colored pencils:

 Next came the super fun part of picking washed out, jewel toned card stock to cut out the leaves and fillers.  I had some leaf die-cuts left over from a previous project, so I added those as well.  I used the leaf dies from the Altenew Mini Delight Garden Friends set and the Altenew Zero Waste Berries and Branches die. I cut them all out, then went over them with brown and gold ink, applied with a sponge:

EMBELLISHMENTS:  ASSEMBLE!!!!!

I cut a little slit in the basket to nestle the smaller pumpkins:

               

I played with the layout of the big elements and when I figured out where I wanted them, I went in with a mini blending brush and the Mocha ink and laid down shadows from the elements:

Last step was stuffing all the branches, filler leaves and acorns :)

 

I hope you had fun following me along in the process of building this card project!  I also hope you hit the link at the top of the page and follow along the hop challenge!!  To snag the products I used in this project (except the pumpkins) click HERE to visit the Altenew Store.

See you all next month for another Inspiration Station Blog Hop Challenge!

August Inspiration Station Challenge Blog Hop

This month's inspiration photo! 

Click the link below to follow the blog hop challenge!

Inspiration Station

My take on the inspiration photo

First of all, I love all things unicorns!!  So, I was inspired by everything about this month's inspiration photo. But I loved the colors as well, amongst the white background. I wanted to create a rainbow with the colors in the photo. As usual I smashed my stash. I keep a box of small pieces of cardstock for occasions such as this. 

Using some old Spellbinders flower dies, I cut out flowers in all of the colors from the inspiration photo.

 This card is on a 5 x 7" card base to which I attached a panel of holographic white cardstock. On this I layered out the rainbow of the flowers I cut. 

The unicorn stamp and die are from my stash-I have no idea what company it's from, it's so old!!  But I stamped it using Stampin' Up ink in Cloud Cover and colored it with Spectrum Noir glitter markers in corresponding colors to the flower.

 The sentiment, also from my stash was cut from multiple colors and off-set layered for interest.

For a final magical touch, I added gem sparkles!!!

I hope you find inspiration to recreate this month's photo, and if you do, please remember to tag me on social media @scrappystampthefunup.  I can't wait to see what your take is on this month's inspiration photo. Good luck on the hop challenge!!  I'll see you next month!

July Inspiration Station Blog Hop Challenge

This month's inspiration challenge photo

My take on the inspiration photo (This is a 6 x6 box card. In the photo above it is closed up with a belly band).  To follow along and join the hop challenge, click the link below:

Inspiration Station

 

Here is the front of the card with the belly band off

Here's the inside

This card brought back all the memories of when we used to go on vacation-yes used too :( So, I went all out to smash my stash of beachy goodies I haven't used in years!  The card base is cut from a sheet of 12" x12" vanilla cardstock. It is cut to 6" x 12". It is scored vertically at 3", 3 1/4", 8 3/4" and 9".

I used a light brown ink to ink up the quarter inch sections because I wasn't going to put cardstock over these. Altenew Fresh Dye ink in Pink Sand was the perfect beachy color.

Next, from a sheet of 12"x 12" scrapbook paper I cut it in half at 6" horizontally and cut one of those pieces in half at 6" so I had two 6" squares. I then cut each square vertically in half at 3". This was to make sure the pattern of the paper stayed consistent across the face and inside of the card.

Next, in my stash of beachy goodies I had the perfect photo to use as the focal point of the card. I did a dry fit with it first, then attached it with liquid glue. I then attached the decorative scrapbook paper to the inside and outside of the card opening panels.

(Pro tip:  when attaching paper over flaps, tags, etc... apply the glue to the flap, tag, etc... and then lay your pre-cut panels and papers onto the glued area. This way, if you have any trimming of the decorative paper to do, the parts hanging over the edges won't be all gloppy from glue.)

With the big stuff done, it was time to play! 

I cut a piece of brown cardstock scrap to fill in under the photo as sand. I used a cruise ship sticker, sticking it directly to the photo. I then layered over where the photo ended with a strip sticker of waves and beachy "sand." And of course, I added palm trees and other fun beachy element stickers.

Next was to make the belly band. Pro Tip: when making a belly band, I use strips cut from 12"x12" cardstock or scrapbook paper. I lay this strip on my table surface, upside down, and center my card on it. I then hand bend the strip around the card and press the folds softly-I do not use a bone folder to burnish the fold lines on a belly band. You want a belly band to be springy enough to get over whatever goodies you are piling up on the card front, and soft folded edges will give them that bounce. 

 I used some old fun-shaped scissors to cut a wave pattern along both edges of my belly band, which was cut from a really pretty "wavy" like pattern of blues and purples. 

Then I wrapped it around my card again and glued it in the center and attached all the fun embellishments.

The final step was to decorate the front flaps of the card. I had some fun ephemera that looked like vintage postcards, so I had the idea to attach them like old steamer trunk travel stickers.  I edged them each first, then applied liquid glue to the backs of them. I attached them to the flaps on diagonals for visual interest and where they hung over the edge, I trimmed that off.

(Pro Tip: notice how I slipped a scrap piece of paper under the front flap as I attached the postcards. this way I won't get glue onto the inside main part of the card.)

I just love how this came together!  

I hope you have been inspired to hop along with the challenge and try your take on this month's inspiration photo! Remember, if you do, tag me @scrappystampthefunup I would love to see your work! See you next month!

June Inspiration Station Blog Hop Challenge

Inspiration Station Blog

This month's inspiration photo was so fun! I immediately was inspired by the jewel tones of the carnival ride and all the gilded details.  I knew this would be a perfect inspiration to use the Breezy Quest mini delight set from Altenew. This project is made on an A2 size card base, and the artwork is on a panel trimmed just a bit smaller, from 80lb Classic Crest Nenah Solar White cardstock.

I started this project by softly blending Altenew Fresh Dye inks in Tide Blue and Pool to the lower left corner of the panel, and Golden Honeycomb with Peachy Glow to the upper right corner, just to give a slight indication of sky. 

Next, I used Altenew Brushed Gold cardstock for the base and basket of the hot air balloon.  The balloon panels are from my colored cardstock stash. I used the stamp from the Breezy Quest set to emboss the design on the balloon panels using Altenew Antique Gold embossing powder. 

I attached the panel to the card base with liquid glue and added a small trim of the gold cardstock to the top and bottom. The sentiment is also embossed with the same powder using a sentiment from the set.

I hope you enjoy this project and if it inspires you, be sure to tag me on Instagram @scrappystampthefunup, I'd love to see your take on this month's inspiration photo. And follow the link at the top to join the challenge!  The supplies I used can be purchased from Altenew by clicking the link below:

Altenew Shop

See you next month!