The Inking spot of Crain Creations

Monogrammed Card set

Every month a few friends and I get together at my house for a stamp night.  Most of the time we do a "shoebox" card type type thing but this month they all had the month "off" and I decided to have a project for them.  We made a "Memory Keeper" and a few "Journaling Cards" (click on the link and then scroll down until you see the correct pdf's.  These were suer quick and easy to make!  I also came up with a set of 4 Monogrammed Notecards.  I am so in love with this paper!  And I think I didn't much care for it until putting it all together for this project.

The cards were also fairly quick and easy to put together, though there are a handful of "pieces".  I think this would make an awesome little gift set!  That's all I've got for ya today, thanks popping in.  Hope to see you again soon!  My TIme Made Easy peeks start on Thursday :)

Monogram Card Display

While organizing my "room", one of the things that I wanted to have was a way to display some cards.  I didn't really want them on shelves so I need some ideas.  A few years ago, when the boys were in elementary school, I got a couple of these   so that could hang up there pictures, etc. in their room and I really like the flexibility of it, um maybe just not that 'exact' design for my room? lol  I couldn't find anything that I liked in an, ahem, adult design so I decided to make my own!  You can click on any of the below pictures to see close ups.  Sorry for the lousy pics, but it's really hard to get good lighting way up on those walls, lol.

I took all 4 of my initials and used those as my anchor pieces, and picked out some fun ribbon from Michaels... Voila!  I have this on an angle because we have cathedral ceilings.  Here are the individual letters that I altered...

 

I found an 8x8 patterned paper pack and I liked the colors (my walls are a Suede color, and the furniture is oak and black, so this paper pack was perfect!).  I have hints of red (like a Riding Hood Red) and green (kind of a little darker than Old Olive) in my room as well so I used those colors for accents, and of course more cream.  Naturally I had to use the Tangii fairy from Paper Makeup Stamps :)

Stamps: Tangii fairy & sentiment (Paper Makeup Stamps)  Paper: Black & Ivory (K & Co), Sugar Cream (Prism), Spring Willow Medium (Prism)   Ink: Onyx Black, (VersaFine), Antique Linen (Ranger Distress)  Accessories: Flowers Shapeabilities (Spellbinders), large Pearls (Martha Stewart), Vanilla ribbon (SU!), small pearls (misc), labels nestie, black 1/4" grosgrain

 

For my middle initials they didn't have any more big letters, so I got the smaller ones and they worked perfectly.  I have a thing for buttons, and it isn't just for crafting.  I have jars of buttons from Jeff's Gramma and a HUGE tin of buttons from my Gramma & Great Gramma.  In the world according to me, buttons are fabulous as a decoration on a table, so natuarally I had to incorporate buttons into this project.  This is a mixture from my collections with a few PTI buttons in there.

  Stamps: Sentiment (Paper Makeup Stamps)  Paper: Black & Ivory (K & Co)  Ink: Onyx Black  (VersaFine)  Accessories: red brads (SU), green clip (SU!), green buttons from Gramma's stash, vintage cream ribbon (PTI), New Leaf and Pure Poppy buttons (PTI), Taylored Rose Garden flowers (Taylored Expressions), black embroidery thread

 

The quote here is one of my all time favorites and I find it really helps me put things in to perspective.  For the flowers on this letter and on the 'T', I used the flower shapeability from Spellbinders and used Prism cardstock because I LOVED the texture.  After cutting out the flower I left it in the die and used some Antique Linen Ranger Distress ink to "shade" the flower veins.

Stamps: Sing Love Dance (Paper Makeup Stamps), Lovely Labels (Nina Brackett for Gina K Designs)  Paper: Black & Ivory (K & Co), Sugar Cream (Prism), Spring Willow Medium (Prism)  Ink: Brick (Vivid), Olive (Vivid), Antique Linen (Ranger Distress)  Accessories: Flowers Shapeabilities (Spellbinders), large Pearls (Martha Stewart), Black ribbon (SU!), red brads (SU!)

Dirty Stuff take 3

 

This card was VERY hard for me... I struggle with all of that plain paper in there!  I may go back and make some changes to this card later, I like most of it, it just needs a little "more" (I was in a time crunch, lol!).

Stamps: Lovely Labels (Gina K)  Paper: Black (Gina K), Prism cs, white (PTI)  Ink: Olive (Vivid), Onyx Black (VersaFine)  Accessories: Pink Liquid Pearls, Labels ? (Nestie), Border Punch (Martha Stewart), heart (nestie), Trio Tags (Nestie)  Challenges: DTGD10blondie090277, DTGD10justwritedesigns01, DTGD10AmberDawn01, DTGD10cindy_haffner, DTGD10KimHughes, DTGD10kmahany

  

What? White Space?

 

Not only do I struggle with no layers, but "white space"?  Holy snickerdoodles, I don't even have a white wall in my house!!  Well, I think that this is the best that I can do for "white space".  I actually really like this card and it was speedy-quick to make!  I added some rhinestones to the centers of the snowflakes and that was the perfect finishing touch!  If you haven't yet checked out the "Dar to get Dirty" challenges over on Split Coast you NEED to get over there (this is for Fan Club Members).  

Stamps: The Magic of Christmas (by Rupa Shevda for Gina K Designs)  Paper: Classic White (Prism)  Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine), Storm Blue (Vivid), Summer Sky (Memento), Silver (Encore)  Accessories:  Dark Blue ribbon (Taylored Expressions), Silver Cord (SU!), Spring Rain button (PTI)

Now wanna see some eye-candy?

This is the newest addition to the Crain Clan.  Isn't he just precious!  My BIL called us a few minutes before 9 pm telling us about this cutie, and within 4 minutes Hubby & I were out the door to get us a new puppy!  Of course the kids had no clue until we got home... Priceless!  Thanks for stopping by, have a fabulous rest of the day! 

  

A little goodie and a submission...

I am just giddy, I am so excited at how this turned out!!  For many reasons... first of all it is a gift for someone, but I am also submitting this project for the DT call over at the JUGS challenge blog.  You can view the DT Call here.  Even if you choose not to submit for the call, I highly recommend their weekly challenges (posted every Saturday)... they truely rock!!! ok, back to business, lol.  So I needed to come up with a little "Thank You" giftie something for a gal at work, and one idea lead to another and Voila!  I ended up with this...

As soon as I saw this tote from Lauren at My Time, I knew it would be great fun to make.. and the ideas of what to put in it are endless!  I loved the gardening ideas I'd seen, but I wanted to do something a little different so I made some Blackberry and Strawberry syrups (for waffles, French Toast, Ice Cream, etc.).    I will also be including some recipe cards for a few French Toast and Home made ice cream recipes I have (the cards will go in the gap area in the tote).  The cards will match the Recipe Box I made for her for Christmas.   To decorate the jars I printed out the syrup names, then punched them out and sponged them before adhering them to my "labels" (stamped from the Lovely Labels stamp set).  Then I tied a little ribbon around the lid, covering the knot with a button.  The little flower on the label is from the Rambling Rose Pretty Pieces from Lauren, My Time Made Easy.  The labels are just adhered with some glue dots so that she can easily remove them before she puts the jars in the fridge.

 I took the Rambling Rose  set and just cut the whole set out about 4 times (twice each on 2 different papers), then I just picked pieces to put together on the various places on this project (see there is another just a little larger on the corner of the tote...with a button center).  The large flower on the Tote handle uses all of the pieces, and I used a Corduroy brad for the center.

And last, but certainly not least, here is the card.  The sketch for the card was part of the DT Submisson requirements (you can see that post here).  I wanted my card to coordinate with the gift, but not to look exactly the same, so I pulled some different paper from the same line that I used for the Tote.  I also pulled in the gold brads, and added a little gold cording to the button just so the brads didn't look totally out of place.  This was so much fun to make, I can see me making MANY of these totes in the future!

Tote Supplies

Stamps: sentiment from Fairy Tales (PTI), "Fun" Borders (JustRite Stamps)  Paper: Lemonade (Basic Gray), Wine with Everything cs (Gina K), So Saffron (SU), White (PTI)  Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), Victorian Velvet Distress (Ranger)  Accessories: Trendy Tool Tote template (My Time Made Easy), Rambling Rose cut file (My Time Made Easy), So Saffron ribbon (SU), Yellow Corduroy Brad (SU), Sweet Blush Button (PTI), Brads (Basic Gray), Circle Nesties, Scalloped Circle nesties

Jars Supplies:

Stamps: Lovely Labels (by Nina Brackett for Gina K)  Paper: Lemonade (Basic Gray), White cs (PTI)  Ink: Victorian Velvet Distress (Ranger)  Accessories: Rambling Rose Cut File (My Time Made Easy), Oval punch, Razzleberry Ribbon (SU), Labels 8 Nesties, Gold brads, Lemon Tart Button (PTI), Twine

Card Supplies

Stamps: Everyday Thanks (Paper Makeup Stamps)  Paper: Lemonade (Basic Gray), Wine with Everything (Gina K), White cs (PTI), So Saffron (SU)  Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), Antique Linen Distress (Ranger)  Accessories: Labels 3 and Oval nesties, White Satin ribbon (PTI), Sweet Blush Button (PTI), Gold Cording, Gold Brads, Dew Drops

Spring means butterflies...

Today was such a gorgeous day!  I am ready to see some "flutterby's"... bring on Spring!! 

 

This week Mercy had an awesome sketch (I always love her sketches), so I just had to take a break from "re-organizing" my stamp room and ink up some rubber.  I stamped the butterfly and colored it in, then I found some paper and started putting the card together.  Somewhere along the line, my butterfly went in one direction and the rest of the card went in another, hahaha.  So I re-did the butterfly.  I stamped it in some Cocoa ink (Memento) and then used some yellow/orange Copics.  I didn't really care if the Cocoa "bled" or smeared some when I colored because I kind of wanted to pull a little of the brown into the yellows.  I really like the look.  Both the butterfly and the sentiment are from Gina K's set, Take Flight.  I was trying to figure out what color for the base of this card... white was too "white" and vanilla was too "yellow".  While I was flipping through my Prism swatchbook I stumbled across 3 colors that I NEVER think about Butter Cream, Vanilla Cream and Sugar Cream. I chose Sugar Cream here.  I LOVE these colors and can't believe I haven't used them before!  I also love the texture of the Prism... I can leave some card stock showing without it looking "flat" to me.  The "pretty papers" here are from the Origins pack by Basic Gray.  I just love this paper pack!  I got some of the 12x12 papers for a project I am working on, fell in love with them, got a small pack and then got some more of them from a friend! lol.  By the way, Cathy at Paper Garden has both the paper pack and Prism cs singles on sale right now, pop on over there and tell her I said "hey".

Happy Monday...

 

 Happy Monday!  I finally took a break on Sunday from organizing and stamped a little.  

Stamps: Flowers for Daisy (by Asela Hopkins for Gina K Designs)  Ink: Coffee Bean (Vivid), Tuxedo Black (Memento), Copics  Paper: Taylored Expressions August 20th Key Ingredients kit  Accessories:  Chocolate pearls (Kaiser craft)

Mojo Christmas card...

 

This is your Mojo on a Migraine!  I hate when I have a migraine but am still determined to make something!  I mean I really should just quit while I'm ahead!!  Well I started with this week's Mojo Monday sketch and ended up here.  I am hoping to get my "groove thing" back QUICKLY 'cause PMS sneak peeks start tomorrow!  You are gonna LOVE this release!

Stamps: Magic of Christmas by Rupa Shevda for Gina K  Paper: Polar Expressions by Imaginesce, Cranberry Tart & Ivory cs by Gina K, Basic Yellow Green Prism cs  Ink: Tuxedo Black by Memento, Gold by Encore  Accessories:  Gold ribbon from PTI, Fancy Labels Nesties

An elegant gift bag

 

 This bag has been so hard to photograph!!  I actually made it a few weeks ago for my stamping group!  Well, this picture certainly does NOT do it justice, but I want to get it posted.  There is a tutorial for this Box in a Bag on SCS.  I needed to keep this on the "not too difficult" side because we had a new stamper with us.  I love the simple elegance of it, but if I were making it just for me, I probably would have added a few more touches.  Well I am off for a date night with hubby, so I need to make it short!  I'll post the recipe later (stamp set is The Magic of Christmas  by Rupa Shevda for Gina K).  Happy day before a long weekend off!!!!

Magic of Christmas

 

Ok, I think I am finally back into the swing of things (whew!!).  I made a dent in cleaning up my studio (which was trashed after a "girls stamping night" followed by Sneak Peeks followed by packing/unpacking, lol), and I am ready to get stamping again!  This was a card I made for my last "Girls stamping night", unfortunately this picture does not do it justice.  I used shimmer paper for the focal image which is harder to see here.  I also love the Green Prism paper on the side, the texture was just perfect!  I used the Mojo111 sketch (and of course forgot to link it up to Mr Linky :( ).  Thanks for popping in, come back tomorrow to see my "Henry" card for the "Just Us Girls" Charity Challenge for the Anderson Family.

Stamps: Magic of Christmas by Rupa Shevda for Gina K Designs  Paper: pp by Me and My Big Ideas, Scarlet Jewel cs by PTI, Green cs by Prism, White Shimmer cs by Stampin Up!  Ink: Tuxedo Black by Memento, Copics  Accessories: Scarlet Jewel ribbon and button by PTI, Gold brads by SU, Gold Spica Glitter pen, Green DMC floss

Being thankful...

 

I cannot believe that it's been a week since I posted last!!!   There have been a few things "consuming" me lately, some good, some not... never the less, I hope that I am back and ready to get back to some serious stamping!!!  There's challenges out there just screaming my name, and I am sure that my ribbon stash and Copics are feeling very neglected!  On to the fun stuff...  this is a card I made for a stamping group I am part of, our theme was Fall/Thankful.  I sometimes have a hard time with classes for groups like this because I want to share something that doesn't overwhelm anyone.  They all seemed to like this card, it was alot of fun to make... there's some "kissing" in there (the leaves on the white) and some fun embossing (the Mustard and Olive leaves are embossed as is the sentiment) and just a different layout.  The rust colored piece is Prism cardstock... that was fun to play with and fun to show off the texture a little with this layout.  I promise to get a better grip on those Prism color names (swatch book is on order!).  Stay tuned cause I am working on some Rockin' Blog Candy!!!!!

Stamps:  Botanical Dreams by Asela Hopkins for Gina K Designs (I LOVE her artwork!)  Paper: More Mustard and Old Olive cs by SU, Rust color (not sure of the name) Prism cs, Orange (again with the name) Prism cs  Ink: Craft Black, Versamark, Really Rust, More Mustard and Old Olive  Accessories: Black Brads, Embossing Powder, Black Striped ribbon by SU

Chocolate, Vanilla, Pumpkin...

 

These are the colors Gina challenged us to use for her WCMD Challenge.  I used the "Kissing" technique for the leaves, I LOVE those colors!!  Thanks Gina!!  The sketch is from the Crazy 4 Challenges blog.

Stamps: Botanical Dreams by Asela Hopkins for Gina K Designs, True Friends sentiment from Paper Makeup Stamps  Paper: Brown Prism cardstock, Sun Maze paper by Canson, Whisper White cardstock  Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip & Old Olive  Accessories: Square Nesties, Ribbon from SU, Rhinestones by Mark Richards 

When life gives you lemons... go stamp!!!

Wow, it's been long handful of days since I posted last!  But, when life "happens" it sure happens!!  I can't get in to details right now, but  when I finally got home today Hubby kept trying to get me to take a nap and I couldn't get into my stamp room fast enough!!  This card took me HOURS (I kid you not!!), but in the end I didn't even care... stamping is the best therapy (2nd to praying of course, yup I've done alot of that this weekend too!!).  Back to the happy stuff!!!  This weeks Bloggers' challenge was a product showcase, use Designer Paper.  I know this is totally late but when I decided I was going to stamp something today, I decided to make it for my mom.  I picked this beautiful stamp set from Gina K, and just knew I'd have to use this dsp!!  I think when I saw this paper is when I first fell in love with Crate Paper.  For the image I used a technique called "thumping" just to give it a little texture.  That super fun button is from PTI and it had one bigger hole in the middle, so I tied my ribbon in a knot and threaded it through.  Thanks so much for popping in... hope you come back soon, Thursday kicks off sneak peeks for PMS' October Release!!!  Have a great week, hope to see you tomorrow!

Stamps: Comfort & Peace by Gina K Designs  Paper: Crate Paper dsp, Really Rust, Old Olive and Very Vanilla cardstocks by SU!  Ink: Really Rust, Old Olive and Tuxedo Black by Memento  Accessories: rhinestones/crystal stickers in pale green by Mark Richards, Button from PTI, Old Olive and Basic Black ribbon from Stampin Up!

Wow, it's been a few days...

 

Owls really aren't my thing, but I am so in love with this set by Gina K Designs, I find myself reaching for it over and over again!  I got some new paper (yup, Bittersweet by Basic Gray), how gorgeous is this paper?!?!?!?  When I started out I was going to make a card for my hubby to hide in his suitcase next time he goes on a business trip, then I saw the pink paper inside and one thing led to another and now this card is going to a dear, dear friend (one that loves pink!).  I started this card last night and should have had no problem getting it done (plenty of time to get it done last night), but then I got stumped and couldn't decided how to finish it off... then the planets aligned perfectly and my box from Stampin' Up! came today, and my little Tag Sizzlits were in the box...perfect!!!  The only problem was that I didn't like the "tag" looking so plain and I couldn't mat it cause there's no die a little bigger... thank goodness for those Metallic Rubon pastes from Gina K...I loved them when she used them and they were just right for the edges of my tag!  Thanks for letting me ramble, lol.  Tomorrow is Blogger's Challenge day, I hope you'll visit again soon.  Have a fabulous Friday and a wonderful weekend?  Anyone going to CHA?  It's in my own backyard and I won't be going either :(  By the way, did you notice my NEW "Email Me" and "Shop Online" buttons?  Does Michelle Laycock rock or what?!?!?!?

Supplies:
Stamps: owl always love you by Gina K Designs
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black, Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip
Paper: Bittersweet by Basic Gray, Old Fashioned Creme from PTI, Creamy Caramel by SU
Accessories:  Pearl brad from Imaginisce, tag die from SU, misc ribbon

Bloggers Challenge #82, The same, but different...

Happy Friday!  This weeks Blogger's Challenge was to use the same layout, but different stamps, or colors, etc.  Well this was also a self-inflicted "limited supplies" challenge for me...I left my Copics in my car (which my daughter is out driving), and I was determined to play with a non-Stampin Up! set (since they seem to be neglected lately). Apparently none of my formatting is working :(

Supplies (all supllies are Stampin' Up!)
Stamps:  Love you Much, Short & Sweet, Curly Labels
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Candy Lane DSP, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip & Very Vanilla card stocks
Accessories: Chocolate Chip 5/8" ribbon, Chocolate Chip 1/4" ribbon, Curly Label punch, buttons

 

Here's the 2nd card... Hope you have a great weekend, thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps: Many Happy Returns y Rupa Shevda for Gina K Designs
Ink: Basic Black craft ink, Basic Black classic
Paper: DSP by PTI, Baja Breeze, Whisper White and Kiwi Kiss cardstocks
Accessories: Bouquet Buttons by SU, Kiwi Kiss Tafetta ribbon by SU