Scratch n' Sniff Strawberry

I made this as a trade card for my upline meeting tonight.  The strawberry is from the set Tart and Tangy. I made the scratch n' sniff powder by mixing 1 part strawberry Koolaid (unsweetened) with 2 parts clear embossing powder. To get the berry as red as I wanted it I inked it with the Red Craft ink and then embossed. Then I cleaned the stamp and inked it with Garden Green and cut out the cap.  The sentiment is from the very versatile set: Teeny Tiny Wishes which I punched out with the Curly Label punch.  The background is the Square Lattice embossing folder.  I used Whisper White paper for the background but I used the brayer to  roll out Red ink on the embossing folder before I embossed the paper.  I think the background matches the speckly look of a strawberry. 

My card is a CASE of a card made by Rochelle Wick which I found on Split Coast Stampers.  You can see her original card here.  Split Coast is a wonderful site for inspiration.  CASE means Copy And Share with Everyone, and that is the mission of the Split Coast Site.  You can see that I made only a few changes to Rochelle's card.  I used ribbon instead of the brads and I used a punch for the sentiment to shape the paper.  It looks like she used a printed paper and I made my background with the embossing folder.  Most of the cards I make are my own design, like the one I posted as my trade card on Sunday - but when inspiration fails, thank goodness for Split Coast.  You can search the site by key word or by stamp set. 

I had fun making this card and my desk still smells like strawberries.  I hope you enjoy the card and I encourage you to spend some time on Split Coast.  It can be a wonderful source of inspiration. 

Happy Stamping

Please contact me with any questions or suggestions.  Your comments are always welcome.

--Katie

UpLine Events: New Catalog Shoebox Trade

Yesterday I attended an Upline meeting and I wanted to share the card I took.  One of the things I love about being a demonstrator is the friendships I have with other demos.  I am so lucky to be part of a very supportive network of extremely creative ladies who get together on a regular basis. One of the events we have regularly is a "ShoeBox" Trade.  At this type of event we each design 1 card and then bring enough materials for everyone present to make the card. The theme for yesterday's event was cards made using stamp sets from the new catalog. My card is made using a Level 2 Hostess set called Fast and Fabulous.This set of 6 stamps is 3 outline stamps and 3 matching "fill-in" stamps.

This is the card.  I stamped on Naturals White paper.  I love the elegance of this paper - I hope the "speckling" shows up in the image.  The ink is Melon Mambo, which is one of this year's "In Colors" that will be carrying over into the new catalog. Can you see the faint shimmer on the flower? I added a little Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder to the pink part of the image.  I was afraid that glitter would be too showy and the Iridescent Ice gives it just the right amount of sparkle.  The card on the left is the plain and simple version. For the card on the right I lightly sponged a background.  Hmmm!  Which one do you like better?  Leave me a note to cast your vote.

 I used the Crop-a-Dile to punch the holes and set the eyelets.  One of the great advantages of the crop-a-dile is the ability to pre-set your hole depth.  This tool has a moveable backstop that can be set with a hand-turned screw.  There is also a ruler impressed into the metal to help you decide how deep to set the hole.  This is so useful when you are punching a pair of holes and they need to be exactly the SAME depth.  I was always so frustrated using my other hole punch.  And I love that you punch the hole and set the eyelet with the same tool.  The little "tooth" at the top of the Crop-a-Dile in the image is where you place your eyelet for setting it.  The leverage you get with the Crop-a-Dile makes eyelets so easy. 

Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.  Your comments are appreciated. 

--Katie Johnson