January's Double Duty

A dear friend of mine started a "Double Duty" challenge last year. This year I was invited to join the challenge!  Our founder Barb's challenge is that we use one stamp set from a specific company each month to create two cards, (Double Duty). 

At least one thing should be the same on both cards. We can use different images and sentiments from the same set or we can use the same image two different ways. As an added challenge, one item must be used on both cards, Double Duty yet again.

Posting day is the 22nd of each month, another double! 

Here's my take on this month's Double Duty.

Same card stock on each card, same ink and image on each card. Same embossing folder used on each card.

Different sentiment and ribbon for each card.

The stamps are from an old Stampin' Up set called "Kind and Caring Thoughts".

February's Double Duty will feature stamps by Hero Arts. How fun! I already know which set I'm using. 

Be sure to hop on over to the blogs of my team mates:

Barb

Jeanette

Carol

Thanks for inviting me to join in 2022.  Looking forward to playing along!

Dueling Darlings Celebrate National Strawberry Ice Cream Day!

The Dueling Darlings are kicking off the 2022 Dueling Season with a fun challenge.  January 15th is National Strawberry Ice Cream Day.  Who knew??!! Certainly not me!  However, our hostess for this month is Jeanette and she knew!

My kit from Jeanette is taking the world wide tour before showing up in my mailbox...so I improvised.  

Since I don't have any ice cream stamps, I used the edge of a cloud die to trace around, then drew a semi-circle above it for the scoop of ice cream.  Then I sponged on 2 pinks, intentionally leaving darker splotches to resemble strawberry pieces. The sparkle comes from a Spectrum Noir shimmer pen.

My ruler and a sharpie worked well to hand draw the cone.  I scored it with my bone folder and sponged on a bit of light brown ink.

The strawberry paper on the background panel is from the "Pretty Party" pad by Crate Paper.

The cherry and Happy Birthday are stamps in the "Hey Cupcake" set by A Muse Studio.  I tried using the frosting stamp, thinking it would look like soft serve ice cream...but I wasn't pleased with my end result, hahaha.

Well, Jeanette, I hope you're happy with my take on your duel for this month.  You picked a really cute theme.  I'm sure that whenever my kit shows up, I'll be inspired  to make another card!

Hot Mess = Success! January

 Today is the 12th and it's time for the Hot Mess = Success challenge.  This challenge is the brain child of our friend Kelly on Splitcoast Stampers.  The whole idea is to get messy. The messiness can take any form, just as long as it meets our personal definition of messy.  And, from this, will emerge a card.

Here's my final result:

Everything here started as plain white card stock.

This is my first run using Creative Expression's Cosmic Shimmer Metallic Gilding Polish.  

The background features Mediterranean Blue and Lush Pink.

A Mandala stencil by Gina K Designs was then used with Gold Treasure Gilding Polish.

White card stock was sponged with Mediterranean Blue and Lush Pink for the shadow die cut on the "Hello" sentiment.  The hello was die cut with stock sponged with the Gold Treasure Gilding Polish.  Both of these dies are also by Gina K Designs.

Here's a picture of the card base showing the gold, blue and pink polishes sponged around the edges.  It occurs to me that this would be a great frame for a stamped image in the white center!

This is what the cut panel looks like before the Mandala was stenciled on.

Here's the Mandala stencil, taped onto the panel and with the gold polish. The polish dries very quickly and I found that daubing a thicker layer worked best with the stenciling step.

I didn't use Pixie Spray to adhere the stencil to the panel. I used Scrapbook.com's Mint Tape to hold the panel to my work surface and the stencil.  If you haven't tried this tape, you really should.  It's great!

The Gilding Polish is water soluble so when I removed it from the panel I dropped it into some soapy water and came back to it later. A quick swipe with a rag and rinse with clean water and the stencil was like new!

During the process, I had the required mess on my hands, work mat, etc. But it cleans up so easily, so it didn't make me stressed.  In fact, I polished a nail and really liked how it looked.

There are a lot of videos on You Tube with tutorials for using Metallic Gilding Polish.  It's a very fun and versatile product.

I hope you try some out.  

Now I'm off to these blogs to admire the Hot Mess Successes created by my friends:

Kelly

Jeanette

Barb

Terry

Carol

Stop by their blogs and see what they've created!

Tic Tack Toe Duel

 November 15th and time for another duel!

Carol and Shelly gave us a fun one this round - Tic Tack Toe!  Here's the game board:

The idea is to pick a row and use each of those elements on your card.  

Here are the contents of our kit from Shelly:

Image-Unity- Christmas Tree of Hope, Joy, Love (included)

DP- Paper Studio

Glitter paper in Gold punched using a SU boarder punch.

Gold- Paper Temptress cardstock cut with Spellbinders star die

Ribbon- All from Hobby Lobby

Twine- from my stash

Button-silver star

Sequins-from stash

Here's my card using the center row of Ribbon, Christmas Tree & Ornament:

I couldn't resist using three of the cute DP's that Shelly included, and several  ornaments: the gold star on the bottom, sequins on the tree image and the silver button star on the top.

All things must change...sigh.  Shelly, Debby and  LJ are leaving our group and this is their final duel.  They will be missed for sure!  We hope that they check in with us from time to time in the future.

Shelly, and Carol, a big thanks for such a clever idea and a fun round!  Time for me to hop around to everyone's blog or Gallery and admire their cards for the duel.  If you want a treat, you should visit as well!  Links are in my left column.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Fall Pumpin Duel

It's certainly not the 15th, the designated "Duel Date", but in the category of Better Late Thank Never...here is my card!

Tracie and Barb are hosting this month's duel and chose Pumpkins as the theme.  Tracie's kit included:

Images from Newtons Nook, "Pumpkin Latte"
Prima "Pumpkin & Spice" designer papers
Prima "Pumpkin & Spice" crystals
Memory Box "Stitched Farm" pumpkin die cuts
Twine & assorted buttons

Tracie, thanks so much for such a darling kit and for giving us so many options to work with!  (and such beautiful colors too!)

I loved the papers so much that I used them as the focal point of the  front and inside the card.  I colored the Latte Girl with Castle Atrs Premium Soft pencils.  She is fussy cut and popped up along with a couple of the pumpkins to give some dimension to the front.

Below is the inside of the card, featuring more of the beautiful papers:

My apologies to all of the Classy Card Ladies for being tardy.  It's been a challenging week around home.  TGIF!!!

Now I'm off to admire the creative endeavors of the rest of the gang.  Do yourself a favor and visit their galleries and blogs.  Links are in my sidebar!

It's a Wild, Wild West Duel!!

Today is the 15th and time for another Classy Card Ladies Duel.  Suzy (hostess for the Diamonds) and Debby Hostess for the Pearls) grew up in New Mexico and Texas.  They decided on a Wild West theme for this challenge and it was LOADS OF FUN, PARDNER!  

Debby's kit had so many great elements that I decided to do a stair step card to give me enough real estate to use them!  Here's my creation:

Kit Contents:

Images:  Cowboy is from Suzy Stamps and Armadillos are from Deadbeat Designs
Sentiments: Yippee & Yahoo are from Suzy Stamps and Howdy is from Deadbeat Designs.
Ink:  Mementos Rich Cocoa on white Recollections card stock.
Designer Papers:  Paper Crafts Love Nest, Paper Studios Copper Metallic and Authentique Aged Leather, Recollections Cream and Cocoa.
Embellishments:  Paper Craft tags, Crafters Square sequins, Recollections burlap ribbon and other ribbon and twine from Debby's stash.

Images were colored using Spectrum Noir markers.  I'll fess up: I used Google to know what colors to use on an Armadillo 😉

Time to "SADDLE UP" and get on over to the blogs and galleries of the other Pearls and then "MOSEY" over to the Diamonds and take a gander at their creations!

Thanks, gals, for a great theme this go-round!  Yee-haw!

In the Clouds Duel!

On the 15th of each month a great group of friends on Split Coast, the "Classy Card Ladies" have a challenge duel.  The two teams, Diamonds and Pearls, rotate the hostess for the duel.  Each team's hostess picks the theme and sends a small kit to each team member.  Today's the day for the Diamonds and Pearls to show off our creations using these kits!

I'm a member of the Pearls, and this month's hostess is Jeanette.  Hostess for the Diamonds is Kelly.  The theme that they selected is "In the Clouds".  Here is my card, using my latest favorite fold/layout:

The silver cloud on the right panel is popped up on only the farthest right side, leaving the other side of the cloud available to tuck in the 1/4" panel of the front.  This makes a cute stand-up card.

Here's a closer look at the right hand side.

Overall card dimensions are 5x7.  Fold 1/4" on left and right sides of the front panel.  Score the front panel at 2.25" and 4.75", fold to get the pop out shape.  

Here's the front panel flattened a bit for you to see.

Here's a look at the inside and the back of the front panel:

Kit Contents:
Images and Sentiment by Fun Stampers Journey "Fly Away"

Papers:
Stampin' Up Metallic Silver, Paper Studio Black & White Diagonal Stripe, Embossed clouds using Darice Embossing Folder and Fun Stampers Journey cloud die with SU's Metallic Silver card stock

Ribbons are Stampin' Up and Enamel Dots from Recollections.  The Sequins are from Jeanette's stash.

This was a very fun kit!  Thank you Jeanette!

Now it's time for me to go and admire the creative talents of the Diamonds and the Pearls.  Have a look - links to their galleries and blogs are in my side bar.  Then, maybe you can go outside and admire the clouds!