The Stamp Market for Double Duty in August

On the 22nd of each month a group of us challenge ourselves to create 2 different cards repeating the same image, sentiment, etc on each card.  We have a predetermined list of the stamp company or specific challenge for each month and then...away we go!

The company chosen for August is The Stamp Market.  I dug out the set called "A Bit of Everything" stamps and dies.  I just used the dies for this challenge and here are my cards:

The hearts were all cut from a panel made
earlier this month with a mixture of Simon Hurley's Astro Pastes. 
The top panel shown to the right 👉

Things doubled on each card include:

• Green base card stock
• Black panel embossed with the Diamond Cover Plate by Scrapbook and Cards Today and sprayed with Stardust Finishing Spray by A Muse Studio
• Die cuts from a panel created by spreading Astro Pastes onto black card stock
• Green gems by Pinkfresh Studio

I hope that you like these two cards. It was fun to take a kit that I received back in 2021 and use recent items (the Diamond cover plate and Astro Pastes) to create something different.

Please visit the blogs of the other Double Duty members:

Barb

Jeanette

Carol 

Summertime Grillin' with the Creative Crew

It's August 15th and we've had quite a hot summer this year.  Perfect grilling weather!  

Our hostess this month is Jeanette and she offered us this adorable image by CC Designs called "BBQ".  

The main image is colored with Olo Markers.  The background was created by pouncing the small, flat-topped blending brushes, which creates the mottled look.  To me, this looks more like grass, sand and sky.

The card base is Stampin Up's Old Olive and the main panel is a sunburst pattern from the "Hot Tropics" paper pack by Honey Bee Stamps. 

The gingham and barbecue papers were supplied by Jeanette and it is "Camping Cookout" by Reminisce.

The cute little puffy smilies were left over from a past kit, which I think may have come from Tracie.

Jeanette asked us to share something that we like to grill.  That's tough for me to choose since I LOVE grilling!  I like to grill almost everything - beef, pork, poultry,  fish and other seafood, vegetables, breads and even fruit!  I must admit that salmon and shrimp are right at the top of the list, along with peaches and pineapple.

Thanks Jeanette for giving us such a perfect challenge for August!  Here are the links to the other Creative Crew members blogs and galleries. Be sure to visit and admire their creations.

Barb - Barb's Inkin' In Retirement

Carol - Lost in My Craft Room

Jeanette - Cre8tive Play

Lorraine - SCS Gallery

Terry - It's Totally Terry

Tracie - Crafty Creations by Tracie

Hot Mess Definitely = Success With Astro Paste™

Here it is, the 12th of August and it's time for another Hot Mess=Success card! 

Lately I've been having a lot of fun experimenting with Lunar and Solar Pastes by Simon Hurley.  When his Astro Pastes™ came out, I didn't hesitate to get some in my hot little hands, haha.

I went with an Easel card made with the Astro Pastes: 

Astro Paste Colors:

• Bee Sting
• Later Gator
• Clear Skies

The stencil is Mini Slim Polka Dot by Taylored Expressions.

The sentiment is also by Taylored Expressions from the "Sentiment Staples" set.  It is embossed with Black Sparkle by Ranger.

Here's a look at the dotted panel when it's wet, right after the stencil has been lifted off. 

I had a lot of paste left over on my spatula so I grabbed an extra black panel and just swiped it across, laying on a rather thick layer.

This took a couple of hours to dry since it was such a thick layer.  Below you can see how both panels look once they dry.

I'll be using that second panel for other cards. It's a nice combination of each of the pastes and VERY sparkly!

Here is a close up to show the big sparkle that the Astro Paste gives you.

Astro Pastes are really fun to play with. One important quality is that the glitter stays put! It absolutely does not rub off.  Very nice!

Be sure to stop by the Hot Mess Team and admire their creations!  Here are their links:

Jeanette

Barb

Terry

Carol  

July Creative Crew Challenge: National Get Out of the Doghouse Day!

Today is the 15th and that means it is time for another Creative Crew Challenge.  Jeanette is our hostess this round and she discovered that the 15th is National Get Out of the Doghouse Day.  That's a new one for me 😆

Our challenge is to have a dog or another pet on our card, and include a dog house if we want.

I don't have many options for dog stamps, but did receive a Gus & Gertie stamp in my registration packet at Taylored Expression's Virtual Stamp Joy held last March.

This image warms my heart, because my daughter was quite an accomplished skate boarder. So, I think she would really like this image.

The background is blended with two inks, "Sprinkles" for the sky and "Granny Smith" for the grass.  Both of the inks are also by Taylored Expressions.  The stencils are by My Favorite Things: "Grassy Edges" and "Mini Cloud Edges".

Gertie and the skateboard are colored with Olo Markers.  The sentiment is also by Taylored Expressions and was part of the Virtual Stamp Joy package.

Thanks Jeanette for a fun and unique challenge this month! 

Drop by the rest of the Creative Crew to see their work. Links to their Blogs and Galleries are listed below.

Barb - Barb's Inkin' In Retirement

Carol - Lost in My Craft Room

Jeanette - Cre8tive Play

Lorraine - SCS Gallery

Terry - It's Totally Terry

Tracie - Crafty Creations by Tracie

July's Hot Mess = Success

Hot Mess = Success Day is the 12th, and I am a day late to post. Every month a group of friends challenge ourselves to get messy. We can do any sort of card or technique, as long as it meets our personal definition of getting messy.

I like to do this monthly challenge because otherwise I would avoid messy mediums and techniques. This stretches me and gradually increases my skills.  

Last month I played with Simon Hurley's Lunar Pastes and this month I tried his Solar Pastes.

Here is my card. 

All of it was done with three colors of Simon Hurley's Solar Pastes:
Golden Hour (gold)
Beluga (Blue)
Royal Flush (Purple)

These pastes are AMAZING! They apply so easily, very creamy. I also like how the colors vary when applied on black or white card stock.

I followed Simon's technique and put a blob of each color at the top of the black card stock.  Then I took the scraper and dragged the paste down the paper, over the stencil.  

The stencil is also by Simon Hurley and it's called "Deco Diamonds".

Using my finger I applied the same Solar Pastes to black card stock and cut the Be Kind sentiment and the oval.  The Be Kind dies are from Altenew.

The oval is popped up off the card front.  

I had so much fun with these Solar Pastes that I've already started my Hot Mess for August!

Be sure to stop by the Hot Mess Team and admire their creations!  Here are their links:

Jeanette

Barb

Terry

Carol

June's Catch Up Cards

Here it is, the last day of the month, and time for some Catch Up cards. A few of us were talking about our various virtual events and card making classes and our need to catch up.  So we dedicated the last day of the month as our Catch Up day.  We pick any unfinished kit, event, class, etc from the past and complete it, posting our project on the last day of the month.

Here are my cards for June:

These are from my subscription to Let's Stamp Together by Scrapbook and Cards Today. A kit comes every other month, each designed by a different company. An online class led by the company or designer is provided.

This kit is by Gina K Designs.  The kit included two stencils, dies and stamps and is called "Sending You a Squeeze".  I really like how bright and cheerful these are.

Gina led us through a great process where we made a template to use in a stamping platform, making all of the fruit at once.  This makes generating the cards easy and quick!

This one has a slight blend on the background panel using one of the stencils and light gray ink.

The sentiment is stamped directly onto the panel over the top of the stenciled design.

This card also has light blended gray using the other stencil in the kit.  

I like Gina's style with cards. She uses black so well to create crisp clean lines and highlight the other colors.

For the last card we created our own background panel by randomly stamping the cherries.  

I love going back to our beginnings in stamping. 20+ years ago, there was very little in the way of specialty papers, embossing folders, etc.  Randomly stamping smaller images was how we created a background.

All in all, these are a great set of cards for summer gifting.  They're going in the mail soon. Keeping my personal goal of sending cards to friends and family.

Here are the links for my friends in the Catch Up Club.  Please visit their blogs and admire their work from some past project or class.

Barb's Inkin' to Retirement

It's Totally Terry

Cre8tive Play: It's Cheaper than Therapy

June Double Duty: Taylored Expressions

On the 22nd of each month a group of us challenge ourselves to create 2 different cards repeating the same image, sentiment, etc on each card.  We have a predetermined list of the stamp company or specific challenge for each month and then...away we go!

Stamps by Taylored Expressions (one of our favorite companies!) were selected for this month's challenge. I decided to use their "Chip & Charlie Party" stamp and die combo.  I've had this adorable set for several months and decided to let it see some ink.

Here are the two cards that I made. 

Duplicated on each card:

• Color Scheme and layout.
• Embossed background panel.
• Sentiments from All Together Happy Occasions stamps and die. Stamped in Taylored Expressions Dragon Fruit ink & clear embossed.
• Taylored Expression's Confetti Stencil.

For the first card I started out using the stencil on black card stock and applied Lunar Pastes. This process meant that there was sufficient drying time between each rotation of the stencil. 

The Lunar Paste colors are:
Slippery When Wet (gold),
Later Gator (green) and Triple Berry (deep pink or magenta)

Here's a closer look. 

During each rotation of the stencil, while allowing the paste to dry I worked on the gold embossing of Charlie and his party and painted the image using some water and the same Lunar Paste colors.

The second card uses the same stencil with 3 colors of Taylored Expressions inks blended with brushes:
Blue Raspberry, Dragon Fruit and Mango.

The image is colored with Olo Markers to match.

Both cards are finished off with sentiments stamped in Dragon Fruit and clear embossed, then die cut.  These are from Taylored Expressions' line of "All Togethers", multiple sentiments on one surface that are stamped, and cut with one single die. I love that one pass makes so many!

Both cards have lots of doubling up so I think this was successful. Although the stenciling process using Lunar Pastes does take a while.  But the end result is vibrant and the added texture is great.  I did a full 6x6 inch piece of card stock, so I already have a strip made for another card.

Please visit the blogs of the other Double Duty members:

Barb

Jeanette

Carol