June Bombshell Hop!!! Boy Toys!

Boys Boys All Kinds of Boys...oh no wait...that's a song...but this is one FANTASTIC HOP!!!! Welcome to June's amazing Bombshell Blog Hop!!!
Here is this month's Bombshell Hop Assignment:

Time for being hot...it's summer!
So what's the deal with a "Boy Toy" blog hop.
Well, it's dedicated to the men in our lives.
Doesn't have to be a boyfriend or husband..... maybe a soldier, a father, or just a masculine theme or card.

Bombshell stamps have always been great for "manly" things, but now more than ever.
Just think about the new digi clothes stamps for the Bombshell Angel. The policeman, fireman, etc... they are GREAT for sending out that perfect card.
AND MAN...the new motorcycle stamps !!!

Perhaps your project will just use masculine colors...maybe a great Father's Day project.

For today's creation I busted out my "Speed Shop" stamp set. One of my Bombshell favorites!!

I stamped the car image first in Momento Ink in Tuxedo Black and then colored it in with my Copics. I took my Versamark pen and colored in the grille and accentuating chrome and coated it with my fine silver embossing powder. I set my heat gun to it and VOILA! Insta-shine! I trimmed my Hot Rod out and set it aside.
My card base is black cardstock trimmed to 4"x 4". My B&W DP is from Tinkering Ink and the yellow DP is from SU!. As you can see I stamped the literal 'Bombshell' stamp onto the yellow DP adding to the background effect.
I kept with my vertical layering adding the 3 brads to the left of my DP and the Hambly Rub on checkered strip (sorta taxicab-ish) to the left of that. I then added my Hot Rod to the ensemble using 3-D foam adhesive. I LOVE how it literally looks like it's about to drive off of the card!!
I hope you enjoy today's hop and are inspired every step of the way!! Please make sure to leave love on everyone's site!!

Kas
Meredith
Croppixie
Sy
Alison
Danielle
Katie
MaryG
Steph
Kelli
Angie
Cheryl
Kathi

Here is today's AWESOME prize package!!


XOXO-
Meredith

QKD - Weekly Hop!! Altered...

I love having the opportunity and the challenge to do an altered project. I LOVE doing them but obviously (99% of the time) more involved then a card. So in the interest of time it's easier to push those alterables aside. Until I'm challenged to do one!!

This week at QKD I was!! And I'm so glad!!!
But first, if you have arrived here from the WIS blog then you are on the right track!! If not, please start here!!

Today I decided to use one of my VERY favorite DIS stamps Craft or Die. The second Vicki put it in the shoppe I knew it was going to be mine! LOL!
I will be transferring from the WIS to the DIS next month and I have SOOOOOOO many fantastic QKD stamps in a 3 ring binder cling photo album that it's literally about to burst. So I pulled out my DIS collection and decided since that will be part of my prime focus it'd be easier to have them grouped together. So using one of the MANY binders that I am constantly picking up along with journals, notebooks, clipboards in my travels, I added the same photo cling sheets and created a really cool cover!

I chose one of my very favorite colors right now which is a hot mango orange color as my base, followed by the flowery graph paper. There is something about graph paper that has ALWAYS drawn me in. Not sure what it is but I love the stuff.

But I digress. So I stamped the Craft or Die stamp in the lower right hand corner and colored it with my Copics.

I then simply hand drew and trimmed the letters D I S out of scrap paper to use them as a mask. I stuck them down with low tack painters tape and used my fabulous Smooch Spritz in Log Cabin to spray all around the letters. I kept it fairly away from the flowers and my image as I didn't want to totally cover the entire panel.
I let it dry for a little bit (it dries pretty fast) and then lifted the letters. I then set to add Crackle Glaze to all the letters but then realized that I didn't have enough Crackle for all 3 letters so the D is set in Crackle and the I and S are set in Diamond Glaze.
Once they were all dried I cracked the I and the S as much as I could and then added lots of fun bling all over the letters and flowers.
Using my Crop-o-Dile Big Bite I punched a hole in each cover and made a tie for the book to close using chocolate brown satin ribbon with white polka dots.
The perfect mix of grungey sweetness, in my opinion.

Have fun hopping along!!

Off you go to Anita's blog to see what loveliness she's created for us today!!!

Don't forget - Vicki is running an AMAZING sale in the store right now!!! Check it out!!

30% off ALL QKD Rubber Stamps!
No Coupon codes to use! Just shop n save!

Good through 7/5/10

xoxo-

Father's Day - Round Two

Good Morning!! I know I'm a week late with my Father's Day post for my darling husband but when you see the picture above you'll understand why! We were on vacation in Vermont and I'd brought some supplies with us in order to create while away.

I wanted to create something cool and grungy for my DH so I set to work using mostly QKD stamps - of course! The aged compass and the wings were my focus.
The other stamps used are displayed on the wide twill in the background and it is stamped with musical notes - it's a background stamp that a good friend gave me. My 'happy father's day' sentiment is from Amuse and the decorative bar below my sentiments is a little pack of i-cling stamps that I picked up at Michael's.

Everything is stamped in Momento Ink in Tuxedo Black with the exception of the wings which are stamped in SU! True Thyme (retired).

I stamped the wings and compass and trimmed them out. I distressed the edges of the compass and attached the wings to the back.
I am way into my Smooch Spritz right now as you can see! I used it on the wings, vintage cream ribbon, twill and sentiment layer. I just LOVE how it instantly creates that grungy look!!

My Core Impressions background paper is from Michael's. I took my sandpaper to it and heavily distressed it. I LOVE how it came out!! My card base is one of The Paper Source's new colors - peacock!!

I truly love how this came out!

I hope you've had a wonderfully creative weekend!!

XOXO-
Meredith

The Burtonesque Challenge - Beetlejuice

Hello!!! I'm so excited to be playing with another Burtonesque Dolls challenge!!! This week's challenge was to create a tag inspired by the movie Beetlejuice.

My tag ended up being a card and is a combination for another project that I was working on so it's doing double duty!!

I used the amazing Vampire Boy stamp from Queen Kat Designs as my main image. I used reds, greys and purples to highlight his suit. I drew in stripes for his suit coat a la Beetlejuice.

I used my Smooch Spritz in Log Cabin to grunge up VB's background who is matted on simple red cardstock. I used clear filmstrip style DP to accent the right hand side of the design and stitched the two together using a heartbeat style monitor line with my sewing machine.
I was going to use a sentiment on the right hand side but I simply couldn't decide what I wanted to say so instead I went with these cute Halloween stickers that I have skeleton, bride of Frankenstein and the RIP headstone.
I loved this challenge and I love how my card turned out!!! I hope you are inspired to play along with The Dolls!!!

Smeared Ink Special Hop!!!

Hey All!! Welcome, welcome, welcome to today's fantastic Smeared Ink hop!! I have SO much to share with you today!!!

Today SI is releasing 3 unbelievably gorgeous, stunning and to die for sets!!!

The Symbology of Angels:
Teen Style Sayings:
Teen Style Backgrounds:
Next, the Smeared Ink releases will be every quarter, and SI will be having a HUGE Halloween release in August!!! So get ready!!!!

Today I've decided to alter an old cigar box that I've had FOREVER! You're probably looking at the first few pictures saying "she altered this?". "It doesn't LOOK altered". Well...I LOVE the design of this box so I kept my altering minimalistic on the outside. I added the "return label" in the upper left hand corner with a smooch stamp. I created a closure with a cool old typewriter key embellishment with lucky number 7 on it. I started with my Crop-O-Dile Big Bite and punching 2 holes in the wooden box.

I super glued the "7" embellishment in place and then used hemp twine to attach the top and bottom. I double threaded it through the bottom end of the "7" and threaded one end through the hole in the box to create the ability to tie it shut.
Now...for the interior...

It brings me GREAT pleasure to introduce to you a preview of one of the newest SI images PRAISE.
My jaw dropped when I saw him for the first time!! I colored him with my Copic markers and then used black and brown Fun Flock on my main image. I then colored the wings of a second version and used the same flock. I adhered the wings just at the back and pulled them and played with them until they stood high off of his shoulder blades. I backed my image with a denim colored DP and stitched around the edges in black.

The image is adhered to the interior lid of the cigar box so when you open the box the wings literally jump out at you.
As you can see I decorated the interior bottom of the box simply with red cardstock, a smooch in the middle and a clear overlay screen printed paper that looks like an old film strip.
It is more minimalistic then I anticipated it being but I had forgotten how much I love the decor of the original box. I hope you have enjoyed PRAISE and continue to be inspired by the rest of the AMAZING Smeared Ink Design Team!!!

Terra

Tori

Alison

Kelli

Jean

Sarah

Danielle

Black Dragon

Lady Brayton

Meredith

xoxo-

Meredith

QKD - Weekly Hop!! Super cool INSPIRATION!

Happy Tuesday All!!! If you have arrived here from the WIS blog then you are on the right track!! If not, please start here!!

Today we were given this very serene looking picture as our inspiration. Well...normally I'd run with the sereneness, however, when I created this I was feeling a bit edgy and snarky. So I went immediately to my new Sin Bonnet Sue collection and busted her out with all of her fabulousness.
In lieu of using the theme from the inspiration I mainly took the colors and worked from there. The base is PTI pure white cardstock - which I very lightly sponged with some pinky/red/violety ink. I stamped Sue on a scrap of grey cardstock, colored her a bit and trimmed her out. I then started with a matte of SU! Purely Pomegranate, next up a scrap of black cardstock. Both stitched together and the edges bent up and slightly distressed. (a great technique I picked up from my darling friend Joanne's blog! - see sidebar!)
Using my pinking shears, I trimmed out a piece of fabric from pants that were too long on me, distressed it with the same ink that I had sponged the background with, using this as the final matte for Sue. I ran a couple of strips of zig zag stitching on the right hand side and used the sentiment "I Got The Big Guns" at the very bottom in black ink.
Sue is set on 3-D foam adhesive for some added dimension.
There are so many fantastic Sue sets in the Tongue n Cheek section of the QKD shop!!

Have fun hopping along!! Off you scoot to Anita's blog to see what loveliness she's created for us today!!!

XOXO-
Meredith

Smeared Ink - Here's The Deal...

Happy Monday Everyone!!! I am very lucky to be here in GORGEOUS Vermont on vacation bringing you my Monday creation for Smeared Ink!

I've been jonesing to work with my Lil' Grumpies set so I brought the entire set up with me along with my Copics and lots and lots of random scraps of paper. I like to challenge myself in crafting when I travel as I obviously I cannot bring my entire studio with me so I bring just what's kind of lying around and see what I can come up with.
I started with one of the bigger Grumpies from the set, coloring it up in violets, reds, purples and greens. I stamped my sentiment "here's the deal." in Lipstick Red Copic marker. To fill in the white space on the bottom right hand side of my image - which for some reason was bothering me - I used my Do-A-Dot markers in purple and created a row of polka dots.
I then matted my image first on light blue/minty green cardstock and then on purple cardstock. Both from PTI.

I spritzed my image with my new Smooch Spritz in Log Cabin - I purchased this at AC Moore and there are SO many more colors that I cannot wait to get!!!
The base is one of The Paper Source's brand new colors!!! Introducing Persimmon!!! It's a DELICIOUS red that's not too red, not too maroon, not too brick..it's gorgeous!!! I also spritzed the cardstock with the Smooch Spritz for some added grunginess.

I layered the back with purple stitched ribbon, green 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, a scrap of DP and circles within circles to adorn the right hand side.

I hope you enjoy and have been inspired!!

XOXO-
Meredith

Father's Day - Round 1

I just wanted to share with you the card that I made for my Dad for Father's Day on Sunday!

I started with a basic card base of PTI Kraft Cardstock. I then chose my DP which pulls in blues and greens and has a science theme to it (the brand is escaping me at the moment) I matted that with a layer of PTI Chocolate cardstock. I used some basic SU! Very Vanilla 5/8" grosgrain ribbon with a buckle that I received in a swap. (so fun)
The sentiment Love U is from a retired SU! set that my darling friend Kristyn just gave me in a purge she's doing!! It's one of those sets that I always wanted to purchase and never did. Well, I'm so glad that I have it now to play with because it is really fantastic!!

I hope you have a great weekend!

I'll be back with more cards for the Dad's in my life shortly!!

XOXO
Meredith

Lawn Fawn Lovliness

I have simply fallen in love with Lawn Fawn. I mean, how can you not? Kelly is smart, savvy, and has a great eye. Her and her design teams creations are elegant, simple, crisp and inspiring. I love seeing what they create on a weekly basis as well as what new products Kelly busts out with!!
I created this card to send to her just to say thanks for creating such a fantastic, well designed and well thought out product.

I started with a cardstock base of bright mango. My next layer is simply PTI vintage cream cardstock. Using the Sew Lovely set I stamped my sentiment "you are cute at a button" in Colorbox Harbor Blue craft ink. (this inks up BEAUTIFULLY btw on these awesome polymer stamps) I coated it with clear embossing powder and heat set.
I've had this gorgeous teal ribbon that I picked up at Michael's recently and it mached the Harbor Ink perfectly. I ruffled the ribbon in from each end so that it matched in the middle.
I then stamped the button 3 times in the same Harbor Ink and heat set them with clear embossing powder. I then trimmed them out and attached them to heavy chipboard and punched/trimmed them out. I wanted them to have some weight to them so that the folds of the ribbon didn't throw them off.
I attached them in the center with Zots brand glue dots.

Lastly, I used the curly, swirly using the same method, the same color to complete the entire card.

I love how this looks and I can't wait to send it off to Kelly!

xoxo-