Spring is in the air!

And today's Colour Challenge on SCS was the perfect occasion to use this lovely cherry blossom image, from the Eastern Blooms set. The challenge was to use Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip and Riding Hood Red. I tried making the blossoms pink at first, but they were too faint (especially when contrasted with the brown stems) so I went with red instead. The image at the centre of my build-a-brad is the centre of the large flower in the same stamp set, which I punched out with the 1/2" circle punch.

Happy Stampin'! And if you're a fan of colour challenges, don't forget to check out my new weekly Colour Challenge, below!

A-M

Who likes to play with colours?

Introducing, A-M's Weekly Colour Challenge! Colour challenges are always my favourite kind of design challenge, so I decided to start my own to share with all of you! You can play as many times as you'd like - just comment with a link to your creation, or if you post to Splitcoaststampers, use the keyword noted below and I will check it out there!

The first colour combination for you to play with, is Rose Red, Tangerine Tango (or Pumpkin Pie if you don't have it) and Old Olive. As with colour challenges on SCS, neutrals can be added (such as Whisper White, Basic Black, Basic Gray, Sahara Sand and Going Gray), but the colour in your cardstock, images, embellishments, designer papers should ONLY include the featured colours.

My card features a sweet little image from A Flower for All Seasons which I watercoloured using the "No Copics No Problem" technique (which uses SU! markers and aquapainters). This was an experiment, as I obviously don't own a Tangerine Tango marker, so I used a blender pen and reinker for this colour. As you can see, the technique does not seem to work that well with this combination LOL but it still turned out okay. The Going Gray marker I used for the watering can was not ideal either. But the Old Olive and Rose Red markers worked great! My image is actually mounted inside the card, inside a 1 3/8" square opening that I made with my punch. I used the same punch to cut the opening on my little frame. Here is a close-up of the coloured image:

And the flourish at the top of the card (from Priceless) was stamped in VersaMark and clear embossed. OK so now it's YOUR turn to play! I look forward to seeing all of your creations! If you upload to SCS, please use this keyword: AMCC1 so I can find your project easily.

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

Diva Coffee Break Designs Challenge!

Blog challenge alert! The Diva Coffee Break Designs team offers weekly design challenges. This week's challenge was a colour challenge, to use Rose Red, Bashful Blue, Going Gray and Whisper White. I keep forgetting about Going Gray, so I welcomed the opportunity to use it - and I really like the combination they came up with!

The stamp set I used is called Simple Friendship and it's featured in the Spring-Summer 2009 Idea Book & Catalogue. I am making an effort to use up some of my retired goodies also, so I incorporated some retired Bali Breeze DP.

And stay tuned for an announcement this weekend about a new feature on MY blog! Sometime later today or tomorrow at the latest...

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

Black and white...

...like a lamb? The theme for this week's Limited Supplies Challenge was "Out like a lamb", and the challenge was to make an entirely black & white card (lamb image not required LOL).

I got this new Walk in the Park DP this week, so decided to use it as a starting point for this card. Which right away led me to Wonderful You, a lovely silhouette stamp set that has been on my fave list for quite some time now. And I had this wonderful retired SU! black-and-white striped ribbon in my stash, which doesn't get much use, so I used it as well. Black and white cards are so classy, aren't they?

Happy Stampin'!

A-M

MISSED YOU!!

And I've been thinking of all of my stamping friends a lot lately... so this card is for all of you! :o)

The main panel is composed from stamps in a new stamp set featured in the upcoming Occasions Mini Catalogue, called Scene in a Garden. There's the bench, and then various images from which you can create a scene (the boots, the vase, a birdhouse, clay pots, etc.) It's very sweet. The Kiwi Kiss DP is also from the Occasions mini, it's called Walk in the Park. I used Watercolour Wonder Crayons and aquapainters to colour my image, which was stamped onto watercolour paper. The sentiment is from Trendy Trees.

The post-show blues are slowly fading away... as much as the play consumed and exhausted me - my time, my emotions, my voice! LOL - I still miss it terribly! I never realized how difficult it would be to let it go so suddenly after so many months of rehearsals and then seven crazy, beautiful, emancipating shows! But the good news is, I have a brand new family of friends - my 'tribe' - that I keep in contact with regularly, and that I fully intend to audition with again for NEXT year's production! (which rumour has it will be Les Mis!) Yes, this whole experience was surreal and exhausting and exhilirating, and I would do it again in a heartbeat! Here are a couple of my favourite photos from the dress rehearsal:

My beloved 'tribe'

A photo of me from my favourite number, 'Walking in Space'

(the tall fella behind me is named Dwight)

I suppose I will slowly begin easing back into stamping... it has been a long time, but I'm slowly getting re-acquainted with all my 'stuff' :o)

Happy Stampin'!

A-M