Count the Seeds

Good Wednesday morning!

Today I have another card to share that was made for the Gingersnap Creations Wednesday challenge. This will conclude Serendipity's month of sponsorship of the challenges, and I had a great time! This week's challenge was numbers.

I did some thinking, and thought about numbers, and thought counting and this stamp popped right into my head. I used Anyone Can Count (1165F) from Serendipity Stamps.

I started by stamping the apple once onto Cranberry Crisp cardstock and again onto Ripe Avocado cardstock and cut the pieces out. The strip of lacey paper is the Martha Stewart Embossed Scallop punch, punched on both sides of the paper. Isn't that pretty?

The patterned paper is once again from the Life's Journey collection from K&Company - boy, I love this (and I found it on sale at Michaels :)

Some stitching, some inking and I think it looks like a cozy country creation!

Now it is your turn! You can submit your creations for the Gingersnap challenge and have a chance to be the randomly drawn winner of the Pithy Sayings set from Serendipity Stamps! Details are here. Make sure to take a peek at the other creations from the Gingersnap and Serendipity Design Teams while you're there!

Hope you have a great day!

#Anya

Recipe:
Stamps: Anyone Can Count (1165F) - Serendipity Stamps
Cardstock: Cranberry Crisp, Creamy Caramel, Buckaroo Blue - Stampin' Up!; Vintage Cream, Ripe Avocado - Papertrey Ink
Patterned Paper: From the Life's Journey Collection - K&Company
Ink: Jet Black Archival Ink, Antique Linen, Vintage Photo Distress Ink - Ranger
Other: Embossed Scallop edge punch - Martha Stewart Crafts; Cranberry Crisp stitched ribbon - Stampin' Up!; Classic Circle Nestabilities - Spellbinders; sewing machine

Precious Metal

It is time again for the Gingersnap Creations challenge! This week was a Metallics color challenge.

I picked up this scrolly, metallic picture frame from Michaels ($1!) and thought it would be a perfect project for this challenge.

These frames are really fun to make. I love working on a small scale like this. They also make great gifts, or fab additions to your own house or office space. (Some others I've made are here and here).

I started by cutting an oval with my nestabilities to fit the frame. Then I stamped the Chrysanthemum (863E) stamp for the background. I inked it up with a few different colors of VersaMagic chalk ink to get the graduated colors.

I waited a few minutes for that to dry and then stamped and embossed the More Things (027D) sentiment right on top. I really love this look. Then I added a few gold pearls to carry the metallic theme through.

See how pretty?

Now it is your turn! You can submit your metallic creations for the Gingersnap challenge and have a chance to be the randomly drawn winner of the Pocket Watch Cling set! Details are here. Make sure to take a peek at the other creations from the Gingersnap and Serendipity Design Teams while you're there!

Take care!

#Anya

Recipe:
Stamps: Chrysanthemum (863E), More Things (027D) - Serendipity Stamps
Cardstock: Vintage Cream - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Thatched Straw, Pumpkin Spice, Sage VersaMagic - Tsukineko
Other: Gold embossing powder; gold adhesive pearls; Gold frame - Michaels

Will You Be Mine?

Happy Wednesday friends! Wednesday means it is time for another Gingersnap Creations Challenge! This week is a supply challenge to use embossing powder. Lots of possibilities there!

Here is my card, using the Valentine Postoid (184E) stamp from Serendipity Stamps.

A pretty time-intensive card, but I like to do that sometimes. I like to spend the time fiddling, and cutting, and distressing - it is therapy for me. I started with a plain white card base and lined it with strips of white cardstock that had been punched with the Scalloped Dot edge punch from Martha Stewart Crafts and then inked with Antique Linen Distress Ink (I wish I would have taken a picture for you at this point, but alas, I did not!).

Then I stamped and embossed the Valentine Postoid a total of six times - three times on white cardstock and then once each on Pretty In Pink, Regal Rose, and Rose Red cardstock. See where I'm going here? To achieve the postage stamp edge, I cut around the rectangle as a whole and then used a hole punch to punch out the circles. It was (slightly) easier than trying to cut each of those with my scissors. The pink part of the image is layered right on top of the white. This image, with the heavy lines and detail really lends itself to embossing! I love the glossy look. Embossing it on white cardstock and coloring the image in would be a great thing to try, too.

The sentiment, Will You Be Mine (1079D), was also embossed.

And if *that* doesn't make you think of a frilly, lacy Valentine doily, I don't know what will! ;)

Now go forth and participate! You can submit your embossing powdered creations for the Gingersnap challenge and maybe be the randomly drawn winner of the Victorian Hearts Cling set! Details are here. Make sure to take a peek at the other creations from the Gingersnap and Serendipity Design Teams while you're there!

Enjoy your day!

#Anya

Recipe:
Stamps: Valentine Postoid (184E), Will You Be Mine (1079D) - Serendipity Stamps
Cardstock: Pretty In Pink, Regal Rose, Rose Red - Stampin' Up!; White - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Antique Linen Distress Ink - Ranger
Other: Scallop Dot edge punch - Martha Stewart Crafts; Black embossing powder

Time Began

Shifting gears a bit today.. Serendipity Stamps is sponsoring the Gingersnap Creations Challenges for the month of January. Each Wednesday, Gingersnap issues a new challenge and this month the Serendipity Stamps DT is participating. This Wednesday is a theme challenge, and so apropos to our first week of the new year, the theme is 'time'.

I used the Sun Dial and Time Began sentiment (available together in the Sun Dial Cling Set) to create my card. I stamped the sun dial image in Vintage Photo Distress Ink, then I used an Aquapainter and more Vintage Photo ink to color the image in. I had the idea of an old, sepia-toned photo image in my mind when creating this card. I added some decorative paper piercing to the top and bottom corners - the bottom one is mostly covered by the sentiment.

The sentiment was also stamped in Vintage Photo ink and then trimmed out. I matted it with a piece of cardstock and trimmed again. The little banner bits were free-handed. I accented with a bit of Perfect Gold Perfect Pearls, also painted on with the aquapainter. Here is another shot that is, hopefully, better angled to see the bit of sparkle the Perfect Pearls adds.

If you aren't familiar with the Gingersnap Creations Challenges, head over to their blog for more information. Each challenge is open for 3 weeks and you can create pretty much any type of paper-crafted project for the challenge! There are also more samples there for this week's challenge from both the Gingersnap Creations DT and the Serendipity Stamps DT.

And it wouldn't be a challenge without a contest! Enter your time-themed creations by January 31, and you will have the chance to win the Sun Dial Cling Set! You can also find more information on the Serendipity Stamps Blog. Have fun!

#Anya

Recipe:
Stamps: Time Began and Sun Dial (from the Sun Dial Cling Set, 545QCL) - Serendipity Stamps
Cardstock: True Thyme - Stampin' Up!; Vintage Cream - Papertrey Ink
Patterned Paper: Tuscany Prose - Bo Bunny
Ink: Vintage Photo, Antique Linen Distress Ink - Ranger
Other: Perfect Gold Perfect Pearls - Ranger; Aquapainter; Paper piercer