The Stamps of Life

Letter Substitution

| Lisa K
Noel

Day 10 is all about letter substitution. I have a stamp set by Maymay Made It called Noel. It is designed for letter substitution as it comes with Christmas images to substitute for the letter O or the E. I pulled out a stamp from The Stamps of Life penguins4Christmas, and used the gift for the letter E. To decorate the gift boxes I found a piece of patterned paper that had gold foil gifts all over it and I used it for inspiration. I used a gold Sharpie marker and a gold gel pen to decorate the boxes, like the patterned paper. I added dots all over the background with the gold gel pen, then added a strip of gold foil to the bottom of the card front.

Kitty Hello

| Lisa K

This card is using the sketch from CAS Colors and Sketches and a stamp from Paper Smooches.

http://cascoloursandsketches.blogspot.com/2020/04/challenge-368-sketch.html
https://papersmooches.blogspot.com/2020/05/welcome-new-ps-dt-and-our-may-challenge.html

The patterned paper is from The Stamps of Life. The cardstock is My Favorite Things and The Stamps of Life. I used the Happy Hellos set from Paper Smooches for the kitty, and the hearts are from So Lovely, also PS. I enjoyed using this sketch. I always love the Anything Goes challenges which is the current theme for Paper Smooches.

Thinking of You

| Lisa K

I have been creating many flowers this week, but when I finally got crafty with this card, I chose other flowers.


http://www.asyouseeitchallenge.com/2020/03/challenge-222-recipe-for-whimsy.html

I made my check list for this challenge. 1) flowers — I chose to use SU Bloom with Hope set. It was a hostess set, found in my Mother’s Crafting Supplies. 2.) die cut — I used the Square Rectangles dies from The Stamps of Life. 3) Ribbon — I found some red Grosgrain ribbon from my Mother’s collection. 4) patterned paper — I used Petal Passion SU DSP, also from Mom. 5) shiny — I found some gold twine in my stash. The cardstock used is SU Basic Black, SU Real Red, and Hobby Lobby Heavy Weight White. I saw this idea for this gatefold card on Sharon Armstrong’s blog. I changed it a little bit to work for my completed square, but her general cutting and scoring dimensions worked.

I enjoyed creating this card. It was a nice trip down memory lane remembering Mom and all of her supplies that are still in great condition. Now I need to think of someone special to send this card to.

You’re the Best

| Lisa K
http://daranddiane.blogspot.com/2020/01/celebrating-four-years-at-double-d.html
http://modsquadchallenge.com/patterned-paper-play/
EK Success border punch

The Mod Squad Challenge is to create your own patterned paper. I used stamps from three companies: Leave Me in Paradise from Catherine Pooler Designs, Made With Love from Gina K Designs, and the February 2019 Kit Club Set from The Stamps of Life. I used a variety of inks in creating my tropical pattern: from Lawn Fawn I used Celery Stick, Freshly Cut Grass, and Jalepeno, Lucky Clover, Key Lime, and Coral Reef from Gina K Designs, and Granny Apple Green and Calypso Coral from Stampin’Up. The cardstock is Old Olive and Calypso Coral from Stampin’Up, and White from Spectrum Noir.

The Double D Challenge is to use a punch. I have many punch and none are labeled with the correct name, so I can’t give the exact name of the punch used. I chose a scalloped border punch from EK Success for this card.

I love creating my own patterns, so the Mod Squad Challenge is perfect for me. I also love using my punches. I think I like border punches better than dies and I have both. I like the control of the punch. Thanks for looking!

My Christmas Card Style

| Lisa K

I am generally drawn to clean and simple or several layers in traditional colors. For this week’s Double D Challenge, I created a traditional layered card. I am often drawn to pine needles and cones, berries, and a bit of sparkle is always nice.

http://daranddiane.blogspot.com/2019/11/what-is-your-christmas-style.html

The stamp set used is The Stamps of Life pinecones2stamp along with matching dies. I used colors from this week’s color challenge at Split Coast Stampers, Early Expresso, Mossy Meadow, and Real Red, all SU colors. While pulling cardstock out, I totally forgot it should be Real Red, which is a bright red like the berries and the ribbon, but pulled out Cherry Cobbler a bit of a darker red. As everything was quite glued down and dry, I decided to let it go and leave well enough alone.

The idea for this card came from the postcard that comes with the set when a club member. I love these postcards and pull them our for inspiration. This time, I basically CASED a card on the postcard. I am sure I used different colors, placed more pine or less pine needles, etc., but basically it is a pretty close match. I am thankful for the designers who create beautiful work to share with all of us for inspiration and to create their idea.

Woodland Fun

| Lisa K

I saw a video that sparked my interest by TX Stampin Sharon. She used a set that I did not own, but could possibly create with items I do own. Here is her blog post: https://txstampin.com/2019/11/3-snow-front-cards-youll-love-to-make-all-winter-long.html

JOY Christmas
Peace on Earth Christmas

Her card has a tree on the focal image with a snowman. I didn’t have a snowman that was small enough for the size of tree, so I began looking at trees and items that fit under the tree. I stamped the fir tree first, then looked for a greeting that worked with the tree. The fir tree came from SU Thoughtful Branches and the greeting from The Stamps of Life, penguins2stamp. The stars came from a Lawn Fawn die. I centered the fir tree and added threads behind it for a bit of glittery feeling.

Then onto card two, the one with the deer. I decided to change the size of the focal image and use the tree from GKD Framescapes Winter Trees. Then I added the deer, a few birds way up high, a bit of grass and several stars. I used a die to cut a piece of scrap for the greeting, then placed it behind the focal image like she did in her card.

This was a fun process to go through. I had so many stamp sets out trying to find images that would work well together. I do often mix several sets.

Stenciled Christmas

| Lisa K

I have been creating quite a few cards these last few days and stenciling made it into my mix. I used stencils gifted from Bonnie for these cards. They are a joy to create with! I followed the design ideas by Gina K Designs in a recent video, using the colors she used to blend into the stenciled areas.

The stamped greeting are from The Stamps of Life, Christmasgreetigs2stamp. The rhinestones are Paper Studios by Hobby Lobby.

Stenciled Christmas One
Stenciled Christmas Two
Stenciled Christmas Three

The images were stenciled on Artist’s Choice paper by Gina K Designs. The black layer is Stampin’Up. The cardbase is My Favorite Things Sweet Tooth.

Red and White cards for Mod Squad Challenge

| Lisa K

I have been working on red and white cards the last couple of days. All three were posted to Mod Squad from Split Coast Stampers.

This card uses Summer Blooms and A Wish for You, from 2014. The paper is Cherry Cobbler from Stampin Up and Layering Weight White from Gina K Designs. The ink is Cherry Red from GKD.

Red and White Butterfly

This next card uses the sets Merry & Bright (2017) and Christmas Wishes (2014), both Gina K Designs. The cardstock used is Red Hot and Layering Weight White both GKD.

Red and White Ornaments

The last card entered in the challenge uses a Snowflake Background die from The Stamps of Life. The greeting is stamped with the Winter Cheer set, from Gina K Designs, in Red Hot ink. The red cardstock used is also Red Hot.

Red and White Snowflakes

I placed the dates on the stamps as I was including these in a challenge on Split Coast called USEIT2019. The intent is to use items from our stash that have been there for a long time. I forget this challenge is there, and have been reminded lately. All three cards used mostly older product that has been in my stash for quite some time. The snowflake background is new. I added a bit of sparkle to those flakes using the Crafter’s Companion Clear Sparkle pen.

Global Design Project #GDP213

| Lisa K

This is the first time creating a card for this challenge. I was inspired by Johanna and Bonnie when they created their entry. I saw an idea, made a sketch, and began creating.

http://www.global-design-project.com/2019/10/global-design-project-213-color.html

I used stamps and dies from The Stamps of Life: Snowflake Background Die Set, Merry Christmas, and elves2stamp. The paper is Lovely Lipstick, Smokey Slate, both from SU, and the green is Fresh Asparagus from Gina K Design. I added sparkle to the card with a Crafter’s Companion Sparkle pen, though it does not photograph well. The ribbon is SU, but I couldn’t find the color on the ribbon role. I added a piece of sparkly ribbon that kind of matched the glittery paper I used for die cutting the Merry Christmas. I like the sparkle as it adds something special to a Christmas card.