Chuggin' Along...

Hello Everyone, it's Robyn here today. Today, I've made this super masculine card for my hubby's friend who has recently in the hospital. They thought he had a heart attack, but thankfully it was something else (not sure what). So, I decided that this stamp from the Collage Elements #1 sheet would be just the thing to use.

I've paper pieced it using some Pink Paislee paper.

I cut the shape out using one of my Nesties (labels #14 I think), and added some true vintage buttons to the card. I distressed the layers using Vintage Photo Distress ink and then misted it to give it an aged effect.

Hope you enjoy seeing it. I know masculine cards don't come easy for some (me included), so hope it inspires you.

Home Sweet Home & Back to School Again!

Hi there, Regan here! This week I have two projects to share with you.

For the first project I created a card using the ATC #1 stamp sheet and inspiration from the challenges at Papercraft Star and I Brake For Challenges.

I used the swirls background stamp from the ATC #1 stamp sheet for the base of the card using River Rock ink by Stampin' Up! to give it a tone on tone look. Come join us at I Brake For Challenges!

For the second project I created a card using a back to school theme and my favorite stamp.... you guessed it, Be My Valentine Girl. I used the same paper to paper piece her dress as I did for the last back to school card but this time I gave her red hair! I went a vintage this time and added some book pages and some stitching.

For more information on these projects, please visit my blog at Emora Designs!

Thank you for stopping by!
Regan

Shabby Me

Jane Bosi, here, bringing you a not so subtle reminder to play along in the I Brake For Challenges Challenge. The challenge announced last week on the IBFC Blog is themed "Shabby Chic." You still have one week to play......why not? If you are following here, we'd love to have you follow there and join in on the fun and games! My inspiration card features a beautiful image and sentiment, both from the I Brake For Stamps store! You'll find the Grunge Bouquet here and the sentiment, here.

My card features a great Shabby Chic technique from the Technique Junkie Newsletter called, Neutral Shadows. Now, you don't have to get all techy to play in the challenge. The definition of shabby chic comes from an interior design concept of using older items or antiquing new items to look old and worn as design elements. You can get wonderful shabby chic effects with the choice of papers, adding ink or distressing papers--it's a wide open concept! Come Play!

TTFN, Jane

Dreams

It is no secret, that when it comes to Myths and Legends, Miss Erika is a huge fan. Ever since I was young, I thought being a mermaid would be the perfect way to live. Free in the ocean, talking to the animals of the water.I still dream about that once in a while and wanted to share with you today an absolutely beautiful stamp available at I Brake for Stamps.

This is probably to most stunning mermaid stamp I've come across and the image is perfect when you stamp it. For this card, I decided to do a little Copic coloring and some "very fussy cutting" with the Moonlight Mermaid image. I stamped her 3 different times so I could get the splashes and the tail. Adding a splash of glitter to make that water come alive and we've got ourselves a winner I think. Here is the finished card for you. To get a closer look, just click on the photos themselves.

Here is a close up of the Moonlight Mermaid herself.

There are so many wonderful fantasy inspired stamps at the I Brake for Stamps store. So if you like the mythical, the beautiful or the unique, please hop on over and take a peek.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope the rest of your day is simply magical

Toodles
Erika Taylor

Boooooooooooooooooo!!!

HI all-

Its Kristy here! I had some fun again with that wonderful Halloween Sheet! Isn't this spooky tree image amazing??  My background was made using Distress Stains! I used the Torn Frames and Drywall Stitching techniques from the Technique Junkies newsletter.

Distressed Shabby Chic Collage

It's Holly posting today! Have you been playing in the challenges over on the I Brake for Challenges blog? This week's challenge is a fun one - grungy, distressed, shabby chic.

I used the Distress Stain Resist technique (from the cool new Stampbooking CD in the IBFS store) with this beautiful Magnolia Tile collage stamp from I Brake for Stamps. Then I used the same colors of distress stains to color some white seam binding, which I crumpled up and let dry. To create the blue background, I used the distress stains again, but with more blues and less browns.

Yeah, I was having a ton of fun with my distress stains! Wanna see what happened to my hands??

Hee hee hee!

After everything dried, I distressed the edges of the collage and adhered all the layers. I tied the ribbon into a bow and added a brown button with linen thread in the center. This collage is just so beautiful, I didn't want to cover it up with a bunch of embellishments or layers.

Head on over to the I Brake for Challenges blog and play along with us. We'd love to see what you've created!

Stamps: Magnolia Tile collage stamp from I Brake for Stamps
Ink: Versamark
CS: watercolor paper, Suede
Other: clear embossing powder, seam binding, button, linen thread, distress tool, Distress Stains (Faded Jeans, Weathered Wood, Vintage Photo, Broken China)
TJ Technique: Distress Stain Resist (Stampbooking CD)

Friendship...

Hi Everyone, it's Robyn here with a cute little friendship card. The stamp sheet that I'm using today is called "Inspirational Phrases." I absolutely love this set! There are 28 different sentiments and phrases on this sheet, so you can see how you would easily get a lot of miles out of it! :) I thought the "Your friendship is a special blessing" sentiment was just the phrase I needed for this cute, whimsical card that I created to give to my friend.

My card base measures 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" so is a standard A2 size. I've used a paper line that I've had in my hoarding vault all summer because I love it so much. :) It's by Echo Park called "A Walk in the Park," and I've used my Cricut and the Country Life cartridge to create the fun little happy sun image and tied some baker's twine around the top note that I've mounted it on and then added a few little buttons.

That's about it, super quick, cute, and fun. I hope it brings a smile to your face today. Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Robyn

Double Pocket Grunge

{jane bosi 'Twas my wee ones bday over the weekend so, I made her this fabby double pocket fold card using IBFS Grunge Flowers! There are some fantastically shabby/chic stamps in the store for you to see! Check it out! I've used several techniques from the Technique Junkie newsletter to complete my card: Double Pocket and Faux Felt! Great fun and much better IRL! I chose my colors based on the itunes gift card.....she was delighted!!

I hope you are having an equally happy Monday!

TTFN, Jane

Haida Art

When I first saw this stamp in the I Brake for Stamps store, I knew that I had to have it. I've always love Haida art. Ever since that first trip to Vancouver, seeing those amazing totem poles. So when I received this stamp in my design team package, I had an idea immediately.

Hi Everyone, Erika Taylor here today sharing with you a very different card suitable for either masculine or feminine occasions. First of I stamped the image using Versamark, and embossed with black embossing powder. Then out came my gel pens and Copic markers to give this mask some Haida flair!!!

Once completely dry, I added some crackle paint to the top, to really give it even more character. The final project you ask??? Here it is. I hope you really enjoy it.

It certainly makes me smile. How about you? Here is a close up of the image so you can really see it in all its GLORY!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and taking a look at my Haida inspired card. Take a chance at something different today. Stop by the I Brake for Stamps store and see all the wonderful images they have to offer.

Until next time
Toodles
Erika Taylor

Halloween Treat Box

HI  All!

Here is a small milk carton I made using the new Halloween Sheet! I grabbed the milk carton template here. For the Background I used the Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink Pad on a craft sheet and spritzed with water and smooshed the paper right into it.  I used the Speckle image off the Grunge Backgrounds 2 sheet for some texture. This little box will be perfect for putting Candy Corns in :)

Witch Bear

It's Holly posting today, and I've got a little surprise to give away - keep on reading until you get to the end. :-)

Awwwwwwwww isn't this witch bear adorable? I colored this Witch Costume Bear with a combination of Copic markers and glitter pens. The broom is sticking out "Out of the Nesties Box", and I used a spider web embossing folder on the black background.

It's hard to see the gorgeous shimmer on this little cutie pie, so I've decided to give this card away to one lucky winner. That's right. Leave a comment telling me what your favorite bear is in the IBFS store (see them all here), and I will use random.hubby to pick a winner! I'll mail this card out to the winner, and he/she will be able to hold this card in his/her hands and see the shimmer in person.

Hmm..... let's see....... I'll leave this open for a week and pick a winner on August 25. How does that sound? :-) Good luck!

Fancy Birthday Cake Card

Hi Everyone, Robyn here. Today, I'm sharing a birthday card with you using the Fancy Birthday Cake stamp from IBFS. What a great image to either paper piece or color in! I made a birthday card, but could have easily changed this to a wedding card by changing up the papers and using an appropriate sentiment, so it really is a versatile stamp.

Hope you are having a great week!

Robyn

Back to School & Friendship

Hi there, Regan here! I actually have two projects to share with you today! The first is a fun card that I created for the Back to School challenge over at the I Brake For Challenges Blog!

I used my all time favorite stamp, Be My Valentine Girl, along with the number stamp from the ATC #1 stamp sheet to create this card. The pattern papers are from two school stacks by DCWV and the paper for her dress is from the handmade collection by K&Company.

The second project is dedicated to one of my best friends for a challenge at Scrapping Everyday Miracles. I wanted to honor our 20 year friendship by making a layout.

I used the script stamp from the ATC #1 stamp sheet to add some interest to the base of my layout. For more photos and details, please visit my blog EmoraDesigns.

I hope you will play along with us over at I Brake For Challenges!

Thank you for stopping by,

Regan

Happy Hour With Freddie

Jane Bosi, here, sharing a cute little Freddie Frog! I'm using a new TJNL technique called Vellum Sentiments. Fun and just the right touch for this adorable Freddie Does Happy Hour image. I know it's only Monday, but........Happy Hour can't come soon enough!! (That will be 8:00am on Sept 1!! LOL!) You can see all of the Freddie images (they are cute!) over at the IBFS store--check them out!

TTFN, Jane

Circles Circles Circles

I love the look of geometric shapes in a card and there is nothing more fun than creating your own patterned paper with some fun designs. Hi everyone, Erika Taylor here today to share with you a fun project using the Circle Dots stamps from I Brake for Stamps.

To create this card, I used some cream and white card stock, Glimmer Mists and Clear embossing powder. First I spray the background paper with Lemon Grass and Trunk Bay Glimmer Mist. Then I stamped the Circle Dots image in a few different colors of ink. I continued this technique again using Clear embossing powder and Lemon Grass, Trunk Bay and Bell Bottom Jeans Glimmer Mist. Finally a few die cut circles and VOILA!!! a very geometric card using one wonderful Circle Dots Stamp. Easy Peasy!!!

Adding a little Red for contrast and this "sweet" card is finished. Try creating your own patterned paper using simple stamp designs, Glimmer Mists and embossing powder for a real unique design. Thanks so much for stopping by today. Don't forget you can use our Design Team Codes to get a 10% discount on your purchase. Use SAVE10ERIKA today!!!

 Hope you are all having a fantastic weekend.

Toodles
Erika Taylor

Scooter Card

Isn't this Scooter just the cutest image?  I colored it with copics and stamped some Speckles around it.

On the red piece underneath the top layer I stamped Hollys tattered Background :)

Wicker Chair

Good morning! It's Holly posting today. I fell in love with this wicker chair when I saw it in the I Brake for Stamps store, and I put in a big order for a bunch of the Embossing Arts images there. :-) I watercolored this sweet image with distress inks and then sponged some Tea Dye distress ink around the edges. The kraft mat underneath was turned into a Torn Frame via the technique of the same name from Technique Junkies.

I didn't realize this until after the card was done, but I picked the strips of blue patterned paper to subconsciously coordinate with the weaving in the wicker chair. How cool is that? I love it when I pick just the "right" paper only to realize later on "why" it was so perfect. I went through literally ALL of my designer paper, rejecting everything I saw because it just wasn't right, until I found this particular sheet from the Country Drive collection by Echo Park. :-)


Stamps: Wicker Chair from I Brake for Stamps
Ink: Timber Brown Stazon, Tea Dye, Broken China, Tumbled Glass, Shabby Shutters, Peeled Paint, Straw, Mustard Seed, Worn Lipstick
CS: Kraft, watercolor paper, Country Drive (Echo Park)
Other: wooden button, linen thread, aquapainter, corner rounder, sponge
TJ Technique: Torn Frames

Get Well Card

Hi Everyone, Robyn here today with a lovely wishing well "Get Well" card. I've used the Bo Bunny Gabrielle 6x6 paper pad from I Brake for Stamps, and of course the Wishing You stamp.
I colored the image in using my Letraset Promarkers. I have more details on my blog with a video of me creating this card over at my website HERE if you'd like to know more.
This sentiment is called Wishing You Well, and although it didn't come with the Wishing Well stamp, I think they go perfectly together.

Hope you enjoy seeing it, and thanks so much for stopping by today!

Hugs,

Robyn

Napoli and Tags

Hi everyone. I'm so stinkin excited to be a part of this fantastic team and I hope that our journey together will inspire you. Erika Taylor here today with my first ever post as an I Brake for Stamps Design Team member.  I've absolutely loved stamps for quite some time. I think it started in Kindergarten when you'd get a little smiley face stamp on the corner of your completed assignments. Oh how I loved that little smiley face hehe.

Today I'm sharing with you two projects that I've created. The first is an artistic tag. For this tag I used Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and Distress Crackle Paint to create the backgrounds on both the tag and the Basically Bare Chipboard Hearts. After the paint was dry, I stamped the beautiful Floral Silhouette Bouquet onto the hearts using Versamark, then embossed them with a pretty Pewter embossing powder. The image is very soft, but adds to the tag perfectly.

Next, I created a card using one of my favorite types of stamps available at I Brake For Stamps. If you haven't picked up any of the collage stamps, You've just gotta!!! the images are striking and the option to double stamp and fussy cut to create dimension is amazing.

First off, I took a white piece of card stock and sprayed it with Pink Polka Dot and Teal High Heel Chalkboard Glimmer Mist. Once completely dry, I stamped the Napoli Collage stamp using Versafine in black, Then I re stamped the image onto a scrap piece of white card stock and embossed with a glitter embossing powder. I fussy cut the butterfly, and added it to the front of the card using Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots. The color combination of pink, teal and black is truly beautiful. To add a little more dimension to the image, I highlighted the sentiment and some of the fruit with a white pen.

So what do you think of my first projects? I hope that I've given you some inspiration today and you create create create!!! Don't forget to use your design team codes to get a discount on stamps. You will find these on all of the design teams blogs. My blog can be found HERE.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I really look forward to creating using the wonderful images available at I Brake for Stamps.

Until next time
Toodles

Erika Taylor

Distressed Pear

Hi there everyone!
Its Kristy here and I wanted to share with you what I did today!
I came across this Pear image from the Art Pears Sheet and had to use it today!  The pear is stamped onto grungeboard that I rubbed some Distress Stains on. I cut out the pear and sponged the edges with Walnut Stain distress ink. For the layer underneath the Pear, I stamped Holly's Tattered Background on a piece of Vellum that I rubbed with Distress stain.  Tore it and rubbed the edges with Distress ink.  The other half of the card has been distressed with Frayed Burlap ink, a distress tool and also stamped with Grunge Ornamental Heart. To finish it off I tied a black ribbon and mounted it to a black Square Card.

Tie Dye Leaves

Hi y'all! It's Holly posting today, and I have used the fun Tie Dye Chic Embellishments technique from the new Stampbooking CD on this leafy card. The beauty of this cd is that the techniques can be applied to cards and 3D projects as well as scrapbook pages. There are 75 awesome techniques on this cd that you will want to try out for yourself.

I wanted to showcase this technique on a card since that is my primary canvas of choice. I've used this Tie Dye Chic technique with some leaves that I cut out with Tim Holtz's leaf die. The leaves are stamped with Holly's Tattered Background from I Brake for Stamps and I used my fingers to shape them and give them a real 3D appearance.

The sentiment is also from I Brake for Stamps, and I've used the Wisped Frames technique on it. I tied some linen thread around each leaf stem and I wrapped it around the edge of the card base. I opted for a clean and simple card base so that the leaf embellishments can take center stage.

Stamps: Holly's Tattered Background & Nature from I Brake for Stamps
Ink: Walnut Stain, Tea Dye, Scattered Straw, Forest Moss, Rusty Hinge, Timber Brown Stazon
CS: white, brown
Other: Labels 4 die, sponge, linen thread, Tim Holtz leaf die
TJ Technique: Wisped Frames, Tie Dye Chic Embellishment (Stampbooking CD available from I Brake for Stamps)

Venetian Carnivale Mask

Good morning! I have a very different kind of project to share with you today. I happened to be browsing around one day and I saw a gorgeous project with a mask on Linda Duke's blog. To be honest, I don't remember what the rest of it looked like - I just remember the mask. It just stuck in my brain and I had to sit down and create something with it.

I think that turned out so cool! I used the Antique Glimmers technique from Technique Junkies on the mask, and then I used Antique Silver Creative Inspirations Paint around the edges of the mask as well as inside the eyes. While I had the silver paint out, I used it to paint a bamboo skewer - that is the handle of the mask. Instead of stamping on the mask, I added rows of pearls around the eyes so you can see the wonderful shimmer on the mask.

I hand-dyed the seam binding with various purple inks and Glimmer Mist, and then I attached the ribbon to the silver handle along with some silver cord. A Wild Orchid flower from I Brake for Stamps is at the top of the handle. The sentiment is also from I Brake for Stamps which you can see by clicking here.

I hope you enjoyed my little burst of creativity today. Why not break out of your comfortable stamping norm and try something different? :-)


Stamps: Dream from I Brake for Stamps
Ink: Jet Black Stazon, Dusty Concord, Lavender, Walnut, Tea Dye, Antique Linen
CS: Eggplant, White, Fairy Flora (Prima), Victoria Gardens (Echo Park)
Other: Wild Orchid flower from I Brake for Stamps, pearls, bamboo skewer, paintbrush, sponge, seam binding, silver cord, Delphinium Glimmer Mist, Labels 14 die, oval die, Antique Silver Creative Inspirations Paint
TJ Technique: Antique Glimmers

3 Magazine Commissions...

Hi Everyone, Robyn here. I have 3 cards (well 6 really but they are so similar that I'm bunching them together) to share with you today! These are each cards that a UK magazine asked that I create for their August 2011 issue (Cardmaking and Papercraft magazine). What is so neat about this is that they specifically requested these IBFS images! Isn't that neat! Way to go Della! :c)

For the first one, I've used the "To the One I Love" stamp by I Brake for Stamps. I used this card HERE and HERE back in January and February as a Valentine's Day card and a tag. I love it and it is SO cute! Can you tell that I love this stamp! Makes a great anniversary card as well!

You can see this stamp on the IBFS website HERE.



The second card(s)...

This one is called "1902 Cottage" and you can find it HERE on the IBFS website.



The cards are very similiar, apart from using different marker colors...



Sorry it's a bit darker...

Finally, here is the 3rd...

This is probably my favorite rubber stamp of the 3 I've shared thus far. It's called 'Miss Rachel in the Garden', again these are all I Brake for Stamps stamps that the magazine requested that I use. There are 3 other "Miss Rachel" stamps on the IBFS website. You can see the others HERE , HERE, and HERE.

The second one really isn't that different, I just changed the marker colors and used a different ribbon and rub-on sentiment... (the lighting is way off in the picture below - sorry about that it wasn't a good lighting day that day).

Well, that's it from me for today. I hope you enjoy seeing the cards that I made for the August issue. Thanks for stopping by today. Hope your week is going fabulous!

Cute as a Pumpkin!

Hi There, Regan here! I have a cute Halloween card for you this week featuring one of the stamps from the Costume Bears collection by Rick St. Dennis. This set is so adorable which made it super fun and easy to use!

I used the June 21st Sketch at Sassy Lil' Card Sketches as inspiration for this card.

I used the Pumpkin Costume Bear for this card, isn't he cute!?

Such a super simple and fun card to make! For more details, please visit my blog Emora Designs.

Thanks for stopping by,

Regan

Funky Little Borders

Jane Bosi, here, sharing a little Stampbooking project. If you haven't already heard, the IBFS store is carrying the TJNL Stampbooking CD. It's a great tool for helping you to incorporate your stamps into your scrapbooks. I'll be sharing a different Stampbooking project on my blog each day this week. Stop on by for more information and inspiration!

These are some of my favority pictures from my sister-in-law's wedding five years ago! My wee ones have grown up so much since then--that little punkin in the picture is now 7!!

I wanted a simple page that would just add to the presentation of the four pictures so, I chose the Funky Borders technique. The Large Swirls image was the perfect compliment to the pictures and style I wanted to convey. While I usually gravitate to whimsical images for coloring and card making, having basic design elements, like this one, in my stash is a definite MUST!!

Happy Stamping! TTFN, Jane