"don't wallow" card

I haven't posted in a while...teaching is keeping me pretty busy!

Challenge/contest time again!  

This one is for: www.papersmoochesstamps.com >> 

The challenge was to use this color combo for a card/project:

Here's my take on a card:

The pink and brown made me think of a happy pig in the mud.  Hence the sentiment and title of my post.  :)

Supplies:
Light blue and mint green cardstock for the background, handcut hills, mud puddle/splashes, and clouds, some diecut grass (C.C. Designs metal die), and I added some brown Liquid Applique (by Marvy) to add some shine to the mud.  I stamped the sun on goldenrod and the pig on hot pink cardstock.

Stamps:
Pig, sun, smile -- Paper Smooches/
sentiment -- PrintWorks Collection (I got it at Hobby Lobby)/

Thanks for taking a look!
~ Amanda B., the manderbean :)

"smarty" card/embellishment

This card is actually going to be part of some scrapbook pages I'm doing on training our puppy.  My plan is to use this on a page describing the tricks we've taught him.

Supplies:
Turquoise, red, and gray cardstock for a background mat (I love that color combination!), stamping, a red pen, formula-pattern washi tape, green & blue twine, and coloring with Copic markers (highlighting with white Sakura gel pen) -- I am getting good with shading thanks to watching lots of YouTube videos on how to blend/shade/highlight when coloring!  :)

Stamps:
Dog and glasses -- Some Odd Girl Stamps/
formula (background stamp) -- Basic Grey/
notepaper -- Jenni Bowlin/
graph paper (background stamp) -- Stampendous/
sentiment and pawprint -- Technique Tuesday/

Thanks for taking a look!
~ Amanda B., the manderbean :)

"Olympic dreams" card

So...I started this card while the Olympics were going on.  That just shows you how busy a teacher's life can get...in my defense, I was doing lots of crafty SuperHero-themed decorations for my classroom.  :)  My idea was inspiration from Gabby Douglas and the USA women's gymnastics teams -- since her nickname is "the Flying Squirrel", I thought it would be fun to use my squirrel stamp.  Plus, the tree branches could double as parallel bars.  Pretty clever, in my humble opinion!

Supplies:
I created the background scene with a cloud background stamp.  I hand-cut the tree trunk and the hills on the ground.  Coloring was done with Copic markers -- I am getting better at using them!  I also added Sakura souffle pen to the squirrel's paw prints, clear glaze to her eyes, and a pink sparkly star as a bracelet.  A little red, white, and blue twine, a little of my own handwriting ("big") -- and a lot of careful cutting -- and this one makes me grin!

Stamps:
Squirrel, branches/leaves, two birds -- Paper Smooches/
sentiment and dream bubble -- KI Memories/
Olympic "rings" (letter "O") -- Studio G/
clouds (background stamp) -- Hero Arts/

Thanks for taking a look!
~ Amanda B., the manderbean  :)

"flower panels" card

Challenge/contest time again!

This one is for: www.papersmoochesstamps.com >> 

The challenge was to use this picture as inspiration for a card/project:

I had flower stamps that were very similar, so I decided to use them!  I also really liked the enameled colors on the photo, so I kept those as well (even though the yellow I used is brighter in real life).  Here's how the card turned out:

[Finally Updated!] Supply List:
Turquoise and kraft cardstock...I heat embossed the black outlines for the flowers (stamped) and the stems/leaves (hand-drawn with an embossing pen).  Coloring was done with a combination of chalk and Sakura souffle pens.  Some gray Sharpie pen dot trios and blue distress ink finished off the backdrop panels; hemp twine and the white sentiment finished off the card. 

Stamps:
dots --KI Memories/
rose -- American Crafts (Pebbles)/
daisies -- Studio G/
sentiment -- Paper Smooches/

Thanks for taking a look!
~ Amanda B., the manderbean  :)

"bella luna" card

Challenge/contest time again!

This one is for: www.papersmoochesstamps.com >> 

The challenge was to use this color palette on a card/project:

 

Here's card #2 >>> I wanted it to look like the backs of the aliens as they are stargazing.  :)

Supplies:
This one was easy!  Colored cardstock, the "bubbles" Cuttlebug folder for the moon/planet, a star hole punch, Copic markers, a tiny bit of ink smudged around, and a Sakura white gel pen.. 

Stamps:
Aliens, moon -- Paper Smooches/
Quote -- All Night Media/

Thanks for taking a look! ~ Amanda B., the manderbean :)

"wish you were here" card

Challenge/contest time again!

This one is for: www.papersmoochesstamps.com >> 

The challenge was to use this color palette on a card/project:

Here is card #1:

Supplies:
A lot of this card is just layered colored cardstock (I handcut the "sandy" area).  There is a tiny bit of yellow scale-patterned paper under the sentiment.  For the "sea foam" on the "beach", I used both dimensional 'snow' paint and sponged on sandy-colored ink.  For the ocean, I used both sandpaper and white ink to create "waves".  I also used blue & white ink and white Sakura gel pen on the clouds.  The whale and starfish were colored with Copic markers, and I added blue Sakura Souffle' pens to the swirls in the water.  I also added some silver and blue glitter glue to the "splashes" of water.  Final touches included: photo corners, a swirl paper clip, and hemp twine. 

Stamps:
Whale, swirls, water drops, starfish -- Paper Smooches/
Cloud --Making Memories/ (? I think?!  I will check.)
Quote -- All Night Media/

Thanks for taking a look! ~ Amanda B., the manderbean :)

"faith, hope, love" card

Got a wedding to go to tomorrow...

{Oops about the crooked scans lately... this is the best I could get after many attempts.  I would take photos of my projects, but this is faster and shows more detail than my camera usually does when taking pictures of text!}

And here's the inside...

I also made a gift tag (just showing a slightly different way to color/embellish the same image):

Supplies:
I took color (black, white, hint of yellow) and pattern (flower pattern) inspiration from the wedding invitation.  The rest is pretty straightforward!  Both images were colored with Copic markers (which I just got this week after much deliberation and finding a big discount sale --pretty happy with 'em so far!).  I layered the main image (the edges were sanded) on a black cardstock mat, layered on top of a stamped strip (the floral background stamp is about 2" by 2.5"; all I did was stamp, trim, cut the cardstock in half, and splice the halves together to make a strip behind the image).  For the verse, I stamped and then sanded/inked the edges in black.  All that was was layered on a pre-embossed white card from DCWV.  As finishing touches, I added a section of white tulle tied with shiny white embroidery floss to add texture to the dress (I borrowed this idea from a Google Images search of cards made with this stamp; I can't take credit for it!).  I also added some detail with glittered/silver Sakura gel pens. The handwriting on the tag was done with a Sharpie pen. 

Stamps:
Happy Couple -- Stampendous/
Verse quote -- Stampabilities/
flower background -- Prima/
inside sentiment -- All Night Media/
Wedding Rings -- Rubber Stampede/

Thanks for taking a look! ~ Amanda B., the manderbean :)

"hitchhiker's guide" card

So I decided to enter a challenge/contest again.

This one is for: www.papersmoochesstamps.com >> 

The challenge was to use this layout draft on a card/project:

For this one, I wanted to use my orbit-looking Cuttlebug embossing folder.  Here's how it turned out:

Supplies:
Another simple card!  To get started, I embossed a piece of black cardstock with the coolio Cuttlebug embossing folder.  To color the embossed areas, I used Pebbles metallic cream chalks (what looks white is actually very sparkly silver).  I then adhered the embossed panel to a black card.  To color the rocket and rocket afterburn, I used Sharpie markers with Sakura metallic gel pens.  The last step was to stamp the quote on silver cardstock with some Sakura silver gel pen dots.  I added the chevron-shaped embellishment tabs last -- they are made by cutting out part of the design made by the tiny stars Cuttlebug embossing folder and adding some white ink & silver Pebbles chalk.

Stamps:
rocket, afterburn flames, quote -- Paper Smooches/
 

Thanks for taking a look! ~ Amanda B., the manderbean :)

"bat cave" card

So I decided to enter a challenge/contest again.

This one is for: www.papersmoochesstamps.com >> 

The challenge was to use this layout draft on a card/project:

Looking at this sketch, I started to think that it looked kind of like the entrance to a cave.  Here's how this card turned out:

Supplies:
I used a cereal bowl to trace the "fern" patterned paper -- I wanted it to give the feeling that there were vines and moss growing on the outside of the cave.  I paper pieced the bats onto brown cardstock, and added brown fuzzy flocking to their bodies.  I added two types of googly eyes, and used black Sharpie & colored pencil, white Sakura gel pen, and gray Sakura souffle pen to add detail to both bats. The branches were also paper-pieced onto brown cardstock, and the final touch was some green cardstock and stamping the sentiment, which I spliced together using two phrase stamps.

Stamps:
Bats, branches, sentiment - Paper Smooches/


Thanks for taking a look! ~ Amanda B., the manderbean :)

"minions go bananas" card

So I decided to enter a challenge/contest again.

This one is for: www.papersmoochesstamps.com >> 

The challenge was to use this layout draft on a card/project:

Before I show you this card, I need to give you some background.  When I got my space-themed stamp set, the alien in the little spaceship reminded me of this:

(picture courtesy of Google Images)

 Further inspiration for my card came from going to see the Disney movie Brave a couple weekends ago.  Here is the preview we saw for Despicable Me 2:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXl8T6S5QHs

If you're not familiar with the movie, or the Minions' love for bananas, here's another short video clip to catch you up:     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v49hHVEQFNY

I think that the Minions are hilarious.  ANYWAY, here's the card.  :)

Supplies:
I used a cereal bowl to trace the silver cardstock, then embossed it using the diamond plate Cuttlebug embossing folder to make it look like a factory wall.  I stamped the spaceship alien onto yellow cardstock, and went in and added googly eyes, goggle "frames" with Sakura silver gel pen, goggle "straps" with black Sharpie, and thread tufts for "hair".  I also stamped and cut out the tiny "gloved" hands from black cardstock with white ink.  I paper pieced the dome of the spaceship, as well as the "robo-arm" attachment.  For the saucer and engine/afterburn, I used Sharpie markers to color and added some blue, silver, and yellow glitter glue.  The bananas were also colored with Sharpie (and hung up with a wire hook made from a used guitar string).  The last step was to stamp and emboss the word "Bananas!" with yellow embossing powder and handwrite the rest of the sentiment with Sakura white gel pen.  Finally, I layered with foam dots to make it appear that the four minions on the bottom were peeking over the purple wall to watch, while the minion in the hovercraft was trying to retrieve the bunch of bananas (so there are actually three layers to this card, even though the scan doesn't show it very well).

Stamps:
Minions/(aliens), spaceship, rocket fire, extra hands, bananas/(moon), leaves -- Paper Smooches/
robot-arm --  My Cute Stamps/
"Bananas!" font -- American Crafts/


This card was super fun to design and create!!
Thanks for taking a look! ~ Amanda B., the manderbean :)