Distinctive Touches

Friday Featured Card... by Michelle Yungbauer

Good afternoon!  I'm soooo thankful that it is Friday!  It's been a LOOOOONG week and I'm glad it's over.

To help me celebrate the coming of the weekend, I have a FAN-TABULOUS stamper with me today!  Let me introduce you to Michelle Yungbauer... creator of my Friday Featured Card! 

Just look at this lovely card!  It immediately jumped out of the gallery and said, "Pick Me... Pick Me..." and who could resist?  It's just adorable.  The first thing that caught my eye was the bright red and pink contrasting with the black... and of course the super fun patterned paper.  As I looked at the card some more, I decided it was the layout that was the coolest part!  Most of my cards have the main image in a large panel and a sentiment as a smaller piece near it... but this card has a neat layer of patterned paper as the backdrop for the image. 

Of course, when I hit my studio, I focused on the layout.  Here is my take on this week's featured card. 

I started with this funky, retro patterned paper and worked from there.  I liked the green, brown, and blue combination and it worked perfectly for an upcoming male birthday card I needed.  So... with layout and color in hand, I got to work.  It has been AGES since I've inked up this chef image from SU's Voila set.  I like to use it for birthdays with the cute little b-day cake on the platter.  I played around with the layout and all the pieces and decided to change it to a landscape format... and of course I had my brown strip cut out already, so I had to change things up a bit.  (Which is part of the point of my Friday exercises - right?) 

I loved the hole punches around the layers, so I did the same.  Normally I have a sentiment on the front, but I decided to leave the front as is and put a sentiment inside. 

That's it for today!  I want to thank Michelle for sharing her incredible talent (Check out her blog HERE for tons of other amazing cards!) and thank you all for stopping in to visit this week.

Have a wonderful weekend.
hugs,
colleen

Friday Featured Card... by Gloria!

Happy Friday Everyone!  I'm thrilled to be bringing you another amazing card by yet another amazing stamper today! 

This week I was stuck by the neat materials used by Gloria (GloriousGreetings) on THIS card.  Isn't it FAB?  Just look at all those layers and all that texture!  I just want to run my hands all over this card!  I also am really drawn to those earthy colors... such a rich (yet fun) color combo.  Lots to choose from for inspiration on this card!  Ohhhh, the button, the charms, the embossing, the polka-dots, the stitching, the fibers, the layout, the colors... what will it be????

I was leaning towards the colors again this week (seems that color is the #1 thing that draws me to a card lately), but I decided that was too easy.  I was looking for something a bit more challenging.  I decided that I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY loved the way the fibers were used... so that is what I ran with.  I dug through my drawer of ribbons, lace, and fibers and came across some light, fluffy bluish-green stuff.  PERFECT! 

And that was how THIS card started...

The blue-green fibers reminded me of this pretty dragonfly stamp that I got when I was at Ranger U.  I stamped it and colored it first with my Copic markers and then I brushed a thin wash of Perfect Pearls turquoise and blue over the wings.  There is just a hint of shimmery-sparkle!  I love it.  The layout was pretty basic... and the colors are pulled from the fibers obviously.  After stamping a sentiment and cutting out my dragonfly, I went back and forth about how to best use my fibers.  I considered stitching around the outside turquoise layer like Gloria did, but again... I wanted to go with the inspiration... and not the CASE.  So... after getting totally frustrated and just wrapping the fibers around the white layer and placing it on my desk to work on later, it hit me... just wrap them!  It was so simple! 

After that it came together pretty quickly.  I added some depth by popping up the white layer on dimensionals and put some gel medium on the back of the dragonfly to help "curl" his wings a bit.  I am just so happy with the results this week.  And I'm THRILLED to have been inspired by Gloria.  She has even more amazing cards in her gallery HERE ... go check them out! 

Thanks Gloria for the inspiration and thanks to all of you for stopping in. 
Have a wonderful weekend!
colleen

Friday Featured Card - By Christine Okken

Good Morning!  I hope to be back to a more normal posting schedule now that the holidays are over.  There will be a few changes to my blog for 2009 (a new banner each month, my Project 52 works, and some different types of crafting projects), but I will also be sticking with my Technique Tuesdays, Thursday Throw-downs, and Friday Featured Cards. 

And since it's Friday (WaHoo!)  I've got a wonderful Featured Card to share with you.  This week I went in search of something fun and fresh... and I found THIS adorable card by Christine Okken (AKA ChristineCreations over at SCS).  I was immediately blown away by Christine's pretty watercoloring... and who couldn't love those adorable bees???  The red, brown, and mustard is such a rich color combination... the whole thing just makes me smile...and of course, that's what Friday Featured Cards are all about. 

So of course, I was immediately inspired to 'get buzzin' and started in on my own card.  THIS is the result.  I needed a "get well" card for my dad (he did something really dumb and was pretty seriously injured as a result - he'll survive... just minus a few digits).  I was going to send him a "You're a Dumb A$$" card (as a joke - sort of) but I couldn't find a donkey image... so I figured I'd be nice and give him a bit of support.  Although... this monkey DOES only have three fingers... huh, I wonder if he was "hanging around" my dad last week??? 

Anyway... I used Christine's layout as inspiration... and went from there.  I actually had it all laid out with the sentiment and ribbon on the bottom (just like hers), but after playing around with the pieces, I realized they worked better (with the dimensions I had) this way.  I thought about adding more embellishments, but I wanted to keep the focus on the image.  Now that I look at it (and at Christine's) I think I should have taken her cue and cut the monkey out and popped him up... that would have been cool! 

The image is from Whipper Snapper and I actually drew in additional branch pieces on both sides to make it go all the way across the paper.  I then masked the monkey and tree and airbrushed the sky with my Copic ABS...  super simple!  I then colored the cute little guy in with Copics and gave him a few additional highlights with my white gel pen.  The sentiment is stamped with my trusty Karen Foster Snap Stamps and I added a cheesecloth background to the light green card base to add a bit more texture.  I think it turned out adorable... let's just hope dad gets a kick out of it.

Thanks Christine for being my inspiration this week! 
You can check out more of her amazing work HERE in her SCS gallery and keep up with her at her blog ChristineCreations. 

Have a wonderful weekend!
Hugs,
colleen

Friday Featured Card... by Latisha

Sorry about the lack of post yesterday.  I spent another few hours at the dentist office and came home pretty beat.  This morning I'm the proud owner of a swollen lip and some pretty sore choppers.  At least all of the hard work is done now.  Now I just wait for my permanent caps to come in and then have my temporary caps replaced. 

I DO have a great card to share with you today... actually I have TWO!  Since it's Friday, I have my Featured Card to share and of course, the card that I made in response to it.

Today's Featured Card is this GORGEOUS holiday greeting from Latisha.  I was browsing the gallery this week... really feeling a bit of the holiday blues, when I saw this card.  The thumbnail was pretty... I clicked on it and BAM... the card is AMAZING!  I fell in love with the vintage Santa.. and when I found out it was a piece of patterned paper cut into the strips for the layout I was ga-ga for it!  Inspiration For Sure!

I ran into my craft studio and riffled through my patterned paper to see if I has some that would work for this technique.  Drat... none... (pout)

I didn't let that stop me though.  I pulled out my own vintage holiday stamp and went to town.  The stamp is called Tin Can Mail and is from Inkadinkadoo.  (Ummm, no idea why the name ... seems a bit weird to me, but I'm not complaining as it is a really cool image.)  I stamped the image on white paper and decided NOT to color it.  (I know, I know... I really was feeling a bit crazy!) I used my new labels nestability to cut out just a portion of the stamped image.  I wanted to use a bunch of different shapes in my layout, so I used the funky label, an oval, a rectangle, and of course, I mounted them on a square card.  I wanted lots of layers too.  I stamped and embossed a snowflake image (sorry, don't know the company) and cut it out.  A few little embellishments like the brads and the stitching finish it off nicely.  

I REALLY wanted to make this more vintage'y" by adding some distress ink... (after all, that is part of what I liked about Latisha's inspirational card) but I decided to keep it stark.  Part of me still wants to ink it up and color it in.  (M_U_S_T _ R_E_S_I_S_T)...

I hope you like it.  I have to thank Latisha for her stunning holiday card... it got me up and in my studio.  For even more inspiration from Latisha, you can check out her blog HERE... it's amazing!

Have a Wonderful Weekend Everyone.
Colleen

Friday Featured Card... by TheresaCC

Good Afternoon!  I would have posted earlier, but today's card is a doosie... and it took me a while to get mine done.

I was browsing the SCS uploads yesterday and came across this gorgeous card by TheresaCC. It immediately caught my eye (and apparently lots of other eyes too).  I fell in love with the colors and the great distressing that was done on it.  After studying it for a bit, I realized that the layout was completely new to me and really was interesting.  (She has a mini-tutorial on her blog about how to make that awesome swirly border for the sentiment oval HERE.)  I decided that this was going to be my Friday Featured Card.  I didn't even go any further in the uploads.  I knew that this was the one for today!

I wasn't sure if I was inspired more by the colors (I have a color thing) or by the neat layout.  I figured that I wanted to try the layout... so off I went.  I started out by picking an image for the focal point oval.  I had the adorable Sugar Nellie knight stamp all colored with silvers, blues, and greens... and it fit perfectly, so I cut that out and prepared all my layers.  (I sponged weathered wood, china blue, and shabby shutters distress inks onto each layer of card stock.  I texturized the green layer with a screen pattern, and I mounted each layer on a piece of black card stock.) 

 I then made the big bow with silver wide organdy, thin blue grosgrain, and a piece of silver cord.  When I started putting my card together, I realized that the bow was too girlie for the knight image.  What to do, what to do???  I decided I liked the feminine look today, so I went in search of a more suitable image.  I came across this bird from my new Inkadinkadoo set and figured it would work.  I stamped it on white with black pigment ink and then sponged shabby shutters distress ink over it to cover the white.  Then, I set to work painstakingly cutting it out.  A few of the swirls at the bottom didn't survive the sharp blades, but I think it looks okay.   I fancied it up by adding some stamped swirls on the blue layer and the blue grosgrain ribbon on the left. 

If you look closely, you can see that I moved a few of the layers around a bit from Theresa's layout.  I do that a lot.  I have an original idea in mind and cut out all the pieces... and then I play around with them and move the around.  I moved the smaller blue layer off-center a bit to give me a more room for my sentiment (from Verve).

While it took me longer than I expected, I really like the results.  Thanks Theresa for inspiring me to be creative today.

Before I sign off for the weekend I just want to add a quick public service announcement (read - advertisement for my class...) LOL

My Everything Copic class starts on Monday!  Time is running out and it is filling up fast.  If you are interested in learning "EVERYTHING COPIC" hope on over to My Creative Classroom and sign up HERE.

Have a Super Duper Weekend!
Hugs,
colleen

Friday Featured Card... by HardwoodsRUs

I'm SO excited to bring you today's featured card!  Why... because it TOTALLY inspired me to make a card that I LOVE! 

I was browsing through the gallery this morning thinking, "I'm so not in the mood to be creative, I'm just going to pick a card that looks similar to something I've already made and blog that."  Really... I'm being embarrassingly honest here... I just didn't feel like making a card. 

BUT... when I found this amazing card by HardwoodsRUs, I immediately felt a spark... and that's all it took!  It was a TRUE inspiration.  I fell in love with the single-layer collage look... and of course all the sponging and the monotone softness of it.  I think it looks so clean and yet so sophisticated.  I wanted to copy it exactly I loved it so much... but I decided to "make it my own" by changing it up.  It turned out even more different than I expected.

I needed to make a wedding card for one of my hubbie's coworkers, so I started with the sentiment (Verve).  I pulled out a couple of background stamps from SU and my flower silhouette stamps (Inkadinkadoo).  I knew I wanted a monotone look and my pumpkin paper was sitting out on my desk, so that is what I used.  (I also used So Saffron and Very Vanilla.) 

I created a few masks and started by inking Scattered Straw distress ink around the edges and then stamped Canvas, French Script, and Weathered in various shades of yellow ink around the piece.  I pulled out the pumpkin ink and started stamping up some flowers.... building the layers and getting darker as I came forward.  

I almost stamped the sentiment on the card itself and left it at that, but I decided I wanted a bit of "layering" going on.  I stamped the sentiment and punched it out and layered it over a strip of pumpkin ribbon.  To balance the "top heavy" card, I added three pearls along the lower left edge. 

I'm SO excited about how this turned out.  It came together really quickly and turned out even better than I had hoped.  Thanks to HardwoodsRUs for the much needed inspiration this morning! 

Thanks all for stopping in.  Have a wonderful weekend!
colleen

Friday Featured Card... by Cheryl Rowley!

Yippee!  It's officially the weekend!  I've made it though another week... and am looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend (yeah right... they never seem to be relaxing do they?)

Today's featured card is by Cheryl Rowley.  I saw lots of great cards this week in the gallery, but I fell in love with this one by Cheryl...not only because she ROCKS the coloring on it, but because the image is just too darn cute... AND... I feel in love with those great fall colors!  Doesn't it just look so rich and earthy?  You really need to check out Cheryl's work both in her gallery HERE... and HERE on her blog.  WOW... she's one talented gal!

I didn't have much time to get crafty today, so I kept my layout simple (something I've been TRYING to master).  I really was inspired by Cheryl's nice rich colors, so I dug into my scrap stash to see what I had.  This fall patterned paper by Daisy D was just right!  I pulled the saffron and the brown from the patterned paper (I'm wondering if I should have added the touch of red in there to somewhere) and I punched out 1 inch squares from two different patterns.  A quick trip through the cuttlebug for my saffron piece and Voila... a quick and easy fall greeting!  (Just my style these days. LOL) 

Oey!  I see my photo needs a bit of work... it's just a tad bit overexposed... IRL, the colors pack much more punch.

Thanks Cheryl for inspiring me... your work is amazing and I look forward to visiting your gallery for even more inspiration!

Have a WONDERFUL WEEKEND everyone! 
Hugs,
Colleen

Friday Featured Card...by tx stamper

Mice... they are everywhere it seems.  In my attic, in the walls, outside in the field, in my dogs mouth (blech!), and on today's featured card. 

Luckily, the ones on today's card are super cute and aren't keeping me awake at night.

I picked this utterly adorable card by tx stamper (Laurie Wilson) to showcase today.  I saw it yesterday as I was browsing the uploads at SCS and was immediately inspired by it.  The image is just too cute, the colors are so much fun, and the layout is fantastic... with all the layers and stitching.  I headed on over to Laurie's blog and WOW... that gal can stamp... and color... can create!  She really has an eye for color and picks the perfect images for her cards. 

The card I made as my sample today turned out sort of funny.  Not in a ha-ha kind of way... but a "that's weird" sort of way.  Since I was drawn to the cu-tie image and the bright fun colors, I figured that my card would be bright, fun, and cute too... NOT!  

I sorted though my images and this "Willow" stamp just kept drawing me back... so I figured okay.. why fight it.  Of course, it was already colored, so I pulled the blues and browns from the image for my card stock layers and decided to use the same layout as Laurie.  But guess what... that morphed into something a bit different too. 

Since I was already on a sort of "vintage" run... I figured I would keep it up with this card.  I sponged Ranger's distressed inks onto the main image and over the embossed ares of the Kraft layer.  I added some ribbon a few brads (pulled from the original layout...) and finished it off with some stitching and a simple sentiment. 

I really like the way it turned out... can you believe it was inspired by this cut-tie-pattotie mousy card?  Yup... that's the way the mojo flows!

Thank you Laurie for inspiring me today! 

Have a Happy Halloween and a Wonderful Weekend!

colleen

Card Info:

Stamp:  Willow with Lantern (Whiff of Joy)

Card stock - Night of Navy, Kraft, Bliss Blue

Inks: Archivers Black, Distress Weathered Wood and Walnut Stain

Other: Cuttlebug folder (textiles), copic markers, navy grosgrain, brads

Friday Featured Card... by lbenden

The weekend at last!  I've got a lot to do this weekend, but I'm looking forward to maybe sleeping in a little bit.  I also want to catch up on some reading that I'm doing.  And of course... I'd like to get some studio time if possible too.... hmmmm, sounds like I won't be getting any extra sleep if I want to get everything done!  Oh Well... I'll sleep when I'm dead right?

Enough babbling... I know you are here to see some stuff... so let's get to it!  Today's Featured Card is from lbenden(Lynda Benden).  I saw this card on Splitcoast and knew immediately that I had to use it for my inspiration this week.  (Actually, my very first thought was, "WOW... I'm totally going to CASE this one!") 

Lynda's card caught my eye because of all of the gorgeous details.   I love the collage style layering she does on the main panel with the different stamped images.  I also got all geeked about the cool embossed background.  I recently got this same embossing folder and haven't been inspired to use it.. until now. 

I also like that the card is subtle...even with all the layers and details.  The tone-on-tone color really makes it elegant.

So... of course, I picked a few things from Lynda's card to focus on and created my own card. 

I was needed a thank you card that was sort of masculine (for a guy and his wife) and sort of earthy and "cabin/outdoorsey" without being too guyish.  I went with the tone-on-tone idea and used River Rock as my neutral.  I stamped the Canvas and French Script backgrounds on the small layer and then stamped both some flower and leave silhouettes over that.  The sentiment is from Verve.  I also used the leaves Cuttlebug folder for my background layer.  I sponged every layer with both Shabby Shutters and Walnut Distress Inks. 

I wanted to keep it simple... so I added a wide brown ribbon (no bows as that would have been to "girley") and a small metal clip.  I SO wanted to add more... and glitterify it or add bling to the flowers, but Nate told me to know when to stop... so I stopped.  Well, almost... after it was all put together (the smaller layer is popped up) I decided to add some stitching for a nice finished look. 

I'm so happy with how this card turned out.  I think it totally fits the style and personality of the couple that I'm sending it to.  I couldn't have done this one without Lynda's inspiration.  (For more of Lynda's great work... check out her gallery HERE and her blog The Stamp Act HERE. 

I'll be back later today with another installment of Ranger U...(and don't forget to check out Monday's post HERE for a chance to win some blog candy!)

Inky Hugs,

colleen