challenge Archives - Cricketleg Creative

“Anything Goes” Challenge

March 2, 2021 Challenge Cards, Handcrafted Cards

Simon Says Stamp “Anything Goes” Challenge with a few cards and a journaling entry.

Well, hi!

Sometimes it’s nice to have a specified direction, but sometimes I do love when I can just do whatever I want!

So this latest challenge from Simon Says Stamp being “Anything Goes” is just want I was in the mood for!

Welcome to my five entries. Here they are in no particular order.

Bees & Floral Journal

This is the front page to my Line Upon Line General Conference notebook. I’ve been showing some drawings I’ve been doing on my Instagram (on Sundays). But this time I thought I’d mix things up by doing some stamping and coloring.

I chose to use stamps from the Hero Arts January 2021 kit. Can’t believe I haven’t used it yet before now! It’s such a great stamp and die set. I stamped the large floral and the three different bees. Then I colored it in with colored pencils.

Pig Out!

Okay, here’s a chance to address something. Months ago, in an effort to increase my stamp and die supplies with as little money as possible, I made an Amazon experiment.

I ordered some really cheap clear mount stamps with matching dies. Do they work? Um, mostly. Would I do it again? No.

The quality of the stamps is poor. They do not stamp with very clean lines, but sometimes you can hide this. The dies are not as sharp or exact either. These “cling” stamps do not actually cling very well. Once you manage to pry them off their plastic backing page, there’s no stick left. Not great.

So the lesson is: spend the money and buy from reputable stamp companies. If the price sounds too good to be true, it very likely is.

Still, for a simple card, and since I have the stamps already and might as well use them, this card is pretty cute. Not great lines, but still fun to use.

Stamped using Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and colored in with Copic markers.

Gift Truck

Speaking of cheap stamps….yeah, here’s another example. I do love me a vintage pickup loaded with stuff in the back! But this set has the same issues as the pig. Blurry lines, dies are meh, and no cling.

But, again, still can be used. So I did. This set comes with gifts, pumpkins, hearts, presents, flowers, apples, leaves, etc.

The sentiment is from an Avery Elle birthday set. You can see the difference in quality between the crispness of the sentiment and the blurriness of the truck. I’ll not be trying the cheap Amazon stamp set experiment again! I mean, when I take on an Anything Goes Challenge, I don’t want the challenge to come from actually getting the stamps to work right!

Stamped using Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and colored in with Copic markers.

Topiary Hello

Let’s get back to great stamps, shall we?! I love Hero Arts, and this was a surprise freebie in one of my recent orders. I think this simple and sweet topiary makes a lovely card, don’t you?

It came with matching dies. I used the die for the greenery section to make a mask so I could ink blend the leaf area for a softer and more complete look.

The sentiment is also from that set.

Stamped using Ranger Distress Ink pads and colored in partially with Copic markers and ink blending.

Sea You Soon

Another Hero Arts win here. That watery background stamp is from Hero Arts and I’ve been itching to use it. I love it!

I paired it with an old Stampin’ Up! stamp set that features a school of fish, octopus, starfish, and lobster. The “Sea You Soon” sentiment is from another Hero Arts set.

I just love mixing and matching stamp sets! I can sometimes be too “in the box” and forget to do that.

Stamped with Ranger Distress Ink stamp pads.

Alright, all done. Hope you enjoyed this peak at my “Anything Goes” Challenge entries. You can check out other challenges here.

Y’all take care!

“Favorite Technique” Challenge

February 23, 2021 Challenge Cards, Handcrafted Cards

Two entries into the Simon Says Stamp Favorite Technique Challenge…but how can I pick favorites?!

Well, hi!

I tell ya, every time a “favorite technique” challenge pops up I find it hard to choose! I love lots of different techniques. But then I remember…oh yeah, I love ink blending backgrounds. Especially skies.

And since I have a few new additions in my stamp collection, I thought it a good time to combine them with ink blending.

So, here you go…

Mahalo Floral Card

The latest card kit from Hero Arts is phenomenol! Lots of images and dies to play with. It’s been so cold and wet here lately in eastern North Carolina and having fun with some tropical whimsy is just what I need right now!

I wasn’t really sure where I was going with this when I started, but I like where I ended up! I stamped the flowers and leaves using masking, and colored them in with Copic markers. Then, I used Copic markers to make the water background.

In hindsight it would have been much easier to stamp, color, and die cut all those images out. But I do like that there’s no white border around them. So it’s fine; just hard to do the background around all that detail.

I used Glossy Accents from Ranger to make wavy lines over the blue ink background and let it dry. I stamped some other leaves from the Hero Arts set and placed those around the sentiment that I stamped. All those images are from that Hero set.

You Warm My Heart Card

The stamps that made this very sweet campfire card are from an Avery Elle stamp set. I’m a bit lacking in the cute critter stamp category, so I recently purchased this set. I love campfires so this one was a no brainer.

I stamped the images I wanted to use first, then colored them with Copic markers, being careful to add some yellow glow to the sides facing the fire. (That racoon gave me some trouble, but that’s in their nature I suppose.)

Once those were ready, I placed them on a notecard just to see where I might want my horizon line. I set them aside and masked off that horizon. For this card I used stamp pads and blending brushes for a softer, more subtle blend. I started in the center where I knew the campfire would be, with yellow. Then a light brown around that, and a darker brown on the outer edge. Same basic idea for the sky.

With a few trees stamped at the sides, I was ready to glue my critters in place. After that it was just a matter of adding starts and sentiment.

I have to say, I think my favorite element on this card is the splatterware mug! I couldn’t help myself there!

Both cards have a blended background. One uses Copic blending and the other uses stamp pads with blending brushes. Both are fun!

View my other challenge cards here.

So there you go! Y’all take care!

“We’re On A Roll” Challenge

January 22, 2021 Challenge Cards, Handcrafted Cards

Cute donut card for the latest Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with a “We’re On a Roll” theme.

Well, hi!

Once again I find myself with only enough time to make one challenge into the latest Simon Says Stamp card challenge. I had seven or eight ideas sketched out, but alas, there are other things that need my attention in life. So, here you go.

The basic idea for this challenge is wheels, circles, roundy things, etc. You get the idea.

My card is based on an idea I had to try to make a large donut using my circle die set. It was an experiment, but I think it went well. In fact, I’m planning on making a video for my YouTube channel on how to do it.

Yes, you could probably find a die set for this and it would likely be faster. But here’s the thing….I don’t have the budget currently to be buying all the dies! And I need to make the most of the ones I do have. I know I’m not alone here.

Ever get frustrated when you see someone making a cute card and think, “Well, yeah, of course….when you have that die set!”

Well, that was kind of the inspiration for this. How to get the look I’m imagining in my brain but without the specialty dies.

Since I’ll be doing a video, I won’t go into too much detail on how to do it here. It’ll be easier to understand in the video. My Copic markers, though, came in clutch here and helped achieve the look for the “We’re On A Roll” Challenge. Simple but fun.

So be on the lookout…mmm…probably next week! Until then, here’s a recent post and video I did.

Until then, y’all take care!

“Sparkle & Shine” Challenge

January 5, 2021 Challenge Cards, Handcrafted Cards

Here are a few entries into the Simon Says Stamp “Sparkle & Shine” Challenge.

Well, hi! It’s been a couple of weeks since I last posted. I took a much needed break and now I’m back in the swing of things and ready to start doing challenges again.

Today, I have a few entries into the latest Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

Never Let Anyone Dull Your Sparkle

How fitting!

This striking card is made by using double stick tape and glitter. I just arranged the tape in vertical lines, starting with the wider tape. Then I poured glitter over the entire card. It sticks to the tape! After that, I just repeated the same steps using the narrower tape and a different glitter color.

The sentiment was made in Canva and printed out onto cardstock. I then trimmed the top and bottom of the cut out sentiment with more tape and glitter and attached it to the card.

Easy! And super sparkly. Looks very New Years-y to me too!

Birthday Girl

Although this card is fairly simple in design, I think the impact is high! I love the combination of two papers that have different patterns but the exact same tone on tone colors. The metallic gold paper and Motherlode embossing powder for the sentiment really make this card sparkle and shine!

Out of This World

For Christmas I received a fun Lawn Fawn stamp and die set from one of my kids. And I’m so excited to be able to use it now!

I stamped some images from the set onto white cardstock and colored them in with Copic markers. Once they were done, I used the coordinating dies to cut them out.

The background for the images was made using watercolors. It took a while to build up the color, but it was so fun to do! I’d like to keep working on this technique to really get it down. But I’m happy with this first attempt at a watercolor galaxy type background. Once the paint was all dry I splattered the surface with both white goache and a metallic gold paint to get that….sparkle and shine!

Party Animal

This card is for my daughter’s 25th birthday. I’ve been itching to use this cute birthday stamp set from My Favorite Things since I bought it a few weeks ago. I love the simple lines of the images. Clean. Fun.

I stamped three of the scenes from the set onto cardstock and colored them in with Copic markers, keeping the color palette fairly small. I wanted the overall effect to be more subtle since I used a metallic gold accented paper background. But I did trim out each scene in gold metallic tape.

So, there you go. Four entries all with some kind of sparkle, shine, or both! Fun challenge!

Stay tuned for further posts and challenge entries! To see my last challenge post you can go here.

Y’all take care, and have a Happy New Year!

Favorite Technique Challenge

December 11, 2020 Challenge Cards, Handcrafted Cards, Holiday Cards

This week’s Monday challenge from Simon Says Stamp is to make entries using your favorite technique.

Well, hi!

Okay, this one was quite a, um, challenge. Not necessarily making the cards. Just trying to pick a favorite technique! I really had to think about this one.

What is my favorite technique?

In all fairness, I believe that this is something that will change with time and with new stamps, products, etc. So FOR NOW my favorite technique is ink blending. Especially for creating skies.

So here are my entries into the challenge, from least to most favorite. My most favorite really surprised me and reinforced a lesson I have learned this fall. More on that at the end.

Nutcrackers

Yes, I do love making skies but I figured if I made five entries with five skies that could get redundant. So I thought I would just use my favorite blending brushes to create a monochromatic background for my nutcrackers.

So first, I had to stamp the nutcrackers and mask them. Then I used a red, a cherry, and a dark green stamp pad to create the red background. Yes, green. Adding green just around the edges, and adding it gently, really deepened the shading.

After that, I added some metallic accents to the nutcrackers with a gold gel pen. I chose muted pastels to color each one in. An embossed Merry Christmas sentiment finishes the card, as well as embossed edges.

Snowy Trees Sunrise

Sunrise or sunset? It could be either!

Recently I purchased a set of winter tree stamps from Inkadinkadoo so I used a few of them on this card. I did mask some of the snowy evergreens before doing the ink blending with the brushes.

When I make skies I try to reference a real photo, so the Google comes in handy for that. Helps me figure out how to order the colors.

I wanted this to look like a snowy morning and since the light is behind the trees, I used gray blue Copic markers to put most of the snow clumps in shadow.

A sentiment from the most recent Simon Says Stamp card kit (which just came today!) finishes the card.

Tropical Sunset

Next year is my 30th wedding anniversary! Husband and I are planning a trip (crossing fingers for no Covid complications) to the U.S. Virgin Islands. And right now, I’m loving any reminder of that upcoming trip!

In a recent challenge, I used this same palm tree stamp for my scene. I just love the look of palm trees in silhouette. But this time I added some clouds using stamps and dies from a Hero Arts set. I used the cloud dies to create masked areas that I could ink blend over. Then, once the ink blending was done, I used the cloud shadow stamps to create dimension. Adding in some Copic marker shading helps the clouds look like they are reflecting some of the sunset colors.

Forest Sunrise

Or sunset. Again, who knows?

To create this slimline card I used stamps from the set that came with my alcohol inks kit. I was excited to use these as I’m always on the lookout for tree stamps!

Unfortunately, the quality of these stamps appears to be less than great. When inked up, the tree line (which I love!) does not stamp well and leaves a big “ink hole” where it would not stamp no matter how hard I pressed! The “And So The Adventure Begins” sentiment stamp is crooked. I had to yank them off the plastic and they don’t stick well to acrylic blocks.

So, I had to fill in the ink hole with a Sharpie. That worked since I stamped in black for a silhouette effect. But what if I wanted to stamp in green? Sigh. Oh well.

Once I filled in all the holes (I stamped it three times across the bottom of the slimline card) I did my ink blending. Okay, that’s a lie, I did do a sun shape first. I die cut a small circle from a Post-It note and used that as a stencil to color in the sun with Copic markers. Then I ink blended from the sun outward.

Luckily, the other sentiment stamp in the set stamped fairly well. Still, disappointed in this stamp set.

Snowy Greenery

This one almost did not make the cut. Seriously. It almost went in the trash.

Here’s the 411…

I started by stamping the beautiful greenery stamp in this month’s Simon Says Stamp card kit. Such a great kit this month! I colored it in with Copics and then decided that for this background I would do some Copic blending! (FYI…I don’t know what that pom-pom like plant is in the stamp but this Southern girl thinks it looks like cotton….so it’s cotton. I mean, why not?)

Silly me, most of my markers are Ohuhu which are great for the price, but many are already too dry for blending (I haven’t had them very long!). I knew I wanted a kind of teal blend and once I started I just had to keep going even though a couple of my teal family markers were dying.

Hmmm. The blend was sucking pretty bad. So I thought I’d try a new product that I *thought* was for after inking. Um, no. It’s for before. So after I sprayed and it dried (and did nothing but add shiny blobs all over) I just about quit.

But, as I have learned in the last few months, you can often make lemonade out of lemons when it comes to card “fails” so I soldiered on. I tried ink blending white pigment ink over the blogs. Nope. That looked weird.

Well, I can always add snow splatter and see what happens.

And that did it. I watered down some white goache and splattered it liberally over the entire card surface. Sure enough, it covered my many sins and I think it looks great!

A computer printed sentiment mounted onto red cardstock finishes the card.

And that’s a wrap!

Just a heads up, Mr. Snowy Greenery Card will be doing double duty by appearing in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge theme, Let It Snow. He’s so beautiful how can I not use him twice?!

Y’all take care!

“Food and/or Drink” Challenge

November 27, 2020 Challenge Cards, Handcrafted Cards

The most recent Monday challenge from Simon Says Stamp has the Food and/or Drink theme.

Well, hi!

Hey, it’s a non-holiday challenge this time. Whaaaaat??

And, it’s one that I had to stretch a little for. Don’t have a ton of food related stamps. Luckily, I pulled it off! Five entries for the Food and/or Drink Challenge await you below!

Burger and Fries

I like this simple card. I think sometimes I overcomplicate a card, or maybe it’s just that I like to do more complicated techniques. But a clean and simple card (CAS) is pretty satisfying when it’s done well.

And I think this one is.

I used stamps from this Sunny Studio set (the same one I used to make this card). To make the plate, I used circle dies. Some patterned paper and a stamped sentiment, and we done, y’all!

You’re The Zest

While perusing Pinterest the other day, I saw a similar card and thought I would recreate it using what I happen to have on hand.

The orange stamp is from a Stampin’ Up! set from way back. You’ll see most of the set in a card further down in this post. I stamped it in a warm gray color but stamped it once in black and colored that in with Copic markers. I used a blue marker to color in the negative space. There’s no gradation in that blue background. It’s just the weird lighting!

I made a sentiment on Canva and printed it out onto cardstock.

Breakfast

This card features another Sunny Studio stamp set that I used to make this card as well. It comes with lots of fun sentiments that can be mixed and matched, but because of the size of this slimline card, I made my own sentiment on Canva and printed it out onto cardstock.

The foods are stamped in black, colored in with Copics, and fussy cut out. I mounted them onto patterned paper and mounted the sentiment above.

And whoever I give this to better believe that sentiment….if I say this to you, I freakin’ love you cuz I love me some breakfast foods!

Fruits

Here’s that old Stampin’ Up! fruit stamp set I mentioned above. There are a couple more stamps in that set than what you see in this card, but these are the big ones!

Just stamped in black, colored with Copics, and filled in the negative space with Copics as well. I did some very subtle shading around the outside edge of each fruit. But it’s still blue on blue. Loving this…I mean, it almost looks like it’s just patterned paper and it came this way!

The scripture is printed out using Canva.

Cookie Sheet

I think this one is my favorite because I had fun making the cookie sheet. I tried to make it look like my cookie sheets….kinda hammered and discolored. But I don’t know that the look translates well on camera.

I cut out some metallic paper and made a score line near the top edge to simulate the slanted edge of a cookie sheet. Using a mini hole punch, I made the hole (I’ve never used that hole on a cookie sheet IRL!). Using brown, rust, and golden stamp pads and sponge daubers I tried to layer some color to give the look of age to the paper.

Now, I don’t have any suitable sized gingerbread men or cookie stamps so I bought some digital stamps on Etsy. I bought a couple of sets….this one and this one. Digital stamps are kind of fun because they can be resized or tweaked before you print them out. I colored them and fussy cut them out and then glued them to the cookie sheet.

Leftover cookies got glued to the, yes, Canva-made sentiment. All items then were adhered to patterned paper on the card front.

You can kind of see the “aging” coloring on the edges in this pic. My cookie sheets are way more, um, aged than this one.

So. The Food and/or Drink Challenge entries are done! What is your favorite one? And if you can’t answer that….what’s your favorite food and/or drink? 😉

Y’all take care!

“Happy Holidays” Challenge

November 20, 2020 Challenge Cards, Handcrafted Cards, Holiday Cards

Monday Challenge from Simon Says Stamp this time is “Happy Holidays”

Well hi!

Welcome to another edition of Julie Enters Card Challenges! This time the challenge is creating anything with the theme of Happy Holidays!

As luck would have it, I was already working on this theme so I’m able to crank out some entries really, really fast!

Ready to see? Let’s go!

Baby, It’s Cold Outside!

I’ve been really wanting to use my new blending brushes because up till now, I’ve been using the wooden handled, foam circle ink blending tools. I have to say the blending brushes are just so comfortable to use and it feels easier to get a smooth blend. Making that blue shading around was so much easier than the other tools I have.

Stamps are from Stampin’ Up!, except for the snowflake stamp which is Posh Impressions.

Merry Christmas Wreath

This card is the first of two I’m sharing in this challenge that use glitter and double stick tape backgrounds. Check out my most recent blog post to see how those backgrounds come together.

Finishing off the card is a die cut with just the greeting and berries colored in. I love the simple color scheme but kind of blingy look!

Christmas Letterboard

As I was perusing other papercrafters’ entries into a recent challenge, I saw that someone had an entry featuring a letterboard die set. Not knowing this even existed, I got so excited and immediately went and bought it!

It’s really fun to use, although a bit time consuming to place the letters. Pretty quickly I figured out that placing the letters upside down and in reverse order on some temporary tape helped tremendously with placement! I could just finish an entire line on the tape, apply liquid adhesive carefully to the letter backs, and carefully place the entire line down on the board. Then I gently removed the tape while holding down the letters.

I have been having so much fun with this die set! So many possibilities!

Gift Bags Slimline

I almost labeled these as shopping bags, which I guess they could also be. But they really look more like gift bags I suppose. Once I chose the coordinating papers, the card came together very quickly. I used some of the patterned paper to line the envelope.

I love making slimline cards as it gives me quite a bit of room to spread things out! It’s just the right space for this card.

Candle wick is what I used for the handles. Hey, it’s what I happened to have on hand! I used some washi tape from my most recent Hero Arts monthly card kit.

Red and Pink Stripes

So here’s the second card I’m sharing where I used my glitter and double stick tape trick. It’s pink glitter stripes on red cardstock, which is a striking and nontraditional color combo.

The ornament is stamped from multiple stamps from another Hero Arts kit. I added die cut white “greenery” from another die set and I used red/white baker’s string to “hang” it from the card top.

So there you have it! Have you started making or picking out your Christmas cards yet?

Y’all take care!

“Remembrance” Challenge

November 13, 2020 Challenge Cards, Handcrafted Cards

The Monday challenge from Simon Says Stamp is Remembrance.

Well, hi!

Welcome to another installment of entries for the Simon Says Stamp Monday Blog Challenge. This week’s theme is Remembrance/Thinking of You.

Because I already did a “Thinking of You” challenge very recently, I decided to lean more into remembrance as the focal point for my challenge entries. And to be more specific, I wanted to work with old photographs.

My Sisters’ Birthdays

Because I have two sisters’ birthdays coming up in December, I figured I’d go ahead and crank out all three sisters birthday cards for this challenge. (The other one is in July, but why not do it now too?)

I found old photos from their birthdays on my computer and built the cards around their photos using similar color palettes for two of them. The other one seemed to have all pink in the photo so I went with all pinks for the card.

For this first one, I just layered paper in the background. Then cut strips of coordinating colored cardstock for the candles and glued them on randomly. The “flames” are a tear drop hole punch that I colored in with markers. The sentiment is perfect!

anna's birthday card remembrance challenge

Here’s that pink themed card. I stamped the cake layers as actual cake layers, but then used them vertically as candles on the envelop flap as well.

I used dies from Altenew (I have the matching stamps but didn’t use them) for the balloons on this card and envelope. The balloon strings are baker’s twine. Also, look at my gorgeous Mama! More on her later.

My Beloved Rosie

Unfortunately, on Easter Sunday this year we lost our beloved Rosie girl. She was hit by a car and passed away from her injuries. It was a shock and we all miss her terribly. She was the sweetest dog.

Each morning when I walk our other dogs, I pass the spot where we found her and spent our last moments stroking her and telling her it was going to be okay. Each morning, I see that spot and my heart just aches.

So I decided to make a sweet little remembrance to keep in my craft studio. It’s not a card, just a sweet little display of my Rosie…my shadow…my girl. Just to keep near me. It features two of my favorite pictures of her.

My Mother

My mother lost her battle with Alzheimer’s in June of 2016. If you’ve lost a loved one you know that you can go for periods of time and remember fondly with no longing. But then suddenly you get triggered by something, and you just have an intense longing to be with them.

This happened to me just a few days ago. I was having a rough, hormonal kind of day already. But I decided that, to help me get going into the holiday spirit for Christmas card making, I would listen to an old Christmas album that I grew up with. I listen to this album ALL THE TIME. But as soon as it started play, I just started balling.

I began to think of my mother and my childhood and how much simpler things were then. And I just felt that intense longing.

So when remembrance was chosen as a challenge topic, I knew I had to make something around my mother. She was just such an amazing woman and I miss her so much. Plus, I mean, she was just gorgeous!!

So these are my entries. And now I have two beautiful and touching mini memorials to keep in plain sight in my craft studio.

I’m off to work on some more projects.

Y’all take care!

“Thinking of You” Challenge

November 10, 2020 Challenge Cards, Handcrafted Cards

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge last week is the theme of Thinking of You.

Well, hi!

Here’s a new batch of challenge cards from the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge blog. The theme from the most recent posting is “Thinking of You.”

I don’t have a ton of stamps that imply that sentiment. In fact, I believe you are seeing all of them in the image above. The one on the truck is printed from my computer.

All of this challenge’s cards are pretty simple, and that was by design. I wanted to focus more on the sentiment so I kept everything else pretty clean.

I’ll list a close up image of each of the cards below, going from least to most favorite.

Thinking of You at Christmas

Using a greenery stamp from Sunny Studio and an ornament stamp from Stampin’ Up!, I created a simple layout. However, there was so much white space that seemed very empty. So I used an ink blending tool to create shading around the edges of the card. The sentiment stamp is also from Stampin’ Up!

Fall Tree

Four stamps make up this design and are all from the same Stampin’ Up! set (I have lots of Stampin’ Up! as I used to be a demonstrator). Patterned paper and metallic tape complete the design.

Fall Tree with Baker’s Twine

Same tree, stamped with darker leaves. And I added more patterned paper behind. The very simple design is completed with brown and white baker’s twine.

Pick Up Truck

This stamp comes from an inexpensive stamp set I bought on Amazon. It comes with various items that can go in the back. I figured the class blue truck with pumpkins would look nice. I used ink blending to create a ground of grass, and also added light blue shading for a hint of sky.

As stated previously, I printed this sentiment from my computer.

Watercolor Flowers

Another Stampin’ Up! stamp set and the sentiment is from them as well (although from a different set). I stamped the flowers using Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto watercolor paper. I then used a very loose watercolor technique to color in the flowers and leaves.

This is my favorite of all the cards because the technique itself is so liberating. I love painting outside the lines and allowing the paintbrush to go…just….wherever. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable process for me!

Okay, there you go! A few more cards to add to my collection, ready to be sent to a friend or loved one who needs a little boost!

Make sure you check out my other challenge cards. I try to post entries twice a week on the blog, so keep checking back.

Y’all take care!

“Movie Inspiration” Challenge

October 30, 2020 Challenge Cards, Handcrafted Cards

The Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge that almost didn’t happen. I didn’t think I could make “Movie Inspiration” work….

Well, hi!

Each Monday and Wednesday I eagerly check the Simon Says Stamp blogs to see what our newest challenge will be, and then hunker down to plan. In fact, planning/executing/shooting/blogging for these challenges are automatically built into my planner each week.

This week, however, the “Movie Inspiration” challenge them didn’t, well, inspire me.

I mean, sure, it sounded fun. But I immediately assumed that I wouldn’t have any suitable stamps to create for this challenge. Because I use these challenges as fodder for blog posts, I was naturally disappointed. “Guess I won’t have a blog post for this one,” I lamented.

Then one night, as I was finishing up all my tasks from my planner, I noticed I just had one more: plan SSSMC projects for this week.

I was so tired and wanted to just stop. But I’ve been trying hard lately to really honor commitments to myself! So I figured, hey, I can just look around my stamps and see if anything happens.

Wow!

So many ideas came to me! I quickly wrote them down and went to bed. As I lay there trying unsuccessfully to fall asleep, each card planned itself in detail in my mind and I found myself feeling impatient for morning to come so I could make them!

What I’ve realized is that, while I do enjoy challenges that are more in my wheelhouse, the challenges that are really satisfying are the ones that really challenge my creativity! Coming up with something original and then bringing it to pass? So fulfilling!

So here they are. My Movie Inspiration Challenge entries….I love them all, but I’ll list them in order from least to most favorite.

Movie: Beaches

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the movie, Beaches. But I remember vividly the strong friendship between the main characters. I loved the parts that showed them in their youth.

And this stamp from Delafield Stamp Company (no longer in business) reminded me so much of those two young girls at the beach. I’ve had this stamp for almost 30 years. Wait, what? Sigh. Yes, it’s been that long.

I stamped them first, masked them, and used ink blending tools to create the sand dunes, sea, and sky. A Printworks sand fence stamp and Happy Stamper sea oats stamp complete the scene. (I think both of those companies are also not in business anymore.)

I colored the girls with my Ohuhu markers, which I also used to add some shading to the sand. A white gel pen was used to make the waves.

The quote is just a quote on friendship that I thought fit the mood. This was printed out from my computer using Canva.

Movie: The Water Horse

I admit for this one that I’ve only seen that movie once. But I’ve had this InkaDinkaDoo stamp trio of the Loch Ness Monster for…..okay, can I just say a long time and not say the years? It’s a little depressing. 😉

Anyway, my point is that I don’t know that I have ever used these stamps and I really wanted to. The three stamps are head, hump, and tail. I stamped the hump multiple times to make her longer.

So I figured I’d make a night scene with my monster gliding along peacefully. I used some moon/cloud stamps from an old Stampin’ Up! Halloween set (that I also used in one of the entries here). Everything else is Ohuhu markers.

Unfortunately, you can’t see the glitter on all Nessie’s spikes, but it’s there!

The sentiment was printed off from my computer using Canva.

Movie: Mona Lisa Smile

Interestingly, the stamp that inspired this movie choice only got a cameo role in my next card. From Posh Impressions (also out of business….sheesh!…I’m showing my age here) the blank easel stamp sparked an idea in my head.

“Artwork…what movie was it where they all painted a picture based on the same famous work….Mona Lisa Smile!”

Yes, so I found some children’s coloring pages online of one of Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers paintings. I shrunk them down and printed them off onto cardstock, much like you would for a digital stamp.

I chose four images that were each a unique interpretation of the original. Then I chose four media to use, one on each: markers, watercolor, colored pencil, chalks.

Though the sentiment is not a movie quote, I think it fits nicely. Printed from my computer using Canva.

Movie (star): Lucille Ball

No, I did not pick and actual movie for this one. But I have a couple of Lucy stamps and I never use them! (My other one is from “The Chocolate Factory” episode of I Love Lucy….love that show!)

But hey, Lucille Ball was a MOVIE star, so that counts right?

(correct answer = yes)

I wanted to use one stamp, lots of bright color, and a quote from the lady herself!

I think it turned out fun. AND it’s a quick card to make.

Movie: Dances With Wolves

Yes, my favorite entry, finally!!

It wasn’t my favorite idea. I had a teepee stamp from PSX (guess what? out of business) and really wanted a way to use it.

Side Note: why do I have so many stamps I’ve never used that are kind of random? Whenever we’d go to visit my husband’s family in California I would always head to the rubber stamp stores in the area. It was option overwhelm and I would just pick stamps I thought looked cool. I got home, though, and could never figure out how to make them work!

I do love the movie, Dances With Wolves, though. My husband and I saw it as newlyweds. Great times!

I stamped the teepee, masked it, and stamped again. The rest of the card is all marker, except for some grass texture stamps.

My favorite part of the card is the sky. I googled different sunset pictures to find the one I wanted. And then I did my best to pick the right colors. The blend is so much prettier in person.

As soon as I picked this movie for one of my entries, I knew exactly what the sentiment would be. That line, spoken by the character Wind in His Hair, always gives me chills and makes my eyes get all prickly with tears. Printed off from my computer using Canva!

Okay, folks. That’s another Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge in the books! So curious to me that it went from being my least favorite theme to my absolute favorite so far. It really sparked my creativity!

See you next time. Y’all take care!