I Love These Three Amigas Challenges!

 My dear friends Sharon, Joanne, and I are having trouble coming up with a day for a stamping playdate, so we decided to go virtual again.  What does that mean?  We each set forth a challenge for each other and have a deadline to submit them by.  I'm barely making this one.  I have two minutes left to upload.  Let's see how fast I can type.  :-D 
This first card is for my challenge.  Something old is the rhinestone brads that we've had in the catty for awhile.  Something new is the DP and the Four Frames stamp set, which are the special for this month.  (They're gorgeous, BTW!)  Something borrowed is the layout.  It's from this week's sketch challenge on Splitcoast.  The something blue is quite obviously the DP.  :-)  Yes, I cheated and used the rhinestones from last year's Easter Egg kit.  Sorry!

 And this card is for Sharon's challenge.  She told us to make a quilted card, using this tutorial for instructions.  I, of course, had to go to see what other patterns I could find on the internet.  I found this awesome quilting site to find other patterns to try.  I also found a lot of images on google and found a diamonds pattern that I thought would translate well to paper.  I did use retired DP, just in case I didn't like my first attempt.  I also decided to use my retired brads to match.  After gluing down the DP, I ran the whole thing through the Big Shot with my Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder.  The tag punch and Tiny Tags stamp set attached with crochet thread finish it off.

And last, but definitely not least, Joanne challenged us to make an Easter treat holder.  (Mine must contain chocolate, because I don't get enough of that food group.  ;-D )  The background scallop is punched out of Naturals Ivory and then stamped with the Medallion center and Marina Mist ink.  (I was going for a different look than usual.)  The flowers were made with my Boho Blossoms punch and the Itty Bitty punch set.  The leaves are courtesy of the lattice die leftovers.  Yes, I have a problem with keeping all kinds of scraps!  Basic pearls finish off the flowers and the Pretty in Pink Satin Ribbon was also a leftover!  Let's hear it for leftovers!  Whoo Hoooo!!!! 

Ok, now it's your turn!  Let's see what you can do with these challenges.  Upload your projects to an online gallery (splitcoaststampers.com or for Stampin' Up only stampinaddicts.com) and then come back here to leave us a link.  We'd love to see your creations!  I promise to leave you a comment, too.

Blessings,
Julie

This Week's Three Amigas Challenge...Card and Scrapbooking

It was my turn this week to set the challenge. After talking with my upline Sharon about where we want to go with our blogs, I decided on this challenge: to make a card and then a scrapbook page with some of the same elements. Needing a card for Heidi, my last hostess, I made this card and matching Thank You tags. My inspiration was designer paper that we had about a year ago. I was really missing the chocolate and vanilla combo. Sweet and simple. Then it occurred to me that I could slightly recreate this paper by running my vanilla cardstock through the damask SU texture plate and then sponge across the raised pattern with my ink. Yahoo! For the tag and greeting, I first stamped "Thank You" in Chocolate Chip and then put the cardstock through the Big Shot with the texture plate. You have to stamp the greeting first, before putting the texture on, otherwise you will get an inconsistent image on your stamping. The card was finished off with the new Eyelet Border Punch.
So how do you use the same ideas on a scrapbook page? Well, the top and bottom of the texture plate match up. I textured my strips of vanilla on the first 7" and then put the last 4" on at the bottom, exactly where I had placed the first 7". This is easiest if you use the side edge of the texture plate for a placement guide. There is a small seam across at the 7" mark, but I covered it up with the photo frame. I used my embosslit Simple Flower from SU! for the flowers. I sponged ink gently across the vanilla flowers and sanded the raised areas off of the chocolate flowers. (You can do this when you use Designer Paper with a white core for your embosslit.) I used the Swirls Scribbles sizzlit for vanilla and chocolate swirls for accents.
The last part of the challenge was to use an accessory that is new to the catalog and an accessory that is old to the current catalog. For my new accessory, I used the texture plate and the embosslit. For the old accessory, I used the half pearls from my Pretties Kit. I love the way the pearls finish off the flowers. Just a touch for elegance.

Sharon's TAWC

Supplies: Elegant Thank You stamp. Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla cardstocks. Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa classic ink. Bella Rose Designer Paper. Big Shot, SU Backgrounds 1 Texturz plates, Simple Flower Embosslit, Swirls Scribbles Sizzlit, Wide Oval Punch, Coluzzle, Eyelet Border Punch, 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain, Pretties Kit.

Well, I guess that's all for now. Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station. I'd love to hear from you.

Blessings,
Julie

My Turn to Host the Three Amigas Weekly Challenge

Hi there, stamping friends. It's my week to host the Three Amigas Weekly Challenge. I decided to make a layout and see what my stamping buddies could come up with. So this is what it looks like.
I made 2 cards for the challenge to showcase a simpler card and a more time-intense card. I'll be sending these in to Stampin' Up!'s monthly card contest.

This first card is a simple masculine card. I used To the Nines Designer Specialty Paper (and oh my is this stuff gorgeous!), Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Sage Shadow and Very Vanilla cardstocks. There's a bit of 5/8" Chocolate Grosgrain on the sides and the little pieces of Sage Shadow have the diamond pattern from the Stampin' Up! exclusive Texturz Plates. I cut out the circles with the coluzzle and distressed the edge of the chocolate chip circle with my Cutter Kit. I stamped the train from Happiness is a Journey in Sage Shadow. I used my Chocolate Chip marker on the word "Father" from the Father's Day greeting in the All Holidays set.
This next card was really fun to make. The back- ground Banana and Celery cardstocks were run through with Stampin' Up!'s exclusive Texturz Plates. To get the best impression from your texture plate, spritz the cardstock with water, before you run it through the Big Shot. The scallop is from the Scallop Circles #2 die. Designer Papers are the Delicate Dots set from the current Sale-A-Bration catalog. I embossed the Mother's Day saying in Iridescent Ice powder and paper pierced the scallops. After stamping the butterflies (you'll have to email me for info on those!), I cut them out and embossed them with Iridescent Ice. The leaves and branch are from my new Sizzlet Little Leaves.
Here is what Sharon came up with for the layout.
The Three Amigas would LOVE to see what you can do with this layout. Please post your project on SCS and use TAWC in the key words so that we can find your project.
Until then, have fun stamping!
Blessings,
Julie