It’s Your Day! – Tic Tac Toe Challenge #68

by Shannon Jaramillo // June 11, 2020 // 8 Comments

Guess what day it is – it’s Thursday! and that means I’m back with a brand new Tic Tac Toe Challenge Board! Woot Woot! Today’s board was designed by challenge creator Felicita and has some fun options!

I went with the far right column Summer, Scene, and free (YAY for free!!):

Details:

I have a guilty secret – creating scenes scares me!! Anytime someones gives me a set of directions, I’m only good for about three, after that, forget it, I just can’t remember them all, the same principle applies when creating a scene. I’m only good for about three steps and then I lose sight of the vision. So when I saw that on the board – eek!!
Ditto goes for stamp sets that are multi-layer like the one I used here, Mountain Air. So I kept my scene simple with only two layers of scene. I used a sponge to add blue to the tree layer in the hopes that it would look like a lake, and backed everything with Seaside Spray card stock for the sky.

I framed my (summer) scene out with the Nested Labels dies and added my fly fisherman on top. I used a simple sentiment on the right to balance out the fisherman on the left and then offset the sentiment just to be quirky 🙂

I kept the interior blank so the card can be used for various occasions, probably a birthday or Father’s Day.
Did you see the fun flies I stamped on the envelope flap? Such a cute stamp!!

I hope you are feeling inspired by today’s Tic Tac Toe Challenge Board and that you will join in on the fun! Be sure to check out the rest of the Tic Tac Toe Challenge Design Team’s designs for lots more inspiration!

Supplies:

Supplies (all Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise noted):

Card Stock: Garden Green, Seaside Spray, Soft Suede; Neenah Classic Crest Cover Solar White (110 lb)

DSP: Country Club

Ink: Night of Navy, Old Olive & Memento Tuxedo Black & Versamark

Stamps: Best Catch, Mountain Air

Coloring Tools: None

Dies: Catch of the Day, Majestic Mountains, Layering Circles & Stitched Nested Labels

Tools: Embossing Buddy, Heat Tool, Big Shot

Embellishments: Black Embossing Powder

Other: Whisper White Envelope

A Clubhouse Birthday Celebration – Tic Tac Toe Challenge #64

by Shannon Jaramillo // May 14, 2020 // 3 Comments

Hello Friends! Woot, Woot! I’m excited to share a new Tic Tac Toe Challenge Board with you today! The wonderful Joanne James (from over the pond) is our featured designer this week and has come up with a board that has lots of masculine items on it but could easily be re-construed without the masculinity if you wanted:

I had a card in mind the minute I saw the board – I LOVE when that happens! It popped into my head immediately, so if it looks scarily like someone else’s card (which I hope it doesn’t), I’m going to apologize ahead of time and please let me know who you are so I can give you credit – (whoa, that was a long sentence!) – this is what popped into my head!:

I went with the middle row: twine, patterned paper and masculine.

Measurements:

Night of Navy Card Base 4 1/4″ x 11″ scored at 5 1/2″
Granite Gray Card Stock Layer: 3 3/4″ x 5″
Clubhouse DSP Layer: 2″ x 4 5/8″

Details:

One of the things that I Most Love about Stampin’ Up! is their coordinating products. They make everything so EASY. Today I am working with the Clubhouse Cling Stamp Set and the Golf Club Dies which can be purchased together as a bundle for a 10% savings!

and the Country Club Designer Series Paper:

I adore the clean classic lines of this set and think it is one of the best golfing sets I have seen out in the market. If you agree and would like to add them to your collection, they are on the list to retire as of June 2, 2020, which means once they sell out, they will not be re-stocked, so get your order in before they’re gone!

I matted the Night of Navy base with a piece of Granite Gray card stock that I ran through the Big Shot with the Subtle Embossing Folder. Again, crisp, clean lines. {love}
Added a strip of DSP to tie back to the card base and really show off the stark white die cut golfer. My hubby is a golfer, and a no frills kind of guy, so I knew he would not want the image colored. I stamped it in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and left it alone, simply popping it up with Stampin’ Dimensionals.
So at this point in my card design, I have the pattern paper and the masculine down pat, but how to incorporate twine? …After some thought, I decided a simple strip of Mossy Meadow twine would be a perfect anchor for my die cut sentiment. Easy!
Somehow or another, this bitty tuft of grass die cut worked its’ way onto the card. Not sure how that happened (sneaky little things, dies), but I think it’s a wonderful accent!

I thought this ‘inside’ sentiment was PERFECT for this theme so I added it, but again, crisp and clean. Hubby is always in my mind design-wise (and, well, really all things-wise). I use his preferences as my guide and I think he would approve this card 🙂

So that’s how I interpreted today’s Tic Tac Toe Challenge Board, I can’t wait to see how it inspires you! And of course, for more inspiration please visit the Tic Tac Toe Challenge, lots of great ideas there!

Thank you SO much for stopping by, I really appreciate each and every visitor to my blog and to the challenge blog, take care, and please, be safe out there!

Blessing to you,

Supplies (all Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise noted):

Card Stock: Night of Navy, Smoky Slate; Neenah Classic Crest Cover Solar White (110 lb)

DSP: Country Club

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Stamps: Clubhouse

Coloring Tools: None

Dies: Golf Club Dies

Tools: Big Shot

Embellishments: Magnolia Lane Ribbon Combo Pack – Mossy Meadow Thread

Other: Whisper White Envelope

Birthday Greetings – Tic Tac Toe Challenge #60

by Shannon Jaramillo // April 30, 2020 // 3 Comments

Hello there my crafty friends! It’s Thursday and that means it’s time for another Tic Tac Toe Challenge, this time Amy has created our super inspiring challenge board:

I chose to use the far right column, incorporating grass, a square (or two ;), and layers (I LOVE layers) to create a clean masculine birthday card:

Measurements:

Gray Granite Card Base 4 1/4″ x 11″ scored at 5 1/2″
Pretty Peacock Card Stock Layer: 3 7/8″ x 5 1/8″
Botanical Prints DSP Layer: 3 5/8″ x 4 3/4″

Details:

While browsing online for inspiration, I came across a card made with this jaw-dropingly gorgeous geometric pattern paper from the Botanical Prints product medley. I just KNEW I had to pull it out and create something with it myself! BTW, this amazing medley of products is on clearance right now, down from $70 to only $42 – isn’t that an AMAZING price for all of these goodies?!?

I began this project right after going through the retiring items list from Stampin’ Up!, and I had seen quite a few items retiring that I hadn’t even pulled out yet to use, so with that in mind I reached for the Animal Outing stamp set. Such a darling rhinoceros! (I never ever thought that I would use the word ‘darling’ to describe a rhinoceros, but here we are!)
I stamped him in with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and then quickly die cut him with the coordinating die; popped him up with Stampin’ Dimensionals onto a Pretty Peacock die-cut square, and then adhered both to a Gray Granite die-cut scalloped square.
I loved the sizing distance between the Pretty Peacock square and the Gray Granite scalloped square so I mimicked that in the sizing of my base layers, keeping a 3/8″ distance between the two. It leaves a nice glimpse of all of the colors.
I then tried really hard to add twine to my card, but just couldn’t quite pull that trigger – I was trying to use the center column of the challenge board (die-cut, twine, animals) but the twine just seemed to insubstantial next to all those thick layers. I then reached for this Pretty Peacock 1/2″ Scalloped Linen Ribbon which I to be honest, prior to now, hadn’t given much thought to but it was what I had in Pretty Peacock so I wrapped it around my layers and tied it into a knot, and – WOW! it is SO stunning! I will need to reach for it more often!

At this point I realized that I had not left space for a sentiment! (eek!), but after some pondering I found this darling sentiment in the Itty Bitty Greetings stamp set (it’s an awesome set!) and realized that I would be able to continue with the “square’ theme of my card! Perfect! I just stamped it in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink, die cut it with the smallest square in the Stitched Shapes die set and using Stampin’ Dimensionals, adhered it to my card at a fun angle!
By now I’ve realized that the twine just will not be making an appearance on this card (I had been holding out hope for it), so I had to go back to the challenge board and decided to move to the far right column and add some grass to my card. This image from the Animal Outings stamp set, stamped, die cut, trimmed down, and tucked behind the sentiment looks to me like tall African grasses!

I loved the clean look of this card so decided to STOP and not add anything else. Tall order, but I did it! 🙂
For the last step, I added some fun elements to the inside of the card, as well as adding randomly places grasses to the envelope flap using the same stamp I used for the grass around the sentiment:

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s post, I had a blast creating this card and, as always, LOVE the mental stimulation of using a challenge board! We would LOVE to see what you’ve created using this week’s inspiration! Please pop on over to the Tic Tac Toe Challenge to see more inspiration from our talented design team!

Side note: I have been using this time of social isolation to sort through, organize, price and sell craft items from another crafter’s estate, as well as packing up my own house as I will be moving out of state in the next two months, so I want to share that I miss you, and miss my craft time, but will be posting more frequently toward the end of summer.

Take care of yourselves, stay healthy and safe, and make lots of pretty things!

Blessings!

Supplies:

Supplies (all Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise noted):

Card Stock: Gray Granite, Pretty Peacock; Neenah Classic Crest Cover Solar White (110 lb)

DSP: Botanical Prints

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Stamps: Animal Outing, Itty Bitty Birthdays

Coloring Tools: None

Dies: Animal Friends Dies, Stitched Shapes, Layering Squares

Tools: Big Shot

Embellishments: Pretty Peacock 1/2″ Scalloped Linen Ribbon

Other: Whisper White Envelope

Urban Underground Birthday Wishes

by Shannon Jaramillo // September 4, 2017 // 5 Comments

We finally celebrated my son’s 29th birthday so I can share his birthday card with you all. 29. Not a child anymore by any means so I wanted his card to reflect who I think he is right now…and I thought this Urban Underground Designer Series Paper, though retired, perfect for him!

Measurements:

Card Base 4 1/2″ x 11″, scored at 5 1/2″
Middle layer 4″ x 5 1/4″
Top layer 3 3/4″ x 5″
- Left 1 1/2″ x 5″
- Top Right 2 1/4″ x 3″
- Bottom Right 2 1/4″ x 2″
Sentiment Base 3 1/2″ x 3 3/8″
Sentiment Middle 3 1/4″ x 3 1/8″
Sentiment Top 3″ x 2 5/8″

Details:

I managed to use 6 of the patterns in this DSP pack. I love the rugged feel of them!
I was looking for a basic block font for my sentiment and found what I was looking for in a Papertrey Ink set called Birthday Basics. I used my MISTI to line up the sentiment and stamp repeatedly in Delightful Dijon, Basic Grey and Memento Tuxedo Black

I also pulled out some VERY old fibers from Making Memories (yes, THAT far back!) and layered them along them vertical seam for some texture without adding foo-foo. My son HATES foo-foo!
It was at this point that I realized I don’t have the Metallic Enamel Shapes from Stampin’ Up! so I pulled out these epoxy dots from Queen and Co.
Did you notice the sponging I did around the sentiment panel? I used Basic Grey to add that bit of texture.

Can you see the flecks in the ivory card stock? I used Rustic Cream card stock from Papertrey Ink specifically to get that textured feel for this masculine card.

I’m pretty sure this layout is an old Operation Write Home layout designed to use up those pesky scraps. What I really like about this layout is that it can be easily updated for the person you have in mind (or occasion), simply by changing the pattern paper out…I think I just may do that!!

Anyway, I know we all struggle with masculine layouts so I hope you can add this to your arsenal!

Blessings!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Rustic Cream by Papertrey Ink; Basic Black by Stampin’ Up!

Pattern Paper: Urban Underground (Retired) by Stampin’ Up!

Ink: Delightful Dijon and Basic Grey by Stampin’ Up!; Tuxedo Black by Memento

Stamps: Birthday Basics by Papertrey Ink

Dies: None

Embellishments: Fibers by Making Memories; Epoxy Dots by Queen & Co.

Other: Medium Very Vanilla Envelope by Stampin’ Up!

Happy Birthday to a Classic

by Shannon Jaramillo // June 9, 2017 // 2 Comments

Today I wanted to share this fun birthday card I whipped up. Masculine cards can be tough but Stampin’ Up!’s new Coffee Break Designer Series Paper made this one easy!

Dimensions:

Thick Whisper White card base cut to 4 1/4″ x 11″, scored at 5 1/2″
Early Espresso card stock cut to 3 7/8″ x 5 1/8″
Pear Pizzazz card stock cut to 3 3/4″ x 5″
Coffee Break Designer Series Paper cut to 3 5/8″ x 4 7/8″
Early Espresso card stock cut to 2 15/16″ x 3 3/16″
Pear Pizzazz card stock cut to 2 7/8″ x 3 1/16″
Thick Whisper White card stock cut to 2 3/4″ x 3″

Details:

Guy Greetings is the star of this card! What a fantastic combination of fonts and images! Stamped here in Early Espresso they are the essence of cool and sophisticated. I used my MISTI to align the images and then used my Stampin’ Trimmer to trim the card stock down. I provided the dimensions for you, but really I just eye balled it to whatever looked good.
Coffee Break Designer Series paper isn’t just for coffee! The colors and clean lines lend themselves perfectly to any number of masculine themed cards! And you know I love to line my envelopes…isn’t the striped pattern of the envelope liner the perfect compliment to the card? Love it!
The combination of whites in the sentiment panel, the background of the designer series paper and then the card base keep the design of the card light and fresh.
I reached for my enamel shapes to tuck a few in the upper left hand corner, but alas, they are not available in the neutral palette, so I reached instead into my retired stash and pulled out some Early Espresso Candy Dots…love those things! They are the perfect accent! (I realize I’ve been saying that for about fours years now, but when it’s true, it’s true!)

I finished the inside off with coordinating card stock and a sentiment from the recently retired Balloon Adventures stamp set. It’s timeless!

This color combination is perfect for guy cards and one that I’ll go back to and use again!

Early Espresso

Pear Pizzazz

Whisper White

Today’s card was inspired by THREE challenges! CAS(E) this Sketch provided the layout and The Paper Players and Stamp, Ink, Paper provided themes! I can’t usually juggle that many but for some reason I managed all three with one clean and layered card!

Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend doing whatever brings you joy!!