Creative MOJO

On my quest to pack my suitcases for Texas last night .... My creative MOJO kicked it into high gear . I really hate when that happens. Sometimes it feels like my suitcase never gets unpacked. We literally come home and throw our clothes in the wash and then leave the next day. The schedule is crazy busy sometimes ... and I hardly ever get to really PLAY .

So after many requests I have decided that we need to add more scrapbook layouts to our site and show you all how versatile stamps really are ... and how many cool embellishments that you can make with stuff that you all ready have. This photo is one of my favorite photos of my dad and I .

For this layout I used Vintage Treasures stamp set and Steampunk by Candy Rosenburg .

Black Jellie Dots , and ScrapHappy Glue to make the rosettes. 

I stamped the images and used Ultra Thick Embossing powder over the top . I let the embossing powder harden and then I bent the paper and distressed with Vintage Photo ink ... I think that it was a really neat effect .

I hope that if you are in the Dallas area you will stop by the GASC scrapbook convention and while you are there make sure that you stop by and say hello. 

Melissa

A Single Step...

The challenge this week on The Rubber Cafe's blog is Graduation!  Tis the season when a whole new batch of fledglings hit the real world!  Some are off to college and some to new jobs...but all are taking their first steps towards their futures!  Wishing the best to each and every graduate...may your choices be wise ones!

I chose to use some of my new favorite images from the Vintage Treasures set!  I can't seem to quit playing...I love the combination of images on this card...the Column reminiscent of schooling, the clock as a reminder time is passing and the butterfly in flight....a reminder to dream!  Sentiments is the Chinese Quote.

My butterfly is stamped with Stazon on teal vellum.

Be sure to join us in our challenge for a chance to win the prize!  Check out the details HERE!

Michelle Pearson
www.inspirationblooms.blogspot.com

Challenge #19, Winner #18

Spring into Graduation

This weeks challenge is to do a card or project for a grad/teacher in your life. 

Imagine what you can do once you graduate.  The whole world is waiting for you.   I did a simple spring card and used the diamond spellbinder dies for the cap.  I added ribbon for the tassel and stamped, using a stamp from the basic background 1 set, on the main cap.  I finished it off with the sentiment Imagine.  

I started with an 8 1/2" x 4 1/4" piece of cardstock and scored at 2 1/8, 4 1/4 and made tick marks where I wanted to score corner to corner.  For those who have not done the spring card...I've added a little diagram to help.  Once you fold all of your score lines you can add a little Scrap Happy Glue to hold things down.

The Rules are Simple:

•Make a new card/tag incorporating this weeks challenge (you are welcome to combine with other challenges and you do not have to use TRC stamps but if you do you'll be entered twice for the random prize draw)

• Link your card below with Mr. Linky

•Mention our challenge, on your post (with a link back here)

*If you post in a public gallery use key word TRCC19

*NOTE: Please enter only one card each week! Each week we will randomly draw a winner out of the projects that are entered and the winner will win a prize.

This weeks prize is a Free 5 piece set of Letraset ProMarkers ... Spring Collection and a bottle of our ScrapHappy Sheer Glue

Now...for last weeks winner...
I'm sure you're all wondering where that winner is.  We were doing a bit of traveling around New York and had a great time.  The architecture there is amazing.  There is so much to see and do there in New York...it's hard to take it all in during the short time we were there.  I was going to try and do a blog post while waiting in the airport coming home...but it just didn't work out.

So...on with the show.

This weeks winner is...

Gerri Herbst...beautiful vintage tags.  

Congratulations Gerri.  Send your contact info to smiles4126@aol.com and we'll get your prize right out.

Here are some other great entries for this last week...thanks for sharing all of your art with us.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

Vintage easel

Is it Tuesday already????... well thankfully due to technology I can schedule my post even though I'm not going to be around a computer....why???....because..... I'm in Mexico right now :)  Ok Ok I don't want to rub it in, but I'm SUPER excited to not be in my igloo in Vancouver, Canada oh wait let me correct that we are talking about Vancouver I'm super excited to not be hiding under my umbrella.

So this weeks challenge is something "Vintage" I'm hoping that my little distressed canvas project counts as vintage...I just love this heart with wings stamp from the Steampunk Charity Wings this time I cut the cogs off (basically because I was too lazy to fussy cut around them LOL) I embossed the paper I attached to my painted mini canvas. I then highlighted the raised part with brown ink, I wrapped the brown twine around the whole project, I colored the heart red and covered in crackle on the wings I applied Scraphappy glue and stuck on a ton of little glass seed beads. The "I Love You" sentiment is from the Just my type stamp set.

Well that's all folks... short but sweet (or at least I think so) ;)

Please check out our weekly challenges and feel free to participate because then you get a chance to win a prize. I mean honestly who doesn't like prizes??? Also don't forget to "Like" our facebook page we post updates on there and notices of where we'll be and all kinds of great stuff, and of course to buy any of the great stamps you see us use here can be found at The Rubber Cafe.

Vintage!

Super duper fun challenge this week! Who doesn’t love vintage??? I sure enjoy it, especially when I have fun stamps like the Vintage Treasures set!!!

Lot’s of layers on this one. To get a vintage look, I distressed all the edges of papers with chalk and my edge scraper. I also included a layer of a book page. I have this old boring book I tear pages from… LOL! All the stamps are heat embossed. Here is a close up on all the layers and dimension.

I hope you want to play with us this Vintage Week!!! All the details on the challenge can be found in THIS POST.

Have a fab week!

Tesa

Very Vintage!

This week's challenge at The Rubber Cafe is VINTAGE! I was happy with that because I just wasn't done playing with the Vintage Treasures set!

I stamped the label stamp in Frayed Burlap Distress Ink on my blue cardstock. I stamped the clock with the Walnut Stain Distress Ink on kraft cardstock. My card is layered on a rich dark chocolate cardstock.

I used vintage buttons on my card and distressed the actual button card to layer under my clock.

I stamped the butterfly image with Black Stazon ink onto some shimmery vellum paper. Gems, a pearly pin and some sheer ribbon add my finishing touches.

We hope you join in on the fun....show us your vintage creations!

Michelle Pearson

Inspiration Blooms

A Challenging Work in Progress

First...let's have a winner for last week...

Kathleen Hernandez...Come on down. Congratulation Kathleen. Sorry...no photos of cards this week. Send your contact information to smiles4126@aol.com and we'll get your prize right out to you.

We're on the road again. We're in Somerset, NJ this week for another Scrapbook Expo. Hope you get a chance to stop by and say HI.

Challenge TRCC#18 Vintage

I've been working on this tag book as a present for my paternal grandmother. She came to town for a week and we took a day to go visit. I took a few photo's but didn't have time to futz with them. I really like how this book is turning out. We're in Somerset, NJ this weekend (The Rubber Cafe team) so it'll be a couple of weeks before it's finished...but I wanted to take a little time to show off the start. I'll be sure to post pictures when it's all dressed up.

I've used several stamps to fininsh this up. One of the background stamps makes a perfect journal spot. I used the large celtic rosette to add a little touch of vintage decore. Fleurididy 1 makes a beautiful background and accent. I had die cut some butterflies and had the negative piece left over...used it as a template and stippled vintage sepia to create a shadded butterfly. I left the template down and stamped Fleurididy 1 over the wings for accent. I used a smaller die cut butterfly and sponged Scraphappy glue over the entire butterfly. When the glue dried I added you're so fine glitter. The paper is Ella Blue from GCD studios.

The Rules are Simple:

•Make a new card/tag incorporating this weeks challenge (you are welcome to combine with other challenges and you do not have to use TRC stamps but if you do you'll be entered twice for the random prize draw)

• Link your card below with Mr. Linky

•Mention our challenge, on your post (with a link back here)

*If you post in a public gallery use key word TRCC18

*NOTE: Please enter only one card each week! Each week we will randomly draw a winner out of the projects that are entered and the winner will win a prize.

This weeks prize is a Free 5 piece set of Letraset ProMarkers ... Spring Collection and a bottle of our ScrapHappy Sheer Glue

Cracked Heart Tag

Thanks for checking out my post for this weeks challenge. 

Remember you can participate too and get entered in to win a prize.

This weeks challenge is "Tags" so I decorated this manilla shipping tag I bought from Staples using the Steampunk Charity Wings stamp set. I distressed it all with brown ink, stamped the cogs and the writing background with a lighter brown and then the winged heart with a darker brown. I used the light brown ink on my lace trim to darken it's color to blend in better.  I adhered the trimmed heart with a foam dot and used crackle on the heart part to get the shatter effect.  I stuck on the buttons, lace and other embellishments and voila finished tag. Oh ya I also used some ranger distressed glitter on the wings as well to give it more of that grungy textured look.

Hope you liked my project and hope to see you visiting again next Tuesday.

I'll be in Mexico at that time but through the magic of technology I can have my project posted up as usual (hopefully without a hitch) Thanks again and please leave lots of comments we ALL love hearing from you. 

Have a great week.

Pink tag

Hi! Happy Monday! Hope you all had a lovely weekend, and that you found some time to scrap! I did. Most of the weekend actually. My house is sadly neglected, but we’ll have to live with it this week. :)

This week’s challenge is to make a TAG. I love making tags even though I seldom do. So this was a challenge just up my alley!

I started out with a plain white tag and inked up the upper left corner and lower right corner with Distress ink Cotton Candy. I stamped the Sweet Treat Stamp in the lower right corner and heat embossed it. I clear embossed the same corners with a stamp from the Background Basics #1 Set. Before stamping, I wiped some of the ink off the stamp with a Kleenex to get softer and more distressed edges of the stamp. Then I inked the entire stamp with Weathered Wood to make the embossing visualize. The Cupkaces are paper pieced and glittered up with stickles.

I inked e piece of white scrap paper with Cotton Candy, stamped the text stamp from the Vintage Treasures set with Weathered Wood, and then die cut two hearts.  The sentiment is from Hey Cupcake.

Soooo, if you make a tag, link it up to our challenge for the chance to win New ProMarkers (!!!!) and the best glue there is!!! All info can be found HERE!

If you are not bored by now, I’d like to share a couple of more projects. I know we are mostly making cards here, but also love making layouts. And since I used The Rubber Café stamps as main decorations…

The clock is from the Vintage Treasure set, and the rest are from Steampunk Charity Wings. The wheels that I have NO idea of what they are called in English are covered with crackle accent.

Amazing butterflies from Vintage Treasures. And once again the clock, stamped with a light brown on the journaling paper. Sorry for long post. Thanks for stopping by! And don’t forget to participate in our Tag Challenge!

Tesa

Take Time To Dream!

This week's challenge on The Rubber Cafe's blog is to make a tag. I always enjoy making tags...the remind me of ATC's. My tags always end up on a card...and this one is no exception!

I love the Large Trailing Butterflies image, I inked the stamp with black ink, stamped it off once on scrap paper. I stamped the image on my white tag, for a soft grey effect. I stamped the Take Time To Dream sentiment in black ink along the side of my tag.

I distressed my tag with Tim Holtz Tumbled Glass and Milled Lavender Distress Inks. I embossed my tag with the Cuttlebug Victoria Embossing Folder and then hit the embossing lightly with the Tumbled Glass Distress Pad.


I stamped my Large Trailing Butterflies image on blue vellum with my black Stazon ink, cut it out and then attached the butterfly to my card with it's wing's fluffed up.

Other touches include gem swirls, a beaded pearl stick pin, some wired ribbon and a brad pinwheel.

Tags are quick and easy to make. Having a few on hand is a great way to make a card in a flash when you're in a pinch! We hope you join our challenge...be inspired and maybe, just maybe you'll win the weekly prize! Good Luck!

Michelle Pearson

Inspiration Blooms

TRCC#17 Tags Tags Tags

Tags are everywhere. There are birthday tags, gift tags, shaped tags, altered tags, tag books and tag cards. The challenge this week...tags. They can stand alone, be part of a project, or fill pockets in a book.

Today I'm starting easy. A single stand alone tag. Perfect for a quick thank you on a gift or by itself.

I've used stamps from 3 different sets here. The background is a ticket stamp from the Vintage Treasures set, the leaves are from Floral Fancy, and the sentiment is from Fabulous Phrases. with a hint of brown and green and a lopped off corner...the tag was finished.

How many ways can you use a tag?

The Rules are Simple:

•Make a new card/tag incorporating this weeks challenge (you are welcome to combine with other challenges and you do not have to use TRC stamps but if you do you'll be entered twice for the random prize draw)

• Link your card below with Mr. Linky

•Mention our challenge, on your post (with a link back here)

*If you post in a public gallery use key word TRCC17

*NOTE: Please enter only one card each week! Each week we will randomly draw a winner out of the projects that are entered and the winner will win a prize.

This weeks prize is a Free 5 piece set of Letraset ProMarkers ... Spring Collection and a bottle of our ScrapHappy Sheer Glue

Do You Ever...

Did you ever sit and dream? When I dream it feels like it could be hours, in reality it's only just minutes. This weeks post were all so awesome. I love the altered items, books and other fun projects. It makes moving on to the next challenge and little hard to do. No worries...there will be a new challenge tomorrow...I assure you. But for now...I thought I would leave you with one last post for the challenge along with the winner for this week.

My treat box has sort of a whimsical steampunk vintage look. I used curved rectangles from Spellbinders and die cut several layers for the top and base of the box. This gave it a little more stability. I made a box to fit using the Scor-pal.

The roses are quilled by punching out 1" circles and cutting in a spiral, then quilling from the outside in to create a tiny rose. I use copper brads for the centers of the bunched roses and a pink jelly dot for the center of the rose in the center of the clock. The clock was cut to mimic the die cut and popped with dimensional adhesive. The background was stamped using some stamps from both the Vintage Treasures and the Steampunk set.

The heart in the center of the wings was colored and cut, then a glaze was applied for a fun glossy look. The wings have been glittered with the Your So Fine glitter.

The Vintage Treasures set has a great background with phrases and random words. I stamped the background and punched out the words "Sit and Dream?" and framed it with some hardware I found in a drawer...one of those drawers that you don't really know what's in it till you have to find something. The first part of the phrase "Do you Ever" was hand cut and glued to wherever it would fit.

Lastly...I added ribbon around the sides of the top and finished it off with a bow.

And The Winner Is...

This weeks winner for a set of 5 Letraset Promarkers is

Wendy

Congratulations Wendy! To receive your prize, send your contact info to smiles4126@aol.com and we'll get that right out to you.

Here are a few other great entries we had this week

Thanks for a great week of challenges and I can't wait to see what's in store for next week!

Personalized Onesies ... Easy and Cheap

I am so sad to see this Challenge week over . We have had so many inspiring beautiful projects this week . The ladies on this design team are so talented and our challenge particpants ... they shock me with their talents every week .
 My project this week I decided to alter clothing with my stamps. I found these cheap little Onesies from Gerber (about five dollars for six) What a cheap little gift ...

 First of all I took my Bigshot white plate and put it inside the Onesie. Then you will need a permanent ink ... Fabrico or Stazon works well with this project. Pick one of your favorite stamps ...These are all images from The Rubber Cafe .

 You will also need some Fabric paint in a few different colors ... you can find several colors at   some of the larger craft store.

The winners of the Challenge this week will be announced later today ... Lisa will be back a little later today with another great project . 
I hope that you enjoyed this cute little project ... leave some comment love ... Maybe you will play along next week for our Challenge ... we are giving away another Letraset Five piece marker set and a bottle of our very popular ScrapHappy Glue . 

Melissa 

Stamping Queen

Aything but a card....so what about a mini album???

 This week I've posted my "mostly" finished mini album I've been working on for our Bahamas trip.

I've incorporated the Sea Life, Fishing for Details and You're Purrrrr-fect stamps. 

On this page I used some gems and jelly dots and placed them over the stamped image of the bubbles from the Fishing for Details set. 

 mmmm conch salad....

 

 I was just playin around on the last page not sure what picture or journaling to put on it yet.

Well thanks for stopping by and visiting my post, check back every Thursday as well to see what the newest weekly challenge is.  If you participate you have a chance to win a great prize from The Rubber Cafe.