CeeCee's Creations

shiny butterflies in the night

Today, I was in the mood for something completely different. I admit I`ve been wasting way too much time on blog-hopping but a girl has her weaknesses! And somewhere in there, I found a few blogs that use color-spoinging extensively to create some sort of a landscape. So here's my first attempt at sponging:

I started with a Sahara Sand card base. The background flowers (or clouds as I refer to them :-) were created by sponging Groovy Guava, River Rock, Soft Sky and Blue Bayou Classic inks with a sponge inside of a negative image left-over from punching the flower in the foreground. Nifty, huh? Nothing goes to waste! I created this mostly for the CLU005 challenge on Les Etampeuses (French version of SCS). Then I used a piece of scrap paper and created a horizon line and went to bat with my sponges and colors. So much fun! The sentiment from Des Mots Merveilleux stamp set was stamped with Bayou Blue. I wanted my butterflies to be stark white as if they were reflecting the moonlight (aaaaaaaargh, I miss my favorite show!!! Moonlight :-((( ). I used the Shimmer White cardstock from SU. So beautiful. They are punched with Marvy Uchida punch (shhh... non SU). Let's hope that Stampin' Up! comes up with a butterfly punch in the next catalogue! The flower in the foreground is punched with the Scalloped Circle and the Boho Blossoms punches. The small flower was punched out of a carstock that I had stamped out with all kinds of flowers. Then a Rhinestone brad was added in the middle and the whole thing was glued with Stampin' Dimensionals. Thanks for visiting and don't be shy to leave comments. Have a great day!

retiring stamp sets... here they are!

Where do stamps go when they retire? Click on the picture to find out!

ribbonned pattern paper

I don't know if you're like me but I hate to throw away anything, especially bits and pieces of ribbon. Well, here's a way to use them up: make your own pattern paper. Here's what I mean-- On a scrap piece of cardstock (another leftover from a previous project), I've glued small bits of ribbon one after the other. Then I've trimmed the edges with a good pair of scissors and adhered the piece to my card. I love it!

Recipe (all supplies by Stampin' Up! unless specified otherwise)-- Stamp Set: Unfrogettable; Ink: Old Olive; Cardstock: Soft Sky, Pumpkin Pie; Patterned Paper; Jersey Shore; Ribbons: Old Olive 5/8" gros-grain, Pumpkin Pie 1/4" gros-grain, Bayou Blue Double-stitched gros-grain; Punches: 1", 1/4", scalloped circles; Others: Old Olive Stampin' Write marker, Ice Rhinestone Brad, Stampin' Dimensionals, Snail Adhesive.

happy father's day!

I made this card for my Color Challenge #7. It's my father's Father's Day card that I brought to him today. He had a good laugh; thought it was original. At least, I made him laugh. I have to admit that I am quite proud of this card since I thought of it all in my little head (no CASEing this time). I encourage you to go take a look-see at all the entries to this challenge. Just click here to view. Thanks for looking!

Recipe (all supplies by Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted)-- Stamp set: Fêtes diverses (All Holidays); Cardstock: Really Rust, So Saffron, Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand, Always Artichoke; Inks: Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip (for distressing on belt); Punches: Large Oval; Ribbon: (Strano); Others: Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardware, paper piercer and mat pack, Crop-a-dile, Antique Brass Metallic Eyelets, Snail Adhesive, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals.

"crimping" my style

This is a card I put together for two challenges on Les Etampeuses (a French version of SCS) and using the CPS sketch #68. I used the paper crimper to do the plant leaves. I love it!!! This tool, which is often overlooked, offers so many possibilities. I really had fun coming up with an inventive way to use it but I think it worked. Notice there is no inking whatsoever on those leaves... it's just the texture of the crimped paper. The background flowers were stamped with VersaMark ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. You'll find the recipe below. Have a fantastic Tuesday and for those who are in the Montreal region, I hope you are near a pool. It's gonna a hot and scorching one!!!

Recipe (all supplies by Stampin' Up!, unless specified otherwise): Stamp Set: Spring Solitude; Inks: VersaMark, Craft Pretty in Pink, Always Artichoke; Cardstock: Elegant Eggplant, Pale Plum, Whisper White, Always Artichoke; Punches: Tag, Small Oval, Corner rounder; Ribbon: satin Spring Moss (Papertrey Ink); Others: Paper Crimper, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat tool, Stampin' Dimensionals, Snail Adhesive.

Clowning Around

While attending the Stampin' Girls Convention in Ottawa a week ago, I came across this amazing card that Louise Charlton did. Here is my version of the Never-ending Card:

I used the Jersey Shore Designer Series paper because I think it lends itself really well with the circus theme. I used a retired stamp set just because it was in my For Sale bin and there are no takers. So I decided to keep it! This is the facade of the card. When you open it from the middle, it unfolds kinda like a window with shutters and it gives this effect:

Then you flip the middle open again and you are viewing page 3 of the card, like so:

The last panel opens to reveal a space where you can write a message. It's hard to explain how it works, but I encourage you to try it. Below, you will find the recipe. Hope you enjoy it!

Recipe (all supplies by Stampin' Up! unless specified otherwise) -- Stamp Sets: Live Your Dream, So Many Sayings, Birthday Whimsy, Clowning Around (retired); Cardstock and papers: Jersey Shore DSP, Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Brilliant Blue, Pumpkin Pie; Inks: Brilliant Blue, Whisper White Craft, Wild Wasabi; Stampin' Write markers: Real Red, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Brilliant Blue, Bashful Blue; Punches: Word Window,  1/8", 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circles, Scalloped circle; Others: Light Blue Fine Cosmo Stampin' Glitter, Mini Glue Dots, Snail Adhesive, Tombow Multi-Purpose Glue.

glitter sisters meet

Last night, some of the Glitter Sisters came over to my studio for our monthly meeting. It's always fun to see them and swap ideas and projects with them. Here's the first batch of swaps: 

 

We usually swap ATC's, but Marie made this cute little match box.

The second group of swaps (the little doll on Genevieve's card is from Guatemala... she just got back from a trip):

my swap (lots of glitter for dah sistahs!)...

and a group shot (no, I'm not recruiting kids... that's Marie's adorable daughter)...

and the peanut butter tart I made from scratch (yummie!)... a Martha Stewart recipe...

Food & fun are a big part of our meets and I wouldn't change that! That's how we, Glittah Sistahs, roll!

candle boat

Yesterday was the annual Stampin' Girls Convention in Ottawa organized by Josee Smuck (my upline 3 levels up). It was so nice to meet other fellow demonstrators from Quebec and Ontario. One of the highlights of the day was the WOW swap where were asked to make a 3-D object to exchange with 50 other girls. Here's my project:

It's a holder for tea candles. I stayed up until 2:30 a.m. Friday night (well, Saturday morning) to finish them but it was all worth it. I also had to make sure that the papers wouldn't burn when the candles were lit up. So I let mine burn for 2 hours and it passed the test!!!

The candles were glittered by dropppping Irridescent Ice embossing powder then heated with a heat gun to seal the powder into the candle. So easy... and the effect is stunning. Because I had to stack them into a bag to bring to the convention, the ones I gave away don't have the vellum layer on the butterfly (sorry girls). But in this picture, you can see the last layer of the butterfly embossed with Irridescent Ice EP over Soft Sky ink. Because the Classic ink does not dry fast on vellum, it allows you to emboss. I also added Crystal Effects on the little body of the butterfly and put more Irridescent Ice on it. The butterfly is then curved upwards by running a bone folder over it, using a piece of fun foam underneath. The swirl on top of the box is first stamped with Whisper White Craft ink and then embossed with Detail White EP. The tiny flowers are stamped with VersaMark ink.

As a thank you to all my readers, I decided to share with you my template. Just click on the image on the left, then right-click with your mouse to do a "save as". You can then print on a 8 1/2" X 11" cardstock of your choice. There are 2 candle holders per page.

The template provides for 3 tea lights but I've decided to cut out only 2 holes. You could also cut out just the one in the middle and decorate on each side. It's up to you!

Recipe (all supplies by Stampin' Up! except otherwise indicated) -- Stamp Set: priceless; Cardstock: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Soft Sky, Vellum; Inks: Whisper White, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, VersaMark; Embossing Powders: Detail White, Irridescent Ice; Ribbon: Bayou Blue double-stitched grosgrain; Punches: 1/4" Circle, Scalloped Circle; Others: Orbis Circle Scissor (EK Success), Sticky Strip, Tombow Multi-purpose Glue, Pop-Up Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals, Snail Adhesive, tea lights (source unknown); Heat Gun

Have a great week and I'll talk to you real soon!

CeeCee

P.S.: I almost forgot! Take a look at the Promotions section at the top of the right-hand sidebar. The June promos are fantastic! Imagine, you can order a brand new stamp set from the not-yet released Fall-Winter collection.