Make it Mondays - Colored Pencils

Happy Tuesday! During naptime I made a card for the Papertrey Ink Make it Mondays Challenge, using colored pencils and baby oil. I'd rather be working on other projects, but I couldn't resist the technique. I have been longing to use my sweet peas stamp set for weeks now. Inspired by my own sweet peas in the garden:

I've been enjoying bunches of these for weeks now. They are blooming and blooming and blooming this year! The more I get, the more they grow. It makes me so happy! First I started with little bunches like this:

But now I can get one like the first every day. I wish I could share the wonderful scent! In case someone is interested, here is what I built for them to give them hold:

But enough of proud gardener's blahblah :) Let's get to the card! Here it is:

I had some difficulties finding something to use the oil with. I ended using paper pencils. To create more depth, I created a shadow around the image. Here is another view and the closer look:

Such a great technique! You can find the video/challenge here.


Have a beautiful day and thanks for visiting!


Hugs and Love,
Vanessa


Supplies: 
Cardstock: PTI, Core'dinations
Patterned Paper: Echo Park
Stamps: PTI
Ink: Tsukineko
Pencils: Faber Castell
Pearls: Prima

Dr. Alyssa and the winner of the blog hop

Happy Monday! First, thank you so much for all your sweet comments on my card for the Paper Crafts blog hop! You made my weekend! Here is the randomly chosen winner of a copy of Card Ideas for Paper Crafters:

Congratulations, Jeanette! Please send me an email with your address - you'll find my email address when clicking the email me on top of this page!


Now to Dr. Alyssa. I am happy to report that I finished another mini album! Here it is:

I took some photos of Alyssa while she played doctor with our cat Lilly. So cute! I had to showcase them. All the paper is Basic Grey:

I am glad that our cat is so patient :)

Alyssa told her patient what to do...

Although Lilly wasn't willing to open her mouth :) The doctor even wanted to look into her ears! I still wonder why the cat didn't flee:

I left the journaling on the last pages blank, I am not sure what I will write yet. Maybe I'll add some stories about the way she is playing. And maybe the last page will say: Diagnosis: Cat.

I used a mix of papers from the Basic Grey Oxford Collection paper pad and the White Basics Collection paper pad. They work well together for the doctor theme. To create the album, I assembled two papers for every page, scored them at 3/4 inch (alternately from the left and from the right) and assembled them at the scored 3/4 inch piece of every page. Does this make sense?? Maybe it does when clicking onto the photo above to enlarge it. For the embellishment on top of the album I stacked some buttons with twine and tied the twine around the middle of the album. 


I hope you like it! Thanks for visiting and have a beautiful day!


Hugs and Love,
Vanessa


Supplies:
Patterned Paper: Basic Grey
Letter Stickers: Basic Grey
Dies: Provo Craft, Spellbinders
Buttons: Papertrey Ink
Other: Twine

Paper Crafts Magazine Presents: Bonus Sketch Blog Hop

Happy Friday! I am glad you are stopping by today as I am honored to be one of 10 Designers participating in the Paper Crafts Magazine Bonus Sketch Blog Hop! For this occasion I made a card using one of the 12 bonus sketches from the fabulous, new special issue Card Ideas for Paper Crafters. All those sketches can be found here. And there can't be a blog hop without prizes! So be sure to leave a comment on every blog for your chance to win a copy of this amazing special issue:

Now to my card! I've decided to play with this sketch by the super-talented Heidi van Laar:

Here is my pretty-much-sticking-to-the-sketch take:

I used various patterned papers from the My Mind's Eye Lost and Found 2 Collection. Some of the squares are die-cuts, some are punched. The edges of the squares are inked with brown distress ink. To add more texture, I stitched around some of the squares. This sketch provides a great way to use scraps!


Here is a detail of the card for a closer look:

Ok, now I am sure you can't wait to see what sketch the other designers chose and what they made with it! Don't miss all the inspiration! Here is the complete list:

• Julia Stainton
• Teri Anderson
• Chan Vuong
• Lindsay Amrhein
• Kalyn Kepner
• Regina Mangum
• Angeline Yong
• Heidi Van Laar
• Kimberly Crawford
• Vanessa Menhorn                               You are here!

Now have fun hopping! And for your chance to win a copy of Card Ideas for Paper Crafters, leave a comment on this post by midnight (MDT) on Sunday, August 28. Or get it from here! And don't forget to stop by the Paper Crafts Connection blog for your chance to win this amazing giveaway:

Good luck, thanks for visiting and have a beautiful day!

Hugs and Love,

Vanessa

Supplies:
Cardstock: Core'dinations
Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye
Ink: Ranger Industries
Button: Papertrey Ink
Dies: Spellbinders, Papertrey Ink

Papertrey Ink August Blog Hop Challenge

Happy Thursday and Welcome to my entry to the 

This month, we were to create a project inspired by this wonderful photo:

And here is my card:

I was inspired by the inside of the suitcase and the flowers. And the colors.


Here is a closer look:

I hope you like it! It's too hot to make this post longer, but if you have any questions, just email me! To find the blog hop, just go here.


Thanks for visiting and have a beautiful day!


Hugs and Love,
Vanessa


Supplies: 
Everything Papertrey Ink, except for:
Ink: Tsukineko
Square Dies: Spellbinders
Other: ribbon, twine

Echo Park Cards and a Layout

Happy Wednesday! So, I am trying out for the Echo Park Fresh Face Designer again and enjoyed playing with the new Victoria Gardens Collection and some paper from the For The Record Collection. I made all these projects last night. Just in time! Their product is so so beautiful! 
First, another attempt at a layout. I am starting to feel more comfortable with a 12x12 starting point. I love taking portraits of my little girl and try to capture every expression of her sweet face. One photo I took recently found a new home on a layout:

I love that her hair is growing longer and longer now. It still looks quite short, but when I pull at a curl, they are really long now :)
I used some paper from the Victoria Gardens paper pad and some Element Stickers here. Because I wanted to add more dimension, I applied powder to the sticky back of some stickers to adhere them with foam tape. It's an easy way to make more out of your stickers!
Here are closer views of the details:

Here I layered a doily die-cut, the sticker wreath and some Prima roses. And a little label for the date on top.

The rose was adhered with foam tape again. That seam-binding is hand-dyed using glimmer mist. 


Now to the cards. For the first one I used some more Victoria Gardens:

I fussy-cut the rose from the patterned paper and adhered it with foam tape on top of the hand-dyed seam-binding. The banner is raised with foam tape, too. 


Again, more views:

Now to the last card I made. This time I used For The Record. Another great Collection! So far, I haven't seen anything I don't like! Here it is:

That Merci stamp just fits onto this label perfectly! I subtly stamped some vintage themed stamps onto the journaling card and in the end I decided to add this larger flourish, too. 
A closer look:

Can't get enough of this vintage look. I hope you liked my projects! You can click onto every photo to enlarge them!


Thanks for visiting and have a beautiful day!


Hugs and Love,
Vanessa


Supplies:


Layout:
Cardstock: Bazzill Basics
Patterned Paper: Echo Park (Victoria Gardens) 
Sticker: Echo Park (Victoria Gardens)
Die-cut: PTI
Butterfly Punch: Martha Stewart
Border Punch: Fiskars
Flowers: Prima
Other: hand-dyed seam-binding


Heartfelt Card:
Cardstock: Core'dinations
Patterned Paper: Echo Park (Victoria Gardens)
Stamp: Hero Arts
Ink: Tsukineko, Ranger Industries
Jewels: Prima
Other: hand-dyed seam-binding


Merci Card:
Cardstock: Core'dinations
Patterned Paper: Echo Park (For The Record)
Stamps: PTI
Ink: Ranger Industries, Tsukineko
Buttons: PTI
Die: PTI
Other: Twine

Make it Mondays - Freestyle Copic Coloring

Happy Tuesday! Last night I stayed up quite late and made a card for the new Make it Mondays challenge. I played around with the Copics and this is the result:

I stamped the leaf-veins onto the card, scribbled with the Copics to fill-in a leaf and just adhered the negative die-cut of the leaf over it.

Here is a closer look:

And here is how it looks underneath:

Really simple! If you'd like to enter this challenge and watch Betsy's video, just go here!


Thanks for visiting and have a beautiful day!


Hugs and Love,
Vanessa


Supplies:
Everything Papertrey Ink, except for:
Ink: Tsukineko
Markers: Copic
Gemstone: Prima
Twine

Blogs 4 Boobies Blog Hop - Last Chance!

Welcome to the last day of blogs 4 boobies!

There is still time to join in on the fun(draising)!!!! There are two ways you can help:

#1 There is still time to bid on my project:  Here is another look at what I have up for auction:

 + Random goodies from my stash!

The auction will end at 8:00 p.m. Mountain time August 23rd.

The highest bid is currently:     $ 7
To win this, simply bid more than $7 in the comment section of THIS post.  YOU MUST INCLUDE your EMAIL ADDRESS with your $bid. ( This way we can get in contact with the winning bidder.)
Remember 100% of what you bid will go to the Komen foundation!!! If you are the top bidder you will receive a paypal invoice for the amount that you bid. 


 #2  There is still time to shop!!!  Through midnight on the 23rd of August Skipping Stones Design is still donating $2 (to the Komen Foundation) for every stamp set sold. 
Together we can make a difference!!!


Hugs and Love,
Vanessa

Paper Crafts September/October 2011 + Fall Décor

Happy Weekend! Today I have a published card and a non-published home décor to share. Let's start with the card. I got the Paper Crafts September/October 2011 issue this week and I love it! Especially the circus themed feature! Wow, there are REALLY talented girls out there. So clever! You need this issue! Get your copy here!

I didn't have anything circus themed, but two Halloween projects and a canvas tag. This card is one of my published projects:

Yummy Pink Paislee! I love their canvas borders! That sentiment is Unity. Another look:

That amazing issue is featuring Fall Home Décor and I really love what they picked! Especially my sweet Kelley's projects! I made a piece for the call, but it wasn't accepted, so I thought I'd share it here:

The swirls are heat-embossed with clear embossing powder. Paper is Pink Paislee and Crate. 


Ok, and now a friendly reminder to support the Blogs 4 Boobies auction! Please go here to read everything about it and consider bidding for my card. I am sure that some goodies from my stash will find their way into the mail for the winner accidentially, too :) Thank you!


Have a beautiful weekend (oh, summer returned here btw!) and thanks for visiting!


Hugs and Love,
Vanessa

Make it Mondays - Glitter

Happy Wednesday! Last night I got messy with some glitter (ha, I know why I do not use it more often...) and made a card for PTI's Make it Mondays. After some very glittery, very unsuccessful attempts (including tossing some gorgeous pp into the trash bin), I managed this:

Yes, I went wild with the glitter and even added it to the heat-embossed leaves! Although I have to admit that I did it to disguise a white outline around the leaves. First I had stamped the leaves using White Snow ink, but it just didn't look that good. To avoid tossing another piece of glittered paper into the trash bin, I decided to use black embossing powder. But I didn't cover the previously stamped image exactly, so the white was showing on some of the edges of the leaves. So I added some more glitter. Happy little accidents!

It is fun layering all the circles! This one would work well as cupcake topper, too. Here is the closer look:

Like you might have guessed already, I don't have that much experience with glitter. I used a glue pen to add it. But will it really stay there? I am afraid to put it anywhere to not have the glitter everywhere. Would you recommend spraying hair spray over the card? Any advice is much appreciated! Oh, and here is the link to the video/challenge.


Thanks for stopping by and have a beautiful day!


Hugs and Love,
Vanessa


Supplies:
Cardstock: Core'dinations
Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye
Stamps: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Tsukineko
Button: Papertrey Ink
Dies: Papertrey Ink, Spellbinders
Other: glitter, embossing powder, seam binding, twine

Blogs 4 Boobies Blog Hop - Let's stamp out cancer!

Happy Tuesday and Welcome to the second annual Blogs 4 Boobies fundraiser!
This is day 2 of a 3 day blog bounce(hop) where EVERY CARD OR PROJECT is up for auction!

Last year Skipping Stones Design raised and donated $1108.99 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. It is our goal to raise $1500 this year and WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!

There are 3 ways you can join in on the fun(draising)

1. You can help by Going shopping! 
For every stamp set that you purchase during August 15th through the 23rd SSD will donate $2 to the Komen Foundation. Stamping and shopping that you can feel good about !

Here are two of my favorite sets, Heartsong and Victorian Summer:

2. You can help by *Bidding!
Another way you can help us raise money for the Komen Foundation is to *bid on a project or card along the blog bounce(hop). YES! EVERY Single card/project along the blogs for boobies bounce is up for auction. We recommend a starting bid of $5 or more. Your *Bid not only includes the card or project but shipping to your home as well. * See how to place a bid for more detailed instructions.
If you are the highest bidder August 23rd 8:00 p.m. mountain time then you WIN the card/project that you bid on.

3. You can help by Telling Your Friends~
Help us spread the word about “blogs 4 boobies” ! The more people know, the more money we can raise!!!
If you have a blog,  feel free to copy and paste parts or all of our Blogs 4 Boobies posts.

*”How to place a bid on my card/project”
Step #1: Find the comment section of the blog that shows the “Blogs 4 boobies” card or project that you want to buy. *Please note you may only bid on the card/project shown in the specific “blogs 4 boobies” post. *Any bids not placed on the correct post will be considered invalid.

Step #2: Once you are in the “blogs 4 boobies” comment section, fill in the dollar and cents amount of what you are willing to pay for the card/project. We recommend a starting bid of $5 or more. Remember your bid includes shipping as well as the card/or project. 100% of the money your bid will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation

Step #3: Next to your $ bid please type in your email address. During a silent auction bidders sign their name next to their bid. Typing your email address is the electronic equivalent of signing your bid. Also it will help the blogger contact you if you are the highest bidder.

Step #4: Watch and wait. Once you have entered your bid/comment sit back and wait. If someone out bids you then you may bid again. Bidding will continue until 8:00 p.m. Mountain time August 23rd

* Please note that the participating stampers/bloggers will probably re-post their Blogs 4 Boobies card/project on the 23rd of August. When the blogger re-posts their project then the bidding will continue on the NEWEST post and that comment section.

“What do I do once I place a bid?” Watch and Wait. The “Winner of the Auction” Will be the highest bid (that includes an email address) in the comment section of the MOST RECENT blogs 4 boobies post at the end of the silent auction. Please note that ALL cards/projects WILL BE REPOSTED on the 23rd of August. The silent auction will end at 8:00 p.m. Mountain Time on August 23rd .

Things to keep in mind: Near the end of the bidding you may not see bids as they come in. Most blogs have a comment feature where the blogger must approve comments before they are published. So bid high. You might have the highest bid that is published, but someone might have outbid you in an unpublished comment/bid.
The blogger/designer will declare who has won the silent auction. Skipping Stones Design will send you an invoice for your donation/bid amount. Please pay that invoice as soon as possible, so the designer can get your card/project in the mail to you.
Remember 100% of your bid will be donated to the Susan G. Komen foundation.

Ok. So now let's get to the card I made for this cause. I really hope someone likes it! Here it is:

I used the gorgeous new stamp set Victorian Summer (see above) for my card. The large flower was stamped onto pink patterned paper twice, then I fussy-cut it and layered it using foam-tape for more dimension. The roses are paper-pieced, too. The sentiment is from the Always Here set. 

I hope you like it and consider bidding! This is such a great way to raise money. And I so want to help! I know too many dear paper crafters out there - wonderful, lovable, super-talented women - who are battling cancer right now. When I visited a 2peas forum some days ago, I saw several members remembering one of their friends who lost her fight. It touched me so much, I couldn't stand it. We need to help fighting cancer! 

Here is the list of today's participants: 

Day #2:
Teri Anderson
Ashley Cannon Newell
Karen Christensen
Jodi Collins
Kimberly Crawford
Jen Del Muro
Katie Gehring
Vanessa Menhorn -> You are here!
Kryssi Ng
Taylor Usry
Sankari Wegman

Have fun bouncing from blog to blog. Enjoy all the designs, and make a bid or two! This is a rare opportunity to take home a card(s)/project from your favorite designer, and fight the war against breast cancer!!!
Together we can make a difference!!! If you missed day one, here is a list of participants from yesterday:

Day #1:
PaperCrafts Connections Blog (Renae Curtz)
Deb Felts
Michelle Giraud
Michelle Gross
Wendy Jordan
Sarah Martina Parker
Becky Olsen
Brab Turpin
Taylor Usry
Brenda Weaver


Thank you so much for visiting and have a beautiful day!


Hugs and Love,

Vanessa


Supplies:
Cardstock: PTI
Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye
Stamps: Skipping Stones Design
Ink: Tsukineko, Ranger Industries
Pearls: Prima Marketing

Blogs for Boobies

Dear Friends,


Please go over here and here to find out more about this event. And please come back tomorrow to see my little contribution! Please spread the word about it to help raising a lot of money!


Thanks so much!


Hugs and Love,
Vanessa