Faux Denim - Cowboy Up

Good morning! This is my card for this week's Gingersnap Creations color challenge - denim, rust, and dust. I used the Faux Denim technique from Technique Junkies in the background, and I used kraft(dust) and rust cardstock that has been distressed. The boot and the hat are colored with Copics in the same color scheme, and I added some aged copper hardware to frame the sentiment.

I've really enjoyed this Wild West theme at Gingersnap Creations this month. It was fun to pull out some of my older stamps that haven't been inked up in a while. Why don't you pull out some older stamps and play along with this week's Gingersnap Creations challenge? You could win an awesome prize from Technique Junkies just for playing along! :-)


Stamps: DRS (boot and hat image), Cornish Heritage Farms (sentiment from The Ranch set)
Ink: Rich Cocoa Memento, Tea Dye distress
CS: Kraft, Rust, Ballet Blue
Other: Copic markers, oval punch, Aged Copper hardware, twine, distress tool, sponge
TJ Technique: Faux Denim

Gingersnap & Technique Junkies Challenge

Good morning! I am playing along with this week's Gingersnap Challenge, and we are doing scene stamping this week. It's been a long time since I pulled out my Stampscapes stamps, so I dusted off a few of those stamps to create this scene for y'all.

I stamped the trees first, then I added the horse and the flock of birds and set this aside to dry completely. Then I sponged some color onto this, but it just seemed to be too bright. I wanted to keep with the Gingersnap Challenge theme of the Wild West, so I sponged around the edges with some Antique Linen distress ink and some Walnut Stain distress ink.

While my scene was drying, I created a Sanded Core'dinations background (from the Emboss or Die cd from Technique Junkies) by using some of the fabulous Brown Bag paper from Paper Temptress. It's really cool paper - colored on one side and brown kraft on the other side. This gave me the perfectly distressed background for my Western scene card. You're going to be seeing more of this awesome paper from me in the months to come. :-)

I added some twine, some brads, and the sentiment to complete this card. Why don't you pull out some of your scene stamps and see what you can create? I hope you play along with this Gingersnap Creations challenge - you could win a fabulous prize just for playing along!


Stamps: Stampscapes
Ink: Jet Black Stazon, Summer Sky Memento, Bamboo Leaves Memento, Brocade Blue, Night of Navy, Artichoke, Hunter, Antique Linen distress, Walnut Stain distress
Paper: glossy white, kraft, Olive Brown Bag from Paper Temptress, Black Licorice Pop Tones from Paper TemptressOther: twine, brads, sponges, oval punch
TJ Technique: Sanded Core'dinations (Emboss or Die cd)

Howdy Y'all Cowgirl

Howdy!! Today I'm sharing a fun cowgirl card with y'all, and I'm hoping you will play along with this fun challenge. Technique Junkies is sponsoring the Gingersnap Creations challenge this month, and their theme for this month is the Wild Wild West. Oh yeah, baby.......... living in Texas, I've got a nice little stockpile of rustic country and Texas stamps. Hee hee hee! How perfect!

Since this week's challenge is all about Cowboys and Cowgirls, I pulled out this sweet little cowgirl from Deadbeat Designs and this Texan sentiment stamp from jamnstamps (both found at a LSS called Stamp Salado). The cowgirl is colored with copic markers right on the kraft cardstock, cut out with an oval die, sponged around the edges and then distressed with a distress tool. I did the same with the sentiment and the larger rust oval layers.

The background is the COOLEST technique from the new Emboss or Die CD from Technique Junkies. It is called Faux Tooled Leather, and it looks so cool and so perfect for a Cowboy/Cowgirl card. You can order your own CD with 79 great techniques by clicking here.

The last thing I did for this card was I added a strip of burlap and wrapped some dark brown twine all around it. I didn't want to cover up the cool background, so I didn't add a lot of extras to this card. I hope you will play along with this fun challenge at Gingersnap Creations. You could win the Emboss or Die CD just for playing!


Stamps: cowgirl from Deadbeat Designs, sentiment from jamnstamps
Ink: Rich Cocoa Memento
CS: Rust, Kraft
Other: oval dies (Spellbinders), distress tool, sponge, Copic markers, burlap, brown twine
Technique: Faux Tooled Leather (Emboss or Die cd from Technique Junkies)

Week 4 with Gingersnap Creations

This is my fourth and last week with Gingersnap Creations, and this week is all about a color challenge. The Gingersnap girls picked Jewel Colors with Gold for this challenge. For the month of February, the Gingersnap Creations DT has an overall theme of Royalty with a focus on adding shimmer and sparkle to their art for each of the weekly challenges.

As I thought about Jewel Colors, images of sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and diamonds came to mind. Then I saw this swirly egg image sitting on my table, and my mind just screamed, "Faberge eggs!" How perfect to tie in jewel colors, gold, and a royal theme than with the royal Faberge eggs created for the Czar of Russia?

I stamped the egg three times with Versamark, poured gold embossing powder on them, and heated the powder til it melted. Then I colored each egg with the Jewel colors of Creative Inspirations Paint - Sapphire, Garnet, and Emerald. (Too perfect, eh??)

I added a fleur de lis brad and a red bow on the top of the Garnet Faberge egg, and I used the Curled Corners technique on the white cardstock. Some pearls and gold scallops finish off this detailed card. You can see the shimmer of the paint in this close-up picture:

I want to thank the Gingersnap Creations team for inviting me to be a Visiting Artist this month. These challenges definitely stretched me and challenged me to think outside my normal range of stamping, and I have had a total blast. The Gingersnap gals do some AWESOME work, and I am honored to be able to share my artwork with them this month.


Stamps: Small Swirl Egg from I Brake for Stamps (use code SAVE10HOLLY to save 10% off your order)
Ink: Versamark
CS: White, Black, Gold
Creative Inspirations Paint: Sapphire, Garnet, Emerald
Other: gold embossing powder, wrinkled red ribbon (May Arts), fleur de lis brad (The Paper Studio), pearls (Kaisercraft), Embossed Curve edge punch (EK Success)
Technique: Curled Corners (Technique Junkies)

Week 3 with Gingersnap Creations

This is my third week with Gingersnap Creations, and this week is all about an inspiration challenge. The Gingersnap girls picked "crowns" as the inspiration for this challenge. For the month of February, the Gingersnap Creations DT has an overall theme of Royalty with a focus on adding shimmer and sparkle to their art for each of the weekly challenges.

I will be honest and tell you that I freaked out when I saw that "crowns" was the challenge this week. I don't have any crown stamps, I don't collect crown charms, what am I supposed to do?? I actually went "shopping" in my Mom's craft room for crown stamps, and I did find a couple. But when I was cleaning up my own studio on Saturday afternoon, I ran across my old Tim Holtz grungeboard that I haven't used in ages. Lo and behold, there is a crown shape within the 5 sheets of grungeboard.

When I sat down to create my card, I just wasn't inspired by the stamps that I "stole" from my mother. My mind kept wandering back to the grungeboard crown. This bird collage stamp from I Brake for Stamps was out on my table, and an old song popped into my head - "4 and 20 blackbirds baked in a pie, when the pie was opened, the birds began to sing, wasn't that a lovely thing to set before the king?"

Okay, so the bird is blue, not black, but this challenge is all about inspiration and seeing where it leads you. I painted the grungeboard crown and swirl with some Gold Creative Inspirations Paint, and I added a blue rhinestone brad to the center of the crown.

Do you recognize the gold mesh in the background? Remember the big Magic Mesh craze from a few years ago? I stocked up on several different colors of mesh and it was fun to pull it out and use it here. I distressed all the edges and used the Torn Frames technique from Technique Junkies on the blue layer behind the bird. I love the contrast of the lace versus the hemp twine, the gold paint versus the distressed edges.

Would you like to play along with the Gingersnap Creations challenge? Create something that fits the inspiration challenge with crowns, add some sparkle, and enter it into the challenge over on the Gingersnap Creations blog. Come on back next Wednesday to see my last creation as a Visiting Artist with Gingersnap Creations.


Stamps: Bird and Cherry Blossom collage from I Brake for Stamps - use code SAVE10HOLLY to save 10% off your order
Ink: Marina Mist, Antique Linen distress
CS: Marina Mist, White, Soft Suede
Creative Inspirations Paint: Gold
Other: May Arts lace, hemp twine, Tim Holtz grungeboard, blue rhinestone brad, gold Magic Mesh, distress tool, sponge
Technique: Torn Frames from Technique Junkies

Week 2 with Gingersnap Creations

This is my second week with Gingersnap Creations, and this week is all about a supply challenge. The Gingersnap girls picked "charms" as the supply for this challenge. For the month of February, the Gingersnap Creations DT has an overall theme of Royalty with a focus on adding shimmer and sparkle to their art for each of the weekly challenges.

As I thought about how to incorporate royalty, shimmer, and charms, one thing came to mind. Purple is a royal color, and when I think of royalty, I think of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth with their ruffled dresses and all the English kings with their puffy shirts.

So for my project today, I chose to use shades of purple with lots of shimmery scallops. I added a sterling silver butterfly charm and a sweet sentiment stamped in purple ink.

Do you see the shimmer on the scallops and the ribbon? I used Creative Inspirations Paint on each of the scallop layers as well as on some white wrinkled ribbon. The colors I used are (from light to dark) Winter Frost, Light Purple, Lavender, and Royal Purple.

This card is one of the few that actually turned out exactly as I saw it in my head! I love it when that happens! :-)

Would you like to play along with the Gingersnap Creations challenge? Create something that fits the supply challenge with charms, add some sparkle, and enter it into the challenge over on the Gingersnap Creations blog. Come on back next Wednesday to see what I've created for the third challenge this month.

Stamps: Vintage Butterflies (Cornish Heritage Farms)
Ink: French Lilac Palette
CS: White
Creative Inspirations Paints: Winter Frost, Light Purple, Lavender, and Royal Purple
Other: white wrinkled ribbon (May Arts), silver cord, silver butterfly charm, scalloped edge punch (EK Success)

Week 1 with Gingersnap Creations

Good morning! This is my first post as a Visiting Artist with Gingersnap Creations, and I'm sharing my Theme Challenge creation with you today. The theme is "Kings and Queens" and as soon as I read this, I knew I was going to use this sweet Queen of Hearts bear from I Brake for Stamps.

For the month of February, the Gingersnap Creations DT is focusing on adding shimmer and sparkle to their art for each of the weekly challenges. With that in mind, I pulled out my Creative Inspirations Paints which are creamy, shimmery, colorful paints. I added some paint to the chipboard hearts as well as to the accessories that the Queen is wearing. I wanted a wee bit more shimmer on my card, so I sponged more of the shimmery paint on the pink designer paper background. Can you see the shimmer in the picture below?

Would you like to play along with the Gingersnap Creations challenge? Create something that fits the Kings and Queens theme challenge, add some sparkle, and enter it into the challenge over on the Gingersnap Creations blog. Come on back next Wednesday to see what I've created for the second challenge this month. :-)


Stamps: Valentine Queen Bear from I Brake for Stamps - use code SAVE10HOLLY to save 10% off your order
Ink: Rich Cocoa Memento
CS: Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Crazy Love dp (Bo Bunny)
Creative Inspirations Paint: Pink Highlights, Tutu Pink, Blush, Chocolate
Other: Copic markers, Maya Road chipboard hearts, sponge, May Arts suede ivory ribbon