By the Sea Card - Eclectic Ellapu August Challenge

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! I'm sure you didn't really miss me, but I missed you all! I just spent the last 5 days foraging around in the forest with my family on a very primitive camping trip.

It. Involved. Vault. Toilets. 

And now I am back and boy was I ever ready to get back into the craft room! Paper. Ink. Stamps - the smell of life (and not vault toilets)!! 

Today I'm posting my design team make for Eclectic Ellapu. The theme is "By the Sea". At first I was stumped, and then I remembered this great summery STAMPlorations set and got to work. 

I pulled out my patterned cardstock and started by stamping it onto a bunch of different patterns. 

I channeled my inner Lauren Bergold, the famed paper piecer and had a ton of fun doing it. I used my Cricut to die cut some wave patterns from various blue patterns. 

And then I fussy cut. And fussy cut again. And again. whew! I love it though!

I'm going to enter my card into the following awesome challenges:
Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
DL Art Thankful Thursday - Summertime
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Sisterhood of Crafters - Summer Heat


As for you - you should head over to Eclectic Ellapu and play along with our "By the Sea" theme! 

Speaking of by the sea - here's a couple of shots of my vacation:

Wading through the Mississippi Headwaters

My little nephew, Landon, catching his first fish

Sugary grins with my niece, Emma, and spending some quality time with my shy nephew, Bryson. 

                                                                 

 Thanks for popping by my blog! I'll begin announcing winners of my birthday bash blog giveaway starting tomorrow so make sure to tune in! 

A Flowery Set of Cards - +Prizes+

I want to say a BIG woohooo to all of the fine folks who've been playing along in my birthday bash linkup and who wished me a happy birthday here or on facebook! I can't seem to wipe the smile off my face! You all ROCK! And a >>GIANT<< shoutout to my latest bloggy followers - you've made my day!

If you haven't played along - don't worry! There's still 10 days to link up for your chance to win one of 7 - Yes SEVEN! - prizes that I'm giving away.

Today I'm going to be sharing with you a set of cards that I made using my Birthday Bash Linkup Moodboard. Haven't heard of it? Well here it is:

In order to win one of the prizes, I'm asking you artists to link up a card that's inspired by one of my favorite things.

Let me break it on down for you. Here are a few 
of my favorite things:

>Purple and teal color combos

>Watercolor washes

>Fun, bright, eclectic clean and simple cards 
>Polka Dots

>PUNS!! :)

>Typography

>Distressed, vintage cards full of texture

...You can use one, two, all of these things... 

Whatever inspires you!

Today, my cards are inspired by the purple and teal color scheme with a little bit of watercoloring thrown in.

Last month, I got a new stamp set to play with - Blooming Buds by Dee's Artsy Impressions for STAMPlorations. I LOVE this set and I sort of got carried away when I busted it out because I couldn't stop making cards!

I started by stamping a big flower. Did you know that you can achieve a watercolor effect with gelatos? It's easy! Start by scribbling some gelatos onto your image:

Then - just add water! I used a water pen and blended. Since I was goign for an artsy feel, I let it bleed all over. You can also wet your finger with a baby wipe or water, too. Oooooo pretty!

Sticking with my mood board, I made a purple card and then I made a teal card.

And then I just couldn't help myself - there were THREE different sentiments included with the set, and I didn't want to make the third one feel lonely, so I made a pink card, too!

I just love the set and how pretty they all look together! :) I'm going to enter my trifecta into the following awesome challenges:
 Hiding in My Craft Room - Lots of Layers 
The Corrosive Challenge Blog - To "Die" for (use a die)
 Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes

So. I mentioned prizes earlier. Let me tell you what they are - 
I'm giving away ALL of these sets PLUS Shery from STAMPlorations is throwing in a $10 gift card, too! (Isn't she the very best!?!)

PRIZES!!!

 


If you click on the image, it will take you to the STAMP shop to view these and other birthday-related sets. I want to spread the wealth around, so I will be doing a drawing for >>7<< different winners! Woohoo!

Oh - before I leave - a couple of people had asked me to share some birthday pictures, so I'll be brief (because I know this post is already long!)

Highlights included:

1 - Lunch with my cousin and her little girls (I'm pretty much their auntie - it's just a technicality) and a surprise visit from my aunt. In this picture we were supposed to be doing silly faces but Phae didn't get the memo. :) 

2 - My amazing boyfriend got me a KITCHENAID!!! I asked him why he spent that much money on a birthday gift and he said "Babe, I don't think of it as JUST a birthday gift; I think of it as an investment in my cookie future." :)

3 & 4 - My coworkers "trashed" my office with balloons and streamers and left me a sweet pair of flamingo sunglasses. Ummm yes please!

5 - We went to the late night comedy improv show. I was up on stage for awhile, but I cannot talk about details. ;) This was my favorite scene - a man in a blindfold and a floor full of loaded mousetraps - use your imagination :)

6 - We went to the new wine bar in town - they have wine DISPENSERS on the wall. In the process of taking a photo, the neighbors on the table over totally photobombed us! haha! :)

Lots of smiles! Ok. I'm done now!  

RULES:
>You MUST use an image from my mood board to inspire you
>You MUST display the mood board graphic in your post
>Although being a follower of my blog is not required, it would be a really AWESOME birthday present to me. :D
>You may enter as many projects as you like (cards, scrapbook, ATCs, Mixed Media projects)
>You MUST link back to this blog post
>Deadline to submit cards is July 31, 2015 at midnight CST

Link up your mood-board inspired cards here:

An InLinkz Link-up

Thank you for stopping by! 

Sending Love All Around - Happy Blogiversary Jen Shurkus!

I just started blogging last September and I was sucked in big time. It was really my first time visiting around to all the talented crafters on the web. Sure, like anyone, I spent hours whiling away on Pinterest feeling simultaneously hungry and like I needed to work out, but I never really clicked through to see the techniques.

So when I stumbled upon Jenn Shurkus's blog, I ooohed and aaahed and clicked on a bunch of posts and drooled. In that order. I love Jen's blog because she designs much like I do - casting off the "I must be only CAS or I must be only mixed media" mantra. She's spent the last 10 years proving that if you're talented, you can design whatever the heck you want. 

Jenn is celebrating her 10-year blogiversary in a BIG way - with lots of prizes and a challenge to CASE one of her past designs. So my design pays homage to one of the awesome techniques I found on her blog and Pinned to explore later. 

This is the art journal background that she made with distress paints, a stencil and a baby wipe: 




 Isn't it gorgeous?!

I CASEd her design by starting with a layer of gesso and then using red gelatos in selected areas. 
After I had a thick layer of blended gelatos, I used the STAMPlorations Tribal Swirls stencil and a babywipe to remove a layer of the gelatos. 

 Once I had that layer down, I added a layer of Black Soot Distress Paint through the Brackets stencil and let it get a little bit messy. Yay for messy! 

This project is actually a postcard I made for the Love Notes project - I got paired up with a stranger and for the month of July am sending her one inspirational postcard a week. It's super fun and a great chance to practice my hand lettering. 

 So happy blogiversary Jenn! Thank you for all the inspiration you've given me! 

I'm also going to link this project up to:
Mixed Media World Stencils challenge

Speaking of celebrations - don't forget that I'm celebrating my birthday in a BIG way too! And handing out tons of prizes! For all the details check out my Birthday Bash Linkup party - 

Thank you to EVERYONE who left me birthday wishes so far! And for those who have become new followers. I haven't stopped smiling all week! :) I'll post pictures of my party soon, since some people have asked about it. 

Xoxo - Becca

It's my BIRTHDAY!!! +PRIZES+

It's my official birthday today!!! WoooohoooooOoo! I've got some big plans which include dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, followed by drinks at a new wine bar that just opened (they have wine DISPENSERS - like pop machines), followed by a late night comedy improv show. I'm ready to kick up my heels and have some fun!

Speaking of fun - look at this guy: 

I can't help BUT to laugh. hahaha - put googly eyes on anything and I'll be mesmerized into laughter for the next 3 hours. 

That bird represents one of the images on my birthday mood board: 

Bet you can't guess which image ;)  

But wait - "Mood board?" you say. YES! To celebrate my big day, I'm having a link up that will be open through the end of July. Just choose one of my favorite things to make a card - represented by my mood board. 

Let me break it on down for you. Here are a few 
of my favorite things:

>Purple and teal color combos

>Watercolor washes

>Fun, bright, eclectic clean and simple cards 
>Polka Dots

>PUNS!! :)

>Typography

>Distressed, vintage cards full of texture

...You can use one, two, all of these things... 
Whatever inspires you!

The card I made is a mashup of the bird (obviously) with a corny pun AND those adorable colorful dots.

 I used stamps from the STAMPlorations Party Time set to do a fun corner of swirly dots and topped it off with that REALLY old bird - I think he's a retired Stampin' Up bird, but I honestly couldn't say.

I repeated the swirly images with metal embellishments and a dry embossed panel. I used the sketch designed by my fellow googly eye-loving friend, Jessi Fogan, who designs for Tuesday Morning Sketches.  

I'm also going to link up to the following fun challenges:
Seize the Birthday - Anything Goes
Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes
Virginia's View - 100% stamped

Ok - now to give YOU the details of how the Birthday Bash Linkup will work. I'm giving away ALL of these sets PLUS Shery from STAMPlorations is throwing in a $10 gift card, too! (Isn't she the very best!?!)

PRIZES!!!

 


If you click on the image, it will take you to the STAMP shop to view these and other birthday-related sets. I want to spread the wealth around, so I will be doing a drawing for >>7<< different winners! Woohoo!

RULES:
>You MUST use an image from my mood board to inspire you
>You MUST display the mood board graphic in your post
>Although being a follower of my blog is not required, it would be a really AWESOME birthday present to me. :D
>You may enter as many projects as you like (cards, scrapbook, ATCs, Mixed Media projects)
>You MUST link back to this blog post
>Deadline to submit cards is July 31, 2015 at midnight CST

Link up your mood-board inspired cards here:

An InLinkz Link-up

Becca's Birthday BASH!!! woohoo!!! +PRIZES+

Hullo Friendly Friends!!

This week is extra special for me because it's my BIRTHDAY WEEK! That's right, even though my birthday doesn't happen until Friday, I celebrate for a whole week! Don't judge. :) 

I was pondering what I should do for my birthday to celebrate with you all and then I thought - I know!! I'll have a big giant giveaway with some of my favorite birthday sets! I'm SO beyond grateful for all the friendships I've made over the past almost year of blogging and I want to do something special for YOU!

So that's what's going on. 

I decided to put together a mood board with all of my favorite things and ask you to celebrate with me by making a card that's inspired by the board. If you link it up here and help me celebrate, you'll be entered to win! 

Here's the board:

Let me break it on down for you. Here are a few of my favorite things (represented with pictures of course). 

>Purple and teal color combos

>Watercolor washes

>Fun, bright, eclectic clean and simple cards 
>Polka Dots

>PUNS!! :)

>Typography

>Distressed, vintage cards full of texture

...You can use one, two, all of these things... 
Whatever inspires you!

For the next couple of weeks I will be sharing some inspiration from my mood board. The card I made today combines the watercolor wash, purple and teal color combo, and typography. It's a three-for!

I started by doing a wash with the Distress Ink Dipping technique. Here's how you can get the same effect:

Smoosh Cracked Pistachio, Dusty Concord, Shabby Shutters, and Salty Ocean Distress Inks onto a craft mat and then spritz with water. The more water you add, the more the colors will meld together. Since I wanted these to run, I sprayed quite a bit. 

Dip number one: 

Press the paper into the mixture and wiggle side to side *slightly* You don't want the colors to get muddy. Then air dry or heat dry. As you can see, the round one dip was really pretty, but I wanted some depth and layers so I took the dried papers back to the craft mat and dabbed them in the ink again.

Dip number two: 

See what I mean by depth and layers?! You can continue the drying and rounds of dipping until you are satisfied, but I was happy with my results.

I used the STAMPlorations Hashtag Authentic set to create a positive, uplifting sentiment and added some wooden corners to complete the look. I kept it simpler than I usually do, but that's because I didn't want to cover up any of the wash. :)

Ta-daaaa! I hope you like it!

I'm going to enter it into the following competitions:
Through the Craftroom Door - ATG
Simon Says Stamp Monday - ATG
Try it on Tuesday - In the Frame
613 Ave Create - A2, Encouragement, Watercolor


Ok - now to give YOU the details of how the Birthday Bash Linkup will work. I'm giving away ALL of these sets PLUS Shery from STAMPlorations is throwing in a $10 gift card, too! (Isn't she the very best!?!)

PRIZES!!!

 


If you click on the image, it will take you to the STAMP shop to view these and other birthday-related sets. I want to spread the wealth around, so I will be doing a drawing for >>7<< different winners! Woohoo!

RULES:
>You MUST use an image from my mood board to inspire you
>You MUST display the mood board graphic in your post
>Although being a follower of my blog is not required, it would be a really AWESOME birthday present to me. :D
>You may enter as many projects as you like (cards, scrapbook, ATCs, Mixed Media projects)
>You MUST link back to this blog post
>Deadline to submit cards is July 31, 2015 at midnight CST

Link up your mood-board inspired cards here:

An InLinkz Link-up

Thanks for celebrating with me!

Featured Friday - Lauren Bergold!!!

Well you all are in for a TREAT today. If you're a new follower to my blog 1) you are awesome! and 2) Featured Friday is a once-a-month segment around these parts in which I highlight another crafty blogger who is a huge inspiration to me. 

Getting to know other bloggers has been a huge part of what drives me to create and without further ado, I will introduce this month's Featuree:

Lauren Bergold of ...all the GOOD blog names were taken...!

Firstly - how cool is her blog name?! It's just one of the MANY examples of Lauren's hilarious personality. 

I first stumbled upon Lauren's blog after viewing some of her amazing work on a design team challenge inspiration post. Her downright miraculous treatment of patterned paper leaves me incredulous every time I see one of her creations. Many of her designs include zero white space and patterns that I never would have thought to pair!

  

She's Artsy with a capital A - she frequently draws her own designs and goes beyond cardmaking with ATCs, fancy index cards, and mini-journals. 

But why let me tell you all about Lauren, when she can tell you about all about herself? Here are 7 things you should know about Lauren:

1. How did you get your crafty start?

I'm pretty convinced there's a "craft gene" and I was born with it. My mom and her sister are crafty, their dad was very creative, my nieces and nephew love to draw and color and make stuff... it's just a thing we all do!

2. What is your favorite "style" of crafting?

Collage has always been my favorite medium and I'm definitely a "more is more" kind of gal, lol! I love lots of layers, pattern-on-pattern, vintage ingredients, found objects and loads of texture. I really admire people who can do "clean and simple" but alas, I'm not one of them.

3. If you could be any color, which would it be and why?

Can I be a rainbow? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease??!?!! If not, I guess I'll be hot pink, to cheer everyone up! :)

4. What is the best craft organization tip you have?

Think about how you personally work best and think realistically about how much stuff you actually have. We all love pretty containers but let's face it, the plain sturdy ones tend to hold more and last longer. I store as many things as possible vertically (like a book shelf), so I can browse and access individual items easily; if I have to dig through a *pile* the stuff on the bottom just won't get used. I also keep a "basic kit" of things i use constantly (scissors, adhesives, pens)next to my prime workspace, and a duplicate set in my travel bag, because i was constantly forgetting at least one vital thing when teaching or taking classes.

5. What are your favorite card making/scrapbooking challenges to participate in?

Well Shopping Our Stash and Jingle Belles are both very near and dear to my heart, obviously! I also love the Cardabilities sketches. Fusion Card Challenge always inspires. The Crooked Stamper Sketch Challenge is pretty awesome... and I'm not just saying that because Leslie is my friend and I designed the graphic for it, lol! For the last three summers, I've participated in The Index Card a Day project (aka ICAD) via the Daisy Yellow Art blog, which is not a challenge in the traditional sense, but which I find hugely helpful for recharging mojo and trying new things.

6. What is your least favorite crafting supply?

Hmmmmmm... that's really tough! I don't think there's any particular category I dislike. I suppose I'd have to say anything that's badly designed or doesn't work right. Punches that line up poorly, dies which don't release and unreliable adhesives don't last long at my house. Life's too short!

7. What is your best advice for new crafty bloggers?

Try not to get too caught up in the "comparison" game. There will always be people who are a skill-level above and below you, this is true of EVERYTHING in life. Make things you love, keep practicing, learn from your mistakes and especially...HAVE FUN!!!

-------------------------------------------

I think her last piece of advice - to have fun! - is something that we both really agree on. Blogging and crafting is supposed to be a blast! 

Now here's the part of Featured Friday that I REALLY love. We take one of Lauren's old designs and CASE it! I distinctly remember seeing the card I chose to case for the first time and I am pretty sure I stared at it for a good long while. 

The Original: 

Thud <--- sound of my jaw dropping. Right?!?! If any card is a work of art it would be THIS ONE!! It's made with tons of paper folded pieces and patterned paper. Lauren has a tutorial on her blog, if you'd like more details about how she pulled this off. 

Lauren's CASE

Lauren opted to go for a travel-themed card and this time around she used old falling apart maps and atlases to fuel her design. She folded all the pieces from the books and maps and repurposed them into something absolutely stunning!!

My CASE

To be perfectly honest... I feel a little silly. There's no patterns on here! Doh! I started folding bits of white paper just to practice with and then I never stopped! I gessoed the whole bit to make the white paper firmer and give it more of a distressed paper mache feel and then I added a heavy layer of gelatos and blended all together. Lastly, I sponged a layer of Black Soot Distress Inks to really bring out the corners of my folded triangles. So, no patterns - but hey I'll just have to make another gorgeous card like this. 

I'm going to send this baby over to play along in the following great challenges: 
Addicted to Stamps - Make Your Mark
613 Ave Create - Anything Goes with Flag option

Thank you for popping by - Lauren has an extra card to share with you on >>>her blog<<< using this technique, in addition to that tutorial I mentioned earlier so you should definitely go say HELLO! and help to make her day EXTRA SPECIAL. That's what this bloggy community is all about - right?!