Make a Wish!!

Hello! Nora here with an inspirational post for Stamping Smiles Design Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge Two. Is everyone having fun? I know that I am. I LOVE all the fabulous entries that I have seen for challenge two. You all are amazing!!

Today I am sharing a card that I created using the last row across that contains the elements: masking, stars and critters.

I decided to make the background the "star" of the card rather then the critters. I used the ink "smooshing" technique to create it. I still have blue fingers from creating the sky!

The white stars were masked and I used Salty Ocean, Blueprint Sketch and Chipped Sapphire Distress inks to create the night sky. I used Mowed Lawn and Twisted Citron Distress inks and then die cut the grass with a My Favorite Things die.

I then took the masks off and colored in the stars with clear Wink of Stella. I die cut the whole panel with a My Favorite Things Blueprints #13 die.

The elephant and mouse were die cut and stamped using Paperie Ink's "Tons of Thoughts" set. I used Copic markers to color the critters in and used gel pens to add some fun details. I tucked them in-between the middle, grass layer.

The word bubble is by Lawn Fawn and the sentiment I stamped in dark blue with a PaperTrey Ink stamp. I added a few star sequins to the background in various sizes to finish the card off.

I hope this card inspires you to take a second look at Challenge #2 and pick a row or a column that you might have overlooked the first time. I am looking forward to seeing your creations!!

Thank you for stopping by and have a FABULOUS day!!

Nora

Challenge Guest Designer : Ellen Haxelmans

Welcome back!!!

Today we have a talented guest designer joining us for our 2nd Tic-Tac-Toe challenge! She is the amazing and super fun crafter Ellen Haxelmans from Crafty Ellen H Blog. She is here to share a gorgeous baby card that you all sure will love. Check out her project below!

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Hi, I'm Ellen. I’m 24 years old and living in a small country called Belgium. I've studied art and actually always have been creative. In 2013 my boyfriend gave me my first Copic Markers as Christmas present and ever since then it made me a die heart card maker. Now I'm a designer for different companies and happy to be a guest on this Challenge blog!!

Are you ready to see my project? I love to create scene cards with critters so it wasn't at all difficult for me to choose which rows to work with in the Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge Board. It is the reason why I chose the three elements from the third row down – trees, die-cuts and critters.

Someone I know recently had a baby, so I wanted to make a card with my new stamp set Lawn Fawn “Plus One.” For the next step, I knew I had to use die-cuts, so I decided to make a scene in a shape – a circle. I used distress ink to create the pink ombre effect on the circle. Lastly, I decided to use a tree stencil from C.C. Designs called Brich Trees. I used texture paste and a lot of glitter to create the birch trees behind the stork, which of course was hard to captured the glitter in the photos.

The little flower and green leaves give the card a little more cuteness. It was all finished with some background paper, sequins and a sentiment from Els Brigé (a new Dutch stamp company) that says Welcome.

I had a lot fun creating this card & I can't wait to see some awesome cards from you too for this challenge!!

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So were your mind blown away by this gorgeous creation? We hope so! Thank you so much Ellen for providing some inspiration using our Second Challenge Board! We are happy to hear you had fun creating using our challenge! Don’t forget to stop by Ellen’s Blog to give her a shout out for her fabulous project she created for the Tic-Tac-Toe challenge!

You're Dreamy! :)

Hi!  It's Lindsey here.  Are you having a blast creating with Challenge Two?  I hope so because we're certainly enjoying seeing your creations! :) I have a super simple card to share today.  My card was inspired by the middle row of Challenge Two: Holiday, 100% Stamped, Die-Cuts.  This row completely had me stumped the first time I saw it.  I'm a pretty literal person, and I just couldn't wrap my brain around creating a 100% stamped project (to me meaning no layers, no embellishments...just stamp and paper) that incorporated die cuts.  

Well, one night it dawned on me...I could still make it 100% stamped and use a die-cut by creating a shaped card.  So that's what I did!  I die cut two stitched circles to create my card base and used a bunch of masking while I stamped away.  I get such satisfaction from creating one-layer cards. :) 

This darling raccoon comes from Mama Elephant's Three Amigos set.  I know it's an older set, but it's new to me, and I can't get enough of it lately.  And I just love how this little raccoon is hiding behind his Valentine...I would be, too, if I could muster enough courage to tell someone I thought they were dreamy. :) That sentiment just makes me giggle.

I hope that you'll take another look at Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge Two.  Play along if you haven't already, and if you have....challenge yourself to tackle a row or column that may have stumped you initially.  And of course, come back and link up, so we all can enjoy seeing how you were inspired! :)  Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Have a fabulous weekend!

Wedding card

Hello everyone! Olesya here with an inspirational blog post. Today I'm happy to show you my project using three elements from Challenge two: holiday- 100% stamped- die-cuts.

I wanted to make some soft, elegant and sparkly card for my friend's wedding. Great holiday, the born of new family, isn't it?

For this card I chose neutral colors to attract more attention to the diamond in the middle. For the card base I took a piece of white cardstock ( 6"x8") and folded it in a half to make a side folding card. Then cut a panel from Teresa Collins Life Emporium 6"x6" paper pad slightly smaller than a card base and adhered it directly on top with a double-sided tape.

For the front panel I took a piece of craft cardstock. To make the card more elegant and light I heat embossed Peony Scrolls flowers from Altenew with Super fine detail white embossing powder from Ranger on vellum and fussy cut with my scissors. I think they are so beautiful and look weightless. I had a piece of Apple Blossom chipboard frame from Wycinanka that matches here perfectly.

For the sentiment I used Inkadinkado Wedding stamp set and Archival Jet Black inks from Ranger. And now the most interesting part of the card :) it's a diy die-cut diamond. I cut it with a craft knife, heat embossed with some holographic clear embossing powder. For the bottom piece of the stone I took a piece of cardstock, adhered some double-sided tape on top and added dry glitter. Rubbed with my fingers to get rid of falling glitter and adhered both pieces together with Glossy Accents. Then placed the diamond in the center of the frame with some foam tape.

I hope you like this card and hopefully some of these tips will be helpful to you!

Have a wonderful day and happy papercrafting!
Olesya.

Challenge One Winners

Hello everyone! We're here to finally announce the winners for our very first challenge! All of the entries were truly amazing! It was very hard to narrow down because each creations were very unique and special in their own way. We have decided to have one winner of the stamp set and three runner ups.

In a real Tic-Tac-Toe Tournament, the winner is crowned Champion. Since there are no runner ups in the Tic-Tac-Toe Tournaments, we've decided to create one and called it the Master. We chose to name it Master because in the real tic-tac-toe game tournament, the top contestants who made it to the championship are called Masters and Grandmasters. Also, we think the title "Masters" fit appropriately for our Honorable Mentions because we think they have creatively "mastered" and interpreted their three elements beautifully.

So let's get to our winners.
Our very first challenge Champion is:

#42 Hussena from Quill and Punch Works

What we love about Hussena Hello card is the gorgeous details and textures. We also fell in love with the color palette and how she used the embroidery hoop creatively and effectively! Congratulations, Hussena!! Please email us at tictactoechallenge@gmail.com with the subject line Challenge 1 Winner. Please include your full name, address and your choice of stamp set above.

Last but certainly not least are our challenge Masters (in no particular order):

#21 Michele from I Card Everyone

#31 Dana from Crafty Couple

#34 Flora from Pink and Paper

Your projects are all so fabulous and we love how you used the elements in our challenge so creatively! Please grab your badge and display it on your blog for all to see!

That is it for today! Make sure you come back tomorrow for an inspiration blog post by design team member Olesya! She has an awesome project for you and I am definitely sure you would not want to miss it! Have a great day!