Floral Silhouette

Happy Monday!  It's Lindsey today sharing another card I made for Challenge Four using the middle row: silhouette, distress inks, and stacked sentiment.

I discovered that using a die was the easiest way to have a true silhouette, and the star of the show here is the Brushed Blooms die from Papertrey Ink.  I had intended to use a pink silhouette on a white card base, but after die-cutting the flower, the white paper below peeked through the negative image, and I decided to switch gears.  And I'm so glad I did!  I think the change really allows the silhouette to shine.  I used an inlaid die cutting technique here.  This technique is so much easier now that I've watched Laurie Willison's video on using Press n' Seal to hold the little die-cut tidbits in place.

For my second element, I blended some Peacock Feathers Distress Ink in an ombre fashion, die-cut hello, and triple layered it.  I wanted a more subtle stacked sentiment, so I stamped the second part directly onto the card base.  And that's it! :)  Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope I've inspired you to try out Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge #4 for the first time...or again if you've already played along!

Card Supplies
Stamps: PTI (Wet Paint)
Ink: PTI (Raspberry Fizz), Ranger (Peacock Feathers)
Dies: PTI (Brushed Blooms, Noted)
Paper: PTI (Hibiscus Burst, Stamper's Select White)

Berry Happy Birthday

Hello everyone,

Olesya's here and I'd love to show you my inspirational project for challenge four of the Stamping Smiles Designs, Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge.

I always wonder how many projects we can create with this wonderful challenge, myriad of variants and inspiration from you, our sweet participants.

This time I've chosen the following combination: Silhouette - Distress inks -Stacked Sentiment. 

For the silhouette element I took "Silhouette tree" stamps of two sizes and "Silhouette grass" and stamped them directly onto the front panel.  The next step was to sponge the branches with Crushed Olive distress inks and draw some white dots with a white gel pen to make a look of blooming trees.

I'm in love with distress inks and love to create some sort of scenes with them. They're just perfect the background. So I used Crushed Olive and a little bit of Peeled Paint for the grassy meadow; Tumbled Glass and Salty Ocean for the sky. Then made some clouds with Color Box Chalk Popcorn inks and a dry baby wipe.

The focal point here is this bunny girl with a strawberry bouquet -  Strawberry Bunny stamp set from Scrapberry's. I colored her with watercolor markers and mounted with a foam tape. I also added some strawberry clusters which were also colored with the same markers. The stacked sentiment here says "Happy Birthday! Wish you lots of happiness, health, luck and love". 

Thank you so much for stopping by and have loads of inspiration!

Olesya.

Challenge Three Winners

Hello! It's time to announce our winners from Challenge Three! Oh, boy, were we feeling so much love with the last challenge! A whooping number of 72 entries! Wow!!! And of course with so many entries makes picking a winner that much harder!!

All of the entries for challenge three showcased the Tic-Tac-Toe board so beautifully, especially the first row across: love, add shimmer and hearts! I love the Valentine's and Love-themed projects, even the non-Valentine's ones too! And I enjoy looking at all of them! Thank you to everyone who entered.

So without any further anticipation, here is our winner (Champion) and runner ups (Masters)!

Riti Poddar from A Lil Piece of Heaven

Congratulations Riti! We thought this lovely design was so much fun with the cascading envelopes!! What a labor of love! We also love your gorgeous pink background! :) Please email us at tictactoechallenge@gmail.com with the subject line Challenge 3 Winner. Please include your full name, address and your choice of stamp set above.

And our Masters...

#18 Macimbalo from Cimba Creative Fun

#22 Karen from More Please

#68 Anita from My Papercraft World

Thank you all for taking the time to play along with our challenge and share your talent with us! Please grab your badge and display it on your blog for all to see! :)

Please check back tomorrow for an inspiration blog post from DT member Olesya! She has a fun blog post planned for you!

Challenge Four

Hi everyone and welcome back for the fourth Stamping Smiles Designs Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge! OH.EM.GEE. I am blown away by all of your Valentine's/Love-themed projects for challenge three! They are so amazing AND inspiring! I am completely awe-inspring! Thank you so much for playing and linking!

For this challenge, we'd love for you to take some inspiration from the challenge board below using three elements in a row of your choice! Whatever rows you chose and are inspired by is what we challenge you to create!

You are playing for one of the following 3"x 4" stamp sets. The winner will get to choose the stamp set of their choice. If you already have all three in your stash, why not play to give one of these sets as a gift for one of your crafty friend? You can click on the links below to read more about each stamp set.

Clearly Besotted Let's Roll Stamp Set

Simon Says Stamp Furry Cat & Box Stamp Set

Newton's Nook Designs Spring Showers Stamp Set

And now here's some amazing inspiration from our design team members.

Lindsey chose to work with the diagonal row using thank you, distress inks and plants.

Shannon chose the 2nd row down: sequins, distress inks and stencils.

Olesya chose the third row vertically: all things round, stacked sentiment and plants.

Nora chose to go diagonal from top left to bottom right: thank you, distress inks and plants.

Stephanie chose to work with the third row across: one layer, stencil and plants.

Tracie chose the second column down: sequins, distress inks and stencil.

Thank you for joining us in our fourth challenge. Please read the "Challenge Rules" tab at the top of the blog to be eligible for the prize. You have until Monday, February 29 at 11:55pm CST to submit your entries. We can not wait to see what you create! HAVE FUN and don't forget to check back on Thursday for our challenge winners! Until then, happy crafting! :)

An InLinkz Link-up

I Love You

Hello Everyone! Tracie here with an inspirational post for challenge three of the Stamping Smiles Designs, Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge. It is a joy to see so many fabulous entries for Challenge Three. 

I have a Valentine's Day card to share with you. I selected the top row: love, add shimmer and hearts.

Steps:

1. Make a top folding A2 card with Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110# cardstock. Round bottom corners using We-R-Memory Keepers Corner Chomper Tool, 1/2".

2. Die-cut the striped heart from the Concord and 9th Layers of Love Die Set on a 4.25" x 5.5" panel. This will act as a stencil. It is helpful to die-cut in the location you want the heart on your card.

3. Place stencil on card and apply VersaMark. Proceed by applying Ranger, Gold Embossing Powder and melt with heat tool.

4. Create a small gold embossed heart. I used the My Favorite Things Heart Background Stencil. Adhere the small heart with a piece of foam tape.

5. Stamp Concord and 9th Layers of Love, I love you sentiment with Mama Elephant Apple Pigment Ink. Use the MISTI to get preferred placement and to make it easy if you need to double-stamp.

There are still a couple more days to enter. So, what are you waiting for? It is your turn to shine =)

Thank you and have a beautiful day!

Tracie