Are you the next Card designing superstar?

 

We love to see all the talented Sweet Pea fans and the work they are creating. With that in mind we think it's time for a contest! We want to see the greatest card creation you can make! Beginning October 15th, here on the Sweet Pea Stamps Blog, we will be taking entries.

The prize is a $50 gift voucher to the Sweet Pea Stamps store, second and third places will each receive $10 gift vouchers to the Sweet Pea Stamps store!

Rules:
1. The main hand stamped image must be a Sweet Pea Stamps rubber stamp image.
2. The card must be a new, unreleased creation as of October 15, 2011.
3. Entries should be submitted via Mr. Linky, on the Sweet Pea Stamps blog directly to the blog post or gallery link being submitted for consideration.
4. Entries must be entered via Mr. Linky by 11:59 pm, October 22, 2011 for consideration.
5. The Sweet Pea Stamps design team will decide on the top five entries.
6. On October 27 - 30, 2011 the top three entries will be posted on the Sweet Pea Stamps blog for open voting.
7. One Entry per person.
8. Winner will be announced October 31, 2011!

Good Luck!

...As a bonus---- if we get at least 40 paticipants, I will randomly draw a winner out of those that partook, for a chance to win a 10 ct grab bag

Extended sale at sweetpea stamps

Extended through October 4th!!!! All orders will receive 25% off(excluding wholesale. Wholesale customers, will receive an additional 10% discount off of their wholesale prices. We will adjust your invoice and e-mail you your new total). The online website will automatically deduct the % off for you, at checkout.

Past orders excluded.

See all the details here and shop here

Soft look with dry chalks

I feel like I have gotten a bit stuck in the same technique of coloring with promarkers and using patterned papers for my cards. So today I made a quite simple card, but with a new twist. I used a versamark inkpad to stamp up Elaine Cox's Katie from sweetpea stamps and rubbed it in different colored chalks to give the subtle look. I chose stronger papers in the same shades which I think enhances the softness of the image. It's a bit opposite of what I did last week. It doesn't always have to be advanced with lots of papers and layers. Sometimes all you need is a new technique to get great and different results.

Challenges:
Simon says stamp - anything goes

Don't miss out on sweetpea's 48 hour sale which will begin at midnight Oct 1 and run through Oct 2nd. All orders will receive 25% off (excluding wholesale. Wholesale customers, she will receive a 10% discount. We will adjust your invoice and e-mail you your new total). The online website will automatically deduct the % off for you, at checkout.

Placement cards

I've had a lot of fun with my project for today. I recently got some copic markers to color with, but haven't had a chance to use them. So I decided to try out my coloring skills and for that I needed a white background. The image I have used is by Meredith Dillman and it's called Jade (from sweetpea stamps). If you love her images you'll be happy to know that they are all on sale until october 2:nd!

I made these little table setting cards because it was a perfect way to make the image stand out. You could use a different image for every person to make it more special. Maybe for an asian themed party or wedding? I punched out flowers in see through paper and made a little embellishment to make the card a bit more special. The names can be written on the card itself or on the little flower in a circle. I really like the combo of the airy white and at the same time bold colors. Gives it a more modern and funky look.

Challenges:
Paper sundaes - anything goes
Simon says stamp - use dies and/or punches

Great storage idea for your stamps

Today I would like to share a fabulous storage idea for your sweetpea stamps. I have a loooot of the stamps and tried to keep them in order, but it's been hard. They have been standing up in a box with the platenumbers sorted, but it's hard to look through what I have and in the end I just take out the thing that was on top. Not the best way to use your stamps. So here's my new idea and I'm superexcited about it. Just took two days to sort through ;)

I got myself a bunch of plastic protectors in standard size that are divided in 4 pockets and open at the top. I think they are originally used for photos or postcards. I think the ones for postcards are clear all the way through (without the white) but these work better as you can focus better on each page without distraction. The pages are perfect for most of the full plates from sweetpea as they come in four or two. They look the same on the back so you will actually store eight stamps/page. Isn't it great?

The stamps that are small can be put in plastic sheets that are divided in nine. They are used for collector's cards and such. This idea I actually found on someone else's blog, but realized it wouldn't work with the sweetpeas. So I got thinking and when I came up with the four divided ones I thought it would be brilliant. Especially with each page holding a full sheet! The small stamps work great with the nine pocket pages.

I always write up the name, platenumber and artist on the back of each stamp. I will also put little labels on each page with the plate number and artist's name. Just need to get myself some selfadheisive labels. If you get repositionable ones you will be able to move the stamps around and relabel the pages.

As I mostly have ching chou kuik stamps I now have a slightly overfull binder (actually think I'll have to divide them up into two). If you have a hard time seeing what the stamps are you could stamp up the image on paper and put it in each pocket. The stamp can then slide behind the image. I think I will do this, but it will have to be done in small steps...Next I will do the same with the sentimentstamps, but those I really have to stamp up on paper first so I can divide them in themes or such. Right now I barely use them because I can't find anything or see what it says.

Oh, I'm so excited about this idea and think it will make my life so much better. And my poor craftingcorner will thank me for getting rid of all the boxes. Now the only question is what to do with all the new space :D
Let me know if you get to use this idea. I'd love to know if I've made anyone's life any easier.

Keep crafting.

Sale at sweetpea

No new card today, but I'd like to let you know about the SALE sweetpea is having. Today is also the last day to order from the overstock section - stamps that are overstock for only $2 each!

And I hope you haven't missed any of the new releases? Did you know that sweetpea has some Elisabeth Bell stamps for instance? Visit the blog to keep yourself updated and inspired:

the sweetpea design team blog.

Autumn birthday

Today I'm finally back with a card using one of  the fabulous stamps from sweetpea stamps. This one is by designer Meredith Dillman called Diamond. I wanted to make an autumn themed birthday card, but without the usual brownish colours or the obvious leaves. I think this one pulls it off, even if there are a lot of flowers on it. The shades remind me of this time of the year: the last warm days and signs of summer. The papers are from basic grey's june bug and green at heart line. Don't they work beautifully together? I also added some free-hand doodling (the x:es and running stitches) as I think they add something to the card. And as always I've used my promarkers to color the image although I just got myself a bunch of copics...

Challenges:

A spoon full of sugar - partytime
Basic Grey - celebrations (I used papers from june bug& green at heart)
I love promarkers - anything goes
Papertake weekly - sketch
Passion for promarkers - anything
Secret crafter - autumn colours
Simon says stamp - anything goes
Stamptacular - diva

I'm baaack :)

So sorry I haven't been posting lately. I took the whole of august off from my DT duties at sweetpea stamps. I really needed a break from the commitments, but I did miss it so I'm glad I'm back :)

So from now on there will be at least one sweetpea project/week again.

Speaking of SP: there is a fabulous sale going on where you can get a lot of the stamps for just $2 each!

This stamp among others is on sale...

House mouse ATC

Today I want to show you a cute ATC (artist trading card) I made with one of the adorable HM images. The little stamps are perfect for these kind of projects and are a perfect way to use up those tiny pieces of paper/ribbon/etc. You might think they are faster to make than cards, but since I'm not really used to making them it took almost as long as a card to finish. It's a great way to think outside the box though and a perfect way to let your special bits and pieces shine.

I'm especially proud of the piece of paper I managed to find that looks like the little feather laying on the ground. I also like the colorcombo.

Challenges:

Everybody art - summer
House mouse - ATC
Stampalot challenge - anything
Stampin for the weekend - spots and dots

70:ies necklace in a modern version

I have a couple of things that I made/finished lately that I haven't showed you yet. This necklace is one of them. I finished it quite a while ago, but never got around to showing it to you. It's made out of semi-precious stones I've had for years. I've had a couple of broken necklaces that I got from my mom and here and there. They were all in the same type of stones - quite popular in the 70:ies I think. I'm usually not wearing gold-coloured jewelry, but I thought these stones were beautiful with gold.

I wanted the necklace to be long and I wanted to use up the stones I had. I made it quite symmetrical with big stones and goldflower/small stone. I added a clasp (the golden ball seen in pic above) so you can wear the necklace double and shorter if you want to. I think the clasp is brilliant since it barely shows, looking like one of the flowers. It's beautiful, don't you think?