Good Monday morning! I hope ya’ll enjoyed your weekend and got to do something you enjoy. I got Mallory home Friday around 7:30 and she has settled in fairly nicely so far. She had some friends in to spend the night on Saturday and she spent Sunday with Kate. Mom was at home doing her laundry – all six loads. Thank goodness I got my own laundry caught up before I left Friday. I’ve already made up my mind that I’ll get these loads caught up and then if it isn’t in the laundry room when I do laundry, tough! She’s on her own! I told her yesterday that I would have to acclimate her to the new house rules – BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! We have a mud room now (my old stamp room) and that’s where we leave bags, purses, shoes and coats. We don’t leave them spread out from room to room anymore. Actually, her dad and I never did – but I sure knew where Mallory had been as she moved through the house. As much as I might have missed her this school year, I sure haven’t missed her messes!

I didn’t get to stamp much last week. First off, I was totally exhausted after the trip to Akron and then I was on the road again Friday – hehe Willie Nelson. I tried to get into the stamp room this past weekend, but everywhere I turned and everything I did just didn’t seem to come out right. There was more in the trash than finished product. When Jeanne told us what Rubbernecker Blogger Challenge RBC08 was going to be this week, I was rather tickled. She decided on masking, and I knew I already had a sample done for the Akron show that I never posted. I’m still going to show that one to you today, but I’m also going to show you another one that I finished yesterday. I had a Sunday morning phone call with some of my best friends, and felt rejuvenated and ready to stamp when I got off the phone. I had to go make another sample!

So, here’s my first sample. I threw it together quickly one night right before the Akron show so that we would have a sample for the booth.

The images were colored with Copic Markers. I stamped the anchor first, masked it off, and then stamped the captain’s wheel. Simple, basic masking at it’s easiest. The edges of the image were sponged with Vintage Photo and Black Soot Distress Inks, and then distressed. I’m sorry to say, that I typed up all the details for this card when I first made it, and failed to keep them. Geeze I’m such a ditz sometimes! AND I don’t have the card anymore, just this picture!

Stamps: Rubbernecker Guy Stuff Collection Anchor SKU:175-06, Ship’s Wheel
SKU:175-11 and Real Classic Text SKU:175-07 from Rubbernecker Stamp Company

Paper: Georgia Pacific White; Prism Gray and Blue; BasicGrey Boxer

Ink: Ranger Adirondack Pitch Black, Tim Holtz Vintage Photo and Black Soot Distress Ink, Archival Jet Black

Accessories: Copic Markers; Tonic Tim Holtz Distressing Tool; Tsukineko Sponge Dauber; Notch Punch; Twill Tape; Brads; Mounting Tape

For my second sample today, I decided to get more complicated with my masking. Actually, I was inspired by Kittie to create a scene. I don’t often create little scenes, and really don’t think that it is something that I excel at, but yesterday I was inspired! If Kittie can step outside her box and do distressing, then I can certainly step off the ledge and create a scene. Believe it or not, I actually enjoyed making this card!

I stamped one cattail, masked it and then stamped a second (which ended up being cut off for the most part). I decided where I wanted the canoe to be, and then stamped the fishing basket. I masked the cattail and the basket, and then stamped the canoe. To get the cattails behind the canoe, I took a post-it note, and masked off the edge of the canoe and stamped the smaller ones at varying places. Once I had the scene stamped out, I colored it with Copic Markers. Since the basket was a larger stamp than the canoe, it needed to look like it was on the bank and thus sitting far enough in front of the canoe to be in dimension. Once I had the scene colored, I picked up my distress tool and as much as I actually hated to do it, I ran it along the edges. Yes, I took a deep breath before I did it, because I had spent so much time on the scene itself. But, this is a masculine card and it just had to be distressed with a bit of sponging. Because the scene was larger than I would have liked, I decided not to use designer paper. I stamped the background panel (which I hardly do any more and this makes me ask myself why I don’t do more of it), with a striped background. I stamped one way in Oregano and then the other in Vintage Photo, to make my own plaid. The edges of this panel were sponged in Oregano going more into the panel, and then I sponged just the edges with Vintage Photo to add some depth. I then ran the distress tool down the side with just one swipe and not working back and forth. The sign was stamped individually, colored and then cut out. The lure was colored with Copic Markers and then cut with Spellbinders Circle Nestabilities.

Stamps: Rubbernecker Guy Stuff Collection Canoe SKU:34-15,Cattail SKU:34-14, Fishing Basket SKU:34-18, Gone Fishin’ Sign SKU:34-20, Petite Cattail SKU:34-12, Striped Lure SKU:34-04; Background Collection Striped Background SKU:30-06 from Rubbernecker Stamp Company

Paper: Georgia Pacific White, Tan, Green and Brown

Ink: Ranger Adirondack Oregano and Tim Holtz Vintage Photo and Black Soot Distress Inks

Accessories: Copic Markers; Tonic Tim Holtz Distress Tool; Brads and Hardware; Twill Tape; Ribbon; Mounting Tape; Spellbinders Circle Nestabilities; Tsukineko Sponge Dauber

You can see more challenge samples created the Rubbernecker Design Team by visiting the blogs of Kittie, Shelly and Jeanne. I hope ya’ll have a great day, and I’m off to run a few errands!